6. A family, consisting of father, mother, and three girls of 6 – 12, were poisoned by eating poke – root grated with horse – radish. The following symptoms were observed: – Dread of movement; dulness, giddiness, and vertigo; semi – stupor, falls asleep immediately after a paroxysm of cramping has ceased; pains in forehead, worse after eating; sense of soreness in interior of head; headache with sickness at stomach, coldness in head; pallor of face, which looked blue and suffering; dryness of fauces; throat very dry, rough, and sore, with feeling of a lump therein; constant thirst; violent of clotted blood and slime, with retching, intense pain, and desire for death to relieve; violent cramps, vomiting, coldness, and diarrhoea, with most intense distress at stomach (1/2 hours); cutting, tearing, straining pains in stomach, followed by soreness to pressure; griping in abdomen, as before and after diarrhoea; bearing – down pains; continued inclination to go to stool, with much straining; diarrhoea with sticky feeling in bowels; copious discharges of blood, mucus, and what looked like scrapings of intestines; involuntary stools, from straining, which continued even in sleep; weakness, pain and soreness in region of kidneys; straining to pass water; involuntary straining and haemorrhage per vaginum; uterine pains, returning at intervals for 2 day, uterus could be felt contracting under hand (woman was in 7th mo. of pregnancy, and came near having a miscarriage); intense griping pain in small of back; cramps in lower extremities, muscles gathered into great knots, hard and rigid, coming and going suddenly, followed by drowsiness and stupor, even full sleep, muscles left flaccid and sore; great coldness and withered appearance of extremities, they felt like those of a corpse; whole body cold. (W. L. GILMAN, in Hearing.)
7. A medical man dug up, in season for obtaining it, a root as large as his fist, and on his return began slicing it up. Being interrupted by a call, it was 2 hours were he had finished job. In course of another hours eyes became much inflamed, and tears flowed continually; they were relieved by going into open air. He also felt general weakness and discomfort. Next m. eyes were agglutinated and oedematous, as if poisoned; and he had fluent coryza. This state of eyes and nose lasted about 2 d. After it had passed off he had a diarrhoea which recurred 3 m. The dejections were very abundant, and did not cease until they became almost watery; they came on at 1 – 2 a. m., and lasted until after breakfast; flatus was abundant. There was no loss of appetite and no pain. (besides inhaling emanations, Dr. – took a few dr. from macerating jar before much of the virtue had been extracted.) (HALE, 2nd ed.)
8. A druggist pulverised dry root. Soon after he felt burning sensation in nose; then dryness of throat, soon becoming soreness; thin, watery discharge from nostrils, increasing till nose became stuffed; headache, commencing in frontal region and extending back; dysphagia, even for water, every attempt to swallow was attended with excruciating shooting pains through both ears; saliva increased; difficulty of breathing, inability to breathe through nostrils; pulse over 100; vertigo. Dyspnoea being so great, he took 3j of sweet spirits of nitre with 3ij of liq. ammonia acetatis, which so relieved him that in 1 hours nearly all the symptoms had vanished. (J. LESTER KEEP, M. day, in Ibid.)
9. Last month I was called to attend ten young women who were all employed in one of our wholesale drug houses. They were engaged in packing the ground or powdered drugs. For some day past a large quantity of poke – root was ground up – the fine dust filling the room and being inhaled by the girls. They all presented the same symptoms, with but slight variation: – Intense headache; eyes much inflamed, red, with flow of hot tears; throat red, tonsils swollen, painful to swallow; constant irritated feeling in throat, producing desire to cough, worse from exposure to cold air and better in the warm room and after going to bed; tendency for the cough to produce nausea; nose sore, with profuse acrid watery discharge; no appetite; food inclined to produce pain in stomach; tongue much coated and feels as if scalded; slight diarrhoea in two cases, in others no special effect on bowels; menses suppressed in 4 cases, it had never been delayed before with them. The irritation of trachea and larynx persisted in some of the cases for 10 day, but in the others lasted only until 7th day (Dr. W. ST. JOHN HARRIS; communicated.).
Experiments on animals
1. When given to animals in large doses it produces vomiting, purging, bloody stools, perspiration, drowsiness or stupor, cough, tremors, convulsive movements, increased urination, and distension of abdomen. The flesh of wild pigeons and other birds which eat of the berries acquires a highly red colour and disagreeable flavour, and is destitute of adipose substance. (SCHULTZ, in Hering.)
2 Dr. BURT experimented on animals – manner not stated. Effects mentioned as observed are – many convulsive symptoms; nausea and violent vomiting; vomiting of worms. P. M., trachea and lungs filled with mucus; stomach highly congested at base, as also colon and rectum, liver and kidneys. (HALE, op. cit., Ist ed.).
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.