By C.M. Boger, M.D.
We will speak of the sweet clover in this place because of its close similarity to Glonoin in many of its symptoms.
Its active principle is Coumarin’s substance of a very pleasant sweetish odor; the whitish efflorescence as well as the odor of Tonka bean is due to its presence. The Wood ruff, or Asperula odorata of Europe which used in Germany to give the pleasant flavor to the so-called May wine also contains it; it is present in Galium, or Goosegrass and a number of other plants, especially of the Rubiaceae.
In a general way it may be of interest to note that the clovers and Galium have a number of cures of cancer attested by very high authority to their credit; it has been pointed out that this must be due to their soluble silicates; that, however, is only theory, the fact remains that cures have been made; the essential indications for their use have as yet not been pointed out. Among other plants held in high esteem by cancer specialists for their escharotic properties are those containing Bin-oxalate of Potash (the Sal Acetosella or Salt of Sorrel), as a marked constituent; they are principally Rumex acetosella, the Oxalis or Wood Sorrel, and the Oxydendron or Sorrel tree; that this oxalate may be effectual I can testify, for I saw a large cancer of the thigh slough off because of its domestic application; nor is this to be ascribed to its escharotic action pure and simple, for were this the case any other similarly acting chemical would do as well, but we all know how many such attempts have been made and with what indifferent success they have met. These domestic cures are not to be despised, from such sources have arisen our greatest drugs, and our efforts should be directed to finding their specific symptoms and spheres of action.
But to return to Melilotus, you may use it for congestive, nervous, neuralgic or other headaches when there is an extremely or fiery red face, and the pain is relieved by profuse nosebleed or the advent of the menses; this modality has had abundant verification from the best sources and should leave a lasting impression on your memory; the pains are generally worse from talking and motion, and like the migranal affections of the similarly acting Tonka, are temporarily better from the use of vinegar; on the other hand this acid aggravated the headaches of Belladonna.
Melilotus has cured quite a number of cases of insanity monomania of the furibund type; the mental symptoms show a clear similarity thereto, and when the fiery red face is added the picture is apt to look quite like Melilotus unless strong counterbalancing symptoms point in another direction; such patients are exceedingly irritable, with attacks of destructive frenzy, or a desire to flee from their attendants or home.
smothered feeling or oppression of the chest, often combined with a cough which is relieved by violent nosebleed, shows its relation to orgasms of blood.
Amyl Nitrite
Under Glonoin we spoke of this remedy and its power over the vaso-motor system, especially when it seems unduly affected by emotions. Our good friend, Dr. Nash, mentions the cure of a case of violent blushing, and facetiously remarks that those who don’t blush don’t need it, which is not as much of a joke as it looks; however, flushing of various sorts is not its only indication, and while it has been given by inhalation very largely in a palliative way for angina pectoris and to mitigate epileptic attacks, I am not aware of any genuine cures of these diseases being affected there by; while admittedly it will often relieve the vascular spasm, and thus help the patient even in true angina, it is nevertheless powerless to prevent their recurrence; for this purpose you will look to thee Iodide of Arsenic more than any other drug, although the other Iodides may also serve you well.
Like the other Nitrites it affects the distribution of the blood most profoundly, causing irregularities and congestion thereof, but unlike them its symptoms are greatly influenced by emotions, as fright, etc.; they also include certain functional neuralgic manifestations, and when we get a combination of these two elements in a given case, and such are not as rare as might be supposed, it is perfectly indicated, and will make as good and complete a cure as any other indicated drug.
Over a year ago I prescribed Amyl Nit. For a large obese woman who had sought in vain for two years for relief from a distressing condition the salient symptoms of which were. A cutting, left sided, infra-mammary pain following the ribs to the back with fluttering of the heart and a cough with frothy expectoration; there was much dyspnoea, especially on exertion; she was worse lying on the left side and from pressure, but better from eructations and slow motion; with the attacks the feet and hands became cold and there was profuse urination, the cough caused pain, and she was compelled to get relief from heat by going into the open air. The location and direction of the pain is peculiar to this remedy, the thoracic congestion is one phase of an action common to the Nitrites, the modalities moreover fix the choice upon the Amyl compound, besides the fluttering of the heart is very characteristic, so you see “he that runs may read,” and it made a good and permanent cure.
Not may remedies have “throbbing of the vertex,” but this is one of them, and probably the most important.
Its cranial neuralgia’s are often accompanied by unilateral coldness or paleness of the face; this you should remember.
Kali Nitricum
In this connection we will consider another Nitrite, the Kali nitricum or Saltpeter; it is an ingredient of nearly all the nostrums used to palliate asthma, which, however, it is rarely able to cure, because its general action will seldom conform to the constitutional state of such patients.
Like its congeners it causes intense local congestion’s which tend to affect the cavities of the trunk most prominently preferably the thoracic; consonant with this there is much objective coldness. So much so that allopaths have called it a “refrigerant diuretic,” the diuresis induced being part of a general increase of secretion from all the internal organs; there is much bronchial mucus thrown out, a watery diarrhoea comes on and the kidneys secrete profusely; should the patient be menstruating a profuse flow of an inky blackness ensues. This power to produce cold was formerly used antipathically to reduce fever, but the practice has long since been abandoned, being partially replaced by antipyretics and partly by the distinctly pyrexial remedies Aconite, Gelsemium, Ferrum phosphoricum and Veratrum viride, the latter an improvement distinctly forwarded by Homoeopathy.
The diarrhoea has the important modality of aggravation from eating veal; the stool may be simply diarrhoeic, but sometimes becomes dysenteric with the presence of membranous shreds. In congestion of the lungs you may need this remedy if you find the patient sitting up with an exceedingly high temperature but a cold skin, the breathing being so embarrassed that although he is thirsty he can take only a sip at a time before he is again compelled to gasp for breath (like Scilla), he complains of an overpowering sense of weight on the chest, and may have a desire to be fanned; this may be the premonitory stage of a violent pneumonia and if you come upon the case early enough the whole process will be nipped in the bud. A careful differentiation from Verat. Vir. Will often be necessary here; under the latter drug you will find the face blue or cyanotic, maybe the patient is only semiconscious, but nevertheless he will resist being raised up, just the reverse of Kali nit.
The congestion to the chest is sometimes relieved by a haemorrhage from the lungs, the patient expressing himself as feeling better afterwards; this places it alongside of Melilotus, Bovista and some other drugs that have relief from bleeding.
