Natural order. Myricaceae. Common names. Bayberry. Wax Myrtle. Habitat. An indigenous plant growing in great abundance along the sea shore and also near Lake Erie. Preparation. Tincture from the fresh bark of the root.
GENERAL ANALYSIS.
Acts prominently upon mucous surfaces, more especially of the digestive tract, giving rise to catarrhal disorder of these parts. Its most notable action is upon the liver, where it causes a suspension of the biliary secretions, resulting in jaundice and its usual consequent phenomena.
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS.
Mind. Great despondency; dejected; irritable. Cannot concentrate the mind on any subject. Dull, drowsy state.
Head. Vertigo, with dullness and drowsiness; with rush of blood to the head and face, on stooping; with nausea. Awakens with pain in forehead, temples and small of back; better in the open air. Dull, heavy feeling over and in the eyes.
Eyes. Congested and yellow. Feel dull and heavy; also on awaking. Burn and tire easily when reading (Phosphorus, Ruta, Sepia); lids heavy (Coni., Gelsemium).
Face. Yellow color of the face; jaundice (Chelidonium, Cinchona). Fullness, with heat and throbbing, especially after being out in open air.
Mouth. Thick, yellowish, dark, dry and crusty coating on tongue, rendering it almost immovable. Foul, bad taste; cannot eat because of it; bitter, nauseous taste. Adhesive coating over buccal membrane; dry, scaly crusts on roof of mouth, that water scarcely moistens or dissolves. Mouth dry; thirst; water relieves only partially for awhile.
Throat. Stringy mucus in throat; detached with difficulty. Throat and nasal organs filled with an offensive, tenacious mucus, detached with difficulty (Ammonium carb., Nitr. ac., phytolacca). Pharynx dry; sore, as if it would crack, impeding and finally obstructing, deglutition. Slimy, glutinous, frothy mucus in pharynx; even gargling scarcely detaches it; causes disgusting taste, prevents eating.
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Stomach. Hunger, yet full feeling, as after a hasty meal (Cinchona, Lycopodium). Loss of appetite; loathing of food. Fulness and pressure,. or weak, sinking feeling in stomach.
Abdomen. Dull pain in region of liver; fullness; drowsiness; debility; mushy, clay-colored stools; jaundice. Griping pains; rumbling; urging to stool; passing only flatus. Weak, faint feeling, as if diarrhoea would ensue.
Stool. Passing of much offensive flatus. Loose stools, mushy, with tenesmus and cramp-like sensation in umbilical region (Coloc.). Stools; light-yellow, mushy, clay-colored (Calcarea c., Dol., Hepar s., Podo); jaundice.
Urine. Beer-colored, with yellowish froth; pinkish-brown sediment, scanty.
Heart and Pulse. Heart’s impulse increased, but pulse sixty; pule feeble, irregular.
Neck and Back. Dull aching, dragging, lassitude, headache.
Generalities. Slight nervous excitement and restlessness; soon followed by a sick, debilitated sensation. General muscular lameness and soreness; lassitude; depression of spirits.
Sleep. Drowsiness; vertigo; semi-stupor. Restless, or sleeps soundly until toward morning; awakens generally feeling worse.
Fever. Chilliness on going out of doors; slight aching in lumbar region. Excited, feverish feeling, alternating with chilliness; warm sensation along spine, then chill and gentle sweat. Face hot and flushed.
Skin. Yellow jaundice appearance; itching as from flea-bites.
Aggravation. From warmth of bed at night.
Amelioration. After breakfast; in the open air.
Compare. Chelidonium, Digit., Podophyllum
THERAPEUTICS.
Useful in catarrhal conditions of mucous membranes, mouth, pharynx, bile ducts, etc.; hepatic disturbances; jaundice; with symptoms already described. “Seems to affect the system profoundly, and has proved curative in low states, with or without jaundice, when, with necessary debility, there is a viscous state of the mucous membranes, characterized by scanty tenacious; crust-forming secretions on tongue, and in, mouth and pharynx.” Farrington.
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).