RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES



The voice is hoarse with the accumulation of much mucus in the larynx in the morning. The expectoration yields the tough, viscid, stringy material hanging down to the feet. The cough is always aggravated in the morning. In conjunctivitis there is tenacious yellow secretion from the eyes. Ulceration of the cornea occurs without much pain. There may be improvement of gastric complaints after eating. The gastric disturbances show a tendency to be aggravated between 2-5 a.m. There are dysentery like symptoms, with tenacious stringy mucus in the stool.

There may be persistent constipation. There are pains in the muscles, bones and joints, suddenly appearing and suddenly disappearing, wandering rapidly from the part to another, the pains often being localized in small spots so that they can be covered with the end of the finger. Neuralgia occurs every day at the same hour. There is headache with blurred vision or blindness preceding the attack, during which he lies down, has aversion to light and noise, the sight returning as the headache increases.

VANADIUM.

This element has not been proven.

CUPRUM.

Copper, like Iron, finds great use in chlorosis and secondary anaemia. It acts powerfully on the alimentary canal producing colic, vomiting and diarrhoea. It affects also the nerve centers, causing spasmodic affections, cramps, convulsions and paralysis. A great characteristic is that its symptoms tend to appear periodically and in groups. Spasm and cramps run through the picture. The convulsive manifestations go from localized twitchings of single muscles up to the most violent tonic-clonic spasms, in the form of epileptic attacks. There is also spasmodic dysmenorrhoea, uremic spasms, spasms from teething or from worms, and from brain irritations brought on by suppressed eruptions.

Spasmodic constrictions of the oesophagus cause dysphagia, bronchial spasms cause spasmodic coughing, or a spasm of the diaphragm causes agonizing pain. The action in whooping cough can be readily understood from its antispasmodic powers. In this condition there is cyanosis, squinting, twitching, and in the cough the child loses its breath and vomits spasmodically, and lies as though dead after the paroxysm, after which breathing gradually returns. Drinking cold water may abort the attack. The nocturnal aggravation of most complaints applies to the whooping cough. There is spasmodic constriction of the stomach and abdomen, and violent intestinal colic, with gushing, watery green diarrhoea with tenesmus as well as constipation. In the convulsive state there may be coldness, cyanosis, precordial anxiety, cramps in the calves and a tendency to collapse, as in cholera.

ARGENTUM, ARGENTUM NITRICUM.

Silver stands close to copper chemically and pharmacologically. It acts prominently on the mucous membranes of the digestive, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts; also on the articulations and bones, cartilages and ligaments. Its action on the spinal nerves causes pain in various parts, and a tendency to spasmodic action of muscles. Its sphere of influence is also extended to glandular organs and the heart. The action on the central nervous system stands out preeminently. The action is slow and deep. In both Argentum and Argentum nitricum there is blunting of thought, weakness and loss of memory.

All mental and head symptoms are aggravated by mental effort. With Arg. nit., this is expressed as a general trembling, weakness and anxiety, and mental restlessness, with a feeling as though something terrible were going to happen or that death would occur. A tendency for impulsive acts develop and a tendency to do things in a hurry. Time moves too slowly for the Arg. nit. patient as in Cannabis Indica. There is apprehension when ready to go to church, the movies, etc., at which time diarrhoea sets in. A valuable symptom for Arg. in general is vertigo and lack of recollection, as though intoxicated. It is used in nocturnal epilepsy with much vertigo. Transient blindness is observed in the vertigo of Arg. In the peripheral nerve involvement and the vertigo, we can see the use of Arg. in locomotor ataxia or beginning tabes dorsalis.

There is uncertain standing and walking in the dark and after severe mental effort. All convulsions are preceded by great restlessness. In Silver provings headaches are always brought out. They are boring and pulsating frequently in the left frontal eminence. Arg. nit. is a left-sided remedy, for often the left side of the body is weak. At the height of the hemicrania attack, bile is vomited. The attacks of pain are periodic, 11-12 a. m. being the time of aggravation for Arg. met., while the majority of the complaints of Arg. nit. show a nocturnal or early morning aggravation. A feeling as though the head were distended or as though a part of the body were distended is more characteristic of Arg. nit., being felt in the tympanitic abdomen and as the sensation of distention in the ovarian region.

The headache is relieved by pressure and firm bandaging, and aggravated by mental effort. Peripheral pain neuralgia occurs everywhere especially in the face and chest, and is made worse by contact. The severe, cutting lancinating pains go through to the back, along the sacrum, shooting like lightning through the arms and legs. There is crawling as of the insects on the skin, sticking and biting sensations, and feeling as though the parts were going to sleep, while on the motor side there is the tendency to trembling and convulsions, heaviness, fatigue and stiffness especially in the calves. Nervous itching leads to its use in pruritis.

The splinter-like sensation characterizes the action of Arg. nit. on the mucous membranes, particularly the throat and urethra. Art. met. is used by speakers and singers who develop hoarseness and aphonia after over-use of the voice. There is also a dry cough which comes on laughing or tickling in the larynx, or from a sore spot in the suprasternal notch, with much sputum, which in Arg. met. has the appearance of boiled starch. There may be dyspnoea and suffocation with desire for fresh air, worse lying and better moving about. In Arg. there is dyspnoea dependent on meteorism. The chest feels weak as in Stann. In animals there has been paralysis of the diaphragm and of the respiratory center through poisoning.

Asthma and whooping-cough are helped, though less often than by Copper. The gastric complaints of Arg. nit. causes severe pain. A small spot between the navel and xyphoid is sensitive to pressure, or there may be a sticking pain like an ulcer. Belching accompanies all gastric ailments. The distension creates a feeling as though the stomach would burst. There is a craving for sugar which aggravates the diarrhoea. The aggravation of the diarrhoea after drinking is so pronounced that fluids seem to rum right through the stomach and intestines. The diarrhoea of Arg. nit. consists of green mucus like chopped spinach.

Acute granular conjunctivitis scarlet red like raw meat, and profuse purulent discharge and ulcerated lids, agglutinated in the morning, is the picture of the ophthalmia. Both remedies have chronic laryngitis of singers. Arg. nit. is chilly when he is uncovered, yet he craves the fresh air, feeling smothered when he is wrapped up. The constitutional type affected by Arg. nit. is the withered, dried up, old-looking patients, with emaciation progressing from year to year. In children there is a state of marasmus.

AURUM METALLICUM.

Gold acts pre -eminently on the arterial vascular system, producing a sensation of heat with rush of blood, waves to the head, pressure sensation, heaviness, dullness and vertigo, rushing and weaving in the head, noises as rushing and swishing in the ears with decreased hearing. There is sensation of cold over the body, later a sensation of heat, with a sensation as if the blood boiled in the arteries. There may be heat to the face with cold hands and feet. The improvement of symptoms by walking in the open air, the general aggravation by cold as well as through mental effort is understood on the basis of these vasomotor symptoms. Severe palpitation is accompanied by great anxiety. There is congestion to the head and chest on exertion.

The pulse is feeble, rapid and irregular with visible beating of the carotid and temporal arteries. There is a sensation as though the heart stood still, and then suddenly gave one hard thump. Aur. is often indicated in conditions of arterial hypertension, with sclerosis of the coronary and cerebral arteries. In cerebral sclerosis there come into play numerous mental symptoms, and symptoms involving the intellect. The typical patient is “heavy- blooded, heavy mentally, and heavy in habit and motion.” The chief eye symptom is the hemiopia where only the lower half of the object is seen. There is caries of the nasal, palatine and mastoid bone, and ozaena, otorrhoea, foetid discharge, and pains which are aggravated at night.

When profound melancholia occurs in arteriosclerosis, in luetics, after misuse of mercury, and in women at the menopause, accompanied by great irritability and a strong suicidal tendency, then perhaps Aur. is the remedy. He is over-sensitive, the least contradiction exciting wrath; he is over-sensitive also to the pain, to orders, to taste, hearing and touch. There is falling of the hair especially in syphilis and mercurial affections. Aur. follows well and is followed well by Syph.

ZINCUM.

Zinc. acts deeply on the cerebrospinal system, producing an erethism in the brain, medulla and spinal cord, characterized by delirium, spasms, neuralgia, tremors, and hyperaesthesia, followed by cerebral depression and paralysis, the latter being the most important homoeopathic application. It also produces anaemia. There is a great fatigue, yet at the same time restlessness and excitement, with twitching of single muscles or over the entire body, and particularly characteristic is the restlessness of the feet so that he must move them constantly. For insomnia with great unrest in the extremities, Zincum valerianicum is preferred.

Joseph L. Kaplowe