CONIUM.
Conium maculatum, L.
Natural order
, Umbelliferæ. Common
names (Cicuta of the old Romans, but not since the seventeenth century), Poison
hemlock; (G.), Schierling; (F.), Grande ciguë.
Preparation
, Tincture of the fresh herb in blossom.
Authorities.
(Nos. 1 to 36, from Hahnemann, Ch. Kr., with notes by Dr. Hughes). 1, Hahnemann; 2, Franz; 3, Gross; 4, Langhammer; 5, Rummel; 6, Wislicenus; 7, Amatus Lusitanus, Cur. Med., v, 23: no such observations at
place named, nor in index to whole work; 8, Andree, Obs.
on Stoerck, symptoms observed in patients taking Con.; 9,
Andry, Quest. Med., not obtainable; 10, Bayliss, Essays
on Med. Subj., not obtainable; 11, Bierchen, Tal. om
Kraftskador, observations; 12, Boerhaave, Prælect. ad
Inst., observed on self; 13, Clark, in Essays and Obs.,
Edinb., iii, 434, observation; 14, Collin, Ann. Med.,
111, 104, as Andree; 15, Cullen, Mat. Med., from grain
30 of powder, in an adult; 16, Van Ems., in Boerhaave,
Prælect. de Morb. Nerv., 1, 97, effects of Cicuta aquatica; [See note in Cicuta virosa. -T.
F. A.] 17, Erhart, Diss. de Cicuta, a list of symptoms
from authors; 18, Fothergill, Works (Lond., 1781), p.
315, general statement from observations; 19, Gataker,
Essays on Med. Subj., as Fothergill; 20, Greeding, Ver.
Schriften, as Andree; 21, Haller, Gollins, Anz., 1775,
p. 523, observation; 22, Kalt schmidt, Prag. de Cic.,
not obtainable; 23, Landoutte, Journ. de Med., xv, as
Andree; 24, Lange, Dub. Cic. Vex., not obtainable,
probably as Andree; 25, Limprecht, Act. Nat. Cur., 1, 0,
52, poisoning by “Cicuta” root, but of what species doubtful; 26, Med. Obs. and Enq., iv, 364, after application of C. to a
cancerous breast; 27, Pauli-sim, Quadrup. Bot., no
symptoms mentioned in edition of 1667; 28, Pharm. Helv.,
general statement from experience; 29, Reismann, no
reference given; 30, Rowley, seventy-four cases, Lond.,
1779, not obtainable; 31, Schmucker, Chir. Wahrnem., as
Andree; 32, Störck, de Cicuta, as Andree; 33, Tartreux, Epist. Sfol., as Andree; 34,
Valentini, Hufel. Journ., xxix, 3, 92, as Andree; 35,
Watson, Phil. Trans., case of poisoning; 36, Whytt, on
nervous disorders, observed on self; (Nos. 37 to 45, additional provings); 37,
Lembke, A. H. Z., 47, 177, proving with tincture, repeated doses of 2 to 40 drops; 38, Dr. Schneller, Vienna provings (allop.), began with 5 drops,
increasing to 200 drops at a dose, B. J. of Hom., 6, 272; 39,
Pliny Earle, two provings, first with American extract, 3 doses a day for nineteen days,
increasing from 1 to 60 grains; second, with English extract, 3 doses a day, from 1 to 100
grains, Am. J. of Med. Sci., 36, p. 61; 40, Dr. Kitchen,
effects of “full doses,” 10 to 20 minims, on healthy persons, Am. J. of Insanity,
4, 1873; 41, Dr. Fountain took 12 grains of extract
“to test its activity,” Am. J. of Med. Sci., Jan., 1846; 42,
Dr. Harley, Old Veg. Neurotics, effects of tincture, extract, and Succus Conii; 43, Dr. Robinson, provings on females with the 1000th and 30th
dils., B. J. of Hom., 25, 323; 44, Dr. Berridge, a lady
took 1 dose of the 30th m. of F. (one symptom after three days), N. Am. J. of Hom., N. S.,
iv, 193; 45, Dr. Edward Curtis, took 1/2 drachm of
Squibb’s fluid extract, N. Y. Med. Rec., May, 1875; (Nos. 46
to 64, additional cases of poisoning); 46, Haff, poisoned by eating herb in soup, from Orfila Toxicol.; 47, Gasson, man ate some herb Con., from Orfila; 48, Vicat, a man and wife ate some root, from Orfila; 49, Schlegel, Material. 1801, effects of eating the herb, in
salad; 50, Buchner, Repertorium (Fr. Mag.), two cases,
one from rubbing the essence into a goitre; 51,
Matthiolus (fro Wibmer), a monk at some of the root; 52,
Guldenklee, a man ate some of the root (from Wibmer); 53,
Kircher, two men ate the root (from Wibmer); 54, Hee, a
girl of twelve, ate the root (from Wibmer); 55, Dr.
Weitenweber, two boys ate the root, Prag. Med. Mon., 198; 56,
Bennett, a tailor, ate some herb, Ed. Med. J., 1845; 57,
Bianchi, two girls ate some root, Gaz. Lomb., 1837 (S. J., 95, 313); 58, Knorre, a young woman, smelled some of the pulverized seeds,
A. H. Z., 19, 222; 59, Dyce Brown, a pregnant woman,
took 13 drops of Succus Conii for a dry cough, Month. Hom. Rev., 1869; 60, Skinner, five children poisoned, Liverpool Med.-Chir. J.,
1858 (from Am. J. of M. S., 36, 564, original not obtainable); 61,
Guarda, a robust girl, took a strong decoction to produce abortion, Quar. Hom. Journ., 1,
482; 62, Cattell, B. J. of Hom., 11, 341, collected
symptoms; 63, Walker, of Brooklyn, killed by three doses
of 50 drops of Squibb’s fluid extract, taken at intervals of half an hour, record dictated
by himself, New York daily papers, 1875; 64, Comoz,
poisoning of a family by eating some of the root cooked with other vegetables, from Imbert
Gourbeyre’s collection of cases in B. J. of Hom., 33, 654.
MIND.
► Emotional. ► Liveliest excitement (after twelve hours), [1]. ► Drunkenness, [11]. ► Delirium, [9], [15], [49], etc. ► Violent delirium,
interrupted by crying out from pain (always with the sounds ah! oh!), [57]. ► Constant delirium, [57]. ► Delirious and
stupid; they threw themselves into the water, thinking they were geese; for three years they
remained partly paralytic, suffering from much pain, [53].
► They ran wildly delirious about the whole house,
knocking so hard against the walls that they were full of bruises, [48]. ► Partly foolish and partly
delirious, for some months, [51]. ► Full of fantasies, in the morning (after twenty-four hours), [1]. ► Became much
agitated, were attacked with hallucinations and delirium, and went out of the house; the
neighbors thought the whole family had gone mad, and were obliged to employ force to compel
them to return home; watched them and rallied them in their hallucinations, and more or less
absurd proposals; the patients had been mirthful all the while, [64]. ► Intermittent delirium, [64]. [10.] ► The husband, who had been somewhat addicted to liquor, saw
all sorts of animals dancing upon the bed, and “picked straws” a little, [64]. ► Visions of her
brother and child, who had died; at the same time, she saw distinctly persons in the room;
she was quite aware that this was an illusion, and tried to get it out of her mind, but she
could not prevent herself seeing them together, as if they were coming in at the door, [59]. ► Fancied that some
one was coming in at the door, at night, [1]. ► Constant mirth, [64]. ► Tendency to laugh, as if coming from the right hypochondrium
and stomach, during an exhausted condition, [1]. ► Tendency to laugh, with loss of vital energy, [1]. ► Violent weeping, with
tears, at night, in sleep, [1]. ►
When alone in the house she was seized by an inclination to weep; on giving way to it, it
changed to a loud hiccough, followed by flickering before the eyes and indistinct vision, so
that she was obliged to steady herself in walking, followed by exhaustion of all the limbs,
and dull headache, [1]. [20.]
► She is easily disturbed by trifles, and made to cry, [1]. ► Lively, well, and
strong, in the morning (alternating curative action), (after twenty-four hours), [2]. ► Lively free mood
(curative action), (third and fourth days), [2]. ► Lively mood, with inclination to talk (curative action), [4]. ► Sad mood (after
one day), [5]. ►
More sad than lively, [1]. ►
Hypochondriac depression and indifference, while walking in the open air, [3]. ► Frequent thoughts of death,
[1]. ► Anxiety, [54]. ► [Anxiety], [31]. [Not found. -Hughes.] [30.]
► Awakened at night by anxiety, so that she lies long
awake, [1]. ►
Extreme anxiety constantly impelled them from place to place, [55].
► [Hysterical anxiety], [26].
[Patient had attacks of this with 357 till she died; there is no thought of ascribing them
to Conium. -Hughes.] ► Anxious sensation, with beating of
the heart, and profuse nosebleed, [37]. ► Inclined to be frightened, [1].
► Fearful thought, after waking at night, [1]. ► Very apprehensive thoughts,
almost amounting to deathly anxiety, after midnight, while half awake, [1]. ► Fearful lachrymation,
faint-hearted, [1]. ►
Sunk in deep thought; he apprehensively considered the present and future, and sought to be
alone, [4]. ► Dread
of men, of their approach, yet with dread of being alone, [1].
[40.] ► Fear of
thieves, [1]. ►
Superstitious thoughts, [1]. ►
Constant ill-humor and fretfulness, [1]. ► *Very ill-humored, every afternoon, from 5 to 6, as though a great
guilt weighed upon him, with paralyzed feeling in all the limbs, indifference, and taking no
interest in anything, [1]. ► Fretful and peevish about trifles, [1]. ► Extremely fretful and
anxious thoughts about dying, in the morning, with confusion of the head (after twenty-nine
hours), [2]. ►
Fretful mood; he does not know how he shall busy himself; the time passes too slowly (after
eight hours), [6]. ►
Fretful things absorb his attention, [1]. ► She feels peevish, vexed, and easily
put out about trifles, [43]. ► Very easily aroused to anger, [1].
[50.] ► *Morose mood;
everything about him makes an unpleasant impression upon him, [4]. ► *He is averse to being near
people, and to the talk of those passing him; is inclined to seize hold of and abuse them,
[1]. ► Great
discontent, [1]. ►
Indifference to agreeable sensations, [1]. ► Insensibility, with indolence, [27].
► *Extremely insensible, [1]. ► Intellectual. ► *Disinclination for business, [27]. ►► *Inability to sustain
any mental effort, [40]. ► *Dulness, like stupefaction; difficulty in understanding what he is
reading, [1]. ►
Dulness; difficulty in understanding what he is reading, with confusion of the head,
[1]. [60.] ► [Confused thoughts], [16].
► Frequently makes mistakes in speaking, [1]. ► Unable to express himself
properly while talking, or to think correctly, [1]. ► Memory weak, [37]. ► *Want of memory, [1].
► Loss of memory (in seventy-four cases), [30]. ► Senseless, after waking
from the midnight sleep, [1].
HEAD.
► Confusion and Vertigo.
► Confusion of the head (after one hour), [1]. ► Confusion and heaviness of
the head (after five days), [1]. ►
Confusion and heaviness of the head, on waking, after a sound sleep, [1]. [70.] ►
Confusion in the left half of the head, as from coldness, or as if the brain did not fill
the skull, [1]. ►
*Constant confusion of the forehead, in the region of the eyebrows and root of the nose
(first day), [1]. ►
Tendency to vertigo, [The phrase, “tendency to vertigo,” has been used here in
preference to the word vertigo, simply because this effect, thus described, was not
sufficient at any time to destroy the ability to walk straight. The instability of the gait
was, or appeared to be, principally owing to the effect upon the muscles in the vicinity of
the knees.] with a sensation as if the eyes were swollen and unnaturally protruded
(sixteenth and subsequent days), [39]. ► *Vertigo (after twenty minutes, eighteenth day), [39]. ► Vertigo, so that
everything seems to turn in a circle, [12]. ► Vertigo, affecting the head, [18].
► *Vertigo, in the morning, on rising from bed, [1]. ► Vertigo, on
becoming erect after stooping, as if the head would burst, [1].
► Vertigo, on going downstairs; she was obliged to hold
herself still, and for a moment did not know where she was, [1].
► Vertigo, worse when lying down; as though the bed were
turning in a circle, [1]. [80.]
► Vertigo, like turning in a circle, on rising from his
seat, [1]. ►
Dizziness and reeling in the head, for two days, [1]. ► Very decided dizziness (after half an hour), [63]. ► *Very dizzy while walking,
[1]. ► Giddiness
and sensation of weight along te orbit, [40]. ► Great giddiness, [42]. ► Severe giddiness, [42].
► Sudden giddiness and so much weakness of the legs as
rendered the patient incapable of walking, and he was obliged to lie down (after twenty
minutes), [42]. ► The
slightest spirituous drink intoxicates him; even watered wine rises to his head, [1]. ► [Reeling], [16]. ► Reeling while
standing, [37]. ►
General Head. [90.] ►
Apoplexy, [24]. ►
[Serous apoplexy], [14]. [In an old woman of eighty;
ten days after leaving off Conium. -Hughes.] ► Great
weakness of the head, and of the whole body, with loss of appetite, [50]. ► Unable to hold head up
(half an hour), [63]. ►
Utter inability to keep the head erect, [49]. ► Continuous stupefaction of the head, with constant
inclination to sleep, [1]. ►
Heaviness of the head, [1], [37]. ► Heaviness and pressure
deep in the brain, [37]. ►
The head is heavy, [35]. [During convalescence.
-Hughes.] ► Awoke with a headache, and felt weak and
poorly, from broken rest, and a sharp attack of diarrhœa during the early morning, [42]. [100.]
► Headache, with nausea, at night, in bed, [1]. ► On going in, after walking
in the open air, headache, with pressure in the right eye, [1].
► Headache daily, on account of too scanty though
frequent stools, associated with urging, [1]. ► Headache on stepping; she felt every step in her head, [1]. ► Some headache, wit
diminution of appetite, throughout the day (nineteenth day), [39].
► Headache, with nausea and vomiting of mucus (third
day), [5]. ► In a
few instances slight headache, muscæ volitantes, diplopia, languor, and inclination to
sleep, [60]. ►
Violent headache, [59]. ►
Violent headache, with vertigo, wherewith she sat in one place, sad, and without speaking,
for three or four days, [24]. ►
Very violent headache, [49]. [110.]
► Feeling of fulness in the head, [37]. ► While at the breakfast
table, a disagreeable sensation, like “fulness of the head,” occasioned by a
ligature around the neck, this was accompanied by a very slight vertigo (fifteenth day), [39]. ► Headache, as if the
brain were too full and would burst, in the morning, on waking, [1]. ► Tension in the head, and a
sensation of compression from both temples, after every meal; was obliged to rest the
forehead on the table, [4]. ►
Drawing in the head, with going to sleep of the brain; relieved after eating, [2]. ► Violent drawing in the
head, on going into the open air; relieved on closing the eyes
(soon), [50]. ►
Dulness in the head, after drinking, [1]. ► Dull pressure in the head, on going into the open air; he was
obliged to rub the forehead, [1]. ► Headache, a simple pain, on walking in the open air; it seems
dull; even in the morning, lasting till breakfast, [1].
► The cerebral oppression was extremely unpleasant and
oppressive (nineteenth day), [39]. [120.] ► Sticking in the head,
while coughing, [1]. ►
Sticking pain in the head, as from needles, lasting an hour, [1].
► Shooting into the head from coughing, [5]. ► Boring tearing and pressure
in various parts of the bones of the head, [37]. ► Headache, in the morning, on waking, as in epidemic fever, as
if the brain were torn, especially towards the occiput (after ten hours), [1]. ► Headache in the morning, as
if the head were beaten or would be pressed asunder, [1].
► Headache, extending from the forehead to the occiput,
as if something were loose, on shaking the head, [1]. ► Forehead. ► Violent
pains in the forehead and eyes, with profuse burning lachrymation, as though salt water had
got into the eye, [59]. ►
Headache, as from external contraction, in the upper part of the forehead, disappearing on
stooping or leaning it on the hand, with chilliness, vertigo, and fretful senselessness
(after one hour and a half), [2]. ► Pressive drawing around the forehead and right temple, [37]. [130.] ► Digging and griping in the forehead, as from the stomach,
with such great sensitiveness of the brain that it was painfully shattered by noises and by
speaking, [1]. ►
Drawing pain in the forehead above the brows, [1]. ► Drawing pain in the brain just behind the forehead (first
days), [1]. ►
Pressure in the forehead, [37]. ►
Pressure in various places on the forehead (after three hours), [37]. ► Pressure in the forehead,
alternately severe and slight; afterward heaviness, followed by the same sensation in the
occiput, [37]. ►
Pressure in the right side of the forehead, in the left side of the occiput, and in the left
parietal eminence, [37]. ►
Pressure and heaviness in the forehead, lasting the whole day, [37]. ► Pressive pain in the
forehead, externally, [4]. ►
Pressive headache, as from a stone, on the upper part of the frontal bone (after three
days), [2]. [140.]
► Pressive headache from within outward, over the eyes, [6]. ► Pressive headache,
externally in the forehead, causing stupefaction, [4].
► Jerklike sudden sticking in the forehead, lasting the
whole day, worse in the room, [50]. ► Sticking pain from within outward in the forehead, at noon,
[1]. ► Sticking
headache in the forehead, the whole day; still she could not lie down, [1]. ► Sticking headache coming
out at the forehead, with inclination to lie down, in the forenoon, [1]. ► Stitches in the forehead, [1]. ► Stitches,
extending out of the forehead, in the morning after rising, [1].
► Throbbing in the forehead, [1]. ► Temples. ► Slight pain from temple to temple several times during the
day (eighth day), [39]. [150.]
► Some headache in the region of the temples, attributed
to a cold (third day), [39]. ►
Drawings in the right temporal muscles; worse when walking, [37].
► Drawing pain in the temporal bones, [1]. ► Drawing pain in the
temples, on touch, [2]. ►
Pressure in both temples (after a few hours), [5]. ► Tearing in the right temple and right ear, [1]. ► Tearing pain through the
temples, in the morning (fourth day), [2]. ► Tearing pain in the temples, while eating, [2]. ► Tearing headache in the
temporal region, with pressure in the forehead, after eating (third day), [2]. ► Vertex. ► Pressure on the vertex, with feeling as though one would
fall, [37]. [160.]
► The headache consisted of a violent pressive, squeezing
sensation, like something pressing on the top of the head; the pain then went down from the
top of the head to the sides of the jaws, and thence to below the left breast, with a
feeling of choking and inability to draw a breath, [59].
► Dull pressure deep in the vertex, [37]. ► Dull pressure on the
vertex, afterward around the forehead, [37]. ► Nipping in the vertex on every step, while walking, without
pain; not while sitting, [1]. ►
Some pain and heaviness in top and back of head (after half an hour), [63]. ► Parietals. ► *Numbness, with sensation of coldness, of one side of the head,
[1]. ► *Sensation in
the right half of the brain as of a large foreign body, [1]. ► Pressive pain in the right
half of the brain, extending backward, [1]. ► Sticking in the parietal bones, and in the forehead, with
vertigo, so that he was obliged to sit down; together with sticking in the cervical muscles,
[1]. ► Tearing
stitches, extending from the left parietal bone to the frontal region, [1]. [170.] ►
Headache on one side, gradually increasing as if bruised, and as if something heavy were
pressing downward, aggravated by moving the eyes towards the affected side, [1]. ► Pulsation in the right side
of the head, in the evening, in bed, [1]. ► Occiput. ► Heavy
sensation in the occiput, that frequently disappears and reappears; it appears from time to
time while sitting bent, but always disappears on becoming erect, [6]. ► Fulness and confusion in
the occiput, [37]. ►
Pressure on the left side of the occiput, [37]. ► Pressure in the right side of the occiput, as with a plug, [37]. ► *Pain in the occiput;
at every pulse it feels as though pierced with a knife, [1]. ► Slight tearings in the left
side of the occiput, while walking (after half an hour), [2].
► Tearing headache in the occiput and nape of the neck,
and especially in the orbits, with constant nausea, so that she was obliged to lie in bed, [1]. ► External Head.
► Falling of the hair, [1].
[180.] ► Burning on
the scalp above the right frontal eminence, with sensitiveness of the skin at that place, [37]. ► Sharp pressure in
a small spot on the scalp, [1]. ►
Much itching on the scalp, [1].® 2000
Article