I believe without being absolutely certain, that the children who do not suffer from infantile eruptive diseases are often sycotic. Very often warts are seen on their body and also all sorts of sycotic troubles as Burnett has described them. Sometimes you will find, children who are amidst a contagious milieu, are not affected by scarlatina, mumps or whooping cough, not even measles. It seems that sycosis fights in them the hereditary Psora and checks finally their possibility of defense- reaction.
4. Malarial diathesis and hydrogenoid constitution. Finally a fourth unaccepted cause of Sycosis. I leave it before you with a point of interrogation; It is the Malaria, rather malarial diathesis.
Dr. Nebel has shown to us that Grauvogle could have well- described the hydrogenoid constitution because he treated individuals living in humid regions which was infested with malaria for a long time.
We may put to ourselves the question whether the malarial heredity may be considered as a cause of sycotic diathesis. As for example a hydrogenoid patient does not suffer from malaria because there are many malarial patients in the region, but his parents and grand-parents had suffered from malaria and that heredity must have impregnated his temperament, causing in him a hydrogenoid constitution, retention of water and who has all the characteristics of a person who live in a marshy region with aggravation in humid cold.
Naturally we indicate this fact under all reserves. In my case it is necessary to investigate on this very important point that unites the sycosis of Hahnemann and the hydrogenoid constitution of Grauvogle.
Let us recall here that Grauvogle has described the Hydrogenoid condition where there is an exaggeration of combustion and exchanges, and the two other biochemic constitutions which are characterised by slow exchanges: the hydrogenoid by the retention of water and the carbo-nitrogenoid by the retention of quarternary nitrogen.
The hydrogenoid constitution is specially seen in individuals having rheumatisms, asthma, and patients having chronic mucous secretions, or still in patients having warty growth which has a tendency to cutaneous hyperplasia.
Let us note on the other hand that Thuja and Natrum sulphuricum, so often indicated in Hydrogenoid constitution are also the leading remedies of the ground of rheumatics and asthmatics and of patients suffering from chronic enterocolitis.
Evolution of sycosis:
Let us note that in sycosis there exists in the beginning a discharge or a secretion from any mucous membrane in opposition to Psora. It is a case of elimination. There may be an elimination through mucous membrane in psora, but the psoric patient defends himself specially by eruption of the skin which may be violent or not, but periodical. There is always the periodicity.
In sycosis, after a flow that lasts for a long time and which stops — this should be specially noted– and there appear some external phenomena: warty growth, various manifestations, or internal phenomena and finally nervous manifestations: neuralgias, myalgias, articular pains, pains of the conjunctive and nerve system tissues and even the probability of neuritis.
In a word the clinical description of sycosis is very polymorphous, but we may understand it easily. On the one hand a mucous flow in the beginning, then the stoppage of the flow and afterwards the warty manifestations.
As for example in an individual suffering from Gonorrhoea at the age of twenty, which was more or less soon cured, has silent period and in consequence of which there appear the warts, then chronic rheumatism (specially if he had rheumatism during the attack of gonorrhoea) or chronic enterocolitis, neuralgias, neuritis, asthma, etc…
In these cases we incriminate sycosis as the cause, i.e., a grave morbid state, dominated by the gonorrhoeal attack at a given time.
In children the question is more problematic and delicate. The heredity is to be considered, the sycotic condition should be sought for in the parents. It is also to be ascertained whether there are some infantile diseases which are characteristically hereditary sycotic.
If it is true that generally acute infantile diseases and eruptive fevers are seen specially in psoric children, i.e., children who are the prey of hereditary tuberculinism, it seems also true that there is sometimes the association of sycosis with psora in the heredity which is predisposed to these affections..
Exceptional value of Thuja:
In any case it is important to consider, the important of Thuja, the king of all great antisycotics indicated by Hahnemann.
Hahnemann says:
The king of sycosis : Thuja
The king of Syphilis: Mercurius
The king of Psora : Sulphur.
This has remained always true in Homoeopathy. If it is a fact that Hahnemann was haunted by the ideas of the occultists of the middle age who searched in all bodies for the three elements: mercury, salt, and sulphur. These three elements are independent and distinct from the products that we designate by these names. The mercury of a body was related to the liquid content; the salt with solid content, and sulphur with gaseous content, said the ancients.
To speak the truth I do not believe in this theory. Hahnemann had always a real and modern scientific mind. He affirmed nothing without proof and he criticized violently the physicians of his time who were imbued with the ancient ideas. His affirmations on the role of Thuja, Mercury and Sulphur were supported by experimental proofs.
Whatever it may be, Thuja is always the leading remedy of sycotic conditions and in all Materia Medica or books of therapeutics you will always see that Thuja should be prescribed after chronic Gonorrhoea or repeated vaccinations and its symptoms are found in the patients.
Let us not, however, believe that Thuja is the only remedy suitable to hydrogenoid type. It may be a suitable remedy of some hydrogenoid types specially children of the Natrum muriaticum type evolving towards Thuja secondarily.
It is necessary that we should observe carefully the children who are repeatedly vaccinated in order to understand sycosis properly. In these children we will find the vaccinosis of Burnett. When you will observe these children who have been in the age of 12 already vaccinated four times, I would ask you to have a complete description of their external and internal troubles. You will then clearly understand what is really the sycosis of Hahnemann. These children are often oxygenoid because they are at the same time psoric and sycotic. The real hydrogenoid sycotic type is only seen in adults. But we find in them the principal symptoms of Thuja, Silicea and Malandrinum the three remedies for the troubles caused by vaccinations: constant fatigue, frequent sweats, venous congestions, coldness of the extremities, chilliness, warts, etc….
Another characteristic of Thuja is that in high dilutions it antidotes the bad effects of drugs. The second important remedy which has the same characteristic is Nux vomica which is more frequently used. We must not forget the special indication of Thuja. Nux antidotes generally the bad effects of all Allopathic drugs, specially laxatives and purgatives or drugs used for digestive troubles.
But when a patient is intoxicated by Sulphur and after absorption of sulphurous water, we must give him Thuja for antidoting the bad effects of Sulphur.
The bad effects of Arsenic is also antidoted by Thuja. The syphilitic patients who have taken arsenobenzol and all sorts of arsenous drugs will have the bad effects by high dilutions of Thuja ( 200 or M Korsakoff).
Lastly, Thuja antidotes the action of iodides and iodide products.
The bad effects of Mercury is very often antidoted by Hepar Sulphur. But Thuja is often indicated in chronic syphilitic conditions and in all psoric states.
There are some tuberculinics who require Thuja. Thuja is also used to syphilitics not because of their venereal diseases but because of the drugs used for their treatment.
Touchstone treatment of sycosis and warts:
Here is then the question of sycosis treated from a general, rather from a philosophical point of view. Those who have come recently in Homoeopathy it may seem chimeric to them and in any case it is based only on some affirmations out of a long clinical observations.
It would naturally be necessary that we should have later on an experimental basis to establish these facts.
However, from the clinical point of view our conviction is unshakable, because we regularly see series of these facts.
In 1927 or 1928 some Algerians who were suffering from small-pox came to Paris. In the hospitals of Paris there were about 30 case of small-pox. There was naturally a panic and millions of Parisians were vaccinated. At that time we have seen series of patients suffering from neuralgias and neuritis, after two to six months of the vaccination specially in cases where vaccinations did not take up. In particular there were numerous cases of cervicobrachial neuritis and sciatica.
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.