6. HERPIN, besides nausea even to vomiting in adults, and slight diarrhoea in children, has seen, from long – continued use of the drug in full doses, anaemia and chlorosis supervene in young women. ( Ibid., p. 80.)
7. A gentleman took daily, for epilepsy, about 20 gr. of the oxide, till he had consumed 3246 gr. At the end of the time (about 5 mo.) he was found of pale, earthy hue, wasted away, and almost idiotic; tongue was thickly coated, bowels constipated, lower extremities cold and oedematous, abdomen tumid, upper extremities cold and shriveled and their skin dry like parchment; pulse about 60, thready, and scarcely perceptible. Under purgative, s diuretics, and tonics he rapidly recovered. (PEREIRA, op. cit. )
8. In family which had suffered from lead – poisoning through action of drinking – water on leaden pipes, fresh troubles arose after a pipe of galvanised ( left evening zinced) iron had been put in place of the leaden ones. A young lady who had laboured under diplopia remained well for some five months, when suddenly, after having for 2 day suffered from a feeling of languor with aching in lumbar region, the diplopia II.11 of Plumbum in this Cyclopoedia returned. Examination proved the drinking – water to be virtually free from lead, but to contain.58 gr. of carbonate of zinc to the gallon. The diplopia was diagnosed s due to paralysis of the sixth pair. It increased in spite of the disuse of the water, and decided strabismus was developed. L. eye was more affected than r. With the pain in the back urine was dark and turbid, as it had been when under influence of lead. Not mentioned then. Change of air induced slow but ultimately complete recovery. (v. TUNZELMANN, Brit. Journ. of Hom., xxxii, 610.)
9. A younger sister, who 2 years previously had suffered from brachialgia running into what appeared to be incipient paraplegia, but had recovered, began (while drinking the zinced water) to suffer from a return of the brachialgia in an aggravated form, so that she was confined to her bed for about a month on account for the exhaustion produced by want of sleep and almost total anorexia. There was also much photophobia, but no pyrexia. She improved gradually under cimicifuga 1 and 3, but did not recover till water was disused, and she had a change. (Ibid.)
10. The mother II.13 of Plumbum.of these two young ladies suffered for some time from pain in lumbar spine, also in region of both kidneys, and latterly also from giddiness and anorexia, with nausea and vomiting occasionally, and a good deal of griping pain at times in abdomen, with tendency to diarrhoea. Urine was dark and turbid, and deposited a large sediment, composed of urate of ammonia, with a few crystals of oxalate of lime, and cells of renal epithelium. In one specimen, sp. gr 1023, sugar was distinctly present, though in small quantity. (Ibid.)
11. In 1870 the town of Melrose, Mass., had adopted for its connection from the mains to the houses an iron pipe lined with a thin and unstable smearing of zinc, galvanised upon the interior, and in most instances when tested sound worn off after 6 mo. use. For several months that year Dr. Smith had been noticing a marked congruity of certain peculiar nervous symptoms in some of his patients, mostly young children and delicate women, but in several instances strong men. One family in particular offered, in several of its members, almost a complete picture of this oval endemic. Living high above the town, they had a large cistern, lined with galvanised iron, connected by 70 ft. of 1.1/2 in. pipe of same material.
11 a. In nov. two daughters had a persistent angina faucium, with ulceration of pharynx and tonsils. Ulcers were round, sharply defined, with red everted edges; they gradually coalesced. They were filled with light yellow pus, adherent to the base. While convalescing from this, the younger began to develop nervous symptoms. For about 10 day there was on waking in m. entire inability to move head and extremities, with general hyperaesthesia. After about an hours of rubbing, & c., walking became possible, but with staggering uncertain gait and tendency to fall 1. Eyes had an outward cast; pupils alternately contracted and dilated, generally dilated; falling of upper lids and oedema of lower; objects appeared elongated and at times double; expression vacant and apathetic, or irritable; there was constriction and spasm of oesophagus during deglutition, accumulation of mucus in larynx and posterior nares, with obstruction of both nostrils and nasal speech. Then, suddenly, for 24 hours every appearance of violent spasmodic croup, with difficult swallowing, and it was feared that the child would choke. Gelsemium 1x, given on evening of 2nd day, quickly relieved these symptoms, which did not recur. There continued, however, a train of obstinate conditions wholly resisting treatment for many day, such as eructations, loss of appetite, vomiting of bile or mucus; offensive diarrhoea, alternating with constipation; diminished secretion of urine, which was once even suppressed for some little time. Pulse, wiry and irregular, was 112. There were for some weeks in evening feverish flushes of heat, with heightening of colour from cervical region upwards and forwards, attended with excitement and crying out to be fanned, and some thirst. Sleep was agitated and unrefreshing, with occasional night sweats. In evening, besides flushing, there was entire in ability to support the head. There was great emaciation, cachectic look, bluish – white complexion. At this time drinking – water, on being examined, was found to contain 6 – 20 gr. of oxide of zinc in the gallon. It was stopped, and improvement set in, eventuating in complete recovery by following July.
11 b. Before the discovery, however, a brother, aet. 13, delicate and strumous, had been supposed to be suffering from a simple catarrh; but on examination presented an emaciated feeble appearance, the face wrinkled and of the same bluish white as his younger sister. His pulse was found 40 only, and intermittent; there was a dry spasmodic cough and slight epigastric tenderness on gentle pressure. Next day he complained of fleeting pains in hypogastrium on rising from a recumbent posture, continual nausea, and entire loss of appetite – sight or smell of food exciting extreme disgust. He vomited mucus several times the following n., and bile next m., with extreme nausea, but no symptoms of gastritis – even tenderness on pressure eliciting no complaint. There was pallor round mouth, and contraction of upper lip. Only milk was retained, of which an oz. was given at intervals. There was entire absence of pain or complaint to the end. He vomited again that evening and next m., but passed a quiet n. in sleep. The following evening he vomited once a brown fluid like coffee – grounds; pulse 60; face a little flushed. no delirium or stupor. Next m. he awoke just before light with a call to stool, and after passing about a gill of disorganised blood, sank into a swoon, and died before help could arrive. At the autopsy, the unanimous opinion was the death had resulted from heart – failure, caused by the zinc – poisoning. The stomach, however, was extensively injected, and showed traces of sanguineous exhalation.
11 c. The following were the symptoms of other members of the family, and of a dozen or more in other parts of the town. (This record is from notes taken during about 6 mo., until the obnoxious pipes were removed by authority, after which the endemic gradually subsided and has never since recurred.) Constant dull frontal headache; headache extending from occiput to eyes; frequent attacks of vertigo, preceded by sharp pressure at root of nose, and sense of drawing together of eyes as if by a cord, followed immediately by excessive nausea, faintness, and trembling of hands as after a wine debauch; sensation of general trembling, without actual tremor; intense pain in brain, almost maddening, followed by excessive vomiting, attacks coming on suddenly; vomiting of clear mucus or more rarely of bile; vomiting attended with trembling, as in drunkards; ptosis; itching and stitching in inner canthi, with sudden cloudiness of sight; heavy pressure on eyes; constriction and spasm of throat; acute darting pains through all joints, especially ankles, knees and elbows, with numbness of adjacent parts, and exhausted paralysed sensation in muscles of upper arms and thighs, worse on right side; trembling of feet and difficulty of raising them, and frequent stumbling; excessive nervous moving about of feet in bed for hours at n., even when asleep; nightly itching of soles, calves and thighs, perfectly intolerable; general formication for weeks, as if under skin, relieved only by rubbing with balls of fingers; deathly sinking at stomach for hours, after eating anything acid; frequent fainting, several times daily, followed by prostration and numbness of different parts of body; severe stabbing pains in abdomen, without diarrhoea or constipation, continuing several hours, and returning periodically. If wine were tried even in minute quantities, as a gentle tonic, it induced nausea, headache, and pressure at occiput, with a vertiginous feeling out of proportion to the amount drunk. (HEBER SMITH, Trans. of Am. Inst. of Hom., 1888, p. 270.) 12. A man, aet, 36, had been a brass – founder for 12 years. At first he suffered from pyrosis, with gaseous eructations. In the winter, when the doors of the workshops could not be kept open, he often had violent choleraic attacks (intense headache, severe shiverings, cramp in extremities and especially in calves, nausea, vomiting, and considerable action of bowels). At this time he came under care of Prof. Botkin. Vomiting had become almost continuous, returning regularly 3 or 4 times after a meal; he had always pyrosis and acid eructations, and complained of dull pain in epigastrium and on right of umbilicus; a general weakness, more marked on right side; and habitual constipation, lasting 6, 8, 10 d. He slept badly, and was often disturbed by violent headache and painful cramps in calves; had extreme sensitiveness to cold, and an appetite small, capricious, and at times altogether failing. There was pallor of the mucous surfaces, with disappearance of the subcutaneous cellular tissue, and atrophy of the muscular system, much more marked on right side, in face as well as limbs. Decrease of sensibility to touch; tickling, on the contrary, was more quickly responded to than in the normal state. Temp. in m. was 36; in evening, 36.3. Weight of patient was 45 kilogr. His answers were slow, and he spoke as if in a bad temper. Daily quantity of urine was 550 c. c.; it was neutral, or even alkaline, containing neither sugar nor albumen; but zinc was found in it even 2.1/2 mo. after patient had left his work. First cardiac sound was rough and rather prolonged. Liver was voluminous; stomach considerably dilated, reaching as far as navel, its peristaltic movements at times very appreciable through the abdominal wall; pylorus, hypertrophied, sunken, and movable, formed a tumour sensible to touch, sometimes to right sometimes to left umbilicus. Under right false ribs another hard tumour was found, slightly indented, not well defined, painful when pressed; repeated examinations showed it to be very variable in size, that prolonged pressure caused its gradual disappearance, and that it was most evident during the violent gastric crises from which the patient suffered: it was thus caused by contractions of hypertrophied muscle. The matters vomited, varying from 600 to 2000 grm. daily, gave an acid re – action and a smell of rancid oil. Besides the remains of the food the presence of products of fermentation was proved, such as butyric and lactic acid; also the existence of a large number of sarcinae and cryptogams. The gas from the eructations was inflammable (hydrogen). (POPOFF, Brit. and For. Medorrhinum – Chir. Rev., 1873, ii, 254. Revised from original(Berl.klin.Wochenschr., 1873), of which it is a convenient summary.–EDs. )
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.