Category: Materia Materica

Musk-root
(SUMBUL – FERULA SUMBUL)

Has many hysterical and nervous symptoms, and is of use in neuralgic affections and anomalous, functional, cardiac disorders. Numbness on becoming cold. Numbness on left side. Insomnia of delirium tremens (fifteen drops of tincture). Sensation as if water dropped down spine. Asthma. A tissue remedy for sclerosed arteries.

Head.–Emotional and fidgety. Dull in morning, clear in evening. Mistakes in writing and adding. Comedones. Tenacious, yellow, mucus in nose.

Throat.–Chocking constriction; constant swallowing. Belching of gas from stomach. Spasm of pharyngeal muscles. Tenacious mucus in throat.

Heart.–Nervous palpitation. Neuralgia around left breast and left hypochondriac region. Cardiac asthma. Aching in left arm, heavy, numb an weary. Loses breath on any exertion. Pulse irregular.

Female.–Ovarian neuralgia. Abdomen full, distended, and painful. Climacteric flushes.

Urinary.–Oily pellicle on surface of urine.

Modalities.–Worse, active exercise; left side.

Relationship.–Compare: Asaf; Mosch.

Dose.–Tincture, to third potency. Dr. W. McGeorge advises the 2x every 3 hours for arterio-sclerosis.

Sublimated Sulphur

This is great Hahnemannian anti-psoric. Its action is centrifugal-from within outward-having an elective affinity for the skin, where it produces heat and burning, with itching; made worse by heat of bed. Inertia and relaxation of fiber; hence feebleness of tone characterizes its symptoms. Ebullitions of heat, dislike of water, dry and hard hair and skin, red orifices, sinking feeling at stomach about 11 am, and cat-nap sleep; always indicate Sulphur homeopathically. Standing is the worst position for sulphur patients, it is always uncomfortable. Dirty, filthy people, prone to skin affections. Aversion to being washed. When carefully-selected remedies fail to act, especially in acute diseases, it frequently arouses the reactionary powers of the organism. Complaints that relapse. General offensive character of discharge and exhalations. Very red lips and face, flushing easily. Often great use in beginning the treatment of chronic cases and in finishing acute ones.

Mind.–Very forgetful. Difficult thinking. Delusions; thinks rags beautiful things-that he is immensely wealthy. Busy all the time. Childish peevishness in grown people. Irritable. Affections vitiated; very selfish, no regard for others. Religious melancholy. Averse to business; loafs-too lazy to arouse himself. Imagining giving wrong things to people, causing their death. Sulphur subjects are nearly always irritable, depressed, thin and weak, even with good appetite.

Head.–Constant heat on top of head (Cup sulph; Graph). Heaviness and fullness, pressure in temples. Beating headache; worse, stooping, and with vertigo. Sick headache recurring periodically. Tinea capitis, dry form. Scalp dry, falling of hair; worse, washing. Itching; scratching causes burning.

Eyes.–Burning ulceration of margin of lids. Halo around lamp-light. Heat and burning in eyes (Ars; Bell). Black motes before eyes. First stage of ulceration of cornea. Chronic ophthalmia, with much burning and itching. Parenchymatous keratitis. Cornea like ground glass.

Ears.–Whizzing in ears. Bad effects from the suppression of an otorrhœa. Oversensitive to odors. Deafness, preceded by exceedingly sensitive hearing; catarrhal deafness.

Nose.–Herpes across the nose. Nose stuffed indoors. Imaginary foul smells. Alæ red and scabby. Chronic dry catarrh; dry scabs and readily bleeding. Polypus and adenoids.

Mouth.–Lips dry, bright red, burning. Bitter taste in morning. Jerks through teeth. Swelling of gums; throbbing pain. Tongue white, with red tip and borders.

Throat.–Pressure as from a lump, as from splinter, as of a hair. Burning, redness and dryness. Ball seems to rise and close pharynx.

Stomach.–Complete loss of, or excessive appetite. Putrid eructation. Food tastes too salty. Drinks much, eats little. Milk disagrees. Great desire for sweets (Arg nit). Great acidity, sour eructation. Burning, painful, weight-like pressure. Very weak and faint about 11 am; must have something to eat. Nausea during gestation. Water fills the patient up.

Abdomen.–Very sensitive to pressure; internal feeling of rawness and soreness. Movements as of something alive (Croc; Thuj). Pain and soreness over liver. Colic after drinking.

Rectum.–Itching and burning of anus; piles dependent upon abdominal plethora. Frequent, unsuccessful desire; hard, knotty, insufficient. Child afraid on account of pain. Redness around the anus, with itching. Morning diarrhœa, painless, drives out of bed, with prolapsus recti. Hæmorrhoids, oozing and belching.

Urine.–Frequent micturition, especially at night. Enuresis, especially in scrofulous, untidy children. Burning in urethra during micturition, lasts long after. Mucus and pus in urine; parts sore over which it passes. Must hurry, sudden call to urinate. Great quantities of colorless urine.

Male.–Stitches in penis. Involuntary emissions. Itching of genitals when going to bed. Organs cold, relaxed and powerless.

Female.–Pudenda itches. Vagina burns. Much offensive perspiration. Menses too late, short, scanty, and difficult; thick, black, acrid, making parts sore. Menses preceded by headache or suddenly stopped. Leucorrhœa, burning, excoriating. Nipples cracked; smart and burn.

Respiratory.–Oppression and burning sensation in chest. Difficult respiration; wants windows open. Aphonia. Heat, throughout chest. Red, brown spots all over chest. Loose cough; worse talking, morning, greenish, purulent, sweetish expectoration. Much rattling of mucus. Chest feels heavy; stitches, with heart feeling too large and palpitating pleuritic exudations. Use Tinctura sulphuris. Stitching pains shooting through to the back, worse lying on back or breathing deeply. Flushes of heat in chest rising to head. Oppression, as of a load on chest. Dyspnœa in middle of night, relieved by sitting up. Pulse more rapid in morning than in evening.

Back.–Drawing pain between shoulders. Stiffness of nape. Sensation as if vertebræ glided over each other.

Extremities.–Trembling of hands. Hot, sweaty hands. Rheumatic pain in left shoulder. Heaviness; paretic feeling. Rheumatic gout, with itching. Burning in soles and hands at night. Sweat in armpits, smelling like garlic. Drawing and tearing in arms and hands. Stiffness of knees and ankles. Cannot walk erect; stoop-shouldered. Ganglion.

Sleep.–Talks, jerks, and twitches during sleep. Vivid dreams. Wakes up singing. Wakes frequently, and becomes wide awake suddenly. Catnaps; slightest noise awakens. Cannot sleep between 2 an 5 am.

Fever.–Frequent flashes of heat. Violent ebullitions of heat throughout entire body. Dry skin and great thirst. Night sweat, on nape and occiput. Perspiration of single parts. Disgusting sweats. Remittent type.

Skin.–Dry, scaly, unhealthy; every little injury suppurates. Freckles. Itching, burning; worse scratching and washing. Pimply eruption, pustules, rhagades, hang-nails. Excoriation, especially in folds (Lyc). Feeling of a band around bones. Skin affections after local medication. Pruritus, especially from warmth, is evening, often recurs in spring-time, in damp weather.

Modalities.–Worse, at rest, when standing, warmth in bed, washing, bathing, in morning, 11 am, night, from alcoholic stimulants, periodically. Better, dry, warm weather, lying on right side, from drawing up affected limbs.

Relationship.–Complementary: Aloe; Psorin; Acon; Pyrarara (a fish caught in the Amazon, clinically used for various skin affections). Lepra, tuberculides, syphilides, varicosities, etc.

Compare: Acon (Sulph often follows in acute diseases); Mercur and calcarea are frequently useful after Sulphur, not before. Lyc; Sep; Sars; Puls; Sulphur hydrogenisatum (delirium, mania, asphyxia); Sulphur terebinthinatum (chronic rheumatic arthritis; chorea); Tannic acid (Nasal hæmorrhage; elongated uvula; gargle; constipation). Magnes artificialis (great hunger in evening, profuse sweat on face, bruised pain in joints, rectal constriction after stool).

Magnetis polus Articus (anxious, coldness of eyes as if a piece of ice lay in orbit, increased flow of saliva, constipation, sopor, trembling, abdominal flatulence).

Magnetis polus Australis (dryness of lids, easy dislocation of ankle, ingrowing toe-nails, aching in patella, shooting in soles).

Compare in adenoids: Agraphis.

Dose.–Acts in all potencies from the lowest to the highest. Some of the best results are obtained from the higher, and not too frequent doses. The twelfth potency is a good one to begin treatment with, going higher or lower according to the susceptibility of the patient. In chronic diseases, 200th and upward. In torpid eruptions the lowest potencies.

Sulphurous acid, (tonsillitis (as a spray), acne rosacea, ulcerative stomatitis, pityriasis versicolor).

Head.–Anxious, furious, disposed to fight. Headache better by vomiting. Ringing in ears.

Mouth.–Ulcerative inflammation of mouth. Tongue red or bluish-red. Coated.

Stomach.–Loss of appetite. Obstinate constipation.

Respiratory.–Persistent choking cough with copious expectoration. Hoarseness, constriction of chest. Difficult breathing.

Female.–Fluor albus. Debility.

Dose.–As a spray in tonsillitis. According to Ringer, ten to fifteen minims taken ten minutes before each meal will remedy pyrosis and prevent fermentation and flatulence. It also removes thrush. Homeopathically, third attenuation.

Iodide of Sulphur

Obstinate skin affections, notably in barber’s itch and acne. Weeping eczema.

Throat.–Uvula and tonsils enlarged and reddened. Swollen. Tongue thick. Parotid hypertrophied.

Skin.–Itching on ears, nose, and in urethra. Papular eruption on face. Cold-sores on lips. Boils on neck. Barber’s itch. Acne. Lichen planus. Arms covered with itching rash. Hair feels as if erect.

Dose.–Third trituration.

A Coal-tar Product
(SULFONAL)

Vertigo of cerebral origin, cerebellar disease, ataxic symptoms and chorea, present a field for the homeopathic employment of this drug. Profound weakness, gone, faint feeling, and despondency. Loss of control of sphincter. Muscular inco-ordination.

Mind.–Mental confusion, incoherency, illusions; apathetic. Alternation of happy, hopeful states with depression and weakness. Extreme irritability.

Head.–Dropsy, stupid; pain on attempting to raise head. Double vision; heavy look about eyes; tinnitus, aphasia; tongue as if paralyzed. Eyes bloodshot and restless. Vertigo, unable to rise. Double vision; ptosis; tinnitus; dysphagia, difficult speech.

Urinary.–Albuminuria, with casts. Scanty. Pink color. Constant desire to urinate; scanty, brownish red. Hæmato-porphyrinuria.

Respiratory.–Congestion of lungs; stertorous breathing. Sighing dyspnœa.

Extremities.–Ataxic movements, staggering gait; cold, weak, trembling; legs seem too heavy. Extreme restlessness; muscular twitchings. Knee-jerks disappear. Stiffness and paralysis of both legs. Anæsthesia of legs.

Sleep.–Fidgety, wakeful, drowsy. Insomnia.

Skin.–Itching, bluish purpura. Erythema.

Relationship.–Trional; insomnia associated with physical excitement; (vertigo, loss of equilibrium, ataxia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhœa, stertorous breathing, cyanosis, tinnitus, hallucinations).

Dose.–Third trituration.

Non-Homeopathic Uses.–As a hypnotic. Dose, ten to thirty grains in hot water. Takes about two hours to act.

Sulphuric Acid

The “debility” common to acids shows itself here, especially in the digestive tract, giving a very relaxed feeling in the stomach, with craving for stimulants. Tremor and weakness; everything must be done in a hurry. Hot flushes, followed by perspiration, with trembling. Tendency to gangrene following mechanical injuries. Writer’s cramp. Lead poisoning. Gastralgia and hypochlorrhydria. Purpura hæmorrhagia.

Mind.–Fretful, impatient. Unwilling to answer questions; hurried.

Head.–Right-sided neuralgia; painful shocks; skin feels pinched. Sensation as if brain was loose in forehead and falling from side to side (Bell; Rhus). Concussion of brain where skin is cold, body bathed in cold sweat. Compressive pain in side of occiput; relieved by holding the hands near the head. Pain of outer parts, as if there were subcutaneous ulceration; painful to touch. Thrust in right temple as if plug were pressed in.

Eyes.–Intra-ocular hæmorrhage following traumatism. Great chemosis of conjunctiva, with aching and sharp pain.

Mouth.–Aphthæ; gums bleed readily. Offensive breath. Pyorrhea.

Stomach.–Heartburn; sour eructations; sets teeth on edge (Robin). Craving for alcohol. Water causes coldness of stomach; must be mixed with liquors. Relaxed feeling in stomach. Averse to smell of coffee. Sour vomiting. Desire for fresh food. Hiccough. Coldness of stomach relieved by applied heat Nausea with chilliness.

Abdomen.–Weak feeling, with dragging into the hips and small of back. Feeling as if hernia would protrude, especially left side.

Rectum.–Piles; oozing dampness. Rectum feels as if it had a big ball. Diarrhœa, fetid, black, with sour odor of body, and empty faint feeling in abdomen.

Female.–Menstruation early and profuse. Erosion of cervix in the aged; easily bleeding. Acrid, burning leucorrhœa, often of bloody mucus.

Respiratory.–Respiration rapid with shooting in cervical muscles and movement of wings of nose; larynx moves up and down violently. Bronchitis in children with short, teasing cough.

Extremities.–Cramp-like paralytic contraction in arms, hands; jerking of fingers while writing.

Skin.–Bad effects from mechanical injuries, with bruises and livid skin. Ecchymosis. Petechiæ. Purpura hæmorrhagica. Livid, red, itching blotches. Hæmorrhage of black blood from all outlets. Cicatrices turn red and blue and become painful. Chilblains with gangrenous tendency. Carbuncles, boils and other staphylococcic and streptococcic infections.

Modalities.–Worse, from excess of heat or cold in forenoon and evening. Better, from warmth, and lying on affected side.

Relationship.–Complementary: Puls.

Compare: Arn; Calend; Led; Sep; Calc.

Dose.–Sulphuric acid mixed with three parts of alcohol, ten to fifteen drops three times daily for several weeks, has been successfully used to subdue the craving for liquor. For homeopathic purposes second to thirtieth potency.

Electron. Amber-A Fossil Resin

Nervous and hysterical symptoms. Asthma. Affections of spleen.

Head.–Fear of trains and close places. Headache, lachrymation, sneezing.

Respiratory.–Asthma, incipient phthisis, chronic bronchitis, pains in chest. Whooping-cough.

Relationship.–Compare: Do not confound with Ambergris (Ambra). Succinic acid (Hay-fever. Paroxysmal sneezing, dropping of watery mucus from nostrils; asthma. Inflammation through respiratory tract; causing asthma, chest pains, etc; itching of eyelids and canthi and nose worse drafts. Use 6 to 30th potency). Compare: Arundo, Wyethia, Sabadilla, Sinapis.

Dose.–Third trituration. Five drop doses of the oil.

Phosphate of Strychnin
(STRYCHNIA PHOSPHORICA)

This drug acts through the cerebro-spinal system upon muscles, causing twitching, stiffness, weakness and loss of power; upon circulation, producing irregularity of pulse, and upon the mind, producing lack of control, uncontrollable desire to laugh and disinclination to use the brain. Very irregular pulse. Tachycardia. Rapid and weak pulse. Useful in chorea, hysteria, acute asthenia after acute fevers. Symptoms worse motion, better rest and in open air. An excellent remedy in anćmia of spinal cord; paralysis; burning, aching, and weakness of spine; pain extends to front of chest; tenderness on pressure in mid-dorsal region; cold, clammy feet; hands and axillć covered with clammy perspiration. Atelectasis and break in the compensation of a hypertrophied heart; the beginning of fatty degeneration of the heart muscle (Royal).

Dose.–Third trituration.

Tropical Bind-weed
(HOANG NAN)

Exhaustion with vertigo; numbness and tingling in hands and feet; involuntary action of lower jaw. Pustules and boils; tertiary syphilis and Paralysis, Eczema, prurigo, old ulcers, leprosy, cancer of glandular structures and bites of serpents. Removes fetor and hæmorrhage in cancer, revives the healing process. Follows Arsenic.

Dose.–Five drops of the tincture. May be increased to twenty.

Alkaloid of Nux Vomica
(STRYCHNINUM)

Its primary function is to stimulate the motor centers and the reflex action of the spinal cord. Homeopathic to spasms of muscles, cramps from an undue reflex excitability of the cord, spasms of the bladder, etc. Strychnin stimulates the central nervous system, mental activities, special senses rendered more acute. Respiration increased. All reflexes are made more active. Stiffness in muscles and face and neck. Opisthotonos. Tetanic convulsions with opisthotonos. The muscles relax between paroxysms; worse slightest touch, sound, odor. Influences more directly the spinal cord and is less appropriate in visceral derangements than Nux. Tetanus. Explosive nervousness. The pains and sensations come suddenly and return at intervals.

Head.–Restless. Over-irritability. Full and bursting headache, with heat in eyes. Vertigo, with roaring in ears. Jerking of head forwards. Scalp sore. Itching of scalp and nape.

Eyes.–Hot, painful, protruding, staring. Pupils dilated. Sparks before eyes. Spasmodic contraction of ocular muscles; twitching and trembling of lids.

Ears.–Hearing very acute; burning, itching, and roaring in ears.

Face.–Pale, anxious, livid. Jaws stiffened; lower jaw spasmodically closed.

Throat.–Dry, contracted; feeling of a lump. Deglutition impossible. Burning along and spasms of œsophagus. Violent itching in roof of mouth.

Stomach.–Constant retching. Violent vomiting. Nausea of pregnancy.

Abdomen.–Sharp pain in abdominal muscles, griping pain in bowels.

Rectum.–Feces discharged involuntarily during spasms. Very obstinate constipation.

Female.–Desire for coitus (Canth; Camph; Fl ac; Lach; Phos; Plat). Any touch on body excites a voluptuous sensation.

Respiratory.–Spasm of muscles about larynx. Excessive dyspnœa. Sharp, contractive pains in muscles of chest. Persistent cough, recurring after influenza.

Back.–Rigitidy of cervical muscles. Sharp pain in nape and down spine. Back stiff; violent jerks in spinal column. Icy sensation down spine.

Extremities.–Limbs stiff. Rheumatism with stiff joints. Violent jerking, twitching, and trembling. Tetanic convulsions and opisthotonos; spasms provoked by slightest touch and attempt to move. Shocks in the muscles. Cramp-like pains.

Fever.–Cold chills down spine. Perspiration in a stream down head and chest. Lower extremities cold.

Skin.–Itching of whole body, especially nose. Icy sensation down the spine.

Modalities.–Worse, morning; touch; noise; motion; after meals. Better, lying on back.

Relationship.–Compare: Eucalyptus (neutralizes ill effects of Strychnin). Strych ars (Paresis in the aged, relaxed musculature. Prostration. Psoriasis; chronic diarrhœa with paralytic symptoms; compensatory hypertrophy of heart with beginning fatty degeneration; marked dyspnœa when lying down; œdema of lower extremities, urine scanty, high specific gravity, heavily loaded with glucose. Diabetes. 6x trit). Strych et Ferr cit (chlorotic and paralytic conditions; dyspepsia, with vomiting of ingesta; 2x and 3x trit); Strychnin nit (2x and 3x. Said to remove craving for alcohol. Use for two weeks); Strychnin sulph (Gastric atony); Strych valerin (exhaustion of brain-power; women of high nervous erethism; 2x trit). Compare: Cicuta; Arnica (tetanus).

Dose.–Third to thirtieth potency. For non-homeopathic use, to produce its direct physiological effects in paralysis the dose will range from one-fiftieth to one-twentieth of a grain, repeated three times a day. Under twelve years of age, one-fiftieth to one two-hundredth of a grain. Strych, hypodermically, is capable of arresting progressive muscular atrophy, and is a certain stimulant to the respiratory centers, and is useful in embarrassed breathing, in the course of pneumonia especially. Is an antidote to Chloral, used in asphyxia from gas and chloroform and early stages of Opium poisoning. Dose, one one-hundredth to one-sixtieth grain every three hours.