Facing such case, the first in my experience, and looking backwards at all those who had preceded me in the past for more than ten years and to the unfruitful attendance of the visiting physicians as well, I thought of Dr. Alphonse Teste, of Paris, whom I knew personally and as good homoeopath; I wrote to him, giving all the symptoms at hand, both objective and subjective.
In reply, I was advised to give her Lycopodium 200th, one powder daily and no morphine at all, for her nocturnal pains.
I was thus ready to meet he case. In changing my ward from surgical to medical, I myself gave her the one powder of Lycopodium 200th and 4 powders of S.L.in charge of the nurse, to be given as usual. I continued in this manner for a couple of weeks, and noticed, as did others, particularly Dr.Geo. Taylor Stewart, the chief of staff, a marked improvement in her. The joints began to loosen, so much so, that she began to move them all, one after the other. I ordered the nurse to bathe her hands in hot water, to soften the nails and to trim them, every other day, little by little. Thus the nails gradually regained their normal form. She now sat up and began to comb her hair, showing me with a grateful smile what she could do.
I gave Lyc. 200th at longer intervals and no other remedy until she was able to get up and walk about unaided.
One Sunday, while she was taking a sunbath, outside the building and sitting comfortably in an armchair, the regularly visiting ladies and a clergyman went to her room for their usual Sunday call, but finding the room empty, thought that she was dead, and when they fond her in full vigor and fully recovered, they were amazed and warmly congratulated her.
References to the materia medica shows that Lycopodium covers all the symptoms.
Such supposedly incurable, mystifying cases make homoeopathy, that is, the law of similars a dominant factor in the therapeutics of today, as it will in the future, as Gods given help to suffering humanity.
Blessed be the souls of Hahnemann, his associates and that of Dr. Alphonse Teste.
A CASE OF HYSTERICAL PARALYSIS.-
In 1892, during my service at the Homoeopathic Hospital (Wards Island), and as a distributing officer of the day of patients sent from Bellevue, I noticed in the lot a young girl, named Gussie, about 16, years of age, with flushed face and a temperature of 104. I ordered her to bed immediately. She had been sent to us as a case of malaria, otherwise, had they known it, they would have surely kept her for themselves.
On examining the case, for I was then in the medical ward, I found that she was suffering from typhoid fever, well advanced, and that she had had nine intestinal hemorrhages.
Following Dr. P. Joussets clinical lectures, I prescribed: Ipecac 1x. gtts. ten (X.) in half a tumbler of water, one teaspoonful hourly.
Under this prescription the hemorrhages gradually diminished and finally, in almost two days, entirely subsided.
Following her chart and the symptoms, which at this time escape memory, while all are recorded at the hospital, I gave her in order Rhus, Hyos., Bry., with an appropriate diet.
She was so delirious one night that in her muttering she was going to give me ten thousand dollars, although she was a poor adopted girl in a German family of limited circumstances.
This case has been a lecture subject for the nurses class by the chief of staff, Dr.Geo. T. Stewart (now located in Providence, R.I.), and according to the symptoms, he told the class that the case was hopeless.
Dr. Francois Cartier, of Paris, at this time was sent to me from Philadelphia by the late Dr.Wm B. Van Lennep, my former preceptor, for study in homoeopathy was confirmed, for he even stated, and this without bias, that, if he could do for he even stated, and this without boas, that, if he could do what he had seen done in this particular case, he would hold all Paris. As I pointed out, the girl got well and later became a mother and a grateful patient. The foster-mother of this girl, Mrs.R., in 1907 called on me and told me tearfully that her own daughter, Mrs. S., was dying, for her son-in-law had told her that the doctors had given her up.
Remembering the former case, she came and implored that I should see her daughter, who was living in Brooklyn. I went with her and saw the patient, a blonde, of about 38 years of age, mother of a young boy and a girl, lying in bed. The history was, that she had been in bed for several weeks, motionless, none of her joints moving and the body stiff as a corpse; full of terrific pains, causing her to cry out, and worse at night; total insomnia, tearful and clamoring now and then.
Many doctors had treated her without avail and the one living right opposite used to come and give her injections of morphine several times both day and night.
In the face of a desperate case like this, and the first in my experience, I called by phone Dr.J.T.O Connor, out New York neurologist, and whose clinical assistant I had been in the Flower Hospital Out-Patient Department Unfortunately he could not come; meanwhile I gave her Ignatia 3rd in water. Then I called personally on another homoeopathic specialist, residing nearby, who came. On his examination he prescribed Trional, grains XXX at one dose. Should this fail in its effect I was to give a similar dose in two hours.
I called on her the next day. She was worse than ever and the neighboring doctor had to be called for the usual morphine injections.
This was in June, a perfect day, with beautiful sunshine, even in the patients room, and I noticed all the gas jets burning. I then asked whether she wanted company and was told that she did, and that all the lights must be kept burning day and might.
I gave her, without any hesitation, Stramonium 30th, a few pellets in a half glass of water, one teaspoonful every hour, until six doses had been taken. To continue the same way until my call the next day. On my arrival the whole family received me at the stairs, exclaiming: “God bless you, doctor, this is the first night we had a peaceful sleep, patient and all of us, without any call for injections.” I kept her on Stramonium 30th, lengthening the intervals of the doses, as improvement progressed.
The patient after a few days began to move her limbs one by one, and finally was able to get up, CURED, without any sedatives of any kind.
This case was certainly one of hysterical paralysis, and without the aid of homoeopathy she would have expired under the so-called scientific treatment.
