Crotalus Horridus – Rattlesnake

The attenuations are prepared from the careful dried venom from the poison-sacs of the upper jaw of the North American rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus horridus L.

N.O. Crotalidae.

The main indications are:

Haemorrhages from eyes, ears, nose and any organ of dark, fluid blood. Aggrava- tion in the Spring. Metrorrhagia in the menopause, purpura. Disturbances of the brain, makes mistakes in writing and calculating. Yellow fever, typhus, inflamma- tions with gangrene and sepsis. Weak heart. Toxic icterus. Viral hepatitis. Acute yel- low atrophy of the liver.

Typical of Crotalus is the great lassitude and exhaustion and the rapid dwindling of energy which can occur, with fainting, trembling all over and convulsions. The right half of the body is particularly affected. The aggravation of all complaints takes place in the early hours of the morning. This is associated with an irritable mood, with the patient tending towards emotion and ecstatic states. In chronic con- ditions there is apathy, despondency and anxiety with restlessness and unsociability. A pointer to the remedy can be the inability to express oneself in suitable or cor- rect words, either spoken or written, and the use of incorrect words to express con- cepts, likewise an uncharacteristic weakness in spelling and an unaccustomed weak-

ness of memory (cf. Medorrhinum, Anacardium).

Pains in the forehead and temples, in the eye-sockets and in the teeth, possibly with nausea and vomiting, are relieved by fresh air. The poisoning picture after suf-

fering a rattlesnake bite shows principally hemiparesis, pains which shift rapidly and quickly return, with the bones being primarily affected. There is also a spasm of the scalp, with the hair standing on end, spasm of the jaw and a flaccid drooping of the lower jaw, in the Crotalus picture (apoplexy).

Also characteristic are catarrhs of the conjunctiva and a reddening of the left upper eyelid with sensation of heat and burning, lachrymation and a jaundiced discoloura- tion of the sclera, often associated with enlargment of the pupils.

In the forefront are the haemorrhages from orifices of the body, and generally in the skin (yellow, red, blue, greenish and bluish-black patches with itching stingings in various places), general jaundiced skin-discolouration and haemorrhages from the capillary network of the skin, linked with the eruption of small pustules on the face, trunk and limbs with extensive bluish-red patches and larger swellings con- taining muco-pus. There is also general oedematous swelling of the skin and of the dermal tissue (snake-bite effect).

This is associated with a weak, hoarse voice, with painful sensitivity of the larynx to touch, dyspnoea, coughing with chest-pain and bloody expectoration, also halito- sis, bleeding of the gums and increased salivation.

The tongue is dry, brown and swollen and can only be moved and articulated with difficulty. The stomach will retain nothing but jelly, coffee and a little brandy. There is retching and vomiting with eructation and hiccoughs, and heartburn. There is hy- peraesthesia of the abdominal skin with pains in the liver and spleen areas (cf. Lep- tandra), and frequent thin stools with involuntary defaecation (cf. Podophyllum, Aloe, Veratrum etc.) and rectal haemorrhage.

Thus if other typical symptoms are present, one should think of using Crotalus Horridus in paralytic and spasmodic states, in psychoses with ecstatic or melan- cholic episodes, and above all in acute cholangitis, cholecystitis and pancreatitis, also in scurvy and haemophilia.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Crotalus horridus, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for crotalus: serious dermal and mucosal infections; tendency to general blood poison- ing; haemorrhages of all kinds; paralysis.