Part 17

The next communication that I have to bring forward is one from Dr. J. C. Burnett:

Dr. Cooper told me that he had relieved a case of nasal polypus with _Lemna minor_, and having several cases of the kind that had long been under my observation I thought it my duty to give them the benefit of _Lemna_.

CASE I. A gentleman of sixty years of age, with nasal polypus only moderately developed, yet of many years' duration, was much troubled by the chronic nasal obstruction which was markedly worse in wet weather.

I gave him _Lemna_ 3x, five drops in water, night and morning. Returning in a month, he exclaimed: "That is the best tonic I have ever taken; I have never taken any medicine in my life that has done me so much good. I feel quite comfortable in my nose and can breathe through it quite well."

CASE II. A lady, about forty-five years of age, mother of a large family and whom I had formerly cured of an uterine tumor, was so troubled with nasal polypi that her life was very distressful; moreover, the polypi had swelled so much that they hung out of the nostrils and compelled the patient to remain within doors. This was notably the case in wet weather. Why not have them removed chirurgically?

"Oh, I have had them operated on over and over again, but it's no good; they only come again worse than ever."

I have tried many things to cure these polypi, but in vain; they would get temporarily better, but the first rainy weather brought them back worse than ever; hence Dr. Cooper's recommendation of _Lemna_ is very welcome to me.

I ordered, as in the last case, with the result that the polypi very greatly diminished in size, and the patient could again take her place in society.

I have used _Lemna_ in many other similar cases, and with the like result. In no case is the polypus really cured, but greatly diminished in size, and the patient rendered relatively comfortable. Clearly the _Lemna_ does not either kill, cure or otherwise get rid of the polypi, but it rids them of much of their succulence and thus reduces their volume, and also diminishes the influence of wet weather to which such patients are so prone. And this is no small boon; is itself in every way superior to any operative interference. The tincture I made use of was made by Dr. Alfred Heath. The first prescription only being of Dr. Cooper's own make. Both acted alike well.

_86 Wimpole street, June 4, 1894._

From these remarks of Dr. J. H. Clarke and Dr. J. Compton Burnett, as well as from my own, I think there can be no doubt, whatever, that the _Lemna_ exercises a powerful influence upon the Schneiderian mucous membrane. How far it is capable by its specific action of removing large groups of polypi remains, as yet, an open question.

My own experience of the treatment of nasal polypi is that we have very few remedies that can at all be depended upon for giving even temporary relief. Even from _Calcarea carbonica_ and _Teucrium marum verum_ I have not had the effects that some practitioners testify to their possessing.

_Lemna_ has so far given relief in my hands to cases of nasal polypi and to cases where the nostrils were plugged by swollen turbinates and other causes in a matter far surpassing the effect I have obtained from any other remedy.

In saying this I do not at all wish it to be understood that we have in it a specific for all such cases.

We must remember that the symptoms in all such obscure diseases must be our guide for the selection of our remedy, and that, therefore, the important point is to work out the specific indications for the drug as we learn them from clinical observation, in the hope that on some future occasion pathogenesis may render these still more certain.

The indications that I myself have noticed as belonging to _Lemna_ are either a putrid smell in the nose or a loss of all sense of smell and a putrid taste in the mouth, especially on rising in the morning, with a general foulness of the mouth, due apparently to the dropping down of impure material from the post-nasal region. Along with this there sometimes seems to prevail a disposition to "noisy diarrhoea."

Dr. Burnett has noticed that _Lemna_ patients have their nasal symptoms aggravated in damp and rainy weather, and I have to some extent confirmed this observation.

I hope on some future occasion to return to the subject of _Lemna_; it is in every way well worthy of being prosecuted further.

Thus, for example, a lady patient, æt. fifty-eight, suffering from pains flitting about her head and legs, with pains in her eyes during heavy rain, and in whom drowsiness by day and restless sleep at night existed, had all these symptoms removed by a single dose of _Lemna_, and the pallid, dullish, sickly look in her face changed to a complexion that was natural and healthy.

The truth would seem to be that _Lemna's_ symptoms are specially aggravated in heavy rains; _Calendula's_, when heavy clouds are about; _Rhododendron's_, in thunder storms, and _Dulcamara's_, in damp surroundings and in foggy weather.

(In 1895 Dr. Thomas L. Shearer contributed the following concerning the remedy to the _Homoeopathic Eye, Ear and Throat Journal_):

_Lemna minor_ where the crusts and the muco-purulent discharge are very abundant with fetor (in rhinitis atrophics). Its action is wonderful, but it must not be administered in too low a dilution, as it then produces a sensation of intense dryness in the pharynx and the larynx. Possibly if it were exhibited in a much higher dilution it would be applicable to cases which have only a slight amount of discharge. It seems best to stop the remedy as soon as its action upon the secretions is marked, and then to wait a while before returning to its further employment. Dr. Cooper, of London, was, I believe, the first to investigate the action of _Lemna minor_ upon the upper air passages, but I do not think that he had tried it in cases of atrophic rhinitis. There is a great future for this new addition to our therapeutic resources, and it certainly deserves further investigation. It modifies the secretions to such an extent that we can more readily improve the condition of the nasal chambers with the aid of local measures. Whether it has the power to prevent or even retard the actual process of atrophy remains to be seen.

LEVICO.

PREPARATION.--Dilutions made from the mineral water or triturations from the residue obtained by evaporation of the water.

(Dr. Burnett has called the attention of the profession to this water in his books. The following concerning its constituents is from _The Therapist_, a London journal):

Of all mineral waters those of Levico are distinguished, not only by their contents of these three elements, arsenic, iron and copper, but they are remarkable for the state of combination in which they occur. Situated in South Tyrol, on the confines of Italy, Levico has for many years been a favorite sanitorium of the Italian medical profession for their nervous and skin patients. Of late years Levico water has also been increasingly recognized by the German and Austrian faculty, among whom Bamberger, Billroth, Hebra, Nussbaum, and others testify to the extraordinary remedial activity of the waters, favoring assimilation, increasing nutrition, and in chronic and dyscratic skin diseases functioning as antiseptic or astringent.

Merely as an internal medication _Levico_ water has, however, proved so satisfactory that it is a recognized member of the pharmacopoeia in many German and Austrian hospitals and clinics. Thus Professor Nussbaum, of Munich, writes that '_Levico_ water is given in my orthopædic institute in doses of two or three ounces to scrofulous and anæmic children. The water is well tolerated, and in spite of the smallness of the dose the result is, in many cases, very evident.' Professor Eulenberg, of Berlin, finds _Levico_ water especially satisfactory in chorea minor in children and at the age of puberty, as well as for hysterical neuralgia and spasms. A very copious testimony of like nature has been borne respecting _Levico_ water.

LATHYRUS SATIVUS.

NAT. ORD., Leguminosæ.

COMMON NAMES, Wild Vetch. Chick pea.

PREPARATION.--Trituration of the dried pea.

(Dr. W. A. Dewey contributed the following paper concerning this remedy to the _Medical Century_, 1899):

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF EFFECTS,

The _Lathyrus_ is a vetch, and a member of the leguminosæ family growing in India.

This remedy, which produces a perfect picture of certain spinal affections, has been known for over a century. In _Christison's Toxicology_ it is stated that it causes paraplegia, dragging gait, turning-in of the toes, stiffness and semi-flexion of the knee-joints.

The attention of the homoeopathic profession was directed to the drug as a possible remedy in paraplegia, in the _British Journal of Homoeopathy_, Vol. III. Here is found an account of a wheat famine in India, where the peas of the plant were substituted for wheat and used as a food. Those who subsisted on it were taken, even during sleep, with sudden paralysis of the lower limbs; this occurred without warning, in young men more than in young women, and was never recovered from. Another observer records fifty cases who had eaten the _Lathyrus_ bread and all stated that they became paralytic during the wet season of the country, that they went to bed quite well and awoke with stiff legs, unsteady gait, and aching, but no severe pain. The upper extremities were free.

Another who saw the disease in Algeria and described the symptoms found in ten cases observed that they came on suddenly, in damp weather, with some pains in the loins, trembling, motor paralysis and exaggerated reflexes. He attributed these phenomena to an acute transverse myelitis with degenerative changes in the cord.

A German writer states that the drug produces disturbances of nutrition of the muscles of the lower extremities, paresis, and that the muscles of the trunk and neck and face remain unaffected. Sensation remains normal. It seems to produce a sclerosis of the pyramidal tracts of the cord.

In animals the same condition is found; namely, paralysis of the hind legs. Pigs drag their hind legs and horses give out.

AGGRAVATED SYMPTOMATOLOGY.

From all the sources which I have been able to find, the following seem to be the symptoms caused by the drug:

Sudden loss of power in the lower extremities, from the waist down.

Tremulous, tottering gait.

Great exaggeration of the reflexes.

Stiffness and lameness of the ankles and knees.

Excessive rigidity of the legs; flexion difficult; spastic gait, the legs becoming interlocked, and walking is difficult or impossible.

Sudden onset of the trouble, and apparent aggravation in cold and damp weather.

Emaciation of the gluteal muscles also observed.

Those having taken it walked on the metatarso-phalangeal articulation, the heel not touching the ground.

Impossible to stand steady; swayed from side to side, but closing the eyes had no effect. This with the exaggerated reflexes would exclude its use in locomotor ataxia.

Debility and tremors of the legs.

Rigidity of the adductors of the thighs.

Staggering gait, with eyes fixed on the floor.

Could not extend or cross the legs when sitting.

Sensibility unimpaired.

CORRESPONDENCE TO SPINAL DISORDERS.

From these symptoms it will be seen that the effects of the drug correspond to many spinal symptoms, but more especially to what is known as spastic paraplegia. Indeed, Struempel asserts that it produces a perfect picture of this disease.

It is not so often that such a perfect picture of a disease can be had as in this instance. The disease itself is easily recognized by the stiff, spastic gait; the spasm of the adductors, causing the knees to strike each other, or to become locked, causing the patient to fall; the shuffling of the feet; the excessive muscular rigidity and the other well-known symptoms of paraplegia.

Therefore, reasoning from our law we would expect the drug to be of service in such cases, and although our pathogenesis of it is coarse we may be permitted to apply it to a disease whose symptomatology is of the coarse order; for it is often difficult to elicit any fine and characteristic symptoms in diseases like ataxic and spastic paraplegia.

It has been recognized as a remedy by but few of our writers on nervous diseases. O'Connor finds that marked benefit follows its use in old cases of myelitis with marked spastic symptoms. Bartlett, in _Goodno's Practice_, recommends it in excessive knee-jerk and rigidity. Hart speaks of it as a remedy in locomotor ataxia, but the absence of sensory symptoms and the presence of exaggerated reflexes would seem to contra-indicate it in this disease. He also speaks of it in spinal anemia, giving as symptoms: "Numbness, followed by pain in the lower extremities; sensation of a band around the body; unable to step or distinguish one limb from another"--symptoms which I am unable to find that the remedy produced. Elliott also speaks of it.

CLINICAL RÉSUMÉ.

The clinical record of _Lathyrus_, though very meagre, gives great hope that it may prove useful in numerous cases of bed-ridden paraplegiacs and in infantile spinal paralysis, as well as in certain forms of myelitis.

The following is a résumé of all that I can find published:

I. Case of spinal paraplegia, relieved.

II. A case of multiple sclerosis in a young man of twenty-eight who had been ill seven years and unable to walk for six years was greatly benefited by _Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x.

III. Case of paraplegia, could walk after taking the remedy for some time.

IV. Case of paraplegia, no improvement.

V. Rheumatic paralysis, with stiff knees, could walk after use of _Lathyrus_. (Clark _Homoeopathic World_.)

VI. In a case of a clerk with loss of power of the lower limbs, reflexes exaggerated, knee-jerk violent, locomotion difficult and unsteady, probably a case of transverse myelitis, _Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x, night and morning, gave most satisfactory results. The patient could walk a mile without assistance. (Simpson, _Homoeopathic Review_.)

VII. In a man aged fifty-two who had been unable to walk for six years, the paraplegia coming on after a "stroke" from exposure to wet, _Lathyrus_ [Latin: ezh]x practically cured in eight months. He had been tied to a chair for six, and at the time he stopped treatment he was walking four miles daily. (Blake, _Homoeopathic Review_.)

From the fact that the _Lathyrus_ disease occurs frequently in certain mountainous regions of Asia it has been remarked that it is akin to Beri-Beri, which has been traced to eating the _Lathyrus_ bread.

LIATRIS SPICATA.

NAT. ORD., Compositæ.

COMMON NAMES, Dense Button-Snake-root. Gay Feather. Devil's Bit.

PREPARATION.--The root is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol.

(The following, by Dr. T. C. Duncan, was called forth by the publication of an item in _Eclectic Medical Journal_, stating that twice during the past year _Liatris_ had given good results in dropsy; in one case, on the second day, the patient had passed a gallon and a half of urine. Dr. Duncan's paper was published in the _Homoeopathic Recorder_ for 1898):

Any new remedy that promises relief in dropsy will be hailed with pleasure by the profession. Happening into a pharmacy soon after receiving the January _Recorder_, a physician rushed in and inquired for "that new remedy for dropsy--that got rid of 'a gallon and a half of urine in one day.' Have a bad case cardiac dropsy. Want to try it. How do you give it?" He could not get it. "Get me some," was his order. "There is the article, be sure to get the right thing, _Liatris_!"

_Liatris spicata_ is the familiar "button-snake-root" that I used to dig every fall for our old family physician (who called himself a "botanic physician") and who gave it for indigestion. It is also called "colic root" and "devil's bit," because a piece is missing from each tuber as a rule, just as if bitten out. _Kost's Medicine_ (my first medical work) describes it as follows: "Root perennial, tuberous, ovate, abrupt, beset around the base with many fine fibers; it is aromatic. Stem round, about three feet high, bearing a spike of scaly purple-colored blossoms, bearing in the aggregate a resemblance to an acorn. The leaves are linear or sword-shaped, somewhat resembling the leaves of young corn. It is found in prairies and open woods in the western States."

"The _Liatris_ is an aromatic stimulant, diaphoretic, diuretic, anodyne and carminitive. It is particularly useful in colic, backache and flatulency."

It is interesting to know that it has had clinically a good effect in dropsy, (1) due to liver and splenic enlargement, also (2) where the kidneys were involved. In the second case referred to, "_Apocynum can._, _Aralia_, _Digitalis_, _et al._" had been given, but the kidneys failed to respond until the _Liatris_ "was given in infusion," then "on the _second_ day the patient passed _a gallon and a half of urine_"--equal to 192 ounces of urine! In the first case the _Liatris_ was followed by _Ferrum carb_.

Whether it will prove equally efficient in cardiac dropsy only time will tell. I hope that the readers of the _Recorder_ will report results, whether favorable or otherwise. The dose that Dr. Bradley gave was about a pint, drank during the course of the day, containing about half an ounce of the root. The tincture will be more convenient, and it is a question if the dilutions will not be equally efficient. Try the third, and then go up or down the scale as the case seems to demand. This drug should be proved. It is harmless. If any young physician will volunteer I will gladly direct him.

Infusion of _Digitalis_ (English leaves) is a favorite prescription with some physicians in cases of cardiac dropsy, but I have not found that form any more efficient than the dilution, except in cases where alcohol had been a cause, then _Strophanthus_ or _Arsenicum_ had a better effect.

LOLIUM TEMULENTUM.

NAT. ORD., Gramineæ.

COMMON NAMES, Darnel. (G.) Taumellolch.

PREPARATION.--Trituration of the dried seeds.

(The following concerning this little used drug was reported by Dr. Bonino, an Italian physician, translated by Dr. Mossa and published in the _Allgemeine Hom. Zeitung_, July, 1898. The use of the drug by Dr. Bonino was truly homoeopathic for the short proving of it. Allen's _Encyclopædia_ reports trembling of the limbs and hand so great that "he could not hold a glass of water.")

A carpenter, aged twenty-nine years, had been suffering ever since his eighteenth year of trembling in both hands, especially in the morning; of late also his legs began to tremble. It is remarkable that both his father and his brother were subject to the same ailment, while no definite cause could be indicated. He was first given _Mercurius vivus_, then _Agaricus_, which brought a partial but only transitory improvement. Finally I prescribed _Lolium tem._, which in a short time effected a cure.

(On this Dr. Mossa comments as follows):

The pathogenetic effects of this remedy which has not yet been proved at all are only known to some degree from its effects when it has been mixed with grain and baked into bread. It has caused chest troubles, _vertigo_ (thence the name darnel-grass, in German _Taumellolch_), _trembling_, paralysis with anguish and distress, vomiting, failing of the memory, blindness, headache, epileptic attacks, deep sleep and insanity. The good success obtained by its use in the case given above shows what curative effects may be expected from it in severe affections of the brain or spinal marrow. An Italian physician, Fantoni, has tried it in cephalalgia, meningitis rheumatica and in ischias.

LYCOPUS VIRGINICUS.

NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.

COMMON NAME, Bugle Weed.

PREPARATION.--Tincture of the whole plant by macerating one part by weight of the fresh plant in two parts by weight of alcohol.

(Although a well-known remedy, the following concerning it may not be amiss here; it is from the _Homoeopathic World_, 1889, by Dr. Proell):

_Lycopus Virginicus_ seems to be a specific for bringing back an old (but long disappeared) hæmorrhoidal flux in persons with light eyes. I gave, a week ago, the first decimal dilution to a gentleman (sixty years) for noise and throbbing in the head during the night (which prevented the quietness of sleep); because neither _Cactus_ (which helped quickly when he had blood-spitting) nor _Kalmia_, nor _Gelsemium_ helped radically. The night after taking _Lycopus_, he was a little better, and in the forenoon came a bleeding from the rectum (about three tablespoonfuls after defecation) with great general relief. There was chronic catarrhus bronchialis. Two days afterwards, I gave an elderly lady (sixty years), who had glycosuria, cataract of the left eye, and every third night was very restless, _Lycopus Virginicus_ 1 decimal dilution, one drop in the evening. The following night was excellent, and in the morning came an abundant bleeding from the rectum, with great relief. Both patients are tall, very irritable, have weak innervation of the heart, without decided organic disease of the heart; both are hypochondriacs; have light eyes; noise in the left ear. Both had, years ago, hæmorrhoidal flux, which stopped suddenly.

MALARIA OFFICINALIS.

PREPARATION.--It is prepared in three degrees of strength:

No. I. Is the water that stood on decomposed vegetable matter for one week at a temperature of 90° F.

No. II. Is the water that decomposed vegetable matter for two weeks.

No. III. Is the water that decomposed vegetable matter for three weeks.

(The following is an abstract of a paper on this peculiar remedy, by Dr. G. W. Bowen, that appeared in the Transactions of the Indiana Institute of Homoeopathy, 1895):

In the summer of 1862 vegetable matter of different forms was decomposed in my office in glass jars, and malaria was freely generated. Persons were hired to inhale the gas evolved in its different stages of decomposition, and a careful observation of its effects on them was made that gave me a clue to its future use, and the only reliable guide for combatting its effect when acquired naturally.

Not only did the gaseous form demonstrate, but subsequent use of the liquid product proved it capable of producing not only the three leading types that the past years had made me conversant with, but also others of a minor grade yet of unsuspected parentage.

The miser made delight of added gain, Was like a pebble on the shore again,

In comparison to the satisfactory consolation that came as a realization of the comprehension of the producing cause. Henceforth the battle need not be carried on mid the gloom of the night.

The decomposition of the vegetable matter passed through three stages or degrees. The first gave off gases freely, yet of not so offensive odor as later. After ten days or two weeks the expense of securing inhalers was more than doubled, even for one moment of time. After three or four weeks not much gas was generated, for it seemed only capable of lying still and sending its fearful odor heavenward. Inhalation of the gases evolved produced for the first week or ten days a headache, nausea, distress in the stomach, coated the tongue white, and this in from one to two hours time generally; and there, if not carried too far, would generally pass off in two or three days. Inhalations after ten days or two weeks did not produce results in less than twelve or twenty-four hours, according to time and amount inhaled. Then there was fearful headache, nausea, aversion to food, distress through the hypochondriac region, first in the spleen, the liver and stomach, and on the third day chills that would doubtless have continued on indefinitely if not interfered with.