A pregnant woman has some trouble as well. A woman, who is not naturally a sufferer from constipation, when pregnant becomes constipated, with all the characterizing features of Alumina, i. e., the inactivity of the rectum, no expulsive force; she must use the abdominal muscles, must strain a long time.
Infant: Again, the infant has a similar kind of straining. You will see the new-born infant, or the infant on few months old, that will need Alumina.
It is a very common medicine for constipation in infants when you can find nothing else; the child will strain and strain and make every effort to press the stool out, and upon examining the stool it is found to be soft, and should have been expelled easily.
It has hoarseness and loss of voice and paralytic weakness of the larynx. That is not strange; it is only in keeping with the general state, the broken down constitution. He has a weak voice and, if a singer, he is capable of singing only a little while, only capable of slight exertion.
Everything is a burden. A paralytic condition of the vocal cords, which steadily increases to loss of voice.
Cough and Chest: The most striking things we come to now are the cough and chest troubles. There is expectoration in some of the coughs, but the cough is usually a constant, dry, hacking cough one of those troublesome lingering coughs that has existed for years.
It competes with Argentum met. in its character of the dry, hacking cough, especially associated with weakness, but Argentum met. has the cough in the day time, which is not so in Alumina.
The Alumina cough is in the morning. Here is a symptom that about covers the Alumina cough:
“Cough soon after waking in the morning.”
Every morning, a long attack of dry cough. The cough is hard, a continued dry hacking, and she coughs until she loses her breath and vomits, and loses the urine.
This symptom commonly occurs in the woman.
“Dry, hacking cough with frequent sneezing.”
It says in the text “from elongated uvula,” but it should read “from sensation of elongated uvula.”
It is a sensation as if there were something tickling the throat; a tickling as if the uvula were hanging down a long distance, and he will tell you that his palate must be too long.
Another expression which is the same thing is “cough from sensation as of loose skin hanging in throat.”
Some times those who do not know about the palate will talk of something loose in the throat, while those who know they have an uvula will generally call it the palate. But it is the same idea. Tickling in the larynx, too.
Singers: This is always quoted in singers. We would think of Alumina when singers break down in the voice from paralysis or from overwork of the voice.
The voice lets down and becomes feeble, and, when taking cold, there starts up a peculiar kind of tickling.
Alumina is very useful in these cases. Argentum met. was the remedy used by the earlier homoeopaths for singers and talkers with much trembling and letting down of the voice before the value of Alumina was known in such conditions.
Let me tell you something here about Rhus, as I may not think of it again. Many old singers, after taking cold, have a weakness left in the voice, which they notice on beginning to sing.
On beginning to sing the voice is weak and husky, but after using it a little while it improves. Give Rhus to all these patients, prima donnas, lawyers, preachers, etc.
They must warm up the voice and then they are all right, but they say:
“If I go back into the green room and wait a little while, when I commence to sing again I am worse than ever.”
The voice is better if they stay in a very hot room and keep it in use. This fits into the general state of Rhus.
Hoarseness: There is a kind of hoarseness that you may discover to be a little different from the paralytic hoarseness of Alumina and Argentum met.
This hoarseness of which I speak belongs to this same class of people; on first beginning to use the voice it seems that they must get rid of some mucus by clearing the throat until the voice can get to work.
The vocal cords on beginning to work are covered with mucus and on getting rid of it they can do very good work, so long as they keep at it.
That is Phosphorus. In such cases the use of the voice becomes painful. The vocal cords are painful after motion and the larynx is painful to touch.
Some times this is so marked that it is like stabbing with a knife on trying to use the voice. So we must individualize hoarseness very extensively.
Homoeopathy is a matter of discrimination. Soreness of the chest which is much increased by talking. There is weakness of the muscular power of the chest. The lungs seem weak and the chest has a sensation of weakness in it. Jar increases the misery of the chest.
Back and limbs: The next most striking features will be in connection with the back and limbs, and I have spoken of these in general way.
Burning in the spine; much pain in the back. Burning and stitching pains in the back. He expresses it as follows:
“Pain in the back, as if a hot iron was thrust through lower vertebrae.”
In myelitis this medicine does wonderful work when there is a considerable amount of spasmodic condition of the back as well, showing that the membranes are involved.
Another thing that belongs to this remedy that is a well known state in myelitis is the hoop sensation; sensation of bandages here and there about the limbs and body is a common symptom.
A sensation of a tight cord around the body characteristic of the most marked state of irritation and myelitis. Irritation of the spinal cord with sensitive places.
Burning places as if a hot iron were forced into the spine. Pain along the cord, rending, tearing pains in the cord with paralytic weakness, increasing paralysis and complete paralysis; paralysis of one side of the body.
“Pain in sole of foot on stepping, as though it were too soft and swollen.”
“Numbness of heel when stepping.”
“Trembling of knees,” this is a mere matter of the general weakness.
“Limbs go to sleep when sitting.”
Whenever the limb is pressed again anything it will go to sleep. Feeble circulation, feeble conductivity, feeble nerve action; everything is slowed down.
Arms and legs feel heavy.
“Pains in limbs as if bones were squeezed narrower, with pressure in the joints.”
Now I will read some of the nerve symptoms which will corroborate some of the things we have gone over.
“Want of bodily irritability.”
“Great exhaustion of strength, especially after walking in open air.”
“One-sided paralysis, especially of the extensors.”
“Rheumatic and traumatic paralysis in gouty patients.”
Gouty patients with nodules in the joints; old broken down constitutions with paretic exhaustion.
“Excited condition of mind and body.”
Tremblings here and there in the body.
“Slow, tottering gait as after severe illness.”
He must make slow motions, he cannot hurry.
“Involuntary motions.”
Sleep and dreams: There are all sorts of dreams and disturbances in sleep, so that the sleep may be quite disturbed and restless.
Unrefreshing sleep, waking up with palpitation of the heart.
“Many dreams and frequent awaking; starts in affright; muttering or crying.”
“During sleep cervical muscles drew head backward;”
this is in cases of paralytic weakness; has to wake up as the muscles of the back of the neck pull so. Jerks in the back of the neck during sleep.
Running through the remedy very often, there is a great lack of animal heat, coldness, and yet the patient wants to be in the open air; must be well clothed open and kept warm, but wants to be in the open air.
The patient takes cold continually from every change and draft. Sometimes the patient will go to bed as cold as a frog, and when warm in bed is so disturbed by itching and the warmth of the bed that there is no comfort.
These are two extremes coming together. The circulation is so feeble over the extremities and backs of the hands that in cold weather the hands are constantly cold and covered with cracks and fissures that bleed.
Skin: The skin along the shin bone is rough, ragged and itching. It has been said that dry weather and dry, cold weather increase the complaints of Alumina, and that wet weather sometimes ameliorates.
The febrile condition of this remedy is not at all marked. There is not much chill and not much fever, but the passive, slow, sluggish, chronic elements and chronic symptoms are the ones that prevail most markedly. In weak, broken-down cases there are some night sweats and sweating towards morning. Slight chill in morning. Chill with thirst.
A striking feature of the remedy is the chronic dryness of the skin. Sweat is rare and scant.
This is not especially suitable for this copious, exhaustive sweats. It is the very opposite of Calcarea, which sweats copiously, but this remedy, with spinal and paralytic affections, is tired out from exertion, very exhausted, but does not sweat.
Pile on the covers to make him sweat if you will, but he only gets hot and itching and does not sweat.
Scanty sweat. Entire inability to sweat. Chronic dryness of skin with fissures. The skin becomes worn and ragged and fissured from its dryness. Great dryness of the thick skin over the back of the hands, and in cold weather the hands become cold and discolored.
In 1881, Kent accepted a position as professor of anatomy at the Homeopathic College of Missouri, an institution with which he remained affiliated until 1888. In 1890, Kent moved to Pennsylvania to take a position as Dean of Professors at the Post-Graduate Homeopathic Medical School of Philadelphia. In 1897 Kent published his magnum opus, Repertory of the Homœopathic Materia Medica. Kent moved to Chicago in 1903, where he taught at Hahnemann Medical College.
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