Category: Materia Materica

Materia medica is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing. The term derives from the title of a work by the Ancient Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in the 1st century AD. The term materia medica was used from the period of the Roman Empire until the 20th century but has now been generally replaced in medical education contexts by the term pharmacology. The term survives in the title of the British Medical Journal’s Materia Non Medica column.

  • AETHUSA CYNAPIUM

    Fool’s Parsley

    The characteristic symptoms relate mainly to the brain and nervous system, connected with gastro-intestinal disturbance. Anguish, crying, and expression of uneasiness and discontent, lead to this remedy most frequently in disease in children, during dentition, summer complaint, when, with the diarrhœa, there is marked inability to digest milk, and poor circulation. Symptoms set in with violence.

    Mind.–Restless, anxious, crying. Sees rats, cats, dogs, etc. Unconscious, delirious. Inability to think, to fix the attention. Brain fag. Idiocy may alternate with furor and irritability.

    Head.–Feels bound up, or in a vise. Occipital pain extending down spine; better lying down and by pressure. Head symptoms relieved by expelling flatus (Sanguin) and by stool. Hair feels pulled. Vertigo with drowsiness, with palpitation; head hot after vertigo ceases.

    Eyes.–Photophobia; swelling of Meibomian glands. Rolling of eyes on falling asleep. Eyes drawn downward; pupils dilated.

    Ears.–Feel obstructed. Sense of something hot from ears. Hissing sound.

    Nose.–Stopped up with much thick mucus. Herpetic eruption on tip of nose. Frequent ineffectual desire to sneeze.

    Face.–Puffed, red-spotted, collapsed. Expression anxious, full of pain; linea nasalis marked.

    Mouth.–Dry. Aphthæ. Tongue seems too long. Burning and pustules in throat, with difficult swallowing.

    Stomach.–Intolerance of milk; vomiting as soon as swallowed or in large curds. Hungry after vomiting. Regurgitation of food about an hour after eating. Violent vomiting of a white frothy matter. Nausea at sight of food. Painful contraction of stomach. Vomiting, with sweat and great weakness, accompanied by anguish and distress, followed by sleepiness. Stomach feels turned upside down, with burning feeling up to the chest. Tearing pains in the stomach extending to œsophagus.

    Abdomen.–Cold, internal and external, with aching pain in bowels. Colic, followed by vomiting, vertigo, and weakness. Tense, inflated, and sensitive. Bubbling sensation around navel.

    Stool.–Undigested, thin, greenish, preceded by colic, with tenesmus, and followed by exhaustion and drowsiness. Cholera infantum; child cold, clammy, stupid, with staring eyes and dilated pupils. Obstinate constipation; feels as if all bowel action is lost. Choleraic affections in old age.

    Urinary.–Cutting pain in bladder, with frequent urging. Pain in kidneys.

    Female.–Lancinating pains in sexual organs. Pimples; itching when warm. Menses watery. Swelling of mammary glands, with lancinating pains.

    Respiratory.–Difficult, oppressed, anxious respiration; crampy constriction. Sufferings render patient speechless.

    Heart.–Violent palpitation, with vertigo, headache and restlessness. Pulse rapid, hard and small.

    Back and Extremities.–Want of power to stand up or hold head up. Back feels as if in a vise. Aching in small of back. Weakness of lower extremities. Fingers and thumbs clenched. Numbness of hands and feet. Violent spasms. Squinting of eyes downward.

    Skin.–Excoriation of thighs in walking. Easy perspiration. Surface of body cold and covered with clammy sweat. Lymphatic glands swollen. Itching eruption around joints. Skin of hands dry and shrunken. Ecchymosis. Anasarca.

    Fever.–Great heat; no thirst. Profuse, cold sweat. Must be covered during sweat.

    Sleep.–Disturbed by violent startings; cold perspiration. Dozing after vomiting or stool. Child is so exhausted, it falls asleep at once.

    Modalities.–Worse, 3 to 4 am, and evenings; warmth, summer. Better in open air and company.

    Compare: Athamantha (confused head, vertigo better lying down, bitter taste and saliva. Hands and feet icy cold); Antimon; Calc; Ars; Cicuta. Complementary: Calc.

    Dose.–Third to thirtieth potency.

  • AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM

    Horse Chestnut

    The action of this drug is most marked on the lower bowel, producing engorged hæmorrhoidal veins, with characteristic backache, with absence of actual constipation. Much pain but little bleeding. Venous stasis general, varicose veins of purple color; everything is slowed down, digestion, heart, bowels, etc. Torpor and congestion of the liver and portal system, with constipation. The back aches and gives out and unfits the patient for business. Flying pains all over. Fullness in various parts, dry, swollen mucous membranes. Throat with hæmorrhoidal conditions.

    Head.–Depressed and irritable. Head dull, confused, aching as from a cold. Pressure in forehead, with nausea, followed by stitches in right hypochondrium. Pain from occiput to frontal region, with bruised sensation of the scalp; worse in the morning. Neuralgic stitches from right to left through forehead, followed by flying pains in epigastrium. Vertigo when sitting and walking.

    Eyes.–Heavy and hot, with lachrymation, with enlarged blood vessels. Eyeballs sore.

    Nose.–Dry; inspired air feels cold, nasal passages sensitive to it. Coryza, sneezing. Pressure at root of nose. Membrane over turbinate bones distended and boggy, dependent upon hepatic disorders.

    Mouth.–Scalded feeling. Metallic taste. Salivation. Tongue thickly coated, feels as if scalded.

    Throat.–Hot, dry, raw, stitching pain into ears when swallowing. Follicular pharyngitis connected with hepatic congestion. Veins in pharynx distended and tortuous. Throat sensitive to inspired air; feels excoriated and constricted, burns like fire on swallowing, in afternoon. Early stages of atrophic pharyngitis in dried-up, bilious subjects. Hawking of ropy mucus of sweetish taste.

    Stomach.–Weight of a stone, with gnawing, aching pain; most manifest about three hours after meals. Tenderness and fullness in region of liver.

    Abdomen.–Dull aching in liver and epigastrium. Pain at umbilicus. Jaundice; throbbing in hypogastrium and pelvis.

    Rectum.–Dry, aching. Feels full of small sticks. Anus raw, sore. Much pain after stool, with prolapse. Hæmorrhoids, with sharp shooting pains up the back; blind and bleeding; worse during climacteric. Large, hard, dry stools. Mucous membrane seems swollen and obstructs the passage. Irritation caused by ascarides and aids their expulsion. Burning in anus with chills up and down back.

    Urinary.–Frequent, scant, dark, muddy, hot urine. Pain in kidneys, especially left and ureter.

    Male.–Discharge of prostatic fluid at stool.

    Female.–Constant throbbing behind symphysis pubis. Leucorrhœa, with lameness of back across the sacro-iliac articulation; dark yellow, sticky corroding; worse after menses.

    Chest.–Feels constricted. Heart’s action full and heavy, can feel pulsations all over. Laryngitis; coughs depending on hepatic disorders; hot feeling in chest; pain around heart in hæmorrhoidal subjects.

    Extremities.–Aching and soreness in limbs, in left acromion process with shooting down arms; finger tips numb.

    Back.–Lameness in neck; aching between shoulder blades; region of spine feels weak; back and legs give out. Backache affecting sacrum and hipsworse walking or stooping. When walking feet turn under. Soles feel sore, tired, and swell. Hands and feet swell, and become red after washing, feel full.

    Fever.–Chill at 4 pm. Chilliness up and down back. Fever 7 to 12 pm. Evening fever, skin hot and dry. Sweat profuse and hot with the fever.

    Modalities.–Worse, in morning on awaking, and from any motion, walking; from moving bowels; after eating, afternoon, standing. Better, cool open air.

    Relationship.–Aesculus glabra-Ohio-Buckeye Proctitis. Very painful, dark purple, external hæmorrhoids, with constipation and vertigo and portal congestion. Speech thick, tickling in throat, impaired vision, paresis. Phytolacca (throat dry, more often in acute cases). Negundium Americanum–Box-elder–(Engorgements of rectum and piles with great pain, ten-drop doses of tincture every two hours). Compare also: Aloe, Collinson. Nux. Sulphur.

    Dose.–Tincture, to third potency.

  • ADRENALINUM

    An Internal Secretion of Suprarenal Glands
    (ADRENALIN)

    Adrenaline or Epinephrine, the active principle of the medulla of the suprarenal gland, (cortical secretion not as yet isolated), is employed as a chemical messenger in the regulation of the activities of the body; in fact, its presence is essential to the activity of the sympathetic nerve. Adrenaline action on any part is the same as stimulation of the sympathetic nerve endings thereto. Local application (1: 1,000 solution) to mucous membranes promptly induces transient ischemia, seen in a blanching, persisting several hours from conjunctival instillation. Its action is very prompt, efficient, evanescent, owing to rapid oxidation and therefore practically harmless, unless too frequently repeated, when atheroma and heart lesions–myocardial–in animals have been reported. Arteries, heart, supra-renal bodies and vaso-motor system are prominently affected. The main action of Adrenaline is stimulation of the sympathetic endings, notably the splanchnic area, causing constriction of the peripheral arterioles, with resulting rise in blood pressure. This is especially observed in stomach, intestines; less in uterus, skin; nil in brain and lungs. Furthermore, is noticed, slowing of pulse, (medullary vagus stimulation), and strengthening of heart beat (increased myocardial contractility), resembling Digitalis; increased glandular activity, glycosuria; depression of respiratory center; contraction of muscular tissue of eye, uterus, vagina; relaxation of muscular tissue of stomach, intestines, bladder.

    Uses.–Its chief therapeutic use depends on its vaso-constriction action; therefore a most powerful and prompt astringent and hæmostatic; and invaluable in checking capillary hæmorrhages, from all parts, where local or direct application is feasible: nose, ear, mouth, throat, larynx, stomach, rectum, uterus, bladder. Hæmorrhagic condition not due to defective coagulation of the blood. Complete bloodlessness, ischemia, may be induced with impunity. Locally, solutions (1: 10,000-1: 1,000) sprayed or applied on cotton have been very efficient in bloodless operations about the eye, nose, throat, and larynx.

    Congestions of the ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses, also hay fever, have been markedly alleviated by warm spray of Adrenaline chloride, 1: 5,000. Here compare, Hepar 1x, which will start up secretions and so facilitate drainage. Werlhoff’s disease, hypodermically, 1: 1,000. Externally, it has been used in neuritis, neuralgia, reflex pains, gout, rheumatism, as an ointment, 1-2 m of (1: 1,000) solution, along the nerve trunk at point of skin nearest its origin which could be reached (H. G. Carlton).

    Therapeutically, Adrenaline has been suggested in acute congestion of lungs, Asthma, Grave’s and Addison’s diseases, arterio-sclerosis, chronic aortitis, angina pectoris, hæmophilia chlorosis, hay fever, serum rashes, acute urticaria, etc. Dr. P. Jousset reports success in treating, homeopathically, cases of angina and of aortitis, sub-acute and chronic, when Adrenaline has been prescribed per os and in infinitesimal dose. The symptom guiding to this is, Sensation of thoracic constriction with anguish. This, with vertigo, nausea and vomiting have been produced by the drug. Abdominal pain. Shock or heart failure during anæsthesia, as it causes very prompt rise of blood pressure by its action on nerve endings in the vessel wall.

    Dose.–Hypodermically, 1-5 m (1: 1,000 solution, as chloride) diluted in water. Internally, 5-30m of 1: 1,000 solution.

    Caution.–On account of its affinity for oxygen, the drug easily decomposes in watery and dilute acid solutions. The solution must be protected from air and light. It must not be too frequently repeated, owing to cardiac and arterial lesions. For homeopathic use 2x to 6x attenuation.

  • ADONIS VERNALIS

    Pheasant’s Eye

    A heart medicine, after rheumatism or influenza, or Bright’s disease, where the muscles of the heart are in stage of fatty degeneration, regulating the pulse and increasing the power of contractions of heart, with increased urinary secretions. Most valuable in cardiac dropsy. Low vitality, with weak heart and slow, weak pulse. Hydrothorax, ascites. Anasarca.

    Head.–Feels light; aches across front, from occiput around temples to eyes. Vertigo on rising, turning head quickly or lying down. Tinnitus. Scalp feels tight. Eyes dilated.

    Mouth.–Slimy. Tongue dirty yellow, sore, feels scalded.

    Heart.–Mitral and aortic regurgitation. Chronic aortitis, Fatty heart pericarditis. Rheumatic Endocarditis (Kalmia). Prećcordial pain, palpitation, and dyspnśa. Marked venous engorgement. Cardiac asthma (Quebracho). Fatty heart. Myocarditis, irregular cardiac action, constriction and vertigo. Pulse rapid, irregular.

    Stomach.–Heavy weight. Gnawing hunger. Faint feeling in epigastrium. Better out of doors.

    Urine.–Oily pellicle on urine. Scanty, albuminous.

    Respiratory.–Frequent desire to take a long breath. Feeling of weight on chest.

    Sleep.–Restlessness, with horrible dreams.

    Extremities.–Aching in nape. Spine stiff and aching. Śdema.

    Relationship.–Adonidin is a cardiac tonic and diuretic. Quarter grain daily, or two to five grains of first decimal trit increases arterial pressure and prolongs the diastole, favoring emptying engorged veins. Is an excellent substitute for Digitalis and is not cumulative in action.

    Compare: Digit; Cratoeg; Conval; Strophanthus.

    Dose.–Five to ten drops of the tincture.

  • ACTAEA SPICATA

    Baneberry
    (ACTEA SPICATA)

    Is a rheumatic remedy, especially of the small joints; tearing, tingling pains characterize it. Wrist-rheumatism. Pulsations over whole body, especially liver and renal region. Cardiovascular spasm. Pains worse from touch and motion.

    Head.–Fearful, starts easily; confused. Ebullition of blood to head excited by drinking coffee. Vertigo, tearing headache, better in open air, throbbing in brain, pain from crown to between eyebrows; heat in forehead, pain in left frontal eminence as if bone were crushed. Itching of scalp alternating with heat; nose red at tip, fluent coryza.

    Face.–Violent pain in upper jaw, running from teeth through malar bones to temples. Perspiration on face and head.

    Stomach.–Tearing, darting pains in epigastric region, with vomiting. Cramp-like pains in stomach and epigastrium, with difficult breathing; sense of suffocation. Sudden lassitude after eating.

    Abdomen.–Spasmodic retraction. Sticking pain and distension of hypogastrium.

    Respiratory.–Short, irregular breathing at night, while lying. Great oppression. Shortness of breath on exposure to cold air.

    Extremities.–Tearing pains in loins. Rheumatic pains in small joints, wrist, (Ulmus) fingers, ankles, toes. Swelling of joints from slight fatigue. Wrist swollen, red, worse any motion. Paralytic weakness in the hands. Lame feeling in arms. Pain in knee. Sudden lassitude after talking or eating.

    Relationship.–Compare: Cimicif; Cauloph; Led.

    Dose.–Third potency.

  • ACONITUM NAPELLUS

    Monkshood

    A state of fear, anxiety; anguish of mind and body. Physical and mental restlessness, fright, is the most characteristic manifestation of Aconite. Acute, sudden, and violent invasion, with fever, call for it. Does not want to be touched. Sudden and great sinking of strength. Complaints and tension caused by exposure to dry, cold weather, draught of cold air, checked perspiration, also complaints from very hot weather, especially gastro-intestinal disturbances, etc. First remedy in inflammations, inflammatory fevers. Serous membranes and muscular tissues affected markedly. Burning in internal parts; tingling, coldness and numbness. Influenza. Tension of arteries; emotional and physical mental tension explain many symptoms. When prescribing Aconite remember Aconite causes only functional disturbance, no evidence that it can produce tissue change–its action is brief and shows no periodicity. Its sphere is in the beginning of an acute disease and not to be continued after pathological change comes. In Hyperæmia, congestion not after exudation has set in. Influenza (Influenzin)

    Mind.–Great fear, anxiety, and worry accompany every ailment, however trivial. Delirium is characterized by unhappiness worry, fear, raving, rarely unconsciousness. Forebodings and fears. Fears death but believes that he will soon die; predicts the day. Fears the future, a crowd, crossing the street. Restlessness, tossing about. Tendency to start. Imagination acute, clairvoyance. Pains are intolerable; they drive him crazy. Music is unbearable; makes her sad (Ambra). Thinks his thoughts come from the stomach–that parts of his body are abnormally thick. Feels as if what had just been done was a dream.

    Head.–Fullness; heavy, pulsating, hot, bursting, burning undulating sensation. Intercranial pressure (Hedera Helix). Burning headache, as if brain were moved by boiling water (Indigo). Vertigo; worse on rising (Nux. Opium) and shaking head. Sensation on vertex as if hair were pulled or stood on end. Nocturnal furious delirium.

    Eyes.–Red, inflamed. Feel dry and hot, as if sand in them. Lids swollen, hard and red. Aversion to light. Profuse watering after exposure to dry, cold winds, reflection from snow, after extraction of cinders and other foreign bodies.

    Ears.–Very sensitive to noises; music is unbearable. External ear hot, red, painful, swollen. Earache (Cham). Sensation as of drop of water in left ear.

    Nose.–Smell acutely sensitive. Pain at root of nose. Coryza much sneezing; throbbing in nostrils. Hæmorrhage of bright red blood. Mucous membrane dry, nose stopped up; dry or with but scanty watery coryza.

    Face.–Red, hot, flushed, swollen. One cheek red, the other pale (Cham, Ipec). On rising the red face becomes deathly pale, or he becomes dizzy. Tingling in cheeks and numbness. Neuralgia, especially of left side, with restlessness, tingling, and numbness. Pain in jaws.

    Mouth.–Numb, dry, and tingling. Tongue swollen; tip tingles. Teeth sensitive to cold. Constantly moves lower jaw as if chewing. Gums hot and inflamed. Tongue coated white (Antim crud).

    Throat.–Red, dry, constricted, numb, prickling, burning, stinging. Tonsils swollen and dry.

    Stomach.–Vomiting, with fear, heat, profuse sweat and increased urination. Thirst for cold water. Bitter taste of everything except water. Intense thirst. Drinks, vomits, and declares he will die. Vomiting, bilious mucous and bloody, greenish. Pressure in stomach with dyspnœa. Hæmatemesis. Burning from stomach to œsophagus.

    Abdomen.–Hot, tense, tympanitic. Sensitive to touch. Colic, no position relieves. Abdominal symptoms better after warm soup. Burning in umbilical region.

    Rectum.–Pain with nightly itching and stitching in anus. Frequent, small stool with tenesmus; green, like chopped herbs. White with red urine. Choleraic discharge with collapse, anxiety, and restlessness. Bleeding hæmorrhoids (Hamam). Watery diarrhœa in children. They cry and complain much, are sleepless and restless.

    Urine.–Scanty, red, hot, painful. Tenesmus and burning at neck of bladder. Burning in urethra. Urine suppressed, bloody. Anxiety always on beginning to urinate. Retention, with screaming and restlessness, and handling of genitals. Renal region sensitive. Profuse urination, with profuse perspiration and diarrhœa.

    Male.–Crawling and stinging in glans. Bruised pain in testicles, swollen, hard. Frequent erections and emissions. Painful erections.

    Female.–Vagina dry, hot, sensitive. Menses too profuse, with nosebleed, too protracted, late. Frenzy on appearance of menses. Suppressed from fright, cold, in plethoric subjects. Ovaries congested and painful. Sharp shooting pains in womb. After-pains, with fear and restlessness.

    Respiratory.–Constant pressure in left chest; oppressed breathing on least motion. Hoarse, dry, croupy cough; loud, labored breathing. Child grasps at throat every time he coughs. Very sensitive to inspired air. Shortness of breath. Larynx sensitive. Stitches through chest. Cough, dry, short, hacking; worse at night and after midnight. Hot feeling in lungs. Blood comes up with hawking. Tingling in chest after cough.

    Heart.–Tachycardia. Affections of the heart with pain in left shoulder. Stitching pain in chest. Palpitation, with anxiety, fainting, and tingling in fingers. Pulse full, hard; tense and bounding; sometimes intermits. Temporal and carotid arteries felt when sitting.

    Back.–Numb, stiff, painful. Crawling and tingling, as if bruised. Stiffness in nape of neck. Bruised pain between scapulæ.

    Extremities.–Numbness and tingling; shooting pains; icy coldness and insensibility of hands and feet. Arms feel lame, bruised, heavy, numb. Pain down left arm (Cact, Crotal, Kalmia, Tabac). Hot hands and cold feet. Rheumatic inflammation of joints; worse at night; red shining swelling, very sensitive. Hip-joint and thigh feel lame, especially after lying down. Knees unsteady; disposition of foot to turn (Aescul). Weak and lax ligaments of all joints. Painless cracking of all joints. Bright red hypothenar eminences on both hands. Sensation as if drops of water trickled down the thigh.

    Sleep.–Nightmare. Nightly ravings. Anxious dreams. Sleeplessness, with restless and tossing about (Use thirtieth potency). Starts up in sleep. Long dreams, with anxiety in chest. Insomnia of the aged.

    Skin.–Red, hot, swollen, dry, burning. Purpura miliaris. Rash like measles. Gooseflesh. Formication and numbness. Chilliness and formication down back. Pruritus relieved by stimulants.

    Fever.–Cold stage most marked. Cold sweat and icy coldness of face. Coldness and heat alternate. Evening chilliness soon after going to bed. Cold waves pass through him. Thirst and restlessness always present. Chilly if uncovered or touched. Dry heat, red face. Most valuable febrifuge with mental anguish, restlessness, etc. Sweat drenching, on parts lain on; relieving all symptoms.

    Modalities.–Better in open air; worse in warm room, in evening and night; worse lying on affected side, from music, from tobacco-smoke, dry, cold winds.

    Vinegar in large doses is antidotal to poisonous effects.

    Relationship.–Acids, wine and coffee, lemonade, and acid fruits modify its action.

    Not indicated in malarial and low fevers or hectic and pyæmic conditions, and in inflammations when they localize themselves. Sulphur often follows it. Compare Cham and Coffea in intense pain and sleeplessness.

    Agrostis acts like Acon in fever and inflammations, also Spiranthes.

    Complementary: Coffea; Sulph. Sulphur may be considered a chronic Aconite. Often completes a cure begun with Aconite.

    Compare; Bellad; Cham; Coffea; Ferr, phos.

    Aconitine.–(Heavy feeling as of lead; pains in supraorbital nerve; ice-cold sensations creep up; hydrophobia symptoms. Tinnitus aurium 3x). Tingling sensation.

    Aconitum Lycotonum.–Great yellow wolfsbane.–(Swelling of glands; Hodgkin’s disease. Diarrhœa after eating pork. Itching of nose, eyes, anus and vulva. Skin of nose cracked; taste of blood).

    Aconitum Cammarum.–(Headache with vertigo and tinnitus. Cataleptic symptoms. Formication of tongue, lips and face).

    Aconitum ferox.–Indian Aconite.–Rather more violent in its actions than A. napellus. It is more diuretic and less antipyretic. It has proved valuable in cardiac dyspnœa, neuralgia, and acute gout. Dyspnœa. Must sit up. Rapid respiration. Anxiety, with suffocation from feeling of paralysis in respiratory muscles. Cheynes-Stokes breathing. Quebracho (cardiac dyspnœa) (Achyranthes.–A Mexican drug–very similar to Aconite in fevers, but of larger range, being also adapted to typhoidal states and intermittents. Muscular rheumatism. A great diaphoretic. Use 6x). Eranthis hymnalis–(Winter Aconite–acts on solar plexus and works upwards causing dyspnœa. Pain in occiput and neck).

    Dose.–Sixth potency for sensory affections; first to third for congestive conditions. Must be repeated frequently in acute diseases. Acon is a rapid worker. In Neuralgias tincture of the root often preferable, one drop doses (poisonous), or again, the 30th according to susceptibility of patient.

  • ACETANILIDUM

    Antifebrinum

    Depresses heart, respiration and blood pressure, lowers temperature. Cyanosis and collapse. Increased susceptibility to cold. Destroys red blood corpuscles; pallor.

    Head.–Enlarged sensation. Fainting. Moral depravity.

    Eyes.–Pallor of optic discs, contracted visual field and shrinking retinal vessel; mydriasis.

    Heart.–Weak, irregular, with blue mucous membranes, albuminuria, œdema of feet and ankles.

    Relationship.–Compare: Antipyrin.

    Dose.–Used as a sedative and antipyretic for various forms of headache and neuralgia in doses of one to three grains. For the homeopathic indications use the third potency.

  • ACETICUM ACIDUM

    Glacial Acetic Acid
    (ACETIC ACID)

    This drug produces a condition of profound anæmia, with some dropsical symptoms, great debility, frequent fainting, dyspnœa, weak heart, vomiting, profuse urination and sweat. Hæmorrhage from any part. Especially indicated in pale, lean persons, with lax, flabby muscles. Wasting and debility. Acetic acid has the power to liquefy albuminous and fibrinous deposits. Epithelial cancer, internally and locally (W Owens). Sycosis with nodules and formations in the joints. Hard chancre. The 1x solution will soften and cause formation of pus.

    Mind.–Irritable, worried about business affairs.

    Head.–Nervous headache, from abuse of narcotics. Blood rushes to head with delirium. Temporal vessels distended. Pain across root of tongue.

    Face.–Pale, waxen, emaciated. Eyes sunken, surrounded by dark rings. Bright red. Sweaty. Epithelioma of lip. Cheeks hot and flushed. Aching in left jaw-point.

    Stomach.–Salivation. Fermentation in stomach. Intense burning thirst. Cold drinks distress. Vomits after every kind of food. Epigastric tenderness. Burning pain as of an ulcer. Cancer of stomach. Sour belching and vomiting. Burning waterbrash and profuse salivation. Hyperchlorhydria and gastralgia. Violent burning pain in stomach and chest, followed by coldness of skin and cold sweat on forehead. Stomach feels as if she had taken a lot of vinegar.

    Abdomen.–Feels as if abdomen was sinking in. Frequent watery stools, worse in morning. Tympanitic. Ascites. Hæmorrhage from bowels.

    Urine.–Large quantities of pale urine. Diabetes, with great thirst and debility (Phos ac).

    Female.–Excessive catamenia. Hæmorrhages after labor. Nausea of pregnancy. Breasts painfully enlarged, distended with milk. Milk impoverished, bluish, transparent, sour. Anæmia of nursing mothers.

    Respiratory.–Hoarse, hissing respiration; difficult breathing; cough when inhaling. Membranous croup. Irritation of trachea and bronchial tubes. False membrane in throat. Profuse bronchorrhœa. Putrid sore throat (gargle).

    Back.–Pain in back, relieved only by lying on abdomen.

    Extremities.–Emaciation. Œdema of feet and legs.

    Skin.–Pale, waxen, œdematous. Burning, dry, hot skin, or bathed in profuse sweat. Diminished sensibility of the surface of body. Useful after stings, bites, etc. Varicose swellings. Scurvy; anasarca. Bruises; sprains.

    Fever.–Hectic, with drenching night-sweats. Red spot on left cheek. No thirst in fever. Ebullitions. Sweat profuse, cold.

    Relationship.–Acetic acid is antidotal to all anæsthetic vapors. Counteracts sausage poisoning.

    Compare: Ammon acet (Profuse saccharine urine, patient is bathed in sweat). Benzoin oderiferum–Spice-wood (night sweats). Ars; China; Digitalis; Liatris (General anasarca in heart and kidney disease, dropsy, and chronic diarrhœa).

    Dose.–Third to thirtieth potency. Not to be repeated too often, except in croup.

  • ACALYPHA INDICA

    Indian Nettle

    A drug having a marked action on the alimentary canal and respiratory organs. It is indicated in incipient phthisis, with hard, racking cough, bloody expectoration, arterial hæmorrhage, but no febrile disturbance. Very weak in the morning, gains strength during day. Progressive emaciation. All pathological hæmorrhages having notably a morning aggravation.

    Chest.–Cough dry, hard, followed by hæmoptysis; worse in morning and at night. Constant and severe pain in chest. Blood bright red and not profuse in morning; dark and clotted in afternoon. Pulse soft and compressible. Burning in pharynx, œsophagus, and stomach.

    Abdomen.–Burning in intestines. Spluttering diarrhœa with forcible expulsion of noisy flatus, bearing down pains and tenesmus. Rumbling distention, and griping pain in abdomen. Rectal hæmorrhage; worse in morning.

    Skin.–Jaundice. Itching and circumscribed furuncle-like swellings.

    Modalities.–Worse in morning.

    Relationship.–Compare: Millefol; Phosphor; Acetic acid; Kali nit.

    Dose.–Third to sixth potency.

  • ABSINTHIUM

    Common Wormwood

    A perfect picture of epileptiform seizure is produced by this drug. Nervous tremors precede attacks. Sudden and severe giddiness, delirium with hallucinations and loss of consciousness. Nervous excitement and sleeplessness. Cerebral irritation, hysterical and infantile spasms come within range of this remedy. Poisoning by mushrooms. Chorea. Tremor. Nervousness, excitement, and sleeplessness in children.

    Mind.–Hallucinations. Frightful visions. Kleptomania. Loss of memory. Forgets what has recently happened. Wants nothing to do with anybody. Brutal.

    Head.–Vertigo, with tendency to fall backward. General confusion. Wants head low. Pupils dilated unequally. Face blue. Spasmodic facial twitching. Dull occipital headache (Gelsem, Picric ac).

    Mouth.–Jaws fixed. Bites tongue; trembles; feels as if swollen and too large; protruding.

    Throat.–Scalded sensation; as of a lump.

    Stomach.–Nausea; retching; eructation. Bloated around waist and abdomen. Wind colic.

    Urine.–Constant desire. Very strong odor; deep yellow color (Kali phos).

    Sexual.–Darting pain in right ovary. Spermatorrhœa, with relaxed, enfeebled parts. Premature menopause.

    Chest.–Sensation of weight on chest. Irregular, tumultuous action of heart can be heard in back.

    Extremities.–Pain in limbs. Paralytic symptoms.

    Relationship.–Compare: Alcohol; Artemisia; Hydrocy acid; Cina; Cicuta.

    Dose.–First to sixth potency.