SANKARAN P., The Elements of Homoeopathy

Encyclopaedia Homeopathica
SANKARAN P., The Elements of Homoeopathy (skp9)

SANKARAN P.
American institute of homoeopathy

1011 Arch Street Philadelphia, Pa., 1907
Office of the Journal

ELIZABETH WRIGHT HUBBARD, m.d. Sept. 28, 1965 108 East 86th Street New York, NY. 10028 212-4-0686 To whom it may concern: It has been my privilege at two world homoeopathic congresses to meet and to hear Dr. P. Sankaran of Bombay, India. He also came to the post-graduate summer school of the American Foundation for Homoeopathy held at the State Teachers Training College in Millersville, Pennsylvania, as a student. We, the teachers, soon found that we could learn from him, so brillant and well-informed was he. As a teacher he has not only rare humor but a sense of timing and repetition which make working under him a pure delight. He had a group of 28 doctors eager to learn homoeopathic Materia Medica spellbound. The congress at which I first meet him was the triennal one of the International Homoeopathic League, which was held this year in London and attended by Vice-Presidents from sixteen coutries and delegates from five continents. The International Congress in Philadelphia, which he later attended, and at which he taught, was under the auspices of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, founded 121 years ago - two years before the A.M. A. - and the New York State Homoeopathic Medical Society (115 years old), the Pan-American Homoeopathic Congress, in its 36th year, the Southern Homoeopathic Medical Association, 80 years old, all joining in the centennial of the Pennsylvania State Homoeopathic Medical Society. The congress banquet speaker was Dr. James Z. Appel, President of the A.M. A. His knowledge and personality are such that we wish Dr. Sankaran could and will remain in the United States to teach Homoeopathy.
Dr. Elizabeth Wright Hubbard, M.D. , New York
Foreword
Dr. Rajan Sankaran asked me to write a foreword to the late Dr. P. Sankaran's collected writings which are published in two volumes entitled "The Elements of Homoeopathy". I was glad and felt honoured in accepting this assignment because Dr. Sankaran was not only a close friend and valued colleague of mine but also one of the greatest homoeopathic physicians and teachers produced by India. During his life-time, I asked him why he was writing his experiences, etc., in so many small booklets instead of publishing the whole material in two or three large volumes as it is easier for us to locate references and keep track of his contributions. With his usual smile, he argued that with his periodical small publications, he was able to make his writings faster and make it easier for students and young physicians to buy them. Dr. Rajan Sankaran has fulfilled my desire by publishing all his books in two large volumes, thus making our access to the study of the material relatively easier. The profession must thank Rajan for undertaking this task. He has, of course, given his own reasons for re-publishing his father's writings in these two volumes. While writing the foreword, I go down memory lanes and seem to relive the great moments, sitting together with Sankaran and discussing the development of homoeopathic medicine in India, our reseach problems and educational activities and other problems. We often met whenever there was any seminar or homoeopathic conference. He was a most welcome figure on such occasions, as he charmed the audience by his contributions and papers on specific subjects. His talks were always punctuated with humour and wit. On those occasions, the subjects presented by him were always illustrated with practical case-records and that is why his talks were so convincing and popular. Most of his papers have been included in Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
these volumes. On going through these volumes, one wonders how he could touch upon and write very authentic and authoritative articles on practically every aspect of Homoeoepathic medicine, whether it is provings, teaching techniques or Materia Medica, or ingenious ways of working out cases on different repertories; or homoeopathic philosophy or homoeopathic pathology or homoeopathic pharmacy. His views and methods of teaching Materia Medica are very interesting. He said that homoeopathic Materia Medica is very cumbersome - it is a dull study. Our drugs are living, vital personalities and should be presented as such to students, not only in classroom, but also at the bedside and outdoors. One cannot help being fascinated by his "Random Notes on some Remedies". Having a very large practice, he had a vast collection of case-records and from these records, he has given us glimpses of unknown facts of some of the remedies. His "Random Notes on some Remedies" testifies to his keen observation and meticulous record-keeping. He was always like a hunter, in search of a remedy's special action and its unknown clinical applications. For example, he talked of the action of Calc. Ars. in diseases of kidney and Syphilinum in "crying babies". His intense involvement in the field of Homoeopathy could be explained only on the facts that his conversion to Homoeopathy took place when he, being an allopathic and ayurvedic physician, could not cure himself of an obstinate sickness and was induced to try homoeopathic medicine, which ultimately relieved him of his troubles. He practically came to the conclusion that you cannot imbibe the true spirit of Homoeopathy unless you have suffered and been cured by homoeopathic remedy, especially when other treatments have failed. I, too, have undergone that experience personally. He has given his story of his conversion to Homoeopathy in one of these volumes. One of the subjects that he wrote about was the evaluation of symptoms, and his contribution here should be very useful to both students as well as practitioners. As I have already said, all his statements on a particular subject are demonstrated by convincing case-records from his clinical practice. In this connection, he has brought out an exhaustive paper on cross-references. In the evaluation and comparison of symptoms, especially in the references to mental symptoms, Sankaran was the first one in India to write about this subject. Boger had done it earlier but Sankaran realised that for proper selection of the rubrics for repertorial analysis, it is very imperative that we do not miss the right expression or at times even to combine two rubrics to avoid the likelihood of elimination of the indicated remedy. In this context, he has laid great emphasis on the role of Causation. At times, this take the first place in the Evaluation, in spite of a number of other mental aberrations. He has cited some cases to illustrate his points. From his writings, it is quite apparent that his clinical approach to Homoeopathic Medicine was very objective and scientific, and was not swayed by emotions. He was very correct in saying that emotion generally tends to cloud reason. He did not believe in fanatical adherence to some of Hahnemannian's writings. Regarding vital force, miasm and drug-disease, Hahnemann had given some postulation which could not be accepted as scientific or gospel truth. He did not mince matters when he found that certain sayings or theories advanced even by the so-called authorities did not convince him. In his vein, he exploded the adherence to some dietary restrictions when prescribing homoeopathic medicines. He has brought these things beautifully and convincingly in these writings. We find the same things when we read his comments on the Relationship of remedies. As a great thinker and observer, he has not hesitated in giving his own explanation, although he has quoted various authorities, whenever he felt that their contributions were relevant and useful. His unprejudiced and objective approach in the clinical evaluation of the action of homoeopathic remedies is borne out by his statements that symptomatic improvement may not be accompanied by a simultaneous improvement in the pathological picture. He cited cases of gall-bladder stones where X-ray pictures may continue to show abnormalities. One wonders how in his comparatively short span of life he could have done so much. He did not spare himself in his continued occupation with his teaching and writing in spite of a very large practice in a town like Bombay. On top of this, he actively participated in the periodic seminars, conferences - both national and international - and activities of the all-India professional organisations. He did not, however, waste his time in petty politics of some associations. Possibly because of these activities, he was able to leave behind such a rich heritage. I am quite sure everyone of us would like to add these volumes to our library. He spared no effort in collecting relevant data regarding the work done by Reseach workers in homoeopathic medicine. Actually, the account given by him in the chapter on research is a short updated history of Research in Homoeopathy, whether it is about the micro-doses of Homoeopathy or provings of new remedies or clinical research or efforts made by some in the detection of the indicated remedies other than symptom-similarity. He has referred to the work done by Abraham, Dr. Boyd and others. He dares to write the limitations of homoeopathic medicine and also the unpleasant side of difficulties in its practice. He Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
had a wonderful knack of calling a spade a spade, but with a charming smile which would soften the hostile reaction of any of his listeners. Dr. Jugal Kishore B. Sc., D.M. S., M.D. (Hom.) President Asian Homoeopathic Medical League
Dr. P. Sankaran A brief biography

Dr. P. Sankaran was born on the 15th November 1922 in Madras, India. His father shifted to Bombay when he was 3 or 4 years old. He began his schooling here, but before he could complete it, his father died, leaving the family in a poor financial condition. The family of ten siblings was separated and were sent to various places to be supported by relatives. He went to Madras to stay with his paternal uncle Dr. Sharma, an Ayurvedic practitioner. Here he was put in a college where both Ayurveda and Allopathy were taught, and qualified with a Licenciate in Indian Medicine (LIM). After working in a few jobs, he somehow managed to start his own practice in the early 1950's, and was practising allopathy predominantly. Within 2-3 years of starting his practice, he fell sick and was not relieved by the best allopathic treatment of the day, but was cured of his ailment by a homoeopath (described in "My Conversion to Homoeopathy"). This removed his scepticism and he became an ardent learner. In 1955-56, he got the opportunity to go to London, where he studied in the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital under famous teachers like Sir John Weir, Margery M. Blackie, Alva Benjamin, Foubister and others. It must be mentioned that the dominant emphasis in the Royal Hospital was on the Kentian method, with emphasis on the repertory and mind symptoms, etc. During this time, he also met Elizabeth Wright Hubbard, who invited him to New York. He came back to Bombay and re-started his practice with added vigour. As his practice grew in the Bombay suburb of Santa Cruz, he also started teaching in the Homoeopathic College and became Honorary Physician at the Govt. Homoeopathic Hospital. He married in 1959 and had a son in 1960. He founded and edited the Journal of Homoeopathic Medicine, which was later amalgamated into the Indian Journal of Homoeopathic Medicine, of which he remained the editor till the end. In 1965, he went to New York to study under Dr. E. Wright Hubbard. She was much impressed by him and asked him to be a teacher (instead of a student) in the course. After hearing his first lecture on Lachesis, Dr. Hubbard wrote, "Dr. Sankaran's talk was so captivating with his knowledge of zoology, botany, psychology and homoeopathy, and with such a fine sense of humour that "The Sankarans" would be competition for "The Beatles", if only there were four of them!" He obtained a diploma in Homoeopathic Therapeutics from there. In India, he was one of the main persons responsible for the propagation of the Repertory. At that time, the dominant school of practice was that of the Calcutta Homoeopaths, with an emphasis on the Materia Medica to the near exclusion of the repertory. One of the first works he authored was the Card Repertory, which was a refinement of Boger's Card Repertory. Not finding a publisher, he started his own Publishing Company, and later on went on to write and publish 36 small booklets. He was one of the leading figures in the profession and was responsible for the organisation of many meetings, symposia and conferences which were purely scientific and non-political. Here he was much supported by his close friends who included Dr. J.N. Kanjilal (Calcutta), Dr. S.P. Koppikar (Madras), Dr. Sarabhai Kapadia (Bombay) and Dr. Jugal Kishore (Delhi). He was closely associated with Dr. L.D. Dhawale and Dr. S.R. Phatak, both great admirers of Boger. He was a member of the first Central Council of Homoeopathy which was instrumental in formulating standards and guidelines for homoeopathic colleges. He was one of the instructors in the Teachers' Orientation course where he taught the repertory to teachers of homoeopathic colleges. He presented papers in various international conferences. He was known for his warmth, his sense of humour, skill in communication, diplomacy, sincerity and a remarkable open-mindedness. He investigated diverse areas of science trying to improve and advance Homoeopathy. He worked on Kirlian Photography, Bowel Nosodes, Boyd's Emmanometer, did provings, experimented with the repetition of remedies etc. Beside Homoeopathy, he was interested in such varied things as Travelling, Psychology, Photography, and was learning the musical instrument, Veena. He practised in two places in Bombay, visiting each on alternate days. His practice was extremely busy, and he kept up his hectic schedule of practice, teaching, editing, organising etc., till the very end. His health gave way. In 1978, cancer in the second stage was diagnosed. He lived for 6 months after the diagnosis during which time, in between his pains, he managed to complete three of his booklets and write the last one, "The Selection of the Similimum and Management of Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica the Patient". Dr. P. Sankaran passed away on 20th January 1979 in Bombay.
Editor's introduction
I have been teaching Homoeopathy in India and abroad since 1986. It is my experience that students of Homoeopathy, from the very beginning, get drawn to some particular kind of homoeopathic practice as taught by various charismatic teachers. Of these teachers, each has his or her own individual style of Homoeopathy. I can be considered guilty of the same; each of us wants to teach what interests him and appeals to his mind. Being an art, Homoeopathy has various aspects to it: just as there are various schools of painting, so are there different schools of Homoeopathy. Earlier, I had assumed that students had the same solid background of Homoeopathy that I had, through learning it in a systematic way as I myself was taught by my father. But over the years, as I taught several students in different countries, I found that students got diverted too early into specific schools of thought, and did not have their basics clear. Except for a few searching students, most opted for shortcuts and were not even aware of the works of past masters. Most students are unaware of the kind and extent of experiments and research done so far. Worse, I find a surprising lack of the most basic knowledge of the repertory, and such fine works as those of Boger seem almost unknown. All these things are the very ground on which I stand, base my understanding and construct my ideas. Lacking such firm ground, a student is easily swayed and is lost in confusion. When my father started his practice, there were mainly two schools of homoeopathic practice - the Keynote (Calcutta) and the Kentian (London). There was no theory of essences, of delusions, of dreams, of group provings or intuition, nor deep psychological theories about remedies and patients. Homoeopathy was simple, basic, based on symptoms found in patients and in remedies. At least, so it appeared. But behind this simplicity, there was a deep understanding of philosophy and the nature of remedies, an understanding developed through careful study and patient application of the law of similars. Every problem such as potency, repetition or repertory was grappled within clinical practice. My father did not believe in mere authority - he believed in experience and experiment. For each of these subjects, he studied long and hard, and from various sources, experimented and tried to find answers. And he had a vast practice to see the results for himself. The beauty of my father's work is that he distilled the various works of great masters in the light of his own experience and made it easily available to students and practitioners. The books he wrote represent his search, his study, his experiment and his experience. On going through the various chapters of this book and the cases mentioned therein, the reader may find some parts controversial. 1. Use of Nosodes: The use of nosode as an intercurrent remedy has been recommended by many homoeopaths, past and present. In his experience, my father found that a case with a family history of Tuberculosis or Cancer benefitted by initiating the treatment with the corresponding nosode, viz. Tub. or Carcinosin. He found that the indicated remedy seemed to work better after the nosode. This practice may not be fully agreed to by Purists who believe that the patient needs only the indicated remedy and none else. I am of this view too, presently. However, this subject needs more discussion and experimentation. The reader will also note that in some cases, where the indicated remedy seemed to stop working, a nosode of a past disease (e.g. Morbillinum) was given and the indicated remedy repeated again with effect. The idea was to remove the block created by the past disease by giving the corresponding nosode. This idea, too, needs further study and experiment. For purposes of this book, these observations must be taken as the experience of my father, and not as a rule. 2. Repetition of remedies: In many cases, it will be seen that the remedy has been repeated despite amelioration. Here, I can say that my father was influenced by D.M. Borland and Maganlal Desai, both of whom repeated high potencies frequently, the former especially in acute cases like pneumonia and the latter in chronic cases like active tuberculosis, gangrene and coma. Dr. Maganlal Desai practised in Bombay and Gujarat. He reported astounding success in some severe conditions where he repeated high potencies frequently e.g. Tub CM QDS for several months. His experience encouraged my father to experiment with frequent repetition of high potencies, with some good results in some cases. Again, this must be taken as one man's experience and not as a rule. The subject of repetition is a difficult one, and students either thoughtlessly follow the diktat of some teacher or look around helplessly for guidance. To repeat or not to repeat - that is the question, and the answers proposed by various homoeopaths are mentioned (in the chapter on repetition) for us to weigh and judge for ourselves. There are many teachers in Homoeopathy who insist that repeating a dose while the patient is improving invariably spoils the case. The experience of my father in several thousand cases will at least disprove this notion. I hope this experience will initiate a discussion as to the logic of and conditions for repetition. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Dr. J.N. Kanjilal, one of my father's closest friends believed religiously in a single dose - "wait and watch", whereas his other close friend, Dr. Sarabhai Kapadia would repeat at least two to three times a day as a rule in every case, often for months. The results and experience of these two stalwarts can be had from their books: Writings on Homoeopathy, Vol. I and II - J.N. Kanjilal Homoeopathic Reminiscences - S. Kapadia Also useful will be the book "Coma" by Maganlal Desai. 3. Repertorization: It may seem in some of the cases given in the book that the prescription was based solely on repertorisation, by a method of elimination. In many such cases, there is hardly any reference to the Materia Medica. Here, the reader must be aware that the remedy selected on the basis of the repertory was not prescribed solely on that basis but on a sound knowledge of the Materia Medica. I know that my father read the Materia Medica from cover to cover, especially Kent's Materia Medica and Boger's Synoptic Key. He carefully studied several others such as Clark's Dictionary of Materia Medica, the works of Ernest and Harvey Farrington, Nash's leaders, etc. These books are often ignored by the present day student, who read interpretations and commentaries instead. With his knowledge of the Materia Medica, my father could see immediately whether the remedy indicated by the repertory did indeed fit the character of the case, and he always insisted on such correspondence during his lectures. The reader must study these cases and note the choice of rubrics and their evaluation, giving importance to the causation, sensations, the general modalities, the mind and the characteristic particulars. His manner of repertorization was influenced by Boger and his most ardent follower, Dr. S.R. Phatak - who was my father's mentor and guide. Boger's Synoptic Key is a masterpiece condensing the whole remedy into a few words, thus bringing out its very essence. My father once taught me from this book. Teaching me Sepia, he pointed to its first word "Draggy". He told me that the word in this sense didn't exist in the English language but was coined by Boger to denote the feeling of Sepia, which is a dragging down: everything drags down - the face, the stomach, the uterus and the mood. The patient's energy itself is dragged down, making her weary, and the disease too is dragged out, becoming chronic, going on and on. Thus one word is used by Boger in his special way to express the whole of the remedy. In practice, the rubric selected must express this central symptom or feature of the patient best and most completely. Giving an example, my father said that if a person is worse after a later night out, we must see if it is (1) Loss of sleep, or (2) Alcohol, or (3) The excitement of company, or (4) Some other factor; or a combination of one or more of the above. One must examine the whole case and then choose the most appropriate rubric. After that, one has to refer to all possible repertories to study the symptom. Once again, he emphasized that the repertory was only an index to the Materia Medica. This part of taking the remedy for study to the Materia Medica may not have been emphasized in all cases because my father was mainly teaching the repertory and assumed a good knowledge of the Materia Medica. For the present day student, I wouldn't make this assumption. 4. Drug Provings: There is a chapter on provings conducted by my father. These include substances like Diamond (Adamas) and Sea Water (Aqua marina). Even though these provings were conscientiously performed, one can see a relative paucity of symptoms obtained, as also an absence of a good mental picture that can make the remedy more understandable. In my experience, provings conducted with individual provers and strict controls do not produce the kind of effect they did in Hahnemann's time, for some reason. I have found that Group Provings help to accentuate the drug effect and bring out clear and usable pictures of these drugs. 5. Materia Medica: "Random Notes" was the only attempt by my father to write something on the Materia Medica. It was not intended to be a definitive Materia Medica but merely describes some of his experiences and ideas, and give a glimpse of the way he viewed the Materia Medica. In this, he may have been influenced by William Guttman, the American homoeopath, who was his friend, and whose book "Homoeopathy" contains some remarkably poetic descriptions of remedies. In all, this book covers a vast area of Homoeopathy - from its History to Research, from Pharmacy to Philosophy, from Case Taking to Repertory, from Provings to Potency. They reveal the secret of my father's success as a homoeopath and a physician. He never kept any knowledge hidden. All that he knew, he tried to communicate. Together these books have formed for me his legacy, have given me a bird's eye view of the entire subject. These books were very popular in the 1960's and 1970's. In the 80's, my attention was diverted and I was developing and communicating my own ideas. It is only recently, as I continue to teach more and more, that I realised that the fundamentals of Homoeopathy need to be taught first - even to senior students - without which all these new ideas serve only to distract and divert. My father's books are a relatively easy way to grasp the elements, the fundamentals of Homoeopathy. I thought it a good idea to collect his writings and arrange them in proper order, to remove articles that are repeated in various places, and to edit and publish them in the form of a book. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica The main work of making this book has been done patiently and accurately by Dr. A.V. S. Prasad. The typing has been done by Mr. Antony. To them, both the reader and myself owe a debt of gratitude. Rajan Sankaran
Introduction My conversion to homoeopathy

Behind almost every conversion to Homoeopathy lies an anecdote - usually a very interesting one and I may be permitted to add my contribution to this. I studied allopathic and Indian Medicine in my college and started practising after graduating in 1943. My results were good and bad, all that a beginner could expect. And I had almost settled down to a professional routine. However, around the year 1945, I started developing a feeling of fatigue in the evenings associated with a feeling of internal warmth. Gradually these sensations increased and there actually developed an evening rise of temperature, upto 99 oF. As a member of the medical profession, all kinds of pathological and radiological investigations as well as the expert advice of eminent colleagues were easily available to me. Accordingly, the blood, stools, urine, etc., were examined, and radiographs were taken but the disease could not be diagnosed. All the time, the temperature continued to rise, regularly upto 100 oF or more in the evenings. There was also weakness associated with a loss of weight. I had lost about two 28 pounds in a month. It was clinically suspected to be malaria and I was given quinacrine. Nothing happened except that my body became yellow. Some hidden focus of infection was suspected and I was given sulpha drugs but these had to be discontinued because they produced severe vertigo. I also took liver extract without any improvement. It was then suspected to be amoebiasis and I took some emetine with temporary benefit. Ultimately it was suspected that it might be a case of incipient tuberculosis and I was advised change of air, as there were then no specific drugs for the condition. The whole series of investigations and treatment were merely a source of disappointment to me. They only helped to discourage me more and more. So, as I looked around in desperation, I thought of Homoeopathy. I had no knowledge of Homoeopathy and I had no faith in it; my impression of Homoeopathy was that it was some sort of a medical fad. Yet, such "fads" were sometimes known to do the trick where the highly developed modern sciences had failed. So I decided to consult a homoeopath, particularly as there was a well qualified allopathic physician who had somehow become a convert to Homoeopathy. The physician asked me to write out my symptoms and bring them to him. I did so and presented the list to him. He did not examined me thoroughly physically nor did he go deeply into my various investigation reports. But he merely read my notes, asked me one or two questions, then referred to a book and prescribed a drug. While I was disappointed to see that this physician did not examine me thoroughly, I was annoyed that he looked into his book and prescribed, as though my case and my medicine were recorded in print! Further he asked me to take only one dose of the medicine he prescribed for me. When I enquired how often I should repeat the doses, he advised me to take only one dose and wait for 15 days. How could one dose of medicine act for 15 days... Surely this was stretching one's credulity too far. However, notwithstanding this series of shocks, I decided to experiment. I went to a homoeopathic pharmacy and ordered a dose of the medicine in 30th potency as directed by the physician. I expected that since this dose was to act for a fortnight, it must be a very powerful and, therefore, a very expensive drug. But to my utter surprise, the chemist charged me only one anna (one penny) for the dose, with the result that even the little faith I had completely evaporated. But, strange to say, within three days of taking this dose, I found such a tremendous beneficent effect that cannot be described in mere words. The feeling of fatigue and fever disappeared. I regained all the original energy that I had lost during my illness. I actually felt as if someone had removed from my body all my old and useless blood and replaced it by fresh blood. I quickly regained the weight I had lost and was able to take up all my original activities with redoubled vigour. I felt very well for at least six months after which I think the dose of medicine had to be repeated. That a single dose of medicine costing so little could give me such tremendous relief for six months, whereas the most expensive medicines prescribed after lots of investigations had failed miserably was a great surprise that I could not surmount for a very long time. Incidentally, I want to mention here my belief that the homoeopath who can appreciate the system most is the person who has suffered and has been himself benefited by homoeopathic medicine. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
This incident filled me with gratitude for the system and stimulated me to study this science which in the past I had always equated with quackery. During the next two or three years I studied all the books I could get hold of. I read Kent's Materia Medica and Robert's Principles and Art of Cure and several other books repeatedly. But still I had not the courage to test Homoeopathy on any patient. However, an opportunity soon arose for me to see the effect of Homoeopathy objectively. A child of 4 years in our family had a severe attack of smallpox from which she eventually recovered. But though she recovered, she did not regain her original health or vigour. On the contrary, she started weakening and emaciating steadily. She became more and more listless and inactive and soon ceased to stand up or walk. Still later, she failed to sit up too, she could only lie down. She even stopped speaking; when she wanted anything she would merely roll her eyes. Her condition was most pathetic but none of the several physicians whom we consulted could do anything because all investigations that had been done failed to show the presence or nature of any gross disease. However, it was very clear that the child was declining very rapidly in health and perhaps in another fortnight or a month she would be lost to us. At this stage, a homoeopathic friend of mine arrived and I consulted him about this child. In this case also, without thoroughly examining the child but only on hearing the history that the child had been declining since the attack of smallpox, he prescribed three doses of Variolinum 30, 200, 1000 to be given, one dose daily for three days. In this case too, I was rather perturbed that this physician instead of taking very active steps, was merely putting his whole faith in three little powders of medicine. But again, strange to say, within a week the child's condition was reversed; she started regaining all her original activity and also grew as chubby as before, and in the course of a month or two became perfectly normal. In the words of the father of the child, who wrote a letter of thanks which can be considered a classic, the child regained her original vivacity and vitality and he considered that Homoeopathy had justified its greatness by this singular success! So, here again was a case which had completely stumped our allopathic colleagues who, not being able to see gross evidence of any disease even though the patient was declining and dying, could do nothing whatsoever, whereas Homoeopathy stepped in with a few doses and set everything right. So this encouraged me to study the subject of Homoeopathy more vigorously. Very soon, another occasion presented itself. A close relative of mine was getting recurrent attacks of intermittent high temperature for over three years. These attacks used to last for two or three weeks at a time. It had been diagnosed as malignant tertian malaria and had generally responded to quinine. But this time there was a recurrence of the temperature which had lasted for about a fortnight and in which quinine had no effect whatsoever. At that time, quinine was the only certain antimalarial remedy. So, the relatives of the patient were very much worried and they telephoned to me. This was on 7th November 1947. I responded to the call and went and saw the patient. The patient had a temperature of 107.1 oF, a temperature which I had never encountered so far in my life. Naturally I was extremely upset and in panic I ran to my nearest Physician-friend. However, this physician was not available and, therefore, I left a word that he should come at once as soon as he returned to his clinic. Meanwhile, we procured some ice and rubbed it all over the head and body of the patient, but the temperature came down only by 0.3 oF and stayed at 106.8 oF. As quinine had already been tried without effect and no other measure was available except to take him to the hospital, I decided to try my Homoeopathy without, however, any hope that it would help. So, I studied his symptoms in the homoeopathic way and found the following points: Temperature 106.8 oF; Pulse 112. Even with such high temperature patient was conscious and loquacious and was asking us why we were all looking so worried as, after all, nothing was wrong with him except for a little fever. He complained of great bodily soreness. The history was that almost every time he got the (recurrent) temperature, it used to rise very high but the patient would not feel it much. He was also listless. Finding the marked disproportion in the pulse-temperature ratio, the tendency to hyperpyrexia, the soreness, the feeling of well-being in spite of the seriousness of the condition, etc. I decided to try Pyrogen. Since I had not prescribed for a single case so far, I had no homoeopathic drug at all with me. So, I procured the drug in the 30th potency and administered one drop. Whereas I myself had very little confidence, the relatives of the patient had no faith at all that the one drop of medicine was going to do anything, particularly, as his aunt remarked, "It was not sufficient even to go down his throat." However, as we watched with trepidation, the miracle happened again! We were measuring his temperature every 15 minutes being apprehensive that it might rise further but luckily it dropped rapidly as follows: 6.00 p.m. : 106.8 oF 6.45 p.m. : 102.4 oF 6.15 p.m. : 104.6 oF 7.00 p.m. : 102.0 oF 6.30 p.m. : 103.0 oF 8.00 p.m. : 100.0 oF He perspired so profusely that all his clothes were drenched but when we changed his clothes, he fell into a deep sleep. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
When he woke up next morning, he was quite well; he said that for the first time in so many attacks of fever, he was feeling fit in spite of the fact that he had suffered for a fortnight. Since then, he has not had any more such attacks in the last 20 years. These three instances in which I had found Homoeopathy acting like a charm were enough to convince me that this was the system which I should study and practise. So, I discarded all my original volumes of therapeutics and replaced them with homoeopathic books. To this day I have not regretted this change. On the contrary, I have earned far more appreciation and gratitude and derived far more satisfaction than I ever should have dreamt of securing by doling out routine prescriptions of other systems of medicine. Every aspect of Homoeopathy such as the intelligent case taking, the system of matching the disease-picture with the drug-picture, the single drug, the minute dose, etc., has appealed to me and I really enjoy practising Homoeopathy.
Homoeopathy - an explanation Its origin

Homoeopathy is a system of medical treatment founded by a celebrated German physician and chemist, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. Born in Germany on 10th April 1775, he was spared a long and useful life of 88 years during which he benefited humanity immensely by introducing this new system of medicine. He first graduated in Medicine and practised for several years becoming very successful and famous. However, the practice of medicine in those days was very unscientific and crude, even barbarous, so that in spite of his success, he was thoroughly dissatisfied with the methods and the results of the orthodox treatment. Patients were purged and sweated, bled and branded. It was often in doubt whether the patients died of the disease or of the treatment! So, in disgust, Hahnemann gave up medical practice. But he continued to study and experiment in an effort to evolve a more rational method of treatment. Even in those days Cinchona, from which Quinine is derived, was famed for its specific curative effect in malaria. Hahnemann, in an attempt to discover its true mode of action, himself ingested some Cinchona, whereupon he was surprised to notice that it produced in him fever and chill, resembling Malaria. This unexpected result set up in his mind a new train of thought and he conducted similar experiments with other well-known drugs. To his surprise, every drug produced in his healthy body the same symptoms which it was reputed to remove from sick persons. So he was led to the inference that what a drug cures in the sick it causes in the healthy, and similarly, what it causes in the healthy it can cure in the sick. He, therefore, put forward the new principle of treatment "Similia Similibus Curentur", which translated means "Let likes be treated by likes". This principle, however, was not an entirely new discovery because it had been already enunciated and followed by ancient Indian physicians, as stated in the popular proverb (Poison cures poison), but Hahnemann was the first to confirm this by experiment and observation and to emphasize it.
Its development
Applying this principle in practice, to know what a drug can cure, we have to merely find out what it can cause. This can be done by administering it to healthy human beings and noting down its effects. Following this approach, Hahnemann experimented with nearly a hundred drugs and recorded all the symptoms produced by them. Such experiments, which are called "Provings" *, are continued by his followers. Thus the real effects of more and more drugs are discovered, i.e. what they cause and therefore what they can cure. Hahnemann, adopting this principle, cured innumerable cases. Even within his lifetime, this method became world-famous and ultimately when he migrated to Paris, he received patients from several countries. His system became known as Homoeopathy (Homoeos meaning similar and Pathos meaning Suffering). However, it was found that when cases were treated according to this new homoeopathic principle the disease symptoms became initially a little worse. This was only to be expected because the drug is similar to the disease in its effects. Therefore, in order to cut down this initial aggravation, Hahnemann reduced the dose, i.e. , the quantity of the medicine. As he gradually reduced the dose he observed that the patients improved better. The smaller dose seemed actually to have a better effect. So, gradually bringing down the dose further and further, he ultimately started diluting the medicine with some inert medium (like sugar or alcohol). Even when so diluted the medicines seemed to act very well. In fact they seemed to act better. So these dilutions became known as "Potencies". These potencies are a peculiar feature of Homoeopathy, and the idea of potentiation has been called Hahnemann's greatest gift to science. Such dilution with Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica sugar and alcohol makes the medicines not only harmless and palatable but also very economical.
Its features
We shall now discuss the main features of Homoeopathy. They can be summarized as the Similar drug, the Single drug, the Small dose and the Single dose. By Similar drug, we mean the drug that is able to produce symptoms similar to the disease. To know to which diseases drugs are similar, homoeopaths administer to healthy persons a drug (in non-toxic doses **), and record its effects. Human beings are still preferred for such experiments because they are more sensitive than test-tubes, and, unlike animals, they can express their sufferings. At present the effects of over 2 000 drugs are available. From among these drugs whose effects are so recorded, the homoeopath selects the one which is most similar in the totality of its effects to the case that he wants to treat. In so selecting, he takes into consideration every symptom of the patient. He first examines and diagnoses the case like any other physician, for which purpose he must of course have all the knowledge possessed by the ordinary physician. But in addition to noting the symptoms of the disease he goes further and notes the symptoms peculiar to each patient. For example, when he deals with cases of Pneumonia, he notes that in addition to all the symptoms of Pneumonia like fever, cough, rapid breathing, etc., which are to be found in every pneumonia patient, the first patient is restless, the second is thirsty, the third is irritable, the fourth is drowsy and so on. Even though the disease may be the same, each patient reacts in a different way and as such produces some symptoms which are peculiar to himself. The homoeopath takes into consideration all the symptoms of the case - the common and the uncommon ones giving more value to the latter which reflect the patient's individuality, and prescribes that drug which has produced an identical group of symptoms in the provings. The second feature of Homoeopathy is the Single drug. The homoeopath always prescribes drugs singly because only single drugs have been tested in homoeopathic provings. The effects of combinations of drugs have not been observed or recorded and so combinations and mixtures are not generally prescribed by the homoeopath. The third feature of Homoeopathy is the Small dose. As already explained, the dose of the drug in Homoeopathy is usually so minute that chemical analysis does not reveal any trace of the drug in the higher potencies. It seems that by the special method of dilution used in Homoeopathy all the energy of the drug is liberated and transferred to the medium of sugar or alcohol. Indeed the dose looks ridiculously small; but the development of physics has shown us what a vast amount of energy lies within the infinitely minute atom, awaiting to be released and utilised. The fourth feature of Homoeopathy is the Single dose. Homoeopaths usually prescribe one dose of the indicated medicine and then wait till its action is completely exhausted. While the patient is improving, the medicine is generally not repeated. * Sometimes this single dose is found to act for weeks or even months and occasionally the single dose often cures the case. By the way, we must mention that homoeopathic treatment is purely medical in nature. When a homoeopath comes across a frankly surgical case **, especially mechanical conditions requiring surgical intervention, he hands the case over to the surgeon. But even here homoeopathic medication before and after the surgery hastens recovery.
Its progress
We shall now briefly consider the progress of Homoeopathy. Originating from Germany, Homoeopathy has spread all over the world. There are homoeopathic physicians almost in all countries, a good number of whom are converts from other systems. In India, Homoeopathy was introduced by a German physician, Dr. Honigberger, who was called upon to treat Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The system then rapidly spread to Bengal and some of the best physicians of Bengal including Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar were converted to Homoeopathy. It has then spread all over India and it is now recognised and accepted as a standard system of medical treatment in most States. Homoeopaths have been appointed as the personal physicians to the President of India. The homoeopathic approach is accepted and appreciated especially in India as it has a peculiar appeal to the oriental mind with its inherent acceptance of the non-material. Further, the modern trend of medicine in the West is also to view the sick organism as a coordinated whole and to give less importance to the individual organs. Considering all the factors, viz., the scientific foundation of Homoeopathy on the eternal principle "Similia Similibus Curentur", its Materia Medica built up from scientific experiments on healthy human beings, its single harmless dose, its curative effects, its power of aborting diseases in the early stages and of strengthening the human organism and also its economical nature, there is reason to believe that Homoeopathy, which seems to be actually in advance of its time, has a bright future, particularly Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica in India.
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Elements of homoeopathic pharmacy

A remarkable discovery of Hahnemann is the potentized dose, a phenomenon which even the modern scientist is unable to comprehend, let alone explain, although it results from a ridiculously simple procedure. This makes homoeopathic pharmacy a fascinating and intriguing subject. This chapter attempts to introduce the newcomer to the elements of this subject. For more information, the reader should refer to standard books on the subject.
Pharmacy is defined as that department of the medical art which consists in the collecting of drugs and the preparing, preserving and dispensing of medicines. Drugs are substances which have the power of altering the state of health of the living organism. When drugs are purified, processed and prepared so as to become fit for administration to patients they are called medicines. Medicines when properly administered in sickness are called remedies. Since the homoeopathic prescriber depends almost entirely on the infinitesimal doses of the single drug, it is essential that the homoeopathic medicinal preparation must be absolutely dependable. So the pharmacist must be learned, skilled, honourable and trustworthy and must be fully aware of his responsibilities. As there are no available tests to see if the medicines obtained are genuine, we have to depend completely on the pharmacist and therefore the pharmacist must be completely reliable. The most painstaking care and accuracy must be exercised by him in every step of preparation, handling and dispensing.
Collection Sources
The sources of the medicines in Homoeopathy are mainly the following: 1. The Mineral Kingdom: Consisting of the various chemical elements and their compounds (organic and inorganic), e. g Arsenic, Calcium carbonate, Petroleum, Sulphur. 2. The Vegetable Kingdom: Consisting of the various plants, herbs and trees, their parts, exudates and extracts, e.g. Asafoetida, Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Thuja. 3. The Animal Kingdom: Comprising of the healthy secretions and tissues of various animals, and other living creatures, e.g. Aranea diadema (Spider), Lachesis (Snake). 4. The Nosodes: The products of disease of human beings, animals and plants, e.g. Lyssin (Saliva of rabid dog), Secale cornutum (Ergot of Rye). 5. Imponderabilia: Non-material elements, e.g. X-ray, Sun's rays (Sol), Moonlight (Luna), the magnet. Hahnemann's discovery of the method of potentiation has revealed that every substance or element in the world, whether falling into one of the above groups or not, has inherent medicinal energy which can be released and developed by proper methods. * Drugs collected should conform absolutely to the descriptions and standards laid down in the standard homoeopathic pharmacopoeas. Plants are collected as far as possible from their natural habitat just before or during full bloom. Generally, the whole plant is used to prepare the medicines. Where fresh plants cannot be procured, the dried plants can be used. Recently the method of curing or removing the ill-effects (toxic or allergic) of crude drugs by the administration of the identical substances in potentized form has become popular. Mr. Dudley Everitt has coined the term Tautopathy for this therapy and Ramanlal Patel has written extensively about it.
Preparation
The actual art of preparing the medicines is termed Pharmacopraxy. The drugs (crude substance) are combined with some neutral substance in such a way that their medicinal energies are developed and preserved in the neutral medium. These preparations are called Potencies. They are also called Attenuations or Dilutions. The method of preparing such potencies is called potentiation or dynamization. For the purpose of preparing potencies, one of the following media is selected. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Liquid media
1. Aqua distillata or distilled water. 2. Alcohol. Used for preserving green plant extracts, preparing mother tinctures from dry herbs and for making higher dilutions (liquid potencies). Strong alcohol (containing 94% by volume of Ethyl alcohol) is mainly used for preparing mother tinctures. Dispensing alcohol (obtained by adding 1 part of strong alcohol to 12.75 parts by volume or 10 parts by weight of aqua distillata) is used for preparing most of the dilutions because this is readily absorbed by cane sugar and milk sugar and is therefore suitable for medicating the sugar globules or powders. Rectified spirit is practically the same as dispensing alcohol. 3. Glycerine is used as a preservative for certain animal products, e.g. Crotalus horridus, Elaps.
Solid media
1. Sugar of milk (Lactose, Saccharum Lactis): The hard and sharp crystals of this substance make it an ideal medium for triturating drugs. 2. Cane Sugar globules are found very convenient to medicate and use. These are available in various sizes from 5 to 100, the number representing the diameter of ten globules put together and measured in millimeters e.g. the total diameter of ten globules of No. 5 put together would be 5 millimeters.
Potencies
The purpose of attenuation or dynamization is to divide and sub-divide the medicinal substance progressively in order thereby to liberate and develop its latent power by degrees and to retain it in a suitable form. This is generally done by dilution with alcohol and succussion (shaking) in the case of soluble substances; and dilution with sugar of milk and trituration (rubbing) in the case of insoluble substances. Since the products of such attenuation seem to acquire more and more power, they are called "Potencies". In case of vegetable products and other soluble substance, this is done by expressing the juice of the plant and mixing it with alcohol. The mother tincture, designated Q, the basis from which potencies are run-up, represents one tenth of the drug strength. Further subdivision is done by diluting with alcohol and succussing (shaking it up). Such liquid potencies are called "Tinctures" or "Dilutions". When green plants are used, the amount of moisture in each plant is calculated and deducted. Only the quantity of the dry crude drug is taken as the starting point from which to calculate the strength of the medicine. Mineral and other insoluble substances are similarly potentized by mixing with sugar of milk and triturating (rubbing in a mortar). Such potencies are called "Triturations". Homoeopathic potencies are thus prepared in the form of (1) Tinctures, (2) Triturations.
Potentiation
Potentiation is usually done in two scales. a. The Centesimal, evolved by Dr. Hahnemann and b. The Decimal, evolved by Dr. Hering. c. In the last edition of the Organon, however, Hahnemann has described a new scale of potentiation, which is named the 50th Millesimal scale.
Tinctures ( dilutions)
1. Centesimal Scale For the purpose of carrying out the preparation of potencies in liquid form, pour into a small, clean, new phial one minim (i.e. one drop) of the mother tincture of the drug (designated Q) and add ninety nine minims of dilute alcohol. Cork the phial tightly with a new cork, hold it in the right hand with a finger on the cork, raise it above the shoulder and give a shake or a jerk to the contents in such a way that each shake terminates in a jerk against the palm of the left hand or on a book. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Repeat this process ten times. This results in the first centesimal potency of the drug. If one minim of the 1st potency so prepared is taken and ninety-nine minims of dilute alcohol are added and shaken ten times, as described above, the second potency is prepared. Further potencies are prepared in the same manner by repeating this same procedure. 2. Decimal Scale During Hahnemann's life time, another scale of drug attenuation was introduced by his staunch follower Dr. Constantine Hering. According to this scale the first potency should contain 1/10th part of the drug substance, the second potency 1/10 part of the first potency and so on. Preparation of tinctures under decimal scale is made by taking one minim of mother tincture and nine minims of dilute alcohol and shaking the bottle ten times as described above, the 1X potency being thus obtained. The 2X potency is then prepared in the same manner by taking one minim of the 1x potency, adding nine minims of dilute alcohol and shaking as usual ten times. Further potencies are prepared in the same manner. In modern times such dilution and succussion are done with a potentizing machine in which the process is carefully and automatically regulated.
Triturations
1. Centesimal Scale To one grain of the substance is added thirty three grains of milk sugar, and this mixture is rubbed vigorously in a mortar for 6-7 minutes; it is then scraped for 3-4 minutes. This process is repeated thrice so that the first centesimal potency results in an hour by the addition and trituration of ninety-nine grains of milk sugar, in three instalments of thirty-three grains each time, to one grain of the drug (1:99). For preparing triturations under the decimal scale, the same method as in the centesimal will be employed except that here ten grain by weight of the crude substance is triturated with thirty grains of sugar of milk each time and the process repeated thrice as described above, so that in all ninety-grains of milk sugar are added to the ten grains of the drug and triturated (1:9). Even minerals and other insoluble drugs when triturated upto the 6x potency become soluble in a liquid medium so that further potentiation can be continued in an alcohol medium. Nowadays trituration is done by machines in which the mortar and pestle are rotated by machines. Potencies prepared under the centesimal scale are marked by using simple numbers or by the number followed by the letter, e.g. Sulph 200 or Sulph. 200C. 2. Decimal Scale Potencies of the decimal scale are marked by suffixing an "X" to the number, e.g. Sulph. 200x, or by the Prefix "D",. e.g. Sulph. D 200. Thus in the Decimal Scale we have potencies such as 1x, 2x, 3x and so on made up as follows: 1x - 1 part of dry substance and 9 parts of diluent: representing Drug strength - 1/10, 2x - 1 part of the 1x and 9 parts of diluent: representing Drug strength - 1/100, 3x - 1 part of the 2x and 9 parts of diluent: representing Drug strength 1/1000 and so on. In the Centesimal Scale, we have: 1 or 1C: one part of the drug substance to 99 of diluent: representing Drug strength 1/100 2 or 2C: one part of 1C to 99 of diluent: representing Drug strength 1/10000 and so on. It can be seen that in drug content, the 1C corresponds to the 2x, the 2C to the 4x and so on. Sometimes, the potency strength is designated by Roman numbers (especially the higher potencies), e.g. 200 as CC, 1 000 as M or 1M, 10 000 as 10M, 50 000 as 50M or LM, 100 000 as CM, 500 000 as DM, 1 000 000 as MM, and 500 000 000 as DMM. 3. 50th Millesimal Scale Hahnemann had in the last years of his life envisaged another scale of potencies in which the drug is diluted with 50,000 parts of diluent and potentized. The potencies thus made are designated as 50 millesimal scale or LM scale of potencies. Everitt has calculated that these potencies can be compared or equated theoretically on paper to the traditional potencies as follows: New Scale Potency I - 16x II - Between 20x and 21x ( i.e. 10c approx.) III - " 24x and 26x ( " 13c " ) VIII - " 44x and 51x ( " 25c " ) Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica X - " 52x and 61x ( " 30c " ) XII - " 60x and 71x ( " 35c " ) XVIII - " 84x and 101x ( " 50c " ) XXIV - " 108x and 131x ( " 65c " ) XXX - " 132x and 161x ( " 80c " ) In practice, however, they seem to be far more powerful.
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Medicines for external use Ointments

Ointments are usually prepared by mixing the mother tincture of the required drug with any simple base such as prepared lard, vaseline, etc. The proportion of drug content may vary from 1 in 10 to 1 in 40. Though "homoeopathic" medicines for external use are available, they are not commonly used. The homoeopathic concept is that all diseases including all manifestations on the skin arise from internal disturbance and therefore they are to be cured by internal medicine. By the use of external medicines, there is a possibility that the external manifestation is extinguished without a corresponding internal improvement and this will give rise to a false sense of satisfaction.
Preservation
Homoeopathic medicines should be stored in rooms which are neither too hot nor too cold, away from sunlight, dust, smoke and strong odours. The phials should not be coloured. Phials and corks should be washed and boiled, and then washed again in distilled water and dried before using. Phials used for keeping one medicine should never be used for any other medicine nor for the same medicine in any other potency. The same rule applies to cork also. Never use glasses for measuring, keeping, dispensing or administering potentized medicines because they become contaminated with the potency energy which is very difficult to destroy. Two phials containing different potencies or remedies should never be opened at the same time in close proximity. It is always safe to record one phial and put it away before opening another for fear that the corks may be interchanged. Always mark the name of the medicine and potency clearly on the cork, besides labelling the phial correctly, as soon as any medicine is prepared. Sterilisation: Hahnemann mentions that after preparing a trituration, if the mortar, pestle and spatula are made red-hot, the medicinal substance will be destroyed. But McCrae thinks this not enough. He lays down that if by chance any material or container has come into contact with the homoeopathic potentized medicine and has thus become contaminated with the drug energy, then such potency energy is never destroyed unless the material is sterilised by exposure to dry heat at 160 degree C. for one hour.
Dispensing
The practitioner can usually obtain his potencies from homoeopathic pharmacies both in liquid form (alcoholic dilution) and in solid form (globules, powders and tablets). They can be then dispensed in both forms. It need not be emphasized that the pharmacy must be a reliable one, particularly as it is very difficult to identify or analyse the drug or its potency *. Liquid potencies can be used to medicate globules by adding 5 to 6 drops to a drachm of cane sugar globules in a phial and mixing it very well after corking. The excess of liquid if any, is drained. Small globules, say size No. 20 or 30 are found very convenient. Both the liquid and solid potencies keep well for several years if kept well-protected as directed. Dispensing in distilled water: Pour the requisite number of drops or pills into doses. If distilled water is not available, use filtered, boiled and cooled water. Bottles and corks should never be used again for another drug or another potency of the same drug. A case is also related in which a servant of a worthy lady in Silesia was to obtain a homoeopathic medicine from an apothecary, besides fetching a certain sort of wool (called Estremadura No. 5) from a shop and the pharmacist promptly supplied the medicine labelled "Estre madura No. 5"! Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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While discussing how long the medicines can retain their potency McLaren states that he used a potency that was seventy years old and found it quite effective. Aegidi of Freienwalde reports having used in 1860 with excellent effect a potency of Cantharis in pills, which had been given to him by Hahnemann himself in 1831. Tomlinson mentions that a potency of Zinc sulph. 82M in his possession for 42 years continued to act. Phatak records that a potency of Ledum which he had with him for 20 to 25 years had turned black, but was found by him to act, though he did not expect it to act. Other ways of dispensing: 1. Put one drop of the dilution on a little sugar of milk, say 5 grains. This forms one dose. 2. A few canesugar pills medicated as directed above can be added to a little of sugar of milk, say 5 grains, and crushed so as to make a uniform powder. This forms one dose. The number of drops or the number of pills of the medicine makes little difference. Given at a time, one drop or one pill will have the same effect as many drops or many pills. The powders should be packed in clean new papers, preferably in cellophane or tissue paper. Where two different sets of powders are given, they should be dispensed in separate envelopes. Medicines, dispensed in whatever form, should always be neatly labelled, the name of the patient and full directions for use being written on the label.
Administration
The subject dealing with the route of administration of medicines is termed Pharmaconomy. Hahnemann has laid down that homoeopathic medicines may be administered in any of the following ways. 1. By oral route. 2. By inhalation. 3. By application to the skin. For many years he was administering medicines mainly by mouth. But in his last years, he favoured the inhalatory method. Homoeopathic medicines are generally administered singly and by the oral route. Administration by mouth seems to be most convenient and effective. Homoeopathic potentized medicines seem to require no digestion but seem to be absorbed directly from the mouth and then act through the central nervous system. If the medicine is dropped below the tongue (sub-lingual), even the possibility of a coated tongue interfering with the absorption and action of the medicine will be avoided. In the writer's experience, medicines appear to act as effectively when administered as pills or powders or in the form of watery solutions. Hahnemann, however taught in his later years that the medicines should be invariably administered in water. During recent years, homoeopathic potencies have been introduced in the form of injectables. Since the medicines given orally seem to act effectively and promptly, the merits or advantages of the injectables is not clear. Further, no scientific or objective large-scale studies have been published comparing the relative effects of the injectable and the oral administration. So the need for and value of these injectables are yet to be assessed.
Pharmacology
The exact mode of action of the homoeopathic medicine is still not known but it is known that the sick individual is most sensitive to the similimum (most similar remedy). Considering that the drug substance is in such infinitesimal quantity that it is practically impossible to analyse or detect it, the average allopathic physician refuses to believe that this can have any medicinal effect at all. So efforts have been made by various homoeopaths to show the presence or effect of drug substance even in high dilutions. The famous German surgeon Prof. Augustus Bier had demonstrated that it requires 250 000 times as much formic acid to affect a healthy person as is needed to cause a sufferer from gout to react. Tomlinson reports that he was able to make prints on sensitive photographic plates by the help of the radium contained in one part. Boyd has shown by very carefully conducted elaborate experiments that high potencies have an action on the rate of growth of yeast. Sir Jagadish Bose was able to demonstrate that plants are sensitive to the effect of very minute quantities of poisons. Anna Koffler et al proved that homoeopathic potencies are able to affect the growth of plants. Other examples are: A small amount of Selenium, e.g. 2.5 parts per million can poison young rats (not old ones!) and 0.7 per million can affect chick embryos; Colchicum in dilution of 1 part per billion can inhibit cell division; inhalation of 0.000 000 Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 1 gm can produce a garlic odour in breath; LSD - 0.000 02 gm or 1/700 000 000 of body weight can produce hallucinations.
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Materia medica The study of materia medica

The importance of the study of the Materia Medica and its enormous value to the homoeopathic physician cannot be adequately described. It has a predominant role in the field of Homoeopathy. We can do no better than to quote the words of Clarke who says, "We must never lose sight of the fact that Homoeopathy is Materia Medica and nothing whatever else. All other branches of medical study are Homoeopathy's handmaidens buy take away Hahnemann's Materia Medica and Homoeopathy vanishes from the scene. So that in so far as we are homoeopathists, Materia Medica is our sole concern... Books of Materia Medica and Repertories are the Road maps, Time-tables and Guide books of the powers at our disposal..." The homoeopathic Materia Medica is peculiar in its construction and differs very much from the orthodox Materia Medica. Whereas the orthodox Materia Medica traces the action and therapeutic uses of various drugs through physical and chemical properties, pharmacological action, etc., the homoeopathic Materia Medica provides no such material. In truth, it is mainly a record of the effects of drugs on healthy human beings. The original basis for our Materia Medica is the records of provings * and poisonings (accidental or intentional), the former being experiments done to intentionally produce drug symptoms on healthy persons for the purpose of advancing medical knowledge. These symptoms are later confirmed and augmented by clinical experiences. The Materia Medica Pura of Hahnemann is actually not a Materia Medica in the ordinarily accepted sense of the word but is purely a record of drug-effects. It is unfortunately rather dry to read and difficult to digest. If this Materia Medica Pura is put in the hands of a beginner, he is likely to be frightened away from Homoeopathy for life **. Meyer describes the difficulty in studying the homoeopathic Materia Medica. He writes, " We shall probably not be contradicted when we affirm that the study of the Materia Medica is the most difficult in the whole range of medicine. Who is there of us who has not, in the beginning of his practical career, often taken up Hahnemann's Materia Medica with the most energetic purpose and sincere intention of studying and mastering some one or other of the remedies there recorded by the hand of the master and has not, as often, thrown the book aside in despair and disgust? Our own experience will furnish the reason for this frequently repeated result. It is not from the absence of a scientific interest in the matter, nor from want of a steady perseverance; the difficulty lies in the Materia Medica itself. A single glance at a remedy presenting to us many hundred different symptoms is enough to shake the most earnest good intentions, and if we reflect further on the absolute want of connection between these phenomena and that at the most, the only link between them is the part of the body in which they make their appearance, it is not to be wondered at that so many remain mere bunglers in this department of our art, and that some, terrified by the apparently insuperable difficulties that beset the way should have rejected Homoeopathy and sought a resting place in the arms of their less exacting allopathic mother. In both ways our therapeutics have received great injury, and many of promising genius have been led astray." This is testimony concerning himself of one of our most excellent homoeopathic colleagues: "I am not ashamed to acknowledge", says he, "that if when I commenced the study of Homoeopathy, had I not had the most intimate conviction of the truth and excellence of the homoeopathic fundamental law, such were the difficulties in the study of the Materia Medica that they would have been near repelling me from it altogether." It requires very great insight to look into each symptom and pick out the characteristic features of each drug. But thanks to giants like Clarke, Dunham, Farrington, Kent and others it has been possible to construct out of these seemingly unconnected and fragmentary pieces, living throbbing images of the drugs. Their labours have lightened our task considerably and we are now able to comprehend well the individuality of the drugs even without going through the records of provings. By repeatedly refreshing our memory from these books, we are able to have a good grasp of the subject. Moore says, "Four requisites to an intelligent study and application of homoeopathic Materia Medica should be recognised. First, a thorough knowledge and intelligent understanding of the philosophy of Homoeopathy so far as this is revealed; second, such a familiar acquaintance with the names, appearances and properties of remedies as comes not only from a knowledge of practical homoeopathic pharmaceutics, but from personal contact and handling of the remedies themselves... " Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Weisselhoeft advises the following method, "Now take the Materia Medica and divide it up in that way. Learn one medicine at a time, and then you are over the worst of it, but do not try to learn it alphabetically. That is like trying to learn a language by learning the dictionary by heart. All these methods require work and most people do not want to do that. Most of us would like to have a machine that would put it right into the brain without any exertion on our part. Take the chemical groups, the lead group,the arsenic group, the gold group. If you know one of the group well, you know considerable about the rest." Del Mass writes, "To study the Materia Medica so that one will not fall into some rut and become one-sided and weak in his armour of defense against disease requires many methods of study." "It is to be admitted that for the first years of study, each remedy should be studied alone until a vivid picture is obtained of its general characteristics, so that the physician would readily recognise in the symptoms of the sick individual the corresponding similia of the proven drug." "When we have to do with an art those end is the saving of life, any neglect to make ourselves thoroughly masters of it becomes a crime. "Do not think that when you have finished your college work you are thorough with the study of your Materia Medica; if you have learned how to study you have done well. It is when in active practice that the greatest amount of careful systematized study should be done." "There are great opportunities for modernization. We admit without hesitation that we have a cumbersome Materia Medica, but we also know that the real clinician is able to use it successfully. It is to be modernized first by literary research and analysis. The value is there, but we must subject the mass to modern methods to develop that which is of value." Different authorities suggest different methods of studying the Materia Medica. In general, all are agreed that the whole Materia Medica cannot be memorized. The Pulfords say, "We all know that it is impossible to memorize our Materia Medica. On the other hand, we all know how necessary it is to have an individual grasp of each drugs used." But many authors suggest that at least the leading characteristics of remedies should be memorized. Seibbert says, "We are called to the bedside of a patient, possibly a new family or an influential old family. We face a different proposition than books, quiz or society. We are facing a life and death situation. Under these circumstances it would be extremely hard to choose a remedy by totally relying entirely on memory. "I can call to mind cases in which I thought half our Materia Medica was indicated according to symptoms given, and then by chance, some leader would present itself and lead to the correct prescription. "For this reason I believe we should always keep leaders first in our memory, even at the expense of totalities." But yet, the process of study and simplification of the Materia Medica has not been taken to its logical conclusion, for, notwithstanding the coherent picture given by Kent and others, students and neophytes find themselves struggling hard to grasp and retain in the memory the essential features of each drug. When we stepped away from the structure of Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura and compiled a regular descriptive Materia Medica so that students may understand easily the action and uses of the various drugs, we have taken only the first step towards the goal of simplification. Further steps must necessarily follow. The idea is explained below. We do not conceive of drugs as mere inert material substances to be used in diseases on the basis of previous experience. Our conception is that drugs are living, vibrating personalities, each full of its own specific energy and capable of influencing life in all the three planes, viz. the physical, mental and moral (or spiritual). Each drug performs a specific type of work of a specified degree. We may even conceive drugs as constituting a separate world of their own specified field and function, just as we have in our society doctors, lawyers, teachers and so on. As in our human world, no one individual is completely similar to nor can completely replace another. Similarly no drug can be a completely satisfactory substitute for another. It should, therefore, be our object to study drugs as individuals and completely grasp their full individual characteristics so that at the right time we may call upon the right individual to do the right job. Symptoms evoked by a drug in the proving may seem unrelated to each other and even bizarre in nature. Yet, they have been produced by the particular substance owing to the impact of its own individuality on a particular organism which had been functioning in a coordinated and harmonious manner before the proving was done - the set of symptoms have been produced on account of an organised disturbance caused by the drug. Therefore, even though the symptoms appear to be parts of a jig-saw puzzle, if the essential personality of the drug is grasped, the various features will fit into a harmonious pattern. Therefore, the study of the action of the drug, viz., the Materia Medica should be done in an intelligent and imaginative manner. Pulford writes, "We must not merely teach our students to simply read the Materia Medica so that they may get just what little out of it they can but we must teach them how to study it, just what they must look for in a drug and how to find it. Our Materia Medica is vast, and the worst of it is that it is only a very small portion of what is to follow when the unfolding of Homoeopathy is completed; no single mind can grasp it; it staggers all newcomers who approach it, and it Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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means no more than a vast amount of words to them, meaningless in their import, and thus a barrier. But with a charted map one can traverse the paths of what seems a vast tractless wilderness, with some degree of intelligence surely, and benefit." Diechmann says, "And we do not want to get the remedy diagnosis from physiological consideration but from the drug picture. Yet in modern medicine we must construct on the physical data, then the facts of the Materia Medica will stick more firmly in our minds and sometimes with very similar drug pictures it may be made easier to choose the right direction. It remains a matter of personal inclination how one creates order and lucidity in the compartments of one's brain." Schwartz writes, "To study the Materia Medica so that one will not fall into some rut and become one-sided and weak in his armour of defence against disease, requires many methods of study. "It is to be admitted that for the first years of study each remedy should be studied alone until a vivid picture is obtained of its general characteristics, so that the physician would readily recognise in the symptoms of the sick individual the corresponding similia of some proven drug." In our efforts to study and understand the complete individuality of the drug, we should naturally proceed as we would do when we deal with a sick individual, for to the homoeopath the drug-picture and disease-picture are only counter-images of each other. Individuality comprises of the special inherited characteristic features moulded, altered or added to by the particular circumstances and influences to which each person is exposed. We have to study, understand, unravel and interpret the congenial and acquired attributes of the individual, subsequently modified by the circumstances. Every individual is to be studied in his own surroundings, in his own background, his actions and reactions being interpreted in that light. In absolutely the same way, we have to know, study and understand every facet of the make-up of each drug, to see if that could offer some clue to explain the peculiar activity of that drug.
Such aspects as the morphology, habitat, physical and chemical properties, family relationships, group tendencies, elective affinities, the identity of substances, the sources and origin with particular reference to the nature of and behaviour of the original substance (mineral, plant or animal), traditional uses, physiological and toxic effects, medicinal and non-medicinal uses, etc., should be considered and analysed. Every piece of information that may enhance our understanding of the drugs should be collected and collated.
That morphology may offer some clue towards the action of the drug is a most ancient idea, from which arose the doctrine of signatures. This doctrine has been sufficiently ridiculed but, perhaps, it was not entirely baseless. The shape of the plants and animals, their size, colour, structure, etc., reflect their individuality. Even the crystals of various minerals ultimately assume the same shape and pattern with the result that we are able to recognise the original substance by looking at one microscopical part of it. So also is their individuality reflected in their actions (effects). If such is the case, if the shape and pattern as well as the actions reflect the individuality, is it not possible that the two are inter-related in a way we are unable comprehend or explain? The aspect of the Thuja patient, who has the waxiness and build resembling the plant, is but a crude instance of such a conception. Boger, writing on this subject, says, "The doctrine of signatures has been derided and is said to rest upon pure fancy but I know of no accident in nature and everything has an adequate cause; hence we should not be too ready to attribute such things to mere coincidences. Such correspondences are too numerous as well as too striking to be lightly passed over. It seems rather a case of not knowing just what they mean or what the real connection is. "At the risk of seeming to ask hard questions we may inquire why the time of the honey bee's greatest activity corresponds closely to that of the Apis aggravation? Why the poison of the sleepy surukuku snake is most active a little while after falling to sleep? Why Kali bichromicum crystals become tough on exposure to the air? Why the twining Convulvulucae cause twisting intestinal colics, etc., etc." The juice of Chelidonium is yellow, resembling bile, and it is one of the well-known remedies for jaundice and liver diseases; Corallium rubrum, the red coral cures red chancres. Boger further writes: "In the life history of every substance there is a mark which points towards its application. The doctrine of signatures is not all fancy even if correspondences have mostly been found in forms, a little understood subject. Striking things have their counterparts and their mutual connection is made clearer through symptomatology. While the indications include subjective, objective, anamnesic and environmental effects, drug symptoms are also made up of much more than has been recorded and we read much between the lines." Clarke says, "Every mineral, every plant and every animal has its own living principle embodied in its form. The form is the expression of the principle. In a number of cases, the nature of the principle can be read from its form, and has been thus read correctly by primitive people from time out of mind. The common names of plants embody these character-readings; "Worm wood", "Worm seed", "Squaw root", "Snake-root" are a few samples. Arnica had been named Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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"Fall Kraut" before Hahnemann discovered its power to produce bruises, and Bellis perennis, our Daisy (Day's eye), had been named "Eye bright", and Symphytum (which in Greek means: grow together) commonly known as "Comfrey" (from "confirm", which is the Latin counterpart of the Greek name, and means the same thing) had received its name "Bone-set or Bone-knit"- all before Hahnemann's time. Konig remarks, "The more we attempt to enter into the often impenetrable maze of the homoeopathic materia and try to bring order into the abundance and apparent random choice of all the symptoms, the more we feel the need for a new doctrine of signatures." Habitat has a great part in such moulding. Members of the animal and vegetable kingdom acquire certain properties by virtue of the soil and climate wherein they flourish, the quantity and quality of nourishment, water and sunlight they receive, etc. In this respect, they may be compared to human beings whose characteristics, habits and reactions are often moulded by the circumstances and environment of their life. Animals and even plants develop special methods of sustenance and self-protection suitable to the areas wherein they reside. One would almost think them to be human and that their behaviour is as much the result of intelligence as of instinct. All these inherited and acquired virtues and defects go to make up the individuality of the substance which is reflected in its actions and reactions. It is also considered by some that substances available on the spot are usually found most suitable to diseases arising in that area, as for example, Arnica montana which grows in mountainous areas, is useful for exertion and after-effects of mountain climbing, as also for the injuries sustained by climbers from falls. Aconite grows in dry soil and its symptoms are worse in dry weather. The idea is that the influences which go to produce the diseases peculiar to the place, also go to mould the drugs peculiar to the place which may prove useful for such types of diseases. The physical and chemical properties of a drug may be reflected themselves its symptoms. The yellow and red colour of Phos. reminds us of its action on the liver producing jaundice and its haemorrhagic properties. You must have observed that most substances with a strong smell like Ambra grisea, Asafoetida, Crocus, Moschus, Nux moschata, Valerian, etc., are hysterical remedies *. The chemical composition of substances often explains their action, e.g. the action of Spongia resembles that of Iodum closely, the latter being a constituent of the former substance. Both are better by eating. Ledermann says that the iodine component of Spongia can account for its effect on swellings of the testicle and epididymis. Lycopodium contains sulphur and hence much of its similarity to Sulphur; the close relationship of Pulsatilla and Kali-s, arises from the fact that Pulsatilla contains potassium sulphate. Lycopodium contains both Silica and Aluminium and has symptoms of both the drugs such as diffidence, constipation with soft but difficult stool, etc.; Antimonium crudum contains sulphur and it has similar aversion to and aggravation from bath and heat. Allium cepa also contains sulphur and has similar acrid discharge. Both Graphites and Petroleum contain carbon and have similar symptoms like Carbo vegetabilis. Graphites contains in addition 3% of iron and has several symptoms of Ferrum in its pathogenesis. Kreosote also contains carbon and has black, offensive, burning discharges. Nux vomica contains copper and has all the spasms and cramps of Cuprum. Both Nux-v and Ignatia contain strychnine and produce similar convulsions. Belladonna contains Magnesium phosphate, and has spasms and pains. That marvellous teacher, Hubbard **, writes, "To simplify Materia Medica conning, one must ponder on the elements of which all other substances and man is made; one must analyse plants into their component simple substances, at least the predominant ones and feel one's way into the relationship of remedies. Who is not helped by knowing that Lachesis contains much sulphur or Lyc. lot of alumina? or Bell. some magnesium phosphoricum, and Nux vomica a share of copper?" Lapis albus is nothing but Calcium silico-fluoride and so covers tumours of bones. Pulsatilla contains Iron and both Pulsatilla and Ferrum have many common symptoms and are indicated in anaemic patients who are better by slow motion. Borax being Sodium Biborate belongs to the Natrum family and has similar aggravation from noise. Causticum, being a potassium compound has the weakness of the Kali group, extending to paralysis. Grimmer says Merc-s contains traces of Nitric acid; both are aggravated at night and are prominently anti-syphilitic. Analysing the action of salts Stonham says, "The analysis showed that in all cases the basic element predominates in its salt. The salt is more than the sum of the qualities of the elements that compose it. We may perhaps infer that the chlorides work in the direction of the arterial system, the bromides of the sexual organs, the iodides of the lymphatics and glands, and the phosphates of the skeletal and nervous systems, while the sulphates have a more general influence on the system generally. It may be that when we have a more certain knowledge of the correlation of the physiological action of drugs with their chemical structure, we shall be able to make a better prediction of the therapeutic value of their combinations." The family and group tendencies are also prominent, such as the sadness of the Natrums, the weakness of the Kalis, the neuralgic pains of the Magnesium family, the sluggishness of the Carbons, the glandular affections of the Halogens, the prostration of the Acids and so on." Further, a unique phenomenon exists in the field of chemistry, which Dr. Otto Leeser has explained in his book, that when all the elements of the mineral kingdom from Hydrogen onwards to Uranium are arranged in the order of their atomic Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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weights (periodical table), every seventh element falls into the same group and exhibits similar chemical properties. The members of these groups of elements also exhibit similar drug effects in their provings. Under elective affinities, I wish to draw attention to the fact that most substances seem to have a strong affinity for certain tissues or locations. For example, Apis and Thuja seem to act well on ovoid organs like the kidneys, ovaries, testes, etc. Argentum metallicum acts on the cartilages, Bryonia on serous membranes, Cactus on circular muscle fibres, Capsicum on the mastoid process, Ceanothus on the spleen, Chelidonium on the liver, Digitalis on the heart, Euphrasia on the salivary and sweat glands, Kali-c on the lumbar region, Lachnanthes on the sternocleidomastoid muscle, Manganum on the ears, Nitric acid on muco-cutaneous junctions, Onosmodium on the female organs, Phytolacca on the mammary glands, Quercus on the spleen, Ruta on the periosteum, Sabal serrulata on the prostate, Staphysagria on the sphincters and genitalia, Terebinth on the kidneys, Ustilago on the hair and nails, Vipera on the veins, Xanthoxylum on the nervous system, Yohimbin on the sexual organs, Zincum on the brain and so on. By the identity of substances is meant the knowledge of what they actually are. Sometimes the homoeopathic Materia Medica is studied without a proper knowledge of the identity of the substances studied. One who has seen the jelly-like content of Aloe leaves will remember the identical nature of the discharges produced and removed by the drug; one who has eaten the root-tubers of the Arum plant (Yam) especially in the raw or partly cooked state, will not forget the terrible rawness accompanied by great itching that it produces in the throat. Mercury on being dropped, scatters itself in a restless manner reminding us of the restless patient requiring Mercurius solubilis. Can we not understand the lachrymation and coryza of Allium cepa when we know it is the onion that has made cooks lachrymose? Similarly, we can appreciate the foetid discharges of Asafoetida; the pride under Platinum, a most expensive, and therefore proud, metal; the aggravation from petrol fumes and car sickness of Petroleum; the burning redness and pungency of Capsicum, the Cayenne pepper, etc., etc.
Sources and origin

Knowledge of the source and origin of substances helps much. Sulphur comes from burning lava of the volcanoes and produces much burning. Amphisboena is prepared from the jaw bone of the lizard and acts markedly on the jaw. For substances of animal origin, quite often the behaviour and habits of the animals give a clue to their actions and uses. It is said that the Lachesis snake coils itself always from left to right, in which direction the symptoms of the drug also travel. One who has read about the habits of the Tarentula spider and its toxicological effects will easily comprehend the cunningness and quickness of the spider reflected in its symptomatology. Persons bitten become more or less insane every spring and then, on hearing the least musical sound, start dancing wildly. Though the music thus aggravates their condition at first, later they feel greatly relieved after they continuously dance for three or four days and become thoroughly exhausted. This is why, in homoeopathic repertories, this drug is given under the rubrics "Agg. from music" and "Amel. from music and dancing". The fact that the halogens, Bromine, Chlorine, Fluorine and Iodine as well as Spongia come from the sea explains their common characteristics and the influence of the sea on their symptoms. So also is the effect of the sea-shore exhibited in drugs like Nat-m, and Sepia, which originate from the sea. We can also appreciate the fact that animal poisons (like Lachesis and Apis), poison the mind and produce suspicion and doubt; that substances found together in nature like Carb-v and Kali-c, Selenium and Sulphur, Arsenic and Phosphorus, Cadmium and Zinc, are similar in symptomatology; that Belladonna grows in Calcareous soil and hence the close relationship between Belladonna and Calcarea. The very touch of the Spanish fly Cantharis produces a blister and it is thus a remedy for burns. The nature of the drug is also very useful. Drosera is an insectivorous plant. Whenever any fly sits on the leaf, the leaf slowly closes, imprisons the fly and secretes a juice which is able to digest the fly. It is also able to similarly dissolve bones and glands as in tuberculosis. Further, sheep eating Drosera leaves develop a nocturnal cough and die. Dro. is a well-known remedy for cough at night and for tubercular glands. The plant Rhus tox is said to be most poisonous in rainy weather and the symptoms of that drug are worse in that weather. Pulsatilla, also known as the wind flower, is a remedy for women who are reputedly changeable like the wind. Nat-m being salt produces a lot of thirst. Potassium has a toxic effect on the heart and Kali-c presents many heart symptoms. The traditional and other uses of drugs also give much information. Bellis perennis (Daisy) is used as a remedy for injuries. Even after being trampled upon, the flowers come up smiling. Aloe has been traditionally used for inducing abortion because it is able to bring out everything involuntarily, including the stools and the rectum. Bufo has been made use of to produce impotence by women who find their husbands sexually overactive. Stramonium has been given to produce insanity, Opium has been used to produce constipation and a sense of well-being and when these symptoms are found in the sick, it is able to cure. Coffee is taken to produce insomnia, e.g. by students preparing for examination, and it is our Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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well-known remedy for insomnia. Nux moschata is used by village women to keep their children quiet and drowsy while they go away for work. Cannabis indica is taken by addicts to experience glorious delusions and phantasies. Carb-v is used in modern medicine for flatulence since it has the capacity to absorb 40 times its volume of gas. Mercurius solubilis is used in the thermometers and barometers to indicate the changes of temperature and weather; Merc-s patients also react as quickly to such changes. Belladonna (Bella = beautiful, Donna = lady) was being used by women to produce brightness of the eyes and red cheeks so that they may look attractive. It produces all these symptoms in the sick, along with hot head and cold extremities. The dilated pupil * results in photophobia and the patient sees also visions as in Calcarea carb. Calc-c is the chronic complementary of Belladonna and it also has dilated pupils, hot head and cold extremities. Curare the famous arrow poison is used to catch animals alive since it paralyses the hind legs of running animals. Coca is a well-known remedy for the effects of mountain climbing. One traveller gives a remarkable incident showing the stimulant effect of the narcotic. He says, "An Indian was employed by me for very laborious digging; for five days he never tasted a mouthful of food nor took more than two hours of sleep at night, but at intervals of two to three hours he regularly chewed about a half ounce of coca leaves. Following this he travelled for two days across the high plains, keeping up with my mule, only halting to take his coca. At the end of this time he expressed himself willing to engage for a like amount of work and that without food if I would furnish him sufficient coca leaves. The village priest affirmed that he was sixty-two years of age and had never been known to be sick a day... " Even when a knowledge of these various properties and features is unable to give us a comprehensive idea of the action of a drug, the essential symptoms of a drug may be remembered by an association of ideas and through hypothetical explanations. Such association of ideas and hypothetical explanations may not stand the test of scientific scrutiny but to the extent they may enable us to remember the symptoms, they will prove useful. For aiding the memory while learning, memorizing or teaching the Materia Medica, we can freely make use of mnemonics, e.g. Bry. is Dry (i.e. it has much thirst). Opium which comes from Poppy has P.P. P. (i.e. pin-pointed pupils). Podo. has Profuse, Putrid, Painless, Prostrating diarrhoea with Prolapse. Rhus-t is like a rusty hinge, i.e. worse on beginning motion; Apis had adipsia; Capsicum (the chilli) has generalised chilliness with local burning. Apis is derived from the honey bee. The queen bee is a most jealous creature, so jealous that after cohabitation with a male bee, it kills the drone because it cannot tolerate the idea of the drone having relationship with some other female bee, with the result that it is itself widowed. Apis is a remedy for the effects of jealousy and for widows. About the interpretations and explanations of the general actions of the drugs and their manifestations in various parts of the body, we no doubt find many precious hints, descriptions and explanations scattered in the writings of various authors, esp. Kent, Dunham, Farrington, Tyler, Wheeler, Neatby and Stonham, and Otto Leeser. Farrington writes: "We include all the symptoms that we observe. Then what have we? A mass of symptoms seeming to have no connection at all. They come from an organism that is all order and perfection, and all the parts of which are in perfect harmony. When even one of these parts is out of order, then there must be a certain clue to string these effects together and picture a form of disease." So it is the stringing together that would help the beginner much but a task that is not completely done. To quote Dr. Wheeler, "Homoeopathy is primarily concerned with practice. If a symptom can be held to be the result of a drug-effect on the human body, then that symptom appearing in disease is an indication for the remedy. We may explain symptoms in various ways but their worth as pointers to a good prescription remains unaltered. "But to attempt to explain the possible mechanism of symptoms has value in that it may show relationship that makes possible symptom groupings. The memory is aided and it is conceivable if (or when) a fuller knowledge is available that a realisation of relationship will take the place of much more laborious symptom matching by enabling one or two observations to imply the whole picture. But while that day is far off, no apology is needed for an attempt to explain the why and wherefore of characteristic drug-symptoms." Thus Wheeler proceeds to explain the symptoms and attempts to give them a physiologico-pathological basis so that the medical student can comprehend the picture fully. I shall also adduce some examples. Conium has symptoms such as "Great aversion to light without redness", "Agg. by seeing moving objects" and "Seasickness". Now if one can remember that Conium produces paralytic states, the whole thing is apparently explained. The paralysis of visual accommodation might be the cause of photophobia (without redness), and the inability to quickly accommodate to different distances may result in the aggravation from seeing moving objects (and also looking out from moving vehicles) and aggravation by turning the head quickly; the sickness at sea may also be added to by looking at the constantly moving waves. The constipation of Opium in the provings is not surprising when one knows that the drug produces profound depression of motor and sensory nerves and inhibits secretion. The inhibition of secreting glands may result in dryness of the Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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alimentary tract and even when the rectum is full there may be no sensory impulses sent to the central nervous system; and again the expulsive power is lacking. The urinary suppression, and retention are also explained by the lack of secretion, insensibility, etc. The pathogenesis of Ip. and Ant-t contains dyspnoea, cough, vomiting, etc., possibly because they affect the vagus nerve, which supplies the respiratory passages and lungs, stomach, diaphragm and heart. The great congestion of the pelvic organs in Sepia must be responsible for the aggravation before menses, during coition, pregnancy, abortions, puerperium, menopause, etc., all of which produce congestion of pelvic organs. The ptosis of the organs owing to the atony of the muscles and ligaments result in prolapses and may be responsible for the sense of internal emptiness. Lachesis has agg. from touch and amel. by pressure. Hence in throat conditions swallowing of liquids and saliva aggravates, while deglutition of solid food causes relief owing to the pressure exerted. In Stramonium there is both agg. and amel. from light because the dilation of the pupils results in photophobia but in the mind there is a terror of darkness. This is why it has been described that the patient prefers to lie in a lighted room with his eyes turned towards the darkest corner. Besides the use of the above data, we may even remember the symptomatology of a drug by imaginatively interlinking its symptoms and by visualising the underlying pattern. Let us take the example of Silica. Silica forms the major part of the earth's crust, upto 120 miles deep down. Just like the earth's crust, the Silica patient also gets heated and cooled easily and is agg. by heat and cold. The Silica patients are also characterised by deficiency somewhere and excess somewhere else. The head and abdomen are big and the body and limbs emaciated. There may be defective growth of bones, e.g. rickets, but there may also be exostoses; defective healing or excessive granulation; softening or liquefaction of hard tissue like bones, e.g. caries, or hardening of soft tissues like glands; weakening of fibre resulting in shyness and timidity, but strong will-power causing stubborness. In this last, it resembles their hair, which looks thin and yielding but is actually very strong, and of which Silica is a constituent. As the patient is stubborn, so do we find stubborn suppurations, ulcerations, sinuses, fistulae, etc. Silica has a peculiar lack of grit, the inability to carry out any task fully. This is even reflected in the constipation, where the rectum expels the stool but not fully, so that the stool recedes back. This has been called the bashful (shy) stool. Still more examples may be adduced to show how the personality of drugs can be comprehended by widening our horizon and trying to study all aspects of the drugs. But sufficient has been said to convey the idea. Such valuable hints, clues and pieces of information lie scattered all over homoeopathic literature, and it would take quite a long time for one to go through all these sources. If these details could be collected and presented in an interesting manner *, the beginner will have less difficulty in grasping the individuality of the drugs. To the eager reader who wishes to follow this line of study of the Materia Medica, I may suggest the following literature: Boericke William : Pocket Manual of Materia Medica Boger C.M. : Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica Clarke J.H. : Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica Farrington E.A. : Clinical Materia Medica Kent J.T. : Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica Neatby and Stonham : A Manual of Homoeo-Therapeutics Lesser Otto : Text Book of Homoeopathic Materia Medica Pierce W.I. : Plain talks on Materia Medica Tyler Margaret : Homoeopathic Drug Pictures Wheeler C.E. : An Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Homoeopathy Wright Elizabeth : A Brief Study Course in Homoeopathy Besides the above, I would also suggest to the reader to go through the various Materia Medica studies of Otto Leeser and D.M. Gibson in the British Homoeopathic Journal, of William Guttman in the Journal of the American Institute of Homoeopathy and Hubbard and Whitmont in the Homoeopathic Recorder.
Random notes on some remedies

As we practise Homoeopathy and are blessed with increasing success, our appreciation of Hahnemann turns into admiration, respect and reverence for his genius in discovering this method by sheer force of logic and experiment, in an age of ignorance and superstition, abounding as it was in bigoted quacks. The results of a few infinitesimal doses of the similimum, as compared with the effects of the large violent doses of the other systems, are simply delightful to watch and experience. To the convert especially, Homoeopathy is like an oasis and provides a cool refreshing drink after a hot and tiresome travel in the desert of palliative and suppressive drugging. Our repeated successes not only confirm the Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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correctness of the similia principle but also provide verifications of the drug symptoms contained in the Materia Medica. The words of the Materia Medica begin to assume shape and take on life and form and the prescriber is able to see in actual practice what he has read in words. He thus becomes gradually acquainted with the drugs. First, when he meets them, he gathers an introduction, then a nodding acquaintance; as he meets them more and more in their various moods, he develops an intimate friendship and gets an insight into their make-up and personality. In course of time he is able to identify them more easily by their gait, speech, mannerisms, dress, behaviour, etc. Ultimately he can recognise them even if they are disguised. Thus, to the experienced homoeopath, the symptomatology of the drugs, which at first reading had appeared unconnected and even meaningless, slowly takes on some definite form and shape, at first blurred but gradually more clear-cut and distinct. His own mental images or concepts of remedies are naturally moulded, shaped or warped by the nature, extent and types of the cases he comes across, and since the experience of no two physicians can be exactly the same, it is quite understandable that these concepts of remedies in the minds of various homoeopaths, while being in general form identical, are likely to vary much in details. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to exchange our own concepts with those of others, for one's own impressions might prove new and useful to others. So, here follows a serie of rambling thoughts on some remedies. The reader who wishes to get more coherent and comprehensive pictures of the drugs should refer to standard books on Materia Medica. These notes were originally published in the Indian and foreign homoeopathic journals and I am grateful to the Editors for their kind permission to reprint them.
Alumina
Alumina is not a remedy that is being used very often in homoeopathic practice but when one comes across the symptomatology of Alumina in a patient, one should carefully enquire if aluminium vessels are being used in the kitchen. It
is well-known that in patients from cities, constipation is a common feature and very often patients give a history that they are forced to strain very hard at stool even though the stool is very soft. While this symptom might remind us of the remedy Alumina, it should also stimulate us to enquire about the use of aluminium vessels. Even if aluminium is not being used in the kitchen in the house, quite a large number of people in the city take their lunch outside and in restaurants. The use of aluminium vessels for cooking has become very widespread all over the world because they are very light, become easily heated and are economical. There is no doubt that the aluminium from these containers gets gradually dissolved and ingested along with the food. Though a number of people may remain immune, it is certain that some people suffer severely from its effects, whether these effects are toxic or allergic. The role of aluminium in the causation of disease is not properly appreciated but anyone who has followed the investigations of Dr. Le Hunte Cooper, published in his various articles, will keep his eyes wide open for this source of trouble. Dr. Cooper, whose persistent and deep study of the problem is most admirable, in a learned article gives numerous instances of such reactions and sufferings. The booklet, "Aluminium, a Menace to Health" by Mark Clements also makes a strong case against the use of aluminium vessels. We are well aware that the cause of diseases should be traced and removed and/or neutralised and, therefore, one has to make careful enquiry in this respect to eliminate the possibility of aluminium contaminating the food. Among the numerous symptoms which suggest the possibility of aluminium contamination in the kitchen are two noteworthy ones. One is itching of the eyelids and especially the inner canthi, and another constipation where the patient has to strain hard even though the stool is very soft. The elimination of aluminium containers itself, where it is being used, often brings about improvement. I may quote from my experience one such case. "Mr. A.V. D., aged 18 years, consulted me for circular, bilateral and symmetrical patches of eruptions in both the feet below the ankles existing for two months. There was some itching with exudation of thin fluid on scratching and also formation of white scales. The patient was very fond of sweets and milk. He had constipation and had to strain for stool although it was soft. On enquiry, I found that aluminium vessels were used in his kitchen. Thereupon, I merely advised him to discard these and gave him no medicine. In nine days' time, he reported to me that the itching was much less and that the eruptions had started fading. In a month's time, without any medicine whatsoever, the patches had practically vanished though not completely. One dose of Morgan (Bach) 30 * removed the remnants." Incidentally, I have a feeling that many cases of skin disease, so common in modern times, may be due to the use of aluminium vessels. Alumina seems to be a most deep-acting drug and it has considerable resemblance to Causticum and to Lycopodium (Lycopodium pollen contain aluminium). It produces both paralysis and anaesthesia as well as paraesthesia. I have seen one or two cases of Alumina who had a craving for and aggravation from potatoes. One of my patients who needed Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Alumina, a young man of 28, used to eat raw rice by the handfuls. I was once able to cure a case of epilepsy where the patient reported to me that he got more seizures in summer and if he took potatoes. A very delightful case treated by me with Alumina is worth narrating. Mr. G.V. P., aged 51, consulted me on 15th April 1954 with the following history. In 1942, he had had an attack of Korsakoff's Psychosis. He was a cashier in the Railways, and one day he brought home all the office cash which was a considerable amount and told his wife that it was the money a friend had given to him for safe keeping. Next day, he did not go to office since he did not remember where he was employed but he explained to his wife that it was a holiday. When he did not turn up for work, and as at the same time, so much cash was missing, the police were informed and they turned up at his house. When the truth came out and his peculiar behaviour became known, he was taken to the mental hospital where he became violent but after three weeks' confinement he became all right. In 1946, a second and similar attack occurred with defect in locomotion and other symptoms. He also developed a delusion that his friend had killed his child. This time he was examined by a good physician and it was diagnosed as a case of subacute combined degeneration of the cord. He was advised to continue liver extract injections daily for lifetime. Since then he has been regularly taking the injections. He became mentally sound and physically slightly better but otherwise his condition had remained stationary. When I examined him, he had a sense of weakness in the ankles and a sense of heaviness in the legs, but the soles felt numb and he felt as if he was walking on cotton or on a spring. On standing up, he was unable to move immediately, nor could he walk fast. He felt as if there was no life or strength in the nerves and in the chest. He could bear neither heat nor cold. He could not walk or stand with eyes closed. Previous history: In his younger days, his father had troubled him much and had driven him out of the house. Blood examination on 10.4.54 showed Kahn +++. I gave him a dose of Syphilinum 1M on 15.04.54 and advised him to discontinue the injections of liver extract. He experienced considerable improvement. The numbness and heaviness decreased markedly. On 20.07.54, the whole symptom-picture returned and I then gave him Syphilinum CM. He continued to progress were till 08.09.1954. His Kahn then showed one +. I now repertorized his case on Ken't Repertory and Boger's Synoptic Key with the following rubrics: Vertigo agg. closing eyes (K.p. 88); Agg. speaking (B.S. K.p. 28); Numbness of sole (K.p. 1043); Heaviness of lower limbs (K.p. 1015). It worked out to Alumina. I gave him Alumina 1M, 1dose and this produced remarkable improvement till 16.10.54. With this dose, he said he found "tremendous amount of good". He was able to walk much better, the feeling of walking on cotton became much less. Blood examination showed Kahn negative. I had to repeat the medicine on 16.10.54 and again on 24.06.55. Every time after the dose, he felt completely normal for several months. Unfortunately he went out of my observation and I could not check up on his further progress. But I am satisfied the Alumina did him "a lot of good". I was also pleased that he was able to discontinue the daily injections of liver extract and in its place got better improvement with 5 doses of medicine given during a period of 14 months.
Ammonium carbonicum
I was not using Am-c much and I used to wonder because the famous Dr. Benoyotosh Bhattacharya of Baroda had stated in a book that Am-c is one of the six gems among the homoeopathic medicines. Recently, a girl aged 18 years came to me suffering from repeated attacks of asthma agg. at new moon, agg. before menses, with cough agg. lying on the right side. I studied her case and came to three remedies, viz. Am-c, Lyc., and Sulph. Because Am-c had the respiratory symptoms, I gave her this remedy and she became completely well. We were giving her a dose about once in 15 days. Now she has been completely well for over one year. I studied Am-c more closely and I was surprised to note that it is given in innumerable rubrics. It seems to cover many cases of Asthma. Many times I find that when we are using Ars., we ought to be using Am-c. Carb-v is a reaction remedy. We give Carb-v in chronic respiratory conditions where the reaction is poor. But actually, Am-c seems to act better than Carb-v as a remedy to promote reaction. For patients with coryza, who have obstruction of the nose at night, I used to give Ars. with some relief. When I looked into Kent's Repertory under the rubric "Nose, Obstructed, night", I found only three remedies in bold type, viz. Am-c, Lyc. and Nux-v. I gave Am-c and found that it gave much more relief than Ars. I had another very interesting case. "A boy aged 16 years, was extremely fat. 223 lbs in weight. Obesity is a symptom of Am-c though it is not given in Kent's Repertory under the rubric "Obesity". This boy had non-healing ulcers in the feet for many months. He used to spend money lavishly. If his father gave him some pocket money he would waste it. He would take a taxi and go round two or three times. Or he would take his friends to a paan shop and buy everybody a one Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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rupee paan. He had excessive thirst for cold drinks. He would tell lies. He would often stammer. Am-c covered most symptoms. I gave him Am-c and all the symptoms improved." Since Am-c has 3 a.m. aggravation and is agg. by dampness, I think it might be more useful than Kali-c in Bombay. Am-c is very useful in old age. We give Carb-v to old people but Am-c may be equally good. You will find in the Repertory under "Obesity in old people", only Kali-c but Am-c also covers obesity and old people. So, many times when we give Kali-c, we have to consider if Am-c would be better. I have treated two other interesting cases: "Mrs. J.R. K., aged 49, consulted me on 9th April 1975 for rheumatic pains in joints, more on the right side of the body, worse in winter, worse by rest, better by motion. Recently, she gets pains in the right hip and pulsating, cramping and electric shock-like pains in right leg shooting down, worse at night between 1 and 3 a.m. She has to walk about to get relief or her husband has to press and massage the part. She is depressed in cloudy weather. Dreams of ghosts. The pains are in spots, moving or wandering and are associated with heat and redness. She gets angry when contradicted. Weeps easily and feels better. Used to weep while telling symptoms. She was disappointed with some relatives as she felt cheated. She had been given Rho. 10M, Sulph. 1M, Puls. 10M, Bry. 10M, Rhus-t 10M and Syph. 10M by some homoeopath without any relief. Her case was worked out with the following symptoms: Cloudy weather agg. Side right Pains, Wandering Motion amel. Rubbing amel. Pressure amel. Anger from contradiction. The only remedy to come through was Am-c. Am-c also covered the background of grief, dreams of ghosts, etc. She was given Am-c 30, t.i. d. and she felt 25% better within a week. Thereafter, Am-c was repeated in various potencies ranging from 200 to 50M and she became 95% better. The rest was removed by Puls."
Arnica montana
If an allopathic physician is to be induced and introduced to study or practise homoeopathic medicine, the first remedy that I would recommend to him to study or use would be Arnica because this remedy is very simple to prescribe in case of injuries. When a person is injured, Arnica can be given without going into the detailed symptomatology and in quite a number of cases it is able to give relief. So the allopathic physician is able to use it easily and see the results. Later on, he can go into the philosophy of Homoeopathy and study and practise it the way it should be done. Whenever a person has been injured, not only the acute effects but even the chronic effects of this injury can be removed by Arnica, whatever its nature may be. I remember very well a lady who had developed a lipoma in the gluteal region after a fall. With few doses of Arnica, the size of the lipoma reduced considerably. Arnica is not only a remedy for the ill-effects of injury but also for the effects of overexertion. We know in this highly competitive society, every person specialises in the use of some particular organ, e.g. a typist or pianist has to continuously use his fingers, a singer his vocal cords, a trumpeter his lungs, an athlete his limbs, a proof reader his eyes and so on. All these persons can have relief from Arnica when they suffer due to the overexertion of particular limbs or organs. I once had a cricket player as my patient. This person used to start batting well but would soon become tired and get out. When he went to Australia with his team I gave him some doses of Arnica to be taken before and during the play. With these doses he was able to bat so well that I received a cable from his team-mates in Australia asking me to send the same medicine for all the eleven players! I once treated a girl suffering from Asthma which she had developed after overexertion. She had climbed a mountain with a party of her schoolmates. They made a bet as to who would reach the top quickest. This girl went ahead of everyone but after that she had developed Asthma. I saw her two years after the event and Arnica completely cured her. Sometimes Arnica relieves or cures a case in which there is history of an injury, however remote, and even though there seems no apparent cause-and-result relationship between the injury and the disorder. "Mr. A.D. C,. aged 38 years, consulted me for loss of vision in Aug. 1973. One morning on waking he found that he had lost his vision in the left eye. He consulted an eye specialist. It was diagnosed as due to vitreous haemorrhage. He took some vitamin injections and became well. The condition, however, relapsed after sometime and this time vitamins did not help. Now he had very little vision in the left eye. He could see vaguely the lateral part of the visual field. His blood sugar curve was normal. He gave a history that his left eye had been hurt by a stone in childhood. I asked him to consult an eye Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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specialist. The eye specialist's opinion was "Vitreous haemorrhage in the left eye. The fundus could not be seen. Vision is reduced to perception of projection of light only for the left eye. Rt. eye is normal." Because of the old history of injury and the haemorrhage, I put him on Arnica 30, three times a day. After one month he told me that he was suddenly finding 2 or 3 big spots of clear vision through which he was able to see. And these spots of vision gradually enlarged. The same medicine was continued and later, on 15.06.74 he was put on Arnica 200, daily one dose, which was continued upto 17.07.74. He was then able to read big letters like the headlines in the newspapers. Arnica 200 was continued and from 11.11.75 he was put on Arnica 1M, weekly one dose. In Jan. 1976, his office people offered to buy for him a scooter, if his vision was normal. He wanted from me a certificate that his vision was normal. As I felt that I was incompetent to give such a certificate, I sent him back to the eye specialist. The eye specialist examined him and certified that his vision was completely normal. So he was given the scooter by his office and this made him extremely happy." "I was consulted for Mrs. I.R. , aged 61 years, who had met with an accident days earlier. She had been knocked down by a scooter and had since then been comatose or semicomatose. She had been admitted in a hospital and treated but her condition had deteriorated and the attending physician had then said that the prognosis was bad, but that there was a small chance if she was operated immediately because he thought that it was due to a clot in the brain. Somehow, the relatives of the patient were not ready to submit her to an operation. So they decided to try Homoeopathy and I was called. When I saw her, she was semicomatose. If she was shaken and asked to protrude her tongue she would slowly open her eyes, pause and then respond slowly. Then she would lapse into coma. She could not speak. Since her bladder was not working, a catheter had been kept in. Her pupils were normal but not reacting to light. Because of the head injury and because she would respond and then lapse into drowsiness, I gave her Arnica 200, one hourly. Within 48 hours she was able to respond better, speak, and answer questions. Her coma was 50% better. Arnica 200 was then continued two hourly and after 4 days she was put on Arnica 1M, 3 hourly. She improved steadily. On the 12th day she felt an urge for urine and so the catheter was removed and she was able to pass urine by herself. She started complaining of severe pain in the bruised parts but later on this pain also came down. She then went home from the hospital. After going home she developed a rise of temperature. The urine showed 150 pus cells per field and the infection was attributed to the catheter having been retained in for many days. The symptoms indicated Lyc. With a few doses of Lyc. 30 the urinary infection also passed away. She is now quite well and is able to look after herself."
Arsenicum album
Ars. is a remedy which is most useful when indicated in a variety of conditions, from asthma to arthritis, coryza to cancer,
in the acute and chronic, benign or malignant conditions. Taking up my experience at the Govt. Homoeopathic Hospital I have to record that I have seen hundreds of cases of asthma and in nearly 50% of them Arsenic was found indicated. Originally it seemed to me that it could not be indicated in cases of asthma because asthmatic patients are aggravated by the least movement, whereas Arsenic patients are said to be better by movement. Very soon I realised that Arsenic is, of course, ameliorated by movement; but at the same time, it is aggravated by the least exertion, and movement is also a minor degree of exertion. This slight difference in interpretation gave a different angle and since then I have freely prescribed Ars. in cases of asthma and wherever it was indicated it gave results. Thus in the treatment of a condition very rarely near death or dissolution, Arsenic has been found indicated very often and found to act very well, too. Incidentally it may be noted that only in a minority of cases fear of death was found in the patients. Ars. has nausea at the smell and thought of food, a symptom often found in jaundice associated with prostration. Ars. is a well-known remedy for jaundice (as well as for yellow fever). Another remarkable symptom is blackness. The discharges, the skin (eruptions, ulcers, discolouration, gangrene), lips, etc., all turn black. Arsenic is an antidote to tobacco and I have noticed that most smokers have black lips. When the stools are black, the possibility of haemorrhage from the upper part of the digestive tract should be considered; here again Arsenic may be indicated. I remember an elderly lady whose nose for some unknown reason had become intensely black. It was black as a crow. The lady felt like dying of shame. Whenever she went out, she used to cover it with a kerchief. Getting no other indications, I gave her Ars. which completely cleared it up. She became immensely happy. Ars. has not only burning sensation but the skin also looks black as if seared. Therefore, it has been found very useful in Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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burns. Again in the treatment of extreme weakness amounting to prostration, especially after acute illnesses such as Influenza, where no other prominent indications are found beside the asthenia, Arsenic is found to be fairly effective. Where people complain of exhaustion without any other clear indications and without any apparent cause, Arsenic in low potencies does help. This seems to be such a wonderful drug, full of such wide possibilities and of benefit in such a wide range of diseases that I feel I could fill up three fat volumes only with Arsenic cases. But it not being my intention to give a full picture of the remedy, I only draw the reader's attention to some salient features. I also wish to draw attention to the mistake of putting undue emphasis on certain aspects of a remedy to the exclusion of other aspects. Greatest emphasis must be laid on one fact that seems to be widely misunderstood. Very often one is confronted with the question raised by brother homoeopaths: "How can you prescribe a drug when a symptom which is so characteristic of that remedy is absent? For example, how can you prescribe Arsenic when the patient has no fear of death?" The answer obviously is that the prescriber may expect all the characteristic symptoms of the patient to be present in the remedy but he should not expect all the characteristic symptoms of the remedy in any particular case; he will not overrule the choice of the remedy if it is otherwise well-indicated. Such absence can, at the most, have negative value only. If all the symptoms (given in the Materia Medica) of a drug, for example Arsenic be present in one patient, it is probable that he would commit suicide before he thinks of seeing a physician! When we notice how frequently this remedy seems to be needed in attacks of gastroenteritis and food poisoning, we are tempted to consider it almost as a specific for this condition. One of the keynotes is that whatever is ingested is vomited at once; and vomiting and diarrhoea occur often simultaneously. The effects of Arsenic seems to be rapid or sudden and intense, the emaciation, the weakness, prostration, the vomiting, etc., so that it is often needed in serious conditions and emergencies. Arsenic is one of the lifesavers. Indeed, in so many cases which are serious or desperate, when death seems round the corner, Arsenic is often indicated and saves lives. I shall now describe some cases of Arsenic that I have treated. "A child, aged 31/2 months, was brought to me for diarrhoea. The child at birth had weighed only 4 lbs. and so was given a Durabolin injection for increasing the weight. He developed diarrhoea. But still, a second injection was given. Immediately the diarrhoea became worse. The child became so dehydrated that he had to be admitted in hospital and various medicines were given along with intravenous fluid. The child improved but the diarrhoea continued. They consulted good pediatricians and gave further allopathic treatment for nearly a month. But the diarrhoea persisted. Ultimately, they came for Homoeopathy. When I saw the child, he presented the following main symptoms: Diarrhoea agg. drinking; stool excoriating. On these and other symptoms Ars. 200 was prescribed. The child became completely well within four days." "The next was the case of a navigator, aged 43 years, working in an international airlines company. He suddenly developed a sense of sinking with nervousness and fear of death which was very much worse if he smoked. It was also worse by loss of sleep. He had all sorts of imaginary fears. He was most unhappy flying because he feared the plane would crash. He developed also trembling, vertigo and various other symptoms suggestive of neurosis. He had been given tranquilizers with no effect. Ars. 1M was prescribed. This cleared up everything. He said that within 3 hours of the medicine he felt completely normal in mind and body. The medicine had to be repeated four or five times for relapses but every time it helped him." Even where a case is incurable, homoeopathic treatment relieves the suffering and affords a painless end. Arsenic is one of the medicines which can do this. "An elderly lady, aged 58 years, came for consultation in 1953. She had severe burning pain in left hypochondrium with restlessness of two or three months duration. The burning was better by hot applications. She could not lie on the left side. She used to take 2 to 3 sips of water every half an hour. On examination, there was a hard tender mass in the area. She also had history of bleeding P.R. She had already consulted some doctors who had done Ba. enema and had diagnosed the condition as carcinoma of the transverse colon near the splenic flexure. The case was beyond surgery and only symptomatic treatment had been advised. Various sedatives had been given without any effect. The indications for Ars. were clear and I gave her Ars. 30. The very first dose aggravated her condition and so I changed to Ars. 6, t.i. d. With three doses of this medicine she felt dramatic relief, she felt completely all right in a day or so, and so she stopped the medicines. She remained completely well for six months without taking another dose of medicine. Then, one night at 1 a.m. she woke up, read some religious book, then had a sudden attack of dyspnoea, and she collapsed and died." "On 24 October 1960, I saw Miss P.D. , aged 7 years, with the following history and symptoms: She had puffiness on the face and around the eyes for the last 5 months. Five months earlier she had gone to see the Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Ajanta caves and had taken some allopathic medicine but then had developed puffiness of the face. She then took homoeopathic treatment and felt better but the condition has relapsed. In the last 10 days, the swelling has increased and she has put up 7 lbs. in weight. The average daily fluid intake is 600 cc and output is 300 cc. Oedema slight on feet. Ascites. No appetite. Thirstless. Wants cold air, uncovering, etc. Puffiness on face agg. morning. I gave her Apis 1M, 3 doses. She felt no better and the next day consulted some other homoeopath. She felt much better on his treatment for some months but there was again a relapse and I was called again on the case. I saw her now on 09.03.61 and the condition was as follows: The urine showed plenty of albumin, casts, and RBCs. It had been diagnosed as Nephritis. An eminent pediatrician had seen her and had given a very grave prognosis and had advised immediate hospitalisation. She had puffiness++ around eyes, oedema of feet and general anasarca. The urine output was 180 cc. No thirst. Fruits especially sour oranges, and curds agg. the swelling. The smallest piece of orange or apple causes immediate and intense swelling over the body with oliguria. I took the agg. from sour foods and from fruits as characteristic along with the other symptoms. On referring to Kent's Repertory, I found Ars. and Fer. coming through. As I could not decide between Ars. and Fer. I gave her Fer-a, 3 doses 6 hourly. Next day she had urine 3-4 times and stools 3-4 times. Swelling reduced. Fer-a 30 was continued, daily once for a week. The urine still showed proteins, ketones, pus cells, R.B. Cs, hyaline and granular casts. But the patient continued to improve steadily. Now and then there were relapses or short periods of no improvement, but in general she responded to Fer-a 30 every time and showed good progress. As the condition improved, the doses of Fer-a were reduced, first to one dose every 24 hours, then one dose every 48 hours, then one dose every 72 hours and it was stopped ultimately after ten months after the urine showed N.A. D. She remained well and was able to take all items of food including sour fruits. Later on, she had a severe attack of measles but recovered from it without any trace of albumin in urine. Repeated urine examinations done at various intervals showed N.A. D. and two years later she was still well." The following was a case of multiple sclerosis treated by S.R. Phatak. "Miss P.B. , aged 24 years, came on 21st Jan. 1971 with the following history: In 1964 her sandals started coming off her feet while walking. Later, one morning on rising she found she could not stand up. Also her legs felt heavy and she could not control her urine. She was kept in an allopathic hospital for 2 months and later on treated for 2 or 3 years with slight improvement. Again she got a relapse and then she could not keep her balance. In 1967 she was hospitalised again in another allopathic hospital and it was diagnosed as multiple sclerosis (postero-lateral sclerosis). She felt better with Vit. B1, B2, folic acid and Prednisolone, but gets agg. if these are stopped. Now she has weakness esp. in the legs. The body shakes if she stands. She goes back involuntarily while standing. Appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Weeps easily, Irritable, Company amel. Past History: Severe smallpox at the age of 11/2 years. Fam. History: M. aunt had Parkinsonism. M. uncle had cancer. Sister had Koch's. On Exam.: Extremities are cold. Squint. Kneejerks ++ Jt. sense absent. Plantar extensor, Abdominal Reflexes absent. Power in lower extremities diminished esp. left. V.D. R. L - ve. Carcin. 1M and Tub-bov 1M, were given with no effect. On 13.02.71 she was mildly slapped on the back by her brother and after that she felt very weak. Arnica 200 and Rhus-t 200 were given but the condition remained the same. Syph. 1M followed by Rhus-t 1M t.d. s. was given with no effect. She now said the weakness of lower limbs was agg. from anger. Zn. 30 and Zn-p 30 were tried with no result. So Dr. Phatak was consulted on 16.03.71. He prescribed Ars. 1M, b.d. for a week. She felt amel.. She was able to stand and walk better but the jerks were same as before. Power in lower extremities improved considerably. Ars. 1M for sometime and then 10M was given. By 26.06.71, she felt completely well. She has stopped the vitamins and other medicines and still feels well. Power in legs is much better but the plantars still remain extensor and abdominal reflexes are still absent." "Dr. M.M. S., aged 50 years, an Asst. Medical Officer in a Railway Hospital, saw me on 5th July 1972 for the following complaints: He had chronic gastritis with colicky pain in the lower abdomen in April 1971 and again in June 1971. It was associated with vomiting, the vomitus containing mostly acid, sometimes food material, sometimes brown and once fresh blood. Vomiting relieves the pain. He had a mental upset before the attack, as he became disappointed in his service, not getting promotion in spite of working hard. Gets pain in back and knees. Loss of sleep causes headache. Fats make him feel sick. Fasting upsets. Cannot tolerate tight clothing. He craves for sweets and has aversion to fats. He has quick ejaculation. He is suspicious, impatient, irritable, indecisive and gets offended easily. Past History: In 1938, he had Malaria; had suspected Koch's (lung) in 1950 and fully recovered. H/o fall from scooter, had become unconscious. Fam. Hist.: One sister had insanity. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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His case was repertorized in Kent's Repertory with the following rubrics: Grief, ailments from (p. 51), Food, fat, Agg. (p. 1363), Offended easily (p. 69); Desires sweets (p. 486); Vomiting, Amel. (p. 411); Aversion to fats (p. 480). Ars. alone came through. Ars. 30 was given b.d. for one week and then once a day for two weeks. He improved and continued to improve till he became well."
Calcarea carbonica
Although the mineral elements constitute a relatively small amount of the total body tissues, they are essential to many vital processes. The balance of ions in the tissues is of great importance. For example, normal ossification demands a proper ratio of calcium to phosphorus, the normal ratio between potassium and calcium in the extracellular fluid must be maintained to ensure normal action of the muscle and so on. Certain mineral elements, principally sodium and potassium are the major factors in osmotic control of water metabolism. Other minerals are an integral part of important physiologic compounds such as iodine in thyroxin, iron in haemoglobin, biotin, coenzyme A and lipoic acid. The animal body requires seven principal mineral elements, viz., calcium, magnesium sodium, potassium, phosphorus, sulphur and chlorine. These minerals constitute 60 to 80% of all the inorganic material in the body. At least seven other minerals are utilised in trace quantities, viz., iron, copper, iodine, manganese, cobalt, zinc and molybdenum. Several other elements are present in the tissues but their functions if any, are not clearly defined. These include fluorine, aluminium, boron, selenium, cadmium and chromium. Clarke says, "Calcarea is one of the greatest monuments to Dr. Hahnemann's genius. The triad of remedies, viz., Sulphur, Calcarea and Lycopodium can be called Hahnemann's magnificient gifts to humanity. Indeed, we shall be extremely poor without these excellent remedies - Sulphur, the predominant antipsoric, Calc-c, the excellent antisycotic and Lyc., the marvellous anti-syphilitic." Hippocrates lauds the use of lime water in several diseases but it was used in its crude form and it was Hahneman's genius that created valuable remedies from apparently inert and innocuous substances like Calcarea, Silica and Lycopodium. Chalk which is a main source of calcium consists of the deposits of the remains of millions and millions of the shells of sea animals - of sea life that has come to a standstill. Thus calcification represents standstill, immobilization and death. In the human body dead tissues become calcified. Even the calcium in the blood goes out of circulation and is deposited (in the bones). The bones, as one of the hardest tissues in the body, represent stability and give firmness and stability to the body; as in case of the brain and spinal cord, the surrounding bony tissue, viz. the hard cranium and the vertebral column provide protection to the soft, pulpy nervous tissue. Calc-c is prepared from the snow-white middle layer of the oyster shell. The oyster shell is formed by the calcareous secretion of the oyster which is the result of its attempt to protect itself from the external environment. It is well known that all living creatures originated from the sea; the sea represents perpetual agitation and movement, whereas the earth represents solid stability and inertia. So the oyster in its attempt to protect itself creates a covering for itself (shell) and thus also provides itself with a house and thereby unconsciously stabilises itself on terra firma. The stabilisation and lack of mobility is exhibited in the symptoms of Calcarea by inertia and agg. on movement and exertion. Just as the solid oyster shell came out of the liquid sea, so also throughout the symptomatology of Calc. is the tendency to solidify, to precipitate, to coagulate. So this tendency is seen in the formation of calculi and clots, the clots of course serving to protect the organism from excessive bleeding. Calcium is present in the body in larger amounts than any other cation. It is the most abundant mineral in the body and 90% of the Calcium is found in the bones and teeth (in the form of calcium phosphate). The very small quantity left out of the skeletal structure is in the muscles and body fluids and is in part ionized. Ionized calcium is of great importance in blood coagulation, in the function of the muscles and nerve, and in the permeability of membranes. Calcium is never found in its natural state. It is generally found combined with carbonic acid (H2CO3 or H2O + CO2 , i.e. water and carbon dioxide) to form calcium carbonate. The acid element is reflected in its sour discharges, sweat, urine, stool, etc. Calcium promotes a tendency to hardening of the liquid and a tendency to soften in the solid. The bones become soft and even flexible as in rickets while the tissue fluids lose their watery element and may even coagulate, e.g. blood, milk, etc. In blood, calcium and phosphorus are always found in inverse proportions. If the calcium level is raised, the phosphorus level Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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falls. The Calcarea and Phos. pictures are often opposed to each other - the Calcarea which is dull, slow, fat, while the other is sensitive, quick and grows thin and tall. The parathyroid glands have a direct effect on the calcium metabolism. When their function is increased the blood calcium rises and this may lead to calcification of the renal tubules, formation of calculi, etc. When the parathyroid hormone is decreased, the blood calcium level falls and convulsions are produced (tetany). The body is constantly trying to protect itself from disturbances whether from outside or inside. The former is achieved by walling off, and the latter by stabilisation. The walling off can be physical, mechanical, chemical, biological, etc. The skin, the lymphatic glands, the bones (e.g. the cranium) all take part in this and Calcarea affects all these tissues. Once the body puts up a protective layer and walls itself, this walling itself symbolises a completion of development and an obstruction to further growth and development as is noted in Calc-c. Once the solids precipitate, the liquids naturally have to be eliminated and so we have a profuse elimination of fluids as sweat, urine, etc. In fact, the Calc-c patient has a hydrogenoid constitution and is worse by dampness, getting wet, washing, etc. Gutman has described the Calcarea patient as the boneless man. As calcium phosphate is the main ingredient of bones, the patient suffers from bone deficiency conditions like rickets. Even in late childhood the fontanelles may remain open. Calc-c is a chalky substance and it has whitish, milky discharges. It is also aggravated by milk. The patient may have a craving for inedible substances like chalk, rice, etc. This craving for peculiar substances termed Pica, is often associated with anaemia (causing pallor). The patient may crave for eggs and salt. The Calc. patient is notoriously aggravated by physical exertion. The physical stamina is extremely limited and he is worse by any exertion such as ascending, eyestrain, etc. Even mental exertion may aggravate and produce a sense of heat in the head. The following remarkable case will illustrate certain characteristics of Calc-c particularly the aggravation from ascending. "I was once called upon to treat a very fat gentleman from Goa, Mr. M., aged fifty. He had a peculiar symptom. If he went up the stairs or went up an incline he would develop haematuria. He was seen by an urologist who did a cystoscopy and diagnosed it as due to a polypus in the bladder. An operation was advised but the patient did not want to undergo the same. So he consulted me. I selected and gave him Calc-c. Within 2 or 3 days the haematuria disappeared and never recurred." We read that Calc-c children are usually fat and flabby. But my experience is that at least 50% of them are not fat and flabby, at least not in India. When you refer to Kent's Repertory under the rubric "Appetite increased with emaciation", you find Calc-c given in bold type which means Calc-c also covers emaciation. Secondly, I have treated many fat Calc. patients with Calc-c on the totality of the symptoms. On this remedy they feel considerable improvement but I find that they do not reduce in weight as I expect them to. In fact, I have found reducing a patient's weight a great problem. From the description in the Materia Medica, you feel that they are very chilly but sometimes they are not so. I have seen Calc-c patients who are as hot as Sulph. But unlike Sulph., even when they complain of burning in a part, that part is cold. Tyler aptly describes that the Calc-c patient has fatness without fitness, tissues of plus quantity and minus quality. While the Calc. patient has less physical stamina, the Silica patient seems to have a lack of mental stamina, or grit. There are many resemblances between the two - both are aggravated during and have late dentition, have aversion to and agg. from milk, are agg. by exertion, have desire for indigestible things, etc., but the mental features are much different. The Silicea patient is more intelligent and active than the Calc. patient. This difference has been brought out very well by Borland in his wonderful book, "Children's Types". The Sil. child is said to be sharper than Calc., more shy, timid and obstinate. Calc. craves for salty food, Sil. prefers cold food. Both Calc-c and Sil. have offensive foot sweat. Calc. has painless glands while Sil. has painful ones. If I get an additional history that the child has had a very bad vaccination, I choose Silica. Calc. has a craving for eggs * and salt **, and an aggravation from both. A very large number of children seem to require Calc-c in my practice. They have gradually a large sweaty head and a large abdomen, spindly legs, with a h/o difficult and late dentition. Many of them do not put on weight. (I have noted that Calc. is one of the remedies for emaciation inspite of excessive appetite.) If the head is hot and extremities cold, they require Calc-c. If the abdomen is sunken, I prefer Calc-p instead of Calc-c. When a patient has a craving for a substance which aggravates him I consider this a very good symptom. E.g. Ant-c has craving for and agg. from sour foods, Nit-ac from fatty food, Nat-m from salt, Arg-n from sweets and so on. Calc-c has a big head and a big abdomen. The big head may be due to rickets or hydrocephalus or any other disease. I have treated successfully several cases of hydrocephalus with Calc-c. The big abdomen may be due to distension, fat, tumour or ascites or any other condition. We are not to worry about these, but only see whether the totality of symptoms is matching. Calc-c is also a remedy for growths including warts, polypi, etc. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Some drugs have some peculiar symptoms which often guide us to the remedy. One such extraordinary symptom of Calc-c is that the patient is ameliorated when constipated. This symptom it shares with Pso. and Merc. I once treated a lady with many complaints who mentioned that if only she would remain constipated, all her problems would be solved. This put the remedy in my mind. Whereas Sulphur has heat in spots, Calc. has coldness and perspiration in spots. I have seen many Calc. patients perspiring on the head or elsewhere during sleep or while they are eating or drinking. One patient used to have perspiration on the forearm while chewing (betel leaf). Calc-c is a hydrogenoid remedy and is agg. by dampness like Rhus-t. It has got the same aggravation from lifting and pain as if sprained, and is a remedy for old sprains. Calc-c is often the chronic of Rhus-t. Belladonna is the acute of Calc-c and children who require Bell. for their acute attacks (such as tonsillitis, fever, etc.) will required Calc-c for a cure. Calc. has a hot head and face and dilated pupils like Bell. The patient has not only photophobia but he also sees objects beside the visual field or on closing eyes, or is sleepless. "Mrs. S.Y. D., aged 25 years, had urticaria of 5 years duration. This had started the last summer after her last delivery. Attacks of urticaria come on with chilliness. So she covers her body but then she gets burning. There is also burning in soles. The attacks are agg. by mental upset, becoming angry, if she is chilled, and by eggs. Last two years, she has frequent urging for urine with burning during micturition which is agg. in summer. She has an aversion to milk. Thirst, 1 to 2 glasses per day. She is very obese. Menses are scanty. Her condition has been diagnosed as due to E. coli infection. Almost all her symptoms were covered by Calc-c. So she was given on 13.3.1962, Calc-c 200(3), 6 hourly. She started improving. Later, she was given Calc-c 1M and then 10M. By 21.10.62, she was quite normal." Whitmont summarizes as follows: "Calcarea is standstill, passivity, immobility, clinging, restraining, peripherally enclosing, restricting, ingoing, negative, a holding in, receptive principles." I have noted the following symptoms in my book under Calc-c : Coldness and sweat in patches, haemorrhages, cramps and convulsions, tetany; milky secretions, itching; sneezing amel.; vertigo agg. open air; coryza alternating with colic or diarrhoea; averse to warm cooked foods; hunger with coryza; frequent urination; hot semen; ammoniacal; cough agg. piano playing; cramps in calf, agg. night, stretching leg or foot, urticaria amel. open air. Other peculiar symptoms of Calc. compounds noted are: Calc-a, Royal calls this the kidney member - very sensitive to pressure in the kidney region; Calc-i has high fever; Calc-f covers leucoderma. Calc-hypophos has suppurative conditions, marasmus and night sweat. Also it has ravenous hunger agg. 2 hours after a meal amel. when stomach is full. Calc-p is agg. thinking of his disease, has pain in all bony prominences and hunger at 4 p.m.
Carbo vegetabilis
Carbo vegetabilis belongs to the famous carbon family. We meet carbon in its various forms in all the three kingdoms - the
mineral, vegetable and animal. It is an essential constituent of all organic substances. It is found as coal, animal carbon, carbo sulph., the diamond (Adamas), graphites, petroleum, kreosote, lamp black (Fuligo splendens), etc. The various other carbon derivatives, and the various compounds of carbons like Am-c, Anthorkokali, Bar-c, Lith-c, Mag-c, Nat-c, and Stront-c, all used in Homoeopathy, have their own broad fields of action and wide indications, covering a large number of conditions. Staffelstein also mentions Carbocarnis made from calves' flesh and includes among carbons the roasted sponge and toasted coffee. Carb-s, Carbo oxygenisatum and Carbo hydrogenisatum are also well-known remedies. Hahnemann was laughed at by Pareira for filling up thirty five pages with the symptoms produced by the millionth of a grain of this inert substance, but prominent among the wonders of Homoeopathy is the miraculous development of the powers of inert vegetable carbon into a most extraordinary, life-saving remedy. Considering that it is an essential constituent of all living organisms, carbon can be called the basis of life. This life-giving property of the element can be seen in its action when it is able to save persons who face imminent death, or even those who show signs of apparent death. It has therefore been called the corpse-reviver, a designation it rightly and richly deserves as the following experience of mine will prove. "In the very early days of my practice when I had very little courage and even less confidence, I was called to see a poor patient living in a hut. When I went and saw him, I found him unconscious. The history as reported by the relatives was that he had been vomiting and purging for the last 48 hours, on an average about 50 times a day! I found him in a completely dehydrated and collapsed state. The body was cold. The pulse was extremely feeble and thready. And as I was feeling it, it stopped for a few seconds and started beating again. This happened 3 or 4 times and I felt sure that he was dying. I was too nervous to treat such a serious case. Also, I honestly felt that he required hospitalisation so that he Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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could receive glucose, saline and electrolytes which might improve his slender chance of survival. So I advised the relatives to shift him to the hospital immediately though I felt a doubt within myself whether he would reach the hospital alive. As I was preparing to leave, the relatives requested me to at least give him some medicine. Without any hope whatever, I gave them a dose of Carb-v 30, advised them to dissolve it in water and give it orally at the rate of one drop per second and then I left. This was in the morning. In the evening when the relatives came to report, I enquired whether the patient had been admitted to the hospital and if he was better. When they told me that the patient was still at home, I was enraged and I scolded them severely for their stupidity. Then they explained to me that no sooner had I left, they had called for an ambulance. The ambulance came in half an hour but by that time the patient had become conscious. He had asked for water, drank it and had retained it. So the ambulance driver told them to wait. For the next two hours there was no vomiting or stool, so the ambulance man left, promising to return at once if required. Till evening there was absolutely no vomit or stool. This was the situation. Entirely surprised by this news and yet unable to believe in the capacity of the medicines to tackle such a serious case, I warned them that still the patient may need immediate hospitalisation, and that though I was giving them a dose of medicine, they should be ready for any emergency. They promised to obey and left with another dose of Carb-v. Next morning they turned up again with the report that there was no further stool or vomiting. I was very pleased and surprised, and decided to go and see the patient. They then told me that I could not see him because, being poor, he had gone away for work!" This reminded me of the case of the washerwoman treated by Hahnemann who became quite well with his dose of Chamomilla but did not report to him because she was too busy working. The action of Carb-v and such homoeopathic remedies is so strange that we feel puzzled about the whole thing. How does the body restore its lost fluid and electrolytes without glucose saline and electrolytes being given? How does the patient get back his energy so quickly without rest, convalescence and tonics? Of course, this would be a typical case of Carb-v almost out of the text-books. But Carb-v is indicated in all kinds and degrees of lack of reaction from the mildest to the most serious. So we should not expect in every case all the typical symptoms such as coldness of the body, extremities, breath, tongue, etc., which are to be found only in the most desperate cases. Carb-v is an inert substance. The keynote of the drug seems to be inertia. The inertia or sluggishness may be expressed in diverse ways, in the sluggish reaction, in the sluggish digestion, in the sluggish circulation, etc. The deprivation of blood naturally starves the important organs of the necessary amount of nourishment and leads to deficient functioning, as, e.g. the stomach cannot digest the food, the heart cannot pump enough blood (causing breathlessness and/or air hunger), the body reacts badly in diseases so that diseases are not thrown off so easily and leave behind obstinate complications or sequelae. The poor circulation is also exhibited in the coldness of the extremities and the blueness of the skin surface, etc. One of the finest indications for Carb-v is when a patient comes and reports that he has never been well since an attack of some infectious disease. Carb-v is considered almost a specific for asthma originating from an attack of measles or whooping cough. One of my teachers used to repeatedly state that the expression of a patient, "Never well since..." should always put Carb-v in one's mind whether it is after an attack of pleurisy, or any acute infection of even an injury. He has treated numerous cases successfully with Carb-v on this indication, even when the existing symptomatology of the patient was not characterised by symptoms of Carb-v. I have found this a most valuable and practical hint. Carbon is an inert substance and the remedy Carb-v puts in our mind the idea of inertia or sluggishness; its symptoms are characterised by sluggishness. The sluggishness is everywhere - in reaction, recuperation, circulation, digestion, etc. Let us first consider the sluggish reaction or resistance. In the last Asian Influenza epidemic, I myself suffered from flu. Thereafter, I became extremely weak and even prostrated, and the prostration persisted from day to day for several days without abating the least. The prostration was so severe that I had not the strength to lift my little finger. But two doses of Carb-v restored to me all my original vigor and strength and I was then myself able to treat hundreds of cases in the epidemic. During and after the epidemic, we had quite a large number of cases who turned up with similar post-influenzal asthenia and/or cough. Almost all of them improved quickly with Carb-v after they had been treated by the allopathic doctors without any result. The only difference was that instead of the two doses I had needed, many of them required several doses. Most of these patients required Carb-v 1M, twice a day for a week, some for a fortnight and a few upto one month before they were completely relieved. I can also recall two sisters who suffered after influenza. "Miss N.I. , aged 23, had developed the following symptoms after an attack of "Flu". A feeling of tightness of the skin of Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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the face agg. in the evening. Itching of the inner canthi of the eyes. Profuse leucorrhea. M.P. irregular, scanty or profuse, blackish; pain in the throat, ears, back, spine and occiput. Feels as if she is pulled down to the ground agg. evening. Feels as if her breasts are falling or being pulled down. Stitching pains in fingers and soles. Feels prostrated. Tired of life. Fears being alone, disease and death. Feels guilty as if she has done something wrong. Pain in abdomen going into the genitals. She had indurated and tender swelling in both the breasts. After all investigations (including X-rays of the skull and spine) had shown N.A. D., it was labelled as neurosis. Ignoring completely her symoptomatology I gave her Carb-v 1M, t.d. s. at first. In four days, she felt about 40% better. The remedy was continued b.d. for 3 weeks and she became completely normal." "Her sister had also developed after "Flu" tender, indurated swelling of both the breasts, with sudden attacks of pain in them. I put her also on Carb-v 1M, b.d. for 2 weeks and she became well." Sluggish reaction is also a feature of old age and Carb-v is one of the remedies for complaints of old people. The mucous membranes of the stomach and its glands are sluggish and therefore the production of acid and pepsin must be poor. This leads to sluggish digestion which creates a feeling of heaviness in the stomach. Coal is used for producing (coal) gas. It is often used in its crude state by allopathic doctors for absorbing gases in G.I. tract. (Charcoal is said to absorb 40 times its volume of gas.) It was also used as a deodorant and is applied to putrefying ulcers. But instead of using crude carbon to absorb the gas that is produced and to remove the offensiveness, we utilise potentized carbon to prevent the formation of gas and to prevent putrefaction. There is such flatulence that the patient feels bloated all the time though this is relieved by belching. The eructations relieve the patient as a whole. Probably the inactive stomach and sluggish digestion allow organic fermentation leading to formation of gas. Sometime back, I had developed for no apparent reason a sudden feeling of distension in the stomach while eating. I used to feel that with the first morsel of food, the stomach was bloating up like a balloon and stretching out. With two or three morsels, I would become actually uncomfortable and overfull and I had to stop eating but if I stayed on at the table for a few minutes, I would belch once or twice and then feel much better, and could take some more food. This went on for three or four days. Then I took a dose of Carb-v and within half an hour I could do justice to a real full-style Punjabi dinner. As compared to the distension in upper abdomen amel. by eructation of Carb-v, Lyc. has distension of lower abdomen amel. by flatus. And both are complementary remedies. (It is said also that a weekly dose of Carb-v helps to prolong the action of Lyc.) Sluggish circulation produces its own complications, such as varicose veins, varicose or non-healing ulcers, oedema of dependent parts, icy coldness of the various parts such as hands, legs, knees, nose, tongue, etc., even the breath may become cold, and the physician may feel a cold fear clutching at his heart when facing a Carb-v such as amel. eructations, amel. fanning, etc.; then this remedy will be positively useful. The following case of varicose ulcer was an interesting one: "Mr. J.B. had thrombosis in the left leg in 1935 and since then has a permanent swelling in the foot. In 1952, he had vasectomy done and then had developed some eruptions which increased in size, suppurated, burrowed and opened, forming a painless ulcer, which had shown no tendency to heal for the last 8 years. I found the ulcer bluish in appearance. He was put on Carb-v 1M in August 1960 and in 4 months the ulcer healed completely." Coal (which is itself the product of combustion) and coal gas are used for burning as fuel. Carb-v has burning with external coldness, and the burning may be relieved by heat as in Alumina, Arsenic, Caps. and Lyc. When this coldness is associated with a condition of collapse, then we definitely consider Carb-v. Carb-v is as good a remedy for collapse as Ars. but the collapse picture of one is very different from that of the other. The Carb-v condition may come on gradually and can be somewhat anticipated whereas Ars. is characterised by suddenness. Secondly, the Carb-v patient may go on to collapse and may pass away quietly while the Ars. patient, even in the extreme stage of collapse, is restless; the Carb-v has no anxiety, whereas Ars. is full of agony and anxiety and so on. Carb-v generally contains small quantities of potassium carbonate and this may explain both the complementary relationship and the similarity between this remedy and Kali-c. Both are chilly, both antidote the ill-effects of loss of fluids, both are flatulent and weak and both affect the heart, producing myocardial weakness. But there is a main difference in the modality, viz. Carb-v is amel. by fanning and Kali-c is agg. by it. Carb-v is one of our best remedies for the effects of too much drugging. This indication of Carb-v is particularly useful because many patients come to us after having been drugged a good deal. It is said that in 1930, the apothecary Thorey swallowed one gram of strychnine (which is ten times the lethal dose) along with 15 grams of charcoal powder but remained well. Carb-v is a remedy for death and local death leads to decomposition and offensiveness as in gangrene. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica While there is excessive gas in the upper abdomen, there seems to be insufficient aeration or oxygenation. We know how CO and CO2 have specific effects on the respiratory centre. There seems to be sluggish oxygenation with consequent
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desire for air or for fanning - Air hunger. There is desire for fanning even though the patient may be cold and may feel cold. Improper oxygenation also leads to another prominent symptom, viz. blueness or cyanosis. Lutze reports a very peculiar case. A lady had taken a large amount of charcoal tablets during her pregnancy, as she said in order to have a beautiful baby. The baby was not as beautiful as she had wished but at each nursing of the baby the mother had a severe cutting pain in the abdomen. Lutze could not find this symptom in any Materia Medica, but on the history mentioned above, he gave her Carb-v CM, two powders which cured the trouble. I am also reminded of a case of Koch's abdomen which responded to Carb-v chosen in peculiar circumstances. "This patient, Mrs. L.S. G., aged 35 years, was admitted in our hospital on 29.02.68. She had been directed by an eminent homoeopath from a mofussil town and had been already diagnosed as a case of Koch's abdomen. Her history and symptoms in brief were that she had pain in abdomen of four years' duration agg. by milk, agg. after eating esp. spicy food. She had oedema of feet which had appeared first in the left and then in the right foot, vertigo, weakness agg. in sun, burning in anus after stool, thirstlessness, poor sleep , amenorrhoea since 2 months with a h/o profuse menses; mentally irritable. Physical examination revealed a doughy abdomen and cracks in the angles of the mouth. Routine investigation showed: Urine n.a. d., Stool: R.W. ova., Blood: n.a. d. We repertorized her case and came to some remedy. She was given this remedy for three days with no change. But on 03.03.68 at 5.15 p.m. , for no apparent reason, she suddenly developed symptoms of collapse. She became comatose with extreme coldness of body, very low B.P. and with a feeble, thready pulse. We put her immediately on Carb-v 200 and then on 1M. She rallied and slowly came out of the state of collapse. Finding that she responded well to Carb-v even as regards her abdominal pain and other original symptoms, we continued to put her on Carb-v, giving it at intervals, first in 1M and then in 10M potencies. She responded so well that by 27.03.68, she was quite normal and we discharged her. Her weight went up from 27 kg to 32 kg. Then treatment was stopped. After nine months, she had a relapse of the abdominal pain (not collapse) but with Carb-v 10M she became completely well. She has remained well for eight years." Dr. Mistry, a surgeon from Sholapur, has reported several remarkable cases in which Carb-v has proved consistently far superior to any allopathic drugs in post-operative shock.
China officinalis
The normal indications for the use of China (such as the ill-effects of the loss of fluids, flatulence not better by flatus, pain agg. by touch but amel. by pressure, etc., etc.) are known to all homoeopaths but I have found China useful in two different conditions which I shall describe. "Mr. J.V. D., aged 62 years, came on 01.01.74 for treatment of gangrene of the toes of the left leg from which he has been suffering since 1970. He had been advised amputation which he had refused. History and symptoms: In 1970, one toe was crushed and had suppurated. It was operated twice but did not heal and gangrene had set in. Later two more toes were affected. Then it was diagnosed as chronic vascular insufficiency due to atherosclerosis. He had pain in the leg agg. 10 to 11 p.m. , amel. pressure, agg. letting the leg hang down, agg. walking, amel. cold water application, agg. in sleep, even in afternoon sleep. He had a suicidal disposition. Head heavy, with vertigo and nausea sometimes. He also had twitching on rt. side of the face and rt. side of tongue with black patches on tongue. Lips black. Pain in soles at night, wakes up 4-5 times due to pain. Cannot wait for food. Loquacious. Prev. Hist.: Malaria in childhood. Used to smoke 50 cigarettes a day for 45 years. High B.P. since 1947. Now B.P. 200/130. The affected three toes are black and gangrenous with a very offensive discharge. I took the following rubrics in Kent's and Phatak's Repertory, viz.,Tobacco; Injury; Gangrene; Suicidal; agg. in sleep; Rt. side; Black. China alone came through. He was given China 30 and he started improving. With repeated doses of China 200, he became well. The gangrenous toes healed. We stopped the treatment on 29.03.75. " On looking into Hering's Guiding Symptoms, I do not see any indication of gangrene under China though I do find the following symptoms "Pain with swelling of the big toe worse by touch and motion, esp. evening and night", "Red swelling of the two tips". I have used China in two cases in which the patient had dark pigmentation of the skin. I have mentioned that I have found Ars. useful in this condition. But when Ars. fails, I think of China. The following two cases will illustrate this point. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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"Mrs. M.G. , aged 48, has black pigmentation of the whole Rt. upper limb, last 11/2 years. She had had a hysterectomy done and took pencillin injections. Two months after that, the pigmentation has worsened. Appetite, thirst, etc., are all normal. No other symptoms. This has been diagnosed as Toxic melanosis. I gave Ars., Sul-ac, Vipera, etc., all with no effect. Later on, I put her on China and thereafter she improved very well. She is now 90% better." "Miss P.S. K., aged 17, had blackish patches on the anterior aspect of both legs for last many years which were agg. with new moon (increasing with waning moon). I put her on various medicines like Phos., Ars., Puls., Merc-s, Calc-c, etc., with no amel.. Because of the experience quoted above, I gave her China and she is now nearly normal." I have found Chi-a indicated by the symptom, "Diarrhoea agg. from eggs and fish". The patient may be suffering from any disease but if this symptom is present, we must consider Chi-a. The following cases will illustrate this point: "A boy, P.N. , aged 3 years, was admitted to the hospital on 11 June 1957, with a history of oedema of the lower limbs, puffiness of the face and oliguria of five years' duration with intermittent remissions and exacerbations. His case was taken thoroughly and all investigations done, and a diagnosis of hypoproteinemia was arrived at. The oedema was aggravated by taking fish or eggs. The symptoms indicated the probable similimum as Chi-a. Therefore, the patient was put on Chi-a 200, t.d. s. whereupon his urine output, which originally averaged 6 to 8 oz. per day, gradually and steadily rose to 78 oz. per day within a fortnight. The puffiness and oedema considerably lessened and then disappeared. The patient was kept under observation for six months and he continued to remain well." "I remember another case of a middle-aged person. He was admitted in the Govt. Homoeopathic Hospital with general anasarca and his case was also diagnosed as hypoproteinaemia. In his case also, he gave a symptom that his oedema was worsened by taking fish or eggs. On admission, his urine output was only about 6 or 7 oz. a day. But after Chi-a, the output increased steadily and went upto 170 oz. or so daily which continued for several days, so much so that he nearly became dehydrated. The medicine was discontinued and he became well." Chi-a has oscillating temperature in fevers like Pyrogen. I had the opportunity to treat such a case. "I was called to see Mr. S.S. K., aged 21 years, son of a well-known allopathic doctor who was also running a nursing home. The boy was studying for M.B. B.S. I saw him on 3rd Sept. 1972. He was getting fever from the 2nd week of July and had been treated with Chloromycetin and Betnesol. The fever had come down and he was well for 11/2 weeks. But he had fever again on 30th July. His W.B. C. count was 12 100 (poly. 62.5%) and he responded to Ledermycin and was all right for three weeks. He started attending his college. But again he got fever on 21st Aug. with shivering. This time it did not respond to any of the allopathic medicines. So I was called in by the parent who, being a doctor, had become anxious, especially because several consultants had prescribed for him with no result. The present situation was that he was having daily remittent temperature. The temperature would rise upto a maximum of 105 or 106 F at any time with chill. The fever used to go up and down very quickly. For instance, if the temperature was 98 F at 9 a.m. , it might be 104 F at 10 a.m. He gets burning of palms with the rise of temperature. Gets pain in left shoulder and hip and cramps in calf muscles occasionally. Gets offensive stools three to four times a day. His maternal aunt had suffered from T.B. His case was repertorized in Phatak's Repertory with the following rubrics: Fever high, hyperpyrexia (p. 105); Fever, Oscillating (p. 104): Fever, hectic (p. 104); Only Chi-a came through. Chi-a 200, 8 doses to be taken every 3 hrs. was given. Within 2 days he felt better. The maximum temperature was only 102.8 F. Now Chi-a 1M, 6 doses t.d. s. were given. Next day, the temperature was normal upto 4 p.m. but rose thereafter. Chi-a 1M was continued t.d. s. and by 09.09.72 the temperature came down and remained normal and thereafter, it did not rise. The boy started attending college from the 11th. The father who had planned for a long convalescence was surprised both because I permitted the boy to attend his college from the 11th and also because the boy himself felt no weakness and was able to attend classes. There has been no recurrence of the fever for over 3 years." Where I have failed with Ars. and China in dark pigmentation of the skin without any other symptoms, I have succeeded with Chi-a.
Cimicifuga racemosa
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On looking around for the collateral remedies of Ignatia, one comes across Cimicifuga. Boger calls it a hystero-utero-rheumatic remedy and, considering the wide incidence of hysterical, rheumatic and pelvic disorders in women, one feels that Cimic should have a wide application in practice but is not as well-utilised as it should be. Cimic is as bewildering in its symptomatology as Ign. It has a variety of pains: aching, shooting, soreness, shocks, etc., representing myalagias, neuralgias, etc. The symptoms change in location and nature so rapidly that the patient of today seems to be a different person from the patient of last week, and so one suspects a strong neurotic element in the case. Often one is unable to make head or tail out of the case, both as regards the remedy as well as the diagnosis, for the symptoms seem to be everywhere and of every sort. The patient is absolutely nervous and apprehensive as well as gloomy, so gloomy in fact that she feels "as if she is enveloped by a black cloud". Like Sep., this patient is also aggravated during puberty, climaxis, menstruation, suppressed menses and pregnancy. "One remembers the case of a nice old lady who came for treatment full of tears due to years of suffering. She was aged 60 and complained of pain in the left knee of twenty years' duration. She could not stand or walk and the pains were mostly aching with stitching pains being superadded sometimes. The pains were all over in various places and often shifted from place to place. She also used to get cramps in various muscles. She had vertigo on first beginning to walk with a feeling that she would fall to the left. Cold baths aggravated her. She also had an oedema of feet for the last 5 or 6 years. She mentioned the fact that she had menopause at the age of 40 after which all her troubles had started. The case was repertorized (with Boger's Synoptic Key) with the peculiar symptoms of Climaxis aggravation, wandering pains and aching. The only remedy that came through was Cimic. The very first dose of Cimic 200th gave her enormous relief. She received in all three more doses at intervals of 2 to 3 months, which wiped out the whole trouble. She is well now for over ten years." One has been led to the remedy by a peculiar symptom in the patient, viz. an aching, stiff or rheumatic pain in the nape of the neck which is relieved by throwing the head back and moving the neck to and fro. The impression has probably been created that this is a remedy for females only. This, of course, is false, for any remedy in the homoeopathic Materia Medica may be indicated in any person for any disorder, provided the symptomatology of the drug and the disorder correspond. The case of a male patient who required Cimic may serve as an example. "Mr. G.R. S., aged 36, a stenographer by profession consulted me for the following disorders: He had been suffering from pains in all the joints and muscles of the body for the last two years. The pain was constant and aching in nature, especially worse during the cold wet weather and on rising in the morning. He had pain in the heels while standing, pain in the gluteal region while sitting, pain in the back while lying on his back, pain in the fingers and palms while writing, in the areas on which the pen exerted pressure. On analysis of the symptoms, they were reduced to the following rubrics in Boger's Synoptic Key: 1. Pressure, agg. 2. Dampness, agg. 3. Aching 4. Joints 5. Muscles. Only the remedy Bryonia came through but that did not seem to fit the case. But when the first rubric, pressure aggravates was bypassed in the repertory, one came to Bry., Cimic, Phyt. and Rhus-t. 1000th potency of this drug cleared up the case completely within two months." It is a pity that the drug is not mentioned under "Pressure agg." in our repertories. One might have completely failed in this case without a knowledge of/or reference to the Materia Medica. Basing one's conclusion on this case as well as on many other such cases, one is led to the impression that the symptomatology of Cimic is not wholly and well represented in our repertories.
Conium maculatum
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) has been made famous in history because the great philosopher Socrates died by drinking it. When Socrates was charged with corrupting the morals of young men and was condemned to death, it is said that he spent his last hours discussing philosophy calmly with his friends. As calmly, he took the poison and drank it himself. Then he died, after describing minutely the effects of the poison. His disciple Plato has written down a graphic description and this is one of the best descriptions of drug action, equalling the drug provings of Hahnemann. Conium has ascending sensations: the numbness and paralysis ascending from the feet, the coryza ascending from throat, etc. It has vertigo agg. by the least movement such as of the head or eyes. This, combined with its trembling, uncertain Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica gait, progressive weakness etc., makes it ideally suitable for conditions of old age.
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Conium is a remedy for complaints associated with suppression of sexual desire due to (religious) celibacy or other causes.
My friend Dr. Sarabhai thinks that it ought to be a good remedy for Christian priests, Jain Sadhus and others. It seems to have a specific effect on glands, particularly on the mammary glands esp.; effective in injuries to these glands and is a very well-known remedy for injury to the breasts. I have used Conium in the numerous such cases with great satisfaction. "Mrs. M.K. , aged 28, came with the following disorder on 10th May 1959. She gets a cold swelling of the rt. forearm before every M.P. during the last two years. The swelling is painful and she describes the pains as "cold pains". Formerly, for 5 years she used to have painful nodular swelling of both breasts before every menstrual period. This is now replaced by the present disorder. If she gets swelling in the forearm, she does not get the swelling of the breasts. She now desires more salt. Fears being alone, yet dislikes company. Must drink water in order to swallow solid food. Vertigo on rising from sitting. Is afraid of robbers. Past Hist.: She gives a history of mild injury to the breasts some years back, just prior to the onset of the disorder. She has been married for 10 years but has no children. Phys. Exam.: No tenderness or redness in the swelling. Wt. 120 lbs. B.P. 130/80. Otherwise N.A. D. The characteristic symptoms of this patient were found under the remedy Conium. So, she was given, on 10.05.50, Con. 1M, 3 doses in one day. Next month she reported that she had no swelling of the breast before the menses. The third month it recurred again but one repetition of Conium 1M set things right and she has been quite well now for several years, neither the swelling of the forearm nor that of the breast having recurred." "Mrs. D.D. , aged 44 years, came on 12.01.60 with the following history: Two months back she had a lump in the lt. breast. Immediately mastectomy was done as it showed signs of malignancy. Now she feels stiffness in operated area. Has a node in rt. breast and constipation. H/o fall in childhood? Had dislocation but it was not diagnosed for 15 years. Because of the node in the breast and the h/o operation (injury) to the breast, I selected Conium. I gave her Conium 1M, 3 doses in one day, on 12.01.60. By 03.02.60 the node in the breast became smaller and the stiffness better. Conium 1M (3) was repeated twice again and by 29.04.60 the node disappeared and her condition became quite normal." "Mrs. M., aged 32, an English lady, consulted me on 23.10.73 with the following complaints: In sun, gets rt. supra-orbital headaches, the right eye feels bruised. Headaches are worse by smoking and lying with head low. She is afraid of thunderstorms. She gets constant pain in the breasts worse before the menses, the breasts become very sore and tender and the pain is worse stepping, jarring and turning over in bed. Past Hist.: She had fibroadenoma in the breasts which had been removed, first in the rt. then in the lt. I took the following symptoms for study., viz. Tobacco agg., Sun agg. and Pain in breasts before the menses. I got Calc. and Con. Of the two, I preferred Con. because of the modalities of the breast pain, viz. worse on stepping and turning in bed. With Con. there was marked improvement and she became completely well. She said that what all the medicines in U.K. had failed to do, the homoeopathic medicine had done, and for the first time, she was able to walk without consciousness of her breasts."
Ignatia amara
In modern times the incidence of neurotic disorders seems to be rapidly rising and in this sphere Ignatia is particularly useful, of course, only when it covers the symptom-totality of the particular case. Modern civilised life, especially in the cities, seems directly to give rise to repressions and conflicts, and to expose the individual to many types of anxieties. The increasing demands of modern life present many problems, and as a result there is a constant sense of insecurity. Ignatia seems to cover very well the results of such tensions and emotional imbalance. The following interesting example may serve to illustrate how Ignatia helps to antidote the ill-effects of worry, however remote and persistent. "Mrs. B.V. , aged 33 years, consulted me for the following disorders: She had recurrent headaches, attacks of vertigo, periodical oppression in chest and wandering pains in the limbs. Her menses were irregular and the flow was generally very profuse lasting for six or seven days. She has been suffering for the last six years. The whole disorder had originated after a period of intense worry, just after the birth of her last child. She had consulted numerous physicians and gynaecologists and had taken much treatment without any benefit. She had come to me for consultation late at night and so I had taken down these few symptoms just to satisfy her. I called her back the next week in order to complete her case, but in the meantime as she insisted on getting some medicine I Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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gave her one dose of Ignatia 30, more as a stop-gap, instead of placebo. She returned after a week and gave me the surprising news that the second day after the dose of medicine, she had passed through her vagina, a large black lump (clot of blood?) the size of an orange and since then, she is completely relieved of all her pains and troubles! She had her menstrual period also immediately following and, this time, it was quite normal. She thanked me profusely "for diagnosing the existence of the lump which no gynaecologist had been able to do and for expelling it with the medicine!" In the field of neurosis, where psycho-analysis and suggestions are used, often with unsatisfactory results, the appropriate homoeopathic remedies work most speedily and satisfactorily. Among such remedies Ignatia has its own wide sphere of application. It covers all the immediate and remote effects of worry, grief and disappointment. And is there any limit to the possibility of worry, grief and disappointment in people's lives? The wonder of Homoeopathy is that the appropriate remedies are able to antidote the end-results of all these emotional disturbances even while the causative factor might be still operating. They seem to restore to the mind a sense of proper perspective, equanimity and a new philosophical attitude. This attitude represents a completely re-adjusted state of mind and, therefore, is far superior to the artificial euphoria induced by modern tranquillisers, wherein the patient feels well but continues to be ill! The typical patient requiring Ignatia, afflicted by grief, becomes morose, shuns company and weeps, her weeping is worsened by company and consolation. The following case typifies some aspects of the Ignatia symptomatology. "Mrs. C., aged 30, consulted me for recurrent attacks of convulsions (hysterical). She is married to an old widower. There being a great disparity in their ages, she is apparently dissatisfied, sexually and otherwise. Just as I was preparing to note down her case she got an attack and I was enabled to observe the symptoms of the actual seizure. During the seizure, though she appeared to be unconscious, she was weeping bitterly. Her teeth were clenched but at times there was involuntary to-and-fro movement of the lower jaw. She had a sighing respiration. I was told that these attacks lasted usually one or two hours, and that after the cessation of these attacks, she had a profuse flow of urine. I found all these symptoms under Ignatia. So a phial of Ignatia 1M was procured and as her mouth was clenched and shut, the phial was held below her nose so that she inhaled from the phial three or four times. Thereupon, she opened her eyes, sat up, went and passed urine and then was normal within about five minutes. Later on, Aur-m completed the cure." The sighing of the Ignatia patient, usually a symptom of grief or anxiety neurosis, may be described by the patient in different words and found under the appropriate rubrics in repertories, e.g. sighing, taking deep breath, inclination to take a deep breath, breathing deeply ameliorates, etc. When a person has been seriously disturbed by grief and continues to suffer from anguish, we think of other deep-acting remedies, which are complementary to Ignatia. Here is a friend who has suffered, perhaps, a serious financial loss, perhaps the loss of someone very near and dear. We console him and then leave him alone expecting that time will heal his wound. But when we meet him again sometime later, we find him still in the same state of depression, asking us, "What is the use of life when my so-and-so is dead ?" The next time he may ask us, "Is it necessary to live ?" or, "Why should I live?" When we meet him yet again, he might be more dejected and may ask, "Is it not better to die?" This may slowly change to a desire for death and ultimately end in an attempt at suicide. Many have committed suicide in this frame of mind. These are the various stages in any of which Aur. will help to restore the patient to normalcy. Then again, we have met the typical disappointed lover (so often depicted in our Indian films) who wanders from place to place in shabby clothes, with a shaggy beard, supremely indifferent to the environment and immune to the comments and criticisms of the people. Or he might sit in a place and go on staring blankly into space, completely disinterested in everything, even in food and drink. Nothing seems to touch him or affect him . He is like a piece of wood. His mind is blank. He remembers nothing except perhaps his disappointment. Sometimes he has polyuria, a symptom we found under Ignatia too. He only needs Phosphoric acid. The next patient, it is reported, has become sullen and irritable. He dislikes consolation, hates fuss and avoids company. No sooner we go and sympathise with him, he jumps at our throat. In addition he is much aggravated by heat especially of the sun and often has a craving for salt. Of course, he requires Natrum muriaticum in potency. This other victim of grief is a woman. Ever since she had a shock - possibly she has lost a dear child - she has become very irritable and moody. She detests fuss, hates sympathy and help. She hates her friends who fuss and despises her husband who comes to her help; she is annoyed with her children who make so much noise and who make so many demands on her when she is so tired. She abhors her very house where she has to work so hard wearing her fingers out, from morning till night. She loathes her miserable existence which is nothing but a life of drudgery. In addition, she is chilly Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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but the heat of the room is intolerable. Sometimes all food and drink tastes salty to her. She feels empty in her stomach but she cannot eat because she has nausea. She also has disgust for sex. Does she need anything more to make her disgusted and desperate? But life can once again become interesting and full of joy for her, if she has a dose of Sepia. Finally, we meet a girl who suffers from the after effects of grief. She weeps so easily and sobs pitifully and gains all our sympathy. Our sympathy helps her, for after the sobbing, having been patted and petted she feels bright once more. Of course she needs Pulsatilla. Unlike the Sepia patient who is often a mature adult with many children, and who as a result of much experience in life, pleasant and otherwise, ups and downs, has developed a lot of grit so that, however miserable she is, she does not break down or give vent to her sorrow soon, our Pulsatilla patient is usually a tender, inexperienced girl who is soft and easily upset. Physically she is agg. by heat and is thirstless. The effects of grief and their remedies can be tabulated as it may appeal to some minds: Grief Acute effects + Chronic effect= Ignatia Sadness + Depression = Aur. Sadness + Apathy (Suicidal) = Phos-ac Sadness + Irritability = Nat-m Sadness + Disgust = Sepia Sadness + Tearfulness = Pulsatilla Sadness + Quarrelsome = Staphysagria Sadness + Hysterical = Cimicifuga One can now see how the same causative factor affecting different persons is able to evoke different types of reactions, and how we have remedies which have provided in the provings varying types of effects, so that each individual kind of reaction can be matched perfectly, and the patient cured. The homoeopath is particularly looking for symptoms which are peculiar, strange or rare. When this strangeness of a symptom exceeds all limits and becomes paradoxical and contradictory and goes against all accepted ideas of physiology, pathology and commonsense, one should think of Ignatia. Wherever there are contradictory symptoms, even if such symptoms are not mentioned in the Materia Medica under Ignatia, one should consider Ignatia. Some examples are: Sense of lump in throat amel. swallowing solids; Difficulty in swallowing liquids but not solids; Vomiting amel. indigestible foods; Hunger with nausea; Emptiness in stomach not amel. by eating; Stool soft but difficult; Cough agg. by coughing; No thirst during fever. It should not be misunderstood that Ignatia is merely a hysterical remedy. It has been known to give relief to cases of dysentery, gastritis, diarrhoea and plague! The criterion is only whether the symptoms of the patient are covered by Ignatia. We should remember that Ignatia contains strychnine, which is also found in Nux-v. The difference seems to be that the strychnine in Nux-v produces spasmodic or incoordinate effects, whereas in Ignatia it causes erratic or contradictory effects which, by the way, is an extreme degree of incoordination. There is a further major difference, viz. whereas the Ignatia patient is moody, capricious, lachrymose and morose, the Nux-v patient is extremely impatient, irascible and violent. The trigger for the Ignatia patient is grief while that for the Nux-v patient is anger. The Nux-v patient resembles Staphysagria. To sum up the mental state of the Ignatia patient, the symptoms of this patient are caused or aggravated by grief, anxiety, worry and chagrin and the patient is always sad, sighing and silently sorrowing. The patient likes neither consolation nor contradiction, and the symptoms are always worse when others are present. The patient is not only sad but also enjoys being sad!
Kalium carbonicum
"The Kali-c patient is a hard patient to study, and the remedy itself is a hard one to study." This sentence in Kent's Materia Medica had always intrigued me. I had always wondered why one particular remedy should be more difficult to study. However, I did notice that for many years the number of cases for whom I was prescribing Kali-c was very low as compared with the cases for whom I was prescribing remedies like Sulph., Calc., Sep., etc. So I came to the conclusion that I must not have understood Kali-c so well. However, I came to understand Kali-c better recently as I shall describe. My mother, for some reason, started emaciating and became steadily and progressively weaker. She went on losing in health to such an extent that I became very anxious. This had started after she got frightened when my brother had high fever and had to be hospitalised, apparently in a serious condition. She had right-sided complaints (like headache), Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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fullness after eating even a little, irritability, weakness and pain in the lumbar region, etc. She was 65 years old. I gave her Lyc. She felt some relief but I myself could see that she got only partial relief but I studied her symptoms more carefully and got the following picture: 1. At the end of a meal she would feel a sense of blocking in the chest as if the food remained there, with nausea and retching. This was relieved by eructations. 2. Palpitation immediately after every meal forcing her to lie down. 3. Eating little causes fullness. 4. Eating a little more aggravates. 5. Difficulty in swallowing solids esp. if they are cold. 6. Chilly. 7. Anaemia. 8. Unable to sit, talk or walk because of weakness. 9. Weakness in lumbar region esp. while walking. 10. Throbbing in the suprasternal notch and epigastrium. On studying the case I felt that the remedy was clearly Kali-c though in Kent's Repertory it is not found under the rubric "Ailments from fright". I gave her Kali-c and thereafter, she improved remarkably, became well and remains well now for several years though she requires doses of Kali-c on and off. My nephew once got an attack of whooping cough. Night after night he would get cough for 2 or 3 hours. I could not decide his remedy. So I, for 2 or 3 days, watched him and then noticed that the paroxyms of cough would start at 3 a.m. and would last upto 6 a.m. or so. I decided to give him Kali-c the next morning but I forgot to do so. The next night, he again started coughing at 3 a.m. After the first paroxysm of cough, I gave him a dose of Kali-c 30 though, advisedly, a remedy should not be given during a paroxysm. After that one dose there was no further paroxysm of cough that night or the next night or any other night. And I remember not to have heard him cough at all for the next several years. It so happened that I myself once required Kali-c. I had a number of symptoms like weakness in the lumbar back and pain in the lumbar region as if it was bruised or broken. I became very chilly and got headaches if exposed to the cold air. Also, in cold air there would be stitching pains in the ears. All these complaints were worse after coition or after seminal emission. Because my mother had improved on Kali-c, and I had so many symptoms of the remedy, I also took Kali-c and found that it had very good effect. For the next two years or so I noted very good improvement. A few weeks after each dose, when the effect disappeared, the pains, etc. would recur which would disappear again the next day when another dose was taken. Once Dr. Koppikar of Madras quoted Allen about Kali-c, that it covers complaints of old and fat people. At that time, I had a Sindhi lady patient who was old and fat and was having pain in the knees worse by beginning motion. It was diagnosed as osteoarthritis. Since fatness in old age itself is a peculiar symptom, though the case seemed to work out to Calc-c on all her symptoms, I decided to try Kali-c and was surprised to find good results. Since then, whenever I see any old, fat patient, I consider first whether they have Kali-c symptoms. This is because Kali-c does not come out very well when cases are repertorized. And because I depend much on the repertory, possibly I have been missing this remedy. And now when I am looking for Kali-c, I do find many cases requiring the remedy and improving. So now I understand Kent's remarks. Boger says under Kali-c, "Everything affects the small of the back." Though T.F. Allen says that Kali-c is not indicated in fever, I have cured a febrile case of pericarditis with effusion with Kali-c. "A female patient H.S. , aged 27, was admitted to the hospital with a history of pain in the left chest and pyrexia of four days' duration. The pain was stitching, stabbing and cutting in nature and was agg. from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from coughing, and was accompanied by profuse perspiration. It was relieved by warm applications. She could not lie on her left side. There was dullness of the left base with diminution of breath sounds. A provisional diagnosis of pleurisy with effusion was made. The report of the X-ray taken later read as follows: "Huge dilatation of the heart, pericarditis with effusion - also pleural effusion left base and thickened pleura". The remedy Kali-c was found to cover the following symptoms in Boger's Synoptic Key. Morning and evening, agg. (p. 17) Stitches (p. 45) Cough, painful (p. 63) Dropsy (p. 89) Cutting (p. 68) Sweat in general, easy tendency to (p. 104). Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Reference to the Materia Medica portion (p. 224) showed that the remedy also covered the symptoms "worse lying on, painful" or "left side" and "better warmth". So she was given Kali-c 200, six hourly. There was an immediate all-round improvement which continued steadily; in four days she felt considerably better. The second X-ray, taken on 15.05.59, showed Heart size markedly diminished. Slight pleural effusion still present. The patient was discharged a week later and has remained well. Aggravation time of the pains in this case was 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. as against the usual 1 to 4 a.m. of Kali-c. Such twelve-hourly reversibility (day instead of night and vice versa) of time modalities is met with in the homoeopathic Materia Medica. An Ars. patient may be worse at 1 a.m. or 1 p.m. ; Chel. and Lyc. at 4 a.m. or 4 p.m. ; China at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. ; Nux-v at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. ; Sepia at 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. ; Thuja at 3 a.m. or 3 p.m. and so on. "Mrs. R.P. , aged 42 years, suffering from cervical spondylosis came for homoeopathic treatment because the collar she was given did not give her relief. Her history was as follows: On 27.06.62, she had sudden excruciating pain in the rt. scapular region and shoulder at 2 a.m. She woke up from sleep due to pain. Since then the pain has been there constantly. The pain is agg. at 3 a.m. She invariably gets up with pain at that time. It is agg. before menses, sitting and lying on the right side, agg. using the hand, as in writing. Pain in shoulder joint is agg. letting the hand hang down, amel. heat, rubbing, pressure on nape and shoulder. Has bad throat and sinusitis last 6 years. This is agg. by cold and sour foods. Irritable, worrying type; faints with pain. Past Hist.: Had a serious shock two years back (due to suspected infidelity of husband), Amoebic colitis eight years back. Pleurisy 25 years ago. Her case was studied in Kent's and Phatak's Repertory and Kali-c was found to cover the following symptoms: agg. at 3 a.m. (K.p. 1343) agg. before menses (K.p. 1373) agg. lying on right side (K.p. 1373) Fingers, working with agg. (Ph.p. 107) On 3rd Aug. 1962, she was given; 30, 12 doses to be taken twice a day till relief was obtained. On 17th Aug., she reported pain less in intensity, can hang her hand down without pain. From then on, she was put on Sac-l and advised to take Kali-c 200, 3 doses and by Nov. 1962 she was completely well and so the treatment was stopped. Now she has been well for several years." In one case of repeated attacks of abdominal colic, Colo. relieved the pain but did not cure. I read up Kent and gave Kali-c, which is the chronic of Colo. and the patient became well. If you show sympathy and if the patient weeps, it may be Kali-c, Lyc., Sep. or Sil.
Lachesis mutus
The study of various remedies in the homoeopathic Materia Medica is a most fascinating one. And among these remedies, the study of Lachesis can be particularly interesting. The story of how the terrible Surukuku snake - Lachesis mutus of South America was caught and how its venom was proved by the indomitable Constantine Hering is well-known to all Homoeopathic students. This snake poison is one of the most well-proved remedies in our Materia Medica. Not only are we provided with an almost complete picture of the drug action, thanks to Hering, but also the symptoms are so clear cut and characteristic that it is difficult to miss or mistake them in practice. Allen's Encyclopedia gives more than 3 600 symptoms of this drug and its symptoms occupy more than a hundred pages in Hering's Guiding Symptoms. Hundreds of homoeopathic practitioners have used this remedy, relieving and curing thousands of cases in different conditions, wherever its fundamental characteristic symptoms were met with. Clarke says that the physical characteristics of substances correspond with their dynamic effects and in the study of the symptomatology and clinical application of Lachesis also we find in the symptoms such a reflection of the basic characteristics of the snake from which the poison has originated. When the snake bites a person, the first thing we do is to try and stop the circulation of blood by applying ice or proximal to the bite a very tight tourniquent. By the application of ice or such tight pressure, we may save the life of the patient. Now this relief by cold and hard pressure are also found in the Lachesis patient in many of his symptoms. Beside the application of hard pressure, we also make an incision at the spot where the snake has bitten and let out the blood and along with it, the venom which is deposited there. This also helps the victim of the snake bite to survive. This general relief from bleeding is also found in the symptoms of the drug. One particular form of bleeding which is physiological is the menstrual flow and this gives great relief to the female patient. Among the drugs which have great relief from menses are Lachesis and Zinc. Not only bleeding, but almost any discharge gives relief to the patient, this being one of the most characteristic symptoms of the Lachesis patient. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Once I was consulted by a person who was getting recurrent attacks of epididymo-orchitis. His wife was in U.P. When he went to U.P. and stayed with her, he would get no attacks, but when he returned to Bombay after 2 or 3 months the attacks would occur. And thereafter, the attacks would recur at quicker intervals. During the attack the allopathic doctors would treat him with antibiotics but they could not prevent the attacks. Of course, they considered the fact of the attacks occurring when he was away from his wife as irrelevant. We know that allopathy does not consider suppression of sexual desire as a significant factor in the causation of disease. I prescribed for him Conium with no effect. Then he went and consulted one Dr. Dagli. This doctor found that his testis was extremely sensitive to touch and combining this with the amel. from discharge prescribed Lach. and cured him. While bleeding or any type of discharge gives relief, the suppression or non-appearance of a discharge or eruption aggravates the patient. In women they may have aggravation before and after the menses, or if it is suppressed, or if it ceases as in menopause. When the snake bites its victim not only is there localised blueness but if the poison is allowed to spread all over the body, there is a blue discoloration of the whole body due to cyanosis. Here again is a keynote of Lachesis. I have cured successfully with Lachesis a chronic non-healing varicose ulcer of many years * standing which was very much blue along the edges and was extremely sensitive to and bled easily from touch. The discharge, ulcers, skin, etc. may be bluish or blackish. (The Lachesis snake has blackish brown spots.) The snake is extremely sensitive to heat. It is said that the pit vipers have an exceptional sensitivity to cold and heat. The pits on their heads enable them to detect a mouse at a distance of one metre, even in complete darkness, by the heat radiated from it. Besides, since the sense organs are in pairs, they can detect the direction in which the mouse is moving. A frog, in dry air, is detected by the cool effect of the evaporation of water from its moist skin. A mere thousandth of a degree Fahrenheit is enough difference in temperature to alert the snake. It lives in deep pits or burrows where it is considerably cooler than on the surface. (The cobra, it is said, prefers to live beneath sandalwood trees.) It prefers the cool surroundings and that is why it ventures out more at night when it is cooler. The Lachesis patient also shows a tendency to be worse by warmth, by hot drinks, in the sun and in summer. The snake is very sensitive to touch and vibration (sound), and so is the Lachesis patient. The aggravation by touch and amelioration by pressure are also noticed in the throat symptoms. The patient is worse by swallowing liquids (touch) and is better by swallowing solids (pressure). We must remember that the snake, especially the Python, can swallow relatively very large creatures (solids) easily. This it is able to do because of the peculiar structure of the jaws which consist of four separate segments which are merely joined by ligaments in such a way that the jaws can open very widely and allow the snake to swallow animals far bigger than itself. The tongue of the snake is constantly darting in and out of its mouth. The Lachesis patient may exhibit the same constant to and fro movement of the tongue or he may exhibit it in the form of trembling of the tongue. In fact, there is a trembling of the whole body in the patient. (The sight of a snake induces fear and causes trembling.) Or there may be difficulty in putting out the tongue. The remarkable mobility of the tongue can also be exhibited in a constant flow of speech. The tongue of the snake is bifid, looking double and this is reflected in the patient's speech who uses double the number of words and also repeats his words. In fact, the first thing we may note about the patient is his or her loquacity. She may go on and on telling her symptoms and branching off in various directions, even repeating the same points. Loquacity is notoriously met with in women but it is also seen in men as the following case will show. Mr. U.A. M., a fairly well to do Muslim business man aged 53 years, consulted me on 12th Dec. 1962 with the following history: Some 5 years back, while in Surat he had a sudden attack of severe precordial pain with palpitations. His brother, a doctor, examined him and came to the conclusion that it might be a coronary attack. He was advised bed rest, then examined again after some days. This time the diagnosis of coronary thrombosis was revised and it was re-diagnosed as a case of cardiac neurosis or neurasthenia but he was still advised to retire from business permanently, which he did unwillingly. He, however, continued to develop various complaints from time to time and was given various medicines for appetite, for sleep, for pain, etc., in all amounting to 24 doses per day. His present symptoms were: Pain in the precordium, worse on ascending steps, worse by talking for a long time. Swelling around eyes on speaking for some time. Pain along a line from frontal to the occipital region. Difficulty in breathing; has to take a deep breath, often with a groaning noise. Oedema of the feet, worse on exertion, worse in the evening. Stiffness of the left arm and left leg on beginning to walk. Abdominal distension after food. Pain in the left renal area, on and off, worse by cold application, worse by sitting long. If he discussed business for a long time and then passes urine, he feels very weak. Pain in the chest after stool in the morning, better after tea. Sleeplessness upto 2 a.m. Jerking and pulling of left leg, esp. of the left big toe during sleep at night so that it wakes him 4-5 times at night. This Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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is worse if he gets sexual thoughts or if he sleeps near his wife. Appetite poor, but feels much better in general after food or drink. Head hot, eyes burn esp. in the morning and in general feels worse after sleep in the morning. Feels worse in summer. But if he is chilled, he gets pain in the joints. Extremely loquacious; repeats the same thing several times, talks for 5 to 6 hours non-stop; gives long lectures to his sons every day though it causes much chest pain. Will not allow others to talk or finish what they have to say. On examination: B.P. 150/90, Wt. 170 lbs. He was obese and had a prominent abdomen. There was oedema of both the legs, pitting on pressure. The indications for the remedy seemed clear. But I repertorized his case on Boger's Synoptic Key with the following rubrics: Sleep, during, agg.; Sleep, after, agg.; Spasmodic effects - Jerks, etc.; Side left; Loquacity. Lach. alone came through. It also covered the following symptoms (in Kent's Repertory). Convulsions from sexual excitement (p. 1355); Summer (p. 1404); Desire for deep breath (p. 766); Head, heat (p. 121); Eating, after amel. (p. 137); Motion, beginning agg. (p. 1374). I put him on Lach. VI (6th potency of 50 millesimal scale) in water to be taken daily once, diluted and succussed and asked him to discontinue forthwith all his daily 24 doses of allopathic medicine. From that day there was very steady progress and he never looked back. He is now completely normal for several years without any medicine and is taking active interest in his work. (Incidentally under the symptom "Jerking of the leg in sleep" in Kent's Repertory, Lach. is not mentioned.) The skin of the snake is reddish brown in colour. We see the redness in the symptoms - red (bloody) discharge, dark reddish eruptions, red nose, etc. The snake is more ferocious and poisonous when hungry; so also the Lach. patient is agg. by fasting and amel. after eating. The neck of the snake is always the thinner portion of the body and this constriction of the neck is reflected in the sensation of constriction of the neck in the patient also. The neck, of course, is the most vulnerable portion for one who wishes to catch the snake always catches it by the neck. And we do find the neck prominently affected. The python and mamba snakes, incidentally, kill their victims by enveloping, constricting and crushing them. When the snake is held hanging by its tail, it invariably starts raising the head up and tries to come up. This upward direction is met with in several sensations such as the rush of blood to the head, the headache going up from the nape, etc. They say that when the mind is poisoned there is jealousy and this is again a very characteristic symptom in Lachesis. Suspicion and jealousy are met with in many of the cases. The following is a typical case. I was once consulted by a lady, Mrs. B., who had developed severe itching in her neck. She had been suffering thus for seven years. She had been scratching her neck day in and day out, till it bled profusely and had the appearance of raw beef. She had gone to a skin specialist who having done his best and failed, had given up. She had then gone to a psychiatrist but without any effect. I made a close enquiry about the origin of the ailment, and was rewarded by a very interesting account. It seemed that one day her husband Mr. B. had gone to his native town. It so happened that Mr. B.'s boss's wife, Mrs. J., had also gone to the same city at the same time and so when Mr. B. was about to return, his boss Mr. J. wrote to him and requested him to escort Mrs. J. When Mr. B. and Mrs. J. returned together and disembarked from the steamer, Mrs. B. was present at the pier to receive them. Just then a friend of Mrs. B. also present there whispered into her ears that surely Mr. B. and Mrs. J. must have travelled in the same cabin, perhaps in intimate company. Thereupon, Mrs. B. got intensely suspicious and jealous. The subsequent behaviour of Mr. B. seemed to confirm her worst fears. It was during this period that she had developed the skin disorder. Later on, her husband had convinced her by various acts that he was completely loyal to her and had nothing to do with Mrs. J. Mrs. B. appeared to be thoroughly convinced of his fidelity but it had made no difference to her ailment. The itching continued and she continued to suffer. She had consulted both a skin specialist and psychiatrist but neither had been able to help her. It only required of me to put one or two questions to her to ascertain that her remedy was indeed Lachesis. Two or three doses of this medicine sufficed to restore her completely to normal health so that Homoeopathy earned her eternal gratitude. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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In some parts of India, when a person is bitten by a snake large quantities of cold water are poured on his head and he is made to walk up and down constantly and is not allowed to sleep at all because it is considered that if he falls asleep he will die. This probably has some scientific basis. And it is also noticed that the Lachesis patients are almost invariably worse during and after sleep. In fact, they may be worse even by closing the eyes. Incidentally, a snake has no eyelids. The symptoms of snake poisoning and alcohol are similar to a certain extent. There is dizziness, volubility, trembling, drowsiness, slurred speech, etc. The Lachesis patient is worse by alcohol. The snake coils itself from left to right and the symptoms of Lachesis proceed from left to right. Following is a typical case. "Mrs. L.C. , aged 62 years, consulted me on 12.03.58 complaining of the following: Six years back she started having pain and stiffness in the lumbo-sacral region which later descended into the left leg. Now, there is pain and swelling in left ankle which sometimes disappears from the left and appears in the right ankle, sometimes exists in both legs together, often painful, sometimes painless. Pain and heaviness in leg, agg. by motion and amel. by rest and agg. when legs hang down. Occasional pain epigastrium piercing to back. Sweats on palms and soles even in winter; sweat offensive. Feels hot in legs and body, wants to place the legs on cold floor and also sleep on cold floor; likes cold in general. Dislikes noise made by children. Recently has developed fear of thunder. Nowadays nervous, fears every little thing, fears something may happen, and trembles. Nervousness has started after the death of her husband who died of heart failure. Constipation, no urge for stool. Past history: Menses were generally very profuse. During menopause had much bleeding and other troubles. Also had high B.P. with headaches and vertigo. Vertigo was agg. looking up. On examination: Has varicosities in both legs; also oedema, more in left leg. Wt. 115 lbs, B.P. 150/100. The symptoms were evaluated and repertorized as follows in Kent's Repertory. Fear of thunder being a mental symptom and the latest to appear was taken first. This was combined with another mental symptom, the fear that something may happen. Fear, misfortune of (p. 46). Next came another mental - Sensitive to noise. Then came a general symptom, the intolerance to heat. Warm agg. (p. 1412). Now came the peculiar symptom that though there were varicosites in both the legs, the oedema appeared more on the left and travelled from left to right. Side, left, then right. Lach. alone covered these rubrics. It also covered the haemorrhagic tendency discovered in the previous history, "Perspiration offensive" (p. 1298) and the "Varices, lower limbs" (p . 1233). So she was given Lach. 30 on 13.03.58. There was an immediate and quick amelioration. The improvement continued and she became well in 3 months. There were one or two relapses but every time the same remedy in the 200th potency put her all right. All her symptoms have disappeared and the varicose veins give her no trouble. She is now well for many years." I have seen two cases of atherosclerosis going on to gangrene, in which the patients were agg. in sleep and woke up with pain at 3 a.m. Lach. helped them. One is the wife of a famous eye-specialist. By the way, in her case, I got good results with Lach. but better results when I gave her Lach. high and Sec-c low. "Mrs. M.R. B., aged 22 years, came for consultation on 4th Jan. 1969. She is getting attacks of Epilepsy since the age of 9 years. The minimum interval between two attacks is 15 days and the maximum 3 years. It started after some neighbour hit her on the head out of malice. She gets frightened too. She is impatient, suspicious, depressed, irritable, proud and jealous. She has a suicidal disposition and has tried twice to commit suicide. Once while in school she swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills because she was not prepared for an exam. She was then unconscious for one week. She is excitable and talkative. Her appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Her wounds bleed much, suppurate easily and heal slowly. Past History: H/o smallpox, mumps, pneumonia and nervous breakdown. Her case was repertorized in Kent's Repertory with the following symptoms: Suicidal, disposition (p. 85); Jealousy (p. 60); Suspicious (p. 85): Haughty (p. 51); Wounds bleed freely (p. 1422). Only Lachesis came through. She was given Lach. 200. She got a few more attacks, generally mild, all in sleep, but slowly she got out of them. She was given : 1M and then 10M and then she was relieved. She has remained well for over six years." " A girl R., aged 5 years, 6 m., was seen by me on 3rd June 1963 for the following complaints: She gets frequent epistaxis for last one year. Formerly used to get epistaxis every 2 months or so, but now gets it as often as once a week. The bleeding is very profuse and if she is made to lie down there is bleeding from the mouth. The blood is blackish and clotted. Bleeding occurs from the left nostril only. It is agg. in summer. Her appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Generally, she is irritable after sleep. Many specialists were consulted. They said it was due to anaemia and that only blood transfusion would help her. O/E. there is a presystolic murmur in mitral area. At first, thrombocytopenia was suspected but investigations showed that the platelets are normal in quantity but they do not break down easily, so that there is bleeding. It is diagnosed as qualitative platelet change. (Thromboasthenia) Plasma Prothrombin: 13; Serum Prothrombin: 24 sec.; Bleeding time 8'; Coagulation time 7'30". Clot retraction present. Platelet Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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count 234 000. I prescribed Lach. 1M, 7 doses, once a day and then placebo considering the following points: Left side; agg. in summer; haemorrhagic tendency; black discharge; agg. after sleep, etc. She started improving. There was no epistaxis for 25 days. Her blood exam. on 23.06.63 showed R.B. C. 2.7 mil. Hb. 27% W.B. C. 6 800. Lach. 1M, 6 doses, t.i. d. for 2 days, then placebo. On 28.06.63 she had epistaxis once again. Lach. 10M, 3 doses were given in one day followed by placebo. Her chest was screened on 22nd May. Report showed Heart size +, Marked hilar congestion. Two child specialists were consulted but they refused to hospitalise her. Lach. 10M was repeated on 18.07.63, 30.08.63 and 13.09.63. On 19.09.63, reported no further epistaxis. General condition much better. On 01.11.65, I heard that the child was quite well with no further attacks of epistaxis." " Mrs. D.D. , aged 46 years, came for consultation on the 4th Jan. 1972. She had a history of pain in abdomen 11/2 years back and it had been diagnosed as Colitis. It has now recurred for the last 21/2 months. The pain is agg. after eating,agg. lifting any weight, agg. after stool and urine. She gets attacks of convulsions during which she bites her tongue, her eyes turn upward and she gets salivation. Usually she gets such attacks while lying down. She gets these attacks since the age of 17 years. It is suspected as Epilepsy though the E.E. G. is normal. She gets coryza agg. changes of weather. Gets cramps in left leg in sleep. Gets ecchymosis if hurt but only in left leg. Her appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Feels depressed after sleep esp. agg. after afternoon nap. Gets scanty menses. She is sensitive. Likes to remain alone and does not like sympathy. No h/o Head injury. Is becoming obese since the last six months. On exam.: Tenderness all over abdomen especially in hypogastric region. Jerks and reflexes normal, except plantar left foot which is extensor. She is taking 3 phenobarbitone tablets daily. Was taking Gardinal for 6 years, then felt agg.. The remedy seemed clear but her case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory and Phatak's Repertory with the following symptoms: Sleep afternoon agg. (K.p. 1402) Menses scanty (K.p. 728) Lifting agg. (K.p. 1371) Discharge agg. (Ph.p. 69) Haemorrhage (Ph.p. 120) Obesity (K.p. 1375) Side left (K.p. 1401) Only Lach. came through. Lach. 1M, 3 doses t.d. s. and placebo given 15.01.72. No attacks. Slight pain in abdomen. Medicine repeated 01.02.72: No attacks: Lach. 10M, 3 doses t.d. s. and placebo given. The patient continued to improve steadily and became well."
Lycopodium clavatum
Lycopodium is one of our deep-acting polycrests. When indicated and administered the patient benefits from it for a very
long time. The aluminium content of Lyc. probably explains many of its features. This is probably responsible for the flashes it produces when used in fire crackers. The alternating constipation and diarrhoea, the paralytic effects, soft stool passed with difficulty, the dryness (the lycopodium powder was used by pill makers as a dusting powder to keep their hands dry while making pills), burning pains amel. heat, the falling hair, the adaptibility to persons who appear prematurely old are all common to Lyc. and Alumina. I mentioned that Lyc., when put into fire, produces flashes. The Lyc. symptoms also may come in a flash, they can be sudden and intense, as for example the hunger and the sexual excitement but the satisfaction or satiety is also very quick or sudden. Lycopodium produces signs of senility so that the patient appears to become prematurely old. The hair falls causing baldness or it becomes grey; there is wrinkling of the forehead creating an old look; the power of retention in mind (as well as in sex) is poor, resulting in a weak memory so that the patient makes mistakes in speaking - he can't recollect names and slowly develops a sense of incompetence and lack of confidence. So this patient is a young old man. Whenever I see a patient who looks older than this age, I always consider Lycopodium. I can recollect a case of Pneumonia in a child which responded dramatically to Lyc. which was selected because there was wrinkling of the forehead. Kent gives only Lyc. and that too in bold type under the rubric "Face, wrinkled, forehead with Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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chest symptoms". Out of the numerous cases of Lyc. I have seen so far, I have come across many of the characteristic symptoms mentioned in the books, in one patient or the other. The remedy has a very deep range of action producing lasting changes in the nervous, digestive, respiratory, circulatory and urogenital systems. The plant Lycopodium clavatum is said to be one of the oldest plants which has survived thousands of years of change. Theoretically, I see no objection to give Lyc. straight away in a case if it is indicated clearly. But in practice, I must admit that whenever I saw Lyc. indicated and gave it straightaway as the first remedy, usually, it did not act well. Often Lyc. works out for cases of calculi. Cases of both renal and biliary calculi so often exhibit constipation and flatulence and are agg. by peas, potatoes, etc. The renal cases are relieved by micturition. After Lyc. is given either the calculi are passed painlessly or subsequent X-rays show their disappearance. The movement of the alae nasi is a symptom of respiratory embarrassment. Boger says that to be of value, the movement of the alae nasi should be independent of respiration. I shall now present a few cases cured by Lyc. Mr. S., aged 39 years, consulted me on 17th Nov. 1961 with the following complaint: Has recurrent coryza for the last 7 years. He got the first attack in Calcutta in 1956. A complete blood count revealed Eosinophilia. In Bombay, in 1957, he got the second attack. He consulted an E.N. T. surgeon. The nasal mucosa was cauterised and he felt better. In 1960, he got another attack, after the death of his mother. Again in 1961, he suffered a fourth attack. This time, he took autovaccine. The nose was also punctured but he felt no relief. Now, the attacks are provoked by dust and by taking fish or prawn and in the rainy season. During the attacks, his nose gets blocked or he gets a watery discharge. The attack is aggravated from midnight till morning and by lying down. The patient is constipated, so he takes laxative daily. He had flatulence amel. by passing flatus. Appetite, thirst, urine, stool, etc., normal. He weeps easily, he can't see or bear suffering. He is very sensitive, gets upset easily. Sometimes he becomes irritable and shouts. He is losing confidence since he entered a new department in his office, although he is very competent and can easily manage his work. He also gave a history of repeated vaccination and of tuberculosis in an ancestor. The following symptoms were taken for study and the case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory: Confidence, want of (p. 13); Sympathetic (p. 86); Wet weather agg. (p. 1421); Food, shell fish agg. (p. 1363). Only Lyc. came through. Lyc. was given in 1M potency, 3 doses to be taken in one day to be followed by placebo. On these doses, he felt much better for a month. There was a relapse on 29th Dec. 1961 and so Lyc. 1M was repeated. On 10th Feb. 1962, he got back a skin lesion from which he had suffered originally and had been "cured" homoeopathically, but which he had forgotten to tell me about. I waited for some time and as the lesion persisted, Lyc. 10M, 3 doses were prescribed. He also received an intercurrent dose each of Thuja and Tuberculinum because of the previous and family history. On 1st Aug. 1962, he reported that he felt completely alright, except for the small patch of eczema. Lyc. 50M completely wiped off the remnants and he remains well till now (10 Dec. 1968). Comment: This was a good case of Lycopodium but readers will note with curiosity the fact that this patient was worse after midnight though Lyc. is well-known to have its amelioration after midnight. Mrs. J.T. , aged 23 years, consulted me on 15th Dec. 1961 for the following complaint: She suffered from pain in the middle of forehead for the last six months. Originally she had suffered from coryza which had been treated with some injections. The coryza had stopped but then the headache had started. She had consulted an E.N. T. specialist and he had diagnosed it as a case of Sinusitis. As the treatment of sinusitis was not satisfactory she had been directed to me. She had pain at the root of the nose but more especially in the middle of the forehead and over the eyes especially on the right side. Close questioning elicited no more significant symptoms except that she was constipated and that the headaches were worse if she worried or got upset about anything. Her personal, previous and family history revealed nothing unusual. So I repertorized the case using Kent's Repertory with the following rubrics: Head pain, coryza suppressed from having (p. 138); Head, pain, forehead, above right eye (p. 159); Head, pain, forehead, middle (p. 161); Head, pain excitement of the emotions, after (p. 139). Only Lyc. covered the above rubrics. I, therefore, selected Lyc. which I gave in the 200th potency. On 12.01.62, she reported that the headaches continued upto 27th and then ceased. As there was relapse I repeated Lyc. 1M on 03.02.62. She reported on 26.05.62 that she had no more headaches. She has remained well now for many years. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Comment: I had to select the remedy purely on the local symptoms because of the absence of any other mental, general, concomitant or characteristic symptoms. Although this is not a procedure to be recommended, yet the homoeopathic remedy that worked out helped the patient. Mr. K.C. , aged 40 years, consulted me on 18th July 1962 with the following history: He is a high placed executive in a very important bank in India. His duties require that he should address important conferences and talk to V.I. P.s. He has found that, of late, he has a feeling of excitement (sexual) especially marked when his wife is away. But he has poor erections and quick ejaculations. Gradually he has also developed a sense of inadequacy in his work, a lack of confidence and a sense of insecurity. He becomes nervous before his boss. His memory is poor and he is not able to speak so fluently and easily. He says he had a period of severe strain from 1956 to 1959 when he had a tussle with his boss. He generally feels very hungry but is easily satisfied. No other symptoms of any importance were elicited. To me the whole picture seemed to be a picture of Lycopodium. Probably the severe stress in his work reflected on the sexual sphere, and the sexual incompetence reflected on his work again. I gave him Lyc. 1M on 18th July 1962 with some improvement. On 30th not being satisfied with the improvement, I gave him Lyc. VI in the LM scale of potency. This brought about 50% improvement both in his work and in his sexual functions. Then I gave him a dose of Lyc. XXX in the LM scale which brought about 80% and then 90% improvement. The improvement progressed and by 08.04.63 he was completely normal . Still, I had to repeat this dose occasionally as he had relapses, but by 07.10.63 he was completely normal and so treatment was stopped. He dropped in to see me in June 1965 just to inform me that he was getting on extremely well in all spheres, thanks to Homoeopathy! Comment: For such cases modern medicine has little to offer except some reassurance or psychoanalysis or tranquilisers and sexual stimulants but our Homoeopathy can do wonders to rejuvenate these people. "Mr.T. R., aged 45 years, consulted me on 14th Dec. 1961 with the following history: Since age of 19 years, i.e. from 1935, he has eczema in the legs, has itching and on scratching a thin fluid exudes. The eruptions are black and are worse in summer. Since 1951, he gets attacks of giddiness. This has started after his son-in-law, aged 35, expired. This was a great shock to him and he was greatly depressed for one year. The giddiness is agg. after coffee and is amel. by vomiting. It is associated with throbbing in temples. Heavy foods cause discomfort in abdomen between 1 and 2 a.m. Prefers hot food and drinks and sweets. Milk causes diarrhoea. Gets tinnitus in ears on and off, started in the right ear, now in both, amel. fasting. Sometimes gets sprained pain in right scapular area , amel. by eructation. Feels generally better in the cold season. For the eczema he had taken X-ray exposures with no relief. On examination I found nothing abnormal except that he had external piles. This case was repertorized with the following rubrics using Kent's Repertory: Grief, ailments from (p. 51) Diarrhoea after milk (p. 614) Food, heavy, agg. (p. 1363) Food, coffee, agg. (p. 1362) Lyc., came through as the only remedy. The remaining picture also fitted in with Lyc. I prescribed Lyc. 200, 3 doses six hourly to be followed by Sac-l. By 25.12.61, he felt better in all symptoms: the eczema the vertigo, the tinnitus, the abdominal discomfort, etc. The remedy had to be repeated in the 1000th potency, followed by a dose of Carb-v 1M. Till now he remains well without any further medication." "Mr. G., aged 39, consulted me in 1957 for attacks of flatulent colic amel. flatus, amel. fomentation, agg. potatoes, onions, fruits, coconut, rice, heavy foods. Sweats with abdominal pain. Milk causes diarrhoea. Cannot stand hunger. Prefers hot drinks. Lumbar ache agg. rising in morning, agg. pressure. A Barium Meal X-ray showed an ulcer niche in duodenum with pseudodiverticuli due to adhesions. On looking through the following rubrics in Kent's Repertory, viz. Fruit agg.; Onions agg.; Milk agg.; Perspiration with pains, I found that only Lyc. covered them all. Besides, Lyc. also covered the back pain. So he was given Lyc. 200 and was put on bland diet. His response to this prescription was very satisfactory. He continued the treatment irregularly taking Lyc. upto 50M but by 1964, he became completely well." Osteoarthritis is said to be a degenerative particular disease of old age for which even relief is not promised. The following case illustrates how even this can be cured in a limited sense, i.e. the patient made comfortable and symptom-free. "Mr. T.A. K., aged 69, came on 26th July 1963 with the following complaints: Has arthritis in knee joints agg. right knee for the last 10 years. Pain agg. rising from sitting, agg. beginning motion, agg. descending steps. It is diagnosed as Osteoarthritis. Has frequent urination at night. Weight is increasing. Has bilateral cataract. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica On looking up the rubrics "Descending agg.", "Obesity" and "Old people" in Kent's Repertory, I came to Bar-c, Con., Lyc.,
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Sulph.
Of these I preferred Lyc. as it was right sided, had frequent micturition at night, etc. So, I gave him Lyc. 200. He felt relief, but the medicine had to be repeated about once a month, in 1M and then in 10M potencies. Later I gave him doses of Lyc. in the 6th potency of the LM scale to be taken in water succussed daily once. On 17th Feb. 1965, he reported that he was completely well, there was no pain in the knees. The medicine was discontinued. He has remained well for many years now." Our books generally picturize the Lyc. patient as a thin, withered patient but sometimes it is not so. I have treated several obese patients with Lyc. "Mrs. M., aged 68, wife of an allopathic doctor saw me on 7th June 1972 with the following complaints: She is suffering from lumbago for the last 20 years. Now she cannot get up from bed due to the stiffness. Pain is agg. rising from sitting, agg. sitting long, agg. lying on back, agg. cold drinks, agg. stooping; cannot squat. It is amel. pressure and amel. by massage. Gets pain and heaviness in the thighs. She has become very obese. Her appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. She is amel. by company. Very irritable. Past Hist: She had thyrotoxicosis which was amel. with Neomercazol. Fam. Hist.: Her sister had tuberculosis. The case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory: Back, pain, lying back on (p. 896) Back, pain, lumbar region, lying back on (p. 906) Back, pain, rising from sitting (p. 897) Back, pain, lumbar region, rising from a seat (p. 907) Obesity (p. 743) Cold drinks agg. (p. 1363) Lyc. and Puls. came through. I preferred Lyc. as she was very irritable. Lyc. 200, 3 doses were given in one day. By 17.06.72, she felt 25% amel. but still had pain. Lyc. 200 was continued, once a day. She continued to improve but with relapses, but by 30.08.72 she felt normal." "Mr. C.S. , aged 38, came with following symptoms: Burning in epigastrium agg. 4 to 10 p.m. Appetite poor. Distension with eructations. Alcohol and heavy food agg., causes acute pain in epigastrum. Stool irregular. Memory poor, lack of concentration. Weakness in legs agg. if he worries. No energy to work. Sour foods agg.. Summer agg.. H/o grief due to father's death. Suspected as ulcer, gastritis or colitis. On examination: Tenderness all over abdomen. On these symptom indications, he was given Lyc. 200 on which he felt amel.. He went on improving though he required doses of Lyc. on and off upto the CM potency. He felt and became so well that even after attending his office for the entire day, daily, he was able to work the whole night and drove a lorry for 3 full nights. Nowadays he comes to me once in 3 or 4 months and takes one dose of the "tonic medicine" - Lyc. CM." "Mr. P.P. T., aged 32 years, came to me on 7th Jan. 1953 for consultation with the following history: Nine years back, he had pain in chest as if an abscess was forming which was amel. by fomentation and hot drinks. Pain used to occur once in 10-15 days, at any time of the day and would last for ten minutes. After six months he developed a feeling of food sticking in oesophagus and had retrosternal pain only while swallowing food or drink. And if he lay down after food, 3 to 4 hours later, the food and drink used to ooze out of the nose, first the liquid element followed by the solid part, sometimes 3 to 4 cupfuls through the nostril of the side on which he lay. This started occurring once in 2 or 3 months; he would also then vomit everything for 3-4 days. At present, he has retrosternal pain on eating or drinking hurriedly. Appetite poor, likes sweets, but sweets cause nausea afterwards. He likes warm food and drinks. The sense of obstruction is much less with warm food and drink. Has rattling in chest during sleep, especially after 3 a.m. Dreams of business. A Ba. swallow X-ray showed Achalasia Gastrica with oesophageal pouch. Lyc. in different potencies including 50 milesimal scale potencies was given during a two year period. The patient showed considerable improvement and is now completely free from this trouble though he needs to take a dose occasionally. About one year later, an eminent surgeon was consulted for an opinion. He expressed the opinion that there was no doubt about the diagnosis and no doubt also that it was a clearly surgical condition but since the patient had shown such remarkable improvement and was practically free from the difficulty, surgery was inadvisable and homoeopathic medicine should only be given when necessary." And now, I shall give some diverse symptoms of Lyc. in verse: Look at Lyco., lean and hungry, Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica Not one to like for he awakes angry, As a little food overfills So, smaller grow his dinner bills, Very forgetful, so he makes Speaking and writing, many mistakes Worse in the evening four to eight, But troubles cease after midnight, Full of gas, abdomen tight, Complaints go to left from right, Thin, withered, full of gas, Alas! Cannot satisfy any lass!
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Mercurius solubilis
Mercury is a very interesting remedy to study. To confess the truth I did not realise its full potentialities in the beginning.
It was only later that I was able to understand its virtues, thanks to my good friend, Dr. Sarabhai. In acute colds and coughs due to constant change of weather from hot to cold, it is an excellent remedy esp. in Bombay. I must also tell you about my personal experience with Merc-s. For some years I used to get repeated attacks of colds and coughs (tonsillitis) esp. coming on if I took iced drinks. Therefore, though I was very fond of cold drinks, I could not take them. The symptoms of the attacks were: severe pain in the throat agg. empty swallowing, agg. cold drink, agg. at night with fever and chills. I would feel chilly but if I put off the fan I would feel hot and perspire. After perspiring I would feel worse. I also had complete thirstlessness. Normally I would take 6 to 8 glasses of water a day but during the attacks I would not like water at all. I used to work out my case in the repertory and it would come to Puls., but Puls. would not like water at all. I did not consider Mercury because of the thirstlessness. But once I happened to take Merc-s by chance (or Merc-i-r) and I felt immense and immediate relief. So the absence of thirst had fooled me until this time I felt it was a contraindication for Merc-s. Since then, I am able to take a lot of cold drinks with impunity and even if there is slight throat trouble a dose of Merc-s or Merc-i-r puts me all right at once. Every time I enjoy an iced drink I thank Merc-s and think gratefully of Hahnemann who gave it to us. I would like to report a recent case treated by me. "A boy, aged 10 years, had nocturnal enuresis. He would pass urine in bed but continue to sleep over it. The urine was generally offensive. Sometimes he would pass urine involuntarily even in daytime and sometimes he was not even aware that he had passed urine. I repertorized his case, taking the symptoms "Urination, involuntary in bed", "Urination, unconscious" and "Urine, offensive" and found Merc-s alone coming through. Merc-s put him all right." A peculiar characteristic of the Merc-s cough is that it occurs in bouts of two coughs. Merc-s is prominently agg. by lying on the rt. side. I remember the case of a girl who developed bilateral pneumonia and was under my treatment. She did not improve. So she went under allopathic treatment. Somehow, under the allopathic treatment she became worse and so came back to me. I then noted two prominent symptoms: (1) She could not lie down on the rt. side at all because of severe agg. in chest pain and cough, (2) Salivation ++. With Merc-s she was completely cured. I have a problem with Merc-i-f. It is said that in Merc-i-f the throat pain is better by cold drinks. But I have rarely seen throat troubles better by cold drinks. "Dr. H.G. B., aged 37 years, came in 7th Oct. 71 with the following complaints: He gets recurrent nasal congestion for last 5 years, coming on if he drinks iced water. First, the throat gets affected, then the nose gets blocked. It is amel. if he is engaged. He had also lachrymation from left eye esp. while eating. He had got ringworm infection in the groin which is agg. heat. His appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Sweets cause bloating of abdomen. Wounds take long time to heal. Past Hist.: He had typhoid in childhood. He uses nasal drops. His case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory and Phatak's Repertory as follows: Cold drinks, agg. (K.p. 1362) Sweets, agg. (K.p. 1364) Coryza, ascending (Ph.p. 53) Only Merc-s came through. Merc-s 200 was given for a fortnight. He found no change. So I gave him Bacill. 1M, 3 doses followed by Merc-s 1M, daily once for a fortnight. He felt better and was able to get on without using nasal drops. With Merc-s 1M, then 10M and the VI (i.e. 6th potency of Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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50 Millesimal scale) succussed and given in water daily repeated at increasing intervals of time with intercurrent doses of Bacill. 1M, he became completely well." "Dr. M.B. R., aged 76 years, came on 21st June 1972 with the following complaints: At he age of 4, he had had a stone in the bladder. He was operated but burning in urine continued for one year. At the age of 8 months , he had had abscess and cellutitis above rt. iliac bone. This led to a sinus which lasted for 2 years. Amputation of the leg was advised by a surgeon but some lay woman cured it. At the age of 30, he got gout. At 35, had pneumonia. Since then he gets pain in joints agg. at night and agg. rainy season. Gets pain in knees which is agg. night agg. descending and agg. by motion. Gets heartburn at night. His memory is poor for names. Has enlarged prostate and fungus infection in nails. Prev. Hist.: He had bilateral inguinal hernia. Had prolapse of anus during stool. His case was repertorized with Kent's Repertory and Phatak's Repertory as follows: Extremities pain, joints, night (K.p. 1047) Wet weather (K.p. 1421) Nails (Ph.p. 186) Calculi (Ph.p. 33) Only Merc-s covered all the symptoms. Because of the agg. at night, I gave him first Syph. 1M, 3 doses t.d. s. and then followed it with Merc-s 30 b.d. By 18.07.72, he felt much better. So medicine was discontinued. But he improved still further and became well." "Mr.V. , aged 39 years, came for help on 17th Sept. 1964 for the following complaints: For the last three months, he has had to strain a little for urine, sometimes the urine comes in a double stream, sometimes in a thin stream. The condition had been diagnosed as stricture of the urethra. He had an attack of typhoid treated with Chloromycetin three years back. Since then, he has had much bleeding from the gums; even now sometimes he gets sudden bleeding from the gums while washing the face. Past Hist.: He had had an attack of measles and chicken pox. Fam. Hist.: Married in 1952; has two children aged 11 years and 6 years. Father, mother and three sisters living and healthy. I first gave him Chloromycetin 30, b.d. for a week to eliminate any possible ill-effects of the original drug given for typhoid. This prescription relieved the straining a little and urine came in a single stream. So, on 24th Sept., I gave him 14 doses of Chloromycetin 30, to be taken daily once. But on 8th Oct., he reported no further progress. I then noted the following additional symptoms: Urging for urine on rising from sitting; sweat stains yellow; skin has turned dark. I now repertorized the case as follows on Kent's Repertory: Urination, forked (double) stream (p. 657) Urination, feeble stream (p. 661) Bleeding from gums Bathing (or washing) agg. (p. 1345) Perspiration stains yellow (p. 1301) Black, Dark, etc. (Phatak's Rep. p. 25) Only Merc-s came through and Merc-s was obviously the correct remedy. I gave six doses of Merc-s 1M to be taken t.i. d. for two days. The patient started improving. I had to repeat Merc-s 1M and then Merc-s 10M. On 19th Dec. 1964, he reported that he was completely well." "I was consulted for Miss J.C. , aged 16 years. The girl was the daughter of a rich land-owner and she had developed behavioural defects. At birth she had had no hair on the body. She had been treated with Thyroid and Durabolin and hair had grown. She was now stunted in stature being only 4'2" tall. Her weight was 26.5 kg only. This had created a serious complex in her mind. Her father was tall, so she believed that her short stature was due to her mother. Hence she hated her mother. She had been mentally deranged for some time. For the last few months, she had been depressed and had talked of death and had expressed a desire for death. She had changeable moods. Milk used to cause diarrhoea. Her older brother aged 21 was quite normal. Recently, she had created a problem because she suddenly told her parents that she wished to marry the son of their cook. She also announced this to all her schoolmates and thus had become the laughing stock. She had been seen by a neurologist who had said that pituitary dysfunction was the cause of her stunted growth. X-ray had shown fusion of the epiphysis and so there was no possibility of increasing her height. She was behaving like a child and would eat with both the hands. She would eat in a hurry. She was shameless and foolish. She was very fond of sweets. She was very dirty by habit. She would often talk of marriage. She was very sensitive to music. She was averse to consolation. She had been treated by a homoeopath previously with Puls., Tub., Pso., etc., and Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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had shown some improvement on these medicines. I repertorized her case with the following symptoms, viz. Dirty, Lascivious, Moods changeable, Sensitive to music, Hurry, Consolation agg., and Dwarfish. I got Merc-s. I put her on Merc-s, starting from 1M going upto the CM with intercurrent doses of Syph. In the course of 2 years her behaviour has become completely normal. Now, she has married some person of her own status to the satisfaction of her parents."
Natrium muriaticum
Nat-m, like Carb-v and Silicea illustrates the effects of potentizing and the power residing within apparently inert
substances. Of course, Nat-m like any other remedy is able to relieve cases wherever it is indicated by the symptoms but cases of throtoxicosis, psychoneurosis esp. of the depressive types, hypertension, sinusitis, etc., often seem to require Nat-m. Nat-m is often described as a drug agg. by heat but it is better to remember that (like Sil., Lach., etc.) it may be agg. both by cold and heat. Dr. S.R. Phatak had recently described a case of a lady who became mentally unbalanced. On the history that when she had lost her child a while ago she had not wept, she was given Nat-m which cured her. Another such case was a boy who had continuous attacks of asthma since childhood. On the history that the boy had not cried well after birth, Dr. Phatak again prescribed Nat-m and this gave relief to the boy for several months. To me this appeared to be a strange interpretation of a common rubric "Sad but cannot weep" (Kent's Repertory p. 78). In another case, the symptoms were practically contradictory and hopelessly mixed up. Boger gives an indication under Nat-m, "Thin, thirsty and hopeless". By interpreting the word "hopeless" in a much broader sense, Dr. Phatak prescribed Nat-m which gave relief to the patient. The more we study and practise Homoeopathy the more we realise in how many thousands of ways a remedy could be manipulated. Proceeding on this line of thought a little further, I may say that one might never be able to master all the possibilities of a single remedy in one's lifetime. This is a very sweeping (and perhaps a depressing) thought but I think that it is true. "Mr. H.J. S., aged 24 years, had recurrent pain in the left supraorbital region, of 4 years' duration occurring almost daily. The pain would increase and decrease gradually. It was agg. by fan, agg. in an air-conditioned room, agg. in the sun. With the pain there was swelling below the eyes, and lachrymation. The pain was agg. after sleep. Rising from the sitting position used to cause syncope. He had desire for salt and aversion for milk. Thirst: 5-6 glasses of water per day. His memory was poor, he was irritable and preferred to be alone now; he disliked consolation. It was a typical case of Nat-m. With Nat-m 200, 3 doses, 2 hourly in one day, followed by Sac-l, he felt better in one week. He became quite well in a month with one more dose of Nat-m 1M, and reported well after 4 years. It is a complementary to Bry. and has the same dryness in the mouth and throat causing thirst, in the rectum causing dry hard stools, in the vagina causing painful coition, and in the skin. Considering the fact that three-fourths of the earth's surface is covered by sea water and that the major solid constituent of this water is ordinary salt and considering also that almost all human beings require and consume salt in their food, I think Nat-m should be a very important remedy for many disease-conditions and perhaps should be used more extensively. While going through Hering's Guiding Symptoms, I noted that Nat-m has got a crack on both the upper and lower lips, whereas all the Materia Medica writers only emphasize the crack in the middle of the lower lip. I wonder how they pick out and give some particular symptoms out of the large group of symptoms found in the provings. What must be their criteria of selection? For example, under Nat-m in the provings there are 34 symptoms given under "Face" in Hering's Guiding Symptoms. Out of these 34, Boericke gives 3 symptoms. How did he decide that these three are the important symptoms out of the 34? Does it depend on each writer's own experience? Incidentally, the biochemic practitioners, I think, use Nat-m extensively. They say that Nat-m is the remedy for disturbances of fluids, either excessive fluidity or dryness, e.g. lachrymation, diarrhoea, constipation, etc. There is lachrymation or weeping with laughter or laughter ending in weeping. They say Nat-m is chilly but it is also agg. by heat. Dr. Dhawale (Sr.) always used to emphasize agg. consolation as a very important symptom. By the way, Dr. Gutman told me once that Nat-m has no dreams of robbers though it is given in Allen's Encyclopaedia. It is Nat-c which has this symptom. It is said that Nat-m should not be given during fever. Dr. Phatak told me that in the beginning of his practice he used to give Nat-m during fever and found very bad aggravation. But in my experience, I have given it without aggravation. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Some people say Nat-m is a good remedy for high B.P. You know these patients are agg. by salt. Incidentally we have seen many patients with various diseases improving only by cutting off salt. This is usually the prohibition imposed by many ayurvedic physicians. I had one case. He could not forget an evil committed against him. He used to go on thinking about revenge. The patients brood over old grief and grievances. It seems they enjoy this pastime just as the Ign. patient enjoys being sad. Kent says that Nat-m is indicated when a girl falls in love with a married man or a person unequal to her in status. This is indeed a very remarkable indication for a remedy. I have verified this in my practice. "An uneducated Muslim girl, aged 20, was brought to me by a doctor for various types of symptoms including mental depression, indifference to life, etc. At the first interview in the presence of the doctor I could not get to know the proper background, but when she came again with her mother, I came to know that she was desperately in love with a person who was highly educated and of a comparatively much higher status. On enquiry, I was told that the object of her love was the doctor himself who had brought her to me, though he himself was not aware of her feelings for him. The girl knew that her love could never succeed. I gave her Nat-m and she became normal."
Nux vomica
Though the alkaloid of Ign. and Nux-v is one and the same, Strychnine, the two drugs provoke very different reactions. But both seem to be suited to the effects that seem to have resulted from the civilization of the human race, each in its own way. Nux-v seems to be the remedy ideally made for the modern city dweller. When one glances down the list of things or influences that would go to create the Nux vomica symptoms, one comes across: Anger Light Anxiety Liquor Coffee Mental exertion and fatigue Condiments Mortification Debauchery Noise Disappointment Odours Disturbed sleep (or late nights) Over-eating Drugs Purgatives Grief Rich food High living Sedentary habits Hurry Vexation One can easily recognise without reflecting that these are indeed the components and spice of city life and that almost every citizen is exposed to many of these influences. Besides, one has to put up almost every day with many annoyances, minor and major. Of how many irregularities in diet and habits, how much abuse of nature's laws, one is guilty! Therefore, it is no surprise that when one falls ill, these influences, singly or in combination, are often to blame and then one finds Nux-v coming up to antidote the results of these transgressions. This is why this remedy is so often found useful in every-day practice. The Nux-v type is the impatient, intolerant, irritable type, the top-class efficient executive who tolerates no mistakes, no delays, who won't stand any nonsense, who becomes easily cross, and whose path every one is afraid to cross. Of course, he gets things done but he often leaves a bad impression behind because of his fastidiousness; he annoys and gets annoyed. The following case is a good example. "Once a very well-to-do, intelligent businessman came to consult me. By nature he was very meticulous and thorough, but impatient and intolerant of the least contradiction. The least contradiction would make him violent. The nature of his work confined him to his chair the whole day. Now, he had suddenly developed a shooting pain in the chest. Someone had diagnosed it as pleurisy and this had upset him considerably. But the pain was independent of respiration. As he preferred homoeopathic treatment he came to me, accompanied by a friend. When I questioned him about his symptoms, he merely pointed to his friend who had to explain everything on his behalf. When I asked more and more questions, he became impatient, flared up and shouted at me, "What do you mean by asking silly questions? Aren't you going to give me some relief ?" I gave him two doses of Nux-v 30, one to be taken at once and one after one hour if necessary. Within five minutes of the first dose, by the time he got into his car and left, the pain had disappeared." Irritability is the keynote - irritable mind, nose, throat, stomach, rectum, muscles, etc. For instance, the patient with the dry cough goes hack, hack, hack all the time; and when he sneezes, they amount to a dozen at least. Though Nux-v is usually effective in many acute conditions, it is equally efficacious in chronic conditions too, if the Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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symptoms tally. The following instance will illustrate this fact. "An engineer by profession, Mr. K.A. L., aged 35, came to me with the following complaint: In Jan. 1954, while in the U.S. A., he had started vomiting at night. He was hospitalised and investigated. Ba. meal X-rays did not reveal any abnormality. Gastric analysis revealed hyperchlorhydria. He was treated for this in the U.S. A. (in the famous Mayo Clinic) and in England, but with little relief. At the moment he had heaviness of stomach with a dull pain starting half an hour after food and lasting an hour. With the pain, he had a headache, and he became very irritable and impatient. The pain was aggravated by heavy and starchy food, spices, tea and exertion and much relieved even by a very short nap. If the pain was very severe, he induced vomiting which ameliorated. The vomit was extremely sour. The pain was also ameliorated by sweating and micturating. He preferred eggs, hot foods and drinks. Otherwise, there was nothing worth reporting. The case was repertorized using Boger Synoptic Key and the following rubrics were chosen from. Sleep, amel. (p. 28) Discharges, amel. (p. 21) Impatience, etc. (p. 51) Anger, irritability, etc. (p. 49) Sourness (p. 45). The only remedy that came through was Nux-v. The whole case fitted in with Nux-v and so one dose of the remedy was prescribed in the 1M potency. There was an immediate and very gratifying response to the remedy and the patient felt completely well in a week's time. However, there were all relapses, and the remedy had to be repeated twice, but with the last dose the whole condition cleared up completely." "Mr. K.S. M., aged 39 years, came on 5th July 1973 with the following history: In June 1946, he had an attack of haemoptysis. It was suspected as food poisoning and treated as such. Later he had abdominal pain which was diagnosed as duodenal ulcer with superadded amoebic infection. Allopathic treatment gave no relief. Now he gets abdominal distension 2 to 3 hours after food with burning, very offensive eructations or vomiting, both of which relieve. The vomitus is extremely sour. He has frequent, scanty stools. He has to strain even for a soft stool. He feels agg. lying on back and right side. Thirst: takes only one cup of water a day. Nowadays he does not perspire but feels amel. if he perspires. If he sleeps in the afternoon, he vomits on getting up. He feels suffocated in a closed room. He prefers to be alone. He is very nervous and irritable but suppresses anger and broods, is oversensitive and very punctual in his work. Past Hist.: In Oct. 1945, he was not allowed to appear in a departmental examination, and was very disappointed as a result. He suffered grief when he lost his son aged 2 years in 1951. Wt. originally 128 lbs is now 101 lbs. All the following rubrics in Kent's Repertory were found covered by Nux-v, viz., agg. Lying on back; agg. Lying on right side; Constipation difficult stool; Grief, ailments from; Brooding; Eructations, foul. Nux-v also covered most other symptoms and seemed to match the totality. So he was given on 19.07.63, Nux-v 200. He started improving on infrequent doses on Nux-v, given upto 10M and was completely relieved by 30.09.63. Three years later, I heard that the patient remains well. Unfortunately, a follow-up X-ray could not be taken." We have seen many reports of cases of strangulated hernia being relieved by Nux-v. It is also useful in ordinary hernia. "Master Nirmal, aged 6 years, had developed left-sided incomplete inguinal hernia since three months. It originated when one day his elder brother sat down with force on his abdomen. The boy had no other symptoms of significance. Because of the history of injury, Arnica was prescribed in different potencies but with no result. The case was then repertorized as follows using Kent's Repertory: Hernia, Inguinal, children, left side (p. 552) Injury (p. 1368) = Nux-v Nux-v 6, twice a day for seven days was given with no effect. Then Nux-v 200, 3 doses in one day followed by placebo were given on 7th March 1962. On 10th April 1962, condition was better; the impulse felt on coughing was less. The boy was kept under observation and Nux-v in higher potency was repeated according to necessity. By 11th Aug. 1962, Nirmal was completely normal and medication was discontinued. He was still normal on 1st Nov. 1965. "
Opium
The study of Opium is an absorbing one. Opium is the air-dried juice obtained by incision of the capsules of the white poppy, Papaver Somniferum. The white poppy Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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belongs to N.O. Papaveracaea and is grown in India, Persia, Asia Minor, Turkey, China and Egypt and is also cultivated in England and other cold countries like Russia and Yugoslavia. It is a highly complex substance, containing about twenty-five alkaloids combined with meconic, lactic and sulphuric acids. Of these, the most important is morphine which occurs in combination with meconic acid. Next in importance are codeine, narcotine, papaverine and thebaine. The various alkaloids have each a slightly different action but the total combined effect of these makes an excellent composite picture. This drug used by many narcotic addicts stimulates at first, and then depresses. The effects of the drug can be studied in three broad stages. 1. Stage of Excitement: During this stage, the symptoms are an increased sense of well-being and increased mental activity, freedom from anxiety, loquacity, restlessness or even hallucinations, flushing of the face and increased action of the heart. This stage is of short duration and may be absent if a large dose is taken. In children convulsions or a maniacal condition may be seen in this stage. The person may experience a feeling of euphoria (a sense of well-being) and he may develop very delightful visions or phantasies; he may also feel excited and sleepless. There may be exalted perception. It is for this stimulant effect that the drug is taken by addicts. 2. Stage of Sopor: The nerve centres are depressed during this stage, which sometimes comes in quite suddenly. The symptoms are headache, nausea, vomiting, giddiness, lethargic condition, drowsiness and an uncontrollable desire to sleep from which the patient may be roused by external stimuli. The pupils are contracted, the face and lips are cyanosed and an itching sensation is felt all over the skin. The pulse and respiration are still normal. 3. Stage of Narcosis: The patient now passes into deep coma from which he cannot be roused. During this stage the muscles are relaxed and the reflexes are lost. All the secretions are almost completely suspended except that of the skin, which feels cold and clammy. The face is pale, the lips are livid and the lower jaw droops. The conjunctivae are injected. Blood pressure begins to fall and the pulse is low, small and compressible. The respirations are slow, laboured and stertorous and the rate may be as low as 2 to 4 per minute. Even at this stage, recovery may take place by prompt and proper treatment. Otherwise lividity of the surface increases. The pulse becomes slower, irregular and imperceptible. The respirations are slower, more feeble, and assume the character of Cheyne-stokes, death occurring from asphyxia. Convulsive twitchings in groups of muscles are observed, and the pupils are widely dilated towards the end. Vomiting may occur in some cases. Convulsions of a tetanic character are occasionally present, more frequent in children than in adults. Diagnosis: Opium poisoning has to be diagnosed from apoplexy, uraemic, diabetic, epileptic and hysterical coma, acute alcoholic, carbolic acid and barbiturate poisoning and compression of brain. In the stage of depression, there may be insensibility and loss of reaction and sensation. The sensory and motor nerves may both become sluggish and so the various organs like bladder, rectum, etc., may not send impulses to or react to impulses from the brain. There may, therefore, result constipation with no urge, retention of urine, etc. The glands may lose their function, and so fail to produce secretion and therefore dryness occurs everywhere, except on the skin. In the extreme stage of depression the patient may go into deep sleep resembling a coma-like stage. In this profound comatose stage there are pin-point pupils (P.P. P.) with a moist skin. There can be cyanosis also. In this connection I may relate the case of a child. "I was once called to see an infant aged 14 days who was in a cold, cyanosed and collapsed state. The child soon after birth had developed rattling respiration and cyanosis. A child specialist and later an eminent cardiologist had diagnosed it as a case of Fallot's Tetralogy which is a congenital malformation in the heart. And they had said that nothing could be done. So the child was sent home from the nursing home. When I saw the child she was practically in a moribund state. She had very loud rattling respiration which could be heard 20 ft. away. She was cyanosed and unconscious and I was told that she had passed no stool for the last 8 days. When I turned the child over to the side in order to auscultate the back, I found that the rattling suddenly ceased and when the child was again turned over to lie on the back the loud rattling started again. I took the rubrics "Rattling" (p. 42), "Lying on back agg." (p. 25) and, "Bluish, Purple" (p. 3), all in Boger's Synoptic Key. The three remedies that came through were Cup., Op. and Sulph. Out of these, I preferred Opium because of the prolonged constipation. You can imagine my surprise and happiness when after one dose of Opium 30, within ten minutes, the blueness entirely disappeared, the face became slowly red, the rattling lessened and the child became conscious. The child continued to live very happily, every time responding to Opium whenever she went into a cyanotic state, I advised them time and again to get the child operated but they repeatedly postponed it. Ultimately, when she was aged 4 years, one day while sitting on the mother's lap she laughed loudly and died." Opium seems to be an excellent remedy for the effects of fright. Foubister describes a girl of 31/2 years who was admitted in the hospital, dangerously ill with a temperature of 105 F, Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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drowsy and delirious with a W.B. C. count of 38 000. She had evidence of sinusitis with large tender glands. The pupils were pin-point. There was a history that the child had been frightened by a wasp and with Opium CM she came round very well. He goes on to describe another case. "A girl of sixteen years of age was slow in recovering from influenza. Thinking back over the twelve years I had looked after her, this was the usual pattern, there was sluggishness in recovering from every acute illness for no obvious reason. Going back over the history, I discovered that the mother had been frightened by a doctor during pregnancy on being told that she might lose her baby. She said, "I felt the shock go right through me." The girl was given Opium CM and made a quicker recovery, but not only that, she became physically more robust and her ability to study increased quite definitely." Opium eaters are known to suffer from very frightful visions of rats, mice and other fantastic animal formations jumping at them from which they try to escape by hiding themselves under the bed. Their looks, gestures and speech express the greatest fear of the animals which they fancied were incessantly chasing them. This is how the remedy has come to be beneficial for ailments arising from fright, particularly where the effect of the fright has persisted for a very long time. "In 1965, when I was returning from the U.S. A., I boarded the plane in New York at 9 p.m. After flying smoothly for about three hours, suddenly the plane started lurching and rolling and we could see that it was losing height rapidly. We all felt that something was wrong but we could not know what was wrong and how serious it was. After half an hour, the Captain announced that owing to some mechanical trouble, the plane would now return to New York. Now, we, the passengers, were unaware of the nature of the trouble and, therefore, we imagined that it must be something serious because the plane was pitching up and down. We felt that the plane might crash and feared we may not survive. This state of doubt went on to fear bordering on panic. (Next to me was a priest going to Rome and he took out his Bible and started saying his prayers.) This state of suspense and dread continued till we landed at New York around 3 a.m. We all then heaved a big sigh of relief and congratulated ourselves on our safe return. On the next day, I boarded the same plane to London. From London I flew to Paris and then to Bombay. I felt absolutely fine. Some time after I resumed my practice in India, I had to fly to Bhavnagar to see a patient. I got into the plane and when the plane took off, I started feeling nervous. The nervousness increased and became fear, and the fear became dread. I felt terribly frightened and kept thinking that the plane might crash. With every little movement or jerk of the plane up or down, every time it slanted, with every little change in the sound of the engine, I got the feeling that it was going to crash. I felt most miserable and unhappy during the journey whereas earlier I used to enjoy every flight. I felt relieved when the plane landed at Bhavnagar. Now this experience of the flight to Bhavnagar was repeated when I had to fly to Goa and then to other cities to see other patients. The last time when I had to go to Delhi for a seminar, a friend of mine, Dr. S. suggested that I should take some medicine when I explained to him that I would prefer to go by train because of my fear. Since the symptom was that the fear of the fright had remained, the remedy I chose was Opium. I took a dose of Opium 1M, 3 hours before the air travel. After getting into the plane, I looked forward with fear to the flight. But as the plane took off I was talking with my friends and after a few minutes I noticed that I was not feeling any fear at all. The plane went into a cloud and bumped up and down, but I did not experience any fear. I had thus a fear-free journey throughout though I would not call it an enjoyable one because I was all the time looking forward to a return of the panic. During the return trip again, I was without fear, and this time I could even relax and enjoy the journey. Since then, my air journeys have once again become enjoyable." T.F. Allen mentions that Opium is not far removed botanically from Aconite. This may explain how both are useful for fright. Stramonium has also the agg. from fright but it has wide staring eyes with wide dilated pupils. One of the characteristic objective symptoms which can guide the physician particularly in a case of coma is the pin-point pupil (PPP). If we remember that Opium comes from Poppy, this is easy to remember. "The mother of a renowned E.N. T. surgeon, herself a gynaecologist, aged 72 years, became ill and gradually went into uraemic coma. She had anuria. Her blood urea was 120 mg. Her B.P. was high. Her general condition was poor. Several physicians had come and had said that nothing could be done. The lady suddenly opened her eyes and said, "Call a homoeopath" and then went back into coma (she had great respect for Homoeopathy). So, I was called. I examined her pupils. They were pin-point. They pin-pointed the remedy to me. I gave her Opium 1M. Within 10 minutes her pulse and the B.P. improved. In one or two hours she became conscious, passed urine and soon became completely well. Two and half years later she died from some other cause." Two of the most common afflictions found in most of the diseases are pain and sleeplessness and since Opium is able to suppress or relieve these two conditions in crude doses it has been used and abused enormously for centuries. And this is Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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how again it had been praised as an agent of highest value by the great Hufeland and as the most injurious poison, by Stahl, two famous physicians. Since pain is the prominent symptom of most diseases and Opium has predominently painlessness in most conditions, it seems Opium is not needed often in homoeopathic practice. This is apparent from the few references to the remedy that we find in our literature. But the fact is Opium is enormously beneficial and is indeed a life-saver in certain conditions and diseases where it may be needed. Pain is a chief diagnostic sign for the physician and its total abolition may seriously handicap the discovery of the nature of the disease. Therefore, the physician should use morphine as a miser spends his gold. If an allopathic physician wants to study homoeopathic Materia Medica, Opium would be one of the best remedies to start with. The (toxic) effects of opium are fairly well-known to him and these symptoms are most faithfully reflected in the homoeopathic Materia Medica. Boger admirably sums up the action of Opium in one phrase, "Negative, torpid states". There is absence of pain where pain is expected (e.g. painless ulcers), absence of secretions, causing dryness in general (except on the skin), absence of reaction (to stimuli, to medicines, of the pupil to light, etc.), absence of suffering, absence of moral sense (tendency to lie and deceive), absence of discharges (suppression, retention, etc.) and absence of eruptions in eruptive fevers. The respiration is slow. The pause between the breaths is so long that this, together with the general non-reactive comatose state of the patient, may give an impression that he is dead. Or the respirations may be unequal as in Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Or it can be of a rattling type (resembling a death rattle), sighing, snoring or stertorous nature. Like the respiration, the pulse is slow. There can be paralysis of the bowels which together with lack of secretion and absence of sensation conveyed to the brain produces no urge for stool resulting in dry ball-like stools. The scybalous stools further promote constipation. Opium covers both a stupid sleepy state or stupor and coma as well as a sleeplessness caused by any emotion such as fear or even joy. Morphine produces both sneezing and itching of the nose. Coma, P.P. Pupils and greatly depressed respiration suggest morphine poisoning. Leriche M. has reported eight cases of Puerperal fever treated by Opium. Bayes writes, "There is no single drug in the Materia Medica whose range of action is so fully known as Opium. From narcotism at one end of the chain to its action as energizer at the other, it leads us from allopathy and antipathy to Homoeopathy, and shows how these opposite methods may each coordinate in the preservation of human life and in the relief of human suffering. This drug has its uses and advantages in each of the several methods of its administration. "Again, there are some diseases where pain is so prominent a symptom and so terrible in its violence, as to be in itself a source of great danger to life. There are other diseases which are in certain stages wholly incurable, and in which there are severe and agonising pains. In such cases, the administration of opium or its salts is not only admissible, but becomes a clear duty. I may give as familiar examples of the former, the passage of gall stones or of calculus from the kidney to the bladder. In both these cases as I have pointed out (under the heading of Calcarea) that I have found Calc-c 30 gives full relief, when conjoined with the hot bath; still if I found these means disappoint me, I should not hesitate to give a full dose of Opium or Laudanum. It would be inhuman to permit the long continuance of such acute suffering when the means of relief were ready at hand. "Why, then, not give opium at once?", an allopath will say. Because if I can give relief by the simpler means, I avoid the injurious after-effects of opium and my patient is sooner a sound man. "Why give opium at all ?" says the high dilutionist. Because if my homoeopathic remedy failed me, I could not permit my patient to remain longer in an agony which might produce such exhaustion as to end in a prolonged illness." I shall now describe the case of a morphia addict. "In August 1959, I was consulted by Dr. S. He reported that he had taken morphia for 3 or 4 days for some pain and had then become addicted to it. He now required 1/4 grain of morphia per dose six or seven times a day. During the period of this addiction in the last 3 or 4 months he had lost 22 lbs. in weight and had become careless about his profession. He complained that if he did not take the morphia he would feel some unbearable discomfort in the abdomen and develop a diarrhoea with sudden and frequent urging for stool. The discomfort and diarrhoea would be eased as soon as he took the morphia injection. When he consulted me first, I just prescribed Nu-v 200 t.i. d., feeling that it would antidote the effects of the narcotic drug. This gave him much relief. So I continued the remedy and in the course of a fortnight, he was able to cut down his injection to 2 or 3 per day but he still could not give it up. I changed the prescription to Opium CM, t.i. d. * and this gave considerable relief and in the course of another ten days he was able to give up the morphia." Those who have read case histories of morphia addicts and have seen them suffer and slowly sink deeper and deeper into the habit, will realise what is owed to Homoeopathy. Secondly, these cases seem to illustrate the point that Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
Encyclopaedia Homeopathica homoeopathic remedies may act in spite of all opposition with crude drugs. So homoeopaths who insist on a very strict, puritanical diet and regimen may pause, reconsider and relent and give their patients more amplitude.
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Phosphorus
Phosphorus comes in the red or yellow varieties reminding us (signature) of jaundice and haemorrhage and it is one of the
best remedies for liver disorders and for haemorrhagic conditions. "Phosphor" means light and many symptoms of this remedy can be connected to light. The word light conveys symbolically the meaning knowledge, and knowledge is perceived through the senses and the nervous system. Phos. has a marked effect on the senses and the nervous system. The patient's senses are acute, perception is exalted, and he is worse by noise, touch, odour, etc. He is acutely sensitive, so sensitive that strong odours may cause headache, as illustrated in the following case. "Mr. R.S. S., aged 24 years, was seen on 8th June 1964 for the following: Frontal headache for last 10 years. Usually he gets it twice a month. It is agg. by scented hair oils, agg. fasting, agg. reading much, agg. closed room, and agg. smoking and cigarette smoke. He is allergic to oranges, lemons, i.e. sour food; they cause coryza. Whenever he gets coryza he gets pain in right supraorbital region, sometimes in left also. His appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Feels sensation of heat in head. Diagnosed as a case of sinusitis. Prev. Hist.: Tonsillectomy done in 1952. Had mumps in 1963. Fam. Hist.: His mother and one brother are mentally unsound. His case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory as follows: Head pain, fasting, from (p. 140) Head pain, odours, from strong (p. 144) Food, sour agg. (p. 1364) Head pain, air open, amel. (p. 136) = Phos., Sulph. Phos. covered the other symptoms also. So Phos. 1M was given. The patient started improving. The medicine had to be repeated in 1M potency on 22.06.64, 10.07.64, 24.07.64, 16.10.64, 09.11.64 and in 10M potency on 18.11.64 and 02.04.65. Thereafter, he had no headaches." Not only is the Phos. patient's sensory perception acute but he may also develop extra-sensory perception (ESP) such as clairvoyance. He may developed delusions also and hear voices. He is sensitive to slightest environmental changes: physical changes such as change of atmosphere, temperature, weather, etc., (human barometer) and also mental and emotional changes such as company, moods of companions, etc. The patient is also sensitive to light and dark. He prefers the light to dark and gets depressed as the darkness comes on. He is agg. at the borderland of light i.e. twilight and so he is agg. in the morning and evening. Light is perceived through the eyes and Phos. has a special effect on the eyes. The eyes of the Phos. patient may be bright, even brilliant, and many conditions can arise within the eyes (affecting all parts of the eye), such as cataract, haemorrhage, atrophy of the optic nerve, detachment of retina, etc. The eyes are also very sensitive. The following case will illustrate its use in an eye condition. "Master T.S. R., aged 13 years, was brought to me on 14th Oct. 1964 for the following complaint: He had a penetrating injury in the right eye, when a flask containing hydrogen gas exploded. He was admitted in the hospital at Mysore and was treated surgically. Later on, two well-known ophthalmologists of Bombay were consulted. According to them, it was a vitreous haemorrhage and prognosis was generally good in the long run, but they could not give any opinion as to whether the condition would clear up at all and if so when. Now he can only distinguish between light and dark but cannot count fingers. His appetite, thirst, etc., are normal. Prev. Hist.: He had polio at the age of 21/2 years but recovered without much damage. Had chicken pox last year. Fam. Hist.: His mother has bleeding tendency. O/E: The pupil of right eye is dilated. Arn. 200, 21 doses T.D. S. given. This produced no change. Arn. 1M was then given for a week. There was slight improvement. He was able to count fingers in sunlight. So Arn. 1M was continued. But by 30.10.64, there was no further improvement. Then the boy developed new symptoms, viz. unbearable hunger and headache on fasting. So Phos. 1M, 14 doses, daily once, was given. The boy reported much improvement and the condition cleared up on the same remedy so that his vision became completely normal." There is photophobia and the patient may see better by shading the eyes. These patients are truly sensitive to form and shape, to light and shade, and to colours and because of quick perception and finer appreciation of these things, they have a sense of beauty and they make some of the best artists. The patients themselves are well-shaped in body, and are slender, tall and graceful. They have long, drooping eyelashes and long tapering fingers (like artists). These patients have an active metabolism, with the result they grow quickly, and so grow tall and thin. They shoot up, so to say. Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.
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Becoming tall and thin suddenly they seem to bend like a creeper which droops and so these patients may become stooped. The Calc-c patient is generally known to be dull, sluggish and fat but the Calc-p patient becomes tall, active and sensitive and may get growing pains in the joints. This is due to the Phos. element. Dr. Boman Behram writes, "There is no homoeopathic explanation as to why Phosphorus should act on such a constitution, but detailed biochemistry of Phosphorus on human and animal organism has revealed that it has a profound influence on the metabolism of glucose. By its action, it depletes the store of glucose in the liver, muscles and other tissues for rapid combustion. Naturally, the fats are also burnt alongwith glucose, so that there is no chance of the fat being deposited in the body, therefore, the persons remain lean. Secondly, Phosphorus has a marked stimulating effect on the growing ends of the bones so that the person grows tall. Hence you have the Phosphorus constitution which is essentially tall and lean." The symptoms of Phos. also shoot up or travel in an upward direction. These patients may eat well and still emaciate due to the active metabolism, as in tuberculosis. Like many other tubercular remedies they have a craving for salt. Just as the substance Phosphorus, which has a tendency to ignite and burn spontaneously, is safe only if immersed in large quantities of cold water, so also this patient has a thirst requiring large quantities of cold water, which quenches the burning sensation in the body or stomach. The burning in stomach is also relieved by eating which becomes a general modality. Phos. has helped many cases of peptic ulcers especially duodenal ulcers where the pain is relieved by eating especially cold foods, and extends from the abdomen to the back or chest. These patients also get hunger pains at night. Phos. acts upon the cavities in the body such as the head, chest and abdomen and acts on the organs contained in these cavities such as the brain, lungs, heart, stomach, etc. (which organs themselves have cavities in them). It may produce a sense of fullness or tightness in the same organs or cavities. The emptiness can also become a feeling of lightness or vertigo (floating or flying, as if Phos-ac has this symptom in a greater degree, and the patient when lying in bed feels as if the legs are lifted up in the air). The remedy is also able to produce and therefore, cure cavitation in a semisolid organ like the lung, and Phos. is one of our good remedies for tuberculosis. I have mentioned that Phos. is related to light. Absence of light is darkness which is symbolic of ignorance and often ignorance is the cause of fear. Phos. has fear of all sorts such as fear in the dark, of being alone, of thunder, in the crowd, of death, of disease, of evil, that something may happen, of insanity, of ghosts, robbers and so on. I have a printed case form which I give to my patients, in which there is a question, "Have you become anxious or afraid of anything such as being alone, of a crowd, of death, disease, evil, that something will happen, of insanity, ghosts, robbers, sudden noises, thunder, etc.?" If the patient ticks most or all of them or writes yes, meaning thereby that he has all these fears, then I think his remedy is most probably Phos. and on a careful study I do find that his other symptoms often tally with those of Phos. The following case will explain this point. "Mr. M.S. , aged 20 years, came to me on 5th Nov. 1952. He has been emaciating for last 6 months. Sometimes he gets shivering and internal burning in the morning for 15 days. Has a poor appetite. Wants to drink ice cold water. Gets cough on lying down. Prefers cold open air. Has fear of being alone, dark, robbers and thunderstorms. Prev. Hist.: Severe injury to the head at the age of 8; took 5 to 6 years to recover completely. No definite diagnosis could be established. The case was repertorized using Kent's Repertory, as follows: Fear, alone of being (p. 43) Fear, dark (p. 43) Fear, robbers of (p. 47) = Phos. alone came through and it also covered the following: Fear, thunderstorm of (p. 47) Cough, lying agg. (p. 798) Appetite wanting (p. 479) Emaciation (p. 1357) Injury (p. 1368) Phos. 30, 3 doses T.D. S. and placebo given.
Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.

SANKARAN P., The Elements of Homoeopathy

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Encyclopaedia Homeopathica

SANKARAN P., The Elements of Homoeopathy (skp9)

American institute of homoeopathy

Office of the Journal

Dr. Elizabeth Wright Hubbard, M.D. , New York

Dr. P. Sankaran A brief biography

Introduction My conversion to homoeopathy

Homoeopathy - an explanation Its origin

Encyclopaedia Homeopathica in India.

Elements of homoeopathic pharmacy

Medicines for external use Ointments

Materia medica The study of materia medica

Sources and origin

Random notes on some remedies

Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.

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