Causticum

Causticum is one of the great polychrest medicines of the Chronic Diseases. It

is both antipsoric and antisycotic and antisyphilitic. The leading feature of the Causticum effects

is Paralysis, showing itself both in voluntary and involuntary muscles. The weakening effect of

potassium in allopathic overdosing is well known, and is strongly brought out in the Causticum

• ▸provings.
• ▸Paralytic weakness.
• ▸Paralysis of single nerves or single parts.
• ▸Ptosis; facial paralysis;

paralysis of tongue; of extremities; of vocal cords; of bladder; of rectum; lead paralysis. Allied to

paralysis are convulsions, chorea, cramps, starting, restlessness, twitching. Contraction of flexor

• ▸tendons.
• ▸Trembling.
• ▸Neuralgic and rheumatic affections; tearing, drawing pains.
• ▸There is a

headache which draws and tears through the body. Glandular indurations are prominent. In

children there are many symptoms of scrofula. There is a weakened and emaciated appearance,

especially about the face, the abdomen being large. Skin dirty-white. Scrofulous inflammations

about eyes, ears, and scalp. The paralytic element comes out in slow learning to talk and walk,

and stumbling on attempting to walk. In chorea the right side is more affected than left words

seem to be jerked out. During the night the legs are constantly "on the go." This kind of

restlessness is characteristic of Caus. The mental state is timid, nervous, anxious. Apprehensive

of impending misfortune. Conscience-stricken as if she had committed a crime. Full of fearful

• ▸fancies, < at twilight.
• ▸Sees fearful images when closing eyes.
• ▸Melancholy.
• ▸Taciturn and

distrustful; inclined to fits of anger with scolding. Memory fails (mental paralysis), any attempt

at mental exertion = symptoms, such as stitches in temples, tension in head and scalp, especially

forehead to temples. There is a sensation as if there was an empty space between the bone of the

skull and the brain, > by warmth. Headache; cannot keep upper eyelids up. Vertigo, excitement

of brain and spine, incapable, tends to fall forward or sideways (locomotor ataxy); with anxiety,

weakness in head, sight as if through a fog; skin dry and hot; constipation. Eruptions on scalp

behind ears. Sounds re-echo unpleasantly an ordinary voice sounds loud. Facial paralysis from

cold draught neuralgia of right cheekbones to mastoid process < at night. Jaw joints affected with

rheumatism. Sickly, sallow, low-spirited expression. Nash cured an obstinate case of prosopalgia

with Caust. The patient was emaciated and debilitated by long Suffering; pains came in

paroxysms, and were of a drawing nature. She had suffered from eczema at times before the

• ▸neuralgia appeared.
• ▸Su/ph.
• ▸had been given in vain.
• ▸Caust.
• ▸200 rapidly cured.
• ▸The Caust.

weakness may result from grief of long standing or from disease. Accumulations of mucus in

larynx and fauces; catarrh of throat and Eustachian tubes with tinnitus and reverberation.

Difficult swallowing of liquids. Constant sensation as if lime were burning in stomach; with

water-brash. Pressure and fulness in abdomen as if it would burst, much < by food. Griping

cutting > by bending double, < after least food or tightening clothes; menstrual colic (Caus. will

cure after failure of Co/oc.). Obstinate constipation (paralysis of rectum); stools covered with

shiny coating of mucus; piles, unbearable by walking, by thinking of them, by touch. No remedy

has such well-marked aggravations of anal symptoms as Caus. A characteristic is "Passes stool

best standing." Spasm of rectum prevents walking. Painful pustules near anus discharging pus,

blood, serum. Itching at orifice of urethra. Difficult, frequent micturition; with spasm of rectum.

Paralysis of bladder is apparent. Enuresis, especially during first sleep; < winter, > in summer.

Tendency to escape during the day, from any extra exertion, laughing, walking. Epilepsy has

• ▸been cured by Caust.
• ▸, when fit occurs in sleep and urine escapes.
• ▸Coughing expels urine.
• ▸(Kraft

has cured cases of incontinence following over-distension of the bladder owing to want of

opportunity to attend to the call to urinate at the time, such as occurs in shop-girls and school-

girls, who cannot leave their tasks.) Prostatitis and urethritis. Itching scrotum; cannot retain

• ▸urine.
• ▸Blood with semen.
• ▸Sexual appetite in women is abolished.
• ▸Constant indifference, the only

time there is any inclination is after the period. Sadness during period. Period too early, too

abundant; after it, a little blood passes occasionally, smelling badly. Nursing women lose their

milk after exertion or long sleep. Hoarseness (with dry cough and redness of fauces), the result of

weather or catching cold, < in morning. Aphonia: paralysis of vocal cords. Dry, hollow cough

with mucus on chest; patient cannot expectorate, must swallow phlegm raised. A characteristic

is: "Cannot cough deep enough for relief." Rawness and burning down throat and trachea.

Rheumatism tends to stiffen joints and contract limbs. Warts are a notable feature in Caust.—on

hands, on face, and especially on margins of eyelids. When on hands they are usually found on

• ▸finger-tips or close to nails.
• ▸Nails are crippled.
• ▸Old, large, inflamed and indurated warts.
• ▸Burning

itching on face, discharging acrid fluid which forms crusts. Guernsey commends Caust. in the

after-effects of burns and scalds. Patients say, "I have never been well since that burn." Its

caustic properties may be its "signature" here. "Burning," indeed, is one of the notes of Caust.

Guernsey gives "sensation as if lime were being slaked in the stomach." "Soreness" or "rawness"

are also very characteristic, appearing in piles and anal affections (< walking or sitting), in which

Caust. is in the very first rank among remedies. Soreness and rawness accompany cough

symptoms and urinary symptoms. Malcolm Macfarlan confirms the following symptoms:

"Forearms in front very sore to touch and pressure; muscles of extremities sore generally."

"Sudden severe pain commences in /eft hip-joint; lasts a short time; feels as if it had been

injured; legs very sore, or rather the lower extremities ache and feel tired." Caust. is a remedy to

be remembered in intermittent fevers. One peculiar symptom is, "sweat coming after the chill

• ▸without intervening heat.
• ▸" Teste places Caust.
• ▸at the head of a group (including Coccul.
• ▸, Coff: c.
• ▸,

• ▸Corall.
• ▸, Nux v.
• ▸, Staph.
• ▸, Ars.
• ▸) the common characteristic being according to him: "Two series of

successive and opposite phenomena; the former of short duration, consisting in a sort of

universal exaltation of all the functions; the latter, which succeed the former more or less rapidly,

consist in a general depression of the vital forces, and constitute the real and permanent action of

the drugs of this group." Among instances, he gives mirthfulness followed by ill-humour;

sleeplessness followed by yawning and drowsiness; moisture of skin followed by dryness; flow

of saliva followed by dry mouth and throat; coryza fluent, then dry. Teste found Caust. of great

efficacy in small-pox in alternation with Merc. cor. Periodicity is marked: Periodic, paroxysmal

attacks; twice a day to every two, three, or four weeks an attack; at new moon. Symptoms are <

• ▸at night (great restlessness of body, especially legs).
• ▸< Early morning (cramp).
• ▸< On waking.
• ▸< In

• ▸morning: hoarseness.
• ▸< Evening: 6 to 8 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸heat.
• ▸Causticum is one of Grauvogl's hydrogenoid

remedies, hence is a chilly medicine; < washing, bathing, open air, draught, becoming cold, after

wetting; < every change of weather. Heat, especially getting warm in bed > (rheumatism ceasing

on getting warm in bed, but beginning again as soon as he gets up.) On the other hand cold water

> face and eruptions, and a swallow of cold water > cough; headache is < entering a warm room;

• ▸damp weather > pains in scalp, ulcers; rhinitis.
• ▸Heat < eruptions.
• ▸< In dark; fear of darkness.
• ▸<

• ▸From coffee.
• ▸< After stool.
• ▸< From walking.
• ▸< From taking hold of anything.
• ▸< In clear, fine

weather. Suited to dark-haired persons with rigid fibre; delicate skins; lymphatic, torpid

temperament.

• ▸Burns or scalds.
• ▸Fright.
• ▸Grief or sorrow.
• ▸Night-watching.
• ▸Suppressed eruptions.

Ulcers maltreated with lead.

• ▸Child does not want to go to bed alone.
• ▸Least thing makes it cry.
• ▸Sad, hopeless.
• ▸Intensely sympathetic.
• ▸Ailments from long-lasting grief, sudden emotions.
• ▸Thinking of complaints, aggravates, especially haemorrhoids.

Mirthfulness sometimes, and soon after, ill-humour.—Melancholy and vexatious

thoughts, day and night, with tears —Hypochondriacal sadness.—Restlessness, apprehension, and

• ▸great anguish.
• ▸—Anxiety of heart.
• ▸—Fearfulness, esp.
• ▸at night.
• ▸—Afraid at night (in the dark room;

the child does not want to go to bed alone).—Mistrust of the

future.—Discouragement.—Irascibility and passion, with great sensitiveness of

• ▸disposition.
• ▸—Quarrelsome and wrangling spirit.
• ▸—Indisposition to labour.
• ▸—Disposition to be

frightened——Weakness of memory.—Absence of mind.—Tendency to make mistakes when

speaking.

Sensation of empty space between forehead and brain. Pain in right frontal eminence.

Confusion in the head, as if it were compressed.—Feeling of intoxication, and as if

momentarily on the point of falling —Vertigo, with sensation of weakness in the head, and

anxiety.—Attacks of headache, with nausea.—Headache in the morning, sometimes on waking,

with sensation, as from a bruise, in the brain.—Nocturnal pain in the head, as if from an abscess

in the brain —Dull and pressive headache, which occasions gloominess, and is felt chiefly in the

• ▸forehead or in the occiput.
• ▸—Shooting pains, esp.
• ▸in the temples.
• ▸—Digging, with sudden shocks in

the head.—Congestion in the head, with ebullition and noise internally.—Tensive or compressive

• ▸pains in the head.
• ▸—The headache sometimes exhibits itself only on one side (1.
• ▸).
• ▸—Heat and

sensation of burning in the head.—Tightness and shootings in the head.—Tension and tightness in

the head, and of the scalp (forehead and temples).—Sensation of torpor in the occiput.

• ▸Cataract with motor disturbances.
• ▸Inflammation of eyelids; ulceration.
• ▸Sparks and dark spots before eyes Ptosis (Gels).
• ▸Vision impaired, as if film were before eyes.
• ▸Paralysis of ocular muscles after exposure to cold.

Pain in the eyes, as if the eyeball were dilating —Aching in the eyes, as if from sand,

sometimes aggravated by the touch.—Itching, smarting, and burning pair, in the

eyes.—Inflammation of the eyes, with burning and itching of the eyes and eyelids.—Ulceration of

the eyes —Lachrymation.—Difficulty in opening the eyes, with a sensation as if the eyelids were

swollen.—Visible quivering of the eyelids.—Obscuration of the eyes, often sudden, and

sometimes as if the eyes were covered by a skin.—Sight confused, as if a gauze or mist were

before it.—Ophthalmia where there is opacity of the cornea which has spread over the

pupil——Movements before the eyes, as of a swarm of insects.—Dark nets, which seem to dance

before the eyes.—Lights and sparks before the eyes ——Photophobia.—Warts of old-standing in the

eyebrows; on the upper eyelid (and nose).

Ringing, roaring, pulsating, with deafness; words and steps re-echo; chronic middle-ear catarrh; accumulation of ear-wax.

Otalgia, with pressive pain outwards, as if the inner parts were pressed out.—Shootings,

and pain, as of excoriation, in the ears.—Swelling of the ears, externally, with shooting and

• ▸burning pain.
• ▸—Stitches in the (r.
• ▸) ear—Discharge of fetid pus from the ear.
• ▸—Itching in the lobe of

the ear, as if from a tetter.—Words spoken and steps re-echo in the ear.—Tinkling in the

ears.—Loud resounding noises in the ear, with hardness of hearing —Rumbling and buzzing,

rolling and murmuring in the ears, and in the head.—Sensation of stoppage in the ears.

• ▸Coryza, with hoarseness.
• ▸Scaly nose.
• ▸Nostrils ulcerated.
• ▸Pimples and warts.

Itching at the point, and the alze nasi.—Scaly nose, externally and internally, with

burning and itching. —Eruption at the point of the nose.—Warts of long standing on the nose

• ▸(orbits, upper eyelids).
• ▸—Blowing of blood from the nose, every morning.
• ▸—Epistaxis.
• ▸—Loss of

• ▸smell.
• ▸—Obstruction of the nose.
• ▸—Dry chronic coryza.
• ▸—Coryza with hoarseness preventing loud

speech.—Fluent coryza, with nocturnal cough, rough hoarseness and headache.—Discharge of

fetid mucus from the nose.—Sneezing in the morning.

• ▸Paralysis of right side.
• ▸Warts.
• ▸Pain in facial bones.
• ▸Dental fistula.
• ▸Pain in jaws, with difficulty in opening mouth.

Yellow colour of the face, esp. in the temples, with bluish lips.—Burning sensation in

the cheeks, and esp. in the cheek-bones.—Arthritic and tensive pains in the bones of the face, in

the cheek-bones, and in the jaws.—Swelling of the cheeks, with pulsative pains.—Sensation of

tension and of swelling under the jaw, which impedes its opening.—Itching eruption on the

• ▸face.
• ▸—Eruption of red pimples on the face.
• ▸—Semi-lateral (r.
• ▸) paralysis of the face, from the

forehead to the chin.—Cramps in the lips.—Excoriation and eruption on the lips, and at the

commissures of the lips.—Tetter on the lower lip.—Tensive, dragging pain in the jaws, with

difficulty in opening the mouth.—Inflammatory swelling of the chin, with burning pain.

• ▸Bites inside of cheek from chewing.
• ▸Paralysis of tongue, with indistinct speech.
• ▸Rheumatism of articulation of lower jaw.
• ▸Gums bleed easily.

Dryness of the mouth and tongue.—Accumulation of mucus in the mouth.—Pain, as

of excoriation and burning in the mouth, in the palate, and at the point of the tongue.—Stuttering,

embarrassed, wheezing, and very indistinct speech.—Paralysis of the tongue.—Swelling of the

inner side of the cheek; he bites it when chewing.—Distortion of the mouth and of the tongue,

when speaking.—Burning ulcer on the inner surface of the upper lip.

Odontalgia, provoked by the introduction of air on opening the mouth.—Pain, as from

excoriation, or tractive pains, and acute pulling, throbbings, or shootings in the teeth; in the

under jaw, in the lower teeth, (particularly on the (1.) side).—Painful loosening and elongation of

• ▸the teeth (incisors).
• ▸—Fistula in the gums.
• ▸—Prolonged ulceration of the gums.
• ▸—Painful sensibility,

swelling, and ready bleeding of the gums.

Sore throat on using exertion, as if it were lacerated internally.—Pain as of

excoriation, roughness, scraping, and burning pain in the throat.—Shooting pain in the throat on

swallowing.—Audible cracking in the throat.—Constant urging to swallow, with sensation of

swelling or of contraction of the gullet —Difficulty in swallowing, from paralysis of the organs of

deglutition.—Sensation of cold which ascends to the throat.—Dryness of the throat, without

thirst—Accumulation of mucus in the throat, and behind the palate, with expectoration by

hawking.

• ▸Greasy taste.
• ▸Aversion to sweets.
• ▸Feels as if lime were burned in stomach.
• ▸Worse after eating fresh meat; smoked meat agrees.
• ▸Sensation of ball rising in throat.
• ▸Acid dyspepsia.

Putrid, greasy, rancid, or bitter taste—Burning thirst for cold drinks and for

• ▸beer.
• ▸—Sensation as if lime were being slaked in the stomach.
• ▸—Dislike to sweet things.
• ▸—At the

commencement of a meal, loss of appetite and disgust.—Fresh meat causes nausea; smoked meat

agrees.—Sensation of suffering as from indigestion.—Pressure in the stomach, after eating

bread.—After every meal, pressure on the whole abdomen, or on the stomach, or else nausea and

inflation of the abdomen, or else, again, shivering or heat in the face.

Empty risings, with a taste of undigested food. —Abortive risings, with

strangulation in the gullet.—Nausea, esp. after a meal, or during one, or else in the

• ▸morning.
• ▸—Sensation of faintness, as though about to swoon.
• ▸—Water-brash.
• ▸—Vomiting of

acidulated water, followed by acid risings.—Vomiting of food.—Nocturnal vomiting of

coagulated blood.—Pains in the stomach with heat in the head, increased by every quick

movement, mitigated by a recumbent posture, and shuddering when the pains are

aggravated.—Pressive squeezing, as if from claws, constriction and cramp-like pains in the

stomach, and in the epigastrium.—Shooting pains in the epigastrium.

Pressure of the clothes on the hypochondria painful.—Tension and shootings in

the hepatic region.—Pains in the abdomen in the morning.—Pressure on the superior and inferior

part of the abdomen.—Painful and tensive inflation of the abdomen.—Violent distension of the

abdomen after a meal (breakfast).—Swelling of the navel, which is painful on being

touched.—Enlargement of the abdomen in children.—Contractive pains in the

abdomen.—Susceptibility to cold in the abdomen, whence results diarrhoea, or pressure at the

stomach.—Incarceration of flatus, with hard feeces—Frequent expulsion of offensive flatus, in

small quantities.

• ▸Soft and small, size of goose-quill (Phos).
• ▸Hard, tough, covered with mucus; shines like grease; small-shaped; expelled with much straining, or only on standing up.
• ▸Pruritus.
• ▸Partial paralysis of rectum.
• ▸Rectum sore and burns.
• ▸Fistula and large piles.

Chronic constipation —Frequent and ineffectual efforts to evacuate, with

pains, anxiety, and redness of the face.—The feces are passed more easily, in an erect

posture.—Feeces knotty, or of a very small size.—Fzces hard, tough, covered with mucus; viscid,

and shining, as if with fat, or of a bright and whitish colour.—Diarrhcea in the evening and at

night.—Diarrhcea, with tenesmus and burning in the rectum.—Diarrheea, after the abdomen has

been chilled.—Flow of blood and incisive pains in the rectum, during the evacuation.—A fter the

evacuation, anguish, with palpitation of the heart and burning in the anus.—Itching in the

anus.—In the anus, appearance of hemorrhoidal tumors, which are hard, swollen, painful, and

which impede evacuation.—Walking and meditation aggravate the hemorrhoidal pains, so as to

render them insupportable—Varices of the rectum, hindering stool; large; painful; stinging;

burning when touched.—Pressure in the hemorrhoidal tumors of the rectum, so as to cause them

• ▸to protrude.
• ▸—Pulsation in the perineum.
• ▸—Fistula in the rectum.
• ▸—Abscess in the anus.
• ▸—Pain of

excoriation, and moisture in the anus.

Frequent inclination to urinate, with thirst and scanty emission.—More

copious emission of urine.—Emission of urine at night, and wetting the bed —Involuntary

emission of urine (as in cases of children who wet the bed at night; in women, when urine spouts

from them in walking, coughing, &c.), day and night.—Acrid and corrosive urine, or pale,

aqueous, of a deep-brown, or reddish colour.—Stringy mucus in the urine.—The urine becomes

turbid, after settling —Sensation of burning in making water.—Itching of the orifice of the

urethra.—Flow of blood from the urethra.

• ▸Involuntary when coughing, sneezing (Puls).
• ▸Expelled very slowly, and sometimes retained.
• ▸Involuntary during first sleep at night; also from slightest excitement.
• ▸Retention after surgical operations.
• ▸Loss of sensibility on passing urine.

• ▸Uterine inertia during labor.
• ▸Menses cease at night; flow only during day (Cycl; Puls).
• ▸Leucorrhoea at night, with great weakness (Nat mur).
• ▸Menses delay, late (Con. Graph; Puls).

Catamenia retarded, but more copious, with flow of blood in large

• ▸clots.
• ▸—Difficult first menstruation.
• ▸—During the menses no blood is passed at night.
• ▸—Before the

catamenia, melancholy, sacral pains, and colic.—Catamenia too feeble; sexual desire too

weak.—During the catamenia, pains in the loins, cuttings, and paleness in the face; yellowness of

the face; vertigo.—Excoriation between the legs, at the vulva.—Dislike to coition—Cramps of the

matrix.—Profuse leucorrhoea, having the smell of the catamenia, or which flows in the

night.—Leucorrhcea flows at night and not during the day.—Nipples excoriated, cracked, and

surrounded with tetters—Want of secretion of milk.

Increase of sexual desire.—Absence of erections.—Frequent

pollutions.—Escape of prostatic fluid after a stool.—Emission of sanguineous semen, during

coition.—Pressure and shooting in the testes ——Ulcers and itching scabs on the interior part of the

• ▸prepuce.
• ▸—Red spots on the penis.
• ▸—Copious secretion of smegma behind the glans penis.
• ▸—Itching

at the scrotum, glans, and prepuce.

• ▸Hoarseness with pain in chest; aphonia.
• ▸Larynx sore.
• ▸Cough, with raw soreness of chest.
• ▸Expectoration scanty; must be swallowed.
• ▸Cough with pain in hip, especially left worse in evening; better, drinking cold water; worse, warmth of bed.
• ▸Sore streak down trachea.
• ▸Mucus under sternum, which he cannot quite reach.
• ▸Pain in chest, with palpitation.
• ▸Cannot lie down at night.
• ▸Voice re-echoes.
• ▸Own voice roars in ears and distresses.
• ▸Difficulty of voice of singers and public speakers (Royal).

Rough hoarseness, morning and evening.—Prolonged hoarseness,

with voice weak and stifled —Aphonia from weakness of the muscles of the larynx.—Sensation of

excoriation in the larynx, when not swallowing.—Hawking up of abundant mucus, esp. in the

morning.—Cough, with short breath, and difficulty of respiration.—Cough, excited by speech and

by cold.—Cough is worse: in the evening till midnight, from exhaling; drinking coffee; cold air;

draught of air; when awaking from sleep.—Cough is relieved by a swallow of cold

water.—Matutinal or nocturnal cough.—Short cough, provoked by a tickling and a sensation of

excoriation in the throat.—Cough, dry, hollow, shaking, with sensation of burning, and pain as of

excoriation in the chest.—Rattling in the chest while coughing.—Pains in the hips while

coughing.—Cough with involuntary passage of some drops of urine.—Inability to expectorate the

mucus, which is detached by coughing (the expectoration comes up far enough apparently, but it

cannot be spat out; greasy taste of the expectoration. The inability to expectorate is found in

every species of cough, whooping-cough, &c.).

Breath short—Attacks of spasmodic asthma.—Asthma, esp. when sitting or lying

down.—Fits of suffocation on speaking and walking quickly.—Oppressiveness of clothes on the

chest.—Pressure on the chest.—Shootings in the chest and thorax, on making a full inspiration,

and during corporeal exertion.—Burning, stitches, and soreness in the chest.—Attacks of cramp-

like compression and of constriction in the chest, with feeling of suffocation.

Palpitation of the heart, with languor.—Oppression of the heart, with

melancholy.—Shootings in the heart.

Stiffness between shoulders. Dull pain in nape of neck.

Stiffness and tension in the nape of the neck.—Pain, as from a bruise in the

nape of the neck.—Miliary eruption at the nape of the neck, between the shoulder-

blades.—Itching and humid tetters at the nape of the neck.—Goitre-like swelling of the cervical

glands.—Pains in the loins which render the least movement exceedingly painful.—Aching pains

in the loins when seated.—Painful stiffness (between the scapulze and) in the back, esp. on rising

from a chair.—Pulling and acute drawing pains in the shoulder-blades.—Itching and tingling in

the back.

Pains in the arms at night—Drawing pains and acute pulling, in the arms and

hands.—Convulsive movements and shocks in the arms.—Itching and eruptions on the

• ▸arms.
• ▸—Warts on the arms.
• ▸—Pressure on the shoulders.
• ▸—Shooting pains in the front part of the

• ▸arms, from the fingers to the elbow.
• ▸—Paralytic feeling in the r.
• ▸hand.
• ▸—Sensation of fulness in the

hands, on grasping an object.—Tearing in r. wrist-joint—Drawing pains in the hands, and the

joints of the fingers—Spasmodic weakness and trembling of the hands.—Paleness and painful

torpor of the fingers —Tension of the posterior joints of the fingers when bending

them.—Contraction and induration of the tendons of the fingers.—Itching tetters on the fingers.

Pain as from dislocation in the coxo-femoral joint, with inability to walk and

to continue standing. —Pain as from a bruise in the thighs and legs, whilst in bed, in the

morning.—Tensive stiffness in the joints of the legs, and of the feet.—Contraction and tension in

the heel and tendo Achillis.—Drawing pains and acute pulling in the thighs, the legs, the knees,

and the feet, with swelling of the parts Unsteady walk, and tendency to fall in children —Skin

marbled, on the thighs and on the legs.—Tension and cramp-like pain in the legs and calves of

the legs—Cramps in the feet—Pains in the instep, in the ankle bones, in the soles of the feet, and

in the toes, on walking.—Neuralgic pains in the soles of the feet—Contraction in the instep, with

• ▸tensive pain when stepping.
• ▸—Coldness of the feet.
• ▸—Swelling of the feet.
• ▸—Pains in the

varices.—Tingling in the soles of the feet—Festering vesicles and ulcerations on the

heels.—Whitlow on the great toe.

• ▸24.
• ▸Generalities——Arthritic and rheumatic drawing and tearing pains, esp.
• ▸in the limbs.
• ▸—Acute

and violent pulling in the joints and the bones, mitigated by the heat of a bed —Contraction of the

tendons, and stiffness in the flexor muscles of the limbs.—Cramp-like contraction of several

limbs.—Torpor and paleness of some parts, or of the entire 1. side of the

• ▸body.
• ▸—Paralysis.
• ▸—Jerkings and convulsive movements.
• ▸—St.
• ▸Vitus' dance.
• ▸—Convulsive attacks,

with cries, violent movement of the limbs, grinding of the teeth, smiles or tears, eyes half-closed,

fixed look, and involuntary emission of urine; the fits are reproduced by cold water, and are

preceded by pain in the abdomen and in the head, frequent emission of urine, irascibility, and

tears; after the fit the eyes are closed.—Epileptic convulsions (at night during

sleep).—A ggravation of the symptoms, generally in the evening, or in the open air, while those

which have appeared in the open air disappear in a room.—Coffee seems also to aggravate all the

symptoms.—Semi-lateral sufferings.—Insupportable uneasiness in the whole body in the evening,

and when seated, with anxiety in the region of the heart.—In the evening, great dejection and

oppression of the whole body.—Paralytic weakness, with trembling and tottering of the

limbs.—Paralysis (one-sided).—Great sensibility to currents of air, and to cold.

• ▸Left-sided sciatica, with numbness.
• ▸Paralysis of single parts.
• ▸Dull, tearing pain in hands and arms.
• ▸Heaviness and weakness.
• ▸Tearing joints.
• ▸Unsteadiness of muscles of forearm and hand.
• ▸Numbness; loss of sensation in hands.
• ▸Contracted tendons.
• ▸Weak ankles.
• ▸Cannot walk without suffering.
• ▸Rheumatic tearing in limbs; better by warmth, especially heat of bed.
• ▸Burning in joints.
• ▸Slow in learning to walk.
• ▸Unsteady walking and easily falling.
• ▸Restless legs at night.
• ▸Cracking and tension in knees; stiffness in hollow of knee.
• ▸Itching on dorsum of feet.

• ▸Soreness in folds of skin, back of ears, between thighs.
• ▸Warts large, jagged, bleeding easily, on tips of fingers and nose.
• ▸Old burns that do not get well, and ill effects from burns.
• ▸Pains of burns.
• ▸Cicatrices freshen up; old injuries reopen.
• ▸Skin prone to intertrigo during dentition.

Violent itching, esp. in the back, and in the calves of the legs —Itching of the whole

body at night (Itch).—Injuries of the skin, which had been healed, become sore again.—Itch

suppressed by mercury or sulphur; burning itch.—Tingling (or stinging) swelling (sometimes

called "buzzing" swelling) (Guernsey).—Eruptions resembling scabies.—Miliary eruptions and

nettle-rash.—Itching and humid tetters—Ulcerative vesicles —Burning ulcers, with yellowish-

looking skin; ulcers burning, with corroding pus, with thin or watery pus, suppurating; jerking

pains running through the ulcers.—Excoriation in children.—Painful corns in the feet—Warts,

also with pain and inflammation.—Panaris.—Painful varices.

Very drowsy; can hardly keep awake. Nocturnal sleeplessness, with dry heat, inquietude.

Drowsiness in the day, like coma.—Nocturnal sleeplessness, caused by anxiety,

inquietude, dry heat, and other annoyances, with frequent starts.—Starts on going to

sleep.—Frequent movements of the arms and legs during sleep.—Anxious dreams, about grievous

things, or about quarrels, or confused and voluptuous, with talking and laughter.—At night,

vertigo, headache, dryness of the mouth, and painful heaviness of the legs.

Pulse only accelerated towards evening.—Much shivering.—Chilliness

predominating, frequently with coldness of the 1. side.—Internal chilliness, followed by

perspiration, without previous heat—Nocturnal shivering, with pains in the back, and followed

• ▸by general sweat.
• ▸—Heat in the evening, from 6 to 8 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸—Flushes of heat, followed by

chilliness.—Copious sweat while walking in the open air.—Nocturnal sweat, sometimes of an acid

smell.—Morning sweat (smelling sour).

• ▸Acne rosacea.
• ▸Agalactia.
• ▸Amaurosis.
• ▸Apoplexy.
• ▸Arthritis deformans.
• ▸Bladder,

• ▸affections of.
• ▸Bronchitis.
• ▸Burns.
• ▸Cataract.
• ▸Chorea.
• ▸Coccygodynia.
• ▸Constipation.
• ▸Convulsions.

• ▸Cough.
• ▸Deafness.
• ▸Dentition.
• ▸Diphtheritic paralysis.
• ▸Ears, otorrhoea.
• ▸Emaciation.
• ▸Enuresis.

• ▸Epilepsy.
• ▸Eves, affections of.
• ▸Facial paralysis.
• ▸Fistula.
• ▸Fistula dentalis.
• ▸Goitre.
• ▸Hemorrhoids.

• ▸Headache.
• ▸Heart affections.
• ▸Heel, blistered.
• ▸Herpes zoster.
• ▸Hip disease.
• ▸Hydrogenoid

• ▸constitution.
• ▸Impotence.
• ▸Influenza.
• ▸Intermittent fever.
• ▸Intertrigo.
• ▸Laryngitis.
• ▸Lead poisoning.

• ▸Leucorrhoea.
• ▸Locomotor ataxy.
• ▸Meniére's disease.
• ▸Menstruation, disorders of.
• ▸Myalgia.
• ▸Nails,

• ▸crippled.
• ▸Neuralgia.
• ▸Nose, crusts in; acne on.
• ▸Paralysis.
• ▸Pemphigus.
• ▸Pregnancy.
• ▸Prostatitis.

• ▸Ptosis.
• ▸Rheumatism.
• ▸Scabies.
• ▸Scrofula.
• ▸Skin, eruptions of.
• ▸Small-pox.
• ▸Stammering.
• ▸Syphilis.

• ▸Tendons, contracted.
• ▸Throat, affections of.
• ▸Tongue, affections of; paralysis of.
• ▸Ulcers.
• ▸Urethritis.

• ▸Urine, disordered.
• ▸Varicose veins.
• ▸Voice, lost.
• ▸Warts.
• ▸Whooping-cough.

• ▸Caust.
• ▸is antidoted by: Asaf.
• ▸, Coff.
• ▸, Coloc.
• ▸, Dulc.
• ▸, Guaj.
• ▸(rheumatic contractions);

• ▸Nit.
• ▸spir.
• ▸dulc.
• ▸, Nux.
• ▸/s antidote to: Asaf.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸, Coloc.
• ▸, Euphras.
• ▸, Plumb.
• ▸(lead poisoning); type-

• ▸poisoning; abuse of Merc.
• ▸, and Sulph.
• ▸in scabies.
• ▸Incompatible: Acids, Coff.
• ▸, Pho.
• ▸Compatible:

• ▸Before—Calc.
• ▸; Kali i.
• ▸(facial paralysis from an abscess); Lyc.
• ▸, Nux, Rhus, Ruta, Sep.
• ▸, Sil.
• ▸, Sul.

• ▸Intercurrently—Ars.
• ▸, Cupr.
• ▸, Ign.
• ▸, Pod.
• ▸, Puls.
• ▸, Rhus, Sep.
• ▸, Stan.
• ▸After—Calc.
• ▸, Coccul.
• ▸, Coloc.
• ▸,

• ▸Cup.
• ▸, Hyo.
• ▸, Ign.
• ▸, Petrol.
• ▸, Petrosel.
• ▸, Rhus, Sep.
• ▸, Stram.
• ▸, Sul.
• ▸Complementary: Petrosel.
• ▸Merc.
• ▸cor.

• ▸assists the action of Caust.
• ▸and vice versd (in small-pox, according to Teste).
• ▸Compare: Nit.
• ▸ac.

• ▸is like Caust.
• ▸in being at once antipsoric, antisycotic, and antisyphilitic.
• ▸Phos.
• ▸touches Caust.
• ▸at

many points, and is too near it to be compatible with it. (This only applies to cases in which

either of the two has done good; if one has been given without any result the other, if indicated,

• ▸will very likely succeed.
• ▸) Both Caust.
• ▸and Phos.
• ▸are taciturn and distrustful, or inclined to fits of

anger; both are < at twilight; both have sensations of tension. The hoarseness of Phos. (like that

• ▸of Carb.
• ▸v.
• ▸) is < in evening.
• ▸Phos.
• ▸has extreme sensitiveness of larynx and dreads to cough or

• ▸talk.
• ▸The Caust.
• ▸cough is > by cold drinks.
• ▸Carb.
• ▸v.
• ▸has rawness and burning down throat (like

• ▸Caus.
• ▸) and hoarseness from damp evening air.
• ▸Compare also: Calc.
• ▸(images on closing eyes);

• ▸Nat.
• ▸m.
• ▸and Sep.
• ▸(spurting of urine with cough); Rhus (rheumatism from damp and cold; but

With Rhus there is restlessness and > from motion always—Caus. has restlessness at night only);

Eup. perf. (hoarseness < in morning; influenza with aching all over body; has more soreness on

• ▸chest than Caust.
• ▸); Salic ac.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸, Carbo.
• ▸sul.
• ▸(Meniére's disease); Coloc.
• ▸(colic); Lyc.
• ▸(sweat and

• ▸heat < 6 to 8 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸); Bar.
• ▸c.
• ▸(mental weakness, paralysis; < damp weather); Sep.
• ▸(enuresis in first

• ▸sleep;—in deep sleep, Bell.
• ▸, Sul.
• ▸); Calc.
• ▸(scalding urine); Sars.
• ▸(urine, especially in women,

• ▸passed without patient's knowledge); Bell.
• ▸, Hyo.
• ▸, Ign.
• ▸, Lach.
• ▸, Lyc.
• ▸and Pho.
• ▸(difficult swallowing

• ▸of liquids); Calc.
• ▸, Carb.
• ▸an.
• ▸, Stro.
• ▸and Stram.
• ▸(fear of darkness); Tarentula (restlessness) Gels.

(ptosis, paralysis, faint-like weakness and trembling, blindness) Ant. t. (laryngeal affections);

Lyc. (contraction of brow with pain in head); Cepa (sore heel); Sep. (sadness, especially before

• ▸menses.
• ▸Face yellow); Am.
• ▸c.
• ▸(rawness and burning in chest); Aco.
• ▸(paralysis from cold); Puls.

• ▸(cystitis; failure of milk after labour); Euphorb.
• ▸(ptosis from cold); Nat.
• ▸c.
• ▸Sul.
• ▸and Sul.
• ▸ac.
• ▸(falls

easily); Kali bi. (blindness with headache;—Kali bi. has blindness >, as headache <).

• ▸According to the careful investigations of Dr.
• ▸Wagner of Basel, Causticum corresponds to Ammon causticum 4x.
• ▸Causticum does not agree with Phosphorus; the remedies should not be used after each other.
• ▸Diphtherotoxin follows, causticum in chronic bronchitis.

Antidote: Paralysis from lead-poisoning.

Complementary: Carbo; Petrosel.

Compare: Rhus; Arsenic; Amm phos (facial paralysis).

Third to thirtieth attenuation. In chronic ailments and especially in paralytic states, the higher potencies once or twice a week.

Causticum is a very searching medicine, suitable in old, broken

down constitutions, suffering from chronic diseases. Only occasionally is it indicated in acute diseases. Its complaints are such as are

progressive, slow, and accompanying a declining state of the economy.

348 CAUStlGUM

Gradual decrease of. musculai* power, a paralysis. Paralysis of the

oesophagus, paralysis of the throat, such as occurs after diphtheria;

paralysis of the upper eyelids ; paralysis of the bladder ; paralysis of

the limbs, of the lower limbs ; great lassitude, muscular relaxation, indescribable fatigue and heaviness of the body. And there is a tremulousness, a quivering, jerking, twitching of the muscles, twitching in

sleep.

The next most striking feature is found in the tendons, which become shortened, resulting in a temporary or permanent contracture,

and the limb is drawn up. Tendons of the forearms contract, and there

is gradually increasing flexion. Sometimes a whole muscle will

harden and shorten, so that it can be felt by the hand as a hard ridge.

Contractures of muscles and tendons.

Closely related to this is a rheumatic state of the tendons and ligaments about the joints, sometimes with swelling, but always with pain

and ending in a shrivelling of the joint, a tightening up of the joint so

that it becomes ankylosed. Great stiffness of the joints, and while this

is going on the patient is growing weaker, is running into a state of

melancholy, of hopelessness, anxiety and fear. Constantly present in

his mind is the hopelessness and a feeling that something is hanging

over him, that something is going to happen. These are general features of Causticum. They all go to make up one picture, they are inseparable.

Another kind of progressive trouble in Causticum is hysteria, Gradually increasing hysteria. Hysterical cramping. The woman loses all

control of herself and says foolish things. Her nervous system becomes extremely sensitive to noise, touch, excitement or anything

unusual. Starting from the slightest noise ; starting in sleep ; twitching

and jerking ; the child is easily startled, or acts as if startled without

cause.

The paralytic weakness is associated with the rheumatic diathesis.

The rheumatic states arc peculiar. The patient himself can endure

neither heat nor cold. They both aggravate his rheumatic conditions,

his nervous conditions and himself in general. His pains are ameliorated by heat, but they are aggravated in dry weather. Great deformity of the joints ; they are enlarged, soft and infiltrated, ‘always

worse in dry weather ; more pains and aches during dry weather.

Rheumatism that affects both the muscles and the joints. This patient is also aggravated by exposure to cold, dry winds. Many an individual who has gone from the low lands of the East up into Ciolorada

will come down with rheumatism from the cold, dry winds. Let such

a patient as I have described take a ride in the cold lake wind and he

will have paralysis of the side of tht face exposed to the wind. A

long drive with the east wind coming against the face. The next day

that side of the face will be paralyzed. Such a paralysis will almost

always recover under Causticum.

Rending, tearing, paralytic pains; pains tliat benumb; pains that

fairly take the life out of him, they are so severe. And they are

likely to remain in one place for a long time. Causticum lias often

greatly mitigated the lightning-like pains of locomotor ataxia.

Now, with all these sufferings the patient is slowly growing weaker,

till at length he can no longer walk, he can no longer sit up, he is so

tired and weak that he must lie down. He is tired in body and mind.

It is a paralytic fatigue.

Convulsive symptoms. Cramps, now here, now there. If frightened he is almost sure to have some form of convulsive condition.

The woman with tendency to hysteria will have hysterics from fright ;

nervous girls that are more inclined to chorea, will start witli jerking

of muscles and will keep it up day and night. Chorea even at night.

Localized chorea, jerking of single parts, chorea of the tongue or of

one side of the face.

Epilepsy in young persons at tlie age of puberty, from fright, from

being chilled or exposed to some great change in the weather. Epilepsy,

chorea, paralysis, hysteria worse during menses. We see that Causticum is a deep medicine. Worse from exposure to cold, dry

wind. It also has rheumatic complaints aggravated in .the warm, damp

days, in wet weather, but this is not do striking.

Any one of the complaints that I jbave mentioned may be brought on

by bathing in cold water. A long^ iiry, cold spell will aggravate the

rheumatic troubles, getting wet or becoming chilled by batliing will

start them.

Causticum has cured insanity ; not acute mania with violent delirium,

but mental aberration of the passive kind, where the brain has become

tired. The constitution has been broken down with long suffering and

much trouble, and finally the mind is in confusion. At first the patient recognizes his inability to do anything and then comes this foreboding that something is going to happen. He is unable to think, and

• ▸consequently unable to carry on his business.
• ▸He is going into imbecility.
• ▸Full of timorous fancies.
• ▸‘Timorous anxiety,'’ overwhelmed

with fearful fancies. At every turn there is fear that something is going to happen. Fear of death, fear that something will happen to his

family. Always anticipating some dreadful event. That is a striking

feature of the Causticum mental state. It is found in old, broken

down mental cases, after prolonged anxiety ; after a prolonged struggle

of some sort, Anxiety before falling asleep. In addition to this, the

Causticum patient lacks balance. Everything excites him. The more

he thinks about his complaints the worse they become. Mental and

other ailments from long-lasting grief and sorrow. The injurious

CAtlSnCUM

effects of fear and prolonged vexation. Tired from vexations of

business.

The suppression of eruptions is apt to bring out mental symptoms.

Mental exhaustion, hopelessness, despair, appearing after the suppression of an eruption with zinc ointment. He was fairly well while

he had the eruption, but when it disappeared his mind gave out.

Eruptions on the side of the head and face, and extending over the

whole head. Thick, crusty eruptions covering the whole occiput.

When these eruptions are suppressed in children, chorea is apt to

follow. In the adult there will be trembling, paralytic weakness and

the mental state, sometimes pains in the nerves. The driving in of a

facial eruption will frequently result in facial paralysis. The healing

of an old ulcer with stimulating lotions and ointments will have a

similar result. Then he also suffers from violent headaches, congestive, pulsating headaches ; violent stitches in the head, worse in the

evening. But the headaches are, as a rule, nondescript ; only occasiondo we find a Causticum headache standing out by itself. It will

usually be associated with rheumatic and gouty conditions which also

affect the scalp. The scalp contracts and tightens up in places like the

contractures in other parts. Rheumatic headaches ; sometimes the

pain is so severe as to cause nausea, and vomiting. Blinding headaches

followed by paralysis.

Torticollis. The head is sometimes drawn to one side by the shortening of the muscles of the neck. Causticum is a curative remedy in

this shortening of the tendons and muscles.

Causticum is rich in eye symptoms. Very often the patient says that

the eyelids feel so heavy that he can hardly hold them up. This gradually increases until it becomes an actual paralysis. Sometimes there

is the appearance of a veil before the eyes ; foggy vision. Flickering

before the eyes. Air seems full of little black insects. Then, again,

large black or green spots are seen. After looking at the light a green

spot appears and remains in the field of vision for a long time.

Diplopia. And the vision gradually grows weaker until it is lost.

Paralysis of the optic nerve. Lachrymation, tears acrid, burning;

ulceration, copious discharges from the eyes, agglutination of the lids,

paralysis of the eye muscles. Causticum cures scrofulous ophthalmia

with ulceration of the cornea ; chronic, purulent ophthalmia of psoric

origin. The cornea is covered with little veins.

Another very strong feature of this medicine is its tendency to grow

warts. Warts on the face, on the tip of the hose, on the ends of the

fingers, on the hands. Hard, dry, horny warts come out on various

parts of the body.

It is natural feature of this remedy to produce copious, thick,

tough, gluey discharges from mucous membranes. The catarrhal

GAU81TCUM

35 *

troubles creep up the Eustachian tube, from the nose and throat into

the ear, resulting in roarings, cracking noises and reverberations in the

ear. There is great accumulation of ear wax ; deafness of catarrhal

origin and deafness from paralysis of the auditory nerve. Severe,

dragging pains in the ear.

The nasal catarrh is very troublesome. Old, atrophic catarrh with

accumulation of crusts throughout the whole nasal cavity ; post-nasal

catarrh with ulcerations, granulations and copious, thick, yellow or

yellowish-green discharge ; nose-bled ; frequent attacks of acrid,

watery coryza. Much itching of the nose. A wart grows upon the tip

of the nose.

The pains in the face are violent. Neuralgic pains from exposme

to cold. These pains often accompany the facial paralysis. Tearing

pains in the face, stitching pains, pains of a rheumatic character.

Ulcerations about the ntouth and nose. Fissures about the lips, the

wings of the nose and the corners of the eyes. Fissures seem to form

upon the least provocation. Fissures of the anus, of the skin about the

joints. Old cases of salt rheum with fissures in the bends of the joints.

Fistulous openings with indurated walls.

The gums become scorbutic and settle away from the teeth ; bleeding and ulceration of the gums. Violent, tearing pains in the roots of

the teeth from riding in the wind. Old rheumatic subjects suffer all

through every dry spell with toothache. Stitching, tearing, pulsating

pains in the teeth ; even in the sound teeth on drawing in cold air.

Frequently recurring abscesses of th^ gums. Putrid sour or bitter

taste in the mouth.

When the paralytic condition affects the tongue then we have stammering. There is also the condition of complete paralysis of both the

pharynx and oesophagus. Hence Causticum is useful in the results of

diphtheria when it has been maltreated or when the remedy has not

been sufficient to cure the disease. The food goes down the wrong

way or enters the larynx or the post-nares. Paralysis of the organs of

speech, paralysis of the tongue, awkward at talking, awkward at chew^ing ; bites the tongue and cheeks while chewing. Po.st-diphtheritic paralysis is a serious condition and only a few remedies can cure it.

Causticum is one of them. Lachesis and Cocculus are also important.

Dryness of the mouth and throat ; rawness of the throat ; must swallow

constantly on account of a sensation of fulness in the throat, a nervous

feeling in the throat. This is often a forerunner of paralysis. The

Staphisagria patient when excited will keep up a constant swallowing

and this goes on until it becomes a source of great annoyance. Burning in the throat ; jerking in the throat ; constantly scraping thick,

tough mucus from the larynx. Study the sounds that patients make in

order to ascertain where the mucus comes from. The presence of

35«

CAUStICUM

hoarseness shows that the trouble is in the larynx.

The Causticum patient sits down to the tabic hungry, but on seeing

the food his appetite vanishes. The thought, sight or smell of food

takes away the appetite. This is a common symptom in the pregnant

woman. Although hungry, on sitting down at the table, she cannot

cat. Kali carbonicum has an empty, all-gone feeling in the stomach,

with aversion to food. China has canine hunger, but loathes the sight

of food.

Thirst after eating ; thirst for cool drinks with aversion to water ;

desire for beer, smoked meats, pungent things, aversion to sweet things

and delicacies. Most remedies that have loss of appetite have desire

for sweet things, pastry, etc. The symptoms of thirst with aversion

to drinking is very much like Lachesis, The two run very closely together in the paralytic condition of the throat.

There is a queer sensation in the stomach as if lime were slaking

there. Trembling in the stomach ; burning. Bread causes a sensation

of heaviness and pressure ; coffee seems to aggravate all the symptoms

of the stomach, but a swallow of cold water relieves. Many symptoms

in this remedy are made better by a swallow of water. The

violent, spasmodic cough may be stopped at once by a drink of cold

water. Cold water seems to tone up the paralytic condition. Warm

water applied to the hands brings on pains in these old sensitive spinal

conditions. Cold washing is their only relief,

Causticum has belching, nausea, vomiting, distension and violent

pains in the stomach. Pinching colic. In the rectum there is the same

tendency to paralytic weakness that is found in other parts of the

body. It is inactive and fills up with hard faeces, which pass involuntarily and unnoticed. Aloe has involuntary dropping of little, hard

balls, especially in children. Even when old enough to understand

about such things, they will pass little balls unnoticed.

On account of the paralytic condition the stool passes with less

straining while the patient is standing. Retention of urine except

when standing ; unable to pass it in any other position is Sarsaparilla,

Constipation, frequent, unsuccessful urging to stool. The stool is

shining, and is passed with great difficulty and exertion.

Fissures in the anus ; itching and stitching in the rectum, excessive

itching day and night ; haemorrhoids ; pulsating in the perineum ;

fissures and haemorrhoids pulsate and burn like fire. The ha&morrhoids

become infiltrated and hardened.

This remedy has two kinds of paralysis of the bladder, one affecting

the muscles of expulsion and the urine is retained, and the other centering upon the sphincter vesicae, and then the urine is passed involuntarily. '‘He urinates so easily that he is not sensible of the stream and

scarcely believes, in the dark, that he is urinating, until he makes sure

by sense of touch. Causticum is unconscious of the stream as it

• ▸passes.
• ▸It is a very useful remedy in children that wet the bed.
• ▸Especially is it a wonderful remedy in the woman.
• ▸The urine escapes in^

• ▸voluntarily when coughing.
• ▸Retention of urine in the woman, Retention after labor.
• ▸Paralysis of the bladder.
• ▸A woman who is too

greatly embarrssed to pass through a crowd of observing men to the

closet at the end of a railroad car, at the end of the journey finds that

she is unable to pass the urine. Retention of urine from straining the

muscles of the bladder. If the patient is chilled at the time the

remedy may be Rhus. Rhus and Causticum are the two great remedies for paralytic weakness of muscles from being overstrained, or

from being overstrained and chilled.

Great weakness at the time of the menses. Anxiouns dreams before

menstruation : melancholy ; cramp-like spasms ; pains in the back. The

woman suffers from many annoyances during menstruation. Just

about the time for the flow to start violent cramp-like pains come on.

In a woman who is nursing a child the milk almost disappears in consequence of fatigue, night watching and anxiety. The nipples get sore

and crack, another instance of the tendency to form fissures.

The Causticum patient has trouble with the voice. You remember,

when we were going over the symptoms of Carbo vegetabilis, I told

you that the hoarseness was worse in the evening. Now observe that

the hoarseness of Causticum is worse in the morning. He gets up in

the morning wiih a hoarse voice ; if it is an ordinary case, after moving about and expectorating a little m^cus, it is better. Sudden loss of

voice from paralysis of the vocal cord. It sometimes begins with tho

morning aggravation, gradually increasing until it lasts all day and all

night.

The Causticum cough is a hard cough and racks the whole body.

The chest seems full of mucus and he feels if only he could cough a

little deeper he could get it up, and he struggles and coughs until exhausted or until he finds out that a drink of cold water will relieve.

But it must be ice cold. The cough is hollow, it sounds as if he were

coughing into a barrel. It is relieved by expectoration if it can only

• ▸get deep enough to reach the mucus.
• ▸Sometimes such a cough precedes quick consumption.
• ▸It is a deep-acting medicine ; it cures phthisis, especially mucous phthisis or quick consumption.
• ▸“Cough with a

sensation as if the patient could not cough deep enough to start the

mucus ; produced by tickling, accompanied by rawness. Cough wakens

her from sleep in the evening and morning. Cough relieved by a swallow

of cold water. Cough worse by bending forward. Continual, annoying cough ; with each cough escape of urine,'’ Influenza with tired

aching of the limbs as if they had been beaten, “Whooping cough

in the catarrhal stage,”