Pure metallic zinc is triturated for use.
General Action
Zinc produces a marked derangement of the whole cerebro-spinal system; delirium, spasms, violent neuralgias, tremblings, extreme hyperaesthesia and paralysis. There seems no doubt that it affects not only the meninges of the brain and cord, but also the nerve-structure itself. Its action on mucous membranes is particularly seen in the eye, gastro-intestinal canal and bronchi. Its action on the blood is well established; marked anaemia (deficiency of red corpuscles) with profound prostration results. Its action on the skin is shown in the eczematous eruptions which it produces.
Allies.- Plumb., Pulsatilla, Argent., Stramonium, Belladonna
Generalities
Emaciation; with feeble appearance, face wrinkled and bluish. Paleness of mucous surfaces, with disappearance of subcutaneous cellular tissue and atrophy of muscular system, (<) r. side. Twitching of various muscles (Hyosc., Belladonna); of body and face. Trembling after every excitement (Arg-nit., Stramonium). Stretching of body and limbs, with pale, sunken face.
Sticking here and there in evening; tearing S. above l. eye and at the same time in umbilical region. Sticking cutting in r. side. Pain between skin and flesh; P. in l. groin, near l. side of navel, in l. chest and l. side of head; in abdomen, head and eyes in evening on lying down; in whole body, (>) rest; cramplike, here and there in muscles; cramplike, off and on all day.
Next after lung and digestive disturbances, and the so-called night-blindness, there appears after ten to twelve years’ work, in the smelters, a peculiar affection, pain in back, sensitiveness of soles, formication of lower limbs, numbness and coldness in the same, sensation of a band around abdomen and occasionally pain in muscles of lower half of body from crampy twitchings in them, sense of touch diminished, reflex excitability increased, but muscular sensibility weakened, so that there is staggering on closing eyes, and in the dark control of muscular power ceases, muscles remain well nourished and strong for a long time, but at each intentional movement diffused muscular tremor (Arg-nit.). later the gait becomes stiff, spasmodic, trembling and uncertain, the step is made on the full sole, finally weakness of lower and sometimes of upper extremities.
Pressing asunder upon walls of trunk, without trace of flatulence, caused by the nerves, (<) r. side. Swollen sensation. Sensation of trembling without trembling. Discomfort. Throbbing through whole body. Muscular soreness; towards evening, with malaise. Dullness like slight nausea two hours after dinner, with tremulous feeling in chest, pain in forehead and inability to understand what he was reading. Unfitted for work (after vomiting), feels, best when lying with eyes closed. Increase of vigor at first when walking, with lightness, afterwards weakness.
Weakness; all day, with sleepiness, aversion to noise, yet difficult hearing, a dreamy condition as after a sleepless night, with shivering and cold creeping; in morning on waking; in morning, (<) lower limbs, with indolence; in evening;, (<) r. side; (<) after dinner, at times with tremulousness and heaviness of head; with aching in lumbar region; with pains in limbs; with sensation as if beaten; sudden, faintlike, when standing; dizzy, nauseating, as after smoking too strong tobacco, on remaining up long in evening.
Faintness; then prostration and numbness. Necessity to lie down during the day. Heaviness in morning; in morning in bed, with weariness in lower limbs. Numbness on lying down, with fear of apoplexy. Decrease of sensibility to touch, but tickling was more quickly responded to than in the normal state. Inability to move head or limbs every morning on waking, with sensibility to contact over whole surface, after an hour staggering with tendency to fall to the left. Aggravation from wine though symptoms seem to have been (>) camphor; A. from wine and Nux. vom., especially uneasiness at night and constipation. Most symptoms appear after dinner and towards evening (puls.); appear when sitting and during rest, less during motion and in open air (Pulsatilla). Amelioration in morning; A. on waking; from sweat.
Clinical Occasionally useful in locomotor ataxia with trembling, unsteadiness of the extremities and lightning-like pains. Epilepsy, especially in young children. Physical exhaustion, with acute sensitiveness of all cutaneous nerves and muscular unsteadiness. Very marked relief from discharges and appearance of eruptions (compare Sul.). The Zincum met. patients are always relieved of their chest symptoms by expectoration, of pains by menstruation, of head symptoms by the re-appearance of alvine evacuations or of eruptions, etc., etc. Varicose veins, particularly of the lower extremities; extremely valuable, especially in the subacute or chronic condition which underlies and determines the development of this disease; it works well when associated with Pulsatilla; the two drugs should never be given together, but consecutively; Zincum met. follows Pulsatilla, acting better after Pulsatilla has relieved some of the acute symptoms; neither of these drugs, however, is often indicated in acute phlebitis (see Vipera). Convulsions from suppression of menses, suppression of eruptions, from fright, etc. Chorea, with incessant movements, mostly twitching, especially during sleep, the feet particularly affected. Anaemia of teething children.
Mind
Illusion when holding head down as if she had a goitre which she could not see over. Very happy at times. Lively and excited. Joyful, (<) towards evening, and excited. Laughs excessively over a trifle, and is just as easily vexed. Loquacity. Easily offended. Anger causing weakness; easily excited to A., but quiet. Wishes that he could get hold of some one on whom he could vent his anger. Impatient. Ill humor; in morning; at noon, (>) evening, and terrified; in afternoon, and disgusted with everything; during menses, and lachrymose; when obliged to speak; at much talking of other people, and impatient; (<) evening, and sullen mood; and frightened easily; and indolence, later liveliness and joyfulness; so that he whined, with pain in vertex.
Anxiety; during menses; on account of thieves or horrible apparitions when awake; as if he had done evil; restless, in morning. Apprehension and ennui, she seeks society; A. (>) evening, with lachrymose mood; as if he had committed a crime. Despondent. Sadness. Hypochondriac mood three hours after dinner, with pressure under short ribs, (<) r., with aversion to work and general discomfort, without trace of flatulence or of overloading stomach. Sensitive to noise. Talking and listening were distressing. Dread of work. Indolence after dinner, with sleepiness. Variable mood, sad at noon, in evening contented and happy. Alternately irritable, easily frightened, wrathful and despondent. Quiet thoughts of death in afternoon, with weakness. Indifferent.
Imaginative powers excited. Dullness and thoughtlessness. Forgetful. Mental operations difficult. Difficulty in grasping ideas and in coordinating thoughts. Ideas disconnected. Answers slow and as if in bad temper. Uses wrong words when talking. Omits letters in writing. Inability to fix the attention when reading and writing.
Clinical Delirium, with subsultus tendinum, coldness of extremities and trembling of hands. Melancholia. The mental condition in generally lethargic, stupid, and is associated with tendency to convulsions, sometimes with feeling of paralysis, so that the extremities have to be rubbed. It is said that a suicidal tendency or fear that one is to be arrested on account of crime is a marked indication for the drug in mental alienation. It is sometimes indicated in general paresis.
Head
Tearing in brain; T. from morning till after lying down in evening, (<) r. frontal region, with throbbing; during and after dinner, with sticking in it, cutting in abdomen and yawning; sticking, and in eyes. Raging here and there. Aching; at night; after a glass of accustomed wine, and in eyes; (>) open air; (>) washing with cold water; with shivering; in brain, almost driving one mad, then vomiting of bile and trembling; congestive, mostly frontal and temporal, with beating in forehead and temples, (<) stooping and exposure to the heat of the sun; gnawing, especially in forehead, (<) over r. eye, on stooping this gnawing and heaviness became a beating headache; stupefying, obliged to lie down; stupefying, as from coal-gas, all the morning. Tingling when speaking loud, with resounding. Throbbing felt with pulse- beat. Oppression. Heaviness as if it would fall down. Fulness and heat. Inability to support it in evening. Weak feeling, (<) eyes. Dullness; in morning on waking; in forenoon, with pain in forehead and eyes and sleepiness; on waking; after dinner. Paroxysms of dizzy stupefaction, (<) afternoon and evening, with blackness before eyes and general weakness. Intoxication.
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.