INTRODUCTION
RHUS RAD. Poison Ivy, Poison Vine, this medicine has been proved and the symptoms arranged by Dr. B. F. Joslin, with the cooperation of Drs. S. B. Barlow, E. Bayard, R. M. Bolles, B. F. Bowers, R. A. Snow, J. Taylor, W. Williamson, and C. Wright. A few symptoms are from Drs. Bute and Horsfield.
In the following article, the long dash is employed to separate symptoms observed at different times or by different provers. None but concomitant symptoms are connected by the words “and” or “with”, or placed in the same group between consecutive dashes, unless some intimation of their disconnection is given by the expressions employed. The distinctions of type refer to the number of provers by whom the symptoms have been verified. No symptom is italicised unless experienced by two or three provers.
The SMALL CAPITALS denote twice as many concurrent provers, and the larger CAPITALS three times as many as were required for Italics. The distinctions of type and the grouping of concomitants increase the value of the symptoms, though at some sacrifice of superficial regularity. Duration of Action: from five to seven weeks, in some cases.
COMPARE WITH.
Rhus.-tox., and most of the remedies which are analogues to the latter. Rhus-rad., has acted well after: Ant.-crud., Arnica, Belladonna, Bryonia, Lachesis, Nux.-v., Opium, and Sulph.
ANTIDOTES.
Bryonia, Camph., Coffea, Mercurius, Pulsatilla, Sulphur Infusion of Coffee, taken as a drink, interrupts its curative action.
GENERAL SYMPTOMS.
RHEUMATIC PAINS. SEMILATERAL RHEUMATIC PAIN, with rigidity, sensibility, and contraction of the affected muscles, the pain increased at night, and by moving the part. WANDERING PAINS, SOMETIMES ON ONE SIDE, SOMETIME ON THE OTHER. Stinging, lacerating, sharp pains. Aching in the joints. Sensation of crepitation at a joint on moving it. Aching pain and lameness, especially of the extremities. Sensation of trembling. Jerking, trembling, or shaking, and the paralytic weakness of the extremities, especially at night. Coldness of the extremities. Fatigue from walking. Excessive debility. General debility in the morning. General languor, with inclination to lie down. Disinclination to physical or mental labor. Bodily torpor. Dread of bodily and mental exertion. Physical apathy. Restless nights. Day-sleepiness, with frequent yawnings and chilliness. Numbness of the limbs, especially at night.
CHARACTERISTIC SPHERE AND CONDITIONS.
This remedy appears to act especially upon the brain, the muscles, tendons, skin, and mucous membranes. PAINS OFTEN SEMILATERAL. PAINS IN VARIOUS, and often in remote PARTS IN SUCCESSION. Pains where tendons are connected with the muscles or bones, especially during the action of the muscles. Stiffness of the joints. The symptoms often occur successively in parts either transversely or diagonally opposite. PAINS IN MUSCLES DURING THE EARLY PART OF THE TIME IN WHICH THEY ARE EXERTED, DISAPPEARING AFTER LONG-CONTINUED ACTION. The pain and soreness are worse in the morning when beginning to move. Pains when lying on the opposite side. The sufferings are sometimes mitigated by movement and walking, sometimes by rest and when lying down. Many of the pains are relieved while walking in the open air, and when the mind is fully occupied; worse when beginning to move, from the agitation of laughing, and in the house. Many suffering after drinking cold water. Languor on rising in the morning at seven o’clock. Many sufferings occur between four and seven in the afternoon, especially about six o’clock. Exacerbations or new symptoms often occur in the evening or morning. Some symptoms are increased in the evening and at night. Sufferings aggravated by change of weather. Many symptoms occur on a sudden depression of atmospheric temperature. Drowsiness, pains, and other symptoms on the approach of a storm. Pains during rainy weather.
SKIN.
General feeling of heat in the skin. ITCHING OF THE SKIN IN VARIOUS PARTS. Itching, tickling, and pricking of the skin. CUTANEOUS ERUPTIONS, WITH ITCHING, burning, and pricking. Hard, red, and itching eruptions. Hard, red, and itching blotches on the extremities, face, eye-lids, and neck, with a raised and swollen appearance of the surrounding parts. Red, inflamed, tuberculoid elevations of the skin. VESICULAR ERUPTIONS. Eruption of watery pimples, in children, itching, bleeding and scabbing. Vesicular eruption with innumerable small points. Itching eruption in warm weather. The eruption is attended with pricking, biting, and burning. Erysipelas. Erysipelas during hot weather. Heat and redness of the skin. Inflammation extending from a gun- shot wound. Burning sensation in a part of a mucous membrane. Swelling of the lymphatic glands. Inflammation along the route of lymphatic vessels.
