An alkaloid (C17H21NO4) obtained from the leaves of Erythroxylon Coca, Lam. Solutions in Alcohol may be diluted for internal administration. Allies. Theine.
Generalities
The body has a pendulum-like motion laterally, with closed eyes and toes together. Body inclined to one side, at angle of forty- five degrees, resting on his elbow, head on his breast, lids tightly closed, mouth half open, pupils not larger than a pin’s head, breathing slow, puls feeble, fluttering, not to be counted, face congested and whitish-gray, lips and hands blue, body bathed in cold sweat, could not be aroused by shaking and pinching. Movements diminished from want of coordination.
Pleasant tremors shooting through body. Twitching of various muscles; T. of face (after having a tooth pulled), then faintness, everything turned black, the voice of the dentist sounded as if in the distance, lips and face so numb that she tried some time before she could speak, icy coldness, general numbness, with weight on chest, gasping, sensation as if every breath would be the last, inability to swallow, then feeling as if sailing around the room a little way from the floor (gum did not bleed until then), feet and limbs cold and numb as far as knees and feeling as if asleep, gait like a drunken man’s, feet remained cold all day, with headache, remained weak several days. Convulsive movements. Convulsions, with difficult breathing, unconsciousness and livid face; then rising in frenzy and striking about violently, the gasping suggestive of obstruction about larynx, after the paroxysm of pain in l. arm; tetanic C.
Muscular power enhanced. Tottering gait, difficult speech, confusion of mind and restlessness. Nervousness. Malaise. Sinking sensation. Weakness. Faint, asked repeatedly for drinks and was covered with cold sweat. Hyperaesthesia. Anesthesia (local); and anaemia, afterwards swelling and hyperaesthesia. Amelioration from the vomiting of clear mucus.
Mind
Talkative, repeats the same idea over and over, because words fail to express the delightful sensation, afterwards is sober, but feels foolish. Every breath seems stimulating. Constant desire to undertake vast feats of strength, feels like haranguing, gesticulations and strides around the room are irresistible, feels as if nothing he could see or hear would depress him. Feeling “very good, similar to that after a big drink of whisky,” on walking about the room feels light, face flushed, after walking the feeling of exhilaration passes of, after half a grain more he feels “glorious all over the body, with stimulating waves running through the limbs, “says he is intoxicated. Cerebral activity, mounting at intervals into the region of delirium, the latter tendency subservient to a powerful effort of the will, the reflective faculties seemed stimulated. Apathy, Semi-comatose condition, from which she could be aroused easily, but answered questions with difficulty.
Head
Aching; throbbing. Hemicrania. throbbing and bursting sensation. heaviness; and fulness. Agreeable lightness, ideas flowed with facility and fantastic images followed each rapidly, then drowsiness, in resisting which there were oppression of head and confusion of thought. Vertigo on waking; V., with dark vision, sinking sensation and weakness, then semi-comatose condition, from which she was easily aroused, and when so aroused her mind was clear, heat, skin hot and dry, radial pulse rapid and scarcely perceptible, pupils dilated, deglutition difficult, dyspnoea, dryness of fauces, bitter taste, cold shivers though the temperature was above the normal, chattering of teeth, then drowsiness, eyes closed, muscles of face affected, weakness, inability to support the head, and nausea.
Eyes
Sunken. panophthalmitis from local use during operation, the superior part of the conjunctiva being as much swollen as the inferior. Burning from local application, cornea and conjunctiva soon become anesthetic, feeling of tension in lids, eye seemed protruded, as in Graves’ disease, conjunctiva pale, those symptoms lasted about ten minutes and gradually disappeared, in ten to fifteen minutes pupil began to dilate and there was slight paresis of accommodation, mydriasis lasted some hours after anaesthesia disappeared.
Pupils dilated; (<) r,; at intervals; contracted. If the drug reaches the upper lid Graefe’s symptom is often marked, the lid halting on looking down. Pallor of inner surface of lid on which the Cocaine had been dropped. Peculiar stiffness of lids (from application to ball) and diminished sensibility of eye increasing to insensibility, pupil widely dilated, Jaeger No.1 could not be read inside of five and a half inches with this eye, while with the other No.1 print could be easily read at four inches, and on looking steadily with both eyes at an object a few feet off there was an indistinct second image to the left but in close contract, and the dot-and-line test with vertical displacement by prisms proved negative, and the ball looked rather paler. The range of accommodation is shortened by the moving of the near point from the eye, the far point not being influenced (from application to eye). Astigmatism, the letters appearing to slant from l. to r. (the l. eye being “cocainized,”), in one case the slanting was more perceptible in near vision, in the other case in distant vision. Amaurosis.
Ears and Face
Ringing in ears. Deafness. pallor Cyanosis; and puffiness of face. Flushes in face; coming and going; and clammy skin. Facial muscles affected.
Mouth and Throat
Tongue dry and anaemic; T. numb. Speech incoherent. Dryness; dry, leathery feeling in mouth. Burning pain in palate. taste bitter; lost. Fauces dry. warmth in pharynx. Deglutition and articulation difficult.
Stomach
Loss of appetite. Nausea. Retching. Vomiting. Cramps; on eating. Gripings. Pressure in epigastrium. Warmth. Vacant feeling.
Stool and Urinary Organs
Constipation. Secretion of urine ceased, also sexual function. Burning on micturition (from injection into urethra).
Respiratory Organs
Dyspnoea. Respiration rapid, Breathing very easy, and principally thoracic, very superficial; with frequent inclination to sigh. Disposed to sigh and unable to draw a deep breath.
Heart and Pulse
Suffocative feeling in cardiac region. Heart’s action retarded; slightly increased; the beat was felt and blood rushed to head, then Dullness and roaring in head and noises in ears, confusion of thought, impairment of volition, general uneasiness, twitching in fingers and toes, with numbness, nausea and pressure in epigastrium, after the acme of the paroxysm face pale and covered with cold sweat. Pulse rapid; and stronger, while the breath was slower, but deeper and fuller; and weak. Pulse intermittent every fifth beat. Pulse feeble.
Extremities
Fleshy parts of arms and legs insensible to pinching, etc. Heaviness. Tingling in hands, with numbness; T. in fingers, (<) r. with numbness. Hands and lips blue. Tremors of fingers when outstretched. Prickings in finger-tips. Cramps in legs and feet, (<) dorsal aspect of r. foot. Legs weak. Lost the use of legs. Queer feeling, extending from toes over whole body.
Sleep
Sleepiness; giving way to a feeling of great energy. Wakeful feeling, with weakness of legs in walking. Sleep for thirteen hours.
Fever
Coldness. Hands cold and clammy. Subjective heat. Rise of temperature; with cold shivers and chattering of teeth. Skin hot and dry. Sweat; then prostration, shivering, feeling of impending death; cold; on face or neck; clammy, on forehead.
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.