New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies Part 43

In the left axilla, an electric shock which shakes the whole body, and in all the joints there occurs a trembling, such as might be produced by an electric machine, and which causes each time a sensation of fear.

UPPER EXTREMITIES.

The whole right arm, but princ.i.p.ally the axilla, feels as if it had been dislocated by a blow.

Stabbing pain under the right arm toward the breast.

The right arm feels heavy and she cannot lift it well; feels a sensation of numbness as if the clothing was too tight, with turgescence of the veins.

The muscles of the forearm seem to grow large and have a feeling of stiffness.

Wrenching pains in the elbow joints.

Wrenching pains in the joints of the left hand.

Pains as if from fatigue in both loins, when ascending the stairs.

Drawing and cutting pains from one iliac crest to the other as if a knife had traversed the abdomen; often intermitting and always returning.

LOWER EXTREMITIES.

Painful tension in the muscles of the thigh as if a long walk had been taken.

Wrenching pain on the outside of the right knee extending down the right side of the leg to the malleolus, from thence into the heel, where it ceases.

Trembling of the legs from the knees to the toes so that there is difficulty in walking or raising the feet.

Tearing pains in the calves of the legs, with a feeling of heat, extending down to the toes; the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are very hot.

Tearing pains in the articulations of the feet and in the toes, for several hours.

The back and soles of the feet are swollen, after thirty-four hours, with tearing pains in the ankles and soles of the feet on account of which, though very tired, he was not able to sleep.

A feeling as of electric shocks in all the joints.

GENERALITIES.

General weariness lasting several days.

When sitting down, a feeling as if the whole body were swaying to and fro.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon great fatigue with profuse cold sweat and somnolence for two hours.

Much of the hair falls out.

Pulse weak and thready and increased in frequency.

Frequent gaping with great somnolence.

Continued yawning, although the joints of the jaw are painful.

She would like to sleep all the time, day and night.

She cannot keep awake and goes to sleep in her chair; her feet go to sleep.

After having pa.s.sed the night rolling around in bed without waking and pa.s.sing from one dream to another, she wakes at 5 o'clock, the bed clothing thrown aside and without her night cap, a thing which had never happened to her before.

Sensual lascivious dreams.

PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS.

NAT. ORD., Synanthereae.

COMMON NAME, "Bitter broom." Escoba amaya.

PREPARATION.--The dry plant is macerated in five parts by weight of alcohol.

(Dr. Edward Fornias contributed to the _h.o.m.oeopathic Recorder_, 1886, two papers on this remedy. The first gave the results of physiological experiments; the second is a resume of those results, including the proving by Dr. B. H. B. Sleght, as follows:)

_Resume of Symptoms._--If we boil down the matter, extracting only the symptoms and changes observed during the above experiments with _Parthenina_, we have the following: _Heaviness and dulness of head, tendency to vertigo, malaise, apathy, la.s.situde, profuse and very fluid salivation, sensation of heat and weight in the stomach, increased appet.i.te, gastric intolerance, nausea and vomiting. Increased stupor, desire to be quiet, refusal of food, and indifference. Excitation of the heart beats, or slow beating of the heart; depressed circulation, or general functional activity; pulse accelerated, or slow, weak, soft, compressible, without dicrotism; progressive slowing of the pulse, followed by syncope, cardiac paralysis_ (and death). _Accelerated, or slow, irregular breathing_ (_Cheyne-Stokes_); _rise and fall of temperature, tremors, s.h.i.+vering, diminished perspiration; dilation of the pupils; convulsions_ (clonic and tonic); _muscular relaxation, anaesthesia and increased urine and saliva. _The kidneys were found enlarged and congested, with evident signs of sanguineous stasis. The process of coagulation of the blood was r.e.t.a.r.ded. The red corpuscles increased in volume. There was a fall of the blood-pressure, and vascular dilatation_ (of reflex origin). _The heart was found arrested in diastole, and the brain anaemic. A marked diminution of reflex action in the hips and extinction of the voluntary movements_, were noticed.

Also a transient excitement of the voluntary movements. And finally the sensibility and the muscular contractility were diminished._

CASES CURED BY PARTHENINA.--In regard to the therapeutic value of _Parthenina_, little is known as yet, but the plant from which this alkaloid is derived, as said before, has been employed for years in Cuba, both by the people and profession, against fevers of a paludal origin.

Dr. Ramirez Tovar has reported in several numbers of the _Cronica Medico-Quirurgica_, of Havana, the following cases treated by him with _Parthenina_, with the best results:

CASE I.--"A lady living in the lower part of the city, where the rain always leaves constant channels of infection, was suffering with _daily attacks of intermittent_, which grew more intense every day. She received 1 gram of the salt, divided in six powders, to be taken one every hour after the attack. The next day she had no chill, and the thermometer indicated the absence of fever. She was nursing at the time, and stated that she had noticed a marked increase of milk in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s; 50 centigrams more, in doses, were given to her, and the fever did not return again."

CASE II.--"A tailor, 30 years of age, had moved to the lower part of the city and contracted a _tertian intermittent_. He had four paroxysms before the doctor saw him, the last one being _attended by much pain in the left hypochondrium_. He received 1 gram, in 5 doses. There was apyrexia on the day the attack was due, and this did not return again.

This man continued to live in the same house, under the same regimen and hygienic conditions."

CASE III,--"A little girl, 6 years of age, lymphatic const.i.tution, living near the beach of the harbor, was brought to Dr. Ramirez Tovar's clinic, suffering for 17 days with _malaise, loss of appet.i.te, sleepiness and fever_. She had taken quinine, both internally and externally, with little benefit, and _was wasting away notably_. At 4 P.M. she commenced to take 50 centigrams of the salt, in 8 doses, and the next day at the same hour the thermometer indicated a fall from 39.5 C. of the previous day to 38.5 C. The mother was ordered to repeat the medicine at longer intervals, but for want of means the child did not take any more. On the 4th or 5th day the temperature went up to 39.5 again, then she was provided with the medicine, and 3 days later the temperature was normal. The action of the alkaloid was aided here by a tonic wine prepared from the extract of the plant."

CASE IV.--"A man 45 years of age, _of delicate const.i.tution, poorly nourished, with a straw yellow face, yellow sclerotics, enlarged liver and spleen, the latter somewhat painful to pressure_, who had contracted _intermittent fever_ while in Panama, and had taken quinine, was complaining, when Dr. Ramirez Tovar saw him (middle part of December), _of a pain in the right side_ (more severe in some points than in others), which commenced at 1 P.M., with _s.h.i.+verings_, and which disappeared after two hours to return again the next day at precisely the same time and with the same symptoms. He received 1 gram of _Parthenina_, in 5 doses, one every hour, right after the cessation of the pain. He was seen by the doctor the next day at 4 P.M., and up to that time the pain had not returned. He took then 50 centigrams more, in 5 doses, one every hour, and was free of pain until the latter part of January, when he again consulted the doctor, this time the _pain being located in the stomach_, for which _Parthenina_ was repeated (1 gram in 5 doses, one every two hours). The next day the pain had ceased, but returned on the third, and he again received 1 gram, in the same manner as before, and since then he has been free from pain."

CASE V.--"A young lady, 18 years of age, complained of _facial neuralgia with periodical exacerbations_, from which she was suffering four days.

She received 1 gram of _Parthenina_, in 5 doses, one every hour, and on the following day she was entirely free from pain. Fifty centigrams more, in 4 doses, were given to this lady to prevent a relapse, and the result was a complete cure."

And to finish this report, I will mention a case which came under my notice: "A little girl, my niece, 5 years old, living in Havana, who, when seen by the late Dr. Govantes, of that city, had been suffering for some time before from _a continued fever, with periodical mid-day exacerbations, which later on, a.s.sumed an intermittent type_. She had been saturated with _quinine_, and complained, at the time, of _malaise_, _la.s.situde_, _languor_, _headache_, _loss of appet.i.te_, _gastric intolerance_, _etc._ The temperature went up as high as 40.6 C. during the hot stage, which was short and was followed by copious sweats, giving relief. _Parthenium hysterophorus_ in the form of an extract, prepared and sold at Dr. Villavicenci's Pharmacy, in Havana, was prescribed by Dr. Govantes. Three doses a day, each of the size of a pea, dissolved in water, were given for 4 or 5 days, and at the end of that time she was entirely free of fever and made a quick recovery."

If such results can be ascribed to _Parthenium_ and its alkaloid _Parthenina_, I think it would be unjustifiable to set them aside. An early proving of the plant will not only enhance our therapeutic resources, but prevent the non-scrupulous from employing it empirically.

Proving of _Parthenium hysterophorus_, Dr. B. H. B. Sleght.

February 12th.--Until a few days ago had a slight continuous toothache due to a cavity in last molar of lower jaw; cavity recently filled.

General health has been excellent for some time.