Malaria is a prolific cause of persistent pain. Browague is its common expression. Periodicity, of course, is another of its manifestations. Arsenic, Cedron, Nat. sulph. and Chin. ars. are our remedies to be considered. Then comes syphilis as a very frequent cause of violent, crushing, persistent pains. These are often due to the pressure of thickened periosteum and may yield only to Iodide of Potash.
Cuprum as these symptoms indicate is one of the cholera remedies. When cholera came to Europe Hahnemann had never seen a case of this disease. But he saw the symptoms of three remedies, Cuprum, Camphor and Veratrum. Cuprum comes in for the cases with cramps. Camphor is indicated by external coldness, blueness and collapse without much sweat, Veratrum has copious sweat, vomiting and purging.
Hahnemann laid down the principles of the new art and science of healing in a large number of books, pamphlets and articles, especially in his Organon of The Art of Healing for the guidance of his disciples and his successors. In his writings the founder of Homoeopathy insisted that treatment should be given in single and very rare doses of a single medicine administrated at rare intervals such as once a month, or less frequently.
A similar case is that of a young lady aged eighteen, highly strung and hysterical, who had worn glasses for three years and was suffering from severe headaches. On looking at the glasses we found this young patient was wearing prisms. She had marked astigmatism caused by imbalance of the outer muscles of the eyeball. Her distance vision was much below normal: this was due to the astigmatism caused by the muscular trouble.
Irene is a charming girl, with a lovely character and she is sweetness and kindness personified. One day I could not stand her suffering any longer, I fell on my knees and entreated her to let me help her. I am rather emotional myself and somewhat like Irene. Anyway, she consented to let me treat her with my “ridiculous little sugar pills” and I was resolved to do my best for her.
Laryngitis, deep hoarse rough cough from a tickle in the larynx,or deep down under the sternum, shortness of breath, respiration in wave-like expansions, asthma, cough from an unendurable tickling through the whole chest with great weakness and emaciation. Tumultuous, irregular or intermittent pulse, visible pulsations of abdominal aorta, jugular, and especially so of the temporal artery, palpitation aggravated by the least exertion.
Permit me to bring a few examples of our treatment. A patient complained of pain in the gastric region for a year and a half, which occurred two hours after eating and often at night, and was aggravated from smoking. The X-ray examination showed an ulcer on the anterior wall of the bulbous duodeni with gastritis. The benzidine test was twice positive, the guaiac test showed always negative.
Thus Thuja has some very distinctive mental symptoms and would cure a certain number of insane people. One rather odd symptom in the Materia Medica reads: “thinks he is made of glass, thinks he is brittle and cannot be touched.” As I have mentioned before in this Journal, I came across this peculiarity in a funny old man, who had been an inmate in a private asylum for years.