Conium Maculatum

[COMMON" OR SPOTTED HEMLOCK. NATURAL ORDER, UMBELLIFER^l.]

A biennial plant, flowering in June and July; root fleshy, top- shaped, whitish, of a disagreeable smell and sweetish taste; stem from three to six feet high, upright, round, hollow, smooth, glaucous, branched, spotted or streaked with reddish or brownish-purple spots; leaves large, spreading, repeatedly compound, of a deep-shining green, leaflets egg-shaped, closely and sharply pinnatifid ; petioles long, furrowed, dilated and sheathing at the base. Umbels terminal, numerous, upright, compound, occasionally attended by one or two simple axillary ones. By the purple spots and the peculiar odor of the leaves, when rubbed between the fingers, (a urinous smell, or an odor like that of mice,) hemlock may be distinguished from astlmsa cynapium or fool's parsley, and from common parsley.

Oonium grows abundantly along hedges, in waste places, on dung- hills, especially near towns and villages.

CONIUM MACULATUM. 19

Ooniuin poisons swine and other animals ; sheep, goats and horses will generally eat it with impunity. In one case, however, a decoc- tion of four ounces of the dried plant proved fatal to a horse.

In man it seems to act primarily upon the brain, the. cerebro- spinal and the ganglionic 'systems of nerves. Dr. Bennett met with a case of poisoning, where the following symptoms occurred :

A man ate a large quantity of hemlock-plant by mistake for parsley; soon afterward, there was a loss of power in the lower extremities, but he apparently suffered no pain. In walking, he staggered like one drunk; at length his limbs refused to support him and he fell. On being raised, his legs dragged after him, or when his arms were lifted, they fell like inert masses, and remained immovable ; there was perfect paralysis of the upper and lower extremities within two hours after he had taken the poison.

There was a loss of power of , deglutition, and a partial paralysis of sensation, but no convulsions, only slight occasional motions of the left leg; the pupils were fixed. Three hours after eating the hemlock, the respiratory movements had ceased. Death took place in three hours and a quarter. It was evidently caused by gradual asphyxia from paralysis of the muscles of respiration, but the intellect was perfectly clear until shortly before death.

On inspection, there was slight serous effusion beneath the arachnoid membrane. The substance of the brain was found softened ; there were numerous bloody points, but the organ was otherwise healthy. The lungs were gorged with dark-red fluid blood; the heart was soft and flabby. The stomach contained a green pultaceous mass resembling parsley, which was identified by Dr.

Christison as conium maculatum ; the mucous coat was much congested, especially at the cardiac extremity; here there were numerous extravasations of dark blood below the epithelium, over a space about the size of a hand. The intestines presented patches of congestion on the mucous coat. The blood throughout the body was fluid, and of a dark color.

In this case, conium seems to have affected the motor and partial!] the sentient nerves, causing paralysis and congestion of the tissues

Mr. Haaf, a French army surgeon, has described a fatal case ok poisoning with conium. The subject of it, a soldier, had partaken, along with several comrades, of a soup containing hemlock leaves, and appeared to them to drop asleep not long after, while they were conversing. In the course of an hour they became alarmed on being all taken ill with giddiness and headache, and the surgeon of the regiment was sent for.

He found the soldier who had fallen asleep, in a state of insensibility, from which, however, he could be roused for a few moments. His countenance was bloated, the pulse only thirty, and the extremities cold. The insensibility became rapidly

20 CONIUM MACULATUM.

deeper and deeper until lie died, three hours after eating the soup.. His companions recovered.

These patients seem to have died of apoplexy.

Erom these cases of poisoning we learn that conium affects every part of the nervous system, the brain, spinal nerves, and the gang- lionic system.

From conium we obtain an alkaloid : conia, or coniin, which seems to affect the spinal marrow antagonistically to the action of strychnine. Conia causes prostration of the nervous power and sub- sequently paralysis, whereas strychnine causes a spasmodic excite- ment of the spinal marrow, and, as a consequence, muscular spasms.

Guided by the physiological effects of conium upon the healthy organism, we find that conium seems to be particularly adapted to scrofulous, tuberculous, cancerous and paralytic conditions ; it seems to be adapted to the debility of old people, to the consequences of contusions by a fall, blow or otherwise, especially chronic enlarge- ment and indurations of glandular bodies, and indurations of cellu- lar tissue

CEREBRO-SPINAL GROUP.

APOPLEXY. — We have learned from the cases of poisoning which I have related to you that conium causes, and hence may be found useful in some cases of apoplexy, where the attack sets in rather gradually, and is marked by drowsiness which increases until the patient is comatose and insensible ; it is characteristic of large doses of conium to suspend the faculty of sensation and to depress the pulse. In

PARALYSIS remaining after apoplexy, with diminished sensi- bility and heaviness of the paralyzed limb, conium may be of great use.

Hahnemann recommends conium in coxalgia and in chronic rheumatism. It may prove of use in

RHEUMATISMUS VAGUS, when the patient complains of wandering tearing pains in the trunk and extremities. Schneller, who experimented with conium upon himself, in doses of from fifty to one hundred and sixty drops of the strong tincture, felt shifting tearing pains at times in the region of the heart, at others in the hands, head and lower extremities. In

EPILEPSY arising from self-abuse, this drug has been used with apparently good effect.

COXIUM MACU LATUM. 21

ORBITAL GROUP.

BLEPHAROPHTHALMIA.— Conium has been used with excel- lent effect in various scrofulous affections of the eyes, more particu- larly in blepharophthalmia, with swelling, inflammation, suppuration and ulceration of the lids; excessive photophobia; discharge of a corrosive ichor from the lids, with violent burning and itching.

PHOTOPHOBIA without any perceptible sign of inflammation, with secretion of scalding tears from the least exposure to light, has laeen cured by coniuni.

A young lady, about eighteen years of age, lymphatic, of a scrofulous diathesis, ■with swollen and somewhat indurated glands around the neck, complained of severe photophobia; she can neither bear daylight, nor artificial light of any kind; the appearance of the eyes is perfectly normal ; there is not a trace of inflammation, nor is there any pain. Conium, one dose, cured the eyes in six days. Two months later, I learned that the swollen glands of the neck had also disappeared.

(Dr. Eggert in the Am. Jour, of Horn. Mat.

Med., Vol iv., p. 44.)

CATAKACT is said to have been benefited by conium. This, however, is doubted by most practitioners ; it is, at most, in cataracts which originate in a blow upon the eye, that this agent may be of use.

OPACITY OP THE CORNEA in consequence of previous in- flammation may find a remedy in conium. Amaurotic symptoms, muscse volitantes, colored rays, point to conium among other drugs. The

PBESBYOPIA of old people is benefited by conium.

AURICULAR GROUP.

HARDNESS OE HEARING, with hard cerumen, following after a purulent discharge, may be benefited by the internal use of conium.

CHTLO-POIETIO GROUP.

Conium causes a heaviness and painful swelling of the tongue, with ptyalism; hence it may antidote mercury to some extent.

DYSPHAGIA, of a. spasmodic character, or when arising from some internal swellings which press upon the oesophagus, may yield to conium.

CARDIALGIA has been cured by conium. In one case, the attack was characterized by coldness of the extremities, paleness of face, cold nose, dimness of sight, acute sensitiveness of the epigas- trium, frequent efforts to vomit, restlessness, sleeplessness, moaning, small and frequent pulse. Another case was caused by excessive

12 CONIUM MACULATUM.

nursing, with violent pains in the region of the stomach, anxiety, painful constriction in the epigastrium, fainting turns ; the ordinary remedies had proved unavailing.

Oonium has been used with good effect in chronic swelling of the mesenteric glands ; also in constipation, when arising from spasmodic rigidity of the fibre.

GEJSTTO-URINARY GROUP.

Conium may be useful in swelling of the testes caused by a blow or contusion ; impotence arising from excessive abstemiousness ; amenorrhoea of long standing, and acrid leucorrhoea with pinching in the bowels ; hypertrophy and induration of the uterus, even when of a scirrhous nature.

CANCER OF THE UTERUS Conium is said to have effected

a favorable change in some cases of cancer of the uterus ; this result has not been confirmed by the experience of many practitioners.

INDURATION AND ENLARGEMENT OF THE OVARIES. — Oonium is also a valuable remedy in induration and enlargement of the ovaries with sharp, keen, lancinating pains, white acrid, slimy leucorrhoea with pinching in the bowels.

RESPIRATORY GROUP.

SCROFULOUS OZ^ENA— Conium has been used with good effect in scrofulous ozaena ; it also causes a constant desire to cough, with scraping in the larynx ; hence it has been found useful in

CHRONIC LARYNGITIS, when caused by gonorrhoeal meta- stasis, with wheezing breathing, discharge of fetid, foul, greenish pus, alternation of the voice, suffocative sensation from the least excitement of the circulation. In

CHRONIC COUGH after measles, with a barking sound, conium is sometimes indicated..

EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

TETTER. — The action of conium upon the skin is exceedingly varied. It has cured a tetter, humid, crusty, burning, in the case of a girl, twenty years old, on the arms, skin bright-red, porous, cracked, a viscid lymph oozing out, itching, surrounded by glandular swelling; inveterate scabies, itch-like pimples, forming crusts; blackish ulcers ; plica polonica ; petechia?, erysipelatous and purple- colored. In

INDURATION OF GLANDS caused by a blow, or by the

COPAIFERA MULTIJUGA. 23

arthritic or scrofulous element, coninm may be used externally as well as internally. A few cases are reported :

A young woman of twenty-two years had hurt her breast; a scirrhous induration arose, lasting five years, with itching, not very painful, but immovable. Caspari gave conium internally and externally; the patient was cured.

Dr. Kammerer cured a scirrhous ulcer of the lower lip, caused by the pressure of the pipe ; conium was given internally and externally ; the hard mass fell out.

A healthy boy fell on the lower lip ; a scirrhous tumor ensued which grew larger eveiy week ; it was cured in fourteen days by the external use of conium ; Hahne- mann was the attending physician.

A robust servant girl had contused her right breast; a tubercle came on, increasing in size and hardness at every monthly period ; the external use of conium cured her.

Conium causes sopor, with prostration ; these symptoms are inci- dental to the apoplectic state of the brain for which conium has been recommended.

CRAZINESS. — Several monks had been poisoned by conium ; they fancied themselves transformed into geese. In craziness of this character, characterized by ludicrous aberrations of the percipient faculty of the mind, conium may help greatly. In

MANIA with sudden outbreaks of foolish rage, conium may be of use. In one case of poisoning we are told that an Italian vintner and his wife ate hemlock for parsley ; they woke in the night, ran about the house, smashing their heads against the walls of the build- ing. Conium may relieve

PAROXYSMS OF ANGUISH accompanied by constant throb- bing in the chest and region of the stomach ; and

HYPOCHONDRIA arising from abstemiousness in sexual in- tercourse.

COPAIFEKA MULTIJUGA.

[BALSAMUM COPAIVJE SEU COPAIBA. NAT. ORDER, LEGUMINOS^.]

This well-known balsam is furnished by a bush, the several species of which are chiefly found in the Brazils, and yield enormous quan- tities of this substance.

Pereira describes the balsam of copaiva as a clear and transparent liquid of an oily consistence and a light-yellow color. It has a peculiar odor which is disagreeable to some persons, probably on account of its use being generally associated with loathsome diseases ; its taste is slightly acrid and nauseous, but it is considerably veiled by sugar.

24 COPAIFERA 51ULTIJUGA.

One of Wibmer's students instituted the following experiment with copaiva upon his own person.

Of an emulsion composed of half an ounce of the balsam and four ounces of some vehicle, he swallowed two table-spoonfuls at eight o'clock in the evening. This quantity did not excite any other symptoms than a momentary increase of the secre- tion of saliva and frequent eructations. On the following day, at 8 A. M., he again swallowed two table-spoonfuls on an empty stomach.

Between eleven and twelve o'clock he experienced a rumbling and a moving of flatulence in the bowels, with a sensation as if colic would set in; but all these symptoms passed off again in a short time. But on taking again two table- spoonfuls at 4 P. M., he was attached in one hour by colicky pains, inclination to vomit, and in two hours had two liquid stools. The alvine and urinary secretions had the odor of the balsam ; the latter were more copious and certainly more frequent ; the emission of urine was preceded and suc- ceeded by itching and smarting in the urethra, but this sensation did not continue long.

On the third day he swallowed the last two table-spoonfuls at 7 A. M. upon an empty stomach. In half an hour he experienced a violent inclination to vomit and intense colicky pains, which abated after the breaking out of some perspiration. He had no appetite all day. At 2 P. M. he had two liquid stools in rapid succession, and a more solid stool in the evening of the same day.

This experiment demonstrates the fact that copaiva has an irri- tating action upon the mucous lining of the urethra ; the effects upon the intestinal lining membrane, although affording valuable indications for the curative action of this drug in corresponding pathological conditions, yet are of only secondary importance, inas- much as the overwhelming action of such excessive quantities and the violent reaction of the organism which they excited in Koeuig's case, completely over-shadowed or wiped out all the more delicate and truly characteristic effects of the drug. *

Under the old-school treatment of gonorrhoea with large doses of copaiva, these violent signs of gastro-intestinal irritation very fre- quently occur. "Large closes," says Pereira, "irritate the gastro- intestinal canal, and occasion a sensation of heat at the pit of the stomach, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and purging, with, not unfrequently, griping pains of the bowels. The whole system becomes powerfully stimulated ; the pulse is fuller and more fre- quent, the skin hotter, and thirst and headache are produced.

Occasionally hamiaturia and dangerous ischuria are brought on. "T saw," says Kraus, "a very dangerous case, of thirty -six hours' stand- ing, almost instantaneously . relieved by the application of a warm poultice (made of four ounces of the hyoscyanius plant) over the genital organs." The same author also says that the repeated use of large doses occasions, "in young marriageable subjects, a measle-hke

COPAIFERA MULTIJUGA. 25

eruption over the whole body, Avhich I have many times seen treated by pretended great diagnosticians as true measles."

In one case, pain at the stomach, general uneasiness, and epileptic convulsions followed and were ascribed to the use of .copaiva. Pereira doubts the correctness of ascribing the convulsions to the use of the copaiva.

CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

CHRONIC CATARRH — The action of copaiva upon the intes- tinal lining membrane suggests the use of this agent in chronic catarrh of the bowels, more especially of the lesser intestines, although it may likewise prove useful in such affectious if they are chiefly localized in the colon and rectum. Armstrong, Pemberton, and others, advise this remedy in chronic dysentery of an asthenic character; the old-fashioned "contraria contrariis" forbids them prescribing the balsam in blennorrhoea of the bowels with inflamma- tory symptoms. Nevertheless it may be specifically adapted for either ■form of this affection. Many blennorrhceas of the bowels may very properly be described as

CHRONIC GASTROENTERITIS, for the signs of chronic in- flammation are undoubtedly present, such as cutting, burning, pinching pains, symptoms of tenesmus, soreness. It may be service- able in

ACUTE DIARRHCEA, with severe griping and cutting pains, nausea, vomiting.

DYSENTERY. — Copaiva has caused all the symptoms character- izing an attack of bloody dysentery, such as discharge of blood from the rectum, also discharge of mucus, violent tenesmus, burning in the region of the sphincter of the anus. In

CHRONIC DIARRHCEA it is indicated by.the presence of invol- Tintary discharges from the bowels, discharges of white mucus, white diarrhoeic stools generally in the morning, with chilliness and •drawing-tearing colic, obliging one to bend double.

URINARY GROUP.

The action of the balsam of copaiva upon the mucous membrane embraces a very wide range ; it affects the lining membrane of the inspiratory organs, of the digestive canal, of the urinary and sexual apparatus.

It causes an irritation of the bladder, resulting in more copious secretion of urine and a more frecpuent emission of this fluid ; itch-

26 COPAIFEEA MULTIJUGA.

ing, smarting and burning in the urethra before and after an emission of urine; soreness of the urethra; hsematuria and ischuria, the nrine being emitted in drops, or no emission taking place in spite of a constant urging; inflammation, swelling and dilatation of the orifice of the urethra, with pulsative pains throughout the penis ; the urine has a bitter taste and has the odor of violets; it deposits a sediment resembling albumen, not, however, being true albumen, but vesical and urethral mucus.

GONORRHOEA. — The chief use of the balsam of copaiva is in, mucus discharges from the urino-genital organs, especially in gonorrhoea. It is indicated by a constant desire to urinate, the urine having a peculiar violet odor; the discharge is very profuse and yellow; nettle-rash. (Lilienthal.)

Alloeopathic practitioners administer copaiva in very large doses, thirty to sixty drops twice or three times a day. These excessive quantities very frecpuently develop signs of acute irritation in the bowels, and an exanthem of which a full description will be given in eubsecment paragraphs

In one case, after the acute stage had been subdued by an antiphlogistic treatment lasting eighteen days, Lisle gave the balsam of copaiva, sixty drops morning and night. On the third day the discharge had disappeared and did not return ; the balsam was continued a few days longer; it developed the previously mentioned exanthem.

In another case the discharge was stopped in four days by the same quantities ; the medicine was continued a few days longer, so that the patient took in all-two ounces- and a half. This took place in January. Beginning of March he had another attack of gonorrhoea which yielded to the same treatment. Six months later he was again attacked and waited two months before he applied for help ; he was again cured by the same means in three days.

In consequence of convivial excessses he had several relapses which readily yielded to the use of copaiva. The patient observed a strict diet for several weeks and remained well afterward.

Copaiva is likewise applicable to the treatment of gonorrhoea in woman, although in her case a cure is sometimes less speedily effected than in the male, doubtless for the simple reason that a. much larger surface of mucous membrane is invaded in the case of the former ; not only the urethral, but likewise the vaginal mucous- membrane is invaded by the gonorrhceal irritation.

LEUCORRHQBA. — This agent may be adapted for lencorrhoea, when the discharge has a purulent character and is complicated with a good deal of pressing toward the vagina, itching and smarting of its mucous lining. But in treating such discharges the balsam has to be used very cautiously ; unless specifically homoeopathic to the- disease, it may effect a gradual diminution of the discharge at the fpense of some vital part, the lungs for instance, to which the irri-

COrAIFERA AIULTIJUGA. 27

tation may be transferred, more especially in the case of individuals whose'pulmonary lining membrane is naturally sensitive and there- fore the more readily acted upon by copaiva as a disease-begetting agent.

As a general rule there are few cases where copaiva will manifest curative results unless the gonorrhoeal element had something to do with the production of the disease. This remark applies with scarcely an exception to irritations of the urinary lining membrane.

CATARRH OF THE BLADDER.— Copaiva may be called for in catarrh of the bladder with swelling and dilatation of the urethral orifice ; throbbing, pulsating pains in the penis, frequent and often ineffectual desire to urinate, voiding the urine with difficulty ; foam- ing, greenish, turbid urine with the odor of violets; gonorrhoeal history.

RESPIRATORY GROUP.

The action of copaiva upon the pulmonary mucous membrane is beyond a dispute. The large doses which are habitually administered by old-school practitioners in gonorrhoea, sometimes without rhyme or reason, have very frequently caused signs of irritation in the larynx and bronchia. A dry and painful cough, with a feeling of dryness in the larynx, huskiness in the chest, expectoration of a greenish, purulent and nauseously -smelling mucus have likewise resulted from the action of copaiva upon the bronchial mucous membrane. Copaiva may therefore be useful in

BRONCHIAL CATARRH, both in the irritative as well as in the suppurative stage. The irritation is characterized by a feeling of roughness throughout the bronchia, with more or less titillation or itching in these organs, soreness, sensation of warmth, oppression. At a later period, when the suppurative stage sets in, the attending cough which is a hacking, wearing cough, mingled with occasional paroxysms of hard and exhaustive cough, becomes loose, and a greenish mucus of a purulent nature is raised with every turn of cough. It is especially in

METASTATIC GONORRHEAL CATARRH of the pulmonary mucous membrane that copaiva will prove specifically efficient.

The use of copaiva in pulmonary phthisis is very properly con- demned by Eothergill. The large doses which allceopathic practi- tioners are in the habit of administering, are especially out of place in pulmonary phthisis. They are apt to cause a whole train of

28 COPATFERA MULTIJUGA.

unpleasant symptoms, bleeding from the lungs, burning in the chest, increase of the purulent expectoration, palpitation of the heart.

EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

Frank has transcribed a number of cases in his magazine furnish- ing a full picture of the eruption which has been observed and described by many practitioners as the result of large doses of ■copaiva. We are disposed to regard this eruption as a form of gonorrhoea! metastasis which massive doses of copaiva have the power of determining in some cases. It is our opinion that an eruption resembling to all outward appearance the copaiva-exanthem, will not readily yield to this agent unless the development of this •eruption upon the skin can be traced to the previous agency of the gonorrhoeal miasm. A reciprocity of action has been observed be- tween the eruption and the gonorrhoeal discharge ; in some cases the eruption would appear simultaneously with the disappearance of -the discharge ; in other cases the opposite result would take place, and the disappearance of the eruption be succeeded by the reappear- ance of the discharge.

A phfhisicky patient took one ounce and a half of copaiva mixed with a small quantity of opium ; this increased the hectic fever, and brought out an eruption over the whole body having very much the appearance of roseola, except that the spots were larger and more raised ; in some places they had a flat appearance like the spots in morbus maculosus Werlhofii, and were darker than the roseola-spots ; in some parts of the chest and arms they appeared confluent at the very outset. The subse- quent desquamation was very inconsiderable.

In the case of a young lieutenant of lax fibre, copaiva induced an eruption resembling urticaria. It first showed itself in the face, more particularly on the forehead, next on the dorsa of the hands, and lastly on other parts of the body. The eruption was fully out in eight hours, and was only attended wi.th an annoying burn- ing of the skin, slight pains in the throat (without the least swelling of the tonsils and fauces being perceptible), and with a sensation as if a profuse perspiration would break out, which indeed took place as soon as the patient was in bed.

There was scarcely any fever, no thirst, the appetite was not disturbed in the least. The erup- tion consisted of detached, tolerably circumscribed, somewhat raised, bright-red spots and blotches; on the ears and dorsa of the hands the eruption was confluent. Already on the sixth day the redness disappeared almost entirely, and the spots looked brown-yellow like liver-spots. There was no desquamation except on the «ars, where fine, bran-shaped scales came off.

These brown spots were distinctly seen even after the lapse of four weeks, especially in the cold ; they became very distinct on the arms, if the veins were compressed above the spots as in blood-letting. In the bed or warm room no trace of the eruption was perceived. This exanthem appeared seven days after swallowing every day 150 drops of copaiva for gonorrhoea. The discharge was arrested on the fifth day, and two days after this suppression the exanthem made its appearance.

In some cases the eruption consisted of pustules resembling itch- vesicles ; they contained a limpy, watery fluid and itched violen tly.

Groups of papulae and pustules have likewise made their appear- ance, with pains in the limbs and stomach.

COR ALLIUM RUT-RUM. 2i>

According to Hecker the exanthem resembles rash rather than nettle or scarlet-rash, lasts from three to ten clays, and is met with most generally in the spring and fall. Kopp states that men are more frecpiently attacked with it than women. Regarding the shape of the eruption, the statements of different observers vary ; but it generally seems to resemble measles, urticaria or scarlet-rash.

M. R., aged twelve years, was taken April 14, 1S71, with a severe chill, headache, and such malaise that he had to lie down. In the morning I found: flushed face,, interspersed with rose-spots ; urticaria over the whole body, with dry, hot and biting skin, especially disagreeable when touched; excessive agitation during the night, great thirst, delirium, intense headache, drowsiness, embarrassed speech, scanty urine with a dark-colored and brick-dust sediment. He came from the country where he had been much exposed to the sun. * * * Prescribed copaiva6, a drop in 150 grammes of distilled water, a table-spoonful every two hours.

April 16th — The patient slept; no delirium and no severe itching. The pulse less than a hundred ; the face looks pale and natural ; still great thirst. Copaiva12 every chree hours.

April 17th — The skin and temperature are normal ; the patient calls for food.

Mrs. B., aged sixty-two years, suffers from nettle-rash ; without fever. There is- great restlessness of the extremities, violent itching, sleeplessness, urine full of sedi- ment, scanty and burning in the urethra during its passage. Copaiva6 cured her in forty-eight hours. (Dr. Tarrell, Hahn. Monthly, February, 1873, Lilienthal's translation.)

Surgeon Hall, U. S. A., has given the balsam with great benefit in iritis and sclerotis. " I have often found the horrible pain, the feel- ing as if the eye were a red-hot ball, to subside after four or five large doses of the balsam, the inflammation also disappearing.

At Seetapore, during the year 1872, I had, at one time, more than thirty children suffering from purulent ophthalmia under my cave. I treated them all by simply painting the lower eyelids, the- npper part of the cheeks, and temples with the pure balsam of copaiva, and they all got well cpiickly without any damage to the- eyes. [The Practitioner.)

OOEALLIUM KUBRUM.

[red coral.]

This calcareous substance is found on the coast of Africa and in the Grecian Archipelago and was introduced into our materia medica by Teste, although mention is made of it in Jahr's Manual. It is a remedy, little known and little used. It has, however, produced some very fine results in the treatment of

TUSSIS CONVULSIVA when the spasms of cough are exceed-' ingly violent, following each other with hardly any interruption, and

30 CROCUS SATIVUS.

the little patients lose their breath, growing purple and black in the face.

In all kinds of spasmodic cough you may find, the above described condition and will then be justified in prescribing the red coral.

February 14, 1872 A. R., aged seven months, has suffered for ten days from a severe, distressing cough, worse at night, especially after midnight. He coughs rap- idly,, almost spasmodically, with dark-red purple face.

There is much rattling of mucus all through the lungs. Profuse coryza. General health is remarkably good. Prescribed calcarea carbonica200.

February 16th — Very little change. The medi- cine had been given irregularly. After some consideration I gave corallium rub.200 " Nervous and spasmodic cough, so violent that children lose their breath, and grow purple and black in the face." After the administration of this,, the child rapidly improved, and in two days was discharged cured. (Dr.

I. S. Hall, in New Eng. Med.

Gazette, January, 1873.)

LARYNGISMUS STRIDULUS — In laryngismus stridulus also, Teste urges its use. I find, however, no reliable record of its having been successfully used in that distressing affection.

Corallium rubrum has also the following in its pathogenesis : Red, fiat ulcers on the glans and on the inner surface of the prepuce, with secretion of a quantity of yellow ichor.

From the crude coral we make triturations which, in turn, furnish the basis for the higher attenuations.

CROCUS SATTVTTS, SAFFRON CROCUS.

[natural order, iridace^e.]

This beautiful little flower is a native of Asia Minor, but is natu- ralized in most countries of Europe and in our own.

The bulb or cormus is roundish, the leaves are linear, of a rich green color, with a white central stripe, and surrounded at their base by long and membranous sheaths. The flowers appear after the leaves, they are of a light purple ; in this country crocus flowers early in the spring, and may even be seen peeping through the snow which still covers the ground.

We use the stigmata and style of the flower. The best saffron is the Spanish, imported from Cadiz and Gibraltar.

The saffron which is now generally offered for sale in the shops, is known as hay-saffron ; the stigmas are about an inch or an inch and a half long, thin, of a brownish-red color. The odor of saffron is penetrating, aromatic, and, if proceeding from large quantities of this article, may even have a narcotizing effect upon the brain. It

CKOCUS SATIVUS. 31

has a somewhat bitter and aromatic taste. When chewed, it imparts a yellow tinge to the saliva.

Formerly saffron wate supposed to be possessed of powerful nar- cotic and emmenag'ogue properties. Some of the older writers mention cases where saffron not only manifested poisonous properties, but actually destroyed life.

These remarkable toxical effects of saffron have not been con- firmed by the experiments of Alexander or Wibmer. Alexander swallowed ten grains of saffron with bread, without experiencing the least effect from this dose ; a scruple accelerated the pulse a few beats; two scruples caused a slight rise of the thermometer in the region of the stomach, the pulse came down six beats and remained so all day; four scruples caused no change whatever.

Wibmer swallowed as many as sixty grains at one time without the least alteration in his physical or mental condition.

These experiments led Wibmer to infer that saffron is devoid of strictly poisonous properties, and that its odor may exert a slightly stupefying effect upon the brain similar to that which we know strong-smelling flowers to possess. Its action upon the uterus is problematical.

Stapf and others have published a short pathogenesis of this agent. The series of symptoms which they have given to the world bears the impress of reliability, although these provings show that the curative range of this drug is exceedingly limited. The

CEREBKO-SPIJSTAL GROUP

Contains a few interesting symptoms showing that the irritating action of this agent upon the brain is chiefly characterized by a feel- ing of giddiness or intoxication, and by various signs of congesUon inducing headache. Some of the leading symptoms are : Giddiness and staggering, on rising from a recumbent posture; giddiness with heat over the whole body ; tightness and dullness in the forehead, soon after involving the whole head, like a feeling of intoxication; stinging headache with dry coryza; occasional turns of a drawing pain on the right side of the head, from the occiput to the forehead ; headache over the eyes, with burning and pressure in them, obliging the prover to rub the eyes, and increasing at candle-light in the evening. A number of symptoms show that the left side of the head is more particularly affected ; among these symptoms we distinguish : sudden pain under the left frontal eminence as if an arrow were pressed into the brain; throbbing in the left side of the head and

32 CROCUS SATIVUS.

face ; a sudden cooling sensation at a small spot of the left parietal bone, as from a drop of cold water.

The character of the effects of the drug upon the nervous system which will he shown and commented upon in subsequent paragraphs, leads us to regard these different pains as so many symptoms charac- terizing a group of hysteric headache ; we feel confident that this drug is most efficacious in affections of the order of

HYSTERIA, and that the affections to which this drug acts homoeopathically, either result from, or are in sympathetic rapport with abnormal conditions of the uterine sphere. These remarks likewise apply to the effects of this drug upon the peripheral nervous system. Our pro vers report numbness and formication of the ex- tremities as effects of saffron ; these symptoms may occur during a paroxysm of hysteria; some hysteric women are very frequently and even habitually subject to such abnormal sensations.

The effects of large doses of saffron upon the temperament, and the effects witnessed by our provers from small doses, likewise point to hysteria as the principal curative range of saffron. We know that large doses cause sadness, and that, in other individuals, they have provoked immoderate fits of laughter.

The records of our provers show that even moderate doses of saf- fron have a tendency to exhilarate the spirits beyond the ordinary bounds ; Stapf, for instance, relates the following symptoms : exces- sive mirthfulness beyond her natural temperament ; on hearing a musical sound, she involuntarily commences to sing, and has to laugh at herself ; but she soon resumes her singing, in spite of her determination to discontinue it; frequent change of mood, from, mirth to sadness and vice versa.

We regard the exhilarating action of saffron as the primary action of the drug ; the opposite condition of sadness or peevish and irrita- ble temper seems to be attributable to the organic reaction.

HYSTERIC HEADACHE.— We may prescribe saffron for hys- teric headache ; for various forms of mental depression, such as

MELANCHOLIA, ecstasis melancholica, which sometimes attacks women in consequence of an accidental or habitual suppression of the menses, or as the result of an utter absence of sexual gratifica- tions the desh'e for which happens to be strongly felt. Also

MELANCHOLIA MORIA, the melancholy setting in with im- moderate paroxysms of mirthfulness and laughter.

CROCUS SATIVUS. 33

EPISTAXIS. — Saffron induces more or less violent determination of blood to the head which may result in epistaxis or nose-bleed. Noack and Trinks furnish the following resume of the various char- acteristics of nose-bleed to which saffron is homoeopathic :

Epistaxis, particularly if the blood is tenacious, thick, black, if the blood coagulates readily and the bleeding sets in immediately after taking exercise or blowing the nose.

Bleeding at the nose which returns every day in hot weather, pre- ceded by a feeling of stupefaction in the right side of the head, hammering in the ears, constant dryness of the nose, profuse mens- truation every three weeks, and tendency to feeling hoarse and coughing after taking cold.

Frequent bleeding at the nose every day, preceded by pressure in the forehead, inability to attend to business, coldness of the hands and feet, rush of blood to the head in the evening, warmth of face, twitching of the eyelids and acrid taste in the mouth.

Bleeding of the nose if occurring at a period when the develop- ment of the organism is either premature or retarded, and returning until the vital forces break down, or until some nervous disease has developed itself which generally terminates in death ; children of that class, at the age of seven or eight years, are generally of the size of eleven or twelve, or else children of the latter age are of the size of children of seven or eight' years ; the bleeding lasts for hours, comes on three or four times a day, the blood is dark, and frequently drops out in clots, the patient faints frequently.

The record of our provers in the

ORBITAL RANGE

likewise are of sufficient interest to be noted and commented upon. We distinguish among them the following : Dilatation of the pupils. Dimness and obscuration of sight. Sensation as of a gauze before the eyes. When reading, the white paper looks pale-red. Sudden flashes before the eyes, like electric sparks, in the day-time. Sensa- tion in the eyes as if they were irritated by smoke. His eyes look and feel as if he had been crying. His eyes feel as if he had been looking through too sharp spectacles.

A lady, who had just passed her climacteric period, consulted Dr. Smith with ref- erence to her eyes. She had used glasses for some time, but of late they had failed to give satisfaction. The only symptom of which she complained was the one last stated, viz. : the eyes felt as if she had been looking through too 'sharp spectacles. One dose of crocus'00 relieved the trouble, enabling her to sew and to read as usual. (Am. Jour. Horn. Mat. Med., May, 1873.)

VOL. II. — 2.

34 CROCUS SATIVUS.

CHTLO-POIETIC GROUP.

We find qualmishness, feeling of emptiness in the pit of the stomach, burning at the stomach, bloating of the bowels ; sensation of bound- ing in the bowels, with nausea ai.d chills ; tingling in the anus, etc. These symptoms have no therapeutic value, except in so far as they exist incidentally to a general state of hysteria.

The curative action of saffron seems to be chiefly manifest in affections of the uterine sphere, and in such disorders of other organs as are directly traceable to menstrual disorders. In the

SEXUAL GROUP

we have recorded haemorrhage from the womb which terminated fatally, as the result of an excessive quantity of saffron which was swallowed for the purpose of restoring a suppressed menstrual dis- charge. Other provers have recorded : Excited sexual instinct ; pressing in the uterine region, as if the menses would come on; paroxysms of lancinating stitches from the pudendum to the right half of the epigastrium; sensation as if the menses would make their appearance, with colic, and a dragging toward the uterus, in a few hours.

UTERINE HAEMORRHAGE.— These symptoms point to the use of saffron in uterine haemorrhage whether it takes place after confinement, or in the form of

EXCESSIVE MENSTRUATION. The symptomatic indica- tions for saffron are, according to Hartmann, a dark, blackish, clotty and viscid blood; the discharge is accompanied by lancinating pains in the abdomen and toward the small of the back.

According to Trinks, the conseusual symptoms by which the homoeopathi city of saffron to uterine haemorrhage is determined are : frequent turns of anxiety and flashes of heat over the whole body, prickling in the skin, syncope, restless sleep, constant chilliness, small, quick and feeble pulse, inertia, sadness, obstinacy, ill-humor, vertigo, flickering before the eyes, livid complexion, qualmishness in the pit of the stomach, sensation as of something living in the bowels, weight and pain in the pubic region, drawing in the small of the back, sensation in the feet as if bruised, slight bloating of the face, etc. In

MISCARRIAGE a similar train of symptoms may suggest the use of saffron as a means of preventing the catastrophe.

CUBEB2E. 35

In his Memorabilia, Kopp mentions the case of a girl of sixteen years, who was attacked with menstrual haemorrhage, for which the 2d. potency of crocus was given without any result ; a drop of the tincture arrested the flow at once.

A few months since, I was called to a lady who had aborted, at the fourth month, a week before, and who was in a very critical condition from uterine haemorrhage with retained placenta. The celebrated " tampon " had been applied by the attend- ing physician, according to the nicest rules of common sense; but however nicely applied, it would be invariably pushed out of the vagina. I proceded to the examin- ation. Whilst the woman lay quietly in bed, but very little blood would escape from the vulva, what did escape came away in the shape of black strings.

After a time she would feel that she must rise to the chamber, whereupon a large quantity of dark blood would escape. On making a particular examination of this blood it was found not to form a congealing mass, as ordinarily, but the resemblance of an aggregation of black strings, or of long, black angle-worms, with some of their heads and tails matted together. Here, then was the well-known characteristic of crocus sativus, and it was found that the other symptoms of the patient corresponded with the patho- genesis of that drug.

Crocus200 was given, in water, every half hour at first, and sub- sequently at longer intervals. She lost no more blood and rapidly improved. (Dr. H.

N. Guernsey in Transactions of Am. Inst, of Homoeopathy, 1870.)

Ailments arising from totally or partially suppressed menstruation may require the exhibition of crocus. The specifically curative value of crocus in such affections of course depends upon the homceopathicity of this agent to the primary condition. Unless this fact is kept in view we run the risk of administering crocus under circumstances which require an altogether different sort of medication.

Saffron yields a beautiful deep orange colored liquid, of which attenuations are made as desired. Triturations with sugar of milk are used occasionally. Saffron loses all its properties by exposure co air ; hence it should be kept in carefully-closed vessels.

OTJBEB^].

[PIPER caudatum, cubebs. natural order, urtice^.]

These berries are the fruit of a bush which is a native of Japan and of the East Indies. They come to us with the stems attached. A dark -red tincture is prepared from them.

Fuel has instituted the following experiment with this agent :

Before breakfast he swallowed one drachm in a glass of water; this quantity only caused a little thirst and burning in the throat. Next morning he swallowed two drachms. This dose caused thirst and burning in the fauces, and half an hour after, a slight feverish excitement which lasted about an hour. On the third morning he swallowed three drachms. This quantity caused some nausea, disagreeable eructa- tions with feeling of warmth in the epigastric region, headache, some fever which

36 cubeb^.

continued even through the night, and some gastric irritation which had not entirely disappeared the next.

Some persons are exceedingly sensitive to the action of cubebs. A robust carbineer, of athletic frame could not even swallow a small quantity of the pepper without having to vomit and being attacked with a violent fever.

The use of this agent in gonorrhoea was known in England in the year 1S16. The distinguished Professor Delpech and all the best physicians in France and in other parts of the continent, were in the habit of exhibiting it in drachm doses, one drachm in the morning on an empty stomach, a second drachm at 6 p. m., and a third drachm on retiring. The drug was continued some time after the disappearance of the discharge. The curative action of the drug generally manifests itself in the following order : the inflammatory symptoms, the swelling and the acute pain disappear, the discharge assumes the form of simple mucus in the place of the virulent and acute purulent character which it had at the commencement ; and being gradually converted into normal urethral mucus, its quantity becomes less and less until it finally disappears.

It seems very remarkable, and in direct antagonism to the thera- peutic views of the physiological school, that an agent which is known to possess such irritating properties, should be more efficacious in the treatment of acute gonorrhoea than in the treatment of its chronic form termed gleet.

" Let us at once proclaim the fact," say Trousseau and Pidoux,. "that a gonorrhoea in its most acute form, when the inflammatory symptoms are most intense, when the penis is horribly and painfully swollen, when the discharge is most profuse and virulent and fever is present, is generally less serious and formidable and is generally much more readily subdued than a gonorrhoea which, judging by the mild character of the symptoms, by the almost complete absence of local and general reaction which the discharge excites, and more particularly by the absence of all pain, of dysuria, and by the mild appearance and often small quantity of the discharge, would seem, trifling and easy to control. In

SPERMATORRHOEA this agent has effected cures. Frank states that a young man of feeble constitution, who had been married for a year, became so exhausted by spermatorrhoea that he was scarcely able to stand. For three months past he had been unable to have intercourse with his wife. He took a teaspoonful of pulverized

CUPRUM ACETICUM. 31}

cubebs four times a day. An improvement became visible in a few days, and he was completely restored after swallowing three ounces of the pepper. Since then he has had healthy children. Several other cases of spermatorrhoea have been successfully treated with •cubebs.

LEUCORRHCEA of an acrid, offensive nature may call for cubebs. The discharge is profuse, with soreness and swelling of the uterus ; pimples and ulcers on the external genitals ; pruritus and, depending upon this, a state of sexual excitement bordering on nymphomania.

MENSTRUAL DISORDERS.— AYe may use this remedy in menstrual disorders characterized by a scanty but premature mens- trual discharge, in women who are greatly troubled with leucorrhcea, and in whom the menstrual flow itself resembles a bloody leucorrhcea.