Hecla lava. The finer ash from Mount Hecla., falling in distant localities. Trituration.
Clinical
Antrum of Highmore, tumour of. *Bones, affections of. Breast, tumors of. Dentition, difficult. *Exostoses. Glands, affections of. Jaws, tumors on. Milk, deficient. Neuralgia. Osteitis deformans. Osteomalacia. Osteosarcoma. Periostitis. Rickets. Syphilis. Teeth, caries of. Toothache. Tumours. White swelling. Whitlow.
Characteristics
I have chosen the single word *Hecla. in preference to *Hecla lava, as being simpler and more convenient. The ash and scoriae of this volcano contain *Silica, *Alumina, *Lime, *Magnesia, with some *Oxide of Iron. When travelling in Iceland, Garth Wilkinson noticed that the sheep in the vicinity of Hecla. had immense exostoses on the jaws. Another effect noticed was the drying up of the milk both in sheep and cows. The finer ash which feel on pastures at a distance, was the most deleterious, the gross ash near the mountain was inert. In cows, postmortem examination showed the intestines filled with ashes, hardened to a mass, and stomach coated over with a pitch-black membrane spotted with brown, and difficult to remove by washing, the jaw teeth were covered with a shining metallic crust. Several young horses died from lumps in the jaw-bones, so large as to cause dislocation. Sheep, when slaughtered, were found to be of bluish hue internally, and the intestines were friable. In many cases worms from two to three inches long, with pale grey bodies and brown heads, and a little thicker than a horse-hair, were found in the bronchia. In sheep the osseous and dental systems were much affected. The head-bones, and especially the jaw-bones, swelled and became so friable that when boiled they feel to pieces. The thigh, and especially the shin bones, swelled and bulged. The jaws were sometimes covered with large swellings, which spread and were looser of texture and darker in colour than the bone, these could be separated from the bone without injuring it, but in some fatal cases a hole going down to the marrow was discovered under the swelling. Garth Wilkinson adds to the above that he has used *Hecla. with excellent effect in toothache, gum abscess, swellings about the jaws and in difficult dentition. Clinical experience has shown the power of *Hecla. to arrest many forms of bone disease, including osteosarcoma, scrofulous and syphilitic osteitis and exostoses. The swellings amenable to it are painful and sensitive to touch, worse from touch and pressure. The glands are affected almost as much as the bones: “induration and infiltration of cervical glands, studding neck like a row of pearls.” The right side has been more predominantly affected. The subjoined schema is compiled mainly from cured symptoms.
Relations
*Compare:* Conchiol., Silica., Calcarea, Slag, Phosphorus, Stilling., Sulphur, Kali-iod, Amphis., Symphyt. Ruta.
Causation
Injury to bone. SYMPTOMS.
Head
Vertigo, everything goes up, down and sidewise. Chronic headache.
Nose
Destructive (syphilitic) ulceration of nasal bones.
Face
Facial neuralgia or headache dependent on irritation of dental nerves of carious tooth. Polypoid growth commencing in antrum of Highmore, deforming face, forcing eyeball upward and everting lid, obstructing nostrils, extending downward into mouth, impeding breathing and mastication, epistaxis, headache.
Teeth
Toothache, especially of teeth are very sensitive to pressure, with swelling about jaws. Neuralgia, from carious tooth, in cavity from which tooth has been extracted. Abscess, or enlargement of bone remaining after tooth extraction. Right cuspid of upper jaw very sensitive to slight pressure on crown, swelling and indurated tumour as large as a pea under right alae nasi, very sensitive to touch, conjunctivitis of right eye. Difficult dentition in scrofulous and rachitic children.
Female Sexual Organs
Dries up the milk (sheep and cows).
Chest
Myalgia, especially of intercostal muscles.
Back
Induration and infiltration of cervical glands, studding neck like a row of pearls.
Lower Limbs
Hip disease. Exostoses of tibia, severe continuous pain incapacitating from work.
