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

  • ERIODYCTION CALIFORNICUM

    Yerba Santa
    (ERIODICTYON)

    A remedy for asthmatic and bronchial affections. Bronchial phthisis, with night-sweats and emaciation. Asthma relieved by expectoration. Cough after influenza. Furthers absorption of effusion in plural cavity. Appetite poor and impaired digestion. Whooping cough.

    Head.–Dizzy, feels intoxicated. Pressure outwards; worse, occiput. Pain in ears. Coryza. Burning in throat. Foul mouth in morning. Coryza with dizziness and sneezing.

    Respiratory.–Wheezing; asthma, with coryza and mucous secretions. Dull pain in right lung. Burning in fauces. Chronic bronchitis, bronchial tuberculosis, with profuse, easily raised bronchial secretion, giving relief.

    Male.–Sore, dragging in testicle, could not bear any pressure; better gentle support.

    Relationship.–Compare: Grind; Aral; Eucalyp; Ipec.

    Dose.–Tincture in doses of 2 to 20 drops and attenuations.

  • ERIGERON CANADENSE

    Fleabane
    (ERIGERON – LEPTILON CANADENSE)

    Hæmorrhages are caused and cured by this remedy. Persistent hæmorrhage from the bladder. Hæmorrhage from the uterus, with painful micturition. Profuse bright-red blood. Pain in left ovary and hip. Chronic gonorrhœa, with burning micturition; continual dribbling. Dysentery, with soreness and burning in bladder. Tympanites.

    Female.–Metrorrhagia, with violent irritation of rectum and bladder, and prolapsus uteri. Bright-red flow. Menorrhagia; profuse leucorrhœa; bloody lochia returns after least motion, comes in gushes; between periods, leucorrhœa with urinary irritation; pregnant women with “weak uterus;” a bloody discharge on slight exertion. Bleeding hæmorrhoids; nosebleed instead of menses (Bry).

    Modalities.–Worse, left side.

    Relationship.–Terebinthina similar.

    Dose.–Tincture, to third potency. Oil of Erigeron 1x internally for tympanites. An enema of one dram of the oil with the yolk of an egg and pint of milk will reduce the most enormous tympanites.

  • ERECHTHITES HIERACIFOLIA

    Fire-weed
    (ERECHTHITES)

    A hćmorrhagic remedy. Epistaxis of bright blood. Hćmorrhage from any part, especially lungs; always attended by excitement of the circulation. Flashes of heat and coldness. Scanty urine, śdema of the extremities.

    Skin.–Symptoms like Rhus poisoning.

    Relationship.–Compare: Erig; Millef; Hamam; Rhus.

    Dose.–Tincture. Locally for Poison Oak.

  • EQUISETUM HYEMALE

    Scouring-rush
    (EQUISETUM)

    Principal action on the bladder. A remedy for enuresis and dysuria.

    Urinary.–Severe, dull pain and feeling of fullness in bladder, not relieved by urinating. Frequent urging with severe pain at the close of urination. Urine flows only drop by drop. Sharp, burning, cutting pain in urethra while urinating.

    Incontinence in children, with dreams or night-mares when passing urine. Incontinence in old women, also with involuntary stools. Retention and dysuria during pregnancy and after delivery. Much mucus in urine. Albuminuria. Involuntary urination.

    Kidney.–Deep pain in region of right kidney, extending to lower abdomen, with urgent desire to micturate. Right lumbar region painful.

    Modalities.–Worse, right side; movement, pressure, touch, sitting down; better, in afternoon from lying down.

    Relationship.–Compare: Hydrangea; Ferr phos; Apis; Canth; Linaria; Chimaph. Equisitum contains silica in appreciable quantity.

    Dose.–Tincture, to sixth potency. A decoction, teaspoonful doses, or the tincture in hot water, is found useful to allay irritability of urinary tract, calculus, dysuria, etc; also for pleuritic effusion and dropsy.

  • EPIPHEGUS VIRGINIANA

    Beechdrop
    (EPIPHEGUS – OROBANCHE)

    A remedy for sick, neurasthenic, and nervous headaches, especially in women, brought on or made worse by exertion, shopping, etc. Tongue coated yellow; bitter taste. Drowsy after meals. Loose stools. Subinvolution, with painful menstruation and congestion.

    Head.–Pressing pain in temples from without inwards, worse, left side. Viscid salivation, constant inclination to spit. Sick headache coming on when deviating from ordinary pursuits. Headaches from nerve tire caused by mental or physical exhaustion, preceded by hunger.

    Modalities.–Worse, from working in open air. Better, from sleep.

    Relationship.–Compare: Iris, Melilot; Sanguinar. Fagus-Beech-nuts–(headache and salivation; swelling on mouth; dread of water).

    Dose.–First to thirtieth potency.

  • EPIGEA REPENS

    Trailing Arbutus

    Chronic cystitis, with dysuria; tenesmus after micturition; muco-pus and uric-acid deposit, gravel, renal calculi. Fine sand in urine of a brown color. Burning in neck of bladder whilst urinating and tenesmus afterward. Pyelitis, incontinence of urine. Croaking noise and rumbling in bowels.

    Relationship.–Compare: Uva, Chimaph, Lyc; Pareira. Epigea contains Arbutin, also Formic acid.

    Dose.–Tincture in 5-drop doses every three hours.

  • EOSINUM

    (EOSIN)

    A remedy for cancer, polyarthritis. Proved in potencies by Dr. B. C. Woodbury.

    Summary of symptoms:

    Burning under finger nails and toe nails, on soles.

    Itching and redness of knee-caps.

    Redness of palms.

    Redness, burning and numbness of tongue.

    Peculiar sensation of being very tall with tendency to vertigo.

    Burning in various parts on skin.

    Shifting location after scratching which relieves.

    Dose.–Second decimal (1 % sol).

  • ELATERIUM OFFICINARUM

    Squirting Cucumber
    (ELATERIUM – ECBALIUM)

    This is an invaluable remedy in violent vomiting and purging, especially if the evacuations are copious and watery. It is a very efficient remedy in certain forms of dropsy. Much yawning and stretching. Beriberi; choleraic conditions; urticaria and mental disorders coming on as a consequence of suppressed malaria. Irresistible desire to wander from home at night. Effects of damp weather.

    Stomach.–Nausea and vomiting, with great weakness. Griping pains in bowels.

    Stool.–Watery, copious, forceful. Squirting diarrhœa; frothy, olive green, with cutting in abdomen.

    Extremities.–Sharp pains in fingers and thumbs, knees, toes, and instep. Gouty pain in great toes. Pain extends down extremities; pain in hip-joints with diarrhœa. Arthritic nodules.

    Skin.–Smarts, stings, and burns. Dropsical. Urticaria from suppressed intermittent. Skin, orange color.

    Fever.–Chill comes on with much yawning and stretching, lasting all through chill. Pain in extremities, darting into fingers and toes. Chills and fever, with spurting diarrhœa.

    Modalities.–Worse, from exposure on damp ground.

    Relationship.–Compare: Bry; Croton; Gambogia.

    Dose.–Third to thirtieth potency. As a hydragogue cathartic to produce free discharge in dropsies, Elaterin 1-20 of a grain. Palliative only.

  • ELAPS CORALLINUS

    Coral-snake

    Similar to snake-poisons generally. Has very marked black discharges. Cold things disagree. Desire for sweetened buttermilk. Nausea and vomiting. Prostrating diarrhœa of consumption. Acidity of stomach, with faint feeling. Sudden pain in stomach. Spasm of œsophagus; pharynx constricted; food and liquids suddenly arrested, and then fall heavily into stomach. Spasms followed by paresis. Cold feeling in stomach. Fruits and ice-water lie very cold. Right-sided paralysis. Must have oscillatory motion. Rheumatic constitutions. Ear, nose and throat symptoms important.

    Mind.–Depressed; imagines he hears someone talking; dreads to be left alone. Fear of rain. Can speak, but cannot understand speech. Fears apoplexy.

    Head.–Violent headache, extending from forehead to occiput; first one eye, then the other. Pain in ears. Vertigo with tendency to fall forward. Weight and pain in forehead. Fullness in head.

    Eyes.–Aversion to light; letters run together when reading. Veil before eyes. Burning in lids. Bloated around the eyes in the morning. Large red fiery spot before eyes.

    Ears.–Cerumen black and hard, with difficult hearing, or serous greenish discharge, offensive; buzzing, and illusion of hearing. Sudden attack of nightly deafness, with roaring and crackling in ears, cracking in ears on swallowing. Intolerable itching in ear.

    Nose.–Chronic nasal catarrh, with fetid odor and greenish crusts. Ozæna; yellowish-green discharge. Mucous membrane wrinkled; nostrils plugged up with dry mucus. Pains from nose to ears on swallowing. Nostrils stopped up. Nasal bleeding. Pain at root of nose. Eruption about nose.

    Throat.–Thick, very offensive, dry, greenish-yellow crusts upon the posterior pharyngeal wall and extremely foul breath. Spasmodic contraction of œsophagus; passage of fluids arrested.

    Chest.–Coldness in chest after drinking. Hæmorrhage from lungs black as ink and watery; stitches in apex of right lung. Fainting caused by stooping. Oppression in going upstairs. Peeling off of skin from palms and fingers. Cough, with terrible pain through lungs. Worse right and expectoration of black blood. Sensation of a sponge in œsophagus.

    Stomach.–Feels cold. Sensation as if food turned like a corkscrew on swallowing; desire for sweetened buttermilk. Acidity after every mouthful.

    Female.–Dysmenorrhœa, with black blood. Discharge of black blood between menses. Itching of vulva and vagina.

    Sleep.–Dreams about dead persons.

    Skin.–Glands and skin of axillæ affected; itching with tetter. Tips of fingers peel off. Itching eruption in axillæ.

    Extremities.–Icy cold feet. Vesicular eruptions on feet. Arms and hands swollen bluish. Knee-joints feel sprained. Pricking under the nails.

    Fever.–Cold perspiration all over. Typhoid when ulcers have eaten into tissues, and black blood is discharged.

    Modalities.–Worse eating fruit; cold drinks; wet weather.

    Relationship.–Compare: Kino from Pterocarpus (Hæmoptysis and hæmorrhage from intestines). Eucalyptus rostrata (offensive dark discharge from right ear). Crotalus; Alumen; Carbo; Ars; Lach.

    Dose.–Sixth to thirtieth potency.

  • ECHINACEA ANGUSTIFOLIA

    Purple Cone-flower
    (ECHINACEA – RUDBECKIA)

    We are indebted to the Eclectic school for this remarkable medicine as a “corrector of blood dyscrasia”. Acute auto-infection. Symptoms of blood poisoning, septic conditions generally. Diarrhœa in typhoid. Gonorrhœa. Boils. Erysipelas and foul ulcers. Gangrene. Goitre with exophthalmic symptoms; full doses, also injecting 5-10 drops into thyroid gland. Tendency to malignancy in acute and subacute disorders. Last stages of cancer to ease pain. Venom infection. Cerebro-spinal meningitis. Puerperal infections. Tired feeling. Piles. Pustules. Acts on vermiform appendix thus has been used for appendicitis, but remember it promotes suppuration and a neglected appendicitis with pus formation would probably rupture sooner under its use. Lymphatic inflammation; crushing injuries. Snake bites and bites and stings generally. Foul discharges with emaciation and great debility.

    Head.–Confused, depressed. Aches with a peculiar periodical flushing of the face, even to the neck; dizziness and profound prostration.

    Nose.–Foul-smelling discharge, membranous formations protruding. Post-nasal catarrh with ulceration and fetor. Nose feels stuffed up. Right nostril raw, bleeding.

    Mouth.–Canker; gums recede and bleed easily; corners of mouth and lips crack; tongue dry and swollen; sores; dirty brownish. Tongue, lips, and fauces tingle, with sense of fear about heart (Acon). White coating of tongue, with red edges. Promotes the flow of saliva.

    Throat.–Tonsils purple or black, gray exudation extending to posterior nares and air-passages. Ulcerated sore throat.

    Stomach.–Sour belching and heartburn. Nausea; better lying down.

    Chest.–Pain as of a lump in chest and under sternum. Pain in pectoral muscles (Aristolochia).

    Urine.–Albuminous, scanty, frequent, and involuntary.

    Female.–Puerperal septicæmia; discharges suppressed; abdomen sensitive and tympanitic; offensive, excoriating leucorrhœa.

    Extremities.–Aching in limbs and general lassitude.

    Skin.–Recurring boils. Carbuncles. Irritations from insect bites and poisonous plants. Lymphatics enlarged. Old tibial ulcers. Gangrene.

    Fever.–Chilliness, with nausea. Cold flashes all over back. Malarial fever.

    Relationship.–Compare: Cenchris contortrix; Bothrops; Ars; Laches; Baptis; Rhus; Cistus; Hepar; Calendula.

    Dose.–Tincture, one to ten drops, every two hours, and larger doses.

    Locally, as a cleansing and antiseptic wash.