A farmer suffered from paralysis of the neck so that the head fell forward. Besides there was weakening of the eye and mouth muscles. He was intensely strong-willed, would go about his work as usual, for months refused treatment. Vervain effected a complete cure in about two weeks.
A lady of about forty had suffered from asthma from childhood, and had spent about four months each winter in bed. She had had an enormous number of injections of adrenalin and had been given every type of asthma treatment without effect. She was, like many cases of asthma, whooping cough, and other chest complaints, tortured by her disease.
She was first seen in December 1930, and by the end of January 1931, Agrimony had completely removed the disease. There was a slight return in the winter of 1931 which was easily controlled, the patient not having to go to bed. Since then there has been no trace whatever of the disease.
NOTES ON DR. BACHS TWELVE REMEDIES.
BY M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
DURING the last few years Dr. Bach has devoted the whole of his time and energy to the testing and proving of some new remedies. These are of great interest when considered from the homoeopathic point of view. Those who are familiar with the work of Hahnemann will remember that in his provings of remedies he discovered that each drug brought out clearly its own definite mental characteristics.
If each group of mental symptoms are added together, of any one remedy, it will be found that they make up one outstanding mental characteristic of the patient. For example, Sepia in its totality suggests Indifference; Chamomilla, Irritability, etc.
Now these twelve new remedies are each representative of one mental characteristic dominating the whole patient, for example, Clematis corresponds to Indifference; Agrimony to Worry of a torturing nature accompanied with restlessness; Chicory to Congestion, mental or physical; Impatient to pain and impatience; Rock Rose to Terror; Mimulus to Fear, etc., etc.
As an example of their use the following cases of my own will show how to select the correct Bach remedy:.
Case I.
A child, female, age 12 years. Fractured left wrist, confirmed by X-rays. Arnica and Symphytum were given with some relief the night the accident took place, but only fitful attempts at sleep were made. The next night it seemed as if a repetition of the previous nights pain and discomfort would be likely, in spite of Arnica. Impatiens 3 was given: after the first dose a sobbing at tack occurred, due evidently to a mental reaction after tying to keep a brave face on the trouble.
Then the child fell asleep and only woke to have the position of the arm changed. She slept well and in the morning said the arm felt much better and that after the first dose of the medicine it felt different. Incidentally the arm made a more rapid recovery than usually occurs with the usual homoeopathic remedies.
Case II.
Another case of considerable interest. A man, aged 50 years, sustained a fractured leg, and a large blood tumor developed. For ten nights he had very little sleep and “nearly went mad with the pain”. The pain was said to be intolerable, and surgical measures were contemplated as the pain was unusual and not easily explained. Impatiens was given, and after the first dose he had a good nights sleep with relief from pain.
Case III.
A patient, aged 70 years, had a serious lung condition resulting from an injury many years ago. For some years there had been acute inflammatory attacks and later these were accompanied by haemorrhage of some severity. Many homoeopathic remedies had been used as indicated but they only palliated.
Then on the indication of a fear amounting to terror of another attack, Rock Rose was given, with the result that the patient has remained free from any attacks for a year. Thus this had accomplished, by giving freedom from the attacks which were increasing in frequency and severity.
Case IV.
This was a case of some severity and one which gave rise to some anxious moments.
A male child, 3 years of age, began with convulsions for no obvious reason, but the cause was apparently the suppression of an eczema due to faulty treatment. The convulsions became very frequent, coming on every twenty minutes. Between them the child was hardly conscious being in a state of stupor.
Clematis was given every quarter of an hour; the lips being moistened with the fluid. After twenty-four hours the child began to improve, and recovered its normal condition eventually. An interesting point was that after a few days some of the eczematous rash returned.
Case V.
Mammary abscess after childbirth, in the left breast. The whole breast became swollen and congested, and pus was obviously present. Surgical measures were declined by the patient. For a time the breast improved under the indicated homoeopathic remedies, and pus discharged from an opening close to the nipple.
Then the breast became worse and it seemed that nothing but a radical opening of the breast would be any good. By this time the condition had lasted one month. Impatiens was now given and relieved the pain. This was followed by Chicory and the breast made a rapid and complete recovery.
Case VI.
A woman aged 40 years. In this case there were a number of physical symptoms, but the outstanding feature of this case was the complete indifference to everyday affairs. The history was that a few years ago a girl friend had died and the patient became indifferent to everything and for the greatest part of the year following she did noting but mope about. All she wanted to do was to die and join her friend.
She said she had never been fit since her friend died. Clematis was given to be taken frequently, and after a week the patient returned and said she was much better. There was still a certain amount of indifference of life. Clematis was continued, and at the end of a month the patient reported: “I feel a lot better in myself; I feel more like I did years ago.” She has regained he hold on life and its daily round of work.
James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.