Part 26

In cases of excessive venereal desire, amounting to satyriasis, from experience I would use this remedy first. I have seen it control the venereal appetite in a very satisfactory manner. It can be given in cases where the bromides have always been considered appropriate, and it can be given where the bromides would be very inappropriate and there is no reflex effect on the brain or nervous system.

SALVIA OFFICINALIS.

NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.

COMMON NAME, Common sage.

PREPARATION.--The fresh leaves are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.

(Although scarcely used in the present day sage runs back in medical history to the Greeks, and, according to Fernie, is still held in the highest esteem by country people in many parts of Europe. Quoting Gerard: "Sage is singularly good for the head and brain; it quickeneth the senses and memory; strengtheneth the sinews; restoreth health to those that have palsy; and takes away shaky trembling of the members." The following appeared in _Echo Med. du Nord_, 1897, concerning this remedy:)

This remedy (in English, _Sage_) has been almost forgotten in modern medical art, but still remains in high repute as a domestic medicine. Lately, French physicians have called attention to it, and not only for gargling in cases of inflammation of the throat and for washing the mouth in affections of the gums, but more especially as an unfailing remedy for night-sweats in persons suffering from affections of the respiratory organs. In the numerous experiments made with it, there were never any disagreeable concomitant effects. On the contrary, it was found that _Salvia_ acts even more favorably on the tickling coughs with consumptives than _Belladonna_, _Rumex crispus_, etc., so that preparations of _Morphine_ and _Codeine_ could be dispensed with.

_Salvia_ should be used in the form of the tincture, and, indeed, the tincture prepared from the fresh leaves and the blossom tips, as we find it in homoeopathic pharmacies. It should be given in doses of 20, 30, or 40 drops, in a tablespoonful of water. The effects manifest themselves very quickly, two hours after taking a dose, and these effects persist for two to six days.

SAURURUS CERNUUS.

NAT. ORD., Piperaceæ.

COMMON NAME, Lizard's Tail.

PREPARATION.--The entire plant including the root is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.

(The following short notice of this almost unknown remedy appeared in the _Homoeopathic Recorder_, 1895:)

Readers who are interested in the remedies of nature rather than those produced in the laboratory and sold under trademarks will remember that it was Dr. D. L. Phares, of Mississippi, who, over half a century ago, pointed out the wonderful virtues of _Passiflora incarnata_, so much used to-day. What Dr. Phares said of the remedy laid dormant until Hale, in his ever perennial _New Remedies_, rescued it from the dusty pages of old medical journals, in which so much of value is buried awaiting resurrection. Among such buried remedies is _Saururus cernuus_ or, as it is more commonly known, "lizard's tail." Dr. Phares, who seems to have been an unusually keen observer, used _Saururus cer._ in his practice, as he did _Passiflora_, for many years before he communicated his observations to the medical journals, and the _Saururus_ seems to be quite as important and useful a remedy in its sphere as is _Passiflora_, and one quite as worthy of a thorough proving. In absence of proving it may be said that Dr. Phares used it for years with marked success in all irritation and inflammation of the kidneys, bladder, prostate and urinary passages. He considered it peculiarly adapted to all such cases if they were attended by strangury, or painful and difficult urination. Dr. Phares used the remedy both externally and internally and he found that the stomach was very tolerant of the rather heroic doses he prescribed.

The plant is an indigenous perennial found in swampy localities, in some parts of the United States, and has been, and is still, used in domestic practice for those conditions for which Dr. Phares commends it.

SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS.

PREPARATION.--The insect is triturated with sugar of milk in the usual way.

(In the case of a man bitten in the arm by a centipede, reported in _Nashville Journal of Medicine_, 1870, among the striking symptoms was no perspiration in the arm for three months. Dr. Sherman, of California (_Med. Advance_), reports the following symptoms as prominent in a woman bitten by a centipede:)

_Head._--Vertigo, with blindness, worse in the morning.

_Stomach._--Nausea and vomiting; unable to retain either food or liquid.

_Back._--Terrible pains in back and loins, spasmodic and irregular, at times extending down the limbs. Pains returned every few days for three weeks, commencing in the head and going out at the toes. "Resembled labor pains as nearly as anything I ever saw."

SCUTELLARIA LATERIFOLIA.

NAT. ORD., Labiatæ.

COMMON NAME, Mad-dog skullcap.

PREPARATION.--The whole fresh plant is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.

(The following proving of _Scutellaria lat._, from _University Bulletin_, 1897, was made, under the auspices of Dr. Geo. Royal, by nine provers:)

No symptom has been recorded unless experienced by two provers. When experienced by two provers, and not often repeated, the symptom is recorded in common type. When often repeated in two provings is found in italics. When often repeated in three provings, or found in four or more, the symptoms appear in black type.

MIND.--=Inability to study or fix the attention on one's work.= _Confusion of mind._ _Apathy._ Irritability.

HEAD.--=A full or throbbing sensation in head.= =A dull heavy headache mostly in the forehead and temples.= Sharp shooting pain in the head. Pain in the occiput. Headache relieved in the open air. Headache relieved by eating. Headache aggravated by motion.

EYES.--_Aching in the eyeballs._ Eyeballs painful to touch. Eyeballs feel too large.

FACE.--Flushed.

MOUTH.--_Bad taste_; _sour_; _bitter_.

THROAT.--Sensation of lump in throat which could not be swallowed.

STOMACH.--=Nausea.= =Sour eructions.= _Poor appetite._ Vomiting of sour ingesta, hiccoughs, pain and distress in stomach.

ABDOMEN.--=Gas in bowels.= _Colicky pain in abdomen._ _Fullness or distension of abdomen._ _Uneasiness in abdomen._ Pain in the abdomen.

STOOLS.--=Diarrhoea.= _Light colored._ Stools preceded by colicky pain in abdomen.

URINARY ORGANS.--=Quantity of urine diminished. Biliary salts increased.= Frequent micturition but quantity small.

CHEST.--Pain in chest.

HEART AND PULSE.--Pulse rate irregular.

BACK.--Pain in back.

UPPER EXTREMITIES.--_Sharp stinging pains._ Aching.

LOWER EXTREMITIES.--=Weakness.= =Aching.= _Uneasiness._

SLEEP.--=Restless.= =Unrefreshing.= _Disturbed._

GENERAL SYMPTOMS.--=Restlessness.= =Tired weak feeling.= _Uneasiness._ _Languor._

The remedy seems most suitable to persons of a nervo-bilious temperament. All the symptoms seem to be aggravated by work or excitement and ameliorated by sleep.

SISYRINCHIUM.

NAT. ORD., Iridaceæ.

COMMON NAME, Blue-eyed grass.

PREPARATION.--The fresh root is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.

(Dr. W. U. Reed, of Northmanchester, Ind., contributed the following in 1892 to the _Hom. Recorder_, concerning this little known remedy. _Sisyrinchium_ was one of the old "Thompsonians." From what Dr. Reed says of it the remedy must be a very powerful one and worthy of full investigation.)

Numerous articles have appeared in our medical journals during the past few months relative to the treatment of persons bitten by venomous reptiles, especially the rattlesnake. Whether the rattlesnakes found in the marshes of Indiana are in any respect different from those found in Oregon, or in the mountains of Pennsylvania, I do not know. The bite of the Indiana rattler has been known to prove fatal to both man and beast. Notwithstanding we have growing in our woods and fields a small plant, which I believe to be a specific for the treatment of persons or animals bitten by the rattlesnake. From my own experience and observation in the use of this remedy, I believe it to be a positive cure in all cases if exhibited in any reasonable time. I have never known it to fail in a single instance, even where the alcoholic treatment and many other kinds had failed.

The plant referred to, the roots of which are used in the treatment of snake bites; or a tincture made from the roots, is the _Sisyrinchium_ of the _Iris_ family, I think, and is said to have been used by the Indians in treating snake bites, by bruising and moistening the roots and applying to the wound. I am not aware of its ever having been used as a medicine by the profession, and, so far as I know, I am the first to prepare and use it in the form of a tincture. By your kind permission I will report, through the columns of your valuable journal, a few cases treated by this remedy, which for convenience I will call _Sisyrinchium_.

Case 1. Bessie A., aged six years, while playing in the yard on a farm, some twelve miles in the country, was bitten in the hand by a rattlesnake which was killed a moment after by the mother of the little girl who was attracted by the screams of the child. Sixteen hours after I arrived, everything having been done in the meantime that had ever been heard of by the parents, even to poulticing the wound with entrails of a black chicken. The little sufferer was, indeed, an object of pity. The hand and arm were swollen almost to bursting, the swelling extending to the shoulder and spine, being of a bluish black color as if dreadfully bruised. This discoloration extended over the back to the hips. Skin hot and dry, face flushed, pulse quick and hard. Child unconscious. I felt that the case was hopeless. But through the earnest entreaties of the mother, I proceeded to do what I could. Saturating a piece of cotton with the tincture I had prepared, I bound it on the wound; then dropping twelve drops in a glass of water I directed that a teaspoonful be given every hour, the compress to be renewed every hour also, until my return. I confess I had little hope of seeing my little patient alive again, but on my return the following day I was much rejoiced to find a decided change for the better in the condition of the little sufferer. The swelling was not nearly so tense, the fever had subsided, the delirium gone, and the danger seemed past. The treatment was continued, and a speedy and permanent recovery followed.

Case 2. Burt Whitten, aged ten, while out in a marsh with a number of older boys gathering huckleberries, was bitten in the right ankle by a rattler. He was so frightened when he saw the snake, as it bit him, that he ran all the way home, a distance of nearly a mile; although the day was very hot. This patient came to my hands after the usual alcoholic treatment for twenty-four hours by an Allopathic physician, with the patient growing worse all the time. I found this patient in about the same condition as the first. The leg and foot were enormously swollen and of the same general appearance; the foot, calf of the leg and thigh were black; the whole body was very red, hot and dry; face dark red; pulse quick and hard; patient delirious but would cry out if touched. Fifteen drops in a glass of water. Teaspoonful every hour, with cotton saturated with the tincture applied to the wound. In this case the change, I was informed by the father, was quite noticeable in two hours. The boy had been in a wild delirium all night and up to the time he received the first dose of _Sisyrinchium_. After the second dose he became quiet, and in two hours the delirium had passed away. Under this treatment the patient was able to be out on the streets again in four days, though the discoloration did not disappear for some time after.

Many more cases might be given where this remedy has been given to both man and beast with the same results.

SKOOKUM CHUCK.

(Some readers may be startled at this name, applied to a remedy, but under that name it came before the profession and the name has stuck. It is the Western Indian's designation of the waters of what is now known as "Medical Lake." The following by Dr. W. D. Gentry appeared in the _U. S. Med. Investigator_, 1889:)

The water is of a deep amber and almost red in the sunlight. The following is an analysis of the salts, obtained by evaporation of the water; the proportion being in grains per U. S. gallon 231 cubic inches:

Sodic chloride, 16.370 Potassic chloride, 9.241 Sodic carbonate, 63.543 Magnesic carbonate, .233 Ferrous carbonate, .526 Calcic carbonate, .186 Aluminic oxide, .175 Sodic silicate, 10.638 Organic matter, .551 ------ 101.463 Lithic carbonate, } Potassic sulphate, }Each a trace. Sodic bi-borate, }

The lake has no outlet, but is fed by two enormous springs. It contains no living things with the exception of axolotl, a kind of salamander, such as are found in the lakes of the Mexican Cordilleras.

The medical and curative properties of this remarkable lake was known to the Indians of the northwest as far back as they have any legends or tribal history, and it was held in such reverence by them that the country around this lake was called 'Sahala Lyee Illihe,' or 'Sacred Grounds,' and no matter how hostile the tribes were to each other no Indians journeying to or from the 'Skookum Limechen Chuck,' or 'strong medicine water,' were ever molested.

When the Indians were considering the transfer of their lands to the government, many years ago, it is recorded as a matter of history, that old Quetahlguin, father of the present Chief Moses, and 'Old Joseph,' father of Chief Joseph, lately a prisoner of war, with the broken remnants of his band, after weeks of deliberation and consideration, with the 'Sahala Lyee,' or Great Spirit, through their medicine-men, or prophets, firmly said: 'We have talked with the Great Spirit and we have slept with his words in our ears. The Great Spirit is our father and the earth is our mother. We have a good home and it was made for us by the Great Spirit; it is a part of us; it is our mother. In Wallowa Lake are an abundance of fish created especially for our tribe. None other of his red children have such fish. In the 'Skookum Chuck' we have a remedy for all our ailments. We only have to bathe in and drink its water and we are made well. If we sign the treaty we will forever offend the Great Spirit; we will sign away our mother and she will cry. Her tears will dry up these lakes and we will be hungry and sick. We will go to the Skookum Chuck only to find that its waters have disappeared.'

The story is told of a Frenchman passing the lake many years ago, before the properties of the water became known to the whites, with a drove of sheep afflicted with a skin disease called 'the scab.' As soon as the sheep saw the water they ran to it, but would not drink. They stood in the water for some time, and in a few days they were well of the 'scab.' The Frenchman was suffering with rheumatism. He concluded to try the water of the lake for his disease. He was speedily cured. The whites were soon attracted to this lake by the stories of marvellous cures reported by the Indians, and by seeing Indians return in health and vigor from the lake, who had been taken there on litters, appearing at the point of death. It is estimated that over 20,000 people have visited this lake since 'Joseph's Band' were driven from that section of the country, and it is fast becoming as popular as any other of our great health resorts.

My attention was called to _Skookum chuck_ some time since, and I procured some of the salts and triturated a quantity, making the first, second, third and sixth potencies. I partially proved the first potency by taking two grains every two hours. The first effect produced was a profuse coryza with constant sneezing, as in hay fever. This continued until the medicine was antidoted by tobacco. My appetite was greatly increased. Some rheumatic pains in limbs, and heaviness about the sacrum. The catarrhal effects were so severe I could not continue the remedy. I have used the third and sixth potency in my practice and have cured a number of cases of catarrh, and am confident that the remedy will be curative in hay fever.

(Later investigation, however, demonstrated that the chief curative action of the salts was in skin diseases. Dr. D. De Forest Cole, of Albion, N. Y., wrote the following to the firm from whom he procured the remedy:)

Some time since I received from you one bottle _Skookum chuck_ 3x trit. I had a very bad case of urticaria which resisted the usual remedies as _Apis_, _Urtica ur._, etc., and I gave her (a girl twelve years old) four powders of about four grains each of the _Skookum chuck_, instructing her to take one powder in one-half glass water, one teaspoonful every two hours, and she returned in a week free from any urticaria. I gave her four powders more, and no appearance of urticaria since. Besides curing the urticaria the patient's health is in every way improving. I write this thinking you might desire to know of its value in urticaria, as well as eczema.

(The following cases were contributed by Dr. D. W. Ingalls, Bridgeport, to _N. Y. Med. Times_, 1894:)

CASE 1. Mrs. D., aged forty-eight years, suffered four years with eczema plantaris, fissured, red and painful, which gave forth a viscid secretion, drying into scales half an inch in thickness. For the past two years the patient had not been able to wear shoes nor walk any distance, owing to the excessive soreness of the feet.

Patient consulted me March 1st, and the following treatment was given: Two-grain powders of the 2x trituration of _Skookum chuck_ every two hours, and an ointment applied nightly consisting of _Skookum salt_, one drachm to the ounce of _Vaseline_. In the morning the feet were washed with _Skookum chuck_ soap. April 1st the patient walked to the dispensary in felt shoes. The fissures and greenish tinge of the crusts had nearly disappeared. The two-grain powders were then given every four hours and the former treatment continued. On May 1st, patient walked to the dispensary wearing leather shoes for the first time, the ointment was stopped, the fissures and crevices being hardly perceptible. The patient was advised to wash the feet night and morning with the _Skookum chuck_ soap.

June 1st patient presented herself, stating that she had very little trouble with her feet, except some tenderness upon a misstep. Appearance good.

A powder of the 3x was given every night, together with the continued washing of the feet night and morning. July 1st the patient was discharged cured.

CASE 2. Mrs. B., aged twenty-eight, eczema of the nose of one year's standing. The usual ointments were given, but without result. March 15th the following treatment was given: Five-grain powder of the 2x trituration _Skookum chuck_ four times a day, together with the _Skookum_ ointment applied nightly. This case was entirely cured in six weeks.

CASE 3. Mrs. H., aged twenty-three, benign growth in left breast about the size of a walnut; first noticed about eight months previously. Upon strict inquiry, no history of cancer or tuberculosis was given. One-grain powders of the 1x were given, the first week every four hours. Two-grain powders of the 2x were given every four hours the second week. Five-grain powders of the 3x were given the third week and continued seven weeks, when the patient was discharged cured.

CASE 4. Mr. S. was afflicted with eczema of the scalp, which spread from back of the ears to the eyebrows, covering the entire scalp with a squamous or scabby eczema, accompanied with a constant itching and shedding of scales. On March 18th the following treatment was given: Head to be washed four times a day with _Skookum chuck_ soap. A five-grain powder 2x trituration was given every hour during the first week, when _Sulphur_, third decimal, was given for three days, and _Skookum chuck_, second decimal, was continued for one week. One-grain powder of the 1x was given in water four times a day for two weeks; then the third decimal trituration was used until June 1st, when patient was discharged cured.

CASE 5. Mr. J., nasal catarrh, of years' standing. A greenish-yellow discharge having the odor of a slight ozoena. The patient had been so much relieved that he is at present writing very comfortable, and believes that he will be permanently cured.

CASE 6. Mrs. D., aged thirty-six, prolonged suppuration due to abscess of the axilla; nine months' standing. June 20th the following treatment was given: The abscess was washed four times a day with the solution of _Skookum_ salts, five grains to one quart of water, and the 2x given internally every two hours until July 10th, when the abscess was healed. A two-grain powder was then continued, night and morning for one month, with no return of the abscess. To sum up, I have simply verified what Dr. Gentry and others have given us about the remedy. I have used it with gratifying success in all suppurating wounds. It evidently has a great sphere of action, and I hope some day to see a good proving.

(The following was contributed by Dr. B. F. Bailey, Lincoln, Neb.:)

We have many remedies brought to our notice in an empirical way, which soon lose their prominence, first because we have no provings, and second, having no provings, clinical study is not close enough. When _Skookum chuck_ was first written up, I began to use it and watch its effects, that it might be possible to find its proper niche in practice. The following two cases will, I think, give an idea of the cases in which it may always be depended upon:

Case No. 1.--A married woman of 40 years of age. History and present condition show a lithæmic diathesis. For years has never been free from eczematous troubles. At times suffers much from rheumatism, not infrequently, rheumatism disappears to be immediately followed by hordeoli upon eyelids. Has been treated long and faithfully by Allopaths, and now for some years by our own school. Prescribed _Skookum_ 3x--one powder every 4 hours. Improvement was soon evident. Persisted in this treatment for three months, and now for two years patient has been perfectly well.

Case No. 2.--Patient, married woman of about 26 years, comes to me with urine, sp. grav. 1.030, marked uric acid deposits, flushed face upon a yellowish background--so often seen in lithæmic cases. Much difficulty of digestion. Great dryness of skin, especially of scalp, with great trouble from falling out of hair--in short a thoroughly lithæmic case. _Skookum chuck_ 3x every four hours. Satisfactory improvement. Has feared head will become entirely bald. Now no loss of hair, and a loss of the heated, congested feeling of face and head. In fact, a satisfactory recovery now of some weeks standing. These cases briefly stated ought to be of interest, in that they show it to be probable that we will find the sphere of action of _Skookum_ to be in lithæmic cases, and for the treatment of these cases we have but a few clearly defined reliable remedies.

SOLANUM CAROLINENSE.

NAT. ORD., Solanaceæ.

COMMON NAME, Horse-nettle.

PREPARATION.--The fresh, ripe berries are macerated in twice their weight of alcohol.