Ferula sumbul. Sumbul. Musk-root. N.O. Umbelliferae. Tincture of the powdered root.
Clinical
Acne. Asthma. Breasts, pains in. Chorea. Diarrhoea. Epilepsy. Fainting. Heart, palpitation of, nervous, affections of. Pneumonia. Hysteria. Inframammary pains. Neuralgia. Porrigo capitis. Spermatorrhoea. Throat, catarrh of, spasm of. Typhoid fever. Worms.
Characteristics
*Sumbul, as its name, “Musk-root,” implies, has an odour resembling that of musk. The resemblance is so close that *Sumbul is used to adulterate musk. *Sumb. was proved by Lembke, Cattell, and others, and the symptoms are as like to those of *Moschus as the physical resemblance would imply. Hysterical mood, easy fainting, nervous palpitation, are common to both. Hale gives the following indications: (1) Nasal and pharyngeal catarrh, with nervousness, sleeplessness, and tendency to spasms (especially in children), discharge of tenacious, yellow mucus. (2) Ascarides, with bloated, drum-like abdomen and constipation, picking nose (cured with *Sumb. 15). (3) Oily pellicle in urine. (4) Pain in left uterine region. (5) Asthma: catarrhal, spasmodic, or cardiac. (6) Climacteric flushings. (7) Neuralgia: facial or ovarian, in women of quick and lively nervous constitutions. (8) Neuralgia of left hypochondrium, simulating angina pectoris, with palpitation, in nervous women. (9) Insomnia of chronic alcoholism. *Peculiar Sensations of Sumb. are: Tongue as if scraped. Like a string pulling in right breast. Corkscrew pains in (left) uterus and appendages. Clogged sensation in left chest. As if heart beating in water. The left side was more affected than the right. The symptoms are worse by motion. Worse After sitting. Worse By inspiration. Worse By cold. Better By warmth. Worse Thinking of symptoms. Worse In morning. Music causes faintness.
Relationships
*Compare: General symptoms, Mosch., Asafoetida Porrigo, Melit., Medor., Mez. Oily pellicle on urine, Sul., Pul., Petroleum Tenacious, yellow mucus, Hydrast. Inframammary pain, Act-r., Pul., Lil-t. Worse thinking of symptoms, Ox. Ac., Pip. meth.
Mind
Intellect dull in morning, inability to study, clearer in evening and in warmth. Happy disposition with continued smiling, expression idiotic, fear of becoming insane (chorea). Hysterical mood even in men, alternate laughter and tears, easily excited, emotional, irritable, fidgety, at first spirits are exalted, then depressed.
Head
Vertigo, on stooping, using warm water, moving about or rising from a seat, feeling a want of security. Hysteria, with tendency to faint from slightest cause. Fits with falling forward. Ebullition of blood in head, lightness and exalted feeling. Cold in the head, worse morning. Porrigo in infants, left side of scalp, spots round and dry, slightly raised and reddened at edges with bran-like scales in center.
Eyes
Sensation of foreign body in eyes. Tight feeling in eyes. Quivering and swimming before eyes.
Ears
Loud surging and hissing in both ears, in right.
Nose
Cold in head, worse morning. Coryza: watery, of yellow mucus. Alae nasi sore at edges. Stuffing in nose. Tenacious yellow mucus
in nose, worse left nostril. Loss of smell.
Face
Acne punctata, black pores on face.
Mouth
Brown (or white) coating on tongue, morning. Tongue feels rough as if scraped, with heat in throat. Increased saliva.
Throat
Erosion, burning heat and rawness in throat, with tenacious mucus. Catarrhs of children with great nervous irritation and spasms. Choking constriction at top of gullet, constant swallowing.
Stomach
Appetite increased. Eructations, empty. Nausea and salivation. Pressure, rumblings, slight shootings in stomach.
Abdomen
Tension, pain, and gnawing in right hypochondrium. Abdomen feels distended, painful. Gnawing in right hypochondrium. Glands in groins painful.
Stool & Anus
Ascarides with bloated, drum-like abdomen and constipation, pricking at nostrils. Chronic diarrhoea, from inert condition of intestinal canal, discharges cause alarm, diarrhoea in typhoid fever. Rectum protrudes. Haemorrhoids excited.
Urinary Organs
Urine: clear, yellowish-red, clouded at bottom, and an oily pellicle on surface. Frequent desire. Stitches up urethra.
Male Sexual Organs
Absence of erections and all sexual desire. Itching in genitals with increased desire. Erythema of scrotum.
Female Sexual Organs
Leucorrhoea, white, especially after sitting. Menses: premature, of short duration, with deficient quantity, retarded. Corkscrew pains in left region of uterus and appendages. Tensive pain like a string in right breast. Tensive pains in left breast, evening. Lancinations and biting pains in left breast, worse deep inspirations. Flushings at climaxis.
Respiratory Organs
Hoarseness. Asthma: catarrhal, but more especially spasmodic, hysterical. Hacking cough.
Chest
Tightness in chest with diminished secretion. Paroxysm of dull pressure under sternum. Tightness, tensive, stretched feeling across chest, between left breast and sternum and in left breast, worse on inspiration.
Heart
Pulse: very irregular, compressible, want of elasticity in vessels. Nervous affections of heart, rheumatic carditis, heart’s impulse strong, jerking, especially after exertion or during digestion, action of heart full and sharp, strokes at times irregular, rapid, then slow, bellows murmur, flushings of heat in floods from back, sharp pains like a knife in chest, oppression in left chest, clogged sensation, worse on stooping, left arm numb, heavy, weary, with sharp, wiry shooting in fingers, hysterical mood. Nervous palpitation in hysterical subjects, or at climaxis. Heart beats softly, as if in water, with sinking of heart and sickliness and faintness all over. Palpitation on least excitement, worse on paying attention to it.
Back and neck
Cannot keep warm, least draft is felt down spine. Nape of neck, right side, swollen.
Extremities
Left arm and foot easily chilled. Fulness of arms and feet. Tremulous tingling, dry, in palms and feet.
Upper Limbs
Weakness, beaten sensation, and numbness in arms. Left arm numb. Hands red, veins distended. Fingers swollen.
Lower Limbs
Aching, rheumatic pain, weakness of lower limbs. Pain in knee, with stiffness, impeding walking. Felt as if her legs were not her own. Trembling of feet.
Generalities
Chorea: constant jerking of head and limbs, with protusion of tongue, voracious appetite. Dropsy dependent on impaired nervous vitality. Clogged sensation in body, especially in head and stomach. Hysteria. Epilepsy, falls forward, foaming at mouth. Tendency to faint from slightest cause.
Skin
Acne punctata, black pores on face. Porrigo in infants, left side of scalp. Skin cold, white, shrunken, and dry, as if washed in acrid water. Miliary spots on back, right shoulder-blade, and hip. Reddish spots on forehead, chin, and cheeks, containing either water or thick, white, curdy matter. Itching.
Sleep
Drowsy in the cold. Drowsy during day. Wakefulness at night. Sleep interrupted by startings of limbs. Dreams, of falling, vivid, of coitus, followed by profuse *sudden emission.
Fever
Coldness. Chilliness, especially down spine, sensitiveness to least draft. Too easily chilled, want of elasticity in the vessels. Numbness and coldness of tips of fingers. Dry, transient heat all over body. Typhoid fever with cerebral excitement, low and nervous fevers succeeding typhus.
