Corrosive Sublimate
Hahnemann proved, he recommended Merc. viv. as a superior preparation for homceopathic
prescribing in his preface to the proving. Mercurius solubilis Hahnemanni was invented by him
in his pre-homceopathic days in response to a general desire for a mercurial preparation which
should be at once soluble and non-corrosive, and it at once took its place in pharmacy, a place it
has never lost. The method of developing the medicinal power of metallic mercury by graduated
trituration was a later discovery, though there was a suggestion of it in the well-known
observed effects of Mercury in those engaged in working with the metal, in patients taking
Mercury, and effects in those applying mercurial inunctions to patients—many having been
severely affected by absorbing it through their hands. There is no difference between these
effects and the symptoms of the proving so far as the general characteristics are concerned. In the
finer characteristics there must be differences. The symptoms of the proving are in general more
particularly characterised than the effects of Merc. viv. For instance, "At night severe toothache,
and when that went off great chilliness through the whole body," belongs to the Merc. sol.
proving; and so do these: "Vertigo: when sitting at his desk there was whirling in the head, as if
he were drunk, he rises up and walks about the room staggering, then anxious heat breaks out
over him, with nausea but not to the length of vomiting; at the same time some headache." "From
occiput a strong, tearing, continued pain, which went into the forehead and there pressed." The
symptoms of nose-bleed and the more finely characterised throat symptoms ("stitches on
tonsils"; "stitches into ear on swallowing"; "something hot rises into throat.,"), were produced by
only bit of comparative experience I have in the action of the two is this: in a case of cold in
cured.—We of the present generation can hardly form a conception of the havoc wrought by
Mercury in the days when it was considered necessary to "touch the gums" in all cases for which
Mercury was prescribed before any good could be hoped for. The motto, "Salivation is
Salvation," tells its own tale. "It was quite an event," says Teste, "when in the sixteenth century
the discovery was made that Mercury will cure syphilis without the patient being salivated. One
error, however, being substituted in place of another, it was supposed that the sweat, the diuresis,
or the diarrhoea which followed the exhibition of Mercury, replaced the absent salivation; the
gross humoralism which prevailed at that period did not allow of another explanation. For a
graphic picture of a practice which was part of the ordinary routine until recent times, I quote the
following from Bransby Cooper's First Lines of Surgery, 6th ed., p. 348: "Mercury acts upon
some individuals like a poison [!] they are seized with palpitations of the heart, tremblings of the
limbs, oppression of the breathing, and irregular pulse. When such indisposition takes place in a
person employing Mercury we conclude that this mineral is actually producing a deleterious
the custom to salivate freely, a certain number of individuals thus treated died suddenly in the
Lock Hospital. They were first affected as I have described, and, on attempting to make the
deaths arose from the deleterious action of Mercury on the constitution, and the derangement of
the system thus excited he proposed to call the Mercurial erethismus." Homceopathy has filled
out this picture in full detail, and turned this deadly blundering to curative account. There was a
fitness in naming this metal after the volatile deity. It provides us with weather-glasses and
thermometers, and it turns those who are under its influence into weather-glasses and
thermometers likewise. [An electrician, who at one time was required to work with his hands
frequently in a trough filled with quicksilver, thereafter could not bear the slightest shock of
electricity, though before he could stand very strong ones.] And herein lies one of the grand
characteristics of the remedy: as the thermometer is sensitive to changes either to hot or cold, so
sweat accompanying nearly all complaints and which does not relieve; it may even aggravate.
Guided chiefly by these two indications: "Profuse sweat with no relief" and "< at night," I have
4 is: The mercurial odour. The mercurial patient is offensive; breath excessively fetid; sweat
universal that it renders Merc. the best general remedy in paralysis agitans. There is tremor of
head, of hands, of tongue. Tremors commencing in the fingers. It is the tremor of weakness and
paralysis; and as described by B. Cooper it may attack the heart and cause sudden death on the
smallest effort. Short of this there is great tendency to fainting; extreme exhaustion after a stool.
The tremors may become jerkings and even convulsions. Extreme restlessness. The mind is as
weak and tremulous as the body; everything is done hastily. Hurried and rapid talking. On the
other hand: slow in answering questions; loss of memory; of will power. Embarrassment.
and Thuja the typical antisycotic. In selecting Merc. as the remedy for syphilis the old
practitioners were so far right, but they did not know how to give it. Merc. so far corresponds to
syphilis that many undoubted cases of mercurial poisoning have been diagnosed by experts as
syphilis. Bones, glands, and skin are affected. Inflammation leads to induration, induration to
lardy, ashy, or cheesy base. There are burning or stinging pains in them. Another great feature of
Merc., almost constituting a keynote, is the tendency to the formation of pus. In the suppurative
stage of small-pox it is specific. Flow of pus, and particularly bloody pus, from any orifice calls
for Merc. Pus forms in cavities in abscesses, which burn and sting. Discharges are yellow-green
their ores and it dissolves living tissues, inducing excessive emaciation. Lowly organised tissues
as indurations, exostoses, and some tumours are melted first. Edema and dropsies are absorbed;
rheumatic swellings. If the doses of Merc. are large and dropsies disappear rapidly under them,
the tissues themselves may disappear also in offensive rapidly decomposing ulcers. The bones
soften so that they will bend. Whilst Verc. intensifies the action of the absorbents, it may also
paralyse them, hence enlargement of glands, with pricking pains, inflammation, suppuration.
Next to syphilis, the liver has been the chief excuse for mercurialism, in the past, and Merc.
certainly has a powerful liver action. The liver is congested, enlarged, inflamed, stitches in the
liver, sensitiveness in the liver and inability to lie on right side. This "< lying on r. side" is a very
with the liver the stomach is disordered. Sweets disagree; aversion to meat, wine, brandy, beer,
coffee, greasy food, butter. There is the characteristic flabby, coated, teeth-indented tongue, foul
the tongue is dry. Sliminess is a general characteristic. Slimy stools; stools acrid, knotty,
containing pus, viscid. Just before stool a sick, painful, faint feeling comes on. During stool there
is tenesmus, or tenesmus and no stool. Dysentery with much straining; never-get-done feeling
where there is no slime" (Guernsey). Merc. affects profoundly the generative organs of both
"Stinging" is very frequent in mercurial pains, and "stinging pain in ovaries is just as likely to
warmth and at night and < by cold. In olden times it was recognised that a patient under a
"course" of Mercury must be very careful not to catch cold. This gives one indication for Merc.
in abnormal tendency to catch cold. But for this condition it must not be too frequently repeated,
as it will aggravate it. The patient needing Merc. is sensitive to every draught and yet < by
warmth the nasal secretion is acrid, and the nose red and excoriated; dirty-nosed children"
(Guernsey). Old catarrhal smell in the nose inside nostrils smarting and burning. Aching, tearing,
and out-pressing in the bones. "Kali iod. is better for the same bursting in the face, running
coryza, and < from heat and warmth of the bed" (Kent). [I find that a much larger percentage of
cases of acute cold come under the indications of Cepa and Chlorum than under those of Merc.
or any other related remedy. In chronic colds I think first of Psor.] The eyes are very markedly
influenced by Merc.; also the bones round the eye: "Whenever cold settles in the eye in gouty
and rheumatic patients" (Kent). Every degree and kind of inflammation and ulceration is
is boiled in water for half an hour, two teaspoonfuls being given every two hours. Hirsch's cases
were those of acute inflammation of the brain, in which Be//. was indicated, and in one of which
Merc. (in the ordinary homeopathic preparation) had already been administered in vain. This is
the case: A black-haired girl, 9, had malignant scarlatina, which commenced six days before
Hirsch (who came as consultant) saw the case, signs of brain inflammation having set in on the
third day. Hirsch found her unconscious, sharply defined redness of cheeks, pulse 120, hot skin.
Piercing screams were emitted from time to time; boring head in pillows; chewing motion of
jaws; gnashing teeth. Lips brown and dry; not much thirst; water not accepted readily; but milk
seemed to be relished. Reddened patches here and there, especially along neck. Under the
"decoction," which was given to the girl on Hirsch's suggestion, she slowly but steadily
improved, and in a week was convalescent—Among the Sensations of Merc. are: Vibration in
forehead. Head as if in a vice; as if growing larger. As of sparks being emitted from eyes; as of a
body underneath lids; as if feathers came from corners of eyes. As if a wedge driven in ear; as if
ice in it; as if cold water running out of it. Cracklings in head as from metal plates. As if weight
on forehead; as if weight hanging on to nose. As if teeth were loose; were fixed in a mass of pap.
As if hot vapours rising into throat; of worm rising into throat, must swallow it down; of apple
core sticking in throat. As if mamme would ulcerate. As if everything in chest was
dry.—Stabbing pains and stitches, burning, boring, digging, stinging, and dragging pains.
Light-haired persons with lax skin and muscle; women and children. Scrofulous children. (Merc.
has relation to psora and sycosis as well as syphilis.) The symptoms are < by touch or pressure. <
Bending forward (digestion immediately disordered). < After eating (if he eats ever so little it
causes a dragging down in stomach).
Great anguish, restlessness (is constantly changing from place to place), and agitation,
with fear of losing the reason, or with excessive internal torment, principally in evening, or in
bed at night, as if conscious of having committed some crime.—(Post-partum mania; wants to
discouragement, dread of labour, and disgust to life —Great indifference to everything.—Does not
humour, disposition to be angry, and to fly into a passion, great susceptibility, humour
quarrelsome, mistrustful, and suspicious.—Moroseness and repugnance to
irritability, with a tendency to be easily frightened.—Bad effects from fright, leaving one ina
state of great anxiety and < at night—Home-sickness with nightly anxiety and
perspiration.—Distraction, inadvertence, difficulty of conception.—Entire-unfitness for
meditation, and tendency to make mistakes while speaking.—Answers questions
slowly.—Weakness of memory; and will-power lost.—Instability of ideas, which constantly drive
imbecile —Low muttering delirium.—Fits of mania or dementia, with disposition to shed
tears —Hurried and rapid speech.—Loss of consciousness and of speech.—Fury, with dread of
liquids.
(Edema of face, hands, and feet with anzemia.—Cellulitis with lumpiness in
any region.—Periostitis then necrosis.—Tearing and drawing, or shooting pains in limbs, chiefly
at night, in heat of bed, which renders the pain insupportable—Red and shining inflammatory
swellings.—Inflammations ending in exudations and suppurations.—Nocturnal pains in
bones.—Softening of the bones, so they will bend (rickets); enlargement of; caries of;
inflammation of; prickling of; tearing in—Affections of shoulder-blades; shin-bones; bones of
the leg —Sufferings < at night, or in evening, also from fresh (evening) air.—Throbbings,
sensation of dislocation, and arthritic pains in joints, with swelling —Rheumatic and catarrhal
inflammations.—Rheumatic pains, with profuse sweat, which affords no relief.—The patient feels
much better in morning and during repose, and esp. when lying down than when seated or
walking.—Whole body feels as if bruised, with soreness in all bones.—Great agitation in limbs,
with pains in joints, principally in evening.—Great fatigue, weakness, and rapid loss of strength,
with great uneasiness of body and mind.—Ebullition of blood, and frequent trembling, even after
least exertion.—Sanguineous congestions (to head, chest, and abdomen) and
heemorrhages.—Great tendency of limbs to become numb.—Contractions of some parts ——Cramps,
convulsive movements, and nocturnal attacks of epilepsy, with cries, rigidity of body, distension
of abdomen, itching in nose, and thirst—Sensation of coldness in outer parts; burning pain of
inner parts; cutting in inner parts; darting pains in outer parts; darting in bones.—Sallow-coloured
face.—Eructations; vomiting of bile-—Blackness of outer parts; bleeding from inner parts;
restlessness of body; inflammation of inner parts, also of mucous membranes; secretion of mucus
increased from any of mucous membranes.—Scurvy, particularly where there is much salivation;
wasting away of soft parts; strictures after inflammation; inflammatory swellings, parts which
are usually white turn red; zona or shingles.—Tonic spasms and tetanus.—Cataleptic rigidity of
body.—Fainting fits Paralysis of several of limbs.—Emaciation and atrophy of whole
Delirium, stupor. Frontal pain, congestion of head with burning in cheeks. Drawing pain in periosteum of skull.
Cloudiness, intoxication, and dizziness, principally in morning, on waking, and on
getting up.—Vertigo, principally on getting up, or on raising up head, or when seated, or when
lying on back (vertigo with headache); as well as during or after a walk in open air, or in
evening, and often with nausea, cloudiness of the eyes (everything becomes black before eyes),
distressing heat, and want to lie down.—Vertigo as if one were on a swing.—Dull and stupid
feeling with dizziness.—Heaviness, fulness, and aching in head, as if forehead were squeezed by
a bandage, or as though cranium were on the point of bursting (with fulness of brain).—(In the
evening) painful sensibility of brain, with fatigue of head by noise, > by resting head upon the
arm.—Compressive headache, the head feels as if it were in a vice, with nausea; < in open air,
from sleeping, eating and drinking; > in room.—Violent headache, which forces compression of
head between the hands.—From occiput a strong, tearing, continued pain which went into
forehead and there pressed.—Heat and burning, or tearing and drawing pains, or shootings in
head, often only semi-lateral, and extending to ears, teeth, and neck.—Burning in head, esp. in 1.
temple, < at night when lying in bed, > on sitting-up.—Inflammation of the brain with burning
and pulsation in forehead, with sensation as if head were in a hoop; < at night, > after
rising.—Weakness in head like a dulness, as if there was a vibration in forehead and turning
about in a circle.—Constant rotary motion of head, even when lying.—Ebullition, boring, and
digging shocks, and throbbings in head.—Pain, as from a bruise, in brain, while in bed, in
morning.—Nocturnal cephalalgia—Pains in bones of head, and exostosis in the cranium.—Sutures
open; large head; precocious mental development.—Swelling of head; soreness of the scalp;
sharp and burning pains in integuments of cranium.—Sensation of subcutaneous ulceration in
whole head, < at night when becoming warm in bed; > after rising.—Tearing in one (1.) side of
head and temple, extending from neck, with insupportable heat and perspiration, < at night and
in heat of bed, > towards morning and while lying quiet—Tension over forehead as from a tape
or hoop, < at night in bed; > after rising and from laying hand on it—Congestion of blood to
head with heat in it—Hydrocephalus.—Sensation of tension of scalp.—Scalp is painful to touch; <
when scratching, which is followed by bleeding.—Tearing and stinging in bones of
skull.—Itching on hairy scalp, and forehead and temples; < from scratching, when it bleeds and
becomes erysipelatous.—Dry, stinging, burning, fetid eruption like yellow crusts, on forepart of
head and temples, when scratching inflammation and erysipelas—Exostoses, with sensation of
subcutaneous ulceration on touching them, < at night in bed.—Open fontanelles with dirty colour
of face, restless sleep, and sour-smelling night-sweat.—Falling off of hair; mostly on sides of
head and temple; with humid eruptions on head or after clammy perspirations of head; with
itching at night in bed; < from scratching; with burning, with great tendency to
perspiration.—Great chilliness with contractive tearing pain of the scalp, extending from forehead
to neck.—Fetid, sour-smelling, oily perspiration on head, and on icy-cold forehead, with burning
in skin: < at night in bed, > after rising. —Dry eruption on head; small scabs in hair, sometimes
with burning itching; moist scabs, with excoriation of scalp, and destruction of hair.—Sweat on
head and forehead, sometimes cold and viscid.
Eyes confused, dull, and surrounded by a livid circle.—Pressure in eyes, as from sand,
principally when fixing the attention on any object.—Shootings, itching, tickling and burning in
eyes, principally in open air—Eyes red, inflamed, with redness of conjunctiva or sclerotica, and
injection of vessels of sclerotica, or of external canthi—Profuse lachrymation, principally in
sensitiveness of eyes to light, and to brightness of the fire—Firelight dazzles eyes greatly —Eyes
inflamed, with swollen inverted tarsi.—Pupils dilated —Inability to open eyes well, as if
agglutinated to balls—Pustules in conjunctiva, and ulcers in cornea.—Eyelids red, inflamed,
swollen, ulcerated on margins, and covered with scabs.—Sensation as if a cutting instrument
were under eyelid—Tumour in eyelid, like a stye—Nocturnal agglutination of
eyelids.—Spasmodic closing of eyelids, with difficulty in opening them.—Scabs round the
eyes.—Amblyopia and confused sight, as in looking through a mist (periodical loss of sight);
momentary loss of sight; black points, hovering flies, flames and sparks before eyes.—Apparent
motion of letters, when reading.
Violent pulsations. Fetid pus.
Tearing, shooting and drawing pains in ears, sometimes with a sensation of coldness,
as if there were ice in ear, increased by heat of bed.—As if ice-cold water running out of ears;
comes suddenly, lasts a few minutes and recurs; violent itching in ears in intervals.—Ear and
auditory tube inflamed, with cramp-like and shooting pains.—Soreness of internal ear—Meatus
swollen with much earache when chewing.—Small ulcers in front of 1. membrana
tympanis.—Discharge of pus from ear, with ulceration of external ear—Excoriation and
ulceration of the concha auris.—Purulent otorrhcea and fungous excrescences in ear, with tearing
in side of head affected, and in face.—Flow of blood from ears.—Discharge of
cerumen.—Subcutaneous tumour, and furfuraceous and moist pimples on the lobe. —Hardness of
hearing, sometimes with obstruction of ears, which ceases when swallowing or blowing nose (or
the obstruction is caused by enlargement of tonsils), or with an extraordinary reverberation of all
sorts of sounds in ears.—Tinkling, roaring, ringing, and buzzing in ears, principally in
evening.—Obstinate tinnitus.—Painful sensitiveness, and inflammatory swelling of
parotids.—Inflammatory swelling of the r. parotid gland with stinging.
Swelling of the bones of the nose (external nose, as bridge of the nose, may swell up
very large on both sides), with painful sensitiveness to touch.—Itching in nose.—Tension,
pressure, and sensation of heaviness in nose.—Blackish colour of nose.—Inflammatory swelling
and shining redness of nose, with itching.—Scabs in nostrils (bleeding when
cleansed).—Discharge of a greenish fetid and corrosive pus from the nostrils.—"Dirty-nosed
children." —Frequent and profuse bleeding from nose, even during sleep, and sometimes when
in nose, or fluent coryza, with copious discharge of corrosive serum.—Putrid smell from
nose.—Painful pustule in nose.
Face, pale or yellowish, or lead-coloured, or earthy (with dull eyes without
and redness of cheeks.—Bloatedness and swelling of face, principally round eyes Swelling of
(of one side) of face—Aching and pricking in zygomatic process.—Sensation of tension of skin
discharge of a fetid humour, constant itching day and night, and bleeding of the part after having
been scratched.—Crusta lactea.—Lips rough, dry and blackish, with burning when they are
touched.—Salt taste on lips.—Swelling and ulceration of lips —Yellowish scabs, purulent
pustules, and small ulcers on the lips and round the chin——Burning pimples with yellow crusts on
lips.—Fissures, rhagades, and ulceration in (lips and) corners of mouth.—Distortion of mouth and
convulsive movements of lips——Masseter muscles contracted so that speech was
difficult.—A trophy and exfoliation of alveolar processes ——Clenching and immobility of jaws,
with inflammatory swelling of lower jaw, and tension in muscles of neck.—Lockjaw with
stinging pains and engorgement, and inflammatory swelling of submaxillary glands, with
[This remedy covers in general, affections of mouth and fauces; r. side of fauces; r.
side of neck; nape of neck (i.e., affections appearing in any of the mentioned places); rarely give
Merc. if the tongue is dry —Guernsey].—Putrid smell from the mouth—Bluish colour,
excoriation, and inflammatory swelling of inside of mouth.—Burning pain, vesicles, blisters,
aphthee and ulcers in the mouth.—Stomacace.—Sensation of dryness in mouth and palate, or
accumulation of tenacious mucus.—Ulceration of orifice of salivary duct, and profuse discharge
of excessively fetid saliva, which is sometimes bloody (or tenacious).—Tongue moist, coated
with white and thick, or dry, brown, or blackish mucus.—(Excoriated patches like islands on
tongue in children, with craving for fat, v.)—Hardness, inflammatory swelling (suppuration), and
ulceration of tongue, with shooting pains.—Longitudinal furrow on tongue with pricking
pains.—Needle pricks in tip of tongue.—Tongue swollen, soft flabby, the edges become indented
by the impression of teeth.—Tongue red and swollen; ulcerated; black, with red edges; moist with
intense thirst; grey patches on edges, dirty-yellow coat on upper surface —Aphthe in the mouth;
bluish and spongy; ulcers spread without penetrating the flesh._—Inflammation and superficial
ulceration of the mucous membranes of mouth.—Salivary glands swollen and painful; saliva
foetid or tastes coppery.—Rigidity, insensibility, and immobility of tongue.—Sensation in tongue
speech and voice; she hears everything well, but can only reply by signs and grimaces; sunken
features, weeping about her condition; cannot sleep, feels very exhausted; good appetite, thirst
for beer; feeces and urine passed easily; lasted three days; (almost complete relief by
Tearing, shooting, or pulsative pains in carious teeth, or in roots of teeth, often
extending to ears, and over whole cheek of side affected, sometimes also with painful swelling of
cheek or of submaxillary glands, salivation, and shivering.—The nightly pulsating toothache
extends to ear.—Appearance or aggravation of toothache, principally in evening, or at night, in
heat of the bed, where it is insupportable; renewed by fresh air, as well as by eating, and taking
anything hot or cold into mouth.The teeth are set on edge, grow black, loosen (they are painful
when touched by tongue), denuded of gum, and fall out.—Itching, burning, and redness of
gums.—Gums are fungous, and bleed easily —Bleeding of gums when touching them ever so
little Retraction and swelling of gums, principally at night, with burning pain and sensation of
excoriation, on touching them, and when eating —Gums livid, discoloured, and very
sensitive.—Upper border of gums looks indented, the indentation being white and ulcerated.—The
swollen gums have white, elevated, ulcerated, pointed edges.—Ulceration of gums.
Continuous painful dryness of throat; the mouth being full of water.—Painful dryness
of throat, which impedes speech.—Pain, as from excoriation and smarting in throat, or sensation
of heat, which ascends into gullet.—Shooting pains in throat and in tonsils, principally when
swallowing.—Elongation and swelling of uvula—Suppuration of tonsils.—Pressure and pains as
from excoriation and ulceration, in cesophagus.—Syphilitic ulcers in mouth and
throat —Inflammatory swelling and redness of back parts of mouth and throat.—Erysipelatous
inflammation of all soft parts of mouth and throat.—Inflammation and redness of palate —Angina
esp. with stinging pains < by empty deglutition at night and in cold air.—Throat and fauces of a
coppery red colour and swollen.—Accumulation of thick and tenacious mucus in
throat Sensation as if there were a tumour, or some foreign body in throat, which it is necessary
to swallow.—Constant want to swallow.—Sensation as if a worm rose up so that he must always
swallow, whereby it goes off somewhat though he does not feel anything go down.—When
swallowing shooting in tonsils, stitches into ears.—Painful, difficult, and sometimes spasmodic
deglutition, with danger of suffocation.—Burning in throat as if from a hot vapour ascending
from stomach, with dryness in throat when swallowing, and continuous desire to swallow, with
accumulation of water in mouth.—Inability to swallow the least liquid, which escapes through
nostrils.—The pains in throat commonly extend to ears, parotids, submaxillary, and cervical
glands; they are < for the most part by empty deglutition, as well as at night, in fresh air, and
when speaking, and they are often accompanied by salivation.
Red, swollen, painful, intensely inflamed. Uvula swollen. Swallowing painful. Most pain in post-nasal with sharp pains to ears. Burning pain, with great swelling; worse, slight external pressure. All glands about thorax swollen.
Incessant, green, bilious vomiting. Epigastrium very sensitive.
Putrid, salt, sweetish, or metallic taste.—Bitter taste, principally when fasting, in
morning.—Rye-bread has a bitter or sweetish taste—Acid and mucous taste during a meal, also at
other times.—Saltish taste on lips.—Violent burning thirst, day and night, with desire for cold
drinks, and principally for milk and beer—Desire for wine and spirits.—Insatiable appetite and
craving (or complete loss of appetite), with apparent insipidity of food—Appetite only for bread
and butter; aversion to butter—Bulimy, with great weakness.—Canine hunger, even after
eating.—Want of appetite —No wish for food, which, however, is agreeable to the taste when
eaten.—Thirst more decided than appetite —Speedy satiety when eating. —Stomach feels replete
and constricted.—Dislike to all food, principally solid nutriment, meat, sweetmeats, cooked
victuals and coffee —Has no appetite for dry food, likes liquid food —Great weakness of
digestion, with continued hunger, and pressure in stomach, frequent risings, pyrosis and many
other inconveniences after a meal.—Bread is heavy on stomach.
Excessive nausea and inclination to vomit, often with incisive and pressive pains
in stomach, chest, and abdomen, anxiety and inquietude, headache, vertigo, cloudiness of eyes,
and transient heat.—The nausea often increases after a meal, and is accompanied by a sensation
in throat, as if things sweetened with sugar had been eaten.—Rising of air.—Risings, principally
after eating, and often of a putrid or bitter or sour and rancid taste.—Violent empty
risings.—Regurgitation (of ingesta) after eating and drinking. —Pyrosis, regurgitation of a rancid
liquid, and hiccough during and after a meal.—Retching and vomiting of mucous or bitter
matters, or of bile-—Violent vomiting with convulsive movements.—Burning, violent pain, and
excessive sensibility (esp. to touch) in the stomach, and in the precordial region.—Tension,
fulness, and pressure as from a stone in pit of stomach, principally during or after a meal,
however little may have been eaten; stomach hangs down heavily.—Sharp constrictive pain in
precordial region.—Cramp-like pains in stomach, even after a very light repast.
Bruised sensation; cecal region and transverse colon painful. Bloated; very painful to least touch.
Painful sensitiveness of hepatic region, with shooting, burning pains, < by every
movement of body, or of the parts affected—Region of liver swollen, painfully sensitive to
contact; cannot lie on r. side.—Chronic atrophy of liver, with emaciation and dessication of the
body.—Swelling and hardness of liver—Complete icterus—Abdomen hard and inflated, with
soreness when touched, principally in umbilical region.—Colic which only passes off in a
recumbent position.—Violent colic (with diarrhoea), with cuttings, lancinations as if by knives,
painful contractions and pinchings in abdomen, principally at night or in cool of evening, esp.
when he touches or takes hold of anything cold.—Tension, distension, and pressure, as by a
stone, principally in umbilical region (and painfulness to contact).—Burning in abdomen, round
the navel.—Excessive and insupportable pains in abdomen, which cease only on lying
down.—Pain in abdomen, as if caused by a chill —Sensation as if intestines were loose, and
in abdomen are often accompanied by shivering, or by heat and redness of cheeks, as well as by
great sensitiveness of abdomen, and of precordial region, to all contact, and to least
pressure.—Sensation of emptiness in the abdomen.—Sufferings from flatulency, principally at
night, with distension of abdomen, borborygmi, and rumbling. —Cutting stitch in lower abdomen
of inguinal glands, with redness and painful sensitiveness, when walking and
standing.—A ffections of inner region of liver; external belly, which may be hard and sensitive to
touch.
Dysentery; tenesmus, not relieved by stool; incessant. Stool hot, bloody, slimy, offensive, with cutting pains and shreds of mucous membrane.
Stool: acrid; bloody; knotty; containing pus; viscid.—Complaints before
stool (a sick, painful, faint feeling comes on just before)—Complaints during stool; tenesmus;
tenesmus without stool; diarrhoea with slime (Merc. is rarely indicated in these troubles where
be expelled without straining.—Feces of small shape; ribbon-like.—Ineffectual, but frequent want
to evacuate, esp. at night, and sometimes with tenesmus, protrusion of hemorrhoids, and
nausea.—Loose and dysenteric evacuations, principally at night, with colic and violent cuttings,
urgent want to evacuate, tenesmus and burning in anus, pyrosis, nausea and risings, anguish, heat
or cold sweat on face, shivering and shuddering, exhaustion and trembling of all
limbs.—Diarrhcea (preceded by colic), caused by the fresh air of evening.—Chilliness between the
diarrhoeic stools.—During a diarrhceic stool nausea and eructations.—Scanty evacuations of
sanguineous mucus.—Evacuations which are mucous, or bilious, or putrid, or acid, or of a
greenish or brownish colour, or reddish, or yellow, like sulphur; or a greyish-white.—Feces of
consistence of pap, or frothy, or like hash—Evacuation of corrosive and burning feecal
matter.—Discharges of bloody mucus accompanied by colic and tenesmus; dysentery.—Discharge
of blood, or of mucus, from rectum, even with evacuations that are not loose, and when not at
stool, sometimes with tenesmus in anus.—Protrusion of heemorrhoids.—Ejection of ascarides and
lumbrici.—Itching, shootings, and excoriation in anus.—After stool prolapsus ani; or when
pressing and straining to stool.—Prolapsus recti, which, when it protrudes, appears black and
bloody.—Evacuation of substances undigested, or black, and like pitch; blood and mucus,
undigested, smelling sour, excoriating anus.
Urine acrid; turbid; too frequent; complaints while passing, and
after—Affections of urethra—Continued want to urinate, day and night, sometimes with abortive
efforts, or with scanty emission.—The stream of urine is excessively small.—Irresistible, sudden
desire to urinate-—Frequent and copious emission of urine, as in diabetes, with great
emaciation.—Involuntary emission of urine —Urgent want to urinate, with incontinence of
urine.—The quantity of urine emitted is greater than the quantity of fluid drunk.—Wetting the bed
at night.—Emission of urine drop by drop.—Urine of a deep colour, or red, or brown, or white, as
if mixed with flour or chalk, or of the colour of blood.—Offensive, turbid urine, which forms a
sediment from urine.—White and flock-like clouds in urine (or as if containing pus; scanty, fiery
red).—Emission of hard mucus, or of flocks, and white threads during or after the emission of
urine.—Discharge of blood from urethra.—Incisive and contractive pains in renal region, at
night.—Pulsation, incisive pains, burning and shooting in urethra, even when not
urinating.—Inflammation of orifice of urethra, and discharge of thick, yellowish, or serous,
whitish matter——Thick greenish (or yellow) discharge from urethra, more at night, (gonorrhoea)
with phimosis; chancroids.
Suppression of catamenia.—Catamenia too copious, with
uneasiness and colic.—Metrorrhagia.—Discharge of blood in an old woman, eleven years after
menses had ceased.—Before catamenia: dry heat, with ebullition of blood, and congestion in
redness of tongue, with deep-coloured and burning spots, salt taste in mouth, teeth set on edge,
and gums blanched.—Leucorrheea in general; complaints concomitant to
leucorrhcea.—Leucorrhcea always < at night; greenish discharge; smarting, corroding, itching,
burning after scratching. —Purulent, corrosive leucorrhcea, with itching in the parts, > by washing
of genitals, < from contact of urine.—Inflammatory swelling in vagina, with a sensation as if it
were raw and excoriated.—Swelling of labia, with heat, hardness, shining redness, great
sensitiveness to touch, and burning, pulsative, and shooting pains.—Prolapsus uteri et vagine;
feels > after coitus.—Sterility with too profuse menstruation.—Easy coitus and certain
conception.—Hard swelling in breasts, with pain as from ulceration (at every menstrual period),
or with suppuration and actual ulceration; ulcerated nipples.—Milk in breasts instead of menses;
in breasts of boys or girls—Excoriation of breasts——The infant rejects the milk.
Increase of sexual desire, and great lasciviousness, with frequent
erections and pollutions.—[Erections: little boys may have this, lasting all night, causing
emaciation; boys often pull and tear at the prepuce all the time, which may cause great
emaciation, and result in death; adults often have this pulling, a kind of itching being the cause,
sexual power.—Painful nocturnal erections, and sometimes sanguineous pollutions.—The penis is
small, cold, and flabby.—Glans cold and shrivelled—Voluptuous itching, tingling, tearing, and
shooting in glans and prepuce.—Puffing, or inflammatory swelling of prepuce, sometimes with
burning pain, fissures, rhagades, and eruptions.—Burning in urethra during coitus.—Purulent
secretion between prepuce and glans, sometimes with swelling, heat, and redness of front part of
penis.—Swelling of the lymphatic vessels along the penis.—Vesicles and phagedzenic ulcers
(chancres) with lard-like, or cheesy, bases, and raised margin, on glans and prepuce.—Sensation
of coldness in testes —Testes, hard and swollen, with shining redness of scrotum, and dragging
pain in testes and spermatic cords.—Itching, tingling, and shooting in testes.—Profuse
perspiration of parts when walking.—Excoriation between the parts and thighs —Sloughing of
scrotum.
Catarrh, with febrile shivering, hypochondriacal humour, dislike to
all food, and constipation.—Catarrh with cough, hoarseness, fluent coryza and sore
larynx with hoarseness.—Dry cough, sometimes fatiguing and shaking, principally in bed, in
evening, or at night, also during sleep, and on waking in morning, excited by a tickling, or a
sensation of dryness in chest, and < by speaking.—Cough, as if caused by irritation in
stomach.—Convulsive cough, with retching—Spasmodic cough (whooping-cough); two
paroxysms follow one another rapidly, from tickling in larynx and upper part of chest, at night,
without cough during day, with expectoration of acrid yellowish mucus, which is sometimes
mixed with coagulated blood, tasting putrid or salty —Cough < in night air, at night and when
lying on 1. side-—Dyspncea (sensation of spasmodic contraction when coughing or
sneezing).—Pains in head and chest when coughing, as if these parts were about to burst; or
shootings in occiput; or pain as from excoriation in chest, and pain in loins.—Inclination to vomit
and fits of choking, when coughing.—Cough with expectoration of pure blood. —Bloody sputa in
tuberculosis.—Hoarse cough, with sensation of dryness and shootings in throat.
Difficult respiration, as from want of breath, or short and loud respiration.—Breath
having a bad smell.—Shortness of breath when going upstairs and when walking
quickly.—Anxious oppression of chest, and difficulty of respiration, with want to take a deep
inspiration, chiefly after a meal, or with attacks of suffocation at night, or in evening in bed,
and tension in chest, and sensation, on least movement, or attempt to speak, as if life were
coming to an end.—Sharp pains, and sensation as if muscles of chest were bruised.—Aching in
chest, sometimes penetrating to back, with inability to take a full inspiration.—Burning in chest,
sometimes extending to throat.—Soreness and burning in chest —Lancinations (as if caused by
knives) in chest and sides, or as far as the back, principally when breathing, sneezing, and
contraction and of swelling, and pain as from excoriation and ulceration, in chest.—Suppuration
of lungs after heemorrhages, or after pneumonia.—Emphysema of lungs.
Burning and drawing pain in back and in nape of neck.—Indurated
lymphatics.—Rigidity and rheumatic swelling of nape of neck, and of neck.—Shootings in
muscles of neck.—Engorgement and inflammatory swelling of glands of neck, with shooting and
pressive pains.—Shooting pains, instability, and weakness in loins.—Pain as from a bruise in
sacrum, back, and shoulder-blades.—Erysipelatous inflammation extending from back like a
girdle around abdomen (zona).
Sharp (rheumatic) pains in shoulders and arms, principally at night, and
when moving them.—Jerking in arms and fingers.—Hot and red (arthritic) swelling of elbow, as
far as hand.—Itching miliary eruption on arms.—Furfuraceous and burning tetters on forearms
and on wrist.—Tremor of hands, with weakness; could neither feed nor dress himself—Cracking,
weakness, and sensation of paralysis in hand.—Sweat on palms.—Eruption like moist itch on
hands, with violent nightly itching —Cramp-like contraction of hands and fingers —Swelling of
joints of fingers.—Deep and bleeding fissures and rhagades in hands and fingers —Cramp-like
pains, and tendency to become stiff in hands when using them.—Swelling of wrist, with pain on
nails.—Exfoliation of fingers (of finger-nails).—Deadness of fingers.
Sharp and lancinating (rheumatic) pains in hip-joints, as well as thighs and
knees, chiefly at night, and during movement, and often with a sensation of coldness in diseased
parts —Tearing in the hip-joint and knee, < at night, or with pulsating pain, suppuration
of tibize—Drawing in tibia —Great weakness, heaviness, and painful weariness in thighs and
legs —Weakness and giving way in knees, could scarcely stand.—Sensation of rigidity, of torpor
and cramps in thighs.—Itching pimples on thighs.—Edematous, transparent swelling, of thighs
and legs.—Dropsical swelling of legs —Tension in hams, as if tendons were too short.—Itching
miliary eruption in legs.—Tetters on thighs and legs——Contraction of legs, and cramps in calves
of legs and toes.—Swelling of instep or heels, with sharp or shooting pains.—Wrenching pains in
foot—Coldness and sweat in feet.—Painful swelling of metatarsal bones.—Swelling of
toes.—Ulceration at nails.
Yellow colour of the skin, with perspiration which imparts a yellow colour to
ulceration of the glands, with pulsative and shooting pains, hard swelling, red and shining, or
without any perceptible alteration in skin.—Miliary, urticarial, pimpled, or pustular and purulent
eruptions.—Exanthema burning; pock-shaped (hence, think of this remedy in small-pox); of
scarlet colour; with swelling; purulent exanthema, i.e., ulcerating; ecchymoses appear, of black
and blue spots, without receiving any external injury—Erysipelas.—Spacelus; brown
mortification.—Tetters in general; burning suppurating —Ulcers in general; with burning on
edges; hard on edges with bloody pus; with corroding pus; with ichorous pus; having too little
pus; too thin pus; thin, tenacious, sticky pus; swollen, inflamed; looking like lard; prickling;
pulsating; painful on the edges; swollen on edges.—Flat, painless ulcers, pate, covered with
phlegm-like pus; on scalp, skin of penis, &c.—Primary and secondary syphilis; round coppery
red spots shining through skin.—Itching pimples, which burn after being scratched.—Eruptions
which resemble scabies, and which bleed readily.—Wounds ulcerate easily (and become
gangrened).—Erysipelatous inflammations.—Spots red and raised, or maculze hepatica, or which
resemble scorbutic spots.—Small and very itchy pimples, which ulcerate, and become
encrusted.—Tettery, excoriated, and oozing spots, or dry, itching, and mealy
tetters—Desquamation of skin.—Phagedenic ulcers, or bluish, fungous, and easily bleeding, or
superficial, and appearing as if bitten by insects, or secreting an ichorous and corrosive
pus.—Chancrous ulcers.—Violent and voluptuous itching over whole body, principally in
evening, or at night, < by heat of bed, and sometimes attended by burning after
scratching. —Thickening of periosteum; exostosis and caries; abscess in joints; great brittleness of
bones.
Excessive sleepiness, day and night; deep and prolonged sleep.—Great sleepiness
during day.—Inclination to sleep without the power to do so.—Sleep retarded in evening, and too
early awakening in morning.—Failing asleep late; complaints preventing sleep (as toothache, or
any severe pain or trouble, &c.); sleeplessness in general before midnight.—Very light and
unquiet sleep, with frequent awaking, starts, and fright.—Sleeplessness from nervous
excitability.—Frequent, anxious, horrible, fantastic, historical, vivid and voluptuous dreams;
dreams of robbers, of dogs that bite, of rebellion, of floods, of discharges of firearms, &c.—At
night, restlessness, anxiety, agitation and tossing, uneasiness, pains, heat or sweat, ebullition of
blood, cries, tears, palpitation of the heart, vertigo, and many other affections—On going to
sleep: < of the pains, starts, and frightful spectres before the sight.—During sleep: talking, groans,
sighs, short respiration, with mouth open and hands cold; on waking, sweat, cries, tears, and
incoherent expressions.
Chilly from slightest exposure. Profuse perspiration; surface cold.
Chilliness early in morning, when rising, but more so in evening after lying down, as
if cold water had been thrown over him, and not > by heat of stove.—Chilliness at night with
frequent micturition.—Chilliness between the diarrhoeic stools —Internal chilliness with heat of
face.—Heat while in bed; as soon as one rises chilliness.—Heat after midnight with violent thirst
for cold drinks.—Heat with anxiety and constriction of chest alternating with
chilliness.—Perspiration towards morning, with thirst and palpitation of heart; from least exertion
even when eating.—Perspiration in evening before going to sleep.—Very debilitating night-
sweats.—Perspiration gives no relief, and accompanies all ailments.—Intermittent
fever.—Chilliness in evening in bed, afterwards heat with violent thirst.—Chilliness and heat
without thirst, towards morning thirst; during perspiration, palpitation of heart and nausea, the
perspiration smells sour or fetid—Coldness, shivering, and shuddering over whole body,
principally after having slept, either by day and night, or only at night, or in evening, and in
morning in bed, and sometimes with bluish colour of skin, icy coldness in hands and feet,
muscular palpitations, convulsive movements of head, arms, and legs, contusive pain in limbs,
and inclination to lie down, trembling in limbs, sharp pains in head, want to urinate, somnolence,
&c.—Ebullitions with trembling from slight exertion.—Heat in face and head, with redness and
burning of cheeks, and coldness, or shivering, or shuddering over whole body; or heat, mingled
with shiverings or sweats.—During the heat, insatiable thirst, great desire for milk, and < of pains
when uncovered.—Febrile attacks at night, or in evening; fever, with inflammatory symptoms, or
with putridity; slow and hectic fever.——Pulse, irregular, or quick, strong, and intermittent, or
weak, slow and trembling (generally full and fast, with violent beating in arteries).—Copious,
excessive, and colliquative sweats, both day and night, in morning, in evening after lying down,
and when eating, and sometimes fetid, clammy, sour, or oily, giving linen a yellow colour, and
burning the skin.—Sweat, with nausea and inclination to vomit, great fatigue, thirst, anxiety,
obstructed respiration, stitches in side, &c.
[The letters s and v indicate the preparation—Solubilis or Vivus—mentioned in the
Prescriber in connection with the malady the name of which they follow; they are not intended
/t antidotes: Bad effects of sugar; stings of insects; ailments from Arsenic or Copper
Aur. (suicidal mania; caries of bones, especially of patella and nose); Hep. (mental symptoms-
anxiety, distress, suicidal and even homicidal mood-bone pains, sore mouth, ulcers, and gastric
symptoms); Nit. ac. (periostitis, bones and fibrous tissues; bone pains < at night; aching in shins
in damp weather; ulcers in throat, especially of secondary syphilis); Chi. (chronic ptyalism);
periosteum, glands; ozzena; thin, watery discharge, upper lip sore and raw; repeated catarrhs after
Mercury, every little exposure to damp or wet air = coryza; eyes hot, watery, swollen; neuralgic
pains in one or both cheeks; nose stuffed and swollen and at same time profuse watery, scalding
coryza; sore throat < every fresh exposure); Kali mur. (scorbutus, fetor); Asaf. (bone
affections.—Asaf. is distinguished by extreme sensitiveness of diseased parts; extreme soreness
of bones round eye); Staph. (depressed system; wasted, sallow, dark rings round eyes, spongy
gums, ulcers on tongue); Iod. (glands); Mez. (nervous system; neuralgia in face, eyes,
often complementary; commencing abscess; difficult swallowing fluids; sharp pain through
tonsils; pains come suddenly); Hep. (chilliness; something sticking in fauces); Meny. (coldness
in ears); Puls. (thick yellow nasal discharge—but that of Puls. is always bland; otitis); Nux
(coryza and sore throat—Nux has scraped feeling; Merc. is always smarting, raw, or
sore.—Dysentery: with Nux tenesmus ceases after stool; with Merc. not, there is the never-get-
done feeling); Aco. (dysentery of hot days and cold nights; often precedes Merc., and Sul.
follows in like conditions); Lept. (bilious troubles, horribly offensive stools—the griping of Lept.
of, but > by rest in bed—Ars. > by heat of, but < by rest in bed); Sul. (itch, pustulous, eczematous
or left and shooting in different directions; Kal i., from sternum to back < from any motion);
(hepatitis; tenderness; right to left, wash-leather tongue; sinking immediately after meals); Sul.,
tough strings); Sang. (tongue as if burnt); Bry. (wash-leather tongue; < motion; stone in
stomach); Apis (stinging pain; fetid breath; ovarian affections); Sabal. (stinging pains in ovaries);
Sars. (bloody seminal emissions); Sul. (pruritus vulve < night, < from contact with urine, which
must be washed off); Lac c. and Con. (breasts painful, as if would ulcerate at every menstrual
(suppuration of lungs after pneumonic hemorrhages); Pic. ac. (boils in auditory meatus); Teucr.
before and at menses; Merc., dull pain on forehead, with coldness, especially in women, with
coryza < before or at menses).
Antidote: Calcium sulphide is antidotal to Bichloride poisoning. Use intravenous injection of 7 1/2 grains in 7 1/2 ozs boiled water.
Merc. cor. has more excoriation and burning, more activity and
with greater activity. So with a mercury base we have often to prefer this salt.
Merc, we have slow spreading ulcers, but in Merc. cor. there is great
eating; it will spread over an area as large as your hand in a night.
He has the mercurial odor and sweat, and he is sallow ; he needs mercury, but a more active preparation than Merc, viv.
Merc. cor. has decided symptoms of its own, but they are limited.
You cannot tell the ptyalism, or the lardcceous ulcers apart. In sora
throat, if it is a Merc, case, the ulcers are spreading rapidly and burning and smarting like coals of fire, you would say that Merc, is not so
burning, and the rapid spread. The throat is enormously swollen, the
glands are swollen, and the thirst is insatiable.
In dysentery there is more violence ; copious bleeding ; great anxiety,
can scarcely leave the stool a second, great tenesmus of rectum and
bladder ; urging to urination and stool is constant ; great burning in
the rectum. It is a violent case of dysentery. I would prefer Merc.
in ordinary Merc, cases, but if this patient is not relieved he will not
live, and Merc. cor. is needed here.
In the urinary organs the symptoms are violent. Albuminuria is
very useful remedy when gout is present.
From slight irritation of the foreskin of the male organ, the mucous
membrane and skin contract and phimosis takes place. Merc. cor.
relieves the itching and burning, and causes the purse-string to let
up. It is seldom indicated in gonorrhoea, but is called for when there
is greenish yellow or bloody watery discharge, with violent burning
and urging to urination and to stool, and violent painful erections.
Chancres spread with great rapidity.
Stitching, rending, tearing pains, here and there, especially in the
chest.
Open the workspace. Type a real case from this week — one you're still chewing on. Watch Repertify rank Mercurius against the totality, cite the rubrics, and surface the §246-correct posology with the rule inline. You'll know by the third turn.
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