Category: Materia Materica

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.

(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).

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.

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.

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.

Bitter-sweet

Hot days and cold nights towards the close of summer are especially favorable to the action of Dulcamara, and is one of the remedies that correspond in their symptoms to the conditions found as effects of damp weather, colds after exposure to wet, especially diarrhœa. It has a specific relation also to the skin, glands, and digestive organs, mucous membranes secreting more profusely while the skin is inactive. The rheumatic troubles induced by damp cold are aggravated by every cold change and somewhat relieved by moving about. Results from sitting on cold, damp ground. Icy coldness. One-sided spasms with speechlessness. Paralysis of single parts. Congestive headache, with neuralgia and dry nose. Patients living or working in damp, cold basements (Nat sulph). Eruptions on hands, arms or face around the menstrual period.

Head.–Mental confusion. Occipital pain ascending from nape of neck. Headache relieved by conversation. Rejects things asked for. Back part of head chilly, heavy, aching, during cold weather. Ringworm of scalp. Scaldhead, thick brown crusts, bleeding when scratched. Buzzing in head.

Nose.–Dry coryza. Complete stoppage of nose. Stuffs up when there is a cold rain. Thick, yellow mucus, bloody crusts. Profuse coryza. Wants nose kept warm, least cold air stops the nose. Coryza of the new born.

Eyes.–Every time he takes cold it settles in eyes. Thick, yellow discharge; granular lids. Hay-fever; profuse, watery discharge, worse in open air.

Ears.–Earache, buzzing, stitches, and swelling of parotids. Middle-ear catarrh (Merc dulc; Kal mur).

Face.–Tearing in cheek extending to ear, orbit, and jaw, preceded by coldness of parts, and attended by canine hunger. Humid eruption on cheeks and face generally.

Mouth.–Saliva tenacious, soapy. Dry, rough tongue, rough scraping in throat, after taking cold in damp weather. Cold-sores on lips. Facial neuralgia; worse, slightest exposure to cold.

Stomach.–Vomiting of white, tenacious mucus. Aversion to food. Burning thirst for cold drinks. Heartburn. Nausea accompanies the desire for stool. Chilliness during vomiting.

Abdomen.–Colic from cold. Acts prominently on umbilical region. Cutting pain about navel. Swelling of inguinal glands (Merc).

Stool.–Green, watery, slimy, bloody, mucus, especially in summer, when the weather suddenly becomes cold; from damp, cold weather and repelled eruptions.

Urine.–Must urinate when getting chilled. Strangury, painful micturition. Catarrh of bladder from taking cold. Urine has thick, mucous, purulent sediment. Ischuria from wading with bare feet in cold water.

Female.–Suppression of menses from cold or dampness. Before appearance of menses, a rash appears on skin, or sexual excitement. Dysmenorrhœa, with blotches all over; mammæ engorged and sore, delicate, sensitive to cold.

Respiratory.–Cough worse cold, wet weather, with free expectoration, tickling in larynx. Cough, hoarse, spasmodic. Whooping-cough, with excessive secretion of mucus. Winter coughs, dry, teasing. Asthma with dyspnœa. Loose, rattling cough; worse wet weather. Must cough a long time to expel phlegm. Cough after physical exertion.

Back.–Stiff neck. Pain in small of back, as after long stooping. Stiffness and lameness across neck and shoulders, after getting cold and wet.

Extremities.–Paralysis; paralyzed limbs, feet icy cold. Warts on hands. Perspiration on palms of hands. Pain in shin-bones. Rheumatism alternates with diarrhœa. Rheumatic symptoms after acute skin eruptions.

Skin.–Adenitis. Pruritus, always worse in cold, wet weather. Herpes zoster, pemphigus. Swelling and indurated glands from cold. Vesicular eruptions. Sensitive bleeding ulcers. Little boils. Red spots, urticaria, brought on by exposure, or sour stomach. Humid eruptions on face, genitals, hands, etc. Warts, large, smooth, on face and palmar surface of hands. Anasarca. Thick, brown-yellow crusts, bleeding when scratched.

Fever.–Dry burning heat all over. Chilliness towards evening, mostly in back. Icy coldness, with pains. Dry heat and burning of skin. Chilliness with thirst.

Modalities.–Worse, at night; from cold in general, damp, rainy weather. Better, from moving about, external warmth.

Relationship.–Antidotes: Camph; Cupr.

Complementary: Baryta carb.

Incompatible: Bellad; Laches.

Compare: Pimpinello–(Bibernell).–Respiratory mucous membrane sensitive to draughts, pain and coldness in occiput and nape. Whole body weak; heavy head and drowsiness; lumbago and stiff neck; pain from nape to shoulder; chilliness. Rhus; Cimicif; Calc; Puls; Bry; Nat sulph.

Dose.–Second to thirtieth potency.

Corkwood Elm
(DUBOISIA)

Acts chiefly on the nervous system, eyes, upper respiratory tract. Recommended in pharyngitis sicca, with black, stringy mucus. It dilates the pupil, dries the mouth, checks perspiration, causes headache and drowsiness. On the eye it acts more promptly than Atropia, much stronger as a mydriatic. Red spots floats in the field of vision. Sensation as if stepping on empty space. Vertigo with pale face; not gastric in origin. Scarlet fever; locomotor ataxia. Palliative in exophthalmic goitre.

Mind.–Absent-minded, incoherent, silly and nonsensical, memory impaired.

Head.–Impossible to stand with eyes shut, tendency to fall backwards.

Eyes.–Conjunctivitis, acute and chronic. Mydriasis. Paralysis of accommodation. Hyperæmia of retina with weakness of accommodation, fundus red, blood-vessels full and tortuous; pupils dilated, with dim vision. Pain over eye, between it and brow.

Respiratory.–Larynx dry, voice hoarse, phonation difficult. Dry cough with oppressed breathing.

Extremities.–Loss of power in limbs, staggers; feels as if he stepped on empty space. Trembling, numbness and weakness.

Relationship.–It antagonizes Muscarine. Duboisin sulphate 1-100 gr sedative in mania. 2-4 milligrams a day. Hystero-epilepsy. Motor restlessness of insane (Has been used as a substitute for Atropia in doses of 1-20 of a grain hypodermically). Antidotes: Morphia; Pilocarp. Compare: Bellad; Stram; Hyos.

Dose.–Third to twelfth potency.

Sundew
(DROSERA)

Affects markedly the respiratory organs and was pointed out by Hahnemann as the principal remedy for whooping-cough. Drosera can break down resistance to tubercle and should therefore be capable of raising it (Dr. Tyler). Laryngeal phthisis is benefited by it. Phthisis pulmonum; vomiting of food from coughing with gastric irritation and profuse expectoration. Pains about hip-joint. Tubercular glands.

Head.–Vertigo when walking in open air, with inclination to fall to the left side. Coldness of left half of face, with stinging pains and dry heat of right half.

Stomach.–Nausea. Aversion to and bad effects from acids.

Respiratory Organs.–Spasmodic, dry irritative cough, like whooping-cough, the paroxysms following each other very rapidly; can scarcely breathe; chokes. Cough very deep and hoarse; worse, after midnight; yellow expectoration, with bleeding from nose and mouth; retching. Deep, hoarse voice; hoarseness; laryngitis. Rough, scraping sensation deep in the fauces and soft palate. Sensation as if crumbs were in the throat, of feather in larynx. Laryngeal phthisis, with rapid emaciation. Harassing and titillating cough in children-not at all through the day, but commences as soon as the head touches the pillow at night. Clergyman’s sore throat, with rough, scraping, dry sensation deep in the fauces; voice hoarse, deep, toneless, cracked, requires exertion to speak. Asthma when talking, with contraction of the throat at every word uttered.

Extremities.–Paralytic pains in the coxo-femoral joint and thighs. Stiffness in joints of feet. All limbs feel lame. Bed feels too hard.

Fever.–Internal chilliness; shivering, with hot face, cold hands, no thirst. Is always too cold, even in bed.

Modalities.–Worse, after midnight, lying down, on getting warm in bed, drinking, singing, laughing.

Relationship.–Antidote: Camph.

Compare: Fluoroform (2 per cent watery solution, 2-4 drops, after paroxysms, considered specific for whooping-cough). Ouabain from leaves of Carissa schimperi-arrow poison (Respiratory spasm-Whooping cough is cut short in first stage and reduced in frequency of attacks and hastens convalescence). Chelid; Corall; Cupr; Castanea; Argent; Menyanth.

Dose.–First to twelfth attenuation.

Colorado Potato-bug
(DORYPHORA)

The center of this drug’s action seems to be in the urinary organs, and hence its employment in gonorrhœa and gleet. Urethritis in children from local irritation and gleet. Great trembling in extremities. Prostration. Swelling of body. Burning sensation.

Urinary.–Difficult micturition. Urethra inflamed, with excruciating pain when urinating. Pain in back and loins. Severe trembling in limbs.

Relationship.–Antidote: Stram.

Compare: Agar; Apis; Canth; Lach; Coccion.

Dose.–Sixth to thirtieth potency.

Cowhage
(DOLICHOS PURIENS – MUCUNA)

A right-sided medicine, with pronounced liver and skin symptoms. A general intense itching without eruption. Exalted nervous sensibility. Senile pruritus. Hæmorrhoidal diathesis.

Throat.–Pain in throat, worse swallowing, below right angle of jaw, as if splinter were imbedded vertically. Pain in gums prevents sleep.

Abdomen.–Colic from getting feet wet. Constipation, with intense itching; bloated abdomen. White stools. Swelling of liver. Hæmorrhoids, with burning sensation.

Skin.–Intense itching, with no swelling or rash; worse across shoulders, also about elbows and knees and hairy parts. Jaundice. Yellow in spots; itching excessively at night. Herpes zoster (Ars).

Modalities.–Worse, at night, scratching, right side.

Relationship.–Compare: Rhus; Bell; Hep; Nit ac; Fagopyr.

Dose.–Sixth potency. Tincture, drop doses, in hæmorrhoids.