Benzoicum Acidum

The symptoms of Benzoin as shown in a short proving somewhat resemble

those of Laurocerasus. Empty sensation at the stomach and lower part of bowels. < On lying

down: head swims, with sinking sensation which makes lying down in bed unpleasant. The hair

• ▸is oily.
• ▸Feverish.
• ▸< After sleep.
• ▸Sense of touch fine, quick and pleasant.

Prone to dwell on unpleasant things in the past. Omits words in writing. Depression.

Great weakness, perspiration, and comatose condition.—Trembling, with

palpitation of the heart—Weariness and lassitude.—Pains suddenly change their

• ▸locality—Symptoms in sick go from |.
• ▸to r.
• ▸and from below upward, esp.
• ▸in rheumatism and

gout.

• ▸Vertigo inclination to fall sideways.
• ▸Throbbing in temporal arteries, causes puffing around ears.
• ▸Noises when swallowing.
• ▸Ulceration of tongue.
• ▸Swelling behind ears (Caps).
• ▸Cold sweat on forehead.
• ▸Pricking, puckered constriction of mouth, bluish and bleeding gums.
• ▸Wens.

Hair oily.

11, 12. Stomach and Abdomen.—Wakes from sleep with a sick feeling in stomach and bowels;

tired feeling; turns often in bed at night.—Empty feeling in stomach and lower part of bowels.

Distress in eyes as from want of sleep.—Throbbing in eyeballs—Burning heat in lids.

Swelling behind ears, which seems to reach periosteum.—Sound as of confused voices

in ears, < when swallowing, or walking in open air.

Itching of septum. Pain in nasal bones.

Seems to smell cabbage, dust, or something stinking. —Sense of smell

• ▸diminished.
• ▸—Epistaxis.
• ▸—Sneezing with hoarseness.
• ▸—Cold easily caught.
• ▸—Pressure at root of

nose.—Pain in bones of nose.—Itching of septum.

Copper-colored spots. Red, with little blisters. Circumscribed redness of cheeks.

Burning heat of one side of the face—Circumscribed redness on the cheeks.—Copper-

• ▸coloured spots on the face.
• ▸—Cold perspiration of the face.
• ▸—Trembling of lips.
• ▸—Involuntary

biting of lower lip at dinner.—Itching on chin.

The tongue is spongy on the surface, with deep cracks, and with spreading

• ▸ulcers.
• ▸—Toothache (the oil or gum is a popular local application).
• ▸—After-taste of food.
• ▸—Acid

mucus in mouth.—Taste of blood; bitter; flat; soapy (water); smoky (bread).—Ulcerated tumour I.

side of mouth, on soft commissure of jaws, behind last molar.—Heat around mouth.

Sensation as of a lump in the pit of the throat, as if some food had lodged

there.—Sensation of swelling or constriction in the throat—The throat symptoms are relieved by

eating.—Swallowing difficult, incomplete; with noise in ear; with soreness on back of

• ▸tongue.
• ▸—Heat in cesophagus.
• ▸—Thyroid gland feels swollen.
• ▸—Angina faucium and tonsillaris,

with characteristic urine.

Sweat while eating; pressure in stomach, sensation of a lump.

Sweat while eating —Hiccough.—Pressure in stomach and eructations.—Burning

or warmth; pressure on stomach.—Weak digestion.—Sensation of lump in pit of throat, as if food

had lodged there.

Cutting about navel. Stitching in liver region.

Sense of weakness in precordia—Obstruction of the liver.—In liver region

constant, fine, but violent stitching, midway in upper portion thereof.—Cutting about navel; > by

stool.

Stitches and constricted feeling. Puckering constriction of rectum. Itching and watery elevations around anus.

Frothy, offensive, liquid, light-colored, like soapsuds, bowel movements, mostly windy.

Watery, light-coloured; copious; very offensive stools (in children), with

unusually strong-smelling urine —Frothy stool.—Stitching in rectum.—Sense of constriction at

lower end of rectum.—Wart-like elevations round anus; with smarting soreness; strong-scented,

high-coloured urine (after previous use of Copaiva for chancre.).—Formication at

anus.—Diarrheea of children during dentition.

Urine more frequent, small quantity, dark colour; had to rise twice in

night to urinate.

• ▸Repulsive odor; changeable color; brown, acid.
• ▸Enuresis; dribbling, offensive urine of old men.
• ▸Excess of uric acid.
• ▸Vesical catarrh from suppressed gonorrhoea.
• ▸Cystitis.

Menses too early; or retarded.—Amenorrhcea.—Prolapsus uteri with

fetid urine.—Weakness after menses.—Gastric derangements when ascending a height (in a

pregnant woman).—Too long-lasting lochia.

Suppressed gonorrheea; gleet; with offensive urine —Painfulness of

• ▸genitals; pressure; raw pain.
• ▸—Smarting of frenum.
• ▸—Thrilling |.
• ▸side of glans, extending into

urethra, causing starting.—Itching on glans; on sulcus behind corona.

• ▸Hoarse in morning.
• ▸Asthmatic cough; worse at night; lying on right side.
• ▸Chest very tender.
• ▸Pain in region of heart.
• ▸Expectoration, green mucus.

Long-continued dry cough, after suppressed gonorrhoea.—Cough

followed by expectoration of green mucus.—Cough: after slight cold; excited by inspiration;

produced by something acrid or dry in chest.—Asthma with inflammatory rheumatism.

Burning in nipples.—Sensation of swelling in breasts and thyroid gland.—Stitches in

chest; < breathing deeply; in evening.—Asthenic pneumonia.—Mucous oppression of lungs.

Pains in the region of the heart.—Most of the symptoms appear on the 1.

side, but may subsequently come on the r. side.—Awakens every morning at two o'clock, with

violent internal heat, and hard, beating pulse, compelling him to lie on the back, because the

beating of the temporal arteries causes a humming in the ears, and prevents him from going to

sleep.—Pains about heart mostly, but suddenly change locality.—Awakens after midnight with

violent palpitation of the heart, and hard beating of the temporal arteries.

Pressure on spinal column. Coldness in sacrum. Dull pain in region of kidneys; worse, wine.

Stiffness of neck, only on one side.—Nape: pressure; itching —Dull pain in

back, in region of kidneys; stiffness in loins —Coldness in sacrum.

Gouty deposits in both wrists between metacarpal bones; swelling of elbow-

• ▸joints.
• ▸—Paralytic pains of fingers.
• ▸—Eruption of red spots on fingers.
• ▸—Fingers swollen, tearing

and fine stitching pains in various parts of the limbs.—Ganglion.—Panaritium.

Hips feel crushed.—Pains in knees.—Feet and legs cold up to knees;

remained cold in bed.

• ▸Joints crack on motion.
• ▸Tearing with stitches.
• ▸Pain in tendo Achillis.
• ▸Rheumatic gout; nodes very painful.
• ▸Gouty deposits.
• ▸Ganglion; swelling of the wrist.
• ▸Pain and swelling in knees.
• ▸Bunion of great toe.
• ▸Tearing pain in great toe.

Red spots. Itching in spots.

Itching on various parts; agreeable sensation on being scratched, but leaving a

burning.—Red spots on fingers.—Syphilitic spots and marks.

Awakens with oppression of breathing, with palpitation of the heart (after midnight),

with heat and hard pulse.

Cold hands, feet, back, knees. Chilliness; cold sweat. Internal heat on awakening.

Cold hands; feet; back; knees, as from cold wind.—Chilliness before the

stool.—Great internal heat when awaking.—Perspiration: while eating; when walking; morning in

bed, esp. on face; with anxiety.—Cold sweat: on head; on face; on feet—Sweat with aromatic

odour.

Benzoin.

• ▸Lindera Benzoin.
• ▸Laurus Benzoin.
• ▸Benzoin oderiferum.
• ▸Spice bush.
• ▸Fever-bush.
• ▸N.
• ▸O.

Lauraceé. Tincture of twigs.

Useful after Colchic fails in gout; after Copavia in gonorrhoea.

Compare: Nitric acid; Ammon benz; Sabina; Tropoeolum.

Garden Nasturtium--(fetid urine).

Antidote: Copaiva.

Incompatible: Wine.

Third to sixth potency.

2«5

to keep the ideal of Homoeopathy in mind, and think rationally ; in

tBrder to do that you will have to rid yourselves of a tremendous amount

of inheritance. We have inherited the way to think wrong end to.

'Tellowness of the skin from congestion of the liver, and catarrh

of the duodenum.” When persons have been over-medicated with

quinine until they take cold on every occasion, and a sudden attack of

congestion of the liver comes on, with the great soreness, and the skin

becomes yellow with all the sensitiveness of this remedy. Bell, will

cure such cases.

There are conditions that follow Bell, that relate to its chronic state.

Where Bell, has been suitable for the acute conditions, the congestions,

but there is that periodicity that I have mentioned, it has its natural

followers, and Calcarea is one of them. In boys that are big-headed,

plump, plethoric, precocious, that take cold easily, and come down with

headaches and congestion ; school children that get headaches which

Bell, at first helped ; very commonly if you look carefully into the

case it will turn out to be a Calc. case. It is so common for Calc, to

relate in this way to Bell. Now-a-days we frequently find the dry.

hacking cough in the hands of doctors who have given too much

Lachesis. Lachesis is commonly given to over-sensitive women, and

it produces many of those conditions; it sometimes cures great troubles, but it leaves behind for weeks a dry, hacking cough that keeps

her from sleeping. Sometimes it comes on after the first sleep, which

is commonly about 1 1 o’clodk ; a dry, hacking cough from lying

down. Bell, will cure this old' effect of Lack., the nervous state and

excitability and the cough. Bell, will be suitable as an antidote for

Lack., that is, for the acute symptoms. Calc, is an antidote for the

more chronic effects of Loch. After the abuse of Bell., Calc, comes

in as one of the natural antidotes.

Whenever we see in the nature of a remedy a well-defined state and

condition of the human system pointed out by certain distinctive groups

of symptoms we may know that there is such a diseased state in the

human family. They have not the power to create by themselves

any diseased state except there is first such a state in the economy

of the human race to be aroused. They simply call up in a single

individual something that the individual has, and that something belongs to the human race, and so whenever we see a diseased state in

the remedy we know that it exists in correspondence to something

in the human race. Things are so adjusted that everything is for use.

There may be conditions in the human race that we, as yet, know no

remedy for. We see certain groups of peculiar symptoms frcqhfcijtly

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repeat themselves and we know they are representatives of a state of

the economy, but up to this day we may not have seen in the Materia

Mcdica their counterpart. In medicines we have the exact counterpart

for the diseases of the human race.

Now this remedy has a state and condition that is sometimes called

the gouty constitution, the uraemic or the lithaemic constitution, and

these cases are very difficult to manage, as the state is so persistent.

It is one of the manifestations of Psora. These patients sufEer more

or less from irregularity in the action of the kidneys ; sometimes the

urine is scanty and then they suffer from bodily complaints ; again the

urine is copious and then they are relieved of their complaints. They

are subject to rheumatic attacks and pains in the joints, showing the

gouty constitution, and then they have relief when the urine is copious

and heavily laden with deposits ; but on comes an attack when they

have more or less urine, but it is light in specific gravity, and then

they are full of pains ; in that way they fluctuate. Now, the young

prescriber will sometimes see the patient when he is passing large

quantities of uric acid forming the red pepper deposits and he thinks

he must stop that ; his main idea is to check that one particular thing.

But the patient is a great deal belter off while he has it. To check it

is like suppressing a skin eruption, or restraining any other manifestation of disease.

It will be noticed, as one of the foremost things in this remedy’s

manifestations, that it has strong smelling urine ; the urine is pungent,

and it sometimes becomes so strong that it smells like hippuric acid,

and so it is said urine smells strong like that of a horse. The odor in

this remedy approximates that of hippuric acid.

The complaints, then, of Benzoic acid are such as are changeable,

and we know why they arc changeable ; when the urine is copious and

plenty of uric acid is being passed, and the urine is full of deposits,

then the patient is at his best ; when the urine is scanty or of light

specific gravity he suffers from backache and pains in the joints,

he suffers from atmospheric changes, is sensitive to cold drafts and

to the air ; but let the urine start up again, which it does in a sort of

alternating way, light urine alternating with heavy urine, and the

patient is comfortable again. Then, there are complaints in which the

urine smells strong and pungent ; this often occurs in children. It is

astonishing that these little ones manifest the uric acid diathesis in

early life. Mothers often describe it as intensely urinous. It smells

like intensified urine; it is not the smell, so much, of decomposed

urine nor of foetid urine, but urine intensified. It has cured many

times wetting the bed involuntary urination in sleep, when riie bed

that has been wetted several times becomes uncleanable. You can

it almost as quick as you go into the room ; the children all tmt\l

2x7

like urine, strong urine ; the house smells like urine. If two or three

of these little fellows wet the bed at night, the urine is so strong it

tells the story at once.

This medicine needs reproving ; details have not been brought out,

yet its nature is known. We have a good many medicines having this

nature, but this is perhaps as intense as any. This remedy does not,

of course, fit all these patients, because it docs not fit their special

symptoms ; but it has the nature or general state which, of course,

precedes everything, and when it relates to all the particulars as well

it does make wonderful changes.

There arc a few mental symptoms. “Inclined to dwell on unpleasant things ; if he saw anyone deformed, it made him shudder,*'

Alternation of profound sleep with prolonged periods of wakefulness.

In the period of wakefulness, he dwells, during the night, upon all

the unpleasant subjects that he can think of. This state alternated

with nights of stupid sleep for weeks, and this fluctuates in accordance

with the fluctuation of the state of urine. “Sadness." “Anxiety while

sweating.* “Child cross.’

There are many headaches ; they arc urtxmic in character and come

• ▸in many regions with many details.
• ▸“Fearful pain in occiput or cerebellum.
• ▸” “Rheumatic pains in head.
• ▸” That is well described, because

these headaches of unxmic character take on a similarity to rheumatic

pains, “Pain and heat in regidn of organs of reverence and firmness.”

“Tearing pain in vertex.” Xte headaches arc very numerous ; thp

remedy is full of dull, achingf occipital headaches, coming on in the

night from change of weather. Pains located in the base of the brain

after pains have existed for some time in the joints, and they are

passing but little urine. Every time he takes a little cold the urine

becomes scanty and he is full of dull aches and pains in the head and

especially in the occiput.

Perversion of smell. “Sense of smell diminished.” “Pain in nasal

bones.”

Another form of transformation scene takes place in this remedy,

when all the gouty symptoms of the body cease and inflammation of

the tongue comes on. The pains in the joints cease suddenly from taking cold, from stormy weather and on comes a sudden swelling of the

tongue. Mercury also has this state. “Extensive ulcerations of

tongue, with deeply chapped or fungoid surfaces.” Then, again,

peculiar kinds of sore throat take place from this same /ause. Sudden

stoppage or slacking up of the quantity of urine ; it becomes scanty,

high colored, and pungent, smelling like that of a hoarse {Nitric acid)

along with acute inflammation and swelling of the tonsils and throat ;

inflammation of the tonsils with scanty, strong, pungent urine smelling like that of a horse. Another feature that seems almost like

2t8

metastasis. Take an individual who is going around with more or

less rheumatic aches in the joints; he takes cold and all this ceases,

but the next day he comes down with inflammation of the tongue or

sore throat, or inflammation of the stomach ; so that he vomits everything he cats. The gout goes to different parts and in this instance

it goes to the stomach ; and then Benzoic acid, Antimonium crud. or

Sanguinaria is likely to be useful. When it goes to the throat or is

followed by swelling of the tongue Mercury and Benzoic acid should

be thought of. Whenever this gouty condition goes to the stomach,

of course it must conform to those symptoms that are in the nature

of this remedy. In this remedy we have ‘loathing, sickness at stomach,' “nausea with gagging,’ “vomiting of a salty substance ; bitter.”

When we think of Benzoic acid for the stomacli symptoms, it is important that we have in mind its whole nature, how it brings about its

complaints and what characterizes a Benzoic acid patient. We would

not be able to distinguish from the stomach symptoms alone ; wc must

carry with them the character of the remedy.

It has much disturbance of the liver, and many liver symptoms.

As to the bowels, the stool, the rectum, anus and urinary organs, it is

very rich in symptoms. Its striking ones I will call your attention to,

but remember its migrating, metastatic nature, its complaints going

from one part to another, which will accompany these symptoms.

“Stools, copious, watery.” This is true in ssummer diarrhoea, that has

come on suddenly, “excessively offensive,** The white stool, like

soap-suds, is so strong a symptom that the remedy does not fail to cure

even when the gouty constitution is not present. “Excessively offensive,

scenting the whole house.” “Putrid, bloody.” “Watery, light-colored,

very offensive stools (in children).** So wc get the idea that the stools

are white and that the first passages are like soap-suds, but later the

soap appearance subsides and leaves a white stool. It is well, often,

when a stool is passed that is of a light liquid/ to bear in mind a few

lemedies that produce this state and ascertain whether it is like soapsuds or filled with bubbles of air. “Diarrhcea of children.** The urinous

odor of the body, and especially that peculiarly pungent, intense smell

of the urine. “Slightly elevated, wart-like, round surfaces around anus.”

The urinary symptoms are too numerous to read. “Foetid urine.”

“Urine of a very repulsive odor.** “Effervescing with hydrochloric

acid.” The odor is sometimes like hartshorn ; it is pungent ; these are

only efforts to describe the strong smell. “Urine dark brown,” It is

true that normal urine after standing a while will get a foetid odor,

• ▸but, in this remedy, that just passed is properly described as being intensely urinous.
• ▸“Urine contains mucus and pus.
• ▸” “Morbid condition of urine.
• ▸*’ “Renders urine acid. ” It says in the text “hippuric

acid,” but this i^ a rare condition. “Brown urine smells sour.” “Too

m

frequent desire to evacuate bladder/' “Nephritic colic." ‘‘Urine dsurk/

urinous odor highly intensified.’* Gouty troubles of the liver ; rheumatism ; nephritic colic ; it has cured such states after gonorrhoea, but

it is not much of a gonorrhoeal remedy. When the rheumatic states and

these symptoms are present there are more or less pains in the kidney.

“Sore pain in the back ; burning in the kidney." “Prolapsus uteri

with foetid urine." “Retention of urine in infants."

“Asthma with inflammatory rheumatic complaints." “Cough followed by expectoration of green mucus."

The organ that is most commonly affected in these rheumatic complaints is the heart. No organ is so likely to be affected when rheumatism leaves the outermost parts as the heart. Pains in the heart.

So in this diathesis, with the strong smelling urine and the gout, we

may expect affections of the heart. “Pains change place incessantly."

“Palpitation of the heart." The rheumatism, of course, is affecting

the heart. “Awakens after midnight with violent pulsations of the

heart." Think a moment and you will sec in what kind of a case you

will need Benzoic acid The constitution of the remedy comes to

mind at once with the heart symptoms, the dyspnoea, pain in the heart

with rheumatic symptoms ; “cannot go io sleep." Think of the alternation of sleeplessness with sleep ; think of the strong urine, of the

fluctuating complaints, of the erratic constitution. “Palpitation worse

at night." “Rheumatic pains in extremities relieving heart." There

we get relief ; complaints gqilig back to the extremities with relief to

the heart. The heart will |elieve when the urine becomes copious

or when the rheumatism goes back to the extremities, into the fingers

and knees, especially the knees in Benzoic acid. Rheumatism alternating between the extremities and heart. This medicine has cured affections of the heart when the rheumatism has a long time ago disappeared from the extremities and has ever since been affecting the

heart ; after Benzoic acid has been administered a very good sign of

its action is that the extremities become painful and the urine becomes

copious ; free urine and solids increased ; the urine becomes heavy,

whereas it was light. “Hard, frequent pulse.”

The extremities are full of rheumatic affections. “Lassitude in lower

limbs." “Swelling of knee." All gouty affections belong to this

• ▸remedy.
• ▸“Gouty concretions.
• ▸" “Nodes on joints.
• ▸" Benzoic acid is often

an excellent palliating remedy in old gouty constitutions ; they want to

be relieved of the pains in their fingers and in the nodes and joints.

The fingers crack and are clumsy and painful. But often the pain

has been relieved and gone to other parts. This is one among the

remedies that will drive the complaints away from the internal organs

and generally increase the pain in the extremities, which they will scold

about. “Trembling with palpitation of heart." “Extreme weakness ;

fiEBBElUS

sweat and comatose condition.” Note that comatose condition with

sweat ; the Benzoic acid patient sweats without relief. Copious, exhaustive sweat and profound sleep, but there is no relief. “Awaken

with difficulty of breathing.” Pulsation all over.

“All sorts of catarrhal states ; gouty diathesis, gout with arthritic

nodosites syphilitic rheumatism, etc,” These patients are getting

low down in the scale of life, the tissues become feeble. Ulcers form

upon the skin and mucous membranes.

Nodes on joints of upper and lower extremities, cracking on motion.—Gouty

concretions.—Syphilitic rheumatism.