Ćthusa.
Ćthusa cynapium. Fool’s Parsley. (Europe.) N. O. Umbelliferć. Tincture
of whole flowering plant.Clinical.─
Brain-fag.
Cholera infantum. Convulsions. Cough. Delirium. Diarrhśa. Dyspepsia. Ear,
discharge from. Epilepsy. Excoriation. Eyes, affections
of. Glands, affections of. Headache. Herpes. Hiccough. Idiocy. Infantile paralysis. Mind, weakness of.
Sleeplessness. Stomach, disorders of. Trismus. Vomiting.
Characteristics.─
The symptoms of Ćthusa are particularly clearly defined, in fact violence is one of the notes of its action─violent
vomiting, violent convulsions, violent pains, violent delirium. On the other hand there is
prostration and somnolence. “Fool’s parsley” has not received its name for nothing─it
is indeed a medicine for “fools.” There is great weakness of mind or body. One
very characteristic symptom is: Inability to think or fix the
attention. Guided by this symptom I once gave it to an undergraduate preparing
for an examination, with complete success. He had been compelled to give up his studies, but
was able to resume them, and passed a brilliant examination. To a little waif in an orphan
home who suffered from severe headaches and inability to fix his attention on his lessons I
sent single doses of Ćthus. at rare intervals, with
very great relief. The little boy asked for the medicine himself subsequently on a return of
the old symptoms. Other mental symptoms are: Idiocy; in some cases alternating with furor.
Hallucinations. Delirium; sees cats and dogs; wants to jump out of bed, or out of the
window. Irritability, especially in open air. Guernsey says: “The mental symptoms
peculiar to children, and frequently of adults, are, great anguish and crying. As the
disease progresses the patient becomes more and more retired in his disposition, and more
inclined to weep.” Somnolence. Dotage. Another marked characteristic is: Intolerance of
milk; vomiting of everything taken, especially milk, which is ejected in yellowish or
greenish curds. There is great weakness and exhaustion after vomiting; the child is so
exhausted it falls asleep at once. It awakens hungry,
eats, and vomits again. “Hungry after vomiting” is the keynote here. There is also
griping, with diarrhśa, vomiting, crying. For adults who complain of regurgitation of food
an hour after it has been taken Ćthus., says Guernsey,
is invaluable. Also copious vomiting in adults, with a great feeling of distress; can’t tell
what the distress is about but still it exists. Adults complain of a sensation as though the
stomach was turned upside down, accompanied by a burning feeling up to the chest. Tearing
pains in stomach extending into śsophagus; abdomen tense, inflated, sensitive. There is an
herpetic eruption on tip of nose. Along with the gastric symptoms there is a peculiar
expression of great anxiety and pain (Linea nasalis), a
surface of pearly whiteness on upper lip bounded by distinct lines from wings of nose to
angles of mouth. Other symptoms are: Sensation of swelling in head and face on entering a
room. Sunken cornea. Eyeballs convulsed and directed downwards. Sleep after attacks.
Sensation of swelling in hands after walking. Convulsions, with cold limbs. The pains are
lancinating. Swelling of mammary or axillary glands, with lancinating pains. Prostration;
stupid. All symptoms < 3 to 4 a.m. Heat = all eruptions to itch intolerably. As with Bovist. and Aster. r.
symptoms are < by coffee, wine, drunkenness, cold
water, and warmth of bed; > by a walk in the open
air, and by conversation. > In open air (except
mental symptoms). The remedy is suited to teething-children and choleraic affections in old
age.
Relations.─
Compare:
Cicut.; Coni.; Śnan. croc.; Ant. crud. and Calc. c. (vomiting of milk); Ars.; Asar.; Cupr.;
Ipec.; Op. It antidotes Opium; and is antidoted by vegetable acids. Teste places Ćthus. in the Sulphur
group with Cicuta, Con., Aster., Bov., Lobel., Merc., Kreas.
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─
Incapacity to think; confused.─Loss
of comprehension; as if a barrier between the senses and external objects.─Idiocy,
in some cases alternating with furor.─Great anxiety and restlessness,
followed by violent pains in head and abdomen.─Bad humour; irritability.─Irritability,
esp. in the afternoon, and in the open air.─Delirium: sees cats and
dogs; tries to jump out of the window.─Loquacious gaiety.
2. Head.─
Head confused; brain feels bound up.─Vertigo,
with sleepiness, can’t raise the head.─Headache in whole front part of
head.─Heaviness in the forehead.─Sensation, as if
both sides of the head were in a vice.─Distressing pains in the occiput,
down nape of neck, and spine.─Heat rises to the head; the body becomes
warmer; the face becomes red and the giddiness ceases.─Stitches and
pulsations in the head.─Can’t hold head up, or sit up.─Sensation
as if constantly pulled by the hair.─The head symptoms are > by expelling flatus.
3. Eyes.─
Looking up <
headache and vertigo.─Dilated pupils.─Pupils dilated
but sensitive to light.─Eyes brilliant and prominent.─Cornea
sunken.─Pustules on cornea.─Scrofulous ophthalmia;
edges of lids inflamed and agglutinated at night; swelling of Meibomian glands.─Chronic
photophobia.
4. Ears.─
Stitches in the ears, esp. in the r.
ear, as if something hot were streaming from it.─Yellow discharge from
r. ear, with stitching pains.─There is great >
by inserting the finger and drawing the parts asunder.
5. Nose.─
Herpetic eruption at tip.
6. Face.─
A drawn condition beginning at the alć
nasi, and extending to the angles of the mouth, giving the face an expression of great
anxiety and pain.─Tearing in the face, in the malar bones.─Jaws
spasmodically fixed.─Face pale, puffed, and spotted red.─Chin
and corners of mouth feel cold.
8. Mouth.─
Sticking and tearing in gums.─Taste:
bitter; like cheese; like onions sweetish in morning when awaking.─Tongue:
moist; white coat; black feels too long.─Speech slow; embarrassed.─Aphtć
in mouth and throat.─Copious salivation which >
poisoning symptoms.
9. Throat.─
Sensation of constriction, preventing
deglutition.─Stinging in the throat, between the acts of deglutition.─Soft
palate red, swollen.─Pungent heat in mouth and throat.─While
eating, sudden heaviness in forehead.─Spasmodic hiccough.
11. Stomach.─
Intolerance of milk; it is forcibly
ejected almost as soon as swallowed; then weakness causes drowsiness; in nursing children.─Violent
vomiting of curdled milk and cheesy matter.─Violent vomiting of a frothy
matter, white as milk. This we may find in men, children, or pregnant women.─Violent
vomiting of green mucus.─Violent vomiting, with diarrhśa, of green
mucus, or (in children) bloody substances.─After vomiting, cold and
clammy.
12. Abdomen.─
Coldness of the abdomen and lower
limbs, esp. l., with aching in bowels; > by warm wet
applications.─Sensation of coldness in the abdomen.─Swollen
and tense abdomen.─Cutting, with distension.─Cutting,
with violent vomiting.─Black-bluish swelling of the abdomen.─Colic,
followed by vomiting, vertigo, and weakness.
13. Stool.─
Diarrhśa: stools bright yellow, or
greenish, watery, and slimy, with violent tenesmus.─Undigested stool or
partly so.─Loose stools, preceded by cutting in the abdomen, with
tenesmus in the morning, after rising.─Diarrhśa: discharges green,
thin, bilious, with violent tenesmus.─Bloody stools.─Most
obstinate constipation, with feeling as if all action of the bowels had been lost.
17. Respiratory Organs.─
Sufferings of patient
render him almost speechless.─Respiration very difficult and short.─Sensation
as if chest were encircled by a band, causing difficult breathing.─Stitches
in l. side of chest.─Cough, producing stunning pain in head.
19. Heart and Pulse.─
Violent palpitation of the
heart, with headache.─Pulse full and rapid; hard, small, and rapid;
small and frequent; irregular; imperceptible.
20. Neck and Back.─
Distressing pain in occiput
and nape of neck, extending down the spine, > by
friction with hot whisky.─Swelling of glands round neck like a string of
beads.─Sensation as if the small of the back were in a vice.─A
feeling as if pain in back could be > by
straightening out and bending stiffly backward.
21. Limbs.─
Eruption round the joints, esp. knee,
elbow, and ankle.─Axillary glands swollen.─Stiffness
of elbow joints.─Swelling of forearms and hands.─Thumb
and fingers bent inwards.─Excoriations of thighs from walking.─Paralytic
pains in lower extremities; formication in feet.
24. Generalities.─
Epileptiform spasms, with
clenched thumbs; red face; eyes turned downward; dilated, staring, immovable pupils; foam at
the mouth; teeth set; pulse small, hard, accelerated.─Spasms, with
stupor and delirium.─Cold limbs and body convulsed.─Great
weakness; children cannot stand; cannot hold up their heads.
25. Skin.─
Tettary eruptions, which bleed easily.─Black
and blue spots, sometimes like ecchymoses all over body.─The whole body
may be of bluish-black colour.─Anasarca.
26. Sleep.─
Dozing of child after vomiting spells,
or after the stool.─On falling asleep, rolling of the eyes, or slight
convulsions.─Sleepiness all day; sometimes >
in open air.─Sleep prevented by pains in limbs.
27. Fever.─
Complete absence of thirst, though
there is great heat.─Cannot bear to be uncovered during the sweat.─Fever,
esp. in morning, with shuddering; shuddering, weariness in extremities, internal coldness
with hot and flushed face; malaise; disposition to delirium during cold stage; sweat, after
the breaking out of which the previous symptoms disappear.─Sweat on
least exertion.® 2000
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