COLCHICUM.
Colchicum autumnale, Linn. Natural Order,
Liliaceæ. Common name (German), Zeitlose.
Preparation
, Tincture of bulb dug in spring (Stapf’s
provings). [According to analyses the bulbs are most active in the fall just after
flowering, Schroff, Œst. Zeit. f. p. Heilk., 1856. T. F. A.]
Authorities.
(1 to 46, from Reil’s treatise and collection, Hom. Vjschfts., 8, 113).
1, Stoerck held the fresh root against the tongue for
two minutes; 2, same, took 3 grains of root with wine; 3, same, took 1 grain of fresh root in bread; 4, Lewins, Edinb. Med. Journ., 1837, a student took tincture, 20
to 60 drops; 5, same, a student, 30 to 70 drops of wine;
6, another person, aged 15, took 30 to 40 drops; 7, another person, aged 17, took 30 to 70 drops; 8, another, aged 12, took 30 drops of wine, morning and evening; 9, another, aged 10, took 15 to 25 drops; 10, Boecker, Beiträge, took 15 to 45 drops; 11, other provers took 20 to 45 drops; 12,
Schroff, general summary of provings; 13, Sonnenberg,
provings with tincture, from Boecker’s Beiträge; 14,
Krahmer, results of five observations (proving of tincture), Boecker’s Beiträge; 15, Bennewitz, a man, aged 60, effect of 50 drops within an hour,
in one subject to gout; 16, a man, aged 40, suffering
from chronic rheumatism, took half an ounce of wine; 17,
Andreæ, 1834, a man, aged 30, took tincture of seeds; 18,
Newbrandt, a man, aged 52, took 6 ounces of an infusion of seeds; 19,
Santlus, poisoning of child of 4 years by seeds; 20,
Shilling, a boy, aged 6, ate portions of the plant; 21,
a man, aged 56, took 1 1/2 ounces of wine, Edin. Med. and S. J., 14; 22, Boecker, effects on urine; 23,
Krahmer, Heller’s Archiv., 1847; 24, experiments by
Chelius; 25, Dr. Lindemann, seven provings with 3d to
15th dils.; 26, same man, second series of provings, 3d
dil.; 27, same, provings with 2 to 10 drops of tincture;
28, W. S., proving with 3d and 15th dils.; 29, same, took tincture; 30,
C. Sch., a girl, aged 30, took 15th dil.; 31, same, took
tincture; 32, G. Schladt, proving with 3d and 16th
dils.; 33, same, proving with tincture, 2 to 10 drops; 34, Dr. Link, took tincture, 4 to 20 drops; 35, same; 36, Louisa Link,
aged 35, took 5 drops of tincture; 37, Dr. Schlosser,
aged 30, provings with tincture; 38, same, took 3d and
15th dils.; 39, Dr. Keil, provings with tincture; 40, Dr. Rückert, aged 59, proving with 1/10th; 41, E. R., girl, aged 20 (suffering from chronic inflammation of
conjunctiva), took the 1/10th; 42, Dr. Zeichmann, aged
36, took 15th dil.; 43, same, took tincture; 44, Dr. Burkner, took tincture; 45,
Dr. Fegerl, took the dilutions; 46, Dr. Bohler, took 3d
dil.; 47, Dr. Weber, Deutsch St. Arzk., 1864, a man took
an infusion of seeds; 48, another man took the same; 49, a young man took the same; 50,
a girl, aged 24, took the same; 51, Bethmann, Stapf’s
provings, Archiv. f. Hom., 6, 147; 52, v. Gersdorf,
ibid.; 53, Hahnemann, ibid.; 54,
Schweikert, ibid.; 55, Stapf, ibid.; 56, Marges, Journ. d. Med., 23, from Stapf; 57, Ehrmann, Diss. de Colch., ibid.; 58,
Boerhaave, ibid.; 59, Peyer, Peonis et Pythag. exercit.,
50, ibid.; 60, Hopf, Comment. Zom., 6 (1800), ibid.; 61, Actuarius, Method. Med., lib. 3, ibid.; 62, Nationalzeit, 1810, ibid.; 63,
De Berge, Journ. d. Med., 22, ibid.; 64, Collin, Ann.
Med., P. II, ibid.; 65, effects of bruising seeds in
preparing tincture, from Unsin’s collection of cases, A. H. Z., 52, 42; 66, Dierbach, two children poisoned by seeds, from ibid.; 67, Ferreday, Lond. Med. and Phys. J., 1832, a man took two
ounces of seeds, from ibid.; 68, Amer. Med. Lib. and
Intell., 1839, some soldiers drank some wine of Colchicum, ibid.; 69,
Hufeland’s Journ., 1841, effects of a drachm of wine taken daily, ibid.; 70, Siebert, Trans. of Nat. Hist. Soc. of Brunswick, 1842,
general effects, ibid.; 71, Maclagan, Mon. Journ., 1851,
a young man, aged 26, took 20 drops of tincture, ibid.; 72,
same, another man, aged 25, took 10 drops of tincture, afterwards 24 and 30 drops, ibid.; 73, same, a healthy girl took 5 drops of tincture, ibid.; 74, the same, B. proved repeated doses of 1 to 5 drops, ibid.; 75, Ollivier, Archiv. Gén. de Méd., 1836, a girl, 20 years old,
took 4 to 5 ounces of tincture; 76, Forget, Hygeia, 15,
87, a man, aged 60, took tincture in doses of 1 drachm to 1/2 ounce daily, for articular
rheumatism; 77, Roux, l’Union Méd., 1855, five persons,
after operations, were given 60 drachms of tincture by mistake for China; 78, Dr. Freree, Journ. Hebdom., 1835, a girl, 25 years old, took
5 ounces; 79, Chevallier, J. de Chim. Méd., poisoning; 80, Goullon, poisoning (by tincture taken for schnapps); 81, Sir Ev. Home, experiment on self with the wine (Phil. Trans.,
1816 and 1817); 82, Dayton, poisoning by about 2 ounces
of wine, Am. Med. Times., 5, 337; 83, Henderson,
poisoning of a woman by nearly 1 ounce of tincture, Lond. Med. Gaz., 24, 763; 84, Warncke, a boy, aged 14, drank a wine glass and a half of
wine of Colch., Hosp. Tidende, 1863; 85, Balluf, Diss.
de Colch., 1845, poisoning of a boy, aged 2 1/2, by the seeds.
MIND.
► Emotional. ► Delirium (second evening), [21].
► Delirium at night, [76].
► Carphologia, [20].
► Lively mood (alternate action), (third day), [37]. ► Especially lively
mood (second day), [27]. ►
Sad mood (third day), [37]. ►
Anxiety, [17], [65],
[77]. ► Anxiety,
causing sighing, [27]. ►
Irritable and peevish (second day), [32]. [10.] ► Very ill-humored;
irritable mood (fourth day), [44]. ► Out of humor; apprehensive of impending evil, [33]. ► Fretful mood, [11]. ► Very fretful, [10]. ► Great peevishness
(second day), [32]. ►
Morose, ill-humored, nothing is right, [51]. ► *External impressions, for example, bright light, strong odors, contact, the misdeeds of
others, make him quite beside himself, [51].
► Intellectual. ►
Great flow of thoughts at night, which disturb sleep (second night), [25]. ► Intellectual faculties
very much weakened, [15]. ►
The consciousness of logical connection was entirely destroyed, and his perceptive faculties
were impaired by the slightest circumstances which interrupted the sequence of ideas, [15]. [20.] ► Was unable to write connectedly, [15]. ► Inability to fix the
thoughts, wherewith the forehead seems tense, [27]. ► Weakness of memory; he forgets the words which he is about to
speak, and can with difficulty collect his thoughts and continue to speak (thirteenth and
fifteenth days), [51]. ►
Very forgetful and absentminded, [51]. ► Loss of consciousness, [20].
► Loss of consciousness and of pulse (second day), [20]. ► Became
immediately stupefied, when laid in bed; could, however, be easily aroused and made
conscious, [85].
HEAD.
► Confusion and Vertigo.
► Confusion of the head, [12];
(second morning), [30]; (second day), [32], [34], [77]. ► Confusion of the head,
posteriorly and superiorly, [34]. ► Confusion of the head, with slight vertigo, [71]. [30.] ►
Confusion of the head, with headache, [55]. ► Confusion in the forehead (first day), [25]. ► Confusion of the forehead,
worse on walking in the wind, better in the room, [27].
► Some confusion of the forehead (after one hour), [27]; (third day), [26].
► Somewhat confused in the head, in the morning, [39]. ► Vertigo, even to
falling, while sitting after walking (soon), [32]. ► Slight vertigo, on rising (second day), [32]. ► Momentary slight vertigo, [33]. ► Sensation of
vertigo and dizziness in the head (soon after), [36]. ► Dizziness of the head, with confusion in the middle of the
forehead, [27]. ►
General Head. [40.] ►
Perceptible pulsation in the head (after one hour), [39].
► Head falls backwards, [20].
► Congestion of the head, without headache, [39]. ► The head seems
thick, [27]. ►
Great pain in the head, [3]. ►
*Headache, [7]; (soon), [20], [66], [84]. ► Headache deep in the head,
extending across through the head between the ears and somewhat posteriorly, not very
violent, [35]. ►
Headache, coming on in the evening, very violent, and lasting through the night (fifth day),
[36]. ► Transient
headache (fourth day), [10]. ►
Transient headache in the evening, [13]. [50.] ► Feeling as if
something tightly bound the head (third day), [83]. ► Pinching pains in different places, here and there in the
head; transient, [52]. ►
Pressive pain in the whole head, on going into a room after walking in the open air,
disappearing after some sleep (fourth day), [40]. ► Pressive, finely burrowing headache, more on the right side
and in the vertex (fourth day), [44]. ► Feeling as though the previous headache would return,
especially on shaking the head, after rising in the morning; after washing this became a
pressive headache and continued the whole day, becoming worse towards evening, seated in the
outer posterior portion of the head, [34]. ► Frequent slight stitches in the brain, [39]. ► Transient stitches in the
brain, especially in the forepart, beneath the coronal suture (after one hour), [39]. ► Tearing in the
head, especially in the frontal region, [73]. ► Forehead. ► Very
severe pain in the whole of the forehead, especially above the eyebrows, and extending into
the dorsum of the nose (third day), [71]. ► A very violent pain in a small spot in the right side of the
forehead, on waking in the morning, [34]. [60.] ► Neuralgic pain in the
right frontal eminence, pressive corresponding to a dull pain in the right occipital
protuberance, relieved by pressure and cold, [38]. ► Headache above the left eye immediately after eating, better
in the open air, but continues and is very troublesome in the room, [41]. ► Fine headache in the
middle of the forehead, together with a peculiar hyperæsthesia of the cranial nerves, [15]. ► Slight dull
headache in the forehead near the coronal suture (after one hour), [39]. ► Boring frontal headache
above the right eye (second morning), [32]. ► Boring frontal headache, especially over the left eye (second
proving, second day), [32]. ►
Tearing tension in a spot on the left half of the forehead, as if an abscess would form, [52]. ► Transient drawing
headache just above the eyes, pinching, [52]. ► Pressure in the frontal region, as if everything would press
outward, [73]. ►
Pressive sensation in the forehead and eyes (second day), [25].
[70.] ► Pressive pain
in the frontal region, [73]. ►
Pressive pain in the right, and afterwards in the left frontal region, [74]. ► Pressive pain in the upper
part of the forehead, following the pain in the occiput; relieved by warmth and rest in bed,
[34]. ► Pressive
frontal headache above the right eye (third day), [33].
► Oppressive frontal headache above the eyes, in the
afternoon (second day), [32]. ►
Transient stitches in the forehead above the eyes, in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists
(first day), [32]. ►
Transient stitches in the forehead above the right eye (first day), [32]. ► Temples. ► Headache in the right temple in the evening, relieved when
quiet in bed, [34]. ►
Painful drawing in the left temporal region, [45]. ► Sticking pressure in the right temple, mostly in the evening,
[37]. [80.] ► Tearing in the right temple, [52];
(third day), [33]. ►
Jerking tearings in the temples, [71]. ► Vertex. ► Pain in the
top of the skull, as if something were boring into the head; this painful spot moves along
the sagittal suture, [71]. ►
Slight pressive headache in the vertex (first day), [44].
► Oppression in the vertex, [37]. ► Parietals. ► Drawing in the upper part of the left side of the head,
extending down into the nose, [52]. ► Pressive headache in the right parietal eminence (fourth
day), [37]. ►
Pressive headache in a small spot on the upper part of the right side of the head,
transient, [52]. ►
Tearing in the left half of the head, extending to the vertex, [52]. ► Sharp, very painful
drawing tearing in the left half of the head, which mostly commences in the eyeball of that
side, and extends towards the occiput, lasting several days, [51].
[90.] ► Crawling
boring-tearing in a small spot on the upper part of the right side of the head; the same
pain appears afterwards in the left side, [52]. ► Occiput. ► The
headache extended from the forehead towards the occiput, towards evening, [39]. ► Dull drawing pain,
extending from the nape of the neck across the occiput to the ears, [71]. ► A pressure, not very
violent but very troublesome, deep in the cerebellum, caused by the slightest literary
occupation, [51]. ►
Severe pressure in the right side of the occiput (after half an hour), [54]. ► Oppressive heaviness in
the occiput, especially on motion, or on bending a little forward, [51]. ► Tearing in a small spot on
the left side of the occiput, [52]. ► Pressive-tearing pain in a small spot on the right side of
the occiput, [52]. ►
External Head. ► The hair falls out freely, [51]. ► Sensation as
though the scalp were drawn from behind forward to the top of the skull, [71]. [100.] ► Fine tearings in the scalp, [51].
► Sleepless nearly the whole night on account of sticking
jerks, sometimes only in the skin sometimes deep in the soft parts of the head and face, [51]. ► Crawling in the
head beneath the forehead, [55].
EYE.
► Objective. ► Eyes wide open, staring, like one intoxicated, [85]. ► Eyes surrounded by dark
rings, (84); (after eighteen hours), [17]. ► Eyes surrounded by deep dark rings, [65]. ► Convulsive rolling of the
eyes (after four weeks), [20]. ►
Distortion of the eyes, [85]. ►
Subjective. ► Dryness of the eyes, [74]. ► Heaviness in the
eyes, as though he had not slept enough, with injected vessels, [39]. [110.] ► Aching in the eyes, [52].
► Pressive pain in the right eye, [52]. ► Short, violent sharp
tearing in and around the right eye, [52]. ► Biting in the right eye, especially in the external canthus,
with some lachrymation and feeling as if the lids were agglutinated, [52]. ► Brow. ► Pain in the bone over the left eye, on every motion; in the
afternoon and evening, it increased to such a severe ache above the left eye, that every
slight noise seemed intolerable; the pains remained constant at the same place (soon after
taking), next day, the headache returned to the same place; aggravated by every motion of
the head; on the third day, the same pain, but instead of over the left eye, it was in the
right side of the occiput; aggravated by bending the head backward, or raising the eyes;
next day, very severe headache, commencing at 6 P.M., above the left eye, and extending over
the whole left side of the head, disappearing after supper (fourth day); on the next day,
she awoke without headache, returned in a short time in the left side of the occiput, and
extended to the left eye, and even into the face, [36].
► Constrictive sensation above the eyes (second day), [44]. ► Slight momentary
pressure in the eyebrows, [27]. ►
Deeply piercing sticking in the upper part of the left eyebrow, with a feeling as though it
were drawn upward, [73]. ►
Fine stitches above the right eye (second day), [33]. ► Lid. ► Ulceration of
the Meibomian glands of the left lower lid, with swelling of the lid and great irritability
of the nerves generally, [52]. [120.] ► Eyelids in constant
motion (second day), [20]. ►
Twitching in the right upper lid, [52]. ► Slow but visible drawing (similar to twitching), in the left
lower lid, towards the inner canthus, [52]. ► Burning and redness of the margins of the lids, as in
blepharitis (fourth day), [37]. ► Lachrymal Apparatus. ►
Lachrymation in the open air, so that I could scarcely see for several days, [34]. ► Ball. ► Corner of the left eye (which was usually perfectly clear
like the right) became affected by a small white clearly defined macula, with some redness
of the sclerotic (fourth day); [This symptom occurred after antidotes of Tartar emetic,
Ipecac, Cinnamon, etc. -T. F. A.] on the next day the ball was enlarged, the macula could be
noticed only on the most careful examination; the cornea was somewhat dim, and a small
quantity of purulent matter was found at the bottom of the anterior chamber; the lens and
lens capsule seemed obscured; a complete capsular cataract seemed to have developed in a few
hours; it was treated with Acetate of lead locally, with Tartar emetic ointment on the neck,
and leeches on the left temple after some days, the inflammatory symptoms subsided; the lens
was obscured and had a greenish reflex; afterwards a membranous flake was seen in the
anterior chamber attached by its upper extremity to the lower margin of the pupil, with the
lower extremity directed towards the lachrymal canal; it was about two lines long and half a
line broad; the lens was distinctly seen to be obscured, the iris turbid, the pupil
extremely sensitive to light; after two weeks the greenish turbidity of the lens seemed to
lie farther back, [20]. ►
The cornea became very convex and pointed; the lens, which was opaque, seemed to be
enlarged, and pressed forward against the iris (ninth day). On the twelfth day, the eye had
improved; there was still some dimness in the posterior chamber, due to the lens, which had
a greenish reflex; around the margin of the pupil, behind the iris, could be noticed a
yellowish membranous exudation, which afterwards became firmly adherent in the posterior
chamber; the iris was brown and dim; the pupils, however, extremely sensitive to the light;
this membranous exudation afterwards sank to the bottom of the anterior chamber, [20]. ► Sclerotic of left
eye became slightly red, cornea covered with sharply defined white spots; some purulent
fluid collected in the anterior chamber, and a capsular cataract seemed to form in the
posterior chamber (fifth and sixth days), [20]. ► The lens hand the color of verdigris (after two weeks), [20]. ► Drawing digging
deep in the eyeballs, [51]. [130.]
► Pressive pain in the left eyeball, [34]. ► Feeling in the right eye
as if the ball were compressed lasting several seconds, and frequently returning (third
day), [71]. ► Pupil.
► Uneasiness of the pupils (after half an hours), [44]. ► Pupils dilated, [20]. ► Pupils somewhat
dilated, [85]. ►
Pupils slightly dilated, [19]. ►
Pupils much dilated (second day), [20]. ► Pupils contracted, [65],
[68]; (after eighteen hours), [17]. ► The right pupil moderately
dilated, the left extremely contracted (after six weeks), [20].
► Vision. ►
Visual power was unusually acute, [15]. [140.] ► Eyes dim (second
day), [32]. ► On
attempting to stand, it became black before the eyes, [67].
EAR.
► External. ► Pain behind the left ear, as if the gland were swollen, [41]. ► Tearing behind
the right ear, in the region of the articulation of the lower jaw; the place was painful to
touch for some time, [52]. ►
Internal. ► The ears feel stopped, with
roaring in them, if he takes a few steps about the room, [51].
► Right ear feels stopped (fourth day), [26]. ► Earache, then sticking as
with needles in the ears, deep in, [52]. ► Digging in the right ear, soon, [33]. ► Pinching pains in the
ears, [51]. ►
Twinging sticking in the left ear, [52]. [150.] ► Stitches in the left
ear, [41]. ►
Transient stitches in the left ear (after seven hours), [39].
► Tearing in the right meatus auditorius, [51]. ► Itching deep in the ears;
inclination to bore into the ears, which were internally very dry; boring does not relieve
the sensation, and does not even reach the itching painful spot, [35]. ► Hearing. ► Difficult hearing, [20].
► Ringing in the right ear, [33]. ► Roaring in the ears, [31]. ► Great roaring in
the right ear, [73].
NOSE.
► Objective. ► Sneezing (soon after taking), [52].
► Catarrh in the nose and fauces (fourth day), [37]. [160.] ► Violent coryza, [35]. ► Obstinate coryza, which is never thin, and with which much
tough mucus is discharged from the nose, [52]. ► Decided fluent coryza (fifth day), [37]. ► Transient fluent coryza
(second to fourth days), [25]. ►
Epistaxis, in the evening, [51], [73]. ► Subjective. ► Nostrils dry and blackish, [20].
► Slight irritation to sneeze, [71]. ► Sensation in the mucous
membrane of the nose as of commencing coryza, [71]. ► Sensation of warmth and crawling within the nose, as in
nosebleed (after a quarter and half an hour), [54]. ► Pinching sensation in the upper part of the nose, [52]. [170.] ► Pressure and tearing in the nostrils, [71]. ► Pressure in the nasal
bones, [71]. ►
Pressure in the bones of the nose and face, [71]. ► Sensation in the nasal bones, as from the pressure of a
weight (after one hour and a half), [54]. ► Sore pain in the septum of the nose, in the right nostril;
especially violent on touching the spot, and on moving the nose, [52]. ► Crawling in the nose, [52]. ► Crawling in the
nose, with sneezing, [52]. ►
Crawling in the tip of the nose, [54]. ► Smell. ► Smell became
very acute, [11]. ►
Smell so acute that the laboratory work was almost unendurable, [10]. [180.] ► The sense of smell is so morbidly acute, that the odor
substances to which he was usually quite indifferent, as, for example, broth, nauseates him,
[51]. ► The odor of
a freshly beaten egg makes him almost faint (fourth day), [51].
► Smell as of smoked ham, [34].® 2000
Article