You will find for example some subjects having pains in the skull, of nose, of palate, of behind the sternum at night. When ever there is such a pain we should think of syphilis.
In acute bone pains of influenza you should think of Eupatorium perfoliatum.
In persons whose growth is difficult, think of syphilis and specially of Gold while treating them.
Mucosa: When there is atrophied Mucous, there may the n be ozaena and at the same time some necrotic affections of the bones of the nose. Mucous lesions often accompany bone lesions. Early necrosis is to be sought for by the help of radiography. A syphilitic osteitis may grow unperceived and may cause one day a fracture by the slightest cause.
In such a case Aurum may act with Phosphorus and Syphilinum.
Sympathetic system: Aurum acts specially on lymphatic ganglions. We come again to scrofula, either in the child or in the adult. It is, therefore, necessary to look for ganglions in all parts of the body, very often below the elbows.
Aurum metallicum may also act on all possible gammas.
Circulatory apparatus: Finally Aurum metallicum acts electively on the circulatory apparatus, on the containers (heart, aorta) as well as on the contained (blood). You may find arteriosclerosis, aortitis, aneurysm which are treated with gold.
We may ask to ourselves whether Aurum acts as a preventive against coronaritis, in the infarctus of the myocardia which is often found in syphilitic subjects in the tertiary period when there is arteriosclerosis, early or late. Think of this remedy in cases of cerebral syphilis, in hepatic and renal lesions as well as in cardiac lesions.
Mental and sensorial sphere: You know that one of the most important symptoms of Aurum is Desire for suicide. It should be compared with Alumina and Nux vomica of which the tendency to suicide is not so dangerous. Two kinds of suicides are to be feared. That of Calcarea fluorica and Aurum metallicum.
Calcarea fluorica suits to bankers and financiers who are ruined and who wish to shoot themselves. Here it is the question of hereditary syphilis which has gradually caused mental change. The Fluoro-calcic of Nebel, or the Calcarea fluorica type has the desire to pose himself, he is generally extremely gifted for business, and for all profession that may help to earn money, specially banking.
But he is unstable and anxious; he is terribly afraid of being ruined; often becomes a miser and accumulates money because of his fear of being ruined; he then goes towards Arsenic album, a remedy of old persons who was formerly very generous but for fear of being ruined has amassed money.
Aurum metallicum is haunted by the idea of suicide which comes to him suddenly. The subject is impulsive and he may kill himself when there is none who may check him. He lives well, has a red and joyful look of the sulphur type; he is gay in company and who will kill himself after a pleasant soiree when he was found very jolly.
Although Aurum metallicum has a tendency to suicide, he is afraid of death when he is not feeling disgusted and discouraged.
The other mental symptoms of Aurum metallicum are: weak memory, loss of intellectual capacity.
The subject may become taciturn, he has anthropophobia, does not want to see anybody, cannot bear consolation and contradiction. He is often authoritarian and irritable. Thus he is very similar to Nux vomica.
We may often give him in association, Sulphur 200, Aurum 30 and Nux Vomica 30.
The patient is hypersensitive to noise. He has generally aggravation at night; may have foetid otorrhoeas, specially after scarlatina or some occular troubles.
Finally, and this is very important, there is a fourth sphere of action of Aurum: Action on the male or female genital glands.
Swelling or chronic indurations of the testicles, hydrocele atrophy of the testicles.
Sclero-cystic ovaries, uterine fibromas which we will find in Aurum muriaticum natronatrum.
Indurated hypertrophies of mammary glands.
When there is myelitis of nervous origin. Phosphorus should be thought of with Arsenicum album or Syphilinum.
Aurum bromatum: It is given in valvular affections, in syphilitic headaches with neurasthenia and in nocturnal fears.
Aurum arsenicosum: is given in chronic aortitis, in headaches of syphilitics, in anaemia and chlorosis.
It was thought that chlorosis is an affection of syphilitic order. It is at present no more seen because one now known better how to treat hereditary syphilis. But it is logical to admit that if chlorosis was seen frequently, it is at present much more rare for two reasons: because the chlorotics were often latent tuberculous subjects which was unperceived and secondly because one was haunted by anemia. Before fifty years a whole generation was intoxicated with iron and its compounds. The chlorotics were “manufactured”. When you give small doses of iron you can do some good. But if you use it for a long time in young subjects you prepare the subject for chlorosis, causing a diminution of hemoglobin and R.B.C. You know the Homoeopathic pathology of Ferrum metallicum.
But for some authors chlorosis is of syphilitic origin. In such a case Aurum arsenicosum will act (we know that Arsenicum album acts on anemia).
Aurum muriaticum or Aurum muriaticum natronatrum are more active in all sorts of scleroses than Aurum metallicum in some cases. The latter is a general ground remedy and is to be given in high dilutions, the two others act better in the lower or in medium dilutions.
Aurum muriaticum is indicated in the sycotic or syphilitic states with fibromas, troubles of menopause, weakness and aversion to mental efforts.
It is also given in the cancer of the tongue, like Kali cyanatum. The optimum dose is 2x.
Aurum muriaticum natronatrum acts specially in uterine fibroma. Its best dilution is 6x repeatedly used. Thus we get very good amelioration and sometimes very big fibromas disappear completely.
It also acts on sclerotic ovaritis, cirrhosis, arterio- sclerosis, tabes. In these cases it is to be given in 2x, 3x, or 6x.
It is also indicated in psoriasis of syphilitic origin and in the affections of the periosteum, as for example affection of the lower jaw in which case it is to be associate with Phosphorus which has a special action on the lower jaw. The workers who work with Phosphorus have specially osteitis of the lower jaw.
Finally, it will act on the swollen and hard testicles.
In such a case do not search for syphilis. Very often these testicular tumours are not related with syphilis, they are of tubercular origin. Aurum alone acts in this case because of its local tropism of the testicle.
Aurum muriaticum kali: Sometimes it may be indicated but it is not important.
Aurum iodium: It is used in specific chronic pericarditis, valvular affections, arteriosclerosis, ozaena, lupus, osteitis, fibromas and senile paresis.
Here I must say that this remedy is not very often used in chronic pericarditis. The action of this remedy, specially in syphilitis is to be researched.
Vincent and myself, we treated a case having the following picture; Fever, very great pain at first localised in the bile vesicle, and then in the pericardial region, atrocious pain with syncopal state and pericardial friction, pleuritis of the lower left and a pulmonary congestion of the lower left.
The country doctor thought it to be infarctus of the myocardia and finally diagnosed it as pericarditis.
Another colleague diagnosed it to be rheumatic pericarditis.
We at first gave some Salicylate which gave no amelioration. Then we made homoeopathic treatment with some tonicardiacs. The patient was well. We brought him to Paris for electro-cardiogram. It was a case of infarctus of the myocardia in an old syphilitic who had coronary thrombosis.
I think in these cases it will be interesting to try Aurum, Iodatum, Sodium and Sulphur iodatum acting electively on the serious. Aurum always acts on specific infection.
Silver. Before concluding the article let me speak rapidly on Silver, Platinum and Arsenic.
The salts of silver, are they really interesting in the treatment of syphilis? They are secondary. The best of them is Argentum Nitricum which may be a remedy of tabes. It will act on nervous sclerosis with tremblings, incoordination in the subject who has tabes and who at the same time has the symptoms of the remedy, as for example his important mental symptoms: The person in always in a hurry, finds that the time passes away very soon; afraid of not being able to finish his work.
You have again pain beginning slightly and ending slowly of Argentum like that of Stannum caused by syphilis, but the pain is very different from that of Kalmia, a remedy of fulgurating pain of tabes, like electric shocks, quite the inverse of that of Argentum Nitricum.
Argentum Cyanatum may be used for anger, asthma and in the spasms of the oesophagus.
The Protargol. Its dilutions have been used in mucous plaques in chancres as local applications and in ophthalmia of the new-born.
The Platinum. Platina acts in some cases of hereditary syphilis with nervous troubles, tendency to paralysis and asthenia, dysaesthesia, sensation of coldness and numbness like those of Stannum and Argentum, beginning and ending slowly.
Bernoville was a major lecturer in homeopathy, and he was active in Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis, and a founder of the le Syndicat national des médecins homœopathes français in 1932, and a member of the French Society of Homeopathy, and the Society of Homeopathy in the Rhone.
Fortier-Bernoville wrote several books, including Une etude sur Phosphorus (1930), L'Homoeopathie en Medecine Infantile (1931), his best known Comment guerir par l'Homoeopathie (1929, 1937), and an interesting work on iridology, Introduction a l'etude de l'Iridologie (1932).
With Louis-Alcime Rousseau, he wrote several booklets, including Diseases of Respiratory and Digestive Systems of Children, Diabetes Mellitus, Chronic Rheumatism, treatment of hay fever (1929), The importance of chemistry and toxicology in the indications of Phosphorus (1931), and Homeopathic Medicine for Children (1931). He also wrote several short pamphlets, including What We Must Not Do in Homoeopathy, which discusses the logistics of drainage and how to avoid aggravations.
He was an opponent of Kentian homeopathy and a proponent of drainage and artificial phylectenular autotherapy as well.