An Epitome of the Homeopathic Healing Art Part 4

It should be taken at the 2d dilution, and the tincture applied to the affected part every night.

Hoa.r.s.eness.

This arises generally, from inflammation of the mucous membrane of the _Larynx_, in ordinary cases but slight. It is a frequent accompaniment of Bronchitis.

The remedies most useful, and those which will, in almost all ordinary cases, remove this affection at once, are _Arum tri._ and _Copaiva_, to be taken a dose every three hours in alternation.

If there is present a dry hacking cough, it will be well to take _Bell._ in the interval between the other medicines, for a day, or until the cough is relieved, or changed to a moist condition.

Inflammation of the Brain.

_Brain Fever._

Though this affection is not strictly what is called "brain fever," it is attended with more or less general fever, while in what is called "Brain fever," there is great irritation of the brain, requiring in many respects similar treatment. As the treatment proper for inflammation of the brain, with some slight modifications in relation to the existing fever, will be applicable to both, I shall treat of them under one head.

Some of the princ.i.p.al symptoms are delirium and drowsiness, fullness of the blood vessels of the head, beating of the temporal arteries, redness and fullness of the face, the pupils dilated, (though in the very early stage they may be contracted.) If the membranes of the brain be the seat of the disease, the pain is more intense, and frequently the limbs are in a palsied state. The patient sometimes vomits immoderately, and the pulse is slow and irregular, but full. The breathing becomes stertorous.

The fever is very considerable, and the head hot.

TREATMENT.

_Aconite_, _Belladonna_ and _Bryonia_ should be given in rotation, one dose every hour in a violent case, lengthening the intervals as the symptoms abate. Applying _hot cloths_ to the head, removing them occasionally to let the water evaporate, will greatly palliate and will not in the least, interrupt the action of the medicines. Never apply cold to the head of any person, when hot or inflamed, much less to that of a child. Children are often killed by the application of ice to the head, producing congestion and paralysis of the brain. Hot applications are h.o.m.oeopathic to the state then existing, and always beneficial.

The feet may also be placed in hot water, but children should never be put into a hot or warm bath when sick, so as to cover more than the lower extremities.

Convulsions of Children--Fits.

These generally occur, either from the irritation of worms, or as precursors of ague, or they may arise from diarrhoeal irritation, affecting the brain. They sometimes occur in hooping cough.

If convulsions occur from worms, the child appearing to be choked, give at once some salt and water, and as soon as the first paroxysm is over, give a dose of _Bell._, and after an hour a dose of _Santonine_. If they come on at the commencement of an ague chill, give _Aconite_ and _Bell._ every half hour for three or four doses alternately, then leave off the _Bell._ and give _Baptisia_. If diarrhoea is the cause, give _Bell._ and _Cham omilla_. If from hooping cough, _Bell._ alone should be used.

Measles.

This is a contagious disease, and always begins with symptoms like a cold, with high fever, and a severe dry cough, thirst and restlessness.

_Pulsatilla_ is the proper medicine to palliate and regulate the symptoms. If the fever is high, _Aconite_ should be used every two hours alternately with _Puls._ Should the eruption subside suddenly, give _Bryonia_ with _Pulsatilla_ until it reappears.

Let the child drink freely of cold water, and avoid stimulants of every kind. If the eruption is tardy in its appearance, a hot bath may be administered, being careful to have the room quite warm, and to rub the patient dry, very suddenly after the bath. Frictions by the healthy hand over the surface, will do much towards bringing out measles. After the eruption is out, quiet, freedom from sudden exposure to cold, cold water and light diet is all that is necessary. In some of the most obstinate cases, where the eruptions failed to appear in the proper time, as well as where they had receded too soon, I have been able to bring them out in a short time with an infusion of Sa.s.safras root, sweetened and taken quite warm, in doses of half an ounce in fifteen to thirty minutes. It is a remedy for measles well worth attention.

Mumps.

This is a contagious disease, consisting in an inflammation of the Parotid gland. There is, at first, a sense of stiffness and soreness on moving the jaw, soon after the gland begins to swell, and continues to be sore and painful, with more or less headache, and general fever for from six to eight days. It is not ordinarily a dangerous disease, unless translated to some other part. It may remove from the original seat to the brain, the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, or in females to the b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

TREATMENT.

_Mercurius_ should be given three times a day during the attack. If the brain becomes affected, use _Bell._ and _Apis mel._ in alternation.

Should it recede to the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es, or to the female b.r.e.a.s.t.s, _Apis mel._ is _the_ remedy. _Mercurius_ may be used in connection with the _Apis_ as soon as the violent symptoms have subsided, in order to prevent permanent glandular swellings.

Stings of Insects.

The effect produced by the sting of Bees, Wasps, and Hornets of all kinds, is so nearly, if not quite identical, that I shall make no distinction between them. There are very few, if any persons, who do not know the symptoms, at least the local effects of the Bee sting. Pungent, stinging, aching pain, redness and swelling of the part. The wound has at first, and for some time, a white spot or point where the sting entered, surrounded by an areola of bright scarlet, growing fainter and paler as it recedes. The swelling is not pointed, but a rounded elevation, with a feeling of hardness. If upon the face, it not unfrequently causes the whole face to swell so as to nearly if not entirely close the eyes. In some instances, the brain becomes affected and death ensues.

TREATMENT.

I have for many years, used but _one remedy_, and that has in all cases, and under all circ.u.mstances, when applied at any stage of the affection, produced prompt and perfect relief; therefore I shall recommend no other. It is the common garden _Onion_, (_Allium cepa_) applied to the spot where the sting entered. I cut the fresh Onion and apply the raw surface to the spot, changing it for a fresh piece every ten to fifteen minutes, until the pain and swelling, and all disagreeable symptoms disappear. If it is applied immediately after the stinging, the first application will afford perfect relief in a few minutes, and no further effect from it will be experienced. Applied later, it must be continued longer, and this may be done one or two days after the stinging, with just as much certainty of removing whatever symptoms may still exist.

I treated one case when three days had elapsed, the patient (a young lady) was delirious and speechless, the whole face was so swollen as to entirely disfigure her features, raising the cheeks to a level with the nose, and closing the eyes. Her life was almost despaired of. The surface of a freshly cut onion was applied to the point where the sting entered, and changed about once an hour for a fresh piece. In a few hours consciousness returned, and a rapid recovery followed. All the swelling and disagreeable symptoms were gone in three days.

_Ledum_ is highly recommended by some Physicians, and is doubtless of some value, but it is not to be compared with the _Allium_.

The most potent and certain remedy for the poison caused by the

Bite of the Rattlesnake

is _Alcohol_, in the ordinary form, or in common Whisky, Brandy, Rum or Gin. Let the patient drink it freely, a gill or more at a time, once in fifteen to twenty minutes, until some symptoms of intoxication are experienced, then cease using it. The cure will be complete as soon as enough has been taken to produce even slight symptoms of intoxication.

It is remarkable how much alcohol a patient suffering from the poison of the Rattlesnake will bear.

An intelligent medical friend of mine in Kanawha County, Virginia, gave a little girl of ten years, who had been bitten by a Rattlesnake, over three quarts of good strong Whisky, in less than a day, when but slight symptoms of intoxication were produced, and that seemed to arise entirely from the last drink. She recovered from the intoxication in a few hours, and suffered no more from the poison of the serpent.

Instances of cures with whisky are numerous, and I have never heard of a failure, when it was used as here directed. I presume it will do the same for the poison of other serpents.

Headache.

This symptom or affection, (if it can be cla.s.sed as a disease) may depend upon so many causes, and be so very different in its effects, degrees of intensity, and the kind of pain or sensation attending it, that one will find it very difficult to mark out any definite treatment.

I shall, therefore, only point out some of the more frequent cases, and the indications for certain remedies.

What is called "_sick headache_," or "nervous headache," begins by a sense of blindness or blur, before the eyes, of green or purple colors, dazzling or swimming in the head, without, for some time at first, any positive aching or pain. In the course of an hour, a longer or shorter time, the dimness of vision goes off, and the head begins to ache. This may or may not be accompanied with nausea and vomiting. Some persons are always more or less sick at the stomach, when these "nervous headaches"

come on, others are not thus affected.

TREATMENT.

If taken as soon as the first blur before the eyes is noticed, or before any pain is felt in the head, _Nux Vomica_ will, in nearly all cases, arrest the disease at once. It may be necessary to take two or three doses at intervals of an hour. Later in the case, though _Nux_ may palliate, it will not cure.

If headache with sickness comes on, _Macrotin_ and _Podoph._ should be given in alternation, every half hour, if the symptoms are very severe, and the nausea great; but in a mild case, give it once an hour, lengthening the interval as the symptoms abate.

If the feet are cold, as is often the case, putting them into hot water will palliate the symptoms, and not interfere with the medicines.

If the head feels hot, apply _hot_ water to it. Never apply cold to the head, when there are any symptoms of congestion, as of fullness of the blood vessels. For