Synonyms. Gummy Guttae. Garcinia Hanburri. Natural order. Guttiferae. Common name. Gamboge. Habitat. A small-sized tree found in Cochin China. Preparation. Tincture by dissolving the gum in alcohol (1-9) corresponding to the 1x dilution.
GENERAL ANALYSIS.
Acts upon mucous membranes, especially of the intestinal canal, producing irritation, excessive secretion, and sometimes inflammation.
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS.
Head. Vertigo during rest or motion, in morning on rising.Eyes. Violent burning of the eyes and photophobia, in evening or afternoon, better from walking in the open air, but returning in the morning. Violent itching of the eyes in the evening. Nightly agglutination of the lids, burning in the morning. Itching at the inner canthi.
Nose. Violent chronic sneezing. Dryness of the right nostril.
Mouth. Sensation of coldness at the edge of the incisors.
Throat. Violent stringing in right side of throat. Sore pain ion throat felt on external touch. Roughness and burning in throat, causing constant hawking.
Stomach. Aversion to food. Violent thirst in the evening. Nausea proceeding from the stomach. Emptiness in the stomach and abdomen. Frightful vomiting and purging, with fainting (Veratrum alb.). Gnawing in the stomach (Ignatia, Lithium carb.). Acute darting, stitching pains in the stomach (Bryonia). Ulcerative pain in the stomach, passing off after eating.
Abdomen. Inflation and tension of the abdomen, with pinching in the umbilical region. Rumbling in the bowels (Aloe, Lycopodium). Pinching in the abdomen and groins.
Stool. Frequent emission of flatulence, especially evening and night. Diarrhoea, with burning pain and tenesmus of the rectum; prolapsus ani, and constant pinching around the umbilicus, sometimes attended with discharge of mucus. Profuse watery diarrhoea, with colic and tenesmus. Faecal; diarrhoea, stools evacuated with great force. Yellow and green diarrhoeic stool, mixed with mucus, preceded by excessive cutting around the umbilicus. Hard, insufficient, stool, with strong urging, pressing and protrusion of the rectum (Nux v.).
Urinary Organs. Infrequent urination.
Female Organs. Leucorrhoea.
Respiratory Organs. Pressure in the middle of the chest. Pain in the chest, as if every part of it were sore and raw (Rume.). Repeated, extremely painful stitches in the sternum.
Generalities. Tearing in the shoulders. Burning sensation in various parts (Arsenicum). Increased heat, with anxiety (Aconite).
Sleep. Sleepiness, great inclination to sleep. Anxious, vexatious dreams.
Aggravation. In evening or night. Most symptoms come on while sitting, and go off during motion in the open air.
Compare. Aloe., Arsenicum, Bryonia, Coloc., Mercurius, Podophyllum
THERAPEUTICS.
Gamboge is used mostly in diarrhoea characterized by the forcible, gushing character of the stools (Aloe), of the nature above described, the stool affording great relief; also with violent vomiting and faintness. In children a violent itching of the eyes, associated with the diarrhoea, is often a leading indication. Has also been used in conjunctivitis and in dyspepsia.
ALLEN CORSON COWPERTHWAITE was born at Cape May, New Jersey, May 3, 1848, son of Joseph C. and Deborah (Godfrey) Cowperthwaite. He attended medical lectures at the University of Iowa in 1867-1868, and was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1869. He practiced his profession first in Illinois, and then in Nebraska. In 1877 he became Dean and Professor of Materia Medica in the recently organized Homeopathic Department of the State University of Iowa, holding the position till 1892. In 1884 he accepted the chair of Materia Medica, Pharmacology, and Clinical Medicine in the Homeopathic Medical College of the University of Michigan. He removed to Chicago in 1892, and became Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. From 1901 he also served as president of that College. He is the author of various works, notably "Insanity in its Medico-Legal Relations" (1876), "A Textbook of Materia Medica and Therapeutics" (1880), of "Gynecology" (1888), and of "The Practice of Medicine " (1901).