Colchicum autumnale

impressions, strong odors, etc. Tearing, digging, drawing pains. Many joints are attacked. Rapid sinking. Moist collapse. Creepings. Small, rapidly shifting areas of severe pain, but little swelling. Subacute states, that finally attack the heart. Cardio-arthritic affections. Dropsy. .................... Depressed. Irritable and sensitive; every little hurt pains terribly. Sensitive to odors and impressions. Unequal pupils. Acrid tears. Dark nostrils. ACUTE SMELL; odors nauseate, even to fainting, etc. Pinched, sunken face. Mouth hangs open. Flow of saliva, with a sense of dryness. Glossitis. Thirsty, but LOATHES THE SMELL, or sight of food; > lying quietly. NAUSEA. Retching. Burning or icy coldness in stomach. Meteorism. Diarrhœa, then gouty effects. Choleraic or shreddy, gelatinous, mucus stools, then tenesmus or spasm of anus. Mucous colitis; after dysentery. Tenesmus. Urine sedimentitious; black. Nephritis. Chest seems squeezed by a band. Cutting or stinging at heart. Weak heart. Cold limbs. Heat on rump. Sweat, cold on face; sour at night.

MOTION. Touch. Night. Stubbing toes. Vibration. WEATHER: Cold; damp; rooms. Changing. Autumn. Slight exertion. Checked sweat. Stretching. Sundown to sunrise.

Warmth. Rest. Doubling up. Sitting. COLD AND WEAK, BUT SENSITIVE AND RESTLESS. Irritable and sensitive to

DIGESTIVE TRACT. HEART; pericardium. Circulation. Kidneys. Tissues: MUSCLES. Ligaments. Fibrous. Serous. JOINTS; small.

Complementary: Ars. Spi. Related: Ars. Carb-v. Ver-a.

Colchicum autumnale

Meadow Saffron. Liliaceae.

Adapted to the rheumatic, gouty diathesis ; persons of robust vigorous constitution; diseases of old people.

External impressions, light, noise, strong odors, contact, bad manners, make him almost beside himself (Nux) ; his sufferings seem intolerable.

Ailments : from grief or misdeeds of others (Staph.).

Pains are drawing, tearing, pressing; light or superficial during warm weather ; affect the bones and deeper tissues, when air is cold ; pains go from left to right (Each.).

Smell painfully acute ; nausea and faintness from the odor of cooking food, especially fish, eggs or fat meat (Ars., Sep.); bad effects from night watching (Coc.).

Aversion to food; loathing even the sight or still more the smell of it.

The abdomen is immensely distended with gas, feeling as if it would burst.

Bimiing, or icy coldness in stomach and abdomen.

Autumnal dysentery, discharges from bowels contain white shreddy particles in large quantities; white mucus; “scrapings of intestines” (Canth., Carb. ac.).

Urine ; dark, scanty or suppressed ; in drops, with white sediment; bloody, brown, black, inky; contains clots of putrid decomposed blood, albumin, sugar.

Affected parts very sensitive to contact and motion.

Arthritic pains in joints; patient screams with pain on touching a joint or stubbing a toe.

serous effusions ; in rheumatism in warm weather.

Often cures in dropsy after Apis and Arsen, fail.

— Mental emotion or exhaustion; effects of hard study; odor of cooking food.

Motion: if the patient lies perfectly still, the disposition to vomit is less urgent. Every motion renews it (Bry.).

Lecture XXIV — Melanthaceae — Colchicum, Veratrum album, Veratrum viride and Sabadilla

MELANTHACEiE.

Melanthaceae.

Veratrum album, Veratrum viride.

Sabadilla.

Colchicum.

Mind.

Abdomen.

Circulation.

i. Nerves.

2. Abdomen.

3. Fibrous tissues.

4. Organs.

From the Melanthaceae we obtain the following medicines : Veratrum album, Veratrum viride, Sabadilla, and Colchicum. Of these drugs, I may say that I am pretty well persuaded that the Veratrum album and Veratrum viride are well understood, and are, therefore, not easily misapplied. I am also well persuaded that Colchicum has not the place in practice it deserves. True, it comes to us from the allopathic school as a remedy highly recommended for gout. We ought not, however, from the exorbitant use of the drug by that school, to go to the opposite extreme, and neglect it altogether as a remedy.

Colchicum.

The symptoms of Colchicum I have arranged under four headings. The first, the nerves, includes typhoid conditions and debility. You must know that the drug tends to produce great prostration, and from this arises the great danger in administering it in large doses as a routine remedy in gout and rheumatism. While the paroxysms of pain may be relieved thereby, there is apt to be induced a condition of debility which runs the patient into other and new dangers. Let us see how we can use this effect of the drug under our law of cure. We find it indicated in debility, particularly in debility following loss of sleep ; for instance, when one does not retire as early as usual in the evening, so that he is deprived of a portion of his accustomed sleep, he awakens next morning feeling tired and languid ; he can hardly drag one leg after the other ; the appetite is gone ; bad taste in the mouth and nausea are present. The debility, then, starts from or involves digestion as a result of loss of sleep. You can see how close this comes to the Nux vomica condition. The debility, however, is greater even than that of Nux vomica. There is, at times, an aversion to all food ; the odor of food cooking makes the patient feel sick ; he becomes irritable ; every little external impression annoys him ; here it is precisely like Nux vomica.

As another form of debility or debilitating fever, we find Colchicum indicated at times in typhoid fever. Now, the position of Colchicum in typhoid fever is between Arsenicum and Cinchona. First, we find that the patient's intellect is beclouded. But although his mind is befogged, he still answers your questions correctly, showing you that he is not in a complete stupor. Unless questioned concerning it, he says nothing about his condition, which does not seem dangerous to him. There is not that fearfulness, that dread of death, which characterizes some other drugs indicated in typhoid fevers. The pupils are widely dilated, and very imperfectly sensitive to light. There is a cold sweat on the forehead ; here you will at once note a resemblance to Veratrum album. When the patient attempts to raise the head from the pillow, it falls back again and the mouth opens wide. You thus see how weak are the muscles in the Colchicum case. The face has a cadaverous appearance. The features are sharp and pointed, the nose looks as though it had been pinched or tightly squeezed, and the nostrils are dry and even black. The tongue is heavy and stiff, and is protruded with difficulty. In extreme cases it is bluish, particularly at the base. There is almost complete loss of speech, and the breath is cold. There are often nausea and vomiting, the latter being attended with considerable retching. These symptoms are associated with restlessness and cramps in the legs. The body is hot while the extremities are cold. Coming to the abdominal region, we find tympanites is exceedingly well marked. Stools are watery and frequent, and escape involuntarily. These are the symptoms which lead you to Colchicum in typhoid states. They greatly resemble those calling for Arsenicum and Cinchona. They resemble Arsenicum in the intensity of the debility and Cinchona in the tympanitic condition. Colchicum seems to stand between the two, combining the restlessness and debility of Arsenic with the tympany of Cinchona. You will notice that the Colchicum symptoms are principally abdominal. Some of them suggest Veratrum album. You must, therefore, place this remedy in your mind by the side of Colchicum, that you may make the necessary distinction between the two.

Carbo vegetabilis is allied to Colchicum in the coldness of the breath, in the tympany, and in the great prostration. But Carbo veg. seems to suit when there is giving out of the vital forces. The patient lies cold and almost pulseless. The pulse feels much like a slight ripple beneath the examining finger ; there is no decided pulsation. The feet and the legs below the knees are cold, or there may be coldness of the knees and feet, the parts between them not being cold. A watery stool is not so characteristic of Carbo veg., the discharges being either absent or, if present, dark brown and horribly offensive. Next we come to the abdominal symptoms. The tympany and the diarrhoea have already been mentioned. In addition to these symptoms we have others which strongly point to the drug as a possible remedy in cholera. There are nausea and vomiting, the nausea seeming to be provoked by the smell of food. Whenever the patient sits up, the nausea and vomiting become worse. The matters vomited are watery and bilious. When dysenteric symptoms are present, the stools are frequent, watery and blood} , and contain shreds which were formed}- 7 supposed to be portions of the lining membrane of the bowels, but which are now known to be a plastic formation from exudation. Tenesmus is violent, and is followed by spasm of the sphincter ani. If you have a case of dysentery with these symptoms, Colchicum will help you out. If there is tympany also, all the more is it indicated, being then far preferable to Cantharis, Mercurius or any other remedy in our materia medica.

The third heading on the board is " Fibrous tissues." This brings us to the consideration of Colchicum in rheumatism and gout. Now, Colchicum has a special affinity for the fibrous tissues. I include under this term the tendons and aponeuroses of muscles, ligaments of joints and even the periosteum. The swelling produced by it is either dark red or pale in color, with no particular tendency to suppuration, extremely sensitive to touch, and with a strong tendency to shift from joint to joint. In rheumatism proper, Colchicum is indicated when it begins in one joint and travels thence to another, or in one side of the body and then flies to the other. The pains are worse in the evening. The joint is extremely sensitive to the slightest motion. The urine is dark red and scanty, just such as you would expect to find in gout or rheumatism. You will find such patients exceedingly irritable. Every little external impression, as light, noise or strong odors, annoys them, and pain seems to be unbearable. The only difference between these symptoms and those of gout is that in the latter the great-toe is involved, and the paroxysms occur in the night.

Sometimes we have metastasis of rheumatism or gout to the chest. Even then Colchicum may be the remedy. In valvular heart disease or pericarditis following rheumatism, it is indicated by violent cutting and stinging pains in the chest, particularly about the heart, with great oppression and dyspnoea. There is also the sensation as if the chest were being squeezed by a tight bandage. Colchicum stands almost alone in gout and rheumatism. There are no remedies similar to it in action here.

Colchicum is sometimes indicated in dropsy with suppression of urine. The dropsy is particularly liable to appear as hydrothorax. What urine does pass contains blood, and is almost as black as ink, and is loaded with albumen. Hence you see that it is indicated in dropsy depending upon Bright' s disease. Here it resembles, quite closely, Lachesis, which also has this black urine.

It also resembles Terebinthina, which causes congestion of the kidneys with rupture of the fine capillaries, and consequent pouring out of blood into the pelvis of the kidneys. The urine contains tube-casts. It is smoky in appearance, and has a dirty pinkish deposit. Thus you have seen when Colchicum may be used in rheumatism, when in typhoid fever, and when in simple debility. The fact that the protracted use of Colchicu?n is followed by great prostration will lead you to study the drug, when after frequent acute attacks of gout the patient becomes greatly weakened.

In affections of the heart Colchicum is closely allied to Spigelia. When Colchicum has been abused, Spigelia is the remedy to be used ' as an antidote.

Meadow Saffron Affects markedly the muscular tissues, periosteum, and synovial membranes of joints. Has specific power of relieving the gouty paroxysms. It seems to be more beneficial in chronic affections of these parts. The parts are red, hot, swollen. Tearing pains; worse, in the evening and at night and from touch; stubbing the toes hurts exceedingly. There is always great prostration, internal coldness, and tendency to collapse. Effects of night watching and hard study. Shocks as from electricity through one half of body. Bad effects from suppressed sweat. Dreams of mice.

Worse, sundown to sunrise; motion, loss of sleep, smell of food in evening, mental exertion. Better, stooping.

Headache chiefly frontal and temporal, but also occipital and in nape of neck, worse afternoon and evening.

Pain in facial muscles, moving about. Tingling and œdematous swelling; cheeks red, hot, sweaty. Very irritable with the pains (Cham). Pain behind angle of right lower jaw.

Pupils unequal; left pupil contracted. Variations in visual acuity. Lachrymation worse in open air; violent tearing pain in eyes. Dim vision after reading. Spots before eyes.

Itching in ears; sharp, shooting pains below right tragus.

Dry mouth, tongue burns, gums and teeth pain. Thirst; pain in stomach and flatulence. The smell of food causes nausea even to fainting, especially fish. Profuse salivary secretion. Vomiting of mucus, bile and food; worse, any motion; great coldness in stomach. Craving for various things, but is averse to then when smelling them, seized them with nausea. Gouty gastralgia. Burning or icy coldness in stomach and abdomen. Thirst for effervescent, alcoholic beverages. Pain in transverse colon.

Distention of abdomen, with gas, inability to stretch out legs. Borborygmi. Pain over liver. Cæcum and ascending colon much distended. Fullness and continuous rumbling. Ascites.

Painful, scanty, transparent, jelly-like mucus; pain, as if anus were torn open, with prolapse. Autumnal dysentery; stools contain while shreddy particles in large quantities. Ineffectual pressing; feels feces in rectum, but cannot expel them.

Dark, scanty or suppressed; bloody, brown, black, inky; contains clots of putrid decomposed blood, albumin, sugar.

Pruritus of genitals. Cold feeling in thigh after period. Sensation of swelling in vulva and clitoris.

Anxiety in region of heart. Impulse not felt. Pericarditis, with severe pain, oppression and dyspnœa, pulse threadlike. Sound of heart become weaker, pulse of low tension.

Aching in lumbar and lumbo-sacral region. Dull pain across loins. Backache, better, rest and pressure.

Sharp pain down left arm. Tearing in limbs during warm weather, stinging during cold. Pins and needles in hands and wrists, fingertips numb. Pain in front of thigh. Right plantar reflex abolished. Limbs, lame, weak, tingling. Pain worse in evening and warm weather. Joints stiff and feverish; shifting rheumatism; pains worse at night. Inflammation of great toe, gout in heel, cannot bear to have it touched or moved. Tingling in the finger nails. Knees strike together, can hardly walk. Œdematous swelling and coldness of legs and feet.

Blotchy papular rash on face. Pink spots on back, chest and abdomen. Urticaria.

Antidotes: Thuja; Camph; Coccul; Nux; Puls. Compare: Colchicine (intestinal catarrh with shreddy membranes; convulsive jerkings of right hand; rheumatic fever, gout, endo and pericarditis, pleurisy, arthritis, deformans in early stages; intense pain of rheumatism 3x trit). Also, Carbo; Arnica; Lilium; Arsen; Verat.

Third to thirtieth attenuation.

Colchicum

It is rather singular that traditional medicine used Colchicum so much for gout. In all the old books it was recommended for this malady. The provings corroborate the fact that Colchicum fits into many conditions of gout.

Rheumatism: Acute rheumatism and uric acid diathesis; rheumatic complaints in general, with swelling and without swelling. But traditional medicine does not tell us what kind of gout to give it in or what kind of rheumatism. It was really the medicine of experience. "if it is gout, try Colchicum."

The question of what was to be done with the patient when the remedy failed never came up. It was "Give the prescription and keep at it," and drugs were administered until the patient, steadily growing worse, passed from one doctor's hands, to another's. It is true that Colchicum fits into the gouty state. Spells of cold, wet weather will slack up the flow of urine, make it scanty, or decrease the quantity of solids in the urine. This takes place in the provings of Colchicum and has been verified many times. It is well known that such a condition will bring about or intensify the gouty state. If the solids in the twine are deficient, if they are not carried off in the urine, something must happen, and the gouty state comes on.

Colchicum is aggravated by cold, damp weather; by the cold rains in the Fall. It is aggravated by anything that will debilitate. It is aggravated in the extreme heat of summer; it has a summer rheumatism; the heat will slack up the flow of urine or the quantity of solids in the urine. A striking feature running through the remedy is its tendency to move from one joint to another, from one side to another, from below upwards, or from above downwards. Rheumatic conditions with swelling, or without swelling; first here, next there, changing about from place to place.

Dropsical condition: Another striking feature is the general dropsical condition. When the hands and feet swell, and there is pitting on pressure. Dropsy of the abdominal cavity, of the pericardium; of the pleura and dropsy of serous sacs. Swellings that are inflammatory and rheumatic; swellings that are dropsical, with pale urine. Whether copious or scanty, still it is pale. Muscular rheumatism and rheumatism of the white fibrous tissues of the joints. Rheumatic troubles that have been going on for some time, will end in cardiac troubles. When cardiac troubles with valvular defects are present, almost the first thing the busy doctor thinks of is a history of rheumatism.

Let me say that a part of the study of Materia Medica consists in the observation of sick people. A busy physician learns without books, though of course he should familiarize himself with the literature, so that from reading, as well as observation, he may acquire a knowledge of the general nature of sickness.

When he listens to the patient's story or makes a physical examination, he knows how such cases usually conduct themselves. He knows what to expect. He knows the natural trend of sickness and instantly recognizes what is strange and unusual. He will not recognize what is strange and unusual unless he knows what is natural. So your books on symptomatology and pathology, diagnosis, etc., will tell you much of this, but as you gain experience in homeopathic practice you will get a much finer idea of this because your Materia Medica teaches you to observe more closely.

The Materia Medica man learns to single out and trace every little thing in order to individualize. So it may be said that years of observation in studying disease, studying the sick man along with the Materia Medica, will open to the mind a much grander knowledge of the sicknesses of humanity than can be had by practicing traditional medicine. Traditional medicine benumbs the ability to observe.

Motion <: All the complaints of this remedy are aggravated from motion. The painful complaints, the head complaints, the bowel complaints. the liver complaints, the stomach complaints, are all worse from motion. Such an aggravation from motion that he dreads to move. About as marked as we find in Bryonia.

Aversion to motion, and aggravation from motion. Aggravation from becoming cold and in cold, damp weather. He is a chilly patient, sensitive to cold. Most rheumatic patients are sensitive to cold, but there are a few exceptions. There is no greater rheumatic patient than the Ledum patient. He presents, both sides. Though he is cold, his pains are ameliorated by cold. In Colchicum the pains are ameliorated by heat, by wrapping up, by being warm.

If he moves, any suffering that he may have will be intensified. Great prostration accompanies the complaints of this remedy. Weakness of the limbs, great exhaustion, nervous exhaustion of a typhoid character. He gradually grows weaker like one going into Bright's disease. He has grown weak for some time, and he is pallid and waxy.

His hands and feet pit upon pressure. Examine the urine and you will find albumen in it. The urine becomes black like ink with albumen. There is an unusual degree of irritability of the tissues, soreness, sensitiveness to touch, sensitiveness to motion; bruised feeling of the joints and of the whole body.

Touch and motion bring on a painful sensation in the body as of. electric vibrations. Great weakness and exhaustion. He cannot exert himself in the least without causing dyspnea, Must lie down; does not want to move; sinking of strength; seems as if his life will flow out of him from motion and from exertion; so tired and exhausted.

This naturally occurs when going towards Bright's disease, when going towards a continued fever. Kidney affections and liver affections. Lassitude, prostration, anxiety. The muscles twitch and electric shocks pass through the body. A paralytic weakness was observed in the poisonous effects and too prolonged provings. The jaw hangs down, the muscles are flabby, relaxed. He lies on the back as if sinking; slides down in bed like one in typhoid, in low forms of rheumatic and in continued fevers, so great is the exhaustion. Paralysis of the limbs or of one limb, or of any part.

The Colchicum patient is almost constantly sweating, even with fever, and sometimes the sweat is cold. A draft blows upon him, suppresses that sweat and the paralytic condition of the limbs comes on; suppression of urine and retention of urine. This describes the profound character and type of sickness. Low forms of sickness; prostrating sickness; sickness with nervous trembling; with great exhaustion. After acute disease has passed away, great weakness and dropsy follows. Dropsy after scarlet fever. With all these troubles, the stomach and the bowel symptoms are very decided. This is like Cocculus. Absolutely unable to touch food. Nausea, gagging, retching at the bare mention of food in his presence. The thought and smell of food bring on nausea and vomiting. With all these low forms of disease, these states described, we can see that this kind of weakness is little different from the Cocculus weakness. Colchicum has delirium, prostration, depression of mind, great sensitiveness to pain, which he seems to feel in his mind, and it brings out mental symptoms. Very sensitive to pain; confusion of the mind; disorders of comprehension. Cannot understand what he reads. The headaches are all of a rheumatic character. Very often the whole skull, the pericranium, is sore as if bruised. The scalp is sensitive. Pressure in the head-constriction; pressing, bursting headaches. Heat in the head. Tearing in the scalp. Headaches are all aggravated by motion.

Eyes: The eye symptoms are of a rheumatic character, are connected with rheumatism, rheumatic fever. It is not very uncommon to have iritis in connection with rheumatic fever and it is a strong feature of Colchicum. Ulcers of the lids, styes, much lachrymation in the open air. The tears excoriate and cause redness of the lids.

He takes cold easily. Sneezing, stuffing up of the nostrils. Nosebleed in rheumatic and gouty constitutions. But there is one feature that is more marked in Colchicum than all others. He is so sensitive to odors that he smells things which others do not smell. He smells odors from which he is nauseated.

"Strong odors make him quite beside himself." You say "soup" or "broth," or something to eat, and he gets sick.

Nose: He can smell the things in the kitchen, in spite of much precaution, and this runs through the remedy. In typhoid fever, prostrated beyond the usual and typhoid is always prostrated enough, he is unusually prostrated. He cannot take milk, cannot take raw eggs, cannot take soup, because he gags at the mere thought of them.

He has gone on for days, and his family are afraid that he is going to starve to death. That aggravation from odors is so strong with him that it seems to take possession of him. It involves his appetite, his weakness, his stomach. So it does seem that it is a strong feature. Notice that this is one of his loves; it is a perverted love, and the loves are general whether they are manifested through the eyes, nose or touch. It enters into his very life because it involves hatred to odor, and when it stands out in low forms of disease like the continued fevers, the exhaustive fevers and rheumatic complaints it becomes a general. It would be a particular if it were something that applied to the things alone, but you see it enters into the very innermost. Involves a hatred, becomes mental, becomes a part of the man. He himself may be said to hate odors, hate the smell of food and the thought of it. Do not say "food" in the presence of a Colchicum patient, but give him Colchicum first, and pretty soon he will want something to eat. It removes that hatred for food. What a vital thing it must be when a man hates that which will keep him alive.

Teeth: The teeth are very sensitive.

"Rheumatic teeth."

The gums settle away; after a while the teeth become loose. Pain in the teeth; rheumatic condition of the jaws and the teeth.

"Grinding of the teeth, teeth sensitive when pressed together."

"Aversion to food; loathing the sight and smell," more the smell of it.

"The smell of fish, eggs, fat meats or broths causes nausea even unto faintness."

The Colchicum patient may have much thirst or no thirst, or these may alternate. Nausea and vomiting are very strong features, "Nausea and inclination to vomit, caused by swallowing saliva, Nausea, eructations and copious, vomiting of mucus and bile.

Violent retching followed by copious and forcible vomiting of food, and then of bile."

In the stomach there is sometimes coldness and sometimes burning. Now it may be that the Colchicum patient has both coldness and burning. They are both recorded in the Repertory and in the provings, but it is sometimes difficult to tell which is which, more difficult than you will imagine unless you try a piece of ice somewhere and something very hot.

"Burning 'in the pit of the stomach."

Coldness in the stomach. Now the abdomen furnishes us still more to observe. The abdomen is distended with flatus, tympanitic.

Great soreness in the whole abdomen just such a tympanitic condition as we have in typhoid. If you ever happen to be in the country practicing, medicine, and the farmer's cows get into a fresh clover patch and eat themselves full and become distended so that you are afraid they are going to explode offer your services and give each one of those cows a few pellets of Colchicum.

It will be but a few minutes before the wind will get out of there to your surprise and the farmer's, too; and you may convert him to Homoeopathy. Farmers have been known to put a butcher knife into the pouch of the cow between the last short ribs to let the wind out. The cow will get well, but Colchicum is better than the butcher's knife. The same is true of the horse; in fact, of man or beast, When the abdomen is violently distended and tympanitic, Colchicum is often a suitable remedy.

Diarrhea: Spasmodic pains, colic, tearing pains, burning, griping pains, forcing the patient to bend double. Aggravated from motion. Great tenderness and soreness with the colic. Aggravated from eating; ameliorated from bending double. And then comes the diarrhoea. It has just such a diarrhea as is found in low forms of fever. Dysenteric or diarrheic stools that are jelly like.

They form in the pan a solid mass of jelly like, coagulated mucus. Very painful, extremely painful is the Colchicum stool. Great soreness in the abdomen. Great relaxation of the parts. Protrusion of the rectum. Putrid, dark, bloody mucus.

"Bloody discharges from the bowels, with deathly nausea."

Fall dysentery, with discharges. of white mucus and violent tenesmus. Putrid, dark, clotted blood and mucus pass from the bowels. Diarrhoea with violent, colicky pains. Bloody stools with scrapings from the intestines and, protrusion of anus.

Profuse, watery stools in hot, damp weather or in the Autumn. Watery, jellylike mucus passes from anus with violent spasm in sphincter. It passes as a thin, watery flow; but as. soon as it cools, it forms a jelly.

Urines: The urine burns when it passes. It is attended with much pain. Inflammation of the kidneys, inflammation of the bladder; tenesmus; retention of urine.

The kidneys manufacture no urine; scanty urine with dropsy. The urine is inky, that is, very dark brown and sometimes almost black, loaded with albumen. This remedy conforms principally to the acute form of Bright's disease.

Heart and chest: Great dyspnoea, rapid, short breathing; the heart's impulse strong. Respiration accelerated.

The heart's impulse can be heard all over the room. Palpitation; oppression of the chest. Feels as if he had a great weight on the chest; cannot breathe. Hydrothorax; the pleural cavities distended with serum, causing the dyspnea. "Heart's action muffled, indistinct, very weak." Stinging, tearing pains in the muscles of the chest.

Limbs: Paralytic pains in the arms; enlarged finger joints. This also tells what a low form of sickness, what a feeble circulation this medicine brings about.

"Weakness so that he strikes the knees together while walking; pain all over as if bruised. Swelling of the joints."

The joints are most affected.

Muscular rhumatism.

Numbness, oedema, swelling of the limbs.