DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. – Painful and bleeding Haemorrhoids, with sensation as if the back would break off, for which it is a prime remedy; it should be used externally as well as internally; intestinal Haemorrhage; Dysentery, when the quantity of dark blood is a more prominent symptom than the straining; Haematemesis, etc., or Varicosis, with Constipation.
GENITO-URINARY ORGANS. – Haematuria and irritable bladder; Neuralgia of the testes and ovaries; ovarian disease, with pain in the loins, etc.; vaginal Leucorrhoea, with relaxation of the mucous lining, etc.; Varicocele.
Haemorrhages. – Haemorrhage from the nose, mouth, cavity of an extracted tooth, stomach, lungs, bowels, bladder, uterus, or anus, when the blood is venous, steadily flowing in a dark stream; “Haemorrhage with asthenia or anaemia, or from asthenic tendency, is of itself an indication for the use of Hamamelis” (Belcher).
Injuries. – Burns of the tongue and lips from hot drinks; Ecchymosis from a bruise.
EXTERNAL USE. – Formula. – One part of the strong tincture to four or five drops of water. Besides its external use in nearly all affections for which it is given internally, Hamamelis, like Ruta, may be substituted for Arnica when the latter does not suit the patient.
53. – Helleborus Niger – Black Hellebore – Christmas rose.
A tincture is prepared from the fresh root.
LEADING USES. – The main uses of Hellebore are illnesses affecting principally the nervous system, with occipital headache, retraction of the head, convulsions, drowsiness and coma, with pallor of the face. Thus it is often indicated in Meningitis, especially at the commencement, and finds a place in the treatment of certain cases of febrile disorders, such as Measles and Scarlet fever, when the rash comes out badly and cerebral symptoms supervene. Especially when there is suppression or partial suppression of urine. Also in Nephritis, Eclampsia and illness where scanty urine is associated with cerebral symptoms.
54. – Helonias Dioica – False Unicorn.
This plant is indigenous in the lowlands of the United States of America. A tincture is prepared from the root, or a trituration from Helonin.
LEADING USES. – It is described as a Uterine tonic, and we have repeatedly proved it to be a most precious remedy in atonic conditions of the uterus – Amenorrhoea, Prolapsus uteri, Menorrhagia, Sterility, Leucorrhoea, etc. At the same time it improves digestion and assimilation, and its action on anaemic patients very much resembles that of Ferrum. Pain and stiffness in the sacral region from male or female sexual disorders, often supposed to be of a rheumatic character, are curable by Helonias The combination of dyspepsia with some pelvic lesion should suggest it as a remedy to be considered.
55. – Hepar Sulphuris Calcareum – Hepar Sulphur – Liver of Sulphur.
A preparation of the calcareous matter of the oyster shell and Sulphur. These substances are heated together in hermetically close crucible, and form and impure sulphide of calcium, which gives off sulphuretted hydrogen.
LEADING USES. – Affections of the glands, respiratory system, and skin; tubercular and syphilitic manifestations, and the evil effects of Mercury. Chronic glandular swellings, especially when Abscesses form; tubercular disease of joints; ulcers, and scaly eruptions due to syphilitic infection; suppuration from any part. In the lower potencies it is useful when suppuration is commencing, to hasten the process (Boils, Abscesses, etc.); when suppuration is only threatening the use of the higher potencies will sometimes check its development. It compares in this respect with Silicea.
HEAD, EYES, etc. – Headache at the root of the nose; Chronic periodical Hemicrania, with boring pain; ulcers of the conjunctiva, which are apt to return; sore eyes, chronic, with frequent inflammation and free discharge, in weakly children; Ozaena and Otorrhoea, in the tuberculous.
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. – Hoarseness, with wheezing breathing; hoarse Cough following Measles; Catarrh of the larynx and trachea, with roughness and Hoarseness, severe, deep, dry cough, particularly in the evening, and easily excited by exposure; “sensation as of a clot of mucus, or of internal swelling, when swallowing,” and titillation in the throat; Cough with those symptoms, at first dry, afterwards moist, and yielding tenacious mucus; chronic Bronchitis; Phthisis Pulmonalis. But here it must be used with caution; the lower potencies are preferable, as the higher are apt to stimulate the breaking-down-process.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. – Acute Quinsy; in this disease we have found it the most efficacious remedy. It is very valuable also for swollen tonsils; Salivation, spongy gums, and other conditions of the mouth, from large doses of Mercury; chronic Dyspepsia with frequently and easily deranged stomach; chronic Congestion of the liver, with abdominal distress, impeding free respiration, and causing a sense of oppression; obstinate constipation, from a congested condition of the rectum, and Haemorrhoids, from engorgement of the liver.
SKIN. – Unhealthy, and chapped or cracked skin; fissures in the palms of the hands; Abscesses, Whitlow, Boils, and threatened Carbuncles; chronic Erysipelas, chronic Herpes.
56. – Hydrastis Canadensis – Golden Seal.
Hydrastis Canadensis comes to us from America. It grows in different parts of the United States and Canada, and has long bee n known to the Indian tribes for its medicinal virtues and beautiful yellow dye. Its value has been recognised to a limited extent by the allopathic school, rather more by the eclectics, still more by homoeopaths. Its rugged root is the part used for officinal purposes. In administration it is employed externally as an injection, a lotion, or gargle; internally in the form of trituration or tincture, in low and high attenuations.
LEADING USES. – Its special range of action is not extensive, but within that range it is very efficient. it affects chiefly the mucous tracts, the glands, and the skin.
Beginning, then, with the mucous membranes, the following is a sketch of its symptomatology.
EYES, EARS, AND NOSE. – Dr. Hale has observed that the yes seem to be prominently affected by the pathogenetic influence of the drug; that in Catarrhal Conjunctivitis, after the acute stage has passed, it may be used as a collyrium with unequivocal benefit; that it is more appropriate to a chronic condition; and that the discharge for which it is indicated proceeds from obstinate catarrhal inflammation, in which ulceration is a prominent symptom. Dr. Palmer, of New Hamilton, remarks that in Conjunctivitis he has used it locally and internally with good results. In Nasal Catarrh he employs the 3x dilution, and finds it specially beneficial when there is a constant discharge of thick white mucus from the nose, obstruction of the nasal passages, and Coryza with frontal headache. One of the symptoms which indicate its use is a peculiar roaring in the ears-a whirring roar-especially in a feeble condition of the system. It has been found useful in Tinnitus Aurium, and in Otorrhoea when the mucus has been thick; a weak solution should be employed as an injection. The constant discharge of thick white mucus from the nose he regards as a leading indication. For several years he has been in the habit of treating chronic nasal Catarrh, Ozaena, and diphtheritic affections of the nose with Hydras. – the second dilution in simple Catarrh, internally and by injection; the first decimal trituration when there is Ulceration; a still stronger form in Ozaena.
MOUTH AND THROAT. – An aphthous condition of the mouth yields to this medicine. A yellow stripe down the middle of the tongue, or even over the whole of the organ, which feels large, with a sticky mouth, are indications. In all forms of Stomatitis of children it is valuable – in simple ulceration, in mercurial sore mouth, and in Stomatitis Materna. We have found obstinate cases, in which other remedies had failed, yield to a wash of Hydras., used several times a day. Sometimes a peculiar sore throat attends Dyspepsia, arising from extension of the irritation of the stomach. For this Hydras. is an excellent remedy, given internally. It may also be so given and as a gargle for some cases of Diphtheria, being homoeopathic to the debility which accompanies that disorder, as well as to the state of the throat. In follicular tonsillitis we have found it to act very promptly.
Dr. Logan reports the successful treatment of more than 200 cases of Diphtheria with Hydras. gargle. Dr. Hill states that, used as a gargle in a septic state of the throat in malignant Scarlet fever, it arrests the destructive process at once.
GASTRIC AFFECTIONS. – Here it takes rank with Nux V., Pulsatilla, and Sulph. Observations point to its use when the Dyspepsia is atonic; when there is great sense of prostration and sinking at the epigastrium, with violent and long-continued Palpitation of the heart. Dr. Hale limits its beneficial action upon the intestinal canal, for he says :- “Hydrastis is not primarily or directly homoeopathic to Diarrhoea unless it be catarrhal, in which it should be used highly potentized. But it is decidedly homoeopathic to the following conditions :-
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."