ON THE BLOOD.
The body is in general livid, the blood fluid, sop much so that it sometimes flows from the natural openings of the body. All the vessels of the brain are filled with dissolved, dark-red blood. Heart filled with black fluid blood; all the blood-vessels filled with black fluid blood.
ON THE HEART.
Heart filled with black fluid blood. Pericardium and arch of the aorta reddened, i.e., stained with the fluid blood.
ON THE PULSE.
In one case the pulse became small and irregular, and the body was bedewed with cold sweat; in another, the pulse was weak. Pulse small and quick (8); or, slow, feeble, unequal, intermitting or undulating.
FEVER.
Constant chilliness, with inability to get warm. Violent shaking chills through the whole body, with normal temperature of the face. Cold hands, without thirst and subsequent heat. Sensitiveness to cool air. General heat in the evening, with redness of the cheeks, coldness of the hands, and thirst; general heat at night, intermingled with chilliness, followed by sweat; general heat in the afternoon, with headache and thirst, followed by aggravation in the evening, attended with hurried breathing and great languor.
SLEEP.
Irresistible drowsiness in the day-time. Drowsiness, especially after dinner; sleeplessness, on account of pain and uneasiness in the legs. Sleep disturbed by desire to urinate, with copious flow of urine, spasmodic cough, or coldness in the legs. Sleep interrupted by a multitude of drams with fitful fancies, partly pleasant, partly unpleasant.
ON THE MUCOUS MEMBRANES.
Many of the varieties of Agaricus cause the secretion of large quantities of yellow mucus. Thus, in a dog, poisoned with Agaricus-bulbosus, the stomach was found full of a thick, yellow mucus; in another case, the whole intestinal canal was filled with a thick, yellow mucus; a woman evacuated an abundance of yellow mucus.- J.C.P.
SKIN.
Itching, burning, and redness of various parts, as if frozen. Miliary eruptions, close and whitish, with burning itching.
CLINICAL REMARKS.
HAHNEMANN.
“Apelt has found this drug serviceable in pains of the upper jaw-bone and the teeth; also in pains of the bones of the lower extremities (as well as in the marrow), and finally in itching eruptions of skin, of the size of a millet-seed, and thickly set together. It has also been found useful in lassitude consequent upon coition. Whistling has cured with it convulsions and tremor, and J.C. Bernhard even some kinds of epilepsy. Dr. Woost has seen the effects of large doses of Agaricus lasting for seven or eight weeks. Camphor is the chief antidote, even against such affections consequent upon the use of Agaricus as have assumed a chronic character.” HULL.
It seems to be homoeopathic to a variety of nervous and hysterical affections, especially to spinal irritation, and those affections of the brain which simulate it. Noack recommends it in mania-saltatoria, as it is homoeopathic to a state in which the slightest exertion of the will produces the most violent effect upon the over-sensitive nerves and muscles, and calls forth the most strange and almost unimaginable motions of the limbs; inclination to dance; the most curious motions of the hands; extraordinary agility of the limbs; and extreme facility in the performance of the most fantastic motions.- J.C.P.
In Chorea.
St. Vitus’ dance has been denominated an insanity of the muscles, and is very analogous to mania-saltatoria. Agaricus is homoeopathic to trembling of the limbs, subsultus, slight jerks of the muscles here and there; twisting about of the arms, persistent convulsed state of the muscles of the head and neck. Agaricus is only homoeopathic to the true nervous cerebral chorea, i. e., the most common form of it, or that which arises from a functional disease of the brain, and in which the convulsive movements cease during sleep. nux and Ignatia are homoeopathic to spinal chorea, in which the spasmodic action does not cease during sleep, for the spinal cord does not sleep. Hydriodate of Potash, Iodine, and Actea-racemosa are homoeopathic to rheumatic chorea, which is apt to be attended with acute endocarditis or pericarditis. I have seen two instances in which chorea was attended with acute rheumatic inflammation of some of the structures of the heart. Agaricus may also prove homoeopathic to that most dangerous and almost always fatal variety called electrical chorea, in which the convulsive movements finally give way to coma, and the patient dies with apoplectic symptoms; venous congestion of the cerebral and spinal meninges appears to be the only uniform abnormal condition observed in electrical chorea.- J.C.P.
In Cramps, Convulsions, and Epilepsy.
It has long ago been recommended, in the dominant school, especially in that variety induced by fright (Vogt, Dierbach), and is said to form the active part of the Ragolo’s secret remedy against this disease.- J.C.P. This remedy has been employed empirically, for many centuries, for the cure of epilepsy and chronic enlargement and induration of the glands of the neck and throat. Teste considers its action to be somewhat similar to Belladonna and Lachesis, and prescribes it only after these remedies have failed. Agaricus ought to prove curative in some cases of intermittent fever; it may also prove useful in hectic fever, but its great affinity is for nervous fevers, typhus versatilis, and delirium tremens. It is one of the most homoeopathic and useful remedies against frost-bites. It is one of the most homoeopathic remedies against acute delirium, mania, delirium tremens, the delirium of typhus, it should be borne in mind when Belladonna and other remedies fail. It is one of the most homoeopathic remedies against chronic dizziness resulting from frequent intoxication, or habitual free use of strong liquors; in dizziness, from congestion of the brain, with
threatening of apoplexy, especially in the studious, sluggish, or intemperate in eating and drinking. It is most homoeopathic to the headaches of persons subject to nervous twitchings and St. Vitus’ dance, or to spinal irritation, with great soreness, uneasiness, and weakness down the spine, with or without derangement or enlargement of the liver. Also in the headaches of those who use wine and spirits too freely, or who become delirious whenever they are feverish or in pain, attended with twitchings, startings, grimaces, and a state resembling pleasant intoxication. According to Black, it is indicated in nervous and congestive headaches, in which fullness, sleepiness, and frequent inclination to yawn are present, attended with relaxation and soreness of the whole body, pain in the back, and a feeling as if all the joints were dislocated. Hence it would also seem suited to the headache and general derangement which attends influenza. It is homoeopathic to congestion of the head, with pulsation in all the vessels, redness and heat of the face, and delirium. Also to catarrhal headache, with aching in the forehead over the eyes, drawing pain in the forehead, extending to the root of the nose, rending pain in the forehead above the root of the nose, as if the brain were lacerated, with burning pain in the nose and eyes, great dryness of the nose, profuse epistaxis, and abundant discharge of thick, viscid, nasal mucus, followed by frequent drooping of water from the nose. I have used it frequently and successfully against many varieties of headache in nervous and hysterical persons. It is homoeopathic to headaches attended with of followed by great soreness or tenderness of the scalp, and against chronic tenderness of the scalp, such as occurs in persons with spinal irritation. It is homoeopathic to spasmodic twitching of the eye-lids and winking, such as occurs in nervous, verminous, or scrofulous children; to chronic inflammation of the meibomian glands; to short-sightedness and dim-sightedness of both eyes; to muscae-volitantes, from disorder of the watery spectrum, when everything seems as if obscured by turbid water; to incipient amaurosis, when black motes hover before the eyes, or everything seems surrounded by a mist, or covered with a cobweb. It is homoeopathic to nervous pains in the ears; but especially against the pains, itchings, and other inconveniences which attend frost-bites of the ears. It is homoeopathic to epistaxis and frost-bites of the nose; also to great sensitiveness and tenderness of the nose, with or without great acuteness of the sense of smell. It is homoeopathic to frost- bites of the face; to painful throbbings and twitching in the face, such as attend gum boils and abscess about the face; it is useful against the pimples of acne, which occur on the faces of young persons, and a tendency to blueness and roughness of the skin of the face; also to chaps and fissures of the lips. It is homoeopathic to neuralgia of the face; to toothache from taking cold, especially when the teeth feel long, and are very sensitive to pressure when touched or while chewing and to inflammation of the lining membrane of the alveolar processes. It is homoeopathic to mercurial salivation; also to ulceration and soreness of the mouth, from gastric and bilious derangement, and to a foul and bilious state of the mouth. It is very homoeopathic to bilious dyspepsia, especially when occurring in very nervous and sensitive persons. Agaricus is one of the most homoeopathic remedies against excessive flatulence of the stomach and bowels; against the fullness and oppression of the stomach which arises from flatulence, and produces a feeling as if the contents of the chest were compressed. It is most suited against the flatulence of nervous, hysterical, and bilious persons. Agaricus is one of the most homoeopathic remedies to excessive flatulence and tendency to diarrhoea, such as occur in nervous and hysterical persons, especially if there be marked bilious derangement; also in indigestion, colic, and flatulence, from irritation or sub-acute inflammation of the stomach and bowels (Chronic gastro-enteritis). Agaricus is one of the few homoeopathic remedies against enlargement of the liver and spleen, and all the attendant gastric, bilious, and intestinal derangements. Against general abdominal and venous plethora. It is homoeopathic to bilious diarrhoea, especially when attended with much and excessively fetid flatulence – viz., when there is yellowness of the skin and whites of the eyes and tongue, bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, eructations, pain, tenderness, and fullness in the region of the liver and spleen, great rumbling in and distention of the abdomen. It is peculiarly suitable when these symptoms are associated with much nervousness. It may prove useful in gastro-enteritis and peritonitis; also in ulceration of the stomach and bowels, especially that which obtains in typhoid fever. This remedy may prove useful in many affections of the kidneys, bladder, and urethra, as we have indubitable proofs that it is conveyed to these parts. It probably acts upon the genital organs in the same manner as spirituous liquors. It is homoeopathic to excessive itching of these parts and profuse menstruation.- J.C.P.
