Mentha piperita. Peppermint. *N. O. Labiatae. Tincture of whole plant. Dilutions of essence.
Clinical
*Cough, dry. Headache. Hoarseness. Influenza. Pruritus. Throat, sore. Voice, weakness of.
Characteristics
A remarkable proving of *Menth. pip. Was made by Demeures, who took a single drop of the tincture, the effects of which lasted into the third month. A case of fatal poisoning with the essence is on record. The patient, a boy of six, took between 1 and 2 ounces and died in two hours. When seen he was insensible, eyes fixed, pupils unmovable, stertorous breathing, cold skin, lips livid. The most remarkable symptom of the proving was the cough, and this has been fully confirmed. It was a dry cough, excited by air entering larynx, by reading aloud, by exposure to cold, by shocks of any kind. Demeures says he cured with *Menth. pip. every case of influenza that came under his care in the winter of 1847- 8. “It is to dry cough, however caused, what *Arnica is to injuries and Aco. to inflammatory complaints. It relieves even the cough of consumptives.” A single globule of the 30th sufficed. Demeures gave it to singers a short time before singing, and it greatly helped them to hold the voice. After the proving Demeures found that he could rise earlier than usual and yet feel bright and fresh, whereas before it he could not. Gibson Miller (*f. of Hcs., v. 34) relates this case: Teacher, 43, since whooping-cough in boyhood had a dry, spasmodic cough, worse in cold weather. The inhalation of the smallest quantity of *smoke, either of coal, wood, or tobacco, at once induced a most distressing paroxysm. Worse By the least breath of air or any fog. Scarcely any expectoration. Husky on attempting to sing. *Menth. pip. 30 completely removed the cough and enabled him to sit in a room full of tobacco smoke and sing with clearness. Hansen commends it in _ Bilious colic with great accumulation of gas, severe pain of shingles, and as an external remedy in pruritus vagina. The symptoms were worse rising better, lying down in bed. Better While eating. Worse Cold air, smoke, reading aloud, stooping, turning head, writing.
Relations
*Compare: The Labiate. Worse From smoke, Ignatia worse Fog, Hypericum worse Rising, better lying down, Bryonia Worse Cold air, Rumex c.
Causation
Early rising.
SYMPTOMS.
Mind
Eager for work, despatches it quickly. (Cured mental dulness, which previously always followed early rising.) Insensible.
Head
Confusion. Headache: tension towards both ears, worse on rising, better returning to bed. Acute lancinations from ear to head, on stooping or turning head. Frontal headache from one temple to the other. (Hair ceases to fall out.).
Eyes
Flashes before eyes when writing.
Ears
All day when walking, shooting from one ear to the other, as if abscesses were forming, worse left. When writing sharp lancinations extend from left ear to all left teeth.
Nose
Tip of nose sore to touch (11 th d.), swollen but not painful (21st d.).
Mouth
Very severe toothache in lower molars when chewing a bit of sugar.
Throat
Throat dry and painful on swallowing, as if a pin stuck crosswise in pharynx. Momentary lancinations in parotids, better during breakfast and dinner. Throat externally painfully sensitive to touch.
Stomach
In evening two hours after dinner, weight in stomach which seems to extend to ears.
Respiratory Organs
Entire trachea from larynx to pit of throat painful to touch. Husky voice from reading aloud. (Given to a singer a few hours before he is to sing, this remedy will certainly enable him to hold out to the end without straining his voice.) _ Frequent cough. Dry cough, excited by merely speaking, expectoration every morning of thick mucus like the core of a boil (4th to 8th d.). Dry cough continues, it is not caused by titillation, nor by mucous accumulations in the bronchi, but merely by the passage of air into the larynx (9th d.). Least feeling of cold excites a cough (11th to 21st d.), reading aloud, tobacco smoke and smoke of all kinds excites it.
Neck
All muscles round neck are painful to touch.
Lower Limbs
Sensation under right foot at extremity of metatarsus, as if shoe sole was too tight there.
Sleep
Sleep good, refreshing. Waking early.
Skin
Every scratch becomes a sore. Pimples with much itching near left ear, with heat in part. Frequent itching behind right ear. Formication in arm and hand when writing.