From time immemorial, mankind had been subject to ills, and with the advancement of civilisation, which brought in its train much more artificial mode of living, divergent to the laws of nature, the disease expressions have become so complex and multifarious, that with the best method of analysis, there may still remain plenty of room for the exercise of skill and judgment. I have, however, endeavoured to present before the readers in a nutshell, the procedure I have found helpful in making a true prescription and this may be of some help for at least the junior practitioners.
I am afraid to prolong my discourse any farther lest it may tax the patience of my readers, and I wish to close my article with a few typical illustrations from my own case book to show how helpful in curing care the “Peculiar, Uncommon and Characteristic symptoms” in a given case:
(A) Last year about this time (November) I was called to treat a young gentleman at Bowbazar, who had been suffering from an intermittent fever (malaria?). He had been to his native village at Santipur, about a fortnight previous to the first day of his illness, and when I was called to see him, he had already been in bed for about 10 days.
On enquiry, I learnt that every day at about 9 A.M. in the morning, he was having a chill, a sort of shivering all through the body, but specially marked over the back, preceded and accompanied by violent thirst for cold water. This would last for about a couple of hours and was followed by in intense heat all over the body, specially marked over the hand and face, when the patient would prefer uncovering.
In the heat stage also, thirst continued, although sometimes ending in vomiting of a better fluid, and there was an intense pain and aches in all the limbs, along with a hammering headache, worse on motion. The temperature generally rose to 104*-105*F. Towards evening, the temp. would gradually come down till it reached below normal, during the course of the night. Sweat was generally absent, and when present, it was but scanty, and found chiefly not the face and palms. Pains and aches, as well as headache subsided with the fall of the temperature.
Tongue – Dry, with a brownish yellow coating.
Bowels – The pt. was constipated.
Urine – a little high-coloured; quantity satisfactory.
Prescription – Eupator Perf 200, one powder, when the temp. would be normal, and Sac, lac. every 4 hours.
Next two days, report was almost same, except that the pains were slightly less, and the temp. did not exceed 104*F. Being on the guard not to spoil the case by a hasty change of prescription. I continued Sac. lac. for another 48 hours. On the fourth day of my visit I found the conditions almost the same, with an additional symptom. “Extreme nausea and vomiting on the least movement and even at the sight or thought of food.”
This peculiar symptoms at once reminded me of Colchicum, but still I hesitated and repeated another dose of Eupator, and waited for two more days; But the symptoms continued, the paroxysms came daily with same violence. Then basis on the peculiar and uncommon symptom, although after much hesitation. I left a powder of Colchicum 200, to be taken in the early morning. To my utter amazement, and to much relief of the patient, from the next day after administration of Colchicum, the patient became fever free, with no further recurrence of the paroxysm and was cured almost in no time.
(B) My second case is that of a Hindu widow, aged about 25 years, who had lost her husband about six months back, and who had been suffering from a chronic diarrhoea, since about a couple of months. I am sorry, I do not quite remember the details of all the symptoms, but what I remember is that the symptoms of the case apparently pointed to “Sulphur” which I was about to give to my patient when casually I enquired if the stool were Hot, (to verify Sulphur.). She instantly replied not only in the negative, but remarked that they were rather cold. This at once struck me to be very Peculiar. After a careful search in “Bells Diarrhoea”, I found out “Cold flatus” under Conium, and analogically I gave her a dose of Conium 2c. There was no more loose motions and this patient was almost immediately cured.
Calcutta
Chief Editor, Homeopathic Herald