Hyoscyamus niger
as William Boericke recorded it in Homoeopathic Materia Medica, 1927
Henbane
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Mind
Very suspicious. Talkative, obscene, lascivious mania, uncovers body; jealous, foolish. Great hilarity; inclined to laugh at everything. Delirium, with attempt to run away. Low, muttering speech; constant carphologia, deep stupor.
General
Disturbs the nervous system profoundly. It is as if some diabolical force took possession of the brain and prevented its functions. It causes a perfect picture of mania of a quarrelsome and obscene character. Inclined to be unseemly and immodest in acts, gestures and expressions. Very talkative, and persists in stripping herself, or uncovering genitals. Is jealous, afraid of being poisoned, etc. Its symptoms also point to weakness and nervous agitation; hence typhoid and other infections with coma vigil. Tremulous weakness and twitching of tendons. Subsultus tendinum. Muscular twitchings, spasmodic affections, generally with delirium. Non-inflammatory cerebral activity. Toxic gastritis.
Modalities
Worse, at night, during menses, after eating, when lying down. Better, stooping.
Head
Feels light and confused. Vertigo as if intoxicated. Brain feels loose, fluctuating. Inflammation of brain, with unconsciousness; head is shaken to and fro.
Eyes
Pupils dilated, sparkling, fixed. Eyes open, but does not pay attention; downcast and dull, fixed. Strabismus. Spasmodic closing of lids. Diplopia. Objects have colored borders.
Mouth
Tongue dry, red, cracked, stiff and immovable, protruded with difficulty; speech impaired. Foams at mouth. Teeth covered with sordes. Lower
jaw drops.
Throat
Stinging dryness. Constriction. Cannot swallow liquids. Uvula elongated.
Stomach
Hiccough, eructations empty, bitter. Nausea, with vertigo. Vomiting, with convulsions; hæmatemesis; violent cramps, relieved by vomiting; burning in stomach; epigastrium tender. After irritating food.
Abdomen
Colic, as if abdomen would burst. Distention. Colic, with vomiting, belching, hiccough screaming. Tympanites. Red spots on abdomen.
Stool
Diarrhœa, colicky, pains; involuntary, aggravated by mental excitement or during sleep. Diarrhœa during the lying-in period. Involuntary defecation.
Urinary
Involuntary micturition. Bladder paralyzed. Has no will to urinate (Caust).
Male
Impotence. Lascivious; exposes his person; plays with genitals during fever.
Female
Before menses, hysterical spasms. Excited sexual desire. During menses, convulsive movements, urinary flux and sweat. Lochia suppressed. Spasms of pregnant women. Puerperal mania.
Chest
Suffocating fits. Spasm, forcing bending forward. Dry, spasmodic cough at night (worse lying down; better sitting up), from itching in the throat, as if uvula were too long. Hæmoptysis.
Extremities
Picking at bed-clothes; plays with hands; reaches out for things. Epileptic attacks ending in deep sleep. Spasms and convulsions. Cramps in calves and toes. Child sobs and cries without waking.
Sleep
Intense sleeplessness. Sopor, with convulsions. Starts up frightened. Coma vigil. Nerves.––Great restlessness; every muscle twitches. Will not be covered.
Relationships
Antidotes: Bell; Camph. Compare: Bellad; Stram; Agaric; Gels. Hyosc hydrobrom.––Scopolamine hydrobromide (Paralysis agitans); tremors of disseminated sclerosis. Sleeplessness and nervous agitation. Dry cough in phthisis. Similar in its effects to alcohol, both recent and remote. Corresponds to the effects of strong poisons introduced into or generated within the body. Symptoms of uræmia and acute nervous exhaustion. A remedy for shock. Third and fourth dec trituration. In physiological dosage (1-200 gr) mania and chorea; insomnia. Scopola (Japanese Belladonna)-chemically identical with Hyoscine (Joyous delirium, licking of lips and smacking of mouth; sleepless; tries to get out of bed; sees cats, picks imaginary hairs, warms hands before imaginary fire, etc).
Dose
Sixth, to 200th potency.
What the other books say about Hyoscyamus niger
The same remedy read by a different author. They disagree, and the disagreements are where the remedy becomes recognisable.
- Hyoscyamus niger in Allen's Keynotes — The few symptoms that, when genuinely present, point at one remedy and not its neighbours.
- Hyoscyamus niger in Farrington — Lectures that teach remedies in families, by comparing them with each other.
- Hyoscyamus niger in Kent — Kent teaching a class, one remedy at a time — fewer remedies, far more on each.
- Hyoscyamus niger in Boger — A compressed key — the generals and the characteristic modalities, with very little narrative.
Search every book at once, take rubrics from Kent and Bönninghausen, and practise on a patient who answers back — free account.
Create a free accountCite this page. William Boericke. Homoeopathic Materia Medica. 9th edition (preface dated San Francisco, June 1927). Hyoscyamus niger — Mind. HomeopathyWorld, https://homeopathyworld.in/materia-medica/books/boericke/hyoscyamus-niger. Published 1927: public domain in the US (since 2023) and in India (author died 1929). Reproduced as the author wrote it; a historical reference for students and practitioners, not medical advice.