Has been twice vaccinated; the second time twelve years ago; did not “take.”
Rx Thuja Occidentalis 30 (4 in 24.) To take one dry on the tongue at bedtime.
Sept. 7th.-The bald patches are smaller, the one on the left side nearly gone. Has, apparently, a very bad coryza-?-organismic reaction? Rep.
Oct. 17th.-The bald patches are gone; the old hordeolum also gone. the closely-shaven beard is now uniform, the previously- existing white bald patches being completely covered with hair.
I give this as an interesting cure by Thuja, but I am not very sure that the disease was really due to vaccinosis because of other points his clinical history. Still it might have been so, as the hair is very powerfully influenced by the vaccine poisoning. Thus Kunkel observed both a very weak growth of hair, and an excessive growing, especially in wrong places, as effects, he believed, of vaccination. Therefore let it stand as a doubtful case of vaccinosis for what it may be worth,-but there can hardly be any reasonable doubt as to the cure of the case by Thuja.
Here it might not be amiss to observe casually that the presence of sties on the eyelids is often, in my opinion a symptom of vaccinosis. This case is not without practical importance, inasmuch as hodiernal medicine hands over a stye to the chirugeon’s art; and all the time, poor old dame, weans herself so very much superior to scientific therapeutics usually called homoeopathy. The conceit of the orthodoxly ignorant is truly sickening.
Observation X
HABITUAL INFLUENZAS. GENERAL ILL-HEALTH AND HEADACHE Mr.——, a city gentleman, came under my observation on December 28th, 1882, complaining that he was suffering from a series of neglected colds. He is costive; gets boils and pimples; has a number of warts, both flat and pedunculated; never had gonorrhoea; has severe frontal headache these three months; much pain across chest; and feels so out of health that he can no longer attend to his work, which is only light office work. He especially asks for a preventive for his frequent influenza colds. Flesh is flabby and skin spotted with pimples. The habitual influenza, the chronic frontal headache, the pimply skin, the feeling of general malaise point according to my experience, to vaccinosis. But had patient been vaccinated? Yes. Four times, and did not “take” the last three times. I do not expect many to agree with my theory that, when an individual is unsuccessfully vaccinated, he may have been seriously affected in his health by the reactionless vaccination, perhaps more so than as if it had “taken.” But it is a settled point with me, and in these cases I find Thuja as promptly efficacious as in the ordinary forms of vaccinosis.
Rx Thuja Occidentalis 30 (4 in 24). One at bedtime and on rising.
January 10th. 1883.-Wonderful improvement already in the first week; the headaches gone (had had them three months); pain in chest gone; and the bowels are less costive What a change in twelve days! Rx Thuja Occidentalis 100, as before.
February 8th.-Well,; he complains of nothing, and merely calls to thank me.
This case made a considerable sensation in the gentleman’s large office circle, partly because the change in his condition was so sudden and complete, and partly because he came to homoeopathy demonstratively unwillingly, and in consequence of the earnest solicitations of his chef de bureau.
Observation xi
ACNE OF FACE AND NOSE AND NASAL DERMATITIS
A young lady, about twenty years of age, was brought by her mother to me on October 2th, 1882. Patient had a very red pimply nose-not like the red nose of the elderly bibber, or like that due to dyspepsia or to tight-lacing-but a pimply, scaly nasal dermatitis, which extended from the cutaneous covering of the nose to that of the cheeks, but appearing here more as facial acne. The nasal dermatitis was, roughly, in the form of a saddle. Of course this state of things in an otherwise pretty girl of twenty was painfully and humiliatingly unpleasant to her and to her friends; in fact it was likely to mar her future prospects very materially, more especially as it had already existed for six years, and was making no signs of departing.
She also complained of obstinate constipation. The pimples of the nose and face used to get little white mattery heads. In trying to trace the skin-affection back to its real origin. I ascertained that the patient was re-vaccinated six years ago, but she could not remember whether the nose was previously affected or not. This revaccination was unsuccessful-i.e., it did not “take.”
Rx Thuja Occidentalis 30.
November 30th.-Pimples of face decidedly better. Nose less red. Constipation no better.
Rx Thuja Occidentalis 100.
January 3rd 1883.-The face is free! Her mother gratefully exclaims, “She is wonderfully better.” I ask the young lady which powders did her most good; she says, “The last.” The skin of the nose is normal, but the constipation is no better, and for this she remains under treatment.
That Thuja cured this case is incontrovertible; but that is was a case of vaccinosis is not quite so certain, though it is far from improbable. The re-vaccination and inflammation of the skin of the nose were referred both to six years ago, when she was in Switzerland at school; but patient could not remember which was the first-the bad nose or the vaccination.
Observation xii
NEURALGIA OF RIGHT EYE
Mr.—-, a gentleman of position and means, about fifty years of age, came to consult me on 28th June 1882, for a neuralgia of the right eye. He had come in consequence of the cure of the case recorded here as Observation vi.
He complained of almost constant pain in right eye ever since Christmas 1881, i.e., just about six months. Had had neuralgia in head and shoulders in 1866, and so much morphia had been injected in his shoulders by a doctor in Scotland that it almost killed him: for seven or eight hours it was doubtful if he would recover.
Has a brown, eczematous, itchy (at night) eruption on both shins and between the toes. The neuralgia of right eye, and for which he comes to me is bad both by day and night, but rather worse at night. Mr. (now Sir William) Bowman had examined the eye and declared it to be neuralgia, the eye being normal. Mr. White Cooper had done the same.
On my inquiring when he was last vaccinated, he seemed completely frightened, and stammered out rapidly. “I should not like to be vaccinated again.”
“Why?’
“I was very seedy the last time
I was vaccinated-in fact I felt awfully ill for about a month;” and he again hurriedly protested that he would not like to be vaccinated again. The vaccination that had made him so ill was either in 1852 or 1853.
This seemed to me to be a case of vaccinial neuralgia, and therefore I ordered Thuja 30, in infrequent dose. This was on the 28th of June, 1882.
July 8th.-But very little pain after the first powder. To have the same medicine again.
The cure proved permanent, and is interesting as proof of the rapidity with which the most like remedy can cure a neuralgia. And, considering how “awfully ill” he had been after his last vaccination, I think it rather probable that this case is an example of vaccinosis.
What do you think?
Having narrated some rather striking cases of what I conceive to be the neuralgia of vaccinosis, let me pass on to a case showing evident tissue change or organic disease.
Observation xiii
DISEASED FINGER – NAILS
On December 22nd, 1882, a young lady of 26 came under my care for an ugly state of the nails of her fingers. Naturally a lady of her age would not be indifferent to the state of her nails. These nails are indented rather deeply, and in addition to these indentations there are black patches on the under surfaces of the nails, reaching into the quick. Very slight leucorrhoea occasionally. She had chicken-pox as a child of eleven. On her shoulders there is an eruption of roundish patches, forming mattery heads. Has been vaccinated three different times; the last time two years ago, and the nails have become diseased since this vaccination. The black patches have existed these eighteen months.
Looking upon the diseased condition of the nails as evidence of chronic vaccinosis, I ordered her Thuja 30 (one in 6).
March 19th, 1883.- Has continued the Thuja 30 for just about three months, with the result that within a fortnight from commencing with it the black patches under the nails began to disappear and there is no trace of them. The indentations are notably better. The eruption on the back has not been modified, and for this she remains under treatment; but I thought this much of a case of nail disease would be of a case of nail disease would be of some interest, and the more so as it is not easy to demonstrate drug-action on nail growth at all.
We will now go back to the head and the central nervous system.
Observation xiv CASE OF PTOSIS
A young lady of about 25 years of age came to me in May. 1881, telling me that she had had some tooth-stumps extracted in November, 1880, whereafter there was haemorrhage for eight or nine hours. Two very able men in the homoeopathic ranks had treated her for some time with much benefit, but she still remained ill. Conium had been of greatest use. She still complained of ptosis of left side; sleeplessness; reeling to the right when walking out of doors, tendency to fall to the right. I gave her Equisetum hyemale (3x), because her tongue was cracked. (Clinicians may note this valuable little wrinkle-i.e., cracked tongue-Equisetum, of which I first saw an account in the Therapeutic Gazette.) It was continued for months with very great benefit, and was followed by Bellis per., and then by Juglans regia, &c. Then came Avena sativa 0, Cadmium 6 and 12, and Psorinum, 30, and finally Titanium 30.
Burnett was one of the first to speak about vaccination triggering illness. This was discussed in his book, Vaccinosis, published in 1884. He introduced the remedy Bacillinum. He authored twenty books, including the much loved "Fifty Reason for Being a Homeopath." He was the editor of The Homoeopathic World.