New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies Part 37

In the male we find diminished s.e.xual desire. Cold feeling in the glans p.e.n.i.s. Nocturnal emissions. Too speedy emissions. Deficient erections with diminished pleasure.

In the female we find SEVERE UTERINE PAINS. BEARING-DOWN PAINS IN THE UTERINE REGION. Uterine cramps. _Soreness in region of uterus_, increased by _pressure_ of the hand or of the clothing; had to remove the corset. Return of old uterine pains. Dull, heavy aching, and slowly pulsating pains in the ovaries. Pains pa.s.s from one ovary to the other and leave a soreness which remains till the pain returns. Ovarian pains increased by pressure. s.e.xUAL DESIRE COMPLETELY DESTROYED. This symptom I have verified a number of times, and in every case the parties prevented conception. The uterine pains are all better when undressed or lying on the back. Constant feeling as though the menses would appear. Menses early and profuse, but otherwise normal so far as known.

Leucorrhoea light yellowish, slightly offensive and excoriating; profuse, running down the legs. Itching of the v.u.l.v.a aggravated by scratching and from the leucorrhoeal discharge. Aching in both b.r.e.a.s.t.s, but worse in the left. b.r.e.a.s.t.s feel swollen and engorged. Left breast feels bruised and painful on pressure. Nipples itch. In one case where this remedy was given for dryness of the nose and throat, the diminutive almost absent, b.r.e.a.s.t.s were restored to their pristine glory, and resulted in the displacement of the cotton batting pads to the exceeding joy and delight of the proud woman.

_Pains in the neck_, running back from the forehead. _Dull aching in the neck._ Bearing down pain in the lumbar region. Dull, aching pain in the lumbar region. In the female provers there was produced a pain over the crest of the left ilium. TIRED, WEARY AND NUMB FEELING IN THE LEGS AND POPLITEAL s.p.a.cES. FEELING OF NUMBNESS, MOSTLY BELOW THE KNEES. The legs feel as if they were partially anaesthetized. The tendons and joints of the knees have a dull, aching pain. Tremulousness of the legs.

DISTURBANCE OF THE GAIT IN WALKING, WITH A SENSE OF INSECURITY IN STEP.

STAGGERING GAIT, _he cannot keep in the walk_. The sidewalks seem too high; he must step high which jars him and greatly aggravates the headache. Dull, heavy pain in the instep of the left foot. Numb, tingling pain in the outer side of both little toes. THE LEGS FEEL TIRED, _as though they would not sustain the weight of the body_.

Sensation of formication in the calves of the legs. Ankles swollen.

_Pain in the left scapular region_, confined to a small spot. _Fluoric acid_ and _Lilium tig._ have pain confined to a small spot in any location, while _Oxalic acid_ has a pain confined to small longitudinal spots. _Magnesia phos._ has a sharp burning pain, about an inch in diameter, under the border of the left scapula, as from a hot iron (see also _Phos._); with _Onosmodium_ there is a dull, aching pain in the biceps muscle, also a pain of like nature in the elbow joint and wrists.

_The arms and hands feel tired and weak_; they tremble. Inability to co-ordinate the muscular movements of the arms. Pain in the phalangeal articulation.

The aggravations are generally from motion or jarring; from pressure or tightness of clothing.

The ameliorations are peculiar and marked. Better when quiet, _when lying down on the back_, _when undressed_, when in the open air, from sleep, _from cold drinks_, _from eating_.

In the generalities we find great MUSCULAR WEAKNESS OR PROSTRATION AND TIRED FEELING OVER THE ENTIRE BODY. A feeling as though one had just gotten up from a severe spell of sickness. Nervous trembling as if from hunger. The least exertion produces a tremulousness. _The muscles feel treacherous and unsteady as though one did not dare to trust them._ A desire to change position without any definite cause or reason, and without any change for the better or worse. Later in the proving there was a desire to lie down and be quiet, with a drowsy, sleepy feeling. _A sensation as if a chill would come on_; a tired, aching, stretching, gaping, disagreeable feeling. All sensations are worse in the left side.

In my own experience I have used the remedy from the mother tincture up.

I got no results from the tincture. Hardly any from the 30th, but a marked, decided, and very rapid action from the CM. I use nothing lower than the CM, and prefer the higher.

ORIGANUM MAJORANA.

NAT. ORD., l.a.b.i.atae.

COMMON NAME, Sweet Marjoram.

PREPARATION.--The whole plant without the root, gathered when in flower, is macerated in two times its weight of alcohol.

(A treatise on the "s.e.xual Pa.s.sion," by the late Dr.

Gallavardin, Lyons, France, contains this item on _Origanum_):

The person who discovered a remedy that in a certain sense may be considered as a specific against s.e.xual pa.s.sion was a clergyman of Mizza, the founder of an orphan asylum. This remedy is _Origanum majorana_ (or common marjoram), which proves effective in masturbation and in excessively-aroused s.e.xual impulses. The author uses it in the 4th dilution, as he has not found the higher potencies effective. He dissolves five or six globules of this dilution in four teaspoonfuls of fresh water, and the young masturbator takes of this every two days, a quarter of an hour before the meal, one teaspoonful. If the cure is not accomplished eight days after this solution is used up, the same dose is repeated in the same way. When desired, this remedy can be used, according to the author, without the knowledge of the patient, by pouring a teaspoonful into the soup, milk or chocolate.

The effect frequently appears very rapidly, but sometimes it does not appear.

OXYTROPIS LAMBERTI.

NAT. ORD., Leguminosae.

COMMON NAMES, "Loco" Weed. Rattle Weed.

PREPARATION.--The whole plant without the root is macerated in two times its weight of alcohol.

(The following proving of the "loco weed" was conducted by the late Dr. W. S. Gee, of Chicago, in 1887):

OXYTROPIS LAMBERTI, Pursh.--_Commonly taller, as well as larger_, than other varieties (the scapes often a foot or more high); silky,--and mostly silvery-p.u.b.escent, sometimes glabrate in age; leaflets from oblong-lanceolate to linear (4 to 16 inches long); _spike, sometimes short-oblong and densely flowered_, at least when young; _often elongated and spa.r.s.ely flowered_; _flowers mostly large_ (often an inch long, but sometimes much smaller), variously colored; pod, either narrowly or broadly oblong, _sericeous p.u.b.escent_, _firm-coriaceous_, half-inch or more long, _imperfectly two-celled_. Includes _O.

Campestris_ of Hook, Fl. Bor. Am., in part. Common along the Great Plains from Saskatchewan and Minnesota to New Mexico, Texas, etc., and in the foot-hills.--From Coulter's _Manual of the Botany of the Rocky Mountain Region_.

It is one of the poisonous members of that family. It is found in California and New Mexico.

It is a perennial plant, with herbaceous or slightly shrubby stems, the foliage remaining green during winter when gra.s.s is scarce, and so attracting animals that would otherwise probably instinctively shun it.

The plants do not appear to be equally poisonous at all seasons or in all localities, and it has been doubted whether the active properties they possess are due to a normal const.i.tuent of the plant. No medical use has ever been made of these plants, although their poisonous character has often led to the suggestion that they might be found valuable. No physiological study has been made of the action of the poison, and no complete chemical a.n.a.lysis has as yet appeared.

The stockmen speak of it as causing intoxication in the animals which eat it, and a prominent symptom is the "loco" condition, in which the power of co-ordination is lost or greatly limited. They cannot readily readjust for changes in gait, etc. A horse travels on level ground, but finds great difficulty in changing to pa.s.s over an elevation or depression, or, when going up hill, he has great difficulty in starting down hill; it is difficult, when he is still, to impress him that he must go, and as difficult to stop him when desired. The same rule applies to eating and other necessaries. Such a horse is said to be "locoed." Professor Hawkes procured specimens from which Boericke & Tafel made a tincture. To further test the merits of the remedy, the students of the cla.s.s at Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago kindly partic.i.p.ated in a proving.

Professor Hawkes received some reports from his group, but has mislaid his papers, and he is unable to give in detail the symptoms produced. He stated, however, that the princ.i.p.al action corroborated that given above.

During 1886-'87 term I made another attempt, and a few reports were received. The remedy was given by number, that the prover should not know what he took, nor the strength of it. Some were given the [Greek: theta], others 1x^d, 2x^d, 3x^d, 12x powders, 30x powders, and some higher.

A few reported "no effect" from the [Greek: theta]. The following includes the report from five persons:

1. (Mr. S. P. F., 10 drops of [Greek: theta].) 2. (Mrs. W., 10 drops of 3x^d repeated.) 3. (Mr. G. H. A., 15 drops of 3x^d.) 4. (Mrs. P., powders of 12x repeated.) 5. (Mrs. L., powders of 30x.) 6. (Mrs. L., powders of 12x.)

SYMPTOMATOLOGY.

_Mind._--Great mental depression,^1,^3. Cannot think or concentrate his thoughts,^1,^3. Very forgetful of familiar words and names,^3. No life,^1. Disinclination to talk or study,^3. Wants to be alone,^3. Is better satisfied to sit down and do nothing,^3. Feels perfectly despondent,^3. A feeling as if I would lose consciousness,^3. All symptoms worse when thinking of them,^1,^3.

_Sensorium._--Strange sensation about the head,^4. A feeling as if I would lose consciousness, or as if I would fall when standing,^5. Sense of fulness of the head, and of instability, when standing or sitting,^6.

_Head._--The head has a feeling of great pressure, especially on moving the eyeb.a.l.l.s,^4. Head hot,^6. Was unable to move around on account of this strange, uncertain feeling of numbness, with p.r.i.c.kling sensation in left arm and hand,^4. Full, uncomfortable feeling in the head,^5. Slight headache in vertex and occiput in forenoon, over the eyeb.a.l.l.s about noon,^1. Pain in the helix of the ear for two or three minutes, then pain commenced between the eyes and went in a straight line up over the head and down to the base of the brain,^2. Pain across the base of the brain,^2 ("gone in a minute or two"). Dulness in frontal region, must lie down,^4. Pain in occipital region is constant since 1 P.M.; heavy ache, as if a weight were attached to the lower edge, pulling it back, but pain does not extend down the back,^2; all stop at 3 P.M.,^2. A pressing headache from 2 to 5 P.M.,^3 (on 2d day). Awoke with slight pressing pain in forehead, which increased gradually until about 2 P.M., and then gradually decreased,^3. Pain, dull and heavy, in the head, with sense of pressure,^4. Head very sensitive, < on="" the="" side="" on="" which="" i="" lie,^3.="" pressure="" upon="" the="" head="" disappearing="" after="">

Dull, heavy feeling in the head, with uncertain gait and walk, so that she was obliged to lie down, when she fell into a deep sleep and woke up with the metallic taste.

_Eyes._--Feel dull and heavy, blurred, pupils dilated,^3,^4. When reading, it seems as if a light were reflected from a bright copper plate seen at the left side, as if the light were at the end of the room,^6. Pain in the eyeball,^4. Pain over the right eye,^6.

_Ears._--Roaring sound in the ears,^3.

_Nose._--Very dry; scabs form in the nose,^3. Frequent violent sneezing, with fluent coryza in the evening,^1. Nose feels as if sunburnt; red and s.h.i.+ning, especially on alae,^1. Feeling of pressure over the bridge of the nose,^1. Fluent coryza, somewhat b.l.o.o.d.y,^1.

_Mouth._--Very dry, especially in the morning,^3. Metallic taste in the mouth, strongly marked,^1. Gumboil on left lower maxillary; profuse saliva,^1. Pain in left lower maxillary,^1. Tenderness of all the molars,^1.

_Throat._--Slight inflammation of the pharynx, a "husky" feeling,^1. Dry and sore,^3.

_Eating and Drinking._--Appet.i.te gradually increasing,^1.

Appet.i.te good; symptoms, < after="" eating,=""> after an hour,^2. Loss of appet.i.te,^6 (unusual).

_Nausea and Vomiting._--Eructations, as after taking soda-water (after each powder), with colicky pains,^5, and looseness of the bowels (constipated before taking the remedy),^5. Eructations, empty, frequent,^1. Slight nausea, all day at intervals,^2 (first day). A very tired, languid feeling all forenoon, accompanied by nausea on lying down, pa.s.sing away on getting up, and returning on lying down again (not at night).

_Stomach._--Tenderness in the epigastric region,^1. A kind of pressing soreness,^3. Cold during the chill,^2.

_Abdomen._--Sharp, lancinating pains all through the abdomen, early in the evening,^5 (observed but once). Sharp pain, running from right to left across the bowels, for several minutes, followed by a very strong desire to go to stool; entire relief after stool; slight griping pain in the region of the umbilicus, working down at 8 P.M., followed at 10 P.M.

by discharge of flatus; full feeling in abdomen, causing short breathing after lying down in bed,^1.

_Stool._--Symptoms marked and constant. Faeces of the consistency of mush, which slips through the sphincters in little lumps, very similar to lumps of jelly,^3. Stools dark brown, or like jelly,^3. Urgent desire for stool, sometimes removed by pa.s.sing wind; quant.i.ty normal,^3. Sore feeling in the r.e.c.t.u.m,^3. Crawling sensation in r.e.c.t.u.m as if little worms were there,^3. Stool inclined to be hard; unsatisfied feeling, as though not done,^1. Stool solid at first, then diarrhoea,^1. Movement of the bowels at an unusual time,^2 (6:30 P.M., had moved the morning of same day). Sharp pain from right to left across the bowels, followed by very strong desire for stool,^2. Stool, first hard, then loose,^2.