Poisonings
1. a. Dr. HOYT, March 18th, 1857, wishing to prepare a tinct, went into a swamp and procured some sprouts of Rh. v. He had buckskin gloves on, and kept to windward; but in 1 1/2 hours began to feel most intense burning and itching in scrotum and penis – glands being very painful. 19th. – Symptoms continued in same severity. At 11 a. m. he cautiously scraped off the bark. At 3 p. m. itching and burning commenced on right hand (between fingers on dorsal aspect). 20th. – Very restless along n. Woke with itching and burning in various parts of body; hands considerably swollen; face red but not shining. As day advanced itching and burning went on, always relieved by exercise by worse at rest; hands and face covered with little vesicles, exuding clear serum; right eyelid swollen and stiff. Had two stools, loose, first preceded by griping; abdomen tender to touch and pressure. 21st. – Symptoms all increased; face much swollen, and swelling of hands extending halfway to elbow; pain excessive. Dizzy sensation at times, much worse in evening 22nd. – Loose stools at 3, 6, and 9 a. m., sudden, pain in hypogastrium preceding them. Hands and face still worse; mouth feels rough, and mucous membrane is abnormally red; incrustations appeared on inside of thighs; slight dimness of sight, lachrymation, and livid circle found eyes; considerable deafness; chills ran up back, even when warm and in warmth. Towards evening mouth got worse, and fauces took on same condition, causing dysphagia; eyes smarted and burned, with profuse lachrymation; quite severe colic about umbilicus; very restless all n. 23rd. – Dull feeling in head and considerable frontal headache (relieved by belladonna). Severity of other symptoms somewhat abated, save diarrhoea, which is more severe; stools dark brown. General malaise. On affected parts soreness and peeling are replacing previous symptoms; exudation now slightly yellow. Several vesicles under tongue, which is white coated, with red edges. Little appetite; some nausea 24th. – Desquamation now went on freely, cuticle being renewed 4 times; new skin at first red and shining, afterwards rough, hard, dry, and very tender. Dullness, heaviness, and aching in head continued, also deafness; he had trembling of limbs and twitching of muscles; no disposition to move about or study; was apprehensive, restless, and of fitful humour.
1b. Symptoms gradually subsided till April 5th, when by accident bottle of tinct. was broken, and he received full force of effluvium. Face, especially upper lip, was much swollen and exceedingly painful; back of ears also swollen, and here and on lips vesicles were abundant. Every day from 2 to 5 a. m. diarrhoea began, and continued till noon; abdomen much bloated and painful on least pressure; continual rumbling and griping pain, always worse just before stool; colour of stools uniformly light. (This continued fro 3 weeks, yielding to no remedy, till it was stopped – then and in subsequent recurrences – by junipers virginiana I.) All muscles stiff, especially those of back of right leg (this also lasted some time). As desquamation ceased, boils – 3 large, 10 smaller – appeared on face and extremities, and ran usual course.
Uniformly, throughout the whole experience, the symptoms were aggravated by rest, and relieved by moderate exercise in open air. (Ibid.)
2. In 1814, Dr. PIERSON accompanied me (BIGELOW) to collect the juice of the Rhus vernix. He had always supposed himself exempt from liability to the poison. The day was warm; the effluvium from the incisions we made in the tree was very powerful; we were exposed an hours, he less than myself. His own account of the symptoms is as follows: “I felt no unpleasant effects for 6 or 7 hours, when I perceived the backs of my forehead and upper lip were soon in the same state. The following m. the tumefaction had increased, and other parts were infected; the backs of my hands and wrists began to show small watery vesicles. No applications were made until about noon; I then applied cloths dipped in lead water to one hand and wrist, and a spirituous solution of corrosive muriate of mercury to the other. The parts began to itch; the tumefaction increased; vesication began to take place on the swollen surface; small pustules formed and ran into each other, and at last some were as large as nutmegs. Next day my eyes were nearly closed, from the swelling of my forehead, eyebrows, and cheeks. The contents of the vesicles were perfectly limpid; inoculation from them to the other parts had no effect, nor at any other stage. The next evening the inflammation was at its height; the burning and itching intolerable. The following day the pustules began to appear a little milky, and by night the inflammation was evidently on the decline. This day I applied stramonium ointment. In a fortnight I was able to leave my chamber, and had a new cuticle from the roots of my hair on the forehead to my breast, and on the arms and inside the thighs. During the first 5 day the pulse was increased 10 – 20 strokes.” (Ibid.)
3. O. L -, aet. 16, a short stout lad, p. m. on Nov. 21st, 1843, while ploughing in a field came to some shrubs in the way of the plough. These he removed with his hands, on which there were previously some abrasions. In about an hours afterwards his hands, arms, face and legs began to swell; this was accompanied by slight redness of skin and by thirst; no nausea or headache. On the 22nd I found great swelling of face, arms and legs; some slight redness and swelling over chest, but trunk little affected. (The shrub was found to be Rh. v.) The swelling continued to increase till the evening, taking about 28 hours to reach its height. On the 24th it began to lessen, and by the 26th it had disappeared. Appetite remained good throughout. (STRATTON, Ed. Medorrhinum and Surg. Journ., Ixxiii, 327.)
4. A gentleman, aet. 30, hearing that Rh. v. was successful in the destruction of corns, applied tinct. to one on left foot 4 times, using fingers to rub it in. (He considers that by pulling sock on diffusion over foot occurred, and by possible change of socks other foot became influenced.) There came on intolerable itching and burning in left foot; vesicles formed there, and skin became congested, thick and stiff. Rubbing and striking part increased itching, as also did exercise. Similar itching and burning was now experienced in scrotum, forehead, eyelids, front of neck, and right foot, attended with slightly appearance of all these parts. On 4th day vesicles came out on right foot, also in bed of left elbow; occasional formication was felt in affected parts. On m. of 5th day vesicles began to break, scabs following; legs were oedematous, pitting on pressure. On 6th day, vesicles on fingers and back of right hand. As the vesicles broke, and desquamation commenced, acute inflammation of surface (feet, hands & c.), of dark red colour, supervened, with intense prickling heat, as though a hot iron plate was held in close proximity to the swollen parts; flashes of heat, as though a stream of hot air was passing over body, with throbbing and tearing pains extending from each temple back to occiput and down neck to each shoulder. There was suppuration of whole dorsum of left foot, and occasional patches of it of size of a half – dime to a dime halfway up to knee, also on right foot and fingers; these went on to deep, corroding, phagedenic ulcers, burning, prickling, and discharging thin, straw – coloured, acrid, and very foetid pus. By this time he was somewhat emaciated, and peevish and fretful to an extreme. The intensity of the symptoms continued about 3 weeks, but it was 3 mos. before he was entirely free from them. (THOMAS, Brit. Journ. of Hom., xiv, 346.)
5. A little girl of 5 had been languid for 2 weeks, with no special symptoms, when one day nose swelled up and became red, with slight fever. Dr. BURT put 6 dr. of 1x dil. into 3/4 of a tumbler of water, and ordered a teaspoonful every 2 h. Next day patient was much better, and he ordered drug to be continued. On following day, however, though nose was well, eyes were swollen and half closed, and she was very feverish. He gave camphor as antidote, but next day she was very much worse, very hot, pulse 130, soft and weak, face swollen enormously, eyes completely closed, tongue white coated, with watery vesicles on its sides and on fauces, which (with tonsils) were much inflamed; urine very high coloured. She complained bitterly of soreness of throat, and said her limbs were so stiff that she could not walk. About 4 p. m. croupy symptoms came on, and continued to increase till midnight; head was thrown back, face almost black, cough very dry and of deep, hollow, crowing character; resp. almost impossible; pulse 140, soft and weak. Aconite was given, and next day spongia. At n. the “croup” came on again, but less violently. The croupy cough now left her, but she had a hard dry cough for a week, with much rattling of mucus in chest; eyes remained closed for some time, and face very much swollen, but its colour was natural; she could not open her mouth to eat for 2 weeks; tongue was coated thickly, of dark grey colour, with very red tip; pulse remained at 130, soft and feeble, for first week, in second came down to its natural standard; abdomen and lower limbs became enormously swollen, and it was 3 weeks before the oedema disappeared; bowels costive and very tympanitic; legs could not be moved without making her cry, but if not touched she was perfectly easy. It was ten weeks before she became quite well. [Dr. Burt ascribes this illness to overdosing with the Rh. v.] (Medorrhinum Invest., March, 1865.).
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.