Petroleum

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General

[OLEUM PETE^E, EOCK-OIL, MIIsEEAL TAE.]

Petroleum is found, in large quantities, in various countries of Europe, America and Asia. It exudes in the form of an oily liquid from rocks, or is found on the surface of streams near large deposits of coal ; it is one of the products of the decomposition of coal. There are several varieties. Among them we may mention : 1.

The black rock-oil (oleum petrae nigrum) which is very dark and thick, becomes like tar if exposed to the air and has a very offensive odor. 2. The red rock-oil (oleum petrae rubrum) which is lighter-

568 PETROLEUM.

colored, of less offensive odor, and thickens gradually if exposed to the air. 3. The white rock-oil (oleum petrae album) which, if burnt, leaves a residue. 4. Naphtha pura (naphtha montana) which is clear in color, thin, possesses an aromatic odor, and burns without leaving a residue.

The oleum petrge album is used for medicinal purposes by homoe- opathic physicians. We distil it and dilute the product (a colorless, nearly tasteless and odorless thin oil,) with alcohol as prescribed.

The effect of petroleum upon the healthy organism are not void of interest. It acts decidedly upon the vegetative system, the spine, the urinary organs, the skin and upon the intestinal and respiratory mucous membrane.

A child, ten years of age, drank copiously of refined carbon oil or petroleum, which produced the following symptoms : Abdomen wonderfully distended, the spine bent backward and stiff (opistho- tonos), excessive thirst, etc. Died in six hours without medical treatment. (Dr. E. 0. Beckwith, Am. Observer, vol. ii., p. 363.)

A negro child, aged two years, drank freely of carbon oil on August 18, 1865. In thirty minutes the abdomen swelled, the vertebral column was bent backward and stiff, the child was rational but excessively thirsty. We gave ipecacuanha, tincture, Avhich pro- duced vomiting of oil. In six hours we saw the child again and found the spine still stiff and bent backward, the abdomen was still tympanitic, the eyes wild and staring; thirst not so great.

We ordered warm baths and arsenicum. In twelve hours we found the tympanitis removed, the spine normal, the pulse 140 per minute, no thirst, suppression of urine. Prescribed aconite3. August 19th

Pulse 130 per minute, urine scant with brick-colored sediment and of carbon oil smell. Prescribed cantharides3. August 20th Pulse reduced to 100 beats per minute.

Otherwise no change. August 21st Pulse 80 per minute. Child convalescent.

(Ibid.)

Dr. J. O. Mueller relates the case of an intemperate but healthy woman who took two ounces of petroleum when partially intoxicated.

She fell down immediately and was taken into the hospital without any loss of time. After about an hour she vomited repeatedly and had a violent attack of diarrhoea. The passages from the bowels, but especially the urine, smelled for several days of petroleum. Dr.

Mueller was anxious to watch the effects of the oil and, hence, gave her no antidote. The acute symptoms soon passed off, but in a week she complained of vertigo and noises in both ears, with stitches in them. She heard noises, as if bells were tolling or of a waterfall. Two weeks later the stitches in the ear were less, but* otorrhcea set in, with a yellow, bloody, odorless discharge, more copious from the

PETROLEUM. 569

left ear. She had constant vertigo and pressing headache ; her neck was covered with deep-seated subcutaneous abscesses in the corium. Soon after, a moist, itching eruption appeared on the scalp of the occiput, and as the eczema spread, the otorrhcea grew less. One boil opened after another, and with it the vertigo and the impossibility of standing on her feet for some time disappeared, at the same time a conjunctivitis developed itself with a blepharadenitis, involving all the Meibomian glands.

The right arm now commenced to be pain- ful and to swell at the elbow-joint, but this also disappeared quickly. There remained only a rheumatic drawing in the elbow and linger- joints of both hands, so that the pronation of the forearm produced pains in the elbow, while flexion was painful only in the axillary fossa and supination was entirely void of pain. She had also a few boils in the neighborhood of the anus, and the last symptom was a bronchial catarrh, with expectoration of light-yellow sputum of oily consistency and appearance.

Especial mention is made of the rapidity with which new symptoms appeared and disappeared.

CEPHALIC GROUP.

We have recorded under the head-symptoms of petroleum a large variety of aches and pains in the various regions of the head, such as : Headache in the right side of the head ; heaviness of the head, in the morning, with a sensation of fulness and heat, especially when stooping and sewing. Pressure in the occiput ; pressure in the fore- head with single stitches above the eyes. Constrictive headache ; stitches in the head, accompauied with pressure in the head and nausea. Throbbing in the head.

Strong, pulsative undulations, especially in the forehead, as if the head would burst, better during motion. Trembling and roaring in the head, but without any feel- ing of heat.

HEADACHES These symptoms suggest the use of this remedy in headaches of persons who are laboring under skin affections, accompanied by burning itching, or people whose skin shows a decided tendency to fester and to remain sore long from a slight injury. There is usually present much vertigo ; the eyes are apt to be weak ; the digestion may be greatly enfeebled, and various exjires- sions of a psoric taint will exist. The headache itself is worse from anger, excitement or close mental application ; it is relieved by pres- sure.

The headaches of pregnant women, who suffer much from nausea, are frequently relieved by petroleum.

Vertigo, particularly on rising up from bed, a chair, and on moving, feeling as though he were intoxicated, worse in the afternoon ; he does not lose his eyesight, neither do articles in the room seem to move. He says the dizziness is in the back of the head and in the left side of the occiput, and it seems to go all over him, mak-

570 PETROLEUM.

ing him feel numb and stiff: sour eructations ; some nausea; he dislikes bread ; has hot flashes, sweats by night and is greatly troubled by an itching of the back and thighs. This last was so bad, that he would have his wife rub his back and thighs with a rou^h stick. He described this dizziness "like a whirling in his head." Petroleum200 cured him in the course of a few weeks. (Dr. O. M. Drake, Hahn. Monthly, April, 1875.)

ORBITAL AND AURICULAR GROUPS.

The following symptoms are pathogenetic : Great pressure in the eyes, as from a grain of sand, especially at candle-light. Cutting in the eyes, when reading. Beating pain in the right eye. Itching of the eyelids.

Itching and stinging of the eyes ; burning in the eyes. Inflammatory swelling in the inner canthus. Pimples on the eye- lids. Frequent lachrymation.

Weak eyes; dimness of sight. Long-sightedness. Frequent obscuration of sight, with diplopia. Black spots before the eyes.

Scintillations and vibrations before the eyes.

Petroleum is of use in inflammatory conditions of the inner eye- lids (blepharitis), especially in persons of a scrofulous diathesis. To prescribe for such a case, a close study of the general symptoms is of the utmost importance. Besides the symptoms already given, the following are of great, and possibly diagnostic, value : falling off of the eye-lashes: formation of thick, dirty, yellow crusts along the line of the lashes, which cover a raw, moist surface ; tendency of the skin, on any part of the body, to fester and to remain sore for a long time, when injured.

The following ear-symptoms belong to petroleum : Pressure in the ears, with heat. Darting, tearing, cutting pain in the ears. Itching in the ear and discharge of sanguineous pus. The meatus is closed from swelling. Kedness, rawness, soreness and humor be- hind the ears. Diminished, hearing. Roaring and pain in the ears. Singing in the ears. Whizzing before the ears, diminished hearing. Sensation, as of the rushing of water before the left ear, with occa- sional cracking of the ear. Gurgling sensation in the ears.

DYSECOIA. — Petroleum is an important remedy in the treat- ment of dysecoia or deafness. It is especially adapted to cases of progressive deafness, preceded by various noises and sounds in the ear, as humming, singing, hissing, etc., and accompanied by consti- tutional expressions of a scrofulous diathesis, as eruptions, rough- ness of the skin, falling off of the hair, enlargement of the tonsils, etc.

A strong, otherwise healthy peasant had, as a consequence of a chill, for four months lost his hearing power so much that when several persons conversed together, even when close to him, he could not hear what they said, and even when he spoke

PETROLEUM. 571

with only one, it was necess.irv to speak pretty loud in order that he might under- stand. Besides this, he complained of humming in the ears. Examination revealed nothing particular. The patient got petroleum3 and in a fortnight he was cured of his deafness. (H. Goullon, Brit, your Horn., vol. xxxv., p. 444.)

AUDITORY VERTIGO— In the treatment of auditory vertigo (see paper by W. H. Woodyatt, M.D., in Trans, of Am. Inst, of Horn., 1878, page 465,) petroleum promises to be a valuable rem- edy.

As yet, little is known of the real nature of this perplexing and distressing group of symptoms ; a careful comparison of them with the head, ear and stomach symptoms of petroleum will show a close similarity, which would undoubtedly justify the use of the remedy. In the article already referred to, Dr. Woodyatt gives a number of clinical cases, in which petroleum was used with seeming- success. It is to be regretted that other remedies were exhibited before the cures were completed.

CHYLO-POIETIC GROUP.

Petroleum has caused : White-coated tongue ; fetid odor from the mouth ; even the saliva smelled badly. Slimy taste in the mouth. Sour, bitter, flat, putrid taste in the mouth. Changeable appetite.

Giddiness after a meal. Repletion after a moderate din- ner, with pressure in the pit of the stomach. Sour eructations, setting tiie teeth on edge. Nausea and qualmishness.

Heartburn. Nausea with accumulation of water in the mouth. Qualmishness aud empty feeling in the stomach. Pressure in the stomach ; ten- derness and pain in the pit of the stomach.

Sudden gripings in the stomach. Pressure in the region of the liver and in the left hypo- chondrium. Stitches in both hypochondria, going off without emis- sion of flatulence. Griping in both sides of the abdomen from below upward, with heaviness of the lower limbs and great drowsi- ness. • Pinching, cutting and griping in the abdomen from below upward, with heaviness of the lower limbs aud great drowsiness.

Pinching, cutting and griping in the abdomen, with nausea and diarrhcea. Grumbling in the abdomen. Great straining at stool, as if the rectum were too weak to expel it. Yellowish, watery stools.

Diarrhoea, consisting of bloody mucus. Soft, difficult stool, as if from inactivity of the bowels. Weakness, dizziness, flatulency, canine hunger (easily satisfied) after stool. Burning and itching in the anus and rectum.

Scarf on the border of the anus. Itching herpes on the perineum.

The following are characteristic of petroleum : Diarrhoea always at day-time, never at night. Disgust for meat. Cold feeling in the

572 PETROLEUM.

Abdomen

Gastralgia, with pressing pain, relieved by eating constantly.

DYSPEPSIA

Petroleum may be successfully used in dyspepsia with gastralgia, relieved by constant eating ; disgust for meat and cooked food generally ; craving for beer ; nausea, with accumulation of water in the mouth ; heartburn ; tenderness in the pit of the stomach ; diarrhoea during the day, followed by hunger, weakness and dizziness.

Atonic dyspepsia.

NAUSEA OF PREGNANCY with similar symptoms.

SEA-SICKNESS

It is exceedingly difficult to find a remedy of real value in this distressing condition.

It is true, that many symp- toms of this remedy correspond with the symptoms of the disease ; but since the cause of the whole difficulty cannot be removed, but is constantly at work producing and reproducing the pathognomonic symptoms, the writer has little faith in the efficacy of any remedy ; he has, in crossing the Atlantic and other seas, tried the remedy repeatedly, without deriving any benefit from it.

Drs.

Hughes, Bayes, et al., speak well of it.

Dr.

Bayes mentions several cases in which its use was followed with excellent results.

I was once consulted on the case of a young midshipman, whose sufferings were so acute for the first fortnight or three weeks of every voyage that his parents seriously thought of changing his profession.

Petroleum, 3d dec, quite cured him.

(Dr.

Bayes, Monthly Horn.

Review, May, 1869.)

DIARRHCEA, always during the day, never at night. The stools

are yellowish, watery, profuse. Preceded and accompanied by colic,

pinching and straining; followed by giddiness, weakness, hunger.

(See pathogenetic symptoms.) Is of service both in the acute and

chronic form.

Mrs.

C. was taken with diarrhoea which proved very obstinate.

There was nausea, pain in the bowels, mostly before and after a movement, great weakness in the rectum, lightish-yellow discharges, which increased in frequency so that they were every ten or fifteen minutes.

Had treated the patient about a week and had given chamomilla, ipecacuanha, aconite, mercurius sol., pulsatilla and arsenic, the disease meanwhile steadily increasing.

I now changed to petroleum3, and from the first dose there was a marked change, so that during the first day of its use she had only three discharges, and on the third day thereafter was able to sit up and was nearly as well as ever.

(Dr.

Benson, Transact.

Med.

Soc.

Y., 1S68.)

An officer in the army returned home, suffering from chronic diarrhoea, for which he had tried many prescriptions without effect; stools yellowish, watery, occurring in the morning and before bed-time, with rumbling, but not much pain.

After giv- ing him leptandria, arsenic, phosphorus, phosphoric acid, he complained that he was not much better.

I then gave one dose of petroleum200, at bed-time.

One week later he reported that he was better than he had been for two years.

The dose was repeated, and in another week the case was reported cured.

(Dr.

Eldridge, Am.

Horn.

Observer, vol. iv., p. 236.)

HAEMORRHOIDS with itching, soreness and tenderness at the

PETROLEUM. 573

anus and rectum; difficult lumpy stools; scurf at the anus; faint- ness and hunger after the stool.

A gentleman who had suffered for years from haemorrhoids and prolapsus ani cured himself by using the end of a tallow-candle, smeared with petroleum, as a suppository.

He washed out the rectum by means of a clyster, introduced the can- dle for two or three inches and allowed it to remain for about two minutes.

This operation he performed every day, sometimes twice a day, for a week, when he found the internal tumor quite removed, and the anus in a perfectly natural state.

The external tumor still remained, but soon withered away, under the use of the petro- leum, which he kept constantly applied to it until it disappeared. {Monthly Horn.

Review, September, 1862.)

INFLAMMATORY GROUP.

Under this group we may range the following symptoms : The throat feels swollen ; stinging pain in the throat when swallowing,, as if swallowing were impeded by a fish bone.

Rawness in the throat.

Great dryness in the throat, with eructations and loss of strength.

Accumulation of mucus in the throat.

Also : Hoarse- ness; cough from dryness in the throat; dry, suffocative cough, worse in the evening.

Inclination to vomit when coughing.

The symptoms given are of particular value as a part of a larger

picture of a morbid condition. The remedy, it seems, might be

useful in some of the milder forms of ivliooping-cougli, but we are

not able to give specific indications. If a careful study of the whole

case reveals conditions which come within the curative range of

petroleum, it is more than likely that the cough also will yield to its

administration.

A case is told {Am.

Observer, November, 1873,) in which two severe cases of pertussis were greatly relieved as soon as the children were placed into cribs which had been newly cleansed with petroleum.

A third patient, whose bed did not need the same treatment, continued to cough as much as before.

There are on record also a few cases of pliaryngitis in which petroleum was used successfully.

One is a case of five weeks' stand- ing.

There was violent burning pain in the throat, especially in the region of the hyoid bone, the pain was aggravated by swallowing which seemed to produce stitching pains running up into the ear, and burning pains in the back part of the neck.

Eating or drink- ing was excrutiatingly painful.

Great thirst ; constipation.

The velum and uvula were moderately congested.

Speech was labored and nasal.

Petroleum, 6th dilution, cured the patient in a few days.

(Allg.

Rom.

Zeitg.)

EXANTHEMATOUS GROUP.

Petroleum has caused : Painful sensitiveness of the skin of the Avhole body ; the pressure of the clothes is painful. Itching of the

574 PETROLEUM.

skin with chills.

Itching and stinging over the whole body, with great uneasiness, mornings and evenings.

Unhealthy skin; even small wounds ulcerate and spread ; stitching pains in the ulcer.

The following are also characteristic of petroleum : Brown and yellow spots on the skin ; red, raw, moist eruption which burns like fire ; perspiration and itching of the labia majora ; itching herpes on the perineum ; heat in the soles of the feet and palms of the hands ; fetid sweat in the axilla? ; tenderness of the feet ; the feet are bathed in foul-smelling moisture ; deep, fistulous ulcers.

Petroleum acts curatively in a great variety of skin diseases, such as: herpes, eczema, psoriasis, scrofulosis, intertrigo, etc. It may also be used in burns, bleeding rhagades of the fingers, fistulous ulcers, boils, warts, etc.

It would be useless to weary the reader with a repetition of symp- toms already furnished.

Suffice it to say, that here, if ever, the totality of symptoms can alone determine the proper remedy.

In addition to the symptoms already given, we will say that the skin diseases to which this remedy is homoeopathic are usually based upon a scrofulous taint.

If scabs form, they are thick, and, when removed, leave a browish-yellow appearance of the skin or a raw, moist surface underneath.

There is usually present much burning itching, with chilliness and moodiness of the patient ; the aggrava- tions occur in the morning and in the open air.

SALT KHEUM.—

Mr.

W. has had, for six years, salt rheum affecting both hands, which are now completely raw from the wrist to the ends of the fingers, which smart and burn, with a watery oozing all of the time.

He is unable to do any work on account of the great soreness of his hands.

Prescribed petroleum 200th dilution.

Cured in about three months.

(Dr.

Cochran in Hahn.

Monthly, May, 1869.)

Mrs. G. has had salt- rheum on the left arm for nine years, extending from the elbow to the hand, red, raw and moist at times, and at other times covered with a thick scab or crust ; is unable to work on this account ; was completely cured, in six months, with petroleum200. [Ibid.)

ECZEMA IMPETIGINODES.—

F., aged about thirteen years, came to me two months since with the disease above mentioned.

She was an object of sincere pity : both sides of her face and particularly her neck and most of her head were completely covered with yellowish- green, thick crusts or casts, moist in appearance in some places, in others dry and amber-colored.

The margins of the ulcerations were highly inflamed from the irri- tating character of the discharge.

The pain on the denuded surface was like that, which attends a slight burn.

The discharge was free and made the mask or muslin covering, which she wore, quite stiff.

She stated to me, that she had had the disease since early infancy, and that every year she was becoming worse.

Everything had been done by the old method of treatment, but without avail.

She was so disfigured as to prevent her going out without exciting remarks.

I gave her. petroleum CM., (Fincke) with immediate benefit; she took the medicine three times a day, in water, and in four weeks she was entirely and perfectly cured, she taking no other medicine

PETROLEUM. 575

whatever, and using no local applications but pure water.

(Dr.

McFarlan in Am.

Jour.

Horn.

Mat.

Med., August, 1S72.)

HERPES OF THE SCROTUM—

July 7th, a mulatto, requested me to prescribe for what he called the heat.

Upon examination I found quite a bad case of herpes of the scrotum.

The whole scrotum was fiery red, almost entirely denuded of cuticle, itching and burning excessively and bathed in a sticky fluid.

The adjacent parts were also similarly affected, except that upon the outer margin of the eruption there were a number of small, raised vesicles, containing a small quantity of light-colored fluid and situated upon a red, elevated base.

Great itching, followed by burning when scratched, after which the redness and swelling extended, until the whole surface presented the same appearance as the scrotum.

Prescribed rhus tox., internally and externally.

July 15th

Decidedly worse; the eruption continues to extend.

The patient can scarcely move and his sleep is much broken by the intense burning and itching.

Prescribed petroleum3, internally and externally.

The remedy cured promptly.

(Dr.

Angell in the Am. your.

Horn.

Mat.

Med., vol. iii., p. 15.)

SECONDARY SYPHILIS—

A lady contracted secondary syphilis from her husband.

She came to me with the characteristic eruption of brown spots on the arms, neck and chest, and also on lower limbs.

She had also falling off of the hair and rheumatic stiffness of the shoulders and ankles.

Phytolacca, rhus tox. and mercurius sol. produced no favor- able change.

Guided only by the clinical symptoms in the Symptomen Codex, " brown spots on the wrist," and by the symptom in Lippe, " brown or yellow spots on the skin," I gave petroleum200 and produced a radical cure.

(Dr.

Bell in the Hahn.

Monthly, May, 1869.)

RHAGADES OF THE FINGERS.—

B. has, for the last ten or fifteen years, been afflicted with bleeding fissures on the tips of his fingers, which crack open and are very sore.

Sometimes he found temporary relief from the use of citron ointment.

He has had three or four attacks a year, lasting from one to two months, generally worse in the winter.

Gave petro- leum30, one dose.

One or two days after, his hands began to heal up, and in four or five days they were entirely restored to a healthy condition.

Some six months after, he had a very slight attack, which lasted but a few days, since which time, about twelve months, he has not had the slightest return.

(Dr.

Hupfield in the Am.

Jour.

Ho7u.

Mat.

Med., November, 1867.)

BURNS.—

I was called to see a boy, said to have been burned quite badly.

I found him suffering intensely from pain ; his face presented a frightful appearance.

His hands, also, were badly burned.

As he had been exposed to the air for nearly half an hour, his face was partially covered with blisters.

The hair on the forepart of the head was badly singed, and his eye-lashes were completely gone.

The lad was pouring powder out of a can, which he held in his right hand, when the whole of the powder ignited, exploding the can.

I ordered an application of crude petroleum to the sur- face and covered the hands loosely with raw cotton.

In fifteen minutes the pain had ceased, and the next morning he felt well. * * * After the expiration of seven or ei^ht weeks there were scarcely any traces of the injury visible.

This is only one of the many cases of like character, in which I have used petroleum with good suc- cess.

(Dr.

Jones, Trans.

Horn.

Med.

Society of N.

Y., 1868.)

URINARY AND SEXUAL GROUPS.

Among the important symptoms of petroleum we find : Frequent voiding of small amounts of urine.

He passes twice as much urine as he had drunk liquids.

Urine with white or red sediment.

Urine turbid and red as blood.

Fetid urination.

A few drops of urine

576 PHOSPHOEUS.

flow after micturition.

Burning pain in the urethra.

Mucous discharge from the urethra.

Throbbing in the urethra, as during the emission of semen.

These symptoms would suggest the possible use of the remedy in

ALBUMINURIA characterized by symptoms like the above. We have no clinical experience with it.

Petroleum has caused : Tearing in the glans.

Itching in the glans.

Smooth red spots on the glans; reddish eruption on the glans, without itching.

Cramp-like pain in the right testicle.

In women: Scanty menstruation; premature menstruation.

The menstrual blood causes an itching of the genital organs.

During the menses: heat in the soles of the feet and in the hands.

Languor and bruised feeling in the body.

Leucorrhoea, like albumen.

GONORRHOEA

Schroen and Trinks recommend petroleum in gonorrhoea, but advise its exhibition in drop-doses of the crude.

They urge its use when there exists considerable trouble in the neck of the bladder, frequently the result of injections and when there are smooth red spots on the glans penis.

It may be employed in

LEUCORRHCEA of an albuminous character, profuse, with scanty and premature menstruation and with usual constitutional symptoms of the remedy ; also in

UTERINE PROLAPSE with similar indications.