KREOSOTUM.
A product of distillation of wood
tar. Composition doubtful and variable.
Preparation
, Solutions in alcohol.
Authorities.
A. Reichenback, “Das
Kreosot,” second edition, 1835, effects of application to skin. (1 to 8, provings by Dr.
Syrbius, A. H. Z., 12, p. 33). 1,
Dr. Hartmann took 3 drops; 2,
Hartmann, Jr., took 1 drop; 3, Dr.
Immisch took 8 drops; 4, Dr. Lange
took 1 drop, and after two days 2 drops twice; 5,
Dr. Koch took 1 drop morning and evening (first day), 2 drops forenoon
(third day); 6, Heinemann, suffering
from caries of upper jaw, took morning and evening 15 drops of a
solution of 4 drops to 1 drachm of alcohol with 3 drachms of water, also
using a douche of a solution of 20 drops of K. in 1/2 ounce of alcohol
and 12 ounces of water (the action was so violent that it had to be
discontinued); 7, Lunderstedt took 1
drop morning and evening for “scirrhus testi,” effect so
severe that he had to stop it; 8,
Syrbius took 2 drops twice, with an interval of two hours; 9, symptoms observed by Dr. Wahle on three
girls, two women, and two men, none of whom took over 1 drop of pure K.;
Archiv f. Hom., 16, 2, 152; 10,
Eichhorn, effects of 1st dil., 5 to 50-drop doses, several times a day,
Zeit. f. Ver. Hom. Aezt. Oest., 1857, vol. 2, p. 24; 11, Dr. W. H. Thomas (Elkhart, Ind., U. S.
A.); a lady, aged 78, took by accident an unknown quantity, MS. to editor; 12,
symptoms from Marzuthini, Annal. Univ. de Méd., 1834; 13, Macnamara, poisoning of a woman by
excessive application to an aching tooth, Dublin Med. Press, 1850; 14, Jeffray, effects of 5 or 6 drops in a
lady aged 24, Assoc. Med. Jour., 1853, p. 929; 15,
Elliotson, effects, Med.-Chir. Trans., vol. 69 (A. H. Z.).
MIND.
►
Emotional. ► Mind clear,
but very much excited (after two hours), [11].
► For some days before menstruation
she was very much excited and uneasy, [9].
► Music, or anything else that caused
emotional excitement, she took very much to heart, and she could not
refrain from weeping, [9]. ► She was depressed; the longing for death
constantly became greater, [9]. ► Towards evening her spirits were much
depressed, and she was doubtful whether she would ever be well again, [9]. ►
She was very despondent, and constantly wished to cry (after forty-eight
hours), [9]. ►
Very fretful in the morning, [9]. ► She was constantly excited; peevish, and
obstinate, [9]. ► She was very fretful, frequently wept,
but was unconscious of any cause (after twenty-four hours), [9]. ►
Intellectual. [10.] ► When she undertakes to accomplish
anything and has gone ten or twelve steps, she remains standing, and
does not know what she had intended to do (after eight hours), [9]. ►
Her thoughts vanish very easily, they fly away (and she feels dazed), [9]. ►
He feels stupid the whole day, [3].
► Weakness of memory, her thoughts
vanish, [9]. ►
Profound stupor, from which she could with difficulty be aroused for a
few minutes, but only again to relapse into her former state of
unconsciousness, [13].
HEAD.
►
Confusion and Vertigo. ►
Confusion of the head, with some vertigo, [10].
► Dulness and confusion of the head
(after one hour); her thoughts disappear for a moment, so that she knows
nothing; this attack is frequently repeated during the day (after one
hour), [9]. ►
Confusion in the left side of the head, with throbbing in it, which
afterwards involves the upper back teeth, where it causes periodic
grumbling, [9]. ► The whole head is confused; throbbing and
beating in the vertex, [9]. ► Vertigo, [12], [13];
(soon after 1 drop), [5]; (lasting
a quarter of an hour, after two minutes), [8].
[20.] ►
Vertigo, everything turned around with him (after two hours), [1]. ►
She was attacked with vertigo on the street, in the morning, so that she
reeled backwards and forwards, and was obliged to lean against a house,
as if intoxicated, and on account of it she returned to the house, when
the vertigo disappeared (after half an hour), [9]. ►
Stupefying vertigo, [7]. ► Whirling vertigo (half an hour after
second dose), [8]. ► Whirling vertigo in the crown, lasting
five minutes (five minutes after 1 drop), [4].
► Whirling in the head; is she turned
herself suddenly she would fall down, [9].
► Dizziness, on account of which he
could not stand or walk long at a time (after three days), [6]. ►
Very dizzy, so much so that she could not bear to be lifted from the
pillow (after two hours), [11]. ► General Head. ►
Dulness of the head; she looks straight ahead and does not know at what;
she hears and sees nothing, and is completely without thought (after six
hours), [9]. ►
Heaviness and confusion of the head, [12].
[30.] ►
General weariness in head, [13]. ► Emotional disturbances cause headache, [9]. ►
Headache, with sleepiness, [9]. ► Headache, with a feeling of heat in front
of the forehead, [9]. ► Headache, as if she were intoxicated, the
whole day, [9]. ► Headache, as if she had drunk too much
the day previous (a feeling as of a board before the forehead), with
weakness of memory, [9]. ► Tensive headache, aggravated on stooping,
[9]. ►
Drawing headache, so that it closes her eyes (after twenty-four hours), [9]. ►
A pain in the middle of the head pressing from within outward, [9]. ►
Very painful pressing in the head, [9].
[40.] ►
Tearing in the head, with drawing in the eyes, [9]. ► Tearing
in the head, with great heat of the face and tearing in the left upper
teeth; the tearing in the head begins in the morning as soon as she
wakes, and lasts twenty-four hours, while the tearing in the teeth
intermits at times, but always returns, and lasts so long that she is
unable to sleep the whole night, with heat over the whole body, great
weakness, peevish and lachrymose mood, and vexation at every trifle, [9]. ►
Tearing in the whole head; on the left side it extends through the
temple and down into the cheek, while on the right side it extends only
to the superior maxillary bone, [9].
► Beating in the head, [4]. ►
(Headache, which always used to occur after a bath, disappeared), [2]. ►
Forehead. ► Slight pain in
the forehead (after five hours), [1].
► Great pain at the front of the head
(after a few minutes), [14]. ► A painful sensation in the forehead, as
if several hairs were grasped and slowly pulled out (after three hours,
and even felt after several days), [9].
► Distressing headache deep in the
forehead (as if in the anterior lobes of the brain), lasting the whole
day, [8]. ►
A heaviness in the forehead, as if something would burst out there, [9]. [50.]
► Drawing headache, extending from
the right frontal sinus down to the middle of the right jaw, lasting
several hours, beginning in the morning, ceasing at noon, becoming again
violent about 2 o’clock, and lasting till towards evening (after three
days), [9]. ►
Twitching and jerking pains in the right upper half of the forehead,
recurring at intervals, [9]. ► Pressure and tension in the forehead,
extending towards the vertex, [10].
► A painful pressure above the right
frontal eminence (after a quarter of an hour), [9]. ► A
pressing-out pain in the middle of the forehead, [9]. ►
Pressive pain in the forehead, as if everything would be forced out at
the forehead, in the morning (after twenty-four hours), [9]. ►
Pressive headache, everything forces out at the forehead, with pressure
on the eyes, which extends to the vertex (after thirty-six hours), [9]. ►
On stooping, everything shoots forward to the forehead, everything seems
to force itself there, [9]. ► On stooping, everything seems to shoot
forward into the forehead, and she is near falling, [9]. ►
Throbbing pain in the forehead, [9].
[60.] ►
Throbbing in the forehead, as with a hammer, and stitches in the
temples, which at times omit, but always return; on stooping, it seems
as though everything would press out at the forehead (after four hours,
but lasting two days), [9]. ► A constant throbbing and beating in the
middle of the forehead, lasting several days, [9]. ► She
woke at 5.30 A.M., with throbbing headache in the forehead, heat of the
face, weakness of the limbs, with crawling through the legs and feet,
bitter taste in the mouth, even food tastes bitter, [9]. ► An
ulcerative pain on the right side of the forehead, [9]. ► Temples.
► Drawing pains in the left temporal
bone, which affect the whole head; the head feels confused, [9]. ►
Tearing-drawing in the left temporal region, as if different parts would
be torn out, lasting several hours, [9].
► Pressive pain in one or both
temples, often very violent, [10].
► A pressing-out pain in the lower
portion of the left temporal bone towards evening, [9]. ► A
pressing-out pain in the middle of the lower portion of the left
temporal bone, [9]. ► Sticking pains in the right temporal
bone, [9]. [70.] ►
Drawing-sticking headache that extends through the temple and into the
superior submaxillary bone, with whirling in the head, [9]. ► A
tearing-sticking in the anterior portion of the right temple, that
extends to the upper and lower back teeth (after three hours), [9]. ►
Tearing pain in the left temporal region (after half an hour), [8]. ►
Drawing-tearing in the middle of the sutura squamosa, extending through
the temple into the left side of the face and involving the upper and
lower teeth of that side, lasting several days (after twelve hours), [9]. ►
A throbbing and bubbling sensation in the left temporal bone (like that
in a sore finger), that extends upward to the vertex and downward to the
middle of the lower jaw, together with twitching and contraction of the
eyelids, and a feeling as if they had become smaller, [9]. ►
Jerking, pulsating pain above the left mastoid process, [9]. ► Vertex.
► A very painful pressing beneath the
crown, [9]. ►
Tearing pains in the crown in the afternoon, [4]. ► Slight
throbbing beneath the crown, extending forward, [9]. ►
Hammering pain in the crown (after a few hours), [4]. ► Parietals.
[80.] ►
Dull pain in the right side of the head, [3].
► A pressive pain in the right side
of the head, seeming to come from the cervical muscles (after
twenty-four hours), [9]. ► A painful pressing outward beneath the
left parietal bone, [9]. ► Violent stitches, as with a large awl, on
the anterior portion of the right side of the head, so that she knew not
what she did, her ideas therewith almost completely disappeared; she
went to bed with this sticking, but soon fell asleep; dreamed the whole
night of indifferent things; in the morning it had entirely disappeared,
commencing in the afternoon (after three days), [9]. ► Occiput.
► The whole occiput seems too full
and heavy, and gives rise to a sensation as if he would fall backward, [9]. ►
Pain as from suppuration, below the left side of the occipital bone, [9]. ►
External Head. ► The hair
became very gray during the proving, [10].
► Profuse falling of the hair, [9]. ►
The scalp is very painful on combing the hair, especially if she combs
it down towards the temples; with falling of the hair (after some days),
[3]. ►
The skin of the vertex and forehead is painful when coming the hair and
from the touch of the finger, as if suppurating; when the skin is not
touched, the pain is a drawing, worse on the vertex, and lasting
twenty-four hours (after seven days), [9].
EYE.
►
Objective. [90.] ► The eyes look as if she had been weeping,
[9]. ►
Blue rings around the eyes (after three days), [6]; (after twelve hours), [5]; (after twenty-four hours), [4]. ► Eyes
fixed, but pupils neither dilated nor contracted, [13]. ►
Subjective. ► Increased
feeling of warmth in the eyes; if she looks at a bright light the eyes
begin to water, [9]. ► Much heat in the eyes constantly, with
lachrymation (after two days), [9].
► Pressure, burning, and fire in the
eyes, mingled with heat and lachrymation, with a feeling as if something
were in them; after these pains had lasted five hours she lay down and
slept half an hour, and when she woke the eyes were agglutinated, [9]. ►
Sleep at night was disturbed by pressure and burning in the eyes; on
account of this she was unable to sleep, and lay awake till towards
morning, then slept somewhat, and in the morning on waking the eyes were
agglutinated (after twelve hours), [9].
► Sticking-tearing pain in the left
eye, lasting three-quarters of an hour), [4].
► Sticking-tearing pain in the left
eye lasting three-quarters of an hour, [4];
(immediately after the second dose); returning (after one hour and a
half), but very transient, and alternating with transient tearing
stitches in the right eye, [8]. ► Throbbing pain in the right eye, towards
evening, [8]. [Subsequent to S.
118.] [100.] ►
Itching in the eyes, so that she is obliged to rub them; after rubbing
there is biting in them, and the whites of the eyes look as if much
inflamed, with pressure as if there were sand in them, [9]. ► Brow and
Orbit. ► Pressure above
both eyes, lasting three-quarters of an hour, in the evening (after
quarter of an hour), [5]. ► Pressure above both eyes (worse above the
right), lasting five hours (after half an hour), [8]. ►
Pressure above the right eye, lasting an hour (immediately after the
dose), [5]. ►
Confused pressure above the eyes, [4].
► A dull pressure above the
superciliary ridge, as with a plug, which extends to the occiput (after
a quarter of an hour), [9]. ► Lids. ►
The eyelids look red and are somewhat swollen, [9]. ► A red,
somewhat sensitive spot on the right lower lid, which was swollen the
next day, with the formation of a pimple nearly of the size of a
hempseed towards the inner margin of the lid, on a whitish surface;
therewith the surrounding conjunctiva of the lid was very red, the lid
externally bluish-red, somewhat congested; in the evening the swelling
was affected with sticking pain; this pimple remained unchanged for a
week, when the proving was interrupted by catarrh for eight days, during
which it disappeared, [10]. ► Twitching of the lids, over which she has
no control, [9]. ► Blepharospasmus, [12]. ► Lachrymal
Apparatus. [110.] ► The eyes are always moist; they
constantly swim in tears, [6]. ► If she looks at any object for a while
the eyes become watery, which prevents her seeing (after twenty-four
hours), [9]. ►
Lachrymation, in the morning, on waking; the tears are hot and acrid, [9]. ►
Lachrymation; when she rubs the eyes they become dry, look inflamed, and
bite and burn, [9]. ► Lachrymation after rubbing the eyes, the
tears are quite hot and cause biting on the cheeks, as from salt water, [9]. ►
Lachrymation of the right eye and biting in it, while the lids of the
left eye twitch and jerk, in the afternoon, lasting half an hour, [9]. ►
The tears are acrid, like salt water, [9]. ►
Conjunctiva. ► Burning and
redness of the conjunctiva, [12]. ► Ball. ►
Pain in the eyeballs (chiefly in the right); it seems as though the eyes
would be torn out, the whole forenoon, [8].
► Pupil. ►
Pupils dilated, [14]. ► Vision. [120.]
► Obscuration of vision, [12]. ►
Eyesight was imperfect for three or four days, [14]. ► Eyes
dim, weak; like a veil before the eyes, [9].
► All objects seem dim, it seems as
though there were a veil before the eyes (after five or six hours, and
lasting several hours), [9]. ► Feathery before the eyes, as though downy
feathers hung down over the eyes, on account of which she was obliged to
wipe them (after twenty-one hours), [9].
► Said she could not see (after two
hours), [11]. ► Eyesight went from me; giddiness came on,
and everything looked dark blue, even the candles, my husband, and
everything (after a few minutes), [4].
EAR.
►
External. ► Inflammation
of the whole left external ear, which is glowing hot, scarlet, much
swollen, with tensive burning pains, [9].
► A pimple in the left upper concha,
on account of which the whole external ear becomes inflamed swollen, hot
to the touch, with burning pains; therewith the whole left side of the
neck becomes stiff, with tensive pain; he cannot turn the head well
towards the left, towards the right it is free; the pains extend through
the shoulder and down into the middle of the arm, together with internal
shivering through all the limbs, without subsequent heat or thirst, with
heat in the forehead and pressure above the eyes, as if they would be
pressed together, [9]. ► Ears hot and red, they burn as on coming
from the cold into a warm room, with cold feet (after five hours), [9]. [130.]
► A jerking-sticking in the right
antitragus, which was somewhat swollen and stiff, with sticking pain on
touch (after twenty-four hours), [9].
► Middle Ear. ► Cramplike pain in the left ear, [9]. ►
Aching in the ear (periodic after the sixth dose), [10]; (after twenty-four hours), [8]. ► A
pressing-out or dull sticking or ringing in the ears, [10]. ►
Drawing-sticking in the inner portion of the left ear, extending even
over the outer portion (after five days), [9].
► Stitches in the right ear, [9]. ►
Some stitches, as with needles, within the left ear, [9]. ► Pain
composed of several stitches extending from the top of the right
shoulder into the lower portion of the ear (after twenty-nine hours), [9]. ►
Bubbling and twinging in the right ear, frequently repeated, [9]. ►
Itching in the ears and in the soles of the feet, [9]. [140.] ► A bubbling pressing-asunder pain in the
right ear, [9]. ► Hearing. ►
Hearing more difficult than usual, for three days before menstruation, [9]. ►
Difficulty of hearing during menstruation, [9]. ► A
humming before both ears, worse before the left, with difficult hearing;
at times the humming ceases for a moment, when she is conscious of a
ringing and hissing in the head, [9].
► Humming and roaring in the head,
during menses, with pressing-out pain, that was aggravated on stooping, [9]. ►
Ringing in the ears, [12].
NOSE.
►
Objective. ► Sneezing, [9]. ►
Sneezing five or six times in succession (after half an hour), [9]. ►
Sneezing in the morning, [9]. ► Frequent sneezing in the morning, without
trace of catarrh (in several persons), [9].
[150.] ►
Frequent sneezing, with moisture in the nose, [9]. ►
Frequent sneezing; the nose was not stopped, and yet it seemed as though
there was want of air in the nose (after thirty-six hours), [9]. ►
The nose is constantly moist, so that she is frequently obliged to blow
it, [9]. ►
Fluent catarrh; when she draws air through the nose it feels too sharp
in the posterior nares, [9]. ► Stopped catarrh, which after twelve hours
became fluent, with an acrid feeling of rawness beneath the sternum, [9]. ►
Bleeding of the nose, [7]. ► Bleeding of the nose, several times, [5]. ►
Nosebleed of thin bright-red blood, in the morning, [9]. ►
Nosebleed of thick and black blood, [9].
► Subjective. ► It seems as though she had catarrh; a
sensation as though the mucous membrane of the nose would become swollen
(after one hour), [9]. [160.] ►
Pressive sensation above the root of the nose, for ten days, [7]. ►
Smell. ► On waking in the
morning she had an offensive odor in front of the nose (after twenty
hours), [9]. ►
Offensive odor in the nose, which she cannot exactly specify, with loss
of appetite, [9].® 2000
Article