d. A little child had a bad eczema on his face wholly suppressed by application of some strong salve and them bandaging the whole head. Return of the eruption twice afterward received the same treatment. So it did not return again. The boy was weak, pale, languid at five years, unable to take his place in school, or to last through the day without throwing himself on a couch or the floor to rest, unable to digest food properly, irritable and altogether difficult, a poor sleeper, restless, nervous. Zinc. made this child over into a hearty, merry boy, curing one set of symptoms after another but never bringing back the eruption which had been suppressed so viciously.
c. An oversensitive, dreamy boy was terribly hurt by the jibes of other boys and his elders, too. Result: his emotions were violently suppressed, never to have free expression again. In early manhood gonorrheas was suppressed, an unsuitable marriage suppressed more motions, frustration in his chosen profession did not help matters and at fifty odd years he had a mental break with delusions of persecution so strong that he was a good candidate for a mental hospital, emaciated, anaemic, an old man with drawn features and hunted expression. Homoeopathy stepped in and gave him Zinc. The whole case cleared mentally and physically. He looked and acted himself again and actually over came much of his old sensitiveness.
This man has had abundant cause in recent years to go all pieces over harassing developments but he has kept good emotional balance and exhibited wisdom in dealing with deal troubles. 12. The use of the nosode as an intercurrent had been discussed, pro and con, many times in I.H.A. meetings. The concensus of opinion seems to be that Psor., Med., Syph., Tuberc. should be used on their own symptom pictures and not on their miasm names. They do excellent work as intercurrent and also as curative remedies during the whole course of treatment of some deeply miasmatic cases.
I want to discuss briefly the value of other nosodes taken from exanthemata and a few other diseases. We have a valuable list handed t us by Dr.Margaret Tyler of London who used them with great success in the later years of her long and glorious professional life.
Here is her list: Influenzinum, Parotidinum,. Lueticum, Typhlinum, Morbillinum, Streptococcin, Pneumococcin, Pertussin, Scarlatinum. I believe these can be procured from Ehrhart and Karl and Chicago. I have been astonished lately by results following the use of such nosodes.
a. A school teacher in middle life gave me a miasmatic history complicated by inflammatory rheumatism and three or four fractures. Remedies had helped as deep palliatives but I was not satisfied and I am sure the patient was not, for ailments had a stubborn way of returning after weeks or months. Finally, after three years of chronic treatment, she told me one day that she had measles eight years before, that she had not felt so well since; that leucorrhoea started soon afterward and became profuse and obstinate, never and it before; that arthritis started somewhat later, had not had this before.
A dose of Morbillinum 1M brought out spells of itching followed by patches eruption scattered over the body, caused an eruption on feet to return; then proceeded to send chronic symptoms away until in the last year she has reported only twice and then to say how well she has been.
b. A young woman brings a history of frequent illness since to recover from slight attacks, etc. The chief complaint was hay- fever, atrocious hay-fever followed by asthma. Both these grew worse with each succeeding year until he life was not worth living about half the time. Careful questioning revealed that at two months of age she had whooping-cough, not very severe, treated by “shots”.
At three years another attack much more severe, treated by more “shots”. At three years asthma began for which she had many kinds of treatment. In adolescence energy waned until she had to conserve it by staying in bed week-ends in order to work through the other five days. As an interesting experiment, I gave her Pertussin 1M. In a month she looked and acted like another person, full of energy and gladness, five color and increased appetite. This spring is the very first without a sign of hay-fever in spite of being in contact with things which always provoked it before.
c. Another lady now fifty-nine years old gave me such a conglomeration of chronic symptoms dating back to birth that she had become virtually an invalid as she grew older. She took all diseases severely and made very slow recoveries. Operations complicated the picture. Scarlet fever at ten years was so severe she nearly dies but only a bad throat remained apparently. I could not see any clear indications for a remedy, so gave her a dose of Scarlatinum 1M in late April this year. The last report, May 2nd, says “ever so much better in general”, a brand new thing for this patient to say.
I shall watch eagerly for more news. d. A delicate old lady, needing much treatment for chronic ills. Distention of the abdomen which began a few years ago under another doctor, increased rapidly last winter until the fluid in a huge ovarian cyst crept up into the chest and threatened to choke her. Operation was resorted to and about three gallons of thick, grayish, bloody matter escaped. The envelope was so tightly adherent to organs and tissues in its neighbor hood that all attempts to remove it failed and the wound was closed with a bad prognosis. Relief of all symptoms was marked and fever left.
After two weeks fluid formed again and increased rapidly accompanied by septic temperature and sweats. She was tapped once and some of the fluid obtained sent to Ehrhart and Karl for potentization. The potency administered in only one dose stopped fever and sweats, increased appetite and in nine days caused an opening of the abdomen and discharge of great quantities of thicker fluid. Draining still goes on. If it stops, fever and sweats return. When it resumes all symptoms are better. She is still a sick, weak patient and future developments will be interesting to watch.
All in all seeking the heart of homoeopathic prescribing is absorbingly interesting and very often rewarding to patient and physician. WASHINGTON, D.C.
DISCUSSION.
DR. ROYAL E.S. HAYES [Waterbury,Connecticut]: I think that title is about the best part of the paper- “Seeking the Heart of Homoeopathic Prescribing.” We often have to look pretty thoroughly and way into the distance to find the right remedy. I was reminded of a case that I had this last winter.
It was a lady of eighty-two, always had very good health apparently, and thirty years or so that I had known her she had hardly ever had any treatment.
Once she went through quite a stress with the sudden loss of her husband but recovered and married again. she is eighty-two now and when she was about that age she began to get violent attacks of asthma. Sulphur did modify them. Then it wouldnt do any good at all.
I was struck with her symptoms that were similar to Natrum, and I asked her if she ever had malaria and she said no. I gave some other remedy. I cant remember what it was but the next time. I saw her, she said that she was mistaken. She remembered then that her mother had told he she had a severe case of malaria when she was three years of age. I gave her the Natrum and she hasnt had any asthma since.
DR. RAY W. SPALDING [Boston,. Massachusetts]: I think this is not only a very fine paper but it is too good to discuss. There is nothing to find fault with. It is one of the kinds of papers that are very useful to see in print, an it is the sort of paper that even it the remedies mentioned could be of some services as publicity among laymen, it would be good. It is a very fine paper.
DR.HARVEY FARRINGTON [Chicago, Ilinois]: Now, Mr. Chairman, if you have not a remedy in mind, or if our attention is not called to it by the symptoms or by some miraculous circumstance, you are going to miss it.
A paper like this gives you the attitude with which you will recall medicines and then seek the symptoms. You do not have to prescribe on that. It wouldnt do but you have to have a reason and Dr.Green gives her reasons in every instance.
DR. C.A.DIXON [Akron, Ohio]: I want to thank Dr.Green for that paper because she mentions blundering, if you please, for five years before she found the remedy that cured them. Sometimes that happens to me, too.
