10. Mr. T-, having suffered for some time from pain in back, palpitation, and dyspeptic symptoms, had a belladonna plaster applied to back. Ten d. afterwards he removed it, and being unaware that on its site some pustules and minute ulcers had appeared, applied a fresh one. Leaving home for business soon after (10:30 a.m.), between 11 and 12 he found tongue and throat extremely dry, and tongue covered with a white, clammy fur which he could pull off in strings. Dryness caused great distress, and impeded articulation. At same time he had extreme desire to micturate, but could only pass with much effort a few drops of colourless fluid; this he continued to do as often as possible until he lost consciousness. Sense of dryness increased, and he began to feel a little confused, but transacted business correctly. Between 2 and 3 it was observed that there was something strange in his speech and manner; drinking some water aggravated dryness. He drove himself home, which he reached about 3. Mind was by this time much confused, and soon after he had, 5 or 6 times in quick succession, convulsive catchings of extremities, face and trunk, -such, he says, as animals have when bitten by venomous serpents. His mind then began to ramble and advice was sought. Patient, seen at 6, was found standing by bed, supported by two men. He seemed to have very little power of, or control over, lower extremities, and would have fallen if unsupported. He dragged legs on being led about. He was restless in the extreme, and would not lie down for an instant; hands were in constant motion; he seemed as if he were busy moving some light objects; occasionally he made ascending movements with feet. He moved his mouth incessantly, as if talking, but sounds emitted were inarticulate and unintelligible. He paid no attention to those about him, in fact, seemed unconscious of their presence, only now and then, when addressed in a loud voice, he stared at the speaker for an instant, like one aroused from a sound sleep. Once he laughed when bid to put out his tongue, and rapidly protruded and withdrew it. Pupils were very large, and reacted sluggishly to light, surface was warm, face a little flushed, but no throbbing of vessels was perceptible. Pulse was 80-90, regular.
Removal of plaster, and administration of amm. carb., produced speedy improvement, and consciousness returned before 11. He had no sleep that n. or the following, and memory continued very defective for 2 or 3 d. (JENNER, Medorrhinum Times and Gaz., Nov. 22, 1856.)
11. GREDING treated 23 epileptic with inspissated juice and powdered leaves, in increasing doses. He gives following summary of effects observed:-
11 “a. Beyond quiet and refreshing sleep, which some even in the first days, but still more in the further course of the treatment, enjoyed, no change in this respect was noticed, and although a few from its continued use had their sleep once and again somewhat prolonged, yet I saw no one, however largely the B. had been taken, somnolent or torpid.
11 “b. So also none, from the commencement of their use of B., complained of increased heat of body, unless perhaps it were a man who, having sweated freely on the 2nd n., on the 3rd cried out in his sleep that his house was on fire, which might imply that he was heated. Nor did I, in my daily forenoon visits, find the pulse weak and rapid, as others have observed, save in those who kept their bed from depression of mind; and even in these later on in the treatment it became, as in the rest, natural, full, quiet, and strong.
11 “c. Repeated and materially increased doses, however, caused in many a more frequent and profuse flow of urine, and also an outburst more or less free of perspiration, which last was sometimes of long continuance. In one case it was limited to the chest, in another to the forehead.
11 “d. Upon these secretory actions there followed, if it did not precede them, a certain notable laxity of the bowels, often continuing throughout the treatment, and even a slight and transient diarrhoea, which in one case alternated for some time with heat of the head. Two patients only had for some days a noteworthy constipation, the rest enjoying daily motions.
11 “e. The appetite varied; with some it was for a short time diminished or depraved, and with a few was extinguished, but with others it was notably increased.
11 “f. Two only complained of bitterness of mouth, but several of nausea, eructation, and tendency to vomit; some had spontaneous, even pituitous, vomiting, the ejecta in one case having a green colour.
11 “g. Not a few felt some amount of belly-ache; one complained of pressure at the stomach, as if a stone were there, another of a bruised pain in the abdomen.
11 “h. Several had slight dryness of the mouth, others thirst, which in two instances was somewhat intense. One only complained of viscid saliva forming largely, and adhering to the palate and fauces, but three others spoke a certain degree of salivation. Two for a short time had difficulty of deglutition one hoarseness, and one pain in the throat, afterwards shifting to the abdomen and going off in a mild diarrhoea.
11 “i. In few – 4 at the most – was any headache excited. Several, however, experienced slight and transient vertigo. Some felt cloudiness of the head, one woman to such a degree that she seemed intoxicated. The heaviness of hearing in one youth, and the noises in the ears – with rush of air from the left experienced by one of the girls, are very dubious effects of the drug.
11 “j. A larger number had the eyes affected. One had heat in them, another pressure, and feeling as if grains of sand were there; two spoke of pain, and two showed some redness. Still more complained, especially in the morning, of decided dulness of the eyes, with which went marked dilatation of the pupils of more or less long duration; while one had actual blindness lasting for 3 weeks. No permanent harm, however, resulted to the sight of any.
11 “k. Nearly all, in the early stage of the operation of B., had pale faces. Some even spoke of a sense of chill and shuddering. One complained of coldness in the nose only; another in the knees, while his forehead was hot; and another felt cold to the touch all over.
11 “l. A few spoke of flying heats, but two only of fever; and this was followed, with one by facial erysipelas, and with the other by gumboil. As several other persons in the hospital and neighbourhood had similar affections at this time, though not taking B., we cannot ascribe them to the drug.
11 “m. Three only were subject to redness of face, and this only after the B. had been continued some time.
11 “n. No anxiety was at first caused by B., but later, four patients experienced it in the praecordia to such an extent that they tore their bodies, seeking in this way to put an end to themselves. The respiration in the other cases was quite free.
11 “o. The catamenia seemed little affected by the use of this drug. Some of the women who took it enjoyed regular periods throughout the treatment. In some indeed, there was delay, but fuller flow afterwards; with 3 the period anticipated, and in 2 of these cases was freer also, while in 2 there was also epistaxis at the same time.
11 “p. Certain rheumatic pains seemed describable to the B., in 2 of the side, in 2 of the chest, in 3 of the arms and scapulae, in 6 of the loins and hips.
11 “q. I leave others to judge if the eruption of small, smooth, dull red spots, irregular and angular in shape, and not raised above the cuticle in Case 19, appearing after a sudden rigor; or the pustule of Case 15, appearing near the nail of the index finger and emitting much acrid serum, can fairly be traced to the drug.
11 “r. I saw no reason to believe that B. induces an inflammatory condition in the humours. In cases where, from some cause connected with their malady, I had to draw blood, I found the fluid free from the signs of this state; and an accidental wound in one showed no tendency to become inflamed.
11 “s. The spasmodic and convulsive accidents which occurred are of course not due to the drug, as they would be observed in any case of epilepsy which was watched sufficiently long.” [ It would be interesting to compare this discreet summing-up of Greding’s with the numerous symptoms (140 in all) which Hahnemann has extracted from his narratives, and set down to the drug.-EDS] (LUDWING’S Advers. Medorrhinum Pract., i, 632).
Experiments on animals
1 a. M. Flourens found that birds fed by him with B. became blind. On examining them after death he observed that the cranium was stained red opposite the corpora quadrigemina, from which, and from its effect on the sight, he concluded that these nervous ganglia were chiefly acted on by the poison.
1 b. Herbivorous animals do not seem to be affected by devouring any part of the plant, if we may judge from experiments performed upon the horse, the ass, and the rabbit.
1 c. The berries of B. administered by Orfila to dogs produced no result; but these animals were readily poisoned by the extract taken into the stomach or injected into the veins, and exhibited, along with dilated pupils, the symptoms belonging to narcotic poisoning in quadrupeds. (Stille, sub voce.)
Hughes was a great writer and a scholar. He actively cooperated with Dr. T.F. Allen to compile his 'Encyclopedia' and rendered immeasurable aid to Dr. Dudgeon in translating Hahnemann's 'Materia Medica Pura' into English. In 1889 he was appointed an Editor of the 'British Homoeopathic Journal' and continued in that capacity until his demise. In 1876, Dr. Hughes was appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the Organization of the International Congress of Homoeopathy Physicians in Philadelphia. He also presided over the International Congress in London.