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

  • RANUNCULUS SCELERATUS

    Marsh Buttercup

    Is more irritating than others of this botanical family, as seen in the skin symptoms. Boring, gnawing pain very marked. Pemphigus. Periodical complaints. Fainting with pain in stomach.

    Head.–Gnawing in one spot left of vertex. Frightful dreams about corpses, serpents, battles, etc. Fluent coryza, with sneezing and burning micturition.

    Mouth.–Teeth and gums sensitive. Tongue mapped denuded patches. Mouth sore and raw. Burning and rawness of tongue.

    Abdomen.–Sensation of a plug behind umbilicus. Pain over region of liver, with sensation as if diarrhœa would set it. Pressure as of a plug behind right false ribs; worse, deep inspiration.

    Chest.–Integument sensitive. Bruised pain and weakness in the chest every evening. Sore burning behind xiphoid cartilage.

    Skin.–Vesicular eruption, with tendency to form large blisters. Acrid exudation, which makes surrounding parts sore.

    Extremities.–Boring pain. Sudden burning sticking in right toe. Corns, with burning and soreness, especially when feet hang down. Gout in fingers and toes.

    Dose.–First to third potency.

  • RANUNCULUS SCELERATUS

    Marsh Buttercup

    Is more irritating than others of this botanical family, as seen in the skin symptoms. Boring, gnawing pain very marked. Pemphigus. Periodical complaints. Fainting with pain in stomach.

    Head.–Gnawing in one spot left of vertex. Frightful dreams about corpses, serpents, battles, etc. Fluent coryza, with sneezing and burning micturition.

    Mouth.–Teeth and gums sensitive. Tongue mapped denuded patches. Mouth sore and raw. Burning and rawness of tongue.

    Abdomen.–Sensation of a plug behind umbilicus. Pain over region of liver, with sensation as if diarrhœa would set it. Pressure as of a plug behind right false ribs; worse, deep inspiration.

    Chest.–Integument sensitive. Bruised pain and weakness in the chest every evening. Sore burning behind xiphoid cartilage.

    Skin.–Vesicular eruption, with tendency to form large blisters. Acrid exudation, which makes surrounding parts sore.

    Extremities.–Boring pain. Sudden burning sticking in right toe. Corns, with burning and soreness, especially when feet hang down. Gout in fingers and toes.

    Dose.–First to third potency.

  • RANUNCULUS BULBOSUS

    Buttercup

    Acts especially upon the muscular tissue and skin, and its most characteristic effects are upon the chest walls, like pleurodynia. Bad effects of Alcohol; delirium tremens. Spasmodic hiccough. Hydrothorax. Shocks throughout the whole body. Sensitive to air and touch. Chronic sciatica.

    Head.–Irritable, pains in forehead and eyeballs. Creeping sensation in scalp. Pressing pain in forehead from within outward.

    Eyes.–Day-blindness; mist before eyes; pressure and smarting in eyes, as from smoke. Pain over right eye; better, standing and walking. Herpes on cornea. Vesicles on cornea, with intense pain, photophobia, and lachrymation.

    Chest.–Various kinds of pains and soreness, as if bruised in sternum, ribs, intercostal spaces, and both hypochondria. Inter-costal rheumatism. Chilliness in chest when walking in open air. Stitches in chest, between shoulder-blades; worse, inspiring, moving. Rheumatic pain in chest, as from subcutaneous ulceration. Tenderness of abdomen to pressure. Muscular pain along lower margin of the shoulder-blade; burning in small spots from sedentary employment.

    Skin.–Burning and intense itching; worse, contact. Hard excrescences. Herptic eruptions, with great itching. Shingles, bluish vesicles. Itching in palms. Blister-like eruption in palms. Corns sensitive. Horny skin. Finger-tips and palms chapped. Vesicular and pustular eruptions.

    Modalities.–Worse, open air, motion, contact, atmospheric changes, wet, stormy weather, evening. Cold air brings on all sorts of ailments.

    Relationship.–Incompatible: Sulph; Staph.

    Compare: Ranunc acris (pain in lumbar muscles and joints by bending and turning body); Ranunc glacialis-Reindeer flower Carlina–(Pulmonary affections; broncho-pneumonical Influenza-enormous weight in head with vertigo and sensation as of impending apoplexy; night-sweats-more on thighs); Ranunc repens (crawling sensation in forehead and scalp in evening in bed); Ranunc flammula (ulceration; gangrene of arm). Compare, also: Bry; Croton; Mez; Euphorb.

    Antidotes: Bry; Camph; Rhus.

    Dose.–Mother tincture, in ten to thirty drop doses in delirium tremens; third to thirtieth potency generally. Chronic sciatica, apply tincture to heel of affected leg (M. Jousset).

  • RADIUM BROMATUM

    Radium Bromide
    (RADIUM)

    An important addition to the Materia Medica, especially since the provings by Diffenbach have precisionized its use. Radium brom of 1,800,000 radio-activity was employed. Found effective in the treatment of rheumatism and gout, in skin affections generally, acne rosacea, nævi, moles, ulcers and cancers. Lowered blood pressure. Severe aching pains all over, with restlessness, better moving about. Chronic rheumatic arthritis. Lateness in appearance of symptoms. Ulcers due to Radium burns, take a long time to heal. Marked increase in the polymorphonuclear neutrophiles. Great weakness.

    Mind.–Apprehensive, depressed; fear of being alone in the dark; great desire to be with people. Tired and irritable.

    Head.–Vertigo, with pain in back of head, left when in bed. Occipital and vertex pain, accompanying severe lumbar aching. Severe pain over right eye, spreading back to occiput and to vertex, better in open air. Head feels heavy. Frontal headache. Both eyes ache. Itching and dryness of nasal cavities, better in open air. Aching pain in angle of right lower jaw. Violent trifacial neuralgia.

    Mouth.–Dryness of mouth. Metallic taste. Prickling sensation on end of tongue.

    Stomach.–Empty feeling in stomach. Warm sensation in stomach. Aversion to sweets, ice-cream. Nausea and sinking sensation, belching of gas.

    Abdomen.–Pain, violent cramps, rumbling, full of gas; pain over McBurney’s point, and at location of sigmoid flexure. Much flatulence. Alternating constipation and loose movements. Pruritus ani and piles.

    Urinary.–Increased elimination of solids, particularly of chlorides. Renal irritation, albuminuria, granular and hyaline casts. Nephritis with rheumatic symptoms. Enuresis.

    Female.–Pruritus vulvæ. Delayed and irregular menstruation and backache. Aching pains in abdomen over pubes when flow comes on. Right breast sore, relieved by hard rubbing.

    Respiratory.–Persistent cough with tickling in suprasternal fossa. Dry, spasmodic cough. Throat dry, sore, chest constricted.

    Back.–Aching in back of neck. Pain and lameness in cervical vertebræ, worse dropping head forward, better standing, or sitting erect. Lumbar and sacral backache, pain appears to be in bone, continued motion relieves. Backache between shoulders and lumbar-sacral region, better after walking.

    Extremities.–Severe pain in all the limbs, joints, especially in knee and ankles, sharp pains in shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. Legs, arms and neck feel hard and brittle, as though they would break on moving. Arms feel heavy. Cracking in shoulder. Pain in toes, calves, hip-joint, popliteal spaces. Muscles of legs and hips sore. Arthritis, aching pains, worse at night. Dermatitis of the fingers. Trophic changes in the finger nails.

    Skin.–Small pimples. Erythema and dermatitis, with itching, burning, swelling and redness. Necrosis and ulceration. Itching all over body, burning of skin, as if afire. Epithelioma.

    Sleep.–Restless. Sleepiness with lethargy. Dreams vivid, busy. Dreams of fire.

    Fever.–Cold sensation internally, with chattering of teeth until noon. Internal chilliness followed by heat of the skin, associated with bowel movements and flatulence.

    Modalities.–Better, open air, continued motion, hot bath, lying down, pressure. Worse, getting up.

    Relationship.–Compare: Anacardium (the ulceration produced by it is like Radium. It may appear elsewhere than on place of contact and appear late). Compare: X-Ray; Rhus; Sepia; Uranium; Ars; Pulsat; Caustic.

    Antidotes: Rhus ven; Tellur.

    Dose.–Thirtieth and twelfth trituration.

  • QUILLAYA SAPONARIA

    Chile Soap-bark

    Produces and cures symptoms of acute catarrh, sneezing and sore throat. Most effective in the beginning of coryza, checking its further development. Colds with sore throat; heat and dryness of throat. Cough with difficult expectoration. Squamous skin

    Relationship.–Compare: Kali hyd; Gels; Cepa; Squilla. Saponaria (sore throat, involuntary urination). Senega.

    Dose.–Tincture and first potency.

  • QUERCUS E GLANDIBUS

    Spirit distilled from Tincture of Acorn Kernels
    (QUERCUS GLANDIUM SPIRITUS)

    Used first by Rademacher for chronic spleen affections; spleen-dropsy. Antidotes effects of Alcohol. Vertigo; deafness, with noises in head. Takes away craving for alcoholics; give dose as below for several months. Dropsy and liver affections. Useful in gout, old malarial cases with flatulence.

    Relationship.–Compare: Angelica (in tincture, five drops, three times daily, produces disgust for liquor; also for atony of different organs, dyspepsia, nervous headache, etc; chronic bronchitis to increase expectoration). Ceanoth; Lach; Nat mur; Helianthus (spleen enlarged and painful).

    Dose.–Ten drops to a teaspoonful of the distilled spirit three to four times a day. A passing diarrhœa often appears for a times a day. A passing diarrhœa often appears for a time when using it. Curative effect. Quercus acts well in trituration of the acorn 3x in splenic cases, flatulence, old malaria and alcoholic history (Clark).

  • QUEBRACHO

    Quebracho
    (ASPIDOSPERMA)

    The digitalis of the lungs (Hale). Removes temporary obstruction to the oxidation of the blood by stimulating respiratory centers, increasing oxidation and excretion of carbonic acid. Pulmonary stenosis. Thrombosis of pulmonary artery. Uræmic dyspnœa. An effective remedy in many cases of asthma. It stimulates the respiratory centers and increases the oxygen in the blood. “Want of breath” during exertion is the guiding symptom. Cardiac asthma.

    Relationship.–Compare: Coca; Arsenic; Coffea-Catalpa (difficult respiration).

    Dose.–First trituration of tincture, or Aspidospermin hydrochlorid 1 grain of 1x trit. Every hour for a few doses.

  • QUASSIA AMARA

    Quassia-wood
    (QUASSIA – PICRAENA EXCELSA)

    Acts on gastric organs as a tonic (Gentian; Hydr). Seems to possess marked action on eyes, producing amblyopia and cataract. Pain in right intercostal muscles above the liver. Pressure and stitches in liver, and sympathetically in spleen.

    Stomach.–Atonic dyspepsia, with gas and acidity. Heart-burn and gastralgia. Regurgitation of food. Abdomen feels empty and retracted. Dyspepsia after infectious diseases; especially grip, dysentery. Tongue dry or with brown sticky coating. Cirrhosis of liver with ascites.

    Urinary.–Excessive desire-impossible to retain urine; copious micturition day and night. As soon as the child wakes up the bed is drenched.

    Extremities.–Inclination to yawn and stretch (Rhus). Sensation of coldness over back. Prostration, with hunger. Cold extremities, with sensation of internal coldness (Helo-derma).

    Dose.–First to third potency, or spoonful doses of Aqua Quassiae.

  • PYROGENIUM

    Artificial Sepsin

    This remedy was introduced by English Homeopathists, prepared from decomposed lean beef allowed to stand in the sun for two weeks and then potentized. The provings and most of the clinical experience have been obtained from this preparation. But, subsequently, Dr. Swan potentized some septic pus, which preparation has also been proved and clinically applied. There does not seem to be any marked difference in their effects.

    Pyrogen is the great remedy for septic states, with intense restlessness. “In septic fevers, especially puerperal, Pyrogen has demonstrated its great value as a homeopathic dynamic antiseptic. ” (H. C. Allen). Hectic, typhoid, typhus, ptomaine poisoning, diphtheria, dissecting wounds, sewer-gas poisoning, chronic malaria, after-effects of miscarriage, all these conditions at times may present symptoms calling for this unique medicine. All discharges are horribly offensive-menstrual, lochial, diarrhœa, vomit, sweat, breath, etc. Great pain and violent burning in abscesses. Chronic complaints that date back to septic conditions. Threatening heart failure in zymotic and septic fevers. Influenza, typhoid symptoms.

    Mind.–Full of anxiety and insane notions. Loquacious. Thinks he is very wealthy. Restless. Feels if crowded with arms and legs. Cannot tell whether dreaming while awake or asleep.

    Head.–Painless throbbing. Fan-like motion of alæ nasi (Lyc; Phos). Bursting headache with restlessness.

    Mouth.–Tongue red and dry, clean, cracked, smooth, as though varnished. Throat dry, articulation difficult. Nausea and vomiting. Taste terribly fetid. Breath horrible.

    Stomach.–Coffee-grounds vomiting. Vomits water, when it becomes warm in stomach.

    Abdomen.–Intolerable tenesmus o both bladder and rectum. Bloated, sore, cutting pain.

    Stool.–Diarrhœa; horribly offensive, brown-black, painless, involuntary. Constipation, with complete inertia (Opium); obstinate from impaction. Stools large, black, carrion-like, or small black balls.

    Heart.–Tired feeling about heart. Palpitation. Sensation as if heart were too full. Always can hear her heart beat. Pulse abnormally rapid, out of proportion to the temperature pain in region of left nipple. Conscious of heart.

    Female.–Puerperal peritonitis, with extreme fetor. Septicæmia following abortion. Menses horribly offensive. Uterine hæmorrhages. Fever at each menstrual period, consequent upon latent pelvic inflammation. Septic puerperal infection. Pelvic calculitis. Inflammatory exudate. Post-operative cases, with overwhelming sepsis.

    Fever.–Coldness and chilliness. Septic fevers. Latent pyogenic condition. Chill begins in back. Temperature rises rapidly. Great heat with profuse hot sweat, but sweating does not cause a fall in temperature.

    Extremities.–Throbbing in vessels of neck. Numbness of hands, arms, feet. Aching in all limbs and bones. Bed feels too hard (Arn). Great debility in the morning. Soreness; better by motion (Rhus). Rapid decubitus of septic origin.

    Skin.–Small cut or injury becomes much swollen and inflamed-discolored. Dry.

    Sleep.–Seems to be in semi-sleep. Dreams all night.

    Modalities.–Relief from motion.

    Relationship.–Compare: Streptoccin (anti-febrile action; septic symptoms in infectious diseases). Rapid in its action, especially in its effect on temperature; Staphyloccin in diseases where the staphylococcus is the chief bacterial factor, as acne, abscess, furuncle; empyæma, endocarditis, etc. ; Sepin-A toxin of Proteus vulgaris, prepared by Dr. Shedd, same symptoms as Pyrogen, of which it is the main constituent; Echinacea; Carbo; Ars; Lach; Rhus; Bapt.

    Complementary: Bryon.

    Dose.–Sixth to thirtieth and higher potencies. Should not be repeated too frequently.

  • PULEX IRRITANS

    Common Flea

    Marked urinary and female symptoms.

    Head.–Very impatient, cross, and irritable. Frontal headache, with enlarged feeling of eyes. Face wrinkled and old-looking.

    Mouth.–Metallic taste. Sensation of a thread in throat. Thirsty, especially during headache.

    Stomach.–Breath and taste foul. Intense nausea, with vomiting, purging, and faintness. Stool very offensive. Abdomen bloated.

    Urine.–Scanty with frequent urging, with pressure on bladder and burning in urethra. Flow stops suddenly followed by pain. Urine foul. Cannot retain urine; must attend to the call without delay. Irritable bladder before menses.

    Female.–Menses delayed. Increased flow of saliva during. Intense burning in vagina. Leucorrhœa, profuse, foul, staining a greenish yellow; stains of menses and leucorrhœa very hard to wash out. Backache (Oxal ac).

    Back.–Aches, weak; drawing of muscles below scapulæ.

    Fever.–Feels a glow all over, like being over steam; chilly, while sitting beside the fire.

    Skin.–Prickly itching. Sore spots all over. Skin emits foul odor.

    Modalities.–Better, sitting or lying down. Worse, left side, moving about.

    Dose.–The higher potencies.