Carbo vegetabilis
as H.C. Allen recorded it in Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of Some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica, 1899
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Keynotes
Carbo vegetabilis
Vegetable Charcoal.
For the bad effects of exhausting diseases, whether in young or old (Cinch., Phos., Psor.) ; cachectic persons whose vitality has become weakened or exhausted.
Persons who have never fully recovered from the exhausting effects of some previous illness; asthma dates from measles or pertussis of childhood; indigestion from a drunken debauch; bad effects of a long ago injury; has never recovered from effects of typhoid (Psor.).
Ailments : from quinine, especially suppressed intermittents; abuse of mercury, salt, salt meats; spoiled fish, meats or fats; from getting overheated (Ant. c.).
Bad effects from loss of vital fluids (Caust.) ; hgemorrhage from any broken down condition of mucous membranes (Cinch., Phos.).
Weakness of memory and slowness of thought.
Epistaxis in daily attacks, for weeks, worse from exertion; face pale before as well as after a haemorrhage.
Haemorrhage from any mucous outlet; in systems broken down, debilitated; blood oozes from weakened tissues ; vital force exhausted.
Hippocratic face; very pale, grayish-yellow, greenish, cold with cold sweat; after hsemorrhage.
Looseness of teeth, easily-bleeding gums.
Patients crave things that make them sick ; old topers crave whiskey or brandy; want clothing loose around abdomen.
Weak digestion: simplest food disagrees; excessive accumulation of gas in stomach and intestines < lying down; after eating or drinking, sensation as if stoni ach would burst; effects of a debauch, late suppers, rich food.
Eructations give temporary relief.
Diseasesof the venous system predominate (wSulph.) ; symptoms of imperfect oxidation (Arg. nit.).
Deficient capillary circulation causes blueness of skin and coldness of extremities ; vital powers nearly exhausted ; desire to be constantly fanned.
Hoarseness : < evenings ; damp evening air ; warm, wet weather; fails when exerted (< morning, Caust.).
Awakens often from cold limbs and suffers from cold knees at night (Apis).
Frequent, involuntary, cadaverous-smelling stools, followed by burning; soft stool voided with difficulty ( Alum. ) .
In the last stages of disease, with copious cold sweat, cold breath, cold tongue, voice lost, this remedy may save a life.
Want of susceptibility to well-selected remedies (Opium, Val.).
Compare: Cinch., Plumb, in neglected pneumonia, especially in “old topers;” Ant. t. in threatened paralysis from inability to expectorate loosened mucus.
Opium: with lack of reaction after well-selected remedies fail to permanently improve (Val.).
Phos. in easily bleeding ulcers.
Puls., bad effects from fat food and pastry.
Sulph., acrid-smelling menstrual flow and erysipelas of mammae.
Aggravation. — From butter, pork, fat food; abuse of quinine, bark and mercury; from singing or reading aloud ; in warm, damp weather.
Amelioration. — From eructation; being fanned.
What the other books say about Carbo vegetabilis
The same remedy read by a different author. They disagree, and the disagreements are where the remedy becomes recognisable.
- Carbo vegetabilis in Boericke — The concise clinical Materia Medica that most Indian colleges teach from, in full.
- Carbo vegetabilis in Farrington — Lectures that teach remedies in families, by comparing them with each other.
- Carbo vegetabilis in Kent — Kent teaching a class, one remedy at a time — fewer remedies, far more on each.
- Carbo vegetabilis in Boger — A compressed key — the generals and the characteristic modalities, with very little narrative.
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Cite this page. H.C. Allen. Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of Some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica. 3rd edition (1910). Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel. Carbo vegetabilis — Keynotes, pp. 83–85. HomeopathyWorld, https://homeopathyworld.in/materia-medica/books/allen/carbo-vegetabilis. Published 1910: public domain in the US (before 1931) and in India (author died 1909). Replaces B. Jain's 2005 "rearranged and classified" edition (© the publisher), per the owner's decision of 13 Sep 2026. Reproduced as the author wrote it; a historical reference for students and practitioners, not medical advice.