Part 21 (1/2)
ERYNGIUM AQUATIc.u.m.
NAT. ORD., Umbeliferae.
COMMON NAMES, b.u.t.ton Snakeroot. Water Eryngo.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(Although a well-known remedy, the following concerning its early history may not be out of place here. It is from Thomas' _Additions_.)
”For spermatorrhoea properly so called, or emission of s.e.m.e.n without erections, there is no remedy which has yet received the sanction of experience.”--_Repertory._
”We have one, however, to propose for trial--it is the _Eryngium aquatic.u.m_, which has two remarkable cures, reported by Dr. Parks (Pharmacentist, Cin.), to recommend it.
”CASE I.--A married man injured his t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es by jumping upon a horse; this was followed by a discharge of what was considered s.e.m.e.n for fifteen years, during which time he was treated allopathically and h.o.m.oeopathically. Dr. Parks exhibited a number of the usual remedies without permanent benefit. He then gave a half-grain dose, three times a day, of the third decimal trituration of the '_Eryngium aquatic.u.m_.' In five days the emissions were entirely suppressed, and have not returned to this time (over two years ago). The emissions were without erections day or night, and followed by great la.s.situde.
”CASE II.--A married man, not conscious of having sustained any injury, was troubled for eight or ten years with emissions at night--with erections. The s.e.m.e.n also pa.s.sed by day with the urine. The loss of s.e.m.e.n was followed by great la.s.situde and depression, continuing from twelve to forty-eight hours. There was also partial impotence. Had been treated allopathically. Dr. Parks gave him Phos. acid for two weeks, without material benefit. He then exhibited the _Eryngium aquatic.u.m_, as above, with the like excellent and prompt result.”[I]
[I] Drs. Hill and Hunt, h.o.m.oeopathic Surgery.
I used this remedy with a patient who was quite broken down from spermatorrhoea; the emissions left him, but he suffered from vertigo and dim-sightedness whenever he took a dose of the medicine. He is now well through the use of other medicines. Our English _Eryngo_--the _E.
maritimum_, is noted as an aphrodisiac, and is very similar in appearance to the _Eryngium aquatic.u.m_.
EUPHORBIA COROLLATA.
NAT. ORD., Euphorbiaceae.
COMMON NAMES, Milk Weed. Wild Ipecac. Blooming or Flowering Spurge.
PREPARATION.--The fresh root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(In _North American Journal of h.o.m.oeopathy_, Dr. E. M.
Hale has, among other things, the following to say of this drug):
Its action on the system is intense and peculiar. It is called by the country people by the expressive name of _Go-quick_, referring to its quick and prompt action. I am indebted to Dr. A. R. Brown, of Litchfield, Mich., for many interesting facts relating to its action. It is considered, by those who use it, as the most powerful ”revulsive agent” in their Materia Medica, in all cases of local congestion, especially of the lungs and head; also in inflammation of the pleura, lungs, and liver, and is used as a subst.i.tute for bleeding and Calomel.
Its admirers allege that it will certainly _arrest_ the progress of the above affections in a few hours, and break up all simple fevers. This is of course erroneous, but it reminds one of the h.e.l.leborine of the ancients, so graphically described by Hahnemann. In fact no drug with which I am acquainted so much resembles the _Veratrum alb.u.m_.
f.a.gOPYRUM.
NAT. ORD., Polygonaceae.
COMMON NAME, Buckwheat.
PREPARATION.--The fresh mature plant is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.
(The following paper was published in the Transactions of the h.o.m.oeopathic Society of Maine in 1895. It is by Dr.
D. C. Perkins, of Rockland, Me.)
There is, perhaps, no well proven remedy in the Materia Medica, of equal value to that of which I present a brief study, that has been so wholly overlooked by the h.o.m.oeopathic profession. There certainly is none which possesses a more marked individuality, and which more fully fills a place by itself. It is safe to say that not one in ten of those who practice the healing art has ever used it or is familiar with its pathogenesis. Having not unfrequently cured cases with it, which had refused to yield to other remedies apparently well indicated, I have come to regard it as among the important drugs in our super-abundant Materia Medica. Its effects upon mental conditions are marked by depression of spirits, irritability, inability to study, or to remember what has been read, bringing to our minds _Aconite_, _Bryonia_, _Chamomilla_, _Coffea_, _Colocynth_, _Ignatia_, _Lachesis_, _Mercury_, _Nux vomica_, _Staphisagria_, _Stramonium_, and _Veratrum_. Its effects upon the head are deep-seated and persistent. There is vertigo, confusion, severe pain in many parts of head, with upward pressure described as of a bursting character. The pain may be in forehead, back of eyes, through temporal region on either side, but always of a pressive or bursting nature. For congestive headaches it is as valuable as _Belladonna_, _Glonoine_, _Nux vomica_, or _Sepia_.