ON February 21st, 1939, I was visited by Mr. O., a retired professional man, 62 years old, who came to me complaining about chronic indigestion with pain at the stomach outlet and a dull pain in the region of the caecum. This trouble had been in existence for more than twenty years.
Mr. O. had been thought the Great War, had received numerous wounds and injuries, and for more than twenty years he had been treated with anti-acids in the usual way. Besides he had been to well-known nature cure resort where he had been fasted and dieted, and the treatment had upset him badly.
Every now and then he had a violent attack of indigestion which compelled him either to undergo a complete fast or to go on to a milk diet. Mr. O. used to weigh twelve stone, but his sufferings had reduced his weight to ten stone. After the War he had had a large number of carbuncles which were treated in the usual way by incision and drainage, without much success.
I was interested to learn that his pain was relieved by eating, a symptom which indicates Anacardium, and that he found vegetables and salad difficult to digest, a symptom which called for Arsenic. He had been vaccinated three times, and had obviously been upset. Vaccinated poisoning very frequently leads to the formation of polypi, and he had suffered from polypi. I gave him a lacto-vegetarian diet and gave him various remedies which were called for, particularly Arsenic 3 for fruit and salad indigestion, and Anacardium 3x which is indicated when digestive difficulties are relieved by eating.
I gave him one a week a dose of Anacardium 200, and once a week a dose of Thuja 200 to antidote vaccination. Gentian is an excellent remedy to create an appetite assist digestion, and Calendula is an excellent wound disinfectant. It is particularly attractive because it is non- poisonous. I concluded that his chronic indigestion was largely due to the rawness of the stomach and the mucous membrane, a condition which was almost equivalent to that of an unhealthy wound.
I gave him a mixture of Calendula tincture and Gentian tincture in equal parts, ten drops to taken in water half an hour before meals. Very promptly there was improvement. He found it no longer necessary to have periodic fasts or to subsist periodically on milk alone. He began to gain weight and strength after twenty years of suffering. He put on a great deal of weight became totally changed in mind and body.
In the course of months many different remedies had to be given. Each symptom had to be acted upon. I had to give him Hydrastis for his liver, Argentum nitricum for great acidity, Arnica for physical and mental fatigue, Ambra grisea for his nerves, Natrum phosphoricum for acidity, Lycopodium for flatulence, and so forth.
When he came to me he had lost all confidence in himself. Gradually he became a healthy, sturdy man, who was able to enjoy life one more.
On May 3rd, 1939, I was visited by Mr. W.H., who lived in the South of England. He had been a decorator before in the War, had done much painting, and he complained of most terrible suffering from chronic indigestion. As he had been a painter I had a suspicion that his sufferings might be due to lead poisoning. However, there were no indications of lead poisoning such as the well-known lead line on the gums.
His indigestion had started at the end of the War and he had been treated for gastric catarrh, colitis and for ulceration of the stomach. Mr. H. was well made and well proportioned, but prematurely aged. He had an earthy yellow skin, heavily lined, there were big bags under his eyes, and he complained of being completely strengthless. Physically and mentally he felt far below par.
He was sentimental, could not digest fat, he had a dry mouth and little thirst. He was 10 stone 11 pounds when he came to me, and had lost more than a stone in weight. He felt depressed. He had to give up work long ago. He had lost all hope of recovery and came to me only when friends of his had urged him persistently to apply to me for help.
He improved rapidly. After a week he wrote to one: ” I have gained 12 pounds in weight.” After another week he told me: ” I can report a further gain of 2 pounds.” On June 7th he reported: “My weight is now 11 stone 4 pounds, the highest recorded although I am wearing lighter clothes”.
With increasing weight and improvement of digestion there came gain in strength. On June 28th he wrote: “For the first time months I have been able to work in the garden during the last two days without any exhaustion, and even with some pleasure”.
I saw Mr. H. on July 18th and found that he was a totally different man. He was no longer deeply jaundiced but had an almost normal colour, the whites of his eyes were white instead of being yellow, he was light-hearted, lithe in his movements, was far more active mentally, he had gained 10 pounds in weight, his rheumatism had practically disappeared, the terrible dragging in the abdomen had vanished, he was a totally different man, and full of gratitude.
On December 5th, 1938, I was visited by Mr. F., of Sussex, who came to me complaining of indigestion and colitis. Colitis is a scientific name for catarrh of the bowel. The patient was 53 years old, had retired from business, was living chiefly for his health exercising horses and dogs. Mr. F explained to me that he had suffered severely with digestion since childhood, had always been extremely thin, had a physical breakdown twelve years ago, and had been twice vaccinated. He had been a great meat earth, had treated by orthodox and by nature cure methods, and had always been constipated.
At the first glance I noticed that Mr. F. had deep and almost perpendicular lines at the sides of his mouth, lines of suffering which spelt dragging down of the abdominal organs, scientifically called enteroptosis. He was well over six feet in height, but terribly thin, and weighed only 82 stone. the right side of the body was the worst side, a symptom which indicated Lycopodium, and his need for Lycopodium was confirmed by prefering to go about with a hat, by his being shy, feeling best on rising and worst between 4 and 8 oclock in the evening, and by bloating of the abdomen, especially in the fight side, in the caecum area.
I gave him a diet designed to strengthen his muscles and organs. He was to take from two to three pints of milk a day plenty of eggs, cheese, wholemeal bread, wholemeal flour, and an abundance of bran to regulate his bowels. I gave him a combination of Ignatia and Carbo vegetabilis to his assist his digestion, Lycopodium 3x for bloating to be taken occasionally as needed, and he was to take first and last thing a dose of Lycopodium 12x because his symptoms pointed to the need for Lycopodium.
For his colitis he was to take between meals doses of Mercurius dulcis 3x. Before meals he was given a grain of Thyroid to increase his appetite, every Thursday night he was to take a dose of Lycopodium 200, and every Saturday night a dose of Sepia 200 for the sagging down of his abdominal organs.
He improved immediately, and was very grateful, but of course there were setbacks. When a disease has been in evidence for decades one can never expect continued and uninterrupted improvement. Although there were many ups and downs, he improved most gratifyingly.
He visited me on May 2nd, 1939, and I wrote to him: ” You look extremely well, infinitely better than you did when I saw you the last time.” His bowel attacks disappeared completely, he no longer was afraid to eat, he ate hearty meals, became stronger than he had been for many years, went for longer excursions in the plains, went mountaineering in Corsica, etc.
Of course, I had to use many remedies to obtain this result, but those employed in the first instance proved well chosen and helpful.
On April 6th, 1939, I saw Miss C., who came to me in the following circumstances. A patient of mine, Miss W., had done exceedingly well. Her best friend was Miss C., and Miss C. had been desperately ill for more than four years. She had been a jolly, highly intelligent, powerful girl, but had developed a mysterious illness and had gradually declined until she was no longer able to walk or to stand or to use her hands. Her whole body was distorted, her power of speech had largely gone, and she and her friends were in despair.
My patient, Miss W., had frequently urged her to consult me, but Miss C. and her widowed mother were very much opposed to consulting anyone except qualified medical practitioners. Miss C.s mother was the widow of a doctor and both Mrs. C. and her daughter were convinced that if the best qualified specialists were unable to cure, it would be useless to go to an outsider who possessed no medical title.
After months of entreaty on the part of Miss W., Mrs. C. consented to her daughter consulting me. Miss C. was in a ghastly condition. She arrived in a car and had to be carried up to my consulting rooms by three people. Obviously she was strongly prejudiced against me, and looked at with eyes of hostility, if not of hatred. In order to steady her nerves I did a few passes on her head, but felt her resentment.
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.