Category: Materia Medica

PREFACE NINTH EDITION

In preparing the ninth edition of this work, I have followed the lines laid out for all the previous editions, namely, to present in a condensed form the homśopathic Materia Medica for practical use.

The book contains the well known verified characteristic symptoms of all our medicines besides other less important symptoms aiding the selection of the curative remedy, All the new medicines and essentials of the published clinical experience of the school have been added. In its present compact form it contains the maximum number of reliable Materia Medica facts in the minimum space.

I have tried to give a succinct resume of the symptomatology of every medicine used in Homśopathy, including also clinical suggestions of many drugs so far not yet based on provings, thus offering the opportunity to experiment with these and by future provings discover their distinctive use and so enlarging our armamentarium.

I am aware that there is a difference of opinion about the advisability of further introduction of remedies, especially of such as seem obsolete or to some minds illusory. But it is not for the compiler to leave out information about any substance that has received the clinical endorsement from a reliable source.

Our Materia Medica must include all substances which have been proved and which have been used with apparent efficacy. It rests with the individual student to judge for himself the accuracy and, reliability of such observation. In this connection, I cannot forego to avail myself of the high authority of that master of Homśopathy, Dr. Constantine Hering, favoring the introduction of all remedies capable of producing reactions in the body that may guide to their medicinal employment. “Homśopathy is essentially not only many-sided but all-sided. She investigates the action of all substances, whether articles of diet, beverages, condiments, drugs or poisons. She investigates their action on the healthy, the sick, animals and plants. She gives; a new interpretation to that ancient, oft quoted saying of Paul, Prove all things–a new meaning, a new application that acts universally. Elimination of the useless may gradually take place with the growth of accurate physiological and pathological knowledge.”

Again, imperfectly proved remedies necessitate the use of names of diseases at times instead of the component symptoms that alone are the legitimate guide to the choice of the curative remedy. Here, too, I have Hering as pioneer guide for the ligitimacy of this method, which he also followed in his great work, the Guiding Symptoms. He said that he used the disease designations not for the purpose of recommending the particular remedy for that disease, but to show the great variety of remedies that may be used for any form of disease when otherwise indicated. For the same reason I have included nosological terms in the symptomatology and Therapeutic Index, as this is a practical handbook for every-day service, and any aid for finding the curative remedy ought to be utilized. As Dr. J. Compton Burnett expresses it:

“The fact is we need any and every way of finding the right remedy; the simple simile, the simple symptomatic similimum and the farthest reach of all-the pathologic similimum, and I maintain that we are still well within the line- of Homśopathy that is expansive, progressive, science fostered and science fostering.”

The dosage needs some apology. It is, of course, suggestive only; more often to be wholly disregarded. I have followed the lines of the earlier Homśopathists in this regard, and given what was then considered the usual range of potency, to which I have added my own experience and that of many observing practitioners. Every teacher of Materia Medica is constantly importuned by students to suggest the potency–something to start with at least.

The book is in no sense a treatise, and must not be considered or judged as such. It is as accurate and reliable a compilation and the fullest collection of verified Materia Medica facts and clinical suggestions as it is possible to obtain within the compass of the volume. It supplements every other work on Materia Medica, and if used as a ready reminder of the essential facts of our vast symptomatology and as an introduction to the larger books of reference and record of provings, it will fulfill its purpose and prove a useful aid to the student and general practitioner. As such it is again offered with much appreciation of past endorsement to his professional brethren.

I have been aided in seeing this edition through the press by the efficient help of Mr. F. O. Ernesty, who has lightened the labor of making the manuscript more acceptable to the printers, and I desire to express my hearty appreciation of this kind and helpful service.

BOERICK MD

  • YOHIMBINUM

    Coryanthe Yohimbe

    Excites sexual organs and acts on central nervous system and respiratory center. An aphrodisiac, used in physiological doses, but contraindicated in all acute and chronic inflammations of abdominal organs. Homeopathically, should be of service in congestive conditions of the sexual organs. Causes hyperæmia of the milk glands and stimulates the function of lactation. Menorrhagia.

    Head.–Agitation, with flying sensations of heat in face. Disagreeable, metallic taste. Copious salivation. Nausea and eructation.

    Sexual.–Strong and lasting erections. Neurasthenic impotence. Bleeding piles. Intestinal hæmorrhage. Urethritis.

    Fever.–Rigor; intense heat, waves of heat and chilliness, tendency to sweat.

    Sleep.–Sleepless. Thoughts of events of whole past life keep him awake.

    Dose.–As a sexual stimulant, ten drops of a one per cent solution, or hypodermic tablets of 0. 005 gm. Homeopathic dose, third potency.

  • X-RAY

    Vial containing alcohol exposed to X-Ray

    Repeated exposure to Roentgen (X-ray) has produced skin lesions often followed by cancer. Distressing pain. Sexual glands are particularly affected. Atrophy of ovaries and testicles. Sterility. Changes take place in the blood lymphatics and bone marrow. Anæmia and leukæmia. Corresponds to stubbornness as in burns, they refuse to heal. Psoriasis.

    Has the property of stimulating cellular metabolism. Arouses the reactive vitality, mentally and physically. Brings to the surface suppressed symptoms, especially sycotic and those due to mixed infections. Its homeopathic action is thus centrifugal, towards the periphery.

    Head.–Sticking pains in different parts of head and face. Dull pain in right upper jaw. Stiff neck. Sudden cricks in neck, pains more severe behind ears. Pain in muscles of neck when lifting head from pillow. Fullness in ears, ringing in head.

    Mouth.–Tongue dry, rough, sore. Throat painful on swallowing. Nausea.

    Male.–Lewd dreams. Sexual desire lost. Re-establishes suppressed gonorrhœa.

    Extremities.–Rheumatic pains. General tired and sick feeling. Palms rough and scaly.

    Skin.–Dry, itching eczema. Erythema around roots of nails. Skin dry, wrinkled. Painful cracks. Warty growths. Nails thicken. Psoriasis.

    Modalities.–Worse, in bed, afternoon, evening and night; open air.

    Dose.–Twelfth potency and higher.

    Compare: Electricitas.–Sugar of milk saturated with the current (Anxiety, nervous tremors, restlessness, palpitation, headaches. Dreads approach of thunder-storms; heaviness of limbs).

    Magnetis Poli Ambo.–The Magnet.–Sugar of milk or distilled water exposed to influence of entire mass (Burning lancinations throughout the body; pains as if broken in joints, when cartilages of two bones touch; shooting and jerkings; headache as if a nail were driven in; tendency of old wounds to bleed afresh).

    Magnetis Polus Arcticus.–North pole of the magnet.–(Disturbed sleep, somnambulism, cracking in cervical vertebræ, sensation of coldness; toothache).

    Magnetis Polus Australis.–South pole of the magnet.–(Severe pain in inner side of nail of the big toe, ingrowing toenail; easy dislocation of joints of foot; feet are painful when letting them hang down).

  • XEROPHYLLUM

    Tamalpais Lily, Basket Grass Flower

    Should prove curative in eczematous conditions, poison-oak, early typhoid states, etc.

    Mind.–Dull, cannot concentrate mind for study; forgets names; writes last letters of words first; misspells common words.

    Head.–Feels full, stuffed up, pain across forehead and above eyes. Great pressure at root of nose. Bewildered. Loss of consciousness. Pulsating headache.

    Eyes.–Painful, as of sand, smarting; difficult to focus for close work. Eyes feel sore, burn.

    Nose.–Stuffed; tightness at bridge of nose; acute nasal catarrh.

    Face.–Bloated in morning. Puffy under eyes.

    Throat.–Stitching pain upon swallowing.

    Stomach.–Feels full and heavy. Eructations sour; offensive, an hour after luncheon and dinner. Vomiting at 2 pm.

    Abdomen.–Intestinal flatulence. In morning rumbling in bowels, with desire for stool.

    Rectum.–Constipation, stools hard, small lumps. Difficult, soft stools, with much straining. Much flatus. Bearing-down pain in rectum.

    Urine.–Difficulty of retaining; dribbling when walking. Frequent urination at night.

    Female.–Bearing-down sensation. Vulva inflamed, with furious itching. Increased sexual desire, with ovarian and uterine pains and leucorrhœa.

    Respiratory.–Posterior nares raw; discharge thick, yellow mucus. Sneezing. Trachea sore; lumps feel constricted.

    Back.–Feels hot from sacrum to scapulæ. Backache, extending down legs. Pain over kidneys. Heat deep in spine.

    Extremities.–Muscular lameness, trembling. Pain in knees. Limbs feel stiff (Rhus).

    Skin.–Erythema, with vesication and intense itching, stinging, and burning. Blisters, little lumps. Skin rough and cracked; feels like leather. Dermatitis, especially around knees. Inflammation resembling poison-oak. Inguinal glands and behind knee swollen.

    Modalities.–Worse, application of cold water, in afternoon and evening. Better, application of hot water, in morning, moving affected part.

    Relationship.–Compare: Rhus; Anacard; Grindelia.

    Dose.–Sixth potency or higher.

  • XANTOXYLUM FRAXINEUM

    Prickly Ash
    (XANTHOXYLUM)

    Its specific action is on the nervous system and mucous membranes. Paralysis, especially hemiplegia. Painful hæmorrhages, after-pains, neuralgic dysmenorrhœa, and rheumatic affections, offer a therapeutic field for this remedy, especially in patients of spare habit and nervous, delicate organization. Indigestion from over-eating or from too much fluid. Sluggish capillary circulation. Neurasthenia, poor assimilation, insomnia, occipital headache. Increases mucous secretion of mouth and stimulates the secretion from all glands with ducts opening in the mouth.

    Mind.–Nervous, frightened. Mental depression.

    Head.–Feels full. Weight and pain on vertex. Pain over eyes, throbbing pressure over nose, pressure in forehead; head seems divided; ringing in ears. Occipital headache. Sick headache with dizziness and flatulence.

    Face.–Neuralgia of lower jaw. Dryness of mouth and fauces. Pharyngitis (Wyethia).

    Abdomen.–Griping and diarrhœa. Dysentery, with tympanites, tenesmus; inodorous discharges.

    Female.–Menses too early and painful. Ovarian neuralgia, with pain in loins and lower abdomen; worse, left side, extending down the thigh, along genito-crural nerves. Neuralgic dysmenorrhœa, with neuralgic headaches; pain in back and down legs. Menses thick, almost black. After-pains (Arnica; Cup; Cham). Leucorrhœa at time of menses. Neurasthenic patients who are thin, emaciated; poor assimilation with insomnia and occipital headache.

    Respiratory.–Aphonia. Constant desire to take a long breath; oppression of chest. Dry cough, day and night.

    Extremities.–Paralysis of left side following spinal disorders. Numbness of left side; impairment of nerves of motion. Hemiplegia. Pain in nape, extending down back. Sciatica; worse, hot weather. Anterior, crural neuralgia (Staph). Left arm numb. Neuralgic shooting pain, as from electricity, all over limb.

    Sleep.–Hard and unrefreshing; dreams of flying. Sleeplessness in neurasthenics.

    Relationship.–Compare: Gnaph; Cimicif; Staph; Mezer; Piscidia-White dogwood–(a nerve sedative. Insomnia due to worry, nervous excitement, spasmodic coughs; pains of irregular menstruation; regulates the flow. Neuralgic and spasmodic affections. Use tincture in rather material doses).

    Dose.–First to sixth potency.

  • WYETHIA HELENOIDES

    Poison-weed
    (WYETHIA)

    Has marked effects on the throat, and has proven an excellent remedy in pharyngitis, especially the follicular form. Irritable throats of singers and public speakers. Useful also in hæmorrhoids. Hay-fever symptoms; itching in posterior nares.

    Head.–Nervous, uneasy, depressed. Dizzy. Rush of blood to head. Sharp pain in forehead.

    Mouth.–Feels as if scalded; sensation of heat down œsophagus. Itching of the palate.

    Throat.–Constant clearing and hemming. Dry, posterior nares; no relief from clearing. Throat feels swollen; epiglottis dry and burning. Difficult swallowing. Constant desire to swallow saliva. Uvula feels elongated.

    Stomach.–Sense of weight. Belching of wind alternating with hiccough. Nausea and vomiting.

    Abdomen.–Pain below ribs of right side.

    Stool.–Loose, dark, at night. Itching of anus. Constipation, with hæmorrhoids; not bleeding.

    Respiratory.–Dry, hacking cough, caused by tickling of the epiglottis. Burning sensation in the bronchial tubes. Tendency to get hoarse talking or singing; throat hot, dry. Dry asthma.

    Female.–Pain in left ovary, shooting down to knee. Pain in uterus; could outline its contour.

    Extremities.–Pain in back; extends to end of spine. Pain right arm, stiffness of wrist and hand. Aching pains all over.

    Fever.–Chill at 11 am. Thirst for ice-water during chill. No thirst with heat. Profuse sweat all night. Terrific headache during sweat.

    Relationship.–Compare: Arum; Sang; Lach.

    Dose.–First to sixth potency.

  • VISCUM ALBUM

    Mistletoe

    Lowered blood pressure. Dilated blood vessels but does not act on the centers in the medulla. Pulse is slow due to central irritation of the vagus.

    The symptoms point especially to rheumatic and gouty complaints; neuralgia, especially sciatica. Epilepsy, chorea, and metrorrhagia. Rheumatic deafness. Asthma. Spinal pains, due to uterine causes. Rheumatism with tearing pains. Hypertensive albuminuria. Valvular disease, with disturbances in sexual sphere. Symptoms like epileptic aura and petit mal.

    Head.–Feeling as if whole vault of skull were lifted up. Blue ring around eyes. Double vision. Buzzing and stopped-up feeling in ear. Deafness from cold. Facial muscles in constant agitation. Persistent vertigo.

    Respiratory.–Dyspnœa; feeling of suffocation when lying on left side. Spasmodic cough. Asthma, if connected with gout or rheumatism. Stertorous breathing.

    Female.–Hæmorrhage, with pain; blood partly clots and bright red. Climacteric complaints (Lach; Sulph). Pain from sacrum into pelvis, with tearing, shooting pains from above downwards. Retained placenta (Secale). Chronic endometritis. Metrorrhagia. Ovaralgia, especially left.

    Heart.–Hypertrophy with valvular insufficiency; pulse small and weak; unable to rest in a reclining position. Palpitation during coitus. Low tension. Failing compensation, dyspnœa worse lying on left side. Weight and oppression of heart; as if a hand were squeezing it; tickling sensation about heart.

    Extremities.–Pains alternate in the knee and ankle with shoulder and elbow. Sciatica. Tearing, shooting pains in both thighs and upper extremities. A glow rises from the feet to the head; seems to be on fire. Periodic pains from sacrum into pelvis, worse in bed, with pains into thighs and upper extremities. General tremor, as if all muscles were in state of fibrillary contraction. Dropsy of extremities. Sensation of a spider crawling over back of hand and foot. Itching all over. Compressing pain in feet.

    Modalities.–Worse, winter, cold, stormy weather; in bed. Movement; lying on left side.

    Relationship.–Compare: Secale: Convallar; Bry; Puls; Rhodod. Guipsine -active principle–(exalts the hypotensive properties of Viscum). Hedera Helix-Ivy–(Intercranial pressure).

    Dose.–Tincture and lower potencies.

  • VIPERA BERUS

    The German Viper
    (VIPERA)

    Viper poisoning causes a temporary increase in reflexes, paresis supervenes, a paraplegia of the lower extremities extending upwards. Resembles acute ascending paralysis of Landry (Wells). Has special action on kidneys and induces hæmaturia. Cardiac dropsy.

    Indicated in inflammation of veins with great swelling; bursting sensation. Enlargement of liver. Ailments of menopause. Œdema of glottis. Poly-neuritis, polio-myelitis.

    Face.–Excessively swollen. Lips and tongue swollen, livid, protruding. Tongue dry, brown, black. Speech difficult.

    Liver.–Violent pain in enlarged liver, with jaundice and fever; extends to shoulder and hip.

    Extremities.–Patient is obliged to keep the extremities elevated. When they are allowed to hang down, it seems as if they would burst, and the pain is unbearable (Diad). Varicose veins and acute phlebitis. Veins swollen, sensitive; bursting pain. Severe cramps in lower extremities.

    Skin.–Livid. Skin peels in large plates. Lymphangioma, boils, carbuncles, with bursting sensation, relieved by elevating parts.

    Relationship.–Pelius berus-Adder (Prostration and fainting, faltering pulse, skin yellow, pain about navel. Swelling of arm, tongue, right eye; giddiness, nervousness, faintness, sickness, compression of chest, could not breathe properly or take a deep breath; aching and stiffness of limbs, joints stiff, collapsed feeling, great thirst). Eel serum (heart and kidney diseases. Failure of compensation and impending asystole).

    Dose.–Twelfth potency.

  • VIOLA TRICOLOR

    Pansy

    The principal uses of this remedy are for eczema in childhood and nocturnal emission accompanied by very vivid dreams.

    Head.–Heavy, pressing-outward pain. Eczema of scalp, with swollen glands. Face hot and sweating after eating.

    Throat.–Much phlegm, causing hawking; worse in the air. Swallowing difficult.

    Urinary.–Copious; disagreeable, cat-like odor.

    Male.–Swelling of prepuce, burning in glans. Itching. Involuntary, seminal emissions at stool.

    Skin.–Impetigo. Intolerable itching. Eruptions, particularly over face and head, with burning, itching; worse at night. Thick scabs, which crack and exude a tenacious yellow pus. Eczema impetigonoides of the face. Sycosis.

    Modalities.–Worse, winter; 11 am. Compare: Lycop.

    Relationship.–Compare: Rhus; Calc; Sepia.

    Dose.–Lower potencies.

  • VIOLA ODORATA

    Violet

    Has a specific action on the ear. Affects especially dark-haired patients; supra-orbital and orbital regions; rheumatism in upper parts of the body when on the right side. Worm affections in children (Teuc). Locally, for pain due to uterine fibroids. Also against snake-bites, bee-stings. Tension extends to upper half of face and ears.

    Head.–Burning of the forehead. Vertigo; everything in head seems to whirl around. Heaviness of head, with sensation of weakness in muscles of nape of neck. Scalp tense; must knit the brows. Tendency to pain immediately above eyebrows. Throbbing under eye and temple. Headache across the forehead. Acts upon frontal sinuses. Hysterical attacks in tuberculous patients.

    Eyes.–Heaviness of lids. Eyeball feels compressed. Flames before eyes. Myopia. Choroiditis. Illusions of vision; fiery, serpentine circles.

    Ears.–Shooting in ears. Aversion to music. Roaring and tickling. Deep stitches beneath ears. Deafness; otorrhœa. Ear affections with pain in eyeballs.

    Respiratory.–Torpor in the end of nose, as from a blow. Dry, short, spasmodic cough and dyspnœa; worse in daytime. Oppression of chest. Pertussis, with hoarseness. Dyspnœa during pregnancy. Difficult breathing, anxiety and palpitation, with hysteria.

    Extremities.–Rheumatism of the deltoid muscle. Trembling of limbs. Pressing pain in right carpal and metacarpal joints. (Ulmus).

    Urinary.–Milky urine; smells strong. Enuresis in nervous children.

    Modalities.–Worse, cool air.

    Relationship.–Compare: Ulmus (formication in feet, numb, creeping pain in legs and feet; rheumatic pains above wrists; numbness, tingling, and full soreness where gastrocnemius gives off its tendon); Chenopodium (ears; serous or bloody effusion in the labyrinth; chronic otitis media; progressive deafness to the voice, but sensitive to sounds of passing vehicles and other sounds; buzzing; absent or deficient bone conduction; a consciousness of the ear; hearing better for shrill, high-pitched sounds than for low ones); Aur; Puls; Sep; Ign; Cina; Cauloph (in rheumatism of small joints).

    Dose.–First to sixth potency.

  • VINCA MINOR

    Lesser Periwinkle

    A remedy for skin affections, eczema, and especially plica polonica; also for hæmorrhages and diphtheria.

    Head.–Tearing pain in vertex, ringing and whistling in ears. Whirling vertigo, with flickering before eyes. Spots on scalp, oozing moisture, matting hair together. Corrosive itching of scalp. Bald spots. Plica polonica. Irresistible desire to scratch.

    Nose.–Tip gets red easily. Moist eruption on septum. Stoppage of one nostril. Sores in nose. Seborrhœa upper lip and base of nose.

    Throat.–Difficult swallowing. Ulcers. Frequent hawking. Diphtheria.

    Female.–Excessive menstruation with great weakness. Passive uterine hæmorrhages (Ust; Trill; Secale). Menorrhagia; continuous flow, particularly at climacteric (Lach). Hæmorrhages from fibroids.

    Skin.–Corrosive itching. Great sensitiveness of skin, with redness and soreness from slight rubbing. Eczema of head and face; pustules, itching, burning, and offensive odor. Hair matted together.

    Relationship.–Compare: Oleand; Staph.

    Dose.–First to third potency.