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THERAPEU
ARRANGED UPON A
PHYSIOLOGICO-PATHOLOGICAL BASIS,
                      FOB THE USE OF




         PRACTITIONERS AND STUDENTS OF MEDICINE.



                          BY


              CHAELES J. HEMPEL, M.D.,

LATE PROFESSOR OP MATERIA MEDICA AND THBRAPEOTICS IN THE HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE OP
      PENNSYLVANIA; FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WESTERN INSTITUTE OF HOMEOPATHY
           AND SURGERY ; HONORARY MEMBER OP SEVERAL MEDICAL
                SOCIETIES IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, ETC.
    SECODSTID EIDIXIOJST.

REVISED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED.

             Vol. I.
     NEW YORK: WILLIAM RADDE, 550 PEARL ST.

Philadelphia :  F. E. Bcericke, 635 Arch Street. Boston : Otis Clapp.
 St. Louis : H. C. G. Luyties.  Chicago : C. S. Halsey.  Cincinnati :
   Smith & Worthington.  Cleveland :  John B. Hall.  Detroit :
    E. A. Lodge, M.D.  Pittsburgh, Pa. : J. G. Backofen & Son.
     Manchester,  England : H. Turner & Co., 41 Piccadilly
       and 15 Market St. London, England : H. Turner
                 & Co., 77 Fleet Street.

                        18 65.         \  :". : 
H49l»e
 1865


Entered according to Act of Congress in the year one thousand eight hundred
                        and sixty-four, by

                    WILLIAM  RADDE,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.
Kino & Baied, Printers, 607 Sansom Street, Philailelphia. 
PREFACE  TO THE  SECOND  EDITION.
   The first edition of this work was nearly exhausted when
the war, which is still desolating our country, broke out and
sadly interfered with the book-trade generally, and more par-
ticularly with the sale of expensive medical works.  Moreover
the work was received with so much favor in England, that
a  London  publishing  firm deemed it conformable  to their
interests to reprint the work in England.  In spite of these
drawbacks, the first edition of this work, of fifteen hundred
copies, was sold in a comparatively short period.   The almost
unanimous verdict of the Profession in its favor, has induced
the  publisher  to put forth a second edition, in spite of the
present enormous price of binding and printing material, and
to furnish the work at the lowest price which the extraordi-
nary outlay involved in its publication will warrant.
   The  reader  will find that  this second edition has been
greatly improved and - considerably  enlarged by the addition
of new  remedies, and  by a more  careful  elaboration of  a
number of  the  older remedies, to which a rather short space
had  been alloted in the  first edition  of this  work.  It has
been  my endeavor to embody in  this work the  doctrine  of
Homoeopathy,  such  as  it  presents  itself—a  science  as
universal and imperishable  as  Nature;  and  to  explain  the
clinical uses  of our drugs in the light which  this  universal
science  sheds upon them, as restorers  of the physiological
harmonies of the animal organism.
  To mv friend, Dr. William A. Heed, of Philadelphia, I am 
iv
PREFACE.
under  great  obligations for his  valuable  assistance  in  the
revision of the proof-sheets of this work.
  The Repertory, at the end of the Second Volume, has been
greatly enlarged, and will  be found of eminent  advantage to
those who desire to avail themselves of this work, as a clinical
guide at the sick bed.
  The author avails himself of this opportunity of tendering
his  warmest acknowledgments to the  Profession for the  nu-
merous and unsought-for expressions of approbation which he
has received from students of medicine, as wrell as from many
of  our most eminent  practitioners;  and will endeavor to
render subsequent  editions of this work  as  complete  as the
progress of the medical science may enable him to do.
                        CHARLES J. HEMPEL, M.D.

     Grand Rapids,     ~1
  Kent Co., Michigan,  >
     November, 1864.     } 
LECTURE I.
                  INTRODUCTORY.

   Gentlemen:—In these halls which are consecrated to the solemn
business of teaching the life-giving truths of Homoeopathy, we again
welcome you as the future champions of this God-created science.
Forty years  ago  her  illustrious discoverer had to flee before her
ruthless enemies, until he found a refuge within the boundaries of the
humblest principality of Germany.  Since then we have  achieved
a triumph which promises still more brilliant success.  We have
our own pharmacies;  our numbers have swelled to many thousands;
Ave are honored with  the confidence and  respect of the most intel-
ligent and influential members of every civilized community;  we
boast of chartered institutions, dispensaries, hospitals, colleges.  In
our own glorious and imperishable Republic,  Homoeopathy, like an
infant Hercules, is advancing  towards the period when strong, ma-
jestic, radiant with the sun-light splendor of a divine truth, she will
go forth in the irresistible might of her manhood to  do battle for
the great good of humanity, and to combat the mischievous  practices
of the destructive therapeutics which the infatuated  professors of
antiquated systems have been permitted for centuries to  proclaim
ex cathedra as the orthodox tenets of medical  science.
  Ours is a noble and sacred position.  We are not simply teachers
and students  of medicine; we are the professed advocates and pro-
mulgators of a medical doctrine which is to revolutionize to its very
foundations a time-honored system of therapeutics.  The old land-
marks of medicine are to be forever  removed by the new dispenser
of healing powers; the  horrible tortures which the deceitful  genius
of man has  contrived for the relief of the sick,  and  to which the
votaries at the shrine of an unregenerate JEsculapius still adhere,
with all the  unfeeling tenacity of incarnate fiends, are tobe buried
in the abyss of eternal oblivion; a whole empire of medical  Pride,
Superstition,  Prejudice and Interest  is to be overturned, and a new
                               2 
18
INTRODUCTORY.
 temple of the healing art is to be founded upon God's great law : that
 so far from a relation of antagonism existing between the disease and
 its remedial agent, this agent on the contrary unites itself with it, as
 it were, by some mysterious but inevitable process of attractive affi-
 nity, and gently hushes and removes the disturber, without leaving
 a trace of his painful presence.   These are the  objects of our endea-
 vors ;  our pride is not centered in a creed; our interests are those of
 suffering man;  our worship is the love of truth; our school is bound-
 less  nature; our teacher, Reason, fortified by observation and expe-
 rience.
   If our aim is elevated, our responsibility is correspondingly great.
 We  owe it to the public,  and above all to our own consciences, that
 we should be right.  If we claim the privilege of an unsparing criti-
 cism towards our opponents, we certainly should exercise the strictest
 watchfulness over the developments which are  going on in our own
 midst,  and  are  presented to the world as integral portions of the
 homoeopathic fabric.  A candid, fearless and impartial examination
 of our  own doings and teachings can only result in good to the cause
 of medical truth and of the sick: moreover, we have become a power
 in the  land;  we can afford to  exhibit our weakness in broad day-
 light ;  our strength will become the more apparent and  formidable;
 and  the sting of satire, which threatened to poison the very life-
 springs of homoeopathy,  will seem as harmless as  the prating of
 babes,  or the vapid nonsense of learned sots.
  Let us then devote a few moments to an examination  of the past,
 the  present  and the future of our cherished  science.   I beg the
 privilege of presenting my remarks under the respective heads of
 "the Fossil, the  Transition,  and the Prophetic  Periods  of
 Homoeopathy."

                    FOSSIL  PERIOD.

  The old fable of Minerva starting out of Jupiter's brain a full-
 fledged goddess, armed and equipped for war, with spear, buckler
 and  helmet, has never yet found, and is not likely to find its reali-
 zation in the  sciences or arts.   The law of gradual growth seems to
 be a necessity inherent in the  organization of all finite existences
 and  discoveries   Homoeopathy is subject to this law.  To suppose
 that  a finite  mind could have perceived  at  a single glance all the
 facts of the new science of therapeutics, and could  have arranged
 them into a faultless system of relations and applications for the use
 of succeeding generations, would be to suppose that God had dele-
 gated his infinite wisdom to mortal man, for the accomplishment of
 such a  work.  Homoeopathy, eternal  in nature and  reason, had to
 have a beginning and a  development in time.  In the midst of
 Cimerian darkness and chaotic  confusion, the sun of medical truth
shed  his first rays over one of the small capitals of Germany   Frt
mentary essays  were the  first  fruit of the new b>ht- graduallv a
compact system of the new doctrine was given to ?he'world  and it
was not until several years had elapsed after the  publication of the
Organon, that the Materia Medica Pura was competed 
fossil period.
19
   In Hahnemann's case, theory preceded practice.  He was a man of
 genius and the discoverer  of a great law, interwoven in the very
 foundations of nature, and constituting an essential element in her
 infinite mechanism.   Cullen might have seen it before Hahnemann,
 but although a fine thinker  and an  excellent physiologist who
 believed in the vitalizing forces  of the  nervous  system, and was
 therefore far in advance of the massive humoralism which had been
 dispensing under Boerhaave's lead its dissolvant, its deobstruent,
 its discutient, its incrassant brews and decoctions: yet his was not
 the glorious destiny to interpret the specific curative relation which
 Peruvian bark holds to intermittent fever, as the  result of an univer-
 sal law which would prove applicable to the treatment of diseases
 generally, and would be universally followed by the same positive
 and life-saving results.  It is the perception of this specific relation
 of the bark  to intermittent fever which establishes the genius of
 Hahnemann;  the readiness with which he generalized his discovery,
 shows the vastness of his grasping intellect.
   The opponents of Homoeopathy deny that  Peruvian  bark is
 endowed with the specific power of producing a  condition like fever
 and  ague in  the healthy organism.  They affect to account for the
 effects of bark experienced by Hahnemann by  the fact, that these
 effects resulted from a foregone conclusion in Hahnemann's mind.
 He had predetermined  that the specific curative power  of bark in
 fever and ague, was  owing to the property it possesses of realizing a
 similar disturbance in the healthy organism; and therefore, when he
 experimented with  bark  in order to  verify the correctness of his
 theory, the specific  effects had to be such as he  had decided in his
< own  mind  they should be.  This  is Professor Simpson's theory
 against Hahnemann.  He  too  took the bark without experiencing
 any of its fever and  ague symptoms, and therefore he concludes that,
 in the matter of Simpson versus Hahnemann, he, Simpson, being his
 own judge and jury, brings in a verdict in his favor without the
 least hesitation or compunction of conscience, and apparently satisfied
 that  Hahnemann will go down to posterity, if he  goes there at all,
 or does not go to a worse place, as a common impostor, covered with
 merited derision and contempt.   But  the Professor has failed to
 perceive that his argument against Hahnemann  cuts both ways, for
 it certainly was a foregone  conclusion in the Professor's  mind that
 bark should not prod ace fever and ague; hence it did not produce it.
   The discovery of Homoeopathy will be viewed  in another, I should
 say more heavenly light, by those who religiously believe that God's
 providence rules the destinies of this humanity.  God knew that in
 the course of time diseases would invade the human frame, and He
 certainly must have provided means of meeting  the adversary in an
 adequate manner.  And inasmuch as God's providence operates by
 universal laws, He must have arranged,  in the  very framework of
 nature, an universal principle of cure, which, in  due course of time,
 would be discovered and  applied for the relief of the sick.  We
 have  a ri^ht to suppose  that, if love  and wisdom be  not  mere
 abstractions, but living and efficient attributes of the Divine Creator,
 His infinite love would prompt His wisdom to devise such a law oi 
20
introductory.
cure, and, in order that it might become operative, to appoint some
suitably-prepared mind as the discoverer and  promulgator of this
divine system of therapeutics.
   Now, if these premises be correct (and  I do not see how any
religious physician can dispute their soundness,) we have a perfect
right to look upon  Hahnemann as the vessel whom it pleased God
to fill with the wisdom and  energy required for the great work  of
medical regeneration.  All that it is incumbent upon us to do, is  to
substantiate by reasoning and experience the incontrovertible validity
of his great discovery.
   Even our opponents must  admit, that if, in the fulness of time, the
God-appointed architect  of  a true system  of  therapeutics should
make his appearance, he will prove to be a man peculiarly fitted for
his work—endowed, not  only with a high  order  of intellect, with
indefatigable energy and the flash of genius, but  with all those
delicate, unerring physiological susceptibilities iwhich we contend
Hahnemann possessed.   If he was a God-appointed reformer of the
old system of medicine, we certainly cannot be charged with extra-
vagance, if we claim for Hahnemann a  keenness of sensibility to
medicinal impressions which, for aught we know, may have exceeded
those of any of his cotemporaries; at all events, they must  have
been adequate to the task he had to perform, of revolutionizing the
Materia Medica and establishing the new system of therapeutics by
means of successive provings of drugs upon himself and his disciples.
No man can perform a great  work unless his soul is inspired with
the love of  it.  Hahnemann's enthusiasm may have fired  all the
energies of his noble intellect; it may have quickened all the sensi-
bilities of his  untainted  organism;  and  why should not  this have
fitted him, in a most eminent degree, for the  sublime  business of
determining the therapeutic properties  of drugs by systematic
provings upon himself and  his faithful  disciples?  Why  should
these natural advantages of destiny and organization have trans-
formed Hahnemann's mind into a laboratory of baseless hallucina-
tions, fit only  to delude  an  imbecile crowd?   We cannot accept
these inferences  of  his reckless defamers;  nor can we accept the
inference that,  because Hahnemann's humanity was not immaculate,
he must therefore have been a contemptible quack.  We are told by
his enemies that  he permitted himself, during the earliest period of
his professional  career, to sell one or two medicines as specific
remedies for certain  diseases.  I have been unable to ascertain how
far these charges are founded; but supposing they were, would this
conduct on the part of Hahnemann militate against his fitness to
discover the true law of the  healing art?  He was poor, he had to
procure bread  for his family,  and he may have momentarily yielded
to the weakness of regarding  the products of his genius as a market-
able offset against  the poverty which had  fallen  to his lot.  The
apostle, whom  the Saviour addressed as  the rock upon which he
would build the foundations  of his eternal church, perjured himself
m the ante-chamber of Caiphas, by denying the  Master in whose
service he  afterwards suffered an  infamous  and horrible death
Gentlemen, if there  is a meanness on God's earth which I despise
i 
fossil period.
21
 more than any other, it is the canting hypocrisy and the arrogant
 self-sufficiency of professional men.  Behold by whom the ranks of
 the medical profession are filled!  God be praised, we can boast of
 a few thoughtful, honest, liberal-minded men, who love truth more
 than a creed,  and who would rather serve the sick  than  sordid
 interest or hollow-hearted ambition; but what, besides their parch-
 ments, entitles a majority of medical practitioners to their seats in
 the council-chambers of medicine ?  Where  is  the ever-active ambi-
 tion for the good  of man,  the ever-aspiring  love of progress, the
 comprehensive liberality of thought and feeling that distinguish the
 good Samaritan among us?  To hear,such a  man as Hahnemann,
 the_ gifted son of Heaven, whom the wise  and  good  Hufeland
 delighted to honor as a friend and brother, traduced.by the brainless
 multitude of the common  leechers and calomel-venders, or  by the
 arrogant pedants who fill professors' chairs in alloeopathic colleges—
 men who, under cover  of their parchments, and the  semblance of
 ethical morality, permit themselves to practice  the most cruel decep-
 tions and extortions upon  their patients—is  enough  to make an
 honest man's blood boil with indignation.  May God  have  mercy
 upon their nameless frames, when the memory of Hahnemann shall
 be wreathed  in the temple of Immortality with the homage of a
 redeemed humanity!
   Homoeopathy was ushered into the world  an infant giant, turges-
 cent with the  new life.  At the very threshold of his discovery I
 request you to identify yourselves with the position and the mind of
 Hahnemann.   What was it that flashed through his mind when he
 beheld the new truth ?  What  was that  one glimpse,' that one
 inspiring  thought, that inmost revelation of genius which was as yet
 unfettered by the chains of  words, and emerged from the chambers
 of his mind like a shapeless consciousness, a vague aspiration, if you
 please, before  the understanding had time to recover from its surprise
 and examine the quality of this instantaneous unfolding of thought ?
 Gentlemen, it is because the followers of Hahnemann have failed to
 grasp the nature of that inmost perception, that the heavenly science
 which he was  commissioned to announce to  the world,  has been
 misapprehended  by some  of her earliest apostles, and  has been
 developed into channels that will require a thorough purification
 before the healing powers of their waters can be commended to the
 sick with  uniform confidence in all curable diseases.
   Behold Hahnemann in the presence of the new truth; its inmost,
 etherial essence floating before his mental vision like a wavelet of
 transcendent light.   What was it that this focus of revealing bright-
 ness conveyed to his startled reason ?  Why,  it  was simply this: that
 there is no essential difference between the principle of disease and
 the principle of the drug.   Be disease what  it  may, a purely  physi-
 ological disturbance as Broussais would have it, an effect  without a
 cause as it were; or the result of some morbific agent  acting upon
 the living tissues as a subverter of their functional equilibrium: the
 drug-action must not only be analogous to it, but must meet it from
beginning to end, must be its exact counterpart, a sort of framework
into which the essential principle of disease will fit as its own home 
22
introductory.
 and orderly arrangement, and wliich it will most gladly accept m
 the place of an opposing organism, which is the legitimate sphere of
 harmonious and constructive, instead of discordant and destructive
 forces.   It is this intellectual perception of the essential oneness of
 the morbific principle and  the drug-force  that quivered  through
 Hahnemann's mind when he beheld the first rising of the new sun
 on the distant horizon of truth.  In this one universal thought you
 grasp the very spirit of Homoeopathy; in this one thought she has
 her being; this relation of harmonious oneness between the  drug
 and the  disease is the absolute, the inevitable condition of every
 therapeutic cure.
   Gentlemen, the letter killeth. It might have been well for Hom-
 oeopathy if the. spiritual perception which had been enkindled in
 Hahnemann's mind, could have expanded into symbolic speech of a
 corresponding  order.   Would that we could have  witnessed and
 understood the silent communing  between the Master's soul  and
 the holy presence that  came to him in those inspiring moments.
 This has not been our privilege, and we have -to gather our knowl-
 edge of the inmost workings of his mind from the printed record
 which he has left behind him.  So soon as Hahnemann confided his
 inmost thoughts to words, he exposed them to the danger of being
 misapprehended by those whose intuitive vision of the truth was
 clogged by the coarse and clouded understanding.   And who can
 tell how far, in Hahnemann's own case, the effort to analyze and to
 give definite shape and utterance to the new truth which shone into
 his mind from  the bosom of the Infinite, may have diverted the
 quivering ray from its true course into a series of developments
 more or less tainted by the peculiarities of his mental constitution
 and the fallacies which, to a  greater or less extent,  are inherent in
 every finite mind?  Hahnemann's position at the time when the
 great truth of Homoeopathy flashed  upon  his mind, was a  very
 peculiar  one.   He was like a great chieftain marshaling his forces
 against an  enemy, who has fortified his camp with all  the contri-
 vances that human  cunning can suggest; an offensive as well as a
 defensive position.  Hahnemann conducted this war of extermination
 with merciless  energy.  He engaged in the  combat with the deter-
 mination of crushing the enemy as a monster of wickedness and
 falsehood.  What else could be expected of a spirit which, like his,
 loved truth and loathed the systems that had been playing foot-ball
 with suffering humanity for thousands of years ?  Medical science
 was utterly depraved ;  it had to be wiped out;  baseless theories and
 gross materialism were its component  parts; the little wheat con-
tained m such  an immense  quantity of chaff, was  hardly worth
preserving; Materia Medica, Therapeutics,  Pathology became a
mass of rums, and the flag similia similibus floated over the enemy's
camp.                                                      J
  Similia similibus was the  motto upon the  escutcheon of the new
truth.  Hahnemann, I have no  doubt, understood himself perfectly
m thus formulating his  great discovery.   Having destroyed the
enemy s fastnesses, he built up his own works, cementing the whole
iabnc into  a  coherent system  under the name of Homoeopathy 
foss:l period.
23
The principles of this system are explained in the Organon.  This
great synthesis constitutes the defensive works of Hahnemann's dis-
covery. They have been assailed with all the weapons which sarcasm,
sophistical cunning and material science could furnish.  That these
works  must guard some precious treasure, is evident from the fact
that  no  regulars ever  assemble  in convention without flinging
a little of their dust at Hahnemann or his discovery.  Even at the
recent  convention of apothecaries at Washington, Professor Guthrie
of New York, in his address, alluded to Homoeopathy as an infini-
tesimal humbug, which must undoubtedly appear a great improve-
ment on former insults of this kind, if we consider that Homoeopathy
has always been  represented as a humbug of monstrous proportions,
and that infinitesimal, in the minds of her defamers, means infinit-
esimally small.
  To  us the formula  similia similibus which embodied a luminous
truth to Hahnemann's mind, presents itself more or less as a mystic
symbol which, as paraphrased by its author, means, that diseases can
only be  cured by remedial agents which  produce in the animal
economy, while  in a  state of health, conditions resembling in all
respects the natural disturbance.   Hahnemann believed in diseases ;
but he likewise  believed that the essence of diseases would ever be
an inscrutable mystery to the infinite understanding and that all that
we shall  ever know of diseases, is the manner in which they appear
to the  senses as  an aggregate of phenomena.  The morbific force
manifests itself  to us  by its effects on the living organism;  these
effects  are our therapeutic indications, to remove which we have to
operate with drugs that produce effects  of an exactly similar order
upon the tissues  in health.
  To an unsophisticated mind, this doctrine, thus expressed with a
certain generous vagueness, would seem to  embody a beautiful and
saving truth, nor is it probable that it would ever have been assailed
with one tithe of the fierce bitterness and venomous satire which
have sought to crush the life out of it, if the practical developments
which  were given to it by Hahnemann and more particularly by his
earlier disciples,  had not been mixed  up with a mass  of unimport-
ant, pedantic details that were not only shocking to the universal
sense of the profession but threatened to hide the  new light under
a bushel.  The  influence  which the irresistible  weight  of  circum-
stances had  upon Hahnemann's  mind, was  not appreciated by his
disciples.  If the great reformer denounced the absurdities of patho-
logical theories and therapeutic methods with intelligence and power,
his disciples, feeling secure under the wings of his genius, saw fit to
despise the very idea  of pathology;  in the place  of the luminous
intuitions with which  Hahnemann determined the character of a
given disease, and the  specific adaptation of this, that or the  other
drug to its essential  nature, they had to content themselves with a
sterile  comparison of the symptoms of the disease with the symp-
toms of the then known  drugs, in order to  effect by such purely
external juxtapositions of morbid phenomena the selection  of a re-
medial agent whose homoeopathicity to the  existing case was deter-
mined  by the numerical proportions of its symptomatic similarities. 
2-1
introductory.
The shape which the science of Homoeopathy took in these  earlier
periods of her existence, seemed so contrary to reason that even the
good and wise Hufeland who had generously opened the columns
of his influential journal to an exposition of Hahnemann's doctrines,
saw fit to undertake a refutation of some of his positions.
  Some of Hahnemann's illustrations of homoeopathic action which
have been put forth as perfect clinchers in all popular discussions on
Homoeopathy, evidence  the beautiful  delicacy of the physiological
adjustments of the living organism, rather than the homoeopathic
relation  of such remedial measures to the functional  disturbance.
The cure of a burn by the application of heat, and the restoration of
a frozen  limb by means  of cold, are physiological rather than thera-
peutic  processes, essentially of the same order as the restoration of
a man who is dying with hunger, by means of the smallest quantities
of nourishment,  or of the restoration of a man who is dying with
thirst, by means  of small quantities of liquid.   To the  eye that has
been operated on for cataract, we measure out light very gradually;
to the stomach that has been deprived of food until its vital energies
are nearly exhausted, we administer food within restorative limits,
commencing perhaps with a  few drops of wine or a teaspoonful of
broth.  If we were to  meet a pilgrim in the desert, dying with thirst,
would  we inundate his  stomach with a bucketful  of water ?  The
mucous membranes being exhausted, would not the feeble flicker of
vitality become extinct,  if the prostrated  brain were called upon to
effect the absorption of such a disproportionate mass of  liquid ?
   A similar physiological  caution is required in the treatment of
frozen  limbs.  If we were to expose them to the  ordinary heat of a
stove,  we should soon  bring about  decomposition of  the injured
parts;  hence we administer caloric within conservative or rather
restorative limits, first, as much of it as is contained in  snow, ice or
frozen  sourkrout, and gradually increasing the quantity as the  vital
action  becomes strengthened.
  In the case of  burns the opposite process takes place.  If we were
to plunge  a burnt limb into ice-water, we should soon destroy it;
hence we abstract  caloric very gradually, imperceptibly at first  by
applying heated alcohol,  spirits  of  turpentine  or similar  agents
which  contain a  sufficient amount of cooling principles to quicken
the feeble reaction of the deeply-wounded vitality of the part.
  Upon  similar  grounds we remove the  pain  of a  simple burn by
exposing the part to the heat of a stove or to the flame of a candle.
It is not  the hot  stove or the burning  candle that effects a cure in
such cases; the  excess  of caloric is  abstracted  by the cooling in-
fluence of  the surrounding atmosphere, which has to be tempered
by the proximity of heat; else the pain would  increase  in conse-
quence of the disproportionate amount of vital reaction which the
decomposing tendencies  of the atmospheric oxygen might excite in
the injured part.  These, friends, are  physiological processes, which
Homoeopathy has no legitimate right to offer as  illustrations of the
law "similia similibus curantur."   ■
  False issues were raised in the bosom of the Homoeopathic School.
Medicine is both a science and an art.  The science was speedilv 
TRANSITION period.
25
overlooked in the midst of the  multifarious  claims, explanations,
suggestions with which the homoeopathic artists filled their journals.
By such writers  as  Ilering and  Bcenninghausen, the most fanciful
and baseless speculations were dignified with the term "law."  The
most childish  verbiage  about right, left  and cross  symptoms, up-
wards and downwards, vertical, horizontal and diagonal action of
drugs, and a mass of kindred balderdash was put forth by these and
other writers of the Homoeopathic School as  the solemn dictate of
Nature.
  Moreover, every  trifling sensation  became a symptom.  After
Hahnemann had published his great work entitled "Materia Medica
Pura," which history will revere as a monument of careful and reli-
able experimentation, a perfect symptomania took possession of the
self-constituted leaders of our School. At that time Hahnemann had
already grown grey in the midst of his triumphant labors, and he
cannot justly  be held responsible for the theoretical  extravagances
of his disciples.  The Materia Medica was flooded  with a perfect
deluge of symptoms which would  have dishonored  and destroyed
any  medical doctrine that  was not founded upon the rock of eternal
truth.   And materials have  been  crowded into it that must seem
disgusting to every pure-minded man.   Cimex lectularius and pedi-
culus, the bed-bug and the  louse: Gentlemen, if we cannot cure
diseases without such  materials, my advice is, let us exterminate the
materials, and leave the cure to nature.
   Things could not well go on in this direction without exciting a
powerful reaction against the theoretical assumptions of Bcenning-
hausen,  Gross and other writers of that time.   We now enter upon
the

                 TRANSITION PERIOD

of Homoeopathy.  One of  the first men who raised his voice against
the then existing fancy-sketches of the homoeopathic symptom-fabric
was the  medical counsellor Dr. Rau, a man of the highest professional
standing, and  of consummate judgment, education and experience.
In his Organon, of  which I furnished an English translation some
ten years ago, he vindicates medical science  with a full knowledge
of its legitimate claims.  A band  of  noble  minds soon united in
upholding the great cause of medical truth.   Griesselich published
his Hygea, and the best thinkers of the Homoeopathic School became
contributors to  its pages.  Pathology, therapeutics and  medical
common sense had again a representative  in our midst.   The symp-
tom-doctors opened fire upon the impertinent intruders in isolated
pamphlets as well as in their regular publications.  Hering, who had
virtually denied  the specific character of diseases, and had taught as
one of his self-styled laws, the childish absurdity, " that any disease
may be cured with any drug," conceived such a bitter hatred against
Griesselich, that  even  after the death of the lamented reformer, he
could not refrain, in a scurrilous publication entitled " Hau/iecheln,"
from alluding  to  this  noble-minded thinker in vulgar and  unjust
language. 
26
INTRODUCTORY.
  The withering pages where  Griesselich brushes  away the flimsy
cobwebs of his opponents, constitute some of the most brilliant and
instructive chapters in the literature of our  school.  Thanks to the
efforts of Griesselich and his friends, the student of Homoeopathy,
whom the quicksands of an unmeaning symptomism  had plunged
into an abyss of doubt and uncertainties, again found himself placed
upon  solid ground, where he might cast the anchor of hope. Neither
the nosological empiricism which Hahnemann had so justly rebuked,
nor the fantastic and truth-destroying symptomism which the dicta-
torial triumvirate of Boenninghausen, Hering and  Jahr sought to
substitute in its place, found favor with the writers of the  Hygea.
With every proper feeling of reverence for the noble old man whose
genius had awakened this new longing for truth in their souls, they
subjected his doctrines to the most rigid examination;  they repudi-
ated the idolatrous man-worship, to which the triumvirate and their
followers seemed addicted; they proclaimed the doctrine that diseases
are essential modes or conditions  of  existence, which are just as
immutable as the  physiological functions of the organism, and of
which the symptoms are manifestations full  of meaning to the intel-
ligent observer.
  What a change in this dreary wilderness of symptoms, which the
triumvirate had been in the  habit of arranging into unstable and
illogical groups, without any regard to their internal  relationship and
fitness, simply in accordance with certain arbitrary and ridiculous
notions of up and down, right and left, backwards and forwards,
crosswise  and otherwise.   Symptoms ceased  to be hieroglyphic
symbols;  they became  speaking witnesses of  an  abnormal, but
essential condition  of the organism, upon  which their  individual
quality and their general relation to each other depended.
  Granted that the inmost essence of diseases will forever remain
an  inscrutable mystery—although  such a doctrine  seems to me to
imply an uncalled-for and utterly gratuitous  interference with the
rights of human reason—nevertheless, these abnormal conditions of
the organism  are just as  accessible to the  scalpel of inquiry and
observation  as the  normal physiological states of our frame.   We
certainly may know as much of disease as is needful for us to know
in order to  effect a cure by therapeutic means,  in accordance with
some   definite, consistent,  uniformly-true  method of  treatment.
Hence, whatever may tend to shed  light on the causes, course and
terminations of a disease, belongs to the domain of  human thouo-ht
and observation.   Hence, again, the  study and analysis of post-
mortem changes may become useful and  even highly important
means of diagnosis. And  hence we derive the consoling conviction
that the researches of our  cotemporaries,  in the  departments of
physiological chemistry and pathological anatomy, have not been
love's  labor lost, but may be turned to excellent account by men
who are in possession of an universal principle of cure.
  Gentlemen, the writers of the specific school, which offers the only
just and legitimate conception of Homoeopathy, have shown us the
problem that we have to solve: A disease being  given, to determine
the character, the probable course  and termination  of the disease 
transition  period.
27
and to select the remedial agent that shall meet it at all points, as its
natural, direct or specific neutralizer.   We shall revert to this sub-
ject in our last division of this discourse.
  If the fossil period of Homoeopathy had been distinguished by
the most lamentable misconceptions and positive perversions of her
spirit, the specific school became no less tainted with the most woeful
absurdities.   Griesselich had departed, and the Hygea had become
defunct.   The lucid and eminently philosophical teachings of this
journal no longer stimulated the vital currents of scientific Homoeo-
pathy.  The symptom-school had repudiated the validity of patho-
logical lesions as homoeopathic indications, with an unaccountable
and utterly  unreasonable stubbornness.  In endeavoring to correct
the errors of pathology, the adherents of this school expelled both
truth and falsehood.  They drove out one devil, but seven other
devils took  possession of the premises.   They ostracised the names
of diseases which had become household words among  the people.
Instead of calling a thing pneumonia or inflammation of the lungs,
by which every honest-minded and unprejudiced physician under-
stands a condition of the lungs characterized by morbid phenomena
of a definite and more or less specific order, constituting an unitary
complex  of disturbed  functions,  subject to  well-known,  orderly
changes and characteristic terminations, we were told that this gross
nosologism  is incompatible with the dignity of Homoeopathy.  We
were told to take a  record of the symptoms, and to individualize, as
it was termed, every case of disease,  by filling a whole sheet of
foolscap  with the subjective sensations  of the patient.
  The whole past of pathology was flung in the dust.   The Hippo-
cratic school which had made the development, relations and termina-
tions of  morbid phenomena an object  of the  closest  scrutiny and
observation, was theoretically ignored as unavailable; the great page
of Medicine was a blank which henceforth had to be filled with the
ten thousand jerkings, twitchings, prickings, spots, pimples and insig-
nificant nothings that our  symptom-hunters have crowded and keep
crowding into our Materia Medica without order, without any diag-
nostic acumen, without  any reference to those fixed and immutable
pathological conditions which have marked the pages of human
history with the characters of one, uniform, identical language of
woe.
  If there be unity in Nature any where, it is to be found  in path-
ology.  Study disease  in China or among  the  aborigines of our
continent, under the bright sky of a southern sun, or  among  the
snow-clad plains of the poles; you will find it every where exhibit
the same characteristic phenomena and obey the same laws of devel-
opment,  save accidental differences which the modifying influences
of climate and mode of life may impress upon it, without in  the
least affecting its essential characteristics.  A pneumonia in Green-
land is the  same disease as a pneumonia in Naples, and the  syphilis
of a Chinese requires the same treatment as the syphilis of the West
Indies.
  The consoling unity of the principle of disease, without which we
could never expect to arrive at a true Science of Therapeutics, we 
28
INTRODUCTORY.
are to fling to the winds;  the fixedness and immutability which has
characterized disease from  the primeval  ages  of the world to the
present day, we are to repudiate as a scholastic chimera ;  these grand
divisions of disease which  Infinite Wisdom has set up in the very
frame-work of Nature in order to render the eternal Scourge amen-
able to the tribunal of human  reason  and subject to the  control of
those specific agents which  the hand of Infinite Love has scattered
along the path of suffering man: we are to ignore, and accept in
their stead  the baseless, planless,  arbitrary,  illogical, indefinite,
incoherent, unreliable and  ever-changing combinations which the
symptom-school would fain have us consider as the consummation
of therapeutic wisdom.
  It would be well for humanity, if the professional sense and the
common sense of an unsophisticated, non-professional man, remained
essentially  the  same.  Many of the theoretical absurdities which
creep into  the  medical schools might then be avoided,  and man
might be spared untold suffering, to which the dangerous practices
that false theories so frequently suggest, give rise.  But  by some sad
fatality the study  of a profession, and  more particularly perhaps of
the medical profession, instead of developing and fortifying common
sense, seems to have a tendency to bias the judgment, to obscure the
intuitions of reason, and to  entangle the mind in a maze  of sophisms
which,  by habit and interest, finally become a second nature.
  If a layman of common sense, speaks of pleurisy as a disease, he
does not mean that the pathological lesion of the pleura, the effusion
into the pleural sac, the stitching pain and acute soreness in the side,
the panting respiration, the tearing cough, the bloody expectoration,
the fever, headache,  flushed face, coated  and inflamed tongue, and
the various consensual symptoms  are the  disease, but simply the
effect of disease.  By an authorized abuse of language, and for the
sake of abbreviating  the matter, we  designate these pathological
changes and  conditions  as  the  disease.   Such incorrect forms  of
speech may save a good many circumlocutions and fatiguing defini-
tions, and they  are perfectly harmless, as  long  as they are not mis-
taken for an expression of the truth.
  There is no harm in saying, the sun rises or Sets; these customary
expressions, although implying a  radical falsehood, are perfectly
compatible with the most rigid calculations of astronomy.  But, if
we  would  build a theory of the starry heavens upon these illusory
phenomena, the whole science of astronomy would become perverted.
In medicine, a  great many  forms of speech are current among the
people, which would do no harm, if they were not made  the basis  of
a theory and corresponding practice.
  The  most popular error in medicine is, to speak of a pathological
lesion  as a disease.   If the lungs are inflamed,  the common  man
calls that inflammation a disease.  The professional physician who
ought to know better, has been beguiled into accepting these popular
definitions as the genuine truth, and erecting upon such false theories
a system of treatment fraught with danger, mischief and  sufferino-.
  In order to remove the effused serum from the pleural cavity,  h°e
applies a blister to the side, for the purpose of drawing the fluid out. 
TRANSITION  period.
29
This is but too often the vulgar explanation of such a proceeding.
Knowing that, in pleurisy, the capillaries are injected, he applies
leeches to the side of the thorax, in order to remove the accumulated
blood which he considers as the cause of the inflammation.   It seems
incredible that  physicians  should  entertain, and act in accordance
with, such absurd notions; but pathology has been full of such
illusions.
  Hahnemann repudiated the doctrine of pathological lesions as a
fruitful source of deceptions.  Yet, the study and analysis of patho-
logical changes after death, seem to exercise a powerful attraction
on the most gifted medical minds.  Why is this ?   Why should a
man like Rokitansky be willing to  spend his life among  cadavers,
amid the ruins of the dissecting-room ?   Certainly not to act the
part of an intellectual hod-carrier, but because he honestly fancies
that these dissections and  microscopical  examinations of diseased
organs may lead him to a more accurate  and more intimate know-
ledge of the nature of disease.  The method may be faulty, but the
aim is noble, and the arduous labors of such a man  are eminently
deserving of the commendations of our school.
  Only let  us  guard  against repeating  the mistakes  of  the old-
fashioned empirical nosologism,  and connecting mere names of
diseases with remedial agents in the fatal bonds of an  indissoluble
union.  If we say that Phosphorus is a  remedy for pneumonia, or
Brj^onia for rheumatism, let us associate with these technical names,
definite abnormal states, with which the  Phosphorus and Bryonia-
action, corresponds both in essence and in form.  If this course had
been uniformly pursued by the specific school, the dangerous extra-
vagance  of regarding certain remedies  as  absolute specifics for
certain general disorders, such as Arsenic for typhus abdominalis,
Phosphorus for pneumonia, Pulsatilla for amenorrhoea,  would have
been avoided, and the specific homoeopathic relation of a  drug to a
disease, would have been understood to mean what it really does
mean in nature: that a certain abnormal  state  of the organism can
be directly met by only one remedy, in the same sense as that there
is but one straight line from one point to  another.
  Thirty years after the publication of Hahnemann's Organon, the
Homoeopathic School  had undergone considerable  modifications,
owing to the persevering and eminently successful efforts of Griesse-
lich, Schrcen, Arnold, and a host of other writers and practitioners
of this stamp, to elevate the scientific character of Homoeopathy, and
to expound her principles as natural laws, independently of tradition
and authority.  One of the most brilliant and philosophical works
of that period, where the connection of homoeopathic  therapeutics
with psychology, physiology and  pathology, is shown with  great
force and originality of thought, was published  by Dr. Koch, of
Stuttgardt, who is now residing and practising among us.
  The adherents  of a purely technical symptomism  had  dwindled
down to  a  very small number.   Homoeopathic  physicians  had
discovered that,  under the guidance of their therapeutic law, the
facts of pathology might be converted into beacon-lights as it were,
pointing out to the helmsman, to whose watchful care some patient 
30
INTRODUCTORY.
had confided his frail bark, a safe entrance into the haven of conva-
lescence.  Broussais, who  had  defined a symptom as " the cry of a
suffering organ," spoke  an intelligible language to the  physicians
of our school.  The symptom was no longer  a  sensation without
quality, but a  speaking  witness of some peculiar, characteristic, or
we might say, Specific disease, an element of an unitary group, to all
whose other elements it was related by virtue of an essential identity,
and from which it only differed in appearance, in consequence of the
functional and structural differences of the affected organ, tissue or
system. The contempt which  the regular physicians, as they self-
complacently style  themselves, had experienced  for  homoeopathic
practitioners, gave place, in Germany  at least,  to considerate treat-
ment.  In the writings of  the opposition press, they are  frequently
alluded to as " our respected colleagues."  This change of tone was
not the result of a compromise, but of actual conquest.   Some of the
most distinguished Professors of Medicine in Germany,  admit that
there is a good deal  in Homoeopathy whioh may be made available;
they admit that their poor patients have been physicked too much,
and that their prescriptions  are  unreasonably complicated; they
even go so far as to  ransack our Materia Medica, and to appropriate
some of our drugs,  without it is true, being always very particular
in regard to mentioning the source whence they are derived.  Pro-
fessor Schoenlein, of Berlin, recommends Pulsatilla for menstrual
suppression in doses of one-sixteenth of a grain.
  Previous to the thorough discussion which the doctrines of Hahne-
mann underwent in the columns of  the Hygea, the infinitesimal
globule had been considered as an indispensable  accompaniment, a
logical and inevitable result of the homoeopathic law.  This opinion
which, if allowed to prevail in an absolute sense,  might have led to
injurious and  perhaps  fatal mistakes in practice, was  tempered,
through the efforts of the Hygea, with a suitable admixture of
belief in the homoeopathicity  and  curative adaptation of  larger
doses of the remedial agent.   Even the tinctures of such drugs as
Pulsatilla, Aconite, Belladonna, Nux Vomica,, and the lower tritura-
tions of Mercury, Sulphur, Arsenic and other agents, were not only
used with  signal advantage,  but  were found  to be  equal,  if not
superior, to the attenuations in a number of cases.
  The bugbear of homoeopathic aggravations had  likewise been
stripped of its terrors.   This  doctrine was a logical consequence of
Hahnemann's peculiar mode of explaining the operation  of homoeo-
pathic agents,  and therefore liable to modifications just so  far as
these explanations might require to be modified.  It was found that
in many cases, the natural development of the morbid  phenomena
had been mistaken for a medicinal aggravation, and that the  subse-
quent relief was a natural  subsidence of the pain, and by no means
owing to an organic reaction against the primary action of the drug.
Thus one stumbling-block after another was removed, which  had
been in the way of a calm examination of the tenets of our school •
the number of sober-minded  homoeopathic practitioners increased
irom  year  to year; every fact in therapeutics  and  pathology of
which homoeopathy could justly and usefully  avail herself  was 
TRANSITION  PERIOD.
31
incorporated in her statute-book, and the day seemed to have dawned
when the regenerating influence of the homoeopathic law would be
felt in the whole domain of medical sciences.
  Gentlemen, the time will come when the law similia similibus shall
whisper accents  of wisdom in every council-chamber of our oppo-
nents; but we should not  attempt to  obtain this influence by an
abandonment of principle.   It is strange that in our own country,
where Homoeopathy is rushing onward like a mighty river in her
triumphant course, her crystal purity should be contaminated by the
mischievous folly of some of her pretended advocates.
  Some of the writers in the North American Homoeopathic Journal
promulgate  doctrines which every  philosophical  thinker of our
school must regard  as perversions of the very principle which con-
stitutes the corner-stone of  homoeopathic therapeutics.  The physi-
ologism of Broussais, the iatro-chemism of Liebig, the humoralism of
Boerhaave, the empiricism of Rademacher, all the medical absurdities
of the present and past centuries, are mixed up by Dr. Peters with
the facts of Homoeopathy, in that species of eclecticism which Trous-
seau and Pidoux condemn as "a source from which emanates the
nothingness of chaos, and  which, proscribing all unity of method,
has led to the numerical system, the last cloak of sceptical weakness."
  Is it proper for a homoeopathic practitioner to blow hot and cold
in the same breath,  and to swear by any kind of treatment that folly,
pride and reckless caprice may suggest ?  If the homoeopathic law of
cure  be not  an  universal principle,  capable of being defined and
applied with scientific precision, why affect the name of homoeopathic ?
Is not this trifling with the  sacred things of God and humanity?
  In an article on fatty diseases of the heart, Dr. Peters proposes to
get rid of the fat by deluging the stomach with liquor potassa.  A
pint, says he, will dissolve several pounds of it.   No more beautiful
illustration of iatrorchemism  could be found in the whole range of
medical literature.
  If you adopt physiologism  in one instance, why not be consistent ?
Why not stimulate the liver with  your calomel, or narcotise the
brain with opium ?   We may feel disposed to excuse the illusions of
this false system of physiological therapeutics for the sake  of the
consistency with which it was taught by the distinguished Professor
at the Val de Grace, with  an eloquence and a brilliancy of genius
that fascinated the  medical world  of Paris, and unfortunately was
backed by a power of specious logic, and  a justness and depth of
criticism, which swept the medical horizon like a meteor of dazzling
splendor.   But to see Hahnemann  chained to the car of Broussais,
must excite a feeling of pity and contempt in the heart of every
clear-headed homoeopathic  physician against these shallow attempts
to fish pure pearls in muddy  waters.
  Who can read a paragraph  like  the following in a professedly
homoeopathic journal without a feeling of bitter disappointment and
disgust:  "Acids prevent the digestion of, and remove fat; a Spanish
general who was enormously corpulent, is said to have removed the
fat so rapidly by drinking large quantities of vinegar, that he could
wrap the  loose  skin around  him like a cloak; another  case was 
32
INTRODUCTORY.
promptly cured by Nitric acid; yet when Nitric acid is made to act
on fibrin apparently deprived of its fat, an oily substance is  disen-
gaged ;  and during the action of Nitric acid on starch, an oily matter
is set free.   The best time to take acids, to prevent fatness, is before
and during meals. Alkalies, such as Soda and Potassa cure adiposis
in a different way, they cause the fat to be re-absorbed from the fat-
cells, then combine with it to form a soap or emulsion, after which
it is burnt up with oxygen, as a calorific  element;  the best time to
take alkalies to remove corpulency, is from four to six hours after
meals ; if taken with, or shortly after food, they will solve or saponify
all the oil and fat in the food, favor its absorption and appropriation."
Liebig teaching  Homoeopathy; as well  might we appoint a rabid
wolf the shepherd of a flock.
  Dr. Peters seems to have a peculiar fondness for the iatro-chemical
treatment of diseases.  Speaking of the iodide of potassium, he says :
" The most remarkable of its effects are a rapid and very considerable
increase of the urine, and what is quite remarkable is, that gradually
the uric acid sediments entirely disappear, while those of the ammonia-
phosphate of ammonia decidedly increase.  This effect is still more
apt to occur from large doses of the iodide of starch  and  iron.
Here we would seem to have a truly homoeopathic remedy to the
Phosphatic Lithiasis."  Liebig again!  This looks  like science, but
such teachings constitute a most woeful perversion of science.  How
does the iodide of potassium remove the uric acid crystals ?  By virtue
of its dynamic action?  But Lehmann  tells us that most of the
soluble  alkaline  salts, such as the nitrate of potash, the iodide of
potassium, the alkaline carbonates, etc., are found unchanged in the
urine.   Hence, so far as therapeutic  purposes are concerned, we
might as well mix these substances with the urinary excretions in
the bed-chamber instead of introducing them into the living organism.
  The doctrines  which I here  repudiate, are not the result  of  a
passing  indiscretion; they are the offspring of false principles and
of a misapprehension of the very spirit of Hahnemann's own teach-
ing.   And  what- is  worse, they are engrafted upon the Code  of
Homoeopathy  as  genuine doctrines;  they  are  recorded in, and
therefore must be supposed to have the sanction of, a professedly
homoeopathic journal distinguished for the ability, sound learning
and devotion of its editors and contributors.   Gentlemen, in defend-
ing truth, we must not mince matters; we must speak out plainly
and manfully. Honesty and rigorous  analysis are  our sacred right
and duty.
  Let me show you to what lamentable and dangerous mistakes the
hyper-materialism of Dr. Peters and his  followers, if he  have any,
leads  in practice. Speaking of Aethusa Cynapium,  and Noack's
recommendation of this  drug for abdominal typhus, the doctor goes
on to say:  "But the most  essential  part in typhoid fever is the
peculiar change in the blood, this consists  in a diminution of the
fibrin and an increase of the carbonated salts, especially of carbonate
of soda.   Numerous experiments have shown that in animals which
have for a long time  been submitted to the excessive use of alkalies
the blood becomes destitute of fibrin and  rich  in the carbonated 
PROPHETIC PERIOD.
33
alkalies;  hence the alkalies are homoeopathic to typhoid fever, and
the acids, antipathic."
  Now I ask, in the name of common sense, what have these phe-
nomena to do with the homoeopathicity of the carbonate of soda to
typhus ?  Is not this change in the constitution of the blood effected
by  an endosmotic process of absorption?   Is there the remotest
analogy between the cerebral symptoms accompanying this change
of the blood, and the pathognomonic symptoms of typhus?   How
will you determine the homoeopathicity of the alkali to typhus in a
given case?   Will you first draw a pint of blood from the patient
and then make a chemical analysis of it, in order to ascertain the
relative amount of fibrin and the presence of the carbonate of soda?
How absurd, and what an uncertain basis for the selection of a drug!
Lehmann tells us that  " it appears, from the most recent analysis of
Becquerel and Rodier, that the amount of fibrin may vary consider-
ably in the same  group of diseases, in  one case  rising  above, and
in another  falling below, the mean number."  Is it possible that
Homoeopathy has to seek refuge in such miserable fallacies ?  Sul-
phuric acid is recommended for black vomit, because, in a  case of
poisoning with sulphuric acid, the  acid corrodes and blackens the
mucous poat of the stomach; these shreds of chemically blackened
mucus are considered as homoeopathic to black vomit, and a clever
practitioner like Dr. Holcombe, permits himself, on the recommen-
dation of Dr. Peters, to  use sulphuric acid  in this stage of yellow
fever.
  Gentlemen, if I seem to you severe in my condemnation of these
mischievous teachings and practices, it is because I am pained in
my very soul, to see the divine truth of our doctrine sacrificed to
vulgar and deceptive materialism.   Alkalies are homoeopathic, acids
are antipathic to typhus.  What is the inexperienced student of
Homoeopathy to understand by this disgusting twaddle?  Is he to
understand that alkalies will cure typhus and that acids will not?
or that either may be used indiscriminately ?  If so, by what law is
he to determine the curative fitness of these respective agents in
determinate  cases?  AYhat is left for him to fall back upon, but a
baseless and  most treacherous empiricism,  unbecoming  a rational
mind, and utterly at variance with the divine prerogative of man to
investigate  the first principles of science, and to  realize in his own
humble sphere the order  and living harmony, which constitute the
matchless and imperishable beauty of God's nature.
   We are standing on the threshold of the future.  The


                  PROPHETIC PERIOD

of Homoeopathy has dawned upon us.  A spirit of inquiry is abroad
that will sweep out of existence both the hyper-symptomism of the
past and the hyper-materialism of the present;  a spirit of inquiry
that will develope  Homoeopathy into an art based upon the  clearly
comprehended  and universally  admitted facts  of  science.  The
medical age is traveling towards Homoeopathv, though with  their
                              3 
34
INTRODUCTORY.
seeing eyes they see not, and with their hearing ears they hear not.
The spirit of God is hovering over the dark waters of Medical Chaos,
creating order and harmony out of the confused elements which the
struggling genius of physicians has scattered about on the vast  plain
of Therapeutics.  Homoeopathy is fast reforming the old abuses and
modifying the theories of the*past.  In the most classical work on
Therapeutics in France, the sixth edition of which  was published a
few months ago, I  mean the elaborate treatise of Trousseau and
Pidoux. the doctrines  of the Organon are subjected to  a most  rigid,
but very fair criticism.  In an introductory chapter of some hundred
pages, thirty  are devoted to Hahnemann.
  Even our globules have been adopted by allceopathic practitioners.
In the late Convention of Apothecaries held in the city of Washing-
ton, Mr. Delluc, of New York, presented a report on what he  terms
saccharides and sugar-granules, which he recommends strongly as
more suitable and agreeable vehicles for the administration of drugs.
The report was referred to a committee, and the saccharides will no
doubt be incorporated in the body of allceopathic pharmaceutics.
  " The wind bloweth whither it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof; but  canst not tell whence it  cometh, nor whither it goeth."
Yes, the old  wreck  of Medicine  is drifting towards Homoeopathy.
The  people are  tired  of being physicked  to death, and physicians
are compelled to treat human nature with respect.   Satire is repudi-
ated by the  most distinguished opponents of Homoeopathy  as an
unworthy weapon.  "Ave do  not  belong to the party of those,"
write Trousseau and Pidoux, "who fancy they have  done  with
Hahnemann, after invoking  Arago's authority  to prove that the
decillionth part of a  grain  is proportioned to a whole grain, as an
atom which is invisible to the naked  eye, is to the bulk of the sun.
Assuredly, the quantity of the pestilential or small-pox miasm,  which
is required to  destroy a man, is exceedingly small, and we are not
aware whether Arago has ever endeavored to find out the relative
weight  or volume of this fractional miasm."  They even admit that,
if it " be  true, as Hahnemann asserts, that disease is an alteration of
the immaterial vital principle in us, and that the medicine which acts
upon this immaterial  vital principle, must do so by properties  of the
same order: the quantity of the dose may easily become  infini-
tesimally small."
   Why then, it may be asked, are these gentlemen opposed to
 Homoeopathy ?   Why do they reject or find fault with almost every
 existing  medical doctrine, and yet continue  the abuses of the old
 methods  of treatment ?  Evidently for various reasons, the principal
 of which  is, that they labor under an honest misapprehension  of the
 teachings of Hahnemann, arising  in a measure from their incom-
 pleteness  and from  Hahnemann's  unqualified opposition to the
 medical theories and practices  of the past.   They designate their
 method as the  substitutive method, by which they understand the
 process of effecting a cure, by substituting one disease for another.
 Theirs is not so much a new method, as a new mode  of explaining
 the phenomena of counter-irritation.  A cure of ophthalmia, by  means
 of the application of  a solution of the nitrate of silver to the inflamed 
PROPHETIC PERIOD.
35
 eye, is the result of a substitution of an artificial inflammation for
 the natural disease.
   This seems, in reality, Hahnemann's explanation of the operation
 of homoeopathic agents. _ The artificial disease substitutes itself for
 the natural malady, by virtue of its superior, more specific intensity.
 But strange to say, this very simple explanation has been woefully
 misunderstood by Hahnemann's opponents, as well as by some of his
 leading disciples.
   Every  disease embodies a trinity  of facts:  1. The  cause which
 constitutes the essential principle of the disease ; 2. The pathological
 lesion or derangement, and 3d, the symptomatic indications. Canyou
 conceive of a single act which is not the result of a three-fold order
 of principles?   Does not every act imply a moving cause, a thing
 moved, and a method or mode of motion ?  So does  every disease
 imply the existence of a morbific principle or force, a corresponding
 derangement of the  physiological functions,  and a series of phe-
 nomena by which this derangement manifests itself to the sentient
 understanding.
   What now does  Hahnemann, who  never mistook a pathological
 lesion for the essential morbific force, mean when he  says that the
 homoeopathic remedial agent effects a cure by  virtue of its superior
 intensity ? Why, he simply means, that the relation existing between
 the  remedial  agent and the  essential morbific force,  is  of a more
 specific nature, and therefore more intense, than the relation existing
 between the morbific force and the physiological organism, and that
 this force will therefore be induced, by a natural process  of affinity,
 to relinquish the organism and unite itself with the remedial agent,
 which possesses the power to externalize, if I may use this expression,
 the  internal  disease,  by amalgamating it  as  it were with its own
 molecules, and thus reducing it to such a condition of inferiority to
 the vital  reaction as must result in the restoration of health.  If
 Hahnemann had not meant this, he would have taught an absurdity,
 and Hahnemann was not the man to teach foolish things.
   Professor Trousseau and the symptomists have done Hahnemann
 equal injustice in opposite directions; Trousseau by accusing Hahne-
 mann of contenting himself with combating the essential, immaterial,
 dynamic,  morbific cause, and the  symptomists  by  attributing to him
 the absurd doctrine, that symptoms may be treated as abstract and
 independent entities as it were, without referring them to a patholo-
 gical lesion as their fountain-head.  Hahnemann knew full well that
 in every  disease the  physiological functions  of  the organism  are
 deranged in a peculiar, specific manner; but when he speaks of the
 substitutive action  of homoeopathic remedial  agents,  he does  not
 understand it in the same sense as the physiological school, of which
 Trousseau is one of the leading oracles, understands this doctrine.
 He certainly does not mean that in order to cure a natural inflamma-
tion, we must absorb it by exciting a more  intense artificial inflam-
mation,  but he  does  teach that the character of the pathological
lesion determines the meaning of  the symptoms, and the choice of a
remedial agent,  and that a remedial agent, thus selected in accord-
ance with the  symptoms, and with  specific reference to the patho- 
36
INTRODUCTORY.
logical disorder, will act directly upon the morbific force by virtue
of an inmost and therefore superior affinity, without creating a per-
ceptible artificial disturbance of the physiological organism.
   Gentlemen, I  look upon a proper comprehension of the homoe-
opathic law as  the  highest effort of reason.  It can  hardly be
expected that an allceopathic physician, whose mind is wedded to
the fallacies of materialism,  should be able to  analyze the meaning
of similia similibus with that nicety of perception without which any
heavenly truth remains either  inaccessible to the human mind, or
hidden in the fog of scepticism and misapprehension. Trousseau who
is a distinguished Professor  in the Medical School of Paris, a good
and  honest  man, of gifted intellect and not- afraid of  progressive
ideas, does,  not  comprehend Hahnemann.  Hence his  arguments
against  Homoeopathy  leave  the  latter  invulnerable  and  may be
turned against his own position with terrible effect.
   " Because an artificial morbid action seems to cure in many cases
a natural morbid action by  substituting  itself in  the place  of  the
latter, after which  the  former rapidly disappears of itself, we must
not conclude that this curative  effect is due to the similarity of  the
artificial to the natural disease.   Substitution does not mean homoe-
opathicity.   The curative  application of a topical irritant to a speci-
fically inflamed  part  cannot be  accounted for on the  ground of
similia similibus. In a phlegmasia of a bad  character, topical irri-
tants  act most probably  by causing the  healthy  or physiological
element to prevail over the morbid element, or by extinguishing, so
to say, the latter.  This may be inferred  from the injurious  action
which topical irritants exercise on healthy inflammation.   A healthy
or physiological inflammation,  and an inflammation of a morbid,
gangrenous,  diphtheritic, syphilitic, scrofulous character, are in  no
wise similar.  Pathologically considered, they are rather opposed
to each other, since the one tends to a curative restoration, and the
other to a decomposition  and destruction of the parts.   Hence by
endeavoring to impress a restorative character upon an inflammatory
process of a specifically morbid, disorganizing tendency, we do not
act homeopathically, but heteropathically.   If it were possible for the
medicine to  induce an artificial  morbid action as nearly as possible
similar to the natural morbid action, this one would be increased
instead of being weakened.  But an internal  resemblance has been
taken for granted on the ground of a few  gross external analogies,
and whereas the  principle of contraria was more evidently demon-
strated than ever, the principle of similia has been  proclaimed."
   This paragraph, which seems  to embody a very specious and suc-
cessful refutation of the homoeopathic law, shows how little even
such men as Trousseau and Pidoux apprehend the true import of
similia similibus.  They will have it that  a medicine, in order to  act
homoeopathically to a disease, must actually set up a disturbance of
the physiological functions similar in form and degree to the natural
disease.  This, they say, is the doctrine of the Organon, and it may
indeed seem so to the superficial reader.   But in spite of Trousseau's
argument to the  contrary,  Mercury does cure syphilis homoeopathi-
cally.  Mercury is homoeopathic to the  syphilitic element, and it is 
PROPHETIC PERIOD.
37
this element that Mercury neutralizes or extinguishes, if you please,
thus converting  the malignant sore into  a  healthy  inflammation.
And if the application of white precipitate or the nitrate of silver to
a  simple, or,  as Trousseau  terms  it,  physiological  inflammation
results in an increase of irritation of the inflamed part, it is because
the action of the topical irritant is not homoeopathic to the physio-
logical action  or element.  No, my dear professor,  homoeopathic
physicians are not the fools you take them to  be; Homoeopathy does
not rest upon a mere gross resemblance of external symptoms, but
upon a similarity of the internal morbid processes.  It is the drug-
action in its essential principles that is homoeopathic to the essential
morbid action, and, by virtue of this homoeopathic affinity, hushes
up, extinguishes or, as you very energetically  express  it, devours
this latter element.
   The whole of Trousseau's brilliant argumentation against Homoe-
opathy rests upon  this fatal misapprehension of the fundamental
idea of homoeopathicity.  Trousseau will have it  that homoeopathi-
city means the actual production of a pathological disorder similar
to, and more violent than the natural disease, whereas the true intent
and meaning  of Homoeopathy is the superior affinity of the drug-
principle to the essential principle of the disease or to the morbific
force or element, as Trousseau terms it, which generates the specific,
characteristic derangement of the physiological functions.   AVe thank
the learned Professor  for having  afforded  us  an opportunity of
enlightening him on the subject of Homoeopathy; he is, so far as I
know, the first  writer of eminence who has undertaken  the task of
refuting  the  doctrines  of Hahnemann  by philosophical  reasoning.
AVould that all our opponents might  imitate his example!  If we
cannot beat them in vulgar  abuse, we certainly can beat them in
argument.
   Friends, we  must not expect to conquer  the  world by a mere
stroke of the pen.  Nor will the numerical method be found a reli-
able means of securing the universal  triumph  of our cause.  It is
undoubtedly true that, under  a properly  conducted  homoeopathic
treatment, all other circumstances being equal, more patients will be
cured  than under any  other form of treatment.  Nevertheless, the
numerical  method is the lowest order of argument that can be re-
sorted to in favor of Homoeopathy.   Numbers are not facts of the
reason, but have to be credited upon  the authority of  individual
observers.  And then it is very doubtful Avhether the pneumonia or
typhus of one  region, and similar maladies  of another  region, ave
equally intense in character, and equally amenable  to  treatment.
Moreover, observers may not be equally particular in ranging dis-
eases under their proper categories,  although I am confident that, in
this respect, unfairness cannot be charged  upon  homoeopathic prac-
titioners, who very often succeed in cutting  short an  acute disease,
like Asiatic cholera, in its preliminary stage, which, under allceopa-
thic treatment,  will run its course onward towards a fatal termina-
tion.
  If similia similibus is a natural law, it must be capable of demon-
stration.   We cannot expect to  convince our allceopathic brethren 
38
INTRODUCTORY.
 of the truth thereof, until we shall  succeed in establishing this law
 as one of the immutable principles of nature, the perception of which
 constitutes an essential element, and therefore  an inevitable result,
 in the progress of our mental growth.  Yes, if similia  similibus  be
 an universal law, and if it be true, that Infinite Wisdom operates m
 things infinitely great as well as in things infinitely small,  according
 to an  unchanging system of harmony, then  every globule which a
 homoeopathic physician prescribes,  should personate God's Provi-
 dence to  the suffering organism, and should minister relief just so
 far as relief is possible under the supreme laws of life.
   The usefulness of the homoeopathic law is admitted even by those
 who denounce the doctrines of Hahnemann as a  tissue of absurdities.
 Professor Simpson concedes, that " it would  be a valuable general
 law, if it could be proved to be such."  Even Hooker, in his diatribe
 against Homoeopathy  and Hahnemann, believes  in  the possibility
 that " future observation may establish the homoeopathic law as one
 among the many laws of  cure, which are  employed in the removal
 of disease ;" he simply asserts  " that homoeopathic observation has
 not done it."
   Is there such a law ?   Is an universal law of cure one of the prin-
 ciples of universal order ?  To say that it is not, is to doubt the
 wisdom and goodness  of  Providence.  It matters not how disease
 came into the world,   The  biblical tradition  of the  original sin,
 whether it be understood in a  literal or figurative sense, accounts
 for the introduction of disease in a manner sufficient for all practical
 purposes.  We are told that the Creator was satisfied with his work.
 The design and  working  of the great machinery of creation were
 perfect.  If there was no disease, the probability  is that there were
 no drugs.  If there were drugs, the Creator must have foreseen the
 eventual  supervention of diseases; and if there were no  drugs, he
 must have so fashioned the forces of nature that, with the  introduc-
 tion of diseases, drugs must have been produced.   If drugs were in-
 tended as the natural neutralizers of diseases, I do not see  how, with
 the belief in a. Providence, whether the Providence of God, or the
 Providence  of Nature, whose  supervising and all-governing  care
 extends to the minutest details of the Great Whole, the  idea of a
 specific adaptation of drugs to diseases  can  be avoided.  And if
 drugs are specifically curative under His infinite Providence, it can
 be shown that they cure homoeopathically.
   It matters not how we understand man's original transgression  of
 the laws of Divine Order.  The fact that  such a transgression took
 place, is established  by the evidence of the actual as well  as by the
 traditions of the past.  The moral transgression tainted the physical
 creation, and the forces of disease were the inevitable result.   But
 God could not permit these morbific forces to pervade creation like
 wild and lawless furies seeking whom they might destroy.   He sub-
jected them to the laws of order, by compelling them to  fix them-
 selves as it were in definite, concrete forms.   Thus it is, that medi-
 cinal agents embody or materialize, so to say, morbific forces, them-
 selves resulting from man's original transgression, and perpetuating
 themselves, with the hereditary consequences of this transgression 
PROPHETIC PERIOD.
39
in man, from age to age and generation to generation.  In what do
these hereditary consequences consist in a pathological and thera-
peutical aspect ?  AV"hy, they consist in the fact that man's organism
is actually tainted with morbid tendencies, corresponding with those
forces of disease which a wise and merciful Creator compels to em-
body or substantialize themselves in our drugs for the use of suffer-
ing man.  The Aconite-force is therefore within us, the Belladonna-
force is within us, not actively, but  in a state of potency, watching
for  an opportunity to break forth like a fury bent upon destroying
the organism.  Under the  influence of some accidental cause, the
slumbering  Aconite-force becomes a rebellious disease, and then it
is that the healing artist steps in with the  Aconite-plant in  order to
imitate God's own  process of salvation.   He brings the Aconite-
principle as materialized in the plant, in contact with the Aconite-
disease, and  obliges the  latter, by virtue of its superior affinity to
the former, to unite itself with the drug-molecules, and  from an in-
ternal disease, to become converted into  an external principle of
limited and  harmless dimensions.  This  it is  what  Hahnemann
meant, when  he  seeks  to  explain a homoeopathic cure upon the
ground that a drug acts more powerfully than.the disease ;  Hahne-
mann could never have been guilty of the  silly nonsense, which his
opponents impute to him.
  To Homoeopathy is reserved the glorious mission of restoring
order in the domain of Medicine.  Order in Medicine implies a three-
fold hierarchy of facts:
   1st. Forces of disease which are  essences, essential principles or
morbific causes, effecting corresponding derangements of the physio-
logical functions and thereby producing,
  2d.  Pathological  lesions which manifest themselves to the sentient
understanding,
  3d.  By abnormal sensations and alterations of tissue.
  This is the hierarchy of facts without which Medicine is a choas
and a nonsense, and which implies a threefold order of studies :
  Pathogenesy, or the science of morbific causes;
  Pathology, or the doctrine of abnormal changes in the physiologi-
cal functions and the organic tissues; and  lastly,
  Semeiology, or the doctrine of symptomatic indications.
  AVho can  foretell whether it will ever be given unto us to know
the essences tfcit perpetuate woe and pain  among us ?  We may
never be able to  solve  this mystery, but it will be  reserved for
Homoeopathy to show that these essences do not float through ethe-
real space in  anarchical confusion; Homoeopathy will show that
they are definite in number, subject to law and order, and admitting
of a classification not depending upon the fitful caprice of fancy, but
resting upon the incontrovertible and immutable dictates of Nature.
Mere symptom-hunting will not accomplish this result, but  a careful
and unceasing comparison of drug-symptoms  with pathological
phenomena will be  a preliminary step  towards the  grand Nosology
of Nature.
  And then, let us  not despair of the chemist and the natural phil-
osopher.  Consider what has been done in  the laboratory!  How 
40
INTRODUCTORY.
the principles of matter have been hunted up in their hiding-places .
May we never know the forces that float upon the sun-beam into the
atmospheres of Nature, vitalizing the germinal principles in the crust
of our planet, and developing them into  visible forms in harmonic
relations with the constituent principles of man's own nature ?  The
ancient philosophy which regarded man  as a miniature-universe, is
the very corner-stone of theosophic truth and a mine of practical
usefulness to the Homoeopathic physician.    Yes,  the principles
which originated the drug-world, emanate from, and are perpetu-
ated by, man's sinful nature.  He tasted of the fruit of the tree of
the knowledge of good  and evil; he substituted the  lusts  of  his
own will in the place of God's law of love, and the  fallacies of  his
foolish wisdom in the place of God's eternal truth.   The consequence
of this moral transgression was that man's physical organism became
tainted with morbid tendencies or predispositions which  reacting
upon the spheres of life, engendered  morbific  forces corresponding
with those morbid tendencies.  Every now  and then, under favor-
able circumstances, these morbific forces, existing as they do in the
bosom of the vital spheres, invade the organism exciting its morbid
predispositions into actual lesions.
  But, under God's Supreme Providence, these forces of disease are
subject to definite laws of order and means have  been provided  for
their extinction.  The forces which develop pathological lesions are
the same forces that develop drugs in the  crust of our planet.  Drugs
being the natural ultimations or material types of the forces of dis-
ease, will therefore manifest a tendency, and are indeed possessed of
a power to absorb or attract these  forces, to externalize them as it
were with reference to the internal organism, and hence to hush  up
their disorderly workings amid the play  of the physiological func-
tions.
  Thus it is that  God himself sets us a supreme example of homoeo-
pathic action.  With the  very  forces which  create  pathological
lesions, He creates the means for their extinction.  And the human
artist imitates the Divine example by using for the cure of a patho-
logical lesion such drugs as are  homeopathic  to it; in other words,
drugs that harbor within their inmost  bosoms the  very forces  which
had excited the lesion, and the quality of which he determines ap-
proximatively, according to Hahnemann's brilliant teaching, by ex-
perimentation upon the healthy as the only reliable^basis  of com-
parison between  the physiological  series of phenomena  of  druo-.
action, and the pathological series or phenomena of disease.
  Here you have a generalization of the facts which may be said to
constitute the great Series of Homoeopathy:  man's sin taintino- the
vital spheres which support his physiological organism, by the pro-
duction of morbific principles that would utterly  pervert God's fair
creation, if, under His supreme Providence, they  were not held  in
order by eternal laws.  Under God's government they do not rove
through the spheres of life like the unchained furies of hell, but they
are ever tending  downwards in obedience to an inevitable  necessity
until, in material nature, they become  embodied in fixed forms sub-
ject to the use of man, each typifying some specific morbific essence 
PRACTICAL CHARACTER OF HOMOEOPATHY.         41
which will not fail to unite itself with this its material type, if such
a union be still possible in the prostrated organism.
  Would that I could make you see it as clearly as I see it:  that our
drug-world is a fixed and permanent  revelation, in material forms,
of the diseases that afflict humanity !   To me, Homoeopathy is not a
mere system of technicalities; it  is  a  Christian science,  a divine
handmaid to the Christian atonement.   Sin begetting disease which
the laws of order compel to fix itself in definite material forms that
become the agents for its own extinction.  Is not this the Christian
salvation enacted in the domain of therapeutics ?  God permitting
sin  to exist,  and coming into  the world  to wipe out its terrible con-
sequences !
  It has been said that Homoeopathy is a system of atheism in dis-
guise.   AVho are the atheists—practitioners who flagellate the poor
organism with the rod and the scorpion, or  the men who gently and
sweetly minister remedial agents for the purpose of removing pain ?
" I came not to destroy, but to save."   Nor was  a drug created for
the purpose of inflicting pain; its mission is to be a saviour unto
suffering man.
  It is the Physiological, school, this  medical Babylon of  the day,
that is  guilty of  atheistic materialism. Berard, the Professor of
Physiology in the  Medical School of Paris, teaches that life is the
result of organization, a doctrine that can only be accounted for and
excused in so far as it  implies an  acknowledgment of the  magnifi-
cently-beautiful harmony of adaptation existing  between man's
spiritual and natural organisms.
  Trousseau and Pidoux account for the phenomena of disease and
of medicinal action by the supposition of vital properties  inherent
in the constitution of matter. Living matter!   A self-sustaining,
self-living organism!
  And if the harmony of the machine is disturbed, they bleed, blis-
ter and burn it, as though the poor organism were at fault.  They
do not see that it is  invaded  by an enemy, from whose  assaults it
should be freed without having additional tortures inflipted upon
it.  " I came not to destroy, but to give life."
  Gentlemen, we may  not live to see  the  day when  Homoeopathy
shall be acknowledged  as the great  universal Christian science of
medicine.  But let us work for this noble end. The harvest is ripe,
and God's blessing awaits every honest laborer in the vinyard of
his suffering humanity.
                    LECTURE  II.

  AVE have  met,  gentlemen,  to  study both  facts  and principles.
Among the facts, a correct knowledge of the therapeutic properties
of our drugs occupies a deservedly high, if not the highest, rank.
The principles embrace every statement or inference, every generali-
zation, which bears  upon, illustrates the meaning or facilitates the
application of our  law of cure. 
42
LECTURE II.
  I shall devote this hour to a development of some of the general
principles of our school, including a philosophical definition of our
law of cure, a clear perception of which is absolutely necessary to a
successful study and  an intelligent application of the therapeutic
properties of our drugs, and their modus operandi in disease.
  Before, however, entering upon a description of the external and
internal properties of our drugs, it will be advisable to spend  a few
hours in explaining the various technical definitions which frequently
occur in our school, and in acquainting those among you, who have
not as yet had an opportunity of looking into our method of  treat-
ment, with the necessary details regarding the mode  of making
homoeopathic preparations, the utensils and manipulations which are
resorted to for that purpose, an explanation of various technical
expressions, such as trituration, attenuation, potency,  dilution, and
so forth.  It is  likewise desirable that you should have a  knowledge
of the non-medicinal vehicles which we use in preparing our attenu-
ations, such as sugar  of milk, alcohol, globules, etc.: in one word,
it  behooves every  homoeopathic physician to  possess a general
knowledge  of the manner  in which a crude drug is changed into a
remedial agent.
  Many among you, being already fully acquained with these details,
may feel disposed to deem their recital superfluous.  To all second
course students, young practitioners, or young gentlemen who have
had  the advantage of studying with older practitioners, these pre-
liminary details must undoubtedly seem  tedious; but  let us  not
forget that  there  are  those among us who come here for the first
time, and who  have not yet had an opportunity of seeing or hearing
much in the way of homoeopathic technicalities. For their sakes I
shall be obliged to tire some of you with a few repetitions.
  It is your interest, gentlemen, that I should not take anything for
granted.  You may perhaps  recollect one  of  Moliere's immortal
comedies, where a gentleman  who had risen to fortune and to a
position in society,  engaged a professor of philosophy to  give him
a private course of lectures on metaphysics.  The professor said to
him, " I suppose you understand Latin, sir?"  To which the gentle-
man replied, " Oh, yes, sir, but you had better talk to  me as if I
knew nothing  about it."  This student chose the true  mode of
learning.
   Keep it  constantly before  your mind's eye  that a professor of
medicine is not an infallible mortal, were that  mortal  even Hahne-
mann.  I trust that I shall never  permit myself to lay before you
facts which only exist in my own imagination and  are not substan-
tiated by experience.  Nevertheless, I shall at times offer inferences
and  suggestions;  I shall lead your minds into the higher regions of
thought, and endeavor to explain  the law under which  the facts of
homoeopathic therapeutics are grouped in harmonious relations. At
such times  I trust that you will ever find my mind  as free from par-
tizan dogmatism as I desire your  minds to  be.  "Prove all thino-s
and  hold fast  that which is good !"  Let this be your maxim in all
your studies.   Genuine  faith is the acknowledgment of a truth that
shines as such in the interiors of the mind. This should be the faith 
PRACTICAL  CHARACTER OF HOUCEOPATHY.
43
 of a student of Homoeopathy.  If a statement does not seem clear
 and convincing, examine, interrogate, discuss; you will always find
 me and  my colleagues willing to mete out to you the full measure
 of justice.
   My duty to  you, gentlemen, does not consist in making a display
 of learning;  it is of a far more elevated and useful nature.  You
 have come here to obtain, a knowledge of Medicine generally, and
 more particularly of the  manner in which diseases are  treated  in
 accordance with the homoeopathic law.  Our system of Therapeutics
 is exceedingly democratic.  If you look into Hahnemann's Materia
 Medica Pura, you will there find scarcely a single word of Latin  or
 Greek.  The action of every drug is described  in the simple lan-
 guage of the  people.   These drugs  were proved by Hahnemann's
 disciples and their friends.  By proving, we mean  that persons  in
 health swallow a portion of the drug, in order to ascertain how it
 will  affect them.  The  effects of the  drugs were  collected and
 recorded in the  words of the prover;  hence, in the original lan-
 guage, you will find many expressions among these provings which
 are not at all  received as classical, and might mislead one who  is
 not thoroughly acquainted with  the idiomatic singularities of the
 German people.  Among the provings of Chamomile, for example,
 we frequently meet with this expression: "sensation as if the heart
 should be squeezed off."  By heart, the common people in Germany
 mean the  pit  of the  stomach; and by this symptom the prover
 simply meant to convey the idea  that he  experienced  a  very hard
 and painful pressure in the prsecordial  region, such as is generally
 accompanied by anxiety and shortness of breath.   That this is the
 meaning of the distress thus announced  as a pressure as though the
 heart should be squeezed off, results from the accompanying expres-
 sions immediately preceding or succeeding this symptom.
   Physicians have long since found out that diseases may be named,
 but cannot be  treated, much less cured, with Latin or Greek.  In
 order to treat diseases successfully, you have to be correct diagnos-
 ticians, in other words you have to know what the matter is; but
 next  to this knowledge, it is likewise of the utmost importance that
 you should have an accurate knowledge of the true action of drugs
 upon the organism in  health, not only of their toxicological effects
 as we find them recorded in old-school works on toxicology; but  of
 the more delicate shades of action which may be  observed through-
 out all the ramifications of the sentient nervous  system.  You will
 find the  action of our drugs delineated with remarkable accuracy
 and completeness in Hahnemann's Materia Medica.  But their study
 would require more toil and time than you can afford, in the begin-
ning  of  your  professional career, to bestow upon a  careful and
thoughtful perusal of this laborious work; moreover, the multitude
and apparent sameness of the symptoms might puzzle you.  It  is
my duty to present this subject  to  you in a more digested and
practical form.
  I would not have you understand that one or two courses of
lectures will enable you to dispense with all further study on your
part.  All I can do, in the short period which  is allotted to our 
44
LECTURE II.
lectures, is to give you such a knowledge of the curative properties
of our drugs as shall  enable you to  step to the bedside of your
patients, with the confidence of men who need not be afraid of the
enemy they have to encounter.  Nevertheless, a case  may turn up,
even  at  the  commencement  of your  professional  career, where,
instead of prescribing for your patient upon the spot, you may deem
it expedient to first consult your records.  If you improve your
opportunities for study, as all young gentlemen who mean to devote
their  lives to the service of suffering humanity ought, such a diffi-
culty  will never occur in an acute case, requiring the immediate
interference of the physician; but in a chronic case, in a functional
or organic disorder  of long standing, you may have to fall back
upon  a Manual or Repertory, before making a prescription.
  A perusal of our Materia Medica will confirm to you my state-
ment  that in style and manner it is as simple as it is rich and vast
in its therapeutic aspect. It shall be my endeavor, and it will be my
pleasure  to show to you the perfect applicability of this Materia
Medica to the successful treatment of all curable diseases.  You will
find that the characteristics, or, as we term them, the pathognomonic
symptoms of  all known diseases are contained among the results of
our provings with sufficient accuracy and fulness to admit of the
application of our great law "similia similibus  curantur," to all
curable cases of disease.
  Gentlemen, let us pause here for a few moments, and look at the
practical character of the homoeopathic system of treatment.  You
are aware that our literature abounds in popular works on Practice.
There is hardly a family  of ordinary  intelligence and  education,
where the mother, an elder sister,  or some  other member  of the
flock, is not more or less  acquainted  with the use of some of our
drugs in all ordinary cases. "Hahnemann was the most democratic
practitioner  of Medicine  that  ever shook  the  old oligarchy of
medical dogmatism to its foundations.  The popular literature of
our school is  the  logical  and inevitable consequence of his mode
of criticising the old abuses and of treating the new truths.  Some
of our popular treatises on Homoeopathy, most of which are pub-
lished under the title  of " Domestic Physicians," have reached as
many as six and even more editions.  Hering's Domestic  has gone
through eleven editions in Germany.
  In the 25th number of the  North-American Homoeopathic Jour-
nal, the mention of this work is accompanied by  the folio win o-
remarks  signed_ by  T. F. Pomeroy: "In the last number  of the
journal, I perceive that Dr. Peters handles quack  and secret medi-
cines  without gloves, as they justly deserve.  I could not but wish
while reading his article, that he or some other one competent to do
justice to the subject, would take up the matter of the domestic
practice of Homoeopathy, as taught in the thousand and one treatises
called 'Domestic Physicians,' and the  practice necessarily growing
out of the publication of such works, of  furnishing families with
'domestic cases  of medicines.'  My own observation has satisfied
me that this system, on the whole, has been productive of vastly more
injury than good, both to the public and to the profession  and it is 
PRACTICAL CHARACTER OF  HOMOEOPATHY.         45
high time that it should be discountenanced and discontinued.  In
my opinion, the use of pellets or globules, and the attempt to popu-
larize and domesticate Homoeopathy, have done more to degrade and
injure our system, than any or all other influences combined.  The
introduction of the  homoeopathic system and its zealous propaga-
tion, would naturally  and necessarily excite both  prejudice and
opposition, because the interests of others were jeopardized thereby;
but the shafts of ridicule and contempt that have incessantly assailed
its onward progress, have been invited by the folly that has begotten
a progeny of  medical  literature, noted particularly for  its crudity
and rapid increase.
  "I hope that the time is not far distant, when more attention shall
be paid to the publication of books for the profession, and the
talents and time of  our brethren no longer wasted  upon ' Domestic
Practices' which  seem chiefly to level us  and our  system to the
position of quacks  and quackery.   So soon as its  adherents and
exponents  shall learn to treat it with the respect  to which it is
entitled, our system of medicine will command even from its oppo-
nents both recognition and respect, although it may not secure their
adhesion to its precepts or principles."
  The  physician who  penned this  paragraph is just one  century
behind  this age of democratic progress.   Let  your motto  be the
beautiful verse of the old poet  Terentius: "Nullius humani a me
alienum puto." I feel interested in everything that concerns man !
With this  feeling in  your hearts, you will always desire to render
the beauties of art and the majestic  movements of science accessible
to the masses of our people.   "Let  your light shine on the house-
tops, do not hide it  under  the bushel!"   This great precept  is
emphatically applicable to the teaching  and practice of medicine.
The man who  would keep the light of medical  truth shut out from
the popular mind,  ignores the  spirit of our  institutions,  and  is
utterly regardless of the portentous  signs of the times. The gloomy
shadows of the old dogmatism are fast flitting out of sight before
the rising sun  of truth. Shall we again bow to the mystic conclaves
of bewigged and bepowdered pedants, or shall it be our endeavor
to cause the star of Homoeopathy to shine  into the  palaces of the
great and the cottages of the poor and the lowly ?
  Dr. Adam Smith  has called universities the " dull repositories of
exploded opinions."   Let  our university be a beacon-light of truth
to every honest inquirer.   I regard the propagation of our doctrines
among  the people  as  one of the  first duties of  a homoeopathic
physician, young  or old.   Use all honorable means  to  accomplish
this purpose.  Be always ready to relieve the sick, and do it success-
fully if possible.   Enlist the editors  of journals in your favor.  Get
them to publish, every now and then, an editorial paragraph making
favorable mention of Homoeopathy.  Publish popular  tracts, and
every few weeks scatter them broadcast throughout the length and
breadth of the  community where you happen  to practice.  As often
as your time and means will allow, give a lecture to the people; if
possible, publish some popular periodical on Homoeopathy, and get
your friends to share the expense by liberal contributions.  Never 
46
LECTURE II.
mind the croaking of your opponents about quackery; this is nothing
but the silly twaddle  of impotent fools, who resort to abuse m the
place of argument.  All the great and liberal minds among medical
practitioners  have constantly endeavored  to popularize the practice
of their art.  Listen to the' words  of one of the noblest and most
gifted among them, I mean Benjamin Rush.   In his lecture on "the
causes which have retarded the progress of medicine," he gives this
soul-stirring advice to the  young gentlemen who enjoyed the privi-
lege of listening to this great teacher:
  " Let us strip our profession of everything that looks like mystery
and  imposture, and  clothe medical knowledge in a dress so simple
and  intelligible, that it may become a part of academical education
in all our seminaries of learning.  Truth is simple upon all subjects,
but  upon those  which  are essential to the  general happiness  of
mankind, it is obvious to the meanest capacities.  There is no man
so simple, that cannot  be taught  to  cultivate  grain, and no woman
so devoid of understanding as to  be  incapable of learning the art of
making that  grain into bread.  And shall the means of preserving
our health, by the  culture and preparation of aliment, be so intel-
ligible, and yet the means of restoring  it, when lost, be so abstruse
as to require years of study to discover  and apply them?   To
suppose this, is to call  in question the goodness  of the Supreme
Being, and  to believe that he acts without unity and system in all
His works.  In no one of the acts of man do we behold more weak-
ness and error than in our present modes of education.  We teach
our sons words at the expense of things.  We teach them what was
done two thousand years ago, and conceal from them what is doing
every day.   We instruct them in  the  heathen  mythology, but
neglect to teach them the principles of the religion of their country.
We  teach them to predict eclipses  and the return of comets, from
which no physical advantages worth naming have ever been derived;
but we give them no instruction in the  signs which precede general
and  individual diseases.   How long shall the human mind  bend
beneath the usages of ancient and barbarous times?  When shall
we cease to  be mere scholars, and become wise philosophers, well-
informed citizens and useful men ?
  " The essential  principles  of medicine  are very few.  They are
moreover plain.  There is not a graduate  in the arts, in any of our
colleges, who does not learn things of more difficulty than a system
of just principles in medicine.
  " All the morbid effects of heat  and cold, of intemperance in eating
and drinking, and in the exercises of the body and mind, might be
taught with as much ease as the multiplication table.
   "All the knowledge which is attainable of diseases by the pulse,
might be acquired  at a less expense of  time and labor than is spent
in committing the contents of a Latin grammar to memory.
   "The operation  of  bleeding might be taught with less trouble
than is taken to teach boys to draw,  upon paper or slate, the figures
in Euclid.
   " A knowledge of the virtues and doses  of the most active and
useful medicines, might be acquired with  greater facility, and much 
PRACTICAL CHARACTER OF  HOMOEOPATHY.         47
more pleasure, than the rules for composing syllogisms laid down in
our system of logic.
  " In support of the truth of the opinions I am now advancing, let
us take a view of the effects of simplicity, which has been introduced
into  the art of war by one of the nations of Europe.  A few obvious
principles have  supplied  the place of volumes upon  tactics; and
private  citizens  have become greater generals, and peasants more
irresistible soldiers, in a few weeks, than their  predecessors in war
were after the instruction and experience of fifteen or twenty years.
Could changes equally simple and general be introduced by means
of our schools  into the practice of medicine, no arithmetic  could
calculate its advantages.   Millions of lives would be saved by it.
  " In  thus recommending the  general diffusion of medical know-
ledge, by making  it a part of an academical education, let it not be
supposed that I wish to see the exercise of medicine abolished as a
regular profession.   Casualties which  render operations in surgery
necessary, and such diseases as occur rarely, will always require
professional aid; but the knowledge that is necessary for these pur-
poses may be soon acquired; and two  or three persons, separated
from other pursuits, would be sufficient to apply it to a city consisting
of forty thousand people."
  These are the opinions of a great and good teacher of our profes-
sion.  The healing art, as such, is a very simple thing; and this
beau ideal of it, as foreshadowed by the illustrious  Rush, finds its
realization in the homoeopathic practice.
  The study of the therapeutic properties of  our drugs may be
recluceol  to the  simplest formulas.  There does not seem to  be any
immediate necessity for a knowledge of all the  intricacies of physi-
ology or pathological anatomy, in order to become  a successful
practitioner.  A physician should undoubtedly know all that which
is practically useful to him as a  restorer of health;  but pathological
anatomy, as Rokitansky studies it, pursuing the material disorders
of disease in the  dead  body with as much tenacity as Columbus
went in  search of a new continent, or Le Yerrier  hunts up  a new
star, is  something comparatively distinct from, or independent of,
the plain and practical wants of the sick-room.
  Gentlemen, a  man may be the leading pathological  anatomist of
the age, and yet he may be a poor physician; a  man may be a great
physiological chemist, and  yet a most unsuccessful practitioner;  a
man may be a second Cruveilhier, and yet lose  more patients than
his unlearned colleague who  only has a general knowledge of the
main facts of anatomy: a man may even be a most learned patholo-
gist, and yet make exceedingly inadequate prescriptions.  Why is all
this ?  Why may a practitioner treat diseases,  and treat them suc-
cessfully, without wading through the almost bottomless pathological
learning of the Vienna School ?  It is undoubtedly true that thera-
peutics should not be, and indeed cannotf be, separated from physi-
ology and pathology, but, in the present state of these sciences,
they can only inform us in a  very  general way, how far,  and in
what specific manner, the healthy functions of the organism have
been invaded by disease.  It has taken years of hard labor and bitter 
48
LECTURE II.
^disappointments to reach this point; but  now  when  it has  been
  reached ;  now, when the organic functions, the nature  of the secre-
  tions, the  mission of the nervous system and the mutual relations
  of organs are tolerably well known, we find that the pathology of
  disease is not only cleared up, but  simplified by the flood of  light
  which the patient toil of our cotemporaries has shed upon it.  Any
  intelligent person may be taught whether a headache is of a conges-
  tive, bilious or nervous character; any person may learn to diagnose
  pleurisy, pneumonia, typhus or any other disease of common occur-
  rence, and may  be made acquainted with the  course  anol  natural
  terminations of these disorders.   Why  should a knowledge of the
  therapeutic  properties of our drugs, and of what constitutes  their
  homoeopathicity to certain diseases, be more difficult ?
    It  is not a knowledge of the  ten  thousand  minutiae of disease,
  that secures success in practice ;  but the possession of that intuitive
  power of vision, that inborn faculty to appreciate the meaning and
  relation of phenomena, as indicating the degree or  character of an
  existing disturbance of the vital forces; added  to  this must  be a
  corresponding tact to determine what  remedy is  adapted to the
  case.   This  tact may be sharpened, it can never be wholly acquired,
  by experience.  Common sense,  backed by an appropriate  amount
  of technical information, is a far more valuable gift to a practitioner
  than whole  volumes of abstract  science.   I would  not discourage
  you for the world from penetrating  as deeply  as you please into
  the marvellous intricacies of the medical sciences;  I would simply
  have you understand, that, in order  to diagnose and  successfully
  treat a case of pulmonary tuberculosis, it is not necessary that you
  should have investigated  the  inmost nature of a tubercle  as a
  physiological  product.  If a physician's taste and genius lead him
  to make such minute investigations, he may become one of the few
  who lead generations onward on  the path of science; but in a  prac-
  tical course of lectures, where, in the brief space  of five months, the
  vast field  of therapeutics has to be traveled over, it  is of the utmost
  importance to the student, that the  prominent traits of every drug-
  disease, and consequently of every corresponding pathological dis-
  turbance  should be  presented, to the exclusion of a  multitude of
  details which  only serve to embarrass  the memory and to tarnish
  the brightness of the genuine fabric.
    Physiologism, by which  I mean the  abuse of physiology in its
  applications to the treatment of disease, has led to the most contra-
  dictory results.  All the different ramifications of the physiological
  school are either guilty of the most frightful excesses or of the most
  lamentable omissions.   The human organism  is  a compound of
  organs each of which is endowed  with certain physiological proper-
  ties  or forces.  The doctrine is  that the play of  the  functions is
  determined by the structure of the organ; that the liver, for instance
  secretes bile by virtue of its peculiar  organization.   AY hat else can
  a man in "His senses understand by this pompous nonsense than that
  the liver secretes bile, because it is the liver, and the urine trickles
  into the bladder, because it is the  bladder and not the brain ? What
  horrible abuses does this physiological organicism lead to in practice! 
PHYSIOLOGICAL THERAPEUTICS.
49
If the secretion of bile  slackens, the liver must be whipped up by
calomel;  if the glands  in the mouth secrete too much saliva, they
are tied up by an astringent; abdominal torpor is removed by stir-
ring up the intestinal mucous lining with a dose of salts or castor-oil;
the heart  is hushed by  Digitalis, the brain by Morphine.  It is the
organ itself that is held accountable for its functional derangements.
Theoretically the existence of diseases or morbific essences is denied;
in their places we have  abnormal physiological functions.
  Gentlemen, it is of importance that you should have a perception
of the teachings of  the  Physiological school;  a logical comprehen-
sion of our own doctrines hinges upon it.  The Physiological school
does not distinguish between the organism in health and the organ-
ism in disease, between  vital and morbid forces, between drugs and
aliments.  Muriatic acid is food for a dyspeptic stomach; Mercury
for the absorbents when they require stimulation; blood-letting will
relieve the brain  from pressure, and will lessen the heart's labor of
propelling the  column of blood through  the  organism.   " Physio-
logical" and "therapeutic"  have  become convertible terms; in the
crucible of subversive  physiologism the  normal functions  of life,
and  the  abnormal  functions of  disease are  amalgamated without
distinction under the cover of seeming principles which make chaos
look  like  order, and  death-harboring confusion  like life-saving
harmony.
  The Homoeopathic School does distinguish between the harmonic
forces of life, and the subversive forces of disease ;  between aliments
which support and develop the organism in health, and drugs which
tend to disturb the functions and gradually to undermine and destroy
the organism.   What would become of the human organism, if the
inmost essence of vitality, the life-force of an organ, could be altered
by disease ?  " If the salt has lost its savor,  wherewith will  it be
salted ?"   Not only would the individual man perish, but the race,
the very idea of humanity would become extinct. The vital sphere,
or force, of which  the  individuals of our race are  individualized
manifestations, is just as essential to the preservation of humanity
in its present form,  as the heat and light of the sun are essential to
the preservation  of the varied individualities of material nature.
The vital  sphere which  emanates from this sun, is not sufficient for
the preservation and development of organized life.  There must be
a vitalizing  sphere  back of the sun's heat, or within it, or round
about it, I do not care where you locate this fountain-spring of life,
—from which the sun itself derives the power to animate material
nature ; the moment an  organized life-form is cut off from the influ-
ence of this supreme life-sphere, the sun, so far from preserving the
form, destroys it.   This life-sphere, which  constitutes the  inmost
principle of every human form, can never be tainted by disease, any
more than the sun's rays are altered in  their essential constitution,
if they engender poisonous exhalations from  stagnant waters and
decayed vegetable substances. These pernicious results are owing to
the medium  upon which the sun  operates.   As long as  the sun
shines upon pure flowing water, the limpid fluid will not be rendered
turbid by  his rays; but if they should  fall for any length of time 
50
LECTURE II.
upon a stagnant pool filled with decaying  animal matter, you will
soon see this turbid liquid teem with myriads of living bodies
hardly perceptible to the naked eye.                  .          .
  The vital rays act similarly to the rays of the material sun.  As
long as they act upon an organism existing in normal conditions ot
nutrition, exercise, atmospheric stimuli, and mental and passional
influences: they not only  preserve, but develop,  strengthen and
beautify the human  form;  but if these normal  conditions are dis-
turbed by exposure to dampness, to keen winds, to a draught of air,
to excessive heat  or cold, or by privations of food or drink, by
excessive fatigue, by depressing or exciting mental or moral causes ;
the vital rays no longer acting upon an harmonious medium, cannot
possibly develop harmonious results.
  In the analysis  of health and  disease, the Physiological school
does not seem to  ascend beyond the circumstances which, in the
eyes of the philosophical physician, simply furnish suitable oppor-
tunities for the invasion of the organism by morbific principles. To
the adherents of the Physiological school,  these abnormal circum-
stances which the  philosophical physicians of all  nations and ages
have simply regarded as the exciting causes of disease, the cause
occasionales as they are termed, sufficiently account for the functional
derangements of the organism.  Accoroling to some they excite an
undue degree of vital reaction ; according  to others this reaction is
depressed beyond  the normal standard.  Broussais was  haunted by
the ghost of inflammation ; Brown  knew of but one disease, diathesis,
a sort of general susceptibility to physiological derangements, the
intensity of which  he measured numerically as it were, by the degree
of excitability manifested by the tissues. The treatment corresponded
with these  contradictory hypotheses.  The School of Broussais, upon
whose banner  was inscribed "Irritation and  Inflammation,"  bled,
froze and purged patients to death; Brown  who proclaimed "Incita-
bility" as  his  beacon-light,  sought to stimulate the  prostrated
organism by  food, alcohol and opium.  " By their fruits  ye  shall
know them."   Doctrines which led to such monstrous aberrations
in  practice, must  have been radically wrong.  The Physiological
school ignored the very existence of diseases;  pathological lesions
which are  simply the effect or result of those morbific essences which
really and truly constitute the disturbing causes in derangements of
the functions, were mistaken for, or confounded with these essential
morbific forces; hence the wild and abusive stimulation in practice,
hence an  absurd  and  inhuman  butchery  in  the place of rational
treatment.
   Can a thing be  essentially good and bad at the same time ?   If
 the inmost vitality of the  organsim  can  be vitiated,  how is this
 vitiated vitality to be restored to a condition of harmony ?  If the
 core is corrupt, how is it to be repaired ?   For the sake of truth, let
 us adhere to common sense.  Is it not evident  that there must  be
 some restorative  energy left, which the blighting hand of disease
 could not  touch ?   What is this  energy but  the essence  of  life  in
 man, the very principle that never perishes and therefore can never
 be tainted by disease ?  This inmost vitality, this living essence is 
HOMOEOPATHY EXPLAINED.
51
not a reasoning or discriminating power;  it feeds the tubercle and
the polypus as well as the healthy muscle and nerve.  It is the
business of the vital force to assimilate food to the tissues and to
repair their waste; but it behooves man's reason to determine, out
of what materials the thread of life shall be spun.  AYbat a folly
ever to accuse the vital essence  in  man !  Diseases  are adventitious
principles or forces, super-induced or eliminated in  the surrounding
spheres by man's deviation from the laws of divine harmony. Look
around you, gentlemen, at the mechanism of social life !   Is it possi-
ble that the disorders which taint society, should not have led to the
development of morbific forces  which, although primarily resulting
from man's transgressions, in their turn fan the fire of disease in man?
This process is constantly taking place on a limited scale and  in a
more specific  form.   We know that puerperal peritonitis,  typhus,
yellow fever, may not be epidemic; but we likewise know that, if
such patients are huddled together in badly ventilated hospitals, or
crowded districts, deprived of proper attendance, pure air and water,
clean linen and the comforts of sweet and gentle love, an epidemic
principle  may very speedily be eliminated which  may  spread the
havoc of disease far and near.
   This humanity is an organism, the harmony of which is depending
upon laws that cannot be violated with impunity.  It is idle to
suppose that God's providence should not have designed rules and
regulations  for the government of his creatures.  He governs brute
nature by laws; how much more a world  of rational souls!  "And
why take ye  thought for raiment!  Behold the lilies of the field,
how they grow! they toil not, neither  do they spin, yet I say unto
you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of
these."   "Behold the fowls of the  air; for they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them.  Are ye not much better  than they ?"  " Therefore I say unto
you, take no  thought for your life, what ye shall eat,  or what ye
shall drink; nor  yet for your  body, what ye shall put  on.  Is not
the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" " AA^herefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow
is cast into the oven, shall he not  much more clothe you, oh ye of
little faith!"  "Therefore take  no thought, saying,—what shall we
eat ? or what  shall we drink ? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed ?
For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need  of all these
things."   "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous-
ness, and all these things shall be added unto you!"
   AATe say then that Humanity  is an organism for which the Divine
love and wisdom designed a code of laws. If these  laws  are obeyed,
the  evolutions of this  great organism will be performed with  a
matchless harmony;  if these laws are not  obeyed, the opposite
results must ensue.  AYar, pestilence and famine desolate our globe,
and the furies of hell lacerate  the hearts  of men.   Hence we  infer
that the divine laws are not obeyed.
   Among the atmospheric disorders, the subterranean  convulsions
and the electrical perturbations which visit us at more or  less regular
periods, the existence of diseases constitutes another characteristic 
52                        LECTURE  II.
sign of mans deviation from the laws of divine order.  As I  stated
in my Introductory, the biblical account of the  original sin  is all-
sufficient for therapeutic purposes.   Man yielded to the first tempta-
tion, and  this trangression opened  the  flood-gate of  evil.   The
organism became tainted with morbid predispositions or tendencies
to disease, and morbific principles were gradually excited in the
spheres  from which  man derives vitalizing  support for his bodily
organs.   This now constitutes  the course  of disease; in certain
abnormal  conditions of the system, such as  exposure,  privation,
mental depression, some morbific force is enabled to excite a corres-
ponding morbid tendency into an active disturbance of the physio-
logical  functions.  The morbific force acts  as a cause, an  active,
inseminating principle; the morbid  predisposition is the  germinal
seed that is acted  upon, and is kindled into a pathological  lesion
which constitutes  the offspring,  as it were, of this subversive in-
semination.
  This  is the theological view of the origin of disease  from the
standing point of our school.  You  may take an historico-natural
view of the same subject.   Practically, the results  are the  same.
Take the existence of diseases for  granted, and you have the same
trinitary series of facts:  a morbid tendency as the basis; a morbific
force as the inseminating principle, and a pathological  lesion  as the
result of its action upon the former.
  Therapeutically, both the theologico-spiritual and the philosophi-
co-natural view of the origin of diseases, lead  to the  same results.
Pathological lesions are acted upon by means of drugs. Theologically
we are led to believe that drugs are the representatives or products
of sin in material  nature, the embodiments of evil principles ;  philo-
sophically we arrive at a similar knowledge by the slow process of
experimentation.   By swallowing  portions of a  drug, suitably pre-
pared and in perfectly normal  conditions of  the system, we develop
groups of symptoms that are found to be essentially similar  to the
disturbances  resulting  from the action of morbific forces upon the
morbid  predispositions  of  the organism.  From this  similarity we
infer that drugs are the  products of the same forces which produce
pathological  lesions in the  human  organism.  Now, a  pathological
lesion being given, what is  a therapeutist to do in order to remove
or neutralize it ?   AVhy, he acts upon it by means of the drug  which
is the product of the same cause  that developed the  pathological
lesion.  A previous  knowledge  of this  drug must of course have
been attained by experiments upon  the healthy.  As soon as the
drug-power is made to act  upon the morbific  force which seeks to
destroy the organic tissues,  this  force will turn to the drug as
naturally as the needle turns to the pole. The drug-power is its twin
sister, an union with  which is sanctioned by the laws of God's Order
In proportion as the morbific force and  the  drug-force become
united or amalgamated as it were, in the molecules of the druo-s the
vital power of the organism begins to react  and a process of cure is
inaugurated, which, if adequately maintained, will inevitably lead to
recovery.   It is by the very terms of our  law that this process of
cure takes place.  The similarity  between  the morbific force and 
HOMOEOPATHY EXPLAINED.
53
the drug-force is greater than that between the morbific force and
the morbid predisposition of the  organism.   It is  by virtue of this
superior attractive affinity existing between the morbific force and the
drug-force, that the organism is  ultimately freed from disease.  It
would be interesting, but it is not  material to know what these forces
are in their inmost  essence.  AYhether they are electric, magnetic,
aromal or oclic forces; a comprehension of the general idea of Ho-
moeopathy is  neither obscured by the absence, nor would it be mate-
rially sharpened by the possession of this  knowledge.  Hahnemann
looks upon the morbific essence  as a dynamic principle which, as
embodied in a drug,  assumes a semi-spiritual and semi-material
character.  The morbific essence is certainly inferior to the vital
force, for it is only exceptionally  that it succeeds in destroying the
living organism.
  The question may be asked: if the olrug-force and the morbific
force are identical, how happens it that the drug-force does not
kindle the same pathological lesion that characterises the action of
the morbific force ?   This seeming anomaly can easily be accounted
for.
  The morbific force acts upon the morbid predisposition, and sub-
verts the organism from first principles  to ultimates.  The drug-
force, on the  contrary, does not act upon the morbid predisposition,
which it leaves passive, in a state  of potency; it simply impresses the
external tissues as it were, setting up a purely external disturbance
of the functions, of  limited duration,  though sufficiently charac-
teristic to reveal the therapeutic range of  the drug.  In a case of
natural disease, the morbific force acts internally, directly or imme-
diately upon the morbid predisposition; in a case of artificial or drug-
disease, the morbific force acts externally, indirectly or mediately
through the material molecules of the drug. Hahnemann has applied
the term " disease" to both the natural and the artificial disturbances,
although there is this  difference  between  the two, that the natural
disease is an internal,  and the artificial disease a purely external dis-
order.  Hence we might say that a cure consists in externalizing an
internal disease, or, in other words, in reducing it to the limited and
harmless dimensions of the homoeopathic  remedial agent.
  Gentlemen, you may find it necessary to  spend years in elaborating
the principles of our science to your own minds with clearness and
logical consistency.   He who would enjoy a rational conception of
the homoeopathic doctrine, must not be afraid of elevating his mind
into the very highest regions of thought.  The study of first princi-
ples is eminently useful to  a homoeopathic practitioner.   It consoli-
dates his faith, and yields weapons  wherewith he may repel the
assaults of open enemies and unmask the treason of deceitful friends.
The writings of some  of  our authors tend to bias the minds of
unsuspecting students.  In a review  of Dr. Headland's treatise
"On the  Action of Medicines,"  Dr. Peters, for instance, uses the
following language in the last May number of the North American
Homoeopathic Journal:
  " Poor  Headland,  he cannot see that similarity in a hybrid, or
compound; that it consists of a certain amount of difference as well 
54
LECTURE II.
 as of resemblance; that a similar thing differs as well  as resembles ;
 that a similar action exerts, not an identical, but a somewhat altera-
 tive influence; that similar or homoeopathic remedies exert a chang-
 ing or altering action, which differs only in degree, not in kind, from
 simple alterative or true allceopathic remedies, or even antagonistic
 or true antipathic remedies;  for antagonism is merely an extreme
 degree of difference, while similarity is a lesser degree of difference.
 The two laws (contraria contrariis and similia similibus curantur)
 are  the  complements of each  other; they are  not  diametrically
 opposed to each other; there  is a  bond of union  and similarity
 between them.  Identity and antagonism are the opposites of each
 other; similarity is not  the opposite  of antagonism, but is merely a
 lesser degree of difference, while antagonism is the greatest."
   The essential distinction between  Homoeopathy and the old sys-
 tems of Medicine is done away with in this paragraph. Antagonism
 and  similarity only differ in degree. The very soul of Homoeopathy
 is killed outright  by the sophistry  embodied  in these few lines.
 Even the most superficial student of Homoeopathy knows that the
 spirit of this  science, in Hahnemann's mind, was opposed  to the
 common method of treatment, and that the formula " similia simili-
 bus" was promulgated by the  discoverer of Homoeopathy as a means
 of determining the remedial agent which,  in a given case, would
 operate in a manner  absolutely the reverse of the established prac-
 tices.  A  physician who overlooks  this cardinal distinction,  is
 neither prepared to accept nor to practise the homoeopathic doctrine.
 He does not understand  its purport, and he crowds into his practice
 any thing and every thing  that  the  most unprincipled  eclecticism
 may flaunt upon  its banner.   This  may be perfectly legitimate
 practice from an empirical point of view, but it is not homoeopathy,
 and I protest most solemnly against such teachings being put forth
 under her sacred aegis.
  It is a  sad thing to see homoeopathic physicians treating diseases
 as though the  great law which, if properly understood and carried
 out, might  save the world from physical and mental  misery, reck-
 lessly disregarded by those who profess to believe in it.  The truth
 is they do not believe  in it, or else, which amounts to  the  same
 thing,  they suffer themselves  by the  glistening infatuations  of
 strange  gods—an appearance of allceopathic  learning—to be be-
 guiled into the pernicious fallacies of our  opponents.  It may be
 flattering to one's vanity, to make an exhibition  of false  learning
in the midst of an old-fashioned crowd; but how does  this learning
benefit the sacred  cause of Truth?   Is  our  watchword  to be
 "omcard" or shall we go back to the flesh-pots of Egypt?   Shall
 we engraft  our new Truth upon the old  Fable, and dig an abyss of
 medical error,  deeper and darker than  before?   Gentlemen if we
forsake principle;  if we turn to empiricism and  eclecticism as our
 " pillar of  the cloud by day  and our pillar  of fire by nio-ht" the
time  will be when we shall be the meanest and most despised among
the tribe of medical Israel.
  Beware,  gentlemen, of the deceitful glories of the Physiological
school.  Beware of its quicksands!   Young physicians especially 
HOMOEOPATHY EXPLAINED.
55
take a pride  in confessing themselves the partisans of this school.
AYith microscope and crucible in hand,  they expect  to be led by
physiology to the laboratory where the vital forces spin the thread
of life, and to lend a helping hand, as they understand  it, in case the
functions  should not be  carried on to suit  the judgment  of the
observing  creature.  If  the  stomach does  not  secrete  as much
gastric juice as it ought to do, they pour  a little Muriatic  acid into
it to help it along, on the  principle that Muriatic acid  has the same
dissolving properties as gastric juice when out of the stomach; and
yet they might know that there must be a vast difference between
gastric juice and Muriatic acid; for gastric juice is an organized
product of the  vital forces,  and, if no  longer subservient to the
supervisory action of these  forces,  soon decays  and  is  radically
altered in all its essential  properties.
   I have shown you how one branch of the Physiological school is
led to the most frightful  excesses in treatment.  There is another
branch  which simply watches the natural  course of pathological
lesions,  and rejoices in doing nothing to'abbreviate it.   Physiologi-
cal physicians either bleed, burn or blister the poor patient, or else
they shrug their shoulders, and, as Hirschel in his excellent work on
Homoeopathy tauntingly  remarks, " hide their impotence  or  ignor-
ance behind an embarrassed scepticism, or a dangerous indifference
which leaves the patient to his fate.   Yes, the greatest lights of the
allceopathic school,  have  given  over Medicine to  Nature.  Alas,
what shall we say of Medicine,  if the learned pathologist, armed
with the whole  apparatus of modern science,  applies  his  stetho-
scope or his compasses  to the patient's chest, and points out to the
astonished Layman  the spot where  the bloody  infiltration, the
bronchial dilatation, the  emphysematous cell  may be found;  if,
guided by the sounds of the heart, he furnishes an exact description
of the valvular olisease; if he demonstrates to  the patient the size
of the liver, or the quantity of fatty matter it contains;  if he gives
the anatomical history of pneumonia, and  if, in  spite of this tre-
mendous array of medical science, he is finally compelled to confess
to his utter ignorance of  positive and infallible means of  relief; if,
for instance,  a distinguished  auscultator,  like Skoda or Bock, after
delighting his class with a  lucid  and  correct description of the
physical signs of pneumonia, has to tell  them, that it  is immaterial
whether they bleed the  patient,  or  give him Opium, or Tartar
emetic, or Nitre, or nothing  at all?  Or, in a case of oedema glot-
tidis, after describing the  characteristic difference between this dis-
ease and bronchitis, if the physiological  physician has to  prescribe
gum-water, as if  anxious  not to dispute the  palm with Nature?  If
Nature is sufficient to a cure, of what use is all this array of science?
If the science of healing  is useless, why not likewise throw over-
board pathology?"  Is it the business of the  physician  solely to
track Nature with an observing eye, and to admire her multitudinous
manifestations of life ?  Is it not his duty to learn from her the art
of imitating her,  and helping her along,  without  interfering in her
operations ?  Alas, the  greatest masters  of our art  are reduced to 
56
LECTURE III.
the miserable shift of the expectant school, which consists in looking
on and doing nothing.
  The so-called Expectant Method, as this system of treatment is
termed, may be more agreeable to the patient than the old-fashioned
bleeding, blistering, and  salivating methods,  but it is not  always
very successful.   According to Dietl, for instance, who is physician-
in chief to one of the A lenna Hospitals, fourteen out of one hundred
and eighty-nine patients  who were treated  expectantly for pneu-
monia, died;  this is one  in about thirteen;  whereas under homoeo-
pathic treatment, only one in twenty-eight died in Fleischmann's
Hospital, and out of seventy-two patients  not one  died  in the
Petersburg Hospital.  The difference is  considerable, although the
partisans of the expectant method claim the results of homoeopathic
treatment as  showing the superiority of their own method.  Not
believing in the efficacy of small doses, they feel justified in claiming
the brilliant results of our treatment for  themselves.
  Gentlemen, you have a vast field  before }Tou.  The development
of therapeutic medicine as a Science and an  Art is the great pro-
blem of the future.  It is  your  privilege to engage in its solution.
May God speed  the day when  your efforts  shall be  crowned with
success!
                  LECTURE   III.

  As I am standing here before you, the spirit of Hahnemann over-
shadows the flitting hour.  He is gone, and what is left us of him, is
the echo of his fame, and the written record of his earlier labors.
  As soon as IJahnemann had  published a systematic exposition of
his doctrines in the Organon, he  set about creating a  new Materia
Medica in harmony with  them.  Already in the year 1805, Hahne-
mann had published a number of provings under the title: Fragmenta
de viribus medicaminum positivis, or fragments concerning the positive
powers of drugs.  This work contains a  number of the characteristic
symptoms of several  of our more important drugs, obtained with
massive doses of the  strongest known  preparation.  The Aconite-
symptoms were  obtained from the watery extract inspissated  by
exposure  to the sun.  These drag-effects were afterwards incorpo-
rated in the Materia Medica Pura, the first edition of which appeared
in  the year 1811, one year after the  publication  of th,e Organon.
This work was originally published in four volumes, and contains
the provings of sixty-six drugs, most of which constitute to this day
the staple of our therapeutic agents.  All these  provings bear  the
impress of reliability. They are the  results of careful labor.  A
number of  enthusiastic and conscientious observers concurred in
developing these drug-effects in their own persons by means of large
doses of the strongest preparations then in use.
   In 1828,  Hahnemann  published  his  remarkable theory of  the 
PROVINGS AND VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.           57
chronic miasms.  In the course of my lectures this theory will be
explained and accounted for.   I  here allude  to it  simply for the
purpose of introducing to your acquaintance a vast addition to the
Materia Medica.
  Among the chronic miasms, of which Hahnemann admits three,
viz.: Psora, Syphilis and  Sycosis, the psoric miasm is the most wide-
spread and inveteVate ; most of the chronic diseases which now afflict
humanity,  arise  from the  insidious  operations of psora.   In the
exposition  which Hahnemann furnishes of  his theory, he states the
reasons which impelled  his mind to seek for more thorough and
reliable means of combating  the disorders to which the human
family is subject from infancy to old  age.   The  drugs which had
been  proved  so far, and which  were used  by the homoeopathic
physicians in the treatment of diseases, were found insufficient by
Hahnemann  and his disciples to effectually remove the numerous
chronic ailments that have desolated  this  fair world  of  ours for
thousands  of years.   Hahnemann set his genius to work, and
searched for, and discovered a series  of agents which he thought
had been designed by the Creator for the great purpose of healing
the chronic diseases that had so far baffled  all the resources of art.
Inasmuch  as most of these diseases were supposed to originate  in
the psoric miasm, most  of these newly discovered remedies were
therefore directed against it, and designated by Hahnemann as anti-
psorics.  AYe do not propose, at this  stage of our  course, to inquire
into the validity of Hahnemann's theories; we simply wish to acl vert
to the fact  that the large number of drugs, the provings of which
are recorded  in the five volumes known  under the  title  of the
" Chronic Diseases, and  their Homoeopathic Treatment," Avere sup-
posed by Hahnemann to be possessed of  specific powers to heal,
and gradually to exterminate  all chronic maladies.   Several drugs
wliich had already been proved at former periods, and the  provings
of which had been incorporated in the four volumes of the Alateria
Meolica Pura, such as Sulphur, Phosphoric acid, and others, were re-
proved in  different ways;  new symptoms were obtained, and the
whole of them, old as well as new provings, were  transferred to the
"(Jh/ronic Diseases" as an integral portion of the great anti-psoric
Materia Medica.  The volumes entitled "Chronic Diseases," embrace
about a hundred drugs, more or less, all of  which are distinguished
by an almost interminable array of symptoms.
   Gentlemen, on contrasting  the provings contained in  the five
volumes entitled " Chronic Diseases," with the provings of the four
volumes of the original Materia Aledica Pura, we discover remark-
able differences as regards clearness  and characteristic positiveness
of delineation. In the original  Alateria Aledica  Pura, every symptom
bears upon some well marked  disease; with a little  tact, and a pre-
vious knowledge of existing diseases, the practitioner has very little
difficulty to discover among the head-symptoms of those drugs, the
various forms of headache, congestive, bilious, nervous, rheumatic,
and so forth, to which the respective drugs  are homoeopathic.  The
same may be said of the alvine and thoracic symptoms, of the symp-
toms  of the special senses, of  the general nervous  symptoms; the 
58
LECTURE III.
very expression of all these symptoms  bears intrinsic evidence of
their reliability and perfect truthfulness, and indicates in unmistake-
able language the  pathological lesions with which they correspond
as specific curative agents.
   AYould that the  same confidence could be had in the provings of
the drugs to which Hahnemann has applied the term " antipsorics."
Most of these provings were instituted during Hahnemann's declin-
ing years by his professional followers, and by their uneducated lay-
friends, in a manner which provoked Hahnemann's own condemna-
tion.  In a note appended to the provings of one of the anti-psorics,
he declares in substance that he has had to reject a number of the
symptoms furnished  by some of the provers, and he moreover ex-
presses  his surprise  that the business of proving drugs should be
conducted with so  much  levity, as he inferred from  the unreliable
character of the symptoms, it must have been.   In spite of Hahne-
mann's precautions, and a great deal of clipping and pruning, a large
number of insignificant symptoms, according to  Hahnemann's own
admission, have been left  standing, producing unnecessary complica-
tions, obscuring the  true therapeutic character of drugs and occa-
sioning merriment and avoidable  misrepresentations  on the part of
our opponents.
   The doctrine of potencies, concerning which I shall offer all proper
and useful suggestions in the course of my lectures, had  engaged
Hahnemann's attention from  the  very beginning of  his great dis-
covery.  Towards  the latter part  of his practice, Hahnemann used
almost exclusively the higher attenuations both  in his own case as
well as when treating his  patients.  And the opinion became  preva-
lent among a number of homoeopathic physicians that, because the
attenuations proved efficient in the treatment of diseases, they must
likewise prove efficient in developing symptoms.  Thus it happened
that most of the later provings, and more particularly the provings
of the  antipsoric medicines, were  conducted with the attenuations.
The result  is before  us.  If we had no  other testimony to offer in
favor  of Homoeopathy than the provings of the anti-psorics, our
cause would not be worth the ink  it required to print them.   Such
trifling sensations, pains, eruptions and the like, as we see put down
to the credit of the anti-psoric remedies, seem to be a parody on the
splendid symptomatology of the Alateria Medica  Pura; it seems in-
credible that such a mass  of vague, childish, ill-defined symptoms as
are recorded in the four volumes of the " Chronic Diseases," should
have been accepted by earnest and sober-minded men as the pure
effects  of drugs.  With the exception of the few substances  that
have been transferred from the Alateria Aledica Pura to the "Chronic
Diseases," we may safely reject many  of the symptoms  that are
supposed to have been elicited by  means of the attenuations, as un-
worthy our attention.  I do not mean to say that attenuated medi-
cines generally are unfit  to develop symptoms;  we have abundant
evidence that the  sixth,  twelfth and even higher potencies have
affected the organism in health in their own characteristic and pecu-
liar manner.  Aly criticism bears upon the symptoms furnished by
the provers of such of our drugs as are technically known as anti> 
PROVINGS AND VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
59
 psorics.  In reference to many of these symptoms I wish to express
 my unqualified condemnation, and to state in unequivocal language
 that, with a few honorable exceptions, I reject most of them as base-
 less fancy-sketches.
   Entertaining as I do a philosophical belief in the efficacy of atten-
 uated drugs, and in the doctrine of dynamisation as developed by
 Hahnemann; yet I cannot refrain, on the present occasion,  from ex-
 pressing a regret that the system of proving attenuated drugs should
 have been so extensively adopted in our school.  Attenuations will
 undoubtedly affect the healthy organism in exceptional cases.  But in
 no one instance has an attenuation ever developed a single symptom
 that had not been more characteristically and more intensely produced
 by a massive dose of the strongest  preparation of this attenuated
 drug.   As a general  rule, the attenuations only act after the same
 drug had been previously taken in massive doses;  and in all such
 cases  the attenuations invariably reproduce, but more feebly and
 obscurely, symptoms that had been elicited by  the larger dose.  If
 the attenuations are used first, without any previous saturation of the
 organism by the concentrated tincture or the original drug, percep-
 tible symptoms are scarcely ever obtained beyond the third attenua-
 tion ;  nor are  these symptoms, with  scarcely an exception, ever as
 clearly marked as the pathogenetic  effects  obtained by means of
 massive oloses.
   Our Materia Medica is unfortunately  flooded with  a deluge of
 trifling, unmeaning, unreliable symptoms.  A perfect symptomania
 seemed at one  time to have taken possession of our school.   Such
 men as Hering, Boenninghausen, Gross, fanned this incipient aberra-
 tion into a perfect fury of symptom-hunting. If I mention living
 names, you will  do me the justice,  gentlemen,  to believe  that my
 criticism is exclusively dictated by the exalted and  sacred demands
 of science.   Hering's provings in particular seem to me  liable to the
 grave  suspicion of superficiality and  unreliability.  Not one of the
 numerous provings with which this  gentleman has over-loaded our
 Materia  Medica, will stand  the test of a rigorous critical  analysis.
 Many  of them are fancy-pictures which may seem interesting to a
 few partisans, but will never pass current with the great body of
 scientific and enlightened homoeopathic practitioners.   This rage of
 parading interminable symptom-lists before the profession, is destruc-
 tive even of the positive good that some of these inaccurately proved
 drugs  might  otherwise do.   Disgusted with the quantity of chaff, we
 feel disposecTto reject even the grain of wheat that is hidden  amongst
 it.  What need is there of this Babylonic confusion?   Millefolium,
 or the common yarrow, has been used empirically for years past
 for well marked disorders  of the circulatory  apparatus,  such as
 nose-bleed, haemorrhage from the  lungs, stomach, womb.  Although
 it is proper and necessary, and especially incumbent upon  homoeo-
 pathic physicians, to ascertain by actual experiment the therapeutic
 range of drugs, yet there is no earthly use in  conjuring up an array
of several hundred vague and trivial symptoms, in order to secure
for  a drug of  such  limited  therapeutic dimensions a  respectable
place in the Augean stable of our Materia Medica.  Four hundred 
60
LECTURE III.
symptoms to a drug which no practitioner living  or_ to live will
probably ever think of using, I mean using philosophically, and in
strict conformity with  our great  law, for  any other disorder than
haemorrhage from some internal organ or tissue.
  Apis melllfica, or the  poison of the honey-bee, is another interest-
ing agent of a rather limited sphere of action, of which the American
Provings furnish 1,350 symptoms.  If  we consider that  Aconite,
which  has  been proved  and re-proved by  Hahnemann and some
twenty of the most distinguished observers of our school, and wliich
has a therapeutic range that may be said to be bounded  only by
the limits of disease, nas only between seven  and eight  hundred
symptoms, we may fairly suspect the pathogenesis of Apisof the
most  extravagant exaggerations.  Decked with   the  fascinating
charms of antiquated lore, and with  the positiveness of pretentious
science, these provings  have been ushered in with sounds of harpsi-
chord and cymbal as an achievement, an invaluable contribution to
our Materia Medica.  But independently  of the suspicion, which,
like  a  dark cloud, overshadows  the  ignis-fatuus brightness of this
picture of provings: that  the poison of  the  honey-bee develops its
pernicious effects by its  direct action upon the capillary  current,
and not so much through the primary agency of the nervous system,
we shall  find, at a later stage of our course, that the effects of this
poison, as exhibited in the " American Provings," are tainted with
all the defects which  distinguish many of our modern provings
generally, and that they  betray a lack of accuracy of observation,
correctness of  delineation, and  adaptability to the  treatment  of
disease, which will render it necessary to reprove all such drugs.
  In thus critically sifting  the materials  with which we  have to
work, we shall arrive at facts to  which permanency and universal
recognition are  secured as an imperishable birth-right.  I am  not
willing to examine in the crucible of analysis the cases which are
reported  in the " Provings" as having yielded to Apis.  I will say,
however, that they furnish additional evidence of the utter unsound-
ness  of the testimony which has  been offered as illustrative of the
curative  virtues of this drug.  From among a number of cases, let
me select one or two as specimens of the whole series.
  "A man of 28  years,  of  sanguine-nervous-bilious temperament,
had  been suddenly attacked with paralysis of the  right side, with
violent delirium, which sometimes increased to rage.  His wife told
me that the attack had been  preceded by whitish  blotches on the
head  and occasionally breaking out on the nape of  the  neck;  they
appeared suddenly and itched violently. On this account I selected
Apis as my first remedy.  In less than  an hour after taking Apis,
the eruption re-appeared in innumerable places on the head, and he
became more  quiet.   Before  morning the blotches disappeared
again, and his rage became so violent that it took three men to keep
him from rolling off the bed.  I gave Hepar sulphuris, and in fifteen
minutes after, Apis.  He became  more rational during the day. and
his eruption appeared  profusely on the  calves.  This kind  of treat-
ment was resorted to repeatedly, and always with success."
   The case was managed  and  reported by Dr. de Bonneville, a sort 
PROVINGS AND VALUE OF  SYMPTOMS.
61
of itinerant practitioner, who, I believe, emigrated to California some
years ago.  I hardly know which most to marvel at in this case,
the doctor's utter ignorance of the nature of the case, or the childish
naivete with which  he attributes the periodical intermissions  be-
tween  the paroxysms of rage to the use of Hepar and  Apis.   AYe
are left to guess  whether the paralysis and  the acute irritation of
the cerebral nerves were cured; the probability is, that the ultimate
result  of the  treatment  was unsuccessful; but I  would  ask you,
gentlemen, would any honest  and  careful observer parade such
results before the world as the effect of his treatment?   Can we
wonder that the scientific practitioners among our opponents laugh
at such clinical messes as de Bonneville has  concocted for us with
the honey-bee ?
   Let me relate  another case, and then close the Apis chapter for
the present.
   " A girl of eight years had been  sick for  about a fortnight.  In
the day time she was drowsy, and seemed lazy and listless; at night
she was constantly talking during her sleep; towards morning her
sleep became very sound, so that she would not wake  until she  was
taken  out of  bed, shaken and driven  about the  room.  She  was
exceedingly languid, with  loss of strength, pale face; scanty urine,
bowels rather costive.   The mother of  the child  told  me, that
eight years ago a daughter of the  same age  had exhibited similar
symptoms of  derangement, and had finally died of dropsy of the
brain.
   " The mother was frequently attacked with nettle-rash,  showing
itself here  and there on the legs, painful, sensitive to contact,  and
always assuming  as it ran its course, a bluish-red, livid hue. A  few
of these  spots might be seen on the nape of the neck and on the
foreheaol of the sick child;  they were scarcely visible, not hard or
raised.
   " I gave her three doses of Apis, second attenuation, one  at eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, one at three o'clock in the afternoon,  and
the third dose at  seven o'clock in the evening.  For the  first time
since she had been sick, she slept quietly next night, she woke early
next morning, was bright, disposed to play about the house, and she
looked better than she had  done for a fortnight past.  There was  a
visible improvement after the  second dose.   Next day I gave the
child three powders of Apis 3.  The folloAving night she was more
restless than the  night previous, but she awoke at an early hour,
and, in the  afternoon, played in the yard.  The  second  or third
day  after taking  the medicine, hard, bluish-red  spots made their
appearance upon the face,  forehead, nape of the  neck and lower
extremities.   They remained hard and painful for ten or twelve
days, after which period they passed away.  It  took some time
before the patient  regained  her former  strength, but she gradually
recovered perfect health."
  The  most superficial reading of this report which, by-the-by, is
drawn  up with a good deal of confusion,  shows that Apis had as
much to do with the  gradual  recovery of this little girl as  the
cornet's tail.  There certainly was no very threatening disorder  im- 
62
LECTURE III.
pending; otherwise the child would not have been pulled out of her
bed every morning and pushed about the room in order to be roused
out of her sleep.  The facts of the case were undoubtedly, that the
child  was sickly; the eruption which was an hereditary cutaneous
disorder, had begun to develop itself before medical treatment was
resorted  to, and this development went  on increasingly until the
eruption was fully out.   Apis had  no effect whatsoever upon the
eruption which  disappeared  of itself after it had run its natural
course.   Apis did not even benefit the general health of the child ;
for, according to  the relator's  own statement, the  little patient
remained feeble for a long time before her former strength returned.
  Dr. Hering appends the following complimentary note to this case:
" The selection of Apis which was at that time almost unknown, was
a masterly inference, and such reports should be copied in all our
newspapers." In other words: AYhatever may serve  as grist on my
mill, is of immense importance to all the world and the rest of man-
kind.  The literature of our school must be sadly in need of supply,
if such fancy sketches have to be resorted  to in order to fill its pages.
  The cheerless task of criticizing the labors of my cotemporaries is
not to my taste;  but this duty has to be performed by every public
teacher.  If he wishes to inseminate new and higher truths, he must
first pull out the rankling weeds that might obstruct their growth.
Our Alateria Medica  is so filled with useless material, that our first
business must necessarily be, to subject it to a most rigorous sifting
process.  Many of our drugs have obtained a reputation and a name,
not because their provings can at all be relied upon  as therapeutic
indications, but because an empirical use has secured for them a sort
of prescription-right. Lachesis is one of them.  Perhaps no drug
in our Materia Medica has enjoyed a more factitious eclat than this
agent.  But the halo of  glory which has surrounded this secretion,
proves,  upon closer  examination, to emanate from the smoke of
fancy as much as from the light of truth.
  All toxicologists incline to the opinion that the poison of serpents
manifests its pernicious effects by destroying the vitality of the blood.
The celebrated Fontana  who made nearly six thousand experiments
with the bite of the viper, concluded that among a number of other
facts the following may  be considered as established:
  1. The viper's venom, when  applied upon  the nerves,  does not
produce any effect, nor does it accelerate the death of the animal;  it
is as innocent for the nerves as pure  water, or simple gum arabic.
  2. The symptoms  which it produces, depend upon its absorption,
its being carried into the circulation, and on the action it exerts on
the blood, which it  partly coagulates, and  on the nervous irrita-
bility, which it destroys by conveying into the fluids a principle of
putrefaction."
  Orfila, in his " system of General Toxicology," which is one of the
most  classical works on this  subject  in our possession, quotes Fon-
tana as an authority, and accepts  his inference as conclusive.
  Flandin, in his recent work on Toxicology, which was published
in Paris in the year 1853, likewise states that "the poison of serpents
only produces its toxical effects after it penetrates the organism by a 
PROVINGS AND VALUE OF  SYMPTOMS.
63
wound, and that it is absolutely powerless when introduced into the
stomach."  He adds: "The experiments  of Redi,  Mead, Fontana,
Breschet and others, leave no doubt in  this respect.  Even the
ancients were acquainted with this important fact; Galen and Celsus
make mention of it.  Lucian, in  his epic  poem entitled Pharsalus,
causes Cato to say to his soldiers who are  afraid of  quenching their
thirst in  a  spring full of serpents:
             Noxia serpentnm est admixto sanguine pestis;
             Morsu vires habent et latum dente minantur;
             Pocula morte carent.
  Or in plain English:  the poison of serpents is hurtful when mixed
with the  blood ;  their bite is poisonous,  and may even cause death;
but when the poison is drank, it is harmless."
  A few years ago, Dumeril,  distinguished in the scientific world of
Paris, was bitten by a poisonous viper in the forest of Fontainebleau;
his son sucked the poison from the father's wound without the least
untoward accident to himself.
  In spite of these grave facts  substantiated by the most careful
observation of able and conscientious experimenters, provings have
been instituted with the poison of the Trigonocephalus Lachesis as
though Fontana and his co-laborers had been, Don Quixote fashion,
fighting  mere windmills.  Taking  advantage of  the  doctrine of
potentization which, although a vital principle of  our School, may
yet be made the source of much fallacious reasoning by fanatical or
superficial  dogmatists, a few physicians  undertook  to  protentize the
poison of this reptile by resorting to the usual processes of trituration
and  succussion, and to institute provings with this potentized poison,
which were to  upset the experience of  previous experimenters.
Favored by plausibility, they succeeded  in making these provings of
the Lachesis-poison pass current  for genuine drug-effects, and they
professed to use Lachesis with success in the diseases  to which they
supposed it to be homoeopathic.  The most distinguished  and most
philosophical writers of our School have repudiated the article as an
unreliable  intruder, and there is not, at this late day, a single case
on record,  where Lachesis  can be shown  to have effected a cure as
clearly and unmistakably as we  can prove the  curative  effects of
Aconite, Belladonna, Nux, Pulsatilla and other polychrests; with
the exception of the poisonous symptoms which have been incor-
porated  in the provings of Lachesis, the remainder  are unworthy
the serious attention of thinking minds.  The remaining symptoms
are evidently the result of fancy and do not seem  to be in homoe-
opathic rapport with any known  and well-defined pathological con-
dition.   It  is true a few  cases  of cure with Lachesis have been
reported in the Homoeopathic Archives, one of the earlier homoe-
opathic publications;  but these cases are reported in such a slovenly
manner; the employment  of Lachesis is  mixed up with so many
other drugs, and there is  so much  left uncured in  most of these
cases, that  it is far more probable the patients derived what benefit
they seem  to have experienced,  from the use of general hygienic
means, and the discontinuance of the  nauseating  and prostrating
doses of  their allceopathic physicians. 
64
LECTURE III.
  If we wish to prove the poison of serpents, we should follow the
example of nature, and proceed as we do with the vaccine virus j we
should inoculate the poison through the capillary system ; this, as
far as we know, is the only reliable mode of ascertaining the plrysi-
ological effects of this class of agents.   At all events, the symptoms
which are obtained by introducing Lachesis into the stomach, should
be so perfectly certain that they cannot possibly be repudiated even
by sceptics.  This cannot be said of the Lachesis provings published
in Jahr's  Symptomen-Codex; they are unreliable, indefinite, and,
at best, without much practical value.
  The object  in proving a drug, is not to elicit symptoms, but to
discover the mode in which a drug affects the living tissues, with a
view of ascertaining its therapeutic uses.   The difference  between
these two modes of investigation  is very great.   If the object is to
elicit symptoms, we risk to lose ourselves in an inextricable maze
of unmeaning and useless details which obscure  the true character
of a drug instead of establishing it upon the positive  and  acknow-
ledged basis of fact.  It is this mania of symptom-hunting that has
introduced into our Materia Ateclica the tens of thousands of puerile
and  utterly useless trivialities which have  excited  the derision  of
both friend and foe.  If, on the contrary, our object is to determine
the therapeutic range  of a drug with scientific precision, we  shall
necessarily use the most rigorous discrimination in distinguishing
between actual drug-effects  anol purely accidental  sensations, such
as we experience more or less at all times in  consequence of the
abnormal  influences which the  mind, the nervous  system and the
tissues generally are exposed to.
  The mere symptom-hunter is infatuated with the idea that symp-
toms  may be  obtained from the  smallest as well as from a  large
quantity of a drug;  he will employ the sixth, eighteenth,  thirtieth
or even two  hundredth potency for his  experiments with the same
unconcern as the more massive preparations. And he will moreover
commit another egregious  mistake, which is :  to note down  as
drug-effect every sensation which he may experience after taking
the first dose ; hence it is that our Materia Aledica is filled with so
many trivial  symptoms, jerkings  and twistings, itchings and sting-
ings, spots and pimples ; none of them symptoms that are in marked
and characteristic rapport with well-known and accurately-described
pathological conditions, but mere evanescent sensations with which
any man might fill a page of foolscap in the course of a single day,
without being under any medicinal influences whatsoever.
  How different are the provings of the truly scientific observers of
our School.  Among the seven hundred Aconite-symptoms which
we findrecorded in Hahnemann's Alateria Aledica Pura, and in the
re-provings of the Vienna Provers' Union, there is not one that does
not bear the test of a most critical scrutiny.  The same may be said
of most other drugs proved by Hahnemann during the earlier period
of his labors.   All the  re-provings of the Vienna Provers' Union
some  of our  English and a  few of our American Proving are
characterized by correctness and adaptability; they point  ot?them-
selves, without any resort to  sophistical cunning and Irypothetical 
              PROVINGS AND VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.            65

combinations, to  the pathological  disorders for the cure of which
these therapeutic agents were designed.  Some of our French prov-
ings and  more particularly the Brazilian  provings of Dr. Alure, a
wild and  fanciful propagator of Homoeopathy, are utterly worth-
less and a perfect caricature of the sacred  business of determining
the therapeutic character of drugs  by positive experimentation upon
the healthy.   Think of a diseased potato, or of a piece of charred
deer-hide, or, horrendum dictu !  a  louse  potentized to the thirtieth
attenuation, one globule of which is swallowed and permitted to act
for three, four and even six weeks, developing  symptoms  all the
time, which symptoms  are gravely arrayed under  their respective
heads as head, face, eye, ear, chest-symptoms, and so forth, and pub-
lished to the world as the actual effects of  those substances.  Such
and  many other  absurdities may be found  in Mure's  Brazilian
Pathogenesis.
   The business of proving  drugs is' at this period engaged in by all
who desire to obtain a correct and reliable knowledge of their
therapeutic properties.  The  old-fashioned  empirical method of ob-
taining this knowledge ab  usu in  morbis or by clinical experience,
has been  abandoned by all  progressive inquirers on the field of
Medicine.  Clinical experience only serves, as it should do,  to con-
firm the therapeutic properties, a knowledge of which had been ob-
tained by pure experimentation upon the healthy.  Pereira who is
one of the great authorities in allceopathic therapeutics, says in his
great work on Materia Medica :  " The homoeopaths assert, and with
truth, that the study of the effects  of medicines in the healthy state
is the only way of ascertaining the pure  or pathogenetic effects of
medicines," and he fully concurs with Hahnemann in opinion that,
if we  administer  our remedies to  invalids, " the symptoms of the
natural disease then existing, mingling with those which the  medi-
cinal agents are capable of producing, the  latter can rarely  be dis-
tinguished with any clearness or precision."
   Trousseau and  Pidoux, in  their  Treatise of Alateria  Medica and
Therapeutics,  which has been elevated to  the  rank of a classical
text-book  in  France,  make  honorable  mention • of  the German
Provers' Societies  in the following language: " Under the  lead of
Homoeopathy, German Societies have been formed for the revision
of the  Materia Medica. All drugs have  been  proved upon the
healthy by physicians who, it is  true, have  not always known how
to avoid systematic illusions, but who, endowed with a good  deal of
patience and attentive observation, and always instituting their ex-
periments with simple substances, have constituted a Alateria Medica
Pura, whence have emanated many very precious notions concern-
ing the special properties of drugs, and  concerning a  variety ol
characteristic  peculiarities  of their .action, with which we are too
little acquainted in France.  Owing to this ignorance we are only
acquainted with the grossest general properties of our therapeutic
agents, and, in the presence  of diseases which exhibit so many varied
shades of therapeutic indications, we very often lack the modifying
agents adapted to these shades."
                               5 
00
LECTURE III.
  Fleming has enriched the literature of Aconite with some of the
most splendid provings of this agent.
  Joerg, late Professor of Alateria Medica and Therapeutics in the
University of Leipsic, gathered around him a band of enthusiastic
and  devoted disciples, aided by whom he instituted provings with a
number of our most important  therapeutic  agents, with a  view of
determining their exact opposites in disease.
  Frank's Physiological Ahigazine is filled with a number of highly
important  provings instituted  by  allceopathic  practitioners  with
large doses.
  All these provings help to perfect our knowledge  of drugs, and
to effect a proportionate increase of our means of cure.
  Alost earnestly do I  invite you, gentlemen, to institute provings
with new, and re-provings  with old drugs.  If every one  of you
would  make it his business, within the first five  or ten years of his
practice, to furnish a complete monograph of some drug, exhibiting
the whole therapeutic  range of  the agent, and  its  applicability to
corresponding diseases, we should  soon  succeed in reducing our
system of therapeutics to the forms of a  fixed science, which every
Aledical College would teach as orthodox doctrine.   The business
of proving drugs is not near as laborious and painful as it may  seem
to the uninitiated.  In order to institute successful provings, it is not
necessary  to torture  one's  self by pain and  privations.   AVhile
engaged in proving, you  pursue your avocations as usual, you eat
your usual meals, avoiding only such substances as  might taint the
organism or set up a counteraction in the nervous  system.   Smok-
ing,  chewing or  taking snuff, the use of  coffee, beer, and alcoholic
stimulants, hygienic and dietetic irregularities of any kind, are in-
compatible with a thorough and successful investigation  of the  ther-
apeutic properties of drugs. Nor is it sufficient to institute provings
with attenuations.   Repeated  trials with massive doses are abso-
lutely indispensable in  order to obtain a correct and reliable know-
ledge of a  drug.  If the attenuations should develop symptoms
similar  to  those  obtained  with massive  doses, or  if symptoms
thus obtained should be accompanied  by other symptoms, we  may
accept them as reliable, provided these symptoms were never  experi-
enced by us when not under medicinal  influence.  The desire  of
contributing our  mite to a  perfect and truly scientific Materia
Medica, enables us to  undergo a good deal of labor,  yea, to suffer
pain for a good cause.   Nothing is more delightful to a conscien-
tious and  energetic prover, than to trace the action of a drug, as
manifested by clear and unmistakeable symptoms. Commence  your
proving with a small quantity, two or three drops of the tincture to
be taken once a day, and increase the dose every morning or evenino-
by a few drops, of course within  conservative limits, until the  drug
seems to be unable to yield any new  symptoms.  Keep an exact
record  of the effects of each dose, and a picture of drug-effects  thus
obtained, will shadow forth the outlines of the pathological series of
which it may constitute a curative neutralize!-.  In  order to deter-
mine the therapeutic range  of a drug, it is not  necessary that the
physiological series, or series  of drug-effects, and the pathological 
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
G7
series, or series of morbid phenomena, should correspond in all their
details.  In order to determine the curative adaptation of Phosphorus
to pneumonia, or of Arsenic to lepra or  malignant impetigo, it is
not necessary that we  should previously develop  these diseases
artificially.  We know that Aconite  is in  curative rapport with
an acute inflammation of the testicles, and  yet among the  patho-
genetic  symptoms of Aconite, orchitis is wanting.   The homoe-
opathicity of drugs to diseases is not determined by a mere mechani-
cal juxtaposition of  symptomatic similarities.   AYe know that an
acute inflammation arises primarily from torpor  of the arterial capil-
laries, which, by a process of organic reaction, superinduces engorge-
ment and all the characteristic signs of inflammation.  It makes no
difference  what organ or tissue is invaded; every where an acute
inflammation is determined by the same cause:  torpor of the capil-
laries.   This  being known, we require to possess a drug capable of
affecting the capillaries in the same manner primarily, and of devel-
oping a similar organic reaction.   AYe know by careful and reliable
experiment that  Aconite is this drug.  Hence it is our great homoe-
opathic specific to acute phlegmonous inflammation characterized
by a full, hard and bounding pulse, hot and dry skin, preceded by
chilly creepings,  thirst, flushed  face, headache and dizziness,  coated
tongue,  nervous  restlessness, and other symptoms, all of which will
yield to one  or  more doses  of Aconite, except where  the specific
character of the disease renders the use of some other drug likewise
necessary.
   Let us  then not forget  that Homoeopathy should not be to us
simply a fat cow that yields us plenty of milk and butter, but a
Divine Goddess whose name is Truth, and whose form is Beauty ;
he who  wishes to be a genuine high-priest in her temple, should
aid in building it up.
                  LECTURE   IV. «*/^*.**r?"-/'

  In  my last lecture we have considered  the subject of proving
drugs.  The  present lecture shall  be devoted to a few necessary
suggestions concerning the action  of drugs generally, and that of
homoeopathic medicines in particular.
  Various theories  have  been spun by  allceopathic observers  ex-
planatory of the action of drugs.  A tost of these theories are specu-
lative and impractical, the result of mere guess-work.
  It is well known to most of you, that formerly  the virtues of
medicines were inferred from resemblances (fancied or real) in form,
color, etc., between these substances and parts  of the organism.
These marks or indications have been called signatures, and were
supposed to arise from astral influences. The jaws of a  boar, for
instance, were  employed in pleurisy, because the  stitching pain
caused by the sharp teeth of this animal, was supposed to resemble
the stitching pain in pleurisy.   The ashes of a hare, the most timid 
68
LECTURE IV.
of all animals, were recommended for the consequences of fright.
The pulverized liver of a rabid wolf was used for hydrophobia. Eu-
phrasia was supposed to be endowed with curative virtues in diseases
of the eyes, on account of a fancied resemblance of its flower to the
human eye.   A gourd cured jaundice on account of its yellow color;
the blood-red juice of John's-wort arrested haemorrhages; poppy-
heads acted principally upon the head, and the pith of the elder was
used in diseases of the spinal marrow.
  Some physiologists have  undertaken to  determine the action  of
drugs by their sensible properties, such as color, taste and odor.  This
seems to be a most superficial method  of solving the problem.
  By some writers  the natural-historical properties of drugs have
been depended upon  as  a standard for the determination of their
therapeutic virtues.  Even homoeopathic physicians  have been led
to regard these properties as suggestive of the dynamic character  of
drugs. Dr. Gray, of New York, in a note to  the provings of Arsenic
in Jahr's large manual, entitled "Symptomen-Codex," writes: "It  is
important that practitioners should point their attention to the ques-
tion, whether drugs which are isomorphous, are not, on that account,
allies in the  treatment of disease; thus Arsenic, Phosphorus and
Antimony, being eminent instances  of the isomorphous  relation,
and being strikingly analogous in  their pathogenecy, it is not very
probable that these two similitudes depend  on the same element  in
each, namely, an identical original  force or power. We find  these
drugs chemically uniting with other  substances  in  precisely the
same atomic proportions,  and producing crystals in each case of the
same form."
  But, as  Pereira very justly remarks: "No conclusion respecting
the medicinal properties of minerals, can be deduced from crystalline
form and structure.  The triphosphate of soda, for instance, is iso-
morphous with the triarseniate  of  the same base; but no one will
pretend to assert that their action in the system is  alike. 'Arsenious
acid is isomorphous with the sesquioxide  of Antimony;  yet their
effects  on  the system are very dissimilar."  How a  homoeopathic
practitioner can  discover any similarity between the effects  of
Arsenic, Antimony and  Phosphorous  upon the healthy organism,
is a mystery to me.   Their therapeutic range differs respectively  as
widely as  that of Aconite from Arsenic, or that  of  the Nitrate  of
silver from Phosphorus.
  The natural-historical  properties of vegetables are equally unre-
liable as indications of the medicinal virtues of drugs. I refer those
who wish to be thoroughly convinced  of this fact, to Hahnemann's
essay, entitled: "Suggestions for Ascertaining the Curative Powers
of Drugs," and published  in the American edition  of his lesser writ-
ings.  The root and leaves of the carrot are wholesome and nutri-
tive; but the analogous  parts of the  spotted hemlock are hiohly
poisonous.   Both Hahnemann  and Pereira adduce  a number  of
instances showing that botanical affinities cannot be relied on for
determining the effects of remedial agents.  Capsicum annuum and
Atropa Belladonna both belong to  the family Solanee, and yet how
different is their  physiological  action upon the brain.   Both the 
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
69
melon and the colocynth belong to the family Cucurbitacese, yet the
one is a delicious fruit, and the other a poisonous drug.
   Chemical properties are likewise unreliable as means of determin-
ing the therapeutic virtues of drugs.  Sulphuric, nitric and hydro-
chloric acids  possess similar chemical properties;  yet how widely
do their medicinal effects differ from each other!
   There is then but one true, philosophical  method of ascertaining
the pure effects of drugs; it is to institute provings upon the healthy.
It is likewise  in this respect that Homoeopathy has set an example
which the Old School is  beginning to follow.  Some of our most
valuable contributions to a knowledge of the pure  effects of drugs
have  been recently furnished by the Imperial Provers' Societies of
Vienna and Prague, founded under the auspices of the most enlight-
ened allceopathic practitioners of these two cities.
   In  attempting to explain the  action of homoeopathic remedial
agents, we shall be led to a train of reasoning utterly at variance
with any of the established  theories of the Old School. By the terms
of our law we prescribe remedies that act similarly to the existing
disturbance of the functions.  This fundamental difference in the
first  principles of our 'respective schools would of itself seem to
imply a radical difference in the mode in  which our remedial agents
perform their  work.  It is  true, a knowledge of this mode does not
seem  absolutely necessary to the performance of a satisfactory cure;
yet what thinking practitioner can refrain from inquiring into the
apparently marvellous mystery of a cure by means of a few infini-
tesimal globules ?
   It is astonishing how even in this direction intelligent physicians
of the old school have stumbled  upon observations which, with a
little more logical consistency and a little  less adherence to scholastic
dogmatism, might have led them to mistrust the universal applica-
bility of the old-fashioned Hippocratic-Galenian  law of "Contraria
Contrariis."  Paracelsus had already denounced  it as contrary to
nature. So did the celebrated Van Helmont.  The learned Tycho
de Brahe  likewise repudiated to some extent the authority of Galen.
Pereira's elaborate work is filled with isolated propositions embody-
ing principles  that might  have infused a new life into the Alateria
Medica and  the whole  system  of therapeutics.   He  frequently
alludes to the  primary and secondary action of drugs, ascribing the
primary action to  the drug and  the secondary or  reaction to the
organism.  Speaking of cold,  he  says:  " The effects  of cold  on
animals are twofold, viz.:  1. direct, primary or immediate;  2.  in-
direct, secondary or mediate.  The direct or primary influence of
cold is diminished vital activity; the indirect or secondary influence
of moderate cold, applied  temporarily, is increased activity of the
vital powers, or reaction."  Further on we read this passage :  "The
primary effects of a cold bath constitute the shock;  its secondary
effects the reaction or glow."   Unfortunately Pereira lacked the in-
tuitive genius  which might have taught him to vitalize these isolated
propositions into general  therapeutic principles.   It was reserved
for Hahnemann  to  show that, if the reaction is the opposite of the
primary action, we should not be guided  in our exhibition of reme- 
70
LECTURE IV.
dial agents by their primary action, but by the  character of the
reaction which they excite in the organism.  Diarrhoea, for instance,
being a symptom" of organic reaction, should not be treated, with
astringents, but  with medicines which will  excite an organic re-
action opposite to that excited by the disease.  Hence we do not
treat  diarrhoea with opiates, because such  agents, whose  primary
action is to bind  the bowels, would develop an organic reaction of
the same character as the natural disturbance of the functions which
we wish to remove.   On the contrary, we prescribe  medicines whose
primary action upon the alimentary canal is similar to the existing
disorder;  for we know that, as soon as the  primary action is ex-
hausted, the opposite secondary  or organic reaction will develop
itself in opposition  to the existing symptoms.  Such medicines are
Aconite, Arsenic, Alercury, etc.
   Page 274 of Pereira's great work we  read:  " The sudden and
temporary application of cold, as in the affusion of cold water, some-
times proves sudorific by the reaction which  it occasions."  If this
be true, would cold water affusions arrest or increase perspiration?
Alake the  experiment on a warm summer's day; sponge the perspir-
ing skin with cold water, and  see whether the cooling effect of the
water, its  primary action, will not very speedily be followed by an
increase of perspiration.  On the other hand the use of slightly
tepid water will, in the end, prove much more, and  more perma-
nently cooling.
   Even Professor Alitchell,  who  fills the chair of Alateria Medica
and  Therapeutics in Jefferson College, and who  seems as unprin-
cipled an opponent  of  Homoeopathy as any medical writer of the
age, teaches Homoeopathy without knowing it.  On the 28th page of
his System of Therapeutics he writes: "Very many articles operate
as indirect sedatives;  in  other words, the  first impression of an
active stimulant  having subsided, a state of indirect debility follows,
anol this is called a sedative  effect. In this way Opium and Alcohol
may be indirect  sedatives, although they are, in the  first  instance
direct stimulants."
   Professor Alitchell seems unconscious that the law of action and
reaction is an universal principle in nature, equally operative  in
therapeutics as in physics.   If the primary effect of opium is to
stimulate  the brain,  the  secondary effect will undoubtedly be to de-
press its action.  The same rule applies to alcoholic stimulants.  We
may avail ourselves of this law as a regulating principle in disordered
physiological conditions.  A state of excessive nervous irritability
may be quieted  by  a small dose of coffee.   Excessive wakefulness,
excessive  mobility  of  the nervous  system may yield to a small
spoonful of strong black coffee.  AVhy ?   Because the general prim-
ary action of  coffee consists in dissipating  sleep  by exciting the
brain and stimulating the nervous energy.  As soon as this primary
effect is past, an  opposite condition of the system sets in, which, if it
were the same as the natural disease, would increase  its intensity
instead of affording  relief. Hence, in order to effect a cure, it is the
organic reaction or  secondary action as  it is termed, and not the
primary action of the drug,  that has to be opposed to the disease. 
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
71
  It is astonishing that some of the highest authorities in the allao-
pathic ranks should be habitually stating facts of the utmost im-
portance in medical practice without perceiving their bearing upon
general principles.   We might collect from Pereira's large work a
few hundred pages of statements illustrative of the compound action
of drugs, and showing the absolute necessity of being guided by this
law in practice.  In proof of this we will quote the following para-
graph, page 250.   " Sometimes the same principle produces, under
different circumstances, apparently different effects.  Thus brandy,
in moderate quantities, acts as a stimulant; but taken in excess it
overpowers the brain, exhausts the nervous power, and  impedes its
generation, disengagement and communication ; thus acting both as
a stimulant and narcotic."
  Here is a curious confusion of ideas.  The same drug  acting both
as a stimulant and a narcotic, without accounting for this apparently
contradictory effect in a profitable manner. A small dose of brandy
will stimulate the brain not because its action is essentially different
from that of  a large dose;  but because the primary narcotic effect
is so evanescent that it is readily overcome by the vital reaction.
A large dose will narcotise the  brain  because  the vital reaction  is
insufficient to subdue the primary narcotic effect of the drug.   We
shall soon see to what important  practical results this apparent
opposition between the action of small and large doses  of the same
drug will lead us.
  Trousseau and Pidoux assign a twofold order of effects to drugs:
common and special.  A common effect of the narcotic  poisons, for
instance, is  to narcotise the brain, and of the corrosive acids to
develop an inflammatory irritation of the  intestinal mucous lining.
On  the other hand, every narcotic anol every acrid poison has special
effects of its own.  The common effects are developed by large, and
the special effects by small doses.  In old-school practice  drugs are
arranged for therapeutic purposes according to their common effects.
If an old school physician wishes to evacuate the bowels, he uses a
cathartic or  drastic.  Every physician generally has  his favorite
remedy for such purposes.  One prefers castor-oil, another magnesia,
another rhubarb;  others  again at once  charge with  their heavy
artillery, a few blue pills, jalap or colocynth,  and very often charge
so effectually that the tissues become gangrened and are perforated
as surely as  the walls of a citadel fall before the enemy's shells.
Special morbid phenomena not being considered, the special effects
of drugs are of no consequence whatsoever.  One drug will do just
as well as another;  anything that happens  to be  handy or sanc-
tioned by the routine-habit of  the medical  attendant.   The same
gross method of generalizing is resorted to in acting upon the skin,
the  bladder,  the sexual  system,  brain, or upon any other organ.
Here is a case of dropsy.   The doctor concludes that  he must re-
move the fluid by acting upon the salivary glands or bladder.  Any
thing will do for this purpose, provided he succeeds in  making the
poor patient spit or urinate.   If squills will not do, he resorts  to
the  iodide of potassium or to some other drug, until the whole cata-
logue of his diuretics is exhausted. 
72
LECTURE IV.
  With this gross mode of investigating and applying the general
effects of drugs, we have nothing to do whatsover.   If we promote
the urinary secretions or excite cutaneous perspiration, the eftet-t is
owing to altogether different influences.  If,  in a case of inflamma-
tory fever,, a dose of Aconite takes down the  pulse and restores the
secretory action of the skin, this perspiration  is not the direct effect
of the remedial agent;  it is the natural and  spontaneous  result of
the restored  vital_ action  of the  organism.   The capillary system
being freed from its torpor, the secretions are again carried on with
their customary regularity, and the pores of the skin pour forth the
incarcerated moisture until the equilibrium in the absorbent system
is fully restored.
  If, in a case of strangury,  a dose of Cantharides should  induce a
copious secretion of urine, this extraordinary action of the bladder
would not be a drug-effect, but the natural result of the re-awakened
vital energies of the urinary organs.
  So in a case of torpor of the bowels; if a dose of Nux Vomica  or
Sulphur should  induce diarrhoea, the diarrhoea would not be owing
to the medicinal impression set up by the drug, but to' the vital
reaction, in proof whereof,  we shall find  that the diarrhoea  will
gradually disappear, and be followed by regular motions,  whereas,
if the diarrhoea were a medicinal symptom, the constipation would
be increased after the cessation of the medicinal impression.
  In homoeopathic  practice, therefore, the classification of  drugs in
accordance with general  properties is  of  very little, if any,  use.
We may use the general appellations of tonics, stimulants, sudorifics,
and so forth, but we must  be careful to associate with them ideas in
harmony with our  general therapeutic  principle.   If  we choose to
call  Aconite a sudorific, we must  understand by this expression
that if, in certain conditions of the system,  the  cutaneous secretions
are checked, Aconite will restore them, provided it is specifically
adapted to this work.  There is no harm in calling Nux Vomica a
cathartic, provided we attach the right understanding to the term.
Nux  does not  produce  catharsis, but it may remove torpor of the
bowels, if homoeopathic to this condition.
  Sometimes we should be sorely puzzled  to determine  in what
general category the drugs belong. Aconite will excite perspiration,
hence we may range  it  among the  sudorifics.   It will restore the
urinary secretions ;  hence  it  may be termed a diuretic.  It will de-
press the pulse, diminish fever-heat,  and remove inflammation;
hen'ce it  is an  anti-phlogistic.  It will  hush the fiercest attack  of
neuralgia;  hence we consider it as one of our most important  ner-
vines.  It will  quiet  spasms and convulsions; hence  it is an anti-
spasmodic.  It will  arrest diarrhoea, and  quiet the irritation and
uneasiness in the bowels; hence it acts as a sedative.  It will restore
the menstrual secretions, if arrested by a fright or exposure to cold
dampness or a draught of  air; hence it may  be ranged amono- the
emmenagogues.  It will restore the nervous energy in cases of de-
pression brought on by fright or excessive blood-lettings; hence we
may very appropriately consider it as a tonic.
  From this long list of diversified effects you may  readily infer 
CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
73
that it would be highly unphilosophical to assign such an agent as
Aconite to a  single category; our standard of classification iriust
necessarily be totally different from that of allceopathic physiologists.
What would we call  a tonic?  Why, any remedial agent that re-
stores the  strength of the patient.   Any agent which removes a
group of morbid symptoms, among which debility is a characteristic
element, may be said to act  as a tonic.  Mercury may be a tonic;
Arsenic may be one; Veratrum may be another.   We may desig-
nate the carbonate of Ammonia as an anti-scorbutic, and yet  the
continued  use of this  salt produces a deterioration of the animal
fluids which resembles in all respects the worst form of scurvy.  Our
true standard  of classification would perhaps be the curative effects
of drugs.   Or we might be guided in this business by the special or
specific effects of  our drugs, and  group them in accordance with
what  we know by positive experimentation to be their therapeutic j
properties.  We shall find it very difficult to assign definite  names
to our drugs.   Our provings show us that some of them act upon
the organism  generally,  others  more particularly, upon definite
organs or  tissues, others again both generally and locally.  But the
one thing needful in the practical business of applying drugs to dis-
eases, is that we should have an accurate  knowledge of the precise
character of the disturbance  which a drug is capable of occasioning
in the healthy organism.   This knowledge alone can teach us with
what  pathological conditions the  drug is in curative  rapport, and,
if we are  anxious to  create a name for the drug, it should  be one
that expresses this specific relation ; the crude terms of "anti-bilious,
anti-phlogistic, anti-septic, anti-spasmodic, etc.," or of "cathartic, su-
dorific, diuretic, tonic, stimulant, etc.," express nothing definite, and
are only adapted to the gross and  delusive  methods of allceopathic
practitioners.
   We have said that Trousseau and Pidoux  speak of special and
common properties of drugs.  "All the  purgatives  for  instance,"
they  teach, " are endowed with the common virtue  of provoking
intestinal  secretions and contractions.  These are their general pro-
perties. Exhibit them in large, purgative  doses, and you will obtain
no other effect, or at any rate this  effect will prevail to such  an ex-
tent that it will absorb all other effects of  the drug-.  In large doses
Aloes and  Rhubarb irritate  the bowels and excite colic; in  small
doses, they relax the muscular fibres of the intestines and quiet their
spasmodic  irritation, and the Aloes in particular, induces still more
certainly haemorrhoidal congestions.  In large doses, both these
drugs irritate the stomach ; in small doses, they quiet and strengthen
it.  In large doses, they manifest their common,  in small doses their
special properties."
   In the hands of homoeopathic practitioners, the doctrine of special
and common properties of drugs becomes fruitful of the most bene-
ficent results.   In the hands of physiological physicians, this doc-
trine  seems to constitute,  comparatively speaking,  a barren  invest-
ment  of thought.
   In  the course of my lectures I shall have frequent  occasions to
show  you  that drugs seem to affect the organism  in  two opposite 
74
LECTURE IV.
ways, and may therefore be homoeopathic to two pathological  con-
ditions, holding towards each other relations of antagonism.  Vv e
may illustrate this law by the well known condition of fever.  The
first stage of an inflammatory fever is not a full and bounding pulse,
a hot and dry skin, flushed  face, and so forth;  an opposite group of
symptoms'occurs.  The patient experiences a chill or cold creepings
along the back; he looks pale, hollow-eyed, the hands and feet are
cold, the pulse is thin, feeble, rather slower than naturally, or at any
rate, not much  accelerated.  This condition is soon superseded by
the opposite  group of phenomena  generally designated as fever.
The chill is the primary effect of  the disease;  the fever  constitutes
a secondary  effect, or the reaction of the organism.  In  selecting a
remedial agent for this derangement, it should be homoeopathic not
only to  the  primary chill, but also to  the secondary  group, fever.
Aconite  is such a remedy.   Aconite is homoeopathic to the chill,
which marks the first invasion of the disease, anol to the fever which
marks the beginning of the organic reaction.   AYe are seldom calleol
to a patient during the primary invasion of the disease; the organic
reaction is generally fully established when we first  see the patient.
Nevertheless we  prescribe  Aconite, knowing  full well that the
inflammatory stage must have been preceded by a chill.
  We say that  Aconite is homoeopathic to the chill, and we prove
this experimentally by taking a large dose of this drug, of  course
within conservative limits, which will  uniformly  cause  a  more  or
less perceptible  chill, coldness of  the skin, depression of the pulse,
all of which  symptoms disappear after a certain interval of time, and
are followed by  the opposite  condition,  fever.  A small dose  of
Aconite will  not  produce the primary chill, but will at once excite
the organic reaction characterized by the  usual phenomena of heat,
flushed face, dryness of the mouth, etc.  This shows the importance
of proving drugs in massive doses.   It is massive doses that develop
the primary  drug-symptoms; small  doses do not develop these pri-
mary symptoms, because  the organic reaction  very speedily super-
sedes them.
  In the Manual of Homoeopathic Theory and Practice,  which has
lately been published by Drs. Beakley and Hempel, I have offered
the following remarks concerning the two-fold action of drugs, viz.:
the primary  drug-action and the secondary action or rather reaction
of the organism.
  "The primary action of Aconite upon the capillary nervous net-
work of  the intestinal mucous membrane is to induce torpor, such
as might be  considered analogous to the torpor  induced by cold.
The first consequence of this torpid condition of the  nerves, is  to
cause a  relaxation of the mucous membrane  and an excess of the
mucous  secretion. This  excess of the secretions  would affect the
character and regularity of the alvine evacuations; the stools woukl
be  thin,  slimy or watery, and the  desire to  evacuate the bowels
would be felt more urgently and more frequently.
  " But  under ordinary circumstances the relaxed condition of the
mucous membrane would hardly continue  long enough to affect the
evacuations  in a  permanent manner.   Organic reaction will  soon 
            POTENCIES,  INMOST PRINCIPLES OF DRUGS.          75

take place, and an opposite condition is set up; instead of excessive,
we  shall have a deficient  secretion of intestinal  mucus which may
induce a corresponding  costiveness.
  " Hence we perceive that a medicine may be homoeopathic to two
opposite conditions, to diarrhoea as well as to constipation; to both
a state of hyperajmia or excess of blood,  and a state of anaemia or
deficiency of blood;  to  both atony and excessive irritability of the
stomach;  to a condition characterized  by paralysis as well as to a
condition characterized by spasm.  Aconite and Nux may be used
as true  homoeopathic remedies in paralysis  as well as in tetanus;
Ipecacuanha may remove  perfect atony as well as spasmodic irrita-
bility of the stomach; Opium cures diarrhoea as well as constipation,
excessive wakefulness as well as drowsiness and  stupor; Alercurius
will check as well as  promote the secretory action of the pancreas;
Secale answers in uterine  haemorrhage  from  atony of this organ as
well as in spasmodic  uterine  contractions, it will arrest the former
and quiet the latter simply by virtue of the beautiful  and life-saving
law:  that every drug is exactly homoeopathic, and therefore adapt-
able as a specific curative  agent to two  morbid conditions which are
in direct or polaric opposition to each other."
  In practice it is of the utmost importance that  we should discrim-
inate between  the primary and secondary action.  If we are called
upon to prescribe for a group of  symptoms corresponding with the
primary action of a drug,  we give a larger dose than we should do,
if we had to prescribe for  a group of symptoms corresponding with
the secondary action, or organic reaction.  In prescribing Aconite
for  diarrhoea (primary symptom), we may sometimes have to give
one or two drops of the tincture of the root; costiveness, if treated
with  Aconite, may require two or three drops of the first or second
attenuation.  I  may  here mention  incidentally that, in  order to
determine whether Aconite should be used in a case of costiveness,
your  first care  should  be to ascertain the nature of the primary
symptoms that may have preceded this condition.  If these primary
symptoms,—more particularly the diarrhoea, uneasiness and pain in
the bowels, and the sickness at the stomach which are characteristic
of Aconite,—corresponded with the  primary action of Aconite,, we
may depend upon this  drug as one of the specific agents in a case
of constipation.
  There are a few violent diseases, Avhere a physician may happen
to see the patient during the primary invasion. This will frequently
happen  in Asiatic Cholera, or even in  a much less dangerous, but
much more chronic disease, such as fever and ague.  In all such
cases I consider  it philosophic homoeopathic treatment, to endeavor
to excite  the organic reaction  by resorting to larger doses of the
appropriate remedial  agents  than we should use, if  the organic re-
action had already set in. We might endeavor to  abbreviate the
chilly stage of a miasmatic intermittent by giving one or two drops
of the strong tincture of Aconite in a gill of water, administering
a small  tablespoonful  every ten or fifteen minutes.
  You have heard me  distinguish between large and small  doses.
This seems strange, and yet you will  hear this distinction frequently 
76
LECTURE IV.
made by practitioners.  There is a considerable difference between
a dose of the first or second trituration, and  of the two hundredth
potency.  The  subject of potencies is one of considerable import-
ance in homoeopathic practice, which should be fully understood
by every student of our great  Science.  Let us examine it a little
more closely.
  It is one of Hahnemann's great doctrines that every drug contains
an essential principle which constitutes the active force of the drug
and upon the presence of which its peculiar characteristic properties
depend.   AVhat is  it that distinguishes Stramonium  from  Bella-
donna, or rather that makes  Stramonium and Belladonna to_ be
what they are respectively ?  It  is this inmost essential principle
which no chemist  has  yet discovered in his crucible.  Analyze
Stramonium  into its constituent  elements, its carbon, nitrogen, hy-
drogen, and what not; can you recombine them into  the original
plant?  Ah,  the Stramonium principle,  the  agent  or  force-which
had  combined  these elements into a definite form, and which, by
means of this form, had become a tangible and visible  substance,
has fled into  the sphere of forces whence it descends upon the sun-
beam into the lower atmospheres, and  again embodies itself by
means of the material, molecules of our  globe, in its own peculiar
and  characteristic form which  constitutes the type or typical sub-
stratum of the  in-dwelling principle.
  Fixing your  mind's eye upon this subject,  you perceive two dis-
tinct elements that intervene in the formation of a  drug, an active
principle or force, acting as a creative or inseminating agent, and a
passive principle composed of material molecules which have been
so fashioned by the Supreme Creator as to serve as a recipient vessel
or form to the former.   Further than this it seems impossible to go
in the present state of our scientific investigations.  We have not
yet solved the mystery of Creation, and all that we  have learned to
know by  reasoning, observation  and  analysis, is, that  there  are, 1,
active forces or principles which  constitute the essence of things, and
2, forms or passive recipients of the former.  How far the active
forces of Nature have been originally instrumental in Avorking their
appropriate characteristic forms out of the elementary  molecules of
matter ; how the union between these two principles is maintained ;
how the great process of organizing life into distinct individualities
and maintaining and developing them, each  according to  its in-
herent law and destiny, is carried on: these, gentlemen, are subjects
worthy of the  most religious contemplation,  but not  immediately
connected with our present course of  studies.
   Taking the  Stramonium-plant as an illustration, we  say that it
represents an active principle or  force which is embodied, as I term
it, in this plant, and more particularly in the seeds thereof.  The
plant, with all its perceptible characteristic properties of shape, color,
odor, leaves, blossoms, etc., is a representative type of the active force
dwelling in its inmost bosom as it were.   Now, gentlemen, what do
I mean when, in the case of man, I allude to morbid tendencies or
morbid predispositions in the  human organism ?   I mean that the
germinal principles out of which drugs are developed in Nature, are
» 
POTENCIES, INMOST PRINCIPLES OF  DRUGS.         77
represented in  man by corresponding morbid tendencies or predis-
positions.  The germinal principle of Stramonium, or that recipient
faculty impressed upon the elementary molecules of Nature to be
influenced by, and excited or individualized into a concrete, percep-
tible form  by some specific force, which, while separated from the
material molecules, constitutes an essence, and which, when uniting
itself to, or pervaoling and penetrating material molecules, gives rise
to, and'develops the Stramonium-plant;  this recipient faculty in the
elementary molecules of matter, likewise exists in the human organ-
ism; the human organism likewise is tainted with a faculty of being
impressed by the active force, which, when embodying itself in the
material molecules of Nature, results in the formation of the Stra-
monium-plant.  It stands to reason that this force, when acting upon
the human  organism,  does  not develop the Stramonium-plant in
man.  AYhat then does it develop ?   Why, it develops the Stramo-
nium disease, a pathological  lesion characterised by definite signs,
symptoms  or phenomena.  Let the  Stramonium-force or principle
act upon the organism  mediately, through  the  Stramonium-plant,
and you will develop a Stramonium disease exactly resembling the
former in all essential characteristics. Is not this essential similarity
an  evidence of the identity of their origin ?   Does not this  essential
similarity show that the Stramonium-disease as mediately developed
by the plant, and the Stramonium-disease as developed by the im-
meoliate  invasion of the organism by the Stramonium-principle or
force, are products of the same essential cause ?
   The ancient  doctrine that man is a microcosm, a doctrine which
has been accepted, with various modifications, by the philosophical
minds of all nations and ages, leads to the idea of Homoeopathy as
certainly and positively as any general law, if essentially  true and
correctly apprehended, will inevitably lead to its particular applica-
tions.  All the germinal principles of  Nature are represented by
recipient faculties in man.  Alan constitutes an universe of germinal
forces.   Every germinal drug-principle  in outward Nature is repre-
sented in human Nature by a kindred recipient faculty, a morbid
tendency or predisposition.  The germinal principle of Stramonium
pervades all Nature, but it does  not develop itself all over into an
actual form.  In order  that it may develop itself into an actual
plant, the circumstances of soil and locality have to correspond with
its  essential nature.  It is only in waste places, on heaps of rubbish
that the  Stramonium-plant can grow; it will not show itself in an
ornamental garden.   So does a recipient faculty of being impressed
by the creative Stramonium-force pervade every human organism;
but it does not develop in every organism  an actual Stramonium-
disease.  In order  that an actual pathological lesion  may be de-
veloped  in man, the circumambient conditions, abnormal influences
of climate and  diet, exposure, the excessive action of the sun's rays,
starvation, fatigue, a draught of air, retrocession of the perspiration,
mental or moral depression, have to favor this development. Other-
wise the morbid  faculty will remain dormant, in a state of passive
potency, and the vital force will not be disturbed in the harmonious
exercise of its  functions. 
78
LECTURE IV.
  AYe have reached the conclusion of our argument.  If a Stramo-
nium-lesion has actually been excited in  the organism, howdo we
proceed in  order to hush  it up, and to reduce it back again  to a
state of passive potency, a mere faculty, tendency or predisposition?
You know my answer. AYe act upon it by means of the Stramonium
principle as embodied in the plant, after having previously fitted it
for this work by suitable manipulations.  AYe present this principle
to the disease in the  shape of attractive molecules, and the conse-
quence of this contact of the Stramonium-disease with the Stramo-
nium-plant in a state of suitable adaptation, is the restoration of the
organism to a state  of normal activity.
  Here is the great mystery which puzzles our  opponents and even
our friends.  How does the homoeopathic medicine act ?   Why, it
acts by carrying the war into Africa ; it acts like the lightning-rod
inviting the thunders of heaven.  Here is the Stramonium-disease,
the creative Stramonium-force having invaded  the organism where
it meets a kindred, recipient faculty, a predisposition which it excites
into a violent, palpable disorder. I  say, we conquer this disorder
by carrying  the war  into  Africa.  AYe act upon it by means of
material  molecules  for.which the Stramonium-force or essence  has
a stronger attractive  affinity than for the organic tissues.  These
material molecules are the  Stramonium-drug in a suitable state of
preparation.  If the drug-molecules are not endowed with sufficient
force  to draw the disease to themselves, to incorporate  the disease
with themselves, in  other words to materialize it, to convert it from
the dynamic or immaterial form  in which it pervades the organism,
into  molecular drug-atoms of  limited dimensions and harmless as
disease-producing agents, the cure fails.  Either the disease was not
a Stramonium-disease, or else the inimical force had  so thoroughly
assimilated  the organic tissues that  their dissolution had become
inevitable.   It is in this exact adaptation of  our remedial agents to
diseases, that consists their potency, their power to  act.  Potency
has not reference to quantity or number, but to  the curative adapta-
tion  of drugs to diseases.   In this sense  a  globule of the twelfth
attenuation of Arsenic may be a far more efficient potency than ten
drops of Fowler's solution ;  whereas, on the other hand, a few grains
of Quinine in fever  and ague may exercise a more positive curative
influence, and therefore constitute a  more efficient potency, than a
few globules of the  thirtieth attenuation.
  Hahnemann taughtthe doctrine,—and you must have seen from
my statements, that this doctrine is founded in Nature and Reason__
that it is the drug-force which effects cures. By drug-force we mean
the morbific  essence which materializes itself in the  plant, and de-
velops pathological lesions  in the organism.   This drug-force  can
never be  wholly separated from the material molecules of the druo--
but by resorting to  various peculiar processes of shaking and tritu-
rating, this drug-force may be set free, disengaged and may be united
with a temporary vehicle, such as alcohol or sugar of milk.  I shall
describe this triturating and shaking process more fully  in our next
lecture, and I shall then give a number of illustrations furnished by
Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, showing that very small bodies 
            POTENCIES,  INMOST PRINCIPLES OF DRUGS.          79

may possess the power of producing great effects.   For the present
let  it suffice to know that it  is the in-dwelling dynamic force of
drugs which effects our cures  by absorbing or attracting as it were,
the morbific essence to itself, and amalgamating or incorporating it
with the molecular atoms of the drug.   I shall hereafter quote the
great authority of Professor  Doppler, the inventor of the platina-
hydrogen lamp, in order to substantiate this theory.
  The process  of developing the dynamic virtues of drugs by suc-
cussion and trituration has been carried to  an almost incredible ex-
tent.   Take one drop of the  tincture,  and shake it together with
ninety-nine drops  of  alcohol,  and  you  obtain the first attenuation,
potency or dynamization. It is designated as an attenuation  by
those who look upon this proceeding simply as a mechanical division
or separation of the drug-molecules; the term potency or dynamiza-
tion is applied  by physicians who regard the process of shaking and
triturating as a development of the in-dwelling drug-force.  Shake
a drop of the first potency with ninety-nine drops of strong alcohol,
and you obtain the second potency or attenuation.  This process has
been continued up to the one, four, eight, ten, yea forty thousandth
potency.
  Gentlemen, this is  going too  far; there  must be a limit to this
thing.   Our materials are too  crude to enable us to potentize drugs
to this incredible  height.  AYe may keep potentizing until  we po-
tentize the drug-force back again  into the ethereal regions of the
infinite.
  The use of infinitesimal doses as they are termed, is one of the
characteristic peculiarities of  our practice.   Is the doctrine  of infi-
nitesimal  doses essentially absurd ?  Is there  any thing essentially
absurd in the developments which I have laid before you ? Is there
any thing  absurd  in  our doctrines concerning olisease, with which
our doctrine of potencies and of infinitesimal doses is most intimately
connected.  "If I have spoken  falsely, prove it; if I have  spoken
truly,  why dost thou  smite me ?"
  It is not thus that  our opponents treat us.  They do  not wish to
investigate our doctrines.  They seize upon a few prominent peculi-
arities which, if separated from the organic structure of the whole,
may easily be made to look unphilosophical, unscientific and absurd.
  " The practice of this deluded man," writes my colleague of Jef-
ferson College, Professor Alitchell, "has been called infinitesimal,
because it is fairly inferrable, from all he has said, that  doses,  di-
vided  and diminished, ad infinitum, are thereby augmented in effi-
cacy."  And  again he  says: "AVere  the  position true, that  the
strength of a fluid mixture was augmented by dilution, then beyond
all  doubt, an ounce of laudanum poured into the head of  the Alle-
ghany should narcotize every individual who  drank of the water
of the Ohio, down to where  it empties into  the  Alississippi; and
the fish, too, of that noble stream could not fail to be destroyed  by
the poison."
  It seems as though Professor Alitchell might have been drinking
of some such waters,  or, may  be, the doctrines of Hahnemann have
so woefully narcotized his brain that  he has become incapacitated 
80
LECTURE V.
from understanding them.  I will do him the justice to believe that
he is constitutionally unfit for such a task.  Let him slide.
  Professor Simpson, of Edinburgh, expresses his amazement at the
efficacy of  our small doses in these terms: "To be called on to be-
lieve that the decillionth of a grain of charcoal or oyster-shell, is
capable of producing hundreds of the most formidable symptoms,
and of curing, as by magic, the most  inveterate diseases, while we
can take ounces, nay pounds, of the very same substance into out
stomachs, with  no other  inconvenience  than its mechanical  bulk,
seems  so gratuitous an outrage to human  reason, that the  mind
instinctively recoils from the proposition."
  This seems more plausible, but it is not the globuk of charcoal
and oyster-shell that the professor demurs at, but  the infinitesimal
doses generally. Anrl yet, why should not a globule of the thirtieth
potency of Aconite have the power of  curing a fever, if we consider
than an infinitesimal germinal vesicle, which can only be seen through
a powerful microscope, may  develop itself into a Simpsonian  brain
which  has power to elaborate two mighty  volumes on obstetrics
alternately filled with wisdom and with folly; and which enables a
man to commit a crime  against humanity by misrepresenting and
deriding our divine doctrine of the Healing Art and its great,  glori-
ous and immortal discoverer.
                   LECTURE  V.

  We have seen that the remedial power of a drug depends upon
the presence of an active principle which pervades the molecular
atoms of the drug as the vital spirit does the tissues of the organism
This active principle  is a force sui generis, which cannot be replaced
by any other force in nature.  In  allceopathic practice one amarum
or bitter substance may be  taken  for another;  the doctrine of  suc-
cedanea or substitutes is essentially a doctrine  of the Old  School.
We see proposals made in allceopathic journals to  employ one med-
icine in the place of another; governments offer rewards to  the dis-
coverer of some cheap native substitute for expensive foreign drugs.
In our practice we repudiate the very idea of substituting one drug
for another.  Every drug constitutes a distinct power, is endowed
with distinct properties which make it to be what it is: an indi-
vidual agent.  The verj7- idea of individuality precludes the possi-
bility of substitution, which is  simply another term  for chaos and
confusion.  Every drug affects the  human organism  in a  definite
manner, and is  in therapeutic rapport  with  some  definite path-
ological lesion characterised by definite phenomena of pain, altera-
tions  of color, temperature  and pulse, eruptions, disharmony of the
nervous functions and  other signs of  disease which are peculiar to
this and to no other derangement.
   We are aware that modern chemistry has succeeded in analyzing 
          ACTION OF THE DYNAMIC FORCES  OF DRUGS.        81

medicinal plants into a'number  of component parts.  Opium, for
instance, has been analyzed into some twenty  different substances, a
fact of which Professor Simpson, in his volume against Homoeopathy,
avails himself for the purpose of showing that homoeopathic phy-
sicians do not operate with simple, but exceedingly compound sub-
stances.  He writes;
   " Opium is not a simple substance;  it is extemely composite
in its character.   It contains, says Christison, no fewer than seven
crystalline principles, called Morphia, Codeia, Paramorphia, Narco-
tin, Narcein, Dorphyroxin, and Meconin, of which the first three  are
alkaline, and the others neutral;  secondly, a  peculiar acid termed
meconic acid, which consitutes, with sulphuric acid,  the solvent of
the active principle; and thirolly,  a variety of comparatively unim-
portant ingredients, such as gum, albumen, resin, fixed oil, a trace
perhaps of volatile oil, lignin, caoutchouc, extractive matter, and
numerous salts  of inorganic bases.  Of these inorganic salts and
substances in Opium, Schindler, in his analysis, detected among
others, phosphate of lime, alumina, silica, magnesia,  oxide of iron.
Homoeopathists,  in  using this  frequently-indicated medicament,
Opium, employ a preparation which is certainly not single, but con-
sists at least of some twenty different substances."
   Unfortunately for his argument, our  professor is a little too fast.
He might have increased the list of these elementary ingredients
threefold,  and yet he would  have  been obliged  to  leave out  the
most essential of them all, the very element,  in fact, which consti-
tutes the essential thing in Opium. Mix up your twenty ingredients
in a crucible, and try to combine them  by fire or water, or by any
means in  your power, and what will  you obtain ?   Opium ?  No,
indeed, you  may produce  some monstrous compound which will be
as different from Opium as the inanimate carcass is from the living
body.   The Opium-principle or force, by assimilating to itself  the
molecular atoms of material nature, among which the above men-
tioned chemical products constitute essential ingredients, becomes
embodied for our use in  the opium-plant, the papaver somniferum,
from which the Opium is obtained by means  of certain simple pro-
cesses which will be mentioned in the course  of our lectures.  It is
this  opium-force or essence which effects  our cures of  the path-
ological lesions to which  it is  homoeopathic;  in other words, which
result from its own action upon the organic tissues.
   In order to enable the  dynamic principle  of a drug to act with
more positiveness, more directness and more  specific intensity as it
were, Hahnemann has resorted to two processes which our descen-
dants will, I doubt not, regard as two highly important inventions
in the domain of pharmaceutics.   These two processes are:  tritura-
tion  and succussion.  Before  dwelling  upon  them more minutely,
let me  quote the opinion of  a distinguished man  in the  natural
sciences, I mean Professor Doppler of the University of Halle, who,
in an essay, entitled "great and small," has felt called upon to vindi-
cate the efficacy of small doses, without being at all anxious to  say
a kind word in favor of Homoeopathy.  He expressly declares that
he does not write in behalf of a theory not connected with his own
                              6 
82
LECTURE V.
peculiar branch of investigation, and that' it was physicians of the
old school who requested him to publish his views.
  It is unnecessary to transcribe the whole of his interesting article;
it may suffice for  our present purpose to  state, that  according to
Doppler, " the power of remedial agents may be measured by exten-
sion of surface, instead of being determined by weight as has been
the fashion heretofore.  Bv surface in the sense in which Professor
Doppler  understands this 'term, we do not mean the mathematical
surface  of a  body, but the aggregate surface of all its molecular
constituents in a state of  absolute separation from  each other.   By
separating these atomic constituents, the actual surface of a body
may be increased from a square inch to several thousand square feet.
This separation is best effected by mixing the pulverized substance
with a sufficient  quantity of sugar of milk, and  afterwards grinding
the mixture in a suitable mortar.   Having effected an homogenous
compound by this means, we mix a portion of it with an additional
quantity of sugar  of milk, and  renew the process of grinding until
another homogeneous product is secured.  This proceeding may be
continued until  a complete separation  of all  the  molecular  con-
stituents of the substance is effected.  The trituration with sugar of
milk  is resorted to  in order to prevent a reunion of  the atoms by
virtue of the  attraction of affinity which their immediate contact
with each other might excite."
  In  making  these successive triturations, we shall find that elec-
tricity becomes  developed on the surface of the  atoms, endowed
with such a high degree  of expansiveness  that metals and similar
coarse bodies will not influence it. That this electricity is developed,
may be  ascertained  very readily by any  one who will make these
triturations in the  dark.  After the first trituration, you see little of
it;  it becomes much more intense when making the second tritura-
tion, and still more so during the third.  An electric light is readily
perceived, and the crackling of a multitude of little sparks may be
heard.  In breaking up  the atoms  of liquid drugs, we use alcohol
as  an appropriate vehicle,  and  instead of triturating, we resort to
the process of shaking, taking care to impart a number of powerful
succussions, not  simply one or two feeble, nervous agitations of the
surface.  In  sending these molecular  atoms through the organism
by  means of  the capillary current, we bring the attractive force of
each  atom to bear upon  the dynamic disease which  pervades the
tissues.  It is the dynamic force  of  the drug-molecule that acts
through the electric  attractive power developed on its surface,  and
the effect of this influence is to  convert the dynamic disease into so
many atomic points  as it were, which  are perfectly harmless to the
organism and are readily overcome by the vital reaction.
  Nature and history furnish many proofs that very  small bodies
may produce  great effects.  Passional excitements  may cause great
disturbances  of the  physical organism.   A  sudden joy has caused
death; anger  has  developed  a  dangerous  attack of bilious fever,
stupor; the news of  a sudden fortune has made people mad; fear
has caused and  cured diseases.  Boerhaave cured epilepsy which
had become   epidemic in the  foundling-hospital  of Leyden,  by 
POWER OF SMALL QUANTITIES.
83
threatining all those who should be attacked again, with a severe
flogging,
   A sudden fright has caused imbecility and  death.
   The sense of smell is so keen in a dog, that he discovers his master
by the scent.
   According  to Bouchardat, fresh-water fishes die in water  con
taining yioouoth  of  sublimate,  or in  soBDUoth of the  iodide  of
mercury.
   Segin has  discovered atoms  of copper through  a microscope
magnifying seventy-five times; Mayerhofer has seen  atoms of the
eighth trituration of iron, of the tenth of platina, gold, silver, mer-
cury, and  of  the  fourteenth of tin.  In order to avoid the possi-
bility of a mistake, he first  examined the atoms of the crude sub-
stance, with which the atoms of the triturations seemed to correspond
perfectly.
   Liebig writes: We know of animals with teeth, with motor and
digestive organs that are no longer visible to the naked eye.  There
are other animals  whose size has* been found by measurement to be
infinitely smaller,  and which possess the same apparatuses.  Like
the larger animals they take food, and propagate themselves by
means of eggs, that must  necessarily be thousands of time smaller
than their bodies. If we are unable to perceive  creatures which
are still billion times smaller than these, it is because our optical
instruments are too imperfect.
   Concerning distance  the same author  writes: " The  multitude of
worlds is infinitely large, it cannot be expressed in numbers; in one
second a ray of light  travels forty thousand miles; there are fixed
stars whose rays  require millions  of years before they reach our
globe."
   Chemistry furnishes  a number  of striking illustrations of the
power  of small quantities.  Starch and water are united  into an
entirely new body by Sulphuric  acid which loses none of  its  pro-
perties in consequence; it effects  this union by its mere presence, a
process termed by chemists Catalysis or action of presence.
   One part of hydrothionic acid gas is discoverable in three million
parts of water by means of silver with a polished surface.
   One millionth part of starch is rendered violet by iodine.
   One eighty thousandth part of a  grain of sulphuric acid is still
discoverable by sugar.
   Brande and Eveling state that one five thousandth part of a grain
of arsenious acid is discoverable in five hundred thousand parts  of
water, after the lapse of twenty-four hours, by means of ammonio-
sulphate of copper.
   According to Poppe, s-joth of a grain of carmine tinctures  sixty
pounds of water;  take T<jor»ouo °f this solution and one drop of it,
spread on white paper, will  still  show the  color  under the micro-
scope.  Ttfslflfioth of sulphur reacts against acetate of lead; soilucroth
of chlore against nitrate of silver.
   Spallanzani states that ?3^TI)th of a grain  of semen of frogs  is
capable of  fecundating;  viz.: three  grains of semen  dissolved in
twenty-two pounds of water. 
84
LECTURE V.
  According to Professor Arnold of Heidelberg, a  solution  of
TSoocpoth of frog-semen is still endowed with powers of fecundation.
  The greatest philosophers believe in the infinitely small.
  Berzelius writes: AYe may progress in  knowledge as far as we
choose;  we shall always stumble upon something that seems incom-
prehensible.
  Professor Albers teaches  that, "the comminuted dose is  more
readily received by the stomach, irritates much less the place where
it first comes in contact with the organism, and hence acts  more
completely and  more permanently than a massive dose."
  Dr. Schulz expresses himself thus:  The reception of drugs by the
organism is the more rapid, the less the local absorbents are irritated
by the drug, in  other words: the smaller is the dose.
  Panizza  concludes from his experiments concerning absorption,
that  " small comminuted and easily soluble doses of medicine  are
more efficacious than large  doses which  pass  off again with  the
excrements; the absorption of drugs  takes place the more readily,
the more soluble the medicines are, and the more they are divided
and susceptible  of assimilation."
  It must be conceded, however, that all these quantities, small as
they may appear, may still seem large in the presence of our infini-
tesimal doses.  Think of the  ten  thousandth potency!   Well may
we exclaim with the great poet:  " There are more things between
heaven and earth than we have dreamed of in our philosophy."
  It is impossible to determine the size of doses by a fixed, unvary-
ing rule.   There was a time when the great body of homoeopathic
practitioners was divided into two hostile camps, high and low clilu-
tionists.  The high dilutionists professed to practice a Homoeopathy
of a higher order; while the low dilutionists looked upon the former
with a sort of pity, doubting, may be, their sanity.  These opponents
are now willing to treat each other with more respect and liberality,
and  a certain harmony of feeling and action  might perhaps have
been agreed upon, if the new marvel of the so-called highest poten-
cies had not come  to disturb the brethren.
  Do these very high potencies  act ?  It is my decided conviction
that they do.   But can they be depended upon in all cases ?   I un-
hesitatingly answer: No.  In the  course of my lectures I shall take
every opportunity  to enlighten you concerning the most appropriate
dose of every drug;  for the present I take the liberty of giving the
general advice  that, in the beginning of your professional career you
had better confine yourselves to the first six potencies; in some cases
you may use tinctures and  the lower triturations; but in the vast
majority of cases you will find the attenuations from the first  to the
sixth sufficient to  effect a cure.   Gradually, as you gain experience
and confidence  in yourselves, you  may make trials with the higher
and highest potencies in cases that seem adapted to their use.
  As a general rule physicians use the higher and highest  potencies
in all chronic cases;  the lower potencies are used more particularly
in acute cases.   Here too we may distinguish  between  the primary
and secondary  symptoms.  While the primary symptoms prevail, a
large dose is preferable to a smaller  one which is more appropriate 
ADMINISTRATION OF  MEDICINES.
So
during the secondary symptoms or the stage of organic reaction.  In
chronic cases attended with disorganizations, such as hypertrophy
of tissues, abscess, effusion, and in certain  kinds of miasmatic dis-
eases, more particularly in all forms and stages of syphilis, massive
doses of the appropriate drug are very often, and indeed most gene-
rally more efficient than  small doses. Nevertheless you will find it
unwise to adhere too dogmatically to any rule regarding the size of
doses.   You may  undoubtedly incline to general principles; but it
is best  to do so cautiously, and with the reservation of modifying
them according to the requirements of individual cases.
  I am  willing to admit  very freely  that the  doctrine of potentiza-
tion has been most sadly abused by a small  number of homoeopathic
practitioners.   On the other hand, however, I would ask you, gen-
tlemen, to refrain from rushing into the opposite extreme of material
doses.  Have faith in Hahnemann's teachings regarding the dynamic
force of drugs.  How is it that allceopathic physicians, when making
their first attempts in Homoeopathy, turn  to the despised globule
with a sort of instinctive warning that it embodies a great  and vital
truth?  I never knew of an allceopathic convert to our  doctrines
who does not  fly  from the contaminating  materialism  of the Old
School with a perfect loathing.  Yes, there  is power in small doses;
the lower potencies, from the first to the sixth, may be all-sufficient
for practical purposes; but do not  be  afraid of  investigating the
doctrine of potentization as  embodying principles  which may,  at
some future period, reveal to us hitherto unknown forces of life.
  Homoeopathic physicians are not in the habit of using medicines ,
externally; nevertheless we may resort to this method in some cases.
Arnica  is used externally in the case of wounds  and bruises; the
external use of Aconite frequently becomes necessary in severe
forms of neuralgia.   Many  homoeopathic  physicians  employ the
Sulphur-ointment  in the itch.  In the  course of my lectures, this
subject  will be dwelt upon more in detail.  Let me here caution
you, gentlemen, against the pernicious practice of allceopathic physi-
cians to resort to the external  application of drugs for the  purpose
of repelling an eruption,  drying up some old sore, or burning away
a chancre.  Untold  suffering  has been  entailed upon  patients by
rubbing mercurial ointment upon an acute  nettlerash, or by drying
up  a chronic ulcer with lead-washes.   Such diseases are internal
maladies, the intensity and destructive power of which are tempered
by the vital reaction through the development of these cutaneous
symptoms.  Close  up these natural outlets of the internal disease,
anol you may develop incurable chronic  ailments, asthma, paralysis,
consumption and other disorganizing processes. On more  than one
occasion the drying up of an old sore  by means of an astringent
wash has resulted in fatal apoplexy.

  Regarding the

            ADMINISTRATION OF  MEDICINES,

AYe may remark that various methods have been adopted by homceo- 
86
LECTURE V.
pathic  practitioners, agreeably to their  respective tastes and judg-
ments.                                                   .   .
  In the earlier periods of Homoeopathy, Hahnemann and his dis-
ciples were in the habit  of giving a single dose of the appropriate
remedy dry on  the tongue, and allowing it  to  act for a longer or
shorter period,  according to the requirements of the case.  A dose
consisted of one, two  or more globules of the  size of a mustard-seed.
At a later period, Aegidi introduced the practice of dissolving four
or five globules or pellets in from six to ten tablespoonfuls of soft
water,  which had  to be perfectly free from all impurities.  A table-
spoonful, or a desertspoonful in the case of  children,  was adminis-
tered every fifteen minutes, or every half hour, or even every hour,
two, three or four hours, according as the symptoms were more or
less acute, and  the disease ran a more or less rapid course.  This
practice is the  prevailing practice with the  vast majority of prac-
titioners.   Many  of our practitioners give the medicine in powders,
mixing one or two drops of the required potency with a small quan-
tity of sugar of milk, and dividing it into  six, ten or twelve pow-
ders, one of which is taken by the patient, dry on the tongue, every
hour, or every two, four, six or eight hours,  according to the more
or less acute or chronic nature of the case.
  Another mode of  administering homoeopathic remedies is by
olfaction.   This process is not much resorted  to by modern phys-
icians.  If employed, the emanations from the medicine should be
sufficiently perceptible to impress the nervous system through the
filaments  of the olfactory nerve.  This method should only be re-
sorted to in purely nervous affections;  we doubt whether it  can be
depended upon in acute inflammations, or in disorders of any kind
which may terminate in dangerous disorganizations.
  The  process  of inhalation has likewise been adopted by some
homoeopathic practitioners, more particularly in affections  of the
respiratory organs.  The medicine is introduced into an inhaler, and
made to act directly  upon the pulmonary tissue and the bronchial
lining membrane. A very excellent inhaler may be procured of Dr.
Otto Fullgraff,  New York, a representation and description of which
may be found in the February  number  of the North-American
Homoeopathic Journal, 1856.
   A good deal  of metaphysical sophistry  has  been  expended  in
former years upon the repetition of doses and the succession of reme-
dies.  After a dose of the medicine had been given, the effects had
to be watched with scrupulous care, and any change  in  the symp-
toms,  whether  apparent or  real, generally  indicated a  change of
remedy.   Modern homoeopathists of  experience anol  judgment
change their medicines much less frequently than was the fashion
with their predecessors, or is the fashion with  some of their cotem-
poraries.  AYe hear of physicians using four and even six medicines
not  only in the same case, but at the same time, alternating them in
regular order.  This is undoubtedly a strange abuse, of which  no
intelligent practitioner who  comprehends our  law of cure and  is
fully conversant  with our therapeutic resources, will ever render
himself guilty. 
PREPARATION  OF DRUGS.
87
  If in a case of pleurisy, pneumonia, meningitis, acute rhematism,
or any other acute disease, a decideol improvement sets in after one
or two doses of Aconite or Belladonna, it would be very unwise to
change the medicine, because the symptoms are less intense, or  be-
cause some of the more acute and distressing symptoms have disap-
peared.  The essential character of the disease may still be the same,
and the same treatment, if continued  in a modified  form, may lead
to perfect recovery.   Instead of changing the medicine, we continue
the same remedy at prolonged intervals; many a case of meningitis
has been cured with Belladonna, many a case of typhus with Arsenic,
many hundred cases of pleurisy or pneumonia with Aconite, without
the employment of any other medicine.   In chronic cases the medi-
cine may be repeated every twenty-four  hours, or even every two
or three days.   There are chronic diseases, however, where  it may
be proper and  necessary to give  the  medicine every six or twelve
hours, and even more  frequently.  In some forms of chronic dys-
pepsia, it may not be out of the way, to  repeat the dose every six
hours; in primary syphilis the specific remedy may sometimes  be
repeated with  advantage every four hours; even in the secondary
and tertiary forms of this disease, a dose of the appropriate remedy
may be given every four or six hours.
   In  chronic diseases we generally confine ourselves to one remedy
at a time.  The method of alternating two medicines at regular in-
tervals, is generally resorted to in acute cases only.  We may alter-
nate Aconite and Belladonna, or Aconite and Bryonia, or Aconite
and Phosphorus, Belladonna and  Nux, Phosphorus and Arsenic, etc.
It should be remarked, however, that, in many cases, this method of
alternation is an expedient shift  rather than an usage necessitated
or justified by principle.
   Luz, the inventor of the isopathic system of treatment, has pro-
posed in a late publication to mix the remedies instead of alternat-
ing them. He asserts that Hahnemann, in a letter addressed by him
to Luz, and published in the above mentioned work, sanctioned the
proposition of mixing medicines, and that Hahnemann's views con-
cerning this subject would have  been published in the last edition
of the Organon, if the physicians to whom the publication of this
edition was confined in Germany, had  not left them out by a manage-
ment of their own,   Be this as it may, it is very doubtful whether
Hahnemann, in the full enjoyment of his mature judgment, would
have authorized this new-fangled polypharmacy ;  on the other hand
it is  equally certain that he would have visited with  the  severest
condemnation the practice of using three or four medicines in the
same case simultaneously at regular intervals.
   It  remains now to give a short description of the utensils which
are required for the business of making homoeopathic preparations;
and afterwards to indicate more specially the method which has been
adopted by Hahnemann and by modern homoeopathic pharmaceutists
generally, of making homoeopathic preparations.
   The utensils of which we make use in preparing homoeopathic
tinctures, essences, triturations and liquid attenuations, are: 
88                        LECTURE V.
                           1.  Mortars.

   An iron mortar which is to be perfectly smooth on the inner sur-
 face, and which should be kept polished constantly;  and mortars of
 white marble with hard pestles.  The marble mortars should not be
 glazed within; the pestles may have wooden handles to which an
 elongated, and  evenly rounded  extremity of unglazed marble should
 be attached.

                      2. A Cutting Machine.

   For the cutting of roots and herbs, a well-polished  knife should
 be used, which has to be free from rust.  Rust decomposes a great
 many vegetable  juices instantaneously.   The boards  and  blocks
 upon which the  plants are  cut, should  be  cleansed  immediately
 after being used.   An excellent contrivance for such purposes is a
 very simple machine, where the knife is worked up and  down with
 a  handle between four uprights; a similar  instrument  is used for
 cutting tobacco leaves.

                          3.  A Press,

 For the purpose of pressing out the juice of plants, etc.  An excel-
 lent instrument for this purpose is the press contrived  by Alessrs.
 Bullock & Crenshaw of this city, for  our pharmaceutists.   It con-
 sists mainly of an iron screw with an iron  handle  attached to it.
 The plant having been previously cut in small pieces, is  enclosed
 in a linen bag  perfectly free from  starch and bleaching materials,
 and, enclosed in  this bag, is subjected to the action of  the  screw.
 The juice collects in a tin pan which is provided with a convenient
 opening at the side for the purpose of allowing the juice to  run into
 a suitable vessel.   After using the screw, the pan and screw should
 be thoroughly  cleansed; no bags should  be  used  for two  different
 substances.

                            4.  Vials.

  All  vials which  the  homoeopathic physician has to use  in his
 practice, should be rinsed  in  hot,  and afterwards in  cold water;
 after which  the vials are turned upside down, so  as to enable the
 water to run down the  sides of the vial; before using these vials,
they should be  dried in a hot oven.   These remarks likewise apply
to the bottles and jars in which  the medicines are to be kept.

                           5.  Corks.

  The corks with which the vials are closed, have to be  selected
with great care  ; all hard, porous and dark-colored  corks have to be
rejected.  As soon as the corks  shrink  or  become  soft, they should
at once be replaced by new corks having the requisite qualities for
use.   Vials containing  corroding acids,  should be provided with 
PREPARATION  OF DRUGS.
89
ground-glass stoppers. Vials containing substances which are liable
to being altered by the action of the light, have to be pasted over
with dark-colored paper.

                           6. Alcohol.

   This  product of fermentation may be obtained from wine, beer,
cider,  malt,  dregs  of  grapes, sugar-cane,  germinating  cerealia,
pounded cherries, molasses, juice of carrots or beets, potatoes, honey,
etc.   The alcohol of the shops is  never pure;  chemical alcohol,
obtained from the resin of jalap for instance, is not suitable for our
preparations; if made from potatoes, it contains fusel-oil, an empy-
reumatic oil, which may be removed by shaking the alcohol with
pure olive-oil for several days; the two  oils combine and float on
the top, after which they may be easily removed.
   Pure anhydrous alcohol is a colorless fluid, having a sweet and
penetrating odor, and a  burning and pungent flavor; it must not
lather when rubbed, and  have no foreign odor; it dissolves perfectly
in water, evaporates by exposure to the air, on account of its affinity
for atmospheric moisture. It burns with a white flame at the centre,
and blue at the edges, leaving no residue.  Alcohol dissolves many
substances, phosphorus and sulphur in small quantities, fixed  alka-
lies, balsams, resins, camphor, sugar, volatile oils, extractive matter,
etc.
   Acids are either dissolved by alcohol or transformed into ether.
   Anhydrous alcohol of  one hundred degrees, is never used; there
is always water in the alcohol of the shops.  We have 1, the alcohol
of commerce; 2,  rectified alcohol, also termed diluted alcohol, con-
taining about sixty per cent.; 3, best rectified or strong alcohol of
seventy-five to eighty degrees ; and 4, absolute alcohol from ninety-
six to one hundred degrees.
   Soemmering has contrived a very simple process of freeing alcohol
from the watery particles it may contain.  Taking advantage of the
fact that alcohol  has no affinity for animal tissues, he cleans a pig's
bladder from its  adhering  fat and  impurities, and having tied the
orifice of the bladder to a glass tube, he distends it with air to its
full size and then hangs it up to dry, having previously stopped up
the opening of the glass tube by  means of a cork.  The bladder
being perfectly dry, a thin  layer of glue is spread over it, in order
to preserve it from  injury and to  give  it more consistence.   The
bladder is then filled with alcohol, the cork is  removed from the
tube, and in its place a piece of wet  bladder is tied over the opening
of the tube.  The bladder being exposed to the ordinary heat of a
stove, the watery particles will evaporate in the course of a fort-.
night, and the strong alcohol will remain behind.  It is advisable to
distil this alcohol over charcoal before using it.

                            7. Water.

   Common  water is  always  impure, charged with  gases, earthy
matters, etc.  Pure water should be without taste, smell or  color. 
90
LECTURE V.
Rain-water, after a storm,  contains ammonia with nitric acid.   Be-
fore  using water, it should be distilled  by a careful homoeopathic
pharmaceutist, unless the physician prefers doing it himself.

                       8. Sugar of Milk.

  This is obtained from the serum of cow's or goat's milk by evapo-
ration.  It crystallizes round  a thin stick  in  elongated tubular
masses.   The sugar of  milk of the shops not being pure, we crystal-
lize  it over again  by  first  boiling  it over  a moderate  fire,  with
double its quantity of distilled water, after which we proceed as
follows according  to Gruner's  directions:  Filter the hot  solution
through filtering  paper over which  a piece of perfectly white and
clean linen is spread,  into an  earthen vessel containing as much
strong alcohol as water had  been used in boiling.  As soon as the
two liquids come in contact, the sugar is precipitated in the shape of
small pointed crystals which partly accumulate at the bottom of the
vessel, and partly are deposited on its sides in the shape of a  solid
coating.   After the liquid is all filtered and before the vessel is set
aside for cooling, the liquid is stirred with a  clean wooden stick, in
order to obtain a perfectly homogeneous mixture.  In a few days the
liquid which floats over the crystals, is poured off, the crystals are
separated from the sides and bottom of the vessel, washed with  cold,
distilled water, spread  out in thin layers upon  clean paper over a
sieve, and lastly dried  by exposing them to a moderate heat.   The
dried crystals are  pulverised in a mortar, and the powder is after -
wards passed through  a fine sieve.  The finest part of the powder
is used  for putting up powders; the coarser part is used for tritu-
rations.
  Sugar of milk should be  kept in a dry, well-ventilated room, in
well-closed glass jars.

                          9. Globules.

  The globules we use, are of various sizes; they are  composed of
sugar and starch, and should be perfectly white,  dry and hard.


      TRITURATIONS AND LIQUID ATTENUATIONS.

  According to Hahnemann, the triturating process should be car-
ried on in the manner  described in the first volume of the Chronic
Diseases.   Hahnemann was exceedingly particular in his instruc-
tions, how triturations  and afterwards liquid attenuations should be
made; I will give  you the substance of his remarks from a  work
which I published some years ago.  Specific directions will be com-
municated when we come to treat of the various substances compos-
ing our Alateria Aledica.
  Of the  substance to  be  triturated,  we take one grain and mix it
in an unglazed mortar with thirty-three  grains  of smrar of  milk.
Stir the mass with a  spatula  and then triturate for  six minutes. 
           TRITURATIONS AND LIQUID  ATTENUATIONS. '         91

Scrape up the mass that adheres to the bottom and sides of the mor-
tar and to the pestle, for four minutes, and then triturate again with
great force for six minutes.  Then scrape up again for four minutes,
add  another thirty-three grains of sugar of milk, stir the new com-
pound with the spatula, triturate for six minutes, scrape up again for
four, triturate again with great force for six,  scrape the mass  up
again for four minutes, and  then add the last thirty-three grains of
sugar  of milk,  proceeding with this last  portion as  with the two
former.  This powder we enclose in a well-corked vial, marking it
with the name of the drug and the fractional number T^ to show
that this is the one-hundredth potency of this substance.
   From this first trituration we  obtain the second marked  joli}o>
by triturating  one grain  of it with ninety-one grains of sugar of
milk in the  same manner as has been described in the previous
paragraph.
   In a similar manner the third trituration marked tooijooo  or I- is
obtained from the second  trituration.
   From this third trituration we obtain the fourth potency by mix-
ing  one grain of the triturated substance with fifty drops of distilled
water, shaking the  mass  vigorously for a few minutes,  and after-
wards adding fifty drops of strong alcohol, after which the whole
mixture is again shaken vigorously for a few minutes.  The vial
should not be filled  more  than two-thirds.
   This vial is marked with  the name of the medicine and the num-
ber  10° I.   Of this potency we take one drop, mixing it with ninety-
nine drops of strong alcohol and shaking it vigorously a number of
times.  This is the fifth potency marked 100° I.  Of this potency we
take again one drop, mixing it  with ninety-nine drops of  strong
alcohol, shaking  the mixture vigorously and marking it II.  The
subsequent potencies are prepared each from the one which imme-
diately precedes it;  they are to be  marked in  a similar  manner,
100II. for the seventh ; 10u0° II. for the eighth; III. for the ninth, etc.
   Vials having been used for one medicine or potency, should not
be used for any other.
   After triturating a drug for a long time, a portion of the triturated
substance  will sometimes adhere to the sides of the mortar so firmly
that it cannot be washed  off; in such a case it will be necessary to
scour the  mortar with fine  sand. and afterwards to dry it in a  hot
oven ; this will likewise remove the odor that may have remained
behind.
   Hahnemann was  in the habit of using globules for his prescrip-
tions,  which had been previously  moistened  with  the respective
potencies.    He  generally poured  two or three drops upon  two
hundred globules enclosed  in a vial; and after shaking and rolling
them  about until every globule was saturated with  the liquid, he
spread them upon a piece of white unglazed paper, with the edges
raised, and left them for a  few hours until they were perfectly dry,
after which  he put them up for use  in a fresh vial.  One or two
globules were  given at a dose, or half a  dozen globules were dis-
solved in  a tumblerful of water, of which  mixture  a tablespoonful
was administered every hour, or two, three or four hours according
to the requirements of the case.                        - 
92
LECTURE V.
  These details, gentlemen, may seem somewhat pedantically minute,
but I am satisfied that the true method of securing good homoeo-
pathic preparations, is to follow Hahnemann's  rules as closely as
may be possible  and  convenient.  Instead of adding at once the
whole quantity of sugar of milk, we obtain a  much more certain
and perfect commingling of the medicine with the sugar of milk by
pursuing the course pointed out by Hahnemann.
  The details of the mode of preparation proposed by Hahnemann,
have been somewhat modified by our pharmaceutists.  Though it is
acknowledged by all that trituration is the best mode of developing
the medicinal powers of a drug, and  that the triturating process
should be conducted with the  greatest care, order and regularity;
yet it has not been deemed necessary to observe the details in the
very same manner as they have been proposed by Hahnemann.  It
has not been deemed derogatory to the scientific character of Homoeo-
pathy to modify  the  number of minutes  which  Hahnemann  pre-
scribes for the various details of the process, or to increase the num-
ber of shakes in preparing the dilutions.   Aloreover the proportion
of the ingredients in making our preparations, has been considerably
modified.   Instead of taking one grain or one  drop to ninety-nine
grains of sugar of milk, ten grains of the drug are taken, to ninety
grains of the vehicle.  I would here observe in passing, that by
vehicle is always to  be  understood the non-medicinal substance
with  which the medicine is triturated or shaken in combination.
Hahnemann's  scale is called the centesimal, and  this new scale is
designated as the  decimal scale.  I believe that  the decimal scale is
now more  generally used  by homoeopathic practitioriers than the
centesimal.
  Gruner, who is one of the most distinguished pharmaceutists of
our school, adopts the decimal  scale in preparing the triturations
and liquid attenuations; in  his pharmacopcea he gives the following
directions:
  "AYeigh  carefully a portion of the drug, add to it an equal por-
tion in weight of  powdered sugar of milk, (using the coarser kind
for firm or  tenaceous substances,) and triturate these ingredients in
a mortar of sufficient capacity, until both have been transformed
into a homogeneous mass  as respects  color and fineness.   Every
now and then, the substance which adheres to the sides of the mortar
and to the pestle,  should be scraped* off with a horny spatula.  The
homogeneous character of the-preparation will, in a great measure,
depend upon the  fulfilment of this condition."
  " It is impossible to limit the duration of this first period of the
triturating process by a general rule.  This depends upon the greater
or less degree of solidity of the drug.  In every case, however, it
should  be continued for at least half an hour.  Such substances as
Lycopodium require several successive triturations, before their par-
ticles are entirely  broken up. After the first trituration is terminated,
and the drug-particles and those of the sugar of milk are sufficiently
intermingled, a second portion of sugar of milk, being equal to three
times the quantity of the  former,  is added, and the trituration is
continued for another half hour, including the scraping; after which 
TRITURATIONS AND LIQUID ATTENUATIONS.         93
the last portion of sugar of milk, equal to five times the quantity of
the first portion, is poured  into the mortar, and the triturating pro-
cess continued until the whole mass presents a perfectly homogeneous
compound, even when viewed through a glass.  This compound will
necessarily weigh ten times as much as the original drug.   It is
called the first trituration and designated as No. 1.
   We now take a certain portion of this trituration, add to it nine
times its weight of sugar of milk, and triturate these two substances
together for three  quarters  of  an hour in the manner described
above.  This  second trituration is designed as No. 2.  From this
second trituration we derive the third by a similar process.
   Before  commencing to triturate, care  should be had to dry the
vessels, drugs and sugar of milk as perfectly as possible, and more-
over, to divide hard and tenacious substances  as finely as may be.
The dividing of the metals will  be explained more  in detail when
we come  to speak  of the  different metals.   Salts, precipitates and
the like should first be reduced to  a fine powder.   The same obser-
vation applies to vegetable substances."
   The fourth  dilution of the decimal scale is obtained by first dis-
solving ten grains of the third trituration in the same quantity of
water as was originally used for  one grain of the centesimal scale of
Hahnemann;  and after shaking the two together until the sugar of
milk is dissolved, add a  similar  quantity of alcohol, and shake the
whole mass until a  perfect  union of all the particles is established.
This fourth attenuation, if  it is prepared for immediate use, may be
prepared by means  of water, without any alcohol. Of course it could
not be made to keep.  But even with the alcohol it is preferable to
use the fourth attenuation only as a means to obtain the succeeding
attenuations. vIf the fourth dilution is obtained with water, the next
attenuation should be made with dilute alcohol, and after that, strong
alcohol should be used for  all succeeding attenuations.
   Before  commencing the  attenuations,  as many vials, containing
about two drachms  each, should be prepared, as attenuations may be
required ; they should be corked  and the names of the medicines and
the potencies  should be marked on the corks.  Labels exhibiting
these names and potencies, should  likewise be  pasted on the vials.
Afterwards each vial should be filled with ninety-nine, or, if we pre-
pare our medicines  according to the decimal scale, with ninety drops
of alcohol.  In order to avoid superfluous  repetitions, we will sup-
pose that  the decimal scale is followed throughout.  Into the vial
marked No. 1, ten drops of the  medicine should then be dropped,
and  the vial should be vigorously shaken  by means of a dozen or
more powerful strokes of the arm.
  From this first vial we fill ten or twenty drops into the next fol-
lowing, and prepare this dynamization in a similar manner by shak-
ing the vial.   And  so on through the whole series.
  You will understand from these  remarks, that in order to make
reliable attenuated preparations,  you require to use,
  1. Dry and  fine sugar of milk;
  2. Pure, distilled  water;
  3. Alcohol free from all admixtures;
  4. Sound corks and perfectly clean vials, and 
94
LECTURE V.
    5. Cleanliness, accuracy of measurement or. weight, and the most
 systematic regularity in working with your materials.  Do not be
 triturating for  ten  or  fifteen minutes, and then leave off for a few
 hours or more,  leaving your mortar standing  on the table, exposed
 to dampness, dust and other impurities. If you commence a tritura-
 ration, go through with it, until it is bottled up and put away in its
 proper place.  It is a  great treat for a homoeopathic practitioner
 who can spare the time, to  make his  own  preparations;  if it were
 known how bunglingly some of our  preparations are made at the
 shops,  nobody  would wonder that our  higher  attenuations seem
 inefficacious.
    Soluble salts, ethereal oils, and similar substances, instead of being
 triturated,  are  dissolved in water from the  first.  By triturating
 them, their constituent elements would be partially disunited, and
 many of them exercise a decomposing  influence upon sugar of milk,
 as may be inferred from the sourish odor emitted by such prepara-
 tions after the lapse of several months.
   Salts are dissolved  in pure water, ethereal oils in the strongest
 kind of alcohol.   The olecimal scale may be preserved with most of
 them.  Some salts, for instance the nitrate of silver, have to be dis-
 solved  in the proportion of five to ninety-five, that is, five parts of
 the salts in ninety-five parts of distilled water.   This preparation is
 marked one-twentieth which indicates the proportional relation of
 the drug to the  vehicle.  To obtain the first dilution, we take twenty
 parts of the above preparation and mix them with  eighty parts of
 alcohol; the second and all successive  attenuations are made in the
 proportion of one to ten.  These attenuations should each be well
 shaken by means of vigorous strokes of the arm.
   The following precautionary rules should be observed in prepar-
 ing the solutions of salts:
   1. These solutions should be prepared at an ordinary tempera-
 ture, and the room where they are kept, should  not be subject to
 variations of temperature, so that the crystallization by cold may be
 avoided.
   2. In order to  prevent any possible decomposition, the solution
 should not be exposed to the light of day.
   3. The liquid  should only be used as long as it remains perfectly
 clear and transparent;  it should  be thrown  away as soon as  it
 becomes dim, or borders, flocks or crystals show themselves.
   4. Only corks of the best  quality should be used  for  solutions
 since corks used for solutions decay more readily than corks used
 for the alcoholic  attenuations.
   5. To obtain  the  second  attenuation of  these solutions  dilute
 alcohol should be used;  the third  and  all subsequent attenuations
 should be made with strong alcohol.


               TINCTURES AND ESSENCES.

   The preparation of tinctures and essences varies in accordance
with the  constituent particles and  chemical  composition of  the 
TINCTURES, ESSENCES.
95
 plants.  For the present  I  shall only give you the general rules to
 be followed in making the tinctures.  If any particular rules should
 have to be observed  as  regards the strength of the alcohol to be
 used, and  the  like, they  will be indicated when we  come to speak
 of each plant in particular.
   All the plants from which tinctures are prepared, are arranged
 by Griiner in three classes, corresponding with the different modes
 adopted for the preparation of tinctures.
   In the  first class  we  range all barks,  roots, seeds, leaves,  etc.,
 which are preserved and prepared in a dry state.
   The second class contains all those fresh plants, the juice of which
 can be  obtained in a sufficient  quantity  by squeezing it  out by
 means of a good press.
   The third class numbers all such recent plants as contain so little
 juice that only  a  very small quantity can be obtained by simple
 pressure.
   The best method of obtaining a strong or, as it is termed, a con-
 centrated  or saturated tincture from dry plants, is to first pulverise
 them as finely as  may be, and then transform this  powder into a
 fine paste  by adding a little alcohol.  This should  be  done in a room
 having a normal temperature, nor should  the  mass  be exposed to
 the decomposing agency of the solar rays.  Upon this paste we pour
 the required quantity of alcohol, and allow the liquid to stand for
 a fortnight.  We must take care to keep the vessel—which contains
 the liquid, closed with a piece of wet bladder; once a day, or morn-
 ing and evening, the vessel should be vigorously shaken. After the
 lapse of a fortnight, the liquid is  poured off, and the resiolue sub-
 jected to  a press; we allow the extract  to  settle for twenty-four
 hours, after which period we filter it through white blotting paper,
 and then put it up for use.   This method of preparing a  concentra-
 ted tincture, is termed maceration; and such tinctures are denomi-
 nated by homoeopathic physicians mother-tinctures,  for the reason
 that the subseopuent attenuations are made from them.  For some of
 these tinctures strong alcohol is  required, and  for others dilute
 alcohol; in  treating  of  the  separate drugs, the kind of  alcohol
 which is to be used, will always be indicated.  Particular rules will
 never be omitted, if special mention of them should be necessary.
   In the Second  Class, we number such plants or parts of them as
 contain a sufficient quantity of juice to be squeezed out by means of
 a good  press.  Before pressing out the juice, the plant should first
 be cut in small pieces, which we subject to the action of a screw, tied
 up in a perfectly clean linen-bag free  from all bleaching materials.
 This mechanical  pressure being insufficient to obtain all the effica-
 cious constituents of  the  plant, especially the volatile and resinous
 parts:  it is indispensable to subject the residue to the action of strong
 alcohol.  We take  a quantity of alcohol equal  in weight to that of
 the obtained  juice, and no more, even  if the residue  should  not be
 entirely covered  by the alcohol.   The juice which was obtained in
 the first instance  by pressure, is kept in a lightly-covered vessel in a
 cool cellar, away  from the light.  After the lapse of twenty-four or
thirty-six  hours,  before  this  juice has had time  to ferment,  the 
96
LECTURE V.
alcoholic  residue is again subjected  to  pressure, and the tincture
thus obtained, after the second pressure, will be found to contain the
larger portion of the extractable matter, as may be inferred from the
taste, smell and color of this extract. This extract is mixed with the
juice previously obtained.   After the mixture has been allowed to
settle for several days, it is filtered and kept for use.  Tinctures ob-
tained in this way, are often termed essences, though the name tinc-
ture is generally applied to all alcoholic extracts whether obtained
from dry or recent plants.
  Plants belonging to the Third Class,  contain so little juice that
only a very small quantity of it can be  obtained by pressure.   In
order to prepare a saturated tincture from these plants, we first cut
them up in small pieces, and then add double their quantity of
strong alcohol in weight.   We macerate for one fortnight precisely
as for tinctures of the first class; after which the liquid is drawn off)
the residue is subjected to pressure, the whole of the extract filtered
through white blotting paper, and the tincture thus obtained is put
up  in appropriate vessels for use.  Our Thuja, or so-called arbor
vitae, belongs to this third class.  As regards the

                       Selection of Plants,

We have  to be careful; roots may seem sound and  yet  be worm-
eaten; seeds may seem sound and yet be altered within ; all hetero-
geneous particles should be carefully removed.

                           Wild Plants

Are preferable to those which are grown in  gardens; they may be
obtained dry, but no volatile particles must get  lost.  Foreign plants
may be sent to a distance, after being previously cut up and pre-
served in alcohol.
  Have regard  to the locality of a plant; the luxuriant, tall and
juicy appearance of a  plant is no guarantee for its  possessing the
highest  quantity of medicinal virtue ; nor should plants which prefer
a dry soil and much sun, be gathered from  a  damp  and shady lo-
cality, or vice versa.
 _ None but sound and regularly formed plants should be used ; all
distorted,  half-dried, decayed or otherwise injured plants should be
rejected; nor should old plants be used  which  have become woody
by  age.
  All plants should be perfectly clean ; they should not be washed,
but the  dirt may be brushed off.
  The plants should not be infested by insects.
  They must  not  be gathered during the morning-dew or after a I
shower; they must not be closely packed, nor  carried about in the
hot sun.
  One species must  not be confounded with another; most of our
plants have different species.  AYe have  several species of Aconite,
Bryonia, etc.;  and we  should use the species  that has been proved. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
97
                   LECTURE  VI.

   The method which I propose to adopt in endeavoring to present
 to you the vast subject of our Materia Medica in a simple, attractive,
 comprehensive, and instructive manner, seems to me dictated by the
 very nature of the subject which we are going to consider.  Our
 Materia Medica contains a very large number of drugs of much less
 importance than many others the importance of which can scarcely
 be sufficiently appreciated.  We possess some twenty-five medicines
 which are so frequently and so universally used, that Hahnemann
 has given to them the name of poly chrests, or many-healing remedies;
 remedies possessing the power of healing many diseases.
   Next to these we possess a number of drugs the therapeutic range
 of which is well  defined, but  limited,  extending only to a small
 number of pathological lesions.  A third class comprises drugs im-
 perfectly proved, which, if used at all, are used empirically.  We
 may adopt a fourth class consisting of drugs which are merely known
 to us by name and are as  yet of little if any practical value.
   I shall devote the first half of our course to giving you a thorough
 knowledge of our polychrests.  This knowledge will  serve you as a
 rallying-point, a central column, as it were, round which the other
 drugs of less importance  and of a  much smaller therapeutic range
 will afterwards  cluster with ease and without producing any con-
 fusion.
   Among  the polychrests, the first and most important  medicine
 which claims our attention, is

                   ACONITUM -NAPELLUS.

   This medicine constitutes the back-bone, as it were,  of our Alateria
 Medica.  In analyzing the effect of this heroic agent upon the living
 organism, I shall be enabled to show you that there is hardly an
 acute disease where this medicine is not required more or  less. Even
 in many chronic diseases Aconite may prove an useful, yea an indis-
 pensable agent.   The English name of this plant  is wolf's-bane
 and also monk's-hood; wolf's-bane because  it proves exceedingly
 poisonous to wolves;  anol monk's-hood because the beautiful blue
 flower of this plant resembles the hood which monks used to wear,
 and  which our ladies  now wear when going to parties or to the
 opera.
   This plant was known to the ancients, for we find  its name men-
 tioned  by Theophrastus, Dioscorides and Plinius.  These ancient
 authors inform us that the extraordinary poisonous properties of this
 plant were attributable to  its origin; they supposed that this plant
 had been created by Hecate, the goddess of the infernal  regions;
 according to another myth  it arose  from  the froth of Cerberus, the
 monster-dog that watcheol at the gate of Hell.  All that the ancients
 knew of this plant was, that it was very poisonous. It was not until
the year  1524 that  Aiatthiolus, physician to Pope Clement ATIL, in- 
98
LECTURE VI.
stituted the first experiment with  this plant with a view of investi-
gating its poisonous qualities.
  On account of the beauty of its flowers and leaves, we cultivate
this plant in our gardens as an ornamental shrub.   AYe prepare a
tincture and an extract from this cultivated  plant.  It is possible
that, in the  course  of time, these cultivated  medicinal plants  may
have to be used exclusively, the natural plants failing us or becom-
ing too expensive for importation.  If these embarrassments should
arise, we may suppose that, with a more cultivated state of our med-
icines, the  diseases for which  they  seem designed, will likewise
manifest themselves in  a more tractable, a more civilized form.
  This plant belongs to the family Ranunculacee, a family of plants
characterized by acrid properties.   It attains a height of from two to
three feet, has a glabrous or smooth stem which is moreover ramose
or full of branches, and cylindrical;  the leaves are green and shin-
ing, petiolate, (endowed with  leaf-stalks,) incised, having five or six
lobes, linear, (by which  we mean narrow and .flat lobes, having paral-
lel margins,) expanding at the upper extremity and marked with a
line.  The plant has beautiful blue flowers in long terminal spikes,
forming racemes with sessile flowers.  The root constitutes a rhizoma
or root-stock resembling a small turnip.  Hence the surname napel-
lus, from napus which  is the Latin for turnip.  The generic name
Aconitum is supposed  to be  derived from the Greek word akone
which signifies  " rock."  The plant is a native of the mountainous
regions of the north anol middle of Europe, Jura, Germany, Switzer-
land, the mountains of  Tyrol  and  Bohemia, etc.
  Linne states  that horses eat the dry leaves of napellus without
injury.   Dogs, wolves,  cats  and rats are killed by this plant.
  AYe have several species of Aconite  the principal of which are
Aconitum napellus, neomontanum, cammarum, ferox, variegatum,
etc.  Opinions,  as to what species  Hahnemann used in his provings,
have differed.   It  seems generally conceded, however, that it was
the species napellus, though this is not very material; for, according
to the late experiments of Professor Schroff of Prague, which were
conducted with the most exemplary devotion by  himself and his
disciples, the different species of Aconite are all  poisonous, thouo-h
not equally so.   There seems to be no difference whatever between
the poisonous  properties of neomontanum and napellus, and  it is
almost certain that it is these  two  species that were used by Hahne-
mann,  and by his predecessor, Baron  Stoerck.
  I have found that an excellent ^way of becoming acquainted  with
the therapeutic properties of  a drug, is to obtain a thorough know-
ledge of its toxicological effects from cases of poisoning.  Many of
these cases exhibit the characteristic virtues  of a druo- in striking
well-marked, unmistakeable and impressive characters, and, of course,
delineate the pathological lesions  to which such a drug applies as a
homoeopathic remedial agent, with corresponding  distinctness and
accuracy.  Let us then review some  of the most  important cases of
poisoning by Aconite which we find  recorded in  our  treatises  on
Materia Aledica and • Toxicology, and apply them as instructive les-
sons to the study of therapeutic science.  In reviewing these cases 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
99
it is immaterial whether we observe  a  strictly chronological order.
This would  oblige us to first describe  the  experiments of Richard
and Matthiolus.  But the object we have  in view of investigating
the therapeutic properties of Aconite, permits us to commence our
examination of this agent with a few interesting cases of recent date,
the first of which is related in the July number of the Aledico-Chi-
rurgical Review, 1844.

                          First Case.

  "A boy ate  some of the  leaves instead  of parsley.   Two hours
after, he complained of a burning sensation  in the mouth, throat and
stomach, followed  by swooning and death.   A post-mortem inspec-
tion  showed that the cerebral  vessels  were enormously distended
with a  dark-colored  fluid;  a  deep  inflammatory blush extended
over the whole mucous  surface of the stomach, with dark-colored
patches."
  From this case we may learn a useful lesson regarding the thera-
peutic use of Aconite.  The symptoms show that a most violent con-
gestion of the brain had taken  place and  that death may have re-
sulted from this cause.   The acute congestions caused by Aconite,
are the result of the paralyzing action which this poison exercises
upon the capillary nerves.  AYe find moreover all the symptoms of
acute gastritis, such as  might  result from exposure  to  a cold,  to
draughts of air, retrocession of the perspiration, or  even from indi-
gestion.   Hence for
  Acute congestion of the brain  not resulting from typhus or from
some other  primary disease of the cerebrum, but from a depressed
condition  or an inability of the capillary nerves to apply the neces-
sary amount of harmonious, contractile and expansive energy to the
tissue of the capillary vessels : I repeat, in all such congestions of the
brain, even when assuming this most violent form termed apoplexy,
Aconite may be a most important and  efficient remedy.  The same
may be said of
  Acute gastritis, when of a purely inflammatory or rheumatic char-
acter, where the  disease is  characterized by burning heat  in the
stomach, vomiting of bile, mucus or blood, and high fever. In such
attacks, Aconite will be found a powerful means to strike down this
dangerous invader.
  Regarding the dose, I would  remark that in acute congestions  of
the brain, and in rheumatic gastritis or gastritis  from indigestion,
I do not hesitate to give half-tablespoonful doses of a mixture of one
drop Of the  tincture of the root  in ten tablespoonfuls of water, re-
peating  the  dose every hour or even half-hour  as the case may
require.                          %

                         Second Case.

  Another interesting case of poisoning by Aconite, is reported  in
the Dublin Medical Journal, 1842.
  "A young  man  ate the leaves of  Aconite by  mistake.  Two 
100
lecture VI.
 minutes after  eating the  leaves,  the  patient experienced burning
 heat in the  mouth, throat, gullet, and stomach, with  sensation of
 swelling of  the face, general feeling of numbness  and creeping of
 the skin, restlessness, dimness of  sight, stupor and partial insensi-
 bility anol  death."
   This case again shows that Aconite has  a powerful effect upon the
 cerebral and ganglionic system of nerves, and through it upon the
 capillary vessels.
   One of the most constant and most characteristic effects of Aconite
 is to cause a/burning sensation or even a burning pain in the mouth,
 throat, oesopt agus antef^tfimiStch.  In
   Angina faVxkimf^yK in quinsy sore-throat, where this burning is a
 very commoM|z(ttWgnomonic symptom, Aconite will prove an in-
 valuable reuaed^;  In severe forms of
  JTeaA-Mrn this burning sensation along the oesophagus, accom-
 panieojjAvitn acrid risings, is a very common symptom.  The first or
 fcecLrrcl attenuation prepared from the tincture of the root, is a capital
 Wnedy for it.  In
  ■Dyspepsia, burning  in the pyloric  region  very often torments
 patients.   I  know from abundant experience that in  very many
 cases of this kind, Aconite, first or second attenuation, is preferable
 to Arsenic or Carbo. In severe forms of  dyspepsia, this burning is
 not only felt  in the pyloric region,  but it likewise invades the region
 of the heart.  From the depressing action which Aconite exercises
 upon the bilious secretions, as we shall see in our  subsequent lec-
 tures, I infer that this burning is occasioned by bile, which, carried
 along by the capillary current, is  enabled to act upon, and irritate
 in certain localities, the  terminal filaments of the ganglionic system
 ramified over the mucous surfaces.  In
  Neuralgia, this burning sensation often  calls for the exhibition of
 Aconite.  In a case of neuralgia of the stomach, where this burning
 was most agonizing, as if a  red-hot iron had been bored through the
 stomach, the patient was completely relieved in the  space of half an
 hour by taking a spoonful of one drop of the tincture of the root in
 a tumblerful  of water every five and ten minutes.
  In the case before us, the presence of cerebral congestion is fully
 revealed by the sensation as if the face were swollen, by the dimness
 of sight, the stupor and partial insensibility.
  The accompanying sensation of numbness and formication is gene-
 rally experienced by patients previous to an apoplectic or paralytic
 stroke.   Hence we infer that Aconite is a great remedy in true
  Apoplectic Conditions of the  brain, and we have an abundance of
 clinical proof confirmatory of this fact.  If a patient complains of
 pricking, creeping and burning in the extremities, accompanied by
 a sense of heaviness, numbness, sluggish or irritated pulse, and by the
 above-mentioned symptoms of cerebral derangement, do not hesitate
 to give a drop of the tincture or a few drops of the first  attenuation
 in eight  tablespoonfuls  of water, a dose every five  or ten minutes
 until decided symptoms of  reaction have set in.  By this treatment
you may avert paralysis, and perhaps apoplexy. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
101
                         Third  Case.

  Pereira relates the following cases of poisoning by Aconite, in his
" Elements of Alateria Aledica:" "A man, his wife and child, ate some
roots at  dinner by mistake  for horse-radish.  The greater portion
was eaten by the man, at about two o'clock in the afternoon.  Three-
quarters  of an hour after eating  the roots, the man complained of
burning  and numbness of the  lips, mouth and throat, which soon
extended to the stomach, and was accompanied by vomiting of hi.-s
dinner and afterwards  of a frothy mucus.. His extremities weiv
cold, but his chest was warm; his head was bathed in a cold sweat:
his eyes  were  glaring;  there was  excessive trembling and violent
pain in the head ; the lips were blue ; there were no spasms, cramps
or convulsions; his breathing was not affected; he died .apparently
in a fainting state about four hours after dinner.
   "The woman was similarly affected :  the same burning and,numb-
ness of the lips, mouth, throat, stomach;  violent vomiting; curious
sensation of numbness in the  hands, arms  and legs; she lost  the
power of articulating;  her attempts to speak were attended with  un-
intelligible sounols only; she experienced great muscular debilitv,
was unable to  stand; some of the external senses were disordered;
though her eyes were wide  open, her  sight was very dim, and sur-
rounding objects  were seen indistinctly; sensibility  greatly  im-
paired ; face and throat almost insensible to the touch ;  she was verv
dizzy, but neither delirious  nor sleepy ; body and extremities cold;
she frequently pulled her throat,  but  knew not  why; five or  six
hours afterwards she began  to recover.
   " The  child was similarly, but  slightly affected: like  the others.
she was constantly putting her hands to her  throat."
   This case of poisoning  likewise yields a good  deal of valuable
instruction to  a homoeopathic physician.  Let  us  analyze the phys-
iological character of these  symptoms, and  range  them in parallel
lines with the  pathological conditions to which they point.
   In the case of the man we have several interesting  symptoms:
first, the burning which large doses of Aconite always cause in the
mouth and fauces; next we have vomiting  of frothy mucus  anol
symptoms of violent cerebral congestion, which seems induced by
capillary torpor; the symptoms indicating this congestion are: blue
lips, profuse secretion of cold sweat about the head; violent pain in
the head.  Another important symptom is the trembling of the head,
which shows that the nervous  equilibrium  of the supporting mus-
cles  of the head must have been considerably  disturbed.  This
trembling of the head is worthy  of notice, for we shall afterwards
find that Aconite is one of our  great agents for the cure of chorea,
spasms and tetanic convulsions.  This case likewise affords evidence'
of the depressing or paralysing action of Aconite upon the heart;
the fainting and coldness of the extremities bear witness to this rela-
tion of Aconite to the central organ of the circulatory apparatus.
  In the  case of the woman  we have striking evidences of the para-
lysing action of Aconite upon the capillary system of nerves.  This
case  shows, for instance, that Aconite is capable  of paralysing  the 
102
LECTURE VI.
 organs of speech; we find likewise incipient paralysis of the lower
 extremities, incipient paralysis of the sense of vision;  this paralys-
 ing  action had  even invaded the sphere of sensations,  for we are
 told that sensibility was  greatly impaired,  and that her face and
 throat were almost insensible to the touch.   We are told that she^ was
 dizzy, but neither delirious nor sleepy, from which we may infer
 that, inasmuch as her consciousness  seemed to have remained un-
 impaired, the Aconite had simply induced a state of purely nervous
 irritation in the brain, without any of those violent congestive con-
 ditions which terminated fatally in her husband's case; an irritation
 giving rise to a condition  described as nervous vertigo.
  Aconite induces  a sense of constriction or strangulation in the
 throat;  these  symptoms, accompanied  by a want of sensibility in
 the part, account for the fact that both mother and  child were con-
 tinually pulling  at and feeling about the throat.  These symptoms
 lead us to infer that Aconite is a curative agent in
  Paralytic conditions, in
  Pure and simple irritations of the cerebral nerves, and  in
  Spasmodic affections of the throat, among which we  may class that
 peculiar  spasm of the glottis to which children are liable  and which
 is described by pathologists under the name of asthma millari.
  So far we have seen that Aconite may be resorted  to as a power-
 ful  remedial  agent in the treatment of acute congestions of the
 brain; apopletic  conditions of  the brain ;  rheumatic gastritis  or
 gastritis  from acute indigestion; heartburn; dyspepsia; neuralgia
 characterized  by burning pain; paralytic conditions  of the heart
 characterized by collapse  or extreme sluggishness of the pulse; loss
 of sensation from paralysis of the sentient nerves, nervous vertigo.
 We shall now turn our attention to another case of poisoning which
 will  enable us to increase this list of morbid affections quite con-
 siderably.

                         Fourth-Case.

  In the  year 1524, on the 15th of November, Claudius  Richard
 gave one-eighth of an  ounce of Aconite-root  to  a criminal con-
 demned to death.  It was the fashion in those times to experiment
 upon criminals with unknown poisons whose virtues  some promi-
 nent physician wished to investigate.   If the criminal  outlived the
 experiment, he recovered  life  and liberty as a reward for his  bold-
 ness.  In the present case, the experiment  was made in  order to
 test the antidotal virtues of bezoar, a calculous concretion found in
 the fourth stomach of the gazelle of India; it was supposed to be an
 irresistible antidote to poisons, and was so named from pa, (against,)
 and zahar, (poison.)
  " Immediately after taking the poison, the man complained of the
 following symptoms: oppression on the chest;  pain in the stomach;
 obscuration of sight, with dizziness: no alteration in the pulse • he
became very  feeble and  called for help.  Five grains of bezoar were
 given him,  after  which  he  felt relieved,  vomited,  experienced
 anxiety,  complained of some  strange  stuff accumulating in the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.                  103
 region of his stomach ;  he felt a pain at the occiput and nape of the
 neck, was delirious, whistled on a leaf.  The delirium soon ceased ;
 he complained of pains in the stomach, heaol, jaws, chest and now in
 one joint, then in  another; after  the lapse of seven hours, all his
 joints pained him; the abdomen  began to swell as in dropsy;  the
 sides were distended, painful, hard;  he experienced stitches "in  the
 kidneys,  retention  of urine; one  upper and one lower extremity
 were _ paralyzed;   the  pulse frequently intermitted and   became
 feverish,  on the same  day he vomited  several times, had several
 stools, complained of pressure and coldness in the stomach, as from
 a stone.  Finally he was attacked  with frightful ophthalmia and
 lippitudo (bleareyedneas,) so painful  that he preferred  death  to so
 much suffering. This continued  for eight hours.  At the end of
 this period all the symptoms ceased, he had  a good appetite for
 supper and felt quite well on the morning following."
   The effects of Aconite  as depicted  in this case, point to a variety
 of important affections in which  this great agent may prove cura-
 tive.  Let us  analyze the symptoms in their order, and see with
 what pathological lesions they correspond.
   The  patient became  delirious anol whistled on  a  leaf.  This
 symptom points unequivocally to acute mania.  The delirium was
 accompanied  by pain in  the occiput and nape  of the neck, which
 would  seem to show that the  cerebellum  was irritated and  most
 probably congested.
   After the delirium ceased, he complained of pains in the stomach,
 head, jaws, chest and joints.  The universality of these pains shows
 that the ganglionic system of nerves,  or the  great sympathetic as it
 is called, must have  been deeply invaded by the  action of  the
 poison.  In some forms  of rheumatism, pains of the same nature
 occur.  Common arthritic and articular rheumatism is characterized
 by pains of this kind.  The fever  is not always very high; nor  are
 the  external signs  of inflammation, such as swelling and  redness,
 always strikingly developed.  Hence it is in rheumatic affections of
 this  order that Aconite shows specifically curative virtues.  In  the
 articular form of rheumatism the tincture has often to be used;  in
 the arthritic form, the attenuations are generally, though not always,
 preferable.
   The pains here inolicateol may likewise occur in certain forms of
 bilious remittent fever.   Considering that Aconite seems to derange
 the bilious functions to their very foundation, as may be inferred in
 the present as well as in  other  cases from the  repeated vomiting
 and  the prascordial anxiety, we may justly recommend Aconite as
 one  of our important agents in bilious remittent fever.  AVe shall
 afterwards see that Aconite answers  to all  the characteristic symp-
 toms of fever.
   AYe are told that the abdomen began to swell as if dropsical, and
 that the sioles became distended, painful and hard.   Hence we infer
that Aconite may prove useful in acute dropsy. In a case of anasarca
induced by fright, Aconite effected a cure.  In a  case of hydrothorax
superinduced by a cold, Aconite likewise effected a thorough and
permanent cure.  Aconite exerts  a  disorganizing influence upon 
104
LECTURE VI.
the blood, the arterialization of which it  has a tendency to retard.
The continued use of Aconite makes the blood watery, and causes
a diminution of fibrin.
  Aconite is evidently in therapeutic rapport with congestion of the
kidneys;  the stitches in the kidneys, the swelling  and the retention
of urine point to this affection.
  Paralysis of  the muscular fibres of the bladder may be inferred
from the retention of urine.
 : Paralysis of the extremities, both upper and lower, may be success-
fully treated with Aconite.
  The pressure  and coldness in  the pit of the stomach as from a
stone, is a symptom which occurs  in many severe forms of dyspepsia
and chronic congestion of the stomach.  It may result in hematemesis
or vomiting of  blood.  Aconite will  relieve  this symptom.  The
German  tincture had better  be used, one or two drops in twelve
tablespoonfuls of water.
  The last  symptom  which  this case developed, is ophthalmia,
accompanied by  a  profuse discharge of acrid and burning tears.
This  very painful  symptom  is  frequently  present  in  scrofulous
ophthalmia,  and we may therefore recommend  Aconite  for this
exceedingly distressing disease.

                          Fifth Case.

  In 1561, Matthiolus  made the following experiment in  Prague:
"A criminal took one drachm of Aconite (stems, leaves, blossoms
and seeds of the plant); three hours after, ulcerative sensation in the
whole body ; prostration of strength;  weight about the heart; cold
sweat on the forehead;  pulse almost  imperceptible;  after taking
bezoar, his eyes became distorted, the mouth was drawn to one side,
the nape of the neck  was stiff, he fainted and would have fallen
unless held;  he passed  several  stools;  after consciousness  had
returned, he was put in bed, complained of chilliness, threw up foul,
black bile, then turned to the left side,  became speechless, and died
after  his face had become  blue as if he  had been choked.  Death
seems to have occurred from apoplexy  and paralysis of the heart."
  Regarding this ulcerative  sensation all  over the body, we may
observe that it seems to  arise from a general bilious congestion  of
the capillary vessels.  This symptom  sometimes  occurs in certain
forms of remittent  fever, either purely rheumatic or bilious rheu-
matic ;  among  a group of  Aconite-symptoms, this one constitutes a
characteristic indication.
   The symptoms of cerebral  apoplexy and paralysis of the heart are
so  characteristically developed that it seems hardly necessary  to
dwell upon them more especially.

                          Sixth Case.

   " To  another  criminal Matthiolus gave a  mixture of Aconite •
 the patient fancied  it contained pepper.  One hour after taking the
 poison, he experienced the following symptoms:  vomiting of green 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
105
bile ;  sensation  as  if a ball were ascending from  the pit  of the
stomach, spreading a cool current across the vertex  and occiput.
After a longer interval he was attacked with complete paralysis of
the left arm and leg, except the hand which was still a little move-
able.   As  soon  as  the  left side was restored,  the  right side was
affected in the same way; finally he was again able to lift up both
hands.  He then complained of every vessel in  the  booly becoming
congealed;  he was  attacked with vertigo, burning in the head as if
the head were full of boiling-hot water,  convulsions of the eyes and
mouth, violent pain in the jaws as if they would  drop off, protrusion
of the eyes, blueness of the face, black  lips; the abdomen became
distended as if  full of water, pulse and spirits changed according
as the symptoms were more or less violent;  at times  he despaired of
his life, at others he thought he might be  saved ; at times he was
rational, at others delirious; at times singing, at  others weeping; he
lost his .sight completely three times during this time, and thought
himself dying ; always had the full use  of his voice ;  all these symp-
toms  disappeared in seven hours;  the pulse became normal and he
recovered."                                                         /
   This case presents an interesting group of  symptoms.  The first
symptom to which our attention is directed is the vomiting of green
bile;  we will note  this  symptom, for  it appears as a constituent
element in  more than one group of pathological phenomena denot-
ing a deep-seated derangement of the bilious secretions.
   Secondly, we  have: sensations  as if a ball  were  ascending from
the pit of the stomach spreading a cool current across  the  vertex
and occiput; this symptom is  characteristic of hysteria, the globus
hystericus, hysteric ball, a spasmodic and congestive sensation which
causes a good deal of distress to  some females.
   Tldrdly:  alternate para lysis of the extremity of the left and right
side.
   Fourth:  bilious congestive headache, as indicated by the burning
and seething sensation in the head ;  these bilious congestive head-
aches are generally accompanied by vomiting of green bile, a sense
of stupor or excessive  sensitiveness to noise and  light; for such
headaches Aconite is a specific remedy.
   Fifth: neuralgic pain in the jaws, with sensation as if they would
drop off; this kind  of neuralgia may be induced by a cold,  and it
may be of great  advantage to you to know that Aconite is a remedy
for it.   The tincture prepared from the whole plant, or a few drops
of the first or second attenuation of the  tincture  of the root in eight
or ten table'spoonfuls of water, is the proper dose for this affection.
AYe have cured  the  most  horrid aching, burning and stinging pains
affecting the whole of the  lower jaw, with the sixth attenuation.
   Sixtli.: apoplectic congestion of the brain, as indicated by the intense
distress in the heaol, as if the head were full of boiling water, pro-
trusion of the eyes,  blueness of the face  and blackness of the lips.
   Seventh: dropsical distention of the abdomen;  we  have seen in a
former case that acute dropsy may be cured by Aconite.
   Eighth: fitful mania characterized by opposite  states, such as:
despondency even unto dread of dying,  and hopefulness;  singing 
106
LECTURE VII.
and weeping mood.  These alternate states are likewise character-
istic of hysteria, in which affection Aconite may be depended on as
a most admirable agent.
  Ninth: we have  complete  amaurosis; in amaurosis caused by
exposure to the sun's rays, accompanied with sudden rush of blood,
distress in  the  head and more particularly in the  frontal region,
buzzing in the ears, irregularity and depression, or heaviness and
sluggish hardness of the pulse, you will find the tincture of Aconite
the first and foremost remedy.
                  LECTURE  VII.

                        Seventh Case.

  Vincent Bacon relates the  following case of poisoning in Arol.
38,  page 287, of the Philosoph. Transactions:  "In the  night  of
February 5th, I was called to  J. Crampler, a canemaker; he was
in bed, his eyes staring, the jaws spasmodically closed, the hands,
feet  and forepart of the  head covered  with cold sweat;  pulse
imperceptible; respiration hurried and scarcely audible.  He took
supper at eight, and had eaten  salad bought in the market, mixed
with celery from  his own garden; feeling sick, he took an emetic
and threw up the larger portion of his meal; the symptoms increased
in intensity until I arrived ; his head was drawn backwards, his
mouth Avas openeol by force, spirits of hartshorn  were poured into
him which excited cough  and vomiting.   During moments of con-
sciousness,  he had  to drink  carduus-tea,  which  caused vomiting;
the vomiting- was  followed by fainting; then came several stools and
more vomiting;  the bowels and stomach felt  easier, but  the  heaol
was heayy, strength anol spirits exhausted ; he  had  to lie down; the
pulse returned, but remained  intermittent  and  irregular, sometimes
two or three beats in  rapid  succession, then making a stop of as
long a period ; after an  hour or two he felt chilly : was covered up
warmly, perspired, slept, and finally recovered.   He then stated that,
immediately after partaking of the root, he felt a tingling heat in
the tongue and jaws, as  if the  teeth would fall out.  His  cheeks
were so irritated that  his  face felt to him twice as  large as it really
was.  This tingling sensation gradually spread through the whole
body,  especially  the extremities;  he felt  an  unsteadiness  in the
joints, especially the knee-joints and  feet; also a twitching in the
tendons so that  he was scarcely  able to walk;  he fancied that
the bloool had ceased to circulate in his limbs;  from the wrists to
the tips of the fingers, and from the tarsus to the tips of the toes, he
experienced no sensation at  all;  after vomiting, he felt giddy, his
sight  was misty, his look wandering, he heard a buzzing-whizzing
noise in his ears until he fainted."
  This is a most instructive case of poisoning, showing that Aconite 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
107
 exerts a paralyzing influence upon  the  capillary nerves  anol con-
 sequently upon the  movements going  on in the capillary vessels,
 and that this depression may gradually lead to paralysis, apoplexy,
 asphyxia and death, unless, as in  the  present  case,  the capillaries
 are relieved from their embarrassment, and vital re-action triumphs.
   The leading features in this case are the precursory symptoms of
paralysis which  constitute  a characteristic  indication  for  Aconite
 whenever paralysis threatens to set in.  The tingling and prickling
 sensation in the extremities, accompanied by a sense of numbness, a
 feeling of heat and heaviness in, or else coldness of the extremities;
 dizziness, sickness at the stomach and  vomiting of bile;  heavy,
 sluggish, or else irregular  and intermittent pulse; these are symp-
 toms which call for the immediate exhibition of Aconite, if we wish
 to prevent a paralytic stroke.
   The intermissions and irregularities of the pulse are also indica-
 tive of heart-disease,  where  Aconite and  Digitalis  constitute our
 chief remedial agents.
   The spasmoolic closing of the jaws in  this case points to lockjaw,
 where Aconite will be found a most useful remedy, especially if the
 disease originates in rheumatic exposure.  But also in traumatic
 tetanus Aconite may be of great service.
   The unsteadiness in the joints  which this  patient experienced,
 shows the  remarkable action of Aconite upon  the  articulations,
 in rheumatic affections, whether of an inflammatory or neuralgic
character.
   In  regard to the buzzing and whizzing in the ears, you will find
that in rheumatic deafness, these noises constitute  a most annoying
element of the pathological  group;  the first attenuation of  Aconite,
or even a few drops of the German tincture in a tumblerful of water
remove the  affection, if recent, in a  very short time.

                         Eighth  Case.

   Dr.  AVatzke,  one  of the  editors  of  the Austrian Journal  of
Homoeopathy, has reported the following interesting case of poison-
ing, extracted from  Otto's Travels:  "Giuseppa Vigano di Bussero,
an Italian girl, 27 years old, of a bilious and robust constitution, was
admitted  to the  hospital of Turin on  the third  of  August,  1815.
She was suspected of having venereal disease.
   She looked well, the  skin  had a dingy color; her appetite was
good;  all the vital functions and the pulse were normal; the nipple
a little sore.   She was put on spare diet, half a pound of bread and
two eggs.  4th, took extract of Aconite, two drachms, together  with
twelve pills  of the powder of Aconite.   5th, same dose. 6th, same
dose ; three drachms of extract with  powder.  The affection remained
local.  7th, took half an ounce of extract.   8th,  the patient has little
appetite,  skin and eyes are rather yellow.   9th,  the jaundice is more
developed.  Took a whole  ounce  of the extract.  11th, nausea  at
night, vomiting and delirium; expression of the face altered; the  look
is extinct, voice scarcely audible; half an ounce of extract.  August
12th,  restless night;  the patient left her bed  several times,  was 
108
LECTURE VII.
 unable to lie down without help ; they bound  her;  she experienced
 great anxiety; took no medicine.  In  the  evening, loss of speech,
 stupor,  her eyes were closed, the  facial  muscles spasmodically
 convulsed; lockjaw set in;  her breathing became slow, labored ;
 the pulse quick and irregular; the skin burning-hot.   The patient
 was bled one pound.  August 13th, the jaundice is less, but the
 other symptoms worse; the abdomen  is distended: the blood which
 had been drawn, has a yellow appearance at the surface, with a soft
 crust.  Bled  again; barley-soup,  six grains  of tartar  emetic,  and
 two injections each containing twenty  grains of tartar emetic.  In
 the  evening,  the symptoms  are  worse.   Bled again  one pound.
 14th, torpor, labored breathing, with rattling.  Again  barley-soup
 and tartar-emetic, but the patient died.
    A post-mortem examination showed  engorgement of  the cerebral
 vessels; the stomach was covered with blackish, gangrenous spots.
    This case shows that Aconite is capable of producing jaundice,
 even a most malignant form of jaundice.  The gangrenous degene-
 ration of the  mucous coat of the stomach may have been owing to
 the corroding action of foul and acrid bile.  Hence we may infer
 that in black vomit, Aconite may prove a most valuable remedy  in
 conjunction with Arsenic.  You  recollect  the case of Matthiolus'
 criminal, who ejected masses of a foul, blackish substance from the
i stomach a few hours before his death.
    I look upon the case before us as  a tolerably fair representation
 of  a  group of yellow  fever symptoms, which justifies the  use  of
 Aconite in yellow fever as an homoeopathic  agent.  The  curative
 virtues of this agent in  yellow fever have been abundantly tested by
 Drs. Holcombe and Davis,  and a number of other homoeopathic
 practitioners.

                          Ninth Case.

    Baldriani, district physician at Brescia in Italy, relates the follow-
 ing case of poisoning in a letter to  Professor Giacomi, of Padua:
 "On June  11th, twelve patients, some  of whom were affected with
 scurvy, others with pellagra, and who had been taking for some
 days the recently expressed juice of Cochlearia or scurvy grass, in
 doses of three  ounces, complained  of feeling sick an hour after
 taking the medicine.  These complaints were not heeded. A patient,
 sixty years old, and who had scurvy, was most  affected.  The phy-
 sician, who had not the least suspicion that the patients had, by
 mistake, been given the  juice of Aconite, instead of Cochlearia,
 found great anxiety and dyspnoea, with inclination to vomit; think-
 ing that these symptoms arose from  some gastric irritation, he pre-
 scribed a good dose of castor-oil, and had a large blister applied to
 the chest.  The anxiety now increased  enormously, and the prostra-
 tion of strength soon terminated  in  death.   At the same time two
 women who were about fifty-five years old,  and  who  were in the
 asylum for mania and  pellagra, likewise took the juice of Aconite.
 They soon felt sick, dyspnoea set in,  then convulsions,  followed by
 paralytic debility, and  death. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
109
  A post-mortem examination yielded the following results : Abdo-
men distended, excessive blueness  of the finger and toe-nails, the
fingers  and toes  were  somewhat  contracted.  The vessels of the
brain, especially of the pia mater and the arachnoid, were engorged,
with effusion of serum under the membranes, and at the base of the
brain; no effusion in the ventricles.   The lungs, especially the lower
lobes, were filled with black blood ;  the heart was relaxed,  contain-
ing a small  quantity of black, fluid  blood; the  large vessels were
almost empty; liver normal; gall-bladder contained a small quantity
of watery  and yellowish bile;  spleen  relaxed and  friable.  The
stomach, which was  distended, contained a moderate  quantity of a
viscid, blackish-green substance; the lining membrane of the stomach
was red here and there, especially at the fundus and large curvature.
The duodenum and small intestines contained the same blackish-
green substance, and likewise exhibited red patches.   The bladder
was almost empty; the kidneys somewhat engorged."
  This case yields important practical information to a homoeopathic
practitioner. ' We learn from it, that Aconite may induce  dyspnea
and even apoplexy of the lungs; these patients evidently died from
pulmonary apoplexy, and paralysis of the heart, to which must  be
added signs of inflammation of the lining membrane of the  stomach
and bowels.  The other patients recovered; tartar emetic was given
and powerful stimulants were resorted to; nevertheless some marked
symptoms of Aconite-poisoning were observed, such as: rapid sink-
ing of strength and spirits, striking paleness of the face, with altera-
tion of  the features ; blue rings  around  the dull eyes ; dilatation of
the pupils; vertigo, with tensive, dull headache, especially in the
occiput; somewhat painful tension  in  the  abdomen,  with borbo-
rygmi;  vomiting of quantities of a greenish  substance, and in one
of the patients, greenish diarrhoea;  sense of oppression and anxiety
on  the chest;  general and increasing  coldness, especially of the ex-
tremities, with circumscribed blueness of the finger and toe-nails:
cramp in the calves; pulse small,  feeble, in some patients hardly
perceptible.
  From these cases we learn  that  Aconite depresses the bodily
strength and  spirits, and that it has a specific power  of  disturbing
the biliary secretions; hence the vomiting of  green bile, and alvine
evacuations of the same character.  Note this symptom, Gentlemen:
it tells you that Aconite is a remedy for diarrhea, if the stools con-
sist of green bile, bilious diarrhea; also for cholera-morbus, where
green discharges  from  the bowels and  green  vomiting are often
present; in bilious fever, or in rheumatic fever,  with  discharges of
green bile, Aconite is  indicated.  Nothing depresses the action of
the lungs more intensely than the presence of bile in the pulmonary
capillaries; hence this agonizing dyspnoea which Aconite is capable
of producing, and which it will of course be able to remove.  Taking
the whole group of these symptoms in their complex, prostration of
strength and spirits, vomiting and  alvine discharges of green bile,
agonizing oppression on the chest, blue nails, cadaverous coldness
of the extremities, collapse of pulse;  I say, taking these symptoms
in their  complex, you have as complete a group of symptoms indi- 
110
LECTURE VII.
cative of cholera-morbus as you  can find recorded  under any drug.
Even Asiatic cholera, in the first  invasion, frequently presents this
group of symptoms ; with a few doses of Aconite you will often suc-
ceed, if these symptoms are present, in arresting the development
of this frightful disease,  and bringing about a triumphant reaction.

                         Tenth  Case.

  Dr. Shervin reports the following case  of poisoning by Aconite,
in the  London Lancet.  He had  been macerating one and a half
pounds of Aconite root in one gallon of Alcohol, and left it within
reach of the servant girl.  Two days after he had mixed his ingre-
dients together, he was suddenly called home; the  girl had been
taken ill.  " lie found her lying  on her  back,  with  staring looks,
contracted  pupils, livid  complexion, rigid  jaws, coldness of the ex-
tremities, collapse of pulse, short, imperfect and labored respiration,
feeble beating of the  heart.  At  times she would sigh, throw her
arms about, and a rattling noise and vibratory motions "of the trachea
were perceived.  It appears that the girl had put some of this tinc-
ture in her mouth for a toothache, and afterwards had swallowed  it.
The doctor gave her half a drachm of sulphate of zinc, to vomit her ;
after which the pulse returned and she was better able to see.  After
a while,  bilious vomiting took place, which was accompanied by
collapse of pulse; the  patient complained of violent pressure in the
head and in the prsecordial  region.  Symptoms  of cerebral conges-
tion being apparent, the patient  was bled from the jugular vein,
twenty ounces of blood being  drawn;  she felt  easier, it  seemed  to
her as though she had  been transported from a narrow, dark and hot
room into a light chamber.   After the venesection  she had several
more but less violent  attacks of vomiting, the pulse became fuller,
fifty-eight per minute,  but  intermitted after every fourth beat; the
prsecordial anxiety was less.  The pulse gradually rose up to seventy
and, towards  evening, up to one hundred, the  skin being hot and
dry.  Next day the pulse remained small; she had slept  but little ;
her tongue was coated, she complained  of headache;  the hands felt
numb.   On the day following she was well again. After swallowing
the tincture, she experienced the following  symptoms as reported by
herself: first I felt  a prickling in the arms  and fingers, numbness  in
the shoulders, tongue  and mouth, and  finally in the  legs and feet;
after this, a sense of swelling in  the face and  constriction of the
throat;  I looked in the glass, and my face looked  blue and dis-
figured, I made an effort to go to bed, but my strength gave out and
I fell down.  It was at this stage that the doctor saw her.
  This is likewise  an  instructive  case!  AYe learn  from this case,
beside  the usual symptoms which we have noticed in other  cases,
such as green vomiting, collapse of pulse,  loss or decrease of  sight,
that Aconite, during the period of reaction, by  which we mean°the
period when the vital forces begin to react against the depressing
effects of the drug, induces a state of inflammatory fever, with full
and  rapid  pulse, hot  and dry skin, headache, coated tongue, etc.;
hence we infer that Aconite is a remedy for  inflammatory fever, 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
Ill
characterized  by similar symptoms, such  as dry and hot  skin, full
and rapid pulse, headache, etc.   Now, if you remember, Gentlemen,
that Aconite  causes bilious  vomiting, vomiting of green  bile, you
have an excellent group of indications for  bilious fever, with hot and
dry skin, full  pulse, coated tongue, bilious vomiting; or for gastric
fever, which differs from bilious fever more by the apparent symp-
toms than by the actual character of the disease.
   The remarkable  influence which Aconite seems to have over the
action  of the  pneumogastric  nerve, and which is characterized  in
this and in other  cases by  imperfect  and labored respiration,  a
rattling noise  and vibratory motions of the trachea, and other symp-
toms, should never be lost sight of  in asthma and in such affections
of the respiratory organs as are characterized by dyspnoea, feeble
beating of the heart, feelings of anxiety.

                       Eleventh Case.

   Dr. Pereyra of Bordeaux reports the  following case of poisoning
by Aconite in the  Gazette des HOpitaux, March 26th, 1839:  "In
Alay, 183S, a man of forty-five  years was attacked with acute rheu-
matism, and was received in the St. Andrew Hospital of Bordeaux.
On the 19th of  December, seven  months after  his reception in the
hospital, the man was still affected  with rheumatism.  Every possi-
ble remedy had  been tried in vain.  The  patient was placed under
the care of Dr.  Pereyra.  The  disease seemed  to have principally
localized  itself  in the  knee-joint.   The  patient  had  to  walk  on
crutches, dragging himself along with great difficulty.  Dr. Pereyra
gave him the alcoholic extract of Aconite.  He commenced  with
two-grain doses, which  he gradually increased to five-grain  doses
morning and evening.   The patient had taken already twenty doses
of Aconite, was much improved and began to walk.  The medicine
having given out, a new  supply had to be ordered.  This new ex-
tract was given  to our patient and to various other patients in other
wards.  Next morning it was found that  several persons had been
poisoned.  Our  patient haol taken  five  grains of the new extract at
fwc o'clock in the morning.  In a quarter of an  hour he experienced
as usual  a  certain  tremor and tingling  in the  limbs, which was
accompanied with stinging pains.   While  taking the former extract,
these symptoms  used to disappear in about half an hour after taking
the medicine,  but now the stinging pains  became worse and worse,
and the tremor  increaseol  to convulsions.  In the mouth and throat
the patient experienced a sensation as if he had  swallowed strong
pepper.  Soon after, he vomited up all the contents of  the stomach.
During the convulsions, the patient lost  his consciousness.   As often
as consciousness returned, the  sight was  olazzled.  He complained
of a seated pain in the head, as if the head were encircled by  a hot
iron.   Pulse irregular and slow.   These symptoms were  sought to
be antidoted by coffee..  At ten o'clock, five hours after the patient
had swallowed,  the Aconite, Dr.  Pereyra observed the  following
symptoms: pale face, showing an expression of anguish and restless-
ness; great mobility of the eyes;  the patient is  restless, tosses about 
112
LECTURE VII.
 and likes to change his position ; contrary to his habit he seems fond
 of talking a good deal and hurriedly;  cold tongue as in the case of
 cholera-patients:  sense  of burning in the fauces and  oesophagus;
 vomiting of mucus ;  orthopnoe, twenty-five inspirations per minute ;
 pulse fifty-four, irregular, soft and full, as if the volume  of blood did
 not fill up the arteries; auscultation revealed natural breathing in
 front,  and a mucous rale posteriorly.  The heart showed several
 striking symptoms.   The apex of the heart beat only once against
 the wttll of the thorax, whereas three pulsations were distinctly felt
 at the wrist.   The beats of the left ventricle were synchronous with
 the beats of the radial pulse.  The right  auricle seemed to be con-
 vulsed ; its movements were rapid, irregular, and bore no proportion
 to the beats of the ventricles.  Gradually the extremities  began to
 grow  cold. No  alvine discharges.  Neither sinapisms nor  warm
 glass-cups could  restore the vital heat of  these parts.   Dr. Pereyra
 regarding this group of  symptoms as  an exact  representation of
 Asiatic cholera, he gave  his patient an infusion of  Guaco which he
 had found an exceedingly efficacious remedy during the  paralytic
 stage  of the cholera; this infusion was  given  for the purpose of
 stimulating respiration and the beats of the heart; two drachms of
 liquor Ammoniae were  likewise  given; frictions with  the tincture
 of  Cantharides were made upon the praecordial region and back.
 Towards evening reaction set in, and next morning the patient was
 well:  his rheumatism was gone, not a  trace  of  it had remained
 behind.
   One of the other patients who had taken of the same preparation
 died after the  lapse of four hours; death,  it appears, took  place
 through suffocation,  and a general collapse of the circulation.  The
 principal symptoms of poisoning in this case were:  excessive burn-
 ing pain in the throat, vomiting, afterwards cold sweats, oppressive
 anxiety,  an agonizing tossing about, fainting fits, gradual sinking of
 the respiration and  circulation,  collapse of pulse, death.  A post-
 mortem  examination showed the following results:  continued ex-
 pression of terror in the face;  injected condition  of the  cerebral
 vessels; the cerebral substance was dotted with blackish points; the
 parenchyma of the  lungs was  engorged with  blood,  and almost
 ceased to crepitate; the  left ventricle was found  empty; the right
 ventricle was filled with a jelly-like bloody coagulum: the stomach
 exhibited traces  of considerable  congestion; the kidneys, urinary
 bladder and spinal marrow were not examined."
  Now, Gentlemen, let us review the symptoms  which these  two
 cases of poisoning offer for our consideration :
  Trembling and tingling in the extremities, accompanied by sting-
 ing pains.
  Convulsions  of the extremities, with loss  of consciousness, and
followed by return of consciousness with dazzling of  the eyes, and
profuse sweat.
  Headache, as if the head were encircled  with a red-hot iron.
  Excessive restlessness with great mobility of the organs of speech.
  Cholera-coldness of the tongue.
  Burning in the  oesophagus. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
113
   Orthopnoe'  (suffocative constriction of the chest), with  hurried
 respiration.
   Diminution and irregularity of the heart's action.
   Utter extinction of the rheumatism.
   Expression of agony in the features.
   Excessive sanguineous engorgement of the lungs.
   According  to the  terms of our law, we may avail ourselves of
 these symptoms as  indications of cure in the treatment of several
 distressing affections.  These symptoms inform us that Aconite may
 be a specific agent in  the  treatment of convulsions when caused bv
 some irritation or morbific influence not  operating primarily upon
 the brain but upon the peripheral nerves.  In hysteric convulsions, for
 instance, when the sensation as of a ball ascending from the stomach,
 is present, Aconite may prove a  sovereign remedy.   In  convulsions
 occasioned by J'right, by teething,  or even in traumatic convulsions as
 they are  termed, occasioned by  mechanical injuries, a nail in the
 sole of  the foot, or a prick with a" pin, Aconite may prove  the best
 remedy.
   These symptoms further show  that Aconite is a great remedy for
 bilious  and nervous  headaches when this olistressing sensation  of
 burning  is  present.   You  recollect, Gentlemen, that in a former
 case, a patient complained as if his head were full of boiling water;
 here we have the symptoms as  if the  head were  encircled with a
 red-hot iron: these symptoms point to Aconite as one of our most
 efficient remedies in bilious congestive headache.
   The symptom of excessive restlessness and excessive mobility of
 the organs of speech points  to the use of Aconite in a peculiar form
 of mania,  a sort of monomaniacal  loquacity.
   Coldness of the tongue as in cholera;  this symptom leads us to
 regard Aconite as a great agent in the treatment of cholera Asiatica,
 to which many of the other symptoms likewise point, such as vomit-
 ing, involuntary serous  stools, retention of urine, burning  in the
 epigastric region and oesophagus, a burning distress about the head,
 blueness of  the  finger-nails  and lips, etc.   Aconite is not a  specific
 for Asiatic cholera; but, as may be inferred from the  symptoms, it
 must be, and inoleed is, a most powerful restorer of the vital reaction,
 especially during the first invasion of the disease.   In the stage of
 asphyxia, when the skin has lost all elasticity, anol has the shrivelled
 appearance of a washerwoman's  skin, Aconite is not  the remedy;
 Veratrum then  comes  into play, unless we choose to give Aconite
 and Veratrum in alternation.
   Burning in the oesophagus and epigastrium reveals to us  the im-
 portance of  Aconite  in nervous or bilious dyspepsia.  We are often
 called upon to prescribe for this distressing  symptom, and there are
 no remedies which will relieve this more speedily and more directly
 than Aconite, Arsenic  and Carbo  vegetabilis.
  Orthopnoe, or suffocative,  constrictive  oppression  on the chest,
yields to Aconite; hence in apoplexy of the lungs, or rather when
apoplexy  of the lungs is threatening, as indicated by the agonizing
oppression on the chest, Aconite will be found a reliable remedy.
  Another symptom which  this  last case of poisoning presents to
                              8 
114
LECTURE VII.
our view, is the diminution  and irregularity in the heart's  action.
Coupling this symptom with the slow and heavy pulse, and with the
symptoms of cerebral congestion which have been pointed out in the
previous cases of  poisoning, we have a most instructive therapeutic
indication for the  use of Aconite in cerebral apoplexy.  Gentlemen, if
apoplexy threatens, and even after it has  actully taken place, the use
of Aconite will effectually supersede the use of, and indeed, will
prove an inestimable substitute for the lancet.
  You will recollect that Aconite was  prescribed in this case in
order to cure inflammatory rheumatism of the  knee-joint.   After all
the poisonous  symptoms had been extinguished, the  rheumatic
disease  had so completely disappeared  that no trace of  it was left
behind.  AYe may infer from this cure, that Aconite is possessed of
a specific power  to  cure inflammatory rheumatism of the joints.
This will  be  shown  still  more definitely in  reviewing the  patho-
genetic effects or symptoms of Aconite.  It is not necessary, in order
to cure this  species of rheumatism, to resort to poisonous doses of
Aconite ;  but, on  the  other hand, it must  not be supposed that
chronic inflammatory rheumatism of the joints, especially if organic
degenerations have already developed themselves, can be removed
with  the  two hundredth potency.   If  such  a thing  is  possible, I
have  never seen it done.  In  the case of patients whose constitu-
tion is very sensitive to the action of medicine, and who have not
yet taken Aconite,  the thirtieth potency may  perhaps effect  a
change; but  it is safer  to  operate with a lower potency, say from
the third to the sixth, anol if the constitution of the patient  should
be  naturally very torpid, you must not be  afraid of  resorting to
the strong tincture, in doses of one or two drops in a tumblerful of
water.

                        Twelfth Case.

   The  following  exceedingly interesting case  of  poisoning by
Aconite has  been reported by Dr. F. Devay, supplementary physi-
cian to the Hotel  Dieu of Lyons in France, in the Medical Gazette of
Paris, January 5th, 1844: " On the 26th of October, 1843, about 8|
o'clock in the evening, Charles  Grimaud, assistant in the pharma-
ceutical laboratory of an apothecary of Lyons, while eating his sup-
per, swallowed about thirty-two scruples of the tincture of Aconite,
which he had poured into a dark bottle  on the morning of the same
day, and had placed by the side of another similar bottle that con-
tained the wine which he was to drink at supper.  Immediately after
swallowing the tincture, he  experienced a sensation of warmth and
constriction in the throat.  Having discovered his mistake,  he took
about a grain of Tartar emetic dissolved in a large quantity of water.
This, however, did not excite any vomiting.   His restlessness  now
became excessive; he was utterly unable to remain quiet, and com-
plained about his throat and of a burning in the oesophagus.   As
soon as the apothecary returned  home, Dr. Devay was sent for.  It
was 10| o'clock.   The patient was 35 years old, of a lymphatic san-
guine temperament, robust constitution, and begging for help  in a 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
115
state of the utmost fright.  His anxiety was so great that he was
utterly unable to remain  quiet.  I asked him to sit down, but he
immediately rose again.  I had to walk up and down the room with
him, in order to ask him questions and obtain a knowledge of his
symptoms.  His  mental and sensual functions were unolisturbed; the
tongue exhibited a whitish coating: he complained of nausea.  No
colic.  I observed that  the  first effect  of the poison had been to
attack the organs of locomotion, especially the  lower extremities,
which the patient moved incessantly, even while sitting on a chair.
While walking about the room, his legs trembled. This gave to his
gait the appearance of staggering.  I gave him an emetic composed
of nearly 1\ grains of Tartar emetic, 16  grains of powdered Ipecac-
uanha, the whole in 4 ounces  of water.   The  patient swallowed  it
hurriedly.   lie  complained  of an acute pain in  the fauces anol
oesophagus, and showed excessive restlessness  anol dread of death.
In  about 7 or 8 minutes copious vomiting  took place.  About 11
o'clock in the evening, the patient was unable to remain  standing;
he was attacked by a peculiar sort of convulsions; the upper and
lower extremities were turned inwards, the fingers were clenched
and the thumb turned inwards, so that it was impossible to open his
hand.  There was no concussion.  His face was covered with a cold,
clammy  sweat.   The eyeballs were  rolled upwards, so that  only
the whites could be  seen.  The expression of the countenance was
frightful.  The pulse at the wrist and temples had entirely vanished.
This paroxysm of convulsions lasted about  three minutes, and was
succeeded by prostration.  The patient complained of experiencing
extreme  anguish ; he felt  that his  end was  approaching.  His con-
sciousness was not disturbed, although the patient seemed every now
and then  to lapse into  a state of stupor, from which he however
speedily roused  himself in order to call for help.  He would  close
his eyes,  with his  head  hanging  down, after which he suddenly
raised it again like one who, having fallen asleep standing, or sitting
on a chair, is suddenly roused  from his slumber.  His visual power
had become extinct; he was unable to distinguish either persons or
other  surrounding objects.  He had to vomit several times  after
this, and every attack of vomiting was followed  by a paroxysm of
convulsions.
  "About  12\  o'clock  the symptoms  continued  the same; the
anguish and agony of the  patient were extreme.  Alternate parox-
ysms of convulsions and  nausea.  Another emetic was  given, and
water and  vinegar ordered  as a beverage  in  tablespoonful doses.
About one o'clock the sight returned, but the paroxysms of convul-
sions were as frequent as before and more violent; the temperature
of the skin became less and less.  The patient,  began to shiver and
finally became cold as ice; his countenance assumed the expression
which we  characterize  as hippocratic ; his head  was powerfully
drawn backwards ; during the spasms his joints would creak.  The
breathing became stertorous; the mucous rale was audible at a dis-
tance.  In  spite of this agonizing condition he  understood every
thing  that was  told him, nor did he experience any colic.  Even
after the first convulsive paroxysm the palms of his hands had lost 
116
LECTURE VII.
the faculty of sensation so completely that he did not feel the prick
of a needle, even if  pushed  pretty deeply  into  the  flesh.  The
abdomen remained  warm.   Sinapisms  were applied to the whole
body, except  the  abdomen, and a  solution of Iodine in water^was
administered, 4 grains of iodine, 48 grains of the iodide of potassium,
dissolved in 8 ounces of water.  About  3 o'clock in the morning, up
to which hour there was no change in  the symptoms, the beats of
the heart again became perceptible ; the pulse could be felt again ;
the warmth of the skin returned and the patient felt more comfort-
able.   An infusion of mint was administered with 48 grains of the
spirits of  Mindereri, or  the  well-known acetate  of Ammonia, first
described  and  introduced  into  medical  practice by  Boerhaave.
About 4 o'clock the patient began to look better;  a copious, warm
sweat broke out;  the pulse had risen up to 125 beats; the palms of
the hands had recovered  their sensibility; the breathing was natural.
The patient was now given  an infusion of couch-grass or Triticum
repens, with nitre and syrup.  At 6 o'clock, he  slept  for half an
hour.  On waking he complained of feeling sore  and bruised all
over.  An injection brought away a mass of black and exceedingly
fetid  stool.  A small  quantity of urine was  passed, which  looked
cloudy.  The abdomen  was painless and soft;  tongue moist and
coated white.  During the tAvo days following, there were  no new
symptoms.  The sleep was rather restless.   On the 29th, the  patient
was able to leave  his room;  his appetite had  returned;  barring an
expression of fright and imbecility which  still was perceptible  in
his countenance, all the other dreadful  symptoms had entirely dis-
appeared."
   This case of poisoning, Gentlemen, is  of the highest importance in
a therapeutic point of view.  An allceopathic physician may perhaps
derive no further benefit from the perusal of such a  case  than a
knowledge of the fact that Aconite is an acriol poison, and has to be
used with great care; but Iioav instructive must such a case  be to a
homoeopathic physician !   How many therapeutic indications of the
highest interest  and importance  does it furnish  to the  attentive
observer of the  physiological effects  of this  wonderful, and  most
comprehensive and intensely-acting agent upon  the living tissues!
Let us review the  symptoms  which this  case offers, and  ascertain
with what diseases they correspond.
   First we have the usual warmth  and  constriction in the throat.
   Secondly, excessive  restlessness, the patient was unable to  remain
quiet;  he  had  to be in constant motion; especially the lower ex-
tremities were continually agitated, trembling, staggering.
   Third symptom -. Excessive pain and burning in the oesophagus.
   Fourth: Epileptiform convulsions; the fingers Avere spasmodically
closed; the thumbs clenched,  and  the legs drawn in ; these  convul-
sions occurred  in paroxysms  at more  or less regular intervals and
were accompanied by mucous rale and stertorous breathing, symptoms
that are usually present in this  form of convulsions.  Now, Gentlemen,
this symptom shoAvs the great power which Aconite must necessarily
possess in the treatment of  convulsions; but  remember, they must
be convulsions Avhere the brain is only secondarily affected.   In the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
117
present case we have seen that the patient retaineol his consciousness
and remained in full possession of his intellect from  first to last;
hence the brain could not have been primarily affected by the poison,
and the convuisions must have been the result either of some secon-
dary irritation of the brain, such as might have been induced  by
violent sanguineous engorgements of the cerebral vessels and conse-
quent  pressure upon the brain; or they must have resulted from
some direct lesion of the functional equilibrium  of the peripheral
system of nerves.  AYe have several convulsions of this kind which
Ave are often called upon to prescribe for:  such as epileptiform con-
vulsions, where  the  neck, trunk, or extremities may be tetanically
convulsed, rigid and distorted, and Avhere the fingers are spasmodi-
cally closed and the thumbs clenched ;  the eyeballs  may likeAvise be
frightfully rolled about in their sockets, sideways, upAvards or doAvn-
wards, and froth may appear at the mouth.
   Another class of convulsions, to which the present paroxysm
points, are puerperal convulsions,  or  eclampsia ; these convulsions
sometimes occur to  parturient females, and as far as we may be
guided by post-mortem appearances and by the symptoms existing
during the life-time of the patient, these convulsions result, not from
a primary derangement of the cerebrum, but  from some secondary
irritation of this organ, more particularly from capillary engorgement
induced by the deficiency of animal  energy which is more specifically
generated  by the cerebellum.  The development of the fetus is essen-
tially an animal function, a function pertaining to the animal sphere,
of wliich the cerebellum is the  central organ; if the cerebellum is
unable, in  consequence of some inherent weakness, to respond to  the
stimulating action of the cerebrum,  Avhat must be the inevitable con-
sequence of this want of harmonious equilibrium between the tAvo
central organs of vitality?   The  inevitable consequence must be
that the cerebellum, being unable to properly use the supply of blood
which the cerebrum, in  its capacity of supreme guardian and pre-
server of vitality is  continually sending to  the uterine organs, per-
mits the vascular engorgement  thus established  to react upon its
source, the cerebrum, and to occasion an engorgement of the cerebral
capillaries Avhich must  inevitably lead to  convulsions, and, unless
this engorgement is  removed by some  means or other,  to rupture of
the capillaries, effusion into the cerebral tissue, and  consequent death
of the patient.   Old-school physicians  endeavor to relieve the brain
by bleeding or by extracting  the fetus by artificial means;  but in
our practice we may resort to the use of Aconite, Avhich is endoAved
Avith a specific poAver of  developing, by its peculiar action upon  the
cerebellum, precisely such a train of symptoms as Ave find described
in the books under the appellation of eclampsia  and as Ave  are
often called upon to treat in the sick-room.  Mark this Avell, Gentle-
men, that Aconite exerts its specific action in the  animal economy
not upon the cerebrum, but upon the cerebellum, and, that the cere-
bral symptoms Avhich indicate  the use of Aconite, are indications
of some  secondary or sympathetic irritation of the cerebral organ.
If you keep this distinction in vieAV, and if, by  observation and
thought, you endeavor to acquire  a more and more lucid, positive, 
118
LECTURE VII.
and I might say, intuitive perception of this and similar facts, you
will find that medicine is not necessarily and constitutionally, as it
were, an uncertain and vague science; you will find that, Avhere the
mere  symptomist sees nothing but  symptoms,  darkness  and con-
fusion, the philosophical honneopathist, who knows how to interpret
the meaning of symptoms and determine their character and value,
and their relation to the central organs of life, sees light, order and
beautiful harmony in the midst of the desolating processes exhibited
to his vieAV by the organism of a suffering creature.
   You will not understand me as recommending Aconite as a pa-
nacea for puerperal convulsions.  These  convulsions may proceed
from some primary lesion of the cerebrum, a deficiency of cerebral
innervation, in Avhich case medicines that act directly upon the brain,
such as Opium, Hyoscyamus, etc., may be required.
   Our next, anol a most interesting symptom, is the condition of the
pulse which rose up to one hundred and twenty-five beats.  Most of
you are doubtless acquainted Avith the fact that we prescribe Aconite
as a specific remedy for simple inflammatory fever, and this  symptom
shows that such a prescription is in strict accordance Avith the specific
action of Aconite upon the human system.  In the present case, the
patient's pulse Avas in the first place depressed even to complete col-
lapse, and the skin Avas icy-cold.  This icy-coldness of the skin was
ushered  in by a well-marked chill.  This is the primary effect of
Aconite  upon the circulation: depression and even collapse of the
pulse, diminution of the  temperature of the skin, accompanied or
preceded by a chill, a sense of cold creeping, shivering.  The reac-
tion Avhich the organism  sets up against these symptoms, is marked
by opposite  conditions, heat, increased rapidity  and fulness of the
pulse, sometimes rising, as in the present case, up to one hundred
and twenty-five and even to a larger number of beats.  These two
conditions, although they seem to be antagonistic to each other, yet
come both of them Avithin the  curative range  of Aconite.  These
two conditions, the previous depression and subsequent exaltation of
vitality constitute tAvo phases of one and the same functional process,
just as the violent contractions and  subsequent atony of the uterus
constitute tAvo phases of another functional process to which I shall
direct your attention when speaking of Secale.  The previous nega-
tive and the subsequent positive condition of the circulatory  system
make up the sum total of the  vital  energy normally belonging to
it, and all that we have  to do,  in order to restore the harmonious
movements of this system, is to give a remedy that shall free the
capillaries from their spasmodic torpor and thus enable the column
of blood to  flow through the body from one ventricle to  the other
with undisturbed rhythmical ease.  This purpose is accomplished by
means of Aconite which,  if it should be found inadequate to  a com-
plete  removal of the  difficulty, will, at any rate, pave the way for
the exhibition of the next remedial agent.  If Ave prescribe Aconite
during the chill, it will not only hasten the febrile reaction, but will
likewise shorten its course; and if we prescribe Aconite during the
febrile reaction, the therapeutic  effect will be the same  viz ° the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
119
restoration of the natural rhythm of the pulse, and the normal tem-
perature and secretions of the skin.
  We should riot omit to notice another symptom, which does not
seem of great importance, but which sometimes occurs in catarrhal
and rheumatic fevers, and which affords an additional indication for
the use of Aconite in these affections ; I allude to the feeling of sore-
ness of Avhich the patient complained after his.short nap, a sensation
as if the whole body were bruised.   As I have stated on a previous
occasion, this symptom is often present in rheumatic fever; so is the
next symptom, the black and fetid stool.  The turbid urine likewise
points to the fact that Aconite is a curative agent in inflammatory
conditions of the organism.
  And lastly we are told that an expression of terror and imbecility
remained  in the patient's countenance  some time after  the other
symptoms had clisappeared.  Gentlemen, one of the most remarkable
effects  of  Aconite upon the mind is, to induce  this state of terror
and imbecility^  In a former case AA'e were told that Aconite induced
a state of mania characterized by fitful  changes of mood, such as
alternate singing and weeping, lowness and exaltation  of spirits,
alternate delirium and rationality.  Here we observe that Aconite
causes a state of fright and an appearance of imbecility. This effect
of Aconite upon the mind  is one of the most characteristic indica-
tions for its use, and whenever, in certain forms of mania or dementia,
a state of fright and imbecility is a characteristic symptom, Aconite
ay ill prove an invaluable auxiliary to the cure.
                 LECTURE   VIII.

  Now, Gentlemen, let me briefly recite again the Avhole series of
the affections wliich the  cases of poisoning that I have related to
you, teach us as coming within the curative range of Aconite.
  1. Acute congestion of the brain, when of a purely nervous, rheu-
matic or traumatic character, and Avhen not symptomatic  of some
more deep-seated  disease of the cerebrum, such as typhus or menin-
gitis.  In reviewing the symptoms of Aconite-poisoning,  Avhich I
have pointed out to you, you will find, that they contain all those
symptoms which  constitute  a  more  or less  complete group of
acute congestion  of the brain.   AYe have the chill Avhich always
ushers in an acute congestion, in Avhatever organ it may set up its
abode; then Ave have the febrile reaction with the pulse up to one
hundred or even one hundred and twenty-five beats in the minute;
we have the heat  and dryness of  the skin which is ahvays present
during an acute congestion of any organ, and Ave have all the cere-
bral  symptoms Avhich point to  this disease, such as acute aching pains
in the head;  sensation of soreness  about the head, as if the scalp  had
been bruised; flushed appearance and  bloating of the face; heat in
the head ;  sensitiveness to the  light and noise ; buzzing and Avhizzing
in the ears ; vertigo, throbbing of the carotids, nausea and vomiting,
highly-colored  and turbid urine, and other more or  less  variable 
120                      LECTURE VIII.
symptoms.  This form of congestion is generally the result of ex-
posure to  a draught of air, keen Avinds, retrocession of the perspira-
tion about the head ; it may likewise result from indigestion, or from
some  mechanical cause, such as a blow or fall  upon the head, or
even from fright.
  You will  remember that in several fatal cases of poisoning  by
Aconite, the brain Avas found dotted with red or dark-colored spots,
shoAving that the ruptured capillaries had discharged their contents
into the substance of this organ.  In fatal cases of acute cerebral
congestion, a similar appearance is revealed to us after death; hence
Ave perceive  that the homoeopathicity of Aconite  to acute congestion
of the brain extends  even to the pathological  changes discovered
after the death of the patient.
  In treating such a case, you may give Aconite in various doses, from
the tincture  up to the  thirtieth potency; a drop of the tincture in a
tumblerful of Avater, or a drop or a few pellets of the sixth, twelfth,  ,
eighteenth or thirtieth attenuation.  In my concluding lecture  on
Aconite I  shall offer the necessary suggestions concerning the repeti-
tion of the dose, and  therefore deem it unnecessary to dwell  upon
this topic  for the present.
  The second pathological  lesion for which we have found Aconite
indicated,  is
  Acute Gastritis,  when of a purely rheumatic  character, or when
resulting from indigestion  or from  some mechanical irritation of
the stomach.  The symptoms as developed  by our  toxicological
provings,  are the  sj^mptoms usually characterizing acute inflam-
mations, accompanied by a sense of burning in the stomach, vomit-
ing of mucus,' bile and blood, intense thirst.   You recollect that
in cases of acute gastritis caused by Aconite, the stomach exhibits
all the  symptoms  of this  inflammatory condition, and that in one
case the inflammation had even terminated in gangrene.    Post-
mortem examinations have revealed  similar changes in cases of
genuine gastritis; hence  the  homoeopathicity of Aconite  to the
rheumatic or purely nervous form of this disease,  is fully established.
You will aftenvards find, that there are forms of gastritis Avhich have
to be  combated by other remedies, such as Arsenic or Phosphorus.
In regard to the  dose I would  say  that the loAver preparations of
Aconite are  generally more reliable in this disease than the higher;
you may go down to the third, second, or first attenuation, or even
to a drop  of the tincture, although  higher attenuations  may some-
times be required  by very sensitive  subjects.  Give your medicine
in Avater, one or two drops in a tumberful, provided the patient can
keep the liquid on the stomach;  otherwise resort to powders.
   Thirdly we have
   Paralysis of the organs of speech ; the patient is unable to articulate,
and utters unintelligible Sounds ; this condition is sometimes accom-
panied by violent symptoms of cerebral congestion, but it may like-
Avise occur  as a more or less isolated symptom; the tongue feels
heavy, swollen, numb, or a prickling sensation may be experienced
in this organ.  Aconite from the eighteenth down to the first is  the
remedy. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
121
  Paralysis of the sentient nerves  is another condition which comes
under  the therapeutic range of Aconite.  In one  of our  cases of
poisoning the sensibility of the patient's face Avas greatly impaired ;
the face and throat Avere almost insensible to the touch.  In another
case the patient's hands had  so completely lost all power of sensation
that he did not even feel the prick of a pin.
  Purely Nervous  Irritation  of the brain is another morbid condition
which  may require the  use  of Aconite.  In  the  case of poisoning
where  this  symptom occurred,  the patient complained  of feeling
dizzy,  but she Avas neither delirious nor  sleepy.   This condition of
the brain you will often find described in  the books under the
appellation  of
  Nervous Vertigo.  It may be induced by exposure to the sun, or
by some constitutional irritation, gastric derangements, etc.   An
attack of this kind  is  generally accompanied or succeeded by
symptoms of  cerebral  congestion, and  it may even be accompanied
by partial loss of consciousness, loss  of  memory, even to  such  an
extent that the patient forgets his OAvn name, the names of his best
friends, of his native place, and even the letters of the alphabet and
the names of  the common numbers.   Give your  Aconite from the
first to the sixth attenuation.
  Suffocative- Catarrh,  as it  is termed, is  another morbiol condition
which will be found to yield to the use of Aconite.   The symptoms
which point to the use of Aconite in this disease, are the constriction
and strangulation which Aconite  causes  in the throat,  and the
dyspnoea or  distress  of  breathing Avhich  is  likeAvise one of the
characteristic effects of Aconite upon  the lungs.
  In his later  years  the great  discoverer  of  Homoeopathy was
attacked with an  illness Avhich endangered his life.  It  Avas suffo-
cative catarrh.  His  OAvn statement  concerning  it, is as  follows:
"Although I  kept nryself very warm,  yet the annoyance I  received
from  *  *   *   *  , may have  contributed to bring upon me the
suffocative catarrh, that for  seven days before, and for fourteen days
alter the 10th of April, threatened to  choke me, Avith instantaneous
attacks of intolerable itching in the glottis, that would have caused
spasmodic cough,  had  it not  deprived  me of breath altogether; irri-
tation  of the fauces with  the finger, so as to cause sickness, was the
only thing that restored the breathing, and that but sIoavIv ;  there
Avere besides other seArere symptoms—very great shortness of breath,
total loss of appetite for foool and drink, a sensation of weariness and
a bruised feeling in all the  limbs, constant drowsiness, inability to
do  the least  work, presentiment  of death, etc.  It  is only Avithin
these four days that I have  felt myself  out of danger;  I  obtained
relief by two  olfactions, of Cofi'ea cruda N° first, and then Calcarea;
Ambra too was of use.   And so the  great  Protector of all that is
true and  good, will  grant me as much more  life upon this earth as
seemeth  good to his Avisdom."
  Far be it from me, my friends, to find fault Avith Hahnemann's
prescriptions.  But look at the symptoms; look at this  suffocative
or  spasmodic constriction  about  the larynx,  at  this distress for
breath, at this general prostration of  the system, at this universal 
122
LECTURE VIII.
 feeling as if the limbs had  been bruised by blows, and what more
 complete picture of an Aconite-group of symptoms can  be found
 than is presented by this description of Hahnemann's illness.  Gen-
 tlemen, if I had had charge of our illustrious patient, I should have
 given him the second or third attenuation of Aconite, a drop or tAvo
 in a tumblerful of water, in small  tablespoonful doses every two or
 three hours, and I feel persuaded that the disease would have speedily
 terminated in perspiration and recovery.
   Speaking of  suffocative catarrh, let me not forget, to recommend
 Aconite to /our favorable consideration in
   Asthma Millari, this dreadful invader of the quiet comfort  of deli-
 cate infancy.  Asthma Millari,  as it is termed,  or asthma thymicum,
 is, in fact, a species of  suffocative catarrh, or  spasm of the glottis
 accompanied by signs of suffocation.  If there is a meaning in symp-
 toms, and if our provings are of any use to us as therapeutic  indica-
 tions, Aconite is one of our best remedies for this frightful disorder.
 No remedy is possessed of the same power as Aconite, of producing
 this spasm of the glottis which is the pathognomonic feature of Asthma
 Millari.  Then  Avhy not use it?   Why  do our books recommend
 only Sambucus, Moschus, and other remedies Avhich are much  less
 homoeopathic to this disease ?   Gentlemen,  it is because one book-
 maker copies from another;  instead of ascending to first principles,
 and of determining the homoeopathic relation of drugs to diseases
 by a careful exploration and analysis of the pure effects of drugs upon
 the living  tissues:  book-makers Avould rather  trust in their  OAvn
 empiricism, and  SAvindle the confiding student  of Homoeopathy out
 of the most valuable means of cure which  the Divine Father  has
 designed for our use.
  Mania Avas the next  affection for which Aconite may be recom-
 mended as a specific remedy; the symptoms which indicate Aconite
 are a sense of fright;  the patient looks terrified, and, accompanying
 this  sense of terror,  there may be  an  appearance of imbecility^
 hence in                                                    J '
  Idiocy, Aconite may at any rate be given as a  palliative, provided
 the disease is incurable.  In some forms of mania the  patients are
 exceedingly loquacious,  and subject to alternate chano-es of mood
 at one time singing and  laughing, and the next  weeping and moan-
ing; at one  time  full of hope, and then  depressed  by despair and
forebodings  of death ; at one time enjoying the full  use of their
reason, at another apparently elemented.  These alternately opposite
conditions of the mind indicate  Aconite as one of the remedies'
Avhich, among others, is to be used  in such cases.
  Neuralgic  pains in  various parts of the body;  this is another
morbid condition which will yield to Aconite.  In our  cases  the
only neuralgic pains that we have become acquainted with so  far
are hard aching pains  in various  parts of the body  jaAvs neck'
chest, joints; by and by we  shall find that Aconite is  a sovereign
remedy for  a variety of neuralgic  sufferings,  such as  stitchin-
boring, screwing, burning and other pains.                      °'
  Dropsical swelling of the ablonvn.  If dropsy should set in in con-
sequence of the sudden retrocession of  an acute  eruption  or  in 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
123
consequence  of the  sudden stoppage of  the  cutaneous exhalation
through  exposure to a draught of air, to  dampness, keen  Avinds,
etc., Aconite may restore the action of the exhalants and thus either
terminate the Avhole difficulty or, at anjr rate, pave the way for some
other remedy.                                             *
  Aconite may likewise cure dropsy brought on by fright.   Fright
causes that spasmodic torpor  in the capillaries which Aconite pos-
sesses the specific poAver of removing;  and one of the effects  of this
torpor of the capillary exhalants may be an accumulation of serous
fluid  in  the cellular tissue.  Some years  ago I had such a case to
treat.  A French lady had had  a  violent fright.  On coming out of
her house, a man Avas  shot dead in front of her in the street.  The
effect of this fright Avas  anasarca.  AVhen I first saw her, she was
enormously  distended.  On pricking the skin with  a needle,  the
water  would spirt out.  After  using Aconite for a feAV daj^s,  she
began to discharge a quart of water from the vagina in the course of
twenty-four hours; this  gradually increased to tAvo and even three
quarts, and the dropsical symptoms had all disappeared when, from
some cause or other  my patient removed  to other parts.   AY hat
became of her I am unable to  say.
  Acute  congestion of the kiolneys, characterized by SAvelling  in  the
region of the kidneys, stitches  in the kidneys, retention of urine, and
the usual symptoms of inflammatory fever;  this group of symptoms
likewise requires Aconite.
  Retention of urine is another derangement corresponding with the
effects of Aconite.  This  retention may be  OAving  to spasmodic
constriction of the sphincter, or to  paralysis of the muscular fibres of
the bladder; in either case Aconite, by virtue of its poAver to  induce
muscular paralysis and spasmodic constriction of the orifices of the
body, is indicated as one of the most reliable  remedies in this dis-
tressing  affection, if occasioned by a cold or fright.
  Paralgsis of the muscular  fibre.  AYe have seen  that Aconite
causes a  spasmodic  torpor  in the capillaries; this torpor may so
completely embarrass the circulation in the affected part that mus-
cular paralysis  may be the consequence.   A  paralysis of this sort
must necessarily be characterized  by symptoms like these:  a sense
of SAvelling  in  the  part; heat, numbness and tingling as if the part
had  gone to sleep,  prickling sensation in  the part;  slow,  heavy
pulse, in some cases  full  and  hard, and in other cases  sinking and
empty.  Aconite from the  sixth to the thirtieth, and sometimes
lower, will often prevent the  threatening paroxysm.  And  even if
paralysis has actually set in, Aconite is  still  a  specific restorer of the
normal vitality of the part.  Among a number of cases of paralysis
Avliich I have  treated Avith Aconite, I  select the following  tAvo or
throe, cases, in order to illustrate  the wonderful  curative powers of
Aconite in this disease.
  One was  a  man  about forty  years old, good constitution, rather
phlegmatic  temperament, in  good  circumstances  and not  much
oppressed Avith care.   He had a paralytic stroke, and for some six
or seven weeks was treated by a botanic physician AYithout the least
benefit.   When I saw the patient, the following group of symptoms 
124
LECTURE VIII.
presented itself: The patient was  hardly able to stagger about the
room ; his sight which Avas naturally very good, was so impaired that
he Avas unable to read the largest sign across the street; his memory
Avas  likeAvise damaged;  though naturally intelligent, there was an
expression of imbecility in his features; he Avas only able to stutter
out a few words.;  when attempting to count, he would skip tAvo or
three numbers, 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, etc.  AYhen attempting to read, he Avould
sometimes commence in the middle of a line, or  he  Avould  skip tAvo
or three lines, or  read one word for another, goocl  for great,  etc.
Sometimes he  would only see the half of a Avord.  His appetite Avas
poorly, tongue coated  white, foul taste  in the mouth, fetid breath,
pulse exceedingly irregular, intermittent and rather depressed.   I
put  him on  the  use of Aconite, and  in  about three  Aveeks  the
patient's health was completely restored, and he was able to A\'alk
about three miles down town to his place of business.
  Another case Avas that of a lady of fifty,  of stout  make and florid
complexion, short  and thick neck and bilious temperament.  She
had  an  apoplectic fit, and  was bled  by a physician avIio was called
there by some friend  in a hurry.   I saw  her about half an hour
after.   She AAras  comatose, almost  unconscious, her face looked
reddish-brown, one pupil was exceedingly contracted, and the other
pupil widely dilated and insensible to the light; this AAras the pupil
of the left  side,  the whole  of which  side Avas paralyzed.   Her
features  shoAved signs of terror.   The pulse was heavy, sIoav and
hard.  I put her on  the use of Aconite, and in about a fortnight she
was  entirely well  and able to resume  her usual domestic duties.
For  a  month  or tAvo she complained of feeling Aveaker than usual
after making  a bodily exertion;  this, I suppose, Avas OAving to  the
bleeding rather than to her attack.
  Another lady summoned me in the  middle of the night to  her
house.   She Avas about fifty years old, of a  paralytic habit, several
of her sisters and brothers had died  of apoplexy anol paralysis;  she
had  been troubled for months past  with numbness and symptoms
of constitutional congestion, such as sensation of swelling in various
parts of the body ;  velvety feeling under the soles of the feet, arising
from a congested  condition of the capillaries in that  region ;  wind
rolling  off the stomach  in extraordinary quantities,  partial amau-
rosis, buzzing in the ears, violent headache, slow pulse.   AYhen  she
sent for me I found her unable to articulate, she looked frightened,
her  pulse Avas down to thirty-five, and she made signs that she felt
great distress in the head.  I gave a few drops of a rather  Aveak
tincture  of Aconite in a tumblerful of water, in tablespoonful doses
every few minutes;  after having taken a few doses, the  pulse rose
up to sixty; she continued  the Aconite during the night, and in two
or three days  she had  regained her  usual health.  In this case the
timely use of Aconite undoubtedly prevented an apoplectic stroke.
  Another lady, of  a very full habit of body, and subject to severe
congestive headaches, was suddenly attacked with  the  following
symptoms: Apoplectic state of the head, a sort of stupor, expression
of intense  distress in the features, dark flushes on  the cheeks,  un-
natural  contraction  of the pupils, paralysis of the tongue which 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
125
seemed immovable, and a slow and hard pulse.   I gave her Aconite
in water every five minutes; already after the first dose the pulse
began  to rise, and after the  second or third  dose  she Avas able to
answer a few questions. She stated that she had felt like one dying,
and that her tongue had been entirely paralysed.  She Avas entirely
restored in a few days.
  In a case of pjaralysis of the esopthagus, Aconite saved the patient's
life.   The patient Avas a lady of about fifty-five years,  of a paralytic
habit of body, and  had had  one severe attack of paralysis AYhich I
cured  Avith Aconite.   For  months  she enjoyed  perfect  health, as
good as ever she did; care and grief brought on another attack of
paralysis, and this time the part affected was  the oesophagus.  The
conolition of the patient seemed really frightful; an  expression of
fright and agony in her features, constant fear of death by strangu-
lation ; desire to swallow and yet inability to bring  doAvn a drop of
liquid  of any kind  without choking.   The Aconite Avas  held to the
tongue every now and then, and a very small powder AYas deposited
upon the tongue every ten or fifteen  minutes.  In this manner the
contractile power of the muscular fibres of the oesophagus AYas soon
restored, and in about a week the  patient's health  was as good as
usual.
  On looking at this patient, you would have said that she Avas de-
signed, as it were, to have paralytic strokes.   I treated her four or
five times for paralysis, but the last attack carried her off.  Paraly-
sis of the heart set in, and although the heart's action became some-
what  regular again under  the use of Aconite, yet  after having
lingered for a week or so, the patient died very gradually.   I  have
no doubt that if the reactive energies of  her system had not  been
shattered as they  necessarily  must have  been in  consequence of
care, grief,  and frequent  attacks of paralysis, her life Avould  have
been saved..
  In another case I restored  the motor power of one half of the face
Avith Aconite.   One side of the face AYas  useless, and  draAYn clown
or rather hanging  doAYii,  the muscles of the cheek and jaAvs had
become paratysed in conseopience of exposure to a draught of air.
This is rheumatic paralysis, as it is termed.   Aconite  restored the
patient's health very speedily.
  Paralysis of the sentient sphere, may likewise be cured by Aconite.
Complete loss of smell for instance, or anosmia  as it is termed, Avhich
has a catarrhal origin, A\ill yield to the use of Aconite.   You  may
be called upon  to  treat such  a  case, the  Sehneiderian  membrane
is as  dry as a chip, and the olfactory nerve is so completely para-
lysed that the patient  is  utterly unable to distinguish the odor of
sulphuretted hydrogen from the most delicious perfume.  Give your
Aconite, Gentlemen, one or tAvo drops of the first or second attenua-
tion  in a tumblerful of AYater, in tablespoonful doses every hour or
two, and your patient will  soon recover  the  use of his olfactories.
In such  cases which  are not at all  unfrequent, I have often given
the concentrated tincture in water, anol helped the patient in twenty-
four or thirty-six hours.
  Again, complete deafness  or dysecea AYhen caused  by paralysis of 
126                      LECTURE VIII.
 the auditory nerve resulting from  exposure to a draught, to damp-
 ness or to a keen Avind, in other words:  rheumatic deafness, will
 speedily yield to Aconite.   The patient is utterly unable to distin-
 guish one sound from another, and complains of a thousand noises,
 roaring, buzzing, blowing, whizzing, in the cavity of the drum.  Give
 your Aconite as recommended for  anosmia, and  you will be aston-
 ished at the ease with Avhich the patient's hearing can be restored.
   And likewise  in rheumatic amaurosis, or rheumatic  paralysis of
 the optic nerve, Aconite will very speedily  restore the visual poAver.
 We haA^e seen that among the toxicological effects of Aconite, com-
 plete amaurosis occupies a prominent place.
   Rheumatic paralysis of the bladder is another condition Avhich will
 speedily yield to Aconite.   If the sphincter is paralysed, there will
 be a continual  dribbling of urine: if the muscular fibres  of the
 bladder are paralysed, there will be a complete  retention of urine;
 in either case, Aconite will prove an invaluable remedy.
   In the same way you may have rheumatic paralysis of the rectum.
 If the muscular fibres of the rectum  are paralysed, there will be a
 complete inability to evacuate the contents of the  rectum; if the
 sphincters are paralysed  there Avill be a continual, involuntary pas-
 sage of fiecal matter.  In either case  Aconite -will prove adequate
 to the  removal of this  distressing difficulty, not in  Old  School
 fashion, entailing distress and chronic  Aveakness upon  the  patient
 after a most unreasonable amount of fussing" has been  perpetrated,
 but thoroughly and permanently, as in any other curable malady.
   In thus recommending Aconite to your most careful consideration,
 you will not misunderstand me.  You will not understand  that I
 recommend Aconite as a panacea for  paralysis.  In  muscular para-
 lysis, Avhen caused by catarrhal irritation, or when  resulting from
 some suddenly and violently operating emotion, Aconite is the chief
 remedy; but  there are  other  forms of paralysis Avhere Aconite
 A\rould be of A-ery little, if any, use.  They will be pointed out to
 you in their order. It will  be shown  you, for instance, that Eh us,
 Nux vomica or  its alkaloid  Strychnine ;  and  lead and its salts,
 Cocculus and perhaps one  or more  remedies may likewise cure
 paralysis.  The  characteristic  differences  between  these various
 agents will more strikingly appear at  a later period of our course,
 when AYe shall be able to  contrast analogous therapeutic  groups
 under general categories.
  Gentlemen, it is astonishing that an  agent which is endowed Avith
 the most wonderful specific  poAvers of curing  paralysis, should not
 even be mentioned by our book-makers among the medicines which
 they recommend for this disease.  Strange  to  say, even Teste does
 not allude to  Aconite.  Laurie assigns to it two meagre lines under
 apoplexy, and  simply recommends it  AYhen  there  is  fever.  For
 paralysis one  author  recommends Arnica, Bryonia  and Sulphur,
 exceedingly feeble  and often  inefficient members of the paralytic
 group, another one recommends a Avhole batch of absurdly-chosen
 medicines Avhich prove inadequate in  any hands but those of book-
makers.  There is but one true method  of studying the  therapeutic
character of a drug; you must, in the  first  place, ascertain its pure 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
127
physiological effects upon the system, and by these effects determine
its use in the treatment of corresponding diseases.
  Our next pathological  derangement which will be found curable
by Aconite, is
  Jaundice.  In one of our cases of poisoning, the patient died Avith
all the symptoms of jaundice.  This shoAvs that Aconite is endoAYed
with  specific powers  of  deranging or rather of embarrassing the
capillaries  of the biliary  system.  If the portal capillaries  remain
engorged in consequence of deficient contractility of the capillary
tissue, the bile must necessarily remain in the circulation, and create
disease.  AYe know that bile is a most acrid  poison, and it is not at
all astonishing that, in the case of this patient, the stomach  should
have  been found corroded  here  and there, as  I suppose,  by the
blackish bile Avhich was  found in the interior  of this organ.   In
another case we Avere told  that the patient  threw up  black bile:
hence Ave have  a right to infer from these s37mptoms that Aconite
must  be a great agent in  the treatment of jaundice, and even of that
most  malignant  form of jaundice,
   Yellow fever,  even in the stage of black vomit.  In this case there
is undoubtedly  homceopathicity between Aconite and  black  vomit;
Aconite affects the character of the bile, and the forces which gene-
rate bile in the animal economy, precisely as bile and the  secretory
organs of bile are affected in yellow fewer; this homoeopathicity has
a true dynamic  basis founded in the inmost  principles of the living
organism.
  Dr. Peters, one  of the editors  of the North-American Journal
of  Homoeopathy,  recommends  Sulphuric  acid  for black   vomit.
There is no homoeopathicity between black  Aromit and the flocks of
blackened  mucus Avhich  are expelled from  the stomach in  case of
poisoning  by Sulphuric  acid.  What a mistake to  confound this
purely chemical effect of a corroding poison Avith the dynamic action
of drugs, and to predicate the homoeopathicity of an agent upon such
a basis!
  Gentlemen, there are tAvo classes of physicians in the homoeopathic
ranks AYiiich occupy opposite extremes of our school.  Both are more
or less useful in their ay ay, but both are  utterly and radically wrong
in their conception  and definition of the homoeopathic law.   At one
extreme Ave  observe a set of men who seem to be troubled Avith an
incurable symptomania; it seems to be  their special  endeavour to
heap  Ossa  upon Pelion, and to storm the very Olympus Avhere the
god of Aledicine sits in council Avith his  ministering angels.  This is
the modern Babel which threatens to destroy the beautiful simplicity
of our  system  and the harmonious  evolution  of its  progressive
growth.  It is from the physicians  who occupy this extreme  that we
are periodically flooded by a deluge of imaginary symptoms, which
not only have no parallel in pathology, but are utterly false because
the merest product  of  a baseless and childish fancy.   Look  at your
fluoric acid provings, some six or seven hundred symptoms, scarcely
one of them of  the  least therapeutic value; scarcely one of them
shadoAving  forth eA^cn  the faintest  outlines of such pathological dis-
turbances as physicians are called upon  to prescribe for.  AY ho _u:js 
128
LECTURE VIII.
for your ten thousand little itchings, stingings, jerkings, twitclvings;
for your myriad of insignificant pimples and spots; for your unmean-
ing gastric derangements, one prover complaining of a diminished
desire for coffee or tobacco, aaother of an additional belching, another
of a little more constipation and still another of a little more loose-
ness than he  is habitually  subject to?   If  these symptoms were
recorded as the more delicate shades of a grand physiological tableau
marked by a few characteristic strokes of a master's hand, they might
be received as necessary complements of a  group; but  when the
Avhole mass of the so-called provings is made up of such insignificant
trifles, unrelieved by a single telling and truly characteristic element,
then we must, as conscientious practitioners, refuse our assent to such
a frothy symptom-fabric  and explode it as a  monstrous and utterly
useless bubble.
   At the other extreme we have a set of gross materialists, the very
antipodes  of the former  symptom-hunters.   The  homoeopathicity
Avhich  they  advocate, is based in a great measure  upon  a fancied
similarity of post-mortem appearances, or even upon  a similarity
depending upon purely  chemical changes.   Thus,  if in  a case of
poisoning, the mucous coat of the stomach is found  softened, as for
instance in poisoning by Agaricus muscarius or toadstool, Avhere the
mucous and muscular coats  of the stomach have been found de-
stroyed in one case, this is  set  down  as  an indication of the ho-
moeopathicity  of Agaricus to  gelatinous  softening of the stomach.
Noav, Gentlemen,  you will understand that this resemblance of a
pathological post-mortem appearance to a similar post-mortem ap-
pearance as occurring in disease, is not  sufficient  to  constitute a
true homoeopathic relation of the drug  to the disease.  In  order
that post-mortem  appearances may constitute  true homoeopathic
indications, they must be in either  case, in the event of poisoning
as well as in the natural  disease, terminations of the same dynamic
process; in other Avords,  both the drug and the disease must  set up
the same  dynamic process  in the  system, and this process must
terminate  in the  same or a  similar pathological disorganization;
hence the  symptoms Avhich characterize this process during the life
of the  patient, must likewise be similar;  there must be similarity
of sensations,  of cutaneous  appearances; and, if  this similarity
should  hold good, from  the incipiency  of  the two diseases, the
drug-disease and  the  natural malady, down  to the  changes  re-
vealed by a post-mortem examination,  then and then only would a
resemblance betAveen the post-mortem  changes of the drug-disease,
and  the post-mortem changes of the natural malady, constitute a
therapeutic indication, and really and truly seal the homoeopathicity
of a drug to some peculiar disease.  It must be our endeavour, Gen-
tlemen, to discard either extreme.  Our School  must stand forth as
the cradle of that only true  homoeopathic science Avhich interprets
the great law,  " Similia similibus curantur," neither  as  the formula
of symptomania nor  as  a sign-post to the  gross  and disgusting
materialism of a  few vain-glorious boasters  about pathology:  Ave
must teach our profession and the Avorld that  a druo- is homoeo-
pathic  to a disease when the drug is capable of setting up a dynamic 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
129
process in the system similar to the dynamic process set up  by the
disease; this similarity must  extend throughout the whole  of this
process, from its first beginnings, from the very first perception of it
in the sensorium down to the ultimate pathological degenerations,
provided such  degenerations  are possible; very often the patient's
vitality is  thoroughly exhausted, and life becomes extinct before the
disease has had a chance to exercise its degenerating raA^ages in the
tissues.  But let it be understood  that the symptoms which charac-
terize this dynamic process,  in the case of the drug and in  that of
the natural malady, must be alike;  I  use the term alike, for  the
similarity must constitute an  exact likeness of the artificial and the
natural  diseases;  no proving  can  be accepted as genuine where  the
effects of the drug do not clearly and unmistakably point to some
Avell marked disease,  and, if we  are otherwise satisfied, that  the
proving had been conducted  in a thorough and conscientious man-
ner, and if, in spite of our most devoted care and perseverance, the
proving of a drug does not yield any decided results, we but  fulfil a
duty in rejecting all such provings as useless and complicating lum-
ber.  Unfortunately there are Arery few characteristic symptoms to
be found among most of our  modern provings.  I care not what the
cause of this utter absence of characteristic symptoms  may be, a
Avant of care on the part of the proA'er, or an inherent deficiency of
medicinal power in the drug.  The fact may be established  by the
most superficial perusal of these provings, that they present but few,
very feAv marked and available indications as therapeutic  agents.
What right, Gentlemen, has any man or any set of men to palm such
unmeaning trash upon our profession, and by means of the juggling
hocus-pocus of  an organization, a Provers' Union and so  forth, in-
vest the miserable caricatures of provings, Avith which our books are
filled, with the sanctity of official orthodoxy?  It is my right and my
duty as your teacher, to point these things out to  a*ou as a blemish
upon our fair science, and a scandal to all thinking and conscientious
physicians.  Look at  that mass of rubbish, Jahr's Symptomen-
Codex, three large A^olumes, Avhich I published some ten years ago.
Ahvays excepting  Hahnemann's oayii original provings, the re-
provings of the Provers'  Union of Vienna, and the valuable addi-
tions extracted by Noack and Trinks from actual cases of poisoning,
beside half a dozen short  provings emanating from our own midst,
what do the thousands of symptoms which are  piled  up in this
enormous reservoir of  trifles,  signify?  Alas, nobody  takes any
notice of  them; nobody studies them, nobody uses them in prac-
tice,  for a very simple reason: they are utterly  unmeaning and
utterly unvailable.  Gentlemen, you  haAre a vast field  before you.
Let it be your earnest  endeaA^or to simplify our Alateria Aledica, to
purge it of its many weeds and enormities, and it will not be many
years before Homoeopathy shall walk over the land like a goddess
among gods.
  The  next disturbance which I  have to recall to your recollec-
tion is
  Bilious  Diarrhea.   In one  or more of our cases of poisoning the
patients discharged green bile from the bowels.  This condition of
                              9 
130
LECTURE VIII.
the bowels is apt to occur in summer and at the beginning of autumn,
particularly among children.  Aconite is one of the great remedies
which we may effectually resort to in order to arrest this difficulty.
This  difficulty may arise from a Aveakness of the neck of the gall-
bladder ; the constricting power of the neck being weakened by the
heat of  the weather and  by the sudden alternation of hot days and
cool nights, the bile is poured through the ductus choledochus com-
munis into the  bowels in inordinate  and irregular quantities, and
hence the constant irritation of the bowels and the  frequent dis-
charges of bilious stools.
  This  condition may likewise arise  from an engorgement of the
portal capillaries in the bowels, resulting in the accumulation of bile
as a foreign  agent, AArhich manifests an irritating influence upon the
intestinal lining membrane, resulting in frequent and painful dis-
charges of mucus and fascal matter mixed with bile.
  In  Cholera morbus these green stools are frequently present; green
stools, vomiting of green bile, soreness, cramps in the calves, headache,
dizziness, burning  in the epigastric region,  intense thirst, constitute
a group of symptoms which will sometimes attack the patient all of
a sudden during the summer and fall, either in consequence of ex-
posure or of some indiscretion in eating or drinking;  this group of
symptoms constitutes an attack of cholera morbus, and we have seen
from  our toxicological cases, that Aconite, is eminently capable  of
producing all  these  symptoms  in  the healthy  organism,  and that
hence it must be capable  of curing them.  But in such affections you
will not be able to  get along with Aconite, unless you  use the lower
preparations, even a  drop of the tincture in a tumblerful of water.
I have often tried  the difference betAveen the  attenuations and the
tincture in such  cases, and my experience is  uniformly in favor of
the lowest preparations.
  You will recollect, that in one case the patient exhibited all the
signs of an attack of
  Asiatic Cholera.  The characteristic symptoms of this case were
the coldness of  the  tongue, collapse of pulse, cramps in the legs,
vomiting and diarrhoea, and so forth.  The attack resembled cholera
so closely that Dr. Pereyra concluded  to  give  his patient Guaco
which he had  found an efficient remedy during the paralytic stage
of cholera. I have often found Aconite eminently useful, during the
first invasion of the  disease, in restoring the pulse and rousing the
vital reaction generally.   Veratrum, Camphor, Arsenic, or perhaps
some other remedy may be appropriately used after  Aconite.
  The specific effects of Aconite upon  the respiratory organs will
not be forgotten. Aconite causes, and will therefore cure
  Dyspnea,^ Orthopnea, and if Apoplexy of the lungs can be said to be
a curable disease, Aconite will cure this disorder.  If we  consider
that in
  Pneumonia the lungs  are exceedingly gorged with blood  Aco-
nite must suggest itself to us as an invaluable agent in this disease.
In pneumonia some  of the most characteristic symptoms  point to
Aconite: the dyspnoea, orthopnoea, and, as I shall show you by and 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
131
 by, the cough, pain, rusty sputa, and the inflammatory fever, indicate
 Aconite as a prominent remedy.   In
   Spasmodic Asthma, when resulting from exposure to keen wind,
 or from the  retrocession of some acute eruption, acute nettle-rash,
 and the like, Aconite will be  found invaluable; the orthopncea of
 Aconite is equi\7alent to an attack of spasmodic asthma.
   We have seen that in one case Aconite caused
   Ophthalmia with profuse discharge of acrid tears.  The attack must
 have been most intense, for the pain was so agonizing that the patient
 preferred death to such sufferings.   This group of symptoms occurs
 in arthritic and scrofulous ophthalmia ;  a most intense inflammation,
 sensitiveness to the light, profuse discharge of acrid and scalding
 tears: these symptoms point to Aconite as a sovereign remed}r.  In
 this most obstinate and dangerous form of ophthalmia, Aconite may
 have to be used more or less  as long as the disease lasts, in alterna-
 tion  with Arsenic, Hepar sulphuris, or  Corrosive sublimate;  and
 even, if we should not be called to the patient until at a later period
 of the disease, AAdien disorganizations of the cornea have alreadv
 commenced,  Aconite will still be found of sovereign importance to
 effect a resolution of the organic alteration of the parts.  It stands
 to reason that, if Aconite  is so eminently useful in scrofulous and
 arthritic ophthalmia, it must likewise be useful in common catarrhal
 or rheumatic ophthalmia; and this fact has been abundantly verified
 by clinical experience.
   From some of our cases of poisoning we have learnt that Aconite
 is a specific remedy for
   Inflammatory fever, whether simply catharral or rheumatic, or even
 for the more complicated forms of inflammatory fever, bilious and
 gastric fever.  Aconite will either cure these fevers Avithout the use of
 any other medicine, or else it will pave the Avay for the next remedy;
 more than three remedies are  hardly ever required by these fevers,
 although there are physicians  who do not hesitate to use from six to
 ten medicines in simple bilious or gastric fevers.  I trust  that such
 bungling will never be laid, to the  charge of gentlemen Avho have
 graduated in this institution.
   We have seen that
   Convulsions may be caused by the use of, and therefore must yield
 after  the  exhibition of Aconite.   Other remedies produce convul-
 sions and may be capable of curing them; but the effect of Aconite
 upon the nervous system  is exceedingly striking, and  if the con-
 vulsions arise from secondary  congestion of the brain, or from some
 irritation  of  the peripheral nerves,  teething, worms,  pain in the
 bowels, Aconite  will sometimes prove a more powerful sedative
 than any other drug.
   Nervous tremor of the extremities, which sometimes amounts to
 St. 1 ritus' dance or Chorea as we term  it, will often yield to the use
 of Aconite.  Afou will recollect that excessive mobility of the  limbs,
 a perfect inability to keep the  limbs quiet, and a constant tremor of
 the lower extremities, are symptoms which Aconite developed  in one
 of our cases in  a very striking manner.   It seems hardly necessary
to again advert to the fact that 
132
LECTURE IX.
  Hysteric, Puerperal and Epileptiform Convulsions will often find in
Aconite one of their most efficient remedies.
  In my next lecture I shall  endeavor to present a systematic ar-
rangement of the  symptoms  of Aconite, including toxicological
effects as well as symptoms obtained by systematic provings under
appropriate heads.   If I have  extended my remarks to some length
it has been for more than one  reason.   In the first place 1 know and
feel that it is utterly impossible for a homoeopathic physician to
practice Homoeopathy  to his satisfaction, unless he is thoroughly
acquainted with the therapeutic virtues of Aconite and of  the poly-
chrests  generally.   Moreover, in going over the therapeutic range
of this drug, I have been afforded an opportunity every now and
then, of giving utterance to my own vieAVs concerning various points
of doctrine.                                                ,
  Aconite is one of the mainstays of our practice, and a knowledge
of the therapeutic properties of this  agent  will amply  repay the
trouble of acquiring it.
                  LECTURE   IX.


  After having communicated to you a number of the toxicological
effects of Aconite, I will now give you the prominent Aconite symp-
toms obtained by  systematic provings upon  the healthy._  These
provings have been conducted Avith a devotion and a conscientious-
ness worthy  of so  noble a cause.  You will  readily perceive  the
necessity of such provings.  How could we knoAV to what diseases a
druo- is homoeopathically adapted, unless we first ascertain in some
Avayor other Avhat  effects the drug is  capable of producing in  the
healthy organism?  AYe know that these effects must represent some
kind of natural disease.  We knoAV that drugs and natural diseases
both emanate from the same source ; that, in the case of the natural
disease, the morbific principle invades directly the tissues of the
organism at  some  opportune moment; and that, in the case of the
drug, the same morbific  principle or force acts upon  the tissues of
nature, if I may be permitted to use such a term, producing in the
one instance the natural disease characterized and manifested to the
senses by its  own pathognomonic phenomena, and, in the other case,
developing out of  the soil and water of nature, under the stimulat-
ing influence of the sun's heat and light, its own material substratum
or  representative  in the shape of some plant, animal or mineral.
Now in  order that we may know what drug  and what disease cor-
respond with each other, in other words what drug and what dis-
ease have emanated from the same morbific essence, and are there-
fore in  the closest possible therapeutic relations of  similarity to
each other, is it not evident that we have to ascertain by careful and
systematic provings the effects which the different drugs are respec-
tively capable of producing in the normally-existing organism ? 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
133
  But it is likewise evident that these provings must be conducted
by men who possess the necessary amount of health, intelligence and
observing and discriminating acumen.  If the symptoms which we
obtain through pur provings, do not shadow forth in striking features
the diseases which afflict humanity;  if these provings are conducted
in such a loose  and flippant manner that  the determination of the
homoeopathicity of a drug  to  a  given disease is mere guess work,
these provings  should be rejected without a moment's hesitation.
Most of the provings with the so-called antipsoric remedies which
we find  recorded  in Hahnemann's Chronic Diseases, have been con-
ducted with the 6th up to the 30th, and some of these exclusively
with the 30th potency.  I have told you in a previous lecture that,
in introducing  these provings to his readers, Hahnemann remarks
in a note, that  many of the symptoms being unreliable, he  had to
reject a  large number of them, in spite of which many vague symp-
toms had nevertheless to be permitted to remain.   Many  of our.
former and more recent provings are utterly  useless in practice.
Take for instance the  provings of Apis mellifica.  The therapeutic
range of this drug is  exceedingly limited, not extending over more
than half a dozen affections, and yet the pretended symptoms of this
agent occupy some twenty octavo pages  or more.  Graphites has
upwards of a thousand symptoms in our books, and yet we only use
it for some cutaneous  affections,  a few menstrual irregularities and
perhaps one or  two gastric disorders.  And these remarks apply to
the larger number of our drugs.  When will the period arrive when
all these excrescences shall be expunged from our books ?
   On the other hand, in attempting to get up a neAV and more re-
liable Materia Medica, we should not rush into the opposite extreme,
and, instead of  fulfilling the just and legitimate  expectations of our
readers with  reference to a reconstruction of our Alateria Aledica,
we should not embody  a  perfect  chaos of gross and  unmeaning-
materialism in our compilations.  Every • allceopathic empiric is
ransacked by what we might  term the pathological branch of our
school,  and his crude speculations are  mixed up  with  our own
pathogenesis without  the least reference to our oavii law of  cure,
thus paving  the way for a  complete  demolition  of the glorious
structure  which  the great  genius  of Hahnemann  has  called  into
being!   This gross materialism, these filthy and meretricious  com-
binations of the pure pathogenesis of our drugs, obtained in many
instances through heroic sacrifice and patient labor, with  the crude
and unreliable empiricism of Old-School authors, lead to the pro-
duction of such a compound of  delusive theories, of  erroneous
applications and dangerous deviations  from the path  trodden by
Hahnemann and  by all his true and devoted disciples, that Ave may
well pause and ask ourselves, where are all these things to  end ?
Alas! my heart feels  sad at the prospect before  us; if the bold em-
piricism and the nauseating materialism Avhich some of  our modern
writers on Homoeopathy advocate, are to become the rule and custom
of future generations, then Homoeopathy will have to be re-made;
some new Hahnemann will have  to rise up in the midst  of this
disorder, and teach the world the true Science of Therapeutics. 
134
LECTURE IX.
  It is  not  difficult to  account  for this  opposition to the usages
and teachings of Hahnemann.   It is  the natural reaction  against
the silly and pernicious absurdities, which  some of the pretended
leaders  of the symptom-school  have been  guilty of.  In the first
place they have averted  by their childish provings the more rigor-
ous and scientific minds of  our School;  and  in  the next place,
they have exposed the  whole science of Homoeopathy to public
derision by  the ridiculous  manner in which they have sought to
apply our" law of cure.  YVhat  must rational  men think,  for in-
stance, of Boenninghausen's recommendation to the German gov-
ernments, to abolish vaccination  and to substitute in its stead the
use of Thuja as  a  preventive of small-pox?   Upon  Avhat is this
bold recommendation based?   Why,  simply upon the  fact that
among the physiological effects of Thuja we discover in one case a
pustuTe, which is  supposed  to  resemble the  small-pox pustule.
There is not the remotest similarity between the Thuja disease and
the small-pox disease; but because this one Thuja-pustule happens
to resemble in its outAvard shape the small-pox pustule, Thuja is at
once declared a specific for small-pox, and an infallible preventive
against  this  frightful disorder.   This  levity must necessarily have
been followed by an opposite tendency characterized by an adherence
to the grossest pathological  materialism.  What we noAV require, is
an  union of true pathogenesis and  pathology; let us explore the
therapeutic  range of every drug by careful  provings  upon  the
healthy; results  thus obtained, in combination with toxicological
symptoms, will afford us a correct and clear view of the diseases to
which a drug is  applicable.   But the idea of exploring  the thera-
peutic  character  of a drug by means of  the 6th,  30th or 200th
potency is, in my estimation, preposterous.  Our attenuations act upon
disease, which is a dynamic disturbance of  the organism  brought
about by the invasion of some morbific essence;  and they may affect
the normal tissues in some cases, where an idiosyncratic relation pre-
vails between the prover and the  drug.  But attenuations cannot be
depended upon in  proving a drug.  Gentlemen, allow me  to take
this opportunity  of expressing my most emphatic condemnation of
this method  of proving.  If you  should be desirous of  proving new
drugs, or of re-proving those which we now have, prove them in
massive doses of the concentrated tincture first, beginning  with a
few drops and gradually increasing  the dose until you are satisfied
that no new symptoms can be  obtained short of  poisoning your-
selves.  Having proved your drug with massive doses of the tinc-
ture, you may then prove  the attenuations, and if they are at  all
capable of affecting the healthy  organism, the results  obtained  by
means of them will confirm the  provings with  massive doses; but
it is absurd  to depend upon the  3rd, 6th or 30th attenuation as ex-
clusive means of obtaining a correct knowledge of the therapeutic
properties of a drug.  This  is  not  the way that Hahnemann pur-
sued, in proving  the drugs contained in his Materia Medica Pura.
All these drugs  have  been proved with massive doses, and even
Mercurius was proved with doses which often developed poisonous
effects. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
135
  A great many of these original drugs have been re-proved by the
Arienna Provers' Union.  In order to  show you how these men go
to work in their business, let me  give you a single example of an
Aconite-proving.
  This drug was re-proved by a society of 16 persons among whom
were two females.  The drug was re-proved with massive doses of
the tincture,  of from  5  to  130 drops.  One of the provers,  Dr.
Arneth, first took 10 drops of the tincture, and in a few hours 15
drops more.   The result was a burning sensation on the tongue.
  On the 21st of February, a few days after the former  proving, he
again took 15 drops of the tincture. Immediately after taking them,
he experienced  a  burning sensation  on the tongue and a violent
pressure  and rather  deep-seated  stitches in the  anterior portions of
the eye-ball.
  On the 22d, early in the morning and evening, he took 20 drops of
the tincture, and on the 23rd, at noon, 30 drops.  Immediately after
swallowing the drug, he experienced the same symptoms as before.
He discontinued the medicine for some  6 days.   On the 26th he
experienced the following  symptoms:  violent coryza,  shivering
over the back, especially towards evening, slight difficulty  of breath-
ing, Avith slight  pressure  behind the sternum,  occasional  flashes of
heat, accelerated and rather  full pulse.  The nights were  very rest-
less, and he had vivid dreams of what he had been doing the day
preArious.
  On the 28th,  morning  and evening, 25 drops followed by slight
increase of the above symptoms.   On the 29th, forty drops.  Beside
the former symptoms, he experienced,  immediately after taking the
medicine, some pinching around the navel, followed soon after by a
painless diarrhoea;  afterwards he  felt  a painful pressure in the
region of  the left eye-brow ; towards evening the febrile symptoms
increased.  Not knowing what drug he was proving, and in order
to moderate  the increasing violence  of  the  fever,  he  took a few
pellets of Aconite.   The following night he was very  restless and
dreamed about  a patient who interested him very much.  On the
30th, not perceiving any abatement in the symptoms, he took a feAV
more globules of Aconite.  The febrile excitement  continued until
the 8th of March, without any abatement.  On the 7th of Alarch, the
dyspnoea was worse ; there was great oppression in the region of the
heart, accompanied by intermittent pulse.   There were five hard,
full, quick beats, and the sixth beat intermitted both at  the heart
and wrist.  This symptom continued  all day ; the prover looked
pale and thin; his gait and whole  appearance were  those of a sick
man; he experienced  a  burning  sensation in the urethra when
urinating.
  On the 9th of March, sense of contraction in the hamstrings, Avith
pain in the left patella ag if  he had knocked  it against something.
These symptoms continued on  the 10th and 11th of Alarch.  On the
12th, the prover experienced for about ten minutes a peculiar sensa-
tion in the eyes; sense of warmth and an undulating feeling, with
involuntary half closing of the eyelids; although the room was very
bright, yet he fancied that the darkness was so great that  he should 
136
LECTURE IX.
hardly be able to discern printed type.   He tried a book and found
that he had his  sight; this last  symptom continued for some time ;
when amaurosis first sets in, patients sometimes experience just such
a symptom.
  On the 13th,  slight  drawing in the right shoulder, which passed
off towards noon; this was folloAved by a drawing and tearing, with
a feeling of lameness  in the  articular extremity of the left upper
arm, for two days.
  On the 15th, sense  of contraction in both tendines Achilles; he
found it difficult and painful to stand  erect without  his  knees
shaking; these  symptoms continued for  about three weeks, during
which time the  use of the drug was discontinued.
  On the 5th of April, Dr. Arneth resumed his proving.  He  now
selected for his  experiments the third,  second, and first attenuations.
The  nights were restless, he dreamed of things that had occurred
years ago, so vividly that the event seemed quite recent even after
waking; he experienced some dulness in the head and blew a little
blood from the  nose.
  On the  20th  of April, he took 50, and on  the 21st, 60 drops  of
the concentrated tincture.  This caused discharge of blood from the
nose,  and an aching pain in the whole head.
  On the 22d  of April, 80 drops of  the  tincture.   He  had a
restless night, and  a vesicular eruption made its appearance on the
temples.
  On the 23d, 100 drops, followed by discharge of blood from the
nose,  violent twitchings of the  extremities when  on the point  of
falling asleep, so that it woke him; restless  night.  This day and
the day before,  he  experienced, immediately after taking the drug,
a violent desire to vomit,  which was only slightly moderated by
eating his simple breakfast, (bread and milk.)
  On the 24th of April: 130 drops of tincture.  Immediately after
taking the dose, he  experienced  a violent  inclination  to  vomit,
with violent tightness and dulness of the head. This terminated the
present proving ; the  Doctor concluded that the sensitiveness to the
action of Aconite  had been too much impaired, to  enable him to
elicit any new or striking results.
  The other provings were all conducted in the same heroic manner,
and  yielded  most  brilliant  and  invaluable  results.   There  is a
symptom in  the former proving, which  alone would have compen-
sated the doctor for the trouble he took in instituting his experiment;
it is the sensation of contraction in the tendons of the flexor muscles
of the knee joint,  and of the  gastrocnemii muscles.  Rheumatic
inflammation and contraction of the tendons is an exceedingly trouble-
some affection,  and how beautifully does this proving show us that
Aconite is a remedy for this condition.
  Among these systematic provings of  Aconite there is one other
proving  which I will briefly relate to you; it was instituted  by a
student of medicine, and exhibts an intensity of devoted enthusiasm
worthy of such a noble and useful cause. This proving, Gentlemen,
may perhaps suggest the propriety to some  of you, of instituting
similar re-provings with some of our drugs; you could not select a 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
137
better subject for a  thesis than the re-proving of some important
remedial agent.
  Our prover was 23 years old, of sanguine temperament, slender
make, and had had an attack of palpitation of the heart during the
previous year, which had at once yielded to the third attenuation of
Aconite. Since then his health had been perfect.  During the space
of 60 clays, he took 2386 drops of the saturated tincture of Aconite.
  He commenced his proving  on  the 14th of February.  On this
day, and on the 15th and 16th he  took each  day,  morning and
evening, 10  drops;  on the 17th he  took 15 drops,  morning and
evening; from the 18th to the 22d he took 12 drops each day tAvice,
and from the 22d to  the 27th he again took 15 drops morning and
evening; from the 28th of February to the 3d of April, he took 20
drops.   These doses induced  the  folloAving  symptoms: scraping-
sensation in the fauces, smarting and biting  on the lips, congested
condition of  the palate and tonsils, tearing pain during the whole
extent of the right fore-arm, wrist-joint and fingers.
  On the 5th of April he took  24 drops.  After this, tearing in the
right upper arm and in the upper third of the right thigh.
  On the  6th of April:  24 drops  early in the morning; this dose
was repeated every day, sometimes once and  sometimes twice, until
the 15th of the same month.  On the  6th he  experienced a scraping
sensation in the throat, and the  capillaries looked injected; towards
evening he felt  a tearing pain in  the right  upper arm, extending
towards the  elbow-joint, and also in the thigh, towards the knee-
joint ; on the 7th he suddenly felt a tearing  pain in the left knee-
joint.  On  the 8th and 9th, he  complained of a violent tearing felt
alternately in the right and left thigh, in the right knee-joint and
right fore-arm.  On the 9th, scraping  in the throat  and violent con-
gestion about the uvula and right tonsil.
  On the 10th, an hour after taking the drug, as he walked out into
the open air, he was attacked with violent palpitation of the heart
which continued for  fifteen minutes.  The same attack Avas experi-
enced  after  the evening potion  of Aconite.  The tearing in  the
extremities had left him.   On the 11th, the same paroxysms of pal-
pitation Avere experienced, but no  tearing in the extremities.   The
heart beat more rapidly and more vigorously than usual.  He slept
soundly and  without dreams as usual.   The disappearance of  the
tearing pains in the limbs, and  the appearance of the palpitation of
the heart, which evidently developed itself as a substitute for the
pains, shoAV that this palpitation was  of a rheumatic character, and
hence pointed to a rheumatic irritation of the heart.
  On the 12th, he felt  a  violent tearing in the right arm as before,
and the beats of the heart had again become normal; the tonsils and
uvula looked inflamed, with scraping in the throat.
  On the 13th, palpitation of the heart, for about half an  hour,
accompanied  by a sensation as if the thorax was narrower than usual.
In the evening, between five and six o'clock  he felt a tearing in  the
left shoulder-joint.
  On the 14th, palpitation of the heart, but  no tearing pain.  The 
138
LECTURE IX.
bowels had been confined for  three days; after  the  lapse of this
period he had a hard stool.
  The proving was  now discontinued  until the 17th of April.  On
the evening of this day our prover again took twenty-four drops of
the tincture.  Two  hours after  taking the drug,  he experienced a
violent and rapid beating of the heart for about half an hour.
  On the 18th and 19th he took twenty drops early in the morning.
On the 18th he experienced a tearing pain in the whole fore-arm ; on
the 19th  the tearing disappeared, but a violent beating of the heart
set in in its place.
  On the 20th, in the forenoon, the palpitation of the heart was more
violent than ever, accompanied by great anxiety and impeded respi-
ration.  In spite of the intensity of these  symptoms he again took
twenty drops about half-past twelve o'clock of the same day; the
beating abated afterwards, but continued the whole clay and evening;
moreover he felt a tearing and a  sensation  of formication in the
right arm.
  On the next three succeeding  clays, he took tAventy-four  drops
each day;  and not perceiving any striking effects from these doses,
he  concluded to increase them, and from the 23d to the 26th  of
March he  took  forty drops  every morning, and for thirteen days
following fifty drops of the tincture every day, with the following
result:
  On the 23d, in the evening, he complained of a tearing in the bend
of the arm.  On the 26th, violent tearing for half an hour.  On the
27th, a quarter of an hour after taking the drug, confused formica-
tion along  the left arm.   On the 28th, between eleven and one in
the forenoon, he  was attacked with violent palpitation of  the heart;
short-lasting  coldness, a sort  of momentary shaking or chill; this
was followed by heat and immediately after, sweat.   On the 29th,
tearing in the bend of the  left arm for about ten minutes, and a sud-
den, although short, but violent and compressive pain in the upper
margin of the right orbit.  On  the 31st the same symptoms, as on
the 29th,  but late in the evening; moreover pressure on the left eye-
ball as from a heavy Aveight.  The tearing in the orbital margin con-
tinued for  several days.   On the  2d of April, on going out, violent
palpitation of the heart, without any further difficulty. On the 3d,
in the forenoon, he felt the same tearing-pressing pain in  the left
orbit, and a sense of constriction as if the eyeballs should be pressed
out.  On the 5th and 6th these symptoms were  again felt  after hav-
ing intermitted during the whole of the 4th. On the 7th, early in the
morning, about quarter of an hour after taking the medicine, violent
palpitation of the heart continuing for about half an hour, Avith great
anxiety and dyspnoea; the pain  in the right orbit continued.  After
walking  for an hour very  slowly, the muscular  energy of the lower
extremities was exceedingly diminished, and continued to decrease
after an afternoon walk.  During an interval of rest after the walk,
he was attacked with a chill which lasted for some ten  minutes- this
was followed by intense,  although short-lasting heat and  profuse
sweat; accompanied  by heaviness of the head and a sense of dizzi-
ness and  shaking of the head. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
139
   On the 9th of April, at 7\ in the morning, he took 70 drops of the
tincture.  In a quarter of an hour he felt violent palpitation of the
heart and great oppression on the chest; moreover a sensation of
pressure in the right orbit and heaviness of the head; he felt like
one intoxicated and was utterly unable to pursue his studies.
   On the 10th  of April, at 7 J in the  morning: 50 drops of the tinc-
ture.   Soon after, palpitation of the heart, with great oppression of
the chest; during the day, the head  felt  heavy, dizzy; whizzing in
the head and  ears which was made worse  by reading some  light
piece; he had to give up his reading and to rest;  he staggers about
like one who is intoxicated.
   On the 11th: 50 drops.   Tearing in the right forearm which was
more violent than ever, and lasted from 12J to 5 o'clock in the after-
noon; the vertigo and staggering of  the previous day continued.
   At 91 in the evening, the same dose.  The tearing comes on again
with the same intensity, and continues until midnight.
   On the 12th, he took 100 drops, without experiencing any remark-
able effects.
   On the 13th:  120 drops of the strong  tincture.   From  llf to 5J
in the afternoon, he experienced an uninterrupted feeling of tearing
in the whole of the left fore-arm, and in  the left  hand and fingers.
The same symptom occurred about the same period on the day fol-
lowing with equal intensity, but only in the forearm, and only lasted
until  3 o'clock.  The beats  of the heart were more rapid and the
breathing labored.   There were no  morbid symptoms during the
day.  The difficulties about the heart  and lungs were likewise ex-
perienced on the 16th in the forenoon.  On the 17th, in the  forenoon,
from  10  in the morning, he felt a painful pressure over the whole
skull  as if the Avhole of it were uniformly compressed on  all sides;
sometimes this  painful pressure was felt most intensely in the left
orbit.  This pain continued until 1 o'clock in the afternoon, returned
on the following day about the same  hour with increased  intensity,
decreased about 12 o'clock, and disappeared entirely about 1 o'clock
during  dinner, and returned  again at 3 in the afternoon with the
former intensity. In the forenoon this pressure about the  head was
accompanied by tearing in the fore-arm, great anxiety and dyspnoea;
the beats of the heart were not perceptibly increased.
   On the 19th,  20th and 21st there were no symptoms.
   After  irregular  intervals of 3, 4, and 5 days he had  during the
day slight paroxysms of tearing in various parts, but most  generally
in the left fore-arm, which gradually decreased in  intensity.  The
palpitations which troubled him every now and then, finally ceased
entirely.  These tearing pains, of which  he had never experienced
the slightest trace previous to his proving, came on  occasionally
even weeks after the proving had been entirely discontinued.
  In  this remarkable  proving, which  bears evidence  of  the  most
devoted enthusiasm for the cause of science, the alternate appearance
and disappearance of the tearing pains in  the left arm and of the
palpitation of the heart is a  most interesting and instructive phe-
nomenon.  These tearing pains were  evidently of a rheumatic char-
acter, and hence we conclude  that the affection of the heart which, 
140  .
LECTURE IX.
 whenever it set in, absorbed these pains as it were, must have like-
 wise been  of a rheumatic character.  And  hence again we may
 conclude that in
   Rheumatism of the Heart, whether acute or chronic, Aconite must
 be a great, if not our greatest remedy.  But, Gentlemen, let me assure
 you that, in acute rheumatism of the heart, you have to operate Avith
 large doses.  Your safest  plan  is to give the Aconite in tincture-
 form, one or two drops in  a tumblerful  of water, and to continue
 this prescription  until the disease is thoroughly banished and all
 danger of disorganization  is gone.
   If these  tearing  pains in the  left  arm and the palpitation are
 accompanied by irregularity and  intermission of the pulse, sallow
 complexion, sense of fright, depression of spirits, and so forth; and
 if the stethoscope confirms our suspicion  that there is
   Organic disease  of the heart, Aconite may still prove a useful palli-
 ative, together with Digitalis and other drugs.  The painful pressure
 over the cranium points to
   Rheumatism of the scalp, which  Aconite will likewise cure.
   There are more provings of Aconite, but time will not permit me
 to revieAv them all.  Nor does this seem necessary.   From these few
 cases  of proving, and  from the cases  of poisoning which I  have
 related to you, you must have obtained a  pretty accurate knowledge
; of the curative sphere  of Aconite.  I have endeavored to  impress
| upon  your minds the  remarkable fact that  Aconite is our  great
^antiphlogistic agent, that  is: our great means of  combating acute
 inflammation.   AYe know from actual experiment that Aconite is
 endowed with a specific capacity of inducing  a spasmodic torpor of
 the tissue of the terminal  capillaries.   The first effect of this spas-
 modic torpor is to cause arterial capillary engorgements.  We have
 not yet succeeded, in spite of our  microscopic investigations, in de-
 termining the true character of capillary circulation; but it seems to
 be generally admitted that the terminal capillaries of the veins inos-
 culate with the capillaries  of the arteries,  and that the circulation is
 carried  on  in this manner.  Now, if these capillaries are closed or
 only contracted, torpid or semi-paralyzed, similar to what we may
 suppose might be the effect of cold, what must be the effect of such
 capillary stagnations upon  the general circulation ?   The necessary
 and unavoidable  consequence  must  be to induce,  as I  have said
 before, arterial engorgements.   The  arterial  ramifications,  as they
 approach the capillaries, must necessarily swell up in consequence of
 this afflux of blood, which is deprived of  its natural outlets, and we
 have precisely such a condition as we term congestion or inflamma-
 tion.  In proportion as this stagnation of the capillaries is more or
 less complete, we  have as  a symptom of reaction either a state of
 simple passive  plethora, or of more or  less acute congestion or
 inflammation.
   And  you will understand, Gentlemen,  that this arterial engorge-
 ment may  exist in any part of the system.   It may  exist in the
 special organs  of sense, in  any of  the  internal viscera, in the brain,
 in  the  fibrous tissue, in one word, it  may exist in any part of the
 system which is provided with capillaries.  This accounts  for the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
141
fact that, although there may not be among the provings of Aconite
the counterpart of every form of acute inflammation,  Aconite is
nevertheless specifically adapted to acute inflammation, no  matter
what organ it may have invaded.  Acute or true phlegmonous in-
flammation will always yield' to Aconite more or less, and will, in
almost every case, become more manageable, even if other medicines
have afterwards to be resorted to.  If the part is SAVollen, hot, pain-
ful and red, and if the  constitutional symptoms of inflammatory
fever are present, give your Aconite.  If the pulse  is hard, bound-
ing and full, as it necessarily must be, do not think of bleeding your
patient;  give  your Aconite.  Do you not see how easily Ave may
account for this bounding  of  the pulse ?  Here is this  capillary
torpor which the heart has to overcome by its  vis a tergo, as it were.
The heart propels the column of blood, or, at all events, seeks to
propel it, with unabating energy.   Noav, if the blood  cannot pass
through the engorged capillaries, and the undiminished column of
blood is propelled against them with the usual vigor of the  central
regulator of the circulation, must not a  tumult ensue in the larger
vessels?  Must not the pulse become full, hard and  bounding?
Give your Aconite, and as soon as the medicine begins  to act upon
the capillaries, they will recover their elasticity, the column of blood
Avill again pass through these delicate channels with its usual rhythm-
ical ease,  the pulse will come down, the  heart will  be quieted, and
the cutaneous exhalations which had been interrupted for the time
being, will not only be restored, but  will be carried on  much more
profusely than before, in order to make up for past deficiencies.
   The same process will take place in all such congestions as Aconite
possesses the  power of curing, more especially rheumatic conges-
tions.  But you must not forget that these diseases generally run a
course; that they are characterized by periodical exacerbations which
seem inherent in the remittent type of all febrile conditions, and
that, on  this account, you may have to  continue your  Aconite, in
alternation, perhaps, with some other remedy Avhich is more  specifi-
cally adapted to the local affection, until the disease has reached its
termination.  Whether it is pneumonia or orchitis, erysipelas or in-
flammatory rheumatism, you will give your Aconite, Avhenever and
wheresoever phlegmonous inflammation  has  set  up its dangerous
action in the organism, and you will do your patient far more good
by this simple proceeding than by resorting to  any of those devastat-
ing and murderous processes which an Old-School physician is com-
pelled to use.
   I have shoAvn you so far, that Aconite  is our specific remedy for
acute or phlegmonous inflammation, no  matter Avhat organ may be
the affected part.  I have shown you, moreover, that the phenomena
by which we recognise  inflammation, arise from  a  torpid or semi-
paralytic condition  of the terminal  capillary tissue, the necessary
consequence of which must be arterial engorgements characterized
by such symptoms as these: sense of fulness or swelling in the part,
or actual swelling; increased temperature of  the part; pain in the
affected  region, such as aching, stinging, shooting, beating, burning
pain;  redness of the part and, accompanying these symptoms, gen- 
142
LECTURE IX.
 eral inflammatory fever ushered in by a more or less violent chill
 which is  soon succeeded by heat and dryness of the skin, thirst, a
 hard, full and bounding pulse and  whatever  may be the other
 symptoms characteristic of acute inflammation.
   I have  likewise shown you, that this stagnation or torpor of the
 terminal capillaries may lead to acute congestion in the part where
 this derangement exists.   In simple congestion of the part there is
 less danger of the disease terminating in disorganizations than there
 is in acute inflammation ;  and, in the hands of a thoroughly experi-
 enced practitioner, Aconite is often sufficient, in true rheumatic con-
 gestion, to restore the normal condition  of the  part, although it is
 perfectly  legitimate and  may be necessary, in many cases, to use
 some other drug beside Aconite, in such dangerous affections.
   And in passive plethora, which is generally a constitutional weak-
 ness of the capillary system, Aconite will likewise prove useful.
 Passive plethora is a moderate arterial engorgement depending upon
 a natural  inability of the terminal capillaries to expand and contract
 with  appropriate regularity.  In  consequence of this weakness, a
 genera] and more or less permanent engorgement of the superficial
 arterial capillaries must necessarily take place.
   If you have well understood the action of Aconite upon the ter-
 minal  capillaries,  which  is: to  cause  a torpor of these delicate
 vessels, you will find it an easy business to account for a variety of
 morbid phenomena which might otherwise seem obscure and even
 unintelligible.  How Avould  you manage,  for instance, to account
 for and successfully to  treat, what is termed a rush  of blood, if you
 were unacquainted with the action of Aconite  upon the terminal
 capillaries ? This so-called rush of blood is not an actual rushing of
 the blood. Suddenly, by some cause or other, the  capillaries become
 torpid in a certain locality, and  the immediate  consequence of this
 capillary stagnation is an engorgement of the arterial ramifications
 through which the blood courses towards the affected part.  The
 suddenness of this phenomenon makes it appear as though the blood
 were actually rushing to the vessels, whereas the  opposite  is the
 case; the blood, so far from rushing,  is arrested in its course, and
 this sudden arrest of the circulating fluid gives rise to a variety of
 phenomena which differ according as one or the other locality is the
 seat of this weakness.
  A rush of blood  to the brain, may lead  to vertigo, dimness and
 even momentary loss of sight, buzzing in the ears, sense of fulness
 in the head, throbbing in the head, heat about the head, sensitive-
 ness of the scalp to pressure, and other symptoms.
  If the heart is the seat of the  trouble,  the symptoms will neces-
 sarily be: a sense of weight about the heart, palpitation, and some-
times a feeling of soreness,  and, accompanying these symptoms,
very often a feeling of fright and anxiety, despondency, and fore-
bodings of death.
  A rush  of blood to the lungs would be characterized by oppres-
sion, a desire to take a deep breath and to expand the chest.
  A rush  of blood to the stomach would induce a feeling of fulness 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
143
and  weight in the stomach, soreness  or  sensitiveness to pressure,
nausea, inability to retain food.
  A rush of blood to the bladder might be characterized by soreness
in the region of the bladder, a feeling of warmth and fulness in this
organ, continual  urging to urinate, sometimes with discharge of a
clear, light-colored urine, although the urine  may likewise be more
or less highly-colored and cloudy.
  The phenomena by which a rush  of blood to certain parts is
characterized, may easily be determined with a little reflection ;
they are necessarily depending upon the  locality and functions of
the part.  But wheresoever this rush of blood may take place, it is
invariably treated with Aconite as  its  true specific remedy.  You
will perceive,  Gentlemen, that a rush of blood, passive plethora,
congestion and inflammation are analogous  conditions  and  that
there is prima facie evidence, as it Were,  of the homoeopathicitv of
Aconite to any of them.
  If we now succeed  in accounting for the chill in fever, we  shall
possess a  pretty correct philosophy of the action of Aconite upon
the living organism.  It is generally conceded that the oxygenation
of the venous blood serAres as a means  to the vital force of develop-
ing and preserving the normal  temperature of the  body.   This
process of oxygenation is carried oh in the capillaries of the lungs
and as long  as it goes on harmoniously and without any interruption,
the natural standard of animal heat is preserved.  But if, from some
cause or other, the supply of venous blood in the pulmonary capil-
laries should be suddenly checked or only diminished, a chill takes
place Avhich continues more or less until the  arterial  re-action has
become fully established.
  The supply of venous blood in the lungs may be interfered  with
by an  embarrassment  in the capillary circulation being set up in
any locality.  Aconite affecting the  living organism in just such a
manner, by embarrassing  the capillary circulation, must be capable
of producing  that whole  series of  phenomena which characterize
inflammatory fever, and Ave have seen from our provings that it does
produce the chill, and the subsequent heat and sweat in regular suc-
cession.  The animal as well as the organic sphere,  may become
subject to the action of  Aconite.   Wheresover the  cranial, the
spinal or the sympathetic nerves send their terminal fibres, there  an
inflammatory action may be set up which may require to be  com-
bated by Aconite.
  Our last provings have even revealed to us the interesting fact
that Aconite may be  given in chronic diseases.  In  one  case, the
rheumatic tearing pain in the arm, Avhich the prover  experienced,
continued even Aveeks after the proving had ceased.  As regards the
dose,  I may offer you  my own  opinion which  is,  of  course, based
more or less upon experience, Avithout however expecting to settle
this question.   Aconite may be given  from the strong tincture up
to the 200th potency.  But let me assure you that, as a general rule,
it is far safer, in all acute diseases, to give the lower than the higher
potencies  of this agent.   In simple catarrhal or  rheumatic fever
you may get along Avith the 12th or  even 18th potency, but even in 
144
LECTURE IX.
these simplest  of all inflammatory affections, you will do  your
patient more good by treating him with the lower than with the
higher attenuations.
  In  all  inflammatory  diseases the  loAver  attenuations seem to
develop a normal reaction much more rapidly than the higher.
  In the  acute  local inflammations for which Aconite is indicated
there is a tendency to exudations,  adhesions, enlargements, indura-
tions.  Such terminations are far more certainly and promptly pre-
vented by the lower than by the higher potencies of Aconite.
  In some  acute  affections, such as rheumatic endocarditis, articu-
lar rheumatism, congestions of vital organs, the lower preparations
are preferable to the higher.
  In  acute ophthalmia, and more  particularly  in arthritic  or
scrofulous ophthalmia, and in all  acute inflammatory affections of
the eyes,  iritis,  conjunctivitis, etc., I should  never  hesitate  to  give
the strong tincture in preference to the attenuations.
  In acute inflammations of the fauces, the tincture is preferable to
the potencies.
  In erysipelatous inflammations I never hesitate to give the lower
potencies.
  In  acute inflammations of the mucous membranes I pursue the
same course.                   -
  In acute hasmorrhage, I always give the strong tincture.
  In  paralysis  of the motor or sentient system of nerves, and in
cerebral  apoplexy, I prefer the  tincture.
  In chest-affections you have to use Aconite more guardedly.  In
acute pneumonia the tincture  may  generally be  given  without
causing  any  unpleasant aggravations, but  in chronic pulmonary
affections, the attenuations from the 6th up to the 12th, are prefer-
able.  In chronic  chest-affections the tincture sometimes causes  a
tightness and constriction, and the cough, instead of becoming looser,
becomes  more tearing.
  In neuralgia, both the lower and the higher preparations may be of
use ; if the larger nervous trunks are affected, the lower preparations
are generally more serviceable, and  if the more delicate  nervous
filaments are attacked, the higher attenuations up to the twelfth may
be employed.
  In bilious neuralgia which is always characterized by  a  burning
pain, the tincture is generally preferable to*the potencies.
  In congestive  or inflammatory  conditions induced  by wounds,
sprains or contusions, the use of the tincture is perfectly appropriate.
  You will not forget, that the tincture of the root, if properly made,
is more powerful  than a tincture made from the leaves and floAvers
of the Aconite plant; it is supposed to have six times the strength
of the ordinary tincture.
  In dropping  a  drop of a  strong tincture from the root into a
tumblerful of water, you see an  acrid resinous substance diffusing
itself over the surface of the water.  In the tincture from the leaves
this  substance is  not so apparent.  It is in this resinous principle
that the  more active powers of  Aconite reside.
  An alkaloid  is obtained from Aconite, termed Aconitine.  This 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
115
is supposed to be the active  principal of Aconite, and if suitably
prepared, is the most active poison known, hardly excepting hydro-
cyanic acid.  Mr Morson's Aconitine is so powerful that Jff of a grain
came very near destroying the life of an individual.  The effects of
Aconitine upon the skin are the same as those of the Aconite root;
if a small quantity of an Aconitine solution or ointment is rubbed
upon the skin, a violent burning and tingling are experienced, and
the part becomes numb ;  these symptoms continue for from  twelve
to eighteen hours.
  In a case of poisoning by Aconite, the first thing to be done is to
remove the poison from the stomach by means of an emetic.   Stimu-
lants have to be resorted to, such as warm brandy and water, and a
powerful infusion of black  coffee.   Frictions  with  hot  oil  and
mustard may likewise be employed.
                   LECTURE  X.

  In reviewing the pathological conditions  which correspond Avith
our Aconite symptoms, we shall find that their number is very large
indeed.  There is hardly an affection where Aconite is not required
more or less.  Its influence upon the nervous system is so universally
involved in almost every affection, that this universal necessity for
the use of  Aconite may easily be accounted for.  In studying the
recorded effects of Aconite upon the  healthy tissues with ever so
much  critical care, we shall  find  that they Ave re obtained as the
result of conscientious and fearless provings.  AYithout copying all
these symptoms, Avhich it would be both unnecessary and perhaps
unprofitable to  do, I will point out for your further study the patho-
logical conditions which the known symptoms of Aconite seem to
delineate as the therapeutic domain of this great agent.
  1.  First,  let  me again  call your  attention to  those conditions
Avhich I will designate as the

                 INFLAMMATOEY GEOUP.

  You Avill recollect, Gentlemen, that Aconite produces true inflam-
matory fever.  This may exisit Avith or without local inflammation. In
all acute diseases which are ushered in by a true inflammatory stage,
Aconite is  generally the first remedy indicated.  It makes no  differ-
ence in what  part this inflammatory process is located, Avhether in
the meningeal membranes, the organs of special sense, the muscles,
serous or mucous tissues, the glandular system or any of the internal
viscera.  Whenever the local disturbance is accompanied by  a full,
hard and bounding pulse, dry and hot skin, coated and dry tongue,
restlessness, thirst, and if the patient had experienced a more or less
marked chill  previous to the supervention of the febrile reaction,
Aconite is  invariably in its place; if the local  affection should
require other  remedies, besides the Aconite, it is perfectly proper to
                              10 
146
LECTURE X.
use this drug in alternation'with the more  specifically indicated
remedy, until the inflammatory symptoms are subdued.  AVhenever
in the course of the disease, the febrile reaction shows a tendency to
reappear, resume your Aconite.  Give it as scantily as the case will
permit, but let me assure you, that you will never do your patient any
harm by throwing in a dose of Aconite every now and then during
the  course  of  an inflammatory  disease.   There is  no viscus, no
structure, no membrane in the human body, an acute  inflammation
whereof, may not require the  use  of Aconite.  The object in  using
Aconite is to restore the capillary equilibrium, and to effect, either
unaided or assisted by other drugs, a resolution of the inflammatory
process.  You will recollect, that Aconite does  not affect the cere-'
brum, but that  its primary  action is upon the cerebellum and upon
the terminal ramifications  of  the cranial, spinal and  sympathetic
nerves interwoven in the capillary tissue.  Hence in all diseases of
the cerebral substance,  such as inflammation of the brain, typhus,
etc., Aconite is  of little, if any, use.
   In all pure, synochal inflammations, Aconite will prove useful and
in most cases a specific remedy.  Even if the local  inflammation
should not be represented among the  provings, Aconite will never-
theless be found adapted to it, because this agent possesses a sort of
specific control over- any inflammation resulting  from a primary
depression or torpor of  the arterial capillaries.
   In Orchitis, for instance,  whether of a purely phlegmonous char-
acter, or arising from the suppression of gonorrhoea, Aconite will
prove an invaluable aid to  mitigate the burning and lancing pains,
and the acute soreness of which the patient complains.
   In Metritis, Vaginitis and Vulvitis, Aconite may be depended upon
as a powerful and indispensable auxiliary to Belladonna or any other
agent that may seem more specifically indicated.   No agent will more
speedily relieve the, burning, stinging and shooting pains, and the
discharge of purulent mucus and blood from the vagina than Aconite,
provided it is given in tincture-form, and its use is persevered in.
   In Ovaritis, whether  acute or semi-acute, Aconite  will  be  found
serviceable in conjunction, with some  other more specifically acting
agent, such as Iodine, Pulsatilla, etc.  It is indicated by soreness, an
aching, dragging, heavy pain in the region of the ovary, aggravated
by movement.   In  ovaritis,  the  fourth  or  sixth attenuation will
sometimes prove more efficient than the tincture.
   What better remedy could we use in Inflammatory Dysentery than
Aconite ?  To  be sure,  there is no well marked group of symptoms
among the pathogenesis of Aconite which points to acute dystentery ;
but have we not a  right to infer from the  general imflammatory
action which Ave  know by positive  experiments that Aconite is
capable of setting up in the organism, that the curative action of this
great drug will likewise extend to inflammatory dysentery ?   But
let me entreat you, Gentlemen, not to dilly-dally with 30th or 200th
potencies in a disease of this kind, at such a remote point from the
great centres of life, and in a part that seems naturally slow to react
against disease.  There may be cases  Avhere you may get along with
such infinitesimal quantities, but it would be exceedingly unsafe to 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
147
rely upon them as a general rule in the treatment of dysentery ;  the
lower potencies not only  hasten the reaction, but they sustain it
more vigorously than the higher, and lead the disease to a favorable
termination without any of those distressing and dangerous sloughing
processes which, so often set in, in dysentery treated with the higher
potencies or by allceopathic physicians.
   Do not forget Aconite in acute affections of the respiratory organs  :
Laryngitis, Bronchitis, and Pneumonia.  Of pneumonia I have spoken
before. In Membranous Laryngitis or Croup, Aconite is often sufficient
to arrest the inflammatory process which is going on in the lining
membrane of the larynx, and either to prevent the effusion of coagu-
lable lymph or to  promote its absorption.  More than one symptom
among the symptoms of  Aconite points to.its use in croup as a spe-
cific remedy.  Among the Aconite-symptoms we have ; hoarseness  ;
croaking voice;  feeble voice ; complete loss of voice ; sensitiveness
of the larynx to the inspired air as if the  mucous membrane Ave re
deprived of the epithelium;  sensation as if the sides of the larynx
Avere pressed together.  These and similar symptoms, together Avith
the dry, hard and  tearing cough which Aconite excites, and the raAv
feeling in the larynx during the paroxysm of cough, are strikingly
characteristic indications for the use of  Aconite in croup.
   In Acute Bronchitis no better remedy can be used than  Aconite.
What are the pathognomonic signs of acute bronchitis ?  Beside the
inflammatory fever which is present in all acute inflammations, we
have paroxysms of a  dry and tearing cough which sometimes seems
to start from some definite point behind the sternum, from the point
where the trachea bifurcates or from the terminal ramifications of
the bronchi in the thorax.   Sometimes the cough excites a sensation
in the air-passages as if knives Avere plunged through them;  at other
times the patient complains  of a burning in these tubes.  There is
great difficulty of breathing; the passage of the air through the air-
passages causes a feeling of rawness and a tickling sensation in the
larynx which excites a constant desire to cough.   At first the patient
haAvks up a little frothy mucus which is sometimes tinged Avith blood,
but at a later period of the  disease  a purulent matter, which often
resembles green bile, is discharged.  The chest feels sore, the respi-
ratory muscles feel sore, as if they had been violently strained, and
the patient complains of aching pains in various parts of the chest,
often penetrating the thorax from the anterior to the posterior wall.
Now, all these symptoms  are  almost  literally reproduced in our
Aconite-provings.   Even the constitutional symptoms in bronchitis,
the nausea and vomiting during a paroxysm of  cough, the frontal
headache, the coated tongue, loss of  appetite and constipation, and
the general prostration of  strength, have their  exact  counterpart
among  the  symptoms of  Aconite.   I  need  only mention such
symptoms as these: hoarseness ;  croaking voice ; short and dry cough
arising from a tickling in the larynx, with constant inclination to
cough, especially at night when the paroxysms set in every half hour ;
pressure and burning pains along the trachea, doAAm to the pit of the
stomach; roughness extending along the trachea and inducing fre-
quent coughing,  cough AYhich is occasioned by an irritation in the 
148
LECTURE X.
larynx, and is accompained with expectoration of a gelatinous mucus;
when coughing, the chest feels sore and the larynx raw ; cough Avith
a fluid, frothy expectoration ; rattling and vibratory trembling of the
trachea;  sense of Aveight behind the sternum, preventing a  deep
inspiration;  mucous rale, AArhich can be heard at a distance.
  And do not the chest-symptoms of Aconite delineate Pneumonia ?
The dry and tearing cough, the dyspnoea,  and orthopnoea which
Aconite excites ;  the stitches in the chest, especially during an in-
spiration and Avhen coughing, accompanied by a plaintive  and whin-
ing mood, anguish and ill-humor and by oppression of breathing;
the sense of Aveight and feeling of fulness in the chest, with sensation
as if the lungs Avould not expand  sufficiently, obliging the prover
to frequently take a long breath ;  the painful pressure from the
sternum to the vertebral column; the feeling of weight in the chest,
accompained  by a number of fine but violent stitches in the left
half of the thorax ; the feeling of burning heat in the lungs, as if some
hot fluid Avould rise into the mouth ; the soreness behind the sternum
as if the  parts had been bruised, and a similar sore and bruising
feeling in the muscular coverings of the thorax ;  do not these and a
variety of other similar symptoms justify the doctrine that Aconite
is homoeopathic to pneumonia ?   If we add to these  symptoms the
post-mortem appearances of an Aconite poisoning in the lungs, viz.:
excessive vascular engorgement, with exceedingly diminished crepi-
tations, we certainly have a right to expect great  results from the
exhibition of Aconite in the first stage of  pneumonia.
  And why should Ave not look upon Aconite as a sovereign remedy
in Acute Pleurisy?  "Stitches of various degrees of intensity in the
chest and sides  of the chest, especially during an inspiration and
when coughing, frequently accompained with a plaintive and whin-
ning mood, anguish and ill-humor, or with oppression of breathing?"
If these symptoms are  accompained by inflammatory fever, bloody
cough, headache,  have we not a well defined group of symptoms of
pleuritis-?  Aconite will  effect a speedy change in these symptoms.
Nor is it necessary to give massive doses of this drug.  I  have seen
the 30th potency  even act with  Avonderful poAver.  In the case of a
powerful man, but sensitive to  the action  of medicine, I  effected a
cure of acute pleurisy in three  days, by means of the 30th potency.
I saAV him in  the evening, and found him in great distress.  His
pulse was up  to  140, full and  hard; he  complained of distressing
headache, especially in the frontal region, vomiting of bile, acute
stitches in the left side, near the apex of the heart, and  rendering
it impossible for the patient to expand his  chest; he had  a racking
cough, and expectorated blood and mucus.   This was a fully devel-
oped case of acute pleurisy.  I  put the patient on Aconite 30th, and
on the third day after this treatment commenced, he was out, attend-
ing to his business, without the least cough, pain or difficulty of
any kind remaining.   Such an extraordinary result  is undoubtedly
of  rare occurrence, but  it sIioays  the power of reasonably  high
potencies of Aconite to effect a speedy and thorough cure in acute
inflammations of  the pleura.
  In Bilious Pleurisy, as it is termed, characterized by a violent stick- 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
149
ing pain, racking cough, but only moderate, if any, constitutional
fever, and an absence of bloody expectoration,  Aconite is likewise
indicated, but in lower doses.
  Even in protracted cases of Pleurisy, which had been under allceo-
pathic treatment, and where  effusion and partial  adhesions have
already taken place, Aconite is still chiefly to be depended upon at
the commencement  of  our treatment.  And, Gentleman, I would
extend  this remark  to all  cases of acute  inflammation, which pass
into your hands out  of the hands of allceopathic practitioners.  If
the patient  had been bled a  great deal,  give  your Aconite high,
lest the re-action should be too violent.  A single dose of Aconite,
opportunely given, may bring  you a number  of neAV patients.  I
once treated a patient for  pi euro-pneumonia Avho had been in the
hands of botanic practitioners for nearly six Aveeks.  Having been
given up by his physicians, who told the  family that he could  not
live until morning, I was requested to take charge of  this case.  I
found the patient speechless, in a state of sopor; his breathing was
exceedingly superficial, the pulse  about  140, empty and compres-
sible, and a constant hacking cough with expectoration of blood and
pus ;  the skin felt clammy and hot  about the thorax, the loAver
extremities  were icy-cold.   I gave the patient  the 18th  potency of
Aconite.  When I  called the next morning,  my patient met me
with a smile.   He was able to sit up in bed, his pulse Avas down to
75; they had been obliged to change his soaking linen some six
times that night, whereas  the  other doctors had not been able to
make him perspire once.  The cough Avas loose, the bloody expecto-
ration and the acute stitches in the lungs had  entirely ceased, and,
although of a consumptive habit, he was entirely restored in a fort-
night after I first saAV him.  In another case of pleuro-pneumonia
the patient had been bled ten times, and the physician threatened to
bleed him again for  the sore,  aching, sticking pains in the chest of
which the poor patient was still complaining.  His cough likewise
continued  troublesome.   The eighteenth  potency  of Aconite re-
stored him to perfect health in about a week.   Never, Gentlemen,
give the tincture of Aconite to patients who had  been frequently
bled for pneumonia  or pleurisy, and who pass into your hands in
this stage  of extreme  debility, with an  empty, fluttering  pulse, a
cold and clammy skin, depression of spirits and other signs of ataxia.
The violence of the re-action may frighten your patient aAvay from you
and destroy his last hope, and indeed his last chances of recovery.
  In inflammation of the abdominal organs, Aconite is of an inestima-
ble value.   In that form of Gastritis, where Aconite is indicated, the
pulse is hard, jerking, hurried;  the patient complains of a burning-
pain  in the stomach, with excessive soreness  in the  epigastrium,
vomiting of the ingesta, mucus, bile and even blood, excessive thirst,
although every drop  of liquid is ejected again as soon as it gets into
the stomach.  Aconite may be of  great use in this disease, and is
undoubtedly a specific remedy if the muscular  coat of  the stomach
is the seat of the trouble;  but in mucous gastritis, or inflammations
of the mucous coat of the stomach, you may have to resort to Arsenic
at the very onset of the disease. 
150
LECTURE X.
    The same remarks apply to Mucous Enteritis, Avhere beside Aconite,
  Colocynthis, Arsenic and a feAV other drugs, Avill prove capital reme-
  dies.  The homoeopathicity of Aconite to inflammations of  the ab-
  dominal viscera will become apparent, if you consider the symptoms
  which characterize the action of Aconite upon these organs: vomit-
  ing of mucus, bile and blood ;  burning, tearing, drawing pains in the
  bowels; excessive sensitiveness of the abdomen to the touch ; tume-
  faction of the bowels ; scanty and loose stools, with tenesmus ; Avatery
  diarrhoea, white stools, with red urine ; discharge of black, fetid, fascal
  matter.   These and other similar symptoms indicate Aconite as a
  great remedy in abdominal inflammations.
    In acute Peritoneal Inflammation, which is characterized by tym-
  panitic distension and excessive painfulness of the abdomen, costal
  breathing, flexion of the thighs upon the abdomen, heat and dryness
  of the skin, small, hard, jerking and' quick pulse, Aconite may  be
  administered in tolerably large doses  during the first stage of the
  disease, from five  to ten drops of the first or second attenuation,
•  or one  drop  of the tincture of the root in a tumblerful of Avater.
  In incipient  Puerperal  Peritonitis,  Avhen  the  secretion of milk is
  arrested, the pulse hard, full and hurried, and the fever is sometimes
  so intense that the heat of the skin amounts to a stinging as  with
  nettles, a good dose of Aconite will sometimes prevent the complete
  outbreak of this dreadful disease.  You may safely give one or two
  drops of the tincture in a tumblerful of water, in tablespoonful doses
  every half  hour or hour, until  the secretion of milk is established.
    On this occasion let me not forget to recommend Aconite in
    Strangulated Hernia; if the constricted portion is inflamed, painful,
  hot,  and constitutional fever has developed itself, give your Aconite.
  Let me recall to your mind the extraordinary  property which Aco-
  nite  possesses, of exciting spasms; Aconite and Nux vomica more
  perhaps than any other medicines, will prove able to remove the
  stricture and  to pave the way for an easy and  natural reduction of
  the hernial sac.

    AVho Avould not think of Aconite in
    Hepatitis?  Our  provings and toxicological records show most
  conclusively that Aconite exercises a specific action upon  the func-
  tions and  tissue of  the liver.  Aconite causes jaundice, one of the
  pathognomonic  signs of hepatitis, if existing  in conjunction  with
  acute fever._  Aconite likewise causes bilious vomiting, and a foul
  bilious coating upon the tongue: other symptoms of hepatitis.  Aco-
  nite causes a variety of symptoms which point to inflammation of the
  liver, among  which we notice the  following:
    Painful feeling of swelling in the pit of the stomach, accompanied
  with want of appetite, and paroxysms of shortness of breath.
    Violent constriction, tightness, pressure, fullness and weight in the
  hypochondria.
    Tensive, painful swelling under the ribs.
    Shocks and pressure  in the region of the liver, with oppression
  and arrest of breathing.
    Prickings in the liver and boAvels. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
151
   Constrictive pain in the region of the gall-bladder, arresting  the
 breathing.
   The abdomen is distended and swollen as in dropsy.
   These indications might be increased by a number of other symp-
 toms, taken from the group of the urinary and  alvine secretions;
 but this  seems  unnecessary; the  homoeopathicity of  Aconite  to
 acute hepatitis is sufficiently established by the foregoing extracts
 from our provings.
   Even  in  Chronic Hepatitis, or liver complaint, Aconite may be of
 great service to us, more particularly in chronic hepatitis arising from
 a mismanaged acute inflammation.  The liver may be enlarged ;  the
 patient complains of  paroxysms of acute aching, or even  shooting
 pains ; these paroxysms may set in after exposure to damp weather,
 a draught of air, and similar causes.  The liver feels sore, the breath-
 ing is more or less interfered with.  We have again and again pre-
 scribed for patients who were troubled  with  liver-complaint, more
 particularly with paroxysms of spasmodic  constricting  pain  in  the
 region of the  liver, patients, too, who had been in the hands of half
 a dozen homoeopathic physicians, and who finally found relief from
 using the first or second attenuation of the tincture of Aconite-root
 during a paroxysm of pain.
   Chronic liver complaint may sometimes take an acute form, which
 may terminate in
   Abscess of the Liver.  If this abscess should be seated on the exter-
 nal surface of the liver, it can easily be recognized.  A rather cir-
 cumscribed tumor is distinctly felt  in the region of the liver, hard
 at first, and afterwards  fluctuating, hot, exceedingly painful to con-
 tact or pressure, and materially interfering with the process of breath-
 ing.  If such  an abscess forms on  the inner surface of the liver, the
 discharge of pus into the peritoneal cavity may endanger the life of
 the patient.   The most  important  object, under such circumstances,
 is to prevent or arrest the  process of  suppuration, or to effect the
 absorption of the pus, if this should  have already formed.  We have
 never been able to accomplish this result more speedily and success-
 fully than by means of the tincture of  Aconite, giving five drops of
 the German tincture, or a couple of drops of the tincture of the root
 in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, a tablespoonful every hour, and
 gradually increasing the intervals to two or three hours.

   There are some forms of inflammation which require special men-
 tion ; they are erysipelatous, rheumatic, neuralgic or arthritic, scrofu-
 lous and  diphtheritic inflammations.
  Erysipelatous inflammation, or inflammatory  erysipelas, may affect
 the skin and serous membranes  generally in any part of the body.
 This form of inflammation, Avhen  developed upon the skin, is cha-
 racterized by redness and  shining  appearance of this organ, tume-
faction, sense of tension and pain.   If  affecting the internal serous
membranes, lancinating stitches as with knives are experienced  by
the patient, and if the meningeal membranes are invaded, as is very
apt to take place in erysipelas of the face, the  pain is most agoniz-
ing, more particularly if the inflammation  spreads along the inner 
152
LECTURE X.
ear or eye.  The burning sensation  in the brain, and the sensation
as if the brain Avere cut up with knives;  the agonizing throbbing in
the head, the  excessive soreness of the scalp, the sensitiveness to
noise, the stupid condition of the patient except Avhen roused  by a
paroxysm of  intense suffering, and the frightful and  disfiguring
SAvelling of the Avhole head, present a most Avoeful picture of distress.
Such forms of erysipelatous inflammation, even Avhen presenting this
high degree of intensity, have often been cured with Aconite with-
out the use of any other agent.  In common inflammatory or phleg-
monous erysipelas, as it is termed, homoeopathic  practitioners often
resort to Rhus toxicodendron; if I  use  this agent, as I often do, I
always use it in alternation with Aconite.
  In rheumatic inflammations, Aconite exhibits most striking thera-
peutic poAvers.
  Inflammatory Rheumatism is a well-known  form of inflammation,
against which Aconite has proved a true specific.  No agent in our
Materia Aledica is more adapted to the treatment of pure, uncompli-
cated rheumatism of the  joints than Aconite. Eheumatism of the
muscles  and muscular sheaths, when characterized by tearing  or
stitching pains, heat, redness and  swelling, finds  its  remedy  in
Aconite.   Tearing, drawing, aching, stitching, laming, bruising and
burning pains are characteristic of the action of Aconite upon  the
extremities.   Rheumatic inflammations of the extremities and of the
muscular tissue generally, are known by such pains, and it is more
particularly  in the  joints that Aconite develops such symptoms.
  Among the symptoms of Aconite we meet  Avith man)-' symptoms
like these: Pain in the shoulder and hip joints as if contused ;  pain
in the shoulder as if it Avould drop off; tearing and laming-drawing
pain in the shoulder, elbow and wrist-joints ;  drawing, tearing  pain
in the knee-joints; unsteadiness of the  knees, so  that  he staggers
when Avalking; stitches in the knee, and a variety of other symptoms,
all of which point to inflammatory rheumatism of the articulations.
   Among these rheumatic symptoms of  Aconite there is one which
requires  particular notice; it is this: swelling of the deltoid muscle,
which, when touched, feels  painful as if bruised.  This symptom
points to
  Acute Rheumatism of this part.  Aconite seems to  be in some specific
relation to this muscle.  I once treated a middle-aged lady for acute
rheumatism of the deltoid muscle;  it was very much SAVollen,  sore,
red, and the arm was perfectly immovable.   As she had never taken
homoeopathic medicines, I gave her the 30th potency of Aconite, and
the inflammation disappeared entirely in the space of three days.
   Inflammatory rheumatism may affect  any of the internal organs,
the meningeal membranes, the lungs, heart, liver, stomach, bowels,
urinary and sexual organs,   There is a difference between rheumatic
and true phlegmonous or synochal inflammation, as it is termed.   In
rheumatic inflammation the  fever is not  as  high as in synochal in-
flammation, nor is the danger of a fatal termination as imminent in
rheumatism as in the last named disease.  The symptoms  are not
generally as violent, nor is the pain as  severe in rheumatic as in
synochal inflammation. 
                      ACONITUM NAPELLUS.                   153

  In rheumatic inflammation of the meningeal membranes, for instance,
the pulse may be up to 90 or 95, the skin may be  moderately hot
and dry.  The fever is preceded by a  sense of coldness, creeping,
shivering or chill.  The patient complains of a violent, stupefying
headache, and, may be, of a violent pressure on the  head, dizziness,
etc.  Sometimes the eyes or ears are involved  in the inflammatory
process.  All these symptoms may likewise exist in true meningi-
tis, except that they are far more violent, and the constitutional dis-
turbance is far more marked and general.  In the rheumatic variety
of meningitis, Aconite is often sufficient to cure the  disease; in true
meningitis, Aconite would be of little  use;  Belladonna,  or some
other similarly-acting drug would have to be employed.
  In Rheumatic Pneumonia, the patient complains of dyspnoea, a tear-
ing cough ;  aching and burning, and even stinging-sore pains in the
chest;  but the essential characteristics of true pneumonia are want-
ing. In rheumatic pneumonia, the patient may perhaps  cough up
pure blood, although he generally raises a frothy  mucus,  but the
rusty sputa which is one of the pathognomonic signs of true  pneu-
monia, is wanting in the rheumatic form.  If the character  of rheu-
matic inflammation is once impressed upon  your  minds, you will
never confound  it with ordinary acute  inflammation.   Eheumatic
pains are generally sticking, aching, tearing, laming,  burning;  if the
mucous membrane is affected, the pains  are generally of a  burning
character; if the fibrous tissue is the seat of the disease, the  pains
are tearing and aching; and if serous membranes are involved, there
are sticking or sore and stinging pains.
  In Rheumatic Inflammation of the Bladder we have stinging sore-
ness, heat and  a sense of swelling in the region of the bladder, or this
region may  be actually distended and sore to contact. Of course
there is inability to void the urine, except perhaps a small quantity
which passes off  with difficulty.  In Acute Cystitis  these symptoms
are far more intense;  the burning, the shooting pains, the agonizing
dysuria or rather ischuria (a complete retention of urine),  and the
inflammatory fever often drive the patient to despair.  A beginning
practitioner is apt to be confounded by the symptoms before him.  If
he is Avell posted  up in the use of his drugs, he will alAYays feel at
home in the presence of the enemy.   Never forget,  Gentlemen, that
Aconite will act upon any inflammatory group of symptoms, no mat-
ter in what organ or tissue they may present themselves.  In Urethritis,
for instance, not every physician would think of  giving  Aconite.
But if he recollects that Aconite causes " a burning  sensation in the
urethra, from one orifice to the other;  shooting stitches in the urethra,
when Avalking; burning urine which deposits a bloody-looking or
brick-dust sediment;  and various other symptoms  characteristic of
acute urethritis, he will find it indispensable to exhibit Aconite in
this disease.
  AYe have  seen that Aconite is  homoeopathic  to rheumatic inflam-
mations, and that they embrace a very wide scope.   Besides  being
in homoeopathic rapport with rheumatic inflammation of the internal
viscera, it is likewise adapted, as has already been shoAvn, to 
154
LECTURE X.
  Acute Rheumatism of the Joints; which may be inferred from the
manner in which Aconite affects these parts.  It causes
  Pain in the shoulder, as if it should drop off;
  DraAving-tearing pain in the shoulder-joint;
  Drawing pain in the elbow-joints;
  Prickings in the joints of the fore-arm ;
  Tearing and  laming-drawing pain in the wrist-joints;
  When bending the fingers, violent stitches dart through the wrist-
joint to the elbow-joint;
  Unsteadiness of the knees, they totter and give way when walking;
  Pain in the tarsal joints, attended Avith despairing  thoughts, and
the dread of death ;
  DraAving pains in the  loAver extremities, especially in the joints;
  Drawing-tearing pain in the knee-joint;
  Stitches in the left knee ;
  Icy-colclness  of the knees, alternating with shooting stitches;
  These effects of Aconites hoAV distinctly that it has a special action
upon the joints of the extremities, which is characterized by such
pains as occur  in inflammatory or  chronic rheumatism.
  But not only in the joints is the homcepathicity of Aconite to
rheumatic affections visible ; this agent is likewise in curative adap-
tation with rheumatic affections of the muscular and fibrous tissue of
the extremities and trunk.  Look at the varied effects of Aconite in
this direction :
   Upper Extremities: The arms feel chilly and insensible ;
  Tearing in the arm from the shoulder to the wrist-joint and fingers,
scarcely ever felt except during  movement, with blueness of the
hands during the paroxysm of pain ;
  Pain as if contused  in the  shoulder-joint, only felt  during move-
ment;
  Stitches in the shoulder and upper arm ;
  Pain in the fore-arm as after a violent bloAV;
  DraAving-tearing  and  stitching  pain, in the fore-arms and  their
bones, the p'ain is excited by  motion;
  Feeling of lameness in the right fore-arm and hand, going off by
moving the limb briskly ;
  Crampy, contractive  pain in  the hand and  fingers, sometimes
accompanied by stitches;
  Swelling of  the hands, with frequent paroxysms of cough, and
good appetite;
  Drawing-jerking pains in  thumbs;  pain  in the  thumbs  as  if
sprained and lame;
  Acute pain  in the right fore-arm, along the tendon of the flexor
digiti minimi, increased by emotion.
  Lower Extremities: The pains are  in all respects similar to those
which the Aconite-provers have experienced in  the upper extremi-
ties, affecting the same tissues and characterized by the same sensa-
tions.
  In the Back and Sacral Region we may notice a few pains Avhich
furnish useful indications for the employment of Aconite  in several 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
155
more or less important and troublesome rheumatic affections of these
parts.  AYe have the following records :
  Pains in the loins ;
  Pains in the loins like labor pains, Avhen walking ;
  Aching pain in the left side of the small of the back ;
  Paralytic pressure in the sacral region, relieved by movement and
by stooping forward.
  These symptoms indicate Aconite in
  Rheumatic Backache, and likewise in
  Lumbago, with excessive soreness, lameness, rigidity, aching pain
in the small of the back.

  Other symptoms are:
  Soreness, feeling of stiffness and as if bruised between the scapulae
or in other parts of the back;
  Sensitiveness of the lumbar region when stepping;
  Sensitiveness of the region of the kidneys ;
  Numbness of the small of the back, extending as far as the loAver
limbs;
  Prickling in the sacrum ;
  Formication over the back, upper arms and thighs ;
  Feeling of stiffness and as  if bruised  in the left side of  the neck,
extending beyond the left shoulder-joint, and a portion of the dorsal
muscles, worse when lying down, less during motion.
  When moving the neck, single muscles of  the posterior region
feel weak  and as if bruised, especially in the evening and at night.
  Among these  symptoms some refer to
  Rheumatism, of the Muscles of the back, both of the congestive and
neuralgic  order; others to
  Rheumatism of the  Posterior  Cervical  Muscles or crick in tie neck;
others again  to
  Rheumatism of Lateral Muscles of the  Neck, among which we may
include
  Rheumatism of the Sterno-cleido-mastoideus  muscle  or wry  neck,
Torticollis; the muscle becomes stiff, hard, swollen and inflamed, the
neck inclining to the affected  side  in order to avoid pain by the
extension  of  the muscle.   Under allceopathic treatment, this muscle
may remain  permanently contracted.  For  such contractions it is
perfectly  proper to  use  Aconite,  from the third to  the twelfth
potency.  Belladonna may likewise prove useful.

  There is a spasmodic form of torticollis which it is important to
mention.  It may arise from  an irritation of the pneumo-gastric or
spinal accessory nerve, fibres of which dip into the substance of the
sterno-cleido-mastoideus  muscle.   I treated a very interesting case
of this kind  some time ago.  A little  girl  had had  a fall on the
back of the head from a  height of some three or four feet.  A feAV
days after this fall the head  began to incline towards  the right
shoulder,  and was resting upon  the shoulder Avhen the child  was
brought to me.   We diagnosed irritation of the cranial nerves, either
the  spinal accessory or pneumo-gastric, or  both, in consquence of 
156
LECTURE X.
the concussion experienced by the fall, and treated the child persis-
tently with  the  tincture of Aconite, interpolating every noAV and
then a dose of Iodine.  AYe may state moreover, that the least attempt
to raise the child's head was attended with excruciating pain within
the cranium, in  the  region of the  base  of  the  skull.  Under the
treatment adopted, the little patient recovered very  gradually, but
steadily,  and was completely restored within six weeks.

   In Rheumatism of the Abdominal Muscles,  Aconite  is not without
great curative power.   It causes: "sensitiveness of  the abdominal
Avails," which may result from rheumatic congestion  of these parts.
The first or  second attenuation is sufficient to a cure.

   I have alluded on a former occasion to Rheumatism of the Scalp,
characterized by a sensation as if the scalp were drawn tightly over
the head, tearing, lancinating  and burning pains, stupefying head-
ache ; all these symptoms are covered by corresponding  symptoms
among the provings of Aconite.
   In Rheumatism  of the Heart, or Rheumatic Endocarditis as it is
termed, Aconite  will prove an invaluable agent.   In  one  of our last
provings the symptoms of rheumatic endocarditis Avere  developed
with tolerable accuracy: violent  palpitation  of the heart, dyspnoea,
sense of suffocation, anxiety,  irregularity and intermission of the
beats of the heart,  and  corresponding rheumatic  tearing pains
in the  limbs.   In this  affection Aconite  will  always  prove  a
reliable friend, even in cases  of organic malformations  which are
so apt to remain  behind  under Old-School treatment.   I would
recommend  the  use of the lower potencies in this affection.  You
need not even hesitate to use the tincture.   Under  the  use of the
higher potencies rheumatism of the heart may undoubtedly disap-
pear, but it is not at all  certain in my mind  whether  fibrinous
concretions in the cavity of the heart, or enlargement of its substance
can  be as effectually prevented  by the higher as they can by the
lower potencies or by the tincture of Aconite.
   Speaking of endocarditis, I may  as well  mention  another acute
affection of  the  heart which may require the use of  Aconite at the
outset of the disease ; I mean
   Pericarditis, or inflammation of the serous membrane  that envelopes
the heart like a sac.  It is not  only difficult, but  sometimes im-
possible  to  distinguish the symptoms of acute  pericarditis  from
those of acute endocarditis, and in most cases these tAvo  inflam-
mations  exist simultaneously.  In acute pericarditis we have as
leading- symptoms: acute, stitching, tearing  pain  which, after some-
times shifting from one part of the chest to another, finally becomes
fixed  behind  the sternum,  extending  to the epigastrium  and
sometimes  posteriorly between the shoulders; paroxysms of dys-
pnoea : spasmodic  constriction in the region of the  heart; a dull,
barking, hacking  cough, Avhich distresses the patient a great deal|
but  is unaccompanied by such expectoration ; dull, circumscribed
beating of the heart, or in some cases a tumultuous palpitation which
is perceived over  a  large surface; more on; less irregularity in the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
157
rhythm, volume and quality of the  pulse.  These symptoms have
all been experienced with more or less intensity by the provers of
Aconite, and therefore point to Aconite as one of our great remedial
agents in the acute form of this disease.
  Speaking of the heart, Ave may take this opportunity of mention-
ing several morbid conditions  of the  arteries and  veins, to which
Aconite is  homoeopathic.  It is homoeopathic to
  Aneurism of  the larger Arteries.  This necessarily follows from the
fact that Aconite affects the  tissue of  the vessels similarly to Avhat
we know it to be affected in aneurism.   The primary  effect  of a
massive  dose of Aconite is to cause a spasmodic rigidity of this
tissue, more particularly of the capillary vessels;  during the organic
reaction Avhich  should  be looked upon as  the indirect effect of the
drug, the tissue becomes weakened and relaxed.   The continued use
of small doses of Aconite Avould produce the same effect.  Hence we
say that  Aconite must be homoeopathic to precisely such a condition
of the arterial tissue, as we know exists in some forms of aneurism,
viz.: dilatation in consequence of the weakened or relaxed condition
of its fibres. You may give Aconite in alternation with Digitalis;
but if you wish to secure for your patient the greatest possible chance
of recovery, give these medicines in  the lower potencies, a few drops
of the first potency,  or  even a drop of  the concentrated tincture in a
tumblerful of Avater.
  For similar reasons Aconite is an  indispensable agent in
  Cyanosis, if arising from thg non-closure of  the foramen ovale. ■
This malformation may be the result of a permanent rigidity of the
septum or  the fibres may be  deficient  in irritability ;  in  either case
Aconite  will prove of great advantage to  the patient, and if it does
not cure the disease, will at least relieve the sufferer.   If cyanosis is
the result of fright, Aconite should be depended upon as a restorer
of the normal  irritability and  contractility of the venous capillary
tissue.
  The simple form of Puipura hemorrhagica, or Morbus Maculosns
Simplex, is another morbid condition of the capillaries to  Avhich
Aconite is homoeopathic.  The pathological character of this disease
is in  many instances  a AYeakness  or abnormal relaxation, Avith
deficient irritability, of the capillary tissue, in consequence of Avhich
exudation  takes place from  the mouths of the capillaries, and  con-
sequent infiltration of  the subcutaneous cellular tissue.   Hence the
purple spots, petechiae  or ecchymoses Avhich chaiticterize this de-
rangement.  If I recommend  Aconite as a remedy for it, you at
once  perceive-  that  my recommendation  is  based upon the well-
known manner in which Aconite affects the capillary tissue.  In a
disease of  this kind Aconite has to  be given  for a considerable
period in conjunction  with any  other medicine that may suit the
constitutional predispositions of the patient.  The second and  first
attenuations, and  the  German tincture  may be employed.  This
simple form may be  the result of exposure.
  Need I direct your attention to Hemorrhage?  AVhat admirable
healing properties does Aconite possess in this disease !   We have
many  medicines for haemorrhage ; Squills, Alillefoil, Ipecacuanha, 
158                       LECTURE X.
Arsenic and other agents, will respectively arrest haemorrhage from
various organs of the body.  A characteristic sign of haemorrhage
for Avhich Aconite is indicated is the  tumultuous condition of the
arterial vessels.  The pulse is full, hard, bounding; the patient's
countenance looks flushed, the skin is dry and hot, and there may
even be partial loss of consciousness.   These symptoms  occur more
particularly during pulmonary haemorrhage.  The blood sometimes
issues from the mouth in copious quantities, fluid blood mixed with
coagula.
   In Ejnsiaxis or nose-bleed, Pneumorrhagia or pulmonary haemor-
rhage,  Hematuria or haemorrhage from the uretha, etc., Aconite
will prove sufficient to arrest the flow  of blood, provided the consti-
tutional symptoms correspond with the general physiological action
of Aconite upon the circulation.   The haemorrhage must either  be
accompanied by marked symptoms of wascular excitement, or by the
opposite condition of vascular depression, small, weak, even filiform
pulse;  coldness of the extremities, collapse of features, expression of
anxiety, etc.
   AVe  may single out a form of haemorrhage where Aconite is of
paramount importance ; it is
   Metrorrhagia, more particularly during pregnancy.  In females of
a bilious and plethoric habit, many a time miscarriage has been pre-
vented by the  timely administration of the tincture of Aconite, one
or two drops  in a tumblerful of water.  If blood begins to show
itself in  the vagina;  if the patient complains of sickness at the
stomach, dizziness, frontal headache, throbbing in the head, palpi-
tation  of  the  heart,  creeping  chills, followed by  flashes of heat;
flushed face, rising of the pulse, coldness of the extremities, violent
dragging  and  bearing-down pains ;  give your  Aconite  at  once,
Avithout losing a moment's time; keep your patient perfectly quiet,
repeat  the medicine every ten or fifteen minutes, in dessertspoonful
doses, and you may often be able to avert the danger, and save a
human life.  In Menstrual Metrorrhagia, and in metrorrhagia setting
in after miscarriage, or parturition at  full term, Aconite may like-
wise be the best therapeutic agent.
  A most important and dangerous disease, to which  Aconite is
homoeopathic,  is
  Phlebitis or Inflammation of  Veins.   The pathognomonic signs of
this disease indicate Aconite.  The patient experiences  a burning
pain along the bourse of the vein; the part is SAvollen, dark, red,
inflamed (provided of course it is a  cutaneous vein); abnormal infil-
trations take place in the  subcutaneous cellular tissue and mucous
membrane.  These symptoms of inflammation are always accompa-
nied by signs of bilious  derangement,  which  are the more marked
the nearer the inflamed vein is'to the liver: the right hypochondrium
is distended and painful; the tongue is  coated, the taste in the mouth
bitter, the patient complains of sickness  at the stomach and vomiting.
If the inflamed vein is above the diaphragm and near the heart  the
right ventricle shows signs of inflammation : there is violent palpita-
tion  under the ensiform cartilage, apnoea, great restlessness, dispo-
sition to fainting, great prostration.  The  accompanyino- fever is of 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
159
a typhoid character, which seems to be owing to the fact that a puru-
lent secretion from the inner coat of the vein becomes mixed up with
the general circulation, thus occasioning a poisoning of the  blood
Avhich older pathologists were in the habit of characterizing as putrid
fever.  In this disease Aconite is eminently proper.   AYe also re-
commend Hamamelis, and  perhaps Arsenic, and one or two other
drugs, but Aconite occupies a prominent rank in*the group, provided
it is not given in too high doses.
  Phlegmasia  alba dolens is a form of phlebitis, which  is  very  suc-
cessfully treated with Aconite.   Use the tincture a few drops in  a
tumblerful of water.  Gentlemen, never mind the croaking of igno-
rant practitioners regarding the use of Aconite in this disease.  If
my advice is of any value to you, depend upon Aconite in this dis-
ease.  If you think it best, you  may use Hamamelis along with it, or
you may put in an occasional dose of Belladonna, but it is only igno-
rant and over-bearing dogmatists who can decry the use of Aconite
in this distressing and dangerous malady.
                  LECTURE   XL

   In all inflammations of serous and fibrous membranes, Aconite is
 undoubtedly a capital remedy.
   In Periostitis, for instance, when occasioned by exposure to a keen
 wind, retrocession of sweat, or  by standing upon damp ground or
 cold stones, Aconite  is often sufficient to effect a radical cure.  The
 pains are of a tearing character, accompanied by a sensation of burn-
 ing.  These  pains were  experienced  by several of our  Aconite
 provers, and clinical  experience has abundantly shown  that inflam-
 mation of  the periosteum may  be  controlled by Aconite, and that,
 eA'en in cases  where an  exudation had taken place between the
 periosteum and  the  substance  of the bone, Aconite will effect  an
 absorption of the fluid and restore the normal condition of the parts.
 In  this disease,  the  third up to the  sixth potency of Aconite  is
 generally preferable both to the  tincture and to the higher potencies.
  Even in  Ostitis, Avhen the substance of the bone or the  marrow has
 become invaded by the inflammation, you may depend upon Aconite
 as a great  curative  agent.  If the bone itself or the  marrow  is
 inflamed, the symptoms differ from  those which indicate the perios-
 teum or fibrous covering of the osseous tissue as the seat of the
 disease.  In the former case the  pains are boring, throbbing, aching,
 and more or less circumscribed  to  a particular region ;  the patient
 may likewise complain of  a  sensation as if the limb Avere  SAvelling
 up.  Among the physiological  effects  of Aconite upon the bones,
these boring, gnaAving, crawling, pecking or beating,  aching and
burning pains occupy a prominent rank.
  Gentlemen, Aconite occupies the same rank in our Alateria Aledica
that the heart occupies in the human body.  AYithout Aconite, the 
160                       LECTURE  XL
sphere of our usefulness Avould be limited indeed; our kingdom
would be desolate.  What immense advantages does the use of  this
one agent afford to the homoeopathic practitioner over his allceopathic
brother who seems somewhat disposed just now to steal his enemy s
thunder instead of using it openly and honorably with appropriate
acknowledgments.  See how readily such distressing inflammations
as Ophthalmia (acute inflammation of the eye), Otitis (acute inflam-
mation of the ear), Glossitis (acute inflammation of the tongue), Nasitis
(acute inflammation of the nose), and acute inflammations of the face
in general, will yield to Aconite.  In any of these inflammations the
tincture or lower potencies will, as a general rule, be of more use to
you than the higher attenuations.
   A case of Nasitis, where the inflammation was intense, the nose
swelled up to the size of a child's fist, and a phagedenic ulcer had
developed itself  at the tip of the nose which discharged a quantity of
fetid green pus, yielded to the tincture of Aconite completely, inflam-
mation, swelling, ulcer  and all, in one week.   The curative  virtue
of Aconite in
   Iritis was fully tested in a case which I treated with  Dr. Dixon, a
distinguished oculist in NeAV York.  The doctor had couched a cata-
ract for one of my patients.  Our agreement AYas that, in case iritis
should set in, and my treatment should not produce a favorable im-
pression upon the disease within six hours, the patient Avas to be bled
and put upon the use of calomel.  The operation was performed in
the afternoon, and next morning we visited our patient at an early
hour.  Iritis was fully developed.  AYe found the pupil considerably
elongated, with uneven edges.  The frontal headache Avas agonizing.
I put the patient upon the tincture of Aconite, five drops of a rather
weak tincture of the leaves in a tumblerful of water.  Within three
days every trace of inflammation had disappeared, and the pupil Avas
restored to its natural dimensions.  The doctor admitted that he had
never seen a case of iritis  cured in this off-hand way.
   Neuralgic Rheumatism frequently yields to Aconite alone, although
other drugs have often to be given in alternation Avith it,  or in its
stead.  Aconite  affects the tissues as we see them affected in neural-
gic rheumatism.  It causes tingling, formicating pains, or a feeling
of painful numbness in the parts, also  pinching or tearing pains as
if the muscular  fibre were pinched or torn; it causes soreness  of
parts, burning-prickling pains in the fingers and toes, sensation as if
a  tight bandage* were  drawn around the ankles, and  a variety of
other symptoms which sIioav that Aconite may be of great use to us
in the treatment of
   Arthritic and Neurcdgic  Rheumatism, or in acute and  chronic
   Arthritis or Gout with soreness, tenderness, heat  and swelling of
the parts, stitching and throbbing pains, etc.   Give first to sixth
potency.
   Adenitis, or Acute Inflammation of  Glands, finds its  remedy in
Aconite.  Even in chronic adenitis, when the gland is  hard, painful
and hot  interiorly,  Aconite will often effect a resolution of the dis-
organizing process.  But you have to use it in massive doses, one 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
161
or two drops of the first attenuation or even the ticturein a tumbler-
ful of water, a spoonful every two or three hours.
   In scrofulous subjects inflammation of the glands occurs quite fre-
quently, so much so that a tendency to this  sort of inflammation  is
generally regarded as a symptom of constitutional scrofula.   There
is one form  of scrofulous glandular inflammation which it may be
appropriate  to notice in connection with adenitis; I allude to
   Inflammation of the  Mesenteric Glands or Mesenteric Ganglionitis.
Gentlemen, let me urge you to depend upon Aconite in this devasta-
ting affection  as one of your staunchest friends. You may deem it
advisable to use Balladonna, Mercurius, Iodine, Arsenic, Calcarea,
Hepar sulphuris;  I care  not _what medicine  you use besides, but
never lose sight  of the power which Aconite possesses more perhaps
than any other drug in our Materia Medica, to restore the process of
animalization  if it has been interrupted  by some cause or  other.
The mesenteric glands seem to be the chief means by which this pro-
cess is  carried  on in  childhood.  In every  stage of this disease
Aconite is in its place.   Not only pathological considerations, but the
symptomatic condition of the patient lead us to recommend Aconite
in this disease.  The febrile dryness of the skin and the fever  Avhich
is more or less constant, the diarrhoea or the alternate diarrhoea and
constipation, the abdominal enlargement, the alternate loss of appe-
tite  and  canine  hunger, the fitful  mood of the little patient, or his
habitual fretting  and  his depression of  spirits, his  peculiar rest-
lessness  at night and the nightly exacerbation  of the symptoms; all
these signs indicate Aconite as a proper remedy in this disease.  But,
Gentlemen, you  must not be  afraid of using the lower preparations
anol even the  tincture of this drug.  I care not hoAV long homoe-
opathic physicians may overlook the great fact that Aconite is one of
our  most efficient remedies for Tuberculosis; the time will come Avhen
the retro-formative virtues of Aconite, by Avhich I mean the  poAver
which Aconite possesses, to stimulate the absorbent vessels, and, by
this means, not only to remove  the tuberculous infiltration but to
restore the normal tissue whether parenchymatous, serous, muscular
or any other,  will  be  acknoAvledged and  made use of in practice.
But do not tell me that you have used Aconite in the 200th or 2000th
potency  and found  it AYanting.   There are cases where the higher
potencies of Aconite are perfectly applicable ; but tuberculosis is not
one of  them.  I  have  uniformly got along far  better with the lower
potencies and  Avith the tincture.  As I said before, you may use the
Aconite  in  alternation Avith other  drugs such  as  Iodine,  Kali
hydriodicum, Belladonna, Calcarea, Hepar sulphuris, Af ercurius and
others, but your safest plan, in all tubercular diseases, will always be
to give an occasional  dose of Aconite, no matter what other  medi
cine you may  resort to  along with it.   Never give more medicine
than is  necessary to cure your patient, but do not  give any less
either.   It is your privilege  to  use the tincture up to the merest
breath of a drug.  I am no advocate of massive doses; I have taken
and shall take  every opportunity of recommending  the higher poten-
cies to your  careful consideration, but I believe, and  I Avould urge
vou  to  believe, that it is no more  a lower homoeopathy to use low
                               11 
162
LECTURE XL
 doses  than  the  use of high potencies constitutes a higher homoe-
 opathy.  Some physicians have been pleased to designate the use of
 the higher potencies as a species of higher homoeopathy.   Gentle-
 men, this is  doing great injustice to a vast majority of the practi-
 tioners of our School.   The homoeopathicity of a drug to a disease
 depends upon the qualitative, not upon the quantitative, relation  of
 these two elements, and ten  drops of the tincture of one drug may
 be far more homoeopathic than ten pellets of the ten thousandth
 potency of another.
  I  have alluded to Neuralgic and Scrofulous Inflammations.   In
 neuralgic inflammation, which is generally of a rheumatic character,
 the fever may be exceedingly moderate, and at times almost Avanting,
 although the pain is most severe, often excruciating: the affected
 region is SAVollen, tender, sometimes hotter than the  surrounding
 parts, and the pain which is felt in the interior of the tissues, is  of
 various kinds: burning, stitching, aching, throbbing, tearing, wrench-
 ing.   This neuralgic rheumatism may affect- the joints, muscular
 tissue, the neurilemma,  the periosteum, or  some  internal viscus.
 Aconite is a very efficient remedy, but }^ou  must give the  middle
 potencies from the 6th to the 12th ;  the tincture generally produces
 severe aggravations of  the  symptoms.   Nevertheless cases may
 occur where the low potencies may  seem preferable.  Neuralgic,
 scrofulous or arthritic inflammations probably  all belong to  the
 same family of diseases.  If these inflammations are accompanied
 by high fever, you will get along better Avith the lower than with
 the higher or middle potencies.
  In Scrofulous Ojmthalmia, Avith a rose-colored inflammation of the
 conjunctiva, profuse discharge of acrid tears, swelling of the lids
 and excessive photophobia, the loAver potencies and even the tinc-
 ture  of Aconite are uniformly preferable.  You will recollect, Gen-
 tlemen, that in one of our cases of poisoning, scrofulous ophthalmia
 was a marked effect of the drug.
  In  RJieumatic Contraction of the  Tendons Avhich  may be looked
 upon as a species of neuralgic rheumatism, the loAver  potencies of
 Aconite are  generally to be preferred.  Dr. Arneth produced this
 symptom in his proving of Aconite.
  There is a most important form of inflammation which it is proper
 to class in the category of nervous or neuralgic  inflammations;  I
 allude to
  Inflammation of the  Spinal Marrow or Myelitis.   The effects of
 Aconite upon this important organ, which have  been  obtained by
 several of our provers, shadow forth this disease  in  sufficiently dis-
tinct outlines to permit us to recommend Aconite as a specific remedy
for its cure.
  The symptoms of this disease  show themselves  more  in  the
 extremities and other organs of the  body than in the spinal marrow
itself;  but all these symptoms  correspond most perfectly Avith  our
Aconite-provings.
  If the whole spine is affected, all the organic functions are more or
 less impaired; in the upper part of the body we have paralysis of the
 upper extremities, dyspnoea, orthopnoea, excessive irregularities in the 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
1C3
 heart's action ; in the middle portion we have: numbness and paraly-
 sis of the abdominal walls, diarrhoea or constipation, symptoms of en-
 teritis ; and if the lower portion of the spine is affected, we have all
 sorts of derangements in the abdominal functions, retention of urine or
 else inability to hold it; uterine derangements, paralysis of the rectum
 and of the loAver extremities.  All  these symptoms, together Avith
 the constitutional fever, the violent flushes  in the face, the pain in
 the head, dizziness, and  the peculiar pains  along  the spine,  shocks
 of paralytic  pain,  boring and tearing pains, and  the like, indicate
 Aconite as a great  remedy for this disorder.
   In Ch/ronic Myelitis or Spinal Irritation, the same remedy may be
 used;  the functional disturbances which characterize spinal irrita-
 tion, find their counterpart in  the physiological action of Aconite
 upon the healthy organism.
   Among the recorded provings of Aconite, the following symptoms
 point more or less to irritation of the different portions of the spinal
 column:
   Burning-gnawing pains near the dorsal vertebrae;
   YTiolent sticking, digging pain  all along the spine, aggravated by
 an inspiration; .
   Boring pain in the sacral region, left side ;
   Crawling sensation in the spine;
   Feeling of weakness in the  nape of the  neck, Avith  sensation as
 if the flesh were loose, and  stinging  in the  nape of the neck, when
 moving the head;
   Stitches in both sides of the nape of the  neck.
   Accompanying these symptoms, Ave have soreness in the  whole or
 in parts of the spinal column ;  soreness of the vertebral processes;
 soreness of the spinal marrow Avhich may only be felt when making
 pressure with the finger.
   Spinal  irritation gives rise to a number  of constitutional symp-
 toms, such as drawing and tearing pains in the extremities; violent
 rush of blood, headache ; oppression on the chest, palpitation, cough;
 soreness and  spasmodic pains in the bowels, constipation or diarrhoea;
 numbness, deadness, coldness or heat of single parts; stitches through
 the joints, and many others Avhich will  be all found  enumerated
 among the provings of Aconite.
   Among the symptoms of Aconite there is one of great pathological
 importance;  it is this:  "Aveakness in the region of the head of  the
 femur, and inability to Avalk, owing to  an  indescribable, intolerable
 pain, as if the head  of the  femur had  been crushed, particularly after
 lying down and sleeping."  This symptom shows that Aconite may
 be depended  upon as a most useful agent in various important affec-
 tions of the hip-joint; it shows us that Aconite may be used  in
  Acute or Chronic Rheumatism of the Hip-joint, and in that danger-
 ous disease:
  Scrofulous  Inflammation of the Hip-joint  or Coxartlirocace  AYhich
is so insidiously inclined to terminate in suppuration and destruction
of the  joint.  Give from the 3d to the  12th  potency.
   (\trbunculous inflammation should be treated with the lower poten-
cies or with the  tincture of Aconite.   The inflammation involves the 
164
LECTURE XI
 muscular tissue, which is hot, red and sore and, after a Avhile, sloughs
 off.  Aconite will not only diminish the constitutional fever, but bring
 this painful process to a speedy termination.
    Some time ago I had an opportunity of witnessing the curative
 powers of  Aconite in  acute  carbunculous inflammation.  It com-
 menced with a black point in the  upper part of the  thigh, whence
 the disease spread with astonishing rapidity.   In tAventy-four hours
 a large portion of the thigh was hard, excessively painful, and  ex-
 hibited a shining  redness.  The fever was very high.  I put  the
 patient on  the tincture of Aconite.  The inflammatory process AYas
 speedily  arrested, the fever subdued, the inflamed parts sloughed off,
 and the patient Avas restored in ten days.
   In Gangrenous Whitlow, of Avhich you may read a description in
 Cooper's Dictionary, you  will find Aconite an invaluable remedy.
 in some cases of poisoning, Aconite has been knoAvn to  cause gan-
 grene.   I treated one case of this disease  in  a family where  it Avas
 hereditary.   The grand-father, father and  a brother had died Avith
 it.  A  sister was attacked with it.   It commenced in a black point
 in the  palm of the hand,  gradually travelling upwards  along the
 arm.  The  hand and fore-arm were black as  ink.  The patient Avas
 entirely restored by means of poultices  and  the  internal use of
 Aconite and Arsenic.
   In Acute  Stomacace, with heat in the mouth and sloughing of the
 lining membrane, no better remedy can be  used than Aconite.  The
 so-called  diptheritic inflammation of the mouth and throat, Avhen the
 throat is studded with numberless little ulcers of  the size of a pin's
 head, excessively stinging and painful, with hard, inflamed borders
 and secreting a Avhitish, cheesy matter, Aconite  is a  true  specific in
 every case where the disease has a rheumatic  origin and the consti-
 tutional fever is more or less developed.
   What I have said of inflammation, likewise applies to Acute Con-
 gestions.  Every acute congestion is ushered in with  a chill, followed
 by inflammatory fever.   The well managed use of Aconite, in con-
 junction Avith other remedies more or less specifically adapted to the
 part, will conquer these serious disorders.
   Passive Congestion may frequently find  its remedy in Aconite.
 This condition is characterized by many symptoms which correspond
 very strictly Avith the effects of Aconite,   These are a sensation of
 fulness  and  swelling, and a feeling of soreness in  the parts where this
 sensation of fulness and swelling is experienced.  A feeling of heat
 may likeAvise be complained of in these parts.
   The symptoms of passive congestion  of course vary according as
 one  or the other organ is the seat of the trouble.
   Passive Congestion of the Bowels, for instance, is characterized by a
 sense of fulness and weight in the  bowels, a dragging  sensation in
 the bowels,  soreness, constipation or frequent  urging to stool  with
 discharge of small  quantities of  mucus  or  else frequent ineffectual
 attempts to  relieve  the bowels,
  Passive Congestion of the Lungs is characterized by symptoms like
the following: sensation as if the chest were empty ; this feelino- may
be succeeded by a sensation of fulness in the chest, Avith desire  to 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
165
draw a long breath every now and then ;  occasional turns of slight
hacking cough as if for the purpose of clearing the chest, and re-
moving some obstruction.
  Passive Congestion of the  Heart, may manifest itself by a feeling of
weight in the region of the heart, occasionally amounting to suffo-
cation, and accompanied every now and then with palpitation, and
Avith a feeling of anxiety and even dyspncea.
  Passive Congestion of the Liver may likeAvise occur, and is generally
indicated by a sense of fulness in the region of the liver; by pressing
upon this region, the patient is able to bring up a quantity of wind.
At times the region of the liver feels sore, and the patient may even
complain of an undue sensation of warmth in that part.
  Even the stomach, and more particularly the pyloric region,  may
become the seat of passive congestion, with fulness and heaviness in
this  region, and raising of a quantity of Avind off the  stomach on
making pressure upon the epigastrium.  These passive congestions
of the liver, stomach and bowels are frequently alluded to as infrac-
tions by the older pathologists.


                 CEREBEO-SPINAL GEOUP.

  It seems needless to dwell upon the cerebral and nervous affections
with Avhich Aconite is in curative rapport.  You recollect that by
virtue of the manner in which it affects the brain, this agent must be a
great remedy in Cerebral Apoplexy and in  Congestive Headaches.   In
order to render the indications in these affections still more definite,
we will point out to the student of Homoeopathy the most important
symptoms bearing upon these conditions which have been developed
by our provings.
  The symptoms which point  to  Sanguineous Apoplexy, are varied.
  AYe have:
  Stupefaction of the senses and giddiness as if intoxicated.
  Crampy sensation in the forehead or above  the root of the nose,
with a feeling as if one should lose one's reason.
  Rush of blood  to the head, with heat and redness of the face.
  Throbbing of the temporal arteries;  SAvelling of the jugular veins.
  These are some of the more prominent head-symptoms indicating
Aconite in sanguineous apoplexy.  Among the folloAving headache-
symptoms we shall discover several which likeAvise point to Aconite
in this affection.
   Congestive Headache comprises a group  of symptoms like the
folioAving, to be found among the positive provings:
  Fulness and weight in the forehead, with sensation as if the brain
and eyes Avould start  out, or as if the brain Avere pushed against the
forehead.
  The head feels  tight and constricted.
  Crampy sensation behind the orbits, or as if in the bones, or over
the root of  the nose, with sensation  as if one should lose one's
reason. 
166
LECTURE XL ■
  Shooting, throbbing or shooting-throbbing headache, particularly
when Avalking, abating when sitting doAvn.
  Distress as if the brain Avere moving up and doAvn; it is  aggra-
vated by movement, or by talking.
  Pain as if the head were compressed Avith equal force on all sides.
  These forms of congestive or apoplectic headache may sometimes
be so violent as to deprive the patient of consciousness.   The  ex-
tremities feel cold, the pulse is small and often scarcely perceptible ;
the features denote anguish and suffering; the face exhits a death-
like pallor, or else looks bloated, mottled or dark-red.   In soihe of
these headaches, Aconite will  act even in a highly potentized form;
in other cases the strong tincture has to be used.

  Bilious or Bilious Congestive headaches are characterized by many
of the symptoms Avhich we have enumerated in the previous para-
graph.  In addition to these,  we may mention a few others, such as :
  Burning distress in the head, as if the brain were moved by
boiling Avater.
  Headache as if the head were encircled with a red-hot iron.
  Stupefying pain on the top, or in one side of the head, with exces-
sive sensitiveness of the  scalp, throbbing and stinging pain  in  the
head, as if needles were stuck through the brain.
  In  bilious  and  congestive headache, the patient  is  generally
exceedingly sensitive to  noise and light.  In bilious headache,  the
loAver potencies of Aconite, or the tincture itself, are preferable.

  Hysteric Headache, Avith sensation as if a ball were ascending in the
brain, spreading a coolness through the brain ; dizziness, obscuration
of sight, stinging, aching and throbbing pain in one side of the head,
in the temples, forehead or on the top of the head : finds its remedy
in Aconite, from the 3d to the 12th potency.

  Rheumatic and Catarrhal Headaches, Avith tight feeling in the head,
sensitiveness of the scalp or of one particular spot in the scalp ; heat
in the head, soreness of the eyes, lachrymation, sneezing fits, chilli-
ness, etc., may readily yield to Aconite.

  A  Gastric  Headache caused by indigestible food,  may require
Aconite.
  Nervous Headaches, coming  on in consequence of nightly watching,
a sudden and violent emotion, or  paroxysmally every week, fort-
night or month, may have to  be treated with  Aconite, from  the 3d
to the 12th potency.  The symptoms generally are a violent aching
pain in one  half, or all over, the head.
  In  a  common sick headache, one half of the  head is  generally
affected.   The head feels sore, hot, Avith excessive aching pain, sting-
ing and throbbing, sensitiveness to  noise  and light;  sometimes  the
eye of the affected side is irritated, swollen, red, and discharging a
profuse quantity of tears.  The middle potencies are generally pre-
ferable in this form of headache. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
167
   A headache may arise from the sudden suppression of an habitual
 discharge, such as the menses, piles, or even chronic coryza.  Such
 headaches generally  require  Aconite,  the  loAver potencies  or  the
 strong tincture.   Aconite not  only removes the distress, but restores
 the discharges.

   You need not be reminded  of the fact that Aconite possesses vast
 curative poAvers in paralysis, both of the motor and sentient spheres.
 The spasm-exciting action of Aconite, &c,  will lead you in many
 cases of  spasmodic or convulsive conditions to the use of this great
 agent.

   AYe may as well allude in this place to the wonderful  poAvers
 which Aconite possesses, of curing
   Neuralgia.  Aconite is not a panacea for neuralgia ; but if properly
 used, sometimes internally, and at other times both internally and
 externally, it may prove a most Avonderful deliverer from this most
 distressing malady.   If you look at the symptoms of Aconite, you
 will find that burning, boring, stinging, jerking, screwing, aching,
 lancinating, Avrenching and other pains, constitute so many thera-
 peutic indications for the use  of this great drug.
   Neuralgic pains  may occur in  any part  of  the  human body,
 although they are met with in some parts  more frequently than in
 other.   The face, scalp, liver, womb, bowels, and  rectum are most
 generally invaded by this kind of suffering.
   Neuralgia of the Face, or prosopalgia, is generally characterized by
 boring, wrenching,  stitching, burning, shooting and lancing pains.
   Neuralgia of  the Liver, or  Hepatalgia, is characterized  by hard
 aching, burning, constricting,  dragging pains.
   Neuralgia of the womb or Hysteralgia, by gnawing, burning and
 hard aching, or screwing pains ; and
   Neuralgia of the Rectum, or Proctalgia, by hard aching, dragging
 or burning pains.
   If I recommend Aconite for neuralgia, I do not recommend it as
 a panacea, but as a remedy which deserves  far more attention than
 is generally devoted  to  it by homoeopathic physicians.  In all  the
 forms of neuralgia where our  provings indicate it, I have seen  the
 most  brilliant effects produced by its use in various degrees of
 strength.

  Before concluding this chapter, we will again advert to the great
 curative  powers of Aconite in
  Paralysis, where the symptoms obtained by our provers most
pointedly indicate its use.  Aconite causes
  Numbness of the small of the back, extending to the k>Aver limbs ;
  Formication over the back, upper arms and thighs ;
  Numbness in the shoulders;
  Numbness and lameness of the left arm  AYhich scarcely permits
one to move the hand ;
  Weight and debility of the fore-arms Avhich feel as if gone to sleep
when  taking hold of any thing ; 
168
LECTURE XII.
  Numbness, icy coldness and insensibility of one hand ;
  Tingling pain in the fingers, even while writing;
  Stinging and prickling in the arms and fingers;
  Hot prickings in the tips of the fingers;
  Similiar symptoms are experienced in the lower extremities.  All
these symptoms are  more or less characteristic of an  attack  of
paralysis.  These symptoms, in conjunction with the toxicological
effects of Aconite which have been fully  described  on previous
pages, show that this remarkable agent must be of eminent use  in
paralysis.

  Another affection to which the provings of Aconite point, is
  Nervous  Tremor, which may befal persons Avho  have worked too
hard, especially females whose constitutions  are not very robust, and
whose nervous energy has  been exhausted by excessive  muscular
exertions nightly Avatching and the like.   Aconite causes symptoms
like these :
  Trembling of the arms and hands;
  Trembling of the lower extremities;
  The lower extremities totter, they are in constant motion.
  This trembling is described by some pathologists as
  Chorea Minor or Muscularis ; it may sometimes occur as a symptom
of hysteria.

  In  Cataleptic Spasms, Aconite may not be overlooked.  This agent
seems to be possessed of a power to affect the nervous influence
similarly to what we know it to be affected  in catalepsy.  Without
extinguishing the consciousness, it seems to neutralize the  faculty
of manifesting it by external acts.
                 LECTURE  XII.

                     ORBITAL GROUP.

  The curative virtues of Aconite in ophthalmia have been abund-
antly explained, page 131.  Aconite is one of those drugs which  is
in therapeutic rapport Avith every form of this disease.  Conjuncti-
vitis, Sclerotitis, Iritis, Retinitis, may yield to Aconite either partially
or completely.  Or, if we prefer, Ave may apportion  Aconite to the
different forms of ophthalmia, as established by pathognomonic dif-
ferences, catarrhal, rheumatic, arthritic, scrofulous.  Even purulent
and  syphilitic  ophthalmia may be  advantageously treated  Avith
Aconite.   You Avill not forget that Aconite is adapted to the most
acute forms of these different kinds of ophthalmia, even when the
brain seems very much irritated, as may be inferred from co-existing
delirium and  agonizing distress in the forehead,  more particularly
immediately over the eyebroAvs.  In such a case  it may be well  to
alternate Belladonna with Aconite, unless there should be no doubt 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.                  169
 concerning the exclusive homoeopathicity of Aconite to the existing
 disease.
   The fever which accompanies acute ophthalmia in all cases where
 Aconite is  indicated, is  generally very intense, although  not neces-
 sarily so in the milder forms of conjunctivitis.  In acute sclerotitis
 the fever runs high;  this is particularly the case in acute iritis and
 retinitis.
   It  may not be improper to remark that if, under  the  action of
 Aconite, a reaction should have been  established, characterized by
 profuse perspiration, it is of the utmost importance not to cheek this
 cutaneous action by exposure to  a draught of air or by any cause
 whatever.  Such an accident might be followed  by a return of the
 acute distress in  the  orbital region, Avhich indeed might be much
 worse than  before.  If such a suppression should take place, we have
 to resort to  every possible means of restoring the cutaneous exhala-
 tions as speedily as possible.  The Aconite should be repeated at
 shorter intervals,  and  the patient may be enveloped in  hot blankets
 on the bare skin; we  have found  this one of  the  most efficient and
 speedy means of re-exciting suppressed perspiration.
   In Traumatic Ophthalmia, Aconite supersedes the necessity of bleed-
 ing from a vein  or by the application of leeches.   AYe have shoAvn
 before, that it will even cure iritis.  The milder forms of  inflamma-
 tion resulting from the irritating  presence of  a foreign body in the
 eye, sand, dust, etc.;  or  inflammation  caused by  Avounding the eye
 with  a pin, nail,  lime, red-hot cinders,  etc., may  be and most fre-
 quently should be treated with Aconite.
   Our provings  inform us that Aconite causes yelloAvness of the
 sclerotica.  This symptom indicates the twofold use of Aconite in
 jaundice, and likewise in acute irritation of the eyes, or
i   Sub-acute Ophthalmia, when complicated with, or in a measure
■ arising from hepatic derangement.  Persons who are troubled with
\ torpor of the liver, are likewise frequently subject to
   Weak or Sore  Eyes, Avith burning and smarting of  the  eyes  and
 lids,  sensitiveness to  the light, inability  to  use  the  eyes without
 fatiguing or irritating them ; the eyes frequently assume a jaundiced
 appearance.  Aconite, first to third potency, may be given.

   Blep>liaropliihialmia is distinctly  delineated by our provings.   We
 have
   Soreness  and itching of the eyelids.
   Painfully-tensive, red, hard SAvelling of the  lids, especially early
 in the morning.
   Pricking and smarting in the eyelids as when a cold is setting in.

   AYe have stated, page  126, that Aconite is in homoeopathic rapport
 AYith  amaurosis.   Among the  symptoms of Aconite, a number of
 symptoms may be found all pointing to this disease.   AYe quote the
 folio Aving:
   Obscuration of sight.
   Complete blindness.
   She sees as through a gauze. 
170
LECTURE XII.
  AVarm and undulating feeling in the eyes, Avith sensations as if
there were not light enough to fead by.
  He sees sparks and mist.
  He sees flashes and scintillations.
  These symptoms are  present in complete or partial  loss of sight,
  Amaurosis or Amblyopia.

  Two among the eye-symptoms of Aconite distinctly indicate its
use as a remedy for
  Strabismus, where it may, however, be  available only in recent
cases originating in rheumatic exposure, or consequent  upon an
operation, or arising spontaneously.  These symptoms are:
  Distortion of the  eyes, and
  Squinting of the eyes upwards.
  In cases of this kind, it may be necessary to resort to the lower
potencies and even to the tincture of Aconite root.

                    AURICULAR  GROUP.

  We  have already shown, on  page 125, that Aconite will cure
rheumatic deafness.  In partial deafness or hiardness  of hearing, it
may likewise prove useful. It is  indicated by the following symp-
toms to be found among the recorded provings:
  Tingling and roaring in the ears.
  The  ears feel stopped up, with sensation as if the vibrations of the
air were prevented from impinging upon the  tympanum.
  Aconite likewise  causes and will therefore cure
  Earache, Otalgia,  to which the following symptoms  point  among
the recorded provings:
  Tearing in the ears, or tickling as from a little worm  crawling
about in the right ear.
  Burning in the left ear.
  Earache which is removable by Aconite, may be occasioned by a
variety of causes, such'as: exposure to  a keen wind; sudden check-
ing  of the perspiration, retrocession of a rash upon or behind  the
external ear, or drying up of an habitual dampness behind the ears
in the case of scrofulous children.   The earache may be accompanied
with a  good deal of beating in the interior of the ear.  Excessive
sensitiveness to  noise may likewise be present.  This symptom is
covered by the  folloAving symptoms among our  provings: "The
hearing is excessively sensitive ;  every  noise is intolerable."
  Among persons who  are subject to earache, the paroxyms  are
often characterized by SAvelling of the  parts surrounding the  ear.
Blood is very frequently discharged from the ear.  Scrofulous chil-
dren are very frequently troubled by this distress.   Aconite, and in
some cases Belladonna, will relieve this earache.
  Among scrofulous children earache may occur in consequence of
the suppression of an habitual discharge from the ear; and on the
other hand, such a discharge may constitute the natural termination
of an attack of acute earache.  For this kind of
   Otorrhiea we recommend Aconite, a drop of the tincture of the root 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
171
in a tumblerful of water.  The discharge looks yellowish and has a
very offensive smell.  Otorrhoea which Avill  yield to  Aconite, is
ahvays  accompanied more or  less with tAvinges of pain, at times
aching,  at other times tearing, stitching or burning.  In some states
of the system the patient may be entirely free from pain.
  In Chronic Olorrhbea, Avhere acute paroxysms such as we have
described, occur every now and then, a dose of Sulphur tAvelfth to
eighteenth potency, may be advantageously interpolated once a week.

  Although it may be supposed from Avhat we have said under the
head of inflammatory group, that Aconite is specifically adapted as
a curative agent to
  (Jtilis, acute inflammation of the ear, yet we will specify more fully
the  symptoms requiring the use of  this agent.  YVe  deem this so
much more  necessary as many homoeopathic physicians are in the
habit of considering Pulsatilla a sort of panacea for this affection.
  Aconite is more particularly adapted to rheumatic otitis, especially
among individuals Avho are somewhat tainted AYith scrofula, subject to
eruptions or soreness upon or behind the ear, rush of blood to the head,
earache. Both the internal and external ear may be inflamed.  The
patient  complains of a distress as if the ear should be torn out of the
head ; a violent throbbing, burning, lancinating, dragging pain; exces-
sive soreness,  sensitiveness to noise;  the ear-passage looks swollen,
red, shining.  If the inner ear is much inflamed, the brain may be
disturbed; the patient may complain of violent throbbing or shoot-
ing  pain in the head, dizziness; he may even  be out  of his senses.
Blood and a thin watery fluid may be discharged out of the ear.  The
parts around  the ear may either be  swollen or else feel so.  Acute
inflammation of the ear is ahvays attended with fever ushered in
with a chill or chilly creepings along the back and extremities.
  In this disease we prescribe a few drops of the German tincture in
twelve tablespoonfuls of Avater, a teaspoonful every half hour until an
improvement takes place; or else a drop or two of the first attenua-
tion of the tincture of the root in a similar manner.

                      FACIAL GROUP.

  The changes which Aconite effects in the  color of the face, are
characteristic of its power to affect the nervous  system and the capil-
lary circulation.  Among the recorded provings we notice the fol-
lowing symptoms:
  Bloating of  the face, or sensation as if the face had grown larger,
Avith redness and heat of both cheeks.
  Hot face, AYith coldness of the hands and feet.
  Redness of  one cheek, and simultaneous paleness of the other.
  Sweat on  the forehead and upon  the cheek, upon Avkich one is
tying-
  These symptoms occur in simple irritative, catarrhal, or rheumatic
fever, or in any form of inflammatory fever Avhere Aconite is required
as a specific homoeopathic agent.
  Other symptoms shoAV the deep influence AA'hich Aconite exercises 
172
LECTURE XII.
upon that portion of the nervous system Avhich  constitutes the con-
necting link between the mind and" the face.  This agent causes an
  Expression of terror and imbecility in the countenance.
  Hippocratic countenance, and alteration  of the features generally.
  These symptoms refer to mental disorders, or they may imply the
existence of  utter prostrations in acute attacks such as Cholera,
spasmodic or inflammatory Oolic, etc.

  Other symptoms show that Aconite  has  a local action upon the
trigeminus, and may therefore prove of service in pathological con-
ditions to Avhich the face is specially liable.  These symptoms are:
  Tingling pain in the cheeks, and sensation as if they Avere swollen.
  Ulcerative pain in the region of the malar bones.
  Sensation as if the face Avere SAVollen and hot.
  These symptoms, in connection Avith the general fever-symptoms,
which Aconite excites, point to this agent as a remedy for
  Rheumatic Inflammation and SAvelling of the face, to which sensi-
tive individuals of a plethoric habit and Avith a scrofulous diathesis,
or who are afflicted Avith  bad teeth, are more or less liable unless
they have the means of avoiding exposure.  Use the German  tinc-
ture or the lower attenuations of the root.

  It may be proper to record here the following symptom expressive
of the peculiar action of Aconite upon the olfactory nerve :   " The
sense of smell is very sensitive ; disagreeable odors affect him a great
deal."
  This symptom may indicate Aconite for an abnormal sensitiveness
of the olfactory nerve generally, and for
  Hysteria in particular, in Avhich affection this  peculiar sensitive-
ness to odors sometimes constitutes a prominent symptom.


                      DENTAL GROUP.

  Aconite affects the teeth and jaws Avith more or less intensity.  It
causes  symptoms like the folloAving :
  Pain in the articulation  of the jaws when chewing.
  Sudden shocks of a burning, tingling and lancinating  pain in the
lower jaw.
  Penetrating pain in the  loAver jaw as if it should drop.
  Sticking and drawing pain in the left upper and loAver jaw.
  The lower jaw is involuntarily pressed against the upper.
  Rigidity of  the jaws.
  Lockjaw.
  These symptoms point to Aconite as a remedy for
  Rheumatism of the Jaws, where these laming, drawing, stitchino-
and tearing pains occur.   They also show that Aconite is°one of our
great agents in
  Trismus, whether idiopathic  or traumatic.   I  am not  aware that
Aconite is used much by homoeopathic physicians in this affection,
but allow me to impress its efficacy upon your minds if you have to 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.                  173
combat trismus resulting from rheumatic exposure, or from a shock
of the nervous system in consequence of an injury.

  In Toothache, Aconite is a most useful agent.  It causes in persons
in health a
  Sensation as if the teeth Avere loose, AYith a burning and tingling
sensation in the jaws and tongue.
  Stinging in the teeth.
  Pressure in the upper teeth.
  The teeth are sensitive to the air.
  The teeth are set on edge.
  These symptoms show that Aconite may be of great  use in tooth-
ache caused by exposure to a current of air, a keen wind, or by any
rheumatic exposure whatsoever^
  Toothache curable by Aconite, is of the congestive kind, Avith
throbbing, stinging pain, or a hard aching,  pressing pain as if the
tooth should be shattered to pieces;  inflammation of the gums, rush
of blood to the head, headache, chilliness, sensitiveness to the open
air, nervousness and restlessness.  Aconite is particularly suitable to
sensitive females, persons with a plethoric habit of body, high  livers,
individuals addicted to the use of spirits, or leading a sedentary life,
taxing their brain, having a good deal of mental anxiety, grief.
  The symptomatic  provings likewise show that in
  Rheumatic Inflammation of the Gums, Aconite may prove a valu-
able remedy.   The gums look swollen, dark-red, inflamed; they are
exceedingly tender to the touch, bleed readily; the patient complains
of a burning, creeping pain in the gums.  In  scrofulous individuals,
this form of inflammation may very speedily adopt a scorbutic char-
acter.  Fever-symptoms, chilliness followed by, or mingled with
heat and  dryness of the skin, headache, dizziness, are generally
present.   Salivation may likeAvise exist.
  In this affection we prefer the loAver preparations of Aconite, from
the first potency to one drop of the tincture of the  root in tAvelve
tablespoonfuls  of water.


                       BUCCAL  GROUP.

  Aconite causes  a  variety of symptoms in the lining membrane
and nervous tissue of the mouth which render it a valuable agent in
several harassing affections.  It causes
  Sensation of dryness or actual dryness of the mouth  and tongue.
  Stinging  and burning of the dorsum of the tongue; the tongue
feels SAYollen.
  Paralysis of the tongue, Avhich lasts only a short time.
  Soreness of the orifices of the salivary ducts, as if corroded.
  Ptyalism, AYith stitches in the tongue.
  Coldness of the tongue.
  The lips are  burning and feel SAVollen.
  Burning of the tip of the tongue.
  Numbness of the tongue. 
174
LECTURE XII.
  The tongue feels like leather.
  Inability to speak.
  Spasmodic sensation in the region of the root of the tongue.
  Vesicles on the tongue which, burn a good deal.

  To  any one who has studied the character of the affections  to
Avhich the mouth  is liable, these symptoms must prove highly sug-
gestive.  Some of these symptoms refer to the state of the mouth
and tongue  such  as it may exist in some forms of acute remittent
fever, more particularly in Gastric and Bilious Fever.
  The burning on the tongue, and the soreness and smarting at the
tip of the tongue may occur in Acute Dyspepsia.
  Paralysis of the Tongue, with numbness and inability to speak, has
been alluded to in previous paragraphs.  AYe must not forget  in
this connection, to refer to the transitory paralysis of the tongue
occasioned by abuse of spirituous  beverages.  After or during a
drunken fit, the tongue often feels thick, as the phrase goes, causing
an utter inability to articulate, although the consciousness may not
be much disturbed.  This form of  paralysis  yields to the tincture
of Aconite  more readily than  to any other  drug, except perhaps
Nux vomica, which is generally considered by homoeopathic physi-
cians as a panacea for paralytic conditions brought on by alcoholic
poisoning.
  Aconite is a remedy for rheumatic
  Stomatitis, characterized by soreness of the inner mouth, ptyalism,
stitches in the tongue, swelling and stinging-burning pains in the
gums.   We have again and again removed this condition by means
of the tincture of Aconite.
  There are two forms of stomatitis,  where  Aconite is indispensable;
we allude to.
  Nursing Sore Mouth and Cancrum oris.  In these affections, Aconite
is not a panacea, but it may prove specifically adapted to some cases
of either of these  affections, Avhen the following symptoms constitute
characteristic  indications:  The mouth  is studded  with aphthous
ulcerations causing much stinging and burning pain;  they are sur-
rounded with  inflamed borders, or  the whole of the mucous mem-
brane may look inflamed, with patches of Avhitish disorganizations
spread  about here and there.   Ptyalism  is a prominent symptom.
This condition of the mouth is frequently met with among nursing
females of a scrofulous or scorbutic diathesis.  It should be treated
with the tincture of Aconite, more particularly if the whole mouth
feels hot,  very sore, and the patient's strength is much reduced, the
appetite is impaired and the bowels incline to diarrhoea.
   In Cancrum oris, where the disorganizing process emanates from
rheumatic inflammation of the gums or  lining  membrane of the
cheeks, with intense  stinging  and  burning  pain, hot  mouth, secre-
tion of ichorous,  bloody pus, ptyalism, dark redness of the parts,
Aconite will be found eminently useful, if given in doses of from
one to two drops  of the tincture in twelve  tablespoonfuls of AYater, a
spoonful every hour or two hours after an improvement once begins
to be perceived. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
175
  There are  some forms of Cancrum oris which  have to be treated
with Arsenicum, Mercurius and perhaps other drugs.  AYe  shall
speak of them in due time; for  the present let  me urge upon you
the importance of Aconite in  all cases  of this distressing affection
where  a purely rheumatic inflammation has given rise to it, and
where the disorganizing process  is not characterized by the destruc-
tive sloughing  and the fetid ptyalism which  generally  indicate
Mercury.

   Coldness of the Tongue occurs in Asiatic Cholera, and in a few
other affections.

   The burning and sensation  of swelling in the lips may be inter-
preted as referring to a swelling and inflammation of the upper lip
which we sometimes meet with in scrofulous subjects, more particu-
larly as the result of rheumatic exposure.  The upper lip is sAvollen,
rigid, looks red  and  inflamed, feels sore,  and  may break out  in
blisters.   A few drops of the first attenuation of the root, or a drop
of the  tincture in tAvelve tablespoonfuls of water, may prove the
most appropriate preparation.

   Numbness and rigidity of the tongue, or sensation as if the tongue
were like sole-leather, is a symptom which I have frequently met
with in simple Typthoid Fever.

   Glossitis or acute inflammation of the tongue is distinctly indi-
cated by the above mentioned symptoms.   The tongue is SAvollen,
excessively sensitive,  has a dark-red appearance, inclines to bleed;
the patient complains of a burning heat in  the tongue,  stinging and
shooting pains are likewise experienced in it; if the inflammation
is badly managed, it is apt to assume a  dangerous character, and is
always attended with a high fever. Of a mixture of one drop of the
tincture of Aconite in ten tablespoonfuls of water, a tablespoonful
may be given every hour, until the patient feels  relieved.

                   PHARYNGEAL GROUP.

   In both acute and chronic affections of the throat, Aconite proves
a  most efficient remedy.   Among the  symptoms  recorded by the
provers of Aconite, the following are the most note-worthy:
   Scraping- in the throat, with difficulty of  swalloAving.
   Stinging  and  choky feeling  in the   throat,  especially  Avhen
swallowing or talking.
   Burning and stinging in the fauces.
   The throat feels swollen and full.
   Sensation as of a body AYith sharp edges and points being lodged
in the throat.
   Prickling burning  in the palate, throat, and  along the trunk of
the Eustachian tube, with increased secretion of saliva.
   The saliva which he spits up, is mixed with clear blood, accom-
pained Avith sweetish  taste in the mouth.          , 
176
LECTURE XII.
  These symptoms are of high therapeutic import to a homoeopathic
practitioner.  The burning and  stinging distress, and  the sense of
fulness indicate Aconite as a remedy for
  Acute Angina Faucium, when the throat, (the velum, fauces, uvula
and  tonsils)  looks  dark-red,  with almost  complete  inability to
swalloAV, heat and dryness of the throat Avhich feels very sore as if
raw;  the tonsils looks SAvollen like lumps of raw flesh; the  patient
complains of stitches flying through the throat, sometimes along the
Eustachian tube to the ear.  This form of angina is ahvays attended
with fever, creeping chills followed by heat and dryness of the skin.
Throbbing headache, dizziness, and rheumatic pains in  the extremi-
ties, soreness of the muscles, etc, may likeAvise be present.  In acute
angina the patient may hawk up some blood.
  Aconite  is adapted to  acute  inflammation of  any  part  of the
throat;  hence we may prescribe it in
  Angina Uvularis, Pharyngea, Tonsillaris, etc.  In angina tonsillaris
or tonsilitis, the rational use of Aconite may save the patient a good
deal of suffering. -Under the common treatment of Old  School
physicians, this inflammation  generally terminates in  suppuration,
causing excessive distress to the  patient until  the abscess is lanced
or discharges spontaneously.   This  difficulty is avoided  by the
timely  use of  Aconite which   scatters the  engorgements, either
unaided or in alternation with Belladonna.  In most cases of uncom-
plicated quincy  sore  throat,  if  caused  by rheumatic  exposure,
Aconite will  be found sufficient.  In most cases  the first or  second
attenuation of the tincture of the root will  be found sufficient; in
other cases a feAv  drops  of the German tincture  in  a tumblerful of
water may have to be used.
                     fr
 . Even in chronic Sore Throat, Aconite may prove  exceedingly
useful as one of  the medicines to be employed  in the case.  The
following  symptoms recorded by our provers, seem to imply the
homoeopathicity of Aconite to this affection : " Burning, and feeling
of dryness of the soft palate  and fauces, not even passing off after
a meal,  and frequently inducing empty deglutition."
  In  cases of Sore Tliroat, Avhere the  patient complains of much
dryness and  heat in the throat, wants to moisten the throat very
frequently, and seeks relief by continually hawking and sAvallowing
saliva, Aconite may prove very useful, if given every now and then,
in conjunction AYith other medicines.
|  In the first stage of Diphtheria, before plastic exudation has taken
> place, if the  fever runs  high, and the  inflammation of the  throat
cither presents an equally diffused appearance, or occurs in erysipe-
latous patches irregularly traversed by streaks of a deeper redness,
jsome homoeopathic  physicians  prescribe Aconite, first  or  second
attenuation;  if no improvement sets  in very speedily after the use
of Aconite, Belladonna had better be given alone or in alternation
with the former agent.

  The inflammation,  instead of being located in the pharynx, may
involve the  ce^phagus, producing oesophagitis.   The  pain  may be 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
177
 felt under the sternum or under the riphoid cartilage, or near the
 cardia, etc., according as one or the other portion of the oesophagus
 is inflamed.  It  is  an  aching,  burning and shooting pain with a
 sensation of rawness when the food passes over the inflamed surface,
 on  which account  emollient  drinks  should be  principally used.
 Aconite should be given as in Angina of the throat.


                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   Not all homoeopathic physicians seem to be aware of the compre-
 hensive range of action peculiar to Aconite in this direction.  FeAV
 drugs in our Materia Medica affect the liver as characteristically as
 Aconite ; hence few drugs have it in their power  to develope such
 marked changes in the condition of the chylo-poie'tic organs as this
 extraordinary agent.
   The effects of  Aconite upon  these organs may be conveniently
 grouped under the following heads:
   1. Taste ;
   2. Appetite:
   3. Abnormal gastric secretions ;
   4. Nausea and vomiting ;
   5. Abnormal sensations during or after a meal;
   6. Abnormal sensations without reference to the use of food  or
 drink ;
   7. Pains in the bowels ;
   8. Alvine evacuations; exudations from the anus ; haemorrhoids ;
 worms.

                            1.  Taste.

   Aconite alters  the taste in various ways; it causes a bitter taste,
 or else a putrid taste; also a flat taste, or a taste as of fish or rotten
 eggs.  The  taste in some instances is a nauseous taste causing a feel-
 ing  of loathing; it disappears somewhat while eating, but reappears
 shortly after.   Aconite  causes a smarting sensation on the tongue,
 and hence a taste as  of pepper in the mouth.
   These  alterations of  the taste may be of great use to us in various
 fevers, and gastric derangements, to AA'hich particular reference will
 be made in subsequent paragraphs.

                           2. Appetite.

   Aconite causes loss of  appetite, also with a sour  taste in the
 mouth. This symptom may be present in certain forms of Dys-
pepsia, where we have often had  occasion to combat it Avith the first,
 secon* 1 or third potency of Aconite, especially in the case of nervous
 females of a nervous-bilious temperament.
  Aconite likeAvise  causes  a form of  nervous irritation of the
 stomach characterized by canine hunger; the recorded symptom is:
 " Intense  feeling of  hunger which  continues  even after  a  meal."
 This svmptom indicates Aconite  in
                               12 
178
LECTURE XII.
  Bulimia, a constant and  insatiable  craving for food, m  spite of
AYhich the patient may grow thin.
  This bulimia  sometimes amounts to a simple hungry gnawing
which troubles one either more or less continually or in paroxysms,
a condition of  the stomach  for AYhich the  French use the very
expressive and pointed term  " agacement."  The middle potencies
from the  sixth to the twelfth will relieve it.

  Aconite also causes a burning, unquenchable thirst.  This symp-
tom  may occur in  many acute affections,  where  this  agent is
indicated.
                 3.  Abnormal Gastric Secretions.

  Among these we distinguish the following characteristic effects of
Aconite:
  Sensation as if the whole mouth became filled with air and rotten
eggs.
  Rising  of sweetish water to the  mouth, like waterbrash, some-
times accompanied with nausea.
  Scraping sensation from the pit of the stomach to  the throat, Avith
nausea, qualmishness, and a sensation as if water would rise.
  Empty eructations, or ineffectual desire to eructate.
  Burning sensation from the stomach to the mouth,  through  the
entire tract of the oesophagus.
  Heartburn.
  These  symptoms show how useful Aconite  may be in
  Heartburn, when characterized by the rising of sweetish Avater to
the mouth, a burning sensation along the oesophagus, and a feeling
of qualmishness at  the stomach.  This  affection has already been
alluded to, page 100.  Homoeopathic physicians are very much in
the habit of associating  Arsenic  with burning pains,  Both the
provings and the toxicological effects of Aconite show that a burn-
ing sensation, or the rising of a burning fluid in the  oesophagus may
constitute a characteristic indication for Aconite.

   We may here mention an affection which  is  sometimes met with
in the case of females who are troubled with bilious derangements.
We mean a
   Bad or Foul Taste in the pharynx, which is generally accompanied
Avith a qualmish feeling at the stomach.  Patients complain, of a
taste as of foul flesh in the throat.  The affection seems to be patho-
logically represented by engorgement of the capillaries, and conse-
quent secretion of foul, disorganized mucus.  It is always traceable
to, or connected with, abnormal conditions of the bilious secretions.
No  medicine will  relieve this exceedingly annoying  derangement
more speedily than Aconite, first attenuation of the tincture of the
root.

                    4. Nausea  and Vomiting.

   Aconite causes
   Loathing, qualmishness, nausea and inclination to vomit, especially 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
179
in the pit of the stomach;  afterwards this nausea and inclination to
vomit are sometimes experienced in the region of the sternum, and
in the throat, sometimes while walking  in  the  open air; sometimes
these sensations are worse  when sitting still, and abate again during
a Avalk.
  Nausea which is relieved by eating.
  Inclination to vomit as after eating anything sweet or fat.
  Vomiting,  Avith nausea, thirst,  general  heat, profuse sweat and
enuresis.
  Vomiting of a greenish-gray, watery liquid.        •
  Vomiting of green bile.
  Vomiting of blood and  mucus.
  Vomiting of blood.
  ATomiting of lumbrici.
  Vomiting accompanied  by anxiety.
  These symptoms  are of the utmost importance as therapeutic indi
cations, and may be turned to excellent account by an intelligent
homoeopathic practitioner,
  Who does not see that Aconite may prove an admirable remedy for
  Nervous Nausea of this  uncertain, wandering order, which is pic-
tured by these provings?  At times it is felt under the sternum, at
other times in the throat, wandering about according as one or the
other set of  capillary vessels may  become irritated and congested.
For this nausea depends  upon capillary engorgement, which may
itself be traceable to an. irritation of some  nervous filaments of the
great sympathetic.  It may be caused  by some  sudden emotion,  a
violent surprise, fright, or  by any sudden shock or cause whatsoever
which tends to disturb the nervous equilibrium.   One of these causes
may be pregnancy.
  Nausea of Pregnant Females is very frequently relieved by Aconite,
especially among hysteric females, when  attended with dizziness,
rush of blood, palpitation of the heart, rising of sweetish water, vom-
iting of bile.  The first six potencies will be found the  most useful.
  Nausea may be a symptom of biliousness, and hence we shall find
that in
  IJHious Nausea, Aconite is one of  our most reliable remedial agents,
It is particularly in the spring of  the year that some  persons are
liable to this kind of derangement.  They complain of loss of appe-
tite, they feel heavy, Aveak, the head feels dull and dizzy, the bowels
full and distended; the taste  in the mouth is altered, the tongue
looks coated ;  they feel sick at the stomach, are troubled with Avater-
brash, and even vomiting  of bile.   The sallow complexion and the
dull look indicate a bilious state of the system.   This whole group
of symptoms pertains to Aconite more than to any other  drug; hence
it Avill yield  to this agent.
  Vomiting, of bile  may occur in bilious fever, jaundice or in other
violent derangement of  the biliary  secretions.
  Vomiting of Blood or Ilematcmesis, may be arrested  by Aconite.
It may occur in consequence of a strain or blow upon the stomach,
in which case  Arnica may be required.  But if the  discharge of
blood should be attended Avith much anxiety, palpitation of the heart, 
180
LECTURE XII.
soreness of the epigastric region, dizziness, paleness or violent head-
ache, Aconite may prove preferable to Arnica, or else these two
medicines may be given in alternation.
  Vomiting of large quantities of dark red, coagulated blood has
been arrested by  Aconite.
  Vomiting of arterial blood, with  sweetish taste in the mouth,
swelling of the region of  the stomach, bubbling sensation and sore-
ness in this region, praecordial anxiety,  coldness of the extremities,
small,  hurried pulse, pale face,  requires Aconite.  A  drop of the
tincture or a few drops of the first attenuation in a  tumblerful  of
water may be given, a tablespoonful every five or ten  minutes, until
reaction is established, the pulse bounds up, the skin becomes warm,
and the face  looks red; after which Aconite  may be continued  at
longer intervals.
  Among the  symptoms of Aconite  there  is one Avhich bears upon
this condition very characteristically; it is this:  "Sensation as of a
cold stone lying in the stomach, notwithstanding repeated vomitings
and frequent stools."  This symptom very  often precedes an attack
of haematemesis.   After the vomiting of blood has once commenced,
the coldness may  give place to a burning sensation in the epigastric
region.

         5. Abnormal Sensations During or After a Meal.

  In this respect  the action of Aconite upon the digestive organs is
characterized by some  exceedingly interesting symptoms, among
which we distinguish the following:
  While eating, the  prover experiences a violent pressure in the
stomach, as if he  had eaten something indigestible, accompanied by
a feeling of warmth and sensitiveness in the pit of the stomach.
  'Singultus, especially  in the  morning,   or  else  after eating  or
drinking.
  These symptoms may characterize a peculiar form of
  Dyspepsia, Avith which Aconite will be found in curative homoe-
opathic adaptation ; a feeling of  weight  and fullness at the stomach,
a sensation of warmth, and sensitiveness  to  pressure in the epigastric
region, raising of wind,  and such symptoms of gastric derangement
as have been indicated under the previous  heading.
  Alany of the symptoms of  gastric derangement°to Avhich Aconite
is homoeopathic, are relieved  for a period  by eating  or drinking;
they return again one or two  hours  after.  This peculiar change
may be considered as characteristic to some extent of  the homoeopa-
thicity of Aconite to these gastric affections.

  In Acute Indigestion,  Aconite will prove indispensable.  A few
drops of the first  attenuation  made of the tincture of the root, should
be  mixed in ten tablespoonfuls of  water, of which mixture the
patient  may take a  small tablespoonful every half  hour.  Acute
indigestion is attended with a good deal of  vascular eno-oro-ement  of
the inner coats of the  stomach, and hard, aching, burnino- pains,
great soreness to contact, violent nausea, generally resulting  in 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
181
vomiting and hard straining  to  vomit.  All this distress is most
readily and permanently relieved by a few doses of Aconite.


7. Abnormal Sensations Without Reference to the Use of Food or Drink.

  Aconite  causes a series of abnormal sensations in the region of the
stomach, among which we distinguish the following:
  Pressure in the stomach and pit of the stomach as from a load or
stone, with a feeling of repletion; this pressure is sometimes increased
to asthma, or it shifts  to the back, occasioning a crampy sensation in
that part, and accompanied with a feeling of stiffness as one experi-
ences after having raised too heavy a load.
  This symptom is significative of congestion which may first affect
the stomach and then shift to the back, or even crowd upwards to-
wards the lungs.   We sometimes meet with organisms where these
engorgements or congestions of the capillary system occur as habi-
tual constitutional conditions.   The congestion may shift to various
tissues or organs:  to the back, causing a sensation as if the muscles
were strained;  to the  legs, causing a feeling of weariness and sore-
ness ; to the soles of the feet,  causing a velvety feeling  or a sensa-
tion as if one were walking on pins; and to internal organs. These
congestions are specifically acted upon by Aconite. Individuals of
a paralytic constitution  are very frequently troubled with them.
  This passive  congestion of the stomach, which is the peculiar form
with which we  have  to deal here, manifests itself by a  variety of
sensations, such as:
  A feeling of  roughness in the stomach.  This very unusual sensa-
tion is generally attended  with symptoms of bilious derangement,
sallow or even jaundiced complexion, coated tongue, foul taste, loss
of appetite, weariness.  Alix one or two drops of the German tine
ture or a drop of the  first attenuation of the  tincture of the root in
twelve tablespoonsful  of water, and give the patient a tablespoonful
every two or three hours.   This feeling of roughness may be accom-
panied by a feeling of  fullness and  oppression, and likewise by a
sensation  as  if the stomach Avere generating a  quantity of wind;
hence for
  Wind or Flatulence  on the stomach, Aconite may have to be given
as before.  Sometimes the wind is rolled off unceasingly ; the least
pressure on the region of the  stomach will bring  up  quantities of
wind.
  This flatulent congestion of  the stomach may be  distinguished by
paroxysms as if the stomach Avere swelling up and sinking  again;
this sensation may be  accompanied by shortness of breath, dizziness,
as may be  inferred from this symptom  recorded by the  provers of
Aconite: " Painful feeling  of  swelling in  the pit of the stomach,
accompanied  with want of appetite and paroxysms of shortness of
breath."
  Another important  symptom among the Aconite-provings is  the
folloAving:  "Sensation  as of a cold  stone lying in the stomach."
This sensation may characterize a peculiar condition of 
182
LECTURE XII.
   Weakness of the stomach, and  it may likewise be the precursor of
vomiting of blood.
   Another symptom is:  Contraction  of the stomach as by astrin-
gents ; and
   Feeling of weight in the stomach, with constriction in the throat
and nausea.  Hence we use Aconite in
   Cardialgia, when the stomach feels spasmodically contracted, with
hard pressure as from a stone, excessive hard aching pain, soreness;
relief is  had by belching  up a quantity of wind;  nausea and  even
retching and vomiting of  mucus and bile may be present.  Use the
German  tincture or the first attenuation of the root.
   In some forms of Dyspepsia, the sensations of weight, fullness, flat-
ulent distension, raising of wind, or the sensation  as if the stomach
were  swelling up, constitute characteristic features.   These symp-
toms are more particularly experienced after eating or drinking.

                     7. Pains in the Bowels.

   Aconite is specifically adapted to the treatment of certain forms of
Bilious Colic.  In this form of colic .the boAvels feel as if twisted  up
in a knot; they feel extremely sore, the patient complains of a burn-
ing, tearing distress in the bowels, with nausea, vomiting of bile,
dizziness, coldness  of the extremities,  chilliness,  quick and  small
pulse, succeeded by heat and dryness of the skin, dark flushes on the
cheeks, full  and bounding pulse, meteorism, constipation, dark, foul
and turbid urine.   All these symptoms characterize the action  of
toxicological or medicinal doses of Aconite.   This agent is likewise
adapted  to
   Spasmodic or Inflammatory Colic, with drawing pains in the bowels,
or pinching, griping and tearing pains;  or also  cutting and burning
pains, soreness of the integuments, hot flatulence, rumbling and fer-
mentation in the bowels.   The alvine  evacuations are more or less
interfered with, dysenteric urging or constipation  and distention of
the bowels.  The first attenuation of the tincture of the root may be
resorted  to.
   A peculiar form of this colic is a colic which might be termed.
   Umbilical Colic, consisting  in  a most painful sensation as if the
navel were drawn in.  This kind  of colic is very pointedly hinted
at in the following  symptoms: "Retraction of the umbilicus, espe-
cially early in the  morning before breakfast."   An affection of this
kind is not common, but it does occur  occasionally.

                     8.  Alvine Evacuations.

   We have seen on page 130, that Aconite causes and is there-
fore in curative rapport with bilious diarrhoea and dysentery,  even
when the discharges consist of black  and fetid stools, for Aconite
causes ''black, fetid stools."  This agent is also useful in
   Common Catarrhal Diarrhea, when the stools have a watery con-
sistence ; the discharges may either  be painless or accompanied with
more  or less pinching or griping  pain.  In this  sort of diarrhoea 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
183
the bowels may feel weak, as they do after taking a  cathartic.  If
the first  attenuation is not  sufficient, a drop  of the  tincture  in  a
tumblerful of water may be given.
  In Rheumatic Diarrhea, with  frequent scanty and loose stools
and a good deal of straining or urging, Aconite  may prove indis-
pensable.   It is likewise adapted to
  Nervous  Diarrhea or Cholerine, with nausea and  sweet, either
before  or after the evacuation.  This kind of diarrhoea may  even
occur after an emotion, fright, chagrin.
  Aconite causes white stools, with red urine;  hence in
  Diarrhoea with  deficiency  of the bilious pigment,  such as  may
occur when indurations of the liver  are present, or during chronic
jaundice, Aconite may prove indispensable.
  Aconite causes diarrhoea with enuresis and colic; hence in
  Diarrhea caused by worms,  or in
  Diarrhoea such as may trouble hysteric females, Aconite may be
depended upon as one  of our most reliable agents.
  We should not forget Aconite in
   Cholera infantum or the common Summer-complaint of children.
The character of  the discharges, the accompanying pains, the fever,
all  these symptoms point to Aconite as one of the few agents Avhich
prove specifically curative in this disease.  In this  connection let
us not forget the
  Diarrhiea which may occur during or in consequence of dentition,
where  Aconite may likewise prove  indispensable, if  the children
strain a  good  deal, the anus becomes excoriated,  and the  little
patients feel feverish, with flushed cheeks, heat about the head.
  In Diarrhiea from indigestion, when the discharges correspond with
the character  of  the Aconite discharges, Aconite may be an indis-
pensable remedy.  The discharges may be watery;  or they  may
consist of an  admixture of  mucous-  and faecal matter, having an
offensive smell, of a yellow or even dark, blackish color.
  In Chronic Diarrhea, Aconite is a  most useful agent, more par-
ticularly if the diarrhoea is symptomatic of chronic gastro-enteritis.
The patient experiences frequent urging, passes mucus, faecal matter,
and occasionally a little blood ; the bowels may feel sore, the patient
complains of a feeling of warmth in the bowels, with drawing, tear-
ing and cutting pains;  these symptoms may be present in parts or
all  together in different degress of intensity.
  We need not repeat the indications for Aconite in Cholera-morbus
and the first stage of Asiatic  Cholera. For these indication we refer
the reader to pages 130 and 131.

  Aconite has caused vomiting of lumbrici. This symptom, together
with other symptoms characteristic of Avorms,  indicate Aconite as a
remedy in
   Worm-affections, more particularly when  the following symptoms
prevail:  Feverishness,  Aoav of water from the  mouth,  nausea, sensa-
tion as of something crawling up the oesophagus; ravenous hunger,
itching  at  the nose and anus; burning and  smarting sensation at
the anus; frequent desire to urinate, nocturnal enuresis; tympanitic 
184                      LECTURE XII.
distention  of the bowels;  alternate constipation  and  diarrhoea;
involuntary passage of faeces.  Given from the first to the sixth
potency.

   Aconite  causes " momentary paralysis of the anus, and  stinging
and pressure in the anus."   These symptoms may lead to
   Prolapsus  of the  Anus, which may be very successfully treated
with Aconite.
   This condition may occur during an attack of dysentery, especially
in the case of children, in consequence of the violent straining which
may induce a sudden and violent eversion of the anus.   Under these
circumstances the anus may be seen forced out, and engorged with
blood, looking like a sacculated pouch of bloody membrane  and
muscular fibre.   Mix a drop of the tincture of the root in ten table-
spoonfuls of water, of which a small tablespoonful may be given
every hour until  the prolapsus ceases,
   Aconite  causes "painful  contractions around  the  anus."  This
symptom leads us to use this agent in
   Stricture of the Anus, where Aconite  may perhaps compete with
Nux, Alercurius corrosivis, and other drugs.
   Aconite  causes the folloAving symptoms pointing to its use in
   Hemorrlioids or Piles: " burning or sensation of heat in the haemor-
rhoidal vessels;" " sensation as of a warm  liquid being discharged
from the anus;" flow of white mucus from the anus, with  itching;
" flowing piles."
   For this burning sensation in the haemorrhoidal vessels, homoeo-
pathic physicians generally  prescribe Arsenic or Carbo vegetabilis.
In this they follow a blind routine.  Charcoal has nothing whatsoever
to do with  it.  We have known the first attenuation of the tincture
of the root of Aconite  to relieve this  burning  distress, when the
patient was almost made frantic by the horrid and most agonizing
suffering.
   A discharge of blood from  the haemorrhoidal vessels, when attended
with weakness, or even fainting, in consequence of the pain and loss
of blood, is arrested by Aconite more frequently than by any other
agent.  Give from the first to the sixth potency.
   Our provings show that even the so called
   White Piles, or  a continual discharge of white mucus from the anus,
may be removed  by means of Aconite.

   Aconite  may  be  indispensable to counteract the  consequences
of a
   Sudden Suppression of Piles, such as headache, backache, palpitation
of the heart, violent colic,  dyspnoea.  In this connection  we may
likewise allude to Aconite as  the most appropriate remedy for the
consequences of
  Suppression of  Diarrhiea,  which may take place  either in conse-
quence of a sudden violent emotion, a fright, for instance,  or as the
effect of  an opiate, an astringent,  such as Opium, Lead,  etc.  This
suppression may  be characterized by dangerous congestions about
the brain, heart, lungs, which Aconite will remove. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
185
  Aconite will also heal
  Soreness and Excoriations around the anus, with stinging, smarting
and burning pains, exudation of serum, even when of a sanguineous
character.  The  bowels are  generally constipated, and  the  parts
around the anus may even be studded  with little boils, or inflamed
tumors.
  Few homoeopathic practitioners are aware that Aconite is a remedy
for
  Constipation; yet among the symptoms of Aconite we have "hard
stool passed with hard pressing;" and  as one of the curative effects
of Aconite we have this record in Jahr's Symptomen-Codex: retention
of stool in acute  affections.
  In a case of acute catarrhal or rheumatic fever, either dianhoea or
constipation may be  present.  This may depend upon peculiar con-
stitutional  tendencies, or  upon the peculiar  manner  in which the
functions of the  liver are  involved.  Aconite may be indicated by
either condition.   Do not imitate the idle manoeuvre of many physi-
cians who,  under these circumstances, consider themselves bound to
associate with Aconite  the purely symptomatic use  of  Pulsatilla,
Bryonia, Nux or some other medicine supposed  to  be  adapted to
the diarrhoea or  constipation existing in the case.  If constipation is
present during an inflammatory fever to which Aconite is homoeo-
pathic, this agent will sufficiently restore the irritability of the intes-
tinal fibre to induce regular contractions and consequent evacuations.
  A single close of  Aconite, first  to sixth potency, is  sometimes
sufficient to induce a discharge from the bowels, after rhubarb, jalap,
calomel  had failed.  We once were called to such a case, Avhere a
woman who had a common rheumatic  fever,  had taken a whole lot
of cathartics and drastics for the  purpose of procuring stool.  These t
drugs had  remained inoperative.   AYe  found  the boAvels enormously
distended and utterly torpid; not the remotest disposition to have a
discharge.   A single dose of Aconite excited the  peristaltic motion
and procured complete relief, besides inducing copious perspiration
and effecting a perfect cure of the fever.
  Under the allceopathic  treatment of acute rheumatic fevers, the
bowels are very  apt to remain torpid.  We once cured a constipation
of this kind, where the patient,  a  lady of 75 years, had  not had a
passage  from  the bowels  for twenty-one  days. A single drop of
Aconite, 18th potency, was sufficient to move them; she discharged
a hard, dry substance which looked like burnt peat.  The bowels
remained regular after this one evacuation.  The  character of such
a black-looking discharge corresponds Avith the following Aconite-
symptom :  " Discharge of black, fetid  faecal matter, which may be
either soft, diarrhceic, or hard and burnt like  coal."
  In  some forms of spinal  irritation, when that  portion  of the
column AYhich supplies nerves to the liver, is the seat of the trouble,
the bowels are very torpid, and  Avhat passes the bowels looks  dark
and burnt  like coal.   Aconite is the proper remedy for this sort of
torpor.
  Aconite  may likewise be necessary every now and then, when the
constipation depends upon a form of liver-complaint to which Aconite 
186
LECTURE XIII.
is homoeopathic; the stools have a dark-brown, dry appearance, and
are pressed out Avith great difficulty.

  Aconite may likewise be useful in some cases of constipation in-
duced by abuse of cathartics; it may help to restore the weakened
contractile energies of the intestinal fibre.
                LECTURE  XIII.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  We have shown in former paragraphs  the homoeopathicity of
Aconite to Cystitis and Urethritis.  Among the provings of Aconite
we read the following symptoms which unequivocally point to such
affections:
  Retention of urine, with pressure in the bladder, or stitches in the
region of the kidneys;
  Burning and tenesmus of the neck of the bladder, between the
acts of micturition;
  Single shooting stitches in the urethra, when walking;
  Burning in the urethra from one orifice to the other, during mic-
turition ;
  Brovra, burning  urine, Avith brick-colored sediment.
  Cystitis may occur in consequence of rheumatic exposure, or of an
injury to the  bladder;  urethritis  may  take  place from the same
causes.
  In  Dysuria  or even Ischuria, Aconite may prove  a sovereign
remedy.  A cold on the bladder may induce this affection ; there is
a constant and most  painful urging to urinate, Avith discharge of a
drop of urine every now  and then, or an utter inability to urinate.
Besides the above-mentioned symptoms, the following symptom like-
wise indicates Aconite in this affection: "Difficult and scanty emis-
sion of urine, with frequent urging, and  sometimes accompanied
AYith pinching around the umbilicus."

  Aconite causes:  " Alomentary p>aralysis of the bladder, with invol-
untary emission of  urine."  This symptom speaks for itself.  A para-
lytic condition of this kind may occur among old  people, or  as the
effect of a cold, or as a symptom of constitutional weakness.  Aconite
is a capital remedy in this affection ; even  in chronic cases it may
be used every now and then as an intercurrent remedy.   If paralysis
of the bladder should develop itself as the sequela of an operation,
Aconite is the  very best  remedy to restore  the  contractility of the
sphincter.
  Aconite causes :  " Enuresis, sometimes accompanied with profuse
sweat, or with diarrhoea and colic ;  or likewise with distortion of the
eyes and contraction of the feet."
  This symptom justifies the use of Aconite in 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
187
   Enuresis, when worm-symptoms are  present; or when the weak-
 ness was induced by a cold, a fright.   Also in the
   Nocturnal Enuresis of children, Aconite may do us great serA'ice.

   This symptom has likewise induced us to use Aconite with good
 effect in acute
   Albuminuria, during the first stage of the disease when the deposit
 consists chiefly of glucose or grape-sugar, and the urine looks watery.
 Aconite diminishes the quantity of urine and shows a decided tend-
 ency to check the waste of sugar.

   Aconite  produces symptoms which point to this  agent  as a
 remedy in
   Irritable Bladder, especially of hysteric females; it causes: " Painful,
 anxious urging to urinate, which is  sometimes excited by merely
 touching the abdomen, and at times results in the frequent discharge
 of a watery urine.
   Shaking  sensation in the region of the bladder, during urination.
   The  bladder feels painful, when walking.
   All these symptoms exist with  more or less intensity in the  case
 of females Avho are troubled  with  hysteria.
   Aconite may likewise be used in a  case of
   Renal Calculus, for the purpose of  relieving the spasm excited by
 the passage of the calculus through the ureter or urethra.
   Let us not overlook the eminent use of Aconite in
'  Acute GonorrJiea, with burning pains which cause the patient to
 faint, inability  to urinate, discharge of  blood from the  urethra;
 Aconite, given in one or two drops of the tincture in a tumblerful
 of water, will afford great relief.  It is  more particularly indicated,
 if the sudden arrest of the discharge in consequence of  exposure to
! catarrhal or rheumatic  causes,  should  lead to agonizing distress,
i haemorrhage from the urethra.
   Dr. Helmuth, of St. Louis, has  mentioned  a case of  gonorrhoeal
 urethritis Avhere the discharge being suddenly arrested,  a most  ago-
 nizing burning pain was experienced  by the patient. This pain AYas
 attended Avith haemorrhage from the urethra.   After trying Canthar-
 ides and other medicines without any result, the tincture of Aconite-
 root was given in drop-doses, a feAV doses being sufficient not only to
 quiet the pain and arrest the haemorrhage, but to remove the Avhole
 trouble.
   In  the January number of  the Liverpool Medico-Chirurgical
 Review, 1858, the following interesting cases of Stricture are reported,
 evincing the sedative properties  of Aconite in spasm and inflamma-
 tion in  a most satisfactory manner:
   " I had  recently  under my care,  at  the  Infirmary,"  says  Air.
 Long, "at the same time, three cases of irritable and almost imperme-
 able stricture of the urethra; in all of which it was impossible to
 make any  progress  by  dilatation, in consequence of  the severe
 rigors Avhich ensued after each attempt to pass the catheter.  Find-
ing that the ordinary appliances did  not prevent the occurrence of
the rigors, and that the introduction of the instrument could not be 
183
LECTURE XIII.
attempted oftener than three or four times in a fortnight, in consequence
of the severe local and  constitutional irritation which folloAved its
use, I adopted the following plan : I gave two minims of Fleming's
tincture of Aconite,  in  an ounce of  water, immediately after  the
introduction of the instrument.   The result was as follows:  In one
case the tincture Avas given without any  omission,  after every intro-
duction of the instrument; no rigors occurred, and  the treatment
progressed without any interruption to a favorable termination.  In
the second, the same result occurred.  On one occasion, the tincture
was omitted as an experiment, and a rigor  occurred, followed by its
usual consequences.  The tincture was resumed, and no rigor again
occurred, though the instrument was allowed to remain in the stric-
ture for half an hour or longer.  This case  did well, but the man
left the  Infirmary before the dilatation was fully completed.
  In the third case, which was the most  severe,  no rigor occurred
whilst the tincture was given, and the case was progressing favor-
ably.   The Aconite was, as in the second case, omitted, for the sake
of experiment, and two introductions of the instrument were effected
without the occurrence of rigor.  On the third occasion, however, so
severe a rigor, and such untoward local and constitutional symptoms
Avere  experienced, that up to the present moment no further use of
the instrument could be attempted.  I conclude that in the above
cases, the tincture of Aconite, by its  direct  sedative power, exerted a
powerful influence in preventing the occurrence of rigors, and  that
in similar cases it may become  a valuable  addition to the  means
usually employed."
   The sedative power of Aconite here alluded to, depends upon its
spasm and inflammation-exciting properties.  AYe knoAV that large
doses of Aconite will excite spasms and inflammation in the healthy,
and we therefore infer—and experience justifies this inference—
that these symptoms Avhen occurring as  signs of a natural malady,
will disappear under the use of the same agent.

   In a case of Urethiritis which I treated some time ago, I had strik-
ing evidence of the necessity of  conducting  the medical treatment
of a case in accordance with the  dictates of a sound pathology, and
not by the delusive light of purely symptomatic  indications.   The
patient, a man of about fifty, had been exposed to  a violent draught
of air, the consequence of which was  an acute inflammation of the
mucous lining of the uretha.   A  profuse  discharge of purulent
mucus soon set in, which was considered as an indication for Canna-
bis, and other medicines among  the symptoms of  which " discharge
of pus or mucus from the urethra" may be found.  Of course,  such
treatment was utterly unavailing, and after having been trifled with
for weeks, his recovery did not  take  place until, by my advice, he
put himself on the  use of Aconite.   This was the  remedy  in the
case.   The purulent discharge was the inevitable consequence of the
vascular engorgements in the urethra,  which furnished an exorbi-
tant supply to the secretory action of the  lining membrane.  And,
reasoning a little further, we  readily perceive that the secreted mucus
must be thick and  purulent, just  as water which  is deprived of
motion, will become foul, muddy and offensive. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
189
                      SEXUAL  GROUP.

  In many derangements to which the  sexual  organs are subject,
Aconite is an  eminently useful  and indeed  indispensable agent.
Many of these  derangements have already been pointed out; we
will now complete the list, and endeavor to establish the homoeo-
pathicity of Aconite to these affections  by referring  them to the
physiological effects which this drug has developed by provings.
  Aconite causes a few symptoms denoting inflammatory irritation,
such as:
  Itching of the prepuce; stinging and pinching in the glans Avhen
urinating.  These symptoms may occur in
  Balanitis, especially when arising from a cold.

  Aconite  causes a pain in the scrotum as if contused.  This symp-
tom  may point to the use of this  agent in Orchutis, or inflammatory
conditions of the scrotum, such as may develop themselves in conse-
quence of retrocession  of  gonorrhoea,  contusions,  rheumatic- in-
flammation.

  Aconite affects the sexual instinct as well as the sexual poAver.  It
causes amorous paroxysms, or else a diminution of the sexual desire,
or an increase of the  sexual desire, alternating with sudden relaxa-
tion  of the penis. It also causes a drawing up of the scrotum, and
frequent involuntary nocturnal emissions.
  Here we have a series of effects showing that Aconite affects the
nervous life of  the sexual organs as it is  affected by
  Self abuse or  excessive sexual  intercourse.   Young men who are
addicted to this  vice,'often complain of a Aveakness of the sexual
organs characterized by spasmodic but speedily-exhausted erections,
ending in sudden  relaxation of the penis and  sometimes attended
with spasmodic retraction of  the scrotum.
  Involuntary Emissions arising from such a cause, are advantageously
treated AYith Aconite.  There is a  constant tendency  to vascular
engorgements of  the sexual organs AYhich result in these extremely
Avcakening losses.

  A remarkable symptom of Aconite is the following; violent itch-
ing of the  scrotum obliging  one to scratch the part until it bleeds.
We haA-e frequently met Avith this,
  Itchiing of  the Scrotum, in the case of nervous and bilious persons
of a cachectic, scrofulous constitution ; it is attended with a burning
distress about the scrotum, and is almost  maddening.  Aconite may
afford  relief in  some cases.

  It is especially in the case of females that Aconite affects the
sexual life with a peculiar intensity and  A'aried power.  It causes a
profuse discharge of the menstrual fluid  amounting even to haemor-
rhage ; hence we find Aconite specifically adapted to
  Metrorrhagia, when the blood is bright-red, and a certain order of
constitutional symptoms is present, such as : dizziness, rush of blood 
190
LECTURE XIII.
to the head, palpitation of the  heart, feeble and nervous pulse, with
coldness  of the extremities, sickness at  the stomach, bearing-down
pain or weight in the uterine region.   Even in simple
  Excessive Menstruation, when similar symptoms are present, more
particularly in the case of nervous, sensitive, plethoric females, Aco-
nite will  be found eminently useful.  From  the first to the sixth
potency may be sufficient.
  Amenorrhea or menstrual suppression in consequence of exposure
to wet, or  similar  rheumatic causes, may  yield to Aconite.  The
patients may feel weary and heavy, the bowels may feel sore and dis-
turbed, and troublesome symptoms of congestion  about the head,
lungs, heart, liver, or small of the back, may show themselves.
  AYe have explained, on previous occasions, how it is that the same
medicine may be in homoeopathic  rapport with tAvo apparently an-
tagonistic conditions.  Large closes of Aconite may induce uterine
haemorrhage, small doses would bring about menstrual suppression,
although moderate doses of Aconite repeated for a sufficient length
of time, may develop a congested and relaxed condition of the uterine
vessels which must inevitably lead to abnormal discharges of blood.

  Aconite  not only causes profuse menstruation, but the flow may
be accompanied with spasmodic pains in the bowels ; violent  drag-
ging pains in the uterine region, nausea, headache, paleness of the
face; hence in
  Dysmenorrhea where these symptoms are present, Aconite proves
a very useful agent.  We have often relieved in a very  short space
of time the most  intense distress, more  particularly when given in
alternation with Cocculus, where  Cocculus alone seemed insufficient.

  Aconite  causes a copious, tenacious, yellowish
  Leucorrhea, which may sometimes exist in the place  of, or after
the termination of a menstrual discharge, more particularly in the
case of plethoric individuals.  A few drops of the German tincture
or of the first three  attenuations of the root are appropriate doses
in these affections.

  Aconite  causes "frenzy on  the appearance of  the catamenia."
Alay we not avail ourselves of this symptom as an indication for
Aconite in
  Puerperal Mania and  Convulsions? It is more especially, if symp-
toms had occurred during pregnancy to which Aconite is homoeo-
pathic, that this agent will prove useful  in those dreadful disorders.
Among these  symptoms Ave distinguish:  apprehensions of death;
frequent  congestions  about the head;  fitful mood, alternate depres-
sion of spirits and extreme mirthfulness.   An attack of this kind
may likewise set in in consequence of a sudden fright, with suppres-
sion of the lochial discharge or milky secretion.

  Aconite  causes:  " Increase of milk in the mammae."   This symp-
tom indicates the use of Aconite in
  Galactorrhea, in the case of  plethoric females, with  highly sensi- 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
191
tive constitutions and nervous temperaments.   Per contra, we may
use Aconite for the purpose of stimulating the secretion of milk in
  Agalactia, or deficient secretion of milk, especially in the case of
anaemic  girls who are habitually cold, or  in  the  case  of nervous,
delicate  females  whose lochial  discharges are excessive.   It  will
likewise  promote the Aoav of milk in the case of plethoric females
whose breasts are turgid Avith milk, but where the irritability of the
galactiferous vessels seems inadequate to the business of excreting
the fluid.
                   CATARRHAL GROUP.

  In this range Aconite proves a most important agent.  Its action
upon the Schneiderian membrane is characterized by the following
symptoms:
  Violent sneezing, with  pain in the abdomen, or in the region of
the left ribs;
  Coryza, headache, humming in the ears and colic;
  Complete dryness of the nose ;
  Discharge of a clear liquid from the nose.
  Aconite also causes: a stupefying pressure over the root of the
nose, and bleeding from the nose.
  Here we have  a group of exceedingly characteristic symptoms
which  point to an irritation of the Schneiderian membrane such as
may occur in a common
   Cold in the Head,  Catarrh,, Influenza, especially if this pressure over
the root of the nose is present, or a Aveight in the frontal  region,
indicating engorgement of the frontal sinuses  which is sometimes
relieved by nose-bleed.  It is strange that homoeopathic physicians
are so  generally inclined to overlook the homoeopathicity of Aconite
to catarrhal irritation of the Schneiderian membrane.  What is the
use of our provings, if, instead of being guided- by this  kind of
experience in the application of our drugs, we  keep folloAving the
dark and brutalizing  banner of empirical routine ?  If, in  the first
stage of  a cold in the head, there is violent  sneezing, discharge of
water from the nose and eyes, frontal headache, or simply a dullness
and tightness in the frontal region, AYith coldness or chilliness of the
body, Aconite will  prove one of our most reliable remedies if given
in the  lower potencies.
  A catarrhal affection of this kind may come to us after it has been
neglected either by a  complete absence of treatment or by treatment
of a wrong kind.   A  thick, purulent mucus is discharged from the
nose ;  the nose may feel painful even up  the cribriform plate ; the
suppurative process  and consequent  soreness may even  extend
throughout the whole tract of the frontal sinuses, causing  a great
deal of distress, stupefying dullness  and  heaviness in the forehead,
inability to think  clearly and coherently, and  even constitutional
disturbances of a more or less marked  character.  Again and again
have we seen such difficulties yield to the steady use of the tincture
of Aconite in tablespoonful doses  of  a  solution of one drop in a 
192
LECTURE XIII.
tumblerful of water.   Many a chronic catarrh  is entailed  upon a
patient AYhich might have been prevented by the use of Aconite.  It
is generally in catarrhal irritations of  the Schneiderian membranes
where Aconite is  indicated and not used, that a chronic catarrh is
the consequence of this most reprehensible  neglect.   In
   Chronic  Catarrh, where the nose seemed stopped  up,  and Avhere
the patient is frequently troubled with discharges of  pus  and blood,
or even thick mucus  from the nose, having an offensive smell, and <
culminating every now and then in acute paroxysms,  AAuth tight
feeling in the frontal  region, aching pains  in the forehead, sense of
swelling in the nose, sneezing and other  symptoms  of an acute
catarrh, Aconite is an indispensable agent  both  for  the  purpose of
controlling the paroxysm, and  as a neutralizer of the chronic taint.
In this business the  Aconite may have to be  associated with the
Bichromate of Potash, Sulphur, and other  antipsorics.  Aconite  is
homoeopathic, as our provings show us, to
   Dry Catarrh, an affection which may befal both full-grown persons
and  children, and  is  sometimes very anoying, especially to  infants
at the breast and to larger children.  The nose seems stopped up, a
difficulty which is more particularly apparent  when children are
asleep; they have  to  breathe with their mouths wide open.  The
following  symptom among the provings points to this  condition:
"The breathing through  the nose is  interrupted especially when
asleep."
   AYe have often relieved paroxysms of this kind with a few doses
of Aconite internally and a weak solution rubbed at the same time
upon the nose.

   The violent sneezing which Aconite causes, points to  the use of
this agent in the
   Spasmodic Sneezing to Avhich some individuals are  subject.  The
spasmodic irritation of the Schneiderian membrane is sometimes so
violent that the patient seeks relief by artificial means.  The anti-
spasmodic virtues of Aconite point to this agent as one of the means
of quieting the spasm, especially if the sneezing is attended with a
sensation as though the head should fly to  pieces, or if  it jars the
abdomen causing  painfullness of the abdominal integuments and
internal tissues.

  The peculiar action of Aconite upon the  windpipe  and bronchial
passages is characteristic of catarrhal irritation of various  forms and
degrees of intensity.   Aconite  causes,  among other  symptoms, the
following series of more or less important therapeutic indications:
  Attacks of catarrh and coryza, sometimes  accompanied with head-
ache, colic, humming in the ears and coryza.
  Hoarseness early in the  morning.
  Croaking voice.
  Sensitiveness of  the larynx to the inspired air, as  if the mucous
membrane Avere deprived of its epithelium.
  Feeble sound of  the voice.
  Sensation as if the sides of the larynx were pressed together. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
193
   Pressure and burning pains along the trachea, down to the pit of
the stomach.
   Roughness extending along the trachea, and  inducing frequent
coughing fits.
   Sensation as if the trachea had gone to sleep.

   The first symptom of this series indicates Aconite in
   Common Influenza, where a sense of chilliness,  soreness  of the
flesh, weariness, etc., are likewise present.   The  first six potencies
may be used.
   The next  symptom: Hoarseness and croaking  voice, or feeble
sound of the voice, shows that Aconite may enable  us to restore the
use of the voice, if it should have become weakened or lost in con-
sequence of some cause or other, exposure to rheumatic influences,
excessive exertions while talking or singing, or a mechanical injury
of the larynx, a fall, for instance, upon this organ.
   Catarrhi.al  Hoarseness may yield  quite readily to Aconite, if the
patient complains of much dryness in  the throat, or a feeling  of
roughness, Avarmth, fullness or a choky sensation.  This kind  of
hoarseness, provided Aconite  is in homoeopathic rapport with it, is
never Avithout some alteration of the pulse and temperature of the
skin ;  the pulse is somewhat accelerated, rising perhaps from 75  to
85 beats; and a certain degree of feverishness is necessarily present,
some chilliness or a sense of coldness at first, folloAved by a feeling
of Avarmth and some moisture.
   Hoarseness may arise from a mechanical injury of the larynx,
more particularly from a bloAV or fall upon this organ.  An injury
of this kind ma}r lead to complete
  Aphwnia or loss of voice which may terminate in laryngeal phthisis.
No medicine seems to be possessed  of as much power as Aconite,  to
remove the consequences  of such  an  accident.  It neutralizes the
effects of such a violent shock  upon the nervous system, and  dis-
perses the capillary engorgement Avhich will necessarily set in in the
injured part, leading to suppuration, ulceration and fatal  phthisis.
The lower potencies and even the tincture may be used.

  There is a species of hoarseness Avhich comes on more particularly
toAvards evening, a sort of
   Chronic evening-hoarseness, most generally the result of a neglected
or mismanaged catarrh, and very frequently accompanied by a feel-
ing of weakness in the bronchial passages, a sense of oppression or
even some aching pain  or soreness in the chest.  For this form  of
chronic hoarseness the lower potencies of Aconite  may prove emi-
nently useful.

  Hoarseness may be the beginning of
  Chironic Bronchi it is. The patient complains of soreness in the larynx
and trachea, raises a SAveetish mucus; he experiences some heat in
the parts, an aching pain  and even a  little soreness when making
pressure externally.  Even a little blood may be hawked up.  Here
Aconite will often succeed, if a cure is  at  all possible, in arresting
                               13 
194
LECTURE XIII.
the development of the bronchitis, and finally restoring the patient's
health.  In an affection of this kind, where the pathological character
of the disease remains the same,  notwithstanding apparent  symp-
tomatic changes, it would be absurd to adopt the plan Avhich is so
frequently pursued by superficial symptomists, namely, to change
the remedy AArith every  change in the apparent symptoms.  The
leading remedy which will quicken  the sinking innervation, and
restore the physiological harmony of the suffering tissues, is Aconite,
Avhich may be associated  AYith one or two appropriate  antipsorics,
Avithout going the round  of the Alateria Aledica.

  There are other symptoms  in the above mentioned  series  which
point to chronic bronchitis.   One is the sensation as if the trachea
had gone to sleep.   We have met with this symptom in the incipient
stage of this disease.
  Other symptoms are the pressure  and burning pains along the
trachea, doAvn to the pit of the stomach, and likeAvise the  sensation
of roughness doAvn the trachea, inducing frequent coughing.
  The "sensitiveness of  the larynx to  the inspired air, as  if the
mucous membrane were deprived of its epithelium," is a distinct
indication for Aconite in  deep-seated inflammatory affections of the
larynx, which, if of a chronic character, are likely to terminate in dis-
organization of the lining membrane, more particularly in
  Laryngeal Phithiisis ; or we  diagnose from this symptom
  Laryngitis, either acute or chronic, which may prove a curable
malady.   If I recommend Aconite is this affection, you at once per
ceive that my recommendation is based upon the results of positive
experimentation.   Nor AAill it be necessary to resort to the tincture ;
the first six potencies will be found amply sufficient to effect curative
results.   In
   Croup, Aconite is likewise indicated by this symptom.   If used in
time, it may prevent the formation of a false membrane.  The symp-
toms which characterize the inflammatory stage of croup, inflamma-
tory fever, hoarseness, shrill and cracking sound of the voice, redness
of the fauces and velum extending doAvn the throat as far as we can
see, with signs of incipient exudation on  the inflamed parts, corres-
pond with the physiological action of Aconite upon the throat and
larynx.

  Among the symptoms of Aconite there is one which deserves par-
ticular mention; it is this:  " Paralytic weakness of the epiglottis,
causing the ready passage of food and drink into the larynx during
deglutition, which induces a suffocative sensation, AYith cough."
  This weakness may occur as  an actual morbid condition, and is
generally  represented pathologically by congestion and  consequent
tumefaction of the epiglottis.   A change of this  kind may likewise
constitute a* prominent feature in
  Laryngismus stridulus  or Asthima Millari, in which affection Aco
nite is eminently specific; the affection is characterized by violent
paroxysms of suffocative  breathing which often rouse the child from
its slumber with a  shrill cry; the pulse becomes  small and hurried, 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
195
the face looks congested, purplish, the lips are blue, swollen, the eyes
express agonizing distress.   Give Aconite, first potency.

  The action of Aconite upon the air-passages is characterized by
   Cough AYhich has a catarrhal or rheumatic character.  According
to our recorded provings, Aconite causes a
  Dry and hard cough;
  Violent, dry cough, with spasmodic constriction of the anus;
  Short and dry cough arising from a titillation in the larynx; the
cough is  particularly excited by smoking, or after  drinking, or at
night;
  Cough which is worse at night, when the paroxysms set in every
half hour;        ,
  Cough, with a fluid, frothy expectoration ;
  AYhen coughing, the chest feels sore, and the larynx raw.
  These different forms of  cough occur more  particularly-in conse-
quence of a  cold on the chest.  Cough to which Aconite  is homoe-
opathic, has a more or less spasmodic character.  It  is a fatiguing,
wearing cough, as if  the chest should be torn to pieces or as if the
brain should be shattered by the concussion.   The cough may seem
to  proceed from  a  sore  spot  in  the air-passages, or even from the
larynx, the bifurcation  of  the trachea.   This kind of  cough may
occur in a chronic form, when a dose of Aconite may still be indis-
pensable every now and then.   Pulmonary engorgements are always
present in cough which requires Aconite for  its remedial agent; a
certain order of pains corresponds with these  engorgements, such as
aching, sore,  shooting, sticking  pains.   Several of  these Aconite
symptoms point very clearly at
  Pleuro-pneumonia or Pleurisy; they are " stitches of various degrees
of  intensity, in the chest and sides of the chest, especially during an
inspiration and when coughing, frequently accompanied with a plain-
tive and whining mood, with anguish and ill-humor,  or with oppres-
sion of breathing."   Another symptom rearls :
  " Lancinations in the region of  the heart, apparently in the pleura
costalis, hindering respiration and the erect posture,  with  sensitive-
ness to pressure in this portion of the thorax.

  The congestion which Aconite  excites in the lungs, is  marked by
a series of peculiar pains and abnormal sensations generally.   AYe
have
  Aching, oppressive and constrictive pain in the chest or side of the
chest;
  Pain in the chest as if the sides of the chest were  drawn towards
each other;
  Feeling of weight in the chest as if it were compressed on all sides;
  Sobbing inspirations owing to a retarded circulation of the blood,
and a distinctly-felt congestion of blood in the lungs;
  AVeight and a feeling of  fulness in the chest, with  sensation as if
the lungs would not expand sufficiently, which frequently obliges one
to draAv a long breath;
  Oppression of the chest, increased by a deep inspiration; 
196
LECTURE XIII.
  Aching pain in the upper and left  region of the chest; the place
is painful when touched ;
  Feeling of weight behind the sternum, preventing deep inspiration;
  Painful pressure from the sternum to the vertebral column;_
  Weight in the chest, accompanied by a number of fine, but violent
stitches in the left breast, from Avithout inwards;
  Violent darting stitches in the chest;
  Soreness behind the sternum as if the parts Avere bruised ;
  Feeling of  heat in the lungs;
  Burning sensation in the lungs as if some hot  fluid would rise
into the mouth.
  These very characteristic effects of Aconite upon the respiratory
apparatus occur more or less in disease of the lungs and bronchial
tubes which are characterized by acute or chronic congestion.  When
these  symptoms  occur, cough  is generally present.  This cough is
very frequently of a tearing character, spasmodic and paroxysmal.  It
is peculiar to affections with which Aconite is in therapeutic rap-
port, to be exacerbated in the evening and forepart of the night.  This
characteristic peculiarity  likewise occurs among  the  provings  of
Aconite,  where we find the following record.  " In the evening, all
the  chest-symptoms are  aggravated."   The expectoration which
accompanies the cough, is of various kinds, frothy, fluid like water,
albuminous, purulent and even bloody as we shall see by and by.

  Some of the  symptoms which the provings  of Aconite have
yielded, show its relation to a state of passive congestion or
  Anemia of the lungs ; among these symptoms Ave distinguish for
instance the folloAving:
  " Creeping and crawling in the  chest as of beetles; sobbing inspi-
rations ;  feeling of fullness and Aveight in the chest;  the chest feels
Aveary and exhausted."
  This creeping and crawling sensation in the lungs Ave have often
known to occur in the case of individuals Avhose lungs feel exhausted,
emptied out as it were; in the case of females for instance whose
chests have become Avorn out by excessive nursing.  Aconite, third or
sixth potency, will re-excite the process of innervation, and this stim-
ulating effect of the drug is generally marked by a creeping or crawl-
ing sensation through the lungs.  Most homoeopathic physicians who
are simply guided in the  use  of drugs by the reminiscences of the
past,  consider Aconite homoeopathic  only to  states of hyperaemia,
such  as occur in acute congestions or inflammations.   It is  only the
new and progessive  minds of our School who seem to be  aware of
the fact that Aconite is likewise homoeopathic to the opposite states
of anemia, more  particularly Avhen induced  by  such   draining
processes as bleeding, nursing, or even when merely symptomatic
of a chlorotic diathesis, or of tuberculosis resulting from a chlorotic
condition of  the system.  If losses of the vital fluids  are the cause
of anaemia, Aconite should be administered in small doses, hardly
ever below the sixth potency, lest the subsequent reaction should be
too violent.  If a  chlorotic or tubercular diathesis is the  constitu-
tional cause or rather the determining condition of anaemia, Aconite 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.    <•
197
may very frequently be  given in much  larger doses;  even the
tincture of the root may be admissible in some cases.   In making
this assertion, we of course speak from our own experience, which
we are prepared to substantiate by a number of facts.

   Among these  chest-symptoms of  Aconite,  there is one which
deserves particular mention ;  it is this : " Alucous rattling which can
be heard at  a distance."
   I desire to invite your attention to this symptom.  Your may hear
this rattling, as if the air-passages were full of loose mucus, in
   Caiarrhus senilis,  or the bronchial catarrh of  old people which is
so apt to terminate in paralysis.  We  also hear it in the catarrh of
children who seem  to  be choked by this rattling mucus without
being able to hawk it up.  AYe are here reminded by our provings
that, if this symptom should occur in catarrh Avhich has assumed a
predominant nervous form, Aconite is one of the medicines Avhich
is in hooeopathic rapport  with the disease.

   We have to single  out  another symptom Avhich Ave  have met
with in
   Mucous Philhiisis ;  it is this: " when breathing, the air-passages feel
distended, so that the air passes  with extreme facility  in and out."
When occurring as a natural symptom, it seems to imply a thinness
of the mucuous lining  in consequence of the excessive Avaste, and
must therefore be looked upon as an unfavorable indication.  In the
course  of mucous phthisis, Aconite may be resorted to every noAV
and then, but it should  not be administered in too low a dose.

   The symptom: " Rattling and vibratory trembling of the trachea,"
which we find  recorded among the  provings, has been  known to
occur in the course of
   Tracheal  Phithisis ; it evidences greatly  impaired innervation of
the affected part, and therefore calls for the occasional exhibition
of a dose of Aconite.

   The  spasm-exciting  properties possessed by Aconite render it
valuable in
   Whooping-cough, especially during the first stage, when the cough
is dry, spasmodic, attended with a good deal  of  wheezing, fever,
burning pain in the larynx  and trachea, vomiting after the par-
oxysm.  Give third to tAvelfth potency.
   For the Spasmodic Cough Avhich sometimes remains after measles,
with  soreness in the chest, titillation in the larynx, expectoration of
a frothy or  a glassy mucus, Aconite is one of  the remedies  which
may have to be given every  now and then.

   Aconite has caused cough, with expectoration of  blood ; hence in
   Hemoptysis, or bloody cough, we shall find Aconite not only use-
ful but in many cases an indispensable specific.  AYe have already
alluded to this fact  Avhen speaking of haemorrhage.  This kind of
cough  may occur in consequence of various causes, a strain, a con-
cussion of the chest, an habitual disposition to pulmonary plethora,
a neglected catarrh, tuberculosis, suppression  of the menstrual or 
198
LECTURE XIII.
haemorrhoidal discharge.  In one  case the patient was a  pregnant
female; there was no  pain, but  nightly anguish,'constant moaning
and lamenting, tendency to  start, redness of the face, improvement
in a recumbent posture.
   A very common cause of  haemoptysis is pulmonary tuberculosis.
In consequence  of  a  cold, a  tuberculous  portion of lung  may
become irritated, the tubercles may become softened, and a cough
may ensue attended with discharge of the softened tuberculous mass
and a greater or less quantity of blood.  This form of haemoptysis
is very often the beginning of consumption.  The patient complains
of a sore aching pain  at a certain  place in the chest, more particu-
larly in the  upper lobes,  from which the  paroxysms  of cough
emanate.   The  cough is  of  a  spasmodic  character,  exhausting,
generally worse  at night.  For an acute cough of this kind we can
safely recommend Aconite as  one  of our most reliable therapeutic
agents. In many of these cases the potencies may be sufficient, but
hardly ever above the third.  We have frequently found it neces-
sary to use the tincture, one or two drops in twelve tablespoonfuls
of water
   Our distinguished countryman Benjamin  Rush regarded  blood-
letting as the chief remedy for pulmonary phthisis.  At the same
time  he stated it as his belief that, if there were a medicine  in
nature capable  of superseding the  use of  the  lancet,  he should
accept this medicine as a remedy for pulmonary phthisis.  If Dr.
Rush had been acquainted with the physiological action of Aconite,
he would probably have recommended this agent as a substitute for
blood-letting in  phthisis pulmonalis.  Although not a panacea, yet
it  is  undoubtedly one  of our  most efficient  and  therefore most
important remedies in this disease.

  Judging by the physiological effects of Aconite upon the respira-
tory organs, we may recommend this drug for
  Asthma_ of various degrees of intensity.  We find it indicated  in
asthma with a spasmodic contractive  sensation across the chest, and
a feeling of oppressive  anxiety.   Also in
  Asthmatic  Complaints of sensitive  plethoric young females  who
lead a sedentary life, or when the attack is brought on by the least
excitement.
  Asthimatic  Complaints of fulbgrown people, especially  when the
attack is brought on  by the  spontaneous  retrocession  or violent
suppression of an acute rash upon the neck or chest, or when it is
accompanied by violent congestion of blood to the head,  vertigo, a
full and strong pulse, or even haemoptysis.
  AVe shall find  Aconite eminently useful in
  Angina  Pectoris, for it  causes "paroxysms  of suffocation, with
anxiety."

  The action of  Aconite upon the heart is  very marked, pointing
to the use of this agent in various important affections' to which
allusion has already been  made  in previous  paragraphs, more
particularly on page 140.  Among the heart-symptoms of Aconite
we may distinguish the folloAving: 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
199
   Compression of the chest in the region of the heart;
   Slow shocks in the region of the heart, from within outward;
   Palpitation  of the heart, Avith great anguish.
J   In three pulsations  the apex of the heart beat only once against
' the wall of the chest; the beats of the left ventricle are isochronous
, with the pulse; the right auricle  appeared to be permanently con-
I vulsed; the movements  of this  auricle were  quick, irregular, and
 not proportionate to the beats of the ventricles.
   The beats of the heart are  distinctly perceptible, taking place in
 rapid  succession,  the  pulse  being slow and  intermittent and the
 patient having a momentary attack of debility.
   Oppressive  aching pains in the region of the heart.
   Sensation in the region of the heart as if  a heavy body were
 lying in its place; this sensation  changes to an oppressive burning,
 accompanied with a flash of heat  over the back.
   Here we have a group of symptoms characteristic of
    Congestion of the Heart, whether purely rheumatic or bilious; the
 congestion may affect the various parts, auricles, ventricles or coro-
 nary arteries.  It may be more  or less temporary or permanent,
 with  hypertrophy of the  auricles  or  ventricles resulting from
 rheumatic inflammation  or  valvular disease.   For more extensive
 remarks   bearing  upon  this subject, we  refer the reader  to the
 Ti/oracic Group of Arsenic.
    Our provings show the great use of Aconite in
   Palpitation  of the Heart which may  be  a symptom of a purely
 nervous irritation of this organ.  It may characterise a paroxysm of
 hysteria.  Aconite, first to sixth potency, will quiet the heart.
    Sj/asrns of the Heart come within the curative range of Aconite.
 The provings show that Aconite convulses the heart.   This spasm
 may be characterized by a sense  of  suffocation in the region of the
 heart,  sensation as if the heart had ceased to beat, excessive anxiety
 as if death were impending, coldness of the extremities, collapse of
 pulse,  deathly pallor  of  the face.    I  mix a  drop of the  strong
 tincture in ten tablespoonfuls of water, of which solution I give the
 patient a small teaspoonful every few minutes, until perfect relief is
 obtained.

   These sudden congestions of blood about the heart are frequently
 attended Avith
   Syncope or  fainting, with  collapse  of pulse, paleness of the face,
 staring look.  If this attack occurs as a  symptom of hysteria, it  may
 be sufficient to hold a viol  of hartshorn, or the spirits of camphor
 under  the patient's nose.  If treatment should be required, a fiyw
 doses of Aconite, first or second potency, at a few minutes interval,
 may be sufficient to stimulate the heart's action.

   Among the chest-symptoms of Aconite, we notice  this record :
 " Fetid breath."
   Fetor of the breath is very often  owing to a morbid condition of
 the pulmonary secretions.  We have often known it to exist in
 individuals of a decidedly phthisicky habit, with a  narrow chest and 
200
LECTURE XIII.
wing-shaped shoulder-blades, in whom the pulmonary circulation is
necessarily imperfect and  the process of oxygenation, deficient.
Fetor of the breath may and frequently does arise  from such a
cause;  no medicine is  better calculated than Aconite to stimulate
the stagnant capillary current in the lungs, and thus to remove the
impurities which send forth the foul gaseous emanations.

                       FEVER-GROUP.-

  We  have shoAvn on previous pages that Aconite  is  in specific
curative rapport AYith simple
  Inflammatory fever, no matter by what cause it  may  be imme-
diately excited. These  causes may be exceedingly varied : a wound
may occasion it; dentition, a fright, worms, an indigestion, exposure
to a draught of air, wet feet, retrocession of the perspiration, may
constitute so many exciting causes of fever.
  Inflammatory fever may be  symptomatic of other acute diseases,
eruptions, local inflammations.  In such cases Aconite is likewise
to be administered; the middle or higher  potencies up to the 30th
will very frequently be found sufficient to effect a radical change in
the pulse and even to scatter the local congestion or inflammation.
  Aconite may not only be homoeopathic to the pure sjmocha, when
the pulse is hard, full, rapid and bounding; but likeAvise to a state
of vascular erethism termed synochus, Avhen the pulse is moderately
excited, the temperature of  the skin slightly raised, and even the
cutaneous exhalation not entirely suppressed.
  In some acute eruptions, a few doses of Aconite may be sufficient
to control the fever and to  remove the eruption at the  same time.
Acute  nettlerash, measles, purple-rash, eczema  and other eruptive
disorders may come under this head.
  It is not  only in inflammatory fever, characterized by  the full
vigor of constitutional reaction, but likewise in
  Adynamic fevers, with cold and clammy skin and depressed or even
collapsed pulse that Aconite may be of essential benefit.  Our prov-
ings indicate "small and feeble pulse," or likewise "gradual collapse
of pulse," and " cold sweats, or night-sweats."   A condition of this
kind may occur as the result  of previous inflammation, more par-
ticularly under allceopathic  treatment, in consequence of frequent
venesections.  Or  it may occur as the natural development  of an
acute fever for which no treatment had been instituted.   Aconite
may rekindle the depressed temperature of the body, raise the pulse
and generally restore the condition of things which existed as to the
general features during the period  of the previous organic reaction.
If the  adynamic condition was caused  by previous loss of blood,
the middle  or higher potencies may  suit the  patient best;  if the
natural result of neglect or inadequate treatment, the lower prepara-
tions and even the tincture may be required.
  We have seen that Aconite  may be required in various
  Remittent fevers, with predominant derangement  of the  mucous,
gastric  or  bilious functions.  In other  words,  we recommend
Aconite in 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.                  201
  Gastric fever, with whitish,  gray or yellowish coating upon the
tongue, foul taste, haAvking up of  mucous, nausea, soft bowels, con-
stipation or occasional diarrhoeic discharges from the boAvels, con-
sisting of foul-smelling mucus and ill-digested food.
  Bilious fever, Avith symptoms similar to those of gastric fever, ex-
cept that the bilious symptoms predominate ;  the patient complains
of a foul taste in the mouth, yellow or brown coating on the tongue,
thirst,  nausea and vomiting  of bile, headache,  stitches  shooting
through  the head, tympanitic distension of the boAvels, constipation
or occasional discharge of bile from the bowels.
  Mucous fever, where the pulse is rather full, bounding and hurried,
the tongue looks inflamed along the edges and at the tip, and  has a
whitish or grayish coating upon it;  the  patient hawks  up a  great
deal of foul mucus, especially early in the morning and after taking
a nap.   The inflammation may invade the whole of the mucous
membrane, affecting even the bladder and sexual organs.  Aconite
may be one of the main remedies  in this disease, where such medi-
cines as Mercury, and  even Belladonna and Arsenic,  if typhoid
symptoms should threaten, may likewise be required.
  In simple rheumatic fever Aconite may pave the way for Bryonia
or some  similar drug.
  We should not forget thk use of Aconite in simple
  Typhoid fever, when the irritation seems to  affect chiefly the peri-
pheral nerves; the tongue is thickly furred, taste in the  mouth un-
pleasant, foul; the patient  feels thirsty, complains of heavy, aching
pain in the head, heavy or sore pains in  other parts of the bowels,
constipation, experiences evening-exacerbations of  his symptoms;
the urine looks dark, has a foul smell; the patient is very restless,
feels depressed in spirits, is alternately wakeful and droAvsy, troubled
Avith heavy dreams, etc.  This species of acute irritation of the spinal,
cranial or  ganglionic nerves  is  very  appropriately  treated  with
Aconite, from the  first to the sixth potency.
   AYe wish to direct your  attention to the fact that Aconite causes
a profuse secretion of moisture upon the skin,  and that it may there-
fore be eminently  adapted  to feverish conditions where profuse per-
spiration is a leading symptom.  In certain
  Lenlescent or hectic fevers, with profuse and weakening night-sweats,
Aconite may proA*e  an excellent remedy provided these fevers are
not symptomatic of some incurable disorganization.
   \Ye haA^e arrested the so-called
   Sweating fever Avith Aconite.  An interesting case of this disease
occurred some time ago in our dispensary.  A woman of fifty had
taken  cold, the consequence of which was that the subcutaneous
adipose tissue seemed to melt away in unceasing perspiration, Avhich
gave the skin an appearance as if it were covered with liquid fat.
The pulse was feeble and slightly irritated.  Aconite was  our main
reliance in this case, and is in all  similar cases, if the  disease has a
purely rheumatic origin,

  The homoeopathicity of Aconite to
    Yellow  fever, even in the stage of black vomit, has been shown
before.  In the violent bilious 
202
LECTURE XIII.
   Congestive fevers, with agonizing distress in  the head, vomiting of
bile, extreme heat and dryness of the skin, full, bounding and rapid
pulse, paroxysmal exacerbations at certain hours of the day, Aconite
may be one of the means of cure.  In  all these violent fevers  the
lower potencies are generally required.

   AVe shall find Aconite sometimes indicated  in
   Scorbutic fevers, or acute scurvy.  AAre know from cases of poison-
ing that Aconite  may produce changes in the blood similar to those
Avhich exist in scurvy.  In many  cases of this disease the blood
assumes a  blackish appearance; according to the statement of An-
son's surgeons, it may even look black as ink.  The first effect of
large doses of Aconite is to interfere Avith the oxygenation of  the
blood;  in one fatal case, the patient's body exhibited a  black hue.
Moderate doses of Aconite produce an  opposite effect  by exciting
the organic reaction;  the process of arterialization is heightened ;
the blood assumes an inflammatory character,  the quantity of fibrin
is increased.
   Both these conditions may prevail in scurvy, the former adynamic
condition corresponding with the primary effects of poisonous doses
of Aconite  upon the blood, the latter inflammatory condition Avith
the secondary action or rather with the organic reaction excited by
moderate doses of this agent.   If undue vascular activity  occurs
during an attack  of scurvy, Old-School practitioners do not hesitate
to take blood.  This treatment is in perfect accord with sound path-
ology from the allceopathic stand-point.  Instead of bleeding,  we
resort to Aconite.

                 EXANTHEA1ATOUS  GROUP.

   The action of Aconite upon the  skin, and its therapeutic virtues
in acute eruptive diseases are very characteristic.  In Measles, Pur-
ple and Scarlet-rash, Rubeola, acute Eczema and Impetigo, acute Zona,
and in any other  eruptive disease which sets in with synochal fever,
Aconite may always be resorted to for the purpose of moderating
the fever and facilitating the appearance and full  development of
the eruption.  The various kinds of acute rash, nettlerash, purple and
scarlet  rash, measles, eczema and other  eruptions very  frequentlv
disappear with the fever under the use of Aconite.  In all the un-
complicated cases of these eruptions I advise you to give a dose of
Aconite every now and then until the eruption has fairly run its course.
   Aconite may help us in
   Prurigo, for it  causes a burning-itching of the whole body.
   In Scarlet Efflorescence induced by a cold, Ave have seen Aconite
dissipate the whole  difficulty  in the  course of a couple of days.
Sometimes this efflorescence has an haemorrhagic appearance Avithout
any actual  effusion having taken place.
   In Hives, with Avhich children are so frequently troubled, Aconite
is an excellent remedy for the purpose of allaying the itchiim  and
burning.  Give from third to twelfth potency.

   Dengue may perhaps be properly classed among the eruptive fevers. 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
203
We find this disease fully described in Professor Dickson's Practice
of Medicine.   According to this  author the name dengue is a  cor-
ruption of the English word dandy, the disease being named dandy-
fever by the English negroes of the  island  of St. Thomas on account
of the stiff and affected gait of the persons  who are laboring under it.
   The disease was ushered in with febrile symptoms of  an inflam-
matory character, accompanied by pain in the joints and muscles.
   In the course of this fever gastric symptoms appeared, and on the
sixth day minute red papulae, slightly elevated  and distributed in
irregular patches, broke out upon the skin, first upon the face and
trunk  and gradually invading the  extremities.  The full develop-
ment of the eruption was accompanied by severe arthritic and mus-
cular pains;  the eruption itself terminated in a few days in desqua-
mation of the cuticle.
   A disease of this kind would undoubtedly require Aconite ; which
might  be alternated  with, or succeeded by Bryonia.

   Aconite might prove not only useful but indispensable in inflam-
matory  sores, with a good deal  of itching,  stinging and  burning
pain.  Among these  sores we may  rank the acute
   Scrofulous  Ulcer when it developes itself suddenly from a small
pimple or vesicle; the bottom of the sore is lined with a  grayish
mucus, the edges  look  angry, inflamed, bleed readily; the ulcer is
surrounded with an indurated border, and inflamed pimples start up
in  its  neighborhood, forming the nuclei of ulcerative  processes
which gradually  coalesce  in  one large sore.  The  burning, sting-
ing and itching are  sometimes intolerable.  Aconite is one of the
most efficient agents to strike down the inflammatory action ; Sulphur
may afterwards be required to extinguish or hush up the scrofulous
taint.

   I must not forget to point out to  your attention the importance of
Aconite in the treatment of injuries, fractures, dislocations, sprains.
Aconite will check the traumatic fever, and control the inflamma-
tion Avhich may develop itself in  the dislocated joint.
   In Sprains, homoeopathic physicians generally use Arnica, although
Aconite is most frequently required in  order to scatter the san-
guineous congestion  consequent upon a sprain.  For this purpose,
Aconite may be used both internally and  externally; internally in
the attenuated form, and externally from twenty-five to thirty drops
of  the strong tincture in eight tablespoonfuls of  water.

  .AYe  have shown in a former paragraph the  homoeopathicity of
Aconite to Jaundice, and likewise to Dropsy. There are several symp-
toms among the provings of Aconite wliich indicate very clearly its
specific character as a curative agent in the last named disease. They
are the following:
   Sensation in the skin as if the epidermis Avere separated from the
cutis by some intermediate substance, a sort of erratic creeping over
the Avhole body, accompanied with an unpleasant feeling of shivering.
   A sensation in the  whole body, and especially  in the left side as if 
204                     LECTURE  XIII.
  swelling up; this sensation gradually changes to a feeling of numb-
  ness, and is attended with a pain in the muscles as if bruised, and a
  sense of Aveariness in the bones.
    Sensation in many parts of the body as if they were SAvelling up,
  generally accompanied with shivering, coldness or chilliness.
    The pathological condition corresponding with these symptoms is a
  plethora of the capillary vessels Avhich may very soon lead to exuda-
  tions and fully developed anasarca.  We can affirm  from abundant
  experience that these symptoms occur in  practice.  In  one case a
  lady who had exposed  herself to a  draught while the skin was
  covered with moisture, complained of a sensation of swelling up like
  a balloon. These symptoms are  generally accompanied by gnawing,
  pinching, stinging sensations in the skin, or even by numbness of the
  skin, all of which constitute symptoms which have been reproduced
  by the  provers of Aconite ; we may mention
    Pinching,  pressing and gnawing in  the skin,  here or there, as if
  occasioned by a powerful electro-magnetic battery.
    Numb  feeling extending from the face over the whole body.
    Stitches in various parts of the body as if electrical sparks were
  drawn  from the  forehead, back, sides of the chest,  fingers, dorsum
  of the hand,  and from various other parts of the  body.
    Stinging or stinging-burning  pains  in several parts of the skin,
  sometimes  accompanied  with  a  feeling of weight, numbness or
  swelling.

                             SLEEP.

    Aconite  causes  a restless  sleep  Avhich  is moreover  disturbed
\ by dreams of an anxious or terror-inspiring nature.
    The  prover talks a good deal in his dreams and is in constant
  motion during his sleep.
    Anxious dreams, with oppression of breathing, as if he had the
  night-mare;  he AYakes with a start as if in affright.
    Constant drowsiness, even in  the day-time.
    Some of these symptoms occur during the course of an ordinary
  fever to which Aconite is  homoeopathic.   One of them shows that
  Aconite may prove curative in
    Night-mare, if persons are habitually subject to it.
    Habitual Drowsiness  may depend upon a  certain torpor of the
  cerebral nerves or upon deficient action of the liver.  Our provings
  point to Aconite  as  one of the remedies for this condition.   This
  drowsiness may sometimes be insurmountable;  it may  attack a
  person even in the midst of a conversation, and is generally accom-
  panied with a feeling of heaviness and  weariness, especially in the
  lower  extremities, and AYith  a  frequent inclination to yawn and
  stretch one's limbs.

    Aconite also causes  sleeplessness, which  seems  to be owing to
  pain; hence Ave have in this agent a specific substitute  for Alorphine
  in many  cases of
    Sleeplessness which results from pain.  Aconite will procure sleep 
ACONITUM NAPELLUS.
205
by mitigating the pain.  You will understand that this result can
only be obtained in cases where Aconite  is in curative adaptation
to the nature of the pain.

  Some of these symptoms show that Aconite may prove useful in
certain
  Monomaniacal States of the mind; we may refer to the following:
  He has a dream about one and the same thing which clings to
his mind like a fixed idea even after waking.

                      MENTAL GROUP

  Aconite is adapted  to  a variety of mental derangements  both in
the sphere of perception  and volition.  YYe have seen that Aconite
is homoeopathically adapted  to certain forms of
  Fitful Mania,  with varied exhibitions of  temper, singing and
weeping, whistling and moaning.
  Aconite causes vehemence, headstrongness, quarrelsomeness, great
sensitiveness to the least joke.  This  effect renders it  a valuable
agent in
  Mania, characterized  by a tendency to  fight, dispute, or take
offence at the least provocation or fancied provocation.
  Aconite is distinguished  by the  peculiar property it possesses of
exciting a foreboding state of the mind, with apprehensions of death
or fear of one's recovery.  How often do we meet Avith this state of
the mind among pregnant  or hysteric  females!   AYe therefore
recommend Aconite in
  Monomaniacal Hypochondria or  Hysteria, Avhere these fears and
sad forebodings are constantly uppermost in the patient's mind.
  Aconite has an exalting effect upon the  fancy, and hence may be
recommended in abnormal  states of
  Ecstasis or rather Ecstatic Hallucinations of the mind;  we infer
this from such symptoms as these:
  He exclaims that his  beloved has this moment sung the difficult
passage which he had just executed himself.
  When wide  awake, his  mind and fancy Avander even so as to
make him start out of bed.
  He has a dream which explains to him a thing that seemed  inex-
plicable in the waking state.

  Aconite deranges the intellectual faculties;  it causes weakness of
memory, more particularly an inability to remember dates.  It like-
wise causes  an extreme  absence of mind, a complete vanishing of
ideas.
  This sort of weakness  may be the result of, or it may be accom-
panied by an habitual congestion of the cerebral  sinuses, aching
pains in the region of these sinuses, more particularly in the region
of the frontal sinuses  and likewise on the  top of the head where a
sensation of pressure is experienced.  A condition of this kind may
occur after a sunstroke,  or in consequence of an habitual rush of
blood to the head, constitutional headaches.   The general hygienic 
206
LECTURE XIII.
means adopted in such cases may be assisted in their operation by
an occasional dose of Aconite, sixth to twelfth potency.

  Among the effects of Aconite upon the mind we notice the follow-
ing symptoms :
  "He acts foolishly like a crazy person;  he performs a  variety of
things with extreme haste and without reflection, and runs about
the house."
  This symptom shows us that Aconite has power to disorganize the
normal operations of the mind, and that it may be of use in certain
forms of
   Craziness characterized  by unsteadiness of purpose, inability to
logically connect cause and effect, nervous restlessness.

  Let me not forget to point out the curative relation of Aconite to
the consequences of a  sudden fright, or even of other depressing
emotions such as care and anger.  Under such influences the capil-
laries may  become affected as they are when acted upon by Aconite,
and  similar pathological  conditions  may result,  such as: fever,
prostration, nervousness, wakefulness,  loss  of appetite and other
derangements for which Aconite has been recommended  as their
typical simile in previous lectures.

  Gentlemen, this concludes my  remarks on Aconite.  If I have
succeeded in imparting to you a knowledge of the curative range of
this  remarkable agent, we have  made  a fair beginning towards a
sound comprehension of our Materia Medica.  It is only  by study-
ing the physiological effects  of our drugs with constant reference to
the pathological conditions with which  they are in therapeutic rap-
port, that we shall weave a golden thread  which  like  Ariadne's
thread of old, will lead us through the dark maze of symptomato-
logy into the bright sunshine of therapeutic truth.
  On looking at this plant with the skilled eye of a therapeutist, what
beautiful lessons  are  we taught  of the goodness and wisdom of
Providence.  Our heavenly father has seen fit to create our organ-
isms with inherent tendencies to  disease.  If this were not so, how
should we ever succeed in discovering the true conditions of health ?
This is part  of our destiny,  and the consciousness that we  are
realizing this destiny by our own endeavors, is the sweet reward for
the struggles which we are undergoing.  In the  mean while, if
under circumstances favorable to  the development of disease, these
tendencies  become  manifest derangements of  the  physiological
functions and tissues, God does not abandon us to an inevitable fate
of misery and  suffering.  No, at the  same  time that He  permits
disease to  exist,  He has created the means to  subdue  it.   The
tendencies to disease which are from Creation inherent in the human
organism, are likeAvise inherent  in  the  great organism of nature.
In the human organism these tendencies develope diseases; in the
organism of nature they develope the  means for their extinction.
These  means are remedial  agents,  drugs.  It being the office of
drugs to cure diseases, they must necessarily correspond with the 
                     ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM.                 207

diseases which God  permits to exist.  If this were  not  so, there
would be no unity in his system of government.  If drugs generally
correspond with  diseases, each particular drug must  necessarily
correspond with some particular disease, some particular pathologi-
cal disturbance.  To  the mind of a thoughtful therapeutist each
drug speaks  its  OAvn particular  language,  and  reveals  its OAvn
specific sphere of usefulness.  Thus it is that the Aconite plant with
its blue flowers, its glassy, dark-green, deeply-incised leaves, claims
his attention as a powerful agent in combating disorders of the cir-
culatory apparatus, bilious derangements, and nervous diseases, all of
Avhich make up a vast majority of human ailments.  And it is thus
that the students of Homoeopathy looks at every drug not merely as
an object of natural  history, but as a means of  relieving  suffering
man from  the functional or organic  disorders which this drug
represents in nature.   This representative character of drugs is the
deep idea which underlies the great fabric of Homoeopathy.  Every
drug constitutes the visible image, in  a material form, of  the disease
Avith Avhich it  is in specific therapeutic rapport.   AYe prove drugs
in order to discover, by this  approximative process, the specific
diseases  with  Avhich  they respectively harmonize as therapeutic
agents.  He Avho has a clear perception of these fundamental truths,
has entered the holy of  holiest of our great science, nor can her
spirit ever depart from him.
                 LECTURE  XIV.

           TOE ANTIMONIAL PREPARATIONS.

  Antimony is the basis of several important medicinal preparations.
Metallic  antimony, formerly known under the name of Stibium, is
no longer used in medicine.   The antimonial preparations which
homoeopathic physicians' make use  of, are: the black  sulphiuret of
antimony, also termed crystallized tersulphuret of antimony, or crude
antimony; antimonial  wine  and tartarized antimony.   In order to
distinguish the metallic antimony from the tersulphuret, the term
" regulus antimonii" has been applied to the former.
  The black sulpburet of Antimony was known in the most ancient
times.  It was used by the Asiatic and Greek ladies as  a pigment
for the eyebrows.  The pigment Avas composed of the black sulphu-
ret, lead and zinc, and was used for the purpose of giving prominence
and expression to the whites of the  eyes.  The term  Stibium is
derived from the Greek verb stibo, which means " to crush."  The
name  of  the pigment was platuophthalmon, literally large-eyed, (an
ointment for the eyelids.)   The practice of using this  pigment for
such purposes, is alluded to in  the 23d chapter of Ezekiel, 40th verse;
and likewise in 2d Kings, 9th chapter and 30th verse, Avhere the
expression :  "and she  painted her face/' is shown by the celebrated 
208                      LECTURE XIV.
Oriental scholar Gesenius to refer to  the practice of painting the
eyebrows and lashes.
  In former ages the Sulphuret of Antimony was only used  exter-
nally for sore eyes, ulcers, etc.; physicians dared not use it internally
on account of its supposed poisonous qualities.   Basil A^alentine is
supposed to be the first who gave it internally.   Experiments upon
animals led him to believe that it acted favorably upon the  repro-
ductive system, and he therefore administered it to the monks of his
cloister as a stimulant of the digestive functions, in  cases of weak
digestion or dyspepsia.   Paracelsus and his disciples spread the use
of antimonial preparations in a  manner which led to great abuses of
this agent and induced the parliament of France to forbid its employ-
ment as a therapeutic agent  during a period of one hundred  years.
In the year 1666 this edict was revoked at the request of the Medical
Faculty of Paris, one hundred and two members of which gave their
assent to the use of antimonial preparations.   The name of antimony
dates from the period Avhen  the abuse  of this drug led to so  many
disastrous consequences among the people and the inmates of clois-
ters.  Antimony is  a  compound  of anti, against, and monachias  a
monk, an agent used against monks.  The black sulphuret of  Anti-
mony or- the tersulphuret is found  native in various parts  of the
Avorld,  more  particularly in Hungary,  Germany, France, England
and likewise on the  island of Borneo, from which quantities  of the
crude ore are imported as ballast.   According to Pereira, from six
to eight hundred tons have been imported in the course of a  single
year.
  The tersulphuret is separated from its siliceous gangue by melting
it in iron crucibles or pots, the bottoms of Avhich are  perforated by
a number of holes, and which are placed over other receiving vessels
in holes dug in the ground.  The liquid sulphuret runs into the in-
ferior vessel, and the unmolten silicate remains behind.  This process
of separating the sulphuret from the gangue is slightly modified in
different countries.
  The sulphuret thus obtained is found in commerce in large loaves
or cakes, consisting of shining, lead-colored crystals agglomerated
into  roundish  masses.   The native sulphuret is generally  found
adulterated Avith small quantities of lead, copper, iron and arsenic;
hence, for homoeopathic purposes it is best to prepare it  one's self.
For this purpose we reduce thirteen parts of pure metallic Antimony
to a fine powder, and mix it  carefully with five parts  of the washed
flowers of sulphur; we insert this  mass  by degrees into a red-hot
crucible, and melt it by adding  half a  part of dried  salt.   After
being kept liquid for half an hour, we  alloAv the mass to cool, sepa-
rate the portion which adheres  to the bottom of the crucible by a
stroke of the hammer—this portion being found to be pure metallic
antimony—and reduce the  remainder  to an impalpable powder,
which  is to be washed  with distilled water, and to be  used for
triturations.

               Physiological Action of Antimony.
  Antimony seems to affect principally the gastro-intestinal mucous 
ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM.
209
membrane, and the mucous  membrane of  the  urinary bladder.
According to the statement of Trousseau and Pidoux the effects of
antimony as observed on the hospital-patients under their care, are
most  strikingly perceived in  the  pulse, the respiration and the
urinar}r secretions.  They state that, under the use of large doses of
antimony, when given to patients affected with nomfebrile affections,
such  as sciatica, chronic rheumatism, chronic  catarrh, nocturnal
bone-pains, etc., the pulse went down from seventy-two to forty-four
beats in the minute; in many cases  the first effect of antimony upon
the circulation was to  cause  an extraordinary irregularity in the
beats of the pulse, without any diminution in their frequency; this
irregularity sometimes preceded the previously-mentioned decrease
in the number of beats.
   The number of inspirations was likewise considerably diminished.
From sixteen, twenty and even twenty-four inspirations, the number
Avent  down to six;  this extraordinary decrease would have justified
the most serious apprehensions concerning the safety  of the patients,
if their Avhole appearance, their unimpaired physical and intellectual
energies, had not indicated  a state of well-being. From  these re-
markable effects  Ave may certainly infer that, although antimony
possesses the power of depressing the action of the heart and lungs,
two great centres of organic life, yet it does  not  seem to make any
great inroads upon  the cerebral centres;  for, if it did, this remark-
able depression of the  pulse and the respiratory movements, would
undoubtedly be accompanied  by symptoms of great constitutional
derangement.
   A striking effect of the antimonial preparations is  to increase the
urinary secretions.   This effect is more particularly perceived, if the
drug  excites neither diarrhoea nor vomiting.   The urine is watery;
after  giving the golden or yellow sulphuret  of  antimony (another
antimonial preparation), a thin, gold-colored urine Avas secreted which
deposited a scarcely-perceptible  cloud.  In one case, the  urine se-
creted by a healthy person, deposited twenty-four hours after the
emission,  small, red, hard little corpuscles.   This symptom might
lead  us to infer  that Antimony may prove useful  in gravel and
urinary calculi.

   In  endeavoring to define the therapeutic sphere of antimony, we
shall  find it impossible to solve this problem by such symptoms as
we find recorded in Hahnemann's Chronic Diseases, where Antimony
occupies a position  as  an antipsoric.   In reading over the patho-
genesis  of Antimony, the fact  seems to impress itself upon  our
minds, that, in order to do justice to this interesting  agent, we have
to grasp the totality of the impression which Antimony makes upon
the tissues.  The long-continued use of Antimony causes an in-
flammatory irritation of the intestinal mucous membrane, similar to
what  appears upon  the skin when antimonial washes and ointments
are applied to it.   It is likeAArise  to be observed that  the  symptoms
of gastric  derangements Avhich Antimony causes, incline to be in-
veterate, and  that a continued tendency to looseness of the bowels is
very frequently the result of antimonial action.   Keeping this dis-
                               14 
210                      LECTURE XIV.
organizing or disintegrating action of Antimony upon the intestinal
membrane, in our mind's eye, and considering  moreover that indi-
viduals of a cachectic habit of body are especially subject  to diar-
rhoeic discharges, we may consider this coincidence as prima facie
evidence of the affinity existing between antimonial action  and this
habitual tendency to looseness of the bowels in persons whose repro-
ductive system is tainted with  decay.   Hence, if we  see a  patient
with a sallow and haggard countenance, dull and sunken eyes, dirty -
grayish coating on the tongue, unpleasant, foul, pappy taste in the
mouth, fetid odor from the mouth, dryness of the mouth and throat,
thirst, or constant secretion of unpleasant, tenacious phlegm in the
throat, rising of foul, sweetish or insipid  water from  the stomach;
loss of appetite; want of tone in the stomach;  bloating of  the sto-
mach after eating; fulness  and distention of the  bowels; frequent
tendency to emission of foul-smelling  flatulence;  tendency  to diar-
rhoea, the evacuations consisting of foul-smelling mucus, or alternate
tendency to diarrhoea and constipation ; constant feeling of weakness
in the bowels;  frequent desire to urinate, the urine being  in most
instances turbid, and having a foul odor; and perhaps weak and re-
tarded or short breathing and corresponding Aveakness of the circu-
lation ;  if these  and similar symptoms  present themselves to our
view, they at once convey to our minds the general  impression that
we have an antimonial group of symptoms to deal with.

   The intestinal mucous lining  seems to be  that portion of the
mucous expanse which perceives the action of Antimony with most
readiness  and intensity.  Hence it is in affections of this membrane,
when characterized by symptoms of debility and decay, that Anti-
mony may render good service.  We may avail ourselves of this
agent in
   Chronic diarrhiea, of a watery consistence, or of  a grayish, decom-
posed, rather foul-smelling mucus; the stools may  be mixed with
undigested food; a feeling  of weakness is felt in the boAvels such as
is induced by the action of a cathartic ; and this feeling of weakness
may be accompanied by a sensation of heat which is diffused  through
the bowels, pinching pains in the small  intestines, distention and
hardness of the abdomen, emission of moist and fetid  flatulence.
   A diarrhoeic condition of this kind must inevitably be accompa-
nied by dyspeptic symptoms.   Patients whose boAvels exhibit these
signs of weakness are suffering Avith anorexia or loss of appetite; the
lining membrane of the mouth is dry, hence they complain of thirst;
after eating, the stomach feels oppressed and  distended ; the epigas-
tric  region may feel sore; the patient  may complain of foul and
bitter risings from the  stomach ; the food regurgitates after eating;
the taste in the mouth is altered, and the tongue is covered with a
thick, grayish slime or mucus.  These symptoms denote a condition
which former pathologists were in the  habit of designating by the
term " gastricism," or saburral derangements of the primae viae.  The
doctrine Avas that the  delicate vessels in the  canals  in  which the
functions of nutrition are supposed to be carried on, were filled with
impurities termed saburrae, and it Avas therefore a matter of impor- 
ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM.                 211
tance to the patient that the organism should be cleansed of these
crudities by cathartics or drastics. Antimony was often administered
for such symptoms, but in such massive  doses, or  in  combination
with so many other ingredients, Opium and so forth, that the good
effects of the drug were either interfered with by the presence of
these heterogeneous elements, or else that the medicinal effects of
the drug were amalgamated with the natural  disturbance, thus be-
getting a monstrous compound which required other direct  and
antidotal treatment and often entailed incurable infirmities upon the
sufferer.  Under homoeopathic treatment the third,  sixth and even
twelfth potency of the  sulphuret will often prove of great benefit to
a patient afflicted with  this peculiar form of gastric  derangements.
   It is not necessary  that diarrhoea,  or  a  tendency to diarrhoea,
should  always  be present in this gastric condition; the opposite
condition, viz.:  constipation, with heat in the bowels and a deep-
seated soreness throughout the mucous expanse of the small intestines
may take the place of the diarrhceic element.  AYe know that  a large
dose of Antimony may cause vomiting and purging, with decided
symptoms  of gastro-enteritis; hence  the  symptoms of the organic
reaction which would  folloAV the continued use of comparatively
small doses of the drug, must necessarily assume the opposite form,
viz.:  constipation, with distention of the abdominal walls, engorge-
ment and consequently heat and  dryness  of the mucous lining of
the bowels.   In  the gastric group which I have endeavored to deli-
neate, constipation, with heat, deep-seated soreness and  distention of
the bowels, is therefore just as much an indication for Antimony as
the opposite diarrhoeic  condition.

   Having alluded to the general effects of a massive dose of Anti-
mony upon the intestinal mucous lining, we may take this opportu-
nity of  recommending  it for a form of
   Gastroenteritis characterized by similar symptoms.  It is not such
a form of gastro-enteritis as would  indicate Aconite.   In the form
where Antimony is indicated, the skin shows a tendency to become
cold and to cover  itself with a  clammy perspiration; the pulse,
instead  of assuming the full, hard, quick and bounding character of
an  inflammatory type, becomes weaker and emptier; the patient
discharges mucus mixed with blood, and complains of griping and
cutting  pains in the small intestines.  The third trituration and even
the sixth potency in repeated doses, giving a small  powder  dry on
the tongue every three  or four hours, or a tablespoonful  of a solution
of a few drops of the sixth potency in a tumblerful  of Avater every
two or three hours, will prove adapted to the case.

  It is well known that the intestinal mucous  lining of children is
liable to characteristic derangements.   If  this  great focus  of  the
reproductive  system exhibits such symptoms of decay as I _ have
depicted, and if these symptoms of decay are accompanied by irreg-
ular appetite, alternate  anorexia (loss of appetite), and bulimia (inor-
dinate craving  of food), and by frequent  emissions of urine, more
particularly during sleep, at night, we have in Antimony an excel 
212                      LECTURE XIV.

lent remedy for a diseased condition of the intestinal lining which
frequently leads to the formation of those troublesome  parasites,
worms.   The third up to the sixth potency may be used in all such
forms of helminthiasis or worm-disease.  If decided fever-symptoms
are present,  Antimony may be given in alternation with Aconite.

  Considering that the intestinal mucous lining is so powerfully in-
fluenced by the action  of Antimony, it stands to reason  that the
skin, an organ that is in such close  dependence upon the condition
of the assimilative sphere, must likewise be subject to the disturbing
action of this agent. Indeed, even if we did not know it by our prov-
ings, yet we have  a right to infer that in all cutaneous disorders
which purely and simply result from such diseased conditions of the
intestinal mucous  membrane as Antimony is homoeopathic to, this
medicine will exercise a curative influence.  Such disorders are not
measles, scarlatina, purple-rash and the like, but a variety of vesicu-
lar, papulous and herpetic eruptions, some of which  it may not  be
inappropriate to mention :

                    1.  Papulous eruptions,

Little pimples or blotches, and sometimes scurfs, with an  inflamed
base, leaving brownish spots.
  Strophiulus, white gum, milk-spots, dental rash, red gum or gown
of children which sometimes becomes very troublesome  during
teething, consisting of red or sometimes whitish pimples surrounded
by a reddish halo, on the face, neck, and arms;
  Strophiulus volaticus, an eruption consisting of burning, red spots
gradually peeling off and changing to a brown color; the Germans
designate this eruption by the term of wild fire,  a fiery redness prin-
cipally affecting parts of the face, head,  neck.

                    2.  Herpetic Eruptions.

  Lichen simplex,  consisting  of red pimples on the face  or arms,
thence spreading all over;
  Lichen agrius composed of clusters of pimples, surrounded  by a
red halo; the cuticle gradually groAvs hard and  thick, and cracks.
  Lichen lividus, in which form the papulae or little blotches look
dark-red or  livid, without any fever.
  Lichen urticatus, consisting of  blotches and  wheals like nettle-
rash, and accompanied by fever.
  Beside these forms of lichen we have a species of urticaria under
the skin, generally caused by poisonous crabs and oysters.

          3. Vesicular and Pustulous Eruptions,
such as:
  Scabies purulenta or humida, of an inveterate character, particularly
in scrofulous and arthritic individuals ;
  Pustules  on the  hairy scalp, terminating in the formation of yel-
lowish crusts; 
                     ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM.                  213

  Psydracia or spurious itch, a form of itch consisting of small, irreg-
ular pustules pouring out a thin, watery fluid and forming laminated
crusts;
  Ecthymatous eruptions, especially a form of ecthyma termed "ecthy-
ma cachecticum," a  pustulous  eruption showing itself on persons
whose reproductive system has suffered a great deal from Avant and
care, may require the use of antimony.
  Lastly, we may give this drug in certain


                  4. Tuberculoid Eruptions,
such as:
  Boils of an unhealthy  character,  secreting an  unhealthy,  thin,
offensive pus;
  Molluscum, a  cutaneous disease consisting of numerous tumors
from the size of a  pea to that of a pigeon's egg.  Some of these
tumors are attached  to pedicles. They contain a pap-like or athero-
matous liquid, and seem to emanate from the substance of the derma.
  Acne rosacea, Gutta rosacea, eopper-nose, bottle-nose, grog-blossoms,
an  eruption  consisting of  suppurating tubercles with shining red-
ness, imparting a rough and irregular appearance to the skin.  The
eruption generally first breaks out at the tip of the nose, whence it
spreads over the  sides of the nose and cheeks.
  Sycosis menti, mentagra or barber's itch, an eruption on the bearded
portion of the face and scalp, and consisting, according to Bateman,
of inflamed,  but not very hard  tubercles, and  usually clustering
together in irregular patches, may likewise be advantageously treated
with Antimony.

  In general, Antimony is adapted to cutaneous disorders in  indi-
viduals of impoverished constitutions, whose skin is cold, unhealthy-
looking, deficient in elasticity and subject to the  breaking out of
sores that secrete an unhealthy, thin, badly smelling pus.  This con-
dition of the skin is  accompanied with universal signs of decline in
the vegetative sphere.  The abdominal mucous surfaces show signs
of decay such as we have endeavored  to picture in previous para-
graphs.  We  may here remark that, because a cutaneous disorder is
accompanied by symptoms of gastric derangement, this coincidence
is not necessarily an indication  for Antimony.  In order that Anti-
mony may meet the  case, the gastric derangement must not only be
characterized by such phenomena as I have described, but the cuta-
neous disorder must be incidental to the morbid  condition of the
vegetative system. In many eruptions, whether vesicular, papulous,
pustulous, etc., the gastric symptoms are incidental  to the cutaneous
disorder.   In many forms of strophulus, lichen, eczema, ecthyma,
herpes, and tubercles, the accompanying febrile excitement may re-
quire the use of  Aconite which will often calm the gastric disorder
and effect a drying up and  scaling off of the eruption.

  A case of Leprosy is reported in the British Journal, where  no
treatment seemed of any avail.  The physician finally prescribed 
214
LECTURE XIV.
ass's milk, pro forma, and the patient got well.  The paddock where
the animal was kept was examined;  but nothing was  found in  the
excrements of the animal.  When the physician cleansed his cane
in the trough from which the animal drank, he discovered a lump
of the sulphuret of Antimony, which had been placed  there to cure
some dogs of the mange.
  It should be recollected, however, that a little  Arsenic is very
often found combined with this sulphuret.   May not some Arsenic
have  been  present in this  case, the  dynamic  virtues of which, as
eliminated by the vital organism of the animal, effected a cure ?

  Soreness of the  Eyelids of a chronic,  scrofulous character, espe-
cially when accompanied  by general abnormal symptoms  of  the
vegetative system, may require the use of Antimony.

  Soreness of the Ears, external as well as deep-seated, when in rela-
tion with gastric  symptoms,  especially in scrofulous  and arthritic
individuals, may likewise be benefited by the use of Antimony.

  Tinea capitis,  when  depending  upon or  accompanied  by such
symptoms of  gastric derangement as  indicate Antimony, should be
treated with this agent.  This species  of tinea generally forms thick,
coherent, dirty-looking crusts, or isolated crusts covering unhealthy-
looking sores.

  This agent  furnishes  many illustrations of the teachings of hu-
moral pathology.  The doctrine of humoral pathologists is, that the
primae viae, that is the delicate channels where the process of as-
similation is essentially conducted  and perfected, among which the
lymphatics and lacteals occupy a prominent rank, are obstructed
by  impure humors, which  have to be removed  by appropriate
means; if too thick, they have  to be thinned, for which purpose a
class  of remedial agents is imagined especially entrusted with this
business: the  so-called  diluents; if too  thin, too fluid, lacking  the
normal consistence, they have to be  thickened, for which purpose
inviscants, incrassants or thickening remedies  are used.   Or the
humors may have to be  treated as downright impurities, fit only to
be expelled altogether.  For this purpose we use evacuantia, evacuat-
ing agents, among which Antimony occupies a most important posi-
tion.   In order to attain this  supposed end, Antimony had often to
be given in large  doses,  which would not simply purge the bowels,
but set up a  dangerous state of hypercatharsis, which it was im-
portant to modify, and, if possible, to prevent.  Hence another  set
of agents was called into play, the so-called corrigentia, a class  of
agents whose especial mission it was to correct the  excessive action
of other drugs.  In order to modify  or prevent the hypercathartic
action of Antimony, Opium was frequently associated with it.  Well
may we exclaim, on reading of  such proceedings: What a waste of
power, and what an absurd system which is condemned to neutra-
lize its own excesses, excesses not accidental, unforeseen, attributable
to the exceptional sensitiveness of a  patient, but predetermined by 
ANT1M0NILTM  CRUDUM.
215
the exacting routine of the School, and afterwards to be removed by
this other insane routine, the addition  of corrigenda or correcting
agents.  Truly a curious system, ever occupied in undoing the next
day what it had  been doing the day before, or in neutralizing its
own intentions;  a system personated by the very mythological Sysi-
phus  of old, who, being condemned by a  merciless fate to roll a
heavy boulder to the top of a mountain, had  to behold his boulder
rolling back into the  precipice below whenever he seemed  on the
point of reaching the  summit;  or even by the  poor laborer whom
our immortal fellow-citizen Stephen Girard  saw standing idle  in
front of his mansion.  Being asked by the poor man to give him
work, Girard told him to remove a pile of bricks from one corner of
his yard to another.   The job having been done, and more work
being asked for, the man was told to carry that same pile of bricks
to another corner, and then to .another, then back again to the first
corner.   Having been  occupied  in this way for a time,  the poor
laborer went to the merchant-prince, asking: Have you  any other
work to do?  Being  answered in the negative; "Then," said  he,
" get. somebody else to make a fool of, for  I will no longer be hum-
bugged in this way."
   This poor laborer seems to have had more sense than many a learned
humoral pathologist who spends his time in first opening the  bowels
by a dose of Jalap, and then closing them up  again by a dose  of
Opium;  or in first  irritating the skin  by a blister and afterwards
healing the sore by an ointment; or in first poisoning the organism
by Calomel and afterwards undertaking to clear it out again by a
dose  of  Castor-oil.   Aloreover, the addition of Opium would fre-
quently fail of its object; for, as the  learned  Dierbach very cor-
rectly remarks,  the gastric effects  of  Antimony might have been
masked by Opium  for  a time,  but they would  break forth  all the
more violently aftenvards.
   AYe have stated that  large doses of Antimony will cause vomiting
and diarrhoea, or will  increase the urinary secretions in case  the
emetic or cathartic action does not develope itself.  It is by massive
doses of a drug that its primary effects upon the  tissues are deter-
mined ; small doses indicate more fully and accurately the manner in
which the organism reacts  against the drug.  We have seen, for
instance, that a massive dose of Aconite will depress the pulse and
animal temperature;  this may be considered as the  primary effect
of the poison, which, if eventually overcome by the organic vital
force, will be replaced by an opposite  condition, heat and dryness
of the skin, and increased frequency, fullness and  strength of the
pulse. Under the effects of a massive dose of the poison, the organic
reaction sets in slowly, at a late  period, if  at all;  under the effects
of a  comparatively small dose of the  poison, the  organic reaction
may  set  in speedily,  sometimes so rapidly that the primary effects
of the drug are hardly perceived.  Comparatively small doses of
Aconite, for instance,  may at once develop the symptoms of organic
reaction, heat and dryness of the skin,  and fullness and rapidity of
the pulse, without any marked previous diminution of the tempera-
ture, or  of the volume  and frequency of  the  pulse.  In applying 
216                      LECTURE  XIV.
this doctrine to Antimony, Ave shall find that  comparatively small
doses of this drug may develop symptoms of organic reaction with-
out any previous symptoms of primary reaction.  Instead  of diar-
rhoea we shall have more or less constipation, accompanied perhaps
by bloating of the bowels, and instead of vomiting we may have a
loss of tone in the stomach, giving rise to loss  of appetite, or even
complete anorexia, a perfect indifference to food.  The other symp-
toms of gastric derangement  may remain the same.  We may add
that the urine and circulation  would likewise be found correspond-
ingly altered ;  instead of a thin, watery urine we might have a urine
evincing slight symptoms  of a feverish condition of the  system,
darker in color, of a more  offensive odor, and perhaps depositing
some sediment.  The pulse would, most  probably, be slightly irri-
tated.
  Formerly it was believed that the auction of Antimonials depended
upon their  solubility in the fluids  of the stomach.  This doctrine is
now emphatically exploded.   Metallic Antimony, which is insoluble
in the stomach, acts as energetically as the soluble antimonial  salt,
tarter emetic.  Trousseau and Pidoux  have  determined by direct
experiment that "Antimonial preparations, if injected into the rec-
tum, veins, or subjected to absorption in  any part of the system, will
excite vomiting more certainly than they do if introduced directly
into the stomach;" which proves, according to the opinion of these
observers, that "vomiting is the effect of some  special modification
of the nervous system rather than of the local irritation produced
by the drug."   Homoeopathic  practitioners may well rejoice at this
more enlightened and refined mode of accounting for the action of
drugs, a  powerful rebuke to Liebig and his  followers, who, have
undertaken the hopeless task  of explaining the phenomena of vital
action and  reaction by the laAvs which govern inorganic matter.
  After these brief explanations it may be interesting to study the
effects of Antimony as determined by the inhalation of antimonial
vapors  in  smelting  buts.  Dr. Lohmeyer,  physician to  a large
smelting establishment in  Germany, has described  the poisonous
effects of antimonial vapors in a very graphic manner.
  One of the workmen was attacked as follows : after having been
exposed to the  vapors  for a long time, oppression on the chest
and slight headache; the oppression gradually  increased to violent
stitches across the chest, darting towards the shoulders  and back;
these were accompanied by a  dry, painful, shrill cough.  The head-
ache likewise increased to  a  stitching and burning  distress in the
occiput and nape of the neck.  When coughing, the patient raised
with difficulty; a rattling and wheezing in the  air-passages were
heard during the respiration.   At night the  patient  was distressed
by a painful  uneasiness which  soon increased  to complete loss of
sleep.  An occasional  short  nap was invariably interrupted by a
most distressing  sweat  which was ahvays followed  by great ex-
haustion.   A  complete prostration of the organism was a marked
symptom of the effects of the poison.   The appetite was impaired,
the abdomen  distended, and the patient was troubled with frequent
attacks of  a  pinching  diarrhoea,  especially after eating, when the 
ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM.
217
food would  pass  off  undigested.  The patient had  difficulty in
passing urine, which was attended with urging and pain at the neck
of the  bladder and a painful burning in the urethra, from  which a
few drops  of a  liquid mucus were occasionally discharged.  The
urine had a dark,  orange or  reddish  color.   A few pustules broke
out on the  scrotum, resembling small-pox pustules ; pains were felt
in the scrotum, the  sexual  instinct was weakened and gradually
became extinct even to complete impotence ;■ seminal discharges and
erections had entirely ceased.  Incipient atrophy of the penis and
testicles accompanied this loss of power.
   This group  of  symptoms illustrates in  a  very  characteristic
manner the disorganizing action of Antimony upon  what  physio-
logists designate as the  vegetative  or reproductive sphere.  First,
in this group of symptoms  we have  the acute  bronchial irritation
and colliquative sweats Avith the sticking-burning pain in the head,
and more especially in the  occiput; next, we notice  the impaired
appetite and the diarrhoea and lienteria; thirdl}'-, observe the urinary
difficulties, the urging and pain at the neck of the bladder, and the
burning in the  urethra with discharges of mucus from this canal;
next the small-pox-shaped pustules on the scrotum, and lastly the
impotence  and atrophy of the sexual  organs.
   In another case  the same  symptoms were observed,  together Avith
rheumatic  tearing pains  in  the limbs, and the  pustulous eruption
first breaking out  on the neck, afterwards on the trunk and very
characteristically on the  sexual organs.
   In a number of  other  cases Antimony produced the same effects.
In one case the patient  complained of stitches  darting towards the
occiput, Avith pain in the forehead and in the region of the root of
the nose; he likewise complained of a violent distress in the small
of the back; the  other symptoms Avere the same as  in the other
cases.
   The important facts which are communicated  to us in these cases,
lead us to  some exceedingly interesting applications of Antimony
as a therapeutic agent.   We are undoubtedly entitled to its use in
   1. Chironic Headaches,  of the character delineated in these groups
of toxicological symptoms; the patient complains of stitches flying
through the head, or  of a  burning  distress in  the  region of the
cerebellum ;  such  headaches are always complicated with profound
gastric disturbances, loss of appetite,  diarrhoea  and a general pros-
tration of  the vital, reaction, they may have a mercurial-syphilitic
origin.  Antimony has  been used  by Old-School physicians for
syphilitic bone-pains in the  skull, syphilitic nodes about the skull,
and hypertrophy of the  pericranium ; in all these affections mas-
sive, alterative  doses were  resorted to.  If the drug is indicated in
those  syphilitic affections  by the  constitutional symptoms, com-
paratively small doses will be sufficient.
   2. In Diarrhiea and Lienteria, to which I have already directed your
attention;  I  mean the diarrhoea of cachectic individuals, with dis-
charges of foul slime, bile and  undigested food,  an impaired appe-
tite, coated tongue.
   Plenck asserts that  Antimony, when inconsiderately taken, may 
218                      LECTURE XIV.
produce vomiting, copious stools, intolerable griping pains, anxiety,
agitation,  haemorrhage from  the bowels, convulsions, inflammation
of the stomach and intestines, erosions, gangrene, death.
  We know moreover that Antimony will induce copious and fetid
ptyalism, foul taste, coated tongue, foul risings from the stomach,
anorexia,  oppression  after  eating,  emission  of fetid  flatulence,
enuresis.  Hence we may recommend Antimony in
   Gastro-enteritis; in
  Saburral Derangements or Gastricism;
   Weakness of  the Bowels and Digestive System;
   Worm Affections.
  These derangements of the gastric functions may be more or less
accompanied  by febrile  symptoms;  hence it  may be  necessary to
resort to  Antimony in some chronic forms  of gastric or mucous
fever of an erethic type.  In the inflammatory type of these fevers
Antimony would be out of place.'
  If Antimony is possessed of the power of depressing the vegeta-
tive  functions  of the organism by  disorganizing  the  intestinal
mucous tissue and the  lymphatic system, we may reasonably infer
that  it may prove useful in certain forms of
  Marasmus,  characterized by such  signs of derangement in the
digestive system as we have indicated.  The unhealthy state of the
skin, tendency to sores, depression of cutaneous temperature and  a
sensation of heat diffused over  the inner  surfaces;  anorexia, diar-
rhceic discharges consisting of disorganized lymph and mucous, or
alternate diarrhoea  and  constipation, and  other signs of vegetative
decay, must of course legitimate  the use of this agent.
  3.  In Dysuria,  Avith urging and pain at  the  neck of the bladder.
In recommending Antimony for this  affection, you must not lose
sight of the general determining condition  for its use, which is a
more or less universal decay or sinking of the lymphatic system,
this first and  most important laboratory of the reproductive energies
of the organism.
  4.  In Catarrh of the. Bladder,  with  burning in the  urethra,  dis-
charges of mucus; it may arise  as a spontaneous  symptom of defi-
cient innervation in the lymphatics of  the urinary organs.
  5.  In Chronic or even Acute Gonorrhoea, with similar symptoms.
In this disease Antimony  may  prove useful in  many cases, more
especially  if  the  gastric condition of  the patient justifies its  use.
Allceopathic surgeons use alterative doses  in this  disease.
  6.  In Impotence and Atrophiy of the  Testicles as a symptom of gen-
eral  prostration of the reproductive  sphere, with loss of appetite,
diarrhoea,  night-sweats, rheumatic or arthritic pains.
  7.  In Bronchial Irritation or actual Bronchitis of a chronic form,
with  stitches flying through the air-passages, oppression, racking
cough with scanty and difficult  expectoration, -violent headache in
the occiput or forehead.
  Even in Ulcerous Phthisis, where these symptoms occur, Antimony
may be of use.  Stahl, of celebrated memory, employed  it in  this
affection with success.  It should not be forgotten, however, that
Stahl employed the vapors of antimony, which he caused to be in- 
ANTIMONII ET POTASS^ TARTRAS.
219
haled.   His commentator,  Huldericus Pelargus,  declares however
that he does not by any means feel inclined to resort to the vapors
of Antimony in ulcerous phthisis, either in his own case or in that
of other patients.  In this he was perfectly correct  from his own
point of view; for not  being acquainted with the fact that  anti-
monial vapors  may cure a pulmonary condition bordering upon
phthisis, for the simple reason that they are capable of producing a
similar derangement in healthy persons, he must necessarily  have
condemned the use of such agents in pulmonary diseases as  dan-
gerous and absurd.
  8. We find that Antimony will prove homoeopathic to Small-pox,
for it causes  not only a similar eruption, but a similar disease.  It
causes the distressing headache, the pain in the small of the back,
the rheumatic-tearing pains in the joints, and the gastric derange-
ments which exist in small-pox.
  Lastly, let me remark  that Antimony has been used by Old-School
practitioners for arthritic rheumatism.  If  they have  succeeded in
effecting cures in this disease by means of large doses of Antimony,
it is not so much upon the  revulsive action of  the drug as upon its
homoeopathicity to this  disease,  that its  curative  effects depended.
We have seen that Antimony causes arthritic-tearing pains in the
joints; if these pains are complicated with deep-seated  gastric dis-
turbances, with prostration and debilitating sweats, Ave may prescribe
Antimony  with a well grounded hope of affording relief to the
patient.
  The inflammatory sphere of this drug generally is very limited;
we may use it, as we said before, in some cases of chronic arthritis
and rheumatism, provided the accompanying  gastric disturbances
justify its employment;  when concretions have formed in the joints,
it may favor their absorption.  Understand me  well,  Gentlemen,
Antimony is  not a remedy for gouty concretions; the co-existence
of  gastric symptoms has to justify its use; it will  prove of  little
avail, unless the gouty diathesis is symptomatic of deep-seated gas-
tric irritation, with tendency to prostration and debilitating sweats.


           ANTIMONII  ET POTASSiE  TARTRAS.

         (Tartrate of Antimony and Potashi,  Tartar Emetic)

  The term Stibium  is more especially applied to  this  salt by
homoeopathic physicians.   YYe  obtain it by boiling equal equiva-
lents of cream of tartar and teroxyde  of  antimony in  four times
their weight of water.
  This salt is sold in the shops in a  crystalline form.  The crystals
should be well formed, perfectly white, transparent  or opaque, having
a slightly astringent, metallic taste.   When dropped into a solution
of hydrosulphuric acid, they have an orange-colored deposit formed
on them ;  with hydrosulphuret of ammonia, a  solution of the  pure
crystals gives a copious golden-colored precipitate.
  Tartar emetic was first accurately described by the Dutch Chemist 
220
LECTURE XIV.
Hadrian de Mynsicht in the year 1631.  Old-School physicians have
always regarded it as one of their most valuable sedatives, and more
recently it has been lauded to the skies by Basori and his followers
as a most powerful antiphlogistic.
  One of the most energetic experimentizers with Tartar Emetic is
Magendie.  Dogs without  number  have  been sacrificed  by this
remarkable man  for the purpose  of ascertaining the effects of
poisons upon the animal economy.
  Magendie infers from his experiments, that Tartar Emetic  occa-
sions death when swallowed, not  by inflaming the stomach, but by
means of a general  inflammatory state of the whole system  subse-
quent to its absorption.   In one case  six or  eight  grains were
dissolved in water, and injected into the vein of a dog; the animal
was attacked with vomiting and purging, and died within an hour.
Post-mortem appearances: redness of the whole villous coat  of the
stomach and  intestines; also the lungs were of an orange-red, or
violet-color throughout, destitute  of  crepitation, gorged with  blood,
dense like the  spleen, and here and there even hepatized.
  Payer  and  Bonnet killed  rabbits with Tartar Emetic,  without
being able to  discover any inflammatory  symptoms  after  death.
They have observed the symptoms of inflammation  in the tract of
the intestinal mucous membrane, and even these were found entirely-
wanting  in all cases where  the poison destroyed life suddenly.
Doctor Champbell of Edinburgh  likewise found no traces of inflam-
mation in the  lungs.  He killed  a cat by  applying five grains of
Tartar Emetic to a wound made for that purpose, and discovered no
signs of inflammation in the pulmonary tissue.   It is barely possible,
as Trousseau and Pidoux suggests, that Magendie may have mistaken
a purely mechanical stagnation of the blood in the vessels for actual
inflammation.  The specific power which Magendie supposed Tartar
Emetic to possess of causing pulmonary engorgements, is doubted
by most,  and denied by many leading physiological therapeutists.
So far as I know, there is not a single fact on record going to show
that Tartar Emetic is endowed with any specific power  of inflaming
the lungs in the human subject.  Pereira very justly argues that
"in cases of poisoning by this substance, no mention is made of
difficulty of breathing, cough, pain, or other symptom which  could
lead  to the suspicion that the lungs were suffering."

  Tartar  Emetic acts both as an irritant and a narcotic poison.
As an irritant poison it may induce symptoms of inflammation in
the gastro-intestinal mucous lining; as a narcotic poison it  affects
the nervous  system,  causing  violent pains, cramps,  convulsions,
delirium  and  death.  Dr.  Becamier, chief physician to the  Hotel-
Dieu of Paris, reports a fatal case of poisoning with tartar emetic,
where the narcotic effects of the poison are distinctly seen.  A man
took forty grains of the poison for the purpose of destroying himself.
He had been nearly two days ill with vomiting, purging and convul-
sions when Dr. Eecamier saAV him.   On the third day he had great
pain and  tension in the region of the stomach, and appeared  like a
man in a  state of intoxication. In the course of the day the whole 
ANTIMONII ET POTASS^E TARTRAS.
221
belly became swollen, and at night delirium supervened, which soon
became furious and the patient died in convulsions.
  In this case the thoracic viscera remained sound.  A case of this
kind simulates a sudden attack of gastro enteritis  or even cholera;
in violent attacks of this kind, where the capillary netAvork ramified
over the intestinal mucous lining is intensely irritated by the poison,
and  the cerebro-spinal axis receives a violent counter  shock in con-
sequence, Tartar Emetic may prove an invaluable curative agent.  It
has  even  been administered with great success in cases of  furious
delirium tremens where such symptoms as this case exhibits consti-
tute  characteristic indications.

  Another case is reported  by Orfila where the narcotic effects of
the poison are distinctly seen :
  A patient swallowed by mistake a  ^criiplejpf Tartar Emetic for
cream  of tartar.  A few moments afterwards he complained of pain
in the  stomach, then of a tendency to  faint, and at length was seized
with violent bilious  vomiting.   Soon after, he felt colicky pains,
extending  through the bowels, accompanied ere  long by profuse
and  unceasing diarrhoea.   The pulse at the time was small and con-
tracted, and his strength failed completely ; but the symptom which
distressed him most was frequent rending cramps  in the legs.  He
remained  in this state for  about six hours, and  then recovered
gradually under the use  of  Chinchona  and  Opium; but for some
time afterwards he was liable to weakness of digestion.
   In this case the symptoms seem to  be the  result  of a deep inroad
upon the nervous system.   We infer this from the  great prostration
of the  patient, from the cramps in the calves, and from the peculiar
alteration in the pulse.  This case again shows that in attacks simu-
lating  gastro-enteritis and cholera, Tartar Emetic  may be  homoeo-
pathically indicated, even if the nervous character of  the attack is
a prominent feature in the case before us.

  There are cases where a group  of cholera  symptoms is produced
by a very small dose of Tartar Emetic.  In  the London Lancet  a
case of pneumonia  is reported  where the  patient, a  delicate and
strumous man, after having  been bled, was put on  the use of Tartar
Emetic, one third of a grain every four hours.  About half an  hour
after the first dose the patient became restless,  cold and faint, then
purged and vomited, the symptoms  continuing violently  Avithout
cessation.   There Avas extreme prostration, the  pulse was small, the
surface cold, and the legs were cramped.   The pain in the chest was
not felt during these symptoms.  Opiates and brandy restored him.
  A case of this kind is not altogether a fair illustration of the effects
of a small dose of Tartar  Emetic; for it may be presumed  that the
reactive energies of the organism must have been generally prostrated;
nevertheless it may afford us an approximate proof that small doses
of a drug, in highly sensitive  organisms, may produce great effects
generally, and that small doses of Tartar Emetic may do so in par-
ticular. 
 222                      LECTURE  XIV.

   Another case  is reported in the London Lancet, where  a still
 smaller dose was administered to a stout, active, well-built man for
 a cold.  He took 15 drops of antimonial wine at bed-time in order
 to  perspire.  The  nausea  which ensued  was excessive,  and  the
 prostration extreme ;  the patient was unable to leave his room for
 three or four days ; there was no purging, but colicky pain, griping,
 faintness and general  exhaustion.
  ' These symptoms do not point to cholera or gastro-enteritis; but
 they lead us to infer that Tartar Emetic may be an eminently useful
 agent in
   Gastrodynia,  Hahnemann once effected a marvellous cure  of this
 dreadful disorder by administering Veratrum ; it may be your good
 fortune to derive similar brilliant results from the  use of Tartar
 Emetic.

   In Frank's Afagazine another case of poisoning by Tartar Emetic
 is reported where the  symptoms resemble gastro-enteritis of a vio-
 lent kind.  Twenty to twenty-five  grains of Tartar  Emetic were
 taken  by mistake ;  in a few minutes there was insufferable feeling
 of warmth  in the epigastrium, then violent pains in the forehead
 like clavus hystericus and some  dizziness;  in half an hour moisture
 on the  forehead and nape of the neck; vomiting for 20  or 30
 minutes; the  headache,  dizziness and redness of  face  increased;
 after taking a dose of Castor-oil, the burning feeling in the stomach
 and small intestines increased to such a degree that he became Very
 restless; the pulse weak, 80, tongue white, throat dry, taste unplea-
 sant ; inclination  to sleep; next day, his  mouth was very sensitive,
 the gums bled, with a slight spongy appearance like scurvy, lasting
 two days.
  This is a most interesting case which reveals therapeutic powers
 of a peculiar order.  The symptoms in this case resemble  those of
 the fatal  case reported by Becamier.  They show that Tartar Emetic
 may serve us in gastrodynia, in cholera-morbus and gastro-enteritis
 when the  nervous  symptoms, prostration, dizziness, pain  in the
 head, are prominent indications.   Even in  nervous headache, with
 the sensation as if a nail were sticking in the brain, Tartar Emetic
 may be found indicated, provided the constitutional symptoms, more
 particularly the symptoms of  gastric disturbance, and the general
 prostration correspond.
  From this case Ave likewise learn that Tartar Emetic is adapted to
  Stomacace with  bleeding and sponginess of the gums.  Consider-
 ing that Tartar Emetic causes  profuse salivation,  we  may consider
 this agent as exceedingly qualified to arrest mercurial ptyalism.
  Beside these toxicological effects we have provings by Dr. Janko-
 vich of Buda,  Hungary.   He  prepared a solution of 12 grains of
 Tartar  Emetic in three ounces of water, of which he  took a spoon-
ful every hour.  After the first spoonful  he was attacked with diz-
 ziness and nausea; after the second dose he experienced a shudder-
dering  over the whole body, cold sweat, nausea, retching, disposition
to vomit;  after  the third dose violent  praecordial anguish- two
paroxysms of vomiting of quantities of mucus and bile, rumbling 
                ANTIMONII ET POTASS^E TARTRAS.             223

in the bowels without pain or discharge; the skin was continually
covered Avith profuse sweat; there was a copious flow of saliva; the
prover felt somewhat thirsty, and  had to drink small  quantities of
water.  He felt so weak that he was unable to rise from the sofa.
After the fourth spoonful he had frequent attacks of nausea, vomit-
ing, and a discharge from the bowels.  The fifth dose  was followed
by such a perfect listlessness and indifference to everything that
death itself seemed an indifferent event at this period.  The pulse
was considerably retarded.   He had  now taken one fourth of the
medicine, 4 grains, but Avas seized with such an aversion to the drug
that he was unable to continue his provings.  He took some broth;
the  nausea, rumbling in the  bowels, apathy and sweat continued
all night,  but in the morning he  was quite well again.
   These provings Avould seeem to show  that the  nerves  of the
stomach experience the first shock of the  poison, especially when
administered in moderately small doses, and that the alvine derange-
ments set in subsequently to the nausea and vomiting.   Arery large
doses may at once develop  cathartic  effects without  any symptoms
of nausea.  Years ago, when travelling in Texas, I once swallowed,
inadvertently,  a teaspoonful of Tartar Emetic,  it could not  have
been less  than 20 grains.  The effect was tremendous;  no nausea or
vomiting, but watery discharges from the bowels which  seemed to
be propelled or expelled with a tremendous force taking their point
of departure from the pharynx, and continuing with a  rolling noise
down the oesophagus and  through the whole  intestinal tract, as if
the bowels would  be torn out.   These discharges  lasted  off  and on
for a whole day.  The probability is that  the Tartar Emetic was
adulterated with Magnesia, else the effect might  have proved more
obstinate  and lasting.
   The characteristic effects of the  drug may likewise be elicited by
means of endermic applications.  These endermic  effects are pro-
cured Avith more  certainty by  first  boiling  the emetic in water
and precipitating it by the addition of alcohol, after Avhich it may
be  combined  with lard  into  an ointment.  If the Tartar Emetic
is rubbed up Avith  the lard without having been previously boiled
in water and afterwards precipitated from  the watery solution by
means of alcohol,  the vomiting  and diarrhoea may not take place,
and the irritating action of the poison may be confined to the epi-
dermis, Avhere pustules make their appearance which resemble in all
respects the ordinary small-pox pustules.
  The application  of  Tartar  Emetic ointment to the epidermis has
Arery frequently occasioned disastrous consequences.
  In the  case  of  a  little girl, of 6 years,  who was afflicted  with
Avhooping cough, the ointment Avas rubbed on the vertex and breast,
after  Avhich the  characteristic  pustules  made  their  appearance.
Ulceration with discharge of profuse  quantities of pus was the re-
sult.  This suppurative process continued  to spread in spite  of all
antidotal treatment Avith quinine, chlore, etc., until the child died.
  A young man  Avho used the ointment  against a catarrh, was
attacked Avith  a cartilaginous growth upon the chest.  In  extent
and form it resembled the spread hand of a stout man, had  a uni- 
224                     LECTURE XIV.

form thickness of from 8 to  10 lines, and  irregular margins.  It
extended from the middle  of the sternum laterally as far as the
costal cartilages, with which it seemed closely united.  The surface
of the cartilaginous formation was shining, and had the general
appearance of a cicatrix of several months' standing.   It was a dense,
firm, cartilaginous tissue, causing a good deal of itching when the
body was heated, but otherwise painless when rubbed or pressed
upon.  Subcutaneous vessels  might be  seen  traversing the  mass.
The cartilaginous degeneration arose  from the use of the  ointment
having  been continued even  after the well-known  pustules had
made their appearance. The severe inflammation and swelling Avhich
ensued rendered the further use of the ointment  impossible.  No
means being used to combat these alarming symptoms, the conse-
quence was the cartilaginous degeneration alluded to.
  Dr. Krebs has frequently seen urinary difficulties  arise  from the
use of the ointment in whooping cough.
  A scrofulous child, of 2 years, had  the  ointment applied to  the
scalp, in  consequence of which the occipital portion of the scalp was
transformed into a black, fetid, gangrened  mass.  The gangrened
portion of the scalp gradually  sloughed off, and the child recovered.
  A young lady was attacked  with intense praecordial anguish and
utter inability to move in consequence  of  the application of the
ointment to the epigastric region.  The  first effect of the  ointment
was a syncope of two hours'  duration, which Avas followed by an
anguish in the praecordia lasting six hours.
  Dr. Bertini  relates that, twenty hours  after the  application of a
Tartar Emetic plaster to the abdomen the patient was attacked Avith
violent chills,  intense pains  in the boAvels,  attended with serious
diarrhoea, tenesmus, and a violent fever  lasting two days.   The
symptoms Avere subdued by  emollient injections and  poultices.  A
pustulous eruption on the abdomen had likewise broken out.

  We have abundant testimony to  prove  that  Tartar Emetic is
homoeopathic to
  Smallpox, by AA'hich we mean that it develops  an eruption Avhich
resembles the small-pox pustule.  In the London Lancet, the case of
an Essex  farmer is reported who took Tartar Emetic in half  grain
doses every three  hours, while suffering under  acute pneumonia.
A pustular eruption made its appearance over the whole body, which
was mistaken by his friends for small-pox.

  Frank, in his magazine, reports the case of a man  suffering with
pneumonia, who took ten  grains of Tartar  Emetic in solution in
thirty-four hours;  about  twenty-four  hours after the last dose an
eruption  appeared which resembled in the closest  particulars that
produced by Tartar  Emetic ointment; it consisted of pimples and
vesicles which increased rapidly in size and filled with  pus in two
days; they were surrounded with a red base and resembled closely
mature pustules of small-pox or smaller pustules of cow-pox.  They
were exceedingly painful, but most of them dried up  in a few days,
and formed crusts;  a feAV became larger than  the others, and then 
                ANTIM0NI1  ET POTASS^! TARTRAS.             225

resembled the pustules of ecthyma.  The eruption commenced on
the inner surface of the right fore-arm, then spread over the whole
back, where the pustules were both isolated, grouped and confluent.
Neither vomiting, purging, nor perspiration was caused by the drug.
The pneumonia was rapidly cured, together with a fever and ague,
and consequent dropsy with which the patient was also troubled.

  Is Tartar Emetic homoeopathic to small-pox?   We know  that
it produces an eruption which resembles the small-pox pustule :  but
is  this -similarity of the Tartar Emetic eruption to the small-pox
pustule sufficient to establish the homoeopathicity of Tartar Emetic
to the small-pox disease?  I think not, unless the whole physio-
logical  process of which the Tartar Emetic pustule is the ultimate
termination, is analogous  in its  essence to  the pathological process
of which  the small-pox  pustule is the ultimate boundary.   The
mere  external resemblance of one eruption to the other might de-
ceive us as regards  the internal or real homoeopathicity of the drug
to the disease. Does Tartar Emetic  develop its pustules in the same
order as small-pox develops its eruption ?  If  it does not, Tartar
Emetic cannot be  said  to  be  homoeopathic  to small-pox.   This
remark applies with equal force to  the use of Pulsatilla in measles,
Belladonna  in scarlatina  laevigata,  Sulphur in scabies, Aconite in
purpura miliaris.  Furthermore, if Tartar Emetic is homoeopathic to
small-pox in the same sense as  the vaccine virus is known to be, it
should not only be possessed of curative, but likewise of prophylactic
virtues  in this disease.  We have  testimony to offer showing  that
Tartar Emetic is a preventive of small-pox, and possesses the power
of neutralizing, to some extent at least, the malignant character of
this disease, and  more particularly of protecting vital organs and the
inner mucous lining from the disorganizing action of. the small-pt>x
virus.   Heretofore  the only  known agent  which  is truly homoeo-
pathic to small-pox, or, in other words, which is capable of develop-
ing in the organism a morbid process analogous  to that of small-
pox, was supposed to be the vaccine virus; hence the vaccine virus,
or vaccinine was looked upon not only as  a prophylactic, but  also
as a true specific curative agent in small-pox.
  The later experiments of  Dr.  Lichtenstein of Brunswick in  Ger-
many seem to show that  the  course' of the Tartar Emetic pustule
is  in  all respects analogous  to  that of the small-pox pustule; he
infers this from thirty-one cases of patients who were vaccinated  and
re vaccinated  with the lymph of the  Tartar  Emetic pustule,  and
where the same eruption was reproduced by means of this process of
inoculation.
  Dr. Liedbeck of Stockholm states that he has never seen a case of
small-pox terminate fatally when treated  with Tartar Emetic in
small doses.  He gives it in doses of one-half to one grain, dissolved
in a pint of Avater, administered  in tablespoonful doses every fourth
hour.   Dr. Liedbeck likeAvise suggests the propriety of substituting
Tartar Emetic 'for the coAV-pox virus. Froriep, in his Notices, states
that tartarized Antimony in large doses has produced dryness, heat
and redness in the throat, as also  an internal eruption;  large pus-
                               15 
226
LECTURE XIV.
tules, Avith depressions in their  centres, Avere found in the mouth,
throat, larynx and trachea.

   Tartar Emetic may prove very successful in certain forms of
   Angina.  Tartar Emetic is known to have caused continual spit-
ting, aphthous ulceration of the tongue, pseudo-membranous depo-
sitions upon the bucco-pharyngeal mucous membrane, erythematous
or sometimes pustulous inflammation of the throat; these symptoms
are sometimes induced  by comparatively small doses of Tartar
Emetic.  In affections of the mouth and throat, where the symptoms
occur, such as in  diphtheritic angina, mercurial ptyalism and  scor-
butic affections of the mouth, Tartar Emetic  may prove eminently
useful.
   Trousseau and Pidoux and other  therapeutists assert that  these
effects of Tartar Emetic upon the lining membrane of the throat, are
the result of a local irritation of the  poison. This agent should un-
doubtedly not be  depended upon in an affection of this kind, unless
the general constitutional symptoms point to its use.

   We have already alluded to the powerful effects of Tartar Emetic
upon  the nervous system, and  to  its homoeopathicity to certain
forms of
   Delirium tremens.   One of our practitioners, Dr. Moore of Liver-
pool, recommends it very strongly as one of our powerful antidotes
to delirium tremens; prominent indications are  nausea, vomiting
and purging, trembling and cold  perspiration ; furious delirium may
be succeeded by prostration.

   In my judgment the signs  of  cerebral  irritation  do not indicate
Tartar Emetic, unless they can be traced to some deep-seated, pri-
mary irritation of the nervous plexuses upon which the functions of
the stomach and small intestines depend.   According to Dierbach
and  other observers,  Tartar  Emetic,  when  introduced  into  the
stomach, first acts upon the coeliac plexus through the mucous lin-
ing of the stomach, whence the impression is  communicated to the
cardiac plexus, to the pneumogastric nerves, and  to the ganglionic
system generally, which is  depressed and semi-paralyzed by the
action of the poison.  _ According to this theory it Avould seem that
the signs of cerebral irritation emanate secondarily or sympatheti-
cally from the ganglionic centers, and that  in  primary diseases of
the brain, Tartar Emetic is not in its  place as a homoeopathic agent.
If, therefore, Dr. Gray of New York recommends Tartar Emetic in
  Apoplectic Headache, with ineffectual retching, collapse of pulse,
coldness  of the extremities, these indications can only be deemed
reliable in case the comatose condition of the  patient can be traced
to a primary irritation of the coeliac plexus  through the mucous
lining of the stomach.
  It is fair, moreover, to observe that in the fatal  case reported by
Dr. Becamier, the brain exhibited decided  symptoms of disorganiza-
tion.  The dura mater was found ossified about an  inch ancf a half
in diameter; tHe arachnoid membrane was  found  thicker and  uni- 
ANTIMONII  ET POTASSJE TARTRAS.
227
formly red ;  signs of recent inflammation were found on that portion
of the membrane which  covers  the  anterior lobes of  the brain;
exudation of a serous liquid tinged red, particularly at  the base of
the skull; the substance of the brain Avas softer than usual; the left
ventricle contained four or five spoonfuls of a transparent and color-
less serum ;  the right ventricle contained less of a similar fluid.
  It seems improbable that this disorganized condition of the brain
and its membranes can have been exclusively the result of the Tartar
emetic; there must have been previous disease and a condition of
cerebral weakness induced by previous inflammation or injuries of
some kind.   Under these circumstances it  seems impossible to de-
cide how far the  existing symptoms  revealed by the post-mortem
examination, were the result of primary or sympathetic poisoning.

  If Tartar  Emetic is capable of causing spasms and convulsions, we
may find it indicated in spasmodic affections of the nervous system.
  In Frank's Magazine we find some very fine cures of
   Chiorea effected with  Tartar Emetic.
  A girl, aged fourteen, had  suffered  for five weeks with chorea in
an extreme  degree, Avhich had resisted all the usual narcotic reme-
dies ; she was emaciated to a skeleton, and suffered the most frightful
tonic, but more especially clonic cramps, which persisted night and
day, almost  without cessation. Tartar Emetic Avas given in half-grain
doses every three hours ; not the least nausea or vomiting Avas caused,
but obstinate constipation was relieved; in tAventy-four hours the
cramps were lessened, and ceased entirely in two days; the  remedy
was  continued for ten days, when the patient was perfectly well and
blooming.

  A boy, aged eight, had suffered with chorea for six weeks; he was
not even free from it during sleep ; he  had just had chicken-pox and
had taken cold; Tartar Emetic ointment applied to  the spine cured
him quickly.

  A girl, aged twelve, Avho had grown very rapidly, and had been
subject every autumn for five years to an eruption on the face and
forehead, was attacked  with St. Vitus' dance after the eruption was
suppressed; she had already suffered  for seven months, and almost
every remedy had been tried without success.  Tartar emetic oint-
ment was then rubbed upon the nape  and upon  the inside  of both
arms;  improvement commenced within  eight days after  the Tarter
Emetic pustules appeared,  and she was quite well in four weeks; the.
cure was still permanent at the end of one year and a half.

  A boy, aged twelve, who had suffered for a long time with  St.
Vitus' dance, and  the most Avonderful convulsions occurring every
morning  at  nine  o'clock, Avas cured  by the  application of Tartar
Emetic ointment to the pit of the stomach, Avhere he ahvays felt pre-
monitions of the approaching attacks.
  There is no reason to suppose that, if Tartar emetic had been
administered internally in  these cases,  a cure would  not  have been 
228
LECTURE XIV.
 effected equally as well and as permanently.  At first blush it would
 appear as though the drug had been used in two of these cases upon
 principles of revulsion or counter-irritation.  This may have been in
 the mind of the practitioner, but the nature of the cases would have
 justified the use of Tartar Emetic in accordance with the law "similia
 similibus."

   In Bilious and Gastric fevers, with nausea, vomiting of bile, white-
 coated and moist tongue, metallic  taste,  headache,  lassitude and
 debility, it is recommended  by Dr. Leon as excellent.  Dr. Gray
 recommends it  in  the malarious  bilious  remittent  fevers  of our
 country.  Dr. Leon (of New Orleans) prescribes it in
   Yellow fever for: nausea, vomiting, sense of sinking at the stomach
 as if the patient would  die,  prostration, white fur on  the tongue,
 profuse cold perspiration, rapid and weak pulse, drowsiness and dis-
 position to go to stool.  Dose :  one grain of first trituration in six
 ounces of water, in desert-spoonful doses.
   By contrasting the pathogenetic effects of Tartar Emetic with cor-
 responding pathological conditions, we obtain the following thera-
 peutic tableau which we will consider under our usual categories.

                    1. CEPHALIC GBOUP.

   Delirium tremens, as  shown by Dr. Moore.
   Apoplectic conditions of the  brain, with  retching,  for which Dr.
 Gray recommends Tartar Emetic in doses of one-sixtieth of a grain.
   Clavus hystericus, as  shown by Frank's case.
   Metastatic Hydrocephalus, where it is recommended  by Noack and
 Trinks both internally, and externally as an ointment applied to the
 head.  Success can only be expected in  this treatment in  case the
 hydrocephalus arises from the spontaneous suppression of small-pox.
 The ointment may be rubbed upon the  scalp, which  has to be pre-
 viously shaved, and internally the hundredth part of a grain may be ■
 given in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, a tablespoonful every hour
 or even more frequently.

                    2. NEBVOUS  GROUP.

  Lockjaw.  Doctor Carron, a French physician,  reports a case of
 poisoning with Tartar Emetic, in the Journal General de Medecine,
 1811, where a woman who had taken twenty grains of Tartar emetic,
 was  attacked with dreadful pains,  incessant vomitings, spasmodic
 locking of the jaws and convulsions.  A very strong  infusion of
 bark with opium appeased the vomiting; but she preserved a state
 of irritability of the stomach which never ceased entirely, and could
 only be moderated by  the habitual use  of  milk  and mucilaginous
 substances.
  An attack of this kind may occur in consequence of some violent
 irritation of the  stomach or small intestines  by  indigestible food,
 bile, worms.  I would commend Tartar Emetic to your attention in
the case of children who are  frequently exposed  to  paroxysms of 
ANTTMONII ET POTASS^ TARTRAS.
229
this kind.  If the  drug cannot be given  internally, it is perfectly
proper to rub a weak solution or ointment upon the epigastric region.
   Chiorea.  As an antispasmodic agent, we may use  Tartar  Emetic
in  chorea, especially when the  attacks originated  in suppressed
chicken-pox or ecthyma, or commence with premonitory symptoms in
the  epigastric region.   You will find  several  cases  of this  disease
reported  in my materia medica, where a cure was effected by rub-
bing the Tartar Emetic ointment either upon the spine or upon the
epigastrium.
   It is  perfectly proper to administer the homoeopathic  agent  by
the  skin, if it should seem most conducive to the  end  intended.
This does not justify the indiscriminate  application  of  salves  or
washes  to sores or eruptions, for the purpose of drying them up or
driving them  in.  No reasonable  practitioner will  make  himself
guilty of the insane proceeding of arresting a  discharge or  drying
up a chronic sore, that had become necessary to the preservation of
health or even life.  Even in  these cases an agent which is truly
homoeopathic to  the cutaneous disorder may be applied externally
at the same time  as we administer it internally.  Hahnemann him-
self has set us an example  of such treatment.  He has cured chronic
syphilitic and scrofulous sores by the external use of corrosive sub-
limate washes; we have cured glandular swellings, goitres and poly-
puses by applying to them  the iodide of mercury; we apply the
tincture of  iodine to buboes,  condylomata; we treat vesicular sca-
bies with the sulphur ointment.  All such external applications are
perfectly  justifiable in  homoeopathic practice,   as long as  we are
satisfied that the remedial agent is in true homoeopathic rapport
with the disease.  In  many cases the external use of the drug may
not  only be advantageous, but absolutely necessary  to  a cure.   In
the  cases of chorea which I have extracted from Frank's Magazine,
it is more than probable that  the ointment was applied as a revul-
sive or  counter-irritant agent, but it is  likewise certain to my mind
that -its admirable curative  effects  depended  in  reality upon  its
homoeopathicity to the existing disease.
  Spasmodic Dysphagia may yield to Tartar Emetic which is capable
of producing a similar condition.   In Orfila's toxicology the  case of
a man is reported, who, after having swallowed  a large dose of Tar-
tar Emetic, was attacked with  dreadful vomiting, and a gradual clos-
ing  of the oesophagus, so that not a drop of liquid could be swal-
lowed.  The muscles of the neck were involved in the spasm.  The
face  and eyes looked red, and  every attempt to raise the  head, re-
sulted in violent vertigo, so that the patient had to replace his head
upon the pillow.  He was relieved by leeching the neck, frictions of
opium on the neck, warm baths and other means.  A spasm  of this
kind may be attended with acute pain in the oesophagus.
  Similar symptoms were observed in the case  of a child ten years
old, to whom one grain of Tartar Emetic had been given.  Half an
hour after taking  the drug, the child experienced a spasmodic diffi-
culty of swallowing, and severe pain in the throat.  Leeches calmed
the spasm; vomiting had to be arrested by means of  tAventy grains
of ipecacuanha. 
230                      LECTURE  XIV
  We therefore recommend Tartar Emetic in Paroxysmal Dysphagia
characterized by  inability to vomit,  spasmodic constriction of the
oesophagus and throat, pain in the throat, congestion of the cervical
and cerebral vessels.

                   Buccal and Facial Groups.

  Among the poisoning effects of Tartar Emetic, we distinguish very
frequently a profuse flow of saliva Avhich  is sometimes  fetid and
ichorous.  Hence we are prompted to sometime prescribe this drug
for
  Mercurial Ptyalism, to which  it is rendered  still more homoeo-
pathic by the sponginess and bleeding of  the gums, which likewise
constitute symptoms of Tartar Emetic action.  These effects j ustify
the use of Tartar Emetic in the
  Stomacace, which may befall cachectic or strumous children or full-
grown people.  This stomacace or scorbutic inflammation may some-
times assume the form  of a fully-developed
  Angina Diphtherica, with  ptyalism, swelling and redness of the
soft palate and pharynx which are studded with vesicles,  and lined
with a tenacious mucus.  An angina of this kind may meet its
homoeopathic type in Tartar Emetic, if the gastric symptoms like-
wise point to its use. The voice  may be somewhat altered, in some
cases weaker and rougher than in its normal state.   Trouseau and
Pidoux  attribute the  angina occasioned by  Tartar  Emetic to its
mechanical action upon the lining membrane of the throat.  If this
supposition be correct, Tartar Emetic may not prove a very efficient
agent in  angina, except perhaps in the angina  of cachectic or
scorbutic  individuals,  where  it develops  itself  as a  condition
incidental to such a state of gastricism as I have described before.
In such forms of stomacace or angina as point to Tartar Emetic as
their homoeopathic simile or type, we may find it  useful to gargle
the throat with a weak solution of Tartar Emetic.  In the
  Purulent Ophithalmia arising from  the development of  small-pox
pustules in the eye,  Tartar Emetic may be of great use to us.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC  GROUP.

  Tartar Emetic  makes  deep inroads upon the digestive system.
Poisonous  doses  sometimes  entail  upon  the patient permanent
weakness of  the  stomach,  which   may be characterized  by an
inability to retain  anything  upon the stomach except  milk and
mucilaginous drinks.  This was the case with Dr. Carron's patient,
to which allusion  has  been made  previously.  Hence   we may
prescribe Tartar Emetic in
  Irritability of the  Stomach which may be  induced by over-eating
or over-stimulation by strong drinks.
  In Chronic Gastritis characterized by pricking pains in the reoion
of the stomach, as if the stomach were pricked with needles, Tartar
Emetic may prove very valuable.  These pricking pains have been
experienced by persons Avho had been poisoned Avith Tartar Emetic, 
ANTIMONII ET POTASS.E TARTRAS.
231
months after the poisonous symptoms had been subdued.  They may
indicate a purely nervous irritation of the stomach, and may there-
fore be considered as a case of
   Gastrodynia or likewise of  Nervous Dyspepsia.   Irritable stomach
or complete anorexia may co-exist with such pains.
  Acute paroxysms of  Gastrodynia  to which  Tartar Emetic is
homoeopathic, are characterized by extreme prostration, cold SAveats,-
feeble pulse, colicky pains in the bowels, or crampy, burning distress
in the stomach and duodenum, retching and  nausea.
   In  Gastritis, Tartar Emetic will  sometimes prove available.  In
fatal cases of poisoning  by Tartar  Emetic,  the  stomach has  been
found filled with a thick  bloody mucus; the mucous membrane of
the  stomach  has  been  found  intensely inflamed,  and corroded
throughout its whole extent, especially at the fundus of the stomach ;
at the  same time it looked spongy  and  might be readily detached
from the muscular  coat.   The duodenum has been found similarly
affected.  The lining membrane of the  remainder of the intestinal
tract had a grayish appearance and was found more or less spongy.
A patient attacked with this severe form of  gastritis  would exhibit
symptoms like the following :  severe retching and vomiting, crampy,
burning distress, bloating in  the epigastrium  with excessive sensi-
tiveness to contact, violent thirst,  coldness of the  skin, with cold
sweat, and thin,  hurried  pulse, expression of agony in the  features.
Tartar Emetic may be administered every half hour in doses of one
hundredth of a  grain.
   A severe form of gastritis maybe superinduced by the metastatic
transfer of the  small-pox eruption to  the coats of the stomach.
Both Arsenic and  Tartar Emetic may be required in such a case.
   Gastro-enteritis does not properly come within  the curative range
of Tartar  Emetic.  This  agent causes violent  pinching,  crampy
pains,  and  violent  discharges from  the bowels, sometimes  attended
with distressing tenesmus. These symptoms undoubtedly point to
a  violent  irritation of  the  intestinal lining membrane, but the
co-existing coldness of the skin and  the exhausting sweats do not
justify  the inference  that this irritation  is of an  inflammatory
character.  In fatal cases of poisoning by Tartar Emetic, the mucous
lining of  the stomach has indeed been found  inflamed, but the
lining of the  lesser intestines had  a  grayish appearance  and Avas
found  more or less spongy.   These alterations  are  described with
much accuracy by Dr.  Engel of Vienna.
   According to  his observations, fatal doses of Tartar Emetic cause
hypertrophy  of the  intestinal follicles, and change the mucous
membrane to  a pale, dry, pultaceous mass.   It is therefore evident
that in true inflammatory conditions of the intestinal mucous mem-
brane, Tartar Emetic is not applicable as a  homoeopathic agent, but
that it may prove  of decided  advantage in degenerations of this
organ which  set in with violent  diarrhoea, consisting of  watery and
mucous discharges, attended with extreme prostration, depression of
the pulse and Arital heat.
   In  Cholera  Morbus or  Asiatic Chiolera Tartar Emetic  may  prove
serviceable.  AYe have seen that a poisonous dose of Tartar Emetic 
232                      LECTURE  XIV.
 may induce  vomiting and  diarrhoea, cramps and  burning at the
 stomach, cramps in the calves, collapse of pulse, prostration and
 coldness of the skin.  These  symptoms undoubtedly determine  a
 certain degree of homoeopathicity of Tartar Emetic to  cholera.
 HoAvever, it  may be proper to modify this  teaching.  If cholera
 morbus  is the  result  of rheumatic  exposure,  or of miasmatic
 influences, Tartar Emetic may  not  be indicated;  Aconite and
 Arsenic may be required.   The determining cause of an  attack of
 cholera to Avhich Tartar Emetic is homoeopathic, may be a  fit of
 indigestion arising  from  the  use of improper, indigestible  food.
 Hence in miasmatic, endemic or epidemic cholera, Tartar Emetic may
 fail us; Aconite, Arsenic, Veratrum may be required.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  We  have seen that an ointment may induce dysuria, perhaps only
 in cachectic individuals.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  We  have seen that Antimony causes pustules  on the sexual
 organs hence Tartar Emetic has been supposed to be useful for
  Pustules on  the  Vulva; these indications, hoAvever,  should be
 received  with a great deal of caution.   According to the testimony
 of eminent observers, these eruptions on the  sexual organs  may
 not be the result of absorption, nor of the dynamic action of the
 poison through the ganglionic system; but they may be caused by
4he inadvertent application of the Tartar Emetic ointment to  these
 parts.  If this should be the case, it would be absurd to  hope for
 much success in the  treatment of these eruptions by  means of the
 internal use of this agent.
  In Leucorrhea, of a sanious or watery character, especially in the
 case of females with impoverished constitutions, Tartar Emetic may
 prove useful.

                 7.  CATARRHAL  GROUP.

  Under this head  we may remark that Tartar Emetic is used by
 homoeopathic physicians for
  Influenza and Croup.  Dr. Gray of New  York  recommends this
 agent very strongly for influenza.  But the use of this drug,  as re-
 commended by  Dr.  Gray,  is altogether  empirical;  the symptoms
 of influenza  do not furnish any indications for the  employment of
 Tartar Emetic in influenza as a homoeopathic agent; its use  can only
 be predicated upon  the basis of revulsion and  crude  empiricism.
  Influenza is essentially a disorder of the delicate capillaries  rami-
 fied over the  mucous surfaces.   The character of this disorder is tor-
 por.   The attack sets in, to quote Dr. Gr-ay's very accurate descrip-
 tion, with "chilly feelings, headache, pasty tongue, inflammation of
 the throat (tonsils, arches of the palate or pharynx), short turns of
 nausea, aching in the bones, especially of the lower extremities, yel- 
ANTIMONII ET POTASSES TARTRAS.
233
lowness of the skin, slight hoarseness, more or less fever-heat  and
sweats."   These  symptoms do  not  indicate Tartar  Emetic,  but
Aconite.  Aconite is the chief remedy in our Alateria Medica which
affects the mucous lining of the respiratory and chylo-poietic systems,
as Ave knoAV it to be  affected  during the first stage of influenza.
There is no sort of necessity of  giving five or six drugs in a case of
this  disease.  At the outset  Aconite is  not only  required  by the
symptomatic indications,  but also by the  pathology  of  the case.
Tartar Emetic acts  as a  revulsive agent in influenza, a mode of
practice which homoeopathic  physicians should not countenance in
case where strict  homoeopathic treatment is not only possible, but
infinitely superior.
  However, the specific homoeopathic rapport of Tartar Emetic to
influenza  alone determines its  curative  influence in this disease.
Herschel  gives the following group of symptoms as characteristics
of the epidemic influenza of 1834, in Germany:
  Rheumatic pains in the limbs and extremities; stitches in  the
chest; oppression on the chest, relieved by expectoration;  irritation
inducing cough, with moist serous-albuminous expectoration; rack-
ing cough, especially at night, causing frontal headache and racking
the chest;  aphthae around the mouth; thick, white or bilious coat-
ing of the tongue, with hawking  up of mucus; nausea, vomiting,
pasty or bitter taste, anorexia, not much thirst, empty feeling in the
stomach;  pressure, stitches, bloating of the hypochondria, especially
of the region of the liver;  diarrhceic stools consisting of mucus,  not
copious; oppressive frontal  headache, with vertigo, stupefaction,
dullness of the head, slight delirium, weary feeling as from want of
sleep, yet there was no sleep; apathy alternating with  nocturnal
restlessness; exhausted feeling in the limbs, as if proceeding from
the back;  stiff neck; pulse small,  nervous; chilly creepings Avith
copious sweats.  Tartar Emetic often sufficed alone.

  In  Croup, Tartar  Emetic has been administered in this country
and  in Europe for  many years  in combination with  squills and
senega.  This compound has acquired a world-wide  reputation under
the name of Coxe's  hive  syrup, or mel  scillae compositum.  It is
given at the commencement of croup and whooping-cough, and acts
as an expectorant and  emetic.  In  these diseases Tartar Emetic is
administered upon the  principle of revulsion and counter-irritation;
hence we have no use for it in croup where Aconite, Spongia, Iodine,
and other preparations act with far more  directness and certainty in
conformity with the homoeopathic law.

                    PULMONARY GROUP.

  In Inflammation of the lungs, various antimonial preparations, and
more particularly Tartar Emetic,  are considered by Old-School
physicians as their main reliance  in dispersing the engorgement of
the pulmonary tissue.  The use of Tartar Emetic in pneumonia  has
been carried by the  Italian physician Rasori to an extent which
almost borders upon criminal recklessness.  Rasori is known as the 
234
LECTURE XIV.
chief advocate  of  the  contra-stimulating method  of treatment, by
means of which a  cure is supposed  to  be effected by exciting an
artificial and more powerful stimulation in the tissues adjoining the
affected organ, or in the organ itself, or in the organism generally.
I have stated that large doses of Antimony diminish the beats of
the heart and the number of inspirations; hence Old-School physi-
cians employ it in  pneumonia as a sedative, although it, at the same
time, holds the  first rank among the counter-irritants.  In order to
enable the drug to spend its full force on the lungs, Rasori contrived
the method of giving Tartar Emetic until the stomach tolerated, as it
was termed, large doses of the poison without any of the ordinary
symptoms of nausea and vomiting.   He gave it in enormous closes,
as may be seen from the folloAving cases:
   "A young man was  received in the Clinique of Rasori, April 5th,
1809, Avho had labored for four days  under symptoms of pneumonia,
for which he had  been bled and cupped on  the side;  pulse  hard
and wiry; cough,  Avith pain in the right side of the thorax (Bled,
Tartar Emetic  24  grs.,) 6th  inst., vomited twice (Tartar  Emetic 48
grs.)  Evening.   Great augmentation  of  cough and  pain; ex-
pectoration tinged with blood ;  pulse vibrating;  six  alvine evacua-
tions (Tartar Emetic  48 grs.)  7th inst., in  the  morning  (Tartar
Emetic 72 grs)  Evening.  Exacerbation of fever, of cough and of
pain; frequent vomiting; six dejections.  (Tartar Emetic 72  grs.,
blood-letting).  8th day : Same symptoms. (Tartar Emetic 144 grs.,
bleeding).  Evening.   Vomiting, Avith increase of symptoms.   (Tar-
tar Emetic 144  grs., bleeding).   9th day :  Frequent vomiting, respira-
tion a little  difficult; pain moderated ; feeling of oppression referred
to  the epigastrium;  great muscular weakness; skin dry and hot;
tongue dry.  (Tartar Emetic 72  grs., blood-letting).  Evening.  Re-
peated vomiting.  (Tartar Emetic 36 grs., blood-letting).   10th day:
Vomiting less  frequent;  the  other symptoms continued.   (Tartar
Emetic  36 grs.,  blood-letting).  11th day:  Respiration calm, no  pain,
but little cough; the patient could take a full inspiration, but could
scarcely speak; pulse  small, compressible,  unequal; skin dry and
hot; tongue dry;  frequent vomiting, with  intense  thirst.   (Tartar
Emetic 36  grs., blood-letting).   Evening.  (Tartar Emetic 36  grs)
12th day: (Tartar Emetic 36  grs.,  blood-letting).   The patient died
the following night.   Upon examining  the body, some hepatization
was found in the right  lung.   Every thing  else was in a state  of
integrity."

   " Another person,  aged twenty-seven years, who  had  been com-
plaining for three days of cough, spitting of blood and difficult  respi-
ration, was admitted into Rasori's Clinique on the 5th of April, 1809.
From the 5th to the  11th, in the space of six days, he was bled ten
times  and took eight hundred  and twenty-six grains of Tartar
Emetic.  On the sixth day he died."  It seems needless  to add that
these patients were destroyed by this murderous treatment.
   See,  Gentlemen, upon Avhat a frail  basis the counter-stimulant
treatment of pneumonia, which is still advocated by a  majority of
the leading practitioners of the dominant school,  rests.  Magendie 
ANTIMONII ET POTASS^ TARTRAS.
235
shoAving that Tartar Emetic possesses the specific power of causing
pulmonary engorgements;  other experimenters equally skilled and
conscientious denying this doctrine.  If Tartar Emetic causes pul-
monary engorgements, upon what principle is  it administered in
pneumonia ?   Upon the principle that the engorgement caused by
Tartar Emetic will  absorb  the natural disease.  But can it be sup-
posed that a lung which has been prostrated by disease, will  have
sufficient reactive energy left to free itself from the poisonous effects
of a thousand grains of Tartar Emetic ?  Let common sense, let a
common feeling of pity for a poor, helpless sufferer answer.
  Dance, in a Avork where the action of Tartar Emetic in pneumonia
is rigorously but conscientiously inquired into, comes to the conclu-
sion that Tartar Emetic, if  it has not done positive injury, has not
done any good in the cases which  this agent is reported  to  have
cured ; he argues that the cure was owing to bleeding.  Yet Tartar
Emetic is given even by those who deny its  specific  relation to the
pulmonary tissue, upon the principle of revulsion, derivation  or
counter-irritation.   They physic with it the boAvels and the stomach,
with a view of carrying off or counter-acting the pulmonary irritation.
This is Broussais' and Chomel's theory.
  Trousseau and  Pidoux  again  reject this  hypothesis,  and  give
Antimony antipathically as a depressor of the pulse.

  Is Tartar Emetic of any use to  a homoeopathic physician in the
treatment of pneumonia ?   I have already told you  that the action
of Antimony upon the lungs is deficient in those characteristic signs
which inevitably mark the  existence of sanguineous  engorgements.
The symptoms obtained by  our provings are too vague to yield any
definite indications for the use of Tartar Emetic in pulmonary dis-
eases.  It might perhaps be used with advantage  in some cases of
pneumonia during the stage of resolution, in  order to facilitate ex-
pectoration ;  but I am inclined to think that, as we shall become
more thoroughly skilled in the use of Aconite, Phosphorus, Arsenic
and other agents, the use of Tartar  Emetic in pneumonia will be
restricted more and more even by Old-School practitioners.
  Even Pereira remarks, that "in cases of poisoning by this sub-
stance, no mention is made of difficulty of breathing, cough, pain or
other symptoms which could lead to the suspicion  that  the  lungs
were suffering."
  We have  used  Tartar Emetic with  apparently favorable results
in cases of Coughi, induced in accordance with Virchow's hypothesis,
by  the detachment and  deposition, through the  general current of
the circulation, of little clots of purulent matter, inducing secondary
irritation, inflammation and suppuration of the mucous surfaces.  In
a case of scrofulous periostitis, Avhere  the  whole  substance of the
thigh seemed converted into one abscess, the lungs became involved
either by nervous  agency or in accordance with VirchoAv's theory;
the patient was continually troubled  with a hacking cough, and
frequently raised  pus  and  blood.  The  cough was  exceedingly
painful.   Tartar Emetic controlled these symptoms very speedily. 
236
LECTURE XIV.
                       FEVER-GROUP.

  We have  seen that Dr. Leon  recommends Tartar Emetic  in  a
certain stage and for certain forms of yellow fever.   In
  Malarious Bilious remittent fevers, and in
  Gastric and Mucous fevers, with tendency to prostration, anorexia,
styptic taste in  the  mouth, dryness of the throat, nausea, retching,
spasmodic vomiting, Avatery and slimy discharges, or costiveness with
soreness and heat in the small intestines, compressible and rather
hurried pulse, cold and  clammy  skin, Tartar Emetic may prove of
great use.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Small-pox and Ecthyma.  Ecthyma  may sometimes result  from
simple inflammation of  the subcutaneous tissues,  in  which case
Aconite may often suffice to effect a cure.

                     MENTAL GROUP.

  Tartar Emetic may induce excessive  apathy and praecordial
anguish; hence these conditions may be regarded  as additional indi-
cations for its use.

  In regard to the antidotal treatment in a case of poisoning, the
first thing we have to do is to procure, if possible, the evacuation of
the poison.   To this end the patient may drink tepid water or a few
tablespoonfuls of warmed sweet oil.   The poison is antidoted by
Peruvian bark,  tincture  of galls,  green tea, coffee, or any substance
which contains  a good deal  of tannin.   Tannin  forms with Tartar
Emetic an insoluble tannate.

  Another antimonial preparation which we use in our practice, is

                     Antimonial  Wine,

  This is prepared by  dissolving 40 grains  of  Tartar Emetic in
eight ounces of warm distilled water, and afterwards adding as much
pure madeira to the solution.  Instead  of wine, alcohol had  better
be used.   The  tannin which is sometimes contained in the wine,
neutralizes to some extent the virtues  of the solution.  It may be
used in cases of whooping-cough and  spasmodic cough generally
when there is profuse expectoration of tenacious  phlegm.

  Other antimonial  preparations, such as Antimonial  Glass, Kermes
mineral and the  golden Sulphiuret of Antimony are not used by homoe-
opathic physicians.  The effect of all antimonial preparations being
the same, except somewhat  different in degree,  we can get along
with the three which I have described,  by graduating them accord-
ing to our well-known rules of potentization.
  We may mention, however, the 
ARNICA MONTANA.
237
                     Muriate of Antimony,

Also termed Antimonial Butter.   This is a caustic solution, having
poisonous properties.  A boy swallowed a teaspoonful of it, and was
immediately seized with retching and ineffectual attempts to vomit,
loss of voice.  Dr. Houghton, who reports the case, found the face
pale and collapsed, eyes sunken, pupils dilated and immovable; skin
pale and cold; tongue clean;  mouth  filled with a tenacious, trans-
parent mucus;  nausea;  vomiting;   pulse  small,  80;  breathing
labored ; drowsiness ; burning pain in the stomach.   It is used as an
escharotic in a case of figwarts and callous ulcers.   We may apply
it to figwarts around  the anus.
                  LECTURE  XV.

                   ARNICA  MONTANA,

              (Mountain Arnica, Mountain Tobacco)

  Professor Thomas D. Mitchell of Jefferson College, says of this
interesting and highly useful  agent:  "We have  many articles
equally safe,  and decidedly superior, and hence the discredit into
which it has fallen.  It is one of the many things that will do no
harm, in  moderate portions."   He  also says: " The advocates of
Homoeopathy often speak of Arnica as one of their remedies;  not
aware of  its antiquity, some  of them make a hobby of this old
novelty."
  The good  Professor who seems to have constituted himself a
knight-errant in the childish crusade which some pertinacious con-
servatives of  the dominant school are still waging  against Homoeo-
pathy, is mistaken at  all points.  It is not true that there exists a
single agent  in nature which  is  endowed  to the same extent as
Arnica witht he  property of restoring the contused  or  lacerated
muscular  fibre  to a normal condition; it  is not true that homoeo-
paths claim Arnica as one of their remedies: they simply claim the
honor of having rescued from unmerited oblivion this highly useful
drug, and of having introduced it into every well-organized pharmacy
in Christendom ;  and  lastly it is not true that this agent has fallen
into disuse, for it  may be found in every intelligent family in city
and country,  both in  families  where alloeopathic  and  in families
where homoeopathic physicians are employed.

  Arnica montana belongs to the natural family of the Radiate.  It
is a perennial plant which floAvers in the months of July and August.
The  root,  consists of a  cylindrical  Avoody rhizoma,  terminating
abruptly,  from  which many fibres or radicles arise.  It is brown
externally, has  a disagreeable,  yet  aromatic odor,  and an  acrid 
238
LECTURE XV.
 nauseous, astringent taste.  The  leaves and flowers have the same
 smell as the root.
   The floAver stalk is about a  foot high, except in alpine situations
 where it often only attains a height of six inches.  It is a simple,
 hardy stem, obscurely angular, leaves entire and ovate.  The leaves
 arising from the  flower-peduncles,  are of a glossy green color,
 darker on the upper surface than on  the dorsal side.   The corolla is
 composed of about sixteen or eighteen single florets, of a  bright-
 yellow color, striated and  three-toothed.  The calyx is composed
 of rough, hairy scales.  There are twelve species of Arnica, of which
 we only use the  Arnica montana which is found, as the name indi-
 cates, on eleArated slopes and meadows in the cooler parts of Europe.
 Teste informs us that some varieties of this  species are found in
 the plains of the North  of France;  they are  distinguished by the
 large size of their leaves, the  height of the stems, etc.  According
 to Nuttall, it is also found in the Northern regions of our country,
 west of the Mississippi.
   The parts used  in  medicine are the flowers and roots.   We may
 make an infusion or an alcoholic tincture'.  To make an  infusion
 we digest half an ounce of the  flowers with  one pound of water.
 The tincture is prepared by macerating one and  a  half ounces of
 the floAvers in one pound of rectified alcohol.   To make a concen-
 trated tincture of the root, we macerate one pound of the root in a
 quart of alcohol.
  The root Avhich we use for medicinal purposes, should be of the
 size of a quill;  externally it is  striated, black  or reddish-brown;
 internally it is yellowish-white.  The strong  aromatic taste of the
 root grows stronger after drying;  hoAvever if the root is kept too long
 exposed to the open air, its medicinal properties become Aveaker and
 comparatively inefficient.  If possible, a tincture  should be made
 from the fresh flowers; the root however is the most important part.
 The saturated tincture has a broAvn-yellow color and  a highly pene-
 trating, aromatic odor.  The root may be ordered from Germany in
 well-stopped bottles, having been well dried in a sand-bath and then
 pulverized.
  The floAvers of this plant are liable to being visited by an insect
 which the Germans call the Arnica-fly and which has  to be carefully
 removed before using them.  No blossoms should be used which
 are not perfectly uninjured by this parasite.

  The use of Arnica montana   has become  so universal  at the
 present period, that some caution has to be used in purchasing the
 plant  from  druggists. The spurious Arnica-root yields  a light
 yellowish  tincture,  without  any   marked,   characteristic  odor;
 Avhereas  the genuine root yields  a  broAvnish,  yellowish-green
 tincture having a strong, pungent, aromatic odor which completely
masks the odor of the alcohol that is distinctly perceived when the
 root is derived from a spurious species.

  Hahnemann introduces the  pathogenesis of this important drug
 with the following remarks:  " Notwithstanding all  its  carefully- 
ARNICA MONTANA.
239
constructed dogmas, its scholastic definitions and subtle distinctions,
the established  system of medicine has never succeeded  in dis-
covering the specific properties of this plant, nor in finding any
certain remedy for that general affection, (often very serious,) Avhich
results  from severe falls, shock,  bloAvs,  contusions,  etc., or  from
straining or tearing the solid parts of the human frame.  At length,
after  innumerable  attempts and trials, the people discovered for
themselves the desired remedy in Arnica.   Two hundred years ago,
a physician named  Fehr, communicated to his brethren, for the first
time, the discovery  of this domestic remedy; since when Arnica has
been called Panacea lapsorum. The case has been similar with regard
to all other specifics; the  art  of medicine owes the  knowledge of
them to domestic practice, and has never made a single discovery
for itself, because those who  practice it, have not taken the trouble
to try the pure effect of natural substances on persons in health.

   Chevallier and Lassaigne  have  obtained from Arnica a yellow
ethereal oil having the odor of Arnica, and an acrid  nauseous sub-
stance similar to that which has been discovered in the seeds of the
Cytisus-Laburnum, and hence named Cytisin.

   Dr. Collin, of Vienna, used  Arnica  extensively in the Pazman
Hospital of that city for four years from 1771 to 1774, in intermit-
tent and  putrid fevers and also in malignant dysentery.  Murray
states that, when the medicine was  given in  too  large a  dose, it
occasioned vomiting, anxiety,  sweats, an aggravation of the  pain
around injured parts, (which, however, never lasted long,) sensitive-
ness of the abdomen, weakness of the  senses and  nerves, tingling,
shooting and burning pains, or shocks resembling those  produced
by the  electric  fluid, great anxiety, even dangerous hemorrhages,
vomiting, vertigo,  and coma.  Hence Arnica  was supposed to be
contra-indicated by the presence of fever, a predisposition to haemor-
rhages and internal congestions.
   The sternutatory properties of the blossoms of Arnica were knoAvn
at an early period.   Hence its name Ptarmica montana instead of
Arnica, from the Greek verb " ptairo," to sneeze.

   There is no doubt that Arnica is possessed of very acrid proper-
ties, and that it may likewise induce  a  state of narcosis.   Experi-
ments have been made both with the flowers and the root, justifying
the  conclusion  that Arnica  acts poAverfully upon the vegetative
sphere, and that it  stimulates the absorbent powers of the capillaries,
particularly in cases where they have been weakened or suspended
even by external injuries.  Hence Ave see that the primary action of
Arnica upon the absorbents must be to depress their activity and to
induce  precisely such derangements as will  naturally Aoav from
functional torpor of the vegetative or reproductive sphere.  In this
respect Arnica acts similarly to Peruvian bark, as Ave shall perceive
at a later period of our course.

   The  therapeutic  range of Arnica  has  been very philosophically 
240
LECTURE XV.
and very  comprehensively defined by Professor  Altschuhl of the
University of Prague.  " According to the  observations of  Old-
School physicians, the vegetative nervous system is the focus of the
physiological action of Arnica.  In the lower vegetative tissues,
where the activity of the lymphatic vessels and veins predominates,
Arnica excites the  irritability and sensibility of the fibre without
causing any general exaltation or quickening of the animal functions.
It acts more particularly upon the capillary system, _ where the
capillary vessels coalesce in inmost union with the terminal ramifi-
cations of the nervous system; it acts upon the dermoid system,
especially among the membranous and fibrous tissues (among which
we range  the aponeurosis, the ligaments, the synovial membranes,
the periosteum, pleura and peritoneum;) it invigorates the vegetative
life of the organism, and counteracts a tendency to colliquation and
putrescence.  It stimulates  the activity of  the absorbent vessels,
especially of the cutaneous, pulmonary and renal absorbents, whence
its well known curative virtues in extravasations.  This stimulating
action is secondarily perceived by the cerebro-spinal axis,  especially
by the  motor  nerves; hence  we use Arnica with ad vantage in
paralytic conditions depending upon spinal irritations.  In massive
doses it affects the digestive system, causes dyspeptic complaints,
nausea, opppression at the stomach, colicky pains, watery or slimy
discharges from the bowels, having a fetid smell  and accompanied
with a good  deal of flatulence."   Hence we are authorized by the
terms of our law, to use it in torpid inflammatory conditions AA'here
a typhoid character of the symptoms threatens to  set in.

   The members of  Dr. Joerg's  celebrated   Provers' Union  have
subjected Arnica to several interesting experiments upon themselves.
   Dr. Assmann  took  an infusion of seven grains  of the  flowers in
two ounces of water; he experienced a scratching sensation in the
mouth and oesophagus, and soon  afterwards a contracting pain in
the stomach, lasting one hour and then gradually subsiding; these
symptoms were succeeded by a sense of confusion in the head, and
dull pressing pains below the parietal bones and in the region of the
lachrymal fossae; after perspiring in the night,  these pains disap-
peared ; on the day following  he complained of general lassitude,
heaviness of the head and inability to work continuously or earnestly.
   Five days after, he took an infusion of twenty-two grains in four
ounces of water;  in addition to all the above sensations, he Avas
attacked with diarrhoeic stools and  some cutting pains in the bowels.
   This proving shows that Arnica first acts upon  the nervous tissue
of the alimentary canal, before the brain perceives the effects of the
drug.  By this I mean that the functional disturbances  caused in
the mucous surfaces of the  alimentary canal preceded the cerebral
engorgement.  It would seem, from the character of these effects of
Arnica, that they were superinduced by a primary irritation of the
capillary nervous network ramified over the mucous expanse of the
 alimentary canal.   Hence we infer that Arnica may prove adapted
to derangements of the gastric functions characterized by a sensation
of roughness in the  oesophagus  and  throat, crampy pains in the 
ARNICA MONTANA.
211
 stomach, cutting  pains in the bowels, and diarrhoea.   Headache
 accompanies the  attack,  which finally terminates in perspiration.
 In Cardialgia and Gastrodynia, where these symptoms occur, Arnica
 will prove valuable.

   Another prover, Engler, took an infusion of seven grains of the
 floAvers  in four ounces of water.   In an hour after, his pulse became
 irregular and accelerated: his sleep was restless and disturbed by
 dreams.   Tavo days  after he took the same dose with the same
 results, but preceded by a scraping sensation in  the mouth, about
 the root of the tongue, and in the oesophagus, lasting for half an hour.
 Fifteen grains in eight ouflfces of water produced the same sensations:
 fifteen grains in four ounces of water Avere followed immediately by
 burning and scraping in the mouth and oesophagus, frequent eructa-
 tions, and irregular pulse  in the evening; the following  night was
 disturbed, and on the next morning he had a peculiar painful sensa-
 tion down the spine, as if produced by long-continued stooping.   A
 repetition of the same dose produced the same scraping in the throat,
 followed by an aching but superficial pain between  the shoulders;
i his night was restless.  The same dose on the next day Avas folioAved
 by less irritation in the throat, while the dull aching muscular or
 tendinous pains were felt more under the right shoulder blade ; the
 pulse was quick and irregular.  The same results Avere obtained from
 twenty grains tAvo and five days afterwards.  Thirty grains, taken
 tAvo days later, produced very violent scraping in the throat, folio Aved
 in ten minutes by a painful pressure apparently in the posterior Avail
 of the  stomach, and extending between the shoulder blades to the
 dorsal vertebrae.
   During these experiments he expectorated much bright, transpa-
 rent, glassy mucus, punctated with black spots, and his stools seemed
 harder and less frequent.
   This proving yields important  results.   The action of the  drug
 was particularly perceived in the region of the spine, in the gastric
 sphere and  in the pulse.  The peculiar pains down the spine shoAY
 that in irritation of the spinal  nerves such as  may be induced by
 rheumatic exposure, Arnica may prove valuable:  a form of rheu-
 matism Avhere the muscular and  tendinous tissues may receive the
 first counter-shock of the nervous irritation.
   The gastric symptoms lead us to infer  Venous  Congestion of the
 stomach superinduced by an irritation of the spinal nerves.  Rheu-
 matism, a strain, a concussion of the middle portion  of the spinal
 chord might give  rise  to such symptoms.   AYe likewise meet with
functional derangements  of  the  gastric sphere, where these  hard
aching pains in the region of the stomach, hawking up of glassy,
black-dotted mucus, and irregularity of the pulse are  characteristic
symptoms.  If  the characteristic  roughness in the oesophagus is
present, together with hard stool, or in  other cases,  loose, watery
stool with cutting pains in the boAvels, Ave may depend upon Arnica
as a remedy in the case. Such a group of symptoms Ave might desig-
nate as Nervous  Dyspipsia.
                              16 
242
LECTURE XV.
  Heisterbugk took fifteen grains in eight ounces of luke-warm water,
followed in ten minutes by a gradually increasing pain in the stomach,
as if the walls of the stomach were spasmodically contracted; it lasted
an hour, and was then relieved by eating.  He also noticed increased
activity of the skin, and a pricking pain in the  chest and  internal
surfaces of the arms, such as occur after a sudden overheating; pulse
seventy-five to eighty.  Four days after, he took the same dose Avith
slighter results and no pricking;  fifteen grains in four  ounces only
produced a slight sensation in the stomach; the same dose, two days
after, produced in a feAV minutes  a considerable distention of the
abdomen, lasting for one hour; the same dose, two days after, pro-
duced  the  same bloating of the abdomen,  followed by moderate
heaviness and confusion of the head, lasting for two hours; thirty
and forty grains in six ounces of water, only produced  the swelling
of the abdomen and confusion of the head.
  This proving confirms the specific  action of  Arnica upon the
nerves of the stomach.  Here we have a well-marked group  of Car-
dialgia.  If I were called to a case Avhere the patient complained of
contracting  spasmodic pains in the stomach, with  bloating of the
bowels, confusion of the head, and slightly irritated pulse, I should
prescribe  Arnica.   The pricking Avhich this prover experienced,
would  afford additional  proof of the homoeopathicity of Arnica in a
given case of gastric  disturbance; in cardialgia  or gastralgia this
symptom may be present.  It may likewise be present in rheumatic
affections of the tendons and muscles.  In rheumatism of these parts,
if pricking pains are present, together with the previously-mentioned
aching pains, Arnica will be found useful.

  Kneschke took fifteen  grains of the flowers; half an hour after taking
the  drug, he experienced a peculiar scraping and  burning in the
throat and oesophagus, followed in a few minutes by a  troublesome
aching in the stomach, lasting for a full hour.  Twenty-two grains in
four ounces of Avater caused a scraping in the throat immediately,
and violent  aching in the stomach, lasting for one  hour; he had a
good night, but awoke with violent piercing pains in the forehead
and occiput, lasting the whole day, attended with loss of appetite,
constipation and depression of spirits;  he did  not recover until the
fifth day.  Another trial with the same  dose yielded nearly the same
results, except that the piercing pains in the forehead came on sooner
and passed off over night.
  This proving reveals  the depressing effects of Arnica upon the
nerves of the stomach, folloAved by a violent irritation of the cerebral
nerves and dejection of spirits.  Hence Ave may consider Arnica in-
dicated in Hypochondria depending upon gastric derangements or
dyspepsia, attended Avith frontal headache.
  Stroefer experienced, from seven grains of the flowers; a burning-
scraping in the throat, nausea, increased secretion of saliva,  boring,
unpleasant movements in the stomach, followed by a painful pressure
in the forehead for tAvo hours; tAventy-tAvo grains caused a remark-
able increase of all these symptoms, especially the salivary secretions
and the pain in the head.  The pulse Avas fuller and quicker. 
ARNICA MONTANA.                   243
  These symptoms again indicate  the use of Arnica in Cardialgia
and Gastrodynia.

  A most interesting proving is that of AYinkler, who took fifteen
grains of the flowers in four ounces of water.  Immediately after
taking the drug he experienced a violent burning in the throat,
gradually descending the oesophagus down to the stomach, lasting
for three-quarters of an hour, and followed by griping and aching
in the stomach, which extended to the small intestines where a great
deal of rumbling and frequent uneasy contractions Avere experienced,
followed by an almost tympanitic distention of the abdomen ; at the
end of tAvo hours almost all these effects had passed away, but there
was a sensation of gnawing canine hunger without the least appetite;
he awoke the next morning with violent headache, which lasted for
four  hours and  was so severe at eight o'clock that he  almost fell
down from pain and vertigo;  the nausea and the sense of prostration
lasted till noon.  Seven grains in two ounces  of  water  caused a
scraping in the throat and oesophagus, Avith a sensation as if the walls
of the pharynx were swollen ; this  feeling only lasted one-fourth of
an hour, and was folloAved by heaviness and aching in  the stomach
for half an hour.  These experiments were repeated with large and
small doses, Avith three, five, seven, ten, fifteen and  twenty grain doses,
always with the same results; the smaller doses seemed to affect him
as powerfully as the larger ones.
  The pathological character of these symptoms is the same as in
the former provings.  Gastrodynia  is strikingly delineated  by  the
results of this proving.  Griping- and pressing pains in the stomach ;
uneasiness and spasmodic contractions in the small intestines ; tym-
panitic distension of the bowels and afterAvards a sensation of craving
hunger like  bulimia, constitute a  group  of  symptoms eminently
characteristic of peculiar forms of Gastrodynia.

  Eleven other experimenters made trials Avith an infusion of Arnica
and obtained more or less similar  results.  The first effect of the
drug  is perceived in the throat  and oesophagus, Avhere  it  causes a
scraping and burning sensation; these symptoms  are  followed by
nausea, increased secretion of a watery saliva, loss of appetite, crampy
pains in the  stomach, and lastly headache, the pain being mostly
experienced in the right half of the occiput, Avhence it shifts to the
right  half of the forehead.  The  nausea caused by Arnica  may be
accompanied by shuddering  folloAved by  warmth  over the whole
body  and breaking out of a Avarm sweat, Avith full and quick pulse,
followed in two hours by a sudden violent urging to stool, with scanty
and natural faeces as if the muscular coat only of the bowels had been
excited.  In one case the prover experienced crampy pains in the
stomach and  colicky pains in the bowels, with a  sensation as if the
stomach had been over-loaded ; as the cramps in the bowels lessened,
the Avhole abdomen became SAvollen, Avith frequent emissions of urine
and urging to stool;  this symptom Avas followed  by an aching pain
in the right half of the vertex, and  easy expectoration of bronchial
and pulmonary mucus. 
244
LECTURE XA'.
  In some provers the pressure and pain  in the epigastric region
were accompanied with a feeling of anxiety.
  Bleeding from the nose likewise occurred in some cases.

  The symptoms obtained with a tincture of the root, are exceedingly
characteristic of the action of Arnica.  Some experimenters  took
from six to fifty drops without experiencing any perceptible effects
except eructations, a little confusion of the head  and emission of
flatulence.  In one prover, however, six drops excited distention of
the abdomen, cutting pains in the bowels and discharges of much
offensive flatulence without relief.  Seventy-two drops caused a feel-
ing as if the  xiphoid  process were  pressed violently inwards,  with
piercing pain under the sternum, vertigo, aching pain in the  tem-
poral bones and  orbits, palpitation of the heart, quick pulse and
disturbed  sleep at night;  the  boAvels were rather constipated, the
sense of hunger increased, but the appetite considerably lessened.
  This is a remarkable group of symptoms, showing  that Arnica
may prove useful in Pulmonary Congestions. These symptoms  may
be present in haemoptysis.   The  sensation as if the sternum Avere
pressed in, the piercing pain under the sternum, and the consensual
symptoms of palpitation, full and quick pulse, vertigo and pain in
the head, may constitute a precursory group in haemoptysis caused
by a blow or sprain, or even by rheumatic exposure.
  The other symptoms which were elicited by these provings  with
the root, may be  generalized as folloAvs:  Aching pains along the
spine, and in the region of  the stomach and liver, such as are felt
Avhen suddenly raising one's self from a stooping position.  Crampy
pains in the stomach ;  also (in the female provers) a feeling of empti-
ness in the stomach, with canine hunger, but entire loss of appetite,
loathing of food;  sometimes a sensation  of repletion  Avas experi-
enced, although the stomach was empty.
  Having obtained from these exceedingly interesting provings a
preliminary knoAvledge of the  physiological character of Arnica, of
its  specific relation to the  nerves  of the  alimentary canal to the
capillary vessels, and  more particularly of its poAver to excite en-
gorgement of the  capillaries, and consequent effusion and haemor-
rhage, we are now prepared to present the symptomatology of this
drug under general categories.
  First, then, the
                 CEREBRO-SPINAL  GROUP.

  The provings which I have reported so far show that Arnica may
induce Vertigo  and Headache.  But these  conditions seem to arise
subsequently to gastric derangements. In order therefore that Arnica
may be homoeopathic to headache, and  cure it, the headache must
be symptomatic of deep-seated gastric disturbances, which, through
the influence of the sympathetic system of nerves, will react upon
the brain.  The pain in the brain is a pressure which may either be
felt in the forehead and  temples, where it may be very  sharp and 
ARNICA MONTANA.
245
piercing;  or it maybe first  felt in  the  right side of the occiput,
whence it shifts to the right side of the forehead.
  This whole group of symptoms, the functional  derangements of
the gastric sphere in conjunction with the pains in the head, or the
pains in  the head in conjunction with  the  gastric  derangements,
afford room for various interesting therapeutic considerations.  Gen-
tlemen,
   Concussion of the Stomach by a blow or fall, or
   Compression of the Stomach by violent mechanical causes, may in-
duce just such gastric and cerebral symptoms as are here recorded.
Nausea with tendency  to faint; vomiting, dizziness,  cerebral en-
gorgements characterized by  painful oppression of the forehead and
temples, and perhaps haematemesis or vomiting of  blood, may  char-
acterize such an accident, and  imperatively call for  the internal
exhibition of Arnica, a few drops of the first attenuation in about
ten tablespoonfuls of water, of which a small  spoonful may be given
every few minutes, until the  condition of  the patient  is decidedly
improved.
   On the  other hand,
   Concussion of the Brain induced by a blow or fall may be charac-
terized by those aching  pains AA'hich Arnica  seems to be peculiarly
fit to occasion; and  the concomitant gastric symptoms  may be such
as  to  require Arnica.   It must not be supposed,  however, that
Arnica can always prevent the consequences  of cerebral concussion.
One of these consequences may be inflammation of the brain, which
cannot be treated with Arnica, but requires Belladonna, Hyoscy-
amus, Opium and  other drugs.  A blow  upon the  head may induce
obstinate  congestion of  the cerebral sinuses with chilliness and Ioav
fever,  drowsiness,  dull, heavy pain  in the head,  nightly exacerba-
tion of the symptoms.   Under these circumstances it would be use
less to depend upon Arnica alone;  Aconite and perhaps Belladonna
will have to be administered  in more or less persistent  doses.

   Arnica has been used in various
   Apoplectic Attacks with success.  Several  cases are reported by
Riickert.   In one case the patient complained of dizziness folloAved
by loss of consciousness,  depression of the lower  jaw, insensibility
and paralysis of the  extremities of the left side; incoherent talking,
inability to  articulate ; he often raised his right arm,  pointing to the
head ;  his pulse was very full and intermitted every seventh  beat;
his face was red.   Under the use of  Arnica he gradually recovered
in a few days.
   I am not altogether satisfied with the apoplectic character of this
case.   The record does not state what caused the  attack; but I am
inclined to  regard these  symptoms as denoting  a violent rush of
blood which might have been relieved by simple palliative means,
such as a  warm foot-bath and the application of a little cold water
to the head, equally as well.   I should not depend upon Arnica in
idiopathic apoplexy. If  the attack can be  traced to  such gastric
irritations as point to Arnica as their true homoeopathic agent, Ave
need not  hesitate  to use this drug.  AYe may use it in alternation 
216
LECTURE XV.
with Aconite, provided  the symptomatic indications justify the use
of this agent, as they would have done in the previously mentioned
case.   Depression of the pulse does not point to Arnica.  It is irri-
tation of the pulse characterized by increased frequency, fulness and
sometimes irregularity that indicates Arnica.

   Another case is reported by Riickert, where a man of fifty-three
years, with short, thick  neck, rather addicted to brandy, was taken
Avith an apoplectic fit, for which he was bled.   A few days after, a
homoeopathic  physician found him with the following symptoms:
frequent aAvaking during the  night, with  attack of hiccough and
gulping up of fluid, followed by an attack of shuddering and stretch-
ing every half hour, without being conscious of it.   During the day
he felt a pressure in the forehead, with buzzing in the ears, vertigo,
sparks before the eyes, illusions of sight, general malaise, coldness of
the extremities, shiverings through the body; pulse 60, tolerably
strong, irregular, with burning itching of the  skin.  Tavo  drops of
Arnica 3, repeated the second day, cured him in three days.  After
a  laps of five months he had several similar attacks, and was
relieved  each time by Arnica.

   In some forms of
   Acute  Hydrocephalus, Arnica has been  given with good effect.
Riickert reports the case of a  little boy of two years and a half, who
five Aveeks subsequent to an attack of measles, was found in the fol-
lowing condition; violent headache, squinting, is afraid as though
he Avould fall, and actually does fall backwards occasionally; vomits;
twitching of the arms and hands; screams;  will only lie on his back;
is at times unconscious;  can  only be roused with difficulty; his
head is hot, pupils dilated and breathing oppressed;  urine scanty,
of a reddish tint; pulse  quick and small.
   Aconite and Belladonna did not seem to do any good.  Arnica 3d,
and an occasional dose  of Merc. 2d restored him in  a fortnight.
   In cases of hydrocephalus,  where the effusion is  a termination of
previous inflammation of the  meninges or  substance of the brain,
Arnica is not indicated. It is  only in symptomatic hydrocephalus,
when the effusion occurs as a consequence of a low, typhoid state of
the  organism, that Arnica will prove of avail.  The pulse may be
slightly irritated, not of the inflammatory type; the skin is dry and
husky, rather cool, the feet may be warm, the face flushed and burning,
the pupils contracted, tongue thickly coated with a  foul mucus, the
bowels are either bloated, hard and bound, or else they are soft and
discharge foul smelling mucus with a good deal  of rumbling, the
urine is  saturated and has a foul smell; if these or similar symptoms,
together with the comatose condition of the patient, the apparent loss
of consciousness, the convulsive twitchings of the  extremities, the
spasmodic gritting  of the teeth, lead us to infer the process of a
fluid in  the ventricles  of the brain, we  may prescribe Arnica with
the confident hope that, if relief is at all  possible, this agent will
afford it.  There is no  doubt that Arnica is  possessed of specific
powers to disorganize the functional activity of the lymphatic system 
ARNICA MONTANA.
247
and to alter the normal constitution of the blood by its tendency to
decompose this fluid and separate its  aqueous from its coagulable
ingredients.  We may infer this from the extraordinary poAvers of
absorption which Arnica manifests when made to act upon sanguin-
eous extravastions.

  There is a peculiar form of irritation of the cerebral nerves AYhich
Marcus Herz describes under the appellation of
  Spurious Vertigo.  A tall and rather cachectic man, aged forty-nine,
who had been in the habit of taking ten or tAvelve drinks a day, Avas
attacked with weakness of the arms and legs, glimmering before the
eyes and noises in the ears.  During the last week the debility had
increased so much that he could scarcely walk;  his sleep was dis-
turbed with phantasies and formications,  and he Avas attacked with
the following paroxysms of vertigo, sometimes several in one hour :
without any warning, and in any situation, all objects would seem to
move with a shaking motion either towards him, or from side to side,
or they would seem to fall over; he would  soon begin to  stagger
about with them, unless he  seized hold of wsomething;  in a few
minutes he recovered himself, his illusions of sight disappeared, but
he felt as if intoxicated; all his functions Avere normal, but  his face
Avas red, his eyes were injected, pupils dilated, but his sight was good.
He Avas restored by taking an infusion of Arnica in increasing doses
for six  weeks.
   If the  alcohol  had anything to do with  these symptoms, Nux
vomica might probably have been used with advantage.

   The pathogenesis of Arnica as furnished by Hahnemann contains
several symptoms showing that Arnica  may be useful in cerebral
derangements of  a  rheumatic nature.  One marked symptom is " a
burning in the brain, though  the rest of the body remained cool."
This symptom may occur in
   Rheumatosis or Rheumatic  Irritation of the Brain; it may also set
in  as an element in the train of symptoms Avhich often  develop
themselves* after cerebral concussions.

   Another prominent symptom is "a painful pressure above the
eyes in the direction of the temples, with sensation as if the frontal
integuments were spasmodically constricted."  This symptom may
likewise be characteristic of a rheumatic affection of the head Avith
engorgement of the frontal sinus, and probable irritation of  the peri-
cranium and muscular coverings of the forehead.

   Stitching and tearing pains in the head, unci formicating pains in
the forehead are also frequently met with among the head-symptoms
of Arnica.  These pains likewise point to Arnica as a most important
agent in
   Arlhiritic and Rheumatic Headache.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

   Among the eye-symptoms of Arnica in Hahnemann's pathogenesis 
248
LECTURE XV.
 there are many AAThich reveal the curative virtues  of this agent  in
 inflammatory conditions  of  the  eyeball and  lids in unmistakable
 characters.   Itching, stinging and burning pains in the eyes ; painful
 feeling of dryness under the lids ;  secretion of  burning tears; protru-
 sion of the eyeball from the socket; these symptoms distinctly show
 that Arnica is homoeopathic to inflammatory conditions of the eyes,
 more particularly if they arise from external injuries.
   Wounds of the Eye which, under other treatment might lead  to
 loss of sight, or at  any rate to partial disorganization of the organ,
 are healed quite readily, and  without any  disfiguring loss of sub-
 stance, by means  of the internal  and external use of Arnica.  Our
 works are filled Avith cases illustrating the healing virtues of Arnica
 in contusions and wounds.  In applying Arnica to a wounded eye,
 a  strong  watery  infusion is  sometimes preferable to the alcoholic
 tincture in consequence of the smarting and excoriating sensation
 which is sometimes caused by the alcoholic  ingredient.

   In Duncan's  Aledical Commentaries nine cases of
   Amaurosis are reported Avhich Avere  successfully treated  with
 Arnica after all  other remedies  had failed.  Scarpa,  the eminent
 Italian oculist and  pathologist, thinks that Arnica can only be de-
 pended upon in  amaurosis resulting  from gastric  irritation.   A
 characteristic indication for the  use of Arnica in  this affection  is
 " contraction of the pupil."

   Neumann reports a case of fully developed
   Cataract which Avas completely cured by means  of the internal
 and  external use of Arnica.   The probability is that this cataract
 was caused by contusion of the eyeball.

            AURICULAR AND FACIAL GROUPS.

   Among Hahnemann's provings  of Arnica there  are several symp-
toms which lead  us to infer that in  contusions of the  ears and
nose, and in inflammations resulting from such contusions, Arnica
must be an excellent  remedy.  One prover reports the symptom:
 "Contusive pain in the cartilages of the left ear,  interiorly."  A
similar symptom  was  experienced  in the nose:  " Pain in the nose,
from above downwards, as from a  violent fall."  Besides these symp-
toms, other symptoms  are recorded  such as are generally present
when muscular and cartilaginous tissues have been contused  by  a
fall or blow.   Such symptoms are: stitches shooting through the
ears; swelling of  the part (among other provings we find "swelling
of the  nose;" " swelling of the cheek Avith throbbing anol twitching
pains,  SAvollen  lips and  heat  in the  head;"  also  "hard, tensive,
shining-red swelling of the left cheek.")  The  lips likewise seem to
be affected by Arnica as they would be from a  blow; we have  such
symptoms as these:  "cracked  lips," " SAvelling of the lips;" "burnino-
heat in  both lips;" "formication in the  lips as  if they Avould "-o to
sleep."
   One  prover observed frequent bleeding from  the nose as one of the 
ARNICA MONTANA.
249
effects of Arnica;  another proof of the  homoeopathicity of Arnica
to the consequences of a blow or fall upon the face.

  Another prover, Dr. Gross, experienced a peculiar abnormal sen-
sation  of^craAvling by the side  of the nose.  The symptom  as
recorded,  reads: " Sensation  as if an insect were  crawling  by the
side of the nose;  this sensation  cannot be removed by Aviping."
Another prover, Dr.  Wislicenus,  experienced a similar sensation
except that in his case it yielded to rubbing Avith the finger.   I have
quoted these two symptoms simply for the purpose of showing that
Arnica deranges the functional harmony of the sentient nerves in a
very delicate and yet  characteristic manner.   These abnormal sen-
sations may likewise be present during,  or precede epistaxis.
  Deafness has likewise been cured by Arnica.   This drug causes
buzzing, whizzing and ringing in the ears, with decrease of hearing.
Frank reports several  highly interesting  cases of deafness in his
Magazine, all of which were cured with an infusion of Arnica used
internally, and likewise externally with injecting it into the ears.

                       DENTAL GROUP.

  Arnica is not  without decided therapeutic poAvers in cases  of
toothache.  It causes "formicating sensation in the gums as if they
would go to sleep, and a pain  m the  teeth as if their roots Avere
being scraped withi a knife."   In
  Arthritic Toothiache, when the pains are tearing and  stitching, and
the face burns and looks swollen, Arnica will afford relief.
  Riickert reports the case of a lady whose gums were inflamed and
swollen;  she complained of a drawing and  stitching pain in the
teeth of the right upper jaAV, extending- up to the ear; her face was
red and  burning-hot, cheek swollen;  the pain Avas worse in the air
and when warm  fomentations were applied.   She  had had two
teeth plugged a  few days ago.  Arnica 30th relieved her very
speedily.
  When there is a good deal of throbbing and pressing or lancing
pain, sometimes involving the whole jaw; attended with  SAvelling
and heat of the  cheek and  SAvelling of the  submaxillary gland,
Arnica may be given provided there are no signs of inflammatory
fever.   In this case Aconite and Belladonna may be required.
  An infusion of Arnica is an excellent soothing wash after extrac-
tion of the teeth.   It is likeAvise useful in arresting the bleeding
which sometimes sets in after  such an operation.

                  CIIYCLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  AYe have already  become acquainted  Avith several  important
morbid conditions to  which Arnica is eminently homoeopathic.
   Cardialgia or  Gastrodynia, Avhen  characterized by spasmodic-
contracting  pains  in the region,  roughness and  qualmishness,
mounting of heat to the  face, and slight febrile irritation which is
sometimes accompanied with formication and pricking about the
chest, face and arms,  belonging to the therapeutic domain of Arnica. 
250
LECTURE XV.
  The symptoms which have been obtained by Hahnemann and his
friends in their provings of Arnica, point to a number of interesting
pathological  conditions  to which Arnica would seem  eminently
homoeopathic.
  One symptom clearly indicates the homoeopathicity of Arnica to
  Dysphagia; it is this:  " The  act of deglutition is impeded by a
sort of nausea as if the food would  not go doAvn."

  The taste in the mouth and the quality and natural  intensity of
the appetite, are considerably altered by the action of Arnica.  This
drug seems to cause a bitter, foul taste in the mouth; bitter and foul
eructations; it also causes loss  of appetite, nausea, disposition to
vomit, heartburn.  This desire to vomit sometimes amounts to vio-
lent retching, vomiting,  even vomiting of  coagulated blood.  These
symptoms, in  connection with other effects of Arnica, constitute an
interesting and important pathological tableau.  The effects to which
I allude are the feeling of nauseous rejoletion which some provers have
experienced in a marked  degree.  A lady-prover complained of a
sensation as if the pit of the stomach was filled up with a lump; this
feeling was accompanied with ineffectual retching. Another prover
complained of a similar sensation of  pressure  in  the pit of the sto-
mach ; this Avas followed by qualmishness, retching, rising  of water
to the mouth ; this sensation passed off when lying down, after which
the pressure shifted to the bowels.  Another prover complained of
a digging pain in the pit of the stomach, as if the parts were twisting
themselves into a ball.
  Gentlemen, these symptoms are important indications for the use
of Arnica in
  Dyspepsia,  with foul and bitter taste in  the  mouth, eructations of
a similar character, loss of appetite, a qualmish feeling of repletion
after eating;
   Waterbrash, more particularly in the case of hysteric females who
complain of the globus hystericus ;
  Cardialgia or Gastrodynia, with twisting and digging pain in the
epigastric region.

  The sense  of fulness  after eating, especially when attended with
qualmishness, is eminently characteristic of Arnica in dyspepsia and
cardialgia, especially in the case of nervous, hysteric females; in one
of the lady-provers this feeling of repletion was accompanied by a
keenly-painful pressure behind the os pubis (apparently in the region
of the bladder), especially when standing, and inducing a constant
desire to urinate.
  This sense of fulness is characteristic in other respects.  AYe have
seen that Arnica causes vomiting of coagulated blood.  It moreover
causes all the other symptoms wliich precede or accompany vomiting
of blood, such as: a sensation of oppression, weight and repletion in
the region  of the stomach, throbbing  in this region, bitter  and very
frequently sour eructations, heartburn, tympanitic distention of the
pit of the stomach, and  various  consensual symptoms such as: op- 
ARNICA MONTANA.
251
pressive  pain in the frontal region, vertigo, obscuration of sight.
Hence Ave conclude that Arnica may be a most important remedy for
  Ilematemesis, brought on by a Woav on the stomach, or occasioned
in consequence of a peculiar dyspeptic dyscrasia by over-eating, or
by  a strain, by the  excessive action  of emetics, etc.  In  cases of
haematemesis where Arnica is indicated,  the febrile  excitement is
rather slight:  at first a burning sensation may be felt in the face;
but if the vomiting is violent, the face will soon look pale, pinched
up,  and it will feel cold; the extremities may likewise be icy-cold.
  If the inflammatory t}^pe prevails,  with full,  strong,  rapid and
bounding pulse, glistening eyes, flushed face, Aconite may have to
be given instead of Arnica
  In Hirschel's Archive  a case is reported, Avhere a servant-girl was
attacked with  haematemesis in consequence of ill-treatment; she
complained of general malaise and a feeling of soreness through her
Avhole body, Avith almost constant nausea, pain  in the stomach, and
vomiting of every thing she took into the stomach: the ejected sub-
stance was ahvays mingled with blood.  After  having been treated
alloeopathically for six weeks without deriving the least benefit from
the  treatment, she  was cured in four days perfectly by means of
Arnica, sixth trituration, through the agency of Dr. H. B. Harris.

  Arnica may likewise relieve the  pains and soreness which some-
times remain in consequence of the violent straining of the muscular
tissue of the stomach and  abdominal walls. It may be used both
internally and externally.

  Splenetic Stitches come within the  curative  province of Arnica.
These stitches have been experienced by several provers, in some
cases accompanied with a feeling of pressure, and arresting the
breathing. These stitches are sometimes induced by Avalking too
fast, or by long running,

  The effect of Arnica upon the bowels is decidedly characteristic.
One prover experienced  colic as in dysentery; a digging sensation in
the hypogastric region on each side, close to the hips, attended with
nausea and drowsiness.
  Hahnemann experienced flatulent distention  of the abdomen after
supper, especially of the loAver part, with dull pressure in this region;
the limbs felt hot; emission of flatulence afforded no relief.
  Another characteristic symptom experienced by  Hahnemann  is
" hardness and distention of the right side of the abdomen ;" the dis-
tended part was painful inside  as  if there had been a sore;  when
coughing, blowing  the nose or stepping, the part felt as if torn or
cut; this pain was even felt externally on making the least pressure.
  Another symptom shoAving the influence of Arnica upon the abdo-
minal ganglionic system  is : " violent shiooting pain striking  from the
abdomen to the vertex like an electric shock."   Similar sharp shocks
were experienced by another  prover from one  side of the abdomen
to the other.
  Retraction of tie Umbilicus and burning-stinging pains in the epi-
gastric region Avere observed by Dr. Collin. 
252
LECTURE XV.
  Fine tearing pains were observed by Dr. AYislicenus in the abdo-
minal muscles.
  Now, Gentlemen, look at these striking effects of our drug, and see
whether you may not derive important advantages from its use  in
  Enteralgia, Colicodynia, neuralgic and rheumatic affections of the
bowels and abdominal integuments.  The symptoms experienced by
Hahnemann, more particularly the distention, pressure and soreness
in the right side, may characterize an attack of colicodynia or abdo-
minal neuralgia, where you might fail in effecting a cure unless  you
give your patient Arnica.  Of course, the other gastric symptoms,
appetite, taste in the mouth, eructations, flatulence, stools, and more
particularly constipation, and the condition of the circulatory appa-
ratus have to correspond Avith the known effects of Arnica.
  Neuralgia,  or Neuralgic Rheumatism of the  abdominal ivalls is
indicated by the  fine tearing pains experienced by one of  the
provers.

  How does Arnica affect the alvine  evacuations?   Its  effects in
this direction  are likewise of the utmost importance.  It causes:
" Fetid flatulence ;" " frequent urging to stool;" " papescent stool, and
even discharges of blood and pus;' it causes "frequent evacuations
consisting  of  mucus,"  "painful pressure in  the rectum,"  also
"tenesmus of the rectum and  anus."  In some  cases the discharges
have been  watery and  mixed  with undigested food.  One prover
reports: "passage of stool during sleep without knowing it."
  These indications not only reveal the use of Arnica in specific
boAvel-disease, but they likewise enlighten us concerning the use of
Arnica in gastric disorders of a general character, such as Ioav gastric
fevers, sabural derangements with foul tongue,  bad taste in the
mouth, foul breath.  In
  Chronic Diarrhea, with watery discharges, or discharges of mucus,
pus and blood, having a fetid smell and attended with slight febrile
excitement, soreness  and  tympanitic distention  of the  bowels,
borborygmi and emission of  fetid  flatulence, Arnica  will  prove
beneficial.  If this condition  of the bowels  should be accompanied
with frequent urging to urinate,  discharge of  watery and at other
times saturated, brown  or  deep-yellow  urine, (Arnica causes these
alterations in the urinary secretions), we may depend upon the cura-
tive virtues of Arnica in all such cases with so much more certainty.

  A superficial perusal  of these symptoms shows that Arnica may
afford  decided and permanent relief, not only in chronic diarrhoea,
but also in
  Dysentery, especially when  the discharges  are slimy and purulent,
with distressing tenesmus in  the rectum and anus, cutting and  sore
pains in the bowels, and even  tenesmus of the urinary bladder (in
several cases of proving, Arnica has been known to have this effect.)
It may be administered in doses of from six to ten drops in eight
tablespoonfuls of water, a tablespoonful every half hour or hour. 
ARNICA MONTANA.
253
                   THE  URINARY GROUP.

has already been alluded to.  Arnica may cause both frequent dis-
charges and also retention of urine.  In
  Paralysis of the Nechc of the Bladder, with inability to discharge the
urine, Arnica has been found  eminently useful in the  case of old
people.   If this weakness  should have arisen from concussion of the
spine, Arnica will be found serviceable.
  Professor Gross, in his Avork on "Diseases of the Urinary Organs,"
recommends Arnica for paralysis of the bladder consequent upon Ioav
typhoid  fevers,  onanism and other  debilitating causes.   He  gives
from forty to fifty drops three times a day, cautioning however
against the medicinal effects which such heroic doses may produce,
such as: vertigo,  headache,  purging,  vomiting, spasmodic  twitch-
ings, etc.   It would seem more reasonable if  the medicine  is at all
indicated, to give a smaller dose in order to avoid the undue action
of the drug.  In
  Hematuria, caused by  a blow, fall or other mechanical  injury,
Arnica  in  infusion or tincture-form may  not only prove useful,
but indispensable.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Arnica seems to excite the  sexual organs. It causes erections,
involuntary nocturnal emissions; in the case of a young girl of
twenty years who  had not menstruated for a year  past, it  caused
immediately the discharge of a  coagulum from the vagina, attended
Avith nausea.  Arnica also causes stitches through the testicles,
hence Ave give it in
  OrcJiitis,  Avith  hardness, pain and swelling  of  the testicle,  when
this affection is the result  of a bloAV or fall.  In Ruckert's Clinique
it is stated  that a man of thirty-six years received a severe blow on
the right testicle.  The scrotum Avas very much relaxed ; the  right
testicle enlarged about three or four times its natural size, hard, hot,
very painful during motion and  Avhen touching it; during rest a
sharp pain was experienced all  the time along the  chord as far as
the inguinal region;  the chord was swollen and very painful; con-
sensual symptoms were:  stitching pain in the forehead ; bitter taste
in the mouth; tongue coated white;  frequent  shuddering over the
body ; pulse sluggish and small.   The scrotum was supported by a
suspensory bandage; Arnica sixth  was given internally, and the
tincture applied externally; the patient was cured in a week.

  In Abrasions of the  prepuce caused by sexual intercourse a lotion
of Arnica will speedily restore  the integrity of the parts.

  Arnica being  endowed Avith specific poAvers to excite the menses,
it must be a useful remedy in
  Metrorrhagia,  when masses  of dark, coagulated blood are  dis-
charged ; also Avhen mechanical injuries such as a bloAV, fall or strain
are the cause of  the accident.   In 
254
LECTURE XV.
  Amenorrhea, resulting  from over-exertion,  a cold,  etc.,  when
symptoms  of  abdominal  plethora are superinduced, Arnica may
prove the best means of restoring the discharge.  The third or sixth
attenuation may be used.  In many cases of this kind Aconite and
Pulsatilla may be required.
  Griesselich  informs  us  .that Arnica has been used  to produce
miscarriage; hence we may use it as a preventive of
  Miscarriage, especially in cases of accidents; it may be used alter-
nately with Aconite.
  Dierbach informs  us that French'women  use  Arnica for the
disturbances, abnormal conditions  of the nervous and sanguineous
system incidental to the critical age.

  Arnica may prove eminently useful in cases of
  Severe  Labor.  An infusion of Arnica applied to the  pudendum
will facilitate the restoration of this organ to  a normal condition;
the internal use of Arnica after parturition may likewise prevent
severe after-pains.  An Arnica-lotion applied  to the head  of the
infant will  favor  the absorption of extravasations  that may have
taken place under the scalp in consequence of the pressure made
upon the head during its passage into the vagina.
  Sore nipples, in consequence of nursing, may sometimes be success-
fully treated with Arnica.   A lotion of Arnica may be applied Avhich
has to be washed  off previous to nursing.   The use ol? Arnica in
this affection will however fail in many cases, and the physician will
have to resort to other means of relief.

       CATARRHAL AND RESPIRATORY GROUPS.

  Arnica causes a train of s}rmptoms in the air-passages which ren-
der it eminently  useful in many catarrhal  affections.   It causes:
" Dry hacking cough, every morning after rising, as if caused by
tickling in  the larynx."   It also causes: " cough at night, during
sleep."  It  also causes hoarseness, sneezing and catarrhal symptoms
in the head.  Taking all these indications together, Ave may say that
Arnica is indicated in
  Cough, with tickling in the larynx.  There are many symptoms
which  characterize this  cough,  such as: " foul-smelling breath;"
" sensation during an expiration, of painful coolness in  the trachea,
as if the walls were too thin;" " stitches in the sides of the chest, and
in the sternum, when coughing (this symptom has been experienced
by a number of provers)."  Here then Ave have a number of symptoms
such as may be developed  in consequence of a cold.  If these symp-
toms are not accompanied by inflammatory fever, and the patient
exhibits signs  of  a gastric dyscrasia and depressed activity of the
vegetative sphere, we may give Arnica Avith the confident hope of
affording relief.  This drug has likewise caused
  Hemoptysis; among the provings we notice mOst of the character-
istic symptoms which accompany bloody cough.  It causes "Cough
Avith  sensation as if all the ribs  were bruised;"  "short, panting
breathing;" "anxiety and pain in the chest;" "excessive dyspnoea ° 
ARNICA MONTANA.
255
" frequent and long  inspirations, with oppression under the chest;"
" aching-stitching pains in the region of the sternum, especially when
walking;"  "his chest feels like raw, he spits up blood with the saliva,
especially  when  walking."  Some  provers  have experienced an
" oppression, on waking  in the morning, as  if the lungs were very
much engorged with blood," and in others this anxious  oppression
was accompanied with nausea, as it is very apt to be previous to an
attack of haemoptysis.   Tensions across the chest, and great soreness
in the region of the costal articulations, especially during a coughing
fit, are  likewise  characteristic  symptoms among the provings of
Arnica.  Dierbach even informs us that Arnica  causesa reddish-
looking  perspiration on the chest, probably  a sanguineous exuda-
tion. All  these symptoms  may arise from a  blow or fall upon the
chest, with haemorrhage  from the  lungs, in which case the internal
and external use of  Arnica would become indispensable.

   Even the action of Arnica upon the heart shows that it influences
the circulation, causing congestions  and irregularities.   This effect
of Arnica is proved by such symptoms as these:  " Sensation as if
the heart were compressed, or as if it received a shock;"  the beat-
ing of the heart is more like a jerking;" "the beating of the heart
is at first very rapid, and then all at once very  sIoav."  These  and
similar  symptoms may precede  or accompany an  attack  of haemo-
ptysis, more particularly when the disease has assumed a chronic
form.
   We have many reports of cures of haemoptysis.   In many of these
cases Arnica has been used  alone; in other cases it has been used in
alternation with Aconite.  In haemoptysis with considerable vascular
excitement during the attack, palpitation of the heart, flushed  face,
oppression  and soreness on the chest, sense of Avarmth and bubbling
sensation, or pricking and throbbing in the chest, violent tickling in
the throat-pit, Aconite may be found preferable to Arnica, or may
be exhibited in alternation with  the latter agent.

   Pleurodynia is an affection characterized by stitching pain in the side.
It resembles pleurisy, but is not pleurisy, and is sometimes designated
as False or  Spurious  Pleurisy.  The pain is seated in  the intercostal
muscles, and is attended with soreness of the affected region.  It may
be caused by rheumatic^ exposure,  by strain  in consequence of  lift-
ing a heavy weight, by running, etc.  The fibres of the intercostal
muscles  being alternately relaxed and put upon the stretch during
the act of  respiration, the pain is necessarily increased when the
thorax is expanded.  The affection may be accompanied with slight
signs of vascular  irritation.
  Among the symptoms of Hahnemann's proArings  of Arnica, we
find  several which seem to indicate Arnica as a good remedy in  this
affection.  "Stiches and prickings in the side," Avere experienced by
several provers.    One prover experienced  " hurried and difficult
inspirations, and slow expirations."   Arnica may be used both inter-
nally and externally.

  Arnica is recommended by some homoeopathic physicians in 
256
LECTURE XV.
   Pneumonia.  It is never indicated in the acute stage of idiopathic
pneumonia.  In some forms of chronic pneumonia, arising orginally
from rheumatic exposure, Avith rheumatic irritation of the muscular
covering of the chest, soreness of the lungs, stitches darting through
the lungs or seated sticking pain in the chest, with foul breath, frothy
and bloody sputa, hectic flushes on the cheeks, slight creeping chills
followed by increase of warmth and corresponding Avascular excite-
ment ;  gastric  derangements such as nausea, loss of appetite,  foul
tongue, bloating of the bowels and constipation, dark urine :  Arnica
may prove eminently useful.  In Traumatic pneumonia characterized
by similar symptoms, great good may be expected from the use of
this agent.
   Tessier, in his collection of cases  of pneumonia, reports a case of
true pneumonia caused by a strain.   The treatment was conducted
to a successful termination with Aconite and other agents generally
used in pneumonia.  Do not fall into the grievous error of associating
particular  drugs with particular morbid conditions as  belonging
together by an inevitable fatalistic necessity.   There is no fatalism
in medicine save the fatalism of specific Homoeopathy.  A drug, in
order to be a remedial  agent in a given case, must be the exact coun-
terpart, in its action upon the normal tissues, of the dynamic patho-
logical disturbance for which we prescribe it.  Do  not say : Arnica
is a remedy for strains; but say: Arnica is  generally adapted to
conditions resulting from a strain. These conditions may sometimes
require the use of other agents as being far more  homoeopathic to
the character of the existing lesion ;  one of these agents is Aconite,
another Rhus.

   If this definition of  specific Homoeopathy be  true—and, Gentle-
men, it constitutes the very spirit of our doctrine—you will not fail
in putting a proper construction upon  the folloAving remark of Dr.
AYurm, physician in chief to the homoeopathic hospital  in Arienna :
"Arnica being one of the few remedies which cause resorption, it is
a pity that it is so often overlooked by physicians in cases of pleurisy;
although Arnica appears to act more speedily when the exudation
consists of  plastic lymph, it is nevertheless very efficacious in serous
exudations."
   Arnica will never remove an effused fluid from the pleural cavity,
unless the essential  character of the  lesion of which this exudation
constitutes a terminal stage, is exactly met by the essential action of
the drug.   Unless the spirit of the drug hugs the spirit of the disease
as its prototype, no absorption of the  effused fluid can take place
under the influence of  Arnica.
                 INFLAAIAIATORY GROUP.

  AYe have seen that Arnica causes slight symptoms of inflammatory
action, when taken  by persons in health.  Under the influence of
Arnica the pulse becomes rather more irritable,  the temperature of
the skin is slightly raised, the patient may even  experience a sting- 
ARNICA MONTANA.
257
ing sensation in the skin; the  face may likewise  become hot and
flushed.
  Arnica does not seem homoeopathic to  inflammations of an acute
character; but in inflammation of a chronic  type, AA'hether arthritic
or rheumatic, Ave may derive benefit from its use.  In these affections
its sphere of action seems to be the muscular and tendinous tissues.
  You Avill recollect that several of our Arnica-provers experienced
pains down the back, along the  spinal column ;  others felt pains  in
the region of the stomach and liver similar  to what we feel  when
suddenly rising  from a stooping position.  The  character of these
pains is rheumatic.  These rheumatic pains in the back, along the
spinal column, might be mistaken for spinal irritation.   You may
establish the absence of irritation by pressing with the point of the
finger between the vertebrae.  Characteristic constitutional symptoms
are likeAvise wanting.   In this species of  chronic
  Rheumatism of the muscular  and tendinous tissues of the back and
other parts, it is proper  to use Arnica internally and externally; in-
ternally a few drops of the lower attenuations or even  of the tincture
in a tumblerful of Avater, and externally a lotion  of 30 or 40  drops
to half a pint of water.
   The characteristic pains of Arnica are  generally present in rheu-
matic irritations of the muscular and tendinous tissues.  These pains
are : sore and achiing pains ; pains as if bruisedsind sprained; prichcing
pains as if pricked with needles ;  crampy pains ; sharp tearing and
lastly formicating pains.  If these pains are present in rheumatism,
we may prescribe Arnica with -success, even if the part is SAvollen. In
   Chironic Arthritis, when similar pains occur, Arnica may likewise
help ; Vogt recommends it even after exudations and effusions have
occurred.
  In this connection we may recommend  Arnica for
  Rheumatic Paralysis, Avhen the brain is  in no Avise   disturbed,
except perhaps a little frontal or lateral headache, with formicating,
aching, stinging or tearing pains in the paralyzed extremity, creeping
chills in this part folloAved by occasional flashes of heat, nausea, loss
of appetite, foul tongue, repletion after eating, constipation or foul-
smelling mucous diarrhoea.

  In Traumatic Inflammations of muscular tissues, Arnica is specifi-
cally appropriate ; although, in inflammations of an acute character,
this agent may be used in alternation Avith Aconite.  If you consider
the specific manner in which Arnica  depresses the capillary \ressels
and the absorbent system, you have the proof of its homoeopathicity
to  bruises, contusions, Avounds and  sanguineous extravasations.
Arnica relaxes the contractility of the capillary vessels, hence it
favors effusion from the  capillaries into  the surrounding cellular
tissue; at the same time the action of the absorbents is checked by
Arnica;  hence the effused blood forms a more  or less  permanent
extravasation ; and hence the homoeopathicity of Arnica  to the con-
sequences of external injuries.  Contusions  and lacerations of the
muscular fibre seem to constitute the chief sphere  for the therapeutic
action of Arnica in traumatic  diseases.   In wounds  of tendinous,
                               17 
258
LECTURE XV.
ligamentous, fibrous and serous tissues,  Arnica alone will  not  be
found sufficient. You will have to associate it with Aconite or Rhus
toxicodendron.

  You Avill find Arnica recommended by most writers for
  Sprains and Dislocations.  Gentlemen, never depend upon Arnica
alone in these  affections.   The violent strain which the nervous
system, or a portion of it, undergoes in these accidents, superinduces
inflammatory conditions Avhich inevitably require to be treated with
Aconite. You may use this agent internally, and Arnica externally;
by this means you will disperse the capillary engorgement, and like-
wise act upon the contusions and lacerations of the muscular fibre.
In dislocations  the use of Aconite keeps doAvn the fever, and pre-
vents the exudation of coagulable lymph.
  In  Traumatic Fever consequent  upon violent injuries or opera-
tions, you must never depend  upon Arnica ;  Aconite is your main
remedy.
  Speaking of fever let us glance at the

                       FEVER-GROUP

of Arnica.
  In truly inflammatory fevers, by which I mean fevers  charac-
terized by heat and  dryness of the skin,  full, hard and  bounding
pulse and the other symptoms generally inherent in an inflammatory
type, Arnica is  not indicated.   But it is indicated in so-called
  Asthenic Fevers, by Avhich Ave mean  loAAr, torpid fevers Avith little
inflammatory action.  The character of these fevers is typhoid.  In
  Typhoid Fevers to which Arnica is  homoeopathic,  the  signs  of
deep-seated gastric derangement are predominant characteristic in-
dications : thick and  foul coating on the tongue, slimy or mucous;
tympanitic distention of the abdomen, with rumbling and perhaps a
dull soreness,  or else the opposite condition of diarrhoeic stools
having a  foul  smell, attended  with tenesmus and  softness of the
abdominal Avails.  ' Other symptoms of gastric derangement, nausea,
vomiting of an  acrid or foul fluid,  even vomiting of blood  may be
present.  Arnica  is generally homoeopathic to a low type of fever
Avith the character of dissolution. It has even been used in miasmatic
  Intermittent Fevers where this typhoid type in the gastric functions
prevailed, and where the general character of the fever Avas that of
torpor.  It is very doubtful, however, whether Arnica will prove of
any benefit in the intermittent fever epidemics of our  own country.

             THE EXANTHEA1ATOUS GROUP

of Arnica is very simple. It has produced an eruption consisting of
small boil-shaped tumors;  hence we consider it homoeopathic to this
condition.  Teste reports the case of a man of thirty years, of san-
guine temperament who had been for several years  subject to boils
in the face on the neck and shoulders;  afterwards they disappeared
and  gave  place to an intense angina of the throat.  Arnica cured 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
259
the angina, and the boils did not show any disposition to return.  I
have seen similar results obtained  with Aconite.
  After applying Arnica to the skin, it has often caused a vesicular
miliary eruption, excessive itching and burning, and in some cases
attended with  swelling and redness of the part;  after the eruption
subsides, the redness remains  for some  time, after Avhich the skin
which is hard  as leather, becomes covered Avith little scales.  It is
therefore homoeopathic to diseases Avhere the skin becomes similarly
affected,  and  where  the  other symptoms,  more  particularly  the
gastric symptoms, correspond.   There are bastard forms of
   Varioloid and  of typhoid scarlatina, Avhere the eruption may take
this form, and  Avhere Arnica may prove useful.

                        ANTIDOTAL.

  Hahnemann recommends vinegar  as an antidote to the effects of
large doses of Arnica.  Camphior is also recommended.
                 LECTURE  XVI.


                   ARSENICUM  ALBUM.

      (Oxide of Arsenic, white oxide of Arsenic, Arsenious acid).

   This is the only arsenical preparation which has been so far used
 by homoeopathic physicians.   Metallic Arsenic has been  experi-
 mented with to some extent upon the healthy organism, but we are
 not as yet in possession of  much clinical experience regarding the
 therapeutic virtues of this agent.
   Arsenic combines naturally with oxygen and sulphur.   AYe have
 two  natural compounds of Arsenic with oxygen, viz;:  arsenious
 acid and arsenic acid.   The latter is met with in combination Avith
 bases, such as arseniate of silver, soda, iron, lime, etc.
   There are two native  compounds of Arsenic with sulphur, one
 termed orpiment, the other realgar.
   Orpiment, also termed King's yellow, is the French name for auri-
 pigmentum or gold-paint.  It was so named on account of its yellow
 color, and also because it was  supposed to contain gold.  Orpiment
 is  used  as an ingredient of the  so-called  "poudre  subtile" which is
 extensively advertised  in our neAVspapers as a beautifying depila-
 tory agent.
   Realgar, red Arsenic or  the red sulphuret of Arsenic, was used
by the Greeks, Romans and Arabians, and named sandaraka, sanda-
rachi.  This preparation is  no longer used in medicine, but is em-
ployed by pyrotechnists and as a dye-stuff.
   In  the  arts, Arsenic has been  employed  in the  earliest  ages. 
260
LECTURE XVI.
Herodotus informs us that the pinnacles of a portion of the walls of
Ecbatana, the capital of the Aledes, Ave re painted Avith sandarach.
   In the work " on  Ulcers," attributed to  Hippocrates, Arsenic is
mentioned as a therapeutic agent.  Dioscorides, however, is the first
author who makes use of the term "Arsenihcon."
   In the following extract the therapeutic properties of Arsenic are
thus described by this author:  "Arsenic (by which  he seems  to
mean the 37-elloAV sulphuret  or orpiment),  has an antiseptic, styptic
and escharotic power, causing a violent smarting and burning;  at
the same time it has constringent properties, and takes off' the hair.
Sandarach has the  same virtues;  moreover an  ointment  of red
arsenic  and pitch cures baldness and  leprosy, and, if mixed with
oil, it cures phthiriasis.  In combination with the oil of roses, it is
useful for  ulcers of the nostrils  and mouth, and for  exanthemata
and condylomata.  It  is  also given (internally) in the  shape of an
emulsion for suppuration of the lungs.  It  is also inhaled, in addition
with resin, for inveterate cough, the vapor being drawn in through
a  tube  inserted in the mouth.  Prepared with honey it clears the
voice, and  is given to asthmatic patients in the shape of a drink, in
combination with resin."
   Plinius, Celsus, Scribonius Largus, and afterwards the followers of
Galon acknowledge similar properties of Arsenic.
   The Arabian physicians Avho were the first to mention the white
oxide, particularly Rhazes, Mesne,  Serapion, Avicenna, state  that
" all the arsenical preparations are heating and burning.  They are
a cure for the itch, putrid ulcers, ulcerous lepra, spreading  herpes,
lice, and likewise  asthma; we use  them either in the shape of an
ointment, or inhale  the vapors."   This is the doctrine of Rhazes;
Avicenna teaches the same thing.   One fact  may seem exceedingly
interesting to an homoeopathic physician; it is this: that Arsenic,
.according  to the  statement of these ancient Greek and Arabian
authors, clears the skin of all superfluous hair, and yet cures bald-
ness.  It may be  argued that the depilatory action  of Arsenic is
owing to its escharotic property ;  but we shall afterwards learn, that
'baldness is a dynamic effect of poisonous doses of Arsenic, and that
a cure of baldness by means of Arsenic takes place in virtue of the
great law "Similia similibus curantur."
   Van Helmont recommended Arsenic  as an external application to
ulcers, but he positively opposed the internal use of this drug.
   Lemery and YYepfer, author of an interesting treatise on hemlock,
opposed the internal use of Arsenic, especially in intermittent fever,
with all their might.  Many pamphlets appeared in the 18th cen-
tury  in  favor of using  Arsenic  in  intermittent fever, but  this
doctrine was most violently opposed by  Stoerck  who had  himself
introduced the use of a number of vegetable poisons with passionate
eagerness.
   In consequence of this violent opposition on the part of Stoerck
and others, Arsenic sank into  discredit, until Fowler and  other
English physicians restored it to a suitable rank among therapeutic
agents at the close of the last century.
   In 1811  Harless published his interesting memoir on Arsenic in 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
261
Nuremberg, Germany.  He advocates the claims of this agent as
eloquently as they were denied by Dierbach and Hufeland Avith un-
compromising hostility.
  It is indeed true that Arsenic seems to poison the A~ery fountain
of life;  but may it not be made serviceable as a therapeutic agent
even in proportion to the intensity of its deleterious poAvers ?  Y"ogt,
in his great Avork on Pharmaco-dynamics, recommends Arsenic as a
strengthening agent which promotes digestion, assimilation and secre-
tion and stimulates nervous and muscular activity.   This recommen-
dation is based upon the supposed stimulating effect of small doses of
Arsenic on the living tissues.  Trousseau and Pidoux experimented
upon themseh*es AYith one-eighth of a grain doses.  They experienced
a general  stimulation such as is sometimes caused by strong coffee.
Another striking effect of small doses of Arsenic Avas to produce a
remarkable feeling of vigor in the loAver limbs, enabling them to take
long Avalks AArithout feeling tired.  The same effect Avas experienced
by Alasselot, and described by him in these terms:  Remarkable
ability to walk.

   It is said that there exists in some parts of the Austrian Empire,
and more particularly in Styria, a  class of men AA'ho eat Arsenic for
the purpose of giving themseh'es a finer appearance, and increasing
their fleshiness.
   It is likeAvise affirmed that the use of Arsenic facilitates the process
of respiration during a long Avalk  up the mountains.
   At first these toxicophagi are said to eat a little less than half a
grain, tAvo or three times a Aveek, sAvallowing this dose in the morning
before breakfast.   This quantity is increased Aery gradually in pro-
portion as the smaller dose  loses its effect.
   It does  not appear that symptoms  of an arsenical  cachexia  are
perceived in those Avho know how to proportion the quantity of  the
poison to their constitution and degree of tolerance.  History records
the case of Alithridates, the old King of the Parthians, Avho had so
accustomed himself to the use of Arsenic that this poison had lost
all effect upon him.   He had contracted the habit of Arsenic-eating
as a protection against the poison in case it should be administered to
him from  evil designs.
   It is stated that Arsenic-eaters are affected by the discontinuance
of the use of Arsenic similarly to Avhat opium-eaters are, if they are
deprived  of their stimulant, or topers if they do  not imbibe their
accustomed potion.  After the  Arsenic is discontinued, symptoms of
an arsenical cachexia become apparent, Avhich Trousseau and Pidoux
sum up in these Avords: "Great indifference for all their surroundings,
anxiety for their own persons, gastric derangements, anorexia, sense
of repletion in the stomach, vomiting of glairy mucous early in the
morning,  -with pytalism; pyrosis, spasmodic  constriction of  the
pharynx,  difficulty  of breathing.   These effects can only be removed
by resuming the  habit of eating the poison."
  " It is likeAvise  stated that Arsenic is given to horses and hogs in
order to make them appear fat  and healthy before offering them for
sale. 
2(32
LECTURE XVI.
   Doctor Koepel, in  a  communication to the Atedical Society of
 Brussels concerning  a memoir of Doctor Tschudi  on the Arsenic-
 eaters of Styria and  LoAver Austria, relates  the  folloAving curious
 fact:
   " A servant  in a noble family wanted to get rid of a rather rigid
 overseeress.  In order to accomplish this object he mixed for a long
 time small  closes of  Arsenic in the food  of the lady, fancying that
 the slow effects of the poison Avould prevent all suspicion.  To his
 amazement  he noticed for several  months that this lady gained in
 flesh, and looked bright and cheerful.  Seeing that the small doses
 produced an opposite effect from what he had desired, he mixed a much
 larger quantity of Arsenic in a chicken fricasee.   The poison acted
 with so much  intensity  that the  cause  of the  trouble was  soon
 discovered.   (Related by Trousseau and Pidoux.")
   Some critics, and more particularly Christison, Kesteren and others,
 doubt the authenticity of the statements made Avith reference to the
 Arsenicophagi  of the Austrian Empire.  Their doubts are based upon
 the absence of  all positive, irrefutable  documentary evidence con-
 cerning the subject.   One, to me, very important reason for consider-
 ing these statements about the vice of Arsenic-eating exaggerated, is
 the strictness of the police-regulations, by means of which the indis-
 criminate use of such a powerful poison as Arsenic is known to be,
 is rendered  impossible in countries like Austria,  where the police
 holds supreme  sway, and where no poison can be sold by a druggist
 Avithout an order duly signed by a physician.
   If, however, the practice  of arsenic-eating does actually prevail,
 and is attended with such a general exaltation of  the vital powers
 as  we have  stated, this  effect can only be  accounted for  upon
 grounds such as Ave have endeavored to explain in former lectures.
 The primary effect of poisonous doses of arsenic is an  uniArersal
 prostration of the vital energies, the specific character of which Ave
 shall delineate in a series of cases  of  poisoning; the  effect of very
 small doses may therefore be a seeming  exaltation  of the vital func-
 tions, in consequence  of the organic reaction overcoming the specific
 disturbing action of the poison, before it has had time to develop its
 inherent effects; indeed the original quantity Avas too small to
 accomplish such a result.  It stands to reason  that in the case  of a
 confirmed Arsenic-eater, as in the  case  of an Opium-chewer, an
inveterate smoker or toper, the signs  of an artificial  poisonous
 dycrasia will make their appearance.  I am  astonished that Air.
 Kestern  should have  overlooked  the physiological law of which
 Opium-eating  and tobacco-chewing  furnish  such  universal  and
striking illustrations, so far as to predicate his doubt of the actuality
of Arsenic-eating upon the alleged fact, that the Styrian peasants who
are said to be addicted to this vice exhibit symptoms of poisoning
after the discontinuance of the stimulant, which have to be hushed
up by resuming its use.   The  same results, as Ave said before, are
observed  from  other  stimulants,  such as:  Opium, Brandy  and
Tobacco.

  Pereira gives a very accurate and complete description of the 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.                   263
process of obtaining  arsenious acid on a large scale from  arsenical
irom.   This process is resorted to at Altenburg, in Silesia, where
this ore is obtained. It consists of a series of very simple operations:
   1. Reducing the ore to powder.
   2. Roasting this poAvdered ore in a muffled furnace.
   3. Conveying the  resulting vapors of  arsenious acid into a con-
densing chamber,  where the vapors are deposited in a pulverulent
form.  These vapors of arsenious acid are called by the German
miners flowers of arsenic or smelting house smohce (Huttenrauch), the
condensed vapors  are named poison-flour (Giftmehl).
   4. Refining the  rough acid by sublimation.  The glassy mass thus
collected on the sides of the iron vessels in which the refining pro-
cess is conducted,  is termed white arsenic  glass, weisse Arsenik-glass ;
this is sometimes purified by a second and even a third sublimation.
   In  some parts  of Saxony, Arsenic  is obtained as  a secondary
product in the roasting of cobalt ores, arseniurets of cobalt.   It is
deposited in long horizontal flues, so-called poison flues (Giftfdngen),
and is purified by sublimation.
   Arsenious acid  is also  manufactured in Cornwall, from the white
mundic or mispickel found with the tin-ore.  Mispickel is the name
Avhich the German miners give to arsenical iron.
   Arsenious acid occurs both in the shape of regular crystals and
in an amorphous condition.  The crystals are either octohedrons or
tetrahedrons.   In  the amorphous condition, arsenious acid occurs in
large,  glassy, colorless  or yellowish, transparent  cakes (vitreous or
glacial arsenious acid).  These masses  soon lose their transparency,
the opacity gradually extending toAvards the centre ;  in some cases,
the acid becomes friable and pulverulent.  Krueger ascribes this
change to the  absorption of Avater, from  the atmosphere ;  he  says
that such a change only takes place in moist air, and that the weight
of the arsenious mass increases in consequence of this transformation.
Pereira mentions a fact Avhich seems to confirm this theory ; he had
arsenious acid enclosed in a glass tube heremetically sealed without
its transparency being affected in the least;  the tube was subsequently
cracked, and the acid soon became opaque.
   Arsenious acid is soluble in 80 parts of water at a temperature of
59°, or in 7.72 parts of boiling water.   Do not forget that arsenious
acid is readily soluble in warm water.   A physician Avho is ignorant
or forgetful of this fact, might order warm water in a case of poison-
ing with Arsenic, for the purpose of promoting  vomiting.   The
effect of  such treatment Avould inevitably be to effect the solution of
the poison and to increase its virulence to  a fatal degree of intensity.
  Arsenious acid is also soluble in alcohol.  An alcoholic solution
of this acid is used by some homoeopathic practitioners.
  Arsenious acid  has little or no taste, as Plenck, Addison and
Christian   have remarked.   Simon,  hoAvever, has  discovered   a
SAveetish taste to the acid.   Both the solid and liquid arsenious acid
is inodorous.
  A description of  the  characteristic of  arsenious  acid in its
different forms, solid, pure, liquid,  and in organic mixtures, belongs
to the  domain of toxicology.  The solid acid is distinguished 
264
LECTURE XVI.
  1. By its volatility.  Heated on the point of a pen-knife in  the
flame of a spirit lamp, arsenious acid produces a white smoke Avhich
speedily disappears.
  2. Its garlic odor.  If arsenious acid be burnt on red-hot charcoal
placed in a saucer, metallic arsenic is eA^olved in the form of vapor,
having a garlic odor.  At the distance of an inch or two from  the
embers, this scarcely-perceptible vapor is converted into  a dense,
white, odorless smoke.
  The garlic odor is not peculiar to arsenic ; for Orfila has  shown
that a compound of albumen and fat exhales this odor Avhen heated.
  3. Formation of a metallic crust.   If arsenious acid be mixed with
recently-ignited  charcoal that has, however, been allowed to cool
and to Avhich  some carbonate of soda may be  added ; and if this
mixture he heated in the bulb of one of Berzelius' reduction tubes,
the deoxidized  acid  is  sublimated, and  the condensed  vapor is
deposited in a cooler portion of the tube in the shape  of a crust
which is metallic Arsenic and  is distinguishable by its brilliancy
externally, by its crystalline appearance and  grayish-white color
whithin, by its volatility and by the results it yields when treated
with the various and well-knoAvn tests for Arsenic.   These tests  are
described, in  Avorks  on chemistry, and will  be fully shown  and
explained by the Chemical Chair.
  For homoeopathic purposes we never use the  so-called flowers of
Arsenic to which allusion  has been made previously, for they  are
frequently found adulterated by admixture with other substances ;
we  use the solid Arsenic, of which we  make triturations in  the
proportion of one to ninety-nine, or one to ten.

  The physiologico-therapeutical range of Arsenic is only rivalled
by the  wonderful health-disturbing, and therefore health-restoring
properties of Aconite.  To the  careful observer the  symptomatic
resemblances of  Aconite and Arsenic must seem striking.   The part
AYhich Aconite seems to play on the  surface of the organic functions,
is  enacted by Arsenic  in  the  inmost recesses of vitality.  The
Aconite-fever is evanescent, a  chill, or some  chilly creepings or
shiverings  along the back, followed by a moderate  degree of heat
and moisture  corresponding in  quantity with  the intensity of  the
previous rise of temperature.   The  Arsenic-chill,  on the contrary,
seems to freeze the  vital blood in the very laboratory of the heart;
the subsequent heat is  like a consuming fire burning up the Natal
moisture of the  pores, until a soaking, debilitating  perspiration is
supplied by the  reactive forces of the organism  as a restorer of their
disturbed harmony.
  AYe may mention typhoid fever as another lesion strikingly illus-
trative  of the differences of action between Aconite and  Arsenic.
Either of these agents may be adapted to a pathological lesion Avhich
we may designate as  typhoid fever.   And yet  hoAV  much more in-
tensely is the vitality of the organism prostrated in typhoid fever
for which Arsenic is required than  in typhoid  fever which may be
controlled with Aconite.  The latter form of typhoid fever may not
seem  much worse than a severe attack of influenza, Avith mild exacer- 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
265
bations of the fever every evening or afternoon, Avhich are followed
by more or less copious perspiration.  Other symptoms of a typhoid
condition  of the  system may be:  dizziness and dull pain "in the
head ;  soreness and  inflammation of the edges of the tongue, Avith
dryness, and dirty-looking gray or broAvnish coating of this organ;
unnatural dryness of the skin; soreness and dull expression of the
eyes,  lachrymation,  great  nervousness, tendency to  start, uneasy
sleep, debility.
  In  typhoid  fever, to which Arsenic is  homoeopathic, all these
symptoms would be much more marked; the chill is more  racking,
the subsequent fever-heat  more  burning, and  the  sweats more
debilitating.   The vital  fluids are  much  more  deeply affected  by
the morbid process;  the signs of decomposition more  evident;
there is a more  manifest tendency to the formation of sores and
petechias ; the boAvels are either more tympanitic and  torpid, or else
the diarrhoea  is  more offensive and  prostrating;  in the  Arsenic
typhoid fever the  urine is dark-brown, foul and  scanty; in the
Aconite form of this fever,  the urine may simply have a deeper
color and some sediment, Avithout the quantity being altered.
  AYe may draw a similar parallel in every disease to which both
Aconite and Arsenic are homoeopathic. Take a case of cholera.  A
simple attack, with a moderate degree of coldness, debility, cramps
in the calves, vomiting of  bile and  mucus,  alvine  discharges of
serum and mucus,  sinking pulse, may often be controlled  Avith
Aconite;  but would  Aconite  be  sufficient to  control an attack
characterized  by intense burning in the  pyloric  region, praecordial
anguish, excessive  retching  and  vomiting,  copious  and  frequent
alvine evacuations folloAved by sudden  and excessive prostration,
and attended  with marble coldness of the skin, collapse of pulse,
unquenchable thirst, most violent and  distressing  cramps in the
extremities ?  No indeed, Arsenic would have to be exhibited.
  It  seems needless to, continue the  contrast  any further for the
purpose of impressing upon your minds the extraordinary  power of
Arsenic to penetrate  to the  inmost fountain of organic  life  and
poison the very emanations of vitality as they diffuse  themselves
through the tissues.  Knowing these deleterious effects  of Arsenic,
Ave cannot Avonder that this  heroic agent should  have been pro-
scribed by Lemercy, Hufeland, and a host  of  lesser lights.  The
Avish  has  frequently been  expressed  before judicial tribunals, that
the use of Arsenic, being a dangerous rather than  an useful agent,
might be altogether discontinued in medicine.  Hufeland condemns
the use of Arsenic in this extraordinary language: "It is my maxim
never to  make use of  Arsenic in intermittent fever, because its
destructive  effects, even in  the smallest doses, of one-tenth of  a
grain for instance, are incalculable;  a cure effected with such doses,
is therefore a  mere suppression, a pathological death.
  One-tenth of a grain is the smallest dose that occurs to the mind
of such a veteran  practitioner  as Hufeland.  This good man Avas
like his brethren, tainted Avith the pernicious notion that a  medicine
cannot be depended upon as a therapeutic agent, unless it is given
in doses large enough to produce medicinal effects.  If this doctrine 
266
LECTURE XVI.
be  true, it  may necessarily follow that Arsenic  may  have to be
given  in sufficient quantity to  act not only as a medicine, but like-
wise as a poison. I have shown that this doctrine is essentially false,
and that a cure is not effected by means of an artificial malady being
set up in the tissues, but in virtue of the law that there exists a higher
degree  of affinity between the morbific essence  and the remedial agent,
ivhich  is its  material type, thian between  the morbific essence and the
organic tissues.   A  remedial agent  selected  and  administered in
accordance  with this law, may be given in a  very small  dose, so
small that this infinitesimal dose may excite  the risibility of such
silly poetasters as Holmes- & Co.
  Gentlemen, if you ever feel tempted to try the  highest potencies,
select  Arsenic for  your first experiment.   If your medicine is
perfectly homoeopathic  to the  case,  you may see  beautiful effects
even from the two hundredth  potency.   In  a case of malignant
impetigo,  Arsenic effected  a most wonderful  cure.  A baby  had
been vaccinated with, bad lymph.  A black pustule formed, of the
size of a small walnut, filled Avith the most destructive ichor. Where-
ever the ichor touched the sound skin, it formed a phagedenic ulcer.
In the space of three days, the whole arm of the baby, the forehead,
face, neck, and a portion of  the chest and  scalp Avere covered with
the most loathsome and dangerous eruption.  The eyes were closed.
The face looked like one hideous sore. The mother too had caught
the disease.   Two globules  of  Arsenic 200 were given  dry on the
tongue.  Twenty-four hours after the medicine had been taken, the
eruption had dried up, and in three  days  the  crusts fell off) leav-
ing a  sound  skin  behind.   It is not necessary, however,  to  be
frightened, if Ave  should have to give a larger dose; one-tenth  and
even one-fifth of a grain may  be given Avithout  causing  any un-
toward symptoms.

  There are few agents  in Aledicine.the effects of which upon the
healthy body are as well known as those of Arsenic.  Unfortunately
this knowledge has been  obtained through great sacrifice of human
life and an  incalculable amount of tortures.   In the history of
poisoning, Arsenic  stands recorded as the most common,  and the
most effectual means of murder and  self-destruction.  Pope Alex-
ander VI. committed most  of  his  murders Avith  Arsenic.   The
principal ingredient of the famous Aqua toffana or of the Canlarella, a
popular name for the fatal poison which destroyed hundreds of the first
lives of Italy during the reign of Alexander ArL, was arsenious acid.
  In a legal point of view, it is  important to know how small a dose
may produce poisonous effects, and how long a period of time may
elapse  before the poison manifests its deleterious effects.
  In regard  to the first  point, there are  many facts going to show
that a very small dose is sometimes sufficient to produce poisonous
symptoms and even to destroy  life.   Fodere has seen a case where
half a  grain of arsenious acid  caused violent griping pains in the
stomach, colic and dysentery ; these symptoms continued until the
eighth day.   Christison states that five persons Avere attacked with
very serious  symptoms  from one grain of Arsenic which each of 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
267
them took in wine.  In a case mentioned by Taylor, a child of six
months took one third of a grain of arsenious acid; a Avoman  took
one  grain and a half, and her husband two grains and a half.   All
experienced vomiting and violent prostration.  The man remained
sick for several days. •
  Lacheze of Angers, a French  physiologist, has seen death result
from two grains of Arsenic.  This quantity Avas taken in four doses.
and  within the space  of two days.   One person died in seven, and
another person  in  ten weeks.  Both  Christison and  Hahnemann
affirm that two  grains, and even one, are sufficient to  cause death
in a  feAV days.  Dr. Alfred Taylor likeAvise  affirms that from tAvo to
three grains may be regarded as a fatal dose.
  On the other hand, very large quantities of Arsenic have  been
swalloAved without causing death.   Pereira states that on one occa-
sion he opened the body  of a man who had destroyed himself Avith
Arsenic.  The doctor was informed  by the friends of the dead  man
that  a fortnight ago he had  made a fruitless attempt at suicide by
swalloAving half an ounce of Arsenic.  The poison was taken imme-
diately after dinner, and the  only effect  produced  Avas violent
vomiting.
  Arsenic may  be  taken for a  long time without producing  fatal
consequences.   Renault and Orfila report the case of a servant-girl
who Avas poisoned by her jealous companion.   Every day she mixed
a little Arsenic in her enemy's dinner.   A few minutes after eating
her dinner, it was throAvn up again before the poison had time to act.
This continued  for six weeks.  The symptoms gradually  became
worse;  violent  colicky pains  set in, the patient  wasted aAvay, the
least exposure  to a current of air caused spasms and  convulsions.
She went into the country and gradually recovered her health.   The
criminal attempt was discovered.
  In regard to the time Avhich has to elapse before the poison mani-
fests its effects a good deal depends upon the quantity of the close;
upon the condition of the stomach, Avhether full or empty; upon the
degree of solubility and perhaps  upon peculiar idiosyncracies of the
patient.  The effects of a large  dose may be almost instantaneous.
A smaller dose of several grains may not exhibit its poisonous effects
until several hours  after the  administration of the poison.   In the
case  of a French lady, Madame Gerard, who  had arsenical ointment
applied to a scarified tumor of the breast, the first symptoms of poi-
soning Avere not  perceived until about ten hours after the application
of the drug.  In this case the poison acted by absorption.

  Arsenic exercises its poisonous effects not only on man, but  like-
wise on plants.   Jaeger whose experiments are communicated in an
inaugural thesis published at Tubingen in  1808, states that seeds
which haA*c been soaked  for some time  in arsenious acid, are inca-
pable of germinating, and that buds  which have been plunged in it,
are no  longer capable of expanding.
  Chatin poured  upon the denuded  roots of  a plant a few quarts of
a watery solution of Arsenic ;  in  a feAV days, the plant turned yellow
from below upwards.  If only a  small quantity of the-solution was 
268
LECTURE XVI.
used; or if the plant, after the first symptoms of poisoning had made
their appearance, was transplanted into fresh soil it soon recovered
its health.  The  application of warmth likewise affected the restora-
tion of the plant.  A chemical analysis of the different parts of the
plant shoAved that the poison had been absorbed, but that it was not
uniformly distributed through every part of the plant.
  According to Jaeger's experiments, infusoria are destroyed in an
arseni cal solution.  The extensive investigations of this experimenter
show that all animals are liable to the poisonous action of Arsenic.
In all of them it convulses-  the stomach and irritates the mucous
lining of the intestines, causing vomiting and increased alvine evacu-
ations.  The power of voluntary motion, with the irritability of the
muscular fibre, is destroyed  by Arsenic;  after the death of the ani-
mals  which Jaeger  experimented upon with Arsenic,  the muscles
soon ceased to be influenced by the galvanic battery.  In animals
which breathe by lungs, respiration became difficult and laborious;
and in AArarm-blooded  animals great thirst was experienced.
  It is well to note these effects of Arsenic upon the respiratory
system and  upon the mucous lining of the alimentary canal, as we
shall afterwards  see that in diseases of the organs of respiration and
digestion Arsenic constitutes one of our main remedies.
  It appears that horses can  bear enormous quantities of arsenious
acid without any  injurious  effects.  Pereira states that Berthe, a
French Veterinary Surgeon, gave two and afterwards three drachms
to a mare for the  cure of an obstinate skin-disease,  without any
injurious effects.  It appears from experiments by Beissenhirz and
Dalemonde that it takes from  one to tAvo ounces of Arsenic dissolved
in water to destroy a horse.
  On the  subject of poisoning with Arsenic, Hahnemann  is recog-
nized as an  authority even  by Old-School  physicians. He is fre-
quently quoted  by Christison, Taylor,  Flandin  and other  toxicolo-
gists.  In his Essay on Arsenic he quotes a host of medical writers,
which makes this highly interesting volume one of the most valuable
contributions to  the vast domain of toxicology.   In the November
number, 1858, of the North American Journal of Homoeopathy, we
find an  abstract  of the contents of this work, for which we are in-
debted to the indefatigable industry of Dr. Peters, one of the Editors
of this instructive periodical.  We will transfer this abstract to our
pages, Avith some slight modifications.
  Hahnemann distinguishes three degrees of poisoning :
  The first degree is, Avhere a large quantity is taken  under circum-
stances favoring  its full  effect; viz.:  on an empty stomach, or with
heating liquors, in persons with irritable nerves and choleric temper-
aments, subject to spasmodic and inflammatory affections, or shattered
by anger, grief,  jealousy  or fear, overloaded  with  acrid  bile, or
affected Avith chronic disease.
  The poisoned  person first experiences a cold shuddering which
seems to pervade the whole  body; while an inexpressible anxiety,
or nausea, which seems to oppress the chest as well as  the stomach,
a cold deathlike sweat, and a general trembling of the limbs, alter-
nate with one another in frequent paroxysms. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
269
  Second, the hands, feet and tip of the nose become cold; blue
circles form  around the eyes, while  the  oppressed  pulse  gains in
hardness and quickness.
  Third, follow violent  attempts  at vomiting, which, although very
forcible, are fruitless at first, and finally become  almost ineffectual
from spasmodic closure  of the cardiac orifice, and emptiness of the
stomach of everything but Arsenic which is tenaciously plastered
on its walls.  The patient complains of burning  and tearing pains in
his throat, oesophagus and stomach, and knows  not what to do Avith
himself.
  Fourth, the Arsenic continues to ravage and  destroy the  stomach
without compelling it to full and  relief-affording vomiting;  it clings
fast to the villi of the mucous membrane, and contracts it as boiling
water Avould.  The whole nervous system trembles and struggles.
  Fifth, the fruitless  retchings, the fever, the  frightful  chills, the
anxiety,  the internal heat and  unquenchable  thirst increase; the
breathing becomes quicker and hotter, more spasmodic and violent;
and the glistening eyes project from their sockets.  The inexpressible
anxiety,  and the  burning,  rending and overpowering pain in the
epigastrium, torture the  patient more and more as they progressively
increase.
  Sixth, at  first  the  abdomen  is contracted;  afterwards, when
inflammation and  irritation of the stomach, liver and spleen occur,
it  becomes hot and distended;  the  attempt at vomiting  becomes
irresistible and incessant;  the panting and gasping lungs, the dry
and parched tongue, the gaping mouth seek refreshment from cool
air and water.  The stools and urine are suppressed; the substances
ejected from the stomach have a disgusting smell and color, and may
be mixed with blood.   Cutting  and griping pains in the bowels
ensue, especially  around the navel; the patient  is  beside himself, so
that he neither  hears nor sees  correctly, while  his  expression is
frightfully anxious and  fearful.
  Seventh, we now see the evidences of the ascendancy of the cor-
rosive destroyer,  which persists in its  internal  ravages  without
check or mercy, in the livid, frothy lips, the SAvollen and trembling
tongue, the agonizing  expression of the bloated face, the viscid
sweat on the cold forehead, and the lead-colored circles around the
staring eyes.
  Eighth, the miserable sufferer no  longer looks like himself, but
seems a  Avretched and  tortured stranger  from  another sphere; he
screams frightfully, or whimpers despairingly  in broken or angry
words for help from agony, fire and death; then turns and struggles
violently.
  Ninth, soon after this we see  signs of  loss of  feeling and sensa-
tion ;  he becomes more  quiet; his heart heaves less frequently; the
vomiting ceases;  his black parched lips tremble,  his pulse  becomes
extinguished, and involuntary  putrid stools of a most offensive smell
and appearance occur.
  Tenth, the pupils dilate;  the death-rattle is heard in the throat of
the dying and unconscious sufferer; jerks and  spasms convulse his
stiffening limbs  and  his  icy-cold face;  his stertorous breathing 
270
LECTURE XVI.
becomes fearfully sloAver and slower, and finally, with a  last spas-
modic gasp a ghastly corpse alone is left, the staring eyes and gaping
mouth of which fill us Avith horror.
   This  graphic description of the effects of poisoning with a fatal
dose  of Arsenic is so characteristic of an acute attack of Asiatic
Cholera, that Ave may already at this stage direct your attention to
the extraordinary therapeutic powers of Arsenic in this dreadful
scourge.
   In  Hahnemann's second degree of poisoning with Arsenic, life may
persist for several days ;  this  degree  requires more than four grains
to produce it; it is  most apt  to occur in not very impressible, fully
groAvn and not unhealthy persons, especially those who have much
mucous in their stomach, or have taken food just before or Avith the
Arsenic, or  haAre drank  freely  of simple diluent drinks,  and have
not been  harassed  with  aggravating mental troubles.    The phe-
nomena of this degree are similar to those of  the first degree, only
they  occur  less rapidly,  have  various less violent  episodes,  and
intercurrent remissions.   The cutting, gnawing and burning sensa-
tions  of the  first degree,  are more intermixed with twisting, aching,
colicky, griping and  gnawing  pains;  the face swells more; the
abdomen is harder,  and aphthous vesicles arise in the mouth.
   This  second  degree  is characterized by more frequent, offensive
and bloody  discharges from  the  bowels, Avith gradually increasing
gripings and less frequent vomitings.   The strength of the patient
fails more gradually, and his consciousness remains until the last,
when convulsions may occur, and incessant hiccough which admits
of no palliation or relief.   This degree has peculiar agonies  which
are sometimes Avanting in the first.  As the pains are less severe and
constant, there  is more opportunity  for the occurrence of remorse,
despair, grief, contrition  and  other mental emotions Avhich harass
the soul.  The  strange admixture of  bodily pain and mental  agony
often  finishes Avhat the poison alone was too weak to accomplish, and
the more  stealthy approaches of  death are aided by regret for the
past and hopelessness  for the future. •                        >
   Gentlemen, there  is no  toxicological agent that  I am acquainted
with,  Avhich  is possessed  of the power of plunging the mind into  a
state of hopeless despair in the same extraordinary degree as Arsenic.
You  may therefore note  the fact, even at this stage of our patho-
genetic  tableau, that Arsenic  may be employed with signal advan-
tage in mental  derangements  of a religious character characterized
by apprehensions for one's future fate, despair of salvation.
  Hahnemann's third  degree  of poisoning with arsenic may- arise
from  the second degree in consequence of insufficient treatment.  In
this degree the  patient may remain alive, but a long-lasting chronic
disorder may ensue.  _ Remitting, but oft-recurring cramps  occur
in the limbs, but especially in the feet; repeated paroxysms of fever
set in, attended with  colicky pains,  spasmodic  contraction of the
abdomen,  intermingled with headache, heat and thirst. After one
of these feverish attacks, in Avhich both vomiting and diarrhoea are apt
to recur, the Avhole remaining force of the poison is apt to be thrown
upon  the limbs; they  become paralyzed, or so much contracted that 
                       ARSENICUM ALBUM.                   271

the patient  cannot extend them, at least  not the legs.   If proper
evacuations are neglected, the irregular attacks of fever occur more
frequently, the pulse becomes intermittent, the eyes become dim  or
fixed and sallow, the mouth bitter, the headache and oppression  of
the heart and  chest insupportable, and the contracted  limbs are
visited  with burning, itching-neuralgic pains someAvhat similar  to
those of gout, but not followed by alleviation of the other symptoms.
These may be succeeded by a very violent attack of fever, and a mili-
ary eruption over the whole body, the vesicles of which often become
confluent and contain an exceedingly acrid fluid.  At times the whole
affection is terminated happily by one of those critical fevers and erup-
tions, but more frequently it  is not,  and the Avhole aggregate  of
sufferings is increased,  because the remains of the unantidoted  or
unremoved  poison are  still  considerable.   In the latter case, the
contraction of the limbs  are followed by absolute paralysis; the gout-
like pains still rage violently, but the eruption dries up, and the  skin
peels off'; the surface remains tender for a longtime; the limbs, espe-
cially the feet swell; the irregular attacks of fever still recur, and are
attended Avith stomach-ache and  colic;  palpitations are not un-
common ; and opisthotonos, or the eclampsia of  Sauvage, in which
there is violent bending of the body  backwards, Avith convulsions
and retention of consciousness, may occur.  The patient may recover
from this, but remain feeble, cachectic, with irregular febrile chills,
oppression of the stomach  from the slightest food or  drink, or with
attacks of vomiting directly after meals, bitter unpleasant taste in the
mouth, pains in the head, dryness of the skin and eyes, painful and
irregular discharges from the bowels, restlessness, dejection of spirits,
dropsical swellings, night-sweats, etc.  All these symptoms point to
the scaling off of eschars and consequent suppurating patches in the
stomach or bowels. If these corrosions were not very deep they may
heal over and the patient may  finally recover.
   This third degree of  p'oisoning exhibits the disorganizing poAvers
of Arsenic in a variety  of forms.   In this last degree of the Arsenic
disease, Avhen this agent acts as a slow poison, contaminating life in
its inmost principles as  £ Avere, the functions of the nervous system
are most unmercifully disturbed by the dire destroyer. Contractions
and paralysis, fierce neuralgic  pains, opisthotonic  spasms, mark the
presence of the poison; deep-seated gastric derangements, such  as
have been grouped by pathologists under the names of dyspepsia,
gastralgia, colico-dynia, chronic gastritis or gastro-enteritis, chronic
diarrhoea and dysentery, are permanently entailed upon the organ-
ism ; emaciation and an utter prostration of strength, chronic jaundice,
dropsy, hypochondria, hectic fever, night-sweats, etc., are the constant
companions of the miserable victim.
   Hahnemann graphically sums up the effect of sIoav poisoning by
Arsenic as  a gradual sinking of the powers  of  life, Avithout any
violent symptoms; a nameless feeling of illness, failure of the strength,
an aArersion to food and drink,  and all the other enjoyments of life.
   According to Pereira, the symptoms of long-continued small doses
of Arsenic may be summed up as folioavs :  disorder of the digestive
functions characterized  by flatulence, sensation of warmth, or actual 
272
LECTURE XVI.
pain, in the stomach and boAvels; loss of appetite; thirst, nausea and
vomiting, purging, or at least a relaxed condition of the bowels, and
griping;  furred tongue, with dryness and tightness of the mouth and
throat, or with salivation.   Quick,  small and sometimes irregular
pulse ;  oppressed respiration, with a dry cough.  The body wastes ;
the stomach is often so irritable that no food can  be retained  in it.
Headache, giddiness and want of sleep are frequently observed.  The
limbs become painful, feeble, trembling, subject  to  convulsions;
occasionally benumbed and ultimately paralyzed.   An  eruption
makes its appearance upon the skin, and now and then the hair and
nails fall of.  Swelling of the feet and  face is not unfrequent; and
the patient gradually sinks, in some  cases retaining his consciousness
to the last,  but at other times delirium and stupor supervening.
   Of the acute form of poisoning both Christison  and Pereira dis-
tinguish  three varieties, of  which Pereira  furnishes the following
description:
   First form with acute symptoms of gastro-enteritis: there is burning
pain in the throat and stomach, which soon extends over the whole
abdomen.  Pain  and  vomiting are not invariably present.  The
matters vomited are sometimes bilious, sometimes tinged with blood.
Frequently there is a sense of heat,  dryness, tightness and constric-
tion of the throat, accompanied with incessant thirst, and occasionally
Avith an  almost hj^drophobic difficulty of swallowing.  The lower
part of the intestinal canal soon becomes affected, as indicated by the
burning  pain which is increased on  pressure,  by the hard and tense
condition of the abdomen, by the diarrhoea which is sometimes bloody,
by the tenesmus, and  by the occasional heat and excoriation of the
anus.  There may be difficulty in passing Avater, Avith burning pain
in the genital organs.  The urine  is  frequently diminished  and
sometimes  suppressed.  The  pulse is quick, small, feeble  and
irregular; cold, clammy sweat; irregular action of the heart, giving
rise  to palpitation; breathing short, laborious and often  painful;
tongue dry and furred; the membrane lining the air-passages feels
hot,  and oftentimes painful.  Although the  symptoms of gastro-
enteritis  predominate, yet we have  symp^ms of nervous  disorder,
sometimes in the form of tremblings and cramps of the limbs, or
delirium, and  even in the last stage,  insensibility;  occasionally
eruptions;  death in twenty-four hours.
   From  among numberless cases of this kind, we may select the
following as illustrative of the irritating action of Arsenic upon the
intestinal mucus lining.  The case  is extracted from  Frank's  Phy-
siological Magazine.
   " A man put two ounces  of Arsenic in his wife's soup.  She took
but little of it as it tasted badly. Half an hour after, she was attacked
with violent burning in the throat, and severe pains in the abdomen ;
the evening and  night were passed in great agony, Avith violent
vomitings and burning thirst.  She was left until  the third clay
without medical advice, and Avas then found exceedingly exhausted,
with blue circles  around her eyes, her  tongue and  mouth  dry and
inflamed ; she had burning  thirst,  was excessively fearful, had pains
and tremblings in  all  her limbs, tearing pains in the stomach and 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
273
bowels, frequent attacks of ineffectual retching, violent paroxysms of
vomiting and incessant  diarrhoea;  the alvine discharges consisted
of mucous and greenish  substances.   She died on the sixth day.   A
post-mortem examination revealed the following symptoms:
  " Tongue lined with a dirty, yellow coating; the anus gaped open
and a greenish substance flowed from it; the blood in  every part of
the body was black and fluid ; the peritoneum was reddened through-
out its whole extent; the inner surface of  the stomach was almost
black, and as if swollen  and thickened; the  internal surface of the
duodenum and upper part of the jejunum were dark-red.  Portions
of the larynx and oesophagus were almost black. The  stomach con-
tained a yellowish-red fluid; the small intestines a moderate quantity
of a yellowish substance, and an  unnaturally profuse  secretion of
yellowish intestinal mucus; in the cavity of the pleura  at least eight
ounces of reddish water, and there was a spot on  the pleura three
inches in diameter, covered with a gelatinous recent false membrane,
into which vessels had  already  commenced to project, although
it was so loosely attached to the  pleura that it  could  easily be
removed."
  This case exhibits all the signs  of a malignant form of gastro-
enteritis, with tendency  to gangrenous disorganization.
  Second form: Acute poispning withi collapse or narcotism: faintness
or actual syncope, frequently convulsions or paralysis, and some-
times insensibility  or delirium.  The dose of Arsenic is  half an
ounce or more.
  Pereira informs us that he has  seen one  case  of  this form  of
poisoning.  The individual (a gentleman of about twenty years  of
age) coarsely pounded a lump of arsenious acid and  swallowed  it.
At  a rough calculation  it was supposed that he  took  about six  or
eight drachms of the Arsenic.  The symptoms Avere pain, vomiting,
great weakness, with extreme depression of the circulation, faintness,
collapse, and death in  about four hours.  His  intellect  was  clear
until a very short time before death, AYhen he  sank into  a  doze.
There were neither convulsions nor paralysis.  Every attempt was
made to remove the poison from  the stomach; copious vomiting
took  place; large draughts  of water were  administered, and the
stomach-pump applied.  Notwithstanding these circumstances, more
than four drachms of solid arsenious acid in the form of lumps were
found in the stomach after  death.   Their weight had apparently
prevented their removal during life.
  In the following two  cases the narcotic action of the poison  is
strikingly  manifest.  The first of  these two cases is reported  by
Christison;  the  second  is  extracted from Rankin's Half-yearly
Abstract:
  "A young woman was caught in  the act of swallowing  little
fragments of Arsenic, and it aftenvards appeared that she had been
employed most of the day in literally cracking and chewing lumps
of it.  When the physician first saw her, the countenance expressed
chagrin and melancholy, but  not suffering.  After being forced  to
drink, she vomited a good deal, but without uneasiness.  Tavo hours
aftenvard, her countenance was anxious, but she did not make any
                              18 
274
LECTURE XVI.
complaint, and very soon  resumed  her tranquility.  Five hours
after the last portions of the poison were taken, she became drowsy,
then remained perfectly quiet for four hours more, and at length, on
trying to sit  up in bed, complained of slight pain in the stomach,
and expired without agony."
  The second case is equally remarkable as  far  as the apparent
absence of all signs of acute inflammation is concerned.
  " A heavy,  stupid-looking girl had taken a teaspoonful of white
Arsenic. The physician found her sitting in her chair, more asleep
than awake;  on arousing her she reeled about the room in such a
manner that  poisoning by  some narcotic  was suspected.   She
acknowledged having swallowed white  mercury, which was recog-
nized by the aid of a pocket-lens to be arsenious acid.  She vomited
once after dinner, but there were no further symptoms until half an
hour before she died, at noon the following day.  She had no pain,
no sickness, no acrid eructations, no burning taste in the mouth; her
face was very pale, and  she was faint and giddy.   The sulphate of
zinc, with mucilaginous  drinks, was given her, and  soon produced
copious vomiting  which was kept  up  for half an  hour.   The
hydrated peroxide of iron  was then administered  in large doses.
At nine o'clock at  night she had experienced no pain, no unpleasant
symptoms whatsoever.   She was disposed to sleep quietly.   At ten
o'clock the next morning, her aunt came to  say that she was quite
well, and wanted permission to- go a-gleaning, but at half past eleven
o'clock, while in a  more than ordinarily cheerful mood, and engaged
in preparing  dinner, she suddenly complained of an excrutiating
pain in the body, with great prostration of strength.  She  went to
her bed-room to lie down, and at twelve was found dead.
  Upon examining the dead body, the stomach Avas found to contain
half a pint of thin, dirty, green fluid; the mucous coat much  cor-
rugated, having a fungous appearance, very soft and so fragile that
a touch of the finger tore it  away.   Three or four large reddish-
brown patches were observed, extending into the intestines  consid-
erably beyond the duodenum.  The peritoneal coat of the stomach
and  bowels was  not inflamed.   The lungs and  the heart were
healthy ; the head was not inspected.  Arsenic was contained in the
stomach-fluids.
  The third form is an acute poisoning, witli symptoms of gastro-enteri-
tis, followed by an affection of the cerebrospinal system.  The symp-
toms of gastro-enteritis are first developed.  If  the patient recovers
from  these, the cerebro-spinal symptoms sometimes come  on; the
chief symptom is coma ; and the most trifling:  a peculiar imperfect
palsy of the arms or  legs: between  these extremities have been
observed epileptic fits, or tetanus, or an affection resembling hys-
teria or madness.
  A  number  of interesting  cases referable to  this  category are
reported in Frank's Magazine; one of them will suffice for  an illus-
tration.
  " Three servant-girls took Arsenic by mistake.  The usual gastric
symptoms were present: vomiting of blood and discharge of blood
 rom the anus;  they had a  good deal of fever, which was followed 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
275
  by profuse sweats and pains in the teeth; their chests and necks
  Avere covered with purple spots.  After a lull of the symptoms they
  all had returns of vomiting,, purging, excessive pains in the stomach,
  inflammation and swelling about the root of the tongue ; two of them
  were unable to  speak or swallow, and in  twenty-four hours were
  seized with trismus and convulsions of the whole body, in forty hours
  one of them was in an apoplectic state, breathing with difficulty,
  with general convulsions, lock-jaw, pale and repulsive face, pulse
  ninety and weak ; when aroused she complained of violent headache,
  with burning  and  pain  in the  throat; both  the others became
  speechless, and were unable to swallow; with convulsive cramqis of
  the body, locked jaws, frequent spasmodic smiling, bloating of the face,
  pulse one hundred and six, and strong.  The next day two of them
  were attacked almost simultaneously with headache, followed by
  violent delirium and loss of  consciousness; these symptoms were
  removed by cold affusions.
    Having given a  full description of  the  symptoms exhibited  in
  cases of poisoning, we may as well subjoin in this place a descrip-
  tion of the

                   POST-MORTEM APPEARANCES,

 which  Pereira sums up in  the  following concise and exceedingly
 impressive manner:
   When  arsenious acid kills by its narcotic  operation, no morbid
 appearances are  observable after death.  The morbid appearances
 which  are observed  in cases of poisoning, may be arranged under
 the following heads:
   a. Morbid appearances  of the alimentary canal:  Symptoms of
 inflammation, redness and sometimes extravasations  of blood into
 the tissue of the canal;  ulceration is  frequently observed, some-
 times softening of the mucous coat, effusion of lymph or blood, and
 occasionally even gangrenous spots.
   b. Morbid appearances of the vascular system:  The blood is some-
 times, though  not invariably, fluid after death, and  dark-colored;
 heart flabby; it is asserted that on its inner surface (particularly the
 columnae carneae  and the valves) is observed redness, sometimes dif-
 fused, sometimes  in the form of spots, which penetrate  a line in
 depth into the substance  of the heart.   The  pericardium usually
 contains serum.
   c. Morbid appearances of the respiratory system: Principally redness
 of the  pleura, effusion of lymph or serum  into  the  cavity of the
 pleura, red spots, and occasional congestion of the lungs, and redness
 of the membrane  lining the air-tubes.
   d. Other morbid appearances: In some cases inflammation and even
 gangrene of the genital organs; the conjunctiva is sometimes very
 vascular, and cutaneous alterations are often observed; rednesss,
 extravasation of blood and effusion of serum are said  to have been
 seen in the brain.   In conclusion, we Inwe to advert to the
  Antiseptic properties of Arsenic:  Dr. Christison informs us that he
has kept a bit of  the stomach of an ox for four years in a solution 
276
LECTURE XVI.
of Arsenic, and, except a slight shrivelling and whitening, he could
not observe any change produced in it.
  Another remarkable property of Arsenic is to convert bodies into
adipocere, a sort of mummy-like  substance;  these emit a garlick
odor characteristic of Arsenic.   Christison believes in this property;
others deny it.

                 ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT.

  In a case  of poisoning, we use  the stomach-pump, and give an
emetic of sulphate of zinc, tickle the throat with a feather, and pro-
mote  vomiting by demulcent and diluent liquids, such as milk, a
solution of the white of eggs and  water, flour and water, gruel, sugared
water, oil and  lime-water; the  liquid serves to promote vomiting,
the demulcents invest the poisonous  particles, and the lime-water
diminishes the solubility of the  arsenious acid.  To expel arsenious
acid from the intestines, use  castor-oil.
  2. We use mechanical and chemical antidotes: The Cornish miners
use olive-oil with confidence.
  Charcoal, magnesia, and any inert powder may be used to envelope
the Arsenic, and prevent its  contact with the gastric surfaces.
  The principal chemical antidotes are:  the hydrated sesquioxide of
iron, or brown iron-stone, magnesia and lime-water.  If the hydrated
oxyde be not at hand, give the common  red oxide of iron rust with
water.  According to Pereira, these agents only act as  mechanical
antidotes. YYe give a tablespoonful to adults, and a dessertspoonful
to children every five or ten minutes, until the poisonous symptoms
are subdued.   This acts well in cases where  the  poison was  taken
;in solution; it  then  precipitates the Arsenic as a neutral arsenite
of iron.
  For the constitutional symptoms we may have to resort to dynamic
remedies, such as Aconite, Cinchona, Ipecacuanha, etc.   Stimulants
may  be  required for the  depression.   Castor-oil and  Opium may
likewise be required, together with the continued  use of antidotes.

  In  regard to the physiological action of Arsenic, we may safely
assert that there is hardly an  organ  in the  bod}'- which does not
perceive the action of Arsenic, more or less.  However, we may
generalize this statement in  a more specific manner by stating that
the chief influence of this drug seems  to bear upon the intestinal
canal, the chylo-poietic organs, the heart and the nervous system;
also  upon the  lungs, skin, salivary glands, urinary  and  sexual
organs, upon the ears and eyes.
• 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
277
                LECTURE  XVII.

  Let us now  proceed to  study the action of Arsenic  under the
categories wliich we have adopted for other drugs.

                   1.   CEPHALIC GROUP.

  From numberless cases of poisoning  as well as from Hahnemann's
very systematic provings,  we learn that Arsenic  exercises a very
powerful influence  upon the  brain.  Many of our provers have
experienced a dull, heavy,  aching, stupefying pain in the head as
one of the effects of Arsenic.  These different headaches may be
classed as follows:
  Dull  pains in the head, as from  a cold, with inability to collect
one's thoughts, ill-humor;
  Heavy pain, as if  the  brain Avere oppressed by a load, Avith buz-
zing in the ears; this  form of headache might likewise result from
a cold, from some violent nervous or bilious derangement;
  Thirobbing headache, the beating being felt' immediately above the
root of the nose, or in one side of the head;
  Tensive pain, or  a painful tightness of the  head, such as  might
result  from rheumatic  exposure, or from  a derangement of the
biliary secretions;
  Hemicrania, or semi-lateral headache, is one of those distressing
affections to which Arsenic  is eminently adapted as a curative agent.
In this affection the  pains are  throbbing, heavy and stupefying,
tensive ;  the scalp may feel excessively sore, tender to the least con-
tact.  Contact may make the pain worse. Light and noise may be
intolerable.  The paroxysms recur at more or less  regular intervals.
These periodical paroxysms of  hemicrania may be accompanied
with an  indescribable feeling of nausea, retching and vomiting of
bile, and a most distressing dizziness or vertigo. If these headaches
should be traceable to a suppression of intermittent fever paroxysms
with large doses of  Quinine, we may regard this circumstance as an
additional indication for Arsenic.

  In general we say that the Arsenic-hemicrania is depending upon
deep-seated derangements of the biliary functions.  The brain expe-
riences  the  effects of  this derangement;  the liver, which  is the
instrument or organ by means of which the brain carries on the
secretory functions of this  important gland, may be comparatively
free from pain.
  Such a case of headache  occurred in my own practice.  A lady
of about fifty years had been attended by me for several years for
the most distressing attacks of headache Avithout any benefit.  The
attacks came on every fortnight or sometimes every month. During
the attack she was almost stupid, senseless, unable to speak.  Noise
and light were intolerable. She vomited  yellow and green bile.
Her complexion was very sallow, and during the vomiting it deepened 
278
LECTURE XVII.
to a cherry-brown.  No medical treatment afforded the least relief.
Nothing seemed to ease her but a tablespoonful of a mixture of
Aloes which she kept for that purpose. As soon as the bowels began
to be moved, the pains gradually abated, leaving her completely
prostrated.  This lady  never  complained of  any pain  anywhere
except in the head.
  Last year the patient died in this city of  cancer.  It was one of
the most remarkable cases of cancerous dyscrasia that could well be
seen.   The breast, the  inguinal  glands,  the  mesenteric glands, the
spleen, lungs and liver were all involved in the cancerous degenera-
tion.   The liver especially was most remarkably diseased, studded
Avith scirrus degenerations having a grayish-greenish  appearance,
here and there interspersed with a black-looking and brownish-red
substance.  The whole organ was much paler than in its natural
condition, except around the sores, which  were  surrounded  Avith
rose-colored borders.  This cancerous disease had undoubtedly been
creeping on for years, and was the cause of her agonizing headaches.
These headaches left her after the disease had passed into the  ulcera-
tive stage.
  K you should ask me: why should the brain be made to suffer in
this way from a disease which seems to involve the liver ?  The
answer is very simple.  We  know that there exists a  system of
mutual responsibility, as it were, between the brain and the organs
which are depending upon it for the energy required in the perform-
ance of their functions.  The  liver is one of these organs.   In the
case of this lady, the cancerous miasm which the  brain was unable
to expel or neutralize, reacted upon the central organ of life, thus
making it share  the  burthen  of the  non-performance of its  own
mission of supreme preserver and provider of vitality.

  In Rheumatie or Arthritic Hemicrania, where similar phenomena
of distress in the head, vertigo  and vomiting occur, Arsenic  may
likewise prove useful.  You will not forget,  Gentlemen, that consti-
pation is no counter-indication to Arsenic.  Remember the extraor-
dinary powers which Arsenic possesses, of prostrating the functions
of the liver and of depriving  the intestinal  muscular fibres of the
required stimulus to perform the peristaltic motion.

  Another distressing affection where Arsenic exercises wonderful
healing powers, is,
  Delirium Tremens.  If your patient looks sallow, livid, the skin
feels dry, inclining to coldness, the pulse is small, irritated, irregu-
lar, and the patient requests you to remove the vermin that are crawl-
ing on his bed, or is troubled with  ugly phantoms, dogs,  cats, mice,
and the like, you will find a chief remedy in Arsenic.
  There are cases of poisoning, where Arsenic has induced all the
symptoms of intoxication.
  In one case, reported by Christison, there was at first some vomit-
ing, afterwards little else but faintness, sickness  at the  stomach, a
sullen expression, and a general appearance which led those around
him to believe him intoxicated. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
279
  Add to these symptoms the peculiar weakness and irregularitv of
the pulse, and  the visual phantasmata, and  we have  a tolerably
accurate description of the Arsenic-delirium tremens.

  From the symptoms which Arsenic has developed in a few cases
of poisoning, we have a right to infer that this agent may affect the
brain fatally, through  the intermediate agency of the  ganglionic
system.   A case  is  reported  in Rankin's Half-Yearly Abstract,
strongly confirmatory  of the  specific  relation  of Arsenic to the
central nervous mass, the brain.
  Harriet T., aged nineteen, a robust and healthy  girl,  took  on
Tuesday night,  Sept. 1st, about tAvo ounces  of fly-water, containing
two and a-half  grains of Arsenic.   It rendered her restless during
the night, producing watchfulness and slight pain in the stomach.
Next morning she  became sick and very thirsty, and the tenderness
and pain in the stomach had increased.  In the course of the day
the sickness became  worse, she was repeatedly purged,  her counte-
nance looked pinched,  and. the extremities became cold.   On AVed-
nesday night she rallied and became more comfortable and cheerful,
but was still thirsty.  On Thursday morning she was  Avorse, cold
and drowsy, and she Avas sent to  the  London Hospital;  her counte-
nance was then  pale and anxious, extremities cold and bedewed with
a cold, clammy sweat; pulse hardly perceptible, and she  lay in a
state of incipient coma.  She then  sank, and  died in  about thirty-
six hours after the administration of the poison.  The body was
examined twenty-one hours after death, and  from the appearances
present, Dr. Letheby  was led to conclude that death resulted purely
from coma, as neither the symptoms during life, nor the state of the
stomach after death, would allow him to attribute it to the effects of
gastro-enteritis.
  A post-mortem  examination showed that  the  brain  was much
congested, and  the  several  ventricles filled  with half-coagulated
blood.   The lungs looked natural; the heart was flabby, and dis-
tended with dark, jelly-like blood ;  hasmorrhagic spots were seen on
the endocardial membrane, especially where it covers the auriculo-
ventricular valves.  The abdominal and pelvic viscera were con-
gested ;  the stomach was pale and empty, and along the pylorus it
had assumed a gamboge tint; Arsenic was found in its tissues.

  This case is looked upon as a proof that patients under the effects
of a poisonous dose of Arsenic, may die of coma.  The  case  before
us, if viewed as an aggregate of symptoms,  may undoubtedly  be
looked upon as a case of
  Cerebral Apoplexy.  Both the symptoms exhibited during the life-
time of the  patient,  and the post-mortem appearances justify this
view of the case.   There seems no doubt that  the post-mortem
changes in this case were the result of a direct or sympathetic action
of Arsenic upon the  brain.  The  stomach in the present case was
found pale and empty.  May  not the cerebral haemorrhage have
been occasioned by the fact that the vascular life of the stomach had
been destroyed by the poison ?  The brain, in its capacity of supreme 
280
LECTURE XVII.
preserver of life, and  supreme distributor of the vital fluid among
the different organs and tissues, each according to its measure, sends
blood to the stomach,  but the vessels refuse to receive and circulate
this fluid; hence it returns to the brain, as it Avere, reacts upon the
brain, causes plethora, coma, apoplexy, death.  In a case of cerebral
apoplexy I should not consider Arsenic indicated, unless symptoms
of severe gastric irritation had preceded the attack; symptoms justi-
fying the belief that the nervous life of the stomach had become
extinct previous to the symptoms of apoplexy setting in.

                    2.  NERA^OUS GROUP.

   Among the effects of Arsenic upon the nervous system, one of the
principal symptoms is
   Debility, excessive Prostration, Fainting or Syncope.
   Many patients who  have  poisoned themselves with Arsenic have
scarcely experienced any other pain than prostration.
   A girl fourteen years of age, took about ninety grains of arsenious
acid, and died  in  five hours, having  vomited once or  twice;  she
complained of some little pain in the belly, and Avas affected towards
the close with great  faintness and weakness.  The  stomach and
intestines were  healthy.
   A stout middle-aged man swallowed a large quantity of Arsenic
in fragments, and died in a few hours; he experienced nothing  but
feebleness and great tendency to fainting.  The stomach and intes-
tines were not  in  the slightest degree  affected during life, and  no
morbid appearance could be discovered in them after death.

   In cases of Debility, more particularly when accompanied by ema-
ciation, which is  another characteristic effect of Arsenic, neuralgic
pains in the limbs, loss of appetite, coldness and dryness of the skin,
irregularity, smallness and  increased frequency of the pulse, Arsenic
will prove one of our  main therapeutic resources.  We might desig-
nate such a  group of  symptoms as a state of
   Marasmus, Wasting of the fatty tissue, Nervous Consumption.
   AYe have historical proofs that Arsenic produces a condition of
the body resembling marasmus.   AYe find the following case, reported
by Renaut, in Orfila's General Toxicology.
   Two chambermaids Avere  living with the  same master; one of
them conceived such an inveterate jealousy against the other, that
she resolved on her destruction.  She determined to use Arsenic for
this purpose, of Avhich she  put every day a small quantity into  her
broth.  A few moments after dinner the  food and  the poison were
both  vomited,  before the latter had sufficient time to act upon  the
stomach, so as to produce any serious accidents'.  Nevertheless, as the
same thing was repeated every day for  the space of six weeks,  the
stomach, in  the end, acquired an excessive degree of sensibility ;  she
felt severe pains in the bowels, and  wasted to an extreme  degree of
 leanness ; a spitting of blood  succeeded; the general sensitiveness of
the system increased  to such a degree  that a simple current of air
 AYas sufficient to produce spasms and  convulsions.   At length, when 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.                   281
her stomach could no longer bear  any thing, she  went into the
country, where her health Avas gradually restored.   Another attempt
at poisoning Avas  afterAvards made upon her, which led to the dis-
covery of the crime.

  We are sometimes called upon to prescribe for a form of
  Dyspepsia which might likewise be designated as chronic gastro-
enteritis,  and  one of the most  prominent symptoms  of  which is
general emaciation.  The  stomach in such cases  is very irritable;
the  patient is unable to retain any food on his stomach; the bowels
incline to be loose, with more  or less frequent urging to stool; the
pulse is feeble, accelerated, inclining to  irregularity in  the  number
of the beats;  the skin may be dry and abnormally cool, although
fever-flashes preceded by creeping chills or shiverings  may trouble
the  patient.  For such  a group  of symptoms, Arsenic is a main
remedy.

  Marasmus may be the result of rheumatic exposure.  It may be
characterized  by slight symptoms  of hectic fever which manifest
themselves toAvards evening or in the night.   The patient complains
of excessive prostration,  asthmatic  oppression, palpitation of  the
heart, lowness of spirits, and very often of paroxysms of acute pain
in the limbs.  The middle  or higher attenuations of  Arsenic are
eminently adapted to this condition; they may be given in alterna-
tion with Aconite from the third to the twelfth.

  Marasmus senilis, if not an incurable malady, may find in Arsenic
its chief remedy.   In this disease, the tissues of the stomach dwindle
away, and it is the atrophied condition of  this organ that gives rise
to the  general wasting of the body.  AYe know  of no agent that
exercises the  specific power of affecting the vegetative life of the
stomach  in the manner in which it  is affected in marasmus senilis,
as certainly and  thoroughly as Arsenic.  Hence we depend upon
this agent as our main stay in  this affection.   In

  Marasmus or Atrophy of Children,  Arsenic is likewise a principal
curative  agent.  Children at the breast are liable to this affection.
They lose their  appetite, they vomit up every thing that is  taken
into the stomach; they dwindle down to mere skeletons, look old;
the  skin  assumes  a sallow, dingy appearance, is dry  as parchment;
slimy diarrhoea sets in, hectic fever with regular evening-exacerba-
tions creeps along, the inside of the hands and the soles of the feet
become burning hot Avhile the rest  of the body  remains  cold, the
little patient gradually sinks into a soporous condition, the  pulse
becomes  filiform and so rapid that it can no longer be counted, and
death finally closes the scene.   AYhat Avould we be able to accomplish
in this disease without  Arsenic?   Give it from  the  sixth to the
twelfth potency, and you may be able to save a life which under any
other treatment might be sacrificed.

  In Atropliia nervosa, tabes nervosa, or nervous consumption, Arsenic
Avill do  capital service.   The derangements of  the chylo-poietic 
282
LECTURE XVII.
system  which characterize this disease, especially during the first
stage point to Arsenic.  What are these derangements ?  Loss of
appetite, a feeling  of  malaise  and oppression after eating, nausea
and vomiting  of  food, mucus  and  bile.   The  boAvels become
irregular, with  alternate diarrhoea and constipation.   The patients
emaciate, lose their strength, become irritable and feel unrefreshed
by sleep.  The subsequent development of the disease still points
to Arsenic; the evening fever, the burning heat in the hands and
on the  soles of the feet, the increased frequency of the  pulse, the
partial  sweats,  the  scanty secretion  of a red-looking urine with  a
thin and opalescent layer of fat diffused over its surface: all these
abnormal conditions point to Arsenic.
   In nervous consumption, patients  often complain of weariness,
aching and sore pains, and contractive rigidity of the joints.  A case
is reported in  the  first volume of Frank's  Magazine, where  the
poisonous  effects of  Arsenic continued for  months, developing  a
condition of the system closely bordering upon nervous consumption.
   A man, aged fifty-five years, of robust constitution, took five or six
spoonfuls of gruel  in which six grains of Arsenic had been mixed
for homicidal purposes. In a  few minutes  he was  attacked with
violent burning in the fauces and esophagus down to the stomach, and
violent  vomiting of  the ingesta, about forty times in five hours.   He
drank two quarts of sweet milk, but continued for a week to suffer
with  violent burning pains  in  the stomach and bowels, nausea and
vomiting.  He obtained relief by drinking copious quantities of cold
water and milk; but he suffered ever since with acidity of the stomach,
and vomiting even after light meals.  He felt  better for a while, but
on the first of November, about four months after the first attack,
he was  suddenly seized without any perceptible cause Avith shivering
heat, increased thirst, headache at irregular periods, generally at nig hit,
emaciation, sinking  of strength; after more than ordinary exertions
his feet  felt weak, he complained of pains in the joints, trembling of
the hands and weak eyes. The  temperature of the skin was  rather
increased, the tongue clean, pulse accelerated, the region of the stomach
painful  to pressure, the muscles of the extremities  sensitive,  the
general functions of the reproductive system not materially impaired.
   This  case of poisoning portrays a group of symptoms delineating
nervous marasmus. The middle potencies of Arsenic may prove
useful in such a case.

   The distressing affection which is so well known under the name of
   Atrophy of the Spinal Marrow, or Dorsal   Consumption, likewise
pertains in a measure to the therapeutic domain of Arsenic.   Path-
ologists distinguish three stages of this disease, the stages of irrita-
tion, that of paralysis, and lastly the  stage where the symptoms of
hectic fever are fully developed.  The symptoms which characterize
these three stages respectively, indicate Arsenic as one of the cura-
tive agents in this disease.
   In the irritative  stage, debility and a feeling of exhaustion after
the least bodily effort, are prominent symptoms.  Another prominent
symptom in this stage is the  excessive irritability of the  sexual 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
283
organs and a corresponding desire for gratification.  Unnatural self-
gratifications and sexual excesses  generally constitute one of the
chief causes of  this disease.  The patients experience a sensation as
if hot water were poured down their backs; they also complain of
a feeling  as  if ants were crawling over their  backs.   The lower
extremities become emaciated, and the spinous processes of the ver-
tebrae are  distinctly seen.
  In the second stage, the symptoms of palsy become more apparent;
the urinary bladder is  paralyzed; the  bowels are either bound in
consequence  of paralysis of  the rectum, or else the faeces pass off
involuntarily.  The  emaciation increases, the  functions  of the
special senses become impaired;  the sense of vision often becomes
extinct.
  In the third  stage, the symptoms of hectic fever are fully estab-
lished, with  colliquative  sweats, bedsores which  speedily become
gangrenous, complete paralysis of the lower extremities.
  Arsenic may not be able to cure this malady, but it may do much
to retard its development and to mitigate the dreadful  sufferings of
the patient.  Other medicines, and more particularly Aconite and
Cinchona  or Quinine may prove indispensable in connection with
Arsenic.

  We  may range in this category  a disease to which  children are
liable, I mean
  Atrophia meseraica,  or Mesenteric  Ganglionitis, Mesenteric  Con-
sumption.
  In this disease the mesenteric glands seem to constitute the battle-
ground where the vital forces  and the forces of disease meet in fierce
conflict.   We  might look upon the  so-called  infantile  remittent
fever as an acute form  of mesenteric ganglionitis.  In this acute
form which, under suitable treatment, may  run a course of from two
to three weeks, the  inflammation of the mesenteric glands is recog-
nized by a stinging, sometimes colicky, evanescent pain deep in the
abdominal cavity.  This pain is accompanied by fever, first slight
chills  towards  evening,  and afterwards heat,  Avith circumscribed
redness of the  cheeks, irritated pulse, violent thirst, and  compara-
tively clean tongue.  In this acute form of the disease Arsenic is
not indicated at the outset, but may have to be used in proportion
as the symptoms of gastric derangement, the loss of appetite, diar-
rhoea, and the febrile symptoms become more fully established.
  In the chronic  form of mesenteric ganglionitis, Arsenic is indis-
pensable in  connection Avith Aconite, Iodine,  Mercury and other
agents.  It is  more particularly indicated by complete loss  of
appetite, tympanitic distention  of the  abdomen, alternate constipa-
tion and diarrhoea, discharges of  a frothy or yellowish substance
looking like stirred eggs and  excoriating the anus. The evacuations
may vary in  character, and may, in the same individual, assume a
variety of forms.   The muscles  become flabby, the emaciation goes
on increasingly, the eyes  lose their brilliancy, they look dull, are
surrounded with blue margins, the skin feels dry and cold, especially
on the extremities, the  pulse  becomes small, filiform, empty.   Here 
284
LECTURE XVII.
Arsenic is in  its place, even if the glands have already begun to
suppurate and the signs of hectic fever are fully established.   In
this disease I prefer the third up to the sixth potency of this agent.

  For the
  Marasmus of drunkards, Arsenic in conjunction with Nux vomica,
may be prescribed Avith tolerable confidence.

  Among the  other nervous affections, to which Arsenic is homoeo-
pathic, we distinguish
  Tremors or Trembling of the limbs.  In  some cases of poisoning
Arsenic first develops symptoms of gastro-enteritis, and afterwards
marked symptoms of nervous disturbance, particularly trembling of
the limbs.  For this trembling, when accompanied by signs of acute
gastric irritation, or when succeeding severe inflammation of the
intestines, Arsenic will prove useful.
  Mercurial Tremors,  attended with  salivation, sallow complexion,
constipation,  emaciation,  night-sweats, loss of appetite,  may  be
treated Avith the low triturations of Arsenic.

   Chorea has been successfully treated with Arsenic.  If Arsenic is
possessed  of such extraordinary poAvers of causing tremors, twitch-
ings, spasms and convulsions, Ave may surely expect  good effects
from its use in chorea.   In a disease of this kind, Arsenic should not
be prescribed unless  the  accompanying constitutional symptoms,
such as gastric irritations, irregular bowels, loss of appetite, sallow
complexion, dry and cold skin,  irregular,  irritated, feeble pulse,
hypochondriac depression of spirits j ustify the use of this agent.

  The curative virtues  of Arsenic in certain forms of chorea may
be inferred from the folloAving highly interesting case of poisoning
which  occurred in England some time ago.
  The family  in which the fatal  accident occurred, consisted of six
individuals  and a maid servant, the mother, three  boys and  two
girls.  The manufacture of certain mineral colors was carried on at
their premises.  Arsenic Avas employed as one of the ingredients.
Both the factory and the  dwelling-house were  supplied with water
from the same well.  It appears that Arsenic, a quantity of which
had been thrown into the  drain of the factory, had become mixed
up through some derangement in the pipes, with the Avater in the
well, and that the poisoning had been occasioned by the use of this
water.
  Air.  Bickersteth, the surgeon, was first  called to YYest Derby,
where the family resided,  on Monday, February 16th, and found the
mother in a dying state ; unconscious, surface cold ; the arms being
in continued motion about her head.  She died in a few hours, but
before death  consciousness returned for a short time.  He was told
that the youngest son had died a Aveek previous, as it was supposed,
from hydrocephalus.  The symptoms, however, of both mother and
child,  appeared to have been bilious vomiting and purging, with
great thirst and head-affections.  On this visit the rest of the family 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
285
looked rather ill, but did not make any complaint.  Two days after,
Febr. 18th, Mr. Bickersteth was again sent for.  The eldest son and
one of the daughters were then suffering from bilious vomiting and
purging, with great thirst, not, however, accompanied by  pains  or
tenderness in any part.  The daughter felt some curious sensations
in her lower  limbs; in both the pulse was very quiet.
   Upon analyzing the water from the well,  it was found to contain
four-tenths of a grain of Arsenic to the pint.
   The following day, February 19th, the eldest son was  better, and
so was his uncle, who had only been there one day, and was seized
after taking tea in the house.  The two daughters, and the youngest
son were now suffering.  There was great restlessness, indisposition
to answer questions, numbness of the lower extremities, ichiilst the arms
were in continual motion in the air, as if picking at something above the
head; the skin was hot, but  not dry, and did not exhibit any dis-
coloration ; the tongue was dry and brown, and there was great thirst;
the throat seemed dry, and the breathing was quick and audible; the
pulse was very quick, 125 or 130, but not hard.  The girls  did not
complain of pain on pressing  the abdomen, but the youngest son
slightly moved when this was done, though he  said it gave him no
pain.  They  had all uncomfortable  feelings which  they could not
describe, but were at this time conscious.
   On the following day they were much worse.  The breathing and
pulse very rapid; the tongue and lips dry, crachzed, and covered with
blood  and sordes.  The  eldest girl was unconscious, throwing her
arms, legs and body about in every manner.  The other tAvo exhibited
the same symptoms as yesterday in an increased degree.   Conscious-
ness was fast  departing.
   On Saturday, 21st, the youngest boy died, the peculiar movement
of the arms continuing up to the time of his death.  The two girls
died likewise.  One of the servant-girls was likewise taken sick, but
recovered after having  exhibited symptoms  of a purely nervous
character.  The workmen, with one exception, were not sufferers.
   A post-mortem examination of the youngest son, twenty-four hours
after death, revealed the following appearances:
   There were no peculiar  appearances noticed on the skin, and the
muscles of the trunk Avere of  their usual color.
   The lungs  were adherent  on both sides by old adhesions poste-
riorly ; both were conjested with bloody serum,  especially the right.
The bronchi were red and injected, and covered Avith red mucus.
   The heart and pericardium Avere both healthy-looking; the blood
in the body was dark and fluid generally, though there were coagula
in the heart.
   The trachea and epiglottis presented marks of inflammation.
   The liver  was  slightly  enlarged,  presented  exteriorly many
yellowish-green patches, and was internally  of a uniform  slate or
ash-color.   Its consistence  Avas normal;  and the  bile in the gall-
bladder  was copious and dark.
   The oesophagus was healthy-looking.  The stomach was contracted,
contained  some greenish fluid and mucus, but Avith the exception of
punctiform and ramified redness at the splenic and pyloric ends, pre- 
286
LECTURE XVII.
 sented no unusual  appearance.  The  rugae were red and vascular;
 the mucous membrane was not softened or ulcerated.
   The commencement of the duodenum was red like  the stomach.
 A few patches of redness existed in the jejunum, and the lower
 part of the ileum was discolored for about twelve inches, where the
 solitary glands appeared unusually large and numerous.
   The coecum was dark-colored  and congested.   The rectum and
 colon  were also discolored here and there, but no ulceration or soften-
 ing had  occurred.   The  intestines  contained a  large  amount of
 faeces.  Spleen and kidneys were healthy.
   Head:  sinuses and veins congested; about  a tablespoonful of
 serum existed at the  base of the  brain, and the same  quantity in
 the ventricles; no  softening or formation of false membrane was
 observed.
   This case is reported in full in the North-American Homoeopathic
 Journal.  The post-mortem appearances are  important, inasmuch as
 they illustrate the power of Arsenic, to induce inflammatory condi-
 tions in the respiratory organs, and in the intestinal mucous membrane.
 The peculiar movements of  the  arms may lead  us  to  prescribe
 Arsenic  in chorea, accompanied by, or depending upon cerebral  or
 deep-seated pulmonary disease.  In idiopathic chorea, not induced
 by a sympathetic irritation transmitted from the diseased respiratory
 or cerebral organs, Arsenic may prove unavailing.

   In Epilepsy, Arsenic may prove very useful.  Christison reports
 the case of five  individuals who  partook of a dish poisoned with
 Arsenic, and they were all violently  seized  with the usual inflam-
 matory symptoms.  But, farther, one had an  epileptic fit on the first
 day, Avhich recurred on the second;  and he had besides frequent
 twitches of the muscles of the trunk,  a feeling of numbness in one
 side, and  heat and tingling of the feet and hands.  Another had
 tremors of the right  arm  and legs on the  first day, and several
 epileptic fits in the course of the  night.  During  the next  fifteen
 days he had a paroxysm every evening about the same hour; which
 returned after an intermission of  eight  days, and frequently for
 several months afterwards.

   We  would recommend Arsenic  in  Ganglionic Epilepsy, as some
 pathologists term it, depending upon irritation of some one  of the
 abdominal ganglia, more particularly of the superior and inferior
 meseraic plexuses.  In this form of epilepsy the patients complain
from time to time of a mixed  pain, at times gnawing, at others con-
 strictive, burning or stitching.   This pain precedes the paroxysms
for a longer or less period of time.   Evanescent symptoms of jaun-
dice sometimes show themselves during the paroxysm.   Accessory
symptoms will of course facilitate the choice of a remedial agent.  A
leading indication for Arsenic is the periodicity of the  paroxysms.
Accompanying systems of mental  derangement, particularly hypo-
chondria, idiocy or imbecility, likewise indicate Arsenic.

  In   Cerebral  Epilepsy,  when the paroxysms  occur suddenly, 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
287
without any premonitory signs showing that the irritation was trans-
mitted  to  the brain from some point in  the  peripheral nervous
system, Arsenic may likewise be useful.  If the paroxysms depend
upon, or are accompanied by cerebral disorganizations, suppuration,
exostosis,  adhesions of  meningeal membranes, etc., no  curative
treatment can be instituted;  all we can expect to do is, to palliate
the symptoms, for which purpose Arsenic may prove useful.

   Ganglionic epilepsy is a curable disease, and is  fortunately  the
most common form of this distressing malady.  Dr.  Schrcen reports
the  following case, Avhere Arsenic effected a cure,  and where  the
paroxysms came on at irregular periods.
   A robust man of thirty-four years had been subject for two years
past to paroxysms of a burning pain in the stomach, accompanied by
pressure in the spine, ascending like warm air behind the ears and
to the face.  He felt dizzy, fell down unconscious, in which condition
he remained for ten to fifteen minutes, Avhen the pain left  him, but
stupor remained.  Between the  paroxysms he  had  no pain in  the
head except in the occiput, and frequent attacks of burning pain in
the spine; in the morning he complained of a sweetish taste in  the
mouth; he had  burning in  the stomach after eating heavy food;
there Avas  burning  at the anus, and in  the urethra when urinating.
He had frequent cramps in  the calves.  He had had an itch sup-
pressed by ointment.  He took eight doses of  Arsenic 6, and  was
cured.

   May we expect good effects from Arsenic in
   Convulsions?  In  the cases of poisoning where Arsenic has caused
convulsions, we find that they are depending, as it were, upon some
previous violent irritation of the stomach and bowels.  In Frank's
Physiological Magazine the following  cure is related,  a report of
which we extract from the North American Homoeopathic Journal,
as aptly illustrating our doctrine :
   "A melancholic lad,  aged eighteen, swallowed a large quantity of
Arsenic, and  was  soon  attacked  with  great anxiety  and a cold
sweat;  these disappeared in a quarter of hour, and he remained well
all day.  In the evening, a similar  attack occurred and disappeared
as quickly.  During the night  he  was seized with  severe colicky
pains, followed by  vomiting and diarrhoea;  he had violent pains
about the navel, his face was pale,  sunken and covered with a cold
sweat; pulse contracted, frequent and irregular, convulsions and other
nervous symptoms  ensued;  he gradually  recovered, but for more
than a  year he suffered with spasms, which seemed to commence in
the abdomen; Avith attacks of idiocy and melancholy, and various
other nervous affections."
   In this case the convulsions and spasms seem to have depended upon
the previous gastric irritation.  It should likeAvise be observed that
the convulsions were preceded by the breaking  out of a cold sweat,
paleness, and collapse of the features, and a contracted, frequent and
irregular pulse.

   In another case, likewise to be found in Frank's Aiagazine, where 
288
LECTURE XVII.
two boys of thirteen and ten, and a girl of fourteen years had been
poisoned, two of the  children were likeAvise seized with the most
violent spasms, and lay exhausted, stiff) and  with their bodies bent
backwards.  Their hands and faces cold, and covered with cold
sweats before the convulsions set in; the little patients were attacked
with the most excruciating pains in the stomach.
   We infer from these and similar cases, that the convulsions which
Arsenic is  capable of curing, must be depending  upon some intes-
tinal irritation. They may either be symptomatic of acute pain in the
boAvels caused by some irritating  substance, such as bile or even
worms, and more especially tape-worm; or they may result  sympa-
thetically, in consequence of the  violent  irritation which a violent
attack of acute and perhaps malignant form of gastro-enteritis may
transmit to the brain.  The condition of the pulse, the general state
of collapse, the cold  and clammy skin, must, of course, justify the
use of Arsenic.

  Paralysis is curable by Arsenic.   In many cases of poisoning, the
extremities  have  become totally paralyzed.  In other cases, the
paralysis is partial, the hands, arms, or only the forearms, have been
affected.
  In most of the cases of paralysis caused  by Arsenic, the paralyzed
limb experienced painful cramps previous  to the paralysis setting in.
  Charles  Wilson, a SAvedish  sailor, had poisoned  himself with
Arsenic  by mistake.  The poison was promptly counteracted, and
for seven days he felt  perfectly well.   He was then attacked at night
with a violent cramp in the index-finger of the right hand, successively
invading the  other fingers, and lastly the thumb, then attacking the
other hand in the same manner, and finally the feet, the pain in the
hand subsiding as the feet became affected.  After a sound sleep he
awoke Avith the affected parts  perfectly paralyzed.  This paralysis
was accompanied with a feeling  of heat  and  numbness, which
invaded the upper extremities from the tips of the  fingers to  a point
about three inches below the elboAV, and the legs from  the toes to a
point a little below the knee.  He also had  lancinating pains in these
parts, regularly commencing about  five o'clock  in  the afternoon,
and continuing until midnight.
  The patient was unable to feed  himself  or stand alone.  He was
treated in the N. Y. Hospital during a period of seven months and
a half with the  Sulphate of Quinine, Strychnine and  Electricity,
when he began to improve.  He had had no pain for some time save
on the approach of stormy weather, when peculiar painful sensations
were perceived in the fingers.

  Doctor H. P. Perkins  accidentally poisoned himself with 127
grains of Arsenic  on July 24th,  1852.   After  having suffered
severely from cramps, constipation and gastritis until Afay, 1854, he
lost the entire use of his feet, legs, arms and hands. He experienced
severe neuralgic pains in  the paralyzed parts, which continued for
two years and a  half.  The  neuralgic pains were confined to the
arms,  below the elbows,  and to the legs, below the  hips.  They were 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
289
never darting in their  character, but always steadily increasing  to
their climax and  then gradually decreasing.   Cold  air or water
would  always bring them on;  they were worst between half-past
nine in the morning and eight o'clock at night.
  The paralysis was of both motion and sensation, but he remained
acutely sensitive in the paralyzed parts to cold.
  In his case, sensation was not entirely destroyed.  Boiling Avater
poured on the parts that were paralyzed, could not be felt, but ice-
water gave him great  pain, particularly when neuralgic  pains were
present.
  There was also a remarkable chilliness doAvn the spine.
  No fever at any time, no chills, but cold sweats, with excessive
thirst; chronic cold sweats about the legs and arms for six weeks;
would wet the sheets with the sweats.
  Excessive sensitiveness to cold ; when asleep, the slightest draught
of air,  even over his face, Avould Avake him; the opening and shut-
ting of the door would chill him disagreeably.
  The cramps were worst in the calves of the legs and in the thighs,
but  slight  in the arms and hands;  the  muscles could be  seen
working;  the pains of the cramps Avere so severe that he could not
help screaming out.  The cramps were most severe from six until
nine in the  morning;  then every half hour or hour  during the
afternoon;  from  eight in the evening to next morning he would
have no cramps.
  The neuralgia did not come  on until the cramps ceased; it was
most severe in the same muscles in which the cramps had been.
  The paralysis did not set in, until just before the cramps left him.
  The neuralgic pains did not leave him,  until the paralysis began
to leave him.
  Under the use of the galvanic battery the pains would leave him
one  hour earlier,  and commence one hour later; he could bear the
shock so strong that it would knock a boy doAvn.
  The feet  were  entirely paralyzed,  also  the legs and hands;  he
could move some  of the muscles of the thighs and hips; the upper
arms could be moved; he could not feel a pin run into  the flesh to
the bone; but the slightest cold application could be felt.

  We learn from these and a number of similar cases, that paralysis
caused by Arsenic, is distinguished by the following characteristic
features:
  1. It always commences at the extremities;
  2. It may be confined to the feet, to the hands, or even to the
fingers;
  3. It has  been known to creep  progressively from the hand over
the Avhole arm;
  4. It appears to attack more frequently the nerves of motion than
those of sensation.  Both these forms are sometimes found associated.
Anaesthesia  may alone be present.
  5. The paralysis is preceded by cramps in the paralyzed part;
  6. The paralyzed part may be affected with aching or lancinating
neuralgic pains.
                              19 
290
LECTURE XVII.
  Paralysis of this kind may occur as  a natural disease  in  conse-
quence of over-work or rheumatic exposure.
  The arsenical-paralysis may be accompanied by contraction of the
paralyzed  limbs  or rigidity of the joints.   Christison informs us
that  instead of being palsied, the limbs may be rigidly bent, and
cannot be extended.  In a case related by Berndt, arising from the
Arseniate of Potash, the paralytic affection consisted in the loss of
sensation and motion in the hands, loss of motion in the feet, AYith.
contraction of the knee joints.
  This  symptom is well  worthy of your  notice.   Paralysis with
contraction may arise from rheumatic exposure, or from the retroces-
sion  of some psoric eruption  either in consequence of impaired
innervation or after the use of some astringent wash or ointment.
  In a case of this kind, some physicians may feel disposed to give
high potencies;  others  may prefer the largest doses of the loAver
preparations  that it may  be safe to administer.  Cases may occur
where either method may be justifiable.
  According to Hahnemann, the pains in the  paralyzed part may be
of a burning character ;  these pains may exist Avithout the paralysis,
and,  although exhibiting a preference for the extremities,  they may
also invade the spinal column.

  Neuralgic Pains  may yield to Arsenic.  The  cases of  poisoning
Avhich  I have related, inform us that these pains may be of a lan-
cinating, aching and burning kind.  These  pains are particularly
felt in the extremities, except the burning pains which may also be
felt in the region of the  spine.   These pains may be caused by
exposure, in Avhich case  they are not necessarily accompanied by
the ordinary signs of rheumatic inflammation.   There may also be
numbness and formication during a paroxysm of the pains.  Remem-
ber that periodicity in the paroxysms is a characteristic indication
for Arsenic.  Excessive sensitiveness to a draught of air is likewise
characteristic of Arsenic.  In a  case of poisoning  Avhich I have
related  to  you, this sensitiveness was  so  excessive that the least
exposure to  a current of air would throw the patient into spasms.
The  breaking out of cold  sweat on the affected part toward the close
of a paroxysm would constitute additional proof for the homoeopa-
thicity  of Arsenic.  You recollect that in the case  of Dr. Perkins
these cold sweats broke  out for about six weeks on the legs and
arms in such profusion that the sheets became wet with the sweats.

  Neuralgia of the Face may yield to Arsenic. In a case of poisoning
reported by Christison, the patient complained of acute  pains in the
muscles of the face.  There was occasional loss of sense.  The  con-
junctiva was injected.  In  neuralgia of the face depending upon
carious teeth, or caused by rheumatic exposure attended with sore
throat, swelling of the sublingual and submaxillary glands, soreness
of the nose, oedema of the face  and head, and consensual  symptoms
fo gastric  irritation, nausea, retching or vomiting, Arsenic may do
good service.
  In these nervous affections,  the presence of an  uncontrolable 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
291
 restlessness  in the affected  part  is  an additional  indication for
 Arsenic ; it may be accompanied by anxiety and by apprehensions
 of a vague character.

   These pains may occur  at night, in regular paroxysms in the
 extremities as well  as in the back.  They seem to be seated in the
 bones,  hard, aching, laming pains—so called bone pains, or dolores
 osteocopi, attended Avith excessive nervousness and restlessness. These
 pains may occur during the progress of syphilitic disease, in Avhich
 case the mercurial preparations and the mercurial iodides are capital
 remedies.  If  these should  fail, Arsenic may be given in low doses.
 This agent may also prove  useful, if these bone-pains are the result
 of mercurial poisoning.

   Old-School  physicians have  been  in the habit  of  employing
 Arsenic for  neuralgia.  Dierbach relates an  interesting case man-
 aged by Dr. Hanselman, where a  man of fifty-nine years, who had
 been reduced to a skeleton by unceasing tortures especially at night,
 was freed from his  sufferings and regained constitutional vigor by
 the use of Arsenic.  Every time he had an attack of neuralgia, the
 Arsenic was resorted  to with success; nothing else seemed of any
 avail.
   In Bouchardat's Annuaire a case is related by Boudin, where a
 soldier Avho  had  been wounded in the cheek and  forehead, took
 twelve grains of Arsenic in the space  of three months.  At first the
 pains were intermitting; afterwards they  became  continuous  and
 intolerable.   The least  emotion, a  change  of weather made them
 worse.   His teeth and  hair fell out, his visual power became affected,
 he lost his sleep, he became emaciated.  The patient, after having
 been treated  in vain by the first  physicians of Paris, finally took
 Arsenic in doses of one-fifteenth of a  grain three times  a day, for
 three months more or less.   He was entirely cured and continued to
 enjoy perfect health when the case  was reported, about a year after.
 It is very probable that a cure might have been affected in this and
 similar cases by means of much smaller doses.

   In  some forms of Spinal Irritation Arsenic  may  effect a cure.
 The following case of cure illustrates in a very striking manner the
 law of specific homoeopathy in general, and the curative virtues of
 Arsenic in the  cases to which it is specifically adapted.
   A robust farmer  who had been sick for four years and  a  half,
 consulted Dr. Schubert on the 12th  of January, 1821.   He was sub-
ject to paroxysms which came on every three or four days, and were
 characterized by the following symptoms:  Loss of appetite, qual-
 mishness and nausea; periodical pressure in the stomach, increasing
 as the paroxysms became more violent; always coming on after
eating, and sometimes when the stomach is empty; little sleep; this
lasted two days; on the  third day he felt a pressure  near the ver-
tebral column,  on the  right side, a  feAV inches below the scapula;
a qualmish feeling and pressure in the  stomach;  on the fourth day
this sensation rose to a point between the apex of scapula and the 
292                     LECTURE XVIII.
column, where it changed to a burning pain  as  from a hot coal,
made worse by the least contact and moderated by gentle exercise ;
he  had frequent startings during sleep; the  parts from the left
hypochondrium  across the stomach were numb;  immediately after
rising he experienced frequent urging to stool preceded by pinching
in the bowels, and followed by burning and sore pain in the anus. The
discharges Avere  yellowish and watery,  and then became slimy and
scanty.  Excessive prostration, depression of spirits, fretfulness. The
attack was caused by a cold.  On a summer's evening he had been
sitting on a cold stone;  the same evening he felt  drawing and ten-
sive pains in the small of the back, and next evening a paroxysm
such as described  came  on.  One dose of Arsenic stopped it;  in
three months there was a slight return ; another dose cured him.
               LECTURE  XVIII.


                 INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

  The inflammatory action of Arsenic upon the tissues is exceed-
ingly marked, and may lead  to the most disastrous consequences.
On the other hand, the sad  results of arsenical poisoning in  this
direction yield to the  homoeopathic  physician, and indeed to any
physician who intelligently  interprets  and correctly  applies the
therapeutic laws of Nature, precious  means of relieving suffering
and of saving life.
  AYe may consider  this Group under four sub-divisions, a. simple
acute, b. erysipelatous, c. gangrenous and d. cancerous inflammation.

                a. Simple acute inflammation.

  The  inflammatory conditions which Arsenic excites along the
tract of the intestinal tube, are marked by evidences of a deeply
penetrating nervous disorder.  These  inflammations have  a malig-
nant character, tending to disorganization, and generally attended
with cramps, spasmodic twitches or convulsions.
  The following case reported by Brodie in the  Philosophical Trans-
actions of the year 1812, gives a very fair view  of the inflammatory
action of Arsenic upon the abdominal  viscera.
  Surgeon  Tonnelier was called  to the house of  Airs. L., to give
assistance to her daughter, aged nineteen years, who was reported to
be in a distressing situation.   He found her extremely faint, kneeling
down on the floor of her room, with her head resting on the arms of
her brother, being unable to support herself.  Her face was unequally
red,  and covered with sweat; her eyes were  half open, red,  and
suffused with tears;  round  her eylids  Avas a border of a bright-red;
her voice was nearly gone;  her breathing short, frequent and plain-
tive ; she experienced horrible pains in the stomach, as if the  stomach 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
293
 were consumed by  fire;  she made efforts to vomit, which  were
 extremely distressing.  This  condition of things had lasted four
 hours when the physician  arrived.   The  patient had taken the
 Arsenic about 11 o'clock./  No symptom of a very distressing nature
 had made its appearance until the evening: during the day she had
 been observed  often to change color in the face, and showed  some
 other signs of suffering and anxiety ; but she Avas obliged to  conceal
 her pain.  She ate a good dinner at tAvo  o'clock.  At seven in the
 evening the vomiting came on with great  violence; at eight she had
 a  slight convulsion  which lasted several  minutes, after which the
 vomitings returned with the same violence as before.   As she had
 refused to drink, the matter vomited amounted to very little: it was
 composed of a part of her dinner, of a viscous matter, sometimes
 colorless, sometimes of a pale-yellow; together with some frothy
 saliva streaked with  blood.  The patient was put to bed.  Her pulse
 was small, unequal, irregular and  very frequent.  The epigastrium
 was excessively  sensible, and she felt excruciating pains  in the
 intestinal canal.  Deglutition was already extremely difficult; never-
 theless they succeeded in making her drink copiously.  By this
 means she vomited more easily and without interruption for an hour.
 The vomitings then ceased for about ten minutes.   The'patient
 rested herself upon her pillow, and appeared to sleep ; she was even
 heard to snore.  In a short time the vomitings  came on again, and
 continued until two  o'clock.
   At a quarter past two, she slept again for eight minutes;  stertor,
 the respiration was sloAver, then  hiccough, vomiting for a quarter of
 an hour, coldness of the face, hands and forearms; she uttered cries
 from time to time;  her agitation was extreme,  all her limbs were
 contorted; an involuntary evacuation  from the  boAvels took place
 for the second time since the first manifestation of the symptoms.
   At three o'clock, she was a little calmer: she begged of the atten-
 dants not to speak of her misfortune.   The breathing became still
 slower, the vomiting increased;  there were fresh signs of agitation,
 frightful dreams; the pulse became imperceptible.  At four  o'clock
 she opened her eyes, and complained of being unable to see the light;
 she lamented her fate: her arms  became dead.  At five o'clock, her
 countenance was like ice, her nose and lips of  a violet color, the
 beating of her heart could scarcely be felt; these symptoms were
 succeeded by a rattling in her throat, and  finally death.

                    Appearances on Dissection.

  Externally; contraction of the  muscles of the face, insurmountable
stiffness of the limbs;  a violent  color,  more or less deep, over the
legs, thighs, loins and back;  countenance  pale, lips violet;  a very
sensible heat of the body tAventy-six hours after death.
  Internally: the lungs Avere extraordinarily distended with blood,
through two-thirds of their  bulk,  and  especially in their posterior
part.   The incisions made into  the lungs, showed a compact and
tolerably firm texture;  on the slightest pressure, blood oozed  out
without any appearance of air-bubbles, from a multitude of minute 
294                     LECTURE  XVIII.
points on the cut surfaces.  The anterior  part of the lungs was red
on the surface, and for the rest, tolerably elastic and filled with air.
  Both ventricles of the heart contained very black blood.  The left
ventricle contained more than the other.
  The stomach was greatly distended by the fluid with which it Avas
filled; on its external  surface was seen an infinity of small vessels
injected with blood.  The intestinal canal exhibited the same appear-
ance as well on its external as internal surface, in some parts of its
extent.   The liver and spleen were likewise very much engorged
with blood.
  The stomach, having been emptied, and laid  open throughout its
whole extent, presented a surface apparently grained, which appear-
ance was caused by  the increased bulk of the mucous glands, the
color of which was  blackish;  whilst the stomach  itself was red,
more or less dark,  and sprinkled here and there, especially towards
the pyloric orifice, with extremely black spots.
  The epithelium of the mucous membrane was entirely removed.
  There was found in the fluid taken out  of the stomach a  cyst,
formed, according  to Professor Dupuytren, by an expansion of the
mucous membrane of the stomach, in which some vestiges of the
vessels could still  be perceived.  It was  about an inch  and  a-half
long,  eight lines in diameter,  and  its sides were about half a line in
thickness.  From the interior surface  of  this  cyst, were given out
very thin partitions  of a cellular  texture; and which contained, in
separate  cells, unequal fragments of  a crystalline  matter, which
being submitted to  several  experiments  by Dupuytren and Van-
quelin, presented all the characteristics of Arsenic.  This girl had
attempted to  poison herself on two previous occasions, and Dupuy-
tren is of opinion that the production of this cyst belongs to these
two  anterior poisonings.  This opinion  appeared  to  him to  be
strongly supported by the circumstances that the patient complained
of continual pains  in that part of the stomach corresponding to that
where the cyst was found.

  In all cases of
  Gastro-enteritis, to  which Arsenic is homoeopathic, we shall find
nausea, retching and vomiting of mucus, bile and blood; burning
pain in the region of the stomach and bowels, with excessive tender-
ness to contact or pressure; tympanitic  distention of the bowels or
else diarrhoeic discharges consisting of water, flocks of mucus, slime,
blood, attended with more or less distressing tenesmus and agoniz-
ing pain in the bowels.  The mouth and  throat are  parched, the
patient craves drink of which the least quantity excites the vomiting.
Thetongue looks parched, like raw and scorched hide covered with
a thick, yellow coating.  The  respiration is hurried, the countenance
expresses anxiety  and distress; gradually the  features assume the
pinched and sunken  appearance which pathologists designate as the
hippocratic countenance.  The pulse is frequent, small and irregular,
the extremities are cold, and may become  more or less convulsed as
the pain augments in intensity.
  In this disease it may be necessary to give Arsenic in low doses, 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
i. <.'U
from one hundredth to one ten thousandth of a grain, and to repeat
the latter dose every half hour until a decided improvement in the
symptoms becomes manifest.
   In Chronic Gastro-enteritis, Arsenic  is likewise eminently useful.
It is indicated by irritability of the stomach, occasional vomiting of
food, a  sensation of oppression after eating, aching and sore  pains
in the epigastric region, paroxysms of tympanitic distensioR of the
bowels  or flabbiness of the  abdominal Avails, alternate constipation
and diarrhoea,  the  discharges  consisting of loose, yelloAV stools, or
slimy, fatty, purulent matters, with more or less  tenesmus, sense of
excoriation at the anus, debility,  loss of flesh, more or less vascular
excitement, salloAV complexion  with occasional feverish flashes, dull
and heavy pains about the head.  The tongue may exhibit a whitish
or yellowish coating, the tip and edges look inflamed, the mouth
and pharynx feel dry, which induces a frequent  craving for drink.
Patients who are suffering Avith  an  affection  of  this  kind, are dis-
posed to  long  for  stimulants and tonics, such as wine or  a  little
brandy.
   Arsenic from the third to the  twelfth potency may reach such a
case.

   Gastritis is a disease to which  Arsenic may prove  homoeopathic.
Among the organs to which Arsenic  seems to  hold some  specific
relation, the  stomach occupies a prominent rank.  AYe know that
Arsenic may cause  inflammation  of the stomach even when adminis-
tered by the skin.   Schulze  reports five cases in Hecker's Critical
Annals of Legal  Medicine,* where Arsenic was sprinkled upon the
hair by mistake for hair-poAvder.  One of the patients died; two
were attacked with more or  less dangerous symptoms,  and  the
remaining two  had a violent inflammation of the pericranium.   In
the fatal case, death did not occur until the tAventy-second day after
the accident  occurred!  The hairy scalp Avas found gangrened and
infiltrated with fluid blood.   The  stomach  was also  very  much
inflamed.  In the two  persons who suffered most, erysipelas of the
pericranium did not make its appearance until six days after the use
of the powder.
  The retching and vomiting of  mucus, bile and  blood; the exces-
sive sensitiveness of the praecordial region ; the burning pain in the
region of the stomach as  if this organ were consumed by fire;  the
agonizing thirst Avith inability to SAvallow the least  drop Avithout
causing distressing vomiting; the inflamed redness of the tongue;
the heated breath, the expression of agony in the features, the icy-
coldness of the extremities  and the  excessively rapid, irregular,
feeble and tremulous pulse:  all these symptoms are so many indica-
tions  for Arsenic which is capable of reproducing them all in the
tissues in health.

  It might be interesting to inquire whether Arsenic causes gastritis
by its direct, irritating action upon the coats of the stomach.   AYe
* Hecker's Kritsche Annalen der Staatsarzneikunde Vol. I , p. 143-159. 
296
LECTURE XArIII.
have shown that it may develop gastritis by absorption.  There are
many cases of poisoning on record where Arsenic in substance Avas
found in the stomach without the least symptom of organic lesion
being present.
  Chaussier reports  the  case  of  a robust middle-aged man  who
swallowed  a  quantity of  arsenious acid in large lumps and died
without showing any other symptoms than slight syncope.  On open-
ing the stomach, it was found to contain the arsenious acid almost in
the state in which it had been sA-vallowed.  It was impossible to dis-
cover the slightest erosion or inflammation in the alimentary tube.

  Etmiiller, in  his Ephemerides of Natural Curiosities, speaks of
a young girl poisoned by Arsenic, in whom neither the stomach nor
intestines presented any signs of inflammation or gangrene;  never-
theless the Arsenic Avas found in this viscus.

  Other cases of a similar character might be mentioned.
  In these cases Arsenic destroyed life by its action upon the cere-
brospinal axis.  Hence we infer that unless the stomach is endowed
with a certain amount of reactive vitality, the poison cannot exhibit
its irritating effects upon this organ.  It would seem, therefore, that
Arsenic does not corrode the stomach solely as a chemical agent, but
that a principle of dynamic vital resistance seems involved  in the
post-mortem  phenomena of disorganization observed  in  cases of
poisoning by Arsenic.  Hence Ave have a right to recommend Arse-
nic as a remedy for gastritis upon the ground of its dynamic homoeo-
pathicity to this disease.

  Stomacace is another inflammatory disease  to which Arsenic is
homoeopathic.  Arsenic causes inflammation of the mouth, tongue
and fauces.  In the case of Dr. Perkins, one of the first symptoms
of the poisonous action of Arsenic was a crimson  line  on the gums,
which has likewise  been remarked  in other  persons.  A  bloody,
fetid, ichorous saliva  may be secreted.  The mucous membrane
exhibits Avhitish patches, as if  the epithelium were destroyed ;  or it
has a livid appearance : in some cases of poisoning, the buccal cavity
has exhibited a bluish-red color.  A burning heat and dryness and
a foul taste are complained of.   Arsenic may likeAvise cause the
teeth to fall out.
   AVhatare the leading pathognomonic signs of Stomacace?   First,
the gums begin to swell, they look dark-red, livid ; they feel dry and
burning-hot, and shoAV a disposition to  bleed.   Gradually the gums,
along the upper edge, become pulpy, with a  yellowish,  blackish
appearance ;  the subjacent mucous membrane  looks red and bleeds
readily.  In consequence of the destruction of the alveolar border of
the gums, the teeth may fall out.  The sublingual glands are swollen,
secreting a corrosive fluid.
   All these symptoms correspond with the action of Arsenic upon
the gums, sublingual glands, and the lining membrane of the  mouth.
   The constitutional symptoms accompanying the buccal disorganiza-
tion, likewise point to Arsenic.  The patient's face  looks  pale, the 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
297
eyes retreat into their sockets, they are  surrounded with blue mar-
gins.  The bowels may become tympanitically distended ; diarrhceic
discharges take place having a sour smell and looking like stirred
eggs.  Shreds of mucus are mixed up with the stools.  The mucous
membrane of the rectum is corroded by the ichorous matter from
the mouth, and tenesmus sets in.
  The breath of patients affected with stomacace, has a penetrating,
pungent, foul odor.  Their pulse  is jerking and  hurried,  the skin
hot and dry; in the last stage the extremities become  cold, and the
face becomes pinched and remarkably pale.
  Contrasting these  symptoms of the disease  with the effects  of
Arsenic, we shall  find that  this  agent  occupies a prominent rank
among the few remedies which are adapted  to Stomacace.
  Even in Mercurial Stomacace, Arsenic  may prove useful.

               b.  Erysipelatous Inflammation.

  We know from several  cases of poisoning with Arsenic  that this
agent is capable of causing erysipelatous inflammation.
  Wibmer relates a case where the powdered Arsenic Avas applied to
the scalp by mistake for hair-poAvder.  The poison caused  a violent
swelling of the head and face, followed by erysipelas of the face, neck
and abdomen, and a pustulous eruption  on the hands.
  Belloc relates the following case in his "Cours de Medecine Legale,"
page 121: A woman of fifty-six years, of good health, but  of a deli-
cate and very irritable constitution, washed her whole body with a
solution of Arsenic, obtained by boiling the poison in common water.
She Avas affected with an itch, against Avhich the ordinary  means of
cure proved unavailing.   She  swelled up enormously, and became
covered with a general erysipelas.   For  several  days she felt as if
consumed by fire.  The  itch  disappeared,  but  this unfortunate
woman was  taken with trembling in  all  her limbs, and finally died
after dragging a miserable existence for two years after using  the wash.

  The erysipelatous inflammations to Avhich Arsenic is homoeopathic,
are of a more or less malignant nature.  They may be accompanied
by enormous SAvelling of the inflamed part, and excessive  burning
with tendency to gangrenous disorganization.  The curative virtues
of Arsenic in this form of erysipelas are beautifully illustrated  in
the following case, reported  by Dr.  Schreter:
  " A farmer's Avife, aged 50 years, Avas attacked with inflammation
of the arm, Avhich, after the lapse of eight days, terminated in gan-
grene.  Two of her relatives had died Avith the same disease.  Dr.
Schreter, avIio Avas consulted on the  tAvelfth  of June, 1828, found her
with the following symptoms: Her left arm Avas SAvollen, densely
covered with black pustules which emitted a fetid odor; some parts
looked like a gelatinous grayish-Avhite mass; alvine discharges of a
dark-green mucus ; pulse quick and small; prostration.  A cure was
achieved in  tAvelve days with Arsenic 30.

  Erysipelatous Inflammation of the Scrotum, of  a malignant nature, 
298
LECTURE XVIII.
with SAvelling of the testicles, may be cured with Arsenic.  Alberti
mentions a case where the internal use of Arsenic caused sAvellingof
the testicles.  (See his Jurisprud. Aledica, vol. I., p. 167.)  Another
case is related by Dierbach, Mat. Med. vol. III., p. 756.  The scrotum
Avas swollen,  inflamed, covered with gangrenous bullae; the patient
recovered.

                c.  Gangrenous Inflammation.

   We know  that Arsenic will cause gangrene. It may cause gan-
grene by  its  direct action  upon the tissue with Avhich it comes in
contact, and by absorption.
   Flandin reports the following  case of poisoning where Arsenic
caused a disorganization of the stomach  which seems to have been
of a gangrenous character.
   I am  aware that Christison doubts the gangrenous nature of the
disorganizations discovered in the stomach in this case.  Flandin
who reports  the case in full  in Dr. James' own  words, makes no
comments upon his statements, and seems, on the contrary, to accept
them as correct.  Taylor, Wibmer and other toxicologists, mention
sphacelus of the stomach  as one  of the  occasional, although rare
effects of arsenical poisoning.  Here is an abstract  of the case:
   Soufflard, a man condemned to death, swallowed nearly  three
hundred grains  of Arsenic.  After drinking  water  he was imme-
diately  seized with  violent vomiting.    When first  seen  by  the
physician his features looked horribly altered.  His lower lip looked
as if it  had  been  cauterized; the mucous  membrane was  Avhite,
cracked and exceedingly painful when touched ever so little.   The
tongue was swollen and  looked grayish.   The patient complained of
a horrid taste in the mouth and throat.  The pulse at the wrist was
scarcely perceptible, small, wiry, irregular; the skin  was cold as
marble; it Avas covered with a clammy sweat, especially on the fore-
head  and temples.   From time to time the patient  stretched  his
limbs, and after having left them straightened   out for  a few
moments, he let them sink into a state of complete  relaxation.  He
complained of a horrible pain in the stomach as if burnt by fire.
Two hours after having  taken the poison the patient was seized with
a violent  chill  and chattering of the teeth; at the same time  the
muscles of the face  were frightfully  contorted.  The bowels were
moved involuntarily, the discharge had a yellow appearance.   The
respiration became moaning and hurried ; the skin was icy cold and
the face showed a death-like pallor.  The pulse had disappeared.
Vomitings and alvine discharges of a yellowish substance took place.
There was an excessive urging, but inability to urinate.  The patient
was exceedingly restless and suffered horrible tearing pain in the
bowels.   Towards the last, the abdominal walls were very  much
contracted and drawn towards the spinal column.
  A post-mortem examination revealed  the following facts:  bright
redness of the gums, the inner surface of the cheeks, the curtain of
the palate, the uvula; considerable swelling of the tongue; grayish
and sanguinolent patches scattered over the inner surface of  the 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
299
pharynx and oesophagus.  The stomach was found completely disor-
ganized.  The mucous coat was transformed into a blackish, glutinous
pulp which it was quite easy to detach.  Underneath this pulp  a
bleeding, granular surface might be seen, resembling  sores that are
covered with  gangrenous vegetations.   In some portions of  the
stomach, the serous coat seemed to be  alone left;  near the pylorus,
a grayish spot about three fingers in width was seen, Avhich looked
as if tanned.   The mucous membrane in this region looked as if it
had been cauterized with an acid.  The vena porta was found enor-
mously distended.
   In this state of dreadful suffering the patient retained his conscious-
ness to the last moment.

   This  case of poisoning gives us  a  fair view  of the functional
phenomena which are observed in  gangrenous inflammation of the
mucous coat of  the stomach, violent chill,  burning  pain  in the
stomach as if consumed  by fire, excessive sensitiveness to pressure of
the epigastric  region and the region of the  stomach in particular,
constant retching and occasional vomiting of foul mucus, bile and
blood ; an unquenchable thirst, vomiting being provoked by the least
portion of liquid introduced into the stomach, inflammatory redness
of the tongue which may be slightly coated ; coldness of the extremi-
ties, excessively hurried, feeble,  filiform, irregular pulse;  pallor of
the countenance, expression of distress and agony in the  features;
these are some  of the distinguishing features of this dreadful and so
often and speedily fatal malady.
   In this disease  the second trituration, and even the first centesimal
may be given without hesitation in half-grain doses every half hour
until the disease seems checked in its fearful progress.

   Arsenic has  caused gangrene of other parts, such as
   Gangrene of the Penis and Vulva.  In one case, reported by Pfann,
the glans  penis  assumed a livid appearance, became swollen  and
cracked.   In another case, reported by Degner, in his " Acta Natu-
ralia," the penis  became  swollen, inflamed and  gangrenous,  with
horrible pain.   Stahl, in  his treatise  on "Aledical  Chemistry  and
Physiology," reports a  case of sudden gangrene of  the  penis by
Arsenic.
   In a case of  gonorrhoea, with phimosis,  the prepuce and anterior
half of the penis became suddenly attacked with gangrene ; the pains
were frightful; fetid and foul blood was discharged from the urethra.
After Arsenic 30,  the  upper portion  of  the prepuce came off in
twenty-four hours; the  gonorrhoea ceased likewise.

   Gangrene of  the Tongue has  been caused  by Arsenic, as we may
infer from the case reported by Baylies, where  the lips and tongue
exhibited a bluish appearance.
   Malignant  glossitis may terminate  in  gangrene.^   If  gangrene
threatens to set in, the  constitutional symptoms which shoAV them-
selves in every other form of gangrene, will become manifest, such
as: coldness of the extremities, sinking, irregularity and extraordi- 
-300
LECTURE XVIII.
nary frequency of the pulse, expression of agonizing distress and
livid pallor of the countenance.  A Aoav of ichorous, sanguinolent
saliva ;  a cadaverous odor from the mouth, and the sloughing off of
shreds or patches of lining membrane  and parenchymatous tissue,
mark the presence of a fell and destructive disease.
  Arsenic  from  the  third to the sixth or even eighteenth  potency
may be most appropriate.

  In Diphitheria, Arsenic is  resorted to if the  pathological process
threatens to terminate in gangrene.

   Gangrene of the Extremities is  supposed to  have been caused by
Arsenic.  The case was originally published by Dr. Forget of Stras-
burg, and transferred to the columns of the North American Homoeo-
pathic  Journal by Dr. Marcy.
  A man, sixty-three years of age, took two ounces of Arsenic : an
hour afterwards, vomiting came on, accompanied by colic and frequent
alvine  evacuations.  Nine hours after the ingestion of the poison, the
face was pale  and haggard,  the extremities cold, as well as the nose
and ears;  the  pulse small  and quick, the tongue moist and  icy, and
the weakness very great.  There was much pain in the abdomen, the
stools were very fluid, but the intelligence was clear, and the answers
sIoav.
  The patient took the sesquioxide of iron, and ether, and had sinap-
isms applied to the arms and legs.   After this, vomiting recurred, and
in tAvo hours reaction was established; the extremities became warmer,
and the face Avas less pinched and  more animated.  The  reaction
increased for a little while, the symptoms became  less marked, and
tAvo days afterwards  the effects of the poison had entirely disap-
peared.  Severe pain in the left leg was,  however, complained of, and
that limb Avas somewhat cold and  tender on  pressure.  This  pain
went on increasing ; the pulsations of the femoral artery became gradu-
ally weahcer, and mortification set in.  Amputation was performed ten
days after the Arsenic had been taken, but the patient rapidly sank ;
sphacelus occurred in the stump, and he died twenty days after taking
the Arsenic, and ten days after the amputation.
  It may be doubted Avhether the Arsenic caused the gangrene in
this case ; but this Avould not invalidate the curative adaptation of
Arsenic to this disease.  In  the  present case, the patient may  have
been predisposed to gangraena  senilis, and the poison may  have
given  the  disease a  preternatural development.  But even taking
this view of the  case, the poAver of Arsenic to develop gangrene of
the extremities, is not disproved thereby.  For, it  is questionable
whether the disease Avould have been  thus prematurely developed
under the influence of other poisons.

  In Humid Gangrene, when the parts  look livid, with scaling  off of
the epidermis and  effusion  of a turbid fluid  in the  subcutaneous
tissues, Arsenic is one of the most important constitutional remedies.

   Gangrene of Hospitals, or Hospital Gangrene has to be treated with 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
301
Arsenic. In hospitals Avhere the air becomes vitiated by the crowded
state  of the  wards,  ulcers often assume a malignant  aspect and
become  gangrenous.   The secretion of  pus is interrupted, and
the sore becomes covered with a grayish and tenacious sanies.  The
gangrenous process extends from the centre of the sore towards the
edges which  become  inflamed, swollen and everted.   The constitu-
tional signs of this destructive malady gradually and  rapidly mani-
fest themselves.  The middle potencies of Arsenic from the sixth to
the eighteenth are adapted to this disease.

   Gangrene of the Lungs, or  Necropneumonia, is  another affection
where Arsenic  may palliate the symptoms, if a cure  should be im-
possible.  The only pathognomonic symptom of this disease, accord-
ing to Dr. Stokes, is  the extraordinary and disgusting odor of the
breath and expectoration, which is generally constant.  This  symp-
tom is sometimes so prominent that no one is willing to go near the
patient.  The gangrened portion of the lungs is of a purple, greenish
or blackish tint externally.   On cutting into the parenchyma, it
may be found  engorged with a bloody serum, or  a fluid may run
out of it which has been compared to a mixture of soot and  water.
Two interesting cases of this  disease are reported in  the American
Medical Intelligencer of August  1st, 1838, and  Oct. 15th,  1839.
Arsenic is one of the few remedies,  and perhaps the only one that
may prove useful in this disease.  We prefer the  middle potencies
from the fourth to the twelfth.

   In  Gangrene of the Bronchia Arsenic may be depended upon as an
energetic remedial agent.  Under the name of malignant bronchitis,
Schoenlein gives the  folloAving characteristic  description of this
disease: " Towards evening the patients are attacked with a violent
burning pain, particularly under the manubrium sterni;  this pain is
accompanied by a peculiar oppression  of breathing; the chest of
the patient feels as if constricted; respiration is carried on with
the abdominal muscles. If the patient attempts to expand the chest,
the burning  sensation under  the sternum increases.  Even  now a
peculiar rattling is heard, arising from the mucus which fills up the
bronchia up  to the  point of bifurcation.   This  accumulation of
mucus  in the bronchia excites paroxysms of cough, during  which
the patients breathe Avith their necks stretched forward and the face
assumes a livid hue; the patients raise a little greenish-yellow mucus
which is sometimes  tinged with blood.   The pulse  becomes very
rapid, though not hard or jerking; the skin is burning hot and the
patient is tormented by a violent thirst.  This disease may terminate
the patient's life quite suddenly."
   A post-mortem examination sIioavs that the mucous lining of the
bronchial tubes  is dark-red, often even of a cherry-broAvn, bluish or
violet color.  In the  smaller  bronchial ramifications it  assumes a
still darker hue, until finally it looks almost black.
   It is evident that Arsenic is homoeopathic to these symptoms.  It
may be given-from the fourth to the  twelfth potency. 
302
LECTURE XVIII.
   Angina gangrenosa may be advantageously treated Avith Arsenic.
 In this disease the tonsils become covered with a yellowish exuda-
 tion which soon changes to a grayish-yelloAV color.   This layer of
 exuded mucus frequently spreads over the back part of the pharynx,
 the inner surface of  the cheeks and  even the lips.  It may even
 involve the larynx, causing paroxysms of choking and  cough with
 expectoration of lumps of  purulent mucus.  The breath has a cada-
 verous odor.  There  is violent fever,  dulness of the head, a frequent
 pulse  Avhich  it  is sometimes impossible to count.  The skin is
 burning hot.  Towards evening the patient becomes delirious.  The
 delirium is at times furibond, at others bland.

   This disease is most frequently met with during epidemic scarlet-
 fever.   It may occur before, during or after the fever.

   There are very few drugs that share with Arsenic the extraordi-
 nary power to produce gangrenous disorganizations of the mucous
 lining.  In one case the upper portion of the larynx and oesophagus
 Avere almost  black.  Arsenic  causes dryness and  burning of the
 throat,  with excessive pain when swallowing, and inability to do so.
 It causes  great thirst  and a constant craving for cooling  drinks.  It
 likewise develops all  the croupy symptoms which may characterize
 this disease in  its last stage: bluish color of the lips and  face,
 bloating of the lips and face, expression of distress and agony in the
 features, hoarseness and even loss of voice, excessive wheezing and
 agony  of  breathing.   The  feeble,  tremulous,  galloping pulse and
 the icy-coldness of the extremities indicate Arsenic.

   The symptoms which characterize
   Putrescence  of the  Uterus, indicate the use of  Arsenic in this
 disease.   The creeping chills, the hot  and dry skin, the hurried and
 filiform pulse, the peculiar alteration of the features, the restlessness
 and anguish, the  unquenchable thirst, and, at  a later period of the
 disease, the offensive, colliquative  diarrhoea  and the retention  of
 urine, point to Arsenic as  one of the remedies in  this  distressing
 and dangerous affection.

  Anthrax or Pustula maligna is another gangrenous disorganization
 with a short description of which we  will close the chapter on this
 class of diseases.
  First, a dark-looking, slightly raised papula is seen upon a hard
 base, the indurated sub-cutaneous  cellular tissue.   After the lapse
 of twenty-four or thirty-six  hours, a small vesicle or bulla starts up
 at the summit of  the papula, having a lead-colored appearance, and
 filled with  a  reddish,  serous  fluid.   The accompanying fever  is
violent, at first inflammatory, erethic, and afterwards running into
the typhoid type.  The patient looks pale, the pulse is small, quick,
feeble.  After the vesicle breaks or collapses without breaking, a
 dark-gray, black, generally  compact scurf forms, surrounded by a
rose-colored areola.  The affected part may swell up, having a livid,
bluish appearance.  Among the medicines which may be required 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
303
for the cure of this disorder, Arsenic may be mentioned as occupying
a prominent rank.  If the fever is high, Aconite may be given in
alternation with, or previous to, Arsenic.  In

  Anihirax  of horses  or cattle, or Contagious  Carbuncle,  Glanders,
Arsenic will be found useful.   The fourth up to the twelfth potency
may be most useful.  It is well known that this disease is not only
contagious,  but that the contagion may remain so permanently and
tenaciously  fixed that even the tanned hide of a glandered beast
may still infect persons in a suitable state of receptivity.

                      d.  Cancerous Form.

   For years past, Arsenic has been looked  upon, and  has been
extensively used as a remedy for cancer.  There is no doubt that
Arsenic is  capable of exercising a powerful  modifying influence
over cancerous ulceration. Several interesting cases of cure of this
disease with large and small doses of Arsenic are on record in the
archives of  homoeopathic literature.  We will only relate the two
following; the first being a case of cancer of the lips reported by Dr.
Attomyr:
   A little girl six years old, lost  the left half of the upper lip and
the soft parts  of the face  as far as the malar bone, and laterally a
good portion  around  the left corner of the mouth, by a cancerous
ulceration.  Arsenic   6, a dose every  eight  days, affected a cure
within six weeks.

   Another  case of cancerous  ulceration is reported by Dr. Lobethal,
who treated a woman of seventy-one years for a cancerous ulcer in
the face with Arsenic 30 internally, and an ointment made of
hoo-'s lard and Arsenic 30 externally; the carcinomatous character
of the ulcer disappeared, and  the ulcer healed down to  the base;
the cure was complete by giving Silicea.

   The  other  case is  a case  of Cancerous  Ulceration of the Tongue,
reported by Charles Lane in his " Collection of Select Cases."
   A  man, twenty-three years  old, applied for help in June  1813.
He had a very unclean ulcer under  the tongue.  Some time ago he
had a similar ulcer on the tongue, but it had  been healed.  Upon
examining  the tongue, I  discovered in the place where the  healed
ulcer  had been, a  deep irregular fissure, with raised, shaggy, hard
edges,  which communicated  with the ulcer below.  Upon intro-
ducing a probe, it penetrated through the substance of the tongue
into a deep-seated ulcer at the root of  the tongue, and thence into
the pharynx.  The sore  looked most hideous, and was evidently
cancerous.  Deglutition was exceedingly painful, and he complained
that  the pain had extended  of late behind the ears  as far  as the
occiput and nape  of the neck.   He  had been  put on  mercurial
treatment which had made the matter worse.   The general health of
 the patient  had been  very much  shattered, his pulse was small and
tremulous; the least exertion  exhausted him; his  hands were cold 
304
LECTURE XIX.
and clammy, and his strength prostrated.   This frightful disease
was cured by a solution of Arsenic used internally and externally,
(probably Fowlers solution.)

   Cancer of the Chiimney-sweep may be treated with Arsenic third to
sixth, or higher.  In this  affection the ulcerous process proceeds
from the lower part of the scrotum, Avhere a superficial, painful ulcer,
with hard and elevated edges first develops itself.
  It would be absurd  to recommend  Arsenic  as a  panacea for
cancer; but we know from experience that it may afford relief even
in cases Avhere no cure is possible.  The external  use of Arsenic
in cancerous  affections may  be  advisable, provided  the utmost
caution is used as  regards the dose.  A physician in Paris uses  a
secret wash in cancer of the womb, the application of which to the
cancerous sore affords great relief from the horrible burning and
lancinating pains which characterize carcinoma of the uterus.
  Arsenic, if applied to an external sore in too large a quantity, may
induce fatal consequences.   An arsenical paste applied  to ulcerated
breasts, or  fly-poAvder to a sore head, has resulted in  gangrene of
the parts, inflammation of  the stomach and bowels, convulsions and
death.
                 LECTURE  XIX.

                      SPECIAL SENSES.

  Among the toxicological effects  of Arsenic upon  the eyes, we
notice  a well marked group  of symptoms  corresponding with the
pathological process designated as ophthalmia.  Arsenic  causes in-
flammation and swelling of the lids, secretion of acrid tears, inflam-
mation of the conjunctiva, sensitiveness to the eyes; hence we may
derive great benefit  from it in ophthalmia characterized  by similar
symptoms.  In
  Scrofulous Ophthalmia, we shall  find  Arsenic a great remedy,
especially when
  Leucoma has begun to develop  itself.  Arsenic will  act as an ab-
sorbent against these lymphatic exudations between the layers of the
cornea.  In
  Blepdiarophialmitis  of scrofulous  individuals,  especially in  the
granular forms of this disease, we  may derive great benefit from the
use of Arsenic.   The
  Arcus senilis of old people, a  fatty degeneration of the cornea,
likewise requires the use of Arsenic.

  We have effected  some beautiful cures of ophthalmia by means of
Arsenic.   Dr. Hermann relates the following very interesting case:
"A  girl of six years had been tormented for six years with period- 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
305
 ical attacks of ophthalmia.   Under allceopathic treatment, with blis-
 ters and cathartics, they generally lasted  several months at  a time.
 Latterly, the eyes, even after the attack had passed off, remained so
 irritable that the least exposure caused photophobia and more or less
 inflammation either  of one  or both eyes, so that the child had to
 wear a green screen all the time.  When placed under homoeopathic
 treatment,  the  lids were swollen, with red margins, the few remain-
 ing lashes were glued together with pus; upon separating the lids,
 there was a profuse discharge of acrid tears which caused a fine rash
 on the cheeks; the conjunctiva was traversed by little blood-vessels,
 and the cornea of both eyes showed little ulcers and the cicatrices
 of old ones.  The patient complained of smarting and stinging burn-
 ing pains which  became much worse by looking in the light; hence
 the patient dreaded  the  light and  she saw things a* if through a
 gauze.   Dr. Hermann removed the affection totally by means of
 Arsenic 30, in from eight to ten days. AYhen the report of the case was
 sent in for publication, the little girl had  been ten months Avithout a
 sign  of  her former trouble, and  without having  used her  screen
 once."
   Dr. Stapf relates the following case: "A book-binder, twenty-eight
 years old, of delicate, tender and cachetic constitution, Avas attacked on
 the 25th of September, 1839, by the following affection of the eyCs:
 The conjunctiva showed  signs of redness, accompanied by  violent
 pressure in the eye-ball, especially early in the morning after Avak-
 ing, with violent pain when  touching the eye.  For five days (until
 September  30th), the right  eye was perceptibly redder and more
 sensitive than the left; after that, the left eye suddenly became  af-
 fected and  the right  eye was almost well.  The left eye showed the
 following symptoms: Early in the morning, he is hardly able to
 open his eye; the sclerotica  is  quite red;  there is continual, violent,
 painful pressure on the eyeball, with great photophobia.  On the  2d
 of October he applied for help; the Doctor gave him Aconite and
 Belladonna, but Avithout much relief.
   Every other day  the symptoms seemed to be decidedly worse.
 After a tolerable night's rest, a most violent pressure Avas experienced
 in the eyeball, and a pulsating throbbing; the eye looked red.  The
 throbbing was felt within a quarter of an inch all around the eye.
 It was like the beating of a  pulse, about 100 a minute, and exceed-
 ingly painful.  The eyeball which  was very red,  had  lost all  its
 brilliancy, looked pale and dull; the sight ay as much Aveakened;  he
 was not able to discern even large objects beyond a distance of ten
 paces; small objects were not seen at all.  These symptoms increased
 from five in the morning until  noon, Avhen they reached  their acme,
 after which the pains  diminished and disappeared entirely about ten
 o'clock at night.  On  the day following, the eyeball Avas simply red,
 there was pressure on the  eye and Aveakness of sight, but no further
pain; every third day the paroxysms broke out fully.  The general
health of the  patient  Avas fair; during the paroxysms the pulse Avas
slightly irritated,  hurried,  and the appetite someAvhat decreased.
   On the 9th of  October  the Doctor  gave the patient  six pellets of
Arsenic 30.  On the following day, Avhen the paroxysm should have
                               20 
306
LECTURE XIX.
broken  out, the symptoms were all  improved,  and on  the  12th  of
October, the eyes were as clear and sound as those of any man.

  Deafness of scrofulous  persons is either  cured or  relieved  by
Arsenic.  The ear is dry, large and seems pressed flat against the
head.  They complain of annoying buzzing in the ears.   The attack
may have been caused by exposure to a damp and chilly wind, or it
may be of a chronic nature.  The middle potencies are sufficient.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  We may recommend Arsenic as  an antidote to  mercury in its
disorganizing action  upon the salivary glands  and gums.  Arsenic
has caused a falling out of the teeth, secretion of fetid, bloody ichor
from the salivary glands, swelling, bleeding and pultaceous softening
of the gums.   Hence it may be useful in some cases of
  Mercurial Stomatitis, where  these symptoms occur.

  The effects of Arsenic upon the gastric functions are  exceedingly
varied and deep-seated.   Upon a  careful review of the symptoms
obtained by systematic provings, we  shall find  that Arsenic causes
an
  Alteration of the taste, a foul, bitter, or even sour taste ;
  Nausea, also with trembling and shivering; retching and vomiting;
  Oppression in the pit of the stomach, sometime after eating; also
a feeling of repletion ;
  Burning pain, and, in one  prover, sense of chilliness in the epi-
gastric region  and  chest;
  Gnawing and fine beating pain in the pit of the stomach;
  Anxiety and crampy pain in the pit of the stomach;
  Waterbrash and sour eructations.
  The  symptoms  of gastric  irritation which  poisonous  doses  of
Arsenic have developed, not  only confirm the  pathogenetic symp-
toms recorded by our provers, but point to the affections with which
Arsenic is in therapeutic rapport, with even more positiveness and
clearness than the pathogenetic symptoms.

  A man took a few spoonfuls of a soup in  which six grains  of
Arsenic had been mixed; he  vomited about  forty times in four  or
five hours, took  two quarts of sweet milk, and suffered for a week
Avith violent burning pains in the stomach and bowels; for a long
time after, he had  much acidity of the  stomach, and vomited easily
after light meals.  Hence we  may recommend Arsenic  in
  Pyrosis  or  heartburn, with acidity  of the stomach,  sour, acrid
eructations, burning in the oesophagus and larynx.

  Arsenic causes moreover a  spasmodic constriction of  the pharynx
and oesophagus, as was observed in many cases of poisoning; it also
causes convulsive hiccough.  Hence in
  Singultus, when  characterizing  a dyspeptic Aveakness of the
stomach, Avhen occurring after eating, accompanied by eructations, 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
307
 or if the hiccough amounts to a convulsive spasm, Arsenic may
 prove useful.

   Dyspepsia may  yield  to Arsenic, when characterized by such
 symptoms as Arsenic is capable of causing.  The leading symptoms
 of this group are: oppression after eating; excessive irritability of
 the stomach causing a continual spitting  up of food ;  sensation of
 repletion in the stomach  as if the stomach should  be violently
 pressed asunder; paroxysms of nausea, retching and vomiting; loss
 of appetite, even amounting to  a loathing of food; altered taste in
 the mouth, foul or sour;  or bitter taste in the mouth after eating.
 The patient may also complain of burning pain in the stomach, or a
 sensation as if the food were gliding over a raw surface.

   Not only in  simple dyspepsia, but also in
   Gastralgia or Gastrodynia, will Arsenic be found useful.

   Arsenic causes vomiting and agonizing retching, vomiting of bile,
 mucus and blood;  a violent and painful pressure in the epigastric-
 region ; sensation of distention in the stomach as if the coats of the
 stomach  should be torn; sensation as of a pressing load in  the
 stomach ; sensation as if the patient were tormented by flatulence in
 the region of the stomach, momentarily relieved by vomiting and
 diarrhoea, but getting Avorse afterwards;  burning and oppression in
 the stomach and chest; gnawing pains in the stomach, accompanied
 by thirst and violent anxiety.  This picture of an Arsenic-gastralgia
 corresponds with the effects of Arsenic obtained by means of smaller
 doses of the drug.

   In Cardialgia characterized by burning pain, soreness to pressure,
 spasmodic  constriction,  retching, oppressive .anxiety,   trembling,
 coldness of the extremities, expression of  distress in the features,
 small and frequent or  even  irregular pulse, Arsenic  may prove
 indispensable.

   One or  two cases of cure may illustrate in a convincing manner
 the curative  virtues of Arsenic in gastric  affections.  An old lady
 who had  frequently been  attacked with cardialgia, had constant
 pain in the pit  of  the  stomach through to the back.  These pains
 gradually increased in intensity.   The patient vomited several times
 a day; she spit up her food, and vomited  even when the stomach
 Avas empty.   She became very thin.  Weakness  and pain confined
 her to her bed.   The pain Avas constrictive, burning; the pit of the
 stomach  was distended,  painful to  pressure;  the  abdomen  was
 sunken, bowels confined, tongue clean, mouth dry; she complained
 of thirst and sleeplessness.  A few doses of Arsenic 30 checked the
further progress of this distressing disease which seemed to forebode
some incurable degeneration.
  Here is  another  case, where the curative poAvers of Arsenic in
gastric derangements are beautifully shoAvn.
  An apothecary, twenty years old, Avho had ahvays enjoyed the best 
308
LECTURE XIX.
of health, of quiet and serious, but placid temperament, and tolerably
robust constitution, undertook a journey on  foot in the month of
July, 1807.  Overheated and fatigued, he sat down by a brook in the
cool shade, and sought to quench his burning  thirst by eating a little
bread soaked in  water.  He  fell asleep.  Upon waking, he expe-
rienced violent pains in the stomach, vomited, and next night felt
very sick.  Constant nausea and  pressure at  the stomach induced
him to take an emetic. This acted so poAverfully upon the stomach and
bowels that he remained unconscious for twenty-four hours. A fever
which befell him  afterwards, almost brought him to the brink of the
grave.  He slowly recovered from the fever, since which  he had
frequent attacks  of exhausting  vomiting and  diarrhoea.   These
paroxysms returned year after year with increasing violence and
frequency and  lasted longer.  By the  advice of several  physicians
he took Assafoetida, Bismuth, bitters, Cinchona, extract of coffee, etc.,
all in vain.  Fifteen years after his first attack, in August, 1822, he
consulted Stapf.  His symptoms were as follows : Excessive nausea,
drowsiness in the day-time ; after eating, or at night and early in the
morning, the patient is attacked with violent vomiting of the ingesta,
followed by the vomiting of bile  and an acrid acid.  The vomiting
is accompained by great straining, and causes great distress in the
region of the stomach.  It is followed by a violent pain in the pit of
the stomach down to the umbillicus; it is a most distressing burning,
as if a red-hot coal were lodged there,  Avith excessive sensitiveness
in these parts; rumbling  in the bowels; stoppage of flatulence;
stitches under the ribs.  Immediately after the vomiting, he is unable
to cough or laugh without experiencing  a distressing pain as if the
bowels were stretched and sore.   These symptoms are accompanied
by frequent discharges of green mucus, accompanied by frequent and
distressing tenesmus, and distressing, burning pains  at the anus. The
burning pain in the pit  of the stomach is particularly felt when lying
doAvn and falling  asleep, and is especially tormenting at night. After
sleeping for half an hour, the pain wakes him ; it is followed by vio-
lent anxiety in the chest, sleeplessness, excessive restlessness especi-
ally after midnight,  between three and four in the  morning.   If he
does fall asleep he wakes as if in a fright, and tormented by horrid
dreams.  Continual and excessive coryza, with bleeding at the nose,
and a violent pressure above the eye-brows ; loss of appetite ;  all food
is tasteless;  eructations with rising of an acrid fluid; during the
paroxysms his spirits  are depressed, and  he  feels anxious and
disposed to weep. His strength is almost gone ; he is not disposed to
do  anything, is tormented by  restlessness ;  his face is  pale, livid
and bloated ; he suffers Avith praecordial anguish and forebodings of
death.  The patient took one drop of the 30th of Arsenic, with the
following result: on the second  and third  day  after taking the
medicine the patient thought he  should have an attack, his spirits
were much depressed.  This feeling soon disappeared, he improved
from day to  day, and up to the  time Avhen this case was reported,
he enjoyed uninterrupted good health.

  In the Gastralgia of drunkards Arsenic may be indispensable in
conjunction Avith Nux vomica. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
309
  The symptoms:  " Sensation in the oesophagus and  stomach as
though a ball were twisting or rolling itself upwards," points to a
form of
  Nervous  Dyspepsia to which hysteric females and nervous indi-
viduals generally are subject.   Among  the  medicines which  we
recommend for this form of
  Globus hystericus, Arsenic occupies a  prominent rank.

  Gastromalacia or  softening of the stomach, as another of the so
frequently  fatal diseases which may yield to Arsenic.   Children at
the breast  are  more frequently attacked  by this disease, although
old people may likewise show symptoms of it.   The food which is
taken  into the stomach, is vomited up again, the ejected  matters
having a sour or foul smell;  the region of the stomach is distended,
feels hot;  the  features become altered, the little patients  become
emaciated;  diarrhceic discharges resembling  stirred egg,  trouble
them quite frequently, until finally the  extremities become cold,
the patients sink into a soporous condition and die.
  This disease has  been designated as a softening of the stomach,
because the coats of the stomach, after death, are found  transformed
into a gelatinous, pultaceous mass which is frequently transparent.
  The cul-de-sac of  the stomach adjoining the spleen is frequently
found perforated; hence the disease has also been described as
  Perforation of the  Stomachi by some pathologists.

  Schiirrus of the Stomachi may be arrested in its development by the
timely use of Arsenic.  If the patient  is much troubled  with  acid
risings, spittings up  of food, spasmodic retchings, constrictions of the
oesophagus, and the  complexion looks shallow and livid, the skin is
dry, the pulse small, rather hurried and incliningto be irregular, and
the patient wastes away: Arsenic may be of great use, if given from
the sixth to the twelfth potency.

  In Chironic  Hematemesis, Arsenic may prove indispensable.  If
the attacks are accompanied  by chilliness, coldness and trembling of
the  extremities, small and  frequent pulse, loss of adipose tissue,
expression of suffering in  the features,  want of desire for food  with
a feeling of repletion and as of a load after eating; Arsenic. 6 to 18
may remove the trouble.

  Arsenic  will also help in
  Enteralgia or Colic if the pains are cutting, tearing, and burning ;
the  boweis are tympanitically distended, sensitive to pressure,  with
icy-coldness of the extremities, and  sometimes urging to stool  with
tenesmus and some discharge of mucus and blood.

  Diarrhiea is  a derangement of the bowels  which often meets its
specific in  Arsenic.   The Arsenic diarrhoea is. characterized by the
following symptoms:  a watery, mucus and often bloody discharge,
attended Avith prostration and a feeling of soreness and excoriation
at the anus.    In cases of  poisoning with Arsenic the patients have 
310
LECTURE XIX.
 also been  knoAvn to  discharge fatty and slimy masses.  The dis-
 charges  have a foul smell, and may look blackish, broAvn, green or
 yellowish,  resembling stirred  eggs.   There is often  more  or less
 tenesmus present during or previous to the evacuation.
   A gentleman having  a  slight  cold, ate a hearty supper with a
 friend.   Half an  hour after, he was attacked with diarrhoea.   The
 evacuations consisted of  foul-smelling slime, mucus and blood, and
 were accompanied with slight  tenesmus and excessive soreness and
 excoriation at the anus.   Great  and  increasing  prostration.   The
 discharges took place every ten  or fifteen  minutes.  He had had
 some twenty  discharges, when Arsenic 18 was  given every five
 minutes.  Three powders arrested the disease.  The worst forms of
   Dysentery have been arrested by Arsenic, Avhere  the medicine was
 specifically adapted to the disease. Instead of describing symptoms,
 we will relate a few cases illustrative of the homoeopathicity of this
 great agent to dysentery of a malignant type.

   A boy, two years old, was  attacked Avith diarahcea on the after-
 noon  of January  15th, 1826;  it  became worse from day to day,
 especially at night;  with violent  tenesmus, thirst, vomiting of the
 ingesta, anus red and  excoriated.   On the 18th Dr. Hermann found
 the boy  like a corpse, lips and tongue parched,  eyes sunken  and
 dull, hippocratic  countenance, body  covered with cold, clammy,
 sweat, pulse tremulous and almost collapsed; for the last two hours
 the vomiting had given place to incessant retching;  the child seemed
 insensible.   Took Arsenic 40th.   Next morning found the boy sit-
 ting in his  mother's lap, eating bread  and milk; the diarrhoea  had
 ceased; in a few days he was well.

   A soldier, twenty-three years old, was attacked  on  August 29th,
 1826, with  frightful cutting colic and  frequent thin  evacuations;
 about noon, when he undertook to attend to some orders, he fainted;
 the whole body was covered with cold  sweat.  Dr. Seiclel found the
 patient doubled up in bed, complaining as follows: dullness of the
 head, bluish lips ;  painful distortion of the facial  muscles; loss of
 appetite; nausea  especially when moving about; violent tearing
 and cutting pain in the epigastric  region ; the abdomen is distended,
 soft, but  painful when touched;  scanty discharges of mucus from
the rectum, almost every  minute, with increase  of  pains  in the
bowels and tenesmus ; excessive  thirst, dry, white-coated tongue;
 anxiety and moaning; coldness of the extremities and face,  with
sweat in the face ;  pulse 88. The patient took one dose of Arsenic
 30, had one more discharge, fell asleep, and woke perfectly Avell.

   A man, forty years  old, was treated by a doctor for fever and con-
 stipation ; the patient was  in great distress  and often cried out so
frightfully  that his family  thought he would lose his senses.   On
January  3d, 1829, Dr. Schroen was sent for.   The symptoms were
 as follows : wild and staring look; the patient rolled his eyes  very
rapidly ;  he spoke with vehemence, and lay at one time at the foot,
 and at other times at the  head  end of the bed. Constant eructations; 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
311
hard and distended  abdomen, rumbling; he had upwards of fifty
evacuations from the boAvels in tAventy-four hours ;  at each evacua-
tion he discharged a teaspoonful of mucus, with violent burning at
the anus which continued until another evacuation took place; little
urine; parched and brown tongue; excessive thirst;  in twenty-four
hours  he would drink  from six to eight quarts of water.   Upon
getting out of bed, he would fall down on account of his weakness ;
occasional attacks of dyspnoea.  He had lost his appetite and sleep,
complained of frightful anguish and Avas despairing.  Took Arsenic
36 ;  next night the patient  slept a little, the evacuations were  less
frequent, there was no burning; next twenty-four hours he had three
good stools without  burning; on  the 12th (in nine days) he  Avas
perfectly well.

  With. Chiolera Infantum, Arsenic is in therapeutic rapport. If the
children look pale, emaciated, have no appetite, the discharges look
brown, mixed with blood, have a foul smell and are attended with a
good deal of urging, and perhaps oedema of  the extremities  and
face, the  sixth or twelfth potency of Arsenic  may bring  about a
favorable reaction. In
   Chiolera morbus, Arsenic is required, when the patients complain
of a great deal of burning in the epigastric region, vomiting, tormina
in the bowels with copious watery, foul-smelling discharges from the
bowels, which excoriate the anus and cause great prostration.   The
patient complains of cramps in the calves; the pulse is  small, hur-
ried, irregular.  In an attack of this kind, the patient is  tormented
by an unquenchable thirst, bad taste in the mouth, and  a  thickly-
coated tongue.  It is proper  to give Arsenic from the first to the
sixth potency.
   Asiatic Chiolera can hardly ever  be treated without Arsenic.   The
symptoms are somewhat similar to those of cholera morbus, except
that the prostration may be greater, the cramps are generally more
distressing, and  the  patient's  countenance is expressive of intense
suffering and anguish.   In this affection we may give from the  first
up to the sixth potency.  In
   Cholera diarrhieica, where the most prominent symptom is the loss
of  strength and animal tissue in consequence of the enormous and
frequent  alvine discharges, having a foul  smell, of a dark appear-
ance, slimy or yellowish and looking like stirred eggs, Arsenic  first
to third  potency is a capital remedy.

   Constipation often requires the use of Arsenic. This condition of
the bowels is attended with torpor of the liver; the faeces have a
dark, brown, greenish or blackish appearance.   The abdomen  may
feel hard and distended, with a feeling of  warmth, aching and  sore
pain in the bowels, exceedingly dry skin, with  entire absence of all
cutaneous exhalation, scanty, deep-colored and  offensively smelling
urine, dullness about the head, sallow complexion, feeling of  lan-
guor and hypochondriac depression of mind.  The middle potencies
may be sufficient.
   No medicine promises more curative aid than Arsenic in 
312
LECTURE XIX
  Phthisis intestinalis, especially during the suppurative and ulcera-
tive  stage, when the  patient  complains of burning pain  in the
bowels, with  excoriations at the anus and  violent and  distressing
tenesmus.  The middle and higher potencies are to be preferred.
In the suppurative stage of
  Phithiisis meseraica or Tabes meseraica, Arsenic is likewise an excel-
lent  remedy.   Arsenic  may likewise prove homoeopathic to the
first  or irritative stage of mesenteric ganglionitis, characterized by
the symptoms of enteritic inflammation, alternate constipation and
diarrhoea, loss of appetite or the opposite condition, voraciousness
or bulimy; grayish discharges from the bowels,- vomiting of glairy
mucus, emaciation, puffiness and paleness  of the face, tympanitic
distention of  the  abdomen, evening-fever.   In the second stage,
when the gaglionic tumors can be distinctly felt, when oedema of the
loAver extremities shows itself, hectic fever is fully developed, with,
perhaps, signs of serous exudation  in the peritoneal cavity: the
Iodide of Arsenic may be preferable  to Arsenic.   It is likewise useful
in some  cases, to alternate these two  agents.   Of  the Iodide the
second or third trituration may be given.

  Hemorrhioidal Tumors sometimes cause a great deal of burning
distress;  burning stitches are experienced in the tumors as if red-
hot  needles were stuck  through them.   Arsenic causes a similar
train of symptoms, and will  therefore relieve them.

  Ascarides often cause a great deal  of burning and itching in the
rectum and  vagina.   In order  to destroy them, Trousseau  and
Pidoux recommend a solution of one-fifth of a  grain of Arsenic  in
four ounces of water, which they inject into the  rectum.  The irrita-
ting action of the Arsenic upon the lining membrane is sufficient to
destroy these entozoa.  It may be  necessary to repeat the injection
several times in order to  remove the remaining sporules.  It is
doubtful  whether the  internal use  of Arsenic would  be alone
sufficient to effect this object.

   Cases of poisoning have revealed to us the fact that Arsenic is in
marked  relation with  the  liver.   In a case  reported by Orfila,
Arsenic was  found  in the stomach, spleen, heart and in other organs,
but the largest quantity was found in the liver.   We may therefore
infer that Arsenic will be of use in affections  peculiar to the liver.
In a case reported by Wolff, Arsenic has caused jaundice.  It is
doubtful, however,  whether Arsenic will be of much use in
   Jaundice or Icterus, unless the disease depends upon some dis-
organization  of the liver, or in those severe forms of jaundice where
the  bile becomes foul and  decomposed, and speedily poisons  the
tissues.
   Gerbezius  informs us that a man who Avas afflicted with jaundice,
took the  yellow Sulphuret  of Arsenic, soon after which he experi-
enced a  burning and gnawing distress in the stomach,  frequent
vomiting and purging;  but  the jaundice was cured. The presence of
these symptoms* in  jaundice, would constitute an additional  indica-
tion for Arsenic.  In ordinary 
ARSENICUM  ALBUM.                   313
  Acute jaundice, we think Aconite much more frequently indicated
than Arsenic; in some cases Aiercurius or Digitalis, the latter more
particularly in chronic cases.
  Mercurial Jaundice, arising from poisonous doses of Mercury, may
have  to be  treated Avith Arsenic ;  this is  a dangerous form of
jaundice.
  Jaundice originating in fever and ague  by a process of metasche-
matismus, may require Arsenic.  In these two forms  of jaundice,
the liver is most always organically diseased, indurated, inclining
to suppurate or to develop incurable constitutional affections.
  Dyspeptic  Conditions  remaining after  the imperfect  allceopathic
treatment of jaundice, such as:  oppression of the stomach  after
eating, eructations, flatulence, alternate constipation and diarrhoea,
may often be removed by the use of the middle and higher potencies
of Arsenic.

  We may find Arsenic indicated in
  Icterus senilis, also termed Icterus melas or black jaundice, a form
of jaundice  which only  befalls  persons  of  a more advanced age.
The patients experience shooting pains in the stomach after eating,
accompanied by vomiting of the ingesta and a ropy mucus.  The
taste in the mouth is sour or bitter;  the  fasces are lumpy and  as if
burnt, of a gray color, like clay;  the boAvels are costive, except an
attack of diarrhoea which takes place occasionally and does not show
any signs of bilious pigment.  The skin has a greenish-blackish hue.
In the course of the disease, hectic fever sets in, with evening chills
followed by heat  and an  irritated, hurried pulse.   This form of
jaundice is  generally  depending upon  slowly-progressing disor-
ganizations of the liver; if Arsenic does not effect a cure, it may at
least afford relief.

  In  Cirrhosis of the liver, Arsenic may afford relief.  The Germans
term this disease "nutmeg liver," on account of the appearance which
the liver assumes in this disease.  The liver looks as if composed of
granulations of various sizes, from the size of shot to that of a cherry.
These granulations may have various colors,  red, brown, and yellow,
sometimes  even of a beautiful canary-yellow.  The disease occurs
most frequently among drunkards, and is supposed, by many patho-
logists to arise from a sub-acute or chronic inflammatory affection of
the capsule of Glisson  or the dense areolar  tissue surrounding the
vena porta and its ramifications in the substance of the liver.
  The following case of Cirrhosis of the liver is reported by Professor
Dunglison in his "Treatise on Special Pathology and Therapeutics."
It affords a very clear illustration of the nature of this disease and of
the pathological  degenerations  which it develops  and to Avhich
Arsenic is evidently adapted as a curative agent.
  " A woman, aged  sixty-five  years,  Avas admitted into the Phila-
delphia Hospital on the 31st of July, 1838.  She had been  in the
habit of working in the open air, at gardening, and had been subject
for  three years, to palpitation and severe attacks of dyspnoea, Avhich
continued for fifteen minutes.  She had also cough, attended  with 
314
LECTURE XIX.
expectoration in the morning, and profuse sweating at night, for a
long period.  Her appetite Avas bad, and her habits were very intem-
perate.  A month previous to her entrance into the hospital,  she
had  an attack of pleurisy of the  left side, for Avhich  she was bled
and  purged.  An attack of inflammation of the uterus supervened
on the pleuritis, followed by extensive infiltration of the upper and
loAver  extremities, and  effusion  into the thoracic  and abdominal
cavities.   The effusion into the thorax was so extensive, that, accor-
ding to the voluntary account of the patient, when  she suddenly
moved or rose from bed, she was  sensible of a body of Avater rush-
ing from one part of the chest to another.  The day after her recep-
tion into the hospital, she was laboring under excessive dyspnoea,
which obliged her  to assume a  semi-recumbent posture;  the lips
Avere pallid ; the skin Avas of a deep-yelloAV hue, and  the conjunctiva
Avas of the same color.  There was extensive infiltration of the upper
and lower extremities;  the  abdomen was distended, and presented
very evident fluctuation; and the loAver portions  of both pleuros
Avere dull on percussion.  Soon after her admission, she was attacked
with delirium tremens and sank under  her complication of  diseases
on the 6th of August.
  On examining  the abdomen, the liver was found  much enlarged,
weighing about  ten pounds; granulated, the surface  raised into a
number  of round, mammillated protuberances,  of  a tawny color,
closely resembling beeswax, none of  them larger than a pin's head;
the substance of these granulations was compact, and when divided
they presented a smooth, flat, even surface.  The consistence of the
liver was very firm, admitting the finger with much difficulty;  semi-
cartilaginous, and evidently greasing  the scalpel  when cut into.
The whole organ  presented  an excellent example of cirrhosis com-
bined Avith hypertrophy.   The gall-bladder contained a dark-colored
bile.   The stomach presented, along its great curvature, a highly
injected state of vessels ; and the mucous membrane could be readily
detached.

  In  Fatty Degeneration  of  the Liver, Arsenic may be an  efficient
agent in arresting this morbid process.   According  to Addison, the
skin, in this disease, has a velvety feel, and looks bloodless, almost
semi-transparent  and waxy.  Louis  says that this affection is most
commonly observed in  phthisicky individuals.  Arsenic is one of
the main remedies for this  disease.   Aconite and China should  be
associated with it.  Arsenic  seems to  be possessed of specific powers
to counteract the formation of fat in the living  organism, it causes
emaciation, and yet, if given in small quantities,  it is well known to
promote  the rotundity and  glossy appearance of the frame.  It is
needless  to observe that this  is  not  a natural, but a pathological
development.  The sixth, twelfth or eighteenth is probably the most
appropriate  potency.

  Whether  Arsenic is  indicated in  other organic  diseases of the
liver, such as: Scirrhus, Softening or Induration, Atrophy or Hyper-
trophy, depends  upon the accompanying constitutional symptoms. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
315
In scirrhus of the liver, the patient may sometimes be troubled Avith
frightful headaches, depriving him almost of consciousness charac-
terized by excessive sallowness of the complexion, excessive vomit-
ing of bile, constipation.  These  disorganizations of the liver may
remain  extremely obscure, until  secondary constitutional  diseases,
such as dropsy, marasmus, are fully developed  and nothing can be
done except affording palliating relief, if possible.

  In conclusion, we may allude to one disease of the liver, where
treatment may be of some use, if  resorted to in time:  we mean
  Tuberculosis of the Liver.  During the incipient stage of this dis-
ease, the patient  exhibits symptoms of dyspepsia, oppression after
eating, flatulent distention of the stomach, lancinating stitches in
the region of the liver.  Vomiting of bile may likewise trouble him.
The skin exhibits a dingy hue.   The face looks bloated, and the
liver gradually enlarges in size, extending beyond the lower border
of the false ribs, where the organ presents an unusual, hypertrophied,
knotty and painful edge.  Gradually, as the enlarged mass presses
upon the biliary duct, the symptoms of jaundice manifest themselves,
and the  patient gradually dies  of  debility, marasmus, dropsy or
diarrhoea.  It is evident that Arsenic may be of use in this affection.
In the first stage  of the disease, Aconite and  Bryonia may be the
most important remedies.
                  LECTURE   XX.

                      URINARY  GROUP.

  Arsenic seems  to  affect  the  urinary organs sympathetically as
well as idiopathically.  Arsenic causes retention of urine.  Hence, in
diseases where this symptom is prominent, it constitutes a character-
istic indication for Arsenic.  Retention of urine may occur in Anas-
arca, in  Asiatic Cholera, in Dorsal Consumption; it may be a symp-
tom of general  nervous debility, or of paralysis of the bladder.  In
all  these cases, the' existence  of such  a symptom Avould point to
Arsenic.

  Retention of Urine,  or Ischuria, Avith great urging to  urinate, anol
burning  in the  urethra during micturition, especially if  other
Arsenic-symptoms are present, may require the  use of this agent.
Such symptoms may be: great  anxiety, trembling, coldness  of the
extremities, small  and very frequent  pulse,  cold  perspiration.  An
attack of this kind may befall old people.

  Hematuria or bloody urine, may yield to Arsenic,  if symptoms
like those mentioned under Retention  of urine  are present.  The
discharge of blood may be symptomatic of some pathological lesion
in the kidneys. 
316
LECTURE XX.
   In Brights Disease of the Kidneys, or Albuminuria, Arsenic may
 be of great advantage, were it only as a palliative remedy.   In a
 case of chronic poisoning reported by Dr. Jackson of Edinburgh,
 Arsenic seems  to  have developed  a renal degeneration resembling
 albuminuria.  Beside the constitutional symptoms which were pre-
 sent in this case, and likeAvise prevail to some extent in albuminuria,
 the character of the urinary secretions strongly reminded one of this
' disease.   The  urine  Avas scanty,  high-colored, dense, albuminous,
 depositing blood-disks and'casts of  uriniferous tubes of kidney.
   If the  pathological degenerations Avhich generally result  from
 albuminuria, such  as: ascites,  anasarca, phthisis  pulmonalis,  have
 developed themselves, Arsenic can only act as a palliative.   In
   Diabetes mellitus, Arsenic is, to  some extent,  indicated  by the
 symptoms;  it is problematical, however, whether this homoeopath-
 icity extends to the essential character of the pathological process
 that is going on in the organism.   In  this respect Ave will offer the
 following suggestions:  The  process of nutrition  in this disease  is
 defective  in  a specific direction.   The nutritive principles which
 should repair the waste of tissues,  are abnormally eliminated by the
 kidneys as saccharine matter.  The carbo-hydrates, of which sugar
 is one, do not constitute the basis of tissue,  but sugar  is a most im-
 portant agent in the metamorphosis of animal  matter.  It is believed
 that the  sugar which is found in  the  liver, owes its origin to the
 decomposition  of  albuminates,  and more especially to fibrin.  This
 fact, Avhich was  first discovered  by  Bernard, and  afterwards  by
 Frerichs,  has been substantiated  by numerous analyses  made  by
 Lehmann of the blood of both the portal  and  hepatic veins.  Leh-
 mann likeAvise suggests that the tendency  of albuminates to pass
 into the butyric fermentation—a tendency which is more particularly
 seen in the case of fibrin and casein—may possibly be accounted for
 by the presence of a carbo-hydrate, sugar.   Hence sugar, not only
 that which is introduced into the system in the form of starch, but
 also the sugar which  is manufactured in the organism, is essential to
 the process of assimilation.  Arsenic seems to strike down this pro-
 cess of assimilation in  its very beginning.   The  action of Arsenic
 upon the system is characterized by all those symptoms which  mark
 the morbid elimination of sugar by the  urine; hence we have a right
 to entertain great  hopes from the use of Arsenic in diabetes mellitus.
 It may counteract that  condition of the nervous  system which per-
 mits the abnormally  excessive  formation of sugar in the organism,
 and the consequent deficiency in the reproduction of tissue.
    The conversion of  bodies that had been poisoned by large quanti-
 ties of Arsenic into adipocere, seems to sIioav that  Arsenic must hold
 some specific relation to the metamorphosis  of animal tissues into
 fat.  Lehmann has shown very conclusively that  the fats are poAver-
 ful auxiliaries in the formation of  cells and tissues, and that, on the
 other hand,  sugar is  essential to the formation of fat.  During  the
 conversion of  bodies into adipocere, every trace of Arsenic  disap-
 pears.  Is it irrational to suppose that Arsenic  may be in specific
 relation with the  inimical principle Avhich, in  the living  organism,
 paralyzes the  assimilative nerve-force in  a  specific  direction, and 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
317
causes the abnormal elimination—in the form of sugar—of the pri-
mary principles essential to the process of reproduction?
  Vogt claims for Arsenic a higher power to influence the metamor-
phosis of the tissues, than  is possessed by any vegetable drug.  In
this  respect it  surpasses even most  metals in  penetrating power.
This  may seem more or less  theoretical,  but  the  long-continued
effects of Arsenic upon the living tissues evince a power  of disorga-
nization which  no other agent  can claim to the same extent.  It is
therefore rational to conclude  that  this poAver may be made use of
for the purpose of extinguishing or neutralizing a pathological pro-
cess which results in such organic disorders as Arsenic is capable of
producing.  Guided by the terms  of our law, we have  a right  to
claim this power for Arsenic.   It  is a misfortune that the physical
changes which large doses  of  drugs effect  in the character  of the
urinary secretions, have not as  yet  been studied by positive experi-
mentation, except in a limited  number of cases.  Whether Arsenic
will, under favorable circumstances, effect the abnormal elimination
of sugar by the urine, remains to be determined by subsequent experi-
mentation.  Barring this uncertainty, Arsenic causes all  the consti-
tutional symptoms which supervene in the course of diabetes mel-
litus, such as: increased flow  of urine, and dryness of the skin  (a
symptom observed by Langhammer and Trousseau); the skin becomes
dry, brittle,  and desquamates;  the patient complains of  dryness in
the mouth, fauces and trachea;  the thirst becomes unquenchable, the
appetite disappears, the bowels become costive.   Among the diag-
nostic signs of this disease, Schoenlein mentions a burning extending
from the coeliac plexus along the oesophagus as far as the mouth.
The patient dwindles down to a  skeleton, and loses his  strength,
and very often his teeth.
   All these pathognomonic signs of the disease likeAvise characterize
the action of Arsenic upon the tissues.  Future observation may
determine whether the urine,  under the influence of Arsenic, will
exhibit the modifications which are peculiar to this fluid  in diabetes
mellitus, such as:  a tendency to become opalescent, a greenish tint,
diminution and gradual disappearance of urea and uric acid, insipid
taste which  gradually changes to a sAveetish taste in proportion as
the deposition of sugar increases.   It is possible that Arsenic may
only be able to palliate this disease.  We have treated diabetes mel-
litus successfully as far as we know, but have never depended upon
Arsenic alone.   If the disease has a rheumatic origin, Ave  have found
it necessary to use  Aconite and Mercurius, either alone  or in con-
junction with Arsenic at suitable  intervals.  Arsenic may be used
from the third up to the twelfth potency; of Mercurius we prefer the
third or sixth, and of Aconite we never use less than five drops of
the German tincture in about tAvelve table-spoonfuls of water.
   In his " Grundgesetze der Phiysiologie, Pathologie  und Homeopa-
thiischen Iherapie," Grauvogl mentions the curative virtues of Arsenic
in diabetes  mellitus, in the  following paragraph, page  576, of his
interesting Avork: "It is not long since complaints Avere heard about
the neglect of Hahnemann and his personal disciples, of  not having
examined the urine  while  proving their  drugs; it  Avas  said that 
318
LECTURE XX.
OAving to this neglect we had remained ignorant of the fact Avhether
the urine Avhich was secreted during these provings, contained sugar,
the presence of which in the urinary secretions Avould enable us to
determine the homoeopathicity of certain drugs to diabetes mellitus.
HoAvever, as early as 1852, it is stated in the  February number of
Heller's Archive for Chemistry and Microscopy, that sugar is found
in the urine after inhaling any sort of anaesthetic vapors; after the
use of agents which depress the oxidizing process in the blood, more
particularly after Arsenic, Lead, Antimony, mercurial salts, Quinine,
Opium, etc.   The valuable effects of large quantities of strong wines
in the case of diabetic  patients now became perfectly clear  to me,
and this explanation came so much more opportunely as I happened
to have  charge of a very obstinate case of diabetes  at  that very
moment.
   " The buccal cavity of my patient was already as dry as his skin;
he was  absolutely unable to moisten  the least mouthful of bread
with any saliva, and so swallow it.  Tormented by the hallucination
that  somebody by his side  was imitating all his  bodily functions,
washing, eating, etc.; tortured  by an uuquenchable thirst, he  had
become so emaciated that I believed the remainder of his days was
reduced  to a few short  hours.   I now resorted to Arsenic,  which
was  indicated by these symptoms.  My patient Avas 48  years old,
and had ruined his constitution by dissipation.  Nevertheless, after
a  treatment of three months, I was enabled  to restore him  to his
position in society. This case shows how important it is for homoeo-
pathic physicians not to confine themselves to the literature of their
own school, and to appropriate to their own use the experience of
outside practitioners with conscientious care and discretion."

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

   We have already adverted  to the fact  that Arsenic may cause
swelling,  inflammation,  and gangrene  of the sexual organs  of the
male.  Alberti, in his  Jurisprudence Medicale, Vol. I.,  page  167,
reports a case where the internal use of Arsenic caused SAvelling of
the testicles.  AYe may  find Arsenic useful in cases of
   Chronic Orchitis, and CEdema  of the Scrotum, resulting from, or cha-
racterizing a cachectic state  of the organism, such as may  gradually
develop  itself under the influence of a  scrofulous  or  syphilitic
dyscrasia.

   It is well to note the fact that Arsenic seems to be possessed of a
tendency to increase the sexual  passion and to promote the secretion
of the seminal fluid in the male and of the menstrual .blood  in the
female.   Arsenic  causes a  pressure and profuse secretion  of the
menstrual blood.   AYe may avail ourselves of this symptom in con-
ditions of general nervous debility, as an indication of Arsenic.

   This agent may likewise prove available in
   Leucorrhiea of  a corrosive, ichorous character, in females of a
marked scrofulous diathesis, or where the discharge proceeds from 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
319
malignant  ulceration of the neck of the womb.  In some cases, the
lower, in others the middle and higher preparations may be required.
It may likewise be advisable to apply a solution of the third or
fourth potency, centesimal scale, locally.

                    CATARRHAL  GROUP.

  Arsenic  develops a train of symptoms which lead us to infer that
it may be useful in catarrhal  affections of the head and air-passages.
On looking at the pathogenesis of Arsenic, Ave find that  it causes
excessive coryza or coryza of an acrid nature, hoarseness, tenacious
mucus on the chest, cough with blood-streaked expectoration, or dis-
tressing  and fatiguing cough accompanied with a variety of  other
symptoms  which it seems needless to enumerate in this place.
  We may find  Arsenic  indicated in
   Coryza, or Catarrhal Irritation of the Schneiderian membrane, with
redness and  SAvelling, and discharge of a  quantity of thin, acrid,
ichorous fluid.  Also in  common
   Cold in the Head, with a good deal of sneezing and acrid discharge
from  the nose; the head feels dull and tight, the patient complains
of coldness, creeping chills, feels weak, looks pale, is indisposed to
move about or to attend  to business.   In catarrhal affections of the
head, Avhere Arsenic is  indicated, Ave shall find, as a  general rule,
that they are symptomatic of
  Influenza, more particularly, if this disease prevails in a community
extensively in consequence of atmospheric irregularities, or as an
epidemic  miasmatic  disease.  The  patient feels  very much  pros-
trated ; the above  mentioned catarrhal symptoms are  present in a
more or  less marked degree; the patient complains of bad taste in
the mouth, feels thirsty, chilly and feverish, he craves cooling drinks,
is sick at the stomach, feels sore all over, looks sallow and distressed,
is disposed to sleep, low spirited, tremulous. The respiratory organs
may be more or  less  involved, and we may have as other prominent
indications
  Hoarseness, amounting  even to complete
  Aphonia, resulting from excessive Aveakness of the organs of voice,
as if they were paralyzed.  This condition may be accompanied by
   Cough.  The character of the cough to Avhich Arsenic is in homoe-
opathic- specfic rapport,  is delineated in the recorded provings of
this drug.  AYe find  that  it is a dry, exhausting cough, or a cough
attended with hawking up of blood-streaked mucous,  cough Avhich
is particularly violent at night or Avhere the paroxysm is excited by
drinking cold Avater: the  chest feels sore, as if excoriated internally;
the breathing is  oppressed, and the heart  may beat violently.   The
pulse  inclines to be feeble, rather  hurried  and irregular;  the tem-
perature  of the skin  may be  depressed beloAV the  normal standard.
This  remark  applies to  cough  in  connection  with influenza, or
catarrhal cough  generally.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

  Arsenic  affects the nervous ramifications and the mucous lining 
320
LECTURE XX.
of the respiratory organs, of the  lungs as ay ell as of the  bronchial
tubes.  The various forms of cough, the suffocating dyspnoea, the
constrictive oppression, the burning distress in the chest, the wheezing
murmur which Arsenic causes, substantiate this doctrine.
  Arsenic  seems therefore eminently homoeopathic to a most dan-
gerous affection of the respiratory organs which  some pathologists
describe under the name of
  Pneumonia nothia, and others as Catarrhial Bronchitis, or Bronchitis
asthenica, Bronchitis senilis.
  Schoenlein describes this affection as Suffocative Catarrh, to which
persons of  more advanced  years are subject.  It  is an exceedingly
dangerous  affection which  may terminate fatally after a very rapid
course by  paralysis of the mucous membrane  of the  respiratory
organs.  The main symptoms in this affection are:  a burning distress
in the  chest, principally behind  the  sternum;  dyspnoea,  violent
rattling of mucus in the air-passages, fatiguing cough, expectoration
of semi-transparent, gray, ball-shaped mucus which may float in a
quantity of serous fluid.  The affection may commence with chilliness
which may continue for a few days, during which period it may be
interrupted by occasional  flashes  of heat until  the  heat becomes
permanent.   The tongue is comparatively  clean, there is a great
deal of thirst, pulse from one  hundred to one hundred and tAventy,
sometimes  rather full.  Symptoms of  venous congestion, such as:
bluish lips and  venous engorgement  of the  cheeks,  soon show
themselves.
  Among the medicines which are eminently adapted to this condi-
tion Arsenic is one.   We have shown on a previous occasion that
Aconite is likewise a leading remedy for this dangerous affection.
AYe prefer the middle  potencies from the sixth to the twelfth.

  Hemoptysis or Bloody  Cough,,  will  yield to Arsenic.   Sudden
attack of suffocative cough, with tickling in the throat-pit; soreness
either at a seated spot or shifting from one portion of the chest to
another; excessive oppression; trembling and chilliness, with cold-
ness of the skin, and a feeble hurried and almost compressible pulse;
pinched-up features, expression of anxiety and distress in the coun-
tenance, sallow, or dingy-brown complexion: these are  the leading
symptoms which  indicate the use of Arsenic in  haemoptysis.  The
blood may  be spit up  in  various quantities,  from a spoonful to half
a pintful;  it has a bright-red color.
  In pulmonary haemorrhage, where Arsenic is indicated, the symp-
toms are often traceable to derangements in the functions of the liver,
such as gnaAving in the  stomach, and  unnatural  craving  for food;
dryness in the mouth, frequent desire for cold drinks, soreness and
burning in  the region of the liver; pain at  the shoulder,  etc. All
these symptoms point to Arsenic.

  Phithisis Pulmonalis has been treated Avith Arsenic,  by some with
apparent success, and  by others with  no success at  all.   Arsenic
undoubtedly affects the lungs in a specific manner.   Dr. Marcy refers
to a case of chronic poisoning by Arsenic, to  which we have referred 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
321
 on a former occasion, where the symptoms indicate in a most marked
 manner the disorganizing  action of Arsenic upon the respiratory
 organs.  The  case was originally reported in the London Lancet.
 The prominent symptoms in this case of poisoning were:
   " Sickly look; small frequent pulse; frequent slight tickling cough,
 or rather hawking without expectoration; occasional  discharge of
 mucus from  the  bowels, often tinged with  blood ; tenesmus and
 griping of some days' standing; flatulence ; redness of the eye-lids
 and lining membrane of the nostrils; loss of  appetite and failure of
 strength; restlessness at night; increasing weakness; dryness  or
 tightness of throat;  hoarse voice;  later, the  stools assume a fatty
 appearance, owing to the presence of pus, as proved by microscopical
 examination;  tongue  red  and fiery, mouth and lips excoriated,
 anxiety and restlessness very great; percussion  reveals tubercular
 infiltration at the  summit of both lungs, most in the right, indolent
 in both, symptoms resembling tuberculosis of the abdomen and chest;
 conjunctiva much injected;  anus excoriated ;  hiccough, restlessness,
 and general distress; pulse 130,  and feeble; urine scanty,  high-
 colored, dense, albuminous,  depositing  blood-disks and casts  of
 uriniferous tubes of kidneys.  Died with tetanic spasms, Avith mental
 faculties perfect."

   "The arsenical  vapors," says Mahon, in his Medicine Legale, "when
 drawn into the lungs in great quantity, render the mouth and throat
 dry, parched and inflamed;  they first produce sneezing, then suffo-
 cation, asthma, dry cough,  anxiety,  vomiting, vertigo, pains  of the
 head and limbs, tremblings; and when they do not produce death,
 they lead to Phithisis Pulmonalis."

   Hufeland repudiated the use of  Arsenic, because he found that it
 gave rise to phthisis pulmonalis.

   Pachenius informs us, in his "Hippocrates Chemicus,"  that the
 vapors of Arsenic  caused in him dyspnoea, colic, convulsions, bloody
 urine, paralysis of the limbs ; milk and oil moderated the symptoms,
 but Cough and Hectic fever troubled him for a  long time.
   Henkel, in his treatise on the " Diseases Incidental to Smelting and
 Mining," says that the vapors of Arsenic cause cough, ulceration of
 the lungs and rapid death.
   In this terrible malady, the arsenical preparations may be of use
 in many cases : but it would be very unsafe to expect curative effects
 from Arsenic in all cases and forms of phthisis.   It may afford pal-
 liative relief in many, and it may effect a cure in other cases.  The
 choice of Arsenic  in  cases of  phthisis where it  may possibly be of
 use, will depend in a  great measure upon the perceptible symptoms,
 upon the nature of the  cough the character of  the expectoration,
 the peculiar kind of distress that the  patient experiences in the chest,
 and even upon isolated symptoms peculiar to Arsenic.  Auscultation
 and percussion  may be resorted to for the purpose of determining
the character and extent of the pathological process that is going on
in the chest; they may inform us that a A'omica  exists in one locality;
                              21 
322
LECTURE XX.
that it is either empty or filled with pus ;  that the pulmonary pleura
is adhering to the sides of the thorax;  where and to what an extent
the pulmonary tissue is infiltrated with blood and purulent matter;
whether a bronchial tube opens into a vomica; whether another tube
is dilated.  Auscultation and percussion may develop a very accurate
picture  of the physical condition of the lungs.   But this is all that
an examination of the chest by the stethoscope can reveal to us.  The
physical signs do not enlighten  us concerning the remedial agents
which will counteract and hush up the disorganizing process that is
slowly but surely leading the patient to his grave.

  KnoAving that Arsenic excites in the respiratory organs  a process
similar  to phthisis, we determine its applicability in particular cases
by the character of the symptomatic indications.  If these are not
sufficiently precise and definite, we shall not be able to derive much
benefit from Arsenic or from any other drug.   Among the symptoms
which will have to guide us in  our choice, we distinguish the follow-
ing, all  of which characterize the action of Arsenic upon the normal
tissues:
  Hoarseness;
  Oppression on the chest;
  Short and laborious respiration, which is often painful;
  Sensation of rawness and soreness in the chest;
  Titillation in the wind-pipe,  continually, exciting a cough; the
titillation is felt even when the  patient does not draw in air;
  Dry,  hacking cough,  also with expectoration of blood-streaked
mucus;
  Burning distress in the chest;
  The cough is excited by swallowing cold liquids, water, etc.
   Chiilliness in the Interior of the Chest, also after supper.
  In  phthisis  pulmonalis,  especially in  the   tubercular form of
phthisis, the Iodide of Arsenic, second  or  third  trituration, may be
substituted for Arsenious acid, giving it in half grain doses every two
or three hours.

  Arsenic may be adapted to.
  Phithisis Mucosa or Pituitosa, if the patient should be troubled with
dyspnoea and constrictive, suffocative paroxysms on the chest;  or  if
an  exhausting, offensive diarrhoea should  set in, or if debilitating
night-sweats preceded by creeping chills and fever, should become
very troublesome.   In this condition of the system, Chiina might be
used in alternation with Arsenic.  The middle potencies  may  per-
haps be the most serviceable.

   In the last stage of Tubercular Phithiisis, Arsenic may relieve the
burning and dyspnoea which often distresses the patient.   In
   Bronchitis, Arsenic may be of service,  if the ulcerative stage has
begun to set in.  There  may be great  tickling in the throat-pit, and
excessive soreness in the terminal ramifications of the  air-passages.
The racking cough and the  expectoration of bloody pus  having  a
sweetish, sickening, offensive taste, together with  the constitutional 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
323
symptoms such  as: trembling, debility, loss of appetite and flesh,
etc., point to Arsenic, from the eighteenth to the thirtieth  potency.
In the stage of
  Pneumonia, which  we term  the stage of white  hepatization,
Arsenic may be of use  to the patient.  The lungs have a grayish
appearance in consequence of the parenchyma being infiltrated with
exuded  lymph, which  is traversed here and there  by streaks of
the remaining pulmonary tissue.  When  this stage of the disease
sets in, the face becomes pale and disfigured, the breathing anxious
and panting, the pulse small and feeble, the forehead is covered with
a clammy sweat.  Give  Arsenic twelfth to eighteenth potency.
  Arsenic may likewise be in homoeopathic rapport with pneumonia
in the stage of red hepatization.  In .cases of poisoning, inflammation
of the lungs has frequently occurred.   Christison mentions a number
of such instances.  " Dr. Campbell twice found great congestion of
blood in the lungs of animals poisoned by the application of Arsenic
outwardly.  Sproegel  likewise found the  pleura, pericardium, and
whole lungs deeply inflamed in animals.
  "A distinct example of advanced pneumonia in man is related in
Pyl's  Magazine: the patient died after vomiting and purging inces-
santly for eight days; on dissection, the lungs were  found  in  the
highest  state of inflammation, and so  congested  as to resemble a
lymph of clotted blood.   A distinct case of the same nature is related
in Henke's Journal; this patient had obvious pneumonia symptoms
during life; and in the dead body the lungs were found so gorged
that, on being cut into, nothing could be seen but clotted blood in
their  cellular structure.   In Roux's case, where Arsenic was applied
externally to a scirrhous  ulcer, excessive  congestion Avas  found in
the lungs, both lungs being completely gorged with blood and pre-
senting all the characters of pulmonary apoplexy."
   These post-mortem  appearances do not, strictly speaking, consti-
tute therapeutic indications; they are of no immediate avail to  us
in the selection of a drug.  The subjective phenomena occurring
during  life  may be rendered clearer  to us in fatal  cases by  the
existing post-mortem  changes;  but in all subsequent cases of a
similar order, the selection of the  drug to  be administered  in  the
case will necessarily depend upon the character of the subjective
phenomena and upon the physical signs.  In pneumonia Arsenic
may be indicated by a peculiar order of symptoms, excessive oppres-
sion, violent  chills succeeded by a burning fever and rapid, hard
and  bounding pulse; dark flushes in the  face  which exhibits a
sallow, jaundiced tint as its ground color;  the patient  complains of
paroxysms of tearing, racking cough  with expectoration of pure
blood and blood-streaked mucus; palpitation of  the heart, intense
soreness in  the chest,  burning  and stinging pains  in the chest.
Nausea and vomiting of bile and mucus may not be wanting.  Give
the sixth to the twelfth potency, sometimes lower.

   The effects of Arsenic upon the respiratory organs show that it
must  be in curative relations AYith.
   Asthma.   On reading over the symptoms obtained by proving, Ave 
324
LECTURE XX.
shall find that Arsenic causes: Constriction of the chest, dyspnoea,
asthma, oppression and anxiety, anxious  and moaning respiration,
suffocative feeling.
  Buchner informs  us in his  Repertory  for Pharmacy, that Waltl
had inhaled during the  day the vapors of six  grains of arsenious
acid, which he had thrown  upon red-hot charcoal, and that he had
not experienced any bad effects from  it except an offensive odor.
After having slept for two hours in the evening, he suddenly awoke
with a feeling of oppressive anxiety, gasped for  air, the windpipe
felt as if constricted, and he fancied he should suffocate; his pulse
was irregular and hurried;  he  had violent  headache.  After  the
vapors had been permitted to escape through the open windoAV, he
laid down very faint; a profuse,sweat broke out; next morning he
only felt a little headache.   One of his companions fared still Avorse.
  We therefore have a  right to recommend Arsenic  in  asthma,
especially if the attacks come  on  at  night; for this nightly super-
vention or exacerbation of the symptoms is characteristic of Arsenic.
The paroxysms of asthma to  which Arsenic is homoeopathic,  are
characterized by a feeling  of suffocative constriction  and  anxiety
in% the chest, paleness  of the  face, feeble, hurried and sometimes
irregular pulse.  The  paroxysm  may gradually terminate  in heat
and dryness  of the skin, gradual breaking out of perspiration and
loose  cough.

  Asthma has frequently been cured with Arsenic.
  Dr. Attomyr treated a wine-merchant who had been  suffering for
■eight years with spasms in the chest every evening; asthma, wheez-
ing expirations; had to sit up bent forward; gradually the orthopnoea
increased, the expiration had  a  fine wheezing  sound.   Agonizing
anguish and  sweat all over.  The paroxysm lasted from three to four
hours; after the paroxysm, the patient felt a burning, sore pain in the
chest.   Going into the cellar caused the attack.   After  Arsenic 30,
the patient had no more attacks, and was able to bear the cellar.

  Dr. Gaspary relates the following case: A cloth weaver thirty-two
years old, tall and slender, had been suffering for a year as  follows:
weakness of memory, dull feeling in the head, pressure in the forehead
and right temple; right eye red and inflamed, with pressure, pain
and drawing.  Dim sight; sees things as through gauze; nightly pain
in the teeth and malar bone of right side, a throbbing, eased by warm
fomentations.  The teeth feel elongated ;  mouth full of mucus, wants
to spit all the time; no  appetite;  constant cough, Avith tenacious
mucus on the chest; cough with asthma after lying down; he has to
sit up.  Stitches through the head when  coughing.' Flow of Avater
from the mouth when coughing;  the mucus is yellowish-white, tena-
cious.  Sensation as if the chest had too  little air, especially in the
pit of the  stomach; at every movement he loses his  breath, feels
anxious and prostrated, as if he should die; sleeplessness;  depression
of the spirits; his limbs feel sore and painful.   One dose of Arsenic
cured him in four weeks.
  Angina  Pectoris is another affection  which Arsenic  may cure. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
325
 Arsenic causes a similar affection.  According to Myrrhen, Arsenic
 causes " a sudden nocturnal paroxysm of suffocative catarrh."  The
 paroxysm  as described  by Myrrhen, constitutes the  disease which
 modern pathologists  describe  as angina  pectoris.   Hahnemann
 informs usin a foot-note to Arsenic that he cured himself of such an
 attack,  which came on every evening after  lying down, and finally
 brought him to the brink of the grave, by means of a very small
 dose of Arsenic.
   Alexander informs  us that he cured a most formidable case of
 angina  pectoris  by means of five  drops  of  Fowler's solution taken
 three times a day.

   Arsenic  will prove of great benefit in affections of the heart.
   Wibmer thus sums up the action of this poison upon the heart.
 J' The heart is generally relaxed, not engorged with  blood; in the
 interior of the heart, and especially on the columnae carneae and on
 the valves of the ventricles, particularly those of the left, we fre-
 quently perceive a redness spread over a greater or less extent;  in
 most cases Ave see small, red spots penetrating into the fleshy sub-
 stance to the depth of one or more lines.  The pericardium generally
 contains a  little serum.  The blood in most cases has a dark color,
 is blackish and viscid, coagulated."
   These post-mortem  changes contain those which Orfila describes
 as having  occurred in a case of poisoning examined  judiciously at
 Paris by this learned man.  The case having  been brought before
 the Imperial Academy of Medicine, it was distinctly shown by many
 members that the redness seen on the inner  surface of the heart,  so
 far from being the result of inflammation, was produced by sangui-
 neous extravasations.   Christison, Flandin  and other toxicologists,
 deny the correctness of Orfila's conclusions that Arsenic may induce
 endocarditis.
   Be this,  however,  as it may, the symptoms  observed during life,
 show that  Arsenic must be an  important agent in affections of the
 heart.   The symptomatic indications which point to Arsenic in affec-
 tions of the  heart, are various:  Dyspnoea, feeling of constriction
 across the chest, palpitation of the heart; anxiety, sense of suffocation;
 irregularity and intermission of the pulse, which is moreover jerking
 and  rather hard; burning distress in the chest and region of the
 heart;  dry, barking, fatiguing cough; immediately after coughing,
 the breath  becomes very short as if the chest were constricted.

  In Pericarditis, these  symptoms occur in a measure.   In  this
 disease  Arsenic should not be forgotten.  In idiopathic pericarditis
 arising from  exposure to a draught of air or generally of a rheumatic
 character, Arsenic may be unavailing; Aconite, Pulsatilla, etc., may
be indicated in such cases.   But in pericarditis, developing itself by
 a process of metaschematismus, or as a sequela  of scarlet-fever,
under the  influence  of some constitutional  dyscrasia, Arsenic may
prove eminently useful.

  In Hydro-pericarditis, or Dropsy of the Pericardium, if arising under 
326
LECTURE XX.
circumstances like the foregoing, Arsenic  is in its place.  In acute
pericarditis arising from the sudden suppression of an acute inflam-
matory eruption such as measles or scarlatina, it may be advisable
to give Arsenic in alternation with the tincture of Aconite. _  Dropsy
of the pericardium may likewise develop  itself suddenly in conse-
quence of the sudden suppression of the menstrual_ discharge.   In
such a case Arsenic may have to be used in conjunction with Aconite
and Pulsatilla.   But when arising from causes similar to those which
have been mentioned under pericarditis, Arsenic and Digitalis may
have chiefly to  be depended upon.  In acute or sub-acute cases, and
in the  case of children, we prefer the lower preparations ; in the case
of older persons, or in slow, chronic cases, the middle.

   In  Carditis Serosa, or inflammation of the serous membrane  re-
flected over the heart, Arsenic may be useful in the progress of the
disease, if the pulse becomes feeble and contracted, the coldness of
the extremities increases, and the  countenance of the patient ex-
presses anxiety and restlessness.  If exudation takes place, so that
the beats of the heart become imperceptible, or are felt  posteriorly,
in the  region of the shoulder blade, Arsenic is often  the only agent
capable of counteracting the morbid process, especially in impover-
ished, cachectic constitutions.
   In the  acute  form of the  disease, where it  has developed itself
from inflammation of the  pleura, or in consequence of rheumatic
exposure,  or of menstrual suppression through fright, etc., it is indis-
pensable to  commence the treatment  with the lower  potencies of
Aconite.
   From the  post-mortem symptoms reported  by Orfila, we would
seem to have a  right to infer that Arsenic may be useful in inflam-
mations of the internal membrane of the heart, which may result in
exudations and polypus formations of the ventricles; whence  this
form of carditis is very aptly designated as
   Carditis Polyposa.   The disease may be of rheumatic origin, or it
may have been caused by a fright.  In such a case, Aconite is indis-
pensable at the outset of the treatment.  The symptoms are exceed-
ingly  marked: excessive restlessness and anxiety, violent contrac-
tions and  palpitations of the heart; rigors,  burning heat  and dryness
of the skin, violent thirst.  Aconite should be given in tincture-form
or from five to ten drops of the first decimal attenuation in  ten
table-spoonfuls of water; butif the dyspnoea increases to orthopnoea;
if the rigors occur  in the midst of the burning heat; or if  the
extremities  become cold, and  a cold clammy sweat begins to show
itself upon the forehead:  Arsenic has to  be given, or even before,
if after repeated doses of Aconite the patient experiences no relief. In
   Carditis Scorbutica, scorbutic inflammation of the heart, where the
attacks set in with livid  color in the face, dirty-yelloav appearance
around the mouth, symptoms  of scorbutic disorganization, enlarge-
ment of the  liver, etc., Arsenic is  probably the only medicine that
can do any good.

   In Fatty Degeneration of the Heart, Arsenic may prove useful.  YYe 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
327
know of no agent that is possessed, to a greater extent than Arsenic,
of the power of effecting a morbid deposition of adipose matter  in
the tissues.   We know that in slow cases of poisoning by Arsenic,
this species of abnormal metamorphosis has taken place in the pul-
monary parenchyma, in the kidneys, and in the intestinal canal.  In
a case reported in Frank's Alagazine, a young man discharged fatty
masses from  the bowels.   In a  case reported by  Morgagni, and
quoted by Hahnemann, the patient passed a ball-shaped clot which
seemed  to  be composed of tallow  mixed with  tendinous matters.
This  took place  eight  days  after  poisoning.  We need  hardly
remind the reader of the  remarkable property possessed by Arsenic
of converting dead animal tissue into adipocere.
  The symptoms which are present during this abnormal metamor-
phosis, likewise  point to Quinine: slow and  feeble  pulse, fainting
turns, neuralgic pains in the chest, dyspnoea.   The arcus senilis,  by
which we  understand a fatty degeneration of  the  cornea  of old
people, is usually accompanied with fatty degeneration of the heart.

  In  Hydrothorax, Arsenic may afford relief.  This disease may  be
symptomatic  of organic disease of the heart, or lungs, in which case
a cure is impossible.   Idiopathic hydrothorax may  yield to treat-
ment. If the patients are of an impoverished constitution, subject
to fainting turns, oppressed by anguish, suffering with great dysp-
noea,  feeling  worse in the  night, extremities inclining to be  cold,
face bloated  and clammy, expression of suffering and dread in the
features, small, feeble, hurried and somewhat irregular pulse, thirst,
inability to drink cold water without coughing: we  may prescribe
Arsenic.
                 LECTURE  XXI.

                       FEVER  GROUP.

  Arsenic  is a valuable remedy in various fevers  which we find
clearly delineated among  the  effects of Arsenic upon  the  healthy
tissues.   In
  Bilious Remittent fever, Arsenic is an  invaluable remedy.   The
symptoms which indicate  Arsenic in  this  disease,  are:  Nightly
exacerbations, which constitute a  characteristic peculiarity of the
action of Arsenic.   The fever sets in with a severe  chill, followed
by burning heat and excessive dryness of the skin, and afterwards
profuse  and debilitating sweat.   During  the fever,  the  patient is
attacked with a racking headache as if the skull would fly to pieces;
he  vomits quantities of  green   and yellow bile, with  excessive
retching, looks sallow, is tormented  by  thirst,  and  yet the water
he  drinks excites  the  vomiting.   The  tongue  looks  exceedingly
foul, the taste in the mouth  is very  unpleasant; the bowels  are 
328
LECTURE XXI.
either costive and feel bloated, or else they are loose, the discharges
being slimy, liquid, bilious, blackish and having an exceedingly
fetid  smell.  The urine looks very dark, almost black, has a very
foul smell and throws  down a very thick, dark-looking sediment
Avhich adheres to the sides of the vessel.   The patient groAVS weaker
from  day to  day, loses  flesh, feels low-spirited, and looks the very
picture of suffering and despair.   Arsenic from  the 3d to  the 6th
may prove most serviceable.

   Gastric and  Mucous  fevers may likewise require Arsenic.  In
gastric fever the patient's  complexion, except the fever-flushes on
his cheeks, is  of a  dirty-sallow; the tongue  has  a thick slimy
grayish-looking coating upon it; the patient complains of  nausea,
foul taste,  thirst, loathing  of food, dry and hot  skin, constipation,
bloating  of the bowels which, however, may not be hard, dark and
foul smelling urine.
  In  Mucous fever, the  tongue has a  thick  coating of a tenacious
grayish-yellow  mucus  upon  it;   the mouth is  dry, the  patient
complains of much thirst, feels nauseated after drinking, is restless,
low-spirited, has a very foul taste  in the mouth, spits up a good deal
of watery mucus having a foul taste;  the breath is offensive, appe-
tite gone, urinary secretions very  scanty, the urine having a red or
deep-yellow appearance ; alternate diarrhoea and constipation ; irreg-
ular chills,  heat  and dryness of the skin, profuse  prespiration
preceded by anxiety; flushed face with  burning pain in the head,
extreme debility.  In cases of poisoning, the autopsy has often re-
vealed an universal inflammation of the mucous lining, showing that
in inflammatory conditions of this membrane, Arsenic must be of
great use.
  In  these fevers, the third  to sixth potency may be found  most
suitable.

  In Rheumatic fever, Arsenic may be valuable.   The symptoms may
be, in a measure,  similar to those which have been indicated under
Gastric and Alucous fevers, modified in so far as they originated in
purely rheumatic exposure, and hence complicated with  rheumatic
phenomena, such as:  swelling, pain  and rigidity of the joints and
muscles of the arms and legs; inflammatory symptoms in the region
of the bladder, liver,  bowels, the patient complaining of soreness,
stitches in various parts, burning pains in the  head, region of the
liver, bladder, etc.;  excessive derangement  of the biliary, urinary
and alvine secretions, as indicated by foul tongue, sickness at the
stomach, difficult urination, diarrhoea, followed by a paralytic ina-
bility of the bowels to move, loathing of food, excessive restlessness,
internal  chills followed by the breaking out of profuse and debili-
tating perspiration, and  accompanied by  a feeling of anxiety.
  Homoeopathic physicians are too much in the habit of overlooking
the property inherent in Arsenic, of exciting inflammatory action.
They generally associate with Arsenic the idea of asthenia, Aveakness.
There is  no doubt that prostration of strength is  one  of the  most
prominent effects of Arsenic upon the healthy organism; but it is 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
329
 an equally well established fact, that Arsenic will irritate and inflame
 the mucous membranes, and that the irritative fever caused by this
 agent  may be characterized by an inflammatory type, although a
 tendency to asthenia, to deep nervous derangements, soon  becomes
 manifest.

   The cure of
   Intermittent fevers is one of the great triumphs of Arsenic.   Even
 alloeopathic physicians regard Arsenic as a sort of panacea for this
 class of fevers.  One of the principal  experimenters Avith  Arsenic,
 among the allceopathic fraternity, is Boudin, physician-in-chief to the
 military  hospital du Roule, in Paris.  His mode of using Arsenic in
 marsh-intermittents, and the results which he has obtained, are con-
 tained in a publication, entitled:  " Treatise on intermittent  and con-
 tagious fevers of marshi districts, followed by investigations regarding
 the therapeutic employment of arsenical preparations." The number of
 fever and ague patients Avhich  Boudin has treated with Arsenic, in
 the hospitals of  Marseilles, Versailles and Paris, where he was suc-
 cessively stationed, amounts to upAvards of four thousand.  Boudin
 affirms, that since the year 1843, he has never given a single dose of
 Quinine  for fever and ague.
   In his  treatise, Boudin quotes Hahnemann, not only  approvingly,
 but respectfully.   He administers the arsenious acid in the Hahne-
 mannian fashion, by triturating one-fifth of a grain of this agent with
 twenty grains of sugar of milk.  This triturated  mass is divided into
 twenty powders, each powder containing the one hundreth  part of a
 grain.  The powder may be dissolved in water, the solution  to be
 taken about six  hours previous to the paroxysm.  As far as the dose
 is concerned, this  may be considered  a  strictly homoeopathic pre-
 scription.  Out of 266 fever and ague patients whom Boudin treated
 in 1852,  118 were  cured Avith Arsenic alone ;  57 were cured Avith
 Arsenic,  after having  previously taken Quinine without effect;  13
 Avere cured with Quinine,  upon whom Arsenic had no effect, and 8
 remained uncured both  under Quinine and Arsenic.  This would
 seem to show that  neither the one nor the other is a specific  for fever
 and ague, and that there must be other agents suitable  to those eight
 remaining cases.   AYe might, however, reserve to ourselves the pri-
 A'ilege  of ascribing the imperfect success of the Arsenic and Quinine
 in these  eight cases to the imperfect manner of exhibiting  these
 agents.  Boudin's  present mode  of exhibiting the arsenious acid, in
fever and ague, is expressed in the folloAving three rules, which we
find stated in the  first volume of Trousseau and  Pidoux' Alateria
 Aledica :
   " Rule 1st.   Commence the treatment with an emetic (Ipecacuanha
20 grains, or Tartar Emetic two grains,) if the fever is  accompanied
with symptoms of gastric disturbance, suppression or simple decrease
of appetite.
   " After the fever has been arrested, give another emetic, provided
the appetite is not  entirely  restored ;  so that the patient may use as
soon as possible  a generous diet.
   " Rule 21.   Give arsenious acid  in fractional doses, that is, one 
330
LECTURE XXI.
dose divided into several, the last dose to be given at least two hours
before the time when the paroxysm is expected to come on ; propor-
tion the dose according to the character of the fever, which  varies
according to locality, season, and the individuality of the patient.
  " Give the arsenious acid until tolerance is reached, so as gradually
to arrive at the largest possible dose, giving every quarter of an hour
the one-fiftieth or only the one-hundredth part of  a grain.
  "As  the  patient bears less of the  Arsenic, diminish "the dose
gradually, and continue to administer the drug in fractional doses ;
if necessary, give it by the rectum.
  "Give  the  drug both  during the  paroxysms and during the
apyrexia.
  " Continue it during an interval proportionate  to the duration of
the disease, and  to its  resistance to  other and previously instituted
modes of treatment.   In a first attack of fever and ague, the  drug
should be continued at least for a week after the last paroxysm.
  " Rule 3d.  Use a substantial and abundant diet, to be limited by
the appetite and the digestive poAvers of the patient.   The diet to
consist  principally of beef, roast mutton; a generous  wine  to be
ordered, in  quantities proportionate to the  weakened state  of the
constitution of the patient; watery beverages to be avoided as much
as possible."
  The fractional doses of Arsenic  were undoubtedly suggested to
Boudin's mind by Hahnemann.  One fiftieth of a grain may seem a
large dose to some of us, but there are  cases of fever and ague
where it may not be large enough, and where one fifth of a grain
may be  required.  Some  homoeopathic physicians profess to cure
feA^er and ague with the two hundredth potency of Arsenic.
  Boudin believes—and some homoeopathic writers with him—that
fever-and-ague is caused, not by the effluvia of stagnant water, or by
the emanations of decayed vegetable matter, but by the emanations
arising from living plants.  Teste avows his adherence to this doctrine,
and, with a full reliance in its  soundness, goes on to mention several
plants as the  primary causes of marsh intermittents.   "Such are,
among others, the chara vulgaris, the riziphorus, the calamus, and the
anthoxanthum odoratum ; and,  according  to Humboldt, the roots of
the mangrove tree, and of the  mancanilla, which,  when not covered
by  water, are supposed by the inhabitants of India to be productive
of fever."
  This doctrine, plausible as it may seem, mistakes an effect for the
cause.   If  these  plants   occasion  the  marsh-intermittents, they
certainly must be  our very best, yea our specific means of curing
them.   The terms of our law Avould lead us to believe this.  If this
be so, where is the  use of seeking  a remedy for  fever and ague in
the forests of Huanco or in the bowels of the earth ?  Those living
plants, if they have any relation  to the  marsh-intermittent miasm,
are an effect, not the cause  of this principle.

  Our provings of Arsenic show that this heroic agent must be
eminently adapted to the cure of fever and ague.  They embrace all
the pathognomonic signs of fever  and ague.  There  is a marked 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
331
 periodicity in the fcver-parox}rsms  caused by Arsenic.  Arsenic
 causes  all the  secondary pains,  the  gastric  derangements,  the
 prostration and the mental depression which generally characterize
 an attack of fever and ague.  Thirst occurs more particularly during
 the hot stage.  The symptoms of congestion are more marked during
 paroxysms requiring China, the symptoms of bilious derangement
 during  the_ paroxysms controlled by  Arsenic.  This  is  to be
 understood in  a  relative sense, for these two orders of phenomena
 exist to some extent in either form of the disease.  According to
 Boudin, Arsenic cures fever and ague by setting up an action in the
 organism  which extinguishes  the natural disease.   This is  the
 common doctrine of counter-irritation, no  more nor  less.  Is this
 true ?  Is  there not some supreme condition required, some peculiar
 adaption of the drug"to the disease, in  order that a  cure  may be
 secured ?   If Arsenic had power to extinguish the intermittent-
 miasm in  an absolute sense, Avould not every curable case of this
 disease yield to the  influence of that  poAverful agent?  There  are
 cases Avhich remain uncured in spite  of the most powerful doses of
 Arsenic.   Others remain  uncured  in  spite of Quinine.  Does  not
 this shoAV  that, unless Arsenic  is given  in cases to which it has a
 peculiar, specific adaptation, it cannot cure fever and ague ?  This
 cure depends upon the presence of  a principle, in Arsenic, that shall
 affect the  nervous system, as nearly as  may  be, like  the essential
 principle  which constitutes the  deleterious property of  marsh-
 intermittents.  If there be an agent in  nature which embodies a
 similar  or  identical  principle more fully than  Arsenic, that agent
 will supersede Arsenic in  all  cases  where  this superior  affinity
 prevails.

   In cases of fever and ague, to which Arsenic is  in homoeopathic
 adaptation, this agent will likewise cure the disorders which may
 result from the fever, such as
   (Edema of the feet, face and hands ;
   Anasarca and Ascites, and
   Enlargement of the Liver and Spleen.  In these affections, if result-
 ing from the cause mentioned, Arsenic is indispensable, though it
 may not be sufficient in all cases.

   In Typhus, Arsenic is often an invaluable agent, more particularly
 in those forms of typhus which are marked by a deeply-rooted disor-
 ganization  of the vital fluids.  In the case of poisoning reported in the
 British Journal, to which allusion has been made previously, Arsenic
speedily developed  symptoms of typhus, viz.:  dryness of the tongue
and lips, which were moreover cracked and covered with blood and sordes.

   Arsenic  causes Patechial and Miliary Eruptions, another  symptom
of typhus.

   Arsenic causes dryness and coldness of the skin, or clammy sweat;
tremulous,  hurried  and feeble pulse; general  trembling;  scanty
secretion or retention of urine, dark and foul-smelling urine ; cadav- 
332
LECTURE XXI.
erous stools; thick brown, blackish coating of the tongue ;  Aromiting
of bile and  dark  blood, emaciation, paralytic weakness of  the
extremities; deep-seated pain in the head, stupefaction, muttering
delirium, sense of fright as if some  dreadful accident or danger
were impending; sinking of  the features, with an expression of
terror and distress in the countenance.

  In Typhius Petechialis, Typhus of the Bowels and Liver, Arsenic
will prove eminently useful.

  Our  literature abounds in beautiful cases of  this disease, where
Arsenic was the only remedy used.
  In one case the patient had been given up by his homoeopathic
attendants.  Our advice was requested.   We  found the patient
stupid and delirious, though at times his consciousness would return;
petechias from  which blood  oozed  in various  parts of the body;
teeth  and  tongue  covered  with black  sordes; gums  bleeding;
hasmorrhage from the nose, conjunctiva and from under the finger-
nails ;  abdomen soft, but Arery sensitive in  the  ileo-ccecal region;
stools involuntary and cadaverous;  urine very dark and foul;  skin
cold and  clammy,  pulse hurried, small,  tremulous, 120; counte-
nance sunken, sallow, general emaciation.  He was attended by two
homoeopathic physicians, but  had never had Arsenic, which, how-
ever, was  the only  remedy indicated.   YYe  gave him Arsenic 18,
and in  one fortnight thereafter, the patient was able to attend to his
business.

  In another case the  patient complained of a  black  cloud which
seemed hovering in the very centre of his brain; tongue darkly
coated and dry as leather ;  bowels constipated and  tympanitic; an
injection brought away dark and foul masses; urine dark, foul  and
very thick, skin dry and hot, at times cold and clammy; pulse about
120,  soft,  undulating, feeble;  stupefying headache, etc.   Arsenic
alone effected a perfect cure.

  In another case we found  the patient sitting  on the  edge of the
bed, with his elbows resting on his  knees, trembling all over  like
an aspen-leaf; pulse 140, full and jerking; tongue thickly coated
with a  grayish-yellow slime;  skin dry as parchment and burning;
agonizing thirst, excessive distress under the right  shoulder-blade ;
expression of intense distress  and terror  in the features,  constant
retching and vomiting.   In this incipient typhus hepaticus Arsenic
1st at once effected a radical change in the symptons, arrested the
convulsive trembling so  that the  patient was able  to lie quietly in
his bed, and finally restored his health in one fortnight from the day
when Ave first saw him.    In all these cases Arsenic acted as a specific
for no other reason  than  because it  has power to develop precisely
such symptoms as we have to  contend against.

  In Puerperal Typhus, Arsenic is indicated in the  last stage, when
involuntary discharges of foul, cadaverously-smelling disorganized 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
333
blood and mucus sets in, miliaria or petechias break out, the  pulse
becomes filiform, hurried;  the skin is cold and dry, covered with a
muddy, clammy sweat, etc.

  Let us not forget Arsenic in Infantile Remittent Fever, or Mesenteric
Ganglionitis, when the disease  has entered upon the second  stage,
the  stage  of  suppuration of  the mesenteric glands.   The  fever
assumes the hectic type, with distinct  evening-exacerbations and
night-sweats, emaciation, foul diarrhosic discharges from the bowels.
A more complete statement may be found on page  283.

  In Hectic fever generally, Arsenic is only indicated in so far as it
is required for the treatment of the general affection. v

  In certain forms of the scorbutic diathesis or in          v
  Scorbutic fever, as we have designated this pathological condition
when describing the Fever group of Aconite, Arsenic maybe  indis-
pensable.  It  seems  to  poison  the  blood similarly to  the scurvy -
miasm, causing petechial exudations on the skin, hasmorrhagic effu-
sions in internal organs, fetor of the mouth, sponginess and bleeding
of the gums, black sordes on the teeth, excessive prostration, ema-
ciation, etc.   We may therefore recommend Arsenic as  eminently
useful in
   Purpura Hemorrhagica Werlhofli, where  the tendency to  disor-
ganization  of the blood, effusions from the capillaries, prostration,
constitute characteristic  signs of the disease.  In the simple form of
this disease, where the capillary haemorrhage seems to result  from
deficient irritability  of the capillary  tissue rather than from  an
impaired vitality and consequent disorganization of the blood,—a
form of purpura which  may supervene in consequence of a sudden
cause, fright,  rheumatic  exposure,—Aconite may be not only  useful
but necessary and sufficient for a cure; but  in the malignant form
of this disease, where the blood  is poisoned  and the irritability of
the  capillary  tissue becomes extinct in consequence of the altered
vitality of the  blood,  such remedies as  Arsenic, Hyoscyamus,
Ammonium  carbonicum,  become indispensable.   Of Arsenic, the
middle  and  higher  potencies  will be found most useful in this
disorder.

                  EXANTHEMATOUS  GROUP.

   Arsenic  develops  petechias,  miliaria, pustulous, tuberculoid and
ulcerous disorganization of the  skin.  Hence we may find Arsenic
indicated in
   Pemphigus, with distressing burning in the bullae.
   Blotches, red,  fiery, burning and itching, hard and scaly.
   Scarlatina  miliaris, when the  eruption assumes a malignant char-
 acter,  the vesicles collapse, the  skin, from burning hot  changes to
 cold, the pulse  collapses, the bowels discharge involuntarily  a foul
 and slimy, watery substance, etc.
   Variola and Varioloid, under similar circumstances as in miliary 
334
LECTURE XXI.
scarlatina, with collapse of the pustules, coldness of the skin, sinking
and extreme rapidity of the pulse, stupor, foul and  involuntary dis-
charges from the bowels;
  Malignant pustulous Erysipelas to which your attention has  been
directed on previous occasions.
  Anthrax, for which we refer the reader to page 302.
  Chronic Urticaria or nettle-rash, with furious burning and itching,
and prascordial anxiety, oppression, restlessness and  trembling.
  Crusta serpiginosa, with rapid spreading of the  crusty eruption,
and oozing of corrosive ichor from under the crusts.
  Psoriasis  diffusa, with cracking of the skin, rhagades, oozing of
blood and serum, furious burning and itching;
  Tinea capitis maligna, with formation of thick, dark crusts secre-
tion of an ichorous bloody, fetid pus, matting the hair and causing it
to fall fjut.
  Ichithyosis, a disease, where the epidermis becomes harsh, dry and
scaly, like the scales of fishes;  this disorganization  is designated by
the term Ichithyosis, from the Greek name ichthus, a fish.
  Elephantiasis, the skin becoming thick,  rugose,  tuberculoid  and
insensible.   The legs may become enormously swollen like the legs
of an elephant; hence the name of the disease.  We have also the
  Elephiantiasis  of Cayenne or mal rouge de Cayenne, with red  and
yellow spots on  the forehead,  ears,  nose,  hands,  loins, etc.; these
gradually spread further,  becoming scaly, and resulting in disorgan-
ization, rhagades, ulceration and caries of the affected parts.
  Other forms of this loathsome disease, such as the
  Elephantiasis  of Java,  characterized by  large white tumors  of a
scrofulous nature, and gradually ulcerating and destroying both the
soft and osseous tissues, likewise require the use of Arsenic.
  Lepra or Leprosy  cannot  be treated without Arsenic.   In  this
disease the skin may be covered with scales, crusts or tubercles.  In
some forms  of lepra the scales are whitish, in  others livid.  Elephan-
tiasis is a species of lepra.  Pellagra, a disease that  seems to  have
been endemic  in  the  district of Milan, Italy,  is likewise a species of
lepra.
  It has  been very commonly observed   that the sexual  passion
becomes powerfully roused in lepra.  This furnishes an additional
indication for the use of Arsenic.

  Arsenic is of the utmost importance in the treatment of
  Malignant Ulcers, secreting a thin, ichorous,  offensive pus,  with
distressing burning, destruction of the soft parts, bleeding.
  We have alluded to cancerous ulceration on a former page.

  Lupus,  a phagedenic ulcer,  so  named because it eats  aAvay the
soft and cartilaginous parts, requires Arsenic.  It may be necessary
to apply this agent even externally; this should be done cautiously,
so as to prevent poisonous effects which are  so common under Old-
School treatment.  The  third or  sixth  potency, applied externally
may facilitate  the action  of a  similar  or  higher  potency used  in-
ternal! v. 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
335
  Arsenic is also useful in
  Prurigo, for it causes a burning itching of the whole body, and in
  Pityriasis, or desquamation of the skin, AYhich comes off in small
bran-shaped scales, and particularly in
  Alopecia or Baldness, when resulting from excessive dryness of the
scalp, with scaling off" of the epidermis.  This may be an idiopathic
condition of the  scalp, and also a symptom of general marasmus.
  Falling off of the Nails, may be a result of a diseased condition of
the nails, and also a symptom of marasmus.

  In the treatment of acute eruptions to which Arsenic is specifically
homoeopathic, very small doses  of this agent are sometimes  able to
effect a speedy and permanent cure.
  A case of Crusta serpiginosa arising from bad vaccine and spread-
ing in thirty-six hours over the whole of the upper arm, face, neck
and part of the thorax, forming horrid,  thick, green and brown-
looking  crusts, with  discharge  of a most  corrosive ichor, burning
and itching, was completely cured in three days by a single globule
of Arsenic 200.  The Arsenic was given  at night,  the  crusts were
perfectly dry next morning, and fell off in three days thereafter.

  A robust man of forty-three years  had his face, chest, neck, fore-
arms and hands covered with ichorous, burning  ulcers;  at first red
pimples broke out, which soon discharged a yellowish pus, forming
crusts and  sores; the patient had  moreover chills, yellow diarrhoea;
tongue coated dirty yellow;  yellow urine; spirits depressed. Arsenic
30th cured him at once.

  Dr. Kretzschmar treated a young student for a red looking, burn-
ing herpes between  the shoulder-blades; at night the burning was
horrible; the parts were covered with vesicles; in five days a  similar
herpes broke out in the pit of stomach, as  if he had been burnt by
sulphuric acid; Arsenic 30 cured him in one day.

  Arsenic has caused dropsical effusions and oedema; hence we may
prescribe it in

  Anasarca, more particularly after fever  and  ague, or as a conse-
quence of retrocession of some  acute eruption ;
  Ascites, when resulting from disease of the liver and kidneys ; the
skin feels cold and dry, and the urinary secretions  are  very much
diminished.  In
  Ascites saccatus or  sacculated  Dropsy, (hydatids), Arsenic  is emi-
nently useful, Avhen resorted to in time.  In
  Ilgdrothwrax and Dropsy of the Pericardium, the use of Arsenic
has already been alluded to.
  Partial Dropsy, of  the  face, hands, feet,  may be advantageously
treated Avith Arsenic.  The general condition of the patient  should
of  course correspond Avith  the general action of  the drug, more
particularly  debility, feeble  and  someAvhat  accelerated   pulse,
tremulousness,  loss   of  appetite,  tendency to emaciation.   This
appearance of dropsy may constitute a marked 
336
LECTURE XXI.
   (Edema of the parts, without  any effusion having as yet set in
Arsenic causes this condition of the system.

                      MENTAL  GROUP.

   Arsenic causes depression of spirits, melancholia, hypochondria,
prascordial anxiety, a feeling as if one had committed great crimes.
Hence Arsenic may be a most  valuable remedy in the treatment of
certain forms of  mental derangement, more particularly when char-
acterized by deep melancholia, anxiety for one's  future welfare, a
feeling of remorse as if one had committed a crime.
   In the following case of
   Melancholia, a  beautiful cure was affected by Arsenic.
   A gentleman,  thirty-two years old, of robust frame, consulted Dr.
Weber for periodical paroxysms of melancholia ;  he had no rest at
night, perspired all over, was tormented by frightful anguish as if he
had committed a dreadful crime ;  it drove him about from place to
place; cried that he was not  conscious of any wrong, and yet he
would beg every body's pardon ; violent heat in the face and about
the head; pulse eighty, rather feeble; paroxysms every three or four
weeks, they continued  for six  or seven days and had existed for
years.   Arsenic  30 cured him  speedily and permanently.

   In Marcus"1 Ephemerides a  very curious effect of Arsenic is men-
tioned.   A barber had  cured  himself of fever and ague by taking
a  solution of Arsenic.  The drug caused a peculiar monomania.
Every time the  barber  shaved a customer, he was seized  Avith an
almost irrepressible desire to cut that persons  throat.  He frequently
had to throw away his razor  and to run out of the room in order to
shield himself against this mania.   The patient had a fixed look, and
tremulous motions.  He was  restored by large doses of the sulphuret
of potash.
   For  the dreadful Monomania of Murder,  Arsenic may therefore
prove useful.

                           SLEEP.

   Arsenic causes excessive  restlessness especially at night, when
the effects of Arsenic are generally more marked  than in  the day-
time ; the patient is  utterly unable to keep  quiet, he has  to move
and toss about continually.   Arsenic also causes nightly attacks of
dreadful anxiety and oppression during sleep, which suddenly rouse
him as if he  should suffocate.   Anxious  dreams,  or  dreams about
revolting  vermin, animals,  constitute another  effect of  Arsenic.
These symptoms, if occurring  as elements of other, more general
groups,  are so many characteristic indications for the use of this
great agent.
   Dose : From one-fifth of a grain to  the tAvo-hundredth potency.

   This ends our  Arsenic-chapter.   No agent in our Materia Medica,
save one, has produced more extensive ravages among the human 
ARSENICUM ALBUM.
337
family than Arsenic.   That one is Mercury.  And yet, in the hands
of a homoeopathic physician, Arsenic becomes a mild, gentle, life-
saving, health-restoring power.  How beautifully is the glorious
prophecy fulfilled by Homoeopathy, that " the lion and the lamb shall
lie down  together, and a little chiild shall lead them"   Yes, the fierce,
life-destroying poison which entails nameless suffering upon  a  con-
fiding  world,  when  administered by our brethren of the opposite
side, is transformed into  an angel of mercy by the beautiful little
child sent  to  us  by the Almighty Father of our race through the
illumined brain of Hahnemann.  It is the law " similia  similibus,"
this untainted offspring of a heavenly inspiration that transforms the
roaring lion into  the gentle lamb, and unites them in the bonds of
harmony.  The roaring lion is the fierce essence which, like a hellish
fury, ravages  the  tissues, scattering  havoc and pain along its path.
The lamb  is  the homoeopathic  agent which typifies the spiritual
essence  in  material  nature,  its very product  or substratum, its
physical form or embodiment.  The little child is the attractive force,
which Avith gentle but irresistible power, draAvs the spiritual essence
to its  material representative, the gentle lamb,  the  little globule
which is harmless for  evil, but most  powerful in the good Avork of
redemption from disease.
   How differently is  disease viewed by the philosophical homoe-
opath from what it is by a practitioner after the old  routine.   This
one  looks  at the disturbed  tissue;  he beholds a suppurating or
ulcerated surface, and he calls this  morbid process a disease.  To
the Old-School pathologists disease is a material thing; he does not
wish to be looked upon as a materialist,  and yet all his practices are
suggested by  materialism.  He bleeds in order to free the organism
from the vitiated blood;  he physics the bowels in order to sweep
out effete matter, or to drain the organism of some morbid irritation
that has  accumulated about the head, liver or stomach.
   The homoeopathic physician looks at a diseased surface, and Avhat
does he behold?  A spiritual or dynamico-morbific  force which is
disorganizing the tissues.   This is the real disease, and it is this force
or essence  that  has to be removed from the organism.  No  cure is
possible, unless this removal  is effected.  Hoav is it  accomplished ?
Why, we accomplish  it, as Celsus advised, cito,  tutl, et jucundl, by
applying the great law of attractive affinity, attractive similarity to the
morbific, disease-creating essence.  We  act upon it by means of an
agent which is its material form in Nature.  It is by this  simple pro-
cess that we accomplish a great fact, the restoration of order in the
tissues by inducing the morbific esssence to unite  itself of its oayu
accord, by its OAvn free choice, Avith the remedial agent,  and to free
the organic tissues from its destructive presence.
   The organic alterations are not the disease; this the homoeopathic
physician is fully aware of;  they are the effect or product of the
morbific essence  acting upon the tissues.  AYe  may compare the
series of morbid phenomena  which Ave are in the habit of designat-
ing as the disease, to an  accident on some railway.   The accident
happens at a particular point, but the neAVs of it is flashed along the
Avires to every part of the inhabited globe, and is received by every
nation in its own language.  In a similar manner,  an accident that
                                22 
338
LECTURE XXI.
happens at some point in the human organism, is flashed across the
delicate telegraphic wires which we call nerves,  to  the different
organs and tissues.  He who is unable to decipher the symbolic
signs in which these symptomatic messages are Avritten, will not be
able to understand  the nature of the accident that requires  to be
remedied.  He who  knows how to decipher the messages that are
flashed across the ganglionic wires, perceives the unity of these abnor-
mal sensations and functional derangements, and, tracing them to the
point whence  they emanate, he applies  his remedial agent to this
point of departure, this fountain-head  of the symptomatic indications.
The homoeopathic physician has no difficulty in comprehending that
a small dose, an infinitesimal  globule even, may reach  this starting-
point of the disease in the organic  tissues.   A short  time  ago, Ave
read in the papers that  Aladame Moet, who owns a portion of the
valuable and interesting region that produces the delicious cham-
pagne, Avas stung by a mosquito Avhich probably had fed upon car-
rion.  Very soon after the bite was inflicted, a principle of gangren-
ous disorganization spread from this  scarcely perceptible point, and
destroyed  life in forty-eight hours,  under  the  most  excruciating
torments.
  If we knew how to meet the disorganizing morbific  agent  at its
very starting-point, every trace of its presence would soon be Aviped
out. To the homoeopathic physician who is fully impressed with
the fact  that Homoeopathy is the science of medicine  as developed
and felt by the inner reason which is in communion with the eternal
and infinite truth of heaven; whereas,  Alloeopathy is the delusive and
material science, cherished, propagated and applied  by the deceitful,
gross and degrading understanding of the senses; to such a follower of
the good and wise Hahnemann, the difference between a globule of the
two hundredth potency of Arsenic and a powder of the third  tritu-
ration cannot  be so overwhelmingly great.  He certainly does not
consider himself justified in  looking upon a globule of the higher
potency Avith supercilious contempt for no other reason than because
a poAvder of the first trituration has been useful and necessary to him
in some cases.   Paganini elicited sounds of sweet harmony from one
string alone, but when playing upon all the strings  of his violin, the
harmony was far richer and soul-stirring.
  Gentlemen, do not suffer your minds to be tied down by empiri-
cism and  routine.   Do not come to me with preconceived  ideas.
Let  me find in you receptivity and  a determination  to think for
yourselves. You are the salt of the earth.  If you  come to hear my
teachings, you must  expect to hear new ideas, new definitions, new
applications of the homoeopathic law.  New?  Yes, and God grant,
more scientific, more rational, more satisfactory and more fruitful in
good results than the practice of mere symptom-mongers and rou-
tinists.  Homoeopathy is not the system of a day, nor the theory of
a man; she is the handiwork  of the great  Architect of  Nature, and
unless you study her as a divine science, a Christian science, a science
intended for the universal good, and  not for mere  individual  lucre
and glory,  you cannot possibly do justice to her high behests, you
cannot possibly be what  the  Creator designed you should become:
workmen in His vineyard. 
ATR0PA BELLADONNA.                 339
               LECTURE   XXII.


                       BELLADONNA,

                      (Deadly Night-shade)

  Atropa Belladonna.—Nat. Ord.  Solanas.—A native of the South
of Europe, where it grows in mountainous regions, on eminences
cevered with  forests, also in  damp and shady places.   The plant
growing in mountain-forests is much more vigorous than the artifi-
cially reared, or that which grows in damp  or shady places.  It
was probably known to the Greeks;  hence the name Atropa, from
atropos  (inexorable);  hence  it was  also termed Solanum lethiak.
Belladonna is  the Italian for "beautiful Lady;" the Italian ladies
used the distilled water of belladonna-leaves as a means of beautifying
their complexion ; hence the name " Solanum Cosmeticum."
  In Plutarch's history of Antonius, he states that the  Romans, on
their retreat from the  Parthians, cooked this plant as a vegetable;
Plutarch describes  the effect  as follows:  "Those  who sought  for
herbs and pot-herbs, found but few, and tasting unknown herbs, they
found one which brought on madness and death.  He that had eaten
it, immediately lost  all memory and knowledge, but at the same time
would busy himself in turning and moving every stone he met with,
as if he were  upon some  very important pursuit.  The  camp was
full of unhappy men bending to the ground, and thus digging up or
removing stones, till at last they were carried off by bilious vomiting,
when Avine, the only remedy, was not to be found.
  In Buchanan's history of the Scots,  you will find it stated, that the
Danes, under SAveno, were  defeated by Macbeth, and that many were
destroyed by the Scots who poisoned the bread and wine, which they
were bound by agreement to send to their enemies during the truce,
with a mixture of Belladonna; hence Shakespeare calls it " insane
root."
  Belladonna seems to act primarily upon the cerebro-spinal system
of nerves, and  to affect the vascular system  secondarily.   The most
characteristic symptoms of poisonous  doses of Belladonna  are : dry-
ness of  the mouth and fauces,  difficulty of swalloAving,  constrictive
spasms  of  the fauces, inflammation of the fauces, dilatation of the
pupils (mydriasis), presbyopia or long-sightedness, with obscurity of
vision,  or amaurosis ;  optical  illusions (phantasms), suffused  eyes,
singing  in  the ears, numbness of the  face, giddiness, delirium  and
intoxication, sopor, scarlet-eruption on the skin.
  One hundred and fifty  soldiers were poisoned with  Belladonna
near Pirna in  Saxony.  They exhibited the following  symptoms:
" Dilatation and immobility of the pupil; almost complete insensi-
bility of the eye to the presence of external objects, or at  least con-
fused vision ; injection of the conjunctiva Avith a bluish  blood; pro-
trusion  of the eyes which in some appeared as if dull, and in others
ardent and furious; dryness of the lips, tongue, palate and  throat; 
340                      LECTURE XXII.
deglutition difficult or even  impossible:  nausea not followed by
vomiting; feeling of weakness, lipothymia, syncope; difficulty or
impossibility of standing; frequent bending forward of the trunk;
continual  motion of the  hands and  fingers;  gay delirium,  with  a
vacant smile; aphonia or else confused sounds uttered with pain:
probably ineffectual desires of going to stool; gradual restoration to
health and reason, without any recollection of the preceding state."
  Dr. Pereira reports seven cases of poisoning with Belladonna, two
of which proved fatal;  they occurred in the London hospital.  The
following  symptoms attracted the Doctor's special attention:
  1. Dryness of the fauces, causing excessive difficulty of swallowing
and alteration of the voice.
  2. Scarlet-eruption on the arms and legs.
  3. Mydriasis and Presbyopia.   According  to Dr.  Pereira  the
amaurotic weakness which Belladonna is said to produce, is chiefly
owing to presbyopia.
  4. Delirium, Phantasms.—The  delirium was of the  cheerful or
wild sort,  amounting in some cases to actual frenzy.  In some of the
patients it subsided  into a sort of sleep attended with pleasant dreams
which provoked laughter. The delirium was attended with phantasms,
and, in this  respect, resembled that caused by alcohol; but the mind
did not run on cats, rats, and mice, as in the case of drunkards.
Sometimes the phantasms appeared to be in the air, and  various
attempts were made to catch them  or chase them with the hands; at
other times  they were supposed to be  on the bed.  One patient (a
woman) fancied the sheets Avere covered with cucumbers.
  5.  Convulsions; Paralysis;  Sopor or Coma.  In most of the cases,
the power of the will  over the muscles was so far disordered, that
the muscular movements were somewhat irregular, causing a kind
of staggering or jerkings; but actual convulsions were not general.
There was  sopor which terminated in coma, with a weakened or
paralytic  condition of the muscles.
   These remarkable  effects of Belladonna suggest the use of  this
drug in a variety of important affections.
   The symptoms of No. 1, point to aphonia and catarrhal irritation
of  the throat, angina faucium.
   The symptoms of No. 2 reveal the specific homoeopathic relation
of  Belladonna  to  scarlatina laeAdgata, the  old-fashioned  smooth
Sydenhamian scarlatina.
   No. 3 indicates diseases of the eyes where the pupil is abnormally
dilated.
   No. 4  suggests typhus of  the brain, delirium tremens,  various
forms of craziness.
    The symptoms of No. 5 indicate chorea, apoplexy and paralysis.
   .Miiller of Vienna gives an interesting description of five  persons
 in  one family who had eaten of the berries of Belladonna.   Two  of
 the children (boys), having  eaten a good quantity of the  berries,
 were attacked Avith the following symptoms: They attempted to get
 from  their  beds  and  were  with difficulty restrained;  continual
.motion of their hands and  fingers, and  desire to  lay hold of the
 coverlets or other objects within reach; thrusting the fingers up the 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
341
nostrils;  acute delirium;  vision nearly gone, but both patients at
the same time fancied they saw a number of objects;  great dilata-
tion and  insensibility of the pupils;  eyeballs alternately fixed and
rolling;  spasmodic action of the  muscles of  the face;  grating of
the teeth; yawning, etc.;  voice hoarse and weak; slight swelling of
the left side of the throat, and burning sensation in the oesophagus;
decided aversion to  all liquids;  and spasmodic attacks whenever
they were forced to swallow anything.
  In this case we have some symptoms pointing at typhus, such as:
desire to lay hold of the coverlets and bedclothes; seeing a number
of objects ; eyeballs  alternately fixed and  rolling.
  Other  symptoms point to  Hydrocephalus, such as: thrusting the
fingers up the nostrils; dilatation and. insensibility of the pupils;
eyeballs  alternately fixed and  rolling;  spasmodic action of the
muscles of the face ;  grating  of the teeth.
  Other symptoms point to Hydrophiobia: aversion to all liquids, and
spasmodic  attacks  whenever they  were  forced to swallow  any
thing.
  One symptom points to Catarrhal Irritation of the Air-passages and
larynx:  voice hoarse and weak.

  The folloAving case of poisoning by Belladonna has been extracted
from Orfila:  A child, of four years of age, of feeble constitution
but otherwise well, ate at  eleven o'clock a quantity of the berries of
Belladonna.   The following  symptoms  soon set in: want of appe-
tite ; nausea, vomiting, symptoms of intoxication,  slight delirium
and inextinguishable thirst;  afterwards tumefaction and redness of
the face  and lips; raising of the eyelids;  dilatation of the pupils;
insensibility of the eyes to light; convulsive  closing of the jaws
and contraction of the muscles of the face and extremities; delirium;
very feeble pulse and irregular respiration.  Next clay: increase of
convulsive movements, with redness of the face, and  profuse perspi-
ration ; the pupils remained dilated;  there Avas great rigidity down
the spine; tumefaction of the abdomen which  was  very tender to
the touch; constipation and  weak pulse.   On  the  third day these
symptoms continued, but  in a less degree; the  child complained of
great pain in his teeth.  On the 31st, all  the symptoms  had disap-
peared.  An emetic was given followed by vinegar and honey.
  In this case the power of Belladonna  of causing and therefore
curing Tetanic Spasms, is evident; the convulsive closing of the jaws
and contraction of the muscles of the face and  extremities, and the
rigidity down the spine, point to this affection ;  the spasm should be
characterized by swelling and redness of the face and comatose con-
dition, feeble pulse and irregular breathing.
  Some children ate in a garden some of the berries of Belladonna ;
they soon Avere attacked with violent fever, accompanied by convul-
sions and strong palpitation of the heart;  they lost their  senses and
became very delirious.   One died the next day.   One of the children
ate four,  the  other six berries of  Belladonna;  an hour after, both
of them  were so extravagant in their manners that  they  astonished
their mother.   Their pupils Avere dilated ; their  vision Avas altered; 
342
LECTURE XXII.
and a gay delirium, accompanied with fever, set in.   The physician
Avho was called  in, found them  in a state of great agitation;  talk-
ing at random ; running and leaping about;  laughing sardonically;
with purple faces and rapid pulse.   An emetic was administered,
the berries were thrown up,  and the symptoms gradually disap-
peared.            •
  This case shadows forth a group of Typhus cerebralis and Hysteria.
  By studying a feAV more cases of poisoning by Belladonna, we
shall find it exceedingly easy to  obtain a comprehensive and correct
knowledge of the  general  therapeutic  range of this powerful and
exceedingly important agent.

  A boy of six  years swallowed a few berries of Belladonna, and
was  attacked  with violent colic; he jumped out of bed, became
delirious, broke out into loud laughter, and lost his senses so entirely
that he did not even recognize his own parents.  Pulse slow and full;
head and face neither red nor  hot;  pupils exceedingly dilated and
insensible to the light; abdomen  somewhat distended.  After drink-
ing water and vinegar, he vomited black, slimy masses.
  This case illustrates the power of Belladonna to disturb the brain.
The delirium was characterized  by loud laughter and loss of sense.

  Six individuals, the mother,  four children and a servant, ate a few
berries of Belladonna at supper.   The mother and servant each ate
about six.  They were attacked with nausea, diplopia, constrictive
sensation in the throat, vertigo and droAvsiness.   Next morning the
servant-girl, who had vomited  previously, only had  headache, with
languor, dilatation of the  pupils,  redness of the face, pulse somewhat
accelerated.  A  girl  of four and  one of eight years, staggered about
the room as if intoxicated, were delirious; face red, eyes protruded,
pupils dilated, with  staring look, increased  heat of the  skin, pulse
very much accelerated.   The mother spent a restless  night, and
towards morning became  a perfect maniac, trying to  bite and strihce
her attendants; the delirium was at times interrupted  by  loud laugh-
ter and grating of the teeth: her head was hot, face  red, look wild
and staring, tongue dry, abdomen somewhat distended, pulse  small
and very frequent.   Two children, one of two years and a half, and
the other of six, who had eaten  the largest quantity of the berries,
were soporous, Avith violent spasms of the extremities; head hot, face
red, eyes protruded, pupils very  much dilated, look  staring, tongue
dry,  abdomen distended  and  very  hard, pulse very frequent and
small, grating of the teeth and croupy cough.
  An emetic  of the sulphate of  copper was  given, three and five
grains; cathartics were employed, water and vinegar as  a beverage,
cold fomentations to the head,  leeches to the temples, and mustard-
poultices to the feet and legs.  All Avere saved.
  This case shows that Belladonna is capable of producing rage.
  The soporous condition of the children reveals the power of causing
violent sanguineous  engorgements of the brain, and  of  developing
spasms in consequence of this excessive  pressure upon this central
nervous mass.   The spasms may also  be accounted for upon the 
                     ATROPA  BELLADONNA.                 343

ground that the  irritation induced  in the brain, was successively
communicated to the ganglionic system.
  The cerebral symptoms exhibited by the children, likewise deli-
neate in a  most marked and characteristic manner a pathological
process in all respects analogous to hydrocephalus.  The sopor^ the
grating of the teeth and the convulsions  of the extremities charac-
terize the transition from the inflammatory stage to that of effusion.

  _ These few cases of poisoning evidence  the great power possessed
by  Belladonna over the functions of the cerebro-spinal axis, and
testify to the therapeutic virtues which Belladonna must evince in
some of the most formidable cerebral diseases.  It is not only from
cases of poisoning, hoAvever, that these  virtues are inferred; they
have likewise been made apparent by systematic provings upon the
healthy.  Let us now proceed to consider  the physiological action of
Belladonna under the usual categories,  introducing characteristic
effects of poisonous doses according as they may aid us in completing
the parallel between the series of pathological and that of pathogen-
etic phenomena.

                     CEPHALIC  GROUP.

  In looking at the  symptoms which Hahnemann has recorded as
the result of the action of moderate  doses of Belladonna upon  the
brain, we  shall find that various forms of headache are distinctly
delineated  by these symptoms.  Some of the most characteristic are :
  Pressure in the brain, with sopor and vomiting;
  Headache, especially in  the  forepart of  the  head, worse during
motion and when stooping ;
  Continuous and forcible dilatation  of the  whole brain:
  Sensation as if the sutures of the skull should be pressed asunder ;
feeling in the head  as if a lever were applied for the  purpose of
breaking it asunder.
  Headache above the orbits as though the brain should be pressed
out, obliging him  to keep  his eyes closed,  with contraction of the
pupils ;
  Pressure in the head, extending over a large  surface ;
  Sensation in the forehead as though the brain were ascending and
descending;
  Pain as if the head were screwed together from side to side ;
  Violent throbbing pain in the forehead, as if  the bone  should  be
raised;
  Throbbing from  before  backwards,  externally the  throbbing
terminates in stitches.
  These symptoms indicate the use of Belladonna in
   Congestive Headache, which may result from  a  variety of causes,
rheumatic exposure, sudden suppression of  diarrhoea, of the menses,
or of haemorrhoids, etc.
  Belladonna may also cause tearing, boring, lancinating and jerking
pains in the head.  Hence we may find this drug indicated in
  Rheumatic and Nervous Headaches or Hemicrania, Avhere symptoms
of cerebral engorgement will however not be wanting. 
344
LECTURE XXII.
  If Belladonna is specifically indicated  in a case of headache, a
cure may be affected in a very  short period.  A man had been
complaining for four weeks of a very disagreeable  heaviness and
fulness  in  the  whole forepart of the head, with sensation as  if
thousands of ants were  crawling  under the  parietal  bones, and  a
feeling, when stooping, as if the brain would fall forwards.  He took
a feAV spoonfuls  of a solution of one drop of the tincture of Bella-
donna in a tumblerful of Avater, and was permanently and radically
cured.

  The few cases of poisoning which we have related  previously,
suggest the use of Belladonna in
   Vertigo; ■
  Apoq)lexy ;
   Congestion of the brain ;
  Phrenitis, inflammation of the brain ;
  Mania-a-polu ;
   Typhus ;
  Dementia, Mania, Rage.

                           Vertigo.

   The patient  wants to turn  about in a circle as sheep do when
afflicted with the disease known as Vertigo.   Orfila  produced this
symptom in his experiments  with Belladonna.  The derangement
may be functional, or it may result from some disorganization.   In
Froriep's Notices, we read of a woman aged 55 years,  who Avas first
attacked with Arertigo and  afterwards Avith convulsions, attended
with  an irresistible desire to turn from right to left.   If the patient
happened to be sitting during the paroxysm, she would turn about
with her chair.  At first the paroxysms Occurred seldom, but after-
wards every 15 or 20 minutes,   Between  the paroxysms  she was
conscious, but during the paroxysms she barked liked a dog.  She
died  suddenly.   A post-mortem  examination showed two  osseous
excrescences along the basilar margin of the skull, compressing the
anterior crura  of the medulla oblongata.   The origin  of  the fifth
pair of nerves was softened.  Other cases of this form of vertigo are
recorded.  If merely a symptom of functional disorder,  Belladonna
will relieve it.

                           Apoplexy.

   In some cases of poisoning Belladonna has caused great slowness
 and fullness of the pulse, or else a contracted, hurried and  intermit-
 ting pulse; some patients have lost their consciousness,  Avith sudden
 falling down, and paralysis of the lower extremities.   An old farmer
 who had  eaten a considerable quantity of the berries, was seized
 with profound coma and obstinate constipation.  Belladonna causes
 dilatation  and  insensibility of the  pupils;  bloating and  glowing
 redness of the face, purple spots in the face, protrusion  and injected
 condition  of the  eyeballs;   deep,  stertorous,  rattling breathing; 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
345
burning heat of the skin ;  in short a group of symptoms which  are
eminently characteristic of apoplexy.

                  Congestion of the  brain.

  All the prominent symptoms in a case of poisoning by Belladonna
show, that sanguineous engorgement of the cerebral vessels is  one
of the most marked effects of this drug.   The face looks  bloated,
red; the carotids  throb violently; the jugulars are swollen;  the
skin is burning and  dry;  the  patient lies in a  state of sopor, from
Avhich  he wakes every now and then Avith a start;  the  eyes look
blood-shot and seem to protrude from their sockets; the pupils  are
excessively contracted, or  this excessive  contraction may alternate
with extreme dilatation.  No  agent corresponds with such  a group
of symptoms  more accurately than Belladonna.  We do not  hesitate
to give it in  tablespoonful doses of a  solution of one drop of  the
ordinary tincture, or five  drops of the first decimal attenuation in
about ten tablespoonfuls of water.

Phrenitis,  Meningitis,  Encephalitis,  Inflammation of  the
                            Brain.

  In this disease,  Belladonna is one  of the main supports of  the
homoeopathic physician.   It is indicated
  a. by the pains, tearing, lancinating, throbbing and deep-seated
aching pains;
  b. by the signs of vascular engorgement, swelling of the head  and
face, burning redness of the face, protrusion and congested  appear-
ance of the eyes; purple spots in the face, heat of the head, throbbing
of the carotids and temporal arteries;
  c. by the fever, pulse full, hard and tense; skin burning and dry,
excessive thirst during the moments of consciousness.
  d. by the  delirium, which is generally of the violent kind;  the
patients  howl,  kick, tear  and strike about with an extraordinary
power of resistance.
  e. by the condition of the pupils: they are contracted and exceed-
ingly sensitive to the light;
  /. by the consensual phenomena and  phenomena of the ganglionic
system, such  as: deafness  and blindness, or excessive sensitiveness
to noise ; sudden changes of color in the face from red to pale; start-
ing of the extremities and subsultus tendinum, sopor; and lastly
  g. by the character of the secretions; the urine  looks red  and the
bowels are bound.
  Belladonna affects the brain and nervous system generally in a
precisely similar manner;  hence the remarkable control which
Belladonna has over inflammation of the brain in all curable cases
where these phenomena constitute characteristic indications.
  Belladonna is even homoeopathic to
  Hydrocephalus or Dropsy of the Brain;  Avhen resulting from pre-
vious  inflammation.    Belladonna has  all the  symptoms Avhich
generally mark the setting in of effusion into the ventricles, grating 
346
LECTURE XXII.
of the teeth, frequent  changes of color, sudden and extraordinary
dilatation of the pupils, tetanic convulsions, coldness  of the skin,
slowness and  sinking  of the pulse,  Avhich gradually changes to a
quick, small and compressible pulse, and at times even involuntary
discharge of stool and urine.  Belladonna is useful in hydrocephalus
only in cases that had  been treated alloeopathically, and where this
agent was originally indicated.  If effusion sets in in inflammation
of the brain, under the use of Belladonna, we cannot expect much
of this agent, and some other medicine, such as Sulphur, Helleborus,
Digitalis or Mercurius, will have to be resorted to.
   In  Chronic or Congenital  Hydrocephalus, Belladonna may possibly
be of use, together with Sulphur, Digitalis, etc.
   In  Tubercular Meningitis, the effusion at the base  of the  skull
where the tubercles are more generally  formed,  may perhaps be
prevented by the timely use of Belladonna.   But whether a resolu-
tion and absorption of  the tubercular deposit  can be effected by any
treatment, is still undecided.   The prognosis in all such cases is so
far exceedingly unfavorable.

   In Encephialomacia or Softening of the Brain, Belladonna is, as  far
as we  know, an agent  that may prove of importance.   The symp-
toms  which characterize this disease, point  to a  condition of the
brain  such as  may develop itself under  the paralyzing  action of
Belladonna.  Loss of memory, depression of the sensorial functions,
vertigo, blackness of sight, hardness of hearing, deep-seated aching
pain  in  the  head, difficulty of articulating, dragging gait,  until
paralysis finally sets in.  During such an attack, the patients do
not altogether  lose their consciousness; they  look  pale and their
features  are disfigured;  the pulse  is small, feeble,  filiform; the
brain seems anaemic rather than engorged Avith blood.
   Nevertheless a post-mortem  examination in the earlier period of
the disease, shows the brain dotted with a numberless  multitude of
bloody points, probably effusions  from the mouths of the capillary
vessels.  At a later stage, the brain is found reduced to a soft ulcer-
ous pulp which is sometimes so little coherent that under the least
pressure it will diffuse itself like a liquid mass.  Wibmer mentions
the case  of a man of 62 years who  Avas poisoned by the berries of
Belladonna, and whose brain seems to have undergone  a similar
change of putrid softening.

                         A1ania-a-potu.

   The homoeopathicity of Belladonna to some forms of this disease
is self-evident.   The patients fancy themselves assailed by robbers,
or threatened by mice, rats, cats  and other forms  of animals from
which they endeavor to escape.  The delirium is of a furious kind ;
pulse full, hard and bounding;  face bloated and red,  or with purple
spots ; eyes glistening and staring, at times gorged with blood.  Such
patients are troubled Avith all sorts of  hallucinations; they imagine
that somebody  is calling them.   Trembling  of the extremities is a
common symptom ; the urine looks red, the  faeces have a dark and 
atropa belladonna.                 347
burnt appearance, and the skin, although warm, yet may be drenched
with sweat.
  The principal indications for Belladonna in  this disease are the
character of the delirium, and the signs of cerebral congestion which
are undoubtedly present in mania-a-potu.
  According to Schoenlein, the absence of all signs of cerebral con-
gestions and of fever, constitutes a diagnostic sign of this disease as
contrasted with inflammation of the brain.  This is true in delirium
tremens; but  in mania-a-potu which may be regarded  as  the first
or inflammatory stage of  this disease, a welTmarked inflammatory
fever is present, where the existence of cerebral congestions is unmis-
takeable.

                            Typhus.

  The homoeopathicity of Belladonna to typhus is substantiated by
a number  of symptoms characterizing the  action of  Belladonna
upon the cerebral tissues.  In all forms of typhus  to which Bella-
donna is homoeopathic, the cerebral symptoms are most  marked.
No matter  in  what organ or  tissue the  inflammatory process first
manifested itself, Belladonna may be used in  any form of typhus
where  the delirium and the typhoid symptoms generally are strictly
analogous to those which  Belladonna is capable of causing. These
are :
  Pains in the head such as may be occasioned  by Belladonna, par-
ticularly a violent  beating in the head ; distress as if the skull-cap
would fly off; feeling of heat in the head ;
  Expression of distress and suffering in the countenance ;
   Glistening and staring, also  blood-shot eyes,  also with spasmodic
rolling of the eyeballs upwards  or laterally, and alternate  contrac-
tion and dilatation of the pupils;
  Thickness and heaviness of the tongue, almost amounting to para-
lysis, so that the patient is only able to utter inarticulate  sounds;
the tongue looks and feels like scorched leather, is  covered with a
thick, glazed, brown or blackish looking coating;
   Unquenchable thirst, sometimes  attended Avith spasmodic  constric-
tion of the throat and intense burning in the fauces so that  the least
attempt to swallow a drop of liquid causes suffocating spasms of the
throat and general tetantic convulsions;
  Typliomania, alternate coma and delirium Avhich is at-times bland,
at others furious; the patient can hardly be  held on  his bed, he
wants  to get away, strikes about,  uses profane language, etc.
  Optical phiantasms and  hiallucinations, which  will be described in
the optical group.
  Picking at the bed-clothes and catchiing at flocks;
  In the first stage of typhus the pulse may be undulating  and soft,
but  somewhat accelerated.  As  the disease progresses, the pulse
increases in  frequency, becomes  smaller and  more compressible.
When the paralytic stage is approaching, the contents of the boAvels
and bladder pass off involuntarily, and the  skin  becomes covered
Avith a clammy sweat.   Belladonna may be indicated even in this 
348
LECTURE XXII.
 stage, for our provings and the effects of poisonous doses show, that
 this agent causes a paralytic relaxation of the sphincters, dryness,
 brittleness and increased Avarmth  of the skin, with partial clammy
 sweats, and a hurried, feeble, vibratory pulse.
   A case of poisoning is reported in Frank's Magazine Avhich shoAvs
 conclusively that Belladonna is capable of causing paralysis, and may
 therefore be of use in the paralytic stage of typhus.   The paralytic
 symptoms Avere induced  by an injection consisting of a decoction of
 three drachms of the leaves of Belladonna in three  quarts of Avater.
   The eyeballs were considerably protruded, immovable, sometimes
 bathed in tears ; the pupils enormously dilated.  Froth at the mouth;
 tongue paralyzed,  dry, cracked; loss of speech, difficulty of swal-
 lowing; face sunken, covered with a cold, clammy sAveat.  Stupor;
 trembling of the arms  Avhen attempting the least motion; pulse
 small, contracted, it cannot be counted, cold sweat on the extremi-
 ties ; breathing apparently unimpeded, but Avith frequent moanings;
 the abdomen drawn in rather than distended ; a watery and inodorous
 urine  was discharged continually without consciousness;  bowels
 entirely bound; the loAver extremities were not exactly paralvzed
 but cold and half rigid.

                    Mania, Dementia, Rage.

   In the  '_' Afental Group" we  shall range a number of  phenomena
 which indicate Belladonna as a great remedy for different forms of
 mental alienation, more particularly for
   Mania, both acute and chronic:
   Monomania, or  partial mania ; and for
   Dementia, or craziness.

                      NERVOUS GROUP.

   The action of Belladonna upon the ganglionic system is marked
 by the most extraordinary phenomena.   We may consider it under
 the different heads of
   Neuralgia.
   Rheumatism.
   Spasms and Convulsions, and
   Paralysis.

                         a. Neuralgia.

  Many of the symptoms obtained by the provers of Belladonna
point to its power of causing neuralgia of various nervous centres or
ramifications.  In neuralgia of the nerves  of the face, Belladonna
has proved an eminently useful agent.   AYe find the action of Bella-
donna  upon the nerves of the face characterized  by a variety of
sensations and abnormal appearances such as may occur in neuralgia.
YYe have swelling and inflammation of one side  of, or  of the whole
face; burning, creeping, cutting,  tearing,  drawing,  lancinating and
stinging pains in  the face; these pains  may be  accompanied by
irritation and inflammation of the eyeballs, headache, etc. 
atropa belladonna.
349
  Even in the hands of Old-School  physicians  Belladonna has
proved of infinite value in  the treatment of neuralgia.  AYe will
relate a few cases of cure which we find related in Frank's Alagazine,
and Avhich we have every right to claim for our law:  " Similia simi-
libus curantur."
  A gardener, twenty-seven years old, of robust  constitution and
sanguine temperament, who was bled  several times a year for violent
headache, was attacked with exceedingly violent pains in the right
frontal region, involving at the same time the right eye.   This hap-
pened on a cold December morning, after he had been Avorking for
a long time in the open air.  The pains came  on at five o'clock  in
the morning,  and continued till nine or ten o'clock in the evening.
The paroxysms commenced with a prickling sensation, followed by
lancinating pains, redness  of the eye-ball, with lachrymation and
excessive sensitiveness to the  light: the pupils were exceedingly
contracted, and the distress was truly agonizing.   The pulse and
other bodily functions Avere perfectly natural.  After the violence
of the pains had subsided, a feeling of  dulness and stupefaction
remained.  The temples and the parts adjoining the base of the orbit
were fomented with a solution of one drachm of the  extract of Bel-
ladonna  in an ounce  of distilled Avater; on the third day all his
sufferings were  ended.  For three months subsequently, when the
case was reported, he had been perfectly free from  pain.  In this
case, if the medicine had been given internally as well as externally,
of course in appropriate doses, the cure would most probably have
been achieved in a  still shorter period.

   A lady was suffering with intense, lancinating pains in the right
eye, which materially interfered Avith the sight.  There Avere no signs
of inflammation.  The extract of Belladonna was  used in the same
way as in the foregoing case, and on  the following morning the pain
had completely  ceased.
   Lisfranc is of the opinion that Belladonna has a  specific action on
the fifth pair of nerves ; he infers this from  Alagendie's numerous
experiments with this substance upon animals.
   In a case of neuralgia of the infra-orbital nerve, where a number
of  remedies had been used in  vain, the affection  was promptly
and permanently cured by rubbing the extract of Belladonna  under
the eye.   The attack had originally been induced by a contusion.

   In Baldinger's Magazine the folloAving beautiful cure of rheumatic
prosopalgia is reported, which we find quoted in Frank's Magazine.
A  plethoric girl of twenty-four years was  attacked one evening,
without  any apparent cause, with spasms of various kinds, convul-
sions,  tetanus, opisthotonos, emphrosthotonos, trismus.   Bleeding
relieved her at the  time.  A relapse took place six Aveeks afterAvards,
after which she  had a paroxysm every few weeks  for a whole year.
In the month of August she Avas attacked with rheumatic prosopal-
gia, after which the  spasms ceased.  The pain  Avas seated in the
right  zygomatic process near  the  temporal bone, became  more
intense from day to day, and became more violent from  five o'clock 
350
LECTURE XXII.
 in the afternoon  until midnight.   She took seven  grains  of the
 powdered leaves  of Belladonna  in the evening  before  bedtime.
 This dose caused  a burning in the throat, some nausea and slight
 stupefaction.   Three doses sufficed to perfect a cure.   BetAveen the
 doses of Belladonna the patient took a dose of  Rhubarb to act on
 the bowels.
   A smaller dose of Belladonna Avould  have been  amply sufficient
 to effect a cure; the rhubarb Avas given for the purpose of counter-
 acting any possible excess of Belladonna-action.  A smaller dose of
 this agent would  have rendered  the rhubarb unnecessary.  How
 long will it be before  allceopathic  physicians become aware of the
 fact that a curative end can be reached without  first  poisoning the
 patient and  afterwards counteracting the poison  by an antidote.
 The curative or dynamic  effects of a drug can be  reached without
 poisonous effects being developed  at the same time.  Homoeopathy
 teaches the method of  accomplishing this end.

   Another interesting case of neuralgia was relieved by means of an
 injection of Belladonna.   The patient AA'as a lady of sixty-six years.
 She was attacked ever}'- two, three or four weeks, without any appa-
 rent cause, with violent tensive-tearing pains in the ileo-coecal region,
 during which the abdomen Avas distended but soft, pulse normal, the
 emission of urine scanty;  at the same time she experienced a sensa-
 tion of icy-coldness in the back, and a feeling  of numbness and
 lameness in the right thigh.  She belched up wind,  sometimes had a
 passage immediately previous to the attack ; one or two days after
 the attack, she passed dry little lumps of burnt faeces.  Itching of
 the anus and pudendum supervened afterwards, with heat and burn-
 ing at  the anus and in the urethra ; the pain in the ileo-coecal region
 sometimes extended to the stomach.  The paroxysms set in Avith a
 creeping sensation  in the ileo-coecal region, and very soon  the pain
 increased to a very high degree of intensity.   Hard pressure upon
 the affected region  caused great pain.  An injection of forty-four
 grains  of the powdered leaves of Belladonna in four ounces of water
 gradually caused an entire subsidence of the pain.  For six months
 she  remained free from all pain, and gained in flesh and strength.
 A slight paroxysm occurred during winter, and another during fall
 and  spring, Avhich  were readily controlled  by  the application  of
 warm clothes.
   We  will add that this dose caused the following medicinal symp-
 toms :  feeling of warmth and well-being in the bowels, sensation of
 warmthi ascending  from the  stomach to the throat and head; bitter
 taste in the mouth; feeling of heat and fulness in the head especially
 above the eyebrows ; dilatation of the pupils; feeling  of dryness in the
 fauces; redness and bloating of the face; measle-shaped spots in the
 face and on the neck ; dark redness of the whole of the buccal cavity ;
 pulse 115, 120, full and hard; vision of fiery men; afterwards cloudi-
 ness, drowsiness and difficulty of siuallowing.
   A much smaller dose might  have cured  this neuralgia without
 superinducing any medicinal symptoms.
   In similar cases of  neuralgia Colocynth  may prove a specific
remedy.   AYe refer the reader to this drug. 
atropa belladonna.
351
                         Rheumatism.

  The rheumatic pains which Belladonna is capable of exciting are
of various kinds, such as :
  Painful swelling and stiffness in the nape of the neck;
  Lameness of the  upper limbs, or lameness and pressure of the
arms, with weakness;
  Creeping along the  extremities, as from a fly crawling over them,
also with innumerable stitches;
  Cutting pains along the bones in the extremities, also with tingling;
  Pain in the long bones as if bruised, and as  if they would crumble
like decaying wood;  the pain is a fine stinging and gnawing pain in
the long bones, and sometimes accompanied by violent tearing in
the joints;
  DraAving, cutting, tearing and lancing pains, either in the joints or
along the long bones or phalangeal bones.

  In a case of poisoning, related in Frank's  Magazine, the patient
complained of pain in all his joints, and of a painful sensation of
chilliness in the parts down to the ends of  the toes and fingers.
  This last-mentioned symptom shows  that  Belladonna may be a
specific remedy in certain forms of
  Articular Rheumatism, especially when  accompanied with chilly
creepings in the limbs and symptoms of incipient paralysis.

  Belladonna being in marked and  specific rapport with the brain,
it may be  specifically indicated in articular rheumatism with super-
vention of typhoid symptoms.  In these forms of rheumatic inflam-
mation, Ave must never  expect to find the  pulse full, hard  and
bounding  as it is in cases where Aconite is indicated.  The pulse
is accelerated and someAvhat fuller and larger than in the  normal
condition, but not hard or resisting.
  In a case of Neuralgic Rheumatism of the right upper extremity,
with lancinating pain  from the top of the shoulder to the wrist when
attempting to make the least motion ; intensely distressing, crawling
sensation in the humerus, and sensation as if the bone would crumble
to atoms:  a drop of the tincture of Belladonna in a  tumblerful of
water effected a prompt and radical cure.

                  Spasms and Convulsions.

  The spasms which Belladonna is capable of exciting, are various.
  In one case  of poisoning, the patient  sat in his bed, expressing
great anxiety and restlessness, and  turning hiis head continually to
and fro;
  In other cases the muscles of one side of the face were convulsively
agitated ;
  In one case it is stated that the patient indulged in  the strongest
gesticulations,  and performed  the. movements  of  the  body  with the
greatest agility.   This  effect of  Belladonna  shoAVS that it may be a
remedy for                                         * 
352
LECTURE XXII.
  Chiorea.—Another boy swallowed some of  the  berries of Bella-
donna which caused him to perform the strangest, convulsive mo-
tions as though he Avere affected with chorea.
  In  another case, the poAver of Belladonna  to excite chiorea, was
strikingly evidenced.  A boy of four years, who had eaten several
berries of Belladonna, Avas seized soon  after with  sardonic laughter.
After a while the  child  commenced to  turn about in a circle, and,
after several gyrations, would  undoubtedly have fallen unless sup-
ported by others.  He was seized with  spasms ; fever supervened;
the extensor, flexor and pronator muscles of the  upper and lower
extremities, and, indeed, the muscles of the Avhole body were by
turns, agitated Avithout interruption by spasmodic contractions caus-
ing frightful contortions.  The convulsions of  the  obicularis oris, of
the muscles of the  eye and face caused horrid grimaces.  The pulse
was small, contracted, hurried, intermittent and jerking.
  In chiorea, Avhere Belladonna is indicated, we may find symptoms
of  cerebral congestion, or of  cerebral disease,  impaired mental
power even amounting to  imbecility.
  An excessiAre  uneasiness in  the extremities  may likewise induce
chorea-like movements of  the parts.  In one case, this uneasiness in
the arms and legs, especially in the  hands and feet, and  also in  the
head, obliged the patient to move these  parts continually, and even
to shake the head  convulsively to and fro.

  A very interesting case  of chiorea minor, or muscular uneasiness,
Inquietudo muscular is, is reported in the Vierteljahrsschrift, (Homceop.
Quarterly Journal,) where Belladonna effected a speedy and perma-
nent cure.   A girl of nineteen years had been  laboring for some
time under severe  mental affliction in consequence  of which she was
attacked with  spasmodic  twitchings of a  number  of  muscular
bundles, except the muscles of the face.  Pressure upon the abdo-
men induced opisthotonos.  No convulsions during sleep.  Fauces
very much  inflamed, and   covered  here and there Avith a layer of
mucus.  Pulse accelerated, full;  skin  inclined to  perspire.  The
patient had been put on the use of Ignatia—a most uncalled-for pre-
scription, and determined  by that single  symptom, spasm, Avithout
any reference whatever  to the character of the pathological process.
Of course, this drug proved of no use Avhatever; Belladonna 6,
effected a perfect cure in a few days.

   The convulsions which Belladonna  excites, may be of various
kinds, and may suggest the use of this agent in
   Irregular Convulsive Paroxysms,
   Tetanic convulsions,
   Epileptic convulsions,
   Hysteric convulsions,
  Puerperal convulsions,
  Dental convulsions.
   The belladonna  convulsions  are  generally accompanied by pecu-
liar distinguishing phenomena, as may  be seen from  the following
series: 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
353
   Convulsions which made the patient run up the Avail;
   Convulsions which are  renewed by  the least contact, with  hic-
cough, weariness and anxiety;
   Convulsions, with screams and loss of consciousness ;
   Convulsions, with delirium and laughter;
   Convulsions, with rolling of the eyeballs;
   Convulsions, with startings of the hands and feet, with insensi-
bility and rattling breathing;
   Convulsions alternating  with complete immobility;
   Tetanic spasms, opisthotonos, spasmodic inclination  of the head
and body to the left side;
   Hysteric convulsions, with  risus  sardonicus, heat  of the head,
sudden changes of color in the face ;
   Convulsions of the abdominal muscles in hysteria;
 _  Paroxysms of rigidity and immobility of  all the limbs or of a
single limb only, sometimes accompanied with  insensibility, disten-
tion of the cutaneous veins,  red and puffed face, full  and  quick
pulse, and profuse sweat;
   Epileptic spasms;
   Convulsions from teething, with grating of the teeth ;

   In Puerperal Convulsions, Belladonna may prove eminently useful
if  the existence of cerebral congestions, bloating and redness of the
face,  protrusion  and  suffusion  of the  eye-balls;  dilatation  and
insensibility  of the pupils, sometimes  alternating Avith extreme
contraction,  coldness of the hands and  feet, and a small, jerking
hurried and perhaps intermitting pulse, justify the use of the drug.

   Belladonna has always been considerad a sort of specific for
   Hydropmobia.  We know that  no known drug has  the power of
simulating hydrophobia to  the same  extent  as Belladonna.  In  a
case reported  in  the " Oestreichischen Jahrbuchern"  (Austrian
Annals of Medicine), two little boys who had  been poisoned with
the berries  of Belladonna, exhibited,  among other  symptoms,  a
remarkable aversion to liquids; as soon as a spoon or a glass contain-
ing a liquid was put to their lips, the boys  cried out  vehemently,
clenched their teeth  spasmodically, and the liquid had  to be forced
down their throats, after which they Vere seized with spasms.
   Belladonna is said to have cured many cases of genuine hydro-
phobia.  In  other cases it is said to have prevented  an outbreak of
this frightful  disease.   Murraj7-, in his "Apparatus  medicaminum,"
reports a number of successful trials Avhich were made with Bella-
donna in this disease.   Other successful  cases  of hydrophobia  are
reported  by Hufeland.  Trousseau and Pidoux deny  that hydro-
phobia was  ever cured by Belladonna,  and  they are disposed to
reject the evidence of Munch  and  his  sons,  quoted  by Murray.
Bayle,  on the contrary, in his " Bibliotheque  de Therapeutique,"
reasons in this wise  concerning  Munch's cases:  Belladonna was
given to one hundred and eighty-two patients, all of whom had been
bitten by mad dogs.  One hundred and seventy-six of this number
had been bitten recently, and showed no symptoms of hydrophobia;
                              23 
354
LECTURE XXII.
in the remaining six the diseases had fairly broken out; one of these
Avas attacked with aversion to water, convulsions and other cerebral
symptoms.  Here are the results of the treatment:  The  one hun-
dred and seventy-six,  recently bitten, were  preserved (Alunch  and
his sons); of the six attacked with the disease, four were cured, and
tAvo  died (Munch, Bucholz, Neimecke).   We may of course  enter-
tain doubts concerning the correctness of all these trials; we may
object that the madness of the dogs was  not  proven;  but, unless we
take it for granted that Alunch was  an  imposter, I should say that
one must be woefully given to scepticism in  order to reject all the
results stated by this author.  Why, then, it may be asked, has not
this mode of treatment been  adopted ?  For a very simple reason ;
it  is this: Of the physicians who were  called upon  to  treat the
patients that had  been bitten by mad dogs,  not one  has instituted
consistent experiments with Belladonna,  either because he was igno-
rant of  Alunch's  labors, or because he  was carried away by the
spirit of system, and  rejected beforehand every  thing that  might
seem contrary to his preconceived theory."
   AYe may here add that Munch was a  Protestant minister of good
standing in  his OAvn country; his sons were  respectable physicians,
and the names of  Bucholz and Neimecke enjoy an  enviable distinc-
tion in the literature of Medicine.

   A remarkable case of hydrophobia is related in Hufeland's Journal,
which Ave find quoted in that most useful and instructive publication,
Frank's Physiological Magazine.
   A man attacked with hydrophobia, bit several  individuals, some
of whom died with the disease.   Two of these patients were treated
Avith Belladonna, and both of them recovered.
   A robust woman, of not very sensitive disposition,  had just lost a
child, eleven years old, with hydrophobia.  The disease  broke out
one hundred and six days after the child had been bitten.   Another
child, a boy  of five years, was bitten by the same  dog,  and Avas
attacked forty-one days  after the  bite.   When her daughter died,
the woman conceived the thought that she too would be attacked
with hydrophobia, for she had been  bitten by an  apparently rabid
dog prior to her daughter.  The paroxysm broke out two days after
her daughter's death, which  tc?ok place  on the 13th of December.
On the 15th of December, at three o'clock  in the morning, after  a
restless night, the mother was attacked with  tightness and anxiety
on the  chest, a feeling of fright, sudden  starting from  sleep,  shrill
screams, dryness in the throat, tight feeling in the head, especially in
the forehead, disposition to vomit, etc.  These phenomena increased
in intensity.  At six o'clock the patient attempted to go to church,
but had to return home again on account of sickness at the stomach.
Dr. Sauter saw her first at seven o'clock.  The face was somewhat
reddish, her expression frightful, intense, wild; eyes suffused, keen,
restless; pupils contracted;  tongue dry and clean, neck bloated.
All the muscles of the body were constantly twitching, the breathing
hurried and  suffocating, the chest heaved violently, the abdomen had
the natural size.  She pulled everything that she could lay hold of, 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
355
towards her; was still rational,  but attempted  to  escape.  She
frequently jumped out of her bed suddenly, her voice was hoarse and
she found it difficult to articulate ;  pulse, small, rather hard and con-
tracted.  The spot on the hand where she had been  bitten, and
where only a small, elongated cicatrix  had  been observed, was
bluish,  somewhat  swollen and painful.  A few days previous she
had said that, ever since she was bitten, she had experienced a pecu-
liar prickling, stinging sensation in the part, which sometimes looked
blue  and  at other times red, and for some  time  back had been
without any feeling.  Her arm felt as if torpid : she complained of
dizziness, great dryness in the throat without actual thirst;  she was
still able to drink  water, but with difficulty.  At eight  o'clock the
patient  was given eight grains of the powdered leaves of Belladonna
at one dose.  Half an hour after, the  dryness  in the throat became
more violent  and  afterwards increased every fifteen  minutes.
Towards noon the bitten hand looked bluishi-red, and was painful.
In the  whole arm she  experienced a feeling of  constriction and
violent  stitches which seemed to  dart from the wound.  The face
became bloated, purple, and the skin  of the face looked thick as if
an eruption would break out.   The shcin of the whole body itched,
and about noon red spots made their appearance.   The pupils which
had been contracted heretofore, dilated from hour to hour, until the
patient  saw all objects  indistinctly and multiplied.  The dryness  of
the throat increased, however she was able to swallow a  quantity of
water in order to quench her thirst.  The pulse became fuller, larger,
and towards evening, violently throbbing.   She passed a good deal
of urine.   Her restlessness Avas very great, her gestures looked wild
and  frightful.  Every muscle  seemed to be  in continual motion,
partly voluntary contortions and partly involuntary spasms. Every
instant the patient attempted to jump out of bed, tore the bed-clothes,
attempted to bite,  spit, and grasped violently at every thing near her,
then started back in great fear, uttered unintelligible sounds, was
delirious, though she seemed  to recognize some persons and objects.
In the meanwhile  the bitten hand  became  blood red and  burning.
At four in  the afternoon, a copious  perspiration broke out over the
whole body which continued  until midnight.   During this time the
constriction and anxiety on the chest gradually decreased.  After
midnight, the redness of the  face  and hand became less, the  head
was less embarrassed, and the patient fell into a sound sleep.   Next
day she was tolerably quiet, the bitten hand was no longer red, only
swollen; this swelling  disappeared towards  evening.  After one
o'clock  in  the night, another paroxysm  of rage broke out.   Ten
grains of the root of Belladonna Avere noAV given ;  the same pheno-
mena that were observed after the first dose manifested themselves,
except  with  more intensity.   On  the 19th of December, a  third
paroxysm set in which was much less violent than either of the two
former; she took twelve grains of Belladonna, and the paroxysm
terminated like the preceding  ones, in general perspiration.  This
completed the cure.
Another woman Avho had been  bitten about a month after the 
356
LECTURE XXII.
former patient, showed similar or  rather  identical  symptoms, but
rather less intense.  She Avas treated Avith Belladonna, Avith the same
happy results.
  We regard this as a case of genuine hydrophobia.  The period of
incubation might have lasted a little longer than it did, but for the
shock which the poor mother received on beholding  the frightful
agony of her child.   The case  was treated Avith  Belladonna, in
accordance with the laAV, " Similia similibus curantur."   In Frank's
Alagazine, the object of which is not to spread Homoeopathy, but to
record the facts of practical Aledicine and Ph}rsiology generally, this
case is emphatically claimed for Homoeopathy.
  Though the specific remedy Avas administered in very large doses,
yet the treatment Avas  eminently  homoeopathic.   In  the year  1801,
when these cases occurred, the  theory of  small doses  was still
undeveloped, and the doctrine was still current that a cure can only
be affected by creating an  artificial disease that should overpower
the natural malady  by its greater intensity.   Hence the large  dose;
hence the numerous symptoms of poisoning Avith Avhich the natural
disease became unnecessarily mixed up.  AYe knoAV perfectly at the
present period that the pathological process  is not the disease, but
the  effect of a morbific force acting upon, and  pervading certain
tissues.   AYe  likewise know that the medicine  may hush  up this
pathological process Avithout first  creating a similar, but more intense
derangement.  AYe knoAV  that a cure may  be  affected by simply
neutralizing, through the  universally-operating  laAV of attractive
affinity, the  immaterial, dynamic force, and that this process of
neutralization is specifically accomplished by bringing the molecules
of  an agent constituting the substratum  or  material  type of the
morbific force, to bear upon this force in such numbers and in such
a state of preparation as shall secure full play for the gradual union
or amalgamation of the dynamico-immaterial forces of  disease with
the material, or as the case may be, semi-spiritualized  molecules of »
the drug.  The determination  of the quantitative and qualitative
conditions of  the remedial agent,  in which  this neutralizing play of
affinities will  operate  surely and safely, is the province of art; where
ever it does operate rightly, so-called medicinal aggravations either
remain unperceived or else they  are so slight that  they cannot be
deemed of much importance.

   The following case  is reported  in Rust's  Magazine.   Four weeks
ago, a woman had been bitten  by a  mad dog.  The wound not
bleeding, and the epidermis being only a little scratched, no  atten-
tion was paid to  this accident.   After the  lapse of four weeks, the
woman suddenly lost her appetite, she became restless, spent a sleep-
less night, absorbed in  anxious reA^eries, felt still more anxious and
restless during the next day, and Avas moreover attacked with vertigo
and constriction of the fauces.   After these  dangerous symptoms had
developed themselves, she received five grains of the powdered leaves
of Belladonna at a dose.  After taking two grains, the symptoms had
entirely disappeared.   A few more doses Avere given,  and the patient
remained well.  The profuse perspiration and the swelling of the in- 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
357
jured part, which  generally follow the use of Belladonna, were not
observed in this case.
  In  Teste's NeAV  System of Materia  Aledica, we find the following
letter from  a Russian Counsellor of State, Alexander Stcherbinine,
furnishing strong  presumptive evidence of the prophylactic virtues
of Belladonna.  Alunch's cases, previously alluded to,  where the
paroxysms were prevented  in  one  hundred  and seventy-six cases,
will be remembered on this occasion.
  "At your  request," (the letter is  addressed  to Dr. Teste,) "I send
you the  following detailed  account of a case which shows conclu-
sively, as it seems to me, the prophylactic virtues of Belladonna in
hydrophobia.
  "I  spent  the summer of  1850  at  Oranienbaum, a country-seat
which is  situated  about ten miles  from St. Petersburg.   On a fine
morning, I took a walk Avith my wife in the pine-grove adjoining
the village of Oranienbaum.  AYe were accompanied by our dog, a
female of the King-Charles breed.  Leaving the foot-path, she met
a sickly-looking dog  coming  from the village, and running in a
straight line, with  his head and tail hanging clown.  She was bitten
by this dog,  Avho continued  on his  course without the least change
in his features.   I  conceived the most serious apprehensions, for the
dog seemed  to exhibit all  the signs of incipient hydrophobia.  A
few minutes  after,  having returned  home, I gave our dog a drop of
the third  attenuation of  Belladonna.  Six Aveeks after, the dog who
Avas lying quietly  at  the  feet of my wife, rose precipitately, and ran
about the room; soon after she stumbled on flower-pots, and swal-
lowed a few flowers, especially reseda.  AYe tried to catch her; but
she escaped into the garden, and ran about in every direction, tear-
ing out and  eating grass.  'This paroxysm lasted about five minutes,
after  which she returned to the room and  remained quiet.  This
happened towards the end  of August.  At the  commencement of
October, after our  return to the city, the same paroxysm took place
in closed rooms.  The dog ran  through  all of them, panting as
during the first paroxysm;  she again threw herself on the flower-
pots, and  SAvalloAved  all  the reseda  she  could lay hold of.  In vain
Ave tried  to  catch  her; she would jump on chairs and window-sills.
In  four or  five minutes she became quiet, and has remained well
ever since.
  "It seems to me that these two paroxysms each of which took
place in  the morning at the very  hour when the dog  had been
bitten, were symptoms of incipient  hydrophobia, the breaking out.
of which was prevented by  the reactive power of the medicine.  It
behooves professional men to test the prophylactic virtues of Bella-
donna in hydrophobia, and set this hypothesis at rest."

  In Epileptic Convulsions, Belladonna has proved useful, especially
in those forms of epilepsy which Schosnlein designates as peripheral,
testicular and hvsteric epilepsy; also  in the  so-called idiopathic or
cerebral, Avhere the preliminary and the convulsive stages coincide,
and where the aura, the globus  or spark remains unperceived by the
patient. 
358
LECTURE XXII.
   In the Peripheral form, the attack is apt to commence with a crawl-
ing sensation under the skin; this symptom is particularly character-
istic of Belladonna.
   In Epilepsia testicularis, where the preliminary irritation is first
perceived in the testicles, with violent sexual excitement, involuntary
emission of semen, and in
   Epilepsia hysterica, where the irritation seems to proceed from the
womb, and is perceived like a ball ascending towards the brain, more
particularly in the case of plethoric  Avomen.  Belladonna may prove
one of the useful remedies to be employed.   It has afforded relief in
various cases of
   Idiopathic epilepsy, complicated with symptoms of mental derange-
ment, imbecility or idiocy.  Belladonna has been used in very small
and also in comparatively large doses, of half a grain of the leaves
and  even ten and more  grains each, with equally good effect.  We
prefer from the second to the sixth potency in this disease.
   i
                           Paralysis.

   We know from numerous cases of poisoning that  Balladonna may
cause paralysis of the lower extremities.   The paralysis may be com-
plicated with excessive trembling of the limb; or  the patient  may
complain of  a feeling of chilliness in the limb, with sharp pains in
the affected part;  or the limb may feel numb, cold and the pulse may
be weak, empty, hurried  and intermitting.
   In a case quoted by Frank, in his Alagazine, a boy who had  eaten
five berries of Belladonna in the  evening, found himself on the fol-
lowing morning, with his lower extremities paralyzed.
   In another case of poisoning, where an enema of Belladonna had
been administered, the extremities, upper and  loAver, were in a con-
stant state of  trembling and otherAvise utterly paralyzed; if the arms
were attempted  to be raised, they would drop down  again imme-
diately.  The skin of  the neck  and extremities seemed  to have lost
its sensibility.  Pulse  irritated and accelerated.  Symptoms of cere-
bral congestions, flushed and glowing face, staring and dilated pupils,
suffused conjunctiva.
   We have clinical Old-School experience showing that large  doses
of Belladonna may cause  apoplexy and that afterwards paralysis may
ensue.   In a case of gastric typhus two injections of the root of Bel-
ladonna were administered of fifteen grains each, in consequence of
Avhich the patient became apoplectic, saffron-colored, and in  a few
days died of paralysis.
   We may therefore find Belladonna indicated in
   Paralysis after Apoplexy, either of one side or both sides of the
body, or
   Partial Paralysis of one extremity or of one side  of the face, or of
the organs of speech.  The pulse Avhich indicates Belladonna in this
disease may be slow and  full, but not hard or bounding; generally
it  will be found  small, hurried, weak or perhaps somewhat jerking
and inclining to intermit.  The paralysis may be complicated with
symptoms of  cerebral derangement, vertigo as if the patient  were 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
359
turning in a circle, appearance of fright and imbecility, paralysis or
paralytic Aveakness of the sphincters, with involuntary discharge of
urine and fasces, dilatation or alternate dilatation and contraction of
the pupils.

  Rheumatic Paralysis of the Tongue yields to Belladonna, if the symp-
toms indicate this drug.  A lady of thirty-four years had just recov-
ered from typhus when she took cold, and became paralyzed.   The
paralysis yielded to treatment, except the loss of speech which con-
tinued in spite of all treatment.  She took a single dose of five
grains of the powdered root of Belladonna, and next  morning had
recovered her speech perfectly.
  A much smaller dose would have been sufficient.  Belladonna
was most probably the remedy for the typhus that this young  lady
had been attacked with.

  We have several times adverted to the power possessed by Bella-
donna of curing
  Paralysis of the Sphiincters of the Bladder and Anus,  with involun-
tary and unperceived discharge of urine and faeces.  These paralytic
conditions may be caused by rheumatic exposure, and may also be
entailed upon a patient  as the consequence of some mismanaged
acute disease, such as typhus.

  Paralysis of the Optic and Auditory Nerves from similar causes may
likewise yield to Belladonna, provided  the affection  is curable.
               LECTURE  XXIII.

                 INFLAA1MATORY GROUP.

  Aconite  produces inflammation by depressing  the functional
power of the capillary ramifications of  the ganglionic nerves, leav-
ing the brain undisturbed except in  so  far as it suffers from the
effects of the functional derangement of any portion of the nervous
system.  Belladonna causes inflammation by  first depressing the
brain, after  which the functional power  of the ganglionic system
becomes  similarly but secondarily affected.  Belladonna acts pre-
cisely in a reverse  order.  It affects  the brain primarily and the
ganglionic system incidentally, whereas Aconite affects primarily the
ganglionic system and incidentally the brain.  The first effect of
Belladonna  upon the brain is to depress or unhinge its functional
power and incidentally the functional poAver of the ganglionic sys-
tem ; the stage of organic reaction is characterized, as in the case of
Aconite,  by  capillary engorgements,  a full,  rapid  and  bounding
pulse, glowing redness of the face, protrusion and suffusion of the
eyes, heat of the skin,  etc.  But  in the case of Belladonna, the 
360
LECTURE XXIII.
antagonism  seems to be between the capillaries and  the central
point of the nervous system, the  brain;  whereas, in  the  case  of
Aconite, the antagonism is  between the capillaries and the terminal
ramifications of the ganglionic system.   Hence, in the case of Bella-
donna, the antagonism  is  marked  by more obstinate, more deep-
seated and more dangerous symptoms than in the case of Aconite.
If, in a case of inflammation, the capillaries, under the stimulating
effects of Aconite, persist  in  remaining engorged; if the redness,
SAvelling and heat  continue; if the  cutaneous exhalations shoAV no
signs of return ; if the  brain  continues to feel  dull, weary, torpid,
we may rest assured that the primary seat of the inflammatory pro-
cess  is not in the ganglionic system, but in the brain itself.  AYe do
not  know of a single affection that, under ordinary circumstances,
requires Aconite, for which Belladonna might not likeAvise be indi-
cated, if the origin of the disorder is traceable to an invasion of the
functional powers of the brain itself, instead of depending upon a
simple depression or,  to use  Bichat's language, irritation, of the
ganglionic system.   All the congestions, inflammations, nervous and
cutaneous disorders,  to which  Aconite  is  specifically  adapted, may
require Belladonna,  Avhenever the starting-point of the  affection, or
the primary perception  thereof by the sentinent organism, has to be
sought in the immediate province of the brain  itself.   AYe have
knoAvn whole families where the  cerebral fibre Avas so  much more
sensitive, eA~en to the commonest catarrhal irritations than the gang-
lionic fibre, that the least catarrhal affection, the slightest fever,
Avhich under similar circumstances and in ordinarily normal con-
ditions of the system, Avould have yielded to a single dose of Aconite,
at once assumed the form of an obstinate, intense and deeply-searching
disease, starting from a primary depression or irritation of the cerebral
fibre, and requiring Belladonna as its  specific  remedy from the
commencement.
   Cases may occur where the  primary depression of the ganglionic
system may gradually communicate itself to the brain, and Avhere it
may become necessary  to wind up  the treatment with  Belladonna,
although it  seemed  necessary to commence with Aconite.  It may
even become necessary, on account of this simultaneousness of cerebral
and  ganglionic  irritation, each of which may, to some extent, be
looked upon  as an independent or at  least co-relative affection,
helping to support and  develop the other, to institute an alternate
use of Aconite and Belladonna in appropriate doses and at suitable
intervals.
   AYe Avould  call attention to  the wise provision of Nature that
affections, where Belladonna is required, occur much less frequently
than similar affections that require Aconite.  The brain, in its capa-
city  of supreme preserver and  regulator of all the organic functions,
is guarded from injury by an inherent superiority of resisting power
without which the life of the organism would be in constant jeopardy.
   We might perhaps content oyrjselves with this general explanation
of the physiologico-therapeutic  range of Belladonna, referring the
reader for a detailed account of the special congestive and inflamma-
tory conditions where  Belladonna may be required, to the chapter 
atropa belladonna.
361
on Aconite.  But the subject is too important to be dismissed after
this  general introduction, and we  shall therefore indicate more in
detail some of the leading congestions and inflammations, Avhere the
great powers of Belladonna have to be appealed to as restorers of the
prostrated functions.
  The inflammatory action of Belladonna may develop different
forms of inflammation, phlegmonous, erysipelatous, rheumatic, gan-
grenous, etc.

                a. Phlegmonous Inflammation.

  Some of the most important organs are liable to attacks of acute
inflammation.   Inflammation of  the  brain (phrenitis,  meningitis,
encephalitis) has already been considered under the head of " Cephalic
Group."   We Avill here add that Belladonna may be in  therapeutic
rapport with  inflammation of any part  of the brain.  It may  be
homoeopathic to
  Meningitis, or Inflammation of the Dura Mater, setting  in with a
chill and aftenvards characterized by burning fever, sopor, excessive
dizziness, heat of the head, dry and broAvn-looking tongue, costive-
ness, and retention of urine, dark urine and contraction of the pupils
with sensitiveness to the light;  or to
  Arachmoiditis, or Inflammation of the Arachnoid Membrane, so termed
from the Greek name " arachme," spider—cobweb—membrane.  Here
the pains are more deep-seated, extending over the whole head, of a
tearing and  lancinating  kind, aggravated by moving the heaol,
accompanied by violent congestions with throbbing of the carotids
and temporal arteries,  heat and  flushed appearance of the head.
This inflammation is attended with bland, muttering delirium.  The
pulse is hurried and excited, but not hard and bounding, rather soft.
Among  the gastric  symptoms Ave distinguish Avhite or yelloAvish
coating of the  tongue, retention of stool, but no characteristic changes
in the urine.
  Encephialitis, Phirenitis, to which we have alluded when speaking
of the Cephalic Group.  AYe may here mention
  Encephialitis caused by exposure to  the suns rays, Insolation, Sun-
strohce.  The patients are seized Avith violent  dizziness, so that they
fall  doAvn  unless supported.  In  violent cases they  are suddenly
deprived of consciousness and  fall down as if struck  by apoplexy.
Other symptoms are: violent  stupefying pain in  the head, nausea
and even vomiting, Avhite-coated  and dry tongue, loss of sight and
hearing, stupor and even coma.  Pulse accelerated,  not  hard.
Diminished secretion of fasces and urine.
  Mania-a-potu  constituting a  peculiar phase of Encephialitis pota-
torum or Delirium  tremens, has been referred to among the affections
of the Cephalic Group.  In a  case of delirium tremens quoted in
Ilirschel's  Archives, a little Belladonna ointment was rubbed under
the  eye  in order  to  produce dilatation of the pupils which were
exceedingly contracted.  The dilatation Avas accomplished, and Avith
it disappeared the annoying phantasms by which the  patient was
continually haunted. 
362
LECTURE xxiii.
   Encephialitis  induced by concussion of  the  brain,  or  functional
 derangement of the brain characterized by sopor, muttering or raving
 delirium of the kind Avhich  Belladonna occasions, may be required
 to be treated with this agent.
   In Myelitis, especially in  some forms of this  disease,, it will  be
 impossible to do without Belladonna.  In the  acute form, arising
 suddenly in consequence of exposure to  a draught of air, sudden
 suppression of the perspiration, Aconite may prove our main remedy;
 but in the chronic form, Avhether grafted upon  a  scrofulous diathesis
 or caused by the retrocession of the itch;  and more particularly if
 the bones begin to decay by  ulceration or caries, symptoms of maras-
 mus become apparent, and the  brain  is becoming exhausted in its
 endeavors to maintain the integrity of the vital functions, its OAvn
 energies being bound to some extent by the miasm that is under-
 mining the general structure of the organism; Belladonna  is indis-
 pensable. How far it may be justifiable to use this agent externally
 as well as internally, -will  have to be determined by the character of
 each particular case.

• If there be any truth in our law of cure, Belladonna must  prove
 an agent of great curative value in
   Carditis, when the patient complains of a feeling of agonizing dis-
 tress in the region of the  left ventricle, as from  a red-hot coal; the
 heart thumps violently against the walls of the thorax.  The pulse
 is small,  contracted, jerking, inclining to intermit.   Extremities
 cold, face burning and red;  pupils staring and dilated ; extremities
 trembling and almost paralyzed ;  respiration panting.
  Post-mortem examinations have  shown that  Belladonna  causes
 inflammation of the heart.   The symptoms existing during the life-
 time of the patient, confirm  this result.

  In Pneumonia. Belladonna may become  an indispensable agent, if
 the brain seems to be exhausted  by its  efforts  to supply resisting
 power to the lungs.  The  patient becomes drowsy, the tongue looks
 dry and brown, the lips become parched, the skin feels husky and
 hot, the pulse becomes small, frequent, compressible and even inter-
 mitting.   These symptoms shoAV  that the so-called nervous  stage,
 where  the  inflammatory symptoms  are   over-shadowed  by  the
 symptoms of cerebral prostration, is imminent and should be warded
 off by the timely aid which Belladonna is so Avell calculated,  under
 these circumstances,  to render to the brain.

  Belladonna seems to possess  a specific adaption to  the  sexual
 system of the female.  In
  Metritis, we shall find this agent invaluable, more particularly if
 the inflammation develop itself after confinement or  during preg-
 nancy.  In rheumatic  metritis,  Aconite may have  to be given In
 alternation with Belladonna.  We here allude  more particularly to
 that form of the disease where Belladonna becomes the main remedy.
 This form of metritis may set in in  consequence of menstrual sup-
 pression.  The  patients complain of burning pains  high up in the 
ATROPA belladonna.
363
vagina, and if the peritoneal covering is involved, the hypogastric
region is painful and somewhat distended.  The patients are troubled
with frequent urging to urinate, although they find it difficult to
pass any urine.   The tongue is  first coated white, and nausea  and
vomiting may be present.  The  spirits are generally depressed, the
brain soon shows symptoms of prostration, the patients feel drowsy,
begin  to wander, start and  manifest  other  symptoms ef  nervous
disharmony.  In a case of this kind, resulting from, or accompanied
by menstrual  suppression,  with well marked  predominance of
nervous symptoms, excessive fetor from the uterus, and an exceed-
ingly slight oozing of foul blackish and very fluid  blood,  a  single
drop of Belladonna in a tumblerful of water,  restored the menstrual
discharge and gradually effected a cure.
   Congestion of the uterus, Avith violent pressing, bearing-down pains,
sense of Aveight  in  the  region  of the  uterus, discharge  of white
mucus from the vagina, may require Belladonna.  In a case  of acute
congestion,  resulting from sudden  exposure, and setting in with a
violent chill, followed by high fever,  full bounding and rapid pulse,
Aconite should be given first, and afterAvards Belladonna and Aconite
in alternation.

   Peritonitis may require Belladonna.  The patient experiences a
burning-tearing crampy pain at a certain spot, most frequently near
the naval, whence it speedily flashes over the whole abdomen.  The
abdomen is distended, very painful to the touch, pulse full, hard  and
tense, from 100 to 110 beats in the minute; tongue coated Avhite, urine
hot and excoriating, bowels costive, face flushed.   These symptoms
may undoubtedly indicate Aconite ; but, if the cerebral congestions
are very marked, the face is flushed and  glowing, the pupils show
a disposition to contract, the patient becomes absorbed in  reveries
or is absent-minded, the tongue and lips look dry, or if a tendency
to diarrhoea or involuntary  escape of  faeces develop itself,  Bella-
donna should not be forgotten.
   In Puerperal Peritonitis, Belladonna is indicated in various stages
or forms of the disease.   It is indicated in what Schoenlein describes
as,
   a. The erethiic form, with lancinating-burning pains flashing from
the umbilical region over the whole abdomen, distention of the abdo-
men and excessive sensitiveness to the least touch, creeping chills
folloAved by heat  and  dryness of the skin,  irritated and  hurried
pulse, reddish urine; morning-remission of the symptoms.
   b. In the  inflammatory form,, with meteorism  of the abdominal
walls,  and  excessive sensitiveness  to  contact, turgescence of  the
sexual organs, violent chill  followed by intense stinging heat  and
dryness of  the  skin, full  hard and rapid  pulse, burning  urine,
costiveness.  In this form Aconite is indispensable.
   c. In the erysipelatous or gastric-bilious form, Avhere the distended
abdomen is rather soft, and  not uniformly painful.   Symptoms of
erysipelas frequently show  themselves on the mammae and  lower
extremities.  Gastric symptoms, bitter taste, vomiting, bilious stools,
thick and ammoniacal urine, irritated and hurried, but soft,  full  and 
364
LECTURE XXIII.
undulating pulse, from 130 to 140 beats.  Here Bryonia and Pulsa-
tilla may be necessary with Belladonna.
  d. In the typhoid form, with tympanitic distention of the abdo-
men, stupor, muttering delirium, burning heat of the skin, excessive
contraction  or alternate contraction and dilatation of the pupils,
flabbiness and shrivelled appearance  of the  mammae  and vulva,
complete cessation  of the secretion  of  milk  and of  the  lochial
discharge, except perhaps an oozing of foul  blood in case the disease
should  be complicated Avith putrescence  of the  uterus,    In this
condition, Belladonna may pave  the way for Hyoscyamus  and
Arsenic.
  Puerperal peritonitis being not unfrequently allied to
  Putrescence of the  Womb, we will take this opportunity of directing
the reader's attention to Belladonna as one of  the remedies for this
disease in conjunction with Arsenicum, and, as we shall afterwards
see, Secale cornutum.

  In inflammation of other abdominal viscera.
  Enteritis, Pancreatitis, Inflammation of the Omentum, Belladonna may
be indispensable, if the vital reaction  of the brain seems very much
excited or, at  a  later stage depressed.   In the former case  the face
looks flushed, the arteries of the neck and  temples throb with con-
siderable vehemence; and the radial pulse  partakes of the vascular
erethism, its frequency is increased, it seems irritated, jerking, tense.
In the latter case, the face looks pale, sunken, even hippocratic; the
extremities are cold, the pulse small, hurried, contracted, and finally
collapsing altogether.
  In  this disease we have to  distinguish  an  inflammation of the
serous, and an inflammation  of the mucous coat  of the intestines.
In serous enteritis, the boAvels are constipated ; in the mucous  form,
brown mucous discharges mixed with faecal matter, and shreds of
intestinal mucous membrane  take  place.  Belladonna  may be re-
quired  in  either of these forms; this will  depend upon the degree
and character of the  sympathy which the brain displays.   If the
accompanying fever has the synochal  type, as evidenced by the full,
bounding and rapid pulse, it seems  needless to remark that Aconite
should be given prior to Belladonna.
  Both constipation and diarrhceic  discharges  may indicate Bella-
donna.   Small doses  of Belladonna possess the power of retarding
the secretions.  Of  a concentrated solution of the extract, Professor
Purkinge' of Breslau took twenty  drops on sugar.  Half an  hour
afterwards he experienced a feeling  of dryness in the  mouth and
fauces, when  attempting to swallow.   The external surface of the
eyes felt uncomfortably dry, so did  the nasal cavity, even the palms
of the hands.  The urine was more scanty and the bowels torpid.
  On the other hand, we know from numerous cases of poisoning
that large doses of Belladonna will speedily excite a frequent urging
to  stool, Avith burning, lancinating, pinching  pains in  the  bowels,
and that the discharges may even become diarrhceic, and take  place
quite frequently in  consequence  of  the  great relaxation of the
sphincter.  Let it be emphatically understood, however, that unless 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
365
the symptoms of cerebral engorgement and subsequent prostration
justify the selection of Belladonna, we cannot expect any decided
advantages from the use of this  agent.

   Belladonna has been found of eminent use in the treatment of
   Colonitis, inflammation of the colon.  If the inflammation is acute,
the pains violently-tearing along the tract of  the colon,  and the
pulse is of the usual inflammatory  type, full, bounding and ac-
celerated, we invariably commence the treatment with Aconite.  If,
after the inflammatory symptoms have been subdued, the colon still
remains swollen, hard and sore, and  the bowels seem inclined to
become torpid, whereas  frequent  but scanty  discharges  of  Avhat
might have  been regarded as intestinal mucous lining had existed
previously :  Belladonna is in  its place, from 1st to 6th potency.  In
an attack of this kind the cerebral symptoms should not be over-
looked in deciding for or against the use of Belladonna.

   In simple (Esophagitis, not communicated by caries of the vertebras,
 or by ulceration of the trachea, Belladonna may afford help, pro-
 vided  the  characteristic  synochal fever  does  not  first  point to
 Aconite.   The stinging-burning pain which is present in the acute
 form, especially behind the bifurcation of the trachea, indicates this
 last named agent.
   If the inflammation is  of a very intense and malignant character,
 Avhere gangrene and perforation of the oesophagus may be the result,
 and the spasmodic difficulty of swalloAving causes agonizing distress
 when the least attempt at sAvalloAving  is made :  Belladonna may be
 preferable to any other drug.
   In Traumatic and  Chemical (Esophagitis, Belladonna may likewise
 be required to relieve the spasmodic dysphagia Avhich may result
 from the Avound or the poisoning.
    In Chronic (Esophagitis, where the pains are aching and  the neck
 is stiff, Belladona is very useful.

    Angina Faucium is readily cured by Belladonna if the symptoms
 of the disease correspond exactly with the peculiar action of Bella-
 donna upon the throat.
    On perusing the  symptomatology of Belladonna, we shall find
 that the angina which this  agent is capable of causing, is charac-
 terized by a  variety of prominent  and unmistakable phenomena,
 such as:
    Intense redness of the  throat;
    Excessive dryness and heat;
    Stinging, lancinating pains Avhen swallowing;
    Swelling of  the internal parts,  uvula,  tonsils, back  part  of the
 tongue;
    Sensation as if the fauces were constricted, and as if the passage ot
 even a drop of liquid would  be impossible;
    Feelings of  excoriation in the throat;
    The tongue looks inflamed, and is lined with a thick, yellowish,
 brown coating, feels dry;
    Dischiarge of a  thiick viscid, ropy phlegm from the mouth; 
366
LECTURE XXIII.
   Hemorrhage from the throat;
   Foul taste in the mouth ;
   Swelling of the neck, with throbbing of the carotids;
   These marked symptoms of inflammation are necessarily accom-
 panied by symptoms of constitutional derangement, creeping  chills
 followed  by heat and dryness of the skin, irritated, hard, hurried
 pulse, dizziness and violent pain in the frontal region or temples,
 red urine, constipation.  Belladonna may be given from the 1st to
 the 6th potency.

   In the  so-called Putrid Sore Thiroat, or Bretonneau's Dipjhitheritic
 Inflammation of the Pharynx, Belladonna proves  specially efficient.
 This form of angina frequently rages as an epidemic  disease, and
 often proves exceedingly destructive  to human  life if improperly
 managed.
   This inflammation is ushered in by a feeling of heat and dryness
 in the throat, after which the glands, submaxillary and parotid, begin
 to swell,  and  the  motion  of .the neck, which  is likewise slightly
 swollen, is difficult.  The pharynx looks red and  the tonsils  are
 likewise inflamed and swollen. After a while the different parts of
 the throat, the velum, uvula, tonsils and  pharynx are seen covered
 with small, whitish, or yellowish patches, looking like lard or  curd.
 These patches, at first disconnected, gradually coalesce, covering the
 whole of the  throat with  an artificial membrane  that sometimes
 stretches  into the nasal  cavity and downwards  as  far as the air-
 passages.   The exuded  pellicles being detached, a slight oozing of
 blood may take place, commingling Avith the saliva.  The inflamed
 lining of the throat sometimes shines through the exudation where
 it is not very thick, giving the throat the appearance of being studded
 with small ulcers.   The  discharge of fetid  sanious ichor  from the
 mouth and nostrils, which occurs in this  disease, is peculiarly  char-
 acteristic  of it.
  In contrasting the pathognomonic signs of this disease with the
 physiological effects of Belladonna upon the  throat, Ave shall find
 that  the admirable curative  powers of  this agent in putrid  sore
 throat are altogether due to the faculty it possesses of producing a
 similar pathological process.
  Schneller, of the imperial  Provers' Union of Vienna, instituted
 two  experiments with the extract of Belladonna, for a period of
 several weeks, taking in all nine  grains and three-quarters  during
 the first, and about twenty grains during  the second experiment.
  Among  the  many interesting symptoms which this  prover has
 recorded of the action of Belladonna, we note the following as bear-
ing upon our case:
  Pappy taste, with white coating of the tongue;
  Dryness of the mouth and fauces, with excessive thirst, causing
 him to pant for liquids;
  Redness and burning heat in the fauces;
  Tongue cleaving to the palate;
  Exudation of a white, tenacious,  viscid mucus  in the buccal cavity
with frequent spitting; 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
367
  Fetid odor from the mouth.
  AYe know of no drug which reproduces the pathological process
designated as Putrid Sore Thiroat, in all its essential features as per-
fectly as Belladonna.  Hence its extraordinary power to change this
process from a malignant and most destructive ulceration to a simple
angina, and to effect a speedy and radical cure in most cases.

  In Diphitheria, Belladonna is indispensable in the inflammatory
stage,  especially  if a few doses of Aconite  produce no favorable
change.  The redness is either  equally  diffused,  or  scattered in
erysipelatous patches.

  In  Angina Tonsillaris or  Quinsy  Sore Throat,  Belladonna is
eminently indicated.  In one of Greding's cases, Belladonna caused
inflammation  of  the tonsils, terminating  in  suppuration  after  the
lapse of four days.   In some cases, where the tonsils look like lumps
of raw flesh,  with throbbing pains, and  violent determination of
blood to the  head, chills and afterwards fever with full, hard, quick
and bounding pulse, Aconite may be preferable to Belladonna.  Use
from 1st to 3d potency.

  Adenitis, inflammation of glands,  requires Belladonna.  Glands
become inflamed suddenly, in consequence of exposure to a draught,
and other catarrhal or rheumatic causes.   If they look red, and  the
patient complains of burning and throbbing pains in the glands, and
exhibits symptoms of constitutional feverishness, be it erethism  or
synocha, Aconite  is paramount.  But if Aconite should prove insuffi-
cient to restore the irritability of the capillaries, and by their rhyth-
mical contractions and expansions to remove the sanguineous engorge-
ment, we then depend upon Belladonna for aid.   If the capillary
engorgement threatens to become habitual, owing to a deficiency of
reactive power on the part of the  brain, Belladonna becomes indis-
pensable.  This rule applies to all glandular bodies thus affected.
Inflammatory swellings of the parotid, sub-maxillary, inguinal and
other  glands, may require  Belladonna under such circumstances.
Parotitis of years' standing has been cured by a few doses of Bella-
donna 6, or even  higher.

  Mastitis, inflammation of the mammae, comes under this rule.  An
inflammation of this kind is very apt to happen during confinement.
If purely inflammatory, with fever and synochal pulse, we may get
along  with Aconite exclusively.   But if the  breasts threaten  to
remain permanently hard, looking shining and  rose-colored; or, if
the  inflammation  assumes   an  erysipelatous character, Ave prefer
Belladonna which it may sometimes be well to  give in  alternation
with Aconite.

  Mesenteric Ganglionitis may be mentioned in this connection.   If
the  bowels are hard and distended;  the  glands are swollen  and
sensitive to pressure; the patient complains of cutting or pinching
pain in the bowels; the boAvels are either bound or foul-smelling, 
368
LECTURE XXIII.
mucus,  dark-looking  discharges  take place,  with an  occasional
admixture of fascal matter;  if the children look sickly, the muscles
are flabby, the  skin feels dry and feverish, Belladonna may prove
very serviceable in the case.

  It seems unnecessary to review in detail the  different congestions
which may require Belladonna.   For practical  purposes it will
suffice to distinguish them into tAvo forms, acute and chironic.
  The acute congestions  to Avhich  Belladonna  is homoeopathic, are
generally distinguished by paroxysms recurring at certain intervals;
Ave  might designate them as paroxysmal exacerbations of the  pains
and other characteristic phenomena.
  Of Congestion of  the Brain, mention has already been made  when
describing the Cephalic Group.
  Congestion of the Lungs, with paroxysms of dyspnoea, soreness and
aching pains,  heat  in the chest, spasmodic cough, coldness of the
extremities, jerking but not very full, accelerated pulse.
  Congestion of the Air-passages, with sore and aching, burning feeling,
tightness and oppression, weakness, temperature of the extremities
and pulse as in the  preceding paragraph.
  Congestion of the  Bowels, with aching pains,  soreness,  distention,
dragging and heavy sensation in the bowels, stitches and heat, con-
stipation or ineffectual straining.
  Congestion of the Sjdeen and Liver characterized by feelings of
soreness, heat, fullness and weight.
  Congestion of the Uterus has been referred to on page 363.

  Acute congestion of any organ, when resulting from catarrhal or
rheumatic exposure, or from mechanical injuries, requires Aconite
whenever the symptoms of synochal fever are characteristically
present.  In congestions requiring Belladonna,  the fever-type is the
erethic form; the pulse is accelerated  and may be rather hard, but
it is seldom bounding.  If the congestions have become more or less
chronic, the pulse may be soft, large, undulating, and  quicker than
in the normal condition, but it is  not jerking or resisting.  Acute
congestions that  have become chronic, or are  said to  have passed
into the  second,  erethic or nervous  stage, are very  properly and
very often successfully treated with Belladonna.  In all such forms
of congestion, however, it will be found indispensable to every now
and then return to a feAV  doses of Aconite.

               b. Erysipelatous  Inflammation.

  The action  of  Belladonna upon the  skin is so remarkable and
distinguished  by such  characteristic phenomena  that  even  Old-
School physicians are obliged  to admit  the correctness  of Hahne-
mann's observations in this respect.  We shall be able to substantiate
this assertion  when we  come  to speak  of  scarlet-fever.   For our
present purpose it is sufficient to observe that Belladonna causes an
inflammatory redness of  the skin which  renders it a most  valuable
agent in  several dangerous affections which it would frequently be
impossible to cure without it.   One of them is 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
369
   Piilegmonous Erysipelas of various  parts, face, chest, bowels, etc.
 The skin is intensely red,  thick, hot and painful; the parts are
 swollen, pulse large and rather accelerated,  but soft, undulating.
 The patient feels drowsy, thirsty, tongue coated yellowish or white,
 with unpleasant taste  in the mouth.  The hands and  feet, or  only
 the feet may be cold,
   The Belladonna-erysipelas is disposed to strike  in, as it is termed,
 and to invade an inner tissue. Erysipelas of the face is apt to spread
 to the brain ;  erysipelas of the abdomen to invade the bowels.  We
 also have  erysipelatous  inflammation  of the mammae,  of the  peri-
 toneal  membrane.  The last-named inflammation  has already  been
 alluded to under the  designation of peritonitis.   In this disease, it
 may often be necessary  to  give  a  drop  of the tincture  in  twelve
 tablespoonfuls of water,  although in many cases the attenuations,
 from the first to the sixth, may be sufficient.

                 c. Rheumatic  Inflammation.

   In the Nervous Group, we have already alluded somewhat exten-
 sively to the power inherent in Belladonna, of curing rheumatism.
 It remains for us  to record the fact  that Belladonna  will cure a
 peculiar form of rheumatism described in the books as
   Rheumatismus vagus, or wandering rheumatism.  According to
 Dierbach, Dr. Osborn, in Haeser's Repertory, recommends Belladonna
 for wandering rheumatic pains, which disappear as by magic under
 the  influence of Belladonna, whereas seated  rheumatic  pains re-
 mained unaffected  by  it.  It is in  pains which follow  the track of
 muscles that seem to be most astonishingly controlled by Belladonna.
   This  seems owing to the homoeopathic relation existing between
 Belladonna and  such wandering,  vague, uncertain pains.  Such
 pains are  apt to trouble the  patient for a  few days,  after the
 poisonous effects of large doses of Belladonna have been subdued.

                d.  Scrofulous  Inflammation.

  We refer the reader  to "Adenitis," in  the Inflammatory Group ;
 to "Scrofulous Ophthalmia," in the Orbital Group, etc.

                         e. Gangrene.

  Gangrene, where  Belladonna is  applicable, is a termination of an
 inflammatory process, and is, therefore, not strictly speaking curable.
 The  inflammatory  process which, unless  arrested, would  terminate
 in gangrene, may perhaps be cured.  Inflammation of the  oesophagus,
 bowels,  uterus, peritoneum, etc., and even of muscular  tissue, may
 terminate  in gangrene.  If gangrene  threatens to  supervene, the
 extremities become  cold, the pulse becomes small,  feeble, vibratory,
 compressible;  the features collapse,  the skin becomes covered with
 a clammy sweat. Gangrene of the inner organs is more particularly
 characterized by such symptoms.  If gangrene supervene in a case
 of inflammation Avhere  Belladonna had been given, Ave cannot hope
for much good from this drug; Arsenicum, Secale, etc., Avill have to
be resorted to.  If  no  Belladonna had been previously  used,  yet
                              21 
370
LECTURE XXIII.
seemed indicated by the original symptoms, it may prove an efficient
means of arresting the gangrenous disorganization.
  AYe may take this opportunity of indicating the use of Belladonna
in
               /.  Cancerous Disorganizations.

  In  scirrhus of the breasts, Belladonna  has manifested curative
powers.  AYe are not prepared to assert that it will effect the  reso-
lution of scirrhous indurations,  if given  in very  high potencies.
Nodous indurations that had resulted from stagnant milk  or  from
contusions of the  mammae,  have been removed by small doses of
Belladonna and other agents.  Among Old-School records, Ave find
cures of genuine scirrhus effected A\rith very large  doses of Bella-
donna.
  A woman of 63 years was afflicted  with scirrhus of the breast,
that Avas on the point  of breaking.   She  received an infusion of
Belladonna, of which she took two cupfuls  a day, at the rate of two
grains of the leaves to  a cup.   This treatment  was continued for
eight days.  The lancinating pains, heat  and swelling  had much
decreased.  She noAV drank three cupfulls a day. This caused dry-
ness of the month for which she took  a solution of gum, mulberry
syrup, etc.
  Three weeks after this period, the gnawing pain in the  breast had
entirely disappeared, and the swelling seemed softer and flatter; the
urine was hot and excoriating.
  Three months after this, the tumor had gone down one-third, and
had separated into a number of glandular bodies.              \
  In  six months, the tumor had dwindled down two-thirds, and nine
months after the beginning of the treatment, it had almost entirely
disappeared.  The infusion was continued three months longer, three
cupfuls every other day.  At the termination of twelve months, every
trace of the scirrhus was completely removed, and two years  after
the cure, the patient's health continued perfect.
  We may add  that, when the boAvels were constipated, the patient
loosened them by taking a little rhubarb.
  In scirrhus in the neck of the Avomb, used both externally and
internally, Belladonna has been'of great use.
  Other similar cases are on record.  The poAver of Belladonna, to
disperse glandular SAvellings of the mesentery, is admitted by Hufe-
land.  Blackett testifies to its usefulness in scirrhous indurations of
glands; Dr. Schuler cured  a case of Avhat  seemed a scirrhous ulcer
of  the lip, Avith small doses of Belladonna.  It  is of importance to
lest the resolvent virtues of Belladonna in scirrhous disorganizations
of  glands, AAathout even overlooking  the brilliant results  which Old-
School  physicians profess to have achieved  in  this direction, with
very large doses.

                       FACIAL GROUP.

   The action of Belladonna upon the face is in many respects symp-
tomatic  of other more deep-seated  derangements,  particularly of 
atropa  belladonna.
371
cerebral congestion.   But the face may also be affected specially, or
idiopathically,  as  it Avere, although  a  close  examination of these
affections  will  invariably show that  the condition  of the brain is
more or less, were it ever so slightly, affected by the  condition of the
face.
   Belladonna causes heat, redness and swelling of the face, which is
sometimes hard.   It also causes a bluish and  purple  SAvelling ema-
nating from one spot and gradually spreading over the whole face.
Hence we may find Belladonna indicated in
   Inflammation and Swelling of the Face,  of a catarrhial, erysipelatous,
and more or less malignant nature.  Even if caused by exposure to
intense cold or keen cutting Avinds, Belladonna may prove of benefit.

   Belladonna likewise causes a burning redness of the tip of nose;
hence in
   Nasitis, or inflammation of the nose, this  great agent may be of
use, especially in the case of drunkards, scrofulous individuals, and
persons having a delicate, sensitive and irritable skin.  If the inflam-
mation is attended with extreme sensitiveness of the smell and ting-
ling in the tip of the nose, (effects of Belladonna,) this agent is so
much the more specifically indicated.

   Belladonna causes a smell as of rotten eggs; hence we may employ
this agent as a remedy in
   Morbid Alterations of the sense of smell, characterized by a foul or
unpleasant ordor in the nose, and sometimes occurring  as a symptom
of hysteria.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

   The remarkable effects of  Belladonna upon the eye may be con-
sidered under three different  heads, inflammation, amaurosis and
phantasms.

                        A. Inflammation.

   In  perusing the symptomatology of Belladonna, we shall find that
it is  in hiomeopathiic, and hence in specific therapeutic  rapporu with
every known form of ophthalmia.  YYe find Belladonna indicated in
   Conjunctivitis or inflammation of the conjunctiva, both of the bulb
of the eye and of the lids. The conj unctiva is traversed  by a netAvork
of engorged capillaries, causing an appearance of redness, with heat,
secretion of mucus, stinging pain, sensation as if the eyes Avere full of
sand,  sensitiveness to the light.
   All these  symptoms  have been produced by Belladonna when
taken by persons in health.
   Belladonna is also indicated in
   Sclerotitis, with bright  redness of the globe of the eye. The vessels
of the sclerotic coat, advancing toAvards  the" cornea, cluster around
the edges  of  this  membrane  passing it to the  extent  of about half
a line, but no farther.  The  pain  is severe, especially during night- 
372
LECTURE XXIII.
time, stinging, darting, tearing.  The symptoms which usually char-
acterize acute ophthalmia, are also present in this form, photophobia,
lachrymation, and very frequently pains in the  forehead and  cheek.
The inflammation may be  confined to one eye; it  is rheumatic in
character.
  Belladonna  causes  the tearing,  darting  and stinging  pains, the
burning and secretion of tears which are  peculiar to  this form of
inflammation.   In
  Corneitis, inflammation  of the cornea, Belladonna may be required.
The symptomatic indications are similar to those mentioned  in the
two preceding forms of inflammation.   Inflammation of the conjunc-
tiva and cornea frequently occur together.
  In ordinary cases of catarrhal and rheumatic ophthalmia, Avith in-
tense  pain, fever, full, rapid and  bounding pulse, Aconite may be
sufficient to control the inflammatory process, and restore the normal
condition  of the  organ.  But, if the brain seem severely tried, the
pains in the inflamed organ are peculiarly intense,  maddening; the
sensitiveness to the light  so great that the pupil is contracted  to the
smallest dimensions, and  that the least ray of light causes agonizing
distress, we cannot get along without Belladonna.
  Upon Avhat  principle such a man as Lisfranc employs Belladonna
in the severer forms  of  ophthalmia, is a mystery to me.   Does not
Belladonna produce the very symptoms for which Lisfranc prescribes
it ?   In inflammations of the eye, where the redness is not very great
but where the sensitiveness to the light is a prominent symptom, he
causes the extract of Belladonna to be rubbed around the orbit.  He
says that  in inflammations where all the ordinary means  remained
ineffectual, this simple proceeding would effect a radical cure in two
or three days.
  Iritis, inflammation of the iris,  in its acute form, may require
Belladonna.  This agent is indicated  by the excessive photophobia,
frontal headache, and the vascular appearance of the  sclerotica  whose
vessels are seen running  towards the cornea, forming a  kind of zone
around this membrane.  Even after effusion  of lymph, adhesions
between the papillary margin of  the iris and the capsule  of the
crystalline lens, Belladonna may still be useful.  In
  Retinitis, inflammation of the retina, Belladonna is indispensable.
It is  indicated by deep-seated pain in the socket, excessive photo-
phobia, optical phantasms,  contraction of the pupil, impaired vision,
intense sensitiveness of the eyeball to motion or contact. Agonizing
pain in the region of  the eyebroAVS, and intense aching and  throb-
bing pains in the front part of the head may also be present.

  Inflammations of the different  membranes of  the eye do not
always occur in practice as disconnectedly as Ave have  described
them here.   Inflammation  of the conjunctiva scarcely ever  exists
without the  sclerotica being more or less involved; and, on the
other hand, an inflammation of the sclerotic coat will more or less
extend to the conjunctiva.  Corneitis and a certain degree  of inflam-
mation of the conjunctiva seem almost inseparable.
  For practical purposes, inflammation of the cornea, sclerotica and 
ATROPA belladonna.
373
conjunctiva may be considered as one and the same affection, for the
treatment is  wholly the same.   We select  our remedies not with
reference  to the different tissues of the  eye, but with reference to
the character of the pathological process and to the peculiar pains
and other abnormal sensations experienced by the patient.
  Schneller has obtained:  redness of the conjunctiva of the bulb of
the eye and of the lids.
  Hahnemann and  his  provers  have obtained: engorgement of the
vessels of the conjunctiva, with  stinging pains  and lachrymation.
Also : inflammatory redness, engorgement of the vessels of the sclerotica.
  These several symptoms imply the homoeopathicity of Belladonna
to  Conjunctivitis and Sclerotitis.  In some  cases of  poisoning  we
observe a bluish appearance of the  conjunctiva.  This may lead us
to infer the adaptation of Belladonna to the treatment of
   Choroiditis, inflammation of the choroid coat where a bluish zone
around the cornea, and the subsequent profusion of small dark-bluish
tumors constitute some of the earlier manifestations of the disease.
However, the symptom as we find it recorded in two cases of poison-
ing reported  in the " Journal Universel," is too vague to be of posi-
tive value in this direction, and  can only serve to complete a group
of  other more decided symptoms.
   Corneitis may be  indicated by the symptom, " feeling of heat in
the eyes, sensation as if the eyeball Avere enveloped in a hot vapor."

   The action of Belladonna upon the pupil and retina, as evidenced
by dilatation, alternate contraction and  dilatation, photophobia,
optical spectra, etc., shows most conclusively that in
   Iritis and Retinitis, where  similar phenomena occur, Belladonna
must be capable of manifesting  great curative poAvers.
   Chemosis, Pannus, Staphiyloma, if symptomatic of, or resulting from
inflammation, have to be treated by such medicines as are or were
indicated by the general affection;  Belladonna is one of them.

   In  selecting drugs with reference to the pathological  character of
the inflammation, we shall find Belladonna indicated in
   Catarrhial,  Rheumatic, Arthiritic, Scrofulous, Syphilitic and Purulent
Opldhialmia.   Catarrhal ophthalmia generally corresponds with con-
junctivitis; rheumatic and arthritic ophthalmia with sclerotitis.
   In  scrofulous ophthalmia, the cornea and conjunctiva seem to be
principally involved among the  external membranes of the eye.  In
this form of  ophthalmia, Dupuytren depended  upon Belladonna as
his chief resource.  He giAres it in  closes of from  three to twelve
grains of the powdered  leaves, or from one to three grains of the
extract made into six pills of which one is  taken every two hours.
In  order  to  prevent general or  local  narcotism, he associates with
the internal  use of Belladonna  the use  of  artificial Seltzer water.
Henning  asks Avith much propriety: " AYhy not give smaller doses?
Experience has taught me  that much smaller doses accomplish their
object perfectly without causing any narcotism or any other disturb-
ing primary symptoms; of course  every thing depends upon  the
quality of the extract." 
374
LECTURE XXIII.
  Henning was not only a skillful operator, but a Aviso and humane
physician.  AYhy will not our allceopathic brethren deem it Avorth
their while to try the curative virtues  of the first, second, or third
potency of Belladonna in inflammations of the eye,  where this drug
is applicable ?  Let it be well understood that the medicine must be
in specific homoeopathic rapport Avith  the  pathological  process.
Mind this, my allceopathic colleague.  If, in  a case of ophthalmia
Avhere Aconite should be given—in a case, for instance, where the
inflammation has the true synochal type, with intense fever, heat
and dryness of the skin, full, rapid and bounding pulse, etc.,—you per-
sist in giving Belladonna at the  onset, without first hushing up the
violence of the storm, you will fail in your endeavor to control the
inflammatory process ; but then, be just and do not  charge the fault
of your failure upon your homoeopathic brother or  his art.

  We are not prepared  to bestow any extraordinary commendations
upon the  curative Aurtues of Belladonna in  syphilitic ophthalmia.
Nevertheless, if the  photophobia is excessive and the tendency to
purulent disorganization indicates the use of Nitric acid, or one of
the mercurial preparations, we may alternate  them Avith Belladonna
until a favorable  change in  the  symptoms will admit of a corres-
ponding change in the treatment.
  In  Purulent  Ophithialmia  of  new-born children, Belladonna will
prove indispensable as* a stimulator of the  vital  energies of the
brain. It should be given  by all means if  the  eye discharges  a
good  deal of foul looking pus, the eyelids look swollen, with inflamed
edges, and excessive photophobia.
  The second order of phenomena appertaining to  this group, may
be ranged under the head of

                        B.  Amaurosis.

  The paralyzing action of Belladonna upon the optic nerve  and
retina is  substantiated  by a number of cases of poisoning.  The
first effect of large doses of Belladonna upon the pupil is to dilate
it  and diminish its  sensitiveness to  light.   Oculists  avail them-
selves of this property for the purpose of obtaining a fuller and more
correct vieAvs of the interior of the eye, and likewise for the purpose
of facilitating the operation for keratonyxis.   Dimness of sight  and
even  complete blindness have been  occasioned in  connection with
dilatation and  insensibility  of  the  pupil.   Hence  Ave prescribe
Belladonna for
  Amaurosis, many  cases of which  have been  cured  with both
small and large doses of the drug.  By amaurosis  we generally
understand blindness, Avhich maybe complete  or partial.   This affec-
tion may  be occasioned by various  causes,  deficient innervation,
rheumatic exposure, injuries, etc. The sensitiveness of the eye to
external stimuli need  not  be  destroyed.  On the contrary it  is
sometimes abnormally increased.  Heat and dryness of the eyeball,
musce volitantes, spectra of various kinds, lancinating, boring pains
in the eyeball and distressing, aching pains in the head may trouble
the patient.  These symptoms strongly indicate Belladonna. 
atropa belladonna.
375
  Amblyopia, or Amaurotic Dimness of Vision, may require Bella-
donna.  Our provings shoAV that dimness of vision, is one of the most
characteristic effects of Belladonna.

  In consequence of suppression of scarlatina, a boy of four years
had almost lost his sight; the pupils were continually dilated.  Four
years after, he Avas placed under homoeopathic treatment, took a
dose of Belladonna 6, and, three days aftenvards, was attacked with
a scarlet-like  eruption over the whole body which disappeared again
after having remained upon the skin for three days.   His sight began
to improve and was completely restored AAuthin one month.
  Another case of Amaurosis is reported in the Allgemeine Homceo-
pathische Zeitung, vol. 46, No. 7, (Universal Homoeopathic Gazette,)
where  a perfect cure was affected in four weeks with Belladonna
200, and a few doses of Belladonna 30.  A  servant-girl of  twenty-
three years  had  lost  her  sight  in  consequence of  exposure.
Symptoms: vertigo, heavy feeling in the forehead, aching pain and
feeling of fullness in the eye, muscas volitantes, cobwebs before the
eyes, increased roundness of the eyeballs, engorgements of the veins
of the conjunctiva.
  Partial amaurosis will yield to Belladonna.
  Hemeralopia and Nyctalopia come  under this head.   The former,
where the  patient is blind from  sunset to. sunrise, has often been
relieved by Belladonna.   Valette's case is quoted in Frank's Alaga-
zine, who cured numbers of  soldiers afflicted Avith hemeralopia,  by
dropping a feAV drops of a solution of the extract of Belladonna in the
eye.  The internal use might perhaps have proved equally effectual.
  Pereira and other observers state that  the obscuration of vision
produced by Belladonna is  the  effect of its modifying action upon
the shape of the lens  Avhich it is supposed to flatten out,  thereby
causing  a  dimness  and indistinctness of vision such as  persons
affected with presbyopia, are troubled with.
  Purkinge- controverts this doctrine.  He  attributes  the peculiar
effects of Belladonna upon the visual poAver to its influence upon the
pupil, although he admits that a contraction of the iris may involve
that of the ciliary body whose spongy structure is endowed with an
apparently similar irritability as the iris, and that the capsule of the
lens and the lens itself may be affected in consequence.
  Purkinge accounts for  the chromatic effects of Belladonna upon
physical principles.  He shows that after the pupil has been dilated,
the rays are divided by the flat  margins of the lens which  act like
two prismatic segments joined together by their bases.
  The muscas volitantes he regards as blood-disks floating about in
the aqueous humor.  He accounts for the photophobia by an excess
of light penetrating through the dilated pupil into the interior of the
eye.  Belladonna is supposed to reproduce in  the highest degree a
condition of the eye similar to what  is occasioned by excessive con-
traction of the pupil following, as it generally does, after excessive
dilatation.

  Blepharophthialmia, inflammation of the  lids, may find its  remedy 
376
LECTURE XXIV.
in Belladonna.  Our provings show that inflammatory redness  and
swelling, with suppuration, are effects peculiar to Belladonna.
  Blephiarospasmus will yield to Belladonna, for this substance causes
constant and painful twitchiing of the lids, a sort of spasm.
  It remains for us now to consider.

                  C.  Spectra or Phantasms

as the  third order of phenomena  produced by Belladonna in the
visual range.  These spectra are of various kinds: sparks, (scotopsia);
colors,  (chromatopsia, rays, (photopsia).  Some of the more promi-
nent optical illusions occasioned  by Belladonna, some of Avhich
denote the  approach of, or characterize  the  presence of amaurosis,
are:
  When reading the letters look  like black rings surrounded by
white margins.
  Rings around the flame of a candle ;
  Seeing sparks resembling the sparks from an electric battery;
  He sees a white star at the ceiling, or silvery clouds hovering in
the air;
  Seeing things upside doAvn or double.
  This last  symptom shows that Belladonna produces and therefore
cures
  Diplopia, a symptom which sometimes occurs in amaurotic con-
ditions of the eyes, or is preliminary thereto.

  Some of the symptoms enumerated among the series of symptoms
obtained by poisonous medicinal  doses of Belladonna, are  only
valuable as elements of a higher group.  For instance the staring
and sparkling of the eyes; the spasmodic rolling  and squinting of
the eyeballs;  their protrusion and redness, may characterize typhus,
meningitis,  mania, etc.
  Hemorrhiage from the eyes, a sort of oozing of blood, is cured by
Belladonna.  Hartmann has reported a case of this kind in Stapf's
Archiv., vol. VI., p. 40; the patient was a child, three weeks old ; the
eyelids were agglutinated, and whenever an attempt was  made to
open them,  blood oozed out of the eyeball. The oozing was greatest
when the child cried.   Belladonna 30, arrested the difficulty in two
days.
  In Fungus Medullaris, Belladonna may be used to arrest the progress
of the disease; whether it can  be cured by this or any other agent is
doubtful.
               LECTURE  XXIV.

                   AURICULAR GROUP.

  Belladonna causes symptoms suggesting its use in various inflam-
matory conditions of the organ of hearing.  It causes sounding and
buzzing noises in the ears, shooting stitches through the ear, sensi- 
atropa belladonna.                 377
tiveness to sounds, tearing pain in the inner and outer ears, purulent
discharge from the ear.   Hence we recommend Belladonna for
   Otitis, Inflammation of the Ear, especially if the brain is involved,
as seen by distress in the head, dizziness, signs of cerebral  conges-
tion,  flushed  face, noises in  the  head; the ears look  dark-red,
swollen, discharges pus and blood.   The first attenuation and even
a drop of the  tincture in twelve  tablespoonsfuls of water may be
required.
   Otalgia, Earache, yields to Belladonna, if the symptoms correspond
with those obtained by the proving of this drug, such as:  sensation
as if the ear would be pulled out; paroxysms of sharp, crampy pain
in the inner ear;  boring pressure  in the meatus, as if by a finger.
In a case of otalgia, where the inner and outer ear looked dark-red,
swollen, with discharge of blood and pus from the ear, pain as  if the
ear would be torn out of the head, intense aching pain in the ear,
Belladonna effected a perfect cure over night.  The patient had not
had a wink of sleep for three nights on account of the pain.
   If an affection of this kind should  remain after the scarlatina or
measles, Belladonna is undoubtedly indicated.
   Dysecoia, deafness, hardness of hearing, may require  Belladonna,
especially if caused by suppression of an acute scarlet or  measle-
eruption.   The patient  complains of buzzing, wind rushing out of
the ears, loud  reports in the  ears as from a gun.
   In Otorrhea we may find Belladonna indicated, for this drug has
caused " discharge of a puriform liquid for twenty days."  The dis-
charge may likewise consist  of fetid mucus and blood.

                      DENTAL  GROUP.

   Among  the symptoms of  this group  we distinguish several of
importance in  a therapeutic aspect.  Belladonna causes an
   " Inability to open the jaws on account of a painful rigidity in the
muscles of mastication."
  This symptom indicates Belladonna in
  Rheumatic Lochc-jaw when  the  rheumatic irritation affects the
muscles which control the motion of  the jaws.
  Belladonna  causes various kinds of rheumatic pains in the  teeth
and gums, such as: tearing, draAving and digging pains in the teeth;
ulcerative pains in the gums and roots of the teeth as if they Avould
break off;  itching and throbbing in the gums.  We  therefore pre-
scribe Belladonna with success in
  Toothache characterized by similar symptoms, rheumatic, throbbing,
tearing and lancinating toothache, more particularly if the pain is
attended with symptoms of cerebral congestion, redness and heat of
the face, heat,  redness and swelling of the gums, which, moreover,
incline to bleed, beating in the head.  If such a toothache occurs in
pregnant females,  it may yield to Belladonna.

                      BUCCAL GROUP.

  Many of the symptoms which distinguish the action  of Belladonna
upon  the  tongue, lining membrane and  secretions of the mouth 
378                     LECTURE XXIV.
occur in the course of functional disturbances of a  high order.
Belladonna causes a
  Sensation on the surface of the tongue as if it had  gone to sleep,
as if it were dead, like fur or cotton ;
  The tongue has a Avhite coating upon it, or it is covered with a
quantity of yelloAvish-white, tenacious mucus.
  The papillae are bright-red, inflamed and swollen ;
  The tongue is sore and painful to the touch;
  Bad smell from the mouth, early in the morning on waking ;
  The mouth feels  parched, as if the skin had  been destroyed by
something acrid or corrosive; he is  almost unable to  swalloAV on
account of the dryness of the mouth, nose and fauces.
  These symptoms may occur in fever, more particularly in
  Typhoid and Mucous  fevers.   Some of these may likewise occur in
  Putrid Sore Throat or Diphtheritic Angina, to which the symptoms
mentioned in the  next paragraph may likewise refer.
  Belladonna causes the secretion of a quantity of tenacious mucus
in the mouth.  It also causes profuse pytalism, soreness  of the inner
side of the  cheek, especially in the region  of the orifice of the  sali-
vary duct, which  feels  as if corroded.  Under the action of Bella-
donna the mouth  becomes filled in the morning with a quantity of
putrid saliva; the saliva which is secreted by Belladonna is thick,
tenacious, white and sticking to the tongue like  glue; it may some-
times be seen hanging out at the mouth in long strings.
  These various  symptoms  may likewise occur in fever,  more
particularly in
  Typhoid fever, Avith predominance of gastric, mucous  and bilious
symptoms ; as Avell as in common
  Angina Faucium,  and in
  Angina Diphtheritica or putrid sore throat.
  The pytalism and soreness of the mouth justify the antidotal use
of Belladonna in
  Mercurial Pytalism and in rheumatic as Avell as scrofulous
  Stomatitis, even in that form of the disease  which is generally
described under the name of
  Cancrum oris, gangrenous inflammation of the mouth.
  Belladonna exercises a remarkable influence over the poAvers of
speech.  It has the following symptoms in this direction:
  Stammering weakness of the organs of speech, with unimpaired
consciousness and dilatation of the pupils ;
  Paralytic weakness of the organs of speech;
  Speechlessness,  he does not utter a sound;
  He has great difficulty in talking; his voice is a whistling and
nasal voice.
  These symptoms commend Belladonna to our attention in
  Paralysis of the Tongue, whether occurring idiopathically or as a
sequela of  some  cerebral lesion, apoplexy or typhus.  Belladonna
likewise causes a swelling  of the tongue, a  symptom  which  may
characterize a case of paralysis to which Belladonna is homoeopathic.

  In  Glossitis, or  rather  Glossoncus, Belladonna may be of use, if 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
379
the affection is more of a chronic nature.  Belladonna causes swell-
ing, redness and soreness of the tongue, such as may occur after
mercurial poisoning, or as a  consequence  of previous acute in-
flammation.

                   PHARYNGEAL GltOUP.

   AYe have already alluded to the curative relation of Belladonna
to  acute inflammation  of the throat and to its power of exciting
hydrophobic spasms. It remains for us to state that this agent is
likewise eminently useful in
   Chironic Sore Thiroat, when the throat feels as if excoriated; it is
dry and the patient may even complain of a burning  sensation in
the throat; the throat feels as if contracted, the tonsils seem enlarged.
This kind of sore throat may remain after measles, scarlatina, or it
may occur in consequence of a mismanaged angina, or as a symptom
of constitutional scrofula.  A chronic
   Swelling of the Tonsils may constitute a prominent  symptom of
sore throat.   Belladonna  causes  swelling of the  tonsils,  and is
therefore depended upon as a remedy in this affection.


                  CHYLO-POIETIC  GROUP.

   The action  of Belladonna  upon  this order of functions may be
considered under various heads:

                    a.  Taste, Appetite,  Thirst.

   Belladonna  causes loss of taste; insipid and also foul taste in the
mouth; slimy taste in the mouth ; it may also cause a flat sweetish
taste.  This alteration of the taste may occur in fevers to Avhich
Belladonna is  homoeopathic.
   Belladonna affects the taste of food and drink.  Bread, for instance,
tastes  and smells sour.   The smell of milk is repulsive to her; it
has a somewhat bitter and sour taste which disappears after drinking
a  little more of the milk.  In the  evening bread and  butter taste
very  sour  to  him;  this is generally  followed by heartburn  con
tinuing for two  hours.   Belladonna causes a  complete aversion to
all sorts of nourishment or drink.   Aversion to  coffee, beer, meat,
acids.
   These indications render it valuable as a remedy in
   Typhoid fevers and Gastric Derangements where such symptoms
occur.  They likewise point to Belladonna as a remedy for
   Hysteria, which is very frequently characterized by such capricious
alterations of the taste as Belladonna seems capable of occasioning.

   Belladonna  causes dryness of the mouth, violent, burning, suffo-
cative, unquenchable thirst, Avith inability to swalloAV the least drop,
or with great  aversion to drink.  This aversion  seems to  arise in
some  measure  from  the sense  of suffocation Avhich  the  patient
experiences Avhen sAvalloAving liquids. 
380                     LECTURE XXIV.
  Belladonna may likeAvise cause a complete absence of thirst or
  Adipsia,  occasioned  by  a  paralytic  torpor  of the  secreting
membrane.
  This dryness of the mouth and fauces may sometimes be so violent
as to render deglutition impossible.  Hence in
  Dysphiagia, from such a cause, we may rely upon Belladonna as
one of our chief remedies.

        b. Abnormal sensations before, during or after a meal.

  Belladonna causes putrid, or also burning eructations; acrid, sour
fluid rising to the mouth, with a kind of choking, heartburn. These
symptoms may occur in
  Typhioid and Gastric fevers, or severe gastric derangements.
  Belladonna likewise  causes spasmodic  hiccough,  or spasmodic
eructations resembling  hiccough, or hiccough succeeded by violent
thirst, redness and heat of the head.  Hence we recommend  this
agent for
  Spasmodic Singultus whether symptomatic of nervous irritation of
the  oesophagus or stomach, or if occurring from some other cause, as
a symptom of organic or functional disease of the stomach.
  Belladonna causes nausea and vomiting. This vomiting may be a
vomiting of bile and mucus; or it may be a mere retching which is
so violent that the face turns blue, and  may be attended with the
breaking out of sweat as from anguish.
  This violent irritation of the nerves of the stomach may occur
idiopathically as a symptom of
  Acute Indigestion, or it may exist as a sympathetic affection devel-
oping itself in consequence of some primary lesion of a central vital
organ, such as the brain or womb.

  Among these Belladonna-symptoms we have this record:  Frequent
attacks  of  nausea in the forenoon.  This  symptom  may indicate
Belladonna in the common
  Morning sichcness of  pregnant females.   The vomiting  may be
attended with vertigo and flashes of heat.

  Guided by this symptom, we have recommended Belladonna for
morning-sickness before we were aware that Trousseau and  Breton-
neau attach a high value to the curative  virtues of this agent in the
same  affection.   They  recommend the  external application  of a
watery  solution  of the  extract of Belladonna to  the hypogastric
region;  it may be rubbed  upon the skin or applied by means  of a
compress.  If the nausea is simply owing  to impregnation of the
uterus, the results of this treatment are pronounced by these gentlemen
as eminently satisfactory.

  Among these  gastric symptoms of Belladonna,  the following  is
deserving of particular mention:  Nausea and inclination to vomit
as if proceeding from the  throat, with occasional bitter eructations,
in the evening,   This peculiar form of nausea may occur as a symp-
tom of 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
381
  Hysteria, or in  the  coujse of pregnancy, in consequence of some
incipient degeneration of the pharyngeal mucous membrane.

                            c. Pains.

  Belladonna causes a certain order of pains in the stomach which
may render it useful in certain forms of
  Cardialgia; it causes for instance a hard and painful pressure in
the region of the stomach; or a spasm of the stomach which ahvays
occurs during a meal; it also causes burning and lancinating pains in
the region of the  stomach.   The  burning which Belladonna causes
may amount  to actual
  Gastritis, which is  accompanied  by nervous symptoms, redness
and bloating of the face, gradually changirfg to the opposite condi-
tion, pale and hippocratic countenance, vomiting and horrid retching,
thirst, foul taste, inflamed and thickly-coated tongue, small and quick
pulse, cold extremities, and most  frequently muttering delirium.

  Belladonna causes and will therefore cure
   Colic, more particularly Spasmodic, Flatulent, Congestive. The symp-
toms which indicate Bellachlnna in that affection, are the following:
  Colic, with constipation, enuresis, eructations and inclination to
vomit;
  Colic, with spasmodic tension from the chest to the abdomen, so
violent that he is unable to move  his body.
  Cramp-like, constrictive pain in the  lower intestines,  alternating
with dull stitches or jerks in the direction of the perineum;
  Constriction of the  abdomen around the umbilicus, as if a ball or
lump Avould form;
  Colic as if a spot in the abdomen were seized with nails, a griping
clutching distress;
  Ariolent contractive, griping pain in the right  side of the abdomen
when walking, accompanied by sharp stitches darting from that side
through the right side of the chest and the axilla;
  Pinching colic; he is  obliged  to sit with his body bent double,
with unsuccessful inclination to diarrhoea and subsequent vomiting;
  These pains may occur more or less paroxysmally, at intervals,
characterizing a  nervous affection of the boAvels which might be
designated as                 •
   Colicodynia, to which the following symptoms may likewise refer:
  ATiolent lancinations betAveen the  right hip and  the umbilicus, as
if a dull knife were thrust in;
  Heat,  with anxiety, in the abdomen, chest and face, with obstruc-
tion of the nose:       »y
  Heat from below upAvards, with sweat  as from anguish; after-
wards nausea Avith horrid anguish, the nausea descending more and
more in the abdominal cavity ;
  Long-lasting painfulness of the whole abdomen, as if it were all
sore and raw.
  Rumbling  and pinching in the  abdomen. 
382
LECTURE XXIV.
                       d. Alvine Secretions.

   Small doses of Belladonna cause constipation, with distention of
 the boAvels, heat of the head ; large doses cause diarrhceic stools Avith
 more or less tenesmus, or even paralysis of the sphincters.  Among
 the  Belladonna-symptoms belonging to this group, we notice the
 following:
   Desire for stool, Av^th sensation in the abdomen as  if diarrhoea
 would come on, accompanied by heat in the abdomen;
   Papescent stool mixed with mucus;
   Heat in the head alternating with diarrhoea;
   Diarhcea with inclination to vomit and pressure in the stomach;
   Several watery stools, immediately after profuse sweat;
   Small  diarrhceic  evacuations accompanied and  succeeded by
 tenesmus;
   The tenesmus which Belladonna excites, may be accompanied by
 colic and succeeded by vomiting;
   Tenesmus, with constant pressing  and bearing down toAvards the*
 anus and genital organs, alternating with painful contraction of the :
 anus;
   Contractive  pain  in  the rectum, f#lowed by soreness  in  the
 epigastrium, sudden diarrhceic stool and lastly tenesmus.
   These few symptoms point to Belladonna as a remedy for  certain
 forms of
   Diarrhiea, Dysenteric Diarrhiea, where this agent may be required
 both when the disorder occurs  as an idiopathic affection or as a
 symptom of some more deep-seated derangement, enteritis,  perito-
 nitis, typhus.

   AVe may not overlook the fact that Belladonna is useful in
   Proctalgia, Avhere it  is indicated  by  the following  symptoms:
 Pressure  in the rectum,  towards the orifice; and likewise: sudden
 lancinations in the rectum, during motion.

   The provings likewise show that  Belladonna  causes and may
 therefore cure
   Stricture of the Anus, the record being " violent itching  and con-
 strictive sensation at the  anus."
   A most interesting case of fissilte and  spasmodic stricture of the
 anus is reported in Vol. 110 of the Recueil Periodique of the Societe
 Gallicane, from which Dr. Frank has  transferred  it to the pages of
his Magazine.
   A young woman who was on the point  of being confined for the
first time, complained about a month pre^us to her confinement,
that she passed  a little blood with the stool, and that the discharge
from the bowels caused some pain at the anus as if the parts were
ulcerated.  After her confinement, which took  place on  the 14th of
September, 1825, there was no favorable change;  she was frequently
constipated nine days in succession; the alvine discharges consisted
in a few blood-streaked balls of the size of chestnuts and hard as
pebbles.   On the 2d of October, and  on the four subsequent days, 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
383
she suffered such  horrid pains after an  evacuation, that she rolled
upon the  floor.  An  examination disclosed in the neighborhood of
the anus a whitish slimy matter, secreted from a fissure in the com-
missure of the  perineum.   The  sphincter ani was spasmodically
constricted.  An ointment of Belladonna consisting of one drachm
of the extract and half an ounce of cerate, was introduced into the
rectum by means of a little lint.   This afforded the patient  a relief
of which she had been deprived for a long time.  After an injection
which was administered with comparative  ease, the patient had a
much  less painful evacuation from the  boAvels than  before.   The
ointment was continued without any intermission.  On the 21st, the
patient was able to introduce her finger into the rectum Avithout any
difficulty, and the evacuations took place very easily. For six weeks
the patient took an  injection of bran-Avatef, the fissure healed, the
alvine discharges became normal, and  the patient remained perma-
nently cured.               *
   It does not appear that in this case the JBelladonna-ointment pro-
duced a single unpleasant symptom,  Tins and similar cases afford
us the instructive lesson: that the external use of Belladonna  may
be attended with the most  beneficial results.
   Paralysis of the Sphiincters^ff the Rectum and  Anus, which is indi-
cated in the following record, " Involuntary  discharge of fasces, from
paralysis of the sphincter ani," may likeAvise yield to Belladonna.

   The spasm-exciting virtues  of Belladonna  render it a valuable
and efficient agent in
  Ileus and Strangulated Hernia.  In  Frank's Physiological  Maga-
zine a number of case are reported where Belladonna effected a
cure after every other  means had failed.   Under  the influence of
Belladonna the bowels  act  again,  the  vomiting of  fascal  matter
ceases, the protruded bowel is easily replaced  by the taxis, or very
frequently returns spontaneously, and not a single untoAvard accident
remains.   Belladonna may be given internally, and may at the same
time be applied externally.  A belladonna-injection is often resorted
to by Old-School practitioners with the happiest results.  Internally
the first to the third  potency may be given; externally Ave may use
from twenty-five to thirty drops in a cupful of water as a  fomentation ;
an injection may contain the same quantity of the drug.
  Belladonna is not  applicable in every case  of ileus; it  is  more
particularly useful in inflammatory ileus, with  heat in the bowels,
tenderness to pressure, flushed and hot face, obstinate  constipation.
The trouble  arises in consequence of  ill-digestible food, rheumatic
exposure; or, in the case o£hernia, in consequence of a badly adjusted
truss, violent efforts, and other causes.
  The curative results ofyBelladonna in this affection are not due to,
its narcotic properties, but to its purely dynamic action upon the
nervous derangement.  In many of the  cases  reported in Frank's
Magazine,  violent symptoms of poisoning were developed  by the
drug;  in  other cases no perceptible medicinal symptoms became
apparent.
  Belladonna should  not be lost sight  of in  scrofulous affections of 
384
LECTURE XXIV.
the glandular system generally, and of the mesenteric ganglia in
particular.   In a case of scrofulous
  Ascites, with general enlargement of glands, Belladonna effected a
complete cure.  The patient was a boy  of tAvo years and  a half,
atrophied, had fever, and was scarcely able to pass any urine;  boAvels
constipated, skin dry, canine hunger and constant thirst; the abdomen
was enormously distended, hard, the fluctuations were unmistakable;
the umbilicus was distended even unto bursting.  After the fruitless
employment of a number of medicines, Belladonna was finally resorted
to in doses of one eighth of a grain every three or four hours. In a feAV
days the child began to improve, he looked brighter, his complexion
became clearer, the eyes ceased to have an unpleasant, unmeaning,
watery  expression,  the pulse became fuller and stronger, the skin
moist and Avarm, the ufine was secreted more abundantly and the
child had  every  day from six  to  seven fetid,  slimy, cadaverous
evacuations.  The abdomen became setter, less distended, the urinary
secretions became more and more profuse, and the bowels continued
to be moved four  or fiv^  times a day until the child's health Avas
completely  restored.  In  this case the first two  doses, with the
exception of a little dizziness, caused no other unpleasant sensations,
leaving the throat and sensorium enti^ly undisturbed.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  Belladonna, if administered in large doses, seems to increase the
urinary  secretion, which  is most  probably  owing to a paralytic
debility of the sphincter of the bladder.  Small doses of Belladonna
seem to retard the secretion of this fluid ;  the provers of Belladonna
report:  suppression of  stool  and urine, accompanied by profuse
sweat.
  Belladonna alters the color of the  urine; it may be of a gold-
yellow or red color; it may likeAvise be pale and watery, a condition
which commends Belladonna to our attention in spasmodic diseases,
more especially Avhen of the character of
  Hysteria, hysteric spasms or convulsions for which Belladonna has
been recommended  in a previous paragraph.
  The reddish color of the  urine may  occur in such inflammatory
diseases as  may require Belladonna;  a reddish sediment is sometimes
thrown doAvn by it.             ,
  In  Paralysis of the Sphincters, Belladonna may  be indicated;  a
condition of this  kind may occur in the course of typhus  or as a
rheumatic or hysteric affection.
  Retention of Urine, to which  Belladonna is homoeopathic, does not
often  occur as an idiopathic affection; it jnay be symptomatic of
some  cerebral disease, of  inflammatory  fevers,  more  particularly
typhoid and mucous fevers.  In prescribing Belladonna for this one
symptom, the general character of the existing constitutional disorder
must justify its use.
  Retention  of urine may arise from spasmodic  constriction of
the sphincter.  If  this  difficulty has  a  purely rheumatic  origin,
Aconite may be the most  suitable  remedy for it;  but  if it  should 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
385
develop itself as a symptom of hysteria, or if persons, more particu-
larly females, are habitually subject to it,  Belladonna may be indis-
pensable to a final cure.

   We cannot close this chapter Avithout alluding to the benefit which
we may derive from Belladonna in the treatment of
   Nephritic Colic when caused by the passage of a calculus through
the ureters.  Belladonna may relieve the spasmodic irritation of the
walls of the ureters, particularly if the presence of violent cerebral
congestions, flushed and jaundiced face, nausea and vomiting, indicate
its use.  The third to the sixth potency may be sufficient.

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

   The action of moderate  doses  of Belladonna upon the sexual
organs seems to be characterized by spasm and congestion.   It causes :
   Repeated paroxysms of a tearing pain in  the left spermatic cord,
in the evening while in bed, previous to falling  asleep;
   Retraction of the prepuce behind the glans, causing a disagreeable
sensation  in the denuded glans;
   Lancination along the urethra, from thebulbus to the orifice, when
AAralking;
   Drawing in the spermatic cord, when urinating;
   Lancinations in the testicle, it is drawn up;
   Violent pressing towards the sexual organs, worse when sitting
bent forward, relieved by straightening himself.
   These symptoms indicate  the use of Belladonna in  congestive and
spasmodic affections  of the male organs, among which we may
single out
   Phiimosis, where it may be necessary to use Belladonna both ex-
ternally and internally.
   Urethritis, more particularly if the bulbus of the urethra is inflamed.
   Sqoasmodic Irritation of the Spermatic Cord,  with tearing and draw-
ing pains.
   Orchitis, Avith  lancing pains  in the testicle, it is  hard and drawn
up.  Belladonna is more particularly indicated  in the congestive or
sub-acute  form, with tendency to permanent enlargement and indura-
tion ; the cord may be  invohred.
                                 t
  Belladonna weakens the  sexual  powers, and  depresses the desire
for sexual intercourse.   It causes
  Nocturnal emissions, while the penis remains relaxed;
  Discharge of the prostatic  fluid, without erection;
  The sexual appetite seems to  be completely extinguished.
  In accordance Avith  these symptoms Ave may recommend Bella-
donna for
   Nocturnal Emission, discharge of the prostatic fluid and perhaps
  Spermatorrhea when  arising from weakness of the seminal vesicles,
with sweating of the parts, pressing and lancing pains in the parts.

  The female organs are likewise  powerfully acted upon by Bslla-
                              25 
386
LECTURE XXIV.
 donna.   Here too this agent seems to induce spasm and congestion.
 Moderate doses seem  to  induce marked signs of organic reaction,
 larger doses depress  and disorganize  the  sexuaLfunctions of the
 female, retard  and alter  the quantity  of the  menstrual discharge,
 arrest the flow of milk, and Aveaken the uterine vitality generally.
   One of the  female  provers  of Belladonna reports  the  following
 symptom:  "Distention of the  abdomen, AYith pressing toAvards the
 pudendum, folloAved by discharge of white mucus from the vagina."
   This symptom, in connection Avith the fact that Belladonna retards
 the appearance of the menstrual secretion, may render this agent
 useful in
   Amenorrhiea or Dysmenorrhea, where the  catamenia are either pre-
 ceded or superseded by xi leucorrhoeal discharge, bearing-doAvn pains,
 flushed countenance, symptoms of cerebral irritation, phantasms, scin-
 tillations, etc.
   In Dysmenorrhea to which Balladonna  is  homoeopathic, rheumatic
 symptoms may develop themselves; Greding reports among his cases:
 nightly yaAvning and creeping chills over the back during the cata-
 menia;  and Hahnemann's provers report:  crampy tearing, at one
 time in the back and at other times in the arms.

   Evers, in his Berlin Collections, reports  "fetid metrorrhagia" as
 one of the effects of Belladonna.  This symptom may suggest the use
 of Belladonna  in affections Avhere the sanguineous secretions of the
 uterus are correspondingly altered.
   The Lochiial Dischiarge, if foul and fetid,  may be corrected by Bella-
'donna.
   The Menstrual Dischiarge, if consisting of  dark, foul blood, may be
 improved by Belladonna if the other symptoms justify its exhibition.
 We have administered Belladonna Avith success in
   Amenorrhea of a typhoid character, with heat and  a sensation of
 crawling in the uterine region,  dry and furred tongue, foul  taste,
 drowsiness, depression of spirits, and now and then oozing of a little
 fetid,  bloody Avater.

   The poAver which Belladonna possesses of  disorganizing the uterine
 secretions, arresting the flow of milk and disturbing the functional
 power of the brain, renders it valuable in diseases arising from, or,
 at any rate, co-existing with suppression of milk  after parturition.
 AYe may mention
   Puerperal fever, during the congestive stage, with determination of
 blood to the brain, throbbing  headache, stitches through the brain,
 flushed and bloated countenance, glistening and staring eyes, dizzi-
 ness, occasional delirium, nausea and vomiting, furred tongue, dry and
 sticky mouth, foul  taste, soft, quick pulse, diarrhoea or constipation,
 red urine.   The first potency may be most suitable.
   Puerperal Mania may likeAvise occur, and require the use of Bella-
 donna if the mania is of the furious, ludicrous or muttering order.
 Whether this agent is required in
   Nymphwmania, depends upon the  accompanying cerebral symp-
 toms, the character of the delirium, the general  condition of the 
ATROPA BELLADONNA..
387
uterine functions, and the determining causes of this affection in the
case before us.

  In treating the diseases Avhich may arise from suppression of milk,
we  of course treat this difficulty itself.  In
  Agalactia or Suppression of Milk, Belladonna may afford us great
aid. We know that Belladonna, if applied to the breast, will suppress
the secretion  of  milk;  hence, if this suppression should occur as a
natural disorder, in the case of  delicate, sensitive, scrofulous females,
with tendency to cerebral congestions, ayc may expect much from the
curative action of Belladonna.
  On the other  hand, small doses  of Belladonna may cause an in-
creased flow of milk, a species of
   Gcdactirrhiea,  for Avhich  small doses of Belladonna may be given
with good effect, even A\rhen occurring in females who are not preg-
nant.

  A partial or total suppression of the milky secretion  may lead to
the formation of nodosities in the breast, for which Belladonna is
sometimes given with good effect.   It may often be adA'isable to give
the drug both internally and externally.   In
  Mastitis, inflammation of the mammas, when associated with sup-
pression  of milk, Belladonna may often afford aid; it may have to be
used in connection  with  Aconite.

   The tendency to  sanguineous engorgement Avhich characterizes the
action of Belladonna upon the womb, may be accompanied by
  Prolapsus or Falling of the  Womb,  or  with a sensation as  if the
AAromb had descended, although there may not be any actual descen-
sion.  The patient  experiences a dragging, heavy pain in the uterine
region, which generally disappears when lying  down.   Give from
the third to the  sixth potency.
  Another result of these uterine engorgements may be
   Ulceration of  the Nechc of the  Womb Avith consequent discharges
from the vagina.  The neck of the womb is swollen, sensitive, with
an  increased temperature of the part.
  Swelling and Induration of the  Neck of the Womb may require the
internal and external use of Belladonna.  The induration may even
be  of a scirrhous nature, with lancinations in the indurated portion
of the uterus.

  Belladonna seems to  have  a marked  effect upon constriction of
orifices, and has likewise been  used with success in
  Stricture of the Os Uteri,  more particularly when occurring  during
labor.  A case is reported  in Siebold's Journal for Female Diseases,
Avhere these  anti-spasmodic virtues of Belladonna were strikingly
manifested.   A robust, middle-aged Avoman had been in labor for
twelve hours.  The pelvis had the  normal dimensions; it was a
transverse presentation.   The os  uteri Avas only dilated  to the size
of a twenty-five cent piece, and otherwise perfectly rigid, not being
in the least affected by the increasing pains.   The pulverized  root of 
388
LECTURE XXIV.
Belladonna was given in half-grain doses, and some of the ointment
of Belladonna was applied to the os uteri directly, although very
imperfectly.  In an  hour and a half the os  uteri  was sufficiently
dilated to enable the accoucheur to introduce his hand and turn.  In
another case of stricture of the os uteri, Belladonna was used in a
similar manner and with the same success.
   There is no reason why this agent should not be used Avith bene-
fit in
   Hour-glass contractions of the Uterus, where Secale may likewise be
very efficient.

   In conclusion, I desire to call your attention to an affection which
is sometimes very troublesome to young women in their first preg-
nancy :
   Prurigo of the  Vagina, the mucous lining of which looks irritated,
somewhat inflamed, studded with fine vesicles which  discharge an
excoriating,  smarting, itching and  burning moisture.   Belladonna
1st and 3d potency may relieve this exceedingly annoying affection.

                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

   Belladonna affects the  lining membrane of the  nose  and of the
bronchial passages in a more  or less marked manner.   Among the
recorded symptoms we distinguish the folloAving:
   Fluent Coryza of one nostril, with smell as of herring-brine;
   Roughi and hwarse, or shrill sound of the voice, with wheezing.
   Aphonia, with sensation of Aveakness in the larynx.
   Violent  Coughi,  about noon, several  days in sucession, with dis-
charge of a large quantity of tenacious mucus.
   Violent dry cough in the forenoon as if a  foreign body had got
into the larynx.
   Itching Titillation in the back part of the larynx, in  the evening
when in bed, causing an irresistible dry cough;
   Sensation  as if a Dry Catarrhi  had become settled in the chest,
which continually excites a dry cough.
   Dry Coughi, day and night, excited  by a titillation in the  throat-
pit, with headache and redness of the face.
   Cough, with discharge of a purulent substance from the upper part
of the trachea, resembling old  catarrhal mucus, early in the morning.
   Cough with a bloody taste in the mouth.
   Expectoration  of  bloody mucus, early in  the morning when
coughing
   Cough preceded by weeping.
   Cough with shiooting stitches in the side, under the left rib.
   Violent cough, with pressure in the  nape of the neck as though it
should break.
   These physiological  effects  of  Belladonna enable us  to prescribe
this agent in neglected
   Catarrh of the nose, if the secretions of the Schneiderian membrane
have become vitiated, and smell and taste like brine.  In an affection
 of this kind, the irritation will most probibly  invade  the  mucous 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
389
lining  of the  respiratory organs, causing a cough of the character
above described.  In
  Hysteria, this alteration of the nasal secretions may likewise occur.
  Aphionia will yield to Belladonna, if it is symptomatic of a chronic
irritation of the lining membrane of the larynx, or
  Chronic Laryngitis, with sensitiveness of the larynx to pressure,
paroxysms of dry cough, determination of blood to the head.  In a
case of this kind, it may be necessary to associate the use of Aconite
with Belladonna.
  In Pthiisicky Cough, with wheezing, weakness of voice, expecto-
ration  of bloody  mucus, particularly early  in the  morning, Bella--
donna  may afford much relief, more especially if the cough comes in
paroxysms and is of a spasmodic character.
  In  W1 looping-cough, this  agent has been  used  by  Old-School
physicians with considerable success during  the spasmodic stage.
They give it  in doses  of from  one-eighth  to one-half of a grain
morning and  night.   A few doses  are sufficient in many  cases to
check  the violence of  the paroxysms or even to arrest them alto-
gether.  Belladonna  is  undoubtedly in homoeopathic rapport with
this cough,  and with spasmodic cough  generally,  and may effect
curative results even when given in  much smaller doses.
  In these different varieties of cough,  Belladonna  is frequently
administered by inhalation, not only by allosopathic, but likewise by
homoeopathic  physicians.

                     THORACIC  GROUP.

  Belladonna  causes  a variety of stinging  pains in  the lungs; it
also causes oppression and irregular breathing.
  Its action upon the  heart is likewise marked;  it causes a tremor
of the  heart, with anguish.  It also  causes pressure in the region of
the heart, with anguish and short breathing.
  These symptoms may occur in
  Hysteria, during a paroxysm of hysteric spasms affecting particu-
larly the heart and lungs.
  In Congestion of the lungs and heart they may likewise  be present
more or less.

                       FEVER  GROUP.

  Belladonna  may be adapted to  fevers of an intermittent  as well
as of a remittent type.   General indications  for Belladonna  in fever
are: cerebral  congestions,  flushed  and  puffed  face, sparkling  or
staring eyes, headache, restlessness, drowsiness, starting of the limbs,
nausea, dry and sticky mouth, sensitiveness to light and noise, etc.
  Belladonna may be indicated in
  Simple  Catarrhicd Fever,  with tendency to  drowsiness, dry and
coated  tongue, inflamed urine, dark  flushes  on the cheeks, frontal
headache, dizziness, nausea, constipation.  The first attenuation may
be suitable.
  In Typhius, this agent manifests great curative powers. Of cerebral 
390
LECTURE XXIV.
typhus Ave have already spoken, page 347.  In typhus of the liver,
lungs, boAvels, Belladonna may likewise be indicated.   The character
of the cerebral symptoms, the delirium, the nature of the optical
spectra, determine the employment of this agent.  The delirium is
of the furious or muttering kind;  the patients are quarrelsome,
indulge in insulting language, see dogs  and Avild  beasts, catch  at
flocks, pick at the bed-clothes, complain of distressing pain in the
head;  the pulse is soft and hurried, the skin dry, the bowels bound,
except when symptoms of paralysis show themselves, in which case
involuntary diarrhceic discharges may take place.   DroAvsiness  is
very apt to be present in the first stage of the disease.  In typhus,
the third to the tAvelfth potency may be sufficient, although a lower
attenuation may sometimes be  more  useful,  more particularly  in
typhus complicated with convulsions.
  In Petechiial Typhius, Belladonna may be the best remedy in some
cases; the petechias may be of a violet color, or gangrenous pete-
chias of a blackish-brown color.   The existence of haemorrhage from
various orifices of the body, from the nose, mouth,  urethra, anus,
may afford an additional  indication for Belladonna in typhus  and
typhoid fevers.
  In Typhoid fever, whether the gastric, bilious, mucous or rheumatic
symptoms predominate, Belladonna may be an indispensable agent.
The typhoid character of the fever is determined by the extent  to
which the brain participates in the pathological process.
  In Gastric Typhius, the tongue may be lined with a  thick, grayish
coating, rather loose and moist at first, until the typhoid process is
fully developed.
  In Bilious Typhus, the coating has a dark-brown appearance, until
the tongue finally looks like scorched leather.
  In Mucous Typhus, the tongue may at first be  lined with a thick,
tenacious whitish fur; the mouth is dry, although it may be con-
tinually filled  with tenacious saliva.
  In Rheumatic Typhius, the joints may be inflamed at first, and the
patient may complain of rheumatic tearing and lancing pains in the
periosteum of the long bones.  Under ordinary circumstances these
signs of inflammation might yield to  Aconite and Bryonia: but a
typhoid character supervening, a medicine  may have to  be chosen
in affinity with the inimical principle of typhus.  Belladonna may
be such an agent.
  We may mention two other forms of typhus  of frequent  occur-
rence: Typhius Pulmonalis, and Typhius Abdominalis.  In pulmonary
typhus the  inflammatory process is  located  in  the  lungs; in the
latter form it is located in the lining membrane of  the ilium.  The
symptoms  which indicate Belladonna in these affections are the
same Avhich  characterize typhus generally,  and have  been fully
described above and on pages 347 and 348.   In one case of pul-
monary typhus which has come under our notice, the symptoms  of
hydrophobia constituted prominent indications throughout the course
of the disease.
  In all fevers to which Belladonna is homoeopathic, a typhoid type
is threatening, although the patient  may recover before the  symp- 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
391
toms of typhus have become fully developed, as we have described
them on page 347,  in the paragraph on  cerebral  typhus.   The
homoeopathicity of Belladonna to fever depends upon a variety of
circumstances,
  a. Upon the condition of the brain: pain, dizziness, sopor, delirium ;
  b. Upon the apipearance of the fare: bloated, flushed face, glisten-
ing or staring eyes, expression of distress and agony in the features ;
  c. Upon the condition of the  tongue and mouth:  thickly-furred
tongue, grayish, brown, blackish coating upon the tongue ;  soreness
of the edges and tip of the tongue; profuse secretion of tenacious,
stringy saliva in the mouth; foul  taste, absence of taste; thirst on
account of dryness of the mouth and tongue;
  d.  Urinary and alvine secretions : yellow-colored or red urine, re-
tention of urine or inability to retain it; diarrhoea  or constipation,
the bowels being soft, with pinching, spasmodic pains in the boAvels,
ulcerative pain in the ileo-coecal region at a later stage of the fever:
the discharges have a foul smell;
  e.  Upon the pulse: soft,  rather full  and hurried ;
  f. Upon the temperature of the  shun: dry  and warm, or irregular
temperature, cold feet and knees Avhile the rest of the body is warm;
chilly creepings or internal chilliness AA'ith warmth  of the  skin, or
paroxysms of profuse SAveat preceded by excessive restlessness and
anxiety;
   g.  Upon the  general condition of  the nervous system: startings,
spasmodic twitchings, sopor or  stupor, wakefulness, horrid dreams,
rapid loss of strength, emaciation.

   In Dentition-fever, Belladonna may have to be associated  Avith
Aconite, if cerebral congestions are present and convulsions threaten.
   The homoeopathicity of Belladonna to Puerperal fever has  been
fully shoAvn in the chapter headed "Sexual Group."
   The  hosmorrhagic tendencies  of  Belladonna may render it  an
useful agent in fevers of a scorbutic nature,  among  Avhich Ave may
class
   Purpura Hemorrhagica, or  Morbus Maculosus Werlhofii.   In the
simple form of this disease, the Purpura simplex, Aconite may be of
great use.  But in the decidedly scorbutic  form, where  the vitality
of the blood  is undermined by a poisonous  principle,  Belladonna
may have to be resorted to as one of  its neutralizers.

  In Congestive Fevers, where violent cerebral congestions charac-
terize the  paroxysmal exacerbation  of the symptoms, Belladonna,
from first  to  sixth potency, may be required; do  not, however,
suffer yourselves to be beguiled  into  the  use  of Belladonna for no
other reasons than because cerebral congestions are present.  Such
congestions may likewise indicate Aconite, Arsenic, Mercury.  The
dynamic condition which is pathologically represented by the  con-
gested conditions of the vessels, must correspond with the dynamic
action of Belladonna in order that this agent may afford relief in the
case.  This dynamic homoeopathicity may be  indicated or rather
characterized by such symptoms as these: bright redness and bloat- 
392
LECTURE XXIV.
 ing of the face;  glistening and protrusion of the blood-shot eyeballs :
 contraction of the pupil;  extreme sensitiveness of the eyes to light:
 throbbing and lancinating pains in the forehead and  sides of the
 head ; stitches darting through  the head ;  optical spectra, flashes of
 light or scintillations, sopor between the paroxysms or else extreme
 Avakefulness in consequence of  the  excited condition of the senso-
 rium:  these  are  some  of the  leading cerebral symptoms  which
 should decide us in our selection of  Belladonna, added to which the
 remainder of the constitutional  symptoms of the case should consti-
 tute a perfect tableau of Belladonna-action.

   In Rheumatic fever, Belladonna may be a very useful agent.   The
 fever is of a remittent type, with evening-exacerbations.  The pulse
 is  not  hard or  bounding, soft,  somewhat  fuller and quicker than
 usual.  The fever is attended Avith rheumatic pains in various parts
 of the body, in the extremities, nape  or sides of the neck, joints ; the
 pains may be tearing or drawing, lancing and creeping;  the patient
 may  complain of stitches shooting  through the affected parts, or
 darting through internal organs, even the head.  The affected parts
 may become osdematousj without sometimes any apparent signs of
 inflammation; the hands,  ankle-joints, and even larger joints such
 as the knee-joints, may become  thus affected.   The muscles of the
 nape  of the neck and  the sterno-cleido-mastoideus muscle may be
 the seat of the local inflammation.   We may therefore recommend
 Belladonna  for a
   Crick in the neck; also for
   Wry neck or Torticollis ; for
   Rheumatic Swelling  of the hands, ankle-joints, knees, etc., where
 this agent may be of great advantage, if the pains and inflammation
 seem deeply seated, wearing, depressing the nervous energy, inclining
 to a torpid type.
   These rheumatic inflammations may leave the external parts and,
 by a process of  metastasis, attack internal organs, the brain, lungs,
 heart, stomach, bowels, liver, bladder. If Belladonna was originally
 indicated, it may still be required by the  internal disease although
 we may associate with it  some other medicine more  specifically
 adapted to the nature and  functions of the invaded organ : Cantha-
 rides and  Pulsatilla in case the bladder is invaded ; Actasa racemosa,
 Spigelia, Arsenicum, Digitalis for the heart;  Byronia, Arsenicum
 and other drugs, for the bowels; Bryonia and  Phosphorus for  the
 lungs, etc.
   For metastatic diseases of this  character, I should prefer the lower
 potencies from the third to the sixth, or even still lower.
   In Eruptive Fevers, Belladonna occupies a prominent  rank as a
 remedial agent.  It causes measle-shaped eruptions, and may there-
fore be useful in
   Measles, if the brain has to be assisted in bringing the eruption out.
AYe may infer the existence of this necessity from various symptoms:
sopor or even stupor,  convulsive startings, flushes in the face or
changes of color in the face, hurried  and irregular pulse.  The first
three potencies may be the most  appropriate. 
ATROPA BELLADONNA.
393
   Balladonna likewise causes scarlet-spots or a scarlet-redness in the
 face, on the  neck,  chest, abdomen, hands, sometimes*  accompanied
 with hot swelling  of the  parts,  small and quick pulse, asthmatic
 dyspnoea, violent cough, delirium, rubbing of the nose, dilatation of
 the pupils.   This effect of Balladonna upon the skin has led to its
 use  in
   Scarlatina levigata, or the smooth Sydenhamian scarlet-fever, as a
 sort of specific for  this very formidable malady.  Even allceopathic
 practitioners recommend its curative virtues in this disease.  In an
 essay on the prophylactic virtues of  Belladonna in scarlet-fever, Dr.
 (Ehler of Grimmitschau, Saxony, expresses himself as follows :
   " In anginas of scarlet-fever, whether at the onset, acme or termi-
 nation  of the malady,  I know of no remedy, not  even excepting
 calomel, leeches and liniments, which affords relief and effects a cure
 as speedily as Belladonna.  I  prescribe it in accordance with the age
 of the patient and  the intensity of the disease, every tAvo, three or
 four hours, giving either the recently-pulverized root, or a reliably-
 prepared extract, in doses of from one-twelfth to one-half of a grain.
 So far from having witnessed any ill effects from this treatment, I
 have generally  and with  but few exceptions, seen all  dangerous
 symptoms subside, in which  case the medicine was given less fre-
 quently and very soon after, omitted entirely.   Already Hufeland has
 directed attention to the peculiarity of scarlatina-angina ; Belladonna
 is endowed with the power of producing  a similar affection of the
 throat; although this may sound  rather homoeopathically, let us not
 reject  Belladonna  on this account with testing its merits  in this
 disease."
   Dierbach informs us, page 836  of  his Materia Aledica, that "Dr.
 Bucig of Guben, Germany, employed the pulverized root of Bella-
 donna in three cases of scarlet-fever, the children being respectively
 from eight to fifteen years old ; no other medicine was used in any
 case.  He speaks of the effect of Belladonna as surprisingly striking.
 After taking one fourth of a grain, the burning of the skin became
 less and the angina abated, so  that the disease ran its course without
 any  violent symptoms.  A boy of eight years, who was frequently
 delirious, was treated to a second  dose, after which he became more
 quiet; after the third dose, the head was entirely disembarrassed, the
 angina Avas removed, the skin became moist and all danger Avas over."

  Much has been said concerning the prophylactic virtues of Bella-
 donna in scarlatina. Men of eminence in the medical profession may
 be found among the advocates as well as  among the  opponents of
 this doctrine.  Upon Hahnemann's recommendation, Hufeland, after
 having tested the power of Belladonna as a prophylactic, became one
 of its Avarmest champions, and induced the most distinguished men'
 of the profession to  experiment in the same direction.  The ultimate
 result has been that some  commend, others, on the contrary, repu-
 diate the prophylactic virtues of Belladonna as a chimera.  The
 statistics on  either  side  are so numerous that it would  require a
number of pages to record them all.  Upon the whole, the prepon-
derance seems to be on  the side of those who argue in favor of 
394
LECTURE XXIV.
Belladonna as a preventive of epidemic scarlatina.  If Belladonna
is to be used for any such purpose, it is of importance, as Professor
Mitchell of Jefferson College justly remarks, that the article should
be reliable.  If the poAvdered root is used, it should be as fresh as it
can possibly be had.  Homoeopathic physicians use the first or third
potency for preventive purposes.   Old-School practitioners use a
much larger quantity, from one-eighth to one-fifth of a grain of the
powdered root once or twice a day during the course of an epidemic.
The exhibition of Belladonna as a preventive of scarlatina need not
be attended with any unpleasant consequences; on the contrary, it
may prove efficacious.  Then, why not resort to it, were it only in a
single family?  I should consider it my duty to do so on every occa-
sion, where children are exposed, in a community or even in a single
household, to the contagious influences of the scarlatina-miasm.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Belladonna  acts with a peculiar power upon  chronic inflamma-
tions and  indurations of glands, more particularly  in persons of a
scrofulous diathesis.  Among the records of provers we see it stated
that this agent has caused inflammation and swelling of the parotid,
submaxillary, axillary, cervical and inguinal glands.  We may there-
fore commend Belladonna for
   Chironic Glandular Swellings,  especially when of a scrofulous cha-
racter, and when resulting  from a previous inflammation of the
glands. In
  Parotitis, whether occurring as the  result of an epidemic miasm,
or as an isolated case of rheumatic.inflammation, Belladonna may be
indispensable,  especially when the  affection is of a chronic,  torpid
character.
  Even in Scirrhious Indurations of glands, Belladonna has been
employed with advantage.  In
  Scirrhous Indurations of the mammae, of the lower lip, uterus, and
of glands, this  agent may be required.   The  internal use may have
to be associated with the external application of the tincture.

  In Ulcers of a scrofulous or mercurial nature, readily bleeding and
covered with a blackish crust, Belladonna shows remarkable healing
powers.  The  lower potencies,  and even the tincture may have to
be used.

  In Fungus Medullaris and Hematodes, Belladonna may be an useful
agent, if the fungus is not too far progressed. In medullary fungus of
the optic nerve especially, Belladonna  may be serviceable, although
no cure may ever be possible in disorganizations of this kind. The
middle and higher potencies should be  preferred.

                            SLEEP.

  Belladonna causes drowsiness and even stupor.
  Persons who are  poisoned with Belladonna, often lie in a state of 
ATROPA  BELLADONNA.
395
stupor;  their breathing is stertorous, they lie motionless;  at times
they raise their eyes, stare, look around wildly; Avhile in  this state
of stupor, the tendons twitch, the face looks pale; the face and hands
are cold, the pulse is hard, quick and small; on waking the mouth
is dry, the tongue cleaves to the palate, the breath has a foul odor.
  Instead of stupor the opposite condition may set  in,  excessive
wakefulness, utter inability to sleep in consequence of excitement of
the fancy, all sorts of visions and hallucinations crowding upon the
mind.
  The sleep is interrupted by frequent  startings, screams, moans as
if the person were in great distress, frightful dreams about robbers,
ghosts, fire.
  The sleep is not refreshing; on waking one feels exhausted, weary,
sick all over.
  These various characteristics  may  occur in fevers and mental dis-
eases to which Belladonna is specifically adapted, and constitute so
many confirmatory evidences of the  homoeopathicity of Belladonna
to the case before us.

                       MENTAL GROUP.

  The effects of Belladonna upon the mind are very striking.  This
drug causes a variety of mental derangements.
   1. Anxiety in the region of the heart, apparently of a purely
nervous  kind, accompanied by redness  of  the face (prascordial
anxiety.)
  2. Delirium  of various kinds: muttering, loquacious; lascivious
talk, insulting language;
  3. Craziness, she  feels of those around her, acts  as if she were
counting money;
  4. In another case, the persons undressed themselves, ran through
the  streets, gesticulating in  a strange manner,  dancing, laughing
aloud, and utt«ring and demanding foolish things;
  5. Other  patients would clap their hands, with tenacious mucus
hanging out at the corners of their mouths;
   6. Another patient  would put her tongue out to  its full length,
smack it, after which she Avas tormented Avith retching and vomiting;
   7. Other  patients uttered horrible  shrieks, with trembling  of the
hands and feet;
  8. Some  patients are  averse to company; they cannot bear  the
least contradiction; they howl  and shriek if refused anything;
  9. Some are attacked with rage, they tear their clothes, kick, bite,
attempt to jump out of bed,  run away;
   10. ( Hhers are troubled with phantasms, ghosts, beasts (dogs, bats,
wild beasts); one patient fancied his nose was transparent;
   11. Complete loss of memory, stupor, loss of consciousness, may
befall many;
   12. Some become shy, serious, melancholy, of a changing mood.
  These effects of Belladonna upon the mind and censorium  may
occur as abnormal states in
   Typhioid fevers, and in 
396
LECTURE XXIV.
  Mania,  Craziness, no matter from Avhat cause the mental disorder
may emanate.  In certain specific cases, specific  remedies  may  be
applicable, for instance  if the disorder arises from the violent sup-
pression  of an eruption  to  which  some  peculiar  medicine was
adapted;  in  cases of syphilitic metastasis; nevertheless, even  in
such cases it  may be wise to associate Belladonna Avith the  former
drug.

                             DOSE.

  In the course of these lectures on Belladonna we  have furnished
a good many hints concerning the most appropriate dose to  be used
in the various maladies  where Belladonna may be  required.  We
will add a few more general suggestions.
  As a general rule, we think that  the middle .potencies of Bella-
donna, from the third to the tAvelfth, will be found adequate  to acute
as well as to  chronic cases.  In very few cases it may be necessary
to go below the third, and even to resort to the tincture.   These
exceptions have been indicated in every case.   On the other hand,
higher potencies, even up to the two  hundredth, may not only prove
efficacious but appropriate in the case of highly organized, sensitive
individuals, more especially females and children.  The dose maybe
repeated every two or six hours, and in chronic cases once or twice
a day.

                 ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT.

  In a case of poisoning we first withdraw the poison by means  of
an  emetic, for which purpose from  tAventy to thirty grains of the
Sulphate  of Zinc may be administered;  after which we resort  to
such antidotes as strong  lemonade, strong black coffee, cold affusions,
mustard-draughts to the feet and stomach, etc.

  From this agent Ave obtain an alkaloid Atropine which is supposed
to be the active principle of the drug.  It is exceedingly poisonous.
From the  one  hundredth part of a grain we have witnessed the
folloAving  effects in the case of a lady thirty years old:
  AVeariness of the head; inability to raise the head after stooping;
  Redness and heat of the face;
  Confused vision, the colors look blurred; presbyopia, weakness
of sight even three days after taking the drug ;
  Tongue rigid like leather;
  Gums and fauces dry  ;
  Limbs weak and heavy; she is unable to stand or walk; she feels
like fainting  after making the least effort;
  Palpitation of the heart;
  Trembling of the hands when attempting to hold anything.

  Another interesting case of poisoning  by Atropine is published
in the forty-second number of the Deutsche Klinik by Dr. Droste.
A girl swallowed by mistake a solution  of Atropine containing 
BRYONIA ALBA.
397
about tAvo-thirds of a grain of this alkaloid.  She complained of
burning in the throat; weakness of sight;  complete aphonia.   Co-
pious draughts of milk excited vomiting.  Soon after the following
symptoms developed themselves: dilatation  of the pupils, injected
appearance of the eyes; convulsive movements of the  face; small
and frequent  pulse (130 beats in the minute); extreme restlessness;
indifference to what Avas passing around her.  The burning in the
throat had  increased,  and  had  extended over  the  epigastrium.
Sulphate of zinc excited more vomiting; after it had  ceased the
patient felt very drowsy.  The sopor was sought to be counteracted
by two drops of Croton oil, cold water to the head, warm fomenta-
tions to the feet, diffusible stimulants.   This  condition lasted forty-
eight hours, and was followed by trembling of the limbs, excessive ner-
vousness like that in delirium tremens, lasting two days and nights ;
after which the patient gradually recovered in the course of four days.
                LECTURE   XXV.

                      BRYONIA  ALBA.

                       (White  Bryony)

  This plant belongs to the Natural Order Cucurbitaceae.  It derives
its name from the Greek verb " bruo," to germinate, expressive of the
vigorous and rapid growth of its annual  stems from the perennial
root.  The leaves are cordate, five-lobed, dentate.  FloAvers : racemes
and corymbas ; calyx and corolla of equal length.   The plant bears
black berries.  It  is distinguished by herbaceous  climbers,  with
simple tendrils.  Leaves stalked  and  alternate.  The large root is
perennial, of a  bitter taste,  containing  a  good  deal of starch,
branched and tuberculous.
  There  are many species of bryony, the white bryony being the
only species which is used by homoeopathic physicians.
  We make an alcoholic tincture of the root, of a deep-yellow color
anol very bitter.
  Bryonia is an  acrid poison.   In one case of poisoning, the whole
of the mucous lining  of the. rectum had come aAAray.  In another
case the patient  was attacked  by tormina and purging which could
not be stopped, and finally caused his death.
  Orfila  has made  several experiments upon dogs.   In one of them
no  symptoms of poisoning could be found.   In another dog the
stomach  Avas found inflamed, and the lungs but slightly.   Another
dog Avas killed by SAvallowing three ounces of Avater that  had been
standing for two hours on four drachms of the root.
  Bryonia, if injected  into the pleural cavity, causes true pleurisy
and effusion of fibrin.
  In a case  of poisoning we administer an infusion of galls which
precipitates  an insoluble tannate of the active principles of  Bryonia. 
398
LECTURE XXV.
  Although we number Bryonia among the polychrests, yet its ther-
apeutic range is comparatively limited as regards the  diversity of
the disorders  with which it is in curative rapport.  It derives its
importance from the fact that it is homoeopathic to affections of fre-
quent  and universal  occurrence, more particularly rheumatic and
nervous and inflammatory diseases.
  Noack and Trinks define the physiological range of Bryonia in the
folloAving concise statements : " Bryonia excites both the peripheral
nerves and capillary vessels, thus giving rise to symptoms intermediate
between inflammation and nervous irritation.  Bryonia  has striking
relations with the secretory organs of the  bile and Avith the uterus,
likewise  Avith the  serous membranes, and is  especially suitable  in
hyperasmia of the latter. Bryonia is especially indicated in affections
where  resorption is required, in typhoid infiltrations, serous infusions,
and sanguineous exudations.  It is especially efficacious in affections
Avhere  the  catarrhal, pituitous, or rheumatic  character prevails, or
Avhere  synochal symptoms pass into the nervous stage."  We shall
have occasion to elucidate  these  teachings as we  proceed  Avith our
usual categories of symptoms under their respective heads.

                     CEPHALIC  GROUP.
  Bryonia may be of advantage in
  Hemicrania of a rheumatic, arthritic-or nervous character.  Our
recorded provings  show that the headaches  to which Bryonia is
homoeopathic, are characterized by congestive symptoms.  This may
be inferred from such  records as these:
  Rush of blood to the head, after which the head feels compressed
from temple to temple ;
  Violent headache, the head  feeling very heavy, Avith pressure in
the brain from within  outwards, and great desire to lie down;
  Headache, when stooping, as if the brain would press out at the
forehead;
  Headache as if the skull should be pressed asunder;
  Congestion of blood to the head, with heat in the head.
  According to our records, it seems characteristic of the  byronia
headache to set in principally in the morning on waking, and  to
become aggravated by movement,  particularly  by opening and
moving the eyes.
  The scalp  likewise presents some characteristic symptoms; it is
painful to the  touch as if sore ;  burning pain at a  spot on the top of
the head; the head is  covered with a warm perspiration; sensation
as if the hair were pulled at.
  Guided by these symptoms we may recommend Bryonia for
  Rheumatic congestive headaches, and for
  Rheumatism of the  scalp, where, however,  Byonia seems to play
an inferior part.   It is principally in congestive affections of  the
head with predominance of  nervous  symptoms  that Bryonia seems
efficacious.
  The  foregoing symptoms may be present in  Bilious-congestive
headaches, or in Rheumatic headaches, which are almost  ahvays com-
plicated with bilious symptoms. 
BRYONIA ALBA.                     399
                     NERVOUS GROUP.

  Bryonia is not  much used in purely nervous affections.  It has
been employed in
  Traumatic Tetanus, apparently with some  success, and is recom-
mended by Noack and Trinks in
  Hysteric Tetanus, more in accordance with a theory, as it seems to
me, than with the actual effects of the drug upon the healthy organism.
It may also be more or less adapted to
  Paralysis of the Extremities, AYhen of a rheumatic nature, or when
caused by the retrocession of an acute rash for which Bryonia should
have been prescribed.
  Regarding the  dose in  the various nervous affections wliich Ave
have named, including the different forms of hemicrania to which
Bryonia is homoeopathic, we would recommend the middle potencies,
from the sixth to  the eighteenth, in preference to the lower or to the
tincture.  In purely nervous or  inflammatory conditions we have
never seen any good  effects of a  striking character  from a strong
tincture.

                  INFLAMMATORY  GROUP.

  Bryonia seems to be particularly adapted to rheumatic inflamma-
tions and to phlegmonous inflammations that have passed into the
second stage, a stage characterized by phenomena denoting effusions
into cavities or infiltrations into parenchymatous tissue.  In pneu-
monia,  hepatitis,  peritonitis, meningitis, pleuritis,  enteritis, and in
bronchitis, Bryonia is no^mdicated at the outset of these affections;
but when exudations into the cerebral, pleural or peritoneal cavities,,
or into the parenchyma-of  the lungs  or  liver, threaten  or have, ac-
tually taken place. Such exudations occur  in the second stage of_
these "diseases,  and are always  accompanied by  a „m2lsiTn!lrked
development of the nervous symptoms.  The pulse becomes more
hurried, feebler,"less resisting to the touch.  Atuttering delirium may
set in;  spasmodic tAvitchings and even  convulsions may mark the
beginning of the exudative process.  The  consciousness becomes
disturbed ; the breathing is more oppressed and superficial, especially
if the respiratory organs are the seat of the effusion.  If the exuda-
tion takes place into cavities, the  region of the  cavity is often dis-
tended externally.  This may be the  case in the region of the pleural
and peritoneal cavities, and even  the head may swell up under the
pressure of the effused fluid.  In  prescribing Bryonia in the second
stage of acute inflammations, Aconite  or  Belladonna  which may
have been your choice in  the first stage, need not  be lost sight of.
It may be proper and even necessary to continue the use of  either
of these agents in alternation with Bryonia, either  at times or more
or less continually.  After having said thus much, it seems  almost
needless to add that in acute inflammations of serous and parenchy-
matous  tissue, Bryonia meets its principal sphere of jiction, and that
for this reason this agent riiusTBe capable of rendering eminent ser-
vices in the second or exudative stage of pneumonia, hepatitis, pleu-
ritis and peritonitis. 
400                     LECTURE XXV.
  In the exudative stage of these diseases the pulse  becomes more
hurried, more jerking and contracted, and unless  absorption of the
effused fluid is effected, the pulse becomes gradually Aveaker, emptier
and compressible.  In the exudative stage of pneumonia the dyspnoea
becomes much  more  intense,  and  the characteristic rusty  sputa
supersedes the expectoration of tenacious phlegm  or  blood-streaked
mucus.   In the exudative stage of peritoneal hepatitis, the swelling
in the region of the liver increases ; the soreness, stinging pains and
the inability to draw a long breath, are much greater; in the exuda-
tive  stage of peritonitis, the  bowels  become tympanitic,  more
sensitive to pressure; and lastly, in the exudative  stage of pleurisy,
the side swells up, the soreness and stinging pains and the difficulty
of breathing are much worse, and the cough is more Avearing and
exhausting.

  In Encephalitis, this agent is  recommended by  Hartmann, when
the inflammation threatens to pass  into the exudative stage; the
patients grate their teeth, and symptoms of lockjaw show themselves.

  In Diaphiragmitis, with  inability  to  expand the  chest, violent
burning and snooting pains in the region of the diaphragm, Bryonia
may prove useful, after or in conjunction with Aconite.   The lower
potencies may be preferred.

  In  Hepatitis,  more  particularly when of a chronic form, with
stinging, tensive and burning pains in the region of the liver,  which
is moreover, hard and swollen, sore, Bryonia may  be of service,
more especially if the  inflammation  is of a rheumatic character, or
if the peritoneal covering seems principally affected.
  Bryonia may even be found useful, if  the disorder  is of a chronic
nature at the onset, of the character of
  Hepatalgia, a nervous irritation of the organ.  The middle potencies
will be found sufficient.

  In Peritonitis, particularly when of a rheumatic type, Avith stinging
and burning pains, sensitiveness of the  abdomen  to the touch,
constipation,  or even the opposite condition: tendency to diarrhceic
discharges, consisting of mucus and blood, with tenesmus and griping
or shooting pains, Bryonia will materially aid the process of recovery.
  It is  particularly in  inflammatory affections of the respiratory
organs,  the lungs and their enveloping membrane, that Bryonia has
been found eminently useful; not however in the first invasion of
the disease,  but after the synochal  form has been subdued by
Aconite.  We shall find Bryonia particularly useful  in
  Pleuropneumonia, characterized by stiching pains  or in
  Parenchiymatous pneumonia, with sero-sanguineous infiltration, dry
and racking cough  without much expectoration  unless  it is some
rusty sputa.  In these affections the  middle potencies will be found
to answer the purpose.
  In Typhoid pneumonia, Byronia is  recommended by Wurm, if the
following group of symptoms prevail: Moderate vascular erethism, 
BRYONIA ALBA.
401
 the fever being mingled with chills at the onset of the attack;  there
 is a good deal of heat in the head, the membranes of the brain being
 sometimes affected, with consequent inclination to sopor and delirium;
 bloated countenance, dryness of the tongue, difficult speech, rather
 hard and full pulse, oppression of the chest with tolerably easy respi-
 ration ;  in older persons the pains are rather of  a  burning nature,
 and are excited by cough rather than by the act of breathing;  loose
 expectoration of a yellow, blood-streaked mucus.
   Wurm likewise recommends Bryonia in
   Pneumonia, when occurring as a complication of typhus abdomi-
 nalis, with red hepatization  of one of the lobes of the  lungs, and
 especially if the pleuritic symptoms are prominent.
   In Bilious Pneumonia, with rheumatic pains in the extremities,
 gastric symptoms, burning  distress  in the  lungs, . tearing cough,
 expectoration of a tenacious,  bloody,  greenish or yellowish matter,
 sallow and even jaundiced complexion, Bryonia,  3d to 6th potency,
 Avill be found an useful remedy.
   In Neglected Pneumonia, which had been mismanaged with copious
 venesections, small doses of Bryonia in alternation with similar closes
 of Aconite may bring about a most favorable change.
   Pleuritis is very favorably acted upon  by Bryonia.  This agent
 may effect a favorable  change,  whether the  costal or pulmonary
 pleura is the seat  of the inflammation.   In the synochal stage of the
 inflammation, Aconite is indispensable.  If it should be insufficient,
 and effusion  should threaten to set in, or should be actually present,
 Bryonia will have  to be resorted to.  Even in mismanaged cases,
 where, in spite of blisters and bleeding, effusion into the pleural sac
 had not been prevented, Byronia, with an occasional dose of Aconite,
 may be found the most efficient means of effecting the absorption of
 the effused fluid.
   We certainly may commend B}rronia to your attention in
  Bronchiitis, both acute and chronic.  The patient complains of
 stinging and burning pains  in the air-passages; he is troubled with
 paroxysms of a tearingjmd .yery_fatiSuino cougli^with expectoration
 of a frothy mucus which may_be_strej:kTeTAvithblo^dand afterwards
 assume a yellow color and puriform character.   The cough may be
 excited by a  titillation in  the throat-pit or bronchia, and the breath-
 ing may be  very  much  oppressed.   Use the middle potencies.  If
 the fever is high, Aconite may precede the employment of Bryonia.
  In Enteritis, we  shall find Bryonia an useful means of cure, if the
 patient complain^_of_^rJ4iing_ancl cutting pains in the bowels, and a
 serous diarrhoea is likeAvise present.  Bryonia seems to affect with a
 peculiarly destructive poAver the mucous lining of the larger bowels;
 if the inflammation is located in these organs, Avith violent spasmodic
and lancinating tormina, discharges of blood and mucus, Byronia will
be found indispensable.

  Bryonia causes an inflammatory tearing pain in the region of the
psoas-muscle  ; hence we may find this agent useful in
  Psoitis, inflammation of the  psoas muscle,  Avhere it should, how
ever, be associated Avith Aconite.
                               26 
402                      LECTURE XXV.

  In Rheumatic Inflammations Bryonia proves a great remedy.  In
rheumatic inflammations of the diaphragm, of the  psoas-muscle, of
the bronchia and lungs, of serous, fibrous and' muscular tissue, and
of the articulations, Ave find Bryonia useful.   In these inflammations
it is indicated by rigidity, and soreness of the parts.
  In Articu lar Rheumatism, acute or chironic, it is especially indicated
after effusion into  the  articular  cavity has set in.  Sometimes this
effusion announces itself by distinctly-perceptible fluctuation.   The
joints are  swollen, hard, red and very painful to pressure.   The
soreness may extend throughout  the articular cavity, .and may be
accompanied by stinging or  rather lancinating pains.  If muscular
and fibrous tissues are invaded by the rheumatic inflammation, the
pains are tearing, sticking, burning and very frequently the patient
complains of a 'keen soreness in the inflamed parts.
  In Neuralgic Rheumatism,  Avith stinging,  creeping and burning
pains, Bryonia may be indicated.
  In Arthritic Swellings of Joints, especially of the  knee and tarsal
or metatarsal joints, or of single phalangeal articulations, Bryonia
may be of  great use.   Swellings of this kind  may partake of the
character of GEdema.   It is  also in pale,  tense, hot SAvelling of the
limbs that Bryonia may be found useful.
  AYe find that in Scrofulous  Inflammation of  the Knee-joint and
Whdte Swelling of the Knee ; and in Scrofulous Inflammation  of the
Hip-joint,  (Claudicatio  Spontanea,  Coxarihirocacef) especially  Avhen
induced by rheumatic  exposure, Bryonia may prove very useful in
the progress of the disease Avhen exudation into  the  cavity  of the
joint threatens.  If rheumatic inflammation  of the joints assumes
the form of erysipelas,  Bryonia may still be useful.
  Rheumatic Inflammations may invade  the eyes, ears; jaws, spine,
nape of the neck, shoulders, and the various viscera of the abdominal
cavity, such as the bladder and bowels.  The pains to which Bryonia
will be found  homoeopathic  in these affections,  are_stinging,  shoot-
ing, tearing jmd burning pains, Avhich may be attencledwith great
soreness of the affected parts.  If the eyes and ears  are the seat  of
the disease, there may be muco-purulent  or bloody discharges,  and
the functional power of the affected organ is more or less interfered
Avith.  Sensitiveness to the light, buzzing or Avhizzing noises may
trouble the patient.  If the bladder is invaded, there will be more or
less painful and ineffectual urging to urinate.
  Should the  bronchial tubes be the seat of this rheumatic irritation,
the patient will be troubled Avith a more  or less wearing and tearing-
cough, attended Avith a frothy and subsequently a muco purulent and
more or less blood-streaked expectoration.

  In Rheumatic Peritonitis, Avith stinging and burning pains in the
region of the peritoneum,  meteorism,  violent  chills followed by
burning fever, flushed face, headache, dizziness, constipation, Bryonia
Avill afford much relief.

  In rheumatic affections to which Bryonia is homoeopathic, the pain
is  generally  made worse by motion.  This is  readily accounted 
BRYONIA ALBA.
403
for by the fact that Bryonia excites inflammatory  action,  which is
necessarily increased by moving the affected part.

   Old-school physicians have used Bryonia in rheumatic  inflam-
mations, as may be seen from the following cases taken from Frank's
Alagazine.
   A man of twenty-five years, Avhose general health Avas good, had
been  suffering for some time, especially in  spring and  fall, with
herpes fur fur aceus  Avhich came out principally  on the arms, tibias,
and thighs; at the approach  of,  or after  a  change  of Aveather, he
experienced periodical attacks of rheumatalgia,  tearing pains in the
head, and violent pains in decayed and  sometimes in sound teeth.
During a spell of rainy Aveather, he had been hunting and fishing a
whole day, and had been resting with his right  knee for  some time
upon a Avet and  cold  stone.  Two days after this  exposure,  he
experienced, toAvarcls evening, a slight  draAving pain in the  right
knee radiating toAvards the thigh, increasing periodically and exacer-
bating at night.  Towards  morning the knee exhibited a shining and
red appearance, and was painful during motion which Avas someAvhat
impeded.   Being obliged on the same day to Avalk about, the patient
had  to lie doAvn in the evening, when the pain increased considerably
in spite of frictions Avith a hare's skin, camphor-liniments, etc.  The
patient took the tincture of Bryonia, five  drops every three hours.
After midnight he had a quiet sleep,  and toAvard  morning the pain
and  SAvelling Avere much less; on the third morning he Avas entirely
well, but he continued the medicine for a few days longer as a matter
of precaution.

   Another interesting case of rheumatism is that of a man of tAventy-
eight years, of good health  generally,  Avho had  become drenched in
the rain during  a  morning-Avalk, and had remained the Avhole clay
Avith his wet clothes on.  Towards evening he experienced a laming
sort  of lassitude and soreness in the left loAver limb.   The pain Avas
aggravated by the least motion.   On  the day folloAving, motion was
exceedingly painful and difficult; the pain Avas principally felt in
the thigh and hip-joint; in the evening, the pains became  stitching,
and periodically aggravated ;  they continued even during rest. The
patient had not taken any medicine for three days, when, on the third
morning he took tAvo  drops of the tincture of Biyonia every three
hours.  Towards evening of the same clay, the  patient Avas able to
move his foot Avithout pain; he only felt  exhausted  and Aveary ; next
morning he Avas quite Avell.
   These tAvo  cases, together with  another case of  apparently  rheu-
matic inflammation of the knee, are reported in  Bernhardi and Lcef-
fler's Zcitschrift fur Erfahrungsheilkunde, (Journal for the Aledicine
of Experience,) an Old-School publication.  From  these and similar
cases, ayc not only  learn the interesting fact that the medicines Avhich
Hahnemann has been the first to subject to the crucible of physio-
logical experimentation, begin to be used and appreciated by observers
of the other side, but that these medicines may effect  beautiful cures
even if administered in large  doses.  It is questionable in my mind 
404
LECTURE XXV.
Avhether these patients would have got avcU equally fast under  the
operation of smaller doses.  And if they should not get Avell as fast
Avith small as they sometimes do Avith large doses, Avould it be right
to sacrifice a patient to a theory, an abstraction, or to the inveterate
and unyielding habits of routine ?  God forbid !

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

   Bryonia is an agent of secondary importance only in affections of
the eyes.  It causes a burning, smarting  and itching of the eyes;
it also causes redness and inflammation of the lids, Avith swelling,
pressure, heat and nightly agglutination.
   These symptoms indicate the use of Bryonia in
   Rheumatic and Arthiritic Ophithialmia, Avhere, however,  Bryonia
enjoys a second-rate reputation as a curative agent; and in
   Blephiarophthalmia, especially in the case of scrofulous and arthritic
individuals.  It  may likewise be adapted to the dispersion of
   Inflammatory  Tumors, little Boils  Avhich  may  sometimes  develop
themselves upon the lids.

                   AURICULAR  GROUP.

   Bryonia causes a buzzing, burning and stinging pain in the ears;
tumors in front and behind the ear, ulceration of the concha, hard-
ness of hearing.   Hence we may use it in
   Otitis, of a  scrofulous character, chronic rather than acute, and in
   Dysecoia, hardness of hearing; exposure  to damp weather, a cur-
rent of air, etc., may occasion this difficulty.

                      DENTAL GROUP.

   Bryonia causes a tearing  pain in the  teeth, which is worse in
warmth; the  tooth feels elongated;  contact causes the pain to  shift
from one tooth  to another.  A fine flashing pain through the teeth
is characteristic of Bryonia.  In
   Rheumatic  Odontalgia of this nature, especially when accompanied
Avith otalgia, we shall  find Bryonia sixth to twelfth potency useful.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC  GROUP.

   The action of Bryonia in this direction may be considered under
the following heads;

                      a.  Taste and Appetite.

   Bryonia causes a flat, sweetish,  sickly, nauseous taste; also a foul
taste; the food tastes bitter or is entirely tasteless. Before- breakfast
or even after  a meal, the taste in the mouth is bitter.
   Loss  of appetite, violent  thirst, desire  for  many things which
cannot be eaten.
   The changes of taste should be considered as symptomatic of some 
BRYONIA ALBA.
405
more general gastric  derangement; the fitful or strange desire for
articles which are not eatable may exist in
   Hysteria or during  pregnancy.

               b.  Eructations, nausea and vomiting.

   Sour and bitter eructations ;
   Nausea with ptyalism;
   Empty retching, with spitting up of water and mucus, coldness
of the body;
   Vomiting of the ingesta;
   Bitter vomiting of  bile and water;
   Bloody vomiting.
   These symptoms are characteristic of gastric  derangements gene-
rally, and may likeAvise occur in gastric and bilious fevers.

        c. Abnormal sensations before, during or  after a meal.

   Pressure in the stomach after eating;
   Contractive pain in the stomach after eating ;
   Cutting as with  knives in the pit of the stomach;
   The least pressure on the  pit of the stomach is unpleasant ;
   Sensation of swelling in the pit of the stomach ;
   Pressure in the stomach when Avalking, after supper, Avith pressure
on the bladder and perineum; the pressure disappears Avhen sitting
down;
   Darting stitch in the pit of the stomach Avhen stepping, particu-
larly Avhen making a false step.
   These symptoms indicate the use of Bryonia in
   Dyspepsia, with oppression of the stomach after eating, impaired
appetite, bad taste or absence of taste in the mouth, nausea, retching,
vomiting of mucus, and spitting up of the food.  Give Bryonia third
to sixth potency.
   Cardialgia, Avith contractive pain in the stomach,  flashes of heat,
vomiting of the ingesta,  swelling and soreness  of the epigastric  •
region.
   Hahnemann relates a case of Gastrodynia which Avas characterised
by the last-mentioned symptom, " Darting stitch  in the pit  of  the
stomach Avhen making a wrong step."  The  patient was a washer-
woman, and had become utterly incapacitated from  Avork in conse-
quence of the pain.  She had been suffering for  several weeks when
she applied to Hahnemann for relief.   One drop of the strong tinc-
ture of Bryonia cured her at once and permanently.

                           d. Pains.

  Bryonia causes tearing, lancinating  and spasmodic pains in the
boAvels.   These pains are sometimes  followed  by  an evacuation.
AYe may find Bryonia indicated in some cases of
   Colic, of a spasmodic or inflammatory nature.   In  the
   Colic of Pregnant Females  and in
  Spasmodic Hysteric  Colic, Bryonia may prove  serviceable. 
406
LECTURE XXV.
     Bryonia causes sickening pains in the bowels, and a feeling as if
   they had  been operated on by a cathartic.   It  causes rumbling in
   the boAvels.
     These pains may occur in a case of
     Enterodyn ia of a rheumatic  character; the attack may be accom-
   panied by pressure upon the rectum, a  sensation as if a lump were
   lying in the bowels, and  it may terminate in a discharge from the
   bowels.  The 1st to the 6th potency may suffice.  In
      Weahmess of the Bowels induced by abuse of drastics, and charac-
   terized  by constipation with  urging, but inability to relieve the
   boAvels, Bryonia may be found useful.

                         e. Alvine Evacuations.

     Small doses of Brjronia have a tendency to constipate the boAvels.
   Hence in
     Constipation, if the stools are hard, of large size, and deficient in
   intestinal mucus, Bryonia, if administered in small doses,  may be of
   great use to the patient.  In a more general group of symptoms to
   which Bryonia is homoeopathic, the existence of constipation may
   afford additional  evidence regarding the curative adaption  of this
   agent to the case before us.  Let us not forget that a  large close of
   Bryonia may act as a cathartic or drastic agent,  and  that the acrid
   principle of this drug may cause bloody and mucous discharges from
   the boAvels, attended AYith cutting and burning pains and with more
   or less urging in the lower boAvels.  These symptoms  may indicate
   Bryonia in
     Diarrhiea preceded by burning pains in the rectum;
     Diarrhiea Avhich it is almost impossible to retain;
     Bloody diarrhiea, Avatery ; or_
     Diarrhoea preceded by  hard stool, and accompanied by fermenta-
   tion in the bowels.
     In Dysenteric Diarrhiea, with sickening feeling in the bowels, lan-
   cinating and tearing pain in the larger boAArels, discharge  of mucus
•  and blood, Bryonia 3d to 6th potency may afford relief.
     These symptoms may likewise indicate the use of Bryonia in
     Chiolera-infantum, if the children vomit and gag a great deal, with
   burning and soreness at the anus.

                         URINARY GROUP.

     Small doses of Bryonia cause a sensation as if the urethra were too
   narroAV ; large closes cause a violent desire to urinate, with sensation,
   after  urinating,  as if the bladder had not  been entirely emptied.
   This feeling of weakness may occur in
     Parcdytic-rheumatic Affections of the Bladder, especially in the case
   of old persons and hysteric females.  It may likeAvise  be an accom-
   panying symptom in rheumatic irritations of the bowels with ten-
   dency to diarrhoea.
     This weakness of the bladder may exist in gastric and  rheumatic
   fevers, with red and scalding urine, or frequent discharge of a watery
   urine during  the period of convalescence. 
BRYONIA ALBA.
407
                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Large doses of Bryonia cause profuse and premature menstruation,
even metrorrhagia,  with discharge of dark blood, pain in the small
of the back and headache.  Hence we employ Bryonia in affections
where this condition of the uterine secretions prevails.  In
  Metrorrhagia, whether symptomatic or idiopathic, and in
  Premature and Profuse menstruation, (Menorrhiagid) Bryonia may
afford much relief, if the discharges consist of dark blood, and the
patient  complains of pressing and cutting pains in the bowels and
pain in  the small of the back.
  This  condition may characterize a case of
  Hysteria; or it may precede a state of
  Anemia, Avith oedema of the extremities and bowels, preliminary
to ascites  or anasarca.

  We find that Bryonia has caused a SAvelling of the labia majora,
with a black, hard pimple on the swollen part.  This may arise from
an excessive determination of blood to the pudendum, and may more
particularly occur in
  Amenorrhea, Avhen induced by rheumatic exposure.  In this form
of amenorrhoea the patient may complain of pinching and uneasiness
in the bowels, Avith more or less swelling of the hypogastric  region.
Or the patient may complain of cutting, burning and crampy pains
in the boAvels, sickness  at the stomach and determination of blood
to the head.

  In Mastitis, when the breasts are gorged Avith milk, Bryonia may
do much good; the secretion of milk is arrested, and the mammae
become  hard and noclous.
  Our provings state that, under the action of Bryonia, an indurated
nipple  became soft as formerly;  stitches  similar  to  the sensation
created  by electric sparks, were experienced in the nipple after the
drug began to act.   Hence in
  Induration of the nipples, this agent may be of service.

                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

  Bryonia may be useful in
  Influenza (with pleuritic or pleuro-pneumonic symptoms), swelling
of the nose, nose-bleed.  It causes and may therefore cure
  Cough Avith hoarseness, soreness and aching pains, tickling  in the
larnyx;
  Dry coughi, also Avith vomiting of food ;
  Spasmodic cough, also with  suffocation, oppression,  expectoration
of blood and mucus.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

  AYe have said that Bryonia is useful in pneumonia, in pulmonary
congestions with oppression, soreness, stinging pains or tearing pains 
 408                     LECTURE XXV.

 Avhen coughing;  expectoration of froth, blood, serum.  It has  also
 been employed with excellent effect in
   Hydrothorax, with  oedema of the feet (from repercussion of an
 eruption);  likeAvise in
   Palpitation of the heart with anxiety; in carditis it is a subordinate
 remedy.

                 EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

   Bryonia causes and may therefore cure a
   Rash  like the rash  with Avhich  lying-in women and.  nursing
 infants are sometimes afflicted.   It also causes a species of
   Herpes furfur aceus, with burning and itching; likewise
   An eruption resembling measles, Avhich  is  brought out by rubbing
 and scratching the part.
   In a case of measles, Bryonia may help to bring out  the eruption
 upon the chest, if it  should seem to have  settled upon the lungs
 causing an inflammatory irritation of this organ which may speedily
 lead to effusion and paralysis.
   Bryonia causes and may therefore cure
   Erysipelas  of  the joints,  even when attended  Avith vesicular
 eruptions.

   Bryonia seems to act upon
   Scrofulous  Ulcers, which  smart and  sting under the action of
 Bryonia ; the ichor from the ulcer stains the linen black ; the ulcer
 feels cold and becomes painful as from the contact with cold  air.
   Bryonia may likewise  cause and has been used Avith more or less
 advantage in
   Ascites and Anasarca, when arising from  retrocession of the  per-
 spiration, of an  acute  rash,  from  liver-complaint  metastasis of
 inflammatory rheumatic  action.   Give Bryonia from the 3d to the
 6th potency.                                      y

   Bryonia causes a yellow color of the skin.  Guided by this symp-
 tom, we may  administer it in
   Jaundice, where it may be found useful if the attack was caused
 by a fit  of angry  passion, disappointment; or if the attack seems to
 arise from liver-complaint, partial induration, chronic hepatitis, with
 soreness, heat, stinging pains and swelling in the region of the liver.
 The gastric symptoms should likewise correspond Avith the physio-
 logical action of this drug.   Give from the 3d to the 12th potency.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

  Upon examining the symptoms Avhich characterize the action of
 Bryonia  as a fever-exciting agent, we shall discover an absence of
 those signs Avhich characterize the action of Aconite.  There is no
 violent  chill, only some chilly  creepings,  coldness  of  the skin,
followed by irregular flashes  of heat: the heat is either felt internally
or externally, or  both at the same time; it is generally a burning 
BRYONIA ALBA.
409
and dry heat, Avith  thirst, and discharge of a red-looking urine
burning heat in the bloodvessels ; heat in the lower limbs as if they
were plunged in hot water,  heat in the head and  on the face, with
redness of the cheeks; the heat is followed by SAveat, attended Avith
anxiety; or profuse SAveat, particularly in the morning or at night.
  The character of these phenomena seems to preclude the propriety
of administering Bryonia in simple inflammatory fevers of a purely
synochal character,  or in all simple fevers  Avhere the phenomena
which make up  the typical paroxysm, succeed each other in regular
order.  It is in  sthenic  fevers where the nervous  system shows  a
tendency to become profoundly shaken, where the paroxysms incline
to irregularity and a sort of torpor characterizes the vital reaction,
that Bryonia is more especially applicable, provided the symptoms
generally justify its use.   AYith these preliminary explanations  we
may recommend this agent in
  Gastric fevers, where symptoms of gastric derangement  constitute
predominant indications, a  foul  gray coating  on the tongue:  un-
pleasant taste in the mouth, thirst, anorexia,  flushed cheeks, consti-
pation, heat  in  the  boAvels,  sensation as if the boAvels were acted
upon by cathartic medicine, highly-colored urine.
  Bilious fever,  with yellow or brown coating on the tongue, nausea,
vomiting of bile, sensitiveness anol bloating of the epigastric region,
distention of the boAvels, constipation, salloAV  complexion, throbbing
pain  and heat in the head, occasional flashes of heat preceded by
chilliness.
  Mucous fevers, with whitish-yellow and tenacious coating on  the
tongue, stitches  darting through the body, chilliness folloAved  by
burning heat, flushed face, soreness of the flesh, or
  Rheumatic fevers,  with tearing and draAving pains in the joints,
swelling of joints or muscles, Aveariness,  creeping chills,  Avhitish
coating on the  tongue, constipation, deep-colored  urine.   In these
fevers the 3d to  the 6th potency may be administered.
  In Typhius, Bryonia has been given  Avith distinguished effect  by
homoeopathic physicians.
  In the destructive hospital-typhus which  prevailed in the year
1814, Hahnemann employed Avith never-failing  success Bryonia and
Rhus toxicodendron, giving sometimes one and  at times the other
remedy accordingly as a change in the symptoms indicated the neces-
sity of changing the remedy.   If the  patient complained  of dizzi-
ness,  shooting or jerking-tearing pains in the head, throat, chest,
abdomen, etc; Avhich ay ere felt particularly on moving the part, in
addition to the other symptoms, the haemorrhages, the vomiting, the
heat, the thirst, the nocturnal restlessness, etc., Bryonia Avas exhibited.
But if the shooting  pains increased in violence, were particularly
felt during rest,  if the prostration and anorexia became more intense,
if the patient was troubled Avith a harassing cough, or such a debility
as to threaten paralysis, Rhus tox. Avas given  instead of Bryonia.
  In  Typhius versatilis, with headache, unsteady and Avild looks,
indistinct speech, violent delirium, desire to escape, sleeplessness,
violent fever, quick and soft pulse, viscid sweats, tremor of the hands,
difficulty of SAvallowing, Bryonia has been found useful.  This agent 
410
LECTURE XXV.
 Avill be found particularly adapted to typhus having a rheumatic
 character, epidemic typhus of the nature  described by Hahnemann,
 and abdominal typhus with predominance of gastric symptoms, very
 foul and sore tongue, purulent diarrhoea folloAved or preceded  by
 constipation and tympanitic distention of the boAvels, miliaria.  AYe
 would recommend  the  middle potencies  as the most efficient for
 curative purposes  in these  different forms of  typhus.  Nor is it
 necessary to repeat the  dose  oftener than  once every four or six
 hours.

   In the first stage of
   Puerperal fever, when the boAvels are  constipated and distended,
 the patient complains  of  great soreness and shooting stitches and
 prickings in the region of the peritoneum;  the face is suffused with
 redness, glowing;  slight  chills  followed by,  or alternating  Avith
 violent flashes of heat through the body;  sensitiveness to pressure
 in  the  region  of the  ovaries; loathing  of food, thick,  yelloAvish
 coating on the tongue ;  cessation of the lochial discharge, scanty and
 foul-smelling urine: Bryonia should not  be  lost  sight of.
   The appearance of miliaria or petechial effusions does not counter-
 indicate Bryonia  in malignant typhoid fever.

   Byronia may likeAvise develop petechiae such as may be seen in
   Purpura Hemorrhiagica; it may therefore be employed in this
 disease  Avith some chances  of success, provided  the accompanying-
 vascular, gastric and nervous symptoms justify its use.

                            SLEEP.

   Bryonia disturbs the sleep by  exciting annoying dreams about
 one's affairs ; dreams full of quarrel; startings during sleep, visions
 of frightful scenes and objects croAvding  upon the fancy while the
 body is hot and covered with sweat.
   These symptoms shoAV that  in conditions of the system where the
 vascular and nervous functions are powerfully irritated by disease,
 particularly in the various inflammatory fevers to which Bryonia is
 homoeopathic, this agent must often be capable of affording help.

                      AIENTAL  GROUP.

  Bryonia depresses the spirits, causes irritability of temper,  van-
ishing of ideas,  delirious talk, with desire to get aAvay from  bed,
hurried speech; he fancies that he  is among strangers and Avants to
get home.
  These symptoms are not very important in themselves; but they
may complete a group of phenomena such as may occur in various
fevers, and other derangements for which Bryonia has been recom-
mended.  An irritable  temper, and a gloomy,  hypochondriac de-
pression of spirits, are characteristic of Bryonia and of a few  other
drugs. 
MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA.                411
               LECTURE  XXVI.


               MATRICARIA  CHAMOMILLA,

                      (Chiamomile Flower)

  The name of this floAver is derived from the Greek word chiamai
(low), and from the Latin word matrix (Avomb.)  It  belongs to the
Natural Order: Synantherese.  It acts principally upon the biliary
system and upon the uterine apparatus.   This drug seems particu-
larly suitable to children, to whom it is given, in Germany at least,
Avithout rhyme or reason.
  This substance is not a poisonous agent, and we Avill therefore  at
once proceed to describe the various categories of symptoms which
careful provings have established as the therapeutic range of this drug.
Before doing so, however, it may not be amiss to relate one or tAvo
of the more modern provings of Chamomile, where the plrysiological
action of this drug is depicted in striking and very accurate characters.

  Five-members of the Vienna Provers' Union took the extract  of
Chamomilla in doses of from two to tAventy-four grains daily; begin-
ning Avith tAvo grains and increasing by tAvo grains every clay, until
the number of grains amounted to twenty-four.  Most of the provers
experienced the following symptoms:  Bitter,  aromatic  taste,  eruc-
tations, oppression of the  stomach, nausea, loathing, desire to vomit,
pinching in the bowels, diminished appetite, costiveness, flatulence,
yawning, hiccough, coated tongue, accelerated pulse, palpitation  of
the heart, increased  feeling  of warmth, thirst,  dullness of  the  head,
rush of blood to the head, headache, languor, irritable temper, rest-
less sleep.

  Dr. Schneller took one hundred and fifty-six grains of the extract
of Chamomilla in tAvelve days, in the month of September, 1844.
  Not till  he took from  eight to fourteen grains at a dose, did  he
experience the following symptoms: Nauseous taste;  slight palpi-
tation of the heart,  soon after taking the drug; in the evening, evan-
escent stitches  in  the  region of the fifth rib, on the right side  in
front, lasting  a short  time and  Avorse during  a deep inspiration.
After taking ticelve grains, he felt si ighit stitches in the precordial region,
decrease of appetite, warmth and dullness aboid the head.  After taking
from  sixteen to twenty grains, these symptoms were overshadoAved
by  the symptoms  of disturbed digestion,  such as: oppression of the
stomachi, emission of'flatulenceupwards and  doicnicards; yellowishi coat-
ing of the tongue;  diminished appetite; accelerated pulse : increase of
warmtJi thironghwut the body, gloomy, irritable disposition.  The last two
doses of twenty-two and twenty-four grains respecti\'cly again caused:
shooting stitches in the prascordial region, the stitches darting at times
toAvards the right, at others  toAvards the  left  side, doAvn the  lower
extremities, as far  as the dorsum of the foot and the tarsal joint, then
t 
412
LECTURE XXVI.
 shifting,up wards to the right shoulder or hip, or to the left half of
 the head like a stichiing or drawing pain.  The symptoms of digestive
 derangement increased; loathing, retention of stool, palpitation of the
 heart,  accelerated pulse, and irritable  disposition.  These symptoms
 continued eAren a few days after he had discontinued taking  the drug.
   According to Schneller these symptoms seem to shoAV "that  Cha-
 momilla affects primarily the  nervous system.   The  symptoms of
 gastric derangement shoAV that  it affects  the pneumogastric nerve;
 the pain in the region  of the shoulder points to the sentient  branches
 of the axillary plexus as its chief focus of action; the pain in the hip
 and down the tibia seems  to shoAV that the sciatic and tibial nerves
 are irritated by this drug.   The frontal nerve likewise is involved in
 the present group  of symptoms."
   The increased action of the heart might be accounted for  upon the
 ground of sympathetic irritation;  but Ave shall  presently see  that
 Chamomilla irritates the  pneumo-gastric  nerve in  its  Avhole extent,
 not  only the gastric, but  also the pulmonary branch,  causing  con-
 striction of the lungs, soreness, tearing and stitching pains in the
 lungs, oppression and a violent, racking cough.   The cardiac branch
 of the pneumo-gastric nerve does not escape the depressing  action of
 Chamomile, against which the heart reacts by increased palpitation.
   It is doubtful Avhether,  in a  case Avhere Chamomilla is indicated,
 these symptoms ever  exist separately from  bilious  derangement.
 The sensation of increased Avarmth which accompanies these symp-
 toms, the acceleration of the pulse, the flushes and heat  of the face
 and head, seem to depend  upon a disturbed condition of the secretory
 organs of the biliary apparatus, and it does not seem improbable that
 the general constitutional symptoms,  pains and congestions which
 Chamomilla is capable of exciting, depend, to some extent at least,
 upon a derangement of the biliary secretions.

                      CEPHALIC GROUP.

   According to Schcenlein, Chamomile causes a peculiar  form  of
 rheumatalgia resembling rheumatic cephalalgia;  hence we  may use
 it for
   Rheumatic Hemicrania,  Avith tearing, dragging, maddening pains,
 for these pains characterize the action of Chamomilla.   AYe  may also
 employ it in
   Bilious headaches Avhen the pain is an oppressive, stupefying, stitch-
 ing and burning distress,  with vomiting of bile,  salloAV complexion,
 heavy load and anxiety in the pit of the stomach.
   Nervous headaches, Avith violent throbbing in one side of the head,
flashes of heat, irritable mood, stinging pains as though  the  eyes
 should fall out, the brain feels sore as if bruised.
   In these different forms  of headache, the best dose is from the 6th
 to the 12th potency.

                      NERVOUS GROUP.

   Chamomilla has  been used Avith success as a remedy for 
MATRICARIA CnAMOMILLA.
413
   Convulsions, more particularly the  convulsions of children, when
arising from teething,  anger,  pain  in the boAvels.  It is only in
sympathetic convulsions of this character that Chamomilla is  of any
use.   In
  Neuralgic affections, when the pains are of a tearing, dragging and
lancing character, Chamomilla may  likewise be  of  great service.
These  pains  may be excited by rheumatic  exposure.   The sensi-
bility of the affected part is generally altered.  Hahnemann remarks
that  the  Chamomilla-pains are very  frequently characterized by a
sense of numbness, more especially, however, after the violence of
the pain begins to subside.
  In Ischiias nervosa, these pains may be present.   The sciatic nerve
is not unfrequently subject to this kind of suffering.

                     ORBITAL GROUP.

  Chamomilla affects the sense of vision sympathetically rather than
by its direct action upon the organ of vision.  The  primary action
of Chamomilla seems to be upon the functions of the biliary apparatus,
its irritating action upon the eyes constitutes a secondary or sympa-
thetic disturbance resulting from that primary derangement of the
biliary functions.  This view explains to  us  very readily the  fact
that  Chamomilla causes  amaurotic symptoms such as:
  Sensation of fire and heat flashing out of the eyes;
  Luminous vibrations before  the eyes ;
  Obscuration of sight;
  A ray  of light is seen from the candle to the eye.
  If these  symptoms occur as natural conditions, Ave shall most
probably find them associated with, or rather depending upon biliary
derangements which likeAvise  require Chamomile as their specific
remedy.

  Chamomile has caused, and will therefore cure,
  Hemorrhage from the eyes  of little children in consequence of
violent crying (Aveeping.)
  Bliphiarospasmus, tAvitching or  spasms of the eyelids, may yield to
Chamomilla, if accompanied by the previously-mentioned symptoms
of irritation of the retina.
  Homoeopathic physicians frequently recommend this agent for the
   Catarrhial conjunctivitis of neAV-born children, Avith photophobia,
redness, agglutination of the lids, irritable  temper.

                    AURICULAR  GROUP.

  Chamomilla  causes dragging and  tearing pains in the ears, and
may therefore be recommended for
   Otalgia, where these pains prevail, with buzzing  and ringing in
the ears,  especially in the case  of scrofulous children.

                       FACIAL GROUP.

  Chamomilla causes a scurfy  ulceration of the lips; cracks in  the
middle of the lower lip;  ulceration of the  loAver nostrils.
                                                               \ 
414
LECTURE XXVI.
  These symptoms may occur in the case of scrofulous children, in
consequence of a cold, teething, etc.   AYe may designate  this con-
dition as a form of
'  Coryza and Rhiagades, of a catarrhal, ulcerous nature.  The middle
potencies of Chamomile may remove it.

                      DENTAL  GROUP.

  Chamomilla causes and will therefore cure a
  Rheumatic Toothache, the pain being tearing,  stitching and boring,
Avith SAvelling of the cheeks; the teeth feel as if elongated ;  the pain
is much worse at night, Avhich is characteristic of the pains caused
by Chamomile.  It also causes
  Toothache as if the  nerve were scraped.
  AYe employ Chamomile as an excellent remedy in
  Difficult dentition, when one of the cheeks is red and hot, the gums
are swollen, very sensitive, the child is very irritable and threatened
Avith convulsions.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Chamomilla  causes a variety of characteristic sensations  in the
chylo-poietic organs, more particularly in  the  organs Avhich seem
more immediately concerned  in the  process  of chylification.   It
affects  the taste, appetite, the  character of the gastric  secretion,
develops a variety of pains, and alters the color, smell and consis-
tence of the alvine  secretions.  Among these  signs of  abnormal
action  Ave may enumerate more particularly  the folloAving symp-
toms :
  Foul, bitter, slimy, sour taste;
  Loss of appetite ; empty eructations and regurgitation of food ;
  Nausea after eating ; nausea Avith confluence of saliva ;
  Sour vomiting;
  Distressing nausea with sense of fulness of the abdomen, followed
by vomiting;
  Flatulent distention after eating;
  Tensive pain under the ribs, with tension in the  head and dry
catarrh on the chest;
  Cutting-burning pains from  the stomach to  the umbilicus, with
shortness of breath and pale face.
  Let us consider the value of these symptoms from the stand-point
of pathology.
  The marked alterations of the  taste caused by Chamomilla may
occur in bilious fever to Avhich Ave shall  call your attention by  and
by;  in  bilious  attacks caused  by  anger or exposure;  in  various
forms of
  Dyspepsia and Gastralgia; a sensation of agonizing pressure in the
epigastric region, with sudden stitches flashing through this region,
hard and burning distress, sal Ioav complexion,  yellow coating on the
tongue, dry and foul taste in the mouth, nausea and perhaps vomit-
ing of bile, characterize this condition,  if Chamomile is  homoeopa-
thic to it. 
MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA.
415
   The sensation as if the bowels would press through the inguinal
rings, may lead us to use Chamomile in the
   Inguinal Hernia of children, more especially if it is  caused by
violent and incessant crying and fretting.

   An affection which is vulgarly designated by the term
   Liver-grown, and which is in reality a
   Subacute Congestion of the liver, may be benefited by Chamomilla
if a fit of anger is the cause of it.  The region of the liver is bloated,
very sensitive to pressure, the children are feverish,  cry  and fret a
good  deal, the boAvels are bound and  they have great  difficulty in
passing urine.  Although Chamomilla is  very commonly adminis-
tered for this affection, yet we infinitely prefer Aconite, especially if
the trouble arises from rheumatic exposure as it most generally does.

   In Flatulent and Bilious Colic Chamomilla is a great  remedy, if
the pain  is a spasmodic, pinching and tAvisting  pain,  the patient
looks sallow, the bowels are distended, feel excessively sore, and are
constipated;  the patient complains of nausea, retching,  foul taste
and yellow-coated tongue. Even the middle potencies of the medicine
may afford prompt relief.

   Chamomilla is eminently useful in the
   Diarrhiea of children,  when resulting from a cold or from teething,
be it
   Catarrhal or Bilious, when the discharges are preceded by pinch-
ing or cutting pains in the boAvels ; Avatery,  slimy, green  or yellow,
having a foul smell and excoriating the anus;  the 3d to 6th potency
may be given.  In the bilious diarrhoea of children,  when the  dis-
charges have a sour smell, Chamomilla is excellent.

   In Constipation this agent may prove useful, if the  accompanying
symptoms indicate its use.   The bowels are distended, the mouth is
sticky, dry, with foul taste and  bilious coating on the tongue.   The
constipation may have been preceded  by bilious diarrhoea, or it may
be symptomatic of bilious fever.

                     URINARY GROUP.

   Chamomilla causes emission of urine with anxiety;  involuntary
emission of urine ; stinging pains in the neck of the bladder between
the acts of urinating; burning at the neck of the bladder.
   These symptoms may be present as component parts of a group
denoting bilious derangement.
  Involuntary emission of urine is very apt to occur in the case of
children who are troubled with irritation  at the anus or in the  rec-
tum, and Avho  are subject to  sudden and uncontrollable urgmgs to
urinate.   These involuntary discharges generally take place at night,
during sleep ;  Ave designate them  technically as
  Enuresis nocturna,  the urine looking straAV-colored,  Avatery.
  If children  fret previous to the act of urinating, if  they seem
uneasy and anxious,  affected with a species of 
416
LECTURE XXVI.
  Dysuria, we may give Chamomilla,  and if this medicine seems
insufficient, Aconite.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  The action of Chamomilla upon the sexual  organs of the male is
not characterized by any very marked symptoms.
  Chamomilla seems to excite the sexual instinct, causing nocturnal
emissions.  In a case of
  Nocturnal Emissions, with sexual  excitement, frequent desire to
urinate, this agent may prove of service.
  Its action upon the female sexual system is much more  marked.
In this direction we may note the folloAving symptoms which  we
find recorded among our provings :
  Pressing towards the uterus like  labor-pains, with frequent urg-
ing to urinate;
  Labor-pains Avith discharge of black coagula, tearing pains in the
veins of thev legs ;
  Griping pains  in the uterus, Avith discharge of coagula;
  Suppression of the menses, with swelling of the pit of stomach, and
painful pressure  in this region, dropsical distention of the abdomen,
labor-like pains;
  Cutting pains  previous to the menses;
  Metrorrhagia discharge of blood.
  These physiological effects of Chamomile lead us to use it in
  Amenorrhiea, with SAvelling and pressure in  the epigastric region,
distention  of the boAvels,  pressing  toAvards  the uterus, as  if the
menses would make their  appearance.  This  suppression may be
consequent upon a fit  of anger  or it may result from a cold.
  In Dysmenorrhea, with discharge of coagula, griping pains in the
uterus preceding  the expulsion of the coagula, sickness  at the
stomach or even vomiting and retching, Chamomilla may be useful.
  This agent is even used Avith occasional advantage in
  Metrorr/iagia, the blood looking dark and having a strong, offensive
odor, with violent pressing pains in the  hypogastric region.

  A healthy, sensitive, pregnant Avoman  of rigid fibre, took five drops
of Oleum  ethereum C/iamomille.   They caused: confusion of mind,
passing twitchings  of the limbs, eyelids,  etc.; pains resembling labor-
pains, but more troublesome and continuing for several days, and a
sort of hysteric  movement  above the  umbilicus,  together Avith in-
creased cramps in the  calves.
  This effect of  Chomomile upon the impregnated womb may sug-
gest the use of this agent in
  Spurious or Spasmodic Labor-pains which may occur during preg-
nancy, and  are  sometimes  exceedingly annoying and exhausting;
they may be  accompanied Avith cramp-pains  in the  calves, frequent
urging to urinate.  A very  small dose should be given.
  The cramps in the calves may suggest the use of Chamomile as a
means of relief in
   Cramps from  Varicose  Veins and cramps in  the  calves, to which
pregnant females are frequently subject. 
MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA.
417
       CATARRHAL AND RESPIRATORY GROUPS.

  Chamomilla affects the respiratory mucous lining  in  a variety of
ways. Among the symptoms which constitute prominent indications
in this direction, the folloAving deserve special attention:
  Cough with titillation, also with phlegm in the air-passages: at
night it becomes suffocative ;
  Sudden stitches in the pit of the stomach, arresting the breathing;
  Constriction across the chest, soreness  and cough; sometimes the
oppressive constriction affects the stomach like heartburn, and then
shifts to the back and then terminates as a burning pain:
  Stitches darting from the abdomen to the chest, as if caused by
flatulence.

  Guided by these symptoms we find Chamomile useful in
   Coryza, dry or fluent, with sore eyes, discharge of mucus from the
nose and soreness of the nostrils.
   Catarrhial Hoarseness, with a good deal of phlegm in the throat,
tickling in the throat-pit, tendency to suffocative cough.
   Coughi which  comes in paroxysms, with suffocative  constriction
across the chest; the cough is excited by tickling in the air-passages
and deprives one of breath.  These paroxysms of  suffocative cough
may occur after measles, during teething or during the first stage of
whooping-cough.  AYe would therefore commend Chamomilla to
your attention in the spasmodic stage of
   WIeoping-coughi, or in any form of spasmodic cough of an epidemic
nature, more particularly Avhen it  seems  evident that the spasmodic
stricture  of the chest  is owing  to the irritating agency of bile, as
evidenced by accompanying derangements of the biliary system.  The
stricture  may shift to the epigastric-region in the shape of  a burning
pressure  and distress.

                        FEVJER-GROUP.

  The fever which Chamomilla is capable of exciting, is  character-
ized  by  nightly exacerbations,  chilliness increased  by raising  the
cover; partial sweats, redness of one cheek.
  The symptoms may occur in
   Catarrhial and Rheumatic  Fevers, more particularly in the latter
class, where rheumatic pains  are  present, such as: pressure  in the
ligaments and periosteum, resembling a  draAving and tearing pain;
laming pains with numbness of the parts, soreness of the joints, exces-
sive weariness, nightly exacerbation of the pains.
  In Bilious Fevers, Chamomilla  is indispensable, if the attack is
brought  on by  a violent fit  of anger; the symptoms  constitute  a
bilious attack rather than a paroxysm of fever.  Hahnemann sums
them up  as follows in a foot-note: heat in the face, unquenchable
thirst, bilious taste  in the  mouth, sick stomach,  anxiety, restless-
ness, etc.
  In Milhc-fever, Chamomilla may  be useful, if the secretion of milk
had been interfered with by a fit of anger, or  if the quantity of the
milk had been altered by a similar cause.
                               27 
418
LECTURE XXVI.
  In Dentition-fever, Chamomile may be useful, if the children fret a
good  deal, are restless, one cheek is burning-hot Avhile the other is
cold.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Among the recorded provings of Chamomile Ave may note the
folloAving symptom:
  " Hardness of the mammary glands."
  This symptom may indicate Chamomile  as a remedy for
  Swelling, Induration and Ulceration of the nipples of infants; for
  Hardness of the  breasts, Avhen caused by an exuberant secretion of
milk in the case of lying-in women,  and insufficient secretion of this
fluid,  Chamomilla may likewise prove useful.

  Another symptom  of importance is the  following: "Labor-like
pains, Avith frequent discharge of coagula, and tearing pains in the
veins  of the legs."
  This symptom suggests the use of Chamomile, as has already been
stated in a previous paragraph, for
   Varicose Veins, when the patient suffers  a good deal with tearing,
crampy pains in these vessels.
  Chamomile has likewise been  used with advantage in the rash of
children which is apt to break out in the face, a species of
  Miliaria, Avhen  accompanied  by watery, greenish  diarrhoea,  or
appearing and disappearing  in  alternation with  this  derangement.
Aconite should not be lost sight of in this affection.
  Purpura miliaris, when the eruption is  slow in coming out, and
the children feel anxious, toss about.
  Intertrigo  infantum, cracking of the epidermis, inflammatory red
ness underneath, Avith oozing out of a yellowish serum.
   Ulcers, Avith burning and stinging pains; they are very sensitive.
   Ulcers secreting a bad pus, scrofulous, phagedenic, scorbutic.

  Frank's A!agazine gives us the reports of several cases, where the
curative virtues of Chamomile in the treatment of ulcers are strik-
ingly  exhibited.   If Ave remember  that Chamomile interferes Avith
the bilious secretions, causing a stagnation and accumulation of the
yellow constituents of the bile  in various parts, Ave cannot fail to
understand that,  if these bilious  stagnations take place in exposed
parts, Avhere the atmospheric oxygen can  act upon them, ulceration
must be the unavoidable consequence.  These ulcers have a bilious
appearance and secrete a bilious-looking pus.
  Chamomile cures these  ulcers by restoring the regularity of the
secretory functions of the liver.   We may even go a step further
and say that it  effects  this restoration by neutralizing or  extin-
guishing the morbific principle Avhich embarrasses the supply of
functional poAver upon which the normal  elimination of the bilious
constituents depends.
  Chamomile has even been used by Old-School physicians for the
 reatment of ulcers.   They have used it in much larger doses than 
MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA.
419
homoeopathic physicians would do ; but the homoeopathicity of the
drug to the pathological condition is none the less true.  We extract
the following interesting cases from Frank's Magazine.

                       Scirrhius Ulceration.

   A woman of twenty -tAvo  years  was attacked with ulcers of the
breast arising from indurated milk.  Close to the nipple, there were
three openings with raised, callous edges, which bled from the least
contact.   The thin ichor Avas mixed with blood, acrid, fetid and cor-
roding the sound  skin.  Three  hard nodes might  be distinctly felt
in the breast which had the appearance of being excavated or hol-
lowed out.  Moreover her Avhole  body was covered with an erup-
tion,  which gave  to  the  other mamma the appearance  of  being
covered with a thick  crust.  From  beneath this  crust a corrosive
ichor was constantly oozing out.   The patient had  hectic fever, fre-
quent attacks of distressing headache, flashes of heat, loss of appe-
tite, red but not coated tongue,  restless sleep, morning-sweats.  This
condition had been  going on for six  months.   After  the internal
and external use of Chamomile, a complete  change  for the better
soon set in. To act upon the eruption, Sulphur and Antimonium
crudum were resorted to.  The cure was completed in five weeks.

                         Inveterate Ulcer.

   A man of sixty years, had been afflicted for  more than six years
Avith an open ulcer on  the inside  of the right foot, below the calf.
for which all  sorts of remedies had been employed in A^ain.  At
times it increased, at others it  diminished  in  size.   AYhen it was
first seen  by Dr.  Collenbusch  who  reports this case,  it  Avas four
inches long, by one inch and three quarters wide; it secreted a pro-
fuse quantity of an  acrid, fetid ichor; the  edges  and base of the
ulcer were whitish, the surrounding parts looked  dark-red, as did
nearly the whole foot.   The patient was much relieved by a simple
roller bandage, but as soon  as it Avas left off, the ulcer resumed its
former appearance.  He took tAvo drachms of the extract of Chamo-
mile  internally every day.  After using  this medicine for a fort-
night, the patient felt invigorated, and more warmth in the formerly
cold foot;  the ichorous secretion changed to a mild, glutinous  pus;
the dark color of the surrounding parts became brighter, and finally
assumed a rose-colored appearance.  The bandage  was now left off!
instead of Avhich a compress moistened with  the same Chamomile-
solution was applied.
  After continuing this treatment for eight Aveeks,  the  sore had
dwindled down to  the size of half  an inch: the patient looked like
a new man. Some gelatinous granulations had  grown up along the
edges; under  an  antiphlogistic regimen  the cure was completed
Avithin twenty-six days after this period.

                  Ulcus  glandulosum putridum.

  Another interesting cure  is reported by Dr. Conrad.   A woman
of sixty-eight  had an  inflammatory tumor in the  groin.   After 
420
LECTURE XXVI.
poulticing it for two days, two openings formed, one of which was
three inches long and one inch wide, extending beneath Poupart's
ligament;  and the other about the size of a man's hand  from the
linea alba to the spinous process of the ischium.  The abscess Avas
undoubtedly seated upon the peritoneum;  a number of indurated
and  suppurating  inguinal glands  might be seen;  in the former
opening the large blood-vessels were all exposed,  and  a  probe
might be  inserted very far upwards into  the abdominal cavity.
The  interior of the  ulcer had an ash-gray color, and secreted  a
greenish, grayish ichor; it seemed to be filled Avith a number of
detached shreds and spread an  abominable odor.  The ulcer Avas
washed  out with a Avatery infusion of Chamomile, and a  compress
moistened with the same was applied externally.  The patient was
unwilling to take anything internally.  She  had a Ariolent fever, a
very small, rapid and feeble pulse, and was very much reduced in
strength.  She very  speedily began to improve, and  in five weeks
the ulcer  was entirely healed.   The  constitutional symptoms all
disappeared, and at the time when this case was reported, a year
after the cure, the patient continued to enjoy  perfect health.

  Among the positive provings of Chamomile there is one  symptom
which shows that  this agent tends to develop an  ulcerative process
upon the  skin.   The  record is as follows: " The  skin  becomes
unhealthy; every injury develops a sore, an ulcer."

                           SLEEP.

  Small doses of Chamomile cause droAvsiness; the more intense or
violent action  of this drug induces a  sort of Avakefulness  at night,
with paroxysms of anxiety, visions, incoherent talking;  moaning and
starting up during sleep, with anxious and quarrelsome dreams.
  These effects of the drug may be observed during an attack of fever,
or they may occur as elements of a more general pathological group
with which Chamomile is in homoeopathic curative relations.

                      A1ENTAL GROUP.

  Chamomilla causes restlessness,  irritability of temper, anxiety which
may be _ accompanied with flashes of heat and occasional attacks of
palpitation of the heart.
  These symptoms are only of importance in so far as their presence
may confirm or complete  the homoeopathicity of Chamomile to the
various pathological disorders which we have enumerated in previous
paragraphs.

                            DOSE.
  I  have  given you sufficient hints  concerning the most suitable
dose of Chamomile in the various affections to which it is homoeo-
pathic,  to be alloAved  the privilege of brevity in this paragraph.
As a general  rule you will find the  6th to  the 18th potency  of
Chamomile sufficient for  all practical  purposes, even in  acute at-
tacks; my experience has uniformly  taught  me that the middle
potencies  of this drug are superior to  the loAver. Exceptions may
nevertheless occur. 
CINCHONA OPTICINALIS.
421
               LECTURE   XXVII.


                 CINCHONA OFFICINALIS,

                    (Chiina, Peruvian Baric)

  This celebrated plant belongs to the natural order of the Rubiacea\
Up to the middle of the seventeenth century, the medicinal properties
of this plant seem to have remained unknown.  The name Cinchona
is derived from that of the Countess El-Chinchon, wife of the then
vice-King of Peru.  This lady is said to have had  an attack of fever
and ague, and was cured by taking bark.   She gave it to the Jesuits
Avho distributed it among the poor afflicted Avith the fever.   Hence it
Avas named pulvis patrum, powder of the fathers.   It was also named
poioder of the  Countess, in honor of the Countess El-Chinchon.   The
Jesuits of Peru sent some of the powder to Cardinal Lugo, the General
of their Order.  Hence it derived the name of Cardinal's powder.
  Trousseau and Pidoux furnish an  interesting historical sketch of
the gradual incorporation of China into  the Alateria Medica of the
Old-School.  AYe are informed in this sketch that Joseph de Jussieu,
brother of  Anthony and  Bernard, was sent to America in the year
1635, for the  purpose of studying  the natural history of this conti-
nent and sending American plants to the Royal Botanical Garden.
He found that the Indians in the neighborhood  of  the village of
Malacotos were acquainted Avith the febrifuge properties of the bark.
They called it Yara-Chucchu, Cava-Chucchu, Yara  meaning tree, and
Cava bark; Chucchu means:  shuddering, skiYering, as if they had
intended to convey the idea : Intermittent fever-tree, bitter bark.  In
1660, bark Avas extensively known in England  and strongly recom-
mended by Sydenham.  In 1679, an English empiric Talbot (his name
is also spelt Talpor or Talboth) cured Louis X1AT. of fever and ague
by means of a secret remedy which proved  to be bark.   The king
purchased his secret for sixteen hundred pound sterling, and an
annual pension of  eighty pounds.   At that period, bark was sold at
the rate of five pound sterling an ounce.
  The bark is found in Peru, Bolivia, in the neighborhood of Loxa,
in the forest of Huanco,  near  Santa  Fd  de Bogota.   The trees  are
first cut down  and afterwards stripped. Great care is used in drying
the  bark, in order to preserve the internal brightness and the lichens
attached to  the epidermis.
  Of the croAvn or Loxa bark very little is now in the market.  This
bark always comes to us in quills distinguished  by tints of grey
inclining to liver-broAvn,  and marked by longitudinal furrows  and
transverse fissures.  The  lichens which are attached to it, give it the
appearance of silver filagree.  The yellow bark or Calisaya which is
the variety now principally used, comes  to us  partly in quills and
partly in flat pieces. 
422
LECTURE XXVII.
  We obtain three alkaloids from the bark:  Quina,  Quinodina and
Cinchonia.   From  these  alkaloids we obtain salts by combining
them with acids.  AYe have sulphates, tannates, ferrocyanates, phos-
phates, Aralerianates,  etc.,  and also  an arsenite of quina.  The salt
Avhich  is  chiefly used  in medicine,  is the  Sulphate  of Quina  or
Quinine.

  We prepare an alcoholic tincture from the bark,  having  a bitter
taste and a fine deep-red blood-color.   AYe also use a watery decoc-
tion of the bark.  In order to make this as  energetic as possible, it
is best to  add a little dilute sulphuric acid which dissolves the other-
wise insoluble cinchona, and, together with the Quinine, forms a very
powerful salt.  In the course of these lectures on China, we shall
relate several cases of cure, where the decoction was used.

  According to Old-School experience, bark is a  tonic;  it is one of
the leading amara  or bitter medicines, and this bitter principle is
supposed  to be endowed with tonic properties.  Sundelin, one of the
great lights of the allceopathic school,  now shining as  a star of the
first magnitude, describes  the strengthening virtues of Peruvian bark,
in the folloAving words: (I translate from his exceedingly brilliant
manual of special therapeutics): " The general operation of Cinchona
bark consists in the increase and exaltation of the tone of the irritable
fibres and of the fibres of the vessels ; hence by its  use the pulse
becomes  fuller,  stronger  and  regular,  and  the muscular poAver
increased; also in the general augmentation of the  cohesion of the
organic mass; hence it counteracts a tendency to liquefaction and
disintegration, diminishes profuse  secretions Avhich proceed from
atony of the extremities of the vessels and of the secreting  surfaces
and organs, and it improves generally the crasis  or  combination of
the vital constituents in the tissues or blood; and lastly it consists in
the augmentation of the vital energy of the sensible system.   By the
last mentioned property  it restores sensibility, when defective  or
abnormally increased, and it restores the  reactive faculty of  the
nervous system to its normal condition, and  augments the influence
of this system-on the muscular fibre and on the reproductive system."
   This statement expresses the opinions entertained by Old-School
pathologists concerning the therapeutic power of Cinchona bark, with
comprehensive and  graphic accuracy.  Can we, as  homoeopathic
physicians, accept such a definition ?  Can  we unhesitatingly  and
unqualifiedly subscribe to the sweeping generalization that Cinchona
bark is a  tonic ?  Bark is undoubtedly a tonic in a  certain  sense; it
is possessed of stimulating properties which a physician may avail
himself of for the  purpose of rousing the sinking reaction of the
vital forces; but it is utterly false  to assert in an indiscriminate
manner that Cinchona bark is a tonic under all circumstances.   It
acts as a tonic upon the organism when the vital  power had been
impaired by excessive loss of animal fluids, loss of blood, of milk, of
the seminal fluid.  Give a small dose of Cinchona, say a drop of the
 12th or 18th potency, to organisms that had been thus drained, and
you will  impart a new impetus to the prostrated vitality of the system. 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.
423
Why is this ?   Simply because excessive depletions, excessive nurs-
ing, flooding, give rise to conditions that are exactly similar to such
alterations of the vital fluids as Cinchona bark is capable  of  devel-
oping.  In order  that  Cinchona bark may exercise its beneficial
effects as a curative agent, it must be homoeopathic to the affection
for which it is given.  If it produces such brilliant results in the
treatment of fever and ague, it is because it is capable of affecting
the animal economy, Avhile in a normal  state,  in a similar manner.
The curative virtues of Quinine in fever and ague have been a puzzle
to Old-School therapeutists, even to the most distinguished among
them.  Pereira designates  the relation  existing between  Cinchona
bark and ague as mysterious and incomprehensible.  After mention-
ing a number of conditions where Cinchona  may be administered
with  advantage,  he continues: " Hitherto I have referred to those
indications only which have an obvious relation to the knoAvn physi-
ological effects  of Cinchona.  But the diseases in which this remedy
manifests the greatest therapeutic power, are those Avhich assume an
intermittent or periodical type.  NoA\r, in such, the methodus medendi
is quite inexplicable;  and, therefore, the remedy has been called a
specific, an antiperiodic, a febrifuge.   But the more  intimately  Ave
become acquainted with the pathology of disease, and the  operation
of medicines, the less evidence have  we of the specific  influence of
particular medicines over particular maladies.  Some diseases, Iioay-
ever, are exceedingly obscure;  their seat or nature, and the  condi-
tion of system under which they occur, or the cause of their occurrence
being little knoAvn.  There are  also many medicines, the precise
action of Avhich is  imperfectly understood,  but Avhich  evidently
exercises a most important, though to us quite inexplicable, influence
over the system.  Noav, it sometimes happens that imperfectly knoAvn
diseases are most remarkably influenced by remedies, the  agency of
which we cannot comprehend ;  in other words we can trace  no knoAvn
relation betAveen  the  physiological  effects of the remedy and its
therapeutic influences. This incomprehensible relation exists betAveen
Arsenic and lepra, between the Cinchona-bark and ague.  But, though
this connection is to us mysterious (for  I  do not admit the various
hypotheses which have been formed to account for it), we are not to
conclude that it is necessarily more intimate  than that which exists
in ordinary cases."

   Gentlemen, I do not envy the feelings of a man like Pereira Avho,
after years of patient labor  in amassing a boundless  wealth of
pharmacological science, comes to the saddening conclusion that this
very wealth simply begets a conviction in the mind that our efforts
to establish some definite relation between medicine and disease are
utterly  hopeless.   AYe peruse his elaborate treatise  on Alateria
Medica and Therapeutics, and, in the midst of an almost inexhausti-
ble mine of toxicological, pharmaco-dynamic and physiological facts
we do not meet Avith a single principle to guide us in the elaboration
of these crude materials, and  in their  scientific adaptation to the
treatment of disease.  The most desolating empiricism seems to be
the banner  under  which  Pereira marshals his battalions of oint- 
424                    LECTURE XXVII.
ments, extracts,  and decoctions.  The  only  doctrine which  might
have furnished a solid and  indestructible basis to his therapeutic
edifice, is declared by him the offspring of a wild and absurd  fancy.
I do not wonder that  on his  death-bed  this distinguished author
declared him a wise man who should discard all medicine and leave
the business of curing to Nature alone.

  Is it true that there is no definite relation between  medicine  and
disease ?  Is it to be supposed that in the  living harmony of things,
the nature and uses of drugs should be governed  by chance  and
unphilosophical routine ?  The stars speak to us of harmony;  the
phenomena  of chemistry  depend  upon  definite laws;  the  move-
ments and instincts of the brute creation are regulated in a most
orderly manner,  and the physiological  functions of  the human
organism constitute an harmonious play of beautifully co-ordinated
forces;  but woe  unto man, if sickness  strikes him down; then he
steps  out  of this marvellous system of light and beauty into the
night of chaos and  chance;  then man is no  longer made  in the
image and likeness of his Alaker Avho is himself the supreme type of
order; then, when he is most in need of  help, God casts him away
upon the dreary and desolate  shores of empiricism  arid chance, a
victim to  the  proud, and  pitiless dogmatism  of the  therapeutic
theory which happens to be for the time being, the idol of a besotted
croAvd.  Can this be  so, friends ?  If our  children are sick,  do  we
not nurse  them all the more tenderly ?  And why should not  our
heavenly  Father do  the  same to  us ?  " Consider the  ravens;  for
they neither sow nor reap ;  which neither  have store-house  nor
barn; and God feedeth them.  How much more are  ye better than
the fowls?"
  And  again: " Consider the lilies how they grow :  they toil  not,
neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in  all his
glory was not  arrayed like one of these."
  " If then God so clothe the grass, Avhich is  to-day in the field and
to-morroAv is cast into the oven ; how much more will he clothe you,
oh  ye of little  faith?"
  AYe are taught in these heavenly accents that man is most emphati-
cally the particular object of God's providence.  If this be so,  hoAV
utterly destructive of the very idea of providence Avould be the fact
that the treatment of disease is not regulated by positive and unerring
laws !   Does not reason, do  not the very  instincts of the heart force
upon us the belief that the treatment of disease cannot possibly be
depending upon chance, but that it ought to be conducted in the same
manner inAvhich God conducts the business of His universe  and of
the humanity  which  he had created for his glory ?  If God has  pro-
vided for this  humanity, he must have provided for the wants of the
sick man  in a manner commensurate  with  his  supreme love  and
Avisdom.  The treatment of diseases must therefore depend upon laws
that are just as fixed and just  as  accessible to the inquiring  reason
as the laws which govern the growth of cotton or the movements of
the stars. 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.
425
  As far as we know, all things in Nature  exist for specific uses.
Every thing in Nature exists according to its OAvn law of order, and
fulfils its own particular destiny.  Every drug is likeAvise  an indi-
vidual thing, endowed with distinctive properties  and capable of
affecting the human organism in a definitive manner.  Is it so very
difficult  to understand this simple  suggestion of  unprejudiced
common sense?  Then,  let us inquire how  do drugs affect  the
human organism ?  Then let us institute regular provings in order to
find out whether and how Belladonna affects the brain: whether and
hoAV Arsenic irritates the intestinal canal; whether and how Aconite
affects the circulatory apparatus.  And if we  find that Belladonna
produces in the brain a train  of symptoms exactly similar to the
symptoms  which characterize  typhus-fever, is it not natural for us
to conclude that there must be an intimate and peculiar  relation
between Belladonna and this cerebral disease ?  Pereira designates
this  relation as mysterious and  incomprehensible,  and it must
necessarily appear so to a  man whose  mind is  incapable of eleva-
ting himself above the disgusting materialism of  an alloeopathic
drug-shop.  But  it is neither  mysterious  nor  incomprehensible
to the careful  beholder.  The  Belladonna  plant and the cerebral
typhus, the symptoms of which resemble the  effects of Belladonna
upon the brain,  are products of the  same cause; the  inmost
principle of Belladonna  and the morbific  essence  Avhich,  acting
upon the  tissues  of  the living brain,  develops  the Belladonna
typhus, are the same thing, so much so that no two principles, forces
or conditions  in nature  are   more  nearly related to  each other
than  this  typhus and yonder  Belladonna principle.   The  only
difference is that by acting upon the tissues of Nature, this  inmost
force, this  germ-force develops  the Belladonna plant, and by acting
upon the tissues of the living organism, it develops the Belladonna
typhus.  How natural it is to conclude that, if it is true  in the
abstract that it is the business and particular object of drugs to cure
diseases, they Avill more particularly cure the diseases to which they
have some special affinity.   The drug extinguishes the pathological
condition to Avhich it is homoeopathic.   Experiments to this effect
have been instituted by thousands of careful observers with results
which can only be gainsayed or doubted by the infatuated adherents
of alloeopathic consen'atism.

  AYhen we say that a drug is homoeopathic to a certain pathological
condition we mean by this, that it is capable of affecting the healthy
organism in a precisely similar  manner.   It is in  this sense only that
we understand  the term specific.  A  true homoeopathic remedy can
only be homoeopathic to one pathological condition ; in other words,
it can be in specific adaption to only one condition.  Some homoe-
opathic practitioners haA^e established degrees of homoeopathicity,
designating the true  homoeopathic agent as  the simillimum, and
the other remedies which come  nearest to this as similia.  I have not
much confidence in this sort of classification;  it  leads to confusion,
arbitrary selection of drugs and uncertainty  in determining the pro-
per dose.   To one Avho has a clear perception of the  origin, meaning 
426
LECTURE XXVII.
and  application  of the homoeopathic law, all these accommodating
interpretations and applications of this great principle seem puerile
and unworthy.
  To the homoeopathic physician China has a more particular interest.
It Avas in translating  the article China  in  Cullen's Materia  Aledica
that  Hahnemann's mind Avas led  to the discovery of the great thera-
peutic truth which it is our most cherished endeavor to expound to
mankind for their benefit.  Cullen's allusion to the specific power of
Quinine to cure intermittent fever, excited  in Hahnemann's  mind a
suspicion that this specific power consisted in the  virtue  which
Quinine possesses, of exciting fever and ague in the healthy organ-
ism.   Accordingly, he at once went  to Avork instituting an  experi-
ment, and the result confirmed his previous belief.  Let us keep this
interesting fact before our mental  vision.  It is to this one  flash of
genius that humanity is indebted for the discovery of Homoeopathy.
It Avill not do for the Mitchells and their compeers to propound ex-
cathedra the remarkable novelty  that Homoeopathy has existed long
before Hahnemann; so it did, undoubtedly;  it existed in the Divine
Mind, and  in the mysterious harmony of Nature; but the man who
told  you that it did exist there, that man was Hahnemann.   Gentle-
men, mere man-worship is unbecoming- the dignity of human  reason;
we do not worship Hahnemann; we  are no blind  followers of his;
we are keenly alive to the weaknesses of his own imperfect develop-
ments and applications of the great natural law  of  cure; but on the
other hand, we cannot afford to see Hahnemann's name traduced by
unprincipled men who wear the  blood-stained purple of false medi-
cine ; we cannot afford to see Hahnemann  shorn of his well-earned
laurels by unworthy enemies; we cannot afford  to see Hahnemann's
endeavor to be just to all, and to avail himself of the isolated obser-
vations of his predecessors as corroborative evidences of the correct-
ness  of  his great discovery; Ave cannot afford, I say, to see this
endeavor of a magnanimous genius construed into an admission that
the discovery of the true law of therapeutics Avas not his Avork.  AVken
the very names of these alloeopathic pigmies shall have vanished into
the nothingness of oblivion,  the name of Hahnemann will glide doAvn
upon the tide of immortality to future generations as their deliverer
from the martyrdom of the lancet, the leech, the destroyer-Calomel,
and  that legion of disgusting compounds which have entailed more
misery upon the world than war  and pestilence.

  In looking at the symptoms of China, you will find that the action
of this drug upon the  living organism is analogous to the action of
Arsenic.   Both China  and  Arsenic have a tendency to disintegrate
the cohesion of vital  constituents.  Arsenic acts more  suddenly and
destructively;  but China exhibits  the same tendency as Arsenic to
taint the very fountains  of life.  It  affects more particularly that
portion of the ganglionic system of nerves which presides over the
functions  of the  vegetative sphere;  hence the  semilunar  ganglion
seems to be the  chief focus for the action of  Peruvian bark.  It
is a misnomer to call bark  a tonic.  The first effect of bark may be
more or less stimulating; it causes a sort of vascular erethism char- 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.
427
acterized by an  increase of warmth, muscular power, flushed face;
but this effect is not permanent.  Yrou will find that it is soon fol-
lowed  by an opposite condition of the organism, pale and bloated
face, sunken eyes, expression of suffering in the features.   Add to
this the marked symptoms of deep-seated gastric derangement: slimy
coating of the tongue, bad taste of the food, eructations with nausea,
or bitter eructations after eating; oppression and anxiety after eating,
worse while sitting and passing off on  rising from a seat; flatulent
distention of the bowels, diarrhoea as if  mixed with undigested food,
or bilious, blackish-looking diarrhoea; if we consider moreover that
it  causes lassitude, a bruising  sensation in the muscles, stitches in
the chest accompanied by  asthmatic dyspnoea, palpitation of  the
heart, rush of blood  to the  head, and a variety of tearing, stitching
and lancing pains; and if we consider lastly that Cinchona deranges
the action of the ganglionic system by establishing periodical fever-
paroxysms in the organism similar to  fever and  ague, we have an
undoubted right to assert that, so far from being a tonic, Cinchona-
bark exercises a disturbing and disintegrating influence upon  the
animal tissues.

   It may not be superfluous to mention in this place the affections
for Avhich Hahnemann recommends Cinchona-bark :
   1. Cinchona-bark   having for  its first  consequence an  aperient
effect, will  be found  for that reason very useful in  certain cases of
diarrhoea, provided  the patient has  no other symptoms indicating
some other remedy.
   2. Hahnemann has sometimes seen pains which a mere touch or
the least movement increased to intensity, and wliich, as described by
the sufferer, greatly resembled  those caused by bark, yield at once
and permanently to a small dose of the attenuated tincture,  although
the attacks had often recurred;  the evil Avas cured homoeopathically
and health restored as by enchantment.
   3. Bark is seldom effectual unless it disturbs the rest of the patient
at night,  as it does that of persons in health who make a trial of this
drug;  it  causes frightful dreams which^rouse the patient Avhen he is
on the point of falling asleep, and are often accompanied by oppres-
sion and  anxiety.
   4..There are some cases of suppuration in  the  lungs, principally
such as are accompanied by shooting pains in the breast, excited or
increased  by  external pressure, that  have been cured by  bark; a
characteristic indication for the use of bark is a burning pressure on
the chest, hectic fever, colliquative night-sweats and profuse expecto-
ration  of pus, which may be streaked with blood.  In  cases of
genuine phthisis it is not probable  that China can  do more than
to palliate the symptoms.   The  palliating effects of China in  this
disease are beautifully shown in a case quoted in Frank's Alagazine.
The patient Avas a brick-mason, thirty-three years old, and born of
healthy parents.   Three  months  ago,  he  had  been attacked with
pneumonia, since Avhich time he had been sick, expectorating every
day a  pint of fetid  pus.  His  breathing Avas rattling, voice hoarse,
pulse one hundred and tAventy to one  hundred and thirty, urine 
428
LECTURE XXVII.
reddish, turbid,  depositing  a  copious  sediment;  feet swollen; he
had night-sAveats, was sleepless, had fever with delirium during the
paroxysm, and, in spite of his appetite, became emaciated and Aveak.
He took every day one drachm of pulverized China in Avater acidu-
lated with a little sulphuric acid.  He went on improving from day
to day, until he had taken one ounce and a  half of the bark.   He
looked and felt quite well, except a little cough in thfe morning.

  To  these  remarks I would add  that  the  intermittents to which
Cinchona-bark is homoeopathic, are  characterized by a variety of
peculiar symptoms.   They often set in with  the accompaniment of
numerous accessory symptoms, violent congestion, more particularly
about the head, causing severe headache; or about the heart, causing
severe palpitation and stitching pains in that region;  or  on the
chest, causing oppression, cough, and  severe stitching  pains  with
tearing and  racking cough; or in the bowels, causing distention, and
spasmodic tearing, stitching and colicky pains; or in the back,  nape
of the neck or small of the back,  causing a distressing  aching and
cramp-pains.  The attack is  moreover  ushered  in by stretching,
chattering of the teeth, paleness, a shaking chill, thirst and after-
wards hot fever and profuse perspiration.  Sometimes the thirst sets
in before the chill and sometimes after; the tongue is thickly coated
and the patient often complains of  nausea and even vomiting.  Be-
tween the  paroxysms the patient  looks sallow, feels rather weak,
has little  appetite, although at other times the appetite is ravenous.
He wants to be covered up or to sit near the fire.

  In regard to the dose  in  fever and ague,  opinions differ.  Some
practitioners use the middle and higher, others the lower potencies.
I have seen  beautiful  cures with the 30th of  China, and equally fine
cures with five drops of the tincture, and even ten grains  of Quinine.
  Once I Avas called to see  a man whom I  found in the following
condition:   Comatose, extremities icy-cold,  bluish, no  pulse, face
bluish like that of a person who had been choked.  Just before my
arrival he had had a tremendous chill.   It was an  attack of fever
and ague.   I dissolved one globule of China 30 in a tumblerful of
Avater, and gave the patient a tablespoonful every fifteen minutes.  A
few minutes after the  first dose he became  conscious, warmed. up,
perspired, and never  had another  chill.  This happened in  a mias-
matic fever  district.
  Was this  idiosyncratic, or was it the natural effect  of the drug?
You might try the same treatment in a hundred other  cases without
success.
  Dr. AVard, the late Professor of  Obstetrics in this  institution,
stated at the last meeting of the  American Institute, that he now
always gives the tincture of China in five drop doses.
   Other physicians use the first trituration of Quinine or the crude
Quinine in half or one grain doses  every two or three hours.
  There are cases of intermittent fever, especially in the miasmatic
districts of  our  country, where the  paroxysms cannot be arrested
without the use of Quinine.   It may be necessary to  give as many 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.
429
as ten grains from one paroxysm to the other.   It is best to give this
quantity in haljf a pint of water, dissolving it previously in a little
dilute sulphuric acid.

  In Phiysconia lienis or enlargement of the spleen, China is recom- |
mended even by allceopathic authorities as a specific remedy upon
the principle of homoeopathicity.  Dr. AVeitenweber relates a case !
of cure  of this disease  in  an Austrian Aledical Journal, Avhere the 1
validity of the law "Similia similibus" is emphatically admitted.
  A journeyman confectioner of cachectic appearance had been suf-
fering with fever and ague for ten weeks Avithout doing any thing
for it, except drinking  Chamomile tea  and aromatic bitters.  His
digestion broke down, and he experienced  a sense of heaviness and
fulness in the left hypochondrium.  His skin assumed a dingy, sallow
tint, the sclerotica had  a lead-colored appearance, and the region of
the spleen was considerably enlarged.  He took pulverized China, a
powder of eight grains every three hours.  The spleen decreased in
size from day to day, and the patient was perfectly restored in twenty-
four days.
  Dr. Weitenweber admits in reporting this case, that China cures
enlargement  of the  spleen and liver by virtue of its power to cause
similar  morbid conditions in the healthy.  He furthermore asserts
that cures of this kind have been effected where the antagonistic or
self-styled rational system of treatment had proved utterly poAverless.

  We may likewise  recommend Cinchona for
  Neuralgic and Rheumatic Affections, characterized by stitching, tear-
ing and drawing pains in the  head or extremities, especially Avhen
the pains are made worse by contact, and are accompanied by slight
vascular erethism, occasional creepings and flashes of heat about the
head, and excessive restlessness, nervousness, wakefulness.
  Our records show a number of interesting cases of neuralgic affec-
tions, and of rheumatic affections of a neuralgic or arthritic character,
where China and its alkaloid Quinine, have effected beautiful cures.
A leading indication for China  in these affections was the periodicity
of the paroxysms.   Here is a case of

  Ischiias Intermittens.   A lady of thirty, who is frequently suffering
with rheumatic pains, especially in the face, was attacked at the com-
mencement  of December,  with an extremely  violent pain  in the
lumbar region; the paroxysm  set in regularly  every afternoon and
continued until late at night.  After several  sleepless nights, the
patient  became so excited that, with her  eyes Avide  open, she was
haunted by alarming phantasms and came very near being attacked
with delirium.  These paroxj'-sms had been continuing for eight days,
Avhen a  feAV doses of China stopped them immediately.
  Another interesting case of
  Ischiadic Neuralgia is reported in the "Journal Universel de Atede-
cine et de Chirurgie Pratique."  An  officer, tAventy-six years old, of
extremely sanguine  temperament, and Avho inhabited a very damp
dwelling, Avas attacked on the 9th of December, 1817, Avith a violent 
430
LECTURE XXVII.
pain extending from the  ischiatic notch  down to the external mal-
leolus.  Liniments and the application of  forty leeches increased the
pain to such an extent that the  patient was unable to keep the limb
quiet, or to move it Avithout aggravating his suffering.   There were
no constitutional symptoms, except a slight acceleration of the pulse.
For the last three nights he had not had any sleep.  He noAV took
one ounce of the  red poAvdered  bark in eight pills, a pill every tAvo
hours. After the first close, he had three stools and experienced some
nausea.  In the evening he took a second pill.  Next  morning the
patient felt bright and only complained of a little numbness in the
limb, and a  deep-seated pain in  the  small of the back.   That same
night he had had two evacuations, a refreshing sleep, and had felt an
agreeable warmth Avithout sweat.  He  took a  few more pills,  but
much less in quantity, and his health was completely restored in all
respects.
  In this case the dose was large, and it is possible that a cure might
have  been  effected  Avith smaller quantities  of the  bark.   The pre-
scription was  ordered by an allceopathic physican, but China is
eminently homoeopathic to neuralgic paroxysms where symptoms of
congestion are prominent without any corresponding vascular excite-
ment, but great nervous restlessness, general agitation, wakefulness,
and a delirious sort of cerebral irritation.
  These cures of  neuralgia  by means of China are very interesting
and instructive to homoeopathic  students, and  I will therefore relate
one more, and then close this chapter.  Here is a case of

  "Neuralgia Supra-orbitalis, from the same publication.
  A French officer of thirty years, of  vigorous constitution, but an
exceedingly irritable temperament, and Avho  had been exposed to
the miasmatic emanations  of a low and damp region of country, in
the North of  France, was transferred to Paris. On his journey to
Paris, he was attacked with  neuralgia.   The paroxysms set in every
morning at seven o'clock, and continued for five hours.  At first the
pain Avas slight, like  moderate  prickings, but gradually the pain
increased to a tearing, intolerable, deeply smarting  distress  around
the left orbit, and especially violent in the region of the superciliary
arch.   There were  sympathetic, but not  entirely  involuntary con-
tractions of the facial  muscles of the left side;  at the height of the
paroxysm, the eyes  were red, weeping,  Avith  lancinating pain in the
eyeballs; the  forehead was  burning-hot, the  nose  dry, the pulse at
first  contracted, afterwards full  and  accelerated, the tongue  a little
coated Avhite, all the other functions normal.   During the intermis-
sions  the patient felt  quite  well.   Previous to the paroxysm,  the
patient took an ounce of powdered bark in water.  Considerable
improvement manifested itself soon after; on the third day all signs
of gastric irritation  had disappeared, and on the sixth tne patient's
health was completely restored.

  AYithout  stretching the imagination, it seems  as though these
periodical paroxysms of neuralgia might be looked upon as resulting
from a process of metaschematismus.  The inmost character of these 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.
431
 neuralgic affections may be the fever and  ague principle, which has
 assumed this characteristic neuralgic form.  Hence  it is  that these
 affections sometimes bear and even require enormous doses of the
 specific remedy for their cure.  In most cases this  remedy may be
 Cliina  or Quinine, in other cases Arsenic.

   Even in  other  affections, the intermittent type of the paroxysms
 may be regarded  as a prominent indication for China. Paroxysms
 of asthma, of bloody urine and of rheumatism of the abdomen, have
 been successfully treated with China, where the principal  indication
 was the periodicity of the attacks.
   A beautiful case of
   Intermittent Headache is reported in Hufeland's Journal, Avhere a
 girl of  fifteen years was attacked with  periodical pains in the head,
 which  came on shortly after rising, and continued  until the after-
 noon.  The  paroxysms were accompanied by  dizziness, and very
 often violent vomiting.  In the evening the patient was  free from
 pain.   The  girl became  pale, lost her  appetite and  strength, and
 wanted to be lying down  all the time.  The urine deposited a brick-
 dust sediment.  Cliina restored her in a very short period.
   China is  not always indicated, in cases of intermittent  headache.
 I  may  substantiate this  assertion by alluding to  a case which I
 treated in New York.  The patient was a young merchant, of good
 constitution who  had been for three years subject to an attack  of
 headache every forenoon.  The pain was a heavy, tearing, stupe-
 fying, lancinating  distress above the eyebrows.  After the paroxysm
 he felt  prostrated; he had  lost his appetite, became thin, and was
 unable  to attend to business.  He  had spent the last six months in
 the country Avithout any benefit.  The young man had been addicted
 to self-abuse.  He had been for six months treated by some of the
 first homoeopathic physicians of the  city, without experiencing any
 benefit  from  their  treatment.  I  put  him on the use of the tincture
 of Aconite,  commencing  with two drops in a tumblerful of water
 every day, and gradually increasing  the  dose to five drops.  In one
 month the young man was entirely well and remained so.

   Hahnemann tells us that, "in studying  cases of
   Moist Gangrene,  one may  perceive, in the  general  habit  of the
 patient,  morbid symptoms resembling those of bark, which explains
 why Peruvian bark is so valuable under such circumstances."
  The records of the Old-School contain many a cure of  gangrene
 achieved by means of bark.   Several of these cases have been trans-
 ferred by Frank to the pages of his valuable Magazine, whence Ave
 translate them for our own columns.
   Gangrene of the Scrotum.  A young man who had been successfully
 treated  for inflammatory fever, was attacked Avith gangrene  of the
 scrotum.  He was found pulseless,  with livid face, Avithout con-
sciousness and all his muscles convulsively twitching.  Almost the
whole of the  scrotum was  sphacelated.   He took every four hours a
drachm of pulverized China.  Very soon his pulse came up, a slight
moisture began to make its appearance upon the skin,  the scrotum 
432
LECTURE XXVII.
began to suppurate and in about a month from the time he was
taken the wound had become cicatrized.
   Gangrene of the Vulva and Mucous Lining of the  Vagina.  This
accident occurred  in consequence of a quick confinement.  The
mucous lining protruded from the vulva; it has a livid, gangrened
appearance and Avas Avithout sensibility.  The nymphas Avere likewise
gangrened, and  the labia  majora looked  livid.   Slight  delirium,
pulse small, frequent and irregular.  The patient took one drachm
of pulv. China every three hours for  three clays;  after this period
night and morning.  In twenty-four hours suppuration took place,
the gangrened parts sloughed off, and the patient soon recovered.
   Gangrene of the Arm.  A man of thirty years was attacked with
phlegmonous erysipelas which was repelled (by lead-washes I sup-
pose).  The consequence was that the whole arm became gangrened.
It was cold and livid, the hand Avas swollen, the fingers  immovable,
pulse small:  constant fainting turns; the  patient did not  even feel
deep incisions.  He took two drachms of a decoction of China every
three hours.  The same decoction was applied  externally in combi-
nation with brandy.  Next morning the pulse rose, the  warmth
returned, suppuration took place, and in  one  month the  patient's
health was perfectly restored.
   One other short case may close this chapter.
   A wound of considerable size on the  right leg, which had been
neglected for a long time, began to look  black  and emitted a cada-
verous  odor.  Diarrhoea set in.   The patient took a small glassful
of the decoction of China morning and evening, and applied it like-
wise externally.   Tavo days after,  considerable  improvement set  in;
in a few days more, a large scurf  sloughed off,  and the  patient was
entirely well three weeks thereafter.

  If  Ulcers should  break  out in consequence of the general decay
of the reproductive  system;  in cachectic individuals, of a sallow,
jaundiced appearance, cold or dry or clammy skin, China may be
appropriate  for the purpose of stimulating the reproductive  func-
tions  of the organism.  Under the influence of China, the ulcer may
gradually be made  to secrete a more healthy pus, and  may finally
heal up.
  In ulcers arising by a process of metaschematismus, in fever and
ague,  China may be in its place.   In  either  of these  tAvo cases,
Arsenic may have to be used sometimes.
  In connection with this subject we  may here mention the fact that
Dropsy may develope itself after mismanaged or neglected  intermit-
tent fever.  China  may prove a  specific  remedy for this form  of
dropsy.
  A farmer, forty years old, was attacked Avith bilious fever, which
was succeeded by a tertian intermittent.  This had already termi-
nated in anasarca and ascites, Avhen the patient sought the assistance
of a physician.  The use of China cured him completely in a fort-
night.
  The fact that bark stimulates vital action after the excessive loss
of animal fluids, will not  be forgotten; hence  patients  who  have 
CINCHONA OFFICINALIS.                 433
 become  weakened  by bleeding, by venereal excesses, by diarrhoea
 and the like, may  be benefited by China.  In the case of women
 who have become enfeebled by nursing, China is often indispensable.
   In Hufeland's  Journal a case is reported where a young man was
 attacked with a sort of muscular jerking  and twitching or
   Muscular  Tremor,  apparently in consequence of mental labor.
 The paroxysms increased in severity.   Every night he suffered Avith
 agonizing pains in the chest, and horrible phantasms.  After having
 been treated for  five or six weeks with antispasmodics, he Avas no
 longer able to articulate ;  the least provocation caused him to break
 out in rage, and  almost rendered  him crazy.  He was put on a de-
 coction of  China, and his health was fully restored in one fortnight.
   In cases  of
   Emaciation and Gradual Prostration induced  by chronic vomiting,
 China may prove useful.  A lady of tolerably good constitution Avho
 was in the  sixth month of her pregnancy, vomited every day Avhat-
 ever she put into her stomach.  She  became so reduced that fears
 were entertained  for her life.  No treatment was of any avail.  She
 finally took the extract of China in a  spoonful of soup.  This treat-
 ment was continued for eight days, at the end  of which period she
 had recovered perfect health.  The precise dose is  not stated, but it
 may have been about ten drops of the tincture  at a dose.

   Bark seems to  have a marked effect upon the liver and spleen; in
 patients who had taken bark for a long  period these  organs have
 been found considerably enlarged.  Hence the good effects of Cin-
 chona in some forms of
   Jaundice, characterized by sallow, dirty-yelloAv complexion, spas-
 modic-stitching pains in the liver, a craAvling sensation, with stitches
 and enlargement in the region of the spleen, slimy, bilious taste,
 vomiting of bitter bile, loss of appetite, stitches and SAvelling in the
 pit of the stomach.
   Before we close this chapter on China,  let us  briefly glance at the
 relation which this drug holds to the functions of the intestinal canal
 and the digestive system generally.   China may be of great  use in
 Dyspepsia and Gastralgia.
   Upon looking at our provings we shall find that it causes abnormal
 changes  in  the taste,  such  as slimy and  bitter, or  insipid taste; it
 causes drowsiness and oppression  after eating;  qualmishiness in the
 stomach, a  shiuddering after drinking, fetid flatulence.
   The secondary effect (organic reaction) of small doses  of  China
 seems to be to bind the bowels; this costiveness is accompanied Avith
 vascular erethism, flushed  face, fulness in the head, headache, palpi-
 tation of the heart.  China is therefore homoeopathic to
   Constipation accompanied by these symptoms.  The primary effect
of massive  doses  seems to be to loosen the bowels; hence China is
homoeopathic to
  Diarrhiea,  Avhere the discharges  are  slimy, bilious, sometimes
blackish, or mixed with undigested food, and of a very  offensive
smell.  Scrofulous children, with large  abdomens, are subject  to
attacks of this  kind,
                              28 
434
LECTURE XXV1I.
  We find that China causes a creeping and itching sensation at the
anus and in the rectum.  It is therefore homoeopathic to a condition
of the intestinal lining membrane Avhich may result in the formation
of Ascarides and Worms.

  The urinary secretions are likeAvise affected by China.  The urine
becomes scanty and turbid under the influence of China.  Some-
times it deposits a whitish, and at other times a brick-dust sediment.
This condition of the urine may confirm our  selection  of  China  in
various arthritic and gastric conditions.

   China acts as a stimulant  to the sexual  organs.  It causes in-
creased erections,  and involuntary nocturnal emissions; in the
female it  causes  excessive secretion of the menstrual blood, Avith
discharge of dark coagula.  Hence Ave may use it for
   Menorrhagia, and likewise for
   Excessive  secretions  of the  seminal fluid, when  arising  from
weakness Avith over-excitement of the sexual instinct.   AYe may
find China more specifically indicated in excessive
   Nocturnal Emissions and in Spermatorrhea, especially if the pa-
tient becomes Aveak and low-spirited, and  is troubled Avith costive-
ness, dyspeptic derangement.

   China is seldom indicated in affections of the air-passages ; never-
theless if there should be difficult respiration, with Avheezing;  or
Avith sensation as if the voice Avere deeper  and rough, or as if the
 larynx were filled  with phlegm, causing a suffocative sensation, or
if  the  patient coughs up blood,  especially toAvards evening,  on
waking from sleep; bark may be prescribed Avith advantage.  These
sj'-mptoms may occur in
   Asthmatic Conditions of the air-passages ;  in chronic
   Catarrhal Irritation of these organs, and in the  suppurative stage
of Chironic Bronchiitis or Chironic Hemoptysis.

   After long treatment,  in  which  large  doses of bark have been
 given,  many inconveniences  often  remain which require  to be
 counteracted by  Ipecacuanha, Arnica, Belladonna or  Veratrum.
 A'eratrum is indicated by chilliness of the body, Avith cold sweats.

   Let us briefly recapitulate the affections for Avhich China has been
 recommended:

                    CEPHALIC  GROUP.

   Intermittent cephalalgia, p. 431;

                      NERArOUS GROUP.

   Neuralgic and rheumatic affections, p. 429;
   Neuralgia supra-orbitalis, p. 430 ;
   Ischias intermittens, p. 429 ;
   Debility from loss of animal fluids, p. 433 ;
   Tremor of the muscles from excessive mental exertion, p. 433 ;
   Nightmare, p. 427, No. 3. 
CHIXINUM SULPHURICUM.               435
                  INTERMITTENT GROUP.

   Intermittent fever, p. 427 ;
   Intermittent asthma, p. 431 ;
   Intermittent ischias, p. 429 ;
   Intermittent haematuria, p. 431;
   Intermittent rheumatism of the abdomen, p. 431;
   Intermittent cephalalgia, p. 431 ;

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   Aromiting of pregnant females, p. 433 ;
   Dyspepsia, p. 433;
   Gastralgia, p. 433;
   Constipation, p. 433;
   Diarrhoea, p.  433 ;
   Ascarides,  p. 434;
   Jaundice, p. 433;
   Physconia (enlargement of spleen and liver), p. 429.

                     URINARY GROUP.

   Sedimentous urine, white or brick-dust sediment (in arthritic and
 gastric affections), p. 434;

                     SEXUAL GROUP.

   Alenorrhagia, p. 434;
   Spermatorrhoea,  p. 434;
   Nocturnal emissions, p. 434;

                  RESPIRATORY GROUP.

   Phthisis pulmonalis, p. 427, No. 4;
   Asthma, p. 434;
   Bronchial catarrh, p. 434;
   Chronic bronchitis or Hasmoptysis, p. 434 ;

                EXANTHEA1ATOUS  GROUP.

   Gangrene (of scrotum, vulva and vagina, arm), p.  432 •
   Ulcers,  p. 432;
   Wounds, p. 432.


       CfflMNUM  SULPHURICUM, OR QUININE,

 .  Is a most important alkaloid  of China which fulfils therapeutic
offices of a high order.
   Several  remarkable  cases of poisoning Avith Quinine are related
by Trousseau and  Pidoux.  A soldier took forty-eight grains of
Sulph. Q.  for  spasmodic  asthma, Avhich returned daily at a certain
hour.   Four hours  after taking it he experienced buzzing  in the
ears, diminished sensibility, giddiness, and violent vomitino-s.  Seven 
436                     LECTURE  XXVII.
hours after taking the Quinia, he was blind and deaf, delirious, in-
capable of walking  on account of the giddiness, and vomited bile
copiously.  He was  intoxicated Avith Quinine.   These effects sub-
sided in the course of the night.
   Rc'camier prescribed for a patient affected with acute rheumatism,
forty-six grains of Sulph. Q. in twelve powders, one every hour.
Next day the quantity Avas increased to seventy-seven grains simi-
larly divided, to be taken every hour as before.  When the patient
had taken fifty-three grains, he was  suddenly seized with violent
agitation,  followed by furious delirium,  and death in a few hours.
   Guided by these symptoms we  might perhaps prescribe Quinine
for furious
   Delirium  tremens,  or for the sequelos of severe cerebral diseases,
more particularly typhus cerebralis and hydrocephalus, where
   Paralysis of the special senses, especially of sight and hearing, is
sometimes entailed upon the patient after the original malady had
left him.

   It is evident, from the many facts which have been gathered con-
cerning the action of Quinine upon the  brain,  that this agent causes
severe irritations of  the cerebral nerves, which lead to congestions
of the cerebral  vessels, and are characterized  by other remarkable
symptoms, such as violent buzzing in the  ears, loss of hearing and
vision, and violent gastric irritations Avhich may either  be consen-
sual or the effect of a direct irritation of the lining membrane of the
stomach.
   Briquet's experiments in France have shown that Quinine is pos-
sessed of narcotic powers. Large doses of Quinine depress the pulse,
rendering the heart's action not only slower, but feebler.   In  cases
of violent cerebral irritation, Avhere Quinine  may have to be em-
ployed, these disturbances of the special senses, and the depression
of the vascular system constitute important indications for its  use.
   It is evident  that these  signs of depression may not be present, if
Quinine is given in doses Avhich are not large enough to overpower
the organic  reaction.  Aloderate doses  of  Quinine, but sufficiently
large to affect the organism medicinally, may cause vascular erethism
and a congested condition of the cerebral vessels characterized by
severe pain in the head, and a disordered condition of the sensorium
as manifested by flightiness, phantasms, excessive activity of the
sensorial functions.   Considering the effects of large as well  as of
smaller doses of Quinine  in their totality, Ave feel justified in  con-
cluding that it must be capable of effecting curative results in
various cerebral affections, besides those to which we have already
directed your attention.  Indeed this agent has been found useful in
   Mania of an intermittent type. A lady Avho had taken an emetic on
account of some gastric derangement, about a week after her confine-
ment, was tormented a week later by frightful prascordial anguish;
her look was unsteady, and  showed  symptoms of an approach-
ing delirium.  In spite of her efforts to  keep quiet, she jumped out
of bed all the time  in order to  run away from  home ; she loathed
the sight of her husband  and child, and threatened to destroy her- 
CHININUM SULPHURICUM.
437
self.  She had violent palpitation of the heart, irritated but not very
much accelerated pulse.  A subsequent  paroxysm terminated in
profuse perspiration.  A few doses of Quinine during the perspira-
tion cured her completely.
   Sanguineous  Apoplexy  of an intermittent type, may likewise
require the  exhibition of  Quinine.  A lady of thirty years, of a
plethoric  habit  of body, was attacked  on the first of September,
with flushed face, loss of consciousness, immobility, deep and ster-
torous breathing, large, very slow and strong pulse.   She fell into
the  hands of an alloeopath,  and was bled.  In the evening she was
quite Avell.   On the third of September, at the same hour, she was
attacked in the  same way, was bled, and as  soon as the paroxysm
had subsided, was put upon Quinine, of which she took a single dose
of twenty-four grains.  On  the  sixth, about the  same  hour,  she felt
a  slight  chill, followed by moderate  heat  and sweat;  she  took
another but smaller dose of Quinine, and had no further trouble
   If we should have a case of  this kind to prescribe for, we would
give Aconite during the * paroxysm, and afterwards Quinine in
reasonable doses.   Some, as I said above, might give the triturated
drug, and others the Quinine in substance.   In
   Periodical Cephialea, Quinine will prove useful.   Kopp relates a
case in the  second volume of his " Homoeopathic Alemorabilia,"
where a lady who had been disposed to  headache, menstruated very
profusely after  her forty-eighth year.  After each turn she  was
attacked Avith severe  pain in the head, nausea, disposition to vomit,
chilliness, cold feet and debility.  She took six doses of Quinine of
one-sixth of a grain each, and  remained perfectly Avell ever after.
   In Hemicrania of a paroxysmal character, Avhere the  attacks come
on every day or every other day, Quinine has often proved a remedy.
These attacks are generally characterized by an absence of gastric
symptoms, although there may be diarrhoea.  The symptoms of
congestion  and  nervous  irritability prevail.  The pains may be
various: tearing, lancinating, hard  aching and burning pains.
   Cerebral Congestions, where the disease is paroxysmal, and the par-
oxysms are worse every other day, will often yield to Quinine.  Par-
oxysmal congestions of this character may affect other organs beside
the  brain, such as the spleen or heart.  During the paroxysm we
resort to the tincture or low attenuations of Aconite, and between the
paroxysms we give Quinine.  A case is reported where the follow-
ing symptoms occurred :  A robust and plethoric boy, three years
old,  Avas  attacked with congestion of the  spleen.  This yielded to
treatment.   On the third day, congestion  of  the heart set in,  with
the following symptoms:  disfigured countenance; expression of
intense suffering,  anxiety and oppression; tumultuous palpitation of
the heart, intense burning distress in the region of the heart, fainting
turns, irregular pulse.  The attack had set in Avithout any premoni-
tory symptoms.    After the A-iolence of the paroxysm  had  been
controlled by treatment, the child took  Quinine  in two-grain doses,
twenty-four grains in all, and remained perfectly  well.
  The alloeopathic attendant reports this case as a case of inflammation
of the spleen and heart.   If an  homoeopathic physician were guilty 
438
LECTURE XXVII.
of such a blunder, he would be laughed at.  It was a simple case of
plethora, plethoric congestion, or rush of blood where Aconite was
indicated during the paroxysm and Quinine during the apyrexia.

  In  Neuralgia Intermittens, Quinine has effected beautiful cures.
These affections are regarded by some as masked fever and ague.
The attacks are most  frequently ushered in with  a slight  chill,
followed by an increase of temperature generally, some vascular
excitement and generally perspiration.  The local pains vary accord-
ing as one or the other portion of the nervous system  is the seat
of the affection.  There may be gastric  derangement, though  not
necessarily.
  An interesting case  of neuralgia  of the meningeal membranes is
quoted  in Frank's Magazine, where the patient was in the fourth
month of pregnancy.  Every morning, after  taking her breakfast,
she was attacked with a violent tearing pain in the back part of the
head, " as though the membranes were pulled asunder."  The attack
was accompanied  by a chilliness, she looked  pale, the bowels were
constipated, she felt low-spirited, irritable, inclined to weep, and had
to keep her bed. Towards noon the pain became less, she warmed up,
and in the evening she  felt  quite well.   She  took half a grain of
Quinine every hour during the interval, and had no more trouble.
  In  Neuralgia of the Celiac  Plexus,  of the  frontal nerve, of the
trigeminus, Quinine has proved a valuable agent.   In some of these
attacks, sopor  and delirious fancies are characteristic symptoms.
Excessive sensitiveness to light and noise may likeAAuse be present.
  An interesting case  of  Neuralgia  of the Womb, is reported in a
French  Periodical, the " Archives  Generales," Avhere a lady had
been exerting herself more than usual in moving from one house to
another.  The paroxysms set in with  a  chill, dragging, labor-like
pains from the lumbar region  down the thigh, and invading with
marked violence the hypogastric region.  During  the  violence of
the attack, large clots of a thick, ropy  and  slightly-tinged mucus
Avere discharged from the  vagina.  In the afternoon the pains ceased
entirely.  When a physician was sent for, he found her with her
thighs flexed upon the abdomen, expression of deep suffering in the
face, warm and somewhat  moist skin, coated tongue, anorexia, very
little thirst and pulse  normal:  sense of weight in  the  pelvis, con-
stant urging  to  stool, sensitiveness and tension in the hypogastric
region; the least pressure causes pain.   The vagina was burning-
hot, and the neck of the womb so sensitive that the least pressure
exhorted a loud cry.   She was  put  on the use of Quinine in eight
grain doses, of which she took three during the apyrexia.  The next
attack was scarcely perceptible.  Another dose of Quinine restored
her permanently.

   The periodical intermissions of nervous and congestive paroxysms
point to Quinine in a variety of other affections.   This  periodicity
has been observed in trismus, in paraplegia, in ophthalmia, in pul-
monary hasmorrhage, and in all these cases Quinine effected a speedy
and permanent cure. 
CHININUM SULPHURICUM.
439
  An old lady was attacked with
  Trismus every third day, accelerated pulse, headache, thirst but
inability to drink.  Quinine cured her.
  Another patient Avas attacked with
  Paralysis of the lower extremities, incontinence of urine and stool;
fever and ague  prevailed at the time: the  paroxysms in his case
set in every other day.  Quinine restored him.
  A literary man was attacked with
  Ophthalmia, which was exacerbated every evening like a fever-
and-ague paroxysm.  Quinine removed the difficulty very soon.
  A man of feeble constitution was attacked  with
  Hemorr/iage from the lungs and bowels, face  sunken, pulse very
feeble, stertorous  breathing, the skin covered with cold,  viscid
sweat, yawning, expulsion of black coagula from the mouth.   The
attack Avas followed by copious warm SAveat.  It proved paroxysmal
and was entirely  arrested by ten doses of Quinine, Iavo grains each.
  I  might mention  a number  of interesting cures achieved by
Quinine, of various affections Avhere a leading indication for its use
was the periodicity of the attacks.   A few more may suffice.
  In a case of
  Retention of thie Placenta it finally came aAvay of itself in the fourth
Aveek.  Ever since then the patient had an attack of the most frightful
congestive headache every evening.  A  single dose of Quinine
stopped the paroxysms permanently.
  A young girl was attacked with violent
  Spasm of the Neck and Chest Avhich extorted the most piteous cries.
Gradually the paroxysms set  in  every other day  very  regularly.
After the paroxysm she passed  a quantity of watery urine.  A few
doses of Quinine, two grains each, arrested the disease permanently.

  In Frank's Alagazine, the folloAving case of
  Intermittent Dysentery is quoted from the "Medizinischen Corres-
pondenzblatt."  A child Avas attacked every afternoon at four o'clock
with violent pains  in the abdomen, folloAved by heat  and from six
to eight bloody  evacuations,  after  which it fell asleep exhausted
and  in profuse perspiration.  The intermittent character of the par-
oxysms induced  the medical attendant to  prescribe Quinine, which
was   administered  endermically,  the  child  refusing to take the
medicine by the mouth.  The attacks ceased at once.
  Intermittent Chronic  Rheumatism.   A chlorotic  girl of eighteen
years Avas attacked Avith rheumatic pains in  the legs Avhich Avas at
first continual, but  afterAvards  became periodical.  The attack set
in every clay at ten o'clock in the evening, and continued all night.
Sleep Avas entirely  banished  by the pain.  She took four poAvders
of Quinine  of tAvo grains each, after Avhich the  next attack Avas
much milder,  and the attacks ceased  entirely after the second night.

  Even in Epilepsy, the periodicity of the attacks may constitute an
indication for Quinine.  A boy of thirteen years old had been sub-
ject to epileptic attacks.  The boy fell doAvn, Avith loss of conscious-
ness, Avithout uttering a cry ; there Avas no sign of convulsions except 
440
LECTURE XXVII.
a spasmodic clenching of the fists.   The paroxysms recurred regu-
larly every seventh day.  The means used  remained unavailable,
until Quinine was given; this arrested the paroxysms permanently.
The dose is not stated;  it may have been  from five to ten grains
from one paroxysm to the next following.

  While speaking of China, I have taken occasion to allude to the
use of Quinine in
  Intermittent  Fever.  There was a time  when  Quinine  was con-
sidered the inevitable specific for this disease.  AYe now know that
Quinine is one of the, but not by any means the, specific for inter-
mittent fever.  Arsenic is another powerful remedy in this disease.
The indipations for Quinine are the same as those which I have given
for  China, page 428.
  At one time, Hahnemann  seemed disposed to  oppose the use of
alkaloids by homoeopathic physicians.   These times have gone by.
There are alkaloids without which it is impossible to either cure or
palliate suffering.  Alorphine is one  of them, Quinine another.  The
cure  of certain  forms of fever and ague and of other  periodical
paroxysms of  a nervous congestive character without Quinine is an
impossible  thing.  In some  forms  of miasmatic intermittents the
cerebral congestions are so violent that it seems of the utmost im-
portance  to arrest the  paroxysms as speedily as possible, lest the
cerebral vessels  should  rupture and fatal haemorrhage ensue.  In
these  dangerous  forms of Intermittents which some of the older
pathologists designate as febris perniciosa or apoplectica, we may give
Aconite alone, or Aconite and Belladonna in  alternation during the
chill; but Quinine in  substance will have to be given during the
apyrexia.
  In Intermittent Fever with typhoid symptoms, Quinine in substance
may sometimes be preferable to the triturations.   A blacksmith was
attacked Avith delirium, dryness of the skin, hot tongue, etc.  Cold
applications to the head and other treatment Avere resorted to.  Next
morning  there was a remarkable remission of all these symptoms.
On  the third night he was attacked in the same way; the attacks
set in with a chill, and it was  only  with great difficulty that the
patient could  be retained in his  bed.  The intermittent  character
of the paroxysms having become apparent, Quinine was resorted to;
there  was another paroxysm in a modified  form, after which they
ceased altogether.
  The purists of the Homoeopathic School at one time repudiated
the  use of Quinine as if it  were so much  dust from the infernal
regions.  The  great cry has been that Quinine only suppresses the
fever  and ague  paroxysm.  If this paroxysm is characterized by
the  symptoms which I have endeavored to portray to you on previous
pages, Quinine does not suppress the paroxysm, but meets it as its
true curative agent.  AYe should not forget, hoAvever, that  the fever
and ague miasma is of a very coarse nature, perhaps semi-material,
occupying  a sort of intermediate position between the  spiritual-
dynamic  and the material forces which have power to subvert the
harmonious mechanism of the tissues.  The fever and ague miasm 
CHININUM SULPHURICUM.
441
 may therefore act both as a dynamico-immaterial, and as a chemico-
 physical poison, and  may at times have to be counteracted or neu-
 tralized  by larger  doses  than are generally required  in ordinary
 cases.  But in no  case  will  an excessive dose  of Quinine be re-
 quired, provided the character of the  fever is of an analogous
 quality to that of the Quinine-principle.  If the character of the fever
 is analogous to  the inmost principle of Arsenic, Quinine can never
 meet it.   Under such circumstances  we may effect a temporary
 hushing  up of the fever  and ague paroxysm by keeping  the gan-
 glionic system spell-bound, as it Avere,  by means of  enormous doses
 of Quinine ; but this hushing up would only be a temporary sup-
 pression  ; it is not a cure.
   Hypertrophy  of  the spleen is one  of the permanent changes re-
 sulting from a series of fever and ague paroxysms.   This effect has
 been observed by thousands in numberless cases.  During the chill
 the blood seems to recede from the splenetic vessels. A diminution
 of the size  of this  organ,  seems to be the primary  effect, or rather
 the accompaniment of the chill.  The  subsequent enlargement sets
 in with  the supervention of  the hot  stage,  when  the  blood is re-
 turned to  the  spleen with increased  force as it were.  This san-
 guineous engorgement may result in permanent hypertrophy of the
 parenchyma of the spleen.
   Peruvian bark and its  alkaloid Quinine act in this respect simi-
 larly to fever and ague.   The first effect of large doses of  Quinine
 upon the spleen is to  diminish the size of this organ by cutting off
 the supply  of blood ; the secondary  effect, or the effect of organic
 reaction  is to increase the size of the spleen by an excessive supply
 of the vital fluid.   An acquaintance with this.fact  leads us to pre-
 scribe  both the bark and  Quinine for
   Hypertrophiy of the Spleen, Avhether resulting from fever and ague
 paroxysms, or from simple sanguineous engorgement in consequence
 of exposure, dyscrasia, etc. The Quinine should not be given in too
 small doses, nor higher than the second or third trituration.  In
   S/denetalgia or Neuralgia of the Spleen, Avhich sometimes  accom-
 panies or precedes enlargement of this organ, Quinine will likeAvise
 prove  useful.  In cases, hoAvever, where these two last named affec-
 tions do  not arise from the influence of the  marsh-miasm,  but are
 due to rheumatic causes, it may be necessary to resort to some other
 agent,  such as Aconite or  Belladonna.
  Anasarca, if traceable to hypertrophy of the spleen, would simply
 constitute a symptom  of this disorganization, and yield to the same
 treatment that is instituted for the latter affection.  Quinine may
 remove the whole difficulty in some cases.  Piorry who has furnished
 an interesting monograph on the use of Quinine in Affections of the
 Spleen in connection Avith Fever and Ague, relates  several  cures of
 this affection where nothing but Quinine was used.
  AYe  have so far considered the admirable therapeutic properties of
 Quinine in A^arious paroxysmal affections, such as: mania, apoplexy,
 cephalalgia,  congestions,  A'arious neuralgic affections, and  diseases
 of an intermittent character,  epilepsy, dysentry, asthmatic parox-
ysms,  rheumatism,  etc.   We  have sIioayii the admirable curative 
442
LECTURE XXVII.
properties of Quinine in fe\'er and ague, and we haATe dwelt Avith as
much force as the subject seems to deserve,  upon the  fact that the
curative action of Quinine extends even to affections Avhich are desig-
nated  sifebris intermittens larvata or masked or disguised fever and
ague, by which Ave understand affections that  really or  essentially
constitute fever and ague paroxysms, but Avhere the fever assumes
the form or mask of some other disease.  For  these masked fever
and ague paroxysms, Avhatever be their apparent character, lumbago,
haemorrhage, intestinal irregularities, gastric disturbances, spasmodic
or neuralgic distress, Quinine will prove just as effectual as for the
genuine intermittent disease.

  On this occasion it behooves me to caution you against tAvo serious
blunders to which an inexperienced young practitioner may be liable;
the first  is: not to mistake the phenomena of congestion  Avhich
sometimes precede or accompany a fever and ague paroxysm, for some
other pathological process, pulmonary congestion,  carditis, enteritis
and the like ; the second is: not to mistake for fever and ague Avhat
is only a symptom of a far different pathological process. Gentlemen,
it has happened that physicians have mistaken the chill which super-
venes in pulmonary and other affections Avhere the pathological pro-
cess is apt to terminate in the effusion of pus, for intermittent fever,
and to treat the  patient accordingly.   And it happens to this  day
that physicians will mistake the chilly creepings which occur during
an  attack of influenza, or  which supervene every now and then
during the course of a bronchial catarrh, for an attack of fever and
ague.  Such are the lamentable results of the habitual and systematic
disregard of pathology which many of the earlier practitioners of our
School have rendered themselves guilty of.  And if  finally, com-
pelled by the irresistible onward progress of the age, they consent to
make a few  desperate attempts at pathology, they mistake a catarrhal
chill, or the chill of purulent effusion, for a paroxysm  of fever and
ague.  Let not this be your fate ; let the symptoms be to you Avhat
they really are in Nature, manifestations of a pathological process, a
correct knowledge of Avhich is indispensable to judicious and suc-
cessful treatment, and distinguishes the scientific  physician  from
the symptomatic routinist and the uneducated  quack.

  Before closing our chapter of Quinine, I desire  to advert to the
fact that Quinine causes
  Deafness,  accompanied by buzzing in the ears, disagreeable noises
in the head  and  vertigo.  Scrofulous individuals,  and  persons of a
cachectic habit of body, are sometimes suffering in this Avay.  They
are deaf, complain of a distressing buzzing  and ringing  in the ears
and head; their  ears are dry, and they sometimes have the appear-
ance of being imbecile  or  absent-minded.   Arsenic is of immense
use under such circumstances ;  let us not forget Quinine.
  We should not overlook this great agent in cases of
   Vertigo, accompanied with sickness at the stomach, slow and feeble
pulse, sinking of the temperature of the body.   Attacks of this kind
may  result  from deficient  innervation,  excessive exertions, expo- 
CHININUM SULPHURICUM.
443
sure to damp and chilly air.  If violent, the attack may be attended
with loss of sight, and confusion of sense  which may even amount
to an actual loss of consciousness.  A solution of Quinine in a little
dilute Sulphuric acid may prove eminently adapted to the emergency.
   The power of Quinine to derange the bowels, has been alluded to
before. Quinine  causes a train of gastric disturbances that make it
a most valuable agent in some forms of
   Dyspepsia and Cardialgia, where the patient complains of nausea,
loathing of food, bitter eructations, bitter taste in the mouth, vomit-
ing of bile, oppression  of the stomach, heartburn, or a burning sen-
sation in the stomach and oesophagus, or a feeling of constriction and
a pulling sensation in the stomach.
   We knoAV that Quinine has occasioned a similar train of symptoms
by applying it endermically to the epigastric region.
   Quinine affects the bowels similarly to Bark.  Large closes cause
diarrhoea,  small doses bind  the bowels.   The  diarrhoea  may  be
watery, slimy, dark or even blackish, having an offensive smell.
   Costiveness is attended  with symptoms of  congestion,  fullness
about the  head,  increased  warmth in  the  head and body, flushed
face, oppression.

   If Quinine is to be used in substance, it is best to first dissolAre it
in dilute sulphuric acid, in the proportion of ten grains to thirty drops
of the acid.  The dissolved drug acts more  promply than the powder.
After dissolving it, Ave may afterwards mix it with any quantity of
water that may be required.
   The baneful effects of Quinine may be counteracted by Ipecacuanha
and Arsenic.

 Synoptical tableau of the affections for whiichi we recommend Quinine:

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

Delirium tremens,  p. 436 ;
Apoplexia intermittens, p. 437 ;
Mania intermittens, p. 436 ;
Vertigo, p. 442;
Cephalalgia intermittens, p. 437.

                      SPECIAL  SENSES.

Paralvsis of special senses after typhus, encephalitis, p. 437;
Deafness of scrofulous and cachectic individuals, p. 442.

                     NERVOUS GROUP.

Neuralgia (intermittent), p. 438 ;
Spasms of the neck and chest, p. 439 ;
Trismus (intermittent), p. 439 ;
Epilepsy, p. 439 ;
Splenetalgia, p.  441;
Paraplegia (intermittent), p. 438. 
444
LECTURE  XXVIII.
                 CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

Hypertrophy of the spleen and liver, p. 441;
Dyspepsia, p. 443 ;
Cardialgia, p. 443;
Diarrhoea, p. 443;
Dysentery (intermittent), p. 439 ;
Constipation, p. 443.

                 INTERAHTTENT GROUP.

Mania, p. 436;
Apoplexy, p. 437;
Cephalalgia,  p.  437;
Congestions of  the brain, spleen and heart, p. 437;
Neuralgia of meningeal membranes, p. 438;
Neuralgia of coeliac plexus, p. 438 ;
Neuralgia of Avomb, p. 438 ;
Neuralgia of spleen, p. 441;
Trismus, p. p. 439 ;
Ophthalmia,  p.  439;
Paraplegia, p. 439;
Haemorrhage, p. 438;
Headache, Avith retention of the placenta, p. 439;
Spasm of the neck and chest, p. 439;
Dysentery, p. 439 ;               9
Chronic Rheumatism,  p. 439 ;
Epilepsy, p. 439;
Fever, p. 440;
Febris larvata,  p. 442.

                EXANTHEA1ATIC GROUP.
Anasarca, 441.
             LECTURE  XXVIII.

                   COLOCYNTHIS,

        (Bitter Cucumber.—Nat. Order:—Cucurbitace^;.)

  This is a trailing plant, with a white, annual, branched root, which
strikes deep  into the ground.  The stem is herbaceous, angular,
branched, covered with rough hairs, and trails along the ground; in
its appearance resembling the common cucumber.  Leaves triangu-
lar, obtuse, sinuated, hairy, of a  fine green  on the upper  surface,
rough and  Avhitish  underneath.   Flowers yelloAV, with greenish
veins, solitarjT, axillary.  Fruit about the size of an orange, with a 
COLOCYNTHIS.
445
  thin but solid rind.  It  comes to us freed from the outer yellow
  rind:  it contains a loose, spongy, whitish, inodorous pulp, bitter;
  contains many seeds; we make a straw-colored tincture from the pulp.
    Colocynthis (Greek Kolokynthe), means a round gourd.  This is
  supposed to be the fruit which the servant of Elisha gathered in the
  field near Gilgal, during the famine; after it had been gathered and
  boiled, and the men had begun to eat of it, they cried out:  Oh thou
  man of God, there is death in the pot.  Hence the names: Cucurbita
  prophetas Elisaei, and mors in olla.
    This plant is found in many regions of country, in Spain, Turkey,
  upon the islands of the Greek Archipelago, in Nubia, Japan, on the
  coast of Coromandel.  In East-India we have a species of spurious
  Colocynth, which is oblong, not round like the genuine.
    According to Captain Lyon, the seeds of Colocynth are eaten by
  the people of North-Africa; these seeds are not poisonous like the
'  pulp ; they contain a quantity of mucilaginous matter like the seeds
  of quince.  But  the black seeds are poisonous: the people of Elisha
  may have boiled Colocynth with black seeds.

    Colocynth has been employed by the oldest physicians, Hippocrates,
  Dioscorides, Appolonius, Asclepiades, Andromachus, Plinius.   Syd-
  enham, Hufeland and other great physicians used Colocynth.  Bayers
  and Schenck used it to extract teeth without pain; they scarified the
  gums, caused the patient to hold a decoction of Colocynth in vinegar
  in his mouth, and then pulled out the tooth with  their fingers.

    It is a remarkable fact that some of the most distinguished practi-
  tioners have been the enthusiastic advocates of Colocynth, Avhereas
  other equally distinguished physicians have condemned its use  in the
  most emphatic language.  Thus Triller in his Thesaurus of medicine
  calls the Colocynth " an infamous drug, a thankless, evil-breeding,
  suspicious, dubious, violent medicine, having exceedingly poisonous
  properties and hence to be proscribed from the domain of medicine."
  Charles Hoffmann, on the contrary, says of Colocynth that Colocynth
  is to severe maladies what a sledge-hammer is to massive iron; lions
  are not caught in a mouse-trap, and many a chronic malady remains
  uncured,  because physicians  dread the employment of  heroic
  medicines.
     But times are changing, and allceopathic physicians are beginning
  to learn that small doses are often sufficient to effect brilliant  cures.
  Thus Stiff't, one of the most violent  opponents of  Homoeopathy in
  Austria, says: Great things can be achieved by means of Colocynth,
  if given in small doses.  And Van Swieten says that one-eighth of
  a grain of Colocynth is sufficient to restore the menses.
     In his preface to the provings of Colocynth Hahnemann expresses
  his astonishment that practitioners, instead of employing all sorts of
  corrigentia  to counteract or weaken the excessive action of drugs,
  and if they did not succeed in this, instead of condemning drugs as
  dangerous and  therefore unfit for use, did not hit upon the very
  simple and very natural  expedient of reducing the dose by making
  alcoholic attenuations, or triturations with sugar  of milk. The very 
446
LECTURE XXVIII.
 fact that these apparently simple processes of comminuting the crude
 drug were never thought  of, shoAvs that it required more genius
 than was possessed by Hahnemann's  predecessors, to invent them.
 After Columbus had discovered America a Spanish Grandee taunted
 him on a certain occasion that any body might have knoAvn that, by
 sailing westward, land must be discovered some time or other.  By
 Avay of reply, Columbus took an egg and requested any gentleman
 present to make it stand  upon the point.  Nobody knew how to
 accomplish such a feat.  Thereupon Columbus took the egg, clashed
 the point upon the table, and the egg stood erect.  Any body might
 have done this,  and yet nobody thought of it; it took a genius like
 Columbus to make an  egg  stand upon its point, and it took a genius
 like Hahnemann to invent  the process of making small doses.
   A distinguished  practitioner of the fifteenth century, Scribonius
 Largus, seems to have had a  glimpse of the homoeopathic law.  He ,
 alludes to the curative virtues of Colocynth  in these remarkable
 words: "It seems  past all doubt  that it  is particularly suitable to
 those  Avho are  afflicted  Avith diseases of the stomach, since it pos-
 sesses an exceedingly  virulent action  upon the  stomach."   But
 instead of  being led to conclude  that Colocynth must therefore be
 capable of curing  by  means of small doses of the drug, the very
 diseases which large doses  Avere capable of causing, this feeble ray
 of light, so far from illuminating his soul, left it as dark as a tomb,
 and he contented  himself with the simple remark:  " In things of
 this kind, custom is more poAverful than reason."

   In  regard to  the physiological  effects of Colocynth, we are pos-
 sessed of exceedingly interesting facts derived from cases of poison-
 ing, and from experiments upon animals.   Orfila  made several
 experiments on dogs; but the only prominent  effects of Colocynth
 upon these animals were: fluid, blackish stools, disposition to vomit
 and vertigo ; there Avere no convulsions before the animals died. A
 post-mortem examination revealed symptoms of entero-peritonitis
 in all cases.   The lungs, stomach, duodenum  and the small intes-
 tines shoAved no perceptible alterations; but the mucous membrane
 of the rectum exhibited a large number of  fiery-red spots.  From
 these facts Orfila concludes that  the effects of Colocynth depends
 more particularly upon the local  action of  the drug,  and  upon a
 sympathetic irritation of the nervous system; he further  concludes
 that Colocynth is absorbed into the current of the circulation, and,
 by this means, affects  the  nervous system and the rectum by its
 direct action;  and lastly that  it affects both men and animals alike.
 This conclusion is  not  borne out by the statement of the traveler
 Thunberg, who  tells us that the natives as well as the colonists of
 the Cape of Good Hope eat the salted fruits of the Colocynth-gourd
 without any  injury.  This apparent harmlessness of this  violent
 drastic may perhaps be OAving  to the salting process it is made to
 undergo, or it may be that the poisonous principle is not developed
 in the  unripe  fruit; for it is  the unripe fruit Avhich is eaten.   But
 Ave shall presently  find, in reading over  a few cases of poisoning,
that Orfila's conclusions are incorrect. 
COLOCYNTHIS.
447
  Dioscorides already had  observed that Colocynth, if introduced
into the rectum, produced a discharge of blood.
  In 1fc>23, a coroner's inquest was held in London on the body of a
woman who died in twenty-four hours with incessant vomiting and
purging, in consequence of having SAvalloAved by mistake a teaspoon-
ful  and a half of Colocynth powder.
  Tulpius, in his work entitled Observ. AIedic, notices the case of
a man Avho  was nearly carried off by profuse  bloody  diarrhoea, in
consequence of taking a decoction of three Colocynth apples.

  In  Orfila's General Toxicology, we read the  folloAving case of
poisoning: A man swallowed three ounces of Colocynth in the hope
of getting- rid of a gonorrhoea which he had had for some days.  In
a short time, violent pains in the epigastrium, with excessive vomit-
ing ; in about tAvo hours there were copious alvine dejections; the
sight Avas obscured ; he heard with difficulty;  slight delirium came
on, followed by vertigo.  After some slight treatment, the symptoms
gradually subsided.
  These few cases give us an inkling of the powerful  drastic pro-
perties possessed by Colocynth ; and the last case likewise shows us
that it affects some  of the  cerebral nerves, or that portion of the
brain from Avhich some of these nerves, more particularly the audi-
tory and the optic nerve, are given out.

  Stalapaart van der AViel, in his " Obserationes,"  relates the follow-
ing case of poisoning: A jovial young  inn-keeper at the Hague in
Holland,  desirous of purging himself bought a colocynth-gourd,
pounded  and swallowed it.   Soon after he was attacked with the
most horrible pains  in the bowels;  he had bloody  evacuations ; at
the same time he had the most violent spasms,  so that  he  doubled
himself up like a porcupine.  It was Avith great  difficulty that his
life could be saved.
   The symptoms, in this case, Avere agonizing spasms in the boAvels,
Avith bloody stools.

   Hoyer, in his Ephemericles, mentions the case of a young man of
seventeen years, who took an infusion of Colocynth.  Soon after, he
Avas attacked with  bloody stools,  excessive anguish and fainting;
his strength soon failed him and the patient died.

   Another case is  reported  by Tulpius:   A  poor man who was
suffering  Avith  constitutional constipation, swallowed  a decoction
prepared of three colocynth-gourds; he Avas attacked with agonizing
colic, and  excessive discharges of blood from  the anus.  Drinking
quantities of oil and injections of oil saved his life.

   Plater relates tAvo cases of poisoning Avith Colocynth.  One is the
case  of a  young prince who was  given by his  physician pills to
purge the bowels.  The pills not  operating, the doctor enveloped
them with a little pulverized Colocynth.  After SAvalloAving these,
the prince  Avas attacked with bloody  evacuations,  and  horrible
colic.   The doctor got so scared that he ran aAvay. 
448
LECTURE XXVIII.
     The second case terminated fatally.  A man who Avas in the habit
   of purging himself, usually macerated for this purpose a colocynth-
   gourd in a bottle of wine over night, and drank it next morning;
   he had done this a number of times without any bad results; but
   finally it destroyed his life by causing an attack of acute dysentery.
     By dysentery are most probably meant in this case the bloody
   discharges and the cutting pains which are peculiar to Colocynth.
   In true dysentery the rectum seems to  be the real seat of the inflam-
   matory process which characterizes this disease; but we shall after-
   wards see that Colocynth does not seem to have any marked action
   upon the rectum, and that it cannot therefore, be truly homoeopathic
   to common dysentery.  It has been recommended for this disease by
   one homoeopathic practitioner after another, the one  making it a
   rule to copy from his predecessor.  But Colocynth is really homoeo-
   pathic to enteritis characterized by bloody stools and cutting and
   spasmodic pains in the  bowels; this is not dysentery as commonly
   understood, which refers to an inflammatory process going on in the
   lining membrane of the rectum.

     According  to  Riedlinus, who  published a  work  in 1696, two
^  grains of pulverized Colocynth, given to a robust servant girl, caused
   vomiting.  According  to  Boskler, in  Hartmann's Materia Med.,
   published in 1745, the same effect Avas experienced by persons whose
   business it Avas to handle Colocynth-gourds for some time.  ATomi-
   ting has even been excited by applying Colocynth to the stomach.
     According to Alichaelis, Colocynth, if applied to the epigastrium,
   after the epidermis had  been  removed, has been known to  excite
   diarrhoea.
     According to Chretien, applications of Colocynth to the abdomen,
   caused increased  stool and urine.
     Fordyce, in his Fragments of Surgery and Aledicine, mentions the
   case of a woman who  was a prey to colic for thirty years, from hav-
   ing taken an infusion of the pulp of  Colocynth mixed with some
   beer.  This shows that Colocynth must be exceedingly useful in the
   treatment of chronic diseases.

     Frederick Hoffmann tells us, that after using Colocynth in ascites,
   he has often seen it cause fatal gangrene of the bowels.
     Another distinguished practitioner, John Moritz Hoffmann, relates
   the folioAving interesting case of poisoning Avith Colocynth:  A
   noble lady took some wine in which Colocynth had been macerated
   over night.  Soon after she was seized with violent cardialgia, fre-
   quent vomiting, horrible and cutting colic with discharges from the
   bowels which were at first muco-serous, soon after bilious, and finally
   bloody;  other symptoms were:  a parching thirst, muscular sub-
   sultus and spasms of the superior and inferior  extremities, violent.
   fever, fainting, coldness of the extremities.  At this stage the doctor
   arrived, and saved her life by the copious  use of oily and  mucila-
   ginous preparations.

     Orfila, in his General Toxicology, relates the following interesting 
COLOCYNTIIIS.
449
  case : A man of twenty-eight years, who was afflicted with dyspepsia,
  drank two glasses of a decoction of Colocynth.   Soon after, he was
  attacked with violent  discharges from the bowels, colic, great heat
  in the boAvels, dryness of the fauces, and unquenchable thirst.  When
  Dr. Carron arrived, he found the  patient with a  small and hurried
  pulse, red tongue, distended abdomen and very sensitive to contact,
  retention of stool and urine, retraction of the  testicles,  priapism.
  Antiphlogistic treatment was resorted to, but the patient died. The
  doctor had been purposely left uninformed of the cause of his sick-
  ness.  A post-mortem examination revealed the following  symp-
  toms :  The whole of  the intestines were filled with a whitish fluid,
  containing a quantity  of flocks  of the same color; the villous coat
  of the stomach was ulcerated here and there; the bowels were red,
  dotted with black spots, and adhering to each other by membranous
  exudations;  liver, kidneys  and bladder showed  no sign of inflam-
  mation.
    There is  no mention made, in this case, of fiery redness  of the
  mucous  membrane of the rectum, Avhich Orfila  observed in every
  experiment instituted upon dogs.  The absence of  this  symptom
  shows that  Colocynth is  not homoeopathic to dysentery properly
  speaking ;  and it likewise shows that the action of a poisonous drug
  upon animals is not ahvays a criterion for the homoeopathicity of this
  drug to the disease to Avhich man is subject.  This case presents a
I  complete group of symptoms delineating the most frightful form of
  enteritis complicated Avith peritoneal  inflammation,  and  it shows,
  moreover, that Colocynth must  have a remarkable influence  upon
:  the sexual and urinary organs,  inasmuch as  it caused retention of
|  urine, retraction of the testes and priapism.  The symptoms of sexual
 "and  urinary irritation  seem  to have been subordinate or incidental
  in this case  to the inflammatory action of the drug upon the intes-
  tines.  We  judge from this, and  other cases of  poisoning that the
  primary action of Colocynth is upon the coeliac plexus and its rami-
  fications over the intestinal  walls.   In  this case the nervous energy-
  was so completely struck doAvn that all organic reaction, which mani-
  fested itself in other  cases of poisoning by  bloody stools, became
  extinct, and a progressive decomposition  of the  tissues was set up
 from the outset, terminating  in dissolution of the mucous lining, and
  gangrene of the peritoneum.

   In  all these  cases of poisoning Avith Colocynth, the remarkable
  action which this poison has upon the small intestines, is a most pro-
  minent symptom.  Duvergie and Ratier (in their Uni\Tersal Lexicon
  of Practic d Aledicine and Surgery) relate another interesting case.
 A man of fifty-five years, of robust  constitution,  had  been afflicted
 for a long time Avith a steatoma on the right knee.  He applied to a
  woman who resided in the neighborhood of Paris near the Military
 School, and who enjoyed the reputation of being able to cure all
 sorts of incurable maladies.  After having tried  in vain all sorts of
 cataplasms, he took a  small portion of a  liquor which this woman
 had prepared for him. Shortly after taking this dose, he was at-
 tacked with nausea and vomiting, accompanied  by a sensation  of
                                29 
450
LECTURE XXVIII.
heat and burning in the epigastric region.   Rejoicing that the medi-
cine acted, he took a second and even a third  dose. _  Hereupon he
was attacked with copious evacuations, intolerable pains throughout
the whole abdomen, which finally increased to such horrible tormina
that the patient leaped out of his bed, rolled upon the floor, blessing
in his blindness the hand that had  administered to  him this poison.
Soon after the patient was seized with convulsions and  he died.  In
his experiments upon animals, Orfila never observed this symptonn
   This horrible death excited the  suspicions of the public authori-
ties, and Drs. Duvergie  and Ratier were requested  to  make a post-
mortem  examination.  The results of their  investigation  were as
follow:
   The meningeal membranes were white and somewhat thicker than
usual; the  cerebral  substance was  neither dotted with red points,
nor injected; but on taking out the brain, a few spoonfuls of a rose-
colored serum Avere  found in its cavity.   The lungs A\rere perfectly
sound.   The stomach and duodenum had a blue-red appearance ex-
ternally, and the  ileum  looked rose-colored;  the mucous membrane
of the stomach and  of  the  duodenum exhibited a vivid redness,
traversed by erosions and interstitially distended, so  that  it might
be pulled off and torn without any trouble; these abnormal changes
were less marked in the lower half of the small intestine; the color
of the colon seemed  but little altered either internally or  externally.
These results deviate considerably from the results obtained  by Orfila
upon animals.  In his  six  experiments upon dogs, which Ave find
related in  his  General  Toxicology, the  mucous membrane  of the
rectum and the inferior portion of the colon, exhibited a fiery, or
purple red  appearance.   This would seem to show that the manner
in which drugs affect animals is no safe criterion for the application-
of drugs in the treatment of diseases of the human species.   Even
among animals Colocynth affects one species differently from another.
Thus we are told by Viborg, Bourgelat and Mairond that a small
horse swallowed  four drachms of  Colocynth without  experiencing
any marked effects from it.  Experiments upon animals are doubt-
less of great use; they show us, at any rate, how these dumb  crea-
tures are affected by them, and in what diseases drugs may be used
with a comparative certainty of relief.  But it is only by the effects
which drugs produce in the human organism, while  in a state of
health, that we can learn with positive accuracy the extent and char-
 acter of their therapeutic uses.

    Colocynth was first  proved by  Hahnemann, and afterwards re-
 proved by Dr. AVatzke of Vienna, assisted by a  number of intelligent
 physicians and lay persons.  The provings were -instituted with mas-
 sive doses as well as with attenuations.  It Avould lead us  too far to
 relate all these instances of persevering devotion  and self-sacrifice.
 Suffice  it to say that, thanks to the  efforts of Dr.  AVatzke and his
 friends,  we have acquired  a knowledge of the therapeutic  uses of
 Colocynth which nay be said to be next to perfect.  In order to show
 you, however, how true provers proceed in their explorations of the 
COLOCYNTHIS.
451
therapeutic character of a drug, I will relate a few of the shorter,
though by no means uninteresting provings.
   One of the provers was Dr. Charles Weinke, thirty years old, of
sanguine temperament,  vigorous constitution, and enjoying perfect
health except that he had sAveaty feet  summer  and winter and was
disposed to catarrh.
   On the 19th of November, 1842, at half past  ten in the forenoon,
after exercising  in the open air for an hour and a half, he took  12
drops of the tincture of Colocynth in water.   One hour after, while
writing, he experienced in the dorsum of the right foot, on the left
side in the direction of the  big toe, a painful pressure with  slight
numbness of the right leg, as if it would go to sleep ; when walking,
these symptoms  were not very troublesome, and  they disappeared of
themselves in fifteen minutes.
   On the  same  forenoon,  at  a  quarter  past eleven o'clock, AVeinke
took  again 15 drops.  At three o'clock in the  afternoon he  had a
papescent stool, followed by slight shifting pinchings, and a catarrhal
feeling in the region  of the umbilicus,  and rumbling in the boAvels.
Afterwards he experienced  shooting stitches  in the left half of the
thorax, and moderate flatulence.  At  seven o'clock in the evening,
he had a semi-fluid stool, the passage of which was accompanied by
considerable flatulence.  The catarrhal feeling in the umbilical region
as if diarrhoea Avould set in, continued the whole afternoon.
   On the 23d of November,  at  half past eleven in the forenoon,  he
took 20 drops of the tincture;  half an  hour  after, he experienced a
rumbling in  the abdomen, a  sensation  in  the  abdomen as if he had
taken cold, followed  by two  semi-liquid evacuations.  In the after-
noon he felt weary, neArertheless the sexual instinct Avas very much
excited.
   On the 30th, at half past eleven in the forenoon, he took 60 drops
of the tincture in half a  tumblerful of water.
   Shortly after taking  the drug, the prover  experienced  shooting
stitches in the left half of the thorax; catarrhal sensation  in the
abdomen, and slight rumbling.  At a quarter past  twelve, he felt a
slight pressure in the dorsum of the right foot, more on the left side
in the direction of  the big  toe.  At  noon,  enormous appetite  at
dinner.  At two in the afternoon, sudden urging to stool; soon after,
copious papescent evacuation, followed by pinching and a sensation
in the bowels as from a cold  (a sort of catarrhal feeling,) drowsiness,
want of disposition to study.  At  four o'clock, another diarrhceic
stool; afterwards considerable flatulence and a disagreeable feeling
of lassitude.
   The drug affected  the lower extremities in such an  unpleasant
manner that the prover had to discontinue the use of the drug.  The
symptoms Avhich he experienced  during the  last three weeks, Avere
as follow:
   Heavy sleep, full of dreams;  laziness in the morning on Avaking
at a late hour, and no desire to get up; heaviness of the  lower ex-
tremities ;  bloating of both feet, so that his boots felt too tight at the
instep; on the dorsum of the right foot, at the navicular and cunei-
form bones of the tarsus, a constant dull crampy pain with pressure, 
452
LECTURE XXVIII.
apparently in the periosteum of these bones;  the  skin  over the
painful  part  had the natural  color, elasticity and softness; on the
right  side  of the tarsus, a  pale, painless, distinctly  circumscribed
tumor of the size  of a pigeon-egg, and resembling  a  common
lymphatic tumor,  In the left foot the same pains were experienced
as in the right foot, in the  same places, except  less intensely, nor
was there any swelling.
  These symptoms were somewhat alleviated by walking, but they
still existed  in the evening after  taking a good deal  of exercise
during the  day, and were then accompanied by excessive weariness
of the lower extremities.  AVhilst these symptoms lasted, the bowels
moved slowly, every other daj^, although the faeces were not particu-
larly hard; the flatulence continued all the time; the secretion of
urine  seemed somewhat diminished.   These effects of Colocynth
Avere  not impaired by  coffee.  The circumscribed  tumor on the
tarsus continued even after the lapse of six months.

  These provings  are  exceedingly  interesting and  instructive.
Among the twenty and more provings of  Colocynth Avhich  were
instituted by this band of  devoted explorers of the therapeutic
virtues of drugs, I will select one or two more as good illustrations
of the manner in which the business of proA'ing drugs should  be
conducted.
  Dr. AVachtel, thirty years  old, of a choleric-melancholy  tempera-
ment, robust frame,  and having enjoyed for years  uninterrupted
health, began his  experiments on the 16th of November, 1842.  He
took one drop of the tincture in half a tumblerful of water, an hour
after eating his breakfast, Avhich consisted of milk and bread.   This
dose produced no perceptible change.
  On  the 17th, he took 2 drops; shortly after  he felt  a dullness
about the head which lasted  for an hour.
  On  the 18th, he took 3 drops, without any perceptible change.
  On  the 19th, 4 drops were  taken.  These caused for a feAV minutes
a pinching in the umbilical region.
  On the 20th, 5 drops; in  the afternoon he felt a twitching  about
the anus, and soon after two  ordinary evacuations.
  On  the 21st, he took again 5 drops, which caused a more copious
secretion of urine, but were  otherwise unattended with  any impor-
tant results.
  On  the 22d, 23d and 24th, he  took 10 drops  each  day.   On the
22d, soon after taking the drug, he experienced a sensation of pres-
sure in the orbits, toAA-ards the root of the nose.   In the afternoon he
felt a sensation of heat in the  nape of the neck, burning and twitching
in the rectum and at the anus; soon after, three liquid, slimy, but
painless  stools.  On  the 23d, he  experienced an embarrassment in
the cervical muscles when moving the neck ; after dinner he com-
plained  of shooting  stitches  in the  region of the liver and in the
iliac bone;  in the evening:  feeling of dryness in the  eyes.   On the
24th, in the forenoon; urging to urinate, Avith discharge of a quantity
of watery urine, recurring every hour more or  less.   In the  after-
noon : dullness of the head, with  pressure  in the orbits; sensation of 
COLOCYNTHIS.
453
coldness through the whole body, especially in the knees (although
the room was sufficiently warm); afterwards pressing  towards the
rectum, without stool, followed soon after by itching at the anus and
orifice of the urethra.  In the evening: an uncomfortable and weak
feeling in the whole body, especially in the lower extremities ; canine
hunger, with particular desire for bread and beer.
  On the 25th of November, the Doctor took 15 drops, increasing the
dose by five drops every day until the 29th.  These doses produced
the following  effects: dullness of the head, scraping in the throat,
rumbling in the bowels, constriction in the  umbilical region, disten-
tion of the abdomen,  sensation  of  emptiness and  soreness in the
bowels; papescent  stools with  burning at  the anus; itching of the
body here  and  there,  obliging him to scratch the parts; shooting
stitches in  the region of the liver, in the iliac bone, on the dorsum
of the right foot, in the metatarsal articulation and in  the  big toe-
joint of the left foot.
  After having experimented with the tincture, AVachtel concluded
the experiment with the triturated  drug.  These triturations were
made in the  proportion of 10 grains of the drug to  90 grains of
sugar of milk.  The effects obtained with the triturations,  were far
more instructive and characteristic than those observed after using
the tincture.
  From the 20th to the 28th of December, he took 10 grains of this
first trituration every morning.
  On the 21st he experienced a pressure  in the  forehead; on the
22d, increased secretion  of urine and towards evening: dullness of
the head; on  the 23d, fleeting, drawing stitches in the periosteum
of both radii; on the 24th, scraping  in the throat, in the region of the
uvula.  On the 25th, the throat looked red, and deglutition was
impeded.   On the  26th, a real angina, had developed itself which
became so violent  that -the  prover deemed  it necessary to take
Belladonna and Lachesis to  counteract it.  (This angina Avas like-
Avise felt by two other provers, Arneth and Rothansi.)
  From the  3d of January to the  15th,  he took 10 grains of the
same trituration every day.
  On the 3d, frequent urging to stool, Avithout any evacuation.  On
the 4th, the taste of the Colocynth  seemed  particularly  bitter and
nauseous, and continued all day.  In the evening: stitching-drawing-
along the left tibia doAArn to the tarsal bones, accompanied by a burn-
ing pressure in the  left  eye;  these  pains continued  for  about five
minutes.  Afterwards, very hard stool, like stones.  On the 5th, pres-
sure in the temples ; itching of the skin here and there, causing un-
ceasing restlessness, so that he was scarcely able to keep still.  At
noon he drank some beer Avhich seemed to have an  exceedingly
bitter taste.  In the evening, during a walk, he felt as if his strength
was entirely leaving him; he experienced a sensation of emptiness
in the stomach and soon  after, canine hunger.  (You will recollect
that this same prover experienced a similar  sensation on the 24th
of November from taking ten drops of the  tincture.)  No stool on
this day.  ()n the 6th, about noon, he experienced a violent cutting
pain which darted  through the whole abdomen down to the anus 
454
LECTURE XXVIII.
like an electric shock.  Soon afterwards: urging to stool, without an
evacuation, which took place an hour after, and was composed of
fragments hard as stone.  In the afternoon : shooting stitches in the
right half of the  chest (from before backwards.)  The whole of this
day, the prover  experienced a sensation on the back  part of the
tongue as if it had been scalded ; this symptom was made worse by
acidulated food,  The angina which this prover experienced, was of
a similar character, a pain as if the throat had been scalded.
  On the  7th, about three in the afternoon, the feeling of  weakness
in the  whole body returned,  but  without  any subsequent canine
hunger.   Towards evening, a fleeting drawing in the upper and
lower extremities; single prickings under the left pectoral muscle.
No stool.  On the 8th the above described scalding sensation on the
tongue was again felt, but  less intensely.   On the  9th, a drawing
pain with pressure in the left foot.  At noon, excessive drowsiness.
After dinner, a stitching-cutting pain in the right foot as if pierced
by a nail.   On the 10th, feeling of  soreness in the upper portion of
the pericranium  as if the hair were continually pulled upward.  On
the 11th, the same sensation was experienced as if the hair  were
pulled  upward, and  it was moreover  accompanied  by a  draAving-
pressing  pain in the  occiput.  These two  symptoms  disappeared
tOAvard evening.
  On the  13th, drawing-stitching pain in both tarsal joints, continu-
ing for about a  minute, recurring  frequently, not interfering  with
walking.  After taking coffee and  wine, these pains become aggra-
vated, and the prover experienced moreover  boring pains in the
bones of the lower extremities.  On the 14th, the same pains con-
tinued  the whole day with unimportant remissions, but  with less
intensity.   In the afternoon, the  upper extremities were affected in
a similar manner.  On the 15th, he felt an aching pain in  the iliac
bone which decreased during motion.
  On the  16th, the stitching and boring pains were more intense
than before, at times in the joints and at other times  in the  long
bones of the  upper  and lower extremities.   In the afternoon, a
draAving-aching pain  was  experienced in both shoulders;  this pain
was a  seated pain.   On the 17th, the pains continued, and  were
moreover  complicated by heat in the  head and palpitation of the
heart; on  the 18th, these pains were only  felt now and then, and on
the 19th,  they discontinued entirely.   On the 20th, the following
symptoms de\Teloped  themselves in the forenoon: feeling  of reple-
tion in the region of  the stomach;  rumbling in the  abdomen with
considerable distension of the same ; violent colicky pains, continuing
for about  an hour, and disappearing entirely after tAvo stools which
followed each other  in rapid succession.   In the night of  the  22d,
he AYas tormented by shooting  stitches in the region of the  liver.
The next day, he experienced constant pains in the knee joint which
impeded walking.  The arthritic and rheumatic pains in the joints
and long bones of the upper and lower extremities continued until
the 1st of February with  more or less intensity.
  I might perhaps interest  you by  a relation of the heroic  provings
of Wurm, Gerstel, Arneth  and such  men, with one hundred drop 
                         COLOCYNTHIS.                     455

doses of the strong tincture of Colcocynth; but time will not permit
me to  dwell  upon these details any longer; I  will not,  however,
deprive you of the satisfaction of listening to the provings of two
young  ladies with the 3d attenuation of  Colocynth;  the provers
Avere exceedingly sensitive to the action of this drug, and  although
the doses which they took were small, the effects were  nevertheless
interesting and exceedingly instructive.
   One, a young  lady of twenty-two years  old, a delicate brunette,
took, on the 29th of April, 1843, two globules moistened with the
third attenuation.  Soon after taking the Colocynth, the prover was
attacked with inodorous eructations and unusual emissions of flatu-
lence ;  afterwards drawing-tearing pains in the whole abdomen and
in the finger-joints of the left hand.
   On the 1st  of May,  after taking  three globules, she  experienced
frequent  inodorous eructations, drawing pains in the  nape of the
neck and in the muscles of the back.
   On the 3d of May, after  taking  three  globules, she  felt  the
following symptoms : pain in the small of the back, tearing-drawing
in both thighs and in  the  left arm as far as the.phalangeal articu-
lations.
   On the 5th, after taking four globules: tearing pain in the left calf
down to the heel.
   On the 9th, after taking six globules : deeply-penetrating stitches
in the abdomen ;  tearing in the joints of the left  hand,  These dif-
ferent pains generally continued from nine to ten hours, and were
first felt six or seven hours after the medicine had been taken.  She
continued  her experiments until the 6th of June, but always with
the same results.
   Her  sister Caroline, twenty-four years old, of a lively disposition,
robust  constitution, having  auburn  hair and gray  eyes, took the
same number of globules as her sister, and at the same periods.
She experienced the same effects as her sister, and felt moreover
deeply-penetrating stitches in  both groins, as if  a  needle had been
plunged into  the ovaries.
                LECTURE  XXIX.

  Guided by the effects which have been observed from Colocynth,
we may recommend  this drug for affections of various important
nervous centers.  Colocynth seems to act  more  particularly upon
the sentient nerves, especially upon those which go  to  make up the
plexus cceliacus.  It likewise acts upon the trigeminus or fifth pair,
upon  the sacral plexus, upon the lumbar and crural nerves, and
upon the mucous and fibrous  tissues over which these nerves are
ramified.  In affecting the coeliac plexus, it may give rise to inflam-
matory symptoms in the bowels, and in  affecting the crural nerve,
its action may gradually lead to paralysis  of the extremity.  Its
action upon the trigeminus is manifested by various neuralgic affec- 
456
LECTURE XXIX.
tions of the face, eyes and head.  It may likewise cause sympathetic
irritations in the lungs and heart by its action upon  the peripheral
extremities  of the pneumo-gastric  nerve through the connection
existing between this nerve and the solar plexus by means of the
great  sympathetic.
  Ranging our symptoms according to the usual fashion, Ave obtain
the folloAving categories:

                    CEPHALIC  GROUP.

  One of Dr. AVatzke's provers experienced :
  " Dullness of the left side of the head, with  burning pressure in
the left orbit, temple and  in the nose, on the dorsum of the nose, and
in the upper toav of teeth."
  Another prover complained of:
  "Aching pain in  the temples, with  troublesome twitching of the
upper lid of the right eye."
  " Headache towards evening, with inability to attend to any kind
of business."
  Another prover:

  " Dulness of the head, with pressure in the orbits, and a feeling of
coldness in the Avhole body, especially in the knees."
  Another:
  " DraAving in the scalp ;"
  " Painfulness  of  the whole head and  of the eyes, increased by
stooping;"
  " Sensation as if the whole head Avere compressed, especially from
temple to  temple, and in the front part of the head, Avith painfulness
of the eyeballs, worse when stooping."
  These symptoms seem to show a connection  between the cerebral
and opthalmic affections.  Dr. AVatzke connects these two affections
as cause and effect, the opthalmic affection being depending upon
the cerebral disturbance. According to  this theory,  Colocynthis
never affects the eyes primarily, and hence Avill  not be capable of
curing an  idiopathic inflammatory affection of the eyes.

  An interesting case  of cure is related by  Dr. Schiller  in  the
" Practical Commun. of Homoeopathic Physicians, etc."  It is a case
of opthalmia complicated with encephalalgia.   The patient had been
afflicted for a considerable period with an almost permanently exist-
ing headache, after which the eye became inflamed.  YYhen Dr. S.
was called, the patient  had  already lost his sight in consequence of
alloeopathic treatment.  In the right eye, the sight of which Avas still
preserved, the patient complained  of burning-cutting pains.  Con-
gestion of blood to the  head, and discharge of acrid tears from both
eyes troubled the patient. Two drops of the tincture of Colocynth
every three hours removed the headache  in tAventy-four hours and
effected a considerable abatement of the pains in the eyes.  The con-
tinued use of Colocynth  restored the sight of both eyes completely
in eight days, and effected a perfect cure.
  In this case, according  to  Watzke,  the encephalic affection was
primary, and the opthalmic disease incidental to the former, super- 
COLOCYNTHIS.
457
induced by a sympathetic irritation of the opthalmic branch of the
fifth pair of nerves.

  Colocynth seems to be particularly adapted to
  Arthiriiic and Neuralgic Hemicrania, when the pains are screwing,
as if the head  were in a vice;  or the pains are stitching, tearing
and digging and the eye is sympathetically irritated.
  A pretty cure is reported  by Dr. Attomyr in  his  " Letters on
Homoeopathy."  A boy of thirteen years had been complaining for
four days past of violent stitches in the forehead and eyes, darting
from without imvards.  The pain continued day and night, abating
only  momentarily and  returning all the more  violently after  an
abatement.  The boy had fever, a bitter taste in the mouth, complete
loss of appetite, and constipation.   Six hours after  one dose of Colo-
cynth 30, the pain disappeared,  and on the day folloAving the patient
left his bed.
  One of Watzke's provers  experienced a sensation as if the hair
were  pulled  up, accompanied  by a drawing-pressing pain in the
occiput.   This sensation might  lead us to recommend Colocynth for
  Rheumatism of the Scalp, where this peculiar sensation may  occur.

                      NERVOUS GROUP.

  Under this head we may note the various rheumatic and arthritic
pains which Colocynth produces: tearing, drawing and stitching pains
in the joints and bones; also  boring pains in the bones; neuralgia
and hyperassthesia of the fifth pair, neuralgia of the coeliac plexus
and its ramifications ; and lastly neuralgia of the lumbar and  crural
nerves anol their branches.
  The literature of our School  is exceedingly rich in brilliant cures
of a variety  of nervous disorders.  AYe  have already mentioned
several cures of neuralgia of the fifth pair under the head of  Ceph-
alic Group.  AYe will here mention a few cures of
  Ischialgia and Neuralgia of the Crural Nerve, and  defer the relation
of several beautiful cures of irritation of the abdominal plexuses
until  Ave  come  to indicate the therapeutic range  of Colocynth in
affections of the abdominal organs generally.
  A young gentleman of about twenty years, had  been suffering
Avith neuralgia of the sciatic nerve  for several weeks.   The pains
were of a  lancinating character, flashing along the track of the nerve
whenever an  attempt  was made to raise  the  limb.   Movement
ameliorated the pain.  A drop of the tincture of Colocynth in water
effected a prompt and permanent cure.

  One of the  most  splendid cures on record  in the Avorks of the
Homoeopathic  as well  as  those  in  the  Alloeopathic School,  Avas
achieved by Dr. Aegidi.   A lady, twenty-one years old, received a
Adolent blow against the symphysis pubis in the month of August,
Bs24, Avhich  resulted in  displacement of  the pelvic bones.   This
difficulty A\as speedily removed, but Avas  followed  by inflammation
of the kidneys, Avith discharge  of purulent urine.  The usual anti- 
458
LECTURE XXIX.
phlogistic means of the Old School improved her condition so far
that, towards  the  end of Alarch, 1825, she only  complained of a
feeling of numbness and lameness from the small of the back down
the thigh, violent and long-lasting pains in the region of the  sym-
physis pubis, Avhich were excited by the least  contact, distention of
of the abdomen and periodical attacks of colic.
  In January, 1826, excessive exercise induced considerable aggra-
vation of her trouble.   The patient was only able to sit on the right
loAver limb.  The affected left limb was stretched, with the toes turned
inAvard.   From time to time, about ten or tAvelve times a day, she
was tormented by distressing pains darting from  the region of the
left kidney doAvn the limb as far as  the external malleolus, attended
with bearing-down, constrictive, colicky pains, extorting  tears and
cries.   In the region of the sacro-iliac symphysis and of the symphysis
pubis, osseous swellings developed themselves Avith burning pain Avhen
touched.  Tympanitic distention  of the abdomen  with pain when
touched ; tenesmus of the bladder, with copious discharge of urine;
during  the  paroxysms of pain the urine Avas  clear, between the
paroxysms it was reddish, depositing a sandy-looking sediment of
white flocks.  Stool irregular; at times the bowels were  bound, at
others she had  frequent, tenacious and  slimy  stools.  ()ccasionally
she complained of a burning pain in the anus during stool, followed
soon after by a feeling of weakness and lameness in the anus.   Ap-
petite poorly.   Periodical attacks  of  pain in the left side of the
chest, and still  more violent  in  the left side of  the head.  Great
prostration of strength; disposition to fainting  spells; restless sleep;
frightening dreams; alternate  attacks of chilliness and heat; irrita-
ble mood; expression of suffering in the features; extreme aversion
to conversation ; disposition to weep ; irregular menses.
  Leeches, Hyoscyamus, Aqua laurocerasi, Opium Avere  employed
for several weeks without  affording the least relief.   The homoeo-
pathic treatment with  Cocculus, Sulphur, Nux, Capsicum, Aurum,
Mercurius solubilis and Conium, likewise proved utterly ineffectual.
  On the 5th of June the red cautery  Avas resorted to.   The pains
were alleviated  in consequence of the  suppuration that took place,
but the relief only lasted a few weeks.   As soon as the wound began
to close the patient was much worse than she ever hiad been  previous to
the use of the cautery.  The general health had  suffered a great deal;
the patient looked pale and hollow-eyed ;  a hacking  cough set in,
with hectic  fever  characterized by distinct evening-exacerbations.
The wound  was closed up, the patient was put on nourishing diet,
China, Iceland  moss, Polygala Senega,  barley-gruel, etc.   In a few
weeks her strength returned and the fever disappeared.  The original
affection was unchanged.  AYarm baths,  spirits of hart's horn and the
muriate of gold were employed for a few weeks, but in vain.
  Under these circumstances, Homoeopathy was again resorted to.
On the eighth of September, at nine o'clock in  the morning, the
patient was  given a drop of the sixth attenuation of Colocynth in a
teaspoonful of distilled water.
  On the evening of the  same day, the distress  of the  patient in-
creased to a fearful  height.  She had no rest in any position, and 
COLOCYNTHIS.
459
was on the brink of despair.   A violent tearing pain raged through-
out the whole brain, and was especially aggravated  by moving the
upper eyelids.  In the right eyeball she experienced a pain as if
knives had darted through it; the pain reached  as  far as the root
of the nose.  She Avas moreover troubled  with  empty eructations
causing palpitation of the heart, spasm of the fauces and continual
inclination to vomit;  periodical attacks of frightful cutting pain in
the bowels emanating from the region of the  left kidney, drawing
up  spasmodically the left lower limb close to  the abdomen, and
obliging her to keep the trunk bent forward as much as possible.
  Aegidi, attributing  this paroxysm to the  excessive action  of the
drug, gave her from time to time a teaspoonful of black coffee, and
caused her to smell of camphor. In a few hours the pains subsided,
the patient fell into aprofound sleep,  slept all night  without leaking and
awohce restored to health.  " A peculiar, indescribable  feeling of Avell-
being animates my whole body,"  said she, on waking.  She was
able to stretch and to  bend the diseased limb, to step upon it and to
walk without  crutches.
  On the following morning, she  walked to her deliverer's office,
assured him  that she had felt perfectly well on walking, and that
finding that she was again able to  walk, she had been unAvilling to
deprive herself of  the exquisite pleasure  of being the  bearer of
such joyful tidings.  While uttering these words,  she raised  her
formerly sound limb, and swung  herself upon  the other limb all
around in a circle.  Without taking any more medicine the patient
improved from day to day; even the osseous swellings disappeared,
and her health remained perfect.

   I Veariness of the loAver limbs is an effect of Colocynth.  YYe have
seen that this drug likewise causes arthritic and rheumatic pains,
stitching pains in the  toe, and tarsal articulations; hence we recom-
mend Colocynth for
  Arthritis and Arihiritic Rheumatism, if the pains are  stitching,
lancinating, boring; the parts where the pains are felt may become
cedematous.

                 INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

  Three of Watzeke's prover experienced an angina as if the throat
had  been  scalded.  This sensation extended to the root  of  the
tongue.   In
  Angina faucium, when resulting from arthritic metastasis, with
sensation as if the throat had been scalded, Colocynth may prove
useful.
  We have seen that  Colycynth may cause and will therefore cure
  Enteritis, with  frightful tormina, cutting pains as if the boAvels
would be cut to pieces; discharges of blood  and  mucus from the
bowels, coldness of the extremities,  feeble and hurried pulse.   The
inflammatory  process may likewise affect the peritoneum, causing
  Peritonitis,  not puerperal,  but of an arthritic or rheumatic nature,
with stinging, lancinating, burning pains,  tympanitis, coldness of 
460
LECTURE XXIX.
the extremities,  hurried and  small pulse, violent and distressing
straining at stool which may also be present in enteritis.  The lower
potencies in these diseases are preferable.

                      ORBITAL  GROUP.

  The symptoms which Colocynth occasions in this range seem to
arise  principally from a  sympathetic irritation  of  the  organs of
vision, in connection Avith hemicrania, or as a consequence or ulterior
development  of  some neuralgic affection.  These symptoms  are:
cutting and burning pains in the- eye-ball; obscuration  of  vision,
vibrations before the eyes, sensation  as if the eye-ball Avere  harder
than usual.

           AURICULAR AND  FACIAL GROUP.

  Colocynth causes
  Buzzing in the ears.
  Throbbing pain in the  nose, from  the middle to the  root  of the
nose.
  Digging-burning  pain  in the facial muscles.   Gaspari cured a
case of
  Prosopalgia,  with the following  symptoms:   Violent tearing-
stitching pain in the whole left side of the face, setting in periodi-
cally,  aggravated by warmth  and motion, and  accompanied by
headache and toothache.   A single dose of Colocynth cured  it.

                      DENTAL  GROUP.

  Colocynth  causes a drawing-tearing pain in all the teeth,  with
sensation as if the roots  of the teeth were SAvollen;  also  a pain in
the loAver row of teeth, as if the nerve were scraped and put upon
the stretch.  Dr. AYurstel who was habitually suffering with arthritic
and rheumatic toothache  and diarrhoea, remained free from these ail-
ments ever since his provings.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  The symptoms Avhich  Colocynth produces in  this direction are
not only  varied, but  penetrating, comprehensive and  sometimes
attended with agonizing suffering.
  Colocynth causes
  Craving hunger, and afterwards  anorexia;
  Empty eructations;
  Bitter taste;
  Excessive vomiting;
  Pressure in the stomach as from a stone.  Hence we recommend
Colocynth in
  Dyspepsia characterized by oppression of the stomach after eating,
variable appetite, at one  time  a violent and unnatural craving for
food, and at other times a complete indifference to,  and even aversion 
COLOCYNTHIS.
461
 to food.  This species of abnormal action of the nerves of the
 stomach may be peculiar  to hysteric females, and  also to pregnant
 women.
   Bulimia, as a primary derangement of the stomach, an unnatural
 and continual craving for food, may also yield to Colocynth.
   Cardialgia may  require Colocynth.  Dr. Shroen cured  a case
 characterized by a burning pain  in the. pit of the stomach, which
 did not bear  the least pressure and set  in with vomiting of the in-
 gesta, quick  and small pulse, and  agonizing tossing about in the
 bed.   One drop of Colocynth  30  sufficed to stop the pain per-
 manently.

   Colocynth  also  causes  cutting and  tearing  colicky pains, with
 stitches in  the ovaries.  It also causes stitches in the liver.  Hence
 we may prescribe Colocynth in cases of
   Spasmodic, Neuralgic and Bilious Colic.
   A stout carpenter, of choleric temperament and fifty years of
 age, was attacked with colic without any apparent cause.  The pains
 set in  about ten in the  forenoon, and continued  with longer or
 shorter remissions until midnight.   The patient was hot and thirsty,
 vomited up  his food and had not  had any evacuation from  the
 bowels for six days.  A fortnight's use  of cathartics and anodynes
 had done him  no good.  A single dose of Colocynth 24 arrested
 the trouble speedily and permanently.

   A young man  had taken cold, in consequence of which he Avas
 attacked with such violent pains in the bowels that he almost  lost
 his senses.  He called for help continually;  he felt as if his boAvels
 were cut up with knives.  The pains intermitted but returned  again
 more fiercely than ever.  The patient had been suffering in this way
 a whole  night.  Bitter drops, Hoffmann's anodyne, etc., had been
 used without  effect.   Dr. Nenning gave the patient half a drop of the
 tincture of Colocynth, and in  half an hour the pains had left him
 entirely.

   A remarkable cure of chronic tympanites with periodical attacks
 of colic, is related  in the fifth  volume of the Archiv.  A young
 woman had been ailing since her last confinement when she had lost
 a good deal of blood.  Her abdomen Avas exceedingly hard and dis-
 tended.   She had frequent attacks of colic, and had lost her strength.
 Alloeopathic treatment of two years' duration had done her no good.
 On the 29th of November,  1823,  Dr.  H----, one of her former
 alloeopathic attendants, who had become a convert to Homoeopathy,
 was called  to see her.   He found her Avith the following symptoms:
 The most violent pains in the abdomen as if the boAvels would be
 crushed between stones; she has to bend double Avhile lying down;
tympanitic distention  of the abdomen; face pale, sunken, distorted;
frequent  retching;  fainting turns;  inexpressible anguish;  consti-
 pation.
  One drop of the twelfth attenuation caused a momentary aggrava-
tion of the pain, which soon yielded to  a  sleep from which the pa- 
462
LECTURE XXIX.
tient did not wake until morning.   The colic and tympanites ceased
permanently.

  Dr. Hering informs us in the thirteenth volume of the Archiv. that
he has cured the  West-India Colic in the period of three or four days
by the alternate use of a globule of Colocynth  and black coffee.
  Hering says that these cures first showed him the necessity of re-
peating a remedy in alternation with its antidote.  "We confess,"
Avrites Dr. Watzke in reply to  this doctrine, " that we do not think
much of such an alternation of drugs, and that the necessity of such
an alternation  does not at all  seem evident  from Hering's alleged
cures.   The truth is that these cures do not afford the  least evidence in
favor of Colocynth.  The aggravation which sooner or later folloAved
the exhibition  of a globule of  Colocynth may be  explained by the
natural development of the paroxysm, which rose to a certain height
and  then became moderated.   The black coffee, which Ave do not by
a»y  means look upon as a remedy in this kind of colic, kept the
extreme violence of the paroxysms in check,  until a new paroxysm
broke out, not as a consequence  of the globule of Colocynth, but
because the narcotic effects of the coffee had become exhausted."
  What physician of common  sense will  refuse his assent to this
condemnation of silly doctrines that have been contaminating the
pages of homoeopathic literature for the last twenty years ?  In Avhat
does this doctrine of giving a drug in alternation Avith its antidote,
differ from the good old doctrines  of Corrigentia ?  In order to pre-
vent the excessive effects of Digitalis, a little Opium is added.   How
much more reasonable it would seem to give a smaller dose of Digit-
alis,  instead of poisoning the organism with both Digitalis and Opium!
If your dose of Colocynth acts too powerfully, give a smaller dose
instead of poisoning the patient first, and afterwards antidoting the
poisonous  effects of the  drug.   But the truth was, as Dr. AVatzke
justly observes, that Colocynth  had nothing whatsoever to do with
the cure.   There was no  cure;  the dose Avas  too small, taking it of
course for granted that Colocynth Avas the remedy.

  Colocynth may prove an admirable remedy in certain cases of
   Worm-colic, when  the symptoms lead  us to diagnose an irritation
of the coeliac plexus, of which the Avorm-symptoms constitute simply
a feature,  a characteristic element.

  An old  maiden-lady had been suffering for a fortnight past with
periodical attacks of colic, headache, nausea and violent throbbing in
the region of the spleen.   The throbbing set in towards evening, and
lasted from three to four hours.  After the fruitless employment of a
quantity of alloeopathic mixtures, she took some Colocynth-brandy.
After having tasted of it  four times, she had  an attack of colic and
diarrhoea, during which she passed seven lumbrici.  After this, she
felt perfectly well.
  Watzke asks with reference to this case:  " Does not the periodicity
of the paroxysms reveal the neurotic character of this affection ?  Is
this throbbing  of the splenetic artery necessarily the consequence of 
                           COLOCYNTHIS.                      463

 helminthic irritation ?  On the contrary, docs not the whole affection,
 together Avith the worms, seem  to result from an abnormal influence
 of the coeliac plexus upon the organs of digestion ?  Should not the
 headache be regarded as the reflex upon the central extremity of the
 sympathetic ? AYliy were not the worms expelled after using the other
 cathartics, rhubarb for instance ? What is it that determines the selec-
 tion of a Arermifuge in a case of worms? Would, in the foregoing case,
 the headache, the abdominal pulsation and the lumbrici have yielded
f to Cina, to Sabaclilla or to Spigelia?"
    Cruveilhier states in his  " Dictionnaire Universel," etc., that he is
 acquainted with a domestic remedy for lumbrici, which is particu-
 larly useful to  persons upwards  of fourteen  years  old.   This is
 Colocynth Avhich was  held in high  estimation  even among  the
 ancients. He states that, in the case of  two  persons  he had used
 Colocynth-brandy internally, and  an ointment composed of half a
 drachm of  powdered  Colocynth and  half an  ounce of lard  to be
 rubbed  upon the abdomen.  After  the use of Colocynth, both  pa-
 tients  passed a large quantity of lumbrici.  All the morbid symp-
 toms which, but for their  periodicity, might  have been regarded
 as  inflammation  of the heart  or  of the  large vessels, disappeared
 shortly after.
    Homoeopathic physicians should never lose  sight of the fact that
 intestinal entozoa are the product of an abnormal influence which,
 instead of organizing  normal tissues, disorganizes them, developing
 disease-breeding parasites in their stead.   Worms therefore consti-
 tute a  prominent characteristic symptom of a  pathological process
 going on in the internal organism. Unless this process  is specifically
 met by some appropriate remedy,  worms will continue to form even
 after their expulsion.

    One of AVatzke's female provers experienced cutting and tearing
 colicky pains, Avith stitches in the  ovaries.   Upon this symptom we
 may base the exhibition of Colocynth in
    Menstrual Colic, several cases of which are reported in the homoeo-
 pathic journals.
    A Avoman, thirty-three years old, of lively disposition, and leading
 a sedentary  mode of life, had been attacked for several months past
 Avith violent cutting pains a few days previous  to the  appearance of
 the menses.   From the umbilicus  the pains spread to the groin and
 the internal  sexual organs, intermitting half an hour or more eyery
 noAV and then, disappearing in  the Avarmth  of  the bed, and accom-
 panied with cold feet.   Stool papescent, tAvo evacuations every day,
 which  Avere attended  Avith pinching.  The colic was relieved by
 drawing the lower limbs up close  to the abdomen.  One drop of the
 first attenuation of Colocynth removed the  pain completely in less
 than one hour, and  the menses made their appearance during the
 night Avithout any further trouble.

    The stitches in the liver which Colocynth produces,  may shoAV us
 its power in functional derangements of this organ.  In
    Liver Complaint, Avith stitches in the liver, costiveness and frequent 
464
LECTURE XXIX.
straining, Avith expulsion of hard little balls, tympanitic distention
of the abdomen, Colocynth may prove of great advantage.

   Chironic Diarrhiea,  with slimy stools, or soft  fascal  stools, Avith
distention of the bowels, tenesmus, sedimentous urine,  may find its
remedy in Colocynth.
   In Dysentery, Colocynth  has been used with advantage.   By our
provings, however, we do not find Colocynth indicated in dysentery
where the pathological process is going on in the Avails of the rectum.
The lining membrane of the smaller intestines seems  to  be  more
particularly liable to the inflammatory action of Colocynth. Hence
we find this agent indicated in dysentery, with  discharges  of blood
and mucus  from the lesser intestines, violent  cutting  and tearing
pains in these parts, tympanitic distention of the boAvels  and painful-
ness to pressure,  tenesmus, chilliness, occasional flashes of heat or
heat of the skin  with coldness of the hands and feet.

   Costiveness may likewise be relieved by Colocynth,  if the  fasces
consist  of hard  balls, and  the evacuation  is preceded by a cutting
pain flashing through the bowels.   Costiveness of this kind may be
an idiopathic affection, sj^mptomatic of torpid irritation of the coeliac
plexus; or it may occur as  a consequence of diarrhoea, or it may
characterize  a certain form of liver-complaint, to which Colocynth
may prove homoeopathic.
   Colocynth being homoeopathic to this form  of constipation, Ave
may use it advantageously for the removal  of
   Scybala, or hard impacted masses of faeces.  An impaction of this
kind may take place in the cul-de-sac of the rectum, and in old and
large  hernial  protrusions.   Under  these circumstances it  may  be
necessary to  content one's self with the palliative effect  of the  drug,
giving a dose large enough  to effect a  softening of the impacted
masses, after which the boAvels will be able to contract and expel
their contents.

                      URINARY  GROUP.

  Large doses of Colocynth cause  retention of urine;  small doses,
on the contrary, cause frequent discharges of urine which, according
to the statement of the prover, has the appearance of urine such as
is passed during an attack of dropsy after scarlet fever.  Colocynth
might possibly be of use in
  Albuminuria.  In Hirschel's Archive, several cases of this disease
are alluded to, where a cure seems to have  been effected Avith  large
doses of an infusion of Colocynth, in the proportion of ten grains to
a pint of boiling water, the  whole to be taken in the forenoon Avithin
four hours.   The result was from ten to fifteen watery stools a day.
The patients in whose case this treatment was employed were afflicted
with albuminuria  and consequent dropsy.  They  were  addicted to
drinking and had taken cold.  After eight or ten days the use of the
drug was discontinued for four or eight days, after wliich period the
treatment was resumed as before,  for some days,  and afterwards 
COLOCYNTHIS.
465
discontinued entirely, although the cure was not yet perfect and the
condition of the  patients had  only been  considerably improved.
Within four weeks, the albumen and what remained of the dropsical
effusion, disappeared of themselves.
  We are not by any means prepared to  endorse this treatment.
The curative effects of Colocynth, in these cases, seem to have resulted
from  its derivative  action; we  cannot regard them as the  logical
consequence of a  specific homoeopathic relation of the  drug to the
disease.  The alteration of the urine mentioned by Watzke, does not
accord with the% alterations of the urine existing in Bright's disease.
Watzke's record is: " Since the lAdh of November (1842), I perspire
profusely all over every nighit towards morning; and the urine which I
discharge, resembles in  appearance  the urine secreted during dropsy
consequent upon scarlatina.  It hias slightly the color of raw flesh, throws
down  a  lighit  broicn, flocculent, irregular, transparent sediment, and
deposits small,  reddish/., hard and firm crystals so tenaciously adhering
to the glass thiat they cannot readily be washed off by water."
  Watzke looks  upon the appearance of this kind of urine as a
critical symptom or lysis.  AYhen this sweat  and urine made their
appearance, the pains in the umbilical region and the distress in the
head, disappeared.  This quality of the urine might lead us to regard
Colocynth as  a valuable remedy in various arthritic,  gastric and
calculous affections, but it does not suggest its use in albuminuria.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Colocynth excites the sexual  instinct and causes nocturnal emis-
sions  in the male,  and  a copious menstrual discharge in the female.
  Several provers of  Colocynth  found,  that  this  agent  causes a
retraction of the prepuce behind the corona  glandis ;  hence Ave may
find Colocynth indicated in
  Paraphiimosis, Avith spasmodic constriction of the prepuce behind
the glans.  In one case Colocynth caused a spasmodic retraction of
the testicles with priapism.   This  seems to have  been the  result of
a purely sympathetic  irritation, the  primary shock having been
received by the coeliac plexus, and resulting in  fatal enteritis and
peritonitis.  Nevertheless, in
  Priapism,  Avith retraction of  the testicles, Colocynth may  be
thought of.  This  drug may prove useful in

  Menorrhagia, with spasmodic  pressing and  constrictive pains in
the hypogastric region, and irritation of the boAvels and urinary
organs, manifested by  tendency to  loose discharges Avith straining,
and frequent urination likeAvise attended Avith more or less tenesmus.
  In former times Colocynth, and indeed most of the drastics, were
used as emmenagogues or menses-restoring drugs.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Colocynth has caused
  Prurigo, followed by SAveat.
  Boils, with continual burning pain.
                                30 
466
LECTURE XXIX.
   A Lymphiatic Tumor  near  the tarsus.  Lymphatic tumors of the
 extremities, especially when grafted upon an arthritic or strumous
 diathesis, may require Colocynth.

                       FEVER-GROUP.  *

   Colocynth is not applicable in fever, strictly speaking; but it may
 prove useful in  feverish conditions incidental  to  bilious, arthritic
 and gastric derangements, where its use is determined by the pre-
 sence of such symptoms as we have recorded under the respective
 headings of Chylo-poietic and Nervous Groups.

                     MENTAL  GROUP.

   Colocynth seems  to possess the power  of disturbing the logical
 cohesion of ideas;  it seems  to depress the consciousness of one's
 own identity.  Wurm fancied  himself  in some strange room, not
 his own, (after taking twenty grains of the first trituration.)   Colo-
 cynth may therefore be  useful in the milder forms of
   Dementia, more particularly when accompanied by derangements
 in the chylo-poietic system.  Sobernheim, Abernethy, Chrestien and
 others have employed in affections of the mental sphere an ointment
 composed of twenty grains of poAvdered Colocynth,  or sixteen drops
 of the tincture and  a suitable quantity of lard, to be rubbed upon
 the abdomen.  In three  cases of dementia Chrestien effected  a cure
 by means of from twelve to sixteen frictions which  resulted in an
 increased secretion of urine.

                            SLEEP

 Full of fancies and troubled by  voluptuous dreams.  This  would
 constitute an additional indication for the use  of Colocynth in
 affections of the sexual sphere.

                 Dose  and Mode  of Preparation.

   From two or  three drops  of the tincture to the twelfth or even
 thirtieth potency in a small tumblerful of water may be considered
 appropriate in most cases.  If my experience  is at all reliable, I
 would recommend the first six potencies to your especial considera-
 tion.  In very many cases you will find the tincture of this drug
 preferable to the attenuations.
   We make a tincture of this drug, by macerating the pulp  of the
 gourd according to the rules laid down in my fifth lecture.  The
 tincture has a fine straw-colored appearance and a very bitter taste.
 Triturations with sugar  of milk may likewise be made in the usual
proportions. 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
467
                LECTURE  XXX.


                 DIGITALIS  PURPUREA,

        (Purple fox-glove.—Nat. Order :—Scrophularle.)

  Stem from three to five feet high, upright, leafy, roundish, pubes-
cent or downy.  Leaves alternate, between egg-shaped and  spear
shaped, crenate, downy, veiny, of a dull-green above and whitish
underneath;  flowers large and handsome, in long terminal spikes or
clusters, pendulous  and leaning  all one Avay; corolla of one petal,
purple, sometimes white, marked on the inside with  blood-colored
spots and hair.
  In Homoeopathy we use the leaves of the second year, which are
gathered previous to the period of flowering.
  It is commonly  found in  pastures, woods and on banks, in  a
gravelly or sandy soil.   From the leaves we prepare a tincture of a
dark brown-green color, nauseous, slightly acrid.
  According to Noack  and Trinks, Digitalis affects principally the
sympathetic nerve and the  cardiac  plexus.  AYe obtain from it an
alkaloid;  Digitaline.
  It is a well-known fact that  Digitalis affects the  pulse in. a remark-
able manner.  According to some it depresses, according to others
it stimulates  the  pulse ;  it  likewise  causes an intermission in the
beats of the pulse.  After relating  some of the most characteristic
effects  of  Digitalis, I will  endeavor to  account  for  this apparent
antagonism.

  Baron Stoerck, one   of  the  most energetic   and  distinguished
explorers of  the medicinal virtues of drugs, who taught at the
University of Vienna in the latter half  of the eighteenth century,
found   that two grains of Digitalis produced in  himself nausea,
headache, a small, soft and quick pulse, dryness  of the gums and
throat, giddiness, weakness of the limbs and increased secretion of
saliva ; some hours after, he observed sparks before his eyes; his
vision  became dim,  and  he experienced a sensation of pressure on
the eye-balls.

  The  primary action of Digitalis upon the organism is best studied
from a feW cases of  poisoning.
  In the Edinburgh Aledical  and Surgical Journal, Vol. 8, p. 148,
the following interesting case is reported  by Dr. Henry.  Dr. AV.
Henry Avas called, in October, 1809, to assist a female, an out-patient
of the Manchester Infirmary, laboring under dropsy, Avho had taken
an over-dose  of a decoction of fox-glove.  It Avas prepared by boil-
ing two handfuls of the  leaves in a quart of water, and  then  press-
ing the mass  so as  to expel the whole of  the liquor.  Of this she 
468
LECTURE XXX.
drank two teacupfuls at seven o'clock in the morning, amounting in
the Avhole to not less than  ten ounces by measure.  Before eight,
she began to be sick,  and  vomited part of the contents of her
stomach.  Enough, however, was retained, to  excite A'omiting and
retching throughout the whole of that and the following day, during
which every thing  that Avas taken was instantly rejected.  In the
intervals of sickness, she Avas excessively faint, and  her  skin was
covered with a cold sweat.  The tongue  and  the lips swelled, and
there was a continual flow of viscid saliva from the mouth.   Very
little urine was voided on the day she took the Digitalis, and on the
following days the action of the kidneys Avas entirely suspended.
AYhen Dr. Henry saw her, which was forty-eight hours after she had
taken the poison, the  tongue was  white, the  ptyalism continued,
though in a less degree, and the breath was fetid.  The pulse was
low, irregular (not  exceeding 40,) and after every third or fourth
pulsation, an intermission occurred for some  seconds.  She  com-
plained also of general pains in the limbs, and cramps in the legs.
By the use of effervescent draughts, and  ether, with  ammonia, she
gradually recovered her imperfect  health.  This patient  had not
taken any mercury, so  that the  ptyalism  was entirely attributable
to Digitalis.
   In this case the principal effects of Digitalis were :
   1. Sickness at the stomach, folloAved by vomiting of the ingesta,
retching; this continued the whole of the  next day.
   2. Faint feeling, and cold  SAveat between the paroxysms of  sick-
ness.
   3. Swelling of the tongue and lips, Avith continual flow of viscid
saliva from the mouth.
   4. Diminution and finally  suppression of urine.
   5. AVhite  coating of the tongue.
   6. Fetid breath.
   7. Pulse low,  and intermittent after every third or fourth pulsa-
tion.
   8. General pains  in the limbs and cramps in the legs.
   These effects of Digitalis  bear strong evidence of the acrid and
narcotizing  virtues of  this  drug.  Its irritating  action upon the"
digestive organs is evidenced by the SAvelling of the tongue, and the
vomiting, by the  white  coating  on the tongue, the flow of saliva,
and the  fetid breath.   Its depressing action  upon the ganglionic
system by the faint feeling, and the pains in the limbs and cramps
in the legs.   Its paralyzing action upon the heart by the slow and
intermittent pulse;  and its remarkable  action upon the urinary
organs by the entire suppression of their  habitual  secretions.   All
these symptoms  constitute  precious indications  for the use of
Digitalis in several important disorders.

   In another case, six ounces of a strong decoction Avere taken as a
laxative early in the morning.  Afomiting, colic and purging  were
the first  symptoms; in the  afternoon lethargy supervened ; about
midnight, the colic  and purging returned; afterwards general con-
vulsions made their appearance.   At an early  hour of the succeed- 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
469
mg morning, the patient was found violently convulsed, with the
pupils dilated, and insensible, and the pulse sIoav, feeble and irregu-
lar ; coma gradually succeeded,  and death took place twenty-two
hours after the poison was swallowed.  The post-mortem appearances
are very imperfectly recorded in  this case.
   This case, Avhich has been extracted from  Christison's Avork  on
Poisons, shows the acrid and narcotizing virtues of Digitalis in a
most  marked manner ;  the principal symptoms in this case  being:
A'omiting, colic and purging; convulsions, Avith dilatation  of the
pupils,  insensibilit}'-, slow, feeble and irregular pulse,  and gradual
supervention of coma.

   In two other cases reported by Christison, death took place from
gradual collapse  or paralysis of the heart's  action.  The leading
symptoms were debility, vomiting and fainting fits.
   Another interesting case is recorded in a French  medical journal
by Dr. Bidault de Villiers.   A Pole,  fifty-five  years of age, afflicted
with humid asthma, took about one drachm of Digitalis by mistake,
instead of a grain of the powdered  leaves. An hour after,  he ate
some  soup,  which  he immediately vomited.   The vomitings con-
tinued, accompanied with vertigo, so that he could not stand upright
nor distinguish objects.   The Avhole day he had violent bilious and
mucous vomitings, accompanied with great depression and abdominal
pains, which were diminished by two emollient .injections.  These
symptoms continued the whole  of the next  day and  night.  The
patient was still further depressed ; the pulse Avas sIoav and intermit-
tent :  and this symptom continued with but little alteration to the
ninth day, when it disappeared.   At  this time, the vision was still
confused, the fire appeared to him of  a blue color;  and on the four-
teenth day this symptom ceased.  The  cough  and  asthma left him.
   In  this case we again  distinguish, as in the former  cases,  the
remarkable effects of Digitalis upon the brain, the bilious and diges-
tive functions, upon the pulse, and likeAvise upon the sense of vision.
AYe have bilious  and mucous vomitings, and abdominal pains; ver-
tigo, prostration of strength,  slowness and intermission of  the pulse,
confusion of sight,  blue color of  the  fire.

   Dr. Bidault  de Villiers himself took a  pretty good  pinch  of the
powder of the leaves of Digitalis, which he had prepared with great
care, and the following symptoms were elicited: An extreme bitter-
ness in the mouth, Avhich increased the secretion of  saliva to a con-
siderable extent, and  which  continued after he had got rid  of the
Digitalis  from the mouth;  after the sensation of bitterness had
entirely disappeared, he  perceived a slight acridity in his throat.  It
also caused a sort of desire to vomit, and likeAvise a slight palpitation
of the heart, Avith dryness in the  mouth.
   In this case Ave  have bitter taste, acrid sensation in the  throat,
slight palpitation  of the heart, and dryness in  the mouth.
  In  Wilson's Medical Gazette, vol. 34, page 659,  the  following
interesting case of poisoning by Digitalis  is recorded :—A healthy,
robust young  man, affected AYith  sore throat, was  advised to  take 
470
LECTURE XXX.
 throatwort tea.  Having filled a quart pitcher with the fresh leaves
 of the Digitalis purpurea, he poured upon  them  as much  boiling
 water as the pitcher Avould hold.   Of this strong infusion he took a
 teacupful on going to bed, which caused him to sleep soundly.  In
 the  morning  he took a second  cupful (the infusion being much
 stronger), and he then went to his work.   He  soon felt dizzy and
 heavy, began  to stagger, lost his  consciousness, and at length fell
 doAvn in a state of syncope.   On being conveyed home, he vomited
 severely, and suffered extreme pain in the abdomen.  When visited,
 he was conscious; complained of great pain in the head ;  the pupils
 were dilated, and the surface cold, pallid, and covered with copious
 perspiration.  The pulse was low, about  forty  a  minute, three or
 four feeble pulsations being succeeded by a complete intermission of
 several seconds, and  each stroke,  though  weak, was given  with a
 peculiar explosive shock.  There  was still great pain in the abdo-
 men, with incessant and violent vomiting, no diarrhoea, suppression
 of urine, and  an abundant flow of saliva.  Brandy and ammonia,
 with warmth,  Avere employed, and after the reaction had fairly com-
 menced, purgatives were administered.  The man slowly recovered,
 but the pulse presented its peculiar rhythm and weakness for several
 days; during  this  time the man  could  not  bear the  upright
 position.
  In this case the effects of Digitalis upon the brain, the  heart's
 action, the abdominal organs, and more particularly upon the bowels
 and   urinary  organs  are unmistakeable.    They  resemble  in  all
 respects the effects witnessed in former cases, and bear testimony to
 the acrid and narcotic character of the drug.
  The symptoms  in  this case, are:  dizziness,  staggering,  loss of
 consciousness, vomiting, syncope, severe pain in the abdomen, great
 pain in the head, dilatation of the pupils, and the surface of the body
 cold, pallid, and covered  with copious perspiration; depression and
 intermission of the pulse, suppression of  urine and an abundant flow
 of saliva.

  Blackall, in his "Observations on the Nature and Cure of Dropsies,"
 reports the folloAving case of poisoning with Digitalis: a man, sixty
 years old, Avas subject to irregular gout and dyspepsia, considerable
 dyspnoea, legs  oedematous and spotted with a few petechias.  Half
 an ounce of the tincture  of Digitalis was given daily for some time,
 and  then in  lesser quantities.   During the use of no more than two
 drachms of  the infusion daily, a pain came over one of his eyes.
 He complained of great disturbance of his brain, which  he  himself
 referred to the draughts, and Avithin twenty-four hours this symptom
 was  followed by a watery, exhausting diarrhoea and low delirium.
 General convulsions speedily ensued, in  which there was complete
 insensibility, and foaming at the mouth,  with an almost total cessa-
 tion  of the action of the heart.  From this state he was recovered by
 an opiate injection.  Similar paroxysms  returned two or three times
 during the next three weeks.   In the intervals, he became forgetful,
 delirious, and  felt much pain in his head.  The anasarca totally dis-
appeared, discovering the most excessive emaciation; his posture in 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
471
bed became  nearly  natural, and in one  of these convulsions  he
expired.
  In this case, Digitalis developed more intense effects in the brain
for the reason, probably, that the general vitality of the patient Avas
at a low  ebb.   The complete  absence  of  nervous reaction is
exhibited by the almost total cessation of the beats of the heart,  by
the exhausting, watery diarrhoea; by the low delirium; and it is
moreover evident, in this case, that Digitalis produces its constitu-
tional effects by acting upon the brain, so much so that the patient
himself was conscious of this circumstance.

  The last case of poisoning which I shall relate to you, is from the
London Medical Gazette, Vol. XXXI., p. 270.  A man, aged  fifty,
took the tincture in medicinal doses,  that is: in doses of from 40 to
50 drops  of the strong tincture, daily for twenty  days, which pro-
duced the following symptoms: the pulse whitfh during the former
use of the medicine, had lessened by ten or fifteen beats in a minute,
sank to almost half its usual number.  The patient was tormented
by the most painful disquietude, so that even in the night he left the
bed at every moment; could not sleep, and, with his eyes open, con-
versed Avith persons who Avere not present.   At the  same time the
pupils Avere dilated, the conjunctiva both of the eye and the lids was
red.  He had but little appetite, with great nausea, violent  thirst,
and dryness of the  mouth.  The alvine evacuations were scanty,
secretionx>f urine increased; these phenomena disappeared in about
six days.
  In this case we see it stated that Digitalis causes  excessive rest-
lessness;  that it disturbs the imaginative faculty, develops an  in-
flammatory condition of the eyes, and causes an increased secretion
of urine.  In the former  cases this  secretion was  suppressed; here
we meet Avith an opposite statement.   YYe shall be able to reconcile
this apparent paradox.

  Joerg,  the late able and industrious Professor of Materia Aledica
in the University of Leipsic, has subjected the  fox-glove to a series
of interesting experiments.  He Avas assisted in his experiments by
seven male members and  one  female member of his Provers' So-
ciety.  In all of them, the'drug affected the brain, causing a vertigo
somewhat resembling intoxication, a feeling of dullness, a sort of
stupefaction  of a milder form, and in most of them a headache in
the region of the occiput, vertex, forehead  and temples.  In some of
them this headache  was very distressing and lasted for several days.
In one case the pain amounted to a stitching.
  Another remarkable effect of the powdered leaves was a peculiar
alteration in the pulse.  The pulse was not sIoav  and intermittent,
but rather accelerated and small; only in the case of one of the
provers who seemed to be exceedingly sensitive to the action of the
drug, the frequency of the pulse Avas temporarily diminished.  The
experiments were conducted with one, two and three-grain doses of
the poAvdered leaves.  Small quantities of the drug do not seem to
develop  its primary action upon the  pulse,  which consists in de- 
472
LECTURE XXX.
pressing the heart's action;  this effect can only be reached by mas-
sive doses of  from thirty to fifty grains, except in very sensitive
individuals.  Hence, so far as the pulse can yield therapeutic indi-
cations, Digitalis is indicated either by a sIoav, undulating, intermit-
tent, or by an  accelerated, small and rather unequal pulse.

  Hervieux found that Digitalinum, the active principle of Digitalis,
affects the pulse in a remarkable manner.  If the pulse is regular, it
causes irregularity of the pulse.  If the pulse is irregular, it removes
the irregularity, substituting  regularity in its stead.  And if the
pulse intermits  irregularly, at one time intermitting after the sixth,
at another after the eighth, and then again after the fifteenth beat, it
regulates the intermissions, causing them to take place at  fixed in-
tervals.  Is not this  a beautiful confirmation of the homoeopathic
law: that drugs will cure the morbid  conditions which  they are
capable of exciting?   How strange that this simple law of  Nature
should not excite the attention of allceopathic experimenters!  Un-
fortunately they conduct their experiments  under the bias  of pre-
conceived theories; hence their blindness.

  Another remarkable effect  of  Digitalis developed by  Joerg's
provers, was an increased secretion of urine.   In almost all of them
the quantity of urine secreted in a given time exceeded considerably
the normal standard.   In some the bladder always felt full, a sensa-
tion that would persist  even after an emission.   The urine was
Avatery and  light-colored, except  in the  case of one prover, where
the urine looked darker and deposited a red sediment the nature
of AArhich is not indicated.  In the case  of the female, this profuse
floAv of the urine was attended with a stitching pain in the region
of the kidneys.
   Another very remarkable effect of the drug was to cause an extra-
ordinary excitement  of the  sexual organs which was accompanied
in one case Avith itching of the glans penis and distressing  erections.
This sexual excitement became so troublesome to one of the provers
that he had to discontinue the trial for a few da}rs.

   The  gastric functions were likewise effected.   In one case, the
drug caused  thin diarrhceic stools;  in several provers the craving
for food was abnormally increased; in one, whose extraordinary sen-
sitiveness to  the action of Digitalis I have already alluded to, it
caused loss of appetite, complete anorexia which constitutes one of
the primary effects of foxglove. Eructations, rumbling in the boAvels
and colicky pains Avere likewise  complained of.  Burning in the
oesophagus, sometimes emanating from the stomach, was a common
symptom.  In some of the provers, this burning was accompanied
by a scraping sensation. Joerg experienced  a  sensation as if the
upper part of the pharynx were swollen, or pressed upon the tonsils.
He felt this burning in the oesophagus very keenly;  in his case this
burning and scraping  invaded even the air-passages.

   Lastly, we have to allude to the remarkable manner in which Digi- 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
473
talis affected the sense of vision.  In all of them, it caused a dimness,
objects looked blurred.  Some experienced a sensation as if objects
were not seen in the right light.  Others saw sparks flying through
the air.  Diplopia or doublesightedness was likewise developed.  A
very common effect of Digitalis upon the retina is to cause a sensation
of dazzling similar to what is experienced when  suddenly looking
out of a dark room into bright daylight.  This sensation was felt by
one of the provers.

  Upon  analyzing the effects of Digitalis as far  as they have been
presented, both from large and  small  doses, we cannot fail to be
struck by the fact that they all  seem more or less  connected, and
traceable to a common origin.  AVhere is the fountain-head of these
diversified phenomena ?  Where is it that the action of foxglove
upon the organism is first  perceived by the sensorium ?  We will
answer this question.  Digitalis first acts upon the organism Avhere
the brain, in its inmost principles of quickening vitality, connects
itself Avith the ganglionic system of nerves. AYe notice a remarkable
similarity betAveen the action of Digitalis and that of Aconite.   Both
Digitalis and Aconite depress the pulse, irritate the urinary organs
or arrest the  flow of urine, cause cerebral congestions, disturb  the
intestinal secretions, the functions of the liver.  Yet there is a vast
difference between these  tAvo  agents.  Aconite  affects  the organs
directly  through the  ganglionic  system; Digitalis  reaches  them
from a more remote, as it were, though  deeper, more interior point.
Aconite acts from some point in the periphery of the organism ; Digi-
talis from some point near the centre of the vital forces.  Hence it is
that the action of Digitalis  is more permanent, because more search-
ing,  than that of Aconite.   Hence again, the signs of reaction, in  the
case of Aconite, are more violent, for the time being, than those of
Digitalis; they are seen on  the surface, and soon spend  their force.
Aconite depresses the pulse, and even disturbs its rhythm, causing
irregularities and intermissions:  so does Digitalis.  But during  the
reaction, the Aconite-pulse becomes full, strong, rapid and bounding,
Avhereas  the  Digitalis-pulse  simply increases  in frequency,  but
remains weak and unequal.  Aconite never destroys life suddenly,
Digitalis may strike clown a man predisposed  by disease, with  the
suddenness of a flash of lightning.  Atore than  once  has a patient
afflicted Avith  hypertrophy of the heart, been  deprived of the little
flicker of cerebral reaction of Avhich he may still have been possessed,
by an  enormous dose of Digitalis.  He fancies  himself improved,
swallows another dose of the poison, and soon after falls doAvn annihi-
lated, as it Avere, Avithout any sign being discoverable in the body that
could satisfactorily account  for such a catastrophy.  The functional
power  of the brain itself had been extinguished, as you might extin-
guish the dimly-flickering  flame Avith a single breath  ; the  gangli-
onic system, its oavu  supplies of vitalit}r being cut off, perishes at
once together Avith those beautiful combinations of tissues and organs
AArhich, a  moment  ago, had still presented to. the mind's view a
mechanism of living harmony.
  You perceive now, Gentlemen, why in common  cases of rheumatic 
474
LECTURE XXX.
 endocarditis, Digitalis would not be a proper remedy, and why Ave
 should give the preference to Aconite.  It is,  so  to  say, a local
 disease where that portion of the ganglionic system which regulates
 the functions of the heart, is alone involved.  This is  the cardiac
 plexus of nerves.  We give our Aconite, and we shall soon succeed
 in hushing up the disease.  Of course the cardiac plexus has to be
 assisted by the brain in its endeavor to restore the functional harmony
 of the heart.  If we were  to give  Digitalis at the onset, we should
 reach beyond the locality where the accident has happened.
   But suppose the brain itself should flag; suppose this sinking of the
 cerebral reaction should  become manifest by feebleness,  irregularity
 and intermission of the  pulse; supposing it should have become
 evident by such unmistakable signs that the brain, in its efforts to
 prevent disorganization  of the heart's  substance or valves, should
 have exhausted its energies without accomplishing its purpose ; we
 should then come to the rescue by Digitalis, stimulate  the reactive
 power of the brain, and, by this means, enkindle a new metamor-
 phosis in the diseased tissues,  or  preserve at least  what is left of
 organic life.

 _  There is  scarcely a medicinal agent  that  has  been more exten-
 sively applied for the cure of diseases than Digitalis.   To those who
 were in the habit of swearing by the  contra-stimulism of Rasori,
 Digitalis proved quite a God-send. Its remarkable property of taking
 down  the pulse, secured for it  in the  school of Rasori one of the
 highest ranks among the hyposthenisants, or inflammation-combating
 drugs. _ Wherever the Rasorians snuffed irritation or inflammation,
 Digitalis, Calomel, Tartar emetic Avere  depended  upon to quiet the
 storm.  Modern practitioners are  more  reasonable concerning the
 use of Digitalis.  Trousseau and Pidoux even  go so far as to posi-
 tively  declare that the use of Digitalis should be restricted to organic
 and  functional  disorders of the heart and  to  dropsical affections.
 Placing  ourselves upon  the ground  of positive  experimentation,
 where  Hahnemann  and  Joerg have obtained beautiful  results, and
 where  even the dark facts of toxicology proclaim in startling accents
 the tremendous energies of our drug, we shall have no difficulty in
 presenting a tolerably correct and complete view of the affections
 where  Digitalis may either achieve a cure, or at least afford relief to
 the sufferer.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Our provings  show that Digitalis is capable of causing
  Headache.  In one case the headache was first felt in the occipital
region, whence it spread to the vertex.  Another prover felt a severe
stitching pain in the head.  Headaches to which Digitalis is  homoeo-
pathic, are generally attended with some alteration in the character
of the pulse:  it is either slow and inclining to intermissions, or else
small, unequal and accelerated.   The headache may be accompanied
with symptoms of gastric disturbance, nausea, inclination to vomit,
flow of saliva, or even profuse and abnormally frequent urination.
We may' consider Digitalis indicated in 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
475
   Gastric, Arthritic and Hysteric Headaches.
  The symptom, as if the brain were full of water, seems to point to
the use of Digitalis in
  Hydrocephalus.  If effusion of serum takes place into the ventricles
in a case of encephalitis, the pulse is apt to go doAvn very suddenly;
it becomes heavy and  slow.  This change would seem  to indicate
Digitalis.   We have an abundance of clinical evidence to  substan-
tiate the curative virtues of Digitalis  in this disease.   Alloeopathic
physicians have effected cures by means of very large doses, some
thirty drops of the tincture two or three times a day,  Avithout occa-
sioning any untoward symptoms, and homoeopathic physicians have
obtained similar favorable results by using small  doses,  one or two
drops of the first or second attenuation  in a  tumblerful of water, in
tablespoonful doses.

   Vertigo may yield to  Digitalis, if the pulse is slow and intermitting.
This species of vertigo may arise from, or be attended  with incipient
cerebral disorganization.  It may  come on in paroxysms, resulting
in momentary loss of consciousness.  The face and  head may feel
hot.

  Fainting Turns are caused by Digitalis and may therefore afford a
therapeutic indication for its use in affections of the heart or larger
vessels, in which case they  will always be accompanied by the char-
acteristic slow and intermittent, or rather  accelerated, unequal and
small pulse.
  The Convulsions which Digitalis occasions, are symptomatic of some
other cerebral disease,  such as effusion or  softening; they are not
idiopathic conditions of the nervous system.
  Restlessness is another symptom Avhich is of value only in so far
as  it may render the indications for Digitalis  in  other important
affections  of the brain or heart all the more certain.

                      SPECIAL SENSES.

   The action  of Digitalis  upon the  sense of vision is exceedingly
marked and  varied.  We  may consider  the effects  of Digitalis in
this direction under two heads, inflammatory  and nervous.  Among
these effects we see it stated that Digitalis causes "an inflammation
of the Meibomian glands."   We might recommend Digitalis for
   Granular Ophthalmia, also with smarting lachrymation and painful
pressure in the eyeballs.
  The inflammatory  action of Digitalis upon the eye is compara-
tively unimportant; the alterations which this agent  causes  in the
functions of the retina, are far more interesting.
  The members of Josrg's  Provers' Society  were all more or less
affected by the fox-glove in this direction;  they experienced
  Dimness of sight;
  Sensation as if objects were not seen in their right light;
  Sensation as if sparks were flying through  the air;
  Diplopia; 
476                      LECTURE XXX.
  Dazzling, as when suddenly looking  out  of darkness into bright
light.
  Hahnemann  has recorded a  number of remarkable symptoms
showing that Digitalis powerfully affects the sense of vision.
  In several cases Digitalis has caused
  Amaurosis, with excessive dilatation of the pupils.  This symp-
tom is more particularly valuable in cerebral affections Avhere Digi-
talis may seem indicated, such as dropsy of the brain.
  Dimness of sight or  Amblyopia, is a  common  effect  of Digitalis.
Objects look misty, as if seen through a cloud.
  Musce  volitantes,  an amaurotic symptom,  constitute one of the
effects of Digitalis.
  Optical phantasms and illusions of color or Chiromatopsia are like-
wise common.  On waking  in the morning, he fancies that  every
thing is covered with snow.  Objects look green, red or yellow ; this
symptom  is even  perceived  in  the  twilight.   The faces  of people
look pale  like those of dead  persons.
  Luminous bodies are  seen dancing  before the eyes when covering
them with one's hands.  All these symptoms are valuable as char-
acteristic features in amaurotic conditions of the eyes.  It is doubt-
ful  whether in cases Avhere Digitalis  may be required,  they will
ever be found to exist  without some strikingly corroborative alter-
ation in the pulse.
  Patients Avho are treated with  large doses of Digitalis, frequently
complain  of luminous  vibrations in the field of vision.  In order to
verify this fact, Purkinge instituted experiments Avith Digitalis upon
himself, commencing with three grains of the  Avatery extract of the
drug.  This small dose very soon caused feeble vibrations before the
left eye.  The sensation was like a tremulous motion of the crystal-
line lens Avhenever he undertook to  look at any  thing.  Purkinge,
suspecting that these vibratory, tremulous motions might depend upon
some irritation  of the pulmonary  and  cardiac branches  of  the
pneumogastric nerve, instituted another more energetic experiment
which led to very  interesting results.  An hour after his  breakfast,
which was moderate, he SAvalloAved a concentrated decoction of the
leaves of  Digitalis, two drachms  of the  leaves boiled for half an
hour in half a quart  of water.   About ten  o'clock he  experienced
nausea, the pulse went doAvn to fifty-four,  with intermissions;  every
intermission was accompanied by a feeling of  oppression  as  if the
heart were slightly grasped withi the hiand.  About eight and a half in
the evening, he had an attack of cardialgia Avith  intermittent pulse
and congestions of the  head,  especially the occiput, with disposition to
vomit.  Next morning he vomited a quantity of the  decoction, after
which he  perceived the vibratory tremors in the left eye, accompanied
by  loathing, oppression about the  heart, trembling  in  the muscles
and debility.   These  symptoms continued all day.  About noon,
the same tremors were  perceived in the right eye.   The eyes were
very sensitive to light.  On the third day the calves  of  the legs felt
very  weary, he was attacked with a slight diarrhoea, the urirfe Avas
red  and burning, and on the cornea of the right eye,  toAvards the
canthus, a pustule made its appearance after a previous burning 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
477
feeling  in  the eye, surrounded  by  a circle  of  injected vessels.
These disturbances of the organ of vision continued about a fort-
night.   Purkinge likens  the appearance  in which the vibratory
tremors in the eye seemed to culminate, to a rose; hence he desig-
nates this peculiar optical phenomenon by the appellation of Flim-
merrose  or vibrating rose.
  Purkinge experienced another peculiar sensation, a sort of optical
phosphorescence, as  when lines are draAvn with Phosphorus in the
dark, which are vibrating  towards each  other and increasing or
decreasing at intervals  as  regards  intensity.   The experimenter
argues  that these phenomena are sympathetic in their nature, and
should  be attributed to a primary irritation of the pneumogastric
nerve.
  In a therapeutic point of view it is of the highest importance thus
to determine with the utmost possible accuracy the value of isolated
phenomena.  If the derangements of the organ of vision, to which
Digitalis gives rise, are sympathetic results, not idiopathic affections
of the  retina, Digitalis can only remove them in so far  as it is
adapted to the primary affection upon which these sympathetic con-
ditions  depend.   According to Purkinge, this primary affection  is
an irritation of the  pneumogastric nerve, characterized by marked
disturbances in the functions of the heart and lungs.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.
  Digitalis  exercises a remarkable influence over the organs con
cerned  in the process of digestion.  AYe  have seen that Digitalis
powerfully irritates  the salivary glands and causes a burning sensa-
tion in the  stomach and oesophagus.  Hence Ave may give it in
cases of
  Heartburn or Pyrosis, where these symptoms  occur.  A lady who
was  under treatment for epilepsy, but otherwise enjoyed tolerable
health,  drank an infusion of forty grains of the  pulverized leaves
of Digitalis in thirty-eight ounces of boiling water, Avhich produced
extraordinary changes in the frequency, regularity and intensity  of
the beats of the heart and a sqiasmodic contraction from the cardia  to
the middle of the oesophagus, preventing even the passage of liquids
beyond this point.   The passage of liquids from the mouth to this
point in the oesophagus Avas  accompanied  by a sensation of  coldness
in those parts.  The liquids Avere not rejected, but they gradually
glided down into the stomach imperceptibly to  the patient.
  This  contraction of the oesophageal tube has  been experienced by
other patients and also by provers.  You recollect that Joerg  expe-
rienced a sensation in the upper part of the pharynx as if the Avails
of the  pharynx  were swollen, or as if the pharynx were  pressed
upon by the tonsils.  And  in  Henry's case of poisoning Digitalis
caused a swelling of the tongue and lips.    These effects of the drug
seem to be  of the  same order,  emanating from the  action of the
acrid principle  of this poison upon  the  lining  membrane,  which
seems to be characterized by swelling, burning  and a corresponding
feeling  of contraction.  AYe might therefore recommend Digitalis
for 
478
LECTURE XXX.
  Dysphiagia, Avhen the phenomena Avhich we have described justify
the use of the drug.
  It would  seem as though Digitalis might subserve  useful pur-
poses in

  Mercurial Pytalism, with discharge of ropy  saliva,  swelling of
the tongue, fetor of the mouth, etc.
  We know that Digitalis causes a remarkable train of gastric dis-
turbances, such as:  Nausea, vomiting of bile, and other derange-
ments which are found recorded among the provings.
  In  a fatal case  of poisoning related in the Edinburgh Medical
Comment., a woman  Avho had swallowed twelve  leaves of Digitalis
in six doses, vomited  for  six days in succession, and finally died.
The ileum was found inflamed, and  an exudation had taken place,
which caused adhesions of the bowels here and there.   This case
shows that Digitalis may cause enteritis.
  In  gastric affections  where  Digitalis is indicated, we shall find
them as a general rule associated with symptoms denoting an irrita-
tion of the urinary or circulatory apparatus.  These symptoms may
co-exist or they may manifest themselves with a certain alternate
regularity.   You recollect that some of Joerg's provers experienced
a gnawing hunger;  I have often seen this symptom co-exist with
palpitation of the  heart, another effect of Digitalis. The  primary
effect of this  drug upon the nerves of the  stomach is to depress
their functional power.   Digitalis causes loss of appetite, an indif-
ference to food, an  abnormal sensation of warmth in the stomach, a
whitish coating on the tongue.   These symptoms may co-exist with
a slow and someAvhat intermittent or irregular pulse.   The homoe-
opathicity of Digitalis to gastric derangements does not seem to be
complete without such an alteration of the pulse as is characteristic
of this drug.  In
  Enteritis,  Colic, Diarrhea, Digitalis could not be used with advan-
tage unless  this peculiar alteration of the pulse Avas present.   In
these very severe irritations or inflammations of the intestinal canal,
the urinary secretions are either deficient or suppressed.
  It will  be recollected that,  in some of Joerg's provers, Digitalis
excited an unnatural craving for food ; hence in
  Bulimia, this drug may prove serviceable to some patients.
  Whether we prescribe the fox-glove in
  Dyspepsia or Cardialgia, with abnormal craving for food, or com-
plete anorexia ;. crampy or  pulling pains in the stomach; heat in the
stomach; sensation of Aveight in the stomach  alternating with faint
feeling; or sensation as if the stomach were utterly prostrated and
life itself should become extinct; vomiting of green bile, with general
prostration;  or for

  Diarrhea  Avhere gastric derangements such as we have described
are generally present, sinkings at the  stomach, white-coated tongue,
pinching pains in the bowels;  or for

  Enteritis, with excessive tormina,  discharges of mucus and blood, 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
479
and violent tenesmus;  we shall always find the pulse altered in the
manner Avhich we have pointed out, feeble, small, unequal and soft,
or full but soft, intermittent, irregular and slow.
  Jaundice is one of the remarkable effects of the peculiar action of
Digitalis upon the liver. The stools look ash-colored and may either
be perfectly dry like the excrements of dogs, or liquid and papescent.
In jaundice where Digitalis is indicated, we shall again find that the
pulse shows  symptoms of intermission and  abnormal frequency.
The patient  complains of a bitter taste  in  the mouth, headache,
dizziness, nausea;  the urine is thick and has a broAvnish appearance.

                      URINARY GROUP.

   Digitalis is always regarded by Old-School practitioners as a diu-
retic.  It undoubtedly promotes the urinary secretions, but it does so
only if the  dose was not too large to overpower  the brain.   AYe
have seen from our cases of poisoning that Digitalis causes suppres-
sion of the  urinary secretions.   This may be accounted for either
upon the ground that small doses only permit the organic reaction,
a symptom of which, in the case of fox-glove, is to increase both the
quantity and the frequency of the urinary secretions.  Or, it may be
accounted for upon the ground that Digitalis is both a narcotic and
an acrid  substance.  If administered in large doses, the  narcotic
element ranges supremely,  binding the brain  and consequently
clogging the organic faunctions ;  if given in small doses, the acrid
element sways the tissues, the narcotic element holding a secondary
rank, though not altogether inoperative,   Under the influence  of
the acrid element the bladder may discharge urine as frequently as
it collects in this  organ.   In the case  of Digitalis these increased
discharges of urine constitute  sympathetic or critical evacuations.
In dropsy, Digitalis will effect such critical derivations of the effused
fluid.   If Digitalis should be indicated in
   Enuresis,  Ave shall find that the brain is  suffering, and that either
gastric or cardiac derangements  such as we have pointed out previ-
ously, are present.
   Monro mentions a case of

   Inflammation of the Neck of the Bladder caused by Digitalis.  In
such a  case, the medicine is indicated by strangury, burning urine,
which is moreover scanty, turbid, depositing a thick blood-red sedi-
ment; constant and distressing urging, etc.

                    THE  SEXUAL GROUP

is not without importance.  You recollect that small  doses of Digi-
talis cause violent sexual excitement.   The female  sexual system is
similarly affected.   Large  doses depress the  sexual power.  In  a
case of
   Amenorrhea, Avhere the other symptoms correspond with the gene-
ral action of this drug; Digitalis  may therefore restore the menses.
   A girl had a fright, in consequence of Avhich her courses stopped. 
480
LECTURE XXX.
She began to cough and grow thin.  This  continued for two years.
Her cough increased upon  her, and she was very much reduced in
flesh.   Her skin Avas  dry and wrinkled, she had night-sweats and
hectic fever, diarrhoea, Avas constantly troubled  Avith paroxysms of
rush of blood and anxiety;  her feet and  legs Avere much swollen,
and often became  painful and erysipelatous.   She took an infusion
of Digitalis, two drachms of the  leaves to a pound and a half of
Avater, a tablespoonful every three hours, and was soon restored.

                  THE THORACIC GROUP.

  By the older physicians, Digitalis has always been considered as a
sort of panacea for pneumopthisis.  Our provings of this agent cer-
tainly bespeak for it curative powers in affections of the respiratory
organs.   Hahnemann himself reports
  Hoarseness;
  Bloody coughi;
  Feeling of raAvness and stitches in the chest;
  Painful, suffocative  constriction of the  chest, as if the internal
parts were all adhering.
  You recollect that Professor Joerg experienced a
  Roughness and smarting sensation in the trachea.
  Other  observers have noted, with much uniformity, a
  Painful shortness of breath;
  Contractive pains in the region of the sternum, etc.
  These  physiological results do  not by any means vindicate the
high curative virtues which Digitalis once was supposed to possess
in phthisis.  Many of the best modern therapeutists deny its powers
in this respect altogether.  Trousseau and Pidoux decline mentioning
it at all in connection with phthisis; and Pereira dismisses the sub-
ject in the following brief paragraph:  " Digitalis has been declared
capable of curing pulmonary consumption, and numerous cases of
supposed cures have been published.  Bayle has collected from the
Avritings  of Sanders,  FoAvler, Beddoes, Drake,  etc., reports of one
hundred  and fifty-one cases treated by fox-glove.  Of these, eighty-
three are said  to  have been cured, and  thirty-five relieved.  But a
more accurate and extended  experience has fully proved that this
medicine possesses no curative and very slightly palliative powers in
genuine phthisis; it is totally incapable of preventing or of causing the
removal  of tubercular deposits, and has little if any influence, in re-
tarding the progress of consumption.  Its poAver of diminishing the
rapidity of the circulation cannot be doubted, but this effect is, as Dr.
Holland  justly remarks, of less real moment than is generally sup-
posed."
  It Avould therefore seem that in
   Coughi, with expectoration of blood and  tubercular pus, Digitalis
can, at most, only afford palliation, not real  help.  Of the many con-
tradictory chapters in alloeopathic therapeutics, there is hardly one
that is more filled with  contradictory statements than the treatment
of pneumophthisis Avith Digitalis.  One professes to have cured any
number of cases, another denies the possibility of curing this disease 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
481
with such a drug.   The probability is that the pretended cures were
cases of simple catarrhal irritations of the bronchial lining membrane
which may assume the mask of phthisis to the superficial observer,
but not to the well trained auscultator.
  A  carpenter, thirty-one years old, who  had  been laid up with
rheumatism for eight months in succession at the age of fifteen, had
been coughing more or less ever since.  Five months ago,  the  cough
having  increased  upon him,  he coughed up some blood-streaked
mucus.   He had fever every evening.   On the 23d of November,
1833, he was admitted into the hospital la Pitie.  He complained of
headache, buzzing  in the ears, pains in the larynx; pulse seventy-
six, twenty-four inspirations;  deep, costal breathing; he had  never
been troubled with palpitation of the  heart; the expectoration was
scanty,  somewhat  streaked, and  consisting  of opaque  little  lumps
separated by a more or less transparent liquid.  Coughing caused a
pain between the shoulder-blades; percussion yielded normal sounds;
there  was slight mucous rale in some parts of the chest;  the appetite
Avas natural, tongue coated white and rather pale, stool normal and
abdomen without pain.  He was bled and put upon twelve and  fifteen
grains of the leaves of Digitalis in infusion.  For several days his
pulse went down to forty-eight, forty-four, forty-three.  The  cough
left him permanently.  For aught I can see, this was a tolerably fair
homoeopathic prescription.  The case Avhich we extract from Frank's
Magazine, and which was orginally reported in Archives  Generales,
is recorded  as a case  of  tuberculosis.  I think it hardly fair  to see
tubercles m a case like this.  If time permitted, I might relate a feAV
cases  showing the use of Digitalis after the fashion of  Rasori, in
enormous contra-stimulant or  hyposthenisant doses.  It  seems un-
profitable, however, to perpetuate such abuses, and  as far as  I am
concerned, I will apply to all such extravagances the words  of the
Saviour: "Let the dead bury the dead, follow thou me!"
  A much more important office is filled by Digitalis in the  treat-
ment  of

  Affections of the Heart.  AYe have stated already that, in  acute
rheumatic endocarditis, Digitalis would be out of place,  and that
Aconite will control this affection much more effectually in most
cases.   Digitalis is more adapted to the removal of the consequences
of endocarditis.  These consequences, so far as they effect the  heart,
may be summed up under the general appellation of "heart-disease"
It is not our  purpose to give a description  of the different forms of
heart-disease which we are called upon to relieve.  It is sufficient for
us to state, in a general manner, that rheumatic  endocarditis is one
of the most common causes of organic alterations of the parenchyma
or valves of the heart.  Hypertrophy, or enlargement of  the  heart,
is probably the most  common  of these  disorganizations.  It may
occur along with dilatation, diminution, or  the natural  condition of
the  cavities.   "These puerile  distinctions,"  observes Rostan, "have
fixed, in a singular manner, the attention of persons AArho see feAV
patients; but  they  attract little  attention from those Avho cultivate
medicine in a vast field of observations."   This remark  may seem
                               31 
432
LECTURE XXX.
rather harsh and out of place when applied to such men as Laennec,
Skoda, Rokitansky;  but, so far as the medical treatment of these
affections  is concerned, it is Aconite and Digitalis in one case, and
Digitalis and  Aconite in another.  There are but  few medicines,
beside Aconite and Digitalis,  that  are of any use in heart-disease;
Arsenic, Spigelia, Pulsatilla and Belladonna: if this group does not
cure, Ave may  as well close our chapter,  and  content ourselves with
relieving our patient the best way we may.
  Strictly speaking, there is  no remedy for the fibrinous concretions
which may be deposited  upon the  internal surfaces of the heart  or
upon the valves;  there is no remedy for the destruction which the
valvular apparatus may have  suffered in consequence of rheumatic
inflammation.   If we have satisfied ourselves that these disorganiza-
tions exist, we  can hardly hope for more than palliative results.  And
so far as Digitalis can be of any use in  palliating the sufferings of
the patient, we may be guided by the character  of the pulse.   If the
pulse inclines to intermit, to  become feeble and accelerated, irregular
as regards volume and frequency,  and if  these irregularities even
extend to the harmonious rhythm which should exist between the
heart's action and the radial pulse,  we may find a means of relief  in
Digitalis.
  If the beating of the  heart is  hard, jerking, accompanied with
anxiety,  faint  feelings, cerebral congestions, occasional  spasmodic
contractions, as if the beating had entirely ceased, we may find Aco-
nite our best means of easing the patient.
  In simple Hypertrophy, with regular, but full, jerking  and some-
what accelerated  pulse, Aconite is  our best remedy.  Under sound
homoeopathic  treatment, these disorganizations  need hardly ever
occur.
  The action of our drugs has not  been  investigated with reference
to the physical signs which serve as diagnostic  marks in the various
organic disorders of the heart.  In hypertrophy of the heart, the beats
of the heart are much more tumultuous  than they are in the normal
condition of the  organ.  If the left ventricle is  hypertrophied, the
pulse becomes strong, full and hard; the heart bounds  against the
walls of the thorax with redoubled force.  Symptoms  of  cerebral
congestion, headache, vertigo,  nosebleed,  are often present in severe
cases, and the patient may die apoplectic.
   This group  of symptoms indicates Aconite for its main remedy.
   Hypertrophy of the right ventricle gives rise  to a peculiar train of
symptoms.  If the walls of the ventricle  are thicker than usual, with
diminution of the cavity, the contractions of  the ventricle may  be
more violent than in a normal state, and yet the radial  pulse may
become thinner,  in consequence of the  deficiency in the supply of
blood flowing through the pulmonary Areins.   This same change  in
the pulse must take place, if the Avails of  the ventricle are  too thin
to permit of sufficiently powerful  contractions  to propel the  blood
through the pulmonary artery.  In such a case, both the beats of the
ventricle and the radial pulse Avill  be feeble.  An ultimate result of
this impoverished  condition of the  lungs  must  be anaemia, and
 finally  hydrothorax. 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.                  483
  Digitalis and Arsenic are suitable remedies under  these circum-
stances.  In hypertrophy where there is pain, Dr. Hope recommends
the extract of Aconite ; Bouilland the pulverized leaves of Digitalis.
We have furnished a few indications for the last-named remedy; we
shall furnish a few more as we proceed.
  Hypertrophy of the ventricles may arise from contraction of the
valvular orifices, preventing a full column of blood from being sent
into the aorta or  pulmonary artery.  Or it may arise from insuffi-
ciency of the valves, permitting a  regurgitation of the  blood.  In
either of these cases the pulse would be small, although it might be
jerking and accelerated.  Gradually, as the functional power of the
heart becomes weaker, the pulse will  likewise show signs of pros-
tration, it will become emptier, intermittent and irregular.   Digitalis
Avill prove  an  excellent  palliative, if the affection  is no  longer
curable.  Aconite may be resorted  to  in certain conditions of the
system.
  Long-continued hypertrophy may give rise to dilatation of the
ventricles with thinness of the walls.   In such cases the impulse  of
the heart will necessarily be feeble;  the heart being deficient in con-
tractile power.  The radial  pulse will  necessarily feel the effects of
the reduced strength of the heart's  action ; it will be weak, empty,
irregular, intermittent, and all harmony between the contractions of
the heart and the radial pulsations may gradually cease, and give
place to continual irregularities.  A knowledge of the anatomical
structure of the heart and its physiological functions will enable any
intelligent  student of medicine to determine for himself what the
effect of hypertrophy and dilatation upon the pulse and the general
reproduction of tissue must be  as these disorganizations continue.
As regards the physical signs of heart-disease, we  refer the student
to the  works of Hope, Pennock and others who have done a great
deal to clear up this obscure chapter  Avithout  unfortunately doing
near as much towards perfecting the treatment.
   As  regards Valvular Disease, we most frequently find the aortic
and the mitral valves involved.  Dr. Corrigan  observes  "that the
pulse  in aortic regurgitation,  may  sometimes  be seen  beating  in
various parts of the body."   Dr. AYilliams likewise  considers this
phenomenon as eminently characteristic of these valves.  Drs. Hope
and Pennock have laid down  rules for the diagnosis of valvular
disease which are as precise and comprehensive as  such a naturally
obscure subject will permit.  The signs most observable in  disease
of the valves, are the bellows1 murmur and the purring tremor.  These
sounds vary somewhat according  as  one or the other  valve  is
affected.   The pulmonary and tricuspid valves are  very  seldom
diseased, much less frequently than the aortic and mitral.
  An  investigation of  these physical  phenomena is exceedingly
interesting, and may gradually  lead us to a more perfect use of the
curative means at our command.  In the present state of our knoAv-
ledge,  we have  to depend in a great measure upon  the pulse, and
upon the feelings of the patient.  We  have sufficiently dwelt upon
the pulse ;  we will here point out a few symptoms which may serve 
484                      LECTURE XXX.
as diagnostic landmarks to the therapeutist between Digitalis and
other drugs.
  The  following symptom: " The  beats of the heart are  scarcely
felt," would seem to indicate dilatation with thinness of the walls,
requiring Digitalis.
  The  next symptom:  " The power of the heart becomes so dimin-
nished in some cases that fatal syncope was produced in consequence
of the  patient suddenly changing his position," may characterize a
similar condition,  dilatation with thinness of  the  walls requiring
Digitalis.

  In the Journal Universel, the  case of a lady  is reported Avho was
under  treatment for epilepsy, and who took  several pints  of an
infusion of Digitalis.  Among other symptoms the medicine caused :
a feeling of embarrassment behind the sternum  gradually increasing
to an oppression that became more and more distressing;  vertigo,
inability to continue a conversation that had been begun ; blackness
of sight;  beats of the heart large, full,  energetic, shiaking the chest,
slower  than usual; or else the beats became suddenly more frequent and
in this  case less violent than before.   Dyspnoea constantly increasing,
excessive paleness of the face, feeling of coldness and numbness in
the  extremities, uncontrollable desire to  inhale fresh air.    The
patient complained neither of nausea nor thirst.  In a few hours after
taking the drug, the patient was able to indicate the number  of the
heart's contractions within  a given time.  For five  or ten minutes
the heart beat forty or forty-two, and then again one hundred and
twenty or one hundred and twenty-five times a minute ; the inspi-
rations amounted to forty or forty-eight in the minute.  The  pupils
were  dilated,  but  their  contractility  was not  impaired.   The
respiratory murmur was universally  feeble and  incomplete,  reson-
nance  of the  chest normal, sounds of the  heart audible  over the
whole  region.  The patient was only able to lie on her back with
her head very much raised, violent headache, but her understanding
perfectly clear.  In the epigastric region the patient felt very large
and strong pulsations,  probably emanating from the coeliac artery ;
two inches below the region where these pulsations were felt, they
seemed much weaker, but they increased in volume and strength in
proportion as the beats  of the  heart became slower and stronger.
Her desire for  open air became more and  more  urgent.  A few
hours  after, her breathing was  very short, more frequent, all  the
inspiratory muscles were laboring tumultuously (the patient stated
afterwards, it had seemed to her as if the quantity of air that entered
the lungs Avas not sufficient and that she should not be able to live
if this condition continued.)  The beats of the heart became  alter-
nately slow and frequent; the dyspnoea continued; she obtained most
relief from fanning.
   Here we have a train of symptoms Avhich leads us to recommend
Digitalis for  several affections of the heart and resulting disorgani-
zations.  By these symptoms we find Digitalis  indicated in
   Hypertrophy  with dilatation,  the  hypertrophy predominating; in 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
485
  Dilatation  with  hypertrophy,  the hypertrophy being secondary;
and lastly in
  Hydrothorax whether idiopathic or resulting from cardiac disease.

  A lady of twenty-eight years was under  treatment  for pneumo-
phthisis. She took considerable quantities of Digitalis, and one morn-
ing exhibited the following symptoms which were distinctly attribu-
table to the drug:  sensitiveness of the stomach, especially to external
pressure;  frequent nausea  and one  turn of vomiting; sensation of
pressure and drawing arising  from the pit  of the stomach towards
the throat; change of color in the  face almost every second, from
deathlike  paleness to rose-color; the tip of the nose, forearms, hands
and fingers were quite cold; respiration remarkably slow and occasion-
ally intermingled wilhi deep moans;  the expired air seemed quite cool;
no cough; pulse 30, and exceedingly irregular, sometimes intermitting
and then again bounding, jerking, sometimes filiform, but always soft.
  These symptoms teach us an  instructive lesson concerning the use
of Digitalis in diseases where these changes  occur.   Similar changes
may be witnessed  in dilatation of the left ventricle, but principally in
functional derangement of the heart characterized  by paroxysms of
plethora of  this  organ.   Such  changes may sometimes  indicate
Aconite, except that the Aconite-pulse never has those extraordi-
nary irregularities and intermissions which characterize the  pulse
of Digitalis.  Moreover this drug has generally a soft pulse, whether
the volume of the pulse be  otherwise  large or small; whereas the
Aconite-pulse is generally hard, strong, rapid, or heavy and slow, or
hard, thin, jerking and quick.   It is seldom intermittent, though it
may be irregular, especially in the  case of old people.  AYe shall
find Digitalis indicated in
  Plethora of the Peart, paroxysms of sudden congestion which may
occur among individuals liable to palpitation, sinking feeling in the
region of  the heart; crampy feelings, feeling of compression in this
region. Dr. Purkinge experienced a sensation as if the heart were
grasped with the hand, a sensation Avhich was only felt during the
intermissions of the pulse.

  We have  a number of other symptoms obtained by proving and
derived from cases of poisoning, shoAving  the use of Digitalis in
affections  of  the heart and aorta.
  "Strong, almost audible beats of the heart, with anxiety  and con-
tractive pains under the sternum."
  " AYhen raising  the body, he feels a tension in the left side of the
chest, as if these parts were  contracted."
  Digitalis causes the pains and dyspnoea which are always present
in affections of the heart and valves.  We may regard the tAvo last
quoted effects of Digitalis as pointing to such diseases.  They may
exist in a  case of hypertrophy with contraction of the ventricles.

  Aneurism  of the Aorta may require Digitalis.  It causes, as far as
we know, many of the symptoms which denote the presence of this
disease, abnormal  murmurs, blowing and sawing sounds, pulsations 
486                      LECTURE XXX.
 and pains in various parts of the chest, constrictive sensation across
 the chest, dizziness.  A remarkable symptom which, together with
 the other symptoms, might  confirm our diagnosis of aneurism is
 the following:  "Swelling of  the  right  hand  together  with the
 fingers; this swelling lasted  three hours."
   Aneurisms of the Arteries may likewise require Digitalis;  the pulse
 and the constitutional symptoms must of course correspond.
   Digitalis may prove a valuable palliative in
    Cyanosis or blue disease, when the patient complains of anguish,
 orthopnoea, the lips, eyelids, tongue exhibit a blue color. This blue
 color  is likewise  seen  under the nails; the patient spits blood, the
 action of the heart is increased; hoarseness and dry cough are pre-
 sent.  The 6th to  12th potency will be found the most suitable.

   We have already alluded to the fact that  Digitalis is  a capital
 remedy for
   Hydrothiorax, if  not of an  incurable character.   Hydrothorax de-
 pending upon valvular disease, disorganizations of the internal coat
 of the aorta, hypertrophy, contraction of the orifices of the heart, etc.,
 may be pronounced incurable.   Nevertheless relief may be afforded
 to the sufferer by the use of  Digitalis.
   Professor Fritze of the University of Berlin,  died of hydrothorax
 and anasarca, a sequela  of  enlargement of the heart. Hufeland
 informs us that Digitalis  was  the only remedy that afforded  him
 any relief.

   An officer  of forty years who had been attacked with palpitation
 of the heart, and  unequal, intermittent pulse some years previous,
 indulged in excessive eating  and drinking, in consequence of which
 hydrothorax set in.  He  was  put on a decoction of Digitalis, one
 ounce of the leaves to eight ounces of water strained and combined
 with half an ounce of spirits of wine.  Of this decoction he took a
 tablespoonful every two hours, and was soon restored.
   If Digitalis is indicated in  dropsy, its curative action is generally
 characterized by profuse discharge of urine.  In order to  promote
 this end, alloeopathic physicians are  in the habit of combining it
 Avith some other  diuretic, such as  Parsley, Squills;  but this is
 unnecessary.

   Anasarca yields  to Digitalis, which has  caused  this disease.  A
 man of forty-six years, Avho  had led an irregular life and had been
 fond of tippling, became dropsical; he had to be in  a sitting posture,
 inclining forward,  and suffered with the most violent asthma.   His
 face was  blue and bloated, eyes sunken, arms  and chest thin  and
 emaciated, abdomen  enormously  tympanitic, feet  swollen  and
 shining, scrotum and penis very  much swollen.   The urine  was
 secreted in very small quantities and was discharged drop by drop;
 the bowels had been bound for some time, the fasces were hard and
 expelled with much difficulty.  This condition  of things had lasted
for upwards of four months.   He was put upon a decoction of  two
 drachms of the leaves of Digitalis in eight ounces of water, half a 
DIGITALIS PURPUREA.
487
 tablespoonful morning and evening.  His chest was liberated, the
 SAvelling gradually disappeared, and recovery took place.

   According to Dr. Withering who has treated upwards of a hun-
 dred cases of anasarca with Digitalis, " it seldom succeeds in men of
 great natural strength, of tense fibre, of warm skin, of  florid com-
 plexion, or in those with a tight and cordy pulse; on the contrary,
 if the pulse be feeble or intermitting, the countenance pale, the lips
 livid, the skin cold, the swollen belly soft  and fluctuating, or  the
 anasarcous limbs readily  pitting under the pressure of  the finger,
 we may expect the diuretic effects to follow in a kindly manner."
 These are  pretty good homoeopathic indications for an allceopathic
 authority.

   In Ascites, Digitalis is  a most excellent  remedy in many cases
 more particularly if the disease depends upon, or is associated with,
 vascular derangements such as menstrual irregularities, pain and
 palpitation of the heart, spitting of blood, etc.
   In the case of a lady, where  the disease had reached a very high
 degree of development, of four months' standing, the abdomen being
 enormously swollen,  with  oedema of  the lower extremities, pulse
 very thin and rapid, (about one hundred and twenty in the minute,)
 discharge of a sanguinolent serum every few weeks from the vagina,
 a radical cure was  effected within  three  weeks by giving her five
 drops of the tincture of Digitalis in twenty-four hours, and gradually
 increasing  this quantity to fifteen drops.  The menstrual discharge
 became perfectly regular and the dropsy disappeared permanently.

   Hydropericardia or Dropsy of the Pericardium may be successfully
 treated  with Digitalis.  The physical signs are:  dullness over a
 large surface, swelling of  the  prascordial region, diminution of the
 respiratory murmur.  The pulse is small, feeble, irregular; the face
 and lips look livid, the patient is very much  distressed for breath, is
 unable to lie on the back,  and is harassed by a deep, barking cough
 without expectoration arising  from  compression of the  pulmonary
 parenchyma by the effused fluid.  Digitalis and Arsenic are the pro-
 minent  remedies.   This disease is  sometimes  a sequela of scarlet-
 fever. It may also come on in consequence  of cardiac disease.

   Asthma is another disease that has yielded to Digitalis.   It causes
 excessive dyspnoea, even orthopnoea, dry and husky cough, wheezing
 in the air-passages, sensation  as if  the lungs  were adhering, and
 various other symptoms strongly pointing to asthma.
   In the.Edinburgh Medical Journal,  the following case of asthma
 is  reported, where Digitalis effected a perfect cure.   A schoolmaster
 who was afflicted with asthma to such an extent that he was deprived
 of rest day  and night, took  a whole ounce of the tincture of Digitalis
in the hope of obtaining relief during a dreadful paroxysm.  He im-
 mediately after fell  into a quiet sleep until half-past eleven o'clock.
At this hour he vomited copiously, and had a good stool.  His pulse
became slow, irregular and intermittent.   No  other  symptoms are 
488
LECTURE XXXI.
mentioned.  The asthma and  accompanying symptoms disappeared
permanently.

  Regarding the dose, Digitalis may be required in tolerably large
quantities in dropsical effusions, even in doses of from two to three
grains of the powdered leaves twice a day ; or in tablespoonful doses
of a watery infusion, or in doses of from five to ten drops of the tinc-
ture  three or four  times a day.  German  homoeopathic physicians
use it sometimes in such large doses.  The second or first trituration
may  be sufficient in some cases.  In purely functional derangements
the middle potencies may be sufficient.
  In  a case of poisoning, we first give an emetic, and  afterwards
stimulate the patient Avith  sufficient doses of Avine, brandy, or even
ammonia.  Strong black coffee may remove the lesser effects.
  From this drug we obtain an alkaloid,  Digitaline, which has not
yet been tried by homoeopathic physicians; as far as Ave knoAV it acts
similarly to  Digitalis.
              LECTURE   XXXI.

                          FERRUM.

                             (Iron)

  Iron is found in the three kingdoms of Nature, seldom pure;
generally oxydized ; in the so-called aquas martiales (steel-springs);
iron is found  in  combination with  oxygen and carbonic acid;
iron is also found in the ashes of many plants (ex. gr.: Digitalis,
Helleb. niger, etc.);  in tea, where it Avas first discovered by Mulder ;
it is one of the chief constituents  of the blood where, according to
Rose, it exists as an oxide, and according to Berzelius as a pure
metal.   The best iron-ores are said to be found in Sweden, Norway
and Russia.  In medicine Ave use the purest  kind of iron,  the
so-called ferrum cusum or welded iron.
  Iron unites with all simple, non-metallic bodies, except hydrogen,
and it dissolves in almost any acid, forming various  precipitates,
according as the protoxyde, peroxyde, or deuteroxyde  had been
dissolved.
  In homoeopathic practice we use
  1. Ferrum mettallicum ;
  2. Ferrum aceticum;
  3. Ferrum carbonicum;
  4. Ferrum iodatum;
  5. Ferrum muriaticum ;
  6. Ferrum sulphuricum.
  The metallic iron is obtained in the shape of a fine poAvder;  it is
perfectly free from rust.  AYe  make triturations, taking care  that 
FERRUM.
489
during this process the iron does not become oxydized.  Previous
to making these  triturations the sugar of milk, mortar and pestle
should be  warmed in order to  remove  every possible trace  of
moisture.
  The acetate of  iron  is obtained by dissolving the pure oxyde  of
iron in concentrated vinegar, taking four parts of the iron and seven
parts  of vinegar ;  we shake,them well together in a bottle, until only
a small part of the iron remains undissolved.   AYe filter the liquid,
and to this filtered liquid Ave add  one part and a  half of dilute
alcohol, making the tincture of  the acetate  of iron, (tinctura ferri
acetici), or  we carefully evaporate the liquid in  a  vapor-bath, and
preserve the dry residue in vials  provided with glass-stoppers, from
which we  aftenvards obtain triturations.   The  tincture may be
potenizecl, the first potency being made with distilled water and
alcohol, and the subsequent potencies with strong alcohol.
  Carbonate of iron :  a solution of seventeen  parts of crystallized
carbonate of soda  with  four  times as much Avater, to  be strained
through  linen, and heated to boiling in a cast-iron boiler.  Then add
by  degrees ten parts  of pure crystallized sulphate  of iron  to the
boiling  solution,  waiting  each   time  until the mixture ceases  to
effervesce.   A white or greenish-white precipitate is thrown down;
this is the proto-carbonate  of iron.   Put this into a filtering bag and
speedily wash it Avith boiling water.   After the water is entirely run
off through the bag, squeeze the bag with the hands in order to press
out as nearly as may be the water adhering to the salt, and after-
wards subject the powder to the action of a screw-press.  The moist
powder is filled into a Avell-cleaned bladder  which is to be carefully
tied up, and to be exposed to a temperature of about sixty or seventy
degrees Fahrenheit for drying.
  In  this manner we  obtain the  proto-carbonate of  iron as free  as
possible from the oxide, of a green-broAvnish color.   This carbonate
has to be made fresh every year, as the quantity of carbonic acid
decreases in time.  Triturations should  be made  with very dry
sugar of milk and in a perfectly dry room.
   The iodide of iron is prepared according to  the United States
Pharmacopcea, as folloAvs:
   "Take Iodine two ounces;  iron filings an ounce;  distilled water
a pint and a half.   Mix the iodine with a pint  of the distilled water
in  a  porcelain or glass  vessel, and  gradually add the iron  filings,
stirring  constantly.   Heat the  mixture gently  until the  liquid
acquires a slight  greenish color ; then filter, and after the liquid has
passed, pour  upon the filter the remainder of the distilled water
boiling hot.   AYhen this has passed, evaporate the filtered liquor at
a temperature not exceeding two hundred and twelve degrees, in an
iron vessel, to dryness.  Keep the dry iodide  in a  closely stopped
bottle.   The iodine of iron is soluble  in water forming a greenish
solution,"  AVe may also make triturations of this substance.
   Tincture of muriate of iron:  Take  subcarbonate of iron a half
pound ;  muriatic acid a  pint; alcohol three pints.   Pour the acid
upon the subcarbonate in  a glass or porcelain vessel.  Alix them,
and ay hen effervescence has ceased, apply a gentle heat, and continue 
490
LECTURE XXXI.
it until the carbon is dissolved; then  filter the  solution and mix it
with the alcohol.
  Sulphate of iron :  dissolve in common sulphuric acid, diluted Avith
four times its weight of Avater, as much of iron filings as is required
to saturate the acid, even  when heated.  Filter the liquid and add a
little more sulphuric acid ; evaporate in a porcelain dish to the point
of crystallization.  The  green crystals are  collected upon a filter,
washed with a little cold Avater, and afterAvards dried by exposure to
gentle warmth.  Preserve them in well-stopped vessels, and prepare
a watery solution from them, which can only be used as long as no
sediment is deposited in it;  preserve the crystals  from the light.
  The leading preparation of iron which Ave use in  our practice, is
the acetate.  It is this  preparation which Hahnemann employed  in
his provings.
  According to Old-School physicians iron is a nervous tonic.   This
is, like many others,  one of those superficial statements  of which
Old-School treatises  on Materia Medica abound.  So far from iron
being a tonic, it has on the contrary a debilitating and disintegrating
effect upon the system.   It is no more a tonic than Arsenic or China.
The first effect of iron may be to cause an apparent stimulation of
the vital functions;  but  the physical condition  of those Avho  live
near iron springs, might  have sufficed to enlighten physicians con-
cerning the ultimate debilitating effect of iron.  We find these people
tainted with chronic  diseases more than almost  any other class  of
men,  even when their mode of life is  otherwise unexceptionable.
A general or partial debility bordering on paralysis, certain violent
pains in the extremities, various affections of the abdominal viscera,
vomiting of food day and night, pulmonary phthisis, bloody cough,
want of animal heat, menstrual suppression, miscarriage, impotence,
sterility, jaundice, and other symptoms  of cachexia  prevail among
them.
  Iron is, as I stated before, a constituent of  the blood, where it
exists, according to Berzelius, in a metallic  state, and according to
Rose  and others, as an oxyde.  The existence of iron in the blood
does not account, however, for the red color of the blood.  On  the
contrary,  Brande, Vauquelin and Berzelius have shoAvn that this
red color of the blood does not depend upon the immediate presence
of iron, but upon the  presence of a coloring principle which these
chemists have termed hasmatochroin.   Recent investigations have
shown that this coloring principle does not really  exist, and  that
hasmatosin, hasmatochroin, etc., are either impure  or altered ingredi-
dients of the blood, or that they are altogether imaginary principles.
  Considering these  various contradictions, it seems  to  be difficult
to determine the various uses of iron in the blood, and it seems to
be equally difficult to show the manner in which iron, Avhen given
as a remedial agent, affects  the abnormally-constituted blood, more
particularly in the well-known disease termed chlorosis.
  It is a well-known fact that in chlorosis or green sickness, iron is
one of our  principal remedies.  Both Old  and New-School  physi-
cians depend upon its use  in chlorosis as their chief support.   By
examining the physiological effects of iron upon the living organism, 
FERRUM.
491
and contrasting them with  the  pathological alterations developed
in  the organisms  of chlorotic individuals,  we shall  find  that the
curative virtues of iron in chlorosis depend upon its homoeopathicity
to the latter disease.
   Let us inquire into this fact more closely.
   The peculiar action of iron upon the spleen was known even to
the physicians  of antiquity.  Celsus states  that animals who were
in  the habit of drinking the water  in  which blacksmiths cool the
red-hot iron, have a very small spleen; hence patients Avho were
troubled with infarctions of the spleen, were made to drink of this
water after a repast.  Pereira likewise states that in animals Avho are
fed on iron  for a time, the volume of the spleen decreases more and
more, until the organ becomes almost atrophied.  Hence small doses
of iron have been uniformly recommended by the most experienced
practitioners of the Old-School  as a remedy  for enlargement  of the
spleen.  Cruveilhier calls iron a specific for hypertrophy and chronic
inflammation of the spleen.
   Noav it so happens that one of the most characteristic terminations \
of chlorosis  is atrophy of the spleen and dilatation of the ventricles'
of the heart.  This fact at once accounts to us for  the specific cura-
tive virtues possessed by iron in this distressing malady.  Large
doses of iron cause  atrophy of the spleen, and a  determination of ,
blood to the heart and lungs; hence small doses of iron must have ■
the power of arresting these morbid conditions when occurring as a
natural disease.
   It is a well-knoAvn fact that the spleen plays an important part as
an auxiliary to the circulation in the stomach and  intestinal  canal;
it seems even to act as a supporter of the circulation.  In  the case
of persons who died of asphyxia, the spleen was found enlarged and
swollen ; and in the case of a man who died  from the bursting of an
aneurism of the abdominal  aorta, the spleen Avas  found small and
relaxed.   The influence which the spleen has upon the circulation,
has been clearly shown  by Tiedemann and  Gmelin.  In dissecting
a large turtle, where the absorbents of the small intestines could be
distinctly seen going to  the spleen, it was observed by these physio-
logists that a coagulable fluid was secreted in the spleen out  of the
arterial blood; that this fluid was received  into the absorbents of
the spleen, and that, through them, it was conducted to the thoracic
duct to aid in the process of sanguification.   If the spleen  becomes
atrophied, it is of course unable to render  its functional support to
the process of sanguification, and such quantitative as well as quali-
tative changes  in the blood  take place, as  pathologists are  in the
habit of designating by the terms of anaemia or hydraemia.  These
are the very conditions which prevail  in chlorosis  (anaemia—priva-
tion of blood ; hydraemia—watery blood).
   These developments show that the  curative influence of iron in
chlorosis does not depend upon its  imparting more  redness  to the
blood, upon its developing a higher process of  oxidation  in the
blood—such coarsely-chemical explanations are rejected by all truly
enlightened  physiological pathologists—but  upon the fact that small
doses of iron possess the peculiar power of arresting and preventing 
492
LECTURE XXXI.
atrophy of the spleen, and stimulating the sinking energies of this
important organ into a healthy tone.
  We are indebted for this ingenious vindication of the homoeopath-
icity of  iron  to chlorosis to Dr. Altschuhl of the  University  of
Prague.   Chemistry  itself which was in the habit of regarding chlo-
rosis as the great triumph of its materialistic  theories of life and
disease, is fast demolishing its  own  arguments.  The existence  of
iron in the blood is not only admitted but demonstrated by chemical
analysis.  Reveil has moreover shoAvn that all the iron Avhich the
blood contains is to be found in the globules, and  that the mass  of
iron is not affected by a diminution or an increase of the globules.
The mass of iron which was  found in the globules of chlorotic
patients, remained unaltered after these patients had recovered their
health under the use of ferruginous preparations.
  Professor Bernard, the distinguished physiologist of the Univer-
sity of Paris, argues with much force, that " the question is  not  so
much to know whether iron cures chlorosis, but whether chlorosis is
due to the absence of iron in the blood, and whether iron, if admin-
istered in substance, will supply the want, by taking the place  of
the natural constituent."
  Hoav strange that  such a  simple question should be so curiously
and indeed stupidly  mystified by learned men! Might not common
sense inform every man, whether  educated or not in the sciences,
that there is a difference between the vital iron  elaborated  in the
invisible and immaterial crucibles of the vital forces,  and the mate-
rial iron obtained by the fire and material re-agents of the chemist?
Has any one ever seen iron in the blood in its natural form ?   Has
the most powerful microscope  ever discoA^ered material iron in the
blood ?  In order to discover the constituents of the blood; in other
words, in order  to determine out of Avhat  elements the vital forces
manufacture this precious carrier of living tissue, the chemist has
first to destroy the life-principle which, by virtue  of  a most myste-
rious metamorphosis, has transformed a certain class  of elementary
principles into blood ;  he has to remove all traces of this wonderful
transformation of matter into living tissue, and then, if, after having
killed the blood ; after having  reduced the living fluid back again
to its original elements, he discovers  a small quantity  of iron among
a number of other constituents, he exclaims  " Eurehca," I have found
iron in the blood, forgetting all the Avhile that he found it  in his
crucible, but not in the vital current.   There is no harm in availing
ourselves of a  chemical analysis of the blood for the purpose  of
building  up a  rational hypothesis  concerning  the  treatment  of
chlorosis.  We  may suppose,  for instance, that iron may be the
very best agent out  of Avhich the vital forces may most effectually
elaborate the vital representative of  iron in the living blood; but it
is foolish to assert that the iron is returned to the blood by a process
of  mechanical absorption, and amalgamated  with it by virtue  of
some gross process of  chemical combination.   Let us suppose with
Professor Bernard that  there are about one  hundred  and tAventy
grains of iron in the whole mass of blood, and that about half of
this quantity is  lost in chlorosis.  How easily it would be to replace 
FERRUM.
493
this small quantity by absorption !   But there are chlorotic patients
who have swalloAved pounds of iron without being cured of their
chlorosis.
  Chlorosis, therefore, is a pathological process that has to be acted
upon like all other pathological processes, by dynamic forces. Iron
is one  of the chief depositories of the forces that will  effectually
control this troublesome and very  often dangerous disease.

  In Frank's Physiological Magazine, we find  a record of several
valuable provings of the acetate of iron, the tincture of Avhich was
used for this purpose.   These provings were originally published
in Bernhardi's Periodical for Experimental Aledicine.
  One of the provers, Petruschky, a young man of vigorous consti-
tution, swallowed four times a day from four  to twenty-four drops,
commencing Avith four-drop doses and gradually increasing to twenty-
four.
  Previous to his taking the iron,  his blood was bright red, contain-
ing an inconsiderable number of  small, colorless blood-corpuscles.
After swallowing the iron, the blood was dark-red, the blood-corpus-
cles were deeply colored and had sharp edges; the blood  coagulated
less readily than before the proving, and the serum was of a more
deep yellow color.
  This prover was exceedingly sensitive to the action  of iron;  it
developed the following interesting symptoms :
  Heaviness in the head, want of freedom in the frontal  region and
pressure in the temples.
  Sensation of excessive fulness in the head ;
  Uncommonly serious disposition;  the  patient feels disposed  to
attach much importance to small things.
  Tickling in the urethra, Avith urging to urinate ; the tickling grad-
ually extended from the navicular fossa to the neck of the bladder.
  Extraordinary feeling of strength and buoyancy of spirits.
  Oppression on  the  chest, increasing with desire to draw a long
breath, slight stitches in the lungs and a tightness in the region  of
the heart.  Pulse sixty-one, tense.
  Feeling of warmthi in the stomach.
  Sense  of weariness in  the limbs.
  Pressure at the stomachi after eating, Avhich finally increased to a
drawing.
  The bright redness of his face had considerably diminished ; pulse
down to  fifty-five, full and tense.
  On waking, painful sensation in the  larynx inducing" a  hacking
and hawhcing, aggravated by pressure upon the larynx, and  shifting
to a point behind the upper third of the sternum.  He hawked up
a vesicular, tenacious mucus which Avas streaked with black blood.
Alucous rale  was  heard behind the upper  portion of the sternum,
and the impulse was somewhat jerking.
  Depression of spirits  and bodily strength.
  Tongue coated, pappy taste, little appetite, costiveness, paroxysms
of a drawing pain through the boAvels.
  Violent nosebleed which relieved  the head; copious, slimy sedi- 
494
LECTURE XXXI.
 ment in the urine.  In the course of a few days the symptoms gra-
 dually  disappeared; his strength returned, the alvine evacuations
 again  became soft and regular, pulse  seventy-five as before  the
 proving.
   In the case of this prover the first small doses of iron developed
 the secondary effects of the drug or symptoms of organic reaction,
 a  feeling of mental and physical  energy, craving appetite.   The
 subsequent doses deA^eloped the  primary effects  of the drug, cere-
 bral and  pulmonary  congestions, loss of  appetite, coated  tongue,
 irritation in the  urethra, depression of spirits, debility, sinking of
 the pulse.
   The  second  prover, Loeffler, a  robust man and  enjoying good
 health  except a disposition to bronchial  catarrh,  commenced  his
 experiments with ten drops three times a day, gradually increasing
 to fifteen, and lastly to thirty drops, and aftenvards adding one drop
 to each dose.
   The  changes in  the  blood Avere similar to those  experienced by
 the first prover.   The first effect  of small doses was to increase his
 appetite and to induce a remarkable feeling of strength.  This  did
 not last long, the primary symptoms soon made their appearance.
 The pulse went down  from seventy-five to fifty-four beats.  The
 impulse of the heart was jerking, the pulse was likewise tense,  not
 soft  as  it  generally is in hot Aveather, when  these  provings were
 instituted.
   The gastric symptoms were quite marked: pinchiing and rumbling
 in the bowels which felt full and distended; pappy taste, with white-
 coated tongue; uncomfortable feeling after eating ;  lassitude, want of
 desire to attend to either bodily or mental labor.
   This  prover likewise felt this disagreeable tickling in the  urethra,
 with unusual urging to urinate, a violent tenesmus of the bladder
 which was soon after accompanied by a distressing tenesmus  of the
 rectum.  The faeces consisted of small, hard fragments.
   The urine deposited a slimy sediment.
   The affection of the urethra seemed to assume the form of  a neu-
 ralgic affection.  BetAveen eight and nine o'clock in  the  morning,
 and between six and seven in the evening, the prover suddenly felt
 a  tickling  and warmth in the glans;  soon after this  sensation was
 accompanied by an irresistible urging to urinate;  as soon as the
 urine reached the glans, it caused an exceedingly troublesome pain
 in this part, which continued even for some minutes after an emission
 of urine, and was accompanied by a continually increasing urging to
 urinate.  The distress might be eased by drinking  a quantity of cold
 water, and by compressing the glans with the fingers.
   The third prover experienced the same distressing tickling in the
 urethra, with frequent urging to  urinate, the same  changes  in the
 pulse, constipation with frequent tenesmus of the rectum, and oppres-
 sion  of  the bowels and stomach after eating.

   The other provers did not develop any new symptoms.  In all, the
pulse became slower, fuller and more jerking, and the oppression and
feeling of tension in the region of the stomach showed themselves. 
FERRUM.
495
  Let us noAV review the effects of this  drug, with reference to the
diseases with which it seems to be in homoeopathic rapport.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  We have seen that iron causes cerebral congestions, characterized
by pinching in the temples, and a dull feeling in the head.  Accord-
ing to Hahnemann's provings, it also  causes dizziness as if intoxi-
cated.  We may therefore recommend iron for
  Congestive Headaches, where these symptoms occur.   Upon exami-
nation, Ave shall find  that these headaches are sympathetic rather
than primary affections, resulting from, or at any rate accompanied
by costiveness, Avith frequent  urging to stool, rush of blood to the
head, palpitation of the heart, or rather  hard jerking of this organ;
the pulse, may be  slower than in a normal state of the organism.
There  may  be gastric difficulties, nausea,  coated  tongue, pressure
after eating, weakness; and this'whole train of symptoms may more
particularly occur  in chlorotic ^patients.

                      NERVOUS GROUP.

  We  have  seen that iron causes weariness, a feeling of languor,
depression of strength, a want of aptitude to apply one's self to  busi-
ness or study.  This condition of the body or mind, provided iron
is to remedy  it, must be symptomatic of other more general derange-
ments, more particularly of a chlorotic or gastric character.
  Iron may likewise induce neuralgic pains, but they will likewise
be found to be symptomatic of chlorosis; idiopathic neuralgia is not
relieved by iron.
  According to Hahnemann's provings, Ferrum causes symptoms of
chronic arthritic and rheumatic affections in the extremities,  such as
tearing and stitching pains, lameness and numbness, and oedematous
swelling of  the knee-joints, feet and hands.   AAre may recommend
iron in affections of this kind, when the patients are of a leucophleg-
matic constitution; individuals of a  rigid  fibre and  a bilious tem-
perament Avould hardly be amenable  to the good effects of  iron in
such conditions of the system.
   Anemia from excessive losses, or  as symptomatic of a  general
cachexia, may require iron.

                   CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   AYe have seen that iron deranges the gastric  functions in various
ways.   It  causes  oppression  and fulness  of the bowels, and  more
particularly  of the stomach, after eating; pappy taste in the mouth,
Avhite  and yellow  coating on the tongue;  costiA^eness, the faeces  being
expelled  in  the shape of hard and  very  dark balls, Avith painful
tenesmus of the rectum ; nausea, vomiting of  food, crampy pains in
the stomach, may  likewise be developed by the abuse of iron.
   Guided by these effects of  our drugs, we may prescribe iron in
   Dyspepsia and  Cardialgia, where similar symptoms  occur, more 
496                      LECTURE XXXI.

particularly in the case of chlorotic, leuco-phlegmatic females, with
torpid constitutions.  It may also be of great  use in the case of
pregnant females who are troubled with similar symptoms; the dis-
tressing
   Vomiting, to which they are sometimes subject, may yield to iron,
provided the accompanying constitutional symptoms correspond.
  Nursing Sore Mouth may sometimes require the iron-preparations;
we  may use  the acetate internally, from three to five drops three
times a day, and at the same time rinse the mouth with a solution of
the same substance, about twenty-five drops in half a tumblerful of
water, three or four times a day.   It is particularly suitable to scro-
fulous and spongy constitutions.
  This condition of the mouth is generally attended with such gastric
derangements as indicate iron, such as
  Diarrhea.   AYe know that large  doses  of iron may cause slimy
and  bloody stools, with tenesmus.  In  the  case of cachectic  and
leuco-phlegmatic individuals, where this kind  of diarrhoea  occurs,
great good may be accomplished by the persevering use of iron.  In
all such cases, we  should never prescribe for one symptom merely,
were it ever so prominent, but likeAvise look  at the general constitu-
tional  state of the patient, the gastric symptoms, appearance of the
tongue, state of the appetite and condition of the stomach and bowels,
condition  of  the pulse, complexion, degree of strength.  Not only
full-grown persons, but also  children,  may be  benefitted by the
use of iron, if their boAvels are habitually loose, slimy, bloody, dark-
colored and  offensive, with a  good deal  of urging.  The general
appearance of the patient should  correspond with the picture that
we have drawn. Let  it be distinctly understood, that in affections of
this kind,  where the vegetative system, by which we understand that
series of ganglia and  corresponding tissues which are more particu-
larly concerned in the  reproduction of  organic  fibre, is  so  deeply
prostrated, decaying as it Avere: the lower potencies of iron, from the
first to the third  trituration, or the tincture, are preferable to the
higher.
  Children of a cachectic habit of body, a combination of the stru-
mous and scrofulous  diathesis, who are  troubled Avith this kind of
diarrhoea,  may likewise be liable to another distressing affection,
  Ascarides ; iron  has been known to favor the development of these
parasites;  hence we may recommend it as a means for their gradual
extirpation, by bringing about a normal action of the  intestinal
mucous surfaces.
  Undigested food is very often mixed up with the diarrhoea of such
cachectic individuals.   Hence in
  Lienteria, iron may prove beneficial.
  The Colliquative Diarrhiea of consumptive persons, with scrofulous
constitutions, may  be favorably modified by iron.

  Costiveness may  require iron, if  cerebral  congestions, dullness and
fullness about the  head, pains in the temples, dizziness, oppression on
the chest,  distention and fullness in the boAvels, sIoav, full and jerking
pulse, are present. 
FERRUM.
497
   Persons who use the water of chalybeate springs have been known
 to become affected with fluent piles;  hence we recommend iron for
   Fluent Piles, with much pressing in the rectum,  and a general
 cachectic, debilitated appearance of the patient, full and hard, jerking,
 rather sIoav pulse, constipation alternating with diarrhoea.

                       URINARY GROUP.

   You recollect the remarkable effects which iron produced in most
 of the provers who subjected themselves to  the action of this agent:
 tickling in  the urethra,  violent  and constant urging  to urinate,
 throbbing in the  external  terminal  portion of the  urethra, slimy
 sediment in the urine.  We shall find iron indicated  in what is
 termed
   Catarrh of the bladder or blennorrhcea of the bladder, in the case of
 scrofulous, spongy individuals.  Even in
   Gleet, iron may prove useful to  patients with such torpid, spongy
 constitutions.
   Phithisis or Colliquation of the urinary mucous  membrane, Avhere
 the patient wastes  away under the purulent drain constantly going
 on from an ulcer situated in the urethra, with tickling and constant
 urging to urine, may require iron.
   We shall find iron useful  in
   Enuresis of scrofulous and debilitated individuals.   Also in
   Enuresis  nocturna of children with  scrofulous, leucophlegmatic
 constitutions, who  are  troubled with  worms, large bowels, etc.  In
 such  affections we  shall find iron  particularly useful  in  the case of
 girls.
                       SEXUAL  GROUP.

   In  this range, iron has been considered an invaluable agent by
 physicians of all ages and nations.  The primary effect of  large doses
 of iron upon the sexual organs seems to be to cause a sort  of plethora
 in these parts, characterized by erections and nocturnal emissions.
 This surexcitation of the sexual organs' may be6ome so troublesome
 as to require medical treatment, more particularly in the case of con-
 stitutionally  feeble, cachectic  individuals.   In  the case  of strong,
 plethoric individuals, this condition  might require  Aconite.   YYe
 therefore recommend iron for
   Nocturnal Emissions with violent erections, in the case of constitu-
 tionally feeble individuals.
   But iron may likewise be indicated in debility of the sexual organs,
 to which the continued use of small doses of iron leads.  Hence we
 use iron in cases of
   Impotence and Spermatorrhea, Avhen induced by abuse of the sexual
 organs, especially in the case of weakly scrofulous individuals.

   The primary effect of iron  upon the sexual organs of the female is
an increased and premature  secretion of the menstrual blood, hence
we find iron indicated in
   Metrorrhagia,  more particularly when the blood is  dark colored,
viscid,  forming a thick, elastic crassamentum after coagulation.
                               32 
498
LECTURE XXXI.
  Miscarriage may be  prevented  by  iron, if  the totality of the
symptoms indicates this drug; violent  congestions of the brain and
chest, dizziness, throbbing headache, palpitation of the heart, fever-
flashes, violent pressing pains in the small of the back and bowels,
generally characterize cases  where iron is indicated.  A case is
reported where a lady who had miscarried five times in successipn
in her eighth month, went through the two subsequent pregnancies
Avithout any accident, after taking  the  tincture of. iron in  15  drop
doses three times a day, commencing about the middle of the fifth
month, and increasing the dose every day by three drops  until she
took about 40 drops each  time.  A larger dose caused anxiety, pal-
pitation  and vertigo.

  It is a well-known fact that females who are continually exposed
to the influence of chalybeate springs, may lose the power  of repro-
duction ; hence we give iron sucessfully for
   Sterility, especially in the  case  of chlorotic  females, or females
who are subject to profuse and premature menstruation.
  Amenorrhea may  yield  to  iron.  If monorrhagia constitutes a
primary effect of iron, we may be  sure that menstrual suppression
will take place as a symptom of organic reaction.  Small doses of
iron will meet this condition, especially  in the  case of  chlorotic
females.
   Dysmenorrhea, with  discharge  of small quantities of  a watery
blood, dragging  pain in  the small of the back  and hypogastric
region,  may be met by iron, especially  in  the case  of  chlorotic
females.          *

   Under the influence of iron existing leucorrhceal discharges have
become painful.  Hence in
   Leucorrhea, with soreness of the vagina, unnatural heat in the
vagina,  discharge of a serous, offensive fluid, mixed with  flocks of
mucus, iron may prove of use.

   In one of the female provers of iron who was pregnant, the vagina
became prolapsed.  We find  iron indicated in
   Prolapsus of the Vagina during  pregnancy.   These affections of
the sexual organs of the  female, are particularly  amenable to the
curative influence of iron in the case of chlorotic females.   In
   Chilorosis, we  depend upon iron as  one of our  main  remedies.
This pathological condition is very improperly termed " green-sick-
ness."  The French designates it  by the  term "pales couleurs," and
the Germans by the term " Bleichsuchit," both terms meaning " pale
colors."  Trousseau and Pidoux generalize the symptoms of chlorosis
in the following comprehensive list of morbid phenomena:
   " General discoloration  of the skin and of the mucous membranes;
slight emaciation, bloating of the face and lower extremities.
   " Nervousness, hysteria, melancholy, fitful mood, Aveakness of the
muscles.
   " Neuralgic pains which generally come on in irregular paroxysms.
   " Increase or decrease of the volume of the heart; the impulse of 
FERRUM.'
499
the heart is at  times  stronger, at other times weaker than in the
natural condition; gentle blowing murmur  accompanying the first
sound of the heart; the second sound of the heart is sometimes very
loud;. blowing  murmurs in the  large arterial trunks, especially in
the carotids, subclavians, etc., also in the jugular veins!
  " Pulse more frequent  than in the normal state, feverishness, dry
skin, thirst.
  " Loss of breath after  the slightest exercise, palpitation of the
heart.
  "Dyspepsia,  pyrosis,  depraved appetite,  gastralgia,  occasional
vomiting, habitual constipation,  diarrhoea  after the sickness has
lasted for some time.
  " Painful, irregular, scanty, pale menses, or complete suppression,
leucorrhcea, menorrhagia, sterility."
  Chlorosis is very often a mask for tubercular phthisis.  The affec-
tion may seem cured, but it is  only hushed  to be replaced  by a
tubercular  disease of the lungs that will inevitably terminate fatally.
In such cases we frequently find tubercles of the lungs and liver go
hand in hand.  Wherever you have reason to suspect the existence
of tubercles in chlorosis, I advise you most urgently, not to depend
upon iron alone; then is  the time to call to your aid the tincture of
the root of Aconite, which you may  associate with the iodide of iron.
I know of no tAvo drugs that are endowed with such eminent powers
to check and resolve the tubercular process in its incipient stage of
irritation as Aconite and the Iodide of Iron.
  Iron  will act powerfully against many of the  consequences of
chlorosis.
  Dropsy, for instance, may yield to iron, if resulting from an im-
poverished and Avatery condition of the blood, or, to use the language
of modern  pathology, from a state of anaemia or hydraemia of the
system.  Profuse  depletions or frequent  haemorrhages may lead to
such results.

         CATARRHAL  AND  THORACIC GROUPS.

  The action  of iron upon the respiratory organs is exceedingly
remarkable:
  Tickling in the larynx, with constant desire to cough ;
  Spasmodic cough, with expectoration of mucus;
  Sensation as  if hot air were rising in the wind-pipe ;
  Dyspnoea, worse by walking;
  Determination of blood to the chest;
  Haemoptysis;
  Discharge of greenish  pus on Avaking.
  These symptoms show that iron may be useful in
  Asthma,  and in
  Phthisis of the Larynx, Trachea and Lungs.   In laryngeal phthisis
we have: fixed pain in the larynx, cough with purulent expectora-
tion, hoarseness,  emaciation, consumptive fever and colliquation,
rattling of phlegm in the bronchia.  In phthisis florida: cough Avith
fetid, greenish, bloody pus, hectic fiwer, night-sAveats. 
500
LECTURE XXXI.
  Iron may also prove useful in ulceration of the larynx when pro-
duced by syphilitic metastasis.
  Dupasquier recommends the iodide of iron for phthisis pulmonalis
with expectoration of pus and blood, cough, oppression, debilitating
sweats, fever,  even vomicae.
  Pneumorrhiagia, especially in atonic, leuco-phlegmatic subjects may
yield to the acetate of iron, or to the malate of iron.

                EXANTHEAfATOUS GROUP.

  Sores  in  cachectic,  leuco-phlegmatic  subjects,  with  deficient
reaction, want of tone in the muscular fibre, want of cohesion, may
be benefitted  by the internal use of iron.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Several homoeopathic physicians have employed iron in obstinate
quartan fevers, when China proved  ineffectual (in chlorotic subjects.)
Arsenic might perhaps be  more reliable in such cases.

                      MENTAL  GROUP.

  Hysteria and hypochondria, especially  in chlorotic  subjects,  or
after profuse loss of blood, sexual excesses, etc., are favorably acted
upon by iron.

                        ANTIDOTAL.

  According  to Hahnemann, the  excessive effects of iron  may  be
counteracted  by China  and Pulsatilla.  Iron antidotes China and
Mercury (in sIoav mercurial poisoning.)   Navier recommends iron
filings in poisoning with acetate of copper; the iron unites with the
acid and precipitates the copper in an inert metallic state (in poisoning
with copper, albumen is the best antidote.)  Hydrated sesqui-oxyde of
iron is an antidote to Arsenic.  In Buchner's Toxicology we find it
stated  that the Avorkmen  in  English needle-factories become asth-
matic between  the years of twenty-five  and thirty-five; to prevent
this, they wear magnetic screens, also magnetic bandages around the
mouth and neck; these attract the iron-dust, thus protecting the chest.
  Of the  particular preparations  of iron,  we will here remark that
the
                      Carbonate of Iron
Is one  of the mildest preparations of this agent, and has generally
been preferred by alloeopathic physicians.  Several interesting cases
of neuralgia and chorea are reported as  having  been cured with this
preparation.  It is doubtful whether the curative virtues of this
agent in neuralgia can be depended upon unless the neuralgia is
symptomatic  of a general  chlorotic condition of the system.

                    The Muriate of Iron
Acts powerfully upon  the urinary organs, depositing crystals of 
HELLEBORUS  NIGER.
501
a bright-red color in the urine.  It is also a powerful irritant of the
bowels.  In affections, to which iron is homoeopathic, and where the
symptoms  of  urinary and intestinal irritation predominate, this
preparation may be of use.   It is sometimes applied externally to
bleeding vessels on account of its styptic properties.

                   The  Sulphate of Iron
Is not used by homoeopathic physicians internally; on account oi
its poAverful astringent properties, it is sometimes used as an injection
in cases of gleet.  I do not recommend such a practice.

                     The Iodide  of  Iron
Is used in the suppurative stage of scrofulous consumption;  in the
advanced stage of tuberculosis; in  chlorosis when grafted upon a
decidedly scrofulous dyscrasia, and in scrofulous affections generally,
where we wish at the same time to combat or eradicate the  conse-
quences of an impoverished cachectic state of the system.
   In-this connection we may mention the double-salt

                Citrate  of Iron and  Quinine,
Which is likewise  used instead  of iron in anaemic states of the
system, in the case  of scrofulous  individuals, anaemic and cachetic
females who are afflicted with inveterate leucorrhcga, or osdematous
swelling in consequence of frequent losses of blood, miscarriages, etc.

   Lastly, I will mention another  preparation' of iron which  is still
used by alloeopathic physicians, I mean the  red cautery.  Think of
it, scorching a man's back  with a red-hot iron is resorted to by these
wise men as a means of  relief.   If the joke were not  so horribly
cruel,  one might feel tempted to laugh at it as one of the curious
antics of the  Evil One.   Thank  God, the age is  fast approaching
Avhen humanity Avill be  freed from such practices and practitioners.
The spirit of Hahnemann is over-shadowing the Medical Schools of
the world,  and the age of medical brutality and martydom must
yield before the gentle counsels and SAveetly  conquering globules of
Homoeopathy.



               LECTURE   XXXII.


                   HELLEBORUS NIGER,
         (Black Hellebore).—Nat.  Order:—Ranunculace^e.

   This is a perennial plant, flowering from December till  Alarch,
hence its name " Christmas Rose."  Few plants are more elegant;
the large, concave  flowers,  Avhite, with a tinge  of  blush-color, are
finely contrasted  with the ample, dark, shining foliage.  The roots
arc perennial, creeping, very black externally, Avith  numerous long,
simple, perpendicular fibres.
   It grows on rocky and woody mountains. 
502
LECTURE xxxii.
  Hahnemann has endeavored to show in his inaugural thesis enti-
tled :  De  helleborismo  veterum, that the black Hellebore  of the
ancients and the  black Hellebore which grows on the European
mountains, are identical.  But, according  to Tournefort, the  Helle-
borus niger of the Old Greeks and the Helleborus niger of the Alps
and Pyrenees are different  varieties  of  the same species.  In his
Materia Medica Pura, Hahnemann speaks of > the black Hellebore of
the ancients as a plant very closely resembling our own.   The root
of this plant, as well as the root of the white Hellebore or Veratrum
album were used by the ancients in the treatment of a variety of
disorders,  principally mania, hypochondria and other  derangements.
The treatment instituted with these roots, was a stereotyped  sort of
treatment, designated by historians as the helleborism of the ancients.
The treatment was principally carried on on the island of Antecira,
and to take a voyage to Antecira was synonymous in those times to
our modern " going to the springs or to some water-cure establish-
ment."
  In looking at the beautiful  flower you will find that the calyx is
composed  of five large, roundish, concave sepals, at first white, with
a blush of a pale rose-color deepening by age and  finally assuming
a greenish  tint, after the impregnation of the seed.  Petals tubular
and two-lipped; filaments numerous and supporting yellow anthers.
Leaves pedate,  large,  composed  of  five,  six or more leaflets, of a
deep-green color, smooth;—leaflets ovate-lanceolate, smooth, shining,
coriaceous, with the distal half of each slightly serrated,—flowerstalk
a scape, six or eight inches in length, erect, round, variegated with
red, and supporting one or two flowers.  Root blackish with numer-
ous fibres.
  From this root we obtain a brownish straw-yellow tincture.
  How does this  root  act upon the human system ?  This is best
ascertained from one  or two cases of poisoning, and from Hahne-
mann's provings.
  The following case is related in Ferrari's Journal  Universel:
  Two persons took a decoction of this root in cider;  three quarters
of an hour after taking it, alarming symptoms were developed, with-
out exciting suspicion of the real cause.   One of the men, therefore,
took another dose, when vomiting,  delirium, horrible convulsions,
accompanied Avith immediate coldness supervened, and death at last
ensued.   On dissection, sixteen hours afterwards, the appearances in
each were found precisely similar, except that in the one who  took
the largest quantity, they were  more strongly marked;  the lungs
were gorged -with blood; the mucous membrane of  the stomach was
considerably inflamed, of a blackish-broAvn color, and reduced almost
to a gangrenous state; the oesophagus and intestines were natural.
  This case shows that black Hellebore is an acrid poison, excessive
doses  of which cause vomiting, and inflame the  lining membrane of
the stomach.
  Another case of poisoning is reported by Morgagni: A man who
appeared to be nearly fifty years old, being in the hospital on account
of melancholia, was about to  depart, when he took some extract of
black Hellebore by which he was considerably purged.   In the 
HELLEBORUS  NIGER.                  503
beginning of the night, seven or eight hours after taking the  drug,
he was attacked by vomiting and pains in the abdomen, which Avere
allayed by warm  broth;  about the fifth  hour of the night  those
symptoms returned, and were again relieved.  He lay down an hour
afterwards, having vomited two or three spoonfuls of a greenish
matter.   So quietly did he rest that none of the patients in the nearest
beds heard him; but at the eighth hour they were  attracted  to his
bedside by a peculiar noise from his mouth, and found  him dead.
He had  taken  about forty drops of the extract, a  quantity which
had been administered to others with impunity.  He had, however,
neglected to drink copiously of whey, a precaution which it was cus-
tomary to recommend.  After death  the extremities were relaxed,
muscles flabby;  the  stomach, oesophagus and intestines were  found
inflamed, though not violently in  any part;  the Avhole of the cere-
brum was found softened and shrivelled.
  In  this case  purging was the first effect  of Hellebore; this was
followed by vomiting and pains of  the abdomen, again followed by
vomiting of two or three spoonfuls of a greenish matter.  The whole
of the intestinal canal Avas found inflamed, except the larger bowels.
The cerebral changes cannot  be considered  reliable, since the man
was under treatment  for melancholia, and the brain  may have been
previously diseased.
  According- to this  case, smaller doses of Hellebore  first act as a
drastic medicine ; the vomiting seems to follow next.

  Another interesting  case is reported by  Fahrenhorst  in  Rust's
Magazine.  A young man of nineteen years swallowed a tablespoon-
ful of the powdered  Hellebore by mistake.  Soon  after he was
attacked with copious vomiting.  Two hours after, when the Doctor
was called, the patient had vomited sixty times, the whole body Avas
covered with a  cold, clammy sweat, the face was pale, and the fea-
tures looked distorted, the pulse was small and tremulous, the abdo-
men distended,  but not very painful when touched.  The patient had
frequent twitchings of the muscles of the legs,  and complained par-
ticularly of a violent burning in the stomach and fauces, which he
compared to the burning caused by  a streak of fire.  After drinking
copious quantities of milk and an infusion of althea with opium, and
after applying mustard-poultices to the abdomen, he soon recovered
from the effects of the poison.
  This case reveals to some extent  curative  powers that may be  of
use to us in sudden attacks of cholera, where the inflammatory and
nervous symptoms, such as violent  vomiting and burning pains in
the epigastric region, diarrhoea, twitchings of the muscles, sinking
of the pulse, coldness of the skin and clammy sweat, manifest them-
selves conjointly.  This case may likewise suggest the propriety of
using the black Hellebore in violent  forms of gastrodynia or neurosis
of the stomach, where  precisely such a group of symptoms may
occur.

  The Christmas Rose is not a polychrest strictly speaking. I have
assigned it a place here, because it  is a very useful drug  in several 
504
LECTURE XXXII.
 important disorders to which  the  human organism  is liable, and
 because it is a drug  of great historical  renown, and occupies a
 prominent position in Hahnemann's Avritings.

                      CEPHALIC GROUP.

 •  According to Hahnemann, Hellebore depresses  the sensorium, so
 i that, with perfectly sound eyes, the patient sees imperfectly ; with
/ sound hearing, the patient hears imperfectly;  with a sound organ
j of taste,  he has no taste or appetite for  any thing;  he  recollects
' past things imperfectly, seems to be absent-minded, has no refreshing
 sleep, wants to work without having the ability to  do  so.  This
 impaired state of  cerebral innervation may be of use to  us in  the
 application of  Hellebore to various diseases to which the brain is
 liable.
   AYe notice among the symptoms of Hellebore which Hahnemann
 and his disciples  have recorded for us, a sense of stupefaction with
 dizziness;  stupifying  headache, as if the  membranes of  the brain
 were drawn tightly around this organ.
   Another prover experienced a feeling or soreness throughout the
 brain.
   As far as we may infer from the provings which have been insti-
 tuted thus far, and from the effects of large doses which have been
 SAvallowed inadvertently now and then, Helleborus niger affects the
 brain in a very marked manner, inducing engorgement of the cere-
 bral vessels, and  depressing the  vital energies of the serous mem-
 branes of the brain in a manner that  may  lead to  effusions into  the
 ventricles.
   The question occurs : Does this  drug affect  the  brain directly,
 or indirectly ?  And if the latter be  true, by what indirect channel
 does Hellebore reach  the cerebral tissues?  We are prepared to
 ansAver this question.
   Upon examining the color and quality of the blood contained in
 the engorged cerebral vessels,  we find it to be black and thick  like
 the blood that the vena porta  carries to the liver to be purified in
 this organ and afterwards returned to the organism in its purified
 form through the hepatic veins.  YYe infer from this abnormal con-
 dition of the cerebral  blood that the secretory powers of the liver
 have been weakened and in a measure paralyzed by the poison.  The
 paralyzing action of Hellebore upon the functional  poAver of the
 liver, to purify the portal blood from its acrid and  unassimilable
 principles, is one of the effects of this poison but not the  only  one.
    It is one of the offices of serous membranes to  excrete effete
 serum from the capillary blood, after this fluid has yielded up what
 nutrient elements it contains, to the tissues.  As the  portal blood is
 conducted to the liver for purposes of purification, so is  the serum
 excreted for similar purposes.  The acrid principles of  the portal
 blood  are collected in the gall-bladder in the shape of bile ; those of
 the serum are excreted in the shape  of urine.   As the black Helle-
 bore strikes down the functional power of the liver to separate effete
 principles from  the portal blood, so does it strike doAvn the func- 
HELLEBORUS  NIGER.                  505
tional poAver of serous membranes to  separate effete principles from
the serum.  What must be the consequences of a functional derange-
ment of this kind ?   Where is the effete serum which, in the natural
course of things, should  be excreted by the serous membranes, to
go, if the serous  membranes are deprived of the necessary power to
fulfil their functional mission ?  AVhy, naturally enough, it will col-
lect somewhere  else, in some cavity, or in loose tissue.  Hence the
various forms of dropsy, dropsy of the brain, thorax, pericardium,
bowels, cellular  tissue.
   This is one of the last, most destructiA^e effects  of the poison.  It
may not come to this; we may have simple oedema, a puffing up of
particular parts, of the face, hands or feet.  The  pulmonary paren-
chyma may likewise be attacked.
   (Edema and dropsical  effusions are not the only result of a re-ab-
sorption of effete serum.  The skin loses its turgescence, it becomes
inanimate, dry, sallow, and, if the acrid principles of the serum are
permitted to  remain in the capillaries, heat and fever cannot fail to
show themselves.   Thiirst is an  inevitable  accompaniment of this
condition of things.  The urine must necessarily be scanty  and dark-
colored.  The bowels, as a general rule,  Avill be  loose, slimy ; this
will depend upon the degree of serous exudation that may take place
into the intestinal canal.
   Is it not natural that the action of the effete serum upon the mucous
membranes should lead  to  the formation of sores, that the tongue
should become  aphthous, that the corners of the  mouth should be-
come  ulcerated, that the conjunctiva should become ulcerated, that
ulcerations should break out wherever the atmospheric oxygen has
a chance to  combine with the devitalized constituents of the  effete
serum ?-
   And again, can we wonder that the dermoid tissue itself should
become diseased when infiltrated, as it  were, by disorganized ele-
ments ?  Can we wonder that herpetic eruptions of various kinds
should develop themselves, even of an obstinate and inveterate char-
acter ?  Can we Avonder that the skin should become a dead  mem-
brane and peel  off in  large patches?  AYe see it  even stated in  the
Oxford Alagazine  of 1779 that various individuals who had eaten of
the Helleborus fetidus, or the stinking Hellebore, a species endowed
Avith poAvers analogous to those of the black Hellebore, lost not only
the epidermis, but their hair and nails besides.
   Having given you this brief, but I trust comprehensive and logical,
sketch of the physiological action of Hellebore in  its complex, Ave are
now prepared to account for the remarkable derangement which the
sensorium suffers from the action of Hellebore.
   How is it  that Hellebore, as Hahnemann informs us, depresses the
 sensorium ?  Hoav is it  that, with perfectly sound eyes, the patient
 sees imperfectly; with a sound sense of hearing, he hears imperfectly;
 recollects past things imperfectly, etc.
   This disordered condition of the sensorium undoubtedly arises from
 the presence of  effete serum in  the cerebral tissues.  The functional
 power of the brain is  undisturbed, but the seeing brain has  to see
 through a turbid medium, and the hearing brain perceives sounds 
506
LECTURE XXXII.
through a medium filled with opposing heterogeneous particles.  In
certain forms of
  Hydrocephalus, Hellebore proves a capital remedy.  Not in hydro-
cephalus which is one of the natural terminations of inflammation of
the brain;  but in  dropsy arising  from a diseased  condition of the
serous membranes.  In children where the reproductive system is
constitutionally low, of a lax fibre, morbidly irritable skin, weak pulse,
of an impoverished, cachectic appearance, breaking out of the corners
of the mouth, sore margins of the tongue, etc., this species of dropsy of
the brain may develop itself as a continuation of  some acute inflam-
mation of  a  serous membrane,  the pleura,  for instance, or it  may
break  out  as a  sequela  to some acute  eruptive  disease, such  as
scarlatina.
  In such a case we shall find the effusion marked  by general signs
of decay of the vegetative sphere, bleareyedness,  phlyctasnas in the
mouth and along the margins of the tongue,  ulceration of the corners
of the mouth.  The patient may be comatose, but  convulsions do not
occur as they do in encephalitis when effusion is  setting in.  In the
belladonna-dropsy, effusion  takes place more  suddenly, and is  gen-
erally marked by convulsions and a  sinking  and retarded pulse—
provided always the effusion is a termination of acute inflammation;—
in the Hellebore-dropsy the effusiom may develop itself so gradually
that the existence of spasms may remain unnoticed, and the cerebral
symptoms may be limited to pain in  the head, drowsiness, stupefac-
tion, coma.
  The tongue, in hydrocephalus to which Hellebore is homoeopathic,
may not only be  ulcerated, but also  stiff, swollen, paralyzed as it
were.  Hellebore likewise renders  the tongue insensible and rigid.
  The face looks pale, sallow, even cadaverous;  a symptom which
likewise points to Hellebore.
  Hydrocephalus may set in as a metastatic  disease in  the case of
strumous children, where a subacute irritation may shift to the brain
from some point outside of this organ, developing an effusion into its
ventricles.

                      FACIAL GROUP.

  Hellebore causes spasmodic sneezing.   Hildanus  informs us that
a woman who had just been confined, took some Hellebore, had a
little diarrhoea, vomited mucus, and finally died sneezing.
  We may therefore recommend Hellebore for a spasm of the Schnei-
derian membrane which is characterized by
  Paroxysms of Sneezing.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  AYe have seen that Hellebore  may effect poAverful disturbances in
the stomach and bowels.  It causes:
  Bitter taste in the throat;
  Dry and slimy taste in the mouth, with violent  thirst;
  Confluence of watery saliva in the mouth; 
HELLEBORUS  NIGER.
507
   Nausea, vomiting of green bile and,purging, Avith great pain;
   Burning as from a hot iron in the stomach and oesophagus;
   White, jelly-like discharges from the bowels several times a day;
 also
   Hard and scanty stool with violent cutting in the rectum.
   We have seen that these symptoms justify the use of Hellebore in
   Gastrodynia and the milder forms of
   Chiolera Asiatica, with excessive restlessness and anxiety.

                      URINARY GROUP.

   The first effect of large doses of Hellebore is to suppress the urinary
 secretions, the secondary effect,  or the  symptom of organic reaction
 is emission of increased quantities of watery urine.  This symptom
 is valuable in dropsy, where the urinary secretions  are very much
 diminished.

                       SEXUAL  GROUP.

   Hellebore depresses or extinguishes the sexual instinct, a valuable
 indication in disorders where Hellebore is indicated.
   In the female it may cause menstrual suppression, and is therefore
 indicated in amenorrhcea with oedema or ascites.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

   Hellebore causes a good many of the  symptoms which characterize
   Hydrothiorax, and (Edema of the Lungs.  We have
   Hurried breathing:
   Slow and deep  breathing;
   Contraction of  the chest;  he  had to  gasp for  air with his mouth
 wide open, unable to breathe.
   We might refer these symptoms to a
   Spasm of the Lungs.  Hellebore is particularly useful in dropsy of
 the chest, and perhaps of the pericardium, if the disease is an after-
 disease developing itself in the wake  of measles or scarlatina.  In
 hydrothorax of this kind, the patient may soon become oedematous in
 various parts of his body;  he may be troubled with dry and racking
 cough, orthopnoea, diminished secretion of urine, etc.

                 EXANTHEMATOUS  GROUP.

   Here let us  again allude to the fact that Hellebore is homoeopathic
to the various forms of dropsy,  when not resulting from organic dis-
ease of the liver and kidneys, but from a  deficiency or prostration of
the functional  power of the serous membranes.  It may develop  itself
more particularly in scrofulous, tuberculous, strumous individuals,
after measles, scarlatina, or as a  continuation of some acute inflamma-
tion of serous membranes;  it may affect various localities, the brain,
thorax, bowels, sexual organs, cellular tissues, etc.
   Dropsy may set in  as a sequela  of  scarlet fever, in the  bowels,
sexual organs, pericardium; Hellebore  is one of the remedies for it. 
508
LECTURE XXXIII.
Dropsy may likewise result from menstrual suppression, in the form
of Ascites, peritoneal dropsy.
  Hellebore has caused vesicles in the  finger-joints, discharging  a
moisture;
  Herpes, yellowish, discharging a fluid  when scratched.
  Hellebore has been recommended by Willan for
  Lepra and Plica Polonica.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Hartmann recommends Hellebore for
  Lentescent Typhius, with internal burning heat at night, chilliness
and cold hands, stupefying sensation in  the head, drowsiness, numb-
ness of the extremities, small pulse.
  Hellebore has also been recommended for
  Intermittent Quartan, with obstinate swelling of the spleen and liver.
Here I think Arsenic preferable to Hellebore.

                          MENTAL.

  Hellebore is the great-remedy which the ancients were in the habit
of using for various mental derangements, more particularly for
  Puerperal Mania, and mania from menstrual suppression.
  A case is reported in  Hufeland's  Journal where a girl become
deranged in consequence of menstrual suppression, jumping over
chairs and  tables; she was speedily restored by the internal  use of
Hellebore.
  In olden times, about the year 1400 before Christ, there reigned a
good and generous king Proctus, whose daughters were insane in con-
sequence of menstrual suppression or some other abnormal condition
of the sexual sphere.   The poor  girls ran about the forests, naked
like beasts, and imitating the sounds of animals. - Proctus offered half
his kingdom to any one who should cure his daughters. This tempted
the good Doctor Melampus to try the  cure. He accomplished it with
black Hellebore, obtained half a kingdom, and he and his two brothers
became the king's sons-in-law.
             LECTURE   XXXIII.

                  HYOSCYAMUS  NIGER.

           (Black Henbane.—Nat. Order:—Solane^e.)

  This name is derived from the Greek huos, hog, and kuamos, bean.
Hogs are said to eat  the  fruit of Hyoscyamus, which bears some
resemblance to a bean.—Biennial, flowers  from June to August.—■
Root spindle-shaped;  stem one to  four feet high,  upright, round,
tough, branched, Avooly toAvards the  top, very leafy; leaves alter-
nate, sessile, somewhat ovate, sinuate, with short lobes, downy and 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
509
viscid, exhaling a powerful and oppressive odor; flowers numerous,
from the bosoms of the crowded upper leaves, almost entirely ses-
sile.  Corolla  of  a pale  yellowish-brown, beautifully  netted with
purple  veins,  and a dark purple  eye or base; filaments Avhite;
anthers  and style of a fine deep purple.
  The plant, in the first year, has no stem; the leaves are all radical,
each having a footstalk or pedicle.  The leaves are wooly, but pos-
sess little of  the  odor  of  the mature plant.  The leaves of the
second year are large, long, and deeply inverse, sessile, and nearly
embrace the stem, and  having decurrent lobes which are of a  more
delicate texture than the blade of the leaf.  These lobes are impor-
tant points  to observe in  examining a specimen.  The leaves are
very clammy and fetid, having an odor very similar to that of the
black_currant; these are the true  medicinal leaves, and they should
be gathered as soon as the flowers are blown.  It is found in Europe,
Asia and North America; on road-sides,  amidst rubbish, and on
hill-slopes where the rubbish collects.  We prepare a dark-green
tincture from  the whole  plant, or a brownish-red tincture from the
seeds alone.
  Goats and swine eat this herb with impunity : horses bear  large
doses of it.
  This  is a  most important drug in the treatment of various  inter-
esting maladies.   A few cases of poisoning will make you acquainted
with  the manner in which  this drug affects the human system
generally.
  Boerhaave tells us 4hat he experienced a sensation of trembling
and drunkenness whilst preparing a plaster of henbane.
  YYepfer relates that several monks feasted on the roots of the
wild endive, among which were mixed by mistake two roots of hen-
bane.   In a few hours some experienced vertigo, others a burning
of the  tongue, lips and  throat; severe pains Avere  also felt in the
iliac region and in all the joints.   The intellectual faculties and the
organs  of vision were perverted, and they gave themselves  up  to
ludicrous and crazy actions. •
  From this case we infer  that Hyoscyamus affects powerfully the
brain, and through the brain the nervous system generally.   You
will observe that it caused
   1. Arertigo;
  2. Burning of the tongue, lips  and throat;
  3. Severe pains in the iliac region and in all the joints;
  4. Perversion  of the  intellectual faculties and organ of vision,
they committed crazy and  ludicrous actions.
  Most  of  these  symptoms show that Hyoscyamus must be an
excellent remedy in some cerebral diseases, more particularly typhus
cerebralis, meningitis,  and  some forms of insanity.
  Two  symptoms among this series are of importance as therapeutic
indications.   The  severe pains in the joints  may foreshadow an
approaching inflammation of the brain.  It is  well known that men-
ingitis is often preceded  for a  day or more by rheumatic pains of the
joints and  muscles.  The  perversion of the intellect  and sense of
vision indicates  Hyoscyamus as a remedy  for craziness. 
510
LECTURE XXXIII.
   Two soldiers of the French  army before Cadiz  ate the young
 shoots  of  the  plant dressed in  olive-oil.  They presently became
 giddy and stupid, the ground seemed to give Avay under their feet,
 they lost their  speech, and had  a dull, haggard look.  The pupils
 were excessively dilated, and the eyes so insensible that the eyelids
 did not Avink when the cornea was touched; the pulse was small and
 intermitting; breathing difficult, jaws locked, and the  mouth dis-
 torted by risis sardonicus.  Sensibility was extinct, the limbs were
 cold  and the lower extremities palsied, the arms convulsed, and
 there was that singular union of  delirium and coma usually termed
 typhomania. One of them was exceedingly delirious, and attempted
 to escape.
   Here we have an important series of symptoms:
   1. Giddiness and stupefaction;
   2. Sensation  as if  the ground  were giving way under their feet;
   3. Loss of speech;
   4. Dull and haggard expression of the countenance;
   5. Excessive dilatation of the pupils, and insensibility of the eyes;
   6. Small and intermittent pulse;
   7. Difficulty  of  breathing;
   8. Lockjaw and risus sardonicus ;
   9. Loss of sensibility;
   10. Coldness of the limbs, paralysis  of the  lower extremities,
 convulsion of the  arms;
   11. Typhomania or an union of delirium and coma.
   12. Attempts to escape.
   Both were saved by means of  an emetic of stibium, drastic pur-
 gatives and frictions with vinegar.
   These symptoms point most signally to various cerebral affections,
 more particularly to
   Meningitis, even in the stage of coma—(the fifth symptom indi-
 cates this affection).
   Typhius of the brain, as indicated by the typhomania, the  appear-
 ance of the countenance, and the desire to escape which is eminently
 characteristic of Hyoscyamus; and
   Hysteria cerebralis, or hysteric  Convulsions, as  manifested by the
 risus sardonicus and  the lockjaw.

   Dr. Patouillat, of Toucy, in France, saw nine  persons who were
poisoned by this root; some Avere speechless and convulsed, others
 occasionally howled; in all  there was protrusion of  the eyes, con-
tortion of the mouth like risus sardonicus, and delirium.
   This case shows that Hyoscyamus affects the brain, and that it
 may be of great use in Mania and Rage.

   It is related in the London Lancet that a tailor, under the influence
of this plant, could not thread his. needle; his needle seemed to have
three points.  This shows the disturbing action of Hyoscyamus upon
the organ of vision.

   Kahleis reports the  case of a  young girl  in whohn the seeds of 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
511
Hyoscyamus caused distortion of the  mouth (risis sardonicus), con-
stipation,  desire to vomit,, after wards convulsive  movements like
chorea, loss  of  sight and  hearing, dilatation of the pupils, and an
exceedingly small pulse.   In this case the effect of Hyoscyamus
upon the special senses is to be noticed: loss of vision and hearing.

  According to Vicat, a man and his wife ate the root, and were
attacked Avith difficulty of swallowing, inflammation of the brain and
stupefaction. In meningitis where Hyoscyamus is indicated,  the
patient is  generally more or less stupid, and at times shows symp-
toms of furious delirium.
  From three injections of Hyoscyamus, Berignon observed apo-
plectic symptoms, loss of sight, brown color  and bloating of the
face, vertigo and delirium.

  Rueff states a case  Avhere a man, who used the vapors of Hyos-
cyamus for toothache, Avas attacked with complete impotence.
  Gmelin reports a case of  a little  girl who took one scruple of  a
decoction of the seeds; she was  attacked with  epilepsy, rolling of
the eyes,  foam  at the  mouth,  grating of  the  teeth, stupor and
insensibility.
  In Frank's  Magazine a  case is reported, where a woman, from
eating the root of Hyoscyamus in the place of parsnip, was attacked
Avith gradually increasing  stupefaction, vibrations before the eyes,
sparkling of the eyes, diplopia, dilatation of the pupils, obscuration
of sight,  vertigo, dryness  in  the mouth, trembling of the limbs,
staggering gait,  small, scarcely perceptible, frequently intermitting
and moderately slow pulse.
  In this case we observe particularly the  effect of Hyoscyamus
upon the eyes, the luminous vibrations, the sparkling of the eye-
balls, the diplopia and the obscuration of  sight.

  A little girl of four  years  who had eaten  some of the  seeds of
Hyoscyamus, was attacked with the following symptoms:
  Small, white vesicles on the lips;
  Bright redness of the face and of the conjunctiva;
  Excessive dilatation  of the pupils so  that  only a very narrow
border of the iris remained visible;
  Perfect insensibility of the pupil,  even  when exposed  to  the
brightest  light;
  Slimy coating on the back part of the tongue;
  Small pulse,  but tumultuous and'irregular beating of the heart;
  Complete loss of sense;
  Frequent moaning and catching at something  with  the  fingers
spread out;  •
  Frightful grating of the teeth;
  Continual unintelligible muttering.
  An emetic, vinegar and water internally, and cold affusions to the
head saved  the child's life.
  AYe cannot fail to notice in this case the wonderful poAver possessed
by  Hyoscyamus, of producing amaurosis.  From the accompanying 
512
LECTURE XXXIII.
symptoms we infer that  the amaurosis occasioned  by Hyoscyamus,
is  not  an idiopathic disease of the optic  nerve and retina, but a
symptom or sequela of some more general cerebral disorder, such as
typhus or inflammation.  The grating of the teeth and the comatose
condition, of the  child,  would justify  the  use  of Hyoscyamus in
encephalitis with effusion into the ventricles.

  In a case of poisoning reported in the Journal  de Medecine, the
symptoms were those of furious delirium tremens and typhus. The
patient had swallowed three ounces of the seeds of Hyoscyamus as a
remedy for pains in the rectum.   His face became bluish ;  the eyes
looked red, wild, sparkling; the veins of the neck, extremities and
more particularly those  of the face were very much  distended; the
whole  body was  convulsed ; frequent subsultus  tendinum,  and a
furious delirium,  so that he  became uncontrollable.  During the
periods of remission, he was engaged in catching at flocks  in the
air, or  at pulling at the bed-clothes; he uttered but few inarticulate
sounds.  When he became quiet, he seemed very much exhausted
and snored deeply, until the convulsions recommenced.  His pulse
was small, quick,  contracted and  intermittent, and  easily compressi-
ble ; hypogastric region  distended and sensitive ; scanty secretion of
urine.  The patient was tormented by itching which obliged him to
scratch himself until bleeding; he manifested an irresistible aversion
to every kind of beverage.
   These symptoms may represent a group of  typhus cerebralis and
likewise of meningitis.
   In several other cases of poisoning, where the  patients were
children, one talked and laughed most merrily, a peculiar sort of
delirium; others  resisted by scratching, pinching  and biting if  an
attempt was made to  control them, or  to take things out of their
hands; the eyes were  glistening, unsteady, rolling  about in their
sockets.  We therefore find Hyoscyamus indicated  in
   Rage and merry Craziness.

   These few cases of poisoning and Orfila's experiments upon ani-
mals show:
   1. That Hyoscyamus  is a powerful poison capable of intensely
disturbing the action of the brain, of  the  cerebral, spinal  and gan-
glionic nerves;
   2. That the plant acts with more  intensity in the fall, when fully
matured, than at any previous period;
   3. That the root is more efficacious than the leaves, and
   4. That the seeds are  more efficacious than  either.
   The active  principle of this  drug  is its alkaloid Hyoscyamine
which affects the ojganism either by its direct action  upon the brain
or through the blood.  Orfila's experiments upon  animals  have led
him to conclude that the poison  acts  most powerfully when intro-
duced into the circulation.
  Upon examining the action of Hyoscyamus upon the brain, you
will discover a very great analogy between the effects of Hyoscyamus 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
513
and those of Belladonna.  Both these agents induce a similar kind
of delirium, marked symptoms of congestion, derange the intellec-
tual faculties and the special senses in  a  similar manner, and may
therefore be indicated in the same  range of cerebral diseases, more
especially in phrenitis,  typhus, apoplexy,  convulsions.  Neverthe-
less there is a marked difference between the action of Belladonna
and that of Hyoscyamus in this, that Belladonna acts upon that prin-
ciple in the brain which presides over the phenomena of the arterial,
and  Hyoscyamus over  that principle in  the brain which presides
over the phenomena of the venous  system.  Hyoscyamus cannot
possibly be  indicated in the uncomplicated scarlet-fever of Syden-
ham, because it is incapable of inducing a  congestion of the arterial
capillaries such  as Ave know exists in scarlet-fever.  Keeping this
leading difference in vieAV that the phenomena  of congestion which
characterize the action of Hyoscyamus, refer  more to the venous,
and the phenomena of congestion which characterize the action of
Belladonna, refer more to  the  arterial system, we shall  be prepared
to discriminate in practical cases  between  the requisite therapeutic
properties of these two  drugs.
   Hahnemann has furnished us more  interesting provings of Hyos-
cyamus, which we will subject  to a closer examination in connection
with the toxicological symptoms of the drug.

                     CEPHALIC  GROUP.

   The action of Hyoscyamus upon the  brain  is  most  remarkable,
and shows that this drug must be one of our chief remedial agents .
in diseases of this organ.  Among the symptoms which  characterize
the action of Hyoscyamus upon the  brain, we  may distinguish  the
following:
   Vertigo (of a fortnight's standing);
   Vertigo with obscuration of sight;
   Vertigo as if intoxicated ;                  t
   Loss of sensibility; he may be pinched without  his  taking  the
least notice of it;
   Stupefaction ;
   Loss of sense;
   Heaviness of the head, and violent headache;
   Stupefying headache, sometimes with  stinging and tearing pains;
   Headache, with unnatural heat in the  head ;
   Undulating sensation in the head, like. a violent beating of  the
arteries; with pressure in  the forehead.
   These are the peculiar  pains which Hyoscyamus excites in  the
head ;  they alone would not be sufficiently  characteristic indications
to recommend Ifyoscyamus as  a remedy  of great power or compre-
hensive range. But these are not the only indications of the manner
in Avhich Hyoscyamus affects the brain.  Its action upon the brain
as manifested by its  action upon the special senses, shows that  the
therapeutic virtues of this drug in various cerebral diseases are of
the highest  order.    Look, for instance,  at  the  manner  in which it 
514
LECTURE XXXIII.
 affects the sense of vision.  Among those who have poisoned them-
 selves with Hyoscyamus, some have been attacked Avith
   Temporary amaurosis ; others  Avith
   Dimness or obscurity of sight; others with
   Illusions of sight;  things  looked red as fire, or  had a golden-
     yellow appearance;
   Things that Avere very small looked as if they were  large, for in-
     stance a lark seemed a goose; a blade of grass looked like a beam,
     a drop like a lake ;  when reading, the letters seemed to move
     about, and looked as if ants had been  crawling about;
   One imagined that the needle had three  points, he was  unable to
     thread it;                               .              •
   Another fancied that pictures on the wall were hanging crooked,
     and would fall;
   Sparkling  and red  eyes.
   And now look at the manner in which  Hyoscyamus affects the
 sensorium, the  intellectual faculties and the nervous system gene-
 rally ; it causes:
   Stupor;
   Constant desire to sleep ;
   Excessive  prostration;
   Delirium of  various kinds, loquacious,  furious, muttering inco-
     herent, full of improper words, insulting, profane ;
   Silly demeanor;
   Grasping at flocks;
   Picking at the bed-clothes ;
,  Constant desire to  escape.
   Taking all these symptoms together, you will find that they make
 up  several groups corresponding Avith Phirenitis, Typhius  Cerebralis
 and Delirium Tremens.

   In  order to complete these groups, it will be necessary  to add to
 the morbid phenomena here described, the  symptoms expressive of
 the appearance of the countenance, the marked changes Avhich Hyos-
 cyamus  occasions in  the sphere  of the special senses, particularly
 hearing and  sight, in the ganglionic  system of nerves, and in  the
 sensorial range ; these morbid phenomena, more especially the deli-
 rium, constitute essential elements of a  group of  symptoms repre-
 senting phrenitis or  typhus cerebralis.  We shall describe these
 particular phenomena in  their order, and, in «the meanAvhile, will
 here  premise an  outline of the  characteristic pathognomonic signs
 of phrenitis,  in order to  enable us  to make good our assertion that
 Hyoscyamus is in eminently homoeopathic rapport with this most
 violent snd dangerous disease.
    Phirenitis,  according to Schosnlein, is distinguished by violent  con-
 gestions of the head,  throbbing of the carotids, red and bloated face,
 injected appearance  of the eyeballs, furious delirium, which often
 manifests itself in the form of violent cries accompanied by resistance
 to  the least  opposition.   Optical  phantasms, hardness of hearing,
 trouble the patient.   In some cases, the sensitiveness of the pupil to
  io-ht may be so greatly increased, that it will contract to the smallest 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
515
dimensions.  The pulse  is full, hard and  tense; skin hot and dry ;
the bowels are bound, the urine is red and scanty.   If the patient is
conscious, he complains of thirst.

  In Typhus Cerebralis, where Hyoscyamus is indicated, we may have
violent  pains in  the head, apparently of a rheumatic nature, with
symptoms  of congestion; very soon the features convey an expres-
sion of  deep suffering; the face looks haggard, the tongue becomes
dry, with a brown, glazed coating, the taste is altered, foul, the teeth
become covered  with  sordes, delirium sets  in, of a muttering or
furious  kind, the patient is  troubled with optical illusions,  sees
double,  thinks  that, objects will  fall  over,  indulges in coarse and
obscene language, etc.

  In  Delirium Tremens,  Hyoscyamus is  seldom  indicated, except
perhaps in the case of old, worn-out topers, where  the delirium is of
a muttering kind, the pulse small, quick, compressible, the skin cold
and clammy; or it may possibly be of use in this disease, if persons
of an irritable temperament become furious under the exciting effects
of liquor, with glistening eyes, bloated face, and a full, hard, rapid
pulse.   Here Hyoscyamus may compete with Belladonna and Opium,
though  this last-named agent will  be found a most admirable counter-
poison under these circumstances.

   We should not forget that
   Apoplexy may be successfully treated  with  Hyoscyamus, if the
symptoms  of the paroxysm correspond with those of the drug.   We
have seen that Hyoscyamus causes a bluish  and bloated appearance
of the face, violent cerebral pains and congestions, redness, protru-
sion and sparkling of the eyeballs, excessive dilatation and  insensi-
bility of the pupils, stertorous breathing, stupor and coma, small.
rapid and intermitting pulse, with tumultuous beating of the heart,
or else full, hard, someAvhat accelerated pulse; the extremities may
feel numb, and even insensible ; or a prickling sensation may be felt
in them, and they may be covered with a  clammy sweat.  These
symptoms  may characterize an attack  of apoplexy, and will be fully
met by  Hyoscyamus.

  Let us now consider the symptoms belonging  more properly to the

                     NERVOUS  GROUP.

  We may range them under three leading sub-divisions, viz.:

                           a. Pains.
  Such  as: pains in the joints; rheumatic pains, also in the extrem-
ities and loins ;  numbness of the extremities.
  These pains may exist in the preliminary stages of phrenitis and
tYphus  of  the  brain, Avhen these diseases originate in  rheumatic
exposure.  And they may also exist  as  rheumatic affections, inde-
pendently of cerebral disease.  In Old-School  practice, local rheu- 
516
LECTURE XXXIII.
matic pains have been frequently treated with Hyoscyamus poultices,
which seem to have afforded relief in more than one case; though I
am disposed to look upon the relief afforded by  Hyoscyamus in
rheumatic  affections as a palliation of the pain, rather than as a
radical cure.

                   b.  Weakness and Paralysis.

  Viz.: fainting, weariness; the lower  extremities are so weak that
he is  unable to  support himself; prostration and trembling of the
whole body;  hemiplegia.
  These symptoms have no value except in so far  as they charac-
terize affections of the brain, where Hyoscyamus is indicated as the
particular remedy.
  Hemiplegia may set in during the course of cerebral typhus, or it
may remain as a consequence of some acute cerebral disorder. Hyos-
cyamus may benefit this condition of things, especially if the hemi-
plegia has been entailed upon the patient by severe antiphlogistic
treatment, and Hyoscyamus was required by the original malady.

                   c.  Spasms and Convulsions.

  Which we may distinguish into:
  a. Simple Spasmodic affections, such as:
  Chorea,
  Sufosultus tendinum,
  Spasms, with watery diarrhoea and enuresis,
  Spasm of the neck which was tAvisted to one side.
  b. Epileptic Convulsions, in one instance caused by fomentations of
Hyoscyamus to the head; the patient fell down suddenly, convulsed,
uttering a cry, with the thumbs clenched and froth at the mouth.
  c. Hysteric Convulsions, with risus sardonicus, frequent changes of
•color in the face, congestions of the head; in this disease Belladonna
competes with Hyoscyamus.
  d. General Tetanic Convulsions, viz.:
  Alternate convulsions of the upper and loAver extremities.
  Convulsions  during  which  the patient  stamps his feet on the
ground, first one foot and then the other.
  In one case the convulsions lasted five days.
  -Convulsions with contraction of the extremities, and tossing of the
body upwards.                                                '
  Many and probably most of these phenomena occur  as manifes-
tations incidental to some deep-seated  cerebral  disease, phrenitis or
typhus.  The subsultus tendinum for instance, and even the tetanic
convulsions of  Hyoscyamus will, upon a closer examination,  be
found to constitute prominent symptoms of a nervous disorder Avhere
the functional harmony of the cerebro-spinal axis is disturbed  to its
very centre.
  Speaking of the convulsions that may indicate the use of Hyoscya-
mus,  we cannot omit, in this place, the mention of that frightful
class of convulsions to which parturient females are liable, we mean
  Puerperal  Convulsions  or Eclampsia.    Among the medicines 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
517
 which are required under these circumstances, Hyoscyamus holds a
 prominent rank.   The paroxysms  set in suddenly, without hardly
 any premonitory signs; the patients froth at the mouth, shake  con-
 vulsively from head to foot, are tossed up in the air  as it were, the
 extremities  become rigid, this  rigidity  is  followed by  frightful
 twitching of the tendons, the functional power  of the senses seems
 almost extinct.  These are diseases which we treat far more success-
 fully  than Old-School physicians; but  if you hear homoeopathic
 physicians boast of curing all such cases, I advise you to  apply to
 the members  of  our profession  who  may  be disposed  thus to
 exaggerate their exploits, the beautiful precept which  Louis  XII.,
 the good Saint Louis  of  France,  had  laid  down for himself in
 regard to erring sinners generally: " If  I should catch an  angel of
 the Lord doing wrong, I should cover  him with my  royal cloak
 and say: I have seen nothing,"—you may think what you please, but
 hear nothing.

   In Frank's Magazine, a case is quoted from Bernhardi's  Journal,
 where the curative virtues of Hoscyamusin hysteric convulsions are
 strikingly shown.   A young lady of twenty years, who had not mens-
 truated for some time, had overheated  herself at a  ball,  and was
 attacked with oppression of breathing, which gradually increased to
 a state of stupefaction. Her face was much heated, cheeks  glowing,
 she Avas, without any consciousness, tossed about, pulse full, hard ;
 superficial and hurried breathing.   She was treated  by an allceo-
 pathic physician with the usual antiphlogistic means.  Her menses
 returned and she seemed much better, when about four or five days
 after the return of the menses,  she  was taken with convulsions.
 Some of these paroxysms set in  with a general tetantic spasm,
 rigidity of the extremities and bending backwards of the head, pro-
 trusion of the tongue, twitching of the auricular muscles,  followed
 by alternate violent convulsions of single muscles and of the whole
 body;  other paroxysms set in with sopor and subsultus tendinum,
 terminating in delirium.   Half a grain of the  extract of Hyoscya-
 mus, rubbed up with sugar, was  given morning and  night; under
 this treatment a complete cure Avas effected in one fortnight.
  The prescription emanated from  an alloeopathic physician, but is
 eminently a fact legitimately belonging to the domain of Homoeo-
 pathy.

                     ORBITAL  GROUP.

  Upon examining the symptoms of this group, you will again  find
that they do not constitute  idiopathic affections, but  that they are
incidental to some more general cerebral disease, phrenitis or typhus.
  AYe may range the eye-symptoms of Hyoscyamus under  various
heads:

                       a. Inflammation.

  Red and inflamed eyes ; 
518
LECTURE XXXIII.
                            b. Spasm.

   Distorted eyes; convulsive rolling of the eyeballs;
   Blepharospasmus, with inability to open the lids.

                     c.  Altered visual power.

   Obscuration  of  sight, even complete  amaurosis; staring eyes;
 sparkling eyes; excessive dilatation of the pupil, with presbyopia
 or complete insensibility to light or  contact.
   In one case the presbyopia with dilatation  of the pupils existed
 as a chronic affection.

                      d. Optical phantasms.
   Viz:
   Nine  persons  saw objects as if scarlet-red; others:  red as fire;
 others:  yellow as gold,
   A lark seemed like a goose, a blade of grass seemed  like a beam,
 a drop of water like a lake ;  print seemed very large;
   A needle had three points; hanging pictures seemed to fall.

   Amaurosis, to which Hyoscyamus is homoeopathic, is most prob-
 ably a sequela  of phrenitis or typhus cerebralis.  Such sequelae are
 very apt to  remain under the antagonistic or antiphlogistic treatment
 of the Old School.
   Amaurosis induced  by  sunstroke or by apoplexy, may require
 Hyoscyamus, if the original disease indicated this drug.
   The symptoms expressing the various optical illusions excited by
 the action of Hyoscyamus upon the brain  and retina, denote pecu-
 liar forms of craziness, and may likewise characterize typhus of the
 brain.
   Redness of the eyeballs is characteristic of phrenitis and apoplexy.
   Chromatopsia or seeing colors, is a morbid condition of the retina
 that may require Hyoscyamus.

                      FACIAL  GROUP.

   Here we have to note:
   Nosebleed (from large  doses);
   Red and bloated, bluish face ;
   Distorted  clay-colored face, with gaping  mouth;
   BroAvn-red and bloated face.
   The nosebleed may occur as a critical symptom in violent cere:
 bral congestions, such as  exist in typhus, phrenitis, apoplexy.
   The  brown-red, bluish and bloated face  points to apoplexy;  the
 clay-colored and haggard face to typhus in the second or third stage,
 or to delirium tremens of old, cachectic topers.

          BUCCAL AND PHARYNGEAL GROUPS.

   In this direction the symptoms  again point to  some one of  the
above-mentioned disorders.  We have the following symptoms :
   Clean and parched tongue; 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.                  519
  Burning dryness of the tongue and lips which look  like scorched
leather;
  Numbness of the tongue ;
  Dumb, impeded speech, with loss of sense ;
  Stinging dryness of the fauces, with spasmodic contraction, as if a
drop of tea would choke him ;
  Convulsions after drinking;
  Foul-smelling breath.
  This peculiar  change  in the  appearance and sensibility of the
tongue may occur in typhus.  In this disease the tongue may look
and feel like scorched leather, and it  may be paralyzed so that the
patient is only able to utter inarticulate sounds.
  The dryness and spasmodic contraction of the throat Avhen SAval-
lowing liquids, with aversion to liquids, may indicate Hyosycamus in
  Hydrophobia, where it competes with Belladonna, though the latter
drug  is undoubtedly possessed of curative powers in  this disease
superior to the former.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus has been proved by several members of the Imperial
Provers'  Union of Vienna in doses of from one-fourth of a grain to
five grains and a quarter.  One prover took in all fifty-seven grains
and three-quarters.
  The symptoms developed  by these  comparatively small doses of
Hyoscyamus were analogous to the symptoms caused by poisonous
doses,  except inferior  to those  in intensity.    Among the gastric
disturbances occasioned by these small doses, we  distinguish more
particularly the following phenomena :
  Nausea with loathing;
  Nauseous taste;
  Yellow coating of the tongue ;
  Sour erucations.
  Another prover who took in  all eighty-seven grains and three-
quarters, developed the following symptoms of gastric derangement:
  White coating on the tongue ;
  Furred tongue;
  Insipid taste, with aversion to food and fetid odor from the mouth;
  Empty  eructations;
  Oppression after eating;
  Foul taste;
  The teeth and the whole inner cavity of the mouth are lined with
a yellow viscid phlegm.
  Hahnemann has likewise recorded some interesting symptoms
obtained  both from  small and  large doses of hyoscyamus.   The
principal of these symptoms are:
  Bitter taste;
  Watery vomiting, with vertigo ;
  Hiccough, with spasms and rumbling in the bowels;
  Hiccough, two  midnights in succession, with involuntary mictu-
rition and froth at the mouth; 
520
LECTURE XXXIII.
  Burning pain in the stomach, amounting to inflammation;
  Colic, as if his abdomen would burst;
  Tympanitic distention of the abdomen, painful to the touch;
  Rumbling Avith violent diarrhoea ;
  Watery, slimy diarrhoea, more or less inAroluntary.

  These symptoms are important as  indications for Hyoscamus in
several severe diseases.  It  is very doubtful whether any of these
symptoms, when developed as purely gastric disturbances, will be
reached by Hyosycamus.   But as conditions incidental to typhus or
hysteria, they may serve as confirmatory evidence that Hyoscyamus
is adapted to the case.
  The horrid taste which Hyoscyamus excites in the mouth, and the
fetid odor, are very apt to occur in Typhius.
  The sordes on the teeth is  another symptom  developing itself in
Typhius.
  Hysteria may sometimes deA^elop some of the other symptoms of
gastric  derangement, more  particularly  the Spasmodic Singultus,
with eructations, or attended with burning pain in the stomach.

  A case of spasmodic eructations is mentioned in Frank's Magazine,
which were speedily arrested in  Hyoscyamus.  The patient was a
girl of fourteen years who had not yet menstruated.  The air was
expelled from the stomach with a violent spasmodic  movement of
the phar)mx, causing a loud, ringing, A-ery deep sound;  this  spasm
Avas followed by several feebler eructations.  The paroxysms lasted
two  minutes and returned every fifteen minutes.   The eructations
Avere so painful that the patient cried when she first perceived their
approach.   A variety of means were tried to remove the difficulty,
but in vain.  The extract of Hyoscyamus administered in small, but
increasing doses, arrested the difficulty permanently in a few days.

  Tympanitic distention  of the abdomen, Avith pain when touched,
is  another symptom  of hysteria which will undoubtedly yield to
Hyoscyamus, AYhen presenting itself as an element of such a group.

  AVhether Diarrhiea Avill yield to Hyoscyamus, except when occur-
ring as a symptom of hysteria, or  typhus (in the last-mentioned affec-
tion the  discharges  are  generally  involuntary),  is  questionable.
Among hysteric females, and especially young girls Avhose bowels
are apt to bloat, and who are subject to attacks of diarrhoea with
colicky pains, and frequent urging to stool,  or where the sphincters
are weak,  causing great difficulty in retaining the faeces; and where
the least excitement, the  least mental trouble, provokes  the attack,
Hyoscyamus may prove of great  value.  Under these circumstances
it  may be well to use the alkaloid  Ilyoscyamine,  Avhich dissolves
very readily in Avater, in the proportion of  one-fiftieth or one-hun-
dredth of  a grain to four ounces of  water.
  Small doses of Hyoscyamus may cause urging to stool, with cos-
tiveness and distention of the bowels.  In hysteria this condition may
occur.  YYe therefore recommend Hyoscyamus for 
HYOSCYAMUS NIGER.
521
  Cositiveness with urging in the case of hysteric females.
  Paralysis of the Sphnncters, more particularly among patients who
are liable to functional nervous disorders of the character of hysteria,
may yield to Hyoscyamus.  If resulting from mismanaged dysentery,
as a consequence of the  antagonistic  treatment, our best remedy is
Aconite.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus causes frequent urging to urinate with  inability to
expel the urine.  This is the primary effect of the drug.  During
the stage of organic reaction, the urine may  flow very copiously.
  Either of these conditions is symptomatic of other more general
affections, hysteria or typhus.  In hysteria there may be profuse
enuresis, or constant urging with scanty secretion;  in  typhus the
urinary secretion may be entirely  suppressed.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus affects the  sexual  sphere  very powerfully.   In one
case, the emanations from the leaves of the plant caused
  Impotence, continuing for two months.
  Hyoscyamus causes profuse menstruation, accompanied or pre-
ceded by a variety of nervous affections.
  In one case, for instance, the appearance of the menses was preceded
by immoderate laughter.
  In another case the appearance  of  the  menses was accompanied
by profuse prespiration,  nausea and enuresis.
  In another  case again, the menstrual flow was accompanied by
violent convulsive trembling of the hands and feet as if from rage.
  In one case, the flow Avas accompanied by delirium.
  These various abnormal phenomena show that Hyoscyamus must
be a most important agent in cases of
  Metrorrhiagia and Menorrhiagia  when accompanied by abnormal
conditions  such as we haA^e  alluded  to.  You will find this great
agent particularly useful  in the  case  of hysteric females whose
menstrual functions are marked by such irregularities.
  Small doses of Hyoscyamus excite the sexual instinct both in the
male and female.   This symptom,  in  connection Avith the numerous
abnormal nervous phenomena which may show themselves during
the  menstrual period, point  to Hyoscyamus as an useful agent in
some of the most terrible disorders that females may  be subject to.
  One of these disorders is
  Nymphomania, to the different  stages  of which Hyoscyamus is
adapted.  Hahnemann has left us the description of an interesting
case of nymphomania Avhere Hyoscyamus  was employed as the chief
curative agent. A girl of fourteen years  had  been  sleeping in the
sun, in consequence of which she  Avas attacked with the following
symptoms: Four days after sleeping  in the sun the frightful idea
took possession of her that she saw a wolf,  and  six days thereafter
she felt  as if she had received a blow on the head.  She now spoke 
522
LECTURE XXXIII.
irrationally, became as if mad, Avept much, experienced paroxysms
of difficulty in breathing, spat white mucus,  was unable to explain
any of her troubles.   The eyes Avere very much injected.
  A feAV day later, the first symptoms of  nymphomania showed
themselves.  She wanted to kiss persons, and gradually became very
lascivious in her actions and words, endeavoring to expose her per-
son and to commit improprieties with those near her.  Her skin and
sexual organs itched very much.
  She was  speedily cured by Hyoscyamus 30, and lastly one dose
of Sulphur.

  Another dreadful disease of the sexual sphere of the female is
  Puerperal Mania;  here, too,  Hyoscyamus  is one of  our main
remedies.
  A case of this disease is  reported  in Frank's Alagazine,  where
Hyoscyamus evinced great  curative  powers.  A lady of sanguin-
choleric temperament, aged thirty years, had  been confined without
any  untoAvard accident.  Shortly after her  confinement, she took
cold, one of her breast became inflamed, and the flow of milk and
the lochial  discharge were  very much diminished.  Her medical
attendant found her with the following symptoms: Breathing short,
pulse feeble and contracted, one hundred and twenty; tongue some-
what coated, urine dark yellow, stool regular, great heat; no appe-
tite or  SAveat; head  red and bloated; eyes unsteady, conjunctiva
injected, the right breast very much inflamed, red and hard.  Sud-
denly she AArould jump out of her bed, crying: "I cannot sleep,  I
shall die any how." She knew every body present, but Avas enraged,
attempted to bite, uttered  the most piercing cries, and manifested
superhuman strength so that it took seven persons to hold her.
  She took the  extract of Hyoscyamus in  one-grain doses  every
hour; the paroxysms yielded in a short period, and at the end of
twelve days the  patient Avas again able to attend to her  domestic
duties.

  In Puerperal Typhus or Puerperal Peritonitis, Hyoscyamus is one
of our most trustworthy remedies in  certain forms of this disease.
In the purely erethic and inflammatory »form, Hyoscyamus  is not
indicated.  In this form, where  the sensorium is not yet  disturbed
the lochial discharge  and  the secretion of milk still  continue, and
the fever either  shows the erethic or inflammatory type, Avith dis-
tinct remissions toAvards morning, Aconite and Belladonna may be
required.
  Bryonia is adapted to the erysipelatous or  gastric-bilious form of
this dreadful disease, when the abdomen is distended but soft, and
not uniformly painful; the pains are  of a colicky nature, not con-
tinual, but  characterized by distinct remissions and even intermis-
sions ; symptoms of erysipelatous inflammation show themselves on
the mammas and sometimes  on the  lower  extremities;  the  patient
complains of a violent aching in the frontal  region, the tongue exhib-
its a  dirty-gray, yellowish coating;  bitter  taste in the mouth, eruc-
tations, inclination  to  vomit and  even  vomiting;  in some cases the 
•HYOSCYAMUS  NIGER.
523
bowels become loose, and the patient has from three to four diarrhoeic
bilious  evacuations;  the  urine is  strongly ammoniacal and turjoid,
gradually depositing a brick-dust sediment.  Pulse quick and  soft,
full, undulating, from one hundred and thirty to one  hundred and
forty  beats.
  In this form, Rhus tox. may compete with Bryonia.
  We have been thus explicit in indicating the relation of Aconite,
Belladonna, Bryonia and Rhus tox. to puerperal peritonitis, for the
purpose of cautioning you against the mistaken notion of associat-
ing Hyoscyamus Avith this disease as its inevitable specific under all
circumstances.   Hyoscyamus is homoeopathically indicated in puer-
peral  peritonitis, when the disease has assumed the form of
  Puerperal Typhus, in  the strict sense  of the term.   Typhus may
either have developed itself out of  the erysipelatous form, or it may
at once set in as an idiopathic  primary affection.   In this  disease,
Hyoscyamus is  indicated  by the symptoms which it is  capable of
exciting in the healthy, viz.: tympanitic distention of the abdomen,
stupor, muttering delirium, burning heat of the skin which is either
dry and cracks (usually with petechias), or else covered with profuse
watery  sweat smelling  like mouldy straw (generally with Avhite
miliaria, a vesicular  eruption, filled with a watery, albuminous fluid);
pulse small,  weak, filiform, increasing  in frequency;  the  tongue
exhibits  a  brownish coating, and is dry;  diarrhoeic  stools having a
cadaverous smell, and finally coining off involuntarily.
  At this stage Arsenic becomes an inevitable adjunct of Hyoscyamus.

                   RESPIRATORY GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus,  and more  particularly the akaloid Hyoscyamine,
causes dryness  of  the  fauces and air-passages; a  dry, spasmodic
cough, Avithout cessation and Avorse at night; oppression of breathing.
We may therefore find Hyoscyamus useful in
  Whooping-cough, Avith spasmodic paroxysms  which are particu-
larly violent at night, and accompanied with great distress for breath,
as if the patient would suffocate, with blueness of the face and pro-
trusion of the eyeballs.

                EXANTHEMATOUS  GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus has caused
  Groups of large pustules from above the hips down to  the knees,
like confluent small-pox, desquamation taking place in four days;
  Brown spots on the whole body, going and coming;
  Herpetic spots on the  nape of the neck;
  Obstinate anasarca.
  These appearances are in a measure indicative  of a critical termi-
nation of some pathological process going on in  the interior of the
organism.
  I have known a case of  menstrual suppression in a sensitive and
nervous girl, where  these  spots seemed to come and go as vicarious
developments of the  menstrual process. 
524
LECTURE XXXIII.
                     MENTAL GROUP.

  $he mental derangements caused by  Hyoscyamus,  may be con-
sidered under various heads;

                         a. Craziness.

Where we have
  Loss of recollection;  he does not know his own family;
  He sits immovable like a statue;
  Excessive loquacity;
  Singing obscene songs;
  Shyness;
  He prepares for a wedding;
  He feels of his head, face, nose;
  He acts as if he were cracking nuts;
  He acts as if he were chasing foAvl;
  He puts on a priestly gOAvn and wants to preach;
  He puts his arms around the stove, and wants to climb  up to the
top;
  They cried out that things would fall, and grasped at them;
  Running against every thing,  with open,  wild, staring eyes.

                           b.  Rage.
  Indomitable rage, he wants to stab people;
  Dread of being bitten by animals;
  Horrible anxiety;
  He wants to kill himself in despair;
  Many of these symptoms may occur in typhus, more particularly
the shyness, loquacity, and the singing of obscene songs.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Hyoscyamus is  one of the most poAverful agents in
  Typhius Cerebralis, or in any form of typhus, where the cerebral symp-
toms pointedly and unmistakeably indicate this drug.   These symp-
toms have been abundantly indicated in previous paragraphs.  It may
be homoeopathic to any stage of typhus, but more particularly to the
congestive stage, with strong symptoms of cerebral engorgement, hot
skin, full, hard, quick pulse.  In the paralytic stage, it may be neces-
sary to resort to the mineral acids first,  before Hyoscyamus can be
employed with advantage.  This, however, must not be considered
as a binding rule.   The reader may consult my remarks on Typhus
in the Fever-Group of Belladonna.

                           SLEEP.

  Hyoscyamus deranges this condition of the organism very  deeply.
It causes
  Sopor and stupor;
  Sleeplessness;
  Stertorous snoring during sleep; 
IGNATJA AMARA.
525
  He dreams of furious cats that are jumping upon him.
  These alterations of the sleep are symptomatic, and only indicate
Hyoscyamus when occurring in the course of an affection to which
Hyoscyamus is homoeopathic.  They may occur in phrenitis, typhus,
etc.
  Sleeplessness may  be troublesome  to hysteric females, and  may
require Hyoscyamus.
  In regard to the
  Dose, 1 may observe that Hyoscyamus has been given with advan-
tage from the tincture up to the 30th potency; even much higher
potencies have been used.
  In a case of poisoning, we first give an emetic for the purpose of
evacuating the poison.   Afterwards we overcome the narcotic effects
by resorting to cold affusions, and occasional sponging with warm
water; strong black coffee is likewise an excellent antidote.
              LECTURE   XXXIV.


                     IGNATIA AMARA.

          (St. Ignatius' bean)—Nat. Order:—Apocyne^;.

   The beautiful tree, from which this bean is obtained, grows on the
Philippine Islands in the East Indies; it has large, ovate leaves; its
flowers are long, drooping, white.  The fruit is of the size and shape
of a middling pear; the seeds, of which there are about twenty in the
fruit, are an inch  long,  bitter; they are horny, of a  blackish gray
outside, and whitish internally; we cut them in thin slices, dry them
by a moderate heat, pulverize them, and make a pale, straw-colored
tincture, which is very bitter.  In the cold the tincture precipitates
crystals which dissolve again in warmth.
   This drug was first  introduced in European medicine by Camilli,
a Jesuit, in the year 1699, and in honor of the founder of  his order,
the bean has been named St. Ignatius' bean. It is supposed by some
authorities that  this bean was known long before this period, and
that it is probably the substance which, in the Latin translation of the
Arabian Serapion, is denominated Nux vomica.   The active principle
of this bean is Strychnine, the same alkaloid which we find  in Nux
vomica.  Hence  these two drugs act similarly, although the action of
each is characterized by peculiar symptoms.
   Orfila's  experiments upon animals with this  drug, show  that its
primary action is upon the medulla oblongata,  and that it destroys
life by producing tetanic convulsions.  Half an ounce of the  powder
of Ignatia was given to a dog.  In about five minutes he commenced
to  pant; fifteen minutes afterwards, symptoms  of convulsions  ap-
peared; and  in  about half  an hour he fell down in an attack  of
tetanus, the intellectual faculties being unimpaired. The animal died
• 
526
LECTURE XXXIV.
asphyxiated in about twenty  minutes after the tetanic  symptoms
came on.
  In another experiment six grains sufficed to kill a large-sized dog.
  According to Orfila's statement, the extract of Ignatia injected into
the veins, or applied externally, acts in the same manner as the Upas
or the Nux vomica.
  In the 21st volume of the Philosophical Transactions, Camilli (the
Jesuit who first described the fruit to European  physicians), relates
the folloAving case of poisoning by Ignatia.  A man suffering from
dyspepsia, being attacked Avith vomiting and diarrhoea, took a scruple
of the powder of Ignatia.  He  was soon seized Avith excessive irrita-
tion  and severe convulsive movements; his jaws Avere closed;  the
muscles of the face were draAvn in different directions, as  if he had
been convulsed with laughter.
  In this case the effects of Ignatia were lockjaw and risus sardonicus.

  In Hahnemann's  Lesser AVritings another  case  of poisoning is
described:  A youth of twenty years took an over-dose of Ignatia.
He was attacked with paralytic rigidity and involuntary twitchings
of the  lower limbs, great  anxiety, coldness of the whole body ;  the
pupils were dilatable and the head free;  he was completely restored
by drinking eight ounces  of vinegar in the course of half an hour.
  A man, forty years old, took, after tertian fever, half  a bean of
Ignatia  in brandy.  He had numbness of his extremities, violent,
general, convulsive cramps, with profuse perspiration.

  Professor Joerg of the University of Leipsic in Saxony, has made
some interesting experiments  with Ignatia.   Twelve  of his pupils
assisted him in his task.  One  ounce of the powder was macerated
in eight ounces of alcohol.  From 10 to 80 and  even 200 drops of
this tincture were taken at one dose.
  Experiments with the pulverized  substance  of  the  bean were
likewise instituted by these provers in doses of from one to four
grains, and it was found that the effects obtained from this prepara-
tion, were far more striking than  those obtained with the tincture.
Combining the symptoms furnished by Joerg,  with the splendid
provings of Hahnemann,  we  may range the  pathogenesis  of this
interesting drug under the following  general categories.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Joerg and his provers found that Ignatia causes a painful pressure,
an aching in various parts of the  head.  Most of the provers expe-
rienced  this aching or painful pressure in the  forehead over  the
eyebrows; others in  the occiput, whence it would shift to the fore-
head ; some felt this aching all  over the head, and some again at
one time in one, and at other  times in other parts of the head,  the
pressure shifting about from one locality to another.
  This shifting of the aching pain from one part  to another was  not
the only peculiarity observed by the provers.   Another was  the
intermitting character of the pain. After the pain had lasted during
• 
IGNATIA AMARA.
527
the forenoon, it would intermit until evening, when it would be felt
again violently for a time'.  In one case the paroxysms came on
regularly every half hour.
  These symptoms suggest the use of Ignatia in
   Cephialalgia, distinguished by aching in one part of the head or in
the whole head.  The cephalalgia to which Ignatia is homoeopathic
may be accompanied by  symptoms of  gastric derangement. of a
peculiar character.
  One of our provers experienced a qualmish feeling in the stomach
previous to.the headache;  the qualmishness was followed by an
aching pain in the forehead, thence extending all over the head, and
succeeded by a sense of lassitude. This symptom  shows  that in
headaches originating in gastric irritation, Ignatia may he of  great
use.

  We find  the doctrine that Ignatia may be of great use in
   Gastric Nervous Headaches, confirmed  by a remarkable symptom
obtained by Professor Joerg himself, from the powdered substance.
He experienced, from three grains of the pulverized  bean, a  " seated
pressure in the region of the stomach, followed by a painful pressure
or an aching in the forehead, shifting to different parts of the head
and even cheeks; urging to stool, with several natural evacuations,
weariness;   the appetite was not  materially disturbed, but  there
was a speedy feeling of  repletion after eating."
  The remarkable connection  between the  brain and the gastric
functions, in the case of Ignatia, is further evidenced by the follow-
ing symptom, elicited from forty drops of the tincture mixed in an
ounce of water: " Vertigo soon after swallowing the drug, so that
the prover staggered and found it difficult to stand erect.  Single
stitches darted through his head, he felt a buzzing in the ears and
objects before him seemed to waver.  The prover was unable  to fix
his mind upon a  single idea.   The vertigo  continued until late in
the evening.  These symptoms were accompanied  by a  feeling of
loathing, flow of saliva, loss of appetite.  Next  day  a headache set
in, which Avas made worse by eating, and continued off  and on for
several days."
   Upon a farther examination of the  symptoms, we shall find that
Ignatia is homoeopathic to

   Hemicrania, a sort of semi-lateral nervous headache.   Several of
Joerg's  provers have  experienced an  aching  pain, or  a painful
pressure, according to the literal text, in one side of the head, with
pain in the right eyeball, aggravated by motion, and  accompanied
by sensitiveness to the light.
   Professor Joerg himself elicited this  remarkable symptom:  "A
painful pressure in the head, with burning in the eyes, lachrymation,
swelling of the lids, and a feeling  of pressure in the right eye, as if
it should be pressed out of the head; this pain was accompanied by
cutting-contractive pains in the lower bowels, and copious secretion
of a frothy  mucus."
   These few but exceedingly interesting symptoms  shoAV most con- 
528
LECTURE XXXIV.
clusively that Ignatia is one  of our most useful agents in that dis-
tressing class of headaches termed
   Nervous Headaches, Megrim, Hemicrania, especially Avhen the eyes
are involved, more generally one eye, Avith burning and lachryma-
tion, pressure in the eye from Avithin outwards, swelling and suppu-
ration of the lids, photophobia. The pain in the  head may be an
aching or stitching pain, darting stitches flying through the head.
   Joerg's provings confirm the symptoms obtained by Hahnemann
in all essential particulars.   Hahnemann's provers likewise expe-
rienced this aching pain in the forehead, and in other parts of the
head ;  the pain was relieved by inclining the head forward, and resting
it upon the table; an aggravation of the pain was occasioned by intense
mental labor.
   One of Hahnemann's provers describes  his  headache in these
terms: "Aching in the forehead, above the root of the nose, obliging
him to  incline his head  forward ;   it is followed  by a feeling of
qualmishness at the stomach."
   Another prover has this symptom : " Headache on waking, as if
the brain were smashed; after rising, the headache passes off,  and
gives place to a similar pain in a tooth ; thence this pain shifts to the
small of the back.  The headache is renewed by thinking."
   Ignatia has been employed by homoeopathic practitioners for  the
peculiar form of hemicrania termed
   Clavus; there is a symptom in the known pathogenetic series of
this drug, which warrants its employment in clavus upon homoeopa-
thic principles.   The characteristic pains of Ignatia  in the brain,
which we have learnt to know so far, are :
   Pressure as from too much blood  in the brain.
   Stitches darting through the head.  And the accompanying pains
are, " burning and pressure in the eyes, with lachrymation and pho-
tophobia," and gastric derangements, qualmishness,  anorexia, cutting
and spasmodic pains in the bowels,  etc.
   The symptom which suggests the use of Ignatia  in  clavus is  the
following, recorded by Hahnemann:
   "Constrictive sensation in the hypochondria, as when the bowels
are constipated, accompanied Avith semi-lateral headache as if a nail
were pressed into the brain, early in the morning."
   Hahnemann remarks in a foot-note to this symptom, that the sen-
sation, as if a sharp, pointed  body were pressed in, is  characteristic
of Ignatia.  This pressure as by a sticking body is  also experienced
in the rectum, in the  region  of the sternum, in  the region of  the
cervical vertebras, and in other parts.

   We must not close this chapter without directing your attention'
to the fact that Ignatia may prove a valuable remedy in
   Catarrhal Headaches, its homoeopathicity to which is substantiated
by the folloAving symptom of Hahnemann's: " Sensation as if  the %
head were too full of blood;  the inner nose is very sensitive to  the
outer air, as may be the case when the nose is going to bleed."
  A similar sensation was  experienced  by one of  Joerg's provers,
Mr. Otto, from three grains of the powder.  One  hour after taking 
IGNATIA AMARA.
529
the drug, the prover  complained of a dull heavy pressure  in the
forehead, extending downwards into the nasal fossa, where it caused
for about ten minutes a sensation as if a violent catarrh was im-
pending.  Thence the pressure  moved to other parts of the  head,
shifting in this manner to and fro for several hours.

                     NERVOUS  GROUP.

   Our cases  of poisoning have  shown us that Ignatia  may  cause
lockjaw, risus sardonicus, and paralytic  stiffness and numbness  of
the  lower  extremities.  It  has also caused  twitchings  of  these
parts.
   Hahnemann recommends Ignatia in recent cases of
   Epilepsy, especially  when  occurring among children, in  conse-
quence of a sudden fright.  In some of  these cases it may prove
efficient, but in many others it may fail.
   We may expect good effects from Ignatia in the treatment of
   Spasms and Convulsions, even tetanic convulsions, if they seem to
depend upon gastric  irritations, caused  by indigestible food, the
presence of worms, or in convulsions of an hysteric nature.   In
   Hysteric Convulsions, caused by a sudden fright, with sudden sup-
pression of the menses, Ignatia may compete with Aconite.

   We shall find Ignatia indicated in cases of
   Spasmodic  Tremors  of  recent  date, caused  by fright  or  when
sympathetically induced by a sudden derangement  of the uterine
functions, or  as a symptom of acute hysteria.
   Ignatia has produced some very delicate, but interesting nervous
effects among Hahnemann's provers.  In  some of them, for instance,
it seems to have affected the joints in a peculiar manner, causing a
feeling of lameness, a sensation as if the joints had been wrenched or
bruised, without any perceptible symptoms of inflammation or irri-
tation.
   Iri others it has caused crampy pains, a sense of rigidity, heaviness
in the lower limbs;
   Others have experienced stitches in the larger joints, shoulder, hip,
and knee-joints, and in the heels;
   Others have complained of stingings, as by insects, in various parts
of the skin;
   Itching shifting from one place to.another after scratching;
   Acute pain at a small spot, here and there,  only  when  touching
the part.
   These and  other similar abnormal sensations show that Ignatia is
possessed of  a remarkable power of deranging the harmony of the
sentient system,  and that we therefore may find it of great  use in
   Spinal irritation, when the medulla oblongata  is the seat of the
trouble, and in
   Hysteria, where these Protean forms  of abnormal nervous  sensi-
bility are very apt to occur.   It is possible that in
   Globus hystericus, with flow of water from the mouth, Ignatia may
prove of use.
                              34 
530
LECTURE XXXIV.
                     ORBITAL  GROUP.

   You recollect that Professor Joerg's proving resulted  in a species
 of
   Ophthalmia,  with burning pain, pressure in  the  eyeball as if
 pressed out of the socket, swelling of the eyelids and profuse lachry-
 mation, suppuration and photophobia.   Let us  not forget, however,
 that this condition came on in  the train of a peculiar  cephalalgia.
 Hence we infer that the ophthalmia  caused  by  Ignatia is of a
 sympathetic nature rather than an  idiopathic affection.  It  is pro-
 bable, however, that in some forms of a purely nervous  irritation of
 the retina and iris, Ignatia may prove useful.  According to  Hahne-
 mann's provings, it causes
   Phiotophiobia of a purely nervous  character, without any apparent
 signs of inflammation ;
   A circle of luminous zigzag vibrations out of the line of vision; the
 print upon which the eye happens to be  fixed,  becomes invisible,
 whereas the print by the side of it is more distinct.  This is some-
 what like
   Spurious  Vertigo, a paroxysmal affection  described by Herz under
 this name.

             DENTAL AND  BUCCAL  GROUPS.

   When speaking of headache, I  stated that a  crushing pain in the
 brain was experienced by one prover, and  that  this pain afterwards
 shifted to a tooth.   Hence we may recommend Ignatia for
   Odontalgia, as if the  tooth were crushed or  smashed into frag-
 ments.  Ignatia also causes a digging pain  in the  molar  teeth, and a
 soreness in the teeth; they also become loose.
   Ignatia causes some interesting symptoms in the mouth and fauces.
 We have seen previously that it causes
   A feeling of soreness in the mouth, under  the tongue, and
   Secretion  of a frothy saliva, also profuse ptyalism.
   Hahnemann has experienced:
   Stitches darting from the throat to the inner ear, especially between
 the acts of deglutition ; also
   Sensation as if a lump had lodged in the throat.
   Crawling or tingling sensation in the fauces, and
   Aching pain in the submaxillary glands.

   These  symptoms are not very important;  nevertheless they may
indicate  Ignatia in various nervous affections.   The lump  in the
 throat, for instance, may be a symptom of
   Hysteria; hysteric females may be troubled Avith this symptom.
 Ignatia may also be useful in certain forms  of
   Angina faucium,  where the patient is   troubled with  stitches
 betAveen the acts of deglutition.   In angina where an  inflammatory
 character is decidedly prominent, Ignatia will never be of much use.
 The character of an  Ignatia-angina is,  as the symptoms show, of a
nervous type, an acute  nervous  irritation,  the inflammatory  symp-
toms being secondary. 
IGNATIA  AMARA.
531
                   CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   The action of Ignatia upon the nerves of the stomach and small
 intestines is characterized by a number of characteristic and impor-
 tant symptoms.   Let us briefly consider them under the heads  of:
 taste, abnormal nervous sensations, pains and chianges in the alvine
 secretions.

   Taste,  and gastric symptoms:  Ignatia  causes a flat,  chalky and
 also a sour taste.   It also causes a loathing of food, aversion to milk
 and warm food in particular.   These few symptoms are of impor-
 tance only as elements of a more general group.       *
   Nausea, with uneasiness and  anxiety.
   In the case of Professor Joerg, Ignatia caused an
   Insipid, chalky- taste, restless sleep and a feeling of warmth in the
 interior of the body.
   Musty eructations.

   Nervous sensations: Under this head we  have to record a number
 of interesting symptoms, more especially the following :
   Hiccough after eating;
   Feeling of weakness in the epigastrium;
   Sensation in the stomach as if one had been fasting too long, as if
 the stomach were empty, Avith flat taste and languor in the limbs. .
   Among the nervous symptoms recorded by Professor Joerg,  we
 distinguish two similar  symptoms :  " Canine hunger, with qualmish-
 ness, followed by straining towards the rectum, pressure in the region
 of the vertex, thence shifting to the forehead, attended with burning
 in the eyes and lachrymation, swelling of the lids, secretion of mucus
 from the Meibomian glands;  the  hunger was appeased  immediately
 after commencing to eat."
   The other symptom is recorded in the folloAving terms:
   " Drawing in  the stomach, as  if the walls of the  stomach  were
 pulled;  with alternate  feeling  of fullness and emptiness, the latter
 sensation  accompanied  by a  feeling of canine hunger;  afterwards
 stitches in the pit of the stomach and burning in  the region of the
 spleen."
   A portion  of this last symptom  has likewise been recorded  by
 Hahnemann.  It afforded me the opportunity of making a beautiful
 little cure.  The record is as follows:
   "Fine  prickings in  the epigastric region,  Avith a sensation  of
 emptiness."
   An old lady of sixty years had been grieving for years about her
 son's death.  For  fifteen years  past she had been troubled  with a
 feeling of emptiness or goneness as she termed  it, in the epigastric
 region, accompanied by a sensation as if a number of pins were
pricking her in this part.   It was a most disagreeable feeling, and
had brought on a state of the most  deep-seated hypochondria.  One
globule of Ignatia 200, for the first time in fifteen years, afforded her
relief.  For some three months  she  remained free from her trouble.
After this period she had another but much feebler attack, for which 
532
LECTURE XXXIV.
I tried the tincture of Ignatia.  It made her sick; Ignatia 200 again
relieved her perfectly.  Under the use of Ignatia 200 she had perfect
control of this distressing trouble, a
   Gastrodynia of a remarkable, but well developed type.
  Pains: Among the pains we may record the following :
  Pain in the umbilical region, with bloating of this region.
  Pressure in the region of the spleen and large curvature or  cul-de-
sac of the stomach, coming and going every half hour.
  A very interesting  group  of symptoms elicited by  Professor
Jcerg in  his own person by means of three grains of pulverized
Ignatia is the following:
  Pressing pains in the epigastrium, especially in the region of the
spleen, posteriorly near the spine,  as if the abdominal walls were
pressed outwards and the diaphragm upwards;  in  the  evening the
pain sometimes  ascended  toAvards the chest, changing there to a
painful burning, with  alleviating eructations; afterwards, sensation
as if sweat would break  out all over;  a frothy mucus was secreted
by the salivary glands all the time; the mouth felt sore.

  Alvine Secretions.   Ignatia  has  caused  cutting  and  contractive
pains in the bowels, followed by liquid  stools.
  Small doses of Ignatia seem to have a tendency to cause a weak-
ness of the  rectum, with inability to expel  stool, a species  of
  Paralytic Costiveness.  In the  case of one of Joerg's provers, who
was constitutionally inclined  to costiveness, it increased this habit
very much.

  Diarrhea of a watery kind can  only be arrested by Ignatia, if
preceded by cutting and spasmodic pains, and generally attended
with headache and gastric derangements.
  Ignatia causes a straining or pressing  towards the  rectum and
anus;  this  symptom,  together with the weakness  of  the rectum,
suggests the use of this drug in

  Prolapsus of the Anus, especially  in the case of children.
  Ignatia also causes a stiteh from  the   anus  upwards  along the
rectum;  a  contractive, sore pain in the  rectum after stool, and also
a pressure  as  by a sharp, sticking body in the  rectum, after stool.
These  sensations justify the use of Ignatia in
   Proctalgia, or neuralgia of the rectum.
   The following symptom elicited by Joeerg:
   ^'Creeping and burning at the anus, and also in the urethra  during
urination, with increased discharge of urine,"
   Seems to indicate the use of Ignatia in
   Ascarides, where these symptoms often constitute characteristic
indications, in conditions of the mucous membrane which  are apt to
lead to the formation of  such parasites.

                      URINARY GROUP.

  Ignatia causes the discharge of a good  deal  of watery urine, an
additional recommendation for its use in
  Hysteria  and  nervous  spasmodic affections generally. 
IGNATIA AMARA.
533
                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Ignatia causes weakness of the sexual parts;  in
  Impotence, with libidinous fancies, this drug may be useful.  Large
doses of Ignatia cause this condition; small doses seem to excite the
erectile powers of the male organs and to excite the sexual instinct.

  In the female, large doses seem to increase the  menstrual dis-
charge and to bring it about prematurely.  In females
  Metrorrhagia or Menorrhagia, among a group of other symptoms.
would constitute an indication  for Ignatia.                       4

                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

  We have seen that Ignatia may cause a sensation in the nose as if
a catarrh would  come on, with aching in the forehead; hence in
  Incipient Catarrh, or cold in the head, a few smart doses of Ignatia
may suppress its development.
  Ignatia causes a constant irritation in the throat-pit, as if one had
to cough; coughing does  not relieve it, but the symptom may be
voluntarily suppressed.  This  sensation sometimes  amounts to an
irritation as if dust had lodged there, and is  made worse by coughing.
  It also causes a constrictive sensation in  the throat-pit, exciting a
cough as from the vapors of Sulphur.
  Upon the strength of these symptoms we recommend Ignatia for
the Nervous Cough of some persons, females in particular, and also
for the
  Bronchial  Catarrh of old people where spasm is  a  prominent
symptom.

                 EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Ignatia causes itching all over; hence we give it in
  Prurigo, when the itching shifts from place to place after scratch-
ing the  parts.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Ignatia has been  recommended for
  Intermittent fever, when the patient is  very much depressed  in
spirits, and the thirst is felt only during the chill.

                      MENTAL GROUP.

  Ignatia is eminently useful in
  Hysteria, and also in
  Hypochondria, when accompanied by, or perhaps arising from, such
gastric affections as we have  found Ignatia homoeopathic to.   In
general, Ignatia has been found an admirable remedy for the conse-
quences of a gnawing, deep-seated grief. 
534                    LECTURE XXXV.
                        ANTIDOTAL.

   In cases of poisoning we give  an emetic  and use acids, such as
 vinegar, lemon-juice, etc.

                            DOSE.

   We may use from the first to the two hundredth attenuation.

   From his experiments, Orfila draws the broad conclusions that the
 extract of Ignatia acts in the same manner as the  Upas  or  Nux
 vomica.  Such sweeping conclusions afford  evidence to  a homceo-
ipathic  observer that the statements  of  old-fashioned toxicologists
 have to be read with caution.   These gentlemen observe phenomena
 in the  gross.  The delicate shades of action by which each drug is
 intrinsically distinguished from every other drug, seem to escape the
 hurried or careless  glance of  an old-fashioned toxicological experi-
 menter.  The physiological chemist is liable to the same fallacious
 mode of reasoning as the toxicologist.  He discovers the same alka-
 loid in Ignatia as in Nux vomica, and hence he concludes that these
 two substances  act alike and  may be substituted  one for the other.
 Or discovering Veratrine in the Mexican  Cebadilla, as well as in the
 White Hellebore, he at once jumps at the conclusion that these two
 drugs have the same action, and may eventually represent each other.
 Fallacious argument, Avhich  our experiments upon the living organ-
 ism have enabled us to refute by incontrovertible facts.  Look at the
 effects  of Ignatia upon the active, living, nervous system and contrast
 them with the  effects of Nux vomica.   Their living  evidences of
 action  are the sign-posts which should direct  the therapeutist in the
 application of drugs to diseases.  And in the case of Ignatia  they
 teach him in  language which cannot be misunderstood that Ignatia
 and Nux vomica have each a  peculiar sphere of usefulness as thera-
 peutic  agents.
              LECTURE  XXXY.

      IPECACUANHA,'CEPHAELIS  IPECACUANHA.

          (Cephaelis emetica—Nat. Order:—Rubiace^;.)

  We obtain this  drug from the  provinces of Rio Janeiro, Bahia
and Pernambuco.  It was  first  made known by Piso  in  the year
1684.   In 1686 it had  a high reputation in Paris as a remedy for
dysentery.' A French merchant, Grenier or Garnier, being  sick, was
treated by the celebrated Helvetius  (then  a young man), and  his
preceptor Afforti.  After Garnier recovered from his illness, he gave
part of the root to Afforti as a mark of  gratitude.   Afforti,  not
knowing what to do with it, gave it to Helvetius who experimented 
CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA.
535
with it on the sick, and afterwards sold it as a  secret remedy for
diarrhoea and dysentery.  The Dauphin of France, the king's brother,
being attacked with this disease, the  king  sent his own physician
d' Aquin, and his Confessor Father de la  Chaise, to Helvetius, to
arrange with him for  the publication of his drug.  He obtained one
thousand  pounds, and was afterwards  crowned  with the highest
medical honors.
  Leibnitz and Sir Hans Sloane  favored  its introduction.  They
preferred the powdered Ipecacuanha to the decoction, of which they
gave as much as two drachms at a dose.
  Gohl in England first employed it for diarrhoea and dysentery,
which he professed  to  cure by  causing vomiting.  Gianella gave
small doses  in  intermittent fevers.  Nicholas Dalbery gave  still
smaller doses in  haemorrhage and  affections of the chest.  Dover in
England combined Ipecacuanha with Opium, using this compound
both as an  anti-spasmodic  and a sudorific.  Akenside attributed to
Ipecacuanha a tranquillizing virtue, and recommended the root for
spasmodic asthma.
  Pereira informs us that  great  confusion existed for a long time
respecting the plant  yielding  Ipecacuanha.  In  1800, Dr.  Gomez
brought with him the plant from the Brazils, on which he published
a dissertation.  Hence  it is also termed the  Brazilian or  Lisbon
Ipecacuanha.
  According to some authors, the name Ipecacuanha is derived from
the Indian words " Ipecaa," creeping plant, and " cuene," to spit.
  Ipecacuanha is imported  from Rio Janeiro in bales,  barrels, bags.
The stem  of the  plant from which this root is obtained, is from tAvo
to three feet high, and has rarely more than four or six leaves.   The
roots are gathered at all seasons of the year, though more frequently
from  January to March, inclusive.  The farmers, residing in the
neighborhood of  the villages where it grows, and Indians carry on
considerable trade with this plant.  The root is also  denominated
annulated Ipecacuanha, to  distinguish  it from  other roots of the
same species.
  The root of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha occurs in  pieces of three or
four inches long, and about  the size of a small goose-quill, variously
bent and contorted, simple and branched.   It seems to be composed
of rings strung upon a central ligneous cord.   This  arrangement
gives it a knotty appearance, the  knots .being still rendered more
prominent by circular fissures  penetrating  the bark to about a line
in depth.
  For medicinal purposes the dark brownish looking root should be
chosen.  It has an acrid, aromatic, slightly bitter taste, and a some-
what nauseous and peculiar  odor.  From this root we obtain a deep-
yelloAV tincture.
  The active principle  of this root is emetine, which was obtained
by Pelletier and Caventou in 1820; this is an  alkaloid of a white
color, powder form, not affected by exposure to the air, little soluble
in water,  and forming salts in combination with  acids; it forms a
greyish-white precipitate with an infusion of galls (tannate of erne- 
536
LECTURE XXXV.
tine, an inert substance); hence  galls are an antidote to poisonous
doses of emetine.
  Magendie has prepared another alkaloid, the colored emetine, bit-
ter, soluble in water and not crystallizable, nor as powerful as the
pure emetine, to Avhich  it ranks in the  proportion of three to one
(one grain of impure emetine is equivalent to ten grains of the root).
  Ipecacuanha seems to affect primarily the solar plexus  and the
pneumogastric nerve ; it irritates these centres spasmodically ;  inci-
dental to this  irritation is vascular erethism; hence it is useful for
haemorrhage, for inflammatory irritation of the bronchial tubes.   All
of Alagendie's animals exhibited signs of inflammation  in  the air-
tubes.  It  is  suitable for feeble,  slender  persons with  sensitive
temperaments.   According to Sachs who ridicules  Homoeopathy,
Ipecacuanha possesses a specific medicinal relation  to periodical
diseases, if the paroxysms occur in the night.  It  is only one ac-
quainted with this property of Ipecacuanha, who is capable of doing
justice to the great virtues of this drug.  Years before Sachs, Hahne-
mann taught this doctrine, when he recommended Ipecacuanha as a
remedy for paroxysmal  asthma.
  Its action upon  the pneumogastric nerve is remarkable.  "  How
singular it-is," says Dr. Alarshall  Hall, "that Ipecacuanha, taken
into the bronchia, should excite asthma,  and  taken into the stomach,
should induce another affection of the respiratory system, vomiting."
But there is nothing singular in all this.   Ipecacuanha acts upon the
various ramifications of the pneumogastric  nerve, and upon all of
them it acts alike; upon all of them it acts as a spasmodic  irritant,
and the effect  of this  spasmodic  irritation  in  the  air-passages is
asthma, and vomiting in the stomach.   This might be  termed the
functional effect;  the pathological appearances are  capillary en-
gorgement, redness, as if the internal surfaces Avere inflamed.
  Some persons are wonderfully sensitive to the action of Ipecacu-
anha.  The merest atom of dust will interfere with their breathing.
Dr. Roberts, of Dudley, in Scotland, writes in a communication to
Pereira : " If I remain in a room Avhere  the preparation of Ipecacu-
anha is going on—for instance, making  the pulvis Ipecacuanha com-
positus, I am sure  to have a regular attack of asthma.  In a few
seconds dyspnoea  comes  on  in a violent  degree, attended  with
wheezing and great weight and anxiety  about the praecordia.  The
attack generally remains about an  hour, but I obtain no relief  until
a copious  expectoration takes place, which is  invariably the  case.
After the  attack is over, I suffer no further  inconvenience.  I  have
always considered that the attack proceeds from the minute particles
of the dpecacuanha floating in the  atmosphere  acting as an irritant
on the mucous membrane  of the trachea and the bronchial tubes."
To  this communication  Pereira adds this important  remark that, in
some cases "the mere odor of the root seems  sufficient  to excite
difficulty of breathing, with a feeling of suffocation."
  A druggist's assistant, while engaged  in the process of powdering
Ipecacuanha, Avas poisoned by the  incautious inhalation  of the  dust.
This  case is mentioned by Dr. Priegher in  Rust's Alagazine.  The
patient who was suffering from  catarrh and cough, inhaled during 
CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA.
537
three hours the dust from the root; in consequence of which, vomit-
ing came on, followed by a tightness on the  chest.  An hour after
this, he complained of a most violent sense of suffocation and  con-
striction of the trachea and throat;  his face looked cadaverous ; he
had the most frightful paroxysms of oppression and  anxiety.  The
physician who  was called in,  bled him, and  gave Asafoetida and
Belladonna with temporary relief;  but in five hours a fresh attack
came on, with  the most imminent  danger of suffocation.  A strong
decoction of Uva ursi, with the  extract  of Rhatany, was administered
with almost immediate relief, and in an hour his breathing was much
freer.   He was  able to leave the house in two  days, but  suffered
several days Avith difficulty of  breathing.
  These few cases show the immense power possessed by Ipecacuanha,
of spasmodically irritating the ramifications  of the pneumogastric
nerves, and causing  a variety  of conditions of the respiratory and
gastric organs,  which  find  in Ipecacuanha  a sure and energetic
remedy.  Let us  subject the therapeutic powers of this drug to a
more special analysis.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  The provings of Ipecacuanha, which Hahnemann has bequeathed
to us, are short but exceedingly characteristic and instructive.  We
find that Ipecacuanha causes
  A. fine stinging pain in the head and forehead, excited and aggra-
vated by contact.
  Headache, as if the brain and skull had been bruised, with nausea.
  These kinds of pain may characterize
  Rheumatic  and bilious headaches, caused by exposure, over-eat-
ing, etc.
  In hemicrania, with stinging pain and soreness, nausea, Ipecacu-
anha will be found useful, especially in paroxysmal hemicrania.

                      FACIAL  GROUP..

  Ipecacuanha  causes spasmodic sneezing, and bleeding at the nose.
In a case of
  Hemorrhage  from  the nose, Ipecacuanha arrested the bleeding at
once.   The patient Avas a lady of abovH sixty years.  All sorts of
appliances had been resorted  to, to stop the bleeding, but in vain.
The patient was almost dying from loss of blood.  Half a grain of the
powder of Ipecacuanha arrested the haemorrhage promptly and per-
manently.  As  we go along,  we shall find that in  haemorrhage from
various organs,  Ipecacuanha  is  a most  admirable remedy.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Ipecacuanha  causes
  Flat taste in the mouth;
  Nausea and vomiting;
  Flow of watery saliva; 
538
LECTURE XXXV.
   Feeling  of qualmishness, emptiness,  and  flabbiness about  the
stomach;
   Feeling of excessive distention in the abdomen.
   These feAV symptoms are important.  They teach us that Ipecacu-
anha may be a useful agent in gastric conditions characterized by
nausea and vomiting, flow of water from the mouth, want of  tone in
the stomach.  We shall find Ipecacuanha useful in the
   Vomiting of pregnant females, where the middle potencies, from the
6th to the 18th will be.found most useful.
   I stated previously that Ipecacuanha was particularly indicated in
affections  characterized by periodical  paroxysms, especially  if they
occur at night.  Hence we shall  find this agent specifically adapted
for paroxysms of
  • Nocturnal Vomiting, where even a very high potency may  effect a
cure.  An old lady was suddenly attacked, without any apparent
cause, by vomiting.  At two in  the morning she experienced dis-
tressing nausea,  followed by spasmodic vomiting, with expulsion of
large quantities  of tenacious white  mucus.  The paroxysms lasted
two hours.  During the vomiting she was cold, turned pale and suf-
fered a good deal of oppression and anguish, with palpitation of the
heart.   She had  had five paroxysms of this kind in five successive
nights, each succeeding paroxysm becoming more violent and more
obstinate,  when my aid was requested.  I gave the lady one globule
of Ipecacuanha 200, after which she slept soundly the following night,
and never again  had even the shadow of an attack.
   Ipecacuanha may even excite vomiting of blood, hence in

   Hematemesis, when the vomiting  is attended with nausea, strain-
ing, and the blood  is perhaps mixed with mucus and bile, Ipecacu-
anha will  prove  a capital remedy.
   In Dyspepsia, with anorexia, oppression  after eating, flow of watery
saliva,  qualmishness, want  of tone in the stomach,  Ipecacuanha is
useful.  In

   Spasmodic Cardialgia,' especially if accompanied by retching and
vomiting of tenacious mucus, Ipecacuanha may prove indispensable.
A case is reported, where these paroxysms occurred during the chilly
stage of fever and  ague, in a most frightful degree.  Large doses of
Opium were unable to afford the least relief.  Very small doses of
Ipecacuanha arrested the trouble  at once.
   Among the gastric symptoms of Ipecacuanha, recorded by Hahne-
mann, we find this remarkable symptom: "A tearing-pinching in the
abdomen, as if the bowels were grasped Avith the hands, so that the
fingers spread apart, make  a sharp impression into the bowels; the
pain is moderated during rest, but intensely aggravated by the least
movement."
  This remarkable spasm has occurred as a natural disease.  A young
lady of  twelve years had been afflicted with this peculiar spasm for
several years. The most distinguished practitioners of the Old-School
had  been consulted, and eminent homoeopathic physicians had been
consulted  without  avail.   When  I first  saw  the child,  the  spasms 
CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA.
539
  came on as soon as she awoke, and pursued her through the day
  until she laid doAvn at night.  Suffering and agony were depicted in
  her countenance.  This one symptom was the great feature in her case.
  One globule of Ipecacuanha 200, arrested the spasm completely and,
  so far as I know, permanently.
    Ipecacuanha also causes a cutting pain in the umbilical region, with
  shuddering.  We may therefore recommend Ipecacuanha for

    Bilious and Neuralgic Colic, when the distress is of this pinching
  and cutting nature.
    Ipecacuanha affects the alvine secretions.  It causes
    Diarrhieic stools as if fermented;
    Bloody stools;
    Liquid stools, with a feeling of qualmishness in the bowels;
     Green stools;
    Foul-smelling stools.
    These symptoms show that Ipecacuanha may be of use in

    Bilious and Catarrhal diarrhoea, more especially, if the discharges
  are liquid, serous, bloody, green, foul-smelling, and if other symptoms
  of gastric derangement such as indicate Ipecacuanha, are present, such
  as: qualmishness in the stomach and bowels, flow of water from the
  mouth, loss of appetite, white-coated tongue, etc.
    It has also been used in Asiatic Chiolera, if the vomiting was exces-
  sive and spasmodic;  in  this disease it  only acts symptomatically, it
  does not meet the essence of the pathological process.
    Ipecacuanha has been used in Dysentery, but here it only moderates
  the bloody  discharges; it does not act upon the tenesmus.
    In other forms of
    Hemorrhiage from the  bowels, in profuse bleeding from the hasmor-
  rhoidal vessels, and even from the capillaries of the smaller intestines,
  Ipecacuanha will afford relief and may  be  sufficient in some cases to
  effect a  cure.
    Ipecacuanha also causes a creeping sensation at the anus, and may
  therefore prove useful to children who are troubled with

    Ascarides, provided the condition of the alvine secretions, gene-
  rally, justifies the use of this drug.
    Let us not forget Ipecacuanha in

    Ileus and in Strangulated  Hernia.  In a case  of ileus of  twelve
  days' standing, where the patient  had already commenced to vomit
  up fascal matter,  and where nothing  seemed able to remove the
  spasm or afford the least relief, small doses of Ipecacuanha at once
  arrested the vomiting, and a mild  cathartic produced an evacuation.
 ;   In a case of  strangulated hernia, quoted  in  Frank's  Magazine,
 I where fascal vomiting had   already set in,  Ipecacuanha at once
 I arrested the spasm, and the patient was able to  replace the  bowel
j without  even the aid  of a physician.

                       URINARY GROUP.
Ipecacuanha causes a sort of 
540           -          LECTURE XXXV.
  Dysuria, and bloody urine ; hence we give it in
  Hematuria  or  haemorrhage  from the urethra, especially when
accompanied with urging to urinate, and difficulty of passing any
urine, a sort of spasmodic retention. In a case  of this kind, the
haemorrhage may be accompanied  by a sort of qualmishness and
nausea in  the region of the bowels and stomach.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

  Ipecacuanha causes hemorrhage from the womb and a pressing
towards this organ; hence we find it useful in
  Metrorrhiagia, and also in Menorrhiagia or excessive menstruation.
  Haemorrhage from the  womb  may  occur  after  confinement.
Ipecacuanha may be of immense use to us in this dangerous acci-
dent,  especially if sickness at the stomach is present at the same
time.
  Miscarriage may sometimes be prevented by Ipecacuanha.  If the
patient complains  of  pressing towards the uterus, sickness at the
stomach, dizziness, headache, feels cold and looks pale in the face,
Ipecacuanha may be more appropriate than any other drug.

                   RESPIRATORY" GROUP.

  In  affections of the respiratory organs, Ipecacuanha is a most
important remedy.  Look at the -pathogenesis of this drug as given
by  Hahnemann, and we shall find that  it must be a most capital
remedy in                            *
   Whooping-cough, especially during the spasmodic stage, with suffo-
cation, blue face, rattling breathing.
  Or in Spasmodic Cough generally, especially if the paroxysms  set
in at night, with spasmodic titillation in the larynx, retching, vomit-
ing of food and mucus; paroxysms of this kind of cough characterize
that dangerous form of bronchitis described by some pathologists as
   Capillary Bronchitis, to which little children are more particularly
subject.
  Cough with pain in the umbilical region, as if the navel should be
torn out;
  Cough with pressure on  the bladder, but inability to pass any
urine.
  Cough with expectoration of blood, or hemoptysis.
  In  a case of haemoptysis or haemoptoe, which had been occasioned
by  bad treatment, Ipecacuanha arrested the bleeding  permanently,
after  all other revulsive  and antiphlogistic means had been tried
in vain.
  Ipecacuanha, if given  in  very small doses, from the sixth to  the
eighteenth potency, may act as  a palliative in sudden haemorrhage
from the lungs when  incidental to phthisis.
  It was stated at the commencement of this lecture,  that Ipecacu-
anha  causes an asthmatic constriction of the chest.  Hence we find
Ipecacuanha useful in

  Spasmodic Asthma,  as if the patient would suffocate, with anguish, 
CEPHAELIS  IPECACUANHA.
541
deathly paleness, dread of death; the inspirations are accompanied
with a crowing noise.

  Angor  Nocturnus is a peculiar form of spasm of the lungs, a sort of
spasmodic asthma coming on in nightly paroxysms quite suddenly,
and characterized by similar phenomena, cold.extremities, sinking
pulse,  cadaverous paleness  or  bluish  color of  the face, excessive
dyspnoea, etc.  Ipecacuanha relieves such paroxysms.

                       FEVER  GROUP.

  Ipecacuanha is useful in
  Intermittent Fever, if  the  gastric symptoms are very marked, the
tongue is coated with a thick, grayish slime, loss of appetite, scanty
and loose stool, nausea and vomiting, the patient feels chilly although
the skin  is not very cold  to the  touch, thirst moderate.  In other
fevers Ipecacuanha  is not indicated, though  it may be used in
feverish  conditions arising from rheumatic exposure, and from
bilious conditions of the system.  The  patient may complain of
pain in the bones as if the flesh  were  bruised,  coated tongue, foul
taste, flow of water in the mouth.   A condition of this kind is some-
times designated by the term
   Gastricism, or Saburras, with predominance of gastric and bilious
symptoms.

               EXANTHEMATOUS  GROUP.

   Ipecacuanha causes   *
   Pricking pains here and there, terminating in  burning pains.
   This symptom may be a valuable indication in other affections to
which Ipecacuanha is  homoeopathic;  in  gastric derangements,  for
instance, this symptom may occur.

                     MENTAL  GROUP.

   Ipecacuanha causes apathiy of mind, impatience, fretfulness.  These
symptoms are only valuable as indications for the use of Ipecacuanha
in other affections, such as gastric derangements,  headache, fever, etc.

                            DOSE.

   Ipecacuanha, as we have shoAvn, may be used in large and small
doses from the first to the 200th  potency; the  tincture is seldom
required, unless we wish to produce emesis, when from two to four
grains of the powder are required, or 30, 40 or even 60 drops of the
tincture.
   Ipecacuanha is an antidote to  some of  the  dynamic  effects of
Arsenic  and China.

   Hahnemann's observations on  the physiological action and  the
therapeutic virtues of Ipecacuanha are sufficiently interesting to be
quoted on this occasion; they constitute the introduction to  his
exceedingly interesting provings of this drug : 
542                     LECTURE  XXXV.
  " Although," writes Hahnemann, "the following table of symp-
toms is not complete, it suffices to show that this powerful plant
was not created solely as an emetic, but that it serves much  higher
and  more  important purposes.   It  was  originally brought  into
Europe  as  a  remedy for  autumnal dysenteries.  A hundred and
thirty years since, Leibnitz recommended it in those affections, and
it was improperly used, according to  the fallacious notion that,
because it will cure certain cases of diarrhoea, it is therefore adapted
to dysentery,  although these diseases are  widely opposite to each
other.
  " However, this usage has somewhat declined, experience having
repeatedly  shown that it is wholly unsuited  to  dysentery.  The
multitude of unfortunate attempts, which have cost so many lives,
might have been avoided by studying the pure and peculiar effects
of Ipecacuanha;  what morbid  conditions  it  has the  power of
inducing in persons in health, and by analogy, what cases of natural
disease  it is able to cure.  It would then have appeared that it is
only of use in diminishing the excess of blood and some kinds
of abdominal pains  in  dysentery, but  does not affect   the  other
symptoms.
  " On the  other hand, the study of Ipecacuanha shows that, as it
cures the disposition  to vomiting analogous to that which it excites, it
has also a  specific efficacy,  principally in haemorrhages, in spas-
modic asthma that comes on in paroxysms,  in suffocating  spasms,
and in  some  kinds of tetanus, always  supposing  that  the  other
symptoms of  the disease  coincide with it.  Ipecacuanha is also the
proper remedy for certain kinds of intermittent fevers, provided it
has greater homoeopathic affinity with them than any other medicine.
If it is not perfectly  similar, it usually leaves the  fever in  a  con-
dition  in  which  Arnica, China,  Ignatia  or  Cocculus  should be
given.
  "Effects  occasioned by giving Arsenic improperly,  or  by an
excess of China, also  yield to Ipecacuanha.  In all cases in which it
is administered homoeopathically, it should be in very small doses.
Hitherto I have given  one  drop of the  tincture, containing the
millionth part of a drop of the essence of the root, and  its effects
have appeared too powerful.-
  " It is only in cases of poisoning by too large a dose of opium, that
it is necessary to give a large dose of Ipecacuanha, that is to say, 30,
40 or 60 drops of the strong tincture, unless circumstances indicate
strong coffee or camphor in preference."
  This was written about the year 1820.  By way of contrast I beg
the privilege of referring to Hahnemann's  observations concerning
this same agent contained in his admirable  essay entitled,  " Sug-
gestions for ascertaining the curative poAvers of drugs."  This essay
was originally published in the year 1796, in  Hufeland's Journal of
Practical Medicine."  "Ipecacuanha,"  writes  Hahnemann, in this
essay, is used with advantage in  affections against which  Nature
herself  makes some efforts, but is too powerless to effect the desired
object.  In these affections, Ipecacuanha presents to the  nerves of
the upper orifice of the stomach, the most sensitive part of the organ 
CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA.
543
of vitality, a substance that produces a most  incongenial disgust,
nausea, anxiety, thus acting in a similar manner to  the morbid
material that is to be removed.  Against this double attack, Nature
exerts antagonistically her powers with still  greater energy, and
thus, by means of this increased exertion, the morbid matter  is the
more easily removed.  Thus fevers are brought to a  crisis; stop-
pages in the viscera of the abdomen and of the chest, and in the womb,
are put in motion; miasmata of contagious diseases expelled  by the
skin ; cramp relieved by the cramp that Ipecacuanha itself produces,
their tension and freedom restored to vessels disposed to haemorrhage
from relaxation,  or  from  the  irritation  of  an  acrid substance
deposited in them, etc. But most distinctly does it act as a similarly
acting remedy  to the  disease sought to be cured, in  cases of chronic
disposition  to  vomit without bringing any thing  aAvay.  Here  it
should  be  given in very small doses, in order to  excite frequent
nausea, and the tendency to vomit goes off more and more perma-
nently at each  dose than it would Avith any palliative remedy."
  Independently of the  tendency to humoralism which underlies
this paragragh, and which, in those  times, constituted the  medical
philosophy  of  the age, it is interesting to observe that the great
truth of the dynamization of drugs developed itself slowly and gra-
dually in Hahnemann's mind.  Every inch of ground which that
noble mind traveled over in working out a doctrine that will prove
a doctrine of life to future generations, is resplendent with the halo
of truth, and bears the footprint of a consecrated revealer.   In the
massive dose of the pathological materialist as well as in the delicate
atom of the metaphysical hyper-dynamist, there is practical and
useful sense.  Homoeopathy is adapted to all organisms and to all
curable diseases.  But not all organisms are equally susceptible to
medicinal influences  ; they  are endoAved Avith  different degrees of
sensitiveness, of irritability,  of receptivity.   And the diseases them-
selves are not  alike in quality.  Is not there  a difference betAveen
the semi-material miasm of  a western prairie that strikes one  down
heavily, grossly as it were, without affecting the centres of  vitality,
and the immaterial semi-spiritual poison which develops typhus?
There is a difference,  and a  difference that tells  upon the treatment.
As a general rule, you may treat a case of typhus with a higher
potency of  the appropriate remedy;  but as  a general rule you
will find that  a  western intermittent requires a larger dose  of the
remedy which is homoeopathically indicated.  If we  would persist in
enforcing the use  of high potencies as a necessary,  logical develop-
ment of Homoeopathy, as a truth universally and exclusively applic-
able at all times and in all places, we  should not only damage our
patients, but we might sink the great cause to which we are devoted,
in irretreivable  ruin until a second  Hahnemann should again dis-
cover it as  one of the lost arts.
  The truth in Homoeopathy will never perish.  I hold that the
principle of  small doses, as understood in the broadest sense by
homoeopathic practitioners of all shades and opinions, is one  of the
truths of the homoeopathic system of cure.  I look upon the principle
of small doses as a vital seed that shall grow to a tree, in the shade 
544
LECTURE XXXAr.
of whose  magnificent foliage health will find a secure and perma-
nent resting place.
  It is well that the student of  Homoeopathy should identify him-
self  with  the  gradual  unfolding of this science  in Hahnemann's
mind.  This will enable him to discriminate betAveen the  essential
and the accidental in the structure which the world now looks upon
as Homoeopathy.
  Not every thing which  has become an integral  portion of the
homoeopathic  edifice, is equally entitled to the  claims which the
fundamental law  of Homoeopathy has- upon our confidence and
regard.  The doctrine of doses is one of those features in  homoeo-
pathic practice which, having been  put prominently  forAvard  by
Hahnemann as the distinguishing badge of  homoeopathic practi-
tioners, was invested by  his immediate disciples with a dignity
which threatened  to completely subvert the natural relation of the
essential and the accidental facts  of Homoeopathy.
  A retrospective glance at the development of Homoeopathy will
show that the  opposition to our practice has been, to some extent,
provoked by the subversive exclusivism which gradually crept into
the Homoeopathic School, regarding symptoms and doses.
  The foolish  stubbornness with which homoeopathic  practitioners
sought to define  Pathology as a mere science of symptoms, and to
set up the infinitesimal globule as  the genuine  representative of
Homoeopathy,  led to equally silly, and very frequently unjustifiable
misapprehensions and mis-statements of homoeopathic doctrines by
our opponents.
  We may excuse Hahnemann for having swept away  the patholo-
gical rubbish and the mammoth practice of his time.  Yet Pathology
is neither a nonsense nor a fiction, nor is there any thing absolutely
or inherently wrong in a massive dose of the appropriate drug.
  What is Pathology and what is a proper dose ?
  Pathology is that great science which teaches a  knowledge of all
that which is  abnormal in the functions  of  the  living organism.
Does not this knowledge imply a cycle of inquiries worthy of man's
most exalted reason ?   For this knowledge implies an  inquiry into
the causes which produce disease.  And here again we have
  1. Proximate Causes, and Cosmic Forces or Principles which are
more immediately, more directly instrumental in developing diseases
in the living tissues, and
  2. Remote Causes, or rather accidental  conditions in which the
former are enabled to act.
  This knowledge next implies an observation and logical classifica-
tion of the phenomena by which the pathological  process manifests
itself to the observing reason.  And here we distinguish
  1. Subjective Phenomena,  mere abnormal sensations, generally of a
painful nature, but  in  which category we include every sensation,
moral, intellectual and physical, which deviates  from the normal
type; and
  2. Objective  Phenomena,  or changes of tissue, some of which are
seen or otherwise known  during  the  lifetime of the  patients, but
which are more particularly studied after  death, and  constitute a 
CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA.
545
special branch of pathological  science, the science  of Pathological
Anatomy.
   This grand cycle of studies,  a  study of the causative  forces and
determining conditions  of  disease,  of the  subjective phenomena
which characterize the pathological  process  and of the  alterations
which this process develops in the living tissues; this grand cycle of
studies constitutes the legitimate  domain of Pathology, a science which
I consider it the mission and privilege of Homoeopathy to reconstruct'
upon the incontrovertible basis  of Nature.
   And now the dose.  Is not that the proper dose which  cures  the
disease most promptly, safely and radically ?  What has this to do
with the size of the dose except in so far as experience has led us to
establish  certain unimpeachable rules concerning it ?  In regard to
this point, a homoeopathic physician  is entitled to the experiences of
the whole past of  Aledicine. The prompt, radical  and safe cure of
tteus by means of one, two, three or ten grains of Opium in the hands
of an  allceopathic physician, is an experience  to which  a homoeo-
path is entitled just as much as  to the cure of a similar disease  by
means of an infinitesimal globule.  Alas, alas, how the natural rela-
tion of facts has been subverted by the blind, unreasoning, infatuated
dogmatists  of the Homoeopathic School!  The accidental has been
made the essential; the transient has  been made the permanent;  the
purely human has  been proclaimed an eternal, an unalterable, a
divine fact.  Yet, the interests  of the liAung Man tower  far above
the rigidities of system;  in  the words of Paul these three:  " Faith,
Hope  and Charity, but the greatest of all is  Charity."
   I have already stated that an  alkaloid has been found in Ipecacu-
anha, to which the name Emetine has been  applied (from emeo, to
vomit).  Emetine is no substitute for the root.  Its  therapeutic vir-
tues seem even inferior to those  of the root.
   The discovery of the alkaloids is a  contribution to Alateria Medica
of inestimable value.   The  alkaloid is supposed to  be  the active
principle of the drug.  It may be  one of its active principles, but it
is  not the active principle wherein the integral power of the drug is
concentrated as in a focus of intensity.   The  great discoverer of
Homoeopathy was  set against alkaloids.   " Modern chemists," says
he, in his introduction to Opium, "have taken  immense pains to
analyze Opium into its constituent principles; morphine, narcotine,
meconic acid, extractive  matter, caoutchouc, fatty oil, etc.  Homoeo-
pathy deals with the integral, inseparable substance as it exists in
nature, and employs a mode of  preparation that shall secure an uni-
form and universal unfolding of the medicinal powers of the drug;
she aims at healing, not at destroying men;  hence she does not, like
modern pharmacy, covet the honor  of effecting the conversion of
Opium into a poison capable of  destroying life as speedily as possi-
ble, and hence again, true to her character as a saving and life-restor-
ing art, she  may  dispense Avith  the dangerous products of modern
chemistry."
  Gentlemen, the time Avhen these teachings  of a cherished master
were heeded with all the reverence of faith-inspired  souls, has  gone
by.  We do use  Morphia, Quinia, Strychnia  or  any other alkaloid
                                35 
546
LECTURE XXXV.
the physiological action of which is knoAV to us. AVhat homoeopathic
physician would wish to do without them !  How often has it been
my good  fortune, and  how  often  will it  be your good fortune, to
afford relief, by a timely dose of Morphine!  There lies your  con-
sumptive  patient exhausting his last remnant of strength by parox-
ysms of a racking cough.  You knoAV that  your art is powerless in
his case and that he looks upon a little Morphine as his trustiest
friend.  AVould you sacrifice him,  the living, suffering child of Cod,
to a  rigid,  pitiless theory?   I  remember the time when  a strict
Hahnemannian would  not have dared to  cast even a longing side-
glance at  Quinine.  I do not wonder that the German square-head of
Hahnemann which, like an old-fashioned battering-ram, had to strike
down the  ramparts of  false  medicine, fortified  by age, consecrated
by the  superstition of stultified crowds, and watched by the proud
sophistry  and interested love  of the high-priests of science, should
have  attempted to erect an almost  insurpassable barrier betAveen the^
neAV Truth and the old  Falsehood; but let us be thankful  that the
progressive and liberal spirit of  the age has over-leaped  every  bar-
rier of man's OAvn making; let us  be thankful that a homoeopathic
physician  is no longer ostracised among his own flock, if he should deem
it his duty to comfort an incurable  sufferer with a dose of Morphine.
How  often have homoeopathic physicians  made fruitless attempts to
combat with an orthodox  dose of  China or Nux  vomica  an enemy
whom the alkaloids would have struck down with Herculean poAver!
   I fancy I  have a  distinct  perception of the movement which  is
going on in the Old as well as in the New School.  Both Schools are
endeavoring to develop the inmost  forces  of drugs, the Old School
by the slow and tedious road of experimental science, the New School
by the processes of tritunation and succussion.  These processes  of
trituration and succussion have been carried so far that we haA'e not
even the shadow  of experimental science  to fall  back  upon as  cor-
roborative testimony for the logical legitimacy of our reasonings.
According to Hahnemann's doctrine the inmost force which is hidden
in the structural organization of the drug, is set free as it were, by
this process of infinite breaking up  of the crude particles, and is thus
enabled to act with  more suddenness and  intensity.   The discovery
of the alkaloids is an  approach to the small, spiritualized dose  of
Homoeopathy. Why should it not be given to the analytical chemist
to discover experimentally the existence, if not  of these inmost forces
themselves, but of the  fact that  they exist, and that  they constitute
the genuine factors in every well-authenticated case of cure ?  Let us
rejoice that these plodding men, who constitute the hewers of wood
and the drawers  of  water in  this  age of  rudimentary science, are
willing to  prepare and gather up materials of which the true folloAver
of Hahnemann may avail himself for the purpose of constructing his
Homoeopathy of faith and abstract reason  upon the incontrovertible
basis of Inductive Science. 
J0DIUM.
547
              LEOTUEE   XXXVI.

                          JODIUM,

                             (Iodine)

  This agent was discovered in 1811 by Courtoir, a saltpetre-manu-
facturer  of Paris.  It  is  so  named from  iodes (violet-colored), on
account of the color of its vapor.  It exists in the mineral and vege-
table kingdoms;—iodide of silver, and iodide of mercury are found
in nature;  it is  found in sea-water;  in  salt or  brine-springs (in
England, Germany, etc.);  in the algae (sea-weeds, kelp).
  Iodine is a crystallizable solid, usually met with in micacious, soft,
friable scales, having a grayish-black color, a metallic lustre, an acrid,
hot taste, and  a disagreeable odor, somewhat  similar to that of chlo-
rine.  Iodine vapor has a beautiful violet-color and a specific gravity
of 8-716.  It solves readily in alcohol  and ether.  AYith  starch it
forms a, blue compound, Iodide of starch.  According to Stromeyer,
Avater which only contains ^so'otja of its weight of iodine, acquires a
perceptibly blue tinge on the addition of starch.
  The Iodine of commerce is contaminated with variable proportions
of water.  An ounce, if very moist, may contain a drachm, or per-
haps even  a drachm and a half of water.  This fraud is detected by
compressing the  Iodine between  folds  of blotting-paper.   In this
moist state it is unfit for making pharmaceutic preparations of fixed
and  uniform strength;  hence, before using it, we  have to  dry it  in
this way: place  the Iodine in a shallow earthen vessel in a narrow
and confined space, side by side with a shallow vessel holding fresh-
burnt lime twelve times the weight of the Iodine; the lime will absorb
the moisture.  Any matter which  is given out as Iodine, and is not
perfectly soluble  in alcohol, or vaporizable by heat, may be looked
upon as an adulteration.
  Coindet  was the first who instituted inquiries concerning  the cura-
tive virtues of Iodine.  He found  that the efficacy of the ashes of
fucus vesiculosus (an alga) and of Spongia  in the treatment of goitre
is due to the presence of Iodine in those substances.  He  observed
moreover  that large  doses  of Iodine  will cause  in some persons
acceleration of the pulse, palpitation of the heart, dry cough, sleep-
lessness, emaciation, loss of strength, swelling of the lower extremities,
trembling,  dwindling of the mammae, increase of appetite, and a sen-
sation of pain in  the goitre (among such as were afflicted with this
disease.)
  Other observers have noticed anxiety, depression of spirits, emaci-
ation, cholera which sometimes threatened to become fatal, and a sort
of trembling resembling chorea.
  Orfila took two grains of Iodine, which caused a horrible taste and
loathing; next day, after taking four grains,  he experienced, imme-
diately after taking the drug, a constriction and heat in the  fauces 
548
LECTURE XXXVI.
for a quarter of an hour, followed by vomiting of a yellowish liquid
containing Iodine and by a  slight tightness about the chest.   Six
grains caused immediately  heat, contraction of the  fauces, nausea
and loathing, eructations, ptyalism, pain in the stomach, and, ten
minutes after, a bilious vomiting and slight colic; the pulse rose to
eighty-five  and  even ninety beats;  at  times the  breathing  felt
oppressed, the temperature of the skin was somewhat increased and
the urine a little darker.
  Reichenau reports the case of a woman of twenty-six years who
lost her breasts entirely after using Iodine for six months.
  According to Hugol, the vapors of Iodine causes intoxication and
cerebral congestion.
  Schmid has seen Iodine cause miscarriage.
  Jahn remarks that Iodine causes liquefaction of the adipose matter,
in consequence of which process the skin becomes clammy  and
assumes a dirty color, a pellicle of fat is  formed on  the  urine, the
stools  are yellower than usual, and the  menses more profuse, the
blood  is more  fluid, the digestion  is weakened and the muscular
system is more irritable.  If the use of  the drug is  continued  still
longer, fever sets in, the glands  dwindle away  and nervous atrophy
is developed.
  After the excessive use of Iodine, Zink observed restlessness, ex-
cessive heat, palpitation of the heart, frequent pulse, violent and con-
tinual erections, excessive diarrhoea, unquenchable thirst, trembling,
emaciation, fainting fits and  death.  In another fatal  case he found
the boAvels  distended, portions of them very much inflamed, almost
as if sphacelated, the internal walls of the stomach were red, exco-
riated  over a space of two inches, the serous coat Avas thickened and
of a looser consistence, the liver was enlarged and paler than usual.
  According to some observers, Iodine causes atrophy of the testes
and sterility.
  Several cases of poisoning by Iodine are recorded in the  Journal
of Medical  Chemistry, 4th vol., by Drs. Dessaignes and Moncourrier.
In one of them the sufferer swallowed two and a half drachms of the
tincture of Iodine, which caused heat and dryness from the faucus to
the epigastrium, followed by tearing pains in the stomach, ineffectual
efforts to vomit, and an hour later, small and contracted pulse, horrid
pains  in the stomach, and disposition to convulsions.
  Iodine has even caused gangrene.  A woman took the tincture of
Iodine to remove her obesity, 6 drops three times a  day, and after-
wards 30 drops daily for eight weeks, in  all tAvo ounces of the tinc-
ture.   First she Avas attacked Avith a large furuncle between the
scapulae  and considerable inflammation  of the surrounding parts
(with  loss  of appetite and sleeplessness); the furuncle detached
itself  from  the skin after the application  of warm  poultices, in the
shape of hard, knotty bodies, leaving deep and painless ulcers which
refused to heal; afterwards she  suddenly  experienced a violent pain
in the big toe of the right foot,  increasing in violence and passing
to the other toes on the day  following; the toe which had been  first
affected became less  sensitive, then  cold, lastly black, with sudden
supervention of a typhoid fever, the gangrene rising up to the thigh 
JODIUM.
549
•     with horrid pains, the leg becoming black as pitch and icy-cold,
      until finally the tibia and fibula broke while the  woman attempted
      to  turn  herself in bed, the whole limb dropping off;  every spot
      which had been  scratched became dark-brown, and the ulcerated
      places, remaining after the furuncles,  became likewise gangrenous.
        These diversified effects of Iodine upon the organism afford dis-
      tinct evidence of its relation to  the glandular and mucous  tissues.
      It impairs and even destroys the reproductive powers  of these tis-
      sues even to the extent of causing atrophy and gangrene.  Iodine is
      one of those agents which Old-School practitioners permit themselves
      to use empirically to an almost unlimited extent.   It is even recom-
      mended as a specific  remedy in maujy  diseases  where its curative
      virtues depend entirely upon its being homoeopathic to the malady.
      Thus it is recommended for marasmus, and yet Ave know that  it
      causes emaciation.  It is recommended for mercurial ptyalism, and
      yet we know  that it causes an excessive secretion of saliva. It causes
      dyspnoea, cough, spitting of blood, and yet it is recommended by a
      number of  authors for these very affections.  Guided by the toxi-
      cological effects of Iodine, and by the  symptoms obtained  through
      systematic provings,  we may draw the following parallel between
      the symptoms of this drug and the diseases to which it is homoeopathic.

                          CEPHALIC GROUP.
        It was asserted by a French physician, Dr. Laffore, that Iodine
      is a remedy for tubercular meningitis; but when invited to repeat
      his  experiments at the hospital of the children in  Paris, he  utterly
      failed in performing a single cure ; it is therefore to be presumed
      that his diagnosis in the first place  Avas incorrect.   Nevertheless,
      according to  some homoeopathic authors, Iodine may be useful in
      dropsical affections of the brain, if not depending upon  tubercular
      disorganization;  I do not see, however, why Iodine should not like-
      Avise be tried in  cases of tubercular meningitis; this  disease has
      been found incurable Avith the remedial agents  usually employed
      against it.
        Iodine has  caused
        Ileadachie with vertigo, and also frontal headache with stitches in
      the eyes and  ears,

        Professor Joerg and his disciples have furnished a few extremely
      interesting provings of Iodine, among which a painful  pressure in
      the forehead and occiput  deserves to be noticed ; the pressure  gene-
      rally terminated  in confusion of the head, and seems to have been in
      rapport with  the digestive system; for after the frontal headache
      had passed off, the provers would experience a sensation of gnawing-
      hunger, and a discharge  of loose  fasces would take place, contrary
      to habit.
        In Frank's  Physiological Magazine a case is alluded to where this
      sympathetic relation between  the brain and stomach  is strikingly
      illustrated.
        A man of twenty-five years who had enjoyed the best health, took
      ten drops of the tincture of iodine twice, after which he Avas attacked 
550
LECTURE XXXVI.
 with the following symptoms:  Paleness of the face, cold sweat,
 trembling of the limbs, constriction of the chest, desire to vomit,
 anxiety, headache, and  lastly fainting.  Ever since, his digestion
 became ruined.  Every other day, after eating the least quantity of
 food, he was attacked with indigestion, and a maddening headache.
 In the course of years he obtained some relief from these sufferings,
 but he was never able to drink water at dinner;  sweet milk always
 proved absolutely incompatible with his stomach.
   From this case of poisoning we may derive a useful lesson, in the
 treatment of
   Chironic Nervous Headaches depending upon gastric derangements.
 When we come to speak of the Chiylo-poi'etic Group, the influence of
 Iodine upon  the nerves of the  stomach will be  pointed  out more
 fully to your attention.

                     NERVOUS GROUP.

   The action of Iodine upon the nervous energy of the reproductive
 system is exceedingly depressing: if the Iodine is continued in suf-
 ficient quantity and for a length of  time, an universal emaciation
 seems to be a very common  result.   The breast,  testicles, the cellu-
 lar tissue and the parenchyma of organs have been known to dAvindle
 away under the action of Iodine.   We may avail ourselves of this
 indication in the treatment of
   Marasmus or Atrophy, especially when the emaciation is attended
 with another characteristic effect of Iodine; Ave mean
   Trembling or Tremor of the limbs.  Gairdner observes that Iodine
 causes: Trembling of the limbs, resembling chorea and sometimes
 lasting a long time.

   In Frank's Magazine, a case of poisoning is reported, where these
 effects of Iodine upon the nervous  system and upon the  cellular
 tissue are announced in a very marked manner.  A girl of  twenty-
 four years took the tincture of Iodine for goitre.  In a few days she
 experienced the following symptoms: palpitation of the heart,  ver-
 tigo,  twitching of the muscles, prostration, constant  urging  to urin-
 ate, alternate chills and heat, loss of appetite and  sleep, emaciation.
   In  the  Marasmus of children, of hysteric females, of drunkards
 even,  Iodine may render  us eminent service, if the patient trembles
from attempting  the least muscular  effort, with hectic  fever, slight
chills followed by heat  and dryness of the skin, loss  of appetite,
dizziness, headache.
   Marasmus as a form of Ilydrargyrosis, if the previously described
symptoms are present, will find in Iodine one of its powerful anti-
dotes   We read that the abuse  of  Iodine has  caused a  general
trembling of the extremities and muscles of the back.  The trembling
 commences with  slight tremor of the  hands, gradually invading the
larger muscles of the arms and back;  the gait is unsteady ; the hand
trembles to and fro, when carried to the mouth ;  the movements of
the body are painful; the patient is able to hold the trembling limb
quiet if he does not attempt to move it. These symptoms point to the
use of Iodine in 
JODIUM.
5)1
  Mercurial Tremor, which very much resembles the Iodine-trembling
in many essential features.

  We see it stated  that a man who used Iodine for impotence, Avas
attacked with paralysis of the lower extremities.
  Wallace informs us that Iodine, after first causing headache and
indigestion, then  affected the muscular equilibrium, causing tremb-
ling and afterwards paraplegia.
  Effects like these may lead us to employ Iodine in
  Paralysis of the Extremities,  one or more, if the affection  is the
natural consequence  of deficient innervation, a gradual sinking of
the reproductive energies in consequence of care, povery, exposure.

  In'Hufeland's Journal several cases of paralysis  are described
which were  cured with Iodine.  One is a case of a poor Avoman
who had lost the use of her lower limbs in consequence of care, hard
work and exposure.  The lower extremities had become atrophied
and contracted to such an extent  that the soles of the feet almost
touched the glutei muscles.   She suffered great pains in the limbs
which seemed to proceed from a belt-shaped region in the abdomen,
whence the pain spread to  the legs  and feet.   Under  the use  of
Iodine, three times a day, a teaspoonful of a solution of  five  grains
in two%ounces of water, the patient gradually recovered  the perfect
use of her limbs.
  A  case of this  kind shows  that Iodine possesses  the poAver  of
restoring the reproductive energies of the ganglionic system.  Allceo-
pathic physicians must find it extremely hard to account for these
wonderful  results of  the action of Iodine in the organism.  Some
go so far as to assert that Iodine is food for the tissues.  They forget
that, if it is no longer convenient to fall back upon such an explana-
tion, they do not hesitate to adopt the opposite theory; that Iodine
impoverishes the tissues, diminishes and  even destroys their assimi-
lative power.  It  is  upon this  theory that the curative virtues of
Iodine in the  treatment  of  goitre are predicated.   Homoeopathic
physicians account for the cure of atrophy by means of Iodine in a
much more rational manner. Iodine has a specific affinity for the
morbific principle which gives rise to, develops and  maintains the
atrophied condition of the limb.  Be this principle scorbutic, scrofu-
lous, psoric, syphilitic or mercurial; Iodine  has power to neutralize
it, and it is upon this neutralization or absorption of the morbific
element that the cure of atrophy depends.
  In the cure  of goitre, Iodine  may  seem to  act differently, but it
does not in reality.  According to Chatin, the immediate  cause  of
goitre is the absence of a normal proportion of Iodine in the food
and water, Avhich the inhabitants of districts where goitre is endemic,
consume.   This explanation, plausible and brilliant as it may seem,
is not sufficient.  If it were, why should not the absence of Iodine
result in the development of other diseases for which Iodine is given
with success ?  With Iodine we cure  glandular sAvellings of a scro-
fulous and syphilitic nature generally; yet we are not aware  that
the inhabitants of districts Avhere goitre and cretinism are endemic, 
552                     LECTURE XXXVI.
are, on that account any the more afflicted with the general symp-
toms of scrofulosis for Avhich Iodine is universally and successfully
used as one of the most reliable remedies.  On the contrary, Doctor
Grange of  Geneva is of opinion that there is no sort of connection
between  scrofula and goitre.  According to his observations,  in
regions of country Avhere  goitre is most frequent, scrofula is an
exceedingly rare disease.   The  region  of the Pyrenees may be
instanced as an illustration of this fact.
  Admitting the truth of the assertion that Iodine is a normal con-
stituent of  the organic tissues, we do not admit the justness of the
inference that the absence of Iodine in the fluids and solids Avhich
individuals oppropriate to themselves as-food, leads to the develop-
ment  of  goitre and cretinism.   There is a difference betAveen the
absence of good and the presence of positive evil.  Small-pox is both
the absence of a good, and the presence of a positive evil; so  is
syphilis; so is fever and ague; so  is erysipelas; so are goitre and
cretinism.  Diseases are states of evil, depending  upon the presence
of morbific principles.  A morbific agent or force may have  sup-
planted the poAver of normal reproduction in the thyroid body; we
can understand and accept such a doctrine; Ave can understand that
this inimical influence may act  as a parasite upon the tissues of the
gland, appropriating to itself its physiological groAvth, and develop-
ing it into an hypertrophied  monstrum. It is  upon  this iiiimical
agent that the Iodine acts; by neutralizing it, the normal reproduc-
tive energy of the gland is restored, and a gradual removal of the
adventitious mass is. the consequence.

                 INFLAAIAIATORY GROUP.

  Poisonous doses of Iodine produce inflammation, ulceration and
even gangrene of the intestinal mucous membrane.
  A lady of twenty-six years  undertook to kill herself Avith two
drachms  of the tincture of Iodine.  She  experienced a burning and
dryness from the throat to the stomach, with tearing pains in the
epigastrium and fruitless attempts to vomit.  Her face was flushed,
her eyes Aveeping; pulse contracted,  small; she complained of violent
pains in the stomach that were made much Avorse by pressure. After
having obtained relief by antidotal treatment, the pain shifted to the
bowels along the tract of the colon.
  These symptoms denote inflammation of the mucous lining of the
digestive tube.  It is only in few cases that Iodine may be available in
  Gastro-enteritis; in rheumatic inflammation of scrofulous children,
for  instance,  it would be perfectly justifiable to use  Aconite and
Iodine in alternation;  this treatment might likewise be pursued in a
case of inflammation iuduced by abuse of alcoholic stimulants.
  In Horn's Archives Ave read of a case of poisoning by Iodine which
shadows forth the homoeopathicity of this agent to an acute attack of

  Typhoid Enteritis; the symptoms in this case were: colic, vomiting,
bloody diarrhoea, cadaverous paleness, coldness and trembling of the
limbs, anxiety, vibratory motions before  the  eyes, profuse sweat on
the forehead, irritated pulse. 
JODIUM.
553
  I designate this group of symptoms as a case of typhoid enteritis,
because the mucous lining of the  smfill  intestines was evidently in-
flamed, and the attendant nervous symptoms bear witness that the
ganglionic system of nerves was very deeply involved in this patho-
logical disturbance.  An acute attack of this kind may be the result
of some suddenly-acting cause of a rheumatic or arthritic nature.

  Scrofulous Inflammation of  Joints, knee, hip,  elbow, and  other
joints,  may require  Iodine for their cure.  The joint  is swollen,
looks red, more particularly of a dark-red color ;  effusion may have
taken place.  The patient complains of great pain, an aching, throb-
bing, sore pain.  The inflammation is of a torpid character, the fever
moderate.  It may be best to give Aconite and Iodine in alternation,
using the tincture of each, one  drop  in about twelve tablespoonfuls
of water.

  Wallace informs us that in three cases he has seen pleurisy occa-
sioned by the continued use of Iodine.  Dr. AYurm, of the Vienna
Homoeopathic Hospital, informs us that, in cases of chronic pleurisy
with effusion, he depends upon Sulphur 30th, as  his  principal  re-
sorbent of the  effused fluid.   He also suggests Arnica  as a useful
agent in such cases.  We think that in protracted cases of
  Pleurisy, if the patients have a scrofulous or scorbutic diathesis,
and  more particularly if effusion  into the pleural cavity seems to
have taken  place, Iodine will  prove superior to Sulphur or Arnica.
It may be alternated with Aconite or Bryonia.  Squills may be useful
in some cases.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

  Iodine affects the sense of vision with considerable power.
  Wallace has observed:  trembling and oscillatory vibrations in the
eyes.
  In Frank's Magazine we read  of  a lady of thirty-two years Avho
took Iodine  for goitre.   She Vas attacked Avith excessive sensitive-
ness of the retina, photophobia; objects appeared in  a flaming, fiery
and dazzling light; the candle-light  Avas painful to the  eyes.
  Another observation by AVallace  is  that of a captain who, while
under the effects of Iodine, saw nothing  but the white paper while
reading print;  after he had  got to  the  end of a  phrase, the com-
mencement of it would become visible.
  Here we have delineations of peculiar forms of
  Amaurosis which may occur  as symptoms of scrofulosis, or as the
development of some other constitutional, perhaps arthritic diathesis,
and which may yield to Iodine as their typical representative.

                       NASAL GROUP.

  According to Jahr the vapors of Iodine exercise an inflammatory
action upon the Schneiderian membrane, and upon the lining mem-
brane of the mouth  and larynx, with violent coryza and cough,
stupefaction,  vertigo, ringing in the ears,  sparks, headache. 
554
LECTURE XXXVI.
  This group of symptoms may represent a sort of acute
  Catarrh of the  Schneiderian  membrane for Avhich Iodine may
prove a curative.
  Iodine is useful in
  Ozena whether of a scrofulous or syphilitic nature.   In
  Fetor of the Nose, arising from putrid ulceration of the Schneiderian
membrane, in scrofulous subjects, Iodine is eminently curative.  In
the case of a girl of eleven years, who had been afflicted Avith a most
abominable  odor from the nose for about tAvo years, and loss  of
smell, small doses of the tincture of Iodine effected a perfect cure.

                      BUCCAL  GROUP.

  Iodine causes ptyalism which differs from mercurial ptyalism  in
this, that it neither causes stomatitis, nor the fetor which is charac-
teristic of mercurial salivation.  It is a remarkable fact that, in spite
of its acknowledged faculty to excite ptyalism, Iodine is recommended
and used by alloeopathic  practitioners as one of their  most efficient
antidotes to
  Mercurial Ptyalism and Stomacace.  In Hufeland's Journal and  in
other publications a number of cases are reported, where the internal
use of the tincture of Iodine in various doses, from two to five and
more  drops three or four times a day, effected a perfect cure; in one
case the gums were entirely disorganized, transformed  into a whitish
pultaceous  mass, covered with ulcers, teeth loose, copious ptyalism
and very offensive fetor; the patient looked sickly, emaciated, with
a quick and small pulse.  Six grains of the pure Iodine Avere made
into pills by Avorking them  with a  little gum, three  of which the
patient took, four times  a day.  He was completely  restored after
having taken tAventy-four grains of Iodine in all.
  In Hufeland's Journal, a Berlin physician recommends Iodine for

  Sea-scurvy and likeAvise for
  Purpura Hemorrhagica, which is regarded as a development of the
scorbutic diathesis by many pathologists.   The  most celebrated anti-
scorbutic agents contain  a good deal  of Iodine.  The flesh of the
turtle, for instance, which is recommended as excellent  anti-scorbutic
nourishment, is  rich in Iodine.  The Greenlanders use for scurvy
sea-algae which they prefer to scurvy-grass or cochlearia.

                   PHARYNGEAL GROUP.

  Joerg and his provers  found  that Iodine causes a  scraping and
burning sensation in the fauces, extending even down the oesophagus.
Orfila experienced constriction of the fauces.  We may avail our-
selves of this indication in certain forms of
   Chironic Sore Thiroat, with incipient chronic bronchitis.  We shall
afterwards see that in inflammatory irritations of the lining membrane
of the air-passages Iodine is a valuable agent.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   Orfila, when experimenting with two and four-grain doses of Iodine, 
JODIUM.
555
 experienced a horrid taste in the mouth, and vomiting of a yellowish
 fluid containing Iodine.
   Joerg and his disciples have furnished some valuable hints regard-
 ing the use of Iodine in gastric affections.
   One of the permanent effects of small doses  of Iodine was in the
 case of every prover a sort of unnatural canine  hunger.  Guided by
 this  symptom we may prescribe Iodine in
   Bulimy, especially when accompanied by emaciation.  This  con-
 dition is a peculiar species of marasmus. Avhich.  may find  its remedy
 in Iodine.
   Other prominent symptoms in the case of Joerg and his provers
 were: Saltish taste in the mouth, musty eructations and a remarkable
 sympathetic relation between the head and stomach and bowels.
   One of the provers, for instance, experienced first an aching pain
 in the forehead; after it had disappeared, the canine hunger set in
 followed by discharge of thin fasces.
   In another prover, the action of Iodine upon the  digestive appa-
 ratus took this  development: tension in the stomach and  bowels,
 slight oppression on the chest; large and full pulse and lastly cerebral
 congestions.
   Joerg himself experienced from half-grain doses: frequent attacks
 of headache after dinner; he also  experienced  cutting pains in the
 umbilical region, with papescent stools and succeeded by a feeling of
 embarrassment in the back ascending along the nape of the neck to
 the head.
   These groups of symptoms present indications for the use of Iodine
 in various forms of chronic

   Indigestion or Dyspepsia characterized by similar paroxysms.  The
 nature of these paroxysms  seems to be venous congestion, and  a
 peculiar irritability of the absorbent  or lymphatic system resulting
 in a  sensation of morbid hunger and  diarrhoeic stools.
   A very remarkable symptom experienced by Professor  Jcerg in
 his own person, in the following:  " Trembling  in the region of the
 stomach which thence  seemed to spread to the periphery where it
 engendered a sensation as if SAveat would break  out; it was  attended
 with a burning sensation, especially  in the stomach,  pressure in the
 region of the heart, and heaviness on the chest; pulse eighty two to
 eighty-six."
   I was once called upon to prescribe for a man who had been sub-
ject for five years past to paroxysms  somewhat  similar to this group
 of Iodine-symptoms. In mid-summer, Avhile heated and covered Avith
 perspiration, he had been partaking  of a quantity of iced-milk, the
 effect of which was to do aAvay with the faculty of feeling either
 hungry or thirsty.  He might be from  breakfast to supper Avithout
 thinking  of his meals;  he  took small quantities of nourishment
 simply because he thought it necessary to do so for the preservation
 of life.  Sometimes he would attempt to swallow a little cold Avater,
the effect of which upon the stomach was very remarkable.  Imme-
diately after swallowing the water, he Avould be seized with a sense
 of trembling in the region  of the stomach; thence this  sensation 
556
LECTURE XXXVI.
spread to the periphery causing  a sensation as if the body were
swelling up like a balloon;  the sensation was accompanied Avith diz-
ziness, loss of sense, and finally the  starting out of a moisture all
over his body, which ended the paroxysm.
  This paroxysm seemed to me  to resemble, as nearly as possible,
the paroxysm developed by Professor Joerg in his provings of Iodine;
I therefore prescribed this agent with tolerable  certainty of success.
But the Iodine left me in the  lurch,  and the case unaltered.  I Avas
thrown back  upon my own resources.  The only medicine the known
effects of  which seemed  to come  any ways near this paroxysm, is
Aconite.   Upon looking at the symptoms of Aconite, you Avill find
that it causes a sensation as if the stomach were swelling up.  This
symptom seemed to bear somewhat upon my case.  It causes a sen-
sation as if the body would SAvell  up like a balloon.   This symptom
seemed homoeopathic to the case.   It causes a  sensation as if drops
of moisture were deposited upon the  skin.  This  symptom seems
to cover the  fact that  the  appearance of moisture terminated the
paroxysm. Aconite causes anxiety, dizziness, loss of sense.  Taking
these  symptoms together, I considered the symptomatic resemblance
sufficiently perfect to justify  me in trying Aconite in this case.  The
pathology, it  seemed to me, spoke for itself.  AYhat  little irritability
in the nervous tissue of the stomach had been left by the incautious
use of iced-milk, was momentarily suspended by the contact of cold
water. The vital energy at  once  went  to work to free the stomach
from this hostile principle;  the absorbents took  it up, and gradually
removing  it  to the periphery, it  was discharged by the cutaneous
exhalants  in the shape of a universal  moisture.
  No medicine in  our Materia Medica seems  to' be possessed with
such a specific poAver of restoring  the irritability of the capillaries as
Aconite, especially if this irritability had been impaired by  rheu-
matic exposure.  I therefore prescribed the Aconite, both in  accord-
ance with  the symptomatology and pathology of the  case, and had
the satisfaction of making  a perfect cure. I commenced Avith one
drop  of the  German tincture in  .the course of twenty-four  hours,
gradually increasing to five  drops.  The cure Avas completed Avithin
six Aveeks.

  Most of Joerg's  provers  have  experienced diarrhoeic discharges
from the use  of small doses of Iodine.
  One of the  provers records this symptom: rumbling in the boAvels,
hunger and discharge of  thin stool.
  Another: frequent pressing and liquid stool.
  Joerg records: fetid flatulence, and papescent stools, with burning
at the anus.
  In the Diarrhiea of Scrofulous Children, with thin  fetid discharges,
distention of the bowels, pinching, and cutting pains, Iodine has been
used with advantage.
  Let me  recall to your attention, the fact that the provers of Iodine
have  established the dependence  of certain abnormal conditions of
the dio-estive tube upon certain  abnormal conditions of the brain.
Frontal headache, equivalent to venous engorgement, was succeeded 
JODIUM.
557
by pains in the bowels and liquid stools, equivalent to abdominal
venous congestion.   We have availed  ourselves of this sympathetic
action as a valuable indication for Iodine in certain forms of cholera
infantum, described by pathologists as
  Ch/olcra Encephalitica which speedily leads to marasmus and death
from cerebral exhaustion.   The discharges may  be thin, fetid,  or
even bloody and purulent,  accompanied with pains and  pressing,
and symptoms of cerebral derangement, boring of the head into the
pillow, rolling of the head, comatose drowsiness interrupted by sudden
screams. A few drops of the tincture of Iodine in a small tumblerful
of water may be administered in dessertspoonful doses.  In
  Chronic Diarrhiea depending upon a  diseased condition  of the
mesenteric ganglia, Iodine may render us important service.

                     URINARY ORGANS.

  According to Joerg, small doses of Iodine cause an increased secre-
tion of thin, watery urine, or frequent discharge of small quantities
of urine.   From larger  doses the urine assumed  a  dark, greenish-
yellow color.
  The effect of massive doses seems to be to diminish the  secretion
of urine.   These few symptoms do not afford any very satisfactory
therapeutic indications,  unless they should  present themselves  as
symptoms of a  more comprehensive characteristic group.  In a case
of stricture or  hydrocele, for instance, the above mentioned change
in the quantity and  quality of the urinary secretions might become
of some importance.   In some cases of
  Chironic Stricture of the Urethra, Iodine has been  employed with
excellent effect, in conjunction with the bougie.

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

  Iodine has caused impotence with atrophy of the testes.  Hence in
  Impotence with Atrophiy of the Testes, Iodine may prove of great use.
  Small doses of Iodine cause violent and continued  erections.  We
may therefore find this agent useful in
  Chordee-like Erections Avhen caused by  mercurial poisoning.
  Induration of the  Testicle, as a symptom of a general scrofulous
habit, may yield to the use of Iodine.
  A man  of sixty years, asthmatic, was attacked with  SAvelling  of
the parotids and other glands,  mesenteric, inguinal, etc., whenever
he took cold.  After perspiring profusely, he got well  again.  On
one occasion, this critical perspiration  did not take place, instead of
which the right testicle became inflamed and  swollen.  The inflam-
mation subsided, but the testicle remained permanently indurated.
The patient who kept his  bed most of the time, Avas put upon the
use of the tincture of Iodine, 8 drops  four times a day.  After the
lapse of eleven days, the  patient had  one  morning  profuse  fetid
SAveat which continued for several hours and was attended with  an
intolerable itching and burning in the diseased testicle.  After the
sAveating  ceased, the testicle  had  become soft, and in  a few days
recovered its normal condition. 
558
LECTURE XXXVI.
  It is an admitted fact that Iodine hastens and increases the secre-
tion of the  menstrual blood.   In the case of a plethoric female of
twenty-four  years, it caused uterine haemorrhage lasting four weeks.
  AYe shall  therefore find Iodine indicated in cases of premature and
  Profuse Menstruation, accompanied by prostration, colicky pains,
dizziness resembling intoxication, frontal headache.

  In  Dysmenorrhea attended with colicky pains and violent head-
ache, Iodine has  been found useful.  It had a tendency to remove
the pain and to increase the discharge to a normal quantity.
  In one case of dysmenorrhoea, the menses were preceded by rising
of heat to the head, palpitation of the heart, tension and bloating of
the neck.
  We should not forget the great use which Aconite affords in cases
of monorrhagia and dysmenorrhoea attended with spasmodic colicky
pains in the bowels and symptoms  of violent cerebral congestion.
If both Aconite and Iodine seem indicated, these two medicines may
be used in alternation.

  Amenorrhea, as a sign of general scrofulosis, may be  remedied by
Iodine.  It  is particularly in the case of lymphatic females, afflicted
Avith bad digestion, costiveness, distention of the bowels, oppression
of breathing, palpitation of the heart, dizziness and headache, that
Iodine will  prove useful.   Pulsatilla, Aconite and Ferrum  should
not be forgotten in such cases.

  The remarkable action of Iodine upon the  female organs of gene-*
ration has led to its use in  several important disorders, particularly
in metritis, chronic vaginitis and leucorrhcea.
  Metritis.  In Horn's Archives we find several cases recorded, where
symptoms of congestion of the uterus, bordering upon inflammation,
showed themselves on the  second and third day after  confinement.
The pain in the region of the uterus  was intense, the abdomen very
sensitive, with continual urging to urinate, heat and dryness  of the
vagina, suppression  of the  lochial discharge.  Iodine removed the
pain at once, restored the lochial discharge, and freed the patient
from all danger.
   Chronic Vaginitis,  especially in the  case  of  scrofulous females.
The mucous lining  feels hot and sore, occasionally with stinging
pains, a sense of fulness in the vagina, and yellowish, thick, and per-
haps  fetid leucorrhceal discharge.   Give the Iodine  internally in
doses of one or two drops  of the tincture in a tumblerful of  Avater,
a tablespoonful every four hours; at the same time a  watery solu-
tion, containing five drops of the tincture  to a pint  of Avater, may
at times be injected into the vagina.   If the vaginitis is traceable to
rheumatic exposure, we may give Aconite and Iodine in alternation.
  Leucorrhea,  especially in  the case of scrofulous females, generally
afflicted with signs of scrofulosis.
  Trousseau and Pidoux are astonished that Brdra, Grimelle  and
others should recommend  Iodine for leucorrhoea, an  affection so
frequently resulting  from capillary engorgement of the vaginal and 
JODIUM.
559
uterine mucous membrane, which Iodine is so apt to occasion.  To
me, the use of Iodine in this affection seems as transparent as the
light of day.  Iodine is in affinity Avith morbific principles which,
in certain states of receptivity of the organism, may develop patho-
logical processes  of a specific nature, and removable or curable by
Iodine.   Engorgement of the vaginal lining membrane, and  leucor-
rhoea  are some of these processes.  Hence  Iodine will  cure them.
Or, in  order to express the same  fact in the technical language of
Homoeopathy, it will cure leucorrhoea of a certain specific character,
because it is capable of exciting a similar morbid condition in the
healthy tissue.
   The property which seems inherent in Iodine of resolving glandular
indurations, has been successfully brought to bear upon the treat-
ment  of scirrhous  indurations  of the  neck of the uterus.  In  a
Bavarian medical journal, we find a case of  this kind  reported.  A
married  female, aged forty-five years, Avas  afflicted Avith  irregular
menstruation,  violent pains in the abdomen, constipation, spasms,
fits of anxiety and lowness of spirits.  She was treated by a number
of physicians without any success.  When she was first seen  by Dr.
Zimmermann, who reports this case, she was emaciated, had hectic
fever, thirst, was unable to leave her  bed, had lost her appetite,  was
without sleep, low-spirited, complained of a  feeling of weight deep
in the cavity of the pelvis, which was sometimes accompanied with
a gnawing pain, and was troubled with a fetid discharge  from the
vagina.  Upon examination,  the os  and neck  of the uterus were
found involved in a scirrhous induration.   She Avas put upon the
use of tAventy grains of the hydriodate of potash, and eight grains
of Iodine dissolved in an ounce of water, of Avhich solution she took
three times a day from six to eighteen drops in a spoonful of water
sweetened  with sugar.   At the same time  an ointment composed
of thirty grains of the hydriodate of potash  and one ounce of hog's
lard Avas rubbed in the perineum, groin, and  gently in the indurated
portion of the uterus, mucilaginous injections into the vagina being
likewise resorted to.  After continuing this treatment for two months,
the indurations gradually disappeared, became cicatrized, and all
the consensual bodily and mental sufferings  were removed.

   Another important affection which may befal the female sexual
system, is
   Galactirrhoea, or flow of milk.   Such a flow may arise from abnor-
mal innervation  of  the lymphatics  of the  breasts.  The  lymph,
instead of being appropriated or assimilated  by the tissues for their
support, is wasted in consequence  of the continual dribbling from
the nipple, a weakness which may lead to complete marasmus.  A
case of this  kind  occurred in  the  practice of Dr. Kauser, a practi-
tioner in Germany.
  A young  woman,  who did not nurse, had been afflicted  with
galactirrhoea for  several years.   She  had  dwindled down  to  a
skeleton.  Dr. Kauser gave her Iodine internally and likewise applied
it externally; in three weeks she was radically cured.
  I am unable to  say upon what principle Dr. Kauser administered 
560
LECTURE XXXVI.
the Iodine in this case.   Certainly not in accordancee Avith the prin-
ciple " Contraria contrariis," for  Iodine  produces  atrophy of the
breasts and of the tissues generally.  No, indeed ;  Iodine affects all
these great cures  in  accordance  with the laAV "Similia similibus."
Why this abnormal Aoav of milk in the present case ?   The mam-
mary gland, true to its instinctive destiny, secretes milk out of the
chyle manufactured by the stomach and pancreas.  But the assimi-
lative  or reproductive poAver  of  the lymphatic capillaries is  pros-
trated.  The secreted milk, instead of being converted into organic
tissue, is permitted to escape.  We may go farther and trace the
difficulty to the brain.   That element or principle in the brain which
presides over  the  assimilative sphere, is deficient in power.  Some
influence, inimical  to it, keeps down, interferes Avith, its functional
activity.  It is with this inimical  influence, Avhatever be its essential
nature, that Iodine is in relations of affinity.  Hence Iodine affects
the organism in a similar manner, and hence again, by virtue of this
very affinity, or homoeopathic relationship, Iodine frees the organism
from this very influence, if permitted to  act upon it with sufficient
power and for a sufficient length of time.

                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

  Joerg and his provers have developed some interesting symptoms
by their experiments with Iodine.
  In one of the provers, Iodine caused a more copious secretion of
mucus in the larynx.
  In another  prover, it caused a roughness in the larynx, also  a
painful pressure and stitching in the larynx.
  It has also  caused: pressure in the larynx and pharynx,  as  if
swollen.
  We  may infer from these symptoms, that Iodine has a  striking
effect upon the laryngeal mucous  membrane, and that it may prove
useful  in affections of this tissue characterized by congestion and
inflammation.  Hence we use Iodine with great advantage in

  Croup, especially in that  stage of croup where the  exuded lymph
begins to become consolidated as  an organized artificial membrane,
with suffocative wheezing and awfully developed croupy sound during
the inspirations.  A new method  of administering the Iodine in this
disease has been resorted  to with  success by Dr. Wm. Arnold, of
Heidelberg. . His method of using the vapors is of  sufficient impor-
tance to induce us  to transfer a description of it to our pages.  The
three children, in Avhose cases the  Iodine vapors were applied, not
only remained alive, but recovered entirely, Avithout any subsequent
disease of the respiratory or other organs.
  The  iodine-inhalations may be  administered as follows: From
twenty to thirty drops of the first  attenuation should be poured into
a small saucer full of hot  water, the heat being maintained by  a
spirit-lamp, and the saucer placed  in such a position as to make it
necessary for the child to inhale the vapors.  This may be continued
until the respiration becomes moist and rattling. 
JODIUM.
561
  In one of Dr. Arnold's cases the inflammation was confined to the
larynx; in the other two cases the bronchi Avere manifestly affected.
For the balance of the report, Ave will avail ourselves of Dr. Hoffen-
dahl's translation in the North American Journal.
  The effects  of the  Iodine-vapors were  first to make this  cough
more moist; then mucus was expectorated, which was soon  mixed
with fragments of membrane, and  accompanied by a certain degree
of amelioration.   On  renewing the inhalation, the children expecto-
rated a tough mucus, and fragments  and stripes of membrane of
various sizes;  the expectoration being accompanied by violent cough
and inclination to vomit.  After a frequent repetition and a continu-
ance of the expectoration, the anxiety and dyspnoea of the little
patients visibly decreased.  They enjoyed spells of quiet sleep, which
gradually increased in length after every  attack of cough.  In this
manner one of the cases was out of danger in sixteen hours, the
other tAvo in forty and forty-eight hours.
  The evident and visible effects of the Iodine-vapors Avere looseness
of the cough, separation of the  membrane, and  consequent greater
facility of respiration.   The mode of preparation Avas simply to pour
a few drops of the strong tincture, or about twenty drops of the first
attenuation, into a shallow vessel filled Avith boiling Avater.  The child
was made to inhale the vapor by holding its head over the vessel, or
in its immediate neighborhood.   The preparation  of the vapors
was renewed more or less  frequently,  as it was needed, from every
two to every six hours.  At first the vapors appeared to  be  agree-
able to the children, since they endeavored to approach the steaming
vessel.  Subsequently the effect seemed to be unpleasant, for  two of
the children resisted the application, after the more violent attacks
had been relieved.

  In Chironic Laryngitis, with hoarseness,  aching and sore pains in
the larynx, and  even  occasional paroxysms of spasmodic  cough
emanating from the larynx, with  discharge  of lumps of hardened
mucus, Iodine may prove useful.  Even in
  Laryngeal Phithiisis if the previously described symptoms exist,
accompanied with burning  distress and expectoration of bloody and
purulent mucus, Iodine  may still prove useful, especially in the case
of scrofulous and syphilitic individuals.
  In Chironic Bronchitis, with paroxysms of tearing, suffocating cough,
violent tickling in the throat-pit, spasmodic constriction, burning sen-
sation in the air-passages, wheezing breathing, expectoration of frothy,
blood-streaked, or even  purulent mucus, Iodine may do much good
as long as no decided hectic fever  has  appeared.  The first attenua-
tion may  be used in connection with  occasional doses of the first
attenuation of Aconite.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

  According to Joerg and his provers,  Iodine causes tightness, pres-
sure and burning in the middle of the thorax, also in one side  of the
thorax,  with dry cough, and rheumatic pains in the arms,  in the
region of the neck and trunk.
                               36 
562
LECTURE  XXXVI.
  It also causes hoarseness, stitching pains in the chest, with frequent
paroxysms of deep and dry cough.
  In the case of Orfila, two, four and six-grain doses of Iodine caused
asthmatic  oppression, a more violent and rapid beating of the heart,
increased frequency of the pulse.
  In the case of other persons, Iodine has caused a violent beating
of the heart, Avith fainting; relief being obtained by resorting to a
horizontal position.
  Another effect of Iodine is recorded as a sensation as if the heart
were squeezed.
  The action of Iodine  upon the heart is  simply indicative of con-
gestion either  of  the ventricles or of the  coronary arteries;  the
squeezing sensation  may be ascribed  to congestion of these vessels.
Palpitation  of the heart may be an  accompaniment of pulmonary
phthisis.
  The effects of Iodine  upon the lungs are of more  immediate im-
portance ; they seem  to correspond with such pains  as characterize
the irritative stage of Pulmonary Tuberculosis. In this affection Iodine
is of great use to us; it  may perhaps be advisable to prescribe it in
alternation with the  tincture of the root of Aconite, or the first
attenuation thereof.
  We know that  the development of tubercular phthisis sometimes
goes hand in hand with the disappearance of goitre, Avhence we infer
that Incline may develop, and, therefore, in certain conditions, act as
a curative agent in tubercular phthisis.
  A  girl of twenty-four years had  been afflicted  with glandular
swellings  for some years, without  manifesting  a trace of phthisis;
she took Iodine internally for some months and  the SAvelling  disap-
peared ; but in their places a dry cough set in Avhich increased grad-
ually and was accompanied with a feeling of heaviness and tightness
in the chest and a sometimes blood-streaked expectoration: the pulse
was rapid,  feverish,  and the patient speedily  died  of pulmonary
phthisis.  This case  is reported in  Frank's  Alagazine, where the
phthisis is alluded to- as an effect of Iodine.
  In  another case, the  disappearance of goitre under the action of
Iodine seems to have developed
   Taberculosis of the Liver.  A girl  of twenty years was cured of
goitre; but stitching and aching pains in the liver supervened in its
place; her appetite became less, she  greAV thin, the  menses became
irregular, and she died Avith the symptoms of hepatitis, the character
of which,  it seems to me, must have been tubercular.

   A  favorite mode  of administering Iodine in tubercular phthisis,
and in affections  of the respiratory organs generally has been  by in-
halation.   Various instruments have been contrived for this purpose.
One of them has  already been  alluded to in the beginning  of my
lecture.   It  has  been  designed by  Dr.  Fullgrafi a homoeopathic
physician of the city of New York.   You may have read  in the
New York  papers of the great success which Dr. AValker, an  adver-
tising exploiteur of the inhaling method, is said  to have in the treat-
ment  of  bronchial and pulmonary affections.  I happen to  know 
JODIUM.
563
that, among his medicines, the tincture of the  root of Aconite, the
Iodine preparations, and  some of the narcotics such as Balladonna,
Hyoscyamus, Conium maculatum, occupy a prominent rank.
  Piorry in France, Maddock in England,  and a number of German
physicians  have reported cures  of fully developed  phthisis pulmo-
nalis by means of Iodine inhalations.  Tubercular  disorganizations
such as have always been considered incurable heretofore, are said
to have yielded to the action of Iodine vapors.  Inhalations have
become so fashionable, and the results obtained  by this method seem
to have been so satisfactory in many  cases, that it would be wrong to
overlook or repudiate it.  An intelligent homoeopathic physician is
constitutionally a man of liberal and progressive mind, whose natural
impulses will lead him to examine every improvement in medicine
with the eye of an impartial observer.

  In Phithisis Meseraica, Iodine has done much in many cases.  Even
if the  mesenteric ganglions are very much enlarged, the patient is
emaciated, the reproductive functions are utterly deranged, vomiting
and diarrhoea, prostration and irritative fever have become prevalent
symptoms,  Iodine  may still effect a  cure, if circumstances and the
constitutional reaction are favorable.

  Alloeopathic physicians are very anxious to put forward fever and
inflammation as counter-indications  to  the  employment  of Iodine.
Sundelin,  Professor  in  the University of Berlin,  teaches in his
interesting  "Manual of Special  Therapeutics," that  "active fever or
fever of any kind, inflammatory conditions, vascular  and nervous
erethism, disposition to haemorrhage, more particularly hasmorrhage
from the lungs and uterus, pregnancy, phthisicky habit, or fully de-
veloped phthisis, constitute important counter-indications to Iodine."
  Homoeopathic physicians are not  frightened by  the presence of
such morbid phenomena.  On the contrary, they hail them as signs
that the morbific force which generates them, will yield itself up to
Iodine as its natural neutralizer.

                        FEVER-GROUP.
  A lady of thirty-four years, after the moderate use of Iodine, was
attacked with  a fever, dryness  of the skin which  was cold rather
than warm; soft and hurried pulse, delirium,  subsultus  tendinum,
grasping at flocks.  The Iodine being discontinued,  the fever gradu-
ally ceased; in a few weeks the Iodine was resumed, and the fever
returned.
  Iodine is not properly  speaking a remedy for  fever.  The fever to
which  Iodine is homoeopathic, is of a symptomatic character; it is a
fever incident  to  other  pathological  conditions such as phthisis,
marasmus,   rheumatism,  etc.   It  may subserve its purpose as a
symptomatic indication, but in Iodine-affections it holds a secondary
rank.
                  EXANTHEMATIC GROUP.

  The curative virtues of Iodine in
  Goitre, Bronchiocele or  Derbyshire-neck, are well known.  It is in 
564
LECTURE XXXVI.
simple hypertrophies, simple osdematous enlargements of the thyroid
gland that Iodine proves efficient.  In scirrhous, tubercular, osseous,
cartilaginous degenerations of the thyroid body, the cure is of course
much more protracted, and  very often unsatisfactory.   You will
recollect that, when  the Iodide  of Alercury was  spoken of, it was
commended to your  attention as superior to Iodine in many cases of
this distressing affection.
   Glandular Tumors, indurated, may yield to the  continued internal
and external  use  of Iodine,  especially if  other medicines, such as
Belladonna, Conium, Aconite, etc., prove insufficient.
   Enlargement of the Liver, with stitching and  aching pains in the
region of this gland, in scrofulous subjects, and more particularly if
this enlargement is a symptom of a generally developed scrofulous
diathesis, may be advantageously treated with Iodine.
   Ganglia may be removed by the continued  external application
of Iodine.  In the same manner
   Ranula may be treated with success.  Apply the tincture  of
Iodine externally several times a day.
   Iodine is one of our great remedies for
   Scrofulous Swellings.  There Avas a time when Iodine was generally
lauded as a veritable panacea  for all scrofulous diseases.  Lugal,
physician in chief to  the hospital St. Louis  in the city of Paris, did
more perhaps than any of his contemporaries towards popularizing
the  employment of  Iodine in  scrofulous disorders.  From simple
glandular inflammations to caries of  bones and tubercular degen-
eration of the mesenteric ganglia: Iodine has been regarded as the
specific panacea for  all affections of a scrofulous type.   In  this
respect, physicians have undoubtedly  gone too far ;  although it is a
fact substantiated by abundant experience  that Iodine is one of our
sovereign remedies for all affections emanating from disordered con-
ditions of the lymphatic system, and even, as Trousseau and Pidoux
justly observe, for  the scrofulous diathesis itself.
   In the case of  Lymphatic Swellings which are not  tuberculous,
resolution is effected, after  the inflammatory  stage is passed, by
Iodine more rapidly  than perhaps by any other drug.

   In his Manual of Therapeutics, Sundelin mentions a most interest-
ing case  of scrofula,  where Iodine effected  a beautiful cure.  It was
the case of a boy four years old.  All the external lymphatic glands
were swollen,  the abdomen was distended and the skin, especially on
the extremities, was  covered with sores.  The joints Avere  consider-
ably involved, the knee and elbow-joints were  almost immoveable,
so that the little patient Avas unable either to walk or stand.  He was
considerably emaciated, but had  no fever.  He took from three  to
five drops of the tincture of Iodine tAvice a  day.  In three Aveeks, all
the  glandular swellings had  disappeared, the abdomen had become
soft, the  ulcers secreted a laudable pus and  in a short time healed
entirely.  The appetite improved very soon, and  the  boy gained
flesh.  His health  Avas entirely  restored in  about  six weeks, and  at
this moment the boy looks hale and hearty.
   Dr. Patterson, of Dublin, relates reveral cases of vertebral disease 
JODIUM.
565
in the Journal des Connaisances Medicales et Chiirurgicales, which were
successfully treated with Iodine.  One was a case of
   Caries with curvature, the patient being  a boy of fourteen years,
Avho was completely cured in two months with five drop  doses  of
the tincture  of Iodine three  times a  day.   The  second case was a
case of
   Curvature of the lumbar vertebre, with  abscess in the groin result-
ing from congestion, hectic fever, etc.   The patient was a woman of
twenty-six years, who tookten drops  of the tincture three times a
day, and was  cured in three months.   The  third  case was that of a
young lady who had been afflicted for several  years with spinal
curvature and numbness of the  lower limbs.   She was cured in a
few months.
   In  the treatment of

   Hydrocele and Ovarian  Cysts, Iodine has been used with great
success.   It  should be  used  both internally and  externally.   In
hydrocele, Ricord begins with a solution of moderate strength, say
eighty drops of the tincture in three ounces of distilled water with
which he_saturates bandages that are  firmly applied to the tumor.
The solution is made stronger until the patient experiences a feeling
of heat.  If he  complains  of  pain, the treatment is suspended for a
few days.  It generally takes  a month to effect a cure.
   Velpeau has substituted the tincture of Iodine for wine in injecting
the tunica vaginalis testis in hydrocele.   Cysts  and other closed
cavities may  likewise be injected with Iodine.  These  iodine injec-
tions  have been adopted  by the most  distinguished  surgeons  of
France, Germany and other countries.
   Even in synovial cavities  these injections have been resorted to
with perfect success.   In dropsy of the knee-joint, Iodine-injections
into the cavity of the joint  have effected the absorption of the fluid
and the restoration of the  articular surfaces.   At first  it was sup-
posed that Iodine effected  a cure by producing adhesive inflamma-
tion ;  but more recent observations have shown that this is not the
case.   A  cure takes place by virtue of the restorative influence
which the Iodine exercises over the secreting surfaces of the joint.
   In  Ovarian  Cysts, these injections have been practised with great
success.  The Iodine  has  even  been  injected  into the  peritoneal
cavity for the purpose of curing ascites.  This seems to  me an abuse
of the great therapeutic powers of this agent, although it is asserted
that the peritoneum is in no  wise injured  by such a proceeding.
The dropsy must be the result of a simple  exudation arising as  an
idiopathic disease, as the consequence of chronic inflammation of the
peritoneum, or in consequence of some constitutional dyscrasia.  If
the effusion depends upon organic disease of the heart or liver,  it
cannot be removed  by Iodine-injections.   I allude to this method of
treatment  simply as an  historical fact;  I  cannot  recommend it as
a proceeding worthy of imitation.  If  Iodine is indicated in ascites
and anasarca in the case of leuco-phlegmatic individuals for instance,
it should be given internally.
  Iodine-injections have  also been resorted to in the case of 
566                     LECTURE  XXXVI.

  Abscesses arising from previous  congestion; in the case of deep-
seated fistulas, and eA'en of hernial sacs.   A number of cures of these
affections  have already been recorded;  in the case of abscesses and
buboes Iodine-injections  have certainly proved curative, if adminis-
tered under appropriate conditions of success.   Iodine seems to be
possessed  of  remarkable anti-septic properties;  it  neutralizes the
element which" keeps up the inflammatory and  suppurative process.
The  experiments of Liebig and Magendie, and  more recently those
of Duroy, a pharmaceutist in the  city of Paris,  have demonstrated
this fact beyond all doubt.

  In Hygroma of the Knee, which  is an encysted tumor of frequent
occurrence among persons whose business requires them to kneel a
good deal, a cure is readily effected by applying compresses soaked
with a solution of half Iodine and water.  I may add that  I have
seen such tumors disappear very readily  under the alternate internal
use of Aconite and Arnica.

  In persons tainted with a scrofulous dyscrasia, bones, in cases of
fractures, sometimes do not unite  readily.   Doctor Buchanan  has
found Iodine useful in  counteracting this difficulty.  In all such cases
it checks or neutralizes the scrofulous element.

  In Syphilitic Diseases we make use  of the  tincture of Iodine less
frequently than  of  other Iodine-preparations, such as the . iodide of
mercury or the  iodide of potassium.   Nevertheless we do use the
tincture with success  for the purpose  of arresting  a phagedenic
chancre.   We pencil the  surrounding parts and even the ulcerated
surface with the tincture.  This proceeding has the effect of prevent-
ing the further spread of the chancre, and of diminishing and even
neutralizing the angry  character of the sore.
  A  bubo may be pencilled over  in the same way, and a gradual
absorption of the  swelling  be effected,  especially  if the iodide of
potassium is used at the same time internally.
  Hoarseness  and Ulceration of the Velum arising from metastasis of
the syphilitic virus, have been cured by means of the  tincture of
Iodine.

  You recollect that  Iodine causes gangrene.  We  may derive
advantage from the use of Iodine in
   Gangrene of the  extremities, especially in  rickety subjects, in the
case  of injuries, if the  gangrene arises from want of care, or in per-
sons tainted with a gangrenous dyscrasia. In the  gangrene of old
people, technically termed
   Gangrena senilis, we may be able to use Iodine Avith good effect.

  Lastly I may mention the good  effect which Iodine has produced
in the treatment of certain  affections of the scalp, more particularly
  Phtheiriasis or the lice-malady, with which scrofulous children, who
are not kept  perfectly  clean, are sometimes attacked.  The internal
use of the tincture of Iodine, in conjunction with cleanliness,  will
cure this loathesome affection. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
567
                      MENTAL  GROUP.

  Doctor  Gairdner  says that he has seen  Iodine  cause great and
lasting anxiety of a peculiar character, referring to the present rather
than to the future.   Hence  we may find  Iodine useful in certain
forms of
  Hypochiondria, AArhere these forebodings prevail.             jt

                 ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT.

  Iodine antidotes Strychnia, forming the ioduret of Strychnia.
  With starch, which is an antidote to Iodine, this  agent forms the
iodide of starch.  In a case of poisoning we use emetics, afterAvards
tepid demulcent liquids, especially such as contain amylaceous mat-
ter:  starch, wheaten flour, potatoes, sago, arrow-root  which should
be boiled in water and exhibited freely.  Opiates have been found
useful.

             MODE OF EXHIBITING IODINE.

  We have already  alluded to the inhaling method.   Iodine may be
given in tincture-form, one or more drops in a tumblerful of water,
or the solid Iodine made into pills  by means of gum, giving from
one-tenth to one-hundredth of a grain at a dose.   Alcoholic attenua-
tions may be made.
  In Paris and in German capitals, she-asses, goats and cows are fed
on Iodine which is readily absorbed  by the milk to a considerable
extent.  This milk is given to children and other patients in whose
cases the Iodine is expected to exercise a curative influence.
             LEOTUEE   XXXVII.

                        MERCURIUS.

  This famous metal is well known to you  all.  In  the books of
medicine,  it is  generally  termed hydrargyrum,  a name which is
derived from tAvo  Greek Avords : udor (water,) and arguros (silver).
It is also termed quicksilver; the name Mercury has been given to
it in honor of Mercurius, the messenger of the gods, whose fleetness
and volatile character Mercury is supposed to symbolize.
  Mercury is seldom found in a pure metallic state;  in such  a case
it is either found in the form of globules in the cavity of other ores,
or combined with silver, silver-amalgam.« The most  important of
quicksilver ores is the sulphuret of Mercury or  native Cinnabar;
most of the Mercury of the shops is obtained from this source.  The
mines of Spain, Austria, South-America and East-India are exceed-
ingly productive; those of California are now  said to be the richest
mines in the world. 
568
LECTURE XXXVII.
  No mention  is made in the Old Testament of quicksilver.   We
are told by d'Herbelot, author of a work entitled: Oriental Library,
that the ancient magicians of Egypt, in their attempts to imitate the
miracles of Aloses, employed Avands and cords containing Alercury
which, under the influence of the heat of the sun, imitated  the
motion of serpents.  Aristotle informs us that Daedalus, Avho lived
about 1300 years before Christ, communicated a poAver of motion to
a Aveoden Venus by pouring quicksilver into it.   Pliny and Diosco-
rides also speak of Alercury;  Dioscorides describes even the method
of obtaining it from  Cinnabar.  Dioscorides  and Plinius believed
that Alercury destroyed the inner tissues by its weight.   Galen too
considered it a dangerous poison.
  The Arabian physicians Rhazes, Avicenna  and Aben Alesun,
were acquainted with the  red precipitate and corrosive  sublimate.
European physicians  objected to the  use  of Alercury until the
Crusades brought them  in  closer contact with the Arabian physi-
cians.  It was  first employed  for  the  itch  and other  cutaneous
affections.
  In 1493 Mercury was first  used  externally for syphilis.  Barba-
rossa, a famous  pirate of Tunis and Algiers, was the first  to hazard
the internal use of Alercury in syphilis.   He contracted this disease
several times, and cured himself with pills  of quicksilver ground
down with flour and turpentine.
  Barbarossa communicated  his  receipt to  Francis  I., king  of
France, who was likewise affected Avith the disease.
  To Paracelsus we are indebted for the more systematic internal
use of Mercurius in the treatment of diseases.  Alathiolus,  whose
name I have already mentioned in my lectures on Aconite, used the
red precipitate internally for syphilis, and Wieseman  used corrosive
sublimate in the  same manner and  for the same disease in  1667,
After this period Mercury  was likewise recommended for  other
diseases.   Van  Helmont, a disciple of Paracelsus, whose  name  has
acquired great celebrity as a speculative thinker, sought to prove
the anthelmintic virtues of Alercurius.
  Bertini  used  mercury as a remedy for inflammatory diseases and
for small-pox.  In this  way  Alercury gradually became a sort of
universal  remedy,  and such  a favorite with  the profession  that
so-called quack medicines even are accepted by the highest authori-
ties, provided Mercury is one of their ingredients.  I haA~e heard Dr.
Mott recommend  Swaim's  Panacea, ex  cathedra, and  it is a  well
ascertained fact—thanks to the analytical researches  of Professor
Hare—that this famous compound  contains corrosive sublimate.
  Mercury has  had enthusiastic friends and bitter enemies among
the profession.  No drug has proved such a friend to man as Mer-
cury ; no drug has scattered such wide-spread devastation on  its
path as Alercury.  Why should not such a powerful agent prove a
blessing in every instance ?   AVhy should beauty fade away by its
deleterious  virus?   Why  should  man's noble energies  become
blasted  under its influence ?  This need not  be; turn away from
your miserable  empiricism, and listen to the teachings of him whose
heroic devotion to medical  truth has converted the deadliest poisons 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
569
into harmless and yet all-powerful restorers of health.  Hahnemann's
provings of Alercury, which were all conducted with massive doses,
constitute  one of the  brightest, if not the  brightest page  in his
Materia Aledica Pura.  They teach us with an unerring certainty in
what diseases  we may depend upon Mercury as a curative  agent.
No man who will take the  trouble of studying  these provings, in
connection with the toxicological effects of the drug, will ever be at
a loss  hoAV and  where to  give  Mercury to the greatest  possible
advantage of the  sufferer.  These  most comprehensive experiments
of the  great discoverer of the homoeopathic healing art inform us
that  the  therapeutic action of Alercury is as comprehensive as its
effects  upon the animal tissues are inveterate and intense.
  Mercury affects more or  less every tissue in the human body; it
affects
  The  nervous tissue,
  The  serous membranes,
  The  mucous membranes,
  The  osseous system,
  The  fibrous tissue,
  The  dermoid tissue,
  The  glandular system.
  And how does it affect these different tissues and systems?  How
does the  destroyer "Mercury"  attack the living economy?  Its
poisonous  action  commences at  the  inmost  centres of  vitality,
whence it mercilessly progresses step by step tainting and  enfeebling
every organ.   Its presence is  said to have even been traced to the
diploe  of the bones of  the skull.  The  power to disintegrate the
animal tissues, to decompose the vital fluids, to  destroy the  plasti-
city of the blood, to prostrate the reproductive functions  and to de-
velop a universal dyscrasia Avhich  may very properly be  designated
as a scorbutic  condition, seems to constitute the chief property which,
in times gone  by, has marked Mercury as  a fell destroyer,  and which,
through  the instrumentality of the homoeopathic law, will convert
this great agent into a blessing to future generations.
  The  affections  to which Alercury is more or less homoeopathic,
might  be conveniently ranged under the following heads:
  1.  Catarrhal and rheumatic  diseases,  common colds, influenza,
fevers,  etc.;
  2.  Inflammatory conditions, especially such as are worse at night,
and not relieved by perspiration ;
  3.  Dropsical conditions;
  4.  AYorm-diseases;
  5.  Gastric and  bilious  derangements, including gastric and bilious
fevers,  jaundice;
  6.  Syphilitic diseases;
  7.  Swelling and suppuration of glands;
  8.  Rhachitis, caries and inflammation of bones;
  9.  Haemorrhage;
 10.  Diarrhoea and dysentery;
 11.  Constipation;
 12.  Eruptive diseases, eczema, herpes, tinea. 
570
LECTURE XXXVII.
  The provings which we  possess of Alercury, were obtained from
Mercurius  Hahnemanni solubilis; but they are likewise applicable
to Mercurius vivus.  I will endeavor to make you acquainted with
the physiological effects and the corresponding therapeutic uses of
these two mercurial preparations, after which Ave shall have no trouble
in completing the study of Mercury, by adding the different salts of
this drug to the general groups.  The general action of all mercurial
preparations is more or less alike, though the characteristic effects of
Alercury are more strikingly developed by some, than they are by
other preparations of this agent.  The effects of poisonous doses are
so remarkable, that it will undoubtedly facilitate the study and recol-
lection of the pathogenesis of Mercury, if the toxicological action of
this agent is fully described before giving an account of the results
of our systematic provings.

  In Dieterich's  treatise, entitled " Alercurial  Diseases," we find  the
poisonous effects of Mercury described in a systematic manner; they
are:
  1. Mercurial Fever.  Dieterich distinguishes  two kinds, the com-
mon erethic fever or fever of salivation, characterized by quick pulse,
hot and dry skin, red gums, swollen tongue, salivation,  loss of  appe-
tite, restlessness,  headache, etc.;  this fever may continue  as long as
the poisonous effects of Mercury continue  in the system, for weeks
and even months.  Another kind of fever is the adynamic mercurial
fever, characterized by depression of strength, praecordial  anxiety,
frequent sighing, partial or universal trembling, a small, quick pulse,
a pinched-up and cadaverous countenance, a  sense of coldness;  the
tongue is seldom furred; a sudden and violent exertion  may some-
times prove fatal.
  2. Excessive Salivation, mercurial ptyalism or stomatitis.  Accord-
ing to Pereira, "the first symptoms of this affection are slight tender-
ness and tumefaction of the gums, which acquire a pale rose-color,
except at the edges surrounding the teeth, where they  are deep-red.
Gradually the mouth becomes exceedingly sore, and the tongue much
swollen; a  coppery  taste  is perceived,  and  the  breath  acquires a
remarkable fetidness.   The salivary glands soon become tender and
swollen; the saliva and mucous of the mouth  flow abundantly, some-
times to the extent of several pints in the twenty-four hours. During
this state the fat is rapidly absorbed, and the patient  becomes  ex-
ceedingly emaciated.  The blood, when  drawn from a vein, puts on
the  same appearance as it does in inflammatory diseases."
  It sometimes happens, either  from the inordinate employment of
Mercury, or from some idiosyncratic affinity of the constitution to
the  action  of  Alercury, that the mouth  becomes violently  affected;
the  gums are tumefied  and ulcerated; the tongue is swollen to such
an extent that it hangs out of the mouth, incapacitating  the patient
from  either eating or  speaking;  the salivary glands are enlarged,
painful, inflamed, and the saliva flows out in an uninterrupted stream;
quarts of it are sometimes secreted in the course of twenty-four hours.
In some cases, the gums slough, the teeth  loosen and drop out, and
necrosis of the alveolar process takes place.   The  system  becomes 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
571
exceedingly debilitated  and emaciated.   The sloughing may extend
to every portion of the  buccal cavity, the inner walls of the cheeks,
tongue, gums, throat even; the saliva assumes the form of a viscid
ichor, and the fetor from the mouth is intolerable.
   A very frequent consequence  of excessive mercurial salivation,
and  the attendant ulceration  and  sloughing, is contraction  of the
mucous membrane of the anterior arches of the palate, whereby the
patient is prevented from opening the mouth except to a very slight
extent. Pereira mentions two cases of this  kind.  In one case, that
of a female, it followed the use of a few grains of blue pill, admin-
istered for the liver complaint.  This patient remains unable to open
her mouth wider than half an inch. Several operations have been
performed  by different surgeons, and the  contracted  parts freely
divided, but the relief  Avas only  temporary.  In  another  instance,
that of a child four years of age, it was produced by a few grains of
calomel.  Though several years  have elapsed since, the patient is
obliged to suck his food through the spaces left between the jaws by
the loss of the alveolar  process.
   You will recollect, from my previous lectures, that many other
drugs  cause ptyalism.  Iodine, hydriodate of potash, digitalis,  arse-
nic, tartar emetic, and several other substances, may induce ptyalism.
It may likewise result spontaneously, in  consequence of paralysis of
the nervous filaments which  are  given off to the sublingual gland
from the lingual nerves, or in consequence of paralysis of the ner-
vous filaments which go to the parotid gland from the facial nerve
and from the cervical  plexus.  In common sore throat or  angina
faucium, ptyalism may occur  as a symptom of the  general inflam-
matory irritation.  Ptyalism  may likewise result from the irritating
influence  of decayed teeth.  Pregnancy may develop ptyalism.  It
is sometimes very difficult to distinguish mercurial from non-mercu-
rial ptyalism.  All the  essential symptoms of mercurial salivation:
tumefaction and inflammation of the salivary glands; sponginess,
swelling and inflammation of the  gums;  copious secretion and ex-
cretion of saliva; fetid  breath ; brassy taste;  swelling of the tongue;
ulceration and sloughing of the internal parts of the mouth;—may
occur  even if no Mercury had been taken.  In cancrum oris, which
usually occurs in children, and consists of ulceration and gangrene
of the inside of the cheeks  or   lips, a  quantity of fetid  saliva is
secreted, and the ulcerative and sloughing process which is  going on
in this disease  may closely  resemble the  disorganizing effects of
Mercury.   Pereira relates the following remarkable case of gangrene
of the mouth, which occurred in  an adult, and closely simulates the
effects of Mercury.
   " A  man affected with  rheumatism, sent to a surgeon for  advice,
who, without seeing him, prescribed some pills, one of which was to
be taken thrice daily.   At the end of the week, his rheumatism not
being  relieved, he sent  his wife again to the surgeon, who ordered
the pills to be repeated.   Another week elapsed, when the patient
requested Mr. Coward, another surgeon, to  see him.  Air.  Coward
found  his patient with the following symptoms: fever, great prostra-
tion of strength, sore throat,  rheumatic  pains in  the wrist, profuse 
572
LECTURE XXXVII.
ptyalism, more than a pint of saliva being discharged per hour, with
the breath having the mercurial  odor;  and on the inner surface  of
the right cheek a foul ulcer.   He ascribed his present condition  to
the pills as he had no sore mouth until after taking them.  On cut-
ting one of the pills, it was observed to have a light-brown  color,
and the odor of opium: hence it was supposed that they were com-
posed of calomel and opium.  Purgatives, tonics and gargles of the
chloride of soda were used without avail; and, after some days, Dr.
Pereira was requested to see the  patient.   He found him in the fol-
lowing  condition: right side of the face  swollen  and slightly red;
gums swollen, red and ulcerated; breath horribly  offensive, its odor
not distinguishable from that called mercurial.  On the inner side of
the cheek, near the orifice of the parotid duct, there was a slough
about the size of a six-penny piece; salivation most profuse—in fact,
the saliva flowed in  a continued  stream from his  mouth; over his
body were  observed a few petechiae.  Notwithstanding" the  means
employed, the man became worse, the sloughing gradually increased
until the whole of the right cheek became involved, and he died in
about a week after Dr. Pereira had commenced visiting him.   It was
ascertained from the surgeon  who had prescribed the pills, that they
contained Dover's powder, and not an atom of any mercurial prepa-
tion."
   AVhat would  be our treatment, if such a  group  of symptoms
occurred as a natural disease ?  Mercury might prove a successful
remedy; another drug which is homoeopathic to such a combination
of disorganizations is Aconite.   I have treated several  cases of can-
crum oris with two or three  drop-doses of the tincture of Aconite
in a tumblerful of water,  giving a tablespoonful  of such a solution
every  hour.   You  have to  use a tincture made  of the  root; the
tincture of the leaves may not prove sufficiently penetrating.   FeAV
drugs in our Materia Medica are more capable of developing such a
universal gangrenous dyscrasia of the blood than Aconite. In  a case
of this  kind, where  Aconite  is required, you will  invariably find a
quick and rather hard, jerking, though small pulse, and the inflamed
parts will present a deep,  dark-red appearance.  If Mercury is indi-
cated, the pulse may be quick, but it is small and  soft, rather  undu-
lating, not  hard or jerking.   Nor are the parts  dark-red, but of a
livid, dark-brown color.   If gangrenous  petechias  have broken out
over the body, you  may  drop Mercurius  as a useless agent.  The
better treatment in such a case would  be to  give Aconite and the
first trituration of Arsenic in alternate doses.
   3. Mercurial Purging (mercurial  diarrhoea).  This purging  is fre-
quently attended with  griping  and discharge of blood.  In some
cases there is fulness of the  left  hypochondrium, burning  pain and
tenderness of the region  of the pancreas, and the evacuations  are
frothy,  whitish, tough and often greenish, at least in the commence-
ment.   These symptoms may fairly be referred to an affection of the
pancreas analogous to that of the salivary glands.  Dieterich  terms
it pancreatic mercurial ptyalism, or abdominal ptyalism.
   4.  Urorrhea Mercurialis, or excessive secretion of urine.  This is
,a rare  disease, but we  shall  afterwards find, when we come  to our 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
573
systematic provings, that the action of Mercury upon the bladder is
to cause a profuse flow of urine, and that on this account Mercury
may be useful in diabetes.
  5. Hydrosis Mercurialis, or profuse sweating. This is another effect
of Alercury.  The sweat is preceded by flushes, anxiety, heat of the
skin, quick and soft pulse.   Mercurial  sweat is clammy, and has a
strong, fetid and often sourish smell.
  6. Shdn-diseases.  Among the cutaneous diseases which have been
regarded as part of the ill-effects of Mercury, we find the following
diseases recorded:
  a. Mercurial Eczema, also termed mercurial erythema, or mercurial
lepra.  This  eruption consists of innumerable, minute  and  pellucid
vesicles, giving the appearance of a diffused redness to  the skin, and
a sensation  of roughness to the touch.  Sometimes the eruption is
preceded and attended by febrile disorder.  In two or three  days the
vesicles attain the size of a pin's  head, and the serum which they
contain, becomes opaque and milky.  It soon extends over the body,
and is accompanied by tumefaction, tenderness  and  itching.  It
usually terminates by desquamation; but in some cases a copious
discharge takes place from  the excoriated and tender surfaces;  and
when this ceases, the epidermis comes  off in large flakes;  in some
instances the  hair and nails fall off, and the eyes and eyebroAvs become
entirely denuded.  There is usually some affection of the respiratory
organs indicated by dry cough and tightness of the praecordia.  This
eruption is often accompanied by dryness of the nose and fauces, and
occasionally by more or  less inflammatory irritation of these parts.
The eruption first breaks out in the bends of the knees, on the inner
surface of the thighs, on  the scrotum, in the  groin and in the axillae.
In a feAV days, the uncovered parts of the body  become  likewise
invaded, the recently-formed vesicles containing a transparent fluid,
whereas the fluid contained in the older vesicles becomes milky and
turbid.  On the fourth day, the  vesicles break, discharging a tena-
cious and rather badly-smelling fluid which  stiffens the linen.  The
patient feels most comfortable with his knees bent and raised; the
pulse is weak, and the tongue somewhat coated.
   b. Miliaria Mercurialis: The appearance  of this rash is preceded
by marked irritation  of the nervous  system and a   sIoav, almost
torpid febrile paroxysm.  The exanthem first makes its appearance
upon the chest, after Avhich the anxiety and the restlessness  of the
patient abate.  Next day the rash  appears  on the back and loins,
preceded by  the same symptoms.  In this way the rash breaks out
in patches, until it has completed its course.  The vesicles are close
together and white.  After the  rash  is fully out, a  rise  of fever
occurs every evening.   Nervous symptoms, sleeplessness, slight deli-
rium and convulsions supervene.  Tire pulse is small, soft, easily
compressible, not very quick, the  skin is drenched with sweat Avhich
has a flat smell.   The typhoid phenomena  gradually  increase, the
pulse intermits, the rash  recedes  under the skin which becomes dry,
and the patient dies comatose.
   c. Herpes Preputialis: a diffused redness  makes its appearance at
one spot on the inner surface of the prepuce, Avith a  good deal of 
574
LECTURE XXXVII.
itching.  Next day several transparent vesicles start up, of a pale-
red color, Avith a Avhitish tinge ; on the third day they break, forming
roundish ulcers Avith a slightly-elevated border, secreting a great deal
of pus and finally assuming a whitish appearance ; the itching burn-
ing increases by washing the penis in cold water.   Pereira  observes
that this herpes has likewise  been seen in the case of persons who
had not taken any Mercury.
  d. Psydracia Mercurialis (mercurial itch).  This eruption is com-
posed of pustules from the size of a millet  seed to that of a pea.
On the  fifth day, the tips of these pustules become filled with pus.
They are never seen in  groups, but are scattered, as it were, over
the extremities.   These pustules terminate in the formation of light-
brown scurf which scale off.
  e. Impetigo Mercurialis.  This eruption consists of dark-red spots
of various sizes, Avhich first break out in the region of the sexual
organs and afterwards  on the chest.   They itch a good  deal.  In a
few months the color of these spots becomes somewhat browner, and
vesicles start up in the centre of the spots which cave in on the
fifth, and scale off on the ninth day.   At first, the vesicles are seen
on the sternum, after which they spread over the whole chest, arms,
calves and inner surface  of the thighs. At  times  some of  these
vesicles break, discharging a brownish-yellow tenacious  and viscid
pus which dries up into a crust beneath Avhich the suppurative  pro-
cess continues.   The upper portion of the scurf gradually assumes a
Avhitish-gray appearance and scales off.  The scaling off and re form-
ing of the scurf goes on continually until the  whole of the  skin has
become invaded.   The skin becomes dry, rough, parched, depositing
small, bran-like scales.   These scales  accumulate  more particularly
on the hairy parts of the skin, on the hairy scalp, in the region  of
the whiskers, eyebrows;  they frequently fall  off in patches together
with the hair.   The complexion  changes  to a shallow or  earthy
appearance,  if it was formerly white and red, and to  an olive-green
appearance  around the eyes,  if it was formerly  broAvn-red.   The
patients  are easily drenched with SAveat;  the exhalations  have an
offensive smell and the alvine evacuations are either  retained  or
watery.  The appetite  is either gone, or else it becomes voracious.
The gums are livid, detached from the teeth,  of a dirty-black color;
the smell from the mouth is disagreeable, the mucous membrane  of
the fauces  is  bluish,  spongy,  traversed by  injected vessels, with
tearing  pains  in the  limbs,  and other constitutional  symptoms.
According  to Pereira,  these two eruptions, mercurial itch and mer-
curial impetigo, are doubtful results of mercurial action, and should
be ascribed to some other cause.
   7. Inflammatory Conditions,   a. Mercurial  Conjunctivitis; this in-
flammation has been described by Van Ammon; it is characterized
by a peculiar lilac tint around the cornea and a pressure in the eye,
and generally passes off as soon as ptyalism sets in.   Pereira doubts
the correctness of the statement that a conjunctivitis  of this sort is
attributable to mercury.
   Another  form] of  mercurial  conjunctivitis has  the following
appearances ; the conjunctiva of the ball of the eye  and of the lids 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
575
is inflamed; the eyelids are swollen, red; the canthi feel as if exco-
riated, with  smarting pain  in  them, the margins of  the  lids are
burning  and itching, agglutinated in  the morning; they  secrete a
quantity of pus ;  frequently the patient is not able to open his eyes,
until the pus  has been washed  off with tepid water.   The patient
complains of a pressure and sense of friction in the eyes.  The eyes
are sensitive to light.  A quantity of thin, white mucus is  secreted
from the nose ; the nostrils and upper lip are sore.
  b. Iritis Mercurialis; this manifests itself either as a venous inflam-
mation of the membrane  of  Descemet, or as a venous inflammation
of the parenchyma of the  iris.
  c. Retinitis Mercurialis: a burning-aching pain in the bottom of
the socket, considerable photophobia, constant lachrymation,  a variety
of bright colors,  sparks, fiery rings before the  eyes, etc.   Pereira
thinks that these inflammatory conditions of the eyes are not legiti-
mate effects of mercury, but should be attributed to some other cause.
  d. Chironic Mercurial Angina faucium. This is the result of long-
continued mercurial treatment; it is characterized by dryness of the
throat Avhich  comes on  towards  evening, in the open  air,  or  after
talking and smoking.  The  patients swallow saliva all the time in
order  to obtain relief.  After a  while  the patients  complain of a
drawing and aching pain in the posterior part of the fauces, and great
dryness in the nose inducing continual attempts to expel air through
the nose.  In the morning, the patients hawk up a tenacious, glassy
mucous.  The tonsils, curtain, uvula, and particularly the back part
of the fauces, exhibit a redness which varies from dark-red to bluish-
red.  Darker spots are seen here and there, with yellowish eleva-
tions of the size of a half pea in those spots; these elevations are
slightly-swollen mucous glands.   The other parts of the mouth are
traversed by single vessels of a violet-bluish color, and surrounded
by clusters of other varicose vessels.   On the mucous  membrane of
the cheeks and on the inner side of the lips vesicles of a pale yellow
color are seen which discharge a clear, tasteless lymph, after Avhich
the sore heals very rapidly.
   e. Mercurial Periostitis.   We distinguish external  and internal
periostitis.  The external periostitis develops itself in  this  manner:
At some spots in those  bones  which are covered only by cellular
tissue 'and integuments, in the tibia,  ulna, sternum, radius, frontal
bone, clavicle, the patient experiences after sunset  a slight tension
and drawing which does  not prevent a quiet sleep.  This slight pain
recurs tAvo or three evenings. On  the fourth or fifth, the pain becomes
gnaAving, at  one spot only in the affected periosteum.   This symp-
tom increases on the folloAving days, depriving the patient of rest
and sleep, until towards morning.  On making pressure on  this spot,
the patient utters  a slight moan  as from  pain.   The pain is partly
sticking, partly aching.  This group of symptoms constitutes the first
stage  of mercurial periostitis.  The  second stage develops the  fol-
lowing morbid conditions: the periosteum becomes spongy, it exudes
an albuminous substance in the  region Avhere the gnawing pain is
experienced.   This exudation  increases gradually, produces  adhe-
sions  between the periosteum and the  cellular tissue,  and converts 
•   576
LECTURE XXXVII.
both  into  a grayish  white, homogenous,  somewhat doughy, but
rather hard-feeling substance.   The swelling thus  formed,  varies
in size from that of a hazelnut to that of a hen's-egg.  In some cases
the swelling spreads  along the whole of the periosteum.   Such
swellings have  heretofore been termed  gummata.   The color  of the
skin on the outside  remains unchanged.  As soon as the  SAvelling
commences to form, the pains increase in intensity; the intermissions
become shorter and  finally disappear entirely.  The nervous system
suffers a good  deal, owing to  the.pains and sleepless nights; the
patients  lose their appetite, hectic fever frequently supervenes, and
symptoms  of the mercurial disease are perceived in  other tissues and
systems.
   In  internal periostitis the patients complain of  a draAving pain
wandering about in  the inmost parts of the long bones.  After the
lapse of  some days, the pain shows a tendency to become seated at
one spot, increases in  violence, becomes gnawing  and boring,  and
occasions indescribable  sufferings.   The  patients  are depri\-ed of
sleep.  After some weeks have elapsed, the bone  begins to  swell;
the swelling does not arise from the Avhole extent of the bone at once,
but from the upper and lower extremities, following the shaft of the
bone and giving it the appearance as if it were SAvollen all around.
The swelling feels hard and bony, Avhence Ave may  infer that the
substance of the bone  has become  enlarged and  spongy.  Simulta-
neously with the appearance or increase of this swelling, the pains
increase to a frightful degree of violence. The pains are characterized
by intermissions, are aggravated by the  Avarmth of the bed, decrease
in a cooler temperature, and are most violent when  the weather, and
more particularly the  wind changes.  The  intermissions gradually
shorten, until the pains become permanent.  Graves states that peri-
ostitis attacked such patients as had taken a great deal of Alercury,
even if they never had been affected with syphilis, as often as they
took cold.  Pereira thinks that  "the disease is rarely or never seen
after the use of this metal, except in cases where it had  been given
for the  cure  of a venereal affection, to Avhich, in fact, it7 ought with
more propriety to be referred."
   8. Ilypertropliies:  Enlargements of  the  inguinal,  axillary, and
mesenteric glands, as well as of some of the secreting glands, viz.: the
parotid glands,  the pancreas, the testicles and liver, and condylomata
and ganglia have been ascribed by some to the use of Mercury; in
this respect it is likeAvise Dr. Pereira's  opinion that these effects of
Alercury are not sufficiently made out.  In cases, where patients have
died from  the effects of  large doses of Mercury, the liver has been
found engorged with blood, even if no other  lesions of the abdominal
viscera could be discovered. Hence we have a right to infer that the
liver is  specifically acted upon by Mercury,  and that this specific
action is characterized  by vascular engorgement.
   9. Ulceration  and  Sloughing: Ulceration  of the  mouth is a Avell
known effect of Mercury to which  allusion has already been  made
in the paragraph on ptyalism. Ulceration of the throat may likewise
occur.   Sloughing of the same parts may be induced.  In a case of
sloughing which I witnessed, the whole  face was black and  swollen 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
577
 so  that the eyes were tightly closed, the tongue was swollen, of a
 black-brown color, and pieces of it would slough off every now and
 then; this sloughing extended to the throat, the inner wall of the
 cheeks, and was accompanied by the most distressing ptyalism;  in
 the course of twelve hours the patient would discharge half a pailful
 of thin, ichorous, fetid saliva.
  Mercury causes phagedenic, spongy, bluish, readily-bleeding ulcers.
 Completely cicatrized ulcers break open again and become gangrenous.
 This effect Avas witnessed on board the English man-of-war " Triumph."
 In  1610 this man-of-war received on board several tons of quicksilver
 saved from the wreck of a vessel near Cadiz.   In  consequence of the
 rotting of the bags the Mercury escaped, and  the whole of the  creAV
 became more or less affected.  In the space of three weeks two  hun-
 dred men were salivated, two died,  and all the animals, cats, dogs,
 sheep,  fowls, a  canary-bird, nay even the rats, mice and cock-roaches
 were destroyed.
  This case affords a fine illustration  of the extraordinary effects of
 the vapors of Alercury.   Dr. Christison thinks that the activity of the
 emanations arises from the oxydation of  the metal before it is inhaled.
 Buchner, Orfila and others, hoAvever, maintain, that metallic Alercury,
 in the finely-divided state in which it must exist as a vapor, is itself
 poisonous.
  The Simple Mercurial Ulcer, or Ulcus Mercuriale Simplex, is  thus
 described by Dieterich: the mucous membrane  assumes a bluish-
 red appearance in one or more places, and becomes spongy; next day
 these spots become whitish, and the dissolution of the mucous mem-
 brane becomes evident.  In a few hours the whitish-gray substance
 changes to a fetid ichor,  flows off, and exhibits an irregular, shaggy,
 flat ulcer, with an almost spongy base, and sharply-indented  edges.
 The ichor is  discharged  in  profuse  quantity,  the  ulcer spreads
 rapidly in extent, without  penetrating into the  flesh, and is very
 painful.   If the use of the metal be continued, and the ulcers left to
 themselves, they assume  a dirty, foul appearance and become rapidly
 phagedenic.  Blood is now discharged from the ulcers, not actively,
 but oozing out as from a sponge,  and evincing a state  of great
 debility.  The bottom of these ulcers often present unequal  eleva-
 tions and depressions, as if it  had been corroded by insects:   The
 breaking out of these sores is often accompanied by an irregular and
 quick  pulse, sleeplessness, restlessness, profuse night-sweats, great
 nervousness and impatience from the slightest cause.
  Another mercurial ulcer is termed by Dieterich  the Mixed Mer-
 curial  Ulcer.  This is a chancre which has assumed a sloughing dis-
 position in consequence of the improper use of Alercury.  Chancres
 termed phagedenic, are particularly liable to this degeneration.  The
 base of the chancre Avhich had a lardaceous appearance previously,
 and discharged a thickish pus, now  looks  dirty and shaggy, and
 discharges a thin, acrid fluid.  Granulations which were previously
red and healthy, assume  a dirty yellow-brown appearance.   Blood
is discharged from the  ulcer, it spreads rapidly in depth and  cir-
cumference, destroying the adjacent soft parts.
                              37 
578
LECTURE XXXVII.
  Ulceration of the  fibrous tissue and of the absorbent glands has
likewise been ascribed to the use of Alercury.
  10. Mercurial Neuroses, or nervous  derangements.   The  nervous
system is visited in a variety of ways  by the baneful influences of
Mercury.   AYe  distinguish  more  particularly the following con-
ditions :
  a. Mercurial Rheumatism,  affecting the knee and shoulder-joints,
rarely the hip, arm and wrist-joints; sometimes the rheumatism is
acute, and, if left to itself, results in dropsy and suppuration of the
joints; the pains are tearing, or heavy dull  pains.  Dr. Stokes has
seen darting and pricking pains in various parts of the body pro-
duced by  Mercury.   Sometimes the  rheumatic pains  are at first
wandering, and afterAvards become seated and penetrating.
  b. Mercurial Neuralgia.  Along the track of a motor nerve the
patient experiences  a  draAving, tearing  pain.  The  pain  may be
seated, but more frequently it shifts from one place to  another along
different portions of the affected nerve.  The  pain may ultimately
affect different parts of the  nervous  system.   It  has distinct, but
irregular intermissions, and is excited  by an exertion, a current of
air, or by getting heated.  Such patients  cannot bear wet weather.
They feel  comfortable even if the weather is ever  so hot.  The
nights are generally  quiet.  These tearing pains sometimes proceed
from the teeth, extending to the parietal bone and the frontal region,
and depriving the patient of sleep.
   c. Tremor Mercurialis,  mercurial trembling.  This trembling is
sometimes so violent that the  patients are  unable to talk, Avalk or
eat; they have  to be  fed and  dressed by others.   This trembling
may affect single muscles, or whole limbs, even the head and back;
it sometimes increases  to convulsions.  Thackrah, in his work on
Arts,  Trades,  etc.,  relates  a few interesting  cases  of mercurial
trembling.
   " Peter Cataneo, an Italian, had  worked for five years at the busi-
ness of silvering mirrors, and was frequently compelled to desist
from the  employment  until the effects of Mercury  subsided.  At
length his tremors  became  general;  gums sore, spirits depressed,
bitter taste in the mouth, tongue white, pulse quick and small, but
difficult  to be felt on account of  the  constant tremor;  cough and
tightness of the chest;  heat of the skin above the natural standard.
He took Sulphur as practised at the mercurial mines with some
little benefit;  a grain of Opium  at  bed-time; and  for diet  milk,
gruel, fish and porter: for his  sore mouth an acid gargle was em-
ployed.  The ptyalism abated, the tremors subsided,  and  in  the
course of a fortnight  nearly disappeared, leaving, hoAvever,  a sad
feeling of  Aveakness which  Avas successfully managed by generous
diet and bark."
   " Another case is detailed in which the speech was  greatly im-
peded, the limbs tottered, and  the man, though young, moved like
one far advanced in years.   He could not convey any liquid to his
mouth in consequence of the severity and constancy  of the tremors.
 His appetite fell off, his sleep was greatly disturbed, his body wasted,
and the lungs  dreadfully oppressed.   So great was  the violence of 
                       MERCURIUS VIVUS.                   579

 the trembling of his whole frame that he was nearly thrown out  of
 a bath by it.  Much of the water was driven over the sides of the
 tub, and it required the force of two men to prevent him from beino-
 actually ejected."
   Another remarkable case of mercurial trembling is related by Dr.
 Stokes in his Clinical Lectures at the University of Dublin.
   A man of forty-six years was  admitted  into the hospital in the
 month of October, 1833.  Since  his eighth year he had been em-
 ployed in a  looking-glass factory, where he had been devoted to the
 business of  silvering looking-glasses.  In doing this, the workman
 dips his  right hand into a vessel filled with mercury, while with his
 left he is holding  the plate upon which  the  metal is to be rubbed.
 Alouth and nose are in general covered Avith a veil.  The patient had
 never resorted to this veil, because  he fancied that those who did
 resort to it were not in any better health than he was.  For thirty
 years he had enjoyed good health, except that at times he had been
 attacked with bleeding from the  gums and with  stinging,  pinching
 pains in  various parts of the  body; he complained moreover of more
 or less weakness in his hands, which was however relieved by the
 use of spirituous drinks.  He had been several times attacked with
 ptyalism, and on his arrival at the hospital all his teeth were gone.
 A short  time previous to his  reception in  the hospital he had felt
 tolerably well, except that his right eye  had grown weaker, and his
 memory was so far gone that he had forgotten the names of his most
 familiar  acquaintances.  The doctor was at  a loss how to classify the
 condition of the patient.   He saw that the character of this affection
 was spasmodic, but it neither resembled tetanus nor hydrophobia,
 nor hysteria; it rather partook of the character of St. Vitus' dance.
 Head, arms  and fingers, especially these of the left side,  were in  con-
 tinual spasmodic motion.   The  corners of the mouth  were  draAvn
 back, the eyebrows wrinkled,  the nostrils  dilated.  The sterno-cleido-
 mastoideus  muscle, the trapezius and the  abdominal muscles were
 spasmodically affected.  In consequence  of the continual hiccough-
 ing which was in a measure owing  to the spasm of the diaphragm,
 and  in consequence of the continual trembling of the tongue, the
 patient's speech had become interrupted and indistinct.   At times he
 seemed free from spasms, but as soon as  he undertook to move any
 part of his  body, the  trembling commenced.  If he attempted to
 raise his foot, it commenced  to tremble,  and  sank again; when at-
 tempting to  drink, the glass was involuntarily carried to the  ear,
 nose or forehead, so that  his companions observed laughingly that
 he was unable to find  his mouth.  If somebody else held the tum-
 bler for him, he drank quite easily.  A cold draughit of air, the contact
 of a cold  hand, and the unexpected entrance of a person into the room,
 caused the spasms to break out.  The muscles of the left hand  and
 side were more affected than  those  of the right  side.  The activity
 of the  brain was  not impaired;  the patient Avas perfectly conscious
 and Avas anxious to communicate the most unimportant details of his
 sickness.   On making pressure on the fourth and fifth vertebrae, the
patient felt  a little pain;  the rest of the vertebral column seemed 
580
LECTURE XXXVII.
perfectly sound. The skin was cold and dry, the pulse hiurried, soft and
small, the bowels constipated.
  The following treatment was  instituted: Leeches were applied  to
the sensitive part  of the vertebral column, and the patient Avhs put
into a warm bath; afterAvards a cathartic Avas given, folloAved by  an
opiate.   In  a few days the patient felt someAvhat better.   On the left
side the spasms  continued, but less; on  the right side they had
ceased.   By making frictions along the vertebral  column Avith the
extract of Belladonna, the spasms were arrested, and the patient left
the hospital entirely cured.
  Instead of applying leeches, our practice would  have been to rub
the tincture of the root of Aconite upon the sensitive vertebrae.  The
frictions with Belladonna, and  occasionally  a mild cathartic would
likeAvise have been resorted to by a homoeopathic physician.
  d. Psellismus Mercurialis, or mercurial stammering;  a peculiar
form of mercurial  tremor.
  e. Mercurial Paralysis; the tremor to which allusion was made
just iioav, sometimes terminates in general palsy or in  paralysis  of
the extremities.
  f. Epilepsy and also Apoplexy from  softening of the  brain are
mentioned by Dieterich as effects of mercury.
  g. Asthma has  likewise  been caused by  the  fumes of Alercury.
Dieterich knows of only one case of this  disease; the patient was not
able to walk or move without danger of suffocation.
  h. Amaurosis is likewise said  to have been caused by Alercury.
  i. Hypochiondriasis, imbecility, loss of memory.
  11. Mercurial Cachexia or Hydrargyrosis.   The  milder grades  of
this disease are characterized by more copious secretions from the
intestinal canal, liver and skin; the urine is turbid, the alvine evac-
uations are  darker and thinner, greenish, the cutaneous exhalations
are clammy, smell disagreeably, the epidermis becomes relaxed and
withered.  There  is a disagreeable odor from the  mouth, a general
feeling of malaise, the pulse is irritated, the patient feels languid and
weary.  The body and face are bloated, the face looks salloAV and the
milk in the  breasts becomes hurtful to the child.
  In the higher grades of hydrargyrosis the patient becomes emaciated,
the  digestive functions are ruined, there is  alternate diarrhoea and
constipation.   The hair becomes dry and falls out; the eye loses  its
brilliancy, the  face  looks pale,  sunken, sallow; the nose is pinched,
the wings of the nose looks  greenish or bluish, the lips are shrivelled
and bluish,  the gums recede from the teeth, and look bluish-red; the
teeth lose their enamel, turn black and drop  out. The mucous mem-
brane of the fauces  and mouth  looks pale, bluish,  dingy, the breath
is offensive, the skin feels cold  and  clammy, and the cutaneous ex-
halations have a  fetid smell; the patient is troubled with  Avatery
stools, he is apathetic, loses his memory and senses, and frequently
lapses.into a state of imbecility.  Death finally takes place, either  by
gradual dissolution  and hectic fever, or, after a rapid increase of  all
the symptoms, by the destruction of all the organic tissues, or  by
paralysis of the brain and heart. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
581
           LECTURE   XXXVIII.

  How does  mercury produce these distressing results ?  On this
head a variety of opinions have been spun out by Old-School patho-
logists, some  of which  I will briefly relate  to you and  afterwards
contrast the mercurial treatment suggested and necessitated by the
derivative and counter-stimulant method of the Old-School, with the
benign and health-restoring use of Mercury  in the  hands of homoeo-
pathic physicians.
  The leading pathologists among Old-School practitioners incline
to the belief that Mercury- acts by absorption.  Mercury  has been
detected in the blood where it appears to exist in such intimate com-
bination with this vital  fluid that it cannot be recognized by the
ordinary tests.  Destructive distillation, has  in  most cases to be
resorted to for its detection.
  Alercury has also  been found in the secretions, viz.: in the per-
spiration, the saliva, the gastro-intestinal secretions, in the bile, urine,
and in the fluid  secreted by ulcers.
  Solid Mercury has been found in the organic solids, viz.: in the
bones, brain, synovial capsules, the pleura,  the humors  of the eye,
the cellular tissue, the lungs.   It is not known how and where the
vital  forces effect the reduction of the mercurial salts.
  But admitting that Alercury is absorbed into  the  system,  as it
undoubtedly is,  this absorption does not account  for the manner in
which Alercury  exercises its curative influence in disease.  In ,this
respect three different  opinions prevail among Old-School practi-
tioners, the mechanical, chemical and dynamical hypothesis.
  Astruc and Barry, two champions of the mechanical  hypothesis,
fancy that mercury acts by its weight, its divisibility, and  its mobi-
lity ;  and thus getting into the blood, separates its globules, renders
it more fluid .and fit for secretion, makes  the lymph thinner and
overcomes any existing obstructions.
  In  accordance Avith these notions concerning the  mechanical action
of Mercury,  pound  doses were formerly resorted to to overcome
obstinate  constipation.
  Another curious illustration of the supposed mechanical action
of Mercury  is afforded  by  the ladies  of the court  of  Charles II.
Mercury  Avas employed by them as  a means of increasing their
agility in  terpsichorean evolutions.  They took a  teaspoonful  night
and morning, for some  time previous to a splendid fete, Avhen they
would have a fine opportunity for display.   After  a reiterated  danc-
ing exercise in the great saloon, lit up resplendently Avith a thousand
burners, it was observed that numberless mercurial gems Avere spark-
ling on the floor in every direction, having dropped from the boAvels
of the fair ones during the agitation of their  persons.  On the fol-
lowing morning the servants made it  their first business to gather
up the globules, which, after  being carefully  washed, were sold to
other customers  who used them on like occasions. 
582
LECTURE XXXVIII.
   The chemical hypothesis which was resorted to at one time in order
to account for  the specific action  of Mercury in syphilis, has been
exploded.  It was supposed that Alercury acted chemically upon the
syphilitic virus as acids act upon alkalies.  This cannot be true, for
Mercury often envenoms the syphilitic sore instead of healing it.
   The adherents of the chemical theory have made great efforts to
prove the modus operandi of metallic salts, and likewise of mercurial
salts upon chemical principles.   Attempts have been  made to sIioav
that these salts Avithout any previous decomposition, unite with  the
organic constituents of the gastric juice,  more particularly with
pepsin, with Avhich they are supposed to form combinations of more
or less easy or difficult solution, the so-called pepsinates.   It is more
especially the hydrochlorates of Alercury which, according to Pap-
penheim, are supposed to furnish pepsinates that are soluble in dilute
muriatic acid.  Attempts have likewise been made to shoAV that most
of the metallic salts combine Avith  the albumine  of the gastric juice,
forming soluble albuminates Avhich, when solved, may be absorbecj
into the general current of the circulation.   It is supposed that  in
this way they exercise their constitutional  action, and that,  having
been decomposed in the general current or in the excretory organs,
more particularly the kidneys, they are eliminated in other combina-
tions..  Compounds which are not  soluble in the gastric juice, are
supposed to be  removed from the organism by the intestinal canal.
  The learned Dierbach demurs to this doctrine by calling attention
to the fact  that Alercurius dulcis or Calomel,  which  is entirely
insoluble in the gastric juice, is nevertheless endowed with an  extra-
ordinary poAver of manifesting great effects.  Trousseau and Pidoux
are perfectly correct  in  concluding that the efficacy of mercurial
preparations  does  not exclusively depend upon  their  solubility.
The metallic mercury, calomel, the red precipitate and  the iodides
of mercury are  all  of them insoluble.  Nevertheless some of them
manifest  extraordinary effects, and the corrosive sublimate  which
is perfectly soluble,  is surpassed  in efficacy by the  biniodide  of
mercury  which is an insoluble  compound.  These gentlemen  are
therefore of opinion  that the mercurial preparations  are endowed
with a specific power  of action Avhich chemistry will never be unable
to account for.
  Those Avho adhere to the dynamic hypothesis, either class Mercury
among the stimulants or excitants, or  else  they class it among the
weakening or sedative agents.  This classification is evidently incor-
rect, for Alercury is not a universal stimulant in the same sense  as
brandy, nor is it a universal sedative in the same sense  as Opium.
AYe shall see  by and  by that it acts either as  a stimulant or as a
sedative according as it is homoeopathic to conditions characterized
by depression, or to conditions Characterized by nervous or vascular
Crethrism.
   AVhichever of these different hypotheses was adhered to, a massive
dose of the drug had to be given to  secure either a mechanical,
chemical, stimulating or sedative effect. Pound-doses of quicksilver,
and ounce-doses of calomel have been administered by the heartless
salivators of the human  race, under whatever  flag  the battle  of 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
583
Alercury was fought.  "The horrid spectacle," writes Dr. Heustis of
Alabama, in the American Journal of Medical  Sciences, vol. II., p.
42, " the horrid spectacles frequently to be seen  as the consequences
of the mercurial treatment are shocking to humanity and disgrace-
ful to the profession.  Even Avere Mercury the only alternative, that
life is dearly purchased which is bought at the sacrifice of every
thing that renders life desirable, the constitution broken and  de-
stroyed, the person maimed  and disfigured, so that it is scarcely
recognized by the unfortunate sufferer himself, who is an  object of
pity and horror to his friends.  Deprived  of their  teeth, perhaps of
their jaws, we sometimes  see  these  pitiable objects with distorted
features, the  cheeks and palate partly destroyed  by mortification,
and the remaining portion cicatrized into an unsightly knot, with
the mouth twisted from its natural position, drawn obliquely to  the
ear, and the lips and cheeks consolidated with the  gums."
  In another number of  the Journal,  vol. XIX., the same writer
observes: " I have known an artificial disease produced and kept up
by the  daily exhibition of calomel; and  because  a Aoav of saliva
was not excited, it was concluded that the medicine had not exerted
its specific effect, or had not  been given in sufficient quantity.  It
was therefore pushed, further, and sloughing and mortification of the
gums, cheeks and fauces, and death itself  following in the train."
   The distinguished Liston avowed his belief that  no man ever lost
the bones of his head or face by syphilis alone, and that this result
was caused chiefly by Mercury.
   It was reserved for the genius of Hahnemann to convert this de-
structive agent into a  beneficent harbinger of health.  Thanks to
the humanizing influences of Homoeopathy, even those who ridicule
the minuteness of her doses, have abandoned the  mammoth-doses
of Mercury.  Some of  them have  even gone further;  they have
repudiated calomel altogether, and have substituted the sulphate of
quinine in its place. Dr. Alonette avers, in the NeAV-Orleans Medical
and Surgical Journal for October, 1844, that the only case  of fever
he lost  in a given season, was a man  to whom a  pupil gave a dose of
calomel without his knowledge.  He cures the  fevers there without
calomel, and others do the same thing, alleging that bilious evacua-
tions can be  secured without the use of calomel.
   It would appear from this that the curing of bilious congestive
fevers depends upon obtaining bilious evacuations.  Such a course
of reasoning shoAvs the utter want of  scientific precision in the alloeo-
pathic  treatment of diseases.  If it is  necessary to obtain bilious
evacuations,  it is certain that one drug will effect  this result differ-
ently from another, for the simple reason that every drug affects the
organism in  its own, peculiar, specific  manner, and that it  is there-
fore utterly absurd and of course impossible to use  one  drug for
another in endeavoring to obtain some  definite result.  The result
may be the same, but it is arrived at in a manner Avhich is specifi-
cally peculiar to each drug, and this specific peculiarity of  the gen-
eral action of  the drug must be in some  specific  rapport with the
character of the existing disturbance.  This view of the character
of drugs and their relation to diseases is suggested by common sense, 
584
LECTURE XXXVIII.
not by homoeopathic transcendentalism as the short-sighted  oppo-
nents of our doctrines might seem disposed to think.  Every drug-
is  an individual, has an individual  sphere of action, determines
specific changes in the organic tissues and holds specific relations to
those tissues in disease.   AVhat nonsense to suppose that one drug
can take the place of another, and accomplish a given result under
circumstances to which it is not adapted!   To a clear and logical
mind such alloeopathic treatment in the gross must seem eminently
absurd, independently of the positive law of cure by which we are
enabled to determine the value of the different methods adopted by
alloeopathic practitioners, Avith undeniable accuracy.   Not knowing
how to use the means Avhich God has put at their disposal, alloeopa-
thic  wiseacres discard them altogether as  useless superfluities or
even as dangerous poisons.  Let us bless  the  memory of him who
has enabled us to repudiate the mechanical, chemical and even the
dynamic hypotheses of Old-School pathologists without injuring the
cause of medical truth.   But  if we reject  all these  various  hypo-
theses, hoAV does Alercury effect its great results as a remedial agent
in  the hands of homoeopathic practitioners ?  This question Ave will
now undertake to answer.
   We have shown that the opinions entertained  by Old-School
physicians concerning the action of Alercury are either one-sided or
entirely erroneous.  The mechanical hypothesis cannot be accepted
because it leads to  the  exhibition  of Mercury in  enormous doses
which, by their mere Aveight, may cause  rupture of  the bowels at
some tender spot, and thus prove  destructive to life.   The chemical
hypothesis has  been exploded because it is well knoAvn that  Mer-
cury,  so far from curing chancre in every instance, will often, if
improperly administered, irritate the ulcer and increase its malig-
nant character.   The dynamic or  physiological hypothesis assumes
that  Mercury  either stimulates or quiets  the  tone of the system.
Neither of these views is based upon actual experimentation, but is
derived from the empirical use of this drug.  Thus Bishop will term
Mercury a sedative, because  he discovered  empirically that "small
closes of calomel  and laudanum will  arrest vomiting and  purging
in  cholera infantum as if by a charm " (See London Lancet, January,
1850). Another calls it an antiphlogistic, because it dissolves fibrin
and plastic exudations, thus performing the office of  a sedative  by
hushing up, according to the theory, the tumult in the blood-vessels.
And for similar reasons Mercury has obtained  a distinguished place
among stimulating or exciting agents.  It has been ascertained  by
chance that Alercury will  cause bilious stools; hence an  inference
has been draAvn that it stimulates the bilious secretions.
   These crude general notions concerning the physiological action
of Alercury have been as crudely applied to the treatment of disease.
If  circumstances led one to infer that there was an insufficient secre-
tion of bile, Alercury was applied to, to  promote the secretion of
this fluid; or  if an excess of fibrin was discovered  in the blood,
Alercury  had to perform  the process of  defibrination.  Aledicines
have  been given to remove  effects, not causes.  I1 or, it is evident
that an excess of fibrin is not the cause, but the effect of a disturb- 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
585
ance of the vital  forces.   Who does not see that constipation is not
a cause but a result of disease?   To be sure, constipation may cause
secondary ailments, fulness  or tightness about the head, a general
sense of malaise, restless  sleep, heavy dreams; these  symptoms Avill
all disappear of themselves  as soon as the constipation'is removed,
and the main point is undoubtedly to cure this abnormal condition
of the bowels.  But supposing this retention of stool arises from a
deficient secretion of bile, or from deficient exhalation of the mucous
lining, or from atony  of  the muscular fibre, is it not  evident that
these different  causes  have to be acted  upon, each in accordance
with its specific nature ?   But is it proper to regard them as causes ?
These conditions are not causes;  they too are effects.   No abnormal
condition can produce itself.  Analyze a whole series of abnormal
conditions, all depending  one upon the other in regular order, and
after you arrive at the first in the series, you will find that it did not
produce itself,  and that there must be some causative principle or
force back of it.   In  common language we are apt to allude to this
causative force in phrases like these: catching cold  by sitting in a
draught of  air or getting  the feet wet.   But it is  evident that a
draught of air  or wet feet are not the real cause of the disease; for
if they  were,  the removal of the  cause  would  undoubtedly  be
followed by the  restoration of health. But we know that no cold
can be cured by  getting out of the draught or getting  the feet dry
again.  Hence  these conditions have been very properly termed  by
Old-School  pathologists  cause  occasionales,  causes  which  simply
furnish  an  occasion  for the real cause  to  invade the organism.
Gentlemen,  there must be  forces  of  disease, unless  we prefer the
doctrine that disease  can produce  itself.   Nor  is the physiological
disturbance of any organ capable  of developing itself  Avithout the
action of these morbific  forces.   YYe believe  in the  reality of vital
forces; we are not acquainted with their nature; we simply knoAV
that they exist from the fact that man is a living being, and that the
atmospheric forces, although necessary to the existence of vitality,
do  not generate it.  If  they did, the body Avould  not perish, nor
would  atmespheric air decompose it.  We do  not  know what the
nature of these morbific forces is, any more than Ave know the nature
of the vital forces; but we do knoAV that, if no effect can exist with-
out a cause, no disease can exist  Avithout a corresponding cause pro-
ductive of this particular disease.  This seems to me plain reasoning,
and, if we are  desirous of curing the disease, it is this cause that we
have to remove: "cessante causa, cessat effectus," if the cause ceases,
the effect will cease likeAvise.  This cause is not a material principle,
in the common meaning  of the term;  Hahnemann speaks of it as a
spiritually-dynamic principle or  force, a force Avhich  is analogous to
the vital force, in other words of the same order as the vital  force,
although opposed to it in its mode of action or results.   It is then to
this force that the remedial agent addresses  itself.   Hoav is the re-
moval of this force out of the invaded tissues effected ?  An ansAver
to this question involves the whole doctrine of Homoeopathy.  To
remove these forces we  have remedial agents.  These visible and
tangible agents are the  material products, the  substrata of internal 
586
LECTURE XXXVIII.
principles or forces embodied in their  structure.   These forces are
the very forces that produce disease. As a proof thereof, all Ave have
to do is to  SAvalloAV a sufficient quantity of any drug and Ave shall
obtain the same symptoms which characterize a disturbance effected
by the direct action of the morbific force upon the organism. A drug
whose internal or dynamic force affects the living tissues similarly to
the morbific force, is  homoeopathic to  the disease which this force
develops in  the organism.  It therefore acts upon  this disease more
directly, more thoroughly, more permanently,  in one  word  more
specifically than any  other drug could  do. And the result of this
action is the hushing up of the natural disease, not by a process of
revulsion or counter-irritation, but by virtue  of an elective  affinity
existing between the  drug-force and the  morbific principle and re-
sulting in the natural absorption, neutralization or equilibration of
this principle, an absorption which manifests  itself  by a gradual
diminution  of the morbid phenomena and a corresponding return of
the blissful feeling of health.  It stands to reason that the qualitative
relation of the drug to the disease is not the only factor concerned in
the treatment, and that the quantitative relation is likeAvise a point
of the  utmost importance.   We cannot offer any  absolute rules on
this head;  all we can say is that the quantity of the dose must neces-
sarily depend upon the character of the disease, upon the sensitive-
ness of the tissue, upon idiosyncrasy and upon a variety of other
considerations suggested by the individuality of the case.  I have
thrown out  numerous hints in reference  to this subject, and I shall
take every opportunity hereafter of elucidating this mooted point by
general reasonings and by practical illustrations.
   Where, at what point, in what tissue, does the mercurial remedial
agent meet  the morbific force?   Where dose  the  remedial action of
Alercury commence in the sick organism?  These are  questions of
vital importance to the full comprehension of the vast therapeutic
scope of this great agent.
   It is not the business of my chair to teach anatomy or physiology;
but how is  it  possible to  obtain a correct knoAvledge of the  thera-
peutic range of drugs and their specific mode  of action, without first
understanding, to some  extent at least, the nature and  order of the
functions upon which the preservation of the organism depends?
As regards  Mercury,  its great uses as  a remedial agent can  only be
correctly apprehended by those who have a clear and full perception
of  the  disorders which it  inflicts upon the living economy,  and of
the course it takes in thus undermining the constitution.
   After the food has  been duly prepared for the purpose of nutrition
by mastication, impregnation Avith  saliva, and finally solution in the
fluids of the  stomach,  what is the next stage in the mysterious
mechanism of life ?   After  the teeth, the salivary glands, and the
stomach have performed their part and the process of chylification has
 been duly initiated, Avhat set of vessels then comes into play to con-
tinue the operations  of vitality ?  AVhat are these  vessels  and what
their functions ?
   It is the  great lymphatic system which is entrusted with the deli-
cate mission  of absorbing food, in a suitable state of adaptation, for 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
587
the renovation of the worn-out tissues.   Although I may take it for
granted that you  are  fully acquainted with the  origin, course and
termination of the lymphatics, yet it may not be superfluous to offer
a few general statements concerning these interesting points as this
will enable me to present my explanations regarding the physio-
logical and therapeutic action of Mercury with so much more force
and clearness.
  The chyliferous tubes in the small intestines are generally desig-
nated as lacteals; but there is  no difference between these lacteals
and lymphatic vessels  properly speaking,  since their anatomical
structure is entirely the same.
  Lymphatics like the great venous system to which the lymphatic
system  bears a very close resemblance, are distributed throughout
every portion of the animal economy.  They arise  by a network of
such delicate structure that, Avhen injected with Mercury, the whole
surface appears changed into a metallic layer.  With these networks
the lymphatic vessels communicate ;  in other words these networks
are said to constitute the closed extremities by which all the lym-
phatics of free surfaces, such as the mucous, serous, and synovial
membranes, the skin  and the  lining membranes of  arteries and
veins, arise.
  It is in these lymphatic vessels that the chyle and lymph circulate,
and are gradually conducted to their common reservoirs, the right
and left thoracic ducts Avhich discharge their contents into the right
and left subclavian veins.
   How is the circulation of the fluids in the lymphatic vessels main-
tained ?  This circulation is evidently independent of the  heart's
action, and, so far as we know, is carried on through the contractility
with which the coats of the lymphatics are endowed.
  For a long time it has been a mooted  point whether the great
lymphatic ducts in the right and left side of the thorax are the only
channels of communication  between the lymphatic and the  venous
systems; or whether  the lymphatics communicate with the veins
directly.  Mascagni taught  the  former doctrine; Magendie, on the
contrary, maintained that the veins likewise perform the function of
absorption.
  The views to which Alessrs. Fohmann and Lauth were led by their
researches seem to me the most plausible.   They believe that beside
the termination of the thoracic ducts in the subclavian veins, there
are two other modes of  communication betAveen the lymphatic and
the venous systems : first, a communication  of the lymphatic radicles
with the radicles of the veins, which is supposed to take place in the
substance of organs;  and secondly,  a  communication between  the
lymphatics and veins in the  body of the lymphatic glands.  These
views, although backed by ingenious experiments and reasonings,
are more or less theoretical.   Indeed, considering the inadequacy of
the instruments with which we  have  to  make our investigations of
the phenomena, structure and relations of  the capillary system, Ave
have as yet to content ourselves in many instances Avith arguments
in the place of facts.
  Whatever, however, may be  the exact character of the bond of 
588
LECTURE XXXVIII.
union between the  lymphatics and veins, one thing we knoAV :  that
the functions of the lymphatic system  are  preliminary to those of
the veins.  It is in the lymphatics that the living organism begins
the great process of nutrition and prepares suitable material for the
tissues.
  AYe  have now  arrived at the point Avhere our doctrine  of the
physiological action and the therapeutic uses of  Alercury becomes
an intelligible formula, invested with logical consistency and fraught
with important and beautiful results.   It is the lymphatic  system
which Alercury chooses for its point of attack in the living organism,
and it  is in the lymphatic system that Alercury meets the inimical
morbid force when called upon  to combat and subdue it.
  Mercury acts upon  the lymphatic  capillaries,-as Aconite  does
upon the capillaries of the venous system.   It diminishes, prostrates,
paralyzes their irritability, producing a series of phenomena in the
lymphatic system exactly similar to the phenomena which Aconite
causes  in the circulatory apparatus.  These are phenomena of con-
gestion  attended Avith symptoms of vascular  excitement similar to,
and yet different from, the phenomena  of vascular erethism charac-
terizing true  congestions of the sanguineous capillaries.
  If we knew the exact relation between the  lymphatic and venous
systems, we might perhaps account for  the phenomena of lymphatic
erethism in a very accurate manner.  But, as it is, our  explanation
of these phenomena cannot possibly be perfect.  Nevertheless it may
be  rendered  intelligible  and sufficiently accurate for all practical
purposes.
  It is from the lymphatic system that the veins derive in a measure
their power of manifesting vital  phenomena.  If the lymphatics
become clogged,  or, to  use a  more  classical term, congested or
engorged, must not the torpor of the lymphatic radicles react upon
the radicles of the venous system?  What the venous  system  is to
the arterial, that the lymphatic system is in  a  measure to  the veins.
Torpor of the sanguineous capillaries may lead to acute congestions
or inflammations.   If this engorgement  reaches the venous capilla-
ries through the lymphatic system,  the  phenomena of congestion or
inflammation are  of a milder type, the accompanying fever is  less
acute, and the pulse instead of being full, hard, bounding and rapid,
as it always is in true inflammation, preserves a certain softness and
only becomes moderately accelerated.
  Considering that the lymphatics are distributed throughout every
tissue and organ of the animal economy, is it difficult to understand
that torpor and engorgements of these vessels may lead to an almost
interminable series of disorders ?  The  character of these disorders
will of course depend more or less upon the acute or chronic nature
of the lymphatic engorgements.
  Enlargement and induration of glands, effusions into  the  cellular
tissue, suppurations and ulcerations of  every tissue through which
lymphatic  vessels  are  distributed,  and finally a universal decay of
every organic structure may be  the ultimate  consequences of lym-
phatic weakness and obstructions.
  AVhatever derangements arise from such  a  condition of the lym- 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
589
phatic system, whether this condition  is superinduced  by sudden
exposure to catarrhal or rheumatic influences or by the sudden out-
break of a hitherto  latent  dyscrasia, or, may be, by the syphilitic
poison, Alercury Avill  generally prove a match for such disorders.
Here is  the little chancre-vesicle harboring  destructive poison
within its delicate envelope.  The lymphatics, true to  their instinct
of absorption, take up the poisonous principle; inflammation and
ulceration are the consequence, and as one series of absorbents after
another becomes infected, the little ulcer becomes converted into a
phagedenic sore.
  Now bring your Alercury to bear upon this plague.   It too will
penetrate the lymphatic capillaries, where it will  meet the inimical
destroyer as one of its oavu kindred, and by virtue of an irresistible
affinity betAveen the mercurial principle and the syphilitic miasm,
hush up, absorb as it were, its enmity, and reduce the phagedenic
ulcer to the proportions of a  simple sore  which the re-awakened
energies of the vital forces will find it easy to heal.
  When I think  how much  good might have  been  done by the
judicious use of Alercury, my heart sickens at the awful amount of
destruction which it has scattered broadcast throughout  the length
and breadth of our land!   Under  the  banner of delusive theories
Mercury has been used as a great solvent for  all the obstructions in
the delicate vessels of the organism.  Solve  the thickened juices;
Thin the blood !   Yes, thin the  blood, and poison it!   Impoverish
this noble fluid!   Render it useless for the  great purposes of nutri-
tion !  AVhat foul magic  has been perpetrated  by the Calomel-
worshippers of  the Schools?  If  they had  been permitted,  they
would have converted Humanity  into a bleeding  carcass full of
sores and wretchedness.  But  Gocl be  praised ;  the death-knell of
Calomel-poisoning and Calomel-poisoners has sounded;  Humanity
is beginning to  hear the great blast which has proclaimed the
advent of a new medical Era; may the God  of Truth have mercy
upon those who persecute His cause!
              LECTURE  XXXIX.

  In determining the therapeutic uses of Mercury, we  may  avail
ourselves, to some extent, of the experience of Old-School practi-
tioners; but we shall  find that, in the  matter of Mercury, the less
we follow the beaten track, and the more Ave depend upon our OAvn
light, the more closely shall  Ave adhere  to the laws of nature, and
the more blessings shall avc shed upon the paths of the sick.
  Indeed, of what possible use can it be to us to know the use that
Alercury has been put to in the treatment of inflammations, fevers,
eruptive diseases?   If there is a chaos anywhere in the Old School,
it is in the use of Alercury as a remedial agent.  One lauds it to the
skies, another condemns it as a mischievous agent.  One  sees perni- 
590
LECTURE XXXIX.
cious effects from a few grain-doses of the drug;  another  proposes
to avoid the ill-effects of Calomel by prescribing it  in doses of one
hundred  or one  hundred and fifty grains.   Empiricism, arbitrary,
reckless caprice, seem to have been the presiding geniuses  of medi-
cine in the sick-chambers where the Calomel-doctors offered up their
holocausts to the demon of Destruction.
   To the credit of humanity and  common  sense be it  mentioned,
however,  that a few of the more  considerate class of practitioners
have repudiated the murderous doses of Calomel.  Dietl, physician-
in-chief to one of the public hospitals of Vienna, and who is known
as one of  the champions of the  Expectant  Alethod, gave  Calomel
with good effect in doses  of one-eighth  of a grain in  abdominal
typhus, where other physicians had deemed it necessary to  adminis-
ter the poison in teaspoonful doses.  And even Avhere it was desired
to produce salivation, the alterative effect of Calomel most ordinarily
resorted to, some of the best  practitioners of the  Old School have
been wise enough to get  along with small  doses.  Doctor Law
divides a  grain of  Calomel into twelve powders,  giving a poAvder
every hour.  The irritating effects of Calomel  upon the gums and
salivary glands show themselves after a dozen or two of these pow-
ders have been taken.  Alessrs. Trousseau and  Pidoux pursue the
same course, dividing one grain of Calomel into tAventy-four powders,
of which a powder, containing only the twenty-fourth of a grain, is
taken every hour.   " This  method," say these  gentlemen, " has the
precious  advantage of not  being  in  any Avay disagreeable  to the
patient, of producing the mercurial infection more rapidly  than the
most abundant frictions with the Neapolitan  ointment could do, and
finally of almost  always remaining within the limits that  one desires
to reach."
   It is true that, next  door as it were to Avhere  these  accents  of
moderation and regard for the comfort of patients have been uttered,
these same patients were besmeared with the mercurial ointment by
Velpeau and Dubois, in quantities of from  a  quarter to  a  pound
and a half a day.
   Even in syphilis, a class of diseases where years of experience in
every town and village of  Christendom might have led to the estab-
lishment of some universally-recognized method of mercurial treat-
ment, the  manner of using  this drug depends in  a great  measure
upon empiricism and routine.  Some, like Dr. Carmichael of Dublin,
repudiate the use of Mercury in primary syphilis; others, and their
host is legion, drug the patient internally and externally with Aler-
cury ; some cauterize the syphilitic ulcer, others condemn  this pro-
ceeding as dangerous to the  constitution  of the patient.  Some,
again, insist upon one form of Mercury, others  give the preference
to some other mercurial preparation.   The legend of Babel enacted
on a smaller scale; confusion of tongues, antagonism.  AYhat posi-
tiAre good there  is in  the history of  Mercury we have a  right  to
appropriate to our use; let us shun the evils of the past, and, in
using this great agent, inaugurate for our sick brother a new era of
life-saving, health-giving therapeutics. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
591
  The mercurial preparations of which homoeopathic  physicians
make use in their practice, are:
  1. Mercurius vivus, or the pure native quicksilver.
  2. The Blade Oxide of Mercury, known under  the  name of Mer-
curius solubilis Halmemanni, or Mercurius oxydulatus niger.
  3. The Red Sulphiuret of Mercury,  or Cinnabaris.
  4. The Red Precipitate, or Alercurius praecipitatus ruber.
  5. The Whiite Precipitate, or the Alercurius praecipitatus albus.
  6. The Protochloride of Mercury, or Calomel.
  7. The Bichloride or deuto-chiloride  of Mercury, Corrosive Sublimate,
or Mercurius corrosivus.
  8. The Protiodide of  Mercury, or the yellow iodide of Alercury,
Mercurius jodatus flavus.
  9. The Biniodide of Mercury, or the red iodide  of Alercury, Aler-
curius jodatus ruber; and
  10.  The Bromide of Mercury, Alercurius bromatus.
  AYe also use, under certain circumstances, a mercurial ointment
composed of quicksilver and lard rubbed together into a homogene-
ous grayish mass.  The ointment may be made of the protoxide of
Alercury instead of the original metallic quicksilver.   It is generally
kept ready-made in pharmaceutical  establishments.
  The Germans have used a so-called mercurial  water, obtained by
boiling metallic Mercury in Avater, and afterwards filtering the liquid.
This  preparation has been used as an anthelmintic with  undoubted
success.   The keen-Avitted Professor of Materia Aledica in Jefferson
College  calls this  preparation a German  affair,  because, after  the
boiling,  the Mercury was found  to  have lost none  of  its  weight.
This  learned man is evidently ignorant of the fact that drugs act by
their dynamical principles, not by virtue of their material bulk, and
that these dynamical principles can be weighed  no more than  the
pestilential or marsh-intermittent fever-miasm which  nevertheless is
productive of death-dealing disease.
   The terms "blue-mass and blue-pill" refer to a mercurial prepara-
tion  obtained  by rubbing together one part  of  the protoxide of
Alercury with three parts of  honey or  the conserve  of  roses.  AYe
do not use this preparation  in  our  practice; instead of it, but for
different curative ends, we use the ordinary triturations  and attenu-
ations of Alercurius vivus and solubilis.
   I shall noAV give you the pathogenetic or, as Ave have  been in the
habit of designating it, the physiological range and the  correspond-
ing pathological uses of Alercurius vivus and Alercurius solubilis
Hahnemanni; these two preparations may be used more or less in-
discriminately, with this difference,  that the soluble Alercury is pre-
ferred in affections of a syphilitic origin, Avhereas the crude quick-
silver is used in  any other affections of a catarrhal,  rheumatic  and
scrofulous character.
   AYe may likeAvise state that the black oxide of Alercury owes its
origin to Hahnemann.   It is common quicksilver dissolved  in nitric
acid   and afterwards  precipitated  from  the solution  by caustic
ammonia.
   All the mercurial preparations should be kept in darkened bottles
provided with glass stoppers except the middle and higher attenua- 
592
LECTURE XXXIX.
tions upon which the light no longer acts injuriously.  AYe  make
triturations in the proportion of 1 : 10 or of 1 : 100, up to the third,
or better still up to  the sixth, after  which the  potentizing process
may be continued by means of alcohol in the usual manner.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Among the symptoms which Hahnemann has obtained in proving
this drug vertigo occupies a prominent rank.  Mercury is therefore
homoeopathic to
   Vertigo ; but upon examination we shall find that this vertigo is
symptomatic of bilious derangement; it does not  arise from any
primary irritation of the cerebral nerves.  We  shall therefore find
it accompanied  by such symptoms of bilious derangement as gen-
erally  characterize this condition:  sallow complexion, dryness of
the mouth, coated tongue, chilly creepings folloAved  by flashes of
heat, want  of appetite, flow of water  from the mouth, etc.
  Headcele, to  which Mercury is homoeopathic, is principally of a
catarrhal, rheumatic  and bilious order.  Alercury causes a number
of symptoms Avhich maybe said to constitute a group resembling
  Catarrhal Headache, such as: tight  feeling in the head as if some-
thing were tied round the  head very firmly.  Pressing in the region
of the temporal bones, from within outwards. Headache close under
the skull, as if the head were too heavy and tight.  These and other
catarrhal symptoms are accompanied by signs of  mucous irritation
in the nose, eyes, such  as: sneezing, discharge  of water from  the
nose, lachrymation, a feeling of chilliness.
  A Rheumatic Headache is distinguished by similar symptoms as a
common catarrhal headache, in addition  to which the rheumatic
symptoms are more  marked, among  which Ave  distinguish such as
these:  tearing pains  in the bones of the skull and in the scalp, the
parts feeling  moreover bruised ; boring and stitching pains in the
forehead, digging pains in the anterior parts of the head.
  Rheumatic headaches are likewise  accompanied  by general chilli-
ness, cold hands and  heat of the cheeks; one of the provers of Aler-
cury has recorded such a combination of symptoms.
  Lachrymation is likeAvise present in catarrhal and rheumatic head-
aches, as may be seen from this symptom: " contractive headache,
the  head feels as if in a vice, at times the fore part,  at others the back
part of the  head; with discharge of water from the eyes."
  By a rheumatic headache Ave may sometimes understand
  Rheumatism of the  Scalp, with shivering over the scalp, a sensation
as if the scalp were  draAvn  tightly over  the skull, soreness  of the
scalp, sensation as if the hair were standing on end.  This group of
symptoms sometimes requires Aconite, especially if the chill is very
marked, and fever, with a hard, jerking, hurried, but not full pulse,
follows after the chill.  Mercurius will be found indicated, if the
pulse is quicker than usual, but not very resisting, the patient looks
sallow and  wants to be near the fire.

  Mercury causes a train of symptoms which distinctly point to 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
593
   Bilious and Bilious Congestive Headache.  We  distinguish such
symptoms as these: " The head feels full, as if it should be dashed to
pieces.   Burning pain in the whole head.  Headache as if the head
were encircled by a tight band.   Sensitiveness of the head to noise,
even to loud talking."
   These symptoms characterize bilious congestive  headache.  In its
worst form,  this headache may be characterized by a pain as if the
brain were on fire, with excessive sensitiveness to noise and light.
During the  height of the  paroxysm, the face may look red and the
eyes congested, with  excessive thirst, and vomiting of  bile.   In the
slighter forms  of bilious headache, to which Mercurius is homoeo-
pathic, the patient may feel a violent aching pain in the whole head,
with a feeling as if  the brain were sore; this pain is accompanied by
a copious flow of water from the  mouth, nausea, vomiting of green
and yellow  bile, sallow complexion.   Mercury, from the third to the
sixth potency, may be given, though a lower trituration may some-
times be more adapted to the case.   In these headaches, the boAvels,
as a general rule, are constipated, though bilious diarrhoea may like-
wise be present.
   There is one form  of headache to which  Mercury  is eminently
adapted  as a specific homoeopathic agent; it is
   Syphiilitic Nocturnal Headache, with nocturnal paroxysms,  which
often increase to a  frightful degree  of intensity;  hard, maddening
bone-pains,  as if the bones of the skull should be  dashed  to pieces;
the  patient  is driven about  the room by the violence  of the pain.
Mercurius solubilis, first or second trituration, or even higher in some
cases, may be the best remedy for it, but some other mercurial pre-
paration may have to be employed in some cases.
   We may  perhaps  derive  some advantage from  the  use of Mer-
cury in

   Hydrocephialus, dropsy of the brain.  In a case of chronic mercu-
rial  poisoning,  reported in  the  third  volume  of "Kopp's  Denk-
wiirdigkeiten," (Memorabilia), and which  terminated  fatally, a post-
mortem examination revealed effusion into the ventricles, with soft-
ening of the cerebral substance.
   The mercurial cachexia, to which  this patient fell a victim,  had
been gradually induced by exposure to the fumes of mercury, while
gilding silver.   The symptoms are so remarkable that I will briefly
narrate them.
   The first  effect of the mercurial fumes was trembling of the hands
and feet, so that the  patient, a corpulent man of fifty-five years, with
a delicate skin, was  unable to write.  This was in the year 1823.
In the Avinter of 1824, he complained of pains in the extremities and
abdominal muscles, rose with  a headache every morning, was low-
spirited, looked pale and  lost his appetite.  He was attacked Avith
fever, sweats and a loose cough, which finally was accompanied by
such  acute pain in the chest that leeches were applied in order to
relieve it.  The leech-bites  bled  for upwards of twenty-four hours,
and the blood seemed very thin.  I may here remark, that it is  one
of the common effects of Alercury  to thin and impoverish the blood.
                              38 
594
LECTURE XXXIX.
In spite of treatment, the decay of the bodily and mental powers
went on increasingly, he lost his memory, occasionally his mind
seemed to wander, the pulse  became full, tremulous,  frequent; he
evinced a constant disposition to lie down, inclined to sopor, coma;
muttering delirium set in, the  breath and whole  body smelled foul,
the fasces passed  off involuntarily, and he  finally  died Avith symp-
toms of apoplexy, one side and the tongue being paralyzed.
  Both hemispheres of the brain, especially on the left side, poste-
riorly,  were found infiltrated with blood and streaks  of coagulated
lymph, as are seen in blood drawn in sub-acute diseases.  This soft-
ening of the cerebral substance extended as far as the tentorium and
even beyond it.  In  the left ventricle, a considerable quantity of
water was found.
  This case of poisoning is instructive to us, not only  as an illustra-
tion of the deeply penetrating effects of Mercury, but we learn from
it two important therapeutic facts: first, that- Alercury may be useful
in hydrocephalus; and secondly,  in softening of the brain, or ence-
phalomacia.
  It is doubtful  whether  Mercury will accomplish  any good in
hydrocephalus,  if the patients are endowed with a highly organized
sanguineous system, of a plethoric habit of body and a  nervous-
bilious  temperament.   Mercurius seems to be  more adapted to chil-
dren of a bilious  constitution, with spongy flesh, sensitive but yield-
ing temper, easily depressed spirits, and irritable mucous membranes,
that are liable to  derangements from the least exposure to a draught
of air, to dampness,  unfavorable changes in  the weather, etc.  In
hydrocephalus where the effusion, in the course of  an inflammatory
condition of the brain, sets in gradually, not  suddenly, and Avith  a
paroxysm  of convulsions,  but as a  consequence  of a gradually
increasing impoverishment of the sanguineous  fluid in the cerebral
vessels, Mercury may be found useful.  Nor is  it in such cases neces-
sary to go beloAV  the middle potencies.
   Encephalomacia, or softening of the brain, may possibly be favor-
ably modified  by Mercury in slow, chronic  cases, resulting from
continued exposure, constitutional tendency to cerebral congestions
in impoverished,  cachectic constitutions, venereal excesses, etc. The
cerebral degeneration is attended with imbecility, fits of wandering,
dull and staring expression of the eyes, sallow complexion, haggard
features, tremulous, feeble, hurried pulse, desire  to lie down, sopor.

                     NERVOUS  GROUP.

   We have seen  that Mercury is capable of causing neuralgic pains
in the  extremities ;  the pains are fine, pricking pains  apparently in
the bone; also  Avandering pains which afterwards become  seated in
the knee and other joints.
   The  neuralgic  pains to which Mercury is homoeopathic, will be
found  to be of  a rheumatic character, a species of
   Neuralgic Rheumatism or Rheumatic Neuralgia.   In rheumatic
affections to which Mercury is homoeopathic, symptoms of inflamma- 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
595
 tion may be present, especially in the smaller joints.  They may be
 slightly swollen, inflamed, having a pale rose-colored appearance..
   The rheumatic pains to which Mercury is homoeopathic, may be
 generalized as follows:
   Bone-pains or Dolores Osteoeopi, hard-aching  pains which are felt
 in the long bones, especially in bones which  are  only covered by
 cellular tissue and integuments. These  pains are worse in the night,
 when they sometimes become so intense as to  drive the  patient to
 despair.   The feeling sometimes is as if the bones  were crushed to
 atoms.  These pains have their origin in the  syphilitic miasm, and
 may be regarded  as a symptom of  institutional syphilitic disease.
 If we have reason to suspect a complication of syphilitic and mer-
 curial poisoning,  the hydriodate of potash may  be  preferable to
 Mercury.
   Stitches  in the extremities when moving them;
   Soreness and bruising sensation in the parts;
   The limbs feel heavy ;
   Jerhcing and twiichiing in the joints;
   Tearing pains from the foot to the hip-joint;
   Sensation as if  the soles of the feet were in cold  water, and  yet a
 burning is felt in them;
   Swelling of single parts, such as the dorsa of the feet, the region
 around the ankles, heels, knee-joints, etc.  These swellings are not of
 an inflammatory character, though they may feel tender to pressure,
 occasionally with  a tearing pain, and a burning  and  ulcerative sensa-
 tion in the swollen parts.
   Among  the  rheumatic symptoms  recorded by the provers of
 Mercury, there are three which I desire to point out to your attention :
   Spasmodic  contraction of the calf of one leg,  resulting in the
 formation of knotty tumors;
   One of the calves is very much elongated ;
   Oblong furrows in the calves.
   I have met with a case where rheumatic exposure  in the  field
 developed these symptoms, for which  Alercurius was of course the
 remedy; the patient  was a colonel in the American army.

   Rheumatic  affections to Avhich Mercury is homoeopathic, are  gen-
 erally attended with a sense of coldness  or chilliness; patients like
 to be near  the fire, they feel thirsty, the mouth and  tongue feel dry,
 cold water is exceedingly palatable to  them.  The palms of the
 hands generally feel dry and warmer than usual.

   In the hands of Old-School physicians,  Alercury has always served
 the purpose of an  alterative agent, particularly in rheumatic and
 erysipelatous affections.  By alteratives Old-School pathologists under-
 stand drugs which, by their peculiar medicinal  action upon certain
tissues or organs, are supposed to alter the character of a pathological
process going  on in the same or some other remote  tissue or organ.
It is more particularly in public hospitals, and especially in military
hospitals, that experiments are  instituted regarding the efficacy of
certain  modes of  treatment,  such as the Calomel,  Opium,  Tartar 
596
LECTURE XXXIX.
emetic and blood-letting  treatment of pneumonia, rheumatism, and
other inflammatory diseases.  Frank gives us a synopsis of  the
treatment of acute rheumatism as conducted by Dr. Faure in one of
the military hospitals of  France.  With a  view of contrasting  the
beautiful  simplicity and  efficacy of our own treatment with  the
complicated and expensive machinery of the treatment of diseases
as carried on  by the humane and philosophical Dr, Faure and  his
brethren, let me parade before you in a summary manner the  dif-
ferent divisions of the  grand army entrusted with the business of
conquering the enemy " Rheumatism."
   This army is in the first place divided into three corps: 1, General;
2, Local;  and 3, Empirical Means.
   The first corps, the General Aleans, is again marshalled  to  the  *
attack in  seven  grand divisions, viz.: 1, Venesection ;  2, Emetics;
3, Purgatives; 4, Sudorifics; 5, Diuretics;  6, Excitants and Tonics;
7, Narcotics.
   The second corps is composed  of bodies that are to operate upon
special points of attack, and perform  all sorts of flank-manoeuvres
for the purpose of harassing and  diverting the attention  of  the
enemy.  These  bodies are respectively designated  as: 1, Topical
bleedings; 2, Emollient Cataplasms;  3, Repercussiva, by which are
meant drugs  that are to  keep the enemy down, prevent him from
showing  himself;  4, Compression by means of circular bandages
and forced marching, probably in imitation of the  provost's office
who ties up refractory members  and makes them walk the plank
nolens volens; 5, Discutient Liniments (acetic and nitric ether); 6,
Sedatives, such  as Opium, Belladonna, Hyoscyamus, Camphor,  the
cyanuret of potassium in the shape of a liniment, or cataplasms ob-
tained by boiling narcotic herbs and aftenvards sprinkling them with
Opium ; 7, Excitants, such as : dry, spirituous and aromatic frictions.
Among these excitants  Dr. Faure numbers mustard-plasters,  fly-
blisters, tartar-emetic  ointment blisters, the cautery,  setons, electric
ity, acupuncture,  etc. These constitute his sharp-shooters whose
business it is to pick off some  stray symptom, a stitch, a  pain, a
lameness,  or  some other daring fellow that has got to become a
troublesome  customer.
   Lastly we  have the third grand corps-d'arme^, which acts as the
Reserve, and where we find : 1,  the Antimonials, including the  sul-
phuret of Antimony, the Kermes mineral, tartar emetic; 2, Iodine ;
3, Turpentine ;  and 4, the Mercurials, corrosive sublimate internally
and in the shape of baths, the red precipitate, cinnabar or the red
sulphuret of Mercury (which  is also used  in the shape of fumiga-
tions), the protiodicle of Alercury, etc., and mercurial frictions  ac-
cording to Bouchet's, Recamier's and Rust's plan.
   This is the vast array of forces which Dr. Faure requires in order
to subdue an enemy against whom a homoeopathic physician oper-
ates with a few doses of Aconite in one case ; in another with a little
Bryonia ;  in a third with Alercury; in a fourth with a little Iodine;
in a fifth with,  a few powders of Guajacum or Belladonna.   The
 Doctor, it is  true, fights long and  fiercely, and finally retires from
 the field covered with the  dead and dying. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
597
   You recollect that Mercury causes a trembling of the limbs.  We
may recommend Mercury for
   Tremors, if resulting from exposure and a sudden suppression of
perspiration; excessive muscular exertion, want of proper food  for
a length of time, or a constitutional dyscrasia may be the cause of
this affection.  The skin of the trembling limb feels dry, cold, the
pulse is hurried, small, soft, perhaps irregular, or tremulous.

   Paralysis is another nervous affection which may require Mercury.
It is owing to similar causes as the trembling, continued exposure to
dampness or cold, sudden retrocession of the perspiration; the limb
feels cold, the adipose tissue dwindles away, the skin is dry, shrinks
and peels off;  the parts feel dead and numb.
   Mercury also  causes  stammering, a  species of  tremor of the
tongue which we have already mentioned under the name of

   Psellismus Mercurialis, or mercurial stammering.  An affection of
this kind could probably not be reached by Mercury except  under
peculiar circumstances.  If this stammering is a symptom of rheu-
matic paralysis of the tongue, attended with ptyalism, or  if  the
stammering should have resulted from the suppression, by artificial
means, of a process of ulceration in the mouth, or of an irritation of
the salivary glands which should have been treated with Alercury,
then Mercury will undoubtedly prove an efficacious remedy for this
weakness.  As regards the dose in these different classes of nervous
affections, you may have to select from the 2d to the 30th potency.
It will hardly ever be necessary to go above the 6th.
   Syphilitic Epilepsy yields to mercurial  treatment.
   A shoemaker, thirty-six years old, of good constitution and lead-
ing a sober mode of  life,  had been subject for three years past to
epileptic fits which were supposed to  have been caused by two or
three attacks of syphilis.   He had gonorrhoea which was speedily
suppressed, and was subsequently attacked with a bubo.  Six months
thereafter he was taken with a general feeling of malaise, derange-
ment of  the digestive faculties, restless motions during sleep which
gradually increased to convulsions and real epilepsy.  At first the
paroxysms lasted a quarter of an hour and set in every four Aveeks ;
afterwards they came  on every ten days or a fortnight.  The patient
was treated in Cullerier's hospital  Avith  mercurial frictions, at the
rate of half a drachm each.  After twenty-eight frictions in the space
of sixty  days, he was  completely freed from.his affliction.   After the
second friction he had a slight paroxysm ;  after the eighth friction,
he experienced a slight chill without any convulsive motions and
without  losing  his consciousness.  For  a year subsequently, the
patient reported himself every month in the best  possible state of
health.

  Messrs. Trousseau and Pidoux relate another interesting cure of
syphilitic epilepsy with Mercury.
  " A young English diplomate had  been several times infected with
syphilis,   lie fancied himself cured when he began to  experience 
598
LECTURE XXXIX.
epileptic vertigo, followed soon after by real epileptic convulsions.
Having been treated without the least benefit by the first physicians
of Paris and London, he conceived the project of destroying him-
self.   He sought our advice.  There was not a single appearance of
syphilitic disease; but he had been treated for  syphilis at different
periods without Alercury.  This induced us to believe that the syph-
ilitic virus might possibly be the cause of the nervous  disorders
which had supervened in his case.   We therefore subjected him to
a systematic mercurial treatment, and for the last sixteen years our
patient has never been  troubled in the  least with even  a sign of
epileptic paroxysms. Last year Ave treated a Spanish gentleman who
was afflicted with syphilitic epilepsy, with equal success. The attacks
came on every day."
  In relating these cures, Trousseau and  Pidoux  observe  that they
do not wish to be understood as  holding the  doctrine that Alercury
cures  epilepsy;  they simply wish to state that  epilepsy may some-
times be OAving to exostosis of the skull, to vegetations of the dura
mater, or to some either appreciable or inappreciable lesion of the
nervous system depending upon the venereal infection, and that it
 s in  such cases that Mercury will cure  epilepsy not by its anti-
epileptic but by its anti-syphilitic virtues;  in the same way it may
cure mania and paralysis, if these affections depend upon the syphi-
litic poison.   Paraplegia, hemiplegia, amaurosis and  deafness have
been cured  by Mercury in cases where their syphilitic origin was
unmistakeable.
  In  affections of this kind the mercurial ointment may be rubbed
in along the spine, and in the region of the medulla oblongata.  But
before using the ointment, we would urge upon you the propriety of
using the mercurial preparations internally.  If mercury had been
used  previously by allceopathic attendants, and we have reason to
suppose that the case before us is the result of a compound poisoning
by  mercury and syphilis, we may use the  hydriodate of potash,
giving about tAvo grains of the salt  every day, of course suitably
dissolved and divided into  two or three doses.  If  this treatment
seems insufficient, Ave have to resort to other agents which affect the
syphilitic virus in its secondary and tertiary manifestations, and at
the same time antagonize the excessive action of Mercury; such
agents are:  Asafetida, the Muriate  of gold.   It may  be appropriate
in some cases to try the middle potencies of Alercury.

  A very remarkable effect of Mercury, and to which we have already
alluded on several occasions, is liquefaction of the blood. This altera:
tion of the blood seems connected with a general decay of the nerv-
ous functions, and we  therefore range this effect of  the  mercurial
preparations in the category of Nervous Disorders.
  The blood becomes more fluid  and is of a lighter color.  The
eyelids, face, lower extremities become oedematous, and symptoms
of a general anasarca supervene. Palpitation of the heart and short-
ness  of breath,  the  necessary consequences  of this  liquefaction of
the blood, of course supervene  more  or less according to the con- 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
599
stitutional tenacity of resistance with which the patient  may  be
endowed,
  This increased fluidity of the blood begets a tendency to so-called
passive haemorrhages.  Under the influence of Mercury old  leech-
bites will be reopened, and a haemorrhage may ensue which it may
be next to impossible to arrest.  A similar haemorrhage may take
place from the cicatrices of wounds which had long been closed.
  There  are  morbid  conditions, where this  tendency to passive
haemorrhages may be made available as an  indication for Alercury.
We may mention.

  Purpura Hemorrhiagica, where the sanguineous effusion from the
capillaries may be owing  to  precisely such a condition as Mercury
is capable of exciting.

   Chlorosis may be another condition of this kind.  In a case of
menstrual suppression, with oedema, a tendency to haemorrhage from
the lungs, stomach, nose or gums, or effusion into the cellular  tissue,
may be advantageously treated with Mercury.   Of course, in  select-
ing your drug, you will always have to consider the totality  of the
symptoms before  you, and not prescribe in accordance with a mere
pathological notion or theory.

   States of Debility generally, characterized by passive haemorrhage
from orifices or tissues, bloating, weariness of the lower extremities,
drjmess of the skin or unpleasant, sour night-sweats, especially when
resulting from  exposure to rheumatic influences in bilious climates,
may require the internal use of Mercury.
   You will have  to regard these broad outlines of the action of
Mercury, as the prominent figure in the  back-ground  of a picture
where the particular groups will have to be supplied by your own
judgment in the course of your professional career.
                  LECTURE   XL.

                 INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

  Although Alercury is exhibited in diseases of an inflammatory
character, yet it cannot be said to rank with Aconite-in the treat-
ment of acute inflammations.  The inflammatory diseases to which
Mercury is homoeopathic are seldom, if ever, characterized by that
full, bounding and rapid pulse which characterize acute inflamma-
tions requiring  Aconite or Belladonna as their specific remedy;
except perhaps in violent bilious congestive fevers or violent  cases
of congestive dysentery; these may require Mercury, and yet the
pulse  may sometimes  be full, hard,  bounding and considerably
accelerated.
  Let me recall to your attention  the fact  that the first or primary
shock of Alercury is received by the lymphatics, and is consequently 
600
LECTURE XL.
first perceived by that portion of the sensorium which presides over
the functions of the lymphatic system.  You  are aAvare that these
functions consist in eliminating and furnishing a proper supply of
lymph to the veins. Alercury depresses the poAver of the lymphatics,
and, as a necessary consequence, occasions engorgements and obstruc-
tions in the lymphatic current.  These  engorgements and obstruc-
tions finally react upon the pulse, increasing its frequency, expand-
ing its volume, rendering it  more resisting to  pressure with  the
finger, and generally imparting to it the characteristics of an erethic,
not of a synochal  pulse.   AYe say then  that Mercury cannot really
be said to be homoeopathic to inflammation, and that the  phenomena
which characterize the inflammatory process  to Avhich  Alercury is
homoeopathic, are phenomena denoting congestion, not inflammation.
  Remember then, Gentlemen, that Mercury primarily depresses the
lymphatic  system, and that the immediate consequence of this de-
pression is a corresponding sluggishness or depression of the venous
system which receives from the lymphatic system in a great measure
its power of manifesting vital phenomena.
  Necessarily, if the venous capillaries become clogged or engorged,
as we  term it, the arterial capillaries reacting  against the veins,
must become similarly affected, and a state of congestion is indirectly
brought about where  fever is present, but of  a different character
from the pure  synocha, with  full, rapid and  bounding pulse.  In
conditions  of hyperaemia, where Mercury is indicated, we shall find
the pulse fuller than in its normal  state, but not bounding; it is a
somewhat accelerated, undulating, soft and rather full pulse.  The
symptoms  Avhich  generally characterize an  attack of sanguineous
congestion, are  likewise present, viz.: a chill  corresponding in in-
tensity with the functional importance of the organ, and followed by
heat and dryness  of the skin; thirst, coated tongue, dizziness and
headache, restlessness, constipation, deep-yellow urine which has an
offensive ammoniacal smell, and at times has the odor of burnt sugar.
This last symptom is particularly  marked,  if the hepatic  system, the
liver and its appendages, are congested.
  Considering that the lymphatic system is distributed, as far as we
know,  throughout  every organ and tissue, we may readily  see that
in every part of the organism  a state of congestion may  arise which
may require Mercury as its remedy.  A congestion of this kind may
be  either acute or chironic.  Chronic congestions are pathological
conditions  which we are  in the habit of designating by particular
names, referring  more especially to some  leading  symptom.  A
chronic congestion of the head, for instance, we may designate as a
"Chironic Headache."  Chronic  congestion  of the lungs may be de-
scribed as a "Cough."  Chronic  congestion of the  bowels as "a
derangement of the bowels," constipation at one time, and diarrhoea at
another.   Chronic congestion of the liver may pass under-the name
of "Liver- Complaint.  These chronic congestions of organs and tissues
will be indicated by their specific names as distinct groups of symp-
toms under their respective categories.
  Acute  Congestions of organs may be  as numerous as there  are
organs in  the  body  which  are liable to  such a  derangement. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
601
 From the brain to the most external tissue, congestion may take
 place, and Mercury may be required for its removal.  Some of the
 more important forms of this derangement may be mentioned more
 in detail.  One feature in acute congestions to  Avhich Mercury is
 homoeopathic, should not be lost sight of; it is this: that these  con-
 gestions generally exacerbate in the evening or forepart of the night.
 They may consist of a series of paroxysms as it were, a paroxysm
 occurring once in the  twenty-four  hours, and separated from the
 succeeding paroxysm by a distinct remission of the pains and fever.
 Generally every paroxysmal exacerbation is ushered in by a slight
 chill, shiverings, chilly  creepings, which are speedily succeeded by
 fever, heat and dryness of the  skin, dryness of  the mouth, thirst,
 restlessness, and prominence of the  pains and uncomfortable sensa-
 tions that characterize  this peculiar congestion.  It seems hardly
 necessary to observe that the chill  is proportionate to the intensity
 of the congestion and  to the importance of  the congested organ.
 In congestion  of the brain,  for instance, the  chill is much more
 severe than in  congestion of the bowels.
   -The character of the congestion likewise influences the nature of
 the  chill.  The chill which marks  bilious congestion, is far more
 searching than the  chill  which  characterizes  a simple rheumatic
 congestion.
   The violence of the chill may likewise depend upon the more or
 less  complete character of the intermissions.   These intermissions
 may be so perfect as to simulate the fever and ague type, and yet
 the  pathological process before us  may be an acute congestion of
 some organ, which  may  require Mercury for its specific  remedy.
 Nice powers of discriminations may  be required in order not to  con-
 found  intermittent congestions  to which Mercury is homoeopathic,
 with paroxysms of  fever" and ague.  It is more  particularly in
 congestions of a bilious character that these misapprehensions may
 occur.
   Nevertheless, no careful observer will find it a difficult matter to
 discriminate between bilious congestions of an intermittent character
 and  paroxysms of  intermittent fever.  The  fever-chill is more
 violent, lasts much longer  and is followed by a more intense fever
 than the  chill  of simple  congestion.  Moreover, the signs  of con-
 gestion are much more localized in simple congestion than they are
 in fever and ague,  where they may be scattered through a number
 of organs, affecting the heart, lungs, brain, back, bowels, whereas in
 simple congestion the signs of this  pathological  condition are cir-
 cumscribed, and limited by the boundaries of the affected organ, be
 this organ the brain, lungs, liver, heart, bowels  or any other viscus
 or tissue.   AYe may likewise add that  in fever  and ague the inter-
 missions maybe more or less complete, whereas in acute congestions
 of organs the intermissions are still characterized by marked symp-
toms of derangement, such as loss  of appetite, prostration, feeble
and  somewhat  accelerated pulse, and abnormal  sensations  in  the
congested organ; in the brain for instance: a feeling of heaviness,
constriction, dizziness;  in the lungs: oppression, irritation, tight-
ness, desire to  cough with occasional  paroxysms of a hacking or 
602
LECTURE XL.
spasmodic cough; in the liver: a  feeling of fullness, weight, heat
and aching pain ; in the bowels: a  sensation of soreness, fullness,
heaviness, and dragging and bearing-doAvn sensation, Avith consti-
pation, or a feeling as if diarahoea should set in; in the  muscular
tissue : a feeling of heaviness, lameness, and  a sensation  as if the
parts had been bruised.  There cannot, therefore, be any  difficulty,
to an accurate  observer, in distinguishing the  acute congestions,
with regular intermissions between the paroxysms, from intermittent
fever.
  Let me remind you of the fact that Aconite is eminently homoeo-
pathic  to acute  congestions of organs and tissues  generally,  and
Belladonna to congestions of the brain, womb, lungs, heart, larger
bowels and perhaps other organs.   As far as  my experience bears
me out, I am inclined to assert that  the intermissions in acute con-
gestions to Avhich Aconite or Belladonna is homoeopathic,  are never
as perfect as  they are in the case of mercurial congestions ; in the
case of Aconite and Belladonna, the intermissions are simple remis-
sions of the paroxysmal exacerbations of the symptoms.
  I have spoken of rheumatic and  bilious congestions.  Alercury
may apply to either class, although the symptoms which characterize
them, are not the same.
  In Rheumatic Congestions of the bowels for instance, the bowels
may feel sore and as if bruised, full sometimes even as if full of little
pebbles: the least jar is painful to the muscular integuments, and
motion causes a  dragging, heavy feeling in  the bowels.   In bilious
congestion, these  feelings  may exist, but perhaps more intensely; the
bowels  may  feel as if ulcerated,  with uncomfortable heat  in the
bowels, Avith stitches,  pinching pains,  sensation  as if  the bowels
were hanging together  loosely, a sort of cathartic feeling; bilious
diarrhoea may be present.
  In Rheumatic Congestion of the liver, the patient may complain of
heaviness and fullness, hard, aching and tearing pains in the  region
of the liver;  in  bilious congestion, the liver feels very sore, hot, with
stitches darting through the organs; the accompanying gastric
symptoms are likewise more marked,  the  tongue  is more thickly
lined Avith a yellow and grayish coating, the taste is  foul,  the appe-
tite entirely suppressed.
  In Rheumatic Congestion of the  lungs, the patient complains of
oppression and a feeling of constriction across the chest; aching and
tearing pains, soreness, especially when coughing; the cough comes
in paroxysms, Avhich are generally excited by an intolerable tickling
in the air-passages  or by a desire  to remove  obstructions from the
lungs, mucus  or feather dust that  seems to fill the  bronchia in the
interior of the pulmonary parenchyma.  In bilious congestion of the
lungs, the pains  are more acute; the  oppression and anxiety more
violent;  the cough is more spasmodic ; the bilious symptoms are
more prominent; stitches flying through the lungs; the patient may
complain of a burning distress; he looks jaundiced,  the tongue
shows a thick, bilious coating.
  Finally, in Rheumatic Congestion of the brain, the pains may consist
of a  feeling of constriction in the head, a sensation of pressure on the 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
603
brain, aching pains in a portion  or in the whole of the brain.  In
bilious congestion the brain feels constricted, and a burning distress
may characterize this derangement, with intense aching and throb-
bing pains, and extreme sensitiveness to noise.
  In a case of bilious congestion of the cerebellum, a very beautiful
cure was achieved by means of the middle potencies of Mercurius.
Deep in  the  cerebellum  the patient was attacked with a pain as if
that portion  of  the  brain were spasmodically constricted.  The
paroxysm set in about nine o'clock in the evening and  lasted until
towards morning.  It was ushered in by a severe chill so that the
patient, although the thermometer was up to ninety degrees, had to
have a fire made.  The pain was so  agonizing that it almost made
him frantic, causing  him to howl and rave, and pull his hair out.
The pillow felt hard  as a stone. The chill lasted from fifteen to
twenty minutes, when the fever set in.  The accompanying constitu-
tional symptoms were those usually characterizing  severe bilious
derangements, such as: sallow complexion, dull and jaundiced eyes;
foul coating on the tongue; complete loss of appetite, dry skin, ex-
treme debility, emaciation and complete torpor of the bowels.  The
case was a desperate one, and several physicians were in attendance
on the patient who, at one time, was reported dead.   He was treated
exclusively with Mercurius vivus, 12th to 18th potency, and was
fully restored within about a fortnight.
  In these acute congestions, we may sometimes find  it  necessary to
use the lower preparations of Mercury, but in most cases we shall
be able to get along with from the 6th to the 12th.
  Beside these congestions of some of the principal organs; Mercury
is in homoeopathic rapport with  a number of inflammatory conges-
tions of special parts which will  be  mentioned in  their respective
categories.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.
  Among the poisonous  symptoms  of Mercurius,  conjunctivitis
occupies  a prominent rank.  Hence in
  Catarrhal Conjunctivitis, we shall find  Mercury a  capital remedy,
The symptoms of this natural disease are as nearly as possible those
which characterize the mercurial affection: injected appearance or
suffused  redness  of the conjunctiva; smarting and burning in the
canthi, with secretion of  eye-gum and agglutination of the lids in
the morning;  sensation as if sand had got between the  lids, or as if
some sharp body were wounding and irritating the eyeball; the lids
may be swollen; a flood of tears may sometimes gush from the eye.
The pulse is slightly irritated, though soft, about 85 or 90.
  This catarrhal irritation of the conjunctiva may become a chronic
affection  in consequence of mismanagement or neglect; or it may
assume a chronic form at the outset^and constitute what we term
  Sore Eyes, where Mercury may be  an  indispensable remedy, sup-
ported, perhaps, by Sulphur, Iodine, Arsenic or  Phiosphorus,  all of
which belong to the class of antipsorics.
  You will not forget that the mercurial preparations are eminently
adapted to 
604
LECTURE XL.
  Syphilitic Ophithialmia, especially the soluble black oxide.   This is
a most destructive inflammation, where the  membranes and humors
of the eye are very speedily disorganized by ulceration and purulent
degeneration, unless the poison is soon neutralized.
  We have seen that Alercury is capable of producing inflammation
of the iris  and retina;  this is denied by Pereira, though strongly
insisted upon by some of the most experienced oculists in Europe.
We therefore suggest the use of Mercury in

  Iritis  and Retinitis, more'  especially of  the mercurial  salts, the
corrosive sublimate or Calomel.  In these affections, the mercurial
salts have ahvays been used by alloeopathic practitioners in alternate
doses, upon the principle that salivation was necessary in order to
carry off the morbid humors or counteract the existing  inflamma-
tion by a counter-stimulant irritation of the gums and lining mem-
brane of the mouth.   If Mercury is specifically adapted to these
inflammations, it will cure them without resorting to this  round-
about method of treatment.
  Iritis  and Retinitis may result from the  secondary action of the
syphilitic virus; in all such cases, Mercurius solubilis, or one of the
mercurial salts or iodides will be found indispensable.
  We have a number of symptoms  among our provings showing
that Mercury affects the visual power of the eye.  Some of these
symptoms are:
  Musce volitantes;
  Complete vanishing of sight every half hour for five minutes;
  Mistiness of sight;
  Sensation as of a blade of grass being suspended before both eyes;
  Sensitiveness of the eyes to the glare of the fire.
  These symptoms show that Mercury may be useful in

  Amaurotic Conditions,  or in
  Amblyopia, where the mercurial oxides and salts are particularly
useful.   If these  affections  flow from a  scrofulous or syphilitic
source, these preparations may be so much more indicated.  There
are several cases of cure of amaurosis reported in our books, espe-
cially cases where  the patient's vision is disturbed by black points
hovering before his eyes.   In

  Scrofulous Ophithalmia, with granular enlargements of the  Meibo-
mian glands, ulceration of the lids, profuse lachrymation and intense
photophobia, Calomel or the corrosive sublimate may be eminently
useful.  It  is sometimes possible to facilitate the curative action of
the internal use of the remedy by applying a very thin layer of the
mercurial ointment to the  lids, or using instead of the ointment a
mild wash of corrosive sublimate, of which a grain may be dissolved
in two ounces of water.  This solution may be applied several times
a day with a very  soft camel's hair pencil.
  On this occasion I need not remind you of the fact that the Mer-
curial preparations are no panacea  for scrofulous  ophthalmia, for
which we have already recommended Aconite, Belladonna, Arseni-
cum, and other drugs. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
605
  In  Granular Ophthalmia we shall  often obtain good effects from
Mercury.   In the acute form, Aconite and Belladonna should not
be forgotten.  In the chronic form the red precipitate has effected a
beautiful cure in the case of Dr. Eiselt, an Austrian physician who
has given  us a splendid, though short proving of this agent.  He
took in all  thirty-four grains, and  one of the results of his experi-
ments which will be communicated to you when we come to speak
of this article, was the complete disappearance of a  chronic inflam-
mation and swelling of the Meibomian glands.
  We likewise may recommend Mercury for

  Blephiarospasmus, spasm of the eyelids.   Among the eye-symptoms
of Mercury we find several symptoms like the following:
  "Involuntary, spasmodic closing of the lids; or forcible closing
of the lids, as from want of sleep."
  A spasm of this kind may be the result of catarrhal exposure, a
sort of vicarious substitute for inflammation.

                    AURICULAR GROUP.

  The effects of Mercury upon the organ of hearing, and  more par-
ticularly upon the internal  ear, are exceedingly remarkable.  We
may consider them under  four distinct  heads, a. inflammation; b.
pains ; c. discharges, and d. abnormal noises.
  Under the head of inflammation, we may range such symptoms
as these :
   " The  left ear  is painful as if  inflamed; the meatus is likewise
painful as  if inflamed."
   " Internally both ears feel sore  and as if excoriated, the right ear
being worse."
   " Stitches in the inner ear, when stooping."
   Hence we may recommend Mercury in
   Otitis, inflammation of the ear, where  Mercury is not  only indi-
cated  by the particular pains, but likewise by the accompanying
discharges, such as: discharge of pus from the ear, or discharge of
pus and blood;  and by  the abnormal noises  which the patient
fancies he hears, such as: buzzing,  fluttering and  so forth.   You
Avill  find  all  these symptoms recorded among the provings of
Mercury.

   In Otitis,  to which Alercury is homoeopathic,  the petrous and
mastoid portions of the temporal bone, and  even the  maxilla may
be involved in the inflammatory process.  The bones seem swollen,
and the boring and tearing pains  characterizing this  inflammation
are most agonizing, especially at  night, when the mercurial pains
are generally worse.  In a case of otitis, Avhere the patient was a
scrofulous girl of fourteen, and where the inflammation had been
going on for a week, with pale rose-colored appearance of the inner
ear, sense  of fullness  in the ear, discharge  of fetid yelloAvish pus,
swelling of  the  mastoid process  and the ascending  ramus of the
inferior maxilla,  agonizing aching and sore pains in the  inner ear, 
606
LECTURE XL.
 aggravation of the pains at night, more particularly when resting the
 head upon a feather-pillow, buzzing and blowing noises in the ear:
 a cure of this distressing affection was effected by means of a single
 dose of the 16th potency of Mercury which the patient took in the
 evening.
    Otalgia or Earache, more particularly when resulting from rheu-
 matic exposure, with tearing pain in the ear, sensation  as if the ear
 should be pulled out, discharge of fetid Avater or pus from the ear,
 nocturnal aggravation  of the symptoms, may require Mercury.
    A congestion of  the  lining  membrane of the inner ear such
 as Alercury may occasion, may cause

    Partial Deafness or Dysecoia, with a good deal of noise in the ears,
 buzzing and whizzing.   Exposure  to keen wind or intense cold is
 most frequently the cause of this  affection.   Mercury  may be its
 specific remedy.  Even  in  chronic cases, Mercury may be of use,
 and  even necessary.  In all such cases, the mercurial oxides or salts
 are indispensable if syphilitic complications exist.
    In Casper's Journal,  a  case of  deafness originating  in syphilis, is
 reported,  where the red precipitate effected  a perfect  cure.  A
 woman of thirty-eight  years was suffering with syphilitic ulceration
 of the fauces, and ozaena.  She was treated with corrosive sublimate,
 and  was  apparently cured.  Six months after  this period she was
 attacked with  deafness  which grew  upon  her,  and after having
 lasted some six months, became complicated with  buzzing  and
 pains in the ears.   An  examination  did not  sIioav any abnormal
 changes in the  external  or internal parts of the ears.  The  ulcers
 and  the ozaena had not reappeared; but on the lower  lid of the left
 eye  a small pustule had shown itself, which Avas covered with jx
 scurf beneath which the  secretion of pus was continually going on.
 This pustule Avas apparently of a syphilitic character.  She was put
 upon the use of Mercurius  ruber in doses of one-fourth of a grain
 morning and night.  After having taken four grains of the drug,
 the  gums became  affected and a large,  superficial ulcer developed
 itself on the palate.  The  drug was  discontinued for  a few days,
 when it was resumed without causing any further unpleasant effects.
 In three weeks the ulcer  was.healed, the pustule had  dried up, and
 the hearing was completely restored.
   There was no necessity of prescribing the red precipitate in this
 case  in such large doses; one-tenth of a grain at a  dose would have
| proved sufficient.  It may not be out of place  on  this  occasion to
J state thatv the red precipitate is admirably adapted  to the treatment
| of syphilitic blotches, scurfy pimples, torpid chancres.   In a case of
■ recent syphilitic infection, where some half a dozen  blotches and
 incipient chanores with callous edges and surrounded by hard, in-
 flamed  borders, had  broken out  on the lips of the vulva, the red
[precipitate  in doses of  one-tenth of a  grain  effected a speedy cure.
 In this case  the medicine produced a number of the  characteristic
 mercurial symptoms, copious ptyalism, severe gastric derangements,
 tormina, fever.  The prescription was  ordered by myself, and I am
 confident that a perfect cure might have been  effected  with much 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
607
smaller doses, say one-hundredth or one ten-thousandth of a grain,.
without inflicting any artificial suffering upon the patient.

                       NASAL  GROUP.

  Among the provings we  find a number of symptoms denoting
inflammation.  One symptom, for instance, reads as follows:
  " The whole of the nose, especially the left  side, is swollen, red,
shining, attended with itching, especially on the inside of the alas."
  Another symptom reads:
  " The tip of the nose is SAvollen, red, itching."
  Another symptom reads as follows :
  " Swelling and cracking of the septum."
  Again we read:
  " Swelling of  the  left wing of the nose, as  during an attack of
violent catarrh."
  We also have:
  "Nose-bleed at different periods, and of various degrees of in-
tensity."
  And lastly:
  " Scurfs in the nose, with nose-bleed."
  All these  symptoms are  eminently characteristic of catarrhal
inflammatory affections of the nose.   In
  Swelling and  Inflammation of  the Nose,  with congestion of  the
Schneiderian membrane terminating in suppuration and ulceration ;
inflammation and ulceration of the septum, formation of scurfs and
crusts in the nostrils, bleeding from the nose, discharge of foul-smell-
ing, yellowish pus, we shall find  Mercury a most valuable remedy,
if an  affection of this kind has a catarrhal origin.
  Even if an acute attack of this kind is grafted upon a scrofulous
condition of the  organism, we may  find Mercury  indispensable,
although it  may be  necessary, under such circumstances, to inter-
pose a few doses of Sulphur.
  Let us not forget that Mercury may be useful and indeed indis-
pensable in certain forms of

  Ozena, especially in scrofulous subjects.  In
  Syphiilitic Ozena, with discharge of bloody, fetid ichor and destruc-
tion of the septum and turbinated bones, Mercury is indispensable.

                      BUCCAL  GROUP.

  The poisonous action of Mercury upon the  lymphatics of  the
mouth has been described in previous lectures.  AYe have shown
you that this action results in SAvelling and inflammatory softening
of the gums, suppuration and ulceration of the lining membrane of
the cheeks, ptyalism,  swelling, congestion, and  ulceration of  the
salivary  glands.   In view of these marked symptoms of mercurial
action, we may recommend Mercury for the different forms of

  Stomatitis or Stomacace, or inflammation of the mucous membrane
of the mouth.  We find Mercury indicated  in 
608
LECTURE XL.
  Aphthae of children, also termed  thirush, an inflammation charac-
terized by exudations having the appearance of curd and coalescing
into  irregular patches which, in severe cases, may give the whole
mouth the  appearance as if it were lined Avith flour.  Alercury is
particularly adapted to this affection, if it works its way  down the
oesophagus, involving the stomach  and bowels, and  giving  rise to
serious derangements of the digestive system, such as colicky pains
and diarrhoea.
  In Pseudo-membranous Stomatitis, or the diphtheritic inflammation
of Bretonneau, where the inflammatory process is  of a more  malig-
nant nature, often terminating in gangrene, Mercury may be found
an admirable curative agent.  In large hospitals where a number of
children are crowded together:  in foundling hospitals, for instance,
this form  of stomacace often proves a  terrible scourge.  Of one
hundred and ninety-three cases observed by Dr. Valleix, one hundred
and fifty-three terminated fatally.   This would not be the case, if the
disease were treated with specific remedies, in homoeopathic rapport
with the nature of this pathological process.  A simple comparison
of the symptoms of mercurial stomatitis with the pathognomonic
signs of this disease shows that Mercury must be specifically adapted
to it as a curative agent.  In  this disease the mouth feels hot, the
breath becomes fetid, and copious streams of an ichorous saliva flow
from the mouth; the flushed and swollen face and the swelling and
painfulness of the  submaxillary glands all point to Mercury  as the
material type or representative of this most distressing affection.
  Another form of stomatitis is described by authors as
  Follicular Stomatitis, where the disease commences with the start-
ing up of a vesicular rash which gradually  terminates in the  forma-
tion of innumerable little ulcers with slightly tumefied and inflamed
edges and secreting a whitish lymph.  The ulcers  cause a good deal
of stinging pain.
  This affection may become  very troublesome to  nursing females,
and is often designated as
   Nursing Sore Mouthi.   The severer grades of this disease may be
accompanied with frontal headache, acute pains in the stomach and
boAvels, diarrhoea, typanitic distention of the abdomen and gradual
supervention of typhoid symptoms.
  In this affection Alercury may not do  much, if  any, good,  unless
the appearance of the gums, and the flow of  fetid, ichorous  saliva
are present.   If these symptoms are either absent, or at least not
prominently present, and the  mouth looks  generally inflamed, of a
deep-red color, studded with whitish, ulcerous exudations, the patient
complaining of excessive heat, dryness and soreness : we have found
one or two  drops of the tincture of the root of  Aconite in about
twelve tablespoonfuls of water, to be given in tablespoonful doses at
suitable intervals, an excellent remedy for this distressing trouble.
  We have finally a form of stomacace well-known as
  Cancrum Oris or Gangrenous Inflammation of the  mouth.   This
sometimes  terrific affection may resemble mercurial ptyalism and
sloughing so closely that  it is frequently mistaken  for the latter con-
dition.  The sloughing may commence on  the inner cheeks, whence 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
609
 it may spread with astonishing  rapidity, sometimes involving in the
 course of a few days the cheeks, lips, nose, tongue, palate and ton-
 sils ;  or the disorganization may proceed from the periosteum of the
 alveolar processes when it is first seen at the edges of the gums
 opposite the lower incisors.   Here the gums present all the  appear-
 ances of mercurial poisoning;  they become ulcerated, the  teeth fall
 out, the inside of the cheeks, the lips  and tongue are invaded by the
 sloughing  process;  fetid ptyalism is present,  and the  gangrenous
 disorganization even shows traces of its existence on the outside of
 the cheeks  in the shape of gangrenous blisters  which break and
 discharge a dark-colored fluid, followed by the formation of sloughs.
   Here we have a condition of things to which Mercury is  so emi-
 nently adapted  on  account of  the  homoeopathicity of mercurial
 action to the gangrenous process that even Dr. Duncan, physician to
 Dun's Hospital in Dublin, has to admit the great curative virtues of
 Mercury.  In one of his articles on the subject, the Doctor attempts
 to shoAV that Mercury may be advantageously used in this affection,
 which is so exceedingly analogous to mercurial sloughing.  Nothing
 is more corroborative of the appropriateness of Alercury in cancrum
 oris,  according to the  Doctor's  experience,  than the fact that the
 sloughing, so far  from  getting worse under  the  use  of  Mercury, is
 actually controlled by this agent.  " If Mercury," argues the  Doctor,
 "were inimical to  this disease, the sloughing ought to be  made worse
 even by the smallest dose of this drug unless we choose to account
 for such an aggravation by the same arguments that the adherents of
 similia similibus resort to."
   The doctor is no homoeopath  and he has evidently read something
 about homoeopathic aggravations.  However, he has remained igno-
 rant of the fact that these  old-fashioned aggravations, so  far from
 being essential characteristics  of the  successful working of homoeo-
 pathic remedial agents,  are, on  the  contrary,  adventitious circum-
 stances frequently holding no sort of logical relation to the homoeo-
 pathic therapeutic process.

   In Syphilitic Stomatitis, the therapeutic uses of Mercury  should
 not be forgotten.   In this affection the ulcerative process generally
 proceeds from behind forwards, involving first the tonsils, the isthmus
 and edges of the  tongue.  YYe know that even the cartilages of the
 larynx may be destroyed by it.   According  to Ricord, this circum-
 stance distinguishes syphilitic from mercurial stomatitis, with Avhich
 it might otherwise be confounded.  In  mercurial stomatitis the ulcera-
 tion spreads from  the gums backwards.  In  the syphilitic form the
 fetor which is characteristic of mercurial sloughing, is wanting.  If,
 in a case of syphilis, the mouth was perfectly sound previously to the
 Mercury being  administered; and if,  after  the  use of the  Alercury,
 the gums become irritated, spongy, bleeding, and the breath acquires a
fetid, metallic odor, we may look upon these symptoms as diagnostic
signs of mercurial  poisoning.
  Aloreover the  mercurial ulcerative process spreads  rapidly;  it
constitutes  a symptom of acute hydrargyria or mercurial poisoning-;
syphilitic ulcerations of the mouth are  essentially chronic in their
                               39 
610                      LECTURE  XL.
character, involving the destruction of the palatine bones and nasal
cartilages, whereas Alercury destroys the alveolar processes and very
frequently even the maxillae.
  In cases of stomatitis where the  mercurial  and syphilitic poisons
together  maintain the disorganizing  process,  we may have  to  re-
sort  to the  hydriodate oX^iot^sh^the,muriate of gold _or to some
agent that shall antidote the combined forces~^ftlieenemy.   Under
homoeopathic treatment, these monstrous developments need never
occur.
  In  simple salivation, Alercury may, prove a remedial agent.  We
may use  it in
  Catarrhial or Rheumatic Ptyalism, induced  by exposure to  damp-
ness, a draught of air, and similar circumstances.  Even allceopathic
physicians may have  to use their  favorite calomel in this affection,
as may be seen from the folloAving  case reported in Hufeland's Jour-
nal:  "A  prisoner in the penitentiary, about thirty  years  old, lost
every day a considerable quantity of watery saliva.   The  parts in
the neighborhood of the submaxillary glands were tumefied, but not
painful.  He had a very  cachectic appearance.  This trouble was
caused by his sleeping close to a damp wall.   All the means used in
his case  remained fruitless; a few small doses of Calomel restored
him speedily and permanently. Mercury Avas the homoeopathic remedy
in the case.

  Alercury affects the tongue in a very remarkable  manner.  The
symptoms of ulceration and  sloughing Avhich Ave have already  al-
luded to Avhen  describing  the  poisonous effects of  Mercury, have
been developed more analytically as it were, by systematic proA'ings.
Among these provings Ave find such records as these:
  " The tongue is very much swollen;"
  " Stinging pains in the longitudinal depression or furrow of the
tongue;"
  " Burning pain  in the tongue, and as if it were cracked;"
  " The  edges of the tongue  are soft, indented by the teeth, ulcer-
ated;"
  " The anterior half  of the tongue  is so hard that when striking
against it with the knuckle, a sound is  heard as when striking against
wood."
  In Swelling and Ulceration of the tongue, especially when owing to
catarrhal causes, with ptyalism, we  shall find Mercury useful.
  Swelling and Induration  of the Tongue may yield to Mercury. The
tongue may exhibit a number  of  such hardened little tumors.  A
case  is reported in the Edinburgh Medical Journal,  where swelling
and indurated tubercles in the substance of the tongue, one of which
Avas of considerable size, were completely cured with  mercury. The
patient, a lady of  forty-seven years, complained of lancinating pains
in their indurations.   The whole surface of the tongue Avas cracked.
Occasionally some  of the  tubercles became  ulcerated.  The drug
was of course given in salivating doses.  The affection might un-
doubtedly have been removed without the gratuitous infliction of
ptyalism. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
611
   In Glossitis or inflammation of the tongue, with high fever and
full, rapid and bounding pulse, we should of course  give Aconite;
but in glossitis Avhere the tongue is simply swollen, sore, with burn-
ing pain, and slight symptoms of fever, the pulse being simply some-
what accelerated and fuller than usual, but soft, Alercury will be
found an adequate remedy.  A condition of this  kind may some-
times be induced by wounding the tongue.
   A chronic SAvelling of the tongue is often described in the books
under the names of

   Glossoncus or Exoncosis, from the Greek  " Glossa" (tongue), and
" onhcos" (a tumor or swelling). In alloeopathic practice this affection
is treated by compression and  the application of astringents and
narcotics.  The mercurial preparations  are  specifically curative in
such cases.

   In Ranula, from the Latin " rana," a  frog, so called from its re-
semblance to the shape of a frog, Mercury has been used with good
effect.  Ranula is a small, fluctuating, semi-transparent tumor under
the tongue, arising from the  accumulation of saliva in AVharton's
duct, the  excretory duct of the submaxillary gland.  Of course,
Mercury is only applicable in cases where the swelling is primarily
owing to a dynamic  affection, a  depression or deficient irritability
of the lymphatic capillaries ; if resulting from mechanical  obstruc-
tion of the duct, surgical treatment will  have to be instituted.

                       DENTAL  GROUP.

   We know that Alercury affects the  gums  and  teeth.  The gums
become spongy, inflamed, bleed readily ;  hence in
   Scurvy of the gums we may recommend Mercury as a good remedy.
What we  have  said of the different  forms of Stomacace applies
equally to  Scurvy, which is in reality another name for a certain
form of this disorganizing process.
   YYe find Mercury indicated in rheumatic and scrofulous affections
of the teeth, more particularly in
   Odontalgia, when the  teeth are or feel  loose, elongated, sore as if
ulcerated;  the pains are throbbing, stitching and jerking, sometimes
felt in the teeth and  at other times in their roots.   These pains are
AArorse at night.  The gums are swollen, sensitive and bleed readily.
Gumboils may form.  The pain is sometimes as if the  roots of the
teeth were  ulcerated. There may be  ptyalism, rheumatic tearing,
lancing pains in the jaws.
   On reading the provings of Alercury, you will find these symp-
toms recorded among the list.
   AYe may likeAvise have to use Mercury in
  Rheumatic Paralysis of the jaws, with excessive pain in the affected
parts when trying to use them.   The symptoms Avhich lead us to the
use of Alercury in this affection, are:
   " Almost complete immobility of the jaws; he  is hardly able to
open them without violent pain." 
612
LECTURE XL.
   We may as well here allude to the symptom:
   " Cracks, rhiagades in the corners of the mouth."   An affection of
this  kind, if it becomes habitual, is very troublesome.   AYe meet
with it among scrofulous children;  a cold may cause these rhagades
to break out.  They are sometimes very painful, bleed a good deal,
and give rise to ulcerations.  Alercury will be found, among other
drugs, eminently adapted to such an affection.

                   PHARYNGEAL  GROUP.

   In affections of the fauces, Mercury serves us many a good pur-
pose.   It is principally in  inflammatory affections  of the different
parts of the throat that Alercury finds a splendid range for its vast
therapeutic  powers.   Let me first  give you some of the  leading
symptoms of Mercury as recorded among  our provings, and after-
wards  interpret them with reference to their corresponding patholo-
gical conditions.
   Pain in the throat as if the core of an apple or some such sharp
body were sticking there, exciting a desire to swallow, as if it had
to be swallowed down.  This symptom  is eminently characteristic
of certain forms of angina faucium;
   Difficulty of swallowing;  he had  to press hard to get  any thing
down;
   Sensation as if hot vapor were ascending in the throat;
   The throat feels very dry; he  feels an aching  pain back  in the
throat, when swallowing; nevertheless he had  to keep  sAvalloAving
because a quantity of water was continually collecting in the mouth ;
   Stitches  in  the back part of the throat which dart even to the
ears;
   Elongation and swelling of the uvula.
   Here we have a group of symptoms corresponding very accurately
with
   Angina faucium, Inflammation of  the  thiroat, sore throat.  Angina
faucium, to  which Mercury is homoeopathic, has the difficulty  of
swallowing  in consequence of the aching pain; a sensation as if a
pointed body were sticking in the throat that one is anxious to get
rid of  by making repeated  attempts at  swallowing; excessive dry-
ness of the throat,  with flow of tenacious, ropy  saliva  from the
mouth ; the back part of the throat seems lined with a glassy mucus;
deglutition of soft food is less painful than swallowing mere saliva.
The velum and  back part of the throat look rose-colored, and por-
tions have a dingy yellowish and injected appearance; the uvula is
elongated, looks shining and of a pale-red  color.  The sensation as
if a hot vapor were arising in the  throat,  is a symptom which we
have very frequently met with in cases of angina faucium.
   In common Sore Thiroat, or chronic angina faucium, where these
symptoms occur more or less, Mercury may likewise prove beneficial.

   Mercury is eminently useful in some forms of
  Angina tonsillaris or Quinsy sore throat, with swelling and inflam-
mation of the tonsils, or of only  one tonsil; the patient may expe- 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
613
  rience stitches in the inflamed tonsils which  often dart along the
  Eustachian tube to the ear, sometimes attended Avith itching and
  creeping in the  inflamed side.  It is well known to you that an acute
  inflammation of the tonsils frequently terminates in suppuration and
  ulceration.
    The symptoms which indicate Mercury in this affection, are these:
    Ulceration of the tonsils, with acute stinging pains in the fauces
  when swalloAving;"
    " Stitching pain in the tonsils, during deglutition."

    Mercury is likewise indicated in
    Chronic (Esophagitis, where soreness and aching pain in the poste-
  rior regions of the throat below the larynx are prominent symptoms.
  In this affection Mercury is indicated by the following record:
    " Aching  pain in  the oesophagus, in the region of the  larynx,
  aggravated by eating  and causing a sensation as if the food Avere
  gliding over an excoriated  surface, with  burning pains  in that
/  region."

    Kopp, a distinguished physician, and one of the earliest friends of
  Homoeopathy, mentions in his  Memorabilia a number of cases of
  angina faucium  and tonsillaris that Avere cured in a very short period
  of time with very small doses of Mercury, where the revulsive  and
  antiphlogistic means usually resorted to by allceopathic physicians,
  would have kept the patient on the sick-list for ten, twelve and even
  more days.

    The  glands which discharge the  salivary fluid into  the  mouth,
  viz.: the parotid, submaxillary and sublingual glands, are subject to
  affections to which  Mercury is homoeopathically adapted.  They may
  become inflamed, SAvollen and indurated.  Among the provings we
  find the folloAving symptoms recorded :
    " Painful swelling of the submaxillary and parotid glands, so that
  it is impossible  to open the jaws Avithout suffering much pain;"
    " Swelling of the parotid gland, with burning-aching pain in the
  gland, passing off in the cold and returning in warmth."
    Swelling  and inflammation of these glands,  may  take place in
  consequence of exposure to a draught of air, keen wind, dampness.
    Adenitis, under which name an inflammatory swelling of glands is
  described in the books, may be attended with inflammatory fever;
  in this case Aconite may have to be prescribed first.  If Mercury is
  the homoeopathic agent, we  shall find the gland  of a  pale  rose-
  colored appearance, Avith a feeling of soreness and heat through the
  gland, and a mild form of erethic fever, the pulse being somewhat
  accelerated,  but soft and  undulating.  Ptyalism may  be present.
  The irritation may extend along the excretory duct, causing inflam-
  mation and ulceration of the  orifices of these ducts in  the  mouth.
  In neglected cases
    Chronic Indurations of the salivary glands may remain, for which
  Alercury has of course to be given.
    We may mention one form of swelling and subacute inflammation
  of the parotid gland which is commonly known by the name of 
614
LECTURE XLI.
j   Mumps, or more classically speaking Parotitis, a subacute SAvelling
J of the parotid gland which sometimes prevails as an epidemic disease
|among children and adolescent youths of both sexes.  The swelling
is of an oedematous character, sometimes involving the neck  and
\side of the face.  In many cases of mumps Ave get along without
 any treatment;  in other cases we have to give Aconite, and there
 are cases where Alercury is eminently useful.

   Regarding the dose in all acute mercurial affections of a catarrhal
 and rheumatic character, you will sometimes be enabled to effect a
 splendid cure with the middle and even higher potencies; in many
 cases, however, the lower potencies will be required.  In syphilitic
 affections we have found the lowest  potencies generally preferable.
                 LECTURE  XLI.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Mercury causes considerable alterations of the taste in the mouth.
It causes, according to  our provings, a brassy taste;  bitter and foul
taste, especially early in the morning; a saltish taste of every thing
he eats; a sweetish taste.  Alercury also causes a Avhitish coating on
the tongue, and a good  deal of slime in the mouth.
  In regard to appetite, we find that Mercury causes a loathing of
meat and a loss of appetite.  The thirst is  increased.
  These symptoms are only important in so far as they form elements
of higher groups.
  Alercury causes a peculiar kind of Pyrosis, characterized by rising
of an acrid, sweetish fluid  from the stomach  upwards; the tongue
looks coated, the breath may be more or less affected, the appetite is
impaired, there is no proper craving for food; the sweetish or acrid
rising may even be accompanied by nausea and a sense of shivering.
  We shall find Mercury indicated in

   Waterbrash, especially when the attacks come on in  the night, more
or less periodically.  The symptom which points to Mercury in this
affection, is the following  record  among Hahnemann's provings:
"At one o'clock  in the night, a quantity of-water  collects in her
mouth; this is accompanied  by nausea;  it wakes her and causes
vomiting; a good deal  of bitter stuff is thrown off the stomach."
  Alercury causes peculiar feelings of pain and malaise in the region
of the stomach which may render it a valuable agent in

  Dyspepsia and Cardialgia.  Alercury causes a burning in the region
of the stomach, and especially in the pit of the stomach; after taking
the least quantity of food,  the stomach feels  full, and as if draAvn
down; the patient complains of soreness in the pit of the stomach as 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
615
if an ulcer would form in this region;  oppression as from a stone,
even after the smallest quantity of food.
  A dyspepsia to which Alercury is homoeopathic, is generally at-
tended with symptoms of liver-complaint, constipation, offensive urine
depositing a brownish sediment.
  The ulcerative and burning distress in  the  epigastric region is a
symptom to which I may direct your attention even now as a charac-
teristic indication for Mercury in jaundice.

  The subject  of jaundice naturally leads us to inquire  into the
action of Mercury upon the  hepatic system.  We have endeavored
to show that Mercury exercises its deleterious action upon the tissues
by breaking down the vital energies of the lymphatic system, and we
shall now quote Wibmer in order to show that the lymphatics of the
liver seem to be peculiarly liable  to the action of this agent.
  " In the bodies of those,"  says Wibmer, ft who  have  been treated
with mercurial frictions, we discover extreme emaciation; the muscles
are atrophied, pale; the lymphatic glands, especially in the region
where the ointment was rubbed  in,  enlarged; the  pancreas hyper-
trophied and frequently of a reddish color; the liver enlarged,  soft,
of a black brown color; the bile thin and  copious; the veins of the
abdomen turgid with a thin, dark blood."
  These toxicological post-mortem  symptoms  show that  Alercury
disorganizes the parenchyma of the  liver, and must therefore be an
agent of great power in affections of the liver Avith which its peculiar
action is in rapport of affinity.   The symptoms which we have ob-
tained by our provings, confirm to some extent the specific relation of
Mercury to the liver; although it is but just to say that these symptoms
are very inadequately described.  One of our provers has this symp-
tom : " Painful pressure in the right side of the abdomen, even early
in the morning, in bed." Another record reads as follows: "Pressing
pain in the region of the liver, from within outwards." Again we read:
" He is unable to lie on his right side, for his bowels feel sore  as if
they were compressed."
  The probability  is that "right side and bowels" in these three
symptoms, refer to the region of the liver.   The record of symptoms,
in Hahnemann's provings,  is sometimes  furnished by lay-provers
who were in the habit of  taking extensive liberties with anatomy in
describing their feelings,  even as lay people do in our oavu country,
when they extend the boundaries of  their  stomachs from the epigas-
tric reo-ion down to the symphysis pubis.   Referring these pains to
the region of the liver, we judge from their peculiar character  that
they are traceable to engorgements of the hepatic  parenchyma.
  We have already alluded to acute  congestions of the liver where
the use of Mercury may become  necessary.  AYe  have said that in
such affections the region  of  the liver feels full, oppressed, sore; the
patient complains of aching and pressing pains in the region of the
liver, with a feeling of uncomfortable heat, embarrassed breathing;
the liver  may be swollen, and the patient is  unable to  lie on the
right side.
  AYe have already shoAvn that in true hepatitis, whether the sef ous 
616
LECTURE XLI.
 covering or the parenchyma of the liver is the seat of the affection,
 Alercury is never indicated.
 .   In Chironic Enlargement of the  Liver, Alercury will proA'e useful
I provided the dynamic poAver of the drug harmonizes with the morbific
 principle of this hypertrophy.  In order that it may be benefited by
/ Mercury,  the hypertrophy should result from some  previous con-
; gestion for which Mercury was the specific remedy.

    In true hepatitis, Avhether the serous covering or the substance
 of the liver is the seat of the morbid process, Alercury will  never
 reach  the case.  Here Aconite  must initiate the  treatment.  In
 inflammation of the peritoneal covering of the liver, the indications
 for Aconite are so self-evident that it  is hardly possible to mistake
 them.   The intense soreness in  the right side; the stinging and
 lancinating pain, the burning distress,  the  increased temperature of
 the skin in  the region of the liver, the utter inability to lie on the
 right  side, the intense fever and the full, hard and  rapid  pulse
 sufficiently  enlighten us concerning  the necessity of using Aconite
 in this affection.  It is only Avhen the  inflammatory process is  going
 on in the  substance  of the liver, that it might possibly become
 difficult to discriminate between Aconite and Mercury.
    Nevertheless, whenever  acute  inflammation is  present, we shall
 find Aconite emphatically  indicated by the character of the existing
 fever.  If it is chronic hepatitis  that you have to deal  with, the
 totality and nature of the existing phenomena, and a history of their
 gradual development from the origin of the disease doAvn to its present
 stage,  Avill have to guide you in deciding either in favor of Aconite
 or Alercury.  You may facilitate your choice by making particular
 inquiries  into the nature of the paroxysms which may occur in the
 course of chronic hepatitis, on  various occasions,  during changes in
 the  Aveather, or  in consequence of exposure, a  cold.  In  these
 paroxysmal exacerbations of the disease the symptoms become more
 distinct, and their essential character reveals itself more prominently
 and more forcibly to the observing reason.  If the patient complains
 of great soreness in the right side, with stinging  or shooting  pains,
 or spasmodic constricting  pains  in  the  substance of the liver, and
 more particularly if this condition of  things has been superinduced
 by the allceopathic  treatment of a previous  acute inflammation  of the
 liver, we  should not hesitate to give Aconite in the first or second
 attenuation of the root.
    But if the patient complains of dull  aching pains in the right side,
 or pressing pains, pushing  pains in the liver, or seated sticking pains
 in certain definite and limited  localities in the region of the  liver,
 with a feeling of soreness as if ulceration might be going on in those
 parts, we should give the preference to Mercury.
    The accompanying  symptoms of bilious derangement may like-
 Avise help us in fixing our  choice of a remedy.   If  Aconite is
 indicated, we may find the edges of the tongue  sore  and rather
 inflamed, the patient may complain of flashes of heat in the face and
 burning distress in the forehead or head;  the alvine  secretions are
 dry and of a dark-broAvn, blackish color.  If  Alercury is  required, 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
617
the tongue will look pale, and may exhibit  a  slimy, grayish-yel-
lowish coating ;  the alvine discharges are either greenish, or brown,
frequently dry  and Avithout  a normal  admixture  of  the  bilious
pigment;  or  the action of the boAvels may be  irregular, at times
very torpid and at other times resulting in  the discharge of soft or
even liquid bright-yellow bilious stools.

  AVe stated that Mercury causes an ulcerative and burning distress
in the episgastric region, and that the presence of this symptom in
an attack of jaundice affords an indication for Mercury.  Mercury is
never indicated in an attack of acute jaundice, with high fever, dis-
tressing headache, excessive vomiting of bile, dark yellow color of
the face and skin, black  and foul-smelling urine;  here Aconite is
emphatically in its place.   It is in
   Chironic Jaundice, with moderate vascular excitement or even Avith
feeble and slightly accelerated pulse, yellowness  of the conjunctiva, t
and of the face and skin generally, with slightly coated tongue, con- '
stipation,  pale  color and dryness of the faeces, deep-yellow urine,
moderate  or even unimpaired  appetite, that Mercury will  prove a
specific remedy.
  AVe are told  in Graefe's Journal that a man  who was using large
doses of Calomel for a chancre1,  was attacked with jaundice.   The
attending physician seemed  puzzled to account for the fact that Calo-
mel could produce jaundice and yet be such a great remedy for liver-
complaint.  The laAV "Similia similibus"  sufficiently accounts for
this apparent antagonism.

   Our provings of Mercury show that it must be a specific remedy
in certain forms of
   Bilious Colic.  We find that Mercury  causes
   "Pinching in the boAvels, accompanied by chilliness and shivering."
   " Cutting pains in the boAvels, or intolerable  pains which can only
be relieved by  lying down."
   " Distention and hardness of the abdomen."
   The bilious colic to which Mercury is  homoeopathically adapted,
may set in in sudden paroxysms.   The patient feels a horrid pinch-
ing pain at a spot in the bowels; the hands become icy-cold, the pulse
is very feeble and accelerated ; the pain  may be  so violent  that the
patient  almost loses his senses.  The  attack may terminate in a dis-
charge of bile from the bowels.   An attack of this kind  may also be
designated as
   Flatulent Colic; in such  a  case  the attack  will pass off by the
emission of flatulence.  Either form of colic is traceable to an ab-
normal action of the liver.

   Alercury alters the alvine secretions in regard to frequency, com-
position, color and smell.   You recollect that  among the poisonous
effects of Alercury purging was put  prominently forward.  Dieterich
terms it "pancreatic ptyalism," because  this  purging seems to be
induced by what superficial reasoners would term an excessive action
of  the  pancreas, but which more careful observers Avho are not 
618
LECTURE XLI.
 carried away by a mere illusion of the senses, would consider  as  a
 weakness of this gland.  The gland is too weak to retain the  fluid
 Avhich the lymphatics, true to their functional instinct, furnish it for
 the purpose  of perfecting the process of chylification;  hence the
 fluid escapes in proportion as a sufficient quantity of it is elaborated,
 giving rise to  those liquid stools which Dieterich has very aptly
 designated as pancreatic ptyalism and which must necessarily result
 in the impoverishment of the adipose and other tissues.
   Nevertheless, although this species of ptyalism  is a symptom of
 decided weakness of the pancreas,  on the other hand there is a truth
 embodied in the statement that the secretion of the pancreatic  juice
 goes on increasingly, but not by virtue of some primary stimulation
 of the functional power of the pancreas, in the sense in which Old-
 School physiologists seem to have understood this doctrine. It is the
 brain, this great regulator of the functional harmonies of  the organ-
 ism, that taxes  itself in order to repair the waste which is going on
* in the pancreatic gland.   The vital forces  are no reasoning powers.
 They are instinctive forces,  obeying the  law which the God of Life
 has impressed upon  them without ever reasoning  about it.  In this
 beautiful  System of Forces the brain acts like a central Reservoir
 from which every organ  derives its poAver to manifest the Arital phe-
 nomena  characteristic of its inherent functional activity.  If there
 is a deficiency anyAvhere, the brain is called upon to supply it; true to
 its instinct, it supplies the deficiency inordinately, thus impoverishing
 itself  and adding to the general waste.  How foolish to designate as
 stimulation what is in truth an impoverishment of the brain and  must
 lead to an increase of the universal prostration of the functions.
   Alercury not only increases the frequency of the  alvine discharges,
 but it alters their composition, color and smell.  It causes:
   Bloody discharges;
   Green, excoriating discharges;
   Discharges of bloody mucus;
   Bright-yellow and reddish discharges;
   Dark-brown  discharges.
   These  discharges may  be watery, papescent, or  of the consistence
 of cow-dung.   Their smell varies; there may be  very little smell,
 and at other times the smell may be very offensive.
   In  view of  these well-ascertained effects  of Mercury, we  may
 recommend it for

    Catarrhial Diarrhiea, with sensation as if the bowels were shaking,
 loosely united.  One of the provers has  recorded  this  symptom:
 "Sensation as if the bowels were too loose and relaxed;  they  seem
 to shake during a walk."   This symptom expresses an effect such as
 a catarrh  might have upon  the  bowels.  The  diarrhoea may be
 watery, with sense  of  heat in the  bowels,  distention,  flatulence,
 pinching pain.
   In Bilious Diarrhiea, Alercury is eminently useful.  The  discharges
 are of the character we have  described, green, dark-brown, reddish,
 excoriating;  they may be  preceded by spasmodic pinching pains;
 the bowels may feel very sore, distended. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
619
   In acute attacks of diarrhoea,  some fever, preceded by chilliness,
may be present.   The patient may feel  thirsty, and the appetite is
generally impaired.  Other catarrhal  and bilious symptoms, head-
ache, foul  taste, debility, heaviness of the lower extremities, slight
ptyalism, waterbrash, etc., may of course be present.
   Mercury is eminently adapted to certain forms of

   Dysentery, especially when  the discharges consist of a mixture of
blood and mucus.  The records show that Mercury causes all the
symptoms  characteristic of this disease:  frequent urging, tenesmus,
and the accompanying fever-symptoms, chilliness folloAved by flashes
of heat.  In inflammatory dysentery we should  never lose sight of
Aconite, but in bilious or  congestive dysentery, consisting of fre-
quent discharges of small quantities of blood and mucus, or mucus
without blood,  without much if any fever, except perhaps coldness,
desire to be near  the fire, although in other cases the skin may be
hot and dry and the pulse full and bounding, we shall find Alercury
indicated.  An additional indication for Mercury is a frequent desire
to urinate,  with copious chalk-like sediment in the urine.
   A sort of tenesmus is very apt to be present in diarrhoea, to which
Alercury is homoeopathic; it is an involuntary pressing, or a desire
to bear down, rather than tenesmus.

   Among  the discharges caused by Mercury, we find this record:
   "Whitish-gray  stools."  If this  symptom occurs in jaundice or
liver-complaint, and the existing symptoms point to Mercury, this
peculiar alteration of the alvine evacuations would of course furnish
an additional indication for Mercury.

  It is evident that a drug which  has such a powerful  effect upon
the alvine secretions must be useful in
   Chiolera Infantum, or the  common summer complaint of children.
Of course,  in order that Mercury should  be effective ,in this disease,
the character of the morbid action must correspond with the nature
of the drug-force.   At the outset of cholera infantum, the symptoms
frequently  indicate an inflammatory type requiring Aconite.  If the
stools are  green, the bowels  seem griped, the  hands of the  little
patients feel cold,  except the palms, which may feel  warmer than
usual, and we  discover signs of chilliness, Alercury may be found
indispensable.
  In  Hufeland's Journal, we find the curative virtues of  Calomel in
diarrhoea  illustrated  by the  following  case:  A girl  of eighteen
months had been  suffering  for some time with  atrophy  and watery
diarrhoea.  Various means had been  employed  to stop it, but Avith-
out effect.  Calomel was given in doses of one-eighth of a grain every
three hours.  Very soon the child,  who previously had been crying
and moaning night and day, became  quiet, slept soundly, her appe-
tite improved,  and her health was perfectly restored.  For  a few
months she was afterwards fed on cod-liver oil.   Dr. Amelung, who
reports this case, informs us that, since he  treated this case, he has
used  Calomel in  doses of one-eighth or even one-sixth  of a grain, 
620
LECTURE XLI.
every two, three hours, or less frequently, in acute as well as chronic
diarrhoea of children, Avith perfect success in every case.
  The doctor  has  the frankness to admit that he is indebted for a
knowledge of  this  use  of Calomel to Dr. Kopp, one of the earliest
inquirers and  advocates of our system.   True to his blind  instincts
of an empiric, he repudiates of course all connection  between this
use of Calomel and Homoeopathy.
  Kopp states, in  his Alemorabilia, that he uses Calomel with the
best results in the  diarrhoea of nursing infants, accompanied Avith
restlessness, sleeplessness and  continual  crying.   If the discharges
are green, if the little patients express their distress by crying, Cal-
omel, which is itself capable of causing  green stools, acts so  much
more speedily; but, even if the stools are not green, not bilious, but
light-colored, whitish, looking like stirred eggs, or if the stools are
quite Avatery,  Calomel has  never failed  him.  He rubs doAvn one-
sixth of a grain with three grains of sugar of milk, and divides the
mass into three poAvders, one of which he gives  three times a day,
making one-eighteenth of a grain at a dose.  Kopp likeAvise admin-
isters Calomel, if the diarrhoea is accompanied Avith vomiting.
  If nursing   infants are very restless,  troubled with flatulence;  if
they cry a good deal, and seem to suffer a good deal of pain while
nursing; if they let go of  the nipple, cry a spell and then resume
operations; if their sleep is restless, they wake frequently and cry;
and if they do not lose flesh, but gain rather, and the stools are not
diarrhoeic, but rather hard  and green, a  dose of Calomel, one-sixth
of a grain, given at night, has a wonderfully quieting effect.  Kopp
knows of no remedy superior to Calomel under such circumstances.

  This leads us to the use  of Alercury in
   Constipation, where Alercury will be found useless, unless  this con-
dition is depending upon, or connected with, torpor of the  liver or
of the pancreatic gland.  Constipation may be a sequel of  previous
bilious or pancreatic  diarrhoea.  In such a case,  Mercury  is in
homoeopathic  rapport with it.   The bowels may not be moved more
than once or twice a week; the fasces have a dark-brown  or green
color; they are discharged in lumpy masses or balls loosely hanging
together and  covered Avith intestinal mucus.  The  cul-de-sac, or
pouch of the rectum, sometimes becomes a receptacle for these lumpy
masses, where they agglomerate in one compact  ball, the passage of
which through the rectum sometimes causes a  great deal  of  acute
pain, and  may even be  attended with slight haemorrhage.  Some-
times the  constipation is  interrupted by an occasional attack of
bilious diarrhoea.
  Mercury causes
  Soreness and Excoriation at the anus;  hence we recommend it for
this trouble which is sometimes very annoying.  The anus feels sore,
or as if sharp points were sticking in the parts, Avith continual ooz-
ing of a serous fluid having  a strong  and  rather offensive smell.
The frequent  application of cold water is sometimes sufficient to cure
this  affection, but we may have to resort  to  medical treatment.
Mercury is one of the remedies for this trouble. 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
621
  In Piles, Alercury may prove useful, not bleeding piles, but dis-
charges of mucus and  serum, with  swellings of the  mucous  mem-
brane, feeling of excoriation at the anus, stitches through the anus.

  Alercury is adapted to a state of the intestinal mucous lining which
gives rise to the formation of those  annoying entozoa termed
  Ascarides and Lumbrici.  In selecting Mercury for this trouble, we
have of course to  be guided by the totality  of the patient's con-
dition, not by isolated symptoms.  The formation of these parasites
may be  symptomatic of a general  cachexia to which Mercury is
homoeopathic.

  Mercury has the same effect upon the inguinal glands that it has
upon the salivary glands.   It causes
  Swelling and Inflammation of these glands.  Several of our provers
have witnessed this  effect of  Mercury upon their persons.  If this
affection arises from simple catarrhal exposure, the  internal use  of
Mercurius vivus may  soon scatter  the swelling.  If this swelling
springs  from a  scrofulous dyscrasia  or constitutes a
  Syphiilitic Bubo, the biniodide of Mercury may be found preferable
to any  of the  mercurial oxides  or salts.   If much Mercury had
already been taken without affecting the SAvelling, the hydriodate of
potash may be most suitable.

                     URINARY"  GROUP.

  Among the poisonous effects of Alercury, we have noticed enure-
sis.  Mercury, if administered in large doses, causes an increased
secretion of urine.   The symptoms of Alercury in the urinary range,
as developed by our provings, are  exceedingly remarkable.  Mer-
cury not only causes an increased and almost irrepressible desire to
urinate,  but  it  occasions the deposition of sediments Avhich may
yield  very  important therapeutic  indications.  According to the
statement of our provers, the urine,  under the influence of Mercury,
deposits a whitish, flocculent  sediment.
  One record reads thus:
  " Shreds and flocks of whitish mucus are passed after urination;"
  Another prover  records this symptom:
  " The urine is at  first clear, but  afterAvards looks whitish as if
mixed with chalk."
  Another record:
  " The urine looks as if stirred with flour, depositing a thick sedi-
ment."
  These symptoms, coupled Avith  the fact that  Mercury causes the
secretion of increased quantities of  a Avatery urine, far surpassing in
quantity the amount of beverage drank, might lead us to employ
Alercury in that distressing malady.

  Diabetes mellitis or Albuminuria.  It is unfortunate that no chem-
ical analysis was made of these sediments, and that Ave are therefore
left to guess Avhether the sediments were of a mucous or albuminous 
622
LECTURE XLI.
 character.   As far as we are able to determine from existing symp-
 toms, we have a perfect right to use Alercury in this affection, Avith
 the hope of succeeding in some cases at any rate.
   Mercury has been recommended for a form of albuminuria known as
   BrighvCs Disease.   Concerning the use of Mercury in this affection,
 Trousseau and Pidoux hold the following language:
   " Some years ago, Martin Solon published a most interesting work
 on Albuminuria, Avhere he recommended mercurial frictions and the
 internal use of fractional doses of Calomel Avith a view of modifying
 the chronic  phlegmasia which should be looked upon as the cause of
 the renal degeneration that results in the secretion of albumen."
 Trousseau and Pidoux are  not near as sanguine regarding the suc-
 cessful treatment of albuminuria;  "while we should honor," they
 say, "every therapeutist  who, in such a serious affection, proposes
 means of cure, we  should not  forget that respectable  practitioners
 have not been more successful in treating this disease with mercurial
 preparations than in treating it Avith any other medicine.  AVe, too,
 both in private  and hospital-practice,  have had to moan over  the
 almost invariably fatal issue of a malady concerning the reality and
 we might add, incurability of  which, modern  investigations haAre
 removed all doubt.  Our remarks apply of course only to the chronic
 form."

   Alercury causes a burning and smarting in the urethra; the urine
 looks as if mixed with blood.  This symptom may  constitute a valu-
 able indication in various  fevers  to which your  attention will be
 directed when Ave come to speak of this group.
   In Blennorrhea or mucous discharges from the urethra, gonorrhoea
 and in
   Catarrh of the Bladder, this burning may be present, accompanied
 with a rather frequent desire to urinate, and discharge of mucus from
 the urethra.

                      SEXUAL GROUP.

   Mercury causes effects in the sexual system which make it a valu-
 able remedial agent in a variety of  affections.  Let us first examine
 the action of Mercury upon the  male sexual organs.
   Mercury causes an itching of  the  glans, prepuce and orifice  of the
urethra;
   SAvelling and inflammation of the  prepuce;
   GMematous swelling of the prepuce as if it were  filled with water;
   Reddish-looking vesicles on the  glans, under the prepuce; they
 discharge a Avhitish-yellow, strong-smelling matter,  and ulcerate; the
larger ulcers bleed, and, Avhen touched, caused a  pain which seemed
to affect the Avhole body;  the ulcers were round, with inverted edges
which looked like raw flesh; the bottom of the ulcers was lined with
a cheesy matter.
   Here Ave have the description of  an ulcer produced by Alercury
which simulates as nearly as may be the

   Syphiilitic Chiancre, for which Alercury has for  years  past been 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
623
universally recognized as a specific remedy.  The soluble Alercury
of Hahnemann has cured hundreds and thousands of these primary
chancres; in other cases the iodide of Alercury, the red precipitate
or the sulphuret of Alercury may have to be used.  It  is a univer-
sally acknoAvledged fact  that the mercurial preparations are  speci-
fically adapted to the nature of the  syphilitic poison.  It is this
miasm Avhich they neutralize or extinguish as it were, thus convert-
ing the malignant chancre into a common  sore which the disembar-
rassed vital force of the organism will speedily heal.
  In  treating  these local syphilitic ulcers, you should never lose
sight  of the general constitution.  Some organisms are  exceedinglv
sensitive to the action of the syphilitic  poison which is readily  taken
up by the absorbent system and made the basis of an almost inter-
minable series of most trea.cherous and deeply penetrating disorders.
In scrofulous constitutions a combination of the syphilitic and scrofu-
lous  miasms  may lead  to monstrous  disorganizations unless we
endeavor to protect the  constitution  at the outset against such  a
calamity. This is sometimes best accomplished  by the iodides, such
as the iodide of Mercury, or by that admirable combination of potash
and iodine, the hydriodate of potash.  It is perfectly proper to use
this preparation at the same time as  we  prescribe a more locally
acting agent, the soluble  mercury or the mercurial  iodide.

  In Phiimosis or Paraphimosis when arising from a syphilitic prin-
ciple,  the black oxide or the mercurial salts may prove useful  in
controlling the syphilitic virus, in addition to  which Aconite and
Belladonna may be resorted to for the  purpose of  relaxing the spas-
modic constriction.   YVe need scarcely recall to your minds the fact
that Alercury causes swelling and inflammation  of the prepuce, and
that it must therefore be  possessed of great curative powers in affec-
tions  of this organ.
  Mercury causes swelling of  the  penis, especially at  night,  often
accompanied with painful erections.  Hence in
   (Edema of the Penis, if occurring as a -natural affection, or  as the
result  of the gonorrhceal virus,  Alercury may prove useful,  If Aler-
cury caused the weakness, we shall  have to antidote the poison by
such  remedies as the  case may require, the hydriodate of potash,
iodine and other drugs.

  Among the  symptoms  of Cinnabar we find this record:
  " Condylomata on the prepuce, readily bleeding Avhen touched;"
hence in
  Sycosis or figwarts, Mercury may prove indispensable.

  AVe also see it  stated  by the provers of Alercury that this drug
causes an exudation of  pus behind the corona glandis, having  a
nauseous, sweetish smell.  Hence in
  Balanitis  or Balanorrhea, especially  if arising from syphilitic
poisoning, the mercurial preparations  will have to be  used.   This
may sometimes become a most distressing and even dangerous affec-
tion.   The inflammatory  process Avhich is going  on betAveen the pre- 
624
LECTURE XLI.
puce and the glans penis, may lead to deeply-penetrating fistulous
ulcers, with profuse discharge of fetid pus accompanied by symptoms
of constitutional irritation.
  Mercury causes painful erections.  This  symptom may occur in-
cidentally to some inflammatory or ulcerous affection of the penis for
which Alercury is indicated.
  Alercury has caused coldness and shrinking of the glans penis;
also a sensation of coldness  in the testicles.  Mercury also causes a
weakness of the penis, with imperfect erections.  We may therefore
find Mercury indicated in
  Impotence  Avhen caused by abuse of the sexual organs.
  We  also  find that  Alercury causes  involuntary  emissions; this
effect of the drug is quite prominent among the symptoms obtained
by proving.   AYe may therefore associate Alercury with
  Spermatorrhea as one of the remedial agents Avhich may be used
in this affection.

  The female sexual organs are likewise  acted  upon by Mercury
with considerable energy.  It causes
  "Discharge of flocks of mucus and pus from the vagina."
  This symptom sometimes occurs in consequence of impure coition,
as a sign of
  Gonorrhea ; it may also exist as a symptom of scrofulosis.

  Alercury likewise causes purulent and corrosive  leucorrhea.
  It also causes inflammatory swelling of the vaginal mucous mem-
brane, as if  the vagina were raAV and excoriated.   Hence in
  Chironic Vaginitis we shall find Alercury a valuable remedy.
  Alercury causes Prolapsus of the vagina, in which disease this
agent has therefore been employed with success by Dr. Hartmann.

  Mercury causes tubercles on the lips of the vulva.  Hence in
  Tubercles,  blotches  and  condylomata of the  vulva, Alercury Avill
undoubtedly be useful, more particularly if the  eruption is OAving
to the syphilitic virus.
  Alercury also causes profuse menstruation, and even metrorrhagia.
We have seen in previous lectures that Alercury causes a tendency
to haemorrhage generally ;  it  liquifies the blood, diminishes and
finally destroys its plasticity, by which we understand the faculty of
being assimilated to the organic tissues.  If profuse menstruation or
metrorrhagia to Avhich Mercury is specifically adapted occurs, it will
occur as a symptom of general Aveakness and marasmus which will
be found to  similate such a cachexia as Mercury  is capable of occa-
sioning, a cachexia characterized by oedema of the extremities, cold-
ness, disappearance of the fatty matter, paleness of the face, expres-
sion of  suffering in the features, shortness of breath, swelling of the
abdomen.   Alercury  destroys the  power  of  reproduction in  the
uterine  sphere; hence the foetus in the  womb is apt to perish under
the poisonous effects of this drug, and miscarriage is the  inevitable
consequence.   AYomen who have taken quantities of Alercury, gene-
rally bear rickety children.  Experiments  have been made again, 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
625
and again by Magendie and others, showing that the  emanations of
Mercury destroy the germ in the eggs of animals.  No embryo can
live when exposed to the  deleterious influences of Mercury.  This
condition of decay, as an  element  of general marasmus, may be an
important indication for  Mercury among a group of symptoms to
which Mercury is generally homoeopathic.
  One of the provers of Mercury has recorded the following symp-
toms:
  " Pain in both breasts;"
  " Excessive swelling of  the  mammas, especially of the nipples,
which were harder than usual;"
  " Periodical pain in the  mammas as if they would ulcerate."
  In accordance with these symptoms, Mercury has been employed
by homoeopathic physicians in cases of

  Sore Breasts, where it is said to have effected a speedy resolution
of the swelling.
                LECTURE   XLII.

                   CATARRHAL  GROUP.

   In catarrhal affections, Mercury has  been  found an excellent
remedy.  Its remarkable power to affect the action of the mucous
membranes, eminently fits it for  the  useful  purpose of altering the
action of these membranes in disease.  Mercury causes: sneezing,
discharge of water, and foul-smelling pus from the nose, swelling
and inflammation of the nose.  Hence we shall  find it useful in
   Cold in the Head, where the following symptoms prevail: sneezing,
discharge of water from the nose, or  discharge  of a yellowish, foul
pus;  watering of the eyes, tightness of the head; slight chilliness.
   Mercury causes hoarseness; you will recollect that among the
poisonous effects of Mercury, we have described the chronic mercu-
rial angina, a characteristic  symptom  of which is hoarseness, which
is especially towards evening, after reading  or when the patient  is
exposed to dampness.   In
   Hoarseness, sometimes even amounting to
   Aphonia or loss of voice, mercury will be found indicated.  It is
worse in the evening; it may not  be painful; the mucous membrane
of the throat and larynx feels dry.  The affection may be developed
suddenly, in consequence of exposure to  a draught of air or similar
causes.
   Alercury affects the lining membrane of the air-passages: hence it
causes cough characterized by various kinds of  pain, expectoration.
It causes             ^
   A Dry, Hacking Coughi, the paroxysms of  which are excited by a
tickling in the upper part  of  the air-passages, someAvhere in the
                             40 
626
LECTURE XLII.
region of the bifurcation of the trachea; the cough is of a spasmodic
nature, sometimes  so  incessant  that it may cause a loss of breath;
drinking quantities of cold water or water and sugar may ease the
paroxysm for the time being.  It also causes
  A cough with expectoration of sweetishi or saltish mucus.
  A tearing cough, which seems to proceed from the chest, causing
a feeling as if the  chest would  fly to pieces, with great soreness,
aching pains especially in the region whence  the paroxysms seem to
emanate.  These paroxysms are - generally worse at  night.  During
the attack  the chest  feels  tight and  dry, as if lubrication of  the
mucous lining would ease the cough.  Alercury has caused
  Hemoptysis  or Bloody Coughi.  As much as a pound of blood has
been coughed up by persons under the poisonous effects of Mercury.
This fact shows that Alercury may prove useful in
  Chronic Cough of a  consumptive character, where the patient raises
blood, complains of soreness, aching and stitching pains when cough-
ing,  raises  sweetish or saltish mucus or  even pus.  The morbid
process may be going on in the  mucous lining of the bronchial
tubes.   Hence we might designate the affection as a case of
  Chronic Bronchitis.   Upon looking at our  provings, Ave find that
Mercury causes a burning in the air passages ; raising of sweetish or
saltish mucus  and  blood;  paroxysms of cough, especially at  night,
with coldness during the paroxysm, distress for breath; soreness and
ulcerative pain in the  air-passages, especially during- the cough; the
cough may give rise to nausea, and actual vomiting.
  Under the effects of Mercury, provers have been unableto swallow
liquids; the liquid would be discharged by the nose  after it had
reached the region of the  larynx on its downward passage.
  This symptom frequently occurs in
  Phthisis  of  the Larynx, in Avhich disease  Alercury may be very
useful, more particularly if the affection is distinctly traceable to the
syphilitic virus.  The mercurial oxides, salts or iodides will have to
be used.  In scrofulous laryngeal phthisis, these mercurial prepara-
tions may likewise be eminently useful.
  In affections of the  air-passages, if of a chronic nature, the sixth
up to the twelfth potency of Alercury may prove sufficient; if acute,
you may have to resort to the third, second and even first centesimal
trituration.  In syphilitic affections of this nature the loAver prepara-
tions are most generally preferable to the higher.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

  We have already alluded to the use of Mercury in bloody  cough
and  chronic bronchitis.  The property which Mercury possesses, of
causing haemorrhage from the lungs, cough with expectoration of pus,
and  ulcerative pains in the chest, leads us  to advise this agent in
   Ulcerous Phthisis,  or  Phthisis  Pulmonalis  commonly termed.
This affection  may arise in consequence of syphilitic metastasis, after
the violent suppression of a chancre.  In ^uch  a  case Mercury is
eminently required both internally and externally.  Internally the
corrosive sublimate may prove  the best adapted to the case;  beside 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
627
which the mercurial ointment  should be rubbed upon the chest in
adequate  quantities, not less than one drachm a day.  Syphilitic
ulceration of the lungs is a most  destructive disease;  unless  the
virus is counteracted  by speedy and energetic treatment, of course
sanctioned and dictated by reason, you cannot hope to save  the
patient's life.

  Mercury causes dyspnoea, fits  of violent oppression, suffocation.
These  symptoms,  in connection with the fact  that it renders  the
blood watery, favoring exudations and oedema, lead us to prescribe
Mercury in
  Hydrothiorax, especially in scrofulous, cachectic individuals.  Some
homoeopathic physicians have  used Mercury successfully in hydro-
thorax arising after scarlet-fever.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

   Mercury develops  symptoms which, in  their  totality, simulate
various forms of fever.  It distinctly simulates
   Catarrhal fever, the  patient feels  chilly, wants to  be  near the fire;
the palms of the hands feel warm; the head aches, feels tight;  the
patient likes to stretch himself;  the bowels are either costive, or a
watery diarrhoea may exist.

   Rheumatic fever, with soreness  of the flesh, tired feeling, coated
tongue, bad taste  in the mouth, loss  of appetite, thirst, sallow com-
plexion ;  the fever has a remittent type, with regular  exacerbations
of the symptoms at night.
   In rheumatic fevers, local rheumatic inflammations are frequently
present.  Muscles and joints may be  the seat of the  inflammation.
A very characteristic indication for Alercury  in such  fevers with
 local rheumatic inflammations is the breaking out of perspiration on
 the inflamed part without any diminution of the pain  or swelling.

   Gastric fever, with foul,  grayish  slimy coating on  the tongue,
 sallow complexion, entire loss of appetite, nausea, bad taste in the
 mouth, constipation, although the bowels feel soft; the  urine deposits
 a reddish sediment.   In

   Bilious fever, Mercury is indicated by the yellowish, gray slimy
 coating on the tongue; thirst, foul taste in the mouth, nausea and
 vomiting of bile, constipation and distention of the bowels, dark and
 turbid urine  having  a foul smelh headache, exacerbation of the
 symptoms at night.   The
   Congestive bilious fever of warm climates, Avith burning  pains  in
 the forehead, excessive sensitiveness  to noise and light, often finds
 its remedy in Mercury.  The  paroxysms set in in the morning after
 the sun rises,  and abate as the sun goes down.  In

   Hectic  or lentescent fever, Alercury will be found  useful, if the pa-
 tient wastes away, the fever is worse  at night, and toward  morning
 a clammy perspiration breaks out, having a fetid, sour smell. 
628
LECTURE XLII.
   In Mucous fever, Mercury plays an important  part.  This must
 necessarily be so, considering the important influence which Alercury
 exercises over the functional activity of the mucous membrane.   In
 mucous fever to which Mercury is homoeopathic,  we shall find the
 tongue coated with a thick, gray or yellowish foul mucus ;  the taste
 in the mouth is unpleasant, the mouth  is  sticky, dry;  the patient
 wants to moisten his mouth  quite frequently; the appetite is  gone;
 bowels inclining to bloat;  they are either bound, or with occasional
 discharges  of  slimy,  foul mucus;  strong-smelling, dark  urine;
 nightly exacerbation, with unpleasant sour  sweats.

   In these various fevers the pulse is rather full and accelerated,
 but not hard or jerking.   In this respect the Aconite-pulse is dis-
 tinguished from the  pulse  indicating Mercury.  The Aconite-pulse
 is at the outset full, hard, bounding and rapid; under the effects  of
 Aconite it is softened down and its speed is considerably slackened,
 though even after this change has been effected, the general character
 of the symptoms may still indicate Aconite.  The mercurial pulse,
 on the contrary, is never hard and jerking, even at the outset of the
 treatment, except in the bilious congestive fever of southern regions,
 where the pulse may become rather  hard and resisting during the
 height of the fever-paroxysm.   In such cases, however, the Aconite
 pulse would be exceedingly jerking and bounding, and the relative
 degrees of intensity distinguishing the mercurial from the Aconite
 pulse, would still be maintained.
   As regards potencies, we may use the 6th to the 12th; in violent
 cases the 2d or 3d.

       EXANTHEA1ATOUS  OR ERUPTIVE  GROUP.

   In describing the poisonous effects of Mercury, we have become
 acquainted with the  several  eruptions which Mercury causes, viz.:
 Eczema, miliaria, herpes of the prepuce, impetigo, itch,  ulcers, etc.
 These different eruptions of the character of erythema, papulae, vesi-
 cles and pustules, enable us to use Mercury with admirable effect in
 diseases characterized by similar appearances.
   First and  foremost we have the various eruptions incidental to

   Secondary  Syphilis, pimples,  blotches, spots or maculae, herpes.
 In all cutaneous affections which can be distinctly traced to  a syphi-
 litic origin, the mercurial oxides or salts will have to be  employed.
   But also in non-syphilitic  eruptions, Mercury may prove useful.
 We may specifically resort to it in

   Furfuraceous Herpes, with itching and burning, especially at night;
   Herpes Preputialis, even when no syphilitic origin need be sus-
pected ;
  Impetiginous Spots, with inflamed base, and covered with a whitish
scurfy substance, exuding  from the almost  imperceptible  vesicles
which start up on the surface of the inflamed skin;
  Psoriasis of the Hands, with bleeding, itching rhagades; 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
629
   Tinea Capitis, with crusty ulceration of the  scalp, secretion of a
fetid, purulent ichor;
   Vesicular  Scabies, with formation of  nasty looking sores which
cause a most distressing itching, especially at night; the sores may
not only form between the fingers, but they may likewise cover the
breast, abdomen and extremities.  In a case of this kind, where two
fine young girls had contracted the disease  in a  most loathsome
form by contact with other children at school, Alercurius 6th effected
a speedy cure.
   We have a perfect right to recommend Alercurius vivus for

V   Small-pox, to which the eruption which Mercury excites upon the
skin, is eminently similar.   In Frank's Alagazine a number of cases
are  reported, clearly showing the homoeopathicity of Alercury to
small-pox.  It is stated in these cases  that the skin is SAvollen and
inflamed;  that red stigmata break out all over  the body,  covering
the face, chest, abdomen and extremities ; that, after a while, vesicles
spring up, that these vesicles become gradually filled with a yelloAv-
ish serum ; that this exudation is characterized by  a peculiarly fetid
odor, and  that the patient is moreover tormented  by an intolerable
stinging itching.   After the eruption dries up, an universal desqua-
mation of  the epidermis takes place.
   Even the preliminary symptoms correspond with the  precursory
stage of small-pox.  The eruption is preceded by  a chill, headache,
nausea, excessive debility and rheumatic pains  in  the small of the
back and  extremities.  The accompanying  fever is very violent.
Fetid ptyalism may be present, as it often is in small-pox, and the
tongue, in  some of these  cases, looks swollen, coated, and  inflamed
at the edges and tip.
   Is not this a  tolerably faithful picture of the small-pox-disease ?
We have seen that tartar  emetic may be regarded as a great specific
for this loathsome disorder; we have another excellent  remedy in
Mercury.  Homoeopathic  physicians do not resort to Alercury in
this disease  until the  pocks are fully formed and  filled with the
characteristic pus.   AYe would_ suggest the propriety of using Mer-
cury at the very onset.  We have  shown that Mercury is homoeo-
pathic to this disease in all its stages, and it is therefore unnecessary
and injudicious to delay the use of Alercury until the horrid disfigu-
ration of the skin reveals the universal and thorough impregnation
of the organism by the small-pox virus.   Give Mercury in one-grain
doses of the first or second centesimal trituration, repeating the dose
every three or four hours;  it may be useful  and important to you
as intelligent reformers of the healing art, to institute experiments
of this kind Avhich tend to  consolidate the treatment of diseases upon
a sure and universally-acknowledged basis.

   In Affections of Bones, whether of a scrofulous or syphilitic nature,
Mercury is a most useful  remedial agent.  In chronic swellings,
Nodes or Gummata, Caries of bones, especially when symptomatic of
tertiary syphilis, Alercury  may prove inA'aluable.  YVheresoever the
syphilitic virus may have set up an ulcerative process, in the osseous 
630
LECTURE XLII.
system, in cartilaginous structures, we may depend upon the mercu-
rial  preparations as reliable  antidotes,  unless  the  syphilitic  and
mercurial poisons had  combined in developing  the existing disor-
ganizations.  In  all such cases, remedies have  to be chosen, that
counteract both the syphilitic virus and the mercurial disease.
  Even in exceedingly protracted  and chronic cases, Alercury may
still be an efficacious means of cure. Trousseau and Pidoux furnish
two illustrations of  the  curative virtues of Mercury in affections of
the bones, which I will briefly relate to you.
  "A  man  of fifty-two  years  was received  at  the  Hotel-Dieu in
Paris in 1834. For  several months past he had been paralytic.  His
legs, bladder, rectum and arms were completely paralyzed. He only
complained  of a  seated pain in the hand, which he considered as
rheumatic.   In exploring the cervical region, we discovered  a uni-
form SAvelling of the five last cervical  vertebras.
  "Was this swelling due to rheumatism or to syphilis ? Our patient
had  never  had a severe attack of rheumatism.  Thirty-five years
ago he had contracted syphilis of which he had been  cured by Aler-
cury.  We treated him with baths of  corrosive sublimate, and with
the protiodide of Mercury taken internally, and restored him per-
fectly in three months."
  It  seems probable that this  affection was of a syphilitic  nature
and that on  this account it yielded so thoroughly to mercurial treat-
ment.  If a swelling of this kind  should occur as the result of  a
scrofulous diathesis, the mercurial treatment may prove inadequate
to a thorough cure.  Trousseau and Pidoux relate a case  of this
kind.  A young girl of  eighteen years, afflicted with  paralysis, was
received at the Hotel-Dieu.  She had  a scrofulous appearance.  An
osseous swelling was observed in the region of the second, third and
fourth  cervical vertebrae.  She was a perfectly pure.girl, having
never had any improper intercourse with  the other sex.  Under the
use of  sublimate  baths  she improved very rapidly;  she  also took
the iodide of Mercury internally.   Her paralysis and the osseous
swelling improved,  but after four months' treatment 'she left us im-
perfectly cured.
  Mercury acts upon the synovial  lining  of the larger joints, where
it may occasion congestion, suppuration and ulceration.  We there-
fore have given Mercury with good effect in

   Coxarthrocace, or  Morbus Coxarius, or a  similar ulcerative process
affecting the knee-joints.  Mercury should be given when the disease
is first suspected; the lower triturations  should  not  be employed;
from the fithtothe  12th seem to be the most available range.

  Mercury causes dropsical swelling of the lower  extremities,  In
anasarca, Old-School physicians have been in the habit of prescribing
Calomel in  alterative  doses;  sometimes the suppression  of  the
watery deposit Avould be followed by the breaking out of foul ulcers
on the legs.  If the accompanying  symptoms  correspond, YIercury
is undoubtedly a remedy for
  Anasarca of the extremities, and also for 
MERCURIUS VIVUS.
631
   Ascites or dropsy of the  bowels, especially if the disease is  con-
 nected with, or depending upon some affection of the liver.  If this
 affection is organic, the dropsical affection may have to be removed
 by  an operation;   if it is simply functional,  the dropsy is curable
 by treatment.  Ascites where Mercury is specifically curative, is gen-
 erally complicated with symptoms of jaundice,  a sallow,  greenish-
 yellowish hue, cold skin, feeble, slightly hurried pulse, scanty emission
 of a thick, foul-smelling urine, and constipation, with  occasional
 passage of dry, light-colored faeces.

   We have described the  mercurial ulcer as a  flat, spreading  sore,
 with a spongy bottom from which blood oozes as from a sponge.  In
   Scrofulous Ulcers of this description, Mercury will be found  emi-
 nently useful.   Sometimes the scrofulous and syphilitic miasms  com-
 bine, giving rise to a most hideous and destructive sore, essentially
 phagedenic in  its  character, secreting a fetid  ichor and so irritable
 that the  least friction or even  mere contact will  cause it to bleed.
 Mercury is indispensable in  such cases.  It may not always be pos-
 sible to get along without the external use of this agent.
   An old  Colonel, writes Father Hahnemann in his lesser writings,
 " with fair round belly," and apparently fond of  the pleasures of the
 table, had  suffered  for the last forty years  from ulcers all over his
 legs.  His food consisted of the strongest and most nutritive mate-
 rials, he drank a good deal of  spirits, and, for several years past, he
 had been in the habit of taking a monthly purge.  Otherwise he was
 vigorous.  I made him keep his legs rolled up in a narrow flannel
 bandage, and  immerse them daily a few minutes in cold water, and
 afterwards dress them with a weak solution of corrosive sublimate.
 I made not the slightest alteration in his diet; I even did not forbid
 the monthly purge, as he had been so constantly in the habit of taking
 it.  In the course of a year, his legs gradually healed, and his vigor
 rather increased than diminished in this his seventy-third year.   I
 watched him for two  years, during which he remained perfectly well,
 and I have since had good accounts of his health.  The.legs  have
 continued completely healed.

   Mercury causes ulceration of the nails.  Hence in
   Whitlow and scrofulous or syphilitic ulceration of the nails,  Mer-
 cury will be found useful.
(   Mercury also causes baldness.  In scrofulosis or in diseases of the
| scalp,
|   Baldness may constitute an indication for Mercury.

                             SLEEP.

   In diseases to which Mercury is homoeopathic, the symptoms gen-
 erally exacerbate in the night.  Nocturnal aggravations of the symp-
 toms constitute an indication for Alercury.
   Mercury causes drowsiness in the day-time, and wakefulness at
 night, with restlessness, heat,  disturbing dreams.  This group  of
 symptoms is therefore an indication for Mercury. 
632
LECTURE XLII.
                      AIENTAL GROUP.

  It is well known that  Mercury may cause mania and  imbecility.
In a  case of craziness caused  by Mercury, the patient  lapped up
spittle, cowdung, and did not know his OAvn family.  It  also causes
mania resembling  mania-a-potu, with  fright,  hallucinations.  We
therefore may find Mercury useful in
  Mania,  Craziness and Imbecility as symptoms of a general cachexia
of the tissues and the nervous system.

  Alercury is another of those heroic agents which the discovery of the
homoeopathic law has changed from a  destructive poison to a life-
saving, health-restoring, and withal harmless instrument of the heal-
ing art. Simply by proclaiming the great doctrine that drugs typify
diseases, that every true drug in the three kingdoms of Nature sym-
bolizes or represents a corresponding disease, and that this corres-
pondence  or specific relation between drugs and  their corresponding
diseases has to be  determined  approximatively by provings upon
healthy persons, of different sexes and ages, this universal and radical
transformation  of violent and poisonous drugs  to gentle, harmless,
and  yet most powerful  restorers of health  has been effected.  The
great Law of Order which is penetrating more and more into every
province of human thought and activity, I mean the LaAV of At-
tractive Affinity,  is likewise working out the  regeneration of the
Healing Art. If it is not  as yet universally recognized as  the Divine
Law of Therapeutics, it is because the minds of men are not yet pre-
pared for  this glorious baptism;  it  is because we too have not yet
succeeded in presenting the law to  our  opposing brethren in all its
majestic comprehensiveness and infallibility.
  Are we the true and worthy representatives of our Cause ?  Is the
love of this glorious truth burning in our  hearts ?   Is a clear and
full comprehension  of this truth written upon our minds?   Do we
exert ourselves, to the full extent of our ability, in behalf of our
Cause ? Are we impressed, as earnest and good men should be, with
the responsibility of our  mission  as the  apostles of a great reform ?
Friends, let not the fleeting  hours  of youth pass away without a
deep, earnest, solemn  consideration of these  questions.  My duty to
you and to the  Spirit of  Truth.is not discharged by simply laying
the facts of Homoeopathy before you; I must ask you, and I now do
ask you to identify your hearts  and minds more and more with the
great principles of our Science, universal as Nature and glorious and
eternal as Heaven, a Science Avhich knows no  South, no North, no
East, no West;  and which, if studied with love, and apprehended in
the iight  of Reason, will prove to  be the  means, in  the hands of
Providence, for  the building up  of a better and wiser Humanity. 
MERCUB1US JODATUS.
633
             LECTURE   XLIII.


                  MERCDRIOS JODATUS,

                      (Iodide of Mercury)

  To the  exposition of the therapeutic range of Mercurius vivus
and solubilis, which we have presented in our previous lectures on
Mercury, we will now add  a few remarks explanatory of the more
specific sphere of the other  mercurial preparations.
  We have two combinations of Iodine and Alercury, one of which
contains one element of Iodine and one of Mercury, the protiodide of
Mercury or Mercurius protojodatus, or  also designated as  the  yellow
iodide of  Mercury,  Mercurius jodatus flavus ;  and  the  other,  two
elements of Iodine and one  of Mercury, the biniodide of Mercury, or
Mercurius bijodatus,  or also  designated as  the  red iodide of Mercury
or Mercurius jodatus ruber.
  This preparation is used in scrofulous, and also in syphilitic
affections  of a primary, secondary and tertiary form.   The biniodide
is more frequently used than  the protiodide.   In many cases of
primary chancre where the soluble Mercury fails, the iodide effects
a cure.   It  prevents the suppuration of a bubo  by a speedy dis-
persion of the swelling.  Alloeopathic physicians frequently apply
an ointment of the iodide of Mercury externally.   Homoeopathic
practitioners do the same  thing, resorting at the same time to the
internal use of the drug.  The ointment may consist of one.grain of
the__pure, iodide>_ rubbed  tc5g^th^~withJ^ng.Vdrachj3a _pf lard.  A
quantity of ointment as big as a pea may  be rubbed in morning and
night. The  external use, however, may  be dispensed Avith,  unless
traces of inflammation should make their  appearance in the swollen
gland in spite of the internal use of the drug.  If the inflammation
and swelling persist after the ointment has  been applied for a few
days we may rest assured that  the drug  is not in specific homoeo-
pathic rapport with the  disease and  that some other preparation
will have  to achieve the cure.
  The mercurial iodide  is  eminently adapted to the eradication of
the secondary disorders which the violent suppression  of a primary
chancre or bubo sometimes entails upon a patient.
  A man  of forty years, apparently in the enjoyment of good health,
had a breaking out  on the forehead, hairy scalp, on certain parts of
the trunk, and  on  the  extremities.   The  eruption  consisted of
numerous, copper-colored elevations  of the size of small peas and
slightly covered with scaly scurfs.  The patient had likewise  parox-
ysms of violent pains in the limbs which disturbed his sleep and
caused  a  sort  of rigidity, accompanied with  partial  impotence,
exciting  apprehensions  of paralysis in  the patient's mind.   He
applied to Dr. Gibert for relief, who declared the eruption syphilitic.
The patient admitted that nineteen years  ago he had had a chancre ; 
634
LECTURE XLIII.
that he had been  treated with mercurial frictions, after which sali-
vation had set in and the chancre had disappeared.  Since then he
had been subject to slight but transient excoriations  on the inner
surface of  the prepuce.  Three years  after the cure  he had got
married, and himself, wife  and child  had  always enjoyed good
health, until the year  1845, eighteen years after the original infec-
tion, when  he was attacked with violent,  obstinate headache  and
irregular febrile motions which were attributed to a violent catarrh
of  the  brain,  This  attack was  treated  with  venesections,  after
which the  present eruption showed itself.  The patient's wife was
attacked in a similar  manner.   Both were  treated with a syrup of
the iodide of Mercury, and their health was entirely restored in one
fortnight.

  The late Dr. Cook, of New York, Avho has written an interesting
paragraph on the iodide of Mercury, recommends its use in scrofu-
lous irritations of the air-passages, more particularly in
   Chronic Bronchitis  of scrofulous  individuals, with heat, tickling,
soreness and cough attended with expectoration of a purulent mucus,
moderate fever.
  Kopp informs us that he has cured

  Polypus of the Nose with the iodide mercurial  ointment.  A man
of sixty had been  affected with polypus of the nose for many years.
His breathing was considerably  interfered with, for  the  polypus
began to protrude  from the nostrils.  About the size of a pin's head
of the ointment was applied  to the polypus morning and evening by
means of a camel's hair pencil.  In eight  weeks the  polypus had
entirely disappeared and the obstruction of the nose was completely
removed.

  In Goitre the mercurial iodide  has likewise been used with good
effect.  In  a case  reported  by Kopp  the  ointment was rubbed in
morning and night, about the size of a pea  each time; the cure was
completed in a very short time.
  In another case  of long standing, a  double goitre, impeding the
breathing and materially interfering with the circulation,  a portion
of the ointment  of the size  of a small  pea was  rubbed in morning
and night.   In a very short  time the goitre had  dwindled  down to
such a small size  that all treatment was  discontinued, the patient
being  no longer incommoded by it.   Other similar cases are like-
wise reported.
  Whenever the scrofulous and  syphilitic miasms are conjointly
at work undermining the constitution, the iodide of Mercury may
prove a most valuable  agent in  counteracting their deleterious
influence.
  In scrofulous affections of the glands,
   Chironic Swelling and Induration of Glands, even as a sequela of
scarlet-fever, the iodide of Mercury has been used with good effect.
  In scrofulous affections of the lymphatic system, more particu-
larly in 
    MERCURIUS ACETATUS.  MERCURIUS PRAECIPITATUS RUBER.  635

  Mesenteric Ganglionitis, when the lymphatic glands are swollen
and hard, and  the patients are frequently troubled with diarrhoea,
the iodide of Alercury may afford much relief.
  This agent occupies a conspicuous place among the remedies which
homoeopathic physicians resort to in their treatment of Diphtheria.
Dr. H. D. Paine, of Albany, in an interesting essay on Diphtheria,
published in the sixteenth number of the Transactions of the Ameri-
can Institute, furnishes the following indications for its use :
  " As soon as the  least  appearance of membranous deposit was
observed, or there was any swelling of the glands of the neck, the
Iodide of Mercury was freely administered and generally continued
until  there was a complete obliteration  of those symptoms.  We
have given it mostly in doses of the first trituration, and the effect
in arresting and detaching the  false membranous  formation has
been in many cases most gratifying."


                  MERCURIUS ACETATUS.

                      (Acetate of Mercury)

  This is a solution  of the deutoxide or  sub-carbonate of  Alercury
in acetic acid,  the salt being precipitated  from the solution by crys-
talization.
  This preparation is not much used by homoeopathic  physicians.
  We have a few provings of this  agent which are in all respects
simila r to corresponding portions of the much more extensive patho-
genesis of Alercurius  vivus and solubilis.   What few symptoms
there are, seem to shoAV a marked relation between the acetate and
the urinary and sexual organs.  It has been used with success in a
case of tinea capitis  and impetigo.  We make triturations.


          MERCURIUS PRiECIPITATUS RUBER.

                        (Red Precipitate)

   This is an oxide of Alercury,  obtained by dissolving quicksilver
in nitric acid, from which solution the red powder  is obtained by
evaporation.  This powder is triturated  together  with a little more
pure  quicksilver into a homogeneous mass which is dried  by expo-
sure to gentle heat, and kept for use in blackened bottles.
   On various occasions, in the course of  these lectures on the mer-
curial preparations,  I have alluded  to the red precipitate as emi-
nently adapted to the treatment of secondary syphilitic affections,
torpid chancres,  eruptions.   I  will  relate a few additional cases
illustrative  of the remarkable curative virtues of  this agent.
   A girl of twenty years was  affected with condylomata at the anus
and chancrous ulcers at the labia, on the lips and in the fauces, of
which she was cured in five weeks by means of corrosive sublimate.
Subsequently she was attacked with dry, itching, venereal tetter on 
636
LECTURE XLIII.
the hairy scalp, forehead and on the left nates, which showed a ten-
dency to spread, and seemed very obstinate.  She was put on the
use of the red precipitate in doses of one-fourth of a grain morning
and evening, and an ointment of the same preparation was applied
externally to the eruption.  After having used ten grains of the red
precipitate,  the  eruption  disappeared entirely  and  permanently.
The gums became slightly affected.
  Another interesting case is  that of a girl of fourteen years, born
of a syphilitic mother.   For seven years past she had  been affected
with fetid otorrhosa, hardness of hearing, swelling of the tibia and a
fetid ulcer in the nose.   AYhen she was first placed  under medical
treatment, we found the soft and cartilaginous portions of the nose,
the roof of the mouth,  the upper jaw and alveolar processes as far
as the rami,  destroyed ; the tongue was exposed;  a fetid  ichor Avas
discharged from the ears;  the bodily and mental development very
much retarded ;  symptoms of general cachexia; the animal functions
normal.  She was put on the use of the red  precipitate in doses of
one-sixteenth of a grain once, and afterwards twice, a day; in three
weeks she was cured perfectly, and the hearing was likewise restored.
  These two cases were extracted from Hufeland's Journal. Another
case is related by Kopp.  A woman of forty-nine years  had been
afflicted for seven years past with a seated pain in the region of the
malleolus; the leg from the malleolus upwards was very much
SAvollen and the lower  portion  of it stiff  During  all  this time
the patient  had been  troubled with an eruption on the  left arm.
All this trouble had been inflicted upon her by her syphilitic hus-
band.  The  red precipitate in doses of one-eighth of a grain cured
her entirely and permanently.  Kopp saw her five years after, Avhen
she still enjoyed the best of health.

  In the fifty-fifth volume of Hufeland's Journal, we find  the fol-
lowing case  of poisoning of a female in the seventh month of preg-
nancy, who, by mistake, had taken as much of the red oxyde as Avould
cover the point of a knife: Nausea, vomiting, oppression of the chest,
pains in the stomach and whole abdomen: afterwards violent vomit-
ing of blood, with subsequent fainting; after  this, the patient was
attacked with a copious diarrhoea and intolerable pains in the abdo-
men, AYith burning in the mouth and throat, and unquenchable thirst.
On the third day:  trembling  of the whole body, excessive redness
of the whole face and  eyes, staring  and wild looks, and  ptyalism,
Avith a specific and intolerable smell.  She vomited twice a quantity
of blackish blood ; the  gums were swollen and inflamed, the tongue
was so big that it filled the whole cavity of the mouth and seemed
perforated in several places; the buccal cavity itself looked as  if
covered with the outer  crust of decayed cheese.  The larynx Avas
swollen  as much as the mouth, and was even inflamed externally ;
the pulse was quick, small and rather hard.  The abdomen (other-
wise distended by pregnancy) Avas swollen unto  bursting, and so
sensitive that the patient was unable to bear the  least touch.   The
patient did  not feel the movements of  the fetus the whole day.
Stomacace of the highest degree of intensity ; there were  two holes 
MERCURIUS PRAECIPITATUS ALBUS.
637
in the  tongue, into which a finger might be inserted.  The  teeth
were scarcely visible  on account of the swelling of the gums and
sordes.
  By administering suitable antidotes, more particularly the sulphuret
of potassium, of which an ounce was boiled in half a quart of water, to
be given in cupful doses every half hour; and by the use of mucilagi-
nous drinks and  antiphlogistic means, the patient was restored, and
was  afterwards delivered of a healthy  child.

  These symptoms of poisoning resemble the symptoms caused by
the black oxide and the common quicksilver, except that they may
surpass the latter  in  intensity.  We may infer from this and  other
cases of poisoning by  the red precipitate, that in
 , Stomacace of a malignant and very foul character, this agent may
be very useful.
  In Colic, bilious and  inflammatory,  characterized by  vomiting of
bile and blood, horrid tormina, internal trembling, spasms, cold sweat,
dreadful tympanites,  unquenchable thirst, the red precipitate may
prove an admirable remedy.

  On a previous  occasion I have alluded to the provings of Aler-
curius ruber, which have been instituted by Dr. Eiselt.   I stated at
that  time that an  inflammation of the Meibomian glands, with which
the Doctor had been afflicted for several years, had disappeared under
the effects of this  agent.
  Another remarkable  symptom elicited by the Doctor, is "painful
colic accompanied with constant urging to stool  which went on
increasing in violence,  spread through the whole  of the intestines,
and  especially in the anus, caused a  sensation as  if a  red-hiot iron
were pushed up and down.  In spite of the violent tenesmus, only a
little reddish blood was passed with cutting  burning.   Nausea and
burning distress in the stomach supervened likewise.
  This  group of symptoms shows that in

  Bilious Dysentery, the red precipitate may prove a specific remedy.
  In the treatment of  old
  Ulcers with hard, callous edges, secretion of fetid ichor and forma-
tion  of  bloody crusts,  the red precipitate has effected fine cures.  In
Graefe's Journal several cases are reported, where such ulcers which
had  arisen from  injuries, were speedily cured, even after they had
existed  for years, by  the application of thin layers of the red pre-
cipitate  ointment  spread  on soft lint.  If these ulcers  are seated
on the  leg, it may be indispensable to  keep the leg quiet and in a
horizontal position.


          MERCURIUS  PRiECIPITATUS ALBUS,

                       ( White precipitate)

  This salt is obtained by dissolving corrosive sublimate, from AA-hich
solution the salt is precipitated by the  addition of liquid  ammonia. 
638
LECTURE XLIII.
  This preparation has very irritating properties.  It is sometimes
used for the purpose of irritating a very torpid chancre, after Avhich
the ulcer becomes more susceptible of the curative influence of Aler-
cury administered internally.
  A case of poisoning by this salt is reported in Frank's Alagazine,
which terminated fatally.  Forty grains of the white precipitate Avere
swallowed  by mistake for Magnesia.  Beside the usual symptoms of
poisoning by  corrosive  mercurial  salts, such as:  vomiting, purging,
burning in the oesophagus, and horrid thirst, the patient was attacked
with contraction of the muscles, especially of the loAver extremities,
down to the toes; contraction of the hands and fingers; excessive
dryness of the skin in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet;
increasing paralysis of the muscles and gradual death about  a Aveek
after the poisoning took place.


                        ClfflABARIS,

                   (Red sulphiuret of Mercury)

  We obtain this preparation artificially by subliming together six
parts of pure Mercury and one part of refined Sulphur. The native
cinnabar is not sufficiently pure for homoeopathic use.
  The middle potencies of Cinnabar have been used in
  Chironic Gonorrhea, and the lower triturations in cases of
  Chancre of the  Glans.


                    MERCURIUS DULCIS,

    (Proto-chiloride of Mercury, Calomel, submuriaie of Mercury)

  This preparation is obtained  by making  a solution of nitrate of
Mercury in sixteen parts of water, and precipitating the chloride
from  this solution by gradually adding  a  solution of one part of
common salt in nine parts of water.
  This mercurial salt has been most commonly used by allceopathic
physicians  as  an  alterative agent.   It has been  used  as a means of
exciting salivation or diarrhoea, and thus diverting the morbid pro-
cess that was going on in other tissues.  In  the course of these lec-
tures I have dwelt so extensively upon the destructive results of the
abuse of calomel in the hands of Old-School physicians that I need
not, on this occasion, still further  darken this mournful picture of
human ignorance and recklessness.
  The idea of "^ alterative action" is a good  one.  We see this idea
illustrated in  disease, when  nature sets up a diarrhoea with evident
relief of an irritation in the throat  or head;  or develops a rash with
relief of pain in the extremities, or oppression on the chest.  Altera-
tive action may take place the other way: A rash may strike in, and
develop effusion in the cerebral ventricles, spasmodic  asthma, para-
lysis.   Allceopathic physicians have undertaken  to copy nature by 
MERCURIUS DULCIS.
639
setting up the  alterative system of treatment.  Unfortunately they
copy most bunglingly.  It is undeniable that in  simple, uncompli-
cated cases, artificial alterative action may sometimes afford perma-
nent relief.  Who does not knoAV that bilious feelings in the head ;
a fullness and heaviness of the head, dull aching pains in the head,
have been relieved by a dose of salts acting upon the bowels ?  Who
does not know  that the irritation which a mustard-plaster excites in
the epigastric  region,  has relieved  the pain and irritation  in the
stomach, incident to a  fit of indigestion?
  The great  sin, of which  alloeopathic physicians  have rendered
themselves guilty from time  immemorial is to  erect a compact
system of treatment upon such a fallacious basis.
  Your friend  had been  keeping  late hours,  tasted a little more
champagne than usual, and awakes in the  morning with his head
feeling rather dull and tight.  He sends  for you, complains of his
distress and informs you that he used to relieve himself of such
a trouble by drinking  a glass of Seltzerwater, but that  now, since
he got to be a homosopathist, he is  all afloat and ignorant of what
course he ought to pursue.  AVould you put him through a  regular
course of Nux for the honor of the institution, or would you not rather
advise him to pursue his  accustomed method of clearing the head
by imbibing a little carbonic acid  gas ?  Where  is  the harm ?  Is
truth injured by such a proceeding?  Is the dignity of Homoeopathy
tarnished by it  ?   A case of this kind is hardly a  case for medical
therapeutics.
  Far different  would be your course in a  case of chronic sick head-
ache.   Here the use of alterative palliatives would be improper, for
they A\rould not only not remove the trouble, but they might likewise
weaken the amount of constitutional  sensitiveness to proper treat-
ment, and besides inflict some artificial medicinal derangements upon
the organism.  Where has  the consistent abuse of the  alterative
method led the infatuated practitioner ?   To the most outrageous
violations of Nature's laws.  For the ostensible purpose of relieving
pain, he blisters and burns the living tissues,  converting the  healing
art into a satanic mockery.
  The sialogogue and cathartic  properties  of calomel have been
more particularly resorted to for the purpose of altering the course
and nature of the morbid process.   In a case  of dropsy, for instance,
salivation is  excited for the purpose  of  carrying  off  the  effused
fluid.  This is what is meant by alterative action.   One pathological
process is substituted for the original  morbid condition.  The  dis-
ease is not cured, the  pathological process is simply altered in its
character, an artificial, medicinal irritation being  substituted in the
place of the  original  malady.   What a vague, uncertain and fre-
quently dangerous proceeding!  How often does the original  malady
remain  unaltered, and is  moreover complicated  Avith an artificial
disease!  And  how often does this artificial  malady prove a devas-
tating scourge which remains  entailed upon the  constitution until
death wipes out all traces of this unpardonable destruction of human
power and happiness.  Calomel must alter the pathological process.
If five grains will  not do it,  ten must, and if  ten will  not it,  we will 
640
LECTURE XLIII.
try fifty or an hundred.   This is the law, not the laAV of nature, but
the law of human pride and professional infatuation.  In the Latin
of old Juvenal: "Sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione voluntas/"  Thus
I will try it, this is my command, let my will  stand in the place  of
common  sense!
  As examples of the alterative action  of calomel in the hands  of
Old-School physicians, we may mention  the use of Calomel.
   1.  In hydrocephalus,  which  disappeared and was speedily fol-
lowed by enteritis terminating in gangrene;
   2.  In croup;  a boy of fifteen  months was  given nine  grains  of
calomel in three days ; no membrane was formed; there was simply
expectoration of a puriform, tenacious substance;  bilious diarrhoea
set in for eight days; in the second Aveek the mesenteric glands
became hard and swollen, so that they could  be distinguished one
from the  other;  several weeks after, the  child died of tabes  mese-
raica ;
   3.  In dropsy, which disappeared; in its place foul sores broke out
upon the legs.
   In the  hands of a homoeopathic physician, calomel is an excellent
mercurial preparation.   We may make triturations of it, in the
decimal  or  centesimal scale, and we  may use  it in syphilitic and
scrofulous  affections.  It is especially in derangements depending
upon functional or organic disorders of the liver that this agent
may prove useful; such as:
   Ascites ;
   Mucous,  Watery and Bloody Stools, with tenesmus and piles ;
   Cholera infantum, colic and restlessness of nursing infants.
   Constipation, the discharges being dark-green, or brown, or lumpy,
or faecal  masses composed of a number of little balls slightly  coher-
ing by means of intestinal mucus; or
   Partial  Constipation, the first  part of  the discharge being solid,
and the latter half thin, watery.
   In this form of constipation a  discharge is apt to be preceded  by
spasmodic, griping, twisting, bilious pains.
   Kopp  recommends Calomel for the  colic and restlessness of chil-
dren when the discharges are preceded by crampy, cutting pains; the
stools  may be  watery, or bilious, greenish, or the bowels may be
constipated.
   In Hufeland's Journal, vol. 91, the use of calomel in the Diarrhea
of children, is strongly recommended by Dr. Amelung.  In the case
of an  atrophied little girl  of eighteen  months, who was suffering
with  watery diarrhoea  which had been fruitlessly treated with a
number  of remedies, one-eighth  of a grain of Calomel was finally
given every three hours.  The child who heretofore had cried and
moaned  day and night, became  quiet, slept, her appetite returned,
and  she became a blooming little girl.  Since then Amelung has
employed  the  drug in numberless cases of watery, and  greenish
bilious diarrhoea with perfect success.
   He has the candor to admit that he  is indebted for this  use of
Calomel  to Kopp, although he repudiates Homoeopathy, and  thinks
that Kopp may have accidentally stumbled upon  this use of Calo- 
MERCURIUS DULCIS.                   641
 mel.   Yet Amelung, and all other alloeopathic physicians who use
 Calomel for this  diarrhoea of children, know perfectly well that it
 produces this very condition in children or full grown persons in a
 state of health.    Amicus Pluto,  amicus Aiistoteles,  sed  magis
 arnica Veritas !  Calomel may prove useful in
   Angina  Putrida or Putrid  Sore Throat, with livid ulcers,  foul
 smell and bleeding from the mouth, scraping, burning pain  in the
 throat, hoarseness.   Also in
   Glandular Swellings which Calomel has  caused in many cases.
   In Salivation, in the common Stomatitis of chiildren (thrush), it may
 be used  in preference to  other mercurial preparations.  In Hufe-
 land's Journal we find the following pretty  cure of a case of ptyalism
 recorded by an alloeopathic physician: A man of thirty years  had
 been sleeping against a damp wall.  The consequence was that his
 face, especially in the region of the submaxillary glands became
 oedematous, and he lost every day a large quantity of watery saliva.
 All  the  remedies employed were without  effect.  A few grains  of
 Calomel a  day cured him in a few days.  Yet Calomel causes swell-
 ing of the submaxillary glands and ptyalism.   The first and second
 trituration might have been sufficient to effect this cure.

   We will not close this chapter on  Calomel without instituting an
 inquiry into the validity of its claims as a stimulator of the liver.
   In Old-School therapeutics, Calomel  has held this position for
 years without its claims to it having ever been questioned.  Gentle-
 men, let me here repeat to you what I have said in different Avays
 on many other occasions.   What is it that distinguishes the Homoeo-
 pathic from the Allceopathic  School as far as a perception of the
 nature of drugs is concerned ?  It is the distinction which  Homoeo-
 paths draw between drugs and aliments.  This distinction has been
 overlooked by alloeopathic physicians.  It may seem strange to you
 to hear  me assert such an apparent  absurdity;  for certainly no
 alloeopathic physician, if questioned about  it, would not be Avilling
 to admit that there is a vital difference between Calomel and bread
 and butter.  If allceopathic physicians could only be made to per-
 ceive the fact, they would  be horrified  at  their own  monstrosities.
 But with seeing eyes they see not and with hearing ears they hear
 not.   Alas, they know  not Avhat they  are doing.  They apply  to
 deleterious principles the language and philosophy which legitimately
 applies to  the principles of life.   They call drugs stimulants  and
 tonics, meaning by this, that there are drugs which have the faculty
 of imparting strength to  a  sinking vitality and stimulating  the
organic functions.
   Gentlemen,  it is time that this monstrous fallacy should  be scat-
 tered by the rays of truthw hich have shone upon the world through
Hahnemann's brain.  No drug stimulates or imparts strength. Every
drug is inimical to the organic tissues.  Every drug, as soon as it
comes  in contact with the organic tissues, and exercises an action
upon them, manifests its presence in the organism by sensations of
pain.   Drugs represent or embody principles  of  death, not of life.
Aliments embody  principles  of  life,  not  of  death.  The inmost
                              41 
612     »                LECTURE  XLIII.
germs, the cell-life of an organ, are stimulated into  a spontaneous,
harmonious  groAvth by the  aliments which  the  bounteous Creator
has designed as the  natural food of the organism.  If the organ is
invaded by  a morbific principle,  a rapport  is established between
this principle and the drug which is its  typical representative in
Nature.  If the liver is invaded  by a morbific principle which con-
stitutes the drug,  or dynamic force of Calomel, it is with this prin-
ciple that the molecules of Calomel unite;  they absorb it, neutralize
it, materialize it,  remove it  from the  inmost cells where the  vital
forces  spin  the thread  of life, disembarrass, emancipate them as it
were, and enable them to manifest their activity with   increased
intensity.  Let us never lose sight of the fact that drugs are only in
rapport with the forces of disease, not with the forces of life.  Here
is the great  mistake which has been committed by alloeopathic phy-
sicians and which is perpetuated  by all the thoughtless practitioners
of our own Schools.   They represent the drug-action in disease as a
physiological process.  The drug is assimilated by the tissues. What
madness!  How can a drug be assimilated by tissues which it pos-
sesses an inherent tendency to destroy!   Drugs combine with  the
morbific forces which  they represent  or  embody in their tissues;
aliments stimulate the cell-germs of organs by furnishing assimilable
material to the forces which weave the framework of the  organism.


                 MERCURIUS   CORROSIVUS.

  (Corrosive  Sublimate, the Deuto-chloride or Bichiloride  of Mercury)

   We may  obtain this salt by first distilling to dryness three parts
of metallic mercury dissolved in five parts  of concentrated  sulphuric
acid, and  afterwards  triturating  the resulting salt with equal parts
of common salt.   The triturated mass is then sublimed  in a sand-
bath.  This is the dry way of  obtaining the salt.   The wet Avay
consists in dissolving red precipitate in hydrochloric acid, and after-
wards evaporating the solution to dryness, or allowing  the salt to
crystallize.
   This is the most poisonous and corrosive of  all mercurial salts.
A number  of  cases of poisoning by  this salt are reported  in  the
work,s on toxicology.  The poison seems to act  with destructive
force upon the mucous lining of the mouth, oesophagus and stomach,
causing  softening and gangrenous disorganization, of  this mem-
brane.
   In SAvallowing an  acrid poison, pain need not necessarily be pre-
sent.   Mackintosh, in his  Practice of Physic, mentions the case of a
soldier, who died in eight or ten days after swallowing two drachms
of corrosive sublimate;  there  were  no  local  pains, though   the
stomach was found ulcerated, and the great intestines were studded
with large, gangrenous  ulcers, and the mucous membrane was hang-
ing loose in shreds.
   The following case of poisoning reported by Devergie illustrates
very fully the destructive action  of the poison: 
MERCURIUS C0RR0SIVUS.
643
   A woman swallowed a quantity of corrosive sublimate about six
o'clock in the evening.   Her husband found  her shortly after, very
restless, vomiting continually and tormented by constant urging to
stool.   A physician was sent for who found her  at  11 o'clock at
night extended on  her bed, without  control over her limbs;  skin
cold and dripping with perspiration;  face pale, colorless; eyes dull
and dim  and expressive of agony;  lips and tongue whitish and
shrunk ; thirst intense; deglutition so difficult and painful that the
least attempt to swallow a drop of liquid  caused spasms  of the
oesophagus and stomach, with vomiting of whitish, slimy, tenacious
masses Avhich became mixed with bile  if the vomiting continued
any length of time.   Pressure on the throat was painful;  the patient
experienced a sensation of warmth and burning along the whole of
the oesophagus; the skin on the abdomen was cold ; the epigastrium
was painful even from the least pressure.  Alvine evacuations and
frequent and violent urging with tenesmus and violent burning.
She complained of violent  burning and  horrid distress in the
stomach; the beats of the  heart seemed remote  and slow;  pulse
small,  filiform, scarcely perceptible;  respiration slow.   In spite of
 treatment the patient died next day.
   A post-mortem examination showed a congested condition of the
cerebral vessels, effusion of red serum  in the lateral ventricles at
the base of  the brain; the larynx slightly  violet-colored, and the
inside of the trachea and bronchi lined with a vascular network.
The stomach was covered with vidlet and reddish-brown spots; the
mucous coat was of the color of  bricks.   The lining membrane
of the  bowels was  slightly red.  The liver  was of a normal  size,
colorless, and' having the appearance  and consistence  of  fatty liver.
The uterus was completely clogged with albuminous mucous.
   Masselot instituted on his own person comparative experiments
with arsenic and corrosive  sublimate, with  a view of determining
the relative degree  of intensity of the action of these poisons.  He
commenced  with one-thirteenth  of a grain  of arsenic  daily, and
gradually increased the dose until, after the lapse of twelve days, he
took two-fifths of a grain every day which  he swallowed in four
parts of one-tenth of a grain each, at intervals of four hours.  He
took  this quantity  for six days without  experiencing  any other-
results than an increased  appetite, a more  rapid and easier  diges-
tion, a  slight increase  of the urinary  secretions, great ease and
readiness in walking, and a slight degree of sexual excitement, but
not the least febrile heat.
   Corrosive  sublimate  produced quite  different results.  Already
after SAvallowing the second portion of three-sixteenths  of a grain
he experienced a feeling of obstruction and anxiety in the prascordia
and  epigastric region,  followed  by'  slight palpitations;  after the
third dose: a general feeling of malaise,  some pain in the stomach,
passing colic, feeling of weakness and shivering in the limbs,  palpi-
tation;  after the fourth dose: painful  pinching  in  the stomach,
lassitude in the limbs and trembling when standing up and Avithout
moving; increased  anxiety,  more frequent  palpitations, creeping
chills, sensation of coldness, paleness of the face, attacks of nausea, 
644
LECTURE XLIII.
bloated bowels, borborygmi, colic and tenesmus, and six discharges
during the night.  On  the  following day  the  experimenter only
experienced some malaise and a little  less  appetite than  usual.
Three days after the experiment was repeated in the same  order,
and  the  same effects Avere  experienced, only  more intensely;  the
anxiety, paleness, disposition to  chilliness, lassitude and  tenesmus
especially were more marked.  He had moreover several attacks of
vertigo, and tAvice he experienced a spasmodic vomiting of a serous
substance, without any previous nausea.   The effects  of the poison
continued more or less for two days.
  These experiments show that corrosive sublimate affects  power-
fully the vegetative system, and  that poisonous doses may readily
destroy its vitality.
   The poisonous effects  and corresponding curative range of Cor-
rosive Mercury  may be comprehended under the folloAving cate-
gories :

                    CEPHALIC  GROUP.

  Frightful paroxysms of
  Hemicrania every evening and night.

                     SPECIAL SENSES.

  Rheumatic, Scrofulous, and Syphilitic Ophthalmia, especially when
the sensitiveness to light is very great.
  In Retinitis and Iritis, the sublimate has done good service, especi-
ally  when of  a scrofulous or syphilitic nature, or after operations.

                     BUCCAL GROUP.

  Stomacace, with complete  softening or gangrene of the mucous
lining ; it looks whitish  or greenish, bloody.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Mucous Gastritis, with vomiting of  blood and mucus, burning in
the  stomach, unquenchable thirst, vomiting  when attempting to
swallow the least liquid.
   Gastromalacia of children, pain, swelling of region of stomach,
soreness, vomiting, diarrhoea.
  Dysentery, frightful tenesmus, discharge  of  blood and mucus, re-
tention of urine.
   Ulceration of the bowels, with watery diarrhoea, also bloody ; with
cutting and burning pains in the bowels, tenesmus.
  Paralytic weakness and  paralysis  of lower  limbs, inarticulate
speech, distortion  of facial  muscles; irregular, small, contracted
pulse, also quick and jerking, not full pulse.  The paralyzed limb is
cold, the skin dry. You recollect that a similar effect was witnessed
from the acetate of Alercury. .

                    THORACIC  GROUP.
  In Scrofulous and Syphilitic  ulceration of the lungs, the sublimate 
MERCURIUS BR0MATUS.
645
is highly spoken of.   The sudden suppression of a chancre or of a
syphilitic eruption by external means may lead to ulcerous phthisis
which  corrosive Mercury may be alone able to cure.  The  same
remarks  apply to headaches which sometimes appear years after
such suppression.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Slow, Hectic fevers springing from a syphilitic source, yield to the
corrosive sublimate.   The patients complain of extreme prostration
and fetid sweats.
  In  Typhoid Enteritis, with foul,  bloody stools; burning in the
boAvels, tympanitic distention  of the  bowels, soreness  to pressure,
this agent may prove very useful.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Corrosive  sublimate is eminently  useful in syphilitic  eruptive
diseases  of a  secondary character;  in Lepra, Psoriasis,  Herpes,
Macule, Papule,  Ulcers. If these eruptions can be traced to a scrofu-
lous diathesis, this agent has likewise been employed with  success.
A case of Leprosy, for  instance, is reported in Hufeland's  Journal
characterized by  thick, white crusts over the whole body, with
bleeding rhagades, where the sublimate effected a cure.
  In syphilitic diseases of bones,
  Nodes,  Caries,  Corrosive  Mercury  may  prove  eminently useful,
and may compete with the iodide of Mercury, and the hydriodate of
potash.
  Syphiilitic Eruptions with furious itching and burning require the
sublimate. Many alloeopathic physicians use the sublimate baths on
such occasions, dissolving  from one to four hundred grains of sub-
limate in a tubful of tepid water.   If these baths  are used, the
patient should be kept in an uniform temperature until the cure is
completed.
   We use the sublimate  in solution, dissolving one  part of it in
twenty parts of water.  This makes the strong or concentrated solu-
tion, of which one drop may be mixed in  twelve tablespoonfuls of
water.   The second  attenuation is made from this solution by means
of  dilute alcohol in  the proportion of 1 : 10; all subsequent attenu-
ations are made Avith strong alcohol.
   In a case of poisoning by this salt, we give an emetic of sulphate
of  zinc,  if we have time; or at once resort to large quantities of the
white  of eggs, milk, sugar  and water, mucilaginous drinks.  The
sulphuret of potassium, oleaginous beverages, and liquids containing
a good deal of tannin, are likewise good antidotes.


                  MERCURIUS  BROMATUS.

   The Bromide of Mercury has a powerful action upon  the organ-
ism.   Half a grain causes slight pressure and pain in the bowels.
One grain causes an  increased secretion  of urine, colicky pains, 
646
LECTURE XLIII.
several papescent stools.  One  grain and  a-half cause loathing,
vomiturition, increased  secretion of urine, antl afterwards violent,
painful vomiting.
   From a quarter of a  grain  Hcering experienced a disagreeable
sensation in the fauces, slight pinching in the bowels.  After taking
half a grain, these symptoms  became more fully developed, with
pressure in the stomach, papescent stool, increased  secretion of mu-
cus.  One grain caused a nauseous taste, a rough and scraping sen-
sation in the throat which obliged him to cough.  The pressure at the
stomach was felt at once, followed soon after by several watery stools.
During this  time he was attacked  by the most violent colic  and
painful tenesmus, he felt  debilitated, his pulse  was slow, small; he
had to vomit twice, with great straining.  The  abdomen was drawn
in towards  the vertebral column, very sensitive  to contact, with
increased secretion of urine and saliva.  During the violence of the
pain the body was covered Avith sweat.

   The Bromide of Mercury acts similarly to Corrosive Sublimate,
and has been employed with some success in diseases where the sub-
limate seems specifically indicated, particularly in
   Secondary Syphilitic Eruptions,  Corona Veneris, ulcerations on the
scrotum, ulcers of the fauces, herpes and rhagades on the body and
at the anus.

   Our provings show that this agent may be of eminent use in cer-
tain forms of
   Dysentery  with violent tormina, spasmodic retraction of the abdo-
minal walls as in lead-colic, tenesmus, discharge  of blood and mucus,
and urging to urinate.  The third to the sixth potency may be suffi-
cient.

   The Bromide of Mercury is antidoted by the white of eggs.

  GENERAL  ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT  IN CASES OF
                 MERCURIAL POISONING.

   Among the poisonous effects of Alercury, the most formidable are:
   Salivation.  We combat this disorder with gargles of lukewarm
water, acidulated with nitric acid ; a  strong infusion of "alum is like-
wise  serviceable;  sage-tea may be  resorted to.  If the gums are
simply affected, powdered alum may be rubbed upon them three or
four times a  day.  If the salivation is accompanied with a good deal
of pain, the  mouth may be rinsed with a solution of Opium, in the
proportion of one hundred drops to  a cupful of water.
   Another admirable remedy for mercurial ptyalism is the chloride
of potash, of which from five to ten grains in solution may be given
internally three or four times a day, using it at  the same time  as a
gargle in the proportion of one hundred grains to a cupful of water.
   Eczema. This distressing eruption may be accompanied with high
fever, in which case we should give Aconite, a  drop of the tincture
in a tumblerful of water.  Trousseau and Pidoux advise the use of 
MERCURIUS BROMATUS.
647
emollient  and gelatinous baths and general embrocations with a
soapy compound of one pound of lime-water and three, four or five
ounces of  almond-oil.  Baths in which from half a pound to two
pounds  of the acetate of lead have been dissolved, are likewise
recommended by these gentlemen.  With our Aconite perseveringly
applied, the acute mercurial eczema loses a good deal of its danger,
and its annoying character is more readily controlled.  In chronic
mercurial  eruptions and ulcers, Hepar Sulphuris is very efficient.
  Trembling or Tremor, Mania, Epilepsy and other Nervous Disorders.
We  relieve them by the  use  of opiates, principally  Belladonna,
Hyoscyamus and Opium.  These medicines may be given internally,
a few drops  of the tincture in a tumblerful of water, and an ointment
of the same drugs may be rubbed upon the spine, more particularly
in the region of the medulla oblongata  and the  upper  and middle
portion of the spinal column.  If the lower limbs are much affected,
the ointment may be applied to the whole of the vertebral column.
Nux vomica may likewise prove useful  for mercurial tremor and
paralysis.  Hahnemann recommends electricity for mercurial tremor,
neuralgia  and paralysis.
  Mercurial  Cachexia or Hydrargyria.  The  great  remedy in this
affection is the hydriodate of potash; in torpid  scrofulous constitu-
tions the iodide of iron has been found eminently useful. According
to Dieterich, gold and the muriate of gold are the most efficacious
antidotes  in chronic mercurial poisoning.  Dieterich considers the
use of  iron dangerous, if the mercurial symptoms are complicated
with syphilis.  Ricord, on the contrary, thinks  iron highly advan-
tageous, even when syphilitic symptons are present.
  In mercurial Bone-diseases, gold and the muriate of  gold are recom-
mended by Dieterich, especially if the nasal cartilages are involved.
For mercurial periostitis, he recommends phosphoric acid and  Phos-
phorus.
  In mercurial Caries, Asafoetida, Silicea  and the hydriodate of pot-
ash prove the best means of cure.
  Belladonna, Iodine and the  hydriodate of potash for glandular
swellings.
  If Gangrene threatens, pulverized charcoal may be administered ;
Arsenic may likewise prove useful.
  For mercurial Rheumatism we give Guajacum and Aconite.
  For mercurial Purging the acetate of lead.
  For mercurial Neuralgia and  spasms the  sulphate of zinc may
likewise prove useful.
  For mercurial Hemorrhiage, Arnica and iron are indicated.
  For Debility and slow  torpid fever we give  China, Veratrum and
Arsenic, also Iodine.
  Lastly we may commend to your attention the fact that one set of
mercurial preparations has been successfully used by eminent prac-
titioners in counteracting the poisonous effects of other mercurials. 
648
LECTURE XLIV.
               LECTURE   XLIV.


                       NUX VOMICA,

        (Strychnos Nux Vomica.—Nat. Ord.:—Apocyne..e.)

  Seed of the fruit of Strychnos Nux vomica, a middling sized tree ;
leaves  spear-shaped; berry round and smooth  covered by a shell
containing a pulp which is eaten by birds;  seed button-shaped.  The
bark termed "Angustura spuria" was at first believed to be the bark
of the brucea antidysenterica, a native of Abyssinia; but it was after-
wards found to be the bark of the  Strychnos nux vomica.
  This tree is a native of the East-Indies.  The bark is poisonous to
animals and men.  Emmert reports a case of poisoning by this bark
where a boy, five years and a half old, Avas given  three tablespoonfuls
of a decoction of five ounces of the bark boiled doAvn to fiAre fluid
ounces.  The principal  symptoms in this  case  of poisoning were:
tremor which soon increased to  spasms ; the least touch brought on
tetanic spasm; lockjaw with protrusion and immobility of the eyes;
the breathing, after the paroxysm, was excessively labored, stertorous,
face and forehead covered with  sweat; blueness of  the  lips  and
cheeks; the spasms  were  excited by  drinking  a little lukewarm
water,  by the least noise or contact; previous to death, the whole
body became relaxed and the eyes extinct, with a few convulsive in-
spirations at long intervals;  death took place one hour after taking
the poison, and half an hour after death, the  body was quite rigid.
A post-mortem examination showed that the blood was cherry brown
and fluid.  The right lung was externally pale and bloated, inter-
nally gorged with blood; the left  lung was externally blue, and
when cut into, it looked blackish and was gorged with  blood.
  The action of Nux vomica on man is so  graphically  described by
Pereira that I beg the privilege of quoting his  remarks  on this point,
with some slight but necessary comments.
  According to Pereira, three  degrees of the operation of Nux
vomica on man may be  admitted.
  "First  degree: Tonic  and diuretic effects.—In  very small  and re-
peated doses, Nux vomica usually promotes the appetite, assists the
digestive  process,  increases the secretion of urine, and renders the
excretion of the fluid more frequent.   In some  cases it acts slightly
on  the bowels, and  occasionally  produces a  sudorific effect.  The
pulse is usually unaffected.  In  somewhat  larger doses, the stomach
not unfrequently becomes  disordered, and the  appetite impaired."
   Pereira, educated in  the old mental  habits  of the School, assigns
to small doses of Nux the power of producing tonic or strengthening
effects in  the healthy stomach.  No intelligent homoeopathic physi-
cian, no homoeopathic practitioner Avho has habituated his mind to
reflection and philosophical reasoning, will ever be guilty of perpetuat-
ing the balderdash of Old-School therapeutics.  Drugs are poisons. It 
STRYCHNOS NUX  VOMICA.
649
is in their very nature to be poisonous  to the organism.  They are
poisonous whether  taken in small or large doses.  AYherein then
does this pretended tonic effect of Nux consist?   As soon  as  the
poison comes in contact with the stomach, and begins to exercise its
deleterious action, the brain, in its capacity of chief supervisor of the
functional activities of the  organism, comes to  the support  of the
threatened  organ, administering to it,  lending  to  it from its  own
abundance, an  additional power to manifest  the vital phenomena
inherent in its organic  destiny.  The brain is no  reasoning manager.
It obeys an instinctive law of order.  If the organic power  of the
stomach is threatened, the brain seeks to restore the equilibrium of
the functions by supplying  additional power to the invaded viscus.
Is this increase of power real or only apparent ?  Common sense at
once informs us that it is only apparent.  It is power borrowed from
the brain.  As long as the  brain has any power left to lend to the
stomach, it will do it;  it will impoverish itself; but  when the period
for  restitution has arrived, as it assuredly will; when the brain shall
be obliged  to call in all its outstancling funds for its own preserva-
tion and support:  then the funds will be found  exhausted;  the
organs cannot repay what they had borrowed from the brain, their
common reservoir of vitality; the brain is drained  of  its resources,
the organs will soon  find themselves reduced  to the condition of
empty pouches and worn-out tissues, and universal prostration and
decay will be the consequence.
  "Second degree: Rigidity and convulsive contraction of the muscles.—
In larger doses, the effects of Nux vomica manifest themselves by a
disordered  state of  the muscular  system.   A feeling of weight and
weakness in the limbs, and  increased sensibility to  external impres-
sions  (of light,  sound,  touch, and  variations  of temperature) Avith
depression  of spirits and anxiety, are usually the precursory symp-
toms.  The limbs tremble,  and a  slight rigidity or stiffness is  ex-
perienced when an attempt is made to  put  the muscles into action.
The patient experiences a difficulty in keeping the erect posture, and,
in walking, frequently staggers.  If, Avhen this effect is beginning to
be  observed, he be tapped  suddenly on the ham while standing, a
slight convulsive paroxysm is frequently brought on, so that he will
ha\Te some  difficulty to prevent himself from falling.   I have often
in this Avay been able to recognize the effect of  Nux vomica on the
muscular system, before the patient had experienced any particular
symptoms.
  If the use  of the medicine  be still persevered  in, these effects
increase in  intensity, and  the  voluntary muscles  are  thrown  into
a convulsed state by very  slight  causes.  Thus, when the patient
inspires more deeply than  usual,  or attempts to walk, or even to
turn in bed, a  convulsive  paroxysm is brought on.  The sudden
contact of  external bodies also acts like an electric shock on him.
The further employment  of Nux vomica increases the  severity of
the symptoms; the paroxysms now occur without the agency of any
evident exciting cause, and affect  him even Avhen lying perfectly
quiet and still in bed.   The muscular fibres of the pharynx, larynx,
oesophagus, and bladder, also become affected ; and Trousseau and 
650
LECTURE XLIV.
Pidoux say those of the penis are likewise inflamed, and the noctur-
nal and diurnal erections become inconvenient even in those Avho,
for some time before, had  lost someAvhat of their virility.  I am
acquainted with two cases of paralysis, in which  the  use of Nux
vomica caused almost constant nocturnal erections.  Females also,
say Trousseau  and Pidoux,  experience more energetic  venereal
desires; and we have, they add, received confidential information on
this point which cannot be doubted.
   " The pulse does not appear to be uniformly affected; for the most
part it  is slightly increased in frequency between the convulsive
attacks, but Trousseau says  he has found it calm even Avhen the dose
of the medicine was sufficient to cause  general muscular rigidity.
Previous to the production of the affection of the  muscles, various
painful sensations are oftentimes  experienced in the skin, which
patients have compared to the  creeping of insects (formication,) or
to the passage of  an electric shock; occasionally an eruption makes
its appearance.
   " It  is remarkable that, in  paralysis, the effects of Nux vomica
are principally observed in  the paralyzed parts.   I have seen, says
Magendie, the affected side covered with an  anomalous  eruption,
while the opposite side was free from it.  One  side of the  tongue is
sometimes sensible of a very bitter taste, which is not perceptible to
the other side."
   "Third degree: tetanus, asphyxia, death.—To illustrate this third
and most violent degree of operation, I think I  cannot do better
than relate a case of poisoning by Nux vomica reported by Air.
Oilier:
   "A young woman swalloAved between three and four drachms of
this substance in powder,  and in half an hour  was seen by Dr.
Oilier.  She was sitting by the fire, quite collected and tranquil; her
pulse  about eighty, and regular.   He left her for about ten minutes
to procure an emetic, and on his return found  that she had thrown
herself back in her  chair, and that her legs were extended and con-
siderably separated.  She was perfectly sensible, and without pain;
but seemed in alarm, laid hold of her husband's coat and entreated
him not to leave her.   A perspiration had broken out on  her skin,
her pulse had become faint and much  quicker, and she called fre-
quently for drink.  She then had a slight and transient convulsion.
Recovering from that she was in great trepidation, kept fast hold of
her husband, and refused to let him go, even for the alleged purpose
of getting her drink.  In a few minutes after,  she  had  another and
a more violent attack, and shortly afterwards a third; the duration
of these was from a minute and a half to tAvo minutes.   In  them she
retained her grasp ;  her whole body Avas straightened and  stiffened,
the legs pushed out and forced apart.  I could not (says Mr. Oilier,)
perceive either pulse or respiration; the face and hands were livid;
the muscles of the former, especially of the lips, violently  agitated;
and she made constantly a moaning chattering noise.  She was not
unlike one in an  epileptic fit, but  did not  struggle, though, as she
was forced out it  was difficult to keep her from falling  on  the floor.
   " In the  short interval of these attacks,  she was quite  sensible; 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
651
was tormented with excessive thirst;  perspired ; had  a very quick
and faint pulse ;  complained of being sick and made many attempts
to vomit.  (I should state she  had swallowed some Ipecacuanha
powder, to evacuate the poison).   She continued to refuse to let her
husband move, and to the question whether she was in pain replied:
No, no, no!
  "A fourth and most vehement attack soon followed, in which the
whole body was extended to the utmost; and  she was rigidly stiff
from head to foot, insomuch that, with all the force of the surgeon,
he could  not bend her thighs on the pelvis to replace her in her
seat. From this she never recovered ; she fell into a state of asphyxia
and never breathed  again.   She now relaxed  her grasp;  her dis-
colored hands dropped upon her knees; her face, too, was livid : the
brows  contracted ; the lips wide apart,  showing the whole of the
closed  teeth ; and a salivary foam issued plentifully from the corners
of the  mouth.  The expression of the whole countenance was at this
time very frightful.   On  removal of the body, it was discovered
that the urine had been discharged.  She died in about one hour after
taking the poison.  Five hours  afterwards she  was still as  straight
and stiff as a statue; if you lifted one of her hands, the whole body
moved with it; but the face had  become pale in comparison, and its
expression more placid."
  "Post-mortem appearances: In the case  just  related the  body
was observed to be rigid  after death, but in the loAver animals the
reverse is generally noticed.   As in other cases where death takes
place  from obstructed respiration, venous congestion  is observed.
Occasionally there is redness or inflammation of  the alimentary
canal, and now and then softening of the brain  or spinal cord."

  Nux vomica affects primarily the spinal column, motor and sentient
nerves; it also affects the  brain; we infer this from the injurious
action  of Nux vomica upon the brain in  patients who are  attacked
with apoplexy attended Avith softening of  the brain ; we infer it from
the fact that it has caused  stupor, vertigo, buzzing in the ears, sleep-
lessness and turgescence of the capillaries of the face.
  According to  Flourens, Nux vomica acts upon the medulla ob-
longata ; this fact is disproved by Orfila who never found the medulla
altered, contrary to Flourens who teaches that the specific or exclusive
action  of every poison on  some  special  organ,  always leaves,  after
death,  traces of its action sufficient to distinguish the affected from
other organs.  It would seem that Nux affects the cerebrum as well
as the  cerebellum, or both, more particularly the cerebellum, have
been found softened after death.
  Death either takes place from exhaustion or in  consequence  of
the spasmodic condition of the respiratory muscles.  Jules Cloquet
describes  a case in the Nouveau Journal de Medicine, where the
patient seems to have died of the excessive exhaustion produced by
the long-continued and violent spasms.  The tetanic fits lasted about
twenty-four hours, the sensibility  in the intervals being acute. Slight
signs of irritation of the stomach  succeeded, and death ensued on the
fourth  morning. 
652
LECTURE XLIV.
  In the nineteenth volume of the London Medical Repository a case
is reported where a young woman SAvalloAved purposely a drachm of
Nux vomica mixed in a glass of wine.   In fifteen minutes she was
seized with heat and pain in the stomach, burning in the gullet, a
sense of weariness in the limbs, succeeded by stiffness in the joints,
convulsive tremors, tottering in her  gait, and at length violent and
frequent attacks of tetanus.  Milk given after the tetanus began,
excited vomiting. She was further affected with redness of the gums,
inflammation of the tongue, burning thirst, and pain in the stomach;
the pulse  also became quick, and the skin hot.   Next day, though
the fits  had ceased,  the muscles Avere very sore,  especially during
motion; the tongue and palate were inflamed, and there Avas thirst,
pain in the stomach,  vomiting, colic, and diarrhoea.  The symptoms,
hoAvever,  abated, and  on the  fourth day disappeared, leaving her
exceedingly weak.
  Orfila states that a person swallowed, in the morning, a scruple of
Nux vomica in powder, and drank afterwards a feAV glasses of  cold
water, in order to diminish the bitterness occasioned by this substance.
Half an hour after, he appeared to be drunk;  his limbs, especially
his knees, were tense and stiff': his Avalk was staggering- and he was
afraid of falling.  He took some food, and the symptoms soon after-
wards disappeared.
  As regards the quantity,  sufficient to  produce a fatal effect, Dr.
Basedow of Merseburg in Prussia, mentions the case of a young lady
who SAvallowed, by mistake, a tablespoonful of the powder; she was
almost instantly deprived of the poAver of walking, and fell down,
but did not lose her recollection; she recovered.
  A case occurred in London in  1839, where fifty grains of  the
powder of Nux,  equal to one-quarter  grain of Strychnine proved
fatal; in another case fifteen grains destroyed life; this is the smallest
fatal dose  on record.
  From this Ave obtain the well known alkaloid  Strychnine, a white,
odorless, intensely-bitter, crystalline substance. It is almost insoluble
in water.  Two hundred grains of powdered Nux are about equal to
one  grain of Strychnine. Strychnine  is a most poAverful poison.
From yjjth of a grain  Anclral has observed slight trismus and incipient
rigidity of the  muscles.  In some cases  much  larger doses are re-
quired to  develop medicinal symptoms, even 1| grains (according to
Pereira).  This is a  most dangerous dose, since Strychnine does not
always develop its effects at  once, but they seem to cumulate in the
system for a long time until they suddenly break forth Avith uncon-
trollable fury.  An instance of this cumulative effect of Strychnine
is afforded by the folloAving case which occurred on board the Dread-
nought  Hospital-Ship, and is reported  by Dr. Cooper the attending
surgeon:
  "A Swede, aged fifty to sixty years, was admitted about  the  year
1833 with general paralysis, one side being more affected than the
other; he Avas also in some degree idiotic.   Strychnia was given, at
first in the dose of one-eighth of a grain three times a day, which
was continued for several weeks, Avithout apparent effect.  The  dose
was then  increased  to one-quarter  of a grain three times a  day, 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
653
 which was also continued for some time, and not producing  any
 perceptible effect, the quantity was increased to half a grain tAvice or
 three times a day, and this dose was taken for many days before any
 influence  of  Strychnia  was manifested.   But one morning, about
 nine o'clock,  the apothecary was suddenly summoned by a message
 that the man was in a fit.  When  seen, he was insensible;  face and
 chest of a deep purple color; respiration had ceased, and the pulsa-
 tion of the heart nearly so.  The Avhole body, (trunk and limbs) was
 in a state  of tetanic spasm.  Trunk extended and shoulders thrown
 back; muscles of chest and  abdomen  hard and rigid.  In a short
 time, the rigidity became less; the ribs  could be  compressed;  and
 artificial respiration was kept up imperfectly by compression of the
 thorax.  Circulation was restored in some degree, and the deep  pur-
 ple color of the surface went off.  Spontaneous respiration returned.
 The man sighed, and  became apparently sensible;  all spasm  had
 ceased for a minute or two; but as  soon as circulation and conscious-
 ness were in  some degree restored, the  spasm recurred with extreme
 violence,  again  locking up  the respiratory muscles.   Respiration
 ceased; the surface again  became purple; circulation went  on, how-
 ever, some time after respiration had ceased.  Artificial respiration
 was kept  up Avhen  the  relaxation  of the muscles would allow of it,
 but was this time ineffectual.  The heart soon ceased to beat; the
 deep purple color was instantaneously replaced by the pallor  of death;
 life was extinct.  '
    " The quick passing off of the purple color of the surface  was very
 remarkable; the change appeared to commence in the face, and passed
 downwards like the passing of the shadow of a cloud."
    Strychnia  forms  salts with various acids, tannic acid, gallic acid,
I muriatic acid. In  a case of poisoning,  we first give an emetic of
I sulphate of zinc, twenty grains; after this we administer an infusion
 of gall, brandy.  With  tannin, strychnia forms an insoluble tannate.
 A student who had swallowed a button, saved his life by taking five
J drop doses of Ammonia.  Coffee and Opium are also antidotes.
    Homeopathic doses.—Hahnemann recommends the 30th  potency.
 In many cases this  and  even higher potencies will undoubtedly suf-
 fice ; in other cases the tincture may have to be resorted to.
    I was once called to a servant-girl  who had stuffed herself with
 codfish and apple-dumplings.  She was seized with spasmodic vom-
 iting and had been  in this condition for six hours when I Avas called.
 I  found her  lying on the floor, half unconscious, and retching most
 horridly.   I  dissolved  a globule of Nux 30th in six tablespoonfuls
 of water,  and gave her a tablespooful  of this solution.   The retch-
 ing stopped  completely after the second dose administered at an
 interval of five minutes ;  she was put to  bed, perspired a little, and
 next morning was able  to resume her work.
    On the other hand I was called  to a drunkard who had imbibed
 thirty-five glasses of brandy during a night's debauch.  I found him
 numb all over; the man Avas in his senses and said  he should die.
 The pulse was feeble and hurried.  Skin exceedingly dry and cold.
 I  tried Nux  30th Avithout the least effect.  I then  mixed five drops
 of the concentrated tincture in a tumblerful of water, and gave him a 
654
LECTURE XLIV.
small tablespoonful every five minutes.  After the second dose he
Avarmed up, the pulse  became  fuller  and perspiration broke  out.
The sweat smelled like alcohol.  He had  to be changed  six times
in the course of the day.  Next morning he went about his business.
Here a material poison had to be acted upon;  the  higher potencies
proved inadequate to such a task.

  For years Hahnemann considered himself justified in using large
doses of a drug.  The following cure of  asthma  was effected with
four grain doses of Nux, frequently repeated.   I  extract  this  case
from Hahnemann's Essay, entitled : " Are the obstacles to certainty
and simplicity in practical medicine insurmountable ?"
  " A young man, twenty years of age, the son of an oil manufac-
turer, thin  and weakly, had been from his childhood subject  to a
spasmodic  asthma, which  used always to increase from  the com-,
mencement  of autumn until the depth  of winter, and gradually
decline from that period until  the mild weather in spring.  Every
year he had grown worse, and  this autumn he hoped might be his
last.   Already the attack  commenced more violently than the last
year at this time.  The probable issue was evident.  Last year, and
for years past, every fall  of the barometer, every south-west,  and
more particularly ncfrtk wind, every approaching fall of snow, every
gale  of wind,  had brought on an asthmatic paroxysm lasting hours
and days; he would not unfrequently pass the night with both hands
grasping the table, exerting all his strength  to draw the smallest
quantity of breath, and every moment in dread of suffocation.   The
intervals between such fits were occupied by slighter attacks, brought
on by a draught of air, the vapor from the heated oil-cakes, dust, a
cold  room or smoke.  He told me of these symptoms with the
utmost difficulty of utterance,  elevating his shoulders to  draw a
scanty breath,  and this at a season of the year,  when his condition
was as yet pretty tolerable."
  This case occurred in Hahnemann's practice at the beginning of
his professional career as  a homoeopathic reformer.  The remedies
which are usually recommended for asthma in alloeopathic practice,
had been tried in vain, a medicine was procured which could  pro-
duce anxiety and diminish the easy action of the bowels. The choice
fell on Nux vomica.  Four grains, given twice daily, removed gradu-
ally,  but perceptibly, the constriction of the chest;  he remained free
from the spasmodic asthmatic  attacks, even in the worst  autumn-
Aveather, even  in winter, in all winds, all storms, all states of the
barometer, all humidity of the atmosphere, during his now increased
domestic, manufacturing and travelling business, in the midst of the
oil vapor, and  that without any important change in his diet, or any
change in  his place of abode.
  He now slept comfortably at  night, whereas formerly  he  had
passed the whole night in  an  arm-chair, bent forwards, or leaning
against the wall, or coughing without intermission.  During  this
season, AA'hich  had threatened to be so dangerous to him, he gained
strength, agility, cheerfulness,  and capacity of  resisting inclement 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
655
weather.  It was only severe attacks  of cold that could cause the
slightest return of asthma, and these he speedily got rid of.
  In another case Hahnemann prescribed as many as seventeen grains
of pulverized  Nux at one dose.   The patient, an industrious and
thoughtful mechanic, had been subject for years to paroxysms like
the following: Tension in the stomach followed by a sudden attack
of vertigo, so  as to make  him fall, that  left  behind it a kind  of
confusion of the understanding, with frightful hypochondriacal ideas,
anxiety and exhaustion.  In the morning  he was pretty lively, and
not exhausted, but in the afternoon, about two o'clock, the attack
commenced.  Considering Nux homoeopathic  to these symptoms,
Hahnemann prescribed it in increasing doses, one dose daily, and
the patient improved.  In reference to the homoeopathicity of Nux
to these symptoms, Hahnemann expresses himself as follows: Since
it excites, besides vertigo, anxiety and febrile rigor, a kind of deli-
rium, consisting of vivid, sometimes frightful visions, and a  tension
in the stomach;  it at once quickly subdued  a fever (Hahnemann  so
designates this disease) Avhich was characterized  by just  such  a
paroxysm  as we  have described;  at the fourth dose of Nux which
contained seventeen grains, there occurred great anxiety, immobility,
and stiffness of the limbs ending in  a profuse perspiration.   The
fever and all the nervous symptoms disappeared and never returned,
although for many years previously, he had been subject, from time
to time, to such attacks suddenly occurring, yet unaccompanied by
fever.
  These massive doses were given in strict accordance with the
homoeopathic law; cases of this kind show that the homoeopathicity
of a drug to a disease does not depend upon the quantity of the dose,
but upon  the  inmost relation existing  between the drug  and the
disease.  Homoeopathic to a  disease is any drug which, among the
drugs existing in nature, is more  than  any other  drug capable  of
developing in the healthy organism a condition which shall be,  as
nearly as possible, similar to the natural malady.  It is at all times
unnecessary and often  injudicious and even dangerous to give a
patient more medicine than is absolutely required for the  cure  of
his disease; but why, in the  name of common  sense, repudiate the
Homoeopathy of the past which seems to have  borne such brilliant
fruit, in  order  to Avorship  at the exclusive shrine  of the high
potencies ?
  In  Monro's Chemico-Pharmaceutical Alateria Aledica Avhich was
translated  from  the Latin  by Hahnemann, and published with his
additions, we read the following statement concerning his method  of
prescribing Aconite in chronic rheumatism: " I found that a dose
of from four to five grains of a Avell-prepared extract of Aconite,
acted very powerfully even in the  case  of a full-grown person;  it
often caused oppressive  anxiety, confusion of  the  senses, and  cold
sweat.  I generally  commenced with one grain and gradually
increased  the  dose to four grains,  adding  one grain every  day.  I
ordered a dose to be taken every day at bed-time.  It rarely took me
more than four days to cure  obstinate chronic rheumatisms, provi-
ded they Avere curable.  This extract is prepared not by boiling the 
656
LECTURE XLIV.
plant, but by simply inspissating the juice of the plant in water."  A
preparation of this kind is of course more or less uncertain, anol not
near as powerful as the alcoholic tincture, nevertheless  the  dose
which Hahnemann prescribed for chronic rheumatism, is of sufficient
magnitude to show that, Avhat Ave  might term  a very large dose  is
not in itself  inconsistent with the laAV "similia  similibus."   It must
be our endeavor, Gentlemen, to build the homoeopathic edifice upon
a basis that shall be broad enough for every legitimate experience in
the bosom of our School.  Let it never be said of the Homoeopathic
College of Pennsylvania, that it is the cradle of one-sided,  illiberal,
exclusive dogmatism ; 'we recognize no potency but that Avhich cures
our patient; no similia but that which is engraved upon the tablets
of Nature;  and no limits to its applications, but the infinite boun-
daries of truth.

  The provings which we possess  of this drug have  been  obtained
by means of large doses, and constitute one of the  most  brilliant
pages in Hahnemann's Materia Medica.  Guided by these indica-
tions, and by the toxicological effects of Nux,  we recommend this
agent, and have successfully used it in a variety of affections.
  The physiological action of Nux upon the organism sIioavs that
this agent is an excellent remedy for various typical and intermittent
disorders; for tonic spasms, and more  particularly for tetanus and
opisthotonos ; for  gastric and bilious derangements ; for constipation
arising from torpor or paralysis of the peristaltic motion ; for stran-
gulated hernia with  or  without  fascal vomiting;  for  acute  and
chronic diseases of the spinal marrow.  Yfou will find  it stated  in
the books that it is more adapted to the male than to the female
sex ; I doubt the correctness of  this statement which  I  accept only
in so far as the diseases to which Nux is homoeopathic, occur more
frequently among men than they do among Avomen.   For the same
reason it is more suitable to the bilious nervous than to the phleg-
matic temperament, and more to those who are  subject  to piles and
troubled with constipation than to those whose bowels  are habitu-
ally loose.  It is homoeopathic to many aliments arising from seden-
tary habits and excessive mental exertions. It is likewise an antidote
to the injurious effects  of coffee and  alcoholic  stimulants.   On the
other hand, alcohol in excess neutralizes in a measure the effects  of
Nux. It is reported in the London Medical Gazette,  that a  drunken
fellow, in a moment of high intoxication, took a drachm of Strych-
nine dissolved in spirits.  All the  usual spasmodic  effects were
induced. He took an emetic and recovered.  There can  be no doubt
that the intoxication prevented the fatal operations of the poison.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Nux is a capital remedy in several forms of headache.  AYe shall
find it useful in
  Headaches caused by over eating, abuse of coffee, spirits, exces-
sive mental labor.  The  head  feels as  if it would split, aching; a
sort of painful pressure with sticking pain.
   Catarrhal Headache; the brain feels heavy and aching, as if bruised. 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.                657
  Rheumatic Headache ; a tearing pain after eating, with sensation
of heat in the cheeks and a chilly feeling over the  body, or only in
the hands; also, with throbbing in the forehead ; or a crampy pain in
the head, with soreness and sensitiveness of the scalp.
   Gastric Headache; from overloading the stomach, or worse after
eating, with nausea, sour vomiting, also darting pains in one side of
the head.
  Bilious Headache, similar to gastric headache, with sensation as if
the head would  split, tearing and burning  pain in  the  head and
forehead, vomiting of bitter and sour phlegm.
  Hysteric Headache, with pressing in the head  as if the brain should
be pressed asunder;  accompanied with heat in the brain; the head-
ache is relieved by compressing the head with the hands.
   Congestive Headache with violent throbbing and aching  pain, as if
the head would split; the  headache may be excited  by abuse  of
wine, coffee, by a violent mental excitement, suppression of hemor-
rhoids.
  Periodical Hemicrania, with sticking, sore pain in one side of the
head ; also draAAdng pain in  one side, or pain  as if one side of the
brain should be rent asunder.
  Nux having such a powerful specific action upon the  cerebrum
and cerebellum, it will be found available in  some very important
and dangerous conditions of the brain.  We shall find  it useful in
   Vertigo, especially when arising from  excessive  use  of alcoholic
liquors, coffee, or when the brain is overtasked and there  is danger
of softening; the pulse during the attack is small, irregular; or the
patient vomits, is troubled Avith dyspepsia;  the vertigo seems to  be
in some sort of sympathetic connection with the gastric irritation.
  Apoplexy of a peculiar type comes within the therapeutic range of
Nux.  It is doubtful whether Nux will ever be  found  available  in
apoplexy which is  not connected with, or depending upon some
primary derangement of the stomach, especially inflammation of the
mucous coat.
  A perfectly healthy  and rather fleshy servant girl swallowed 120
grains of pulverized Nux in order to destroy herself.   In half  an
hour  she complained  of violent colic which  soon increased  to  an
intolerable degree of intensity.  She swallowed the poison  about
ten o'clock in the morning, and at  eleven o'clock  the  physician
found her  dreadfully convulsed;  in one minute  she  had several
attacks  of  opisthotonos.  The face was very much distended with
blood, scarlet red, the eyes fixed  and  glistening, the  hands cold,
pulse entirely collapsed ; her consciousness Avas undisturbed.  She
died about noon.
  The whole of the right side was of a blue-red color, the abdomen
horridly distended, the hands convulsively closed, face pale and col-
lapsed, the mouth tightly closed, with blue lips and traces of  blood
oozing from the  mouth;  stomach inflamed  throughout and almost
gangrenous in the region of the pylorus; the  inflammation spread
even to the middle of the ileum.  The larger bowels-were in a nor-
mal condition.
42 
658
LECTURE XLIV.
  Another female took six grains of the powdered Nux at one dose.
She was attacked with extreme weakness of the limbs, so that  she
was unable to stand ; general trembling, vertigo, stupefaction of the
head, anxiety, small and intermittent pulse.
  Symptoms like these show that the brain, under the influence of
large doses of Nux, becomes violently congested, and that a con-
dition may ensue Avhich may very easily result in apoplexy.  Post-
mortem examinations have shown the cerebral substance  infiltrated
with a bloody serum, or sanguineous effusions from the  capillaries
have taken place, marking the brain with a number of bloody points
throughout its substance.   Softening of the cerebrum and cerebellum
is likewise one of the effects of  poisonous doses of Nux.  Hence in
  Encephalomacia, this agent will prove very useful, especially if the
disease results from the excessive  enjoyment  of wine, rich  food, or
even from excessive mental labor.

  We shall find  Nux admirably adapted  to the consequences
resulting from the excessive use of spirits, among which Ave may
range
  Cerebral Congestions, with violent  throbbing and  aching pains in
the  head, dizziness, stupefaction, protrusion and redness of  the eye-
balls, stuttering  or  inarticulate speech, paralytic weakness of  the
extremities, full  and  bounding pulse, or feeble and rather accelera-
ted  pulse,  with coldness of  the extremities; in such a  case  Aconite
and Nux,  and in some cases Belladonna and Nux may be given in
alternation.
  Nux will likewise be found indicated under these circumstances
if the patient's brain is clear, but the sensibility seems to  be almost
extinct; the skin feels dead  ; he is apprehensive of having a paralytic
stroke;  the pulse is rather  feeble and compressible, inclining to be •
irregular.
  In regard to the dose in  these affections  of the brain,  the 3d to
the  30th potency will be found sufficient; except in cases of debauch
where a material poison has to be removed from the organism; here
it may be  necessary to resort to  the strong tincture.

                    NERVOUS   GROUP.

  In  some of the cases of poisoning  which I have  related, Nux
caused a sudden falling, as  if the patient were struck down; it pro-
duces this effect  by its primary  action upon the cerebro-spinal axis,
and more  particularly upon the  ganglionic system of nerves.
  The action of Nux upon this system is  characterized  by loss of
strength,  pain, spasm.  The  leading  effects  of the drug  may  be
expressed in the following summary generalizations:
  Sudden failing of strength;
  Weariness after the least exercise;
  Heaviness of the upper and lower limbs so that the  patient is
scarcely able to  raise them;
  Pain in all the joints as if bruised, particularly during  motion;
  Violent pain in the muscles at every moment;
  Trembling of the limbs (as in the case of drunkards;) 
STRYCHNOS NTJX VOMICA.
659
   Tetanic convulsions, excited by contact, noise or any external
 stimulus, with frequent and fluttering pulse during the attack, and
 general sweat;
   Opisthotonos, with feeble beating of the heart,  pulse small and
 scarcely perceptible;
   Spasms in the muscles of mastication, the patient bites every thing
 which is held near his mouth;
   These spasms may affect every muscle in the body, and are fre-
 quently preceded by violent chills and shudderings, after which the
 patients experience,  along the track of the nerves in the limbs, for-
 mications and painful sensations resembling the passage of electric
 sparks; not only the external muscles, but also the muscles of the
 pharynx, oesophagus,  erectores, penis muscles, and  other internal
 muscles are liable to similar spasms;
   The tetanic convulsions  sometimes alternate Avith asphyxia and
 relaxation of the parts ;
   The consciousness, during the spasms, does not seem to be affected.

   Strychnia is extensively used in our Hospitals in the treatment  of
 tetanic spasms.  In  reference to this subject, my colleague  in Jef-
 ferson College, Professor Thomas D. Mitchell, offers the following
 naive statement: "It is probably  the known effect of strychnia  in
 paralytic  patients, viz.: its  induction of tetanic spasms—led to  its
 employment in tetanus.  Dr. Fell reports several cases of traumatic
 tetanus, cured  by doses of  one-sixteenth and one-fourth of a grain,
 continued so as to induce decided  twitching.   These cases are
 reported in the New York  Journal of Medicine  and Surgery, for
 November, 1846.  In the January number of 1847, an article may
 be found, the design of which is to prove the efficacy of Strychnia
 in idiopathic tetanus."
   Thus far Dr. Mitchell.   Now, gentlemen, we occupy a  position
 that enables us to enlighten the doctor regarding the true reason
 why Strychnia cures tetanus; it is simply because it has power  to
 produce  this very identical disease in the healthy body; in other
 words, it affects  the cerebro-spinal  axis in the same manner as that
 unseen, immaterial, impalpable cause Avhich,.by its action upon the
 cerebro-spinal axis, leads to the production of tetanic spasms.
   There are men so blind that they do not even see light in the day-
 time.  The idea of " contrarium" must be  preserved, were it only
 for the honor of the  School. Hence Strychnine only affects para-
 lytic patients with  tetanic  spasms.  The  broad and universally
 admitted  fact, that Strychnia causes tetanic spasms  in persons in
 health;  that  the production of tetanic spasms is its most essential,
 most characteristic property, is overlooked, ignored, we almost feel
 disposed to say maliciously ignored, lest the admission of such a fact
should involve the cunning Professor into an admission nolens volens
 of the fact that Nux cures tetanus because of  its homoeopathic
specific relation  to this affection.

  In Frank's Alagazine, the following case of poisoning is related,
Avhich shows that the tetanic spasms, where Nux may be expected 
660
LECTURE XLIV.
to exhibit a curative influence, are accompanied with violent symp-
toms of cerebral congestion:
  A lady of fifty years took by mistake a teaspoonful of a mixture
of one hundred and twenty drops of the tincture of Nux in  two
ounces of water.  Immediately after taking the dose, she was seized
with a chill and had to vomit.  The patient drank a few glasses of
water; her condition got worse from minute to minute, and her life
seemed in imminent danger.   Her face, which was habitually  pale
and livid, assumed a bright-red color, her cheeks glowed, her eyes
stared and were frequently rolled upwards, so that  the  contracted
pupils could not be seen.  The features Avere' distorted, the mouth
tightly closed, with grating of  the teeth; accelerated, moaning  and
sometimes interrupted breathing, anxiety, violent palpitation of the
heart,  and  involuntary, loud  screams.  During these involuntary
screams,  her head was drawn backwards, after which her mouth
was  opened wide, and her  face  had a most frightful expression.
The  tongue was  protruded, and  was frequently injured in  conse-
quence of the spasmodic closing of  the jaws.   She found it almost
impossible to sAvallow liquids.  Her whole body trembled ; she was
unable to sit still, she was  forced as by some  electric  shock to rise
and  to stagger about the room.  Her speech was interrupted by
sobs,  her voice feeble, she  spoke  in  monosyllables  and mostly
uttered inarticulate  sounds, so that one had  to  guess what  she
wished.  Pulse hard, small and accelerated.  She took from twenty
to thirty drops of liquid  ammonia in a teaspoonful  of water  and
sugar, first  every  five and afterwards every ten to fifteen minutes;
in three  hours all the  dangerous symptoms  had  disappeared.  A
rash broke out over the whole body.

   The treatment of tetanus by Old-School physicians has ever been
a stereotyped illustration of human impotence, until Strychnine was
resorted  to.  The ounce-doses of Opium  and the  gallons of port-
wine have ever proved unable  to  combat  this dreadful disease;
Strychnine, which stimulates this disease in all its  horrible details,
proves its most powerful neutralizer.
   A girl of thirteen years, of feeble but otherwise sound  constitu-
tion, had been complaining of frontal  headache, and more particu-
larly of a painful pressure in the  epigastric region, after which she
was attacked Avith convulsions. In the first two days the convulsions
returned three or five  times daily, and were preceded by anxiety
and extension of the limbs in a recumbent posture; these symptoms
were followed  by an almost complete vanishing of the senses, and
by shocks which  forced the body out, jerking the head  upwards,
with the arms crossed on the breast, the legs  stretched downwards,
and the abdomen, which was someAvhat drawn in, jerked up. These
jerking shocks recurred as many as fifty times in one  minute;  with
every jerk the patient uttered an anxious moaning sound.  The least
movement, the slightest contact, was followed  by several jerks.   She
took one-twentieth of a grain of pulverized Nux every two hours;
in three  days she was entirely restored.  The last attack  had  been
the most formidable. 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
661
  It would seem as though an agent that has such a powerful effect
upon the ganglionic system, must be possessed of curative virtues in
  Epilepsy.   In many attacks of epilepsy, the shocks or jerks, which
are so eminently characteristic of the action of Nux upon the gan-
glionic  centres, constitute prominent symptoms.   The  annals of
medicine can show the records  of several cases of epilepsy which
were cured by the systematic use of Nux.
  A woman of forty  years  was attacked with epilepsy in  conse-
quence of a violent fit of anger.  The paroxysms had been continu-
ing off and on for  two years.   She took  half a  grain  of powdered
Nux.   A quarter  of an  hour after taking the  drug, she had some
headache, vertigo and obscuration of sight.  Next morning she felt
as usual.  She took nineteen such powders, and remained free from
her attacks for three years.  Another violent fit of anger brought
the attacks on again, but Nux Avas resumed, and she finally remained
perfectly cured.
  A young man of twenty years had been epileptic ever since  his
childhood.   The  attacks were preceded by vertigo, and  itching in
the face, followed by violent jerks in the arms,  after which the
patient lost his consciousness.  For a few days  after the  attack he
seemed in  a  state of imbecility.   He  took in all one hundred and
fifteen grains of pulverized Nux, and was completely restored.

  This itching and crawling in the face seems  to  be characteristic
of  Nux.  We  find  this  symptom recorded among Hahnemann's
provings : " Itching and crawling in the face, as if ants were crawl-
ing over it."
  A  man  of an  irritable constitution  had taken eight grains of
powdered Nux at once.  Soon after he had to sit doAAm. His mouth
was convulsively drawn back, the jaws were tightly closed.  After
the paroxysm had ceased,, the patient explained that  he  had been
perfectly conscious all the time, but that he had  felt as though
millions  of ants had been crawling over his face; he stated that
objects had been seen in a much brighter light than usual.  He did
not complain of any pain.
  We may regard this craAvling itching as a characteristic indication
for N ux, especially if it is  felt in the face.  Nux vomica seems to
affect the trigeminus in a very marked manner.

  Even in Chiorea, Nux may prove useful, more particularly if the
paroxysms are  more or less analogous to, or mingled with, tetanic
symptoms.   In the London Lancet, for September, 1845, Dr. Ross
reports the following cures of chorea by means of Strychnine : " The
first occasion on which I made trial of the remedy in this disease,
was in the beginning of 1839, in the case of a delicate girl of tAvelve
or thirteen years  of age, Avho came under my  care as a hospital-
patient.  From having  been  very expert with her needle, she was
rendered incapable of  using it, and her attempts to thread it were
almost ludicrous.  I prescribed for her the one-eighth or one-tenth of
a grain of the alkaloid, to be  taken twice a day.  On the  second or •
third day of the treatment, through a mistake of the nurse, she had 
662                     LECTURE XLIV.
an over-dose of the medicine, which produced more violent  effects
than I intended, viz.:  convulsive twitches, which, however, quickly
subsided on the medicine being intermitted, and with them all symp-
toms of the disease.   In a day or two after this. I saw her thread a
fine needle with a hand perfectly steady, and she was dismissed cured
at the end of a week.   I saAV her more than a year afterwards; she
was quite well, much  improved in appearance, considerably grown,
and had had no return of chorea.  I ought to mention that she first
came under my care after having been already some weeks in the
hospital,  under the care of my  esteemed predecessor, Dr.  Bayne,
Avhose treatment of her was continued, without any improvement in
her symptoms, until she commenced the use of the strychnia."

   In Paralysis,  Strychnine has  effected brilliant  cures.  In the
paralysis of the hands of drunkards, Nux is  a capital  remedy.  In
paralysis not accompanied by inflammatory or congestive symptoms,
Nux vomica may prove an invaluable remedy.  According to Magen-
die, a paralysis to which Nux vomica is homoeopathic, is more or
less accompanied by, or resulting  from softening of that portion of
the cerebro-spinal axis which sends off nerves to the paralyzed limb.
The temperature of the  part  is moreover diminished, it may  be
liable to prespire and the pulse is reduced in volume, quicker and
more or less irregular. In  paralysis  accompanied by engorgement
of the nervous centres, where  the limb feels  heavy, full, enlarged,
hot, the pulse is heavy and  irregular, or small, quick and irregular,
the sensibility is  altered, the patient  complains of a  pricking and
formicating sensation in the part, Aconite is the sovereign remedy.
Hence  in paralysis consequent upon sanguineous apoplexy, Nux
vomica is of no use ; Aconite will have to be employed in most cases.
   In Rheumatic  Paralysis of the  extremities, without much fever,
Nux may effect a complete cure.
   AYe read in Frank's Physiological Alagazine that a farmer of per-
fectly sound constitution had exposed himself to a sudden change of
temperature, in consequence of which he was attacked Avith paraly-
sis of the whole of the right side and partial paralysis of the tongue.
The attack set in at once without any premonitory symptoms.  He
was treated with a number of remedies without the least behefit.
Three grains of the spirituous extract of Nux were now dissolved in
an ounce of alcohol, of which he took tAventy drops at night, increa-
sing the dose by one drop every day.   On the third day, his condi-
tion  Avas  considerably improved; on the ninth, the  paralysis was
almost  entirely removed.  After finishing the solution, the patient
had the full use of his limbs, was  able to articulate  distinctly, and
had remained perfectly well the last five years.

   In Tic  Douloureux,  Nux  vomica is  sometimes a valuable agent.
In the  17th volume of Braithwaite's Retrospect, page 289, we read
the following interesting case of the cure of tic douloureux by grain
doses  of  Strychnine.  The  patient had been accustomed to large
doses of the muriate of Morphia for the relief of his sufferings, and
took, one  day, three and a half grains of a powder j ust purchased 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.                663
for  the  same end, and went  out  upon his ordinary business.  This
powder was Strychnine.   In  a very little while, he felt a disagreeable
numbness in his legs, increasing rapidly, so as  almost  to  disable
him.  On reaching home, he felt better and went to bed, about five
hours after he took the  medicine.  Just as he was going to  bed, in
the  hope of getting a good night's rest, he took a second dose of the
same powder as that swallowed early in the day.   In less than ten
minutes, violent tetanic  spasms came on, affecting  the legs and
respiratory muscles almost to suffocation.  The spasms followed in
close succession and with increasing severity.  The man continued
perfectly conscious,  although his senses seemed to be invested with
unwonted sensibility.  After awhile the paroxysms began to dimin-
ish  in violence and number;  and when it was imagined that the
case was about to terminate,  the  symptoms were  suddenly renewed
with great violence. In a short time, however, the aspect changed
for  the  better, and  at the end of thirteen hours all the symptoms
had disappeared.  The most remarkable  feature  in the history of
this case is that the man, after this disaster never had an attack of
his  tic douloureux.

  Nux  is generally useful Avhen the pains are tingling, hard-aching,
sticking pains, aggravated or excited by motion or contact.
  In Neuralgic Affections of the spinal marrow, Nux is a very useful
remedy; the pains may be  burning, sticking, laming,  tensive or
heavy-aching pains. In chronic inflammation of  the lower portion
of the spinal marrow involving  paralysis of the  lower extremities
and derangement of the abdominal viscera, Nux may prove of benefit.

                 INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

  Nux  vomica cannot be said to cause inflammation of a phlegmon-
ous character, with full,  bounding and rapid pulse.  Nux has caused
inflammation of the stomach and small intestines, but  this  sort of
inflammation seems to be incidental to a complete disorganization of
the nervous life of the organ rather than  the result of a temporary
depression of the nervous energy,  Inflammations of this kind seem
always  to be attended with convulsive paroxysms.
  By our provings  we know that Nux causes a burning and itching
in the finger and toe-joints,  such as patients experience from chil-
blains.   Hence in
  Chiilblains, this agent may prove serviceable, if they itch and burn
a great  deal, especially when entering a warm room or getting into
bed.
  Among the-provings of Nux Ave find a  number of symptoms re-
corded,  pointing to arthritic and  rheumatic  affections, such as:
SAvelling of joints, drawing,  tearing, laming pains, and pains as  if
bruised, in the muscles  of the nape of the neck, abdomen, extremi-
ties ; crampy pains, and- contractive pains as if the tendons were too
short  in the joints, are likewise complained of by the provers. The
parts  ma;f feel numb and heavy, but there are scarcely any outward
svmptoms of inflammation.   It is principally in arthritic rheumatism
of the muscles that Nux  is most serviceable. 
664                     LECTURE XLIV.
  A delicate lady of forty, Avas attacked, probably in consequence of
having taken  cold, with very painful rheumatism of the muscles of
the back, impeding motion and deep inspirations.  Her  complexion
was rather sallow.   She was put on five-drop doses of the tincture
of Nux every hour.  From the first dose she improved,  and in two
days, she  was quite restored.  This dose must  appear  large to  a
homoeopathic  physician; a much  smaller  dose  might  perhaps' be
sufficient; but as a general rule I think that in  rheumatic-arthritic
affections of this character a large dose of Nux will seem preferable.
  Pale Arthritic Swellings of the toes, balls  of the toes; arthritic-
rheumatic swelling of the knee-joint, of the abdominal muscles, with
gastric symptoms, Avithout,  and even  with,  moderate fever,  have
yielded to Nux.
  Muscular Pains, aching, boring  and twitching pains  may find  a
remedy in Nux.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

  Nux does not cause any acute symptoms of inflammation of the
eyes; it causes a condition which might be termed Aveakness of the
eyes.  The provers of Nux have complained of soreness  of the lids,
soreness of the canthi, with discharge of pus;  smarting and burning
tingling or pricking in  the eyes; also profuse  secretion of tears. It is
undoubtedly proper, in vieAV of these effects of Nux, to employ it for
  Sore Eyes, when the weakness is of an arthritic or  scrofulous
character.  If this weakness or soreness of  the eyes is accompanied
by  weak digestion, for which Nux seems  indicated, Ave shall find
this agent  so  much more efficient in  the treatment  of  the former
affection.
  If this Aveakness arises from abuse of alcoholic  stimulants, over-
feeding, excessive  use of coffee, straining  of the  eyes  by nightly
mental labor, Nux may prove a most useful agent.
  Nux also causes painless sanguineous effusions  in the sclerotic
coat.  Hence in

  Painless Ecchymoses, with which some individuals are troubled,
Nux may  be required, especially if the above-mentioned causes have
been instrumental in producing the trouble.
  Nux, or rather its alkaloid, Strychnine, has  cured
  Strabismus,  if a report in the AVestern Lancet may be credited.
The case may be found in the January number  of 1847.   It was a
case of twelve years'  standing.  A solution of twelve grains of
Strychnia in two ounces of alcohol Avas applied to the eyebroAvs and
temples in the space of seven days, after which period the  patient was
perfectly cured.

  You recollect that the effect of Strychnia  upon the optic nerve,
is to make objects appear in a brighter light.   The provers of Nux
have also been troubled with luminous vibrations outside of the line
of vision.   This symptom occurs in what pathologists have  desig-
nated as

  Spurious Vertigo, an affection, where these luminous vibrations are 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.                665.
perceived, after Avhich objects  seem to waver until the patient loses
the power of supporting himself, and falls down.

                      DENTAL GROUP.

  Nux causes  a swelling and soreness of the gums.  In
  Stomacace or scurvy of the gums arising from abuse of coffee,
alcoholic stimulants, or bad digestion, Nux may prove very useful.
  Nux cures various kinds of pains in the teeth; the most charac-
teristic pains to  which Nux  is  specifically adapted, are:  sticking,
drawing, tearing, digging, burning and jerking pains.  The stitching
pains seem to be particularly indicative of Nux.   AVe shall find this
kind of

  Odontalgia prevailing in the case of arthritic individuals; persons
addicted to the use of strong drinks, coffee; men and women of san-
guine-bilious temperament, with impaired digestion;  scrofulous and
arthritic individuals who are frequently exposed to the night air, to
damp weather, draughts of air.
  Nux may be indicated, if the pain affects several teeth at once, or
if the precise tooth cannot be  pointed out.
  For the Toothache of Pregnant Females, Nux is recommended as a
remedy.

                   PHARYNGEAL GROUP.

  Nux seems to cause a feeling of soreness and fullness in the throat,
as if a lump were lodged there.  Some homoeopathic physicians pro-
fess to have used Nux in
  Angina, or Chronic Sore Thiroat.  Very little reliance can be placed
upon Nux in this affection, unless it should happen to be in rapport
with a peculiar state of gastric derangement to which Nux is homoeo
pathic.

  Nux has caused spasmodic twitchings of the pharynx; hence
  In Spasmodic Singultus it may prove useful; likewise in
  Dysphiagia of a spasmodic character.
  In these affections Nux 3d to 6th potency may prove sufficient.
                 LECTURE   XLV.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Very few drugs in our Alateria Aledica can boast of as extensive
a range of action upon the chylo-poietic organs as Nux vomica. Our
cases of poisoning have acquainted us with the fact that large doses
of Nux cause gastro-enteritis.  The symptoms which have been
elicited by systematic provings, enabled us to determine the precise
character of the changes Avhich Nux effects in the  condition of the
chylo-poietic organs. 
666
LECTURE XLV.
  Let us examine these effects under the respective heads of
  1. Taste and appetite ;
  2. Secretions;
  3. Sensations experienced during and after eating;
  4. Eructations, nausea and vomiting;
  5. Pain;
  6. Alvine evacuations.

                       Taste and Appetite.
  Nux causes a sour taste ; food leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
  Nux also causes afoul, musty and bitter taste in the mouth, not of
the food.
  Nux causes loss  of appetite, an aversion to the food which the
prover usually consumes.
  It also causes a sensation  of hunger, but the appetite is immedi-
ately satisfied after eating ever so little.  Or it may cause a  sensa-
tion of hunger, and yet the patient may experience an aversion to
food.

                           Secretions.
  Nux causes a copious flow of saliva;
  Spitting up of a blackishi,  almost  coagulated blood at  two in the
morning and tAvo in the afternoon ;
  Heartburn as after eating rancid grease;
  Scraping sensation in the pharynx as after heartburn;
  Rising of a sour and  bitter fluid off the stomach.

           Sensations  experienced during and after eating.
  After eating, the prover experiences an oppression of the stomach
and epigastric region, with metallic taste in the mouth;
  Chilliness and  heat of the face; the heat seems to come from the
abdomen;
  Qualmishness, nausea and fainting spell;
  Depression of spirits  and ill-humor.

               Eructations, Nausea,  and Vomiting.
  Nux causes nausea, even  early in the morning, vomiting of sour
mucus and blood.

                             Pain.
  Nux causes continual and violent distress in the stomach;
  Pressure as from a stone in the epigastric region;
  Tension in the  epigastrium, followed by pain in the abdomen as
if the inside were sore and raw;
  Contractive, crampy pain in  the bowels, sometimes followed  by
watery diarrhoea;
  Distention  of the epigastrium which is painful when touched;
  Throbbing in the epigastric region as if an abscess were forming;
  Burning distress in the epigastrium;
  Flatulent distention after eating or drinking;
  Painful prickings in the abdomen ; 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
667
  Cutting  pain as if a cutting instrument were pressing upon the
bladder, neck of the bladder, perineum, rectum and anus;  a  sensa-
tion as if cutting flatulence had become incarcerated in these parts;
  Cutting,  also burning cutting distress, with nausea;
  Pinching in the bowels as if diarrhoea would set in;
  Pressing, bearing-down pain in the bowels;
  Feeling of weakness in the inguinal ring as if a hernial sac would
protrude ;
  The abdominal muscles feel sore and bruised, especially during
motion.
 ^ Before considering the sixth subdivision, viz.:  the alvine e\-acua-
tions, let us first examine these  physiological  effects of Nux with
reference to their corresponding pathological conditions. Agreeably
to these effects we shall find Nux indicated in the following affec-
tions :
  Heartburn or Pyrosis, characterized by the gulping-up of a sour,
acrid or bitter fluid.
  Chironic  Vomiting and  Retching, especially after eating, with op-
pression and distention of the bowels, swelling of the  epigastrium,
soreness and throbbing of the epigastric region.
   Vomiting of Blood or Hematemesis ; the blood looks and tastes
foul, mixed with food and mucus.
   Vomiting of Pregnant Females, where it may sometimes be neces-
sary to give larger doses than usual, I mean the tincture instead of the
attenuations.  In Kopp's Memorabilia, and in other works, a number
of such cases are related where  the middle and higher potencies
proved  ineffectual, and  where  a  few drops of the  tincture or the
lower triturations effected a permanent and speedy cure.  Oppression
of the stomach and  bowels, retching  expulsion of bitter or sour
mucus, headache, are some of the characteristic indications.
  Spasmodic  Vomiting and retching after a fit of indigestion, in con-
sequence of over-eating or eating  indigestible food.
  Dyspepsia, with burning distress in the region of the pylorus, with
oppression after eating, sudden feeling of repletion after swallowing
a small  quantity of food, in spite of a previous sensation of hunger.
  Cardialgia,  Gastrodynia. In this affection, Nux has been employed
by some of the best allceopathic practitioners, but always in doses of
sufficient size to produce  spasmodic symptoms.  There is no earthly
necessity for such a proceeding.  Let the  dose be large enough to
effect a cure, but avoid all unnecessary medicinal complications.
  The cardialgia  to which Nux  is homoeopathic, may correspond
with an inflammatory pathological process in the stomach and small
intestines, and likewise with a pathological process going on in the
hepatic system.  We mean by this  that in the one case, the cardialgia
is, sensually speaking, an inflammatory irritation of the stomach and
duodenum, or of parts thereof;  and in the other case, a pathological
process  going on in the stomach and duodenum, but developed out
of certain  primary disturbances of the hepatic system.  In  either
case, Nux may be applicable, though the symptoms may differ very
greatly.
  In a case of poisoning reported by Orfila, the patient  experienced 
668
LECTURE XLV.
an intense pain and throbbing in the epigastric region, with dryness
and  heat of the skin, frequent pulse, redness of the edges of the
tongue, extreme depression of spirits, prostration, alteration of the
features.  In this  case, an examination after death revealed inflam-
mation of the stomach, duodenum and upper portion of the ileum.
  Such a group of symptoms might occur without a fatal termina-
tion ; we infer from the character of the symptoms that an inflam-
matory action is going on in the lining membrane of the stomach,
which is evidenced by the inflamed edges  of the tongue, the heat
and dryness of the skin, and the intense pain, Avhich may amount to
a burning  distress, in  the epigastric region.  In all such cases of
inflammatory gastralgia, Nux is a capital remedy.  In some forms of
  Dyspepsia, this redness and soreness of the  edges of the tongue,
and even of the tongue itself, are present.  The tongue looks as if
peeled off.  Nux may be very useful in  such a case.
  We read in Griesselich's Hygea, that Dr. Richard Rowland, phy-
sician to the City-Dispensary of London, has used Nux  vomica with
distinguished effect in  gastralgia characterized by  the  folloAving
symptoms: The pain comes in paroxysms; it  is  at times stitching,
at others tearing, and again a burning distress in the region of the
stomach, frequently extending to the integuments of the thorax and
to the back.  At times the pain is very slight, at  others exceedingly
violent, lasting at times a few minutes, at other times several hours.
The  attacks frequently terminate in rising of air, accompanied with
a watery, insipid  or sour fluid, or  without any.  In spite of this
distress, the food  may  be digested  properly,  the  tongue may be
clean, the appetite good, even craving.  The bowels are generally
bound.  The pain is  frequently  relieved  by eating.   There  is no
thirst, no vascular excitement, the patient may retain an appearance
of perfect health.   In this form of gastralgia Rowland has given the
extract of Nux in doses of one-fourth of a grain, three or four times
a day, with uniform success.

  We have already stated that Nux vomica may produce
  Gastro-enteritis.  In the chronic form  of this affection, Nux may
do good service.   In a case  reported by Orfila, three grains of the
alcoholic extract  of Nux proved fatal.  The stomach Avas found
inflamed, bowels violet, as if gangrened.  In another  case, a man
destroyed himself by drinking a quantity of the  powdered  Nux in
beer.   The region of the cardiac orifice was found inflamed.
  In the chronic form of this affection, with burning distress in  the
epigastrium, redness and  soreness of the  tongue, constipation, or
small mucous stools with frequent  urging, salloAV complexion, loss
of appetite, distention  and pain  after eating,  we  shall  find Nux
indicated.

  For the Dyspepsia and cardialgia of drunkards, or of  inveterate
coffee-drinkers, Nux has been found a great remedy.

  In the various forms of
  Colic, Nux will be found  eminently  useful.   In colic from  the 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
669
passage of biliary calculi through  the cystic and choledoch ducts
also described as
  Hepatic  Colic,  hepatalgia,  a colic  characterized by the  sudden
invasion of a most excruciating pain in the  epigastrium and right
hypochondrium, nausea and vomiting, spasmodic contractions of the
abdominal muscles, coldness of the  extremities, profuse cold perspi-
ration.  Jaundice may be present, although this is not necessarily a
pathognomonic  sign.  You  may have  to  give large doses in  this
affection.   I should  not hesitate to give the strong tincture in five p.
drop doses, or the pulverized Nux in  doses of half a grain each,
repeating every half hour, until some three  or four doses had been
given.  In this respect no positive rule can be laid down.   A philo-
sophical view  of the nature of the case will assist us  in making up
our minds as to what will be an adequate dose in the case before us.
The irritation caused by the friction of the calculus against the sides
of the duct, induces spasmodic contractions which resist the passage
of the concretion and render the  irritation  so much more  excru-
ciatingly  painful. It is this spasm that we have to relieve.  How
much medicine  does it take to accomplish  this ?   Any more  than is
required in order to relax the spasm in strangulated hernia?  We
relieve this spasm by means of the 3d,  6th and even higher poten-
cies.   Then why not relieve the spasm  of the gall-ducts by  similar
treatment ? Undoubtedly this may be accomplished, and if I recom-
mend large doses, it is with  the implied understanding that, if the
smaller doses  fail us, and we should still consider  the drug indicated,
the larger doses are not contrary to the law which we recognize as
our fundamental generalization.
   Nephiritic Colic, caused by the passage of a calculus  through the
ureters.   Symptoms similar to those characterizing hepatic colic,
may arise in this case ; excruciating tearing  pain, with coldness of
the extremities, clammy perspiration, ever fainting turns.  Nux may
relieve the spasmodic irritation of  the uterus.
   Hemorrhoidal Colic, with horrid tearing, pressing pains in the
small of  the back and lower bowels, attended with flushes in the
face,  and  consensual symptoms, such  as  sickness at the stomach,
vomiting, rush of blood to the head, dizziness, headache.
   Menstrual Colic, with contractive crampy pains in the loAver bow-
els, followed by the occasional passages of bloody coagula from the
vagina.
    Colic of Pregnant Females, with griping,  crampy, sickening pain
in  the bowels, nausea, headache.
   Flatulent Colic, as if the bowels,  bladder, rectum were pressed
upon with a cutting instrument.
   Spasmodic  Colic, the  bowels feeling  as if tvristed  together, sore
Avith  obstinate constipation.

   As regards the dose in these various complaints, we shall find that
the strong tincture is often used with perfect  success, where the
attenuation leaves us in  the lurch.   This may be seen from  the fol-
loAving cases reported by Kopp in his Alemorabilia.
   A  man of fifty-eight years who had to lead a  sedentary life, was 
670
LECTURE XLV.
attacked with the following symptoms in consequence of this change
in his habits: bad digestion, costiveness, flatulent distention, palpi-
tation  of  the heart, dulness of  the  head, irritable  temper.   The
attenuated Nux afforded relief,  but  not entirely;  one drop of the
strong tincture every night at bedtime, continued  for  a number of
days, achieved a perfect cure.

   Another man of fifty-one years who had to lead a sedentary life,
had been complaining for a long time of uneasiness and irritability
in the bowels.  Nux 18 and 24 was  of no use ; a drop of the tinc-
ture every feAV hours afforded him marked relief.

   A worker in  metal, fifty-six years old, complained  of a violent,
painful pressure in the head, with distress in the stomach and bow-
els, coated tongue, anorexia, constipation.   Repeated doses  of the
first attenuation of Nux  had no effect;  drop-doses  of  the tincture
every few hours cured him speedily and radically.

   A man  who had formerly been  addicted to  drinking, and was
troubled with vomiting, pains in the  bowels, arthritic pains  in  the
joints, was speedily cured by taking  one-twelfth  of a grain  of the
powdered Nux every two hours, without experiencing  any sign of
homoeopathic aggravation.

   A carpenter,  sixty years old,, who had been addicted to abuse of
brandy and cider, was attacked  by weak eyes and vomiting.   Nux
12 or 18 stopped the vomiting, except when he ate meat; the tongue
remained coated and the other derangements of the digestive organs
continued. He now took four times a day half a grain of pulver-
ized Nux, and was  perfectly relieved without experiencing any
medicinal symptom.

   A lady who was affected with  oppression of the stomach, costive-
ness and headache, took Nux 24 without any relief; one-fourth of a
grain of pulverized Nux morning and night cured her perfectly.

   Kopp states that he has cured  hundreds  of such cases of derange-
ment of the digestive  organs, whether  resulting from  piles, lead-
poisoning or other causes, by means of the spirituous extract of
Nux, in doses of one-sixteenth,  one-fourth, and even one-half of a
grain, two or three times  a day.

   We have seen that  Nux causes a feeling of weakness in the in-
guinal rings, as if hernia would protrude ;  hence we may find it
useful  in
   Recent  Hernia of children, pregnant  females or laborers;  Nux
may restore the contractile power of the  tissues, and prevent  the
protrusion of the bowel.
   In Strangulated Hernia, we give Nux, if there is no inflammation,
or very little of it; simple strangulation, nausea or even vomiting;
if inflammation is present we give Aconite, Belladonna.  It may be
advisable  to give Nux in alternation  with these agents. 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
671
  In l'Union Medicale for 1840, Dr. Homolle reports success in the
reduction of strangulated hernia, with exceedingly minute doses
of Strychnia.   He supposes  it acts  as it does in constipation  from
paralysis, by augmenting  the peristaltic action or by  correcting
irregular action.
  In regard to this matter the fact is right enough, but the expla-
nation  is faulty. It is not paralysis that we have to contend against
in strangulated hernia, but spasm.  Strychnine cures  strangulated
hernia by virtue of its property to excite spasm.   The explanation
that Strychnine cures strangulated  hernia  by correcting irregular
action, is as transparent as a fog on  a wintry morning.   All drugs
cure by correcting irregular action.   The idea that drugs cure dis-
eases which they are capable of producing, stares  our brethren of
the other side in the face at every turn of the way ; they  cannot get
rid of  it, no matter how they twist the argument.  But we must be
patient and abide our time.   I for one am willing to be patient, and
if I give our opponents  a scorching every now and  then, I  trust
that, upon examination, it will be found to be kindly meant, even
in the spirit of the  wise man of old: Amat qui castigat, he who
loves, chastises.

  Nux affects the alvine secretions very powerfully. An apothecary,
while preparing the  extract of Nux, inhaled the vapors.   Towards
evening  he was seized with pinching in the abdomen, ate  little, went
to bed, and Avas awakened at ten o'clock by the most violent vomit-  ,
ing and purging, which continued until six o'clock in  the morning.  -
The whole of next day he felt sick at the stomach, ate nothing and
was very thirsty.
   This interesting case exhibits a picture of
   Chiolera Morbus,  of which we may  avail ourselves in  practice.  A
case of cholera morbus, characterized by such symptoms,  and caused
by a cold, by eating heavy or indigestible food, will most probably
yield to  Nux.
   Nux causes  small discharges  of mucus,  with pressing or  even
some tenesmus ; hence in
   Dysenteric Diarrhea, where these  characteristic evacuations pre-
vail, Nux will be found a curative agent.
   According to our provings, Nux  does  not,  properly speaking,
cause  diarrhoea,  except  under  certain circumstances.   Nux, for
instance, causes
   Diarrhieic Stools followed by expulsion of hard faeces.   This con-
dition  of the boAvels, alternate diarrhceic and solid stools, especially
when connected with liver-complaint, is an indication for Nux.
  Nux causes discharges of green mucus excoriating the anus; the
stools in general may cause a burning at the anus.  Hence in
   Bilious Diarrhea, Nux may be useful, especially if the evacua-
tions are preceded by  a pinching pain;  the  discharges may also be
accompanied by a good deal of flatulence.
   Nux has cured
   Diarrhea, with cutting pain in the lower bowels, shooting doAvn
the thighs. 
672
LECTURE XLV.
   In Horn's Archives, a fine cure of
   Chironic Diarrhea is reported.  A middle-aged  man had been
\ affected for months past with watery diarrhoea.  The discharges had
\ a bilious appearance, and took place six or eight times in the tAventy-
' four hours.  Gradually anasarca had developed itself to a conside-
 rable extent.  The appetite Avas less; thirst increased;  the patient
 never perspired ; the skin had a sallow, cachectic tinge. Nux vomica
 was given in pills, some sjx_to  eight grains  daily.   Gradually the
 diarrhoea ceased, the urinary secretions increased, the anasarca dis-
 appeared, and, after having been under treatment for five weeks, the
 patient was completely cured.  No other medicine was given during
 the whole of the treatment but  Nux.
   In reading the report of this case, the question presented itself to
 my mind : Shall we repudiate such experience as this, simply because
 a large  dose was  employed ?  Far be this from  us; we desire  to
 know the truth, and  nothing but the truth.  Chronic diarrhoea is
 sometimes an obstinate complaint, and it may be Avell for us to know
 that we sometimes fail in  curing this affection, because we do not
 administer the specific drug in proper quantitative proportions.
   This case may teach us  another great lesson.  It  teaches us the
 propriety and  even the necessity of  adhering to  a drug Avhich is
 specifically homoeopathic to a case.   AYhen we read reports of cases
 where a dozen medicines were experimented with, agreeably to the
 good old dogma, "Experimenta  facere in  anima  vili," experiment
 upon  vile souls—yes,  a dozen  medicines in  a case that remained
 essentially the same from the beginning to the end of the cure—we
 are seized with a feeling of pity at so much ignorance and reckless-
 ness.  AYhy give a dozen  medicines, if the essential nature of the
 case remains unchanged ?   Here it is where Old-School  physicians
 may teach us a lesson fraught with useful results.  The idea of spe-
 cific relation has been abused by Old-School practitioners.  An Old-
 School practitioner reads of a cure of epilepsy by Nux;  he at once
 jumps  at the conclusion that Nux will cure epilepsy, and all  his
 epileptic patients are treated to a mess of Nux.  He prescribes, not
 for a disease, but for the name thereof.  Some patients may recover
 under this empirical mode of prescribing; others may improve ; but
 there Avill be many whose cases  are not reached by the drug.   Woe
 unto these poor unfortunates, if their  physician should happen to be
 endowed with an unusal organ of firmness and adhesiveness. These
 patients  must get well  with Nux, and if they do not,  he poisons
 them half to death.   This is empirical specific treatment, with which
 homoeopathic specific treatment has nothing to do. Specific homoeo-
 pathic treatment is based upon the idea that a drug represents sen-
 sually or materially the immaterial morbific essence which excites
 abnormal pathological processes in the organism; this drug alone
 can wipe out a pathological process by removing from the organic
 tissues the morbific essence of which it constitutes the visible type
 in nature.  As  long as the morbific essence remains  the same, the
 drug should not be  changed; we  may administer it in larger or
 smaller  quantities, in high  or low potencies, at longer or shorter
 intervals; but we are only justified in substituting some other drug 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
673
 in its place, if the morbific essence has }delded up its place to some
 other analogous morbific principle.  A mere apparent change in the
 symptoms does not  justify a  change of medicine.   This change is
 only sanctioned by  a change  in the inmost nature of the pathologi-
 cal process, indicating  some other drug as its typical representative
 or symbol.
    How are we to knoAV whether such a change is real or only appa-
 rent?  In other words, how are we  to learn to distinguish  between
 essential and apparent truth?  With a view to answer this question,
 let me invite you to look around into Nature and Society.  Appear-
 ances  surround your senses; it is  only to the inmost  reason that
 truth is revealed.   All nature deceives us ; the stars deceive us ; the
 very sun that quickens our inmost vitality, deceives us;  the glisten-
 ing forms, the set formulas, the rigid conventionalities, the stereotyped
 prayers of Society  deceive us.   So do the symptomatic appearances
 of disease.   You must learn  to interpret them.   The study of drugs
 and of pathology in connection Avith the physiology of  the normal
 functions, is  one great avenue of knowledge.  But you must acquire
 this knoAvledge thoughtfully, understanding^, not  after the fashion
 of boyhood,  but after that  of Paul: " AYhen I Avas a child, I spoke as
 a  child ; but now I have become a man, and I have put aAvay childish
 things."   No man can  become a  physician in the  sight  of Heaven
 who is not endowed Avith the heart and soul of a good man, and Avith
 the brains of an honest and  enlightened philosopher; without this
 endowment he may manage to be a tolerably successful tinkerer in
 therapeutics, and, with a certain amount of cunning, smoothness and
 measured respectability, he may elevate himself to a deaconship in
 the Church, or he may transform himself into a walking money-bag
 in AY all street; but in the  book where the Angel of  the Eternal
 Father records the name of every good and true physician his  place
 will be a blank.

    Aloderate  doses  of Nux cause a torpor of the bowels;  hence
 homoeopathic physicians employ  Nux in '
    Constipation, when this condition is characterized by the following
 symptoms:
    Constipation as if the bowels Avere not sufficiently active;
    Constipation as if the bowels Avere constricted ;
    Constipation with rush of  blood to the head;
    Constipation Avith insufficient passage  of fasces; sensation as  if
 more had to  be expelled, Avhich had been retained on account of the
 constriction of the rectum.
/   The constipation which Nux will relieve, seems to be connected
 Avith derangement  of the liver, deficient  secretion  of bile through
 the  ductus  choledochus.  Hence deficiency  of peristalic action,
 lumpy agglomeration and  pale color of the fascal mass.
    Constipation attended Avith a good deal of ineffectual and frequently
 repeated straining; or constipation caused by abuse of coffee, spirits,
 or arising  from sedentary habits, may yield to Nux.
    Constipation arising from spinal irritation, often yields to Nux
 vomica.
                                43 
674
LECTURE XLV.
  We find that Nux causes a sharp and  painful pressure in the
rectum after stool, or in the night, or at other periods;  hence in
  Proctalgia, Nux ma}'- be found useful.

  AAre are also informed that  Nux causes constriction of the rectum
and anus; hence in
  Stricture of these parts, Nux may be necessary.

  In Paralysis  of the Rectum. Nux may be found the best means of
restoring the irritability of the muscular fibre.   This paralysis may
exist by itself or as a symptom of general paraplegia.  It may like-
wise result from a  concussion of the  lower portion of  the spinal
marroAV.   It  may be necessary to resort  to the strong tincture of
Nux, or to its alkaloid Strychnine.

  Nux being possessed of a power to weaken the contractile energy
of the muscular fibre,
  Prolapsus of  the Anus may result; Nux  has cured this affection.
Dr. Koch cured  a case by using injections of cold water,  mixing
with every injection from six to eight drops of a solution of tAvelve
drops of the strong tincture of Nux in two drachms of dilute alcohol.

  Nux causes haemorrhage from the anus, pressing  in the rectum,
burning, stitching, and other symptoms such as are frequently present
during an attack of piles; hence in
  Fluent Piles,  with pressing  in the bowels, rigidity in the small of
the back, headache, rush of blood to the head, Nux may prove very
useful.

  In conclusion let us not forget that Nux affects  the  abdominal
integuments and the liver.
  In the abdominal muscles it  causes a twitching, soreness, numb-
ness and tingling, a sort of  rheumatism of these integuments.
  A butcher had heated himself by walking, and while  perspiring
profusely, he exposed himself to a draught of air and drank a quan-
tity of cold beer.  He was  taken Avith soreness, numbness and ting-
ling of the abdominal integuments.   A drop of the tincture of Nux
in a tumblerful of Avater cured him at once.

  In the region of the liver Nux causes the following symptoms :
  Thirobbing pain in the region of the liver as from an  ulcer;
  Fine, stinging pain in the region of the liver;
   Creeping chiills in the region of the liver ;
  These symptoms justify the use of Nux in
  Liver-complaint, chironic  hepatitis,  induration of the  liver, Avhere
similar symptoms exist.

  Nux has also this symptom:
  " Jaundice, with aversion to food and short fainting-turns; after-
wards he feels weak and sick."
  This symptom tells us that in
   Chironic Jaundice, Nux may be available; also in liver-complaint,
if jaundice is a characteristic  symptom. 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
675
                      URINARY GROUP.

   In the case of poisoning related by Oilier and quoted by Per.ira,
 Ave were told that the urine had passed off involuntarily.
   For Incontinence  of urine,  Nux has been administered with  the
 best effect by eminent practitioners of both Schools, it may depend
 upon paralysis of the sphincters.  For the
   Nocturnal Enuresis of children, Nux has  likeAvise been used Avith
 good effect.
   Nux causes painful,  ineffectual urging to urinate; it  also causes
 a pressing in the neck of the bladder after urinating.  Hence in
   Strangury, we shall  find Nux indicated, especially if the  stran-
 gury depends upon chronic  irritation of the loAver portion of the
 spine.
   Nux causes this symptom : painless discharge of a tenacious mucus j
 from the bladder, when urinating.  This symptom  indicates the use I
 of Nux in
   Catarrh of the bladder; it may be accompanied by weakness and
 pain in the small of the back, burning and itching in the urethra;  a
 feeling of irritation in the  region of the bladder.   A condition of
 this kind may also arise from suppressed piles.

   Another  symptom which Nux causes, may, perhaps, lead to  the
 use of Nux in
   Diabetes Mellitus ; it  is this symptom:  "A pale-colored urine is
 emitted, followed by the discharge of  a thick, Avhitish,  puriform
 matter, attended with  burning pain.  Unfortunately, this  secretion
 has not been subjected  by Hahnemann to the action of appropriate
 reagents; we are therefore unable to decide concerning the presence
 of saccharine matter in this secretion ; but in view of the remarkable
 action which Nux has upon the functions of the liver, Ave  may cer-
 tainly feel justified in recommending Nux in diabetes mellitus.

   In Paralytic Retention of urine, Nux will be found available, more
 particularly if the torpor of the muscular  fibres can  be traced to
 irritation of the lower portion of the spine.

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

  Nux vomica acts very powerfully upon the sexual organs of both
 the male and  female.
  Moderate doses of Nux seem  to cause an increased irritability of
 the sexual organs, manifested by involuntary emissions and frequent
 erections.  AYe shall therefore find Nux indicated in
  Nocturnal Emissions, if they characterize  a general abnormal ex-
 citability and plethora of the sexual organs.
  On the  other  hand, the provings of Nux distinctly show that it
 depresses the sexual energies; for it causes, according to the reeord:
 " Nocturnal emissions without erections, followed by weakness and
relaxation of the parts."  It also causes:  " Sudden relaxation of the
parts during sexual intercourse, a state of impotence."  It would
seem therefore that Nux may prove useful in 
•676
LECTURE XLV.
     Impotence, where Trousseau and Pidoux have employed Strychnia
   Avith success.  Nux or its alkaloid is particularly useful in impo-
   tence caused by self-abuse, or abuse of spirits, coffee, or by sedentary
   habits and mental exertion.
     Nux causes a  constrictive pain in  the testes;  with heat and
   stitches in the testes ; Ave  have cured Avith it
     Spasmodic Pains in the spermatic cord, swelling, hardness and
   draAving up of the testes.   The consequences of
     Self-abuse, involuntary emissions, impotence, involuntary discharge,
   of prostatic fluid, perhaps Avith  retraction and swelling  of the tes-
   ticle, may require Nux vomica.

     The action of Nux upon the female organs of generation  is like-
   Avise indicative of its use  in several abnormal conditions. AYe find
 .  that Nux causes premature menstruation: the menses are generally
   more scanty than usual and attended Avith cramps in the  bowels.
     The appearance of  the  menses is accompanied with other charac-
   teristic symptoms, such as: Nausea, chilliness  and fainting turns;
   the chilliness  may be succeeded by  internal heat, dryness  of the
   lips;  it is attended Avith a most distressing headache as though the
   eyes should be pressed out of their sockets.
     In accordance Avith this record, Ave recommend Nux in
     Dysmennorrhea, AArith  premature  discharge, rather scanty  and
   characterized by the symptoms of cerebral congestion and attending
   chilliness to Avhich Ave have alluded.
     One record  reads as folloAvs : " Contractive, crampy pains in the
   loAver bowels, folloAved by discharge of bloody coagula."   Hence in
     Dysmennorrhea, where  the appearance of the menstrual blood is
   ushered in by such pains, and where  the blood is  expelled  in the
   form of coagula, Nux may be of eminent use.
     These  distresses attendant upon  premature menstruation,  may
   likeAvise exist if the menses appear after the regular period.  Nux
   may be of use even in this case; for we see it stated that Nux has
   actually retarded the appearance of the menstrual discharge.
     Again  the menstrual discharge may seem  scanty, but  it may  be
   of too long duration, weakening,  sickening;  Nux may correct this
   condition of things, Avhich Ave might designate as a  peculiar form of
     Menorrhagia, a continual dribbling of the menses.

     Nux may prove of service in
     Amenmrrhea, when depending upon irritation of the loAver portion
   of the  spine; or Avhen accompanied  by spasmodic rigidity of the
   uterine  fibres.   In such cases the consensual symptoms of  con-
   gestion of the gastric organs and of the head, nausea, violent frontal
   or general headache,  with burning and swelling  of the  eyeballs,
   chilliness, and perhaps distention of  the  abdomen and dragging,
   bearing-doAvn pains in the small of the back, may afford us import-
   ant indications.
     Nux has also been used by homoeopathic physicians for
 ,t   Prolapsus of the Womb and  Vagina;  it removes the sense of
/ \ weight and bearing-down AA'hich often gives rise to the suspicion that 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
677
prolapsus exists; it is  particularly  afficacious,  if these symptoms
occur among a group of uterine disorders to Avhich Nux is generally
homoeopathic.   It  may undoubtedly be possesssed of a poAver  to
restore the contractility of the relaxed ligaments.

  Nux  has  caused:  "Swelling  of  the internal  pudendum, with
burning  pain which rendered contact  unpleasant."  And likeAvise:
" Discharge  of  yellow mucus from the vagina which sometimes has
a bad smell."
  In  accordance  with these indications, we may  recommend Nux
for
  Leucorrhea, a discharge of yellowish mucus from the vagina, Avith
SAvelling and soreness of the internal lining membrane.  A leucor-
rhoea of this kind may set  in very copiously in place of the menses,
or as a continuation of the menstrual discharge.
  In these menstrual disorders we have found Nux from the 3d to
the 30th the most  available potencies; the 2d or  even 1st, may  be
required in  some cases.


                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

  This drug has been employed by homoeopathic physicians in
   Catarrhal Irritation of the Schneiderian  membrane, Avith or Avith-
out discharge from the nose;  or Avith discharge of blood, tingling
and itching in the nose; also in
   Old Catarrhi,  with discharge of  foul blood and mucus, bad smell in
the nose.

  The provers of Nux have recorded as one of the effects of this drug a
   Cough of a spasmodic nature, dry and racking, causing a soreness
in the throat-pit, or in the pit of the stomach; also a cough as if the
head should split, or a cough exciting vomiting.
  Some homoeopathic physicians profess to have  seen good effects
from Nux in the  treatment of cough Avhich seemed to  be in sympa-
thetic relation Avith certain  gastric derangements.   I have not been
so fortunate; nevertheless it is well not to overlook this statement.
  AVe may perhaps be able in some cases  to  trace a catarrhal irri-
tation of the  lining  membrane of the  lungs to some lingering
derano-ement of the liver.   Under these circumstances, the peculiar
salloAV or jaundiced appearance  of the patient, and the  soreness  in
the epigastrium and region of the liver,  Avhich  may not be experi-
enced by the patient until hard pressure is  made in those parts, ay ill
undoubtedly determine our diagnosis.

  In  Bernhardi's Journal a case is reported illustrating in  a very
characteristic manner  the  connection betAveen the  lungs and liver,
or,  if you  please,  the  dependence of a catarrhal  irritation of the
pulmonary  lining membrane upon liver-complaint.
  A young blacksmith had been subject for years  to paroxysms of
cough attended with dull pain deep in the thorax, with more or less 
678
LECTURE XLV.
copious expectoration of slimy sputa,  dyspnoea, general  debility,
night-sAveats, emaciation, accelerated pulse, mucous rale along the
larger bronchial  ramifications.  The patient  had gradually  sunk
■into a condition which his friends  looked upon as the beginning of
phthisis.  His father had died of this disease.  The patient looked
jaundiced.   He was put upon the  use  of the  ordinary alcoholic
tincture of Nux, and in two weeks he was completely cured without
the supervention of any critical or medicinal symptoms.

                     THORACIC GROUP.

  You recollect the splendid cure of asthma to which I alluded in
my first lecture on Nux.  The patient was constantly  exposed to
the vapors of oil-cakes, to damp weather and other irritating causes.
Hahnemann cured  him with  the  pulverized Nux giAren in grain-
doses.
  The provings of Nux show that this agent causes:
  Shortness of breath;
  Asthmatic constriction across the chest Avhen walking or going
up stairs;
  Dyspnoea  and anxiety increasing from hour to hour,  until sweat
breaks out;
  The constriction is accompanied  by a severe aching pain;
  Feeling of warmth in the chest, causing anxiety, uneasiness and
sleeplessness;
  Soreness of  the sternum ;
  Throbbing and stitching pains in the chest;
  Shocks in the region of the heart, Avith palpitation.
  These effects of Nux show most conclusively that it must be useful in
  Spasmodic Asthima, if the muscles of the chest become rigid and
hard during the attack, the patient is oppressed with anxiety as if
he should suffocate, wheezing breathing, a cold sweat starting out
upon his  brow.  The attack  may seem to  proceed from  a deep-
seated aching pain under the sternum, and, after the attack, the patient
may complain of  soreness under the sternum; the soreness may be
only felt all along the breast-bone, or it may extend from the breast-
bone laterally toward the shoulder.  Copious vomiting of phlegm
eases the paroxysm.

  Nux causes shocks and palpitation  of the heart.  These symptoms
may occur during a paroxysm of asthma, or  in  consequence  of a
peculiar idiopathic irritability of the heart, a sort of
  Spasm of the Heart, which may be excited by some sudden, violent
irritating emotion, anger, disappointment.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Nux is not adapted to acute fever; but in some chronic forms of
fever, it may prove a most useful agent.   We find it indicated in
  Gastric fevers, with  foul taste, slimy, yellowish or grayish coating
on the tongue, chilliness followed by heat, flushed and  warm  face, 
STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA.
679
 headache, nausea, dark-yellow urine with whitish or broAvn sediment,
 constipation, prostration, pulse  slightly irritated.   In some forms of
   Intermittent fever, Nux may prove very efficient, especially if the
 paroxysms set  in every day, with chilliness followed  by heat all
 over, flushed face, coated tongue, loss  of appetite, weariness, dark
 urine, depositing a whitish cloud; the thirst is only felt during the
 heat.  During the fever the  patient may complain of oppression on
 the chest, anxiety, palpitation of the  heart,  all of Avhich symptoms
 are relieved as  soon as the sweat breaks out; the sweat may have a
 strong and even fetid smell.
   In fevers of a typhoid character,  Nux  is not indicated by the
 known effects of this drug.  In
   Rheumatic or Arthiritic fevers  of a chronic type, Avith gastric symp-
 toms, loss of appetite, soreness of the  flesh, costiveness,  Aveakness of
 the joints, oppression, chilly feeling at night, followed  by heat and
 sweat, weakness and aching, laming pains in the back, Nux may be
 a good remedy.   The prevailing type  or genius of disease, although
 assuming a variety of forms in different cases, may find in Nux its
 most universal  representative.  The doctrine of a typical genius of
 disease may be of great  use to us in practice.  In one epidemic it
 may be Arsenic; in another  Nux, in  another Aconite or Mercury.
 In epidemics of a rheumatic or arthritic character, Nux may  un-
 doubtedly be one of the  typical representatives or correspondences
 of the disease.

                 EXANTHEA1ATOUS GROUP.

   Nux does not seem to be distinguished as a remedy for eruptive
 diseases.   It causes however furious itching and formication.  In
   Prurigo, attended Avith irritation of the gastric organs, to which
 Nux seems homoeopathic, we may find  this  agent eminently useful.
 Pathologically the prurigo may be represented by a
   Rash, fine, red little stigmata; we find this itching and  burning
 rash described by some provers.

   In Dierbach's great Avork on Alateria Medica and Therapeutics,
 the following interesting  case is described, where, under the action
 of Nux, a remarkable eruption made its  appearance.
   A young man, aged tA-venty years, whose left arm was  completel}7",
 and Avhose right arm was partially paralyzed, was put on the use of
 pills  composed  of equal  parts of the  extract and  poAvder of Nux,
 and weighing two  grains each.   Gradually increasing the  dose, he
 finally took six pills morning and evening.   On the twelfth day he
 was attacked with a raging pain and  shuddering of the right arm,
 with violent  redness and  swelling of the limb and breaking out of
 Pustules Avhich  seemed to form an almost  confluent eruption and
 gradually spread over the whole body.   Thegsaralysis improved in
 proportion.   Six days after the eruption had* appeared, it dried up
 and fell off' in large Avhitish scales.  The  patient continued his pills,
 and  the eruption broke out a second  time, preceded by rigidity of
the limb.   From sixteen pills daily Avhich the patient had taken, he 
680
LECTURE XLVI.
 now came down to eight;  the sixteen pills had caused shocks and
 tetanic rigidity; the eight  pills caused heaviness^ the tongue and
 a hurriedness in all his motions.  Gradually he only took one pill
 a day; the eruption broke out twice more, but  only in the shape of
 small  vesicles, which dried up, and left the patient perfectly cured

                            SLEEP.

I   Nux causes heat and restlessness at night, frightful dreams.  AYe
 may prescribe it for the
'   Sleeplessness of drunkards, and also for
   Nighit-mare, when arising from bad digestion, abuse of spirits.

                      MENTAL GROUP.

   Nux is eminently adapted to
   Hypochiondria, when arising from, or accompanied by liver-com-
 plaint.  Even Avhen the hypochondria increases to              •
   Suicidal Mania,  Nux may still  be  an efficient remedy.  Irritable
 temper is characteristic of  Nux.
               LECTURE   XLVI.

                         OPIUM.

   (Papaver somniferum, popp>y.—Nat. Order:—PapaverACE.e.)

  This is one of the most  anciently known plants.  Homer speaks
of the poppy (mecon) growing in gardens;  it was employed by
Hippocrates, and is mentioned by Theophrastus,  Dioscorides and
Pliny.  The word Opium is derived from the Greek  Opos (juice),
the juice par excellence, as the  floAver of rosemary has been called
anthios, and the cortex  cinchonas, the barhc.
  Opium is derived from the poppy.  AVe have the black and white
poppy; the seeds of the black  variety are black and the leaves red-
dish ; those of the white variety have white seeds and white petals.
  The floAver is annual, the stems from three to four feet high, leafy,
smooth,  glaucous-; leaves alternate, large, irregular, lobed, deeply
serrated; floAvers large, petals of a purplish-white, with a large violet
spot at the  base of each;  the whole plant is glaucous and smooth,
except that the flower  stalks sometimes bear a  few scattered, bristly
hairs.
  Papaver somniferum is a native of the East, extensively culti-
vated in Turkey, Persia, and India, and other warm climates ; it has
become  naturalized in a great many European  countries and  in
some States of the Union.
  The method of obtaining Opium is sufficiently simple. Air. Charles
Tenier thus describes the  process  of obtaining Opium followed  in 
opium.                         681
 Asia Alinor,  "A few days after the flower has fallen, men and women
 repair to  the fields and cut the  heads of the poppies horizontally,
 taking care that the incisions do not penetrate the internal cavity of
 the shell   A white substance immediately Aoavs out, and collects in
 tears on the  edges of the cuts.   In this state  the field  is left for
 twenty-four hours, and, on the folloAving day, the Opium is collected
 by large blunt  knives.  Each head  furnishes Opium  once only, and
 that to an extent of a feAV grains. The first sophistication it receives
 is that practiced by the peasants who collect it, and Avho lightly
 scrape the epidermis from the shell to augment the weight.  This
 operation adds about ^  of foreign matters.   Thus  collected, Opium
 has the form of a glutinous and granular jelly. It  is deposited in
 small earthen vessels, and beat  up Avith saliva.  When asked why
 Avater  was not employed in place of saliva, the  ansAver was that
 water  caused it to spoil.  It is afterwards enveloped in dry leaves,
 and  in this state it is sold.   The seeds of those  poppies Avhich have
 yielded Opium, are equally good for sowing the following year."
   In commerce several varieties of Opium are  known:
   1. Smyrna Opium ; this is the Turkey or Levant Opium of com-
 merce, Avhich comes in rounded, flattened  cakes covered Avith the
 leaves of rumex.   This is  considered the  best commercial Opium,
 although sometimes found largely adulterated Avith stone and gravel.
 It yields more  morphia and meconic  acid than either Constantino-
 politan or Egyptian Opium.
   2. Constantinopolitan Opium; this  is of unequal quality, but
 generally considered inferior to the Smyrna variety.
   3. Egyptian  Opium, inferior to either of  the  former; it does not
 blacken by keeping.
   4. Trebizond Opium, or Persian Opium.   This comes in the form
 of cylindrical sticks enveloped  in a  smooth, slimy paper, and tied
 Avith cotton;  said to be very inferior.
   5. Indian Opium.
   6. Native  European and American Opium.   Excellent Opium is
 groAvn in Germany, France and  England, and likewise in Ohio and
 Georgia.  The  late Dr. Anthony of Georgia, made excellent Opium,
 and  in considerable quantity, during the last war Avith Great Britain.
 Opium thus groAvn, is of  course more reliable in one respect at least
 than the Opium of our commerce: it is not  adulterated.  The  com-
 mercial Opium is  often very  much adulterated.  An  inspector  of
 drugs for the port of Ncav York announced  officially that from July,
 1848, to AI ay, 1849, he had rejected 3300 pounds of Opium as spu-
 rious ;  Opium,  too, Avhich had been  imported  from Smyrna, Mar-
seilles  and London.
   When a lump of Opium is broken, the interior should present a
pretty  uniform, brown color, and have a strong  opiate smell as well
as the marked  opiate taste.   It should look  like a homogeneous
mass.  If the interior shows dirt, small pebbles, pieces of leaves and
sticks,  having also a burnt odor, the inference  is unavoidable that
the article is not pure.
  Besides these foreign matters, the  masses of Opium  which are
sent  to us, sometimes contain leaden balls in the centre, by means of 
682
LECTURE XLArI.
 which  the weight is  increased.   These leaden balls are sometimes
 added to Opium of valuable quality, but are also found in the most
 defective samples.  These and similar adulterations shoAV how neces-
 sary it  is that those who  purchase raAV Opium should  carefully
 examine the article before using it.   A fine outside is  no guarantee
 that the interior is perfectly pure.
   From this drug we obtain both triturations and an alcoholic tinc-
 ture.  The tincture of Opium  is  generally termed laudanum, or
 thebaic tincture, or liquid laudanum.  Lajidanuni^may_b_e. made by
 taking an ounce of the best Opium, bruise it well, and digest it with
 a pint of the best brandy.   Each fluid ounce  contains thirty grains
 of Opium.
   A preparation which is frequently employed by alloeopathic phy-
 sicians, is black drop, also termed Quaker's drop.   This is an acetic
 tincture of Opium.  Homoeopathic practitioners do not make use of
 this preparation.  It  is generally made  by boiling half a pound of
 Opium in slices, in four pounds of vinegar, and afterwards adding
 one-fourth of a pound of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of yeast. The
 mixture has to be put in a Avarm place  to ferment for the space of
 six  weeks.   Then decant, filter  and bottle, adding a little  sugar to
 each bottle.   The opiate strength of this preparation is three times
 greater than that of common laudanum.
I   The most common constituents of Opium are : morphia, narcotina,
| codein, meconic acid, a caoutchouc-like substance, and a variety of
! other  less-important substances.
   From Alorphia we obtain  salts, the acetate and sulphate of morphia.
 The sulphate is most commonly used ; it looks like quinine.  If we
 do not know which  of these substances we have  before us, put  a
 little of each salt on  a water-crystal, and add  a  drop of nitric acid
 to it;  the Alorphia will become  deep red, and the quinine yellow.
 We cannot distinguish them  by the taste, both salts  being bitter.
 A dose of Morphia, in alloeopathic practice, is from one-quarter to
 one-eighth of a grain, equivalent to  thirty or sixty drops  of lauda-
 num.
   From time immemorial Opium has been used as  an anodyne,  a
 sedative, an antiphlogistic,  a  soporific,  an antispasmodic  agent; in
 order  to attain these various ends, the drug has often to be adminis-
 tered in enormous doses.  The largest medicinal dose  of Opium on
 record, for  any purpose, is,  l_Jjelieyjd^griy_gr£msJ  This dose Avas
 given by Dr. Binns of Liverpool, in 1798, in a case of insanity.  In
 four hours  after, a scruple  was  given  with the effect of complete
 restoration.
   Concerning the native  Opium, different opinions have prevailed
 regarding its capability  of yielding Alorphia.   According to  the
 statement of Dublanc and other chemists Avho have  made this sub-
 ject a  point of special inquiry, Alorphina is found in native poppy-
 heads in variable quantities.  Be this as it may, the dangerous and,
 indeed, poisonous properties of native poppy-heads have been shown
 by the incontrovertible testimony of experience.
   Dr.  Profferio, for instance, took an injection consisting of the juice
 of green poppy-heads, and was immediately attacked Avith burning 
OPIUM.
683
  in the  bowels and a most violent  colic.   The general opinion has
  been that  Opium does not cause pain, but hushes it up.   We shall
  hereafter offer additional testimony to shoAV that this sweeping gene-
  ralization is incorrect.
    Professor Wendt of Copenhagen, mentions the case of a child six
  months old Avho  had been  fed with a milk-soup in which tAventy
  poppy-heads had  been boiled.   Next morning the child way lying
  in deep sopor, with its eyes half open and distorted, and the extremi-
 I ties cold.   His life was saved by the internal use of vinegar, vinegar-
  fornentations and injections.
"TJ  Another child,  after eating the seeds of a few unripe poppy-heads,
  was attacked with drowsiness, violent headache, difficulty of breath-
  ing and vomiting of a grayish mucus mixed with poppy-seed.  The
  drowsiness soon increased to continued and  deep sopor,  moaning
  and occasional twitching of the body.  The child was restored  by
  cold affusions.
    I may yet mention the case of  a little  boy, four  years  old, who
  after eating the seeds  of a few unripe poppy-heads, was  attacked
  with immobility and apparent insensibility, slow and deep breathing,
  paleness of the face, extreme mobility  and depression of the lower
  jaw, and dilatation and insensibility of the pupils.  The pulse was
  very small and sIoav, the skin of the extremities cold as marble, the
  muscles relaxed and deglutition difficult.  Ipecac, induced frequent
  vomiting of a  green, tenacious, sour-smelling mucus, mixed with
  fragments  and seeds of poppy-heads ;  this, together with injections
  of vinegar saved  his life.
    An  interesting case of poisoning by poppy-heads, and the last
  Avhich  I shall mention, occurred on a farm in the Duchy of Ilessen.
  A number of cattle were fed one evening on distillery-swill mixed
  with poppy-heads from which the  seeds had  been removed.  That
  night,  and  on the morning folloAving, the cattle were attacked with
  a restlessness Avhich almost bordered  on  rage, and Avith obstinate
  Constipation.  The milk likewise ceased to Aoav. They were speedily
  restored by means of the .sulphate of sQ,&a_.Avhich moved their boAvels,
  and by injections of vinegar, soap and  oil.
    Poppy-heads constitute an article of the officinal pharmacopoeias
  of most countries.  AVe prepare a watery extract by maceration and
  evaporation, and  likewise  an alcoholic tincture from the ripe and
  dry poppies which is supposed to contain about half the strength of
  pure Opium.
    These feAV cases of poisoning by the  green seeds of  poppy-heads
  may give you  an idea  of the poAverful narcotic properties of this
  poison.  Before describing the toxicological effects of this agent, let
  me first advert to the abuse which Oriental nations make of this
  drug for the purpose of intoxicating their  degraded fancy and intel-
  lect.   Smoking is very frequently resorted to for this purpose.
    Lord Jocelyn,  Secretary to the  Diplomatic  Aiission to China in
  1841, has furnished some interesting details concerning this subject.
  " In  Singapore," writes  the Secretary, " I  took the opportunity of
  visiting the opium-smokers in their homes.  It is an offensive spec-
  tacle, though, at first, not as repulsive as the sight of an intoxicated 
684
LECTURE XLVI.
drunkard whom vice  has degraded to the level of a beast.  NeA'cr-
theless the stupid smile and the lethargic  apathy of the opium-
smoker are more horribly frightful than the beastly condition of a
drunkard.   Every other feeling yields to  pity on  beholding the
colorless cheeks  and the vacant and staring  eyes  of the opium-
smoker.
  "A street, situated  in  the middle of  the city, is lined with shops
Avhich are arranged for the sale of Opium.  In the evening, after the
close of business, a number of miserable Chinese  assemble in these
shops  for the purpose of gratifying their passion.  In a few days
even,  after  commencing  this viie practice, the face  begins  to look
sickly and  the eyes stare.   In a feAV Aveeks  or  months, the opium-
smoker, even  if at first  robust and  healthy, is reduced to a state of
imbecility and emaciation.  About nine o'clock in the evening the
effects of opium-smoking may be witnessed in these  shops.   Those
Avho have only smoked  one pipe indulge in  a senseless talking and
laughing;  others, who  have  poisoned  themselves more intensely,
are lying about on the  sofas, motionless, and with a stupid smile in
their  features,  unconscious  of what  is passing around them, and
entirely absorbed in their  infernal  delight.   The  last scene of this
drama has to  be Avitnessed in a separate apartment, a real charnel-
house.  There those who have  reached a condition  of ecstasis, are
extended Avith cadaveric rigidity, a symbol of death which speedily
overtakes them."
  Dr.  Thompson, who has written an interesting treatise on Opium-
poisoning and its antidotal treatment, says that the  opium-eaters of
Constantinople meet  every day  at the bazaar,  a sort of exchange,
where they indulge their deadly habits.  They swalloAV  the Opium
made into pills, in a glass of Avater.   After the  lapse of  about forty
minutes, they are transported with a sort of delight.  The previously
pale face is suffused Avith redness, the eyes glisten, the expression of
the countenance becomes Avild and unnatural, and they are extremely
talkative.  This condition  is only temporary, and the consequences
are truly heart-rending;  emaciation, trembling  of  the limbs, violent
pains, insatiable desire  for sexual  intercourse with inability  to
gratify it, shrinking of the gums, falling out of  the teeth, and para-
lysis are the ultimate consequences of this dreadful vice of Opium-
eating, Avhich, if begun  at  the age of tAventy, generally destroys life
at the age of thirty-six.
  The vice of Opium-eating blunts the susceptibility of  the system
to such an extent that enormous quantities of Opium can be taken
into the stomach without producing any other than ordinary stimu-
lating effects.   The  author of "Confessions  of  an Opium-eater"
states that he took one hvihdred and thirty grains of Opium per day,
not by accident or mistake, but as a habit.   Professor Alitchell tells
of a literary man who Avas at the same time a physician  and  author
of renown, and took  one hundred  and sixty grains  a day without
being  satisfied by such a  dose.  Russel tells  even of  a Turk in
Smyrna who was in the habit of sAvalloAving daily one hundred and
eighty grains, and even increased the dose.  In diseases  such as
cancer, where Opium is habitually resorted to as a palliative, patients 
OPIUM.
685
finally acquire the faculty of consuming as much as three pints of
laudanum daily, besides solid Opium taken at intervals.  The con-
tinual use of the poison gradually begets a longing for it, and  this
accounts in  a measure for the fact  that such enormous doses are
used, which are certainly  not required for purposes of palliation.
Dr. Christen, in his history of  chemical and pharmaceutical inven-
tions, mentions the well-known  fact, that the celebrated author of
the Brunonian system, in propounding his theory to his pupils, was
in the habit of taking forty or fifty drops of laudanum in a glass of
rum before and during his lecture. A distinguished pupil of Brown,
on calling upon his  preceptor one morning  at  an early hour, was
surprised, as he entered the master's study, to hear him in the act of
giving this order to his daughter: " Eppie, my dear, gie me the mode-
rate stimulus o' one  hundred and fifty drops of laudanum in a glass
o' Avhisky."
   BroAvn succeeded  in fastening the idea of the stimulating proper-
ties of Opium upon  the professional mind.  Ranging all vital  phe-
nomena  under the one universal formula of " Instability," he re-
garded diseases as abnormal states of incitability, be it either more
or less.  Food, wine, bark and Opium were his great stimulants in
disease.  Aside from the physiological absurdity of ranging food and
medicine in the same category, it is not true, I repeat most emphati-
cally, it  is not true, that  Opium as  a  stimulant.   In regard to the
action of drugs, Old-School therapeutists still find themselves where
the astronomical public stood three hundred years ago, when Coper-
nicus first discovered the  true law of astronomy. They are governed
by appearances, not by the realities  of nature and  reason.   Thus it
is that the most baseless doctrines have perpetuated themselves  as
medical  creeds. There is no harm in calling a drug a stimulant pro-
vided we ascribe  a  proper understanding to the term ; the Avrong
consists  in supposing that a drug stimulates by furnishing food to
the normal tissues.   The  case stands thus: If a drug stimulates, the
stimulating effect  is not derived  from the drug, but from the brain.
The drug  depresses the functional activity, but the brain sends in-
stantaneous  assistance  to the assailed organ or tissue.  And this
assistance is more than proportionate to the assault.  Hence the ap-
pearance of stimulation, of increased vitality AYhich is sooner or later
followed by corresponding exhaustion.
   AV'ith these explanations before our  mind's eye, Ave shall be able
to  read understandingly Pereira's  classification of the effects of
Opium  on  the human system.   lie distinguishes  three degrees of
operation.
   "First degree.   In small doses, as  from a quarter of a grain to one
grain, Opium generally acts as a stimulant,  though in this respect
the symptoms are not uniform.  Usually the vascular system is some-
what excited, and a sensation of fullness  is experienced about the
head.  Dr. Crumpe tooic  one grain of Opium Avhen his pulse was at
 seventy; it first rose to  seventy-six and then Avent back again to
 seventy.
    " The excitement in the cerebral  vascular system is accompanied
 by alterations in the condition of the nervous functions.  The mind 
686
LECTURE XLVI.
 is usually exhilarated;  the ideas flow more quickly; a pleasurable
 or comfortable condition of the whole system is experienced, difficult
 to describe;  there is a  capability of greater exertion than usual.
 The symptoms  are followed by a diminution of muscular poAver,
 and of susceptibility to the impression of external objects; a desire
 of repose is  experienced with a tendency to sleep.   While  these
 effects are taking place, the mouth and throat become dry, and hunger
 is diminished, though the thirst is increased, and slight constipation
 usually folloAvs.   Such are the ordinary effects of a small dose of
 Opium on persons unaccustomed to its use.   By repetition, however,
 its influence  becomes considerably diminished ; and those, therefore,
 who resort to it for the purpose of producing a pleasurable excite-
 ment, are obliged  to augment the dose to keep up an equal effect."
   " Second degree.   Given in a full medicinal  dose, as from two  to
 four grains, the stage of excitement is soon followed by that of de-
 pression.  The pulse, which  at first is increased  in fullness and fre-
 quency, is afterwards reduced below the natural standard.  The skin
 becomes hot; the mouth and throat dry ; the appetite  dimished ;
 the thirst increased; and frequently nausea, or even vomiting is in-
 duced.  The symptoms of excitement soon pass aAvay, and a state  of
 torpor succeeds ; the  individual seems indisposed to exertion; the
 muscular system  appears enfeebled; the force of external impres-
 sions on the organs of the senses is diminished; and the ideas become
 confused.  This state is followed by an  almost irresistible desire  of
 sleep, Avhich is frequently attended by dreams, sometimes of a pleas-
 ing,  at others of a frightful nature.  These effects are  usually suc-
 ceeded by constipation (which may continue for several days), by
 nausea, furred tongue, headache and listlessness.
   " Ihiird degree; poisonous effects of  Opium.   Dr. Christison sums
 them up as follows: ' The symptoms of  Opium, when it is adminis-
 tered at once in a dangerous dose, begin with giddiness and stupor,
 generally Avithout  any previous stimulus.  The  stupor rapidly in-
 creasing, the  person becomes  motionless and insensible to external
 impressions;  the breathing is very slow, the  patient generally lies
 quite still, with  his eyes shut  and the pupils  contracted; and the
 whole  expression of the countenance is that of a deep and perfect
 repose.  As the poisoning advances, the features  become  ghastly,
 the pulse feeble and imperceptible, the muscles exceedingly relaxed,
 and, unless  assistance is speedily procured, death ensues.  If the
 person recovers, the sopor is  succeeded  by prolonged sleep, which
 commonly ends  in tAventy four or thirty-six hours, and  is folloAved
 by nausea, vomiting, giddiness and loathing of food.' "
   After these interesting statements, let us hear what our own great
 teacher has to say  in reference to this subject; his remarks consti-
tute the introduction to his Provings of Opium, in the second volume
of the Alateria Medica Pura.   I find  a correct translation of these
remarks in the English " Flora Homosopathica," a portion of which
I will take the liberty of reading to you, in order to show, first, the
fallacious  manner in which Opium is used by alloeopathic physicians,
and secondly, in order to correct a few misapprehensions in Hahne-
mann's own statements. 
OPIUM.
687
  " The primary result of weak and  moderate doses appears to be
to excite for a short time the irritability and activity of the muscles
subject  to its  action, to excite  the imagination and the  courage, to
relieve suffering.   It is this property  which has induced physicians
to employ it so largely:  a  source of numberless evils.  If the use
of Opium in  disease were as beneficial as  it is  frequent,  no other
medicine would make  so many cures; but exactly the  reverse takes
place.
  " In all kinds of cough, diarrhoea, vomiting,  sleeplessness,  melan-
choly, spasms, nervous  affections,  and,  above all,  in severe pain,
Opium is indiscriminately given, on  the ground  that it  is the best
remedy  in such  cases.  But its innumerable evil results  do  not
appear among the primitive effects of Opium, which are  exactly the
reverse.
  "If Opium has been found to cure  cough, diarrhoea, sickness,
spams, etc., in a feAV  cases, it is only Avhen these symptoms first show
themselves in persons previously in good health,  and are but slight.
In such cases, as for  instance in a trifling cough  caused  by a recent
chill, the trembling  arising from terror,  etc., Opium will sometimes
restore  the  patient quickly  to health; because,  if these symptoms
are at once  destroyed,  the body is restored to  its former condition,
and the tendency to  their return is suppressed.
  " But because this palliative action upon slight and recent affec-
tions succeeds in a few instances, it does not follow that Opium really
possesses the power of curing them permanently in all  cases.
  " Opium has been abused  by giving it in all kinds of pain, how-
ever deep-seated  and of however  long-standing.   But Opium  does
not, strictly speaking,  belong to the  class  of remedies that soothe
and cure pain. It is almost the only medicine that does not excite
a single pain during  its primitive  action.  Other  medicines elicit
their own  peculiar  symptoms,  and are therefore capable of curing
homoeopathically the symptoms resembling them.   But  Opium has
not  the  power of effectually curing any kind  of pain Avhatever,
because, instead of  exciting pain during its first action,  it extin-
guishes the sense of it,  the inevitable reaction of Avhich causes greater
sensitiveness than before, and consequently increases suffering;
  " Therefore, all kinds of pain, soothed for the moment by Opium,
return after a short  time, when the stupefying effect is past, as bad
as before, and very often still more intense; so that at last  they will
only yield to stronger  and larger doses."

  Beautiful,  interesting, and eminently  practical as these remarks
are, they contain a feAV more or less important errors.  According
to Hahnemann, " Opium has not the power of effectually curing any
kind  of  pain  whatever, because, instead of exciting pain during its
first action, it extinguishes the sense of it, the inevitable reaction of
which causes greater  sensitiveness  than before,  and  consequently
increases suffering."
  It is  undoubtedly true that chronic pains cannot  be  cured  by
Opium;  they may be palliated, but they cannot be cured by Opium.
And even the palliative effects of Opium in chronic and inveterate 
688
LECTURE XLVI.
pains, cannot be sustained beyond a certain period ;  the susceptibili-
ties of the tissues become so thoroughly blunted that Opium ceases
to affect them, unless it is given in enormous and really poisonous
doses.   But there  are  pains to Avhich  Opium is  generally homoeo-
pathic.  In the Journal Universal de Aledicine, a French publication,
we read of a case of poisoning by Opium, where a soldier took tAvo
drachms of  the solid drug, and died in six hours and a half, after
being affected with lockjaw and dreadful spasms.  For some time
after swallowing the poison, the soldier had acute pain in the stomach.
In another case of poisoning the accession of somnolency Avas attended
with excruciating colicky pains of two days' duration.  These cases
shoAV that Opium will sometimes act as an irritant poison.  Another
and more  singular anomaly is the spontaneous occurrence of vomit-
ing.   Now, if we should be called upon to prescribe for a  group of
symptoms such as might occur in  delirium tremens, Avhere the
violent  cerebral irritation, the furious  delirium, the excessive con-
traction of the pupils, or the comatose condition of the patient, Avith
dilated pupils, deeply flushed cheeks, dark, livid complexion, parched
and brown tongue  and lips, should constitute prominent indications
for the exhibition  of Opium, Aromiting  and pain  in the boAvels, and
even diarrhoea Avould not be a sufficient counter-indication to the
use of this agent;  for,  it is a well-known fact, that, OAving probably
to some peculiar and  inexplicable  idiosyncracy, Opium will even
cause diarrhoea in some individuals as a  primary symptom of its
action  upon the intestinal canal.  Even neuralgic affections of the
nerves of  sensation and of the Splanchnic  nerves have been cured
by the sole use of  Opium; for it is undeniable that neuralgic pains
are among the legitimate effects of the continued use of Opium.
   I have  to advert  to another point in this  introductory chapter
which leads  to confusion.  "Opium,"  says Hahnemann, "has  this
distinguishing property, that in irritable persons who are  unaccus-
tomed to it,  especially in large doses, it causes a reaction, beginning
very remarkably, which is very rapid and  often  instantaneous, but
which, either by its briefness, its rare occurrence, or its nature, must
not be confounded Avith the principal and primitive effects of Opium.
This reaction, rare and momentary, perfectly resembles the  reaction
of the human organism upon Opium, and may be called its shadoAV.
The symptoms are: a deathlike paleness, coldness of the limbs and
whole body, cold  perspiration, anxiety, trembling, trepidation, but
very seldom any degree of pain."
  In this paragraph, Hahnemann distinguishes betAveen the natural
reaction of the organism and  the reaction  of the drug.  This  dis-
tinction seems to me fanciful, not real.   The heat and dryness of the
skin and the throbbing of the pulse, which  succeed the chill and the
vascular depression caused by Aconite, are not signs of a reactionary
influence  of the drug, but of  the living organism.  A distinction
between the reaction of the drug and that of the organism  seems
to be a metaphysical subtlety Avhich  not only leads to no practical
results, but  is altogether hypothetical  and indeed rejected  by the
intelligent minds of our School.  What is the stimulating effect of a
small'dose of Opium?   It is not the  direct effect of the drug, but a 
OPIUM.
689
 symptom of the organic reaction.  The drug may be taken in such
 a large dose that the organic reaction may be entirely wanting.  The
 symptoms which Hahnemann describes as  those of medicinal reac-
 tion, are really signs of organic reaction.  The deathlike paleness,
 the coldness of the limbs and whole body, the cold perspiration, the
 anxiety, the trembling  and trepidation alluded  to in the previous
 paragraph, denote the feeble, although unsuccessful endeavor of the
 organism to regain its normal condition.
   Another point to which I desire to call your attention, is the fact that
 Hahnemann does not reject the use of palliative means in that unquali-
 fied manner which some homosopathists have deemed it essential to
 the dignity of homoeopathy to assume.  " If Opium," says Hahnemann
 in his introductory chapter to Opium, " if Opium has been found to
 cure cough, diarrhoea, sickness, spasms, etc., in a few cases, it is only
 Avhen these symptoms first show themselves in persons previously in
 good health, and are but  slight.  In  such case, as for instance in a
 trifling  cough  caused  by a recent  chill, trembling arising  from
 terror,  etc., Opium will  sometimes restore the  patient quickly to
 health, because, if these symptoms are at once destroyed, the body
 is restored to its former condition, and the tendency to their return
 is suppressed."
   Here the use of palliatiVes is admitted, the legitimate use of course.
 The wrong would be to  elevate to the  rank of curative agents means
 which should only be used for purposes of palliation.  It is perfectly
 consistent with the homoeopathic law,  and with the  dignity  and
 reasonableness of our practice to arrest a simple diarrhoea or a slight
 attack of colic with a little brandy.   AVho  would refuse a  helpless
 sufferer who is afflicted  with an incurable malady and has to spend
 sleepless nights in perpetual agony and distress, a few drops of Mor-
 phine, if his pains can  be quieted thereby, were it only for a short
 period, and if a few hours' sleep can be procured  for the  poor
 invalid ?   I have  heard a homoeopathic purist exclaim that, under
 these circumstances, we should stand idly by and do nothing; and
 again we have heard another homoeopathic purist who died of acute
 gangrene, exclaim in his agony of  pain: Give me laudanum!
   Gentlemen, Ave practice Homoeopathy not only because it is in itself
 true and conformable to nature, though this would be a sufficient
 motive for our adoption  of this method of cure; Ave practice Homoeo-
 pathy not only because  this method of cure is a natural truth, but
 because it accomplishes the object it has in view, far more speedily,
 more pleasantly and more  thoroughly  than any other known system
 of treatment is capable  of doing.  Homoeopathy, in our hands  is a
 means, not its own end.   The end is the restoration  of health, the
means is the application of remedial agents in conformity with the
law " similia similibus."  If any other  law could secure the achieve-
ment of this noble end more adequately than the homoeopathic  law.
we should be bound, by the spirit of our humane calling, to  forsake
the one and to adopt the other.  Palliation of suffering is not opposed
to, but may be a legitimate and highly useful accompaniment of
curative medication.  They constitute distinct orders of therapeutic
                              44 
690
LECTURE XLVII.
means.  It behooves a Avise practitioner to be fully acquainted with
the rights and boundaries of each.
  One point I beg leave to advert to before parting with my subject;
it is the use of opiates and other palliative means for the purpose of
quieting children.   The opiate  preparation which is generally used
for such purposes, is paregoric.   This is Opium digested jn brandy,
to which  Camphor and  the flowers of  benzoin are added.    One
hundred and  sixty drops of this tincture  are  equal to tAventy of
common laudanum, or one grain of Opium.  Gentlemen, in your
battles with the prejudices and confirmed habits of your patients, you
Avill find it impossible to turn  the Avaters  of the  Alississippi back
towards their  source.   But let me entreat you ever to set your faces
against  the deleterious practice of poisoning poor, helpless infants
Avith  an opiate.   We have more than one effectual means  in our
practice to relieve their distress.  Our rhubarb, jalap, Chamomilla,
Coffea and Aconite will prove far more potential in arresting their
cries and banishing their wakeful hours than paregoric or catnep-
tea.  Still, the paregoric-affection is deep-rooted  and Avide-spread,
and you Avill have to tax all your discretion and firmness in waging
Avar against it.  The catnep-epidemic is  of a much milder sort; but
although  neither as dangerous or as injurious as the paregoric-
mania, it  is sometimes equally  inconvenient, and embarrassing to a
homoeopathic practitioner.  Let us  ever endeavor to extirpate all
such excrescences, root and branch, but let  us ever act Avith humane
forethought and kindness.
              LECTURE  XLVII.

  Professor Dierbach, of Heidelberg, ranges the effects of poisonous
doses of Opium in the following categories.  The first category or
series of symptoms  comprises the folloAving: nausea,  occasional
vomiting, sopor, insensibility to external  impressions, sIoav  breath-
ing, closing of the eyes with disposition to lie on the back, contrac-
tion of the pupils.
  In the second stage we have the following symptoms: redness of
the face, profuse perspiration, sopor, stertorous breathing, although
as a general rule  the breathing is quiet  and scarcely perceptible;  ,
there is an expression of anxiety and occasionally of rage in the fea-
tures ; the pupils are generally contracted to the smallest point; the
patient sinks into a deep sopor from Avhich he can only be roused
for a moment by means of cold affusions; the pulse is  hurried,
feeble, contracted, imperceptible or irregular, and constantly tending
to collapse.
   The third stage is characterized by a pale, cadaverous, ghostlike
expression of the  countenance, relaxation of all the muscles, (except
an occasional paroxysm of  convulsions, or even lockjaw, especially
among children), cold sweats, irregular, panting breathing, which is
very  speedily followed by death. 
OPIUM.
691
  The bodies of those who are poisoned by Opium, have a livid
appearance, and are rapidly decomposed.  The  cerebral vessels are
turgid with blood, the arachnoid membrane is injected, the eyeballs
protruded  and red, the pharynx looks inflamed, the lungs are dis-
tended  and filled  with  a fluid blood;  the  ventricles frequently
contain  bloody coagula, the vessels of the stomach and bowels are
engorged, the kidneys  are distended with blood and  the  bladder
with urine.
  In a case of poisoning, we first  remove the  poison  by means of
the stomach-pump  or an  emetic, sulphate of zinc.  The narcotism
may be combated  Avith vegetable acids, especially vinegar, Avhich
may be given by the mouth if possible, and in the form of injections.
Strong coffee is likeAvise a powerful antidote  either way; cold affu-
sions, stimulants, artificial respiration.
  Chronic effects of poisoning by Opium, such as: headache, consti-
pation, dryness of the tongue, Avant of sensibility of the  pupils to the
light, may be combated by means of Belladonna, Aconite and black
coffee.

  There is perhaps no drug  concerning  the  action of which upon
the living organism so many contradictory opinions have been pro-
mulgated, as Opium.   This want of unity, or rather this confusion
is OAving to the cardinal mistake of confounding the primary action
of the drug and the signs of organic reaction as effects of the same
order.  A confusion of this kind can only be prevented by keeping
in one's mind's eye the rule, that the effect of small quantities of a
drug is speedily folloAved by opposite phenomena of reaction, anol
that the true primary action can  only be ascertained  by means of
quantities large enough to overcome the organic reaction at least for
a time.
  In Brown's System, Opium is a  stimulant.   Pereira  likewise
speaks of the stimulating property of small  doses of Opium.  It is
admitted, however, by all unprejudiced alloeopathic  therapeutists,
that these stimulating effects are very soon succeeded by the opposite
symptoms of depression;  the excited  condition of the brain is fol-
lowed by dullness of  the  sensorium;  the vividness of  thought and
fancy by drowsiness and stupid dreams; the serenity of mind and
the feeling of ecstatic delight by a gloomy depression of spirits and
an  utter listlessness,  an indifference, a  perfect apathy; the vital
turgescence and increased exhalations of the skin by an unpleasant
dryness and coldness of this organ; the powerfully excited sexual
instinct by a total  indifference to sexual enjoyments  and even by
impotence.
  It is evident that these pretended stimulating effects of Opium are
altogether  illusory, and attributable to the  smallness of the dose
which is unable to make a permanent impression  upon the living
organism,  and is,  for a  time  at  least, overcome by  the  reactive
energies of the brain.   I regard this doctrine of the primary action
of drugs, and of the secondary action or reaction of the vital forces
as a cardinal tenet among the doctrines of the Homoeopathic School.
It is a doctrine fraught with vital  consequences both to the patient 
692
LECTURE XLVII.
 and to the practitioner.  The homoeopathicity of a drug to a disease
 is not complete unless the primary action of the drug corresponds
 Avith the primary manifestations of the disease, and  the  signs of
 organic  reaction excited by the drug, correspond with the pheno-
 mena of organic reaction  excited  by the disease.  In the  case of
 Opium, for example, sopor constitutes a symptom  of  the  primary
 action of this agent; Avakefulness of the brain or cerebral exaltation,
 vividness of fancy and resulting wakefulness constitute  symptoms
 of an organic reaction determined by the primary action of the drug.
 If, in a  given case, the question should occur:  Is Opium  homoeo-
 pathic to sopor?  This question  could only be answered in the
 affirmative, in case a milder grade  of the existing cerebral irritation
 should be characterized by the opposite condition of extreme Avake-
 fulness, talkativeness or even very  active, busy, loquacious delirium.
 Such a condition might occur in  cerebral typhus, or  in a simple
 form of  cerebral irritation.
   You see  at once, how important it is that a  homoeopathic  phy-
 sician should be acquainted with pathology, if he  means to determine
 the homoeopathicity of a drug with scientific precision.  A know-
 ledge of the primary stage of a disease and of the symptoms which
 characterize the organic reaction called forth by this primary in-
 vasion, are  not a matter of theory or speculation,  but of actual study
 and observation at the sick bed.  The example which I have chosen
 to illustrate this compound  homoeopathicity of Opium, shoAvs that
 this  agent  may be homoeopathic to Avakefulness, if we knoAV, from
 previous observation, that it is a species of wakefulness which can be
 looked upon as the natural sequel or reaction of a previous state of
 sopor or stupor; and that it is, on the other hand, homoeopathic to
 sopor or stupor, if we know from experience that this kind of sopor
 would, after a while, terminate in a state of wakefulness of the brain.
 Typhus, puerperal mania and convulsions may set in with this char-
 acteristic sopor or with this  vivid, loquacious delirium;  in either
 case Opium would be homoeopathic to the existing disturbance.
   VYith a vieAv of  elucidating this principle still farther, let us select
 another illustration.  Opium is homoeopathic to  satyriasis as well as
 to complete indifference to sexual enjoyments.  In the case of a man
 whose fancy dwells wildly and lasciviously upon sexual things, and
, who, by long continued abuse, finally becomes totally indifferent to
jsexual enjoyments, and is moreover afflicted with physical inability,
jOpium may pro\*e homoeopathic both to the former as well as to the
'latter condition.  We  know  that  Opium-eaters  or Opium-smokers
\|pass through a similar series of abnormal sensations.
   The action of Nux upon  the sexual organs, may likewise be re-
 ferred to as illustrating the principle of compound homoeopathicity.
 Sexual  abuse, be  it the destructive vice of onanism  or excessive
 sexual intercourse, may at first induce an  increase of excitability in
 the sexual  organs, the erections occur more rapidly, more spasmodi-
 cally as it  were, and an increased  sensation of warmth and fulness
 may be  experienced  in the parts.   This abnormal plethora may be
 accompanied by hyperasmia of the nervous  centres which preside
 over  the functional poAver  of the sexual system,  more especially 
OPIUM.
693
  hyperaemia of the lower portion of the cord, giving rise to a burning
  sensation and a sense of fulness in that region.
    AVhat transformations  would these phenomena undergo, if the
  sexual  excesses  should continue?   Gradually the erectile power
  would decrease, the erections would become shorter and feebler, and
  would finally cease altogether.  The nervous power has  almost be-
  come extinct, and the hyperasmia of the cord may have led to exuda-
  tions into its tissue, which may finally  give  rise to  incurable dis-
  organizations,  such  as: partial softening,  atrophy, and  consequent
  paralysis of parts which depend upon the  lower portion of  the cord
  for a supply of functional power.
    Nux may affect the sexual organs and the  nervous  centres which
  supply them with functional power, in a similar manner, first setting-
  up a condition of. hyperaemia,  Avhich may gradually terminate in
  complete impotence.  Hence we infer that Nux  is homoeopathic to
  an abnormal irritability and plethora of the sexual organs as well as
  to the opposite condition of Aveakness arising from previous abnormal
  excitement, such  as sexual abuse, or the excessive use of coffee or
  ardent spirits may occasion.
    Aconite may frequently be substituted for  Nux in similar condi-
  tions of the sexual system, especially in the case of highly organized,
  sensitive  individuals,  Avith a  plethoric constitutional habit,  or  a
  nervous-bilious temperament.   We  shall  find it equally  homoeo-
  pathic to all the phenomena which characterize a condition of spasm
  and hyperaemia, such as:  quick, spasmodic erections ; a sense of ful-
  ness  and unnatural warmth in the parts; sexual fancies, nocturnal
,  emissions and  erections; as well as to the phenomena characterizing
I  an opposite condition  of  weakness,  such  as: imperfect erections,
  coldness  of the  parts with frequent losses of the prostatic  fluid;
  nocturnal emissions from the relaxed parts, without sensation.
    These inquiries into the compound homoeopathicity of drugs are
  not  only interesting, but  of great importance to a  homoeopathic
  practitioner; for  they lead us to establish  a true homoeopathic rela-
  tion Avhere  positive provings have as yet been insufficient to accom-
  plish this result.   These inquiries lead  us, for instance, to establish
  the homoeopathicity of Secale cornutum to spasmodic contraction, as
  Avell  as  to  relaxation of the  uterine fibres,  and to the  dangerous
  haemorrhages which often result from such relaxations after delivery.
/ Or the homoeopathicity of Alercury to watery or  bilious  discharges
'  from the bowels, preceded or accompanied by pinching  pains and
  chilliness, as well as  to constipation, with  a sensation of unnatural
  heat, fulness, or heavy aching pains in the boAvels.  Or the homceo-
r pathicity of Ipecacuanha to an  excessive irritability of the stomach,
  with spasmodic retching and vomiting, as well as to perfect  atony of
  this organ,  Avith a qualmish feeling in the region of the  stomach, a
  sense of SAvelling and fulness, complete indifference to  food.  Or the
  homceopathicity  of Nux to both spasm and paralysis; the  homoeo-
  pathicity of Cantharides to both  ischuria, a  spasmodic inability to
  void the urine, and  to  a paralytic inability to  retain it.   Or the
  homoeopathicity  of Belladonna to  excessive as Avell as to  deficient 
694
LECTURE XLVII.
 irritability, excessive contraction  as well as abnormal dilatation of
 the pupils.
   This principle of compound homoeopathicity sIioays us that Aconite
 is not only homoeopathic to the chill, but likewise to the inflammatory
 stage of a common catharrhal or rheumatic fever.
   Thoughtless practitioners, and their number is larger than it should
 be, content themselves with saying that  Aconite is homoeopathic to
 inflammatory fever, and, in order to determine this homoeopathicity,
 they invariably look for a full, rapid and bounding pulse, a dry and
 hot skin, flushed face, etc.  An educated pathologist knows, that this
 is a stage of  organic reaction determined by a primary stage, char-
 acterized  by opposite symptoms.  In the case of feArer, the primary
 invasion is characterized b}T chilliness and coldness  of the  skin, a
 pale and  sunken countenance,  a small, feeble and  someAvhat ac-
 celerated  pulse.  Noav it  so  happens that  the primary  action of
 Aconite is characterized by  these very symptoms,  and  hence we
 have a perfect right to say that Aconite  is homoeopathic to the first
 as well as to  the second stage of the feA^er, the former corresponding
 Avith the primary action of Aconite, the latter with the organic reac-
 tion determined by the primary action of the drug.  This primary
 stage is of very short  duration, and it is very seldom the case that
 Ave are called to a patient at this period.  But if, in a case of fever,
 where Aconite is the homoeopathic agent, Ave should be called during
 the chill, the  homoeopathicity of Aconite for this chill Avould be just
 as true as its homoeopathicity to the subsequent inflammatory stage
 of the disease.
   Supposing  a person has been  poisoned Avith Aconite, and, under
 proper antidotal treatment, the coldness  of the skin and  the feeble
 and thin pulse haAre yielded to the opposite condition of fever, with
 heat and dryness of the skin and a full, rapid, hard  and  bounding
 pulse: there  occurs another series of phenomena which requires  our
 attention.  The inflammatory stage having  run its course, it is suc-
 ceeded by a remarkable activity of the cutaneous exhalants resulting
 in profuse perspiration, during which the pulse becomes softer, some-
 times e\*en weaker than in  the natural condition of the system, and
 the patient still feels more or less enfeebled.
  In the  natural course of an  inflammatory disease, for instance
 pleuro-pneumonia,  a similar  series of phenomena may occur, espe-
 cially under the expectant  treatment or under the alloeopathic treat-
 men^ by means of  depletion  and of large doses of Tartar Emetic.
 The  inflammatory  or sthenic  phenomena may apparently subside,
 and give  place to a state  of asthenia, characterized by a cold and
 clammy skin, a feeble and hurried pulse, prostration, and a continu-
 ance of the local difficulty in a modified or aggravated form.  Here
it is where a  careless practitioner may do his patient great injustice
by losing  sight of the  pathological identity of these  three forms of
homoeopathicity of  one and the same  agent to the different develop-
ments of a pathological condition which is identically the same from
beginning  to  end.  AYe have  determined the homoeopathicity  of
Aconite to the chill, next to the inflammatory, and  lastly  to  the
asthenic stage. 
OPIUM.
695
  It is of the utmost practical importance not to overlook the con-
tinuousness of a pathological process, the different stages of Avhich
are only distinguished in appearance, and, in spite of these apparent
changes in  the symptoms,  may  still require the  same treatment.
Phrenitis,  for instance, may indicate Belladonna from the first in-
vasion to the  ultimate termination of the disease.  The effusion
which sets in towards the  last does not constitute a qualitative, but
simply a quantitative alteration of the morbid process.   The blood
becoming  more and  more devitalized, a mechanical separation of its
constituent elements finally occurs, in consequence of Avhich the serum
escapes into and collects in the ventricles.  This hydrocephalic stage
of phrenitis is not a  disease  distinct from the original malady, differ-
ing from it in essential principles; it is simply a continuous develop-
ment of the first attack, Avhich may require a change of dose, but not
of remedy.   Hence  it is that  phrenitis and  hydrocephalus are used
by many pathologists as synonymous or equivalent terms.
  An inflammatory irritation  of the cerebrum or of the cerebellum
may terminate,  by a process  of  continuous  development, in some
organic alteration Avhich, if  at all susceptible of  treatment, requires
the same remedy that was indicated by the original disease.  Soften-
ing is one of these pathological alterations.  Hence it is that an in-
flammatory irritation of the brain or cerebritis, and encephalomacia
or softening of this  organ, arc sometimes described as pathological
conditions resulting  from the action of one and  the same identical
morbific force.
  In the same sense gastromalacia and perforation of the stomach
may be considered as pathological  alterations of  the same nature in
essence, though not in form.
  Or swelling, inflammation and suppuration of a gland, or glandular
abscess, being identically similar  pathological conditions, may have
to be treated with the same remedy or remedies, from the beginning
to the end of the morbid process.
  Congestion and inflammation of the psoas-muscle may, by a simple
process of  continuous development,  terminate  in suppuration or
abscess, without any change of remedies being called for by  this ap-
parent change in the symptoms;  Aconite, Belladonna  or Bryonia,
may be specifically indicated by the abscess as well as by the original
rheumatic congestion or inflammation.
  When we say " abscess of  the liver," we may designate  by this
name a pathological  condition of  which suppuration is the last, and
sanguineous congestion the first  stage, the pathological  process re-
maining identically  or essentially  the same,  and varying  only in
appearance.  First you may see a tumor someAAmere in the region of
the liver, provided the abscess is seated on the surface of this  organ;
the tumor may have an inflamed  appearance, it may be very  sore to
the touch, and fluctuation may only be vaguely or indistinctly per-
ceptible ; fever may be present.  A tumor of this  kind  may either
be scattered  by the  persistent use of the  tincture of Aconite or by
Mercury;  or the neglect of this treatment may permit the suppura-
tive process to go on towards the completion  of the abscess.   If the
homoeopathic treatment should commence at this stage of the rheu- 
696
LECTURE XLVII.
matic congestion, the tincture of Aconite or Alercury, provided these
remedies were indicated at the outset, Avould still be the best means to
effect the absorption of the pus, and the dispersion of the sanguineous
engorgement.
  All these are instances of pathological conditions, Avhere the morbid
process remains  essentially or identically the  same, and where the
changes  which are going  on, are  only  apparent or symptomatic.
Such instances might  be  greatly multiplied.  It is important that a
practitioner should discriminate betAveen the continuous development,
through several stages, of a morbid process which remains essentially
or identically the same,  and  a  morbid process where the  different
stages constitute so many essentially distinct pathological changes.
  The dropsical effusion into the pericardium or cellular tissue which
may set in after scarlet-fever, is not  a continuous  development of
scarlet-fever, but an essentially distinct pathological  condition Avhich
requires a treatment  of its own.  The scarlet-fever  may have been
successfully managed  with Aconite or Belladonna;  the dropsy may
require Digitalis or Cannabinum.
  Again: the small-pox pustules  may suddenly collapse,  and the
morbid irritation may become transferred to the lining membrane of
the intestine or to the brain. The foul, blackish, offensive discharges,
the prostration and cold  and  clammy skin in  the former metastasis
may have to  be met  by Arsenic; the comatose stupor, the delirium
and the convulsions or spasms which  characterize the latter change,
may require Opium, Belladonna, Stramonium.   None of these reme-
dies are, properly speaking, homoeopathic to small-pox.
  The different stages of typhus, of pneumonia or of other inflamma-
tory diseases  may  require  corresponding changes of  drugs.  In
typhus, for instance, we  may commence  the treatment  Avith  Bella-
donna, which, in the progress of the  disease, may have  to  yield to
Opium or to the mineral acids.   On the other  hand, there are many
cases of typhus, where Belladonna,  or  Hyoscyamus,  or Arsenic, may
have to be used exclusively from the commencement to the end of
the cure.  The same  doctrine applies to pneumonia,  to meningitis, to
peritonitis, to rheumatism, and to almost  any other  acute inflamma-
tion, or even to chronic diseases.
  In dwelling upon this doctrine of compound homoeopathicity, and
upon the various points  of practice which seem to  be more or less
logically connected with it, I have desired to attain several important
ends.  My object has been to caution you against the unseasonable
and unwarrantable changes of remedies to Avhich many homoeopathic
physicians are unfortunately addicted; to  impress you with the im-
portance of coupling a comprehensive vieAV of Pathology and Phy-
siology with the  study of the therapeutic powers of drugs; to throw
out hints and suggestions concerning  the identity of morbific forces
in diseases, and concerning the importance of not being misled by
apparent or purely symptomatic changes; and lastly to contribute
an additional stone to the foundations  of the great science which we
are all engaged in building up, the true science of Therapeutics as
Avritten upon  Nature's page by the hand of Infinite Wisdom. 
OPIUM.
697
              LECTURE  XLVIII.


  We may consider the physiological action of Opium upon the
tissues under the following general categories :
  1. Its action upon the cerebro-spinal system of nerves;
  2. Upon the digestive system;
  3. Upon the urinary system;
  4. Upon the sexual system;
  5. Upon the respiratory system;
  6. Upon the vascular system;
  7. Upon the dermoid system.
  8. Upon the mind, and
  9. Its action regarding sleep.

                    1. Cerebro-spinal System.

  YYe have seen that small doses of Opium cause an appearance of
stimulation in the brain, and that large doses manifest the inherent
stupefying or narcotizing effect of this agent.   The  opium-sopor is
generally accompanied by a diminished power of motion sometimes
amounting to actual  paralysis  of the muscular fibre; at  times,
instead of paralysis, we have convulsions, and in the place of coma,
delirium. The pupil is usually very much contracted.  The general
action of Opium upon the brain  is characterized by  signs of violent
congestion.  Beside the effects which we have already mentioned,
it causes furious delirium, or  a sort of delirious  talk about ghosts,
devils and masks which assemble around the bed for the purpose of
torturing the patient.   It causes, as has -been stated before, violent
intoxication with stupefaction.  It also causes a species  of vertigo,
as if everything were turning round with one, and as if the patient
were hovering in the air.
  As regards the  head, Opium causes a pain in the head as if the
brain  were torn, accompanied with a sensation in the  body as if
every part in the body would be twisted wrong side up.  The head
totters to and fro.   The head  and face are swollen, the eyes inflamed
and protruded, the lips look bloated and have a reddish blue tinge.
The expression of the eyes is often peculiar;  the eyes glisten and
sparkle; at times they look glassy and are immovable like those of
a dying man.  The pupils are insensible to the light; at first they
are very much contracted, but afterwards they dilate considerably ;
the lids  may be half closed,  and Avater  sometimes  runs out of the
eyes.  If the patient is conscious, he complains of loss of sight, and
humming in the ears.
  The face is likewise considerably  altered by the irritating or
paralyzing action  of  Opium  upon the brain.  The face may look
pale and sunken, or it may be alternately red and pale, bluish, dark-
red, of a cherry broAvn, bloated; sometimes the facial muscles are 
698                     LECTURE XLVIII.
relaxed, giving the face an expression  of stupidity;  the  loAver lip
inclines to drop, and it is only with great difficulty that the patient
is able to raise the upper eyelid.  Instead of being paralyzed, the
facial muscles are sometimes spasmodically agitated,  they tremble;
so do  the lips and tongue, and the mouth is distorted.   AYe have
stated already that the jaws may either be locked or the loAver jaw
is paralyzed, hanging down and  permits the saliva to run out at the
corners in long ropy threads.
  If Ave add to these various effects of Opium the appearances in
the brain Avhich post-mortem examinations have revealed to us in
cases of poisoning by Opium, Ave shall find that the  physiologico-
pathological action of Opium upon the cerebral tissues renders this
drug eminently homoeopathic to  several important cerebral diseases.
In one case, the veins of the neck were found turgid with black blood.
In other cases the sinuses and all the cerebral vessels were found dis-
tended Avith blood ; the two ventricles contained a teaspoonful of a
bright-red fluid, the  choroid plexuses  were very much distended.
In other cases blood has been  found extravasated in the brain.—
Leroux found the pia-mater injected  and thicker than usual; at the
base of the brain he discovered about a teaspoonful of a bright red
fluid, and the choroid vessels very much distended ; clots of coagu-
lated blood have  been  found  in the substance  of the brain  by
other pathologists.  In the case  of an infant seven weeks old, who
Avas  killed by taking 10 grains  of Dover's powders, the sinuses of
the dura  mater were filled with dark coagula, the surface  of the
brain was covered by a net-wcgk of distended vessels, containing a
bright-red blood;  there was a slight extravasation of blood on the
surface of the  posterior lobes, and all the internal vessels of the
brain were turgid with blood.
  Considering  all  these  effects  of Opium in their totality, may we
not  infer  that Opium  is  homoeopathic to apoplexy, to  delirium
tremens, to typhus cerebralis and to such conditions of cerebral
irritation  generally as are  characterized by phenomena similar to
the derangements  caused by Opium ?  Opium may prove homoeo-
pathic to typhoid conditions setting in during measles, scarlet-fever,
small-pox or some other acute  eruption.  Whenever the sympto-
matic and pathological character of the cerebral irritation is strictly
similar to the irritation which Opium  causes in the cerebral tissues,
this  agent should  be exhibited,  no  matter what the immediate
cause of the natural  disease may be.  An intense and suppressed
mortification of one's feelings  may  cause a cerebral irritation to
Avhich  Opium is homoeopathic.  A gentleman, fifty years old, and
of sensitive disposition, had his feelings deeply hurt;  he restrained
his anger and suppressed his grief, and the consequence Avas a serious
attack of  cerebral  irritation. He went  home, laid doAvn,  and soon
was oppressed Avith irresistible sopor.   I found him with his cheeks
flushed, tongue white as if covered  with powdered  chalk,  pupils
contracted, pulse quick and irritated, skin feverish and dry, and the
sopor so overpowering  that it was with the greatest  difficulty that
he could be roused long enough to answer one or two questions.  I
made him a few powders of Opium 18, and in a few hours  the sopor 
OPIUM.
699
gave  place  to  a natural  sleep,  and the symptoms  of gastric and
vascular irritation yielded very speedily after that.

  Professor Joerg and his disciples have given us a few interesting
provings of Opium, obtained from the tincture and from the  crude
substance.   The tincture was proved in doses of from one to thirty
drops, and the crude substance in doses of from one-twelfth of a grain
to tAvo  grains.   The principal effects of Opium  obtained by these
provers were manifested in the brain, bowels, respiratory organs and
nervous system generally.
  One prover observed the following symptoms  which constitute  a
very characteristic group  of headache symptoms.  An aching pain
all over the head as from  congestion, warmth in the face and  on the
hairy scalp; these signs of congestion Avere soon after folloAved by
diarrhoea.   At  one time the pain in the head would streak down to
the tip of the nose where it terminated in a sort of griping.
  From twelve drops  of  the  tincture, the pain in the head would
become stupefying, with heaviness of the head, tightness around the
neck, heat and sweat in the face.  Horrid and frightful dreams would
likewise torture the prover.
  In  the case  of other provers, these signs of congestion were still
characterized by additional symptoms, such as: loss of ideas, violent
vertigo, obscuration of sight, internal restlessness.
  In the person of Professor Joerg, the stupefying pain in the head
seemed principally located in the frontal eminences, streaking down
to the tip of the nose; in the case of another prover, it was accom-
panied  by dryness of the eyes, and sensation as if they were full of
sand, inability to keep the lids from closing.
  A  very  common paroxysm experienced by Joerg's provers was
the folloAving:  Stupefying pain  all over the head, followed by cut-
ting in  the bowels and diarrhoea.
  Dullness of the head, with stitching pain from  the forehead to the
occiput, drowsiness, ineffectual urging to stool,  constituted another
paroxysm of pains.
  The  pains in the  head, which were generally  characterized by  a
feeling  of  oppression, heaviness, stupefaction and constriction, were
in very many provers accompanied  by a sense of oppression on the
chest, with stitches in the chest, and even a hacking cough.  Extreme
lassitude, sometimes  amounting to perfect exhaustion  and inability
to stand, vertigo and loss of ideas either preceded or accompanied
the distress in the head.
  The  pulse, during these attacks of  headache,  was either feebler
and more  rapid than  usual, or  in some cases, stronger, fuller, Avith
increased warmth of the skin.
  Professor Boecker of Heidelberg has made a  number  of experi-
ments with  Opium for the purpose of determining its influence upon
the blood  and upon  the urinary secretions.  These experiments,
which were made upon perfectly healthy individuals with increasing
quantities  of Opium, which was taken  every day in  doses of from
one-half of a grain to one grain and a quarter of the crude drug,
yielded the general conclusion that Opium  interferes Avith the reno- 
700
LECTURE XLVIII.
vating processes of the vital organism.  It is found that under the
action of Opium the effete matters Avhich should be excreted through
the urine, skin and bowels, are retained in the system, and that con-
sequently Opium is possessed  of the power of vitiating the organic
products which it is the business of the reproductive forces of life to
manufacture for the physiological wants of the organism out of the
regularly furnished supplies  of nourishment.  These results Avere
demonstrated by  repeated analyses of the blood and urine of the
Opium-provers during the period  of these interesting experiments.
Although the whole  quantity of  the urine  and  perspiration Avas
found to be increased  by Opium, yet the solid ingredients Avhich are
normally contained in the urinary and cutaneous  secretions, were
diminished.   A burning  skin, drenched in  a watery perspiration,
may constitute a prominent  indication for Opium in various dis-
eases, for instance in delirium tremens.
  According to Boecker,  Opium first acts  upon the  plasma of the
blood.  In this respect his views differ from those of Pereira, who
teaches that the action of Opium is first perceived by the respiratory
element in the blood,  viz.: the blood-disks.   According to Boecker,
the primary action of Opium is exerted upon  the plasma, the assimi-
lative element in the blood. It vitiates and may gradually extinguish
the life-principle of the plasma.  The phenomena which Opium de-
velops in the respiratory range, are, according to Boecker,' incidental
to its disorganizing action in  the  assimilative sphere, to which the
plasma of the blood is more especially related.
  In fatal cases of poisoning by Opium the vessels of the brain are
found  distended with  black blood; the ventricles of the heart like-
wise contain  black coagulated blood.  These post-mortem changes
afford  eAadence that the plastic power of the  blood is destroyed by
Opium.  Professor Boecker, and the humoral  pathologists generally,
of whom he  is one, trace  the  pernicious effects of Opium  to its dis-
organizing action upon the plasma, from which point of departure
the nervous centres are  gradually  invaded.   The  vitalists, on  the
contrary, teach that Opium first acts upon  that element in the brain
which regulates the  renovation of the blood;  by impairing, and
gradually paralyzing this renovating power, the quantity of the blood
as a life-quickening fluid is diminished, until it becomes  unable to
supply neAv material to the languishing and vitiated tissues.
  The persons Avhom Boecker employed for his experiments,  ex-
perienced from one grain and  a  half, and  one grain and three-
quarters, a number of interesting  symptoms, most  of Avhich Avere
likewise complained of by Joerg's proA'ers, such as: dizziness, sensa-
tion of intoxication, headache, trembling of the loAver extremities and
weariness in the knee-joints.   Sometimes this trembling would affect
the whole body. The gastric symptoms Avere  likewise marked; they
complained of nausea, retching, a bitter taste in the mouth, constipa-
tion, pinching pain in the bowels with spasmodic closing of the anus
during the paroxysm  of pain.
  Dysuria was likeAvise complained of.
  A painful crawling in the loAver  limbs was  likewise a troublesome
symptom. 
OPIUM.
701
  The experiments which Crumpe instituted upon himself with one
grain of Opium, showed that under the action or* Opium the pulse
may first rise above the ordinary number  of beats, after which it
becomes depressed below the normal standard.

  After  these  statements  concerning the  toxicological  and  phy-
siological action of Opium upon the healthy organism, we shall have
no difficulty in determining its  homoeopathicity to several important
affections of the cerebro-spinal system.  We find it indicated in
  Congestive  Headache, with a  sensation as if the brain were con-
stricted ; a stupefying pain, attended with dizziness, tendency to sopor,
obscuration of sight.  This distress may be attended with  gastric
symptoms, white coated tongue, retching, oppression in the epigastric
region.   A condition of this kind may result from abuse of  liquor,
from an intense mortification of one's feelings, or it might possibly
be the commencement of a more protracted  cerebral disease, such as
typhus.  The probability is that constipation, lassitude and a feeble
and hurried  pulse will, generally speaking, accompany such symp-
toms of cerebral irritation.

  We may find Opium indicated in
  Apoplexy, although we should not prescribe Opium too eagerly.
Aconite  and Belladonna  deserve your first  attention in cases  of
apoplexy, but  I have generally found that in cases of apoplexy to
which these  two drugs are homoeopathic,  it is  possible to  obtain
some slight sign  of recognition or consciousness from the patient;
but if the  consciousness should be entirely gone—if the patient is
profoundly comatose, the pupils are either intensely contracted  or
widely dilated and insensible,  the face has a  dark-red  or cherry-
brown appearance; the pulse is either rapid, feeble and irregular, or
else  full and labored;  if the  breathing is  either imperceptible  or
stertorous, we may give Opium with tolerable certainty that it meets
the exigencies  of the case.
  If, after the  symptoms  of apoplexy have subsided, a stupid ap-
pearance should remain, with tendency to sopor and with hemiplegia,
()pium, or  its alkaloid  Morphine, may prove useful for the cure of
this paralysis, especially if the patient complains of pain and formica-
tion in the paralyzed limb.  Alorphine, may be given in doses  of one-
hundredth of a grain three times a day.

  In  Mania-a-potu and  Delirium Tremens, the furious delirium, the
expression of  terror in the countenance,  the  constant talk  about
demons and  frightful masks bent upon tormenting the patient, the
flushed face, the inflamed and  protruded eyes, the red and parched
tongue, the dry and hot skin, the full, hard  and throbbing pulse, the
vomiting of bile, the retention of stool and urine: these are some of
the characteristic indications of Opium in this  sometimes terrible
malady.  Do not hesitate to give a few drops of the tincture in ten
or tAvelve tablespoonfuls of  water in tablespoonful doses every hour
until a decided reaction is obtained.   Fetid  sweats, Avith  coldness of
the skin, sallow complexion, uncontrollable restlessness,  phantasms,
bland delirium, likewise point at Opium. 
702
LECTURE XLVIII.
  In Cerebral Typhis, Opium is indicated in the paralytic stage, by
sopor, Avith Ioav, muttering delirium, accompanied with symptoms of
paralysis,  such as  depression of the loAver jaAV and upper lip  and
eyelid, dilatation of the pupils, hot  and dry or clammy skin, small,
rapid and jerking pulse, sunken and livid or even cadaverous coun-
tenance ;  or in the congestive stage, where the symptoms of violent
congestion and erethism prevail instead of those of general prostra-
tion of the vital forces.  The pulse may be full, irritated and throb-
bing, the skin hot and dry, the face deeply-flushed, the tongue parched
and covered Avith  a thick,  glazed, brownish  coating;  the  patient
wants to drink all the time, unless he should be so comatose that he
is no longer conscious of his natural wants.

  Opium may induce convulsions and may be used as a true homoe-
opathic agent in such an attack.  These convulsions are symptomatic
of a violent irritation of the brain, Avith accompanying congestion
of the cerebral vessels and  pressure upon the  cerebral mass.  The
convulsions excited by Opium differ from those  caused by Strych-
nine in this, that during the Strychnine convulsions the conscious-
ness of the patient remains unimpaired; the attack proceeds from
the spinal  cord and cerebellum; whereas the Opium convulsions
arise secondarily or by reflex-action, from a primary irritation of the
cerebral centres.  During the attack the features assume an expres-
sion of terror and the complexion is of a dark cherry-brown, or even
blackish color, with contraction of the pupils or alternate contraction
and dilatation. The action of Opium  upon the  pupil varies; the
pupil may contract or dilate, or else it may remain  unaffected  by
the drug.   In an attack of  convulsions, to which  Opium is homoeo-
pathic, the pupil may likewise be variously affected, either contracting
to the smallest dimensions  or else  dilating to a  size which leaves
only a narrow ring  of the iris visible.  The  consciousness is sus-
pended by the stupor or coma which seizes  upon the sensorium.
Froth  oozes  out  at the mouth;  the jaws are tightly locked, the
breathing is stertorous and the whole body is  frequently jerked  up
by the violent shock.
  If, after  confinement, the  patient should show  signs of sopor or
stupor and complain of a violent  distress in the head, with a heavy,
full pulse, coldness of the  extremities,  and  dark  flushes  on the
cheeks, it may be Avell to be prepared for  an attack  of convulsions
and to at once administer Opium, of which five drops of the tincture
may be mixed in half a tumblerful of water, to be  given  in half
tablespoonful doses.

  In Puerperal Convulsions or Eclampsia, Opium  is  undoubtedly a
most valuable agent.
  A very interesting case of this dreadful disease  is recorded in Frank's
Magazine : A lady, 30 years old, had been confined without difficulty.
She was  going on  finely, when one morning, six  days  after her
confinement, she seemed unnaturally merry. A few hours after, she
was seized with violent convulsions.   The physician arrived  after
the third paroxysm, and found the patient in  deep  sopor, with her 
OPIUM.
703
face flushed.  Pulse large, full, rather frequen|^ Opium was ad-
ministered after the fifth paroxysm ;  but the sop#r was so profound
that she was unable to swalloAV and  allowed  the solution to escape
at the corners of the  mouth.  After the seventh paroxysm, Avhich
Avas more violent than any of the preceding, the twitchings of the
extremities and of the muscles became frightful; the respiration
stopped for a  whole minute, after which  the breathing became ster-
torous, with oozing of froth and  vesicular sputa from  the mouth.
The face had  assumed a blue, and even blackish hue.  After the
seventh paroxysm, the face, neck, and upper portion of the  chest,
exhibited  this change  of color.  After the eighth paroxysm, a
marked change took place.   The patient fell  into a quiet  sleep,
and the face, neck and chest again assumed a natural color..   Tavo
hours after, she  sat up in her  bed, unconsciously performing with
her  hands a variety  of motions;  she uttered inarticulate sounds.
She took her medicine  easily, but without consciousness.   This
gradually returned.   Next morning the patient  felt  tolerably com-
fortable, except a peculiar sadness anol depression of spirits, Avhich
yielded to the use of Camphor in about a week.   When the case
was reported,  the patient had been tAventy-tAvo years Avithout having
had a return of any kind of nervous  disorder.                     (
   In this case Opium was undoubtedly the specific homoeopathic
remedy.  Though administered by an alloeopathic physician  at the
rate of five drops every tAvo  hours, yet Ave have a perfect right to
claim the successful treatment of this case for  Homoeopathy.  In
reporting the   case, Dr.  Loweg expressly states  that  venesection
Avould doubtless have resulted in fatal apoplexy.
   Sometime ago Ave had a dreadful case of eclampsia  in  our neigh-
borhood.   Immediately after  confinement, the lady complained of
violent headache, with  full and sIoav  pulse,  and some  droAvsiness,
but perfect possession of her senses.  A little Aconite Avas given in
a tumblerful of water. Tavo hours after, Ave were summoned in great
haste to the patient.  She had just gone through a most frightful
convulsion; she Avas  partially conscious ; her face looked very red,
and her eyes  somewhat  suffused.  She Avas  unable to articulate.
Pulse rather accelerated, full and soft.   AVe prescribed Belladonna,
one drop  of a Aveak  tincture  in a tumblerful of water of Avhich a
tablespoonful  Avas given every fifteen  minutes.   We staid by her
two hours and left  her perfectly quiet, breathing naturally, and
apparently in  a sweet slumber.  Half an hour after, we were again
summoned to the patient.  The convulsions had returned, a  fresh
convulsion  breaking out every five minutes.  After trying Hyos-
cyamus and  Cuprum aceticum without the least change in the
paroxysms, we gave Opium, two drops of the tincture in a spoonful
of water at one dose.  The drug Avas  indicated by the comatose sopor
after a paroxysm, the stertorous breathing, the bluish-red  color and
bloating of the face, the full, hard, sIoav and thumping pulse, and a
burning heat and dryness of the skin.  The urinary secretions and
the  lochial discharge had stopped.  After taking the  Opium, the
paroxysms ceased entirely; the patient remained perfectly quiet  for
three hours, was conscious, able to articulate; she  ansAvered ques- 
704
LECTURE XLVIII.
 tions and seemed t^feel generally easier.  We thought  the change
 Avould prove perrflment, when the convulsions all at once broke out
 again, without ceasing.  Opium was  still indicated.  We  adminis-
 tered ten drops of the tincture in two doses, and arrested the  con-
 vulsions at once.  But effusion on the  brain  had taken place, and
 the patient gradually sank about three  days after the last  dose.
 Consciousness and speech never returned  after the last attack.
   Would this patient have recovered if Opium  had been  given at
 the outset?  I think not, although there is no doubt that this medi-
 cine was indicated at the very commencement of the attack.   The
 favorable change which occurred  after  the  first dose of Opium,
 would undoubtedly have maintained itself, if the vitality of the
 brain  had  not been prostrated in its  fundamental principles.  It
 AAras not within the  poAver of medicine to save  this life;  but let me
 improve this  opportunity, of commending the curative virtues of
 Opium in puerperal convulsions to your  most respectful attention.
 If your patient complains  of stupefying headache,  seems drowsy,
 the pulse is full, thumping, rather slow, and  the face looks dark-
 flushed, eyes  suffused, give Opium,  from the tincture to the 3d
 potency.

   In Puerperal Mania, with paroxysms of excessive mirthfulness, or
 daring rage, exhibition of supernatural  strength, flushed face, glist-
 ening eyes, full, excited, hard pulse, and occasionally sopor and ster-
 torous breathing,  Opium will be found  a powerful remedy.  In
 puerperal mania Avhich  is  distinguished by  paroxysms of  rage,
 tendency to acts of  violence, flushed countenance,  glistening  eyes
 and subsequent sopor  and  slow, stertorous breathing, Opium  may
 likewise prove valuable.

   The first  effect of Opium upon the sentient  nerves is to diminish
 sensibility;  hence, if numbness or diminished sensibility are present
 among a group  of symptoms to which Opium  seems homoeopathic,
 this may be regarded as an additional indication for  the use of this
 agent.

  In Traumatic or Idiopathic Tetanus, Opium has been administered
 by Old-School physicians in enormous  doses.   A few cures of this
 disease are recorded, where Opium was used by the pint;  but  as a
 general rule, Opium has been dethroned in tetanus by Strychnine.
 This is the  manner  in Old-School practice, even at this day.  A
 medicine is  prescribed for a name, not for a pathological condition
 Avith inherent symptoms which  distinguish it from other similar
 conditions, or winch individualize it.  Cases of Tetanus  may occur
 Avhere Opium may prove  a valuable remedy ; in other cases Aconite
 has effected  a  cure;  many cases require Strychnine.  Specific
 homoeopathy consists in giving the remedy which meets an existing
 group  of symptoms  more directly, more immediately, more posi-
tively than any other known remedy could do; a remedy Avhich is
to the disease what the right answer is to a question, or the correct
solution to a problem; there is but  one  remedy Avhich perfectly 
OPIUM.
705
fulfils these various conditions of adaptation or corresponding rela-
tionship ; and it is this remedy and no other to which we apply the
name of " Specific."
  The tetanic convulsions which  Opium excites, are  not  primary
manifestations of the irritating action of the drug, like the tetanic
spasms excited  by Nux  vomica.  These  opium-spasms  are symp-
tomatic of  a  primary irritation  of the cerebral fibre.  Hence they
are invariably preceded  by manifest symptoms of violent  cerebral
congestion.  The face flushes up, the eyes become unsteady, the
facial muscles anol the lips  begin to quiver; the convulsive parox-
ysm results from the mediate irritation transmitted to the ganglionic
system from the cerebral centers.  It is  only to such mediate or
secondary  spasms that opium is at all in curative adaptation; neyer
to idiopathic  tetanus where the spasm has its origin or takes its
starting point from the spinal marroAV, or from  the nervous centres
immediately  connected  with it.  In this form of tetanus, Opium
may be given by the pint,  without manifesting any curative action.
The Opium-spasms are sometimes accompanied by general tremor
and a sensation as if the nerves should be pulled to pieces.

           2.  Effects of Opium upon the Digestive System.

  According to  Pereira the usual effects of Opium upon  the organs
of digestion are the folloAving: It diminishes secretion and exhala-
tion from the whole  canal;  thus it causes  dryness  of the  mouth and
throat, and diminishes the liquidity of the  stools; it excites thirst,
lessens hunger,  checks the  digestive  process,  (for in some animals
poisoned by Opium, food which they had taken previously,  has been
found in the stomach unchanged; and in some cases it excites vomit-
ing.  Kerr, in his Medical Observations and Enquiries, tells us that
in the famine which  prevailed in the East-Indies,  in the year 1770,
Opium was purchased by  the unhappy sufferers, at extraordinary
prices, to allay the cravings of  hunger, and to banish the dreadful
prospect of death.   The Tartar couriers,  Avho travel immense dis-
tances in a  short period of time, take Opium only during the journey,
to support  them.  It diminishes the  sensibility and contractility of
the digestive organs;  hence the  difficulty,  in severe cases of poison-
ing, of producing vomiting.   The constipation which follows the use
of Opium,  depends partly on the same cause, and in part also on the
diminished secretion  of  bile, and  a  diminished secretion from the
gastro-intestinal  mucous membrane.   Sprcegel found the ductus
choledochus of animals to which Opium had been  given, filled with
bile; yet it had not passed into the  intestines, for the fasces were
scarce!}* tinged by it, but  had the appearance which we observe them
to have in jaundiced patients.
  The digestiA'e  functions of Opium-eaters, are entirely  ruined; they
eat by fits and starts, or have no desire for food Avhatsoever.  Opium
may cause nausea and vomiting, even vomiting  of blood; it also
causes an indescribable distress in the pit of the stomach; but these
are exceptional cases and cannot be  considered as regular effects of
Opium.  These effects of the action of Opium may suggest its use in
                               45 
706
LECTURE XLVIII.
  Acute Cardialgia, with distress in the pit of the stomach, vomiting
of blood and mucus, attended with symptoms of cerebral congestion,
flushed  face, protruded and  suffused eyes, or  else paleness, sopor,
cold skin, and thin, hurried pulse.
  In Atony  of the Stomach, induced by the excessive use of ardent
spirits, with variable appetite, or complete anorexia, Opium  may
restore the irritability of the lining membrane.
  In Vomiting, the sour vomiting of children for instance, or vomit-
ing of drunkards, accompanied or followed by sopor or stupor, flushed
face, cold extremities, Opium is useful.

  Diarrhoea even has been caused by Opium in its primary action
upon the bowels.  In the case  of a  lady who was in the  habit of
using Opium  for toothache,  a watery diarrhoea came on, AArhenever
she used  this drug for such  a purpose.   This  may have been the
result of a peculiar idiosyncrasy.  In the case of this patient, if she
had been attacked  by watery diarrhoea, in consequence of exposure
for instance, Opium might have proved a true remedial agent.  A
middle potency might have been sufficient under such circumstances.
Many of Joerg's provers were attacked with diarrhoea preceded  by
cutting pains in the bowels.
  As a general rule the primary effect of Opium upon the bowels is,
to diminish the  alvine secretions.   This, however, does not militate
against the  use of Opium in certain forms of
  Diarrhea, where the stools are slimy or watery, and of an exceed-
ingly foul smell.   In diarrhoea, to which Opium is  homoeopathic,
unmistakeable signs  of  cerebral congestion are generally present,
such as violent  headache, drowsiness, vertigo, flushed  face;  even
typhoid symptoms, a dry, brown and  parched tongue,  excessive
prostration, dry heat  of  the skin,  unquenchable  thirst, small, rapid
and rather  jerking pulse, may characterize such an  attack of diar-
rhoea.  For the  purpose of illustrating my remarks, I will read the
following case from  the Archives  Generates, a French medical pub-
lication.
   A sailor,  aged forty years, of  good constitution, but impoverished
in consequence of miserable  fare,  was brought to the hospital in the
following condition: Pale face; eyes sunken; sullen expression of
the countenance, with alteration of the features expressive of distress
in  the  bowels;  pulse small,  feeble, hurried and irregular; scanty
secretion of urine; but  frequent,  or rather unceasing discharges of
yelloAV, watery,  fetid  stools.   After the ineffectual employment of a
variety of means, the patient became much Avorse.  On the third day
after his reception in the hospital, the  stools  were passed without
consciousness; the patient had groAvn thin; the tongue was  rather
 dry, the abdomen tympanitic, the head confused, features elongated;
 oppression  on the chest, and rattling breathing.  He was put on the
 extract of  Opium, in half grain  doses, of which he took fourteen
 grains in the space of six days.  The diarrhoea ceased  without any
 symptoms of narcosis having made their appearance, and with proper
 nourishing diet, his strength returned and his health  was completely
 restored. 
OPIUM.
707
  Another case, from the same publication, is that of an elderly man
of broken-down constitution, who was sent to the hospital with the
following symptoms: Features elongated, Avith an expression of dis-
tress ;  consciousness very  much impaired;  frequent,  involuntary,
fetid and very liquid stools.  The patient grew very thin, became
delirious, the diarrhoeic discharges took place incessantly, the tongue
was dry, the urine reddish  and the skin cold and clammy.  Under
the use of the extract of Opium, of which he took thirteen grains in
the space of a week, he  was completely restored at the close of this
period.
  Would it have been  proper for a homoeopathic physician to treat
these cases with Opium ?  Gentlemen, I have no hesitation in saying
that  during the last ten years I have arrested  hundreds of cases of
diarrhoea, when the discharges were water}7", greenish, brown or even
blackish, and  of a foul  smell, with accelerated, rather hard, at times
thin  and at other times full pulse, feverish skin, or cold and clammy
skin, with dizziness, impaired intellection, by administering a feAV
drops of the tincture of the root of Aconite in a small tumblerful of
water.   It is especially if the diarrhoea had arisen  from continued
exposure and poor  living,  that Aconite  proved useful.  In other
cases of this kind, Arsenic may be required.  But supposing Acon-
ite and Arsenic should  fail you, the case  may be one of  those few
where  the diarrhoea may be traceable to just such an irritation in
the cerebral tissues as may specifically correspond Avith the action of
Opium upon  the brain.  Some cerebral  symptoms, congestive or
typhoid, will undoubtedly stand out as prominent indications for the
use of  this agent.
  The Old-School mode of  using Opium in diarrhoea, is  sometimes
productive of dangerous and even fatal cerebral-congestions.  The
sudden checking of the  diarrhoea which is very frequently a natural
relief to abdominal congestion, forces the  congestion back upon the
brain.   The diarrhoea is a curative effort instituted by  the brain for
the  purpose of relieving abdominal congestion.  A large dose of
Opium paralyzes the curative action of the brain in this direction,
and  transfers  the pathological process to  the  central  organ of all
vital activity, where the first perception of every disease which in-
vades the organism,  must necessarily take place.  Hence dangerous
cerebral congestions, paralysis and even apoplexy may be the con-
sequences of such a supremely silly  and destructive treatment.  In
a case  of cerebral congestion arising  from

  Sudden Suppression of Diarrhea by Opium, or even by other causes
such as a sudden fright, you will find the tincture of Aconite one
of your most valuable remedies, far superior to Belladonna or Hyos-
cyamus or any other drug.  The exceptions to this rule are  very
few indeed.

  In Lead-Colic, or painter's colic, Opium is one of the most valuable
remedies.  It restores the action of the mucous exhalants, moves
the bowels and arrests the spasmodic  pains.  It  may have to be
given in doses of from one to five drops every hour. 
708
LECTURE XLVIII.
  In common  Constipation  arising  from a  deficient floAV of  bile
through the ductus choledochus, and from consequent deficiency of
peristaltic  action,  Opium  is a most useful  remedy; the faeces may
consist of small, hard balls, and either look blackish or discolored.
  Kopp, in his Memorabilia, speaks of an old hypochondriac Count,
AA'ho had been obliged for years to  swalloAV a feAV pills of Aloes in
order to have his boAArels moved.  One day he was attacked with an
irritation on the chest for which the Doctor prescribed Opium.   This
led to the accidental discovery that, as long as the Count took Opium,
his boAvels moved naturally.
   A lady had been troubled with the piles for years.  Every week
she had to take a  cathartic, in order to  have a passage.   Whenever
she used Opium, she  had  a natural passage.

   In Symptomatic Constipationj which may occur as a feature in the
marasmus of drunkards, among  a group of symptoms where a cold
and dry skin, sallow complexion, loss  of appetite, trembling and
Aveakness, dullness of intellect, emaciation, constitute characteristic
indications, Opium may be indispensable.
   A remarkable illustration of the curative power of Opium in
   Ileus or Volvulus, is found in Frank's Physiological Magazine. A
lady, in the fifth month of pregnancy, had taken some Cina for
worms.  She passed a few worms, but the boAvels became costive.
The abdomen  Avas distended, painless; she had little appetite, not
much  thirst, nor Avas there any fever.  The constipation  defied all
cathartics; the abdomen became painful; vomiting set in, first vom-
iting of mucus  and afterwards  of faeces.  Emollient fomentations,
even injections of tobacco, remained  fruitless.   Gangrene  of the
bowels Avas considered inevitable.  The extremities had become cold,
and covered with  a clammy SAveat.   Singultus had set in, with fre-
quent discharges of copious quantities of a watery urine.   This fact
led the attending physician to diagnose spasmodic ileus, and Avith a
trembling  hand he gave the patient a grain of Opium.   That same
night, a discharge  of white mucus took  place, and Avhen the physi-
cian reached the  house, several vessels had been  filled with  both
liquid and hard faeces, mingled with lumbrici.  The emaciated patient
soon recovered, and gave birth to a healthy child.

  Opium has been given with success in
  Incarcerated Hernia, in variable doses, from the middle potencies
down to the tincture and first, second or third decimal triturations.
Soon after Opium begins to act, the constipation yields, and  by
means of gentle manipulations the bowel slips back into the abdomi-
nal cavity with a gurgling sound.  Opium may even prove curative
after fascal vomiting has set in, and  the constricted parts assume a
purple color.

           3. Effects of Opium upon  the Urinary System.

  The general action  of Opium upon the ureters and bladder seems
to be to diminish the  sensibility or the contractility, or both, of the 
OPIUM.
709
bladder and ureters.  Alloeopathic physicians avail themselves of
this knowledge for the purpose of palliating the pain caused by the
passage of a calculus through the ureter.  They give  Opium in a
palliative dose, from twenty to thirty drops or more, as the case may
be.  Strictly speaking, this need not be considered as an infraction
of the homoeopathic law.  The healing law has nothing to do Avith
a case like this.  We are summoned to afford relief from pain; avc
have to diminish the spasmodic irritability of the fibre and at the
same time depress the sensibility of  the  tissues.  AVe frequently
accomplish this result with very small doses of Aconite, Belladonna,
Chamomilla or Nux vomica   The most appropriate means of relief,
in some cases, may be a palliative dose of Opium. If  a homoeopa-
thic practitioner  should,  under  such circumstances,  sacrifice his
patient to the  dogmatic application of an essentially humane and
all-providing law, he would become recreant to the duties which he
OAves to common humanity, and he would  not only stultify himself
in the  eyes of all enlightened  homoeopathists, but  expose the sacred
and life saving art of Homoeopathy to disgrace and derision.
   In some cases of poisoning by Opium, the bladder has been found
quite full, although no urine was voided ; hence in
   Retention of Urine, caused  by deficient irritability of the fibres of
the bladder, Opium would be a true homoeopathic  agent.  This con-
dition  may occur as a symptom in cerebral affections to which Opium
is homoeopathic, such as delirium tremens, typhus.  It may occur as
an habitual condition in the case of  old topers, in which case it may
be associated with habitual constipation and depression of the cerebral
reaction as characterized by imbecility, loss or decrease of memory,
drowsiness,  anorexia.  If Opium causes paralysis of the sphincter,
as it sometimes  does, an  involuntary discharge  of  urine ensues;
hence an

   Involuntary Flow of Urine, caused by paralysis of  the sphincter,
would be relieved by Opium, unless some other medicine should be
more specifically indicated. These peculiar conditions  of the blad-
der  may co-exist with  other  symptoms in more  general derange-
ments, to which Opium  is  homoeopathic, such as:  Delirium tremens,
typhus, mania; such secondary conditions, if met  by the drug, con-
stitute additional confirmations of its homoeopathicity  to the general
disease.
  In spasmodic conditions Avhere Opium is indicated, the involuntary
discharge of watery urine would not counter-indicate this agent.

         4. The Action of Opium upon the Sexual  Organs

Deserves our especial consideration.  The first effect of  Opium is to
cause an increase of the sexual desire and poAver.  This, hoAvever,
may be folloAved by the opposite condition of impotence.   Hence we
prescribe Opium both for
  Abnormal Sexual Excitements, manifested  by libidinous  fancies,
violent erections, dreams, nocturnal emissious, and for
  Impotence, without desire, occasioned  by previous  abuse, or by
abuse of spirits, coffee. 
710
LECTURE XLVIII.
  In affections of the female sexual system Opium may be of great
use;  its curative powers in
  Nymphomania, especially in the last stage of this dreadful disease,
when the organic powers of the system seem  threatened with para-
lysis, the lower jaw is depressed, and a ropy saliva is hanging put at
the corners of the mouth ;  the skin is cold and  clammy, the patient is
emaciated, the pulse hurried and empty, the alvine  evacuations take
place involuntarily, and what little poAver of the brain is  left, is
directed towards sexual things, as evidenced by the character of the
muttering delirium, provided the power to articulate is not altogether
extinct; in this condition Opium may still prove useful.
  In the case of parturient females, if the labor-pains are of  a spas-
modic and distressingly-painful nature, Opium is one of the remedies
which relieves these pains.

         5. Action of Opium upon the Respiratory System.

  Opium causes dryness in  the larynx, hoarseness, a dry and spas-
modic cough, with blueness  of the face, and subsequent sopor and
cold SAveat.  It has also caused spitting of blood,  and may  therefore
be useful during the spasmodic stage of
   Whiooping-cough, and in some forms of
  Hemoptysis.  You recollect  that the provers of Professor Jcerg
experienced oppression on the chest, aching and stitching pains in
the chest striking from the fore to the back  part of the chest, burning
distress in the chest, hacking cough.
  The breathing is likewise poAverfully affected by  Opium.  It is
sometimes stertorous, at others  so superficial that it is scarcely per-
ceptible. It is likewise irregular, and may even intermit at  times for
a few minutes.
  In  cases of poisoning Avith  Opium, the lungs have been found
inflamed, and turgescent with air and a black, frothy blood.  These
various symptomatic and  pathological manifestations convey  the
impression that in certain forms of
  Pulmonary Congestion, characterized  by such  pains  as  we have
described, oppressive and  stitching pains, burning distress, with the
cerebral  symptoms characteristic of the  action of Opium upon the
brain, spasmodic cough, expectoration of a black, thick blood, Opium
may prove a most useful remedy.
  In  consumptive  patients,  an attack of haemoptysis may often be
relieved by Opium even if the original disease is incurable.
  The haemoptysis of drunkards often yields to Opium.

  Opium may cause a burning distress in the region of the heart, as
from red-hot coal.   In cases of poisoning the ventricles of the heart,
particularly the right, have been found to contain a quantity of black,
coagulated blood,   the auricles being  empty  and  relaxed.  These
symptoms and post-mortem  appearances show the great use which
Opium may afford in certain forms of

   Congestion of the Heart, with burning distress, such as drunkards 
opium.                         711
may complain of, or as  is sometimes experienced in consequence of
violent grief, mortification or disappointment.

           6. Action of Opium upon the Vascular System.

  Small  doses  of Opium raise,  and large doses depress the pulse.
During  a paroxysm of convulsions caused by Opium, the pulse is
generally hurried;  during sopor or coma, it is generally slower and
weaker  than natural.  There are exceptions to  this rule.   In some
cases of poisoning we find  the pulse quicker than in its normal con-
dition.  These differences may in a great measure depend upon pre-
existing constitutional peculiarities, and upon peculiar idiosyncratic
relations between the brain and the poison.  Under any circumstances,
the pulse is no criterium for the selection of Opium.  The homoeo-
pathicity of Opium to a given  disease, depends upon the cerebral
symptoms more than upon  any other.  In view of these symptoms,
Ave find Opium indicated in  the cerebral diseases which we have
mentioned in our first category or division entitled : Action of Opium
upon the Cerebro-Spinal Axis.

                 7. Action of Opium upon the Skin.

   Opium diminishes the sensitiveness of the skin, but it promotes
cutaneous perspiration.  This is true, hoAvever, only of massive doses;
small doses seem to have a tendency to diminish the cutaneous action.
We mean  by this that the primary action of Opium,  which is to
promote the cutaneous  secretions, is met  by the opposing action or
reaction of  the organism, and that  this reaction is characterized by
heat  and dryness  of the  skin.  Hence,  in typhus-fever,  delirium
tremens, or any other disease to  which Opium is homoeopathic, heat
and dryness of the skin and a moderately excited  pulse would con-
stitute additional indications for the use of this agent. In such cases,
Opium  should be  given in small doses.  On the other hand,  the
symptoms  of organic reaction in  a sinking condition, as it were,
might be a  cold and  clammy skin, feeble and irregular pulse, sopor,
incipient paralysis of the brain.  Under these circumstances Opium
might still be homoeopathic to the symptoms.  But you would have
to give  a larger dose. My rule is, and I think it is founded in reason
and experience: During the  first stage  of organic reaction  I  give
small doses, during the  latter stages of reaction I gi\*e comparatively
larger doses.  If, in  a  case  of  cerebral typhus, Opium should be
specifically indicated during the first stage of reaction, with  the
symptoms of congestion fully developed, a full, bounding pulse, hot
and dry skin, flushed face,  glistening eyes, a moderate dose of this
agent, say the 6th or even 12th potency may be sufficient to enable
the vital reaction to triumph ; but if Opium should be indicated in
this disease during the latter stages  of reaction, Avith the signs of
paralysis impending over the brain, depression of the lower jaw and
eyelids, clammy skin, feeble, quick, irregular pulse, vacant and extinct
look, cadaverous countenance, fetid and involuntary discharges from
the bowels,  I should deem it necessary to use a larger dose, from the 
712
LECTURE XLVIII.
  third down to the first potency or even a drop of the tincture in a
  tumblerful of water.
    We may here add that the dryness of the skin caused by Opium,
  is often  accompanied by itching and stinging.

    Opium is not much used in eruptive diseases.  Its action upon the
  skin is  simply to cause a redness and itching of the  skin, Avith the
  appearance of blotches after scratching.  Nevertheless, it may fulfil
  important uses in exanthematous diseases.  If an acute eruption, for
  instance, should manifest a tendency to strike in, the brain becomes
  prostrated, symptoms of coma or paralysis supervene, with cold and
  clammy skin, feeble, hurried, irregular pulse, and  perhaps involun-
  tary diarrhoea : Opium may prove one of our most valuable agents
  to free the brain from the  dangerous prostration into Avhich it has
  been plunged by the action  of an inimical miasm.   AYe therefore
  commend opium to your careful attention in
    Sudden Retrocession of Acute Eruptions.  A boy, for instance, who
  had confluent small-pox, suddenly showed symptoms of paralysis  of
  the brain.  The  pulse became  hurried  and small, the patient was
  taken with diarrhoeic stools and the pustules suddenly collapsed ;
  some of them assuming a blackish appearance, and the rest contain-
  ing a thin, watery pus.  One drop  of the tincture  of Opium every
  two  hours, and lastly three drops every three hours, removed the
  danger  and effected a radical improvement.
    Another child, a girl of eight years, was attacked with small-pox.
  The stigmata had already broken out,  when they suddenly disap-
  peared.   A train of dangerous nervous  symptoms developed them-
  selves, such as:  convulsions, epileptic  paroxysms, burning  heat  of
  the skin, involuntary stools, etc.  Next day the patient became very
  restless; breathing short and moaning; chin depressed, face and
  extremities cold, forehead and abdomen burning hot, eyes half closed
  with the eyeballs rolled  upwards, inability to swalloAV, collapse  of
  pulse, hippocratic countenance.  Five drops of the tincture of Opium
  were administered at one  dose.  Half  an hour after, the patient
  became quiet, a profuse sweat broke out, the exanthem reappeared
  and the patient recovered.
    In all such cases, the small-pox miasm, or the measle or scarlet-
  fever miasm, or the miasm of any other exanthematous disease
  threatens  the life of the brain,  and  it is here in the inmost  fibres
  of this  central organ of vitality that the inimical principle  is met
  by the specific drug-force which, if successful, compels the exanthem
  to pursue  its  normal  course of  development.  We have  a number
  of agents which act  in this direction,  Opium, Camphor, Arsenic
  and others.

 i   In the successful treatment of
: |   Polypus, the  tincture  of Opium  has proved  very useful.  In
 1 several German Journals, in Hufeland's Journal, in Froriep's Noti-
jl zen, and in other publications, cases  have been published showing
! j that  polypus  can be removed by touching it with  the tincture  of
  Opium.   Polypus of the nose has been successfully treated in this 
OPIUM.
713
 way.  A case is reported in Hufeland's Journal, Avhere a nasal poly-
 pus was extirpated twice by an operation, but grew again and  was
 finally  touched with Opium.  Gradually it  shrank to a withered
 little sac which was readily pinched off.
   Even Uterine Polypus has been gradually removed by means of
 Opium.  A polypus protruded to the length of two inches between
 the labia majora of an unmarried female of forty-three years, through
 a small aperture  of the  hymen Avhich had not been ruptured  and
 was  very  firm.   The  polypus bled readily at the least contact.
 Twice  a day  it  was penciled pretty thoroughly with Opium.   In
 twenty days it had retreated behind the hymen.  The operation was
 continued by means of a canula  to  which a  camel's hair pencil was
 attached.  Within seven weeks  the excrescence  was entirely de-
 stroyed.

   In Gangrena Senilis, when a cure cannot possibly be  expected,
 we may afford relief from the pain by palliative  doses  of Opium.
 Even the further spread of the mortification has been prevented by
 this means.

I   In the Acne  Rosacea of drunkards, the burning and itching of the
 eruption may sometimes be palliated  by the internal  use of small
 doses of opium, and the simultaneous application of a mild Opium-
i wash.

                       FEVER GROUP.

   We have already  pointed out  the specific homoeopathicity of
 Opium to
   Cerebral Typhus  in the different  stages of this  disease.  It may
 likewise be of great value in those dangerous forms of
   Intermittent Fever where apoplexy may set in after the second or
 third attack; a fever described by Hufeland and others as
   Febris Intermittens Perniciosa, and by others as
   Apoplectic Intermittent Fever.  From three to five drops in a tum-
 blerful of water may be given in tablespoonful doses  every ten or
 fifteen minutes, until the dangerous comatose symptoms are effectu-
 ally controlled.

                 8. Action of Opium upon the Mind.

   Opium stupefies the mind; it causes imbecility and stupid indif-
 ference to pain or pleasure.   It causes complete loss of memory, or
 a crowding of ideas upon the mind, or of elevated and profound
 meditations.  De  Quincy informs us that Opium would  exalt his
 imagination and call up the sublimest and most ecstatic fancies.  In
 others it excites  frightful  visions of ghosts,  demons  and horrid
 beasts.   It  causes  furious  delirium and mania with redness  and
 bloating of  the face, or stupor  with signs of cerebral paralysis,
 inarticulate speech, low muttering delirium.  These symptoms sug-
 gest Opium as  one of our mightiest agents in Typhius, Delirium tre-
 mens, Mania, Imbecility and  other cerebral derangements to Avhich
 your attention  has been directed before. 
714
LECTURE XLVIII.
                           SLEEP.

  We need hardly allude to the soporific powers of Opium.  Large
doses cause sopor and  stupor, small doses may excite a state of
Avakefulness.   Hence, although sopor and stupor constitute striking
indications for the use of Opium, so does on the other hand, wake-
fulness.  In some forms of hysteria ; in typhus, in delirium tremens,
or mania, where sleeplessness is a prominent symptom, it may indi-
cate Opium provided the other symptoms of the group correspond.

                         MORPHIUA1.

  Morphium and its  salts, the Acetate and Sulphate of Morphia, seem
to  represent the narcotizing principle  or the  active principle of
Opium  more  nearly than any other constituent of Opium. It acts
almost  like Opium except that its  action is more concentrated, and
that therefore much smaller quantities are required in  order  to
manifest its physiological effects.   Its action upon  the  digestive
apparatus is more marked than that of Opium.
  In Wibmer's Toxicology a number of experiments with the pure
Alorphium and likeAvise with its salts, the  acetate and sulphate of
Morphia are related, which, however, do not shed any additional
light on the physiological action  of Opium.   The effects obtained
simply confirm the specific range of action of this great agent.  One
or two  short experiments may serve as examples of all the rest.  The
experiments were instituted  under  the supervision  of  Professor
Berandi.
   Allinio, twenty-two  years  old, of bilious  temperament, pulse
sixty-six in the  minute, took one-eighth of a grain of the acetate of
Morphia in two ounces  of water.  The solution had a bitter acrid
taste.   In five minutes he experienced a pain in the pit of the
stomach, disposition to sleep, and somewhat labored respiration; in
twenty minutes a  copious sweat broke out over the Avhole body; the
pupil was considerably dilated, the pulse beat  ninety-four times in
the minute.   In thirty-three minutes he felt droAVsy, had a pain in
the frontal region.  In fifty minutes the lips  looked  livid, the face
red, bloated ;  the  conjunctiva looked  swollen, he had a beating pain
in the forehead.   In fifty-two minutes he felt a pain in the region of
the bladder; his countenance assumed an expression of silliness, the
eyes glistened, he felt very thirsty and feeble.   In about an hour and
a half,  his skin began to itch, he complained of pain in the urinary
and sexual organs, especially in the right spermatic chord, heaviness
in the frontal region.  These symptoms continued for several hours;
at  that period he complained of a  violent pain in the pit of the
stomach, nausea, disposition  to vomit.  After  midnight he became
restless, had headache, pain in the umbilical region, and afterwards
 slept soundly until half past six o'clock.
   All  the other  experiments yielded similar results, except  that
larger  doses would develop these  effects with  more intensity.   The
headache  is more violent and stupefying,  the eyes sparkle, the face
 looks  red and becomes covered with drops of sweat, the tongue looks 
MORPHIUM.
715
inflamed at the tip and edges; the pain in the region of the stomach,
umbilicus and bladder is very marked.
  In Charvet's Essay " On the Effects of Opium," we find the follow-
ing case of poisoning by the acetate of Morphia which is interesting
to homoeopathic practitioners in so far as it may afford us additional
light concerning the use of Opium in

  Apoplexy, if attended with violent cerebral congestions.  In the
evening  a dose of this salt was administered to a patient, which
resulted fatally.  The pulse first became intermittent, small and con-
tracted, afterwards fuller, the patient being somewhat stupefied and
slightly convulsed.  Twenty-four  hours after, he was unconscious,
the head  drawn backwards, the breathing  labored, the  face had a
bluish tint;  some phlegm in the mouth; the upper parts of the  body
were covered with a viscid  mucus, the  loAver extremities  cold and
jerked convulsively.   On the third morning  the body looked  blue,
the breathing became stertorous and sIoav, the pulse collapsed, the
pupils were very much contracted; gradually the face became cada-
verous and  death ensued.  The sinuses and veins of the brain were
found  turgid with blood, the ventricles of the brain and the pleural
cavities filled with a bloody serum, the coats of the stomach ecchy-
mosed.

   Orfila relates a short but exceedingly interesting, and instructive
case, with which we will close the physiologico-pathological history
of this remarkable agent.
   A young physician ordered  twenty-four grains of the  acetate of
Morphia  in an ounce and  a half of water.  In  ten minutes, the
patient experienced a violent burning in the back part of the head
and pit of the stomach, whence a formicating sensation spread along
the linea  alba to the bends of the knees. Some time after, a similar
sensation was experienced in the upper extremities which, together
with the lower, felt as if crushed to atoms.  The whole inside of the
heart felt hot; in a  few hours  a  burning  thirst was complained of,
with dryness of the tongue,  and stinging in the eyes which felt as if
covered  with a gauze. The consciousness was undisturbed,  there
was neither nausea  nor vomiting.  The heat now spread over the
whole body, except  the extremities Avhich remained cold;  the  abdo-
men became  distended, the carotids beat violently, the patient sank
into a stupor.   Thirteen  hours after, Orfila  took  charge of the
patient, and saved his life  by means of cold  affusions,  acidulated
drinks, injections of Tartar-emetic, etc.
   This case again illustrates with a remarkably characteristic range
of  symptoms  the  relationship existing  between  Apoplexy and
perhaps
   Paraplegia accompanying and resulting from this disorder of the
cerebral  functions.   Characteristic indications for  the use of the
acetate of Morphia in this affection are the violent aching pains in the
extremities  as if they should be  crushed  to atoms, coldness of the
extremities, formicating sensation in the upper and lower limbs, and
symptoms of violent cerebral congestion, such as redness and bloat- 
716
LECTURE XLIX.
ing of the  face,  stupor, throbbing of the  carotids, obscuration of
sight.   Alorphine may be given in doses of from one-hundredth
doAvn to one-tenth of a grain.  One-tenth of a grain is not a poisonous
dose,  although it may produce marked medicinal symptoms.  It
should not be given more than once or twice a day.
                LECTURE   XLIX.


                       PHOSPHORUS

Was discovered in 1669 by Brandt, a chemist in the city of Ham-
burgh, in the urine.   Phosphorus is  obtained  from the ashes of
bones which have to be burnt in the open air, and to which sulphuric
acid, water, and charcoal are gradually added.  The name is derived
from the Greek phos (light) and phoreo (I carry); it is also obtained
in native  phosphates, such as phosphate of lime, iron, etc.  It is a
constituent of bones, urine; it is said to  exist in the brain,  but in
what form is not known.  Phosphorus  should  be  preserved in a
stoppered vessel filled Avith water, and  kept in  the dark.  It has a
garlic-like odor, shines in  the dark, and  is flexible;  a solution may
be made of it, by dissolving pieces of Phosphorus in hot  water, and
shaking the solution with strong alcohol, for a fortnight, every day.
The Phosphorus will thus be  divided into an  infinite  number of
globules.   The  tincture  is colorless;  it should be  preserved in
blackened  glasses;  but  has  a strong  odor of Phosphorus,  and
vapors of Phosphorus are formed by pouring the tincture upon
the hand or upon Avater.  This tincture should not be kept too long.
Triturations may be  made of Phosphorus  by  cutting a grain of
it into tAvelve or more pieces and kneading them  together with a
paste of one  hundred grains of sugar of milk and fifteen drops of
water.

  Small doses  of Phosphorus, from  one-tenth  to  one-eighth of a
grain, cause a sense of increased and  agreeable vitality, increased
action of the  pulse, increase of the cutaneous secretions, secretions
from the lungs and  kidneys.  One grain causes  all these symptoms
and moreover great  sexual excitement.  A few grains will  induce
burning in the oesophagus and stomach, belching  up of wind, nausea,
vomiting,  thirst and fever.  Poisonous  doses cause inflammation,
gangrene and perforation  of the stomach, gangrenous petechias on
various parts of the body,  death.
  According to Dumas, pure Phosphorus is" flexible; a stick of it
may be bent seven or eight times ; hilt  the addition  of one-three-
hundredth part of Sulphur renders it brittle.
  Workmen  exposed to  the fumes of Phosphorus, are occasion-
ally attacked  Avith necrosis of the  jaw-bones.  The  disorganization
commences Avith inflammation  of  the gums, after which the teeth 
PHOSPHORUS.                      717
become loose and fall out.  From the empty sockets and around the
roots of the remaining teeth a copious fetid ichor is discharged.  The
whole of the lower jaw, from one articulation to the other, sometimes
forms, together with the soft  parts  which are  attached to it, one
apparently homogeneous,  hypertrophied, osseous mass, having  a
livid appearance and perforated along the margin by small fistulous
openings overgrown Avith fungoid granulations.   In some cases the
teeth look black, covered with a thick layer of a firmly adhering,
viscid, dingy substance.  This disorganization is accompanied  with
a general decay of the vital functions.  The inspired air is poisoned
by the fetor emanating from the ichorous secretion which becomes
moreover mingled with, the saliva, with the food and drink,  thus
ruining both  respiration and digestion.
   Considerable diversity of opinion prevails regarding the manner
in which this disorganization develops itself.  Some think  that it is
exclusively produced by the direct action of the fumes of Phospho-
rus upon the jaws.  Others, on the contrary, like Professor Wood of
this city, attribute it to the absorption of the poison by the blood.
It may hoAvever be presumed, as Dr. Pereira very justly  observes,
that if this were the origin of the disease, other bones would likewise
show some signs of decay.  So far as we know, however, the upper
and lower maxillas, and the frontal bone are the  only bones which
have been attacked.   It is true, as Dr. Lorinser, one of the adherents
of the absorption-theory remarks, that  individuals under the influ-
ence of Phosphorus, have  a peculiar sallow complexion, combined
with a dull expression of the eye and gastric  derangement.  But
even if. our explanation of this constitutional cachexia were insuffi-
cient, there is no reason why we should not adopt both theories, that
of local disorganizing action, and of the constitutional derangement
produced by absorption.
   These distressing results may be prevented by cleanliness and a
perfect system of ventilation.  In the London factories, the dippers
wear sponges before their mouths;  and all the work-people employ
a  solution of soda for washing their hands.


   Phosphorus has been very little used by alloe6pathic practitioners.
In some of the  standard Avorks on Materia Medica and Therapeutics,   ^ '
the name of this invaluable agent is not even mentioned.  Trousseau
and Pidoux, for instance; Dierbach and  others seem to ignore the
existence of this substance as a therapeutic agent.

   Phosphorus seems to be  in relation with that element  or principle
in the brain which regulates  the renovation of the nervous tissue.
Physiological chemistry has determined the presence of Phosphorus
in the nervous  substance, as it has the presence  of iron in the blood.
As iron plays an important part in diseases of the blood, so does
Phosphorus in affections of the  nervous system.  If  the reproduc-
tion or supply of nervous tissue  is deficient or abnormally altered
by some cause  or other, Phosphorus is, under certain circumstances,
the great power Avhich enables us to repair the damage. 
718
LECTURE XLIX.
  In order to obtain a broad and, at the same time, lucid and reliable
knowledge of the action of Phosphorus, we shall find it advantageous
to examine a few cases of poisoning by this agent, Avhich will afford
us an opportunity of  becoming  acquainted with its therapeutic
powers  in  all  their fundamental  characteristics.  A few provings
by Sundelin, Holcombe, Bouttaz and others will afterwards complete
our study of this eminently useful and important drug.

  Worbe relates the following case in a memoir  read to the Societe
medicate d"1Emulation.
  A man,  tAventy-eight years  of age, swallowed half a grain  of
Phosphorus in some hot Avater.  Experiencing  no effect he swal-
lowed three days afterAvards a grain and a half in  the same  vehicle.
Towards evening he complained of violent pain in the stomach and
bowels,  attended with unceasing painful vomiting and  diarrhoea.
Dr. Worbe saw him on  the seventh day after the poisoning.   The
epigastric region was painful, the  abdomen  distended; he Avas very
weak, could only lie on his back,  and articulated slowly and with
great difficulty.  His features had a sort of fixity which impressed
upon his physiognomy  a singular air of sadness, languor and wan-
dering  of mind.  The  tongue and lining membrane of the mouth
looked natural:  the lips and skin presented a livid shade, the con-
junctiva had  a  deep  yelloAV tint.  The pulse was  a  little hard,
respiration natural, urinary secretion  normal. Since the  first day
of the poisoning, the alvine evacuations had stopped.
  In spite of an antiphlogistic treatment, the application of leeches
to the  epigastric region, baths, fomentations, cataplasms, emollient
injections, gum-water,  the patient grew worse, recognized  no  one,
tore off with violence everything  placed  on his abdomen.   He was
convulsively agitated.   The abdomen was  contracted.  Pressure
excited plaintive cries  and irregular movements.   The mouth was
tightly  closed ; after bleeding him at the instep, the stomach became
meteorized.  The urinary and alvine discharges became involuntary,
respiration slow and easy; the beats of the  heart regular and  deep.
On the  eighth day of the poisoning, towards evening, the pulse  at
the wrist  disappeared;  the whole body was intensely yellow and
covered with a cold sweat.  He died early next morning.
  Post-mortem  appearances:  Physiognomy  unchanged; the limbs
were not as rigid as usual.  The skin was yellow,  the subcutaneous
veins of the abdomen and the upper part of the  thigh very promi-
nent and arborescent;  the scrotum had a bluish tint.  The thorax
contained a quantity  of blackish serum;  the lungs were gorged
with blood, the flaccid heart contained but a small quantity of blood.
The mucous coat of the stomach was the only inflamed membrane;
the other coats as well as the duodenum were pale and flabby, the
sub-mucous cellular tissue of these viscera was distended by gases;
at both extremities  of the stomach, at the cardiac orifice as well  as
at the pylorus, black or rather slate-colored spots were seen, which
were genuine ecchymoses.  The intestines were distended with gas,
containing  very little  fluid.  The bladder  looked  healthy; the
brain was not examined. 
PHOSPHORUS.
719
  It is unfortunate that two of the main organs which were evidently
powerfully acted upon in this case, were not examined after death;
we  mean  the  brain  and liver.  The  symptoms of jaundice  which
existed in this  case  almost  from the  commencement, justify the
supposition  that both functional and organic changes had  taken
place in the liver under the action  of Phosphorus.  AVe find this
case commented on by Dr. Holcombe of Waterproof, La., one  of the
best educated  and most interesting writers of our school.  " There
is no nice distinction recorded to show whether the  tenderness on
pressure involved also  the  hepatic region; but as the duodenum
was found healthy, Ave may safely infer  that there was no extension
by  continuity  of the  gastric  inflammation to  the liver.  Whatever
morbid impression that viscus may have received, Avas certainly due
to the absorption of the Phosphorus into the circulation."  AVe shall
afterwards learn from other cases of poisoning that Phosphorus has a
decided action upon the liver, and that it produces derangements in
the functions  and structure  of this  organ which justify its  use in
various affections of the liver characterized  by a jaundiced appear-
ance of the patient.

  We are informed that the stomach was found inflamed after death.
The symptoms which the patient manifested during life, the distres-
sing and continued vomitings, the excessive distress in the epigastric
region, the  meteorism of the stomach, the expression  of fixity and
sadness in his features, the  languor  and wandering of mind: these
symptoms sufficiently show that the  nerve-force of  the stomach was
prostrated by  an inimical power and threatened with utter extinction.
Let us then remember that in certain forms of gastritis Phosphorus
may prove of immense use to us.
  We are informed that  the lungs  were gorged Avith blood.  YYe
simply point out this fact  to your attention, as introductory to AArhat
we may have  to say regarding the specific action of Phosphorus upon
the respiratory organs.

   Another  marked  feature  in this case is the state of venous con-
gestion which Phosphorus induced, and which was distinctly percep-
tible in the subcutaneous veins of the abdomen, thigh, and  in  the
capillaries of the scrotum.  These signs of congestion most probably
arose from the  fact that  the liver Avas no longer able to  send  the
blood which was poured into it through the vena porta, forward in
a purified state into the general circulation.   To sum up,  this case
teaches us that Phosphorus acts upon the stomach, liver, and primarily
upon the  nervous energy which the brain, through the great sympa-
thetic, imparts to these organs in order to enable them to fulfil their
functional destiny.

   Our next case is taken from an article on Poisoning by Phospho-
retted Alaterials, by  Professor Leudet of Rouen,  published  in  the
Archiives  Generates de Medecine, March, 1857.  AYe find a translation
of  this case in the North-American Journal of Homoeopathy by Dr.
Holcombe, from which we make the following extract. 
720
LECTURE XLIX.
   June 3rd, 1856, at six o'clock in the evening, J. V., swallowed, to
 accomplish suicide, the inflammable material of four boxes of lucifer
 matches,  scraped off into a wine-glassful of brandy.  He had first
 taken a repast of solid food; the swallowing of the poison occasioned
 no pain in the mouth or pharynx.  In about fifteen minutes be ex-
 perienced a slight burning and pricking in the stomach, accompanied
 by eructations of whitish vapors through the mouth and  nose.  At
 eleven in the evening, five hours  after taking the  poison, he was
 taken with  severe pains, colic and  diarrhoea; vomiting supervened,.
 and at the same time excessive thirst.  He drank during  the  night
 six quarts of water.   The vomiting lasted all night; in the morning,
 the patient experienced vertigo and some pain in  the kidneys, none
 in the nape of the neck.
   The vomitings continued during the fourth; magnesia, mucilagi-
 nous drinks and ice-water, were administered, after which the vomit-
 ing ceased entirely.
   On the fifth, a little yellowish tint appeared in  both conjunctiArae,
 especially at the internal  angles.   The  patient had experienced all
 night severe pain in both the upper and lower limbs.  These pains
 which he compared to cramps, persisted  all the time, but underwent
 occasional exacerbations, during Avhich  the-muscles were stiffly con-
 tracted.   The intelligence remained perfect;  epigastric pains slight,
 but  there was sensibility to pressure  in the  epigastrium  and  right
 hypochondrium.  The patient took no notice of things which were
 passing around  him, but his responses were  always correct.   The
 icteric coloration of the eyes became more and more manifest, and
 extended  also to the face and extremities.
   On the  sixth of June, the jaundiced hue was very evident all over
 the body.  He complained of lancinating darts through the forehead
 at intervals. About six in the evening, violent delirium supervened;
 the patient became restless, Avished to get out of bed, and at last had
 to be tied.  Towards morning, delirium gave place to coma, and he
 died after a short agony.
   Post-mortem appearances: The brain was found  healthy.  Ecchy-
 moses of  extravasated blood were found under the  serous membrane
 of the lungs, and in the substance of the lungs, not amounting how-
 ever to sanguine infiltration or apoplectic effusion.  The pericardium
 and  endocardium also exhibited ecchymotic spots underneath their
 tissues.
  The white parts, the bones, cartilages and  the internal coat of the
 arteries all presented a strong icteric coloration.
  The stomach was found slightly reddened along the lesser curva-
 ture, the general tint a little yellow. The bowels were healthy except
 the loAver  third of the small intestine which was found  distended by
 a bloody  matter, mixed with fasces.  Throughout the seat of this
 bloody effusion,  the mucous membrane  was reddish  in tint and a
little softened.
  The liver was a little more voluminous than natural, and  presented
 a clear yellow color, almost uniform, comparable to that of fatty liver.
It did not, however, offer any actual traces of fatty  degeneration. 
PHOSPHORUS.                        721
   In this case the toxical influence  shows a specific tendency to
 affect the biliary apparatus, which  confirms our previous deductions
 relative to the therapeutic powers of Phosphorus in affections of the
 liA*er, characterized by appearances of jaundice.
   Another group of symptoms to  which our attention  is called in
 this case, is the gastro-enteritis affecting the lower third of the small
 intestine.   AYe can  readily understand why the stomach  and the
 upper two-thirds of the  intestines showed no traces of inflammation.
 in this case.  The  patient had eaten a full repast immediately pre-
 vious to swallowing the  poison.  The presence of the food prevented
 the irritating action of  the poison  until it had  become sufficiently
 freed from this mass of material to  come in  contact Avith  the mucous
 lining.   This could not  well take place  except at some point in the
 lower portion of the small intestines.  In the meanwhile a sufficient
 quantity of the poison had  been absorbed to produce  constitutional
 symptoms, which were partly manifested in the  brain,  and partly in
 the extremities,  the  central focus  of the operations  of the poison
 being the liver.  Here  we  have a trinitary cycle of  phenomena
 which frequently meets us in important affections of the liver: the
 disease of the liver  occupying the centre, and  the distress in the
 brain  and  extremities the  terminal points  of  this series.  In the
 present case the brain manifested its involvement in the  hepatic dis-
 ease by lancinating pains in the forehead, and a loss of power to
 notice things; and the  extremities evidencing their  sympathy by
 severe crampy pains.

   The  third case is taken from the same source as the  second, and
 illustrates in a very marked manner the specific power  inherent in
 Phosphorus to derange the hepatic  functions.  AY e find a translation
 of this case in the North American  Journal  of Homoeopathy, by our
 esteemed co-laborer, Dr.  Holcombe,  from which we will  make a feAV
 short extracts.
   On the  5th of June,  at eight o'clock  in the evening, Alaria Le-
 blanc, six  hours after  having eaten,  swallowed the combustible
 matter of a box of matches, dissoh'ed in a cup  of coffee.  Immedi-
 ately after its ingestion,  she had frequent eructations, and declares
 that there issued from her mouth  fumes of a strong garlicky taste
 which Avere luminous in the dark.  In about three-quarters of an
 hour, she felt  severe  pain in the throat, a sense of swelling in the
 tongue, and a pricking in the epigastrium.  The pain was  paroxvs-
 mal, at interA'als of  five minutes.   The woman experienced great
 sense of fatigue, and there Avas a peculiar insensibility of the skin of
 the extremities.
   June 6th.—Nausea  without vomiting; numbness of the extremi-
 ties ; formication; sensibility so much diminished  that  she could not
 pick up a pin between her fingers.  In the evening she was brought
 to the hospital, pale,  features  slightly  changed; had lively  thirst;
 epigastric pains more marked;  skin dry; pulse normal.
   Jane 7th.—Commencing jaundice; chills; intelligence  intact.
   June 8th.—Decided jaundice, with bad taste in the mouth, somno-
lence ;  the liver  is sensitive to pressure, projects a very little beyond
                               4G 
722
LECTURE XLIX.
the false ribs;  more  chills; fever more severe.  Pulse down to fifty
or  sixty.   Red spots  are seen  on the arms which  disappear on
pressure.
  The pain in the liver and the enlargement is increased;  delirium
suddenly  supervened, followed by a comatose state interrupted by
occasional screams.   Delirium,  coma, dyspnoea, yawning, loss  of
intelligence, difficulty of articulation, cries,  trismus terminated the
scene.
  Post-mortem  appearances:  Bloody serum  in  the cavity of the
pleura and of  the pericardium; ecchymoses on  the  costal pleura.
Pulmonary engorgement;  heart small,  collapsed, containing  no
blood.
  Ecchymoses under the  peritoneum; bloody serum  in its cavity.
Stomach and upper  half of small  intestines  full  of bloody mucus.
Liver larger than natural, of deep brown color and softened.  Spleen
also enlarged and softened, ecchymoses under  its serous coat.  Blad-
der contained  a large  quantity  of  bloody urine  and many ecchy-
moses under its mucous membrane. Ecchymoses under the peritoneal
coat of the uterus and its appendages.
  This case again illustrates the marked specific action of Phosporus
upon the  liver.  The liver was  enlarged, in a condition resembling
hepatitis, with the jaundiced tint  which always  accompanies  this
disease.  The parenchyma of the  liver was  found softened.   The
transformation apparently took  place in this  way: First, the nerve-
force of the organ was struck  down by the absorbed  poison; the
pulse went down to  fifty.  The organ became congested, enlarged,
and gradually softened, with  the accompanying chills and burning
fever which are always present during the final dissolution of a vital
organ.
  "This case," as Dr. Holcombe justly observes, "remarkably illus-
trates the  power of Phosphorus to produce those blood-metamor-
phoses or  those  modifications of the capillary system, perhaps both
at once, which result in haemorrhages either by ecchymosis into the
tissues  or by exudation into the cavities."
  The  red petechias upon  the arms deserve our notice.   According
to Orfila, the petechias caused by Phosphorus are red,  containing a
somewhat  bright-red, fluid-blood;  whilst those caused  by Arsenic
are black  or blue.
  The  numbness of the  extremities, the formication  and the  final
complete  loss of sensation, in this  case, will not have escaped your
notice.  We shall  show you, by and by, that Phosporus may prove
eminently useful in paralysis  resulting from  spinal weakness.

  A man of orderly habits, thirty-nine years of age, had been pre-
paring for the last  three years locofoco-matches in his own apartment,
where  he  likewise  kept the materials and the manufactured supply.
A  year ago, a quantity of Phosphorus and locofoco-matches  took
fire with  a violent explosion  and the rising   of  a  quantity  of
phosphorated  vapor,  which he  inhaled,  in  consequence of which
he  experienced a feeling of suffocation and  fainted.   After this
he  complained  of  a feeling of weakness in the back, as if crushed 
PHOSPHORUS.
723
folloAved  by weakness  of the  extremities  and  trembling  after
the  least  exertion; lastly  he was  seized with  a  creeping and
twitching sensation under the skin.   At  first he was tormented by
great desire  for sexual intercouse;  this, however, disappeared at a
later period, and, for the last six  months,  all erectile power had left
him.  In other respects he enjoyed good  health, had  good appetite,
the bowels moved naturally, the respiration Avas normal, and the
functional activity of the brain seemed unimpaired. When admitted
into the hospital, both the lower limbs were so feeble that the  patient
was only able to stagger for a moment or  tAvo Avith a trembling step.
When attempting to stand, his knees shook and gave Avay; his hands
and arms trembled when he attempted to  use them; while in a state
of rest, the muscles of the whole body, but especially those of  the ex-
tremities, seemed to be twitching to and fro, though they Avere not
painful; different muscles or bundles of muscles twitched at different
periods.   At times the  twitching  stopped, but it was easily  excited
by contact.   In the left arm he experienced a continual sensation of
formication under the skin; the skin all over the body had a  natural
feeling,  the spine was not sensitive or  painful, but so feeble that the
patient was neither  able to raise  himself nor to remain in a sitting
posture.  His mental faculties, sensual functions, his lungs, heart and
digestive organs, were  all in  a  normal condition; but he stuttered,
when endeavoring to  articulate.  All efforts to  help this  patient
were fruitless;  he continued  to live  three  or four  years  longer,
although the paralysis went on  increasingly.  The intelligence re-
mained perfect.
   This case is taken from a SAvedish Avork  by Huss, entitled  " Chronic
Alcoholism," where the effects of various poisons are described. The
chronic effects of alcohol may be  considered as typical of the chronic
effects of many other poisons.
   What strikes us above  all things,  in this case, is the disorganizing
action  of  Phosphorus upon the spinal marrow.   According  to
Arnold, Phosphorus produces degeneration  and deliquescence  of
the spinal cord.  The effects of the deleterious action of Phosphorus
upon the cord,  shoAved  themselves in this  case by the complete pros-
tration  of all muscular power.   The sentient  as well  as the motor
nervous power  was thoroughly assailed  by the  poison.  A know-
ledge of this fact may yield precious means of cure in cases of
   Paralysis of the Spinal Cord, as maybe seen from the following
case, reported in Hufeland's Journal, and quoted in Frank's Physio-
logical Magazine: A girl of sixteen years, with a broken-down con-
stitution, and having never yet menstruated, had  been confined for
three years with paralysis of the spinal marrow.  She was unable to
turn about in bed or to sit up, and sank down utterly poAverless if an
attempt was made to raise her.  The paralysis had come on and had
developed  itself gradually; in other  respects the patient did not
complain much.  For the last two years she had been attended by a
physician without experiencing any  benefit from his treatment.  Dr.
Frank, who reports  this case, finally put her on the  use  of Phos-
phorus  dissolved in ether,  of which solution she took twenty-five
drops four times a day.  The strength of  the  solution is not stated, 
724
LECTURE XLIX.
but it was very probably two grains of Phosphorus in an ounce of
ether.  Two months after  this treatment had been commenced, the
patient was able, for the first time in three years and a half, to leave
her bed and walk on two crutches; gradually she only required a
cane for her support, and some time after, the menses  made their
appearance.   The Phosphorus Avas continued, together Avith baths in
which  some sulphuret of potash was  dissolved.  Some six weeks
after the first menstrual period, the patient was able to walk half a
mile without an effort, and without using a cane.  The improvement
proved permanent.

  A most interesting  and instructive case  of poisoning by  Phos-
phorus is contained in the January number of the American Journal
of Medical Sciences.   A soldier, twenty-one years of age, SAvallowed
the ends of six ordinary packets of locofoco-matches in order to de-
stroy himself.  Three hours afterwards, he was seized with frequent
attacks of vomiting, in consequence of which a large quantity  of the
matches was expelled.   His  pulse was frequent, tongue coated, head
hot; he complained of headache.
  An emetic was given; cold applications were made to the head, and
Magnesia milk administered in considerable quantities.  A greenish
fluid was vomited up, with undigested food, mucus, and some ends
of the matches; the fluid did not emit any odor of Phosphorus. The
remainder of the report we  take from  the North American Journal
of Homoeopathy, to whose pages Dr. Peters has transferred it in an
abbreviated form.
   The next day after using the emetic, the headache was less severe,
pulse ninety-two; stomach  but slightly sensitive  to pressure, but
there were pains in each hypochondrium.
   In the afternoon, the turgescence of the face had increased, as had
also the' hypochondriac pains; there was burning thirst, with dry-
ness of the  mouth; the headache  had completely disappeared; the
urine was highly colored and frothy;  its specific gravity  increased,
and it Avas found to contain albumen and exudation cells; this state
of the urine continued during the whole course of the disease.
   Three days after the Phosphorus  had  been taken,  the thirst and
dryness of the mouth, Avith  the hypochondriac pains, had  increased,
and there were, moreover, darting  pains in the chest.  The tinge of
the face was heightened, the sensibility of the epigastric region more
marked,  and the tympanitic percussion-sound of the stomach more
extensive. ^  Leeches and  ice were applied to the epigastric region;
ice  Avas  given internally, Avith the view of assuaging the intense
thirst; the Magnesia was also continued.
   The above symptoms persisted, and the face assumed a remarkable
bluish-red color, except a colorless band of about an inch in breadth
which extended from the highest point of the forehead down to the
median line of the chin, and Avas sharply defined, giving to the face
a most peculiar appearance.
   On the fourth clay, the pains in the hypochondrium  had somewhat
 abated, but those of the breast hiad  become intolerable,  Avithout there
being any physical signs of disease of the chest.  The bluish-red 
PHOSPHORUS.
725
color of the face had changed into a perfectly cyanotic hue, the
median line of the face continuing free from all color.   The epigas-
tric pain had ceased.  The patient sweated profusely, and the vapor
arising from the body gave out an intensely phosphoric odor.
  A peculiar symptom noav showed itself: deprivation of sighit.   The  ji
patient, who retained perfect consciousness, stated that in the hori-  '
zontal position he could perceive a feeble ray of light, but that when
he sat up he could not see at all;  the pupils Avere so dilated that only
a narrow ring of the iris Avas visible; they were influenced by the
light.  He now complained of darting pains in the eyeballs.  The
pulse was one hundred, but moderately full and strong; in the after-
noon it rose to one hundred and forty, and was small  and weak.
The sense  of hearing was lost, the  extremities Avere  cool, and the
second sound  of the heart was no longer audible.
  The patient, Avho was still perfectly conscious, died tranquilly.
  Post-mortem appearances: The brain was pale, bloodless, and softer
than natural;  the ventricles contained a trace of serum;  the sinuses
were distended with dark, fluid blood.
  The lungs were of a dark-red color; in the right lung were many
patches of extravasated  blood ; the  sub-pleural cellular tissue had
numerous ecchymoses; the pleura contained much bloody serum.
  The pericardium contained a little reddish serum; the heart was
soft, the left ventricle empty; the right ventricle and the great veins
contained much blood, partly in a  state of loose  coagulation and
partly fluid.
  The liver was to some  extent  enlarged, fatty and perfectly blood-
less.  The spleen was bloodless.
  The cortical substance of the  kidneys was  granular.   The Malpi-
ghian corpuscles resembled red points.   On a microscopic  examina-
tion, the uriniferous tubuli Avere found blocked up Avith exudation-
matter.
  The reporter of this case, Dr. Nitsche, remarks,  with respect to
the existence  of albumen in the urine, and the signs of commencing
Bright's disease, it is not likely that  this  condition was  present be-
fore the reception of Phosphorus, for the patient's previous health
was excellent.  It is much more probable that the lesion of the kid-
ney was produced directly by the Phosphorus, for the same has been
observed in  instances of poisoning by other agents.   Aloreover,
argues the Doctor, it should be remembered  how much the kidneys
are exposed to injurious influences in  the  separation of noxious
materials from the system.

  A good deal of valuable  and important information  may be de-
rived from this case regarding  the treatment of pulmonary, hepatic
and renal diseases.
  According to Dr.  Peters, the renal degeneration suggests the use
of Phosphorus in Bright's disease  of the kidneys.  He  infers this
from the fact that the urine contained albumen and exudation-cells
during the life of the patient, and that the cortical substance of the
kidneys was granular.
  This writer, it seems to me, has put a rather liberal interpretation 
726
LECTURE XLIX.
upon these phenomena.  They seem to me to indicate  simple  des-
quamative congestion of the kidneys, unless we choose  to  consider
every state  of inflammatory irritation of the kidneys resulting  in
the secretion of albumen and exudation-cells in the urine, as a form
of Bright's  disease.  In Bright's disease, after coagulation of the
albumen, the specific gravity of the filtered fluid, according to Chris-
tison, is found to fall four, five or even seven units, especially at a
later stage of the disease.  In the case before us, the specific gravity
of the urine  had increased.   It Avas high-colored and frothy, showing
that the renal affection was of  an inflammatory character.
   There is  great danger in determining the homoeopathicity  of a
drug to a given disease by the post-mortem appearances in  a case of
poisoning.  Here Avas exudation  in  the uriniferous tubes,  and a
granular appearance of the cortical  substance.   But  the cortical
substance of the kidneys is constitutionally granular, " a soft, reddish,
sometimes yellow layer of a granular appearance,"* Avhich appear-
ance may have become more distinct in consequence of  the general
inflammatory irritation pervading the tissues of the organ. "Bright's
disease," says Lehmann, one of the great physiological  chemists  of
the age, "is, as is well known,  a term of very Avide significance ; but
if we limit it as much as possible, and  merely include under the term
a degeneration of the tissue of the kidney, more especially of the
cortical substance, whether of a fatty or other character,  we  may
regard the presence of  albumen in the urine as a  constant symptom
of this disease.   But in transitory renal catarrh, such for instance  as
occurs in erysipelas nearly as frequently as after scarlatina, albumen,
together with the well known epithelial cylinders  of Bellini's ducts,
is found as constantly in the urine as in  inflammatory affections  of
the kidneys, where it is associated with the fibrinous plugs  of the
same ducts, and as in true  Bright's disease.  It is almost unnecessary
to observe that the presence of pus or  blood in the urine necessitates
that of albumen, but it is worthy of notice  that  a little albumen,
together with mucus-corpuscles, is always found  in uncomplicated
severe catarrhs of the mucous membrane of the bladder."
   Aly object in expatiating upon this theme is to caution you against
prescribing  for mere names.  If yOu find albumen and exudation-
casts in the  urine, you  are not only at liberty, but it behooves the
dignity of  your  profession to  determine,  by all the   perceptible
phenomena  of *he disease, the exact  character of the functional or
structural derangement which you  are  desired  to remedy.   You
may call the form of albuminuria which  presents itself to your care,
Bright''  disease of the kidneys, or desquamative  catarrh of the kid-
neys, or congestion  of the cortical and tubular substance of the
kidneys; the main point will be to satisfy your mind that  Phospho-
rus is the right  remedy in the case;  that the curative  force repre-
sented  by  Phosphorus,  corresponds with the  morbific  principle
which is developing the pathological process before us ;  facts should
undoubtedly guide you in determining this point, but you may not
always be able to get along without some sort of intuitive illumina-
tion in wandering through the labyrinth  of structural pathology.
                        * Cruveilhier, p. 437. 
PHOSPHORUS.
727
  If a case of albuminuria is complicated with symptoms of hepatic
and pulmonary derangement indicating Phosphorus, our  choice of
this agent would of course be confirmed by the presence  of these
affections.   Granular liver and  pulmonary tuberculosis  may be
ranked among this number.

  The condition of the lungs in this case next requires our attention.
We are informed that ' the lungs were of a dark-red color; in the
right lung were many patches of extravasated blood."  The patient
complained of intolerable distress in the chest, which continued to the
last moment of his life.
  Here are sure indications that Phosphorus affects most deeply the
nervous life of the lungs bringing about its gradual extinction and
marking the process of dissolution with signs of engorgement, bloody
infiltration, ecchymoses, effusion of bloody serum in the pleural cavi-
ties.   Hence we shall find Phosphorus indicated in
  Pneumonia, especially when sanguineous infiltration of the paren-
chyma has taken place, in  the stage of red hepatization, and like-
wise in
  Apoplexy of the Lungs, the face being very livid like  that of per-
sons who die of suffocation.   In
  Pleuro-pneumonia, with effusion of bloody serum  in the pleural
cavity,  Phosphorus may prove  curative, especially in  the case of
strumous individuals whose blood is  constitutionally impoverished
and is very readily decomposed  and consequently prone to lead to
exudations.

  AVe are told that the liver was found enlarged, fatty and perfectly
bloodless.  Here then we have another proof of the  specific action
of Phosphorus upon the liver as a disorganizing agent.  In a former
case of poisoning we pointed out the homoeopathicity of Phosphorus
to cirrhosis of the liver, also described as granular, mammillated or
hob-nail liver; the present case shows us that Phosphorus may be a
valuable agent in
  Fatty Degeneration of thie Liver, in which disease, according to  Dr.
Addison, the skin of the face and even of the whole body, acquires a
remarkably bloodless, almost semi-transparent and waxy appearance,
sometimes like polished ivory, and, in  other cases,  with  a sallow
tinge, resembling a common wax model.

  The appearances in the stomach claim our  attention.  The sensi-
tiveness  in the epigastric region led to the inference that the poison
had developed inflammation of the stomach, and yet  the only disor-
ganizations  revealed by a  post-mortem  examination, were some
hyperaemia of the fundus  of the stomach, and a quantity of mucus
adhering to the mucous membrane of the stomach.  We judge
therefore that  the large dose of the poison  at  once  so completely
prostrated the vital reaction as to prevent the development of signs
of inflammation.   In the  experiments made by Orfila, Giulio and
other physiologists upon animals, Phosphorus  seems to have uni-
formly produced  signs of inflammation in the stomach, oesophagus
or small intestines. 
728
LECTURE XLIX.
   It appears from this case, hoAvever, that Phosphorus not only acts
 as an irritating poison, producing inflammation of the mucous mem-
 brane, wherever it comes in contact Avith  this tissue for a sufficient
 length of time ;  but that it likeAvise extinguishes the nervous life of
 organs, not through primary lesions inflicted upon the brain, but by
 its direct action upon the ganglionic system.  This is  evident from
 the progressive extinction of all organic life in the  present case, the
 patient preserving his consciousness to the last.   The last sign of this
 extinction of innervation was the complete loss of sight.
  Amaurosis, especially Avhen sitting up, in which position the sink-
 ing heart was no longer able to send a sufficient supply of blood to
 the brain to feed its last flicker of organic vitality.
  A great lesson is here taught us. We are taught that Phosphorus
 may aid us in restoring the  organic life  of the eye.  In impaired
 vision or even incipient amaurosis arising from deficient innervation,
 Phosphorus may be of use to us.   The  eyeball is  threatened with
 marasmus.  Deep-seated aching pains, lancinations through the eye,
 an abnormal bluish appearance of the cornea, a diffused redness as if
 the blood had lost its plasticity, are some of the signs of this organic
 decay, which may even extend to other special  senses, the sense of
 hearing, or even  to the teeth.   Phosphorus impairs innervation,
 impoverishes the blood, destroys its plasticity, renders it unfit  for
 purposes of reproduction.   The  question may be raised, and has
 been raised:  Is the toxication  of the blood transmitted  from this
 fluid  to  the nervous  system, or does this system receive the first
 shock of the poison ?   To  me it seems  reasonable  to  suppose that
 both the nerve-force and the blood-life are assailed.  The nerve-force
 Avhich maintains  the  vitality of the blood, is extinguished  by the
 poison; hence the  universal torpor and clogging in the venous sys-
 tem, and the tendency to haemorrhagic effusions in the arterial capil-
 laries ; physiological facts which render Phosphorus invaluable to a
 homoeopathic practitioner in the treatment of various dangerous dis-
 eases  which Avill be pointed out in the subsequent pages.

                    CEPHALIC  GROUP.

  We should think that the  partisans of the doctrine of  dyscrasias
 must  be delighted with the introduction  of Phosphorus  in the
 Alateria  Medica.   Phosphorus emphatically corresponds with the
 arthritic dyscrasia, a disease-breeding element of force, which when
 excited into action  by adequate  circumstances, may develop disor-
 ganizing processes in various organs, causing inflammation, SAvelling
 and intense painfulness of the affected part.   In Frank's  Alagazine,
 the following interesting case of
  Arthritic Hemicrania illustrates the curative virtues of Phosphorus
 in this affection, whenever it is in homoeopathic rapport with it.  A
 physician had  an attack of rheumatic arthritis of Avhich  he was cured
 after the lapse of  six weeks.  Since then  he was troubled Avith
 attacks of headache which lasted sometimes a day or more, came on
without any apparent cause, and invaded at one time the forehead at
 another the occiput, etc.  The part where the pain was  most violent 
PHOSPHORUS.
729
SAvelled, causing the most excrutiating pain when touched ever so
lightly.  The patient became utterly incapacitated from performing
the least mental labor.   The left eye had become so weak that he
was no longer able to  distinguish objects clearly.  There Avas no
Adsible change in the appearance of the eye.   In spite of the most
careful and abstemious mode of life, the patient had an attack every
other day which lasted from two to three days Without interruption.
The attacks were accompanied with an anxious  choking and retching,
lassitude in the limbs, an empty and  confused feeling  in the head,
peevishness, depression of spirits;  falling out of the hair, and violent
pains in the small of the back  after the attacks; the pulse was ex-
tremely slow, about forty-five in the minute;  urine  pale, watery,
having  a sickening, sweetish  taste;  appetite  undisturbed  except
during the paroxysms when he loathed all food, felt  very thirsty,
and was tormented by so much uneasiness and anxiety that he was
unable to contain himself.  After having tried a number of remedies
without benefit, he now took Phosphorus, four grains  dissolved in
half an ounce of Sulphuric ether, from twenty to twenty-five drops
every two hours.  Already after  the third  dose, he felt a pleasant
Avarmth over the whole body, with frequent urination,  cheerfulness,
even mirthfulness; the pulse was raised; the horrid aching pain had
become transformed into a dull pain; the patient felt disposed to be
quiet.  He transpired  over the whole body,  perspired  about the
head, slept quietly  all night  and felt very much refreshed  next
morning ; pain and weariness had disappeared, the appetite had re-
turned.   He  now took tAventy-five drops every three hours.  Next
day the improvement continued.   He felt cheerful, and a pleasant
warmth over  his whole body.   The headache had entirely left him.
  Six weeks  after, he took a violent cold, which commenced Avith a
chill.  The headache returned with great violence.   He resumed the
Phosphorus in thirty-drop doses.   After the first dose he felt  a sen-
sation of pleasant warmth all over his body; after the second dose
he  had a quiet and refreshing sleep for five hours.  On waking, a
profuse perspiration had broken out;  the headache had left, he felt
well and had regained his appetite.  The urine, which had a fiery-red
color, deposited a thick, Avhite, slimy sediment two hours after stand-
ino\ The medicine was continued  for one fortnight, twenty-five drops
every two hours.   "This was,"  in the patient's OAvn language, "the
last attack of this prostrating headache."
  YYould a smaller dose have been sufficient in this case ?  Perhaps
so.   Five drops of this solution every three or four hours might have
effected all the good that a larger dose evidently did effect in this
case.  A case like  this teaches us Avisdom.   There is no inherent
wrong in a large dose.   The wrong is in giving either too little or
too much medicine.  There is no wrong in curing  a  patient with
what we might consider a large dose from our standing point, pro-
vided we do not inflict medicinal  suffering upon him.  Nor is there
any Avrong in curing a  patient with a very small dose, provided we
cure him as speedily and thoroughly as the  nature of the case Avill
admit.  I take frequent opportunities  of dwelling upon this  point,
because it is my desire to emancipate your minds from the thraldom 
73(5
LECTURE XLIX.
 of a dogmatic posology.   A dogmatic  adherence to infinitesimal
 doses in one quarter, or to gross material doses in other quarters, is
 crushing out the spirit of free inquiry and the hope of progress  in
 our. school.  Let us prove all things and hold fast that which is good.

   Sorge's experiments upon animals, and a number of post-mortem
•examinations  of the human subject seem to justify the use of Phos-
 phorus in
   Hyperemia and consequent (Edema of the brain;  the indications
 for Phosphorus in these  affections are: a  dull, sometimes semi-
 lateral headache, extending to the upper eyelids, also attended Avith
 a feeling of stoppage  in the nose, and generally accompanied with
 dullness of  the  head, incapacity for mental occupations, vacuity of
 mind, hypochondriac or irritable mood, feeling of extreme lassitude;
 the headache is relieved by sleeping, eating or drinking a little Avine,
 by exposure to the open air or washing the face in  cold water, the
 temperature of the head and the color of the  face are little or not at
 all heightened; the pulse, if altered, is small, the sleep restless, dis-
 turbed by dreams  of an obscene character, or else the sleep inclines
 to sopor. (See Sorge's admirable treatise on  Phosphorus, pages 192
 and 193.)
   The  special senses are likewise disturbed, more especially the
 sense of vision, the patient being tormented by an excessive sensi-
 tiveness to light.

                      NERVOUS  GROUP.

   AVe have seen that  Phosphorus is possessed of eminent curative
 powers in
   Paralysis of the Spinal Cord, with the loss  of sentient and  motor
 poAver incident  to  such  a fundamental functional derangement.
 In all
   Paralytic Conditions depending upon organic or functional diseases
 of the cord, Phosphorus should be thought of as an  agent that may
 be of use to us.
   Phosphorus has been advantageously employed in
   Hemiplegia, even Avhen consequent upon apoplexy, particularly in
 old people,  with a delicate, silken, shining skin, and  of a scrofulous
 habit; formication in the paralyzed limb, and a thick turbid urine,
 are additional indications.
   In Epilepsy, Phosphorus has been useful.  A girl of sixteen years,
 Avho had exhausted her constitution  by all sorts of irregular  habits,
 was troubled Avith abnormal menstruation.  From the slightest cause
 she was moreover attacked Avith frightful cramps in the stomach and
 bowels which generally ended in fainting.   Afterwards these par-
 oxysms  gave place to epilepsy.  The precursory symptoms of  an
 attack Avere:  yawning, excessive dryness of the mouth, and an aura
 proceeding  from the feet upwards towards the brain.   Two grains of
 Phosphorus were  dissolved  in olive oil  in  which  some leaves  of
 Hyoscyamus had  been digested; the patient took a moderate dose
 of this  preparation for tAvo months in succession every feAV hours, 
PHOSPHORUS.
731
and was radically cured.  A solution of Phosphorus  in sulphuric
ether Avould have produced the same result.
  AVe should state that Handel, the attending physician, AAras induced
to prescribe Phosphorus, in consequence of the following accidental
discovery: The patient, impelled by a sort of instinctive anxiety, as
soon as the well-known  preliminary  symptoms of an attack had
shoAvn themselves, SAvallowed a tumblerful of water in which two
drachms of Phosphorus had been placed ; she drank about an ounce
of the  liquid, having previously taken out the  Phosphorus.   The
attack Avas entirely suppressed by this means.
  In this connection it is important to remind you  of  the great use
of Phosphorus in
  Affections arising from Sexual Abuse of any kind, onanism, venereal
excesses, etc.  Among these affections we number
  Dorsal Consumption, Marasmus, Trembling, Imbecility, Mania, epi-
leptic fits and impaired digestion.

                  INFLAMAIATORY GROUP.

  There are certain specific forms of inflammation where Phosphorus
may be of eminent service.  These are
  1.  Gastritis  and Gastro-enteritis.  In  all  the experiments  upon
animals, where Phosphorus was introduced into the  stomach, the
mucous lining of the viscus has been found more  or less inflamed.
In some cases the coats of the stomach have been found perforated.
In a case of poisoning reported in Frank's Magazine, where from six
to nine grains of Phosphorus had been SAvallowed, two gangrenous
ulcers were found near the pyloric orifice, and a  perforating ulcer of
the size of a dime at the cul-de-sac. The appearance of the stomach
in many cases is that of
   Gangrenous Inflammation, with the mucous membrane sometimes
in a state of complete softening; the patients vomit up  foul,  dark,
greenish and even bloody masses; feel weak, trembling, have a  livid,
cadaverous appearance; they complain of horrid burning pains in
the stomach; the extremities feel cold, the pulse is hurried, small,
the finger-nails may look bluish.  Delirium may be present.   The
patients are exceedingly restless.

  Professor Brera gave to a paralytic patient one grain of Phosphorus
in tAvo doses.  ToAvards evening of the same day she  felt consider-
ably better, Avith formication in the paralyzed limbs;  but she  like-
Avise complained  of a feeling of weight in the stomach.  Next day,
a repetition of the dose  was followed by the faculty of using the
limb; she walked about her room, but complained of oppression
and burning in the stomach, formication in the  paralyzed arm, and
frequent pulse.  After an interval of three days, she took a double
dose in the shape of an injection.  That day she had several attacks
of vomiting, pains in the abdomen, violent burning in the stomach
and boAvels, considerable prostration, feeble pulse, paleness of the
face, and she finally perished in spite of all antidotal treatment.
  A post-mortem examination revealed the following symptoms: 
732
LECTURE XLIX.
The stomach and intestinal canal  were very much  distended, con-
taining  a  good deal of combustible gas  in the form of a Avhite
vapor, having an alliacious odor;  there Avas no trace of inflamma-
tion in the stomach; a few red spots were discovered in the small
intestines; in the larger bowels the phosphorus-injection was found
unaltered.
  This case shows that the burning pain in the stomach, in a case
of poisoning by Phosphorus, may arise from the action of the vapors
of Phosphorus upon the mucous  lining,  unaccompanied  by any
perceptible signs of inflammation.  These signs exist  in the majority
of cases, as in the following :

  A woman of  fifty-two years, who was afflicted  with paralytic
Aveakness and pains in the extremities, took one-fourth  of  a  grain
of Phosphorus morning and evening, and  on the fourth day, three
times. Shortly after, she vomited tasteless water, and complained of
very violent pains in the stomach.  The pains gradually spread over
the whole  abdomen, but were most violent in  the  stomach.  The
patient  expelled a greenish and finally a blackish  substance; the
alvine evacuations were of the same color.  The abdomen  became
meteorized and  exceedingly sensitive; the fever which  had set in
with the pains in the stomach, was accompanied with a small, hard
and very frequent pulse.   The patient died within three days.
  Post-mortem examination: The external surface of the stomach did
not seem altered, but the smaller intestines were livid on the outer
surface, and even black ; the mesentery was very much inflamed. The
internal surface of the oesophagus inflamed; the internal surface of
the stomach and lesser intestines, which were all—stomach and intes-
tines—filled with a  black fluid, Avere dark-red, the cardiac region was
dotted with a large number of points (gangrened); the large  intes-
tines were not altered.

  Mucous Enteritis may yield to Phosphorus.  In cases of poisoning
by  Phosphorus, the ileum has been found filled with blood and
mucus; in other cases the mucous lining looked dark-red as it does
in inflammation, thickened though  not ulcerated.  In forms of enter-
itis, to Avhich Phosphorus is homoeopathic, the ganglionic system is
threatened Avith prostration, and the cerebral action may be corre-
spondingly impaired.  A typhoid condition, dry heat of the skin,
sallow, cadaverous countenance, coldness  of the extremities,  small,
hurried pulse, excessive prostration, may develop themselves.
  Phosphorus has been employed in some forms of

  Phlebitis, especially in inflammations of the larger veins, the vena
cava ascendens, for instance, the patient complaining of a  burning
pain along the track of this vein; with salloAv, jaundiced appearance,
coated tongue, prostration, constipation, dark urine.

  Pneumonia has  been very successfully treated with Phosphorus.
Fleischmann of Vienna regards it as specific in this disease.  It is
homoeopathic to the second stage  of pneumonia, when  the pulmo-
nary parenchyma has become hepatized, the percussion-sound is very 
PHOSPHORUS.
733
dull, and the phenomenon of bronchophony or bronchial respiration
is  fully established.  Phosphorus is indicated  from the commence-
ment of the parenchymatous solidification, even to the acme of this
metamorphosis, when the crepitating murmur has entirely ceased.
  Both the results of poisoning and of physiological experimenta-
tion show that Phosphorus has a specific action upon the lungs. In
a case of poisoning reported in  Frank's Alagazine, the lower lobes
of the lungs Avere found solidified, and turgid with venous blood. In
experimenting upon animals, Magendie found the lungs exhibiting
several blue spots, of a dense and slightly crepitating tissue, the re-
maining portion of the lungs rose-colored; he concludes from these
phenomena that Phosphorus causes hepatization.
  In Typhioid Pneumonia, Phosphorus may save human life.  A
married female of thirty-eight years, with weak chest, was attacked
with pneumonia which soon assumed a typhoid form. On the second
day after the attack, the patient became stupid, the pleuritic stitches
became \rery violent, the tongue dry, the skin dry and burning; on
the fourth day she seemed to  be in a dying condition: dysphagia,
singultus, cold  sweats  set in.  Phosphorus dissolved in  ether was
now given, eight drops every half hour.   In three hours, the con-
sciousness had  entirely returned, the tongue became moist, the  ex-
tremities warmed up,  a warm sweat broke out. Phosphorus was
continued until the patient had entirely recovered.
  A very interesting case of typhoid pneumonia is that of a man of
forty-five years, several of whose brothers and sisters had died of
consumption.   He took cold, in consequence  of which he had an
attack of pneumonia.  I saw him first late in the  evening, and found
him with a high fever,  a severe stiching pain in the left lung,  and a
continual hacking cough, with a feeling of irritation pervading  the
Avhole  lungs.   Next morning the  symptoms looked  worse;  the
patient expectorated a heavy, greenish, sanguinolent pus which came
from the spot where he had experienced the stitching pain the night
before.   The space occupied by the  abscess which had evidently
formed, was about the size of a dollar.  The pain on pressure was
exceedingly  keen.   Typhoid  symptoms were  rapidly developing
themselves.   The  tongue looked dry,  glazed,  lined  with a  dark-
brown coating.   The complexion was of a deep sallow, even chestnut-
broAvn; skin dry and brittle.   The patient wanted to  sleep all the
time; delirium began to set  in;  he became visibly more  and more
emaciated, and  his friends  confidently expected his  death.  His
brothers  and sisters had died in a similar manner Avith Avhat had
been considered galloping consumption.
  Phosphorus, third trituration, Avas given in grain doses  every two
hours, and in one fortnight from  the beginning of the treatment, the
patient was again able  to attend to business.  This agent may help
  In Chironic Pneumonia, with tearing, irritating cough, causing sore-
ness, with expectoration of mucus, pus  and blood, especially when
such a condition remains after mismanaged acute pneumonia.

  A rose-colored Gouty  Inflammation of the ankle-joint has yielded
to Phosphorus. 
734
LECTURE XLIX.
  In Arthiritis Nodosa, and in arthritic pains generally, Phosphorus is
said to have done much good.
  In a case of arthritic pains reported in  Frank's  Alagazine, Phos-
phorus is said to have shown curative effects.   The patient Avas a
girl of nineneen  years, of good constitution and sanguine tempera-
ment.  After bathing in the river, she Avas attacked by wandering
arthritic pains, at times in one, and at other times in another limb or
articulation, with rigidity and  swelling of the affected parts.  For
six weeks she was  treated Avithout any perceptible benefit.  The
pains continued to shift from one part to another.   Three grains of
Phosphorus dissolved in half a drachm of Sulphuric ether Avere noAV
administered in eight-drop closes three times a day.  After the third
dose, the patient experienced  an agreeable warmth in the affected
parts, perspired a good deal  overnight, and felt considerably relieved
the next morning.  The medicine was continued  in smaller doses
for a  few days longer, after which period the patient had entirely
recovered except some weakness, which speedily yielded to a strength-
ening diet.

                     ORBITAL GROUP.

  Observation has revealed the irritating action of Phosphorus upon
the conjunctiva.   In
   Chronic Conjunctivitis, with  inflammatory irritation of the canthi
and palpebral conjunctiva, secretion of gum, agglutination of the lids,
slight vascularity of  the conjunctiva, itching and smarting of the
eye, Ave shall find Phosphorus of use.
  In Amaurosis,  this agent may prove useful, if the eyeball is threat-
ened  with  marasmus; the  patient complains of lancinating pains
through the balls, a deep-seated distress at the bottom of the  orbit;
the blindness may come in paroxysms, it is Avorse when the patient
sits up erect, than it is when he is lying  down; muscoe volitantes,
and a gray mist interfere with the vision; there is intense photo-
phobia.

                    AURICULAR  GROUP.

  Phosphorus corresponds Avith the deafness to which strumous indi-
viduals are sometimes subject; there may be considerable humming
and whizzing in the ear, Avith dryness, and occasional oozing of a
greenish mucus.

                       NASAL GROUP.

  In Chironic Catarrh, with discharge of green  mucus, Phosphorus
may prove useful, especially if the nose is  more or  less inflamed.
  Polypus of the nose has been reduced in size, and even  removed
by touching it Avith a solution of Phosphorus.

                      FACIAL GROUP.

  Phosphorus causes a pale and sickly appearance of the counte-
nance ; under the effects of Phosphorus the  face looks sallow and 
PHOSPHORUS.
735
bloated, and finally assumes the hippocratic expression of the fea-
tures.  This group of symptoms is only of use to us as belonging
to a more comprehensive group of phenomena, such as  typhus  or
cholera.

                      DENTAL GROUP.

   We have seen that Phosphorus causes necrosis or  an  osteo-sarco-
matous degeneration of the maxillary bones.  It is important for us
to know whether this destruction is  the result of a purely local or
chemical action of Phosphorus, or whether it is consequent upon an
absorption of Phosphorus into the  general circulation, and may be
looked upon to some  extent  as a  constitutional disease.  In the
latter event, we may feel justified in recommending a trial of Phos-
phorus in
   Osteosarcoma, a disorganization for which the knife seems to have
been  the only desperate, and very frequently unsuccessful, remedy
heretofore.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC  GROUP.

   Phosphorus  affects  the  digestive apparatus in a very marked
manner,  which  enables us to avail ourselves of  this agent in the
treatment of several more or less important disorders.  It causes a
Avhite coating on the tongue, and a  parched and cracked tongue, or
a tongue covered with a blackish or  dark-colored glazed coating.
We may avail ourselves of this  symptom  in some forms of typhus,
especially abdominal typhus.
   Phosphorus also causes a slimy taste, and a loss of taste.
   It  also causes excessive  hunger.  Bouttaz dissolved four grains
in half  an ounce of sulphuric ether, of Avhich he  took, for  purposes
of experimentation, twenty drops every two hours.   After the first
dose, he experienced nausea, which passed off after  drinking cold
water.   After the second dose : ravenous appetite, the pulse and
Avarmth  of the  body being  slightly raised; throughout his body he
experienced a  feeling  of ease.  This apparent exaltation of  func-
tional action was  accompanied  by an excessive  desire for sexual
intercourse.
   Evidently this group of symptoms denotes an abnormal functional
excitement, such as may initiate a state of prostration of the repro-
ductive energies of the organism. Hence we may recommend Phos-
phorus in
   Bulimia, when symptomatic of marasmus or  nervous consump-
tion.
   Phosphorus causes risings of air, and paroxysms  like the follow-
ing :  nausea and vomiting,  also sour and bilious vomiting, preceded
by vertigo and nausea ;• at the same time the hands and feet become
numb and cold, a cold sweat breaks out on the forehead; after sev-
eral attacks of  vomiting, two natural evacuations from the bowels
occur.                                    v
   This group of symptoms may represent a case  of 
736
LECTURE XLIX.
    Gastrodynia:  as may likewise be said of the following symptoms,
  developed by one-eighth of a grain of Phosphorus taken by an epi-
  leptic young man: Twenty-five minutes after swallowing the medi-
  cine, he was seized with a burning in the stomach, followed by violent
  thirst, anxiety,  quivering of the facial muscles, violent  chill with
  coldness of the extremities.  His eyes  became  shining as if trans-
  figured, his lips  ash-colored, pulse small;  his strength sank and he
  died. -
    In this case there may have been some inflammatory irritation  of
  the mucous lining of the stomach, but the  nervous  character of this
  group of symptoms  is  so strikingly marked, that Ave may clearly
  interpret these symptoms as a group representing gastrodynia.

    Phosphorus may likewise prove useful in
    Scirrhious Indurations of the stomach.  Hufeland informs us that
  he has known several  persons who had taken Phosphorus from a
  quack, and who  afterwards suffered Avith  cardialgia, bad  digestion,
  chronic vomiting, constipation, and other troubles ;  lastly marasmus
  and hectic fever set in; scirrhous indurations were found in their
  stomachs after death.

    Our cases of poisoning have shown us that Phosphorus may prove
  serviceable in
    Fatty Degeneration of  the Liver, and likewise in
    Cirrhosis or the so-called nutmeg-liver which sometimes is the re-
  sult of hard and continued drinking.

    Even in the  lighter forms of gastric derangement, Phosphorus
  may prove serviceable.  The nausea and sour vomiting which Phos-
  phorus produces may render it valuable in
    Dyspepsia,  characterized by a  sense of pressure  in the  stomach
  after eating, as from a load, accompanied with sour eructations and
  sour vomiting.

    We may recommend Phosphorus in
    Colicodynia, with sensations as if the bowels were  cut with knives,
  folloAved by violent, copious evacuations and pressure at the stomach.
  These symptoms have been developed by medicinal doses of Phos-
  phorus.

    In cases of poisoning by Phosphorus, patients have vomited up
  a blackish substance resembling foul blood  and bile,  and the stomach
  has been  found  filled  with a  blackish  fluid.  AVe may  therefore
  recommend Phosphorus in cases of
    Helena, or black vomit, when occurring  as an idiopathic affection,
 especially when accompanied by an intense burning distress in the
 stomach.  Phosphorus may likewise be remembered in
;   Black Vomit of yellow fever; Ave know that  Phosphorus has  a
-,' remarkable action upon  the liver; hence we may expect some good
 from Phosphorus in that disease.

   AYe have seen that Phosphorus will cause cramps in the extremi- 
PHOSPHORUS.
737
ties, coldness, sinking pulse, serous diarrhoea, vomiting, burning in
the epigastrium, and other symptoms which may be regarded as a
group representing
   Chiolera of a milder type, more particularly
   Chiolera morbus, to which the effects of Phosphorus  developed by
Professor Sundelin likewise point.
   Sundelin informs us, in his Manual of Therapeutics, that he SAval-
lowed one quarter of a grain of Phosphorus dissolved in oil, for the
purpose of ascertaining the effects of this agent upon the healthy
organism.  It excited a feeling of intense heat in the  stomach, and
afterwards in  the  whole  abdomen.  Half  an hour  after, violent
vomiting and diarrhoea took  place, accompanied by distinct febrile
motions.  After eating a  thick farinaceous  soup boiled with  milk,
the pains in the abdomen  soon abated, but the stomach remained
sensitive for several days, and was only able to digest light food.

   In Chironic Diarrhiea, when the discharges are watery, purulent,
colliquative, such as may occur during phthisis, among children  as
well  as among full-groAvn  persons, Phosphorus may prove very
useful.

                     URINARY  GROUP.

   We have shown you that Phosphorus may be eminently useful in
   Albuminuria, even in that form  of albuminuria Avhich is desig-
nated as Bright's disease.
   The urine, under the effects of Phosphorus, frequently assumes an
opalescent appearance, from the fact that fatty pellicles or oily glo-
bules float on the liquid.   This symptom may be of value to us as
an indication for Phosphorus in the treatment of phthisis.
   A  thick, turbid  and scanty urine or a  copious watery urine, is
characteristic of Phosphorus, the former especially in low typhoid
diseases, the latter in nervous conditions with which  Phosphorus is
in homoeopathic rapport.

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

   Phosphorus causes an irresistible desire for sexual  intercourse.
This  is  one of the most marked effects  of Phosphorus  upon the
sexual  organs of the male.  Alphonse le  Roy, Bouttaz and other
provers of Phosphorus have noticed this remarkable symptom.  In
cases of paralysis, where Phosphorus was given in medicinal doses,
it has had this effect.  In the experiments  made upon animals, this
effect  has likewise been observed  in a most remarkable degree.
This  effect may be associated Avith  increased redness of the  urme.
We may perhaps  avail ourselves of this  experience in the treat-
ment of                                               .     .
   Satyriasis, especially when this derangement is accompanied with
wild  cerebral  excitement, flushed face and  glistening eyes.   Phos-
phorus and Cantharides may prove two of the most  efficient agents
in controlling this dreadful affection.
                               47 
738
LECTURE XLIX.
  This abnormal excitement of the  sexual  functions would  in  the
end result in sexual Aveakness, an opposite condition to wliich Phos-
phorus is likewise homoeopathic.  In
  Impotence or sexual weakness arising from previous abuse, Ave may
find this drug a valuable agent.

  Phosphorus has a tendency to bring on the  menses and to pro-
mote conception.   It  has therefore been frequently used by Old-
School physicians as a  palliative means of restoring the  menstrual
discharge, if it happened to have been  interrupted by a suddenly
operating cause, a cold for instance.   In females of a naturally sound
and vigorous constitution this palliative treatment has sometimes
been found sufficient.
  Phosphorus, in the hands of a homoeopathic physician, fulfils far
higher and more rational therapeutic uses.   He may avail himself
of this agent in cases of
  Profuse Menstruation, attended with sexual excitement, tendency
of the blood to the head, abnormal, excessive sensitiveness of feeling
and mental excitement.
  On the other hand, Phosphorus may be useful in an opposite con-
dition,
  Menostasia, with absence of sexual desire, general weakness, pale
and sallow complexion,  dry and smooth, transparent, Avaxy skin,  and
a condition generally bordering upon
   Clilorosis, especially in young Avomen  of a  strumous habit, who
have undergone hardship, exposure, want.  In
  Mastitis,  Phosphorus  has  been found  useful, especially after an
abscess had commenced to form,  or fistulous  openings had been
established in the gland by the ulcerative process.

                   CATARRHAL GROUP.

  In various cases of poisoning by Phosphorus, the mucous mem-
brane of the trachea and its ramifications has been found very  red.
In other cases the air-tubes have been found gorged with mucus  and
blood.
  In a case of paraplegia, where the patient enjoyed otherAvise good
health and Avas perfectly free  from  all  pulmonary symptoms,  the
gradual employment of one grain of Phosphorus, within the space of
a feAV days, produced the following symptoms: feverish pulse, coated
tongue, throbbing of the carotids, several attacks of bilious vomiting,
disagreeable tension and dryness of  the chest, cough and expectora-
tion of mucus.
  These symptoms all point to Phosphorus as an excellent remedy in
  Bronchial Catarrhi, Avith dry, titillating  cough, burning and  irrita-
tion in the air-passages,  expectoration of frothy mucus.
   Chronic Bronchitis, with expectoration  of bloody mucus, soreness
of the air-passages, expectoration of froth and blood, or even  pus
and blood, tearing and racking cough.
  In a case of dry, titillating  Cough, if the patient feels an irritation
throughout the chest; he coughs all the time, a short, hacking, ex- 
PHOSPHORUS.
739
haustive cough as if emanating from every part of the lungs, Phos-
phorus will prove eminently useful even when  administered in the
middle  potencies.  In a cough  of this  kind, the lungs feel  as if
crowded full of blood, the  patient complains of a feeling of tension
across the chest;  the expectoration consists of a little frothy mucus.

  In some cases  of poisoning, the larynx has been found  red, and
apparently inflamed.  We  may therefore recommend Phosphorus in
  Laryngitis, especially chronic, with heat and dryness of the larynx,
laryngeal cough with expectoration of mucus, streaks of blood.  In
  Croup, Phosphorus has likewise been tried, with apparently good
effect in,a few cases.  In this  affection it may be given in doses of
one or two drops dissolved in ether, in the proportion  of one grain
to a drachm. If  Aconite, Spongia, Iodine, should fail you, and the
patient is affected with a well-marked strumous diathesis, Phosphorus
may be resorted to as a last chance of saving the patient's life.
  We should not be unmindful of the eminent services which Phos-
phorus may render us in the treatment of
  Tubercular Phithiisis,  more particularly in the first stages of this
disease.
  Dr. Holcombe  informs us in his short,  but exceedingly interesting
proving of Phosphorus  instituted with large doses of the strong tinc-
ture, that the drug had a marked action upon the lungs, characterized
by the folloAving  significant symptoms:
  Sensation of heat in the lungs;
  Disposition to take deep  inspirations, with discomfort on doing so;
  Shooting pains in the right side of the chest;
  Occasional sneezing which aggravates the unpleasant and stuffed
feeling of the breast;
  Severe pain in  the posterior part of the left lung, sometimes aggra-
vated upon inspiration, sometimes not;
  Some hacking, tickling cough;
  Considerable mucous accumulation in the trachea, with hoarseness.
  The doctor states that the fugitive thoracic pains which the Phos-
phorus excited, annoyed him Avith apprehensions  of a tubercular
diathesis.   They  disappeared  entirely  after  the proving had been
discontinued.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

  Phosphorus has been advantageously employed in
  Typhius, when symptoms of paralysis seemed impending, with loss
of consciousness, muttering delirium, singultus, petechiae, involuntary
discharges from the boAvels, hurried, small, even filiform pulse, cold-
ness and  parchment-like dryness  of the skin, paralytic inability to
pass urine.
  Professor Alitchell informs us in his Alanual  of Therapeutics that
as early as the year 1793, Dr. AVolff, an English Physician, employed
Phosphorus dissolved in ether in cases of low  typhoid fevers, with
feeble pulse, petechias, etc.   He gave five drops of a solution of two
grains of Phosphorus in half an ounce of ether, every three hours. 
740
LECTURE XLIX.
The pulse  improved after a few doses had  been taken;  a uniform
heat pervaded the system, a pleasant moisture covered the skin, and
the dehrium subsided.  Aluch testimony of  a similar nature could
be adduced.  All well-informed alloeopathic physicians admit that
the exhibition of Phosphorus in typhoid fevers by judicious practi-
tioners may be attended with salutary results.
  In the class of Ioav typhoid fevers which some  pathologists  have
been in the habit of describing under the name of
  Adynamic fevers, Phosphorus has been eminently useful.  For the
purpose of illustrating the good effects of Phosphorus in this class
of fevers, we transfer  the following case from Frank's Magazine to
our pages:
  A man of seventy-one years had sunk into the following condition
in consequence of catarrh: Prostration, singultus, difficulty of swal-
loAving, the liquids rolled down audibly;  sopor, rattling  breathing,
Avithout power to expectorate,  debility and emaciation, quick  and
small pulse;  cold extremities, cold  and clammy sweat in the face;
dull eyes, with blear-eyedness, red, smooth and dry tongue.  He took
Phosphorus, dissolved in sulphuric ether, ten drops every  few hours.
In six hours the singultus and the rumbling of the liquid subsided;
the skin became moist, the patient was able to expectorate a tenacious
mucus, and very soon recovered.

  In  Purpura Hemorrhagica,  also described as morbus  maculosus
Werlhofii, Phosphorus may be  of service; the petechial exudations
should have a reddish appearance.

  Phosphorus may prove adapted to certain forms of
  Jaundice, especially of the chronic kind, in cases where the  liver
may be suspected of being invaded by organic disease.  In a case of
paralysis Avhere the patient seemed otherwise quite well, had a good
appetite and slept well, and was finally completely cured by means
of Rhus  tox., Phosphorus given internally  by Dr. Buehheim, pro-
duced in a few days complete jaundice, loss of appetite  and fever.
This would seem to show that even in acute jaundice Phosphorus
may prove serviceable.  Of course, a symptomatic similarity is not
sufficient; the character of the natural disease must be in essential
homoeopathic rapport with the character of the drug-disease.

                EXANTHEA1ATOUS  GROUP.

   Phosphorus is homoeopathic to inflamed
   Chilblains, if they break, and discharge a Avatery, fetid secretion.
   It has  been advantageously employed for the dispersion of
   Old Glandular Swellings, especially in the case of old, cachectic
individuals;  in such cases it  may  likeAvise be employed  externally,
one grain in an ounce of olive-oil.
   Some physicians have used this agent in the case of recent
   Burns and Panaritia, applying a solution  of  Phosphorus in ether
externally.   It is useful in
   Herpes consisting in round spots all over the body.  In dry 
ANEMONE  PULSATILLA.
741
  Scaly Scaldhead, Phosphorus has proved useful.  LikeAvise in
  Fistulous Ulcers, or ulcers with  callous edges, or difficult to heal,
secreting a thin and foul pus, with fever.  In
  Caries of bones, whether mercurial or scrofulous, Phosphorus has
proved useful.

                      MENTAL GROUP.

  The primary action of Phosphorus upon the mind seems to be a
stimulation of the vital spirits;  the secondary action is characterized
by depression of spirits.  In morbid conditions, fevers and other de-
rangements where Phosphorus  seems indicated, a state of mental ex-
altation, intense excitement of the aff'ectional and imaginative sphere
as well as a state of melanchioly, quiet lowness of spirits, is addition-
ally characteristic of Phosphorus.

                           SLEEP.

  Phosphorus causes restlessness  at night, wakefulness, disturbing-
dreams.  These symptoms, if present in a superior group, may con-
firm  our selection of Phosphorus; otherAvise they are Avithout any
therapeutic value.

                 ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT.

  In a case of poisoning we first give an emetic of sulphate of zinc,
from  twenty to forty  grains,  after which Alagnesia and milk  are
recommended  as  antidotes to the poison.  Mild demulcent  liquids
should be resorted to for the purpose of enveloping the Phosphorus.
In cases of burns, the  parts may be washed with a weak alkaline
solution.  A  lime liniment Avill prove  a very excellent application
under such circumstances.   Limewater may be shaken Avith sweet or
linseed  oil until a soap is formed.  The liniment may be preserved
for a  long time in a bottle provided Avith a  glass-stopper.   It may
be applied to the  burn or ulcer, if such should exist, by means of a
camel's hair pencil, or it may be spread on a piece of soft linen.
  Sorge recommends an emetic and  the copious use of tepid water,
for the purpose of keeping up the act of emesis.  In chronic cases
of poisoning, such medicines as are homoeopathically indicated, will
have to be resorted to.
                    LECTURE  L.

                 ANEMONE PULSATILLA,
Pulsatilla nigricans,  zvind-flower.  Nat. Order:—(RANUNCULACE^E.)

  This is a perennial flower which blossoms in May, and the second
time in August and September.  It has a short and thick root;  the
flower-stalk is smooth, beset with soft hairs, from six to eight inches 
742
LECTURE L.
 high, and terminating at the top in a lancinated involucrum. Leaves
 radical, bipinnate ;  no calix; six petals, oblong, hairy, of a blackish-
 purple color; with their  apices turned backwards; numerous fila-
 ments.  The floAver is called nigricans on account of the dark color
 of its petals. We make a tincture from the whole plant Avithout the
 root, of a greenish-brown color and having an acrid taste.
   The plant, even when dry, has an extremely smarting action upon
 the  tongue and fauces.  The  name  "wind-flower," is given to it
 because  it is generally found in exposed situations.
   This plant was known to Dioscorides Avho describes three species
 of it.  Pliny recommends it for headaches and inflammation of the
 eyes.
   Cullen, Avriting of  Pulsatilla nigricans, says: This  is one  of the
 remedies which we  owe to the benevolent industry of Baron Stoerck :
 but  he has ascribed to it'so many wonderful effects that his credit is
 hurt with  many persons,  and has  made many  neglect to give this
 remedy a frequent  and fair trial.
   It was upon the authority of Baron Stoerck  that this plant, Avith
 several others of great activity, has been received into medical use.
 He recommends it  as an effectual remedy for  most of the chronic
 diseases  affecting the eyes, particularly for amaurosis, cataract, and
 opacity of the cornea from various causes.  The baron himself who
 had for two years suffered much from a violent contusion of one eye,
 took this remedy, which he soon found  occasioned a severe lancina-
 ting pain  in the part affected; this  he considered as  a  favorable
 omen  in the specific action of the plant, an opinion which was after-
 wards confirmed in a great number of patients.  Two cases of amau-
 rosis, three of cataract, and  seven cases of affection of the cornea
 Avere either entirely cured or generally benefited by the exhibition
 of this remedy.  Other physicians have used it with success in the
 same affections; others again have not been successful, doubtless for
 no other reason than because the drug was used  in  affections to
 Avhich it is not homoeopathic.
   A certain species of anemone sy Ivestris, if eaten by animals, causes
 inflammation of the bowels, dysentery and hasmaturia.

   The active principle of Anemone  is an alkaloid, " Anenionine,"
 someAvhat analogous to Camphor; it crystallizes in white' flakes,
 is easily pulverizable,  inodorous except when evaporated; it then
 emits a pungent and penetrating odor  which excites tears ; when dry,
 the  alkaloid is tasteless; when in a state of fusion, it  is bitino- and
 corrosive,  causes insensibility of the tongue and Avhite blisters: in a
 common temperature it is not volatile; when exposed to heat it
 melts, and burns with a  bright flame.   It is very  little soluble in
 water, but dissolves readily  in boiling alcohol or  in ethereal oils.
 The boring and cutting  pains which Pulsatilla  causes in the ner-
 vous tissue of the eye, proceeds from  the action of this alkaloid.
   Pulsatilla seems to act principally upon the skin,  the mucous
■ membrane, and more particularly upon the mucous lining  of the
 eyes, 'stomach and small intestines, urinary and sexual organs.
   It seems to  be principally adapted to sub-acute irritations of a 
ANEMONE PULSATILLA.
743
catarrhal, rheumatic and gastric character and having  a remittent
type.   It is particularly suitable to persons of a quiet, gentle  dis-
position, inclining to sadness and melancholy.  Females seem to be
more favorably acted upon by Pulsatilla than males.
  Small doses of this  drug are antidoted by Arsenic and China:
large doses by vinegar.

                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Pulsatilla causes vertigo as if intoxicated, with heat in the head
and pale face, especially in the evening.  Also vertigo Avhen looking
up; or heaviness and a gloomy feeling in the head, with a painful
feeling in the eyes   It is useful in the
  False or spurious  Vertigo of Herz, to  which I have frequently
alluded. The attack proceds from one of the external canthi, a
feeling of tension is experienced in the upper lid; the rays impinging
upon this part, seem vibrating as if the objects were seen through
agitated water;  this sensation  is accompanied by luminous vibra-
tions, sometimes circular, or serpentine, or  like flashes of lightning.
  A cure of this very  annoying disorder  is reported in Hufeland's
Journal, which  I will briefly relate.   A gentleman of thirty-four
years,  of feeble  constitution and sanguine temperament, who  had
been addicted to sexual  excesses from his boyhood, had ruined his
nervous system  by his irregularities and  by spending his nights in
studying.  His  eyes and digestive apparatus were very Aveak.   At
the age  of seventeen,  he was attacked  with the so-called spurious
vertigo, the attacks being generally accompanied Avith vomiting of a
sour fluid, and a violent hemicrania which sometimes lasted tAventy-
four hours.  In  consequence of a change  in his  mode of living, the
vertigo left him  in about tAvo years, without resorting to any special
treatment;  but  returned again a few  years  after, after a night's
carousal with his friends.  The  paroxysms recurred  at irregular
intervals, and with increasing violence.   The eyes, head and diges-
tive organs  were principally affected.  A number of celebrated phy-
sicians  were consulted, who  exhausted their skill  and knoAAdedge
during  six years without doing him any  good.  The most  fashion-
able springs were  likewise resorted to, and a  distinguished mag-
netizer tried his powers upon  him, all  without  the least favorable
change in the condition of the patient.  The disorder grew upon
him, the paroxysms came on every other  day, and even slight con-
vulsions made their appearance during the attack.  Dr. Lowenhardt
who reports the  case, finally prescribed the extract of Pulsatilla in
doses of tAvo-thirds of  a  grain, morning and evening, for four days
in succession.  From the very first day of the treatment, the attacks
ceased as if by magic, and the patient now is satisfied with his health.
He has never had another attack, and all he did afterAvards Avas to
take some bitters, in accordance with  the  general prevailing notion
that bitters stimulate the digestive apparatus and nervous system.

  The  pains which Pulsatilla causes in the head,  are jerking, tearing
and stitching, worse in the evening.   The Pulsatilla-pains are prin-
cipally felt in the vertex and forehead. 
744
LECTURE L.
   In Gastric Headaches, Pulsatilla  is very efficient, if over-eating is
the cause, especially after eating pork,  fat,  iced fruit or other rich,
heavy, indigestible food.   The headache may be accompanied by
nausea, vomiting, greasy taste in the mouth, acrid risings from the
stomach.
   In Bilious Headache, Pulsatilla will  afford help, if the patient
complains of a stupid feeling in the head, and a sensation in the fore-
head as if the brain had been bruised.
   In the so-called Sick or Nervous  Headaches, or Hemicrania, Pulsa-
tilla is very efficient, especially in the case of hysteric females with
disposition to sadness, delicate digestive organs.  Symptomatically,
Pulsatilla may be  indicated in these headaches by a tight feeling in
the brain and a boring pain in the vertex; or by a deep-seated pain
in the orbits, as if the brain would fall out at the forehead; the skull
feels as if too thin.  These nervous headaches may  be induced by
nightly AAratching.
   Menstrual Headaches may yield  to Pulsatilla, if a suppression of
the menstrual discharge or a too scanty discharge seems to cause the
trouble.  It is in delicate females, with a tender, silken skin, a trans-
parent complexion and an habitually plethoric condition of the brain,
that Pulsatilla seems to act most favorably.  If such headaches arise
from a sudden suppression occasioned by a cold, exposure to wet, or
by a sudden fright, and the cerebral congestions are considerable,
Avith excessive fullness and heaviness about the head, soreness of the
scalp and brain, excessive  sensitiveness of the brain, nervous rest-
lessness, or a sense of stupor, and other signs of distressing and even
dangerous plethora of the brain, Aconite  should invariably be admin-
istered to the patient.
   As regards the  dose, most practitioners  agree that in headache,
Pulsatilla acts most favorably from the 6th to the 18th potency.

                      NERVOUS GROUP.

   Baron Stoerck, the first prover of this drug, proposed it for
   Epilepsy, and, by his request, experiments were made in the pub-
lic hospitals  of  Vienna, upon a number  of epileptic patients, but
Avithout the least benefit.  Nevertheless, we may remember Pulsa-
tilla in epilepsy arising from disturbances of the uterine system, or
in those forms of  epilepsy which  Schcenlein  describes as " Uterine
Ejdlepsy."
   Baron Stoerck has likewise employed Pulsatilla in
   Atrophiy of the upper extremities, arising from rheumatism.  In
the case of a woman of thirty-five years, the left arm had been im-
movable, rigid and emaciated for five years and a half.  After usinc
the drug for a few weeks, the patient began to experience Avanderino-,
lancinating pains in the limb, and at night an excessive itching. She
was completely restored in three months.   The medicine was  used
in much larger doses  than we are  in  the  habit of doino-; ft was
moreover applied externally in the shape of a wash.
   Regarding these large doses of drugs which are in specific homoeo-
pathic adaptation to a case, I am satisfied that our existing observa- 
ANEMONE PULSATILLA.
745
tions are not sufficient to meet all the demands of the sick chamber.
It is a pity that homoeopathic physicians will not divest themselves
of dogmatism regarding doses; that the high-potency men will persist
in ostracising their low-minded brethren, and that on the other hand
the low-potency men still deride their high-spirited opponents as the
partisans of a baseless faith andfancy.  To my mind, Jacob's ladder
represents most beautifully the scale of potencies which a physician
may use,  the angels wandering up and down from earth to heaven,
even as the physician may Avander up and down in the scale of poten-
cies, measuring out relief, not in accordance with a creed or doctrine,
but agreeably to the actual requirements of the case. One fact, how-
ever, seems well established, viz., that no medicinal symptoms need
ever  be occasioned except accidentally.   Critical pains or evacua-
tions must not be confounded with  medicinal aggravations.   The
.return of sensibility  in  a paralyzed limb  may be accompanied by
pain; cerebral congestions  may  terminate in evacuations  from the
- bowels; pulmonary irritations in the appearance of a troublesome
rash; a distressing pain in  the back may  be relieved  by a haemor-
rhoidal discharge. If a medicine is instrumental in bringing about
such critical appearances,  it acts as a true curative agent, not as a
medicinal aggravator of the disease.

   Stoerck likeAvise reports a case of
   Paralysis of the Lower Extremities, attended with violent backache,
which was cured  by  means of large closes of Pulsatilla.  The medi-
cine  at first caused  colic and diarrhoea;  in three Aveeks: wander-
ing, lancinating and  burning pains from  the toes tathe  hip-joints,
and lastly a haemorrhoidal discharge, after which the pain in the
back ceased, and the  paralysis likewise disappeared in a few weeks.
  ' Cases of atrophy and paralysis, where  Pulsatilla may prove of
advantage, are very  rare; in the generality of such cases, arthritic
rheumatism, habitual exposure,  care,  may have  been the exciting
causes; and  in the case  of females, menstrual disorders, suppression
 or scanty and  painful discharges may complicate the trouble.
   The pains which  very frequently indicate  Pulsatilla,  are of the
folloAving order:
   Shifting pains, also with  redness and swelling of the joints;
   Pains as if bruised or as  if the parts were ulcerated;
   Pains and ailments on one side of the body;
   Pains accompanied by chilliness, dyspnoea, paleness of the face,
 trembling of the limbs ;
   The pains are generally worse every other evening;
   The pains in the muscles of the extremities are tearing, draAving
or jerking pains, worse at night or in the evening  Avhen lying in bed.
   Pulsatilla has cured
   Ischiias nervosa, with violent stitching and tearing pain down to the
knee, the patient  had to limp all the  time.
   In Hysteria, when complicated with menstrual  suppression, Pulsa-
 tilla may prove very useful, especially in the case of  quiet females,
 of a brooding mood, leuco-phlegmatic habit; they look pale and
 bloated, seem to be dreaming, like to sit alone, are averse to conver-
 sation, weep Avithout any apparent cause. 
746
LECTURE L.
                  INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

   Pulsatilla is principally adapted to sub-acute irritations, but it may
likeAvise prove useful in acute inflammations, especially in
   Gonitis,  inflammation of the knee-joint, more particularly in the
case of scrofulous individuals;  the  inflammation  develops itself
suddenly, the knee-joint  swells  up, is exceedingly painful to the
touch, and the patient complains of great soreness and  lancinating
pains in the joint; the joint has a pale rose-colored appearance, and
fluctuation is very soon perceived in the parts round the patella. In
all such cases of acute gonitis, fever is invariably present. It may be
best to give Pulsatilla in alternation with Aconite. There are niany
cases reported  in our journals where the tincture of Pulsatilla has
been employed, with signal advantage, effecting a cure in a few days;
in other cases the  attenuations  have been equally efficient.
   In Chironic Swelling of the knee-joint, remaining after acute inflam-
mation, in the case of scrofulous individuals, Pulsatilla may likewise
be resorted to
   Even in  White Swelling, coming on gradually as the result of a
scrofulous  dyscrasia, Pulsatilla may be used as  an intermediate
remedy, to control pain, soreness, and to promote the action of the
absorbent vessels.

   Pulsatilla causes  rheumatism  of the foot;  hence Ave use it with
advantage  in
   Rheumatism of the Dorsum  of the Foot, when the muscular covering
is swollen, inflamed, and the  pain keeps increasing until it becomes
agonizing,  especially at night.  I have seen an inflammation of this
kind yield to the twelfth potency of Pulsatilla in the space of thirty-
six hours, Avithout a trace of it remaining visible.
   It is scrofulous and arthritic individuals, of a  leuco-phlegmatic
habit, who are  especially benefitted by Pulsatilla  in acute  rheuma-
tism, which is generally in the  character of
   Arthiritic Rheumatism;  the feet, for instance, are red, hot, SAvollen,
Avith a tensive and burning pain which  increases to a stiching pain
by standing.
   The rheumatic  and  arthritic  pains  which  Pulsatilla generally
causes, may be generalized as  follows:  Sticking pains in the shoulder-
joint and nape of the neck, especially Avhen moving the parts.   The
joints  and  long bones seem  to be principally acted upon by  this
drug.   The pains  which Pulsatilla  causes in the joints are sticking,
tearing and tensive pains, and pains as if the joints had been bruised
and  sprained, they feel sore.  The shoulder, elbow, knee, and tarsal-
joints seem to be the chief localities, where the Pulsatilla-principle
delights to manifest its disturbing agency.

   Pulsatilla also causes drawing pains in the muscles  of the  thigh,
obliging the patient to move  the part constantly in order to  find
relief.
   The tearing  and drawing  pains  may likeAvise  be felt along the 
ANEMONE PULSATILLA.
*47
bones, showing that the fibrous covreing of the bones may become
involved in the Pulsatilla-rheumatism.  Hence we  may recommend
Pulsatilla in
  Rheumatic Periostitis, and likewise in
  Rheumatism or  Gout of the heel, for  this drug causes cutting  and
boring pains in the heel, and a pricking and sore pain in the soles of
the feet.

  Pulsatilla causes a burning-pricking pain in the ball of the little
toe, accompanied by itching as in  frozen  limbs; the pain  is much
aggravated by the warmth of the bed.  Hence we  find Pulsatilla
useful in
   Chiilblains, when these  pains occur, as they frequently do.

                       ORBITAL GROUP.

   The action  of  Pulsatilla upon the eyes  deserves our attention.
 The provers of this drug have experienced a pressure in the eyes,
 as  if they should be pressed out of the head, with discharge of tears.
 Also  a  pressure  as if the eyes were full of sand.  Baron btcerck
 experienced cutting and  boring pains in the eyes
   Ber<rius informs us that a child which happened to be exposed  to
 the vaSors of Pulsatilla,  while the extract was being prepared was
 attacked with inflammation and swelling of the eyelids, and obscu-
 ration of sight.   Orfila states in his Toxicology, that an apothecary,
 while pounding the dry  leaves of Pulsatilla, was attacked with colic,
 vomiting, and Avith itching of the eyelids.                     .
    In accordance  with these indications we have used Pulsatilla in
    Conjunctivitis,  with profuse lachrymation, burning, stinging and
 itching pain, when caused by a cold.
    Blephiarophithitis, or inflammation, and  swelling of the lids, of a
 catarrhal character, especially in scrofulous  individuals, with much
 itching and secretion of purulent gum, scurfy desiccation.  Also in
 chronic cases, Pulsatilla may still  be useful.

    Stues especially in the case of scrofulous children, with pale, rose-
  colored  inflammation, furious  itching,  sensitiveness  to  light, may
  readilv yield to Pulsatilla; if recurring frequently, as the result of
  rscrofhlous diathesis, Sulphur, the iodide of Alercury and other drugs,
  will  have to  beused for the purpose of eradicating  the causative
  principle.

    In Scrofulous Ophithalmia of the milder type,  especially when
  inclining to become chronic, with occasional paroxysms of mfiamma-
  foTthe coniunctiva having a  rose-colored appearance, with  much
  itching, bSgand secretion of tears and  purulent gum, Pulsatilla
  may prove very serviceable.

     In Arthritic Ophithalmia, with cutting and boring pains in the eye-
  ball, Pulsatilla is eminently useful;  in this  affection a pain_ may be
  experienced as if the eyeball were being scraped with a knife. 
748
LECTURE L.
  In Ophthalmia remaining after Measles, an occasional dose of Pul-
satilla may be necessary.

  Baron Stoerck relates a case  of ophthalmia Avhich came on  after
the cure of syphilitic ulcers of  the velum and palate.  The sight of
the right eye was not entirely destroyed, but on the left eye the cornea
had become leucomatous, and therefore entirely impermeable to the
rays of  light.  The parotid gland was at the same time enlarged and
of  a scirrhous hardness.   After using  Pulsatilla  for  about three
months  and a half, in tolerably  large doses, the  young  man's sight
Avas entirely restored, and the  scirrhous  induration of the parotid
gland had likewise completely  disappeared.

  Pulsatilla causes a dimness of sight,  as if something Avere hanging
over the cornea that can be wiped off.  It also causes fiery circles
and obscuration of sight.   Hence we may find Pulsatilla useful in
  Amaurosis of scrofulous individuals, Avhen caused by excessiAre
use of the  eyes  during nightly mental labor, or Avhen  coming on
gradually in consequence of a progressive development of the scrofu-
lous dyscrasia.  If co-existing with menstrual  suppression, in im-
poverished conditions of the  system, Pulsatilla  may prove so much
the more useful.  Baron Stoerck relates a case of this disorder Avhich
Avas so far cured as to enable the eye to see objects and to distinguish
colors.

  In Weak Eyes, with sensitiveness, pain in the eyeballs, and redness
when using them,  Pulsatilla  internally, and externally in the form
of a wash, has proved an  efficient means of relief  in the hands of
Kopp.

                    AURICULAR GROU?.

  Pulsatilla causes a group of  symptoms in  the organ of  hearing
Avhich resembles very closely
  Otitis or inflammation of  the ear.  It causes acute lancinating
pains in the ear, excessive sensitiveness to noise, discharge of pus
and blood from the ear, noises in the ear, swelling and inflammatory
redness  of the ear.   The pain often  causes delirium and agonizing
distress  in the head. If the fever is intense, alternate Pulsatilla  with
Aconite.  The 1st to the 6th potency is probably the most service-
able in a case of otitis.  If accompanied by, or arising from, men-
strual suppression, Pulsatilla  is  so much more specifically indicated.
  In Otalgia, Pulsatilla may effect much  good, if the patient is scro-
fulous, of a delicate constitution, the  pain comes on  at every change
of the Aveather, a hard aching  pain  as if the ear should be  pulled
out. The patient cannot bear noise.
  In Chronic  Otorrhea, with discharge  of a fetid,  yellowish  pus,
especially when  coming on after measles, or in delicate girls  of a
scrofulous  habit, who have not yet  menstruated, Pulsatilla is often
indicated.  So it is in
  Deafness, if resulting from exposure to a keen wind, or from water
getting into the ear, with various noises," blowing, chirping, etc. 
ANEMONE PULSATILLA.
749
                       NASAL  GROUP.

  Pulsatilla will be found useful in
  Catarrhal Discharges from the nose, green and fetid, the more so,
if the borders of the nostrils are ulcerated.  Remember that the pre-
sence of the scrofulous  element in such cases constitutes a charac-
teristic indication.

                       DENTAL GROUP.

  Pulsatilla causes stinging pains in the gums, and a
  Toothache as if the nerve of the tooth were suddenly put upon the
stretch, and then let loose again.
  The Pulsatilla-toothache is  excited by warmth, and relieved by
cool air.  It is also excited  by eating.  The  toothache of pregnant
females may likewise be relieved by this agent.

                   CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  The action of Pulsatilla upon the chylo-poietic system constitutes
this drug one of our most valuable agents in the treatment of gastric
derangements.  Among the effects of Pulsatilla in this direction we
distinguish the following:
  Bad smell from the mouth;
  Tongue lined with tenacious mucus;
  Bitter taste;
  Pungent taste;
  Taste as of foul flesh;
  Loss of appetite (anorexia);
   Loss of thirst (adipsia);
   Waterbrash;
   Vomiting of bile;
   Vomiting of  saltish or sour  mucus, in the evening or at night;
   Eructations tasting of the ingesta ;
   Bitter, bilious eructations;
   Sour eructations;
   Nausea while eating;
   Eructations tasting of rancid tallow.
   Many of these symptoms may occur in a case of bad digestion, a
 sort of
   Indigestion or Dyspepsia, of which Hahnemann himself has left us
 the following interesting example.  A weakly man, aged forty-tAvo
 years, of pale complexion, gentle and quiet disposition and whose
 business  was of  a sedentary  nature, had  been  very sick for five
 days.  On ^he first evening, he began to feel sick at the stomach
 and dizzy Avithout any apparent cause.   In  the folloAving night he
 Avas attacked Avith sour vomiting. The next two nights he had violent
 eructations.  This last night he had had eructations  of a fetid anol
 sourish taste.   He felt as if the food Avere lying raw and undigested
 in   his stomach.  Sensation as if the  head felt enlarged,  holloAv,
 gloomy, Avith sensitiveness of the brain to the least noise. 
750
LECTURE L.
   Pulsatilla being homoeopathic to all these symptoms, the patient
took a single drop of the 12th potency before "bed-time and  awoke
in perfect health on the following morning.  In regard to this case
it should be remembered that many other drugs have isolated symp-
toms belonging to this  group, but that Pulsatilla is the only medi-
cine which develops all these symptoms in  their totality and mutual
relation.

   The pains Avhich Pulsatilla causes in the stomach, show that it
may be eminently useful in
   Cardialgia.   It causes a drawing pain in the stomach, Avith a feel-
ing of pressure, a throbbing  in the region of the stomach, Avith a
crampy and contractive sensation.  Pulsatilla is especially indicated,
if the cardialgia is excited by eating fat pork.
   In  Colicodynia, Pulsatilla may be  of great use; it causes cutting
and pinching pains in the boAvels, and a painful sensitiveness of the
abdominal walls.  The  boAvels may be either bound or loose,  Avith
discharge of blood and  mucus.

   Small doses of Pulsatilla cause  constipation, larger doses irritate
the intestinal mucous lining, causing a condition resembling
   Gastro-enteritis,  with discharges  of mucus which is  sometimes
mixed with blood,, or watery discharges with cutting in the boAvels.
Properly speaking, Pulsatilla does not  cause gastro-enteritis, but
rather a catarrhal  irritation of the lining  membrane  the principal
symptom of which is
   Diarrhiea, the discharges consisting of soft faecal matter and mucus,
or a  yellowish-white mucus mixed with blood, or white  mucus
without  any admixture of blood.  A characteristic indication for
Pulsatilla is
   Nocturnal Diarrhiea,  when the discharges consist of  green  mucus
or are of a watery consistency.
   The Pulsatilla-diarrhcea may be characterized  by chilliness  after
the discharge, and by a cutting pain in the  bowels preceding  or suc-
ceeding the evacuation.  Frequent urging to stool is likewise a fre-
quent indication.

   Pulsatilla causes soreness of the rectum and anus, with blind piles,
"haemorrhoidal tumors.  Hence in
   Suppressed Piles, with stiffness of the back, and abdominal  and
cerebral congestions incident to such a condition,  Pulsatilla  may
prove very efficient.  A concomitant of this derangement may  be
   Constipation, or the constipation  may exist as an element in some
other group of symptoms, especially in a case of  hysteria or in con-
nection with menstrual  suppression.   The bowels may feel distended
and the patient may be troubled with. frequent urging jtnd, at most,
discharge a spoonful  of Avhite mucus.  Pulsatilla may relieve  this
condition, if the loAver  potencies are given.

                     URINARY  GROUP.

   Pulsatilla causes frequent, but ineffectual urging to urinate.  This
difficulty may occur in the case of pregnant females, a species of 
ANEMONE PULSATILLA.
751
  Dysuria,  during pregnancy,  which  may require medical inter-
ference.  The 3d to the 6th  potency may be sufficient.  Pulsatilla
also causes  the  secretion of a watery urine, which may indicate its
use in
  Hysteric Affections, Avhere copious and frequent discharges of a
watery urine are of frequent occurrence.  Pulsatilla also causes an
inflamed-looking urine, depositing  a jelly-like  sediment.   This
symptom may indicate Pulsatilla in
  Chronic Cystitis, where a dark-colored urine may be secreted, with
deposition of a slimy or brick-dust sediment, and frequent but some-
times ineffectual desire to urinate.  Or this group of symptoms may
be designated as
  Catarrh of the Bladder which  may occur spontaneously  in indi-
viduals afflicted with  a scrofulous dyscrasia, or as  the  effect of
chronic  rheumatism  of the  bladder;  it  may also  occur  among
individuals  addicted to high living, abuse of stimulating beverages.
Pulsatilla likewise  causes  a discharge of blood from the urethra;
hence in
  Hematuria, especially when  of  a chronic  nature, it  may proAre
useful.   Pulsatilla causes a thin stream, as if the urethra were con-
tracted.  AYe may therefore recommend it in
  Chironic Stricture or swelling of the mucous  lining of the  urethra,
whether arising from  scrofulous  irritation,  or in consequence of
neglected or mismanaged  gonorrhoea.  Pulsatilla causes a Avhitish
and slimy discharge from the urethra, with burning after urinating.
Hence in chronic
  Gonorrhea, Pulsatilla may serve us  a good  turn, especially if the
discharge is complicated with symptoms of scrofula.

                      SEXUAL  GROUP.

  Pulsatilla affects both the  male  and female sexual  organs.  It
causes tearing pains in the testicles.   It also causes drawing,  and
drawing-tensive pains from the abdomen  through  the spermatic
cord into the testicles Avhich are very much relaxed.  These symp-
toms may .lead us to prescribe Pulsatilla in
  Atrophy of the  Testicles, a condition Avhich may occur in conse-
quence  of onanism.  Pulsatilla  also causes  frequent  erections with
increased sexual desire and emissions; hence it may prove useful in
  Nocturnal  Emissions,  with  excited sexual  appetite, erections,
amorous fancies.  In
  Orchiitis, especially when arising from suppression of  gonorrhoea,
Pulsatilla may afford relief.
  Pulsatilla causes this symptom: "the right testicle is draAvn up
and SAvollen,  the  spermatic  cord  is  swollen,  Avith  tensive pain,
whereas the left testicle is hanging down."
  This  retraction and swelling of one testicle  is not an  uncommon
symptom.  The patient experiences a pain in the testicle; this con-
dition may have been caused by self-abuse, or by a strain.

  Pulsatilla causes and may therefore relieve 
752
LECTURE L.
  Amenorrhea, Avith nausea, coldness, trembling, chilliness of the
feet, more especially in the case of delicate, sensitive, leucophlegmatic
females.
  Ailments arising from sudden suppression, headache, palpitation
of the heart, swelling of the bowels, spitting of blood, etc., may yield
to Pulsatilla, especially in conjunction with Aconite.
  The presence of burning and stinging pains  in the vagina and
labia may be looked upon as an additional indication for Pulsatilla
in amenorrhcea.

  Pulsatilla causes and therefore relieves
   Uterine Colic, Avith cutting and bearing-down pains in the lower
bowels.   This pain may precede or accompany the discharge  of a
thick  and black blood from the womb, constituting a case of
  Dysmenorrhea  or painful  menstruation, also with  waterbrash,
obscuration of sight, stitches in the chest, before and during men-
struation.  A
  Milky  Leucorrhieal Dischiarge will yield to the drug, especially when
scrofulous females are  afflicted with it, and the patient complains of
burning stinging pains in the vagina and labia.

  Pulsatilla causes pressing, cutting and contracting pains in the
uterine region; in accordance with these indications, we have  used
this agent for the purpose of relieving
  Spasmodic Labor-pains during parturition.  We also use it in
  Deficient Contractions during labor, for the purpose of stimulating
them; this may be necessary in  the  case of  delicate, scrofulous
females who have  become exhausted  by a succession of violent
pains  or whose constitutional  feebleness prevents the access  of
expulsive pains.

  Pulsatilla causes a swelling and painful tension of the breasts, as
if they were gorged with milk.   This symptom was experienced by
one of the female  provers of Pulsatilla while she was nursing her
infant. We may avail ourseives of this symptom for the purpose of
regulating  an excessive secretion of milk in the case of nursing females.
  On the other hand, Pulsatilla may be usefully employed in cases
of
  Agalactia or suppression of milk, in  the case of nursing females,
when the  breasts become  hard, but the infant seems unable to
obtain a  sufficient supply.

                    CATARRHAL  GROUP.

  Pulsatilla causes a catarrhal  irritation of the Schneiderian mem-
brane, sometimes with ulceration of the nostrils and loss of smell
and taste ; hence in
   Catarrh,  with stoppage of the nose, loss of smell and taste, Pulsa-
tilla may be of some service,  especially if the gastric symptoms
which accompany the catarrhal irritation, likewise indicate Pulsatilla. 
ANEMONE  PULSATILLA.
753
   ^ Pulsatilla causes a scraping and dryness in the throat, and various
 kinds of cough, such as
   Dry nightly cough which is relieved by sitting up;
   Cough with expectoration of yellow mucus, and also of lumps of
 dark, coagulated blood;
   Cough, with stitches in the back while coughing.
   It may seem therefore as though Pulsatilla might be of use to us
 in the treatment of catarrhal affections  of the air-passages.  As a
 general rule, however, these indications  are  secondary, and are of
 value only when  constituting  elementary parts of a  higher, more
 comprehensive pathological process.  In measles, chicken-pox, hys-
 teria, and other eruptive or nervous disorders to which Pulsatilla is
 homoeopathic, these catarrhal symptoms  may prove valuable acces-
 sory indications.

                      THORACIC GROUP.

   Pulsatilla affects the respiratory process in a variety of ways.  It
 causes an asthmatic constriction of the chest,  especially in the even-
 ing,- with cough, suffocation, retching, cold feet, cold  sweat  in the
 face.  This group  of symptoms justifies the use of Pulsatilla in
   Asthma, coming on in nightly  paroxysms,  with a  feeling of con-
 striction  across the chest, as  if  the  lungs could not be  inflated,
 dreadful feeling of suffocation, wheezing, coldness of the extremities,
 cold sweat on the forehead; the attack terminates in cough, expecto-
 ration of  mucus.  If it arises from menstrual suppression, the indica-
 tion for Pulsatilla is so much rriore marked.
   Pulsatilla causes ulcerative pains in the region of the sternum, it
 feels sore to  the touch.   These ulcerative pains are  peculiar to
 Pulsatilla.
   In catarrhal affections of the lungs, with  great  soreness  of the
 sternum,  Pulsatilla may afford much relief.  In
   Ulceration of the sternum, Pulsatilla may prove of great value to us.

   Pulsatilla affects the heart more or less.  It causes rush of blood
 to the chest, with oppression and  bad dreams, such as about being
 immured  alive.
   It causes palpitation of the heart, with  obscuration of sight.
   It causes stitches in the region of the heart.
   These symptoms shoAV that Pulsatilla may prove serviceable in
   Venous Congestion of the heart, even when amounting to  hyper-
 trophy  of the right ventricle, whether this affection is traceable to
 rheumatism or to suppression of the menses.

                 EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Pulsatilla causes an itching and burning of the skin, Avhich may
constitute a valuable  indication in various nervous or menstrual
disorders.
  It produces a measle-shaped eruption, in consequence of Avhich Ave
may use Pulsatilla  in a case of
   J                            48 
754
LECTURE L.
  Measles, if the eruption is too sIoav in making its appearance, and
the catarrhal and gastric symptoms are very troublesome.
  Pulsatilla produces an eruption like Chiicken-pox; hence we may
use it in this disease in order to relieve the itching, and to favor the
development of the eruption.
  The burning-stinging pains which patients sometimes experience in
   Varicose Ulcers, are often relieved by Pulsatilla. Varicose, readily-
bleeding ulcers, have been healed by Pulsatilla.  Its power to pro-
duce venous congestion, renders it valuable in the treatment of such
sores.  Hence in
   Varicose Veins, with which females are so often troubled in conse-
quence of frequent pregnancies, Pulsatilla proves useful; it may be
used both internally and externally.
  By applying the bruised  root to a rheumatic limb, Pulsatilla has
caused inflammation and gangrene of the parts.  It seems to pos-
sess a peculiar power  of disorganizing veins and  embarrassing the
venous circulation.  In
  Gangrena senilis, with coldness of the limbs, and partial suspension
of the venous circulation, we  therefore give Pulsatilla  with  occa-
sional advantage.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

  Pulsatilla induces a  derangement of the circulation characterized
by  venous congestion.   The venous circulation is embarrassed by
this drug; hence  chilliness  must be  a  predominant  symptom- in
derangements of the circulation  occasioned by Pulsatilla.  In ac-
cordance with these indications we give Pulsatilla in
  Intermittent fevers, where the chill predominates; there is little or
no  thirst, but vertigo, stupefaction and headache during the  chill;
symptoms of mucous derangement, such as furred tongue and vom-
iting of mucus are present.
  Pulsatilla is said to be eminently suitable for
  Acute Swelling of joints caused by the suppression of intermittents.
  In Puerperal fever and Typhius abdominalis, Pulsatilla  is used by
some homoeopathic physicians as a  palliative for the  purpose of
modifying the gastric  symptoms.  It does not seem in reality to be
in  specific homoeopathic rapport with either  of these morbid con-
ditions.
  Pulsatilla is not homoeopathic to gastric and bilious  fevers, pro-
perly speaking; but it may be of great  use in certain bilious and
gastric derangements, designated by pathologists as
  Status gastricus  et biliosus, and characterized by foul tongue, fetid
or  sour  and bitter eructations, fetid  flatulence, discharges of foul-
smelling mucus, headache, slight feverishness.

                       MENTAL GROUP.

  Pulsatilla causes depression of spirits, hypochondriac anxiety, sad-
ness, disposition to weep.  Hence we may use Pulsatilla in
  Hysteria, especially when caused by suppression of the menses or
milk;  or in 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON.                  755
  Melancholia or mania when arising from similar causes, -with taci-
turn, brooding mood.  In
  Hypochondria of delicate, nervous females, when arising from, or
complicated with such gastric derangements as Pulsatilla is homoeo-
pathic to, this agent may be of use.

                           SLEEP.

  Pulsatilla causes wakefulness, restlessness during sleep, disturbing
dreams, nightly heat and dryness of the skin. These symptoms con-
sidered isolatedly, do not  furnish any special therapeutic  indica-
tions ; but as characteristic of hysteria, of hypochondria, of a gastric
derangement or any other affections for which Pulsatilla should be
prescribed, this  group  of  symptoms  would constitute additional
indications for the use of our drug.

                            DOSE:

  In addition to the numerous suggestions which we have offered in
the course of this  lecture, we may sum up what  may relate to  this
subject in the following general statement:  In acute affections, Pul-
satilla has been  administered from the tincture up to  the 30th
potency.  I  commend  to  your attention  the first  six potencies,
although the tincture is  said to have proved very efficient in  gonitis.
The middle potencies are more adapted to chronic affections.
                  LECTURE   LI.

                 RHUS TOXICODENDRON,

     (Sumach, poison-oak.  Natural Order:—Terebintace^.)

  This is a self-supporting shrub, from two to three feet in height,
leaflets toothed or lobed at the margin, pubescent; each leaf com-
posed of three dark-green, shining leaflets; leaflets of an ovate shape,
flowers simple, axillary, racemes.  Rhus radicans is a trailing vine,
with an immense number of dark reddish-brown radicles or root-like
fibres, which enable it  to adhere to trees and  other objects, and be
thus supported like a kind of vine.  If not supported, the radicans
is about  six feet high,  and  the  branches recumbent; the stunted
radicans might be mistaken for a toxicodendron, if it were not for
the  stem which is crooked.  Sometimes both varieties may grow up
from the same stock. Professor Bigelow states: "Among the plants
which grow abundantly around Boston, I  have frequently observed
individual shoots from  the same stalk having  the character of both

  This plant was first described by Cornatus in his history of Cana-
dian plants, and was first introduced to the  notice of the profession 
756
LECTURE LI.
in 1798 by Dr. Dufresnoy, a physician at Valenciennes in the north
of France.   His attention was directed to it by the case of a young
man who had been cured of an herpetic eruption on his Avrist, of six
years' standing, by being accidentally poisoned by this plant.   The
doctor reports seven cases  of obstinate herpes as having been cured
with Rhus.  He also gave it in palsy, and cured some cases of this
disease.  Dr. Alderson, of Hull, in his essay on Rhus toxicodendron,
gives several cases of  recovery from paralysis effected by means of
the  dried leaves, in doses of from half a grain to a  grain three times
a day,  and  he says that the first feeling of amendment Avas a sensa-
tion of tingling and  tAvitching in the affected limb.   Noack  and
Trinks report several  cases of paralysis of the feet  which were cured
by Rhus toxicodendron.   One is a case of painless paralysis of the
feet; the patient was a man whom  Hahnemann had treated unsuc-
cessfully for three years; he took the tincture of Rhus in increasing
doses, in all, four  ounces of the drug, until his cure Avas completed,
without experiencing  any bad effects whatsoever from the medicine.
In another case both feet Avere paralyzed, with complete inability to
move them, to  Avalk or  stand; the patient was a girl of fourteen
years, and was entirely cured  by consuming two ounces of the tinc-
ture in increasing doses;  she  had  remained  perfectly Avell for the
last two years when the case was reported. Paralysis of the feet has
likewise  yielded to Rhus, when the infirmity was occasioned by a
fall on the back.
  In the 28th volume of the  " All. Med. Annalen," Buchheim re-
ports the following case  of paralysis which yielded to Rhus  tox.:
A man, twenty years old, of robust body, was admitted to the Hos-
pital.  His appetite and  sleep were good, but the muscular power of
the  hands and feet was very feeble, and the alvine  evacuations some-
times were involuntary.   He  finally became perfectly helpless ; his
feet, hands, and even  his fingers, become motionless, and he  lay in
his  bed like a log.  After many drugs had been used in vain, he
was left Avithout any medicine for some time,  and  grew quite stout,
but the paralysis remained the same.  He Avas now put on the  use
of the tincture of Rhus tox., ten drops morning and night; in eight
days he began to move  his fingers, in four weeks  he was able to
move his arms and feet,  and in two months  he was completely re-
stored.
  Another variety of  Rhus is the Rhus vernix or poison-ash.   The
effects of this variety seem to  be extremely virulent.  They are thus
described by Jacob Bigelow:  "The most formidable cases in persons
subject to this poison usually commence within  twenty-four hours
after exposure, sometimes longer, more frequently shorter.   The
symptoms  generally begin by itching and  tumefaction in the hands
and face, the swelling gradually spreading over different parts of the
body like erysipelas.  The inflamed parts become elevated, of a  livid
redness,  with a burning sensation;  they contain a transparent fluid,
which by degrees becomes yellow, and then  assumes a  purulent ap-
pearance.  A discharge takes place from the vesicles, giving rise to
a yellowish incrustation, which afterwards becomes brown.  An in-
supportable itching and burning is felt; the parts become excessively 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON.
757
swollen ;  not unfrequently the eyes are closed, and the face has a
cadaverous appearance like that in malignant small-pox.  It usually
reaches its height the fourth or sixth day, after which  the skin and
incrustations begin to separate  from the diseased parts,  and the
symptoms gradually subside ; no scars or permanent traces usually
remain.   I  never knew of an  authentic case of its terminating
fatally.
  " In October, 1814, Dr. A. L. Pierson accompanied me to collect
the juice  of the  Rhus vernix.   He had always supposed himself
exempt from liability to the poison.  The day was warm; the efflu-
vium from  the incisions we made in the trees was very powerful;
we  were exposed  an hour, he less than myself.  His own account of
the symptoms is as follows : ' I felt no unpleasant effects for six or
seven hours, when I perceived the backs of my hands were swollen
and puffy, without pain or itching; my forehead and upper lip were
soon in the same  state.  The following morning the tumefaction had
increased, and other parts were infected; the backs  of my hands and
wrists began to show small, watery vesicles.  No applications were
made till about noon ; I then applied clothes dipped in lead-water to
one hand and wrist, and a spirituous solution of corrosive muriate of
mercury to the other.  From this and subsequent trials I prefer lead.
The parts began to itch ;  the tumefaction increased ; vesication  be-
gan to take place  on the swollen  surface; small pustules formed and
ran into  each other, and  at last some were as large  as nutmegs.
Next day my eyes were nearly closed, from the swelling of my fore-
head, eyebrows and cheeks. The contents of the vesicles were per-
fectly limpid ; inoculation  from them to other parts had no effect,
nor at any other stage.   The next  evening the inflammation was at
its height; the burning and itching intolerable. The following day
the pustules began to  appear a little milky, and by night the inflam-
mation was  evidently on the decline.   This day I  applied stramo-
nium ointment.   In a fortnight I Avas able to leave my chamber, and
had a new cuticle from the roots of my hair on the forehead to my
breast, and on the arms and inside the thighs.  During the  first five
days, the pulse  was  increased  from ten to tAventy strokes.   The
poison seemed  to have a considerable effect in relieving me  from
dyspeptic symptoms,  and  also benefited a chronic inflammation of
my eyes.' "
  In regard to the poisonous  action  of Rhus vernix, Dr.  Bigelow
offers the following remarks:
  "The following  circumstances  have considerable  influence in
varying in the same  person the aptitude to the reception of the
poison:
  " First: A warm or cold climate; in Southern more active than in
Northern. Second:  Different seasons of the year. The Rhus vernix
never affects me in  the smallest degree, except on very hot days in
summer.   Thiird: Infancy or manhood; children are more readily
poisoned than adults.  Fourth:  Exposure before  or after a  meal.
Dr. Barton, in his edition of Cullen's Materia Medica, states that the
plants more readily poison immediately after than before a full meal.
Fifth: The presence of moisture.  Country people generally believe 
758
LECTURE LI.
that the effluvia of plants when combined with moisture, are  most
apt to produce the eruption.  Fontana, in his work on Poisons, states
that, in order to investigate the use of the leaves of Rhus toxicoden-
dron, as he knew that he was easily poisoned, he  caused them to be
got ready by another person, but he touched a few of the leaves when
under water.  In  four days his face and eyes swelled and other
poisonous effects showed themselves.  Sixth:  A  state of increased
perspiration, at the time of exposure, has a most powerful  influence
in favoring the eruption ; if my skin was  perfectly dry, while col-
lecting the juice of the Rhus vernix, it had not the least effect upon
me."

  The  poison of Rhus radicans seems to produce effects analogous
to those of Rhus toxicodendron.
  Horsfield, in his Dissertation on the Effects of Rhus radicans, which
was published in Philadelphia in the year 1798, gives the following
as the effects of the  leaves of this plant:
  "A slight degree of itching or sensation of heat, which gradually
increases, followed by redness or inflammation of the skin; in some
very extensive; in others, confined to round circumscribed spots, or
to longitudinal streaks.   The inflamed  parts  become  elevated and
tumefied; small vesicles appear on the surface, containing a pellucid
fluid, which gradually increase in size;  the fluid  soon becomes yel-
low,  and, after some time, takes on  the color and consistence of pus.
After the vesications are completely distended, they break, and some
of the pus being discharged, by drying on the surface,  forms a yel-
low incrustation, which gradually becomes brown.  The itching and
vesications which take place  in the incipient  state, frequently disap-
pear and return several times successively.
  " The poison appears to have a peculiar capricious disposition to
attack  particular parts.  In most cases the  eyes are specifically
affected; in some the legs and thighs.   A peculiar and distressing
itching of the scrotum and prepuce is one of the  most general and
characteristic symptoms of the disease.   In some it causes erections,
and the labia pudendi are affected.   Its peculiar  tendency to affect
the eyes, is most strikingly observed  in persons who by reading
much, become susceptible of the eruption; in most of these, if its
progress is not stopped, blindness of a shorter or longer continuance
is the certain consequeuce.
  "It  has  been  observed that the eruption,  when it is re-excited,
has a peculiar tendency to affect the parts which were previously
affected."
  In the above-mentioned Dissertation  by Horsfield, the following
interesting case of poisoning by Rhus radicans is described:—" In
the summer of 1797, a boy of about twelve years of age, and pos-
sessing a very high degree of what is  termed the melancholic tem-
perament, was exposed to  the action of Rhus radicans.  He was
attacked with the folioAving symptoms: redness and swelling of the
hands  and face, followed by fever, unusual drowsiness, thirst, and
great constipation;  the eruption gradually extended over the Avhole
body,  much  resembling the progress  of inoculated  smallpox ;  a 
RHUS  TOXICODENDRON.
759
swelling and very troublesome itchiness accompanied the eruption
through the whole of its course.
  " One of the most singular, and at the same time one of the most
universal concomitants of the eruption, when it exists  in a violent
degree,  is a sympathetic erethism  of the arterial system, and this
occurs in a more or  less degree in every case.  The general symp-
toms, when this fever comes on, are a quick, frequent, full and tense
pulse; loss of appetite, and sickness at the  stomach; white-coated
tongue;  burning  of the palms  of  the hands and soles of the feet;
headache,_ throbbing of the temporal  arteries, and  delirium.  The
eruption is not unfrequently succeeded by a great number of small
boils, swelling of  the tongue, ulceration of the mouth, and swelling
of the lymphatic glands."

  These few cases of poisoning show what an important office Rhus
radicans and vernix must be capable of performing in the treatment
of vesicular erysipelas.
  Concerning the Rhus toxicodendron, Christison  has this remark,
which seems to be based upon a speculative notion rather than upon
actual experience :  " The active part of this plant is extremely vola-
tile, and the tincture of the fresh  leaves or  an extract of the same
ought to be prepared in vacuo."  It is also most important to be re-
membered that the leaves of this plant should always be gathered at
night, and never exposed to the rays of the sun.  Exposure  to light
and sun causes them to become almost entirely innocuous.        *

  Orfila made six experiments on dogs with the extract of this plant.
In the first two no  effect was produced; in  the others it exerted a
stupefying action on the  nervous  system, with local irritation and
more or less intense inflammation,  with vertigo, and dilated  pupils.
After death, the blood  was found fluid, of a very dark purple color,
in the cavities of  the heart; the lungs were red and very crepitant.
Lavini  made the  same experiments on guinea pigs and birds, with
the same effects.  His experiments are described in the Journal  de
Chimie Medicale, a French publication, June number, 1825.

  Fontana states  in  his celebrated treatise on Poisons that, having
touched the leaves of the Rhus tox. at different times and  at inter-
vals of  several days, in four to  six days after, the eyelids and the
extremities of the ears and many other parts of  his face  became
tumefied, and appeared filled with  an aqueous fluid.  The intervals
between the fingers became red and covered with little vesicles full
of pellucid humor, and the epidermis fell off in small scales.  Violent
smarting of the skin continued for fifteen days, and the pulse was
inordinately agitated.
                         •
  Lavini applied  the juice of Rhus tox. to the index-finger, and left
it there for two minutes: in about an hour  it produced two small
dark-colored spots.  Twenty-five days afterwards, he was suddenly
seized with the following  symptoms: great heat in the mouth and
throat;  rapid swelling of the left  cheek, of  the upper lip and eye- 
760
LECTURE LI.
lids;  the following night swelling of both forearms to double their
natural size, with coriaceous skin, insupportable itching and violent
heat.   Four days after, there appeared on the hands  and forearms
pustules like those of the itch ; some of them, on bursting, discharged
a  limpid humor.  Upon inoculating  the  forearm with  this liquid,
fresh  pustules were produced.  The places on the finger, to Avhich
the juice had  been applied, presented two small tumors, about the
size of peas, Avhich afterwards diappeared Avithout opening them.
After eight days, the forearms were covered with squamous  scales;
the itching lasted several days.  These symptoms at last disappeared
after the application of ice.

   It is asserted by von Mons and others, that the active principle of
this plant is a hydrocarburetted gas, mixed with an acrid vapor,
which acts  most powerfully upon certain organs.  Some individuals
are exceedingly sensitive to the  action of this principle.   In the
January number of the Vienna Zeitschrift  of the year 1841, we read
of a Creole with an excessively delicate skin and  irritable nerves,
who was made sick and attacked Avith erysipelas, whenever he came
in the remotest degree  in  contact Avith  the exhalations of the poi-
sonous  sumach.  At the distance  of  even a  mile  he began to be
affected with the emanations proceeding from this plant, and at the
distance of two hundred paces he became stupefied and fainted away.
If a person carried a twig of the sumach tree past him, even without
his knowing any thing about it, he was attacked with convulsions,
and the skin of the whole body became inflamed, with itching and
tumefaction.

  If small  doses of Rhus tox. are taken  internally, the  cutaneous
and urinary secretions become more abundant, the action  of the
intestinal canal is stimulated, and in paralyzed parts a return of sen-
sitiveness and motor power is perceived, accompanied by a sensation
of burning and stinging.  Large doses cause  pain in the stomach,
nausea, vomiting, vertigo,  dullness and stupefaction  of the head,
general loss of strength in the extremities,  spasmodic  tAvitchings,
feverish symptoms, numbness  and inflammatory swelling of para-
lyzed  parts.

  From the provings which Hahnemann  has instituted with this
drug,  we infer that it affects the cerebro-spinal system  of nerves,
including the  cerebral, sentient and  motor  nerves;  it affects the
ganglionic^nerves, the serous and mucous  membranes, the skin, the
arterial and venous apparatus.  The  organism is  affected by this
plant both materially and dynamically. Dynamically the rhus-poison
tends  to_ produce depression and even paralysis; materially its action
results in the decomposition and dissolution of tissues.  According
to Hahnemann, Rhus acts most  powerfully while the body is in a
state of rest, whereas the effects of Bryonia become aggravated by
motion.  This is quite natural.  The affections to which Bryonia is
generally homoeopathic are principally characterized by inflamma-
tory irritation: hence  the pains which Bryonia excites  in  a  part 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON.
761
must necessarily be aggravated by motion.  Rhus, on the contrary,
has a laming, stupefying action upon the tissues; hence these effects
of Rhus are necessarily diminished by motion.
  The provings which  Hahnemann  has instituted with Rhus, and
toxicological experience show that Rhus is homoeopathic to a variety
of affections, which are  best studied under the following categories:

                     CEPHALIC  GROUP.

  Nervous Vertigo and arthritic Hemicrania, when the brain feels as
if it were shaking in the skull, with burning pains either in the fore-
head or occiput, also with swelling of the head and even face, may
yield to Rhus.

                     NERVOUS GROUP.

  We need hardly repeat  that Rhus  has been successfully used  in
the treatment of
  Painless and cold Paralysis of the extremities, or in
  Paralysis depending upon  concussion or organic disease  of the
spinal marrow; or in
  Rheumatic Paralysis, with heaviness, tearing, drawing and be-
numbing pains in the paralyzed limb.

  Rhus causes coxalgia  with tearing  and stitching in the hip-joint
down to the bend of the knee, with heaviness of the  legs, paralysis
of the legs and feet, feeling of numbness in the feet.  The symptoms
recommend Rhus as an  excellent remedy in
   Violent Rheumatic and Arihiritic Affections.  It has  likewise been
employed in
  Ischiias Nervosa.   Rhus is most useful in rheumatism characterized
by stiffness and lameness of the joints, and stinging pains in the ten-
dons and muscles,  also tingling  and feeling of soreness, or as if
bruised.   The pains are generally Avorse on first moving the part;
they abate after moving about a little.

                     ORBITAL GROUP.

  Rhus has undoubtedly a marked effect upon the eyes.
  Scrofulous Ophthalmia has  frequently been  cured by means  of
Rhus; the symptoms are: burning in the eyes, lachrymation, pho-
tophobia, swelling and inflammation of the lids, inflammation of the
canthi, smarting sensation and pressure in the eyes.   The first who
recommended Rhus for scrofulous ophthalmia, was a homoeopathic
physician in Vienna, Dr. Ritter von  Lichtenfels; since  then, it has
been  extensively used  by alloeopathic physicians, even  by von
Ammon.
  In Scrofulous Blephiarophithialmia, inflammation of  the lids, even
Avhen chronic,  with  redness, swelling and scurfy formations  of the
lids, dryness of the  eyes, itching and burning of the lids, Rhus may
be of great service. 
762
LECTURE LI.
                   AURICULAR GROUP.

  Rhus may prove useful in
  Otalgia, with throbbing pains in the ear, and swelling, inflamma-
tion and desquamation of the external ear.  Also, in
  Parotitis after  scarlet  fever,  if the gland is hard as stone;  or in
chronic induration of the  parotid gland;  or  in epidemic  parotitis
(mumps).

                      FACIAL  GROUP.

  We  have seen that swelling and inflammation of the face, with
effusion of serum under the epidermis, are a common effect of Rhus.
All the signs of
  Vesicular Erysipelas are distinctly developed by Rhus.   We have
likewise used this agent in
  Crusta Lactea and in
  Acne Rosacea, with more or less success, but more particularly in
the chronic variety of these eruptions.

          DENTAL AND  PHARYNGEAL GROUP.

  Rhus has been recommended in some forms of
  Arthritic and Rheumatic Toothache, with fine prickling  pains in
the tooth as if a pin were stuck in ; also for a tingling pain in the
teeth, which is felt from  time to time, as if they would go to sleep.
  This agent has  been  successfully used by Dr.  Paine of Albany,
in the  inflammatory stage  of Diphtheria, "if the  inflammation was
of a dark-red, or if there were  dark crimson patches scattered over
the inflamed surface."

                 CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  The  gastric symptoms of Rhus  are  not of a common  order.  It
causes  a flow of water from the mouth, and dryness of the tongue;
it causes  a bitter taste  in the mouth; food likewise  tastes bitter.
The  appetite is  either gone, or disappears after  partaking of the
smallest quantity of food; it causes a pressure  in the  pit of the
stomach as if swollen.
  These symptoms may indicate the use of Rhus in some forms of
  Dyspepsia,  characterized by  flow of water, dryness in the mouth,
little or no appetite, or a capricious appetite which is satisfied  after
partaking of  the smallest quantity of food, with pressure in the epi-
gastric region as if the parts were swollen.

  Rhus causes a continual urging to stool, with  nausea, also with
tearing in the intestines; the urging sometimes results in  a watery
discharge.  Rhus also causes bloody stools, or red and yellow stools,
mixed  with mucus, of a jelly like and  fluid consistence.  The stools
sometimes are involuntary.  It may therefore be  used with advan-
tage in 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON.
763
  Diarrhea of a dysenteric character, accompanied by discharge of
blood and cutting pain.  In
  Typhoid Inflammation of the Bowels and Peritoneum, Rhus seems to
possess specific powers to arrest or favorably to modify the disor-
ganizing process which is going on in the mucous surface of the
intestines, in the blood, and  in the peritoneal exhalations.  Dr.
Miiller professes to have used it with success for the typhoid inflam-
matory symptoms and the tympanitis developed during an attack of
  Incarcerated Hernia.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  Rhus causes an increased secretion of urine, and even incontinence
of urine.  Hence it has been given with success for
  Paralysis of the Sphincter of the Bladder in the case of old people
and scrofulous or hysteric females, and even for paralysis vesicae et
ani combined.  In
  Nocturnal Enuresis of feeble, rickety, strumous children, who are
likewise troubled with  weak bowels, Rhus proves very useful.

                      SEXUAL  GROUP.

  The  action of Rhus upon the sexual organs is very marked.   It
causes  swelling of the  parts and a furious itching of the scrotum,
with a  distressing breaking out on the parts ; also violent erections
and,  in the female, violent labor-pains as if the menses would make
their appearance.  Hence we may recommend Rhus for
  Erysipelas of the Scrotum in new born infants; for
   Violent Itching of the Scrotum, with which many persons are some-
times afflicted; for
  Menstrual Suppression when arising from wet feet, and  the sup-
pression is attended with violent pressing pains in the uterine region,
and perhaps for
  Puerperal fever in some cases.

          CATARRHAL AND THORACIC GROUPS.

  In affections of the chest, Rhus is not to be despised.  It causes
spasmodic sneezing, hoarseness and roughness in the throat,  cough
with titillation  in the bronchial tubes, generally of a dry character,
and sometimes with the taste of blood in the mouth.  It causes like-
wise acute stitches  flying through the chest, at night, waking the
patient out of her sleep; shortness of breath and dyspnoea.  Hence
we have used Rhus with some  advantage in
  Typhioid Pneumonia, with  dry, glazed  tongue, bland  delirium,
cough  with stitches and foul or bloody expectoration.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  In Vesicular Erysipelas Rhus seems indispensable.  In some
  Herpetic Eruptions, Avith burning and itching, and  exudation of a
serous  fluid, Rhus may prove invaluable.   In 
764                      LECTURE  LI.
   Herpetic Eruptions on the Scrotum and Prepuce, with swelling of the
parts, exudation of serum, furious itching  and smarting, Rhus is a
capital remedy.   Do not neglect Rhus in
   Tinea  Capitis, with exudation of fetid and yellowish matter under
the scabs, itching, burning and inflammatory redness of the scalp.

   In a case of poisoning by Rhus, related  by Dr. Neidhard of this
city, vesicular tubercles  caused a great deal of annoyance  to  the
patient.  The eruption developed itself in the following manner.
   First day: Small vesicular tubercles resembling bites of insects,
showed  themselves in the  joints of the  hands,  feet, particularly
around the inside of the ankles.
   In the evening, excessive, almost intolerable itching at the same
time, with a kind of voluptuous feeling in the skin, followed by a
burning, after the skin  has been scratched  to bleeding.  Scratching
aggravates the itching and burning.
   Second to fifth day:  Swelling and redness of the upper and lower
lids of the right eye and all around it to  such an  extent that  the
patient could only  see with difficulty.  A similar swelling around
the left eye, but to a less extent. Tubercles appeared in different
parts  of the body; they appeared  also  on the knees,  hip  and
shoulder joint;  this action  on  the joints  was a characteristic
symptom.
   On the inside of  the ankles,  where the itching  was most severe,
dark-broAvn marks have remained to  this day, now five years.
   In this case the poisonous action of Rhus seemed to communicate
itself to  several persons who were in contact with the  patient.   A
decoction of Sassafras  relieved the itching; the greatest relief was
experienced  from small doses of Mercurius praecipitatus ruber used
externally as well as internally.  In

   Papular eruptions of this character; in papular  itch or herpes,
Rhus will prove eminently useful.
   Rhus vernix  has caused blotches, tubercles, and welts such as are
raised upon the skin by the  stroke of a whip or switch; also groups
of vesicles containing  a serous fluid, with burning, on the fingers,
behind the ears and on other parts of the body ;  hence we may use
it  in
   Urticaria  and Pemphdgus,  Avhere these blotches and vesicles occur.
   Rhus should  not be forgotten in
   Pustula maligna  or Anthirax, and in
   Purpura  Hemorrhiagica, especially, if the patients have a sallow,
cachectic  appearance,  with great debility,  tendency to paralytic
weakness of the  bladder and bowels, foul discharges; loss of appe-
tite, appearance as if the blood would turn to Avater.

   Rhus causes pains as if sprained or bruised, and as if the flesh had
been detached  from the bones  by  blows; hence it is frequently
resorted to in sprains both internally and externally; but it proves
useful only  in  lesions of the  tendinous and  ligamentous tissues
when resulting from blows or strains.  If symptoms of true inflam- 
RHUS TOXICODENDRON.
765
mation develop themselves, Rhus should be used in alternation with
Aconite.
  In hard and cold  Glandular Swellings, more particularly of the
parotid  and  sub-maxillary  gland,  Rhus  has  been  found  emi-
nently useful.

                       FEVER-GROUP.

  Rhus is eminently adapted to typhoid conditions of the blood and
other vital fluids; hence it will commend itself to your attention in
acute eruptive diseases, such as
  Measles,  Scarlet-fever, Small-pox,  if  a  process of  decomposition
should appear, as indicated by foul discharges from the boAvels, livid
colour of  the skin,  fading  away and unhealthy  character of the
eruption.
  In Typhoid Inflammations of the bowels and peritoneum; or in
   Abdominal  Typhius, as it is termed by pathologists, or in
  Bilious  or  Gastric  Typhus,  Rhus may prove  a  most valuable
1-emedy.
   In these forms of typhus the symptoms are more or less: the
usual pain in the region of the ileo-coecal valve, sensitiveness or
perhaps numbness of the abdominal walls,  symptoms of general de-
composition of the vital fluids, discharge of foul urine, fetid, Avatery
and bloody,  sometimes  involuntary discharges from the  bowels,
 clammy and  husky  skin,  empty and rapid pulse;  foul taste  in the
 mouth, tongue thickly coated with a blackish-brown mucus, thirst,
 epistaxis, bleeding of the gums, petechiae.
   In the epidemic typhus of 1813,  where thousands  of soldiers fell
 victims to the  disease, Hahnemann did  not  lose a single patient
 out of  one hundred and eighty-three whom  he  treated in Leip-
 zic  with  alternate  doses of Rhus and Bryonia.   This naturally
 excited great astonishment among  the officers of the Russian gov-
 ernment  whose troops occupied Leipzic at that  period,  but was
 taken no  notice of by the medical authorities.  This  fever  had
 two  principal stages.  During the first stage the patient  Avas af-
 fected with an intolerable bad humor, sensation of heat in the body
 and especially  in the head, dry feeling  or actual  dryness  in the
 mouth, causing constant thirst, bruised feeling in the limbs, rest-
 lessness, etc., but in the second period the patient did not complain
 of any of these symptoms;  he was hot, did not desire to drink, he
 knew not whether to take this thing or that; he did not know those
 about him, or he abused them, he gave irrelevant answers, talked
 nonsense with his eyes open, did foolish things, wished to run away,
 cried aloud or moaned without being able  to say why he  did so, had
 a rattling  in the throat, the countenance was distorted,  the eyes
 squinting, he played with his hands, behaved like a madman, passed
 fasces and urine without consciousness, etc.   To these  groups  of
 symptoms Bryonia  and Rhus proved homoeopathic.
   But  there sometimes occurred a third  state, a sort of lethargy,  or
 semi-paralysis of the mental organs.  The patient remained indo-
 lently lying on his  back without sleeping or speaking;  he scarcely 
766
LECTURE  Ln.
ever answered any questions ;  he appeared to hear Avithout under-
standing what was said; he only whispered a few words which had
no bearing upon the question; he appeared to be almost without the
power of motion or sensation, without being entirely paralyzed.
  In  this case  the sweet spirits of nitre were administered.  The
nitre should be so old, or so thoroughly sweetened that the cork of
the bottle is no longer reddened by it.
  One drop of this was shaken with an ounce of water, and  con-
sumed within twenty-four hours.  In the course of a few days, this
paralytic prostration was followed by recovery.

                     MENTAL GROUP.

  Rhus affects the mind more or less; it causes anxiety, a feeling of
fright, oppression, and even delirium.

                ANTIDOTAL TREATMENT.

  Fomentations of warm milk  and  sweet oil on the swollen and in-
flamed parts are very useful.   If the sexual  parts are swollen and
inflamed, they  may be bathed in a decoction of Sassafras.  Aconite
and Belladonna may be given internally. The internal and external
use of Lobelia inflata has been found efficient by some practioners.
The Mercurius praecipitatus ruber internally, and externally in the
shape of a mild ointment, likewise  affords great relief.  A wash of
the spirits of Camphor mixed in water, may likewise be used.
  The Creole to whom allusion has been made in this lecture, was
cured when attacked, by the powder  of Rhus grandiflora, a species
of the genus Rhus.  Excessive effects of large doses of a drug are
very often counteracted in our  practice by highly potentized doses
of the same drug, or by preparations obtained from different species
of the same genus.
  In regard to the dose, opinions  differ.  Old School  physicians
have exhibited  the drug in doses of from one to two  hundred  and
fifty grains  daily.  Hahnemann advises the  12th up to the  30th
potency.   In cases of paralysis, Trinks recommends  the tincture,
which is prepared from the leaves, and is of a dark-yellow color.
               LECTURE   LII.

                       STRAMONIUM,

           (Thorn-apple.—Natural Order:—SoLANEuE.)
  A well  known bush, from one to  three feet high, stem smooth,
branched, forked,  spreading, leafy; leaves broad towards the base,
pointed at the extremities,  variously and sharply  sinuated  and 
STRAMONIUM.
767
toothed,  of a  dark-green color:  flowers  large, axillary, upright,
white: fruit prickly, of the size of a walnut;  seeds  kidney-shaped,
black.
  It grows in waste places, on heaps of rubbish, in this country and
in Europe.  A yellowish tincture of the seeds is the best prepara-
tion.  A tincture made of the leaves, has a dark-green color.
  This is a powerful narcotic agent.  Pereira ranges the effects of
Stramonium  on man into three classes: In  small, but  gradually
increased doses,  it diminishes  sensibilty,  and  thereby  frequently
alleviates pain.  It does not usually affect the pulse; it slightly and
temporarily affects the pupil, and has no tendency to cause constipa-
tion,  but rather  relaxation.  Though it allays pain, it does not
usually produce sleep.   In  larger doses, it causes thirst, dryness of
the throat, nausea, giddiness,  nervous agitation, dilatation of the
pupil, obscurity  of vision,  headache,  disturbance of the cerebral
functions, perspiration,  occasional relaxation of the  bowels, and  in
some cases diuresis.  It has no direct tendency to induce sleep, and
hence it cannot be called soporific; but indirectly, by alleviating
pain, and thereby producing serenity and  ease, it often disposes  to
sleep.  In fatal doses, the leading symptoms are flushed counten-
ance, delirium  (usually maniacal), dilatation of the pupil, dryness of
the throat, loss of voice, difficulty of deglutition, convulsions and, in
some cases, palsy.
  These very vague statements convey a general knowledge of the
physiological action of Stramonium, but are of little practical value
to us, inasmuch as they do not delineate  a single disease with suffi-
cient clearness to  serve us as  guides in practice.  Baron Stoerck,
who may be looked  upon  as  a precursor to Hahnemann, recom
mended it internally in mania and epilepsy. His reasoning in refer-
ence to this point is very remarkable.  " If," says this distinguished
experimenter,  "Stramonium produces symptoms of madness in  a
healthy person, would it not  be desirable to  make experiments, in
order to  ascertain whether this plant, by its effects on the brain in
changing the ideas and  the state  of the sensorium (i. e. of the part,
whatever it may be, which is the centre of action of the nerves upon
the  body), should we not, I say, try whether this plant would not
restore to a healthy state, those who are suffering from alienation of
mind ?   And if, by the change which  Stramonium would cause  in
those who suffer from convulsions, by putting them  into a contrary
state to that in which they Avere, would it not cause their cure ?"
  It was  a beautiful and brilliant thought of Baron Stoerck, and
one  fraught  with  most  useful results, to suppose that a medicine
which possesses the power of exciting a certain disease in a  given
organism, must likewise be capable of neutralizing  this disease, if
occurring as a  natural malady, by virtue of its antagonizing action.
It was his belief that the drug-disease was diametrically opposed to
the natural malady, although similar to, or rather identical Avith,this
natural malady, in form and appearance. He instituted his provings
of drugs with a view of ascertaining how, and upon what organ or
tissue, they acted during health, and it is by these means that he was
enabled to prescribe Aconite,  Belladonna, Conium, Pulsatilla,  and a 
768
LECTURE LII.
number of other drugs, in  a  hitherto unheard-of manner, and Avith
a success alike brilliant and encouraging.  Behold how the great
truth of Homoeopathy has gradually daAvned upon humanity. Fore-
shadoAved by Hippocrates in one or two axioms, evanescent flashes
of genius; again pressed forward  by Paracelsus, who looked upon
disease as a state of medicinal poisoning that ought to be neutralized
by its antidote;  held up to the attention of the  scientific world  by
one of the few noble men who, although occupying an official chair
in the most distinguished medical school of that period, dared to
proclaim the necessity of stepping beyond the boundaries of medical
science as taught and practiced by his cotemporaries;  of ascertain-
ing the action of  drugs upon the living tissues  while  in a state of
health, and  thus learning from nature herself the  diseases  against
which drugs may  be administered as  their direct and positive anti-
dotes.  All  these varied views and suggestions  Avere so  many pre-
paratory stages in  the gradual advent  of the Law of Cure which we
have inscribed upon the portals of our College.
  What  is  it that underlies these  reasonings  of  Paraceslus  and
Stoerck ?  Is it not the  idea that  a chug, in order to become a true
remedial agent, must hold  some specific relation to the disease for
which it is to be used?  According to Paracelsus, this  specific rela-
tion consists in the fact that the disease is a state  of poisoning which
has to be neutralized by its  antidote; according to Baron Stoerck,
the specific relation consists in this, that a drug, in order to cure a
disease, must be  capable of affecting the  same tissues which are the
seat of the natural malady, and that this capability  implies a power
inherent in the drug, of directly antagonizing and extinguishing the
morbid process.  And now appears upon the stage of medical reform
Hahnemann, who sums up  all these  scattered  fragments of truth
under one universal generalization, teaching the doctrine that the
curative power of a drug, in a given case, depends upon its capability
of reproducing the symptoms of the morbid process  in their totality.
  Paracelsus and Baron Stoerck stood  on the threshold of the temple
of truth;  Hahnemann  entered the sanctuary, not perhaps the holy
of holies,  where  the causes  of things are revealed to man.   " I care
nothing about the reason Avhy a disease will  yield  to a drug which
is  capable of reproducing the symptoms  of the  disease  in their
totality.  The fact that the disease will disappear  under the influence
of such a drug, is undeniable, and. this  is all I contend for.  Further-
more, in  order that you may know the symptoms  which a drug is
capable  of developing in the tissues while in a  state of health,  you
must  institute systematic provings upon yourselves."  Hahnemann
never cared to go much farther; he never undertook to account for
the inmost reasonableness of the  homoeopathic  law.  The only ex-
planation  he gives of the remarkable phenomenon  of a  cure in ac-
cordance with the principle "similia similibus," is this, that the
drug-disease being stronger than the  natural malady, this  latter is
absorbed and neutralized by the former.  The superficial reading of
this explanation  has made it appear  imperfect  and unsatisfactory;
for how can we understand that a poor sufferer, who is already over-
shadowed by death, can be  freed from  the embraces of the grim 
STRAMONIUM.
769
  destroyer by being assailed by another still more violent disease than
  the natural malady ?
   _ This unfortunate misapprehension of Hahnemann's explanation of
  his doctrine, has furnished arms to his enemies wherewith they might
  assail the  inherent  reasonableness of Homoeopathy.   Such men as
  Trousseau and Pidoux have made the most of this argument in their
  refutation  of Hahnemann's  teachings.  I  have shoAvn  again  and
  again how this doctrine, that the artificial  drug-disease is  superior
  to the natural  malady, must have been understood Joy Hahnemann.
  I have  shown  that this  superiority of  the  drug-disease over  the
  natural malady depends upon the superior affinity existing betAveen
  these two conditions.  The drug-disease absorbs and neutralizes  the
  natural  malady by  virtue of this superior affinity, superior  to  the
  affinity existing between the natural malady and the physiological
»life of the organism.  This affinity only exists betAveen morbid con-
  ditions resulting from the same cause; the morbific force embodied
  in the drug, and  developing the drug-disease, being  identical with
  the  morbific principle which develops an analogous pathological
  process in the  tissues.   Here we have  the whole secret of  IIoiiiujo-
  pathy which, if properly presented to the thinking  minds Of this
  generation, will make Homoeopathy the  therapeutic Science of this
  and all future Ages.
    It  may  seem immaterial whether the phenomenon of  a homoeo-
  pathic cure is correctly or  incorrectly accounted for; but, if  you
  consider that an imperfect understanding of Hahnemann's explana-
  tion  has led to important practical errors, such as the sweeping doc-
  trine of medicinal aggravations, and this other one-sided and often
  mischievous doctrine, that none but high potencies should be used
  by a true follower of  Hahnemann, we  cannot remain  indifferent
  towards a  philosophical  interpretation of the true law of cure. Come
  up higher! is still the precept which sounds like angles' music to  the
  spirit of all free and  noble-minded worshippers of  truth.  Come
  up higher!  What! in  an age Avhen all the  energies of scientific
  minds are bent upon investigating first principles; Avhen  the micro-
  scope, the  crucible and  the  ethereal forces of nature  are constantly
  called upon for aid in the great struggle of darkness against light, of
  intelligent Reason against unintelligent Creeds and hereditary Opin-
  ions ; are  Ave to chain our minds by empirical routine ? are we to
  prescribe Aconite for feArer because we were so taught, or because we
  understand and feel in our very souls that it is in obedience to a law,
  of which we have a clear and logical perception ?  Let us not forget,
  that  we owe it to our professional opponents, to our great cause, to
  the sacred interests of humanity, that Ave  should  stand  before  the
  world armed not only with the brilliant results of our practice, but
  Avith  the irresistible might of that high Common Sense which is  the
  prerogative of men  Avho have freed themselves from  all  hereditary
  opinions;  Avho, Avorshipping truth rather than human authority, hold
  themselves accountable to their consciences  and to humanity for  the
  neAV  principles with Avhich they undertake to subvert  favorite forms
  of belief and established interests.   Hahnemann himself, in spite of
  his fierce denunciation of theories, yielded  to the  irresistible claims
                                49" 
770
LECTURE LII.
of that ever-active power in the soul wliich impels man onward in
his investigation of causes; the great reformer himself, when he pub-
lished his work on the treatment of chronic diseases, astonished the
world by an  unheard-of theory of chronic  miasms AA'hich.  sAvamped
more effectually than arguments could  do, his opposition to the in-
vestigation of the  first causes of disease.  Gentlemen, a homoeopathic
physician who deliberately abjures the priAllege of thinking for him-
self; who is  enslaved by hereditary opinions and interests; whose
mind is not, like the eagle's eye, constantly  looking up to the sun of
truth as  the  source of all wisdom  in the practical interests of life,
and of the sick-room in particular;  may be a fashionable practitioner,
he may amass a fortune, he may be at the head of a church-organiza-
tion ; he  may be accompanied to his last resting-place by a numerous
cortege of fashionable acquaintances; but in the temple  of humanity
his niche will remain desolate, and  in the balance of  history he will
be found wanting, and his very name will be scattered by the whirl-
wind of eternal progress.

  The numerous  cases of  poisoning by Stramonium  which  have
been recorded by toxicologists, go to show that Stramonium pro-
duces its remarkable effects  upon the  organism by virtue of its
peculiar  specific  action upon  the  brain.   The  active  principle of
Stramonium is an alkaloid which its discoverer,  Brande, has termed
Daturia or Daturine.

  Dr. Fowler, in his Medical Commentaries, mentions the  case of  a
little girl who took a drachm and a half of the seeds.  In about tAvo
hours furious maniacal delirium set in, with  spectral illusions. These
symptoms continued for several hours:  she  recovered.
  Dr. Burton mentions the  case  of two British soldiers who ate
Stramonium  by mistake for the Chenopodium album.  One became
furious and ran about like a madman; the other died with the symp-
toms of genuine tetanus.

  Albert Corvisart, in the 23d volume of the Journal de Medicine,
relates three  cases of children who were poisoned by Stramonium:
the symptoms were delirium, restlessness, constant incoherent talking,
dancing and singing, fever, and flushed face.

  Boerhaave  relates the case of a  young girl who had the powder
given her in  some coffee, for an unlawful purpose.   The symptoms
were:  redness of the features,  delirium,  nymphomania,  loss of
speech; then staring at one point, tremors, convulsions and coma;
afterwards tetanic spasm, and  sIoav respiration, with the coma.   She
recovered.

  In another case, related in Professor Rust's Magazine, the leading
symptoms Avere: spasmodic closing of the eyelids and jaws, spasms
of the back,  complete  coma,  and  excessive dilatation  and insensi-
bility of the pupil.

  Hahnemann reports the following cases in his Lesser Writings: A 
STRAMONIUM.
t (1
woman rather advanced in life, took two  grains of the extract of
Stramonium in tAvo doses within eight hours;  she was attacked with
stupefaction, anxiety, convulsions of the limbs, and involuntary weep-
ing;  these symptoms were frightfully increased by partaking of
coffee; they rapidly disappeared after swallowing a few ounces of
strong vinegar.   In relating  this case, Hahnemann remarks that
Stramonium causes extraordinary Avaking  dreams, unconsciousness
of what is going on, loud delirious talking like a person speaking in
sleep, with mistakes respecting personal identity.   A similar kind
of mania it cures specifically.  It excites very specific convulsions,
and has thus often proved useful in epilepsy;  both properties render
it serviceable in cases of persons possessed.  Its power of extinguish-
ing recollection should induce us to try it in cases of weak memory.
It is most useful Avhen  there is great  mobility of fibre, because its
direct action,  in  large  doses, is  increased muscular mobility.  It
causes heat and dilatation of the  pupil, a  kind  of dread of  water,
swelling and redness of the face, twitching  of the muscles  of the
eyes,  retarded stool, difficult breathing; small doses cause perspira-
tion and sleep.

   Mr. Marsh of Northampton, relates the following case: A woman,
aged thirty-six, took two teacupfuls of an infusion of Stramonium by
mistake for Senna.   In ten minutes she was  seized with dimness of
sight, giddiness and fainting ;  in two hours she was quite insensible,
pupils fixed and dilated, all the muscles of the body convulsed, the
countenance flushed, and the pulse full and slow.  The stomach-
pump was applied, and in a few hours she recovered, suffering, how-
ever,  from indistinctness of vision and vertigo.

  In the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal we read a description
of the case of three females Avho had SAvallowed an infusion of Stra-
monium-leaves (half an ounce to a pint of  water), in mistake for
hoarhound. They were found lying in bed, stupid, unable to articulate,
with  a certain peculiar wildness of countenance, and flushed  face;
pupils dilated and insensible, conjunctiva highly injected;  lips and
tongue  parched;  no vomiting; breathing  at times stertorous and
labored ; hands cold, with a trembling and slightly convulsive  move-
ment ; great rigidity of the muscles of the neck and back ;  at times
active efforts at utterance.  Two of the patients recovered, the third
died.

  The following  case of poisoning by Stramonium illustrates the
action of this poison in a remarkable manner. The case is that of a
child  belonging to Mr. Duffin, England, and is reported in the April
number of the London Lancet,  1845.  His little daughter, aged tAvo
years and a half, SAvalloAved, without the knowledge of her  parents,
upwards of one hundred  of the  seeds.  The first symptoms were
great irritability of  temper, accompanied by general itching over
the Avhole surface of the body, more especially of the face, and con-
duct as if  intoxicated.  To these succeeded flushed countenance,
wildness of manner, suffused eyes, maniacal  expression, ineffectual
efforts to vomit, incoherent and rapid utterance, screaming, catching 
772
LECTURE LII.
at imaginary  objects  in the air, or  rather  striking at them;  it
Avas evident that these  spectra were of a frightful nature, for there
Avas an expression of horror in her.face;  she  screamed violently
and hid her face; her eye would, to appearance, follow the imagi-
nary object for a moment or tAvo before she  made an effort to escape
from its supposed approach; she rapidly became furiously delirous,
struck at, pinched,  or  attempted to  bite every person Avho came
near her, or any object that was offered to  her.  In two hours the
child  had lost all poAver of utterance and of voice;  she could only
utter  a hoarse, croaking sound,  alternated with  a sonorous, crampy,
barking cough, and was unable to swalloAV in  consequence of the
violent spasm Avhich affected the muscles of deglutition when she
made the effort;  the pupils were dilated, had been so from the first:
the voluntary poAver of the extremities was gone, and the limbs Avere
violently agitated by spasmodic twitching and tossing (not by regular
convulsions), alternating with short paroxysms of opisthotonic spasms.
The pulse was almost imperceptible from the first;  coma came on
in five hours; a tympanitic state of the abdomen, Avith paralysis of
the bladder; and death ensued  tAventy-four hours after swallowing
the seeds.
  The blood was found to be semi-fluid throughout the body.  The
few coagula met Avith in  the auricles of the heart and large veins,
were very fully formed and easily broken down.  A slight unusual
blush pervaded the pharynx and oesophagus to about one-third  of
its extent; the  larynx was similarly injected.  The rima glottidis
was thickened  and very turgid; the  stomach  and  intestines pre-
sented an  extremely healthy appearance throughout.

  The folioAving  cases likeAvise show the  extraordinary action  of
Stramonium upon the brain in a most instructive manner.
  A man  of sixty and his Avife had swallowed a tablespoonful  of
the seeds of Stramonium.  In half an hour they were attacked with
vertigo, stupefaction, sopor and spasms.  A physician found them
unconscious, with stertorous breathing, depression of the lower jaw,
twitching  of the hands and feet, rolling of the eyes, dilatation of the
pupils, grasping at the nose, ears,  head,  difficulty  of deglutition,
pulse someAAdiat accelerated and inclining to intermit; the skin Avas
cool.  During the night the consciousness returned someAvhat. They
complained of burning in the bowels, deglutition was exceedingly
difficult and  painful, the voice became croaking and inarticulate.
The woman died; the man was saved by taking castor oil.

  A girl of four years ate a few seeds of Stramonium, Avhile  playing
in a garden in the afternoon.  Towards evening the child began to
complain  of stitches in the ears.  She became delirious and com-
menced to sing.  Her eyes glistened, the  pupils were dilated and
partially insensible to the light.  She caught at  things in  the air,
and  picked at the bedclothes.  She was unable to stand, her knees
gave  way, she acted like one intoxicated.   Large quantities of milk
induced vomiting of the seeds,  by  means of  which her  life was
saved. 
STRAMONIUM.
773
  This case affords evidence of the homoeopathicity of Stramonium
to typhus, Avhere this grasping at flocks and the picking at the bed-
clothes frequently occur.

  Another interesting case  is that of a robust little  boy of three
years.   He ate of the seeds.  Soon after he complained of scraping
in the throat, bored with the  head into the pillow, his hands and
feet trembled.  In half an hour the child was unconscious and  in
spasms.  The head was hot, face dark-red, the extremities redder
than usual, the pupils very much dilated, and there was profuse
salivation ; the child grit his teeth, trembled violently, was very
much convulsed,  showed symptoms of violent anguish, and con-
tinually uncovered his  private parts.  The child  was saved by
means of emetics (sulphate of  zinc), and cathartic injections:   After
he commenced to improve, he  seemed very much excited, and sang
and screamed continually until he fell into a sound  sleep, from
which he Avoke quite well.
  This  case  shoAvs the great  similarity which exists between the
action of Balladonna and that of  Stramonium, and renders it evi-
dent that these two great agents must evince curative powers in the
same  class of cerebral diseases.
  A remarkable  effect of Stramonium in this case is the tendency
manifested by the little patient to uncover his private  parts.  We
infer from this symptom that Stramonium may prove valuable ae a
remedy for Nymphomania and affections of the sexual system char-
acterized by  violent sexual excitement.
  This  effect was Avitnessed  in the  case of a chlorotic female, twenty
years old, who had swallowed a number of the seeds.   Her face was
hot and red, pupils very much dilated, eyes  injected; she was de-
lirious,  complained of vertigo, ringing in the ears, dryness of the
lips and tongue, AA'hich was very red, subsultus tendinum, twitching
of the extremities, sensitiveness of the stomach to pressure, accele-
rated and full pulse.  A marked effect of  the poison was an excite-
ment in the sexual sphere, which might be inferred from her actions
and from the expressions she used  in her delirium.

  In  another case  four full grown persons ate a quantity of Stra-
monium leaves, Avhich, by mistake, had been mixed  among other
vegetables;  they became crazy,  indulged in ludicrous gesticula-
tions, seemed intoxicated; the abdomen was  very much distended.
A case of this kind  shows the curative virtues of Stramonium in
mania.

  Other cases of poisoning have  revealed the curative virtues of
Stramonium  in  tetanic convulsions.  A robust woman, who had
pleurisy, prepared a decoction of the leaves and seeds of Stramonium,
of which she swallowed  three cupfuls.  Soon after she was  taken
with sickness at the stomach,  anxiety, her  eyes became closed and
her jaws were locked and immovable; the pulse beat violently and
the extremities tAvitched.  She was bled two pounds, after which she
opened her eyes, looked about wildly, with her pupils  dilated and 
774
LECTURE LII.
 insensible to light  or  contact.  She  opened her  mouth, but the
 tongue Avas immovable and she was unable to utter a sound.  She
 Avas  attacked  with opisthotonos.   Stimulants  and  injections  re-
 stored her.

   The homoeopathicity of Stramonium to amaurosis is evidenced by
 the case of  a girl three years  old, who, after eating a considerable
 quantity of the seeds, was attacked with convulsive twitchings of
 the  arms, paralysis of the  lower  extremities, protrusion of the
 tongue, staring of the eyes, dilatation of the pupils, muttering de-
 lirium, loss  of senses.  After recovering her consciousness, she com-
 plained that the room was very dark and she desired a candle to be
 lighted.   She passed bloody stools and recovered.

   A  man, who was  afflicted with violent rheumatism  of the head,
 took  from twenty to twenty-five drops of the tincture of Stramonium
 every few hours.  The rheumatism disappeared, but the patient was
 attacked with the symptoms which  usually characterize the toxi-
 cological action  of this drug,  such as:  delirium, staggering gait,
 dryness  of the mouth and  throat, hard and full pulse; he voided
 moreover a  watery urine.
   It is to this symptom that I  desire to direct your attention.  In
 hysteric  spasms, this symptom may be present.  In hysteric spasms,
 characterized by the sardonic smile,  sexual excitement and  the
 emission of watery urine, Stramonium may do us great good.
   Another  indication  for Stramonium in hysteric spasms is  the
 globus hystericus or hysteric  ball,  which  has  likewise been  oc-
 casioned by Stramonium.  In a case reported in the Magazine of
 Therapeutics (a German periodical), a mother and her three children
 complained  of a burning pain  in the  throat, and a"distress as if a
 ball Avere incarcerated there.

   Stramonium  causes paroxysms of rage.   In this respect it acts
 similarly to  Belladonna.  A little boy who had swallowed the seeds,
 and showed  the usual symptoms of poisoning, redness of the face,
 glistening eyes, dilatation and  insensibility of the pupils, shrill and
 croAving sound of the voice,  was likewise attacked with paroxysms
 of rage;  he  attempted to bite the people who were in the room.

   A case of poisoning is reported in Hufeland's Journal, where the
patients,  about a fortnight after the poisonous symptoms had disap-
peared, were attacked with a pustulous eruption which covered the
whole of the left leg.  The pustules were small and caused a good
deal of burning and inflammatory redness ;  they were filled  with an
acrid  fluid.

   A case is reported in a German Medical Journal, Avhere a girl of
four years was attacked with a fiery redness of the whole body, with
squinting of the  eyelids, trembling of the extremities, opisthotonic
spasms and difficulty of deglutition.

   In another ease reported in the Journal Universel (a French pub- 
STRAMONIUM.
775
lication), the  patient, a little girl of two years and  a half, ate  a
quantity of the seeds,  after which  she  Avas attacked with extra-
ordinary mirthfulness.  She alternately laughed, screamed and sang,
changing with wonderful rapidity from one to the other.  Her face
exhibited an intense scarlet-redness, the skin was likewise of a shin-
ing red as  in scarlet-fever, and very dry; her face, neck and chest
were  covered with small, shining, star-shaped petechiae.  The poi-
sonous symptoms were speedily subdued, but the petechiae remained
about a week after the poisoning occurred.
  This  case  shoAvs that in typhoid fevers, where such petechiae
occur, Stramonium may prove very valuable.  Some  years ago  a
typhoid  fever occurred in some parts of the State of  New York as
an  epidemic  disease.  It Avas  characterized by an eruption resem-
bling flea-bites, and yielded very readily to Stramonium, the action of
which was  specifically homoeopathic to it.

  These cases of poisoning shoAV that Stramonium acts principally
upon the brain and spinal cord; in fatal cases death takes place by
paralysis of these nervous centres.  The iris and the lower extremi-
ties seem to be most speedily and constantly affected by the poison.
Functional derangements of the abdominal organs seem to result
from  a sympathetic irritation rather than from the direct action of
the poison.
  After  death the vessels  of the brain, the ventricles  of the heart
and the pulmonary parenchyma are found gorged with a black,
fluid blood.  The stomach and bowels show signs  of inflammation ;
their  vessels are partially injected.

  In  the case  of  Stramonium the  law of primary and secondary
action to which frequent allusions have been made in these lectures,
is likewise beautifully and strikingly illustrated.   The first effect of
the poison  may be an apparent stimulation,  an increased frequency
and volume of the pulse; the skin becomes redder and hotter; the
patient  seems dizzy, acts as if he  were  intoxicated, laughs, sings,
screams, manifests an increased  excitement of the sexual sphere.
Spasms and opisthotonic convulsions may be numbered among the
signs of primary stimulation.
  These symptoms do not last,  and are gradually superseded by
sopor, stupefaction, loss of consciousness,  paralysis  of the lower
extremities.
  In  some cases, where the patients manifest very little power to
react against the  effects of the  poison, the  signs of stimulation are
either short-lasting or do not occur.  The patient is at once plunged
into stupor, seems paralyzed, insensible.
  In  regard  to the iris, the primary effect  of the poison seems to
occur in every case; the pupil is very much dilated, and the patient
is partially or totally blinded.  After the blindness is removed, the
patient may complain for a  time of photophobia.
  Let us now proceed to  review the effects  of Stramonium  with
reference to their corresponding pathological affections.  The cerebral
and mental diseases may be very conveniently ranged  in the same
category. 
776                      LECTURE  LII.
                 CEREBRO-SPINAL GROUP.

  Stramonium causes, and therefore proves admirably adapted as a
curative agent to, various forms of
  Mania, mania ferox, where the patient manifests a desire to strike,
bite, and otherwise injure persons.
  Mania saltatoria, or a jumping, singing and dancing mania.
  Mania ecstatica, or ecstasis, with exaltation of the fancy and sensi-
bility, generally with cerebral congestions.
  Mania errabunda, or rather a sort  of melancholy, impelling the
patient to wander about.
  Mania with excessive talking, even to absent persons;
  Mania with hallucinations, he fancies he is all alone in the world,
In a wilderness;
  Mania with frightful visions, shrieks, flushed face, feverish  heat,
slow pulse.
  Fitful  mania, a remarkable instance  of. which  is narrated  by
Hahnemann in his Lesser Writings.  It is the case of Klockenbring,
a man of high education  and holding an eminent station under the
Hanoverian government.  Political  slander  deprived him of  his
sanity.  His mania was of the fitful kind.   At times he indulged in
the  most ludicrous whims and gesticulations, reciting Dante  most
pathetically; at  other  times  he would enact some ludicrous farce,
say his prayers, paint his face.  One morning, during one of his fits,
he asked for ink and paper, and wrote a prescription.  It was  Stra-
monium. The drug was administered, and the patient had no sooner
begun to take the medicine when he recovered.

  Stramonium causes vertigo and  intoxication.  It has been found
useful in paroxysms  of
  Vertigo, with staggering, inability to collect one's thoughts, stupe-
faction ; these attacks of  vertigo may co-exist with gastric derange-
ments, such as sour vomiting, diarrhoea.
  In Mania-a-potu, characterized by fits of rage, frightful phantasms,
hallucinations (such as one-half of the body being cut off'), desire to
escape, glistening eyes, staring look, dilatation of the pupils, we shall
find Stramonium eminently useful.
  Phirenitis comes within the curative range of Stramonium. Many
of the symptoms which  Ave  have indicated  so  far, may occur in
phrenitis.   All our cases  of poisoning by Stramonium show that the
cerebral vessels are engorged Avith blood under  the action of  Stra-
monium. The symptomatic indications likeAvise point to Stramonium.
The glistening eyes, the  flushed face, the expression  of terror and
pain in the features, the peculiar delirium, generally of the maniacal
character, justify the use  of Stramonium in this disease.
  In Cerebral Congestions  and in Inflammation of the Brain arising
from certain causes, Stramonium may be useful.   Among  such
causes we  may number  the sudden  retrocession or the imperfect
development of an acute  rash, dentition, gastric irritation, a peculiar
miasmatic condition  of the atmosphere.  A phrenitis of this  kind
may be characterized by the toxicological effects of Stramonium, 
STRAMONIUM.
777
such as: glistening of the eyes, with dilatation  of the pupils, red-
ness of the face, boring with the head into the pillow, muttering or
furious delirium, stupor, burning pain in the brain, etc.
   These and similar symptoms might characterize a case of
   Cerebral Typhus, to which Stramonium is homoeopathic ; in addi-
tion to which we may have carpolagia, dry and parched tongue and
lips, petechiae, offensive discharges from the bowels.  You recollect
the epidemic typhoid  fever to which allusion was made in a pre-
vious paragraph.

   YYe have seen that Stramonium causes convulsions, trembling of
the extremities, paralysis.  Hence we recommend it in

   Tetanic Convulsions,  especially  when  excited by the sight of a
sparkling object, water, a looking-glass, candle.   Striking symptoms
of cerebral congestion  are always present during the paroxysm.  In

   Traumatic Tetanus, Stramonium may be used; convulsions have
been  induced  by  introducing  Stramonium into the  circulation
through a wound.

   In  Chiorea, Stramonium may effect  a cure, especially in recent
cases where  the attack was  in'duced by a  fright, by the sudden
checking of the perspiration,  self-abuse.

   In Epilepsy, Stramonium has effected  many beautiful cures.  The
following case, among many, may serve to substantiate  this fact:  A
poor woman, of  forty-five years, had been afflicted with epilepsy for
years, in consequence of a fright.  At  first, the attacks were pre-
ceded by a feeling of anxiety and oppression  in the region of the
stomach;  but very  soon they set in without any premonitory symp-
toms four or six times  a day, with loss of consciousness; the patient
uttered a shriek, fell down, and became convulsed; the attack left
the patient stupid, and with a feeling of aching pain and oppression
in the region of the stomach.  Her mind Avas not affected.  After a
good deal of fruitless treatment Avith Valerian, floAvers of Zinc, Cop-
per, etc., she was put on  the  use of the extract  of Stramonium, of
which she gradually took twelve grains, and Avas entirely cured of
her disease.   After having remained perfectly free from her disease
for seven weeks, she had a violent fright, the consequence of which
was a renewal of the attack.  Stramonium again cured her, and she
had been well for several  years Avhen the case was. reported.   Epi-
leptic spasms may  set in in  consequence of onanism, fright, retro-
cession of a rash, etc.
   I have already alluded to the fact that Stramonium may cure

   Hysteric Spasms,  when characterized by the  globus hystericus,
sardonic smiles,  discharge of  watery urine.

   Hydrophobic Convulsions have been successfully treated Avith Stra-
monium.   This poison  causes a  spasmodic constriction of the 
778
LECTURE LII.
fauces so that not even water can be swallowed.  Buckner informs
us in his Toxicology, that he once macerated, over night, tAvo grains
of the seeds of Stramonium in a glass of beer which he SAvallowed
next morning before breakfast.   He was attacked Avith vertigo, and
dryness and constriction of the throat, so that he was unable  to
swalloAV his own saliva.  In  violent  cases, the attempt to swallow
liquids has resulted in hydrophobic convulsions.  Hence in
  Spurious Hydrophobia and perhaps in genuine hydrophobia, Stra-
monium may prove useful.
  Stramonium has caused, and may therefore cure,

  Paralysis, especially when  occurring in an  acute form.  In one
case, tAvo grains of the extract caused  paralysis of the extremities
of the left side, which were covered Avith cold sweat; at the same
time the extremities of the right side and  the  loAver jaAV were vio-
lently convulsed.  The intellectual  faculties  were  disturbed, the
poAver to articulate impaired ; other symptoms were : Aveeping, diffi-
culty of  swallowing, increased  sensibility of the abdominal walls,
frequent and small pulse, hurried respiration.
  You will have observed that paralysis and convulsions co-exist in
this  group of symptoms.  In another  case  of poisoning the same.
fact has occurred :  convulsions of the arms, with simultaneous par-
alysis of the lower limbs, protrusion of  the tongue, dilatation of the
pupils, muttering, loss of sense, and subsequently loss of vision, with
bloody stools.  These symptoms lead us to use Stramonium in cer-
tain forms of
  Paralysis, partial or complete, Avhen accompanied  by, or remain-
ing after, convulsions.  Disturbances of the special  senses, and  of
the intellectual functions, are very generally present in paralysis to
which Stramonium is homoeopathic.   This kind of paralysis may
occur in consequence of a sudden mental  or  moral  shock, sudden
retrocession of an acute rash, sudden checking of the perspiration.
In a case reported in Frank's Magazine, the patient became para-
lyzed and  lost his voice  in consequence of the sudden suppression
of a diarrhoea by opium; Stramonium restored him very speedily.

  These acute cerebral and nervous affections to which Stramonium
is homoeopathic, are  very generally accompanied by  redness and
bloating of the face, staring of the eyes, a blanched  appearance  of
the wings of the nose and the region around the mouth, and a hectic
spot on each cheek.

                     ORBITAL  GROUP.

  The action of Stramonium upon the sense  of vision is very re-
markable.  It causes
  Dilatation of the pupils;
  Glistening eyes;
  Staring eyes;
  Swelling and redness of the eyes, also with sensitiveness to light;
  Diplopia, the patient sees objects double, but in an  oblique direc-
tion one from the other; 
STRAMONIUM.
779
  Black objects look grey;
  He sees objects which are not present;
  He sees a reddish-grey border around white objects, such as paper ;
  Letters  seem to  move, look  blurred, objects  are seen obliquely;
in one case,
  Amaurosis set in for six hours; in other cases
  Paralysis of the upper lid took place.
  These symptoms generally  co-exist with cerebral affections, or
violent  irritations  of the ganglionic system.   Some of these  phe-
nomena may remain as sequelae of acute cerebral diseases; more
particularly
  Amaurosis, amblyopia, paralysis of the upper lids, and the various
optical illusions which may characterize a general amaurotic condi-
tion of the eye.
  In Inflammation and Ulceration of the lids, Stramonium may be of
great use.   In the previously  mentioned  nervous  affections of the
eyes, Stramonium may be tried, whether they exist as consequences
of cerebral diseases or from any other source.

                      BUCCAL GROUP.

  The symptoms which are to  be recorded here, do not exist inde-
pendently of the cerebral symptoms ;  in this range we have
  Dryness of the mouth;
  Screaming until  the patient is hoarse;
  Stammering, uttering inarticulate sounds ;
  Loss of speech, he expresses his wishes by signs;  sometimes the
loss of speech is accompanied by furious delirium;
  Swelling of the tongue, it hangs out at the mouth;
  Bloody  froth;
  Ptyalism, discharge  of tenacious saliva;
  Constriction of the throat.
  All these symptoms occur incidentally to more general affections
of the brain or nervous system, in phrenitis, typhus, convulsions, and
so forth.
  This remark is likewise applicable to the symptoms of the

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  Here  we have to make the following record:
  Food tastes like  straAV;
  Vomiting of sour mucus;
  Feeling of anxiety in the pit of the  stomach;
  Burning distress in the stomach;
  Tympanitis;
  Rumbling in the bowels;
  Blackish diarrhoea;
  Diarrhoea having a cadaverous smell;
  Discharge of coagulated blood from the anus.
  All these symptoms constitute so many elements of  more com-
prehensive pathological groups.  In the various cerebral affections, 
780
LECTURE LII.
and in the various typhoid inflammations and nervous irritations, to
which Stramonium is homoeopathic,  these  symptoms  may occur.
The vomiting, for instance, may  occur as  a sympathetic result of
cerebral congestion.  The burning and tympanitic distention of the
bowels, and the  blackish and cadaverous  diarrhoea, may occur in
certain forms of typhus, or as a  consequence of a repelled  malig-
nant eruption, scarlet-rash or small-pox.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  Stramonium causes retention of urine ; in one case this was accom-
panied by a sensation as if a  cylindrical ball were pushed through
the urethra.
  This symptom reminds us of the hysterical ball as a symptom of
hysteria,   It confirms the use of Stramonium in
  Hysteria, especially when the difficulty gradually terminates, as it
often does,  in the secretion of copious quantities of  a watery urine,
a kind of urine which is generally designated by the term " spastic."
  This retention of urine may likeAvise occur as a mere  symptom in
paralysis, typhus, etc.

                      SEXUAL  GROUP.

  Stramonium causes a violent, unnatural irritation of the sexual
organs of the female, enabling us to use Stramonium in that dreadful
form of mania,
  Nymphiomania, Avhere Stramonium is particularly indicated by co-
existing cerebral congestions or even paroxysms of convulsions, Avith
loss of consciousness, hot head, dark-red face, dilated pupils, copious
ptyalism, gritting of the teeth, trembling feeling of anguish.
  Constipation and signs of abdominal plethora constitute indica-
tions in other cases.  This disease has been successfully  treated with
Stramonium.

  Stramonium also causes  metrorrhagia and a discharge of black
blood from the womb.  These symptoms may occur in
  Puerperal Mania, the paroxysm setting in with symptoms of un-
natural mirthfulness; the patient becomes uncontrollable, wants to
bite, the face looks flushed and the eyes glisten.  In
  Puerperal Convulsions, Stramonium  may be indicated by similar
cerebral congestions.
  In Typhioid Conditions of the womb, with discharge of foul blood,
Stramonium may compete with Belladonna, Hyoscyamus and other
drugs.

                  RESPIRATORY  GROUP.

  The shrill, hoarse and crowing  sound of the voice, which Stra-
monium causes, may indicate its use in certain forms of convulsions.
They may also occur in
  Dyspnea or Asthma, where Stramonium has frequently exhibited
curative effects, especially in asthma caused by the retrocession of an 
STRAMONIUM.
781
acute rash, with spasmodic constriction across the chest, and  expec-
toration of small quantities of mucus.  A fashionable method of
using Stramonium in this disease, has been to smoke it like tabacco,
one or two pipes a day.

  Stramonium causes a spasmodic cough, especially in the evening;
hence it has  been used with more  or less advantage in dangerous
forms of
   Whiooping-coughi, when  the attack results in vomiting, discharge
of blood from the nose, and the little patient becomes emaciated and
prostrated under the disease.  In
  Hemoptysis, with spasmodic coughing fits, Stramonium has like-
wise proved useful.

                EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

  Stramonium has caused a fiery redness of the whole body and a
petechial  rash on the chest and back, and  likeAvise upon the lower
extremities.   Observation seems to bear out the doctrine that there
exists a deep relation between such a rash and the functional power
of the brain.   AVe avail  ourselves  of this knowledge for the pur-
pose of promoting the development of cutaneous eruptions, such as
measles, scarlatina, or even  small-pox, if the brain seems to become
exhausted by its efforts to free itself from the depressing influences
of the eruptive disease.
  The existence of a petechial rash  in typhoid diseases, where exud
ation of a sanguineous fluid is taking place, affords confirmatory
evidence  of  the  homoeopathicity of Stramonium to the existing
disease.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

  We have seen  that Stramonium  is used by homoeopathic physi-
cians in
  Acute Eruptive Diseases, if the eruption does not come out fairly,
and the  brain seems to  be unsuccessful in its endeavor to relieve
itself.  The patient may be in a state of sopor, from which he starts
up every now and then with a sudden cry.  The face looks  flushed
and bloated, the skin feels dry and hot, except the extremities, wr^ich
may be cold.  The patient is frightened by visions, rats, mice, furious
animals, from which the children endeavor to hide themselves.
   These symptoms may partially occur in
   Typhius of the Brain or Bowels, where the delirium is generally of
the furious kind, also alternating  with singing  and whistling, the
patient wants to jump out of bed, has frightful visions, petechiae may
show themselves.

                            SLEEP.

   The patient may sleep awhile, after which he wakes Avith a solemn
look.  Or he  sleeps as if he were dead, Avith imperceptible respira-
tion.  The sleep is occasionally interrupted by screams. 
782
LECTURE LII.
                             DOSE.

   As a general rule, the higher potencies  of Stramonium have not
been found  as satisfactory in these various diseases as the lower.  I
prefer the tincture up to the sixth potency.

   This agent yields  an alkaloid Daturine,  concerning which the
experimenters of the Physiological School  have promulgated the
most baseless theories in the garb of science.  Comparative experi-
ments, which Schroff, who fills the  chair  of Pharmacology in the
University of Vienna, has  instituted with Daturine  and Atropine,
have led him to assert that Atropine is the sole and exclusive carrier
of the active properties  of Balladonna, and that Atropine and Datu-
rine are identical, except that the latter acts twice as powerfully as
the former.   Planta having shoAvn that the chemical composition of
these two substances is alike, the conclusion is at once jumped at by
physiological therapeutists that their action upon the living organism
is the same.   This identity of action  is determined by numbers, and
the numbers are determined  by purely mechanical means. The num-
ber  of the  radial pulsations, Capeller's thermometer applied to the
tongue, and the dimensions of the pupil yield the standard of measure-
ment.   The volume, softness or hardness of the pulse, the  tempera-
ture of the skin, the temperament and idiosyncratic peculiarities of
the experimenter, the inherent sensibility,  irritability and  assimila-
tive power of the living organism,  seem to be of no consequence
wdiatsoever.   The inference from these pretended experiments, which
reduce man to a mere piece of mathematical mechanism, is that Datu-
rine, being  much more  expensive than Atropine, may be dispensed
with, and that Stramonium is an unnecessary superfluity in the drug-
Avorld.  " How much vain talk," writes Falk, in the preface  to  the
fourth number of his Materia Medica, " hoAV much vain talk  has been
perpetrated  relating  to  the  difference between the action of Bella-
donna and that of Stramonium, until von Planta showed that  Daturine
and Atropine are identical, and that the same active principle exists
in both!" Kissel takes  the identity  of  these two agents for granted,
for, on page 262 of his Materia Medica, he says: "Daturine is identical
Avith Atropine."  ffisterlen writes, page 730, Daturine is " chemically
perhaps identical with Atropine; and  Schroff expresses himself as
follows: " Careful physiological  experiments Avith Stramonium and
its preparations have led me  to the conviction that the group of
symptoms produced  by Daturine, is identical, in  point  of quality,
with the group produced by Atropine;  quantitatively they differ in
this, that Daturine acts Avith  twice as  much force as Atropine."
  An intelligent physician need  not  be told  that these experiments
lead to false science, and that Stramonium and  Belladonna, in spite
of the  isomeric composition of their alkaloids, are totally distinct
substances, that each affects the living organism in its OAvn peculiar
manner, and fulfills  therapeutic uses of a  specific and distinctive
order.   Such doctrines  as Schroff and  other physiological experi-
menters propound regarding the identity of Daturine and Atropine,
must seem  monstrous to  a homoeopathic physician, and vet, if we 
STRAMONIUM.
783
would but dare to examine the doctrines of most of our writers on
Homoeopathy, we should find that their definitions and disquisitions
are as destructive of the truth  of homoeopathic science as the state-
ments of physiological  experiments are destructive  of Nature  and
Common Sense.
  The yeryidea which these writers entertain of Homoeopathy, is
false,  mischievous and  destructive  of order.  Their  conception  of
similarity's a purely subjective offspring of the understanding; with
them, similarity is a mere word, a sound, a shadowy  phantom, not a
living fact, not depending upon this or that man's fiat or creed, but
determined by the unerring, fixed and universal Order of Nature.
If there are two drugs in nature which act similarly to each other,
they are Stramonium and Belladonna; a chemical analysis of their
alkaloids yields the  same results, and their toxicological effects are
so similar that in many respects they may be said to be identical.
Nevertheless they cannot be substituted one for the other; the thera-
peutic range of Stramonium cannot be reached  by Belladonna, nor
can the therapeutic functions of Belladonna be replaced by those  of
Stramonium.  Why is this?  Because similarity is  not  a delusive
thing of sense, of sight, taste, sound, touch; but a living fact set up
before our mental vision in the endless and immutable Series  of
Nature.
  Here Ave have a case  of cerebral  disease, the symptoms of Avhich
resemble the effects  of Stramonium and Belladonna  so completely
that we are at a loss to decide which of these two agents is similar  to
it in  the sense determined  by the homoeopathic law.  In order  to
secure a favorable result we give both remedies in alternation.   If
Belladonna  was the  true  homoeopathic agent,  Stramonium alone
Avould not have touched the case;  and vice  versa,  if Stramonium
effected the cure in this case, Belladonna would not  have produced
the least modification in the symptoms.  YVhat careful homoeopathic
observer has not Avitnessed similar results  and  disappointments!
Yet if a mechanical similarity Avere the chief requirement of a cure,
Avhy should not Belladonna, in vieAV of its extraordinary resemblance
to the symptoms of our case, effect  two-thirds or seven-eighths of a
cure ? We have supposed  a case to which Stramonium and Bella-
donna seemed equally homoeopathic, and yet Stramonium alone was
capable of effecting a perfect cure, Avhereas Belladonna proAred utterly
poAverless in spite of its apparent similarity.
  The doctrine of Succedanea, Avhich has been  repudiated by Hahne-
mann, and which is utterly meaningless when vieAved in the light of
Reason, is continually  practiced by the thoughtless scribblers on
Homoeopathy.   A disease requires to be treated with its own remedy,
not with a thing Avhich is substituted for it upon the basis of a symp-
tomatic similarity.  The great doctrine which Hahnemann sought to
perpetuate by his formula, "Similia similibus curantur," is  that a
Disease  Cures Itself, and the Itself  of a disease is  its typical
symbol in Nature.  No man can claim to practice Homoeopathy  or
to be a homoeopath, into Avhose mind this  great truth has not shone
Avith the effulgent brightness of a noon-day sun.   Similia similibus
has been set up by Hahnemann as a sign-post pointing to the wished- 
784
LECTURE LIH.
 for haven, but its language is not subject to the fitful caprices of sub-
 jective interpretations.  In the domain of Homceopathy a drug either
 is or is not in remedial relations Avith a given disease; all the talk
 about degrees of homoeopathic  similarity is childish tAvaddle and
 shows hoAV far all such writers are removed from the Holy of Holiest
 of our Science.



                LECTURE    LIII.


                          SULPHUR.

   In the year 1828, Hahnemann published his remarkable work on
 the Chronic Diseases, their nature and homeopathic treatment.  This
 work consists of five volumes, the first volume  containing Hahne-
 mann's views of the origin and nature of Chronic Diseases and of their
 homoeopathic treatment, including a number of highly interesting
 and important remarks concerning the repetition  and strength of
 the medicines to  be  employed in the treatment of chronic affections;
 and the remaining volumes giving the  pathogenetic effects of these
 medicines, and as a  consequence showing the abnormal pathological
 conditions where they will act as curative agents.
   Hahnemann looks upon the vieAvs which he unfolds to the Avorld
 in the first volume of this celebrated work, as the crowning glory of
 his great discovery.  "Ever  since  the  years 1816  and 17," Avrites
 the great Reformer,  " I had been employed day and night in trying
 to discover the reason why the  homoeopathic remedies which  Avere
 then knoAvn, did  not effect a true cure of the above-named  chronic
 diseases.  I tried to obtain a more correct idea of the true nature of
 thousands of chronic  ailments which remained uncured in spite of
 the incontrovertible truth  of the homoeopathic  doctrine;  when
 behold ! the giver of all good permitted me, about that time to solve
 the sublime problem  for the benefit of mankind, after  unceasing
 meditation, indefatigable research, careful observations and the most
 accurate experiments."
  Until the  nature and treatment of  chronic  diseases was  thus
 reduced to scientific principles, the treatment of diseases in accordance
 with the homoeopathic law, was not only incomplete, but also unsa-
 tisfactory.  To be sure, an immense progress had been made  over
 the established methods.  In acute diseases, as well as in  epidemics
 and in sporadic fevers, Homoeopathy had shown her superiority over
the ancient systems of medicine in an incontestible manner.  Vene-
 real diseases were likewise treated more  safely, more thoroughly and
more  expeditiously  by  homoeopathic  means; secondary syphilitic
diseases Avere unknown under homoeopathic treatment which removed
the external local symptom  by curing the internal constitutional
disease by means of specific remedial agents.
  "But there remained the chronic diseases, the number of Avhich
continued to be immensely large."
  But even in regard to these diseases, the homoeopathic treatment, 
SULPHUR.                        < bO
with the means then known, although inadequate, Avas  far superior
to the received method  of treatment by the  usual violent  alloeopa-
thic  means.
  " The manner, in which those diseases were treated by alloeopathic
physicians," writes Hahnemann, "only served to increase the suffer-
ings of such patients.  By employing a quantity  of  disgusting
mixtures,  compounded  by the apothecary  out  of large  doses  of
violent medicinal substances whose separate effects were unknown,
or by using all sorts of  baths,  violent diaphoretics or expectorants,
pretended  anodynes and sedatives, injections, ointments,  fomenta-
tions, fumigations,  vesicatories,  cauteries,  issues,  and especially
those ever-lasting purgatives, leeches, blood-lettings, and methods of
starvation, and the various other fashionable medicinal torments, the
disease was either made worse, and the vital energies, despite of the
intermediate use of pretended tonics, were more and more dimin-
ished ; or else, in case a striking change had been obtained, another
nameless medicinal disease, much worse and much more difficult to
cure than the original natural disease, was substituted in the place
of the primitive  derangement; whilst the physician consoled the
patient  by saying that  ' the old disease had  been happily removed;
that unfortunately a new disease had indeed made its appearance,
but  that  he  was confident  he  could  conquer this new  disease
as successfully as he did the former.'  And in this way nothing
was done except to modify the forms of the same disease, to increase
it by the additional sufferings  consequent upon the use of  improper
and noxious  medicines, until the  complaints of the poor  patient
ceased with his last breath,  and the relatives were consoled by the
delusive excuse, 'that every known remedy had been employed in
the case of the deceased.' "                           ....
   " How different," exclaims the discoverer of similia similibus, " is
God's great gift, Homoeopathy! "
   " In the cases of chronic diseases, to which I have just alluded, and
provided the patients had not been too much ruined by the alloeo-
pathic practice, the homoeopathic practitioners, by carrying out the
precepts contained in the writings which I had then  published, and
by following the  advice which I  had given on former occasions,
both in lectures and conversations, did infinitely more good by their
treatment than all the previously known so-called methods of cure
had been able to accomplish.                                 .
   "By pursuing the method which I had recommended, and Avnicn
is much more conformable to  nature, the homoeopathic practitioners,
having in the first place inquired  into and noted down all the per-
ceptible symptoms of the disease,  were  able to remove it  by means
of the smallest dose of a remedy which had  been carefully selectee!
among the most appropriate homoeopathic drugs, whose genuine and
true action had been ascertained up to that moment.  The improve-
ment which was obtained by the homoeopathic practitioner, exceeded
all that allceopathic  doctors had  ever been  able to  accomplish  by
some lucky inroad  upon their  medicine-chests; for the  cure was
often accomplished in a very  short time, the  patient  never was de-
                               50
/ 
786
LECTURE LIII.
prived of his strength, as is  always the case by  the  alloeopathic
method of cure, and he was again enabled to enjoy his life.
  " The disease yielded in a great measure to a very small dose of
the drug which had been found capable of producing upon a healthy
person the existing series of morbid symptoms; and, if the  disease
was not too old, and  had not been too extensively mismanaged by
allceopathic treatment, the improvement often lasted a  good while ;
so that mankind  might deem themselves fortunate on account of
the relief thus obtained.   Patients who had been thus treated, might
have considered themselves almost cured, and generally did so after
duly weighing the difficulties  of their condition previous to homoeo-
pathic treatment, and  comparing them with the improved state of
health which they now enjoyed."
  Still Hahnemann was not satisfied with these results.  He  found
that the chronic disease Avas not extirpated by this treatment  which
he regarded as a palliative relief rather than as a radical cure.  A
momentary paroxysm of the  disease might be hushed  up, but the
fountain from which  the  many-headed hydra derived nourishment
at the  expense of the constitution, remained  unsealed.   Every now
and then, during an unfavorable state of  the weather, after a parox-
ysm of emotions, or from some slight irregularity of diet, the chronic
malady would break forth, inviting renewed attempts at a radical
cure.   "This result," writes Hahnemann,  "occurred in the treatment
of all great, chronic, non-syphilitic maladies,  even when it appeared
to be  conducted according to  the precepts of Homoeopathy, as far as
this science was then known.  First, the treatment was satisfactory ;
then it became less favorable,  and finally hopeless."
  Let us endeavor to identify ourselves with the mind of the great
Reformer at this  interesting period of the history of Homoeopathy.
He felt that  he had been laying the foundation of a great work; a
work  which,  in the language of  the classic poet,  would be  more
durable than brass, "monumentum asre perennius;" but the  super-
structure was not yet completed; the  internal cohesion of the work
required the  additional  cement of a more  deeply-penetrating and
more  comprehensive science.
  To  cure  chronic maladies  safely, thoroughly  and permanently,
this was the great problem which Hahnemann sought to solve with
all the might of his gigantic intellect.
  By  observing the symptoms of a chronic malady, he found that
they generally developed themselves in successive order, and that
this development often extended over a considerable  period.  Hence
he concluded  that these multifarious and  successively appearing
symptoms all referred to some hydra-headed monster lying hidden
in the inmost recesses of the organism, and that this  primitive
disease of which the whole series of chronic ailments in the same in-
dividual constituted so many external phenomena or manifestations,
originated in some chronic miasm.
  Guided by the thought which thus flashed  upon his mind, he soon
came  to the conclusion that the itch-vesicle was  the most universal
external representative sign of this internal chronic miasm.
  "I  had reached this point," writes Hahnemann, "when my inves- 
SULPHUR.
787
tigations and observations  upon non-venereal, chronic patients led
me at once to perceive that a previously-existing itch, which they
often confessed to have had, was the cause why many diseases that
appeared to be separate and original maladies, could not be cured by
homoeopathic treatment.  All the subsequent sufferings were dated
from the period  when the psoric eruption had manifested itself.  In
many of these chronic patients, who were unwilling to confess having
had  the itch,  or had been too careless to heed it, or had no recollec-
tion of it, I often discovered, by careful inquiries, that vestiges of the
itch  had shown themselves upon their bodies  from time  to time, in
the shape of  small pustules or tetter, as so many infallible signs of
the chronic contagion."
   "These circumstances, coupled with the fact, that psoric eruptions
which  had been removed by evil practices or  by some other cause,
were evidently followed in otherwise healthy persons by chronic
ailments having the same or similar symptoms, as had been observed
by other physicians as well as by myself, in an infinite number of
cases, left no doubt concerning the  internal enemy which I had to
combat in my medical  treatment."
   Gentlemen, the  conclusion at  which Hahneman arrived, appears
no baseless fancy, no hypothetical reasoning, but seems the result of
logic as  lucid and straight-forward as was ever manufactured by
metaphysicians.   The original eruption, in which the internal disease
had, according to an inevitable  law of order, terminated upon the
akin, having  been violently suppressed: the internal disease, in obe-
dience to that same law of order, again  sought to establish a vica-
rious representative upon the skin, in order that the internal organs
might be protected against the disorganizing agency of the miasmatic
virus lurking in their inmost tissues.
   "This internal enemy," continues Hahnemann, " I shall designate
by the general term psora.   It is an internal disease—a sort of internal
itch,__and may  exist  either with or without an eruption upon the
skin.  Little by little, I discovered more adequate remedies against
this internal  disease, from  which sprang so many sufferings.  From
the relief which I obtained by their employment m cases where the
patient had no recollection of the itch, I inferred that  these resulted
from a  psora which had been communicated  to the patient in the
cradle, or in  some other way, of  which he had  no  knowledge.  By
carefully inquiring of the parents or old relatives, I discovered that
my suspicion was well founded."
   It was against this internal psoric disease that Hahnemann sought
to discover efficient remedies, to  which he gave the general name of
anti-psoric medicines, and  as he proceeded to experiment with the
anti-psorics which had already  been discovered, and  to investigate
their therapeutic  virtues  with   greater accuracy, the  conviction
became more than ever firmly rooted in  his mind, "that  the milder
as well as the more extensive and even the most ^inveterate chronic
diseases, owe their existence to the psoric miasm.
   There is hardly a chronic disease the origin of which Hahnemann
does not trace to this psoric miasm.  Most cutaneous eruptions; dis-
organizations, from the  common wart to the  largest sarcomatous 
788
LECTURE LIII.
tumour, from deformed nails to ramollissement of bones and curva-
tures of the spine; nose-bleed, varices, haemorrhoids, haemorrhages,
menstrual disorders ; night-sweats, chronic diarrhoea or constipation,
neuralgia ; chronic ulcers and  inflammations; marasmus; abnormal
conditions  of the sexual instinct; mental derangements;  hysteria,
hypochondria, and even great epidemics, such as the epidemic typhus
of 1813, are nothing but "partial manifestations  of one primitive
psoric miasm, in which  they all originate, and whose innumerable
symptoms form but one integral disease, and ought therefore to be
regarded and treated as part  of one and the same derangement."
"A few homoeopathic remedies," writes Hahnemann, " will cure even
an epidemic typhus like that of 1813, in every patient infected with
the disease, though each patient may exhibit  different symptoms, and
may seem to be afflicted Avith a different malady."
  It is well-knoAvn that in  the epidemic hospital-typhus  of 1813,
Bryonia and Rhus tox. were the specific remedies for all  patients.
  According to Hahnemann,  therefore,  psora  is  the oldest,  most
universal  and most pernicious chronic miasm, the common  mother
of most chronic diseases.  It is just as tedious as syphilis and sycosis,
and  is, moreover, hydra-headed.  Unless it  is thoroughly cured, it
lasts until  the last breath  of the longest life; not even the  most
robust constitution, by its own unaided efforts, is able to annihilate
and to extinguish this enemy.
  On the twenty-fifth page of the first volume of the Chronic Diseases,
Hahnemann furnishes a short historical sketch of the psoric disease.
"According to the most ancient historical writings Avhich Ave possess,
psora existed almost fully developed in the earliest  ages of mankind.
Several varieties of psora have been describad by Moses three thou-
sand four  hundred years ago.  At  that  time, however, and ever
afterwards, among the Israelites, psora appears to have especially in-
fected the external parts of the body.  This was also the  case among
the Greek barbarians, afterwards among the Arabs,  and finally in the
uncivilized Europe of the Middle-Ages.  It is not my object to relate
here the different names by which the various nations have designated
the more or less  malignant  forms of leprosy (external symptoms of
psora) by which the external parts of the body became variously dis-
figured.   Names are of no consequence here, since the essence of this
miasmic itch is every AA'here the same.
  "In the Middle-Ages Europe was visited for several centuries, by
the frightful psora of the occidental countries, in the shape of a ma-
lignant erysipelas, called St. Anthony's fire. In the thirteenth century
it  again assumed the form of leprosy.  The crusaders brought  this
latter disease along with them.  By this  means leprosy spread in
Europe  more than  it ever had done before, for in the year  1226
there were in France about two thousand houses for the reception of
leprous patients.  Nevertheless, psora spreading farther  and  farther
in the form of a horrible eruption upon the skin, found at least some
external alleviation in those means of cleanliness which the crusaders
had  brought along with them from the East, such as cotton or linen
shirts which had been unknown in Europe  heretofore, and the fre-
quent use of warm baths. These means, together with an increasing 
SULPHUR.
789
refinement and more select nourishment, succeeded  in a couple of
centuries, in diminishing the disgusting appearance of psora so as
to reduce the disease, towards the end of the fifteenth century, to an
ordinary eruption, the common itch.  This milder form of psora in-
fected a far greater  number than the  leprous patients were able to
do, whose frightful appearance caused them to be carefully avoided
by every body.  The itch-vesicles do  scarcely appear, and may be
kept easily concealed;  but being constantly scratched  open in con-
sequence of the intolerable itching, and the fluid being spread over
the skin and those things which had been touched by such patients,
the infection, being concealed, takes place the more readily and cer-
tainly, and affects a larger number. In this way psora has become the
most contagious and the most universal of the chronic miasms."
   So  far  we have followed Hahnemann  with the most scrupulous
exactitude, and here we have his own statement that the modern
itch is the legitimate offspring, in direct line, of the ancient leprosy,
both the itch and leprosy being the external or symbolic manifesta-
tions  of an  internal, pre-existing  psoric miasm.  Hahnemann in-
veighs in  the  most positive  language against the suppression, by
purely external means,  of  the  itch-vesicle which he  regards as  a
substitute for the internal disease.   " It may be said," writes Hahne-
mann, " that at least seven-eighths of the  presently existing chronic
maladies originate in the reckless suppression of this chief external
symptom of the internal psoric disease."  After mentioning a vast
number of diseases,  extracted from as many different authors, illus-
trative of the pernicious consequences of the purely external removal
of the itch,  Hahnemann condemns this  practice in the following
emphatic language: "After reading the above cases, no reasonable
and inquiring physician will dare to assert that the itch, tinea, herpes,
etc., are  mere  cutaneorfs  diseases  which may be unhesitatingly re-
moved from the skin by external applications, because the organism
is not affected by them.  This  kind of treatment is the most per-
nicious, the most infamous  and the most unpardonable malpractice
that alloeopathic physicians have made  themselves guilty of.  He
who is blind against the wisdom which the above quoted examples
teach, wilfully prepares the ruin of mankind."
   The internal miasmatic disease and  its  external symbol are indis-
solubly united.  This is the doctrine of Hahnemann.  The external
symbol cannot be  safely and  effectually removed from  the skin
except by previously extinguishing the internal disease.   The con-
tagium may act from without, but if the  organism is tainted at all,
it is tainted throughout to  its innermost depths in the twinkling of
an eye.  The whole nervous system becomes  infected in a moment,
and if the infection has once taken place, ablutions, cauterization
and even amputation  of the part infected  are  of no avail, and are
utterly unable to annihilate the disease, or even to arrest its progress
in the internal organism.  This is not  only true regarding the psoric
miasm, but likewise regarding the other two chronic miasms, syphilis
and sycosis.  In corroboration of this doctrine, Hahnemann instances
the case of Petit, the great French surgeon, who cut off a portion of
the labia as soon as  the first vestige of the syphilitic disease was per- 
790
LECTURE LIII.
 ceived, in spite of Avhich constitutional syphilis broke out.   Hahne-
 mann  likewise  fortifies  himself with  John  Hunter's  opinion as
 expressed  in his work on. Venereal  Diseases: " Not one patient in
 fifteen will escape syphilis,  if the chancre  is removed merely by
 local treatment; and  in another part of the same work, where this
 great  surgeon  assures us, that  "the  local removal of the  chancre,
 were it even accomplished ever so  speedily, is always followed by
 an outbreak of the internal  syphilitic disease."
   Hahnemann has no idea that the psoric miasm ever disappears of
 itself.  On the contrary, he teaches most emphatically that  "the
 most robust constitution is incapable of annihilating it by its own
 unaided  efforts, and  unless  it is extinguished by the aid of art, it
 will last to the  end  of life."  And in order to  exterminate  this
 hydra-headed monster, a carefully selected antipsoric remedy has to
 be relied upon in this most difficult undertaking.
   There is hardly an organism existing at the  present period which
 has  remained  entirely free from the infection  of the psoric miasm.
 It is the presence of  this miasm which  so often baffles our best
 directed  efforts  in the treatment of disease.   As long as the psoric
 miasm is  not  excited  into an active state of development by one
 cause or another, Hahnemann terms it latent psora, the existence of
 which, in the hnman organism may, however, be recognized by cer-
 tain palpable signs.   The itch-vesicle is, of course, the chief and
 most characteristic sign of the  existence  of psora.  But there are
 other indications by which the psoric miasm denotes its presence in
 the organism.  Some of these indications are:  frequent discharge of
 ascarides and lumbrici; alternate paroxysms  of insatiable hunger
 and  loss of appetite; paleness of the face;  sore eyes ;  frequent nose-
 bleed ; cold and sweaty hands ; frequent numbness of the extremi-
 ties without any apparent cause; frequent paroxysms of dry coryza
 and stoppage of the nose ; soreness of the nose; frequent attacks of
 asthma ; dryness and falling off of the hair;  tendency to erysipelas;
 menstrual  irregularities;  quantity  of phlegm in the throat; bad
 smell from the mouth; nausea in the morning; constipation ;  vari-
 ces of  the rectum; itching of the anus;  chillblains; peeling off of
 the  skin; frequent boils upon the  skin, and a  variety of other
 symptoms.
   How does this latent psora act ?  Let us,  with  Hahnemann, sup-
pose the case pf a young woman who had inherited the psoric miasm
from her parents.  To all appearances, she enjoys good health.  In
the third month of her pregnancy she has the misfortune  of being
upset with her carriage.  The consequence of this accident, beside a
 slight  external injury and  fright, is  miscarriage,  accompanied by
considerable haemorrhage which exhausts  her strength.   In a  few
weeks she has almost recovered her former strength  and health, when
the news of a dangerous illness of her beloved and absent sister puts
her back in her recovery, and adds to her former disease a multitude
of nervous complaints and spasms, which make her really sick. In
a little while she receives better news of her sister; at last the sister,
perfectly cured, pays her a visit.  But the  young woman  remains
sick  in spite  of these  agreeable influences; and, though she  may 
SULPHUR.
791
appear to do better for eight days or a fortnight,  nevertheless her
ailments return without any visible cause.  Every subsequent labor,
be it ever so easy ;  every stormy winter, adds new complaints to, her
former troubles, or  these appear  to be superseded by other more
inconvenient ailments.   In this way the patient becomes affected
with an inveterate chronic disease, and it is impossible for us to com-
prehend why the full vigor of youth, under favorable external cir-
cumstances, should  not have succeeded in soon extinguishing the
consequences of that miscarriage; still less do we comprehend why
the evil effects of that sad news should not have become dissipated
by the news of the  sister's restoration to health, or, at any rate, by
the presence of the sister.  If it be true that the cause is constantly
proportionate to its effects,  as is ahvays the case in nature, it is diffi-
cult to understand how, in the case of this young woman, the subse-
quent ailments should not have disappeared as soon as the cause had
ceased to act.   The  continuance  of these ailments show that they
must have emanated from a much more deep-seated morbific princi-
ple, which had remained latent in the system until the  above-men-
tioned contrary events (the miscarriage and the disagreeable neAvs)
had excited its  action and had roused it  into a  development hostile
to the organism.
  Gentlemen, this imaginary  case may serve as  an illustration to
many similar cases which  you will often be called upon to  take
charge of during your professional career.  Account for it as  you
may, you will often find that some trifling cause, a slight jar, a fright,
a disappointment in business, will  develop some deep-seated  and
perhaps incurable malady.   How often  have I  been bitterly disap-
pointed, when I first entered upon the practice of our profession, in
prescribing for what seemed a simple cold on the chest or a simple
sore throat; promising, in the first flush  of enthusiastic hope, a
speedy recovery; ah, there was  the psoric  enemy lurking in the
back-ground, rushing through the narrow  gate  which had  been
opened to its treacherous  forces, and developing  a train  of deep-
seated and distressing complaints which it required all  my patience
and skill to overcome.  If  the internal psora, which had been kept
in bounds by a robust constitution and favorable  circumstances, is
roused from its latent state and assumes its secondary forrn of de-
velopment, all  of the above-mentioned symptoms, by  which the
internal  miasm  manifests its existence,  become more distinct  and
violent;  they vary in different individuals according to constitution,
hereditary disposition, education, habit,  mode  of  life, diet, occupa-
tion, mental and moral tendencies.
  The secondary diseases Avhich Hahnemann enumerates as the re-
sult of the  actively-developed internal psoric miasm, comprise almost
every chronic affection that human flesh is heir to, except venereal
and sycosic diseases.  The  syphilitic and the sycosic miasms consti-
tute the other chronic miasms which, together Avith the psoric miasm,
make up the formidable trio, from which all chronic diseases eman-
ate as from their fountain-head.  These miasms may exist isolatedly
or unitedly in a human organism.   If existing together, Hahnemann
advises to  first neutralize the  psoric miasm by some  appropriate 
792
LECTURE L1II.
anti-psoric remedy, and afterAvards to combat the other members of
the group.   In his whole professional career only two instances have
occurred to him, according to his  own statement, AAmere these three
miasms existed combinedly in the same organism.
  Hahnemann's doctrine of chronic diseases has had ardent partisans
and bitter opponents  in  the homoeopathic  ranks.   His  general
classification of the chronic miasms under three distinct heads has
been assailed by some of the most enlightened practitioners of  our
School as untenable  and unscientific.  The  fact of his  having set
apart a whole  list of particular drugs as exclusively destined, as it
were, to perform the office of extinguishers of the psoric  miasm,  has
likeAvise excited uncompromising opposition  in many minds.
  Nobody denies the existence of chronic diseases.  What is denied
is, that carcinoma emanates from the same source as  tubercular
phthisis.   Why should tinea capitis depend upon the same cause as
leucorrhosa; or why should  chronic diarrhoea result from the same
miasm that causes palpitation  of the heart?  All  these  varied
diseases constitute, according to  Hahnemann, manifestations of  one
and the  same internal psoric malady.  This it is that has seemed
fanciful to many of our best thinkers.  And  yet, if we consider  this
point with unprejudiced eyes, Avhat matters it whether we adopt  one
or ten thousand chronic miasms?  Hahnemann's general definition
of the psoric miasmatic disease may not be strictly scientific, and yet
his general  reasoning concerning the inmost nature of the  psoric
miasm may be as correct as it is possible in the present condition of
human development to be. You must have noticed that Hahnemann
accepts the internal psoric miasm  as a pre-existing disease. He does
not inquire  into its origin;  he simply infers its existence from its
actual phenomenal manifestations in the tissues. Is such an inference
logical, or is it simply a blind, speculative hypothesis^  I  cannot
admit this.  I look around me, and what do I see ?  An harmonious
humanity?  A brotherhood of beings made in the image and like-
ness of their Maker ? or what do I  see ?  Throughout  society, all
over the globe, we perceive traces that  man is not living in unison
with those high aspirations of goodness and beauty which move the
nobler spirits of our race to great exertions  in the cause of man.
Hoav is it possible that this  universal antagonism of interests;  this
fierce conflict of opinions  and desires; this crushing load of cares
Avhich weighs down millions; this insufficiency of means; this  uni-
A'ersal exposure to the  inclemencies  of  the  weather;  these many
sources of  dissatisfaction with . one's business or position in  the
Avorld; how is it possible that these and many similar causes should
not have developed in the inmost tissues of the human economy a
principle, representative of the disorder existing all around us in the
physical, as well as in the intellectual and moral world ?  If such a
principle exist, it must be  an  internal miasm which may  remain
latent until  called into activity by some adequate exciting influence.
Hahnemann looks upon the psoric miasm as  a principle more or less
analogous to the vital principle ; he terms it a semi-vital miasm. If
we consider that this miasm is co-eval, as it were, with man's exist-
ence upon earth, and that it has perpetuated  itself for thousands of 
SULPHUR.
793
years in the universal human organism, is it strange that it should
have assumed a variety of forms which are designated as so many
different dyscrasias in the more fashionable language of  modern
pathology ?   But as I stated  before, whether Hahnemann's magnifi-
cent generalization of the psoric miasm is scientifically accurate or
not; whether tuberculosis, arthritis, carcinoma, are so many distinct
and independent dyscrasias, or different forms of one and the same
primitive chronic miasm : the general aspect of the question  remains
unchanged ; which is this:  that man being originally intended for
a life of spontaneous harmony of all  the  bodily, intellectual and
spiritual powers of his being, has not yet reached this high  destiny,
and that the difference between  the imperfect actual and the perfect ideal
is  represented in the physical body by a principle or agent termed by
Hahnemann the psoric miasm, which may perpetuate itself through
successive millions of organisms, without  its existence being sus-
pected ; but which, on the other hand, has entailed upon mankind a
host of organic disorders which may likewise, and actually do per-
petuate themselves from generation to generation, and are described
by  pathologists as  so many distinct and independent diseases.
  This miasm may, in certain conditions of the atmosphere, or under
the influence of powerful social causes, such as war and famine, break
forth  every  now and then  into some universal epidemic  disease, as
it did in 1813, in  the form of typhus, or more recently in the form
of epidemic  cholera; in which case some of the more speedily acting
drugs, such  as Aconite, Veratrum, Bryonia,  and  so forth, may have
to be  employed as remedial agents; but against  the chronic results
of  the psoric miasm, tubercles,  scrofula, dropsy, chronic  catarrh,
blennorrhosa, haemorrhages, cutaneous diseases and a host of other
disorders, we resort to the antipsorics as our chief remedies, although
it is perfectly proper every now and then to  use one of the non-anti-
psoric remedies  as an  intermediate agent, if the complexion of the
case should render such a proceeding necessary.
  Hahnemann speaks of his discovery of the antipsorics as though
henceforth the era of therapeutic infallibility had been inaugurated.
I am  satisfied  that the power of these antipsoric remedies has been
overrated by the illustrious Reformer.  Their physiological  action
upon  the healthy organism is but imperfectly known; the provings
which we possess  of them, are exceedingly unreliable.  Neverthe-
less, it is my belief that a great truth was shadowed forth when
Hahnemann proclaimed  the  existence  of  a psoric miasm in  the
inmost recesses of  the organism, and the necessity of exterminating
it by  specifically appropriate agents.  It Avas natural that the noble
old man, in whose soul the fire of genius burnt to the last hour of
his triumphal  career, should  think  highly of this his last glorious
toil; but we, who  enjoy the  fruit of his labors,  may enjoy it with
the discriminating wisdom  of men who love their teacher well,  but
cherish truth no less.
  Gentlemen, the antipsorics  will often disappoint you,  they may as
often  secure for you a brilliant  triumph.  In a few moments I shall
introduce to you the chief of the series, one Avhich has almost been
idolized  by  homoeopathic physicians.  Would that I could join in 
794
LECTURE LIV.
Hahnemann's "Eureka."  I cannot altogether.  As  it is through
man's deviation from the conditions of an harmonious life of good-
ness and wisdom that the psoric miasm has been introduced into the
world, so it will have to be expelled again by his return to a life of
wisdom and spontaneous innocence.  Until this millennial age dawns
upon the world, we may relieve suffering, and we may even diminish
the virulence and prevent the further actualization of many chronic
derangements; but  the  sunshine of spotless health must  remain a
beautiful vision of the poet!
                 LECTURE    LIV.

  We have seen that Hahnemann adopts three Chronic Miasms, viz.:
psora, syphilis and sycosis, the psoric miasm being represented upon
the skin by the itch-pustule as its chief symbol; the syphilitic miasm
by the bubo and chancre, and the sycosic miasm by the cauliflower -
condylomata.  We have likewise seen that in speaking of the treat-
ment of these chronic  miasms, Hahnemann objects in the most em-
phatic language to the violent  suppression of the cutaneous sign of
these miasms, and that he attributes to  this  suppression, and more
particularly to the suppression of the itch-vesicle, that host of chronic
maladies under which  mankind are now groaning.  In a therapeutic
point  of view it is immaterial whether  we  agree or disagree with
Hahnemann in his views  concerning the   origin   and  nature of
chronic  diseases.   For, if we desire to perform a cure, we have to
select a remedy that has power to develop a condition in the organ-
ism similar to the one which we are called  upon to remove.  As
regards  the  possibility of  extirpating  the psoric miasm, if such  a
miasm exist at all, it cannot be done by artificial means; this must
be the result of that progressive refinement, that increase of clean-
liness, of universal comfort, peace and genuine liberty, from the
cradle up to old age, which it is man's divine birthright to enjoy.
  The subject of immediate importance to us all is, to know whether
Hahnemann's doctrine of the itch-vesicle being the external or rather
the vicarious symbol of an internal disease,  is correct.  If this be
correct, then all removal of the psoric eruption by artificial  means
becomes  not only an unjustifiable,  but even a criminal proceeding;
if it be not correct, then it is our sacred duty not only to repudiate,
but to utterly blot out such a doctrine from the  records of  our
School.
  From time immemorial Sulphur has  been considered a specific
remedy for the itch.  Celsus proposes several kinds of ointment by
means of which he imagines the itch may be cured.  One  of these
ointments consists of Sulphur mixed with tar; others contain copper.
The oldest physicians already used  warm sulphur-baths against the
itch, as is the custom now.  The eruption generally disappeared by
these means. But subsequent ailments shoAved already then that the
patients did not  always recover.   An Athenian, for instance, Avas
attacked  with anasarca on account  of having removed his itch by 
SULPHUR.
795
using the warm sulphur-baths upon the island of Melos (now Milo).
He died of this disease three hundred  years before Celsus, as is re-
ported by the author of the fifth book Epidemion, which is attributed
to Hippocrates.
   Modern physicians employ Sulphur against the itch in the same
manner as it was used by the physicians of olden times.   One of the
most common ointments against the itch is the ointment of Jasser,
consisting of sulphur, olive-oil and the sulphate of zinc; fumigations
of sulphur are likewise resorted to as a favorite means of removing
the eruption.   You may have heard of the  method employed by
Autenrieth; he dissolves  a  portion of the sulphuret of potash in
eight, twelve, or twenty parts of  water, and he washes the  patient
with this solution by means  of a sponge, which had been previously
dipped in warm water.
   This mode of treating the itch was  based  upon the supposition
that it is a purely external disease ; the doctrine of repelled itch was
either unknown or  ignored previous to the time  of Lewis Christian
Juncker, who published in  the year 1750, in the  city of Halle, in
Germany, his treatise on " the injuries resulting from repelled itch."
Hahnemann quotes this experienced and candid  observer as one of
his authorities against  the  propriety  of suppressing the external
psoric  eruption by artificial means.  Autenrieth, although advising
the wash -with a solution of the sulphuret of potash, likewise con-
demns the violent  suppression of the  itch as a most mischievous
expedient.  He employed this wash not as a  means  of suppressing
the eruption, but  as an aid  to a  suitably-conducted internal treat-
ment.
   In the middle of the sixteenth century, an Italian, Redi, started
the doctrine that the itch was caused by a little insect termed the
acarus psoricus or sarcoptes hominis.   His view and representation
of the insect  were  admitted  until  modern times, when attentive
observation showed that this  acarus is a morbid  product, not the
cause of the disease.  Hebra, of the University of Vienna, maintains
most strenuously that the  acarus is the cause  of the eruption; but
other great observers take a totally opposite  ground, and show, by
what seems to them a conclusive  demonstration, that the itch is an
internal  disease.    According to Schoenlein, the existence  of the
acarus in the itch-pustule is  problematical to this very hour. Alibert
failed in demonstrating his acarus of which he exhibited a represen-
tation   We know that acari occur  in the itch-pustules of animals,
dogs, sheep, swine; but their existence in the human itch-pustule is
doubted  by many  distinguished  observers.  Some have  mistaken
the acari of cheese for  the sarcoptes hominis.  Adams and  others
believe the pretended acarus to be indurated secretion._ Payer, in
his treatise on Diseases of the Skin, observes that  it is indubitable
that the number of these insects bear no  proportion  to that of the
vesicles.   " It is further," he adds, " rare to discover these insects on
the abdomen and on the  groins,  where the eruption of scabies is
nevertheless very common and very apparent; moreover, scabies is
known  to continue when  no more acari are to be  discovered."
Adams states that " the late  Mr. Hunter, in his lectures and conver- 
796
LECTURE LIV.
sations, always acknowledged that he could never discover the itch-
insect, and Avent so far as to suspect that the opinion concerning its
existence was derived from a preconceived theory, and supported by
credulity."
  But let us accept the existence of the  acarus as a  demonstrated
fact.  In this case,  the question arises:  Is this animal the cause,
the effect  or a mere accompaniment of the itch ?  It is either the
cause or an effect of the disease. Let us  examine this subject, not
Avith the microscope of sense merely,  but  with the  microscope of
common sense, and what do we find ?   We find that, as we ascend
in the past life  of humanity to its very beginning,  we come to a
period when man led a pure and holy life.  Sin had not yet tainted
his organism, and the itch or the itch-insect was unknown.  He
certainly was created with  a  capacity for disease, which  circum-
stances might develop into an active condition of the  organism; but
as long as man  lived in accordance with  the divine commandment,
he enjoyed perfect health; disease did not become a manifest, ob-
servable state of the human organism, until man violated the laws
of Divine order; then it was that disease became one of the conse-
quences  of his transgressions.  Now, then, if disease' originally
existed as a potential principle, not as an actual condition, there
could not have  existed any perceptible  phenomena of disease ; hence
the acarus could not have  been, unless Ave choose to believe that
the Creator had hidden it in some mysterious crypt in the human
hide, or in some secret nook of paradise, subject to  His almighty
command to jump forth  and inflict  the  itch  upon  man  at some
remote period of his history, as a punishment for sin.   Gentlemen,
let us not abjure common sense in our endeavours to discover the
causes of  disease.  The microscope has revealed to us the existence
of the itch-mite, but no microscope can reveal to us the  relation
which this parasite  holds to the eruption.  This relation has to be
established  by sense and reason.   I can very well understand that
the acarus should be  a morbid product, and  I  can admit that this
acarus should, in its turn, become the carrier, as it were, of the itch-
miasm; but there is a principle or force  back of all these visible
manifestations  of disease;  these supra-sensual or, as Hahnemann
terms  them, semi-vital principles or forces of disease  will escape
microscopic observation as long as our organ of vision remains sub-
ject to the common laws of optics.
   If the acarus were the primary cause of the itch, why should this
disease develop itself in such a uniformly characteristic  manner ? I
am speaking of the common vesicular or  lymphatic scabies.   The
itch vesicles are first seen on the fingers, in the joints of the hands
and at the anus.  The eruption frequently remains confined to these
parts for weeks, before it spreads over  the trunk.  The face is never
invaded by this eruption, though the whole body should be covered
with it.   This  certainly would seem to show that the acarus has
some regard for the seat  of man's glory, or else that it looks upon
the human phiz as too contemptible a thing to select it as the theatre
of its operations.
   In another form of scabies, the scabies papulosa, the eruption does 
SULPHUR.
797
not touch the hands at all in a large number of cases;  it is mostly
seen on the back, upper arms, thighs and abdomen.  I  am not pre-
pared to assert that the acarus has been seen in this form of the itch;
if it has not, the absence  of the acarus  in papulous scabies would
certainly be calculated to excite our suspicions in regard to the little
monster's identity  in  vesicular scabies.   The  truth is, the  more
closely I examine the doctrine of the itch-mite, the more thoroughly
am I convinced that this parasite, if it exist at all, is a mere morbid
product which may, in its turn, become a  carrier of the itch but
which cannot be regarded as the primary cause of this loathsome
eruption.
  Regarding it as an established fact that the  acarus transmits the
itch from one individual to another, it is on the other hand  equally
certain that this transmission would be  impossible but for the con-
stitutional receptivity  implanted in the human organism from crea-
tion. It is this receptivity, this potential  disease which is fecondated
or actualized  as  it  were, by the acarus, and which is made manifest
to the understanding in the loathsome form in which it  now appears
to  us.   We can understand that the  acarus, being  the original
morbid product of  the itch-force, may excite the disease, just as the
Belladonna-plant, being the natural product of the Belladonna-force,
may excite the Belladonna-disease. If these diseases are roused into
actual forms, it is in consequence of the  action which an inseminat-
ing principle, such as the acarus in the case of the itch,  exerts upon
the latent constitutional tendency  or predisposition.
   This relation between an external factor—the active, inciting, in-
seminating  or male principle—and  a corresponding internal state,
tendency or potency—the passive or female principle as it Avere—is
very significantly alluded to in the following paragraphs contained
in the Introduction to Trousseau and Pidoux' treatise of Therapeu-
tics and Materia Medica. Expounding the absurdities of therapeutic
eclecticism, they  conclude their brilliant  criticism with the following
deeply-philosophical argumentation:
   " To impress the living organism, is not to be understood in the
same sense as when we press a seal  upon wax which  passively re-
ceives the impression; by impressing the living organism Ave under-
stand that, in some part thereof, phenomena are excited which, in a
superior range or order of action, are representative of the pheno-
mena inherent in  the special object that  excites  the impression.
Thus the image which is physically impressed upon the retina, does
not constitute vision,  but the exciting cause thereof.  This image or
impression excites  in  the nervous substance corresponding inherent
properties, but of a superior order, capable by virtue of an inherent,
essential, spontaneous power, of seeing themselves as it were. When
we see an object, do we see it  in itself?   No indeed.   AVhat we do
see, is ourselves, our own  nervous organism  modified, excited  by
this object.  Such  is the essence of every vital property.
   " What we have said regarding vision,  is equally applicable to
every other external  or internal sense, the senses of taste and diges-
tion as well as those of sight and hearing. Our remarks are likeAvise
applicable to the senses of nutrition, sanguification, to  the chemical 
798
LECTURE LIV.
as well as  physical senses, or, in other words, to the organs  spon-
taneously percipient of the chemical, as well as to the organs  spon-
taneously percipient of the physical properties of the external world.
  "These external properties, by acting upon corresponding internal,
inherent states of vitality, excite them into analogous manifestations.
Such is the relation of the macrocosm to the microcosm, which has
been dimly foreshadowed rather than clearly defined by Paracelsus
and the philosophers of antiquity."
  Hoav strange that  the  men who have penned  these paragraphs,
should not  have a full perception of the doctrines of the  Homoeo-
pathic  School!  Do not the statements contained in these paragraphs
simply imply that the disease which  has been made manifest to the
observing sense, is primarily  a state,  a tendency, an inherent predis
position, a  formless potency?   .Do they not imply that this potency,
this  inherent, essential receptivity, can only be made manifest to
itself by being  acted upon by  a  principle  analogous  to its own
nature ?  This  principle  is a morbific  force which  may exert  its
influence either directly from within as an  immaterial,  dynamico-
spiritual agent, or  indirectly from without, through the instrumen-
tality of a  drug, its material  embodiment.   In the case of the itch,
the acarus  acting as a carrier of the itch-miasm or itch-force, excites
the internal disease into a corresponding outAvard form.
  If Trousseau and Pidoux have perceived the bearing of their own
argument,  and  if our OAvn mode of reasoning is correct,  we assert,
in the face  of the materialistic views now prevalent concerning the
itch, that this disease is an internal malady, and that the destruction
of the  acarus is not necessarily succeeded by the disappearance of.
the constitutional disease, any more, on the other hand, than the  re-
moval  of the eruption by means of the sulphur-ointment or the
sulphuret of  potash is necessarily followed  by the development of
some secondary constitutional malady.
  Let us examine this subject more fully.
  We  have shown that the itch is an internal malady.   There is,
however, this difference between  the  itch  viewed as an internal
malady, and  other internal maladies: that the itch results from the
indirect action of the itch-force, through the acarus, upon the inter-
nal inherent potency, or receptivity, whereas other internal diseases
are the offspring of the direct action of specific morbific forces  upon
corresponding internal states of the organism.  Taking this view of
the development of the itch, this malady is both internal  and exter-
nal ;  either element may predominate, according as the internal
receptivity  is greater or less.   It is the keen eye of a judicious ob-
server  which has to determine  this  difference.  If the  internal
receptivity is inconsiderable, and the infection has moreover taken
place so recently that the reciprocal relation between the  external
disease and the internal receptivity is but slight, and  easily severed,
it is more than  probable that  the removal  of the  eruption  by local
means  may be tantamount to reducing the itch-disease back again
to a state of passive potency.  On  the  contrary, if the internal  re-
ceptivity is sufficiently intense to become transformed into  a consti-
tutional disease, the external eruption cannot possibly be removed 
SULPHUR.
799
by local means without developing a secondary morbid process  in
some other organ or tissue, of more vital importance, in the place of
the original eruption.
   Schoenlein, the distinguished professor of clinical medicine in the
University of Berlin, than whom no man in Europe enjoys a higher
reputation as an acute observer, a  thorough diagnostician  and a
comprehensive reasoner, informs us in his published  lectures that, if
papulous scabies is repelled by ointments, washes, or by any other
cause:  asthma, nervous  apoplexy,  dropsy, generally ascites  or
chronic hydrocephalus, set in as the  consequences of such suppres-
sion ; " such secondary affections." says he, " are  always difficult to
cure; for we scarcely ever succeed in  restoring the  eruption upon
the skin."
   Speaking of vesicular scabies, he likewise alludes to  the extreme
danger  of suppressing the eruption in such cases.  " If the eruption
is repelled," writes the distinguished Professor, " secondary affections
set in.  In the case of young  people, at the age  of pubescence, the
violent  suppression of the eruption is particularly dangerous.  This
danger  is so much greater, if the disease had developed itself spon-
taneously, not as the result of external infection."  (I may here ob-
serve that in districts where the people eat quantities of sour cheese,
in high situations, such as parts of Switzerland and  Tyrol, the itch
is much mere common than among people who indulge in a more
rational diet, or who live  in marshy or level districts.)   Among the
secondary ailments which develop themselves as the result  of an
unnatural suppression  of the  itch, Schoenlein enumerates vertigo,
rheumatism, amaurosis, paralysis, neuralgia  of the extremities and
abdominal nerves,  epilepsy,  chlorosis, mania,  inflammation  of the
joints, more particularly of the hip  and knee-joint,  tuberculosis  of
the lungs and stomach. •
   Speaking of the treatment of the itch, Schoenlein continues: " Re-
garding the treatment of this disease, the greatest antagonism seems
to prevail among doctors.  In modern times, the notion that the itch
is nothing but  a local  disease, aud that the removal  of this local
symptom is identical with the cure of the disease, has transgressed
all bounds.   Unfortunately this theory has not been confirmed by
experience.   There are cases Avhere the itch  can be suppressed with-
out  injury to the patient; but as yet we have  no  criterion when
this  may be  done safely; hence any violent  suppression must be
considered dangerous, unless we are  positively certain that the dis-
ease has only lasted a short time and  is the  result of external infec-
tion."
   These are the teachings of one of the most distinguished Profes-
sors  of  Europe, whose range and powers of observation are at least
equal to those  of any man living.   Schoenlein is looked  upon by
the homoeopathic physicians of Europe as a sort of mediator betAveen
the Old and New Schools; it is certainly true that there is no medi-
cal author living whose works can be read with more pleasure and
profit than those of this eminent teacher.
   Schoenlein gives the preference to Autenrieth's method; he con-
siders it perfectly safe.  It does not aim at a violent suppression of 
800
LECTURE LIV.
the eruption, but it meets the  twofold  condition of a cure, that of
destroying the  acarus  and neutralizing the internal  disease.   We
accomplish the  former by washing the patient with a solution of the
sulphuret of Potash, and the latter by giving Sulphur internally.
  There are other diseases which develop animalculae as  morbid
products.  In tinea capitis, pediculi  are  very often  generated to
excess.   Visceral entozoa are morbid products.  Taenia is a morbid
product.

  We are told  that the itch never gets Avell of itself.  Schoenlein,
Hahnemann, Autenrieth, and  other observers,  inform us that  this
disease  may last to the end of life unless met by adequate treatment.
It may seem to disappear  for a while, but it Avill break out again
under favorable circumstances.   If this be so, hoAV do we account
for the cure of the itch, in our practice, by means of the 30th potency
of Sulphur ?  Unless we choose to give the lie to those who have
reported such cures, we must believe them.  I have never succeeded
in curing the itch with the 30th potency of Sulphur; but I have
curflft it again and again with nothing but Sulphur used internally.
In one family of seven persons, the disease was caught  from a young
woman who had just arrived from ship-board. It was a sort of tuber-
cular scabies.  The finger  and toe-joints, and the elboAV and knee-
joints, were swollen, rigid, of a fiery-red, and thickly studded with
vesicles and here and  there larger pustules.  The burning itching
was intense.  I  prepared  an  infusion of Sulphur, one ounce of the
pure Sulphur to a  quart of water, of Avhich they took a tablespoon-
ful morning and evening, sweetened with sugar, the  children  only
half the quantity.  In a few Aveeks they Avere perfectly restored.  Of
course the usual precautionary means, as regards cleanliness, con-
stant change of linen, ablutions and careful diet, have to be observed
in every case.  In this case, and  in all similar cases, the  acarus, if
there was any, must have been destroyed  by the dynamic action of
Sulphur, or rather the acarus being a mere  product of the disease,
it necessarily became extinct with the disappearance of the internal
malady.
  Again, we have  any number of cases among our records, where a
patient had been treated with  Sulphur-ointment and fumigations of
Sulphur for months without being cured, and where a few globules
of Carbo vegetabilis, Sepia, or even of highly-potentized Sulphur,
would afterwards effect a speedy and thorough cure.
  And it is a fact which has been demonstrated beyond the shadow
of a doubt, that the destruction of the acarus is not necessarily fol-
lowed by the disappearance of the itch-disease.  Caustic potash, for
instance, will *. estroy the acarus, but it may  not cure the disease.
  The most distressing cases of vesicular scabies have been cured
by nothing but  the internal use of Mercury.  I have already alluded
to the case of two young  ladies  who were infected at school, and
who were covered  with the most loathsome itch-sores.  The internal
use of the 6th potency of Mercury cured them thoroughly and per-
manently.
  To sum up, I believe that it is the opinion of all intelligent and 
SULPHUR.
801
carefully observing homoeopathic physicians of the present day,
that
  1. The itch is an internal disease ;
  2. That the external eruption is not merely a local symptom, but
the representative manifestation of an internal malady ;
  3. That the destruction  of the acarus alone does not necessarily
imply the cure of scabies;
  4. That a cure of the disease is best effected, in all recent cases, by
the proper use of both external and internal means;
  5. That the external means  should simply aim at a destruction of
the parasite,  not at a violent suppression of the eruption, and that
the cure of the real malady, and the  consequent  removal  of the
eruption, is accomplished by the use  of internal means; and that
  6. The violent suppression  of  the eruption may be followed by
distressing, dangerous, inveterate  and even incurable secondary ail-
ments.

  Behr, the  greatest oculist of the past century, who was Professor
of ophthalmic surgery in the Medical School of Vienna, this hot-bed
of modern materialism, relates a case of amaurosis which came on
in consequence of a violent suppression of  the itch.  He treated the
patient with  Sulphur internally, in doses of one-sixteenth of a grain,
and the man's  sight was  perfectly  restored.  I  am  unable  to say
whether the eruption was brought out again; but I think it was.
  Hahnemann  scouted the very thought  of external applications
when he first developed his doctrine  of Chronic Diseases.   At a later
period, he permitted the external use of a homoeopathically indicated
remedy on parts which had remained free from  the eruption.  Let
us proceed cautiously in introducing changes or pretended improve-
ments in  our mode of treating diseases.  Of Hahnemann's original
rules of treatment  hardly one is  folloAved  by modern  practitioners.
Who treats a case of syphilis now by giving a single globule of the
30th potency of Mercurius  solubilis, and no more, as Hahnemann ad-
vises? or who treats  a case of scabies with a single globule of the
30th potency of Sulphur, as he again advises us to do ?   We have
learned by abundant experience that we can do better in many cases,
and that unless we sometimes acted differently, we should  not be
able to cure our patients.   But in spite of this incompleteness in the
teachings of  Hahnemann, there is a great deal in his-doctrine of the
psoric miasm that is suggestive to a religious and philosophical mind.
The human  mind will naturally  inquire into the causes of things:
and our men of science fancy that the  microscope and the crucible
will reveal to them the "ultima thule" of all  knowledge.   Let them
go on, they will come to a dead halt just as  surely as the atmospheric
air is a vehicle, but not a principle of vitality. Against this tendency
to a materialistic view of things, Hahnemann Avas opposed with all
the force  of his genius.   Hahnemann  was  an  eminently spiritual
thinker.   Our modern men of science are not.  Materialism is  the
order of the day.  The Creator has been dethroned; man is the God
of Nature.   He has made himself a microscope through which he
tries to have a peep at the omnipotent  Spirit as  he weaves with his 
802
LECTURE LIV.
invisible threads the glorious tissues of Creation; and he expects to
inform the Eternal Weaver some time or other'that his Universe is
all gas ; that modern science has revealed Him as the leading Chemist
of the Age, and that the acarus is the cause of the itch.
  Gentlemen, disease does  not affect the inmost soul; it in\Tades the
material tissues, Avithout, however, being a material thing.   This
material vieAV of disease is rejected by Hahnemann and by all rational
thinkers.   You may not accept his doctrine  of the  psoric miasm;
but there is something deeply suggestive in the thought that the dis-
order Avhich underlies the  Avhole mechanism  of society and  taints
more or less every manifestation of the varied forces of life, is repre-
sented in the human organism by a potential principle of disease or
rather  by a capacity for disease Avhich may remain undeveloped in
millions of organisms, but  may, in  millions of other organisms lead
to the development of positive suffering.  Let  me offer a suggestion.
If Hahnemann  is so entirely Avrong, hoAV will you understand the fact
that a globule of Aconite can effect as mighty a change in the tissues
as Ave know it often does ?   There  must, in the first  place, pre-exist
in the human  organism a receptivity for  the action of Aconite.
Chemical  analysis or microscopic  observation may  not reveal this
immaterial fitness in the tissues to be impressed by an infinitesimal
globule of the Aconite-poison; but it exists, and if this susceptibility
is roused into an actual condition of suffering,  this condition will be
found characterized  by the very symptoms which the Aconite-poi-
son as embodied in the Aconite-plant, is capable of producing in the
healthy body.   From the notes  with which Hahnemann's writings
are  interspersed, I infer that he believed in the existence of morbific
forces Avhich, acting  upon corresponding states of receptiATity in the
human organism, develop these states into actual conditions of suf-
fering, which conditions are characterized by  symptoms analogous
to the effects developed by  drugs in the healthy organism.  I have
explained in previous lectures that I look upon drugs as products
of the same forces which, by their action upon receptiA^e organisms,
develop the abnormal conditions which Ave term diseases.   By Avhat
process  these agents effect  the neutralization  of diseases, it is the
business of further observation to determine Avith scientific accuracy.
For  the present I am inclined to believe, as I have  endeavored to
explain, that a  principle of attractive affinity will account for this
methodus medendi.
  Gentlemen, if I have explained  myself clearly, you are noAV in
possession of every definition that bears, in my own  mind, upon the
theory of Homoeopathy.  I cherish no effort  more  dearly than to
read Homoeopathy in Nature and to construct the homoeopathic doc-
trine out of the living  fountain of man's own  untrammelled reason.
I Avould ask you to follow this example.  In the domain of medicine
you have an unknown world of neAV ideas before  you.  Explore it
fearlessly, but cautiously and humbly.  Be  on your  guard against
the  fascinating  materialism  of the day; have every reAerence for the
recent achievements  of material Science; but shun her materialistic
view of the causes of things.  When our scientific men draw conclu-
sions and beget theories having for their object an explanation of the 
SULPHUR.
803
phenomena of life by means  of material laws, they seem to me like
Avire-puppets upon the stage,  playing pranks in the presence of Eter-
nal Reason.   Let us avoid  fanatical exclusivism as well as all mere-
tricious affiliations with  the  idols of material science, and just as
surely as truth is the ground-work of Nature, just so surely may we
hope that our men of science Avill sooner or later worship in the very
temple where we have found the means of well-doing.
LECTURE  LV.
  In  my last lecture I have endeavored to set Hahnemann right
before you in regard to his celebrated doctrine of psora.  I have
endeavored to shoAV that psora, in Hahnemann's mind,  typifies an
hereditary condition, the existence of which, in the human organism,
is coeval, as far as historical  records bear us out, with the existence
of the human race.  I have endeavored to show that this hereditary
condition represents, in  man's physical body, the difference between
the sinfulness of the actual, and the holiness of the ideal life which
it  must have been the original  design of the Creator, man  should
lead; I have endeavored  to  show that psora  exists, in man,  as  a
potential principle of disease which may remain latent in millions of
organisms, but which, in many other  millions, may be  excited, by
the operation of particular causes, into actual manifestation in the
shape of numberless chronic ailments; I  have endeavored to show
that  epidemic diseases, typhus, cholera, small-pox, and so  forth,
constitute so many acute paroxysms of  development  of this in-
herent potential principle  of disease;  that this  principle constitutes
a germinal fitness, a predisposing taint which, through the operation
of  specific forces acting like  so many inseminating principles m
certain abnormal conditions of atmosphere, of mode of life, exposure,
mental or  moral excitement, may become an actual disease, as the
seed  slumbering under ground, is quickened into life by the vivify -
ino- sunbeam in  suitable conditions of soil, air and  moisture.  And
finally I have endeavored to vindicate Hahnemann, this discoverer
of a  universal law, the effect of which, upon man's progression to-
wards a life of stainless beauty, few of us suspect and still fewer are
able to predetermine in their own minds: I repeat, I have endeavored
to vindicate  Hahnemann from the childish imputation that he re-
gards the suppression of the itch-vesicle as the immediate source of
most chronic diseases.   Those who state his great  doctrine in this
petty, technical manner, overlook the universality of the principle
involved- they reduce the fruitful and comprehensive conception of
a  smantic intellect to the contracted matter-of-fact perception of an
ordinary pill-vender.  Seal up all such defaming  lips by referring
the idfe gossips to first principles; teach  them that Hahne-an-
psora means first, an inherent receptivity for disease winch no Pro-
fessor of natural Theology  could deny without stultifying  himself
before an intelligent audience;  or  it maybe said to represent the 
804                      LECTURE  LV.
female principle in the process of generation, which has to be acted
upon by a male or seminal principle, in order to produce an actual
disease; nor  can  this production of diseases  be effected;  in  other
words, the female  principle cannot be fecoudated, except in favorable
conditions, favorable  to the growth of evil, but abnormal with re-
spect to the physiological laws of the organism.  These seminal princi-
ples constitute disease-begetting forces which the cosmic psoric miasm
represents in their totality as it were, as their common  mother or
central focus from AYhich the specific  principles  or forces of disease
emanate as so many distinct manifestations, each represented in the
drug-world, by one of those agents Avhich Hahnemann has designa-
ted by the term "anti-psorics."
  If I have  been at  all  able to cast a  glance into  Hahnemann's
mind, I would say  that this is the proper construction  to be put
upon his great doctrine of the psoric miasm.   It involves no more
nor less than an investigation of the primary causes of disease.  Ac-
cidental errors in the details of his doctrine  do not invalidate its
general correctness.   The psora-doctrine of Hahnemann  has been
assailed on all sides  by  thoughtless men  as well as by men well
versed in the material sciences.  But little is as yet  known of the
world of causes.   It  is owing to this scantiness of knowledge that
Homoeopathy has remained  an empirical science, and that our pro-
gress is due more to our successful treatment of diseases than to the
inherent  superiority of our  principles.  But a knoAvledge of the
causes of things is being  revealed to us more and more;  and,  when
this  revelation shall be complete,  the inspirations  of Reason will
be confirmed by the evidence of Fact.
  To return  to Sulphur.   This agent being considered as the chief
antidote to the psoric miasm, there was a time when no case of
chronic or even sub-acute  disease was treated without a dose of Sul-
phur being put in, every now and then, for the purpose of annihila-
ting  the supposed psora.   This Avas  an abuse of which homoeopathic
physicians  are no longer  guilty; we  give  Sulphur now,  in accor-
dance with our great law of cure, in cases to which its homoeopathi-
city is well established.  Hence, if we give Sulphur for the itch, it is
because it develops in the dermoid tissues a process similar to the
morbid process which is going on in this disease.
  Allceopathic  physicians very  generally  employ a  Sulphur-oint-
ment in the treatment of all recent cases of the itch, for the purpose
of destroying the acarus, after Avhich, if any sores remain, they will
readily heal under appropriate treatment as  any other common sores.
Very many homoeopathic  physicians advocate and pursue; the same
course, giving at the same time Sulphur internally.
  Hahnemann proposed to treat the itch with a single globule of tne
thirtieth potency  of Sulphur.  He insists that every case of scabies
will yield to this treatment.  I doubt Avhether there is a homoeopathic
physician living who  contents himself Avith this scanty medication.
As a general rule I believe it to be an established  fact that in all
recent cases  of the common  or vesicular scabies, large  doses of
Sulphur are far more certain to cure this loathsome disease speedily 
SULPHUR.
805
and radically than small doses.  In this respect we should drop all
prejudices, all dogmatic adherence to theories; much  mischief has
been done by such conduct.
  Some physicians cure the itch by scattering an ounce of the flowers
of Sulphur in the patient's bed  every evening.  By this means the
eruption may be removed  in from three to four weeks.
  If you deem it proper to resort to the ointment, it is of the utmost
importance to the success of the treatment to  first cleanse the skin
of all impurities by washing the  patient all over with soap-suds two
or three times.  This  may be done in  the afternoon  and evening,
and next morning the following ointment may be rubbed upon every
part of the body,  except, of course, the face, which is never invaded
by the  disease: sublimed Sulphur, one part in Aveight;  carbonate
of potash,  half this quantity, and  common hog's lard four parts.
Some of this ointment may be rubbed in, in a tolerably warm room,
every six hours.  In the evening the soap-suds may be resorted to.
By pursuing this course  for a few days, and giving Sulphur at the
same time internally, there is hardly  a case of genuine scabies that
does not yield to this  treatment.  Internally, the Sulphur may be
administered in combination with common loaf-sugar.  I take one
part of purified  sulphur  and five  parts of the best  loaf-sugar in
weight, and rub  them together  for half an hour or  more, until  a
homogeneous mass is  obtained,  of  which I administer five grains
three times a day.

  In the Paris hospitals  the  use of  the Sulphur-ointment is  very
generally resorted to in the treatment of the itch.  Dr. Trousseau,
who is Clinical Professor in  the  University of  Paris, and who seems
to observe and  class morbid phenomena  from the  same point of
Adsion with Professor Schoenlein of Berlin, has been  so frequently
mentioned in the course of these  lectures as  a liberal-minded and
eminently philosophical thinker,  that it  may not be uninteresting to
homoeopathic physicians  to  be acquainted with his vieAvs regarding
the treatment of scabies.  I extract the following statements from his
treatise of Materia Medica and Therapeutics :
  "Sulphur has  enjoyed  a  somewhat extravagant and  unmerited
reputation  in the treatment of divers tetters.  We do not mean to
deny the therapeutic powers of this agent altogether; but experience
has demonstrated that Sulphur is really useful only in a small num-
ber of chronic cutaneous  diseases.  Several kinds of Sulphur-oint-
ment have sometimes rendered good service in the treatment of moist
tetter; but in dry tetter these preparations scarcely ever effect any
o-ood  result.  There exists, however, one cutaneous disorder which
yields to no drug better than to Sulphur.
  " The probability is that the curative virtues of Sulphur were first
suspected when workmen  who were employed in extracting or puri-
fying Sulphur, or in reducing metals, the ores of which contained a
quantity of Sulphur, were speedily cured of the itch, if they had this
malady before engaging in this business, and that, they remained free
from the disease after handling Sulphur-ores.   Simple Sulphur-oint-
ment  suffices in  most cases  to  cure  the itch.  Chaussier, and his 
806                      LECTURE LV.
imitator  Brachet of Lyons, substitute  for the ointment the simple
flowers  of Sulphur with which  they strew the bed of the patient
every evening just before bed time.  By this means a cure is effected
in three or four weeks.  It is more particularly alkaline sulphurets
that are employed in treating the itch, Avhether these sulphurets are
used in the shape of baths  for two  or three weeks, or Avhether the
liniment of Pihorel is  rubbed  upon  the palms of the hands, or
whether  we employ the much  more expeditious method  which is
now generally resorted to  in the Hospital  St. Louis, and in the
Children's Hospital of Paris.  This method is the folloAving, and is
claimed by seAreral physicians as their own suggestion.
   " Hebra of Vienna, Bazin of the Hospital  St. Louis, and  Drs. Le-
grand and Millot of Mello, in France, have insisted upon the particular
method of employing Sulphur  as  a  remedy for the itch.   Legrand
and Millot take half a pound of lard,  an ounce of the flowers of Sul-
phur and a quarter of an ounce of sea-salt.   The day previous, the
patient takes an alkaline bath, and  on the day folloAving the patient
rubs himself Avith one-fourth of the above mentioned ointment.  This
friction has to be made over the whole body.   On the morning fol-
lowing, the patient takes a bath, and his  clothes are put in an oven
in order to destroy the acari and their eggs, in case any should have
remained adhering to the clothes.   A single day is sufficient to com-
plete the treatment.
   "Bazin's treatment  differs from that of Drs. Legrand and Millot
only by  the nature of the ointment which they employ.   Bazin's
ointment is composed as follows:
   " Sesquicarbonate of potassa, one part;
   " Flowers of Sulphur, two parts;
   " Lard, eight parts.
   "In  the  Children's Hospital  of Paris we have pursued Bazin's
method  with complete success;  the  general friction was practiced
two days in succession; the third day a Sulphur-bath was admin-
istered, and on the fourth day we sent the patients home again, after
having administered to them previously a second Sulphur-bath.  By
Avay of precaution Ave gave them 30  scruples  of the flowers of Sul-
phur to take home, of Avhich they were to scatter a dessertspoonful
in their beds eA^ery evening before retiring.
   " Dr. Hardy has happily modified the treatment of the physicians
Avhom we have named.  As soon as the  patient is  received in the
hospital, he is washed all over with brown soap.   This rubbing lasts
from twenty to thirty minutes; after which he is placed in  an alka-
line bath for about an hour.  On leaving the bath, the whole body
is  rubbed with Bazin's ointment, known as Helmerich's; this com-
pletes the treatment; that is, the acarus  is destroyed,  and the remain-
ing ulcerations, papulae or pustules are treated like any other ordinary
non-infectious cutaneous malady.
   " Some physicians only give Sulphur  internally, in order to avoid
a sudden suppression of the eruption.  In such a case, Sulphur is
given in very large quantities.   This exclusive  internal use of Sul-
phur does  not seem to  us judicious, but may be  advantageously
associated with external  applications. 
SULPHUR.
807
   "However  much we  dread  the  too  sudden disappearance of an
eruption Avhich  is evidently the expression of a constitutional affec-
tion, we do not, on the other hand, hesitate  to  employ  the most
energetic local  applications in cutaneous affections which are  not
connected with the  general health, and only result from some local
irritation or external contagion.  But if, in such a case, the disorder
has become habitual; if the constitution seems to have accommodated
itself to it; if the general health had improved since the develop-
ment of the cutaneous affection, a rigid caution should be exercised
in treating the eruption ; the disorder should be treated slowly, and
purgatives,  issues and a suitable  regime  should likewise  be  em-
ployed."
   The practical wisdom  with which these last paragraphs are replete,
will not be lost upon homoeopathic physicians.  The purgatives anol
issues are obligatory adjuncts of treatment, without which no revul-
sive bill of fare in  an alloeopathic cook-shop could possibly be ar-
ranged  according to the  rules of Art.  They may  be dispensed with.

   The Vienna Provers' Union  has  instituted reprovings of Sulphur,
which may be said to constitute one of the most brilliant and instruc-
tive pages in our Materia  Medica.   These provings were instituted
Avith  massiAre doses of one hundred  to two hundred grains of the
crude substance, and likeAvise  with  the  attenuations.  Among the
effects  obtained, the folloAving  point  most  unmistakeably to the
homoeopathicity  of Sulphur to  vesicular scabies.
   "Itching  from the hips  to  the toes after  getting Avarm in  bed,
especially in the  bends of the knees,  with a pleasurable feeling after
rubbing; on the parts rubbed small pimples  started  up  Avhich dis-
charged a  fluid from their tips, whereupon the itching ceased, but
returned the folloAving night."
   "Eruption in the  bends of the elbows and on the Avrists, which the
prover feared might be the itch."
   "Itching  in the bend of the right elbow;  a moisture is exuded
from the scratched parts."
   "Pimples between the left  thumb and  index,  burning  like  fire
when scratched."
   " Itching vesicle between the index and middle fingers, resembling
in all respects an itch-vesicle."
  These symptoms evidently refer  to vesicular scabies.  Sulphur is
likewise in  homoeopathic  rapport Avith papulous and tuberculous
scabies,  where the joints  may sAvell, become indurated,  burn and  itch
a great deal.  In a family of  seven  persons  every member  of the
family became infected with this sort of itch through a servant girl.
The toe-joints Avere swollen and ulcerated; the finger joints likeAvise,
and the Avrists, forearms  and elboAV-joints looked fiery-red, Avere hard
and swollen, itched and burned furiously and seemed dotted Avith an
innumerable multitude of fine vesicles.   The patients were radically
cured with Sulphur-water, obtained by shaking a pint of water three
times a  day with half an ounce of the floAvers  of Sulphur.   A table-
spoonful of this Avater, properly SAveetened, was given three times a
day, taking care to allow the Sulphur to settle  before a dose of water
was administered." 
808
f LECTURE LV.
  Sulphur having  such a specific action  upon the  skin, we may
naturally expect to find a number of cutaneous eruptions represented
among the Sulphur-symptoms.
  Sulphur causes pimples, A'esicles, blotches, scaling off of the epi-
dermis, erythematous patches upon the skin, spots, boils, aphthae, in
various parts of the body, on the  forehead, in the  face, on the lips,
upon the extremities.
  Sulphur is likewise distinguished for causing an itching and burn-
ing on various parts of  the body, upper arms, legs, back.
  Sulphur has  caused tinea  capitis,  ulceration of the  nails and
thumb.
  Sulphur has likeAvise caused scirrhous tubercles, swelling of glands,
ulcers.
  Hence we prescribe Sulphur in various herpetic eruptions, such as:
  Herpes Humidus over the whole face;
  Herpes Squamosus on the forehead;
  Dry Herpes over the whole body;
  Herpes Crustaceus, with thick, yellow, greenish crusts;
  Herpes Furfuraceus;
  Herpes Phiagedenicus,  with emaciation and evening-fever;
  Herpes Phlyctenodes,  clusters of  small vesicles filled with a serous
fluid, upon an inflamed  base, increasing to the size of a dollar, form-
ing irregular, circumscribed spots, separated from each other by sound
skm; they appear principally on the extremities, itch and  burn, and
either discharge a fluid, or else become covered with thin, white scales.

  AVe also prescribe Sulphur in
  Tinea Capitis,  scaldhead, both  humid and  dry, but  more particu-
larly the dry form.  Professor Zlatarovich, while proving Sulphur in
massive doses of one hundred grains  of the crude substance, was
freed for a long time from  the  scaly scald-head  with  which he Avas
afflicted.   Another prover Avas cured of
  Psoriasis Discolor, a disease of the epidermis which peeled  off in
the form of yellowish scales.  This most annoying affection likewise
disappeared Avhile the Sulphur was being proved in  massive doses.

  Sulphur has been advantageously employed in
  Scrofulous Indurations of the submaxillary glands, and in
   Chironic  erysipelatous  inflammation of the skin on the arms, legs,
and in the face, characterized by burning, itching and desquamation
of the epidermis.
  In Acne Rosacea, Sulphur may be useful; likewise in
  Mentagra or the barber's itch.
  Hepatic or liver-spots, may frequently be favorably  acted upon by
Sulphur.

  Sulphur should not be forgotten in the soreness of children, or
  Intertrigo infantum, especially in inveterate cases, if  a scrofulous
diathesis is evident.
  Sulphur has developed tubercles  of a scirrhous  hardness, in the
lower lip  and tongue;  hence it is  eminently proper,  to  prescribe
Sulphur in 
SULPHUR.                        809
  Scirrhus of the lower lip and tongue.  In the treatment of
   Ulcers which bleed readily, secrete a fetid  pus, and  burn and itch
a good deal, Sulphur proves very valuable, especially if the breaking
out of these sores can be distinctly traced to the presence of scrofu-
losis.  In other words it is in
  Scrofulous Ulcers, and likewise in
   Varicose Ulcers that Sulphur manifests fine curative powers.  We
shall see  shortly that Sulphur acts specifically upon  the veins, em-
barrassing or clogging  the venous circulation.  Hence in  the treat-
ment of
   Varicose Veins, Sulphur cannot possibly play an unimportant part;
consequently in varicose ulcers, it  must exercise healing poAvers by
removing the torpor of the vessels and restoring  the irritability of
the capillary tissue.

  The Osseous Disorganizations to which the  scrofulous element fre-
quently leads, even
  Rhiacilitis, almost invariably require a dose of Sulphur every now
and then.  This agent has likewise been given with good effect in
  Anasarca, as the sequela of  acute eruptions.

  There is hardly a chronic non-syphilitic eruption, where Sulphur
is not employed more or less.  We may mention one other chronic
disease of this character, excessively annoying to children; it is
   Crusta Serpiginosa, which  is regarded by many pathologists as a
form of  the itch: disease.  The eruption first shows itself behind the
ear, consisting of groups of  small  vesicles filled with a limpid fluid,
itching  a great  deal  and forming thin,  dark-brown crusts.  This
eruption might possibly be confounded with crusta lactea;  never-
theless the characteristic  differences are well marked. _ In  crusta
lactea, for instance, the forehead  and  cheeks are first invaded, in
crusta serpiginosa  the  ear;  in crusta lactea, the eruption  consists of
large purulent  sores Avhich  do not itch, whereas, in  crusta serpigi-
nosa, the itching is a characteristic  symptom,  especially at  night;
crusta lactea forms thick, yellowish-Avhite  crusts which  gradually
fall off Avithout any treatment, whereas crusta serpiginosa  never gets
well without treatment, on the contrary, keeps spreading, gradually
invading the face,  eyes, neck, chest, and giving  rise to  dangerous
ophthalmic diseases.

   In the treatment of Onychia, or whitlow, and common ulceration
of nails, Sulphur may be useful.   And lastly in
    Corns  Warts and Boils, especially when they incline  to  become
inflamed and painful, Sulphur may bring about the gradual eradi-
 cation of these annoying  excrescences.  In  regard to the tendency
to  boils in scrofulous persons, and to a tendency to fester as it  is
termed,  Sulphur  does a  great  deal  to moderate this morbid dis-
 position.
   Re'-nrdincr the dose, we may  affirm in  truth  that we, in common
 with "other Enlightened homoeopathic  physicians, have  seen most
 brilliant results from  the middle and  higher as well as from the 
810
LECTURE LV.
lower preparations.  In all recent cases of A*esicular itch, we belieA-e
that the more massive preparations  of Sulphur act more  speedily
and certainly than the higher  potencies. But in chronic affections
of bones, in  chronic ulcerations, and in many chronic eruptions of
various kinds, the middle and higher potencies  of Sulphur seem to
be more adapted to a safe, radical and speedy cure.


                     CEPHALIC GROUP.

  Sulphur is not  without a  powerful action upon the brain.  It is
not quite satisfactorily proven—so say the physiological pathologists
of  the  Old-School—Avhether Sulphur  affects the  nervous  system;
but it is universally admitted, and  our own experiments place this
beyond all  doubt, that Sulphur acts specifically upon the venous
system,  and that here the theatre of its operations is that system of
delicate, microscopic vessels Avhere the functions  of \dtality are really
carried  on, we mean the venous capillaries.  As Aconite acts upon
the terminal capillaries of the arterial system, so does Sulphur act
upon the terminal capillaries of the venous system.  This  essential
difference it is that adapts Aconite to acute, and Sulphur to chronic
inflammations.  Trace out the  consequences  of stagnations in the
venous  capillaries, and you may very readily understand the symp-
toms of chronic congestion, exudation  and  suppuration of internal
organs,  and the various eruptions, vesicles, pustules, boils, ulcers and
so forth, with Avhich Sulphur is, in so eminent a degree, in  curative
adaptation.
  It is  evident, to my mind,  that Sulphur cannot thus clog the cir-
culation of the venous capillaries, impairing the irritability of their
tissue, and thus materially interfering with a vital property, without
at the  same time  affecting the nervous  power which regul ites and
maintains this important function.   Hence the  ganglionic system,
and indirectly the brain, must be acted upon,  or if you please, irri-
tated, by the action of Sulphur.
  The venous capillaries being  distributed throughout every tissue,
it is to engorgements of these capillaries in  the  brain and its inves-
ting membranes that the functional derangements caused  by the
action of Sulphur  upon the head, have to be traced.

  Among the  heacl-symptoms  obtained by provers, we distinguish
the following:
  DraAving-burning pain at the top  of the head;
  Dull aching pain in the whole of the right half of the brain, with
dimness of vision,  weakness of the eyes, innumerable, confused, dark
spots floating before the eyes;  this was followed by giddiness and
confusion of the whole head;
  Frontal headache, alternating with pain in the joints; the pain
may be  a dull draAving pain;
  Dull  headache, deep in the left orbit, sometimes increasing to  a
drawing throbbing;
  Aching pain in the left side of the forehead, with slight vertigo; 
SULPHUR.
811
  Headache, with burning  and redness of the eyes; or burning-
aching pain in  the  occiput, also Avith aching pain over the whole
head.
  These  symptoms point more  especially to the different forms  of
headache Avhich Sulphur  may be capable of curing, and which will
be generally found to be of a chronic character. The signs of derange-
ment of  the venous  capillaries in the brain, may likeAvise manifest
themselves in sudden paroxysms, embarrassing and disturbing more-
over the  sensorial sphere of this  central organ.
  Among the provings we find, for example, the following records:
  Absence of mind;
  Sensation as if a  hair were pulled (in the case of a prover who
is bald);
  Sudden vertigo;
  Confusion of the head, with involuntary discharge from the bowels,
followed by perspiration  all over, especially on the forehead, AYhich
relieved the confusion;
  Rush of blood to the head, with roaring in the ears, burning and
creeping in  the face.   A similar symptom was obtained by a prover
during an experiment with the high potencies:
  Violent rush of blood to the head, beating of all the arteries in the
head, confusion in the head, roaring in the ears.

  Another symptom of the same character as these two, is the folloAV-
ing:  Heat and confusion in the head, with noise like the boiling of
water, rushing out of both ears.
   Regarding the curative poAvers of Sulphur in these head-affections,
let me impress upon your minds what I believe to be a great truth:
that it is only in chronic conditions where these head-symptoms occur
as incidental groups, that Sulphur will manifest its power as a great
remedial agent.   In
   Chironic Headaches, for instance, Avhere the particular  paroxysms
are  constituted  as I have  described them; or  in chronic  nervous
derangements,  Hysteria, where  these  violent rushes of blood and
attacks of vertigo occur paroxysmally, in  consequence  of peculiar
exciting causes, Sulphur may, and often will prove,  a great  remedy.
With these explanations we recommend Sulphur for
   Paroxysms of Absence of Mind;
   Chironic Vertigo;
   Chironic Headache;
   Rush of Blood; and  for affections of the head that have  resulted
from the retrocession of the itch, such as:
   Trembling of the Head., and even                              _
   Chironic Hydrocephalus; in  the latter disease, Sulphur is likeAvise
eminently necessary, if a scrofulous taint is the determining cause, or
in congenital hydrocephalus.                           ,    ....
   Regarding the dose,  I Avould  advise you to rely upon the middle
potencies of Sulphur  in  these  chronic head-affections  rather  than
upon the lower. 
812
LECTURE LV.
                      NERVOUS GROUP.

  In  order to  fully comprehend  the various pains and abnormal
nervous  conditions which Sulphur excites, it is of the utmost im-
portance to keep in view its physiological action  upon the normal
organism.  Remember that  it is the venous capillary system Avhich
receives the primary shock of this mighty agent, together with that
portion of the ganglionic system of nerves Avhich  is immediately
connected, or interwoven with the capillary tissue.   If you  remem-
ber that under the depressing action of Sulphur, the venous capilla-
ries become congested, the  blood becomes  more  or less stagnant,
resisting the arterial current which seeks to drive it onward, you
cannot have any difficulty  in understanding the  various draAving,
tearing, crampy,  boring,  laming,  stitching  and other pains Avhich
Sulphur is capable of exciting.
  Sulphur occasions a variety of pains which point to it as a great
agent in
  Rheumatic and Arthritic Affections.   With a vieAV of  facilitating
the study of these various pains, we wilT classify them in  accordance
with their peculiar nature.  We may distinguish
  Drawing and tearing pains, Avhich may be felt in various parts of
the body, especially in the fingers, long bones, back, muscles of the
neck;  these pains may come on  suddenly; they may be followed by
creeping or lancing pains in the same parts. Respecting these draAving
pains, Dr. Hausmann, the  prover, Avho Avas more especially annoyed
by this symptom, remarks: "Even after all the other symptoms had
disappeared, this one would  frequently announce its presence; I am
inclined to attach a great value to it, and I recommend it particularly
to the attention of my colleagues.  It  had this peculiarity that it
generally commenced at the  dorsal side of the limbs in the neighbor-
hood of the joints, penetrated deeply, but without penetrating through
to the palmar aspect."
  Boring pain in the ankle-joints.
  Crampy and  contractive pains in the lumbar and sacral vertebras,
and in the joints where they alternate with crampy pains in the mus-
cles, especially  during motion.
  Another group of pains consists of a feeling of painful pressure  or
aching, accompanied with a sensation of tension.  This pain has been
experienced in the small of the back and pelvic region, as if the bones
of the pelvis should be pressed asunder; or in the muscles causing a
sensation  as if the  muscles were too  short;  or in the small of the
back  and hip, followed by a sharp cutting  pain through the right
knee,  and afterwards through  the elbow-joint, from the bend of the
joint to the apex.   The character of these pains most pointedly indi-
cates  engorgement  of the venous  capillaries, such  as may occur  in
rheumatic conditions of these parts.
  A feeling of  heaviness in the bones of the  arms and legs, or a feel-
ing of weight and burning in the feet is another symptom pointing
to a rheumatic or arthritic condition of the parts.
  Sulphur causes flying pains, and sensitiveness and  soreness  in the
wrist and finger-joints such as may be experienced in chronic rheu-
matism. 
SULPHUR.
813
   Sulphur occasions shooting pains.  These pains have been experi-
 enced in the abdominal muscles, the hip-joints and down the thigh,
 and may be regarded as rheumatic or neuralgic pains.  These pains
 were obtained by means of globules moistened with the tincture of
 Sulphur.
   Regarding these shooting pains, the prover, a student of medicine,
 makes the following remarks:
   " For  three weeks, I  may have  taken three times daily, five glo-
 bules moistened with the tincture  of Sulphur, when I experienced a
 shooting pain here and there in the abdominal parietes, especially in
 the inguinal  region, at  one time in  the left, at another time in the
 right side; this pain  sometimes lasted a short time, sometimes longer,
 but regularly went off' in the warmth of bed.  As I did not believe
 that these Avandering pains were caused by the Sulphur, I continued
 to take it.  About a week  after the first appearance of the shooting
 pains, there  occurred, after the slightest  exercise, a very trouble-
 some feeling of fatigue. The shooting pains now gradually declined,
 but in their stead  occurred contractive pains, especially in the mus-
 cles of the thighs,  which often proved a serious obstacle to my walk-
 ing.  In four days, these contractive pains were felt deeper, as if in
 the bones, especially in the femora and right  tibia.  The head of the
 right tibia became A^ery painful,  and  could not bear the slightest
 touch, and after the slightest exercise I  had to go  and lie down.
 Now, almost convinced that these symptoms must be the effect of
 the  Sulphur, I  intended to leave it off,  but as I  had a few more
 globules I took them  all.   The consequence of this was that  the
 pains attained such a degree of intensity as almost to render walking
 impossible.   The very next day, when  I  took no more globules, the
 pains became less  intense, and in three days  Avere all  gone.  I have
 gained the conviction  that medicines,  even in very small doses, are
 capable of producing the most violent effects."

   This group of symptoms is interesting  to us in a particular point
 of view.  It teaches us that Sulphur is endowed with specific powers
 to affect the head of the tibia, and that it may therefore be of immense
 value to  us in rheumatic diseases  of this  part complicated with  the
 scrofulous diathesis.  In
   Chironic Inflammation of the head  of the tibia and in disorganiza-
 tions resulting from it, such as
   Pedarthirocace or scrofulous  ulceration  of  this bone, Sulphur will
be one of our most valuable agents, if given in the middle or higher
potencies, from the 12th to the 30th.  This may likewise be said of
the different stages of
   Hip-disease, Morbus Coxarius, Coxarthirocace,  where Sulphur must be
eminently useful, if the effects of Sulphur upon the hip-joint can be
depended upon as  curative  indications.

   The symptom:  "Numbness  and warmth in the  knee,"  obtained
by a prover, sIioavs  that in nervous inflammatory affections of  the
knee-joint, or, to use  the modern technical  language of pathology, in
neuroses of the knee-joint, Sulphur may be of great use. 
814
LECTURE LV.
  Sulphur affects the  process  of innervation by  depressing the
feeling  of normal vital heat in a part.  It causes a sensation as if
cold air were blowing over the thighs, or a sensation of coldness in
the upper arms.   This  depression of the vital  temperature may be
accompanied by, or give rise to,  a feeling of paralysis in the affected
extremity;  hence we  find  among  the provings the  symptom;
" Paralytic feeling in the upper arms."  This sensation is likewise
strikingly announced by another prover in these words : " DraAving
in the right fore-arm, near the elbow, like a current of air or a breath
passing over  the part, and  causing a feeling of  paralysis."  In fully
developed paralysis,  Sulphur may, nevertheless, prove inadequate to
a cure.  In
  Semi-paralytic conditions, where the sensation of a normal tempera-
ture of the part is  disturbed either by a sensation as if the part were
colder than usual, as if a current of cold air were passing  over the
part, or by a feeling of burning heat, accompanied by  a  sense of
heaviness in the part: Sulphur may  do good service.

  Among the provings of Sulphur,  many symptoms  point to the
great use of this agent in arthritic affections of the feet, whether the
common
   Gout, or Arthiritic Rheumatism.  These pains  are: pains as if
sprained; boring pains; tensive pains in the joints and muscles.

  The action of Sulphur upon the nervous tissue  and the venous
capillary system of  the back,  is characterized  by several marked
symptoms. One prover experienced " long pulsative and undulating
stitches  below  the  left  scapula."   Another  has this  symptom:
"Burning feeling over the whole  back, especially  between  the
scapulae, changing to a  sore pain after scratching, with perceptible
throbbing of the arteries beneath the skin."
  This symptom may point to what Schoenlein terms
  Hysteria Spinalis; the burning sensation sometimes  is felt  like a
hot flash over the back, down the spinal  column.
  The use of Sulphur in hysteria or nervous irritation, is  likewise
indicated  by this symptom: "Icy-cold  feet, with  burning  of the'
face and hands,"
  To sum up, the nervous  affections where Sulphur may be of use
as a curative  agent, are
   Chironic Rheumatic and Arthritic Affections ;
  Diseases of joints, Hip-disease,  Chironic  Inflammation  of the  knee-
joint.
  Paralytic Conditions;
  Hysteria Spinalis;
  Nervous Irritation, and occasionally cases of spinal irritation, if the
patient complains of shooting, stitching,  bruising and burning pains
in the back.
  A chronic disposition to Cramp in the  calves, and to
  Numbness of the legs from the least pressure as if they would go
to sleep, likewise yield to Sulphur among other medicines. 
SULPHUR.
815
  Nervous Complaints, arising from repelled itch, such as: Neuralgia,
trembling, paralytic Aveakness, rigidity of joints, and other ailments.
  Another interesting class of pains are the shiooting pains Avhich
should invariably be treated with Sulphur, perhaps  in conjunction
with other remedies.

                      ORBITAL GROUP.

  Sulphur affects the eyes in a very marked manner.  Among the
recorded provings we distinguish the following symptoms:
  Quivering and luminous appearances before the right eye;
  Lightning-flashes before the eyes at night;
  Dimness of the cornea;
  Dimness of vision, diplopia;
  Dull aching and  feeling of weight  in both eye-balls, with loss of
vision as if a thick veil Avere before the eyes.

  These few symptoms indicate the faculty inherent  in Sulphur, of
affecting the visual power.  Other  symptoms  show that Sulphur
may irritate and inflame the eye.  Among these symptoms we may
record the following:
 . Redness and inflammation of the canthi, with slight adhesions and
exudations; this irritation is accompanied  by some irritation of the
Schneiderian membrane;
  Itching, burning and redness of the edges of the lids;
  Fine burning, like sparks, on the skin of the right upper lid;
  Painful dryness of the eyes, or dry feeling under the lids;
  Shooting pain through the pupil.

  These symptoms have led to the use of Sulphur in  common
  Catarrhial Conjunctivitis, especially where the palpebral portion of
the conj unctiva is involved.  In
  Arthritic and  Scrofulous Ophthalmia, with hypertrophy  of the
lining membrane of the lids; in chronic
  Sore Eyes, with inflammation and swelling of the lids, itching and
smarting, dryness of the eyes or else  exudation of a  purulent  gum
from the canthi; in
  Amaurotic Conditions, with aching pain  and dryness of the  eye-
balls, dimness of vision, as if objects were seen through dust, and
more particularly if the amaurotic weakness resulted from repelled
itch : Sulphur will be found a valuable remedy.
  In Chronic Disorganizations of the Cornea, Leucoma, Phlyctene, and
so forth, in consequence of previous scrofulous inflammation, Sulphur
may be of  great use to us; even in
  Cataract from repelled itch, Sulphur is said to have effected a cure.

                    AURICULAR GROUP.

  Sulphur causes a roaring in the  ears.   It has caused a deafness in
the left ear, together Avith  an aching pain in the left  eye.  We like-
wise notice                                      ?j
  "Sweating and frequent itching  in the left meatus. 
816
LECTURE LVI.
  Boring pains in the external meatus.
  These few symptoms point to the use of Sulphur in
  Otalgia  of a boring character, especially  in scrofulous subjects;
and likeAvise to
  Otorrhea,  the  discharge being  confined to a  simple oozing  of
dampness, with itching, from the external meatus.
  Deafness, with roaring in the ears, itching and dampness of the
ear, may be  favorably treated with Sulphur, especially if a  chronic
eruption which would have required Sulphur, had been repelled  or
retroceded spontaneously.
                 LECTURE   LVI.

                      NASAL GROUP.

  Sulphur affects the external  nose  in an unusual manner.   It
causes
  An inflamed spot on the nose;
  Thickening and swelling of the nasal bones;
  Aching pains in the nasal bones;
  Tickling in the right nostril, followed by discharge of thick blood;
  Painful inflammation of the right wing of  the nose, and of the
septum, going off in branlike scales;
  Shining, red swelling of the tip of the nose; the left nostril feels
thick, hard, painful to the touch, forming a hardened, transparent,
bright-yellow mass.
  Sensation as if he smelled the  perfume of a flower, though there
was not any.
  Sensation as if he were smelling soap-suds.
  These symptoms show that Sulphur may prove of great value in
  Scrofulous Swelling and Inflammation of the  Nose, septum  and
cartilages, and likewise in
  Illusions of Smell of the character indicated by the provings; they
may occur in hysteria.

             FACIAL AND  BUCCAL GROUPS.

  Sulphur causes  swelling and hardness of the root of the tongue;
hence it may prove useful in
  Hydrargyria,  especially chronic, with swelling and rigidity of the
tongue.
  Sulphur has  also  caused a hard tubercle on  the  border of the
tongue.  Hence we may recommeud Sulphur as a remedy for
  Painful Swelling, Induration and tubercular excrescences of the
tongue.

  Upon the face, Sulphur has acted  in a marked  manner.  We dis-
tinguish the folloAving symptoms: 
SULPHUR.
817
  Raw pain in the left commissure of the mouth;
  Sensation as if the upper lip were swollen.
  Burning on the right cheek as from drops of hot fluid;
  Roughness on both cheeks, with heat  and burning in the cheeks,
as from exposure  to cold, followed by  branlike desquamation.
  A group of small painless vesicles  close together, near the right
commissure of the mouth, bursting and  ulcerating;  they have  a
lardaceous appearance.
  Itching of the left eye and cheek;
  Tension of the skin of the face, as if it were swelling;
  A crack in the upper lip, which is very painful.
  Whitish aphthae on the inside of the lips, and in one instance a
warty excrescence.

  These symptoms very clearly teach us  that Sulphur may prove
useful  in  the treatment of several  annoying affections of the  face,
particularly
  Chironic Inflammation or inflammatory irritation of  the skin; the
skin feels  rough, itches and burns a  good deal, looks red and in-
flamed.
  Scrofulous Swelling and Inflammation of the Lips, with rhagades in
the lip, bleeding and aphthous ulceration of the lips.
  Soreness of the  Corners of the  Mouthi, to which children  and full-
grown persons of a scrofulous habit are sometimes subject.
   Warty Excrescences on the lower lip.


                      DENTAL GROUP.

  The action of Sulphur upon the teeth is  not marked by any very
characteristic symptoms.   It has caused
  Digging pains in sound teeth; also
  Drawing pains in the upper teeth,  Avith  a feeling of SAvelling and
ulceration in the  left gums.   Hence Ave may derive curative effects
from Sulphur in
  Toothiache characterized by similar pains.


                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

  The effects of Sulphur in the chylo-poietic range are varied and
exceedingly interesting.   It alters the taste, causing
  A sour taste in  the mouth, also a bitter and insipid  taste, with white
coating on the tongue ;  and finally
  A clammy taste, with yellow coating on the tongue.
  Sulphur also causes  heartburn, Aoav of  water  in  the mouth and
various abnormal sensations  in  the stomach which make it a most
valuable agent in chronic derangements of this organ.  It causes a
feeling of
   Weight at the stomach, with fluid stools;
  A twisting and turning sensation  in the region of the stomach,
accompanied with vertigo. 
818
LECTURE LVI.
  Weariness after eating.  These few symptoms indicate Sulphur as
an useful agent in
  Chronic Dyspepsia, Avhen the food sits heavily upon the stomach,
and the patient experiences a tendency to diarrhceic  stool after a
meal.   The appetite need not be much impaired, although the taste
in the mouth is altered, generally sour or insipid, clammy;  the
tongue has a whitish or  yellowish  coating upon it, and  the" mouth
may feel dry.

  Other symptoms point to the use of Sulphur in
  Cardialgia; especially the following:
  Pressure in the umbilical region, followed  by pressure in the left
hypochondrium, soft, quick pulse (one hundred and sixty), and palpi-
tation of the  heart;
  Constrictive pain in the pit of the stomach,  and feeling of sick-
ness, pressing in the left hypochondrium, accompanied by a chilly
feeling from the  lumbar vertebras to  the abdomen  and  the  ex-
tremities ;
  Alternate constrictive  burning pain in the stomach ;  as this pain
went off, the abdominal parieties became sensitive, pulse quick, hard
and full.

  As a regulator of the action of the bowels, Sulphur  is  one of our
most efficient agents.  Small doses of Sulphur bind the bowels, and
make the faeces hard and their expulsion difficult.  Hence in
  Chronic Constipation, Sulphur is depended upon  by homoeopathic
physicians as a gradual restorer of the regular action of the bowels.
The stools look hard, dark and dry, and  are expelled with great
straining,  even to such an extent that blood is discharged.   If  the
individual is afflicted with  haemorrhoids, Sulphur proves especially
useful.
  Large doses of Sulphur  cause  liquid stools, characterized by a
variety of symptoms, such as:
  Soft stools, with itching of the perinasum;
  Diarrhoeic stools, with burning and tenesmus:
  Stools consisting of faecal matter and mucus;
  Discharge of fetid liquid stools, accompanied Avith fetid flatulence ;
  Stools attended with cutting pains in the rectum ;
  Rumbling in the boAvels, followed by copious papescent, yelloAvish-
green, fetid stools;
  Stools attended Avith an inclination to vomit;
  Loose fetid stool, followed by straining, ulcerative pain in the anus
when touching it, and sensation as if more diarrhoea Avould come.
  These effects of Sulphur distinctly indicate the different forms of
diarrhoea  Avhere this remarkable agent will manifest its therapeutic
powers.   It is more particularly in the
  Fetid, watery Diarrhea of scrofulous children,  or
  Diarrhea as if the bowels were too weak to retain their contents,
or even in
  Involuntary Diarrhea of scrofulous, lively, nervous children, that
Sulphur will prove useful.   In 
SULPHUR.
819
   Chironic Diarrhiea, or dysenteric diarrhoea with much  straining,
 discharge of mucus and fascal matter, Sulphur will prove useful.  In
   Diarrhea or Alternate Diarrhea and Constipation depending upon
 enlargement of the mesenteric ganglia, we shall often find Sulphur
 indicated.

   We must not overlook the peculiar effects which characterize the
 action of Sulphur upon the lower portions of the intestinal  canal, the
 rectum and anus.  In this direction the following symptoms have
 been recorded by our provers:
   Burning at the anus, accompanied with tenesmus ;
   Burning at the anus, accompanied with burning at the orifice of
 the urethra;
   Cutting pain darting up the rectum, immediately before  an evacu-
 ation from the bowels;
   Sensitiveness of the anus, with stitches darting through the anus,
 accompanied with chilly feelings in the legs;
   Itching, soreness and discharge of acrid fluid from the anus;
   Bearing-down sensation  and feeling of fulness in the rectum.
   Soreness of the raphe of the perinaeum.
   These symptoms are interesting in two respects; they may consti-
 tute elements of a more general  group of derangements of  the intes-
 tinal canal, in diarrhoea, constipation, piles, worm-diseases; or they
 may exist as independent, separate affections  in scrofulous children
 or even full-grown persons, where
   Soreness, Excoriations, Itching and Exudations of the Anus and
 Rectum are not at all unfrequent.

   These affections are frequently present in
  Hemorrhoids, for which Sulphur has always been regarded as one
 of the chief remedial agents.
  If you remember  that it is the natural tendency of Sulphur to
 cause venous engorgements, it cannot appear strange  that  it should
 cause engorgements  of  the haemorrhoidal vessels. The provers of
 Sulphur have shown that this agent causes in healthy persons
  Bleeding from the anus;  which may indicate the use of Sulphur in
   Chironic Hemorrhage from the Bowels.   Sulphur has caused
  Involuntary discharge of clots of blood from the anus;
  Haemorrhoidal  tumors with hard stool, and  tenesmus.
  Sulphur likewise affects the small of the back, as we know it to
be frequently affected in haemorrhoids.  It causes
  A violent bearing-down pain in the small of the back in  the direc-
tion  of the anus;  it also causes
  A painful rigidity in  the small of  the back and a pain as  if the
parts had been bruised.  We  therefore use  Sulphur  with  great
effect in
  Piles or Hemorrhioids, either blind  or fluid, when  the discharges
consist of dark venous  blood, and are characterized  by such pains
and complications as we have described.

  Alloeopathic physicians have been in the habit of accounting for 
820
LECTURE LVI.
the curative action of Sulphur in piles by its cathartic effects.  But
Vogt,  whose work  on pharmaco-dynamics has been  regarded as
classical authority by our alloeopathic brethren, informs them very
emphatically that this explanation is erroneous, and that Sulphur
cures piles by virtue of its general dynamic action upon the venous
system and upon the cutaneous exhalations.   Alloeopathic physicians
likewise use the Sulphur-ointment externally.   In obstinate piles,
where large tumors protrude, with tendency to ulceration, the appli-
cation of the ointment in conjunction with  the internal use of Sul-
phur, would not be  contrary to the law similia, similibus, but I doubt
Avhether it  is necessary, or whether  a  cure is expedited thereby.
Sulphur may be used from the 1st to the 30th and even to a  much
higher potency in this affection.
  In  affections  resulting from suppression of piles where Sulphur
Avould have been the specific curative agent, this drug will help us
out; such affections are
  Hemorrhoidal Colic;
  Backache ;
  Palpitation of the Heart;
  Cerebral  Congestions ;
  Pulmonary Congestions and congestions of the stomach;
  Vertigo, etc.

  In ordinary colic, Sulphur is not much used.  Among the prov-
ings Ave read:
  Colicky pains and an increased flow of urine every night;  and
  Violent pains in the umbilical  region.
  These symptoms may point to  Sulphur as a remedy for
  Worm-colic, when the presence of lumbrici can hardly be doubted.
In such cases the general condition of the alvine secretions, and of
the digestive functions will undoubtedly  shed additional light on the
homoeopathicity of this agent to the nature of the paroxysms.

  Lastly, we find that Sulphur causes shooting pains  through the
liver.   This symptom  shows that Sulphur is  not without some
influence upon this  gland, and that it may therefore prove of use in
chronic
  Liver-complaint, where these shooting  pains  constitute character-
istic indications.  In such  cases, the general condition of the chylo-
poietic system is always to  be considered.

                     URINARY GROUP.

  The primary effect of large doses of  Sulphur upon  the urinary
organs, is to induce a more copious  and more frequent desire to
urinate.  This increased secretion of urine may be accompanied by
a variety of ailments or pains, which indicate Sulphur as a valuable
agent in several morbid conditions of the urinary apparatus.
  Among the effects of  Sulphur upon the urinary organs we  distin-
guish the following:
  Involuntary discharge of urine, a symptom which seems to indicate
Sulphur in 
SULPHUR.
821
  Enuresis Nocturna, especially in the case of children who are
troubled with worms, or even in
  Incontinence of Urine generally, the patient experiencing a desire
to urinate every half hour or hour.  In a case of this kind, where
the patient, a boy of fourteen  years, had been troubled with this
complaint for five years, passing urine every hour during the day,
and wetting his bed every night, the first, and  second trituration of
Sulphur effected a perfect cure  in a week.   Other symptoms are
  Frequent urination Avith warmth in the urethra;
  Urging to urinate, with cutting  pain over the symphisis pubis, as
in strangury;
  Weight and fullness in the hypogastrium, as if pressure were made
upon the bladder;
  Frequent urging to urinate,  with a feeling of  obstruction in the
region of the sphincters, although the pressure upon the bladder is
very great;
  Weak and slow stream of urine;
  Fine stitches in the region of the neck of the bladder, also passing
through the anus;
  Itching at the orifice of the urethra;
  Intolerable burning in the urethra;
  Darting through the urethra at night, during urination, attended
with a chill.
   Discharge of mucus from the urethra;  and lastly, cloudy  urine
having a penetrating odor.

   These symptoms establish the homoeopathicity of Sulphur to the
following affections of the urinary apparatus:
   Dysuria, with difficulty of passing the urine, frequent and painful
urging, also designated as
   Irritable Bladder, sometimes  characterized by a spasmodic reten-
tion of urine and constant and painful urging.
   Paralytic Weakness of the Bladder, as indicated by the sIoav and
thin  stream.  Old people may  be affected in this manner.
   Chronic Gonorrhea, with shooting and burning pains in the urethra,
tickling at the orifice, discharge of mucus.  These symptoms may also
represent a common                    # #
   Catarrh of the Bladder, or chronic cystitis, consequent upon acute
inflammation, or developing itself spontaneously as a result of the
scrofulous diathesis.

                       SEXUAL GROUP.

   The action of Sulphur upon the male sexual organs is character-
ized by several interesting  symptoms, such as:         p
   Itching and burning, with  desquamation of the  penis and pre-

PUpetid smegma between the prepuce and  glans;
   Itching of the scrotum and thighs, with sweating of the parts;
   Suppurating Ulcers upon the glans and prepuce;
   Swelling of the testicles,  Avith dampness of the scrotum. 
822
LECTURE LVI.
   These symptoms occur principally among individuals Avhose con-
stitution is tainted with a scrofulous diathesis; among rickety chil-
dren, or perhaps among  persons in whom the vital fluids have been
deteriorated  by exposure, bad food, want of cleanliness, insufficient
ventilation.
   The provers of Sulphur uniformly testify to the  Aveakening action
of large doses of Sulphur upon the sexual instinct  and power.   In
   Weakness'of the Sexual Organs, or even in Impotence, as a symptom
of constitutional cachexia, in scrofulous individuals  who have been
addicted to abuse,  Sulphur may be one of the means  Avhich  may
restore the lost power.'

   Sulphur causes and therefore tends to regulate
   Profuse Menstruation, with discharge of black, clotted, sticky blood.
and bearing-down pain in the sexual organs.
   The excessive discharge of blood may also be accompanied with
flashes of heat, a sense of fullness in the hypogastrium.
   Small doses of Sulphur exhibit a tendency of interfering Avith the
regular menstrual secretion, causing
  Amenorrhea,  especially among females afflicted  Avith anaemia;
chlorotic persons who are liable to leucorrhceal discharges attended
with furious itching of the  parts.  The suppression may be accom-
panied Avith cerebral congestions, aching pains in the head, flashes
of heat and redness in the face, dizziness, buzzing in  the ears.

  Sulphur causes leucorrhceal discharges, and has been found  use-
ful in
  Slimy, yellowish, corrosive Leucorrhiea, which it either arrests en-
tirely, or changes to a simple discharge of mucus.

  The tendency inherent in  Sulphur, of causing  venous engorge-
ments of the  uterus, renders  it valuable as a means of correcting a
constitutional tendency to
  Miscarriage, especially in scrofulous individuals in whom a general
disposition to venous congestions is manifest.   It has also been em-
ployed for the purpose of counteracting the tendency to, and hence
curing
  Prolapsus of the Womb, where Sulphur Avill prove of use provided
the general constitutional condition of the patient suggests the pro-
priety of resorting to this agent.   If these Aveaknesses can be traced
to the presence of the scrofulous element in the female constitution,
Sulphur is eminently adapted to the business of  exciting a curative
reaction.  Among  these weaknesses we may lastly number  an ha-
bitual tendency to
  Suppuration and  Ulceration of the Breasts in  confinement,  com-
monly termed Sore Breasts.  Even among the male provers, Sulphur
has caused soreness and inflammation of the  nipples.  We would
therefore commend Sulphur to your attention in cases of
  Sore Breasts and Sore Nipples, more particularly if other symptoms
afford unmistakeable evidence regarding the existence of an actively-
developed scrofulous dyscrasia. 
■ SULPHUR.
823
                    CATARRHAL GROUP.

  Sulphur affects the lining membrane of the respiratory organs in
various ways, causing symptoms of irritation Avhich may enable us
to use this agent in various chronic catarrhal affections.   The most
marked among these symptoms are the following :
  Catarrh, with confusion of the  head, loss ofappetite, weariness
and feeling of prostration in the limbs ;
 # Severe pain in the nose, with discharge of an acrid fluid from the
right nostril;
  Dryness of the nose ;
  Sneezing with discharge of fluid mucus from the left nostril;
  Cold in the head, with sneezing  and drowsiness.
  In one of the provers, the Schneiderian membrane was affected as
follows :  Discharge of an acrid fluid from the nose, after Avhich the
membrane became dry and stiff as parchment; next a tough mucus
was discharged, and  lastly the dryness recurred again.

  These few symptoms point to Sulphur as a useful remedy in
  Chironic Catarrh of the Heal and Nose, or likewise a disposition to
chronic catarrh, Avith acute paroxysms from the least exposure to a
change of weather, dampness, etc.   There is a great deal of sneezing,
discharge of acrid water or mucus from one or both nostrils ;  sore-
ness of the nose, tight feeling about the head, sore and Aveeping eyes.

  These  catarrhal symptoms of  the head and nose  may be asso-
ciated  Avith  other symptoms constituting a group which resembles
very closely an attack of
  Influenza, especially when this  affection prevails as an epidemic
disease.  Among the provings we  find  this record :
  Chilliness over the back and limbs;
  Chilly feelings folloAved by heat, in the forenoon and afternoon ;
  Chilliness not removable by the  heat of  the stove, with blue nails,
paleness of the face,  dizziness, heaviness of the  head, sensation in the
bones of the upper arms as if they Avould break:
  Chill Avith blue nails and  goose flesh, along the arms and down
the back, also on the abdomen ;  accompained by pains as if the
bones Avould break.
  Here Ave have all the  symptoms  characterizing an attack of
  Epidemic Influenza, especially if the irritation  existing in the
lining  membrane of the throat and air-passages,  corresponds  with
that generally prevalent in this disease.  In this direction Sulphur
has the following leading symptoms:
  Scraping  sensation in the  throat, with hoarseness, cough  and
expectoration  of little lumps of a bluish mucus;
  Roughness in the throat, and shooting pains on swallowing;
  Hoarseness, Avith tightness of the chest,  and  inclination to vomit;
  Hoarseness, Avith  sensation as  if mucus  were  sticking in the
glottis;
  Dryness and feeling of warmth in the throat;
  Tickling in  the larynx and bronchial tubes; 
824
LECTURE LVI.
   Severe cough, with expectoration of white mucus;
   Cough, with raAV feeling  in the trachea, expectoration of thick
 phlegm ;
   Cough, with sore pain in the chest;
   Paroxysms of dry cough, with shooting pain in the left chest.
   These various kinds of cough maybe present in epidemic influenza,
 or they may exist as independent forms of bronchial irritation.  We
 may therefore use  Sulphur in
   Chronic Coughi, coming on in paroxysms, at night or in the day-
 time, with expectoration of  thick phlegm, or purulent mucus; the
 paroxysms  may be ushered in by titillation  in the larynx.  This
 sort of cough may have a catarrhal origin, or it may come on after
 measles.  In prescribing Sulphur for a chronic cough, you  will of
 course have to first make a  survey of the ground where  this agent
 is to operate ; it must  be able to cover  the whole  ground, or else
 it will prove inadequate to  a successful fight against the common
 enemy.
   The use of Sulphur in affections of the respiratory organs will
 still further appear, by studying its effects upon the lungs, under the
 head of

                     THORACIC  GROUP.

   Sulphur causes
   Oppression and  anxiety in the chest;
   Dull pressing pain in the left side of the chest;
   Raging pain in the middle of the  sternum ;
   Aching, sore spots in the chest; the pain is increased by inspiration;
   Dull stitches in the lower  part of  the chest, right side;
   YVeight and pressure in the chest, increasing from day to day, and
finally terminating in shooting  pains  Avhen  bending forward, or
taking a long  breath ;
   Fulness in the chest, with  tickling in the throat, sweetish taste in
the mouth, spitting up of a watery,  slimy fluid, mixed with bright-
red blood ;
   Burning sensation in the chest.

   These  symptoms, if considered in connection with  the fact that
Sulphur causes engorgements of the venous capillary system, con-
stitute important therapeutic indications.   See what these engorge-
ments may lead to : exudations, suppurations and ulcerations of the
lining membrane and pulmonary tissue may result from  them.  Hence
Sulphur becomes an important agent in
  Scrofulous Consumption, or phthisis pulmonalis, even in the advanced
stages of this disease, with copious purulent expectoration, cavernous
disorganizations, colliquative diarrhoea and night-sweats.  Dr. Clotar
Muller regards the following symptoms as characteristic for Sulphur
in this disease : " Dryness and burning in the throat, the expired air
feels glowing-hot;  dry food remains sticking in the  throat and has
to be coughed up again ; loss of voice ; exhausting cough,  especially
at night, generally  dry, it is  only after long and violent  coughino- 
SULPHUR.
825
 that quantities of pus are raised ; occasional rattling in the windpipe
 and chest;  frequent stoppage of breath, especially after a short nap,
 from which the patient is roused by a feeling of suffocation; copious
 sweat, even during sleep ; rash over the whole skin, feeling of heat;
 T^i   ur"?d Pulse !  occasional and violent rushing of the blood to
 the head, with throbbing of the arteries, palpitation of the heart; at
 such times the face which is generally pale, becomes flushed and
 looks mottled."
   In  Chironic  Pneumonia, with cough, soreness, expectoration  of
 blood  and pus, Sulphur  may prove very useful;  so it may in
   Chironic Hemoptysis, in the case of phthisicky persons.
   In Pleuritis Plastica, with exudations in the pleura, Sulphur may
 be given in alternation with Aconite and Bryonia.

   Sulphur likewise acts  upon the heart and aorta.  It causes palpi-
 tation  of the heart, and the folio-wing rather remarkable symptom :
   Increased pulsation of the aorta, from the heart to the clavicle,
 with a purring noise;  when lying  on the back, the  pulsations are
 felt in  the abdominal aorta.
   This symptom may indicate Sulphur in
   Abnormal Irritability of the Heart, palpitation, hysteria, and even in
   Incipient Aneurism of the Aorta, as a symptom of scrofulosis.
   We hardly need again  advert to  the  fact that Sulphur  is pre-
 eminently indicated, if these  affections of the thoracic organs can
 be traced to suppression of scabies or haemorrhoids.

                        FEVER GROUP.

   We  have already pointed out the value of Sulphur in influenza. In
   Hectic fever, with sour  or fetid night-sweats, or profuse sweating of
 the legs only, and consequent exhaustion, this agent  may prove an
 excellent palliative.

                            SLEEP.

 *  Sulphur causes  sleeplessness, and disturbing dreams about wild
 beasts, fire  and death; hence it proves useful in eradicating a ten-
 dency  to
   Nightmare,  especially  if other constitutional symptoms confirm
the selection of this  drug.   Palpitation of the heart  during the
 attack  is characteristic of Sulphur.

                      MENTAL GROUP.

   Sulphur may prove  useful in
   Hysteria and Hypochondria, especially when complicated with liver-
complaint, or when arising from suppression of piles.  In
   Mania, caused by the violent suppression of scabies, Sulphur may
act as a curative agent. 
826
LECTURE LVI.
                            DOSE.

  If my own experience and that of the most intelligent observers
of our School is of any value to you, you may depend upon obtain-
ing curative results by means  of the  lowest as Avell  as the highest
potencies of Sulphur.  I have  said enough bearing upon this point,
to enable you to decide for yourselves in particular cases.  1 will
here simply observe  that in chronic pulmonary affections you Avill
find the middle and higher potencies of  Sulphur preferable to the
lower, although this rule may not be without exceptions.
  What!  exclaims my sagacious colleague of  Jefferson  College;
look at this mass of corruption, do you mean to remove all this by
your infinitesimal globule ?   Yes, indeed, but  let us understand
each other.  What you suppose  to be  the disease, and what you
triumphantly point at as the disease, we simply regard as a patholo-
gical process instituted or  caused by the  action of an inimical prin-
ciple upon the pulmonary tissue.   This  inimical principle Ave have
agreed to denominate scrofula.  It is this scrofulous element Avhich
the infinitesimal globule takes  hold of,  Avhich it neutralizes by virtue
of its OAvn inherent dynamical  force.   In many cases of disease this
curative result can only be accomplished by means of massive doses.
In dropsy, for instance, the morbific element cannot ahvays be neu-
tralized without the continued use of massive  doses of Digitalis.
But in scrofulous ulceration of the lungs, an infinitesimal globule
of Sulphur is a far more efficient and safe neutralizer of the poison
than your ounce doses of the crude drug.  This question will have to
be decided by experiment.  Some minds are constitutionally unfit
to perceive the inherent reasonableness of our doctrines; from such
persons we may expect derision and petty assaults, no accession  to
our ranks;  but  there are many  honest-minded, enlightened  men
among our  opponents  whom  we may induce,  by a  philosophical
exposition  of our doctrines, to investigate and, may-be,  to apply
them in simple  cases.  The people come to us, because  they love
the gentle sweetness, and have confidence in the efficiency of our
practice ; but if you would conquer the  great mind  of the profes-
sion, then let me urge you to ever think of Homoeopathy Avith hearts
full of reverence for the  consistency and universality of her teach-
ings, as a  doctrine of life, a heavenly truth which Avill not fail, if
properly understood and  universally applied,  to  link earth and
heaven in one great cycle  of sensual refinement, intellectual beauty
and social and religious harmony. 
VERATRUM ALBUM.
827
                   LECTURE  LVII.


                       VERATRUM  ALBUM,

              (White Hellebore.—Natural Order:—Junci.)

     This  plant is  supposed to  be the Helleborus leukos of ancient
   writers,  such as Theophrastus, Dioscorides, etc.  Dr. Francis Adams,
   in his appendix to  Dunbar's Greek and English Lexicon, and one
   of our best  authorities on the  history of the  plants used by the
   ancients, considers Veratrum album identical with the white Helle-
   bore of  the ancients.   Sprengel, in  his Annotations to Dioscorides,
   comes to the same conclusion.  Among the ancients, Hellebore Avas
   much celebrated for the cure of hydrophobia.  Some thirty years
   ago,  the Cevadilla veratrum,  a  species of Mexican Hellebore, Avas
,  cried out as a specific for hydrophobia.
     According to Wibmer, author of a highly and justly celebrated
   treatise  on poisons, Veratrum is one of the oldest poisons, and sup-
   posed to have been used by the Gauls and other nations in their
   warfare  against the Romans.
     Hahnemann has left us a celebrated Inaugural Dissertation on the
   white Hellebore of the ancients. In this dissertation, which he wrote
   on the occasion of his receiving the diploma as Doctor of Medicine,
   he states that it occupies the first rank among the medicines of the
   ancients. He also proves that the Veratrum  album of the ancients
   and that of the moderns are identical,  by  comparing the symptoms
   produced by each.  "In the face of such a remarkable resemblance
   of the symptoms caused by these tAvo plants, who can deny that the
   very same plant which now grows in our gardens, was that used by
   the ancients for the production of helleborism?  YVhere, I ask, can
   another  plant be found Avhich shall  show these same peculiar effects
   on the human body that are produced by the white Hellebore  of the
   ancients and  our Veratrum alburn ?   The external character of the
   plant resembles that described by the ancients ; the name is the same
   as that given to it by the Romans; it has the same properties uoav as
   formerly ; there is the same danger attending its use now as formerly;
   it is undoubtedly the same plant."
     This plant is a hardy perennial, flowering from June to August.
   Stem from two to five feet high, erect, simple, and hairy.  Flowers
   greenish-white, forming a large doAvny panicle.  Leaves large, ellip-
   tical, entire,  ovate  oblong, striated, of a fine green color.  It is a
   native of the mountainous  districts of Europe ;  it is found in great
   abundance on the Alps of SAvitzerland.  We have a Veratrum viride
   in our country, Avhich is used as a depressor of  the pulse.  We use
   the root of this  plant, a single, double or many-headed rhizoma
   havin"- the form of a cylinder, or truncated cone ; from tAvo to four
   inches'long, about one inch in diameter,  rough, wrinkled, greyish
   or  blackish-broAvn  externally, whitish internally.  At  the upper 
828
LECTURE LVII.
extremity of the rhizoma we frequently observe  the  cut  edges  of
numerous concentric, woody or membranous scales;  they are por-
tions of the dried leaf-sheaths. When cut transversely, the rhizoma
presents a large central portion which varies in its qualities, being
woody,  farinaceous, or spongy, in different specimens.  The odor of
the dried  rhizoma is feeble, the taste at  first  bitter, then acrid ; by
keeping the rhizoma it is apt to become mouldy.
  From this root we obtain a deep brown-red tincture, of which the
three first potencies may be used in acute, and the middle  potencies
in chronic affections.
  The physiological effects  of Veratrum  are  very marked.  Dr.
Schabel states that, from his own experience, and from that of Wepfer,
Courten, Viborg, Orfila and others, he finds that Veratrum  album is
poisonous to all  classes of animals.   It produces  in every instance
symptoms of irritation of the alimentary canal; it  is very active ;
three grains of the extract applied to the nostrils of a cat, killed it in
sixteen  hours.
  On man it acts as a violent, acrid irritant, causing violent sneezing
when  applied to  the nose, and sometimes epistaxis.  In  Germany
the powdered root is  often  used to procure a good sneezing  fit,
when the head is stopped in  catarrh.
  I will relate  a few short cases of poisoning which exhibit thie
action of the drug very characteristically.

  In Rust's Magazine for Medicine  and the  collateral Sciences,  an
account is given of the poisoning of eight people by this  drug.  The
powder  of the root had been put into some bread  instead of cumin-
seed, of which the family who were very poor people,  partook for a
week; they Avere attacked by violent pains in the abdomen, a sen-
sation as if the intestines were tied up in a knot, swelling of the
tongue,  soreness of the mouth, and  giddiness.  They  all recovered
after the use of laxatives.
  From this case we learn that  Veratrum  affects very  powerfully
the mucous lining of the intestinal  canal in  consequence of  a pri-
mary  depression of the  nervous centers.  The  symptoms point to
Veratrum as a great agent in Colicodynia.

  Horn, in his Archive of Practical Medicine, relates the poisoning
of three people who took the root by mistake.  The symptoms were •
in  about  an hour, burning in the throat,  gullet  and  stomach"
followed by nausea, dysuria  and vomiting ; weakness  and stiffness
of the limbs; giddiness, blindness,  and dilated  pupils ;  great faint-
ness, convulsive breathing, and small pulse.  In the case of one of
the poisoned people, the pulse became imperceptible, the breathing
stertorous, and a  total  insensibility set in, even to  ammonia when
held under her nose.  Next day this person became lethargic ; she
complained of headache, and had an eruption similar  to flea  bites
They all recovered.
   Here we  have  a group of symptoms Avhich indicates an almost
universal irritation of the ganglionic system, such as  may occur in
Asiatic cholera.   The symptoms of the upper portion of the  intes-
g 
VERATRUM ALBUM.
829
tinal canal:  burning in the throat, gullet and stomach, nausea and
vomiting; the  symptoms developed in the pulmonary apparatus;
convulsive and stertorous breathing;  the  condition of the pulse:
imperceptible or  collapsed; the urinary difficulties:  dysuria, and
finally tlm prostrated innervation:  faintness, insensibility to exter-
nal stimuli,  and finally a lethargy; these varied effects constitute a
group  of symptoms which frequently meets our eyes in the last
stage of  epidemic cholera.

  Bernt, in  his contributions  to the History of Medicine, quotes a
fatal case: a man took  twice as much as could be put on the point
of a knife.   He was attacked with a violent and incessant vomiting,
and  lived only twelve hours.  The gullet, stomach  and colon Avere
found inflamed in patches.

  Hahnemann  relates the following case of poisoning in his lesser
writings: I  had the greatest difficulty in restoring two children, the
one a year and three-quarters old, the other five years old, Avho had
both taken white Hellebore by mistake, the former four grains, the
latter seven grains.   But few minutes elapsed, before the greatest
changes were observable in both children.  They became quite cold,
fell down, their eyes projecting like those of a person in a state of
suffocation,  the saliva ran continually from their mouths, and they
seemed devoid of consciousness.  I saAV them half an hour after the
accident. The parents  had tried to incite vomiting by means of a
feather, but  without success.  Milk administered by the bowels, and
poured down the throat in large quantities, had had no effect except
the production of scanty vomiting Avhich did no good, but only
increased the faintness.
  " When I arrived, both seemed at the point of death: distorted,
projecting  eyes;  disfigured cold  countenance;  relaxed muscles;
closed jaws ; imperceptible respiration.  The infant was  the worst.
The impending death by apoplexy, the failing irritability, at once
induced me to  combat the symptoms, if possible, with strong coffee.
I introduced, as  far as  the clenched jaws would allow me, Avarm
coffee into the  mouth, but I chiefly sought to give it in large quan-
tities by means of an enema ; in the course of an hour all the danger
was gone, and the natural temperature, consciousness and respiration
had returned."

  Buchner relates the following experiment with Veratrum : Waltl
macerated 40 grains of  the root of  Veratrum in an ounce of Avater,
of which he took a teaspoonful without experiencing any effect.  A
tablespoonful of the solution, caused in three hours a burning heat
in the whole body which lasted half an hour, after which a copious
perspiration broke out for five hours.   Six hours after SAvallowing
the drug the room  seemed darkened; he was unable to bear the
lio-ht of day or to hold his head erect, AYhich he had to press against
hrs chest, otherwise he experienced 'a violent  headache and an intol-
erable distress  in the occiput;  the  pulse Avas accelerated; at times
he felt cold, and at other times hot; his strength was very much re- 
830
LECTURE LVII.
duced;  finally, he vomited ten times, had a number of discharges
from the bowels;  the face was sunken, pale, altered, covered with a
cold SAveat.  Next day he Avas Avell again.

  These few cases of poisoning show that Veratrum is capable of
producing a very speedy collapse of the vital  reaction, character-
ized by coldness, collapse  of pulse, involuntary  discharges from the
boAvels,  vomiting,  violent cerebral  congestions, asphyxiated  con-
dition of the lungs.
  If given in small doses, Veratrum promotes the mucous secretion.
T stated that it favors the discharge from the nose, from the salivary
glands, kidneys and uterus, and the cutaneous exhalation.
  In larger doses it  causes vomiting, purging, colic, even tenesmus
and bloody stools with prostration.
  In still larger doses, symptoms of gastro-enteritis  will  appear;
lethargy (as in the case I mentioned) and a cutaneous eruption like
flea-bites ; the  pulse becomes irregular.
  Poisonous doses causes violent burning in the mouth, oesophagus
and stomach;  rigidity  of the tongue, even complete aphonia, pains
in the abdomen, violent retching and vomiting, frequent purging,
and even bloody evacuations with  tenesmus;  dysuria, haematuria,
oppressive anguish, small,  and frequently intermitting pulse, spasms
and convulsions of the extremities,  tetanic  spasms, coldness of the
body and extremities, paralysis and  finally death.
  These symptoms point to Veratrum as one of our mightiest agents
in Gastrodynia and Asiatic cholera.
  The experiments which  have been instituted with this drug, show
that it exerts a powerful action upon the cerebro-spinal axis, upon
the ganglionic  or sympathetic  system, upon  the special senses, and
very strikingly upon the pneumo-gastric nerve.
  Considered under  their  respective  categories, the physiological
effects of Veratrum yield the following results:

                 CEREBRO-SPINAL  GROUP.

  Veratrum causes dizziness, with obscuration of sioht •  the patient
is only conscious of himself as in a dream.
  A brandy-distiller had treated himself and his friends  to an in-
fusion of brandy  on Veratrum-root.   They all became violently
intoxicated, were attacked with dizziness, vomiting, diarrhoea   The
brandy-distiller who  happened to be in his cart, drove through the
village like a crazy man.  An old seamstress who had tasted°of th
infusion, had to be led  home supported by two persons • on her w  &
home, watery  stools passed from her involuntarily.             a^
  This case shows us the great use Ave may derive from Verat
in the treatment of  mania, and  cerebral irritations setting in  ^'T
denly, where symptoms of intoxication and vertigo constitute r>  S
nent indications.   The physiological condition of the brain in°mh
affections is a  sudden sinking of innervation, as may occur and has
occurred in Cholera asphyxia, where the attack frequently sets  in
with a sudden loss of power to control one's movements: the patient 
VERATRUM ALBUM.
831
feels dizzy, staggers about, his vision becomes obscured, the pulse is
depressed, and a complete extinction of nervous poAver is going on
at a fearful rate.  It is with such sudden paroxysms of a sinking of
cerebral innervation  that Veratrum  is in  homoeopathic rapport.
Not in common cases of
   Vertigo, but in vertigo characterized by obscuration of vision, col-
lapse of pulse, fainting,  prostration.   Confirmed brandy-drinkers,
opium-eaters,  persons who use  tobacco to excess,  or who exhaust
their cerebal energies by sexual abuse, may become constitutionally
liable to such  attacks.  Miasmatic  atmospheric  influences, in times
of prevailing epidemics, may beget a predisposition  for such attacks.
   In certain forms  of
   Apoplexy, we shall find  Veratrum an indispensable agent.  During
the attack  the extremities become cold,  the  pulse  collapses,  the
breathing becomes stertorous, the face  has a bluish, hippocratic ap-
pearance, the  lips look blue, the pupil  is dilated,  violent retching
may exist at the commencement of the attack, resulting in the ex-
pulsion of small quantities of white, tenacious phlegm.  Persons Avho
have ruined their stomachs by the abuse of  brandy, are exposed to
the danger of such  attacks.
   We may  find Veratrum adapted  to certain forms of
   Hemicrania, with nausea, violent and ineffectual retching, or re-
sulting in the  bringing up of a little tough mucus.
   In Hydrocephalus, Veratrum  is indicated  by a peculiar train of
symptoms:  the child lies in a  state of sopor, cries  out suddenly,
bores its head into the pilloAv, the pupils  are contracted; the head
feels hot, while the rest  of the body is cool;  the  least attempt to
raise the head causes the  little patient to gag and vomit.
   Veratrum may be prescribed  in
   Fainting  Fits, Trembling, and even in Convulsions, where these con-
ditions occur  incidentally to such depressions of the cerebral inner-
vation as Ave have alluded to.   In  all such cases the general aspect
of the case  will always appear  the same, cold extremities, collapse
of pulse, hippocratic countenance, loss of vision, partial insensibility
to external  stimuli.   The convulsions may be symptomatic of a pri-
mary derangement of the abdominal nervous centres, more particu-
larly of the  coeliac plexus, and will always be accompanied with the
previously described  signs of cerebral  irritation, and paroxysms of
violent retching, vomiting of tenacious mucus, or even of green bile
and blood.

                       ORBITAL GROUP.

   Veratrum causes loss of vision,  but we have seen that this effect
is subordinate to a more deep-seated, more  universal depression of
the ganglionic system and of the cerebral system of nerves.  In pre-
scribing- Veratrum for                         .   ..
   Amaurosis,  it will therefore be important to inquire whether the
co-existing  svmptoms of cerebral  irritation justify its use. _ V ith
these reservations we may commend Veratrum to your attention in
   Partial amaurosis,  Hemeralopia and Nyctalopia, and in 
832
LECTURE LA'II.
  Paralytic Conditions of the motor power of the lids and recti mus-
cles, particularly in
  Blephiaroptosis, or falling of the lids, and in
  Strabismus or squinting, attended with Aveakness of the eyes, after
an operation.  Even for
   Weak and Sore eyes, with heat in the eyes, and swelling of the lids,
Veratrum has been found useful.  Here it is particularly adapted to
persons Avith impoverished or rickety constitutions, who are habitu-
ally cold and generally deficient in v^tal reaction, with a thin pulse
and impaired digestion.

  Veratrum affects the ears, nose and face in a marked manner, but
not independently of its more general action upon  the  brain or
ganglionic system.  It causes deafness, alternate feelings of heat and
coldness in the ears.   This group of symptoms may occur  in hydro-
cephalus and cholera.
  It causes icy coldness of the nose, excessive irritation and flow of
water from the nose, soreness and  ulceration of the nose.   These
symptoms  may occur as incidental  to deep-seated  irritations or de-
praved conditions of the intestinal mucous  lining, occasioned by, or
resulting in the formation of worms.
  It causes a pale, cold and collapsed face, with a pinched-up, bluish
nose, dry and cracked  lips, lock-jaAV, gritting of  the  teeth.  All
these symptoms may occur, some in cholera, others in hydrocephalus
and worm-diseases.

                       BUCCAL GROUP.

  We have seen  that Veratrum causes ptyalism,  soreness  of the
mouth, swelling of the tongue; it  has  also been  knoAvn to cause
coldness of the tongue, a croaking  voice and even a complete loss
of voice.
   This group of symptoms  indicates the employment of  Veratrum
in the milder forms of
   Mercurial Ptyalism, and  in Asiatic cholera, where a cold  tongue,
a croaking voice, and even a complete loss  of voice occur  in thelast
stage of the disease.

                  CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

   The action of Veratrum upon the chylo-poietic organs is distin-
guished by a variety of characteristic and highly remarkable effects.
It causes a
   Suffocative Constriction of the fauces, with a dry and cold  feelino-
in the throat;
   Loss of taste;
   Unquenchable desire for cold drinks;
   Nausea, retching and vomiting of mucus, bile and blood •
   Vomiting, attended with fainting and prostration;
   Vomiting accompanied with diarrhoea and burning in the epigas-
 tric region; 
VERATRUM  ALBUM.
833
  Singultus;
  A feeling of oppression and burning in the epigastrium;
  1 amfulness of the abdominal walls;
  Burning in the bowels as from hot coal;
  Flatulent colic, with rumbling in the bowels;
  Diarrhoea, also involuntary, bloody stools and watery discharges.
  Applying these symptoms in the order in which we have ranged
them here, we find Veratrum indicated in
  Spasmodic Dysphiagia, with retching, and a flow of wafer from the
mouth; in
 _ Dyspepsia,  with oppression of the  stomach after  eating, burning
distress in the stomach, gagging and  vomiting of mucus; in
  Chronic Vomiting of mucus, bile and blood, to which topers become
subject, or which may set in in consequence  of over-eating, or  of
miasmatic influences.  Even the vomiting of pregnant females may
sometimes be relieved by Veratrum.   In
  Cardialgia, with violent straining, burning distress in  the epigas-
trium,  violent thirst, vomiting,  sensitiveness to pressure, Veratrum
may prove very efficient. In
  Colicodynia, Veratrum may manifest great curative powers.   In
one of our cases of poisoning I stated that the  patients complained
of a distress as though the bowels  were tied up in a knot.   This
symptom constitutes an important curative indication.
  Hahnemann effected a splendid  cure of this disease in the earlier
years of his professional  career.  The patient was a printer who had
been afflicted for several years.   The attacks set  in with a feeling of
constriction in the bowels as if flatulence had become incarcerated;
the bowels swelled up and  became  excessively  painful, cold sweat
broke  out and the patient became nearly stupefied and exhausted,
with his face swollen and his eyes protruded.  You may find this
case fully described in Hahnemann's Lesser Writings.  The patient
was completely cured with four doses of Veratrum, each consisting
of four grains of the pulverized  root.  This dose was enormous,
producing unnecessary medicinal  complications;  but the cure was
complete and lasting, and created a sensation at the time it was first
reported in Hufeland's Journal.
  In these cases of colicodynia, when the paroxysms occur periodi-
cally, as they did in Hahnemann's case, Avith dull pain and soreness
remaining between the paroxysms, the pathological appearances  in
the bowels are those of sub-acute torpid  inflammation   In this
respect Veratrum is  likeAvise in homoeopathic  rapport^with such a
disease, for post-mortem investigations in cases  of poisoning have
revealed an inflammatory condition of the colon.
  In Spasmodic Colic, Avith a sensation as if the bowels were tied up
in a knot attended with nausea and vomiting, or ineffectual straining
to vomit,' tympanitic distension  and sensitiveness of  the  bowels,
Veratrum may afford help;  the first  six potencies may be chosen.

  We  have seen that Veratrum causes involuntary serous discharges
from the bowels ; hence in
  Involuntary Diarrhiea, where the contents of the boAvels are dis- 
834
LECTURE LVII.
 charged without the patient being conscious of such a fact, owing to
 a paralytic condition of the sphincters and an impaired sensibility
 of the part, Veratrum may aid us in restoring the vital irritability.

  Veratrum  has obtained  its most distinguished reputation as a
 therapeutic  agent in consequence of the great  good it has accom-
 plished in the treatment of
  Asiatic Chiolera, especially in the last stage of the- disease, when
 symptoms of paralysis and asphyxia begin  to  predominate.  The
 skin has a shrivelled appearance, the - tongue feels cold and looks
 pale ;  the face has that peculiar cadaverous and pinched appearance
 Avhich has been designated as the cholera-face, facies choleraica;  the
 pulse is collapsed, and a cyanotic color of the extremities  and  face
 indicates the utter prostration of the process of arterialization. Here
 it is where Veratrum quickens the sunken vitality into a neAV flicker
 of reaction.   The tincture as Avell as the first  three and even  higher
 potencies have effected cures in this disease.

                     URINARY  GROUP.

  Veratrum causes dysuria, and also involuntary discharges of urine,
 as from paralysis of the sphincters.  Both these conditions are symp-
tomatic, the dysuria occurring in a group  of  cholera-symptoms,  the
 enuresis in consequence of intestinal irritations such as might be
 caused by worms.

                      SEXUAL  GROUP.

  Veratrum causes marked irritations in the  female sexual organs,
which,  in their highest  degree, resemble  that  dreadful disease,
nymphomania.   We therefore commend Veratrum in
  Nymphomania, especially Avhen  arising from  mental causes, a
violent craving  for  love, or an  unsatisfied passion.   A case is
reported in Frank's  Physiological Magazine,  of an  unmarried
female, aged twenty-six years, who conceived a violent passion for
a man which could not be gratified, and who  became demented in
consequence.  She sang  and  laughed  all the  time, and  fancied
herself pregnant.  She was radically and permanently cured  of her
mania by the use of Veratrum.
  In Puerperal Mania and likeAvise in Puerperal Convulsions, Vera-
trum may act  a  good part.  The  mania may be characterized  by
wild shrieks, excessive mirthfulness, bloated face and protrusion of
 the  eyeballs;  the convulsions are accompanied by violent cerebral
 congestions,  bluish and bloated face, protruded eyes,  coldness of
the  extremities, collapse of pulse, expression  of fright and anxiety
in the features, heavy stertorous breathing.  In these nervous affec-
tions the first six attenuations may prove the most useful.

  Veratrum affects the menses.  It has caused a menstrual condition
 like the folloAving: Premature and profuse menstruation  preceded
 and even accompanied by headache, nose-bleed, nausea,  buzzino- ln 
VERATRUM  ALBUM.
^35
the ears, pains in the limbs, and finally gritting of the  teeth, bluish
face, delirious talk.
  This group of symptoms shows that in abnormal conditions of the
female sexual system, where this species of metrorrhagia constitutes
a prominent symptom, Veratrum may be of great use.
  If these abnormal nervous conditions, erotomania, nymphomania,
should result from a Sudden and violent suppression of the menstrual
discharge, Veratrum may succeed  in restoring  the  discharge and
removing the mental disorder.

                   RESPIRATORY GROUP.

  The action of  Veratrum upon  the  respiratory  organs  is in the
main characterized by the folloAving symptoms.   It produces these
symptoms by its irritating action upon  the pneumo-gastric nerve.
  Aphonia, loss of voice ;
  Titillation in the  throat-pit, Avith dry cough;
  Spasmodic cough, with blue face, suffocation, retching, a group of
symptoms which  commend Veratrum to our regard in
   Whooping-coughi;
  Spasmodic constriction of the chest, with suffocative breathing,
and excessive praecordial anguish.
  These symptoms  suggest the use of Veratrum in
  Spasmodic   Asthma,  with dreadful  paroxysms  of suffocation,
especially when this disease was caused by the  violent suppression
of an inflammatory eruption upon  the  chest or neck, an acute rash,
for instance ; and in
  Angina Pectoris,  Avith  dreadful  anguish  and  oppression in  the
region of the heart.

                 EXANTHEMATOUS  GROUP.

•   We have seen that Veratrum causes an  eruption  of red spots.^
This is purely symptomatic and may  simply  confirm the use of
Veratrum in other more universal affections.

                        FEVER-GROUP.

   Veratrum is particularly indicated in
   Remittent Fevers, Avith a tendency to the typhoid form, internal
heat and  coldness  externally,  a good deal of thirst,  sore mouth,
burnino- heat  in  the epigastrium  and bowels, oppression on  the
chest congestion about the head, diarrhoea or else costiveness Avith
distension of the bowels, prostration, sopor.

  In Yellow Fever,  Veratrum may be of use in the last stage,  the
sta^-e of black vomit, with spasmodic  vomiting  and retching, agoni-
7in° burnino-  distress in  the pit of the  stomach.  We give from  the
1st to the 6th potency.   Previous  to this stage, our mam-stay may
nrobably be Arsenic with  the  following symptomatic indications:
''The skin is  burning  and dry, yellow;  the  eyes  have a yellow. 
836
LECTURE LVII.
 tinge and look glassy;  the vomiting returns  and causes great dis-
 tress ;  the substance which is thrown up is darker, and the burning
 in the epigastric region sometimes is most agonizing, and is accom-
 panied with great tenderness to the touch ; the thirst is constant and
 unquenchable; the patient begins to wander, and the pulse,  which
 is generally strong and bounding in the inflammatory stage, becomes
 quicker and softer.
   These symptoms are  described as the second or typhoid  stage of
 the fever, which may last for  some  hours or  even  several  days,
 Then it is that black vomit sets in, when Arsenic 6th to 12th, and
 Veratrum may be given in alternation.

                      MENTAL GROUP.

   Veratrum causes excessive anguish, rage or craziness. It causes a
   Hypochondriac depression  of spirits, with costiveness,  weeping
 mood;
  Furious mania; the patient attempts to tear and  bite; he  chews
 his own shoes, does not know his own relatives.   It also causes
  Craziness, she claps her hands, runs about, her chest full of phlegm.
  She  screams and runs about, her face being dark blue.
  These few symptoms  point out the different forms of
  Mental Derangement,  where  Veratrum  may  prove  of  service.
 Those which arise from menstrual irregularities,  and to which Ver-
 atrum is specifically adapted, have been pointed  out before.
  The  ancients have employed this drug with'a  sort of barbarous
consistency in the treatment  of mental derangements.  The  white
and black Hellebore are supposed to have been used indiscriminately
for such purposes.   The treatment which is  historically known as
the helleborism of the ancients, was chiefly conducted on the island
of Anticyra in the Greek Archipelago, upon  the principle of kill
or cure, consisting of a course of evacuations  by  the mouth, bowels
and skin, which either drove all the devils out of  the poor possessed,
or else consigned him to the land of Stygian shadoAVs. 
 
 
 
a3|Ajas  H»IDSH       :>!|qnd'aJDJ|aMPUD





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