AMBR.
Ambergris. Grey Amber. Hahnemann’s “Materia Medica Pura,’ Vol. I. Duration of Action: 4 days in chronic affections.
COMPARE WITH.
Calcarea, Chamomilla, Graphites, Lycop., Nux vomica, Phosph., Phosph. ac., Pulsatilla, Sabad., Sepia, Staphysagria, Veratrum, Verb.
ANTIDOTES.
Camph. Nux.V., Pulsatilla It antidotes Staphysagria, Nux vomica
RATIONALE OF ITS ACTION.
By some the Grey Amber is supposed to be a tallow like product from the gall-bladder of the whale. According to Pereira, it is produced from the sperm whale, and seems to be the indurated faeces (perhaps somewhat altered by disease) or the animal. Mr. Beale collected some of the semi-fluid faeces. It has a pleasant Musk-like odor, which is supposed to be derived from the squid, or Sepia-moschata, on which the whale feeds; in support of this opinion, it must be mentioned that the horny beaks of this animal are found imbedded in the masses of Ambergris. Swediaur was the first to trace its origin to he sperm whale; Lecleuse was the first to suggest that it might be hardened and altered faeces; Home the first to hint that it might be a hardened and altered secretion from the liver of the whale, or a kind of gall- stone: Oken supposed that it was indurated bile-resin, which opinion is strengthened by the chemical analysis of Pelletier and Caventou; while J. J. Ferey conjectured that it was species adipocere, arising from the decomposition of dead Sepia- octopedia, and the other kinds of Sepia, which emit an Amber or Musk-like odor, and bases his opinion on the fact that the beaks and bones of those cuttle-fish are found in Ambergris but, as these are also the most common food of the whale, it may have a double origin, one from the faeces of the whale, and the other from the spontaneous decomposition of dead cuttle-fish. When genuine, Ambergris has a peculiarly pleasant odor, not easily described or imitated, and which is exceedingly diffusive, especially in solution, so that a very minute quantity is perceptible even when mixed with other perfumes; a grain or two rubbed down with sugar, and added to a hogshead to claret, is very perceptible in the wine, and gives it a flavor by some considered as an improvement. J.C.P.
Boswell noticed, after taking thirty grains, quickness of the pulse, increase of muscular power, and of sight and hearing; also greater activity of mind and of the sexual power. It was formerly much celebrated as a stimulant and anti-spasmodic, supposed to produce excitation and strengthening of the whole nervous system, and even to prolong life. In the East, it has long been used as an aphrodisiacum; hence its action may be the opposite in this respect of that of Agnus-castus, Conium, Camphor,. According to Noack and F. Hofstetter, ambra is said to exert a remarkably specific action on the organ of hearing; and as curative effects, old-school physicians have noticed increase of muscular power, relief from intellectual weakness and mental depression, increased power of seeing and hearing, and increase of the sexual power and fluids. Its action has been compared by old-school physicians to that Musk, Castor, Coffee, Valerian,.,. It had also an ancient reputation for causing the reappearance of suppressed eruptions, such as itch and herpes. On account of its stimulating properties, Chaumeton and Cloquet were led to give it in typhus fever. J.C.P.
GENERAL SYMPTOMS.
Spasms and convulsions of the muscles. Lacerating or cramping pains in the muscles; aching pains in internal organs; lacerating pains in the joints, frequently on one side of the body only. *Drawing through the limbs, and *cutting in the hands and feet. Tingling inquietude in all the limbs with anxiety, only in the day-time; agitation of the blood, and accelerated circulation, with increased debility of the body after a walk in the open air; he feels the throbbing of the arteries like the tick of a watch. Conversation produces fatigue, heaviness of the head, and restlessness. Nervousness, with great irritability of temper and impatience. great languor: especially in the morning in bed, and particularly in the lower limbs; sometimes relieved by walking; weariness and pain in all the limbs; sense of weight in the body, and weariness; prostration of strength; giving way of the knees; weakness, especially in the feet; a sort of insensibility to walk alone, and cold sweat upon the forehead and hands; he has to to lie down, owing to a feeling of weakness in the stomach, and giddiness. *Cramps in the body. Jerks and twitches of the limbs, the whole night, with coldness of the body. * Complaints incident to old age.?.
CHARACTERISTIC PECULIARITIES.
Many of the symptoms make their appearance during sleep, and abate after rising; many other symptoms are aggravated in the evening, when in recumbent posture and by warmth. Many symptoms are relieved by a walk in the open air, and by resting on the part affected, but reappears when sitting down..
SKIN.
Numbness of the skin as if asleep, early in the morning on waking. Itching and burning of the skin, *as if from the itch; causes suppressed itch and herpes to reappear upon the skin, *Burning herpes. *Dryness of the skin.
SLEEP.
Drowsiness in the day-time, with inclination to stretch one’s limbs, followed by sleeplessness the whole night, without any apparent cause; sleepless until morning, when he falls into a slumber, disturbed with fanciful wanderings. Restless night- sleep, full of dreams; he wakes frequently at night. At night: uneasiness in the whole body; pressure in the epigastrium, with restless sleep; lacerating pain, with pressure form the occiput, and in the forehead, after falling; heat in the head before midnight, and uneasiness after falling asleep; heat in the head before midnight, and uneasiness in the occiput after midnight. On waking in the morning: great weariness, especially in the upper part of the body, dullness of the head, nausea in the pit of the stomach, aversion to getting up from bed, and sensation as if the eyes had been closed too tightly. Anxious and vexatious dreams, with talking during sleep; also disturbing sleep.
FEVER.
Chilliness: with great weariness and desire to sleep. At night: coldness of the body, and twitches of the limbs, with restless sleep, or internal chilliness, which does not permit him to fall asleep, or which wakes him frequently; * chilliness of single parts, followed by beat in the face. Flushes of heat, with anxiety about the heart; flushes of heat in the face and over the
body, every quarter of an hour. Profuse night-sweat. Sweat the whole day; worse during a walk, especially on the abdomen and thighs.
MORAL SYMPTOMS.
Great restlessness the whole day, with oppression of the chest; nervousness o f long duration. Anxiety in the evening. Great lowness of spirits; indifference to joy or sorrow; *disconsolateness; sad thoughts, with qualmishness about the heart and sadness of mood; despair; *Aversion to talking or laughing. *Embarrassed manners in society.
SENSORIUM.
Dullness of the head, every morning; it feels muddled as after nocturnal revelling. Great weakness of the head, with chilliness about it, or vertigo. Dullness of the mind; weak memory. Vertigo; especially when walking in the air, obliging him to down with weakness in the stomach.
HEAD.
Headache: in the forehead, with apprehension of losing his reason; in the sinciput and forehead, with pressure from above downward, every other day, commencing in the morning, with heat of the head, burning of the eyes, paleness of face; or heaviness of the head, in the evening, on the top of he head; or in the whole of the head, with stinging pains; in small parts of the occiput, or in the left frontal eminence. Continuous headache, as if catarrh in the head would set in. Rush of blood to the head, especially when listening to music. Crampy sensation in the head, from temple to temple. Drawing in the head, with pressure from the, from temple to temple. Drawing in the head, with pressure from the nape of the neck to the sinciput; the pressure being afterwards felt in the occiput. Lacerating pain in the head, with paleness of face and coldness of the left hand. Stitches: above the left temple, from without inward in the head; violent stitches, in the evening, darting upwards in the direction of the occiput’ painful lancinations while making an exertion, which are felt at every step, and abate in a recumbent posture. Dartings in the head.
SCALP.
Painful spot in the occiput; tearing with pressure on the top of the head; whizzing noise about the temples. The hair feels sore when touched; falling off of the hair. Pimples on the forehead.
EYES.
Pressure in the eyes, as if they had been closed too tightly; or as if they were lying deep in the sockets, especially early in the morning. Lacerating in the eye, and in the parts surrounding it. Smarting in the eyes; as if dust were lodged in them, with pressure; or with lachrymation. Burning in the right eye; and about the lids. Itching: of the lids, as if a stye would form; around the eyes, violent, titillating. Inflammatory redness of the white of the eye, and injected condition of the vessels. Dimness of sight, as through fog; obscuration of sight.
