Introductions
Ruta graveolens, L. Rue Nat. Ord., Rutaceae.
Provings
1. HAHNEMANN, Mat. Medorrhinum Pura, vol. iv of original, vol. ii of translation. Contains 26 symptoms from self, 259 from 8 associates, and 3 from authors.
2. [No information as to dose or proper.] Burning in abdomen. Pressure in abdomen, then great emptiness. Frequent rumbling in belly. Great drowsiness after a meal. Drowsy, a. m. Weight in belly. Little appetite, dislike to meat and vegetables. Starting in midday siesta and jerking of foot. Formication on thighs so that he must scratch, on the side on which he is not lying. (HERING, Archiv, xv, I, 187.)
3. [As No. 2.] Pressive shooting pain over whole forehead, especially while coughing (2 hours); a thick red stripe, like a long swelling, extending from root of nose and inner margin of eyebrows up to each frontal eminence, not tender; mucus in both canthi, m., constantly reproduced on wiping it away; he sees distant objects more clearly than usual (prover was myopic); after meal of bread and butter pinching at right side of stomach region, soon going off again; soft stool; he passes water frequently and copiously, without painful feeling; in evening after lying down explosive cough, with much expectoration of tenacious stingy mucus, – it returned several times in less strength during n., and when worst threatened to end in vomiting; he was wakened about midnight by a choking cough, with scraping at upper chest, without pain and with little and infrequent expectoration; dyspnoea and shortness of breath; cramp – like throbbing pain in middle of right thigh, afterwards in both at once, – after this had gone off similar pain on outer side of left leg below knee, that soon went away in turn; at n. pain in both thighs, as though violently grasped and squeezed in hands; he woke at 4 a. m. with dull tearing pain in sacrum, that only went off about 9 a. m.; great lassitude in legs, walking very difficult from sense of heaviness in them; sleepless, restless n., he must lie now here, now there, without heat of body, or cough, or thoughts that hinder sleep; was obliged to rise 3 times in n. to micturate, and passed on unusually large amount of urine; coldness creeps over him, especially up back. (HARTLAUB u. TRINKS, Arzn., i. 319.)
4a. May 28th, 1856, evening, and 29th, m., took 1 dr. 7th dil. of leaves of R. Sleep full of remembered dreams. Burning shooting in chest, especially under sternum, like pain of ulceration, m. Sore pain on left ring – finger. Shooting above right knee as if ulcerated when standing and walking. Drowsy, head heavy, confused. For 2 successive m. very weak sight, as if eyes were too distended. Shooting pressure deep in orbit. Tired pain in eyes when reading. – June 1st. Dislocative pain in right shoulder, stiffness of neck, m. Itching at corner of mouth. Perspiration when walking in open air, p. m. Distension of abdomen, e.
4b. March 4th, 1857, took 2 dr., 4th dil., 5 times in the d. Frequent chills and shivering all d. Much yawning, especially noon, also after eating. Pain in back and sacrum, especially tearing squeezing, shooting. Cramp in left sole, e. Vivid remembered dreams, n. – 5th. Exhaustion, weight in head and limbs, m. Loss of appetite for breakfast. Nape and shoulders painful as if stiff, aching. Tensive pain in brain, shooting in left frontal protuberance. Frequent eructation, inodorous flatus. Pressure on right scapula with shivering. Shooting and pressure from apex of scapula into back. Shooting in left portal bone when reading. Shooting and pressure above left eyebrow. Drowsy, p. m., uncommonly exhausted, relieved by walking. After taking walk, evening, cheerful but very fatigued and inclined to lie down. Backache and heaviness of limbs, which went off when working; urine dark yellow. – 6th. After 8 a. m., when reading, headache, pressure in occiput, frequent sneezing and yawning with chilliness. Lies long awake, n.; head affected internally, not painful, cannot sleep on account of it. Itching and tearing in thighs and back, n. Tiresome, persistent, vivid dreams. – 8th. On rising, m., pinching in abdomen, eructation. Empty feeling, creeping in stomach, no appetite. Pressure, tension, weight in occiput. Dazed feeling; confusion in head; difficulty of thinking from calculating and writing for a few m. Heaviness in forehead and pressive pain in occiput, stiff neck. Burning and soreness in outer canthi. Pressure betwixt scapula, p. m. Shooting in shoulders. Hands and soles cold. Dull persistent shoot in forehead after slight work and straining eyes. Itching and smarting in eyelids, e. Persistent, tiresome dreams, n. – 9th. Confused heavy head, with tension in forehead, shooting and smarting in canthi as from dust, m. Boring in throat at 10 a. m. After dinner very exhausted, drowsy, head heavy. After sleeping for 1/2 hours frequent yawning, lachrymation of eyes, heaviness of head after reading for a short time, flatulence. No sleep till 1 a. m., thoughts seem to hover in the distance, rapid succession of thoughts disturb sleep. Sleeps from 3 to 4 a. m. without being refreshed, awake from 5 a. m., and cannot get to sleep again, heavy head. (SCHELLING, A. h. Z., Ixxxiv, 44.)
5. Dr. VAN DE WARKER took 10 min. doses of the oil at 9.5, 9:30, and 9:55 p. m. After first dose there was warmth in stomach and sense of uneasiness in head. After second, uneasiness in stomach, pain in back, oppressive feeling in head, slight confusion of ideas, and occasional feeling of faintness. The third dose intensified the above symptoms, pain over kidneys was more marked, with urgent desire to urinate. Flashes of heat passed over body, and there was an indescribable sense of nervousness, which created a fear that an overdose had been taken. The confusion of mind was controllable by an effort of will, as also was the general feeling of nervousness. Pulse was increased in frequency. Gait was unsteady. Pain at stomach was in great measure appeared by drinking milk. For several hours after the desire to micturate was constantly present. During n. the effect of the rue was that of any narcotic drug upon him – but little sleep and great restlessness. (Sphygmographic tracings of pulse showed its energy diminished.) (Criminal Abortion, Boston, 1872, p.80.).
Poisonings
1. a. M. PUEL, a pharmacist, in August plucked a number of specimens of right in fruit. Next n. had violent itching on upper surface of hands, which were studded over with red spots. Next m. in place of these red spots there were vesicles filled with transparent fluid, very red at their base; there were more of these vesicles between the fingers than on the rest of hands; they were in groups, some of which seemed connected with others by a red track of peculiar appearance, something like the tracks made by the Acarus scabiei. The itching continued to increase, and on the 2nd day the vesicles had developed and covered both hands almost completely, especially the right, which had been most engaged in plucking and manipulating the plant; the general appearance was very much that of a sarcoptic eruption. At the end of 2 day, during which the itching continued, especially at n., when it became intolerable, the groups of vesicles were sufficiently close to effect a junction with one another, and the appearance at the points of junction was as though the hands had been imperfectly blistered with cantharides. This condition continued for 10 to 12 day, after which the inflammation diminished and the epidermis exfoliated. But 2 or 3 weeks after the apparent cure, there appeared small vesicles on several parts of hands, filled with the same sort of liquid and arranged in groups, just as though they had been caused by some animalcule. When the hands were nearly healed, the toes of both feet became the seat of some itching, and there appeared on those parts groups of vesicles precisely similar to those on the hands.
1b. Next year, in June, M. Puel gathered some specimens of right in flower. Though he took the greatest precaution to touch the plant as little as possible, he was even much severely affected than in the previous year. He was ill for 3 weeks, and his hands presented a lamentable appearance, just as though they had been scalded with boiling water, so excoriated were they. The right hand especially, which had touched the plant with the ends of the forefinger and thumb, was literally one big wound from the wrist to the tips of the fingers. An intense pain which attended the eruption compelled him to keep his bed for 5 or 6 day (SOUBEIRAN, Gaz. Hebdom., viii, 720.)
2. PLINY says that a gardener who was working among right got erysipelas of hands and forehead. (Hist. Nat., i, 20, c. xiii. In Wibmer.)
3. BULLIARD says a large dose causes restlessness, fever with yawning, dryness of mouth, and pains in throat. By handling it for a considerable time it inflames the skin, and the hands swell. (Plant. ven. de la France. In Wibmer.)
4. After cutting a quantity of the herb in June, and stripping the leaves from the stalks, he observed next m. great redness and heat of both hands. The 3rd day the redness and pain had increased so much that the hands looked as if they had been exposed to hot steam. They were smeared with oil; by evening they were with vesicles, especially the tips of fingers. The 4th day the hands were still much swollen, and between he vesicles the skin was bluish – red. The 5th and 6th day the swelling had spread over back of arm up to elbow. The vesicles were opened and covered with a compress of chamomile and elder flowers. In 4 weeks the whole skin of the hands desquamated, even on the parts where there had been no vesicles. (ROTH, Buchner’s Toxicol., 265. In Wibmer.)
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.