Category: Materia Materica

The Element

Irritation and catarrh of respiratory organs. Eczema. Albuminuria. Pain in trachea. Increases and gives odor to local perspiration. Causes adhesion of the nail fold.

Head.–Feels as if a band around head. Falling off of hair (Kali carb; Fluor ac).

Nose.–Coryza, with full feeling in nose. Nose and larynx sensitive to air. Small lumps of phlegm from posterior nares.

Eyes.–Glaucoma; with iridescent vision. Violent supra and infra-orbital neuralgia; violent pains and lachrymation. Green colors surround candle-light. Conjunctivitis. Increase in intra-ocular tension, dim sight, photophobia.

Respiratory.–Acute laryngitis; cough and expectoration of tough, stringy mucus. Convulsive cough; feels as though membrane were torn from larynx. Noisy, dry, hard, cough, in violent short bursts, coming from low down, shaking the whole body. Talking causes pain in larynx. Hoarse; pain in larynx; sore sternum. Twitching of fingers, with spasmodic cough.

Skin.–Eczema, with pruritus. Irritated skin. Itching pimples. Bromidrosis, sweat in axilla smelling of garlic, worse evening and night. Fold remains attached to growing nail.

Relationship.–Compare: Argent; Iridium; Selen; Mangan.

Dose.–Sixth potency.

Star of Bethlehem

To be considered in chronic gastric and other abdominal indurations, possibly cancer of intestinal tract, especially of stomach and Cæcum. Center of action is the pylorus, causing painful contraction with duodenal distention.

Depression of spirits. Complete prostration. Feeling of sickness keeps patient awake at night.

Stomach.–Tongue coated. Agonizing feeling in chest and stomach, staring from pylorus with flatus that rolls in balls from one side to the other, loss of appetite, phlegmy retchings and loss of flesh. Gastric ulceration even with hæmorrhage. Pains increased when food passes pyloric outlet. Vomiting of coffee-ground-looking matter. Distention of stomach. Frequent belching of offensive flatus. Painful sinking across epigastrium.

Dose.–Single doses of mother tincture and await action.

Sweet Marjoram
(ORIGANUM)

Acts on nervous system generally, and is effective in masturbation and excessively aroused sexual impulses. Affections of the breasts (Bufo). Desire for active exercise impelling her to run.

Female.–Frotomania; powerful lascivious impulses; leucorrhœa; hysteria. Lascivious ideas and dreams.

Relationship.–Compare: Ferula glauca (in violent sexual excitement in women; icy coldness in occiput); Plat; Valer; Canth; Hyos.

Dose.–Third potency.

California Laurel
(OREODAPHNE)

Neuralgic headache, cervico-occipital pain, cerebro-spinal meningitis, atonic diarrhœa, and intestinal colic.

Head.–Dizziness; worse on stopping or moving. Head heavy, eyelids heavy, twitching. Intense aching, with pressure at inner angle of either orbit, generally left, extending through brain and across scalp to the base of the occiput; worse light, noise; better, closing eyes and perfect quiet. Constant, dull ache in cervical and occipital region, extending to scapula down spine, into the head; pain into the ears. Great heaviness of head, with constant desire to move the head, which does not relieve. Drooping eyelids. Twitching. Atonic diarrhœa.

Stomach.–Eructations, with nausea and shuddering.

Dose.–First to Third potency. Olfaction of the tincture.

Prickly Pear
(OPUNTIA-FICUS INDICA)

Diarrhœa, with nausea. Feels as if bowels were settled down in lower abdomen. Sick feeling in lower third of abdomen. Enteroptosis with loose and frequent evacuations.

Relationship.–Compare; Chaparra amargosa (which Mexican physicians laud as a specific in chronic diarrhœa). Ricinus communis (diarrhœa, dysentery, obstinate chronic diarrhœa).

Dose.–Second attenuation.

Nishope
(OPERCULINA TURPETHUM)

A remedy for plague, fevers, diarrhœa.

Mind.–Delirium associated with restlessness, loquacity. Tendency to escape from bed; ravings, pains cause fainting.

Abdomen.–Watery diarrhœa, profuse with sinking sensation, Cholera morbus. Hæmorrhoids.

Skin.–Lymphatic glands enlarged and indurated. Boils and slowly suppurating abscesses.

Dried Latex of the Poppy
(PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM)

Hahnemann says that it is much more difficult to estimate the action of Opium than of almost any other drug. The effects of Opium as shown in the insensibility of the nervous system, the depression, drowsy stupor, painlessness, and torpor, the general sluggishness and lack of vital reaction, constitute the main indications for the drug when used homeopathically. All complaints are characterized by sopor. They are painless, and are accompanied by heavy, stupid sleep, stertorous breathing. Sweaty skin. Dark, mahogany-brown face. Serous apoplexy-venous, passive congestion. Want of sensitiveness to the action of medicines. Reappearance and aggravation from becoming heated. Opium lessens voluntary movements, contracts pupils, depresses higher intellectual powers, lessens self-control and power of concentration, judgment; stimulates the imagination, checks all secretions except that of the skin. Want of susceptibility to remedies even though indicated. Diseases that originate from fright.

Mind.–Patient wants nothing. Complete loss of consciousness; apoplectic state. Frightful fancies, daring, gay, bright. Unable to understand or appreciate his sufferings. Thinks he is not at home. Delirious talking, with wide open eyes.

Head.–Vertigo; lightness of head in old people. Dull, heavy, stupid. Delirium. Vertigo after fright. Pain in back of head; great weight there (Gels). Bursting feeling. Complete insensibility; no mental grasp for anything. Paralysis of brain.

Eyes.–Half-closed, dilated; pupils insensible, contracted. Ptosis (Gels; Caust). Staring glassy.

Face.–Red, bloated, swollen, dark suffused, hot. Looks intoxicated, besotted (Bapt; Lach). Spasmodic facial twitching, especially corners of mouth. Veins of face distended. Hanging down of lower jaw. Distorted.

Mouth.–Dry. Tongue black, paralyzed bloody froth. Intense thirst. Blubbering op lips. Difficult articulation and swallowing.

Stomach.–Vomiting, with colic and convulsions. Fecal vomiting. Incarcerated hernia. Hungry; no desire to eat.

Abdomen.–Hard, bloated, tympanitic. Lead colic during colic, urging to stool and discharge of hard feces.

Stool.–Obstinate constipation; no desire to go to stool. Round, hard, black balls. Feces protrude and recede (Thuj; Sil). Spasmodic retention of feces in small intestines. Stools involuntary, black, offensive, frothy. Violent pain in rectum, as if pressed asunder.

Urine.–Slow to start; feeble stream. Retained or involuntary, after fright. Loss of power or sensibility of bladder.

Female.–Suppressed menses from fright. Cessation of labor-pains with coma between paroxysms. Threatened abortion and suppression of lochia, from fright, with sopor. Horrible labor-like pains in uterus, with urging to stool.

Respiratory.–Breathing stops on going to sleep; must be shaken to start it again (Grindelia). Hoarse. Deep snoring; rattling, stertorous breathing. Difficult, intermittent, deep, unequal respiration. Heat in chest; burning about heart. Cough, with dyspnœa and blue face; with bloody expectoration.

Sleep.–Great drowsiness (Gels.; Nux mosch). Falls into a heavy stupid sleep. Profound coma. Loss of breath on falling asleep (Grind). Coma vigil. Picking at bedclothes. Very sleepy, but cannot go to sleep. Distant noise, cocks crowing, etc, keep him awake. Child dreams of cats, dogs, black forms. Bed feels so hot cannot lie on it. Pleasant, fantastic, amorous dreams. Shaking chill; then heat, with sleep and sweat. Thirst only during heat.

Fever.–Pulse full and slow. Heat extending over body. Hot perspiration. Fever characterized by stupor, snoring respiration, twitching of limbs, intense thirst and sleepiness. General low temperature with inclination to stupor.

Back and Extremities.–Opisthotonos. Swollen veins of neck. Painless paralysis (Oleand). Twitching of limbs. Numbness. Jerks as if flexors were overacting. Convulsions; worse from glare of light; coldness of limbs.

Skin.–Hot, damp, sweating, Constant desire to uncover. Hot perspiration over whole body except lower limbs.

Modalities.–Worse, heat, during and after sleep (Apis; Lach.). Better, cold things, constant walking.

Relationship.–Compare: Apis; Bell; Gels; Nux mosch; Morphinum (extreme susceptibility to pain; twitching; tympanities; much itching); Codein (dry, teasing, incessant cough; twitching of muscles, especially those of eyelids); Eschscholtzia-Cal California Poppy–(a harmless soporific).

Antidote: Acute Opium poisoning. Atropin and Black Coffee. Chronic Opium poisoning. Ipecac; Nux; Passiflora. Berberis is useful to counteract opium habit.

Dose.–Third to thirtieth and 200th potency.

Non-Homeopathic Preparations and Uses.–Palliative only in great pain, sleeplessness, peritonitis, and to check excess secretion in diarrhœa, diabetes, etc.

Opium (crude).–Official dose, 1 grain.

Laudanum (tincture)-Dose, 5 to 20 drops. Extract of Opium 1/4 to 1 grain.

Paregoric-Tinctura Camphora Composita. Contains in each dram 1/4 grain of Opium equal to 1/30 grain of Morphine. Dose 1/2 to 1 fluid dram for adults. For an infant 3 to 5 drops.

Dover’s Powder consists of Opium, Ipecac and Sulphate of Potash. It contains 10% each of Opium and Ipecac. Dose 5 to 15 grains.

Morphine-1/8 to 1/4 grain.

Magendie’s solution-16 grains to 1 oz or 5 drops equal to 1/6 grain.

Codein-1/2 to 1 grain.

Apomorphia-1/20 to 1/10 grain hypodermically.

False Gromwell
(ONOSMODIUM)

Want of power of concentration and co-ordination. Vertigo, numbness and muscular prostration. Marked association of head and eye symptoms, with muscular tiredness and weariness.

A remedy for migraine. Headaches from eyestrain and sexual weakness. It produces diminution of sexual desire in both sexes; hence its homeopathicity, in sexual neurasthenia. Depressed or lost sexual life in women. Neuralgic pains. General prostration. Acts as if born tired.

Head.–Loss of memory. Nose feels dry. Confused. Dull, heavy, dizzy, pressing upward in occiput. Occipito-frontal pain in morning on waking, chiefly left side. Pain in temples and mastoid (Capsic).

Eyes.–Vision blurred; optic disc hyperæmic, and retinal vessels enlarged. Strained feeling in eyes; worse, using eyes. Eyes heavy and dull, muscular asthenopia; ocular muscles tense. Internal eye muscles paretic. Pain in eyeballs between orbit and ball, extending to left temple.

Throat.–Severe dryness. Discharge from posterior nares. Raw, scraping. Stuffed feeling in posterior nares. Symptoms worse by cold drinks.

Abdomen.–Craving for ice-water and cold drinks; wants to drink often. Abdomen feels bloated

Back.–Pain in dorsal and lumbar regions. Numbness and tingling in feet and legs.

Chest.–Sore, aching in breasts; feels swollen and sore. Pain in heart; pulse, rapid, irregular, weak.

Male.–Constant sexual excitement. Psychical impotence. Loss of desire. Speedy emissions. Deficient erections.

Female.–Severe uterine pains; bearing-down pains; old pains return. Sexual desire completely destroyed. Feels as if menses would appear. Aching in breasts. Nipples itch. Menses too early and too prolonged. Soreness in uterine region. Leucorrhœa, yellow, acrid, profuse.

Extremities.–Pain in back. Tired and numb feeling in legs, popliteal spaces, and below knees. Staggering gait. Sidewalk seems too high. Pain in left scapular region. Great muscular weakness and weariness.

Modalities.–Worse, from motion, jar, and tight clothing. Better, when undressed, when lying down on back, from cold drinks, and eating.

Relationship.–Compare: Nat mur; Lilium; Gels; Ruta.

Dose.–Thirtieth attenuation.

Oil of Sandalwood

The action in the urinary and sexual spheres is most utilizable, especially in gonorrhœa. It is also a stimulating, disinfectant expectorant. Two or three drops on sugar will frequently relieve the hacking cough, when but little sputum is expectorated.

Male.–Painful erections; swelling of the prepuce. Thick, yellowish, muco-purulent discharge. Deep pain in perineum.

Urine.–Frequent, burning, smarting swelling, and redness of meatus. Stream small and slow. Acute aching in kidney region. Sensation of a ball pressing against the urethra; worse, standing. Gleet, with profuse, thick discharge; chronic cystitis.

Dose.–Two to ten m in capsules.

Rose-laurel
(NERIUM ODORUM)

Has a marked action on the skin, heart and nervous system, producing and curing paralytic conditions with cramp-like contractions of upper extremities. Hemiplegia. Difficult articulation.

Mind.–Memory weak; slow perception. Melancholy, with obstinate constipation.

Head.–Vertigo and diplopia, when looking down. Vertigo, when looking fixedly at an object, and on rising in bed. Pain in brain, as if head would burst. Numb feeling. Dull, unable to think. Indolence. Eruption on scalp. Humid, fetid spots behind ears (Graph; Petrol) and occiput, with red, rough, herpetic spots in front. Corrosive itching on forehead and edge of hair; worse, heat.

Eyes.–Can see objects only when looking at them sideways. Eyes water on reading. Double vision. Sensation as if eyes were drawn back into the head.

Face.–Pale, sunken, with blue rings around eyes (Phos ac).

Stomach.–Canine hunger, with hurried eating, without appetite. Thirst. Empty belching. Vomiting of food; greenish water. Throbbing in pit.

Abdomen.–Borborygmus, with profuse, fetid flatus. Gnawing around navel. Ineffectual urging. Undigested feces. Stool passes when emitting flatus. Burning pain in anus.

Chest.–Oppression as from a weight; asthmatic when lying down. Palpitation, with weakness and empty feeling in chest. Dyspnœa. Obtuse stitches in chest.

Extremities.–Weakness of lower limbs. Paralysis of legs and feet. Want of animal heat in limbs. Cold feet. Painless paralysis. Constant cold feet. Swelling, burning stiffness of fingers. Veins and hands swollen. Œdema. Stiffness of joints.

Skin.–Itching, scurfy pimples; herpes; sensitive and numb. Nocturnal burning. Very sensitive skin; slightest friction causes soreness and chapping. Violent itching eruption, bleeding, oozing; want of perspiration. Pruritus, especially of scalp, which is sensitive.

Modalities.–Worse, undressing, rest, friction of clothes.

Relationship.–Compare: Con; Nat m; Rhus; Caust; Lathyr. Oleander contains Oleandrin and also Nerein which latter is said to be closely related if not identical with Digitalin. The pulse becomes slower, more regular, more powerful. Diuresis; palpitation, œdema and dyspnœa of valvular disease disappear.

Antidotes: Camph; Sulph.

Dose.–Third to thirtieth potency.