Editorial Notes & Comments



General < mornings – AUR., BRY., CALC.C., CARB. AN., KALI BI., NAT, M., NIT. AC., NUX V., PETR., PHOS., PULS., RHODO., RHUS T., RUMX., SEP., SPIG., SULPH.

Of this very much smaller list, but two remedies have a decided craving for salt, viz.:

NAT. MUR. and PHOS., and this symptom will be found under the list of desires, among the stomach symptoms, on p. 488.

The desires and aversions of a patient are general to the patient and not predicated of an organ or part. In the same manner, the desire for cold drinks, while common to a large number of remedies, will be found on page 486 under both Nat. mur. and PHOS. with the latter leading in value most decidedly.

Now taking the last symptom of the analysis, the general amelioration of the patient after sleep, we have PHOSPHORUS alone to consider. Hence, if the analysis be correctly performed, the technique without a flaw, this remedy must be the proper one. Reference to the materia medica, confirms the choice. For the purpose of this demonstration it is unnecessary to go into the details of the administration and repetition of this remedy. It is sufficient to say that marked improvement had followed, no diarrhoea has occurred, headaches are slight and much less frequent, three good meals are eaten daily and all abdominal pain is gone. Cure seems assured and the improvement thus far has occurred within a few weeks time.

It my be objected that in the recital of this case no diagnosis has been stated. The objection to a certain extent is valid one. The difficulties of a correct diagnosis in such a case will be appreciated by all. The patient had been in the hands of careful physical and various possible causes eliminated. The case was referred to me as a materia medicist, and it became a duty as well as a problem to search for the key to the case.

After all, the homoeopathic physician is really a specialist in therapeutics. He cannot be expected to possess the same degree of skill in diagnosis as his brother physician who concerns himself almost solely with this department of medicine. If homoeopathy is to survive, the art of applying it must be better known and more generally practiced. In this art, case taking and repertory analysis, together from the keynotes.

Compared with them, the questions of potency and repetition of the dose are decidedly inferior in importance. The sooner we recognize that there is such a thing as the technique of prescribing, the better for us as a body of men and women entitled to recognition as scientific physicians. The science and art of homoeopathy are very real and virile, and we should strive to make ourselves masters of them.

Repertory analysis carried out in the manner outlined, offers a rapid method of finding the remedy. There is no secret about it and no difficulty, provided that the analysis is based upon careful case – taking. The latter seem to be an almost unknown art, if one is to judge by the slipshod prescribing done by the average hospital interne.

Syphilis and the Wassermann Test.- We recently were called upon to treat a patient who some five years ago had been unfortunate enough to become infected with syphilis. His initial and secondary symptoms were mild and apparently yielded readily to the classical treatment given by his physician. Arsphenamin, or one of its earlier forerunners, played a prominent part in the therapeutic drama. Symptomatically negative, the patient, now after a lapse of five years, presented himself for examination to the Life Extension Institute. The only finding of significance was the presence of a positive Wassermann. Nothing else.

Here, then, we have a patient in whom syphilis still exists, shall we say, in a latent or quiescent state, but who shows no active symptoms of any kind. An interesting problem forsooth, the solution of which we shall await with interest. In the meantime, along comes Wurtz, of Pittsburgh, and shows that the administration of the red iodide of mercury to a healthy subject, is capable of producing a positive Wassermann in that subject. Is he syphilitic? Hardly; but the homoeopathicity of the red iodide of mercury to syphilis would appear to be proven.

Anyway, the ultimate result will be awaited with interest.

Gall Stones and China Officinalis.- Many years ago Thayer, of Boston, recommended China as a cure of gall stones. Homoeopathy has no specific for any disease, each case must be considered from the symptomatic standpoint of the patient himself; yet it is apparently a fact China has put a stop to recurrent attacks of gall stone colic in many cases. Our own experience would seem to bear this out, in some instance at least. On the other hand it must be remembered that gall stones have a childish habit of indulging in names of hide and seek and frequently hide so successfully that no one finds them until autopsy has been performed.

We should not, therefore, be hasty in claiming powers of solution for China or for any other remedy. The olive oil treatment continues to have many firm supporters, though Osler states that the concretions passed with the stools and supposed to be partly dissolved gall stones, are in reality small masses of inspissated fat. True it is that at the autopsy table gall stones are often found which during life gave rise to no symptoms.

After all each case must be treated upon its merits, and wise judgment will frequently be necessary in determining whether a case of cholelithiasis needs medical or surgical care, or both. Here the X-ray is of course invaluable as an aid to correct diagnosis; the latter should never be neglected in any case.

Pituitary Gland.- A potentized preparation of this gland is now to be had in potencies above the third and sixth decimal. The 30th, 200th, 500th, 1,000th and 10,000th are available, made from the 30th potency up, on the Skinner machine. In several cases marked by high blood pressure, vertigo, difficult mental concentration, confusion and fulness deep in the frontal region, the 30th and the 200th have brought about decided improvement.

Frankly, our use of the drug has been entirely empirical, since there is of course, no proving in existence; but we have been guided by such meagre information and experience as is at present available. We hope to prove this undoubtedly important drug within the next few months. The knowledge of its action upon unstriped muscle fiber is to be sure helpful; its use by obstetricians and surgeons, in physiological doses, is also illuminating.

Succinic Acid.- To Carl H. Rust, of Cleveland, Ohio, we are in debted for practical knowledge and use of this remedy in hay fever. The drug was mentioned by him in his article on hay fever, published in the March, 1920, number of THE HOMOEOPATHIC RECORDER, and in our hands has produced brilliant results in several cases. The 6th and 30th potencies have been used. Cases marked by paroxysmal sneezing, itching of the eyelids and canthi, itching in the nose and aggravation from drafts, without marked general symptoms, have responded well.

Remedies to be compared are Arundo mauritanica, Wyethia helenoides, Sabadilla, and Sinapis nigra. Where marked constitutional symptoms are in evidence, such remedies as Carbo veg., Arsenicum album and Iodatum, Psorinum, Silica, Sanguinaria, nitrate, and others, are to be studied.

What Is Disease?- Well, one definition might be, “disease is what the patient thinks it is.” Asinine you say; yes, and no! It all depends upon the point of view. We are not now thinking pathologically or diagnostically; we are thinking in terms of therapeutics only. Quite apart from diagnosis, whether this be right or wrong, the patient remains to be treated and we must fit the remedy to the patient, not the patient to the remedy. Hence all that the patient thinks he feels into be considered – how he feels it, where he feels it, when he feels it, and so on. Even what he thinks, is to be regarded – his fears are often valuable indications.

A diagnosis may be tentative only or even impossible, the most acute clinicians and diagnosticians fail most woefully at times, yet diagnosis or no diagnosis, the patient demands relief, and so we are obliged to photograph him symptomatically, if we would do him any real good. If he thinks he is sick in certain way, that very fact should serve as a guide in our selection of a remedy. Take, for example, the treatment of neurasthenia, that symptom complex which so generally defies us all and which stands out as a menacing rock upon which many a gayly painted therapeutic bark is wrecked. Here we surprise ourselves occasionally by the remarkable cures we make, when we have been able to get a clear symptom picture.

But for every brilliant cure there are at least a dozen failures, as the neurotic wanderers in and out of any physicians office will testify. What is neurasthenia after all? Its pathology is by no means certain, though further knowledge of the ductless gland secretions promises to unravel much of the mystery. There is, however, no standard treatment for neurasthenia, and so we are best off when we fall back upon the good old Hahnemannian method of treating the patient and not his disease. The latter is what he thinks and makes it, no more no less.

Rabe R F
Dr Rudolph Frederick RABE (1872-1952)
American Homeopathy Doctor.
Rabe graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College and trained under Timothy Field Allen and William Tod Helmuth.

Rabe was President of the International Hahnemannian Association, editor in chief of the Homeopathic Recorder, and he wrote Medical Therapeutics for daily reference. Rabe was Dean and Professor of Homeopathic Therapeutics at the New York Homeopathic Medical College.