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VERATRUM ALBUM. – THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PURE MATERIA MEDICA By TIMOTHY F. ALLEN, A.M., M.D.

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VERATRUM ALBUM.

Veratrum album, Linn.


Natural order

, Liliaceæ.

Common names

, White Hellebore; (G.),
Weisse-niesswurz, (Fr.), Le Varaire Blanc.

Preparation

, Tincture of the root.

Authorities.

(Nos. 1 to 32,
from Hahnemann, R. A. M. L., 3) 1,
Hahnemann; 2, Becher; 3, Franz; 4,
Fr. Hahnemann; 5, Stapf; 6, Teuthorn; 7,
Alberti, Jurisp. Med., vi, 718; 8,
Alston, Lectures on Materia Medica (“2, 458, statement,”
-Hughes); 9, Benivenius in Schenk,
viii, obs., 174 (“observation of poisoning,” -Hughes); 10, Bergius, Mat. Med., p. 872
(“statement,” -Hughes); 11,
Borrichius, Acta Hafn., vi, p. 145; 12,
Dessenius, Composit. Medicam., lib. x, p. 422; 13,
Dobolewsky in Eph. Nat. Cur. Dec., 1 ann. 2, p. 279 (“should be
Dobzewsky; effects of root taken medicinally,” -Hughes); 14, Ettmueller, Op., Tom. II, p. 435
(“as last,” -Hughes); 15,
Forestus, xviii, obs. 44 (“as Benivenius,” -Hughes); 16, Galenus, Comment. V. Aphor., 1
(“statement,” -Hughes); 17,
Gesner, Epist. Med., p. 69 (“effects of infusion,” -Hughes); 18, Grassius, Misc. Nat. Cur., Dec. 1 ann. 4
(“p. 99, as Dobolewsky,” -Hughes); 19,
Greding, Miscellanies, p. 87 (“effects when administered to
maniacs, melancholics, and epileptics,” -Hughes), [All symptoms of
the mind and disposition, occurring in the first two classes, and all
spasmodic and convulsive phenomena manifested by the third, have been
bracketed, as the doses administered were too small to induce them.
-Hughes.]; 20, Kalm, Nord-america,
reise, III (“p. 93, of English translation, statement,”
-Hughes); 21, Ledelius, Misc. Nat.
Cur., Dec. III, ann. I, obs. 65 (“effects of infusion in
wine,” -Hughes); 22,
Lentillius, Misc. Nat. Cur., Dec. III, ann. I, app. (“p. 130; as
last,” -Hughes); 23, Lorry, De
Melanch., II. p. 312 (effects of cooked root,” -Hughes); 24, Müller Hufel. Journ., xii, 1 (“p.
160-6, observation on a patient,” -Hughes); 25, Muralto, Misc. Nat. Cur., Dec. 2, ann.
II, p. 240 (“as Dobolewsky,” -Hughes); 26, Reimann, in Bresl-samml., 1724 (“p.
537, as Ledelius,” -Hughes); 27,
Rödder, in Alberti, Med. leg., obs. 15; 28,
Scholzius, in Schenk, lib. viii, obs. 178 (as Benivenius,”
-Hughes); 29, Smetius, Misc. Med.,
p. 265 (“observation,” -Hughes); 30,
Smyth, Med. Communications, I (“p. 207; effects of tincture given
for cutaneous disease,” -Hughes); 31,
Vicat, Plantes vénén. de la Suisse, p. 177 (“from powder taken by
mistake for pepper, in soup,” -Hughes); 32,
Winter, in Bresl-samml., 1724 (“p. 269, observation,”
-Hughes); 33, Lembke, N. Z. für H.
K., vol. vii, p. 73, took root in doses of 2, 4, and 6 grains; 34, Schelling, A. H. Z., 83, p. 19, took 1st
dil. of a trituration of dried root in the evening (first day), 1 drachm
1st trit. (second day), a dose of 1st (sixth day); 34a,
same, took 12th dil. in water, a teaspoonful three times a day; 34b,
same, took 300th dil. (Jenichen), (first day), another dose (twelfth
day); 34c,
same, took a dose of 300th, followed by frequent olfaction of
trituration; 34d,
same, took 30th dil.; 34e, same, took 1 drop 20th; 35 to 37,
Horn’s Archiv, 1815 (Frank’s Mag., 2), effects of the root; 35, a woman, æt. 60 years; 36, a man, æt. 60 years; 37, a man, æt. 28 years; 38, Wagner, Rust’s Mag., 1823 (Frank’s Mag.,
1), poisoning by the roots; 39,
Schuster’s Med. Journ., quoted by Bernt (Christison on Poisons, p. 673),
a man took twice as much as could be held on the point of a knife; 40, Barkenhausen, Casper’s Med. Woch., 1836,
No. 7, p. 35 (Hom. Vjs. 6, 97), a man drank some in brandy; 41, same, an elderly woman took a little of
same; 42, Dr. Mavel, Gaz. des Hôp.,
1851 (S. J., 71, 307), effects on a family, especially on a woman æt.
70 years, of eating soup cooked in a vessel in which an infusion of
Verat. alb. had been made; 43, Dr.
Smith, Journ. de Chim. Méd., 1857, p. 604. a man ate soup containing
some of the root; 44, Pharmacologia,
p. 716 (Cattel, Brit. Journ. of Hom., 11, p. 343), symptoms; 45, From the Arabic of Abbubete Rhazes
(Peiper’s Thesis, A. H. Z., 19, 196); 46,
Dr. Waltl, Dr. Bruckner’s Rep. (A. H. Z., 47, 48), made 1 ounce
decoction of 2 scruples of the leaves, of which he took a
dessertspoonful, and repeated the dose after an hour; 47, Dr. Blas, Verh. d. nat. Gesel, Freiburg
(S. J., 109, 291), a child, æt. 3 1/2 years, drank an infusion; 48, Drs. Nivet and Giraud, Gaz. Hebdom.,
1861. S. J., 112, 287, poisoning by the powdered root mixed with food; 49, second case of same; 50, Sharp’s Essays on Medicine, 10th edition,
a healthy young man took 1 drop of 1st dil. of tincture, night and
morning, for four or five days.

MIND.

►
Emotional.
► [Delirium, he
thinks that he is a hunter], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► *Slight delirium;
coldness over the whole body with open eyes, with cheerful, at times
laughing expression, he prattles about religious subjects and about vows
to be performed, prays, believes that he is not in his own house

(after one hour), [1]. ► Slight delirium, [18]. [The original is “vix mente constans.” -Hughes.] ► [He imagines that he is a prince and
behaves in a very haughty manner], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ►► *Persistent
raging
with great heat of the body,
[19]. ►
[Rages, tears his clothes and does not talk], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ►
[Swallows his own fæces], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [Bites his shoe
and swallows the pieces], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [Stamps his
feet, with loss of appetite], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] [10.] ► [He is very noisy, tries to escape, and
can scarcely be held back], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► *Cursing and
howling all night
and complaining of being stupid, with
headache and salivation, [19]. ► [He thinks that he is dumb and blind, and
has a cancer], [19]. [Bracket.
-Hughes.] ► [She kisses everybody
that comes in her way, before the menses], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ►
[She imagines that she has labor pains], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [She fancies
herself pregnant], [19]. [Bracket.
-Hughes.] ► [She expects a speedy
parturition], [19]. [Bracket.
-Hughes.] ►► *She is inconsolable
over a fancied misfortune, runs about the room howling and screaming,
looking upon the ground, or sits brooding in the corner, wailing and
weeping in an inconsolable manner
; worse
in the evening; sleeps only till 2 o’clock
, [1]. ►
[Screaming and running about, with paleness of the face and fear], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [Frequent paroxysms of running about the
room till sinking down], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] [20.] ► [Screaming and running about, with
dark-blue face], [19]. [Bracket.
-Hughes.] ► [She claps her hands over
her head and sings, with cough and very tenacious mucus in the chest], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► Sensation in his whole being as if he
were gradually nearing his end, though with tranquillity, [1]. ► *He groans,
is beside himself
; does not know what to do with himself
(after two or three hours), [1]. ► When he is busy his head is freer, but
when he has nothing to do he seems dazed, cannot easily think, is quiet
and absorbed in himself (after two and fifteen hours), [3]. ►
[Laughter, alternating with whining], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [He sings and
trills very joyously at night], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► Joyfulness,
sharpness of mind, [17]. [Not
found. -Hughes.] ► Very lively,
eccentric, excessively joyful, [1].
► Taciturn, [1]. [30.] ► [Talkative], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ►
Taciturnity, it vexes him to speak a word, talking is very irksome; he
speaks in a low and weak voice, [5].
► Melancholia, with chilliness, as if
dashed with cold water, and with frequent qualmishness, 1. ► Mild despondent mood, even to weeping
(after twenty-four hours), [1]. ► *Depression of spirits, despondency and
discouragement
, with involuntary weeping and running of tears
from the eyes, and inclination to hang the head, [1]. ► Mood
gloomy, depressed, can scarcely talk (fifth day), [34]. ► *Anxiety,
[23], [25], [26],
[27]. ►
Great anguish, [43]. ► Anxiety and Vertigo, [19]. ►
Anxiety causing crawling in the fingers, [1].
[40.] ►
*Extreme anxiety taking away the breath
, [1]. ► Great
anxiety in the morning, [19]. ► [Anxiety, screaming and running about], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► Great anxiety through the whole night, [19]. ►
Extreme anxiety in the evening and after dinner, so that he did not know
whither he should turn, [3], [19]. ►
*Anxiety as from a bad conscience, as if he had committed a crime
,
[1]. ►
Anxiety as if he dreaded a misfortune, as if some evil were impending, [1]. ►
(Anxiety after going to bed in the evening, lasting until almost
midnight, with waking coma, and drawing movement in the abdomen, which
causes roaring in the head), [1]. ► *He is utterly unable to rise for eight
hours, is obliged to either sit or lie; if he
stands he is tormented by the most frightful anxiety, wherewith the
forehead becomes covered with cold sweat, and he becomes sick even to
vomiting
(after three hours), [6].
► Anxiety with fear of apoplexy
during an evacuation of the bowels, [1].
[50.] ►
*Fear
, [1]. ► [Fearful and easily startled], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► [Fear ending with frequent eructations], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► *Loss of courage, despair, [1]. ►
Ill-humor (first day), [34a]. ► *Ill-humored when provoked (after
four hours), [1]. ► He says nothing except when irritated,
and then he scolds, [1]. ► Irritable, inclined to be vexed with
every interruption at work (sixth day), [34a].
► Ill-humor in the forenoon; no
inclination to work (seventh day), [34].
► He becomes very peevish, every
trifle excites him (after one hour), [5].
[60.] ►
[Cannot endure to have any one speak to him], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ►
Vexation from the slightest cause, with anxiety and palpitation, with
rapid, audible respiration, [2]. ► He seeks out faults in others and
contemplates them, [1]. ► A certain indifference all day, so that
he frequently rubs the forehead in order to think clearly and to collect
his thoughts, [2]. ► Indifferent, depressed mood, irritated by
every work which does not go to suit him, with weakness (second day), [34b]. ►
Restless mood, oppression and anxiety (after one hour), [2]. ► Busy
restlessness, he undertakes several things, but is always soon weary and
accomplishes nothing, [5]. ► Intellectual. ►
Oversensitiveness; increased mental power, [1]. ►
Inclination and desire to work, [1].
► Disinclined to think, answers with
difficulty, cannot apprehend answers (second day), [34b]. [70.] ► He cannot get on with mental work; there
is very soon a loss of ideas, [5].
► Loss of ideas, [1]. ► [He
does not recognize his relatives], [19].
[Bracket. -Hughes.] ► Memory leaves
him, [1]. ►
[Almost complete loss of memory, he forgets the word he was about to
speak], [19]. [Bracket. -Hughes.] ► Stupefaction, [45]. ►
Stupidity, difficulty of thought, distraction (first day), [34b]. ►
Almost complete loss of senses, [31].
► His reason leaves him, [1]. ►
*Is conscious only as in a dream
, [1]. [80.] ► Loss of consciousness, [35], [47].
► Waking coma; one eye is open, the
other closed or half open, and frequent starting up as if frightened
(after half an hour), [1].

HEAD.

►
Confusion and Vertigo.
►
Dizzy confusion of the head (first day), [34b].
► *Vertigo, [21], [30],
etc. ► Excessive vertigo, [26]. ►
Very dizzy in the morning, [1]. ► Vertigo and intoxication (after
twenty-four hours), [4]. ► Vertigo when walking (second day), [34b]. ►
Incessant dizziness for three days, [1].
► Vertigo with aversion to all food, [38]. [90.]
► Vertigo; everything turned about in
a circle (after three hours and a half), [1],
[19]. ►
Dizzy, it seems as if there were nothing firm in his head, [1]. ►
Vertigo, so that he was obliged to steady himself while walking, with
the pulse at 65 (sixteenth day), [34b].
► Vertigo, especially when walking,
so that he is obliged to steady himself (third day), [34]. ►
Vertigo towards noon, and perspiration at night, before the menses, [19]. [“Schwindel” represents
“Drehen im Kopfe,” whirling in the head. -Hughes.] ► Vertigo, especially on rising from a
seat, with violent pressure in the vertex, pain in the arms, vanishing
of vision, creeping coldness through the arms, [33]. ► General
Head.
► Apoplexy, [13]. [By this symptom the reporter
simply means unconsciousness, which supervenes upon much vomiting and
purging-Hughes.] ► *Blood rushes
violently to the head on stooping
(after eight hours), [1]. ►
Head heavy (first and ninth days), [34b],
[34c]. ►
Head heavy, with pressing pain, [34c].
[100.] ►
Head heavy, oppressed (third day), [34b].
► Head heavy, confused, [33]. ►
Head heavy, dull, [33]. ► Head heavy, dizzy on rising in the
morning (sixth day), [34a]. ► The head seems heavy, and everything in
it seems to turn in a circles, [21].
► Head heavy, confused, empty, with
peevishness and disinclination to do anything the whole forenoon (fourth
day), [34b]. ►
Head heavy, dull talking is difficult, as if he could not think of the
words (fifth day), [34b]. ► Head dull (tenth day), [34a]. ►
Dulness of the head, with nausea for two days, [4]. ► Painful
dulness of the head, with tensive pressure, now in the temples, now in
the whole of the vertex, most violent when sitting erect and standing,
relieved by stooping, and also by lying upon the back, with rather
contracted pupils, [5]. [110.] ►
Headache, [21]; (fifth day), [34a], [47].
► *Headache, with vomiting of green mucus,
[19]. ►
Headache, with some stiffness, [19].
► Headache and pain in the back, with
colic and qualmishness, [19]. ► Headache increased even to reeling while
walking, but it diminished again while sitting (after two hours), [6]. ►
Headache as if the brain were broken, [1].
► Headache, heavy, tense, and
stupefying (second day), [34b]. ► Constrictive headache, with constrictive
pain in the pharynx, [1]. ► Violent headache (second day), [43]. ►
Violent headache with flow of urine, [19].
[120.] ►
Violent headache, which disappears on the appearance of the menses, [19]. ►
Sudden violent headache and intolerable pain in the occiput (after six
hours), [46]. ► *During menstruation (which had not occurred for
six weeks), headache (tearing?), especially in the morning, with
qualmishness; diminished in the evening
, [1]. ► *Paroxysmal
pain here and there in the brain, consisting of a bruised sensation and
pressure
, [1]. ► Stupefying pressing pain in the head
(fifth day), [34a]. ► Pressing, tensive headache over the whole
head (seventh day), [34b]. ► Tension in the head between the temples
(after half an hour), [34b]. ► Drawing pain in the head and small of the
back, [19]. ►
[Shattering in the head and jerking in the left arm, with paleness of
the fingers], [19]. [Bracket.
-Hughes.] ► Sensation of a cold wind
blowing through the head, [33]. [130.] ►
Pressing throbbing headache, [1]. ► Intermittent throbbing headache (after
six hours), [1]. ► Forehead. ►
Throbbing headache over the left eye for a quarter of an hour (after one
hour), [1]. ►
Pressure in the forehead, [33]. ► Pressure, heat, and heaviness in the
forehead, [33]. ► Pinching pain in the forehead (first
day), [34b]. ►
Single stitches in the forehead, even while sitting (after four hours), [6]. ►
Sticking pain in the left side of the forehead (fifth day), [34a]. ►
Buzzing and roaring in the forehead, with dull internal headache (after
four hours), [3]. ► Tension in the sinciput (first day), [34b]. ►
Temples.
[140.] ► Dull pressing headache, which extends
from the temples to the forehead, aggravated by bending forward,
relieved by bending backward and by external pressure, on the contrary
recurring on rising up (after three hours), [6]. ► (A
sensation extending downward in the temples as if a drop of water were
running down, though not a cool sensation), [1]. ►
Stinging in the temples (seventh day), [34b].
► Sticking in the temples (sixth
day), [34b]. ► Vertex. ►
*Headache in the vertex like a flattening pressure, which becomes a
throbbing on movement
, [2].
► *Dull pressure on the crown of the head
in the morning after waking
, [1].
► Internal cutting in the vertex
(after four hours), [3]. ► Pressing headache in one side, associated
with the pain in the stomach (after four hours), [1]. ► Occiput.
► Tension in the occiput and forehead
(fifth day), [34b]. ► Constant sticking pain deep in the
occiput, with tension of the occiput (first day), [34b]. ► External
Head.
[150.] ► Sensation in the hair on the right side of the
head; as if a bunch of hair were electrified crawling and bristling of
the hair, with slight shivering in the skin under the hair

(after five hours, and afterwards), [5].
► Tension in the skin of the
forehead, with a feeling as if difficult to move, and a pressure (first
day), [34b]. ►
(Itching on the head), (first day), [34b].
► Itching, biting stitch on the
scalp, provoking scratching (after ten hours and a half), [3]. ► Itching
on the forehead, [1].

EYE.

►
Objective.
► *Eyes distorted,
protruding
, [1]. ► Eyes turned upward, so that only the
white could be seen, for an hour, [11].
► Eyes staring, [47]. ► Eyes
without lustre, [42]. ► *Eyes surrounded by black rings, [48]. [160.]
► Violent inflammation of the eyes, [19]. ►
Painful inflammation in the eyes, with excessive headache, on account of
which he was unable to sleep at night (after six days), [1]. ►
Inflammation of the eyes, with tearing pain, [1]. ►
Inflammation of the white of the eye, with tearing pain, [1]. ► Redness
of the white of the right eye, [19].
► Inflammation of the right eye, with
febrile heat, [19]. ► Inflammation of the right eye, [19]. ►
Blueness of the left eye, with frequent eructations, [19]. ► *The eyes
have a weak look, are surrounded by blue rings
, [1]. ►
Subjective.
► Pain in the
eyes, [19]. [170.] ►
Pressing pain in the eyes, with loss of appetite, [19]. [Therewith the blood has the appearance of
inflammation (buffy coat). -Hahnemann.] ►
Complained of pain in both eyes, and moved the hands over the head, [19]. ►
Sensation of weakness in the eyes, [1].
► Heat in the eyes, with headache, [19]. ►
Violent, long-continued sensation of heat in the eyes, [1]. ►
Sticking and burning in the eyes, increased in the open air (first day),
[34b]. ►
Heat in the eyes and face, with redness of the cheeks, as from a draught
of hot steam, [1]. ► Lids. ►
Lids agglutinated, difficult to open, on rising (fifth day), [34]. ►
Lids agglutinated during sleep (after two hours), [1]. ► A Kind
of paralysis of the lids, they seem too heavy, can scarcely raise them
with the greatest effort, [1]. [180.] ►
*Extreme dryness of the lids
, [1].
► *The lids are dry, especially after
sleeping; are painful as if rubbed sore; are stiff and agglutinated
,
[1]. ►
*Acute sensation of dryness in the upper lid, as if salt were between it
and the ball
, without great redness of the eye, at noon,
after dinner, [5]. ►► *Sensation of dryness of the lids,
[1]. ►
Pressure in the eyelids, as from too great dryness, after a short midday
nap, followed by watering of the eyes (after six hours and a half), [5]. ►
Burning in the eyelids (sixth day), [34a].
► Painful pressing stitches in the
upper lid by the outer canthus (after ten hours, [3]. ► Fine
sharp stitches in the canthi, [3].
► Fine sticking itching internally in
the coverings of the eyes (after two hours). [3]. ►
Lachrymation.
► Eyes
watery, [34c]. [190.] ►
Lachrymation, moisture in the eyes (third day), [34]. ►
Lachrymation, with dimness of the eyes (third day), [34b]. ► Frequent
lachrymation, with redness of the eyes, as in coryza
(after
six hours), [2]. ► The eyes seem watery, as if covered with
albumen, [6]. ► Violent running of water from the eyes
and cutting pain, together with a sensation of dryness and heat in them
(after half an hour), [1]. ► Pupil. ►
Pupils dilated
, [1], [35], etc. ►
Pupils greatly dilated (after four hours), [1], [6], [43]. ►
Pupils excessively dilated, with very decided weakness of vision; he
could not recognize persons standing near him, or only very slowly, at 7
P.M. (after eight hours), [5]. ► Pupils at first contracted, afterwards
dilated, with weakness and inclination to sleep, even while walking, [33]. ►
Pupils inclined to contract, [1]. [200.] ►
Contraction of the pupils, with constant compressing pain in the eyes
(after one hour and a half), [1]. ► *Contracted pupils (immediately and
after six hours), [2]. ► Pupils very much contracted during the
first six hours, [5]. ► Ball. ►
Eyeballs have a rotary motion, [47].
► The right eyeball is painful at the
outer canthus, as if beaten, in repeated paroxysms; when pressing upon
it ceases to ache (after three hours), [3].
► Vision. ► Vision vanishes, he cannot see, [11]. ►
Vision somewhat obscured, [49]. ► Vision at times indistinct, [33]. ►
Complete blindness, [36]. ► Complete loss of vision; restored next
day, [42]. [210.] ►
Double vision
, [1]. ► Sparks before the eyes, [19]. ► On
rising from a seat black spots and sparks before the eyes, on account of
which he could not stand for eight hours, but was obliged to either sit
or lie (after three hours), [6]. ► Numerous shining spots flits before the
eyes, [33].

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