Homeopathic Materia Medica

Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica, James Tyler Kent

Generalities and modalities: From a study of the elements making up this agent, it may be known that it is a deep-acting constitutional remedy.

Its complaints come on in the morning, afternoon, evening, night, after midnight. In hectic conditions, with many abscesses. Extreme anaemia, such as belongs to tuberculous subjects.

The patient craves open air when not too cold; wants the windows open, is sensitive to a close room. Marked general physical anxiety. The hands and feet tingle as if asleep and the limbs feel as if tied with a band.

Complaints are worse from bathing; takes cold from bathing. It has been of the highest use in cancerous affections and has cured lupus and epithelioma. Its symptoms are often found in chlorotic girls; it has cured choreic action of muscles in girls.

Some are very sensitive to cold, like Arsenicum, and others to heat, like Iodine; it is sensitive to both heat and cold; cold wind and cold wet weather make the patient worse and bring out symptoms.

Always taking cold, which brings on coryza and increases his catarrhal troubles. Many constrictions, internal and external, and constrictions of orifices are found in this remedy. Convulsive movements of limbs.

Dropsy, external and internal, like Arsenicum. He is worse when hungry and, like Iodine, better after eating. Increasing loss of flesh and weight in phtisical patients; emaciation in children, extreme aggravation from slight physical exertion.

Women: In women who are subject to faintness and fainting spells. Formication all over the body. Haemorrhage from any mucous membrane. A sensation of being too warm, must have fresh air. Feeling of heaviness of the whole body. Induration is a strong feature; sometimes in glands, in ulcers, in skin affections.

The glands are swollen and hard. Inflammation, external and internal, in many parts, glands, bones and serous membranes. He has symptoms as though he had lost fluid. Extreme lassitude; lack of reaction, lying in bed and lying on the painful side makes the symptoms worse.

She is worse during the menses; worse from motion, but desire to move. Mucous secretions generally increased, copious, catarrhal discharges, thick, yellow, or yellowish-green and honey-like.

Numbness of the limbs and painful parts; flushes of heat and surging of blood in the body; pain in the, bones and glands. Bruised sensation in the body. Burning internally and in outer parts; paralyzing pains, pinching, pressing, stitching and tearing pains. Predisposition to phthisis and complaints in the consumptive diathesis.

There is much soreness, and pressure increases his suffering. Pulsation, internal and external, like Iodine; the pulse is frequent and small, full, hard, intermittent, irregular.

Burning is a strong feature, like Arsenicum. It has been very useful in all scorbutic conditions when the symptoms were similar. Very sensitive to pain.

The symptoms predominate on the right side; he is sensitive to the summer heat and the cold in winter. Dropsical and inflammatory swelling; swelling in affected parts and in glands. It has been curative in all stages and forms of syphilis. Trembling and twitching of muscles, walking makes him worse, especially walking fast; worse from warmth, warm air, warm bed, warm room and warm wraps. Weakness, like a vital prostration, in the morning, when ascending, on exertion, during menses, and on walking; worse in wet weather, worse from the worm south wind.

Mind: Anger and irritability during all complaints; aversion to answering questions; extreme anxiety, restlessness and fear; worse in a warm bed; confusion of mind morning and evening; delirium during the night; illusions of fancy and delusions about dead people.

Sadness, even to despair; discontentment, and he is often in a state of great excitement; mental exertion increases many of his symptoms; there is marked mental weakness; fear of insanity, of misfortune, of people, and he is generally timid.

He is impatient and in a constant state of hurry; he becomes indifferent to his friends, to happiness and to his surroundings. Aversion to work. He seems to be going toward insanity. He is unable to decide between two opinions.

He suffers from a sudden impulse to kill somebody. Very talkative at times, mirthful; changeable moods and alternating conditions of mind; a degree of mental prostration prevails continuously.

He is oversensitives especially to noise. Inclination to sit; averse. to being spoken to and he starts during sleep.

Persistent tormenting thoughts; wandering thoughts; stupefaction of mind. In the woman there is much weeping. Vertigo while walking. It will cure the particulars given below when the generals above mentioned strongly predominate.

Head: Although there is hyperoemia of the brain, the scalp feels cold. Eruptions crusty, scurfy; eczematous; the hair falls out and the head feels heavy; itching of the scalp, with and without eruptions.

Pain in the morning and afternoon; better in open air; worse in worm room; better after eating and worse when hungry; worse from motion, noise, walking; pain in head from catarrh of nasal passages, with coryza; periodical headaches from malaria, with heart troubles and from syphilis; pain in forehead in the evening; above the eyes, over the root of the nose; pain in occiput, sides of head, temples and vertex; pressing pain in forehead, with sleepiness; pressing pain in occiput and temples; sore, bruised pain in the head; stitching in head, in temples; tearing pain in head.

The head pains are stunning. Perspiration of the forehead; pulsating in the head, forehead, temples.

Eyes: Inflammation of the conjunctiva, and of the iris; chronic catarrhal condition of the eyes in psoric and syphilitic subjects; easy lachrymation, worse in cold air; pain in eyes when reading; soreness of the eyeballs stitching pain in eyes; protrusion of the eyeballs; pupils dilated redness of eyes.

Starting look. Sunken eyes. The lids are swollen and oedematous; twitching of the lids. Wild look in the eyes; the eyes are jaundiced; vision is dim, flickering, foggy and weak. Sparks before the eyes.

Ears: The ears discharge an excoriating foetid pus; buzzing, humming, ringing and roaring in cars. Catarrh of Eustachian tubes and middle car the pain is aching, stitching and tearing. Stopped sensation in ears hearing is impaired,

Nose: Most stubborn nasal catarrh with bloody, acrid, copious, excoriating, greenish, purulent, thick, yellow or yellow-greenish discharge; honey like discharge; coryza with watery discharge; coryza in open air with cough.

It has been a most useful remedy in hay fever. Dryness in nose and epistaxis.

Obstruction of nose, pain in nose. Smell lost. Much sneezing. Swelling inside of nose; ulceration in nose.

Face: The face becomes cold. Bluish lips and bluish circles about the eyes brownish, earthy, or pale face; again the face is red and there are circumscribed red cheeks the face is sallow and jaundiced; yellow spots on the face; sickly look the face looks drawn and emaciated; eruptions on face and nose; acne, eczema, pimples, pustules, expression sickly and old; pain in the face. Swelling of the glands of the lower jaw.

Swelling of the submaxillary glands. Twitching of the face.

Mouth and throat: In the mouth there are aphthae; the gums bleed easily, and the tongue is cracked. The tongue is coated brown or white; mouth and tongue are dry at night and during sleep, the tongue feels enlarged, inflammation of the gums. Mucus in the mouth in the morning; the mouth is offensive, even putrid.

Pain in the gums; sore, burning tongue; salivation; scorbutic gums. Speech stammering. Swollen gums.

The taste is bad; bitter, putrid, saltish, sour, sweetish; teeth feel elongated; pain in the teeth after eating; tearing pain in the teeth.

Much choking in the throat; dryness in the throat; membranes from in the throat; burning in the throat; constantly scraping the throat. Swallowing difficult. Swollen throat; ulceration of the throat from syphilis.

Stomach: The appetite is increased, even ravenous; aversion to food; constriction of the stomach; the stomach is distended.

He desires stimulants. Sensation of emptiness; eructations empty, sour; waterbrash; sensation of fullness in the stomach.

Frequent attacks of heartburn; load in the stomach after eating; indigestion and much hiccough; chronic gastritis; loathing of food; nausea after eating.

Pain after eating; burning, cramping, cutting, gnawing, pressing and stitching pains in the stomach; pulsating, retching when coughing, sensation of tight ness in stomach; thirst, evening, extreme; thirst during meal; unquenchable thirst.

Trembling in the stomach. Continuous vomiting; vomiting with diarrhoea, after drinking, after eating, after milk, violent vomiting; vomiting of bile, blood, food; vomiting yellow, watery substance.

Abdomen: The abdomen is distended with flatus; the flatulency is obstructed and there is much rumbling. Enlargement of liver, spleen, mesenteric glands, glands of groin. Inflammation of the intestines, liver and spleen.

It has many complaints of the liver. Pain in abdomen after eating; during menses; during stool; better by external warmth.

Pain in hypogastrium, hypochondria, groin, liver, spleen and umbilical region; burning, cramping, drawing pain in abdomen; cutting in abdomen during stool; cutting pain in liver pressing pains and soreness in liver.

Stitching pains in hypochondria pulsating in abdomen; restless feeling in abdomen; pain and soreness in spleen.

Very troublesome constipation; diarrhoea alternating with constipation; stool hard, knotty and light colored. The diarrhoea comes in the morning and after eating; in old people, excoriating stool. Dysentery with bloody mucous stools and tenesmus; diarrhoea with brown,

Copious, frequent, offensive, yellow or white watery stools; ineffectual urging to stool; urging after stool; offensive flatus. External piles. Itching of anus. Burning in anus after stool.

Bladder and kidneys: It acts deeply upon the bladder and kidneys. It has been most useful in Addison's disease.

Retention of urine; constant or frequent urging to urinate; worse during the night; urination is dribbling and involuntary, suppression of urine; the urine is albuminous, cloudy, dark, red, copious or scanty and offensive.

Genitals: The genital organs present many symptoms and complaints. Erections, strong toward morning; later incomplete and wanting. It cures hydrocele and induration of the testes.

Itching of the penis and glans; perspiration of the genitals; seminal emissions; swelling of the testes; ulcers on the penis; chancres and chancroids with bubos.

It has been a great comfort to the women in many complaints. It has restrained the progress of cancer of uterus in a notable manner; the burning and odor are removed and the ulceration is lessened.

Life has been prolonged to four years in several cases. Sexual desire is increased. It has cured enlargement and induration of the ovaries; it has cured inflammation of the ovaries.

Leucorrhoea, acrid, bloody, burning, copious, after menses, thick or thin, yellow; menses absent or suppressed, copious, frequent, late, painful, short.

Haemorrhage from the uterus; pain in ovaries, especially the right; sore, bruised genitals and ovaries. Prolapsus of the uterus; swollen ovaries. It has stopped the growth of ovarian tumors.

Larynx and trachea: Croupous condition of the larynx. Dryness in the air passages. Inflammation of the larynx and trachea; much mucus in the larynx and trachea; spasmodic conditions of the larynx like Laryngismus; burning rawness and soreness in larynx and trachea; phthisis of the larynx.

The voice is hoarse, rough and weak and finally lost; respiration is fast and asthmatic; respiration is difficult at night, on ascending, on exertion and motion, with palpitation; respiration is irregular, rattling, short, suffocative and wheezing.

Asthma from 11 P.M. until 2 A.M. The cough is in the morning, evening and after midnight; the cough is asthmatic, croupy, deep, dry, exhausting, during fever; cough from irritation and tickling in larynx and trachea; the cough is loose, spasmodic, suffocative; worse from motion and talking; worse in a warm room.

It cures whooping cough. Expectoration most in the morning; is bloody, copious, greenish-yellow, difficult; mucous and bloody; mucus offensive, purulent, tough, viscid, yellow, tasting putrid, saltish, sweetish.

There is marked anxiety in the region of the heart. Catarrh of the bronchial tubes; constriction of the chest, of the heart; fatty degeneration of the heart. Enlarged and painful mammae. Heat in the chest.

Inflammation of the bronchial tubes, endocardium, pericardium, lungs and pleura; murmurs of the heart; stitching of the skin of chest; oppression of the chest and heart in a warm room; pain in the side of chest; in the heart; burning in the chest; cutting pain in chest and in the heart; pressing pain in chest; rawness in chest; stitching, pain in chest on coughing; palpitation from excitement, from exertion; tumultuous palpitation.

Paralysis of the heart, of the lungs. It is a very useful remedy in ulcerative conditions during phthisis; swollen axillary gIands: tremulous heart; tumor of the axilla. Great weakness of chest and heart.

Pain in the back during menses; pain in the lumbar region during menses; pain in sacrum and coccyx.

Limbs: Coldness of hands, legs and feet; cramps of upper limbs, lower limbs, thighs, legs and feet; scaly eruptions, eczema and vesicles; heat of hands; heaviness of the limbs as though tired; heaviness of the feet.

Hip joint disease. Itching of all the limbs; numbness of all the limbs, fingers, legs and feet; pain in all the joints, gouty and rheumatic; rheumatic pain in upper limbs; pain in elbow forearm, hip, thigh, knee, foot; drawing in lower limbs, thighs, knees; stitching pain in shoulders, wrists and knees; tearing in joints, elbows, fingers; paralytic weakness in upper limbs; paralysis of lower limbs.

Cold perspiration of hands and feet. Stiffness of limbs, of fingers. Dropsical swelling of hands, legs and feet; trembling of hands and lower limbs; twitching of upper limbs and legs; weakness of upper limbs and knees.

Dreams amorous; anxious; of dead people; distressing; vivid; nightmare. Restless sleep; sleepiness in the evening; sleepless after Midnight, waking too early.

Chill at night in bed; chill external and internal, worse from motion. Quartian, tertian shaking-chill; periodicity marked; warm room does not ameliorate the chill.

Fever afternoon and night; fever alternates with chill; fever and chill intermingle; dry, external heat; flushes of heat; chronic intermittent fever; internal heat with external coldness; fever with no sweat, and desire to uncover. Hectic fever.

Perspiration morning and night; cold sweat; exhausting sweat; sweat on motion, or on slight exertion; profuse night sweats.

Skin: Anaesthesia of the skin; burning skin; the skin is jaundiced; liver spots and red spots.

The skin is cold to touch; dryness of the skin with inability to perspire. Many eruptions on the skin; boils, pustules, rash and scales moist eruptions, eczema, itching eruption; herpes; psoriasis.

It has cured ichthyosis. Dry, scaly, burning eruptions; urticaria.

It cures all syphilitic eruptions where the symptoms agree, where eruptions have been suppressed by local treatment.

Excoriation; erysipelas formication, indurations; itching, burning and stinging; rough skin; purpura haemorrhagica.

Dropsical, spongy swelling of skin; ulcers with bleeding or bloody discharges, with corrosive watery, yellow discharge.

Cancerous ulceration. Indolent and indurated ulcers; sensitive and suppurating ulcers ulcerative pain in ulcers in old syphilitic ulcers.

A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, John Henry Clarke

Iodide of Arsenic. As I3. Trituration.

Clinical.─Acne rosacea Aneurism. Angina pectoris. Breast, tumour of. Bronchitis. Cancer. Catarrh. Consumption. Debility. Dropsy. Epithelioma. Gastritis. Hay-fever. Heart, affections of. Hydrothorax. Laryngitis. Leucocythaemia. Lichen. Liver, affections of. Lungs, affections of. Measles. Otorrhoea. Pneumonia. Rheumatism. Scrofulous ophthalmia. Syphilis.

Characteristics.─This medicine was originally used by H. Nankivell, on analogical grounds, in cases of phthisis. It has had a short, independent proving, and symptoms observed on patients have increased the pathogenesis. The Conditions resemble more closely those of Arsen. than those of Iod.: < from cold wind; > warmth. Great vital prostration. < From any exertion.

It is a medicine of wide range and great power. Chronic inflammatory states of the lungs and bronchial tubes, with profuse, greenish-yellow, pus-like expectoration and short breath are especially relieved by it. Kent observed in a proving made by himself that a thick, yellow discharge resembling honey is characteristic, and he cured with it a case of disease of the nasal bones, with weak intellect, in a girl, being guided by the symptom: "Discharge excoriating, thick, and yellow." There was also great improvement in the mental state. Hale's keynote of the remedy is: The peculiar and persistently irritating, corrosive character of all the discharges. In hay-fever, otorrhoea, and leucorrhoea, with fetid, corrosive discharge, and in diarrhoea where the evacuations "scald," it is indicated. It has been used successfully in tumours, including epithelioma. L. B. Wells cured a case of left axillary tumour in a lady aet. 49. A gland the size of a hen's egg, exuding a fluid which formed a hard, brown crust. The tumour was painful and very sensitive. Left breast enlarged, indurated, and very sore. There was also yellow, bloody, and irritating leucorrhoea with swelling of labia (Hale). In many cases of weakened heart I have found Ars. iod. of signal service, more especially when associated with chronic lung conditions. Many skin affections have been remedied by it; particularly dry, scaly, burning and itching eruptions as psoriasis, tinea, impetigo, pityriasis. The consumption-diathesis is in itself a strong indication for the remedy.

During the influenza epidemic in this country Ars. iod. was specific for "pink-eye," the form it took among horses, but it was not found of such general utility among human patients.

Ars. iod. has a marked action on the stomach, and when given low needs to be given after food, if unpleasant symptoms are to be avoided. In one patient there was nausea immediately after each dose. In another there was aggravation of a pain he had in the epigastrium, and vomiting one hour after food. An observer reported in the Lancet the following: "At first appetite is increased but after taking it ten or twelve days pain is felt at epigastrium, with thirst, dry throat, slight fever, sometimes diarrhoea and tenesmus; skin becomes dry, and the quantity of urine increased. If continued the nervous system becomes extremely irritable and wakefulness supervenes." In several persons taking low attenuations I have observed headaches confirming those of the provers. From the 3x a woman experienced this: "Violent, dull, heavy pain above root of nose, as if she would go silly." She never had anything of the kind before. From the 1x a man had "a heavy headache, across forehead, as if he would like to go to sleep; so weak he could hardly move about." All ceased when he had finished the medicine. Wandering rheumatic pains were felt by one prover. Great vital prostration. Paralysis.

Relations.─Compare: Bacil.; in acrid discharges, Nit. ac., Ailanth., Arum, Ars., Arsen. metal. and its salts. Useful after: Sulph. in phthisis pulmonalis, and after Conium in sensitive lump in breast. Antidote: Bry. relieved pain and pyrosis. Complementary: Pho.

Causation.─Study (headache).

SYMPTOMS.

1. Mind.─Irritability.─Unable to study.

2. Head.─Dulness of head, with dull pain in l. malar bone and Occasional slight frontal headache all morning.─Bad headache on waking, lasting all day; dull, heavy; pressing from within outwards, < on motion, stooping, or studying.─Severe frontal headache with dulness of entire head during forenoon, with stiffness and soreness of l. side of neck, < when moving head.─Pain over root of nose as if she would go silly.─Head seemed enormously large and heavy with the pain.─Scalp covered with inflammatory scaly eruptions.

3. Eyes.─Eyes weak, with burning pain; smarting; secretion of meibomian glands increased.

4. Ears.─Very sharp pain in forehead and ears (< l.), when riding in a sharp, cold wind.

5. Nose.─Chronic nasal catarrh, discharge gluey, like yellow honey, excoriating.

6. Face.─Face sallow; peaked; cadaverous, with purple, livid hue.

7. Teeth.─Intermittent pains in first r. upper molar.

9. Throat.─Throat dry.─Hawking up from throat thick mucus and clotted blood; it seemed to come from head and relieve the pain.

10. Appetite.─Loss of appetite.─Appetite at first increased, later pain in epigastrium.─Intense thirst, with uncontrollable desire for cold water, which is almost immediately ejected.

11. Stomach.─Distressing nausea and vomiting.─Pain and pyrosis unbearable; < rising after sitting; > raising wind and a greasy fluid as after eating pork.─(Subacute gastritis.).─Vomiting an hour after food.

12. Abdomen.─Abdomen hard and distended with flatus, which is constantly discharged.─Cutting pains, obliging to bend double.

13. Stool and Anus.─Continual aching in anus, with seeming inability to keep sphincter closed; amounts to real dysenteric straining at stool.─Excoriating diarrhoea.─Diarrhoea or dysentery; stools not at all at night, but urging commencing on beginning to move in morning.

14. Urinary Organs.─Skin dry, urine increased.─(Diseases in uro-genital organs, esp. in females with scrofulous taint.)

16. Female Sexual Organs.─Lump in mamma, sensitive to touch and painful; nipple retracted.

17. Respiratory Organs.─Slight hacking cough, with dryness and stoppage of the nostrils.─Asthmatic sensations; must sit up to breathe.─Expectoration heavy night and morning.─Frequent cough with muco-purulent and occasionally stringy expectoration.─Greenish-yellow pus-like expectoration; haemorrhage (chronic induration of the lungs).─Chronic bronchitis with difficult expectoration and short breath.─Pneumonias that fail to clear up.

19. Heart.─Irregular pulse; cardiac weakness; pain either with or without valvular disease, esp. when accompanied with induration of lung tissue.

20. Neck and Back.─Soreness of back, esp. of back of neck, as if he had been beaten.─Burning heat in lumbar region, as if the clothes were on fire.

21. Limbs.─Sharp pain in upper third of r. humerus while writing; after ten minutes shifted to metacarpal bones, and was then felt in l. femur.─Cold limbs.

23. Lower Limbs.─Peculiar chilliness back of l. thigh, followed by formication and weight of l. foot, the latter extending later up the leg; clothes feel cold; partially > by walking; removed by applied warmth.─Severe laming pain l. calf.─Painful formication outer border l. foot, followed by burning on instep.

25. Skin.─Persistent itching of various parts of body, most of back.─Chronic skin affections.─Psoriasis.