MERCURIUS


MERCURIUS signs and symptoms from the Characteristic Materia Medica by William Burt of the homeopathic medicine MERCURIUS …


SPHERE OF ACTION

This is one of the most powerful vegetative or ganglionic remedies we have in the Materia Medica.

The effects of Mercurius corrosivus, Mercurius vivus, Mercurius solubilis and Mercurius dulcis, resemble each other so closely that I shall include them all under the above heading, with the practical hint, that Mercurius cor, is more especially adapted to the diseases of men, and Mercurius vivus, sol. and dulcis, to those of women and children.

Mercury, through the vegetative nervous system, affects, more or less, every tissues in the body, but has for its. grand starting point or centre of action the epithelial cells of the lymphatic glands; bile cells; and the whole of the epithelial cells of the digestive apparatus, increasing and disordering their functions.

It also affects the glandular system; the mucous membranes; the serous membranes the fibrous tissue; the dermoid tissue; the nervous tissue; the osseous tissue, and the blood.

Upon the Glandular system, especially the salivary glands and liver, through the peripheral ramifications of the ganglionic nerves that preside over secretion.

Small doses of Mercury so irritate these peripheral nerves, as to cause constantly increased secretion of saliva or bile.

Very large doses carry the irritation beyond the secreting-point, and then we have acute congestion, diminished secretion, icterus, and inflammation, with profuse salivation. The tongue sometimes projects from the mouth, in consequence of its greatly augmented bulk, and is covered with a thick, soft, yellow-white fur, extremely offensive to the smell; the parotid and submaxillary glands become much enlarged, and painful;

the patient cannot open his jaws; swallows with great difficulty and pain, nd is wholly unable to articulate; the head requires to be supported on a pillow, and the saliva runs in streams from the mouth; the odor of the breath is insupportable, and sometimes scents the whole apartment; ulcerations of the gums, cheeks, and tongue take place, with occasionally copious and exhausting hemorrhage; the teeth loosen and fall out; even gangrene of the soft parts, and necrosis of the alveolar processes sometimes occur; and in not a few instances, death has taken place, or recovery has been attended with revolting or very inconvenient deformity. One of the greatest dangers is from hemorrhage; though a fatal result may also be owing to the joint effect of gangrene and a depraved state of the blood. Not only is the salivary secretion increased, sometimes enormously, but there is, perhaps, not one of the secretory functions which is not liable to be similarly affected, though rarely in an equal degree; the hepatic secretion is often energetically stimulated; a true cholera morbus, with copious vomiting and purging of bile.-WOOD.

It also affects the pancreas in a manner analogous to its action on the salivary glands. The increased secretion of bile, and of the epithelial cells of the digestive apparatus, causes watery and bilious stools. But if the dose is a large one, the stools, instead of being. watery, are mucus and blood, with violent tormina.

Upon the Mucous Membranes, it produces eruptions of the vesicular and pustular type; the parts are much swollen and raw.

Sometimes it produces profuse secretion of mucus.

Upon the Nervous System.-It especially affects the ganglionic nervous system, destroying its nutritive force to its very foundations. Also through sympathy, affects the cerebro- spinal system.

Upon the Osseous Tissue.-It especially the periosteum, producing periostitis, and caries of the bones.

Upon the Serous Membranes, it especially affects the peritoneum, producing inflammation, and effusion into the sac.

It also slightly affects the arachnoid membrane.

Upon the Blood. Dr. Headland says: By some inscrutable, chemical power, whose agency we know nothing of, it is able to decompose the blood; by some destructive agency, it deprives it of one-third of its fibrin, one-seventh of its albumen, one-third or more of its globules, and at the same time, loads it with a fetid, fatty matter, the product of decomposition. (This is done through its action upon the ganglionic system, destroying its functions.) Hence, says HUGHES, we have, as a result of the diminished fibrin, ecchymosis and hemorrhages; as the sign of the absent corpuscle, the anaemia of which we have red in our Watson, and the peculiar fetor of the secretions.

Mercury is the great antidote for the syphilitic miasm, or poison, and has cured millions of cases, both primary and secondary in form. Its action upon the genito-urinary organs very closely resembles that of syphilis.

GRAND CHARACTERISTICS.

All the symptoms are worse at night, and in damp, cold weather.

Much perspiration accompanies most complaints, but does not relieve.

No remedy prevents suppuration as certainly as Mercury, especially in the glandular system.

Cold clammy sweat on the thighs and legs at night.

Glandular swellings, in lymphatic scrofulous people.

Digestive Organs.-Teeth sore and loose; and feel too long.

The gums bleed, and are inclined to ulcerate about the teeth.

Odontalgia; worse at night, with periosteal inflammations, and ulceration.

Teeth all feel on edge.

Very fetid breath.

Saltish, metallic taste.

Moist tongue with great thirst.

Red tongue, with much burning and great thirst.

Swelling of the tongue, which is covered with a whitish, thick, tenacious coat, that is detached in shape of little skins.-HAHNEMANN.

Profuse flow of saliva.

Salivary glands greatly swollen, with excessive secretion of saliva, and breath extremely fetid.

Grayish ulcers on the inner surface of the lips, cheeks, gums, tongue and palate.-HAHNEMANN.

The best local application for ulcers in mouth, or on the tongue, is the dry powder of the 1st cent. trituration of Mercurius sol-W.H.HOLCOMBE.

Ulceration of the tonsils. HAHNEMANN.

To arrest suppuration of the tonsils, nothing can equal Mercurius cor., first dec. trituration, applied locally with a camel’s hair brush; two or three applications will cure it in half a day. Its action is so quick, that no physician will believe it, until he tries it for himself. I have cured them in two hours, when suppuration seemed inevitable. The first start of a common cold, when the nose is discharging freely, half a grain drawn up into each nostril two or three times, cures the whole cold. Nothing can equal it; use the 2nd decimal.

False membrane; grayish, thick, with shred-like borders, adherent or free, but of a marked consistence when they are attached.-HAHNEMANN.

Very sensitive about the pit of the stomach and abdomen.- Inflammation of the liver, with great tenderness of the liver and much jaundice.

No remedy can equal Mercury for jaundice.

Much colic; relieved by a bloody stool, with tenesmus.

Faint, sickish pain in the abdomen, entirely relieved by a muco-sanguinolent stool, with severe and prolonged tenesmus.

Mucous, or muco-sanguinolent stools, with severe and prolonged tenesmus.

Yellow, or mucous, and bloody or dark green stools, with tenesmus. Use Mercurius cor.

For mucous and serous diarrhoea in children, Mercurius dulcis is the specific.

Passes frequently almost pure blood.

Ascarides creep out of the anus, and can be seen on the perineum and buttocks, even at night in bed.

Lumbricoides escape easily and freely, and the abdomen is hard and distended.

Generative Organs.-Itching, burning, smarting, corroding leucorrhoea, with sensation of rawness in the vagina; discharges of flocks of pus and mucus large as hazelnuts; worse at night.- Prolapsus of the vagina, with sensation of great rawness; worse at night.

Vulva much swollen, with a raw sore feeling; worse at night.

Pain in mammae, as if they would ulcerate, at every menstrual period.

Urinary Organs.- Urine scanty and red, with strong smell.

Urine highly albuminous.-Mercurius Cor.

Suppression of urine, or it is passed with great difficulty, with tenesmus of the bladder.

Respiratory Organs. Dr. Small says: I have found no remedy that acts so promptly and satisfactorily in removing a hoarse cough, with much tickling in the larynx; also a dry racking cough, especially at night, with distressing distention of the chest.

Acute coryza, Mercurius cor. 2 dec. trituration used as a snuff once an hour, in my hands makes a perfect cure in one day, and in some cases in two hours. It should be used on going to bed at night.

Skin.-Ulcerations and eruptions are swollen and have a raw appearance.

Watery vesicles and blotches, turn yellow and maturate4.-me crazy, especially if I get a little warmer than usual white at work and in bed at night.-R.W. MARTIN, M.D.

Especially useful in bilious fevers, with prominent hepatic symptoms.

William Burt
William H. Burt, MD
(1836-1897)
Characteristic materia medica Published 1873
Physiological materia medica, containing all that is known of the physiological action of our remedies; together with their characteristic indications and pharmacology. Published 1881