2. John W -, a light – haired, robust Englishman of 23, with pock – marked face, a newly arrived emigrant, was travelling as colporteur in Napa Valley, one of the most fertile in the State, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, during the middle of January, 1876. The weather being warm in the intervals of the showers, he got much heated while carrying his pack up and down the hills, on which the poison – oak was abundant; he lay down among them while sweating, and once or twice relieved the bladder there, quite ignorant of the risk he was running. He proved to be a sensitive, for on 13th Jan., the day after he had last been among these bushes, heat and itching of the scrotum and inner adjacent surface of the thighs commenced, worst on the hairy parts. Next day the characteristic papules, on a base of diffused redness and oedema, appeared on the forehead and neck, rapidly spreading in all directions, and accompanied with heat, itching, and burning, but with very little general pyrexia. The urine was not high coloured, but felt ” hot ” when being passed. The digestive system was not disturbed much, only loss of appetite being experienced. The itching was relieved by cold, but aggravated by heat, warmth, and rubbing or scratching; his head felt hot, but did not ache. He consulted me for erysipelas; but I was by this time familiar enough with the phenomena of poison – oak to identify the nature of this peculiar ” erysipelas, ” the history of the attack making the diagnosis absolutely certain. Not having had a case to treat thus far, I gave him veratrum viride o, in m 1/3 doses, without hunting about for a more exact simillimum; I ordered also a lotion of magn. sulph. (Zss to Zj of tepid water) to assuage the irritation locally. After commencing this treatment the erysipelas continued to spread for a few hours, reaching ears and mouth, and then seemed entirely checked, gradually subsiding from about 6 hours after the first dose of veratrum viride. Within 3 day all rash and other symptoms had completely disappeared, leaving only slight scurfiness of forehead. But the poison still lingered in the system, for, 2 day after ceasing the medicine, a relapse, not severe, occurred, and once more the same remedy quickly arrested it. No return has been experienced. The papules in this case did not develop into vesicles, and I ascribe this not so much to the possibly less intensity of the infection as to the effects of the remedy. ( Ibid.)
3. Wilson K -, aet. 10 years, of pure blond type, with thin freckled skin, born in England, was poisoned while playing on some sandhills in the rear of Post St., San Francisco, in Feb., 1876. He plucked some of the leaves, but threw them away quickly. However, within 18 hours his face had become red, inflamed, and hideously swollen, his eyes being both quite closed, and the itching and burning were most distressing. The local erysipelas and oedema lasted one week, the papules developing into vesicles, which became confluent and followed the same course as in No. 1. The general eruption extended over the whole body, and did not disappear for five weeks. A medical man of the old school attended, and ordered a salt – and – water lotion, and an occasional saline aperient. The salt lotion relieved the itching of this the first attack, but failed in two subsequent attacks. I heard this month that the body had now apparently attained immunity from the poison – oak. (Ibid.)
RHUS RADICANS [Rhus-r].
Introduction
Poison ivy or poison vine.II. 9. C. H. B., aet. 41, perfectly healthy, was susceptible to action of Rhus, which in previous poisonings had always developed a vesicular eruption, lasting a few day and then disappearing in the usual quiet way. This time, however, the poisoning assumed a different form. Two day after handling the vine the usual vesicular rash appeared on skin of both hands, particularly between fingers. On 3rd day gums began bleeding; ecchymosed spots of different sizes appeared under surface of skin in different parts of body, particularly legs, conjunctiva, vermilion border of lips, and dorsum of tongue. On 7th day haematuria set in, and lasted 7 day more, each passage of urine, 4 – 5 a day, containing a large proportion of blood. Haemorrhage from gums, a continuous oozing, lasted 14 d. Patient assumed a very anaemic appearance. Pulse and temp. were normal up to 14th day, when temp. rose to 108 o, and pulse to 140, resp. being rapid; which condition broke up in a gentle sweat. After this critical period, the bleeding rapidly disappeared, and he quickly regained his usual vigour. (R. C. Allen, Trans. of Penns. Hom. Medorrhinum Soc., 1884, p. 267.)
10. a. On Aug. 17th, 1878, while preparing the 1x dil. of Rhus, the vial broke, allowing contents to escape upon the back of my left hand and run down between the fingers. I washed the hand in warm water as soon as possible. On following day there was itching between fingers – slight at first, but gradually becoming intense, worse from scratching. On 2nd day there appeared between middle and ring fingers a cluster of small elevations, joined at their bases, pretty uniform in size, and presenting a surface not unlike that of a white raspberry. The clusters subsequently proved to be made up of fine transparent vesicles. They continued to appear till they had covered the dorsal surface of all the fingers of the left hand, in the vicinity of their junction. As the contents of the vesicles increased, the patches became more elevated, their walls thinner and more transparent, till at length they ruptured, permitting the escape of a thin watery fluid. The discharge was persistent and very profuse. When dry, it formed a yellow crust; it was not very glutinous, nor was the tendency to form scabs at all marked. The fluid was very acrid, for, when it ran between the fingers and about their webs, the integument assumed a white shrivelled appearance as though parboiled, and soon separated from the subjacent tissues, exposing a raw surface. Each patch of vesicles pursued the same course. Several large blebs appeared between ring and little fingers. The eruption gradually assumed a darker hue, becoming finally reddish brown. The vesicles apparently coalesced towards the last, and when they did so the skin assumed a white, shrivelled, and dead appearance, with a raw surface underneath. The itching continued without abatement, relieved only as the bandages became moist from the discharge or were moistened by liquid applications. The entire dorsal surface of the hand swelled to the thickness of nearly half an inch. On the 3rd day eyelids began to itch and swell, and soon a puffy sac – like prominence was apparent on both upper and under lids, largest on under, and most marked on left side; these lasted about 3 day, and gradually disappeared. On same day there also appeared a number of minute vesicles scattered over anterior surface of scrotum and extending along under surface of penis, most numerous about prepuce. These were similar to the vesicles on hand, but they did not appear in clusters, nor did they break, but went away in a few day, after which desquamation occurred in fine bran – like scales. On the 7th day soreness began to be felt at bend of left elbow. On examining, I found at this point several enlarged and sensitive lymphatic glands. On the day following several axillary glands began to swell, and occasional shooting pains were felt at elbow and between elbow and wrist. They gradually diminished in size and became less sensitive, while the sores upon the hand assumed a healthy character and healed normally.
10 b. About the 10th day small irregular elevations began to appear on the right hand, and upon that portion of the left hand not covered with the bandages. They looked not unlike the blotches produced by a bee – sting, and caused a similar sensation; and when an attempt was made to use the hand, a sore stinging sensation was felt in each of these elevations, which later became one of pricking and tingling. It improved on continued use. Hand was always very stiff on awaking in m., but grew gradually better as I used it during d. An itching finally succeeded the tingling sensation; this, as well as the preceding feelings, was aggravated by washing in cold water, while very warm water seemed to make the hand feel better. Similar spots appeared on neck, ears, and feet, in small numbers, characterised as those on the hands. The spots remained for about 10 day, were hard, and to the touch felt like small hard bodies under the skin.
During the entire proving there was no rise of temperature; appetite was good, and all the functions seemingly well performed. (G. Allen, Trans. of N. Y. State Hom. Medorrhinum Soc., 1879, p. 70.)
11. a. In Feb., 1888, I obtained a score of these beautiful shrubs, and planted them with my own hands. In June I gathered a few of the leaves, dried, pulverised, and triturated them up to 3x. On Sept. 27th I repeated the above on a larger scale, gathered a handful of twigs, and planted them for growth. Towards middle of Oct. intense itchings and a rash, red, in appearance like scabies, appeared on outer commissures of fingers of left hand, in which I had held the twigs for an h. These conditions were soon followed by millet – like elevations, hard and white. Upon their disappearance – after a month’s duration – the irritation, &c., became localised on genitals and thighs, condition of scrotum being like erysipelas, and the sexual excitement actually maddening. A sharp diarrhoea ended the trouble, which had continued some 10 d.
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.