Gelsemium Sempervirens

Gelsemium — Yellow Jessamine — or " Yellow Jasmine ". A climbing plant native to the Southern States of America.

We owe Gelsemium as a remedy to Dr. E. M. Hale (U.S.A.), who was proud of the title his colleagues gave him, " Father of the New Remedies ", because he added valuable medicines to our pharmacopoeia, and because of his important text book, Hale's New Remedies.

Clarke's description of Gelsemium and its action is excellent. He calls it a drug of importance in Homoeopathy, not for the great number of symptoms it causes, but because of the number of its well-marked and clearly characteristic symptoms, which correspond to symptoms constantly met with in everyday practice. We will extract.

" Gelsemium is a great paralyser. It produces a general state of paresis, mental and bodily. The mind is sluggish, the whole muscular system is relaxed : the limbs so heavy he can hardly move them. . . The same paretic condition is shown in the eyelids, causing ptosis ; in the eye muscles, causing diplopia ; in the oesophagus, causing loss of swallowing power ; in the anus, which remains open . . .

Post-diphtheritic paralysis. . . . The mental prostration is typified in ' funk ' as before an examination ; stage fright ; effects of anger, grief, bad news ; and is accompanied by drooping eyelids. . . . Hysterical dysphagia or aphonia, after emotions. . . . Tremor is a key-note of the remedy."

One remembers after an attack of diphtheria, prickling in finger-tips and in soles of feet, as if shoes full of little sharp stones, and one uncomfortable moment, when something swallowed went, not down, but up, into the nose. Gels. promptly finished all that. It should. One of its characteristic symptoms is paralysis of oesophagus and of the muscles of deglutition. It has proved a great remedy in post-diphtheritic paralysis.

And then influenza. There is one form of 'flu of which Gels. makes quick work — where chills are playing up and down the spine ; where legs are too heavy, almost, to lift, and head and brain too languid, and weighty, and dull ; and here a dose of Gels, will straighten things up, often in a, couple of hours.

Again, patients come — sometimes after an epidemic, several in an afternoon, complaining, " Never well sine 'flu some weeks ago ; tired, languid, heavy — can't get well." The temperature is found to be about 99 ; and there are chills. . . . Gels. soon restores all things.

Gels. has also proved prophylactic against 'flu. One remembers hearing how a big school was completely protected in a bad 'flu epidemic, which was working havoc in such institutions. But, to successfully use Gels. for 'flu, you must see its symptoms ; the heaviness — the weakness — the tremor, often — the chills — the terrible occipital headache, perhaps. Here no remedy is so entirely reliable as Gels.

Gels. is one of the few drubs that has " fear of falling. ". (Borax has something like it ; but this is rather a fear of downward motion, as when a child, being laid down in its cot, clings in terror to its mother.)

This is how the Gelsemium fear is expressed in the Materia Medica :

" Child dizzy, when carried seizes hold of nurse, fearing it will fall. " Sensation of falling in children ; child starts and grasps nurse or crib, and screams out for fear of falling."

One remembers a hospital child, so in terror of falling (one was told) that it was not enough to cling to her mother, it had to be some solid piece of furniture. After Gels. the next report was, that the child was climbing trees. These cases teach one Materia Medica.

Gelsemium is apt to be thirstless.

Gelsemium is a great headache remedy. It has excruciating headache — nervous headache — sudden headache with dimness of sight, or double vision — and especially occipital headaches.

We see little of measles at Hospital, and we desire to see less, because, in these days, measles cases are rushed away, while the wretched measles quarantine renders the children's ward useless for weeks at a time. Why don't we treat it, and cure it ! We used to treat and brilliantly cure all these infectious diseases at the Hospital in its early days ! Anyway, Gelsemium has a great reputation for measles among doctors who treat the disease, and who do not hurriedly banish it.

One remembers a fish-poisoned family who appeared at Hospital with measly faces, eyes almost closed with swelling and distress, the dull-red rash, and even albuminous urine, when Gels. cleared the lot in the course of a few hours. It was the likeness to measles that led to the prescription.

Then, that unpleasant and incommodious symptom, Anticipation . There are two drugs in the Repertory that have " Diarrhea from anticipation " (painless " psychic " diarrhoea), viz. Arg. nit , and Gels .

Besides the " Anticipation " rubric among the .mental symptoms, there are other rubrics, anticipation, or what amounts to that, in other parts of the Repertory. We may as well give the complete list — so far as we have been able to collect them. . . ARG. N . Ars. Carb. veg. GELS . (Lyc.) (Med.) (Pb.) Phos. a. , SIL.

Carbo veg. and Sil. appear under " Timidity , appearing in public." And Ars., under " Anxiety when anything is expected of him." The rest, of course, under Anticipation .

Besides Anticipation , which includes exam. funk (ARG. NIT.), Gels. combats the bad effects from great fright or fear ; threatening abortion from fear.

Guernsey says, " This Gels. fright is an awestricken feeling, a deep-seated fright or fear, that has made a deep impression." He also says, " All exciting news causes diarrhoea. . . . Fevers, where muscular power is affected ; patient feels so utterly without power."

Kent says, " A Gels. cold develops its symptoms several days after the exposure, while the Acon. cold comes only a few hours after exposure." He calls it " only a short-acting remedy, though slow in its beginnings ". He says " running through its febrile complaints, and even in a cold, when the patient has hot face and red eyes, there is one grand feature, viz. a feeling of great weight and tiredness in the entire body and limbs. The head cannot be lifted from the pillow, so tired and so heavy is it, and there is great weight in the limbs — whereas the Bry. patient lies quietly and does not move, because if he moves the pains are worse."

In Gels. the heart is feeble, and the pulse soft and irregular. One of the peculiar sensations of the Gels. heart is, that " it will stop if he does not move ". It is so e n feebled that it has to be voluntarily jerked into action — that is the feeling, anyway.

Feels, " if she moves her heart will fail ", is

A pretty strong plea for Digitalis ;

" Must keep on moving, or heart will stop," —

Gelsemium here comes out easily top ;

While with Lobelia , you'll hear her say,

That " it's going to stop, whichever way".

With a Cactus heart, iron-band constriction

(Chest, uterus, rectum, all share the fiction).

Then Lach . has constriction on waking ; Ars. a.

Gets constriction — oppression, on walking ; you'll play

Tiger Lily to splendidly comfort her woe,

Whose heart is alternately grasped and let go.

Iodum has a heart simply squeezed and no more

The most violent hearts for Spigelia roar.

By the way, it is well to get your Homoeopathic Remedies from a Homoeopathic Chemist, and a first-class one, at that. This applies especially to Gelsemium . A homoeopathic chemist was explaining this to me years ago. Cheap homoeopathic medicines are apt to be made from dried herbs, instead of the fresh plant at its best.

He said, with Gelsemium the inferior tincture of the dried plant was almost inert, whereas, if you got a good preparation in the 56, a drop or two would make you collapse on the floor. Some of the involuntary provings of Gels. are most illuminating, as to its paralysing properties.

Here is one, from Clarke's Dictionary. " J. H. Nankivell drank two ounces of tincture of Gelsemium instead of a glass of sherry. He walked a few feet with assistance and in another minute his legs were paralysed. He dragged himself to the bedside with his arms, but they were unable to help him to bed, into which he had to be lifted.

As long h e lay quiet there was no trouble, but on the least exertion there were excessive tremors. Vomiting occurred in the next twenty-four hours. Temp. rose to 101.5° F. Heart's action was very violent and intermittent. . . . All the muscles of the eyes were affected. . . ."

Another case of Clarke's emphasize the double vision. A patient took a drachm of the tincture for headache. On going out he could not tell which side of the street he was on. He was near St. Paul's Cathedral and saw two cathedrals instead of one. It would appear to be not wise to take Gels. in the ø in these days, before facing the dangers of London's traffic !

Allen's black letter an characteristic symptoms :

Dullness of mind, alleviated on profuse emission of watery urine.

Incapacity to think,' or fix the attention.

Dizziness of head and blurred vision gradually increased, so that all objects appeared very indistinct.

Head felt very light.

Heaviness of head alleviated on profuse emission of watery urine.

Sensitive bruised sensation of brain.

Drooping of the eyelids.

Difficulty in opening the eyelids, or in keeping them open.

Dimness of sight and vertigo.

Smoky appearance before the eyes, with pain above them.

Objects appeared double.

Heavy besotted face, flushed and hot to touch.

No control over lower jaw, it wagged sideways.

Numbness of tongue.

Tongue so thick, he could hardly speak

Tried to swallow, but he could not.

Frequent emission of clear, limpid urine, with seeming relief to dullness and heaviness of head.

Severe, sharp labour-like pains in uterine region, extending to back and hips.

Irregular beating of heart.

Palpitation of heart. (Pulse markedly affected.)

Trembling in all the limbs.

Lost control of limbs, could not direct their movements with precision.

Fatigue of the lower limbs, after slight exercise.

Trembling and weakness (accompanying profuse urination).

Complete relaxation of the whole muscular system, with entire motor paralysis.

Listless and languid.

Easily fatigued, especially the lower limbs.

Weakness and trembling through the whole system.

Chilliness, especially along the spine.