Picricum Acidum

• ▸Coc.
• ▸ind.
• ▸is used to stupefy fishes, and when Picro.
• ▸is added to water in which

fishes are swimming "they make winding and boring movements of the body, alternating with

quiet swimming, open their mouths and gill caverns frequently, fall on their side and rapidly die

• ▸of asphyxia" (Falk, quoted C.
• ▸D.
• ▸P.
• ▸).
• ▸J.
• ▸H.
• ▸Henry proved Picro.
• ▸on himself.
• ▸The symptoms were

so severe that he was alarmed, and took Opium and Camphor to antidote them. Nausea with

tendency to faint, violent intestinal pain and purging, dysenteric diarrhoea and excessive secretion

of urine, cramps and paralytic sensations were experienced. The symptom which gave the most

concern was the pain in the bowels and sensation as if the bowels would protrude at left inguinal

ring. Brunton says the local application of Picro. as an ointment to the head for tinea capitis and

to destroy pediculi has been followed by convulsions and death. Hansen mentions that it has

been given at bedtime to relieve the night-sweats of phthisis. With Picrotoxicum acidum 3x Dorr

• ▸cured in a few weeks a case of advanced locomotor ataxy with amaurotic amblyopia (B.
• ▸J.
• ▸H.
• ▸,

XXXVili. 378).

Lack of will-power; disinclined to work. Cerebral softening. Dementia with prostration, sits still and listless.

Veins sunken and small, < 1. side.—Bright yellow colour of sclerotic, skin, and

• ▸urine.
• ▸—Cancerous cachexia.
• ▸—Trembling of all muscles.
• ▸—Rheumatic stitches in different parts,

with muscular debility —Darting pains in various parts, extending into bones, every hour of the

• ▸day.
• ▸—All pains lasted till 8 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸—Soreness and lameness, < |.
• ▸side, in morning when rising, with

heavy, throbbing pains and dilated pupils, conjunctivitis, and lachrymation.—Tired feeling: in

morning on waking, with heaviness; on least exertion; > open air; with lame sensation over

whole body; with no desire to talk or do anything, indifferent to anything around, sleepiness and

desire to lie down.—Numbness, with pains, as when taking cold.

• ▸Head pains; relieved by bandaging tightly. Occipital pain; worse, slightest mental exertion.
• ▸Vertigo and noises in ear.
• ▸Boils within ears and back of neck.
• ▸After prolonged mental strain, with anxiety and dread of failure at examination.
• ▸Brain fag.

Chronic catarrhal conjunctivitis with copious, thick yellow discharge.

Eyes yellow.—Shooting in centre of eye, extending along optic nerve to occiput, with

soreness of balls on touch, and photophobia.—Sensation of sand in eyes, with smarting pain and

acrid tears.—Feeling as if sticks were in eyes on waking, with inflammation, afterwards feeling

as if sticks were in them in evening.—Styes; with sore feeling —Eyes < on moving

• ▸them.
• ▸—Lachrymation.
• ▸—Pupils dilated—Conjunctivitis; <r.
• ▸eye, > washing with cold water and

by cold air, < warm room, with difficulty in keeping eyes open, and sticky feeling on

• ▸reading.
• ▸—Shooting from r.
• ▸eyeball to 1.
• ▸side of occiput; pain < moving eyes, > closing them and

quiet, with soreness; heavy, smarting, and burning pains, > pressure; sore pains, < strong light

and by turning eyes —Throbbing pain in 1. eyeball much < going upstairs.—Inability to keep eyes

open when studying.—Air looks smoky.—Vision: dim and confused; dim, can read clearly at only

one point, about five inches from eyes; blurred; whirling of objects.—Vision of sparks.

Puffy and burning sensation in ears as if worms were crawling in them.—Pain behind r.

• ▸ear running down side of neck.
• ▸—Painful boils in meatus.
• ▸—Buzzing and hissing in ears.
• ▸—(Noises

in ears, with vertigo and headache at the base of brain.).—(Chronic deafness, apparently caused

by excessive headache, with noises in the ears when tired, membrane pale.)

• ▸Boil in 1.
• ▸nostril.
• ▸—Stinging on r.
• ▸side of nose.
• ▸—Acne along edges and sides of nose,

indurated, elevated papules, rather dark red, painless but sore to touch, very small pustules on

tips.—Weight or pressure on bridge.—Nose full of mucus, call breathe only through mouth, >

open air.—Bleeding from r. nostril; with heat and congestion of head.

Pustular acne on face, burning and stinging when touched; on chin.—Irregular pain in

lower jaw, with beating in molars. —Tingling in lips.

White, frothy saliva hangs in strings to the floor.—Taste: bitter; with thirst; sour,

bitter; sour; bad; bad, of gas.

Redness of throat, with raw, scraped, stiff, and hot feeling, as if burnt, and with thick

white mucus on tonsils, difficulty in swallowing, with sensation as if throat would split

open.—Rawness in I. side, extending forward to submaxillary gland, < swallowing; rawness with

roughness and scraping.—Soreness back of and above soft palate, with debility—Dry and

husky.—Feeling of a plug on swallowing saliva and afterwards.—Sensation of something in lower

part of cesophagus.

Bitter taste. Aversion to food.

Appetite great in evening; increased, then lost; lost; lost for breakfast —Aversion

to food; at noon.—Thirst: great, with bitter taste; unquenchable, for cold water.

Pressure on stomach, with coated tongue and eructations.—Pain in pit of stomach.

Pain extending all over bowels.—Fainting, violent subacute irritation of

• ▸intestinal lining membrane.
• ▸—Pain in bowels as if bruised.
• ▸—Soreness in |.
• ▸inguinal ring as if

bowels would protrude.

Flatulence with fetid diarrhoea, followed by tenesmus, painful and

continued.—Diarrhoea and dysentery.

• ▸Scanty; complete anuria.
• ▸Dribbling micturition.
• ▸Urine contains much indican, granular cylinders and fatty degenerated epithelium.
• ▸Inflammation of kidneys with profound weakness, dark, bloody, scanty urine.
• ▸Nightly urging.

Pain in left ovary and leucorrhoea before menstruation. Pruritus vulvae.

Occasional aching and twinges in |. ovarian region.—Menses

delayed; during the period yellowish-brown leucorrhcea.—During menses, bruised pain in

abdomen with sickening sensation.—Excessive and voluptuous pruritus at night, after retiring,

making her feel irritable and exasperated (night before menses; usually had slight pruritus after

menses, never before).—(Used locally in diseases of nipples, inflammation diminishes, skin

becomes tougher.)

• ▸Emissions profuse, followed by great exhaustion, without sensual dreams.
• ▸Priapism; satyriasis.
• ▸Hard erections, with pain in testicles and up cord.
• ▸Prostatic hypertrophy, especially in cases not too far advanced.

Erections: in morning on waking; at 11 a.m., with bruised pain in 1.

testicle, extending up cord to external abdominal ring; firm in morning, with pain in abdomen,

next morning woke with emission and firm erection, which lasted about ten minutes after the

emission; terrible at night, with restless sleep; violent, all night; violent, all night, then profuse

emissions.—Lascivious thoughts in presence of any woman.—Desire: at night, with emissions; at

night, with hard erections, lewd dreams and emission, priapism night and day.

Twitching: in 1. side over eighth and ninth ribs; in 1. side over tenth and eleventh ribs

• ▸from 6 till 11 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸, with throbbing in muscles.
• ▸—Pain in r.
• ▸side, extending across 1.
• ▸—Pain in 1.
• ▸lung

• ▸in evening.
• ▸—Sharp pain under r.
• ▸clavicle.
• ▸—A heavy throbbing in |.
• ▸chest under tenth and eleventh

• ▸ribs at 11 a.
• ▸m.
• ▸, changing at noon to region of kidneys, extending at 2 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸into legs, <

• ▸1.
• ▸—Stunning pain at 9.
• ▸30 a.
• ▸m.
• ▸, with twitching in throat—Tightness of chest, as if encircled by a

band.—Numbness in lower part of sternum.

Pain in apex of heart in evening.—Intermittent fluttering at base of heart

all day, it seemed to move.—Palpitation.—Pulse: frequent; slow, feeble, afterwards rapid; slow,

small, and feeble; irregular.

Terrible pains in neck and occiput, extending to supra-orbital notch and

thence into eyes.—Muscles on r. side of neck felt as if they would give way in afternoon when

lying; at night when lying on r. side, with feeling as if neck would be dislocated.—Pain in back

and lower limbs, with heaviness, tired aching, and weakness.—Burning along spine and very

great weakness, < by study.—Heat in lower spine; aching and digging in loins, < from

• ▸motion.
• ▸—Pain extending from r.
• ▸scapula to r.
• ▸loin when bending forward.
• ▸—Sticking: under r.

scapula; in lumbar region or bending forward when sitting.—Pain in lumbar region; and

anteriorly in thighs, in muscles, < motion, with weakness in the same, < legs; extending down

legs, < motion, legs and lumbar region sensitive to pressure; heavy at 6 p.m.—Dragging pains in

region of kidneys and at nape, extending upward and downward till they meet between scapule,

• ▸at 2 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸—Weakness in sacral and lumbar regions.
• ▸—(Myelitis with tonic and clonic spasms,

keeps legs wide apart when standing; looks steadily at objects as if could not make them

• ▸out.
• ▸—Spinal exhaustion following acute disease.
• ▸).
• ▸—Sharp pain in region of coccyx.

Lower limbs feel bruised and paralysed (1.); have a tendency to draw back

with the back, giving great > to limbs.—Constrictive painless sensation.—Cramp pains.

• ▸Burning along spine.
• ▸Great weakness. Tired, heavy feeling all over body, especially limbs; worse, exertion.
• ▸Feet cold.
• ▸Cannot get warm.
• ▸Acute descending paralysis.

Yellow skin—Pimples on face and neck that he had for years were now increased in

number and size.—Reddish, painful boils about mouth and face, when opened they exude a thin,

clear serum, which dries into a transparent scab, then become painful and contain pus like

condensed milk.—Reddish boils on face, becoming pustular, with burning stinging on

• ▸touch.
• ▸—Erythema of abdomen and feet.
• ▸—Tight feeling in skin over epigastrium.
• ▸—Itching; at

night.—(Burns.)

Frequent gaping in church.—Sleepiness, slept an hour in afternoon, then felt

• ▸better.
• ▸—Sleepiness in evening, > walking in open air; at 9 p.
• ▸m.
• ▸—Sleep sound but

• ▸unrefreshing.
• ▸—Sleepless all night.
• ▸—Late falling asleep from a crowd of ideas.
• ▸—Woke earlier than

• ▸usual and dozed till time to rise-—Woke at 3 a.
• ▸m.
• ▸, then difficulty in going to sleep.
• ▸—Constant

dreams; dreamt that she was pregnant.

Chilliness, with cold, clammy sweat.—Cold limbs; feet; hands and feet.—Fever; and

• ▸chilliness, then cold, clammy sweat.
• ▸—Chilliness predominates.
• ▸—Heat in head; r.
• ▸side; in

forehead.—Burning: along coronal suture; along spine, < trying to study, > motion.—Heat in

lower dorsal and lumbar regions.—Sweat.—Cold, clammy sweat: in evening; on hands; on hands

and feet in daytime; on hands in forenoon; on feet in evening, next day feet cold and sweaty all

day.

Picrotoxinum.

Picrotoxin. An Alkaloid obtained from the fruit of Cocculus indicus. CisHisOcH20O.

Trituration.

Compare: Coccul. In tetaniform convulsions, Nux (with Picro. respiration is

accelerated more from spasm of glottis than of respiration, and there is less susceptibility to

slight touch; more choreic symptoms.—Farrington).

Compare: Oxal ac; Gels; Phos; Sil; Arg nit. Compare: Zinc pic (facial palsy and paralysis agitans); Ferr pic (buzzing in ears, deafness; chronic gout; epistaxis; prostatic troubles); Calc pic (boils in and around ears).

Sixth potency.

Tetanus. Ulcers on lips/ “Parotid and submaxillary glands swollen. “Tongue thickly coated on back ; coated yellow and dry.* This

is found in all acute complaints and is like Mercury, Phytolacca holds

a reputation among the Eclectics, and in their results we see a shadow

of its homoeopathic action. In Cincinnati they used three drops in a

• ▸tumbler of water and gave it for ulcers in the mouth.
• ▸It was a standard remedy with them and they made some homoeopathic cures.
• ▸“Ulcerated sore mouth.
• ▸** Syphilitic ulcers find a curative remedy in Phytolacca, when the.
• ▸symptoms agree.

There are several pages in the Guiding Symptoms showing homoeopathic cures of the throat ; diphtheria ; sore throat : inflamed glands ;

aching bones worse at night ; violent cases, with difficult swallowing,

pains in the tonsils ; enlarged tonsils ; tendency to slough. Syphilitic

and mercurial sore throats. The sore throats are often aggravated

from warm drinks ; he wants cool things ; and there is an aggravation

at night. Here is a summary: “Diphtheria ; sick and dizzy when trying to sit up ; frontal headache ; pains shooting from throat into ears,

especially on trying to swallow ; face flushed ; tongue much coated, protruded ; thickly coated at back, fiery red at tip ; breath foetid ; putrid ;

vomiting ; difficulty of sw^allowing ; tonsils swollen, covered with membrane, first upon left ; three or four patches ; tonsils, uvula and back

part of throat covered with ash-colored exudation. Pain in the root

of the tongue on putting out.'*' .

Old gout and rheumatism cf ^thc limbs ; in acute rheumatism which

is prolonged, worse at night, worle from the warmth of the bed, worse

from warm applications. Gouty rheumatism ; syphilitic cases ; pains

as if in the bones, “Sharp cutting pains in hip, drawing ; legs drawn

up ; cannot touch floor.^’ “Syphilitic or gonorrhoeal sciatica, etc.*’

“Ulcers and nodes on the legs.”

A certain class of physicians used to call Podophyllum “vegetable

Mercury/^ Phytolacca ought to be called “vegetable Mercury'^ because it is so full of symptoms analogous to Mercury,

The weakness of body and mind is the first impression wrought upon

the mind of the reader who goes carefully over this proving. It is

progressive, passing from weariness to paralysis. The evidences of

softening of brain and cord are strong. He soon becomes sensitive to*

heat and desires the cool air which ameliorates his head and bodily

• ▸condition.
• ▸Cold air and cold bathing are grateful to him.
• ▸He is sensitive to wet weather.
• ▸Numbness of many parts, trembling, lassitude,

heaviness, must lie down, worse from least exertion are marked features. Loss of sleep, mental worry, mental labor, a^e the exciting

7J2

Rheumatic pains in joints.—Weakness from a short walk, with excessive

heaviness.—Heaviness, < |.; of arms and legs on exertion, < legs, legs weak and heavy all the

time.—Extremities cold.