This acid was long ago laid aside as obsolete, and not without good reason, because since the Puritans in chemistry commenced to rule over every laboratory of pharmacy, by trying to redistill this crude acid and changing its yellowish color to snowy whiteness, they drove out every trace of the _oily matter_ which alone const.i.tutes its medical action.
The whiter this acid becomes the larger doses can be taken without any action on the human system. Knowing that this _oil of amber_ is driven out totally by redistillation I was compelled to prepare the crude acid myself.
The expense is considerable. One pound of amber yields about half an ounce of crude acid, and the gla.s.s retort, after dry distillation, must be broken to collect the acid.
The fumes of _Acidum succinic.u.m crudum_ are inflammable, producing asthma, cough, sneezing, weeping, dropping of watery mucus from the nostrils, pain in chest and headache.
None of our remedies gives a truer picture of hay fever, and since the _oil of amber_ must be securely inclosed in the amber itself, it was but natural to conclude that by trituration I may receive all the virtue of the remedy.
At the same time I remembered that necklaces and earrings of amber are considered a popular protection agent against neuralgia, colds, and even hay fever.
Since that time I prescribed in cases of hay fever the third decimal trituration, one or two grains dissolved in twelve teaspoonfuls of distilled water, one teaspoonful every two hours, with the best results, and have cured more than thirty persons, who were formerly obliged to go to the mountains to get temporary relief. Already after the first week most of them experienced decided relief.
SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALIS.
NAT. ORD.--Borraginaceae.
COMMON NAME.--Comfrey, Healing Herb.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh root gathered just before blooming is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following concerning this remedy, which dates back to Dioscorides, we find in _American Journal of h.o.m.oeopathy_, 1846:)
The h.o.m.oeopathic Examiner for August contains a paper ent.i.tled "_Connection of h.o.m.oeopathy with Surgery_," by _Croserio_, translated by P. P. Wells, M. D. It is there stated that "injuries of the bones are healed most promptly by _Symphytum officinale_ 30 internally once a day.
This remedy accelerates the consolidation of fractures surprisingly."
The translator adds a note as follows: "I have had repeated opportunities of verifying this declaration of Croserio. A boy, fourteen years old, broke the bones of the forearm, at the junction of the lower and middle thirds, two years ago. He had twice repeated the fracture by slight falls. The ends of the fragments are now slightly movable on each other, and the arm is weak and admits of little use. Three doses of _Symphytum_ effected a perfect cure. The lad became more robust, and has since had better general health than ever before."
A boy, eight years old, fractured the humerus, near the junction of the condyles and shaft. _Arnica_ 30 immediately arrested the spasmodic jerks of the muscles of the injured arm. This remedy was continued the first three days, when the traumatic fever had entirely subsided. He then had _Symphyt_. [Latin: ezh], gtt. i., in half a tumbler of water, a teaspoonful every morning and evening. The splints were removed the _ninth day_, and the bone was found consolidated. The cure was entirely without pain. How much earlier than this the fragments ceased to be movable is not known. Well may the author say it heals broken bone surprisingly. Let it be remembered that the discovery of this specific is but one of the many rich fruits of _Hahnemannism_.
(The following appeared in the _h.o.m.oeopathic World_, 1890, under the signature F. H. B.:)
In none of the h.o.m.oeopathic treatises that I possess do I find any mention of the above remedy. I am surprised at this, for I believe it to be a very valuable one in certain cases. Its common name of _knitbone_ seems to point to popular experience of one of its uses; but I believe its knitting, or uniting, power extends to muscular and other tissues of the body, as well as to the bones. Let me give two instances of my own personal experience. Many years ago I had an inguinal rupture on each side, not extensive ones, but causing a protrusion about the size of half a small walnut. After wearing a truss for some time, I bethought me of what I had heard of the uniting power of Comfrey, and made some tincture from the root, and rubbed it in. After doing so two or three times, the signs of rupture quite disappeared, and the parts remained sound for about three years; when, from some cause or other, the right side broke out again, but as it did not give much trouble I neglected it for some time, and then tried the Comfrey tincture again, but this time without success. I suppose the ruptured edges had got too far asunder.
The left side, however, which originally was the worse of the two, has kept sound ever since. I think this shows that a rupture, if not too extensive, and if taken in time, may often be cured by this remedy. The other case I have to relate was of a different kind. Five weeks ago I had a fall on my back, the whole force of which was concentrated on a small portion of the lower spine, through the intervention of the back pad of my truss. I thought for the moment my back must have been broken, the pain was so excessive; and not only the back, but diaphragm and all the organs below it suffered acutely for three or four weeks after the fall. But a fortnight after the fall I was for the first time conscious of a pain and tenderness higher up the spine, at a point, I think, where ribs commence, and on feeling I found a protuberance there, as if a partial dislocation had taken place there. I again thought of Comfrey, and had some of the tincture applied. The tenderness at the point subsided after two or three applications, and in a few days the protuberance disappeared. * * * On more careful examination I find that the point of secondary disturbance was higher up than I have described--two or three inches higher than the first insertion of the ribs in the spinal column.
(Dr. Gottweis, in _Hom. Zeitung_, vol. vii., says:)
An old and very valuable remedy. This plant is found all over Europe (and in some parts of North America), in wet fields and ditches. We make a tincture out of it which has marvelous healing and cicatrizing properties. _Symphytum_ must be a very old popular remedy; its reputation is well established, and it is mentioned in all the old medical "tomes." The decoction acts as an effective demulcent and pain-killer in severe bruises. It diminishes the irritation in wounds and ulcers, ameliorates and lessens too copious suppuration and promotes the healing processes. In h.o.m.oeopathic practice the tincture diluted with water is used with great success in fractures and bruises or other injuries of bones. Its effect is really extraordinary in injuries to sinews, tendons and the periosteum.
A few days ago a colleague consulted me about a horse with a stab wound in the fetlock which would not heal, do what he would, and which rendered locomotion impossible. (The doctor is by no means a young or inexperienced veterinarian.) I examined the wound, and at once recommended _Symphytum_ [Greek: theta]. Within two weeks the animal was cured. This remedy really cannot be overestimated.
(Dr. W. H. Thompson, President of Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, in an address reported in London _Lancet_, 1896, reports a case of which the following is the gist:)
Early in 1895 he saw a man who was suffering from a malignant growth in the nose--"a malignant tumor of the antrum, which had extended to the nose." An exploratory operation confirmed this diagnosis. "He refused the larger operation. The exploration was made by Dr. Woods. We found that the tumor did extend from the antrum, into which I could bore my finger easily. Dr. O"Sullivan, Professor of Pathology in Trinity College, declared the growth to be a round-celled sarcoma. Of that there is no doubt. The tumor returned in a couple of months, and the patient then saw Dr. Semon, in London, who advised immediate removal. He returned home, and after a further delay he asked to have the operation performed. I did this in May last by the usual method. I found the tumor occupying the whole of the antrum. The base of the skull was everywhere infiltrated. The tumor had pa.s.sed into the right nose and perforated the septum so as to extend into the left. It adhered to the septum around the site of perforation. This was all removed, leaving a hole in the septum about the size of a florin. He went home within a fortnight. In a month the growth showed signs of return. It bulged through the incision and protruded upon the face. Dr. Woods saw him soon afterwards, as I had declared by letter that a further operation would be of no avail. The tumor had now almost closed the right eye. It was blue, tense, firm, and lobulated, but it did not break. Dr. Woods reported the result of his visit to me, and we agreed as to the prognosis. Early in October the patient walked into my study after a visit to Dr. Woods. He looked in better health than I had ever seen him. The tumor had completely disappeared from the face, and I could not identify any trace of it in the mouth. He said he had no pain of any kind. He could speak well when the opening remaining after the removal of the hard palate was plugged, and he was in town to have an obturator made. He has since gone home apparently well."
The patient told Dr. Thompson that he had applied poultices of _Comfrey_ (or _Symphytum_) and that was all.
"Now this was a case of which none of us had any doubt at all, and our first view was confirmed by the distinguished pathologist whom I have mentioned and by our own observation at the time of the major operation.
Here, then, was another "surprise." I am satisfied as I can be of anything that the growth was malignant and of a bad type. Of course, we know in the history of some tumors that growth is delayed and that in the sarcomata recurrence is often late. But this is a case in which the recurrence occurred twice--the second time to an extreme degree; and yet this recurrent tumor has vanished. What has produced this atrophy and disappearance? I do not know. I know nothing of the effects of comfrey root, but I do not believe that it can remove a sarcomatous tumor. Of course, the time that has so far elapsed is very short; but the fact that this big recurrent growth no longer exists--that it has not ulcerated or sloughed away, but simply, with unbroken covering, disappeared--is to me one of the greatest "surprises" and puzzles that I have met with."
SYMPHORICARPUS RACEMOSUS.
NAT. ORD., Caprifoliaceae.
COMMON NAME, Snow Berry.
PREPARATION.--One part of the fresh ripe berries is macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(In 1882 Dr. Edward V. Moffat read the following paper on this remedy before the h.o.m.oeopathic Medical Society of New York:)
Let us go back about fifteen years and sketch a history of this drug. At that time Prof. S. P. Burd.i.c.k investigated the medicinal of many plants. .h.i.therto unused by the profession, among others chanced to be the snow berry, or _Symphoricarpus racemosus_. He gave some of the drug to the first prover, an intelligent lady, who on feeling the marked nausea, which it soon produced, exclaimed: "Doctor, this is precisely like the morning sickness I always experienced during pregnancy." Dr. Burd.i.c.k became more interested, repeated the experiment with other provers, obtained almost uniform results, viz., a feeling varying from qualmishness to intense vomiting. It was given to female provers only and merely tested far enough to verify that symptom.
Upon this clue Dr. Burd.i.c.k gave it in the higher potencies to patients suffering from the vomiting of pregnancy with most satisfactory results.
Indeed, after a trial of many years, he has found it so far superior to other remedies that he now relies on it altogether with rarely any but entirely satisfactory results.
He mentioned the drug in his course of lectures, so I bore it in mind waiting for a test case. Soon that came in the person of a young lady three months advanced in her first pregnancy who was suffering from a deathly nausea, with vomiting and retching so prolonged and violent as to produce haematemesis. The smell or thought of food was repugnant in the extreme. An examination disclosed no malposition or apparent cause for the trouble, so I procured some _Symphoricarpus_ (200) from Dr.
Burd.i.c.k and gave her one dose in the midst of a violent paroxysm. In a few minutes she stopped vomiting and said she felt soothed and quieted all over. In half an hour the nausea began again, but a few pellets checked it promptly and she fell asleep. Once during the night she awoke distressed and took a dose, but slept again quite soon. For a month or so she felt very well until after over-exerting herself she became nauseated once more; but it was promptly checked, nor did it return during her pregnancy.
After this I had the opportunity of prescribing it in a number of cases with such gratifying results that I gave some of the drug to a number of physicians, requesting a faithful trial. Among them were my father, brother, Dr. Danforth, Dr. McClelland, of Pittsburg, and several others.
All reported favorably and some enthusiastically, and so I have been led to bring this subject before this society. The indications as far as I have observed them in cases of pregnancy are a feeling of qualmishness with indifference to food. In more severe cases, like the above, there is a deathly nausea; the vomiting is continuous violent retching, but it covers every graduation between these extremes; it does not seem to be confined to any particular _morning_ aggravation; a prominent symptom is the disgust at the sight, smell or thought of food. One case I remember where the patient was comparatively comfortable while lying on the back, but would be nauseated by the slightest motion of the arms, particularly raising them. The case was completely relieved by a few doses. And so the cases might be multiplied.
Thinking that if the irritation of pregnancy were thus subdued, that of menstruation might be as well, I have given it repeatedly in such cases of nausea or vomiting just before, during or after catamenia, with admirable results.
TELA ARANEARUM.
COMMON NAMES, Spider"s Web, Cobweb.
PREPARATION.--Triturate in the usual way.
(The following paper is by Dr. S. A. Jones, it was published in the _American Observer_, 1876):
Dr. Gillespie, of Edinburgh, "cured an obstinate intermittent with cobweb after other means had failed." Dr. Robert Jackson was led from this to try it himself. He told his success to Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, who requested one of his pupils, Dr. Broughton, to investigate the subject, which he did, and wrote his Inaugural Thesis thereon in 1818. From these and other authorities we can gather enough testimony to show that it is well worth while to make a systematic proving of this animal product, thereby predicating its sphere and precisioning its employment.
In a work on fevers--which particular edition I have not been able to consult--Dr. Jackson writes: "I think I may venture to say that it prevents the recurrence of febrile paroxysms more abruptly, and more effectually, than bark or a.r.s.enic, or any other remedy employed for that purpose with which I am acquainted: that, like all other remedies of the kind, it is only effectual as applied under a certain condition of habit; _but that the condition of susceptibility for cobweb is at the same time of more lat.i.tude than for any other of the known remedies_."
If we bear in mind Grauvogl"s const.i.tution-cla.s.sification of _Diadema aranea_ as an hydrogenoid remedy, and recall how generally the hydrogenoid const.i.tution is induced by intermittent fever, we shall be ready to acknowledge the truth of the pa.s.sage which I have placed in italics, and with this evidence of a truthful beginning we shall be more ready to accept the subsequent testimony.
"If the cobweb," continues Dr. Jackson, "was given in the time of perfect intermission, the return of paroxysm was prevented; if given under the first symptoms of a commencing paroxysm, the symptoms were suppressed, and the course of the paroxysm was so much interrupted that the disease, for the most part, lost its characteristic symptoms. If it was not given until the paroxysm was advanced in progress the symptoms of irritation, viz.: tremors, startings, spasms, and delirium, if such existed as forms of febrile action, were usually reduced in violence, sometimes entirely removed. In this case sleep, calm and refreshing, usually followed the sudden and perfect removal of pain and irritation.
Vomiting, spasms, and twisting in the bowels, appearing as modes of febrile irritation, were also usually allayed by it; there was no effect from it where the vomiting or pain was connected with real inflammation or progress to disorganization."
"In cases of febrile depression, deficient animation, or indifference to surrounding objects, the exhibition of eight or ten grains of cobweb was often followed by exhilaration: the eyes sparkled; the countenance a.s.sumed a temporary animation, and, though the course of the disease might not be changed, or the danger averted, more respite was obtained than is gotten from wine, opium, or anything else within my knowledge."
"In spasmodic affections of various kinds, in asthma, in periodic headaches, in general restlessness and muscular irritabilities its good effects are often signal. The cobweb gives sleep, but not by narcotic power;--tranquillity and sleep here appear to be the simple consequence of release from pain and irritation."
"The changes induced on the existing state of the system, as the effect of its operation, characterize it as powerfully stimulant: 1. Where the pulses of the arteries are quick, irregular, and irritated, they become calm, regular, and slow, almost instantaneously after the cobweb has pa.s.sed into the stomach: the effect is moreover accompanied, for the most part, with perspiration and perfect relaxation of the surface. 2.
When the pulses are slow, regular, and nearly natural they usually become frequent, small, irregular, sometimes intermitting. 3. When languor and depression characterize the disease, sensations of warmth and comfort are diffused about the stomach, and increased animation is conspicuous in the appearance of the eye and countenance."