Upper Limbs
The pains in the upper extremities, and more especially those of the chest, were of a sharp darting character. Tearing in the left arm, extending upward from the elbow; a sensation as if the bone would break (ninth day). Drawing in the left arm and in the forearm and in the three last fingers of the left hand; the arm feels paralyzed (seventh day). Jerking pain in the muscles of both arms (twelfth day). Paralytic drawing in the right arm, especially in the wrist, extending to the tips of the fingers (fifteenth day). Sensation of crawling in the left arm, especially when resting it upon anything (seventh day). Elbow.
Severe pains in the left elbow-joint for half an hour, could not move it, the pain was so great. Rheumatic pains in the left elbow and shoulder-joints, worse on motion. Drawing-pressive pain in the left elbow and left ankle, also at intervals in the pes anserinus (second day). Forearm. Drawing-pains in the forearms.
Sharp pain in both arms, from the elbow to the index fingers and thumbs. Wrist. Dull pains in the wrist and fingers, with drawing pains. The wrist and fingers are very stiff. Drawing pressive pain in the right wrist, extending through the bones to the elbow (second day). Pressive drawing in the right wrist (eleventh day). Drawing in the right wrist (seventh and ninth days). Hand.
Right and swelled very much, with redness, itching, or other symptoms; this increased for about twenty-four hours, then declined for about the same time, and on the third day the swelling was gone. Constant aching distress in the hands and fingers. Fingers. Blue finger-nails (fourth day). Drawing in the right little finger and thumb (eighth day).
Lower Limbs
Very violent bruised pain, especially in the legs (twelfth day). Paralyzed and bruised sensation in the legs (second day).
Paralytic drawing, with pains in the bones of the left leg (fourth day). Very violent drawing pains in both legs, as if beaten, becoming seated in the ankles and knees, almost like a pressive- cutting pain, and as such extending along the tendons on the back of the foot to the toes, also in the wrists, extending into the tips of the fingers, especially in the left index finger; in the evening (eleventh day). Jerk like drawing in the leg (seventh day). Drawing in the left leg (fifth and eighth days). Slight lancinating pain in right leg and sternum (eighth day). Hip and Thigh. Pain as if dislocated in the right hip (relieved by Nitric acid). Wandering drawing pains in the thighs, legs, and arm (fourteenth day). Drawing cramp like pain in the left thigh (third day). Aching pains in the thighs, from the hips to the knees; pain worse at the knees and on the left side. Knee. Great weakness of the knees and ankles ache constantly. Dull drawing pains and distress in the knees, ankles, feet, and toes. Drawing-pressive pain in the right knee-joint, extending downward (second morning). Drawing in the left knee-joint (second and ninth days). Leg. Cramp like pain in the calves, and crawling as if asleep (twelfth day). Drawing in the muscles of the calves (ninth day). Drawing pain in the right calf, with a paralyzed pain in the hollow of the knee, as after exertion (eleventh day). Drawing in the left calf (tenth day). Cramp like tension in the right calf (eighth day). Severe cramp in the calf of the leg at night, followed by great soreness of the calf of the leg the next day. Drawing in the left leg, shooting from the ankle up through the bones to the knee, which was also affected by it (seventh day). Ankle. My ankles and feet ached so severely, for eight weeks after taking the medicine, that it was very painful for me to either stand or walk, especially in the afternoon; I was compelled to lie down every afternoon. Pressive drawing in the right, afterwards in the left ankle, then in the right, afterwards in the right, afterwards in the left ankle, then in the right wrist and right malar bone (eighth day). Pressive drawing in the right ankle (eleventh day). Drawing in the right ankle (ninth day). Sudden violent cramp by the right malleolus, as if pinched. Tension like an ulcerative pain in the malleolus, as if suppurating, on stepping on the foot (twelfth day). Foot. Drawing in both feet (fifteenth day). Throbbing in both feet, as if distended by blood (eleventh day). Jerk like drawing in the right foot, extending from the ankle to the heel and shooting upwards, with pains in the bone (fifth day). A peculiar sensation of tension, with noise like cracking in the right foot below the ankle (second day). A peculiar sensation of crawling, as if the foot would fall asleep, in the right ankle, extending into the os calcis; when it was most violent there was a sensation like a cracking in the foot; while the pains disappeared suddenly this sensation was almost constant, with only short intervals (seventh day). Crawling and cracking sensation in the right foot (eleventh day). Drawing pains on the back of the right foot (third day). Cramp on the back of the right foot. Cramp on the back of the left foot (tenth day). Stitches in the sole of the left foot (fourteenth day). Stitches in the sole of the right foot (fifteenth day). Pulsation in the vessels of the right foot (fourteenth day).
Generalities
Intumescence of the entire body and lower extremities, attended with intolerable pain and irritation, confined him to bed for several days; nor was it until weeks after that he was able to resume his duties. For several years after he was subject to a periodical recurrence of the erysipelatous inflammation which marks this particular poison. Swollen to such a degree that “he was as a log of wood, and could only be turned about in sheets. The head and body were swollen to a prodigious degree, so as to occasion the loss of sight for some time. Somewhat emaciated. Great restlessness. Rose feeling weak and as though I had taken a drastic cathartic (ninth morning). Very weak and languid; (third morning). A feeling of general malaise (sixth day). General feeling of lassitude. Lassitude. Languid feeling (sixth day). Feel rather languid (fourth day). Feels tired and weary (fifth day). Stretching and tired feeling (fourth day).
Felt heavy and unrefreshed (second morning). Previous to proving or taking this remedy was never subject to Rhus poisoning; could pull up the Rhus radicans and other poisonous vines without observing any effect, but now is very susceptible to their influence, and poisons very readily. I was tormented day and night for more than two weeks, and I think I was not free from perceptible effects of this poison for six or eight weeks.
Bruised feeling in the body, especially in the limbs, as after great exertion, with weariness and pale face and general sick feeling (eighth day). Lameness and soreness of the muscles came on, and I could hardly walk (twelfth day); Lameness continued more than two weeks. All my muscles seemed stiff, those of the posterior part of the right leg being most affected, so much so that after remaining crooked for a little while, it was painful to straighten them. This stiffness and soreness still remain in some degree. Rheumatic pains lasting nearly two months after the proving, though the prover had never before suffered from them; on taking cold, after about two months, they became so violent that the patient was obliged to take Ranunculus, which gave relief. The pains come and go suddenly and wander about. The pains are worse before the stools, but continue for several hours after.
Feels worse when the weather is very hot (sixth day). All the symptoms were increased on a damp day. The pains seem to be aggravated during rest, they wander about, extending from a single point upward and downward along the periosteum (sixth day). Pains always worse during rest (tenth day). Uniformly through the whole proving the symptoms were aggravated by rest and relieved by moderate exercise in the open air. Mental labor increases the pains, even the recording of these aggravates them (fifth day). Hot bath relieved the symptoms (sixth morning). During the proving it was noticed that coffee had no effect upon the action f the drug.
Skin
Eruptions. Nocturnal itching, and an affection very much like erythema nodosum; there had appeared red spots, varying from a half to two inches in diameter, especially on the legs, below the knee; these pained her, and underwent all the changes as if caused by a fall or blow, namely, the red changed into a bluish, then greenish- yellowish color, leaving finally spots of a little darker tint than the healthy skin; of these there were several, but in different stages. A very distressing cutaneous disease, it is well known, ensues in many persons from the contact, and even from the effluvia of this shrub. It is extremely various in it action upon persons of different idiosyncrasies; some cannot come within the atmosphere of the shrub without suffering the most violent consequences, others are but slightly affected by handling it, and some can even rub, chew, and swallow the leaves without the smallest inconvenience; the most formidable cases in persons subject to this poisons usually commence within twenty- four hours after the exposure; the interval is sometimes longer, but more frequently shorter; the symptoms are generally ushered in by a sense of itching and a tumefaction of the hands and face; the swelling gradually extends over various parts of the body, assuming an erysipelatous appearance; the inflamed parts become more elevated, acquiring a livid redness, attended with a painful burning sensation; small vesicles now appear upon the surface, which extend and run into each other; they contain a transparent fluid, which by degrees becomes yellow, and at length assumes a purulent appearance; a discharge takes place from these vesicles or pustules, giving rise to a yellowish incrustation, which afterwards becomes brown; in the meantime an insupportable sensation of itching and burning is felt; the inflamed parts become excessively swollen, so that not infrequently the eyes are closed, and the countenance assumes a shapeless and cadaverous appearance, which has been compared to that in malignant small- pox; the disease is usually at its height from the fourth to the sixth day, after which the skin and incrustations begin to separate from the diseased parts, and the symptoms gradually subside; it is not common for any scars or permanent traces of the disease to remain; notwithstanding the violent character which it sometimes assumes, I never knew an authenticated case of its terminating fatally; it is, however, capable of occasioning the most distressing symptoms. I apprehend the majority of persons are not liable to the injurious effects of the poisonous sumacs; in those in whom a constitutional liability to the poison exists, the disease frequently returns several times during life, notwithstanding the utmost precaution in avoiding its causes. A gentleman, residing in the country, informed me that he had been seven times poisoned to the most violent degree; in such constitution a slight exposure is sufficient to excite the disease. I have known individuals badly poisoned in winter from the wood of Rhus vernix accidentally burnt on the fire. The cellular tissue is greatly swollen, of a deep-red color, and covered with watery vesicles, that itch most intolerably. Small itching vesicles, that burst and healed, with desquamation and moderate redness; after repeated application to the desquamating spots, the skin became intensely red, and large blisters formed and filled with lymph; this afterwards changed to matter, and disappeared by the formation of a scab only after three weeks. Red indurated elevations on various parts of the body, especially on the face, neck, and chest. The result was a small moist scab, with the characteristic burning itching, but it lasted only a day or two. Desquamation took place three different times from all the parts affected with the vesicular eruption. Itching, with red spots on the skin (twenty-first day). Redness and swelling of the skin of the forehead, eyelids, nose, cheeks, lips, and ears, behind the ears, and on the front of the neck; the skin of these parts is covered with minutes lenticular vesicles, which are filled with serum. These vesicles seem to be situated in the rete mucosum, at least they involve a deeper tissue than the cuticle. During the day, some of them find their way to the surface and are ruptured while being scratched (third day). Same symptoms, with increased violent (fourth day). Erysipelas of the head and face. A number of boils came out on my forehead, neck, and arms after proving the Rhus v. Clusters of vesicles behind the left ear. On rising, oedema under the right eye, difficulty in looking down, with disagreeable sensation; red spot on the face, especially on the left side and on the upper part of the chest, itching; in consequence of the oedema, the eye is somewhat sensitive when reading or writing, but causes no difficulty in looking straight forward; during the day the face swollen (third day). A round group of hydroa vesicles, filled with yellowish serum, between the nose and the left corner of the mouth, and another group under the latter; left side of the face somewhat swollen and covered with red spots; left ear thick and red, posterior surface of it rough; some itching on the lower part of the ear; the nose and right side of the face considerably swollen, especially close under the eye, so much so that the cilia of the lower lid lie on the swelling, and the eye appears very small; the eye considerably irritated; the rays of the sun cause burning in the face; much itching of the sexual organs, especially upon the scrotum and preputium; hydroa vesicles on the back of the first and third fingers of the left hand and of the second finger on the right hand; at 2 P.M., small yellowish hydroa vesicles on different parts of the face; the right side of the nose and right cheek much swollen; the oedema of the face worse than yesterday; the skin rough (not chapped) and uneven; on the back of the left hand and on the fingers some efflorescence, which looks strikingly like itch; rubbing the affected parts causes itching; at 3 P.M. an eruption, like measles, with unevenness of the skin on the back of the left arm, close above the wrist, soon followed by blotches, with violent itching and burning; face hot; in the evening much itching and burning on different places in the face. At night, much itching on the face and sexual organs, especially on the preputium; the skin on the scrotum inflamed and thickened; very violent burning and itching on the left cheek, soon followed by the whole face becoming so burning hot that I had to leave the bed and wash the face in cold water (fourth day). At rising, much burning on the hands, especially between the fingers, which are somewhat swollen; the itch like eruption on the back of the left hand and on the fingers, which disappeared last evening, has reappeared and disappeared several times during the day; the hydroa vesicles on the back of the third finger larger than yesterday; the right side of the face the same as last evening, the left worse, more swollen, and inflamed; much itching and burning on the latter, also behind the ears, which are swollen, inflamed and rough (not chapped); the attacks of itching, burning, and inflammation show the same irregular periodicity as in the first proving, and are also followed by an eruption of blotches, vesicles, and red spots, and are produced and increased by the same causes; the general result of this proving much the same as of the first (fifth day). The right side of the face nearly well; the left better than yesterday, but still much itching on the lower part of the left cheek and on the back of the left ear; in the face, desquamation of the parts which have been most affected; the hands worse than yesterday; the itch like eruptions on the backs of the hands and on the fingers (at times violently itching) worse and more numerous than at any previous day; itching upon the sexual organs; four small pimples, filled with pus, on the face (sixth day). On waking, violent itching between the fingers; on the face but little inflammation and itching; the desquamation more extensive than yesterday; the back part of the left ear still rough; the hands worse than yesterday; the skin rough (seventh day). At 2 P.M. the lower part of the cheeks, especially the right, swollen, inflamed, violently burning, and covered with blotches; on the back of the hands and between the fingers, often violent burning and itching; between the metacarpal bones of the left thumb and first finger, the skin inflamed and swollen; erythema on the right side of the neck, extending to the chest; itching on the scrotum and preputium (eighth day). At 2 A.M. severe itching on the hands, particularly between the fingers, so that I had to put them in cold water; on the whole, symptoms much like yesterday, namely, periodical inflammation, swelling vesicles, red spots, blotches, itching and burning on the face, ears, neck, and hands; this morning, little red spots and itching on the inside of the thighs; the itch like affection on the hands has spread from two to three inches above the wrist, worse on the left (ninth day). The last three mornings, at rising, an attack of itching on the hands; the various symptoms very gradually subsiding; desquamation on the face (twelfth day). The little scabs, formed from the hydroa vesicles on the fingers, fell off to day; it commenced simultaneously on different parts, and spread in circles or rings; some of these are confluent to-day, which causes an indented appearance of the desquamation (seventeenth day). The desquamation on the back of the hands and fingers is just completed, and is now spreading into the palm of the hand; the nocturnal itching has occurred but three or four times since the seventeenth day, and during the last fourteen days scarcely any itching, not even at night (thirty-fifth day). On the tenth day I had touched quickly, several times, the eruption of urticaria with freshly picked stinging-nettles, and felt distinctly the burning sensation of their touch; very soon a new eruption of urticaria appeared, and the old (primitive) eruption disappeared as fast as the new one came; at the same time the itching of the old blotches decreased, while that of the new ones increased; this I perceived very distinctly; the old eruption disappeared after the lapse of ten or fifteen minutes, the new one after about half an hour. I repeated this application the following days, and must attribute to this treatment the fact that from this time I suffered less than I expected, judging from the experience of the first proving; the nocturnal itching was particularly much less, and of much shorter duration. A day or two afterwards the poison began to manifest itself, eruption appearing on face, hands, genitals, and thighs; red, rough, and resembling that produced by Rhus tox. in provings, the corners of the mouth being in a scab; itching unbearable; Rhus tox. 2 c was given. Four days later the eruption is much worse; cannot sit still; has to scratch himself continually; warm application relieve; gave him Rhus venenata, second centesimal, two drops every three hours, and continued warm application; twenty-four hours relief; in forty-eight hours great relief; in seventy-two hours great relief; in seventy-two hours itching entirely gone, and eruption disappeared from genitals and thighs; in five days hands are well, and scabs come off of face; feels comfortable; in eight days, skin all peeling off on face where scabs were, and poison apparently almost entirely removed from his system.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.