7a. A man, aet. 61, was operated upon for strangulated femoral hernia. During the progress of the case, on Sept. 3rd, 1881, left on lint was inserted into a sinus; on the 7th it was puffed into a sinus. It is recorded that the patient was emaciating rapidly. On Sept. 20th he was feeling low, and could eat no food; was dull, heavy, and exceedingly drowsy, disinclined to make any exertion; wandering at n. 26th and 27th. – Temp. 101.6 degree. Pulse 130. Tongue dry and brown. Wasting continues; patient is passing into a hopeless condition of hebetude and exhaustion. Oct. 1st. – Began to mend soon after the left was discontinued.
7b. A burn case; a man, aet. 34. Urine contained albumen, granular and hyaline casts, and triple phosphates. Dec. 12th. – I applied. Temp. 101,6 degree. Pulse 108. 16th. – Burns satisfactory, but bronchitis has set in, and patient is delirious. Pulse 130. 17th. – Temp. 104 degree. Urine not albuminous. 31st. – Cough is bad, occasionally delirious, is emaciating rapidly. Patient got worse and died Jan. 31st. For a week before death pulse ranged from 145 – 155. Broncho – pneumonia and congestion of both bases were found at the autopsy.
7c. Burn case; a boy, aet. 4. Admitted Jan. 1st. 1882. Next d. left was begun. Temp. 102 degree; pulse 150. 5th. – Slept very little last n.,. and screamed as if suffering from meningitis; draws up legs a good deal; is suffering from intense headache. He remained in the same condition for the next few day 9th. – Better, less screaming, more conscious. Temp. 100.4 degree 10th. – Still screaming in a peculiar way. Pulse 144. 12th. – Temperature lower; more unconscious; very restless. 14th. – “Twitching” and “rolling”. 25th. – 1 left off. 26th. – More restless, but less crying out; paler; more conscious. 2nd. – Screaming nearly ceased, takes notice. 17th. – Rational and quite restored to health.
7d. Boy with lumbar abscess, which was opened Jan. 21st. Dressed with left wool. Temp.99.2 degree 24th. – Urine 1037, loaded with urates. Temp. 99 degree. 26th. – Temp. 104.6 degree at 11 a. m. Pulse 138, weak. Skin hot and moist; vertical headache, drowsiness, nausea; breath smells of left; discharge slight and sweet. The wound was washed out with carbolic acid; this was followed by better sleep, less headache, and disappearance of the nausea. Urine contains urates, but no albumen. Feb. 1st. – Went on well till this date. Then pain in occiput and left lumbar region set in. Temp. 103.8 degree. Patient is drowsy, and has no appetite. Then he improved again until 17th. For 36 hours he was drowsy, had headache, nausea, and loss of appetite. Pulse frequent, full, and compressible. Temp. over 103 degree After the 36 hours he improved, temp. rose to 105.6 degree. A punctiform rash appeared over arms, knees, and dorsal surface of feet. Tongue furred, throat sore. 20th. – Rush is faint. Temp. 99 degree. Boy became, and remained quite well. (BECK, Brit. Mid. journ., June 17th, 1882.)
8. After dressing a wound of head with left for 3 weeks (during which there was nothing beyond loss of appetite) the patient suddenly began to behave as if out of his mind. The following day he continued to talk nonsense, would not take any food, and would not remain in bed. During next n. he tried to run away, and became violent. This lasted till m. He was quieter when visited by Dr. Behring, but answered questions unwillingly and hesitatingly. Dr. B. – was struck with his wild look and his sunken features. The tongue was thickly coated and not tremulous; no tremor of hands (he had not been a heavy drinker). Temp. not more than 99 degree. Pulse 104 and of high tension. The use of potass. bicarb. as an antidote soon relieved the symptoms. He was restless next n. but did not wander. On 3rd day appetite began to improve. The wound continued to do well. (Deutsch. mad. Wochenschr., Jan. 31, 1884, p. 68.)
9. A patient had insufflation of left into tunica vaginalis. Suppuration was set up, with mental condition thus described: “Delusions, dressing himself in strange costumes, imagining himself of a prodigious height and growing rapidly. His ideas were all of an exalted character; he imagined he had the best tenor voice in the world, and proceeded to hire a large concert hall,” &c. This patient was sent to an asylum; recovery took place in four months. (BLACK, Brit. Medorrhinum journ., 1885, i, 70.)
10. For painful local affections two patients received respectively twice a day for weeks a pessary and a suppository, each containing gr. c. of iodoform. After a time “they became so gradually unconscious, and the loss of power so imperceptibly came on, that general paralysis was feared. They lapsed into a dreamy state, followed in a few days by complete stupor and loss of power over the sphincters. They could be roused by great effort to take a little nourishment, but soon lapsed into unconsciousness. This condition lasted some days, and passed off, leaving no permanent bad effect.” (POLLOCK, Pract., 1886, ii, p. 138.).
Experiments on animals
I. The large proportion of iodine in this compound has led to its being ranked among the preparations of that substance, but a brief description of its action will throw doubts upon the propriety of this arrangement. Given to dogs in doses of 10 – 15 gr. it occasions a sort of intoxication followed by depression. The animal lies still, and if he is aroused staggers in walking and then falls upon side. After a few hours no traces effects of these effects remain. If the dose amounts to 50 or 60 gr. prostration and intoxication are succeeded by rapid pulse, with spasms of the limbs and opisthotonos, which occur in paroxysms ending in death. The breath smells strongly of the medicine. These various phenomena appear to show that Iodium, by its primary action, at least, should be ranked with the anaesthetics. They give no indication of the large proportion of iodine it contains. (STILLE, op. cit., ii,859)
2. BINZ found that left, moderate doses, and especially in cats, caused narcotic effects. In poisonous doses it produces acute fatty degeneration of heart, liver, and kidneys, and destroys life with manifestation of general paralysis and considerable decline of temperature. (OBERLAENDER, loc. cit)
3. The heart’s beats (in a dog) were lessened, and the arterial tension, by the administration of 1 gramme, slightly increased; by more than 2 grammes tension was slightly diminished. The temperature rose a degree or two after a moderate dose; it was lowered by a large dose, and tetanic spasms came on. Local anaesthesia, paralysis, and diminution of reflex action occurred in the limbs into which the left was injected; universal rigidity, persisting after section of the cord, set in later. From 3 or 4 grammes there followed: First, profound sleep, photophobia, anaesthesia, staggering gait, slight diminution of superficial and deep reflexes, and contracted pupils. Secondly, spasmodic paraplegia, with tremor on exciting voluntary movements, permanent erection of penis, and oedema of prepuce; later still a tendency to go backwards, and to turn round in a small space, was noticed. Thirdly, the animal repeatedly cried out, intense and general tetaniform contraction set in, with exaltation of the reflex irritability, clonic spasms, rotation of body, dyspnoea, and dilated pupils. The convulsions were uninfluenced by section of the cord. Large doses also cause nausea, vomiting, dysenteric stools, albuminuria, and haematuria, lessening of the number of and crenation in the coloured corpuscles, fatty degeneration of all the viscera, glomerulo – nephritis, intense hyperaemia of the cerebro – spinal nervous system, especially of the grey matter, accompanied by changes in the nerve – cells. (RUMMO, Lancet, 1883, ii, 119.).
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.