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Title: New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers
Author: Various
Editor: Edward Pollock Anshutz
Release Date: February 5, 2012 [EBook #38757]
Language: English
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Numbers preceded by an underscore _ and contained within
brackets {} indicate a subscript.
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NEW, OLD AND FORGOTTEN
REMEDIES.
PAPERS BY MANY WRITERS.
COLLECTED, ARRANGED AND EDITED BY
E. P. ANSHUTZ.
PHILADELPHIA:
BOERICKE & TAFEL.
1900.
COPYRIGHT
BY
BOERICKE & TAFEL.
1900.
T. B. & H. B. COCHRAN, PRINTERS,
LANCASTER, PA.
PREFACE.
During the many years that the compiler has had the management of the
publishing department of Messrs. Boericke & Tafel--long to look back
over, yet short to live--so many inquiries came in for "literature," or,
in the form, "where can I find something about" this, that, or the
other, remedy, that finally I became convinced that there might be a
niche in the great world's already over-crowded library for a book
containing, in part, at least, the information desired by my numerous
correspondents. This determined, and the great publishing house willing
to back the enterprise, came the task of collecting the material. The
work once begun, it was soon found that it is much easier to plan such a
volume than to carry out the plan, for it involved no inconsiderable
amount of delving in dusty piles of old journals to discover the sought
for matter, which, when brought to light, had to be scanned closely to
determine whether it was of a nature to justify this literary
resurrection. However, in the odd hours of time that could be bestowed
the work was finally completed and--the result is before you, kindly
reader.
That this collection of papers has many gems is, I believe, not to be
questioned; that some better papers on the remedies than those herein
presented may exist is also probable; that it may contain some that are
of doubtful value is not to be denied, and even some that have no right
in such a book may have crept in. But what it is, it is; take the good
and, in the current phrase of the hour, "forget" the rest.
The part born by the editor, beyond delving for and selecting the
remedies, will be found scattered through the book in bracketed small
type, and consists simply in announcing who the writer of the paper was
and where it may be found; no attempt has been made at editing any of
the papers, or commenting on them, beyond a little cutting out of a
little verbosity here and there, or of matter not bearing on the use of
the remedy.
The material was drawn from journals of all "schools," wherever a paper
could be found that seemed to contain something not to be found in
medical-book literature, and to be honestly written.
The new remedies of the laboratory have been purposely ignored because
they do not come in the scheme of this book, they having a literature of
their own that, not infrequently, may be had "free on request" to the
laboratories. Only remedies (with a few exceptions) such as nature gives
us are included in this work.
And now the task completed naught remains but for the compiler to
subscribe himself,
EDWARD POLLOCK ANSHUTZ.
_1011 Arch St., Philadelphia, January 2, 1900._
LIST OF REMEDIES.
Acalypha Indica, 1
Acidum lacticum, 4
Æthiop's antimonialis, 5
Agave Americana, 8
Ambrosia artemisiæfolia, 11
Amygdalus persica, 12
Anagalis arvensis, 15
Arsenicum bromatum, 20
Aspidospermine, 26
Aurum muriaticum natronatum, 27
Avena sativa, 36
Aviaire, 41
Azadirachta Indica, 38
Bacillinum, 41
Bellis perennis, 60
Berberis aquifolium, 62
Blatta orientalis, 65
Boletus laricis, 79
Calcarea renalis præparata, 81
Ceanothus Americanus, 85
Cephalanthus occidentalis, 86
Cereus Bonplantii, 87
Cheiranthus cheiri, 98
Chionanthus Virginica, 99
Cornus alternifolia, 104
Cratægus oxyacantha, 108
Cuphea viscosissima, 114
Echinacea angustifolia, 115
Epigea repens, 129
Eryngium aquaticum, 131
Euphorbia corollata, 133
Fagopyrum, 133
Fagus sylvaticus, 137
Fraxinus excelsior, 139
Fucus vesiculosis, 140
Gaultheria, 142
Heloderma horridus, 148
Jacaranda gualandai, 168
Lac caninum, 170
Lapis albus, 172
Latrodectus mactans, 174
Lemna minor, 188
Levico, 197
Lathyrus sativus, 198
Liatris spicata, 202
Lloium temulentum, 203
Lycopus Virginicus, 204
Malaria officinalis, 205
Mullein oil, 205
Mucuna urens, 219
Naphthalin, 221
Narcissus, 223
Negundo, 225
Onosmodium Virginianum, 226
Origanum majorana, 232
Oxytropis Lamberti, 233
Oenanthe crocata, 242
Parafine, 247
Parthenium hysterophorus, 259
Passiflora incarnata, 267
Penthorum sedoides, 275
Phaseolus nana, 279
Pothos, 285
Primula obconica, 303
Pyrus Americana, 305
Salix nigra aments, 308
Salvia officinalis, 309
Saururus cernuus, 310
Scolopendra morsitans, 311
Scutellaria laterifolia, 312
Sisyrinchium, 313
Skookum chuck, 316
Solanum Carolinense, 321
Spiritus glandium quercus, 325
Solidago virga-aurea, 330
Stellaria media, 337
Stigmata maidis, 340
Succinic acid, 341
Symphytum officinalis, 342
Symphoricarpus racemosus, 347
Tela araneæ, 349
Thallium, 353
Thlaspi bursa pastoris, 354
Thyroid, 362
Trychosanthes dioica, 364
Tuberculinum, 41
Usnea barbata, 366
Verbena hastata, 367
Viscum album, 368
Wyethia helenioides, 376
New, Old and Forgotten Remedies.
ACALYPHA INDICA.
NAT. ORD., Euphorbiaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Indian Acalypha, Indian Nettle.
PREPARATION.--The fresh plant is macerated with two parts by weight of
alcohol.
(Dr. Tonnère, of Calcutta, India, seems to have been the
first to call attention to this plant as a remedy. In a
small work, _Additions to the Homoeopathic Materia
Medica_, collected and arranged by Henry Thomas, M. D.,
and published in London in the year 1858, appears the
following credited to that physician.)
Tincture of the _Acalypha Indica_, prepared and administered in the
sixth decimal dilution, is specific in hæmorrhage from the lungs. In
three cases in which I have employed it, the persons were affected with
phthisis. In one case there was a tuberculous affection of the upper
portion of the left lung, of some two years' standing. Hæmoptysis had
been going on for three months; the expectoration had been in the
morning pure blood; in the evening dark lumps of clotted blood, and the
fits of coughing were very violent at night. In this case all
homoeopathic remedies had been tried unsuccessfully, when I
accidentally discovered the virtues of the _Acalypha Indica_, that
remedy having been given me by a native for jaundice. I prepared the
mother tincture upon the homoeopathic principle, and took 10 drops,
which brought on a severe fit of dry cough, followed by spitting of
blood. Having noted all the symptoms experienced by myself, and finding
that they were nearly all similar to those of my patients, I gave six
drops 6th [decimal] dilution in half a tumbler of water, a spoonful to
be taken every half hour, beginning immediately (9 A.M.). At 6 P.M., the
blood stopped. I continued this for eight days, and the blood has never
reappeared (now three months since). The patient is improving, and
auscultation proves the disease has decreased, and I am in hopes to
affect a cure, yet one month since I have been giving them the medicine
they have not spit any blood, although previously one of them never
passed a day without spitting a great quantity. _Calcarea carb._ is an
antidote to the _Acalypha_.
Another transatlantic medical friend writes:--"I hope you obtained some
of the _Acalypha Indica_ while you were here. I have found it perfectly
successful in arresting hæmoptysis in three cases of consumption in the
last stage; I could not perceive any other effect from its use, but the
cessation of the hemorrhagic sputa was, I think, a great advantage."
Its use in my hands has been very satisfactory, but I have only tried it
in similar cases to those already cited. The first instance of my using
it--in a hopeless case of phthisis--a continued and wearisome hæmoptysis
succumbed to its exhibition, and quiet sleep succeeded its use--the
patient eventually died of pulmonary paralysis.
In a case of passive hæmorrhage from the lungs, after _Arnica_ was used
with little benefit, _Acalypha_ benefited, and then failed; after which
the use of _Arnica_ entirely stayed the hæmorrhagic flow. (Perhaps
_Hamamelis_ would have at once cured, but it was not at hand.)[A]
[A] Homoeopathic Review, vol. 1, p. 256.
K., a phthisical patient, had hæmoptysis to a considerable extent; in a
short time his voice failed him; he took half-drop doses of 7th
[decimal] dilution of _Acalypha_ in water every half hour, and in a few
hours the blood spitting left him entirely.
(In 1885 Dr. Peter Cooper, of Wilmington, Delaware, read
a paper on the drug _Acalypha Indica_ of which the
following is an abstract:)
Professor Jones recapitulates as follows: "_Time._ Hæmorrhage occurs in
morning. _Blood._ Bright-red and not profuse in morning; dark and
clotted in afternoon. _Pulse._ Neither quickened nor hard; rather soft
and easily compressible. _Cough._ Violent and in fits at night; patient
has a played-out feeling in the morning and gains in strength as the day
advances.
"_N. B._--Worthy of trial in all pathological hæmorrhages having notedly
a morning exacerbation."
Such is an outline presentation of the drug given us by so eminent an
authority as Professor Jones, of the University of Michigan. It was his
"N. B.," his suggestion that _Acalypha_ was worthy of trial in all
pathological hæmorrhages from any source, providing the morning
aggravation was present, that fixed my attention upon the drug
especially. At the time I had a case of hæmorrhage per rectum that had
baffled me for several months. No remedy had aided the case in the
least, so far as I could see, unless it was Pond's Extract used locally
in the form of injection; and I finally came to the conclusion that the
relief apparently due to the _Hamamelis_ was merely a coincidence. I had
given all the hæmorrhagic remedies I knew of or could hear of. Still the
bleeding came just as often, with increasing severity. Each time the
patient was sure she would "bleed to death," and I was not positive she
would be disappointed. In fact, I was so hopeless that I used to delay
the answer to her summons as long as possible, so that the bleeding
might have time to exhaust itself. She became reduced in flesh and the
hæmorrhagic drugs became reduced in number, until like the nine little
Indians sitting on a gate the last one tumbled off and then there was
none. As soon as I read Dr. Jones' monograph on _Acalypha Indica_, I
determined to try it. She had all the symptoms--bright-red blood in the
morning; dark and clotted in the afternoon and evening; weak and languid
in the forenoon, stronger during the afternoon--except one, _i.e._,
instead of the blood coming from the lungs it came from within the
portals of the anus. I procured the 6x dil. and served it in water. It
gave speedy, almost immediate relief. Each subsequent attack came less
profuse and at longer intervals. She has not had a hæmorrhage now for
two months, while before she was having from seven to one (continuous) a
week. She is gaining in flesh, is in every way improved, and keeps
_Acalypha Indica_ constantly by her.
ACIDUM LACTICUM.
COMMON NAME, Lactic acid.
ORIGIN.--Lactic acid is obtained from sour milk, resulting from the
fermentation of the sugar of milk under the influence of casein.
PREPARATION _for Homoeopathic Use_.--One part by weight of pure lactic
acid is dissolved in 99 parts by weight of alcohol.
(A very complete proving of this remedy will be found in
Allen's _Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica_, but little
use seems to have been made of it, though the following
by Dr. Tybel-Aschersleben, _Allgemeine Hom. Zeitung_,
March 13, 1890, seems to show that it is very efficient
in certain forms of rheumatism.)
We are by no means rich in remedies against arthritic rheumatism, and
those which we do use lack the reputation of being reliable. A new and a
valuable remedy will therefore be a welcome addition to this list. I say
reliable, inasmuch as this remedy is truly homoeopathically indicated
for, according to Foster, of Leitz, Niemeyer's Pathology, 10th edition,
2d vol., pp. 561: "_Lactic acid in large doses and used for a long time
will produce symptoms entirely analogous to arthritic rheumatism_." We
also find mention elsewhere that the use of lactic acid occasioned
rheumatic pains in the thigh.
CLINICAL CASES.
1. A young girl æt. 15 was afflicted with acute arthritic rheumatism,
she received _Acid Lacticum_ 2x dil., a dose every 2 or 3 hours, and was
so much improved in two weeks that the pain had subsided, and for her
remaining weakness _China off._ sufficed.
2. A nine-year-old girl was confined to her bed for three weeks with
acute arthritic rheumatism. _Acid Lacticum 2_ speedily cured her.
3. A miner, B., had been afflicted over six weeks with acute arthritic
rheumatism. The first dose of _Acid Lactic 2_ gave relief and a second
dose cured the man.
4. In a case with swollen and very painful joints one dose of _Acidum
Lactic 2_ sufficed to overcome the pain and the swelling. Against the
remaining weakness _China_ proved efficacious.
5. Arthritic rheumatism of the wrist vanished slowly after using _Acid
Lactic 2_ from two to three weeks.
6. A patient afflicted with arthritic rheumatism for four weeks,
accompanied by copious perspiration, soon mended under the use of _Acid
Lactic 2_ and was entirely cured within two weeks.
7. Even in a case of chronic arthritis with inflation of the Epiphyses
of Metacarpal bones and consequent partial displacement of the fingers,
_Lactic Acid 2_ produced such a decided amelioration that two months
later the report said: all pains are gone even the anchylosis has
disappeared.
(It has also been successfully employed in cases where
the digestive powers are weak and is said to be
preferable to other acids in such cases. It has also been
successfully employed in cases of dyspepsia.)
ÆTHIOPS ANTIMONIALIS.
(This remedy is prepared by triturating together equal
parts of _Æthiops mineralis_ and _Antimonium crudum_; we
may add that the first named consists of a trituration of
equal parts of _Mercurius viv._ and washed flowers of
sulphur. Therefore _Æthiops antimon._ consists of
mercury, crude antimony and sulphur.
The following clinical cases illustrating the use of the
preparation is by Dr. H. Goullon and was published in
Vol. II of the _Zeitschrift fuer Homoeopathie_:)
The following case was cured in a few days by _Æthiops antimonalis_
after having been treated by a homoeopath who strictly followed
Hahnemann's rules, but failed to make an impression beyond a certain
point.
Miss A. inherited from her father, who was reported to have suffered
from laryngitis, a distinct disposition to scrofulosis and tuberculosis.
This was proved two years ago by a bloody cough caused by lung catarrh.
After the lung was affected she suffered from profuse sweats, especially
down the back, but of special interest was the appearance of a "quince
colored" swelling of the size of a pea at the extreme corner of the left
eye with suppuration which threatened the bulbus. A skilled specialist
removed by operation this pus-hearth, which no doubt acted as a
fontanel. The immediate result was a large furuncle under the arm and
the affliction for which I was consulted. A patient presented herself to
me whose appearance was shocking. Numerous parts of her face were
literally covered with thick, elevated fissured scabs. A scrofulent
liquid was oozing out, and the worst were those parts on the side of the
lower lip, the nostrils and the root of the nose. On the whole, a
certain symmetry could be observed in the arrangements of these
frightful diseased products.
This eruption, which according to its nature must be called
herpetic-eczematous, had existed for five months. The patient, who has
red hair, and is between 20 and 30 years old, contracted this disease at
the sight of a fainting sister. This kind of genesis is an established
fact. I remember of reading in Stark's "General Pathology" of an
instance where a mother was affected with eczema of the lips immediately
on seeing her child fall on a knife.
Our patient, however, lost the above mentioned sweats, which proves that
the fright had a metastatic effect. I learned that at first there
appeared very small spots which developed into pustules, infecting half
of the forehead. Scratching aggravated the condition, so that some
places assumed a cup-like appearance, somewhat as favus.
When patient came to me the face was oozing so terribly that the pillow
was thoroughly soaked in the morning, and she suffered greatly. When
asked the nature of the pains she said that they were sometimes itching,
sometimes tensive, and often indescribable, suddenly appearing and
disappearing.
What should be done? Certainly no strictly homoeopathic indication
presented itself since one might think of _Sulphur_, another of
_Arsenicum_, _Silicea_, _Hepar sulphur_, _Causticum_, _Mezereum_, etc.
In such case I have laid down, as a rule for my guidance, never to
experiment at the cost of the patient (and my own as well as
Hahnemann's), but to employ a so-called empirical remedy. I know
_Æthiops antimonialis_ as a very effective remedy through its
recommendation (by the Berlin Society of Homoeopathic Physicians) in
ophthalmia scrofulosa of the worst kind, a fact which I proved myself to
be correct. In this case, also, we find the deepest and most stubborn
disturbance of the organic juices and a subject with every indication of
the worst form of scrofula, ending in lethal cancer--dyscrasia or
tuberculosis.
The patient received the remedy in doses of the 1st centesimal
trituration, every evening and morning, as much as a point of a knife
blade would hold. There was no attempt at external removal of the
eruption, a method so much favored by the allopaths, and yet the simple
internal effort was magical, since after a few days the scabs were dried
up, had fallen off, and the terrible oozing as well as the pain had
ceased. The happy patient presented herself again on Friday, after
having taken the medicine for the first time on Sunday evening. Very
great changes could, indeed, be noticed which justified the hope for a
speedy and total cure.
I again ask all my colleagues which was the principle of healing in this
case? We may soonest think of Schüssler's therapeutic maxim, the
biochemic principle. The definition that this preparation acts as a
blood purifier is not sufficient, and yet it may be accepted as the most
intelligent.
Schoeman triturates the _Æthiops antimonalis_ with _Æthiops mercurialis_
(or _mineralis_), which last consists of equal parts of quicksilver and
sulphur, and says of the product: "It acts analogous to _Æthiops
mercurialis_, but stronger, and is therefore preferred to it in
scrofulous eruptions of the skin, scald, milk-scab, scrofulosis
conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis glandulosa, otorrhoea and
swellings of the glands. It is especially valuable for children as a
mild but nevertheless effective remedy."
AGAVE AMERICANA.
NAT. ORD., Amaryllidaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, American Aloe, Maguey, Century Plant.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are pounded to a pulp and macerated with
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(We find the following concerning this little known
remedy in Volume I, 1851, of the _North American Journal
of Homoeopathy_.)
1. _Agave Americana or Maguey._--[Dr. Perin, U. S. A., stationed at Fort
McIntosh, in Texas, having many cases of scurvy to treat, and finding
the usual allopathic routine ineffectual, was led to make inquiry as to
the domestic remedies in use among the natives. Among others, his
attention was called to the _Agave Americana_ or _American Aloe_, and he
reports to the Surgeon General the following cases in which it was the
drug relied on. We extract from the _N. Y. Jour. Med._:]
Private Turby, of Company "G," 1st U. S. Infantry, was admitted into
hospital March 25th, in the following state: Countenance pale and
dejected; gums swollen and bleeding; left leg, from ankle joint to
groin, covered with dark purple blotches; leg swollen, painful, and of
stony hardness; pulse small, feeble; appetite poor; bowels constipated.
He was placed upon lime juice, diluted and sweetened, so as to make an
agreeable drink, in as large quantities as his stomach would bear; diet
generous as could be procured, consisting of fresh meat, milk, eggs,
etc.; vegetables could not be procured.
April 11th. His condition was but slightly improved; he was then placed
upon the expressed juice of the maguey, in doses of f. [Latin: ezh]ij.
three times daily; same diet continued.
April 17th. Countenance no longer dejected, but bright and cheerful;
purple spots almost entirely disappeared; arose from his bed and walked
across the hospital unassisted; medicine continued.
May 4th. So much improved so as to be able to return to his company
quarters, where he is accordingly sent; medicine continued.
May 7th. Almost entirely well; continued medicine.
Private Hood, "G" Company, 1st U. S. Infantry, was admitted into
hospital April 10th. His general condition did not differ much from
Private Turby's. He had been on the sick report for eight days; had been
taking citric acid drinks, but grew gradually worse up to the time of
his admission, when he was placed upon lime-juice until the 13th, at
which time no perceptible change had taken place. On that date he
commenced the use of the expressed juice of the maguey; same diet as the
case above described.
April 21st. General state so much improved that he was sent to his
company quarters.
May 22d. Well; returned to duty.
Eleven cases, all milder in form than the two just related, were
continued upon the lime-juice; diet the same. On the 21st of April they
exhibited evidences of improvement, but it was nothing when compared
with the cases under the use of the maguey.
Seven cases were under treatment during the same time, making use of
citric acid. On the 21st of April no one had improved, and three were
growing worse.
At this time so convinced was I of the great superiority of the maguey
over either of the other remedies employed that I determined to place
all the patients upon that medicine. The result has proved exceedingly
gratifying; every case has improved rapidly from that date. The
countenance, so universally dejected and despairing in the patients
affected with scurvy, is brightened up by contentment and hope in two
days from the time of its introduction; the most marked evidences of
improvement were observable at every successive visit. From observing
the effects of the maguey in the cases which have occurred in this
command, I am compelled to place it far above that remedy which, till
now, has stood above every other--the lime-juice.
This no doubt will appear strong language, but further experience will
verify it.
The juice of the maguey contains a large amount of vegetable and
saccharine matter, and of itself is sufficiently nutritious to sustain a
patient for days.
This succulent plant grows indigenous in most parts of the State, and,
if I am correctly informed, in New Mexico and California. In Mexico it
is well-known as the plant from which they manufacture their favorite
drink, the "Pulque," and grows in great abundance. As it delights in a
dry sandy soil, it can be cultivated where nothing but the cactus will
grow; for this reason, it will be found invaluable to the army at many
of the western posts, where vegetables cannot be procured.
The manner in which it is used is as follows, viz.:--The leaves are cut
off close to the root, they are placed in hot ashes until thoroughly
cooked, when they are removed, and the juice expressed from them. The
expressed juice is then strained, and may be used thus, or may be
sweetened. It may be given in doses of f. [Latin: ezh]ij. to f. [Latin:
ezh]iij. three times daily.
It is not disagreeable to take, and in every instance it has proved to
agree well with the stomach and bowels.
After the leaves have been cooked, the cortical portion near the root
may be removed, and the white internal portion may be eaten; it appears
to be a wholesome and nutritious food. I have seen muleteers use it in
this way, and they seem to be very fond of it. I have been informed,
upon good authority, that several tribes of Indians in New Mexico make
use of it in the same manner. The use of the leaf in this way, I
believe, will ward off most effectually incipient scorbutus.
(In El Siglo Medico, 1890, Dr. Fernandez Avila reports
the case of a boy, æt. 8, who had been bitten by a
supposedly mad dog on Feb. 18. The wound healed up, but
on July 7th the boy developed all the symptoms of rabies
and on the 17th was so violent that he had to be tied and
had not tasted food for seventy-two hours as all remedies
failed to produce any effect, the doctor, having read
that _Agave Americana_ was efficacious in such cases, and
having none of the tincture at hand, gave the boy a piece
of the plant itself which he greedily ate; it was given
to him as long as he would take it. On the 25th his
symptoms had all abated and he was dismissed cured.)
AMBROSIA ARTEMISIFOLIA.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAMES, Rag Weed, Hog Weed.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves and flowers are pounded to a pulp and
macerated with two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following concerning this little used remedy was
contributed to the HOMOEOPATHIC RECORDER, 1889, by Dr.
C. F. Millspaugh, at that time the editor):
Of late years much attention has been called to the species of the genus
Ambrosia (the Rag Weeds) as being, through the agency of their pollen,
the cause of hay fever. Many people afflicted with this troublesome
complaint lay the charge directly at its doors, while others claim that,
in all probability, it is the direct cause, as their sufferings always
commence during the anthesis of the plant. The general impression,
however, both among the laity and the medical fraternity, has been that
the effect was a purely mechanical one, the nasal mucous membranes
being directly irritated by the pollen dust in substance. If this were
true, would not every one suffer from hay fever? Impressed with the
above report, I had the pleasure of curing two attacks while writing my
work upon "American Medicinal Plants," in which the above species
figures. Since the publication of the work, all the cases I have had of
the disease (four) have yielded beautifully to the 3d centesimal potency
of the drug.
The four cases, Mr. B----, Mrs. I----, Mr. C---- and Miss P----,
presented the following generic symptoms: Inflammation of the mucous
membranes of the nose, adventing yearly in the autumn. At first dryness,
then watery discharges, finally involving the frontal sinuses and the
conjunctival membrane. In Mr. B. and Miss P. the irritation extended to
the trachea and bronchial tubes, in Mr. B. amounting to severe asthmatic
attacks. In all cases the coryza was very severe, and in previous years
lasted, in spite of all treatment, from four to eight weeks. Mr. B. has
found relief from _Ambrosia_ [Latin: ezh], three times a day, in from
four to six days, for three successive years, with no return of the
trouble in the same year; Mrs. I. has been relieved in from two to four
days for two years; Mr. C. gets immediate relief in twenty-four hours
(three seasons); Miss P., in this her first experience with _Ambrosia_,
found entire relief from six doses.
AMYGDALUS PERSICA.
NAT. ORD., Rosaceæ. Amygdaleæ.
SYNONYM, Persica vulgaris.
COMMON NAME, Peach.
PREPARATION.--The tincture is made by pounding to a pulp the fresh bark
of the twigs and macerating in two parts by weight of alcohol. The
infusion is made by taking of the bark one part and of boiling Distilled
Water ten parts. Infuse in a covered vessel for one hour and strain.
(Outside the old herbalists the virtues of the bark and
leaves of the peach tree have received little attention.
The following contributed by Dr. C. C. Edson in the
_Chicago Medical Times_, 1890, however, aroused some
attention):
Some ten years ago I had a little patient whose principle difficulty
seemed to be an inability to retain anything whatever upon its stomach.
It would vomit up promptly everything I gave it, and I had given it
everything I had ever heard of and also had eminent council, but it was
no go; I was literally at my rope's end. At this juncture an elderly
lady neighbor, one of "the good old mothers," timidly suggested an
infusion of peach bark. Well, as it was any port in storm, I started to
find the coveted bark, which I was fortunate enough to procure after a
long tramp through the country and two feet of snow. I prepared an
infusion, gave the little patient a few swallows, and presto! the deed
was done, the child cured. * * It fills all the indications of the
leaves and many more. It fills the indications of hydrocyanic acid,
ingluvin, ipecac or any other anti-emetic. It will more frequently allay
the vomiting of pregnancy than any remedy I have ever tried. And nearly
every case of retching or vomiting (except it be reflex) will promptly
yield under its use. * * * For an adult the dose is five drops, and in
urgent cases repeat every five to ten minutes until the symptoms
subside, after which give it at intervals of one to four hours as
indicated. After ten years' use I am thoroughly convinced that any
physician once giving it a thorough trial will never again be without
it. Of course it is not a specific for all "upheavals of the inner man,"
but will I think meet more indications than any other known remedy of
its class.
(This brought out the following from Dr. Kirkpatrick in
the same journal):
I must say that I feel a little plagued after reading what Dr. Edson
says about _Amygdalus_; he has taken the wind out of my sails, but I
must give my experience. Quite a number of years since a good friend in
the profession called on me, and asked me to visit one of his patients,
honestly stating that he thought she would die. I went a few miles in
the country to see her. She had been vomiting blood for two or three
days, and, notwithstanding she had had oxalate of cerium, bismuth,
pepsin, ingluvin and other good remedies, everything she swallowed would
come up, so that she looked more like a corpse than a living being. I
ordered them to go out and get me some of the young switches of the last
year's growth from the peach tree; I had them pound them to loosen the
bark; I then nearly filled a tumbler with this bark, then covered it
with water. I ordered her a teaspoonful to be taken after each time she
vomited, one dose being given then, and one every hour after the
vomiting stopped. The result was, she vomited no more and made a good
recovery.
* * * In recent cases I have very rarely had to give the second
prescription to relieve morning sickness. I was visiting a doctor in
Quincy; while there he told me he was afraid he would have either to
make a lady abort or let her die, from the fact that he had failed to
stop her vomiting. I happened to have a sample of the medicine with me;
I gave it to him, he took it to the lady and in a few days he reported
her well. I may say, like Dr. Edson, it is a standard remedy with me. I
have found it very useful in hæmorrhage from the bladder. Some of my
lady patients find it very good in nervous headache. I have used the
tincture prepared from the leaves, but it is far inferior to that
prepared from the bark of the young shoots. A medical friend was going
to see a lady who had morning sickness; he told me he had thought of
advising her to use popcorn; I handed him a small bottle of my
_Amygdalus_ and told him to take a couple of ears of corn in his pocket
and try both. The next time I met him he said my medicine had done the
work.
(Dr. Oliver S. Haines, of Philadelphia, also contributed
the following experience):
Apropos of the remarks made by Dr. C. C. Edson upon the efficacy of
infusion of peach _bark_ in the gastric irritability of children, we
might mention the following authentic case:
An infant, during its second summer, had been much reduced by acute
dyspeptic diarrhoea. A marked feature of this case was the persistent
vomiting of all food. The stomach would tolerate no form of baby food
with or without milk. The child's parents had consulted some eminent
physicians of our city. The child had been treated homoeopathically.
None of the remedies chosen seemed to produce the desired effect. After
a consultation it was deemed best to send the infant to the mountains.
The change aggravated its condition. While the parents hourly expected
their baby would die, it was suggested that they send for an old
practitioner living in the mountains near at hand. This man had a local
reputation as a saver of dying babies. His prescription was as follows:
Two or three fresh peach _leaves_ were to be put in a cup of boiling
water, the infant to receive a "drink" of this infusion at frequent
intervals. The effects of this remedy were as remarkable in this case as
in the case narrated by Dr. Edson. Our child soon retained food and
eventually recovered.
It seems this ancient disciple of Esculapius had long used peach leaves
and regarded them as possessing specific virtues.
ANAGALIS ARVENSIS.
NAT. ORD., Primulaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Scarlet Pimpernel. Poor Man's Weather-Glass.
PREPARATION.--The fresh plant, of the scarlet-flowered variety, gathered
before the development of the flowers, is pounded to a pulp and
subjected to pressure. The expressed juice is mingled with an equal part
by weight of alcohol.
(This paper was arranged from the provings by Dr. W. H.
A. Fitz for the Organon and Materia Medica Society of
Philadelphia, and published in the _Medical Advance_,
1891)
We think of this remedy for the following clinical indications:
Hypochondriasis, mania, epilepsy. Amblyopia, cataract, spots on the
cornea. Syphilis, hepatitis and indurated liver, visceral obstruction,
inflammation of rectum (horses), hemorrhoids, inflammation of kidneys,
gleet, copious urination (horses), gravel, syphilis with deranged mind,
nosebleed, pain in small of back, gonorrhoea, amenorrhoea, cancer of
mammea, sterility (cows), consumption, lumbago, itching, gout, bloody
sweat (murrain of calves), dropsy, ill-conditioned ulcers, snake bites
and hydrophobia, promotes the expulsion of splinters, inflammation of
stomach (horses).
It is characterized by great tickling and itching. We find tickling and
pricking in the urethra, in left ear; on tip of nose; at soft palate as
from something cold; in symphysis pubis; as from a brush against
epiglottis (with hoarseness); pain in right leg and at os illium;
itching on vertex and occiput; of eyelids; in left ear; on cheek bones;
itching and tickling stitches on left corner of mouth and upper lip; in
rectum; at anus after evacuation of bowels; on left side of chest,
principally on nipple; on neck and scapula; on inside of upper arm, just
above elbow joint; on back of right hand; tetter on hands and fingers.
In fact, great itching all over the skin.
HEADACHE just over supra-orbital ridges, with eructations and rumbling
in bowels; spasmodic lancination in temples, extending to eyes; pressive
aching in forehead and occiput from a current of air blowing on him;
intense headache and nausea, with pains throughout the body. Occiput:
dull or tearing pains and inclination to vomit; violent headache, with
hard, knotty stools; knocking pains in left side; dull pain all night.
PAINS: Teeth pain as from cold.
STITCHES: In scalp, over left ear and on occiput; in eyeballs; in
temples; in left corner of mouth; in right ear; in left side, region of
fourth and fifth ribs; in left tibia, when sitting, when moving leg or
foot; disturb sleep.
NEURALGIC PAINS: In right cheek bones.
Rheumatic, gouty pains.
TEARING PAINS: In occiput; in right cheek bone; in upper molars; in
spermatic cords; in muscles of left leg; disturb sleep.
DRAWING PAINS: In right testicle and cord; tensive drawing in left
shoulder to neck, returns when lifting or stretching arms; in muscles of
upper arm; especially when moving hands or arm in writing; in right
carpal and metacarpal bones (sometimes left), returning at regular
intervals; also tearing; in muscles of left leg.
PRESSING PAINS: In forehead and occiput; with stitching in eyeballs; in
eyes; on lungs; in sacrum.
DULL PAIN: In occiput; in hollow tooth, with trembling of heart; in
upper molars; in gums, accompanied by hard stools.
CRAMPS: In right thenar; ceasing there as it goes to the left.
VIOLENT PAIN: As if caused by external pressure on occiput, behind the
left ear; in sacrum when lifting, they take her breath; in muscles of
forearm, inside near elbow joint; in carpal and metacarpal bones,
extending to shoulder; in palm of right hand, extending between thumb
and forefinger, as if a pin were thrust through.
SENSATION: In lungs as if struck by a cushion full of pins; anxiety in
chest; skin of forehead feels too tight; tension in bend of left knee,
as if swollen or sore. Cold or chilly sensation on right frontal
protuberance; in teeth, as if something cold were placed on tongue; at
soft palate, as from touch of something cold; chilly, trembling;
scratching in throat after eating; when reading aloud.
Soreness on chest.
Burning in urethra.
Heat rising to head.
Dryness in throat.
Things seem to float to and fro; he cannot write.
PAIN: In right ear, as if meatus auditorius were obstructed; in facial
muscles, in lungs, in the front and the back up to the scapulæ; in right
side of back, followed by violent sneezing; in upper arm, outside, near
the shoulder; pain and twitching in the left thumb; in bend of left
knee; in upper part of metatarsus of right foot; in great and little toe
of left foot in morning; in sole of left foot.
Hence we find under--
LOCALITY AND DIRECTION--below upwards.
Pains in upper limbs.
RIGHT: Chilly sensation in frontal protuberance; pain in the eyeball; in
palm of hand; in about knee and tibia; in foot; pain and stitches in
ear; tickling pains in leg and os ilii; drawing in testes and cord;
pressure on lungs; itching on scapula; weak, lame feeling in leg.
LEFT: Knocking inside of occiput; pain in knee and posterior muscles of
leg; in tibia; in foot; glittering before eye; stitches over ear; in
corner of mouth (and itching); tensive drawing from shoulder; drawing in
muscles of leg; itching in ear; on side of chest; tight feeling in bend
of knee.
MOTION: In bed: trembling of heart with toothache; chilliness.
POSITION: Sitting with legs crossed; pain in and about right knee;
stretching arm; tensive drawing from left shoulder up to neck; lifting;
tensive drawing in left shoulder; pain in sacrum.
REST: Walking: pressure on right lung; motion: of leg or foot
< stitches in and left tibia.
TIME: Night: dull pain in occiput; neuralgia in cheek; tickling at
palate; erections.
Morning: burning in urethra when urinating; pain in feet.
Towards evening: spells of chilliness.
Evening: glittering before left eye; trembling, anxious feeling in
chest; toothache.
AGGRAVATIONS: Pain right eyeball < from touching lids; burning in
urethra when urinating, mostly in mornings; violent pain in sacrum when
lifting a slight load; tensive drawing, ascending from left shoulder to
nape of neck; < raising and extending arm; pain in right eyeball < from
touch.
AMELIORATIONS: Coffee relieves headache; burning in urethra before and
during erection, _ceases_ during coition.
CAUSES: Mental work causes great prostration (_Picric acid_); when
cutting with shears, cramps in ball of thumb; pressure on right lung
after eating, or when walking; pressing in eyes after headache;
obstruction and pain in right ear after pressure in eyes.
MENTAL STATE: Exhilarated, mind very active; everything gives pleasure.
NOSE: Nosebleed, violent sneezing, expelling lumps of yellow phlegm;
running of water from nose; copious secretion of yellow phlegm.
MOUTH: Viscid saliva in mouth, raised by coughing; water in mouth with
tearing pains in molars.
ABDOMEN: Distended with wind; weak feeling in abdomen.
STOOLS: Piles; passes offensive flatus; stools soft and pappy; watery
diarrhoea; stools hard, like stone, knotty.
URINE: Dark, straw-colored; orifice seems agglutinated; presses to
urinate; urine escapes in divided streams.
SKIN: Rough, dry; dry, bran-like tetter in rings; groups of small
vesicles, smarting and itching, oozing a yellowish-brown lymph, which
soon turns into a scurf, new vesicles appearing beneath.
ULCERS and swelling on joints; promotes expulsion of splinters
(_Hepar_).
RELATIONSHIP: Collateral relation. _Cyclamen._ Similar to _Coffee_
(joyous, excited); _Picric acid_ (prostration after mental exertion);
_Cyclamen_ (sneezing); _Lithia carb._ (rough skin, ringworm); _Sepia_,
_Tellur._ (ringworm); _Pulsatilla_ (chilliness; catarrhs); smelling of
_Rhus_, and, an hour later, taking _Col._, relieved sacral pains. _Rhus_
relieved swollen gums.
ARSENICUM BROMATUM.
COMMON NAMES, Arsenous or Arsenious Bromide; Arsenic Tribromide.
PREPARATION.--Add one drachm each Arsenious acid, Carbonate of Potassium
and Tartar to eight ounces of Distilled Water; boil until entirely
dissolved; after cooling add sufficient water to make eight ounces. Then
add two drachms of pure Bromine. _Clemens._
(The following paper was translated, 1888, from the
German (_Deutsche Clinic_, March, 1859) of Dr. Th.
Clemens, by the late Dr. Samuel Lilienthal):
Arsenious acid, Arsenic blanc, Arsenic oxide, Flowers of Arsenic (AsO_3)
is commonly used as the only preparation in which it could be
assimilated. In the Solutio Fowleri we find a combination with Kali
carbonicum e Tartaro, a combination which allows to the Arsenious acid
its full destructive power. Now comes Spiritus Angelicæ comp. and the
pure chemical preparation smells like Theriac, but it ought hardly ever
be allowed to add something to a pure chemical preparation in order to
give it taste, color, and use. This Spir. Angel. comp. is made up of
Anglica, Siordium, Juniper berries, Valerian, Camphor, and Alcohol, and
Solutio Fowleri is prepared even to this day in the same manner, and
ought therefore be expelled from every pharmacopoeia, especially as it
is sure to spoil in the pharmacies if kept too long on the shelves.
Looking, therefore, for a better preparation, I prescribe now for the
last decade: [Symbol: Rx]. Arsen. albi. depurat. pulv., Kali carb. e
Tartar. [=a][=a] [Latin: ezh]j., coque cum Aqua destill. lb 1/2 ad
perfect. solutionem, refriger., adde aqua destil. q. s. ut fiat solutio
[Latin: ezh]xii., Dein adde Brom. pur. [Latin: ezh]ii. This solution,
which during first eight days is frequently shaken, becomes colorless in
the fourth week, and is then ready for use. It must be kept in a dark,
cool place.
I will now give my reason for choosing Bromine as a combination. The
study of mineral waters is an old pet of mine; many of them contain
Arsenic in combination with Bromine, and are all well known for their
roborating and alterating qualities. I begun, therefore, my experiments
with minute doses of _Brom. arsen._; gradually these were increased, and
I felt astonished what large doses were well borne, and how long I could
use this preparation without injurious consequences. After a few drops
of my solution I could prove Arsenic in all secretions, an experiment
easily made by Marsh's test. Experiments on animals with toxic doses of
either solution (Clemens and Fowler) showed that the same quantity
_Arsenicum brom._ is less poisonous (one has to be careful with the
selection of animals, as many of them, especially ruminants, bear very
large doses of Arsenic without injury). My preparation gives a rapid,
not destructive, but roborating action on every part of the body.
In doses of two to four drops daily, always to be taken in a full glass
of water, it always shows its specific action as an antipsoricum.
Herpetic eruptions and syphilitic excrescences or exanthemata dry up and
heal up, while simultaneously the relaxed and thoroughly infected body
steadily increases in turgor vitals. Glandular tumors and indurations of
dyscrasic origin, where any other treatment has failed, are scattered by
the long-continued use of my preparation. I have in suitable cases given
it for years without noticing any hurtful sequelæ, and after my patients
were cured I kept them under observation for years afterwards, and know,
therefore, that nothing injurious followed. This cannot be said of the
usual arsenical preparations, and old Heim, a great admirer of Arsenic,
opposed a lengthy use of it; he rather preferred larger doses, which is
rather a dangerous procedure. Given for a long time for carcinoma, it
stops the rapid progress of this fearful disease, and though at the same
time Chloride of arsenic was used externally, a real cure remained an
impossibility. My best successes were in obstinate cases of lues
inveterata, in the first stages of tabes dorsalis (ataxie locomotrice),
in the reconvalescence from exhausting acute diseases, in gastric
suppurations, inactivity of bowels, tardy digestion, constipation. In
cases where _Chininum sulph._ failed in intermittent fevers, I prescribe
_Brom. arsen._ twice daily, four drops, each time in a full glass of
water, gradually diminishing it to one daily dose, and in four weeks
even the most obstinate cases yielded to this treatment. The patient
feels encouraged by his increasing vigor, the fever-cakes disappear, the
bowels move regularly, and appetite leaves nothing to be desired. Those
mean obstinate cases of intermittens larvata, often appearing in the
form of unbearable neuralgiæ, yield more rapidly to it than to the
Quinine. It is often quite astonishing what good results can be obtained
by the daily use of only one drop of this solution, kept up for a very
long time in dyscrasic constitutions, who spent a fortune to regain
their health and failed with every other treatment. Its full solubility
and rapid assimilation are the reason that it can be used without
injury, but it must be taken largely diluted. Let me give you a few
cases for elucidation.
St., 46 years old, contracted syphilis several years ago and was
relieved of it by mercurial treatment and Zittman's decoction. About six
years ago he felt out of sorts, and a papular eruption appeared on
forehead, temples, and especially at the root of the nose. Though
treatment was immediately instituted, still in a few weeks the face of
the patient was covered by an ugly, foul-smelling crust. Cod-liver oil
was now taken internally, and applied externally till the scuffs fell
off and the eruption concentrated on three points. For six months that
treatment was kept up, but after being omitted for a few weeks, the
eruption spread again to its former extent. Every treatment was tried in
rotation without the least benefit. In the spring 1856 he entered my
clinic. In the centre of the forehead, at the root of the nose, on both
eyebrows, on the temples and right cheek there are moist herpetic
eruptions covered with crusts, exuding on least pressure an acrid ichor
and easily bleeding. Around these eruptions the skin is injected,
reddened, interspersed with a large network of veins. Cough and
expectoration hint to a beginning of tuberculosis, an heirloom in the
family. Little appetite, disturbed digestion, tardy defecation, and
evening fever. He is ordered Solutio arsen. brom. twice a day, four
drops in a glass of water, and already after two weeks the eruption
begins to dry up, appetite returns, and bowels are regular. A generous
diet and fresh meat several times a day are accessories to an arsenical
cure. After two months two crusts fall off and the skin under them is
soft, shining, somewhat red. About July all eruption had gone, and the
cough greatly improved. A few months ago I saw the patient again, and I
feel sure that the disease is eradicated.
Miss W., 42 years old, passed her childhood in the West Indies, and
brought from there a peculiar skin disease. When I saw her for the first
time her features looked old for her age, skin gray and sallow, hair
gray, rough, full of dandruff, and moisture oozing from the ears and
forehead. The scalp feels hard and thickened. The cervical glands are
indurated all around the neck. On the left chest an herpetic eruption of
the size of a dollar, and on the mamma a hard tumor of the size of a
fist. For a year past this tumor began to be painful and sensitive to
pressure, and my advice was sought for relief of all her ailments,
especially as her hands were also in a fearful state, where the eruption
looked as if she had the itch. The nails were discolored, knobby, easily
bleeding and covered with a gluey eruption. She had to wear and to
change gloves every day. For nine years she never entered society, as
the exhalation from her body disgusted even herself, and was hardly
bearable, though sponging the whole body and daily renewal of linen was
strictly adhered to. In such an obstinate chronic psoric case treatment
with small doses is at first necessary, and _Arsen. brom._, two drops
twice daily, ordered, and her cold bath continued. After four weeks the
dose was doubled, and after nine weeks the first glimmer of improvement
could be seen. The tumor in the mamma was smaller and painless, and
where before it was so sensitive as to be covered with oil-silk she
could bear now the pressure of her clothing. After four months steady
continuation of four drops twice daily, she was able to go without
gloves. The scalp also was cleaner, less hard, and the ears more dry.
But with the return of spring the eruption gained new vigor. The head
and hands became covered with suppurating nodules and small exuding
herpetic spots, which became confluent and itched terribly, a most
classic picture of the herpes of the ancients. Though for years she had
been accustomed to an aggravation in the spring, she never witnessed it
in such severity. I now omitted the drug and ordered head and hands
frequently washed with cold water. After eight days the storm calmed
down, and it was remarkable to witness the steady decrease of the
induration in the cervical glands and mamma. After four weeks the old
treatment was renewed. During the summer months she took regularly her
four drops twice daily, and in the beginning of autumn the dose was
reduced to two drops, and so continued during the whole winter. The
following spring crisis was the mildest one she ever experienced. During
the summer she took her four drops, during fall and winter two drops.
The third spring aggravation came with full severity, but lasted only
three days, when desquamation followed. Another year of the same
treatment and the fourth spring eruption showed itself slightly only in
small papules behind the ears and between the fingers, and were hardly
worth noticing. She now felt a slight weakness in right arm, which from
childhood up was rather weaker than the other one. After the
disappearance of the induration in the mamma the arm seemed to regain
its former strength and the patient felt therefore rather astonished at
the reappearance of the weakness when its cause seemed removed, but it
yielded readily to a mild constant current applied a few times, and some
faradic shocks each time from the shoulder through the arm, and in
September she went to Nizza in order to use sea-bathing, with the advice
to take for a whole year one drop daily of her solution. She considered
herself now well, but still her skin was flabby, especially on the hands
where the epidermis often desquamated, and the nails remained hard,
brittle and without lustre.
I may here remark that I found repeatedly Arsenic in the urine of such
patients. A case of obstinate intermittens larvata, characterized by
vomiting of chyme, also yielded to _Arsen. brom._ One case more must
suffice. A young man went to America but failed in his trade, and became
barkeeper on a Mississippi steamer, which place he had to give up on
account of intermittent fever. We find him then as hostler in Chicago
where he was laid up with an attack of cholera, and as he did not fully
recover his strength he returned to the old home again. When I saw him
for the first time the diagnosis seemed to be first stage of Bright's
disease. Anamnesis, ætiology, and present state, albumen in the urine,
justified the diagnosis. Patient is pale, bloated, oedema pedum, no
appetite, white tongue, thin feverish pulse, swollen spleen, watery
diarrhoea alternating with constipation. Every drug produced vomiting,
and he perfectly abhorred the old Quinine powders. I ordered four drops
_Arsen. brom._ and a full meat diet. Improvement followed with the
continuance of the treatment. After three weeks the spleen was reduced
in size, his face showed better color, hardly any oedema. To
strengthen the skin he was advised to take pineneedle baths, and after
three months' treatment he could be discharged, a well man. He was
advised to take for a few months one drop daily of his solution, and to
take often an airing in the pineries which abound around Frankfort.
Though he returned to America the latest reports from him are that he
feels again as well as ever, but he keeps his drops about him.
_Arsen. brom._ is also a powerful remedy in diabetes mellitus and
insipidus, for I cured cases with it where the patient had already been
reduced from 138 pounds to 98, and where the urine could be condensed,
by boiling, into syrupy consistency. Mixed diet may be allowed, though I
insist upon large quantities of fresh meat during treatment with
_Bromide of arsenic_. Let the patient take three drops thrice daily in a
glass of water, and after a week the insatiable burning thirst will be
quenched, and these doses must be continued till the quantity of sugar
in the urine is reduced, when the drug might be taken twice a day and
continued for a long time. A diabetic patient needs fresh pure air if he
wishes to get well; confinement in a room or in the office prevents the
action of any treatment, for it needs ozone to reduce the sugar of the
blood into carbonic acid and water.
ASPIDOSPERMINE.[B]
[B] _Aspidospermine_ or _Quebrachine_ is derived from the
Chilian "white Quebracho" (_Aspidospermia Quebracho_). At
Santigo de Chile the bark is used as a substitute for
Cinchona as a febrifuge. The alkaloid forms salts with
Citric, Hydrochloric and Sulphuric acids.
PREPARATION.--Trituration of the alkaloid.
(Dr. Edwin M. Hale communicated the following concerning
this alkaloid to the _Homoeopathic Recorder_ for 1889):
_Dyspnoea._--This alkaloid is from the South American
tree--_Quebracho_. The maximum dose, according to Merck, is 1/10th
grain. I use the 1/500th trituration, which I find most efficient in
doses of 2 to 5 grains.
CASE I.--A boy of ten. The attacks of spasmodic dyspnoea were a sequel
of hay fever. The aggravation was at night, when lying down, or sleep
was impossible. I tried _Ipecac_ and _Arsenic_, but with no effect.
_Aralia_, also. (I never had any curative or palliative effects from
_Aralia_.)
Prescribed _Aspidospermine_, 1/500th trituration, 2 grains every two
hours, all day. The night was comfortable, could lie down and sleep.
Continued the remedy for four days, when he was so much better that the
medicine was suspended.
CASE II.--Cardiac dyspnoea in a man of 60. Valvular disease,
hypertrophy with dilatation. Distressing difficulty of breathing from
the slightest exertion; had to sit upright day and night. Face livid
from venous stasis. _Strophanthus_ regulated and strengthened the
heart's action, but only slightly benefited the dyspnoea. Five grains
of _Aspidospermine_, 1/500th trituration, every two hours effected a
marvellous change. He could walk about the house and out to his carriage
with but little discomfort. He has now continued it three weeks.
Observes no unpleasant symptoms. Can lie on his back and right side and
is very grateful for the relief. It seems to act as well as an aid to
_Digitalis_, or _Strophanthus_, in cardiac dyspnoea.
AURUM MURIATICUM NATRONATUM.
COMMON NAME.--Chloride of Gold and Sodium.
PREPARATION.--A mixture composed of equal parts of dry chloride of Gold
and chloride of Sodium, triturated in the usual way.
(The following is an extract from a paper by Dr. H.
Goullon in the _Allg. Hom. Zeit._, bd. 114, No. 12, on
the therapeutics of this remedy):
Never have I observed gold so startling in its action as in the
following case: The patient is a type of the scrofulous habit; reddish
hair, pasty complexion, thick nose, coarse features. About thirty years
of age. He has had the misfortune of being infected by syphilis, and the
still greater ill-luck of being treated by mercurial inunctions and
iodine to excess. All these circumstances conjoined helped to produce a
complication of morbid conditions which would put medical art to a
severe test. Let us recall the region in which gold makes such brilliant
cures, and we find it especially suitable in an uncommon swelling of the
left testicle. In this case I do not exaggerate, when I say that the
scrotum was as large as a gourd of moderate size and the tumor was four
or five times larger in circumference than the right testicle, which was
also swollen. The entire mass simulated an oblong, heavy weight, like
those one meets with in old-fashioned clocks, and could hardly find
space in the capacious suspensory.
The skin was also involved. On the elbow was a wide-spread herpetic
eruption; on different parts of the body were gummy indurations; the ear
discharged; in short, the many characteristic manifestations of the
syphilitic poison were to be seen throughout the cutaneous and mucous
systems. There were also ulcerous formations in the oral cavity and on
the sides of the tongue.
After about four weeks the patient again set foot upon the floor,
saying: 'The drops have done wonders.' And indeed the influence upon the
testicles was so striking that now the right, which was formerly the
smaller, seemed the larger, without having actually at all increased in
size. Not the less remarkable had been the action of gold on the general
condition. The patient, formerly irritable and uneasy, is cheerful and
comfortable; enjoys sound sleep, whereas before he was disturbed with
morbid dreams; has lost his previous debility and disgust for
everything; and says that his digestive power is quite a different
thing. He assimilates articles of diet which he did not formerly dare to
take, unless he wished to suffer with flatulence, gastric acidity and
vomiting. Among other things punch, which he 'could not even smell,'
agrees well.
But, evidently, the mode of administering gold in such cases is not a
matter of indifference. And although I have only recently published a
cure with high potencies (in which I subsequently corrected the mistake
of the 100th _Dec._ for the _Centes._, which was what I used of the
_Natrum muriaticum_), I cannot commit myself to high potencies in
syphilitic complications. Experience in these cases is always in favor
of substantial doses. But, as we shall soon see, these proportionally
massive and heavy doses are always quite out of the allopathic
posological range, and even on this ground one must set boundaries, and
seek for the conversion of the traditional school. By two or three
clinical experiences of this sort many a Saul would become a Paul in
spite of all former prejudices, _vis inertia_, and most tormenting
skepticism. One-half grain _Aurum muriaticum natronatum_ was dissolved
in 6 grms. Spiritus vini, but of this first 6 drops are again put into a
wineglass of water, of which the patient takes a teaspoonful thrice
daily.
(Dr. Tritschler, of the Gynæcological Clinic of Tübingen,
furnishes the following on the use of this remedy in
diseases of women. From _Allg. Hom. Zeit._, bd. 94. Nos.
17. 18, 19):
Permit me now to specify some practical instances of the curative powers
of _Aurum_, and especially of _Aurum muriaticum natronatum_, in
reference to gynæcology.
CHRONIC METRITIS.
The first case is that of a woman with chronic metritis and prolapsus
uteri. Hydrarg. chlorat. mit. was given at first, which acted favorably
on the inflammation, but whose further use was prevented by its giving
rise to salivation. The intumescence of the uterus continued about the
same. Chloride of gold entirely reduced the chronic inflammation, and
restored the uterus to its natural position without external means.
INDURATION OF UTERUS.
The second case was an unmarried woman at the climacteric, the vaginal
portion of whose uterus showed an induration which disappeared during
the administration of chloride of gold.
HYSTERICAL SPASMS.
The third case was a woman with periodical attacks of hysterical spasms,
which involved the entire body, with unconsciousness lasting several
hours, asthma, palpitation, etc., beginning with a sense of coldness,
ascending from the abdomen, and perceptible even to the bystanders.
Sometimes the attack began with pulsation through the occiput.
Examination showed an inflamed uterus, filling not only the true pelvis,
and interfering with urination and defecation, but the enlarged uterus
perceptible through the thick abdominal walls above the pubes. At the
end of seven months, _Aur. mur. nat._ had entirely reduced the swelling.
The woman has enjoyed good health for several years, quite free from the
so-called hysteria.
INDURATION OF CERVIX.
It happened that a woman presented an induration of the cervix, together
with a remarkable softening in the posterior uterine wall. The result of
treatment with chloride of gold was, that in proportion to the decrease
of the induration there was an increase in the consistency of the
softened posterior wall. The woman, who had been married for three years
and childless, became pregnant for the first time and has since borne
several children. With this experience, the Gold-chloride was also given
for a softening of the atrophied cervical canal, in one case until it
was curved at right angles to the body of the uterus; also in a diffused
softening of the uterine tissues, with the result that the hitherto
sterile woman, after toning up the uterine tissue, attained the joy of
motherhood. * * * * *
Habitual abortion and premature labor recurring at about the same month
of pregnancy generally depended upon induration in some portion of the
uterus, which, preventing its natural expansion during gestation, gives
rise to premature expulsion of the foetus. By the use of _Aur. mur.
nat._ before and during pregnancy, the absorption of this induration
will conduce to the proper termination of parturition.
A swelling of the ovary, reaching as far as the umbilicus, I have cured
with _Aur. mur. nat._, and have improved others of considerable extent
very decidedly. Martini has cured five cases of ovarian dropsy in the
greatest possible degree with the same remedy.
Ulcers of the os and the vaginal portion, which had resulted from
inflammation and induration, some as large as a dollar, and of a
gangrenous character, were healed by the use of gold, without any
topical applications.
The profession considers ulceration and induration of the uterus
incurable. This dogma of theirs is based on the fact that the usual
change, the disturbance of nutrition, can neither be remedied nor
hindered in its advance. Now since ulcers are generally found only in an
advanced stage of softening and induration, it is conceivable why the
school--seeking a cure solely in the use of local means--turns away
almost entirely from the employment of internal remedies. According to
the opinions of the specialists the use of different remedies, partly
insoluble, partly soluble, pure or in combination, permanent or
transient, is indicated. Others apply ointments on sponges to the
surface of the ulcers, keeping them in contact with it by tampons.
Others again prescribe injections, and with these expect to attain the
end. Finally, glowing-hot iron, the galvano-cautery, or the knife and
scissors remove partially or entirely the vaginal portion.
Now, if the malady continues to thrive on the wounds made by these
procedures, if old cicatrices break out again, if too a permanent cure
is out of the question, there is ground for supposing that the _product_
of illness, the ulcer, may be cauterized, burnt and cut away, but that
the cause, the diathesis, the tendency to it, can only be removed by
internal medication. * * * * *
CHRONIC METRITIS.
One day an official in Dresden brought his wife to me, who was 41 years
of age. The couple, all of whose children had died soon after birth,
longed once more for children. The woman had aborted several times, and
both were intelligent enough to see that everything could not be right
with the sexual organs, and even begged for a gynæcological examination.
The result was in a few words: inflammation of both lips of the uterus,
a thickening of the cervical canal with a swelling of the posterior
uterine wall as hard as cartilage, and retroversio uteri. Menstruation
too early, dysmenorrhoea, blood dark, tarry, passing in clots.
Yellowish, fetid leucorrhoea. Stools retained, appetite changeable;
pains in the broad ligaments on both sides during rest as well as on
exertion. The so-called "facies uterina"--weeps much. Frequent
exclamations on the distastefulness of life since the death of all her
children, and on account of her present childlessness. Should I register
in my journal in the beginning of a scirrhus? I wrote simply: metritis
chronica; intumescentia labiorum orificii et colli uteri.
Prognosis, not unfavorable as far as regards the swelling, after my
already well-tested experience with _Aur. mur. nat._ But how about the
removal of sterility acquired in her 41st year. I was more cautious
about this. The cure took six months, and was not only accompanied by
absorption of the affected parts, but the woman became pregnant in good
time and gave birth to a boy with comparative comfort. Thus would the
wishes of the worthy couple have been fulfilled, if their joy had not
been banished once more by the death of the child in four weeks from an
attack of eclampsia.
ANTEVERSION WITH PROLAPSUS.
I now come in conclusion to a gratifying case, which I relate partly
because we make ourselves guilty of sins of omission in certain
instances through neglect of the needful investigation. A woman in her
twentieth year, quite healthy, had been delivered with forceps for the
first time two years before, nominally on account of deficient labor
pains. There was nothing unusual about the confinement. Immediately
after the first getting up, she began to have constant pain in the right
side of the uterine region, and soon a feeling "as if something would
fall out of the parts." The family physician paid no attention to these
persistent complaints for a whole year, until finally a constantly
increasing leucorrhoea demanded an examination. He now expressed
himself as unable to make a diagnosis alone, and the lady was referred
to a celebrated gynæcologist in Leipsic. Cauterizations were now
undergone at the professor's house at short intervals, and further
treatment of a similar character was to be carried out at the patient's
own house, which was, however, discontinued when the patient was
referred to me. Examination showed: metritis following upon
sub-involution of the uterus, anteversion with prolapsus of the whole
organ. Both uterine lips were swollen, and on examination with the
speculum a greenish-yellow discharge was seen to flow from the uterus.
All local treatment was discontinued, the woman received for the first
time in April, 1876, _Aur. mur. nat._, and in June, 1876, again became
pregnant; the treatment with gold was continued until the 8th month of
pregnancy, in consequence of which the uterus was found in its normal
position on examination twelve days after her safe confinement on March
30th. The menses, which up to this time had been very painful, returned
for the first time on the 25th of April, and were quite free from
suffering.
But now let us ask, whether we have in the salts of gold a simile for
the diseases of the female sexual organs under the comprehensive name of
chronic metritis. We find in the homoeopathic proving, inflammatory
affections of the internal organs; fainting depression and emaciation;
great anxiety, sadness, dizziness, whimsical mood, weariness of life,
morbid desires, and headache; nausea, vomiting; pressure in the gastric
region; cardialgia, contractive, drawing pains in the abdomen.
_Stitches in the left hypochondrium, pinching and burning in the right_,
the abdomen sensitive to touch, with distension; dull pains in the
abdomen; drawing and stinging in the whole abdomen; eruption of small
papules above the pubes; _decreased excretion of urine_, pressure on
urinating, burning on urinating; redness, burning, swelling and moisture
of the labia, _discharge of yellow mucus_, menstruation too soon and
lasts too long; amenorrhoea; labor-like pains, as if the menses would
appear; symptoms which certainly correspond to the whole picture of
chronic metritis and its results.
The mode of administration which I have used for _Aur. mur. nat._ is in
trituration. Generally I have had the patient herself divide into three
parts a 10 gr. powder of the 3d trit., and take one of these dry just
one hour after each meal. But I have also used the 1st and 2d
trituration. The effect cannot be seen before four weeks, hence I seldom
make a further examination before that time. Many women notice a
remarkable increase of the appetite during the use of gold. After the
administration of the 1st trit. I have observed frequent, dark stools.
An increase in the urine with a thick, gray sediment is often seen.* * *
UTERINE DISEASES.
Uterine diseases, according to my experience of many years, make more
marriages unfruitful than all the other known or fancied hindrances to
child-bearing. They can exist many years even with a blooming
appearance, without apparently disturbing the general health, and on
that account are often overlooked and mistaken by physicians themselves,
who are not concerned about gynæcological examinations, or else make
only superficial investigations, not having their eyes at the ends of
their fingers. I beg, therefore, if this communication should give rise
to a more extensive use of _Aur. mur. nat._, above all things, a
thorough gynæcological examination, not leaving this to the so-called
surgeons and midwives. If women complain of gastric troubles, dizziness,
pain in the loins and back, disturbances of urination or defecation,
with a more or less pronounced hysterical appearance, and withal
purposely or unwittingly deceive themselves and the physician; if, added
to these, leucorrhoea and a sensation as if everything would drop out
of the abdominal cavity, one may say of the patient that her uterus is
diseased, and may base upon that his proposal for an examination, which
will give the correct information of the nature of the malady. As a
rule, every deep-seated, morbid alteration in the uterine tissues
entails suffering upon the nervous system, which, being in such close
relation with the uterus, not seldom apparently suffers the most.
HYSTERIA.
Because the uterus receives its nerves from the sympathetic system,
which governs nutrition, circulation, respiration with distribution of
animal heat, gestation, etc., these functions being out of sight, it is
difficult to get at the root of the matter as regards the uterus in a
suffering woman. Her sensations and fancies offer, according to her
education, organization, etc., a wide field in which to make her a
burden to herself and others. Her mind is generally out of order, she
knows not why. In the more advanced stages of disease, the functions of
the higher nervous system, the organs of sense, and even the mental
activities are disordered. Then appears that chameleon of diseases,
which goes by the name of _hysteria_, suitable in so far as hysteria
almost without exception takes root in the "hystera" or uterus. I shall
certainly not deny the possibility of primary or purely nervous diseases
of the uterus, hysteria sine materia; I am nevertheless convinced that
in at least nine cases out of ten, hysteria depends upon objective,
sensible, perceptible changes in the uterus. It is these whose existence
I ascertain by a thorough examination, and according to these that I
regulate my treatment; they give me in every case a more certain
starting point than a lengthy account of true and imaginary suffering.
If I find, however, no palpable abnormality in the tissue to remove,
and prescribe _Aur. mur. nat._ simply as an excellent nervine,
following Niemeyer, it occasionally does good, but generally leaves me
in the lurch.
AVENA SATIVA.
NAT. ORD., Graminaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Oats.
PREPARATION.--The fresh green plant, gathered in August, is pounded to a
pulp and macerated with two parts by weight of alcohol.
(Comparatively little has been written concerning this
remedy, the tincture of oats. It acquired a bad
reputation somewhere in the "eighties" by being
advertised as a proprietary remedy making wonderful
cures, but analysis showed the advertised "avena" to
contain opium. The following outline of the drug is by
Dr. E. H. Russell, in _North American Journal of
Homoeopathy_):
_Avena sativa_ is pre-eminently an anti-neurotic, quieting the nervous
system to a remarkable degree. Its special sphere of action seems to be
upon the male sexual organs, regulating the functional irregularities of
these parts perhaps as much as any drug can. It is a most useful remedy
in all cases of nervous exhaustion, general debility, nervous
palpitation of the heart, insomnia, inability to keep the mind fixed
upon any one subject, etc., more especially when any or all of these
troubles is apparently due to nocturnal emissions, masturbation, over
sexual intercourse, and the like. For these disorders it is truly
specific. It is one of the most valuable means for overcoming the bad
effects of the morphine habit. In most cases in which the habitue has
not used more than four grains daily the opiate may be abruptly
discontinued, and even substituted, without any serious results. If a
larger quantity than this amount has been taken for some time, it is
better to gradually reduce the daily dose of morphine, in the usual
manner, simply prescribing the _Avena_ in addition. The latter should
be given in the same dose, as a rule, regardless of the amount of
morphine taken. In other words, it is not necessary to increase the
_Avena_ as the opiate is withdrawn. When the quantity of morphine has
not exceeded four grains daily it should be stopped at once, as stated
above, and _Avena_ given in its stead in fifteen-drop doses, four times
a day, in a wineglassful of hot water. By this method the disagreeable
after-effects will be much less than though the dose of morphine is
gradually reduced, and the patient will find life quite bearable, as a
rule, at the end of a week.
_Avena sativa_ should always be given in appreciable doses of the
tincture. Fifteen drops three or four times a day, well diluted, will
usually meet the case. It may be given in doses of from five to sixty
drops in rare instances. It should, however, never be given in larger
quantities than twenty minims unless the patient is thoroughly
accustomed to the remedy, and has found the usual dose insufficient.
Otherwise there is danger of getting the physiological effect of the
drug, which is _pain at the base of the brain_. When this symptom makes
its appearance the medicine should be discontinued for a day or two, and
then given in reduced doses. There seems to be no danger whatever of
forming the habit of taking this drug, as it can be suddenly abandoned
at any time without evil consequences, even when given in large
quantities. In one case it was prescribed by the writer in sixty-drop
doses, night and morning, _for one year_, and then abruptly stopped,
nothing being substituted therefore, without bad effects.
Whenever a quick action is desired, and in all cases where _Avena_ is
given to overcome the morphine habit, it should be prepared in hot
water. It is also a good plan to prescribe it in this fashion wherever
indigestion complicates the case.
The writer has employed this drug in his private practice for a number
of years with the most gratifying results. He has very rarely found it
to fail when indicated, and on account of his high opinion of the
remedy he has taken great pleasure in thus bringing it prominently to
the attention of the medical profession.
AZADIRACHTA INDICA.
PREPARATION.--The fresh bark is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following synopsis of _Azadirachta Ind._, is
contributed by P. C. Majumdar, M. D., of Calcutta,
India):
_Azadirachta Indica._ Syn.: Sanskrit, Nimba; Bengala and Hindi, Nim.
Belongs to the natural order Meliaeæ. It is a large tree. Bark is used
for making tinctures from which provings were instituted. The leaves,
bark, wood, roots and fruits, in short, every part of this tree, is
intensely bitter. According to Ayurveda (Hindu System of Medicine) the
different parts of this tree possess different medicinal properties.
Bhava Misra, Charak, Susratha and several other Sanskrit authors agree
that its bark, though very disagreeable in taste, is generally used with
success in cases of lassitude, thirst, cough, fever, loss of appetite,
helmenthiasis, boils, bilious derangements, catarrh, vomiting, cutaneous
diseases, hiccough, gonorrhoea, etc.; its leaves are used in some
forms of ophthalmic disease, helmenthiasis and disorders brought on by
deranged bile or use of poisonous things. A decoction of fresh leaves is
used as a favorite wash to cure old ulcers of long standing. It removes
within a short time the sloughs and promotes the healing. The fruit is
purgative, demulcent, and is used in some forms of cutaneous affections.
A kind of oil is produced from the seed of ripe fruits, and this oil is
said to cure lepra, eczema and some other obstinate skin diseases.
Nim is also praised by some of the Allopathic physicians for its tonic,
antiseptic, astringent and anti-periodic properties. Its febrifuge
action is well-known in our country. Kanirages (native physicians) use
Nim as the principal substance in their febrifuge medicines. The vast
range of its action is chiefly due to azaderine, margocine and katechin,
the three active principles found in this tree. Nim was proved by me and
one of my students, U. C. Bagchi. A full report of the proving was
published in the _Indian Homoeopathic Review_, Vol. iii, No. 1. Here I
give the most reliable and peculiar symptoms obtained in its proving.
Mind: Depressed and forgetful, mistakes in writing and spelling words,
weak and dull, full of anxiety, inactive, could not think or remember
names of persons very familiar, or what has been done in the previous
day. No desire to go out or walk out. Loss of memory.
Head: Giddiness, as if the head were moving to and fro, especially when
rising from a sitting posture; headache, pressure in the head, by moving
it; headache, throbbing in the temporal arteries, especially of the
right side, with a little vertigo; aching, drawing and throbbing in the
whole head; headache, by wet compress, with much pain in the right
eyeball; headache, on moving; headache on the right side with much pain.
Frontal headache, especially on the right side, in the open air.
Throbbing in the vertex, by stooping; scalp is painful and sensitive to
touch, even the hair is painful. Vertigo at 10 A.M.; intense headache,
pain in the whole head; on walking pain is felt in the back part of the
head.
Eyes: Burning in the eyes; burning of the eyes continued throughout even
the next day; burning, dull and heavy. Pain in the eye, by slightest
pressure; red, congested and burning with slight coryza; sense of
pressure in the right eye; eyes red and sunken; pressive pain in the
right eyeball.
Ears: Buzzing in the ears; a peculiar cracking sound is heard in the ear
like tickling with a feather, which is increased on opening the mouth.
Nose: Running of watery fluid from the nose.
Face: Flushings of the face; flushing and heat in the face; face pale.
Mouth: No thirst but mouth is clammy, water has relish; taste good, but
mouth is clammy and bitter. On the sides and surface of the tongue a
painful burning sensation is felt as if scalded; papillæ seem to be
enlarged and prominent. Putrid taste in the mouth. Saliva coming out
which tastes salty. Slight difficulty in deglutition, especially water
and meat.
Throat: Bitter taste in the throat; left-sided sore throat.
Stomach: No thirst; appetite very acute and keen; very great thirst for
large quantity of cold water; very great thirst at long interval.
Heart-burn and water-brash. Uneasy sensation in the thorax.
Abdomen: Great uneasiness in the abdomen with flatulent rumbling in the
bowels; twisting pain in the epigastric region; no tenderness in the
abdomen; clutching pain in the umbilical region, obliging to bend
forwards, which affords some relief; abdomen a little distended, passing
of offensive flatus; painful tension in the hypochondriac region.
Stools: Insufficient; bowels very much constipated; stools hard, small
and knotty; stools hard, but natural; stools copious, soft, semi-solid.
Diarrhoea, no satisfaction after stool.
Genito-urinary organs: Great excitement of sexual organ (in male);
sexual desire a little diminished. Urine scanty and high-colored, and
scalding; urine white, clear and copious; urine of strong odor (once
with purple sediment).
Respiratory organs: Very troublesome cough after bathing at 1 P.M. Sputa
white in small lumps expelled with much difficulty. Sighing, breathing
at intervals. Slight hoarseness. Cough with greyish expectoration; cough
with thick sputa; short, dry cough in the afternoon; very troublesome
cough with white sputa and tasteless. Deep breathing at long intervals;
breathing very rapid and hot.
Chest and throat: Aching in the lower part of the right chest, below the
nipple. Stitches in the chest. Crampy pains in the lower part of chest.
Transitory stitches in the chest, especially in the right side.
Pulse, quick and hard, feeble.
Neck and back: Pain and debility in the nape of the neck.
Extremities: Numbness of the limbs, as if the limbs are paralyzed.
Gnawing in the legs. Strength of the hand diminished. Burning of the
hands and soles of the feet. Numbness of the hands only, especially the
right hand. Rheumatic pains in the lower extremities.
Sleep and dreams: Sleeplessness and tossing in bed; dreamy and
interrupted sleep at night. Dreams of quarrels and beating in the latter
part of night.
Fever: Fever commences with very slight chill or without chill from 4:30
P.M., and abates from 7:30 P.M.; afternoon fever. Glowing heat and
burning, especially in the face, eyes, palms of the hands and soles of
the feet, in open air.
Copious sweat, especially on the forehead, neck and upper part of the
body; sweating commences on the forehead, gradually extending towards
the trunk; no sweat in the lower part of the body.
Skin: Itching of various parts of the body, without the appearance of
any eruption; itching of the body. Sudamina on the back.
BACILLINUM, TUBERCULINUM AND AVIAIRE, THE VIRUSES OF TUBERCULOSIS.
PREPARATION.--Triturate in the usual way.
(The literature on these several preparations is so
extensive that we must confine ourselves to the paper
read by Dr. Francois Cartier, Physician to the Hospital
St. Jacques, Paris, at the International Homoeopathic
Congress, 1896, it covering the ground more completely
than any other. For fuller information on _Bacillinum_
the reader is referred to Dr. J. Compton Burnett's book,
the _New Cure for Consumption_.)
I must disclaim any intention of traversing afresh the pathogenesy of
_Tuberculin_, or of instituting an examination into the various
treatises put forth on the subject of the virus of tuberculosis by the
allopathic as well as by the homoeopathic school.
The materia medica of _Tuberculin_ takes its rise in the complex result
of the use of Koch's lymph, in experiments upon animals, and in certain
symptoms observed by those who have experimented upon themselves with
different products of tuberculous nature. I shall therefore indicate the
published sources, and I specially desire to place before the
Homoeopathic Congress of London the tuberculous virus under certain
aspects which are perhaps new; and if my conclusions seem somewhat
paradoxical I am content to accept, with a good grace, the criticisms of
my colleagues.
Fourteen years anterior to the researches of Koch, Hering, Swan and
Biegler availed themselves, as a homoeopathic remedy, of the
maceration of tuberculous lungs, and of the sputa of tuberculous
subjects.
Dr. J. Compton Burnett in his book, "A Cure for Consumption," several
years before Koch's experiments, noticed symptoms resulting from taking
the preparation which he calls _Bacillinum_.
Drs. de Keghel[C] and J. H. Clarke[D] instituted an inquiry into the
symptoms produced by the employment of Koch's lymph in the case of
tuberculous and non-tuberculous patients.
[C] _L' Union Homéopathique_, vol. v, No. 3.
[D] _Homoeopathic World_, vol. xxvi, No. 304.
Dr. Mersch[E] published a pathogenesy, based to a large extent upon that
of Dr. de Keghel; it is an excellent work.
[E] "On Tuberculin," an extract from the _Journal Belge d'
homéopathie_, 1895.
Dr. d'Abzen,[F] of Lisbon, sent to the Tuberculosis Congress of 1895, at
Coimbra, a study of the works of Koch and Pasteur, and an enumeration of
the treatises published by homoeopathists.
[F] _Pathogenese, sua importancia._
We must notice also an English translation of Dr. Mersch's pathogenesy,
by Dr. Arnulphy, of Chicago, in which special attention is paid to the
symptoms observed in healthy and non-tuberculous persons, with some
original remarks about _Tuberculin_. It is published in the _Clinique_
for this year (February, 1896).
Nor must we overlook a series of writers who have published isolated
observations of the cases of persons cured with _Tuberculin_. Such are
Drs. Lambreghts, Joussett, Zoppritz, Horace Holmes, Richardson, Young,
Clarke, Pinart, Youman, U. H. Merson, Snow, Lamb, Clarke, Ebersole, W.
James, Kunkel, A. Zoppritz, Steinhauf, Van den Berghe, &c.
Finally, for my own part, in my articles in _L'Art Médical_, published
three years ago, and in the _Hahnemannian Monthly_ (July, 1894), I have
insisted on homoeopathic action of the viruses of tuberculosis.
In certain of the pathogenesies of _Tuberculin_ we find thrown pell-mell
together symptoms appertaining to Koch's lymph, as well as others which
belong to the product baptized by several names, such as _Bacillinum_
and _Tuberculin_, in the recommendation of which Hering and Swan, and
Dr. J. Compton Burnett, in England, have made themselves conspicuous.
_Bacillinum_--since it must be distinguished from Koch's
_Tuberculin_--is a maceration of a typical tuberculous lung.[G] Koch's
lymph is an extract in glycerine of dead tuberculous bacilli. The former
is compound natural infection; the latter is a product of laboratory
experiment. In the one, various bacteriological species are associated
which give, clinically, an appearance of cachexia and of hectic fever;
from the other we may sometimes observe vascular, cardiac, renal changes
having no connection with the clinical "syndrome" of pulmonary
tuberculosis. To place these products together in the same pathogenesy
gives an absolutely wrong sense, and the fact that both contain Koch's
bacillus gives no excuse for confounding them. In my opinion there are,
from a homoeopathic point of view, distinct differences between
_Bacillinum_ and the Koch's lymph.
[G] Dr. J. Compton Burnett, in his book, "New Cure for
Consumption," p. 129, makes this remark: "The best way to get
some really good _Bacillinum_ is to take a portion of the
lung of an individual who has died of genuine bacillary
tuberculosis pulmonum, choosing a good-sized portion from the
parietes of the cavity and its circumjacent tissue, as herein
will be found everything pertaining to the tuberculous
process--bacilla, _débris_, ptomaines and tubercles in all
its stages (such was practically the origin of the matrix of
my _Bacillinum_) and preparing by trituration in spirit. In
this way nothing is lost."
Experimentally Koch's bacillus, like many other microbes, does not
reproduce a clinical symptom-group; and we homoeopaths must have an
assemblage of clearly-defined symptoms before prescribing a poison on
homoeopathic principles. Such is unfortunately the case with many
other microbes in pure culture. The experimental diphtheria does not
resemble clinical diphtheria. The pneumococcus, pathogenetic of
pneumonia, is met with in many other diseases, such as pleurisy,
salpingitis, meningitis, etc. Koch's bacillus, too, sometimes remarkably
mild in its effects, and seeming to meet with no reaction in the system,
evolves aside as in the verrucous tuberculosis; while at other times
nothing is able to arrest the action of this terrible microbe, and the
world still waits in vain for the man who shall find the means of
combatting it. The toxins of tuberculosis are far from reproducing
clinical tuberculosis; yet even here we find a curious aspect sometimes
assumed by certain poisons drawn from the pure cultivation of microbes.
We cannot produce with _Tuberculin_ symptoms analogous to those of real
tuberculosis--as it is possible, for instance, to produce tetanus with
the toxine alone, _Tetanin_.
As a general rule, in the case of a healthy man, Koch's lymph would not
develop any reaction, its effects manifesting themselves in a febrile
congestion, which betrays the presence of tubercles. In our pathogeneses
(those of Mersch-Arnulphy), we note the following symptoms--"catarrhal
pneumonia with soft hepatisation, and tendency to abscess formation; at
post-mortems it is not a gelatinous or fibrinous exudation which oozes
out from the alveoli, but an opaque and watery fluid; 'never,' so says
Virchow, 'is there found the characteristic lesion of croupous
pneumonia.'" A pneumonia from which issues an aqueous and opaque
liquid! I confess I do not understand it.
Experimentally this same lymph of Koch gives symptoms of inflammation of
the arteries which are not found in clinical tuberculosis.
Animals inoculated with progressive doses of _Avian tuberculin_, or with
serum of tuberculous animals, undergo wasting and loss of appetite, and
other general symptoms. They may die of cachexia, or may develop an
isolated abscess; but they do not present characteristic symptoms as
they would under the action of _Cantharis_, of _Phosphorus_, or of
_Lead_.
Finally, inoculation with dead bacilli may produce real tuberculosis.
In the pathogenesy put forth by homoeopathists, pulmonary symptoms do
not occupy a prominent place. Dr. Burnett, who has experimented on
himself with _Bacillinum_, notes at the end of his symptoms, after the
headache, a slight and almost insignificant cough.
In explaining the clinical forms of infectious complaints, we are
frequently forced to admit the increasingly preponderant part played by
association of microbes--as it is the frequent case in diphtheria--and
especially the modifications which depend directly on the disposition of
the organ attacked, and not upon the action of the microbe itself.
An examination of the above considerations leads me to the following
conclusions:
1. That the importance of the materia medica of the tubercular virtues
ought not to be exaggerated. There are few characteristic symptoms to
take off; it is more wise to guide oneself in the homoeopathic
application of the therapeutics by the clinical symptoms of the
evolution of the various tuberculosis, rather than by the intoxication
produced by their active products, the _Tuberculins_.
2. Koch's lymph, _Bacillinum_ and _Avian tuberculin_ must be studied
separately, clinically as well as experimentally. _Bacillinum_ presents
symptoms very different from those of _Avian tuberculin_, and
especially from those of Koch's lymph; and I intend to divide my remarks
into three parts, corresponding to these three substances, which have
actually become homoeopathic remedies.
* * * * *
At the time of the introduction of the ever-memorable Koch's lymph,
there were included under the head of poisonings by this drug vascular
lesions, as I have mentioned above, acute arteritis, arterio-sclerosis,
changes in the vessels of the heart and the kidneys, and acute
nephritis. Apropos of acute nephritis, the supposition was that the
kidney became congested because of the presence in that part of certain
tubercular islets, and that the kidney responded, like the tuberculous
lung, under the influence of the _Tuberculin_, by acute congestion.
However this might be, these vascular lesions drew attention to the
homoeopathicity of Koch's lymph in nephritis. Dr. Jousset has
experimented in it with encouraging results, using homoeopathic
dilutions, in Bright's disease; and at the meeting of the Société
Homoeopathique Francaise on April 18, 1895, Drs. Tessier, Silva and
Jousset, father and son, mentioned the diminution of albumen in cases of
chronic and incurable nephritis, and the appearance of that substance in
acute cases.
Dr. Arnulphy, in a series of articles in the Chicago _Clinique_, which I
have read attentively, speaks favorably of Koch's lymph in
homoeopathic dilutions in cases of tuberculosis. Personally I have not
used it, and I am loth to pass judgment on observations recorded in
every good faith. I would merely remark to my honorable colleague that
Koch's lymph was used in our school in all the homoeopathic dilutions
possible at the moment of its far-resounding discovery--a fact which he
should know as well as myself. To mention only one instance--Drs. Simon,
V. L. Simon Boyer and Chancerel used the drug at the Hahnemann Hospital
in Paris at the time of the arrival in France of the first consignment
of lymph from Germany; and I am nearly certain that there is not at this
time a single country where homoeopathists have not used this remedy
in all the infinitesimal dilutions. Homoeopaths and allopaths have
actually taken pretty much the same side as regards the primitive
formula put forward by Koch (I am not now speaking of trials of new
tuberculins); and Dr. Arnulphy would be fortunate enough were he able to
revive its credit after its several years' oblivion as a cure of
tuberculosis.
Clinically this lymph of Koch has led to wonderful cures in lobular
pneumonia, for it produces pneumonia, broncho pneumonia, and congestion
of the lungs in the tuberculous patient. Its homoeopathic action would
thus appear more trustworthy than its isopathic, and Dr. Arnulphy makes
this remark: "I make bold to state that no single remedy in our materia
medica, not excepting _Ipecac_, _Iodine_, _Tartar emetic_, and even
_Phosphorus_, approaches the singular efficacy of _Tuberculin_ in
well-authenticated cases of that affection (broncho pneumonia, be it) in
the child, the adult, or the aged. Its rapidity of action in some cases
is little short of wonderful, and all who have used it in this line are
unanimous in their unbounded praise of its working."
The four cases quoted by Dr. Mersch (_Journal Belge d' Homéopathie_,
November, 1894, January and May, 1895) are very instructive:
The first is that of a member of the Dutch Parliament who had contracted
a pneumonia which reached a chronic stage. While undergoing a relapse
his expectoration assumed a rusty-red color, which color disappeared
completely in three days on treatment with _Tuberculin_ 30th.
The second case is that of a person who was seized, after an attack of
measles, with broncho-pneumonia. On the fifth day Dr. Mersch prescribed
_Tuberculin_ 6th. In a day or two the condition of the chest was
completely altered.
In the third case an old lady was likewise attacked with
broncho-pneumonia, together with digestive troubles, and was for a long
time in a serious state. After the lapse of a single night, which was a
rather distressing one, under the action of the remedy the amelioration
was great, and it was with difficulty that Dr. Mersch found a touch of
bronchitis in the very place where the day before he had heard nothing
but the tubular _souffle_. The prescription ran: _Tuberculin_ 6th, eight
packets of ten globules each, one to be taken every two hours.
Finally, in a fourth case, the patient was a lady of vigorous physique,
and twenty-five years of age, who had capillary bronchitis, combined
with the symptoms of angina pectoris. Dr. Mersch had once more had an
opportunity of viewing with astonishment the rapidity with which the
therapeutic action of _Tuberculin_ may be manifested in such cases.
* * * * *
_Bacillinum_ deserves study from two points of view, isopathically in
the treatment of tuberculosis, homoeopathically in the treatment of
affections of the respiratory organs without tuberculosis. To fully
understand its action it is necessary to know with exactness its
composition. Dr. J. Compton Burnett has christened it _Bacillinum_,
because he recognized in its lower dilutions the presence of Koch's
bacilli. As a matter of fact, _Bacillinum_ contains in its elements
everything that a cavity of a tuberculous lung is capable of containing;
that is to say, many other things besides Koch's bacillus. The bacillus
of Koch is feebly pyogenetic, and the purulent contents of the cavities
include pyogenetic staphylococci and streptococci, to say nothing of the
organic products which play a large part in the production of the hectic
fever of tuberculosis. It is a combination of toxins, then, which
constitutes _Bacillinum_, and especially of toxins of a purulent nature.
I lay stress upon this last fact, as it goes to sustain the opinion that
I hold on the action of _Bacillinum_.
The infinitesimal dose of Homoeopathy is in no way inimical to the
entrance of all the elements constituting a substance into its materia
medica. The salts of potassium owe their effect to their base as well
as to their acid; _Graphites_ is analogous to _Carbo_ and _Ferrum_,
because it contains both carbon and iron; _Hepar sulphuris calcareum_
acts by reason of its sulphur as well as of its lime. _Bacillinum_,
then, combines in its action all its constituent products, owing its
efficacy to its suppurative microbes as well as its inclusion of Koch's
bacillus.
This method of viewing the matter, which is peculiar to myself, permits
me to include in one and the same category the action of _Bacillinum_ in
consumption and its action in non-tuberculous bronchitis.
I have studied conscientiously the action of _Bacillinum_ in
tuberculosis, and I must confess that I am looking out still for an
authentic case of cure by this remedy. Nevertheless, in the midst of the
paucity of drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis, I am happy to state
that _Bacillinum_ has produced in my hands considerable amelioration of
the symptoms of this disease. Perhaps in certain cases it produces what
Bernheim would call "la treve tuberculeuse." But sooner or later the
drug, after ameliorating the symptoms, loses its effect, and the disease
again gets the upper hand. I wish I could be as optimistic as Dr. J.
Compton Burnett in his interesting book, "A New Cure for Consumption;"
but that is impossible.
In looking over my observations I find that the symptom which has always
undergone the greatest mitigation has been the _expectoration_. When
_Bacillinum_ acts on tuberculosis the sputum is less abundant, less
purulent, less green, and more a[=e]rated. It is this which has always
struck me most in the action of _Bacillinum_. It is rarely that a
patient satisfied with the remedy fails to remark, "I expectorate less."
In cases of dry cough at the beginning of tuberculosis I have noticed
that the drug evidently arrests the tubercular process.
I would most severely criticise, as well for myself as for others, cases
of so-called "cure of tuberculosis." There certainly are persons in whom
the disease does not develop. These may have been accidentally
infected, and their phagocytes may have struggled against their microbe
foe. But in the case of an individual in whom the tubercle finds a
suitable field for development, it is the merest chance that he entirely
recovers without ulterior relapse; mostly it is a seeming cure, caused
by a time of pause in the microbian pullulation.
Last year I had under my care, at the Hospital St. Jacques, a truly
extraordinary case. It has been followed out by Dr. Jousset, by Dr.
Cesar, head of the hospital laboratory, and by the house-physicians. It
was that of a woman who entered the hospital suffering from influenza,
and who, a few days after a slight amelioration of her symptoms, was
attacked with a pulmonary congestion, clearly localized in the top of
the left lung, and accompanied by all the clinical symptoms of
tuberculosis--râles and moist crepitation, dulness, exaggeration of the
thoracic vibration, nummular expectoration, fever, perspiration,
spitting of blood--everything was there. Examination of the sputa showed
distinctly the presence of Koch's bacilli. Everyone at the hospital
diagnosed tuberculosis, myself the first. I gave her _Avian tuberculin_
and in three weeks all the symptoms had disappeared. That woman left the
hospital completely cured, and _a year afterwards_ her health was still
perfect. In my opinion this patient never had consumption; she was
attacked with pseudo-phymic bronchitis, a complication which is very
often found with influenza, and which may very easily be mistaken for
tuberculosis; and in spite of the presence in the sputa of Koch's
bacillus I would not register it as a case of tuberculosis, because, in
contradistinction to that single case, I could mention twenty cases of
tuberculosis whose symptoms neither _Avian tuberculin_ nor any other
such drug has cured.
There is absolutely no connection between the clinical evolution of real
tuberculosis and observations based on the autopsies of old persons
whose lungs contain cavities, but whose death was not due to
tuberculosis. To admit, with Professor Brouardel, that three-fourths of
those who have died a violent death are possessed of tuberculous
lesions, whose existence was not suspected while the subject was living,
would be running absolutely counter to clinical experience. The time is
probably at hand when the different kinds of tuberculosis will be
distinguished and separated, as we distinguish and separate the varieties
of serious pleurisy and purulent pleurisy, of broncho-pneumonia arising
from the presence of pneumococci, of streptococci, or of staphylococci.
Malassez has already described cases of pseudo-tuberculosis, or
zoogleic-tuberculosis, whose existence has only been acknowledged of
late years. Courmont has discovered a pseudo-bacillosis of a bovine
origin. We have a pseudo-bacillosis of a strepto bacillar origin, not to
mention the "professional" tuberculoses, such as that to which persons
are exposed who have to breathe the fumes of charcoal.
To return to _Bacillinum_, I consider this remedy as a powerful
moderator of the muco-purulent secretion of consumption. While
diminishing the secretion it modifies the auscultation; there is less
thick sputum, the cavities are drier, the peri-tuberculosis congestion
less intense. The clinical symptoms follow those of the auscultation; as
the patient expectorates less he is less feeble, coughs less, gains
strength, and regains his spirits; but the tubercle remains untouched.
The peri-tuberculous congestion only is diminished, as one may observe
with the naked eye when Koch's lymph is employed in the amelioration of
lupus. The peri-tuberculous inflammation disappears; the skin seems
healthy, but the yellow tubercle remains as it was, and the patient is
still uncured. Such are the limits I assign to _Bacillinum_ in its
action on consumption.
Far more potent is the part played by _Bacillinum_ in non-tuberculous
pulmonary affections, for the simple reason that the struggle is with a
less redoubtable opponent. Ebersole, Young, Zoppritz, Burnett, James,
Holmes, Jousset, Steinhauf have published cases of the cure of acute
bronchitis, influenza diarrhoea, syphilitic eruptions, cystitis,
ringworm of the scalp, nephritis, idiocy, retarded dentition, cretinism,
gout, rheumatism, etc., with _Tuberculin_ or _Bacillinum_.
If we wish to prescribe _Bacillinum_ successfully in non-tuberculous
affections, we must observe, on auscultation, symptoms analogous to
those which are perceptible in tuberculosis. The peculiar
characteristics which indicate _Bacillinum_ for non-tuberculous maladies
of the respiratory organs are, in my opinion, the two following: The
first is _oppression_; the second, _muco purulent_ expectoration. These
two phenomena show themselves always in the last stage of tuberculosis;
that is to say, together with the products contained in the preparation
of _Bacillinum_. _Dyspnoea resulting from bronchial and pulmonary
obstruction caused by a super-abundant secretion from the mucous
membrane is marvellously relieved by Bacillinum._ I put forward this
fact, not on the evidence of a single isolated observation, but on that
of several cases conscientiously studied. Such expectoration leads to
the auscultation of sub-crepitant râles, sounding liquid and gurgling,
having some analogy to the moist sounds of tuberculosis.
This power of _Bacillinum_ to relieve oppression in pulmonary catarrh is
in no way surprising from the point of view of the law of similars; for
in the acute and infectious stage of tuberculosis the dyspnoea is a
characteristic symptom, and is far more distressing than the cough. I
have read with pleasure in the work of Dr. Mersch, of Brussels, on
_Tuberculin_, of a fact which corroborates my statement as to the
influence of _Bacillinum_ over catarrhal dyspnoea. After the sixth
dose the patient, who was suffering from bronchial asthma, was seized
with violent intercostal pains, with augmented cough; but the oppression
entirely disappeared after the first day, and did not return even three
months after the treatment had ceased.
In _L' Art Médical_ of January, 1894, and in the _Hahnemannian Monthly_
of July, 1894, I published the case of an old man of eighty years of
age, suffering from broncho-pneumonia, who, in the last stage of
asphyxia, had been saved by _Bacillinum_. Two years ago I was called
upon to treat another octogenarian who, as the result of a cold,
developed an obstruction in the bronchial tubes, and at the basis of the
lungs. He passed sleepless nights in a sitting posture, striving to draw
deep inspirations. _Phosphorus_, _Arsenic_, and _Stibium_ produced no
relief. I gave him _Bacillinum_ 30th, and he slept the whole night
through. Doses of this remedy, administered _at longish intervals_,
always produced a remarkable amelioration. Last year I was called to the
house of an upholsterer. He preferred not going to bed at all to passing
the night in bed without closing his eyes. He had humid asthma with
incessant cough, which ended by causing him to eject thick yellow and
puriform mucus. For eight days he took _Arsenic_ and _Blatta_, and for a
whole week he passed the nights without sleeping. From the day he took
_Bacillinum_ he was able to sleep. I saw him again this year in good
health. Once or twice he was attacked with the same bronchorrhea, and
had my prescription made up at the chemists, with the same success. This
year, too, I have given _Bacillinum_ to several patients at the Hôpital
St. Jacques for the same symptoms, and it has never yet failed me.
When I am called upon to treat a patient suffering from an obstruction
of the bronchial tubes occasioned by mucus, which is frequently thick
and opaque and puriform--an obstruction extending to the delicate
bronchial ramification, and causing oppression more frequently than
cough, I turn my thoughts at once to _Bacillinum_. _Bacillinum_ is a
drug for old people, or, at any rate, for those whose lungs are old; for
those chronically catarrhal, or whose pulmonary circulation is enfeebled
without regard to the age of the subject; for those who have dyspnoea,
and who cough with difficulty from inaction of the respiratory ducts;
for the humid asthmatic, the bronchorrheal, who feel suffocated at
night; and, finally, for those who, after taking cold, are straightway
attacked with pulmonary congestion. Here, I believe, is the exact
sphere of action of _Bacillinum_ as a homoeopathic remedy.
_Bacillinum_ has been stigmatized as an unstable product. I consider
this reproach ill-founded. _Bacillinum_ is no more unstable than
_Psorinum_, which is an approved remedy in Homoeopathy. Typical
tuberculous lungs contain practically almost invariable elements. Do not
the microbes produced by cultivation and the animal extracts show any
variation in quality, and do they not change in the long run?
Like most homoeopathists who have made use of _Bacillinum_, I think it
is best given in the high dilutions and at long intervals. Dr. J.
Compton Burnett and Van der Berghe recommended the higher potencies--the
1000th, 100,000, etc., whereas I content myself with the 30th, which
satisfies every requirement. As regards the intervals which must elapse
between the doses, certain writers recommend from one to two weeks. In
acute cases I generally give six globules of _Bacillinum_ 30th every two
or three days; and in chronic cases of tuberculosis, etc., one dose
about twice a week.
We are no longer permitted to include in the same description the
tuberculosis of birds and that of mammals. Although the two bacilli, as
far as form and color are concerned, are absolutely identical, the
evolution of the two forms of tuberculosis presents characteristics so
different that we are forced to study them separately. At this day the
debate is a question of words, and experts discuss whether there are two
distinct genera or merely two different species.
It is this characteristic of non-transmissibility from mammals to birds,
and _vice versa_, which forms the chief difference between the two kinds
of tuberculosis. Strauss failed in his endeavor to inoculate a fowl with
tuberculosis by injecting fifty kilogrammes of tuberculous human sputa,
whereas the fowl, absolutely impervious to human tuberculosis, became
infected when treated with a very slight quantity of the avian
tuberculosis. The guinea-pig, so sensitive to the human microbe,
presented encysted abscesses when treated with the virus of birds; it
dies of cachexia, but never, as far as the naked eye can discern, of
generalized tuberculosis. Rabbits are more sensitive to the avian
infection. Dogs are absolutely refractory. The monkey, so delicate in
our climate, and which almost invariably perishes from tuberculosis, is
uninjured by inoculation from avian virus. The parrot is a remarkable
exception to the general rule; it is the only bird which resists avian
tuberculosis, while, on the other hand, it is sensitive to that of man.
Such facts as these irrefutably differentiate the two kinds of
tuberculosis.
[H] _Tuberculosis of Birds._ _Tuberculosis of Mammals._
Aspect of Extreme softness on Human tuberculous
cultures. glycerine jelly or growths are adherent,
on serum. hard and difficult to
break up even with a
strong platinum wire on
glycerine jelly as well
as on serum.
Medium of Transferred from a Cultivation more difficult.
cultures. solid to a liquid
medium the bacillus
grows rapidly,
having the appearance
of rounded
grains.
Temperature. Develops at a Ceases to develop at
temperature of 45° C. temperatures under 41° C.
Odor. Somewhat sour. More subtle and fresh odor.
Duration. Takes longer to develop, Is with difficulty generated
and may remain again at the end of six
for a year or months. At the end of
thereabouts. eight or ten months loses
its vegetable character.
Seat of the In animals usually In the lung, generally in
tubercles. on the liver, the men, and in certain animals;
spleen, the intestines, in the spleen, the
and the peritoneum. liver, and the glands in
rabbits and guinea-pigs.
Transmissibility.
Only from one bird Mammals are unaffected by
to another, except the tuberculosis of birds,
in the case of the and _vice versa_.
parrot.
[H] I have tabulated shortly their various characteristics.
Ever since this variety of tuberculosis has been distinguished,
attempts have been made to inoculate or cure human tuberculosis with
that of birds. In our school the thing has been attempted at the Hôpital
St. Jacques, where _Aviaire_ has been administered in homoeopathic
dilutions, in potions or through punctures in cases of consumption. As a
matter of fact, neither allopaths nor homoeopaths have succeeded in
obtaining a formula which will cure consumption with the virus of birds.
Amelioration has been noted as with other remedies, but never a series
of authenticated cures. Nevertheless, in every country experiments are
continually being made; we must hope that they will end in a more
decisive success than is at present the case.
Hoping to profit by the homoeopathicity of an active virus, I was, I
think, one of the first who employed _Aviaire_ in non-tuberculous
respiratory affections on the lines of _Bacillinum_, and I am bound to
say that up to the present my faith in the law of similars has not been
shaken by my experiments.
In _L'Art Médical_ (August, 1895) I published a number of cases in which
I successfully treated localized bronchitis, generally the result of
influenza, and reproducing the symptoms of tuberculosis, with _Aviaire_.
The most characteristic of all these observations is that of which I
have spoken above. The patient was restored to health as if by magic
with _Aviaire_ within three weeks. Dr. P. Jousset, anticipating my
observations, thus expressed himself in the number of _L'Art Médical_
preceding the one which contained my remarks: "A young woman entered the
Hôpital St. Jacques at the end of January, 1895, with feverish
influenzal bronchitis. At first the patient was treated with small doses
of _Sulphate of Quinine_, and a little later she took _Ipecac_ and
_Bryonia_ alternately. The fever disappeared and the general condition
improved considerably, and the sub-crepitant râles became confined to
the top of the left lung. The patient continued to expectorate thick
nummular and puriform sputa, as in the influenza. After some days the
disease resumed its sway, the bodily forces diminished, the emaciation
made great progress, and local and general signs indicated rapid
consumption. Bacteriological analysis led to the detection of numerous
Koch's bacilli. I gave over the case at this time, and some weeks
afterwards I learnt with surprise that the patient was well and growing
fat, and that the inoculation of the sputa had produced no effects. The
cure has been maintained for three months, and the young woman has
resumed her employment." I had prescribed _Aviaire_ 100th, five drops a
day, during the whole period of the disease, unaccompanied by any other
remedy.
As I have said before, more than a year afterwards the young woman
continued in good health.
Following this case, Dr. Jousset quoted two analogous instances in his
practice, both of influential bronchitis, in which the sputa contained,
for a certain period, Koch's bacillus. One was cured with _Aviaire_ 6th
and strong doses of _Sulphate of Quinine_, and the other with _Aviaire_
6th and twenty drops of _Tincture of Drosera_, a day.
"What conclusions must I draw from these facts?" says Dr. Jousset. "That
the avian tuberculosis cured the consumption? I have failed too often in
the treatment of ordinary consumption with this remedy to admit that."
That is my opinion also.
Koch's bacillus has been found in the nasal secretions of healthy
hospital nurses, and of students of medicine, as noted by Strauss. Would
it not be possible to come across it accidentally in certain kinds of
expectoration, just as the pneumococcus is found in saliva?
In one of the numbers of _La Médecine Moderne_ of last year there
appeared a short article on the "Influenzas known as pseudo-phymic." The
writer remarked on the strong analogy which certain complications of
pulmonary influenza presented to acute tuberculosis. He observed, among
other forms: 1st, the influenzal bronchitis which affected one of the
summits of the lung, the most difficult form to diagnose from
tuberculosis; 2d, the broncho-pneumonic form; 3d, the pleuro-pneumonic
form, bearing a close resemblance to tuberculous pleurisy. I might
remark that this last form is still little known and ill-defined. The
influenza microbe always imitates to a remarkable degree the microbe of
tuberculosis in certain instances; and if we wish to effect a cure on
the laws laid down by Hahnemann in certain forms of influenzal
bronchitis, we must frequently seek for the simillimum in the virus of
tuberculosis.
I have mentioned oppression as one of the characteristics of
_Bacillinum_. Now influenzal bronchitis is markedly accompanied by an
incessant cough and by grave general symptoms. There is more frequently
acute than passive, obstructive and dyspnoeic congestion. I am
inclined to prefer _Aviaire_ to _Bacillinum_ in such cases, and I should
like to briefly touch upon certain cases in my practice.
I have under my care a little girl of twelve years of age who has for
two years developed an influenza which rapidly leads to pulmonary
symptoms, always distinctly localized in the top of the left lung. The
mother is tuberculous, and the child, who was born with forceps, has her
left chest less developed than her right. The congestion which
accompanies the influenza is sudden and severe; within twenty-four hours
the lung is invaded, and fine râles are soon heard. Twice running, at
intervals of a year, _Aviaire_ 100th has stifled the symptoms in a few
days. I have seen an analogous case, only with congestion of the base of
the lung.
In my clinical report of the Hôpital St. Jacques (in August, 1895) I
note ten cases of acute influenzal bronchitis with incessant cough,
fever, and expectoration, rapidly cured with _Aviaire_. This year I have
prescribed it with the same success as at the Hôpital St. Jacques in
cases of influenzal bronchitis, with active congestion. I will mention
two cases of the pulmonary complications of measles which were rapidly
dissipated by this remedy; but I must also mention a third case of
measles in which _Aviaire_ failed and _Bryonia_ proved successful. The
child had an acute rubeolic laryngitis, and few pulmonary symptoms.
_Bryonia_ was in this case more decidedly indicated than _Aviaire_.
The dilution of _Aviaire_ which I have always used is the 100th. I give
usually five drops a day.
It seems that _Aviaire_ does not act in diminishing the cough like an
anodyne or a narcotic, but braces up the whole organism. The relief of
debility and the return of appetite are the phenomena which I have
observed in conjunction with the diminution of the cough.
I have given _Aviaire_ 100th for weeks, and even for a month, regularly
every day, without having observed excitement or aggravation. It would
thus appear to be a remedy of long-lasting action, capable in certain
cases of modifying the organism, and of bracing a constitution which has
become enfeebled from the effects of influenza or of suspicious
bronchitis.
In contrast with _Bacillinum_ I have noted, in my observations on
_Aviaire_, considerable cough and little dyspnoea--an acute
inflammatory, extremely irritating cough, such as one meets with in
acute diseases or sub-acute affections in young people; a cough which
fatigues, and which leads to enfeeblement and loss of appetite--in a
word, a suspicious cough. To conclude my remarks, the utility of
_Aviaire_ in _suspicious bronchitis_--an expression on which I again lay
stress--I will recall certain indubitable examples of the cure (at the
Hôpital St. Jacques) of bronchitis or of pulmonary congestion at the top
of one of the lungs, or of bronchitis on one side only, or of congestion
predominating on one side. These localizations on one side are
sufficiently grave symptoms to warrant apprehension of the hatching of
tuberculosis.
If I were myself attacked, as the result of influenza or measles, or of
some weakening malady, with an incessant tickling and stubborn cough,
with certain closely localized pulmonary symptoms; if I lost my strength
and appetite; if, in a word, I were attacked by bronchitis whose upshot
was highly doubtful, and which caused apprehension of tuberculosis, I
should not hesitate a single moment, with the examples which I have had
before me, to try _Aviaire_ 100th upon myself.
Such is the conclusion of my clinical observations made at Hôpital St.
Jacques in August, 1895.
What I said last year I can only repeat with renewed confidence in this;
and I hope that the years which follow will not cause me to alter my
opinion.
BELLIS PERENNIS.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAMES, English Daisy. Garden Daisy. Hens and Chickens.
PREPARATION.--The fresh plant, in flower, is pounded to a pulp and
submitted to pressure. The expressed juice is then mixed with an equal
part by weight of alcohol.
(The following is from Thomas' _Additions to the
Homoeopathic Materia Medica_, 1858. To it we may add
Dr. J. C. Burnett's statement that _Bellis_ is a remedy
for all ills that may be traced to a sudden wetting when
overheated.)
_Bellis perennis_ or daisy, formerly called _consolida_, on account of
its vulnerary properties; the roots and leaves were used in wound
drinks, and were considered efficacious in removing extravasated blood
from bruises, etc. It is said to be refused by cattle on account of its
peculiar taste. Lightfoot, in his _Flora Scotica_, says: "In a scarcity
of garden-stuff, they (daisies) have, in some countries, been
substituted as pot herbs." My first trial with this plant as a curative
agent was in the autumn of 1856. While on a visit in the neighborhood of
Bangor, a countryman, understanding that I was a "doctor," wished me to
prescribe for his foot, which he had sprained very badly. Not having
either _Arnica_ or _Rhus_ with me, I determined to try the effects of
the daisy; so directed him to procure a handful of the leaves and
flowers of the plant, chop them up small, boil them for a quarter of an
hour in half a pint of water, and apply them in linen as a poultice
round the ankle at night. The application was not made until the next
morning, but in half an hour's time the ankle admitted of very fair
motion. A piece of calico wetted and wrung out of the daisy water was
then wrapped round the ankle, and the man put his shoe on and limped
about all day, walking not less than five miles. He repeated the
poultice at night, and found his ankle so much restored in the morning
that he was able to walk four miles to his work without experiencing any
difficulty. The success, in this instance, so far exceeded the previous
use of _Arnica_ and _Rhus_, especially in the time gained, that I had a
tincture from the whole plant made for such uses, and have used it in
sprained ankle from a fall--the ankle was well the second day. A sprain
of the wrist, which had been a week ailing, yielded to the daisy in
three days. I have also successfully used it in several severe whitlows;
in every case the pure tincture was used externally. The only provings I
have made with this remedy have been with the pure tincture in ten or
twenty drop doses at a time. After taking the medicine for fourteen days
without any symptoms, I suspended the use of it--in two weeks after
leaving it off, for the first time in my life I had a large boil on the
back of my neck (right side), commencing with a dull aching pain; some
difficulty and a bruised pain in keeping the head erect; slight nausea,
want of appetite, and a little giddiness in the head at times. Pain in
middle finger of the left hand, as of a gathering, for a short time
only; and at the same time pain in inner side of left forearm, as of a
boil developing; two nights before similar pains in corresponding parts
of the right arm--query, are these effects of _Bellis_ (this was written
December 11, 1856). The boil on the neck came December 7, 1856; began as
a slight pimple with burning pain in the skin, increasing until in six
days' time it was very large, of a dark fiery purple color, and very
sore burning and aching pain in it, accompanied with headache, extending
from occiput to sinciput, of a cold aching character; brain as though
contracted in frontal region, dizziness, etc. (as before stated). I now
set to work to cure myself, which by use of hot fomentations and lint
dipped in [Greek: theta] tincture of _Belladonna_ externally, taking at
the same time 3d dil. _Belladonna_ internally, was soon accomplished.
Three days after this was cured, another made its appearance, which
speedily succumbed to the same remedies. As I had never previously had a
boil, and had not made any change in my diet, I suspected _Bellis_
tincture to be the cause of the trouble. On the 12th of January, 1857,
feeling my left foot somewhat strained after running, I applied _Bellis_
[Greek: theta] to the strain, which for several days aggravated the
feeling; and in five hours after the application I had another small
boil (three weeks after disappearance of the last), which yielded to
same treatment as the others, by January 19, 1857. On March 7, 1857, I
chewed some daisy flowers. On the 11th, a small boil appeared at the
angle of the inferior maxilla, right side; _Belladonna_ [Greek: theta],
externally, cured it. The last trial I made with the third centesimal
dilution of _Bellis_, taking three drops on Tuesday, 2d March, 1858, on
the following Friday a small pimple appeared a little behind the angle
of _left_ inferior maxilla; it increased very much in size and pain by
Saturday, when I treated it with _Belladonna_ [Greek: theta] externally,
to which it soon yielded. As at no other time in my life have I suffered
from boils, I am inclined to think these are due to the use of the
daisy.
BERBERIS AQUIFOLIUM.
NAT. ORD., Berberidaceæ
COMMON NAMES, Oregon grape. Mountain grape.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root and stem is pounded to a pulp and macerated
in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(This unintentional proving was published in August,
1896, under the signature J. d. W. C. The paper referred
to by J. d. W. C. was a clipping from the _Eclectic
Medical Journal_.)
In the _Homoeopathic Recorder_ for March, 1896, p. 133, there appears
an interesting article on the virtues of the plant named above--it
starts out with: "From the fact that it will make a 'new' man of an old
one in a short time it is an excellent remedy."
As I am now over sixty years old, it seemed high time to cast about for
something possessing the virtue specified, viz., making "a 'new' man out
of an old one"--and to my knowledge, as I have never had five days'
illness confining me to bed, or even to my room, during the said sixty
years, I considered myself an easy subject for the contemplated
rejuvenation; besides all this, I am what some would call a
homoeopathic "crank;" and believed, and yet believe, if there be
anything that can effect such a transformation it is to be found only
within the lines of Homoeopathy, I immediately ordered quantum suf. of
the article in question from the celebrated firm of Boericke & Tafel,
and started out on the trip to the "Fountain of Youth" in full
confidence that _something_ would come of it.
The first day I took two doses mother tincture 10-15 drops each; no
special effect noticed--no youthfulness either! Second day, ditto; third
day, one dose in morning; after bank hours went to friend's sanctum and
engaged in a game of chess, and while so engaged felt a growing sense of
nausea and thick-headedness--so much so, that I was obliged to excuse
myself and hurry to my own quarters. _Berberis_, however, did not once
occur to me--I had scarce reached my room when the sense of nausea
(seven minutes' lively walk, since it became really oppressive) had
_full sway_, and having eaten nothing whatever since the previous
evening (as I do not eat unless I am hungry) the straining was rather
severe, but exactly similar to some previous attacks of
"biliousness"--in feeling, and color and taste of discharges--and still
_Berberis_ did not occur to me; as soon as the strain was over I was
seized with a remarkable and peculiar headache; a thing of which I have
no recollection whatever to have previously experienced in any
shape--the sensation was that of a strong, well-defined, compressive
band of iron (or some unyielding substance), about two inches wide,
passing _entirely round the head, just above the ears_--it kept on
growing tighter and tighter; I jumped from the reclined position on a
couch, wet a folded towel in cold water, and passed it round my head so
as to cover the "band;" but it gave little relief; about 10 o'clock I
began to think over what I might have eaten to disagree with me so, and
at last _Berberis_ came plump into sight; I at once prepared a cup of
strong, strong coffee (Hahnemann's antidote, and for which I had to send
to a neighbor), believing it would antidote the _Berberis_ (or rather
hoping it might), and about 12 o'clock there was a slight diminution of
pressure; then more coffee, black and strong, two or three mouthfuls,
and again laid down; by morning the serious phase of the headache had
disappeared, but I was exceedingly tremulous in nerves and unsteady in
gait up to noon, when I ventured on some oatmeal and syrup--habitually,
I do not eat meat, or drink tea or coffee, nor spirituous liquors, nor
use tobacco, and have not for over thirty years.
Finally, I "made a good recovery," and now whenever I have a sensation
of biliousness I touch my tongue to my finger after touching the cork of
the mother tincture bottle of _Berberis aqui._; with laid finger--and
have no trouble compared to what I have usually had--I believe I may
say, I am subject to bilousness by heredity, but it has removed much
thereof, and this remedy, I think, is good enough for the remainder.
BLATTA ORIENTALIS.
SYNONYM, Indian cockroach.
CLASS, Insecta.
ORDER, Orthoptera.
COMMON NAME (Indian), Talápoka.
PREPARATION.--Triturate in the usual way.
(These two papers are by Dr. D. N. Ray, of Calcutta,
India, and were originally published in the
_Homoeopathic Recorder_ in the years 1890 and 1891. A
number of papers from American physicians could be added
confirming what Dr. Ray says of the drug.)
The _Blatta orientalis_ is a common insect in India, where it is found
abundantly in the dwelling houses. It has rather a flat body, from an
inch to a couple of inches in length; deep brown color. It can fly a
short distance. The wings reach beyond the body and cover it completely;
the feet have several segments and are provided with prickles.
Preparation.--The live animal is crushed and triturated as under class
IX of American Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, a tincture can be
prepared as under class IV of the same Pharmacopoeia.
This new unknown remedy has a curious anecdote connected with it. I call
it new because it has not been mentioned in any of our medical works,
although the use of _Blatta Americana_ (American cockroach) as a remedy
for dropsy has been mentioned in journals. The Indian cockroach is used
not in cases of dropsy but in cases of _Asthma_, a most obstinate
disease to deal with. In asthma it acts almost specifically. Before I
further proceed to give an account of this new, invaluable drug I shall
narrate here a short story how it came into use.
Some years ago an elderly gentleman had long been suffering from asthma;
for over twenty years. He took all measures and tried different methods
of both recognized and unrecognized medical treatments, but
unfortunately all proved in vain. At last he gave up all treatment and
was getting fits daily. He was brought to such a deplorable condition
that he was left to suffer. He was in the habit of taking tea. One
afternoon as usual he drank his cup of tea--afterwards he noticed that
his oppression in the chest was much less and that he was feeling
unusually better, so much so that he felt himself a different being.
This led him and his friends to inquire into the cause of it. He
immediately inferred that the relief was due to the drinking of the
_tea_, although he habitually drank the same tea but never before had
experienced any such changes. So this change he attributed to something
in the tea. The servant who prepared the tea was sent for and
questioned. His reply was that he made the tea as usual and there was
nothing new in it. The residue of the teacup was carefully examined,
nothing was found there, but on examining the tea-pot a dead cockroach
was discovered. So it was concluded that this _infusion_ of cockroach
did the gentleman a world of good. The very day he drank that _cup of
tea_ he had hardly any fit of asthma at night, and in a few days he got
entirely well to his and his friends' surprise.
The accounts of his Providential recovery were communicated to some of
his friends--one of them, not a medical man, but quite an enterprising
gentleman, took this into his head and resolved to try whether cockroach
does any good to other asthmatic patients. For this purpose he got a lot
of cockroaches, put them alive into a quantity of boiling water and
mixed it after filtering the water when cool with almost the same
quantity of the rectified spirit of wine, so that it might last for some
time without getting soured. This new mixture (or tincture) he began to
try in each and every case of asthma that he came across. The dose was a
drop each time, 3 or 4 doses daily, and more frequently during the fits
of asthma. Within a short time he made some such wonderful cures that
people began to flock from different parts of the country to his door.
Soon the number of attendants was so great that he had to manufacture
the medicine by pounds and all this medicine he distributed to patients
without any charge. He has records of some of the cases.
Some two years ago a patient of mine asked me whether we make any use of
_Talápoka_ (cockroach) in our Pharmacopoeia. My reply was that we use
many loathsome insects as our remedial agents. I told him also that
_Blatta Americana_ (American cockroach), I had heard, had been used in
cases of dropsy, but I had no practical experience with it. He then said
the Indian cockroach is used in cases of asthma and he knew several
cases had been cured with it. This struck me and I determined to try
this in cases of asthma whenever next opportunity occurred. For this
purpose I got a lot of live cockroaches, killed them and pounded to a
fine pulp and triturated according to class IX of American
Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, that is, two parts by weight of the
substance and nine parts by weight of sugar of milk, giving 1x
trituration. Thus I prepare up to 3x trituration and I also make an
alcoholic solution--a few live cockroaches were crushed and five parts
by weight of alcohol poured over them--it was allowed to remain eight
days in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice daily. After the
expiration of that period the alcoholic solution was poured off,
strained and filtered, when it was ready for use.
I began to try both the preparations--drop doses of the tincture and
grain doses of 1x, 2x and sometimes 3x, 3 or 4 times daily when there
was no fit and almost every fifteen minutes or half hourly during the
severity of a fit. Both preparations began to answer well and I was
getting daily more and more encouraged about the efficacy of this new
drug. I had the opportunity of trying quite a number of cases of asthma
within this short time, the reports of which I wish to publish in the
future, but for the present I am glad to say in many cases it acted
almost specifically, that is, the whole trouble cleared away within a
fortnight or so without recurrence. In some cases the severity of the
paroxysm was lessened and the recurrence of the fits took place at a
longer interval; in others again only temporary benefit was observed.
This failure to benefit all cases alike I attribute to many
circumstances. Some people did not, rather could not, take the medicine
regularly according to my directions owing to their untoward
circumstances; some persons were suffering from other complications
along with asthma; some again got temporary relief and in the meantime
discontinued the medicine and came back again when there was a
recurrence of the fits, that is, they did not continue the drug for
sufficient length of time. Some cases again, not having derived
immediate benefit, got impatient and discontinued the medicine without
proper trial.
Besides all these, I think individual idiosyncrasy has a great deal to
do. The season of the year has some influence. It is usually observed in
this country that those who are subject to periodical attacks of
asthmatic fits are more prone to an attack either during the full or the
new moon, or at both the times. I believe if it is properly watched this
fact will be evident all over the world. Same is true of some other
diseases, as chronic cough, chronic fevers, rheumatism, either acute or
chronic, gout, elephantiasis, other glandular enlargements, etc., get
aggravated or are prone to aggravation during such changes of the moon.
Then some people get more severe and frequent fits during the winter
than the summer and the others more during the summer than the winter.
Let me here tell you that the Indian summer is very different from
either the English or the American. Some part of the Indian summer
season is quite rainy and the atmosphere is saturated with moisture and
other irritating ingredients, consequently a class of asthmatic people
suffer more during this season. I noticed to this class of cases _Blatta
orientalis_ will prove most efficacious. I have used it in bronchial and
nervous asthma with better success than the stomachæ.
SECOND PAPER.
I have of late tried _Blatta orientalis_ indiscriminately in almost all
cases of asthma that have come under my treatment, and I am glad to say
I have received good results in most cases, as the reports of some of
the clinical cases will show. I have not come to any definite use of
this drug yet, but I shall only mention a few facts that I have observed
during its use. It acts better in low potency and repeated doses during
an attack of asthma; when the spasm subsides, the terminal asthmatic
cough with wheezing and slight dyspnoea, etc., is better relieved with
higher potencies; the low potency, if continued after the spasmodic
period is over, will make the cough more troublesome and harassing to
the patient and the expectoration tenacious, thick and very difficult to
raise, but this will not be the case if the potency is changed. I had
this difficulty in a few cases when I was less acquainted with the
action of the drug, but now I manage my cases better. In four patients
who continued the drug for some time in the low potency, during the
paroxysm and after it was over, the cough became dry and hacking with
little or no expectoration, the streaks of blood appeared in the sputa,
which the patients had never observed in the course of their long
illness. This appearance of blood in their sputa was the cause of a
great anxiety to them and made them hurry over to my office. On inquiry
I learned from two of them--one a lady and the other a young man--that
while taking this remedy they felt a sensation all over the body, for
four or five days previous to the appearance of the blood, as if heat
were radiating from the ears, eyes, nose, top of the head, palms of the
hands and soles of the feet. They attributed this sensation of heat all
over the body and the appearance of the blood in the expectoration to
the drug. I directed them to stop the medicine at once; this they did,
and with the discontinuance of it the blood disappeared from the sputa
as well as the sensation of heat, but to me it was an open question
whether this appearance of blood in the expectoration was due to
overdrugging, although I must say that the presence of the streaks of
blood in the sputa of asthmatic patients is not an uncommon phenomenon.
I resolved to give the same potency to the same patients after the
lapse of some days. I did so, and to my surprise the blood-streaked
sputa again appeared after they had taken the remedy ix, one grain four
times daily. From this the patients understood it was the same medicine
that had been given to them on the last occasion and begged me not to
give it again, as the appearance of blood in the sputum frightened them,
in spite of all my assurance. No more strong doses of the drug were
given to them and they did not notice any more blood in the sputum. I
have heard other patients complain of this peculiar sensation of heat
whenever strong doses were given to them for some time. It acts better
on stout and corpulent than on thin and emaciated persons. The asthmatic
patients subject to repeated attacks of malaria derive less permanent
benefit from the use of the drug. So, it seems to me, that in hæmic
asthma, which is due to the abnormal condition of the blood, it is
efficacious. I have also used this drug in troublesome cough with
dyspnoea of phthisical patients with good result.
CLINICAL CASES.
CASE I. Baln R. M., aged fifty-five, thin, emaciated and irritable
temperament, has been suffering from hereditary asthma for the last
twenty-five years. For the last six or seven years he suffered from
asthmatic fits almost nightly and a troublesome cough with a good deal
of frothy expectoration. He said he had not known what sleep was for the
last six or seven years, in fact, he could not lie down in bed, as that
would immediately bring on a violent fit of coughing which would not
cease until he sat up, so the recumbent posture for him was almost
impracticable, and he used to sit up during the night and doze on a pile
of pillows. He passed his days comparatively better, but the approach of
the night was a horror to him, his struggle, commencing at 9 or 10 P.M.,
would last till the morning. He was the father of many children and was
well taken care of, but his suffering was so great that he had no
ambition to live any longer. He tried almost all systems of medicine
without much good. For the last ten years he took opium, which afforded
him slight relief at the beginning, using as high as forty-eight grains
of opium in twenty-four hours. Owing to the constant sitting posture he
became stooped, and the back of his neck stiff and painful. In April,
1889, he was suddenly taken ill with fever. The fever became protracted.
After an illness of over a month his condition became so bad that all
hope of his recovery was given up. During this illness he was treated by
an old school physician of some repute, but his condition daily grew
worse, the asthmatic attacks became very violent and almost incessant,
and the difficulty of breathing very great. He became so feeble that he
had not strength enough to enable him to bring up the expectoration; his
chest was full of it; fever was less; there was general anasarca. He was
sitting with head bent forward, almost touching the bed, as that was the
only position possible to him day and night. He had become almost
speechless, when I was sent for, at about 3 P.M. on the 23d of May,
1889. When I was entering the patient's room a medical man came out and
hinted that there was no use of my going in as the patient was just
expiring. I found the patient breathing hard; unconscious; jaws were
locked and saliva dribbling from the corners of his mouth; body cold;
cold, clammy perspiration on forehead; eyes partially opened; in fact,
to all appearance, he looked as if he were dead, except for the
respiratory movements. I felt his pulse and found it was not so bad as
the patient was looking. I examined the back of his chest, as that was
the only portion easily accessible, and noticed that the bronchial
spasms were going on with loud mucous râle. From the character of his
pulse I thought that the present state of the patient was _probably_ due
to the continued violent struggle and not deep coma, and that he had
become so exhausted that he was motionless, speechless and completely
unconscious. His bed was surrounded by many friends and relations, who
had come to bid him a last farewell; and it was with surprise that they
all looked at me when I proposed to administer medicine to a patient
whose death was expected every minute and for whose cremation
preparations were being made.
I got a big phial full of water and put in it _Blatta orientalis_ 1x
trit. a few grains and tried two or three times to give him a spoonful
of it, but in vain; the jaws were locked and I could not make him
swallow any of that medicine; then I put some powder dry in the hollow
of his lips and asked the attendants to try to give him the medicine I
left in the bottle. I was asked whether there was any hope of his
recovery, of course my answer was "_no_," and I also said he could only
live a few hours. I left the patient's house with the idea of not
visiting it again, but at 9 P.M. a messenger came with the report that
the patient was slightly better, he could swallow medicine and two doses
of it had been given. I was asked to see the patient again. I could
hardly believe what he said, however, I went to see the patient again. I
noticed there was a slight change for the better, the pulse was steady,
the jaws were unlocked, there was mobility of the limbs, he could
swallow liquid with ease and was expectorating freely, the breathing
though still difficult was slightly improved. There was the winking of
the eyelids. On the whole he was looking less lifeless, but still I
entertained no hope of his recovery. I left instructions to repeat the
same medicine once or twice during the night, if required, at the same
time to give milk repeatedly, one or two spoonfuls at a time, and to
inform me next morning if he had survived the night. Next morning I
really grew anxious to know what had become of my patient who had shown
symptoms slightly better with this new remedy. A messenger came with the
report that the patient passed a good night. I was requested to see him
again. When I arrived at his place at 8 A.M. I was surprised to see him
so much better, he had not only regained his consciousness, but was
sitting quietly in his bed, could speak slowly, the difficulty of
breathing was completely gone, but the cough occasionally troubled him
and a good deal of expectoration of frothy white or sometimes of big
yellowish lumps of mucus came up. He was given three doses of the same
medicine 2x trit. during the day. He passed a fair day, but at night his
difficulty of breathing again appeared in somewhat milder form. He had
to take two doses of the medicine. Thus the medicine was continued for a
week and his trouble daily became less and less until after the
expiration of a week he was able to sleep at night for the first time in
the last six or seven years. I treated him over a month, and his health
improved so rapidly that he not only got rid of the asthmatic trouble,
but was soon able to go out and even attend his business. The stooped
condition of his neck with slight pain and slight chronic bronchitis did
not leave him altogether. Besides _Blatta orientalis_, I also prescribed
for him _Arsenicum alb. 6_ and _12_, _Naja tri. 6_, _Ipecac 3_, and
_Antim. tart. 3_, as they were indicated. He continued well for over a
year, but in August, 1890, he had slight reappearance of the asthmatic
trouble. He again took _Blatta orientalis_ and got well.
CASE II. Mrs. Nundy, a thin lady, aged twenty-three, mother of three
children, came from a village for the treatment of asthma, from which
she had been suffering for the last eight years. For the first two or
three years she used to get two or three attacks in the year, but
gradually they were repeated more frequently, though the character of
the attack remained the same throughout. It would last two days and two
nights, whether any medicine was given to her or not. Nothing would
alleviate her suffering during an attack--too much interference would
increase her sufferings and prolong the duration of the attack, so,
practically speaking, almost nothing was given to her during an attack.
The great oppression of breathing, restlessness, profuse perspiration,
inability to move or lie down and loud wheezing would be the most
prominent symptoms in each attack. These would remain almost with equal
violence for nearly forty hours, when the spasms would cease with slight
cough and expectoration, and she would be perfectly at ease as ever,
and there would be no trace of disease left, except slight wheezing
sound on auscultation. But latterly these attacks were very frequent,
almost every week or ten days. In August, 1890, she was brought here for
treatment. It is worth while to mention that she took both allopathic
and native drugs during the interval of attacks to prevent their
recurrence, but without any effect. I saw her first on the morning of
the 5th of August, during an attack. I prescribed _Blatta Orientalis_ IX
trit., one grain every two hours. It was to their surprise that this
attack subsided unlike all others by the evening; that is, it
disappeared within twenty hours. This encouraged the lady and her
husband so much that she wanted to have regular course of treatment
under me. I put her under tincture of _Blatta Orientalis_ IX, one drop
per dose, twice daily. She continued this medicine till the time of the
next attack was over; that is, for ten days. After the expiration of
this period she began to complain of a sensation of heat all over her
body, so I changed it to 3x, one drop morning and evening. She kept
well, and after a month she went home thinking she got well. A month
after her going home she had an attack of asthma at night and took
_Blatta Orientalis_ IX as before, and by the next morning she was well.
This was in October, and after two months of the last attack. She had
another attack in winter and none since.
CASE III. A young man, aged thirty-four, had been suffering from asthma
for some years. He was invariably worse during the rains and the winter,
and a chronic bronchitis was almost a constant accompaniment. He tried
allopathic and lots of patent drugs, with only temporary amelioration of
the trouble. At last, in November, 1888, he came to my office. On
examination of his chest I found there was a chronic bronchitis. He said
that slight difficulty of breathing with hacking cough used to trouble
him every night, besides a cold would be followed by a severe attack of
asthma, so its periodicity of recurrence was irregular. I treated him
with _Ipecac_, _Arsenicum alb._, etc. The first-named medicine did him
the most good, but he never got entirely well. So in July, 1889, I put
him under tincture _Blatta orientalis_ 3X, drop doses, three or four
times daily. Under its use he began to improve steadily, and had only
two or three attacks of asthmatic fits since he used this drug, which
were promptly relieved by the same drug in 1x potency. _Euphrasia off._
was prescribed for his cold whenever he had it. He is free from all
trouble for the last year and a half. His general condition is so much
changed that there is no apprehension of the recurrence of his former
illness.
CASE IV. Baln Bose, an old, corpulent gentleman, aged sixty-two, has
been suffering from asthmatic attacks for some years. He never took any
allopathic medicine, but had always been under treatment of native
kabiraj (medical men), under whose treatment he was sometimes better and
worse at others. Latterly he became very bad and passed several
sleepless nights. He used to pass his days comparatively better, and it
was at night and in the morning he used to be worse. On the 24th of
July, 1890, at 9 A.M. I saw him first--there was a slight touch of
asthma even then. I made him try to lie down in bed; this he could not
do, owing to the coughing fit it excited while in that posture. On
examination the chest revealed chronic bronchial catarrh, and there was
also a harassing cough, with very little expectoration after repeated
exertion. I prescribed _Blatta orientalis_ IX trit., one grain every two
hours. He passed the night without an attack, and the next morning when
I saw him he complained that only the cough was troublesome last night
and no fit of asthma. The cough was somewhat troublesome even when I saw
him in the morning. I gave him tincture _Blatta ori._ 3x, one drop dose
every two hours. He passed the day and night well. He continued the
treatment for a fortnight and then went home, where he has been keeping
good health, with the exception of an occasional bronchial catarrh.
CASE V. A shoemaker, aged forty-two, robust constitution, has been
suffering with asthma for three or four years. He came to my office on
the 6th of November, 1890. He had been getting asthmatic fits almost
every night since October last. During the day troublesome cough, with
slight expectoration and hurried breathing made him unable to attend his
business. Tincture _Blatta orientalis_ IX, one drop doses, six times
daily, was given. The very first day he perceived the good effect of the
medicine and continued the same for a month, when he got well and
discontinued the medicine. He has been keeping well ever since.
CASE VI. Mr. G., aged forty, healthy constitution, had an asthmatic fit
on the 4th of August, 1890, preceded by a violent attack of cold, from
which he frequently used to suffer. He had this severe cold in the
morning, and in the afternoon he began to experience a great difficulty
of breathing and slight oppression and lightness of the chest--this, by
9 P.M., developed into a regular fit of asthma. I was sent for. On my
arrival, at 10 P.M., I found he was sitting before a pile of pillows
with elbows supported on them, and struggling for breath. There was also
a great tightness in the chest, occasional cough, and inability to
speak. I at once put him under _Blatta orientalis_ IX trit., one grain
every fifteen minutes, and less frequently afterwards if he felt better.
On my visit next morning I found him much better, but he said his
trouble at night continued, more or less, till 2 A.M., after which he
got some rest. Now, there was a troublesome cough, slight oppression of
the chest and great apprehension of a second attack in the night. The
same medicine, 3x trit., was given to him during the day, and a few
powders of 1x were left with him in case he was to get an attack at
night. There was a slight aggravation of those symptoms at night, and he
had occasion to take only two powders of 1x. The next morning he was
every way better, except the cough, for which four powders of 3x were
given daily. In four or five days he got entirely well and had no
relapse.
CASE VII. Mrs. D., aged twenty, a healthy, stout lady, mother of one
child, had been always enjoying good health, was suddenly attacked with
a violent fit of asthma on the 8th of August, 1890. This was the first
occasion she had a fit of asthma, the result of a severe cold. At about
2 A.M. she was suddenly seized with difficulty of breathing and a great
oppression in the chest. She could not lie down any longer in bed and
had to sit up, being supported on a pile of pillows. In the morning at 8
A.M. I saw her first. I noticed she was in great agony and almost
speechless. On examination I could not detect much loud wheezing--the
characteristic of an asthmatic attack--though the rapid movements of the
walls of the chest were even quite visible to the bystanders. The
patient was feeling almost choked up, and could not express what was
going on. She only pointed out a point, a little over the pit of the
stomach most painful. There was no cough--perspiration was pouring over
her body. I could not at once make out whether it was a case of pure
asthma, especially as she never had it before. However, I made up my
mind to give her _Blatta orientalis_ IX trit., a grain dose every
fifteen minutes, and watch the effect myself. Three doses of it were
given without much change for the better. I left a few more doses to be
repeated half hourly and promised to see her again within a couple of
hours. On my return I found her in a much better condition, and she had
taken only one of those powders I had left, and they were not repeated,
as she felt better. Now I thought it must have been an attack of asthma,
and I continued the medicine unhesitatingly. There was no aggravation at
night, but on the next morning she was better, and the usual asthmatic
cough began with slight expectoration. There was pain in the chest and
head with each coughing fit. _Blatta orientalis_ 3x trit., four to six
doses, was continued for a few days, when she got well. Again in
November she had a slight tendency to an asthmatic fit, took two or
three doses of the same medicine and got well. Since then she had not
been troubled again.
CASE VIII. A gentleman, the keeper of a common shop, aged forty-four,
belonging to a village, had been suffering from asthma for the last
eight years and had always been under treatment of native kabiraj
(medical men). In June, he came to the city, and I was called to see him
on the 14th of June, to treat him for his asthma. The day previous he
had an attack, for which he took no medicine. Each of his attacks
usually lasted four or five days. I gave him _Blatta orientalis_ IX
trit., one grain every two hours, and left him six such powders to be
taken during the day. He took them and felt better the next day. He
stayed here two or three days more, and when well he wanted to proceed
home, which was some couple of hundred miles. He took with him two
two-drachm phials of _Blatta orientalis_, one of IX and the other of 3x
trit. He continued the 3x, one grain doses, two or three times daily,
for a month, and discontinued afterward. He had no more asthmatic fits.
In January last, 1891, I had a letter from him, thanking me for his
recovery and asking for some of the same medicine for a friend of his,
who had been suffering from asthma. The friend of his who used the same
drug, _Blatta orientalis_, was equally benefited.
CASE IX. Mrs. Dalta, a thin lady, aged thirty-eight, mother of several
children, had been exposed to cold, which brought on an attack of
bronchitis with fever. This, in the course of a fortnight, developed
into a regular fit of asthma. She was all this time treated by an
old-school physician, but when the husband of the lady saw that she was
daily getting worse, and a new disease crept in, he made up his mind to
change the treatment. I was called to see her in the morning of the 8th
of June, 1890. She became very much emaciated, could not take any food,
had fever with acute bronchitis, hurried respiration, difficulty of
breathing; this she was complaining of bitterly, owing to which she
could not lie down in bed, but had to sit up day and night. There was a
prolonged fit of spasmodic cough at short intervals, with slight
expectoration, but these coughing fits would make her almost breathless.
This was the first time I prescribed _Blatta orientalis_ IX in a case
of asthma with fever and acute bronchitis. It answered my purpose well.
She had only ten powders during the day and passed a comparatively
better night. Next morning when I saw her she was better, except the
coughing fits, which were continuing as before. The same medicine was
repeated. On the 10th of June she had no asthmatic trouble at night, but
there was not much improvement in her cough--_Anti. tart._ and _Bryonia_
were needed to complete the cure.
BOLETUS LARICIS.
NAT. ORD., Fungi.
COMMON NAMES, Larch Agaric, Larch Boletus, Purging Agaric, White Agaric.
PREPARATION.--The dried fungus is macerated in five parts by weight of
alcohol.
(Here are two typical cases out of thirteen by Dr. W. H.
Burt, which we find in the _North American Journal of
Homoeopathy_, 1866, quoted from the _Medical Investigator_
from a volume not attainable.)
CASE 1. Intermittent fever: Type Quotidiana Duplex. In a large lymphatic
woman; weight about 180 lbs.; aged thirty-nine. November 4th. For the
last five weeks has had the ague. At first it was a simple quotidian.
Took Quinine, which broke it for four days, when it returned; took
Quinine in massive doses, which checked it for one week. It returned two
weeks since, in the form of a double quotidian. The chill comes on every
day at 10 A.M. and 5 P.M.
The chill lasts from one to two hours each time; hands and feet get icy
cold, chills run up and down the spine, with severe pains in the head,
back and limbs; followed by high fever for three hours, and then profuse
sweat. Tongue furred whitish-yellow, with large fissures in the tongue;
flat, bitter taste; has had no appetite for five weeks; craves cold
water all the time; bowels rather costive; has nausea during every
chill, but no vomiting; very weak, can only sit up about one hour in the
morning; great depression of spirits, cries during the whole
examination; face very much jaundiced. Treatment: _Ars. 2_, every two
hours, for three days. It produced constant nausea and lessened the
chills, but aggravated the fever. I then determined to try the _Boletus_
1st, two grs. every two hours. Took two doses when the chills came on,
she then ceased to take the medicine until 5 P.M. Took three doses, and
then fell asleep. 8th. Says she is feeling a little better, continued
treatment; 10 A.M., commenced to have a severe diarrhoea, an effect of
the medicine; discontinued the powders until 5 P.M. The fever did not
come on until 3 P.M.; had no chill; fever lasted three hours; perspired
profusely all night; slept well for the first time in a number of weeks.
9th. Feeling much better. Fever came on at 4 P.M., had no chill; fever
lasted four hours; nausea all the evening; sweat all night. 10th.
Feeling quite well. Had no more fever, but had night sweats for a week
after. Convalescence was very slow; notwithstanding she had no more
fever it was three weeks before she felt perfectly well.
This case demonstrates the fact to us that the _Boletus_ is superior to
our _greatest remedial_ agents in the case of intermittents. I believe
if I had not been acquainted with the therapeutic properties of the
_Boletus_ I would have been compelled to treat this lady every few weeks
for two or three months with our usual remedies.
CASE 2. Intermittent fever: Type quotidian. November 1st, Mrs. B., aged
fifty-six. Temperament, nervous. Three weeks since had an abscess in
left ear, which made her quite sick for a week. Since then has had a
fever every afternoon and night; feels chilly whenever she moves;
walking produces nausea; does not perspire any; tongue coated white;
loss of appetite; bowels loose; very restless at night, cannot sleep
any; getting very weak, keeps her bed most of the time. Gave _Boletus
laricis_. Had the fever but one day after.
CALCAREA RENALIS PRÆPARATA.
PREPARATION.--There are two kinds of renal calculi, the phosphatic and
the uric, which should be triturated as separate preparations.
(The _Homoeopathric Examiner_, 1846, contained the
following paper, by Dr. Bredenoll. We may add that the
remedy is reported to be peculiarly beneficial in Rigg's
disease of the teeth.)
My professional engagements do not permit me to spend much time in
writing; the following case, however, I deem worthy of note.
Born of healthy parents, I remained quite healthy until my twenty-third
year. I had no trouble in getting over the diseases to which children
are generally liable. Some of them, scarlet fever and measles, attacked
me when I was already engaged in my professional career. I am now
fifty-seven years old.
In the year 1808, while vaccinating children, I caught the itch from one
of them. Although I washed myself with soap water immediately, yet a
pustule made its appearance in about eight days, between the little
finger and ring finger of the left hand; afterwards a few more came on
at the same place and some others between the ring and middle finger. I
hastened to repel this eruption as fast as possible, which I
unfortunately succeeded in doing within the period of eight days.
This suppression of the eruption was followed by a host of diseases:
Liability to catching cold; frequent catarrh; rheumatic complaints;
toothache; attacks of hemicrania, with vomiting; continual heartburn;
hæmorrhoidal complaints, at times tumors, at times fluent; excessive
emaciation; afterwards a pustulous eruption over the whole body; painful
swelling of the joints, arthritic nodosities in different places; a
copper-colored eruption in the face, especially on and about the nose,
which made me look like a confirmed drunkard, etc., etc.
These affections tormented me more or less, until in the year 1833 I
visited Hahnemann at Coethen, for the purpose of studying homoeopathia
with him. Hahnemann treated me for three weeks, and I continued the
treatment at my native place. My health improved steadily, and at the
end of a year I considered myself cured. This lasted until October,
1836, when I was attacked with violent colic in one night. The pain was
felt in the region of the left kidney, lancinating, pinching, sore;
retching ensued, resulting in vomiting of mucus, and lastly bile. I took
a few pellets of _Nux v._ x; after this the pain disappeared gradually,
and the vomiting ceased. Next day I was well again. Two days afterwards
I discovered gravel in the urine, and my sufferings had vanished.
One year elapsed in this way; however, I occasionally experienced an
uncomfortable sensation in the region of the left kidney, especially
when riding on horseback, driving in a carriage, or walking fast; I took
at times _Lycopod._, at times _Nux v._, in proportion as one or the
other of these two remedies appeared indicated.
In November, 1837, I was suddenly attacked with vomiting, accompanied
with violent lancinating, sore or pinching pains in the region of the
left kidney. The horrible anguish and pain which I experienced extorted
from me involuntary screams; I was writhing like a worm in the dust. A
calculus had descended into the ureter and had become incarcerated in
it. Repeated doses of _Nux_ relieved the incarceration, and I distinctly
felt that the calculus was descending towards the bladder. After
twenty-four hours of horrible suffering the vomiting ceased, the pain
became duller and was felt in the region where the ureter dips into and
becomes interwoven with the tissue of the bladder: it continued for
three days and then disappeared all of a sudden (the stone had not got
into the bladder). Thirty-six hours afterwards the calculus entered the
bulb of the urethra. I felt a frequent desire to urinate; the urine was
turbid and bloody, until at last a calculus of four grains made its
appearance in the urine. After this I frequently passed gravel and
calculi, at times with slight, at times violent pains, sometimes
accompanied with vomiting; I kept the larger calculi, with a view of
using them hereafter as a curative agent.
Professor Nasse, of Bonn, where my son studied medicine at the time, has
analyzed the calculi, and has found them to be urate of lime. He advised
me to take _Merc. dulcis_ and the _Sulphate of Soda_ for some time; it
is scarcely necessary for me to say that I did not follow his advice.
On the fifteenth of February, 1839, I felt the precursory symptoms of a
new attack, which really did break out in all its fury on the 16th, and
continued on the 17th and 18th. I now caused 5 grains of my calculi to
be triturated in my presence with 95 grains of sugar of milk, according
to the fashion of Hahnemann, and took 1/2 grain in the evening of the
17th, another 1/2 grain in the morning of the 18th. On this day I passed
very turbid urine with a considerable quantity of gravel; however, in
the region where the ureter dips into the bladder, I experienced an
uncomfortable sensation, but was well otherwise. On the 19th I was
obliged to visit a patient at the distance of two miles; on my journey I
felt that the calculus was descending into the bladder; the urine which
I emitted shortly afterwards was very turbid and bloody. That same
evening, after returning home, I felt the stone in the bulb of the
urethra, and on the morning of the 20th it came off during stool, but
unfortunately got lost among the excrement. To judge from my feeling it
must have been larger than any of the preceding calculi, and also
rougher, for its passage through the urethra was very painful and
followed by an oozing out of blood.
The uncomfortable feeling in the region of the left kidney never
disappeared completely; it became especially painful when pressing upon
that place, when riding on horseback or in a carriage, when taking
exercise or turning the body. It seems to me that the whole pelvis of
the kidneys must have been full of gravel and calculi. I now took 1/2
grain at intervals of eight days; the result was that I passed gravel
and small calculi at every micturition. On the 30th of November my
condition got worse, and I continued to take 1/2 grain of _Calc. ren.
præp._, at longer or shorter intervals, until October 18th, 1840. After
this period I ceased to pass any gravel, and I felt entirely well. On
the 3d of February I passed some more gravel. Another dose of 1/2 grain
of _Lapis renalis_; another dose on June 3d. On June 17th precursors of
another attack; on the 18th vomiting accompanied by all the frightful
circumstances which I have detailed above; the vomiting of mucus, bile,
ingesta, continued at short intervals until the 26th; my tongue was
coated with yellow mucus, and my appetite had completely disappeared.
_Bryon., Nux v._ and _Pulsat._ relieved the gastric symptom; on the
26th, in the afternoon, I passed a calculus of the size of a pea. I now
resume the use of _Calc. ren. præp._ in 1/2 grain doses, at irregular
intervals. On the 23d of October I passed a calculus of the size of a
pea, without vomiting; there were no other precursory symptoms except
the uncomfortable feeling in the region of the kidney a few days
previous. I have felt well ever since and free from all complaint,
although I continue the occasional use of 1/2 a grain of _Calc. ren.
præp._, lest I should have a relapse.
Every time I took a dose of _Calc. ren. pr._ I found that the so-called
tartar on the teeth became detached a few days afterwards. A short while
ago a nodosity, hard as a stone, which had appeared on the extensor
tendon of the right middle finger, about nine months ago, and which
threatened to increase more and more, disappeared. I consider the tartar
on the teeth, calculi renales and arthritic nodosities very similar
morbid products.
In conclusion I beg leave to offer the following remarks:
1. Hahnemann's theory of psora is no chimera, as many theoreticians
would have us believe. I was perfectly healthy previous to my being
infected with itch. What a host of sufferings have I been obliged to
endure after the suppression of the itch!
2. Isopathy deserves especial notice.
It is true, the most suitable homoeopathic remedies afforded me
relief; the incarceration of calculi in the ureter especially was
relieved by _Nux_; but they were unable to put a stop to the formation
of calculi; this result was only attained by the preparation of _Calc.
ren._
CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS.
NAT. ORD., Rhamnaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, New Jersey Tea. Red Root. Wild Snowball.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are pounded to a pulp and macerated in
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following by Dr. Majumdar in _Indian Homoepathic
Review_, 1897, illustrates the chief use of this "organ
remedy.")
Recently I had a wonderful case of supposed heart disease cured by
_Ceanothus_. I am indebted to my friend, Dr. Burnett, for the suggestion
of using _Ceanothus_.
A thin and haggard looking young man presented himself to my office on
the 26th of July, 1896. He told me he had some disease of the heart and
had been under the treatment of several eminent allopathic physicians of
this city; some declared it to be a case of hypertrophy of the heart and
some of valvular disease.
Without asking him further, I examined his heart thoroughly, but with no
particular results. The rhythm and sounds were all normal only there was
a degree of weakness in these sounds. Dulness on percussion was not
extended beyond its usual limit. So I could not make out any heart
disease in this man.
On further inquiry, I learned that the man remained in a most malarious
place for five years, during which he had been suffering off and on
from intermittent fever. I percussed the abdomen and found an enormously
enlarged and indurated spleen, reaching beyond the navel and pushing up
the thoracic viscera.
The patient complained of palpitation of heart, dyspnoea, especially
on ascending steps and walking fast. I thought from these symptoms his
former medical advisers concluded heart disease. In my mind they seemed
to be resulted from enlarged spleen.
On that very day I gave him six powders of _Ceonothus Amer._ 3x, one
dose morning and evening. I asked him to see me when his medicine
finished. He did not make his appearance, however, on the appointed day.
I thought the result of my prescription was not promising. After a week
he came and reported unusually good results.
His dyspnoea was gone, palpitation troubled him now and then, but much
less than before. He wanted me to give him the same powders. I gave him
_Sac. lac._, six doses, in the usual way.
Reported further improvement; the same powders of _Sac. lac._ twice. To
my astonishment I found the spleen much reduced in size and softened
than before; I knew nothing about this patient for some time. Only
recently I saw him, a perfect picture of sound health. He informed me
that the same powders were sufficient to set him right. He gained
health; no sign of enlarged spleen left.
CEPHALANTHUS OCCIDENTALIS.
NAT. ORD., Rubiaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Button Bush, Crane Willow.
PREPARATION.--The fresh bark of branches and roots is pounded to a pulp
and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The item given below was contributed to the _American
Observer_, 1875, by Dr. E. D. Wright.)
Proving--one-half ounce in a day.
First day--raw, sore throat; nervous, excited; felt light and easy,
happy; bowels constipated.
Second day--the same dose. Hard dreams about fighting, quarreling;
restless and tossing over; joints of the fingers lame; griping pains in
the lungs(?); in body and limbs, especially in the joints; toothache;
bowels loose, stool offensive; almost affected by the piles.
CURES.--Intermittent fever, quotidian and tertian fever; sore throat,
quinsy--had very good effect.
Rheumatic fevers, with soreness of the flesh.
A teamster fell in the river. Cold, and inflammatory fever was cured
quickly.
CEREUS BONPLANDII.
NAT. ORD., Cactacæ.
COMMON NAME, A variety of the night blooming cereus group.
PREPARATION.--The fresh green stems are pounded to a pulp and macerated
in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(This paper, which we take from the _Homoeopathic
Physician_, 1892, was prepared by Dr. J. H. Flitch, of
New Scotland, N. Y., the original prover. The proving is
also found in the _Encyclopædia_, Allen's.)
_Mind and Disposition._--An agreeable and tranquil state and frame of
mind and body (first day, evening).
Mind perfectly composed.
Feel better when engaged at something or occupied.
Desire to be at useful work, desire to be busy (second day).
Desire to be employed.
Praying or disposition to be at prayer.
Ill at ease.
Rest (third day).
Doesn't know what to do with one's self.
Feels a strong desire to give away something very necessary for him to
keep or have.
Feeling irritable (on rising).
Cannot keep himself employed at anything.
Very much disturbed in mind.
Passes the time in useless occupation (fourth day).
Very irritable; acts impulsively.
Spends the whole forenoon uselessly.
Difficulty in becoming devotional (at church).
Finds it easy to become devotional.
Feels well late in the evening (seventh day).
Thinks he is under a powerful influence.
_Sensorium._--Vertigo followed by nausea.
Swimming of the head (sixth day).
_Head._--Decidedly painful drawing sensation in the occiput, soon
subsiding (first day).
Painful stunning feeling in the right frontal bone.
Pressive pain from without inward in the occiput high up on walking.
Slight painful pressure in the right occiput from behind forward (second
day).
Disagreeable feeling in occiput, running down over the neck, followed by
a slight qualmishness.
Slight heavy feeling in the top of the forehead.
Headache occipital, continued for a quarter of an hour.
Sensation, as if something hard like a board were bound against the back
of the head, felt more especially on left side.
Head feels drawn to the left backward.
Pain in occiput running through lobes of the cerebrum.
Pain running from left ear through the head to right ear and right
parietal bone.
Pain commencing in the medulla oblongata and running upward and
expanding to the surface of the brain, worse on stooping or bending
forward.
Pain along right external angular process of frontal bone.
Pain through or across the brain from left to right.
Feeling as of being pressed at left occiput and immediately thereafter
a counter pain in left frontal bone, the latter continuing a minute or
two.
Pain from left occiput verging around left parietal bone.
Pain through occiput.
Pain in right forehead (third day).
Pain in anterior portion of brain and extending in a backward direction.
Tenderness at the point of exit of the left supra-orbital nerve.
Pain in occiput (high up).
Occipital pain (fifth day).
Bad feeling, head (third day).
_Eyes._--Pain over right eye, passing down over globe (first day).
Nauseated feeling commencing in throat, passing to stomach simultaneous
with a congested feeling in both eyes.
Pain in orbits, running from before backward.
Pain in left eyelids when stooping low (second day).
On closing the eyes perception of a cluster of round-shaped,
symmetrical, orange-colored spots.
Swimming eyes.
Capillary congestion of the conjunctiva.
Severe photophobia, producing a sticking pain through eyes.
Sore feeling through eyes as if exposed to strong sunlight.
Pain through globe of right eye.
Pain in the globe of left eye.
_Nose._--Greenish (pale) mucus discharged from nostril.
Accumulation of mucus in nose as in nasal catarrh.
Stinging in nose, more especially right side.
Stinging in right nostril.
Sneezing.
Hardened mucus in left nostril.
_Face._--Pain along right malar bone running to temple.
Looks haggard.
Yellowish face or countenance.
_Mouth, etc._--Saliva in mouth when swallowed of no unpleasant taste
(first day).
Feeling of coldness in the mouth (second day).
Feeling as of having eaten something tasting alkaline.
Water in the mouth.
Metallic taste in the mouth.
Watery saliva in the mouth (not disagreeable).
Slight metallic taste, feels as if having eaten something of a metallic
taste.
Taste of green vegetables.
Watery taste.
Sensation as of a thread of mucus on the tongue.
Insipid, watery taste (third day).
Fetid breath (noticed by myself) (fourth day).
Fetid breath (noticed by others) (fifth day).
Tongue looks frothy (sixth day).
Tongue of a purplish red hue.
Tongue feels rough.
_Throat._--Mucus adherent to the hard palate easily removed (first day).
Mucus in pharynx easily detached (second day).
Mucus in larynx easily detached.
Scraping of mucus, which seems to adhere to left side of pharynx.
Persistent accumulation of mucus in the pharynx, continually and
recurring in considerable quantities and of a pale-green color.
Mucus easily expectorated or cleared from the throat.
Clearing of the hard palate of mucus.
_Stomach, Appetite, etc._--Dry eructations (second day).
Thirstlessness.
Appetite diminished; ate very light breakfast (third day).
Relish of sweet things.
_Abdomen, Stool, etc._--Slight rumbling in bowels, left side (first
day).
Nearly or quite inefficient effort to evacuate bowels.
Fetid flatus passed from bowels.
Slight pain in epigastrium, coming and going at intervals of a few
minutes.
Slightly painful sensation in epigastrium (second day).
Passed stool not easy, not sufficient at 6 A.M. (third day).
Natural stool at 6 A.M. (sixth day).
_Urine and Urinary Organs._--Inclination to pass urine (first day).
Urine of a slightly brownish tinge (second day).
Urine smells strongly after a few minutes.
Yellowish urine.
Urine less than half usual quantity.
Urine normal.
Urine clear, small in quantity.
Urination frequent (at 4 P.M.) (second day).
Amelioration after urination.
Passed a small quantity saturated yellowish urine.
_Sexual._--Slight increase of sexual desire.
Anæsthesia and dwindling of the sexual organs.
_Kidneys._--Slight pain of a sticking character in right kidney (second
day).
Pain in left kidney, long continued, as from the presence of a renal
calculus.
Pain in left abdomen sharp and cutting, as from a calculus impacted in
the ureter.
Slight pain in right kidney repeated after an interval (third day).
Sticking pain in right ureter.
More severe sticking pain in right kidney.
Soreness on external pressure over right kidney.
Pain on stooping, bending over in right kidney.
Pain in left kidney (fifth day).
_Chest, Heart, etc._--Deep inspiration as if tired, although
experiencing no fatigue whatever (second day).
Feels as if pained or oppressed at chest.
Slightly painful sensation at left chest, region of the heart.
Deep inspiration.
At intervals deep inspiration, as if the chest were laboring under an
oppression hardly definable.
Slight feeling of oppression, or a weakness in the chest with the deep
inspiration.
Tendency to expand the chest automatically and rhythmically, recurring
very frequently.
The chest expands itself to its utmost capacity, seemingly, and in an
instant collapses, the same process to be repeated.
Respiration measured, no interval between inspiration and expiration.
Sensation of uneasiness extending to lumbar region on deep inspiration
(described above).
Slight pricking sensation of pain in the heart.
Sighing respiration (very frequent) (fourth day).
Tenderness of the anterior lower left intercostal muscles below the
heart (third day).
Pain in chest and through heart, with pain running toward spleen, the
latter momentarily, the former (heart pain) continuing.
Pain in left great pectoral muscle, worse toward the tendon.
Sighing respiration, noticed many times (fifth day).
Coughing on throwing off outer garments.
Somewhat persistent pains in the cartilages of the left lower ribs.
Long, deep, uneasy respiration, felt more acutely (sixth day).
The chest acts automatically, not according to will or whim.
Chest feels empty.
Pain at heart.
Pulse dicrotic, and several intermissions noticed within a minute (after
rising 6 A.M.).
Deep inspiration and expiration, chest is emptied quickly.
Sensation as of a great stone laid upon the heart.
Sensation (soon after) as if the thoracic wall anterior to heart were
broken out or torn away.
Pulse sharp.
Desire to remove clothing from chest.
Pain in chest and both arms.
_Neck, Back, etc._--Painful sensation in the sides of the neck, left, at
mastoid or below it, continuing longer than on right side.
Pain in left neck behind mastoid process, running backward and upward.
Pain through right shoulder blade (scapula).
Dorsal vertebræ feel painful (third day).
Tenderness along spines of cervical and upper dorsal vertebræ (fourth
day).
Pain in muscles of thorax midway between scapula and sacrum (sixth day).
Pain on pressure of muscle of left side of the neck.
Back lame on stooping.
Pain in right scapula.
Pain in neck.
Pain in left side above and along clavicle.
Fatigue in lumbar region on riding.
_Upper extremities._--Tired feeling in both arms (second day).
Drawing pain in index finger of both hands.
Pain in both upper arms.
Pain running across inner side of left arm, felt longest at bend of the
elbow.
Pain in left shoulder like that produced by carrying a heavy load.
Pain running along the back down to the arms.
Dull pain in left elbow and forearm.
Pain with numbness in left forearm, ulnar side (third day).
Pain along inner side of right upper arm.
Pain with numbness of right arm while writing.
Pain in metacarpal bone of right thumb.
Pain (very noticeable) in metacarpal phalangeal joint of right hand.
Lameness in right forearm above wrist.
Drawing from end of right thumb upward, pain quite constant.
Considerable soreness on contact of anterior muscles of right arm.
Pain on ulnar side of left carpo-metacarpal joint (fourth day).
Pain in external border of left elbow joint.
Pain at and back of left shoulder joint.
Lameness of left little finger.
Pain over ulna posteriorly.
Pain above wrist.
Tenderness of the flexor muscles of both upper arms.
Pain in right ring finger at 3 P.M. and repeated (fifth day).
Pain at junction of second and third phalanx (last joint) of left index
finger.
Pain in dorsum of right hand.
Pain in left forearm.
Pain in both arms and chest.
Pain in third phalanx of left index finger.
Pain in right little finger running through bone.
Pain in right ring finger.
Pain in right wrist.
Pain in first and second metacarpal bones (sixth day) of right hand.
Pain in the dorsum of left hand.
Pain in left little finger.
Pain on back of left wrist, running to forearm.
Pain in the anterior muscles of upper arm.
_Lower Extremities._--Pain in right knee (second day).
Pain through right hip (fifth day).
Pain in right great trochanter.
Pain on the inner side of left knee (repeated).
Pain on left knee, inner and lower border.
Pain in both knees.
Pain in both knees on rising.
Pain in hamstring tendons of left thigh.
Pain in right hip (sixth day).
Pain in head of the right thigh bone.
Pain in right patella, very sore, difficult to touch without very
considerable pain.
Pain above right external malleolus.
Pressing or pressive feeling, beginning at the sacrum and running down
through both thighs down to feet.
Pain in different joints of the lower extremities.
_Skin._--Itching of the nose (second day).
Itching on various parts of the body (general itching) (third day).
Itching pustule of face near ala of nose.
Itching of the right popliteal space, with roughness of the skin (fifth
day).
Profuse shedding of the hair on combing the head.
Itching with roughness of the skin of a spot a few inches square above
the left knee.
Itching of a spot a few inches below left scapula, with a condition of
the skin like eczema periodically.
_Sleep._ Not sleeping late at night.
Not sleeping at 11 P.M., mind disturbed (fourth day).
Dreamed of dogs (fifth day).
Dream of a fracas which caused great excitement in the dreamer.
Drowsiness at 11 P.M. (sixth day).
Drowsiness (third day).
Slept pretty well (fifth day).
Awakes at 5 A.M. (sixth day).
Awakes at 9 A.M. (seventh day, Sunday).
Recurrence of old dreams of years ago.
Yawning (second day).
_Generalities._--Feeling miserably on retiring.
Throws himself on bed without undressing.
Great yawning fit (third day).
Feels not pleasant.
Feels half sick.
Very dull in the morning, all morning.
Feels very badly, has an ill-defined bad feeling in the evening and at
night.
Easily chilled in a room; better on disrobing for bed.
Alternations of symptoms of mind and bodily pains. When pains of the
body are noticed, symptoms affecting the mind are suspended. The mind
loses its characteristics, is clear, and one feels better.
REMARKS.--In looking over the above proving we find a number of
illustrations of the alternate action of the drug. But perhaps what
strikes the reader most forcibly is the way the symptoms follow Reuter's
series. The most prominent symptoms early developed, catarrhal and
gastric, have come and gone within three or four days, while those
affecting the chest, heart, sensorium, eyes, brain, and nerves are more
slowly developed, and are the ones that persist. Another thing to be
noticed is the long duration of its action. The high-water mark in
regard to its action was not reached (I mean its action on the nervous
system) until nearly ten days after discontinuing to take it. It is an
_antipsoric_ of remarkable power. Some skin symptoms developed by it
persisted off and on for years, two or three of which I will mention.
"Itching of the right popliteal space," this after continuing for eight
or nine years disappeared. I think some _Sepia_ [Greek: Ip] I took had
something to do with its disappearance. Another: "Itching with roughness
of the skin, like eczema, above the left knee anteriorly." This still
persists. I still have "Itching, with an eruption resembling at times
herpes zoster below the left scapula." This is still present, although
annoying. I have done nothing to cause its disappearance.
In regard to _verifications_ I could report a goodly number. One of the
first I ever had was a case of eczema of both hands, extending as far as
the elbows. Cured in six weeks. The provings point in the direction of
kidney troubles, and I have seen it speedily cause the disappearance of
deposits in the urine that were giving much inconvenience. In a case of
dropsy of cardiac and renal origin (albuminuria) in which there was
great oedema, cured in two or three weeks. Sleeplessness, peculiar in
its nature, corresponding to the proving, is relieved by it. Intercostal
neuralgia, especially on left side. Anterior crural neuralgia, an
aggravated case, promptly relieved. I need not say that the symptoms
strongly point to rheumatism. I could say much on that part of the
subject, and there is the sphere in which it has seemed to have been
useful by the professional friend to whom I have furnished the medicine
for trial. In a monograph by Dr. R. E. Kunge, of New York, and the
writer, I ventured the prediction that _Cereus bonplandii_ would prove
of value in the treatment of insanity. I send you the report of two
cases. I have one other still under treatment. A patient for fourteen
years in the Middletown Insane Hospital, improving, called to see Ida
Reamer, a young woman of eighteen, living in New Scotland, on what is
called the Heldeberg Mountain or hill, on the evening of April 19th,
1884. For some time previously she had been living with a relative in
Albany, attending school and assisting in household labor. Had studied
hard and probably overtaxed her strength. Her friends noticing that she
was not her former self, and that though usually amiable and cheerful,
she had become gloomy and taciturn, brought her home. Rest did her no
good, and I was called after she had been home for some time. On my
visit I noticed she would not answer questions; was wandering aimlessly
about the house; could not sit still, if seated, more than a few
minutes. During my visit I think she changed her position a dozen or
fifteen times. She would go to the water pail and get a drink, then in a
minute or two would get up and go to the door. After standing a minute
or two she would come in and sit down, only to rise up and repeat her
restless wanderings. I could elicit nothing from the mother of anything
wrong in regard to the menstrual function. Prescribed _Cereus
bonplandii_, fourth decimal. Did not call again, but was informed by her
friend that she soon regained her health. Was requested to call again to
see Ida R. on November 29th of the same year. This time there was
considerable mental disturbance; she had attended some entertainment
which she had considered of a questionable nature, and had been worrying
over it. Although living out at service, it did not appear that she had
overworked. I found her sitting still; she would sit for hours. If any
one disturbed her, she would curse, swear, throw boots and shoes or
anything that came in her way, resisted attempts made by her friends to
remove her to her home. Prescribed _Cer. bon._ 4. Saw her December 3d,
7th, 10th, at the end of which time she was entirely free from any
mental manifestations, and although under observation has never
experienced a return of them to the present date.
In the summer of 1879 was consulted in the case of Mrs. D. V., afflicted
with melancholia for a year or two. The disease had appeared just
subsequent to her confinement with her last child. Prescribed wholesome
advice in regard to mode of life, etc., and very little medicine. In a
few months she was apparently as well as ever. June 5th, 1884, was
called to see Mrs. D. V. She had quite recently given birth to a child
and was developing delusions, most of which were those of a spiritual
nature. She thought she had committed the unpardonable sin, or that she
had offended some of her friends, and was constantly worrying. Appetite
very poor. Prescribed _Cer. bon._ 4, gave her nourishing diet with
Maltine and Pepsin to aid digestion. On July 11th she was about the
house attending to her household duties.
CHEIRANTHUS CHEIRI.
NAT. ORD., Cruciferæ.
COMMON NAME, Wall flower.
PREPARATION.--The fresh plant is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(Dr. Robert T. Cooper, of London, contributed the
following to the _Hahnemannian Monthly_, 1897):
A tincture is used made from a single dark-flowered plant. No proving of
this remedy has come under my notice, yet I consider the following case
worth reporting: T. T., age twenty, a clerk; admission date, 30th April,
1892; never heard well on the left side, but particularly deaf the last
month, and deafness increases; watch, hearing contact only. History of
much earache in childhood; left ear discharges, but the discharge does
not run out. Wisdom teeth; left upper and right, lower and upper,
breaking through. Gave _Cheiranthus cheiri_.
28th May, hears very much better; left, 3-1/2 inches. No medicine.
11th June, continues improving gradually; left, 15 inches.
25th June, continues to hear voices very fairly on the left side, but no
improvement since last time; left, 15 inches. Gave _Cheiranthus cheiri_.
25th July, restoration of improving condition; left, 20 inches. No
medicine.
CHIONANTHUS VIRGINICA.
NAT. ORD., Oleaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Fringe Tree. Snow-flower.
PREPARATION.--The fresh bark is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following is the only proving, we believe, ever made
of this drug; it was the thesis of Dr. John W. Lawshé,
Atlanta, Ga., on his graduation, and was published in
_North American Journal of Homoeopathy_, May, 1883).
This being the first and only proving of this drug, Prof. Lilienthal
requested a copy of it for publication, which I cheerfully agreed to
give him.
Monday, July 10, 1882, 9:30 A.M., I took one drop of the tincture,
after having taken the 12x and 6x potencies, one day each, without any
effect. I continued taking the tincture each hour during the day,
increasing each dose one drop till five were reached, then increased
each dose five drops till twenty-five were reached, but without any
effect whatever.
Tuesday, July 11th, I began with thirty drops at 9 o'clock A.M., and
increased the dose five drops each hour till I reached one drachm, and
took three doses of one drachm each. I retired at 10 o'clock feeling
perfectly well.
I awoke at 4:10 A.M., Wednesday, July 12th, with a severe
headache--chiefly in the forehead and just over the eyes--especially the
left eye. Eyeballs exceedingly painful, feel sore and bruised.
Cutting twisting pains all through my abdomen.
I turned over and lay with my face downward, which seemed to relieve the
abdominal pains some, and after awhile I went to sleep. I awoke again at
8:20 feeling very sick and badly all over. Head feels very sore all over
and through it; heavy dull feeling in forehead and a drawing or pressing
at the root of my nose. I felt so weak I had to sit down awhile before I
could finish dressing; _never_ before felt so sick at my stomach. Bitter
eructations, great nausea and retching, with a desire for stool.
I finished dressing and looked at my tongue, which was heavily coated
and of a dirty, greenish yellow color. I started down stairs and had a
violent attack of nausea and a great deal of retching before I could
vomit. It seemed as though there were a "_double suction_" in my
abdomen, one trying to force something up and the other sucking it back,
till finally, by quite an effort, I vomited a teacup full, or more, of
_very dark green_ bile, rather ropy, _I think_, and exceedingly bitter.
The bile came up with a single gush and I was through. Immediately a
cold perspiration broke out and stood in beads on my forehead, and I
felt very weak. Desire for stool gone after vomiting.
I have a sore, weak, bruised feeling all over the small of my back;
feels very weak when standing or moving about; better sitting or lying
down.
No appetite for breakfast, but my stomach felt so weak and empty that I
drank a cup of coffee and ate half a biscuit, which relieved to some
extent.
9 A.M., am so nervous I cannot keep still and can hardly write down my
symptoms.
9:30 o'clock, my back in lumbar and sacral region is so sore and weak I
could hardly walk from the car to the office, every step seemed to jar
my whole body and made my headache worse.
10 o'clock, have been quiet for half an hour and feel some better; have
a pressing or squeezing sensation in the bridge of my nose; sore
constricted feeling in the temples, with throbbing temporal arteries.
10:30 o'clock, just came from stool; the first passed was watery, but
the last was more solid in appearance; stool terribly offensive, like
_carrion_. Heavy, all-gone sort of feeling low down in hypogastrium;
color of stool was dark brown with pieces of undigested food in it.
11:30, just got home and feel very bad and weak. My head and back ache
considerably, and I feel "played out" generally.
12 o'clock, forehead and cheeks _very_ hot and dry, radial pulse 114,
chilly sensation darting through body from front to back, causing a sort
of shivering or involuntary jerking, forehead feels like a hot coal of
fire to my hand; headache in forehead and over eyes relieved by pressing
with my hand, but I cannot bear it long for my head seems to get hotter
from it; am exceedingly nervous, cannot lie still, involuntary jerkings
in different parts of the body. Roof of mouth and tongue feel very dry,
although there seems to be the usual amount of saliva present. No thirst
at all.
I went to sleep about 12:20 P.M., and was awakened at 2 o'clock for
dinner. Couldn't eat anything; I tried but it nauseated me; could only
drink a cup of coffee; headache worse after waking; pulse 88; head not
quite so hot, body feels chilly, and I had a shawl thrown over me; went
to sleep again about 3:30.
I was told that at 4:15 my face and head were covered with a profuse
perspiration, and my carotid arteries pulsated very hard and rapidly; I
got up at 5 o'clock and bathed my face in cold water and felt somewhat
better, though my head and back still ache considerably and feel quite
sore; eyeballs feel bruised.
6:30. Weak, empty feeling about stomach, which was relieved for awhile
by eating some crackers and drinking a cup of coffee. Pulse still 88.
At 8:15 had an action from my bowels; during stool griping and cutting
pains in abdomen, about and below umbilicus; stool thin, watery,
blackish-brown color and very offensive. I retired at 9:30 and had to
have an extra covering thrown upon me, I was so chilly, while my
room-mate lay without any covering at all. My head feels sore and
bruised all over, and the small of my back is exceedingly weak and
feels, when I touch it with my hand, as though the skin were all off.
Thursday, July 13th. I was very nervous and restless last night after
going to bed; didn't go to sleep till after 12 o'clock, and woke up
several times before daylight with pains in my head, abdomen and back.
Got up at 8 o'clock. My head feels sore and bruised; the bruised feeling
seems to go into my brain now; every time I move, cough or laugh it
seems as if my head would split open and fly in every direction; my
_back_ is not so painful this morning; I couldn't eat much breakfast;
stool this morning was quite copious, watery, _dark_ brown and not so
offensive as yesterday.
9:30. Headache better; several times this morning I have had attacks of
cutting or griping pains in my intestines, in and about the umbilical
region; my tongue is very heavily coated in the centre with a thick
yellowish fur; the tip is slightly red, and on each side of the tip
there are several little places that look as though blood was about to
ooze forth from them; my tongue feels drawn and shriveled up the centre.
4:30. The only symptom at 11 o'clock was a dull, sore, aching feeling in
the umbilical and iliac regions, occasionally changing for just a minute
or so to a severe griping, which was relieved some by emission of
flatus. My face has a yellowish appearance; from the outer to the inner
canthus there is a reddish-yellow streak, about one-quarter of an inch
wide, in the whites of both eyes; the blood vessels of the sclerotic
coat are very much enlarged and distinctly visible.
Friday, July 14th. I suffered considerably after 5 o'clock yesterday
afternoon and last night with pains in my abdomen, and they are more
severe this morning than yesterday; it feels just like a string tied in
a "slip knot" around my intestines in the umbilical region, and every
once in awhile it was _suddenly_ drawn tight for a minute or so, and
then _gradually_ loosened; stool this morning was very thin, watery and
rather flaky; the flaky portion was dark yellow, the fluid portion
_dark_ green, with a _light_ green foam or froth on top, streaked with a
white, mucus-looking substance; flatus and fæces passed together; some
pain in my bowels during stool, and a hot, scalded sensation in anus,
which lasted fifteen or twenty minutes after stool; during stool a cold
perspiration broke out on my forehead and back of my hands; took quite a
while to pass stool, and then only a small quantity passed; eyeballs
feel bruised and the whites have a yellowish cast all over, though the
"bands" are still very distinct; my skin is quite yellow to-day and I
feel very much fatigued generally.
Saturday, July 15th. Stool about natural this morning; some feeling in
my abdomen, though not so severe; no new symptoms.
Sunday, July 16th. The only thing unusual which I noticed to-day was the
passage of considerable offensive flatus; a greater quantity after
retiring than during the day.
I noticed no more symptoms after Sunday night.
(The following is from a letter of Dr. E. M. Hale):
Some time ago I received a letter from Dr. F. S. Smith, of Lock Haven,
Pa., in which, referring to _Chionanthus_, he says:
"For the first time to-day I read your article on _Chionanthus_ in the
last edition of your Materia Medica of 'New Remedies.' I have been using
this drug for over two years, as a specific for so-called sick headache.
It has done wonders for me in that disease. I had been a victim from
early childhood, and have suffered terribly. I have not had an attack
for two years. If I am threatened, a few drops, timely taken, dissipates
it at once.
"Dr. B., a dentist, aged 35, dark complexion, a victim to sick headache,
had an attack on an average once in three weeks. Since taking
_Chionanthus_, has not had more than two or three attacks in over two
years, and then owing to a neglect to take the medicine. I have failed
in but one case, and that was a menstrual sick headache.
"I prescribe it as follows: In cases of habitual sick headache, 5 gtts.
of the 2x dil. three times a day for a week, then twice a day for a
week, then once a day for a week, after which the patient only takes it
when symptoms of the attack show themselves. I regard it almost a
specific."
(_Chionanthus_ is also, by some physicians, regarded as a
specific in jaundice, either acute or chronic, and the
proving seems to justify the belief.)
CORNUS ALTERNIFOLIA.
NAT. ORD., Cornaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Alternate-leaved Cornel or Dogwood. Swamp-walnut.
PREPARATION.--The fresh bark and young twigs are pounded to a pulp and
macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following proving of this remedy was made under the
supervision of Dr. F. H. Lutze, Brooklyn. The _Cornus
alternifolia_, or "swamp walnut," has a reputation among
the people in certain localities as being a "sure" remedy
for "salt rheum.")
FIRST PROVING BY R. E. ALBERTSON.
Commence at bedtime Tuesday, May 12, 1896.
Wednesday, May 13, 1896.--Awoke this morning after a very refreshing
night's sleep, feeling as well as usual; and did not notice anything out
of the ordinary during the entire day. Had stool, but somewhat scanty.
Appetite fair.
Thursday, May 14, 1896.--Did not rest very well during night. Had dream
I was spending summer in country. Did not get into anything like a sound
sleep until near morning; and then was very reluctant about getting up;
would have preferred to have had a couple hours more of such sleep. I
have noticed nothing in the course of the day worthy of mention
excepting a pain across the small of the back, which lasted only a short
time and then disappeared. Stool to-day little better than yesterday.
Friday, May 15, 1896.--Another restless night; would get into a light
sleep off and on until near morning. Dreamed again; this time of an
exciting fire drill. Up to to-day had been taking _Cornus alternifolia_
thrice daily; 3 drops 30th, commencing with this morning every three
hours. Stool to-day at first hard and difficult, then loose. Nothing
further noticed to-day.
Saturday, May 16, 1896.--Passed a very restless and sleepless night;
guess I was awake at the striking of every hour. Tongue has been coated
a yellowish white for a couple of days. Stool to-day, but scanty. Feel
as well as usual, but don't seem to have the ambition to do anything for
any length of time.
Sunday, May 17, 1896.--Experienced another very restless and sleepless
night. Felt an aching in left shoulder and dull pain across forehead,
more particularly on right side. Stool to-day and appetite fair.
Monday, May 18, 1896.--While I passed another restless night, it was not
as bad as nights previous. Seem to hear every little noise and sound.
When once awake, mind becomes active and then it is difficult to get
into a sleep again. Have dreamed something mostly every night; some of
which I do not remember.
Tuesday, May 19, 1896.--Rested somewhat better last night; though was
awake off and on. Last dose taken at bedtime.
Wednesday, May 20, 1896.--Experienced another restless night; was awake
most of the night until about 3 A.M., when I dropped off into a sleep.
Friday, May 22, 1896.--Noticed a little sore inside of mouth (left
side), which by Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday had become very
annoying. When eating anything that came in contact with it, or even
when moving the mouth in a certain direction would cause a sticking,
pricking pain. I also want to mention a few eruptions, small pustules on
face and neck, which appeared during this proving.
SECOND PROVING OF "CORNUS ALTERNIFOLIA."
BY F. H. LUTZE, M. D.
February 1, 1896.--Took 5 drops of [Greek: theta] three times daily.
February 6, 1896.--Took 5 drops of [Greek: theta] every two hours. On
second day had two loose evacuations in quick succession in the
afternoon.
February 9, 1896.--A cold feeling in chest as if it were filled with
cold air or ice; this continued for two days and was very disagreeable,
but seemed to have no influence on action of heart or respiration.
A second proving, commenced on April 1st, reproduced the same symptoms
in same manner. Have made no proving of 30th yet.
THIRD PROVING OF "CORNUS ALTERNIFOLIA" 30TH DILUTION.
Commenced at bedtime Sunday, June 7, 1896.
Monday, June 8, 1896.--Awoke after being awake the greater part of the
night feeling as usual. Felt dull pain in right side region of liver
about 11 A.M.
Tuesday, June 9, 1896.--Slept very little; tossed and turned mostly all
night; could not get into any comfortable position. Tongue this morning
coated a yellowish white. No stool to-day and appetite fair.
Wednesday, June 10, 1896.--While I rested somewhat better than nights
previous, yet was awake considerable part of the night. Had two dreams;
one of dead rats mashed to a pulp; the other of coition, causing an
emission. When I awoke this morning, felt a raw feeling in throat, which
continued throughout the day; though not quite as bad as when I arose.
Sneezed some, too, to-day; head partially stopped up toward night. About
an hour or two after dinner, which I ate with a relish, a sick sensation
came over me, a dull heavy feeling in forehead accompanied with a
nauseous and dizzy feeling; could hardly pull one foot after the other
on my way home from work; but after being a little while in the open air
and walking, feeling subsided some, and when I reached home felt much
better; and after supper had entirely left me; though when I retired
that night I felt as though I had been doing a very hard day's work and
was glad when my body touched the bed. Stool very scanty to-day; appears
difficult to do anything; seems to be quite some gas.
Thursday, June 11, 1896.--Awoke very tired; sleep disturbed
considerably; could not rest in any position. Raw feeling in throat
still this morning, with a frequent desire to clear; a feeling as though
something lodged there and should come out. Stool to-day, but scant. A
dull ache in region of heart felt in afternoon. Feel tired and drowsy.
All ambition seems to have left me. Appetite very good to-day.
Friday, June 12, 1896.--Feel very well this morning and slept fairly
well during the night, though was awake a few times. To-day marks the
first appearance of eruptions; one on the right wrist, the other on
right side of chin; small pustules; in one case blind, all others
forming pus.
Saturday, June 13, 1896.--Experienced another restless night. Another
pustule has appeared on chin and also ringworm on forehead (right side);
feel very well to-day.
Sunday, June 14, 1896.--Slept fairly well during night. Experienced
nothing particular excepting toward night an awful uneasy feeling came
over me; a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
Monday, June 16, 1896.--Awoke very tired this morning; have a cough,
with a feeling as though something heavy was lying upon my chest and
throat.
Wednesday, June 17, 1896.--Slept pretty well during night; feel very
languid and tired; a feeling as though my legs were unable to bear me
up.
Sunday, June 28, 1896.--Toward evening felt very tired and drowsy with
heavy sensation in head; about 9:30 lay down upon the lounge and dropped
off into a doze; awoke a half hour afterwards with a feeling as though I
wanted to vomit, and chills, which continued for an hour when I vomited,
which seemed to relieve me some, after which fever took the place of the
chill which abated some toward morning.
Monday, June 29, 1896.--Managed to get to my business, but was unable to
do anything all day on account of the weak feeling and a violent
pressing headache in forehead, which continued all day; worse on motion
and on stooping felt as though everything would come out. About 5 P.M.
diarrhoea set in which continued all night, every half hour to an
hour, the same the day following and continued right up to Sunday night,
July 5th. Lost in that time six pounds.
CRATÆGUS OXYACANTHA.
NAT. ORD., Pomaceæ.
COMMON NAME, White or May Thorn. English Hawthorn.
PREPARATION.--The fresh berries are pounded to a pulp and macerated in
two times their weight of alcohol.
(The _The New York Medical Journal_, October 10, 1896,
published a communication from Dr. M. C. Jennings, under
the heading "Cratægus Oxyacantha in the treatment of
Heart Disease," of which the following is the substance):
Dr. Green, of Ennis, Ireland, for many years had a reputation for the
cure of heart disease that caused patients to flock to him from all
parts of the United Kingdom. He cured the most of them and amassed
considerable wealth by means of his secret, for, contrary to the code,
he, though a physician in good standing, refused to reveal the remedy to
his professional brethren. After his death, about two years ago, his
daughter, a Mrs. Graham, revealed the name of the remedy her father had
used so successfully. It is _Cratægus oxyacantha_. So much for the
history of the remedy. Dr. Jennings procured for himself some of the
remedy, and his experience with it explains Dr. Green's national
reputation. He writes:
"Case I was that of a Mr. B., aged seventy-three years. I found him
gasping for breath when I entered the room, with a pulse-rate of 158 and
very feeble; great oedema of lower limbs and abdomen. A more desperate
case could hardly be found. I gave him fifteen drops of _Cratægus_ in
half a wineglass of water. In fifteen minutes the pulse beat was 126 and
stronger, and breathing was not so labored. In twenty-five minutes pulse
beat 110 and the force was still increasing, breathing much easier. He
now got ten drops in same quantity of water, and in one hour from the
time I entered the house he was, for the first time in ten days, able to
lie horizontally on the bed. I made an examination of the heart and
found mitral regurgitation from valvular deficiency, with great
enlargement. For the oedema I prescribed _Hydrargyrum cum creta_,
_Squill_ and _Digitalis_. He received ten drops four times a day of the
_Cratægus_ and was permitted to use some light beer, to which he had
become accustomed at meal time. He made a rapid and apparently full
recovery until, in three months, he felt as well as any man of his age
in Chicago. He occasionally, particularly in the change of weather,
takes some of the _Cratægus_ which, he says, quickly stops shortness of
breath or pain in the heart. His father and a brother died of heart
disease."
Another case was that of a young woman, who, when Dr. Jennings appeared
in response to the summons, was said to be dead. "I went in and found
that she was not quite dead, though apparently so. I put five or six
drops of _Nitrite of amyl_ to her nose, and alternately pressing and
relaxing the chest, so as to imitate natural breathing, I soon had her
able to open her eyes and speak. I gave her hypodermically ten drops,
and in less than half an hour she was able to talk and describe her
feelings. An examination revealed a painfully anæmic condition of the
patient, but without any discoverable lesions of the heart, except
functional." Under _Cratægus_ she made a good recovery. "Her heart
trouble, though very dangerous, was only functional, and resulted from
want of proper assimilation of the food, due chiefly to the dyspeptic
state and dysentery."
Another case was that of a woman who "was suffering from compensatory
enlargement of the heart from mitral insufficiency," was taken with
dyspnoea when Dr. Jennings was called and was nearly dead. Under
_Cratægus_ and some other indicated remedies she made an excellent
recovery. "In a letter from her, three months afterward, she said she
was feeling well, but that she would not feel fully secure without some
of the _Cratægus_."
"The forty other cases ran courses somewhat similar to the three
cited--all having been apparently cured. Yet I am not satisfied beyond a
doubt, that any of those patients were completely cured except those
whose trouble of the heart were functional, like the second case cited.
And it is possible and even probable that in weather of a heavy
atmosphere or when it is surcharged with electricity, or if the patient
be subjected to great excitement or sudden or violent commotion or
exercise he may suffer again therewith. That the medicine has a
remarkable influence on the diseased heart must, I think, be admitted.
From experiments on dogs and cats made by myself, it appears to
influence the vagi and cardio inhibitory centres, and diminishes the
pulse rate, increases the intraventricular pressure, and thus filling
the heart with blood causes retardation of the beat and an equilibrium
between the general blood pressure and force of the beat. Cardiac
impulse, after a few days' use of the _Cratægus_, is greatly
strengthened and yields that low, soft tone so characteristic of the
first sound, as shown by the cardiograph. The entire central nervous
system seems to be influenced favorably by its use; the appetite
increases and assimilation and nutrition improve, showing an influence
over the sympathetic and the solar plexus. Also a sense of quietude and
well-being rests on the patient, and he who before its use was cross,
melancholic and irritable, after a few days of its use shows marked
signs of improvement in his mental state. I doubt if it is indicated in
fatty enlargement. The dose which I have found to be the most available
is from ten to fifteen drops after meals or food. If taken before food
it may, in very susceptible patients, cause nausea. I find also that
after its use for a month it may be well to discontinue for a week or
two, when it should be renewed for another month or so. Usually three
months seem to be the proper time for actual treatment, and after that
only at such times as a warning pain of the heart or dyspnoea may
point out.
(The _Kansas City Medical Journal_, 1898, contained a
paper on the remedy, by Dr. Joseph Clements, from which
the following pertinent extracts are taken):
"About twelve years ago I was suddenly seized with terrible pain in the
left breast; it extended over the entire region of the heart and down
the brachial plexus of the left arm as far as the wrist. I pressed my
hands over my heart and seemed unable to move. My lips blenched, my eyes
rolled in a paroxysm of agony; the most fearful sense of impending
calamity oppressed me and I seemed to expect death, or something worse,
to fall upon and overwhelm me. The attack lasted a short time and then
began to subside, and soon I was myself again, but feeling weak and
excited. I consulted no one; took no medicine. I did not know what to
make of it, but gradually it faded from my mind and I thought no more of
it until two years afterwards, when I had another attack, and again
nearly a year later. Each of these was very severe, like the first, and
lasted about as long and left me in about the same condition. I remember
no other seizure of importance until about three years ago, and again a
year later. These were not so terrible in the suffering involved, but
the fear, the apprehension, the awful sense of coming calamity, I think,
grew upon me. From this time on, two years ago, the attacks came
frequently, the time varying from two or three months to two or three
weeks between.
"I took some nitro-glycerine tablets and some pills of _Cactus Mexicana_,
but with no benefit that I could perceive. This brings me down to about
fifteen months ago. I was feeling very badly, having had several attacks
within a few weeks. My pulse was at times very rapid and weak, and
irregular and intermittent.
(About this time he got hold of _Cratægus_ with the
following result):
"After getting my supply I began with six drops, increasing to ten before
meals and at bedtime. The results were marvellous. In twenty-four hours
my pulse showed marked improvement; in two or three weeks it became
regular and smooth and forceful. Palpitation and dyspnoea soon
entirely left me; I began to walk up and down hills without difficulty,
and a more general and buoyant sense of security and well-being has come
to stay. During the three months that I was taking the medicine, which I
did with a week's intermission several times, I had several slight
attacks, one rather hard seizure, but was relieved at once on taking ten
drops of the medicine.
(He adds that hypodermic of _Morphia_ does not give
relief from these heart pains as quickly and as surely as
does fifteen drops of _Cratægus_. He also says, "of
course I consider it the most useful discovery of the
Nineteenth century." He also names a number of "the most
reputable and careful men in the profession," who are
having good results with this remedy.)
(Dr. T. C. Duncan contributes the following illustrative
cases):
"Mrs. A., a printer, came to me complaining of some pain in the side as
if it would take her life. She did not have it all the time, only at
times, usually the last of the week, when tired. I prescribed _Bryonia_,
then _Belladonna_, without prompt relief. One Saturday she came with a
severe attack, locating the pain with her right hand above and to the
left of the stomach. The pulse was strong and forcible. On careful
examination I found the heart beat below the normal, indicating
hypertrophy. I examined the spine, and to the left of the vertebra about
two inches I found a very tender spot (spinal hyperæmia). She told me
that when a girl she had several attacks, and that her own family
physician (Dr. Patchen) gave her a remedy that relieved her at once. She
had tried several physicians, among them an allopath, who gave
hypodermic injections of morphia, without relief. Hot applications
sometimes relieved.
"I now recognized that I had a case of angina pectoris, and that her
early attacks were due, I thought, to carrying her heavy brother. Now
the attacks come when she becomes tired holding her composing stick; at
the same time she became very much flurried, so much so that she had to
stop work because she was so confused.
"I now gave her a prescription for _Cactus_, but told her I would like to
try first a new remedy, giving her _Cratægus_, saturating some disks
with the tincture (B. & T.). I directed her to take two disks every hour
until relieved, and then less often. If not relieved to take the
_Cactus_.
"She returned in a week reporting that she was relieved after the first
dose of _Cratægus_. More, that hurried, flurried feeling had not
troubled her this week. Her face has a parchment skin, and the
expression of anxiety so significant of heart disease was certainly
relieved. I have not seen her since.
"In my proving of this drug it produced a flurried feeling due, I
thought, to the rapid action of the stimulated heart. One prover, a
nervous lady medical student, gives to-day in her report "a feeling of
quiet and calmness, mentally." This is a secondary effect, for it was
preceded by "an unusual rush of blood to the head with a _confused_
feeling."
"One swallow does not make a summer," neither does one case establish a
remedy; but I think that as _Cactus_ has a clearly defined therapeutic
range, so it seems that _Cratægus_ may prove a valuable addition to our
meagre array of heart remedies.
CUPHEA VISCOSISSIMA.
NAT. ORD., Lythraceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Clammy cuphea. Tar-weed.
PREPARATION.--The fresh plant is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(In 1888 Dr. A. A. Roth contributed the following
concerning _Cuphea vis._ to the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_):
Two years ago, whilst battling manfully for the life of a child ill to
death from cholera infantum, I was persuaded by a lady friend to use red
pennyroyal tea, and to my delight I had the pleasure of seeing a
marvellous change in less than twenty-four hours. The vomiting ceased
promptly and the bowels gradually became normal. Impressed by this fact,
and also the fact that it was used very extensively in home treatment by
country people, I procured the fresh plant, and prepared a tincture as
directed in the _American Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia_ under article
"Hedeoma." This made a beautiful dark-green tincture, having an aromatic
odor and slightly astringent taste. Of this I gave from five to ten
drops, according to age, every hour until relieved, and then as often as
needed, and found it act promptly and effectively. Feeling loath to add
another remedy to our already over-burdened Materia Medica, I deferred
any mention of the fact; but now after a fair trial for two seasons I
feel justified in believing that the _Cuphea viscosissima_ will prove a
treasure in the treatment of cholera infantum. Out of a large number of
cases treated I had but three square failures, and they were
complicated with marasmus to an alarming extent before I began the
_Cuphea_; one died and two finally recovered. _Cuphea_ does not act with
equal promptness in all forms of cholera infantum. Two classes of cases
stand out prominently; and first, those arising from acidity of milk or
food; vomiting of undigested food or curdled milk, with frequent green,
watery, acid stools, varying in number from five to thirty per day;
child fretful and feverish; can retain nothing on the stomach; food
seems to pass right through the child. I have frequently had the mother
say after twenty-four hours' use of _Cuphea_: "Doctor, the baby is all
right," and a very pleasant greeting it is, as we all know. A second
class is composed of cases in which the stools are decidedly dysenteric,
small, frequent, bloody, with tenesmus and great pain; high fever,
restlessness and sleeplessness. In these two classes _Cuphea_ acts
promptly and generally permanently. It contains a large percentage of
tannic acid, and seems to possess decidedly tonic properties, as
children rally rapidly under its use. It utterly failed me in ordinary
forms of diarrhoea, especially in diarrhoeas from colds, etc.; but
in the classes mentioned I have frequently had it produce obstinate
constipation after several days' use.
ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAME, Pale Purple Cone-flower.
PREPARATION.--The whole plant including the root is pounded to a pulp
and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(This rather famous drug first came to notice as "Meyers'
Blood Purifier;" the proprietor did not know the name of
the drug used and sent a whole plant to Professors King
and Lloyd, of Cincinnati, who identified it as _Echinacea
angustifolia_, commonly known as "cone flower," "black
Sampson," "nigger head," etc. If we may believe all that
has been printed about it the remedy is a veritable
cure-all. The following, however, is a safe guide; it is
taken from the paper by Dr. J. Willis Candee in
Transactions, 1898, of the Homoeopathic Medical Society
of the State of New York, and credited by Dr. Candee to
Dr. J. C. Fahnstock):
He (Dr. Fahnstock) refers to the clinical application of _Echinacea_,
from personal experience, substantially as follows: Cases of shifting
pains in rheumatism, for which _Puls._ had been unsuccessfully
prescribed, rapidly disappeared under _Echin._ Several cases of acne
resembling that caused by _Bromide of Potassium_, cured. "A great
remedy." When boils progress to the stage where they appear about to
"point" then stop and do not suppurate, _Echinacea_ is the remedy. "In
carbuncles with similar symptoms, a bluish-red color and intense pain,
it will in a few hours make your patient grateful to you." It is of
great value in very fetid ozæna. Beneficial in some cases of
leucorrhoea with discharge bright yellow, as from a suppurating
surface. Very serviceable in gangrene, where it may be classed with
_Rhus_ and _Arsenicum_, perhaps ranking between them. Has attributed to
it unusually good results in a case of tuberculous disease of hip and in
an old, well-dosed case of destructive syphilis of throat. "In
suppurative processes _Echin._ is to be thought of."
In typhoid fever, diphtheria and appendicitis he has failed to
substantiate the claims of other admirers of this remedy.
These clinical hints have been given place as naturally following report
of the proving and also because of their coming from a closely observant
homoeopathist. It is unnecessary at this time to review in detail the
alleged field of usefulness of _Echinacea_. All are familiar with the
published testimonials and indications, some of which would lead one to
think that little else is to be desired with which to combat
degenerative processes in mankind.
On the other hand are those, who, having tried the drug without
satisfactory results, are willing to cast it aside as worthless. To such
it may be well to make these suggestions: 1, to ascertain whether they
have used a reliable preparation, and 2, to refrain from hasty judgment
until guides for prescribing, more accurate than perchance the label on
a bottle, shall have been found and consulted.
My own limited experience would throw no particular light on the
subject. It has, however, served to impress me with confidence in the
remedy and its future. The gist of trustworthy clinical findings may be
stated in two words, antiseptic and alterative.
(From an article by Dr. H. W. Feller, in the _Eclectic
Medical Journal_, we quote the following generalities
concerning this remedy):
If any single statement were to be made concerning the virtues of
_Echinacea_ it would read something like this: "A corrector of the
deprivation of the body fluids;" and even this does not sufficiently
cover the ground. Its extraordinary powers--combining essentially that
formerly included under the terms antiseptic, antifermentative, and
antizymotic--are well shown in its power over changes produced in the
fluids of the body, whether from internal causes or from external
introductions. The changes may be manifested in a disturbed balance of
the fluids resulting in such tissue alterations as are exhibited in
boils, carbuncles, abscesses, or cellular glandular inflammations. They
may be from the introduction of serpent or insect venom, or they may be
due to such fearful poisons as give rise to malignant diphtheria,
cerebro-spinal meningitis, or puerperal and other forms of septicæmia.
Such changes, whether they be septic or of devitalized morbid
accumulations, or alterations in the fluids themselves, appear to have
met their Richmond in _Echinacea_. "Bad blood" so called, asthenia and
adynamia, and particularly a tendency to malignancy in acute and
sub-acute disorders, seem to be special indicators for the use of
_Echinacea_.
(The _North American Journal of Homoeopathy_, December,
1896, contains a paper on the drug by Dr. Charles F.
Otis, from which we quote the following):
I doubt if there are many physicians here assembled, who are general
practitioners, who have not, at some period of their professional lives,
come in contact with one or both of these diseases either in an epidemic
form or isolated cases, and in instances, have met more than their
match; have seen their patients with tongue so swollen that it protruded
from the mouth; with membrane gradually extending from the throat into
the posterior nares, possibly protruding from the nostrils, with the
awful odor so characteristic; with a respiratory sound that told you too
plainly that membrane was extending into the air passages and that the
misery of your patient would soon cease, not because of your ability to
afford relief, but because death would close the scene.
I need not complete the picture by mentioning the enormously high
temperature, the thread-like pulse, the cessation of the action of the
kidneys, the awful agonizing expression of the face, and, perhaps, in
your efforts, intubation had been practiced without good results. It is
in just this class of cases that _Echinacea_ is king. So reliable has
been its action in my hands that I am inclined to give a favorable
prognosis, and if I am so fortunate as to be called early the
application of the drug in question does not permit of the symptoms just
enumerated. The whole case will usually be changed to one of a mild form
followed by a quick recovery.
(This from a paper by Dr. W. H. Ramey in _Medical
Gleaner_):
It is a specific, I think, for the condition of the system which sets up
the boil habit. I never have found a case so bad, and I've had some very
severe ones, that an ounce and a half of _Echinacea_, taken in ten-drop
doses four times a day, would not cure. Try it in your cases of
stomatitis with depraved conditions of the system, both internally and
locally. It has done me valuable service in cases of old ulcers and
unhealthy sores, both as local and internal treatment. Then in your
typhoid cases, with the characteristic indication, it is simply a
wonderful remedy. I have seen it step in and restore normal conditions
when it seemed impossible for remedies to act quick enough to prevent a
fatal termination.
(Dr. S. J. Hogan in _Chicago Medical Times_):
One other thing I would like to tell about it: I had a case I was
treating. Among other things, the patient had on the scalp and at the
margin of the hair on the back of the head a number of wen-like tumors;
since taking _Echinacea_ they have been entirely absorbed.
(Dr. Joseph Adolphus in _Medical Gleaner_):
I have seen its very beneficial action in two epidemics of smallpox. The
remedy did certainly modify the severity of the disease, restrain
suppuration, check the severity of the symptoms, and promote
convalescence. I knew of several very desperate cases, which I think
would have terminated fatally but for the timely use of _Echinacea_. I
frequently saw cases of severe confluent type, wherein the symptoms were
of a very serious kind, high fever, delirium; some with coma, abominably
offensive odor of body and breath, urine nearly suppressed, eruption
confluent, exceedingly abundant pus, steadily improve under _Echinacea_
tea taken internally and used locally over the entire body. One of the
very striking effects of the _Echinacea_ was to abate the dreadfully
offensive odor of the body and breath and modify the acute severity of
the eruption.
(The following proving of _Echinacea_, conducted by Dr.
J. C. Fahnestock, of Piqua, Ohio, was read before the
American Institute of Homoeopathy, at Atlantic City,
1899):
It becomes my pleasant duty to place before the American Institute of
Homoeopathy a collection of provings of _Echinacea angustifolia_.
Four species of this genus are recognized. Two of them, _E. Dicksoni_
and _E. dubia_, are native in Mexico.
There are two native in this country, _E. purpurea_, _Moench_. Leaves
rough, often serrate; the lowest ovate, five nerved, veiny, long
petioled; the other ovate-lanceolate; involucre imbricated in three to
five rows; stem smooth, or in one form rough, bristly, as well as the
leaves. Prairies and banks, from western Pennsylvania and Virginia to
Iowa, and southward; occasionally advancing eastward. July--Rays
fifteen to twenty, dull purple (rarely whitish), one to two feet long or
more. Root thick, black, very pungent to the taste, used in popular
medicine under the name of Black Sampson. Very variable, and probably
connects with _E. angustifolia_, described as follows: Leaves, as well
as the slender, simple stem, bristly, hairy, lanceolate and linear
lanceolate, attenuate at base, three nerved, entire; involucre less
imbricated and heads often smaller; rays twelve to fifteen inches, (2)
long, rose color or red. Plains from Illinois and Wisconsin
southward--June to August. This is a brief description of the botany of
the plant under consideration.
Your chairman, T. L. Hazard, in his usual characteristic manner, went
vigorously to work and secured all the provers possible. I was also
fortunate enough to secure a number of provers, besides proving and
reproving it myself. The results of all these provings were handed over
to me to present to you in such form as seemed best.
I must tarry just long enough to preface this collection and tell you
that explicit printed directions were sent to all the superintendents of
these provings. This being of too great length, I will give you the most
important points in these directions, viz.: Let each prover be furnished
with a small blank book, in which shall be written date, name, sex,
residence, height, weight, temperament, color of eyes, color of hair,
complexion; describe former ailments and present physical condition. In
concluding give pulse in different positions, respiration, temperature,
function of digestion, analysis of excretions, especially the urine;
analysis of the blood, family history, habits, idiosyncrasy, etc.
The different colleges and universities were called upon to assist on
these provings. The following institutions responded to the call:
Cleveland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, the Chicago, Iowa City, and Ann
Arbor. None of the eastern institutions responded; don't know whether
dead or just hibernating.
I wish to publicly express my thanks to all who have taken part in
these provings. I think it but just to state that the University of
Michigan furnished the best provings. Thanks also are extended to
Boericke & Tafel for remedy furnished in the [Greek: theta], 3x, 30x,
which were also used in the provings. One lady, who commenced the
proving and had begun to develop valuable provings, contracted a severe
cold and stopped, for which I am very sorry. All the rest of the provers
were males; medical students or physicians. Only a very few symptoms
were produced by the use of the 30x attenuation, a greater number of
provers not recording any at all.
The symptoms here compiled were produced by the 3x attenuation and the
tincture, using from one drop to thirty drops at a dose. In proving and
then compiling the symptoms produced by this drug, I am fully aware of
the many difficulties to be met on every side.
The one great trouble that I find is that those who are unaccustomed to
proving do not observe what really is going on while attempting to make
a proving, and are not capable of expressing the conditions so produced.
I find that there are few who can take drugs and accurately define their
effects. In selecting and discriminating the effects of drugs there must
exist a mental superiority, and no man had this genius so highly
developed as Hahnemann.
After making three different provings upon myself, I have undertaken to
select those symptoms which to the best of my ability were found in all
of these different provings.
I have taken special care not to omit any symptoms, even though it may
have been noticed by but one prover; but in the majority of cases you
will notice the symptoms occurred two or more times in different
individuals, thus confirming the genuineness of the symptoms.
Not giving you the day-book records of these provers, a few remarks,
showing its general action, may not be out of place. As stated before,
only two recorded symptoms after the use of the 30x attenuation.
After taking the tincture, there is soon produced a biting, tingling
sensation of the tongue, lips and fauces, not very much unlike the
sensation produced by _Aconite_. In these provers there soon followed a
sense of fear, with pain about the heart, and accelerated pulse. In a
short time there was noticed a dull pain in both temples, a pressing
pain; then shooting pains, which followed the fifth pair of nerves.
The next symptom produced was an accumulation of sticky mucus in mouth
and fauces. Then a general languor and weakness followed, always worse
in the afternoon. All the limbs felt weak and indisposed to make any
motion, and this was accompanied by sharp, shooting, shifting pains. In
quite a number of cases the appetite was not affected.
Those using sufficient quantity of the tincture had loss of appetite,
with belching of tasteless gas, weakness in the stomach, pain in the
right hypochondriac region, accompanied with gas in the bowels; griping
pains followed by passing offensive flatus, or a loose, yellowish stool,
which always produced great exhaustion. After using the drug several
days the face becomes pale, the pulse very much lessened in frequency,
and a general exhaustion follows like after a severe and long spell of
sickness.
The tongue will then indicate slow digestion, accompanied with belching
of tasteless gas. In most of the provers, however, there was a passing
of very offensive gas and offensive stools.
You will observe that the remedy exerts quite an effect on the kidneys
and bladder, but I am very sorry to say that the urinary analysis made
did not show anything but the variations generally observed in ordinary
health.
I must say that the provers did not go into the details as much as was
desirable. Likewise, I may say the same of the blood tests made, but
what was given is very valuable.
I could give you an expression of its special action, but will merely
give you the symptoms collected and then you can make your own
deductions.
ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA.
A collection of symptoms from twenty-five different provers,
anatomically arranged:
MIND.
3 Dullness in head, with cross, irritable feeling.
2 So nervous could not study.
3 Confused feeling of the brain.
2 Felt depressed and much out of sorts.
3 Felt a mental depression in afternoons.
1 Senses seem to be numbed.
5 Drowsy, could not read, drowsiness.
2 Vertigo when changing position of head.
3 Drowsy condition with yawning.
2 Becomes angry when corrected, does not wish to be contradicted.
SENSORIUM.
5 General depression, with weakness.
8 General dullness and drowsiness.
4 General dullness, unable to apply the mind.
5 Does not wish to think or study.
3 Restless, wakes often in the night.
2 Dull headache, felt as if brain was too large, with every
beat of heart.
5 Sleep full of dreams.
INNER HEAD.
5 Dull pain in brain, full feeling.
5 Dull frontal headache, especially over left eye, which
was relieved in open air.
2 Severe headache in vertex, better by rest in bed.
5 Dull headache above eyes.
4 Dull throbbing headache, worse through temples.
3 Head feels too large.
1 Dull headache, worse in evening.
2 Dull headache, worse in right temple, with sharp pain.
3 Dull pain in occiput.
3 Dull headache, with dizziness.
OUTER HEAD.
3 Constant dull pressing pain in both temples.
2 Shooting pains through temples.
2 Dull occipital headache.
3 Constant dull pain in temples, better at rest and pressure.
2 Head feels as big as a windmill, with mental depression.
EYES.
2 Eyes ache when reading.
1 Tires me dreadfully to hold a book and read.
1 Eyes pain on looking at an object and will fill with tears,
closing them relieves.
1 Sleepy sensation in eyes, but cannot sleep.
1 Pains back of right eye.
1 Sense of heat in eyes when closing them.
2 Dull pain in both eyes.
1 Lachrymation from cold air.
2 Sharp pains in eyes and temples.
EAR.
2 Shooting pain in right ear.
NOSE.
2 Stuffiness of nostrils, with mucus in nares and pharynx.
4 Full feeling in nose as if it would close up.
2 Full feeling of nose, obliged to blow nose, but does not
relieve.
2 Nostrils sore.
2 Mucus discharge from right nostril.
2 Rawness of right nostril, sensitive to cold, which cause a
flow of mucus.
1 Bleeding from right nostril.
1 Right nostril sore, when picking causes hæmorrhage.
1 Headache over eyes, with sneezing.
FACE.
2 Paleness of face when head aches.
1 Fine eruptions on forehead and cheeks.
2 Vomiting with pale face.
TEETH.
2 Darting pains in the teeth, worse on right side.
3 Neuralgic pains in superior and inferior maxilla.
2 Dull aching of the teeth.
TONGUE.
2 White coating of tongue in the mornings, with white
frothy mucus in mouth.
2 Slight burning of tongue.
2 Whitish coat of tongue, with red edges.
MOUTH.
2 Accumulation of sticky, white mucus.
3 Eructation of tasteless gas.
2 Burning of the tongue, with increased saliva.
1 Dry sensation in back part of mouth.
2 Burning peppery taste when taking remedy.
3 Bad taste in the mouth in the morning.
3 A metallic taste.
3 Belching of gas which tastes of the food eaten.
2 Dryness of the mouth.
3 Sour eructation.
1 Sour eructation, which caused burning of throat.
THROAT.
3 Accumulation of mucus in throat.
1 Mucus in throat, with raw sensation.
1 After vomiting of sour mucus, throat burns.
2 Soreness of throat, worse on left side.
DESIRE.
5 Loss of appetite.
2 Desire for cold water.
EATING.
3 Nausea, could not eat.
5 Loss of appetite.
NAUSEA AND VOMITING.
2 Nausea before going to bed, which was always better
lying down.
2 After eating stomach and abdomen fill with gas.
3 After eating belching, which tastes of food eaten.
2 Nausea, with eructation of gas.
STOMACH.
1 Stomach distended with gas, not relieved by belching.
4 Belching of tasteless gas.
2 Sense of something large and hard in stomach.
2 Belching of gas and at same time passing flatus.
3 Sour stomach, "heart burn," with belching of gas.
1 Relaxed feeling of the stomach.
1 Pain in stomach, going down through bowels, followed
by diarrhoea.
3 Dull pain in stomach.
HYPOCHONDRIA.
5 Pain in right hypochondria.
ABDOMEN.
5 Full feeling in abdomen, with borborygmus.
2 Pain about umbilicus, relieved by bending double.
2 Pain in abdomen, sharp cutting, coming and going suddenly.
1 Pain in left illiac fossa.
URINE.
6 Desire for frequent urination.
4 Urine increased.
1 Involuntary urination "in spite of myself."
2 Sense of heat while passing urine.
3 Urine pale and copious.
1 Urine scanty and dark in color.
2 Pain and burning on urination.
MALE SEX ORGAN.
1 Soreness in perineum.
2 Testicles drawn up and sore.
1 Pain in meatus while urinating.
2 Pain across perineum.
2 Perineum seems stretched.
1 Pain in right spermatic cord.
FEMALE SEX ORGAN.
1 Mucus from vagina in evening.
1 Pain in right illiac region, which seems deep, lasting but a short
time.
LARYNX.
2 Irritation of larynx.
1 Voice husky.
COUGH.
2 Constant clearing of mucus from throat.
2 Mucus comes in throat while in bed, must cough to clear throat.
LUNGS.
2 Full feeling in upper part of lungs.
2 Pain in region of diaphragm.
1 Pain in right lung.
HEART AND PULSE.
2 Slight pain over heart.
1 Rapid beating of heart.
4 Heart's action increased.
2 Heart's action decreased.
2 Anxiety about the heart.
CHEST.
2 Pain in pectoral muscles.
1 Sore feeling in the chest.
1 Feels like lump in chest.
2 Feeling of a lump under sternum.
NECK AND BACK.
3 Pain in small of back over kidneys.
6 Dull pain in small of back.
3 Pain in back of neck.
4 Pain in lumbar region, worse from stooping.
UPPER LIMBS.
3 Pain in right thumb.
2 Sharp pain in left elbow.
2 Pain in right shoulder, going down to fingers.
2 Sharp pain in left arm, going down to fingers, with loss of muscular
power.
2 Cold hands.
4 Pain in wrists and fingers.
2 Pain in left shoulder, better by rest and warmth.
LOWER LIMBS.
2 Cold feet.
2 Pain back of left knee.
2 Sharp shooting pain in legs.
1 Extremities cold.
3 Left hip and knee pains.
2 Pain in right thigh.
2 Pain in right leg.
LIMBS IN GENERAL.
7 General weakness of limbs.
1 Pain between shoulders, which extend to axilla and down the arms.
POSITION.
Pains and sickness of stomach better by lying down.
NERVES.
7 Exhausted, tired feeling.
5 Muscular weakness.
2 Felt as if I had been sick for a long time.
6 General aching all over, with exhaustion.
SLEEP.
2 General languor, sleepy.
3 Sleep disturbed, wakes often.
5 Sleep full of dreams.
1 Dreams about exciting things all night.
2 Dreams of dead relations.
TIME.
Worse after eating.
Worse in evenings.
Worse after physical or mental labor.
Better at rest.
CHILLS.
1 Chills up the back.
1 Cold flashes all over the back.
2 General chilliness with nausea.
SKIN.
3 Intense itching and burning of skin on neck.
1 Little papules on skin, with redness, feeling like nettles;
this occurred on the fifth day of the proving.
1 Skin dry.
2 Small red pimples on neck and face.
BLOOD.
2 After proving found a diminution of red corpuscles.
EPIGEA REPENS.
NAT. ORD., Ericaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Trailing Arbutus. Ground Laurel. Gravel Root.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are pounded to a pulp and macerated in
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(In the subjoined paper by Dr. E. M. Hale, _North
American Journal of Homoeopathy_, 1869, the old
doctrine of signatures seems to crop out again.)
The _Gravel Root_ has long had some reputation in urinary difficulties,
and even in calculous affections. The common appellation of "Gravel
root" shows that the popular belief points in the direction of its use.
I have never tested its virtues but in one instance, and its effects
seemed to be so decided and curative that I deem the case worthy of
publication.
A young man, aged twenty-three, applied for treatment of a long array of
symptoms, some of which seemed to indicate _enlargement of the
prostate_, and others a _vesical catarrh_.
The _quantity_ of urine was nearly normal.
The _quality_ was decidedly abnormal. It contained a large amount of
mucus, the phosphates, some blood, and a little pus. It was dark red,
colored blue litmus paper red (showing its acid condition).
The pain was similar to a vesical tenesmus, a pain in the region of the
neck of the bladder and prostate gland. Pressure in the perineum was
painful.
He had been under the most atrocious allopathic treatment; had been
drugged with copaiva, spts. nitric.-dulc., turpentine, tincture muriate
of iron, and other diuretics in enormous doses.
I commenced the treatment with _Sulphur_ 30th, three doses a day for a
week.
By this time he had eliminated the drug-poisons from his system, and the
real symptoms of the malady began to appear uncomplicated. The blood and
pus disappeared from the urine, there was less mucus, and the urine was
of a lighter color.
A red, sandy sediment, however, remained. This sediment was not "gritty"
under the finger, at least no such sensation was perceptible.
Second prescription: _Lycopodium_ 30th and 6th, the former in the
morning, the latter in evening, for a week. No improvement except a
slight diminution of the sediment.
No medicine was given for four days, at which time there appeared
dysuria, pain in the region of the prostate, mucous sediment, and
itching at the orifice of the urethra.
While undecided as to the next prescription, I happened to take up a
vial of tincture _Epigea repens_, which I had prepared from the fresh
plant, while on a visit to Mackinaw six months before. Knowing the high
estimate placed on this plant, by the people, in the treatment of gravel
I resolved to test its virtues. Ten drops of the mother tincture were
prescribed, to be taken every four hours.
Two days afterwards my patient brought me several small brownish
particles, having the appearance of fine sand. When crushed and pressed
between the fingers they had a decidedly gritty feel. Under the
microscope they had the appearance of rough coarse sand. The discharge
of calculi kept up for nearly a week, under the use of the _Epigea_, and
then ceased, and with it all the symptoms of irritation of the bladder.
It is just possible that the discharge of gravel may have been a
coincidence. It is equally possible that the _Lycopodium_ acted
curatively; but I am inclined to believe their disintegration and
expulsion was caused or aided by the use of the last medicine.
Further observations are needed to place the curative powers of this
plant on a certain basis.
ERYNGIUM AQUATICUM.
NAT. ORD., Umbeliferæ.
COMMON NAMES, Button Snakeroot. Water Eryngo.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(Although a well-known remedy, the following concerning
its early history may not be out of place here. It is
from Thomas' _Additions_.)
"For spermatorrhoea properly so called, or emission of semen without
erections, there is no remedy which has yet received the sanction of
experience."--_Repertory._
"We have one, however, to propose for trial--it is the _Eryngium
aquaticum_, which has two remarkable cures, reported by Dr. Parks
(Pharmacentist, Cin.), to recommend it.
"CASE I.--A married man injured his testicles by jumping upon a horse;
this was followed by a discharge of what was considered semen for
fifteen years, during which time he was treated allopathically and
homoeopathically. Dr. Parks exhibited a number of the usual remedies
without permanent benefit. He then gave a half-grain dose, three times a
day, of the third decimal trituration of the '_Eryngium aquaticum_.' In
five days the emissions were entirely suppressed, and have not returned
to this time (over two years ago). The emissions were without erections
day or night, and followed by great lassitude.
"CASE II.--A married man, not conscious of having sustained any injury,
was troubled for eight or ten years with emissions at night--with
erections. The semen also passed by day with the urine. The loss of
semen was followed by great lassitude and depression, continuing from
twelve to forty-eight hours. There was also partial impotence. Had been
treated allopathically. Dr. Parks gave him Phos. acid for two weeks,
without material benefit. He then exhibited the _Eryngium aquaticum_, as
above, with the like excellent and prompt result."[I]
[I] Drs. Hill and Hunt, Homoeopathic Surgery.
I used this remedy with a patient who was quite broken down from
spermatorrhoea; the emissions left him, but he suffered from vertigo
and dim-sightedness whenever he took a dose of the medicine. He is now
well through the use of other medicines. Our English _Eryngo_--the _E.
maritimum_, is noted as an aphrodisiac, and is very similar in
appearance to the _Eryngium aquaticum_.
EUPHORBIA COROLLATA.
NAT. ORD., Euphorbiaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Milk Weed. Wild Ipecac. Blooming or Flowering Spurge.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(In _North American Journal of Homoeopathy_, Dr. E. M.
Hale has, among other things, the following to say of
this drug):
Its action on the system is intense and peculiar. It is called by the
country people by the expressive name of _Go-quick_, referring to its
quick and prompt action. I am indebted to Dr. A. R. Brown, of
Litchfield, Mich., for many interesting facts relating to its action. It
is considered, by those who use it, as the most powerful "revulsive
agent" in their Materia Medica, in all cases of local congestion,
especially of the lungs and head; also in inflammation of the pleura,
lungs, and liver, and is used as a substitute for bleeding and Calomel.
Its admirers allege that it will certainly _arrest_ the progress of the
above affections in a few hours, and break up all simple fevers. This is
of course erroneous, but it reminds one of the Helleborine of the
ancients, so graphically described by Hahnemann. In fact no drug with
which I am acquainted so much resembles the _Veratrum album_.
FAGOPYRUM.
NAT. ORD., Polygonaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Buckwheat.
PREPARATION.--The fresh mature plant is pounded to a pulp and macerated
in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following paper was published in the Transactions of
the Homoeopathic Society of Maine in 1895. It is by Dr.
D. C. Perkins, of Rockland, Me.)
There is, perhaps, no well proven remedy in the Materia Medica, of equal
value to that of which I present a brief study, that has been so wholly
overlooked by the homoeopathic profession. There certainly is none
which possesses a more marked individuality, and which more fully fills
a place by itself. It is safe to say that not one in ten of those who
practice the healing art has ever used it or is familiar with its
pathogenesis. Having not unfrequently cured cases with it, which had
refused to yield to other remedies apparently well indicated, I have
come to regard it as among the important drugs in our super-abundant
Materia Medica. Its effects upon mental conditions are marked by
depression of spirits, irritability, inability to study, or to remember
what has been read, bringing to our minds _Aconite_, _Bryonia_,
_Chamomilla_, _Coffea_, _Colocynth_, _Ignatia_, _Lachesis_, _Mercury_,
_Nux vomica_, _Staphisagria_, _Stramonium_, and _Veratrum_. Its effects
upon the head are deep-seated and persistent. There is vertigo,
confusion, severe pain in many parts of head, with upward pressure
described as of a bursting character. The pain may be in forehead, back
of eyes, through temporal region on either side, but always of a
pressive or bursting nature. For congestive headaches it is as valuable
as _Belladonna_, _Glonoine_, _Nux vomica_, or _Sepia_.
In and about the eyes there is itching, smarting, swelling, heat and
soreness; the itching being especially marked and usually regarded as
characteristic. The last named symptom is no less prominent in
affections of the ears, as has often been shown in the efficacy of
buckwheat flour in frost-bites, or erysipelas of those useful organs,
from time immemorial. Here the similarity to _Agaricus_ will readily be
recognized. The nose does not escape. It is swollen, red, inflamed and
sore. There is at first fluent coryza with sneezing, followed by
fulness, dryness and the formation of crusts. Nor is the burning absent
which has been elsewhere noted. There is much soreness and somewhat
persistent pain from even gentle pressure.
The face is pale or unevenly flushed, with dark semi-circles below the
eyes. Later, the face becomes swollen, hot and dry, as though severely
sunburnt, and the lips are cracked and sore. The mouth feels dry and
hot, and yet saliva is not wanting. There is soreness and swelling of
roof of mouth, and the tongue is red and fissured along its edges. The
bad taste in the morning reminds us of _Pulsatilla_.
In the throat, there is soreness with pain just back of the isthmus of
the fauces, a feeling of excoriation and soreness extending deep down in
the pharynx. The uvula is elongated, the tonsils are swollen and red,
there is a sensation of rawness in the throat strikingly reminding us of
_Phytolacca_. Externally, there is scarlet redness of the neck below the
mastoid process, throbbing of the carotids, the neck feels tired, the
head heavy and the parotid glands are swollen and painful. It is
unnecessary to name the remedy having similar symptoms.
While the symptoms produced on the digestive tract are not characterized
by that intensity noted elsewhere, they are still valuable. There is
persistent morning nausea which should lead us to study this remedy in
the vomiting of pregnancy. Contrary to _Lycopodium_ and _Nux moschata_
the appetite is improved by eating. The empty or "all-gone" feeling at
the stomach is like that of _Sepia_.
In the abdomen there is fulness and pain but no rumbling. Discharges of
flatus are frequent and annoying. The region of the liver is painful,
tender and there is aggravation from pressure, compelling the patient to
lie on the left side. The stools are pappy, or watery, profuse,
offensive and followed by tenesmus.
On the male genital organs there is profuse perspiration of an offensive
odor. The urine is scalding, and pain extends from testicles to abdomen.
In females the drug acts with force upon the right ovary, producing pain
of a bruised or burning character, noted particularly when walking.
There is pruritus with slight yellow leucorrhoea, the discharge being
more noticed when at rest than when exercising. So far as known this
latter symptom does not occur under the action of any other remedy.
In the chest we find a heavy, pulsating pain extending to all its parts.
This is persistent, and is worse from a deep inspiration. Around the
heart there are dull pains with oppression and occasional sharp pains
passing through the heart. Pressure with the hand increases the
oppression. The pulse is increased but is extremely variable. There is
reason to believe that _Cactus grandiflora_, or _Spigelia_ are often
given in affections of the heart, where _Fagopyrum_, if given, would
accomplish better results.
On the muscular system the action of the remedy stands out in bold
relief. There is stiffness and soreness of all the muscles of the neck,
with pain, and a feeling as if the neck would hardly support the head.
Pains extend from occiput to back of neck and are relieved by bending
the head backward. There are dull pains in small of back, with stitching
pains in the region of the kidneys. Pains with occasional sharp stitches
extend from the arms to muscles of both sides of chest. Rheumatic pains
in the shoulders of a dull aching character. Stinging and burning pains
extend the whole length of fingers, aggravated by motion. Streaking
pains pass through arms and legs with sharp pains extending to feet.
Pains extend from hips to small of back, and these also frequently run
down to the feet. In the knees there is dull pain and weakness, while
deep in the limbs there is burning and stinging. There is numbness in
the limbs, with dragging in the joints, especially right knee, hip and
elbow. Stooping to write causes constant severe pain through chest and
in region of liver. This group of symptoms gives _Fagopyrum_ a striking
individuality and establishes it in an uncontested position among the
long list of remedies prescribed for rheumatic complaints.
Scarcely less important are the symptoms of the skin. There is intense
itching of the arms and legs, becoming worse toward evening. Blotches
like flea-bites appear in many localities, sometimes all over the body,
are sore to the touch and are multiplied by scratching. These eruptions
are persistent and the itching is intense. Blind boils may be developed
and attain a large size. The itching of the face is especially marked
about the roots of the whiskers. Itching of the hands which is "deep in"
is persistent and annoying, this condition being supposed to be the
result of irritation of the coats of the arteries.
The sleepiness is unlike that of _Belladonna_, _Nux vomica_, _Sepia_ or
_Sulphur_, occurring early in the evening and characterized by
stretching and yawning. It is not profound, and when the mind is
diverted the patient gets wide awake, but soon relapses unless
conversation is continued. In bed, sleep is disturbed by troublesome
dreams and frequent waking. Aggravations occur after retiring, ascending
stairs, from deep inspiration, walking in bright sunlight, lying on
right side, riding in cars, and when stooping or writing. Ameliorations
occur after taking coffee, from cold applications, from motion in cold
air, and from sitting still in warm room.
FAGUS SYLVATICUS.
NAT. ORD., Cupuliferæ.
COMMON NAME, European Beech.
PREPARATION.--The Beech Nuts are pounded to a pulp and macerated in five
parts by weight of alcohol.
(In volume XIII of the _American Observer_, Dr. E. W.
Berridge, contributes the following concerning the action
of _Fagus sylvaticus_ or Beech nuts):
BEECH NUTS. (From _Medical Museum_--_London, 1781_--_vol. ii., pp. 97,
294._) From a dissertation on hydrophobia, by Christian Frederick
Seleg, M. D., of Enbenstoff, in Saxony, printed in Eslong, in 1762.
A boy aged 13 had eaten four days ago a large quantity of beech nuts. I
found him in great pain, languid, and terrified with apprehensions of
present death. Pulse very unequal, sometimes extremely quick, sometimes
languid and intermittent; skin burning violently; mouth flowing with
froth and saliva, intolerable thirst, entreating for drink, but as soon
as any liquid was brought he seemed to shudder with equal horror, as if
he had been eating unripe grapes. Soon after eating the nuts he had been
seized with torpor, gloominess and dread of liquids. He had not been
bitten by any rabid animal.
Next (5th) day, early in the morning, he was the same, but seemed to
talk more in his wildness and perturbation of mind, and his mouth flowed
with foam more abundantly; the urine he had voided by night was red and
firey, depositing a copious turbid white sediment, resembling an
emulsion of beech nuts, subsiding as deep as the breadth of the finger
at the bottom of the vessel. A few hours before he died he vomited a
porraceous bile, after which he died quietly.
The author in the _original_ work gives a number of fatal cases of
_spontaneous_ hydrophobia. This work should be examined.
John Bauhin (_Hist. Plants_, vol. i, pp. 2, 121) says that the nuts will
disorder the head like darnel; hogs grow stupid and drowsy by feeding on
them.
Ray (_Hist. of Plants_, tom. ii, p. 1382) and Mangetus (_Biblioth.
Pharm._, vol. i, p. 910) says the same.
FRAXINUS EXCELSIOR.
NAT. ORD., Oleaceæ.
COMMON NAME, European Ash.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are pounded to a pulp and macerated with
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(In the _Union Médicale_, November, 1852, two French
physicians detailed several cases of gout and rheumatism
treated with _Fraxinus excelsior_, or ash leaves, one of
Rademacher's favorite remedies. Of the two physicians,
one of them, Dr. Peyraud, was himself relieved of the
gout by this treatment.)
Ash-leaves were highly recommended by Rademacher, and have been quite
extensively used in Germany on his suggestion. In the _Union Médicale_
for Nov. 27, 1852, two French physicians, Drs. Pouget and Peyraud,
detailed several cases of gout and rheumatism cured by an infusion of
ash-leaves in boiling water. Dr. Peyraud himself was one of those
relieved.
"In 1842, Dr. Peyraud had his first attack of gout, which was severe,
and lasted for twenty-five days. During the three following years the
attacks increased in frequency and severity. Having derived little
benefit from the remedial means which he had resorted to, he listened to
the suggestion of one of his patients, an inhabitant of the department
of Dordogne, in France, who advised him to try an infusion of
ash-leaves, informing him, at the same time, that his forefathers had
been cured by this prescription, and that many of the country people got
rid of 'their pains' by employing it. Dr. Peyraud took the infusion of
ash-leaves and from 1845 to 1849 had no fit of gout. He then had an
attack, which yielded in five days to the infusion of ash-leaves, used
under the observation of Dr. Pouget. These circumstances recalled to the
recollection of Dr. Pouget a fact which he might otherwise never again
have considered. It was this: that when he was a physician at Soréze, in
1824, the peasants of that place had spoken to him of the great power
which an infusion of ash-leaves had in driving away pains. He afterwards
discovered that it had been used forty years ago as a gout-specific by
the peasants of Auvergne.
"A commercial traveller, who had been gouty for twenty years, and had
saturated himself with the syrup of Boubée and other vaunted specifics,
consulted Dr. Pouget. At this time he was an almost constant prisoner in
his room with successive attacks. After eleven days' use of the
infusion, he was able to walk two kilomètres (one and a quarter English
miles); in fifteen days he resumed his journeys, and was able to travel
without suffering, by diligence, from Bordeaux to Quimper.
"Several other cases are detailed, some of them acute, and others
chronic. Articular rheumatism, in numerous instances, was also benefited
by the infusion of ash-leaves."
FUCUS VESICULOSIS.
NAT. ORD., Algæ.
COMMON NAMES, Sea-wrack. Bladder-wrack. Sea-kelp.
PREPARATION.--The fresh alga gathered in May or June are pounded to a
pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following letter, by Dr. J. Herbert Knapp to the
_Homoeopathic Recorder_, was published in 1896):
After treating many cases of exophthalmic goitre, I have come to the
conclusion that I have found a specific for that disease in _Fucus
vesiculosis_ (sea-wrack). I might record one case. Mrs. Mary B., æt. 24
years, German, came into my clinic at the Brooklyn E. D. Homoeopathic
Dispensary to be treated for swelling of the neck of several years'
duration. I gave her the tincture of _Fucus ves._, thirty drops three
times a day. The treatment began December 1, 1895, and patient was
discharged cured, on October 2, 1896. Would be pleased to hear from any
others who have had any experience with _Fucus vesiculosis_.
(The foregoing brought out this by Dr. R. N. Foster, of
Chicago):
It gives me great pleasure to be able to say a word confirmatory of the
remarks made in your December issue by J. Herbert Knapp, M. D.,
respecting the above named drug.
Twenty years ago, while turning over the pages of that very useful book,
"The American Eclectic Dispensatory," by John King, M. D., I chanced to
notice the following sentences: "_Fucus vesiculosis_, sea-wrack, or
bladder-wrack,... has a peculiar odor, and a nauseous saline taste....
The charcoal of this plant has long had the reputation of a deobstruent,
and been given in goitre and scrofulous swelling."
So far as I now remember, this is the only hint I ever received which
led me to try the drug in goitre. At the same time, I do not feel sure
of this. Perhaps I had met in some medical journal a statement
respecting the relation of this drug to goitre, which fact led me to
look it up in the "Eclectic Dispensatory." But if so, I cannot recall
the authority. At all events, I was led to try the remedy in a
pronounced case of goitre, with such good results that I have never
since given any other remedy for that disease, either in the
exophthalmic or in the uncomplicated form. And what is more, I have
never known it to fail to cure when the patient was under thirty years
of age. After that time of life, or about that period, it seems to be no
longer efficacious.
I have now used it on more than twenty-four cases, with the same
unvarying result, and never with any other result--that is, no
unpleasant consequences have ever accompanied or followed its use.
I published this fact in the _Medical Investigator_ after I had used it
in a few cases, and again announced it in the Chicago Homoeopathic
Medical Society still later; and again have frequently repeated it with
growing confidence and of greater numbers of cases in medical societies,
in colleges, and in private conversation with physicians.
And yet the fact is so utterly unknown that your journal publishes Dr.
Knapp's inquiry respecting it, which shows how easily a good thing may
be forgotten, and how readily a genuine specific may be superseded by a
host of abortive procedures right under the eyes of the profession. It
is most probable that more real good things have been forgotten or cast
aside in medicine than it now, or at any one time, possesses.
Respecting this _Fucus vesiculosis_ and its use in goitre, I would like
to add a few words. The drug is of variable quality. If one specimen
fails to give satisfaction it ought to be discarded and another tried.
The pharmacist must be importuned to make special efforts to give us an
article that is not inert, but contains all the activity that belongs to
the drug.
Time is required for effecting a cure. This varies according to the age
and size of the goitre. Three months may suffice for a small goitre of
one year's growth. Six months may be required for one twice as large and
of longer standing. A year and a half is the longest period during which
I have had to continue the medicine. But during all that time the goitre
was manifestly diminishing.
The dose is a teaspoonful of the tincture twice or three times daily, in
a well-developed case. Half a teaspoonful twice a day will answer in
recent cases.
Smaller doses seem not to produce any effect.
The medicine is very unpleasant to the taste, but causes no disturbance
after it has been taken. It ought to be taken, each dose in about two
ounces of water, and preferably between meals.
GAULTHERIA.
NAT. ORD., Ericaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Wintergreen.
PREPARATION.--The distilled oil from the leaves of Gaultheria procumbens
is used and dispensed in one or two drop tablets.
(These two papers were contributed to the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, 1894, by Dr. Benj. F. Lang, York, Nebraska, on
the action of _Gaultheria_.)
My attention was first called to its use about ten years ago in southern
Ohio, where I received most pleasing results in the treatment of
inflammatory rheumatism. Afterwards to a somewhat more disagreeable
class of complaints in form of neuralgia. While I am not a champion of
any specific, I want to say that this drug has given me the quickest and
most satisfactory results of any remedy in the Materia Medica. If there
is anything that a man wants relief from quick and "now," it is from
these excruciating pains. Often was I called to treat some obstinate
cases of ciliary neuralgia, or facial, or in fact nearly every form of
neuralgia, and found my skill taxed to its utmost to bring out the balm.
Did I find it in the homoeopathic indicated remedy? I trust so, but
not in any Materia Medica. I don't say but what I got some results from
them, but I found it in this a "helper;" it came to my relief
immediately and to the great comfort of the patient. In severest cases
of neuralgias of the head and face it would do its work quick and well.
Equally well has it served me in very severe cases of neuralgia of
stomach and bowels, while for the past few years it has done faithful
work in ovarian and uterine neuralgias following or preceding difficult
menstruation. I have many a dear friend to-day whose relief from
suffering was found in this remedy.
I am satisfied that it should be given a prominent place in our Materia
Medica. Lest this article should become tedious, I will cite a few
cases.
Mr. A., travelling man from Chicago, a few years ago called on me for
temporary relief of a severe case of ciliary neuralgia; said he had
suffered for many years with it, every spring especially, and that he
had consulted great numbers of physicians of Chicago, Milwaukee and
Cincinnati, and, as he said, "had taken bushels of drugs, both old and
new school," with only temporary relief. So he expected nothing more, as
he was told he must wear it out. I told him I thought I could give him
relief. I furnished him one-half ounce of _Gaultheria_, with directions
to take; did not see him again for two years, when he came into my
office one day and greeted me by saying I was the only man that could
ever give him any permanent relief from his sufferings; that he never
had any return after first day taking medicine, and unlike most patrons
wanted to make me a present of a $5 (five dollar bill), which of course
no doctor refuses. I cite this first, as it was of long standing and had
tested the ability of a number of prominent men.
Miss B., dressmaker, came to me suffering terribly with facial neuralgia
and greeted me similar to No. 1; that she expected nothing but temporary
relief, as she had been afflicted for a long time. Gave her two (2)
drachms of oil W.; told her to take one dose immediately and another in
two hours if the pain did not quiet down. She was careful to ask if it
was an opiate, as she objected to that. I assured her it was not; saw
her next day, said that pain disappeared and had not returned. I was
acquainted with the lady for three and one-half years, and she only had
one return of the disease, which the same remedy relieved immediately.
Many cases more could I cite in which it never has failed me.
Mrs. G., No. 3. I was called to relieve a severe case of neuralgia of
stomach and bowels this last summer, who had been under the care of two
of my worthy competitors. They had exhausted their pill case, and for
about three weeks the poor woman had suffered everything but death
itself. After diagnosing the case I put her on this remedy, and in two
hours she was relieved and after two days was able to be about, and was
cured shortly by no other remedy than it. I want to say you will find a
true friend in this remedy in all forms of neuralgia, and only give a
few suggestions now; but if it should be necessary could give scores to
prove its value.
I mentioned in the beginning that it had been of great value in
inflammatory rheumatism. So it has, and will give later many cases of
immediate and permanent relief if it would be of any value to the
profession. A word as to the best way of giving the drug. I have found
that the dose should never be less than five drops, and if pain is
severe fifteen drops repeated in half hour; afterward two hours apart.
For adult it may be necessary to give twenty drops at first. It always
should be dropped on sugar and taken.
One suggestion: I would like to have it put in a tablet of about two to
five drops pure oil, as I think it could be taken more satisfactorily.
While the crude oil is very pleasant to take at first, yet, on account
of its strong odor, will nauseate after awhile if not removed from room.
I am confident that if you make this into a tablet and place it among
your remedies you would have a weapon that you could place into the
hands of doctors of untold value in these troubles.
(The latter part of the foregoing communication was
addressed to Messrs. Boericke & Tafel, homoeopathic
pharmacists. This was followed by a second communication
reading as follows):
Since the few lines written for the last issue of _Recorder_ on
_Gaultheria_ in treatment of neuralgia, I have been asked to write my
experience with it in inflammatory rheumatism.
It has never failed me in this terrible disease to give relief. My
experience with it dates back to the fall of 1884, in Ross county, Ohio,
where I was called to treat a very stubborn case, then under the
treatment of one of my old school friends. The patient, a lady about
fifty years old, had suffered with two previous attacks, lasting about
three months each time. At the time I was called to treat her she had
been confined to bed about four weeks. She was suffering intensely, the
joints of upper and lower limbs being swollen and extremely tender; in
fact, so sensitive that one could scarcely walk about the bed without
causing great suffering; temperature, 103; pulse weak and intermittent.
At my first visit, 2:30 P.M., I ordered all of the joints to be wrapped
with cotton, to exclude all air. I then gave her _Bry._ On my return,
next day, I did not find much improvement, excepting the nausea, which
was due to heroic drugging she had been subjected to. Continued _Bry._
The next day the appetite some better, but joints still very tender;
temperature and pulse about the same; some difficulty in respiration. I
then resolved to try _Gaultheria_. I left one drachm vial of the remedy
and ordered the same to be divided into two equal doses, one-half at one
o'clock P.M., the balance at five o'clock P.M.
At about 7:30 of the same evening a messenger came into town in great
haste, saying my patient was failing very fast, and requested me to come
out as soon as possible. On my arrival at the home I found the patient
sitting by the fire. The husband informed me that he thought she was
losing her mind. I asked her why she was out of bed; she said she saw no
reason for staying in bed after a patient was well, and further said
that about one hour after taking the first dose she began to move
easily, and after taking second dose all of the soreness and swelling
left the joints. She also said she was all right; that we need not feel
alarmed about her. I made only one visit after; continued the same
remedy; there were no relapses.
No. 2. A prominent woman in Nebraska had been under treatment for ten
days with free old-line medication, Dover's powders and _Morphia_ as
palliatives. Husband consulted me to know whether anything could be
given to relieve her suffering. I called and found her with temperature
102, pulse 105, left (hand) fingers and elbow joints swollen, very
sensitive to touch or movement. I at once assured her that I thought she
would get relief without any more _Morphia_. Gave her one-half drachm
_Gaultheria_ and requested her to take twenty drops in two hours if pain
and soreness was not relieved. This was about 4 P.M. I met her husband
next morning on street on my way to visit her again and he said "that he
hardly thought it necessary, as his wife was relieved in about one hour
after taking first dose and felt no pain after second, and that she was
up dressing her hair when he left home." She had a slight return on
account of overwork, but remedy always gave relief and made firm patrons
of one of our best families for me. I always advise patients to wrap
the joints with cotton to exclude air and advise them to keep quiet.
No. 3. Young man, twenty-eight; had two attacks before, one lasting
three months, the second ten weeks. This was the worst case that I have
ever treated. As the heart was very weak, pulse intermittent, I put him
on the remedy, _Gaultheria_, with almost immediate relief, but second
day there was relapse, which again responded immediately to treatment by
same remedy; with this, or in connection with this remedy, I used some
_Bry._ 3 and _Rhus tox._ 3. I dismissed him in ten days, more than
pleased, as we were always able to control the pain immediately without
any other remedy than _Gaultheria_.
I cite these cases among the many that I have had, and have never failed
to get good results in any; will say that I give any other remedy after
soreness and swelling are removed that may be indicated, always taking
the necessary precaution to exclude all air from parts affected and to
keep them warm. About three hours apart is as often as I give remedy,
and always careful to give it on sugar and remove it from room, with
_spoon used_.
No. 4. Since my article on neuralgia I had a quite severe case of
sciatica that had taxed the skill of one of my worthy competitors for
nearly two months without any good results; he was about to go to Hot
Springs for some relief. Meeting me on the street, wanted to know if I
thought any of my "little pills or drops would give any relief." I
assured him that I was quite positive that I could. He could hardly move
about, and suffered very much if he did; he came and got a prescription
and found relief to his great astonishment almost immediately; has had
it refilled twice and has worked every day; he takes the remedy morning
and night; there is no pain or soreness, nor has there been any after
first day, only if he sneezes or gets the leg cramped there seems to be
slight contraction of nerve, but the remedy has done most satisfactory
work in this case and gained a valuable family.
I hope these few cases may be of some benefit to the readers of the
_Recorder_: 1. Be careful to observe the rule that if remedy should
nauseate cease giving for twelve or twenty-four hours. 2. Always give on
sugar or in tablets. 3. Remove it immediately from room after
administering. 4. Cover joints to exclude air and keep them warm. 5.
Give any other indicated remedy.
HELODERMA HORRIDUS.
PREPARATION.--The virus, obtained by irritating the animal and allowing
it to bite on glass, is triturated in the usual way.
(Dr. T. L. Bradford furnishes us with the following
classification of this reptile):
The heloderma is classed as follows: Order: Saurii. Lacertilia. Lizards.
Sub order: 5. Fissilinguia. Family: Lacratidæ. Heloderma horridum of
Mexico; the crust lizard; the Mexican Caltetopen. Called heloderma from
its skin being studded with nail or tubercle-like heads. The Gila
monster is a native of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It is smaller than
the Mexican variety, and is called, by Cope, Heloderma Suspectum. It is
the only lizard whose character is not above reproach, hence the name.
Zoology says: An esquamate-tongued lizard with clavicles not dilated
proximally, a postorbital arch, no postfront-osquamosal arch, the pre
and post frontals in contact, separating the frontal from the orbit, and
furrowed teeth receiving the different ducts of highly developed
salivary glands.
(There has been considerable difference of opinion as to
whether the Heloderma is poisonous or not; but the
following abstract from a paper on the subject read
before the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 1883, by
S. Wier Mitchell, together with the provings made later,
ought to very effectually settle all dispute on this
point; the conclusions are the result of experiments on
animals):
The poison of heloderma causes no local injury. It arrests the heart in
diastole, the organ afterwards contracts slowly--possibly in rapid rigor
mortis.
The cardiac muscle loses its irritability to stimuli at the time it
ceases to beat. The other muscles and nerves respond to irritants.
The spinal cord has its power annihilated abruptly, and refuses to
respond to the most powerful electrical currents.
This virulent heart poison contrasts strongly with serpent venom, since
they give rise to local hæmorrhages, causing death chiefly through
failure of respiration and not by the heart unless given in overwhelming
doses. They lower muscle and nerve reactions, especially those of the
respiratory apparatus, but do not cause extreme and abrupt loss of
spinal power. They also produce secondary pathological appearances
absent in heloderma poisoning.
The briefest examination of the lizard's anatomy makes it clear why it
has been with reason suspected to be poisonous, and why it poisons with
so much difficulty. Unless the teeth are entire, the poison abundant,
and the teeth buried in the bitten flesh so as to force it down into
contact with the ducts where they open at the crown of the teeth, it is
hard to see how even a drop of poison could be forced into the wounds.
Yet it is certain that small animals may die from the bite, and this may
be due to the extraordinary activity of the poison, and to the lizard's
habit of holding tenaciously to what it bites, so as to allow time for a
certain amount of absorption.
(The provings and the clinical cases that follow were
from the virus of the Gila monster obtained by Dr.
Charles D. Belden, of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1890, who
suggested it as a possible remedy for paralysis agitans
and locomotor ataxia. He obtained the virus from a
captive monster by irritating it and then letting it
strike, or bite, a piece of heavy glass; by this means he
obtained a few drops of a pasty yellowish fluid. In his
letters Dr. Belden quotes Sir John Lubbock as follows):
This animal does not bite frequently, but when it does it is understood
that the result is a benumbing paralysis like to paralysis agitans or
to locomotor attaxia. There is no tetanic phase, being, as I apprehend,
a condition almost reverse in objective symptoms to hydrocyanic acid or
strychnia.
(Dr. Belden also writes):
It seems to me that it (the poison) differs in so many points from all
present known venoms that it is worth our having. In the first place it
is alkaline, and all other poisons of reptiles are acid. Second, its
effect is not always sudden but is lasting--causing sickness for months
and death even after a year. Again, although it does not produce
paralysis it is not the tonic spasm, but rather the slow creeping death
from extremities. It does not seem to excite but to depress.
(A supply of this poison was sent to Dr. Robert Boocock
at his request for proving, and he made three different
trials of it, the results of which were published in the
_Homoeopathic Recorder_ for March and April, 1893; but
as Dr. James E. Lilienthal has arranged the matter in
schema form we will here only give fragmentary quotations
from Dr. Boocock's papers, which are quite long, covering
nearly thirty pages. The following is from Dr. Boocock's
paper):
I am in my sixtieth year, sanguine, bilious temperament, fair complexion
and weigh 160 pounds; height, 5 feet 6 inches. My normal pulse rate is
72, full, round and regular. I am in very good health. I do not drink
alcoholic beverages of any kind, neither do I smoke nor drink strong
coffee, or tea, or cocoa. My usual and favorite beverage is hot water
with a little milk and sugar in it. If much sugar or salt is used my
stomach gets very sour, and water-brash is the result. I therefore use
very little of either, though I am very fond of sweetmeats.
When I received the first bottle of _Heloderma horridus_, I took a one
drachm vial and filled it with the 6x trit., and dissolved it in four
ounces of diluted alcohol, of which I took a few drops, dried my fingers
on my tongue, and a severe feeling of internal coldness, so intense as
to cause me to fear being frozen to death, ensued. I had some twitches
about my heart, as if the blood was hard to get in or out. I was
somewhat alarmed, but as I had no trembling I sat over the register and
tried to get warm. The day was a very cold one, but my office was
comfortably warm, and I had no consciousness of having taken cold.
I was not surprised at feeling this so soon after taking the few drops,
for I know that I am very sensitive to any medicine and have a bad habit
of tasting medicine, but never without being conscious of its effects,
sometimes very unpleasantly so.
Now, to-day is warm and damp, thunderstorm this morning, although it is
December 9th. The storm lasted three or more hours; lightning very
vivid. I had already taken one drop of the 30th, with a very severe
nervous headache, but I forgot that when I took the medicine. I have
medicated 2 oz. No. 35 globules with 30th dilution, and having taken six
globules as a dose before they were dry.
A feeling of heat in head and face, some headache over the right
eyebrow. Cold feeling in my legs; after two hours a numb feeling around
and down my left thigh; feeling very drowsy, so took a short nap in my
chair. Was awakened suddenly with a jerking in my head. Central part of
frontal bone so queer as to awaken me.
When my office bell rang it threw me into a startled and trembling
condition, something new to me. At 5:30 took four globules more.
8 P.M. The pressure at my heart and in my head and scalp is very great.
A feeling of great heat and some pressure. Not so much burning in my
face, but a feeling on my left cheek as if being pricked with points of
ice. A very severe and tired feeling, with coldness of legs and feet. A
slight dryness of my lips, with a tingling feeling and great dryness in
my throat. Gurgling in the region of the spleen.
9:30 P.M. The pressure and heat on the top of my head appears like an
inflammation of the meninges. It does not affect my mind; that remains
clear, and I can think and read as well and as long as ever. No more
medicine. * * *
December 29, 1892. No medicine. Some trembling, but not so great or so
extensive; it does not now extend along the whole limb. Parts of right
arm and left thigh hemiplegial; no acute feeling. But some muscles will
twitch and tremble for a few seconds. Just enough to arrest my attention
and amuse me, and feel like saying, "Hello, _Heloderma hor_! have you
not done with me yet?" For it is a great surprise to me how these
feelings will come on and creep over me. And I am inclined to ask
myself, can it be that all these strange and to me new feelings can be
the effects following the taking of these few doses? And yet, if it were
necessary, I could swear they were. I have my fears if I will ever be
free from these nervous trembling spells, and the feeling in my head and
heart.
(The foregoing gives the gist of the first trials. The
third and last now follows. It was made with repeated
doses of the 30th potency.)
12 meridian. Sensation as if a cold, freezing wind were blowing upon me
from the bend of my knees. Head feeling as if the scalp were being drawn
tight over my skull, and my facial muscles were being drawn very tight
over the bones. A giddiness and a cold pressure from within the skull. A
cold, running chill from superior maxillary down to the chin. Trembling
of limbs. Coldness extending from the knee into the calf of the leg.
Pain and pressure within the skull from crown to occiput, and from back
forward over the left eye. A very drowsy feeling. I could sleep if I
gave way to the feeling. * * * *
January 4, 1893, 7:45 A.M. Took another dose of six globules. Pulse, 72.
Temperature, 97 3·5. A flush of heat in my face. A feeling as if I were
walking on sponge or as if my feet were swollen. Dull headache. The
arctic cold feeling is more in my right arm, elbow joint, and right
thigh and left foot. A great trembling of my arm. It is hard work to
steady my hand, which holds my book, enough to continue reading or
writing.
The feeling of swelling in my feet of walking on sponges sensation
continues; a springiness, with a sense of looseness in stepping out,
which requires some caution, as if I were not sure of my steps. The
trembling of my hands is on the increase; feeling of soreness in my
heart, more under left nipple; pain in my back, lumbar region. Some
little scalding of urine; flow not so free and full, intermitting
slightly, as if I had some calculus in the bladder which interfered with
continuous flow. Stool more free and full.
Earwax, which had been very dry, now flows from both ears, but is more
free on the left side. Left nostril sore; ulcerated. Throat sore and
tender to outside touch. * * *
9 P.M. Very weak feeling, with pain in my heart; same place, under left
nipple. Head aches and arctic rays in various parts of my body. * * *
January 5, 12 noon. Took twelve more globules. Numb feeling in my head.
A feeling as if I would fall on my right side. A good drive this morning
in the snowstorm; and felt a desire to bear to the right side and could
not walk straight because of this, and had repeatedly to stop or step to
the left to get a straight course on the causeway. A good deal of the
same feeling, but very weak and sleepy; was compelled to lie down, but
did not sleep, although feeling very drowsy; laid very quiet, as if I
was in a stupor; the old feeling in various parts of my body, only more
acute; a feeling in various parts as if a needle were being thrust into
my flesh.
4:45 P.M. Took thirteen globules. A very stiff neck the most prominent
feeling. All the previously recorded feelings, only more intensely. I
have a painful boring feeling in the middle third of left thigh. * * *
8:30. Flushed, hot feeling in my head and face, but no increase in
color; but then I have just come out of the storm.
9:30. Took twelve globules more and retired to rest; very tired; slept
very profoundly until 1 A.M., then could not sleep. My back, in the
lumbar muscles, ached so and my left leg that I could not sleep for
hours, and my brain felt as if scalded; an intense burning feeling in
the meninges, for this did not affect my power to think. This hot
feeling commenced and spread down my back. An intense pain over left
eyebrow, through my left eye to base of brain and down my back. The pain
in the back of my head caused me to bore my head deep into my pillow,
and reminded me of cases I have seen of cerebro-spinal meningitis. An
intense weakness, as if I had no power to move, and no wish to do so,
and yet I was afraid I could not attend to my business. Yet, strange to
say, I was not alarmed, but passively indifferent. I could not open my
eyes without great effort; it was hard work to keep them open and the
easiest thing for them to close, as if there were a great weight upon
them, keeping them down. I begged to be allowed to remain in bed until
some one wanted me professionally, and yet I could not thus give way to
my feelings, and so got up.
7 A.M. Feeling very weak and giddy. Staggering about my bedroom trying
to dress. It was all that I could do to lift a hod of coal to the stove.
The pains in my head and lumbar muscles, back of my head near atlas and
middle third of left thigh and right elbow are the most noticeable from
the great pains; and arctic coldness in my feet and hands and arms; have
had a transient feeling of pain in the little finger and little toe of
right side. Very feverish or parched in the night, and my breathing was
hard and sounded as if I was drawing my breath through iron pipes. I
feel that I must not take any more medicine at present. When I remember
what a long time I was in getting to the end of the previous proving, I
feel that I dare not go any further.
The dose I have been taking, a No. 35 globule, is as large as ten such
as is ordinarily used for the 30th or for high dilutions, so that I have
taken as good as sixty high dilution globules as a dose, and lately as
high as one hundred and twenty-four and sometimes oftener daily.
I was surprised at these hot flushes and burnings in my head and along
my spine. And these strongly reminded me of some feeling a proving of
_Gelsemium_ caused, only that has sweat, whilst this has no moisture,
everything being dried up. Saliva, tears, nostrils, and earwax; the
great weakness and pain in the body reminds me of cerebro-spinal
meningitis.
My pulse rate is 68. 8:15. Temperature, 97 only.
1 P.M. What fearful aching in my body! Arctic feeling throughout my
body, except my head and face, and oh! so tired. A feeling as if it were
almost impossible to keep my eyes open. While out on my professional
rounds a feeling came over me as if it would be far easier to lie down
in the snowy streets than to keep trying to get along. The trembling is
very persistent.
9 P.M. Oh! this bad feeling in my head, the aching, aching in my bones,
in every part of my body, head to feet; no part entirely free from pain,
my body so cold; a feeling as if I had holes in my garments, and cold,
frosty winds were blowing through and freezing my flesh; cold penis and
testicles, no feeling but coldness. A slight gluey discharge; a fluent
discharge from nose, with great sneezing. * * *
January 9th, 8 A.M. Pulse rate 68; is not so full or jerky, but it is
some. Temperature under the tip of the tongue, 96; deeper in, 97. This
morning awoke at 3 A.M. and got up to urinate, but I could not stand
without I had hold of something. Oh, such a weak, giddy feeling! I never
fainted but once, from loss of blood, and these sensations are similar.
Plenty of strength to hold me up, but unable to balance myself, and when
I put forth an effort I staggered about like a man trying to walk with
paralysis or locomotor ataxy. This idea was the most prominent in my
mind, but I have a patient recovering from paralysis who has to swing
his body as he walks, to get his feet forward, and is very weak and
shaky about his knees, and these sensations very strongly reminded me of
his efforts. His weakness is in his knees, but mine was from the base of
my skull--cerebrum--where the pains have been so persistent near the
atlas extending downward. When I arose, at 7 A.M., it was very hard work
for me to balance myself enough to complete dressing myself, and very
hard work to carry my head. If I bent forward, then it required great
effort to keep from falling on my face or backward. This lack of
balancing power was accompanied by a sensation of nausea, as if I were
going to vomit. I persisted in my efforts to work, in hopes of shaking
off these very alarming sensations, and by effort got through my morning
work. Whilst shaving a severe jerk of my right arm caused me to gash my
face; very strange, but I ought not to have tried to do this. I have now
some numbness in my right hand and arm, and a good deal of trembling.
Arctic feeling in my feet and in various parts of my body. This feeling
of want of balancing power does not entirely leave me; a full, pressing
feeling in all parts of my head. And when I walk I notice I lift my feet
higher than usual, or than is necessary, and I put my heel down hard, as
if I was not sure of holding on to the ground. I notice some twitching,
as if my feet would spring up, making me walk as if I had the cock's
gait, as it is described. * * *
7 A.M., January 10, 1893. Thank God I began this day with more comfort
and more control of myself; my limbs are easier to manage; a little
giddiness and staggering, and stiff, bruised sensation in my back and
lower limbs. My cervical vertebra is less sore and have little pain; and
altogether feel very much better. My pulse rate is 80 this A.M.; full
and round; no jerks perceptible. Temperature 98 under the tongue, by the
root. Mercury very slow in rising; had to keep the thermometer in a long
time. I have a flushed, hot feeling in my face and head; no trembling,
less staggering, and can manage my limbs fairly well. I feel as I dared
not trifle with myself any further, for I am very weak. A very little
exertion would make me feel very ill. I am feeling like a man who had
just come from under a deadly risk; am very weak and prostrated, with
every nerve on the jump. Oh, so very weak! A sinking feeling. A parched
thirstiness in my throat and mouth. My tongue is clean; bowels regular;
a good deal of flatus, very fetid; pale yellow, greenish urine
(specific gravity 1008), smelling very fetid; same smell as the flatus;
more like the smell of rotting sweet fruit or vegetables. * * *
January 14, 1893. Could not get out of bed at my usual time; very severe
pain in head and back of neck, going down my back and right leg;
twitches, with cold, stinging, ice-needle pricks. My right hand is
feeling as if it were frozen. Pulse rate 64; full, round, but appears to
have a pendulum motion or twitch. Temperature 96 3-5. Mind clear, but
very weak in my body, and I can not get warm over a hot register or with
hot fluids. This constant arctic cold is very hard to bear and makes me
this morning feel as if I had a cake of ice on my back. My hands are
blue with cold and my feet feel like lumps of ice. Headache and
giddiness; could not keep from trembling while some patients were in my
consulting room, and had a good deal of difficulty in steadying and
controlling my voice; when excited could not get hold of the right words
I wanted and dropped some when speaking, from a want of flexibility or a
catch in my tongue. Pains in various parts of my body; the same
locations and character. Quite a rush of business to-day and very
ill-fitted to attend to it. My hands and feet blue and aching with cold,
even while I was sitting over a hot register that scorched my boot
leather, yet no feeling of warmth in hands or feet. A good deal of
throbbing and aching in the upper part of my kidneys, the right one the
sorest. Sharp pains in my bowels, near the cæcum; some trembling (when
asleep it awoke me) in my right arm and left leg, with a sharp pain near
the ankle joint. * * *
January 20. Awoke this morning in a shivering fit. Trembling, giddiness
and headache, but not very severe. Cold arctic feeling. Pulse 68.
Temperature 97 1-5. My feet, 8 A.M., cold. Severe pain in left testicle,
extending through to the back to anus. Bleed very much from old piles.
An aching at end of penis, and no sexual desire. A feeling as if the
testicles were swollen and painful, as in orchitis; this is only a
transient pain, and comes and goes at infrequent periods, or remittent
in their character. I notice my urine is taking on the greenish-yellow
again, and my right arm is chilly from the arctic rays. My feet are
cold, and the coldness creeps up higher in my legs. A great deal of
arctic feeling in and around my heart. My breath is cold. Headache, but
mind clear. Cold chills run over me in various parts of my body. My
hands tremble very much at times, so that I can not write. Pain in
testicles and coldness, as if they were frozen. Pass a large quantity of
urine. * *
January 21. 8 A.M. Did not get up before, owing to the pressure in my
skull, as if it were too full; dropsy or some swelling of my brain;
giddiness, and a numbness down my left leg, and a jerking upward in both
of them. Some trembling and coldness around my heart, and in my lungs
and down my arms. My feet were very hot in the night until 5 A.M., when
they became cold, numb and jerky, upwards. My pulse rate is very slow
this morning, only 56 beats. Temperature is slowly forced up to 98. I
have a sensation as if my left cheek were swollen, but it is not so.
Trembling very much in my hands.
2:30 P.M. Have not been warm yet to-day; very intense arctic sensation
in my body and heart and lungs. Slight cough. Numbness in my right arm.
Much trembling, and a sensation of inward trembling in all parts of my
body. Generative organs frozen cold, and this coldness extends up my
back. My feet so cold that I have burned my boots, and yet cannot get
them warm. Coldness extends up to my knees. Stiffness and pain in left
thigh. Cold arctic band round my head, with fulness in skull. Pulse 60.
Temperature 97 4-5. Good appetite. Mentally clear, although very weak;
very tired and discouraged that these feelings last so long. They seem
to be all beginning over again; worse now than they were a week ago. I
feel more like giving up and going to bed sick, but I cannot afford to
do so, so I brace up and resist this temptation to try and find an
antidote for these recurring series of feelings. * * *
January 23. Slept well until 5 A.M.; then awoke with pains in head and
burning in my feet, with some trembling and stiff feeling in my lungs
and heart, as if they were tied or unable to move. As I lay awake I
could hear my heart pounding away, but, oh! so slow. Felt very weak and
wanted to stay in bed, but after some hard thinking I got up. 7 A.M.
Very weak; staggered about while dressing. Pains in the base of the
brain. Pulse 64 and irregular in its beats, some of them failing
altogether to declare themselves only by their absence to respond.
Temperature, after being held under my tongue ten minutes, 97 2-5. Very
cold in my back and over my shoulders; hands and feet are blue with
cold. Itching all over my body, and as if I was bitten with fleas or
bugs were crawling over me. Skin of my hands very rough and cracks are
in them. My ears have a feeling as if wax were running out of them.* * *
January 26, 10 P.M. It has required a mighty effort to keep up this day.
My pulse 56, slow and irregular; temperature 98. Headache, yet mind
clear; backache. Weakness in all my body; my limbs so weak in walking
that it was difficult to keep going, and felt as if I could lay down or
drop down anywhere. What heart failure symptoms are I do not know, but
fear I came very near it and yet I have resisted this feeling, and kept
awake and about. Have felt very ill all the day, and am so now on
retiring, 11 P.M. * * *
January 29. 9 A.M. Just after breakfast, pulse 68, temperature 99; slept
very heavy, but dreamed of treating many cases of black diphtheria.
Awoke, slept, dreamed the same dream again, and again the same dream,
three separate times. How very singular! During these provings, I have
done this three separate times. Three dreams in one night--the same
dream, the same disease, the same families in my dream. This singularity
caused me to lay awake wondering what this can mean. I have not any
patients suffering from this disease, and I do not know of any in the
town, and nothing that I know of to bring this disease to my mind. Awoke
feeling very stiff and sore. * * *
January 30. Head pains again, the same old character. Sensation of
swelling in my face and pain in nerves of teeth, molars. Hot feeling.
Pulse, 68. Temperature, 99. Very weak, but my mind clear. Much trembling
and the oppression round my heart and chest producing a suffocating
feeling that makes me afraid, and I must now seek some means to arrest
this difficulty and give me some relief. I know it looks cowardly to
give up, but my family compels me to do something to enable me to keep
about. I cannot do any more; this heart oppression makes me think of
heart failure. Pulse, 56, and temperature 96. Very weak. I hope it will
wear away and this trembling improve. They have been caused by this
drug, one of the most powerful. I gave up and went to bed very ill. I
had to keep it from my family, but I was afraid my heart would stop
beating and had a very restless night. I took acetic acid, as vinegar I
had in some pickles I thought changed or relieved the first class or
effort of provings and caused me to stop and begin again. I think it did
help me. Next day very prostrated but did not take any note of my pulse
or temperature, because I had began to try to find an antidote, and this
vinegar and lemon juice has relieved many of them. I fear sometimes that
the trembling in my hands may never fully leave me now.
February 12, 1893. Copying my notes has brought so vividly to my memory
that I can almost feel the old arctic rays through my body, and the
giddiness and staggering gait of the _Heloderma hor._ days. I hope that
you may have many others more courageous than I have been, whose
provings will compare or improve upon this poor effort of mine.
CLINICAL.
The case of paralysis that I spoke of, whose staggering gait was called
to my mind by my feelings, is now taking _Heloderma_.
In the following case, Mrs. Ford, eighty-one years of age, has been my
patient several times during the last four years. She suffered from
erysipelas and dropsy in the legs. In September I was again called in
for the same old trouble; the usual remedies were effectual. In October
she caught cold, and had also a bad fall; her symptoms were those of
pneumonia, fever, delirium and cough, pain in chest and hard work to
breathe, blueness of lips, tongue and cheeks, cold extremities and was
very low in appetite, and appeared to be sinking. Pulse, fifty;
temperature, ninety, and to all human appearance was rapidly dying; all
said so, and I fully believed so, but left _Heloderma horridus_, one
powder in water, and ordered her tongue to be moistened with a feather
dipped in this every half hour. I did not call the next day until
evening. I was waiting to be notified of her death, but no such notice
coming called to see, and, to my surprise, found everything changed. I
then gave _Helo. hor._ 200, every four hours, with placebos. All the bad
symptoms gradually disappeared, breathing became natural, heart gained
strength, pulse increased to seventy, temperature to ninety-eight and
appetite became better, asking frequently for food. This continued so
long as she was taking this medicine. She was so well that I ceased to
attend, she having no aches or pains, was eating and sleeping well,
bowels moved regularly and night watching was given up. All who saw the
recovery were pleasingly surprised, and so was I, and have frequently
asked myself could anything else have done this. _Lachesis_ has changed
a slate colored tongue, and has aroused those who appeared to be dying
for a short time, but to extend the life of one as good as dead for
thirty days is a triumph for the _Helo. hor._
(To the foregoing we may add that some have thought that
the proving was too sensational, but other evidence that
has not appeared in print leads to the conclusion that it
is essentially true, and that the proving was made by one
peculiarly susceptible to the remedy. We know of one
gentleman who laughed at it and in bravado took a number
of doses during an afternoon. He felt no immediate
effects, but during the night awoke with some very
peculiar feelings that he could attribute to nothing but
the _Heloderma_, and they were of such a character that
he refused to take any more. It would be well to use the
remedy with caution until the practitioner has gauged its
powers.)
(Dr. Charles E. Johnson wrote as follows to Dr. Boocock
concerning the remedy):
"I have had under treatment a case that has been pronounced incurable by
many physicians. She has had most of the symptoms developed in your
proving, that awful coldness being most pronounced. She has had two
doses of the 200th. I learn through a neighbor that she is delighted
with the result of the last medicine. The coldness has nearly
disappeared, leaving a comfortable glow upon the body. She tells her
neighbors this without having been informed by me what results I
expected from the medicine."
(Dr. Erastus E. Case contributed the following detailed
clinical case to the _Medical Advance_, July, 1897):
An auburn haired woman, 55 years of age, had numbness in the feet two
years ago. It has gradually extended upward until it now includes the
lower part of the abdomen.
Tingling, creeping sensation on the legs as if from insects.
Worse when lying in bed at night.
Worse from exposure to cold air.
Worse from touch; she cannot endure to place her bare feet together.
Legs insensible to an electric battery.
Legs wasting away, skin very dry and inelastic.
Ankles turn easily when trying to walk.
Numbness of the arms from the hands to the elbows.
Forgetfulness.
Melancholy with weeping.
Worse in stormy weather.
Worse when thinking of her ailments, cheered by company.
Pain in the forehead in the morning, aggravated by turning the eyes.
Tongue dry and cracked in the morning.
Swallowing difficult.
Empty eructations, especially before breakfast.
Empty, gone sensation in the stomach.
Dislikes sweet things and worse from taking them.
Sensation of constriction about the whole abdomen.
Constipation from torpor of the rectum.
Hemorrhoids and itching of the anus.
Burning in the urethra during and after micturition.
Burning and dryness of the vagina.
Palpitation and dyspnoea from slight exertion.
Drawing sensation in all the extremities.
Yellow skin.
April 11, 1895. _Heloderma horridus_ four powders, one every four hours.
April 23, 1895. Decidedly more cheerful and memory is better.
Bowels more active.
Legs more reliable, with the numbness and tingling.
No medicine.
April 26, 1895. Alarmed because the palms and soles are swollen and
itching.
No medicine.
May 22, 1895. She gained rapidly in both flesh and strength, until a
week ago.
_Heloderma horridus_ one powder.
Soon after this an itching eruption came all over her, which subsided
without any further medication. She was restored to a fair degree of
health so that she has taken care of her house and family up to the
present time.
(The following arrangement of Dr. Boocock's proving was
made by Dr. Lilienthal):
_Mind._--No inclination for exertion in any way.
Difficulty in remembering the spelling of simple words.
Depressed, feels blue.
_Head._--Sensation of heat in head; heat on vertex.
Headache over right eyebrow.
Pressure in head and scalp; pressure in skull as if too full.
Soreness and stiffness in occiput, extending down neck; sore spot in
various parts of head.
Intense pain over left eyebrow, through eye to base of brain and down
back.
Aching at base of brain.
Sharp, digging pains.
Benumbed feeling all over head.
Burning feeling in brain.
Throbbing on top of head; head sore and bruised.
Sensation of band around head.
Cold band around head.
Sensation as if scalp was drawn tight over skull.
Bores head in pillow.
Vertigo and weakness when moving quickly.
Dizziness, with inclination to fall backward.
_Eyes._--Itching of eyelids, lachrymation.
Weight of eyelids, difficult to keep them open.
_Ears._--Pressure behind left ear; pressure in ear from within outward.
Copious flow of wax.
Ears dry and scurfy.
_Nose._--Left nostril sore; ulcerated.
Dry, itching scurfs in nostrils.
Severe attack of sneezing. Fluent discharge.
_Face._--Sensation of heat. Flushes of heat.
Cold, crawling feeling from temple down right cheek.
Sensation as if pricked with points of ice.
Sensation as if facial muscles were drawn tight over bones.
Stiffness of jaw.
_Mouth._--Dryness of lips.
Soreness.
Very thirsty.
Tongue tender and dry.
_Throat._--Dryness; parched sensation.
Tingling.
Soreness, tenderness to touch.
Stinging, sore feeling in right tonsil.
_Stomach._--Acid burning in stomach.
_Hypochondria._--Gurgling in region of spleen.
_Abdomen._--Sharp shooting pain in bowels, more on left side.
Pain across pubic bones, extending down into left testicle.
Stitching pains in bowels.
Throbbing in bowels.
Rumbling in bowels.
_Stool._--Loose, copious stool, lumpy, preceded by stitches in abdomen.
Stool loose, mushy with considerable flatus.
Stool soft, dark, difficult to expel.
Hæmorrhoids swollen, itch and bleed.
_Urinary Organs._--Bladder irritable, frequent urging to pass urine.
Tenderness in urethra, with sensation of discharge.
Urine not as free as usual, muddy.
Intermittent flow.
Urine, specific gravity, 1010; greenish-yellow, fetid (decaying fruit).
_Sexual Organs._--Erections.
Cold penis and testicle, with gluey discharge.
Pain and enlargement of left testicle.
_Female._--
_Respiratory Organs._--Slight, hacking cough, with pain in left scapulæ.
Fulness in chest, requiring an effort to inflate the lungs.
Oppressed for breath from least exertion.
_Chest._--Sharp stitch through right nipple to inside of right arm.
Cold feeling in right lung.
_Heart._--Pressure at heart.
Tingling around heart.
Trembling and coldness around heart.
Oppression around heart.
Sticking pains, shooting from left to right.
Stitches in heart.
Soreness in heart, more under left nipple.
Pulse, 56-72; full and jerky.
_Back._--Stiff neck; aching in bones of neck.
Painfulness of upper neck.
Coldness across scapulæ.
Chill in back from base of brain downwards.
Pain in back; pain in lumbar muscles awakening him.
Aching in right kidney; stitch pain in right kidney.
_Upper Extremities._--Numbness of right arm and hand with trembling.
Tingling in arms and hands.
Tingling in palm of left hand and along fingers.
Drawing in left hand, followed by tingling and prickling.
Pains in hands, if holding anything for some time.
Trembling of hands.
Hands blue, cracked and rough.
_Lower Extremities._--Numb feeling around and down left thigh.
Pain in left thigh and calf as if bruised.
Numb feeling down right leg.
Coldness extending from knee to calf.
Coldness of legs and feet.
Boring sharp pain on tibia of right leg.
Sensation of tight hand around left ankle.
Trembling of limbs. Jerking of limbs.
Tingling and burning of feet as if recovering from being frozen.
Burning in feet, preventing sleep, had to put them out of bed.
Sensation as if walking on sponge and as if swollen.
Staggering gait.
Tendency to turn to right when walking.
When walking lift feet higher than usual and put down heel hard.
_Skin._--Itching of skin as from insects.
_Sleep._--Drowsiness, but inability to sleep.
Restless sleep; awakens at 3 A.M.
Awakened from sleep by jerking in head; trembling of limbs; pain in
lumbar muscles.
_Fever._--Internal coldness.
Severe chill ran down back.
Cold rings around body.
Cold waves ascend from feet, or downward from base of brain.
_Nerves._--Startled easily. Trembling.
Tired feeling; very weak and nervous.
Intense aching in bones and all parts of body.
Trembling of left side; hands shaky.
Trembling can be controlled by effort of will.
_Generalities._--Stretching relieves pains in muscles and limbs.
Stitch pains going from left to right.
Weak, giddy, making it difficult to stand.
Unable to balance myself.
Movement does not increase the pain.
Throbbing all over body.
Bone pains.
JACARANDA GUALANDAI.
NAT. ORD., Bignoniaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Carroba.
PREPARATION.--The dried leaves are crushed and macerated in five parts
by weight of alcohol.
(Of this South American remedy the _Dispensatory_ says it
is used in Brazil and other South American countries for
syphilis; sometimes under the name _Carroba_. Its value
was also asserted in _British Medical Journal_, 1885. The
following letter from Dr. J. F. Convers, of Bogota, to
Messrs. Boericke & Tafel, throws some further light on
its use; the letter is dated November 24, 1888):
_Dear Gentlemen_: Please to accept the leaves of a tree of the
Bignoniacea family, called _Jacaranda gualandai_, that I send you with
this, because it is very much used by our natives to cure illness of a
syphilitic character. I have used the mother tincture (5 drops _pro
dosi_), and the 3d dilution of it, in the treatment of blennorrhagia and
chancroids with the greatest success. In my experience I have found that
this medicine is a complementary and antidote to _Merc. v._
Mr. José M. Reyes, who proved the [Greek: theta] and the 2x dilution
during more than one month three times a day, found the following
results:
HEAD.--Vertigo on rising after stooping, with momentary loss of sight,
and sensation of heaviness in the forehead. Weakness of memory and
inability to study.
EYES.--_Pains and inflammation of the eyes, with redness more marked in
the left eye. Sensation of sand in both eyes._ Ophthalmia, which begins
in the left eye, with lachrymation and night agglutination of the
eyelids. Weakness of sight. Syphilitic-like ophthalmia.
STOOL.--Diarrhoea with dark mulberry-colored stools without pain or
tenesmus, but with mucus.
URINARY AND SEXUAL ORGANS.--Increased secretion of the urine. Pain in
the penis. _Blennorrhagia_ with a discharge which stains the linen a
dirty yellow color. _Chancroids._
THROAT.--Pain and burning of the larynx, when laughing or reading aloud,
and small vesicles in the pharynx.
BACK.--Weakness of the lumbar region.
These are not doubtful symptoms.
N. B.--This remedy acts on the head at first, afterwards on the
intestines, and on the eyes last.
Please try it, and make it known to our colleagues. Should it prove to
be there as good as here, I assure you it will be a valued remedy.
(Dr. J. S. Whittinghill contributed the following,
_Eclectic Medical Journal_, concerning _Jacaranda_):
Let me give the results of my experience with _Jacaranda_. I believe it
to be a true specific for certain kinds of rheumatism. Its first trial
was given a patient suffering as follows: She had had rheumatism for
about ten years--never became serious. Sometimes she was nearly relieved
from it; again lost much rest and sleep from it. Her wrist would become
painful and very weak from ordinary labor. She always suffered very much
in the morning upon any motion, and complained of being stiff. Had to
have assistance in dressing. Upon sudden motion, sensation in the
muscles as of tearing and being bruised--even painful upon pressure.
I gave her different remedies as they seemed to be indicated, with no
results towards removing the trouble. I thought there could be nothing
lost by trying _Jacaranda_. It met with decided success. She was
entirely relieved of muscular pains in a few days. Had the recurrence of
some symptoms in about six weeks after; tried _Jacaranda_ again with the
same decided success. Some eight weeks have elapsed since, with no
recurrence of muscular pains. I have tried it on three other patients
with the same peculiar morning stiffness and soreness of muscles. All
were relieved in a few days. They have no more muscular trouble. So I
put morning soreness and stiffness of muscles as the guide in
prescribing _Jacaranda_.
LAC CANINUM.
PREPARATION.--The fresh milk from a bitch is triturated in the usual
way.
(The late Dr. Sam. Swan had a proving of this remedy, dog
milk, in the Materia Medica he attempted to publish, but
of which only one volume appeared. The work is now very
rare. The following clinical cases were contributed by
Dr. Philip Rice to the _Medical Century_, Vol. IX, No.
24):
_Lac caninum_ is a remedy of undoubted value, though not very thoroughly
understood and consequently not very extensively used in this dread
disease. And since a proving has never been made, and since we have to
depend entirely upon clinical reports I feel it my duty to report a few
cases in which a clear demonstration of the value of this remedy was
made.
CASE I.--Bruce McG., æt. 15, dark hair, gray eyes, spare habit, rigid
fibre, nervous, quick, active, called at my office in the evening
complaining of sore throat, worse on right side, and on swallowing.
Headache dull and heavy, slight fever. Inspection revealed tonsils and
fauces congested and angry looking. On right tonsil a patch of membrane
the size of a split pea was seen.
_Lycopodium_ 30x was given. The next morning the entire trouble seemed
to have gone to the left side; with it had come, also, stiff neck and
tongue; profuse flow of saliva; temperature 101 F. Membrane somewhat
larger. _Mercurius ruber_ 30x was given. In the evening the trouble was
worse again on right side, the membrane now entirely covering both
tonsils, temperature 102 F. Limbs ached, back ached, and patient was
restless. Remembering the symptom, "membrane alternates between right
and left sides," and this having been so characteristic, I gave _Lac
caninum_ in the 30th potency. Improvement began immediately and at the
end of the third day the membrane was entirely gone and case discharged
as far as medicine was concerned.
CASE II.--Louisa McG., æt. 13, in temperament exactly like her brother,
the preceding case. Was irritable and listless for two days, but owing
to the fact that the fair began in a few days, to which she was
determined to go, she did not complain. The third day, however, her
mother noticed that she was truly sick and, there being a number of
cases of diphtheria in town, looked into her throat. She found both
tonsils covered with a membrane. I was called and as no other symptoms
could be elicited I gave _Sulphur_ 30x and told them I would call again
in the evening, which I did and found symptoms rapidly developing.
Aching in all the limbs; headache; pain in the throat on swallowing;
worse on the right side; neck and tongue stiff; membrane just the same.
Temperature 101.5; same remedy continued.
Next morning the membrane was the same, pain now in left side, throat
internally and externally oedematous, fauces and uvula glossy or
varnished in appearance. Temperature 102, urine scanty, no thirst.
_Apis_ 30x was now given. In the evening pain back in right side again.
Temperature 102.5. Membrane spreading; stiffness of neck and tongue more
marked and saliva profuse. Not having seen the case till the membrane
had quite generally formed, but the patient being in temperament like
her brother and the pain shifting from side to side, as in his case, I
decided to give her _Lac caninum_. Improvement began immediately and at
the end of four days the membrane was entirely gone.
CASE III.--The servant girl in the family where cases one and two had
been, Anna B., æt. 17. In temperament the very opposite to the other
cases, being fat, fair and flabby. Complained of pain in right side of
throat on swallowing, neck stiff, tonsil slightly congested. Felt as if
she had a bad cold. Advised her to come to the office and get some
medicine. She had, however, some "dope" on hand and said she guessed
she would take that first. Next evening I was called and found her with
throat much worse. Membrane covering left tonsil entirely, also a narrow
strip of membrane on posterior wall of pharynx, pain in left tonsil on
swallowing, neck and tongue stiff, saliva quite profuse. Temperature
only slightly above normal. _Lac caninum_ 30x was given. Patient never
went to bed and at the end of the second day no trace of membrane could
be seen.
Now, the symptoms common to all three cases and the only ones
characteristic in each case were, first, both pain and membrane shifting
from side to side; second, stiffness of neck and tongue; third, profuse
saliva; fourth, aching in limbs marked; fifth, entire absence of
prostration; sixth, character of pain was "as if throat was burned raw."
Now, the question will arise in the bacteria man's mind, was this real
diphtheria; were the German's bacteria present? I will answer candidly,
I don't know; I never looked for them.
LAPIS ALBUS.
SYNONYM. Silico-Fluoride of Calcium.
PREPARATION.--The residue obtained by evaporation, from the waters of
the mineral springs of Gastein, Germany, is triturated in the usual way.
(It was Von Grauvogl who first called attention to this
drug, the product of certain mineral springs in Germany,
that have reputation for curing ulcers, cancers, tumors,
etc. In the Transactions of the American Institute of
Homoeopathy, 1896, will be found the following by Dr.
W. A. Dewey):
My experience with this remedy, and I have been somewhat interested in
it, dates from about 1876. At that time a member of my own family had an
enlargement of one of the cervical glands. It was nearly as large as a
hen's egg, and had a soft, doughy feel. Under _Lapis albus_ 6,
prescribed, I believe, by Dr. G. E. E. Sparhawk, now of Burlington,
Vt., the swelling speedily and completely disappeared. A peculiar and
unusual symptom noticed by this patient while taking the medicine was a
marked increase in the appetite; it became ravenous.
Since that time I have used the remedy in many cases of scrofulous
enlargement of the cervical glands, and find that it is almost specific
where the glands have a certain amount of elasticity and pliability
about them, rather than a stony hardness, such as might call for
_Calcarea fluorica_, _Cistus_ or _Carbo animalis_.
One case in particular which I recall was a young lady, about twenty
years of age, a natural blonde, skin fair, bluish white, showing
prominent veins, who had a glandular enlargement in the right
supra-clavicular region, nearly the size of a goose egg, and one
somewhat smaller a little farther back in the interval between the
sterno-cleido mastoid and trapezius muscles. These had a certain amount
of hardness, but they were movable. Others of the cervical chain were
also enlarged, the right side being the only one affected. As the young
lady was engaged to be married, these unsightly lumps were very
distressing. _Lapis albus_ 6, a powder four times a day, in a week
caused a marked diminution of the size of the glands, and in three weeks
they were not noticeable, and eventually entirely disappeared. This
patient also had a ravenous appetite while taking the remedy, an unusual
thing for her. Her anæmic color and complexion were also greatly
improved.
The most remarkable effect of the use of the remedy I have had was in
the case of goitre in a lady of about thirty-five, blonde, who had for
over a year noticed a gradual increase in the size of the thyroid gland,
until it was as large as a good-sized fist, when she came to me. Both
halves of the gland seemed to be equally involved. It did not appear to
be of the encapsulated variety. This patient had received previous
homoeopathic treatment, having had _Spongia_, _Iodine_, _Thuja_, as
well as some other remedies. _Lapis albus_ 6 was prescribed, a dose
every three hours. The swelling began to disappear at once, and
continued to diminish in size until it completely disappeared, and at
the present time over five years have passed with no return of the
trouble.
LATRODECTUS MACTANS.
PREPARATION.--The spiders are triturated in the usual way.
(The following paper by Dr. Samuel A. Jones appeared in
the _Homoeopathic Recorder_, July, 1889, under the
title, "Latrodectus Mactans: a Suggested Remedy in Angina
Pectoris"):
"The great result of the grim doctor's labor, so far as
known to the public, was a certain preparation or extract
of cobwebs, which, out of a great abundance of material,
he was able to produce in any desirable quantity, and by
the administration of which he professed to cure diseases
of the inflammatory class, and to work very wonderful
effects upon the human system."--_Dr. Grimshawe's
Secret._
I do not know that the doctor who is the direct occasion of this paper
was _grim_, nor do I imagine he ever dreamed of such an application of
his paper as I purpose to make. I never met him; though he wore the gray
and I the blue during a struggle wherein fate might easily have thrown
us together. It was not until the autumn of '76 that I became aware of
his existence, and then by a contribution of his to a medical
magazine--the special copy of which was found amongst the multifarious
waifs of a bookstall. I could not "decline the article," although I was
then entering upon a field of labor that would leave little time for
such quiet research as the old doctor's paper so powerfully suggested,
so I bought the odd number, and fourteen years later I am making such
use of it as my sense of its significance enforces.
It is due Mr. A. J. Tafel to state that but for his most efficient
services this paper of mine would never have been written. To his
endeavors, stretching through some years, I owe the identification of
the remedy, without which I should not have put pen to paper; and having
secured this, from unimpeachable authority, too, he never rested from
his labors until he had put in my possession dilutions of the poison
itself. If, then, this _magis venenum_ shall prove itself _magis
remedium_, most assuredly the _pars magna_ of its introduction is his.
From the days of Dioscorides and Pliny to the present a venomous quality
has been ascribed to "the fluid emitted from the orifice in the fangs of
the arancidæ." That this quality was even lethal has been both believed
and questioned. _Insect Life_, Vol. I., No. 7, pp. 204-211, Washington,
1889, contains "A Contribution to the Literature of Fatal Spider Bites,"
in which the credulity of mere medical observers and the emphatic
incredulity of professed "entomologists and arachnologists" are dwelt
upon, and concerning which its author cautiously concludes as follows:
"It will possibly appear to the reader that after collecting this
testimony we are as far from the solution of the question--'Do spider
bites ever produce fatal results?'--as we were before; but it seems to
us, after analyzing the evidence, that it must at least be admitted that
certain spiders of the genus Latrodectus have the power to inflict
poisonous bites which may (probably exceptionally and depending upon
exceptional conditions) bring about the death of a human being.
Admitting in its fullest force the argument that in reported cases the
spider has seldom if ever been seen by a reliable observer to inflict
the wound, we consider that the fact that species of the Latrodectus,
occurring in such widely distant localities as South Europe, the
Southern United States, and New Zealand, are uniformly set aside by the
natives as poisonous species, when there is nothing especially dangerous
in their appearance, is the strongest argument for believing that these
statements have some verification in fact. It is no wonder that a
popular fear should follow the ferocious-looking spiders of the family
Theraphosoidæ; but considering the comparatively small size and modest
coloring of the species of Latrodectus so wide-spread a prejudice,
occurring in so many distinct localities, must be well founded." P. 211.
Is it indeed an _argument_ that "in reported cases the spider has seldom
if ever been seen by a reliable observer to inflict the wound?" How an
Orfila, a Christison, and a Caspar would smile when asked if the
evidence of a poisonous quality depended upon the administration of the
poison being "seen by a reliable observer." Toxicology detects a poison
by the physiological test as well as the chemical. Strychnia in quantity
too small for the coarse chemical test is revealed by the tetanized
muscles of a frog whether that "arch martyr to science" be in "South
Europe, the Southern United States, or New Zealand," and that
infinitesimal fractions of Strychnia will display its characteristics
whether or not its administration is "seen" by a Christison, or a
college janitor. Of course, a Christison would recognize Strychnia from
and in the phenomena, while a college janitor (and here and there an
over-scientific entomologist) might not.
It is neither the aim nor the purpose of this paper to establish the
lethal property of spider poison; though I must acknowledge that, until
I read the paper in _Insect Life_, I had no thought that its possession
of such a property would be called in question. I shall content myself
with calling attention to the pathogenetic quality of the poison of
_Latrodectus mactans_, leaving my reader to discern the resemblance of
its _tout ensemble_ to an attack of angina pectoris, and therefore to
infer its homoeopathic applicability in that dread disorder. I shall
not enter upon the pathology--various and much confused--of that cardiac
seizure, because, as I get older, I find the "like" more and more of a
"pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night," whilst in my short
life I have found "pathology" as changeable as a dying dolphin--and
every one knows that a dead fish "stinks and shines, and shines and
stinks."
CASES OF SPIDER BITE.
BY G. WILLIAM SEMPLE, M. D., HAMPTON, VA.[J]
[J] _Virginia Medical Monthly_, Vol. II., No. 9, pp. 633-38,
1875. "He was commissioned surgeon in the Confederate army,
July 1, 1861; served until August 1st in the field on the
peninsula; then placed in charge of hospital in Williamsburg;
afterwards ordered to Richmond and placed in charge of an
hospital, and remained until close of war." Failing to find
any further trace of him I am led to believe that he has been
mustered out of service by the Grand Commander.
"Spider bites are of rare occurrence in this vicinity, but are generally
productive of grave symptoms. [Isn't it bad taste for doctors to use the
words grave symptoms?] I will report all that have occurred to me in a
practice of forty years:
"CASE I. September 4, 1853. I was called to see Mr. D., at Old Point,
who had been bitten by a small, black spider on the prepuce, whilst on
the privy seat, at 12:30 o'clock. The bite at first caused only itching
of the prepuce, with a little redness of the part, but in less than half
an hour _nausea_, followed by _severe abdominal pains_, ensued. A
messenger was dispatched in haste for me to Hampton, three miles off.
Before I reached the patient, at 2:30 o'clock, _violent præcordial pains
extending to the axilla, and down the_ [left] _arm and forearm to the
fingers_, with _numbness of the extremity_, had succeeded, attended by
_apnæa_.
"In consequence of the violence of the symptoms, Dr. Stineca, surgeon of
the post, had been sent for, who had given two doses of _Laudanum_ of
[Latin: ezh]j each, and two of rectified whiskey of [Latin: ezh]ij each,
and, being in ill health and unable to remain, had ordered his steward
to apply four dry cups over the præcordia. This had just been done when
I arrived. I saw the _blood, thin and florid_, fill the cups like water
oozing through the muslin. When the cups were removed, the _blood_,
emptied into a basin, _did not coagulate_; and blood continued to ooze
slightly from the surfaces to which the cups had been applied until the
next morning, though a solution of _Tannin_ was applied.
"I found the patient _suffering extremely from the most violent
præcordial pains and from apnæa_, and also _violent pain in the left_
arm, which was almost _paralyzed_. His _pulse_ was 130 _and very
feeble_, his _skin cold_ as marble, and his _countenance expressive of
the deep anxiety_ he felt and expressed in words. The laudanum and
whiskey seemed to have produced no effect--the nausea and abdominal
pains having subsided before they were administered. There was no pain,
inflammation, or swelling where the bite was received. Even the itching
of the part had subsided. I gave the patient every half hour for several
hours [Latin: ezh]j of aromatic spirits of ammonia, and as much whiskey
and water as he could be induced to take, and afterwards gave them every
hour; also pediluvia of hot mustard and water, frequently repeated,
until the next night.
"September 5th, 8 A.M.--The symptoms continued unabated; indeed, the
patient grew worse until 2:30 o'clock, twenty-six hours after he was
bitten, for his _pulse_ had then become _so frequent that it could not
be counted, and so feeble that it could scarcely be felt_. He then
_vomited black vomit_ copiously--a quart or more. Soon afterwards
reaction set in, his pulse gradually gained force, and became less
frequent, the pain subsided and the respiration improved. At 8 P.M., the
pulse had gained considerable force, and the patient slept until some
minutes after 12; his pulse was pretty full at 1:10; his surface warm
and perspirable, and he felt almost free of pain. After a short interval
he again fell asleep, and slept quietly until morning, when he
awoke--his respiration healthy, pulse 80, regular and with sufficient
force, and entirely relieved of pain. He soon afterwards had _two pretty
copious evacuations from the bowels_, similar to the black vomit he had
vomited. After this he said he felt quite well, and took a light
breakfast and dinner, and returned that evening to his residence in
Portsmouth, and in a few days went to work at his trade.
"In thirty-six hours from the time he was bitten, he took three and a
half quart bottles of the best rectified whiskey--about three quarts
without showing the least symptom of intoxication."
I have cited this case at full length in order to present the _evolution
of the symptoms_, on which alone depends the resemblance of the action
of the poison to the chief symptoms of an attack of angina pectoris--a
closer resemblance than half a lifetime of somewhat wide reading has
enabled me to find in the effect of any other noxious agent. In fact,
after much searching, I find this case to be unique. In other cases of
spider bite I can find evidence that assures me of its genuineness, but,
to my knowledge, its _order of symptom evolution_ is as solitary as it
is singular and significant. This feature of _uniqueness_ will cause
many to regard it with suspicion. I think they will do wrong; for some
experience in proving work has taught me that one positive result from a
drug out-weighs any number of negative.
In the case of _Latrodectus mactans_ we shall find, from other
poisonings, that, as a rule, it displays an affinity for the præcordial
region as the _locus_ of its chief attack; and having assurance of that
fact, we shall not find it difficult to accept a clue from even a
solitary instance.
Of the remaining cases in Dr. Semple's paper I shall cite only the
symptoms, and be it observed that in all the cases as here given the
italics are my own.
CASE 2. A man "was bitten in the groin, and complained of only a slight
prickling and itching at the spot where he was bitten, but was
complaining [when Dr. S. saw him] of _severe abdominal pain_, with
_nausea_, and a _sinking sensation at the epigastrium_; and his _pulse_,
in a few minutes after the bite, had already become _quick and thready_;
and the _skin very cold_." The man soon recovered under ammonia and
whiskey--two quarts of the latter produced no symptoms of intoxication.
CASE III. A lad of eighteen years of age. "There was no pain, but only
itching and redness at the part bitten at first; but _violent pain soon
commenced there_ [on the back of the left hand] _and extended in a short
time up the forearm and arm to the shoulder and thence to the præcordial
region_."
CASE IV. "A tawny woman [daughter of a quadroon mulatto woman] about
twenty-two years old, the mother of two children." "Found her
_apparently moribund_; her _skin_ as _cold_ as marble; _violent pain
extending from the bite on the right wrist up the forearm and arm to the
shoulder, and thence up the neck to the back of the head on the right
side_; more _violent pain in the præcordia_, _extending thence to the
shoulder and axilla on the left, and down the arm and forearm to the
ends of the fingers_, and _this extremity partially paralysed_; added to
this, _apnæa was extreme; the respiration only occasional--gasping_; the
_pulse could not be felt in the left radial_, and I was not sure that I
felt it in the right."
In about fifteen minutes after the intra-venous injection of 13 minims
of undiluted _Aqua Ammoniæ_, the doctor "was astonished at the calm and
painless expression of her _countenance_, so lately _expressive of
anxiety and pain_."
CASE V. A healthy young girl of 13. She felt a stinging sensation on the
[right] wrist, accompanied by itching and redness at the spot [bitten].
For several minutes there was but little pain, but in half an hour a
_painful sensation_ began to be felt at the spot, which quickly
_extended up the arm to the shoulder_, and, in the course of an hour,
_along the neck to the back of the head_. * * * _Pain in the præcordial
region, with apnæa_ coming on, I was sent for. When I arrived she was
screaming fearfully with _pain_, and frequently exclaiming she would
_lose her breath and die_. The _pulse_ had become _thready_ and the
_surface cold_.
From these _data_ the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_ is suggested for
trial in _angina pectoris_, in that its physiological action presents
the closest _similimum_ yet found.
II.
It may be well to offer a critical examination of the foregoing cases.
If they are genuine effects of the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_,
they must afford a _recurrence of corresponding symptoms_. They may
differ in _degree_, because the quality of the venom may vary; first,
from the season in which the bite occurred (and judging from cases I, IV
and V, the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_ is most virulent in the month
of September), and, secondly, from the more thorough elaboration of the
venom. It is known that the poison of _Crotalus horridus_ differs in
intensity according to the frequency with which the snake has bitten in
a given period of time; of four successive "strikes" in four different
organisms, and at brief intervals, the intensity of the action will
vary, so that while the first wound is lethal the last is not--on which
fact depends the vaunted reputation of many an antidote to the bite of
the rattlesnake. That this may be also true of the spider poison is the
only explanation I can offer for the fact that many naturalists have
allowed themselves to be bitten by spiders of reputed poisonous species,
and with impunity.
RECURRENCE OF CORRESPONDING SYMPTOMS.
(_Arabic numerals refer to the Cases._)
+-----------------------------------------+---------+----------+
| I. Nausea 1 | 2 | |
| II. Abdominal pain 1 | 2 | |
| III. Countenance anxious 1 | | 4 |
| IV. Pain up arm to shoulder, | | |
| thence to back of neck | | 4 5 |
| V. Præcordial pain extending to | | |
| left axilla, and down arm to | | |
| finger ends 1 | | 4 |
| VI. Left arm almost paralyzed 1 | | 4 |
| VII. Pain up arm to shoulder, | | |
| thence to præcordia | 3 | 4 5 |
| VIII. Apnæa 1 | | 4 5 |
| IX. Præcordial pain 1 | 3 | 4 5 |
| X. Pulse feeble, thready 1 | 2 | 4 5 |
| XI. Skin cold 1 | 2 | 4 5 |
| XII. Sense of impending dissolution 1 | | 4 5 |
+-----------------------------------------+---------+----------+
While Dr. Semple's reports do not precisely state it, I think we may
safely infer a _sense of impending dissolution_ in cases I, IV and V.
The girl exclaimed she "would lose her breath and die;" the man in case
I "expressed in words" "the deep anxiety he felt;" the woman in case IV
was found "apparently moribund" with "gasping respiration," and
therefore incapable of speech, but who can doubt that she had _a sense
of impending dissolution?_
ISOLATED SYMPTOMS.
_Numbness of the arm, 1._
_Black vomit, 1._
_Alvine evacuations similar to the black vomit, 1._
_Sinking sensation at epigastrium, 2._
_Respiration only occasional--gasping, 4._
It must be admitted that many of our accepted provings cannot as well
bear a similar test.
III.
There is another feature that the believer in the law of similars should
find no insuperable difficulty in accepting as a criterion of the
validity of a proving, namely: _the similarity of the drug symptoms to
certain disease symptoms_. I am not ready to believe that drug symptoms
are only the result of a "fortuitous concourse of atoms," nor can I for
one moment imagine that they are the product of blind and aimless
chance. I plainly discern in them the result of law, and I am wholly
unable to conceive of existing law without the absolutely necessary
_pre_-existing law maker. The consequent must have its antecedent.
Therefore, in a drug symptom I see a purpose, and by the light of the
law of similars I find the purpose of a drug symptom in an analogous
disease symptom--they answer to each other as face unto face in the
refiner's silver--and behind and beyond them both is another purpose, of
wisdom inscrutable, of love unfathomable. In a word, my reader, the
problem of the visible universe forces upon me the alternative that
weighed upon Marcus Aurelius--"either gods, or atoms." With atoms only I
cannot account for law; with God and in God both atoms and law find a
meaning and a purpose.
If I were submitting these convictions, or, if you will, this "working
hypothesis," to a Sir Thomas Browne, or a William Harvey, or a Thomas
Sydenham I should feel no momentary hesitation; as it is, I can only
hope that the spirit that filled these worthies is not extinct in days
when the "spiritual colic" that disordered an imaginary _Robert Elsmere_
is thought to disturb the eternal Verities. I much doubt if they who
mistake an eclipse for an annihilation will get any good from this poor
pen of mine.
The resemblance between the symptoms of angina pectoris and the effects
of the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_ are so striking as to justify the
presentation of a comparison; and it is hoped that physicians of wide
reading will pardon what may seem to them a piece of supererogation for
the sake of many a humbler practitioner whose opportunities have not
been so happy. At the same time, the widest reader must admit that he
has not found any one authority who has given a complete picture of
angina pectoris. Nor is it essential that such an all-including
"composite" shall now be presented; on the contrary, we shall offer only
salient points substantiated by observers of the highest order.
It will be well to start from an authority whose scholarship has never
been excelled--_Copland_. Of all our medical writers he may be called
the _Great Definer_--his readers will know what that means.
"_Acute constricting pain at the lower part of the sternum, inclining to
the left side, and extending to the arm, accompanied with great anxiety,
difficulty of breathing, tendency to syncope, and feeling of approaching
dissolution._"
Copland presents a group of constants, and, for a terse definition, has
well covered the principal phenomena. As variants he has omitted the
pulse and the surface temperature. He errs on the side of dogmatism in
defining the character of the pain as "constricting;" "aching, burning,
or indescribable," and "generally attended with a sense of
constriction" is more in accordance with the actual condition. Of
Copland's seven constants, Case 4 presents an analogue for each in
symptoms IX., V., III., VIII., XII., and the "tendency to syncope,"
which is not included in our table because Dr. Semple did not put the
fact in express words. If to this group we add the _thready pulse_ and
_cold skin_, we shall have "covered" nine of the most prominent symptoms
of angina pectoris; a pathological "composite" with a most striking
pathogenetic _similimum_.
But all the elements of Copland's group are not of equal importance; two
of them, at least, are pathognomonic. "The two constituent elements of
the paroxysm," says Latham, are "the sense of dissolution and the pain."
"Pain with one awful accompaniment may be everything." "This mixture of
the sharpest pain with a feeling of instant death." According to
Fothergill "the two prominent subjective phenomena are pain in the chest
and a sense of impending death." Eulenburg and Guttmann include another
element: "We regard the substernal pain, the feeling of anxiety, and the
disturbance of the heart's action, as the essential symptoms of angina
pectoris." Romberg notes the companionship of these two elements: "The
patient attacked with angina pectoris is suddenly seized with a pain
under the sternum in the neighborhood of the heart, accompanied by a
sense of anxiety so intense as to induce a belief in the approach of
death."
We have laid the emphasis of these various citations on the "essential
symptoms" in order to assert, with equal emphasis, that their analogues
occur in not only one case of _Latrodectus mactans_ poisoning. The
præcordial pain is noted in Cases 1, 3, 4 and 5, and the sense of
impending dissolution in Cases 1, 4 and 5. And that disturbance of the
heart's action which Eulenburg and Guttmann consider an essential
element is found in Cases 1, 2, 4 and 5; so that the _tout ensemble_
presented by Case 4 is corroborated.
Another important element, though it is one subject to variations, is
the direction of the extension of the pain. It most generally extends to
the left axilla, and down the arm to the fingers; as variations it
sometimes affects the right axilla and the back of the head. In Cases 1
and 4 the spider poison followed the direction of the disease, and in
Cases 4 and 5 it also affected the back of the head. In Case 1 it
produced the numbness of the arm and hand that is sometimes observed in
the diseases.
Copland includes "difficulty of breathing" amongst the elements of
angina pectoris. Trousseau does not regard this difficulty as real.
"Although patients think they are going to be suffocated during a
paroxysm, the chest is normally resonant on percussion, and if it be
auscultated as they draw in breath again vesicular breathing is heard
everywhere." Watson says, "the patient is not necessarily out of breath.
It is not dyspnoea that oppresses him; for he can, and generally does,
breathe freely and easily." Stokes is decided: "Respiration is
_secondarily_ affected; there may be slight dyspnoea or orthopnoea,
with lividity of the face, yet by an effort of the will (if the patient
dares to encounter the pang this commonly produces) the chest may be
pretty freely expanded, and the breathing relieved for a brief space;
dyspnoea is not a primary symptom of angina." Eulenburg and Guttmann
say, "Our own experience leads us to adopt Parry's conclusion, that the
changes in the respiration are principally, perhaps even solely, due to
the pain." Bristowe speaks of the sufferer as "fearing to breathe." We
can readily see that the "apnæa" observed by Dr. Semple in Cases 1 and 5
had physical origin, but in Case 4 he says "apnæa was extreme; the
respiration only occasional--gasping." This shows to what an extreme
extent the action of the spider poison had gone--even to implicating the
diaphragm; and it is noteworthy that Anstie records a case of angina
pectoris (_Neuralgia and its Counterfeits_, p. 67, London, 1871), in
which "there was so marked a catching of the breath as to make it almost
certain that there was a diaphragmatic spasm."
Of the changes in respiration accompanying angina pectoris we have,
then, both the general, and the rarest, form, produced pathogenetically
by the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_.
IV.
In its physiological action the poison of _Latrodectus mactans_
resembles angina pectoris vasomotoria--a purely functional derangement.
The similitude of the physiological action to pure angina pectoris
corroborates the accepted pathology of the latter condition, because the
phenomena of _Latrodectus_ poisoning were educed from previously healthy
organisms, and in pure angina pectoris there is no pre-existent organic
change occasioning the attack. According to the accepted pathology, we
have in angina pectoris vasomotoria, sudden spasms of the arterioles;
from this an increase of the arterial tension; to overcome this is more
forcible and rapid action of the heart; as the arteriole spasm persists
and doubtless deepens in intensity, distension of the left ventricle
follows, and from overdistension the agonizing breast-pang, and even
death from stoppage of the heart's diastole. But we must include another
element--spasm of the coronary vessels. "When there is a sudden rise in
the blood-pressure in the arteries, due to vasomotor spasm of the
peripheral systemic arterioles, and the heart-walls are strong and well
nourished, palpitation is evoked; when the coronary branches are
involved in the vasomotor spasm then angina is produced, and the
heart-walls, acutely distended with blood, can scarcely contract in the
face of the opposition presented to their contraction by the high
arterial tension. When this sudden systemic arteriole spasm extends to
the coronary vessels in a heart whose walls are diseased, a fatal attack
of angina with the heart full of blood may be induced. The danger
increases with the extent of the structural degeneration of the
heart-walls. Sudden rises of blood-pressure in the arteries will tax
hearts in their textural integrity, and lead to painful distension; such
sudden demands on decayed hearts lead to agonizing angina pectoris, and
the sense of impending dissolution is frequently followed by sudden
death."
Spasm of the arterioles and coronary vessels, rise of blood-pressure in
the arteries, embarrassed action of the heart, and painful distension
are just so many consecutive links in the phenomena produced by the
poison of _Latrodectus mactans_, as Cases I and IV amply testify.
The spider poisons are akin to the serpent poisons in their property of
producing a disorganization of the blood. In Case I, thin and florid
non-coagulable blood continued to ooze from the cut surface despite the
application of tannin. It may be a question whether this condition of
the blood is directly toxicological, or a pathological result of stasis
in the peripheral vessels. I incline to regard it as due to the latter
condition, and I believe this explanation also holds good in the case of
serpent poisoning.
The hæmorrhage recorded in Case I was of gastric origin; splenic
congestion existed, and the vasa brevia--branches of the splenic
artery--gave way under the pressure. I once met a similar hæmorrhage in
a case of intermittent fever in a child, and I recorded the fact as a
possible hint for the applicability of _Latrodectus mactans_ in a
similar condition.
In all the year that the stray copy of the old magazine was in my
possession I felt it a duty to write up this remedy. I have done it
lamely, but as well as I was able. Reader, where my duty ends yours
begins. May you discharge it more worthily than I.
(There have been a number of cases reported in which
_Latrodectus mac._ acted as Dr. Jones predicted; from
them we select the following by Dr. E. H. Linnell, _North
American Journal of Homoeopathy_, December, 1890):
S. L. G., a man fifty years old, of bilious temperament, a dentist by
profession, had slight attacks of angina after severe exposure and
overexertion during "the blizzard" in March, 1888. He did not consider
them of sufficient importance to consult a physician about them, but
some months later he had a suppurative prostatitis, which was followed
by considerable prostration, and the attacks of angina became very
severe. I never could get a satisfactory description of the character of
the pain, and I never saw him during a paroxysm. The pain was brought on
by exertion of any kind, and was especially frequent soon after dinner.
The pain was sometimes felt in the left arm, but was usually confined to
the cardiac region. I once or twice detected a slight aortic obstruction
sound, but aside from this failed to find any evidence of organic
disease. The usual remedies gave no relief, but _Latrodectus_ [Latin:
ezh]c was of great benefit. Under its use the attacks gradually became
less frequent and less severe. He has taken no medicine now for at least
six months, and he tells me that although he occasionally has a little
reminder of his former trouble, the attacks are so slight that he pays
no attention to them. I have given the remedy in another similar case,
with even more gratifying success. The attacks were very promptly
arrested and have not returned, although nearly a year has elapsed. I
think we have in this remedy, to which Dr. S. A. Jones directed
attention in one of the issues of the _Homoeopathic Recorder_, a very
valuable remedy in this painful affection. It is probably, as Dr. Jones
suggests, in angina pectoris vasomotoria that it will be found
especially serviceable.
LEMNA MINOR.
NAT. ORD., Lemnaccæ.
COMMON NAME, Duckweed.
PREPARATION. The fresh plant is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following is by Dr. Robert C. Cooper, of London, and
appeared in the _Hahnemannian Monthly_, 1894):
"The lowest form of phoenogamous vegetation. It consists," says
Lindley, "of lenticular floating fronds, composed of stem and leaf
together and bearing the flowers in slits in the edge." It forms the
green scum found on stagnant ponds and dykes. It is found in two
varieties, the _Lemna minor_ and the _Lemna gibba_.
Before going any further I may as well at once make a bald as well as a
bold statement, and say that the special province of _Lemna minor_ is to
pitch with vigor upon the nostrils; from the very moment I began
prescribing it this was beyond question evident. I can think of no
possible source of error except that this beneficial action may be due
to the germs adhering to the fronds of the _Lemna_ rather than to the
pure plant-force.
To guard against this I have carefully filtered my tincture, but this
has not made the slightest change in its beneficial influence.
CASE I. Woman aged seventy-four; admission date, September 24, 1892.
Nose never clear; breath very unpleasant; for twelve hours nose bled
continuously last Christmas; unable to smell properly; hearing for the
past seven or eight weeks bad; watch not heard on contact. Prescribed
_Lemna minor_ [Greek: theta]A. October 1, 1892: Feeling of cold in nose
is better; sense of obstruction nearly gone; can smell better; hears on
contact on both sides; no medicine. October 22: Decided, though slight
improvement in hearing; nose, throat and all parts around more
comfortable. Last attendance.
In proceeding with the consideration of the action of this remedy, I
must consider myself fortunate in having the following case to bring
forward:
1. A boy of fourteen, whose nose was completely blocked up for the last
two years, and whose nostrils were full of polypi, the nose itself being
broadened, and in whom the nose had been cleared out by operation a year
ago at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, was sent to me by my colleague, Dr.
J. H. Clarke. The boy never remembers having smelt anything, and the
polypi can easily be seen blocking up both nostrils.
From the 26th of November, 1892, to the 4th of March, 1893, four doses
of _Lemna m._ [Greek: theta]A were given at regular intervals without
much change, then _Calcarea carbonica_ 200 was given, and two weeks
after, as he had faceache, _Mercurius_ 3d dec., and on the 8th of April
following the faceache was better but the nose in no way improved.
Then _Lemna_ was given again, and this time with the most pronounced
relief; the nose became much clearer, and he went on taking it, and it
alone with scarcely an exception, in fortnightly doses, till the 14th of
March last, when his nose was quite clear, with none but a very small
polypi visible; he could breathe freely and his sense of smell had
completely returned.
The delay in the manifestation of remedial change from November to March
arose from complete blockage of the nose, and until the space created by
the subsidence in the size of the polypi sufficed for a passage of air
the patient had no reason to acknowledge relief.
In the treatment, both of swollen tonsils and in that of nasal polypi,
the prescriber will be led away at the onset who accepts the testimony
of the patient alone; he should make careful inspection of the parts,
and be guided by what is often but a slight local change, as well as by
concomitant, and it may be remote, symptoms.
2. The next case I have to bring forward is one of ozoena in a girl of
sixteen, who had been three years under the treatment of a colleague who
kindly sent her on to me for treatment at the London Homoeopathic
Hospital. The girl, whose occupation was a teacher, has had ozoena
since three or four years old. The odor complained of was horrid, and
the discharge excessive; a most unpleasant smell in the nose and nasty
taste in the mouth; she takes cold easily if out in the night air or
damp, and her nose, at times, gets stuffed up; bowels irregular;
catamenia only twice--once three months ago and two months before that.
On December 30, 1893, I prescribed _Lemna minor_, and she returned to me
from the country, where she was living, on the 31st of the following
March, imploring me for another powder, as she had been almost well for
two weeks after the last and then had relapsed to her old state;
breathing is short and is low spirited.
21st of April, very much better; odor not nearly so bad, discharge much
less; unmedicated pilules, three times a day.
19th of May, 1894, kept better for a month; took cold two weeks ago, and
since then throat has felt thick and nose has discharged with a horrid
odor. Catamenia regular. Breathing is better; crusts coming from both,
worse on the left side. To have _Lemna minor_.
This patient came from a distance which prevented frequent attendance,
but the above is quite sufficient evidence of the power possessed by
_Lemna m._ in acting upon the nasal mucous membrane.
In both these cases relief was immediate after the administration of the
dose, and in neither case could any reasonable doubt exist as to its
being drug effect.
In some cases I have known a certain disturbance of the bowels to set in
after a dose of _Lemna_, but this effect of the remedy is not
sufficiently pronounced to be able to say much about it. Still it is
interesting to narrate one or two experiences, especially as in the
first of these, at all events, the concomitants were interesting.
3. In a married lady, aged about twenty-six, for whom I prescribed
_Lemna m._ [Greek: theta]A on Saturday afternoon, November 12, 1892, and
in whom there existed a good deal of catarrhal pharyngitis, due to high
up post-nasal ulceration, and who suffered from a dry feeling at the top
of the throat with flatulence, and some pain in the bowels toward the
evening, described as "twisting" pain, and in whom the nose was blocked
on the right side, but without any visible polypus, and in whom the
heart was easily disturbed, causing dyspnoea, the bowels being
slightly confined.
Two weeks subsequently she stated that after the dose of _Lemna_ the
nose felt less blocked, and she felt better in every respect; but that
on the Tuesday following diarrhoea set in, which began with twisting
pains in the bowels and went on to sickness; continual watery stools.
The least chill or nervousness, I must say, upsets her in this way; and
she was subject to the same the last two catamenial periods. She still
wakes with her throat dry and tongue coated. _Borax_ 2x was then
(November 25) given without any noticeable effect, and on the 9th of
December _Lemna minor_ [Greek: theta]A was again prescribed for the
following symptoms:
Mouth sore after talking or singing, and dry in the morning; tongue
coated.
On the 23d of December, reported herself much better; tongue not so
coated; heart less disturbed; no indigestion or diarrhoea.
Nose not perfectly clear, but no unpleasant smell or taste as she used
to have, and throat no longer dry or uncomfortable. Instead of waking up
with a dirty mouth, it feels clean and her taste pure.
4. A man, aged forty-seven, who suffered from old-standing vascular
deafness and who specially complained of snoring a great deal, was given
_Lemna minor_, and next day a rumbling and disturbance in the bowels set
in and he felt as if he had taken medicine of a searching character.
This lasted for three days, bowels acting during this time freely with
much heat in the passage (anus); but was not bilious, nor were the
motions diarrhoeic; the snoring went away, and he ceased to dream
unpleasantly when asleep. Hearing, too, seemed somewhat improved.
5. In another case, after a similar dose, diarrhoea came on next day,
with pains across the bowels as from flatus; worse after eating, and a
very putrid taste with an improvement at the same time in a stuffiness
of the nose from which he was suffering.
6. Crusts form in the right nostril and pain like a string extends from
the right nostril to the ear of the same side and right ear is deaf. (In
a woman, aged twenty-six, great relief.)
It is with great pleasure that I have now to bring forward, not my own
observations, but those of two valued colleagues. Dr. J. H. Clarke sends
me the following:
_Lemna minor_, CASE I. A lady, aged forty-seven, two years previously
met with an accident; a sign board fell on her head when out walking in
the street. Seven days after that was taken with sneezing attacks,
suffered from nasal catarrh with little intermission until March, 1893,
when she came under my care. _Psorinum_ 30 soon put a different
complexion on the case, and she became so far relieved of her trouble
(which has made her life almost unbearable, as she never dared make an
appointment for fear of an attack coming on) that she discontinued
treatment. Last Christmas a sharp attack of influenza brought back the
catarrh, and this time it proved less amenable to treatment.
Fears of polypus distressed the patient, though I could not discover
any.
However, she again made progress, but scarcely as rapid as I could have
wished, when I thought of giving her _Lemna_ on indications given by Dr.
Cooper.
On February 15, 1894, I gave it in the 3x, one tablet four times a day.
February 22, very much better; has felt freer in the head than at any
time during the last ten years; has felt very much better generally;
spirits braced up.
She steadily progressed to cure, and by March 15th could endure the
smell of strong scented flowers, which before was impossible.
CASE II. Captain B., aged forty-four, consulted me on February 29, 1894,
for violent neuralgia on the right side of the neck, the part being
exquisitely sensitive to touch. He had cough and cold for a month. On
getting up in the morning he filled two pocket handkerchiefs with yellow
deflusion before he got his nose clear. I gave him _Bell._ 12 to take
till the neuralgia was better, and then told him to take _Lemna_ 3x gtt.
j. three times a day.
On March 9th he reported that the _Bell._ speedily took away the
neuralgia, and that then the _Lemna_ cleared off the catarrh in a most
astonishing fashion. He never had a medicine to act so magically before.
_30 Clarges street, Piccadilly, W., April 21, 1894._
The next communication that I have to bring forward is one from Dr. J.
C. Burnett:
Dr. Cooper told me that he had relieved a case of nasal polypus with
_Lemna minor_, and having several cases of the kind that had long been
under my observation I thought it my duty to give them the benefit of
_Lemna_.
CASE I. A gentleman of sixty years of age, with nasal polypus only
moderately developed, yet of many years' duration, was much troubled by
the chronic nasal obstruction which was markedly worse in wet weather.
I gave him _Lemna_ 3x, five drops in water, night and morning. Returning
in a month, he exclaimed: "That is the best tonic I have ever taken; I
have never taken any medicine in my life that has done me so much good.
I feel quite comfortable in my nose and can breathe through it quite
well."
CASE II. A lady, about forty-five years of age, mother of a large family
and whom I had formerly cured of an uterine tumor, was so troubled with
nasal polypi that her life was very distressful; moreover, the polypi
had swelled so much that they hung out of the nostrils and compelled the
patient to remain within doors. This was notably the case in wet
weather. Why not have them removed chirurgically?
"Oh, I have had them operated on over and over again, but it's no good;
they only come again worse than ever."
I have tried many things to cure these polypi, but in vain; they would
get temporarily better, but the first rainy weather brought them back
worse than ever; hence Dr. Cooper's recommendation of _Lemna_ is very
welcome to me.
I ordered, as in the last case, with the result that the polypi very
greatly diminished in size, and the patient could again take her place
in society.
I have used _Lemna_ in many other similar cases, and with the like
result. In no case is the polypus really cured, but greatly diminished
in size, and the patient rendered relatively comfortable. Clearly the
_Lemna_ does not either kill, cure or otherwise get rid of the polypi,
but it rids them of much of their succulence and thus reduces their
volume, and also diminishes the influence of wet weather to which such
patients are so prone. And this is no small boon; is itself in every way
superior to any operative interference. The tincture I made use of was
made by Dr. Alfred Heath. The first prescription only being of Dr.
Cooper's own make. Both acted alike well.
_86 Wimpole street, June 4, 1894._
From these remarks of Dr. J. H. Clarke and Dr. J. Compton Burnett, as
well as from my own, I think there can be no doubt, whatever, that the
_Lemna_ exercises a powerful influence upon the Schneiderian mucous
membrane. How far it is capable by its specific action of removing large
groups of polypi remains, as yet, an open question.
My own experience of the treatment of nasal polypi is that we have very
few remedies that can at all be depended upon for giving even temporary
relief. Even from _Calcarea carbonica_ and _Teucrium marum verum_ I have
not had the effects that some practitioners testify to their possessing.
_Lemna_ has so far given relief in my hands to cases of nasal polypi and
to cases where the nostrils were plugged by swollen turbinates and other
causes in a matter far surpassing the effect I have obtained from any
other remedy.
In saying this I do not at all wish it to be understood that we have in
it a specific for all such cases.
We must remember that the symptoms in all such obscure diseases must be
our guide for the selection of our remedy, and that, therefore, the
important point is to work out the specific indications for the drug as
we learn them from clinical observation, in the hope that on some
future occasion pathogenesis may render these still more certain.
The indications that I myself have noticed as belonging to _Lemna_ are
either a putrid smell in the nose or a loss of all sense of smell and a
putrid taste in the mouth, especially on rising in the morning, with a
general foulness of the mouth, due apparently to the dropping down of
impure material from the post-nasal region. Along with this there
sometimes seems to prevail a disposition to "noisy diarrhoea."
Dr. Burnett has noticed that _Lemna_ patients have their nasal symptoms
aggravated in damp and rainy weather, and I have to some extent
confirmed this observation.
I hope on some future occasion to return to the subject of _Lemna_; it
is in every way well worthy of being prosecuted further.
Thus, for example, a lady patient, æt. fifty-eight, suffering from pains
flitting about her head and legs, with pains in her eyes during heavy
rain, and in whom drowsiness by day and restless sleep at night existed,
had all these symptoms removed by a single dose of _Lemna_, and the
pallid, dullish, sickly look in her face changed to a complexion that
was natural and healthy.
The truth would seem to be that _Lemna's_ symptoms are specially
aggravated in heavy rains; _Calendula's_, when heavy clouds are about;
_Rhododendron's_, in thunder storms, and _Dulcamara's_, in damp
surroundings and in foggy weather.
(In 1895 Dr. Thomas L. Shearer contributed the following
concerning the remedy to the _Homoeopathic Eye, Ear and
Throat Journal_):
_Lemna minor_ where the crusts and the muco-purulent discharge are very
abundant with fetor (in rhinitis atrophics). Its action is wonderful,
but it must not be administered in too low a dilution, as it then
produces a sensation of intense dryness in the pharynx and the larynx.
Possibly if it were exhibited in a much higher dilution it would be
applicable to cases which have only a slight amount of discharge. It
seems best to stop the remedy as soon as its action upon the secretions
is marked, and then to wait a while before returning to its further
employment. Dr. Cooper, of London, was, I believe, the first to
investigate the action of _Lemna minor_ upon the upper air passages, but
I do not think that he had tried it in cases of atrophic rhinitis. There
is a great future for this new addition to our therapeutic resources,
and it certainly deserves further investigation. It modifies the
secretions to such an extent that we can more readily improve the
condition of the nasal chambers with the aid of local measures. Whether
it has the power to prevent or even retard the actual process of atrophy
remains to be seen.
LEVICO.
PREPARATION.--Dilutions made from the mineral water or triturations from
the residue obtained by evaporation of the water.
(Dr. Burnett has called the attention of the profession
to this water in his books. The following concerning its
constituents is from _The Therapist_, a London journal):
Of all mineral waters those of Levico are distinguished, not only by
their contents of these three elements, arsenic, iron and copper, but
they are remarkable for the state of combination in which they occur.
Situated in South Tyrol, on the confines of Italy, Levico has for many
years been a favorite sanitorium of the Italian medical profession for
their nervous and skin patients. Of late years Levico water has also
been increasingly recognized by the German and Austrian faculty, among
whom Bamberger, Billroth, Hebra, Nussbaum, and others testify to the
extraordinary remedial activity of the waters, favoring assimilation,
increasing nutrition, and in chronic and dyscratic skin diseases
functioning as antiseptic or astringent.
Merely as an internal medication _Levico_ water has, however, proved so
satisfactory that it is a recognized member of the pharmacopoeia in
many German and Austrian hospitals and clinics. Thus Professor Nussbaum,
of Munich, writes that '_Levico_ water is given in my orthopædic
institute in doses of two or three ounces to scrofulous and anæmic
children. The water is well tolerated, and in spite of the smallness of
the dose the result is, in many cases, very evident.' Professor
Eulenberg, of Berlin, finds _Levico_ water especially satisfactory in
chorea minor in children and at the age of puberty, as well as for
hysterical neuralgia and spasms. A very copious testimony of like nature
has been borne respecting _Levico_ water.
LATHYRUS SATIVUS.
NAT. ORD., Leguminosæ.
COMMON NAMES, Wild Vetch. Chick pea.
PREPARATION.--Trituration of the dried pea.
(Dr. W. A. Dewey contributed the following paper
concerning this remedy to the _Medical Century_, 1899):
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF EFFECTS,
The _Lathyrus_ is a vetch, and a member of the leguminosæ family growing
in India.
This remedy, which produces a perfect picture of certain spinal
affections, has been known for over a century. In _Christison's
Toxicology_ it is stated that it causes paraplegia, dragging gait,
turning-in of the toes, stiffness and semi-flexion of the knee-joints.
The attention of the homoeopathic profession was directed to the drug
as a possible remedy in paraplegia, in the _British Journal of
Homoeopathy_, Vol. III. Here is found an account of a wheat famine in
India, where the peas of the plant were substituted for wheat and used
as a food. Those who subsisted on it were taken, even during sleep,
with sudden paralysis of the lower limbs; this occurred without
warning, in young men more than in young women, and was never recovered
from. Another observer records fifty cases who had eaten the _Lathyrus_
bread and all stated that they became paralytic during the wet season of
the country, that they went to bed quite well and awoke with stiff legs,
unsteady gait, and aching, but no severe pain. The upper extremities
were free.
Another who saw the disease in Algeria and described the symptoms found
in ten cases observed that they came on suddenly, in damp weather, with
some pains in the loins, trembling, motor paralysis and exaggerated
reflexes. He attributed these phenomena to an acute transverse myelitis
with degenerative changes in the cord.
A German writer states that the drug produces disturbances of nutrition
of the muscles of the lower extremities, paresis, and that the muscles
of the trunk and neck and face remain unaffected. Sensation remains
normal. It seems to produce a sclerosis of the pyramidal tracts of the
cord.
In animals the same condition is found; namely, paralysis of the hind
legs. Pigs drag their hind legs and horses give out.
AGGRAVATED SYMPTOMATOLOGY.
From all the sources which I have been able to find, the following seem
to be the symptoms caused by the drug:
Sudden loss of power in the lower extremities, from the waist down.
Tremulous, tottering gait.
Great exaggeration of the reflexes.
Stiffness and lameness of the ankles and knees.
Excessive rigidity of the legs; flexion difficult; spastic gait, the
legs becoming interlocked, and walking is difficult or impossible.
Sudden onset of the trouble, and apparent aggravation in cold and damp
weather.
Emaciation of the gluteal muscles also observed.
Those having taken it walked on the metatarso-phalangeal articulation,
the heel not touching the ground.
Impossible to stand steady; swayed from side to side, but closing the
eyes had no effect. This with the exaggerated reflexes would exclude its
use in locomotor ataxia.
Debility and tremors of the legs.
Rigidity of the adductors of the thighs.
Staggering gait, with eyes fixed on the floor.
Could not extend or cross the legs when sitting.
Sensibility unimpaired.
CORRESPONDENCE TO SPINAL DISORDERS.
From these symptoms it will be seen that the effects of the drug
correspond to many spinal symptoms, but more especially to what is known
as spastic paraplegia. Indeed, Struempel asserts that it produces a
perfect picture of this disease.
It is not so often that such a perfect picture of a disease can be had
as in this instance. The disease itself is easily recognized by the
stiff, spastic gait; the spasm of the adductors, causing the knees to
strike each other, or to become locked, causing the patient to fall; the
shuffling of the feet; the excessive muscular rigidity and the other
well-known symptoms of paraplegia.
Therefore, reasoning from our law we would expect the drug to be of
service in such cases, and although our pathogenesis of it is coarse we
may be permitted to apply it to a disease whose symptomatology is of the
coarse order; for it is often difficult to elicit any fine and
characteristic symptoms in diseases like ataxic and spastic paraplegia.
It has been recognized as a remedy by but few of our writers on nervous
diseases. O'Connor finds that marked benefit follows its use in old
cases of myelitis with marked spastic symptoms. Bartlett, in _Goodno's
Practice_, recommends it in excessive knee-jerk and rigidity. Hart
speaks of it as a remedy in locomotor ataxia, but the absence of sensory
symptoms and the presence of exaggerated reflexes would seem to
contra-indicate it in this disease. He also speaks of it in spinal
anemia, giving as symptoms: "Numbness, followed by pain in the lower
extremities; sensation of a band around the body; unable to step or
distinguish one limb from another"--symptoms which I am unable to find
that the remedy produced. Elliott also speaks of it.
CLINICAL RÉSUMÉ.
The clinical record of _Lathyrus_, though very meagre, gives great hope
that it may prove useful in numerous cases of bed-ridden paraplegiacs
and in infantile spinal paralysis, as well as in certain forms of
myelitis.
The following is a résumé of all that I can find published:
I. Case of spinal paraplegia, relieved.
II. A case of multiple sclerosis in a young man of twenty-eight who had
been ill seven years and unable to walk for six years was greatly
benefited by _Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x.
III. Case of paraplegia, could walk after taking the remedy for some
time.
IV. Case of paraplegia, no improvement.
V. Rheumatic paralysis, with stiff knees, could walk after use of
_Lathyrus_. (Clark _Homoeopathic World_.)
VI. In a case of a clerk with loss of power of the lower limbs, reflexes
exaggerated, knee-jerk violent, locomotion difficult and unsteady,
probably a case of transverse myelitis, _Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x, night
and morning, gave most satisfactory results. The patient could walk a
mile without assistance. (Simpson, _Homoeopathic Review_.)
VII. In a man aged fifty-two who had been unable to walk for six years,
the paraplegia coming on after a "stroke" from exposure to wet,
_Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x practically cured in eight months. He had been
tied to a chair for six, and at the time he stopped treatment he was
walking four miles daily. (Blake, _Homoeopathic Review_.)
From the fact that the _Lathyrus_ disease occurs frequently in certain
mountainous regions of Asia it has been remarked that it is akin to
Beri-Beri, which has been traced to eating the _Lathyrus_ bread.
LIATRIS SPICATA.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAMES, Dense Button-Snake-root. Gay Feather. Devil's Bit.
PREPARATION.--The root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts
by weight of alcohol.
(The following, by Dr. T. C. Duncan, was called forth by
the publication of an item in _Eclectic Medical Journal_,
stating that twice during the past year _Liatris_ had
given good results in dropsy; in one case, on the second
day, the patient had passed a gallon and a half of urine.
Dr. Duncan's paper was published in the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_ for 1898):
Any new remedy that promises relief in dropsy will be hailed with
pleasure by the profession. Happening into a pharmacy soon after
receiving the January _Recorder_, a physician rushed in and inquired for
"that new remedy for dropsy--that got rid of 'a gallon and a half of
urine in one day.' Have a bad case cardiac dropsy. Want to try it. How
do you give it?" He could not get it. "Get me some," was his order.
"There is the article, be sure to get the right thing, _Liatris_!"
_Liatris spicata_ is the familiar "button-snake-root" that I used to dig
every fall for our old family physician (who called himself a "botanic
physician") and who gave it for indigestion. It is also called "colic
root" and "devil's bit," because a piece is missing from each tuber as a
rule, just as if bitten out. _Kost's Medicine_ (my first medical work)
describes it as follows: "Root perennial, tuberous, ovate, abrupt, beset
around the base with many fine fibers; it is aromatic. Stem round, about
three feet high, bearing a spike of scaly purple-colored blossoms,
bearing in the aggregate a resemblance to an acorn. The leaves are
linear or sword-shaped, somewhat resembling the leaves of young corn.
It is found in prairies and open woods in the western States."
"The _Liatris_ is an aromatic stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, anodyne
and carminitive. It is particularly useful in colic, backache and
flatulency."
It is interesting to know that it has had clinically a good effect in
dropsy, (1) due to liver and splenic enlargement, also (2) where the
kidneys were involved. In the second case referred to, "_Apocynum can._,
_Aralia_, _Digitalis_, _et al._" had been given, but the kidneys failed
to respond until the _Liatris_ "was given in infusion," then "on the
_second_ day the patient passed _a gallon and a half of urine_"--equal
to 192 ounces of urine! In the first case the _Liatris_ was followed by
_Ferrum carb_.
Whether it will prove equally efficient in cardiac dropsy only time will
tell. I hope that the readers of the _Recorder_ will report results,
whether favorable or otherwise. The dose that Dr. Bradley gave was about
a pint, drank during the course of the day, containing about half an
ounce of the root. The tincture will be more convenient, and it is a
question if the dilutions will not be equally efficient. Try the third,
and then go up or down the scale as the case seems to demand. This drug
should be proved. It is harmless. If any young physician will volunteer
I will gladly direct him.
Infusion of _Digitalis_ (English leaves) is a favorite prescription with
some physicians in cases of cardiac dropsy, but I have not found that
form any more efficient than the dilution, except in cases where alcohol
had been a cause, then _Strophanthus_ or _Arsenicum_ had a better
effect.
LOLIUM TEMULENTUM.
NAT. ORD., Gramineæ.
COMMON NAMES, Darnel. (G.) Taumellolch.
PREPARATION.--Trituration of the dried seeds.
(The following concerning this little used drug was
reported by Dr. Bonino, an Italian physician, translated
by Dr. Mossa and published in the _Allgemeine Hom.
Zeitung_, July, 1898. The use of the drug by Dr. Bonino
was truly homoeopathic for the short proving of it.
Allen's _Encyclopædia_ reports trembling of the limbs and
hand so great that "he could not hold a glass of water.")
A carpenter, aged twenty-nine years, had been suffering ever since his
eighteenth year of trembling in both hands, especially in the morning;
of late also his legs began to tremble. It is remarkable that both his
father and his brother were subject to the same ailment, while no
definite cause could be indicated. He was first given _Mercurius vivus_,
then _Agaricus_, which brought a partial but only transitory
improvement. Finally I prescribed _Lolium tem._, which in a short time
effected a cure.
(On this Dr. Mossa comments as follows):
The pathogenetic effects of this remedy which has not yet been proved at
all are only known to some degree from its effects when it has been
mixed with grain and baked into bread. It has caused chest troubles,
_vertigo_ (thence the name darnel-grass, in German _Taumellolch_),
_trembling_, paralysis with anguish and distress, vomiting, failing of
the memory, blindness, headache, epileptic attacks, deep sleep and
insanity. The good success obtained by its use in the case given above
shows what curative effects may be expected from it in severe affections
of the brain or spinal marrow. An Italian physician, Fantoni, has tried
it in cephalalgia, meningitis rheumatica and in ischias.
LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS.
NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.
COMMON NAME, Bugle Weed.
PREPARATION.--Tincture of the whole plant by macerating one part by
weight of the fresh plant in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(Although a well-known remedy, the following concerning
it may not be amiss here; it is from the _Homoeopathic
World_, 1889, by Dr. Proell):
_Lycopus Virginicus_ seems to be a specific for bringing back an old
(but long disappeared) hæmorrhoidal flux in persons with light eyes. I
gave, a week ago, the first decimal dilution to a gentleman (sixty
years) for noise and throbbing in the head during the night (which
prevented the quietness of sleep); because neither _Cactus_ (which
helped quickly when he had blood-spitting) nor _Kalmia_, nor _Gelsemium_
helped radically. The night after taking _Lycopus_, he was a little
better, and in the forenoon came a bleeding from the rectum (about three
tablespoonfuls after defecation) with great general relief. There was
chronic catarrhus bronchialis. Two days afterwards, I gave an elderly
lady (sixty years), who had glycosuria, cataract of the left eye, and
every third night was very restless, _Lycopus Virginicus_ 1 decimal
dilution, one drop in the evening. The following night was excellent,
and in the morning came an abundant bleeding from the rectum, with great
relief. Both patients are tall, very irritable, have weak innervation of
the heart, without decided organic disease of the heart; both are
hypochondriacs; have light eyes; noise in the left ear. Both had, years
ago, hæmorrhoidal flux, which stopped suddenly.
MALARIA OFFICINALIS.
PREPARATION.--It is prepared in three degrees of strength:
No. I. Is the water that stood on decomposed vegetable matter for one
week at a temperature of 90° F.
No. II. Is the water that decomposed vegetable matter for two weeks.
No. III. Is the water that decomposed vegetable matter for three weeks.
(The following is an abstract of a paper on this peculiar
remedy, by Dr. G. W. Bowen, that appeared in the
Transactions of the Indiana Institute of Homoeopathy,
1895):
In the summer of 1862 vegetable matter of different forms was decomposed
in my office in glass jars, and malaria was freely generated. Persons
were hired to inhale the gas evolved in its different stages of
decomposition, and a careful observation of its effects on them was made
that gave me a clue to its future use, and the only reliable guide for
combatting its effect when acquired naturally.
Not only did the gaseous form demonstrate, but subsequent use of the
liquid product proved it capable of producing not only the three leading
types that the past years had made me conversant with, but also others
of a minor grade yet of unsuspected parentage.
The miser made delight of added gain,
Was like a pebble on the shore again,
In comparison to the satisfactory consolation that came as a realization
of the comprehension of the producing cause. Henceforth the battle need
not be carried on mid the gloom of the night.
The decomposition of the vegetable matter passed through three stages or
degrees. The first gave off gases freely, yet of not so offensive odor
as later. After ten days or two weeks the expense of securing inhalers
was more than doubled, even for one moment of time. After three or four
weeks not much gas was generated, for it seemed only capable of lying
still and sending its fearful odor heavenward. Inhalation of the gases
evolved produced for the first week or ten days a headache, nausea,
distress in the stomach, coated the tongue white, and this in from one
to two hours time generally; and there, if not carried too far, would
generally pass off in two or three days. Inhalations after ten days or
two weeks did not produce results in less than twelve or twenty-four
hours, according to time and amount inhaled. Then there was fearful
headache, nausea, aversion to food, distress through the hypochondriac
region, first in the spleen, the liver and stomach, and on the third day
chills that would doubtless have continued on indefinitely if not
interfered with.
After decomposition had gone on for three or four weeks it was ascetic
and simply fetid to a fearful degree, and no results except nausea were
apparent in any one exposed to it in less than three or four days. The
first was extreme lassitude and loss of appetite, and apparently a
continued fever, with an unlimited amount of pains and aches and a
lassitude that limited locomotion.
Three vials of the watery tincture were saved, one each from the various
stages of decomposition, and from these an attempt was made to make
provings and find out what were the reliable antidotes to them, and thus
be able to cope with my invisible foe in my daily avocation. Their
provings were not carried far enough, or continued long enough to be
justified in placing them in our Materia Medica, but are ample to aid
and guide the future steps that ought to be taken. Its discontinuance
was rendered rather necessary by my enthusiasm that led too far in a few
cases, but the antidotal effects of certain remedies amply compensated
me for my financial and reputational loss.
Bilious colic, nausea, cramps, diarrhoea and headaches were readily
secured from a few drops of the first vial, in many cases, while the
second vial gave me a large number of cases where the liver, spleen,
stomach and kidneys were apparently seriously involved, and not them
alone, but fair types of intermittent fever with its attendant shakes,
some daily, some tertian.
With the third vial trouble came, as it did reduce many that had been
able to be up and around to their beds, and unmistakably cause them to
get worse, and cause them to degenerate into a typhoidal or
semi-paralytic condition. In a few cases I was deprived the liberty of
finding my antidotes and helping them out of the dilemma.
(Among the experiments made with these strange tinctures,
if they may be so called, was the following, which is
strangely confirmatory of a speculation advanced by
several old physicians that consumptives are benefited,
or even cured, by being exposed to malaria):
It was a lady, the last of a family of five, all others had died of
consumption, and three in her preceding generation of the same disease.
I doubted the probability of saving her, yet _theoretically_ decided
that as the primitive action of malaria was, first, the spleen, next the
liver and stomach, that I would develop an artificial or drug disease
there, in hopes that her chest would be relieved and doubtless be
benefited. She was given the tincture from second vial, and on the fifth
day she had a fairly perceptible chill, and a harder one the sixth and
seventh. On the eighth I saw her shake for one hour, and her fever
lasted over six hours. Out of pity my drug was neutralized and her
health was restored, with no more cough distress in her lungs or heart.
She was cured of her tendency and certainty of dying with consumption.
She remained well for twelve years when she was lost to my call.
(In his search for remedies, or antidotes, for the
malarial poisons, Dr. Bowen was disappointed in
_Eupatorium perf._ In his experience the following
remedies are best):
For the first or primitive effects, the remedies that did act most
promptly and effectually were _Nux vomica_ and _Bryonia_, thus calling
to mind the effect of those remedies that experience had led me to use
in the attacks that come in the summer, that are usually designated as
of a bilious nature.
In the secondary form, or where my malaria seemed to be the result of
the decomposition of the material or vegetable fiber, its effects were
more permeating, as different symptoms were developed by it. Then a
change of remedies (or chemical antidotes, if you please), became
necessary, and far the best results were secured by the use of _Bryonia_
and _Arsenicum_. _China_ did not act well or give any reasonable
satisfaction.
Prior and later experience give ample satisfactory proof of the utility
of the use of _Arsenicum_ in all types of an intermittent nature, yet
not to discredit the fact that other remedies can and will cure this
form. But that a pernicious case can, or will, be as readily restored by
any other remedy, I reserve to myself the liberty to doubt.
Opportunities and time have demonstrated that these two remedies are
able to restore the system and remedy a majority of the diseases that
are wont to make their advent in the early autumn or late in the spring.
Later, after the total decomposition of my vegetable matter had taken
place, and it almost seemed to possess a demoniacal potency or power to
undermine the humblest human form, then to my surprise _Bryonia_ seemed
to hold prestige and give splendid results, but needed a different
assistant, one that could and would permeate the muscular system, yet
slowly, and for this _Rhus tox_ was called into requisition, and from
that day to this it has not been the means of causing me a single
disappointment.
(Again, and as a last quotation from this interesting
paper, we quote):
Many years of observation have demonstrated one more important fact in
relation to the means that will render the system less liable to its
absorption, at least to that extent that it will give evidence of its
presence, and that is, by the liberal use of coffee.
(In 1897 Dr. Bowen sent the following to the
_Homoeopathic Recorder_ concerning _Malaria off._):
Messrs. Boericke & Tafel prepared me a new supply of it, and I have used
so far only one form of it and in the one attenuation.
It was prepared in three degrees of strength:
No. I is the _water_ that stood on decomposed vegetable matter for one
week at a temperature of 90 degrees.
No. II is the _water_ that decomposed vegetable matter for two weeks.
No. III is the _water_ that decomposed vegetable matter for _three_
weeks, and it is fearfully offensive.
I have only used the No. II, or that that had only partially decomposed
the vegetable fibres.
In preparing it for use I put _ten drops_ of the water to ninety drops
of alcohol and then medicated my pellets (No. 30), and it does not
soften them up. This is the only form I have used it in, and give from
three to ten of these pills for a dose two, three or four hours apart.
I have been confined to my home for three months this year, and hence
will only report a few of the most marked cases.
CASE I. Mrs. R., aged 45, weighing 245 pounds, could scarcely walk or
get into a buggy for two years, from the effects of rheumatism in her
back and limbs. I gave her last March two drams of No. 30 pills
medicated with the first decimal, or No. 2 preparation, with orders to
take ten pills three or four times a day. In _one week_ she could walk
as well as ever and has no rheumatism or lameness since.
CASE II. Mr. S., foreman in a large saw mill, has been afflicted with
rheumatism for years. He came to me in April with a stiff neck and his
right arm and shoulder helpless and painful. He wished me to keep it
from his chest and heart. I gave him two drams No. 30 pellets, first
decimal, and a vial of _neutral_ globules, with orders to take two hours
apart, changing, when better, three hours apart. In three days he was
better and could turn his neck and use his arm fairly well. One week
later gave him two drams more of _Malaria_, to be taken six hours apart.
He has not had any rheumatic troubles since that time.
CASE III. Mr. C., proprietor of two large saw mills, one in Arkansas,
where he passes part of his time (and frequently gets wet), has been
afflicted with what some doctors called gout. I found it was of a
rheumatic nature (caused from malaria) and made worse by _Quinine_ and
external applications. I gave him _Malaria_, two drams, No. 30 pills.
In three days he assured me he was better and did not have half as many
pains or aches. He took only four drachms, at from three to six hours
apart, and has not had any rheumatic or gouty pains since. I saw him
last week and he says he is fully ten years younger than he was last
spring.
CASE IV. I was called to see I. S., aged 55, a veteran and pensioner of
the last war. He was poor and bronzed in color. Had not been able to
walk for years. After repairing his heart, chest, stomach and curing his
piles and regulating his bowels he was content, yet he could not walk.
Being assured that his back had been injured while in the army, and as
his limbs would not move at his will and he could not walk alone or get
out of a chair, I gave him for a week _Ruta graveolens_ and _Rhus tox._,
of each the first cent., three hours apart. This enabled him to get up
and down two steps alone to the kitchen. Then, concluding his trouble
was due to rheumatism, and that was caused by malaria, I gave him two
drams of No. 30 pellets of No. 2 form of _Malaria_, first decimal, with
orders to take ten pills three or four times a day. In one week he rode
to my house and came up and down steps alone. I gave him two drams more
and in five days he came to my office, having walked nearly three miles
that morning alone. I need not say I was deeply surprised and could
hardly believe it was all due to _Malaria_. It certainly was, as nothing
else was taken or applied. He has gained flesh and seems to be at least
ten years younger than he was.
These are a few of the surprising results that have been obtained from
_Malaria_ this year. I much wish that others would try it and help to
obtain its proper place as a medicine and healer when used where it
should be given.
(Dr. W. A. Yingling contributed the following to the same
journal):
On the day I received from Boericke & Tafel _Malaria off._ 30, I was
foolishly led to try Hahnemann's inhalation. The thought just occurred
to me on the spur of the moment, and without stopping to think I took
three strong inhalations, with both sorrow and a proving resulting. None
of the symptoms were distressing, yet marked and clear cut. The remedy
commenced its work very promptly and in the order following:
Aching in both elbows.
A kind of slight concentration of feeling at root of nose, and just
above, as though I should have a severe cold, similar to that complained
of by hay-fever patients.
Aching in the wrists.
A tired ache in the hands.
A tired ache in the knees, and for a distance above and below.
A feeling as though I should become dizzy.
Pain in top of left instep.
A tired feeling in wrists.
Aching in an old (cured) bunion on left foot.
Sensation on point of tongue as though a few specks of spice or pepper
were there.
Itching on right cheek over molar bone; ameliorated by slight rubbing or
scratching.
When leaning face on left hand, elbow on the table, perceptible feeling
of the heart beats through upper body and neck.
Slight itching on various parts of the face and extremities; ameliorated
by slight rubbing.
Sense of heat in the abdomen.
Chilly sensation in left forearm. Soon followed by chilly feeling in
hands and fingers; feet are cold with sensation as if chilliness was
about to creep up the legs. A few moments later knees feel cold. A sense
of coldness ascending over body from the legs.
Arms feel tired.
Belching several times, easy; no taste.
A drawing pain in right external ear.
Lumbar back feels tired as though it would ache.
Neck feels tired, with slight cracking in upper part on moving the
head.
Shallow breathing which seems from languor, with a desire to take a deep
inspiration occasionally.
A kind of tired feeling through abdomen and chest.
A general sense of weariness.
A feeling about head as though I would become dizzy.
Pain in upper left teeth.
A sensation as though I would have a very loose stool (passed away
without a stool).
Feeling rather stupid and sleepy.
A sensation in the spleen as though it would ache.
Saliva more profuse than usual; keeps me swallowing often.
Pain in abdomen to right of navel.
Dull aching through forehead.
Face feels warm as if flushed, also head; becomes general over body, as
if feverish.
Aching across upper sacral region.
Legs very weary from short walk.
Pain at upper part of right ilium.
General sense of weariness from a very short walk, especially through
pelvis, sacral region and upper thighs. I feel strongly inclined to lie
down and rest.
Qualmishness at stomach, as though I should become nauseated.
General sense of malaise and weariness becoming quite marked.
Aching above inner angle of right eye.
A kind of simmering all through the body.
Felt impelled to lie down, and on falling to sleep a sense of waving
dizziness passes all over me, preventing sleep.
At times I feel as though I should become cold or have a chill, then I
feel as though I should become feverish or hot, though neither is very
marked.
Eyes feel heavy and sleepy.
Uneasiness in lower abdomen.
Gaping, yawning and desire to stretch.
Legs are restless; feel like stretching and moving them.
I feel very much as I did one time before having the ague, twenty-five
years ago.
Odor from cooking is pleasing, but I have no desire for dinner. Yet when
I sit down I eat a good dinner with relish.
Dizziness on rising from a reclining position.
Feel generally better after eating dinner.
Aching in the occiput.
During the afternoon leg weary.
Unusual hearty appetite for supper (the good appetite keeps with me for
some days).
A good night's rest following, and have felt much brighter and generally
better ever since the first day. (Healing.)
I have no doubt had I repeated the inhalations several times I should
have been very sick. It is not necessary to push a proving to extremes.
I think Hahnemann did not as a rule. If I were strong I should push this
proving, but I dare not. Who will take it up?
(Apropos of the foregoing Dr. G. Hering, of England, made
the following suggestions which hint at a possible use of
the remedy in tuberculosis):
What curious discoveries are made by the observant! Witness the
following remarks of Dr. Casanova, as recorded in the _Homoeopathic
Review_ of over thirty years ago:
"I know several localities in South America, Africa and
Spain where the marsh miasma has unquestionably arrested
and cured that fatal scourge of the human race, phthisis
pulmonalis, without any other treatment or restriction in
food or drink. And why should not the climate of the fen
lands of Lincolnshire, in the neighborhood of Spalding,
prove as curative an agent for this disease as the climate
of so many foreign regions where patients go and die,
deprived of all the comforts of a home? Penzance, among
the British localities, is reported to be superior to
nine-tenths of the places to which patients are sent.
Penzance, then, and Spalding should be particularly
studied by medical men and recommended to consumptive
individuals who wish to enjoy the benefits and advantages
of a national place of relief, if not of cure."
Upon reading this I began to reflect upon the limitless nature of
science. We never seem to find either beginning or end to it. Circles
within circles, and no one can tell what communications there are
between those circles. We cannot trace them. We are lost in infinity.
Miasmatic places are the most healthy places--for some of us at least.
Now, I think of it, I find I can give some support to this statement of
Dr. Casanova. I was once on board a Liverpool steamer which put into
Aspinwall, on the swampy Isthmus of Panama, for nine days. Upon our
return home several of the sailors, otherwise healthy fellows, were
prostrated by what was called Panama fever, whilst I myself, who had
formerly suffered from tubercular disease of the lungs, was totally
unaffected.
MULLEIN OIL.
PREPARATION.--Fill a bottle with the blossoms from the Verbascum
thapsus, cork tight, and hang in the sun for four or five weeks. By that
time there will be an oily liquid distilled. Mix with ten per cent. of
alcohol.
(Dr. A. M. Cushing introduced this now rather well-known
remedy to the medical profession in 1884. He writes of it
as follows):
The history of it is this: My father's house was the home for all poor
tramps, as well as ministers, etc. He fell into the river, got water in
his ears and was quite deaf for months. A blind man called, heard loud
conversation, asked the cause, etc., then said for kindness received he
would tell us how to make something that would surely cure him, and it
was worth a thousand dollars in New York city. We made the oil, put it
in his ears at night, and he was well in the morning. For years we kept
a bottle of it, and it travelled all around the towns and did wonders.
That was when I was a youngster. When I studied medicine, or when I was
practicing, I wanted to know if it was homoeopathic, and made a
proving, and developed the symptoms of almost constant but slight
involuntary urination, keeping my pants wet.
I did not make any this past season, and have divided till I have but a
little, half-and-half alcohol, left. I could spare a little of that, and
next season, if I live, will try and make a quantity.
(The next item is from a letter of Dr. H. C. Houghton's,
of New York, addressed to Boericke & Tafel.)
I have been much interested in the clinical study of this remedy--new,
yet not new--but I have not succeeded in demonstrating what the
symptom--deafness means in this case. Dr. Cushing does not claim to be
an expert in this department, so time must help us out, and I am anxious
to learn all I can of its effects on the ear.
In an old note-book of Dr. Hering's, _Hearing and Ears_, copied for me
with the author's permission by my friend Dr. C. R. Norton, I noticed
the following: "In Germany, flowers of Verbascum thapsus put in a
dark-colored bottle, hung up in the sunlight, give in two or three weeks
an oily fluid which has cured many old people and children." This method
is impracticable, the amount produced being so small. Verbascum prepared
in olive oil or fluid petroleum has the same effect as any oil;
excellent in chronic disease of the integument; negative in middle ear
disease. When your house brought out _Mullein oil_ under Dr. Cushing's
direction, I took it up again, and have prescribed it in a large number
of cases. In chronic dermatitis of the external meatus and drum-head, or
exfoliation after furuncle, it is excellent; in chronic catarrhal
inflammation of the tympanum I have not been able to see any effect, but
in chronic suppurative disease of the tympanum, or in accumulations of
detritus in cases of perforation, scarred drum-heads, etc., it acts to
dislodge accumulations, free the ossicula from pressure, and thereby
improves the hearing; this process goes on for months till the tympanum
has thrown out an amount of _débris_ that is surprising. In a few cases
it has caused soreness and increased muco-purulent discharge, due, I
think, to excessive use.
My experience with it in chronic catarrh of the tympanum coincides with
that of my friend, H. P. Bellows, M. D., of Boston, as published by him,
but I purpose to continue the study of the drug, and hope for better
results. In sub-acute or chronic disease after suppuration its effect is
very gratifying; it aids exfoliation and checks irritation from
exfoliated material.
I am able to confirm the symptoms noted of its effects in nocturnal
enuresis in many instances. There is one effect I have not seen noticed
by any observers: relief of night cough. More than ten years ago, Dr. H.
A. Tucker, Brooklyn, N. Y., told me of a _Glycerole of Mullein_ made by
macerating the plant in Jamaica rum for two or three weeks, expressing
it and adding to this product an equal quantity of glycerine. This led
me to the use of the fluid extract of the plant, glycerine and water,
equal parts, as a mollifier in cases where patients would resort to some
popular remedy containing opium or similar opiate. The same effect can
be produced by drop doses of _Mullein oil_, the teasing cough which
comes on lying down, preventing the sleep usually yielding to a few
doses.
(Dr. J. C. Wentz contributed the following bit of
folk-lore):
The application of _Mullein oil_ is of more general application than
anything I have found in print. I report to you some cases:
CASE I.--Mertie B., aged sixteen. Called to see her May 20, 1888. Found
her suffering great pain in right ear. Parotid gland very much enlarged
and painful. The right side of the head and face much swollen. Pulse
about 100; tongue coated.
_Treatment._--_Mullein oil_ in the ear, and used as a liniment twice
daily on the swollen parts. For the fever, _Aconite_. Great improvement
during the first twenty-four hours, and on the 23d found the case
convalescent.
CASE II.--Carrie H., aged twenty-two. Her second child four weeks old.
Called November 15, 1888. Right breast inflamed and sore. Two weeks
previous it had been lanced by another physician, a little above the
nipple, but now a place a little below and to the left of the nipple
gives evidence of forming pus. I told her that in my judgment it had
gone too far to check it then.
_Treatment._--_Mullein oil_, one-half ounce in four ounces of water. Wet
cloths and apply. The inflammation and soreness disappeared in one week,
and by the use of the same remedy occasionally has entirely recovered
without breaking. Her husband, when he paid me, said: "Well you have
done better than any of the rest of the doctors."
CASE III.--Linford S., aged sixty-four. Called to see him September 20,
1888. Has just recovered from typhoid fever, but is able to be around.
Taken with inflammation of the right testicle. Swollen to the size of a
goose egg, and much pain. Red and shining appearance of the skin. Cause
unknown, unless it was in connection with chronic enlargement of
prostate gland.
_Treatment._--_Mullein oil_ applied twice daily as a liniment.
_Mercurius sol._ internally. In three days the soreness and pain had
entirely disappeared, but the enlargement continued several days. He
walked around with ease three or four days before swelling had
diminished any.
CASE IV.--F. C., aged thirty. Called November 16, 1888. Found
inflammation of left kidney and of left testicle. Had been under
treatment by another doctor and had recovered partially, but relapsed.
Suffering much with pain in testicle, which ran up the spermatic cord
and through to the left kidney.
_Treatment._--_Cantharis_ and _Aconite_, as there was some fever.
_Mullein oil_ applied to the testicle. Rapid improvement during the
first twenty-four hours, and made a quick recovery.
I have also cured a case of chronic inflammation of the eyes, and a case
of chilblains from which the patient had suffered, during the winter,
for about six years. * * *
Every drug has its exact range. This one being new to the profession, we
are just learning what it will do. In all these cases the _Mullein oil_
has had an outward application twice daily.
A short time ago I was in Dodge city and was talking with a friend about
the use of various remedies in veterinary practice, and amongst them I
mentioned an almost instant cure of earache in a boy and also the same
in a cat by the use of _Mullein oil_. He said: "Why do you homoeopaths
use that? I used to have the well sweep full of bottles of mullein
blossoms when I was a boy. We used the oil as a dressing for burns, and
it was the best thing we could get." He also related to me the following
case, which is of interest and may prove of great value: An old
neighbor, a Mr. Kemmis, had spent a large amount of money treating with
various physicians for what they pronounced a rose cancer and without
any relief. An Indian squaw told him to use _Mullein oil_. He distilled
it (as it is now prepared, by sun exposure), and for a short time bathed
the cancer with the oil. The growth of the cancer was permanently
checked, but was not healed. Mr. K. lived, perhaps, forty years after
the treatment was used, and the cancer never again bothered him.
MUCUNA URENS.
NAT. ORD., Leguminosæ.
COMMON NAME, Horse-eye.
PREPARATION.--The pulverized bean is macerated in five times its weight
of alcohol.
(Delgado Palacios, of Venezuela, in 1897, wrote Messrs.
Boericke & Tafel concerning this remedy):
Reading the list of remedies of your "Physicians' Price Current," I was
very much astonished to meet with the name _Dolichos pruriens_, which
the greater and modern authorities in botanical matters consider an
identical plant with _Mucuna urens_.
You will meet the botanical description of _Mucuna urens_ and
_altissima_ (two varieties) in the Flora of West Indian Islands, by A.
H. R. Grisebach, p. 198 (Grisebach regards _Mucuna_ and _Dolichos_ as
two different genus).
If one consider that there is a discussion upon this subject, and on the
other hand that the mother tincture you possess is that which is made
with the hair on the epidermis of the pod (_North American Journal of
Homoeopathy, vol. 1, p. 209._ _Allgemeine Homoeopathische Zeitung,
vol. 53, p. 135._ _Oehme, Hale's Amerikanische Heilmittel, p. 242_),
while the tincture which we employ is made with the pulverized bean (1:5
alcohol) enclosed in the pod of a special plant which grows in the calid
regions of Venezuela I believe you must try the same tincture we use and
the success will be that which we obtain.
I have used my tincture of _Mucuna urens_ extensively in a great number
of hæmorrhoids and with the most satisfactory results. It seems that the
characteristic symptom or key-note is a sensation of burning. The
hæmorrhoids may be or not in a great stage of development, there may be
more or less blood, etc.
One can consider the _Mucuna urens_ as a specific against the
hæmorrhoidal diathesis. The diseases of other organs, depending upon
that cause, liver, uterus (hæmorrhage) and intestinal affections, yield
admirably to its use.
I have been treating recently a remarkable case of chronic ingurgitation
of a testicle, small and frequent hæmaturias, and other intestinal
troubles with a prominent symptom, the hæmorrhoidal state, which led me
to use _Mucuna_, and in a few months I have obtained a perfect success.
The experiences have taught me, and I have the conviction that this
tincture is a more perfect remedy for the cure of hæmorrhoids than any
other remedy known. I rely upon it more faithfully than I do upon
_Hamamelis, Æsculus_, etc.
Its pathogenetics are not known.
I frequently use the mother tincture in the hæmorrhoids, one drop daily.
I seldom use the lower dilutions. _Mucuna_ may be used also, and with
success, as an ointment.
The beans are very difficult to obtain; the plant has a single yearly
crop.
NAPHTHALIN.
ORIGIN--A chemical compound procured from coal, alcohol, ether vapor,
etc.
PREPARATION.--Trituration of the pure naphthalin.
(Two clinical cases illustrating the use of _Naphthalin_.
The first is by Dr. W. L. Hartman, in Transaction of the
Homoeopathic Medical Society of New York, 1896.)
In treating children we are often disappointed in our results; in making
prescriptions we think we have just the right thing in the right place,
but when we come to see our case again we are confronted with the same
condition that we had before. We may say the same in adults, but not so
often. In whooping cough in the very young who are unable to tell us how
they feel we must rely on what the mother may tell us; but how often do
we find mothers who cannot tell their own symptoms, let alone those of
their children? Now, what do we do? Sit and look wise and guess at our
prescriptions while we hear the little fellow coughing, in fact trying
to cough his head off and at the same time lose his breath.
Well, now while you are thinking and looking wise in this case, just
think of _Naphthalin_ and give a tablet triturate of the 1x every two
hours, and when you are consulted the next time you will not be annoyed
with the dreadful choking spell. Now in prescribing this remedy it is
not necessary to wait until the child chokes to death with the cough,
but give it from the first and you will be surprised how it will cut the
disease short. I do not know as I have ever given this remedy without
receiving benefit, and in many cases it was unnecessary to give any
other remedy to cure the case; if it is, _Drosera_ will follow best.
The grand characteristic of this remedy is long and continued paroxysms
of coughing, unable to get a respiration, sometimes so violent as to
cause perspiration.
This remedy is not only good in whooping cough, but in any condition
where you get the above symptoms _Naphthalin_ will cure your case just
the same. Now my experience with this remedy where I have prescribed
above the 1x has been very unsatisfactory, so, of late, I only use the
one potency.
(The other by Dr. W. A. Weaver in _Hahnemannian Monthly_,
1898.)
My experience with _Naphthalin_ in whooping cough is as yet limited, but
the results obtained have very much exceeded other remedies and I wish
to cite a few cases in which the alleviation of the symptoms was soon
appreciable.
CASE I.--Francis----, a boy of 9 months, with a severe bronchitis as a
complication. The breathing was labored. The respiratory murmur was
feeble and a large number of sibilant and sonorous râles were heard,
when I was called to see the case. The child had become emaciated, had a
cyanotic appearance, was unable to retain food for any length of time,
because of the frequent paroxysms accompanied by vomiting, and was very
much exhausted. Later, the moist râles became very prominent over the
entire chest. The paroxysms were of great length, and accompanying was a
free discharge of thick, tenacious mucus from the nose and mouth. Many
of the favorite remedies employed in this disease were prescribed, but
with little effect. _Naphthalin_ was then given, four or five drops of
the tincture in one-half glass of water. In a short time the paroxysms
were lessened in severity and frequency, the expectoration was freer,
the number of râles were lessened, and shortly convalescence was well
established.
CASE II.--John----, 3-1/2 years, with an accompanying bronchitis.
Symptoms worse at night. Paroxysms very long and severe; would hold his
head to relieve the pain from coughing. Great difficulty experienced in
breathing. A number of râles heard over portion of the chest, with
little expectoration. After _Naphthalin_ had been given for a short time
improvement began, and terminated without further complications.
CASE III.--Patrick----, a man 23 years of age, large physique and
healthy appearance, contracted pertussis from other members of the
family, and, although not accompanied by the whoop, the paroxysms were
very severe. They were not frequent during the day but many during the
night. He would wake the entire house by coughing and would become
purple in the face. He had been suffering a week or two before I saw
him. I prescribed _Drosera_, _Corrallium rub._, _Ipecac_ and
_Hyoscyamus_, without appreciable improvement. He gradually grew worse
until _Naphthalin_ 1x in pellets was given. The spasmodic condition was
relieved very shortly, and although the cough remained for a short time
it never became severe and soon entirely disappeared.
NARCISSUS.
NAT. ORD., Amaryllidaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Daffodil.
PREPARATION.--The young buds, stems and leaves are macerated in two
times their weight of alcohol.
(The following is from the _Homoeopathic Recorder_ for
May, 1899):
"Agricola," one of the _Homoeopathic World's_ oldest contributors,
has the following to say of this very old, yet little known, remedy.
After stating how he prepared it, he continues as follows:
"A case of bronchitis (a _continuous_ cough) has from _Narcissus_ 1-3x
obtained such _prompt_ marked relief, where a most varied selection of
the standard remedies had hitherto failed, as to induce me to write
these few lines in hope that as this beautiful flower is about to be
found in most cottage gardens the prevalent bronchitis, whooping and
other coughs may meet with prompt cures. Dr. Chargé's work, _Maladies
de la Respiration_, quotes the great Laennec, M. D., as an authority
_in re Narcissus_."
There is no proving whatever of this drug, although in the
_Encyclopædia_ (Allen) a case of poisoning from the bulbs eaten as a
salad is given; but the remedy as prescribed by Agricola was prepared
from the young buds, stems and leaves, so the case in the _Encyclopædia_
is not apropos, nor is the old tincture from the bulbs of use.
The name of the plant, _Narcissus_, is not from that of the fabled youth
who fell in love with his own image reflected in the water, but is from
the Greek _Narkao_, "to be numb," on account of the narcotic properties
of the drug. The classic Asphodel and the Narcissus are the same, from
which it may be seen that the plant dates back as far as man's records
go. Fernie, in his excellent _Herbal Simples_, from which we gather the
preceding, also says: "An extract of the bulbs applied to open wounds
has produced staggering numbness of the whole nervous system and
paralysis of the heart. Socrates called this plant the 'Chaplet of the
Infernal Gods,' because of its narcotic effects."
Fernie also says that a decoction of the dried flowers is emetic, and
when sweetened will, as an emetic, serve most usefully for relieving the
congestive bronchial catarrh of children. "Agricola's" experience,
quoted above, however, seems to disprove the notion that the beneficial
action in bronchial catarrh is the result of the emetic properties of
the drug, but demonstrates rather that it is peculiarly homoeopathic
to this malady and long-continued coughs, especially of nervous origin,
as may be inferred from the following, the concluding paragraph in
Fernie's section on the _Narcissus_:
"The medicinal influence of the Daffodil on the nervous system has led
to giving its flowers and its bulb for hysterical affections, and even
epilepsy, with benefit."
The _National Dispensatory_ says practically the same, _i. e._, "The
emetic action of _Narcissus_ has been used to break up intermittent
fever and relieve bronchial catarrh with congestion or obstruction of
the air tubes. Like _Ipecacuanha_, it has also been prescribed in
dysentery, especially of the epidemic form. Its influence upon the
nervous system, is attested by the vogue it has enjoyed in hysteria,
chorea, whooping cough and even epilepsy."
It is still the emetic action that is looked to here, but any good
homoeopath will see beyond that, in Agricola's experience, and
perceive a strong homoeopathic action in the drug to the conditions
named, for if it were the emetic action only that is efficacious then,
certainly, one emetic would do as well as another, but there is
something more, and the curative action can be obtained from
homoeopathic doses without the emetic action. The tincture should not
be prepared from the bulb, as has been the case in the past, but from
the fresh buds and leaves. From such a preparation considerable benefit
in obstinate bronchial coughs should be confidently expected.
NEGUNDO.
NAT. ORD., Sapindaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Box Elder. Ash-leaved Maple.
PREPARATION.--The bark of the root is macerated in twice its weight of
alcohol.
(In the _California Medical Journal_, 1898, Dr. O. S.
Laws, of Los Angeles, California, writes of a new "pile"
remedy, _Negundo_):
I suggested that we have a "Symposium," in Our Journal, on single
remedies. They are the backbone of whatever science there is in
therapeutics, and should be kept in view. As a starter I offer one that
is entirely new to the medical fraternity, as I cannot find it in any
medical work.
In botanical language it is known as Negundium Americanum. The common
name is "box elder." It is a native of Kansas. It is a distant relative
of the Acer family. I had just fairly begun to test its value when I
left Kansas for California, and not finding it here, except as a shade
tree on the sidewalks, I cannot get any of the root bark, which is the
part used. From the short experience I had with it I conclude it is the
best internal remedy we have for hemorrhoids. I have used _Colinsonia_
and _Æsculus_ without ever being impressed with their prompt action. But
_Negundo_ goes at it as _Colocynth_ does in its specialty, so that the
victim who has been writhing with an engorged rectum "will arise up and
call you blessed." So you see this is not only a single remedy, but a
"fundamental" one. The bark of the root in the yearling plants is what I
prefer.
Recent cases of hemorrhoids can be completely cured in this way, and the
old hard cases temporarily relieved. So, gentlemen of the medical
profession, I hereby introduce to you my friend _Negundo_.
ONOSMODIUM VIRGINIANUM.
NAT. ORD., Borraginaceæ.
COMMON NAME, False Cromwell.
PREPARATION.--The entire plant with root is macerated in twice its
weight of alcohol.
(This paper was prepared by Dr. W. A. Vingling for the
Kansas State Homoeopathic Society, and reprinted in
_Homoeopathic Physician_ for July, 1893).
To the homoeopathic physician a new remedy, well proven, is an
acquisition of greater importance than honor or wealth, for his sole
duty being to relieve the sufferings of humanity, he acquires a new tool
with which to accomplish his work. To the degree that the new remedy has
peculiar characteristics its value is enhanced, to the extent that the
pathogenetic effects are different from every other drug its usefulness
becomes the more apparent. Generalities constitute a poor basis upon
which to prescribe. Peculiarities, the unusual symptoms, give certainly
an assurance in every prescription.
We have in _Onosmodium_ a remedy with some peculiarities, and occupying
a sphere unique, a curative range differing from that of every other
drug. The remedy holds within its grasp the power to restore peace to
the disrupted family, and to prevent the truant husband seeking the
sweets of "stolen waters" by restoring the wife to the enjoyable
performance of her wifely functions, and thus gratifying the
dissatisfied husband. This generation of one-child families, Malthusian,
with the long train of misery entailed upon the licensed family,
adultery consequent upon preventive measures, _malum in se_, has its
remedy in _Onosmodium_ to a very large extent.
We pass to consider the more important pathogenesis of the remedy in
regular course. A great part of this paper is necessarily based upon the
notes of the original author, Dr. W. E. Green, with some isolated
symptoms from the journals and my own experience.
We find marked in the mental sphere a DROWSINESS OF MIND and CONFUSION
OF THOUGHT, DULNESS OF INTELLIGENCE, a DAZED feeling of the mind. The
party wants to think and not move, so absorbed in thought as to forget
all else and where she is. There is a _complete listlessness and apathy_
of the mind; she cannot _concentrate_ her thoughts. From this want of
concentration there follows an impairment of the memory, _she cannot
remember what is said_. In conversation she will forget the subject,
will begin a new one, and then suddenly change to another. There is
great _confusion of ideas_. This listlessness is so great as to cause
forgetfulness of what one is reading, or that one is reading at all: the
book drops in vague and listless thought. The time passes too slowly,
and minutes seem like hours. There is great irritability of temper.
There is a continuous and ever-present feeling of heaviness of the head.
PAINS IN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HEAD and _over the left eye_, extending
round the left side to the back of the head and neck, greatly aggravated
by moving or jarring. Intense pain driving her to bed; relieved by
sleep, but soon returning after waking. There is a constant dull
headache, chiefly centered over the left eye and in the left temple;
always worse in the dark and when lying down. Here we have a
contradictory symptom--always worse lying down. The general symptoms are
ameliorated by lying down. This peculiar feature is also seen in some of
the polycrests. _Bryonia alb._ has a "pain and pressure in the shoulder
when at rest." _Rhus tox._ has a "stiff neck, with painful tension when
moving;" _Arsenicum alb._ has a headache relieved by cold water.
_Onosmodium_ has a DULL, HEAVY PAIN IN THE occiput pressing upward WITH
A DIZZY SENSATION. Pain changing from the right frontal eminence to the
left and remaining there. Darting and throbbing in the left temple. A
dull pain in the mastoid process. She cannot bear to move. A sense of
fullness in the head. Relieved by eating and sleep.
The eyes are HEAVY AND DULL; the eyes feel as though one had lost a
great deal of sleep. The lids are heavy. The eyeballs have a _dull,
heavy pain with soreness_. A sensation of the eyes being very wide open,
with a desire to look at distinct objects, it being disagreeable to look
at near objects. Distant objects look very large. _Picric acid_ patients
can only see clearly at very close range, often at only five inches from
the eye; _Natrum sulph._ has impairment of vision for distant objects.
With _Onosmodium_ the ocular muscles feel tense, tired, and drawn. Pains
in and over left eye. Pain in upper portion of left orbit, with a
feeling of expansion. The vision is impaired and blurred.
The hearing is impaired. There is a stuffed-full feeling in the ears as
after catching cold. Singing in the ears as from quinine, but very
slight.
The NOSE FEELS DRY. There is a stuffed feeling in the posterior nares.
The discharge from the posterior nose is whitish and sticky, producing a
constant hawking. Constant sneezing in the morning; sneezing when first
getting up. The bones of the nose pain.
Flushed face, with relief from headache. That dry feeling of the nose is
also present in the mouth and lips. Bitter, clammy taste in the mouth.
Saliva is very scant, with the dry feeling in the mouth; cold water
relieves. Sore throat. It hurts to swallow or speak. That dryness
follows down the _throat_ and _pharynx_, and is accompanied with _severe
soreness_. Raw, scraping feeling in the throat. When swallowing the
pharynx feels constricted. All the throat symptoms are relieved by cold
drinks and by eating. The voice is husky. The chest feels sore.
Morning sickness like that of pregnancy. Distaste for water, yet there
is a _craving for ice water and cold drinks_; _wants to drink often_.
The abdomen _feels bloated_ and distended, which is relieved by
undressing. The pains in the lower part of the abdomen are also relieved
by undressing or by lying on the back. This amelioration from undressing
is observed to run through all the symptoms of the drug. A constant
feeling as though diarrhoea would come on.
The stools are yellow, mushy, or greenish-yellow, stringy, mushy, with
tenesmus. Also, slimy, bloody, stringy stool, with tenesmus. The provers
were hurried out of bed in the morning to stool.
The urine is scanty, highly colored, dark straw and brown, very acid,
and of high specific gravity. The desire is seldom, or else frequent,
with scanty flow.
In regard to the sexual organs we quote from that racy writer, Dr. S.
A. Jones, who says: "_Onosmodium Virginianum_ in its primary action
seems directly opposite to _Picric acid_. Perhaps provings of it with
smaller doses will oblige me to change this _dictum_. If they do not,
then _Onosmodium_ will occupy the singular position of a remedy that
_primarily depresses the sexual appetite_. If this should ultimately
prove to be the case, it will invest this remedy with an unmistakable
significance to physicians who are practicing at the _tail end_ of the
nineteenth century, for, from our habits of life, it is the _end_ that
is showing signs of distress. In estimating the validity of this
suggestion, the reader will bear in mind Hahnemann's _dictum_ that _only
the primary symptoms of a drug afford the indications for its
therapeutical application_. This is a canon of Hahnemannian
Homoeopathy, and it _is true as regards the infinitesimal dose_. Then,
this being true (for I will not stop to discuss it), _Picric acid_ will
be indicated for the _initial stage_ of sexual debility and _Onosmodium_
for the _fully developed consequences_ of sexual abuse; and this,
because the said 'initial stage' is characterized by erethism while the
ulterior consequences are denoted by atony asthenia. The erethism of
sexual debility is plainly evinced in _Picric acid_, and the ultimate
asthenia is as really discovered in _Onosmodium Virginianum_."
In the male we find diminished sexual desire. Cold feeling in the glans
penis. Nocturnal emissions. Too speedy emissions. Deficient erections
with diminished pleasure.
In the female we find SEVERE UTERINE PAINS. BEARING-DOWN PAINS IN THE
UTERINE REGION. Uterine cramps. _Soreness in region of uterus_,
increased by _pressure_ of the hand or of the clothing; had to remove
the corset. Return of old uterine pains. Dull, heavy aching, and slowly
pulsating pains in the ovaries. Pains pass from one ovary to the other
and leave a soreness which remains till the pain returns. Ovarian pains
increased by pressure. SEXUAL DESIRE COMPLETELY DESTROYED. This symptom
I have verified a number of times, and in every case the parties
prevented conception. The uterine pains are all better when undressed
or lying on the back. Constant feeling as though the menses would
appear. Menses early and profuse, but otherwise normal so far as known.
Leucorrhoea light yellowish, slightly offensive and excoriating;
profuse, running down the legs. Itching of the vulva aggravated by
scratching and from the leucorrhoeal discharge. Aching in both
breasts, but worse in the left. Breasts feel swollen and engorged. Left
breast feels bruised and painful on pressure. Nipples itch. In one case
where this remedy was given for dryness of the nose and throat, the
diminutive almost absent, breasts were restored to their pristine glory,
and resulted in the displacement of the cotton batting pads to the
exceeding joy and delight of the proud woman.
_Pains in the neck_, running back from the forehead. _Dull aching in the
neck._ Bearing down pain in the lumbar region. Dull, aching pain in the
lumbar region. In the female provers there was produced a pain over the
crest of the left ilium. TIRED, WEARY AND NUMB FEELING IN THE LEGS AND
POPLITEAL SPACES. FEELING OF NUMBNESS, MOSTLY BELOW THE KNEES. The legs
feel as if they were partially anæsthetized. The tendons and joints of
the knees have a dull, aching pain. Tremulousness of the legs.
DISTURBANCE OF THE GAIT IN WALKING, WITH A SENSE OF INSECURITY IN STEP.
STAGGERING GAIT, _he cannot keep in the walk_. The sidewalks seem too
high; he must step high which jars him and greatly aggravates the
headache. Dull, heavy pain in the instep of the left foot. Numb,
tingling pain in the outer side of both little toes. THE LEGS FEEL
TIRED, _as though they would not sustain the weight of the body_.
Sensation of formication in the calves of the legs. Ankles swollen.
_Pain in the left scapular region_, confined to a small spot. _Fluoric
acid_ and _Lilium tig._ have pain confined to a small spot in any
location, while _Oxalic acid_ has a pain confined to small longitudinal
spots. _Magnesia phos._ has a sharp burning pain, about an inch in
diameter, under the border of the left scapula, as from a hot iron (see
also _Phos._); with _Onosmodium_ there is a dull, aching pain in the
biceps muscle, also a pain of like nature in the elbow joint and wrists.
_The arms and hands feel tired and weak_; they tremble. Inability to
co-ordinate the muscular movements of the arms. Pain in the phalangeal
articulation.
The aggravations are generally from motion or jarring; from pressure or
tightness of clothing.
The ameliorations are peculiar and marked. Better when quiet, _when
lying down on the back_, _when undressed_, when in the open air, from
sleep, _from cold drinks_, _from eating_.
In the generalities we find great MUSCULAR WEAKNESS OR PROSTRATION AND
TIRED FEELING OVER THE ENTIRE BODY. A feeling as though one had just
gotten up from a severe spell of sickness. Nervous trembling as if from
hunger. The least exertion produces a tremulousness. _The muscles feel
treacherous and unsteady as though one did not dare to trust them._ A
desire to change position without any definite cause or reason, and
without any change for the better or worse. Later in the proving there
was a desire to lie down and be quiet, with a drowsy, sleepy feeling. _A
sensation as if a chill would come on_; a tired, aching, stretching,
gaping, disagreeable feeling. All sensations are worse in the left side.
In my own experience I have used the remedy from the mother tincture up.
I got no results from the tincture. Hardly any from the 30th, but a
marked, decided, and very rapid action from the CM. I use nothing lower
than the CM, and prefer the higher.
ORIGANUM MAJORANA.
NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.
COMMON NAME, Sweet Marjoram.
PREPARATION.--The whole plant without the root, gathered when in flower,
is macerated in two times its weight of alcohol.
(A treatise on the "Sexual Passion," by the late Dr.
Gallavardin, Lyons, France, contains this item on
_Origanum_):
The person who discovered a remedy that in a certain sense may be
considered as a specific against sexual passion was a clergyman of
Mizza, the founder of an orphan asylum. This remedy is _Origanum
majorana_ (or common marjoram), which proves effective in masturbation
and in excessively-aroused sexual impulses. The author uses it in the
4th dilution, as he has not found the higher potencies effective. He
dissolves five or six globules of this dilution in four teaspoonfuls of
fresh water, and the young masturbator takes of this every two days, a
quarter of an hour before the meal, one teaspoonful. If the cure is not
accomplished eight days after this solution is used up, the same dose is
repeated in the same way. When desired, this remedy can be used,
according to the author, without the knowledge of the patient, by
pouring a teaspoonful into the soup, milk or chocolate.
The effect frequently appears very rapidly, but sometimes it does not
appear.
OXYTROPIS LAMBERTI.
NAT. ORD., Leguminosæ.
COMMON NAMES, "Loco" Weed. Rattle Weed.
PREPARATION.--The whole plant without the root is macerated in two times
its weight of alcohol.
(The following proving of the "loco weed" was conducted
by the late Dr. W. S. Gee, of Chicago, in 1887):
OXYTROPIS LAMBERTI, Pursh.--_Commonly taller, as well as larger_, than
other varieties (the scapes often a foot or more high); silky,--and
mostly silvery-pubescent, sometimes glabrate in age; leaflets from
oblong-lanceolate to linear (4 to 16 inches long); _spike, sometimes
short-oblong and densely flowered_, at least when young; _often
elongated and sparsely flowered_; _flowers mostly large_ (often an inch
long, but sometimes much smaller), variously colored; pod, either
narrowly or broadly oblong, _sericeous pubescent_, _firm-coriaceous_,
half-inch or more long, _imperfectly two-celled_. Includes _O.
Campestris_ of Hook, Fl. Bor. Am., in part. Common along the Great
Plains from Saskatchewan and Minnesota to New Mexico, Texas, etc., and
in the foot-hills.--From Coulter's _Manual of the Botany of the Rocky
Mountain Region_.
It is one of the poisonous members of that family. It is found in
California and New Mexico.
It is a perennial plant, with herbaceous or slightly shrubby stems, the
foliage remaining green during winter when grass is scarce, and so
attracting animals that would otherwise probably instinctively shun it.
The plants do not appear to be equally poisonous at all seasons or in
all localities, and it has been doubted whether the active properties
they possess are due to a normal constituent of the plant. No medical
use has ever been made of these plants, although their poisonous
character has often led to the suggestion that they might be found
valuable. No physiological study has been made of the action of the
poison, and no complete chemical analysis has as yet appeared.
The stockmen speak of it as causing intoxication in the animals which
eat it, and a prominent symptom is the "loco" condition, in which the
power of co-ordination is lost or greatly limited. They cannot readily
readjust for changes in gait, etc. A horse travels on level ground, but
finds great difficulty in changing to pass over an elevation or
depression, or, when going up hill, he has great difficulty in starting
down hill; it is difficult, when he is still, to impress him that he
must go, and as difficult to stop him when desired. The same rule
applies to eating and other necessaries. Such a horse is said to be
"locoed." Professor Hawkes procured specimens from which Boericke &
Tafel made a tincture. To further test the merits of the remedy, the
students of the class at Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago kindly
participated in a proving.
Professor Hawkes received some reports from his group, but has mislaid
his papers, and he is unable to give in detail the symptoms produced. He
stated, however, that the principal action corroborated that given
above.
During 1886-'87 term I made another attempt, and a few reports were
received. The remedy was given by number, that the prover should not
know what he took, nor the strength of it. Some were given the [Greek:
theta], others 1x^d, 2x^d, 3x^d, 12x powders, 30x powders, and some
higher.
A few reported "no effect" from the [Greek: theta]. The following
includes the report from five persons:
1. (Mr. S. P. F., 10 drops of [Greek: theta].) 2. (Mrs. W., 10 drops of
3x^d repeated.) 3. (Mr. G. H. A., 15 drops of 3x^d.) 4. (Mrs. P.,
powders of 12x repeated.) 5. (Mrs. L., powders of 30x.) 6. (Mrs. L.,
powders of 12x.)
SYMPTOMATOLOGY.
_Mind._--Great mental depression,^1,^3. Cannot think or concentrate his
thoughts,^1,^3. Very forgetful of familiar words and names,^3. No
life,^1. Disinclination to talk or study,^3. Wants to be alone,^3. Is
better satisfied to sit down and do nothing,^3. Feels perfectly
despondent,^3. A feeling as if I would lose consciousness,^3. All
symptoms worse when thinking of them,^1,^3.
_Sensorium._--Strange sensation about the head,^4. A feeling as if I
would lose consciousness, or as if I would fall when standing,^5. Sense
of fulness of the head, and of instability, when standing or sitting,^6.
_Head._--The head has a feeling of great pressure, especially on moving
the eyeballs,^4. Head hot,^6. Was unable to move around on account of
this strange, uncertain feeling of numbness, with prickling sensation in
left arm and hand,^4. Full, uncomfortable feeling in the head,^5. Slight
headache in vertex and occiput in forenoon, over the eyeballs about
noon,^1. Pain in the helix of the ear for two or three minutes, then
pain commenced between the eyes and went in a straight line up over the
head and down to the base of the brain,^2. Pain across the base of the
brain,^2 ("gone in a minute or two"). Dulness in frontal region, must
lie down,^4. Pain in occipital region is constant since 1 P.M.; heavy
ache, as if a weight were attached to the lower edge, pulling it back,
but pain does not extend down the back,^2; all stop at 3 P.M.,^2. A
pressing headache from 2 to 5 P.M.,^3 (on 2d day). Awoke with slight
pressing pain in forehead, which increased gradually until about 2 P.M.,
and then gradually decreased,^3. Pain, dull and heavy, in the head, with
sense of pressure,^4. Head very sensitive, < on the side on
which I lie,^3. Pressure upon the head disappearing after sleep,^4.
Dull, heavy feeling in the head, with uncertain gait and walk, so that
she was obliged to lie down, when she fell into a deep sleep and woke up
with the metallic taste.
_Eyes._--Feel dull and heavy, blurred, pupils dilated,^3,^4. When
reading, it seems as if a light were reflected from a bright copper
plate seen at the left side, as if the light were at the end of the
room,^6. Pain in the eyeball,^4. Pain over the right eye,^6.
_Ears._--Roaring sound in the ears,^3.
_Nose._--Very dry; scabs form in the nose,^3. Frequent violent sneezing,
with fluent coryza in the evening,^1. Nose feels as if sunburnt; red and
shining, especially on alæ,^1. Feeling of pressure over the bridge of
the nose,^1. Fluent coryza, somewhat bloody,^1.
_Mouth._--Very dry, especially in the morning,^3. Metallic taste in the
mouth, strongly marked,^1. Gumboil on left lower maxillary; profuse
saliva,^1. Pain in left lower maxillary,^1. Tenderness of all the
molars,^1.
_Throat._--Slight inflammation of the pharynx, a "husky" feeling,^1. Dry
and sore,^3.
_Eating and Drinking._--Appetite gradually increasing,^1.
Appetite good; symptoms, < after eating, > after an hour,^2. Loss of
appetite,^6 (unusual).
_Nausea and Vomiting._--Eructations, as after taking soda-water (after
each powder), with colicky pains,^5, and looseness of the bowels
(constipated before taking the remedy),^5. Eructations, empty,
frequent,^1. Slight nausea, all day at intervals,^2 (first day). A very
tired, languid feeling all forenoon, accompanied by nausea on lying
down, passing away on getting up, and returning on lying down again (not
at night).
_Stomach._--Tenderness in the epigastric region,^1. A kind of pressing
soreness,^3. Cold during the chill,^2.
_Abdomen._--Sharp, lancinating pains all through the abdomen, early in
the evening,^5 (observed but once). Sharp pain, running from right to
left across the bowels, for several minutes, followed by a very strong
desire to go to stool; entire relief after stool; slight griping pain in
the region of the umbilicus, working down at 8 P.M., followed at 10 P.M.
by discharge of flatus; full feeling in abdomen, causing short breathing
after lying down in bed,^1.
_Stool._--Symptoms marked and constant. Fæces of the consistency of
mush, which slips through the sphincters in little lumps, very similar
to lumps of jelly,^3. Stools dark brown, or like jelly,^3. Urgent desire
for stool, sometimes removed by passing wind; quantity normal,^3. Sore
feeling in the rectum,^3. Crawling sensation in rectum as if little
worms were there,^3. Stool inclined to be hard; unsatisfied feeling, as
though not done,^1. Stool solid at first, then diarrhoea,^1. Movement
of the bowels at an unusual time,^2 (6:30 P.M., had moved the morning of
same day). Sharp pain from right to left across the bowels, followed by
very strong desire for stool,^2. Stool, first hard, then loose,^2.
Entire relief from pain after stool,^2.
_Urine._--Symptoms very marked,^3. Characterized from the first by a
very profuse flow of clear, or almost colorless urine, nearly the color
of water,^3. Three to four times the normal quantity,^3,^1,^4,^2. When
thinking of urinating I had to go at once,^3. No sediment
whatever,^3,^1. Pain in the kidneys, hardest in right, with some
tenderness,^1. At the expiration of every two or three hours after
stopping the remedy, there was an enormous flow of pale, straw-colored
urine, and with this would gradually disappear the metallic taste which
was so marked,^4. Free urination, dark in color, no distress,^2. Urine
scanty, and looked like that of a child troubled with worms, light
red-colored stain on bottom of vessel,^2 (second day). Awoke with a
heavy pain in the kidneys,^2 (third day). Urine clear on passing, but
becomes as above described on standing,^2 (third day). During day urine
scanty, with considerable irritation, as if the muscles of the bladder
were contracting, > moving about,^2.
_Male Sexual Organs._--From being naturally of a passionate nature, the
_desire_ and _ability_ diminished to impotence,^3. No sexual desire or
ability,^3. Bruised feeling in the testicles, beginning in the right and
extending to the left--came on after going to bed,^1. Occasional pain,
of short duration, in glans penis,^1. Pain in testicles, worse with
extension along spermatic cord and down thighs,^1 (third day).
_Sexual Organs, Female._--At 1.30 P.M., felt a pain in left ovary, like
something grasping or holding tightly for about an hour, then
disappeared,^2.
_Larynx._--Slight accumulation of mucus in the larynx, hard to cough it
up,^2.
_Breathing._--Short and quick breathing from the full feeling in the
abdomen,^1. Hard breathing, as though lungs and bronchi were closing as
the chill passes off.
_Cough._--A dry cough, from any little exercise,^3 (eleventh day). A
short, hacking cough, with tightness across the chest,^2 (third day).
_Lungs._--Oppression at 9 P.M.,^1 (first day).
_Heart and Pulse._--Palpitation after lying down at night, for 15 to 20
minutes,^1 (seventh day). On going to bed, pain, like a wave, over the
heart,^2 (second day), < lying down. Pulse 84, intermittent,^2
(2 P.M. of third day).
_Outer Chest._--A warm, tingling sensation over left chest, just under
the skin,^2 (lasted five minutes).
_Neck and Back._--Neck pains. Pain and stiffness of the muscles of the
back of the neck.
_Upper Extremities._--Stitching pain in right wrist for half an hour,
leaving a tired feeling in joint,^2. At 12:30, a sharp, cutting pain
running from point of shoulder down front of chest to point of hip bone,
going suddenly,^2. Flesh feels as though she had taken a heavy cold,^2.
Sharp pain, with coldness, from left shoulder-joint extending down the
arm < in shoulder-joint, > sleep; goes away gradually,^4. Prickling
sensation in left arm and hand,^4.
_Lower Extremities._--Stitching pain in right leg and knee-joint for
half an hour, leaving a tired feeling in the joint,^2. Hard pain in the
left big toe-joint,^2. Pain inside of left leg from the groin to the
knee,^2.
_Extremities in General._--Flesh on under side of limbs sore,^2. Sore
feeling of all the muscles of the right side of the body,^2. All the
pains come and go quickly, but the muscles remain sore and stiff,^2.
Frequent fine pains all over the body until 3 P.M., when all disappeared
and felt as well as usual,^2.
_Position._--All pains better when moving about and when in the cool
air,^2. Nausea, heart symptoms and breathing, < lying down,^1,^2.
_Nerves._--At 10 A.M. a very sick, exhausted feeling appeared,^2.
_Sleep._--Not very sound,^3. Dreams of a pleasant or lascivious
character,^3. Wakes often,^2. On rising feels sad, weary, despondent,^3.
Twitching of the muscles on falling asleep roused him,^3 (once three or
four nights). Dreamed of spiders, bugs,^2 (first night), of swimming in
water,^2 (second night--am not in the habit of dreaming).
_Chill._--Chill at 11:40 A.M., beginning in back between shoulders,
down over body to feet; stomach feels cold; pains all over body during
chill; a peculiar sensation of crawling or contraction of the abdominal
muscles, hardest about the navel, lasted about half an hour,^2. As the
chill passes off a smarting in the throat and a feeling as though the
lungs and bronchi would close up, making breathing very difficult; chill
lasted until 1 P.M., followed by perspiration of palms of the hands and
soles of the feet; the changeable pains remained until 3 P.M., when all
disappeared,^2. No thirst in either stage,^2. Felt badly for three days
at same hour as chill,^2. For four weeks on every seventh day had a
chill with all the above symptoms; the coldness of the spine was
continuous for eight weeks, and was then removed by _Gelsemium_,^2.
(Dr. W. D. Gentry, while at Las Vegas, New Mexico, made
the following summary of the action of the remedy.
_Homoeopathic Recorder_, 1895):
For the present I will only give a few of the leading symptoms produced
by the _Loco weed_:
Brain and Mind: Stimulation of mind; pleasant intoxicated feeling.
Satisfied indifference to all influences and interests.
Head: Full, warm feeling about the head.
Eyes: Strange feeling of fullness about the eyes, with sight obscured,
so that it appears that one is looking through clear water which
produces about all of the seven prismatic colors, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, purple and violet.
Paralysis of nerves, and muscles of the eyes, producing amblyopia.
Pupils contracted and do not respond to light.
Eyesight lost with feeling as if in consequence of long exposure to
strong, arc-electric lights.
Neck and Back: Numb, pithy or woody feeling about and in the spine.
Lower Extremities: Loss of power to control movements of body or limbs.
Swaying, staggering gait.
Reflex action of tendon-patella lost.
General: Weakness and insecurity of all powers of locomotion.
Feeling of intoxication, with almost entire loss of vision.
Amblyopia: sense of touch greatly weakened.
(From the _Kansas City Star_.)
The loco weed of the Western plains is to vegetation what the
rattlesnake is to animal life. The name comes from the Spanish and
signifies insanity. It is a dusky green and grows in small bunches or
handfuls and scatters itself in a sparse and meagre way about the
country. It is in short a vegetable nomad and travels about not a
little. Localities where it this season flourishes in abundance may not
see any of it next year, nor indeed for a number of years to come.
The prime property of the loco is to induce insanity in men or animals
who partake of it. Animals--mules, horses, sheep and cattle--avoid it
naturally, and under ordinary circumstances never touch it. But in the
winter, when an inch or two of snow has covered the grass, these green
bunches of loco standing clear and above the snow are tempting bits to
animals which are going about half starved at the best. Even then it is
not common for them to eat it. Still, some do and it at once creates an
appetite in the victim similar in its intense force to the alcohol habit
in mankind.
Once started on the downward path of loco a mule will abandon all other
forms of food and look for it. In a short time its effects become
perfectly apparent. You will see a locoed mule standing out on the
shadowless plain with not a living, moving thing in his vicinity. His
head is drooping and his eyes are half closed. On the instant he will
kick and thresh out his heels in the most warlike way. Under the
influence of loco he sees himself surrounded by multitudes of
threatening ghosts and is repelling them.
The mind of the animal is completely gone. He cannot be driven or worked
because of his utter lack of reason. He will go right or left or turn
around in the harness in spite of bits or whip, or will fail to start or
stop, and all in a vacant, idiotic way devoid of malice. The victim
becomes as thin physically as mentally, and after retrograding four or
five months at last dies, the most complete wreck on record. Many
gruesome tales are furnished of cruel Spanish and Mexican ladies who, in
a jealous fit, have locoed their American admirers through the medium of
loco tea. Two or three cases in kind are reported in the Texas lunatic
asylum.
OENTHE CROCATA.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is macerated in two parts by weight of
alcohol.
(The following paper on _OEnanthe crocata_ was kindly
sent to the editor by Dr. W. A. Dewey, of the Ann Arbor
University, Michigan):
_OEnanthe crocata_ belongs to the large family of the Umbelliferæ
which furnishes us with _Conium_ and _Cicuta_. It grows in marshy
localities in England and France. In Botanical works of the 16th and
17th centuries it was often confounded with _Cicuta virosa_, an error
which has even been made in more recent times, in fact, only one
Botanist of the 19th century described the plant with sufficient
exactness for its recognition, and that was DeLobel, who published his
Botany in 1851. It is one of the largest plants of the family, being 3
to 5 feet high. Our tincture is from the fresh root.
HISTORICAL.--_OEnanthe_ was known to Galen and Dioscorides, and
numerous citations might be made to show that the drug was used from the
earliest times in various affections, affections that nearly every drug
was tried in, but it is in the "Cyanosura Materia Medica of Boecler,
published in 1729," that we first find a hint as to its true action.
"Those who ate much of it were taken with dark vertigos, going from one
place to another, swaying, frightened, turning in a circle as Lobilus
pretends to have seen."
Hahnemann, in his "Apotheker Lexicon" (Leipzig, 1793), says of the drug:
"It is said that the whole plant is poisonous and causes vertigo,
stupefaction, loss of force, convulsions, delirium, stiffness,
insensibility, falling of the hair, and taken in large quantities will
cause death."
He says further: "That, administered with great circumspection, it
should prove useful in certain varieties of delirium, vertigos and
cramps."
This is interesting coming from Hahnemann at the time when he had
discovered the law, but had not as yet given it to the world.
_OEnanthe_ was considered in the last century as one of the most
pernicious plants of Europe, especially for cattle, who, having eaten
it, can neither vomit nor digest it and they soon die in convulsions;
this from the root, however, as they eat the leaves with impunity. It is
interesting to note that animals poisoned with it decompose rapidly.
Much of the following study is taken from a series of excellent papers
on the drug, which have been appearing for over a year in "Le Journal
Belge D'Homoeopathie," from the pen of Dr. Ch. DeMoor, of Alost,
Belgium.
GENERAL ACTION.--From a very large collection of observations of cases
of poisoning with _OEnanthe_, dating from 1556 to the present time and
recorded in "Allen's Encyclopædia," the "Cyclopædia of Drug
Pathogenesy," and in the article of Dr. DeMoor, above mentioned, we find
that _OEnanthe crocata_ produces, almost invariably, convulsions of an
epileptiform character and which are marked by the following symptoms:
Swollen, livid face, sometimes pale.
Frothing at mouth.
Contraction of chest and oppressed breathing.
Dilated pupils or irregular. Eyeballs turned upward.
Coldness of the extremities.
Pulse weak.
Convulsions are especially severe, at first tonic then clonic.
Locked jaws.
Trembling and twitching of muscles.
_OEnanthe_ also produces a delirium in which the patient becomes as if
drunken, there is stupefaction, obscuration of vision and fainting.
The Greek name of the plant signifies "wine flower," and so-called on
account of its producing a condition similar to wine drunkenness, and
there is a difference, so I have heard, between wine and other beverages
in this respect. Hiccoughs are also produced by the drug.
There is also great heat in the throat and stomach and a desire to vomit
and to have stool, and a great deal of weakness of the limbs and
cardialgia. Like other members of the same family, as _Conium_, it
produces very much vertigo, this has always been present in the cases of
poisoning with the plant. In a number of cases who had been poisoned by
the drug the hair and nails fell out.
HOMOEOPATHIC ACTION AND APPLICABILITY.--The uses of _OEnanthe_,
homoeopathically, have been taken from the reports above mentioned;
the drug has never been proved, and it is doubtful if one could be found
who would prove it to the convulsion-producing extremity. All the
evidence in all the authorities shows clearly that the drug produces in
man all the symptoms of epilepsy, and it is in that disease that
clinical testimony is gradually accumulating. Accepting the theory that
epilepsy is a disturbance or irritation in the cortex of the brain, it
would seem that _OEnanthe crocata_, which produces congestion of the
pia mater, would prove a close pathological simillimum to epilepsy. Its
usefulness in this disease is unmistakable and only another proof of the
truth of the homoeopathic law.
Let us review briefly some of the evidence of its action: Dr. S. H.
Talcott, in the report of the Middletown Asylum, 1893, notes that
_OEnanthe_ possesses a marked power in epilepsy, stating that it makes
the attack less frequent, less violent and improves the mental state of
the patient. He prescribes it in the tincture, 1 to 6 drops daily.
In the Materia Medica Society of New York its use has been verified
several times. Dr. Paige greatly benefited a case with the 3x potency.
Dr. F. H. Fisk reports the cure of a case which had lasted two years,
with the tincture. This case during the last month before the doctor
took it was having from 6 to 10 attacks daily.
Dr. Garrison, of Easton, Pa., reports a case of reflex uterine or
hystero-epilepsy in which the 2x acted promptly.
Allen in his Hand-Book mentions the cure of three cases with the remedy.
Dr. J. Ritchie Horner reports that the remedy greatly modified the
attacks in a lady who had had the disease over 20 years, and who, for
the two months previous, had had a convulsion daily. He used the 3x.
Dr. J. S. Cooper, of Chillicothe, Ohio, reports the cure of a case of 25
years' standing with the 4x.
Dr. Henderson reports the cure of a case of 9 years' standing, where the
patient was almost idiotic; the convulsions were relieved and the mental
condition was greatly relieved and improved. In two other cases equally
satisfactory results were had.
Dr. D. A. Baldwin, of Englewood, N. J., entirely controlled the
convulsions in a young man of 16 with _OEnanthe_.
Dr. Ord reports a case of petit mal cured with the 3x, and in a South
American homoeopathic journal a Dr. Rappaz reports the cure of a case
of three years' standing with increasing seizures with the remedy in
doses ranging from the 6 to the 12.
The late Dr. W. A. Dunn reported a genuine cure of a young girl of 16
who had been epileptic for 7 years, latterly having as many as 4 or 5
attacks during a night. The remedy caused these attacks to entirely
disappear. The girl commenced menstruating at 12, so the establishment
of the menses had nothing to do with the cure.
Dr. Charles A. Wilson, of San Antonio, Texas, reports a number of cases
cured with _OEnanthe_ in the 3x dilution, and the same potency greatly
lessened the number of seizures in others.
Dr. Purdon, of the University of Dublin, relates a case of epilepsy
cured with this drug in 1 to 6 drop doses several times a day.
Dr. F. E. Howard, in a case which had 3 or 4 attacks a week, gave 5
drops of the tincture every two hours, which caused violent pains in the
head, but complete recovery followed on reducing the dose.
Several cases of the cure of epilepsy with _OEnanthe_ in alternation
with _Silicea_ or some other drug have been reported, but as the
question, "which cured?" comes in they need not be given.
In my own practice I have had some marked results from its action and
have seen it modify attacks when everything else failed. In two cases,
one a boy of 13 who had had the disease 5 years and who had suffered
much of many sphincter-stretching orificialists and "lots of other
things," the remedy made a complete cure; the other case was in a man of
30 who had the grand mal, the petit mal and the epileptic vertigo.
_OEnanthe_ removed entirely the two former conditions leaving only the
latter, and that in a very mild degree. It also greatly improved the
mental condition of the patient.
I have several cases under treatment at the present time, and some of
them are showing a marked effect from its use. The question of dose I
believe to be an important one. I used generally the tincture in water,
but latterly I have been using the third, and I believe with better
effect than I ever obtained with the tincture, and I am now of the
opinion that the lower dilutions, say from the 3 to the 12, will be
found more efficacious than the tincture, and the higher potencies will
suit certain cases. In order to prescribe the drug with accuracy
provings will be necessary to develop its finer symptomatology.
PARAFFINE.
PREPARATION.--The purified Paraffin is triturated in the usual way.
(This proving was made by Dr. Wahle, of Germany, who was the chemist of
Hahnemann. He never published it, but gave the manuscript to his son,
who in his turn gave it to Dr. Held, now a practicing physician in Rome.
Dr. Held at the request of his colleagues translated it into Italian and
it appeared in the medical journal, _L'Omiopatia in Italia_, from which
this article is translated and slightly condensed. The remedy is used by
the homoeopaths of Rome and found to be valuable in uterine and other
troubles, indicated by the proving. It is particularly serviceable in
constipation.)
PROVING OF PARAFFINE.
HEAD.
Weight in the head.
Bruised feeling in the left side of the occiput.
Head heavy and dull; a feeling when leaning forward as if a weight fell
toward the forehead.
Pulsation in the head.
Pressing pain in the head, extending from the vertex toward the forehead
as if something would come out.
Pricking, stinging in the head, extending to the left temporal bone.
Pain as of a contusion in occiput.
At 9 o'clock in the morning there comes a pain in the left side of the
vertex as if a nail were being driven into the head, with extension of
the pain to the left lower jaw.
Touching the left side of the head causes pain as if the part were
crushed and a feeling as if the whole side of the head were soft and
spongy.
Twisting and wrenching in the sinciput so that he must lie down; having
lain down a quarter of an hour, and having placed the right hand under
the head, there was experienced a feeling of painless shock so that the
hand under the head was drawn away and the legs were thrown down from
the sofa. Soon afterward occurred severe palpitation of the heart.
Twisting and wrenching in the whole head, as well as the face.
Feeling as of knife stabs under the right temporal bone extending into
the right eye and becoming worse on bending over. On the outside of the
forehead a pressing pain which seems to thrust inward, passing, in half
an hour, into the inside of the head.
Painful pulsation in the forehead, which gradually disappears when lying
down, but becomes worse when bending over.
The left side of the head and face suffer most; pains stinging and
twisting, often going and returning at the same time.
Twisting in the left side of the head and face; the teeth of the same
side ache as if they would fall out.
On touching the vertex the skin pains as if it were suppurating, in the
afternoon.
Sticking in the forehead extending into the nose.
The skin of the head feels soft on being touched or as if suppuration
was going on underneath it.
Falling out of the hair.
EYES.
Throbbing and sticking over the right eyebrow laterally and from
without, extending into the lower jaw and there disappearing.
Stinging pains above the left eye and toward the temple.
Raised spots upon the cornea.
The eyes seem as if there was a veil before them in the morning.
In the morning the eyelids are closed with mucus; dry mucus in the
internal angles of the eyes.
Itching in the internal angles of the eyes which ceases a moment on
rubbing, but a sore pain remains and very soon the itching returns
again.
Pressing pains under the right upper eyelids as if some foreign body had
gotten in.
Pain under the upper eyelids as if from the prick of a needle.
The eyelids are red, as after crying.
Pain as of a wound in the external angle of the left eye, in the
morning.
Itching of the eyelids, lasting the whole day. Rubbing relieves only for
a short time.
A feeling in the eyes as if they had fat in them.
A feeling in the eyes as if they were always moist.
Eyes moist and tearful.
The mucus in the internal angles of the eyes is cold and viscid.
Lachrymation and itching of the eyes in the morning on rising.
In the morning the left eye is closed with mucus and seems to have a
veil before it.
A veil before the eyes or they feel as if they contained fat observed on
rubbing the eyes.
The eyes are dim, she sees nothing, but feels everything; has sensation
as if all the limits were numb for five minutes toward evening.
The eyes are pale; things seem to be seen through a veil. Little black
flies are seen before the eyes.
Short vision on account of the many little black flies before the eyes.
On fixing any object for some time the eyes become moist, as if a cold
wind was blowing into them, with a gentle itching.
In the open air there seems to be a black veil before the eyes; objects
seen seem to be pale, with short vision.
She sees objects as if in a mist.
The white of the eye is full of blood; worse toward the external angle.
FACE.
Itching in the face as from urticaria, smooth red spots come out on the
face.
EAR.
Roaring in the right ear like the rumbling of a mill wheel, in the
afternoon.
Gurgling in the left ear like the beating of the pulse.
Ringing in both ears, in the morning.
Stinging and twisting in the left ear, with a feeling as if it was
stopped up.
The odor of cordials is perceived.
The nose is moist and there is frequent desire to blow it, but without
sneezing.
Blood from the nose of a dark red color.
TEETH.
Tearing in the teeth on the right side of the jaw, extending to the ear
on the same side. It is not relieved until support is given to the
painful cheek.
Stabbing pain in one of the left lower molar teeth.
Twisting in the teeth, with stinging in the ear, which after some hours
affects the whole left side of the head and face, down to the lower jaw.
Twisting pain in the lower teeth of the left side, affecting also the
temporal region, sleep is rendered thereby impossible.
MOUTH AND THROAT.
In the evening there appeared under the upper lip, upon the gum, a hard
painless tumor which broke of itself during the night.
Mouth full of saliva; she was obliged to spit constantly, lasting for
twenty-four hours.
Voice hollow and harsh.
Mouth feels sticky.
Dryness of the throat, the fauces are as if they were dried up, but
without thirst.
Sense of suffocation in the pharynx.
The mouth is without taste and the appetite fails.
Bitter taste in the mouth.
Tongue slightly coated; dirty-white in color; chill, followed by dry
heat with thirst, which is soon followed by sweat, lasting a long time.
STOMACH.
Acid eructations some hours after eating.
A constant feeling of satiety.
Appetite good, but nothing seems to taste as it should.
Inclination to vomit at 9 o'clock in the evening.
After eating, repeated urging to vomit with expulsion of the ingested
food.
Disturbance of the stomach with increase of saliva in the mouth as if
emesis must occur, with stinging pains in the forehead and cold over the
whole body, without thirst or feeling of heat following.
Hunger almost all the time.
Pain across the stomach as if a blow had been received.
The pain persists even after thirty-six hours.
On account of the severe pain in the stomach can only breathe slowly and
carefully.
The pains in the stomach extend to the chest, causing oppression
thereof, and then pass into the shoulders, with much belching and
alternating pains in the throat and in the spine.
Great sensibility of the stomach; cannot draw the vest together.
In walking, a feeling of relaxation in the region of the stomach as if
there was a sore in it which was causing pain.
Smoking soon causes pain in the stomach and tobacco is distasteful.
Pain as if from a beating in the region of the stomach; she wished to
gape and was obliged to support the region of the stomach with the hand,
thereupon arose a fixed pain in the left hypochondrium as if some of the
parts were being twisted.
Chill, heat and sweat, frequently alternating. The stomach swells up
like a ball and forces itself upwards; hard and very painful to the
touch; there is also very little appetite.
When the pains in the stomach subside, those in the teeth also
disappear, as if there was a causal relation between the two.
Weight in the stomach as if there was a stone placed upon it, in the
morning, evening and after dinner during the time of digestion, that is
from half an hour to an hour after meals.
Sometimes there occurs palpitation of the heart in connection with these
stomach symptoms, so severe that he is often incapacitated from doing
anything whatever.
After breakfast, between nine and ten o'clock, griping and drawing with
crawling in the stomach, which extends into the chest and between the
shoulders, causing oppression of the chest with a sense of heat.
The face and hands become hot and red and there is hot sweat upon the
upper part of the body, especially upon the forehead.
ABDOMEN.
Sense of lassitude in the abdomen which grows less when the parts are
supported.
Swelling of the abdomen and nausea as if about to vomit.
Feeling in the abdomen as if he had been disemboweled; he wishes to
walk fast which causes the parts to pain severely.
Cutting pains in the abdomen so that he was unable to sleep the whole
night.
In the morning at 9 o'clock, colicky pains in the abdomen which ceased
after some minutes and a quantity of white mucus issued from the vagina;
these attacks are often repeated.
Under the umbilicus, a cutting pain as if caused by a sharp knife,
extending down to the genitals.
Colicky pains for some hours internal to the umbilicus with a painful
sensation as if a cord was bound around the abdomen above the stomach,
lasting ten minutes.
A griping sensation in the region of the umbilicus extending to the
spine.
When sitting, spasmodic pains in the lower portion of the abdomen
extending into the rectum and coccyx. After long sitting the pains are
relieved, but walking makes them worse so that the body must be held in
a slightly curved position.
Toward six in the afternoon, griping and cutting internal to the
umbilicus with nausea, afterward vomiting of acid water and at the end a
little food, with twisting pains in the vertex and temples; dryness of
the mouth with much thirst.
Wrenching pains in the calves extending into the toes and preventing
sleep the whole night; she does not know where to put her legs.
At 10 o'clock in the evening, without having supped, the abdomen
suddenly swelled as if she had eaten to excess; before and during the
attack flat and viscid taste in the mouth. She went to bed in this
condition and on waking in the morning the attack was entirely gone, the
bowels, however, refused to move.
Painless swelling of the abdomen lasting twenty-four hours.
Abdomen hard; tense and swollen with painless rumblings unaccompanied
with belching of wind; he goes to bed with these symptoms, but they are
gone in the morning.
However, there remains a constrictive pain below the ribs, passing
across the stomach with much thirst. Five hours later there occurred
alvine discharges; the first was very hard with much tenesmus, so that
the whole abdomen was retracted; the last discharges were fluid,
abundant and without tenesmus, in consequence of which the swelling of
the abdomen went down a little.
The pains disappear, however, with redness of the face, alternating with
cold sweat.
Standing and walking soon bring back the symptoms again.
Pressing the arm against the stomach and squeezing it relieved the pain
and then she was able to breathe deeply, which she could not do
otherwise.
Stomach swollen in the afternoon; went to bed at 10 o'clock and slept
one hour, awoke with urging to vomit and soon after threw up acid water
and the food taken the preceding day.
Griping in the abdomen, extending down into the rectum, with a feeling
as if this organ was ligated; she feels so weak that she has to support
herself to keep from falling, with cold sweat in the face, lasting half
an hour.
Severe itching in the abdomen which ceases and is always followed by
copious white expectoration, with flashes of heat in the face and great
weakness.
At first coldness in the feet, then stinging and pressing pains in the
right hypochondrium. From here the pains pass to the stomach with
swelling of the abdomen; then they extend up the spine to the shoulders.
Spasmodic, stabbing pains, one after the other, in the Mons Veneris,
when standing on her feet she has a desire to put one foot over the
other.
A spasmodic pain in the left inguinal region as of incarcerated wind,
which extends upward across the abdomen, causing a painful spot in the
region of the spleen.
STOOL.
Bowels confined for two days and very hard; the evacuation occurs in
small pieces.
No evacuation for three days, the abdomen seems very full, as if much
had been eaten, with loss of appetite.
Evacuations accompanied with stinging, cutting pains in the rectum which
persist more than an hour, with vehement tenesmus.
Obstinate constipation in children is readily cured.
The child has a movement only once in three or four days, accompanied
with severe pain in the anus.
Frequent desire for stool without result.
Stools hard but occurring every day.
After going for three days without stool he is obliged to remain an hour
before expelling anything and becomes very much fatigued.
Evacuations hard as nuts expelled with much difficulty, with spasmodic
pains in the intestines; the feces escape in small pieces.
Chronic constipation with hemorrhoids and continual urging to stool
without result.
URINARY ORGANS, ETC.
Often passes much urine.
Frequent desire to pass urine after cramps in the stomach.
Was obliged to urinate three times in the space of four hours, but only
a small quantity each time; otherwise she only urinated once during the
same length of time and with strangury.
Urine very hot and light colored.
Passes much urine and after a quarter of an hour passes an equally large
quantity, although she had drunk but little.
Slight itching and burning in the vulva when not urinating.
Feeling of heat in the vulva.
Very hot urine causing heat at the vulva.
Very hot urine with burning pain at the vulva.
The menstruation appears several days too late.
The blood is black and abundant.
The menstrual blood is reddish-black.
The menstruation comes on six days too soon, when on the feet the blood
flows continuously.
During the menstruation she feels cold externally and hot internally and
must drink a great deal.
Cutting pains through the body on the second day of the menstruation.
White fluid discharge like milk coming away in drops.
Very profuse white discharge, leaving white and gray spots on the linen,
with itching in the abdomen.
The white discharge has a sweetish odor.
A chronic rattling in the throat causes a dry cough.
The whole chest pains as if compressed, and when breathing, sharp
stabbing pains traverse the chest, worse on the left side.
Stinging in the chest which prevents him from taking a long breath.
Pain in the region of the diaphragm as if it was inflamed; when gaping,
drawing pains under the right ribs, extending as far as the spine; they
come and go frequently and are aggravated by respiration.
Stabbing pains one after another in the upper portion of the left
breast, worse when breathing, lasting half an hour.
Stinging pains under the false ribs on the left side which grow on lying
down, on external pressure and on deep respiration with flashes of heat.
Twisting pains in the left breast.
The nipples pain on touching them, as if they were sore inside.
BACK.
Pains in the spine, extending into the lumbar vertebræ and then into
both sides above the crests of the ilia and into the inguinal regions,
where a pain as of inflammation is felt.
The dorsal pains are increased by bending.
Pains in the spine as if it had been injured, as bad during repose as
when in motion.
Drawing and stinging between the shoulders with oppression of breath.
Drawing pains between the shoulders, extending downward along the spine,
toward the liver and upward into the chest; then the respiration becomes
oppressed and frequent shooting pains traverse the entire body.
In the left axilla, an electric shock which shakes the whole body, and
in all the joints there occurs a trembling, such as might be produced by
an electric machine, and which causes each time a sensation of fear.
UPPER EXTREMITIES.
The whole right arm, but principally the axilla, feels as if it had been
dislocated by a blow.
Stabbing pain under the right arm toward the breast.
The right arm feels heavy and she cannot lift it well; feels a sensation
of numbness as if the clothing was too tight, with turgescence of the
veins.
The muscles of the forearm seem to grow large and have a feeling of
stiffness.
Wrenching pains in the elbow joints.
Wrenching pains in the joints of the left hand.
Pains as if from fatigue in both loins, when ascending the stairs.
Drawing and cutting pains from one iliac crest to the other as if a
knife had traversed the abdomen; often intermitting and always
returning.
LOWER EXTREMITIES.
Painful tension in the muscles of the thigh as if a long walk had been
taken.
Wrenching pain on the outside of the right knee extending down the
right side of the leg to the malleolus, from thence into the heel, where
it ceases.
Trembling of the legs from the knees to the toes so that there is
difficulty in walking or raising the feet.
Tearing pains in the calves of the legs, with a feeling of heat,
extending down to the toes; the palms of the hands and soles of the feet
are very hot.
Tearing pains in the articulations of the feet and in the toes, for
several hours.
The back and soles of the feet are swollen, after thirty-four hours,
with tearing pains in the ankles and soles of the feet on account of
which, though very tired, he was not able to sleep.
A feeling as of electric shocks in all the joints.
GENERALITIES.
General weariness lasting several days.
When sitting down, a feeling as if the whole body were swaying to and
fro.
At 4 o'clock in the afternoon great fatigue with profuse cold sweat and
somnolence for two hours.
Much of the hair falls out.
Pulse weak and thready and increased in frequency.
Frequent gaping with great somnolence.
Continued yawning, although the joints of the jaw are painful.
She would like to sleep all the time, day and night.
She cannot keep awake and goes to sleep in her chair; her feet go to
sleep.
After having passed the night rolling around in bed without waking and
passing from one dream to another, she wakes at 5 o'clock, the bed
clothing thrown aside and without her night cap, a thing which had never
happened to her before.
Sensual lascivious dreams.
PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS.
NAT. ORD., Synanthereæ.
COMMON NAME, "Bitter broom." Escoba amaya.
PREPARATION.--The dry plant is macerated in five parts by weight of
alcohol.
(Dr. Edward Fornias contributed to the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, 1886, two papers on this remedy. The first
gave the results of physiological experiments; the second
is a résumé of those results, including the proving by
Dr. B. H. B. Sleght, as follows:)
_Résumé of Symptoms._--If we boil down the matter, extracting only the
symptoms and changes observed during the above experiments with
_Parthenina_, we have the following: _Heaviness and dulness of head,
tendency to vertigo, malaise, apathy, lassitude, profuse and very fluid
salivation, sensation of heat and weight in the stomach, increased
appetite, gastric intolerance, nausea and vomiting. Increased stupor,
desire to be quiet, refusal of food, and indifference. Excitation of the
heart beats, or slow beating of the heart; depressed circulation, or
general functional activity; pulse accelerated, or slow, weak, soft,
compressible, without dicrotism; progressive slowing of the pulse,
followed by syncope, cardiac paralysis_ (and death). _Accelerated, or
slow, irregular breathing_ (_Cheyne-Stokes_); _rise and fall of
temperature, tremors, shivering, diminished perspiration; dilation of
the pupils; convulsions_ (clonic and tonic); _muscular relaxation,
anæsthesia and increased urine and saliva. _The kidneys were found
enlarged and congested, with evident signs of sanguineous stasis. The
process of coagulation of the blood was retarded. The red corpuscles
increased in volume. There was a fall of the blood-pressure, and
vascular dilatation_ (of reflex origin). _The heart was found arrested
in diastole, and the brain anæmic. A marked diminution of reflex action
in the hips and extinction of the voluntary movements_, were noticed.
Also a transient excitement of the voluntary movements. And finally the
sensibility and the muscular contractility were diminished._
CASES CURED BY PARTHENINA.--In regard to the therapeutic value of
_Parthenina_, little is known as yet, but the plant from which this
alkaloid is derived, as said before, has been employed for years in
Cuba, both by the people and profession, against fevers of a paludal
origin.
Dr. Ramirez Tovar has reported in several numbers of the _Cronica
Médico-Quirúrgica_, of Havana, the following cases treated by him with
_Parthenina_, with the best results:
CASE I.--"A lady living in the lower part of the city, where the rain
always leaves constant channels of infection, was suffering with _daily
attacks of intermittent_, which grew more intense every day. She
received 1 gram of the salt, divided in six powders, to be taken one
every hour after the attack. The next day she had no chill, and the
thermometer indicated the absence of fever. She was nursing at the time,
and stated that she had noticed a marked increase of milk in her
breasts; 50 centigrams more, in doses, were given to her, and the fever
did not return again."
CASE II.--"A tailor, 30 years of age, had moved to the lower part of the
city and contracted a _tertian intermittent_. He had four paroxysms
before the doctor saw him, the last one being _attended by much pain in
the left hypochondrium_. He received 1 gram, in 5 doses. There was
apyrexia on the day the attack was due, and this did not return again.
This man continued to live in the same house, under the same regimen and
hygienic conditions."
CASE III,--"A little girl, 6 years of age, lymphatic constitution,
living near the beach of the harbor, was brought to Dr. Ramirez Tovar's
clinic, suffering for 17 days with _malaise, loss of appetite,
sleepiness and fever_. She had taken quinine, both internally and
externally, with little benefit, and _was wasting away notably_. At 4
P.M. she commenced to take 50 centigrams of the salt, in 8 doses, and
the next day at the same hour the thermometer indicated a fall from
39.5° C. of the previous day to 38.5° C. The mother was ordered to
repeat the medicine at longer intervals, but for want of means the child
did not take any more. On the 4th or 5th day the temperature went up to
39.5° again, then she was provided with the medicine, and 3 days later
the temperature was normal. The action of the alkaloid was aided here by
a tonic wine prepared from the extract of the plant."
CASE IV.--"A man 45 years of age, _of delicate constitution, poorly
nourished, with a straw yellow face, yellow sclerotics, enlarged liver
and spleen, the latter somewhat painful to pressure_, who had contracted
_intermittent fever_ while in Panama, and had taken quinine, was
complaining, when Dr. Ramirez Tovar saw him (middle part of December),
_of a pain in the right side_ (more severe in some points than in
others), which commenced at 1 P.M., with _shiverings_, and which
disappeared after two hours to return again the next day at precisely
the same time and with the same symptoms. He received 1 gram of
_Parthenina_, in 5 doses, one every hour, right after the cessation of
the pain. He was seen by the doctor the next day at 4 P.M., and up to
that time the pain had not returned. He took then 50 centigrams more, in
5 doses, one every hour, and was free of pain until the latter part of
January, when he again consulted the doctor, this time the _pain being
located in the stomach_, for which _Parthenina_ was repeated (1 gram in
5 doses, one every two hours). The next day the pain had ceased, but
returned on the third, and he again received 1 gram, in the same manner
as before, and since then he has been free from pain."
CASE V.--"A young lady, 18 years of age, complained of _facial neuralgia
with periodical exacerbations_, from which she was suffering four days.
She received 1 gram of _Parthenina_, in 5 doses, one every hour, and on
the following day she was entirely free from pain. Fifty centigrams
more, in 4 doses, were given to this lady to prevent a relapse, and the
result was a complete cure."
And to finish this report, I will mention a case which came under my
notice: "A little girl, my niece, 5 years old, living in Havana, who,
when seen by the late Dr. Govantes, of that city, had been suffering for
some time before from _a continued fever, with periodical mid-day
exacerbations, which later on, assumed an intermittent type_. She had
been saturated with _quinine_, and complained, at the time, of
_malaise_, _lassitude_, _languor_, _headache_, _loss of appetite_,
_gastric intolerance_, _etc._ The temperature went up as high as 40.6°
C. during the hot stage, which was short and was followed by copious
sweats, giving relief. _Parthenium hysterophorus_ in the form of an
extract, prepared and sold at Dr. Villavicenci's Pharmacy, in Havana,
was prescribed by Dr. Govantes. Three doses a day, each of the size of a
pea, dissolved in water, were given for 4 or 5 days, and at the end of
that time she was entirely free of fever and made a quick recovery."
If such results can be ascribed to _Parthenium_ and its alkaloid
_Parthenina_, I think it would be unjustifiable to set them aside. An
early proving of the plant will not only enhance our therapeutic
resources, but prevent the non-scrupulous from employing it empirically.
* * * * *
Proving of _Parthenium hysterophorus_, Dr. B. H. B. Sleght.
February 12th.--Until a few days ago had a slight continuous toothache
due to a cavity in last molar of lower jaw; cavity recently filled.
General health has been excellent for some time.
7:40 A.M. Took 5 drops of tincture. At once have a full feeling in head,
especially vertex, pressing from within.
7:45. Ringing in ears, < left.
7:50. Took 10 drops. Ringing and fulness continue and become worse.
7:58. Upper teeth feel "on edge," with slight prickling pains in
sockets, which slowly grow more severe.
8:00. Breakfast; above symptoms continue, but grow less severe.
8:10. Loud rumbling in bowels; irrepressible eructations, tasteless.
8:20. 20 drops. A "shivery" feeling runs over limbs and back as this is
taken. Singing in ears had ceased but begins again, as does the
rumbling.
8:40. "Goneness" in epigastrium, singing ceases; some fulness in head
remains.
8:45. Same feeling in teeth as above; singing in ears; head thick,
heavy.
8:50. Sharp, aching twinges in upper molars; some sharp pains in ears.
Pulse 72.
9:10. 25 drops.
9:15. Stitching pain in left temple, of short duration. Upper incisors
tender at sockets when biting.
9:25. Sudden pain in upper teeth with lachrymation, < pressing jaws
together.
9:45. 25 drops.
9:55. Aching pain at left supra-orbital foramen. On going into open air
no symptoms but taste of drug and fulness of head. A tooth filled
yesterday aches slightly, same as before filling.
11:15. 60 drops. Renewed fulness of head. Pulse 76.
11:30. Goneness in epigastrium; vertigo while sitting, with heat of face
and blurred vision. Aching at supra-orbital foramen (left), extending to
root of nose and becoming more severe there, > eyes closed. Feel dull,
stupid. Goneness comes and goes; hunger.
11:45. Aching at lower edge of right ear spreads over side of face; ear
feels plugged up. Am drowsy, eyes "heavy;" goneness and unusual craving
for food.
11:50. Prickling in skin of back of wrists and hands. A twinge of pain
at right infraorbital foramen, gradually increases; cannot fix attention
on what I am reading. Hard, painful lump in epigastrium; better after
eructations tasting of drug. Slight nausea with some relief.
12 M. 60 drops. Requires much effort to fix attention while counting
drops.
12:15 P.M. Head heavy, brain feels loose.
12:30. Stitching pain at lobe of left ear and deep in and above external
auditory meatus.
12:45. Dinner.
1:45. 75 drops.
1:50. Hard lump in epigastrium. Head feels as if in a vise. During P.M.
only "goneness" and continued taste of drug.
9:00 P.M. 100 drops, followed at once by sudden stitching pains in left
frontal eminence, which soon cease.
9:10. Pain in frontal eminence has returned and continues. Teeth "on
edge" and tenderness at sockets. Upper incisors ache as after filling.
Teeth feel too long.
9:30. Lump in epigastrium. Severe plunging pain in left frontal
eminence.
9:45. Stabbing pain runs up rectum after passing flatus.
Mushy stool at 10:30 P.M. (Usually have passage at 10 A.M.; to-day no
desire.)
February 13th.--Passed restless night, waking at 3 or 4 o'clock, then
dozing and dreaming until 7:30; rose with throbbing deep in brain, as if
it would push through top of head; "big" head, > after moving
about and washing face. 7:45. 120 drops. 7:55. Breakfast. 8:20. Aching
in eyeballs. No further symptoms all day.
9:30 P.M. 5 drops. 9:35. 5 drops.
Same tenderness at sockets of upper incisors when biting.
9:40. 5 drops. Sudden darting pains in right, then in left frontal
eminence, with dull heaviness in forehead, gradually increasing.
9:45. 5 drops. Sudden return of pain in frontal eminence. Fulness and
aching in ears, coming suddenly. Upper teeth all ache, and feel too
long.
9:50. 5 drops. Beating ache in middle of forehead. Bursting pain in
right malar bone. Tingling in tip of tongue. Sudden motion increases
frontal pain.
9:55. 5 drops. Slight colicky pain at navel. Eructations of drug.
10:00. 5 drops. Same frontal pain, and brief feeling as if blood would
burst through face; this returns in a few minutes, especially about nose
and root of nose.
10:05. 5 drops. Same frontal pain, and head feels swelled. Pulse, 72.
10:10. 5 drops. Heart-beat all over head, < motion, and over
eyes.
10:15. 5 drops. Splitting pain over both ears in spots the size of
silver dollar.
10:20. Must look intently to see the words; as I write, letters look
pale and eyes ache.
10:25. 5 drops. Eructations tasting of drug. Colicky pains about navel.
10:30. 5 drops. Aching in left lower molars.
10:35. 5 drops. Stabbing pain in left ear. Teeth "on edge."
10:50. All the upper jaw aches, especially at sockets of teeth and on
biting. Fulness and pressure in ears. Temples feel as if in a vise. All
symptoms < after going up stairs.
February 14th.--Again awoke early, 3 or 4 A.M., and rose at 7:30, after
a dreamful sleep, with headache. Felt better after going about. No
symptoms during day.
February 15th.--Passed restless night. Fell asleep late, with headache
at vertex--a pushing out. Awoke at 4 or 5 A.M. heavy and stupid; then
again slept.
February 17th.--5:00 A.M. Took 2-1/2 drachms.
5:02. Eructations taste of drug. Goneness in epigastrium. Pulse, 72.
Some rumbling about navel.
5:10. Head heavy; pressure at right frontal eminence, which increases to
sharp, penetrating pain, going to root of nose, then to end of nose,
where it is most severe. At root of nose, stuffed feeling, as with dry
coryza. Pain in nose gets more and more severe; restlessness succeeds;
never had such a pain; seems now all in bones of nose and worse on left
side. Forehead has ceased to ache. Pain seems to start from
supra-orbital foramen now.
5:15. Upper incisors commence to ache. Aching and bursting pain in nose
remains; nose feels swollen. Teeth "on edge." Epigastric goneness.
5:25. Sharp pain in left upper and lower molars. Pain in nose has
ceased. Bursting pain in left frontal eminence. Upper molars tender at
sockets.
February 23d.--12:30. Took 6 No. 40 pills saturated with 6x dil. 2:00
P.M. Same dose. 4:20. Same. 5:00. Sharp, aching pain deep in left ear,
gradually grows worse.
5:10. Singing and dull aching in right ear.
5:15. Singing and a pushing out in left ear. Fulness of frontal
eminences; thence pains go to root of nose and nose becomes tender to
touch. Sharp pain again deep in right ear. Aching of "bridge" of nose
and of upper left molars. Hands feel numb, especially dorsal aspects.
Rumbling in bowels about navel. Pain again at root of nose. Colic deep
in pelvis; pains run down back of thigh to knees.
5:15. Pains again in frontal eminences.
5:25. Aching over eyes; feel like closing them; aching pains run up from
above left eye-tooth to eye and over face; occurs by starts and stops.
Frontal headache and pains down nose recur at intervals.
5:30. Aching, very severe, at the left side of "bridge" of nose. Sharp
stitch deep in left ear. Throbbing in vertex. Sockets of upper teeth
tender. Aching at end of nose, which feels full of blood.
5:45. 6 pellets. All pains continue as above. Brain seems loose,
< moving head. Front of head feels big.
6:00. P.M. Stabbing deep in left ear, < by pressing teeth
together.
6:30. Various pains gradually subside.
PASSIFLORA INCARNATA.
NAT. ORD., Passifloraceæ.
COMMON NAME, Passion flower.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves and flowers gathered in May are macerated
in two parts by weight of alcohol. A preparation may also be made from
the expressed juice of the fresh leaves.
(There has been so much written concerning this unproved
remedy that we can only give an abstract of a part of it.
Dr. Lindsay, formerly of Bayou Gras, La., was the first
to call attention to it a few weeks before his death. He
wrote in answer to an inquiry as follows--Hale's New
Remedies):
I have much to say. I am satisfied it is no narcotic. It never stupefies
or overpowers the senses. A patient under its full influence may be
wakened up, and he will talk to you as rationally as ever he did; leave
him a moment and he will soon be off to the Elysian Fields again. I have
tried it, my friend, in all sorts of neuralgic affections, and have
usually astonished my more enlightened patients with it. Many times I
have had them to ask me what in the world it was that had such a sweet
influence over them.
(Dr. L. Phares, of Newtonia, Miss., states):
I never saw anything act so promptly in erysipelas. I have used it with
advantage in ulcers, neuralgias and tetanus. I have seen wonderful
effects of it in relieving tetanus, and will mention one case from
memory: Some ten years ago I was called to see an old lady, in a distant
part of the country, who was reported to be "having fits." I found her
to be able to be up most of the time, but, while examining her,
convulsions came on, affecting mainly the trunkal muscles, and drawing
the head back. I gave her instantly a dose of _Passiflora_. The
convulsions subsided, and she has never had one since. I continued the
use of the medicine in small doses for a few days. I have used it in
treating tetanus in horses--a disease usually considered as inevitably
fatal to that noble animal. It has never failed to cure the horse. * *
During the late war, my son, Dr. J. H. Phares, had occasion many times
to prescribe the _Passiflora_ for tetanus in horses, with one invariable
result--prompt, perfect, permanent cure. He fortunately saw no case in
man. * * * Since the foregoing was written, I have treated with the
hydro-alcoholic extract of _Passiflora_ several cases of neuralgia, and
one of sleeplessness, with incessant motion and suicidal mania. With the
same extract during the current week, Dr. J. H. Phares has treated, with
the most prompt and satisfactory success, a very virulent and hopeless
case of tetanus, with ophisthotonos, trismus and convulsions, in a child
two years old. Other most potent remedies, in heroic doses, having
failed to produce any effect in this case, he thinks that nothing but
the _Passiflora_ could possibly have saved the child.
(The editor of the _California Medical Journal_ (1889)
says):
We have been employing it [_Passiflora_] in some cases of spinal
meningitis after the acute symptoms had subsided, when the patients were
unable to sleep, either day or night: could not endure the bed, and were
unable to maintain the sitting posture, with highly satisfactory
results. It is administered in small doses. Add ten drops of the mother
tincture (Homoeopathic) to half a tumbler of water; teaspoonful every
two hours.
(At the meeting of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of
Delaware and Peninsula, November 14, 1889, Dr. W. D. Troy
read a paper on _Passiflora_ (see _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, May, 1890), from which we take the following):
My erysipelatous case was a man of some fifty years. When first seen was
a-bed, high fever, facial erysipelas of the flaming, rampant sort, the
one eye had disappeared, the other was in rapid retreat. Patient in
great anxiety; sharp, stinging pains; could not rest. Was about to give
_Apis_ when I thought of my _Passion flower_. Gave two-drop doses of the
tincture every two hours. Put one-half an ounce of same into one quart
of water for local application, to be applied hot by flannels and oiled
silk. After six hours patient fell asleep; was awakened for medicine
every three hours during the night; went to sleep easily after each
dose. Said in morning he had had a night's good rest. Found inflammation
markedly reduced. I now changed the remedy--gave _Ham._, both internally
and externally. On next visit found patient every way worse. The disease
had sneaked across the scalp and invaded the whole face. The case began
to look serious. Returned to the _Passiflora_ and kept to it with the
most happy results.
My next experience was in a Chorea--a girl budding into womanhood, but
in whom the menses had not yet appeared. Child was well developed for
her years, fourteen. I learned that for two or three years past the
child had "fits," varying at times from moderate to severe. The neurosis
was unilateral, the right side alone being affected. The child had had
traditional treatment, "off and on," for some time without manifest
improvement. I began with the _Passiflora_ 1x dil., 10 gtt. doses every
three hours. Kept it up for several days, the Choreic symptoms being not
quite so violent; still I was growing anxious--wanted more positive
results. Added daily a five-drop dose of tincture. After a few more days
the mother informed me that there had been a slight "show"--merely
enough to stain the diaper, and that for the last two days there had
been hardly any "fits." This was encouraging. I judged that the day of
deliverance was nigh. Very little more of the drug was given until about
the time for next menstrual flux. Then I resumed it with the most
satisfactory results. No nervous symptoms save such as are more or lest
common to all women at the "periods" subsequently prevailed.
(The following case was reported by Dr. D. C. Buell
Dunlevy, of Port Chester, N. Y.--_Homoeopathic
Recorder_, Nov., 1890):
Mr. D----, æt. 52, sent for me to attend him during the month of May. I
found him presenting all the prodromal symptoms of delirium tremens, and
at once ordered him to bed, and none too soon, as the event proved. For
seven days he tossed about in a wild delirium, which was greatly
aggravated by marked gastric irritation. I had him carefully watched,
both day and night, until the delirium wore off. The treatment up to
this time was _Cannabis Ind._ for the mental trouble and _Nux v._, which
greatly relieved the gastric symptoms. But the moment he began to
improve the old cravings for liquor and morphine returned. Right here
let me say that for years he has been a great sufferer from piles, and
the only rest he could get was to sit propped up in his chair. His
sufferings caused him to seek relief during the day in liquor, and at
nights in morphine. And this habit had so fastened itself upon him that
try as he might he could not give it up. When he came under my treatment
I at once put a stop to all stimulants and narcotics, but not without
considerable trouble, for he seemed determined to have them. Night after
night he would lie there calling for something to make him sleep, and
this kept up until he was bordering on a state of insanity. Fully
realizing that something must be done, and that quickly, too, I made up
my mind to try _Passiflora_. This I did, and from the time I gave him
the first dose improvement set in and has continued ever since. I at
first gave him a half teaspoonful of the [Greek: theta] at bed time, but
this not proving sufficient I increased it to a teaspoonful. He has now
been taking it almost constantly for a period of eight weeks and claims
he has not had as natural a sleep for years; and lays particular stress
on the fact that when he awakes in the morning he feels so refreshed and
his mind remains clear. But what seems even more wonderful is that from
the day he first took this drug up to the present he has never felt the
slightest desire to return to his former habits. The mere mention of
liquor or opium seems to sicken him, and I am fully satisfied that he is
now cured and will (so far as liquor and opium are concerned) remain so.
He now takes special delight in praising the drug to his friends, and
really seems never to tire talking about the wonderful help it has been
to him. I have also prescribed the drug to others for insomnia and
always with success, one case excepted, in which I gave it for
hemicrania, and here, although it quieted the patient, it failed to
produce the desired sleep.
(The following is extracted from a paper on _Passiflora_,
by Dr. C. A. Walters, of Brooklyn. _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, July, 1890:)
In April, 1888, was called to an infant, 14 months, convulsions, caused
by dentition; symptoms called for _Belladonna_, of which the 1x dil., 5
drops in half a glass water, teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until
better, then once an hour. The child improved from start, and the
convulsions ceased in one hour from commencing the medicine. The next
day the child appeared in usual health, and the _Belladonna_ was given
once in eight hours and discharged from further attendance.
Thirty-six hours after I was recalled, the child was in another spasm.
No _Belladonna_ symptoms being present I gave 5 drops of _Passiflora_
tincture, every fifteen minutes, with the result that it never had
another spasm from that day to this. The child slept soundly all through
the night and awoke the next morning in its usual good health.
Since then I have prescribed it for the sleeplessness of dentition
without a failure, giving it usually in from 5 to 10 drops a dose, to be
repeated every fifteen minutes until sleep. I never give it during the
day for this purpose, but begin at bedtime.
In the insomnia of adults, from whatsoever cause, I always give 60 drops
at bedtime, and if not asleep in half an hour I give the same dose.
Experience has taught me that to give it in smaller doses is a waste of
time and disappointing to the patient. Two such doses, _i. e._, 60 drops
a dose, are almost absolutely sure of giving the patient a natural and
refreshing sleep. The old school seem to have been forced to resort to
_Sulfonal_ (whatever that may be) as the only thing capable of producing
sleep, and yet, judging from the reports in their journals, it does not
seem to "fill the bill." Were they ever to give this a trial we would
not hear so much of _Morphine_, _Chloral_, _Bromides_, and the like.
I have never used _Passiflora_ in erysipelas, having always been able to
discharge my patients in from two to four days by giving them
_Jaborandi_.
In neuralgia and headache it has acted with wonderful rapidity, even the
headache of uterine displacements being brought under its influence. It
is almost a daily occurrence to have people whom I never saw before come
miles to my office for that "sleeping medicine made from the passion
flower."
In conclusion let me say to the brethren, try it. But give it in
appreciable doses. Don't be afraid of it. I would not hesitate to give
it in four drachm doses, if required. But why give four when one will
do?
P. S.--Since writing the foregoing I have used _Passiflora_ in two cases
of delirium tremens. It acted like a charm in both cases; sent them to
sleep in half an hour, and when they awoke, twelve and fourteen hours
after, they were themselves again. Sixty drops of tincture a dose, two
doses in each.
(The following was reported by Dr. Joseph Adolphus, in
_American Medical Journal_:)
A lady who had for several months suffered untold agonies, as she
described her sufferings; her pain was described as if a weight of many
pounds was lying on her brain; the sense of pressure and tearing inside
the skull was fearful; her head felt as if enveloped in ice; the pains
ran down the back of her neck, and finally reached the lower end of
sacrum, so that a slight touch of the coccyx caused exquisite agony.
This was a case in which coccygodinia was associated with the cerebral
and spinal disease. I failed to relieve the pain for more than a few
hours at a time with all other remedies I had tried; at this juncture,
when despair was taking the place of hope, I thought of _Passiflora_,
which I then administered in teaspoonful doses every two hours; the
result was something to be remembered, for she enjoyed excellent and
refreshing night's rest the following night, waking up in the morning
much refreshed, nearly free from pain, with a good relish for breakfast.
I continued the medicament every four hours for several days, for no
further uses for medicine seemed indicated, as there was a rapid and
complete recovery.
A lady complained of pain in her rectum continuously; the coccyx was
also quite tender to the touch. There were several erosions on the lips
of the os uteri; leucorrhoea and severe pain in the small of the back
when a certain spot (over last dorsal and first and second lumbar
vertebræ) was pressed on. I found she had been treated secundum artem
for the uterine trouble, locally and constitutionally, to no certain
satisfactory result. Her respirations were often twenty-eight to thirty
per minute, much wakefulness, and at times feeling of constriction
across her breast and a sense as if her heart would stop beating.
Teaspoonful doses of the _Passiflora incar._ was the specific in her
case. She continued it every four hours two weeks, but from the outset
of treatment she felt the right remedy was administered.
These rectum troubles in women are frequently met with in practice. I
find the _Passiflora incar._ the best single remedy I have for them.
Recently a man consulted me for a constant pain in his heart; he
described it as sharp and like a pang--often causing a sense of
immediate dissolution, and fear of death was on him all the time; pulse
irregular in rhythm, now rapid, next slower, occasionally a beat
missing; sounds very normal, but accentuated and sharp. _Passiflora
incarnata_ was a specific in this case; no doubt the center and probably
the local ganglia were irritated from some cause, and, whatever it was,
the medicament removed both.
By the way, I must not forget to say you will find it a valuable
medicament in sleeplessness and tossing restlessness in your fever
patients. I use the tincture in teaspoonful doses every four hours. It
appears the remedy has a soothing effect on the whole nervous system,
without any appreciable narcotic properties.
(From the Transactions of the Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting
of the Maine Homoeopathic Medical Society we take the
following from a paper by Dr. A. I. Harvey on
_Passiflora_:)
It does no good where the inability to sleep is due to pain or distress
of any kind; but in cases where we find that the nervous erethism is not
controlled by the action of _Coffea_, _Opium_, _Sulphur_, or other
apparently indicated remedy. _Passiflora_ is in its place as a
succedaneum for _Morphia_ or other sedatives. The dose varies from ten
drops to one dram of the tincture, according to the age of the patient.
I do not hesitate, in the case of an adult, to give dram doses of the
tincture every hour until the patient sleeps, and have seen it act in
the happiest manner in restoring the rhythm of the heart's action, when
that organ has been deranged in its movements by the combined effects of
exhaustion and loss of sleep.
_Passiflora_ has also given me much aid in a case of morphine habit of
six years' standing, which I cured wholly and entirely by the use of
this remedy. It is recommended in the above mentioned doses for delirium
tremens, trismus, tetanus and kindred diseases of the nervous system,
repeated every hour or half-hour until relief is obtained. The remedy
leaves no after effects, is incapable of creating an appetite, and, so
far as my observation extends, it is perfectly harmless even in large
doses, often repeated.
(Dr. Scudder claimed that the one great indication for
_Passiflora_ in all cases is _a clean tongue_; when the
tongue is foul the remedy will do no good.)
PENTHORUM SEDOIDES.
NAT. ORD., Crassulaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Ditch Stone Crop.
PREPARATION.--The whole fresh plant with the root is macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(The _Medical Advance_ for June, 1887, contains a paper
by Dr. D. B. Morrow, from which the following is taken.)
The object of this paper is to call attention to the fact that the only
proving of _Penthorum_ was made on scientific principles, as these
verifications demonstrate. If the pathogenesy is carefully studied, it
will be seen to meet all the conditions of "common colds," or acute
catarrhs, so prevalent in all sections of North America, from the
symptoms of chill, malaise, headache, soreness, cough, coryza, dry and
flowing, with their secondary consequences of disturbed digestion,
constipation, debility, etc. and it will probably cure any or all of
these conditions when indicated by correspondence to the pathogenesy.
A medicine having such a catarrhal range is probably a remedy for female
troubles equal to _Pulsatilla_ or _Calcarea_, and is worthy of a careful
proving by women. It cures where antipsoric medicines have failed, and
possibly may possess antipsoric qualities.
_Authorities._--1, Dr. D. B. Morrow, U. S. Med. Inves., N. S., 3, p. 565
(_Eclectic Med. Jour._, 1875); effects of tincture, doses of 10 drops,
and after one hour 20 drops; on second day, 40 drops; third day, 60
drops at 9 P.M., and 50 drops at 1 P.M.; 1 A.M. same, effects of 100
drops. 2, Dr. Scudder took 20 drops ("a young man took same dose and had
similar effects").
MIND.--During both provings the mind was dull and exceedingly depressed
and desponding; everything wrong but dinner; reading interfered with
because of mental dullness (second day), 1.--Mind became so dull I gave
up reading and lay upon the lounge (third day).
HEAD.--On closing my eyes felt like I was floating; vertigo (third day),
1.--Headache continued, could not read; went to hear Boutwell, followed
his argument with difficulty, was much annoyed by the little noises made
by the audience (second day), 1.--Headache came on again (third day),
1.--When commencing the proving, had a dull, heavy headache, with heat
and soreness in the sacrum; this was cured (third day), 1.--An
unpleasant heavy pain in the forehead, about the edge of the hair (after
four hours), 2.--Catarrhal aching in the forehead, 1a.--[10] The
fullness in the sinciput became an ache, as though a weight were pressed
down upon it (second day), 1.--Itching of the hairy scalp (second day),
1.
EYE AND EAR.--The inner superior tarsal border of both palpebra itched
and burned (third day), 1.--A full sensation in supra-orbital region (a
hearty supper), (first day), 1.--Ringing and singing in both ears, 1a.
NOSE.--Discharges from nares thick, pus-like, streaked with blood, and
an odor as from an open sore (third day), 1.--A peculiar wet feeling in
my nares as though a violent coryza would set in, which did not; the
secretion from the nose became thickened and pus-like, but not
increased. Wet feeling in trachea and bronchia, passing from above
downward, as if a coryza would set in, followed by a slight feeling of
constriction, which passed from above downward through the chest (first
day), 1.
Catarrhal feeling repeated itself (third day), 1.--Nose felt stuffed, as
if swollen (second day), 1.--Sense of fullness of the nose and ears
(after four hours), 2.--[20] A secondary symptom, a drawing or
contractile feeling of the muscles of the side of the nose affected with
catarrh, 1a.--Itching in the nares, 1a.
MOUTH.--Prickling burning sensation on the tongue, as if scalded (first
day), 1.--Increased flow of saliva (first day), 1.--The bloody sputa
continues, 1a.
THROAT.--The posterior nares feel raw, as if denuded of epithelium, 1a.
STOMACH.--Appetite increased (third day), 1.--Eructations and dejections
of little collections of odorless flatus expelled with force (second
day), 1.--An unpleasant sensation of disgust and nausea, lasting for
three hours, but not interfering with the following meal, which was
eaten with greater relish, 2.--Soreness in epigastrium; this symptom
appeared at first, not recorded because thought idiopathic, 1a.
ABDOMEN [30].--Borborygmus (second day), 1.--Parietes of abdomen felt
thickened (second night), 1.--A clawing, uneasy sensation about the
umbilicus, which gradually passed to lower bowel (second day),
1.--Twitching of the muscles in the abdomen (second day), 1.
RECTUM AND ANUS.--A crawling sensation in lower rectum, as though a worm
tried to escape (second day), 1.--Burning in rectum at stool, continuing
through afternoon, 1a.--Itching of anus; hemorrhoids with aching in
sacrum and in sacro-iliac symphysis (some weeks after proving), 1a.
STOOL.--Semi-fluid evacuation of the bowels next morning, having been
somewhat constipated, 2.--Some weeks after proving suffered from
constipation, an atonic condition of bowels and rectum, 1a.--Was costive
when commencing proving; had two natural stools from yesterday's
medicine (third day), 1.
URINARY ORGANS [40].--A dull aching in kidneys (third day), 1.--The
bladder becomes sore to pressure (third day), 1.--Urine still increased
in flow, with burning along the urethra when micturating (third day),
1.--Urine clear, passed more frequently (second day), 1.--Urine actively
acid, as shown by litmus; no cloud on boiling; threw down a sediment
with _Sulphuric acid_, _Ammonia_, and _Argentum nitrum_ and _Nitric
acid_, when boiled; the next day after the dose it was alkaline, as
shown by litmus, and only precipitated with _Argentum nitricum_;
slightly cloudy, with caloric; unloaded, but increased in quantity, 1a.
SEXUAL ORGANS.--Sexual orgasm (second night), 1.--Erythismus of the
sexual system, almost a satyriasis; a slight variocele of long standing
was apparently cured (some weeks after proving); this condition was
succeeded by a corresponding depression of sexual function, approaching
impotency, after months of time returning to the normal condition, 1a.
RESPIRATORY ORGANS.--In the morning a cough seemed to come from deep in
the chest, with soreness throughout the chest (third day), 1.
CHEST.--Slight feeling of constriction, which passed from above down
through the chest, followed the wet feeling in trachea and bronchia
(first day), 1.
PULSE [50].--Pulse regular at 58 (first day), 1.
NECK AND BACK.--Aching through basilar region, from back to front,
1a.--The aching in sacral region reappeared, but subsided as the
medicine was eliminated, 1a.--Aching in sacrum and in sacro-iliac
symphysis, with the itching of anus, hemorrhoids, 1a.--(When commencing
the proving, had heat and soreness in the sacrum, with a dull, heavy
headache; this was cured), (third day), 1.
EXTREMITIES.--Arm went to sleep (numb), 1.--Hand felt swollen (second
night), 1.--A trembling feeling of legs for several days, with soreness
of knees, 1.--While on the lounge the muscles of the leg were suddenly
contracted, jerking up the foot as in stepping; in a moment the right
one performed the same manoeuvre (third day), 1.
SKIN.--A long-cured impetiginous eczema reappeared on both legs,
1a.--[60] A few hot prickings in the skin (second and third days),
1.--Itching of the face and forehead, 1a.--The itchings repeated
themselves (third day), 1.
SLEEP AND FEVER.--Fantastic dreams (second night), 1.--Voluptuous dreams
and increased sexual desire, sympathetic with urinary excitement, 1a.--A
few cold chills rushed up the spinal column (first day), 1.
(In addition to the foregoing we quote the following from
same authority):
Prover cured a severe acute flowing coryza, headache, vertigo and cough,
with sticking pains throughout the chest, heaviness and trembling of the
lower limbs; pulse, 110. _Penthorum_ 3x quickly cured.
Miss P----, a blonde of 17, had a severe cough of several weeks
duration; worse from talking or singing. Frothy greenish sputa.
_Pulsatilla_ and afterwards _Phosphorus_ were given without benefit.
_Penthorum_ soon cured.
In the prover it produced a general malaise, headache, weakness of limbs
and inability to attend to business, a feeling as though he must give up
and be sick. I have promptly relieved several patients having these
symptoms with _Penthorum_. It produces a soreness throughout the chest,
with a severe dry cough, "as though I would cough my insides out," worse
in the morning. Have speedily cured several such coughs with it.
PHASEOLUS NANA.
NAT. ORD., Leguminosæ.
COMMON NAME, Dwarf Bean.
PREPARATION.--The crushed beans are macerated in five parts by weight of
alcohol.
(In 1896 and 1897 Dr. A. M. Cushing wrote several
articles on this new remedy, and among them the
following, which appeared in the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, 1897.)
While making a proving of the above remedy I felt a sudden curious
sensation in the region of the heart, and immediately felt of my pulse
and found it _very weak and fluttering_. I have been asked what that
sensation was, but I can't describe it, for, to tell the truth, I
believe I was frightened and failed to remember it. Although it is
unpleasant to be badly frightened, the nice results I have seen from the
use of the remedy and the kind words I have received from the
profession in regard to it has more than paid for the little fright. As
so little is known of the remedy, I wish to report one case that was not
at all indicated by the proving and two cases under the care of an old
school doctor. My case was that of a lady aged about forty, who for two
years was under the care of a homoeopathic doctor for some trouble, I
don't know what; then two years under the care of another homoeopathic
doctor for a fibroid of the uterus. She had twice consulted a specialist
in Boston, who said it could not be removed. Then she came under my care
with a fibroid as large as a fetus at full term. Suffice it to say, I
gave remedies in a higher attenuation than I believed she had taken, and
in a few months the tumor had greatly diminished and gave her no
trouble. Still she was nervous and had neuralgic pains almost all over
her. As remedies did not seem to relieve her for any length of time, I
decided to give her _Phaseolus_ 9x, as it probably would do as well as
what I had given her. The next time I called she met me with "I want a
whole bottle like what you gave me last." She does not have to take any
medicine now.
I was called in consultation with an old school doctor to a case of
confinement. Patient, 26; first child; had been in pain forty-eight
hours, but not severe till the last twelve hours. Patient, fleshy; urine
heavily loaded with albumen. I knew that trouble was ahead, as she
became blind. I found the head jacked firmly in the superior straits,
face presentation which I could not change. I decided to wait a little,
help what I could and watch the results. In a little while she went to
sleep, the first quiet sleep in forty-eight hours; but when she moved it
was in a fearful convulsion. I expected the convulsions, but felt that
if I applied the forceps, before they appeared some might say if he had
let her alone she would not have had them. I immediately turned her upon
her left side, well covered up, and adjusted my forceps and soon had the
head through the bony parts; and as it is my custom to remove the
forceps till the soft parts are dilated to prevent rupture I commenced
to do so, when a fearful expulsive convulsion threw forceps and a
thirteen-pound child into the bed with a complete rupture of the
perineum--my first such case in forty-one years. While she was
unconscious I took the necessary stitches, the doctor attending to the
medical part. One hour later, when I was in the kitchen helping the
nurse and a few damsels dress the baby, the doctor came to me and said
her heart was failing in its action fast. I gave him a vial of No. 25
globules medicated with 9x _Phaseolus_, and told him to give her a dose
about the size of a bean (being a bean remedy). Ten minutes later he
said: "That is wonderful, her heart is all right." Three times during
the night he had to repeat it with the same results. Afterwards she had
no trouble.
One week later the same doctor came to me saying: "I want a bottle of
that remedy." Yesterday I was called to see a lady who was unconscious,
pulseless, breathing ten times a minute, beyond hope as I supposed. I
gave her three doses of _Phaseolus_, and she is all right.
P. S.--If not too late, I would like to add a little to the paper I sent
you not long ago. The same old school doctor to whom I referred in that
paper tells me he has used _Phaseolus_ in another case of heart disease
with a success similar to the others reported.
A few weeks since a lady aged 50, nurse by profession, came to me
saying, at times, she had fearful time with her heart palpitating and
feeling as if she should die. Being in great haste, I made no
examination, but gave her a vial of _Phaseolus_ 15x to take a dose three
or four times a day, as needed. Yesterday she called, saying she was
going out of the city, but did not dare to go without some more of the
medicine, for she _never took anything in her life that did so much good
as that_.
(Dr. Cushing also read the following paper before the
Massachusetts Homoeopathic Medical Society, which we
take from the _New England Medical Gazette_. January,
1897:)
By request I appear before you to-day, and I presume you will be
disappointed if my paper is not on some new remedy; and such it is,--a
remedy, I think, worthy the careful investigation of every
homoeopathic physician,--phaseolus nana, or the common white bean. It
is unnecessary for me to say to you that Boston is called a bean-eating
city, or refer to the many sudden deaths there or in its vicinity from
brain or heart trouble, nor how in a certain way young men grow old. Can
you tell me the cause? I shall not take the time to report the proving I
made, nor why I began it, nor how I prepared it, nor its wonderful
effects upon the nervous system, the genital organs, stomach, bowels, or
kidneys, in the provings, referring only to three symptoms. A medical
student has made a short but interesting proving of the remedy,
confirming some of my symptoms. While my proving was going on nicely, I
suddenly felt a curious sensation in the region of the heart. It was so
sudden and strange I immediately felt of my pulse and found it very
irregular and feeble, so much so I think I was frightened, at least I
did not take any more of the medicine. Never before had I had any
irregular action of the heart. Soon after, I read that foreign
physicians were using a decoction of the growing bean and pod for
dropsy.
About that time I was called to see a hopeless case of uterine cancer
with severe general dropsy. I prescribed the best I knew and decided to
try the bean remedy. Several days elapsed before I could get any, and
then only the dry pods, as it was in December. I steeped them and gave
it with apparent relief. I report this case more especially to speak of
the final result. I called one day expecting to find her quite
comfortable, but found her dead. She suddenly screamed, "Oh, my head!"
grasped it with both hands and was dead.
Months later, after an experience with another patient which I will
report later, it suddenly dawned upon me that possibly the bean
decoction might have hastened her death.
I was called to see a man about forty-five, suffering from general
dropsy with heart and other complications, who had been under the care
of a homoeopathic physician some time. Although he had taken
_Digitalis_, _Strophanthus_, _Strychnia_, _Nitroglycerine_, salts, etc.,
he had been unable to lie down for two weeks. I prescribed for him, but
as soon as I could I prepared and gave him the bean-pod decoction. In
about one week he was able to lie down in bed, and his legs, which at my
first visit measured over twenty-one inches in circumference, measured
fifteen inches. Then hay fever appeared, and by the advice of nineteen
or twenty-five women an old-school expert from New York was called and I
was left out.
The following cases, having symptoms similar to those developed in the
proving, were given the same preparations as those used in the proving.
A man aged sixty-nine, a retired clergyman on account of a heart disease
that had troubled him many years, yet no physician had been able to
satisfactorily diagnose, came home from a trip where he had unwisely
preached twice, greatly exhausted. The heart's action was weak and
irregular, growing weaker each day for a few days, when he was entirely
pulseless at both wrists, which continued four days in spite of my best
efforts. I then gave him _Phaseolus_ 9x, and in a few hours there was an
improvement, and in thirty-six hours his pulse was regular and strong,
about seventy per minute; and it remained so till my last visit,
one-half hour before his death, two weeks after beginning the medicine.
I was called to New York and returned too late to make a _post-mortem_
examination. Among his children were a public school teacher and a
college professor. I told them what I was giving, and they watched the
case very closely and were surprised at its effects. Later they asked me
if I would send some of the same medicine to a friend in Connecticut
who had no money but a bad heart, said by the doctor there and an
expert in Boston to be a weak heart. I sent the medicine and two weeks
later they wrote: "His breath is not as short, his limbs were not as
badly swollen, could walk and sleep better, but they did not know as he
was any better." I sent more medicine and have not heard from that.
A lady living in the West, aged about fifty, had been ailing several
years. Her greatest complaint was a weak, bad-aching heart. I treated
her a few months with general improvement, but she complained of a weak,
tired, bad-acting and bad-feeling heart. I sent her _Phaseolus_ 9x, and
later she wrote me that forty-eight hours after commencing the last
medicine sent her heart wheeled into line all right and remains so.
A lady, aged eighty-seven, had diarrhoea, which was soon relieved;
then I found her heart acted badly, about every third beat omitted, and
she said it had been so for a year or more. I gave her _Phaseolus_, and
two days later her pulse was all right.
Dr. Brown, of Springfield, reported a case of a young man that only once
in two weeks did he get his pulse up to sixty, ranging from fifty to
fifty-five the two weeks. He gave _Phaseolus_ 6, which I furnished him,
and the next forenoon his pulse was seventy-two and remained so.
I will report only one more case, treated with this remedy, one which I
think very interesting.
A lady physician, aged thirty, married, no children, never has been sick
except with childhood diseases. Two years ago had considerable mental
trouble and rode a bicycle a good deal. Since that time, two years ago,
five times each minute, or about that, her heart would give one hard
unpleasant throb, then omit one beat, this in the day time, but much
worse at night, preventing sleep. Being in somewhat of a hurry, I did
not examine the heart, thinking there would be a plenty of time later,
but gave her _Phaseolus_, the 10th I think. Thirty-six hours later the
heart would beat one hundred consecutive times without the slightest
variation, and it continued to improve, although after taking the
medicine thirty-six hours she was obliged to desist on account of a
severe headache. She is never subject to headaches, but it was so bad
she dared not take any more of the medicine. It was as if something was
pressing hard against each temple, much worse soon after taking each
dose of the medicine. This headache led me to fear that the death I
mentioned might have been hastened by the medicine.
A medical conundrum. A lady, aged about thirty, decided she would
investigate the next world to see if she could enjoy it better than
this, and called in the aid of morphine to help her along. Not being in
the habit of taking morphine, to disguise the bitter of it, placed a
tablet of morphine in the middle of a baked bean and swallowed it whole.
She took her little dose in the evening, having eaten nothing since
noon, and went to sleep. At seven in the morning she awoke and was
surprised to find herself in this world. When asked if she would get up,
replied, no, she would sleep a little longer. At eleven A.M. she awoke
and tried to get up, but could not walk, so crawled to the door and
opened it to let in fresh air. A servant found her there, and at her
request handed her the camphor bottle, and she took a little. Dr. Rowe
was called and said she vomited a little mucus, some dark specks that
looked like blood, and a small piece of lettuce she ate the noon before.
She had taken twelve and one-half grains of morphine. Did the lettuce
antidote it? Did the bean destroy its power? Why did it not kill her?
POTHOS.
NAT. ORD., Araceæ.
COMMON NAME, Skunk Cabbage.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root gathered in spring is macerated in twice
its weight of alcohol.
(Contributed by Dr. S. A. Jones to the _Homoeopathic
Recorder_, 1889.)
This perennial, odorous member of the natural order _Araceæ_ is one of
our most common meadow and bog plants. From its very realistic,
skunk-like odor when cut or bruised, and its resemblance in shape of
leaf and mode of growth to the cabbage, it has been commonly well known
as the skunk cabbage.
Belonging to the same family as the Calla lily and Indian turnip, the
shape of its flower becomes at once familiar to anyone who observes it.
Among the first plants to flower in spring is this species, and by
closely observing the surface of any boggy meadow in the latter part of
March or early April one will find irrupting the earth like mushroom the
points of many beautiful spathes gaping open to extend invitations to
the earliest slugs and carrion beetles of the season. These are the
flowers of Pothos appearing some time before the leaves, and when
divested of the mud that clings to them, and polished with a damp cloth,
as the apple-woman serves her pippins, they shine out in beautiful
mottled purple, orange, and deep red, and, being very fleshy, will keep
up appearances many days if cut deep and placed in hyacinth jars.
The root is large, thick, and cylindrical, giving off its lower end
numerous long, cylindrical branches; the leaves which appear on the
fertilization of the ovary are large, smooth, entire, and deeply plaited
into rounded folds. On opening the pointed spathe or floral envelope, a
club-like mass will be noted arising from its base. This is the spadix
bearing the naked flowers, which are perfect, consisting of a
four-angled style and four awl-shaped stamens. The fruit, when mature,
is a globular, ill-smelling, glutinous mass, consisting of the enlarged,
fleshy spadix and changed perianths, and enclosing several large
bullet-like seeds.
The roots are easily gathered, one alone being sufficient to make a
year's stock of tincture for the most lavish practitioner.
THE TINCTURE.
Take the fresh root stalks and rootlets, gathered in spring on the first
appearance of the flowers, and chop and pound them to a pulp, and weigh.
Then taking two parts, by weight, of alcohol, mix the pulp with
one-sixth part of it, add the balance, and, after stirring the whole
well, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and let it stand for eight
days in a dark, cool place. After straining and filtering, the resulting
tincture should be of a light brown color and have a slightly acrid
taste and a neutral reaction.
CHEMISTRY.
The active principle of this plant is doubtless volatile, as the dried
root presents none of the acridity of the fresh, and is odorless as
well. Dr. J. M. Turner determined in the root a volatile fatty body, a
volatile oil, a fixed oil, and a specific resin.
* * * * *
On the 16th of December, 1887, there came into my hands a case that the
family physician (a homoeopath) had pronounced epilepsy and declared
incurable. Upon being consulted, his diagnosis had been confirmed and
his prognosis corroborated by the late Prof. E. S. Dunster, of the
University of Michigan.
Up to date that identical patient has had neither a "fit" nor any
approximation thereto, and that fact is an occasion of this paper. One
who already discerns the first gray shadows of that night which comes to
all, does not now write at the urging, or the _itching_, of the Ego. He
disclaims any merit, having evinced only a monkey-like imitativeness. He
had from the Infinite, the gift of a good memory, and an old book,
picked up one happy day at a street stall, flashed into recollection
some twelve years later, and enabled him then to imitate the much
earlier doing of its worthy author--
"Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
This dead worthy--he that was James Thacher, M. D.--more than any other,
made known the virtues of _Pothos foetida_, and gratitude for what his
book had taught me to do made me feel that to write up this forgotten
remedy were the fittest return that I could make for his well doing.
A second incentive, ample enough, is found in the fact that the first
homoeopathic paper on _Pothos foet._ has never had a faithful
translation into our language, and has not been critically reproduced in
any other. A study of the _Homoeopathic Bibliography_, as given in
this paper, will teach an impressive lesson not only to the _real_
student of Materia Medica, but also to those who assume the
responsibilities of editorship.
A third inducement, and perhaps a pardonable, is the singular fact that
much search in our literature has not enabled me to find any assistance
of the clinical application of _Pothos foet._ by a homoeopathic
practitioner. If any reader knows of any such, he will greatly gratify
the writer by making it known.
AN EMPIRICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.[K]
[K] As my researches are confined to my own library, I do not
profess to be exhaustive. I have not given all the references
at my command, but have aimed to include such writers as have
made positive contributions to our knowledge of this drug. Of
my list, only Rafinesque is a mere (but a useful) compiler.
1785. Rev. Dr. M. Cutler.--_Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences._ Boston.
1787. D. J. D. Schoepf, M. D.--_Materia Medica Americana potissimum
Regni Vegetabilis._ Erlangen. (Not in my possession. Quoted from
Barton.)
1813. James Thacher, M. D.--_The American New Dispensatory._ Boston.
(This is the second edition wherein Pothos is mentioned for the first
time. Our citations are from the fourth edition. Boston, 1821.)
1817. James Thacher, M. D.--_American Modern Practice, etc._ Boston.
1818. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.--_American Medical Botany, etc._ Vol. 2.
Boston.
1820. Wm. M. Hand.--_The House-Surgeon and Physician._ Second edition.
New Haven.
1822. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.--_A Sequel to the Pharmacopoeia of the U.
S._ Boston.
1822. John Eberle, M. D.--_Materia Medica and Therapeutics._
Philadelphia. (The citations are from the fourth edition. Philadelphia,
1836.)
1825. Ansel W. Ives, M. D.--_Paris' Pharmacologia._ Third American
edition. New York.
1830. Elisha Smith.--_The Botanic Physician, etc._ New York. (The title
page proclaims him "president of the New York Association of Botanic
Physicians.")
1838. C. S. Rafinesque.--_Medical Flora, etc._ Philadelphia.
It was admitted into the _catalogus secundarius_ of the second edition
of _The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America_, and dropped
into the dust-heap when the men who knew how to use it had passed away.
EMPIRICAL APPLICATIONS.
In dealing with authors who have gone to their reward, it has always
seemed to me a duty to give their own words as far as possible. It
brings them face to face with the reader, and is as if one brushed the
moss from their gravestones, or perhaps, like Old Mortality, carved
afresh a half-obliterated name.
It is not the briefest way, but it has the merit of showing from whence
the bricks came of which the edifice is built. I shall, then, cite the
authorities in chronological order, and copiously enough to include
essentials.
_Cutler._--The roots dried and powdered are an excellent medicine in
asthmatic cases, and often give relief when other means are ineffectual.
It may be given with safety to children as well as to adults; to the
former, in doses of four, five or six grains, and to the latter in doses
of twenty grains and upwards. It is given in the fit, and repeated as
the case may require. This knowledge is said to have been obtained from
the Indians, who, it is likewise said, repeat the dose, after the
paroxysm (_sic_) is gone off, several mornings, then miss as many, and
repeat it again; thus continuing the medicine until the patient is
perfectly recovered. It appears to be anti-spasmodic, and bids fair to
be useful in many other disorders.--_Op. cit._, 1,409.
_Schoepf._--I am obliged to cite at second hand, as I have never been
able to find a copy of his _opus_. One may judge of its rarity, when a
foreign advertisement by a German bookseller some years since failed to
obtain it for me.
Prof. W. P. C. Barton, _op. cit._, gives the gist of the Hessian
surgeon's contribution in a style and manner as prim and orderly as that
of Surgeon Schoepf himself on a dress parade.
"Pharm. _Dracontii Radix._
Qual. _Acris_, _alliacea_, _nauseosa_.
Vis. _Incidens_, _califaciens_, _expectorans_.
Usus: _fol. contrita ad vulnera recentia et ulcera._
_Tussis consumptiva._ _Scorbutus et elii morbi radix._
_Ari officin. utilis._"
"Incidens": Young reader, you must go back more than a century to
understand the "pathology" that is wrapped up in that word like a mummy
in its cerements. Don't laugh at _that_ "pathology," for some graceless
graduate will laugh at yours in 1989. Note, however, in passing, that
Schoepf says nothing, save _tussis_, that suggests the _vis
anti-spasmodica_ of Cutler.
_Thacher._--The roots and seeds, when fresh, impart to the mouth a
sensation of pungency and acrimony similar to Arum.
It may be ranked high as an anti-spasmodic, experience having evinced
that it is not inferior to the most esteemed remedies of that class. In
cases of asthmatic affections, it alleviates the most distressing
symptoms, and shortens the duration of the paroxysms. * * * Rev. Dr.
Cutler experienced in his own particular case very considerable relief
from this medicine, after others had disappointed his expectations. * *
* The seeds of this plant are said by some to afford more relief in
asthmatic cases than the root.
In obstinate hysteric affections this medicine has surpassed in efficacy
all those anti-spasmodics which have generally been employed, and in
several instances it has displayed its powers like a charm. In one of
the most violent hysteric cases I ever met with, says a correspondent,
where the usual anti-spasmodics, and even musk had failed, two
teaspoonfuls of the powdered root procured immediate relief; and on
repeating the trials with the same patient, it afforded more lasting
benefit than any other medicine. In those spasmodic affections of the
abdominal muscles during parturition, or after delivery, this root has
proved an effectual remedy. In chronic rheumatism, and erratic pains of
a spasmodic nature, it often performs a cure, or affords essential
relief.
It has in some cases of epilepsy suspended the fits, and greatly
alleviated the symptoms.
In whooping cough, and other pulmonic affections, it proves beneficial
in the form of syrup.
During every stage of nervous and hysteric complaints, and in cramps and
spasms, this medicine is strongly recommended as a valuable substitute
for the various anti-spasmodic remedies commonly employed. It is free
from the heating and constipating qualities of Opium. [Yet Schoepf
endowed it with the _vis colifaciers_.]
Having in a few instances tested its virtues in subsultus tendinum,
attending typhus fever, its pleasing effects will encourage the future
employment of it in similar cases.
Two instances have been related in which this medicine has been supposed
to be remarkably efficacious in the cure of dropsy.
The roots should be taken up in the autumn or spring, before the leaves
appear, and carefully dried for use. Its strength is impaired by long
keeping, especially in a powdered state.--_Mat. Med._, 4th ed., p. 249.
A young woman, about eighteen years of age, was harassed by severe
convulsive and hysteric paroxysms, almost incessantly, insomuch that her
friends estimated the number at seven hundred in the course of a few
weeks; her abdomen was remarkably tumefied and tense, and there was a
singular bloatedness of the whole surface of her body, and the slightest
touch would occasion intolerable pain. At length her extremities became
rigid and immovable (_sic_), and her jaw was so completely locked that
she was unable to articulate, and liquids could only be introduced
through the vacuity of a lost tooth. She had been treated with a variety
of anti-spasmodic and other medicines, by an experienced physician,
without relief. Having prepared a strong infusion of the dried root of
skunk cabbage, I directed half a teacupful to be given every few hours,
without any other medicine; the favorable effects of which were soon
observable, and by persisting in the use of it about ten days the
muscular contractions were removed, the jaw was relaxed, and her faculty
of speech and swallowing, with the use of all her limbs, were completely
effected.
Another young woman had been exercised with the most distressing
paroxysms of hysteria for several days, without obtaining relief by the
medicines prescribed, when the skunk cabbage infusion was so
successfully directed that her fits were immediately arrested, and in a
few days a cure was completely effected.
The brother of this patient was seized with violent convulsions of the
whole body, in consequence of a cut on his foot; the skunk cabbage was
administered, and he was speedily restored to perfect health.
A woman was affected with violent spasmodic pains, twenty-four hours
after parturition; six doses of skunk cabbage entirely removed her
complaints.--_American Modern Practice_, p. 530.
_Barton._--The smell from spathe and flowers is pungent and very subtle.
Experience leads me to believe they possess a great share of acridity;
_having been seized with a very violent inflammation of my eyes_ (for
the first time in my life), which deprived me of the use of them for a
month, by making the original drawings of these plates. The pungency of
the plant was probably concentrated by the closeness of the room, in
which many specimens were at the time shut up.--_Veg. Mat. Med._, 1,
128. [The italics are not in the original text.]
The seeds are said to afford more relief in asthmatic cases than the
root; and this I believe very probable, for they are remarkably active,
pungent, and, as has before been mentioned, exhale the odor of
Asafoetida.--_Op. cit._, p. 131.
The bruised leaves are frequently applied to ulcers and recent wounds,
and, it is said, with good effect. They are also used as an external
application in cutaneous affections; and I have heard of the expressed
juice being successfully applied to different species of herpes. The
leaves are also used in the country to dress blisters, with the view of
promoting their discharge. * * * For this purpose I can recommend them
where it is desirable to promote a large and speedy discharge, and no
stimulating ointment is at hand.
_Colden_ recommends the skunk cabbage in scurvy.--_Op. cit._, p. 132.
_Bigelow._--The odor of the Ictodes resides in a principle which is
extremely volatile. I have not been able to separate it by distillation
from any part of the plant, the decoction and the distilled water being
in my experiments but slightly impregnated with its sensible character.
Alcohol, digested on the plant, retains its odors for a time, but this
is soon dissipated by exposure to the air.
An acrid principle resides in the root, even when perfectly dry,
producing an effect like that of the Arum and the Ranunculi. When chewed
in the mouth, the root is slow in manifesting its peculiar taste; but
after some moments a pricking sensation is felt, which soon amounts to a
disagreeable smarting, and continues for some time. This acrimony is
readily dissipated by heat. The decoction retains none of it. The
distilled water is impregnated with it, if the process be carefully
conducted, but loses it on standing a short time.--_Amer. Med. Bot._, 2,
45.
To insure a tolerably uniform activity of this medicine, the root should
be kept in dried slices, and not reduced to powder until it is wanted
for use.--_Op. cit._, p. 49.
A number of cases have fallen under my own observation of the catarrhal
affections of old people, in which a syrup prepared from the root in
substance has alleviated and removed the complaint.--_Op. cit._, p. 48.
In delicate stomachs I have found it frequently to occasion vomiting
even in a small quantity. In several cases of gastrodynia, where it was
given with a view to its anti-spasmodic effect, it was ejected from the
stomach more speedily than common cathartic medicines. I have known it
in a dose of thirty grains to bring on not only vomiting, but headache
(_sic_), vertigo and temporary blindness.--_Op. cit._, pp. 48-49.
_Hand._--The root is a pungent anti-spasmodic in colics and griping of
the bowels.
Leaves bruised relieve painful swellings, whitlows, etc.--_House Surg.
and Phys._, p. 250.
_Eberle._--In chronic cough attended with a cold, phlegmatic habit of
body, I have employed the powdered root of this plant with the most
decided benefit. In an old man who had been for many years afflicted
with a very troublesome cough and difficulty of breathing, I found
nothing to give so much relief as this substance.
In cases of chronic catarrhal and asthmatic affections, and very
generally with evident advantage.--_Mat. Med. and Thur._, 2, 154.
_Ives._--The root loses its pungent taste, and appears to be nearly
inert in a few weeks after it is gathered. I prepared, however, an
alcoholic extract some years ago, by digesting the fresh roots and
evaporating the tincture in the sun, which possessed and retained all
the acrimony of the recent root. The fresh leaves are actively
rubefacient.--_Pharmacologia_, p. 147.
_Smith._--Skunk cabbage is not only a good anti-spasmodic in all cases
where such are indicated, but it is also a powerful emmenagogue,
anthelmintic, and a valuable remedy in dropsy, in spasms, rheumatism,
palpitations, etc. It is frequently used in childbed to promote the
birth. * * * * For expelling worms, the pulverized root should be
administered in molasses for a sufficient length of time, following it
up with a purge.--_Op. cit._, p. 511.
_Rafinesque._--Powerful anti-spasmodic, expectorant, incisive,
vermifuge, menagogue, sudorific, etc. Used with success in spasmodic
asthmas and coughs, hysterics, pertussis, epilepsy, dropsy, scurvy,
chronic rheumatism, erradic and spasmodic pains, parturition,
amenorrhoea, worms, etc.--_Op. cit._, 2, 230.
III.
THE HOMOEOPATHIC BIBLIOGRAPHY.[L]
[L] The definite article is used because it is believed to be
complete, thanks to the scholarship and courtesy of Dr. Henry
M. Smith, of New York. To him, also, am I indebted for the
original text of _Pothos foet._ from the
_Correspondenzblatt_.
1837. _Correspondenzblatt der Hom. Aerzte_, January 18th, 2d part, No.
1, p. 6. Allentown, Pa. Hering, Humphreys, and Lingen.
1843. _Symptomus Kodex_, vol. 2, p. 392. Jahr. (Taken from the
_Correspondenzblatt_, and not correctly.) _Handbuch der Hom.
Arzneimittellehre_, vol. 3, p. 613. Noack and Trinks. (Taken from the
_Correspondenzblatt_, and incompletely.)
1847. _Manual of Hom. Mat. Met.--Jahr._ Translated by Curie, 2d ed.,
vol. 1, p. 462. London. (This is the first appearance of the Allentown
"abstract of symptoms" in English. _Curie_ credits his _data_ to some
"United States' Journal," probably meaning the _Correspondenzblatt_. His
translation is erroneous, and yet, up to date, it is the fullest source
of information for him who reads English only.)
1848. _New Manual or Symptomen Codex.--Jahr._ Translated by Hempel, vol.
2, p. 573. (This is a singularly incomplete translation from the German
_Kodex_, with no reference to any source. A literal copy of this
translation is all there is of _Pothos foet._ in the _Encyclopædia_.
It omits the only symptom in the _Correspondenzblatt_ abstract that made
my application of this remedy not purely empirical.)
1851. _Jahr's New Manual._ Edited by Hull, 3d ed., vol. 1, p. 797.
1851. _Characteristik der Hom. Arzneien._ Possart, part 2, p. 506.
1860. "_Hull's Jahr._" _A New Manual of Hom. Practice._ Edited by
Snelling, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 977.
1866. _Text-Book of Mat. Med._ Lippe, p. 545.
1878. _Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica._ Allen, vol. 9, p. 155.
1884. _American Medicinal Plants._ Millspaugh, vol. 1, p. 169.
POTHOS FOETIDA SYMPTOMATOLOGY.
Translated from the _Correspondenzblatt_ by T. C. Fanning, M. D.,
Tarrytown, N. Y.[M]
[M] Literalness rather than elegance has been sought in the
translating.
Because the odor is quite like Mephitis it is considered a so-called
anti-spasmodic.
_Abstract of symptoms from Hering, Humphreys, and Lingen._
So absent-minded and thoughtless that he enters the sick rooms without
knocking; pays no attention to those speaking to him. Irritable,
inclined to contradict; violent.
Headache of brief duration, in single spots, now here, now there, with
confusion. Pressure in both temples, harder on one side than on the
other alternately, with violent pulsation of the temporal arteries.
Drawing in the forehead in two lines from the frontal eminences to the
glabella, where there is a strong outward drawing as if by a magnet.
Red swelling, like a saddle, across the bridge of the nose, painful to
the touch, especially on the left side near the forehead, while the
cartilaginous portion is cold and bloodless; with red spots on the
cheek, on the left little pimples; swelling of the cervical and
sub-maxillary glands.
Unpleasant numb sensation in the tongue; cannot project it against the
teeth; papillæ elevated; tongue redder, with sore pain at point and
edge.
Burning sensation from the fauces down through the chest. With the
desire to smoke, tobacco tastes badly.
Pain in the scrobiculus cordis as if something broke loose, on stepping
hard.
_Inflation and tension in the abdomen_; bellyache here and there in
single spots; on walking, feeling as if the bowels shook, without pain.
Stool earlier (in the morning), frequent, softer.
Urging to urinate; very dark urine.
Painful, voluptuous tickling in the whole of the glans penis.
Violent sneezing, causing pain in the roof of the mouth, the fauces and
oesophagus all the way to the stomach, followed by long-continued
pains at the cardiac orifice.
Pain in chest and _mediastinum posticum_, less in the _anticum_, with
pain under the shoulders, which seems to be in connection with burning
in the oesophagus. Pressing pain on the sternum.
Sudden feeling of anxiety, with difficult (or oppressed) respiration and
sweat, followed by stool and the subsidence of these and other pains.
Inclination to take deep inspirations with hollow feeling in the chest,
later with contraction in the fauces and chest.
The difficulty of breathing is better in the open air.
Pain in the crest of the right tibia.
Rheumatic troubles increased.
Sleepy early in the evening.
All troubles disappear in the open air.
In attempting to analyze this "abstract of symptoms," to see if the
internal evidence tends to show that the recorded effects are genuine
results of the drug, it is well to remember that these provings--for we
infer that three observers participated therein--were made in the light
of the empirical history of _Pothos foet._ The said history was on
record before the date of these provings, and it cannot have escaped
Hering's eye; he was too wide a reader for that. He was, beyond doubt,
aware of the pathogenetic effects observed by Bigelow--_headache_,
_vertigo_, _temporary blindness_, _vomiting_, _even from small
quantities_. Having, then, this clue to its physiological action, these
symptoms should reappear in his proving _if his imagination furnished his
symptoms_. As only a mild headache is noted in the _Correspondenzblatt_,
it is evident that these provers did not _work from a pattern_. It is
also evident that the _usus in morbis_ did not suggest the Allentown
symptomatology, for the anti-asthmatic virtue of _Pothos foet._ is one
feature on which the greatest stress had been laid, and yet the only
_pathogenetic_ suggestion of its applicability in asthma is: "_Sudden
feeling of anxiety with difficult_ (or oppressed) respiration and sweat,
followed by stool and the _subsidence of these and other pains_." Who
ever heard of an asthma relieved by stool? Who could have _invented_
such an odd modality? As it stands it is an _unicum_, and by every rule
of criticism this single symptom-group gives the stamp of verity to the
Allentown "abstract of symptoms." But there is other and singularly
convincing evidence of the genuineness of this abstract. As the reader
is aware, Thacher had emphasized the efficiency of _Pothos foet._ as an
anti-spasmodic in hysteria, although the "key-note" that indicates it in
hysteria had wholly escaped his discernment.
Now this very "key-note" appears in the Allentown pathogenesis, but so
unobtrusively as to show most conclusively that the prover who furnished
it did not recognize its singular import and value. Such testimony is
absolutely unimpugnable by honest and intelligent criticism.
It is also apparent that some of the less pronounced of its empirical
virtues are reflected in the proving. For instance, Thacher found it
efficacious in "erratick pains of a spasmodick nature." Is not this
"erratic" feature reproduced in such conditions as:
"Headache, of brief duration, in single spots, now here, now there?"
"Pressure in both temples alternately, harder on one side than on the
other?"
"Bellyache, here and there, in single spots?"
Brevity of duration and recurrence "in single spots, now here, now
there," are phenomena at once _spasmodic_ and _erratic_. It must be
admitted that the trend of its pathogenetic action and the lines of its
therapeutical application are parallel, and, therefore, that the latter
are confirmatory of the former.
With such an anti-hysterical reputation as the empirical use had given
to _Pothos foet._, it might fairly be anticipated that its
pathogenesis would be distinguished by a paucity of objective _data_,
for only a tyro in pharmacodynamics, or a "Regular," would expect to
find a full-lined picture of hysteria in any "proving." And so we have
in the "abstract" a flux of subjective symptoms, "erratic" enough for
hysterical elements, and still further characterized by an apparent
evanescence, as if its phenomena of sensory disturbance were as fleeting
and unsubstantial as those of an hysterical storm.
The _will-o'-the-wisp-like_ character of its subjective symptoms, and
its physometric property (hinted at in the pathogenesis and emphasized
in Thacher's case) are the features that will chiefly impress one in
studying this distinctively American remedy.
That the "abstract of symptomes" evinces a cautious trial of this drug,
and that more heroic experiments will add to our knowledge of its
pathogenetic properties, are plain deductions from the absence in the
"abstract" of such pronounced effects as Bigelow observed and also from
the evidence of the _usus in morbis_. The remedy needs an efficient
proving, especially in the female organism.
AN APPLICATION OF POTHOS FOETIDA.
Miss B----, æt. 20; a tall, spare brunette, and a good specimen of
Fothergill's _Arab type_, brainy and vivacious. General health has been
good, but she was never robust; could not go to school regularly.
Between her thirteenth and fifteenth years grew rapidly in stature, and
then she was easily wearied on walking; knees tired and limbs ached. Had
good digestion through the growing period, but subsequently became
subject to "bloat of wind" in abdomen. These meteoristic attacks came
when lying down. A "weight rises from the abdomen up to the heart." She
must at once spring up. This condition is relieved by eructating, by
liquor, and by drinking hot water. The night attacks of meteorism are by
far the worst. _She is now subject to them._
[Her grand-mother had such "spells of bloating;" would spring out of bed
at night, lose consciousness, and "bloat up suddenly." If she had such
an attack when dressed, they had often been obliged to cut open her
clothes.]
Patient has found that apples, tomatoes, cabbage and onions disagree
with her; no other food. She is constipated--"wants to and can't."
Her hair is unusually dry; scalp full of dandruff; skin, generally, soft
and flexible.
She has frequent epistaxis; has had four and five attacks a day. Blood
bright red, "runs a perfect stream," does not clot at the nostrils. Has
previously a "heavy feeling" in the head, which the bleeding relieves.
In appearance she is "the picture of health;" good complexion, fairly
ruddy cheeks, sparkling eyes--in a word, she is an incarnated protest
against "single blessedness."
In the latter part of July, 1886, had her first "fit." She had arisen
with a headache, which kept on increasing in severity. Just after a
light meal had the attack; "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" and fell insensible.
Stiffened at first, then had clonic spasms. Neither bit the tongue nor
frothed at the mouth. No micturition or defecation. On coming to, did
not remember that she had fallen, but recollected being borne up stairs.
Had a "dreadful nosebleed" after the attack. Left her very weak; could
hardly lift her feet from the floor. Before the "fit" the headache had
become unbearably severe.
Had her second "fit" on August 7th, 1887. Headache came on and kept
growing worse; was in temples, beating and throbbing, and in eyes,
"light hurt"--also on vertex, "pressing-down" pain. At 4 P.M. suddenly
fell down insensible. No cry. Tongue bitten. Slight frothing at the
mouth. First "stiff all over," then clonic spasms. After the "fit" knew
that something had happened to her. Was prostrated for nearly a month,
but not so much as after first attack.
December 10th, 1887, third "fit." On the night of the 9th her mother had
been very ill, and she herself was very uneasy and alarmed. Had the
attack before breakfast. Blurred vision, headache, fall; no biting of
tongue, nor frothing. First rigid, then clonic spasms; after attack,
nose bled profusely, head ached all day, face flushed and dark.
Prostrated as usual.
In none of the attacks was there any involuntary micturition or
defecation, nor was it ever necessary to use any force to hold her on
the bed.
One other fact I gathered from her brother, namely: during her "fits"
her abdomen bloated so rapidly and to such a degree that the family had
learned to remove her clothing as soon as possible after she fell.
Of course, Thacher's case, wherein the "abdomen was remarkably tumefied
and tense," came into memory at once. The old volume was taken down, and
that case re-read. Then followed the _Encyclopædia_, and then the
English _Symptomen Codex_. No pathogenetic light or corroboration
_there_. Then Curie's "Jahr." Ah! "_Inflation and tension in the
abdomen._" Only a straw, but a pathogenetic, and I grasped it
thankfully. I found also, "_aching in the temples with violent arterial
pulsation_."
It was an open winter; my son dug some skunk cabbage roots in a swamp; a
tincture was made; ten-drop doses, four times daily, were taken until
six ounces had been consumed.
No "fit" up to date; no epistaxis; only once a slight headache.
I never made a diagnosis in this case; have not reached one yet, nor am
I grieving over that omission. I did rashly declare that it was not
epilepsy, because Sauvages _tympanites intestinalis_ is a feature of
hysteria, but not of epilepsy. But not a word of this was said to the
patient. It was not a "mind cure," for I have no "mind" to spare; nor
was it "Christian science," for I am not up to that. I had an _amnesis_
in which grand-mother and grand-daughter participated. Nature had put
the "key-note" in italics, not only in the patient but also in the drug.
Thacher stumbled upon it empirically; Hering found it pathogenetically,
and that led to its application under the guidance of the only
approximation to _a law_ in therapeutics that has yet been discovered by
any of woman born: _similia similibus curantur_!
(Anent the foregoing paper Dr. W. C. Campbell sent the
following to the same journal:)
POTHOS FOETIDA, HYSTERIA.
November 6, 1889, was called in haste to see Miss N----, aged 19 years.
Found her lying upon the floor, exhibiting all the phenomena of
epilepsy, clenched hands, frothing at the mouth, clonic spasm, etc.
On questioning the family, I learned that she had been subject to such
seizures for about two years, and that they were increasing in
frequency. She had been dismissed from the various cotton mills in which
she had been employed because of them. The father had been informed that
she had epilepsy, and she had been treated accordingly by three old
school physicians.
The sister informed me that although she had frequently fallen near the
stove she had never struck it. Further questioning elicited the fact of
her never having injured herself more seriously than to bite her tongue.
It was then I became suspicious, and later felt convinced that it was
hysteria and not epilepsy with which I had to deal.
I remembered having read in _The Recorder_ an article by Dr. S. A.
Jones, of Ann Arbor, on _Pothos foetida_, with the record of a case in
some respects similar to mine. After again reading it up, I made a
tincture of the roots and tendrils gathered at the time, of which I gave
her a two drachm phial, directing her to take ten drops three times per
day.
On the second day she had a slight seizure while at dinner. After two
months she again resumed her place in the mill, where she has since been
steadily employed, and is strong and well in every way.
Have used _Pothos_ in epilepsy, also in dropsy, with negative results.
PRIMULA OBCONICA.
NAT. ORD., Primulaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Primrose var. obconica.
PREPARATION.--The entire fresh plant in flower with root is macerated in
twice its weight of alcohol.
(Dr. E. V. Ross, of Rochester, N. Y., thus summarizes the
various papers that have appeared on this remedy--sources
of papers named in his article:)
The following summary of the pathogenetic effects of _Primula_ were
produced from handling and in otherwise coming in contact with the
plant, and so far as known the poisonous properties are wholly confined
to the leaves.
The effects bear a close resemblance to _Anacardium_, _Euphorbium_,
_Ranunculus_, _Rhus_, etc. It is evidently deserving of a thorough
proving, and it is our intention to attempt one as soon as a reliable
preparation can be had.
References: (1) _Syme, British Medical Journal_; (2) _London Lancet_;
(3) _Homoeopathic World_, March, 1892; (4) _American Homoeopathist_,
1897, p. 429; (5) _New York Medical Journal_, January, 1898, p. 68.
(1) 1. Eczema on face.
2. Eczema on face and arms.
3. Moist eczema on face and forearms, papular and
excoriated.
4. Severe cracking over joints and fingers as from frost.
5. Great itching of the skin.
6. Eruption appears at night.
7. Eruption and itching worse at night.
8. The itching was intolerable at night.
(2) 9. Irritable papular eruption on both hands, followed
by desquamation.
10. Papular eruption on chin.
11. Eruption of small papules on a raised base with
intolerable itching.
(3) 12. Papular eruption (eczematous) on hands, wrists
and fingers.
13. Skin red and swollen and itching violently.
14. At night she became feverish, hands and face would
burn, then intolerable itching followed by erythema with
small papules becoming pustular.
15. Papular eruption itching violently.
(4) 16. Confluent blotches on face resembling urticaria.
17. Eruption between fingers which resembles scabies.
18. Desquamation.
19. Purple blotches on dorsal surface of hands.
20. Palmar surface of hands and fingers are stiff and
unusable.
21. Deep-seated blisters form on tip of each finger and
above and below each phalangeal flexure.
22. Blisters on fingers from which a clear fluid escapes
on being pricked.
23. Intense itching and burning accompanies the eruption.
(5) 24. Eruption preceded by pricking sensation which
gradually changes to a smarting.
25. Skin tumefied and diffuse infiltration with a red
serosity, with here and there small fullæ filled with a
limpid liquid.
26. Eyelids greatly swollen and covered with large fullæ,
eyes half closed.
27. Great tension and redness of skin resembling
erysipeias.
28. Desquamation sometimes furfuraceous, sometimes
lamellar, involving all of the epidermic layer in such a
manner that in some places the papillary layer was
exposed.
29. Eyelids stiff and immovable, resembling ptosis.
30. Dryness and heat in palms of hands.
31. Deep infiltration of tissues rendering the parts
stiff and immovable.
32. Skin symptoms accompanied by pronounced febrile
symptoms.
From symptoms Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 23 it would appear the time of
aggravation is at night, and the most prominent sensation is _itching_
and less prominent is burning. This is characteristic of the _Arsenicum_
eruption, also of _Anacardium_, _Rhus tox._, and some others. The
eruption also bears a strong resemblance to these remedies, and if one
may judge from the symptoms enumerated ought to prove a potent rival in
erysipelas and eczematous complaints. _Rhus_ poisoning will no doubt
find a new and efficient remedy in _Primula_.
PYRUS AMERICANA.
NAT. ORD., Rosacæ.
COMMON NAME, Mountain ash.
PREPARATION.--The fresh bark is macerated in twice its weight of
alcohol.
(We find the following in the _American Observer_, 1878,
credited to _Northwestern Analist_ and written by Dr. H.
P. Gatchell. Allen, in the _Encyclopædia_ has not
mentioned the drug, and we can find no mention in any of
the dispensatories consulted. Dr. Fernie, in his
excellent book, _Herbal simples_ devotes some space to
it. We quote: "'There is,' says an old writer, 'in every
berry the exhilaration of wine, and the satisfying of old
mead; and whosoever shall eat three berries of them, if
he has completed a hundred years, he will return to the
age of thirty.' At the same time it must be noted that
the _leaves_ of the Mountain ash are of a poisonous
quality, and contain prussic acid like those of the
laurel." The following is Dr. Gatchell's paper, the
proving, be it noted, is made from a tincture of the
bark:)
My memory of details, never remarkable, except as the details belonged
to some system, is not as good as in earlier life, and in the matter of
disconnected or partially connected incidents, the widow Bedott could,
at any time, have given me five points in ten, and then have beaten me
easily.
No. 1 of the provers was a married lady; No. 2 and No. 3 were lads. The
tincture of the bark was used, several drops being put in a cup of
water, of which teaspoonful doses were given and repeated at, I do not
remember what, intervals. Myself experienced some irritation of the
eyes; no other symptoms.
No. 1. Feels like crying. Feels as if the knees are immensely swollen,
as if the toes the same. Knees and toes ache. Feels constricted around
the waist, obliged to loosen the clothes at once. Headache begins over
the eyes, left side of head aches terribly, like a tooth ache. Aches
everywhere, in every joint. Left great toe feels as if torn from the
socket. Sense of prolapsus of womb, bearing down and pressing out, as if
swollen, and burning all over. Pains in the head knife-like. All the
pains intense, acute. Thinks the conditions that of inflammatory
rheumatism as if the lungs were congested, especially at the base. Can
hardly breathe, as if cold water in the stomach. Thinks mucus
accumulated in the cold stomach. Craves hot teas. Headache extends to
the right side. Head feels as if it would burst. Great weight on top of
head. Toes burn. Aching at heart. Twinging pains in arms, legs and toes.
As if rectum were shrunken, dried up. Bearing down pains and pressing
out, like labor pains. Feels gloomy and discouraged, but can't cry. Very
cold, shivers internally; thinks she must look blue. Cold creeping all
over. Pain in knees subsides, and is succeeded by pain as in the tendons
and along the calves. "Oh, such a drawing pain, cutting and darting
also, like that in the head." Feels resolute, as full of a gloomy
determination. Stomach cold again. Thinks meat bad for her, would not
digest; needs soft, mild food. Irritation of bladder and urethra; feels
as if prolapsus of bladder. Dreads to move, especially on account of the
joints. Sensitive to cold. Stomach still feels as if full of cold
water. Sick feeling under right scapula. Thinks bile deficient.
Shooting pains in forehead. Feeling as if coldness in stomach extends up
under the sternum. Same feeling in the gullet. Excessive aching of bones
of toes; seems unendurable. Thinks the stomach very weak, as if it would
digest nothing; thinks it is dry and wrinkled. Hypochondriac, not
nervous. Feels lazy, as if she would like to lie in bed and be waited
on. Selfish. Headache penetrating in temples. Thinks she is clairvoyant,
can read character and understand motions; can see into herself; thinks
the blood dark blue. Feels pains drawing, rending along posterior aspect
of thighs and down to toes. Left side most affected. Feels as if the
left leg were drawn up, and would never straighten again. Pains seem to
move in meandering lines. Seems to be able to go out of herself for a
short distance, to walk around and return into the body. Thinks she is
looking down upon her own body. Seems to her that the fundus of the
stomach is depressed in the abdomen, as if on fire at the pyloric end of
stomach. Thinks there is a red spot there, looking like raw beef, as if
the stomach burnt up with raw whisky. Exclaims in a plaintive tone,
"Don't get out of patience with me" (of which I had given no
indications). Cries, feels babyish. Apprehension; fears something
terrible is about to occur. Very chilly. Can't talk loud; voice gone.
She feels so weak, as if about to die. Moans and groans, calls for help.
Oppression about the heart, as if it had stopped beating, as going into
convulsions. Feels as if a spasm of the heart, tetanic. As if the blood
too thick to circulate. Thinks she would have died but for the _Camphor_
I gave her. Felt as she did when near dying of hemorrhage. Brain is
active, intellect clear, thoughts vivid, the whole being intensified.
Next morning, sense of constriction at base of lungs. Some cough. Clammy
feeling of skin. Very sensitive to air.
No. 2. Causes a glow all over, hands sweat. Some pain in finger joints.
Throat feels obstructed. Some hoarseness. Dry cough, as if pharynx
stuffed with cotton. It is an effort to talk. Tongue feels partially
paralyzed, cannot direct it. Throws the paper down, has lost inclination
to read. Feels indolent, indifferent. Feels chills when air strikes.
Spasmodic breathing, like a nervous woman--silly, mystical. Pain in
finger joints continues. Feels like crying. Sad, weeping mood. Tears
will come. Eyes smart. Heart aches, as from some great sorrow. Eyes feel
as if had been crying a long time, as if swollen, burning. Very
sensitive to cold, easily chilled. Chills down the back and both legs.
Ends with a very tranquil feeling, particularly of consciousness. Next
morning, tight feeling of patella. Joints all feel constricted and sore.
No. 3. Very chilly. Can't endure cold at all. Other symptoms not
recorded.
In all three, pains and chilliness much increased by moving about.
No. 1. Subsequently her muscular condition was much improved. Her
muscles did not ache from work as formerly.
A cut bled less freely than usual, bled scarcely any, and healed very
quickly.
SALIX NIGRA AMENTS.
NAT. ORD., Salicaceæ.
COMMON NAME, White Willow.
PREPARATION.--The fresh aments are macerated in twice their weight of
alcohol.
(Dr. John Fearns writes of this remedy in _Chicago
Medical Times_, 1896:)
At this writing I wish to speak not of the tonic and antiseptic
properties of this species of _Salix_, but of its usefulness as a
sedative to the generative system. As a sedative on these lines I have
had very good results from its use.
In cases of acute gonorrhoea with much errotic trouble. Also in cases
of chordee with great irritation; for these purposes I have given it in
doses of thirty to sixty drops on retiring, and repeat at midnight or
towards morning, if needed; in these cases nothing has given me more
satisfaction than this remedy. It answers the purpose, it robs night of
its terrors, and it leaves no unpleasant consequences in its train.
In cases of excessive venereal desire, amounting to satyriasis, from
experience I would use this remedy first. I have seen it control the
venereal appetite in a very satisfactory manner. It can be given in
cases where the bromides have always been considered appropriate, and it
can be given where the bromides would be very inappropriate and there is
no reflex effect on the brain or nervous system.
SALVIA OFFICINALIS.
NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.
COMMON NAME, Common sage.
PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are macerated in twice their weight of
alcohol.
(Although scarcely used in the present day sage runs back
in medical history to the Greeks, and, according to
Fernie, is still held in the highest esteem by country
people in many parts of Europe. Quoting Gerard: "Sage is
singularly good for the head and brain; it quickeneth the
senses and memory; strengtheneth the sinews; restoreth
health to those that have palsy; and takes away shaky
trembling of the members." The following appeared in
_Echo Med. du Nord_, 1897, concerning this remedy:)
This remedy (in English, _Sage_) has been almost forgotten in modern
medical art, but still remains in high repute as a domestic medicine.
Lately, French physicians have called attention to it, and not only for
gargling in cases of inflammation of the throat and for washing the
mouth in affections of the gums, but more especially as an unfailing
remedy for night-sweats in persons suffering from affections of the
respiratory organs. In the numerous experiments made with it, there
were never any disagreeable concomitant effects. On the contrary, it was
found that _Salvia_ acts even more favorably on the tickling coughs with
consumptives than _Belladonna_, _Rumex crispus_, etc., so that
preparations of _Morphine_ and _Codeine_ could be dispensed with.
_Salvia_ should be used in the form of the tincture, and, indeed, the
tincture prepared from the fresh leaves and the blossom tips, as we find
it in homoeopathic pharmacies. It should be given in doses of 20, 30,
or 40 drops, in a tablespoonful of water. The effects manifest
themselves very quickly, two hours after taking a dose, and these
effects persist for two to six days.
SAURURUS CERNUUS.
NAT. ORD., Piperaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Lizard's Tail.
PREPARATION.--The entire plant including the root is macerated in twice
its weight of alcohol.
(The following short notice of this almost unknown remedy
appeared in the _Homoeopathic Recorder_, 1895:)
Readers who are interested in the remedies of nature rather than those
produced in the laboratory and sold under trademarks will remember that
it was Dr. D. L. Phares, of Mississippi, who, over half a century ago,
pointed out the wonderful virtues of _Passiflora incarnata_, so much
used to-day. What Dr. Phares said of the remedy laid dormant until Hale,
in his ever perennial _New Remedies_, rescued it from the dusty pages of
old medical journals, in which so much of value is buried awaiting
resurrection. Among such buried remedies is _Saururus cernuus_ or, as it
is more commonly known, "lizard's tail." Dr. Phares, who seems to have
been an unusually keen observer, used _Saururus cer._ in his practice,
as he did _Passiflora_, for many years before he communicated his
observations to the medical journals, and the _Saururus_ seems to be
quite as important and useful a remedy in its sphere as is _Passiflora_,
and one quite as worthy of a thorough proving. In absence of proving it
may be said that Dr. Phares used it for years with marked success in all
irritation and inflammation of the kidneys, bladder, prostate and
urinary passages. He considered it peculiarly adapted to all such cases
if they were attended by strangury, or painful and difficult urination.
Dr. Phares used the remedy both externally and internally and he found
that the stomach was very tolerant of the rather heroic doses he
prescribed.
The plant is an indigenous perennial found in swampy localities, in some
parts of the United States, and has been, and is still, used in domestic
practice for those conditions for which Dr. Phares commends it.
SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS.
PREPARATION.--The insect is triturated with sugar of milk in the usual
way.
(In the case of a man bitten in the arm by a centipede,
reported in _Nashville Journal of Medicine_, 1870, among
the striking symptoms was no perspiration in the arm for
three months. Dr. Sherman, of California (_Med.
Advance_), reports the following symptoms as prominent in
a woman bitten by a centipede:)
_Head._--Vertigo, with blindness, worse in the morning.
_Stomach._--Nausea and vomiting; unable to retain either food or liquid.
_Back._--Terrible pains in back and loins, spasmodic and irregular, at
times extending down the limbs. Pains returned every few days for three
weeks, commencing in the head and going out at the toes. "Resembled
labor pains as nearly as anything I ever saw."
SCUTELLARIA LATERIFOLIA.
NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.
COMMON NAME, Mad-dog skullcap.
PREPARATION.--The whole fresh plant is macerated in twice its weight of
alcohol.
(The following proving of _Scutellaria lat._, from
_University Bulletin_, 1897, was made, under the auspices
of Dr. Geo. Royal, by nine provers:)
No symptom has been recorded unless experienced by two provers. When
experienced by two provers, and not often repeated, the symptom is
recorded in common type. When often repeated in two provings is found in
italics. When often repeated in three provings, or found in four or
more, the symptoms appear in black type.
MIND.--=Inability to study or fix the attention on one's work.=
_Confusion of mind._ _Apathy._ Irritability.
HEAD.--=A full or throbbing sensation in head.= =A dull heavy headache
mostly in the forehead and temples.= Sharp shooting pain in the head.
Pain in the occiput. Headache relieved in the open air. Headache
relieved by eating. Headache aggravated by motion.
EYES.--_Aching in the eyeballs._ Eyeballs painful to touch. Eyeballs
feel too large.
FACE.--Flushed.
MOUTH.--_Bad taste_; _sour_; _bitter_.
THROAT.--Sensation of lump in throat which could not be swallowed.
STOMACH.--=Nausea.= =Sour eructions.= _Poor appetite._ Vomiting of sour
ingesta, hiccoughs, pain and distress in stomach.
ABDOMEN.--=Gas in bowels.= _Colicky pain in abdomen._ _Fullness or
distension of abdomen._ _Uneasiness in abdomen._ Pain in the abdomen.
STOOLS.--=Diarrhoea.= _Light colored._ Stools preceded by colicky pain
in abdomen.
URINARY ORGANS.--=Quantity of urine diminished. Biliary salts increased.=
Frequent micturition but quantity small.
CHEST.--Pain in chest.
HEART AND PULSE.--Pulse rate irregular.
BACK.--Pain in back.
UPPER EXTREMITIES.--_Sharp stinging pains._ Aching.
LOWER EXTREMITIES.--=Weakness.= =Aching.= _Uneasiness._
SLEEP.--=Restless.= =Unrefreshing.= _Disturbed._
GENERAL SYMPTOMS.--=Restlessness.= =Tired weak feeling.= _Uneasiness._
_Languor._
The remedy seems most suitable to persons of a nervo-bilious
temperament. All the symptoms seem to be aggravated by work or
excitement and ameliorated by sleep.
SISYRINCHIUM.
NAT. ORD., Iridaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Blue-eyed grass.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is macerated in twice its weight of
alcohol.
(Dr. W. U. Reed, of Northmanchester, Ind., contributed
the following in 1892 to the _Hom. Recorder_, concerning
this little known remedy. _Sisyrinchium_ was one of the
old "Thompsonians." From what Dr. Reed says of it the
remedy must be a very powerful one and worthy of full
investigation.)
Numerous articles have appeared in our medical journals during the past
few months relative to the treatment of persons bitten by venomous
reptiles, especially the rattlesnake. Whether the rattlesnakes found in
the marshes of Indiana are in any respect different from those found in
Oregon, or in the mountains of Pennsylvania, I do not know. The bite of
the Indiana rattler has been known to prove fatal to both man and beast.
Notwithstanding we have growing in our woods and fields a small plant,
which I believe to be a specific for the treatment of persons or animals
bitten by the rattlesnake. From my own experience and observation in the
use of this remedy, I believe it to be a positive cure in all cases if
exhibited in any reasonable time. I have never known it to fail in a
single instance, even where the alcoholic treatment and many other kinds
had failed.
The plant referred to, the roots of which are used in the treatment of
snake bites; or a tincture made from the roots, is the _Sisyrinchium_ of
the _Iris_ family, I think, and is said to have been used by the Indians
in treating snake bites, by bruising and moistening the roots and
applying to the wound. I am not aware of its ever having been used as a
medicine by the profession, and, so far as I know, I am the first to
prepare and use it in the form of a tincture. By your kind permission I
will report, through the columns of your valuable journal, a few cases
treated by this remedy, which for convenience I will call
_Sisyrinchium_.
Case 1. Bessie A., aged six years, while playing in the yard on a farm,
some twelve miles in the country, was bitten in the hand by a
rattlesnake which was killed a moment after by the mother of the little
girl who was attracted by the screams of the child. Sixteen hours after
I arrived, everything having been done in the meantime that had ever
been heard of by the parents, even to poulticing the wound with entrails
of a black chicken. The little sufferer was, indeed, an object of pity.
The hand and arm were swollen almost to bursting, the swelling extending
to the shoulder and spine, being of a bluish black color as if
dreadfully bruised. This discoloration extended over the back to the
hips. Skin hot and dry, face flushed, pulse quick and hard. Child
unconscious. I felt that the case was hopeless. But through the earnest
entreaties of the mother, I proceeded to do what I could. Saturating a
piece of cotton with the tincture I had prepared, I bound it on the
wound; then dropping twelve drops in a glass of water I directed that a
teaspoonful be given every hour, the compress to be renewed every hour
also, until my return. I confess I had little hope of seeing my little
patient alive again, but on my return the following day I was much
rejoiced to find a decided change for the better in the condition of the
little sufferer. The swelling was not nearly so tense, the fever had
subsided, the delirium gone, and the danger seemed past. The treatment
was continued, and a speedy and permanent recovery followed.
Case 2. Burt Whitten, aged ten, while out in a marsh with a number of
older boys gathering huckleberries, was bitten in the right ankle by a
rattler. He was so frightened when he saw the snake, as it bit him, that
he ran all the way home, a distance of nearly a mile; although the day
was very hot. This patient came to my hands after the usual alcoholic
treatment for twenty-four hours by an Allopathic physician, with the
patient growing worse all the time. I found this patient in about the
same condition as the first. The leg and foot were enormously swollen
and of the same general appearance; the foot, calf of the leg and thigh
were black; the whole body was very red, hot and dry; face dark red;
pulse quick and hard; patient delirious but would cry out if touched.
Fifteen drops in a glass of water. Teaspoonful every hour, with cotton
saturated with the tincture applied to the wound. In this case the
change, I was informed by the father, was quite noticeable in two hours.
The boy had been in a wild delirium all night and up to the time he
received the first dose of _Sisyrinchium_. After the second dose he
became quiet, and in two hours the delirium had passed away. Under this
treatment the patient was able to be out on the streets again in four
days, though the discoloration did not disappear for some time after.
Many more cases might be given where this remedy has been given to both
man and beast with the same results.
SKOOKUM CHUCK.
(Some readers may be startled at this name, applied to a
remedy, but under that name it came before the profession
and the name has stuck. It is the Western Indian's
designation of the waters of what is now known as
"Medical Lake." The following by Dr. W. D. Gentry
appeared in the _U. S. Med. Investigator_, 1889:)
The water is of a deep amber and almost red in the sunlight. The
following is an analysis of the salts, obtained by evaporation of the
water; the proportion being in grains per U. S. gallon 231 cubic inches:
Sodic chloride, 16.370
Potassic chloride, 9.241
Sodic carbonate, 63.543
Magnesic carbonate, .233
Ferrous carbonate, .526
Calcic carbonate, .186
Aluminic oxide, .175
Sodic silicate, 10.638
Organic matter, .551
------
101.463
Lithic carbonate, }
Potassic sulphate, }Each a trace.
Sodic bi-borate, }
The lake has no outlet, but is fed by two enormous springs. It contains
no living things with the exception of axolotl, a kind of salamander,
such as are found in the lakes of the Mexican Cordilleras.
The medical and curative properties of this remarkable lake was known to
the Indians of the northwest as far back as they have any legends or
tribal history, and it was held in such reverence by them that the
country around this lake was called 'Sahala Lyee Illihe,' or 'Sacred
Grounds,' and no matter how hostile the tribes were to each other no
Indians journeying to or from the 'Skookum Limechen Chuck,' or 'strong
medicine water,' were ever molested.
When the Indians were considering the transfer of their lands to the
government, many years ago, it is recorded as a matter of history, that
old Quetahlguin, father of the present Chief Moses, and 'Old Joseph,'
father of Chief Joseph, lately a prisoner of war, with the broken
remnants of his band, after weeks of deliberation and consideration,
with the 'Sahala Lyee,' or Great Spirit, through their medicine-men, or
prophets, firmly said: 'We have talked with the Great Spirit and we have
slept with his words in our ears. The Great Spirit is our father and the
earth is our mother. We have a good home and it was made for us by the
Great Spirit; it is a part of us; it is our mother. In Wallowa Lake are
an abundance of fish created especially for our tribe. None other of his
red children have such fish. In the 'Skookum Chuck' we have a remedy for
all our ailments. We only have to bathe in and drink its water and we
are made well. If we sign the treaty we will forever offend the Great
Spirit; we will sign away our mother and she will cry. Her tears will
dry up these lakes and we will be hungry and sick. We will go to the
Skookum Chuck only to find that its waters have disappeared.'
The story is told of a Frenchman passing the lake many years ago, before
the properties of the water became known to the whites, with a drove of
sheep afflicted with a skin disease called 'the scab.' As soon as the
sheep saw the water they ran to it, but would not drink. They stood in
the water for some time, and in a few days they were well of the 'scab.'
The Frenchman was suffering with rheumatism. He concluded to try the
water of the lake for his disease. He was speedily cured. The whites
were soon attracted to this lake by the stories of marvellous cures
reported by the Indians, and by seeing Indians return in health and
vigor from the lake, who had been taken there on litters, appearing at
the point of death. It is estimated that over 20,000 people have visited
this lake since 'Joseph's Band' were driven from that section of the
country, and it is fast becoming as popular as any other of our great
health resorts.
My attention was called to _Skookum chuck_ some time since, and I
procured some of the salts and triturated a quantity, making the first,
second, third and sixth potencies. I partially proved the first potency
by taking two grains every two hours. The first effect produced was a
profuse coryza with constant sneezing, as in hay fever. This continued
until the medicine was antidoted by tobacco. My appetite was greatly
increased. Some rheumatic pains in limbs, and heaviness about the
sacrum. The catarrhal effects were so severe I could not continue the
remedy. I have used the third and sixth potency in my practice and have
cured a number of cases of catarrh, and am confident that the remedy
will be curative in hay fever.
(Later investigation, however, demonstrated that the
chief curative action of the salts was in skin diseases.
Dr. D. De Forest Cole, of Albion, N. Y., wrote the
following to the firm from whom he procured the remedy:)
Some time since I received from you one bottle _Skookum chuck_ 3x trit.
I had a very bad case of urticaria which resisted the usual remedies as
_Apis_, _Urtica ur._, etc., and I gave her (a girl twelve years old)
four powders of about four grains each of the _Skookum chuck_,
instructing her to take one powder in one-half glass water, one
teaspoonful every two hours, and she returned in a week free from any
urticaria. I gave her four powders more, and no appearance of urticaria
since. Besides curing the urticaria the patient's health is in every way
improving. I write this thinking you might desire to know of its value
in urticaria, as well as eczema.
(The following cases were contributed by Dr. D. W.
Ingalls, Bridgeport, to _N. Y. Med. Times_, 1894:)
CASE 1. Mrs. D., aged forty-eight years, suffered four years with eczema
plantaris, fissured, red and painful, which gave forth a viscid
secretion, drying into scales half an inch in thickness. For the past
two years the patient had not been able to wear shoes nor walk any
distance, owing to the excessive soreness of the feet.
Patient consulted me March 1st, and the following treatment was given:
Two-grain powders of the 2x trituration of _Skookum chuck_ every two
hours, and an ointment applied nightly consisting of _Skookum salt_, one
drachm to the ounce of _Vaseline_. In the morning the feet were washed
with _Skookum chuck_ soap. April 1st the patient walked to the
dispensary in felt shoes. The fissures and greenish tinge of the crusts
had nearly disappeared. The two-grain powders were then given every four
hours and the former treatment continued. On May 1st, patient walked to
the dispensary wearing leather shoes for the first time, the ointment
was stopped, the fissures and crevices being hardly perceptible. The
patient was advised to wash the feet night and morning with the _Skookum
chuck_ soap.
June 1st patient presented herself, stating that she had very little
trouble with her feet, except some tenderness upon a misstep. Appearance
good.
A powder of the 3x was given every night, together with the continued
washing of the feet night and morning. July 1st the patient was
discharged cured.
CASE 2. Mrs. B., aged twenty-eight, eczema of the nose of one year's
standing. The usual ointments were given, but without result. March 15th
the following treatment was given: Five-grain powder of the 2x
trituration _Skookum chuck_ four times a day, together with the
_Skookum_ ointment applied nightly. This case was entirely cured in six
weeks.
CASE 3. Mrs. H., aged twenty-three, benign growth in left breast about
the size of a walnut; first noticed about eight months previously. Upon
strict inquiry, no history of cancer or tuberculosis was given.
One-grain powders of the 1x were given, the first week every four hours.
Two-grain powders of the 2x were given every four hours the second week.
Five-grain powders of the 3x were given the third week and continued
seven weeks, when the patient was discharged cured.
CASE 4. Mr. S. was afflicted with eczema of the scalp, which spread from
back of the ears to the eyebrows, covering the entire scalp with a
squamous or scabby eczema, accompanied with a constant itching and
shedding of scales. On March 18th the following treatment was given:
Head to be washed four times a day with _Skookum chuck_ soap. A
five-grain powder 2x trituration was given every hour during the first
week, when _Sulphur_, third decimal, was given for three days, and
_Skookum chuck_, second decimal, was continued for one week. One-grain
powder of the 1x was given in water four times a day for two weeks; then
the third decimal trituration was used until June 1st, when patient was
discharged cured.
CASE 5. Mr. J., nasal catarrh, of years' standing. A greenish-yellow
discharge having the odor of a slight ozoena. The patient had been so
much relieved that he is at present writing very comfortable, and
believes that he will be permanently cured.
CASE 6. Mrs. D., aged thirty-six, prolonged suppuration due to abscess
of the axilla; nine months' standing. June 20th the following treatment
was given: The abscess was washed four times a day with the solution of
_Skookum_ salts, five grains to one quart of water, and the 2x given
internally every two hours until July 10th, when the abscess was healed.
A two-grain powder was then continued, night and morning for one month,
with no return of the abscess. To sum up, I have simply verified what
Dr. Gentry and others have given us about the remedy. I have used it
with gratifying success in all suppurating wounds. It evidently has a
great sphere of action, and I hope some day to see a good proving.
(The following was contributed by Dr. B. F. Bailey,
Lincoln, Neb.:)
We have many remedies brought to our notice in an empirical way, which
soon lose their prominence, first because we have no provings, and
second, having no provings, clinical study is not close enough. When
_Skookum chuck_ was first written up, I began to use it and watch its
effects, that it might be possible to find its proper niche in practice.
The following two cases will, I think, give an idea of the cases in
which it may always be depended upon:
Case No. 1.--A married woman of 40 years of age. History and present
condition show a lithæmic diathesis. For years has never been free from
eczematous troubles. At times suffers much from rheumatism, not
infrequently, rheumatism disappears to be immediately followed by
hordeoli upon eyelids. Has been treated long and faithfully by
Allopaths, and now for some years by our own school. Prescribed
_Skookum_ 3x--one powder every 4 hours. Improvement was soon evident.
Persisted in this treatment for three months, and now for two years
patient has been perfectly well.
Case No. 2.--Patient, married woman of about 26 years, comes to me with
urine, sp. grav. 1.030, marked uric acid deposits, flushed face upon a
yellowish background--so often seen in lithæmic cases. Much difficulty
of digestion. Great dryness of skin, especially of scalp, with great
trouble from falling out of hair--in short a thoroughly lithæmic case.
_Skookum chuck_ 3x every four hours. Satisfactory improvement. Has
feared head will become entirely bald. Now no loss of hair, and a loss
of the heated, congested feeling of face and head. In fact, a
satisfactory recovery now of some weeks standing. These cases briefly
stated ought to be of interest, in that they show it to be probable that
we will find the sphere of action of _Skookum_ to be in lithæmic cases,
and for the treatment of these cases we have but a few clearly defined
reliable remedies.
SOLANUM CAROLINENSE.
NAT. ORD., Solanaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Horse-nettle.
PREPARATION.--The fresh, ripe berries are macerated in twice their
weight of alcohol.
(In 1889 Dr. Napier called attention to _Solanum
Carolinense_ as a remedy in the treatment of epilepsy,
stating that it was used as a domestic remedy in the
South for convulsions and "that he had successfully
prescribed it in his practice." Dr. Charles S. Potts, of
the University of Pennsylvania, contributes a paper
_Therap. Gazette_, Dec., 1895, on the remedy, giving some
new points, from which the following is condensed:)
At the clinic for nervous diseases of the University Hospital, _Solanum
Carolinense_ was tried in a series of twenty-five cases, twenty-one of
which were idiopathic, three organic, and one probably so. Of these,
eight of the idiopathic cases either did not return after the first
visit or else were not under observation sufficiently long to offer a
fair test. In the remaining seventeen cases the following results were
obtained--viz., five, two of them organic, were not improved. In the
remaining twelve the results showed more or less benefit from the use of
the drug. The five cases in which no improvement was noted were
afterwards placed upon other treatment, either antipyrin and bromide of
ammonium or the mixed bromides with amelioration of the symptoms in
four; in the remaining one no drug seemed to be of service. The dose
used at first was 10 drops. This dose was found to be useless, and after
the first few cases they varied from 30 drops to teaspoonful three or
four times daily. No unpleasant effects were observed, excepting a mild
diarrhoea in some cases. This was also noticed by Dr. Herdman. He also
noticed that in large doses the temperature was lowered and the pulse
slowed.
In many epileptics diarrhoea is more of a benefit than otherwise.
The conclusions derived from the results obtained in seventeen cases
are:--
1. That the drug has a decided influence for good upon the epileptic
paroxysm.
2. That this influence is probably not so great or so sure as that
obtained by the use of antipyrin and the bromide salts or even of the
mixed bromides.
3. That in those cases in which it is of service it relieves the
paroxysms, without causing any other unpleasant symptoms, such as are
sometimes caused by the use of large doses of the bromides.
4. That the dose ordinarily recommended is too small, and that as much
as a teaspoonful or more four times daily is often needed to secure
results.
The following are some of the cases in which the remedy seemed to act
beneficially:
H. T., male, aged thirteen years. Idiopathic epilepsy; had his first
spell when five years of age; averages one paroxysm daily. The _Solanum_
was first given in 10 drop doses _t. i. d._ without effect. When
increased to 25 drops the spells were lighter in severity, but occurred
about as often. The dose was finally increased to a teaspoonful four
times daily. After being put upon this dose he was under observation six
weeks, during which time he had six seizures much lighter in severity.
T. H., male, aged twenty-eight years. He had epileptic seizures for the
past three years. They followed an injury to the head which rendered him
unconscious, but produced no other visible injury. Since this, however,
has had almost constant headache. First spell six month after the
injury, and have been very frequent since, averaging three to four
weekly; they are of ordinary type. _Solanum_ in 40 drop doses three
times daily was ordered. Spells at once decreased in frequency and
severity. During the last six weeks he was under observation he only had
three spells, very mild in type.
C. R., male, aged twenty-one years. Epileptic seizures for past three
years following an injury. Had been trephined in right parietal region
before coming under our observation. After trephining the symptom
improved, but got worse again; when seen by us was having one daily.
40-drop doses of _Solanum_ caused diarrhoea, and dose was reduced to
30 drops _t. i. d._, when diarrhoea ceased. Under this treatment he
had no spell for two weeks. In the following month he had three spells;
was then lost to observation.
A. N., male, aged thirty years. First spell one year ago; have since
occurred every two weeks; good deal of headache. Ordered _Solanum_ 30
drops _t. i. d._ No spells for one month and headache ceased. He then
stopped attendance.
J. D., female, aged eighteen years. First spell when thirteen years old;
has one spell a month at the time of her menstrual period. About a week
before this period was given 40 drops _t. i. d._, and escaped the usual
spell. The following month, however, she had one.
I. K., female, aged twenty-five years. Nocturnal epilepsy for past three
years; about one spell a month. While using 40 drops _t. i. d._ went
three weeks longer than usual without a spell. The dose was then
increased to 1 fluid drachm _t. i. d._; she then ceased her visits.
F. S., female, aged twelve years. First spell five weeks ago; has been
having them daily since. _Solanum_ 30 drops _t. i. d._, ordered; this
dose was gradually increased to 1 fluid drachm _t. i. d._ During the
three months that she was under observation her spells averaged in
number about one a week.
H. B., male, aged eighteen years. First convulsion at age of ten years;
then had none until three months ago; has had general convulsions about
once daily since. _Solanum_, 40 drops _t. i. d._, ordered. He was only
under observation nine days, having during that time four spells, much
milder in character.
A. C., female, aged fifteen years. First convulsion one year ago; they
have been increasing in frequency; now has one about every three days.
During the three weeks she was taking 30 drops of _Solanum_ three times
a day she had one spell, that occurring during the third week.
H. K., male, aged eighteen years. First spell when fourteen years old.
Every three or four days has several attacks in succession, an average
of about one daily. While taking _Solanum_ in 40-drop--afterwards
increased to teaspoonful--doses he had twelve in thirty-eight days, an
average of a little less than one in three days, going six without
having any.
SPIRITUS GLANDIUM QUERCUS.
NAT. ORD.--Cupuliferæ.
COMMON NAME--European or English oak.
PREPARATION.--The spirit is destilled from the tincture prepared by
macerating the acorn kernals from the Quercus robur, in five times their
weight of dilute alcohol.
(The following, from Rademacher, is quoted and translated
by Dr. J. C. Burnett in his _Diseases of the Spleen_).
I became acquainted with this remedy in a wonderful way. Many years ago
(I do not remember the exact time) a working carpenter, who had
previously lived at Crefeld, came to seek my advice for his bellyache,
which was of long standing. According to his own statement, he had long
been under Sanitary Councillor Schneider in Crefeld, who was not able to
help him, and so sent him to Professor Günther in Duisberg. Ten journeys
thither were likewise in vain.
I tried my usual remedies for seemingly such cases, but to no good; and
as I noticed he was a good cabinetmaker, and dabbled a bit in
upholstery, I told him it would be a good plan if he were to hire
himself out to a country squire as joiner, thinking that the food of the
servants' hall would suit his sick stomach better than the beans, black
bread, and potatoes of the master carpenter. The good fellow followed my
advice, and lived with a squire for many years; and I heard nothing more
about him. Finally, he married the parlormaid, and settled here in this
town as a joiner. One day when visiting his sick wife I remembered the
old story of his bellyache, and wanted to know how it then was. "All
right," said he, "I have not had it for years." It seems that a local
surgeon, being one day at the squire's, told him to get some acorns, and
scrape them with a knife, and then put the scrapings into brandy and
leave them to draw for a day, and then to drink a small glass of this
spirit several times a day. He did as he was advised, and was forthwith
relieved, and very soon entirely freed from his old trouble.
From what I knew of the surgeon, I was very sure he could not give me
any intelligent reason for his prescription. I should only have heard
that acorn scrapings in brandy were good for the bellyache, or, at the
most, I may have ascertained from what doctor, or peasant, or old wife
he had got the tip.
But this would have done me but poor service; and as I had in the
meantime become much more cunning, I questioned the joiner himself
afresh as to the kind of his old pain, particularly as to the part of
the belly where the pain was _last felt_ when he had had a bad attack.
He was in no doubt about it, but at once pointed to the part of the
belly nearest the left hypochondrium. So I very shrewdly suspected that
the abdominal pains were really owing to a primary affection of the
spleen, in which notion I was strengthened by remembering that the best
pain-killing hepatic and enteric remedies had done him no good.
To get as soon as possible to the bottom of the thing, I set about
preparing a tincture of acorns, and gave a teaspoonful five times a day
in water to an old brandy drunkard, who was sick unto death, and of whom
I knew that he had suffered from the spleen for a very long time, the
spleen being from time to time painful. He had likewise ascites, and his
legs were dropsical as far as the knees. It occurred to me that if the
acorn tincture were to act curatively on the spleen the consensual
kidney affection and its dependent dropsy would mend. I soon saw that I
had reckoned rightly. The urinary secretion was at once augmented, but
the patient complained that each time after taking the medicine he felt
a constriction of the chest. I ascribed this to the astringent matter of
the acorns, and thinking the really curative principle thereof would
most likely be volatile I caused the tincture to be distilled. This
acorn spirit caused no further constriction, and the urinary secretion
was still more markedly increased, the tension in the præcordia became
less and less, and this hopelessly incurable drunkard got quite well,
much to the surprise of all who knew him, and, honestly speaking, much
to my own surprise also.
Having thus put the spirit of acorns to such a severe test, and that in
a case that I already knew so well, in which it was impossible to make a
mistake as to the primary affection, I went further, and used it by
degrees in all sorts of spleen affections, and that not only in painful
ones, but in painless ones, in the evident ones, and in those of a more
problematical kind. Gradually I became convinced that it is a remedy,
the place of which no other can take. More particularly is it of great,
nay, of inestimable value in spleen-dropsy. Later on, I found that the
volatile curative principle of acorns may be still better extracted with
water with the addition of alcohol. [The _aqua glandium_ is thus
prepared:--One pound of peeled and crushed acorns to the pound of
distillate.] Perhaps water alone might extract the healing principle,
but it would not keep thus, and so the cures would be uncertain, not to
mention the fact that such-like decaying medicines are a great trouble
to the chemists. The dose of the spirituous acorn-water (the only
preparation I have used of late years) is half a tablespoonful in water
four times a day. It has not much taste; some would even say it has
none, but the doubter may make a solution of alcohol and water in the
same proportions, and he will soon find that it has quite a taste of its
own.
I must make mention of two of its peculiar effects. Certain people feel,
as soon as they have taken it, a peculiar sensation in the head, lasting
hardly a minute or two, which they say is like being drunk.
With a few people, particularly with those who have suffered from old
spleen engorgements, diarrhoea sets in after using it for two or three
weeks that makes them feel better. It seldom lasts more than a day, and
is not weakening, but moderate. Hence it is not needful either to stop
the acorn water or to lessen the dose.
I could add many instructive cases of spleen-dropsies and other spleen
affections in which the volatile principle of acorns proved curative,
but as I have so much more to say on other subjects I dare not be too
discursive on this one point; besides, what I have already said will
suffice for common-sense physicians. Still I cannot forbear noticing a
few bagatelles. For instance, I have found that the acute spleen fevers
that occur intercurrently with epidemic liver fevers are best cured with
_aqua glandium_--at least that is my experience.
Furthermore, I am of opinion that the three _splenics_ of which I have
made mention are curative of three different morbid states of the
spleen, and I know well from my own experience that acorns are indicated
in the most common spleen affections; and, finally, I am not acquainted
with any positive signs whereby those three separate morbid states of
spleen can with certainty be differentiated from one another.
(In a later work, _Gout and its Cure_, by Burnett, the
remedy is again brought up as follows:)
For some years past I have been acquainted with a remedy that antidotes
the effect of alcohol very prettily, as I will show. I enter upon the
subject in this place, because it deserves to be widely known, and also
because in the treatment of gout, the alcoholism not infrequently bars
the way. The remedy I refer to is the distilled spirit of
acorns--_Spiritus glandium quercus_. My first account will be found in
my "Diseases of the Spleen," where _Spiritus glandium quercus_ is dealt
with as a spleen medicine. I speak of set purpose of the homoeopathic
antidote, because alcoholism is a disease, and as such must be met by
specific medication.
Some of Rademacher's patients complained to him that while taking his
acorn medicine they felt in their heads somewhat as if they were drunk;
but as Rademacher did not believe in the law of similars--indeed, knew
but little about it--their complaint had no ulterior significance to
him, but still it struck him as worthy of record. "A few, but not many,
of those who take it immediately feel a peculiar sensation in the head,
which they say is like they feel when they are drunk, the sensation
lasting only a minute or two." Now, in the light of the homoeopathic
law, this symptom is eminently suggestive, but whether any one beside
myself has ever noticed this symptom I am not aware. Rademacher had
previously related the following brilliant cure. * * * He says that in
order to get a clear idea of the action of the remedy he caused to be
prepared a tincture of acorns, of which he gave a teaspoonful in water
five times a day to an almost moribund brandy toper, who had long been
suffering from a spleen affection that at times caused him a good deal
of pain, and who, at the time in question, had severe ascites and whose
lower extremities were dropsical up as far as the knees. Our author was
of opinion that the affection was a primary disease of the spleen, and
reasoned that if the tincture of acorns cured the spleen the kidneys
would duly resume work and the ascitic and anasarcous state would
disappear. He soon found he was right; patient at once began to pass
more urine, but he complained that every time he took a dose of the
medicine he got a constriction about the chest, and this Rademacher
ascribed to the astringent quality of the acorns, and to avoid this he
had the tincture of acorns distilled. The administration of this
distilled preparation was not followed by any unpleasant symptom, and
the quantity of urine passed increased still more, the tension on the
præcordia slowly lessened and this inveterate drunkard got quite well,
much to the amazement of everybody, Rademacher included, for he did not
at all expect him to recover.
Now, it must be admitted that a remedy that can cure an old drunkard of
general dropsy and restore him to health deserves closer acquaintance,
and when we first regard it from the pathogenetic side as producing, of
course, contingently, a cephalic state, resembling alcoholic
intoxication, and then from the clinical side as having cured an
abandoned drunkard, it looks very much as if we had a remedy
homoeopathic to alcoholism. I may add that Rademacher nowhere hints
that the _Spiritus glandium quercus_ stands in any relation to
alcoholism; he regards it merely as a spleen medicine, specially
indicated in dropsy due to a primary spleen affection. At first I
regarded it merely in the same light, but when I really gripped the
significance of the pathogenetic symptoms just quoted I thought we might
find in our common acorns a notable homoeopathic anti-alcoholic.
(It is not fair to quote further from Burnett, but we may add that in
his book, _Gout and Its Cure_, there are given a number of clinical
cases in which the remedy acted brilliantly in those addicted to
tippling, or drinking hard. It is not so much that the remedy extirpates
the habit, but it enables those afflicted to easily control their
appetite and drink "like other people," without that insatiable craving.
The dose is about ten drops in water three to four times a day.)
SOLIDAGO VIRGA-AUREA.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAME, Golden Rod
PREPARATION.--The fresh blossoms are macerated in twice their weight of
alcohol.
(The following is to be found on p. 131 of Dr.
Gallavardin's "Homoeopathic Treatment of Alcoholism:")
"A lady, by administering, morning and evening, an infusion of the dry
leaves and flowers of Golden Rod (_Solidago virga-aurea_) tells me that
she cured her husband of an affection of the bladder which had compelled
him to use a catheter for a year or more. A friend of Homoeopathy, not
a physician, desired to test the efficaciousness of this plant. He
caused the first dilution of its tincture to be taken three times a day
by seven patients of from forty-two to seventy-four years of age, who
had been obliged to catheterize themselves for weeks, months and years,
and cured them so thoroughly that they had no relapses. Surgeons who
spend much time in catheterizing such patients for months and years
could often cure them much more rapidly by prescribing for them the
remedy just mentioned."
(Dr. A. E. White, _Homoeopathic Recorder_, July, 1891,
relates the following case:)
Mrs.----, age 37, married, has had seven children. Came to me December
10, 1890, with the following history: "Had not had her menses for four
months. Thought she was in a family way. Abdomen bloated up every P.M.;
sick at her stomach all of the time; frontal headache, P.M.; felt better
when first getting up in the morning, at which time her abdomen was
almost normal in size.
"Her water she complained of more than anything else. Had to pass it
every half hour during day and several times during night.
"Backache all of the time, which was not decreased by passing water.
Urine had a white, slimy deposit on standing a short time.
"Requested an examination, but could not discover that she was in a
family way. Found her back very sensitive in region of kidneys, trace of
albumin in urine.
"I gave her a vial of _Solidago_ 1x, told her to take two disks every
four hours and report in three or four days. She came back December
13th, 'the medicine went right to the spot.' From the second dose her
water became natural and she did not bloat so much in P.M. Her stomach
did not bother her any more. I gave her a bottle of _Puls._ 3x to take
with the _Solidago_, and she reported December 17th, that her menses had
come on.
"I have used it in several other cases where it seemed indicated by the
tenderness in kidney region and the inability to control the water from
whatever cause, always with perfect satisfaction to patient and myself."
(The following paper on the use of _Solidago virga-aurea_
is by Dr. M. Gucken, of Eupen, Germany:)
The Golden Rod is in Homoeopathy, according to my opinion, not as much
made use of as it deserves. Foh. Gottfr. Rademacher, who has many
admirers among us, says, in his _Justification of Experience in
Medicine_, about _Virga-aurea_: "This herb is a very old and good kidney
medicine. It is a specific for kidneys, and brings the patients back to
the normal condition." I have used the Golden Rod for a long time, and
have to make favorable reports. The results of extensive homoeopathic
proving of this remedy on healthy persons cannot be found in our
literature, but a Würtemburg physician, Dr. Buck, has given us a list of
cures with the Golden Rod in the popular homoeopathic paper edited by
Dr. Bolle, which wholly confirms the statements of Rademacher, besides
the cases reported by Dr. Buck.
According to this last, _Virga-aurea_ is especially adapted for
scrofulous subjects; at the same time other constitutions do not exclude
the use of this remedy. In the first place, _the condition and the
action of the kidneys and the quality of their secretions_ are to be
considered in the selection of this remedy. The symptoms on the part of
the kidneys and the urinary organs, which point to _Virga-aurea_, are as
follows:
Pains in the kidneys; region of kidneys painful upon pressure; feeling
of enlargement and tension in the kidneys, also pains in the kidneys
which extend forward to the abdomen and to the bladder. Dysuria,
difficult and scanty urination; urine dark, red-brown, with thick
sediment; stone and gravel, albumen, blood or slime in the urine; urine
dark, with sediments of phosphates; slightly sour, neutral or alkaline;
urine with numerous epithelial cells or small mucous particles.
Epithelial cells with gravel of triple phosphates, or phosphate of lime.
Bright's disease.
Side symptoms which point to this remedy:
_Skin._--Scrofulous rash; little blotches on hands and feet, itching
very much; very obstinate, itching exanthemas; exanthema of the lower
extremities without swelling of the inguinal glands, but with
disturbance in urinating (catarrh of the kidneys).
_Sleep._--Insomnia.
_Fever._--Rheumatic fever; very frequent pulse; high fever.
_Head._--Headache.
_Eyes._--Scrofulous, herpetic inflammation.
_Ears._--Sudden deafness, with ringing in the ears and albuminous urine.
_Nose._--Dry; the inner surface of the nose covered with blood crust;
scalding and very scanty brown urine.
_Mouth._--Flat ulcers in the mouth and throat.
_Gastric: Stomach, Abdomen and Stool._--Continuous bitter taste,
disturbing the rest, especially nights; heavily covered tongue, which
does not become clean in spite of the use of anti-gastric remedies, and
only cleanses itself at the return of abundant urinating; chronic
catarrh of the bowels; diarrhoea, with scanty, dark urine; dysentery;
costiveness; sensation of pain in the abdomen on both sides of the
navel, upon deep pressure; physconia of the abdomen by gases; severe
pricking in both hypochondria to the region of the kidneys, reaching to
the lower extremities, with continued bitter taste in the mouth,
especially at night, with very scanty brown and sour urine.
_Female Parts._--Hæmorrhage, chronic leucorrhoea, in connection with
copious, watery urine and sediments of mucous particles and uriniferous
tubules; epithelium.
_Respiratory Organs._--Heavy expectoration in coughing; croup, with
little blotches on the hands and diminished urine; chronic catarrh of
the lungs; continuous dyspnoea; periodical asthma, with nightly
dysuria.
_Trunk and Lower Limbs._--Rheumatism of the intercostal muscles; chronic
pains in the loins; limping, dragging gait; rheumatic pains in the
legs; pains in the thighs; the legs can be moved horizontally, but when
moved perpendicularly they feel lame.
In connection with these symptoms the description of a few cases of
sickness, in which _Virga-aurea_ proved itself, might be of some
interest.
CLINICAL.
During the spring of 1886 scarlet-diphtheria appeared in this place. On
March 28th I was called to attend the 8-year old son Matthias, of
Wernerus, a weaver, in the hamlet of Niepert, that showed symptoms of
the above disease. Cynanche was at high degree, and the throat was
filled with diphtheritic coating, so much so that I had reason to fear
the worst, on account of the accompanying fever and of the choked-up
condition and weakly (scrofulous) habit of the patient. But the
well-known remedy of Viller, given alternately with _Belladonna_, proved
itself also in this case, and the symptoms in the throat assumed, after
a few days, a less dangerous character. Not so with the fever, which
gradually assumed the form of typhoid, and ran very high, while the
scarlet-rash grew quite pale. On the morning of April 5th, his
temperature was 42.5°, the patient unconscious, the pulse weak and
intermittent, the feet swollen. Upon inquiry the parents told me that
the boy urinated very little. His urine, of which I had taken a quantity
the day previous for examination, contained a considerable amount of
albuminous sediments. I prescribed _Kali arsenicosum_ in the fourth
centesimal potency, which had been recommended in similar cases by Dr.
Hock in the international homoeopathic press; but, although the
temperature decreased after using this remedy, the dropsical swelling of
the feet increased more and more, and after a few days the entire body
of the patient was swollen very much. The discharge of urine grew
continually less. Under these circumstances I examined the patient again
thoroughly, and found great sensitiveness of the kidneys against
pressure, in spite of his otherwise apathetic condition. These symptoms
reminded me of _Virga-aurea_. This remedy was immediately applied, and I
had no reason to regret it. Within one day the urinal discharge became
profuse, the general condition improving at the same time; the peeling
off took place without further trouble, and after the patient had taken
_Virga-aurea_ for two weeks, and, on account of anæmia, for one week
three times a day, a dose of _Ferrum peroxydatum_ in the 2d trituration,
he had so far recovered that I did not consider it necessary to give
further medicine.
In 1885 a 45-year-old Belgian mine official (his work was office-work)
consulted me on account of sleeplessness and pain in the back. The
patient had no other complaints, only he carelessly added it sometimes
took him a long time to urinate, because of want of the necessary
pressure. He considered this weakness as the result of gonorrhoea,
from which he had suffered years ago. The sleeplessness, for which he
had tried all remedies possible, would make itself known from the time
he went to bed until 3 o'clock in the morning, at which time he could
get sleep, but not a refreshing one, and on arising he would feel very
tired, especially in the upper part of the thighs, and then would
commence the pain in the back, which extended to the loins, and lasted
until he went to bed in the evening, without being prompted by external
influences (warmth, cold, rest, motion). Also sleeplessness nights, pain
in the back daytimes. At first I considered _Nux vom._ proper, and I
prescribed the same for the patient, in the 3d decimal potency, four
drops twice a day. At the same time I requested the patient to bring a
sample of his urine at his next visit. After some time he came back with
the sample, and declared that the prescribed remedy had not shown the
least effect.
The urine was dark and slimy, reddish, slightly acid, and had at the
bottom of the bottle brick-dust settlings. Heat did not show albumen,
but by heating it the dark urine became clearer, and contained also
salts of uric acid. I examined the kidneys of the patient, found them
sensitive against pressure, and the diagnosis pointed to chronic catarrh
of the kidneys. Sleeplessness, pain in the back and the tired feeling in
the upper parts of the thigh were additional symptoms of this malady,
and I determined to use _Virga-aurea_. The patient took this for three
months three times a day, after which he wrote me that he was entirely
well. About a year afterwards he had a relapse, but not in the form of
former symptoms, but in the form of ischias, against which disease
Golden Rod proved itself beneficial.
In conclusion, may be mentioned a double case of the curative power of
_Virga-aurea_, which also contributes to the heredity of disease. Some
time ago, the wife of a farmer, 53 years old, asked me for a
prescription for a trouble which she had had for twenty-six years, since
her first confinement. The patient, a stout and fresh-looking person,
made the following statement: After the confinement, which was very
laborious, and which was followed by prolapsus uteri, the latter still
existing, her legs began to swell, and an itching rash broke out by
degrees. Menstruation had always come at the proper time, but suddenly
stopped six months ago.
Since that time the itching had become almost intolerable, the legs more
swollen and always cold, but she did not feel a continuous heat in her
head. The appetite was very poor; she had always a bitter taste in the
mouth, and the tongue was thickly coated. At the same time she had
rising from the stomach, as if she should suffocate, and at the least
exertion she lost her breath. She urinated very little, and this mostly
at night. My question, if there were pains in the back, was answered in
the negative, but the kidneys of this patient were also sensitive
against pressure. The appearance of the lower limbs of the patient
frightened me. From knee to heel they formed a bluish-red mass in the
shape of a stove-pipe, which were covered with little blotches and
crusts. This kind of an eruption, together with the other symptoms, led
me to the use of _Virga-aurea_, the prolonged use of which, although it
did not affect a cure, produced a mitigation of the whole body, so that
the lady induced her eldest son to come to me for help. This man had
also trouble in his lower limbs not unlike his mother. He had a year ago
passed through a severe throat difficulty, after which his lower limbs
began to swell and to itch; they were also tainted bluish-red and
covered with vesicles; he also complained of scanty urine, and his
kidneys were sensitive against pressure. What better could I, under the
circumstances, prescribe than _Virga-aurea_?
The result was good. After a few months the patient had no more
difficulty.
In the cases above mentioned, I prescribed the 3d decimal dilution of
the tincture of the whole plant of Golden Rod. The water of Golden Rod,
recommended by Rademacher and others, I have never tried.
STELLARIA MEDIA.
NAT. ORD.--Caryophyllaceæ.
COMMON NAME.--Common Chickweed.
PREPARATION.--The whole fresh plant in bloom is macerated in twice its
weight of alcohol.
(Frederick Kopp proved this remedy and the results were
published in the _Homoeopathic World_, 1896, as
follows:)
"It has proved to me a matter of impossibility to answer all the letters
that have been sent to me by readers of the _Homoeopathic World_ on
the subject of the use of _Stellaria media_ in the treatment of
rheumatism, but I trust that the information given below will satisfy
all the correspondents. It will be remembered by my readers that the new
drug was first proved by me in 1893, consequent on my attention being
drawn to the weed by our esteemed friend, the Rev. F. H. Brett. I made a
thorough proving of the drug, not only once, but several times, so as to
satisfy myself beyond a doubt as to the symptoms peculiar to it, and
the excruciating rheumatic-like pains developed at the time are still
vividly remembered by me; in fact, they were so severe and intense as
not to be easily forgotten when once experienced. There is no mistaking
the _rheumatic_ symptoms of the drug. They come on very rapidly, and the
sharp, darting pains so peculiar to rheumatism are experienced, not only
in almost every part of the body, but the symptoms of soreness of the
parts to the touch, stiffness of the joints, and aggravation of the
pains by motion are also present. These pains may be described as
follows:
"Rheumatic-like pains over the right side of the head; especially
towards the back, with the parts sore to the touch; rheumatic-like pains
darting through the whole head, worse on right side; rheumatic-like
pains left half of forehead, over the eye, with the parts sore to the
touch; rheumatic-like pains in the left foot; rheumatic-like pains in
the ankles; sharp, darting, rheumatic-like pains in the left knee,
gradually extending above along the thigh; rheumatic-like pains below
the right knee-cap; rheumatic-like, darting pains through various parts
of the body, especially down the right arm and the middle and index
fingers of the left hand; stiffness of the joints in general;
rheumatic-like pains in the calves of the legs, which are sensitive to
the touch; rheumatic-like pains in the right hip; rheumatic-like pains
across the small of the back, aggravated by bending or stooping;
stiffness in lumbar region with soreness; darting, rheumatic-like pains
through right thigh; rheumatic-like pains in right groin.
"It will be seen by the above symptoms that almost every part of the
body in which it is possible for rheumatic pains to occur is affected,
the rheumatic-like pains darting from one part to another. My
correspondents all being readers of _The Homoeopathic World_ will
remember a case reported in the January number of the journal (1896), by
Mr. R. H. Bellairs, in which the pains were 'now in ankle, now in knee,
now in arm, wrist, or fingers.' This case fully illustrates the
symptoms borne out in my proving of the drug, and it but naturally
followed, according to the law of similars, that the disease should
yield to the month's treatment with _Stellaria media_. Mr. Bellairs says
he thinks that possibly 'shifting pain' is a key-note, and I am glad
that I am able to inform him that he is correct in his supposition. I am
pleased to hear that he has often given _Stellaria media_ in chronic
rheumatism, and now looks upon it as a specific. It is these things that
gladden the heart of the prover of new drugs--the news of the practical
triumph of a new drug over symptoms of disease similar to those it is
itself capable of developing in a healthy body--and one feels amply
repaid for the hours and days of pain and suffering that one has
inevitably to put up with in the vocation of 'proving.' I heartily
congratulate Mr. Bellairs on his success in curing the above case.
"I have been asked by one correspondent whether a changeable
climate--one with sudden changes of temperature occurring every day, for
instance--would prevent the drug from taking effect in the treatment of
rheumatism. To this question I can promptly return an answer in the
negative. I have proof upon proof lying before me to testify that
_Stellaria media_ is just as efficacious in a changeable climate as in
any other. Reports of cases cured have come to me from various parts of
the world, under varying changes of climate, and the result has always
been the same, namely, 'the cure of the case.'
"For _internal_ administration I have always found the 2x tincture the
most efficacious, given in from one to two drop doses every two, three,
or four hours, according to the severity of the symptoms. For _external_
purposes I strongly advise the [Greek: theta] tincture. It may be
employed either in the form of a lotion (20 to 60 minims of [Greek:
theta] tincture to a tumblerful of water), the ointment or the liniment
(30 to 40 minims of the [Greek: theta] tincture to [Latin: ezh]j of
pure olive oil). Cloths steeped in the lotion and renewed when dry may
be applied to the painful parts, or the ointment or liniment may be
rubbed well in. Experience has taught me that external treatment
combined with internal greatly assists in hastening the cure. In the
treatment of rheumatism _Stellaria media_ is a very active drug, acting
very promptly; a low dilution of the mother tincture of the drug taken
internally is very apt, therefore, to intensify the pains, and these
should therefore be avoided and the 2x dilution used."
STIGMATA MAIDIS.
A Tincture of the Fresh Corn Silk.
NAT. ORD.--Gramineæ.
COMMON NAME.--Corn Silk.
PREPARATION.--One part of fresh corn silk is macerated in two parts by
weight of alcohol.
(A great deal has been published lately concerning this
remedy. The following by Dr. Dufan, _London Medical
Record_, seems to give the best outline of its uses:)
1. The stigmata of maize have a very marked, though not always a
favorable, action in all affections of the bladder, whether acute or
chronic.
2. In acute traumatic cystitis, and also in gonorrhoeal cystitis, they
have a very marked diuretic action, but, at the same time, increase the
pain; hence they should not be employed in these cases.
3. The best results have been obtained in cases of uric or phosphatic
gravel, of chronic cystitis, whether simple or consecutive to gravel,
and of mucous or muco-purulent catarrh. All the symptoms of the disease,
the vesical pains, the dysuria, the excretion of sand, the ammoniacal
odor, etc., rapidly disappear under the influence of the medicine.
4. The retention of urine dependent on these various affections often
disappears as improvement progresses, but the use of the sound must
sometimes be continued, in order to empty the bladder completely.
5. The stigmata maize have very often produced a cure after all the
usual internal remedies had been tried in vain, or with only partial
success. In other cases, the ordinary methods of treatment, which had at
first proved more or less entirely useless, became efficacious after
stigmata had been administered for a time, and had, as it were, broken
the ground for them. Most frequently the stigmata alone sufficed for the
cure, but still in some cases the effect was incomplete, and it was
found that the treatment could be varied with benefit. Injections and
irrigations of the bladder also proved useful adjuncts to the maize.
6. As the stigmata of maize are a very powerful, though at the same time
entirely inoffensive diuretic, they have also been employed with the
best results in cases of heart disease, albuminuria, and other
affections requiring diuretics. Cases have been reported in which the
urinary secretion was tripled and even quintupled in the first
twenty-four hours, and others where the exhibition of the drug was
continued for two or three months without the slightest untoward effect.
(Though Dr. Dufan condemns the use of the remedy in
gonorrhoea, other practitioners have commended it for
that very purpose. Dr. Leo Bennett, _Therapeutic
Gazette_, 1893, having had "unusual success" in the
treatment of that disease with the _Stigmata maidis_.)
SUCCINIC ACID.
PREPARATION.--The pure chemical is triturated in the usual way.
(The following is by Dr. Morris Weiner, of Baltimore,
1892:)
About twelve years ago I decided to prove _Succinic acid_ (_Acidum
succinicum_). _Agricola_ mentions this acid, 1546, as _Salt of amber_.
_Boyle_, towards the close of the 17th century, was the first who
pronounced it to be acid, and _Stecker de Neuform_ confirmed this
statement, after repeated investigations, calling it a _true_ acid.
_Berzelius_ published its elemental composition, C_{4}H_{2}O_{3}.
This acid was long ago laid aside as obsolete, and not without good
reason, because since the Puritans in chemistry commenced to rule over
every laboratory of pharmacy, by trying to redistill this crude acid and
changing its yellowish color to snowy whiteness, they drove out every
trace of the _oily matter_ which alone constitutes its medical action.
The whiter this acid becomes the larger doses can be taken without any
action on the human system. Knowing that this _oil of amber_ is driven
out totally by redistillation I was compelled to prepare the crude acid
myself.
The expense is considerable. One pound of amber yields about half an
ounce of crude acid, and the glass retort, after dry distillation, must
be broken to collect the acid.
The fumes of _Acidum succinicum crudum_ are inflammable, producing
asthma, cough, sneezing, weeping, dropping of watery mucus from the
nostrils, pain in chest and headache.
None of our remedies gives a truer picture of hay fever, and since the
_oil of amber_ must be securely inclosed in the amber itself, it was but
natural to conclude that by trituration I may receive all the virtue of
the remedy.
At the same time I remembered that necklaces and earrings of amber are
considered a popular protection agent against neuralgia, colds, and even
hay fever.
Since that time I prescribed in cases of hay fever the third decimal
trituration, one or two grains dissolved in twelve teaspoonfuls of
distilled water, one teaspoonful every two hours, with the best results,
and have cured more than thirty persons, who were formerly obliged to go
to the mountains to get temporary relief. Already after the first week
most of them experienced decided relief.
SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALIS.
NAT. ORD.--Borraginaceæ.
COMMON NAME.--Comfrey, Healing Herb.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh root gathered just before blooming
is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following concerning this remedy, which dates back
to Dioscorides, we find in _American Journal of
Homoeopathy_, 1846:)
The Homoeopathic Examiner for August contains a paper entitled
"_Connection of Homoeopathy with Surgery_," by _Croserio_, translated
by P. P. Wells, M. D. It is there stated that "injuries of the bones are
healed most promptly by _Symphytum officinale_ 30 internally once a day.
This remedy accelerates the consolidation of fractures surprisingly."
The translator adds a note as follows: "I have had repeated
opportunities of verifying this declaration of Croserio. A boy, fourteen
years old, broke the bones of the forearm, at the junction of the lower
and middle thirds, two years ago. He had twice repeated the fracture by
slight falls. The ends of the fragments are now slightly movable on each
other, and the arm is weak and admits of little use. Three doses of
_Symphytum_ effected a perfect cure. The lad became more robust, and has
since had better general health than ever before."
A boy, eight years old, fractured the humerus, near the junction of the
condyles and shaft. _Arnica_ 30 immediately arrested the spasmodic jerks
of the muscles of the injured arm. This remedy was continued the first
three days, when the traumatic fever had entirely subsided. He then had
_Symphyt_. [Latin: ezh], gtt. i., in half a tumbler of water, a
teaspoonful every morning and evening. The splints were removed the
_ninth day_, and the bone was found consolidated. The cure was entirely
without pain. How much earlier than this the fragments ceased to be
movable is not known. Well may the author say it heals broken bone
surprisingly. Let it be remembered that the discovery of this specific
is but one of the many rich fruits of _Hahnemannism_.
(The following appeared in the _Homoeopathic World_,
1890, under the signature F. H. B.:)
In none of the Homoeopathic treatises that I possess do I find any
mention of the above remedy. I am surprised at this, for I believe it to
be a very valuable one in certain cases. Its common name of _knitbone_
seems to point to popular experience of one of its uses; but I believe
its knitting, or uniting, power extends to muscular and other tissues of
the body, as well as to the bones. Let me give two instances of my own
personal experience. Many years ago I had an inguinal rupture on each
side, not extensive ones, but causing a protrusion about the size of
half a small walnut. After wearing a truss for some time, I bethought me
of what I had heard of the uniting power of Comfrey, and made some
tincture from the root, and rubbed it in. After doing so two or three
times, the signs of rupture quite disappeared, and the parts remained
sound for about three years; when, from some cause or other, the right
side broke out again, but as it did not give much trouble I neglected it
for some time, and then tried the Comfrey tincture again, but this time
without success. I suppose the ruptured edges had got too far asunder.
The left side, however, which originally was the worse of the two, has
kept sound ever since. I think this shows that a rupture, if not too
extensive, and if taken in time, may often be cured by this remedy. The
other case I have to relate was of a different kind. Five weeks ago I
had a fall on my back, the whole force of which was concentrated on a
small portion of the lower spine, through the intervention of the back
pad of my truss. I thought for the moment my back must have been broken,
the pain was so excessive; and not only the back, but diaphragm and all
the organs below it suffered acutely for three or four weeks after the
fall. But a fortnight after the fall I was for the first time conscious
of a pain and tenderness higher up the spine, at a point, I think, where
ribs commence, and on feeling I found a protuberance there, as if a
partial dislocation had taken place there. I again thought of Comfrey,
and had some of the tincture applied. The tenderness at the point
subsided after two or three applications, and in a few days the
protuberance disappeared. * * * On more careful examination I find that
the point of secondary disturbance was higher up than I have
described--two or three inches higher than the first insertion of the
ribs in the spinal column.
(Dr. Gottweis, in _Hom. Zeitung_, vol. vii., says:)
An old and very valuable remedy. This plant is found all over Europe
(and in some parts of North America), in wet fields and ditches. We make
a tincture out of it which has marvelous healing and cicatrizing
properties. _Symphytum_ must be a very old popular remedy; its
reputation is well established, and it is mentioned in all the old
medical "tomes." The decoction acts as an effective demulcent and
pain-killer in severe bruises. It diminishes the irritation in wounds
and ulcers, ameliorates and lessens too copious suppuration and promotes
the healing processes. In homoeopathic practice the tincture diluted
with water is used with great success in fractures and bruises or other
injuries of bones. Its effect is really extraordinary in injuries to
sinews, tendons and the periosteum.
A few days ago a colleague consulted me about a horse with a stab wound
in the fetlock which would not heal, do what he would, and which
rendered locomotion impossible. (The doctor is by no means a young or
inexperienced veterinarian.) I examined the wound, and at once
recommended _Symphytum_ [Greek: theta]. Within two weeks the animal was
cured. This remedy really cannot be overestimated.
(Dr. W. H. Thompson, President of Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland, in an address reported in London
_Lancet_, 1896, reports a case of which the following is
the gist:)
Early in 1895 he saw a man who was suffering from a malignant growth in
the nose--"a malignant tumor of the antrum, which had extended to the
nose." An exploratory operation confirmed this diagnosis. "He refused
the larger operation. The exploration was made by Dr. Woods. We found
that the tumor did extend from the antrum, into which I could bore my
finger easily. Dr. O'Sullivan, Professor of Pathology in Trinity
College, declared the growth to be a round-celled sarcoma. Of that there
is no doubt. The tumor returned in a couple of months, and the patient
then saw Dr. Semon, in London, who advised immediate removal. He
returned home, and after a further delay he asked to have the operation
performed. I did this in May last by the usual method. I found the tumor
occupying the whole of the antrum. The base of the skull was everywhere
infiltrated. The tumor had passed into the right nose and perforated the
septum so as to extend into the left. It adhered to the septum around
the site of perforation. This was all removed, leaving a hole in the
septum about the size of a florin. He went home within a fortnight. In a
month the growth showed signs of return. It bulged through the incision
and protruded upon the face. Dr. Woods saw him soon afterwards, as I had
declared by letter that a further operation would be of no avail. The
tumor had now almost closed the right eye. It was blue, tense, firm, and
lobulated, but it did not break. Dr. Woods reported the result of his
visit to me, and we agreed as to the prognosis. Early in October the
patient walked into my study after a visit to Dr. Woods. He looked in
better health than I had ever seen him. The tumor had completely
disappeared from the face, and I could not identify any trace of it in
the mouth. He said he had no pain of any kind. He could speak well when
the opening remaining after the removal of the hard palate was plugged,
and he was in town to have an obturator made. He has since gone home
apparently well."
The patient told Dr. Thompson that he had applied poultices of _Comfrey_
(or _Symphytum_) and that was all.
"Now this was a case of which none of us had any doubt at all, and our
first view was confirmed by the distinguished pathologist whom I have
mentioned and by our own observation at the time of the major operation.
Here, then, was another 'surprise.' I am satisfied as I can be of
anything that the growth was malignant and of a bad type. Of course, we
know in the history of some tumors that growth is delayed and that in
the sarcomata recurrence is often late. But this is a case in which the
recurrence occurred twice--the second time to an extreme degree; and yet
this recurrent tumor has vanished. What has produced this atrophy and
disappearance? I do not know. I know nothing of the effects of comfrey
root, but I do not believe that it can remove a sarcomatous tumor. Of
course, the time that has so far elapsed is very short; but the fact
that this big recurrent growth no longer exists--that it has not
ulcerated or sloughed away, but simply, with unbroken covering,
disappeared--is to me one of the greatest 'surprises' and puzzles that I
have met with."
SYMPHORICARPUS RACEMOSUS.
NAT. ORD., Caprifoliaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Snow Berry.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh ripe berries is macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(In 1882 Dr. Edward V. Moffat read the following paper on
this remedy before the Homoeopathic Medical Society of
New York:)
Let us go back about fifteen years and sketch a history of this drug. At
that time Prof. S. P. Burdick investigated the medicinal of many plants
hitherto unused by the profession, among others chanced to be the snow
berry, or _Symphoricarpus racemosus_. He gave some of the drug to the
first prover, an intelligent lady, who on feeling the marked nausea,
which it soon produced, exclaimed: "Doctor, this is precisely like the
morning sickness I always experienced during pregnancy." Dr. Burdick
became more interested, repeated the experiment with other provers,
obtained almost uniform results, viz., a feeling varying from
qualmishness to intense vomiting. It was given to female provers only
and merely tested far enough to verify that symptom.
Upon this clue Dr. Burdick gave it in the higher potencies to patients
suffering from the vomiting of pregnancy with most satisfactory results.
Indeed, after a trial of many years, he has found it so far superior to
other remedies that he now relies on it altogether with rarely any but
entirely satisfactory results.
He mentioned the drug in his course of lectures, so I bore it in mind
waiting for a test case. Soon that came in the person of a young lady
three months advanced in her first pregnancy who was suffering from a
deathly nausea, with vomiting and retching so prolonged and violent as
to produce hæmatemesis. The smell or thought of food was repugnant in
the extreme. An examination disclosed no malposition or apparent cause
for the trouble, so I procured some _Symphoricarpus_ (200) from Dr.
Burdick and gave her one dose in the midst of a violent paroxysm. In a
few minutes she stopped vomiting and said she felt soothed and quieted
all over. In half an hour the nausea began again, but a few pellets
checked it promptly and she fell asleep. Once during the night she awoke
distressed and took a dose, but slept again quite soon. For a month or
so she felt very well until after over-exerting herself she became
nauseated once more; but it was promptly checked, nor did it return
during her pregnancy.
After this I had the opportunity of prescribing it in a number of cases
with such gratifying results that I gave some of the drug to a number of
physicians, requesting a faithful trial. Among them were my father,
brother, Dr. Danforth, Dr. McClelland, of Pittsburg, and several others.
All reported favorably and some enthusiastically, and so I have been led
to bring this subject before this society. The indications as far as I
have observed them in cases of pregnancy are a feeling of qualmishness
with indifference to food. In more severe cases, like the above, there
is a deathly nausea; the vomiting is continuous violent retching, but it
covers every graduation between these extremes; it does not seem to be
confined to any particular _morning_ aggravation; a prominent symptom is
the disgust at the sight, smell or thought of food. One case I remember
where the patient was comparatively comfortable while lying on the back,
but would be nauseated by the slightest motion of the arms, particularly
raising them. The case was completely relieved by a few doses. And so
the cases might be multiplied.
Thinking that if the irritation of pregnancy were thus subdued, that of
menstruation might be as well, I have given it repeatedly in such cases
of nausea or vomiting just before, during or after catamenia, with
admirable results.
TELA ARANEARUM.
COMMON NAMES, Spider's Web, Cobweb.
PREPARATION.--Triturate in the usual way.
(The following paper is by Dr. S. A. Jones, it was
published in the _American Observer_, 1876):
Dr. Gillespie, of Edinburgh, "cured an obstinate intermittent with
cobweb after other means had failed." Dr. Robert Jackson was led from
this to try it himself. He told his success to Dr. Chapman, of
Philadelphia, who requested one of his pupils, Dr. Broughton, to
investigate the subject, which he did, and wrote his Inaugural Thesis
thereon in 1818. From these and other authorities we can gather enough
testimony to show that it is well worth while to make a systematic
proving of this animal product, thereby predicating its sphere and
precisioning its employment.
In a work on fevers--which particular edition I have not been able to
consult--Dr. Jackson writes: "I think I may venture to say that it
prevents the recurrence of febrile paroxysms more abruptly, and more
effectually, than bark or arsenic, or any other remedy employed for that
purpose with which I am acquainted: that, like all other remedies of
the kind, it is only effectual as applied under a certain condition of
habit; _but that the condition of susceptibility for cobweb is at the
same time of more latitude than for any other of the known remedies_."
If we bear in mind Grauvogl's constitution-classification of _Diadema
aranea_ as an hydrogenoid remedy, and recall how generally the
hydrogenoid constitution is induced by intermittent fever, we shall be
ready to acknowledge the truth of the passage which I have placed in
italics, and with this evidence of a truthful beginning we shall be more
ready to accept the subsequent testimony.
"If the cobweb," continues Dr. Jackson, "was given in the time of
perfect intermission, the return of paroxysm was prevented; if given
under the first symptoms of a commencing paroxysm, the symptoms were
suppressed, and the course of the paroxysm was so much interrupted that
the disease, for the most part, lost its characteristic symptoms. If it
was not given until the paroxysm was advanced in progress the symptoms
of irritation, viz.: tremors, startings, spasms, and delirium, if such
existed as forms of febrile action, were usually reduced in violence,
sometimes entirely removed. In this case sleep, calm and refreshing,
usually followed the sudden and perfect removal of pain and irritation.
Vomiting, spasms, and twisting in the bowels, appearing as modes of
febrile irritation, were also usually allayed by it; there was no effect
from it where the vomiting or pain was connected with real inflammation
or progress to disorganization."
"In cases of febrile depression, deficient animation, or indifference to
surrounding objects, the exhibition of eight or ten grains of cobweb was
often followed by exhilaration: the eyes sparkled; the countenance
assumed a temporary animation, and, though the course of the disease
might not be changed, or the danger averted, more respite was obtained
than is gotten from wine, opium, or anything else within my knowledge."
"In spasmodic affections of various kinds, in asthma, in periodic
headaches, in general restlessness and muscular irritabilities its good
effects are often signal. The cobweb gives sleep, but not by narcotic
power;--tranquillity and sleep here appear to be the simple consequence
of release from pain and irritation."
"The changes induced on the existing state of the system, as the effect
of its operation, characterize it as powerfully stimulant: 1. Where the
pulses of the arteries are quick, irregular, and irritated, they become
calm, regular, and slow, almost instantaneously after the cobweb has
passed into the stomach: the effect is moreover accompanied, for the
most part, with perspiration and perfect relaxation of the surface. 2.
When the pulses are slow, regular, and nearly natural they usually
become frequent, small, irregular, sometimes intermitting. 3. When
languor and depression characterize the disease, sensations of warmth
and comfort are diffused about the stomach, and increased animation is
conspicuous in the appearance of the eye and countenance."
Dr. J. likewise "effected perfect cures with it in some troublesome
spasmodic affections, and gave it with the most marked benefit in dry,
irritating coughs, usually termed nervous. In the advanced stage of
phthisis it procured a respite beyond his expectation. He also found it
useful in restraining a troublesome hiccough."
Remembering the fame of _Mygale avicularia_ in chorea we may well expect
this other spider to be of use "in some troublesome _spasmodic_
affections."
Dr. Chapman writes of it: "I have cured some obstinate intermittents,
suspended the paroxysms of hectic, overcome morbid vigilance from
excessive nervous mobility, and quieted irritation of the system from
other causes, and particularly as connected with protracted coughs and
other chronic pectoral affections. * * * * Some consider it as highly
stimulant, invigorating the force of the pulse, increasing the
temperature of the surface, and heightening excitement generally--others,
witnessing no such effects, are disposed to assort it with those
remedies which seem to do good _chiefly by soothing the agitations of
the system_. I confess that I concur in the latter view of its
properties."
How unconsciously the Philistines of Old Physic bear testimony to the
truth of our therapeutic law. Given where "heightened excitement"
obtained, Chapman saw it "do good chiefly by soothing the agitations of
the system," and to him, of course, cobweb was a sedative.
Dr. Broughton, in his Thesis, says: "In all the cases of disease in
which I have seen or heard of the exhibition of the web, no sensible, or
at least no uniform, operation could be observed. Some patients were
sensible of none, others of a slight sudorific, and some a nauseatic
effect; and one or two thought it proved cathartic after remaining in
the system for the space of twelve or fifteen hours. These accounts
being so incorrect and various, I determined to ascertain (if possible)
the correct operation by giving the web to healthy persons."
"I found from these experiments that the operation of the web appeared
principally to be upon the arterial system; and perhaps in less time
than any article already known: the force and frequency of the pulse
being uniformly reduced in some cases ten, in others fifteen strokes in
a minute; and in one case, the pulse, from being strong and full, became
soft, small, and very compressible; all which operation took place
within the space of two hours, after which time the artery gradually
regained its former force and frequency. This has been the only
invariable effect I could observe, all others appearing but anomalous."
Dr. Thacher cites the following case from a paper of Dr. Jackson's: "W.
Sands has been afflicted for many years with a distressing asthma, which
has proved fatal to his father and two sisters. The complaint being
hereditary, and aggravated by malformation of the thorax, no remedy gave
any permanent relief, nor did change of climate procure any alleviation
of symptoms. For a considerable time back he has never been able to lie
down in bed on account of a sense of suffocation, but is obliged to be
supported half sitting by pillows, and is seldom able to sleep. He
swallowed nearly a scruple of the spider's web, he swallowed it at bed
time, and to his utter astonishment enjoyed sound and uninterrupted
sleep all night; a blessing to which he had been an entire stranger
above six years. Since he began with the cobweb thinks his health is
improved; the cough has certainly abated, but whenever the remedy is
omitted the complaint returns."
Dr. Oliver found that "by the use of this remedy a patient laboring
under organic disease of the heart and hydrothorax obtained great relief
and refreshing sleep, who had not before slept for three nights.
Another, under similar affection, experienced uncommon relief from the
same prescription. To one suffering much pain from cancer it afforded
ease and comfortable sleep. A patient in phthisis pulmonalis being
affected with distressing agitation of mind and nervous irritation, it
answered like a charm, and soon induced great sleep like a moderate dose
of opium."
THALLIUM.
PREPARATION.--Triturate the pure metal in the usual way.
(The following is from the _Homoeopathic World_, 1893):
In the "French News" column of the _Chemist and Druggist_ we came across
a note on the effect of _Thallium_, which we have no doubt homoeopaths
will soon turn to good account. Here is the paragraph:--
CURIOUS EFFECT OF A REMEDY.
"Dr. Huchard read a paper at the last meeting of the Paris Academy of
Medicine on _Acetate of Thallium_, which was formerly advocated by Dr.
Combemale, of Lille, as a medicament against profuse perspiration in
certain cases of serious illness. It appears, however, that its useful
influence is counterbalanced by the fact that it causes the hair to fall
off with great rapidity. Dr. Huchard exhibited at the meeting several
photographs of patients who had become quite bald in several days. He
was consequently very emphatic against the use of the remedy."
There is all the difference between the two schools in this note. To the
allopath this is a "curious effect" merely, and serves to condemn the
drug. To the homoeopathic it brings to light a new remedy for a
troublesome affection which is by no means too well provided for.
_Thallium_ is a rare metal, whose atomic weight is 204.2, its symbol
being Tl. It receives its name ([Greek: thallos], a green shoot) from
the green line it gives on the spectrum, through which it was discovered
by Crookes in the residuum left from the distillation of selenium.
_Thallium_ has a bluish white tint and the lustre of lead; is so soft
that it can be scratched by the finger nail. Specific gravity, 11.8. It
belongs to the lead group of metals, but has peculiar reactions of its
own. It is used in the manufacture of glass of high refractive power.
THLASPI BURSA PASTORIS.
NAT. ORD., Cruciferæ.
COMMON NAME, Shepherd's Purse.
PREPARATION.--Three parts of the fresh plant in flower are macerated in
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following paper on this remedy is by Dr. E. R.
Dudgeon and appeared in the _Monthly Homoeopathic
Review_, 1888):
The _Art Médical_, for July, 1888, contains a paper on this plant by Dr.
Imbert Gourbeyre, displaying all his well-known ability and erudition.
Although an unproved remedy, its sphere of specific action is pretty
accurately known, and in former days it was frequently employed by many
eminent medical authorities. In our own days, though almost unknown to
"scientific" medicine, it enjoys a considerable reputation in popular
medicine, chiefly for hæmorrhages, and profuse menstruation, and
metrorrhagia.
According to Dioscorides, it is emmenagogue and abortive,
anti-hæmorrhagic, and a remedy for sciatica. In Salmon's _Doren Medicum_
(1683) it is said: "The seed provokes urine and the courses, kills the
_foetus_, resists poyson, breaks inward apostems, and, being taken in
[Latin: ezh]ij, it purges cholera." In Vogel's _Historia Materiæ Medicæ_
we read of the seed: "Ischiaticis infusum prodesse, et menses ciere
(Dioscorides). Sudorem pellere, et ad scorbutum posse, si eb vius
teratur, adiecto saccharo (Boerhaav)." It was called by the old
herbalists _sanguinaria_--"quia sanguinem sistet." Murray, at the end of
last century, pronounced it useless; but De Maza, arguing against this
opinion, relates a case of metrorrhagia cured by it, applied as a
cataplasm to the loins, on the recommendation of an old woman, after the
doctor had tried several medicines without effect. Lejeune (1822) says
he has seen good results from its employment in hæmoptysis.
Rademacher has a great opinion of it. He says: "This plant was held to
be an anti-hæmorrhagic medicine by the ancients. The superior wisdom of
later physicians has pronounced it to have no such power, _because it
contains no astringent principle_! (Carheuser's _Mat. Med._) A second
property attributed to it was that of stopping diarrhoea; a third,
that of cutting short agues. I have lately used it repeatedly in chronic
diarrhoea, when this is purely a primary affection of the bowels, with
surprising benefit; but it is useless in consensual diarrhoea. I have
not yet used it in ague, but would not dissuade others from trying it.
But the most important remedial power of this common innocuous plant I
learned from no medical author; the knowledge of it was actually forced
upon me by the following case: I was called to see a poor woman from
whom, eight or ten years before, I had brought away a large quantity of
urinary sand by means of magnesia and cochineal, and thereby cured her.
Now, the tiresome sand had again accumulated in the kidneys, and the
patient was in a pitiable state. The abdominal cavity was full of water,
the lower extremities swollen by oedema, and the urine of a bright red
color, which formed, on standing, a sediment unmistakably of blood. I
prescribed tincture of _Brusa pastoris_, 30 drops, 5 times a day, solely
with the intention of stopping the hæmaturia as a preliminary; but
imagine my astonishment when I found that the tincture caused a more
copious discharge of renal sand than I had ever witnessed. Paracelsus's
words occurred to me: 'A physician should overlook nothing; he should
look down before him like a maiden, and he will find at his feet a more
valuable treasure for all diseases than India, Egypt, Greece or Barbary
can furnish.' I should certainly have been a careless fool had I, with
this striking effect before me, changed to another medicine. I continued
to give the tincture; I saw the urinary secretion increase with the
copious discharge of sand; the water disappeared from the abdomen and
extremities, and health was restored. I went on with the tincture until
no more sand appeared in the urine, and I had every reason to suppose
that the deposit of sand was completely removed. Since then I have used
this remedy in so many cases with success that I can conscientiously
recommend it to my colleagues as a most reliable remedy. Among these
cases was one which appeared to me very striking. It was that of a
woman, aged 30, who came to me for a complication of diseases. I
examined the urine for sand, but found none. I gave her the tincture of
_Brusa pastoris_, and a quantity of sand came away. On continuing the
tincture much more sand came away, and her other morbid symptoms
disappeared."
It was stated some time ago that Mattei's _anti-angioitico_ was a
tincture of _Thlaspi bursa pastoris_, but, if we are to credit the
statement of a periodical lately published, entitled _General Review of
Electro-Homoeopathic Medicine_, this is not so, for _anti-angioitico_
is there stated to be a medicine compounded of _Aconite_, _Belladonna_,
_Nux vomica_, _Veratrum album_, and _Ferrum metallicum_. I mention this
inadvertently, but I do not suppose it is of much consequence, and my
first experience of the remedial action of _Thlaspi_ was anterior to the
information that it was one of Mattei's remedies.
In the 3d volume of the _British Journal of Homoeopathy_, page 63,
there is an observation taken from the Berlin _Med. Zeit._, to the
effect that Dr. Lange found the greatest benefit from "a decoction of
the whole plant in cases of passive hæmorrhage generally, and especially
in too frequent and too copious menstruation." In the _Zeitsch. f.
Erfahrungsheild._, the periodical published by the followers of
Rademacher, Dr. Kinil relates the case of a woman who, three weeks after
accouchement, was affected with strangury. She could not retain her
urine, which dribbled away, drop by drop, with constant pain in the
urethra. The urine was turbid and had a deep red sediment. She got 30
drops of the _tincture of Thlaspi_ five times a day. The strangury
disappeared at once, the urine could be retained after a few days, and
after eight days it became clear and without sediment.
Dr. Hannon (_Presse Med. Belge_, 1853) mentions that he had found
_Thlaspi_ very useful in hæmorrhage when the blood was poor in fibrine.
Dr. Heer (Berlin _Med. Zeit._, 1857) found _Thlaspi_ efficacious in the
dysuria of old persons, when the passage of the urine is painful and
there is at the same time spasmodic retention of it. On giving the
medicine, a large quantity of white or red sand is discharged, and the
troublesome symptoms disappear. Dr. Joussett (_Bull. de la Soc. Hom. de
France_, 1866) had a case of hæmorrhage, after miscarriage, at three
months. He tried _Sabina_, _Secale_, _Crocus_, tampons soaked in
chloride of iron, but all in vain. He consulted Dr. Tessier, who
recommended him to try _Thlaspi_, 20 drops of the mother tincture in a
draught; at the second spoonful the hæmorrhage ceased. He found it
useful in hæmorrhage with severe uterine colic, with clots of blood, in
that following miscarriage, in the metrorrhagias at the menopause, and
in those associated with cancer of the neck of the uterus. He found good
effects from the dilutions in some of these cases. Dr. Jousset, in his
_Elements de Med. Prat._, repeats his recommendation of _Thlaspi_ in
hæmorrhages.
My own experience of _Thlaspi_ is very small. In one case Dr.
Rafinesque, of Paris, cleverly "wiped my eye," to use a sporting term,
with this medicine. A young French widow was treated by me for a severe
attack of jaundice, from which she made a good recovery. But after this
she suffered for a couple of months from a very peculiar discharge after
the catamenial flux. It had the appearance of brownish, grumous blood,
and was attended with obscure abdominal pains. The cervix uteri was
swollen and soft, but not ulcerated. I tried and tried to stop this
discharge, but without success. She went back to Paris and put herself
under the care of Dr. Rafinesque, who was her ordinary medical
attendant. He tried several different medicines without any effect on
the discharge. At last he gave _Thlaspi_, 6th dilution, and this had an
immediate good effect. Afterwards he gave the mother tincture, 10 drops
in 200 grms. of water, by spoonfuls, and again in the 6th dilution, and
after keeping her on this medicine for some weeks the discharge was
completely cured. The full details of the case will be found in the
_Brit. Journ. of Hom._, vol. 32, p. 370.
One other case I have had illustrative of its action in the presence of
excessive quantities of uric acid in the urine: A lady, æt 76, was under
my care for a very curious affection. She had considerable rheumatic
muscular pains in various parts, and constant profuse perspirations day
and night. Along with this she had the most abundant secretion of uric
acid, which passed away with every discharge of urine. Sometimes the
uric acid formed small calculi, which gave much pain in their passage
down the ureter, but it generally appeared in the form of coarse sand,
which formed a thick layer at the bottom of the utensil. This sand
continued to pass after the cessation of the sweats and rheumatic pains,
which lasted six or seven weeks. I tried various remedies--_Pulsatilla_,
_Picric acid_, _Lycopodium_, etc., but without effect. At last I
bethought me of Rademacher's recommendation of _Thlaspi_, and after a
few doses of the 1st dilution the sand diminished very much, and,
indeed, sometimes disappeared altogether, and when it did return, it was
in insignificant quantity.
On the whole, I think this medicine deserves a thorough and complete
proving. It is evidently a powerful anti-hæmorrhagic, and its influence
on the urinary organs, more particularly in bringing away and in curing
excess of uric acid in the urine, is very remarkable.
I have elsewhere mentioned the power of this substance to affect the
secretion of uric acid, and then I have seen several cases corroborative
of its medicinal virtues in this direction. One, a gentleman, æt. 57,
who, in addition to other dyspeptic symptoms, had occasionally large
discharges of coarse uric acid, coming away in masses the size of a good
big pin's head, but curiously enough without pain. I prescribed
_Thlaspi_, which he said soon stopped the uric acid. Nearly a year after
this he called on me for a different affection, and informed me that the
uric acid had reappeared several times in his urine, but that a few
doses of _Thlaspi_ 1 stopped it, and it never came to the height it
attained when I first gave it to him. A lady, nearly eighty years of
age, was suffering from the pressure of a calculus in the left ureter,
which I knew to be of uric acid, as she had previously passed much
'sand.' The urine showed no sand, and was very scanty. I tried several
remedies, among the rest the Borocitrate of magnesia, but it was not
till I gave _Thlaspi_ 1 that a great discharge of coarse brick-colored
sand took place, with speedy relief to her pain. At the same time,
indeed, I made her drink copiously of distilled water, which has a
powerfully disintegrating effect on uric acid sometimes, but, as she had
already been taking this for several days without effect, I am inclined
to give the whole credit of the cure to _Thlaspi_.
It is not alone in such cases that _Thlaspi_ is useful. Its ancient use
as a hæmostatic has been confirmed in modern times and in my own
experience, and my friend, Dr. Harper, related to me lately a most
interesting cure he had effected by its means of a very prolonged and
serious affection. The case was that of an elderly lady who for years
had suffered from a large discharge of muco-pus, sometimes mixed with
blood, sometimes apparently nearly all blood, which poured from the
bowels after each evacuation. She had been many months under the medical
treatment of the late Dr. D. Wilson, who at last told her he considered
her disease incurable. She then put herself under the treatment of a
practitioner who relies chiefly on oxygen gas for his cures; but she was
no better--rather worse--after his treatment. She then came to Dr.
Harper, who worked away at her with all the ordinary remedies without
doing a bit of good. At last he bethought him of _Thlaspi_, led thereto
by my remarks on its anti-hæmorrhagic properties in my "therapeutic
notes" in _The Monthly Homoeopathic Review_ of October, 1888, and he
found that, from the time she commenced using this remedy, the discharge
from the bowels gradually declined and ultimately ceased, and there has
been no return of it.
No doubt _Thlaspi_ is a great remedy, and until it is satisfactorily
proved, we may employ it with advantage in cases similar to those I have
mentioned. But it is to be hoped that some of our colleagues endowed
with youth, health and zeal, will ere long favor us with a good proving
of it, whereby its curative powers may be precisionized. At present we
only partially know these from the less satisfactory results of clinical
experience.
(The following is from a paper by Dr. Millie J. Chapman
in Transactions of American Institute of Homoeopathy,
1897:)
The provings are brief and do not furnish very full indications for its
use. However, from them we learn of its effectiveness in expelling
accumulations of sand and uric-acid crystals from the kidneys and
bladder, also in controlling hemorrhage from the nose, kidneys, or
uterus.
My attention was first called to this remedy in cases of sub-involution
following either abortion or labor at full term, where it many a time
induced recovery.
I have since witnessed equal success in hemorrhage from uterine fibroid
where the flow was controlled, and the growth was greatly reduced in
size before the age of the individual would naturally produce these
changes. Also uterine hemorrhage, attended with cramps and expulsion of
clots, has been relieved by it after curetting had failed.
A member of the Women's Provers' Association took five drops of the
tincture three times a day for ten days. This was followed by a great
increase of urine and a menstrual flow lasting fifteen days. She became
alarmed and could not be persuaded to continue the proving.
Another took ten drops, three times a day, for five days, when the
quantity of urine and brick dust deposit were so unusual that her
interest in scientific investigation suddenly ceased.
About a year since, there came for treatment a patient who had suffered
long from both disease and treatment of the bladder. _Thlaspi_ 2x and
later five drop doses of the tincture expelled great quantities of sand,
and was followed by complete relief of the bladder symptoms and the
disappearance of rheumatic pains that had been supposed incurable.
Another case of similar bladder irritation and marked evidences of gout
was promptly relieved.
_Thlaspi_ also has a reputation in the cure of urethritis.
THYROID.
PREPARATION.--The dried thyroid gland of the sheep is triturated in the
usual way or an extract may be prepared from the fresh gland.
(The following paper on the effects of _Thyroid_ was
written by Dr. F. G. OEhme, Roseburg, Oregon:)
The _Thyroid_, especially if used continually or in large doses,
_causes_ the following _symptoms_:
1. Elevation of the temperature.
2. Increase of the heart's action and of the frequency and volume of the
pulse, which, however, is more compressible. Walking, even standing,
after taking a dose is apt to cause a feeling of faintness and even
complete syncope. The heart may become so weak that it cannot endure any
overexertion without danger, even death may result.
3. Shortness of breath.
4. Increase or decrease of appetite, sometimes nausea, less frequently
vomiting, still less diarrhoea.
5. Improvement in body nutrition generally, more complete absorption of
nitrogenous food. But later on nitrogen is excreted in excess of that
taken in the food.
6. Loss of weight.
7. Increase of sexual desire.
8. Menses profuse, prolonged or more frequent, rarely amenorrhoea.
9. Increased activity of the mucous membrane, kidneys and skin, which
becomes moist and oily, sometimes exfoliation of the epidermis.
10. Rapid growth of the skeleton in the young with softening and bending
of those bones which have to bear weight.
11. A disease closely resembling exophthalmic goitre. A cataleptic
improved under large doses of _Thyroid_, but when the dose of 75 grs. a
day was reached symptoms like those of exophthalmic goitre developed
with a pulse of 160, but no glandular swelling. When the _Thyroid_ was
discontinued the catalepsy grew worse, the exophthalmic goitre better;
when resumed the catalepsy better, the exophthalmic goitre worse.
A patient, while under _Thyroid_ treatment for myxoedema, took,
through a misunderstanding, in eleven days nearly 3 ounces of the
dessicated _Thyroid_, whereupon tachycardia, pyrexia, insomnia, tremor
of the limbs, polyuria, albuminuria, and glucosuria, in short, a disease
similar to exophthalmic goitre developed.
_Thyroid_ has been _used_ with benefit in the following _diseases_:
1. Arrested development in children, cretinism, idiotism.
2. Myxoedema. [The extirpation of the entire _Thyroid_ produces a
disease resembling myxoedema.]
3. Simple goitre.
4. Excessive obesity with tendency to weakness and anæmia.
5. Melancholia functional insanity, where improvement has taken place up
to a certain point and then remains so.
6. Defective secretion of milk during lactation when connected with
reappearance of menses. _Thyroid_ will suppress the latter and increase
and enrich the milk.
7. In fractures of the bones in which consolidation does not promptly
occur.
8. Hypertrophy of cicatricial tissue resembling keloid, possibly true
keloid.
_Doses:_ Either the fresh gland of the sheep prepared like food or the
extract, or in the dessicated state, of the latter may be given from 2-3
grs., or more or less, once a day (at night) or oftener.
The _Thyroid_ is _contra-indicated_ in tuberculous persons, as they are
apt to lose quickly in weight, over two pounds in twenty-four hours.
Rheumatic and anæmic symptoms are more frequently aggravated than
improved.
As the _Thyroid_ is a powerful remedy, the following should be always
remembered:
There is a decided difference with regard to individual toleration, some
are very susceptible.
The pulse should be watched regarding frequency and quality. The least
effort or exertion will increase it even to 160, hence some cases should
be kept in bed or at least very quiet and tranquil even for a time after
the remedy has been discontinued. Deaths have taken place after a few
days' treatment.
If _Thyroid_ is not taken for myxoedema the patient should be weighed
at least every two weeks, and if pathogenetic symptoms, called
thyroidism, appear the remedy should be discontinued or reduced.
If softening of the bones has been caused it may be necessary to
restrict the use of the legs or to use splints.
_Thyroid_ seems to have a cumulative effect.
In many cases a liberal diet should be prescribed to avoid injurious
consequences.
TRYCHOSANTHES DIOICA.
NAT. ORD., Cucurbitaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Patal.
PREPARATION.--One part of the entire fresh plant is macerated in two
parts by weight of alcohol.
(In 1893 H. L. Saha, homoeopathic practitioner, Pabna,
Bengal, sent the following to _Hom. Recorder_:)
_Trychosanthes dioica_ (Bengali name, Patal). It belongs to the order of
_Cucurbitaeæ_, is a creeper, flowering in all seasons, but chiefly in
spring. It is a native of Bengal. Its fruit is called Patal, and is used
by the natives as one of their chief curry.
The plant and its root are used by the native physicians in various
maladies. Its action is mainly upon the liver and intestines. The
decoction of the root is generally used by the mother physicians for
removing costiveness, especially where there is a derangement of the
functions of the liver.
A boy of fourteen years of age, who had habitual constipation, took, at
the advice of a quack native physician, about three or four ounces of
the decoction of its root, which produced profuse diarrhoea. After
four or five stools I was called. I saw him weak and dejected, using
abusive language to his native physician. His face was very pale. Stools
were profuse, frequent, gushing, yellowish, watery. Much pain and
cutting about the umbilicus during and before stool. After every stool
he felt dizziness of the brain. This case struck me that _Trychosanthes
dioica_ will prove a grand remedy for diarrhoea. I prepared its
tincture from the root and used it in 3x potency, in some cases with
great satisfaction. The following cases will show its curative power:
1. A girl, aged 6 years, was attacked with diarrhoea; stools were
profuse, thin, yellowish, watery, mixed with little white mucous; very
offensive smell; cutting pain about umbilicus during and after stool.
Pain in liver and eyes; jaundice; face yellowish; very weak; did not
wish to answer questions: sad and peevish. On the fifth day I was
called. I prescribed _Trychosanthes dioica_ 3x every three hours. I saw
the patient much better next day. Within a day or two the patient was
all right.
2. A boy, aged 16 years, suffering from chronic diarrhoea; passed from
four to five stools in a day. The character of the stool was yellowish,
watery, mixed with a little white and greenish mucus. Smell offensive;
dull, aching pain in the region of the liver. Face very pale; eyes
jaundiced. He was very sad and dejected. His appetite little; taste
bitter. He had been at first treated by an allopath, then, afterwards,
by a homoeopath. The latter showed some improvement. I was called on
the thirteenth day, when I noticed the above symptoms. I prescribed
_Trychosanthes_ 3x every four hours. The patient was completely cured
within four days.
I cured some cases of choleric diarrhoea by this medicine, but those
cases were vaguely reported to me.
I hope that, when proven, _Trychosanthes dioica_ will show its large
sphere of action and give our Materia Medica a new remedy for looseness
of bowels.
USNEA BARBATA.
NAT. ORD., Lichens.
PREPARATION.--The fresh lichen is macerated in five times its weight of
alcohol.
(This appeared in No. 284 of the _U. S. Med.
Investigator_ signed "---- M. D."):
In March, 1878, I was cutting wood. I cut down a soft maple; the top was
well loaded with moss. It attracted my attention; I viewed it closely. I
ate a little, about the size of a hickory nut, as I trimmed up my tree.
My head began to ache. I cut off one log, and had to go to the house. I
could feel the blood press to the brain. My wife worked over me, and I
got to sleep. Next morning felt well; never felt better. I did not think
of the moss I had eaten. I went on a visit and was gone five days. On my
return I went to my tree. The first sight of it reminded me of my
headache.
I gathered some of the moss and made a tincture. I soon had a case of
headache to try my remedy on; it stopped at once.
In the fall, about September, a load of young folks came to pick
cranberries. Two of the young ladies had headache from riding in the hot
sun. Both took to the lounge. Now for my remedy. I put one drop of
tincture in a goblet of water, gave a teaspoonful; ordered another in
fifteen minutes. The second dose stopped the pain.
A young married lady came on a visit to a relative--was having pains in
her head. I was sent for; found her wild with pain. She said she had
been subject to headache for five years; had got tired of doctoring.
Gave her one drop in a cup of water, teaspoonful in twenty minutes; no
more pain. I put ten drops in a two-drachm vial of alcohol, directed her
to take one drop when she felt her headache coming on. One year after
she wrote her friend it had cured headache; sent thanks to me.
I could give many more cases where the pain is over the entire head, or
front head, with a feeling as if the temples would burst or the eyes
would burst out of their sockets. I have always used the tincture. I
have not noticed any other effect from it; would like to see a proving.
VERBENA HASTATA.
NAT. ORD., Verbenaceæ.
COMMON NAMES, Blue Vervain, Purvain, Wild Hyssop.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh plant, in flower, is macerated in
two parts by weight of alcohol.
(An extract from a paper by Dr. J. N. White, Queen City,
Texas, detailing at length the case of a five-year-old
boy, who, after six weeks of whooping cough, developed
epileptic symptoms, having as high as twelve spasms in
twenty-four hours. After two months of treatment with
such remedies as _Solanum Car._, _Sulphonal_,
_Hyoscyamus_, _Cannabis Ind._, _Calomel_, _Zinc_, etc.,
with no results, the case was given _Verbena hastata_.
Another doctor was in consultation and we quote:)
I told my friend (the Doctor) that when he became satisfied with the
zinc treatment I wanted to try another eclectic remedy. (The Doctor was
an allopath.) He was perfectly willing and I put him on _Verbena
hastata_, 12 minims every four hours, skipping the dose at midnight.
After we both took the case we decided, as there were no curative
properties in the sulfonal, we would drop it, and not use anything to
control the paroxysms, and consequently the boy seemed to get worse to
the parents, as he would have several falling spells a day. From the
first dose of the _Verbena hastata_ the boy began to improve. He would
have contractions of the muscles of the arms and legs and look wild for
a minute or more for the first week, but after that he never had another
symptom. We kept him on the medicine, as above, for six weeks, and now
he takes twelve drops three times a day.
He has not had any symptom in over two months, and all that wild vacant
look is gone, and he plays, eats, sleeps, etc., as if he had never been
troubled with epilepsy.
VISCUM ALBUM.
NAT. ORD., Loranthaceæ.
COMMON NAME, Mistletoe.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh leaves and berries is macerated in
twice its weight of alcohol.
(The following account of this ancient remedy was
published in the _Allgemeine Hom. Zeitung_, 1886:)
_The Grand Universal Panacea of the old Gauls and Germans._--By _Dr. v.
Gerstel_, of Regensburg.--This parasite shrub belongs to the 22d class,
Linné, is found on various trees, and was prized above all others as a
healing remedy in the Gallic and German antiquity. The Druids--their
priests--were at the same time naturalists, metaphysicians, doctors and
sorcerers, and to the mistletoe growing on oaks were ascribed, above all
other plants, marvelous healing powers. That the oak mistletoe was
prized above all those growing on fruit or other trees, as a remedy, may
be due to the fact that in ancient times all oaks and oak groves were
regarded with a holy veneration, being considered the favorite abodes of
the old German deities. The mistletoe growing on oaks was therefore
venerated by the ancient Gauls and Germans as the holiest of heaven-sent
gifts to mankind. It was applied in all diseases, and without it no
religious service could be conducted. From the Germanic mythology we
know that as a priest--a Druid--discovered a mistletoe growing on an
oak, he at once called up all the brethren of his order of the
neighborhood. They doffed the many-colored garments in daily use, and
donned flowing white robes as a sign of humility in the presence of the
divine plant. The highest in rank approached the tree provided with a
golden sickle, bent his knees, and was then lifted by his companions on
high until he could reach the plant. This was then cut with the golden
sickle and prepared and preserved for sacred and for healing purposes.
If it could be secured six days after the new moon, the most exhalted
healing properties were attributed to it, and it was at once made into a
potion which, mixed with the blood of steers that had never done any
work and which had been immolated beneath the oaks, formed a draught
which brought blessings, fruitfulness, health and prosperity to all who
could partake of it.
As at that time, and for a long time after, the origin and propagation
of the parasitic plant was unknown, it was surrounded with a magic halo,
and by virtue of its undoubted healing qualities, especially in gout,
rheumatism, nerve pains of various kinds, neuralgias, especially of the
rheumatic and gouty variety, as well as of its close affinity with and
influence upon the female sexual system, it was accorded the highest
rank among all remedies by the Priestesses, the female Druids.
About the year 1857-58, I passed one year in the town of Steger, in
upper Austria, as physician to Prince Lamberg; there I became well
acquainted with Dr. W. Huber, at the time physician to the
Homoeopathic Hospital of the "Sisters of Mercy," and found in him also
an antiquary of considerable learning. His researches brought to his
notice in what high veneration the mistletoe was held by the ancient
Germans and Gauls and its employment as a universal healing remedy. Dr.
Huber, who was a man of unusual intelligence and of high scientific
acquirements, desired to learn the true sphere of action of this
important remedy, and preparing a mother-tincture from the
mistletoe--_lege artis_--he proved the several dilutions on himself and
others, men and women, thus truly following the example of Hahnemann and
his disciples. I still possess some of this identical tincture as
prepared by Dr. Huber, who, I am grieved to say, died suddenly of
apoplexy during my sojourn, in the year 1858.
Dr. Huber carefully collated all the symptoms experienced by his
provers; he had a great predilection for the mistletoe, which he
prescribed in many different ailments. He frequently conversed with me
about its healing properties, and often gave it in his hospital and in
his private practice. He used it chiefly in the 3d and 6th decimal
dilution. According to Dr. Huber, the symptoms of _Viscum album_ are
similar to those of _Aconite_, _Bryonia_, _Pulsatilla_, _Rhododendron_,
_Rhus_ and _Spigelia_, _i.e._, are in accord with our foremost
anti-arthritic and anti-rheumatic remedies. _Viscum_ has symptoms in
common with each of these remedies, and is thus particularly useful in
gouty and rheumatic complaints, in acute as well as in chronic cases;
more particularly in those having _tearing pains_ in no matter what part
of the body. It follows well after _Aconite_ in acute rheumatism. It is
also very effective in different neuralgias of a gouty or rheumatic
origin, as in ischias, prosopalgia, periostitis, and especially in
earache, tearing pains in the ears, and otitis. It is a sovereign remedy
in rheumatic deafness. As _causa excitans_ of diseases amenable to it
may be regarded high winds, _i.e._, all gouty, rheumatic or other
ailments which, similarly to _Rhus_ and _Rhododendron_, are aggravated
by sharp north or northwest winds, such as we have in winter. For this
reason _Viscum_ is more often applicable in the colder season than in
summer, or at time when gouty or rheumatic affections or pains are
usually aggravated. It has also been found beneficial in asthmatic
complaints if connected with gout or rheumatism.
The mistletoe moreover stands in a peculiarly close relation to the
female sexual system (uterus), and especially to the climacteric period,
when women cease to menstruate and chronic or periodical hæmorrhages are
often met with. _Viscum_ also promotes labor pains similarly to
_Pulsatilla_ and _Secale_, and is especially efficient in effecting the
expulsion of the placenta, also in incarcerated placenta.
When the great army of gouty and rheumatic ailments which may befall all
parts of the body are taken into consideration, as well as the manifold
sufferings originating in the female sexual system, which manifest
themselves as menorrhagias as well as amenorrhoea, but more often are
caused by congestive states,--when we consider the powerful influence of
the mistletoe on these forms of diseases as brought out by the careful
homoeopathic provings on the healthy, is it to be marvelled at that
the old Gauls and Germans venerated it, by whose mysterious origin they
were overawed, as a sovereign remedy for their ailments and sufferings,
as a sacred gift presented by the gods of mankind?
(The following clinical case is from _Hom. World_, 1876,
by Dr. Ivatts:)
October 24, 1875.--T. H----, æt. about fifty. Rheumatism for the last
six years of ankle, wrists, and knuckle joints, also pains across the
lumbar muscles. Extreme distress on motion, with weariness and pain.
Great pain in walking. Worse on commencing to move, but after continuing
the movement for a time the pain diminishes. No pain when at rest except
when warm in bed, when the ankle and wrist joints are occasionally very
bad. Patient holds a degree L.R.C.S.I., but has relinquished practice
for fifteen years and travelled abroad. Never could get relief from the
rheumatism.--_Viscum album_ No. 1, five drops twice a day. November
14.--After taking medicine for ten days the weary feeling gradually
diminished, and the muscular motion became free from distress. Has now
continued medicine for three weeks, and he says, "I am quite free from
rheumatic pains." February 18, 1876.--Saw patient to-day, and he tells
me he has continued quite free from the rheumatic pains since November.
(Dr. E. M. Holland wrote as follows concerning the
remedy, _Medical Summary_, 1898:)
My first case of child birth in which I used _Mistletoe_ (_Viscum
album_) was May 30, 1897. Was called to see Mrs. C.; second confinement;
there was but little advancement; I sent the husband to my office, three
blocks away, for some _Mistletoe_, and I gave the lady half a
teaspoonful with a swallow of water every twenty minutes, and before one
hour had passed labor was on in good shape, and in half an hour longer
all was over.
I returned to my office, and in less than half an hour I was called to
see a colored woman, much of a lady, mother of two children; on
examination I found only a slight advancement of the child, mouth of the
womb but little dilated. I learned that she had been just about the same
for twelve hours. I prepared a mixture and ordered a teaspoonful every
twenty minutes; this dose contained 30 drops of the _Mistletoe_. I was
not well, and returned to my office, leaving instructions to notify me
when labor was well on; my office was four blocks from her residence. I
reclined on a lounge, intending to return in about an hour, but dropped
into a doze, and in about one and a half hours the husband came on the
run, notwithstanding they had sent a little girl for me. He reached my
office panting, and exclaimed: 'For God's sake, hurry, for her insides
have all come out.' On my arrival, I found the child and afterbirth all
in a pile. The confusion was soon calmed down by the assurance that all
was well.
Soon after this I was called to see Mrs. M., the mother of seven
children. I had been with her in six of the seven confinements, and
knowing that she had always been tedious I gave the messenger a small
vial of the same mixture and same dose, labelled it teaspoonful every
twenty minutes, stating that I would be there in an hour or two, and I
was; but the child was born about fifteen minutes before.
On the 14th day of July of the present year I was called to attend Mrs.
B. in her third labor, some two miles in the country. I left home at
3:30 A.M. When I arrived at the house I found nothing to indicate that I
would be permitted to return home sooner than--I will say a number of
hours. I found presentation all right, some dilatation, but there was
but little advancement. The pains seemed to be of excruciating
character, but not the kind to do more than wear the patient out. She
told me that the same kind of pains had been on for a day and night, so
I continued with the _Mistletoe_ in half-teaspoonful doses every twenty
minutes. Pains came on; in just one hour her extreme agony ceased. Labor
came on, and in half an hour more the child was born.
In all these cases the placenta came readily and everything progressed
well after birth. I said I left my office at 3:30 A.M., and I was at
home again by 7 A.M. It may be that four cases are not sufficient to
decide on the merits of a remedy, but the change was so decided and
prompt that I am satisfactorily convinced that in _Mistletoe_ we have an
oxytocic that is superior to all remedies hitherto tried.
* * * * *
After the foregoing was compiled, Dr. George Black's exceedingly
interesting brochure of 79 pages, _Viscum album, the Common Mistletoe_,
etc., etc., appeared, and anyone wanting a complete history of the drug
should procure a copy.
Dr. Black (Torquay, England) publishes all the known provings, and in
addition some very thorough ones conducted by himself; from these we
select the following striking symptoms:
Proll experienced a sensation as if a large spider were crawling over
his hands; a glow rising from feet to head, and he seemed to be on fire,
though his face was pale, this repeatedly; also violent aching pain in
right foot recurring frequently. Proving with the tincture in increasing
doses up to 40 drops.
Two women took the drug to produce abortion; every muscle of the body
was paralyzed, including bowels, save those of the eye, and both died on
the 8th and 9th day, starved to death.
The provings by Dr. Black. A well-built woman, aged twenty, took
repeated doses of the drug from [Greek: theta] up to 30th. The most
striking symptoms were: Sudden, severe thumps of the heart that then
went on beating at a tremendous rate; it slowed down and was followed by
trembling in the limbs; after this was very marked jerking of the limbs,
and twitching; hot feeling, though not actually hot. "A feeling as if I
should bite some one if I did not keep my teeth clenched. A wretched
feeling as if I should do something awfully wrong if I did not keep
myself under control." Several months later the effect of the drug was
still strongly in evidence; "thinks she will go out of her mind, feels
as if she would have an epileptic fit, says she would feel far happier
in an asylum."
A second prover, Mrs.---- æt 37, experienced jerking and twitchings of
the muscles, shooting pains in left ovarian region, and, on movement,
lumbar pain and stiffness. Proving made with 3d dilution.
Third prover, æt 27, a woman. First marked symptom was a shooting pain
in left ovary; then pain and twitching in leg, when aching stopped it
felt very hot; aching repeated, and only relief was shifting the
position of the leg to a cool place in the bed; again a dreadful pain in
the region of the left ovary--"a fearful aching" "it was a pain you
couldn't have put up with long without doing something;" later: "I have
had no pain, but a great twitching in my hands and legs for a long time,
just like a person with chorea--first my left hand jumped, then both
legs, my heart seemed to beat very fast." "When hands were held it
seemed to alleviate the jerking and twitching." The pain in ovaries,
also in other parts of the body at times, the twitchings and jerkings,
and the frequent hot feeling continued during all the proving. It was
made with the 3d and [Greek: theta].
The fourth proving was made by Dr. Black himself, chiefly with the 3x
and [Greek: theta].
This proving is quite long. From it we note the following symptoms:
Severe pain in right shoulder joint. Muscular twitching in right leg.
Dull pain under left false ribs. Neuralgic pain in sciatic nerve. Back,
lumbar region, stiff and weak. Pain in right knee joint, painful to move
and tender to the touch. Weight and oppression of the heart, with
gripping feeling as if a hand were squeezing it; the load seemed to
lift, with great relief, but came back again. A curious sensation of
tickling about the heart. Twinges of pain in the great toes. The last
record some days after ceasing the proving reads as follows: "I think it
was the same night as the previously recorded symptoms that I went to
bed between 12 and 1 o'clock, and after lying down experienced a curious
general tremor through my body, as if all the muscles were in a state of
fibrillary contraction; not a single involuntary jerk, nor the continued
twitching of the muscle or a portion of one, but a general state
affecting the whole body. It lasted until I fell asleep."
Therapeutically the drug has been used for palsy, "incompetency and
tumultuous distressing cardiac action," mitral disease, chorea,
epilepsy, retention of placenta, catarrhal deafness, menorrhagia,
sciatica, rheumatism, periostitis, hydrothorax, and transient deafness.
The Druids sweepingly asserted that it would "heal all diseases."
WYETHIA HELENIOIDES.
NAT. ORD., Compositæ.
COMMON NAME, Californian compass plant.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh root is macerated in two parts by
weight of alcohol.
(The following, by Dr. J. M. Selfridge, Oakland, Cal.,
was published in _Pacific Coast Journal of
Homoeopathy_, April, 1899:)
There is probably no State in the Union where there is a greater number
of valuable remedies to be found than in the State of California. These
remedies are waiting to be proved by those of us who have sufficient
enthusiasm and who are willing to take the trouble and make what
sacrifice is necessary to accomplish so desirable a result. I know it
has been said that we have too many remedies which have not been
properly proven. While this is doubtless true, it is equally true that
many of the new remedies which have been introduced within the memory of
some of us are absolutely indispensable in the treatment of certain
forms of disease.
There is another reason why these California remedies should become a
part of our armamentarium. It is claimed by Teste and others that where
certain forms of disease prevail there, or in that vicinity, the
curative remedy may be found.
Again, it has been said that there is a remedy somewhere in nature for
every ill to which flesh is heir.
Whether this be true or not, we know there are certain diseases, which,
so far as we are aware, are incurable, for the simple reason that we
know of no remedy that will control the abnormal conditions. This being
true, the incentive ought to be sufficiently great to urge us forward in
the line of knowing more than we now know of the wealth of those
remedies that lie at our very doors. All we know of these drugs, so
far, are mere hints which have been given us by the older inhabitants of
the Coast.
Thus, the _Eriodictyon Californicum_ or "Yerba Santa," has been
suggested for the cure of "poison oak" and for certain bronchial
affections. A partial proving of it was made some years ago under the
supervision of the late Dr. Pease, which can be found in "Allen's
Encyclopædia," Vol. iv., page 218.
The _Micromeria Douglassi_, or "Yerba Bueno," is another plant which
should be proved. Many years ago a friend of mine was suffering with a
series of boils, when an old "Spanish woman" directed him to make a tea
of this plant. This he did, and cured his boils; but, as the tea had an
agreeable taste, he continued to drink it, believing, as some do, "that
if little was good, more was better," until finally he became so weak he
could not continue his work.
It was one of these hints that induced me some years ago to make a
proving of _Wyethia Helenioides_, or "poison weed." Like many other
provings, it was only partial. A schema of it was published in "Allen's
Encyclopædia," Vol. x., page 168.
Two years ago an attempt was made to secure additional symptoms, which
are given below in the language of the provers, who at that time were
members of the "Organon and Materia Medica Club of the Bay Cities."
At the time of the proving, the potency and the drug were unknown to the
provers.
I. "June 9th, 1896, began taking----, of which I took a drop in a
teaspoonful of water before each meal. First dose 7:35 (did this for
four days); 7:45, feels in nose as if about to sneeze; 7:50, sitting
quietly, a momentary pain on inside of right foot from instep to the
sole; 8:35, stretching and yawning, itching on the left side of the
chin; 4:10 P.M., dry sensation in throat, although mucus is abundant;
5:30 P.M., sensation of dryness and tickling on the edges of eyelids,
such as I felt when a sty was about to appear; sensation of dryness in
throat; 5:35 P.M., a small itching spot on right side of neck; 8 P.M.,
dryness in throat with abundant mucus.
"June 7th.--7:30 A.M., throat sore; 8:35, tingling in right foot when
standing; 11, while in church, sensations of formications in eyelids
with lachrymations; 11:25, pain in the right testicle; 3 P.M.,
despondent; P.M., pain on top of right shoulder midway between neck and
point of shoulder; motion does not affect it.
"June 8th.--Before breakfast, lips feel dry, back of throat (posterior
wall of pharynx) sore, increased flow of tasteless saliva; 10:30, pain
in left ear, itching in left external canthus; 1:30 P.M., mouth full of
sweetish saliva; at lunch bit tongue severely; 9:30 P.M., mouth feels
dry and as if scalded, with desire to drink frequently in order to
moisten it.
"June 9th.--Scalded mouth continues.
"June 12th.--6 A.M., lips feel scalded and swollen.
"June 17th.--Itching in rectum.
"July 4th.--10 A.M., headache in left anterior part of brain, as if
radiated from left inner canthus; 12:30, headache in left occipital
protuberance.
"For several nights waken frequently and too early in the morning,
without any disagreeable consequences.
"July 7th.--A sore hang-nail on third finger of right hand.
(Signed) "A. MCNEIL."
Dr. McNeil took the first decimal dilution. (S.)
II. "June 5th.--Began at 1 P.M., taking a drop before each meal.
"June 6th.--Depressed all forenoon, languid feeling of mind and body;
despondent almost to desperation; irritable, cross, easily angered about
trifles; melancholy about the future, with no reason for it; seemed that
I was forsaken by all my friends and was on the verge of insanity;
bodily uneasiness, unfitting me for any work; felt that I could 'fall
all down in a heap;' muscles seemed to refuse to respond to the will.
"June 7th.--Entire incapacity for mental work; could not follow a line
of thought twenty seconds; forehead cold to touch, with heavy feeling
over the eyes as though the skin and flesh of forehead would come down
over the eyes; intense drowsiness all day, worse after meals;
irresistible sleepiness after lunch; accustomed cup of coffee was not
relished.
"June 8th.--Dreams were vivid and real; was discovered talking in my
sleep; the thoughts and work of previous day were on my mind on waking
as though I had not gone to sleep.
"June 9th and 10th.--Aversion to company, did not wish to see anyone,
not even intimate friends; great aversion to my work; had to punish
myself to even visit a patient; quarrelsome, impatient, irritable.
"M. F. UNDERWOOD."
Dr. Underwood took the fifteenth decimal dilution. (S.)
III. "June 8th, 1896, commenced taking remedy given by Dr. Selfridge,
one drop three times a day before meals.
"June 13th.--After a restless night, awakened at 7:30 A.M. with severe,
sharp pain in the right tonsil; throat felt swollen and sore; tonsil red
and inflamed; glands on right side of neck swollen and sore to touch.
"At 9:30, neuralgic pains commenced in left arm and hand, then in back,
limbs and all over the body; skin felt sore to touch; was quite ill all
day, with no appetite whatever.
"At 7:30 P.M. commenced to feel chilly; upon the slightest movement
chills would creep up the back, with increase of pain; grew colder and
colder; was very ill, and went to bed. At 9:30 fever commenced with
desire for food; head very hot; cheeks very red and burning; temperature
102°, but still very chilly. Passed a very restless night, with chill,
fever and sweat all at the same time, with constant twinges of pain all
over the body, particularly in back and limbs; could not bear the
slightest touch.
"June 14th.--Temperature 101-1/2° at 8 A.M. Right tonsil and glands of
neck still very sore, in fact, worse; pains over body less, though back
quite sore and lame; felt very weak and unable to remain out of bed.
"Still continued the remedy. All symptoms gradually improved, and was
entirely well in a few days.
"June 20th.--Stopped taking the remedy on advice of Dr. Selfridge.
"June 21st.--Very depressed, both mentally and physically; menses
commenced at 2:30 P.M., with slight uterine pain. Retired at 10 o'clock,
when the pain became intense and burning. Suffered all night, the pain
being constant, though increasing in paroxysms with sensation as if the
uterus expanded in order to keep all the pain within its walls. Could
distinctly outline the contour of the uterus. Never had such a pain
before.
"June 22nd.--Pain much better, but still a paroxysm every little while.
Felt very weak all day and mentally depressed.
"When menses ceased, observed no further symptoms.
"July 4th.--Commenced the remedy again.
"July 18th.--At 11 A.M. commenced to feel chilly, with aching pains all
over the body, which gradually grew worse until 12 o'clock, when a most
severe chill took place; shook all over; aching over body and headache
intense. Took no more of the remedy; went to bed, and as I was growing
worse, was given _Aconite_ at 1 o'clock. There was great thirst for ice
water during the entire chill, which lasted until 2:30 P.M., when fever
came on; temperature, 101°; no thirst. In about fifteen minutes
commenced to sweat. Temperature at 4 o'clock 100°; still sweating. At 10
P.M. menses commenced; no uterine pain, but still aching all over body
which continued all night, preventing sleep; pains worse in limbs and
back; at times jerking in character, making me start with every twinge;
profuse sweating all night.
"July 19th.--Very weak; aching still continued, but less; cords of neck,
right side, quite painful. Passed a restless night, still sweating
profusely.
"July 20th.--Much better, but still very weak; some aching and sweating;
did not go to sleep until 3 A.M.; was nervous and restless.
"July 21st.--Much improved in every way, and was all right in a day or
two. Did not take any more of the remedy.
"July 26th.--At 1:30 P.M. commenced to feel chilly, with intense
headache and aching all over the body. The chilliness rapidly increased
until at 2 o'clock had a worse chill than ever, which lasted until 4
o'clock, when fever came on, temperature soon reaching 103°; sweating
commenced almost simultaneously with the fever; headache was the most
prominent symptom, which was terrific; intense, congestive headache;
eyes extremely sensitive; bones of the face sensitive to touch; could
not move the head a hair's breadth without intense agony; thought I
should go mad from the intensity of the pain. This lasted until 10:30,
when there was a sensation of faintness, due evidently to lack of food,
and which passed away after eating some cream toast; the headache then
also began to grow less, and I passed a fairly good night.
"July 27th.--Was much better, but was too nervous to remain in bed; felt
very weak all day; retired early, but did not sleep a moment all night
long.
"July 28th.--Arose at 6 A.M.; was weak and dizzy all day; had to lie
down every little while. Slept well this night.
"Have been fairly well ever since. (August 7, 1896.)
"ELEANOR F. MARTIN."
Dr. Martin took the thirtieth decimal dilution. (S.)
THERAPEUTIC INDEX.
NEW, OLD AND FORGOTTEN REMEDIES.
Abscess, 320
Acne, 116
Alcoholism, 328
Albuminuria, 97
Amblyopia, 16
Amenorrhoea, 16
Angina, 111, 113, 174, 187
Anteversion, 32
Arthritic rheumatism, 4
Arthritis, 5
Asthma, 65, 352
Axilla, abscess of, 320
Backache, 331
Back, pain in, 16, 335
Baldness, 354
Bellyache, 325
Bilious, 38, 63, 207
Bites of snakes, Sisyrinchium, 314
Bladder troubles, 330, 340
Bladder, inflammation of, 311
Blepharitis, 8
Bloat, wind, 299
Boils, 38, 61, 116, 118, 377
Bones, injuries to, 343
Brain, pain at base of, 37
Breast, growth on, 319
Breasts, inflamed, 218
Bright's disease, 46, 332
Bronchitis, 51, 56, 58, 224
Broncho pneumonia, 52
Bruises, 345
Calculi, 131
Calculus, 359
Cancer, 16
Carbuncle, 116
Carcinoma, 22
Cataract, 16
Catarrh, 38, 193, 275, 320
Catarrh, lungs, 6, 52
Catheterism, 321
Cervical glands enlarged, 172
Cervix induration, 30
Chilblains, 219
Cholera infantum, 114
Chordee, 309
Chorea, 225, 269
Coccygodinia, 272
Coldness of extremities, 162, 244
Colic, bilious, 207
Colic, renal, 82
Congestions, 133
Conjunctivitis, 8
Constipation, 22
Consumption, 2, 16, 208
Convulsions, 243, 271, 286, 322
Cornea, spots, 16
Coughing, 1, 224
Coughs of consumptives, 310
Cramps, 207, 243
Cretinism, 52
Cystitis, 52, 340
Deafness, 99, 215
" vascular, 192
Debility, 37
Delirium, 243
" tremens, 269, 272
Dentition, 52
Dermatitis, chronic, 216
Diabetes mellitus, 26
Diarrhoea, 52, 207, 365
Digestion, tardy, 22
Diphtheria, 118, 170, 334
Dropsy, 16, 97, 161, 202, 283, 327
Drunkard's sickness, 326
Dyspepsia, 5
Dyspnoea, 26, 27, 52
Dysuria, 332
Earache, 217
Eczema, 96
" of nose, 319
" plantaris, 318
" of scalp, 319
Emissions, nocturnal, 36, 132
Enuresis, 217
Epilepsy, 225, 243, 322, 367
Erysipelas, 61, 267, 268
Exanthemata, 21
Expectoration purulent, 49
Exophthalmic goitre, 140
Eyes, inflammation of, 214
Feet, swollen, 334
Fever cakes, 22
" inflammatory, 87
" intermittent, 79, 87, 260, 349
" paludal, 260
" rheumatic, 87
" typhoid, 118
Fibroid of uterus, 280, 361
Fits, 289
Flux, hæmorrhoidal, 205
Fracture of bones, 343
Gangrene, 116
Gastric irritability, 15
Glands, 8
Gleet, 16
Goitre, 140
Gonorrhoea, 16, 38, 309
Gout, 6, 52, 139, 328, 369
Gravel, 16, 131, 340
Gums, affections of, 309
Hair, falling of, 243, 321, 354
Headache, 64, 104, 272, 366
Hæmoptysis, 1
Hæmorrhoids, 16, 220, 226
Hahnemann's psoric theory, 84
Hay fever, 11, 342
Heart, 27
" diseases, 109, 273, 279, 353
" palpitation of, 36
" failure, 160
Helminthiasis, 38
Hepatitis, 16
Herpes, 6, 21, 23
Hiccough, 38
Hip disease, 16
Hordeoli 321
Hydrophobia, 11, 16, 138
Hypochondria, 16
Hysteria, 30, 35, 225, 302
Hysterio-epilepsy, 245
Idiocy, 52
Influenza, 50, 51, 58
Inguinal rupture, 344
Insanity, 97, 241
Insomnia, 36, 271
Intermittents, 22, 79, 87, 349
Itch, 81
Itching, 16
Keratitis, 8
Kidneys, 16, 97, 332
" inflammation of, 311
Knee-jerk, 198
Labor cases, 372
Lassitude, 38
Legs swollen, 336
Leucorrhoea, 33, 116
Lithæmia, 321
Liver, indurated, 16
" inflammation of, 133
Lock-jaw, 244, 268
Locomotor ataxia, 22
Lues, 22
Lumbago, 16
Lungs, hæmorrhage, 1
" inflammation of, 133
Malignant tumor, 345
Mania, 16
Masturbation, 36, 223
Melancholia, 98
Memory, 309
Menstruation, profuse, 355
Metritis, 29, 32
Metrorrhagia, 355
Milk scab, 8
Morning sickness, 347
Morphine habit, 37, 270
Nasal obstructions, 189
" polypi, 189
" ulceration, 191
Nausea of pregnancy, 347
Nephritis, 46, 52
Nervous exhaustion, 36
Neuralgia, 22, 97, 143, 261, 272, 369
Neuralgia of stomach, 144
Night sweats, 309
Nodosities, 84
Nostrils, 189
Numbness of extremities, 162
Otorrhoea, 8
Oxytoxic, 373
Ozæna, 116, 190
Palsy, 309
Paralysis, 160
" rheumatic, 201
Paraplegia, 198
Perspiration, no, 311
Piles, 16, 220, 226
Pleura, inflammation, 133
Pneumonia, 47
Polypi, nasal, 189
Prolapsus, 32
" uteri, 336
Prostate, inflammation of, 311
Pulmonary congestion, 50
Provings of anagalis, 15
" " azadirachta Ind., 38
" " bellis per., 60
" " berberis aq., 62
Provings of cephalanthus oc., 86
" " cereus Bon., 87
" " chionanthus Vir., 99
" " cornus alt., 104
" " echinacea ang., 115
" " fagopyrum, 133
" " heloderma hor., 148
" " jacaranda gual., 168
" " lathyrus sat., 198
" " malaria off., 211
" " onosmodium Vir., 225
" " oxytropis Lam., 233
" " paraphine, 247
" " parthenium hysterophorus, 262
Provings of penthorum sedoides, 275
" " primula obconica, 275
" " pyrus Americana, 305
" " scolopendra morsitans, 311
Provings of scutellaria lateriflora, 312
" " thlaspi bursa pastoris, 384
" " thyroid, 362
" " viscum album, 374
" " wyethia helenioides, 377
Quinsy, 87
Rattlesnake bites, 314
Rectum, pain in, 273
Renal colic, 82
Rheumatism, 4, 52, 87, 116, 143, 169, 210, 357, 369
Rheumatism, chronic, 210, 321
" inflammatory, 143, 145
Rhinitis atrophics, 196
Rigg's disease of the teeth, 81
Ringworm, 52
Rupture, inguinal, 344
Salt rheum, 104
Sand in urine, 356
Satyriasis, 309
Scabs, 6
Scab, sheep, 317
Scald, 8
Sciatica, 147
Sclerosis, multiple, 201
Scrofula, 6, 8
Scrofulous diathesis, 332
" enlargements, 173
Scurvy, 8
Secretions of uric acid, 359
Sheep scab, 317
Sick-headache, 104
Skin, 8, 23, 321
Sleep, producing, 267
Sleeplessness, 97, 268, 274, 335
Small-pox, 119
Smell, putrid, 196
" sense of, lost, 196
Snake bites, 16, 314
Snoring, 192
Sore throat, 87
Spermatorrhoea, 131
Spinal affections, 198
" meningitis, 268
Sprain, 60
Spleen affections, 326
" enlarged, 86
" fevers, 328
Strangury, 311
Stomatitis, 118
Suppuration, 116
" gastric, 22
Syphilis, 16, 22, 27, 116, 168
Syphilitic eruptions, 21, 52
Tabes dorsalis, 22
Tartar on the teeth, 84
Testicle, inflammation of, 218
Tetanus, 268
Throat, inflammation of, 309
" sore, 87
Thyroid gland enlarged, 173
Trembling of extremities, 204, 244, 309
Tuberculosis, 6, 41
Tumors, 21, 23, 345
" glandular, 21
Typhoid, 118
Ulcers, 16, 118, 345
Urethritis, 361
Uric acid, 358
Urine, retention of, 340
" dribbling of, 357
Urination, difficult, 311
" frequent, 331
Urinary passages, inflammation of, 311
Urticaria, 318
Uterine diseases, 34
" pains, 33
Uterus, induration, 29
Valvular deficiency, 109
Venereal desire, excessive, 309
Vertigo, 243
Vomiting, 13, 38
" of pregnancy, 347
Wens, 119
Whooping cough, 221, 225
Wounds, 345
" suppurating, 320, 345
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER NOTES:
Missing punctuation has been added and obvious punctuation errors
have been corrected, but as the articles come from many sources,
some inconsistencies in punctuation conventions have been retained.
Alternate and archaic spellings have been retained as well as
spelling errors with the exception of those listed below.
Footnotes have been moved closer to their reference points.
Page v: Fraxinus Excelsior indexed to page 139, but actually
begins on page 138.
Page vi: "Mullein oil, 205" changed to "Mullein oil, 215".
Page 2: "benefitted" changed to "benefited" (Acalypha benefited,
and then failed).
Page 4: "analygous" changed to "analogous" (will produce symptoms
entirely analogous to).
Page 13: "Amydgalus" changed to "Amygdalus" (after reading what Dr.
Edson says about Amygdalus).
Page 16: "horseness" changed to "hoarseness" (as from a brush
against epiglottis (with hoarseness).
Page 27: "trituated" changed to "triturated" (triturated in the
usual way).
Page 35: "preceptible" changed to "perceptible" (sensible,
perceptible changes in the uterus).
Page 38: "Sanskirt" changed to "Sanskrit" (Syn.: Sanskrit, Nimba).
Page 42, footnote E: "homèopathie" changed to "homéopathie"
("On Tuberculin," an extract from the _Journal Belge d'
homéopathie_, 1895.).
Page 42, footnote C: "Homèopathique" changed to
"Homéopathique" (_L' Union Homéopathique_, vol. v, No. 3.).
Page 52: "staphyloccocci" changed to "staphylococci" (of
streptococci, or of staphylococci).
Page 59: "of" changed to "or" (as the result of influenza or
measles).
Page 66: duplicate word "the" removed (and more frequently during
the fits of asthma).
Page 79: "improvment" changed to "improvement" (was not much
improvement in her cough).
Page 82: "a" changed to "at" (I took at times).
Page 84: "diappeared" changed to "disappeared" (and my appetite had
completely disappeared).
Page 108: "Jeninngs" changed to "Jennings" (Dr. M. C. Jennings).
Page 112: "fiteen" changed to "fifteen" (as surely as does fifteen
drops of).
Page 140: "kilométres" changed to "kilomètres" (he was able
to walk two kilomètre).
Page 150: "vemons" changed to "venoms" (from all present known
venoms).
Page 161: "ask" changed to "asked" (and have frequently asked
myself).
Page 179: "epxerience" changed to "experience" (for some experience
in proving work).
Page 190: "week" changed to "weeks" (and two weeks after).
Page 196: "disharge" changed to "discharge" (a slight amount of
discharge).
Page 206: "demostrate" changed to "demonstrate" (the gaseous form
demonstrate).
Page 210: duplicate "and" removed (shoulder helpless and painful).
Page 221: "remed" changed to "remedy" (than any other remedy known).
Page 227: "aquisition" changed to "acquisition" (is an acquisition
of greater importance).
Page 230: "Noctural" changed to "Nocturnal" (Nocturnal emmisions).
Page 232: "alchohol" changed to "alcohol" (its weight of alcohol).
Page 233: "majoram" changed to "marjoram" (Origanum majorana (or
common marjoram).
Page 239: "intermiitent" changed to "intermittent" (Pulse 84,
intermittent).
Page 252: "hypochrondrium" changed to "hypochondrium" (fixed pain in
the left hypochondrium).
Page 316: "axoloti" changed to "axolotl" (with the exception
of axolotl, a kind of salamander).
Page 320: "accompained" changed to "accompanied" (accompanied with a
constant itching and shedding).
Page 331: "catherizing" changed to "catheterizing" (who spend much
time in catheterizing such patients).
Page 333: "extremites" changed to "extremities" (of the lower
extremities).
Page 336: "alway" changed to "always," "prorer" changed to "proper"
(had always come at the proper time).
Page 341: "conmmence" changed to "commence" (and then would commence
the pain in the back).
Page 341: "trippled" changed to "tripled" (secretion was tripled and
even quintupled).
Page 341: "a" removed (after repeated investigations).
Page 358: "dillutions" changed to "dilutions" (good effects from the
dilutions in some of the cases).
Page 362: "gotire" changed to "goitre" (resembling exophthalmic
goitre).
Page 385: "thlaspi bursa pastoris, 384" changed to "thlaspi bursa
pastoris, 354."
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