New, Old and Forgotten Remedies. (continued 7)
Reading edition
The effects bear a close resemblance to Anacardium, Euphorbium, Ranunculus, Rhus, etc. It is evidently deserving of a thorough proving, and it is our intention to attempt one as soon as a reliable preparation can be had.
References: (1) Syme, British Medical Journal; (2) London Lancet; (3) Homœopathic World, March, 1892; (4) American Homœopathist, 1897, p. 429; (5) New York Medical Journal, January, 1898, p. 68.
(1) 1. Eczema on face.
2. Eczema on face and arms.
3. Moist eczema on face and forearms, papular and excoriated.
4. Severe cracking over joints and fingers as from frost.
5. Great itching of the skin.
6. Eruption appears at night.
7. Eruption and itching worse at night.
8. The itching was intolerable at night.
(2) 9. Irritable papular eruption on both hands, followed by desquamation.
10. Papular eruption on chin.
11. Eruption of small papules on a raised base with intolerable itching.
(3) 12. Papular eruption (eczematous) on hands, wrists and fingers.
13. Skin red and swollen and itching violently.
14. At night she became feverish, hands and face would burn, then intolerable itching followed by erythema with small papules becoming pustular.
15. Papular eruption itching violently.
(4) 16. Confluent blotches on face resembling urticaria.
17. Eruption between fingers which resembles scabies.
18. Desquamation.
19. Purple blotches on dorsal surface of hands.
20. Palmar surface of hands and fingers are stiff and unusable.
21. Deep-seated blisters form on tip of each finger and above and below each phalangeal flexure.
22. Blisters on fingers from which a clear fluid escapes on being pricked.
23. Intense itching and burning accompanies the eruption.
(5) 24. Eruption preceded by pricking sensation which gradually changes to a smarting.
25. Skin tumefied and diffuse infiltration with a red serosity, with here and there small fullæ filled with a limpid liquid.
26. Eyelids greatly swollen and covered with large fullæ, eyes half closed.
27. Great tension and redness of skin resembling erysipeias.
28. Desquamation sometimes furfuraceous, sometimes lamellar, involving all of the epidermic layer in such a manner that in some places the papillary layer was exposed.
29. Eyelids stiff and immovable, resembling ptosis.
30. Dryness and heat in palms of hands.
31. Deep infiltration of tissues rendering the parts stiff and immovable.
32. Skin symptoms accompanied by pronounced febrile symptoms.
From symptoms Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 23 it would appear the time of aggravation is at night, and the most prominent sensation is itching and less prominent is burning. This is characteristic of the Arsenicum eruption, also of Anacardium, Rhus tox., and some others. The eruption also bears a strong resemblance to these remedies, and if one may judge from the symptoms enumerated ought to prove a potent rival in erysipelas and eczematous complaints. Rhus poisoning will no doubt find a new and efficient remedy in Primula.
PYRUS AMERICANA.
Nat. Ord., Rosacæ. Common Name, Mountain ash. Preparation.—The fresh bark is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(We find the following in the American Observer, 1878, credited to Northwestern Analist and written by Dr. H. P. Gatchell. Allen, in the Encyclopædia has not mentioned the drug, and we can find no mention in any of the dispensatories consulted. Dr. Fernie, in his excellent book, Herbal simples devotes some space to it. We quote: "'There is,' says an old writer, 'in every berry the exhilaration of wine, and the satisfying of old mead; and whosoever shall eat three berries of them, if he has completed a hundred years, he will return to the age of thirty.' At the same time it must be noted that the leaves of the Mountain ash are of a poisonous quality, and contain prussic acid like those of the laurel." The following is Dr. Gatchell's paper, the proving, be it noted, is made from a tincture of the bark:)
My memory of details, never remarkable, except as the details belonged to some system, is not as good as in earlier life, and in the matter of disconnected or partially connected incidents, the widow Bedott could, at any time, have given me five points in ten, and then have beaten me easily.
No. 1 of the provers was a married lady; No. 2 and No. 3 were lads. The tincture of the bark was used, several drops being put in a cup of water, of which teaspoonful doses were given and repeated at, I do not remember what, intervals. Myself experienced some irritation of the eyes; no other symptoms.
No. 1. Feels like crying. Feels as if the knees are immensely swollen, as if the toes the same. Knees and toes ache. Feels constricted around the waist, obliged to loosen the clothes at once. Headache begins over the eyes, left side of head aches terribly, like a tooth ache. Aches everywhere, in every joint. Left great toe feels as if torn from the socket. Sense of prolapsus of womb, bearing down and pressing out, as if swollen, and burning all over. Pains in the head knife-like. All the pains intense, acute. Thinks the conditions that of inflammatory rheumatism as if the lungs were congested, especially at the base. Can hardly breathe, as if cold water in the stomach. Thinks mucus accumulated in the cold stomach. Craves hot teas. Headache extends to the right side. Head feels as if it would burst. Great weight on top of head. Toes burn. Aching at heart. Twinging pains in arms, legs and toes. As if rectum were shrunken, dried up. Bearing down pains and pressing out, like labor pains. Feels gloomy and discouraged, but can't cry. Very cold, shivers internally; thinks she must look blue. Cold creeping all over. Pain in knees subsides, and is succeeded by pain as in the tendons and along the calves. "Oh, such a drawing pain, cutting and darting also, like that in the head." Feels resolute, as full of a gloomy determination. Stomach cold again. Thinks meat bad for her, would not digest; needs soft, mild food. Irritation of bladder and urethra; feels as if prolapsus of bladder. Dreads to move, especially on account of the joints. Sensitive to cold. Stomach still feels as if full of cold water. Sick feeling under right scapula. Thinks bile deficient. Shooting pains in forehead. Feeling as if coldness in stomach extends up under the sternum. Same feeling in the gullet. Excessive aching of bones of toes; seems unendurable. Thinks the stomach very weak, as if it would digest nothing; thinks it is dry and wrinkled. Hypochondriac, not nervous. Feels lazy, as if she would like to lie in bed and be waited on. Selfish. Headache penetrating in temples. Thinks she is clairvoyant, can read character and understand motions; can see into herself; thinks the blood dark blue. Feels pains drawing, rending along posterior aspect of thighs and down to toes. Left side most affected. Feels as if the left leg were drawn up, and would never straighten again. Pains seem to move in meandering lines. Seems to be able to go out of herself for a short distance, to walk around and return into the body. Thinks she is looking down upon her own body. Seems to her that the fundus of the stomach is depressed in the abdomen, as if on fire at the pyloric end of stomach. Thinks there is a red spot there, looking like raw beef, as if the stomach burnt up with raw whisky. Exclaims in a plaintive tone, "Don't get out of patience with me" (of which I had given no indications). Cries, feels babyish. Apprehension; fears something terrible is about to occur. Very chilly. Can't talk loud; voice gone. She feels so weak, as if about to die. Moans and groans, calls for help. Oppression about the heart, as if it had stopped beating, as going into convulsions. Feels as if a spasm of the heart, tetanic. As if the blood too thick to circulate. Thinks she would have died but for the Camphor I gave her. Felt as she did when near dying of hemorrhage. Brain is active, intellect clear, thoughts vivid, the whole being intensified. Next morning, sense of constriction at base of lungs. Some cough. Clammy feeling of skin. Very sensitive to air.
No. 2. Causes a glow all over, hands sweat. Some pain in finger joints. Throat feels obstructed. Some hoarseness. Dry cough, as if pharynx stuffed with cotton. It is an effort to talk. Tongue feels partially paralyzed, cannot direct it. Throws the paper down, has lost inclination to read. Feels indolent, indifferent. Feels chills when air strikes. Spasmodic breathing, like a nervous woman—silly, mystical. Pain in finger joints continues. Feels like crying. Sad, weeping mood. Tears will come. Eyes smart. Heart aches, as from some great sorrow. Eyes feel as if had been crying a long time, as if swollen, burning. Very sensitive to cold, easily chilled. Chills down the back and both legs. Ends with a very tranquil feeling, particularly of consciousness. Next morning, tight feeling of patella. Joints all feel constricted and sore.
No. 3. Very chilly. Can't endure cold at all. Other symptoms not recorded.
In all three, pains and chilliness much increased by moving about.
No. 1. Subsequently her muscular condition was much improved. Her muscles did not ache from work as formerly.
A cut bled less freely than usual, bled scarcely any, and healed very quickly.
SALIX NIGRA AMENTS.
Nat. Ord., Salicaceæ. Common Name, White Willow. Preparation.—The fresh aments are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.
(Dr. John Fearns writes of this remedy in Chicago Medical Times, 1896:)
At this writing I wish to speak not of the tonic and antiseptic properties of this species of Salix, but of its usefulness as a sedative to the generative system. As a sedative on these lines I have had very good results from its use.
In cases of acute gonorrhœa with much errotic trouble. Also in cases of chordee with great irritation; for these purposes I have given it in doses of thirty to sixty drops on retiring, and repeat at midnight or towards morning, if needed; in these cases nothing has given me more satisfaction than this remedy. It answers the purpose, it robs night of its terrors, and it leaves no unpleasant consequences in its train.
In cases of excessive venereal desire, amounting to satyriasis, from experience I would use this remedy first. I have seen it control the venereal appetite in a very satisfactory manner. It can be given in cases where the bromides have always been considered appropriate, and it can be given where the bromides would be very inappropriate and there is no reflex effect on the brain or nervous system.
SALVIA OFFICINALIS.
Nat. Ord., Labiatæ. Common Name, Common sage. Preparation.—The fresh leaves are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.
(Although scarcely used in the present day sage runs back in medical history to the Greeks, and, according to Fernie, is still held in the highest esteem by country people in many parts of Europe. Quoting Gerard: "Sage is singularly good for the head and brain; it quickeneth the senses and memory; strengtheneth the sinews; restoreth health to those that have palsy; and takes away shaky trembling of the members." The following appeared in Echo Med. du Nord, 1897, concerning this remedy:)
This remedy (in English, Sage) has been almost forgotten in modern medical art, but still remains in high repute as a domestic medicine. Lately, French physicians have called attention to it, and not only for gargling in cases of inflammation of the throat and for washing the mouth in affections of the gums, but more especially as an unfailing remedy for night-sweats in persons suffering from affections of the respiratory organs. In the numerous experiments made with it, there were never any disagreeable concomitant effects. On the contrary, it was found that Salvia acts even more favorably on the tickling coughs with consumptives than Belladonna, Rumex crispus, etc., so that preparations of Morphine and Codeine could be dispensed with.
Salvia should be used in the form of the tincture, and, indeed, the tincture prepared from the fresh leaves and the blossom tips, as we find it in homœopathic pharmacies. It should be given in doses of 20, 30, or 40 drops, in a tablespoonful of water. The effects manifest themselves very quickly, two hours after taking a dose, and these effects persist for two to six days.
SAURURUS CERNUUS.
Nat. Ord., Piperaceæ. Common Name, Lizard's Tail. Preparation.—The entire plant including the root is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(The following short notice of this almost unknown remedy appeared in the Homœopathic Recorder, 1895:)
Readers who are interested in the remedies of nature rather than those produced in the laboratory and sold under trademarks will remember that it was Dr. D. L. Phares, of Mississippi, who, over half a century ago, pointed out the wonderful virtues of Passiflora incarnata, so much used to-day. What Dr. Phares said of the remedy laid dormant until Hale, in his ever perennial New Remedies, rescued it from the dusty pages of old medical journals, in which so much of value is buried awaiting resurrection. Among such buried remedies is Saururus cernuus or, as it is more commonly known, "lizard's tail." Dr. Phares, who seems to have been an unusually keen observer, used Saururus cer. in his practice, as he did Passiflora, for many years before he communicated his observations to the medical journals, and the Saururus seems to be quite as important and useful a remedy in its sphere as is Passiflora, and one quite as worthy of a thorough proving. In absence of proving it may be said that Dr. Phares used it for years with marked success in all irritation and inflammation of the kidneys, bladder, prostate and urinary passages. He considered it peculiarly adapted to all such cases if they were attended by strangury, or painful and difficult urination. Dr. Phares used the remedy both externally and internally and he found that the stomach was very tolerant of the rather heroic doses he prescribed.
The plant is an indigenous perennial found in swampy localities, in some parts of the United States, and has been, and is still, used in domestic practice for those conditions for which Dr. Phares commends it.
SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS.
PREPARATION.—The insect is triturated with sugar of milk in the usual way.
(In the case of a man bitten in the arm by a centipede, reported in Nashville Journal of Medicine, 1870, among the striking symptoms was no perspiration in the arm for three months. Dr. Sherman, of California (Med. Advance), reports the following symptoms as prominent in a woman bitten by a centipede:)
Head.—Vertigo, with blindness, worse in the morning.
Stomach.—Nausea and vomiting; unable to retain either food or liquid.
Back.—Terrible pains in back and loins, spasmodic and irregular, at times extending down the limbs. Pains returned every few days for three weeks, commencing in the head and going out at the toes. "Resembled labor pains as nearly as anything I ever saw."
SCUTELLARIA LATERIFOLIA.
Nat. Ord., Labiatæ. Common Name, Mad-dog skullcap. Preparation.—The whole fresh plant is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(The following proving of Scutellaria lat., from University Bulletin, 1897, was made, under the auspices of Dr. Geo. Royal, by nine provers:)
No symptom has been recorded unless experienced by two provers. When experienced by two provers, and not often repeated, the symptom is recorded in common type. When often repeated in two provings is found in italics. When often repeated in three provings, or found in four or more, the symptoms appear in black type.
Mind.—Inability to study or fix the attention on one's work. Confusion of mind. Apathy. Irritability.
Head.—A full or throbbing sensation in head. A dull heavy headache mostly in the forehead and temples. Sharp shooting pain in the head. Pain in the occiput. Headache relieved in the open air. Headache relieved by eating. Headache aggravated by motion.
Eyes.—Aching in the eyeballs. Eyeballs painful to touch. Eyeballs feel too large.
Face.—Flushed.
Mouth.—Bad taste; sour; bitter.
Throat.—Sensation of lump in throat which could not be swallowed.
Stomach.—Nausea. Sour eructions. Poor appetite. Vomiting of sour ingesta, hiccoughs, pain and distress in stomach.
Abdomen.—Gas in bowels. Colicky pain in abdomen. Fullness or distension of abdomen. Uneasiness in abdomen. Pain in the abdomen.
Stools.—Diarrhœa. Light colored. Stools preceded by colicky pain in abdomen.
Urinary Organs.—Quantity of urine diminished. Biliary salts increased. Frequent micturition but quantity small.
Chest.—Pain in chest.
Heart and Pulse.—Pulse rate irregular.
Back.—Pain in back.
Upper Extremities.—Sharp stinging pains. Aching.
Lower Extremities.—Weakness. Aching. Uneasiness.
Sleep.—Restless. Unrefreshing. Disturbed.
General Symptoms.—Restlessness. Tired weak feeling. Uneasiness. Languor.
The remedy seems most suitable to persons of a nervo-bilious temperament. All the symptoms seem to be aggravated by work or excitement and ameliorated by sleep.
SISYRINCHIUM.
Nat. Ord., Iridaceæ. Common Name, Blue-eyed grass. Preparation.—The fresh root is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(Dr. W. U. Reed, of Northmanchester, Ind., contributed the following in 1892 to the Hom. Recorder, concerning this little known remedy. Sisyrinchium was one of the old "Thompsonians." From what Dr. Reed says of it the remedy must be a very powerful one and worthy of full investigation.)
Numerous articles have appeared in our medical journals during the past few months relative to the treatment of persons bitten by venomous reptiles, especially the rattlesnake. Whether the rattlesnakes found in the marshes of Indiana are in any respect different from those found in Oregon, or in the mountains of Pennsylvania, I do not know. The bite of the Indiana rattler has been known to prove fatal to both man and beast. Notwithstanding we have growing in our woods and fields a small plant, which I believe to be a specific for the treatment of persons or animals bitten by the rattlesnake. From my own experience and observation in the use of this remedy, I believe it to be a positive cure in all cases if exhibited in any reasonable time. I have never known it to fail in a single instance, even where the alcoholic treatment and many other kinds had failed.
The plant referred to, the roots of which are used in the treatment of snake bites; or a tincture made from the roots, is the Sisyrinchium of the Iris family, I think, and is said to have been used by the Indians in treating snake bites, by bruising and moistening the roots and applying to the wound. I am not aware of its ever having been used as a medicine by the profession, and, so far as I know, I am the first to prepare and use it in the form of a tincture. By your kind permission I will report, through the columns of your valuable journal, a few cases treated by this remedy, which for convenience I will call Sisyrinchium.
Case 1. Bessie A., aged six years, while playing in the yard on a farm, some twelve miles in the country, was bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake which was killed a moment after by the mother of the little girl who was attracted by the screams of the child. Sixteen hours after I arrived, everything having been done in the meantime that had ever been heard of by the parents, even to poulticing the wound with entrails of a black chicken. The little sufferer was, indeed, an object of pity. The hand and arm were swollen almost to bursting, the swelling extending to the shoulder and spine, being of a bluish black color as if dreadfully bruised. This discoloration extended over the back to the hips. Skin hot and dry, face flushed, pulse quick and hard. Child unconscious. I felt that the case was hopeless. But through the earnest entreaties of the mother, I proceeded to do what I could. Saturating a piece of cotton with the tincture I had prepared, I bound it on the wound; then dropping twelve drops in a glass of water I directed that a teaspoonful be given every hour, the compress to be renewed every hour also, until my return. I confess I had little hope of seeing my little patient alive again, but on my return the following day I was much rejoiced to find a decided change for the better in the condition of the little sufferer. The swelling was not nearly so tense, the fever had subsided, the delirium gone, and the danger seemed past. The treatment was continued, and a speedy and permanent recovery followed.
Case 2. Burt Whitten, aged ten, while out in a marsh with a number of older boys gathering huckleberries, was bitten in the right ankle by a rattler. He was so frightened when he saw the snake, as it bit him, that he ran all the way home, a distance of nearly a mile; although the day was very hot. This patient came to my hands after the usual alcoholic treatment for twenty-four hours by an Allopathic physician, with the patient growing worse all the time. I found this patient in about the same condition as the first. The leg and foot were enormously swollen and of the same general appearance; the foot, calf of the leg and thigh were black; the whole body was very red, hot and dry; face dark red; pulse quick and hard; patient delirious but would cry out if touched. Fifteen drops in a glass of water. Teaspoonful every hour, with cotton saturated with the tincture applied to the wound. In this case the change, I was informed by the father, was quite noticeable in two hours. The boy had been in a wild delirium all night and up to the time he received the first dose of Sisyrinchium. After the second dose he became quiet, and in two hours the delirium had passed away. Under this treatment the patient was able to be out on the streets again in four days, though the discoloration did not disappear for some time after.
Many more cases might be given where this remedy has been given to both man and beast with the same results.
SKOOKUM CHUCK.
(Some readers may be startled at this name, applied to a remedy, but under that name it came before the profession and the name has stuck. It is the Western Indian's designation of the waters of what is now known as "Medical Lake." The following by Dr. W. D. Gentry appeared in the U. S. Med. Investigator, 1889:)
The water is of a deep amber and almost red in the sunlight. The following is an analysis of the salts, obtained by evaporation of the water; the proportion being in grains per U. S. gallon 231 cubic inches:
Sodic chloride,16.370
Potassic chloride,9.241
Sodic carbonate,63.543
Magnesic carbonate,.233
Ferrous carbonate,.526
Calcic carbonate,.186
Aluminic oxide,.175
Sodic silicate,10.638
Organic matter,.551
———
101.463
Lithic carbonate,
Potassic sulphate, } Each a trace.
Sodic bi-borate,
The lake has no outlet, but is fed by two enormous springs. It contains no living things with the exception of axolotl, a kind of salamander, such as are found in the lakes of the Mexican Cordilleras.
The medical and curative properties of this remarkable lake was known to the Indians of the northwest as far back as they have any legends or tribal history, and it was held in such reverence by them that the country around this lake was called 'Sahala Lyee Illihe,' or 'Sacred Grounds,' and no matter how hostile the tribes were to each other no Indians journeying to or from the 'Skookum Limechen Chuck,' or 'strong medicine water,' were ever molested.
When the Indians were considering the transfer of their lands to the government, many years ago, it is recorded as a matter of history, that old Quetahlguin, father of the present Chief Moses, and 'Old Joseph,' father of Chief Joseph, lately a prisoner of war, with the broken remnants of his band, after weeks of deliberation and consideration, with the 'Sahala Lyee,' or Great Spirit, through their medicine-men, or prophets, firmly said: 'We have talked with the Great Spirit and we have slept with his words in our ears. The Great Spirit is our father and the earth is our mother. We have a good home and it was made for us by the Great Spirit; it is a part of us; it is our mother. In Wallowa Lake are an abundance of fish created especially for our tribe. None other of his red children have such fish. In the 'Skookum Chuck' we have a remedy for all our ailments. We only have to bathe in and drink its water and we are made well. If we sign the treaty we will forever offend the Great Spirit; we will sign away our mother and she will cry. Her tears will dry up these lakes and we will be hungry and sick. We will go to the Skookum Chuck only to find that its waters have disappeared.'
The story is told of a Frenchman passing the lake many years ago, before the properties of the water became known to the whites, with a drove of sheep afflicted with a skin disease called 'the scab.' As soon as the sheep saw the water they ran to it, but would not drink. They stood in the water for some time, and in a few days they were well of the 'scab.' The Frenchman was suffering with rheumatism. He concluded to try the water of the lake for his disease. He was speedily cured. The whites were soon attracted to this lake by the stories of marvellous cures reported by the Indians, and by seeing Indians return in health and vigor from the lake, who had been taken there on litters, appearing at the point of death. It is estimated that over 20,000 people have visited this lake since 'Joseph's Band' were driven from that section of the country, and it is fast becoming as popular as any other of our great health resorts.
My attention was called to Skookum chuck some time since, and I procured some of the salts and triturated a quantity, making the first, second, third and sixth potencies. I partially proved the first potency by taking two grains every two hours. The first effect produced was a profuse coryza with constant sneezing, as in hay fever. This continued until the medicine was antidoted by tobacco. My appetite was greatly increased. Some rheumatic pains in limbs, and heaviness about the sacrum. The catarrhal effects were so severe I could not continue the remedy. I have used the third and sixth potency in my practice and have cured a number of cases of catarrh, and am confident that the remedy will be curative in hay fever.
(Later investigation, however, demonstrated that the chief curative action of the salts was in skin diseases. Dr. D. De Forest Cole, of Albion, N. Y., wrote the following to the firm from whom he procured the remedy:)
Some time since I received from you one bottle Skookum chuck 3x trit. I had a very bad case of urticaria which resisted the usual remedies as Apis, Urtica ur., etc., and I gave her (a girl twelve years old) four powders of about four grains each of the Skookum chuck, instructing her to take one powder in one-half glass water, one teaspoonful every two hours, and she returned in a week free from any urticaria. I gave her four powders more, and no appearance of urticaria since. Besides curing the urticaria the patient's health is in every way improving. I write this thinking you might desire to know of its value in urticaria, as well as eczema.
(The following cases were contributed by Dr. D. W. Ingalls, Bridgeport, to N. Y. Med. Times, 1894:)
Case 1. Mrs. D., aged forty-eight years, suffered four years with eczema plantaris, fissured, red and painful, which gave forth a viscid secretion, drying into scales half an inch in thickness. For the past two years the patient had not been able to wear shoes nor walk any distance, owing to the excessive soreness of the feet.
Patient consulted me March 1st, and the following treatment was given: Two-grain powders of the 2x trituration of Skookum chuck every two hours, and an ointment applied nightly consisting of Skookum salt, one drachm to the ounce of Vaseline. In the morning the feet were washed with Skookum chuck soap. April 1st the patient walked to the dispensary in felt shoes. The fissures and greenish tinge of the crusts had nearly disappeared. The two-grain powders were then given every four hours and the former treatment continued. On May 1st, patient walked to the dispensary wearing leather shoes for the first time, the ointment was stopped, the fissures and crevices being hardly perceptible. The patient was advised to wash the feet night and morning with the Skookum chuck soap.
June 1st patient presented herself, stating that she had very little trouble with her feet, except some tenderness upon a misstep. Appearance good.
A powder of the 3x was given every night, together with the continued washing of the feet night and morning. July 1st the patient was discharged cured.
Case 2. Mrs. B., aged twenty-eight, eczema of the nose of one year's standing. The usual ointments were given, but without result. March 15th the following treatment was given: Five-grain powder of the 2x trituration Skookum chuck four times a day, together with the Skookum ointment applied nightly. This case was entirely cured in six weeks.
Case 3. Mrs. H., aged twenty-three, benign growth in left breast about the size of a walnut; first noticed about eight months previously. Upon strict inquiry, no history of cancer or tuberculosis was given. One-grain powders of the 1x were given, the first week every four hours. Two-grain powders of the 2x were given every four hours the second week. Five-grain powders of the 3x were given the third week and continued seven weeks, when the patient was discharged cured.
Case 4. Mr. S. was afflicted with eczema of the scalp, which spread from back of the ears to the eyebrows, covering the entire scalp with a squamous or scabby eczema, accompanied with a constant itching and shedding of scales. On March 18th the following treatment was given: Head to be washed four times a day with Skookum chuck soap. A five-grain powder 2x trituration was given every hour during the first week, when Sulphur, third decimal, was given for three days, and Skookum chuck, second decimal, was continued for one week. One-grain powder of the 1x was given in water four times a day for two weeks; then the third decimal trituration was used until June 1st, when patient was discharged cured.
Case 5. Mr. J., nasal catarrh, of years' standing. A greenish-yellow discharge having the odor of a slight ozœna. The patient had been so much relieved that he is at present writing very comfortable, and believes that he will be permanently cured.
Case 6. Mrs. D., aged thirty-six, prolonged suppuration due to abscess of the axilla; nine months' standing. June 20th the following treatment was given: The abscess was washed four times a day with the solution of Skookum salts, five grains to one quart of water, and the 2x given internally every two hours until July 10th, when the abscess was healed. A two-grain powder was then continued, night and morning for one month, with no return of the abscess. To sum up, I have simply verified what Dr. Gentry and others have given us about the remedy. I have used it with gratifying success in all suppurating wounds. It evidently has a great sphere of action, and I hope some day to see a good proving.
(The following was contributed by Dr. B. F. Bailey, Lincoln, Neb.:)
We have many remedies brought to our notice in an empirical way, which soon lose their prominence, first because we have no provings, and second, having no provings, clinical study is not close enough. When Skookum chuck was first written up, I began to use it and watch its effects, that it might be possible to find its proper niche in practice. The following two cases will, I think, give an idea of the cases in which it may always be depended upon:
Case No. 1.—A married woman of 40 years of age. History and present condition show a lithæmic diathesis. For years has never been free from eczematous troubles. At times suffers much from rheumatism, not infrequently, rheumatism disappears to be immediately followed by hordeoli upon eyelids. Has been treated long and faithfully by Allopaths, and now for some years by our own school. Prescribed Skookum 3x—one powder every 4 hours. Improvement was soon evident. Persisted in this treatment for three months, and now for two years patient has been perfectly well.
Case No. 2.—Patient, married woman of about 26 years, comes to me with urine, sp. grav. 1.030, marked uric acid deposits, flushed face upon a yellowish background—so often seen in lithæmic cases. Much difficulty of digestion. Great dryness of skin, especially of scalp, with great trouble from falling out of hair—in short a thoroughly lithæmic case. Skookum chuck 3x every four hours. Satisfactory improvement. Has feared head will become entirely bald. Now no loss of hair, and a loss of the heated, congested feeling of face and head. In fact, a satisfactory recovery now of some weeks standing. These cases briefly stated ought to be of interest, in that they show it to be probable that we will find the sphere of action of Skookum to be in lithæmic cases, and for the treatment of these cases we have but a few clearly defined reliable remedies.
SOLANUM CAROLINENSE.
Nat. Ord., Solanaceæ. Common Name, Horse-nettle. Preparation.—The fresh, ripe berries are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.
(In 1889 Dr. Napier called attention to Solanum Carolinense as a remedy in the treatment of epilepsy, stating that it was used as a domestic remedy in the South for convulsions and "that he had successfully prescribed it in his practice." Dr. Charles S. Potts, of the University of Pennsylvania, contributes a paper Therap. Gazette, Dec., 1895, on the remedy, giving some new points, from which the following is condensed:)
At the clinic for nervous diseases of the University Hospital, Solanum Carolinense was tried in a series of twenty-five cases, twenty-one of which were idiopathic, three organic, and one probably so. Of these, eight of the idiopathic cases either did not return after the first visit or else were not under observation sufficiently long to offer a fair test. In the remaining seventeen cases the following results were obtained—viz., five, two of them organic, were not improved. In the remaining twelve the results showed more or less benefit from the use of the drug. The five cases in which no improvement was noted were afterwards placed upon other treatment, either antipyrin and bromide of ammonium or the mixed bromides with amelioration of the symptoms in four; in the remaining one no drug seemed to be of service. The dose used at first was 10 drops. This dose was found to be useless, and after the first few cases they varied from 30 drops to teaspoonful three or four times daily. No unpleasant effects were observed, excepting a mild diarrhœa in some cases. This was also noticed by Dr. Herdman. He also noticed that in large doses the temperature was lowered and the pulse slowed.
In many epileptics diarrhœa is more of a benefit than otherwise.
The conclusions derived from the results obtained in seventeen cases are:—
1. That the drug has a decided influence for good upon the epileptic paroxysm.
2. That this influence is probably not so great or so sure as that obtained by the use of antipyrin and the bromide salts or even of the mixed bromides.
3. That in those cases in which it is of service it relieves the paroxysms, without causing any other unpleasant symptoms, such as are sometimes caused by the use of large doses of the bromides.
4. That the dose ordinarily recommended is too small, and that as much as a teaspoonful or more four times daily is often needed to secure results.
The following are some of the cases in which the remedy seemed to act beneficially:
H. T., male, aged thirteen years. Idiopathic epilepsy; had his first spell when five years of age; averages one paroxysm daily. The Solanum was first given in 10 drop doses t. i. d. without effect. When increased to 25 drops the spells were lighter in severity, but occurred about as often. The dose was finally increased to a teaspoonful four times daily. After being put upon this dose he was under observation six weeks, during which time he had six seizures much lighter in severity.
T. H., male, aged twenty-eight years. He had epileptic seizures for the past three years. They followed an injury to the head which rendered him unconscious, but produced no other visible injury. Since this, however, has had almost constant headache. First spell six month after the injury, and have been very frequent since, averaging three to four weekly; they are of ordinary type. Solanum in 40 drop doses three times daily was ordered. Spells at once decreased in frequency and severity. During the last six weeks he was under observation he only had three spells, very mild in type.
C. R., male, aged twenty-one years. Epileptic seizures for past three years following an injury. Had been trephined in right parietal region before coming under our observation. After trephining the symptom improved, but got worse again; when seen by us was having one daily. 40-drop doses of Solanum caused diarrhœa, and dose was reduced to 30 drops t. i. d., when diarrhœa ceased. Under this treatment he had no spell for two weeks. In the following month he had three spells; was then lost to observation.
A. N., male, aged thirty years. First spell one year ago; have since occurred every two weeks; good deal of headache. Ordered Solanum 30 drops t. i. d. No spells for one month and headache ceased. He then stopped attendance.
J. D., female, aged eighteen years. First spell when thirteen years old; has one spell a month at the time of her menstrual period. About a week before this period was given 40 drops t. i. d., and escaped the usual spell. The following month, however, she had one.
I. K., female, aged twenty-five years. Nocturnal epilepsy for past three years; about one spell a month. While using 40 drops t. i. d. went three weeks longer than usual without a spell. The dose was then increased to 1 fluid drachm t. i. d.; she then ceased her visits.
F. S., female, aged twelve years. First spell five weeks ago; has been having them daily since. Solanum 30 drops t. i. d., ordered; this dose was gradually increased to 1 fluid drachm t. i. d. During the three months that she was under observation her spells averaged in number about one a week.
H. B., male, aged eighteen years. First convulsion at age of ten years; then had none until three months ago; has had general convulsions about once daily since. Solanum, 40 drops t. i. d., ordered. He was only under observation nine days, having during that time four spells, much milder in character.
A. C., female, aged fifteen years. First convulsion one year ago; they have been increasing in frequency; now has one about every three days. During the three weeks she was taking 30 drops of Solanum three times a day she had one spell, that occurring during the third week.
H. K., male, aged eighteen years. First spell when fourteen years old. Every three or four days has several attacks in succession, an average of about one daily. While taking Solanum in 40-drop—afterwards increased to teaspoonful—doses he had twelve in thirty-eight days, an average of a little less than one in three days, going six without having any.
SPIRITUS GLANDIUM QUERCUS.
Nat. Ord.—Cupuliferæ. Common Name—European or English oak. Preparation.—The spirit is destilled from the tincture prepared by macerating the acorn kernals from the Quercus robur, in five times their weight of dilute alcohol.
(The following, from Rademacher, is quoted and translated by Dr. J. C. Burnett in his Diseases of the Spleen).
I became acquainted with this remedy in a wonderful way. Many years ago (I do not remember the exact time) a working carpenter, who had previously lived at Crefeld, came to seek my advice for his bellyache, which was of long standing. According to his own statement, he had long been under Sanitary Councillor Schneider in Crefeld, who was not able to help him, and so sent him to Professor Günther in Duisberg. Ten journeys thither were likewise in vain.
I tried my usual remedies for seemingly such cases, but to no good; and as I noticed he was a good cabinetmaker, and dabbled a bit in upholstery, I told him it would be a good plan if he were to hire himself out to a country squire as joiner, thinking that the food of the servants' hall would suit his sick stomach better than the beans, black bread, and potatoes of the master carpenter. The good fellow followed my advice, and lived with a squire for many years; and I heard nothing more about him. Finally, he married the parlormaid, and settled here in this town as a joiner. One day when visiting his sick wife I remembered the old story of his bellyache, and wanted to know how it then was. "All right," said he, "I have not had it for years." It seems that a local surgeon, being one day at the squire's, told him to get some acorns, and scrape them with a knife, and then put the scrapings into brandy and leave them to draw for a day, and then to drink a small glass of this spirit several times a day. He did as he was advised, and was forthwith relieved, and very soon entirely freed from his old trouble.
From what I knew of the surgeon, I was very sure he could not give me any intelligent reason for his prescription. I should only have heard that acorn scrapings in brandy were good for the bellyache, or, at the most, I may have ascertained from what doctor, or peasant, or old wife he had got the tip.
But this would have done me but poor service; and as I had in the meantime become much more cunning, I questioned the joiner himself afresh as to the kind of his old pain, particularly as to the part of the belly where the pain was last felt when he had had a bad attack. He was in no doubt about it, but at once pointed to the part of the belly nearest the left hypochondrium. So I very shrewdly suspected that the abdominal pains were really owing to a primary affection of the spleen, in which notion I was strengthened by remembering that the best pain-killing hepatic and enteric remedies had done him no good.
To get as soon as possible to the bottom of the thing, I set about preparing a tincture of acorns, and gave a teaspoonful five times a day in water to an old brandy drunkard, who was sick unto death, and of whom I knew that he had suffered from the spleen for a very long time, the spleen being from time to time painful. He had likewise ascites, and his legs were dropsical as far as the knees. It occurred to me that if the acorn tincture were to act curatively on the spleen the consensual kidney affection and its dependent dropsy would mend. I soon saw that I had reckoned rightly. The urinary secretion was at once augmented, but the patient complained that each time after taking the medicine he felt a constriction of the chest. I ascribed this to the astringent matter of the acorns, and thinking the really curative principle thereof would most likely be volatile I caused the tincture to be distilled. This acorn spirit caused no further constriction, and the urinary secretion was still more markedly increased, the tension in the præcordia became less and less, and this hopelessly incurable drunkard got quite well, much to the surprise of all who knew him, and, honestly speaking, much to my own surprise also.
Having thus put the spirit of acorns to such a severe test, and that in a case that I already knew so well, in which it was impossible to make a mistake as to the primary affection, I went further, and used it by degrees in all sorts of spleen affections, and that not only in painful ones, but in painless ones, in the evident ones, and in those of a more problematical kind. Gradually I became convinced that it is a remedy, the place of which no other can take. More particularly is it of great, nay, of inestimable value in spleen-dropsy. Later on, I found that the volatile curative principle of acorns may be still better extracted with water with the addition of alcohol. [The aqua glandium is thus prepared:—One pound of peeled and crushed acorns to the pound of distillate.] Perhaps water alone might extract the healing principle, but it would not keep thus, and so the cures would be uncertain, not to mention the fact that such-like decaying medicines are a great trouble to the chemists. The dose of the spirituous acorn-water (the only preparation I have used of late years) is half a tablespoonful in water four times a day. It has not much taste; some would even say it has none, but the doubter may make a solution of alcohol and water in the same proportions, and he will soon find that it has quite a taste of its own.
I must make mention of two of its peculiar effects. Certain people feel, as soon as they have taken it, a peculiar sensation in the head, lasting hardly a minute or two, which they say is like being drunk.
With a few people, particularly with those who have suffered from old spleen engorgements, diarrhœa sets in after using it for two or three weeks that makes them feel better. It seldom lasts more than a day, and is not weakening, but moderate. Hence it is not needful either to stop the acorn water or to lessen the dose.
I could add many instructive cases of spleen-dropsies and other spleen affections in which the volatile principle of acorns proved curative, but as I have so much more to say on other subjects I dare not be too discursive on this one point; besides, what I have already said will suffice for common-sense physicians. Still I cannot forbear noticing a few bagatelles. For instance, I have found that the acute spleen fevers that occur intercurrently with epidemic liver fevers are best cured with aqua glandium—at least that is my experience.
Furthermore, I am of opinion that the three splenics of which I have made mention are curative of three different morbid states of the spleen, and I know well from my own experience that acorns are indicated in the most common spleen affections; and, finally, I am not acquainted with any positive signs whereby those three separate morbid states of spleen can with certainty be differentiated from one another.
(In a later work, Gout and its Cure, by Burnett, the remedy is again brought up as follows:)
For some years past I have been acquainted with a remedy that antidotes the effect of alcohol very prettily, as I will show. I enter upon the subject in this place, because it deserves to be widely known, and also because in the treatment of gout, the alcoholism not infrequently bars the way. The remedy I refer to is the distilled spirit of acorns—Spiritus glandium quercus. My first account will be found in my "Diseases of the Spleen," where Spiritus glandium quercus is dealt with as a spleen medicine. I speak of set purpose of the homœopathic antidote, because alcoholism is a disease, and as such must be met by specific medication.
Some of Rademacher's patients complained to him that while taking his acorn medicine they felt in their heads somewhat as if they were drunk; but as Rademacher did not believe in the law of similars—indeed, knew but little about it—their complaint had no ulterior significance to him, but still it struck him as worthy of record. "A few, but not many, of those who take it immediately feel a peculiar sensation in the head, which they say is like they feel when they are drunk, the sensation lasting only a minute or two." Now, in the light of the homœopathic law, this symptom is eminently suggestive, but whether any one beside myself has ever noticed this symptom I am not aware. Rademacher had previously related the following brilliant cure. * * * He says that in order to get a clear idea of the action of the remedy he caused to be prepared a tincture of acorns, of which he gave a teaspoonful in water five times a day to an almost moribund brandy toper, who had long been suffering from a spleen affection that at times caused him a good deal of pain, and who, at the time in question, had severe ascites and whose lower extremities were dropsical up as far as the knees. Our author was of opinion that the affection was a primary disease of the spleen, and reasoned that if the tincture of acorns cured the spleen the kidneys would duly resume work and the ascitic and anasarcous state would disappear. He soon found he was right; patient at once began to pass more urine, but he complained that every time he took a dose of the medicine he got a constriction about the chest, and this Rademacher ascribed to the astringent quality of the acorns, and to avoid this he had the tincture of acorns distilled. The administration of this distilled preparation was not followed by any unpleasant symptom, and the quantity of urine passed increased still more, the tension on the præcordia slowly lessened and this inveterate drunkard got quite well, much to the amazement of everybody, Rademacher included, for he did not at all expect him to recover.
Now, it must be admitted that a remedy that can cure an old drunkard of general dropsy and restore him to health deserves closer acquaintance, and when we first regard it from the pathogenetic side as producing, of course, contingently, a cephalic state, resembling alcoholic intoxication, and then from the clinical side as having cured an abandoned drunkard, it looks very much as if we had a remedy homœopathic to alcoholism. I may add that Rademacher nowhere hints that the Spiritus glandium quercus stands in any relation to alcoholism; he regards it merely as a spleen medicine, specially indicated in dropsy due to a primary spleen affection. At first I regarded it merely in the same light, but when I really gripped the significance of the pathogenetic symptoms just quoted I thought we might find in our common acorns a notable homœopathic anti-alcoholic.
(It is not fair to quote further from Burnett, but we may add that in his book, Gout and Its Cure, there are given a number of clinical cases in which the remedy acted brilliantly in those addicted to tippling, or drinking hard. It is not so much that the remedy extirpates the habit, but it enables those afflicted to easily control their appetite and drink "like other people," without that insatiable craving. The dose is about ten drops in water three to four times a day.)
SOLIDAGO VIRGA-AUREA.
Nat. Ord., Compositæ. Common Name, Golden Rod Preparation.—The fresh blossoms are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.
(The following is to be found on p. 131 of Dr. Gallavardin's "Homœopathic Treatment of Alcoholism:")
"A lady, by administering, morning and evening, an infusion of the dry leaves and flowers of Golden Rod (Solidago virga-aurea) tells me that she cured her husband of an affection of the bladder which had compelled him to use a catheter for a year or more. A friend of Homœopathy, not a physician, desired to test the efficaciousness of this plant. He caused the first dilution of its tincture to be taken three times a day by seven patients of from forty-two to seventy-four years of age, who had been obliged to catheterize themselves for weeks, months and years, and cured them so thoroughly that they had no relapses. Surgeons who spend much time in catheterizing such patients for months and years could often cure them much more rapidly by prescribing for them the remedy just mentioned."
(Dr. A. E. White, Homœopathic Recorder, July, 1891, relates the following case:)
Mrs.——, age 37, married, has had seven children. Came to me December 10, 1890, with the following history: "Had not had her menses for four months. Thought she was in a family way. Abdomen bloated up every p.m.; sick at her stomach all of the time; frontal headache, p.m.; felt better when first getting up in the morning, at which time her abdomen was almost normal in size.
"Her water she complained of more than anything else. Had to pass it every half hour during day and several times during night.
"Backache all of the time, which was not decreased by passing water. Urine had a white, slimy deposit on standing a short time.
"Requested an examination, but could not discover that she was in a family way. Found her back very sensitive in region of kidneys, trace of albumin in urine.
"I gave her a vial of Solidago 1x, told her to take two disks every four hours and report in three or four days. She came back December 13th, 'the medicine went right to the spot.' From the second dose her water became natural and she did not bloat so much in p.m. Her stomach did not bother her any more. I gave her a bottle of Puls. 3x to take with the Solidago, and she reported December 17th, that her menses had come on.
"I have used it in several other cases where it seemed indicated by the tenderness in kidney region and the inability to control the water from whatever cause, always with perfect satisfaction to patient and myself."
(The following paper on the use of Solidago virga-aurea is by Dr. M. Gucken, of Eupen, Germany:)
The Golden Rod is in Homœopathy, according to my opinion, not as much made use of as it deserves. Foh. Gottfr. Rademacher, who has many admirers among us, says, in his Justification of Experience in Medicine, about Virga-aurea: "This herb is a very old and good kidney medicine. It is a specific for kidneys, and brings the patients back to the normal condition." I have used the Golden Rod for a long time, and have to make favorable reports. The results of extensive homœopathic proving of this remedy on healthy persons cannot be found in our literature, but a Würtemburg physician, Dr. Buck, has given us a list of cures with the Golden Rod in the popular homœopathic paper edited by Dr. Bolle, which wholly confirms the statements of Rademacher, besides the cases reported by Dr. Buck.
According to this last, Virga-aurea is especially adapted for scrofulous subjects; at the same time other constitutions do not exclude the use of this remedy. In the first place, the condition and the action of the kidneys and the quality of their secretions are to be considered in the selection of this remedy. The symptoms on the part of the kidneys and the urinary organs, which point to Virga-aurea, are as follows:
Pains in the kidneys; region of kidneys painful upon pressure; feeling of enlargement and tension in the kidneys, also pains in the kidneys which extend forward to the abdomen and to the bladder. Dysuria, difficult and scanty urination; urine dark, red-brown, with thick sediment; stone and gravel, albumen, blood or slime in the urine; urine dark, with sediments of phosphates; slightly sour, neutral or alkaline; urine with numerous epithelial cells or small mucous particles. Epithelial cells with gravel of triple phosphates, or phosphate of lime. Bright's disease.
Side symptoms which point to this remedy:
Skin.—Scrofulous rash; little blotches on hands and feet, itching very much; very obstinate, itching exanthemas; exanthema of the lower extremities without swelling of the inguinal glands, but with disturbance in urinating (catarrh of the kidneys).
Sleep.—Insomnia.
Fever.—Rheumatic fever; very frequent pulse; high fever.
Head.—Headache.
Eyes.—Scrofulous, herpetic inflammation.
Ears.—Sudden deafness, with ringing in the ears and albuminous urine.
Nose.—Dry; the inner surface of the nose covered with blood crust; scalding and very scanty brown urine.
Mouth.—Flat ulcers in the mouth and throat.
Gastric: Stomach, Abdomen and Stool.—Continuous bitter taste, disturbing the rest, especially nights; heavily covered tongue, which does not become clean in spite of the use of anti-gastric remedies, and only cleanses itself at the return of abundant urinating; chronic catarrh of the bowels; diarrhœa, with scanty, dark urine; dysentery; costiveness; sensation of pain in the abdomen on both sides of the navel, upon deep pressure; physconia of the abdomen by gases; severe pricking in both hypochondria to the region of the kidneys, reaching to the lower extremities, with continued bitter taste in the mouth, especially at night, with very scanty brown and sour urine.
Female Parts.—Hæmorrhage, chronic leucorrhœa, in connection with copious, watery urine and sediments of mucous particles and uriniferous tubules; epithelium.
Respiratory Organs.—Heavy expectoration in coughing; croup, with little blotches on the hands and diminished urine; chronic catarrh of the lungs; continuous dyspnœa; periodical asthma, with nightly dysuria.
Trunk and Lower Limbs.—Rheumatism of the intercostal muscles; chronic pains in the loins; limping, dragging gait; rheumatic pains in the legs; pains in the thighs; the legs can be moved horizontally, but when moved perpendicularly they feel lame.
In connection with these symptoms the description of a few cases of sickness, in which Virga-aurea proved itself, might be of some interest.
CLINICAL.
During the spring of 1886 scarlet-diphtheria appeared in this place. On March 28th I was called to attend the 8-year old son Matthias, of Wernerus, a weaver, in the hamlet of Niepert, that showed symptoms of the above disease. Cynanche was at high degree, and the throat was filled with diphtheritic coating, so much so that I had reason to fear the worst, on account of the accompanying fever and of the choked-up condition and weakly (scrofulous) habit of the patient. But the well-known remedy of Viller, given alternately with Belladonna, proved itself also in this case, and the symptoms in the throat assumed, after a few days, a less dangerous character. Not so with the fever, which gradually assumed the form of typhoid, and ran very high, while the scarlet-rash grew quite pale. On the morning of April 5th, his temperature was 42.5°, the patient unconscious, the pulse weak and intermittent, the feet swollen. Upon inquiry the parents told me that the boy urinated very little. His urine, of which I had taken a quantity the day previous for examination, contained a considerable amount of albuminous sediments. I prescribed Kali arsenicosum in the fourth centesimal potency, which had been recommended in similar cases by Dr. Hock in the international homœopathic press; but, although the temperature decreased after using this remedy, the dropsical swelling of the feet increased more and more, and after a few days the entire body of the patient was swollen very much. The discharge of urine grew continually less. Under these circumstances I examined the patient again thoroughly, and found great sensitiveness of the kidneys against pressure, in spite of his otherwise apathetic condition. These symptoms reminded me of Virga-aurea. This remedy was immediately applied, and I had no reason to regret it. Within one day the urinal discharge became profuse, the general condition improving at the same time; the peeling off took place without further trouble, and after the patient had taken Virga-aurea for two weeks, and, on account of anæmia, for one week three times a day, a dose of Ferrum peroxydatum in the 2d trituration, he had so far recovered that I did not consider it necessary to give further medicine.
In 1885 a 45-year-old Belgian mine official (his work was office-work) consulted me on account of sleeplessness and pain in the back. The patient had no other complaints, only he carelessly added it sometimes took him a long time to urinate, because of want of the necessary pressure. He considered this weakness as the result of gonorrhœa, from which he had suffered years ago. The sleeplessness, for which he had tried all remedies possible, would make itself known from the time he went to bed until 3 o'clock in the morning, at which time he could get sleep, but not a refreshing one, and on arising he would feel very tired, especially in the upper part of the thighs, and then would commence the pain in the back, which extended to the loins, and lasted until he went to bed in the evening, without being prompted by external influences (warmth, cold, rest, motion). Also sleeplessness nights, pain in the back daytimes. At first I considered Nux vom. proper, and I prescribed the same for the patient, in the 3d decimal potency, four drops twice a day. At the same time I requested the patient to bring a sample of his urine at his next visit. After some time he came back with the sample, and declared that the prescribed remedy had not shown the least effect.
The urine was dark and slimy, reddish, slightly acid, and had at the bottom of the bottle brick-dust settlings. Heat did not show albumen, but by heating it the dark urine became clearer, and contained also salts of uric acid. I examined the kidneys of the patient, found them sensitive against pressure, and the diagnosis pointed to chronic catarrh of the kidneys. Sleeplessness, pain in the back and the tired feeling in the upper parts of the thigh were additional symptoms of this malady, and I determined to use Virga-aurea. The patient took this for three months three times a day, after which he wrote me that he was entirely well. About a year afterwards he had a relapse, but not in the form of former symptoms, but in the form of ischias, against which disease Golden Rod proved itself beneficial.
In conclusion, may be mentioned a double case of the curative power of Virga-aurea, which also contributes to the heredity of disease. Some time ago, the wife of a farmer, 53 years old, asked me for a prescription for a trouble which she had had for twenty-six years, since her first confinement. The patient, a stout and fresh-looking person, made the following statement: After the confinement, which was very laborious, and which was followed by prolapsus uteri, the latter still existing, her legs began to swell, and an itching rash broke out by degrees. Menstruation had always come at the proper time, but suddenly stopped six months ago.
Since that time the itching had become almost intolerable, the legs more swollen and always cold, but she did not feel a continuous heat in her head. The appetite was very poor; she had always a bitter taste in the mouth, and the tongue was thickly coated. At the same time she had rising from the stomach, as if she should suffocate, and at the least exertion she lost her breath. She urinated very little, and this mostly at night. My question, if there were pains in the back, was answered in the negative, but the kidneys of this patient were also sensitive against pressure. The appearance of the lower limbs of the patient frightened me. From knee to heel they formed a bluish-red mass in the shape of a stove-pipe, which were covered with little blotches and crusts. This kind of an eruption, together with the other symptoms, led me to the use of Virga-aurea, the prolonged use of which, although it did not affect a cure, produced a mitigation of the whole body, so that the lady induced her eldest son to come to me for help. This man had also trouble in his lower limbs not unlike his mother. He had a year ago passed through a severe throat difficulty, after which his lower limbs began to swell and to itch; they were also tainted bluish-red and covered with vesicles; he also complained of scanty urine, and his kidneys were sensitive against pressure. What better could I, under the circumstances, prescribe than Virga-aurea?
The result was good. After a few months the patient had no more difficulty.
In the cases above mentioned, I prescribed the 3d decimal dilution of the tincture of the whole plant of Golden Rod. The water of Golden Rod, recommended by Rademacher and others, I have never tried.
STELLARIA MEDIA.
Nat. Ord.—Caryophyllaceæ. Common Name.—Common Chickweed. Preparation.—The whole fresh plant in bloom is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(Frederick Kopp proved this remedy and the results were published in the Homœopathic World, 1896, as follows:)
"It has proved to me a matter of impossibility to answer all the letters that have been sent to me by readers of the Homœopathic World on the subject of the use of Stellaria media in the treatment of rheumatism, but I trust that the information given below will satisfy all the correspondents. It will be remembered by my readers that the new drug was first proved by me in 1893, consequent on my attention being drawn to the weed by our esteemed friend, the Rev. F. H. Brett. I made a thorough proving of the drug, not only once, but several times, so as to satisfy myself beyond a doubt as to the symptoms peculiar to it, and the excruciating rheumatic-like pains developed at the time are still vividly remembered by me; in fact, they were so severe and intense as not to be easily forgotten when once experienced. There is no mistaking the rheumatic symptoms of the drug. They come on very rapidly, and the sharp, darting pains so peculiar to rheumatism are experienced, not only in almost every part of the body, but the symptoms of soreness of the parts to the touch, stiffness of the joints, and aggravation of the pains by motion are also present. These pains may be described as follows:
"Rheumatic-like pains over the right side of the head; especially towards the back, with the parts sore to the touch; rheumatic-like pains darting through the whole head, worse on right side; rheumatic-like pains left half of forehead, over the eye, with the parts sore to the touch; rheumatic-like pains in the left foot; rheumatic-like pains in the ankles; sharp, darting, rheumatic-like pains in the left knee, gradually extending above along the thigh; rheumatic-like pains below the right knee-cap; rheumatic-like, darting pains through various parts of the body, especially down the right arm and the middle and index fingers of the left hand; stiffness of the joints in general; rheumatic-like pains in the calves of the legs, which are sensitive to the touch; rheumatic-like pains in the right hip; rheumatic-like pains across the small of the back, aggravated by bending or stooping; stiffness in lumbar region with soreness; darting, rheumatic-like pains through right thigh; rheumatic-like pains in right groin.
"It will be seen by the above symptoms that almost every part of the body in which it is possible for rheumatic pains to occur is affected, the rheumatic-like pains darting from one part to another. My correspondents all being readers of The Homœopathic World will remember a case reported in the January number of the journal (1896), by Mr. R. H. Bellairs, in which the pains were 'now in ankle, now in knee, now in arm, wrist, or fingers.' This case fully illustrates the symptoms borne out in my proving of the drug, and it but naturally followed, according to the law of similars, that the disease should yield to the month's treatment with Stellaria media. Mr. Bellairs says he thinks that possibly 'shifting pain' is a key-note, and I am glad that I am able to inform him that he is correct in his supposition. I am pleased to hear that he has often given Stellaria media in chronic rheumatism, and now looks upon it as a specific. It is these things that gladden the heart of the prover of new drugs—the news of the practical triumph of a new drug over symptoms of disease similar to those it is itself capable of developing in a healthy body—and one feels amply repaid for the hours and days of pain and suffering that one has inevitably to put up with in the vocation of 'proving.' I heartily congratulate Mr. Bellairs on his success in curing the above case.
"I have been asked by one correspondent whether a changeable climate—one with sudden changes of temperature occurring every day, for instance—would prevent the drug from taking effect in the treatment of rheumatism. To this question I can promptly return an answer in the negative. I have proof upon proof lying before me to testify that Stellaria media is just as efficacious in a changeable climate as in any other. Reports of cases cured have come to me from various parts of the world, under varying changes of climate, and the result has always been the same, namely, 'the cure of the case.'
"For internal administration I have always found the 2x tincture the most efficacious, given in from one to two drop doses every two, three, or four hours, according to the severity of the symptoms. For external purposes I strongly advise the θ tincture. It may be employed either in the form of a lotion (20 to 60 minims of θ tincture to a tumblerful of water), the ointment or the liniment (30 to 40 minims of the θ tincture to ǯj of pure olive oil). Cloths steeped in the lotion and renewed when dry may be applied to the painful parts, or the ointment or liniment may be rubbed well in. Experience has taught me that external treatment combined with internal greatly assists in hastening the cure. In the treatment of rheumatism Stellaria media is a very active drug, acting very promptly; a low dilution of the mother tincture of the drug taken internally is very apt, therefore, to intensify the pains, and these should therefore be avoided and the 2x dilution used."
STIGMATA MAIDIS.
A Tincture of the Fresh Corn Silk. Nat. Ord.—Gramineæ. Common Name.—Corn Silk. Preparation.—One part of fresh corn silk is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(A great deal has been published lately concerning this remedy. The following by Dr. Dufan, London Medical Record, seems to give the best outline of its uses:)
1. The stigmata of maize have a very marked, though not always a favorable, action in all affections of the bladder, whether acute or chronic.
2. In acute traumatic cystitis, and also in gonorrhœal cystitis, they have a very marked diuretic action, but, at the same time, increase the pain; hence they should not be employed in these cases.
3. The best results have been obtained in cases of uric or phosphatic gravel, of chronic cystitis, whether simple or consecutive to gravel, and of mucous or muco-purulent catarrh. All the symptoms of the disease, the vesical pains, the dysuria, the excretion of sand, the ammoniacal odor, etc., rapidly disappear under the influence of the medicine.
4. The retention of urine dependent on these various affections often disappears as improvement progresses, but the use of the sound must sometimes be continued, in order to empty the bladder completely.
5. The stigmata maize have very often produced a cure after all the usual internal remedies had been tried in vain, or with only partial success. In other cases, the ordinary methods of treatment, which had at first proved more or less entirely useless, became efficacious after stigmata had been administered for a time, and had, as it were, broken the ground for them. Most frequently the stigmata alone sufficed for the cure, but still in some cases the effect was incomplete, and it was found that the treatment could be varied with benefit. Injections and irrigations of the bladder also proved useful adjuncts to the maize.
6. As the stigmata of maize are a very powerful, though at the same time entirely inoffensive diuretic, they have also been employed with the best results in cases of heart disease, albuminuria, and other affections requiring diuretics. Cases have been reported in which the urinary secretion was tripled and even quintupled in the first twenty-four hours, and others where the exhibition of the drug was continued for two or three months without the slightest untoward effect.
(Though Dr. Dufan condemns the use of the remedy in gonorrhœa, other practitioners have commended it for that very purpose. Dr. Leo Bennett, Therapeutic Gazette, 1893, having had "unusual success" in the treatment of that disease with the Stigmata maidis.)
SUCCINIC ACID.
Preparation.—The pure chemical is triturated in the usual way.
(The following is by Dr. Morris Weiner, of Baltimore, 1892:)
About twelve years ago I decided to prove Succinic acid (Acidum succinicum). Agricola mentions this acid, 1546, as Salt of amber. Boyle, towards the close of the 17th century, was the first who pronounced it to be acid, and Stecker de Neuform confirmed this statement, after repeated investigations, calling it a true acid. Berzelius published its elemental composition, C4H2O3.
This acid was long ago laid aside as obsolete, and not without good reason, because since the Puritans in chemistry commenced to rule over every laboratory of pharmacy, by trying to redistill this crude acid and changing its yellowish color to snowy whiteness, they drove out every trace of the oily matter which alone constitutes its medical action. The whiter this acid becomes the larger doses can be taken without any action on the human system. Knowing that this oil of amber is driven out totally by redistillation I was compelled to prepare the crude acid myself.
The expense is considerable. One pound of amber yields about half an ounce of crude acid, and the glass retort, after dry distillation, must be broken to collect the acid.
The fumes of Acidum succinicum crudum are inflammable, producing asthma, cough, sneezing, weeping, dropping of watery mucus from the nostrils, pain in chest and headache.
None of our remedies gives a truer picture of hay fever, and since the oil of amber must be securely inclosed in the amber itself, it was but natural to conclude that by trituration I may receive all the virtue of the remedy.
At the same time I remembered that necklaces and earrings of amber are considered a popular protection agent against neuralgia, colds, and even hay fever.
Since that time I prescribed in cases of hay fever the third decimal trituration, one or two grains dissolved in twelve teaspoonfuls of distilled water, one teaspoonful every two hours, with the best results, and have cured more than thirty persons, who were formerly obliged to go to the mountains to get temporary relief. Already after the first week most of them experienced decided relief.
SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALIS.
Nat. Ord.—Borraginaceæ. Common Name.—Comfrey, Healing Herb. Preparation.—One part of the fresh root gathered just before blooming is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following concerning this remedy, which dates back to Dioscorides, we find in American Journal of Homœopathy, 1846:)
The Homœopathic Examiner for August contains a paper entitled "Connection of Homœopathy with Surgery," by Croserio, translated by P. P. Wells, M. D. It is there stated that "injuries of the bones are healed most promptly by Symphytum officinale 30 internally once a day. This remedy accelerates the consolidation of fractures surprisingly." The translator adds a note as follows: "I have had repeated opportunities of verifying this declaration of Croserio. A boy, fourteen years old, broke the bones of the forearm, at the junction of the lower and middle thirds, two years ago. He had twice repeated the fracture by slight falls. The ends of the fragments are now slightly movable on each other, and the arm is weak and admits of little use. Three doses of Symphytum effected a perfect cure. The lad became more robust, and has since had better general health than ever before."
A boy, eight years old, fractured the humerus, near the junction of the condyles and shaft. Arnica 30 immediately arrested the spasmodic jerks of the muscles of the injured arm. This remedy was continued the first three days, when the traumatic fever had entirely subsided. He then had Symphyt. ʒ, gtt. i., in half a tumbler of water, a teaspoonful every morning and evening. The splints were removed the ninth day, and the bone was found consolidated. The cure was entirely without pain. How much earlier than this the fragments ceased to be movable is not known. Well may the author say it heals broken bones surprisingly. Let it be remembered that the discovery of this specific is but one of the many rich fruits of Hahnemannism.
(The following appeared in the Homœopathic World, 1890, under the signature F. H. B.:)
In none of the Homœopathic treatises that I possess do I find any mention of the above remedy. I am surprised at this, for I believe it to be a very valuable one in certain cases. Its common name of knitbone seems to point to popular experience of one of its uses; but I believe its knitting, or uniting, power extends to muscular and other tissues of the body, as well as to the bones. Let me give two instances of my own personal experience. Many years ago I had an inguinal rupture on each side, not extensive ones, but causing a protrusion about the size of half a small walnut. After wearing a truss for some time, I bethought me of what I had heard of the uniting power of Comfrey, and made some tincture from the root, and rubbed it in. After doing so two or three times, the signs of rupture quite disappeared, and the parts remained sound for about three years; when, from some cause or other, the right side broke out again, but as it did not give much trouble I neglected it for some time, and then tried the Comfrey tincture again, but this time without success. I suppose the ruptured edges had got too far asunder. The left side, however, which originally was the worse of the two, has kept sound ever since. I think this shows that a rupture, if not too extensive, and if taken in time, may often be cured by this remedy. The other case I have to relate was of a different kind. Five weeks ago I had a fall on my back, the whole force of which was concentrated on a small portion of the lower spine, through the intervention of the back pad of my truss. I thought for the moment my back must have been broken, the pain was so excessive; and not only the back, but diaphragm and all the organs below it suffered acutely for three or four weeks after the fall. But a fortnight after the fall I was for the first time conscious of a pain and tenderness higher up the spine, at a point, I think, where ribs commence, and on feeling I found a protuberance there, as if a partial dislocation had taken place there. I again thought of Comfrey, and had some of the tincture applied. The tenderness at the point subsided after two or three applications, and in a few days the protuberance disappeared. * * * On more careful examination I find that the point of secondary disturbance was higher up than I have described—two or three inches higher than the first insertion of the ribs in the spinal column.
(Dr. Gottweis, in Hom. Zeitung, vol. vii., says:)
An old and very valuable remedy. This plant is found all over Europe (and in some parts of North America), in wet fields and ditches. We make a tincture out of it which has marvelous healing and cicatrizing properties. Symphytum must be a very old popular remedy; its reputation is well established, and it is mentioned in all the old medical "tomes." The decoction acts as an effective demulcent and pain-killer in severe bruises. It diminishes the irritation in wounds and ulcers, ameliorates and lessens too copious suppuration and promotes the healing processes. In homœopathic practice the tincture diluted with water is used with great success in fractures and bruises or other injuries of bones. Its effect is really extraordinary in injuries to sinews, tendons and the periosteum.
A few days ago a colleague consulted me about a horse with a stab wound in the fetlock which would not heal, do what he would, and which rendered locomotion impossible. (The doctor is by no means a young or inexperienced veterinarian.) I examined the wound, and at once recommended Symphytum θ. Within two weeks the animal was cured. This remedy really cannot be overestimated.
(Dr. W. H. Thompson, President of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, in an address reported in London Lancet, 1896, reports a case of which the following is the gist:)
Early in 1895 he saw a man who was suffering from a malignant growth in the nose—"a malignant tumor of the antrum, which had extended to the nose." An exploratory operation confirmed this diagnosis. "He refused the larger operation. The exploration was made by Dr. Woods. We found that the tumor did extend from the antrum, into which I could bore my finger easily. Dr. O'Sullivan, Professor of Pathology in Trinity College, declared the growth to be a round-celled sarcoma. Of that there is no doubt. The tumor returned in a couple of months, and the patient then saw Dr. Semon, in London, who advised immediate removal. He returned home, and after a further delay he asked to have the operation performed. I did this in May last by the usual method. I found the tumor occupying the whole of the antrum. The base of the skull was everywhere infiltrated. The tumor had passed into the right nose and perforated the septum so as to extend into the left. It adhered to the septum around the site of perforation. This was all removed, leaving a hole in the septum about the size of a florin. He went home within a fortnight. In a month the growth showed signs of return. It bulged through the incision and protruded upon the face. Dr. Woods saw him soon afterwards, as I had declared by letter that a further operation would be of no avail. The tumor had now almost closed the right eye. It was blue, tense, firm, and lobulated, but it did not break. Dr. Woods reported the result of his visit to me, and we agreed as to the prognosis. Early in October the patient walked into my study after a visit to Dr. Woods. He looked in better health than I had ever seen him. The tumor had completely disappeared from the face, and I could not identify any trace of it in the mouth. He said he had no pain of any kind. He could speak well when the opening remaining after the removal of the hard palate was plugged, and he was in town to have an obturator made. He has since gone home apparently well."
The patient told Dr. Thompson that he had applied poultices of Comfrey (or Symphytum) and that was all.
"Now this was a case of which none of us had any doubt at all, and our first view was confirmed by the distinguished pathologist whom I have mentioned and by our own observation at the time of the major operation. Here, then, was another 'surprise.' I am satisfied as I can be of anything that the growth was malignant and of a bad type. Of course, we know in the history of some tumors that growth is delayed and that in the sarcomata recurrence is often late. But this is a case in which the recurrence occurred twice—the second time to an extreme degree; and yet this recurrent tumor has vanished. What has produced this atrophy and disappearance? I do not know. I know nothing of the effects of comfrey root, but I do not believe that it can remove a sarcomatous tumor. Of course, the time that has so far elapsed is very short; but the fact that this big recurrent growth no longer exists—that it has not ulcerated or sloughed away, but simply, with unbroken covering, disappeared—is to me one of the greatest 'surprises' and puzzles that I have met with."
SYMPHORICARPUS RACEMOSUS.
Nat. Ord., Caprifoliaceæ. Common Name, Snow Berry. Preparation.—One part of the fresh ripe berries is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(In 1882 Dr. Edward V. Moffat read the following paper on this remedy before the Homœopathic Medical Society of New York:)
Let us go back about fifteen years and sketch a history of this drug. At that time Prof. S. P. Burdick investigated the medicinal of many plants hitherto unused by the profession, among others chanced to be the snow berry, or Symphoricarpus racemosus. He gave some of the drug to the first prover, an intelligent lady, who on feeling the marked nausea, which it soon produced, exclaimed: "Doctor, this is precisely like the morning sickness I always experienced during pregnancy." Dr. Burdick became more interested, repeated the experiment with other provers, obtained almost uniform results, viz., a feeling varying from qualmishness to intense vomiting. It was given to female provers only and merely tested far enough to verify that symptom.
Upon this clue Dr. Burdick gave it in the higher potencies to patients suffering from the vomiting of pregnancy with most satisfactory results. Indeed, after a trial of many years, he has found it so far superior to other remedies that he now relies on it altogether with rarely any but entirely satisfactory results.
He mentioned the drug in his course of lectures, so I bore it in mind waiting for a test case. Soon that came in the person of a young lady three months advanced in her first pregnancy who was suffering from a deathly nausea, with vomiting and retching so prolonged and violent as to produce hæmatemesis. The smell or thought of food was repugnant in the extreme. An examination disclosed no malposition or apparent cause for the trouble, so I procured some Symphoricarpus (200) from Dr. Burdick and gave her one dose in the midst of a violent paroxysm. In a few minutes she stopped vomiting and said she felt soothed and quieted all over. In half an hour the nausea began again, but a few pellets checked it promptly and she fell asleep. Once during the night she awoke distressed and took a dose, but slept again quite soon. For a month or so she felt very well until after over-exerting herself she became nauseated once more; but it was promptly checked, nor did it return during her pregnancy.
After this I had the opportunity of prescribing it in a number of cases with such gratifying results that I gave some of the drug to a number of physicians, requesting a faithful trial. Among them were my father, brother, Dr. Danforth, Dr. McClelland, of Pittsburg, and several others. All reported favorably and some enthusiastically, and so I have been led to bring this subject before this society. The indications as far as I have observed them in cases of pregnancy are a feeling of qualmishness with indifference to food. In more severe cases, like the above, there is a deathly nausea; the vomiting is continuous violent retching, but it covers every graduation between these extremes; it does not seem to be confined to any particular morning aggravation; a prominent symptom is the disgust at the sight, smell or thought of food. One case I remember where the patient was comparatively comfortable while lying on the back, but would be nauseated by the slightest motion of the arms, particularly raising them. The case was completely relieved by a few doses. And so the cases might be multiplied.
Thinking that if the irritation of pregnancy were thus subdued, that of menstruation might be as well, I have given it repeatedly in such cases of nausea or vomiting just before, during or after catamenia, with admirable results.
TELA ARANEARUM.
Common Names, Spider's Web, Cobweb. Preparation.—Triturate in the usual way.
(The following paper is by Dr. S. A. Jones, it was published in the American Observer, 1876):
Dr. Gillespie, of Edinburgh, "cured an obstinate intermittent with cobweb after other means had failed." Dr. Robert Jackson was led from this to try it himself. He told his success to Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, who requested one of his pupils, Dr. Broughton, to investigate the subject, which he did, and wrote his Inaugural Thesis thereon in 1818. From these and other authorities we can gather enough testimony to show that it is well worth while to make a systematic proving of this animal product, thereby predicating its sphere and precisioning its employment.
In a work on fevers—which particular edition I have not been able to consult—Dr. Jackson writes: "I think I may venture to say that it prevents the recurrence of febrile paroxysms more abruptly, and more effectually, than bark or arsenic, or any other remedy employed for that purpose with which I am acquainted: that, like all other remedies of the kind, it is only effectual as applied under a certain condition of habit; but that the condition of susceptibility for cobweb is at the same time of more latitude than for any other of the known remedies."
If we bear in mind Grauvogl's constitution-classification of Diadema aranea as an hydrogenoid remedy, and recall how generally the hydrogenoid constitution is induced by intermittent fever, we shall be ready to acknowledge the truth of the passage which I have placed in italics, and with this evidence of a truthful beginning we shall be more ready to accept the subsequent testimony.
"If the cobweb," continues Dr. Jackson, "was given in the time of perfect intermission, the return of paroxysm was prevented; if given under the first symptoms of a commencing paroxysm, the symptoms were suppressed, and the course of the paroxysm was so much interrupted that the disease, for the most part, lost its characteristic symptoms. If it was not given until the paroxysm was advanced in progress the symptoms of irritation, viz.: tremors, startings, spasms, and delirium, if such existed as forms of febrile action, were usually reduced in violence, sometimes entirely removed. In this case sleep, calm and refreshing, usually followed the sudden and perfect removal of pain and irritation. Vomiting, spasms, and twisting in the bowels, appearing as modes of febrile irritation, were also usually allayed by it; there was no effect from it where the vomiting or pain was connected with real inflammation or progress to disorganization."
"In cases of febrile depression, deficient animation, or indifference to surrounding objects, the exhibition of eight or ten grains of cobweb was often followed by exhilaration: the eyes sparkled; the countenance assumed a temporary animation, and, though the course of the disease might not be changed, or the danger averted, more respite was obtained than is gotten from wine, opium, or anything else within my knowledge."
"In spasmodic affections of various kinds, in asthma, in periodic headaches, in general restlessness and muscular irritabilities its good effects are often signal. The cobweb gives sleep, but not by narcotic power;—tranquillity and sleep here appear to be the simple consequence of release from pain and irritation."
"The changes induced on the existing state of the system, as the effect of its operation, characterize it as powerfully stimulant: 1. Where the pulses of the arteries are quick, irregular, and irritated, they become calm, regular, and slow, almost instantaneously after the cobweb has passed into the stomach: the effect is moreover accompanied, for the most part, with perspiration and perfect relaxation of the surface. 2. When the pulses are slow, regular, and nearly natural they usually become frequent, small, irregular, sometimes intermitting. 3. When languor and depression characterize the disease, sensations of warmth and comfort are diffused about the stomach, and increased animation is conspicuous in the appearance of the eye and countenance."
Dr. J. likewise "effected perfect cures with it in some troublesome spasmodic affections, and gave it with the most marked benefit in dry, irritating coughs, usually termed nervous. In the advanced stage of phthisis it procured a respite beyond his expectation. He also found it useful in restraining a troublesome hiccough."
Remembering the fame of Mygale avicularia in chorea we may well expect this other spider to be of use "in some troublesome spasmodic affections."
Dr. Chapman writes of it: "I have cured some obstinate intermittents, suspended the paroxysms of hectic, overcome morbid vigilance from excessive nervous mobility, and quieted irritation of the system from other causes, and particularly as connected with protracted coughs and other chronic pectoral affections. * * * * Some consider it as highly stimulant, invigorating the force of the pulse, increasing the temperature of the surface, and heightening excitement generally—others, witnessing no such effects, are disposed to assort it with those remedies which seem to do good chiefly by soothing the agitations of the system. I confess that I concur in the latter view of its properties."
How unconsciously the Philistines of Old Physic bear testimony to the truth of our therapeutic law. Given where "heightened excitement" obtained, Chapman saw it "do good chiefly by soothing the agitations of the system," and to him, of course, cobweb was a sedative.
Dr. Broughton, in his Thesis, says: "In all the cases of disease in which I have seen or heard of the exhibition of the web, no sensible, or at least no uniform, operation could be observed. Some patients were sensible of none, others of a slight sudorific, and some a nauseatic effect; and one or two thought it proved cathartic after remaining in the system for the space of twelve or fifteen hours. These accounts being so incorrect and various, I determined to ascertain (if possible) the correct operation by giving the web to healthy persons."
"I found from these experiments that the operation of the web appeared principally to be upon the arterial system; and perhaps in less time than any article already known: the force and frequency of the pulse being uniformly reduced in some cases ten, in others fifteen strokes in a minute; and in one case, the pulse, from being strong and full, became soft, small, and very compressible; all which operation took place within the space of two hours, after which time the artery gradually regained its former force and frequency. This has been the only invariable effect I could observe, all others appearing but anomalous."
Dr. Thacher cites the following case from a paper of Dr. Jackson's: "W. Sands has been afflicted for many years with a distressing asthma, which has proved fatal to his father and two sisters. The complaint being hereditary, and aggravated by malformation of the thorax, no remedy gave any permanent relief, nor did change of climate procure any alleviation of symptoms. For a considerable time back he has never been able to lie down in bed on account of a sense of suffocation, but is obliged to be supported half sitting by pillows, and is seldom able to sleep. He swallowed nearly a scruple of the spider's web, he swallowed it at bed time, and to his utter astonishment enjoyed sound and uninterrupted sleep all night; a blessing to which he had been an entire stranger above six years. Since he began with the cobweb thinks his health is improved; the cough has certainly abated, but whenever the remedy is omitted the complaint returns."