New, Old and Forgotten Remedies. (continued 6)

After breakfast, between nine and ten o'clock, griping and drawing with crawling in the stomach, which extends into the chest and between the shoulders, causing oppression of the chest with a sense of heat.

The face and hands become hot and red and there is hot sweat upon the upper part of the body, especially upon the forehead.

abdomen.

Sense of lassitude in the abdomen which grows less when the parts are supported.

Swelling of the abdomen and nausea as if about to vomit.

Feeling in the abdomen as if he had been disemboweled; he wishes to walk fast which causes the parts to pain severely.

Cutting pains in the abdomen so that he was unable to sleep the whole night.

In the morning at 9 o'clock, colicky pains in the abdomen which ceased after some minutes and a quantity of white mucus issued from the vagina; these attacks are often repeated.

Under the umbilicus, a cutting pain as if caused by a sharp knife, extending down to the genitals.

Colicky pains for some hours internal to the umbilicus with a painful sensation as if a cord was bound around the abdomen above the stomach, lasting ten minutes.

A griping sensation in the region of the umbilicus extending to the spine.

When sitting, spasmodic pains in the lower portion of the abdomen extending into the rectum and coccyx. After long sitting the pains are relieved, but walking makes them worse so that the body must be held in a slightly curved position.

Toward six in the afternoon, griping and cutting internal to the umbilicus with nausea, afterward vomiting of acid water and at the end a little food, with twisting pains in the vertex and temples; dryness of the mouth with much thirst.

Wrenching pains in the calves extending into the toes and preventing sleep the whole night; she does not know where to put her legs.

At 10 o'clock in the evening, without having supped, the abdomen suddenly swelled as if she had eaten to excess; before and during the attack flat and viscid taste in the mouth. She went to bed in this condition and on waking in the morning the attack was entirely gone, the bowels, however, refused to move.

Painless swelling of the abdomen lasting twenty-four hours.

Abdomen hard; tense and swollen with painless rumblings unaccompanied with belching of wind; he goes to bed with these symptoms, but they are gone in the morning.

However, there remains a constrictive pain below the ribs, passing across the stomach with much thirst. Five hours later there occurred alvine discharges; the first was very hard with much tenesmus, so that the whole abdomen was retracted; the last discharges were fluid, abundant and without tenesmus, in consequence of which the swelling of the abdomen went down a little.

The pains disappear, however, with redness of the face, alternating with cold sweat.

Standing and walking soon bring back the symptoms again.

Pressing the arm against the stomach and squeezing it relieved the pain and then she was able to breathe deeply, which she could not do otherwise.

Stomach swollen in the afternoon; went to bed at 10 o'clock and slept one hour, awoke with urging to vomit and soon after threw up acid water and the food taken the preceding day.

Griping in the abdomen, extending down into the rectum, with a feeling as if this organ was ligated; she feels so weak that she has to support herself to keep from falling, with cold sweat in the face, lasting half an hour.

Severe itching in the abdomen which ceases and is always followed by copious white expectoration, with flashes of heat in the face and great weakness.

At first coldness in the feet, then stinging and pressing pains in the right hypochondrium. From here the pains pass to the stomach with swelling of the abdomen; then they extend up the spine to the shoulders.

Spasmodic, stabbing pains, one after the other, in the Mons Veneris, when standing on her feet she has a desire to put one foot over the other.

A spasmodic pain in the left inguinal region as of incarcerated wind, which extends upward across the abdomen, causing a painful spot in the region of the spleen.

stool.

Bowels confined for two days and very hard; the evacuation occurs in small pieces.

No evacuation for three days, the abdomen seems very full, as if much had been eaten, with loss of appetite.

Evacuations accompanied with stinging, cutting pains in the rectum which persist more than an hour, with vehement tenesmus.

Obstinate constipation in children is readily cured.

The child has a movement only once in three or four days, accompanied with severe pain in the anus.

Frequent desire for stool without result.

Stools hard but occurring every day.

After going for three days without stool he is obliged to remain an hour before expelling anything and becomes very much fatigued.

Evacuations hard as nuts expelled with much difficulty, with spasmodic pains in the intestines; the feces escape in small pieces.

Chronic constipation with hemorrhoids and continual urging to stool without result.

urinary organs, etc.

Often passes much urine.

Frequent desire to pass urine after cramps in the stomach.

Was obliged to urinate three times in the space of four hours, but only a small quantity each time; otherwise she only urinated once during the same length of time and with strangury.

Urine very hot and light colored.

Passes much urine and after a quarter of an hour passes an equally large quantity, although she had drunk but little.

Slight itching and burning in the vulva when not urinating.

Feeling of heat in the vulva.

Very hot urine causing heat at the vulva.

Very hot urine with burning pain at the vulva.

The menstruation appears several days too late.

The blood is black and abundant.

The menstrual blood is reddish-black.

The menstruation comes on six days too soon, when on the feet the blood flows continuously.

During the menstruation she feels cold externally and hot internally and must drink a great deal.

Cutting pains through the body on the second day of the menstruation.

White fluid discharge like milk coming away in drops.

Very profuse white discharge, leaving white and gray spots on the linen, with itching in the abdomen.

The white discharge has a sweetish odor.

A chronic rattling in the throat causes a dry cough.

The whole chest pains as if compressed, and when breathing, sharp stabbing pains traverse the chest, worse on the left side.

Stinging in the chest which prevents him from taking a long breath.

Pain in the region of the diaphragm as if it was inflamed; when gaping, drawing pains under the right ribs, extending as far as the spine; they come and go frequently and are aggravated by respiration.

Stabbing pains one after another in the upper portion of the left breast, worse when breathing, lasting half an hour.

Stinging pains under the false ribs on the left side which grow on lying down, on external pressure and on deep respiration with flashes of heat.

Twisting pains in the left breast.

The nipples pain on touching them, as if they were sore inside.

back.

Pains in the spine, extending into the lumbar vertebræ and then into both sides above the crests of the ilia and into the inguinal regions, where a pain as of inflammation is felt.

The dorsal pains are increased by bending.

Pains in the spine as if it had been injured, as bad during repose as when in motion.

Drawing and stinging between the shoulders with oppression of breath.

Drawing pains between the shoulders, extending downward along the spine, toward the liver and upward into the chest; then the respiration becomes oppressed and frequent shooting pains traverse the entire body.

In the left axilla, an electric shock which shakes the whole body, and in all the joints there occurs a trembling, such as might be produced by an electric machine, and which causes each time a sensation of fear.

upper extremities.

The whole right arm, but principally the axilla, feels as if it had been dislocated by a blow.

Stabbing pain under the right arm toward the breast.

The right arm feels heavy and she cannot lift it well; feels a sensation of numbness as if the clothing was too tight, with turgescence of the veins.

The muscles of the forearm seem to grow large and have a feeling of stiffness.

Wrenching pains in the elbow joints.

Wrenching pains in the joints of the left hand.

Pains as if from fatigue in both loins, when ascending the stairs.

Drawing and cutting pains from one iliac crest to the other as if a knife had traversed the abdomen; often intermitting and always returning.

lower extremities.

Painful tension in the muscles of the thigh as if a long walk had been taken.

Wrenching pain on the outside of the right knee extending down the right side of the leg to the malleolus, from thence into the heel, where it ceases.

Trembling of the legs from the knees to the toes so that there is difficulty in walking or raising the feet.

Tearing pains in the calves of the legs, with a feeling of heat, extending down to the toes; the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are very hot.

Tearing pains in the articulations of the feet and in the toes, for several hours.

The back and soles of the feet are swollen, after thirty-four hours, with tearing pains in the ankles and soles of the feet on account of which, though very tired, he was not able to sleep.

A feeling as of electric shocks in all the joints.

generalities.

General weariness lasting several days.

When sitting down, a feeling as if the whole body were swaying to and fro.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon great fatigue with profuse cold sweat and somnolence for two hours.

Much of the hair falls out.

Pulse weak and thready and increased in frequency.

Frequent gaping with great somnolence.

Continued yawning, although the joints of the jaw are painful.

She would like to sleep all the time, day and night.

She cannot keep awake and goes to sleep in her chair; her feet go to sleep.

After having passed the night rolling around in bed without waking and passing from one dream to another, she wakes at 5 o'clock, the bed clothing thrown aside and without her night cap, a thing which had never happened to her before.

Sensual lascivious dreams.

PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS.

Nat. Ord., Synanthereæ. Common Name, "Bitter broom." Escoba amaya. Preparation.—The dry plant is macerated in five parts by weight of alcohol.

(Dr. Edward Fornias contributed to the Homœopathic Recorder, 1886, two papers on this remedy. The first gave the results of physiological experiments; the second is a résumé of those results, including the proving by Dr. B. H. B. Sleght, as follows:)

Résumé of Symptoms.—If we boil down the matter, extracting only the symptoms and changes observed during the above experiments with Parthenina, we have the following: Heaviness and dulness of head, tendency to vertigo, malaise, apathy, lassitude, profuse and very fluid salivation, sensation of heat and weight in the stomach, increased appetite, gastric intolerance, nausea and vomiting. Increased stupor, desire to be quiet, refusal of food, and indifference. Excitation of the heart beats, or slow beating of the heart; depressed circulation, or general functional activity; pulse accelerated, or slow, weak, soft, compressible, without dicrotism; progressive slowing of the pulse, followed by syncope, cardiac paralysis (and death). Accelerated, or slow, irregular breathing (Cheyne-Stokes); rise and fall of temperature, tremors, shivering, diminished perspiration; dilation of the pupils; convulsions (clonic and tonic); muscular relaxation, anæsthesia and increased urine and saliva. The kidneys were found enlarged and congested, with evident signs of sanguineous stasis. The process of coagulation of the blood was retarded. The red corpuscles increased in volume. There was a fall of the blood-pressure, and vascular dilatation (of reflex origin). The heart was found arrested in diastole, and the brain anæmic. A marked diminution of reflex action in the hips and extinction of the voluntary movements, were noticed. Also a transient excitement of the voluntary movements. And finally the sensibility and the muscular contractility were diminished.

Cases Cured by Parthenina.—In regard to the therapeutic value of Parthenina, little is known as yet, but the plant from which this alkaloid is derived, as said before, has been employed for years in Cuba, both by the people and profession, against fevers of a paludal origin.

Dr. Ramirez Tovar has reported in several numbers of the Cronica Médico-Quirúrgica, of Havana, the following cases treated by him with Parthenina, with the best results:

Case I.—"A lady living in the lower part of the city, where the rain always leaves constant channels of infection, was suffering with daily attacks of intermittent, which grew more intense every day. She received 1 gram of the salt, divided in six powders, to be taken one every hour after the attack. The next day she had no chill, and the thermometer indicated the absence of fever. She was nursing at the time, and stated that she had noticed a marked increase of milk in her breasts; 50 centigrams more, in doses, were given to her, and the fever did not return again."

Case II.—"A tailor, 30 years of age, had moved to the lower part of the city and contracted a tertian intermittent. He had four paroxysms before the doctor saw him, the last one being attended by much pain in the left hypochondrium. He received 1 gram, in 5 doses. There was apyrexia on the day the attack was due, and this did not return again. This man continued to live in the same house, under the same regimen and hygienic conditions."

Case III,—"A little girl, 6 years of age, lymphatic constitution, living near the beach of the harbor, was brought to Dr. Ramirez Tovar's clinic, suffering for 17 days with malaise, loss of appetite, sleepiness and fever. She had taken quinine, both internally and externally, with little benefit, and was wasting away notably. At 4 p.m. she commenced to take 50 centigrams of the salt, in 8 doses, and the next day at the same hour the thermometer indicated a fall from 39.5° C. of the previous day to 38.5° C. The mother was ordered to repeat the medicine at longer intervals, but for want of means the child did not take any more. On the 4th or 5th day the temperature went up to 39.5° again, then she was provided with the medicine, and 3 days later the temperature was normal. The action of the alkaloid was aided here by a tonic wine prepared from the extract of the plant."

Case IV.—"A man 45 years of age, of delicate constitution, poorly nourished, with a straw yellow face, yellow sclerotics, enlarged liver and spleen, the latter somewhat painful to pressure, who had contracted intermittent fever while in Panama, and had taken quinine, was complaining, when Dr. Ramirez Tovar saw him (middle part of December), of a pain in the right side (more severe in some points than in others), which commenced at 1 p.m., with shiverings, and which disappeared after two hours to return again the next day at precisely the same time and with the same symptoms. He received 1 gram of Parthenina, in 5 doses, one every hour, right after the cessation of the pain. He was seen by the doctor the next day at 4 p.m., and up to that time the pain had not returned. He took then 50 centigrams more, in 5 doses, one every hour, and was free of pain until the latter part of January, when he again consulted the doctor, this time the pain being located in the stomach, for which Parthenina was repeated (1 gram in 5 doses, one every two hours). The next day the pain had ceased, but returned on the third, and he again received 1 gram, in the same manner as before, and since then he has been free from pain."

Case V.—"A young lady, 18 years of age, complained of facial neuralgia with periodical exacerbations, from which she was suffering four days. She received 1 gram of Parthenina, in 5 doses, one every hour, and on the following day she was entirely free from pain. Fifty centigrams more, in 4 doses, were given to this lady to prevent a relapse, and the result was a complete cure."

And to finish this report, I will mention a case which came under my notice: "A little girl, my niece, 5 years old, living in Havana, who, when seen by the late Dr. Govantes, of that city, had been suffering for some time before from a continued fever, with periodical mid-day exacerbations, which later on, assumed an intermittent type. She had been saturated with quinine, and complained, at the time, of malaise, lassitude, languor, headache, loss of appetite, gastric intolerance, etc. The temperature went up as high as 40.6° C. during the hot stage, which was short and was followed by copious sweats, giving relief. Parthenium hysterophorus in the form of an extract, prepared and sold at Dr. Villavicenci's Pharmacy, in Havana, was prescribed by Dr. Govantes. Three doses a day, each of the size of a pea, dissolved in water, were given for 4 or 5 days, and at the end of that time she was entirely free of fever and made a quick recovery."

If such results can be ascribed to Parthenium and its alkaloid Parthenina, I think it would be unjustifiable to set them aside. An early proving of the plant will not only enhance our therapeutic resources, but prevent the non-scrupulous from employing it empirically.

Proving of Parthenium hysterophorus, Dr. B. H. B. Sleght.

February 12th.—Until a few days ago had a slight continuous toothache due to a cavity in last molar of lower jaw; cavity recently filled. General health has been excellent for some time.

7:40 a.m. Took 5 drops of tincture. At once have a full feeling in head, especially vertex, pressing from within.

7:45. Ringing in ears, < left.

7:50. Took 10 drops. Ringing and fulness continue and become worse.

7:58. Upper teeth feel "on edge," with slight prickling pains in sockets, which slowly grow more severe.

8:00. Breakfast; above symptoms continue, but grow less severe.

8:10. Loud rumbling in bowels; irrepressible eructations, tasteless.

8:20. 20 drops. A "shivery" feeling runs over limbs and back as this is taken. Singing in ears had ceased but begins again, as does the rumbling.

8:40. "Goneness" in epigastrium, singing ceases; some fulness in head remains.

8:45. Same feeling in teeth as above; singing in ears; head thick, heavy.

8:50. Sharp, aching twinges in upper molars; some sharp pains in ears. Pulse 72.

9:10. 25 drops.

9:15. Stitching pain in left temple, of short duration. Upper incisors tender at sockets when biting.

9:25. Sudden pain in upper teeth with lachrymation, < pressing jaws together.

9:45. 25 drops.

9:55. Aching pain at left supra-orbital foramen. On going into open air no symptoms but taste of drug and fulness of head. A tooth filled yesterday aches slightly, same as before filling.

11:15. 60 drops. Renewed fulness of head. Pulse 76.

11:30. Goneness in epigastrium; vertigo while sitting, with heat of face and blurred vision. Aching at supra-orbital foramen (left), extending to root of nose and becoming more severe there, > eyes closed. Feel dull, stupid. Goneness comes and goes; hunger.

11:45. Aching at lower edge of right ear spreads over side of face; ear feels plugged up. Am drowsy, eyes "heavy;" goneness and unusual craving for food.

11:50. Prickling in skin of back of wrists and hands. A twinge of pain at right infraorbital foramen, gradually increases; cannot fix attention on what I am reading. Hard, painful lump in epigastrium; better after eructations tasting of drug. Slight nausea with some relief.

12 M. 60 drops. Requires much effort to fix attention while counting drops.

12:15 p.m. Head heavy, brain feels loose.

12:30. Stitching pain at lobe of left ear and deep in and above external auditory meatus.

12:45. Dinner.

1:45. 75 drops.

1:50. Hard lump in epigastrium. Head feels as if in a vise. During p.m. only "goneness" and continued taste of drug.

9:00 p.m. 100 drops, followed at once by sudden stitching pains in left frontal eminence, which soon cease.

9:10. Pain in frontal eminence has returned and continues. Teeth "on edge" and tenderness at sockets. Upper incisors ache as after filling. Teeth feel too long.

9:30. Lump in epigastrium. Severe plunging pain in left frontal eminence.

9:45. Stabbing pain runs up rectum after passing flatus.

Mushy stool at 10:30 p.m. (Usually have passage at 10 a.m.; to-day no desire.)

February 13th.—Passed restless night, waking at 3 or 4 o'clock, then dozing and dreaming until 7:30; rose with throbbing deep in brain, as if it would push through top of head; "big" head, > after moving about and washing face. 7:45. 120 drops. 7:55. Breakfast. 8:20. Aching in eyeballs. No further symptoms all day.

9:30 p.m. 5 drops. 9:35. 5 drops.

Same tenderness at sockets of upper incisors when biting.

9:40. 5 drops. Sudden darting pains in right, then in left frontal eminence, with dull heaviness in forehead, gradually increasing.

9:45. 5 drops. Sudden return of pain in frontal eminence. Fulness and aching in ears, coming suddenly. Upper teeth all ache, and feel too long.

9:50. 5 drops. Beating ache in middle of forehead. Bursting pain in right malar bone. Tingling in tip of tongue. Sudden motion increases frontal pain.

9:55. 5 drops. Slight colicky pain at navel. Eructations of drug.

10:00. 5 drops. Same frontal pain, and brief feeling as if blood would burst through face; this returns in a few minutes, especially about nose and root of nose.

10:05. 5 drops. Same frontal pain, and head feels swelled. Pulse, 72.

10:10. 5 drops. Heart-beat all over head, < motion, and over eyes.

10:15. 5 drops. Splitting pain over both ears in spots the size of silver dollar.

10:20. Must look intently to see the words; as I write, letters look pale and eyes ache.

10:25. 5 drops. Eructations tasting of drug. Colicky pains about navel.

10:30. 5 drops. Aching in left lower molars.

10:35. 5 drops. Stabbing pain in left ear. Teeth "on edge."

10:50. All the upper jaw aches, especially at sockets of teeth and on biting. Fulness and pressure in ears. Temples feel as if in a vise. All symptoms < after going up stairs.

February 14th.—Again awoke early, 3 or 4 a.m., and rose at 7:30, after a dreamful sleep, with headache. Felt better after going about. No symptoms during day.

February 15th.—Passed restless night. Fell asleep late, with headache at vertex—a pushing out. Awoke at 4 or 5 a.m. heavy and stupid; then again slept.

February 17th.—5:00 a.m. Took 2-1/2 drachms.

5:02. Eructations taste of drug. Goneness in epigastrium. Pulse, 72. Some rumbling about navel.

5:10. Head heavy; pressure at right frontal eminence, which increases to sharp, penetrating pain, going to root of nose, then to end of nose, where it is most severe. At root of nose, stuffed feeling, as with dry coryza. Pain in nose gets more and more severe; restlessness succeeds; never had such a pain; seems now all in bones of nose and worse on left side. Forehead has ceased to ache. Pain seems to start from supra-orbital foramen now.

5:15. Upper incisors commence to ache. Aching and bursting pain in nose remains; nose feels swollen. Teeth "on edge." Epigastric goneness.

5:25. Sharp pain in left upper and lower molars. Pain in nose has ceased. Bursting pain in left frontal eminence. Upper molars tender at sockets.

February 23d.—12:30. Took 6 No. 40 pills saturated with 6x dil. 2:00 p.m. Same dose. 4:20. Same. 5:00. Sharp, aching pain deep in left ear, gradually grows worse.

5:10. Singing and dull aching in right ear.

5:15. Singing and a pushing out in left ear. Fulness of frontal eminences; thence pains go to root of nose and nose becomes tender to touch. Sharp pain again deep in right ear. Aching of "bridge" of nose and of upper left molars. Hands feel numb, especially dorsal aspects. Rumbling in bowels about navel. Pain again at root of nose. Colic deep in pelvis; pains run down back of thigh to knees.

5:15. Pains again in frontal eminences.

5:25. Aching over eyes; feel like closing them; aching pains run up from above left eye-tooth to eye and over face; occurs by starts and stops. Frontal headache and pains down nose recur at intervals.

5:30. Aching, very severe, at the left side of "bridge" of nose. Sharp stitch deep in left ear. Throbbing in vertex. Sockets of upper teeth tender. Aching at end of nose, which feels full of blood.

5:45. 6 pellets. All pains continue as above. Brain seems loose, < moving head. Front of head feels big.

6:00. p.m. Stabbing deep in left ear, < by pressing teeth together.

6:30. Various pains gradually subside.

PASSIFLORA INCARNATA.

Nat. Ord., Passifloraceæ. Common Name, Passion flower. Preparation.—The fresh leaves and flowers gathered in May are macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol. A preparation may also be made from the expressed juice of the fresh leaves.

(There has been so much written concerning this unproved remedy that we can only give an abstract of a part of it. Dr. Lindsay, formerly of Bayou Gras, La., was the first to call attention to it a few weeks before his death. He wrote in answer to an inquiry as follows—Hale's New Remedies):

I have much to say. I am satisfied it is no narcotic. It never stupefies or overpowers the senses. A patient under its full influence may be wakened up, and he will talk to you as rationally as ever he did; leave him a moment and he will soon be off to the Elysian Fields again. I have tried it, my friend, in all sorts of neuralgic affections, and have usually astonished my more enlightened patients with it. Many times I have had them to ask me what in the world it was that had such a sweet influence over them.

(Dr. L. Phares, of Newtonia, Miss., states):

I never saw anything act so promptly in erysipelas. I have used it with advantage in ulcers, neuralgias and tetanus. I have seen wonderful effects of it in relieving tetanus, and will mention one case from memory: Some ten years ago I was called to see an old lady, in a distant part of the country, who was reported to be "having fits." I found her to be able to be up most of the time, but, while examining her, convulsions came on, affecting mainly the trunkal muscles, and drawing the head back. I gave her instantly a dose of Passiflora. The convulsions subsided, and she has never had one since. I continued the use of the medicine in small doses for a few days. I have used it in treating tetanus in horses—a disease usually considered as inevitably fatal to that noble animal. It has never failed to cure the horse. * * During the late war, my son, Dr. J. H. Phares, had occasion many times to prescribe the Passiflora for tetanus in horses, with one invariable result—prompt, perfect, permanent cure. He fortunately saw no case in man. * * * Since the foregoing was written, I have treated with the hydro-alcoholic extract of Passiflora several cases of neuralgia, and one of sleeplessness, with incessant motion and suicidal mania. With the same extract during the current week, Dr. J. H. Phares has treated, with the most prompt and satisfactory success, a very virulent and hopeless case of tetanus, with ophisthotonos, trismus and convulsions, in a child two years old. Other most potent remedies, in heroic doses, having failed to produce any effect in this case, he thinks that nothing but the Passiflora could possibly have saved the child.

(The editor of the California Medical Journal (1889) says):

We have been employing it [Passiflora] in some cases of spinal meningitis after the acute symptoms had subsided, when the patients were unable to sleep, either day or night: could not endure the bed, and were unable to maintain the sitting posture, with highly satisfactory results. It is administered in small doses. Add ten drops of the mother tincture (Homœopathic) to half a tumbler of water; teaspoonful every two hours.

(At the meeting of the Homœopathic Medical Society of Delaware and Peninsula, November 14, 1889, Dr. W. D. Troy read a paper on Passiflora (see Homœopathic Recorder, May, 1890), from which we take the following):

My erysipelatous case was a man of some fifty years. When first seen was a-bed, high fever, facial erysipelas of the flaming, rampant sort, the one eye had disappeared, the other was in rapid retreat. Patient in great anxiety; sharp, stinging pains; could not rest. Was about to give Apis when I thought of my Passion flower. Gave two-drop doses of the tincture every two hours. Put one-half an ounce of same into one quart of water for local application, to be applied hot by flannels and oiled silk. After six hours patient fell asleep; was awakened for medicine every three hours during the night; went to sleep easily after each dose. Said in morning he had had a night's good rest. Found inflammation markedly reduced. I now changed the remedy—gave Ham., both internally and externally. On next visit found patient every way worse. The disease had sneaked across the scalp and invaded the whole face. The case began to look serious. Returned to the Passiflora and kept to it with the most happy results.

My next experience was in a Chorea—a girl budding into womanhood, but in whom the menses had not yet appeared. Child was well developed for her years, fourteen. I learned that for two or three years past the child had "fits," varying at times from moderate to severe. The neurosis was unilateral, the right side alone being affected. The child had had traditional treatment, "off and on," for some time without manifest improvement. I began with the Passiflora 1x dil., 10 gtt. doses every three hours. Kept it up for several days, the Choreic symptoms being not quite so violent; still I was growing anxious—wanted more positive results. Added daily a five-drop dose of tincture. After a few more days the mother informed me that there had been a slight "show"—merely enough to stain the diaper, and that for the last two days there had been hardly any "fits." This was encouraging. I judged that the day of deliverance was nigh. Very little more of the drug was given until about the time for next menstrual flux. Then I resumed it with the most satisfactory results. No nervous symptoms save such as are more or lest common to all women at the "periods" subsequently prevailed.

(The following case was reported by Dr. D. C. Buell Dunlevy, of Port Chester, N. Y.—Homœopathic Recorder, Nov., 1890):

Mr. D——, æt. 52, sent for me to attend him during the month of May. I found him presenting all the prodromal symptoms of delirium tremens, and at once ordered him to bed, and none too soon, as the event proved. For seven days he tossed about in a wild delirium, which was greatly aggravated by marked gastric irritation. I had him carefully watched, both day and night, until the delirium wore off. The treatment up to this time was Cannabis Ind. for the mental trouble and Nux v., which greatly relieved the gastric symptoms. But the moment he began to improve the old cravings for liquor and morphine returned. Right here let me say that for years he has been a great sufferer from piles, and the only rest he could get was to sit propped up in his chair. His sufferings caused him to seek relief during the day in liquor, and at nights in morphine. And this habit had so fastened itself upon him that try as he might he could not give it up. When he came under my treatment I at once put a stop to all stimulants and narcotics, but not without considerable trouble, for he seemed determined to have them. Night after night he would lie there calling for something to make him sleep, and this kept up until he was bordering on a state of insanity. Fully realizing that something must be done, and that quickly, too, I made up my mind to try Passiflora. This I did, and from the time I gave him the first dose improvement set in and has continued ever since. I at first gave him a half teaspoonful of the θ at bed time, but this not proving sufficient I increased it to a teaspoonful. He has now been taking it almost constantly for a period of eight weeks and claims he has not had as natural a sleep for years; and lays particular stress on the fact that when he awakes in the morning he feels so refreshed and his mind remains clear. But what seems even more wonderful is that from the day he first took this drug up to the present he has never felt the slightest desire to return to his former habits. The mere mention of liquor or opium seems to sicken him, and I am fully satisfied that he is now cured and will (so far as liquor and opium are concerned) remain so. He now takes special delight in praising the drug to his friends, and really seems never to tire talking about the wonderful help it has been to him. I have also prescribed the drug to others for insomnia and always with success, one case excepted, in which I gave it for hemicrania, and here, although it quieted the patient, it failed to produce the desired sleep.

(The following is extracted from a paper on Passiflora, by Dr. C. A. Walters, of Brooklyn. Homœopathic Recorder, July, 1890:)

In April, 1888, was called to an infant, 14 months, convulsions, caused by dentition; symptoms called for Belladonna, of which the 1x dil., 5 drops in half a glass water, teaspoonful every fifteen minutes until better, then once an hour. The child improved from start, and the convulsions ceased in one hour from commencing the medicine. The next day the child appeared in usual health, and the Belladonna was given once in eight hours and discharged from further attendance.

Thirty-six hours after I was recalled, the child was in another spasm. No Belladonna symptoms being present I gave 5 drops of Passiflora tincture, every fifteen minutes, with the result that it never had another spasm from that day to this. The child slept soundly all through the night and awoke the next morning in its usual good health.

Since then I have prescribed it for the sleeplessness of dentition without a failure, giving it usually in from 5 to 10 drops a dose, to be repeated every fifteen minutes until sleep. I never give it during the day for this purpose, but begin at bedtime.

In the insomnia of adults, from whatsoever cause, I always give 60 drops at bedtime, and if not asleep in half an hour I give the same dose.

Experience has taught me that to give it in smaller doses is a waste of time and disappointing to the patient. Two such doses, i.e., 60 drops a dose, are almost absolutely sure of giving the patient a natural and refreshing sleep. The old school seem to have been forced to resort to Sulfonal (whatever that may be) as the only thing capable of producing sleep, and yet, judging from the reports in their journals, it does not seem to "fill the bill." Were they ever to give this a trial we would not hear so much of Morphine, Chloral, Bromides, and the like.

I have never used Passiflora in erysipelas, having always been able to discharge my patients in from two to four days by giving them Jaborandi.

In neuralgia and headache it has acted with wonderful rapidity, even the headache of uterine displacements being brought under its influence. It is almost a daily occurrence to have people whom I never saw before come miles to my office for that "sleeping medicine made from the passion flower."

In conclusion let me say to the brethren, try it. But give it in appreciable doses. Don't be afraid of it. I would not hesitate to give it in four drachm doses, if required. But why give four when one will do?

P. S.—Since writing the foregoing I have used Passiflora in two cases of delirium tremens. It acted like a charm in both cases; sent them to sleep in half an hour, and when they awoke, twelve and fourteen hours after, they were themselves again. Sixty drops of tincture a dose, two doses in each.

(The following was reported by Dr. Joseph Adolphus, in American Medical Journal:)

A lady who had for several months suffered untold agonies, as she described her sufferings; her pain was described as if a weight of many pounds was lying on her brain; the sense of pressure and tearing inside the skull was fearful; her head felt as if enveloped in ice; the pains ran down the back of her neck, and finally reached the lower end of sacrum, so that a slight touch of the coccyx caused exquisite agony. This was a case in which coccygodinia was associated with the cerebral and spinal disease. I failed to relieve the pain for more than a few hours at a time with all other remedies I had tried; at this juncture, when despair was taking the place of hope, I thought of Passiflora, which I then administered in teaspoonful doses every two hours; the result was something to be remembered, for she enjoyed excellent and refreshing night's rest the following night, waking up in the morning much refreshed, nearly free from pain, with a good relish for breakfast. I continued the medicament every four hours for several days, for no further uses for medicine seemed indicated, as there was a rapid and complete recovery.

A lady complained of pain in her rectum continuously; the coccyx was also quite tender to the touch. There were several erosions on the lips of the os uteri; leucorrhœa and severe pain in the small of the back when a certain spot (over last dorsal and first and second lumbar vertebræ) was pressed on. I found she had been treated secundum artem for the uterine trouble, locally and constitutionally, to no certain satisfactory result. Her respirations were often twenty-eight to thirty per minute, much wakefulness, and at times feeling of constriction across her breast and a sense as if her heart would stop beating. Teaspoonful doses of the Passiflora incar. was the specific in her case. She continued it every four hours two weeks, but from the outset of treatment she felt the right remedy was administered.

These rectum troubles in women are frequently met with in practice. I find the Passiflora incar. the best single remedy I have for them.

Recently a man consulted me for a constant pain in his heart; he described it as sharp and like a pang—often causing a sense of immediate dissolution, and fear of death was on him all the time; pulse irregular in rhythm, now rapid, next slower, occasionally a beat missing; sounds very normal, but accentuated and sharp. Passiflora incarnata was a specific in this case; no doubt the center and probably the local ganglia were irritated from some cause, and, whatever it was, the medicament removed both.

By the way, I must not forget to say you will find it a valuable medicament in sleeplessness and tossing restlessness in your fever patients. I use the tincture in teaspoonful doses every four hours. It appears the remedy has a soothing effect on the whole nervous system, without any appreciable narcotic properties.

(From the Transactions of the Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Maine Homœopathic Medical Society we take the following from a paper by Dr. A. I. Harvey on Passiflora:)

It does no good where the inability to sleep is due to pain or distress of any kind; but in cases where we find that the nervous erethism is not controlled by the action of Coffea, Opium, Sulphur, or other apparently indicated remedy. Passiflora is in its place as a succedaneum for Morphia or other sedatives. The dose varies from ten drops to one dram of the tincture, according to the age of the patient. I do not hesitate, in the case of an adult, to give dram doses of the tincture every hour until the patient sleeps, and have seen it act in the happiest manner in restoring the rhythm of the heart's action, when that organ has been deranged in its movements by the combined effects of exhaustion and loss of sleep.

Passiflora has also given me much aid in a case of morphine habit of six years' standing, which I cured wholly and entirely by the use of this remedy. It is recommended in the above mentioned doses for delirium tremens, trismus, tetanus and kindred diseases of the nervous system, repeated every hour or half-hour until relief is obtained. The remedy leaves no after effects, is incapable of creating an appetite, and, so far as my observation extends, it is perfectly harmless even in large doses, often repeated.

(Dr. Scudder claimed that the one great indication for Passiflora in all cases is a clean tongue; when the tongue is foul the remedy will do no good.)

PENTHORUM SEDOIDES.

Nat. Ord., Crassulaceæ. Common Name, Ditch Stone Crop. Preparation.—The whole fresh plant with the root is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.

(The Medical Advance for June, 1887, contains a paper by Dr. D. B. Morrow, from which the following is taken.)

The object of this paper is to call attention to the fact that the only proving of Penthorum was made on scientific principles, as these verifications demonstrate. If the pathogenesy is carefully studied, it will be seen to meet all the conditions of "common colds," or acute catarrhs, so prevalent in all sections of North America, from the symptoms of chill, malaise, headache, soreness, cough, coryza, dry and flowing, with their secondary consequences of disturbed digestion, constipation, debility, etc. and it will probably cure any or all of these conditions when indicated by correspondence to the pathogenesy.

A medicine having such a catarrhal range is probably a remedy for female troubles equal to Pulsatilla or Calcarea, and is worthy of a careful proving by women. It cures where antipsoric medicines have failed, and possibly may possess antipsoric qualities.

Authorities.—1, Dr. D. B. Morrow, U. S. Med. Inves., N. S., 3, p. 565 (Eclectic Med. Jour., 1875); effects of tincture, doses of 10 drops, and after one hour 20 drops; on second day, 40 drops; third day, 60 drops at 9 p.m., and 50 drops at 1 p.m.; 1 a.m. same, effects of 100 drops. 2, Dr. Scudder took 20 drops ("a young man took same dose and had similar effects").

Mind.—During both provings the mind was dull and exceedingly depressed and desponding; everything wrong but dinner; reading interfered with because of mental dullness (second day), 1.—Mind became so dull I gave up reading and lay upon the lounge (third day).

Head.—On closing my eyes felt like I was floating; vertigo (third day), 1.—Headache continued, could not read; went to hear Boutwell, followed his argument with difficulty, was much annoyed by the little noises made by the audience (second day), 1.—Headache came on again (third day), 1.—When commencing the proving, had a dull, heavy headache, with heat and soreness in the sacrum; this was cured (third day), 1.—An unpleasant heavy pain in the forehead, about the edge of the hair (after four hours), 2.—Catarrhal aching in the forehead, 1a.—[10] The fullness in the sinciput became an ache, as though a weight were pressed down upon it (second day), 1.—Itching of the hairy scalp (second day), 1.

Eye and Ear.—The inner superior tarsal border of both palpebra itched and burned (third day), 1.—A full sensation in supra-orbital region (a hearty supper), (first day), 1.—Ringing and singing in both ears, 1a.

Nose.—Discharges from nares thick, pus-like, streaked with blood, and an odor as from an open sore (third day), 1.—A peculiar wet feeling in my nares as though a violent coryza would set in, which did not; the secretion from the nose became thickened and pus-like, but not increased. Wet feeling in trachea and bronchia, passing from above downward, as if a coryza would set in, followed by a slight feeling of constriction, which passed from above downward through the chest (first day), 1.

Catarrhal feeling repeated itself (third day), 1.—Nose felt stuffed, as if swollen (second day), 1.—Sense of fullness of the nose and ears (after four hours), 2.—[20] A secondary symptom, a drawing or contractile feeling of the muscles of the side of the nose affected with catarrh, 1a.—Itching in the nares, 1a.

Mouth.—Prickling burning sensation on the tongue, as if scalded (first day), 1.—Increased flow of saliva (first day), 1.—The bloody sputa continues, 1a.

Throat.—The posterior nares feel raw, as if denuded of epithelium, 1a.

Stomach.—Appetite increased (third day), 1.—Eructations and dejections of little collections of odorless flatus expelled with force (second day), 1.—An unpleasant sensation of disgust and nausea, lasting for three hours, but not interfering with the following meal, which was eaten with greater relish, 2.—Soreness in epigastrium; this symptom appeared at first, not recorded because thought idiopathic, 1a.

Abdomen [30].—Borborygmus (second day), 1.—Parietes of abdomen felt thickened (second night), 1.—A clawing, uneasy sensation about the umbilicus, which gradually passed to lower bowel (second day), 1.—Twitching of the muscles in the abdomen (second day), 1.

Rectum and Anus.—A crawling sensation in lower rectum, as though a worm tried to escape (second day), 1.—Burning in rectum at stool, continuing through afternoon, 1a.—Itching of anus; hemorrhoids with aching in sacrum and in sacro-iliac symphysis (some weeks after proving), 1a.

Stool.—Semi-fluid evacuation of the bowels next morning, having been somewhat constipated, 2.—Some weeks after proving suffered from constipation, an atonic condition of bowels and rectum, 1a.—Was costive when commencing proving; had two natural stools from yesterday's medicine (third day), 1.

Urinary Organs [40].—A dull aching in kidneys (third day), 1.—The bladder becomes sore to pressure (third day), 1.—Urine still increased in flow, with burning along the urethra when micturating (third day), 1.—Urine clear, passed more frequently (second day), 1.—Urine actively acid, as shown by litmus; no cloud on boiling; threw down a sediment with Sulphuric acid, Ammonia, and Argentum nitrum and Nitric acid, when boiled; the next day after the dose it was alkaline, as shown by litmus, and only precipitated with Argentum nitricum; slightly cloudy, with caloric; unloaded, but increased in quantity, 1a.

Sexual Organs.—Sexual orgasm (second night), 1.—Erythismus of the sexual system, almost a satyriasis; a slight variocele of long standing was apparently cured (some weeks after proving); this condition was succeeded by a corresponding depression of sexual function, approaching impotency, after months of time returning to the normal condition, 1a.

Respiratory Organs.—In the morning a cough seemed to come from deep in the chest, with soreness throughout the chest (third day), 1.

Chest.—Slight feeling of constriction, which passed from above down through the chest, followed the wet feeling in trachea and bronchia (first day), 1.

Pulse [50].—Pulse regular at 58 (first day), 1.

Neck and Back.—Aching through basilar region, from back to front, 1a.—The aching in sacral region reappeared, but subsided as the medicine was eliminated, 1a.—Aching in sacrum and in sacro-iliac symphysis, with the itching of anus, hemorrhoids, 1a.—(When commencing the proving, had heat and soreness in the sacrum, with a dull, heavy headache; this was cured), (third day), 1.

Extremities.—Arm went to sleep (numb), 1.—Hand felt swollen (second night), 1.—A trembling feeling of legs for several days, with soreness of knees, 1.—While on the lounge the muscles of the leg were suddenly contracted, jerking up the foot as in stepping; in a moment the right one performed the same manœuvre (third day), 1.

Skin.—A long-cured impetiginous eczema reappeared on both legs, 1a.—[60] A few hot prickings in the skin (second and third days), 1.—Itching of the face and forehead, 1a.—The itchings repeated themselves (third day), 1.

Sleep and Fever.—Fantastic dreams (second night), 1.—Voluptuous dreams and increased sexual desire, sympathetic with urinary excitement, 1a.—A few cold chills rushed up the spinal column (first day), 1.

(In addition to the foregoing we quote the following from same authority):

Prover cured a severe acute flowing coryza, headache, vertigo and cough, with sticking pains throughout the chest, heaviness and trembling of the lower limbs; pulse, 110. Penthorum 3x quickly cured.

Miss P——, a blonde of 17, had a severe cough of several weeks duration; worse from talking or singing. Frothy greenish sputa. Pulsatilla and afterwards Phosphorus were given without benefit. Penthorum soon cured.

In the prover it produced a general malaise, headache, weakness of limbs and inability to attend to business, a feeling as though he must give up and be sick. I have promptly relieved several patients having these symptoms with Penthorum. It produces a soreness throughout the chest, with a severe dry cough, "as though I would cough my insides out," worse in the morning. Have speedily cured several such coughs with it.

PHASEOLUS NANA.

Nat. Ord., Leguminosæ. Common Name, Dwarf Bean. Preparation.—The crushed beans are macerated in five parts by weight of alcohol.

(In 1896 and 1897 Dr. A. M. Cushing wrote several articles on this new remedy, and among them the following, which appeared in the Homœopathic Recorder, 1897.)

While making a proving of the above remedy I felt a sudden curious sensation in the region of the heart, and immediately felt of my pulse and found it very weak and fluttering. I have been asked what that sensation was, but I can't describe it, for, to tell the truth, I believe I was frightened and failed to remember it. Although it is unpleasant to be badly frightened, the nice results I have seen from the use of the remedy and the kind words I have received from the profession in regard to it has more than paid for the little fright. As so little is known of the remedy, I wish to report one case that was not at all indicated by the proving and two cases under the care of an old school doctor. My case was that of a lady aged about forty, who for two years was under the care of a homœopathic doctor for some trouble, I don't know what; then two years under the care of another homœopathic doctor for a fibroid of the uterus. She had twice consulted a specialist in Boston, who said it could not be removed. Then she came under my care with a fibroid as large as a fetus at full term. Suffice it to say, I gave remedies in a higher attenuation than I believed she had taken, and in a few months the tumor had greatly diminished and gave her no trouble. Still she was nervous and had neuralgic pains almost all over her. As remedies did not seem to relieve her for any length of time, I decided to give her Phaseolus 9x, as it probably would do as well as what I had given her. The next time I called she met me with "I want a whole bottle like what you gave me last." She does not have to take any medicine now.

I was called in consultation with an old school doctor to a case of confinement. Patient, 26; first child; had been in pain forty-eight hours, but not severe till the last twelve hours. Patient, fleshy; urine heavily loaded with albumen. I knew that trouble was ahead, as she became blind. I found the head jacked firmly in the superior straits, face presentation which I could not change. I decided to wait a little, help what I could and watch the results. In a little while she went to sleep, the first quiet sleep in forty-eight hours; but when she moved it was in a fearful convulsion. I expected the convulsions, but felt that if I applied the forceps, before they appeared some might say if he had let her alone she would not have had them. I immediately turned her upon her left side, well covered up, and adjusted my forceps and soon had the head through the bony parts; and as it is my custom to remove the forceps till the soft parts are dilated to prevent rupture I commenced to do so, when a fearful expulsive convulsion threw forceps and a thirteen-pound child into the bed with a complete rupture of the perineum—my first such case in forty-one years. While she was unconscious I took the necessary stitches, the doctor attending to the medical part. One hour later, when I was in the kitchen helping the nurse and a few damsels dress the baby, the doctor came to me and said her heart was failing in its action fast. I gave him a vial of No. 25 globules medicated with 9x Phaseolus, and told him to give her a dose about the size of a bean (being a bean remedy). Ten minutes later he said: "That is wonderful, her heart is all right." Three times during the night he had to repeat it with the same results. Afterwards she had no trouble.

One week later the same doctor came to me saying: "I want a bottle of that remedy." Yesterday I was called to see a lady who was unconscious, pulseless, breathing ten times a minute, beyond hope as I supposed. I gave her three doses of Phaseolus, and she is all right.

P. S.—If not too late, I would like to add a little to the paper I sent you not long ago. The same old school doctor to whom I referred in that paper tells me he has used Phaseolus in another case of heart disease with a success similar to the others reported.

A few weeks since a lady aged 50, nurse by profession, came to me saying, at times, she had fearful time with her heart palpitating and feeling as if she should die. Being in great haste, I made no examination, but gave her a vial of Phaseolus 15x to take a dose three or four times a day, as needed. Yesterday she called, saying she was going out of the city, but did not dare to go without some more of the medicine, for she never took anything in her life that did so much good as that.

(Dr. Cushing also read the following paper before the Massachusetts Homœopathic Medical Society, which we take from the New England Medical Gazette. January, 1897:)

By request I appear before you to-day, and I presume you will be disappointed if my paper is not on some new remedy; and such it is,—a remedy, I think, worthy the careful investigation of every homœopathic physician,—phaseolus nana, or the common white bean. It is unnecessary for me to say to you that Boston is called a bean-eating city, or refer to the many sudden deaths there or in its vicinity from brain or heart trouble, nor how in a certain way young men grow old. Can you tell me the cause? I shall not take the time to report the proving I made, nor why I began it, nor how I prepared it, nor its wonderful effects upon the nervous system, the genital organs, stomach, bowels, or kidneys, in the provings, referring only to three symptoms. A medical student has made a short but interesting proving of the remedy, confirming some of my symptoms. While my proving was going on nicely, I suddenly felt a curious sensation in the region of the heart. It was so sudden and strange I immediately felt of my pulse and found it very irregular and feeble, so much so I think I was frightened, at least I did not take any more of the medicine. Never before had I had any irregular action of the heart. Soon after, I read that foreign physicians were using a decoction of the growing bean and pod for dropsy.

About that time I was called to see a hopeless case of uterine cancer with severe general dropsy. I prescribed the best I knew and decided to try the bean remedy. Several days elapsed before I could get any, and then only the dry pods, as it was in December. I steeped them and gave it with apparent relief. I report this case more especially to speak of the final result. I called one day expecting to find her quite comfortable, but found her dead. She suddenly screamed, "Oh, my head!" grasped it with both hands and was dead.

Months later, after an experience with another patient which I will report later, it suddenly dawned upon me that possibly the bean decoction might have hastened her death.

I was called to see a man about forty-five, suffering from general dropsy with heart and other complications, who had been under the care of a homœopathic physician some time. Although he had taken Digitalis, Strophanthus, Strychnia, Nitroglycerine, salts, etc., he had been unable to lie down for two weeks. I prescribed for him, but as soon as I could I prepared and gave him the bean-pod decoction. In about one week he was able to lie down in bed, and his legs, which at my first visit measured over twenty-one inches in circumference, measured fifteen inches. Then hay fever appeared, and by the advice of nineteen or twenty-five women an old-school expert from New York was called and I was left out.

The following cases, having symptoms similar to those developed in the proving, were given the same preparations as those used in the proving.

A man aged sixty-nine, a retired clergyman on account of a heart disease that had troubled him many years, yet no physician had been able to satisfactorily diagnose, came home from a trip where he had unwisely preached twice, greatly exhausted. The heart's action was weak and irregular, growing weaker each day for a few days, when he was entirely pulseless at both wrists, which continued four days in spite of my best efforts. I then gave him Phaseolus 9x, and in a few hours there was an improvement, and in thirty-six hours his pulse was regular and strong, about seventy per minute; and it remained so till my last visit, one-half hour before his death, two weeks after beginning the medicine. I was called to New York and returned too late to make a post-mortem examination. Among his children were a public school teacher and a college professor. I told them what I was giving, and they watched the case very closely and were surprised at its effects. Later they asked me if I would send some of the same medicine to a friend in Connecticut who had no money but a bad heart, said by the doctor there and an expert in Boston to be a weak heart. I sent the medicine and two weeks later they wrote: "His breath is not as short, his limbs were not as badly swollen, could walk and sleep better, but they did not know as he was any better." I sent more medicine and have not heard from that.

A lady living in the West, aged about fifty, had been ailing several years. Her greatest complaint was a weak, bad-aching heart. I treated her a few months with general improvement, but she complained of a weak, tired, bad-acting and bad-feeling heart. I sent her Phaseolus 9x, and later she wrote me that forty-eight hours after commencing the last medicine sent her heart wheeled into line all right and remains so.

A lady, aged eighty-seven, had diarrhœa, which was soon relieved; then I found her heart acted badly, about every third beat omitted, and she said it had been so for a year or more. I gave her Phaseolus, and two days later her pulse was all right.

Dr. Brown, of Springfield, reported a case of a young man that only once in two weeks did he get his pulse up to sixty, ranging from fifty to fifty-five the two weeks. He gave Phaseolus 6, which I furnished him, and the next forenoon his pulse was seventy-two and remained so.

I will report only one more case, treated with this remedy, one which I think very interesting.

A lady physician, aged thirty, married, no children, never has been sick except with childhood diseases. Two years ago had considerable mental trouble and rode a bicycle a good deal. Since that time, two years ago, five times each minute, or about that, her heart would give one hard unpleasant throb, then omit one beat, this in the day time, but much worse at night, preventing sleep. Being in somewhat of a hurry, I did not examine the heart, thinking there would be a plenty of time later, but gave her Phaseolus, the 10th I think. Thirty-six hours later the heart would beat one hundred consecutive times without the slightest variation, and it continued to improve, although after taking the medicine thirty-six hours she was obliged to desist on account of a severe headache. She is never subject to headaches, but it was so bad she dared not take any more of the medicine. It was as if something was pressing hard against each temple, much worse soon after taking each dose of the medicine. This headache led me to fear that the death I mentioned might have been hastened by the medicine.

A medical conundrum. A lady, aged about thirty, decided she would investigate the next world to see if she could enjoy it better than this, and called in the aid of morphine to help her along. Not being in the habit of taking morphine, to disguise the bitter of it, placed a tablet of morphine in the middle of a baked bean and swallowed it whole. She took her little dose in the evening, having eaten nothing since noon, and went to sleep. At seven in the morning she awoke and was surprised to find herself in this world. When asked if she would get up, replied, no, she would sleep a little longer. At eleven a.m. she awoke and tried to get up, but could not walk, so crawled to the door and opened it to let in fresh air. A servant found her there, and at her request handed her the camphor bottle, and she took a little. Dr. Rowe was called and said she vomited a little mucus, some dark specks that looked like blood, and a small piece of lettuce she ate the noon before. She had taken twelve and one-half grains of morphine. Did the lettuce antidote it? Did the bean destroy its power? Why did it not kill her?

POTHOS.

Nat. Ord., Araceæ. Common Name, Skunk Cabbage. Preparation.—The fresh root gathered in spring is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.

(Contributed by Dr. S. A. Jones to the Homœopathic Recorder, 1889.)

This perennial, odorous member of the natural order Araceæ is one of our most common meadow and bog plants. From its very realistic, skunk-like odor when cut or bruised, and its resemblance in shape of leaf and mode of growth to the cabbage, it has been commonly well known as the skunk cabbage.

Belonging to the same family as the Calla lily and Indian turnip, the shape of its flower becomes at once familiar to anyone who observes it. Among the first plants to flower in spring is this species, and by closely observing the surface of any boggy meadow in the latter part of March or early April one will find irrupting the earth like mushroom the points of many beautiful spathes gaping open to extend invitations to the earliest slugs and carrion beetles of the season. These are the flowers of Pothos appearing some time before the leaves, and when divested of the mud that clings to them, and polished with a damp cloth, as the apple-woman serves her pippins, they shine out in beautiful mottled purple, orange, and deep red, and, being very fleshy, will keep up appearances many days if cut deep and placed in hyacinth jars.

The root is large, thick, and cylindrical, giving off its lower end numerous long, cylindrical branches; the leaves which appear on the fertilization of the ovary are large, smooth, entire, and deeply plaited into rounded folds. On opening the pointed spathe or floral envelope, a club-like mass will be noted arising from its base. This is the spadix bearing the naked flowers, which are perfect, consisting of a four-angled style and four awl-shaped stamens. The fruit, when mature, is a globular, ill-smelling, glutinous mass, consisting of the enlarged, fleshy spadix and changed perianths, and enclosing several large bullet-like seeds.

The roots are easily gathered, one alone being sufficient to make a year's stock of tincture for the most lavish practitioner.

The Tincture.

Take the fresh root stalks and rootlets, gathered in spring on the first appearance of the flowers, and chop and pound them to a pulp, and weigh. Then taking two parts, by weight, of alcohol, mix the pulp with one-sixth part of it, add the balance, and, after stirring the whole well, pour it into a well-stoppered bottle and let it stand for eight days in a dark, cool place. After straining and filtering, the resulting tincture should be of a light brown color and have a slightly acrid taste and a neutral reaction.

Chemistry.

The active principle of this plant is doubtless volatile, as the dried root presents none of the acridity of the fresh, and is odorless as well. Dr. J. M. Turner determined in the root a volatile fatty body, a volatile oil, a fixed oil, and a specific resin.

On the 16th of December, 1887, there came into my hands a case that the family physician (a homœopath) had pronounced epilepsy and declared incurable. Upon being consulted, his diagnosis had been confirmed and his prognosis corroborated by the late Prof. E. S. Dunster, of the University of Michigan.

Up to date that identical patient has had neither a "fit" nor any approximation thereto, and that fact is an occasion of this paper. One who already discerns the first gray shadows of that night which comes to all, does not now write at the urging, or the itching, of the Ego. He disclaims any merit, having evinced only a monkey-like imitativeness. He had from the Infinite, the gift of a good memory, and an old book, picked up one happy day at a street stall, flashed into recollection some twelve years later, and enabled him then to imitate the much earlier doing of its worthy author—

This dead worthy—he that was James Thacher, M. D.—more than any other, made known the virtues of Pothos fœtida, and gratitude for what his book had taught me to do made me feel that to write up this forgotten remedy were the fittest return that I could make for his well doing.

A second incentive, ample enough, is found in the fact that the first homœopathic paper on Pothos fœt. has never had a faithful translation into our language, and has not been critically reproduced in any other. A study of the Homœopathic Bibliography, as given in this paper, will teach an impressive lesson not only to the real student of Materia Medica, but also to those who assume the responsibilities of editorship.

A third inducement, and perhaps a pardonable, is the singular fact that much search in our literature has not enabled me to find any assistance of the clinical application of Pothos fœt. by a homœopathic practitioner. If any reader knows of any such, he will greatly gratify the writer by making it known.

An Empirical Bibliography.[K]

1785. Rev. Dr. M. Cutler.—Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Boston.

1787. D. J. D. Schoepf, M. D.—Materia Medica Americana potissimum Regni Vegetabilis. Erlangen. (Not in my possession. Quoted from Barton.)

1813. James Thacher, M. D.—The American New Dispensatory. Boston. (This is the second edition wherein Pothos is mentioned for the first time. Our citations are from the fourth edition. Boston, 1821.)

1817. James Thacher, M. D.—American Modern Practice, etc. Boston.

1818. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.—American Medical Botany, etc. Vol. 2. Boston.

1820. Wm. M. Hand.—The House-Surgeon and Physician. Second edition. New Haven.

1822. Jacob Bigelow, M. D.—A Sequel to the Pharmacopœia of the U. S. Boston.

1822. John Eberle, M. D.—Materia Medica and Therapeutics. Philadelphia. (The citations are from the fourth edition. Philadelphia, 1836.)

1825. Ansel W. Ives, M. D.—Paris' Pharmacologia. Third American edition. New York.

1830. Elisha Smith.—The Botanic Physician, etc. New York. (The title page proclaims him "president of the New York Association of Botanic Physicians.")

1838. C. S. Rafinesque.—Medical Flora, etc. Philadelphia.

It was admitted into the catalogus secundarius of the second edition of The Pharmacopœia of the United States of America, and dropped into the dust-heap when the men who knew how to use it had passed away.

FOOTNOTES:

Empirical Applications.

In dealing with authors who have gone to their reward, it has always seemed to me a duty to give their own words as far as possible. It brings them face to face with the reader, and is as if one brushed the moss from their gravestones, or perhaps, like Old Mortality, carved afresh a half-obliterated name.

It is not the briefest way, but it has the merit of showing from whence the bricks came of which the edifice is built. I shall, then, cite the authorities in chronological order, and copiously enough to include essentials.

Cutler.—The roots dried and powdered are an excellent medicine in asthmatic cases, and often give relief when other means are ineffectual. It may be given with safety to children as well as to adults; to the former, in doses of four, five or six grains, and to the latter in doses of twenty grains and upwards. It is given in the fit, and repeated as the case may require. This knowledge is said to have been obtained from the Indians, who, it is likewise said, repeat the dose, after the paroxysm (sic) is gone off, several mornings, then miss as many, and repeat it again; thus continuing the medicine until the patient is perfectly recovered. It appears to be anti-spasmodic, and bids fair to be useful in many other disorders.—Op. cit., 1,409.

Schoepf.—I am obliged to cite at second hand, as I have never been able to find a copy of his opus. One may judge of its rarity, when a foreign advertisement by a German bookseller some years since failed to obtain it for me.

Prof. W. P. C. Barton, op. cit., gives the gist of the Hessian surgeon's contribution in a style and manner as prim and orderly as that of Surgeon Schoepf himself on a dress parade.

"Pharm.Dracontii Radix.

Qual.Acris, alliacea, nauseosa.

Vis.Incidens, califaciens, expectorans.

Usus:fol. contrita ad vulnera recentia et ulcera. Tussis consumptiva Scorbutus et elii morbi radix. Ari officin. utilis."

"Incidens": Young reader, you must go back more than a century to understand the "pathology" that is wrapped up in that word like a mummy in its cerements. Don't laugh at that "pathology," for some graceless graduate will laugh at yours in 1989. Note, however, in passing, that Schoepf says nothing, save tussis, that suggests the vis anti-spasmodica of Cutler.

Thacher.—The roots and seeds, when fresh, impart to the mouth a sensation of pungency and acrimony similar to Arum.

It may be ranked high as an anti-spasmodic, experience having evinced that it is not inferior to the most esteemed remedies of that class. In cases of asthmatic affections, it alleviates the most distressing symptoms, and shortens the duration of the paroxysms. * * * Rev. Dr. Cutler experienced in his own particular case very considerable relief from this medicine, after others had disappointed his expectations. * * * The seeds of this plant are said by some to afford more relief in asthmatic cases than the root.

In obstinate hysteric affections this medicine has surpassed in efficacy all those anti-spasmodics which have generally been employed, and in several instances it has displayed its powers like a charm. In one of the most violent hysteric cases I ever met with, says a correspondent, where the usual anti-spasmodics, and even musk had failed, two teaspoonfuls of the powdered root procured immediate relief; and on repeating the trials with the same patient, it afforded more lasting benefit than any other medicine. In those spasmodic affections of the abdominal muscles during parturition, or after delivery, this root has proved an effectual remedy. In chronic rheumatism, and erratic pains of a spasmodic nature, it often performs a cure, or affords essential relief.

It has in some cases of epilepsy suspended the fits, and greatly alleviated the symptoms.

In whooping cough, and other pulmonic affections, it proves beneficial in the form of syrup.

During every stage of nervous and hysteric complaints, and in cramps and spasms, this medicine is strongly recommended as a valuable substitute for the various anti-spasmodic remedies commonly employed. It is free from the heating and constipating qualities of Opium. [Yet Schoepf endowed it with the vis colifaciers.]

Having in a few instances tested its virtues in subsultus tendinum, attending typhus fever, its pleasing effects will encourage the future employment of it in similar cases.

Two instances have been related in which this medicine has been supposed to be remarkably efficacious in the cure of dropsy.

The roots should be taken up in the autumn or spring, before the leaves appear, and carefully dried for use. Its strength is impaired by long keeping, especially in a powdered state.—Mat. Med., 4th ed., p. 249.

A young woman, about eighteen years of age, was harassed by severe convulsive and hysteric paroxysms, almost incessantly, insomuch that her friends estimated the number at seven hundred in the course of a few weeks; her abdomen was remarkably tumefied and tense, and there was a singular bloatedness of the whole surface of her body, and the slightest touch would occasion intolerable pain. At length her extremities became rigid and immovable (sic), and her jaw was so completely locked that she was unable to articulate, and liquids could only be introduced through the vacuity of a lost tooth. She had been treated with a variety of anti-spasmodic and other medicines, by an experienced physician, without relief. Having prepared a strong infusion of the dried root of skunk cabbage, I directed half a teacupful to be given every few hours, without any other medicine; the favorable effects of which were soon observable, and by persisting in the use of it about ten days the muscular contractions were removed, the jaw was relaxed, and her faculty of speech and swallowing, with the use of all her limbs, were completely effected.

Another young woman had been exercised with the most distressing paroxysms of hysteria for several days, without obtaining relief by the medicines prescribed, when the skunk cabbage infusion was so successfully directed that her fits were immediately arrested, and in a few days a cure was completely effected.

The brother of this patient was seized with violent convulsions of the whole body, in consequence of a cut on his foot; the skunk cabbage was administered, and he was speedily restored to perfect health.

A woman was affected with violent spasmodic pains, twenty-four hours after parturition; six doses of skunk cabbage entirely removed her complaints.—American Modern Practice, p. 530.

Barton.—The smell from spathe and flowers is pungent and very subtle. Experience leads me to believe they possess a great share of acridity; having been seized with a very violent inflammation of my eyes (for the first time in my life), which deprived me of the use of them for a month, by making the original drawings of these plates. The pungency of the plant was probably concentrated by the closeness of the room, in which many specimens were at the time shut up.—Veg. Mat. Med., 1, 128. [The italics are not in the original text.]

The seeds are said to afford more relief in asthmatic cases than the root; and this I believe very probable, for they are remarkably active, pungent, and, as has before been mentioned, exhale the odor of Asafœtida.—Op. cit., p. 131.

The bruised leaves are frequently applied to ulcers and recent wounds, and, it is said, with good effect. They are also used as an external application in cutaneous affections; and I have heard of the expressed juice being successfully applied to different species of herpes. The leaves are also used in the country to dress blisters, with the view of promoting their discharge. * * * For this purpose I can recommend them where it is desirable to promote a large and speedy discharge, and no stimulating ointment is at hand.

Colden recommends the skunk cabbage in scurvy.—Op. cit., p. 132.

Bigelow.—The odor of the Ictodes resides in a principle which is extremely volatile. I have not been able to separate it by distillation from any part of the plant, the decoction and the distilled water being in my experiments but slightly impregnated with its sensible character. Alcohol, digested on the plant, retains its odors for a time, but this is soon dissipated by exposure to the air.

An acrid principle resides in the root, even when perfectly dry, producing an effect like that of the Arum and the Ranunculi. When chewed in the mouth, the root is slow in manifesting its peculiar taste; but after some moments a pricking sensation is felt, which soon amounts to a disagreeable smarting, and continues for some time. This acrimony is readily dissipated by heat. The decoction retains none of it. The distilled water is impregnated with it, if the process be carefully conducted, but loses it on standing a short time.—Amer. Med. Bot., 2, 45.

To insure a tolerably uniform activity of this medicine, the root should be kept in dried slices, and not reduced to powder until it is wanted for use.—Op. cit., p. 49.

A number of cases have fallen under my own observation of the catarrhal affections of old people, in which a syrup prepared from the root in substance has alleviated and removed the complaint.—Op. cit., p. 48.

In delicate stomachs I have found it frequently to occasion vomiting even in a small quantity. In several cases of gastrodynia, where it was given with a view to its anti-spasmodic effect, it was ejected from the stomach more speedily than common cathartic medicines. I have known it in a dose of thirty grains to bring on not only vomiting, but headache (sic), vertigo and temporary blindness.—Op. cit., pp. 48-49.

Hand.—The root is a pungent anti-spasmodic in colics and griping of the bowels.

Leaves bruised relieve painful swellings, whitlows, etc.—House Surg. and Phys., p. 250.

Eberle.—In chronic cough attended with a cold, phlegmatic habit of body, I have employed the powdered root of this plant with the most decided benefit. In an old man who had been for many years afflicted with a very troublesome cough and difficulty of breathing, I found nothing to give so much relief as this substance.

In cases of chronic catarrhal and asthmatic affections, and very generally with evident advantage.—Mat. Med. and Thur., 2, 154.

Ives.—The root loses its pungent taste, and appears to be nearly inert in a few weeks after it is gathered. I prepared, however, an alcoholic extract some years ago, by digesting the fresh roots and evaporating the tincture in the sun, which possessed and retained all the acrimony of the recent root. The fresh leaves are actively rubefacient.—Pharmacologia, p. 147.

Smith.—Skunk cabbage is not only a good anti-spasmodic in all cases where such are indicated, but it is also a powerful emmenagogue, anthelmintic, and a valuable remedy in dropsy, in spasms, rheumatism, palpitations, etc. It is frequently used in childbed to promote the birth. * * * * For expelling worms, the pulverized root should be administered in molasses for a sufficient length of time, following it up with a purge.—Op. cit., p. 511.

Rafinesque.—Powerful anti-spasmodic, expectorant, incisive, vermifuge, menagogue, sudorific, etc. Used with success in spasmodic asthmas and coughs, hysterics, pertussis, epilepsy, dropsy, scurvy, chronic rheumatism, erradic and spasmodic pains, parturition, amenorrhœa, worms, etc.—Op. cit., 2, 230.

III.

The Homœopathic Bibliography.[L]

1837. Correspondenzblatt der Hom. Aerzte, January 18th, 2d part, No. 1, p. 6. Allentown, Pa. Hering, Humphreys, and Lingen.

1843. Symptomus Kodex, vol. 2, p. 392. Jahr. (Taken from the Correspondenzblatt, and not correctly.) Handbuch der Hom. Arzneimittellehre, vol. 3, p. 613. Noack and Trinks. (Taken from the Correspondenzblatt, and incompletely.)

1847. Manual of Hom. Mat. Met.—Jahr. Translated by Curie, 2d ed., vol. 1, p. 462. London. (This is the first appearance of the Allentown "abstract of symptoms" in English. Curie credits his data to some "United States' Journal," probably meaning the Correspondenzblatt. His translation is erroneous, and yet, up to date, it is the fullest source of information for him who reads English only.)

1848. New Manual or Symptomen Codex.—Jahr. Translated by Hempel, vol. 2, p. 573. (This is a singularly incomplete translation from the German Kodex, with no reference to any source. A literal copy of this translation is all there is of Pothos fœt. in the Encyclopædia. It omits the only symptom in the Correspondenzblatt abstract that made my application of this remedy not purely empirical.)

1851. Jahr's New Manual. Edited by Hull, 3d ed., vol. 1, p. 797.

1851. Characteristik der Hom. Arzneien. Possart, part 2, p. 506.

1860. "Hull's Jahr." A New Manual of Hom. Practice. Edited by Snelling, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 977.

1866. Text-Book of Mat. Med. Lippe, p. 545.

1878. Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica. Allen, vol. 9, p. 155.

1884. American Medicinal Plants. Millspaugh, vol. 1, p. 169.

FOOTNOTES:

Pothos Fœtida Symptomatology.

Translated from the Correspondenzblatt by T. C. Fanning, M. D., Tarrytown, N. Y.[M]

Because the odor is quite like Mephitis it is considered a so-called anti-spasmodic.

Abstract of symptoms from Hering, Humphreys, and Lingen.

So absent-minded and thoughtless that he enters the sick rooms without knocking; pays no attention to those speaking to him. Irritable, inclined to contradict; violent.

Headache of brief duration, in single spots, now here, now there, with confusion. Pressure in both temples, harder on one side than on the other alternately, with violent pulsation of the temporal arteries.

Drawing in the forehead in two lines from the frontal eminences to the glabella, where there is a strong outward drawing as if by a magnet.

Red swelling, like a saddle, across the bridge of the nose, painful to the touch, especially on the left side near the forehead, while the cartilaginous portion is cold and bloodless; with red spots on the cheek, on the left little pimples; swelling of the cervical and sub-maxillary glands.

Unpleasant numb sensation in the tongue; cannot project it against the teeth; papillæ elevated; tongue redder, with sore pain at point and edge.

Burning sensation from the fauces down through the chest. With the desire to smoke, tobacco tastes badly.

Pain in the scrobiculus cordis as if something broke loose, on stepping hard.

Inflation and tension in the abdomen; bellyache here and there in single spots; on walking, feeling as if the bowels shook, without pain.

Stool earlier (in the morning), frequent, softer.

Urging to urinate; very dark urine.

Painful, voluptuous tickling in the whole of the glans penis.

Violent sneezing, causing pain in the roof of the mouth, the fauces and œsophagus all the way to the stomach, followed by long-continued pains at the cardiac orifice.

Pain in chest and mediastinum posticum, less in the anticum, with pain under the shoulders, which seems to be in connection with burning in the œsophagus. Pressing pain on the sternum.

Sudden feeling of anxiety, with difficult (or oppressed) respiration and sweat, followed by stool and the subsidence of these and other pains.

Inclination to take deep inspirations with hollow feeling in the chest, later with contraction in the fauces and chest.

The difficulty of breathing is better in the open air.

Pain in the crest of the right tibia.

Rheumatic troubles increased.

Sleepy early in the evening.

All troubles disappear in the open air.

In attempting to analyze this "abstract of symptoms," to see if the internal evidence tends to show that the recorded effects are genuine results of the drug, it is well to remember that these provings—for we infer that three observers participated therein—were made in the light of the empirical history of Pothos fœt. The said history was on record before the date of these provings, and it cannot have escaped Hering's eye; he was too wide a reader for that. He was, beyond doubt, aware of the pathogenetic effects observed by Bigelow—headache, vertigo, temporary blindness, vomiting, even from small quantities. Having, then, this clue to its physiological action, these symptoms should reappear in his proving if his imagination furnished his symptoms. As only a mild headache is noted in the Correspondenzblatt, it is evident that these provers did not work from a pattern. It is also evident that the usus in morbis did not suggest the Allentown symptomatology, for the anti-asthmatic virtue of Pothos fœt. is one feature on which the greatest stress had been laid, and yet the only pathogenetic suggestion of its applicability in asthma is: "Sudden feeling of anxiety with difficult (or oppressed) respiration and sweat, followed by stool and the subsidence of these and other pains." Who ever heard of an asthma relieved by stool? Who could have invented such an odd modality? As it stands it is an unicum, and by every rule of criticism this single symptom-group gives the stamp of verity to the Allentown "abstract of symptoms." But there is other and singularly convincing evidence of the genuineness of this abstract. As the reader is aware, Thacher had emphasized the efficiency of Pothos fœt. as an anti-spasmodic in hysteria, although the "key-note" that indicates it in hysteria had wholly escaped his discernment.

Now this very "key-note" appears in the Allentown pathogenesis, but so unobtrusively as to show most conclusively that the prover who furnished it did not recognize its singular import and value. Such testimony is absolutely unimpugnable by honest and intelligent criticism.

It is also apparent that some of the less pronounced of its empirical virtues are reflected in the proving. For instance, Thacher found it efficacious in "erratick pains of a spasmodick nature." Is not this "erratic" feature reproduced in such conditions as:

"Headache, of brief duration, in single spots, now here, now there?"

"Pressure in both temples alternately, harder on one side than on the other?"

"Bellyache, here and there, in single spots?"

Brevity of duration and recurrence "in single spots, now here, now there," are phenomena at once spasmodic and erratic. It must be admitted that the trend of its pathogenetic action and the lines of its therapeutical application are parallel, and, therefore, that the latter are confirmatory of the former.

With such an anti-hysterical reputation as the empirical use had given to Pothos fœt., it might fairly be anticipated that its pathogenesis would be distinguished by a paucity of objective data, for only a tyro in pharmacodynamics, or a "Regular," would expect to find a full-lined picture of hysteria in any "proving." And so we have in the "abstract" a flux of subjective symptoms, "erratic" enough for hysterical elements, and still further characterized by an apparent evanescence, as if its phenomena of sensory disturbance were as fleeting and unsubstantial as those of an hysterical storm.

The will-o'-the-wisp-like character of its subjective symptoms, and its physometric property (hinted at in the pathogenesis and emphasized in Thacher's case) are the features that will chiefly impress one in studying this distinctively American remedy.

That the "abstract of symptomes" evinces a cautious trial of this drug, and that more heroic experiments will add to our knowledge of its pathogenetic properties, are plain deductions from the absence in the "abstract" of such pronounced effects as Bigelow observed and also from the evidence of the usus in morbis. The remedy needs an efficient proving, especially in the female organism.

FOOTNOTES:

An Application of Pothos Fœtida.

Miss B——, æt. 20; a tall, spare brunette, and a good specimen of Fothergill's Arab type, brainy and vivacious. General health has been good, but she was never robust; could not go to school regularly. Between her thirteenth and fifteenth years grew rapidly in stature, and then she was easily wearied on walking; knees tired and limbs ached. Had good digestion through the growing period, but subsequently became subject to "bloat of wind" in abdomen. These meteoristic attacks came when lying down. A "weight rises from the abdomen up to the heart." She must at once spring up. This condition is relieved by eructating, by liquor, and by drinking hot water. The night attacks of meteorism are by far the worst. She is now subject to them.

[Her grand-mother had such "spells of bloating;" would spring out of bed at night, lose consciousness, and "bloat up suddenly." If she had such an attack when dressed, they had often been obliged to cut open her clothes.]

Patient has found that apples, tomatoes, cabbage and onions disagree with her; no other food. She is constipated—"wants to and can't."

Her hair is unusually dry; scalp full of dandruff; skin, generally, soft and flexible.

She has frequent epistaxis; has had four and five attacks a day. Blood bright red, "runs a perfect stream," does not clot at the nostrils. Has previously a "heavy feeling" in the head, which the bleeding relieves.

In appearance she is "the picture of health;" good complexion, fairly ruddy cheeks, sparkling eyes—in a word, she is an incarnated protest against "single blessedness."

In the latter part of July, 1886, had her first "fit." She had arisen with a headache, which kept on increasing in severity. Just after a light meal had the attack; "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" and fell insensible. Stiffened at first, then had clonic spasms. Neither bit the tongue nor frothed at the mouth. No micturition or defecation. On coming to, did not remember that she had fallen, but recollected being borne up stairs. Had a "dreadful nosebleed" after the attack. Left her very weak; could hardly lift her feet from the floor. Before the "fit" the headache had become unbearably severe.

Had her second "fit" on August 7th, 1887. Headache came on and kept growing worse; was in temples, beating and throbbing, and in eyes, "light hurt"—also on vertex, "pressing-down" pain. At 4 p.m. suddenly fell down insensible. No cry. Tongue bitten. Slight frothing at the mouth. First "stiff all over," then clonic spasms. After the "fit" knew that something had happened to her. Was prostrated for nearly a month, but not so much as after first attack.

December 10th, 1887, third "fit." On the night of the 9th her mother had been very ill, and she herself was very uneasy and alarmed. Had the attack before breakfast. Blurred vision, headache, fall; no biting of tongue, nor frothing. First rigid, then clonic spasms; after attack, nose bled profusely, head ached all day, face flushed and dark. Prostrated as usual.

In none of the attacks was there any involuntary micturition or defecation, nor was it ever necessary to use any force to hold her on the bed.

One other fact I gathered from her brother, namely: during her "fits" her abdomen bloated so rapidly and to such a degree that the family had learned to remove her clothing as soon as possible after she fell.

Of course, Thacher's case, wherein the "abdomen was remarkably tumefied and tense," came into memory at once. The old volume was taken down, and that case re-read. Then followed the Encyclopædia, and then the English Symptomen Codex. No pathogenetic light or corroboration there. Then Curie's "Jahr." Ah! "Inflation and tension in the abdomen." Only a straw, but a pathogenetic, and I grasped it thankfully. I found also, "aching in the temples with violent arterial pulsation."

It was an open winter; my son dug some skunk cabbage roots in a swamp; a tincture was made; ten-drop doses, four times daily, were taken until six ounces had been consumed.

No "fit" up to date; no epistaxis; only once a slight headache.

I never made a diagnosis in this case; have not reached one yet, nor am I grieving over that omission. I did rashly declare that it was not epilepsy, because Sauvages tympanites intestinalis is a feature of hysteria, but not of epilepsy. But not a word of this was said to the patient. It was not a "mind cure," for I have no "mind" to spare; nor was it "Christian science," for I am not up to that. I had an amnesis in which grand-mother and grand-daughter participated. Nature had put the "key-note" in italics, not only in the patient but also in the drug. Thacher stumbled upon it empirically; Hering found it pathogenetically, and that led to its application under the guidance of the only approximation to a law in therapeutics that has yet been discovered by any of woman born: similia similibus curantur!

(Anent the foregoing paper Dr. W. C. Campbell sent the following to the same journal:)

Pothos Fœtida, Hysteria.

November 6, 1889, was called in haste to see Miss N——, aged 19 years. Found her lying upon the floor, exhibiting all the phenomena of epilepsy, clenched hands, frothing at the mouth, clonic spasm, etc.

On questioning the family, I learned that she had been subject to such seizures for about two years, and that they were increasing in frequency. She had been dismissed from the various cotton mills in which she had been employed because of them. The father had been informed that she had epilepsy, and she had been treated accordingly by three old school physicians.

The sister informed me that although she had frequently fallen near the stove she had never struck it. Further questioning elicited the fact of her never having injured herself more seriously than to bite her tongue. It was then I became suspicious, and later felt convinced that it was hysteria and not epilepsy with which I had to deal.

I remembered having read in The Recorder an article by Dr. S. A. Jones, of Ann Arbor, on Pothos fœtida, with the record of a case in some respects similar to mine. After again reading it up, I made a tincture of the roots and tendrils gathered at the time, of which I gave her a two drachm phial, directing her to take ten drops three times per day.

On the second day she had a slight seizure while at dinner. After two months she again resumed her place in the mill, where she has since been steadily employed, and is strong and well in every way.

Have used Pothos in epilepsy, also in dropsy, with negative results.

PRIMULA OBCONICA.

Nat. Ord., Primulaceæ. Common Name, Primrose var. obconica. Preparation.—The entire fresh plant in flower with root is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.

(Dr. E. V. Ross, of Rochester, N. Y., thus summarizes the various papers that have appeared on this remedy—sources of papers named in his article:)

The following summary of the pathogenetic effects of Primula were produced from handling and in otherwise coming in contact with the plant, and so far as known the poisonous properties are wholly confined to the leaves.