An alkaloid obtained from Aconitum Napellus, L.; composition C33 H43 NO12. (Commercial aconitine is mixed with pseudoaconitine, both obtained from the above species.)
General Action
Paralysis, first peripheral then central. Loss of sensation, then also of motion. Depression of heart’s action, of blood pressure, of respiration and temperature. Intense hyperaemia of nerve centers, brain and spine; heat from head extending over body; neuralgia, especially of trigeminus.
Antidotes.-Strychnine, Atropia. In poisoning, stimulants, ammonia, heat, digitalis, etc., according to indications.
Generalities
Throws himself about the bed continually. Sudden change, limbs turned colder, heart’s sounds and pulse disappeared, skin turned of a marble color, face turgescent, pupils dilated, conjunctiva injected, cold clammy sweat over whole body, breathing more laborious and superficial, tracheal rattling, peculiar, clear, short moaning, tonic spasms beginning in fingers, then in face, trismus, after a while general clonic convulsions, unconsciousness, this paroxysm lasted about five or six minutes, on return of consciousness he thought he had had bad dreams, in fifteen minutes return of convulsions. during which respiration almost stopped. Convulsive movements excited by touching him. Glowing tingling over whole body. Oppression. Malaise. Restlessness. Weakness; from least effort. Sensibility diminished (<) on hands and cheeks. Numbness, (<) in face and throat, with tingling.
Mind
Irritable and quick in his replies. Distraction. Power of attention. Power of attention impaired. Ideas sluggish. Memory weak.
Head
Aching; (<) by mental or physical exertion, with faceache; with heat and tightness. Fulness. Heaviness; and dullness. Vertigo. Temples, constriction; aching, and along, infraorbital nerve; fulness; throbbing; painful tension and prickling, involving face. In forehead, cheeks, upper jaws (over whole tract of trigeminal) drawing pressing stretching alternating with pain, becoming steady and severe, (<) by motion and mental effort. Pain in supraorbital nerve.
Eyes and Ears
Strained feeling in eyes. Lachrymation (from local application), with swelling of lids and redness. Pupils very mobile, finally dilated; dilated, sluggish; contracted, sluggish. Lids numb. Vision dim. The lamplight was disagreeable. Blind and deaf. Ringing in ears; and pressure. Roaring.
Face
Distorted, (<) about mouth (facies hippo cratica). Darting pain, sometimes with vomiting. Tense and swollen feeling. Fulness in cheeks. Sensitive and swollen. Tingling, and in mouth. Lips burning; with numbness, extending over tongue, mouth and throat.
Mouth and Throat
Burning on tip of tongue; inside mouth after supper; in mouth, spreading to throat and stomach, with acidity, then burning and numbness lips, tongue and pharynx, with salivation. Salivation. Taste disgustingly bitter. Throat dry. Every attempt to swallow was followed by spasmodic contractions, as in hydrophobia. Swallowing difficult, with pains in nape and behind jaws in parotid region, so that in eating he had to press the nape with his hands. Burning in throat; and over larynx; in gullet.
Stomach, Etc
Appetite lost. Eructations. Nausea; when erect; on rising from a recumbent position, with inability to see. Vomiting; violent, from sudden jerking of abdominal muscles, accompanied by a loud shout. Gastric and cardiac anguish, with sensation as if all parts except head were filled with lead. Heat in stomach. Rumbling in abdomen. Micturition difficult. Dysuria and occasionally retention, with hypogastric pains. Urine increased; and dark; micturition delayed. Nocturnal emissions.
Respiratory Organs, Etc
Cough, with easy expectoration. Respiration difficult; and short, irregular, superficial, sometimes 40 per minute, a few minutes later much slower; oppressed and sighing; slow and deep, with slow pulse. Moaning. Chest oppressed; anxious pressure. Heart’s action feeble; and irregular, quick, sounds heard only at apex and scarcely distinguishable. Pulse rises; at first more frequent, during the heat, then slow, small, weak, and at times dicrotic; small, irregular, dicrotous, sometimes scarcely to be felt.
Extremities
Bruised feeling, with difficulty in grasping objects. Relaxation. Numbness; of forearms and hands, with heaviness. Tingling in fingers Gait heavy. Legs tremble.
Skin
Red spots as from punctures. Pallor, coldness and sweat; pallor and coldness, (<) limbs, which were bedewed with cold, clammy sweat. Prickling, (<) on face and limbs; face and forearms; P. following a nerve; in forearms and hands, with numbness and heaviness of them; tingling, in legs, running to spine and head. Formication, (<) by quiet; F. on forearms; on face, with feeling as if epidermis were scaling off.
Sleep
Yawning. Sleepiness. Sleep disturbed; and dreamy. Frequent waking.
Fever
Coldness. Heat; with pricking and smarting; numbness glow; of skin (from external application), with lancinations and pricklings, then heaviness and numbness of the part affected, skin seemed raised up and contracted by muscles beneath, anaesthesia; sudden, in head and face, extending over body, (<) in region of stomach, with sweat. Sweat.
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.