REVISION OF ÆTHUSA.
The experiments detailed below throw so much doubt upon the various cases
of poisoning attributed to Æthusa that we have concluded to throw them out entirely.Indeed, it seems established beyond any possibility of doubt, that the
plant is harmless.Our own experiments prove this conclusively; in New York we had the
co-operation of thirty or forty individuals, who took varying doses of the expressed juice
of the plant without the slightest effect. The editor himself drank it by the wineglassful.
A few experienced some disturbance: these are given in detail. It was not attempted to make
a proving, as in that case the potencies would have been tried; we only desired to verify
Dr. Harley’s observations as to the poisonous nature of the herb. Our preparation was
obtained, through Messrs. Boericke & Tafel, from Leipzig, and was accompanied by a
certificate of genuineness from the Director of the Botanic Gardens. The expressed juice was
preserved by a small per cent of alcohol.I. Experiments by Dr. Harley St. Thomas’s Hospital Reports, 1873.
II. Experiments by Dr. T. F. Allen, New York Homœopathic Medical
College, 1876.III. Experiment by Dr. Brugman, A. H. Z., 72, p. 56.
IV. Experiment by Dr. Tournon, A. H. Z.
V. Case by Dr. Roques, A. H. Z.
REVISION AND RÉSUMÉ.
Authorities
. 1, Nenning,
from Hartlaub and Trinks’s Annalen vol. iv.; 2,
Hartlaub, ibid.; 3, Trinks ibid.; 4, Petroz, Bull. d. l. Soc. Méd. Hom., 4, 337; 5, Brugmans, A. H. Z., 72, p. 56, took a few grains; 6, Tournon, ibid., ate some in salad; 7,
Roques, ibid., effects in a woman; 8, Bigler, Am. J.
Hom. M. M., 5, 459, effects of 3d dec. (in a patient); 9,
Harley, St. Thos. Hosp. Reports (no symptoms); 10 to 15, from Dr. Allen’s provings, see above. [Didier, No. 4, in
résumé in vol. i of this work, is not original, but a résumé of other provings, hence it
is omitted; symptoms from the supposed cases of poisoning cited by Roth are discarded;
Cattell’s symptoms, Br. J. of Hom., 11, also discarded; Thompson’s case of poisoning,
Lancet, 1886-7, p. 850, doubtful; all other supposed poisonous effects and cases of
poisoning are omitted; it having been clearly substantiated that the plant is harmless to
produce grave effects.]I. By John Harley, M.D., St. Thomas’s Hospital
Reports, New Series, Vol. IV, 1873, p. 80.The observations have been made with the juice of the entire plant; with
tinctures prepared from ripe and green fruit; with a fluid extract prepared with the view of
separating any cynapine or other active principle that may have been left in the plant after
the expression of the juice, and with the oleo-resin.
Observation
1. -J. W., a weakly young man, troubled with
frequent seminal emissions, took 3 1/2 fluid drachms of the Æthusa juice, and, having sat
still for the first hour, strolled out during the second. At the end of an hour the
oscillating pupils contracted a very little more than they were observed to do before the
dose, but beyond this there was no effect whatever. 4 fluid drachms of Succus conii produced
a moderate effect upon this patient.
Observation
2. -John T. B., aged twenty-two, the subject of
sexual debility from excessive self-abuse, but otherwise strong and healthy, and in whom 6
drachms of Succus conii produced moderate coneism, took the Æthusa juice for a time, in
doses increased from 90 minims to 4 drachms, an hour before breakfast every other day. No
effects whatever followed.
Observation
3. -Clara L., an active but slightly developed
child, aged seven, the subject of interstitial keratitis, and in whom 6 drachms of Succus
conii produced only moderate effects, took two doses, one of 3 drachms and the other of 4
drachms, of the Æthusa juice, about two hours after breakfast, on separate days. Beyond a
slight temporary rise of pulse, due to the alcohol, there was no effect. The patient
subsequently took tincture of the fruit. (See Observation 10.)
Observation
4. -W. W., aged nineteen, an active healthy lad,
troubled with frequent seminal emissions. 6 drachms of Succus conii, 30 minims of Succus
belladonna, and 1 grain of Opium, always produced their appropriate effects in a moderate
degree upon this patient. Beginning with 1 1/2 drachms, and rapidly increasing the dose to 1
ounce, he took the latter quantity of Æthusa juice every second or third day for about a
month. Effects were carefully looked for, but none were appreciable, either to the patient
or to myself.
Observation
5. -Henry H., aged seventeen, a strong active
youth, troubled with frequent seminal emissions, took Conium for some time, and a fluid
ounce of the Succus always produced moderate coneism. On one occasion. I gave him 7 drachms
of the Æthusa juice, and kept him sitting under my observation for two and a quarter hours.
Just previously he had walked to my house, and the pulse was 86, the pupils slightly
oscillant and contracting to 1/6″, and the tongue whitish and moist, with an acid
secretion. After forty-five minutes the pulse was 82, full and regular, as at first. The
pupils and tongue were unchanged. After an hour and a half the pulse was 80, and otherwise
unchanged. The pupils were now oscillating between 1/6″ and 1/7″. After two and a
quarter hours the pulse was 74, regular, and of natural volume and force; the pupils were
1/6″, dilating a little, as before the draught; the tongue was unchanged, and the
secretion acid still.Two days afterwards 9 drachms of the Æthusa juice were taken, the pulse,
being 86 and the pupils 1/6″. After forty-five minutes the pulse was 88, full and soft;
the pupils fairly steady, and contracting to 1/7″. After one hour the pulse was 80,
otherwise unchanged; the pupils still 1/7″. After two and a quarter hours pulse 72,
regular, of initial volume and power; the pupils 1/6″. The tongue remained unchanged
throughout.After an interval of eight days I gave him 11 drachms of the Æthusa
juice, two hours after a hearty meal, and watched for effects under the same conditions as
before, the pulse being 84 and the pupils 1/6″. After an hour and a quarter the pupils
were unchanged and the pulse had risen to 82, but was not appreciably altered in volume or
force. After two hours it was 80, and of initial volume and power, and the pupils was still
1/6″. At the end of this time the patient passed f3iiiss. of urine (having emptied the
bladder just before taking the dose), of sp. gr. 1032; excepting that it contained an excess
of uric acid it was normal. Neither on this nor on any previous occasion did the patient
himself experience any effect.
Observation
6. -George W., aged seventeen, a well-developed
and moderately strong young man, the subject of epileptic aura. Upon this patient 30 minims
of Belladonna juice, 1/30 of a grain of Atropia, 4 drachms of tincture of Henbane, 6 drachms
of Succus conii, and a mixture of 4 drachms each of tincture of Henbane and Succus conii,
severally produced their proper effects in a moderate degree. Failing to get benefit from
either of these remedies or the bromides, I gave him the Æthusa juice, beginning with
1-drachm doses every morning before breakfast for eight days, then 3 drachms increased to 4
drachms, for six days more.A fortnight afterwards, in the evening, I gave him a single dose of 7
drachms, and he remained quiet for the next two hours. The pulse before the draught and
after a walk to my house was 84, the pupils 1/6″, the tongue clean, and wet with
alkaline mucus. After forty-five minutes the pulse was 85, unchanged. After two hours the
pulse was 70, and of natural volume and force; the pupils and tongue remained unchanged
throughout.After an interval of six weeks the juice was again given in doses of 1
ounce, increased to 1/2 ounce every other morning, an hour before breakfast, for a month.
During the next nine days he took three doses, each consisting of 2 ounces of the thick
juice. Effects were carefully watched for as often as the dose was increased, but both the
patient and myself failed to observe any.During the eight months which partly preceded and included the time of
this treatment, the daily fits averaged 4 6/10, never exceeding five, nor falling below two.
On the days when he took the largest doses (2 ounces) of Æthusa juice he had the full
number (5) of fits, and on the intermediate days four. This was probably due to the alcohol.
Observation
7. -E. B., aged twenty-one, a strong healthy young
man, in whom 6 drachms of Succus conii produced slight coneism, took the Æthusa juice for a
fortnight, in doses increased from 1 ounce to 2 ounces, every other morning before
breakfast. The patient failed to experience any effect, nor could I detect any, except after
one dose (an ounce and a half) a doubtful contraction of the pupil.The following observations were made after a dose of 2 1/2 ounces taken
with as much water, the pulse being 78, pupils 1/6″, and the tongue clean and moist.
After taking the dose the patent strolled out for forty-five minutes, and then sat quietly
during the rest of the time. At the end of an hour the pulse was 78, regular, and of initial
force and power, the pupils were slightly contracted (?), the tongue unchanged. After two
and a quarter hours the pulse was 68, otherwise unchanged; the pupils slightly contracted,
measuring nearly 1/7″, the mouth unchanged.
Observation
8. -George L., aged nineteen, the subject of
chronic spasm of the right arm, but otherwise healthy, and in whom 6 drachms of Succus conii
produced moderate effects, took 2 fluid ounces of the Æthusa juice, and three days
afterwards 4 fluid ounces for a dose. On both occasions effects were carefully watched for
during the three hours following each dose. Excepting slight somnolency, due to complete
rest of mind and body during this interval, and to some extent probably to the alcohol, no
effects were appreciable, either to the patient or myself. This patient took other
preparations of Æthusa. (See Observations 12, 14, and 15.)
Observation
9. -I took tincture of the nearly ripe fruit, in
doses varying from 1/2 fluid drachm to 6 fluid drachms, without experiencing any effect.
Observation
10. -The subject of Observation 3, a little girl,
seven years old, took this tincture diluted with a little water, in doses increased from 1/2
fluid drachm to 1/2 fluid ounce. Excepting a slight rise of pulse at the end of an hour, due
to the alcohol, no effects followed any dose.On one occasion, just after she had walked a distance of two miles, and
two hours after breakfast, the pulse being 120, and the pupils 1/8″, I gave her 6 fluid
drachms, and kept her sitting during the next two hours. After one hour the pulse was 98 and
normal, and after two hours 96. The tongue and pupils were unchanged throughout, nor were
any effects felt by the patient.
Observation
11. -I have taken the tincture prepared from ripe
fruit, in doses ranging from 1/2 fluid drachm to 1 fluid ounce, without experiencing the
slightest effects.
Observation
12. -George L. (see Observation 8) took on one
occasion 6 fluid drachms of the tincture, and on another 1 fluid ounce. No effects followed
either dose.
Observation
13. -I took 1 fluid ounce of the tincture prepared
from the green unripe fruit, and experienced no effects.
Observation
14. -George L. (see Observations 8 and 12) took 2
fluid ounces of this tincture, and sat still for the three hours following. Excepting the
slight stimulant effect of the alcohol, there were absolutely no results.
Observation
15. -George L. (see Observations 8, 12, and 14)
took the fluid extract in doses of 1/2 drachm, 1 drachm, and 2 drachms; not the slightest
effect followed either dose.My observations at present extend no further. I may mention that no trace
of gastric irritation or any other effect, immediate or subsequent, occurred in any case.
The results, therefore, are merely negative. The slight contraction of the pupil observed in
some cases was probably due to the stimulant effect of the alcohol in steadying an
oscillating pupil.The largest dose of the juice given was 4 ounces of the spirituous
mixture, which is equivalent to 3 ounces of the fresh juice and to 6 ounces of the fresh
herb.The maximum doses of the tincture of the ripe
and nearly ripe fruit was 1 fluid ounce, equivalent, in
either case, to 90 grains of the fruit.The largest dose of the tincture of the unripe
fruit was 2 fluid ounces, equivalent to more than 300 grains of the fruit.
Observation
16. -10 grains of the oleo-resin, obtained partly
from the herb and partly from the fruit, were taken in solution by a healthy adult. No
effects whatever followed.II. Experiments made under the Direction, of T.
F. Allen, New York Homœopathic Medical College, 1876.
Proving of Æthusa by Thomas Wildes
. -January 14th, 1876, 1
A.M. Took of θ 1 drop in a.
tablespoonful of water on retiring to bed. General peripheral sensation of warmth within
five minutes.6.30 A.M. Wakened with strong sexual desire, and a feeling of glow over
the entire body. I took 1 drop on the tongue, with an instantaneous
sensation of nausea confined to the mouth and pharynx. Reacted more freely than usual from
my shower-bath.7.30 A.M. 1 drop and same sensation of nausea.
9 A.M. 1 drop and same sensation of nausea.
10 A.M. 1 drop and same sensation of nausea.
11 A.M. 1 drop, sensation of nausea extended down the œsophagus and into
the stomach, with rumbling and gurgling in the stomach and upper bowels, and a sensation of
fluttering motion in the stomach. Metallic slimy taste in the mouth with dryness. Nausea,
and general feeling in the stomach as if I had been on a spree last night. Forehead feels
constricted, and yet a sensation of pressure as from within outward.Took 1 drop with less immediate nausea.
12 M. Took 1 drop.
1 P.M. Took 1 drop.
2 P.M. Took 1 drop.
3 P.M. Took 1 drop; beat and pressure in forehead.
4 P.M. Took 1 drop.
5 P.M. Took 1 drop; sensation of stuffiness in perfectly sound right ear,
with feeling of coldness in it, around and behind the same, seeming to be in the bone,6 P.M. Took 1 drop; no sensation.
7 P.M. Took 1 drop; aching in left mastoid process.
Have noticed all day that excretions (urine and perspiration) are
increased, and secretions decreased. I also felt all in a glow, and perspired easily when
walking home in the cold to-night.8 P.M. Took 1 drop.
9 P.M. Took 1 drop; a feeling in stomach and bowels as if diarrhœa was
Coming on.10 P.M. Took 1 drop.
11 P.M. Took 1 drop; skin of bands dry and shrunken, as if they bad been
washed in lye, especially on the palmar surface.12 P.M. Took 1 drop and retired; no symptoms to note.
January 15th, 6.30 A.M. Awoke with an intense frontal headache, with
sensation of constriction from points vertically over each eye; relieved by pressure.
Quantity of urine diminished. I took 2 drops; no sensation.8 A.M. Took 2 drops; headache better.
9 A.M. Took 2 drops; headache gone.
10 A.M. Took 2 drops.
11 A.M. Took 2 drops; sensation of tension as of a band passing around
the forehead and made fast at each zygoma.12 M. Took 2 drops; sensation as if I had caught cold and a violent
coryza was coming on.1 P.M. Took 2 drops; sensation of heat and fulness in the face, and
pressure in the frontal sinuses and upper nasal passages. Nausea. General headache.
Excessive flow of pale urine.2 P.M. Took 2 drops; face feels better.
3 P.M. Took 2 drops; face feels well, but is beginning to look peaked and
hollow-cheeked. Slight headache. Feet and limbs cold nearly to the knees.4 P.M. Took 2 drops; coldness of limbs more marked.
5 P.M. Took 2 drops.
6 P.M. Took 2 drops; slight nausea.
7 P.M. Took 2 drops; slight nausea.
8 P.M. Took 2 drops.
9 P.M. Took 2 drops.
10 P.M. Took 2 drops.
11 P.M. Took 2 drops; sharp cramps in the small intestines, localized in
spots, and quickly shifting from place to place.12 P.M. Took 20 drops and retired.
January 16th, 7 A.M. Wakened with a sort of seething feeling in my blood,
and a heavy aching pain in my back across my kidneys; also a pain between my shoulderblades.
Feeling as of an indigestible load in my stomach. Quantity of urine normal. Took 20 drops.8 A.M. Before eating breakfast I drank half a goblet of milk (contrary to
custom, as I never drink milk); no effect. Waited five minutes and took 20 drops without
effect, except a feeling as of a load in the stomach and an indisposition to eat, although appetite was average fair. Food all tasted alike, in fact, was
nearly tasteless. I also noticed this symptom yesterday but failed to record it. A desire to
swallow, as though to keep something down, but without nausea. Waited ten minutes after
taking the milk and the 20 drops, before eating breakfast.11 A.M. Have noticed since breakfast a marked sensation as of a load in
the stomach and upper bowels, as though the process of digestion was not going on properly
for want of sufficient gastric juice. Mouth and lips dry. Urine decreased. Skin had a dry,
white, leathery, pinched look; cheeks are sunken; clothes seem loose. Sexual desire
diminished.I can conceive that this drug might
produce vomiting from a weak
stomach., if the proving was pressed, by reason of its retardation of the
secretion of the gastric juice, and thus causing the food to act as a foreign body in the
stomach. But it will not make me vomit.January 16th, 2 P.M. Gave 5 drops to Mrs. P. just before she commenced
eating dinner. She at once complained of a heated, flushed feeling, as if she had taken a
glass of liquor, with a sensation of nausea. After waiting five minutes, she had drank some
milk at once, she had to go into the open air to keep from vomiting. At the expiration of
another five minutes I gave her 5 drops more, followed by 2 fluid ounces of milk, and this
was followed in two minutes by 5 drops more. She at once sought the kitchen, retched
violently, and threw up a lot of phlegm, but phlegm only. At the expiration of ten minutes I
gave her 5 drops more (20 drops in all), which again made her deathly sick, but she could
vomit only phlegm. Throughout this time she felt a constant nausea, and had a sensation in
the upper bowels as if she had taken a dose of medicine which was working. The eyes got
watery and the face flushed and hot.I certify that the foregoing is correct in every particular.
Mrs. SARAH PACK.
The above statement was written down immediately after dinner, from Mrs.
P.’s statement and doings made at the time in the presence of a table full, and was signed
by her after she had heard it carefully read aloud.THOMAS WILDES.
January 16th, 6 P.M. I gave 5 drops to Mr. H. before he commenced eating
his supper. He at once complained of a feeling of heat all through the body, and a
perspiration broke out on his forehead. He then drank 2 fluid ounces of milk, and three
minutes afterwards I gave him 5 drops more (10 drops in all, in five minutes), when he
complained of nausea, metallic taste in mouth, and headache in the forehead, shooting up
over the eyes. He did not vomit, and in a few minutes ate his supper.Mr. H. reports this morning, January 17th, that he still feels a slight
sensation of nausea, with warmth and an uneasy sensation in the œsophagus and stomach, and
a metallic taste in the mouth. He had an increased flow of urine this morning, of a sweet
odor. Up to 12 o’clock, last night, he had a heavy undefined sensation in his head like a
general headache, with intermittent pains in the forehead, located vertically over each eye,
in lines. The metallic taste was very marked up to that hour, and also the sensation of
nausea, which extended from the fauces to the stomach, combined with great warmth covering
that entire region, spreading out laterally, and extending down into the upper bowels,
together with pains in the stomach and upper bowels, as though caused by something hard and
indigestible. He describes the pains which he had over his eyes as shooting pains, starting
above the eyes and going upward and slightly outward; thus
I certify that the foregoing is a correct statement of symptoms
experienced by me this morning, and from 8 to 12 o’clock last evening, after taking ten (10)
drops of a medicine from Dr. Wildes at 6.30 P.M., in addition to symptoms I felt
immediately, and which he has recorded.J. L. HURD.
Mr. Hurd is a young gentleman in excellent health, knows nothing of
homœopathy or the proving of medicines, and when he took the doses was not aware that the
medicine was expected to do anything except make him sick at his stomach.These points he noticed himself, and this morning described them to me in
very nearly the language which I have given above.As a verification of his symptoms I would add that I felt nauseated all
day yesterday, January 16th, at the sight of food, although I was no longer taking the drug;
and I had the continued sensation of a hard ball or load in the stomach, which latter I have
at this moment; yet I could eat.When I retired to bed, at 1 A.M. (this morning), I quickly had numerous
fine sharp stabbing pains, lasting five minutes, and some of which were so sudden and
violent that I was forced to exclaim with pain.I have recorded throughout only such symptoms as were sudden, unexpected,
and evidently came from the drug.
Proving of Æthusa by E. H. Linnell
. -I received an ounce of
Æthusa, which I have taken, but without any very marked or satisfactory results. I
commenced with it last Friday, and during the day I took about 1 drachm, in frequent small
doses. The only unusual feeling was a slight uneasiness in the stomach, as if a precursor of
an attack of gastric catarrh. During the day I drank quite a good deal of milk with my
meals. I took no more of the drug till Saturday afternoon, when I took it every fifteen
minutes for nearly four hours. I commenced with 10 drops, and increased the dose 10 drops
each time, so that the last time I took 120 drops, and 670 in all.
I felt a decided weight and heaviness in the stomach, which lasted about two hours, but
there was no nausea, although after taking the last of it, I made a meal mostly of bread and
milk. I have a very strong stomach, and very seldom suffer from indigestion, so that I feel
confident that the sensations I have mentioned, though meagre, were caused by the drug.
Perhaps I should state that I took the medicine each time on Saturday, in more or less
water, according to the dose, and it is possible that the water
caused the sensation of weight, rather than the drug, although I hardly think that was the
case.
Proving of Æthusa by Ernest P. Macomber
. -I put 24 drops of
this drug into twenty-four teaspoonfuls of water, taking one teaspoonful every five minutes,
till all was taken, with the following results. On counting my pulse, after taking the third
dose, it had decreased from 76 beats per minute to 72. After taking the sixth dose, pulse
69, and I also noticed a slight constricted sensation about head. After ninth dose pulse 66.
After twelfth dose pulse 62. After eighteenth dose pulse 60 and soft in character. After
twenty-fourth dose pulse soft in character, beats 57 per minute, also slight nausea, and a
loose discharge from bowels, of a yellow color and sour smell.
Proving of Æthusa by Dr. St. Clair Smith
. -Took at 3.30 180
drops. Immediately, burning in mouth, throat, and œsophagus, with profuse salivation and
secretion of mucus in both mouth and throat; this copious flow of mucus continued for some
fifteen or twenty minutes, with qualmishness, and was followed by a feeling of dryness of
tongue and throat. Burning in stomach from the beginning, but gradually increasing,
accompanied by eructations of a rancid taste, causing burning in œsophagus and throat;
heartburn, lasting some time after the eructation, with an inclination to spit and clear the
throat. Some nausea, with waterbrash, of sour hot fluid; at one time vomiting seemed
inevitable. Later, an uncomfortable qualmish feeling in stomach, hardly amounting to nausea,
also of pain in forehead, a sort of crampy feeling, with disposition to contract the brows.
Deepseated sensation of coldness in the upper part of abdomen, in region of transverse
colon. Later, aching in malar bones, principally the left (crampy). Pain in forehead
increased and is decidedly uncomfortable. Occasional aching in back of head. Pulse (usually
76) 90 (after two hours). Face flushed (after two hours). Vertigo, great dizziness (soon).
Aching in brows, a feeling of constriction. Rapid sticking-shooting pain in left temple and
left ear, at 9 P.M.; continued till I went to bed. Weight in stomach, and uncomfortable
feeling of indigestion, with uprisings of food and hot liquid; the uprisings of food tasted
spoiled. Pain in bowels as if diarrhœa would follow, but it did not. A crampy constriction
in heart, with a feeling as though I could not take a long breath; felt pulse to see if it
was irregular; it was not; the same pain soon after in right chest. Aching in small of back.III. Dr. Brugmans took a few grains in the morning. There followed
violent headache, thirst, efforts to vomit, sticking pain in the epigastrium, cutting pain
and flatulence, desire to sleep, and during the whole day a general cold feeling. Sleep was
very restless for the first hours.IV. Dr. Tournon took by mistake some in salad. He awoke with colic,
vertigo, and weakness. Tea and a few glasses of wine removed the symptoms.V. Dr. Roques treated a woman who had eaten Æthusa inadvertently. She
suffered from cutting pain and violent vomiting, incessant anguish, and a feeling of
weakness. The symptoms were relieved after a few doses of Laudanum.® 2000
Article
