A point in the comparative study of Ignatia with other drugs was that it came into the fourth group of Emanometer classification. If we imagined each group as a series of notes with one series corresponding to the other, to make a complete scale on the harmony of drug therapy, we find that Ignatia in the fourth group corresponded to Phos. acid in the “octave” of the fifth group.
The corresponding note in the sixth group “octave” was Gels. Nux vomica struck the same not in the eighth, Hepar sulph. in the tenth and Asafoetida in the eleventh group. This conception of drug differentiation was certainly useful in making an orderly study but it must be remembered that the relationship was only a physical one and it did not mean that an Ignatia patient would benefit from a related remedy from its corresponding “note” in the other octaves. Very probably such treatment would produce aggravation with no subsequent amelioration.
Dr. LE HUNTE COOPER considered Dr. Quintons “comparison of remedies” of great value. He had latterly found himself prescribing Ignatia very much more frequently than formerly, this being particularly towards the end of the blitz period and since. He had found this remedy of great value in conditions resulting from shocks to the nervous system consequent on “warnings and the noise of exploding bombs, etc.
During the blitz period, and attack of left-sided sciatica, which failed to answer to the more usually indicated remedies, occurred in lady patient of his who happened to be living in a district specially troubled by the raids. On her removal to the country and within a matter of two or three days, with the continuance of remedies, the sciatica ceased.
Later, when things had quieted down in he district, he allowed her to return, but the first “warning” resulted in an immediate return of the sciatica. Ignatia was given, and she completely recovered, though the exciting conditions remained. It was a surprising fact that such disturbances to the nervous-system should result in a “left- sided sciatica” with her, and that only as one would more naturally expect cerebral disturbances from such a cause.
Another case of about eight months duration, with constantly recurring pains in the right upper arm and shoulder, received only slight relief from ordinary, well indicated remedies. He happened, however, on one occasion, to be with her when there was a sudden explosion. She immediately exclaimed “the pain in my arm has returned” Taking this as an indication he gave a dose of Ignatia, with immediate relief, and no further return of the pain, in spite of more explosions.
It is a notable fact that this pain was worse by “becoming warm in bed.”.
Apart from blitzes and similar conditions, it was a remedy to think of in people strained by many conditions of everyday life, and especially by grief.
It might not be inappropriate for him to mention the case of a lady of 80 who had consulted him latterly in consequence of “abdominal malignant disease” having been diagnosed, and operation with the introduction of radium advised. She suffered severe pain, and was much distressed to feel “lumps” in the abdomen. He found about five of these, but chiefly owing to their shifting character, he concluded they were due to constricting, flatulent, conditions.
On this assumption, and with the help of Ignatia the whole condition cleared up, leaving only a readily palpable splenic- enlargement. This is now steadily diminishing, and she had become so vigorous that her daughters have difficulty in restraining her from using a vacuum cleaner, and doing other housework.
MAJOR GORDON said that in 1944 they had been expecting a lot of neurosis cases to come back from Normandy, and had naturally expected a big percentage of hysteria. From the word picture in the Materia Medicas, he had included Ignatia as one of the twelve drugs he took with him. However, except in one or two cases of breakdown owing to domestic stress, e.g., death of a child and the soldier was unable to get leave owing to battle conditions, Ignatia had not shown up at all in the battle neurosis.
It would be better to remove the word “hysterical” from all the descriptions of Ignatia as being misleading to the present generation. The hysterical reaction was really the development of acute symptoms unconsciously motivated by a desire to escape from intolerable difficulty. The symptoms described in the provings of Ignatia are of a more chronic type more aptly described in modern nomenclature as “temperamental instability” then “hysteria.”.
DR. WHEELER congratulated Dr. Quinton on his admirable study, and as always, even with a well-known drug, he had felt what opportunities he had missed for not giving that particular remedy. He hoped there would be a little money for research, as they wanted a detailed analysis of a great many more of the vegetable tinctures than they already had. That the pattern of endocrine balance was disturbed in Ignatia was certainly suggested by the tension showing so often in the involuntary muscles and this no doubt was strychnine affect.
A spasm of the arms frequently indicated Ignatia to him and he often found it in women approaching the climacteric. He agreed with Dr. Quinton that it looked as though, in the Ignatia patient, the glands of internal secretion were in a state of excitability and the overwork might result in that tendency to high blood pressure, and Dr. Quinton was quite right in suggesting that the depression came not from a desire to escape trouble, as in true hysteria, but from the fact that the patient wanted to do the job, but felt his ability to do it was failing, and that went side by side with the fact that emotionally the Ignatia patient was not so much likely to be disturbed by his own problems and troubles as by somebody elses.
In the emotional background of Ignatia there nearly always appeared a fact which one felt to be entirely creditable to the person concerned: that he or she was bothered about someone else and wanted to do something to help but found he could not.
As far as the Materia Medica was concerned, although they could not give as elaborate a picture as Dr. Quinton had done, in all the post-graduate work they tried to give a fairly comprehensive picture of the drug, but the great difficulty was to get anything of that nature into print, and it was essential to have a book like Clarkes Dictionary, with a full general description and then the scheme for details. In his opinion the Digitalis patient often showed a temperament like that of Ignatia symptoms, and what was more curious than the temperament of the patient?.
He had been present at a meeting recently on hysteria from the psychological aspect, and he had talked to them on Ignatia and told them why it was not suitable for people who angered easily, and after the meeting a man had come up and side he had been struck by the fact that they did not give one remedy alone.
Dr. W.T. WALKER thought, in connection with the instability of blood pressure common in the Ignatia patient, that if attention were paid to the relatively low diastolic pressure, the transient nature of the accompanying high systolic reading would be appreciated and evaluated accordingly.
The PRESIDENT cordially thanked Dr. Quinton for his paper and agreed with him what we should try to make the study of the Materia Medica as easy as possible for the enquirer, stressing the importance of the temperamental symptoms.
He mentioned that at a recent meeting of the Hunterian Society a paper was read on Hysteria from the psychological aspect, and that in the following discussion he had given the main symptoms of Ignatia, stressing the fact that it was not suitable for persons in whom anger and violence predominated; but for those who are subject to rapid alternations of gaiety and disposition to weep, or other emotional states.
He stated that there were many other remedies suited to hysteria, and that we had to consider the idiosyncrasy of the individual patient, with his wide range of symptoms, giving as examples:.
Asafoetida-hypochondriacal and hypersensitive.
Aurum met.-despondent to the verge of suicide.
Lachesis-loquacious, suspicious and jealous; never at rest mentally or physically.
Platina-arrogant and proud; self-exhaltation and contempt for others.
Pulsatilla-meek, mild, tearful disposition, seeking sympathy and fuss.
Tarantula hispanica-foxy, ungrateful and discontented, guided by whims, destructive impulses and moral relaxation.
These few outstanding remedies used according to the Law of Similars impressed some of the audience, who were struck by the fact that in Homoeopathy we treat the individual and not merely the disease.
Dr. QUINTON thanked all the speakers for their kind remarks. With regard to Dr. Patersons remarks on auto-intoxication, Dr. Quinton thought that the Pulsatilla patient was one often predisposed to tuberculosis, or as the continental school would say, belonged to the “Tuberculinique” category. If these patients were selected and treated homoeopathically, both with the indicated constitutional remedy and the diluted Tuberculins, much greater benefit would result from the public health point of view them by waiting until tuberculosis had developed clinically.
