8. a. In the summer of 1860, 3 members of the same family were affected with symptoms of digestive organs, which terminated in death of the two younger suffers. Symptoms. – In the last day of June of 1st of July Jean J -, aet. 23, was suddenly seized with violent pain in epigastrium, intense thirst, vomiting, sensation of heat in fauces and upper part of abdomen, some diarrhoea. These symptoms soon subsided. Some time afterwards they recurred without noticeable cause, but in still greater intensity. When seen (Aug. 29th) his face was thin and had an anxious expression, eyes surrounded by a black circle, no sleep for several n., vision only affected during and after the vomiting, no mental symptoms, temperature of skin normal, very weak, anorexia, insatiable thirst, feeling of burning and heat in epigastrium and along oesophagus, acid eructations, frequent vomiting, which wa renewed every time he drank; the stools contained some blackish matter resembling blood; stools attended by tenesmus. He died Aug. 31st.
8 b. A younger brother, aet. 22, soon afterwards showed the same symptoms, excepting the tenesmus and bloody stools; these symptoms persisted, and he died Sept. 14th.
8 c. Marie B-, mother of the above, an old woman, was on Aug. 24th seized with violent pain in fauces, intense thirst, vomiting of greenish matter, with pain in epigastric region; she passed some liquid stools, and had often very painful flushes of heat from the upper part of the abdomen to chest and lower part of neck; these ended in acid eructations. Seen Aug. 29th she was found to be very weak, noised in ears, sight only affected during the efforts to vomit, she then sees objects through a mist; insomnia, pulse regular, 75; tongue natural, broad, moist; anorexia, thirst not quite so intense as before; uniform redness of m. m. of fauces and slight swelling of tonsils, the flushes of heat not so frequent, feeling of burning in stomach, accompanied by inclination to vomit and acid eructations, no stool since last n. She was treated medically, and recovered about the 20th Sept. She said that when she was in pain her gait was unsteady, her legs weak, and she had to support herself by the furniture. Chemical and physiological examination of th contents of the stomach in the 2 fatal cases led to the conclusion that all three had been poisoned by Veratrum alb. (Gazette Hebdomadaire, viii, 499.)
9. In excessive dose V. operates as a narcotico-acrid poison, producing gastro – intestinal inflammation and an affection of the nervous system. The symptoms are, violent vomiting and purging (sometimes of blood), tenesmus, burning sensation of mouth, throat, oesophagus, and intestines, constriction of throat and sense of strangulation, griping pain in bowels, small and in some cases almost imperceptible pulse, faintness, cold sweats, tremblings, giddiness, blindness, dilated pupils, loss of voice, convulsions, and insensibility terminating in death. A cutaneous eruption has in some instances followed the use of V. I am indebted to Dr. Vm. Raynor, of Stockport, for notes of three cases of poisoning by the infusion. The symptoms resembled those just mentioned, except that there was no purging. All three cases rapidly recovered, and there were no after- effects. (PEREIRA, op. cit.)
10. Bergius, Bruckmann, Ettmuller, and others, have described the operation of V. when taken internally. There was often swelling of tongue and soreness of mouth, nd in all the cases burning heat in stomach and vomiting were observed, with anxiety, tremor, vertigo, a feeble pulse, convulsions, distortion of eyes, dilated pupils, blindness, mental derangement, sometimes prolonged insensibility, and cold sweating of whole body. In not a few instances death resulted, when inflammation of stomach and congestion of lungs were found. When the effects were not fatal, there often remained for several day debility, tremulousness, muscular twitching, and a sense of constriction and distress in the praecordial region. Powdered hellebore applied to the epigastrium may produce vomiting, and, if the cuticle is broken, the further constitutional effects of the drug may be experienced. (STILLE, op. cit.).
Experiments on animals
1. Wibmer has given an abstract of the experiments of Wepfer, Courtin, Viborg, Schabel and Emmert, Orfila, Hertwich, and others with V., on various animals both small and large. The effects were nearly the same however it was introduced into system, and consisted of straining to vomit or actual vomiting, salivation, general debility, a small, feeble, irregular, or rapid pulse, slow and laboured respiration, spasms of abdominal muscles, general tonic or clonic convulsions, tremulousness and a tottering it, increased urine and perspiration, contraction of pupils, and insensibility. After death the lungs were usually found congested, and, when the poison had been introduced into the stomach, the mucous membrane of this organ was red. (Ibid.)
2. ORFILA introduced into thigh of dog 15 gr. of powdered root. It caused vertigo, vomiting an purging, an death in 7 hours P. M. revealed slight inflammation of mucous membrane of stomach, an red patches of this membrane in rectum. (Toxic., sub voce.).
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.