Synonym – Hydrocotyle Asiatica. Natural order – Umbelliferae. Common name – Water Pennywort. Habitat – A perennial creeping plant, indigenous to tropical regions. Preparation – Tincture from the dried plant.
GENERAL ANALYSIS
Is especially noted for its action upon the skin, which is peculiar, and has led to its successful use in leprosy, lupus and other grave disorders of a like character.
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS
Mind. Gayety; gloomy thoughts.
Head Vertigo, congestion and heaviness.
Stomach Loathing of food.
Abdomen. Flatus. Borborygmi in different parts. Cirrhosis of the liver.
Female Organs. Heat in the bottom of the vagina; pricking and itching at the orifice. Pruritus.
Generalities. Depression, heaviness, and a dull feeling through out the system generally. General weariness. Bruised feeling in all the muscles.
Skin. Erysipelatous redness. Spots almost completely circular, with slightly raised scaly edges. Yellowish spots on both legs. Papular eruption on the face. Pustules on the chest. pricking in different parts. Intolerable itching in several places. Profuse sweat.
Compare Arsenicum, Silicea, Lycopodium
THERAPEUTICS.
Has been used successfully in the treatment of leprosy, elephantiasis, lepra tuberculosis, lupus exudens; chronic eczema, impetigenoides; acne rosaceae; psoriasis; lymphatic tumors. Excessive thickening and exfoliation of the epidermis is the chief indication for the use of this drug.
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).