New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers
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Title: New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers
Editor: Edward Pollock Anshutz
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TRANSCRIBER NOTES:
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
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