Apis mellifica or Apium virus. The Honey Bee or its Poison. N.O. Insecta.
INTRODUCTION
TINCTURES are made of the whole bee, or of dilutions of the poison with alcohol.
PATHOGENESIS.
Our knowledge of apis is derived from symptoms occurring in the victims of stings by bees or wasps, the poisons of which seem to be identical, and in the provers of the tincture made from triturations of bees, or of the pure poison extracted from the poison bags. The provers in every case took the poison through the mouth.
The honey-bee poison is a toxalbumin, and its effects are similar to those of other animal poisons, such as the toxalbumins of the snakes, spiders, lizards, &c.
A good general idea of the pathogenetic effects of apis will be gained from reading the following account of poisoning culled from the “Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy.”
“A farmer, aged 35, of light complexion and robust constitutions, was in August, 1858 stung by a bee on the tip of his nose. It immediately struck though his whole frame like an electric shock, thrilling the ends both of his fingers and toes. He immediately started for the house, distant about three rods, which he reached with difficult, he staggered and was scarcely able to walk; his mind was confused and bewildered; and his head felt big. Upon reaching home his heart palpitated violently, so as to be felt by himself and audible to those in the room; faintness and death-like prostration came on, which continued half an hour and were accompanied by intense anxiety and distress at the stomach, oppression of the chest, dyspnoea, short, rapid breathing and accelerated pulse. Nausea, followed by yellow and bitter vomiting, occurred about three quarters of an hour after the accident. At this time he had a chill, with shivering, accompanied by terrible racking pain all through the head, with increased prostration; no pulse could be felt at the wrist, blood settled under the finger and toe-nails; the ears were purple; jactitation of muscles and complete loss of consciousness came on and lasted for three hours, during which there were flushed of heat mixed with chills. The skin was extremely sensitive to contact, painful to the slightest touch, so that he could not bear the sheet upon him, and red white blotches came out over the body and extremities, like nettle-rash. He gradually recovered, but was left much prostrated, unable to concentrate his mind, and his head felt confused when he attempted to study. This condition lasted some weeks and was attended by frequent attacks of vertigo and blindness.
This case illustrates the great rapidity of the action of apis and the way in which its attack is concentrated on the nervous centres and the skin. This instance of acute poisoning displays most of the main symptoms of apis, but was too rapid to allow all of them to be developed, and we will now supplement it by collating those exhibited in the provers.
PROVINGS.-
In the mental sphere they show that apis causes ill-humour, anxiety with fear of death, a restless desire to be constantly changing occupation, an unfitness fro mental work great tearfulness and, in women, jealousy. There are confusion and vertigo, which is worse from lying down and closing the eyes, and better from walking. The sensorium is depressed to the point of drowsiness and sleep and, as in the case above, even to unconsciousness.
The head feels hot, as if swollen and too full of blood; it throbs; there is headache, varying from a dull feeling to a severe, bursting, expansive pain, which is relieved by compressing the head with the hands, an exception to the general modality, and is worse from any jar such as coughing, and from stooping, from reading and in a warm room. It is felt mostly in the temples and forehead and at times involves the eyes, but it may be general, and is often accompanied with nausea and vomiting. Sometimes a pain is felt which begins in the nape and extends forwards over the side of the head to above and behind the ear, or a sudden pain like a bee-sting, or shootings may occur in the temples.
In the eyes the conjunctivae are injected and may exhibit chemosis. The lids smart, itch and burn, which causes an inclination to press or rub the eyes strongly; they are glued together in the morning, and the tissue under the lower eyelids is oedematous and hangs down like a bag of water; there are photophobia and lachrymation of scalding tears. Thick, greyish, smoky or opaque spots are seen on the cornea, and severe darting, lancinating pains are felt through the eyes. Vision is misty.
In the ears there are burning, itching and pricking, both internally and externally, they are swollen and have a purplish appearance.
Nose.-Violent sneezing takes place and there is a numb, congested feeling in the nose and actual stoppage of it, with discharge of a few drops of mucus from the nostrils.
The face may be much swollen, bloated and livid; or dark red and hot with burning cheeks; or oedematous, waxy and pale. Shooting pains occur in the cheek bones and the chin; shooting, burning pains are felt in the supra-orbital regions and extend to the eyeballs.
Digestive System.-The upper lip is swollen, red and hot; both lips may be oedematous and the lower one chapped; violent pains in the lips extend to the gums, which bleed easily, and jumping pains are experienced in the left upper molars. The tongue is swollen to the extent of making speech difficult, it is raw and burns, the whole of its border feels scalded and is covered with small vesicles. The mouth feels scalded and there is an itching, tingling sensation in the roof of the mouth which extend back to the palate and throat. The saliva is thick and viscid and the taste bitter. Thick phlegm, which causes frequent hawking, collects in the throat, which is swollen inside and outside; the uvula is oedematous. A constrictive sensation is felt with feeling as if something is lodged in the throat which makes swallowing difficult. Ulcers on the tonsils and palate have an erysipelatous or oedematous appearance around them. Nausea is felt in the throat and the sufferer has no desire for food or drink. Sour things are wished for. Eructations taste of eggs. Vomiting, which is often violent, is of food, watery, bitter fluid or bile. The pit of the stomach is sensitive and is the seat of burning pains that are aggravated by pressure.
The abdomen, is swollen, sensitive and sore; burning pains are felt under the short ribs and violent pains occur in the hypogastrium which press down towards the uterus. There is rumbling in the abdomen with an urgent call to stool and a bruised feeling after stool. Throbbing is felt in the rectum, and tenesmus, with a sensation as if the anus is packed full. When there is diarrhoea the stool is watery, greenish-yellow mucus, is painless, and may recur every morning, or it is a “dysentery- like” stool, consisting of a mixture of mucus, food and blood. When there is constipation the stools are large, hard and difficult to expel, and are accompanied by a sensation in the abdomen as if something tight would break if too much effort should be made to evacuate them. The anus protrudes with the stool and remains open. Sometimes from apis the stool is a natural, one but is preceded by emissions of flatus and a small quantity of almost colourless water, containing lumps of blood stained jelly-like mucus.
The urine is scanty, high-coloured and may contain blood, albumin and casts; desire to micturate is very frequent, the patient feels he must pass water every few minutes all day from a forcing-down feeling in the bladder. The act of micturition is accompanied by sore, burning pain in the urethra, and a feeling of stricture in the bulbous portion.
Sexual.-Apis causes frequent and long-lasting erections and a desire for coitus even during the day. Fulness, aching and soreness are felt in the testes, and there is an uneasy sensation in the spermatic cords.
The severe pains across the hypogastrium caused by apis are probably in connection with the uterus. Sharp, lancinating pains in the right ovarian region, which extend down the thigh, are a notable apis symptom. The labia are oedematous. In one prover the drug caused the abortion of a two-months foetus.
Respiration.-In the larynx there is a wearied feeling, dryness and burning, a rough, voice and external sensitiveness; oedema of the glottis has been produced. Breathing is hurried and difficult, and there is a feeling of constriction and suffocation; there may be asthma. Nothing can be borne about the throat (cf. lachesis). Great oppression is felt in the chest accompanied with a desire to draw a deep breath, there is a sense of fulness, tension and pressure, and sharp pains may be experienced, or a bruised soreness in the chest walls. Commencing oedema of the lungs has been observed. The cough is dry, is provoked by irritation in the suprasternal fossa, or by touching the larynx, is croupy with ringing sound, causes painful shocks in the head and is associated with soreness in the upper part of the chest. It is worse when at rest and from warmth and is relieved by detaching a small piece of phlegm. The patient holds his head back when coughing.
Edwin Awdas Neatby founded the Missionary School of Homeopathy and the London Homeopathic Hospital in 1903, and run by the British Homeopathic Association. He died in East Grinstead, Sussex, on the 1st December 1933. Edwin Awdas Neatby wrote The place of operation in the treatment of uterine fibroids, Modern developments in medicine, Pleural effusions in children, Manual of Homoeo Therapeutics,