Cicuta Virosa cic.

Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica

C. M. Boger · Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica · A Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica, 1915 — the Materia Medica half

Region

BRAIN. NERVES. Skin.

Worse

INJURIES; TO BRAIN (Nat-s.). Jar. Noise. Touch. Cold. Dentition. Suppressed eruptions.

General

Violent convulsive phenomena, then prolonged unconsciousness. Jerks; of head. Twitchings; of arms and fingers. Sudden shocks through body (Ign.) or head, then rigidity or shrieks; a terrific spasm moves downward (reverse - Cup.); the eyes jerk and stare; OPISTHOTONOS and frightful facial contortions, with bloody foam from mouth; then utter prostration. Epilepsy. Spasm of diaphragm; of gullet. Rigid muscles.

Particulars

Childish. Suspicious. Violent. Rash. Delirium. Congestion to head, with vomiting and purging (Ver-v.). Headaches, > passing flatus. Head twists to one side. Vertigo. Meningitis. Squint. Bleeding ears. Red, sweat face. Grinds teeth. Trismus. Craves chalk, coal, etc. Loud hiccough; alternating with thoracic spasm (Stry.). Oppressed breathing. Tremulous palpitation. Heart seems to stop (Dig.). Turns feet inward; or big toes up during spasm. Pustules coalesce into thick, yellow (loose), massive crusts; < head and face. Impetigo.

Related

Related: Cup. Stry.

Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica

H. C. Allen · Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Medi-T HTML text; edition not stated by the mirror (first edition 1898, Allen d. 1909)

Keynote

Women subject to epileptic and choreic convulsions; spasms of teething children, or from worms. Convulsions: violent, with frightful distortions of limbs and whole body; with loss of consciousness; opisthotonos; renewed from slightest touch, noise or jar. Puerperal convulsions: frequent suspension of breathing for a few moments, as if dead; upper part of the body most affected; continue after delivery. Epilepsy: with swelling of the stomach as from violent spasms of the diaphragm; screaming; red or bluish face; lockjaw, loss of consciousness and distortion of limbs; frequent during the night; recurring, first at short, then at long intervals. When reading, the letters seem to turn, go up or down or disappear (Coc.). During dentition, grinding of teeth or gums; compression of the jaws as in lockjaw. Abnormal appetite for chalk and indigestible things; for coal or charcoal; child eats them with apparent relish (Alum., Psor.). Suffer violent shocks through head, stomach, arms, legs, which cause jerkings of the parts; head hot. Injurious chronic effects from concussions of the brain and spine, especially spasms; trismus and tetanus from getting splinters into flesh (Hyper.). Pustules which run together, forming thick, yellow scabs, on head and face. Sycosis menti. Eczema: no itching; exudation forms into a hard lemon-colored crust. Brain disease from suppressed eruptions.

Relations

Compare: Hydr. ac., Hyper., Nux, Strych.

Aggravation

From tabacco smoke (Ign.); touch.

Key-Notes to the Materia Medica

Henry N. Guernsey · Key-Notes to the Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML text (Guernsey d. 1885; public domain)

General

Think of this remedy for convulsions which are excessively violent--whether epileptic, cataleptic, clonic, or tonic; eclampsia.

Mental

Excessive moaning and howling; he does rash and absurd things; is very violent in all his actions; strange desires, as desire to eat coal, etc.

Head and Eyes

Congestion of the brain with vomiting and purging. Repeated movements of the head, as twitching, jerking, throwing the head back, etc. Momentary loss of sight. Contraction of the pupils of the eye. Burning suppurating itch on the head. Discharge of blood from either ear.

Generalities

Affections of the right side of the back. Epilepsy and catalepsy, where the attacks are very violent. Pain as if from contusion. Violent jerking of the muscles; motion is convulsive. Spasms in general; clonic; tonic; spasms during parturition; children that have convulsions from worms. Long-lasting purulent eruptions, confluent, forming thick yellow crusts, with burning pain. Worm fever, with colic and convulsions. Walking with the feet turned inward, and swing the feet with each step describing the arc of a circle. Strictures after inflammation, sometimes after gonorrhœa.

Worse

From concussion; from turning the head.

Remedies following

Bellad., Hepar, Rhus tox., Opium, Sepia, Pulsat.

Antidotes

Arnica, Opium.

Seven Hundred Red Line Symptoms from Materia Medica

J. W. Hutchison · Seven Hundred Red Line Symptoms from Materia Medica · rewritten from Hering's and other materia medicas

Red line symptom

Convulsion with loss of consciousness; opisthotonos; frightful distortions of the face, limbs and whole body.

Homœopathic Materia Medica

William Boericke · Homœopathic Materia Medica · 9th edition

Common name

Water Hemlock

General

The action on the nervous system, producing spasmodic affections, viz, hiccough, trismus, tetanus, and convulsions, give the pathological picture calling especially for this remedy, whenever this is further characterized, by the more individual symptoms of the drug. Among these, are the bending of the head, neck, and spine backwards, and the general action of the patient is violent, with frightful distortions. Violent, strange desires. Sensation of internal chill. Moaning and howling. Does absurd things. Marked action on the skin.

Mind

Delirium, with singing, dancing and funny gestures. Everything appears strange and terrible. Confounds present with the past; feels like a child. Stupid feeling. Melancholy, with indifference. Mistrustful. Epilepsy; moaning and whining. Vivid dreams.

Head

Head turned or twisted to one side. Cerebro-spinal meningitis. Cervical muscles contracted. Vertigo, with gastralgia, and muscular spasms. Sudden, violent shocks through head. Stares persistently at objects. Convulsions from concussion of brain. Thick, yellow scabs on head. Head symptoms relieved by emission of flatus.

Eyes

When reading, letters disappear. Pupils dilated, insensible strabismus. Objects recede, approach, and seem double. Eyes stare. Pupils get behind upper lids as head inclines. Effects of exposure to snow. Spasmodic affections of eyes and its appendages. Strabismus; periodic, spasmodic after a fall or a blow.

Ears

Difficult hearing. Sudden detonations especially on swallowing. Hæmorrhage from ears.

Face

Pustules which run together forming thick, yellow scabs on face and head, corners of mouth and chin, with burning pain. Red face. Trismus; disposition to grind teeth.

Throat

Dry. Feels as if grown together. Spasms of œsophagus; cannot swallow. Effects on œsophagus from swallowing sharp piece of bone.

Stomach

Thirst; burning pressure; hiccough. Throbbing in pit of stomach, which has become raised to size of fist. Desire for unnatural things, like coal (Alum; Calc). Indigestion, with insensibility, frothing at mouth.

Abdomen

Flatulence with anxiety and crossness. Rumbling in. Distended and painful. Colic with convulsions.

Rectum

Diarrhœa in morning, with irresistible desire to urinate. Itching in rectum.

Respiratory

Chest feels tight; can hardly breathe. Tonic spasm in pectoral muscles. Heat in chest.

Back and extremities

Spasms and cramps in muscles of nape of neck, and spasmodic drawing backward of head. Curved limbs cannot be straightened nor straight ones bent. Back bent backward like an arch. Jerking, tearing in coccyx, especially during menses.

Skin

Eczema; no itching, exudation forms into a hard, lemon-colored crust. Suppressed eruption causes brain disease. Elevated eruptions, as large as peas. Chronic impetigo.

Modalities

Worse, from touch, draughts, concussion, tobacco smoke.

Relationship

Antidotes: Opium; Arn.

Compare: Cicuta Maculata-Water Hemlock--(Effects very similar; the most prominent symptoms being; Falls unconscious, tetanic or clonic convulsions. Body covered with sweat. Consider in epilepsy and tetanus. Tincture and lower potencies). Hydrocy acid; Con; Oenanth; Strychnia; Bellad.

Dose

Sixth to two hundredth attenuation.

Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics

E. B. Nash · Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics · homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML text (Nash d. 1917; public domain)

Leaders

Is another remedy which is characterized by its excessively violent convulsions. With this remedy the patient is thrown into all sorts of odd shapes and violent contortions, but one of the most invariable is the bending of the head, neck and spine backwards, opisthotonos. It is on this account that it was tried for cerebro-spinal meningitis. Dr. Baker, of Moravia, N. Y., cured, during an epidemic of this terrible disease, sixty cases of all degrees of malignancy without the loss of a single case. This is a wonderful record, and he thinks it is as near a specific for this disease as can be.

Cicuta is also one of our best remedies for convulsions during dentition or worms if Cina does not help. It is also a good remedy for the effects of concussion of the brain or spine, if spasms are in the train of chronic effects therefrom and Arnica does not relieve. In the affections for which Cicuta is useful the actions of the patient are as violent as are the spasms -moans and howls, makes gesticulations and odd motions, great agitation, etc.

All sorts of convulsions -tonic, clonic epileptic, cataleptic, worm, puerperal, etc.- if of a very violent character, should call to mind Cicuta.

It is also wonderful for skin affections, "pustules which run together, forming thick, yellow scabs on face, head and other parts of the body". I once had a case of eczema capitis in a young woman -it was of long standing- which covered the whole scalp, solid, like a cap. I gave her Cicuta 200th and cured her completely in a very short time. She had used many local applications without benefit.

Text Book of Materia Medica

Adolph Lippe · Text Book of Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML text (Lippe d. 1888; public domain)

Mind and Disposition

Moaning and howling. Insanity, she does all sorts of absurd and foolish things, with heat of the body and longing for wine. He confounds the present with the past. He thinks himself a young child. Excited and apprehensive about the future. Anxiety, sadly affected by sad tales. Want of confidence in and dread of man, retires into solitude.

Head

Giddiness, with falling forwards. Vertigo, reeling, as if all the objects turned around him. Affections of the brain, from concussion of the brain. Semi-lateral headache, as from congestion to the head ; relieved when sitting erect. Compression from both sides of the head. Feeling of looseness of the brain, as if it were shaken in walking ; early in the morning ; disappearing when thinking of the pain intensely. The head is bent backward. The headache is relieved by sitting erect, or by emission of flatulence. Burning, suppurating eruptions on the hairy scalp.

Eyes

Contraction of the pupils. Staring at one and the same object, which she is not able to distinguish correctly. The objects appear double and black. Staring at an object, the head inclines forward ; is frequently bent back again, with twitching, trembling and tension in the neck while moving it. When reading, the letters turn, and are surrounded with a colored areola, the same as the light. Twitching of the orbicularis muscle.

Ears

Sore pain behind the ear, as after a blow. Hæmorrhage from the ears. Detonation in the right ear when swallowing. Hardness of hearing. Burning, suppurating eruption on and around the ears.

Nose

Yellow discharge from the nose. Scurfs in the nostrils. Frequent sneezing, without coryza.

Face, Mouth and Throat

Deadly paleness of the face, with coldness of the face and hands. Red face. Burning suppurating, confluent eruptions on the face. Thick, honey-colored scurf on the chin, upper lip, and lower portion of the cheeks, (milk crust), burning, soreness and oozing, accompanied with swelling of the submaxillary glands, and insatiable appetite. Painful, burning, ulcerated lips. Grinding of the teeth. Lock-jaw, the teeth pressing firmly against one another. Foam in and at the mouth. Swelling of the tongue ; white, painful, burning ulcers on the edges of the tongue. Speech difficult ; when talking, he feels a jerk in the head from before backwards, as if he had to swallow the word, as in hiccough. Inability to swallow ; the throat appears to be closed, and feels bruised when touched externally, (with eructations).

Stomach and Abdomen

Great desire for coal. Continual hunger and appetite, even shortly after a meal. Violent thirst (during the spasms). Nausea in the morning and when eating. Hiccough. Vomiting of blood. Vomiting, alternating with tonic spasms in the pectoral muscles and distortion of the eyes ; (the vomiting does not relieve the lock-jaw). Burning pressure at the stomach and abdomen. Swelling and throbbing in the pit of the stomach. Colic, with convulsions (in children from worms). Distention and painfulness of the abdomen.

Stool and Anus

Frequent liquid stools. Itching in the rectum, with burning pain after friction.

Urinary Organs

Frequent micturition ; the urine is propelled with great force. Involuntary emission of urine.

Genital Organs

Men. Sore, drawing pain under the penis as far as the glans, obliging one to urinate. Women. Menses delayed. Spasms during parturition.

Chest

Want of breath, caused by tonic spasms of the pectoral muscles. Tightness in the chest ; she is scarcely able to breathe all day. Burning in the chest. Sensation of soreness (as if bruised) at the lower end of the sternum (when walking).

Back

Tension in the muscles of the neck ; if he turns the head, he cannot easily turn it back again. Tonic spasms in the neck. Tonic spasms of the cervical muscles.

Extremities

Upper. Deadness of the fingers. The veins on the hands are enlarged. Jerking in the left arm all day. Frequent involuntary jerking and twitching in the arms and fingers. Lower. Painful feeling of stiffness and rigidity in the muscles of the lower limbs. Violent trembling of the left leg. The feet turn inwards when walking. Spasms in the muscles, especially of the neck and chest. Twitchings of the extremities. Tonic spasms. Epileptic convulsions and epilepsy. Sensation on many parts of the body, as from a bruise.

Sleep

Vivid dreams, which cannot be recollected. Frequent waking with profuse general perspiration, which relieves very much.

Fever

Pulse weak, slow, trembling. Chill and chilliness, with desire to go to the warm stove. The chilliness begins in the chest and extends down the legs and into the arms, with staring. Heat only internally. Perspiration at night (in the morning hours), principally on the abdomen.

Skin

Burning, itching. Suppurating eruptions, with yellow scurf and burning pain. Swelling of the neck, arising from wounding the œsophagus with a splinter (bone) or similar sharp body.

Conditions

Worm complaints in children, with convulsions. Aggravations from concussions (brain).

A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica

John Henry Clarke · A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · 1st edition (1900-02, three volumes); homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML digitization

General

Cow-bane. Water Hemlock. N. O. Umbelliferæ. Tincture of fresh root gathered at time of flowering.

Clinical

Bladder, paralysis of. Cancer. Catalepsy . Cerebro-spinal meningitis. Coccygodynia . Concussions. Convulsions. Eczema. Epilepsy . Epithelioma. Eyes, inflammation of. Face, eruption on. Hiccough . Hysteria. Impetigo. Meningitis. Myelitis. Numbness . Œsophagus, stricture of. Paralysis. Psoriasis . Puerperal convulsions. Screaming . Strabismus. Stuttering. Tetanus. Trismus. Waking, weeping on . Worm complaints.

Characteristics

Cicuta v . is one of the most active of the poisonous Umbelliferæ. Its chief influence is excited on the medulla oblongata, the gastro-intestinal tract, and the skin. Twitching and spasmodic jerks are a keynote of Cicuta . "Bending the head backward" is very characteristic. The remedy has cured many cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis, the opisthotonos being the leading indication. Violence is a leading feature: violent spasms; moans and howls; great agitation; makes gesticulations; odd motions; strange desires, as to eat coal. "Head turned or twisted to one side" is no less indicative of the drug in convulsions of children or adults. (See cases referred to below.) It corresponds to falls and the effects of concussions. Utter prostration follows the convulsive attacks; sudden rigidity, then jerks and violent distortions; then prostration. "jerking of the left arm all day" is a very characteristic symptom. Tremor when touched. Trembling palpitation. Convergent strabismus; from fall or blow. Soporous sleep, weeps on being roused, distorts facial muscles and stares vacantly. Pupils dilated. Shocks from head down body. Face bluish. Froths at mouth. Jaws locked. Bites tongue. Hiccough. Hungry immediately after a meal. Tearing, jerking in coccyx. Cicuta has a marked action on the skin: eruption of pustules which run together with yellowish honey-coloured scabs, especially about mouth, and matting the whiskers. Nash cured eczema capitis in a young woman with Cic. v . ─ whole scalp was covered as with a solid cap. Epithelioma, growths covered with honey-coloured scabs. Suited to old people and children. Teste places Cicuta in the Sulphur group. He regards it as antipsoric, and considers that as its eruptions are mostly found in the head and face, so its symptoms, when repercussion of skin eruptions occur, are chiefly felt in the brain. Bovista and Æthusa are like Cic. v . in this. Teste mentions the case of a lady of fifty-eight who ceased to menstruate at thirty in consequence of a fright, and who was "of robust constitution, irritable, nervous, and excessively fanciful and odd." She had a chronic swelling of the left ovary. Cic. v . had a remarkably quieting effect for several weeks, and during that time the swelling diminished considerably. The patient had to leave Paris, so the treatment could not be followed up. The two following cases illustrate the action of Cicuta in a striking way. The first, a case of acute meningitis, is quoted from N. A. J. H . by Amer. Hom . of January 1, 1898: Dr. H. von Musits treated J. N. R., æt. 43; male; married; a user of alcohol and tobacco; bookkeeper. After the intense summer heat, these symptoms developed: Convulsion; distortion of limbs; head turned backward. Trismus. Froth from mouth. Biting of the tongue. Oppression of breathing. Entire loss of consciousness and of power of swallowing. Convulsions, followed by complete exhaustion. Stupor. Swelling of face. Inability to move the tongue. The whole body seems to be of enormous size. The patient had three attacks of convulsions during twenty-four hours, followed by the swelling of the tongue and body. Extreme trembling of the hands. Articulation difficult. Next day profuse watery diarrhœa stools < by any noise, sudden entrance of any person into the room or loud talking. > By rest and in a dark room. Several times previously he had had symptoms of nervous exhaustion. His brother, a physician, died the previous spring from paresis in consequence of excessive use of alcohol and drugging. After two doses of Cicuta vir . 200 there were no more convulsions and the patient was perfectly cured in two weeks. There was no relapse. The next case, one of cholera, is quoted from the Indian Hom. Rev . by Amer. Hom ., December 15, 1896. Banerjee records the case: "A lad, aged five years, had an attack of cholera three days before my visit. Had been treated by a homœopath from beginning of attack. The patient was suffering from convulsions, when I first saw him on the fourth day. The convulsive fits were very severe since the third day of the attack of cholera. The symptoms were: eyes half turned, head drawn toward the left side, and the hands and feet of the same side were contracted. He was given Bell., Hyos., Cina , and Bryonia without effect. Cicuta virosa was then given. The first dose mitigated the severity of the fits, the second dose put the child to sleep, and thus he was saved from imminent death." The chief Conditions are: < From concussions, especially of brain and spine; from turning the head; from slightest touch (renews the spasms); from cold. > From warmth. Immediately after eating: bellyache and sleepiness. Immediately after commencing to eat: feels satisfied. Soon after a meal-great hunger.

Relations

Antidoted by: Arn., Op. for massive doses, Tobacco. Antidote to: Opium. Compatible after: Lach; after Ars. and Con. (cancer of lip); Cupr. (aphasia ill chorea). Compare: Con., Æthus, Œnanth. croc.; Hyperic. (spinal concussion); Hyo. (twitchings); Helleb; Hydrocy. ac. (body thrown back, cramps in neck); Nux and Strychnia (tetanus; but with Nux there is not the utter prostration and great oppression of breathing of Cic ., nor the loss of consciousness; Nux is less epileptiform and has more excitability).

Mind

Strange desires, as desire to eat coal, &c. ─ Anxiety, and great tendency to be deeply affected by mournful stories. ─ Groans, complaints, and howling. ─ Discontent and ill-humour. ─ Suspicion and mistrust, with misanthropy. ─ Disposition to be frightened. ─ Mania, with dancing, laughing, and ridiculous gestures; with heat of the body and longing for wine. ─ Forgets his own name. ─ Dementia. ─ Giddiness and absence of mind. ─ He confounds the present with the past. ─ He thinks himself a young child. ─ Want of confidence in and dread of man, retires into solitude.

Head

Vertigo, and staggering, to the extent of falling. ─ Giddiness, with falling forward. ─ Whirling vertigo on rising in the bed, with obscuration of sight. ─ Feeling as of intoxication. ─ Headache above the orbits. ─ Congestion of the brain with vomiting and purging. ─ Attacks of semi-lateral cephalalgia, with nausea. ─ Semi-lateral headache, as from congestion to the head; relieved when sitting erect. ─ Heaviness of the head with dizziness. ─ Compression from both sides of the head. ─ Stupefying pressure on the forehead. ─ Diminution of pain in the head on rising, and on passing flatus. ─ Affections of the brain, from concussion of the brain. ─ Headache, as from commotion of the brain. ─ Feeling of looseness of the brain, as if it were shaken in walking; early in the morning; disappearing when thinking of the pain intensely. ─ Severe headache in occiput, like a dull pressure; as with coryza. ─ Suppurating eruptions on the scalp, with burning pain. ─ Startings and spasmodic shocks in the head, with drawing backward of the head. ─ Staring at an object, the head inclines forward; is frequently bent back again, with twitching, trembling, and tension in the neck while moving it. ─ Jerking and twitching of head.

Eyes

Burning pain in the eyes. ─ Pupils either much contracted or dilated. ─ Suspension of the sight, with vertigo, on walking. ─ Look fixed, sometimes from a sort of absence of mind. ─ Wavering of all objects before the sight. ─ Iris-like circles round candle. ─ Mobility of the characters on reading; the letters turn, and are surrounded with a coloured areola, the same as round the light. ─ Diplopia, or obscuration of the eyes, sometimes alternately with hardness of hearing. ─ The objects appear double and black. ─ Luminous and coloured circle around all objects. ─ Photophobia. ─ Nocturnal agglutination of the eyelids. ─ Twitching of the orbicularis muscle.

Ears

Sensation of excoriation, and pain, as of contusion, behind the ears. ─ Purulent eruption before, behind, and on the ears. ─ Discharge of blood from the ears. ─ Hearing indistinct, sometimes alternating with obscuration of the eyes. ─ Detonation in r. ear when swallowing.

Nose

Pains as of excoriation and of a bruise, in the (r.) ala nasi. ─ Scabs in the nostrils. ─ Yellowish discharge from the nose. ─ Obstruction of the nose, with abundant secretion of mucus. ─ Frequent sneezing, without coryza.

Face

Pallor and coldness of the face, with coldness of the hands. ─ Cheeks pale, with eyes sunk, and surrounded by a livid circle. ─ Redness and swelling of the face and of the neck. ─ Eruption on the face, confluent, purulent, and of a deep red colour, with lenticular pimples on the forehead. ─ Burning scabs, with yellowish serum, on the upper lip, cheeks, and chin. ─ Thick, honey-coloured scurf on the chin, upper lip, and lower portion of the cheeks (milk crust), burning soreness and oozing, accompanied with swelling of the sub-maxillary glands, and insatiable appetite. ─ Painful ulcer on the lips. ─ Painful swelling of the sub-maxillary glands. ─ Trismus. ─ Disposition to grind the teeth.

Mouth

Foam before and in the mouth. ─ Whitish pustules, painful on being touched, and ulcers on the edge of the tongue. ─ Swelling of the tongue; white, painful, burning ulcers on the edges of the tongue. ─ Speech embarrassed, with convulsive movements of the head (from before backwards) and of the arms at every word that is uttered.

Throat

Throat dry. ─ Inability to swallow; the throat is, as it were, closed, and feels bruised when touched externally (with eructations). ─ Stricture of œsophagus. ─ Strangling on attempting to swallow. ─ Constriction after being hurt by swallowing a splinter of bone.

Appetite

Want of appetite, caused by a sensation of dryness in the mouth. ─ Satiety, and aching in the stomach, after the first mouthful. ─ Great inclination to eat coal. ─ Continual hunger and appetite, even shortly after a meal. ─ Burning thirst, esp. during the cramps. ─ After a meal, colic, cuttings, pressure on the epigastrium, and drowsiness.

Stomach

Violent and noisy hiccough; with crying. ─ Bitter and yellowish regurgitation on stooping, and followed by a burning sensation in the throat. ─ Nausea in the morning and during a meal, sometimes with headache. ─ Vomiting of blood. ─ Vomiting, alternately with tonic spasms in the muscles of the chest, and convulsive movements of the eyes; (the vomiting does not relieve the lock-jaw). ─ Burning pressure on the stomach and abdomen. ─ Pulsative pains in the epigastrium, which is much inflated. ─ Oppression and anxiety in the epigastric region. ─ Swelling and throbbing in the pit of the stomach.

Abdomen

Colic, with convulsions (in children from worms). ─ Cuttings, immediately after a meal, with drowsiness. ─ Pinchings and borborygmi in the abdomen. ─ Accumulation of flatus, with anguish and ill-humour. ─ Distension and painfulness of the abdomen. ─ Pain, as from ulceration in the groins.

Stool and Anus

Constipation. ─ Liquid and too frequent evacuations. ─ Itching in the rectum, with burning pain after friction.

Urinary Organs

Retention of urine. ─ Frequent micturition; the urine is propelled with great force. ─ Involuntary urination as from paralysis of the bladder.

Male Sexual Organs

Testes drawn up. ─ Sore drawing pain in urethra as far as glans, obliging one to urinate. ─ Stitches in fossa navicularis with nightly emissions. ─ Pollutions without lascivious dreams. ─ Strictures (spasmodic) sometimes after gonorrhœa.

Female Sexual Organs

Menses delayed; spasmodic symptoms. ─ Tearing and drawing in coccyx during menses. ─ (Painful tumours of mammæ.)

Respiratory Organs

Hoarseness. ─ Difficult respiration, and want of breath. ─ Cough with copious expectoration.

Chest

Tightness in the chest; she is scarcely able to breathe all day. ─ Pressure on the chest, as from a weight, with difficulty of respiration. ─ Sensation in chest and throat as though something the size of a fist were lodged there. ─ Tonic spasms in the muscles of the chest, alternately with vomiting. ─ Heat in the chest. ─ Pain, as from a bruise, and from excoriation, in the lower extremity of the sternum. ─ Burning pain in the nipples. ─ Burning in the chest.

Heart

Trembling palpitation of heart. ─ Feels as if heart stopped beating; and sometimes faint feeling therewith.

Neck and Back

Tension, as from a wound, in the muscles of the neck, on bending the head back. ─ Swelling of the neck. ─ Tonic spasms of the cervical muscles. ─ Neuralgia of neck with tendency to draw head backwards and dull occipital headache. ─ Tearing jerking in coccyx. ─ Coccygodynia coming on for first time during catamenia, after parturition. ─ Spasmodic bending backwards of the back, like an arch. ─ Tension above the shoulder-blades. ─ Pain of ulceration in the shoulder-blades.

Limbs

Great weakness in arms and legs after slight exertion. ─ Trembling in limbs. ─ Spasmodic contortions and fearful jerking of limbs.

Upper Limbs

Pain, as from a bruise, or of excoriation, in the joints of the shoulder, and in the forearms. ─ Sensation of heaviness and want of strength in the arms. ─ Jerking in the l. arm all day. ─ Startings and convulsive movements (involuntary) in the arms and in the fingers. ─ Deadness of the fingers. ─ The veins on the hands are enlarged.

Lower Limbs

Involuntary starting of the lower limbs, jerks and twitches. ─ Painful stiffness of the legs. ─ Trembling of the legs. ─ Yielding of the feet, when walking; they turn inwards.

Generalities

Pains, as from excoriation, or from a bruise, on various parts. ─ Trembling of the limbs. ─ Shocks, as from electric sparks, in the head, the arms, and the legs. ─ General convulsions, and fits of epilepsy, sometimes with cries, paleness or yellow colour of the face, pressing together of the jaws, numbness and distortion of the limbs, suspension of respiration, and foam at the mouth. ─ After the fit, the body remains insensible, and, as it were, dead. ─ State of insensibility and immobility, with loss of consciousness and of strength. ─ Attacks of catalepsy, with relaxation of all the muscles, and absence of respiration. ─ Tetanus. ─ Drawing pains in the limbs. ─ Affections of the r. side of the back. ─ Spasms during parturition; children have convulsions from worms. ─ Strictures after inflammation, sometimes after gonorrhœa.

Skin

Burning itching over the whole body. ─ Purulent eruptions, with yellowish and burning scabs. ─ Lenticular pimples, of a deep red colour. ─ Long-lasting purulent eruptions, confluent, forming thick yellow crusts, with burning pain.

Sleep

Sleeplessness and nocturnal sweat. ─ Half-sleep, with restless movements and confused dreams. ─ Frequent waking, with profuse sweat, which, however, alleviates. ─ Vivid dreams of the events of the day. ─ Vivid dreams which cannot be recollected.

Fever

Pulse weak, slow, trembling. ─ Shivering, and perpetual desire to be near the fire. ─ The chilliness begins in the chest and extends down the legs and into the arms. ─ Coldness in the thighs, and in the arms, with fixedness of look. ─ Heat only internally. ─ Perspiration at night (in the morning hours), principally on the abdomen. ─ Worm fever with colic and convulsions.

The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica

Constantine Hering · The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica · 1879–91

Mind

Loss of consciousness and sensation.
She knows no one, but when touched and spoken to, she answers. θ Periodical ecstasy.
Became insensible and convulsed generally.
Suddenly consciousness returns, and she remembers nothing of what has occurred. θ Periodical ecstasy.
Very absent-minded.
He confounds the present with the past.
He thinks himself a young child.
He imagined he was not living in his usual condition and circumstances ; everything appears to him strange and almost terrible.
She thinks she sees coming towards her a huge drunken man, who lies down alongside of her, she begs him to retire, falls into convulsions, and turns over on her abdomen.
Feels as if he was in a strange place, which causes fear.
Fantastic illusions, attacks of madness.
Delirium ; crazy delirium.
Delirium, cries, sings ; loss of consciousness with open eyes, knows no one, but when touched or spoken to answers questions ; consciousness returns suddenly, and she does not remember what has passed ; attacks twice a day. θ
Periodical ecstasy.
Mental torpor and stupefaction.
Loss of ideas ; loss of sensation.
Thinks of the future with anxiety, and is constantly sad.
Strange desires, as desire to eat coal.
Fondness for solitude ; great disregard and dislike for the society of others.
Gives short answers.
Funny gesticulations, with redness of face and heat of body.
Aberration of mind, singing, performing the most grotesque dancing steps, shouting.
Likes childish toys, jumps from bed in a happy, childish state.
Weeping, moaning and howling.
Sobbing and weeping, pain in neck, head drawn back spasmodically, with trembling of hands.
Great agitation, child grasp at one's clothing in a frightened manner. θ Convulsions.
Very violent in all his actions.
Quiet disposition, contented, happy.
Melancholia ; indifference and sadness. θ Concussion of brain.
Anxious thoughts of the future ; feels sad.
Anxiety, excessively affected by sad stories.
Greatest anxiety. θ Wounded œsophagus.
Anxiety and fretfulness.
Old men fear a long spell of sickness before dying.
Is afraid of society, and wants to be alone.
Excited, with apprehension concerning the future ; everything that could befall him seemed to be dangerous.
Mistrust and shunning of men ; despises others.
Disposition to be frightened.

Sensorium

When standing still there is a desire to hold on to something, because objects seem to approach and then to recede.
Vertigo : on rising from bed, as if everything was moving from side to side, or approached and then receded ; reeling ; falling on stooping ; after injuries to the head.
Vertigo ; things turn in a circle, darkness before eyes on attempting to rise. θ Paralysis of bladder.
Giddiness with falling forward.
Loss of sight and vertigo in walking. θ Ophthalmia.
Vertigo : buzzing in ears ; deafness ; eyes glassy, dim, soporous state ; loss of consciousness ; muttering delirium. θ Typhoid.

Inner head

Headache above orbits.
Stupefying frontal headache, increasing when at rest.
Semilateral headache, as from congestion to head or external pressure ; > when sitting erect.
Rending, cutting pain of one side, thinking of headache causes it to disappear.
Headache > by sitting erect, or by emission of flatus.
Severe headache in occiput, like a dull pressure, and as with coryza.
Pressure deep in brain ; heaviness in front or back of head.
Headache in morning on waking, as if brain was loose and was shaken on walking ; when thinking as to its exact nature, it ceased.
Headache, drawing from corners of eyes towards temples.
Stupid feeling of the head with chills ; the neck felt stiff and the muscles too short.
Concussion of brain and chronic effects therefrom, particularly spasms.
Cerebral diseases following suppressed eruptions.
Head heavy ; boring of occiput into cushion ; jerking of limbs ; eyes closed ; on lifting lids the eyes stare upward. θ Meningitis basilaris.
Cerebro spinal meningitis ; hydrops meningis acutus.

Outer head

Sinking of head forward when looking at anything, or sitting in apparent sleep ; when aroused head was bent forward and stiff.
During intervals, head falls back if she attempts to raise herself, and that with violent spasmodic pains. θ Hysterical spasms.
Head bent backward ; with convulsions.
Head retracted ; rigid spine. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Head bent to one side. θ Epilepsy.
Jerking and twitching of head.
Violent jerking backward of head. θ Cholera.
Starting, trembling of head, < moving head ; with this, single jerks, like electric shocks, < in cold ; > at rest and from warmth.
Spasm begins in head and goes down. θ Epilepsy.
Violent shocks through head, arms and legs, which cause them to jerk suddenly ; head hot. θ Tetanus.
Burning, suppurating eruptions on hairy scalp ; scald head.
Child is subject to scalp sweat when sleeping. θ Convulsions from cerebral irritation.
Child rolls head from side to side, has fever and hot head, sudden convulsions with froth at mouth, eyes rolled up, dilated pupils, screamed fearfully, great agitation, convulsive movements of limbs, head and trunk, grasps at one's clothing in a frightened manner, pulse rapid. θ
Convulsions from cerebral irritation.
Lentil-sized pimples on forehead, causing at first burning pain, become confluent, assume a deep red color, and end in desquamation.

Sight and eyes

Objects vacillate, appear black, double vision, iris-like circles around candle, eyes burn slightly, can scarcely see in sunlight, weak sight, lids glued in morning. θ
Ophthalmia.
Momentary loss of sight.
Double sight, vertigo, with twitching over left eye, cutting pain.
Frequent vanishing of sight, as if by absence of mind, with vertigo, when walking. θ Ophthalmia.
When she attempts to stand, she wishes to hold on to something, because objects seem now to come nearer, and now to recede from her.
Letters go up and down or disappear ; or colors of rainbow around them ; iris-like circles around candle. θ Ophthalmia.
Eyes staring ; she stares with unaltered look at one and the same place, and cannot help it ; head inclines forward.
Staring, fixed and glassy, or upturned eyes. θ Epilepsy.
Pupils dilated and insensible. θ Basilar meningitis.
Pupils : dilated in concussion of brain ; contracted in spasmodic affections ; contract and dilate, alternately, at intervals.
Eyes sensitive to light. θ Ophthalmia.
Eyes protruded. θ Wounded œsophagus.
Blue margin around eyes ; eyes sunken. θ Ophthalmia.
Trembling and twitching of lids.
Strabismus convergens in children, if periodic and of a spasmodic character, or caused by convulsions.
Strabismus occurring after a fall or blow.

Hearing and ears

Oversensitiveness of hearing.
Hardness of hearing in old people.
Perfect deafness. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
She does not hear well unless one speaks loudly to her, and she pays attention.
Detonation in right ear when swallowing.
Roaring before both ears, < in room than in open air.
Ears very hot, at other times very cold.
Sore pain behind ear, as after a blow.
Burning, suppurating eruption on and around ears.
Hemorrhage from ears.

Smell and nose

Nose very sensitive to touch, slight touch causes it to bleed.
Yellow scurfs in nose, or yellow discharge from it.
Frequent sneezing, without coryza.

Upper face

Face pale, without expression. θ Typhoid.
Rolls the eyes, hideous countenance, piercing cries. θ Hysterical spasms.
Face : pale and drawn ; deathly pale and cold ; red ; bluish, puffed up.
Ashy paleness of face. θ Convulsions.
Pale, earthy color of cheeks, scrofulous eruption about mouth. θ Ophthalmia.
Flushed face, with headache and restless sleep, later pallor and cold face. θ Concussion of brain.
Convulsion of facial muscles ; distortions, either horrible or ridiculous.
Painful, burning, ulcerated lips.
Burning and itching vesicle on upper lip, near vermilion border.
Eruption at corners of mouth, spreading over face and hands, and appearing on breast, resembling erysipelas, gradually forming a yellow, honey-colored crust, with burning and itching, unaccompanied by fever.
Thick, honey-colored scurf on chin, upper lip and lower portion of cheeks (milk crust), burning, soreness and oozing, accompanied with swelling of submaxillary glands, and insatiable appetite. θ
Ophthalmia.
Dark red pimples on face and hands, come with burning pain, coalesce.
Herpes on face ; acne rosacea.

Lower face

Lockjaw, the teeth pressing firmly against one another. θ Concussion of brain.
Yellow scurfs on left corner of mouth, discharging yellow, corrosive fluid, may extend over lip, chin and cheek.
Cancer of upper and lower lip ; painful ulcers on lips.
Gradually increasing eruption upon chin, extending to both sides over parts occupied by beard ; skin is red, shining, swollen ; terrible itching and burning sensation ; beard matted together with a yellowish-white crust, mostly dry ; this had been preceded by
vesicles, which exuded the fluid, and subsequently formed the scab.

Teeth and gums

Grinding of teeth, with pressing of jaws together like lockjaw. θ Dentition. θ
Tetanus.
Toothache, faceache, or earache, caused by filling teeth with gold.

Taste, speech, tongue

Speech difficult ; when talking he feels a jerk in head from before backward, as if he had to swallow the word as in hiccough.
Could not speak from having no control over movements of mouth and tongue. θ Chorea.
Speechlessness. θ Wounded œsophagus. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Tongue coated, dry.
Swelling of tongue ; white, painful, burning ulcers on edges of tongue ; painful to touch.
Bites his tongue, later lockjaw, painful ulcers on edge of tongue and inside of lips. θ Concussion of brain.

Inner mouth

Foam in and at mouth. θ Epilepsy.
Mouth closed, unquenchable thirst, drinks swallowed with difficulty. θ Hysterical spasms.

Palate and throat

Dryness of throat. θ Ophthalmia.
Very great difficulty in swallowing ; sometimes it is impossible. θ Tetanus.
Strangling when an attempt is made even to swallow medicine. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
The throat felt as if grown together, internally ; externally painful, as if bruised, on moving, or touching it ; eructations from noon till evening.
After swallowing a sharp piece of bone, or other injuries to œsophagus, the throat closes, and there is danger of suffocation.
Constriction of œsophagus from intestinal irritation, particularly verminous, with spasmodic contraction of muscles of neck, almost like tetanus ; tonic contraction, with intermittent clonic spasms.
Œsophagus hurt by a splinter of bone swallowed, this was followed by pain and swelling ; six days later could not swallow a drop of fluid ; three days after it was difficult for the air to get into the windpipe, and she feared suffocation every moment ; throat and neck
were swollen to double their natural size, stiff and hard.

Appetite, thirst. desires, aversions

Loss of appetite or almost insatiable appetite. θ Ophthalmia.
Great thirst, with inability to swallow. θ Typhoid.
Violent thirst during spasms.
Great longing for charcoal ; child puts coals into mouth, crunching and swallowing them with apparent relish.
Longing for wine.

Eating and drinking

Great hunger shortly after a meal ; irresistible desire to eat coal.
Immediately after commencing to eat, feels satisfied.
Immediately after eating, bellyache and sleepiness.

Hiccough, belching, nausea and vomiting

Loud sounding, dangerous hiccough. θ Cholera.
Violent hiccough and crying.
Nausea in morning and when eating.
Vomiting : of bile ; of blood ; on stooping ; when trying to rise ; during pregnancy ; alternating with tonic spasms in pectoral muscles, and distortion of eyes.
Violent vomiting. θ Ophthalmia. θ Convulsions.
Vomiting ; aliments when swallowed, very violently ; yellow, like mucus ; with headache, thirst and dryness of throat. θ Ophthalmia.

Scrobiculum and stomach

She feels a blow deep in epigastrium (plexus celiaci), which passes like lightning up the back, and forces her to throw herself backward in the midst of most tormenting pains. θ
Hysterical spasms.
Sudden shock deep in pit of stomach causes opisthotonos. θ Tetanic convulsions.
Burning pressure at stomach and abdomen. θ Ophthalmia.
Swelling and throbbing in pit of stomach.
Heat and burning in stomach.
Swelling of stomach as from violent spasm of diaphragm. θ Epileptic attack.
Waterbrash, a quantity of saliva flowing from mouth, with sensation of heat all over.
Gastralgia with vomiting, painful distension of abdomen, and spasm of pectoral muscles.

Abdomen and loins

Meteorism ; rumbling and roaring in abdomen. θ Typhoid.
Distension and painfulness of abdomen.
Pain at times in head, then in abdomen. θ Periodical ecstasy.
Sudden, sharp, stitching pains from navel to neck of bladder.
Tearing pains deep in abdomen.
Colic and borborygmi as before a stool. θ Ophthalmia.
Worms with fever, colic and convulsions.
Colic, with convulsions and vomiting.
Chronic painful hernia.

Stools and rectum

Thin stool, with violent urging to urinate, which could not be withstood ; also desire to urinate after stool.
Stools thin, slimy, expelled suddenly ; sudden urging, scarcely able to retain stool, at 2 and 5 A. M.
Frequent liquid stools. θ Ophthalmia.
Cholera, when purging ceases, and congestion to brain and chest, turning eyes, difficult breathing and other symptoms set in.
Diarrheic stool followed by constipation. θ Convulsions.
Itching in rectum, with burning pain after rubbing.
Itching of lower part of rectum.
Prolapsus recti.

Urinary organs

Paralysis of bladder, with great anxiety.
Involuntary emission of urine, with old men.
Frequent micturition ; the urine is propelled with great force.
Either great quantities of urine, with great urging, or no urine at all.

Male sexual organs

Testicles drawn up towards external abdominal ring.
Sore drawing pain in urethra, as far as glans, obliging one to urinate.
Stitches in fossa navicularis, with nightly emissions.
Pollutions without lascivious dreams.
Strictures (spasmodic) sometimes after gonorrhœa.

Female sexual organs

Menses delayed ; spasmodic symptoms.
Tearing and drawing in os coccygis, during menses. θ Coccyodynia.

Pregnancy. parturition. lactation

Spasms during parturition ; convulsions continue after delivery.
Puerperal convulsions, very violent and exhausting ; frequent interruptions of breathing, after respiration has been restored patient remains weak and insensible, as if dead.
Puerperal spasms, with trembling of limbs, jerks as from electric shocks, borborygmus, want of breath, opisthotonos, cold, pale face, half-closed eyes with blue margins.

Voice and larynx. trachea and bronchia

Violent and loud screaming. θ Spasms following injury from splinter.

Respiration

Oppression, can scarcely breathe ; may arise from tonic spasm of pectoral muscles.
Respiration snoring. θ Tetanus.
Breathing interrupted, in spells. θ Epilepsy.
Want of breath the whole day.
Difficulty of breathing, chest feels too tight.
Respiration suspended, at times gasping. θ Hysterical spasms. θ Convulsions.
Dyspnœa. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.

Cough

Cough, with expectoration. θ Cholera.

Inner chest and lungs

Sensation in chest and throat as though something of the size of a fist was lodged there.
Sensation of soreness, as if bruised, at lower end of sternum, when walking.
Oppression of chest. θ Tetanus.
Tightness in chest ; scarcely able to breathe. θ Paralysis of bladder.
Burning and great heat in chest.
Cold sensation in chest.

Heart, pulse and circulation

Trembling palpitation of heart.
Feels as if heart stopped beating ; and sometimes faint feeling therewith.
Pulsation of heart weak. θ Tetanus.
Rapid pulse. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Pulse weak, slow, trembling, at times imperceptible. θ Tetanus.

Outer chest

Violent tonic spasms of pectoral muscles.
Sensation of soreness at lower end of sternum.
Chill begins in chest.

Neck and back

Neuralgia at nape, with tendency to drawing of head backward and dull occipital headache.
The muscles of neck contract and become hard as wood. θ Hysterical attacks.
Tension or cramp in muscles of neck ; if he turns head, he cannot easily turn it back again.
Pain in nape, spasmodic drawing of head backward, with tremor of hand.
Tonic spasm of cervical muscles. θ Tetanus.
Tetanic stiffness of back and legs, with drawing pains in thighs and calves. θ Concussion of brain.
Swelling of neck, arising from wounding œsophagus with a splinter (bone) or similar sharp body.
Painful sensation on inner surface of scapulæ.
Bruised feeling on right scapula.
The back bent backward like an arch.
Body and legs straight ; head drawn back ; if lying on side is straightened out upon back quick as lightning. θ Spasms following injury to knee from
splinter.
Tearing, jerking in os coccygis. θ Dysmenorrhœa.
Coccyodynia, coming on for the first time during catamenia, after parturition.

Upper limbs

Complete powerlessness of limbs, after spasmodic jerks.
Spasmodic jerking of arms and upper part of body. θ Following injury to knee by splinter.
Frequent involuntary jerking and stitches in arms and fingers. θ Epilepsy.
Jerking in left arm all day.
Arms bent at elbows, fingers clenched. θ Spasms following injury from splinter.
Sensation of heaviness in arm when raising it, accompanied by stitches in shoulder, so violent that patient must desist ; he dare not move the fingers even ; occurs more frequently in left arm.
Veins of hands enlarged.
Trembling of hands, with pain in occiput. θ Helminthiasis.
Numbness of fingers.
Creeping, trembling and starting of fingers in convalescence from typhoid.
Thumbs turned inward. θ Epilepsy.
Pimples on hands, burning when first appearing, but finally blending and forming one dark red scab.
Nails blue.

Lower limbs

Weakness, especially in knees and in muscles of back after standing only a short time.
Frequent involuntary jerking of lower limbs.
Swelling and pain of left knee.
Painful feeling of stiffness in muscles of lower limbs.
Trembling of left leg.
His legs refused to carry him, and he staggered.
When walking, she does not step properly on soles of feet, they tilt inward, and the walking is done on outer edge of foot. θ Gressus vaccinus.
Suddenly grasped his knee with his hands and screamed fearfully and was seized with convulsions.
Drawing pain in thighs and calves with tetanic stiffness.
Violent pain in entire left leg, later also in right, recurring periodically, ending in tetanic convulsions with unconsciousness.
Rending in muscles of lower limbs, front side down to the feet, < at night.

Limbs in general

Great weakness in arms and legs, after slight exertion.
Bruised feeling of forearms and legs.
Trembling in upper and lower limbs.
Spasmodic contortions and fearful jerking of limbs, with violent convulsions.
Jerking of limbs. θ Basilar meningitis.
Jerking with numbness ; in a tobacco smoker.
Cold extremities.

Rest. position. motion

When at rest : headache < ; pressive, stupefying headache ; shocks in head better.
While lying : jerking of head or throwing it backward ; on side, is straightened out upon back quick as lightning.
When standing still : desire to hold on to something ; vertigo.
After standing : weakness in knees and muscles of back.
Lies on back unable to turn.
Sitting in apparent sleep : sinking of head forward.
On attempting to rise : darkness before eyes ; falling back of head ; vomiting.
On sitting erect ; headache and pressure better.
On rising from bed : vertigo.
On attempting to stand : vertigo ; wishes to hold on to something.
On stooping : falling ; vomiting of bile ; of blood, during pregnancy.
On raising arm : sensation of heaviness in arm ; stitches in shoulder.
On walking : loss of sight ; vertigo ; as if brain was loose and was shaken ; epistaxis ; soreness as if bruised at lower end of sternum ; does not step properly, feet tilt inward.

Nerves

Great depression and prostration of strength ; he feels at noon more fatigued than at evening.
Lassitude and constant sleepiness.
Weak and powerless, muscles refuse to obey the will. θ Paralysis of bladder.
State of insensibility and immobility, with loss of strength and consciousness.
Catalepsy, limbs hang down and patient appears lifeless.
Dysphagia ; no muscular flinching when trunk or lower extremities are pricked with pin, perfect paralysis ; has not moved or winked for several days. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Tremulous movements.
Twitchings of extremities.
Sudden shocks and jerks through head, arms and legs. θ Concussion of brain.
Sudden rigidity, with jerks, afterwards great relaxation and weakness. θ Worm affections.
Strange contortions of upper part of body and limbs, during paroxysms, with blue face and frequent interruptions of breathing for a few moments.
Child suddenly grasped knee with his hands and screamed fearfully ; immediately afterwards was seized with convulsions and insensibility, head being permanently retracted.
The attacks twist the child into most curious and frightful contortions, sometimes causing it to scream out. θ Chorea.
Convulsions, with loss of consciousness, frightful distortions of limbs and whole body.
Convulsions and insensibility, head permanently retracted, high fever, vomiting, dilated pupils, double vision, ashy paleness of face, one diarrheic stool, then constipation.
Convulsions, with limbs relaxed and hanging down, or unnaturally stiffened and extended. θ Dentition.
Convulsions with cries.
Epilepsy, with violent contortions of limbs and upper portion of body and head, bluish face, interrupted respiration and frothing at mouth.
Epileptic attacks, with swelling of stomach, as from violent spasms of diaphragm ; hiccough ; screaming ; redness of face ; trismus ; loss of consciousness and distortion of limbs.
Eclampsia, in a child of five months, from abuse of opium.
Attacks come on twice a day, and she seems to be dying when in them. θ Periodical ecstasy.
After convulsions child is unconscious and nearly lifeless.
Spasms in muscles, especially of neck and chest.
Child lies on back, not being able to turn, legs alternately contracted and extended, with severe pains in them. θ Spinal curvature.
Violent tonic spasms, each muscle being perfectly rigid.
The most violent tonic spasms, so that neither the curved limbs could be straightened out nor the straight ones curved.
Tonic spasm renewed from slightest touch ; from opening door, and from loud talking.
Violent spasms with opisthotonos, difficult breathing, arms bent at elbows, screaming, tongue coated and dry, thirst. θ Splinter in knee two weeks before.
Spasms of pregnant or parturient females ; hysterical convulsions.
Body and extremities hard as wood. θ Hysterical spasms.
Tetanus centric ; cases somewhat epileptiform. θ Cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Catalepsy.

Sleep

Soporous condition, in cholera.
Frequent waking, with sweat all over, from which he feels invigorated.
Dreams : vivid, about events of previous day ; vivid but unremembered.
Starts up suddenly out of sleep, raises head, stares fixedly before him, breathing ceases, turns blue in face, catches anxiously at breath and perspiration stands in great drops on forehead. θ
Epilepsy.
Soporous sleep, weeps on being roused, distorts facial muscles, stares vacantly and holds head stiffly bent forward. θ Concussion of brain.
While asleep, starting and biting tongue. θ Hysterical spasms.
Is roused from sleep with difficulty. θ Convulsions.
Complete sleeplessness. θ Hysterical spasms.

Time

At night : sweat, most on abdomen ; profuse sweat ; unable to sleep.
In morning : on waking, headache ; when eating, nausea ; sweat, most on abdomen.
During midday : loss of appetite ; more fatigued than at evening.
Worse in afternoon.
From noon till evening : eructations.
Whole day : want of breath ; jerking in left arm.

Temperature and weather

Warmth : > shocks in head ; chilliness with desire for.
Cold : shocks in head < ; generally <.

Fever

Chill and chilliness, with desire for warmth and warm stove.
Chill starts in chest and runs down legs and into arms, with staring look.
Cold internally and externally.
Heat slight and only internal.
In intervals she is calm, slightly feverish and face flushed. θ Periodical ecstasy.
High fever. θ Convulsions.
Typhoid fever : vertigo, buzzing in ears, deafness, glassy, dim eyes ; face pale, without expression ; great thirst ; meteorism ; soporous state ; loss of consciousness ; muttering delirium.
Nervous fevers, characterized by great stupidity.
Worm fevers, in children, with colic and convulsions.
Sweat at night and in morning hours, most on abdomen.
Sweats profusely at night without being able to sleep. θ Concussion of brain.

Attacks, periodicity

Suddenly becomes stiff and immovable.
Twice a day, periodical ecstasy.
Periodic : strabismus convergens in children ; pain in legs ; ecstasy.

Locality and direction

Right : detonation in ear when swallowing ; bruised feeling on scapula ; violent pain in leg ; vesicle on scapula.
Left : twitching over eye ; scurfs on corner of mouth ; jerking in arm ; sensation of heaviness in arm, with stitches in shoulder ; swelling and pain of knee ; trembling of leg ; violent pain in leg.
Forward : falling with giddiness ; sinking of head when looking at anything ; bending of head when aroused from apparent sleep ; on staring, head inclines.
Backward : bending of head, with convulsions ; falling of head with spasms ; jerking of head ; throwing of head.

Sensations

As if he was in a strange place ; as if brain was loose ; as if muscles of neck were too short ; as if throat had grown together ; as of a blow deep in epigastrium which passes like lightning up back ; as if something the size of a fist was lodged in
chest and throat ; as if heart stopped beating.
Pain : of head ; of occiput ; of neck ; on inner surface of scapula ; of left knee ; of legs.
Rending pain : in one side of head ; in muscles of lower limbs.
Tearing : deep in abdomen ; in os coccygis.
Cutting pain : in one side of head ; over left eye.
Neuralgia : at nape.
Jerking : in os coccygis ; in arms and fingers ; of limbs.
Drawing : from corners of eyes towards temples ; in urethra ; in os coccygis ; in thighs and calves.
Stitching pains : from navel to neck of bladder.
Stitches : in fossa navicularis ; in arms and fingers ; in shoulder on raising arm.
Sharp pain : from navel to neck of bladder.
Burning : in eyes ; in eruptions ; ulcerated lips ; vesicle on upper lip ; ulcers on tongue ; in stomach ; in chest ; in rectum after rubbing ; in anus.
Bruised feeling ; on moving or touching throat ; at lower end of sternum ; of forearms and legs ; as from a contusion or blow ; in many parts ; on right scapula.
Sudden shock ; deep in pit of stomach ; through head, arms and legs.
Throbbing : in pit of stomach.
Pressure : deep in brain.
Dull pressure : in occiput.
Burning pressure : at stomach and abdomen.
Compression : from both sides of head.
Heaviness : in front or back of head ; of head ; in arm on raising it.
Soreness : behind ear, as after a blow ; in urethra ; in chin, upper lip and cheeks, with milk crust ; at lower end of sternum.
Tension or cramp in muscles of neck.
Tightness : in chest.
Numbness : of fingers.
Creeping : of fingers.
Itching : vesicle on upper lip ; eruption on face, hands and breast ; in rectum ; of lower part of rectum ; of skin over whole body ; eruption on scalp ; crusts on chin.
Heat : in stomach ; all over.
Coldness : in chest.
Dryness : of throat.

Tissues

Acts particularly on nervous system.
Cerebro-spinal irritant, producing tetanus, epileptic and epileptiform convulsions, trismus and local tonic and clonic spasms in general.
Congestions to brain and spinal cord, also to lungs and abdominal viscera.
Tonic spasms of extensors and flexors.
Strictures (spasmodic) following inflammations.
Affections caused by getting splinters into flesh ; trismus and tetanus ; injurious effects of concussions.
Worm complaints in children, with convulsions.

Touch. passive motion. injuries

Injurious effects from concussions of the brain and spine.
Touch : nose very sensitive to ; bleeding of nose from slight ; tongue painful to ; answers questions while unconscious when touched ; causes bruised sensation of throat ; tonic spasm renewed from slightest ; vesicle on r. scapula painful
to ; causes pain in eruption on hands.
Rubbing : burning pain in anus after.

Skin

Skin burning hot. θ Wounded œsophagus.
Burning, itching of skin over whole body.
Red vesicle on right scapula very painful to touch.
Elevated eruption as large as peas, on both hands, even on balls of fingers, with burning pain when touched, later it became confluent.
Pustules, which run together, forming thick, yellow scabs on face and other parts of body.
Suppurating eruptions, with yellow scurf and burning pain.
Eczema : no itching ; the exudation dries into a hard lemon-colored scab.
Impetigo ; honeycomb-like crusts, which fall off and leave a bright red smooth surface.
Suppressed eruptions cause cerebral disease.
Scaly, moist, itching eruption upon scalp, with numerous hard nodes upon chin, throughout beard ; these nodes give birth to a crop of vesicles which soon fill the beard with yellow crusts, matting the hair together and accompanied with burning and itching.

Stage of life, constitution

Old people and children.
Scrofulous child, spinal curvature ; clonic and tonic spasms.
Male child, æt. 10 months ; epilepsy.
Child, æt. 22 months ; has for a week or two been in the habit of eating coal.
Boy, æt. 2 1/2, light complexion and hair, blue eyes, fleshy ; convulsions from cerebral irritation.
Boy, æt. 8 : convulsions.
Girl, æt. 9 ; ophthalmia.
Child, æt. 11 ; chorea.
Boy, æt. 11 ; helminthiasis.
Boy, æt. 13 ; concussion of brain.
Robust boy, æt. 15 ; tetanic convulsions.
Girl, æt. 17, large, strong, brown hair, red cheeks, has not menstruated ; tetanic spasms.
David Gray, æt. 17, treated allopathically and unsuccessfully for five weeks ; three children in family died of same disease ; cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Woman, æt. 23, in second confinement ; puerperal spasms.
Man, æt. 40, thin, weak constitution ; tetanus.
Woman, æt. 76 ; wounded œsophagus.
Man, nearly 90 ; paralysis of bladder.
Mr. J. E. M., blonde, hair moist, only skin, comedones upon cheeks and nose, of hypochondriacal disposition, subject to dyspepsia and vertigo ; eruption upon scalp and skin.
Man, ran splinter into knee, and was then wet through by a cold rain ; spasms.
Man ; renewed cancer of lip after operation.

Relations

Antidoted by : Arnic, Opium ; tobacco for massive doses.
It antidotes : Opium .
Compatible : After Laches , after Arsen . and Conium . (cancer of lip), Cuprum (aphasia in chorea).
Compare : Hydr. ac . and Strychnia .

Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica

James Tyler Kent · Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Séror HTML text (Kent d. 1916; public domain)

Lecture

This remedy is of interest because of its convulsive tendency. It puts the whole nervous system in such a state of increased irritability that pressure on a part causes convulsions. The convulsions extend from center to circumference; the head, face and eyes are first affected.

Convulsions

An aura in the stomach gives warning of the convulsion. Some complaints spread from the chest, especially from the heart; the rigors and chills begin in the chest; and there is a sensation of coldness about the heart; and from there it extends to other parts.

Convulsions often begin about the head and throat and extend downward. The whole body is in such a state of tension that, after excitement, a fire rages throughout the economy and causes convulsions. Any irritation in the throat or oesophagus will cause violent convulsions in this region.

On swallowing a fish bone, instead of only a pricking sensation as would occur in phlegmatic individuals, the irritation is so great that a spasm commences and spreads to other parts. It was the old remedy for tetanus and spasms caused by splinters in the skin or under the nails, competing with Bell. At the present day we find the most frequently indicated remedies for injuries to nerves are Led. and Hyper.

Catalepsy

A peculiar feature about some of the symptoms is that they resemble catalepsy. The cataleptic condition may be present or a condition very similar to it. He recollects nothing that took place or that he said during a certain period. He knows nobody, and lies without recognizing anyone, but when asked questions he answers correctly, and subsequently he has no recollection of what took place.

It is a cerebo-spinal irritant; the head is drawn back opisthotonos all the limbs are convulsed and rigid. It has cured traumatic tetanus lockjaw, epilepsy, epileptiform convulsions.

With severe pains in the bowels come convulsive movements and convulsions. if the stomach is disordered or chilled, or if he has fear or other mental conditions, convulsions come on. He is extremely sensitive to touch, and touch arid drafts bring on convulsions.

The convulsions spread from above downwards, and thus it is the opposite of Cuprum. The convulsions of Cupr. spread from the extremities to the centre; i . e., the little convulsions, merely cramps, are first felt in the fingers and then in the hands and later in the chest and whole body.

In Cicuta the little convulsions of the head, eyes and throat spread down the back to the extremities with violent contortions. The convulsions of Secale sometimes begin in the face.

At times he knows no one, but when touched and spoken to he answers correctly. Suddenly consciousness returns and he remembers nothing of what has occurred. He confuses the present with the past. He imagines himself a young child. Everything is confused and strange. He does not know where he is.

The faces of old friends look strange; he looks at them and wonders if they are the same persons he used to know. His house and familiar places look strange. Voices sound strange. The senses of sight and smell and all the other special senses are disturbed and confused. He is confused as to himself, his age and circumstances. A woman on coming out of the cataleptic attacks often takes on childish behavior.

A man thinks that he is a child and acts like one; silly laughter, playing with toys, and other acts of childish behavior. He feels as if he were in a strange place, and this causes fear. Thinks of the future with anxiety. Mental torpor; loss of ideas and sensation extending over a certain period. Memory a blank for hours or days with or without convulsions.

Convulsions generally take the place of the ecstatic or cataleptic condition. Natr. m. is somewhat similar to the mental condition of this remedy, as the Natr. m. patient goes about doing all her household work and other functions and next day knows nothing about it. Nux mos. is another remedy that has such a complete blank when going about doing things, a complete abstraction of mind.

Desires

This patient has strange desires; desires to eat coal and many other strange articles, because he is unable to distinguish between things edible and things unfit to be eaten; eats coal and raw potatoes.

Mind

Wants to be alone; dislike to society. Singing, shouting, dancing; likes toys, jumps about like a child. Lies in bed lamenting and wailing. Great agitation; child grasps at one's clothing in a frightened manner.

This is likely to occur before the convulsion, great horror in the, countenance, yet he has no recollection of the horror when be comes out of the convulsion. That state of anxiety and fear comes after the attack has begun, though the convulsions have not yet come on.

Between the convulsions the patient is mild, gentle, placid and yielding, which distinguishes it from Strych. and Nux v. convulsions. The Nux convulsions are all over the body and are worse from touch and draft, blueness and purple color of the body, but between the convulsions the patient is very irritable.

Of course, when they go out of one convulsion into another you cannot see this, but when out of the convulsion the Nux patient is very irritable. The Cicuta patient, out of the convulsion, is full of sadness, anxiety, and darkness, borrows trouble from the future, is affected by sad stories, is pessimistic.

He is afraid of society, afraid of company, and wants to be alone. He is suspicious and shuns people; despises others; over-estimation of himself. In this it approximates Plat. but there is no further resemblance between the two remedies.

Full of fear; fright will bring on convulsions, like Op., Ign., and Acon.

Vertigo

Full of vertigo. The whole sensorium is violently excited. Things turn around in a circle. Vertigo on walking, glassy eyes, etc. Complaints brought on from injuries to the skull, from blows on the head. Many times there is no trouble in the region of the injury; there may be compression and yet all the pains be in distant parts; drawing of the muscles and cramps.

Concussion of the brain and chronic injuries therefrom, especially spasms. Semi-lateral headaches forcing the patient to sit still erect.

Head

Headache as if the brain were loose on walking. When thinking of the exact nature of the pain it ceased. It has cured cerebro-spinal meningitis when there were convulsions and the convulsions were aggravated from touch, with fever and even spotted mottled skin. Mind and head symptoms after injuries. On going into a cerebro-spinal meningitis the patient sits in a chair talking as if nothing were wrong, when, quick as a flash, he passes into another state in which be knows no one; he falls over limp, he is put to bed, and though he answers questions he remains in a semi conscious state, knowing no one.

This may change into a spasm. The head is bent back in spasms; jerking back of the head; spasms begin in the head and go downward. Violent shocks in the head, arms and legs. Head hot and extremities cold, like Bell. in its convulsions. Sweat on the scalp when sleeping. Child rolls head from side to side. Hot head.

Eyes

Convulsive action about the eyes; pupils dilated and insensible patient lies fixed in one place, with starting, fixed, glassy, upturned eyes, like Cupr.

Strabismus may be the only spasm the child is subject to from cerebral irritation. Every time the child is frightened it has strabismus; when touched or when it has cold, or after a fall biting the head, or coming periodically, it has strabismus.

Nose

The nose is sensitive to touch. Touch and jarring bring on complaints, and hence it was so useful in, and was the first remedy for, the result of injuries and irritability and over-sensibility.

It has troubles from shaving; it is useful in such eruptions as come in the whiskers; barber's itch; a solid crop of eruptions all over the face wherever the whiskers grow. Eruptions on the cheek like eczema. Swelling of the submaxillary glands. Erysipelatous eruptions.

It is closely related to Conium about the lips and lids, in that a small amount of pressure causes induration. It has cured epithelioma of the lips.

Throat

The throat troubles are mostly spasmodic. After swallowing a fish bone or stick which lodges in the throat a spasm comes on. After Cicuta the spasms will cease and it can be taken out. It is useful in cases of injury, accompanied with violent choking, so that be cannot allow an examination to be made.

Chest

Cold sensation in the chest. Spasms of the chest.

Feels as if the heart stopped beating. Spasmodic symptoms of the back.

Opisthotonos. All conditions of the limbs are of a spasmodic character.

The Therapeutics of Fevers

H. C. Allen · The Therapeutics of Fevers · 1902 Library of Congress printing (Allen d. 1909; public domain)

Characteristic

Adapted to persons of a highly nervous organization. Women subject to epileptic and choreic con-vulsions; spasms of teething children, or from worms.

Convulsions: violent, with frightful distortions of the limbs and whole body; renewed from touch, noise or jar.

Epilepsy: with swelling of the stomach as from violent spasms of the diaphragm; screaming; red face; trismus; hic-cup; loss of consciousness and distortion of the limbs; fre-quent, during the night; recurring at first at short, then at long intervals.

Puerperal convulsions: frequent suspensions of breathing for a few moments; upper part of body most affected; con-tinue after delivery.

During dentition, grinding of the teeth or gums; com-pression of the jaws as in lockjaw.

Abnormal appetite for chalk and indigestible things; for coal or charcoal; child eats them with apparent relish (Alum., Psor.).

Suffer violent shocks through head, stomach, arms, legs, which cause jerkings of the parts; head hot.

Injurious chronic effects from concussions of the brain and spine, especially spasms; trismus and tetanus from getting splinters into flesh (Hyp.).

Aggravation

From tobacco smoke (Ign.); touch; jar.

Amelioration

In open air.

Type

Quotidian intermittent; periodicity not marked.

Time

Afternoon (2 to 3:30 P. M.) paroxysm.

Chill

And chilliness, with desire for warmth and to go to the warm stove (Lach.). The chilliness begins in the chest and extends down the legs and into the arms, after which follows a disposition to stare at one point. Icycoldness of the whole body; ears cold; cold sensation streams through lower legs, especially the right. The whole abdomen was cold. They all long for a warm stove (Bov., Ign., Lach.).

Heat

Without thirst; general of whole body; of single parts and special organs; in the chest and abdomen; in both legs. Sensation of hot water in the chest, arms, legs and ears; hot internally and externally. Burning and redness of the face. Constant desire for open air.

Sweat

On the abdomen; at night, and in the morning hours. Feels invigorated after.

Tongue

Swelling of the tongue. Thirst, with inability to swallow (Cimex).

The conditions calling for Cicuta are liable to occur during or following epidemic spinal meningitis. The chief symptom is the chill and coldness beginning in chest and extending downward.