Poisonings
1. a. E. P. -, aet. 24, took on April 27th, 1824, 3 centgr. of Ph. in some hot water. Experiencing no effect, he took 3 day later, 8 or 10 centigr. He breakfasted immediately afterwards, and felt no bad effects; but towards 5 p. m., being at table, was taken with violent pain in abdomen, and had painful and continued vomiting and abundant alvine dejections. He continued to attend to his business till May 4th, when at 7 a. m. Dr. Worbe saw him (no account of his condition during this time is given). Abdomen was very tense; epigastrium exceedingly painful; no priapism. Patient in state of extreme debility; could only lie on his back; speech slow and difficult; features had a sort of fixity, giving to his physiognomy a singular air of sadness, languor, and wandering of mind. Tongue and buccal membrane natural; lips and face of livid shade; conjunctiva deeply tinged with yellow. Eyes dull, opened with difficulty, could not bear light long; pupil normal, iris little sensitive to light. Pulse a little hard. Urine normal; but he had no stool since the initial diarrhoea ceased. At 10 p. m. he recognised no one, was convulsively agitated, and tore off with violence everything placed on his abdomen. He carried his hands automatically to the epigastric region. Abdomen was contracted, and pressure elicited plaintive cries and disordered movements. Mouth was tightly closed; eyelids opened with difficulty; and at intervals he made deep sobbing inspirations. On 5th, m., stomach had become meteorised; patient grew worse every h; there was involuntary dribbling of urine, and abundant alvine discharges followed by extreme flaccidity of abdominal walls. Resp. became slow and easy; strokes of heart regular and full. At 10 p. m., no radical pulse; whole body intensely yellow and covered with cold sweat. He died next m.at3.
1b. P. M. – Skin yellow. Subcutaneous veins of abdomen and upper thighs large and arborescent; scrotum bluish. In thorax much coloured serosity. Lungs gorged; heart soft, collapsed, empty. Mucous membrane of stomach was the only inflamed part. About cardiac and pyloric orifices much dark ecchymoses. Intestines full of gas. Head not opened. (WORBE, in Orfila, op. cit.)
2. A lady, aet. 30 odd, strong and healthy, swallowed at n., on going to bed, scrapings of lucifer matches containing about 3 gr. Ph. For 8 hours she concealed her sufferings. Her violent and noisy vomitings revealed her state to those in the House, and the doctor was summoned. The patient lay prostrated, cold, and pallid, as if moribund, and unconscious. Skin covered with cold clammy sweat, here and there of a waxy yellow colour, complexion leaden – grey. The eyes surrounded with dark blue rings, mouth closed, lips pale, respirations retarded, short, laboured; heart’s impulse weak, hesitating, intermittent; radial pulse small, hard, slow, unrhythmic, now and then intermitting. Abdomen distended, all over very sensitive, the slightest touch caused violent pains, she could not bear the weight of her nightdress, and her hand constantly moved as if to raise it. She had vomited some 12 times with great effort and noise, at first watery slimy fluid, mixed with epithelium and shreds of m. m., later some clotted blood and blood – corpuscles embedded in mucus. Along with this there were diarrhoeic stools of the same character. No urine was passed, nor did bladder seem to contain much. The utero – vesical region was very sensitive to touch. There was complete collapse, the limbs hanging down in a relaxed state, and were as flexible as wax. Senses and mind were in unconscious apathy, she could only be roused by called loudly into her ear. After Aconite 1 every 10 m. she slowly revived. Afternoon, skin moderately warm, pulse freer, fuller, quicker, consciousness only disturbed for a few seconds at a time, otherwise quite clear. She complained of very violent burning pain in chest at its lower part (oesophagus?), in the stomach and whole abdomen; every touch and change of posture increased the pain. Vomiting and diarrhoea had ceased, but she had still retching and ineffectual straining at stool when she felt burning like fire in large intestine and anus. She passed with difficulty small quantities of dark yellow urine smelling strongly of garlic, after micturition very severe burning. Abdomen very much distended in every direction, and very sensitive to touch. In evening there came on a violent exacerbation, accompanied by frequent and persistent delirium, generally bearing on anticipations and apprehensions of death. Sometimes there were convulsions with loud cries of anxiety. She tried to lean over the bed, but always fell back fainting. This was frequently repeated during n. Consciousness was completely gone. She now got Belladonna 1, 4 dr. in 3iv water, a teaspoonful every hour, alternated with Aconite After some hours improvement set in. She had longer intervals of quiet, the convulsive movements were seldomer and slighter. No more cries, and she slept quietly for hours. Consciousness returned. The heart’s beats became rhythmical and strong, the body became warm, and covered all over with gentle perspiration, the pain in abdomen was much lessened, and she could bear it to be touched. She gradually improved. The abdominal and other symptoms declined, but on the 10th day she complained of drawing pains in right upper part of chest which affected the breathing. After a short while this changed into deep persistent burning over spot size of a child’s hands in the region of the sixth and seventh ribs, which sometimes made it impossible to draw a deep breath. There was constant tendency to short cough, which she tried to suppress on account of the pain it gave. She now got Bryon. 3, and by the 12th day all these symptoms were gone. From the 15th for 2 weeks she was tortured with boring burning pains in the bones which deprived her of most of her sleep at n. These pains were particularly severe in the skull, the palatal and nasal bones, both jaws, and the teeth. The boring burning toothache was aggravated by taking cold or warm things into mouth, or by chewing, so that she could only take tepid liquid nutriment. Sometimes the pain in teeth became of a numb character; the teeth then felt loose as though they would fall out. There was a similar burning sore pain in the soft parts of mouth and throat, affecting also the orifice of the Eustachian tube; the parts were bright red and slightly swollen and she felt as if they were raw and covered with ulcers. There was a similar pain in internal ear, a buzzing noise affecting the hearing, humming and ringing occasionally. Swelling of concha and slight swelling of right temporal and superior maxillary bones. Soreness of Schneiderian membrane; the opening to nostrils was covered with bloody scabs. Swelling of nasal bones and unusual blowing from nose of blood and mucus. The stools, which were passed with burning in anus and frequent tenesmus, contained bloody mucus, and small faecal masses covered with blood. There was almost always an urging to stool. The urine was passed in drops which burned like fire, and there was pain in kidneys and bladder. Sometimes the scanty urine was mixed with blood. These symptoms improved under Mercurius 1 and Mez. 6. In the 8th week, when the patient was beginning to go about, she felt a peculiar sensation of general loss of muscular power. She could not walk upstairs. This condition increased until every movement was disagreeable and fatiguing. She took to bed and became quite apathetic, alternating with angry words and actions. During this time she was often very drowsy by d. No sooner did she fall asleep than she began to speak nonsense or she went into an erotic ecstasy, talked in a libidinous way, and touched herself so as to satisfy her sexual desires. The menses, which occurred twice during this illness, came regular as to time, but were very scanty and attended by spasmodic pains in uterus and renal region, which was quite unusual with her. After the menses she had burning leucorrhoea that made the parts sore. The urine was clear and in good quantity. Simultaneously with these nervous symptoms there came on what the patient called “gouty pains” in knees and ankles, which made walking very difficult. She had to take great care to avoid falling, and she said she felt a gelatinous substance between the parts of the joints that were in contact, which offered great resistance to her movements. The soft parts of the joints were indeed somewhat swollen, but not red or painful to touch. There was considerable rigidity of the joints. The skin, which had been pale and loose, now took on a yellow tint, there appeared bloated swellings in some places on the eyelids and face, which left a depression when pressed on with the finger. On the nape, back, and other parts the skin could be raised up with the fingers in large folds, which slowly smoothed down again. Finally, a peculiar exanthem appeared, which affected the skin about the joints and was not of very great extent; it resembled ordinary eczema, it consisted of small vesicles closely collected in groups, which rapidly turned into scabs, and frequently recurred. Sulph. was given, and the patient gradually recovered. (J. O. MULLER, A.h. Z., 1, 163.)
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.