Synonym. Osmium Tetroxide. An element. Common name. Osmic Acid. Preparation Triturations.
GENERAL ANALYSIS.
Through the cerebro-spinal system Osmium exerts its chief action on the respiratory tract and upon the kidneys, producing violent irritation and inflammation.
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS.
Mind. Morose, irritable, impatient. Consciousness of mental weakness. Misplacement of words ( Dulcamara, Plumb.). Disinclination for work.
Head. Dull, heavy headache.
Eyes. Sharp pain in orbit; lids spasmodically closed. Dimness of sight; letters run together, as from a fog (Cyclamen, Phosphorus Gelsemium). Burning pain in eyes, with profuse lachrymation. Flame of candle surrounded by a bluish-green or yellow circle (Phosphorus); or a rainbow ring; at a distance the flame seems enveloped by just or smoke.
Ears. Ringing in right ear. Earache evenings; first right, then left ear.
Nose. Coryza, with sneezing (Aconite, Argentum, Euphorb.). Burning irritation in nose. Nostrils sensitive to cold air (Hydras. Psorinum). Sense of smell diminished.
Mouth. Aching in jaws; pain in muscles of mastication. Tongue coated; edges rough; red stripe in middle. Copious salivation. Taste of blood; metallic (AEsc., Coccul., Mercurius, Naja.).
Stomach. Eructations; nausea; vomiting. Qualmishness and extreme discomfort, with dull pain and heaviness in pit of stomach.
Abdomen. Distended and sensitive; much rumbling.
Stool and Anus. Burning in anus during and after stool (Arsenicum, Cantharis, Iris., Mercurius). Diarrhoea. Constipation.
Urinary Organs. Urine albuminous (Mercurius cor., Phosphorus, Phytolacca, Plumb.). Strong- scented; dark-brown and scanty (Plumb.). Deposits bright-red sediment. Bright’s disease.
Male Organs. Pain in testicles and spermatic cords (Clem., Spongia). Violent erections.
Respiratory Organs. Larynx, tickling, irritation to hawk and cough; sore pain; burning; rawness and scraping (Rhus tox., Rumex.). Profuse secretion of mucus in air passages (Ant. tart., Ipecac., Phosphorus, Stannum). Stringy mucus, very difficult to loosen, has to swallow it (Kali bichromicum). Burning irritation in trachea. Hoarseness and pain in larynx; with cough and coryza. Hoarseness, worse from singing, and worse entering the house. Paroxysm of convulsive coughing (Coral. rub., Drosera). Dry, hacking cough. Bronchitis. Difficult respiration; tightness and oppression of the chest (Mercurius cor., Phosphorus). Pain under sternum when coughing, extending to both sides of chest, with burning soreness, as if everything were raw; after long coughing, expectorates lumps of yellow, tenacious mucus.
Back. Pressive pain in back and loins.
Generalities. Great weakness and prostration. Cutting and pinching pans in limbs.
Skin. Red spots on dorsum of hand. Copious exanthema on forearms, hands and cheeks. Red-brown papules, with desquamation, on arms. Small, pointed vesicles, surrounded by red areola. Itching, as from crawling of insects.
Compare. Arsenicum, Mang., Selenium
THERAPEUTICS.
Has been used but little clinically. Has been of benefit in acute laryngitis, bronchitis and pneumonia and in whooping cough with characteristic irritation in air passages, spasmodic cough, stringy mucus, with great and futile efforts to expectorate, etc. Has been used in supra and infra-orbital neuralgia with lachrymation. Has actually cured glaucoma (Allen.); is indicated by iridescent vision and severe pain around the eyes.
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).