Muriaticum Acidum.
Hydrochloric acid. HCl. First dilutions with distilled water.
Clinical.─
Anus, prolapse
of. Chilblains. Chorea. Deafness (cerebral). Diphtheria.
Enteric fever. Ephelis. Feet, soles, pains in.
Gastric disorders. Hćmorrhoids. Hemiopia. Impotence.
Measles. Mercurial ulceration. Mouth, aphthć; psoriasis of tongue; ulcers. Scarlatina. Scurvy. Tendo Achillis, affections of. Tongue, affections of; psoriasis of. Typhus. Varices.
Whooping-cough.
Characteristics.─
The popular name of Mur. ac., “Spirit of Salt,” describes at once its
nature and origin. It is a colourless gas, with a pungent, suffocating odour, and acid
taste, and it is manufactured from Salt (Nat. m.) by the
action of sulphuric acid. It is freely soluble in water, and the saturated solution contains
43 per cent. of the gas. Teste, who did much to define the powers of Mur. ac., groups with it Agn. cast.
and Hyos., and he considers its action corresponds
perfectly to a typical case of typhus. Among the common features of the group he gives;
Stupefying headache. Obscuration of sight and optical illusions. Whizzing noises in the ears
and hardness of hearing. Nose-bleed and loss of smell. Rough, cracked lips, and foul breath.
Scurvy of mouth. Paralysis of tongue. Loss of taste. Distended, sensitive abdomen, pricking,
bruised pain in abdominal walls. Serous, fetid diarrhśa, not very painful. Involuntary
stool. Throat pains. Paralysis of bladder. Excited sexual desire. Impotence. Hoarseness,
spasmodic cough. Stitches about heart. Fever with stinging heat, frequent, small,
intermittent pulse, earthy or livid skin. Like Nit. ac., Mur. ac.
is a powerful antidote to Merc., and it meets conditions
caused by Mercury, and also similar conditions otherwise
arising. Like other disinfectants, it causes as well as remedies rapid decomposition of
tissue, and dynamically cures low putrid conditions met with in disease. The distinctive
features of Mur. ac. are: Muscular prostration from
blood-poisoning going on to paralysis, finally of brain or heart. Burning
is a great feature in its symptomatology, as its escharotic powers might suggest─ulcers
(especially their margins), eruptions, piles, varices, stomach, and abdomen. It sours the
excretions and makes them acrid. Offensive secretions, offensive breath and body-smell; and
it is indicated in fevers of all kinds, exanthematous, typhoid, puerperal as well as
diphtheria, when these symptoms with the mental and paretic state are present. The mucous
membranes are dry, bleeding, cracked, and ulcerated. Sordes on teeth. Burning, and burning
eruptions on lips. Piles like a bunch of grapes which look purple and burn when touched. Prolapse of rectum, whilst straining to pass
water. Urination involuntary or difficult; there is straining and dribbling, and the
straining causes the rectum to prolapse; it may also cause involuntary stool. This may be
due to local conditions, or it may be a consequence of a low state of health. Mur. ac. not only corresponds to low febrile states it also meets
many of their sequelć. Deafness, otitis, and glandular swellings about the ears often
require Mur. ac. Among the peculiar
sensations of the remedy are: Hair, as if drawn upwards; as if standing on end.
Brain: as if loose; beaten or tom to pieces; brain clasped by a hand, and bruised and tom.
Occiput as if filled with lead. Mouth as if glued up with insipid mucus. As if some
obstruction must be pulled out of throat. Burning as if under skin of coccyx. As if place
was jammed in in tendo-Achillis. Deadness and numbness in forehead, in fingers. The tongue
is shrunken; and paralysed. The parched, shrunken tongue is an indication in typhoid or
other fevers. [Mur. ac. has a marked action on the
tongue. Cooper cured with it these cases: (1) Man, 52,
whose sister had died of cancer, had a hard, deep, warty ulcer, size of a small bean on
under surface of tongue, l. side, with much surrounding hardness and little discharge. (2) Tongue swollen, makes him talk thick, much ulcerated,
especially r. side, is hard, with swelling followed by lupoid ulcer, on corresponding side
of nose; had been going on ten months.] Tendency “to slide down to the foot of the
bed” was noted by Hahnemann and has been amply confirmed. It indicates an extremely low
vital condition. Mur. ac. is suited
to persons of black hair and dark eyes. The skin is much affected, and is sensitive to the
sun’s rays─eczema solare and freckles. Black pocks. Blind boils frothy
when touched. The symptoms are: < By touch. The
itching of anus and scrotum is not > by scratching.
Warmth >; cold washing, cold drinks <. Cold wind and open air >
headache. > Uncovering (during fever). < Evening and night. Rest <
most symptoms. Lying on r. side < vertigo. Motion < vertigo; > tearing
pains. < After sleep. <
After eating (diarrhśa). > After drinking.
Relations.─
Antidoted by:
Carbonates of alkalies and earths (poisoning cases); to small doses: Camph., Bry. (Teste
says the surest antidote is Ipec.). It antidotes: Merc.,
Opium. It “cures the muscular weakness following the excessive use of Opium”
(Hering). It follows well: Bry., Merc., Rhus. Compare: In typhoid states, Bry. (Bry. has < motion), Rhus (restlessness, >
by motion; Rhus has less debility), Phos. ac. (Phos. ac. has less prostration, is apathetic,
indifferent, Mur. ac. taciturn), Apis (Apis has blisters on tongue, and it catches teeth
when attempt is made to protrude it), Ars. (Ars. has scanty evacuations), Bapt. (Bapt., has
besotted look, tongue red on edges), Bell. (Bell. more active, hyperćmia), K. permang.
(throat symptoms, śdematous uvula), Sul. ac. (Sul. ac. has not >
uncovering), Gels. (with Gels. the muscular prostration is expressed,
with Mur. ac. it is unconscious), Nit. ac. (thin, excoriating discharge from nose,
intermittent pulse and loss of appetite), Arum tri. Piles during menses, Amm. c., Collins.,
Graph., Pho., Pul., Sul. Piles sensitive, Bell., Caust. Early morning hunger, Ant. c.,
Calc., Saba., Lyc. Cannot bear the thought or sight of meat, Nit. ac. Irritable, disposed to
anger and chagrin, Nux. Cracked lips; sore mouth; <
after sleep, Nat. m.; coryza, Chlorum. Tendo-Achillis, affection of, Val. Mur. ac. is a
constituent of the gastric juice, and must therefore be considered as allied to the Sarcodes
and proximate principle of the tissues, e.g.,
Cholesterin.
Causation.─
Sun.
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─
Sadness.─Taciturnity
and reserve, anxiety, apprehension and peevishness.─Indecision and
inquietude.─Ideas respecting recent events crowd upon the mind during
labour.─Disposition to be angry and to give way to passion.─Unconsciousness.
2. Head.─
Turning vertigo; < moving eyes; with staggering gait.─Headache
provoked by walking in open air, and esp. by a sharp wind.─Headache, < by rising up in bed, and by moving the eyes > by moving the body), disappearing on taking exercise.─Heaviness,
esp. in occiput, with cloudiness of eyes, greatly <
by looking intently at an object.─Jerking, beating, tearing from l. half
of occiput to forehead; soon same on r.─(Pressure on vertex, dimness of
sight, faint feeling coming irregularly; sickish after meals, bad taste and fatigue on
waking; thinks some one is walking behind, and cannot stir out alone.).─Heavy
feeling in occiput, with drawing stitches, < r. side
close to nape, with swollen gland tender to touch; intoxicated feeling at same time.─Headache
as if brain were bruised, torn, or demolished.─Feeling as if brain were
loose.─Tearing and stitches in head, coming on in periodical shocks.─Feeling
of failing asleep and deadness.─Tearing in r. parietal bone.─Shocks,
tearings, or shootings in head.
3. Eyes.─
Itching smarting in canthi.─Itching
in eyes.─Stitches out of eyes.─Shootings across
eyes.─Swelling and redness of eyelids.─Vertical
hemiopia.─(Neuralgia over l. eye, hemiopia and double vision, which is
always followed by headache, numbness down r. arm and aphasia.─R. T. C.)
4. Ears.─
Otalgia (with pressive pain), like
spasmodic and acute pullings.─Pulsation in ears.─Insensibility
of auditory tube.─Scabious eruptions in ears.─Hardness
of hearing and deafness.─Acuteness of hearing, with sensibility to
noise.─Ticking of watch is heard better than the voice (cerebral
deafness).─Tinkling, buzzing, and whistling before the ears.
5. Nose.─
Ulceration of nostrils.─Sore
nostrils with stinging pain.─Obstruction of nose.─Coryza,
with thick yellow, or serous and corrosive mucus.─Continuous bleeding
from nose.─Coryza, with itching, tickling, and sneezing.
6. Face.─
Heat in face, with burning redness of
cheeks, when walking in open air, without thirst.─Ephelis.─Eruption
of scabious pimples on face, forehead, and temples; whole face red; every summer.─Furuncules
on temple.─Burning in lips.─Puffiness of lower lip,
it feels heavy and burns.─Eruptions on lips, sometimes covered with
scabs.
7. Teeth.─
Odontalgia, with pulsative pain, < by cold drinks, > by
heat.─Toothache, with sensation of pressing asunder.─Tingling
in teeth.─Scorbutic gums, swollen, easily bleeding and ulcerating.
8. Mouth.─
Dryness of mouth, with paralysis of
tongue.─Profuse accumulation of saliva.─Heaviness of
tongue, when speaking, as if it were made of lead, which prevents him from talking.─Deep-seated
ulcers (with black base), vesicles, or pustules on tongue.─Small tumours
r. side of tongue.─The tongue becomes sore and bluish.─The
tongue dwindles (atrophy of tongue).─(Psoriasis of tongue.).─Mucous
lining of the lips, and mouth inflamed, red, raw, painful, dotted with whitish points; fetid
breath; stomatitis.─Parched tongue.
9. Throat.─
Sore throat, with pain as from
excoriation, rawness, and smarting in throat and palate.─Dry throat with
burning in chest.─Mucous lining of throat and fauces deep dark red,
swollen and burning; covered with greyish-white diphtheritic-like deposits.─Swelling
of uvula; of tonsils.─Much saliva that must be swallowed.─Attempting
to swallow produces violent spasms and choking.
10. Appetite.─
Taste of rancid grease in throat.─Acrid
and putrid taste (like rotten eggs, with ptyalism) in throat.─All food
has a sweetish taste, and esp. beer, which is disliked.─Bulimy and
excessive thirst.─Dislike to meat.─Appetite lost.
11. Stomach.─
Risings, putrid or bitter.─Hiccough
(before and after dinner).─Vomiting of food.─Vomiting
of bile, at night, with nausea and eructations.─Uneasiness in stomach,
as indicating serious illness.─Sensation of emptiness in the stomach and
śsophagus, not > by eating.─Contractive
pain in stomach, with sensation as if it were retracted.─Pressive
tension and cramp-like pain in hypochondria.
12. Abdomen.─
Uneasiness in abdomen, as in serious
illness.─Fulness and inflation of the abdomen; from small quantities of
food.─Cramp-like pains in abdomen, with cuttings and pinchings,
extending from umbilical region into sides, accompanied by borborygmi.─Sensation
of emptiness in abdomen.─Lancination in groins.
13. Stool and Anus.─
Difficult evacuations of fćces,
as from inactivity of rectum.─Fćces of too small a size.─Diarrhśa,
with smarting and burning in rectum and anus.─Stercoral diarrhśa.─Involuntary
evacuation of liquid and serous fćces when urinating.─Discharge of
blood during stools.─Prolapsus recti, when urinating.─Itching
in anus.─Hćmorrhoids protruding like a bunch of grapes.─Swollen
and bluish hćmorrhoidal excrescences, with burning pain as from excoriation; < by touch.─Bleeding hćmorrhoids.
14. Urinary Organs.─
Tenesmus of bladder.─Frequent
want to urinate, with abundant emission.─Immoderate emission of aqueous
urine.─Slow emission of urine.─Weakness of bladder.─Involuntary
discharge of urine.─Relaxation of bladder, and of neck of bladder.
15. Male Sexual Organs.─
Excoriation of prepuce.─Soreness
in the margin of prepuce.─Itching of scrotum not > by scratching.─Suppression of sexual
desire.─Feeling of weakness in genital organs, penis relaxed.─Impotence.
16. Female Sexual Organs.─
Sensation of a bearing
down towards genital organs, as if preparatory to catamenia.─During
menses sad and taciturn.─Ulcers in genitals, with putrid discharge, much
sensitiveness and general weakness.─Cannot bear the least touch even of
sheets on genitals.─Too early catamenia, and too profuse.
17. Respiratory Organs.─
Hoarseness, with sore
feeling in chest.─Chronic hoarseness.─Violent and
sobbing cough, followed by a gurgling in bottom of chest.─Breathing deep
and groaning; moaning.
18. Chest.─
Deep respiration with groans.─Lancinating
pains in chest, during a violent movement, and during inspiration.─Tensive
pain in sternum.─Incisive shocks in chest, with dull pressure on
posterior part of chest, and with oppression.─Oppression across chest
(evening).
19. Heart and Pulse.─
Stitches in chest, and on
heart, when taking a long breath and on violent motion.─Pulse rapid and
very feeble; and small.─Shootings in region of heart.─Shock
in heart at night, so violent that it is felt in face.
20. Back.─
Aching pain in back, as from having
been bent double for a long time, or from a strain.─Shootings in
shoulder-blades.─Furunculi in back.
22. Upper Limbs.─
Paralytic weakness, and
wrenching pain in shoulder.─Heaviness of arms, esp. the forearms.─Tearing,
aching, and pulling in arms.─Drawing tension in elbow-joint.─Cramp-like
drawings and heaviness in forearm.─Incisive tearing in forearm, hands,
and fingers.─Voluptuous itching and tickling, and lancinating, in palms.─Scabby
eruption on back of hand, and upper part of fingers.─Cramp-like pain in
fleshy part of thumb when writing.─Swelling of extremity of fingers,
with burning.─Nocturnal torpor and paleness of fingers, which are as if
dead.
23. Lower Limbs.─
Tearing and cramp-like pulling
in thighs.─Wavering gait from weakness of the thighs.─Itching,
tettery spots on thighs.─Swelling of knees.─Drawing
tension in calf of leg, and in tendo-Achillis, when walking.─Lancinations
in tendo-Achillis, day and night, which hinder walking and sleeping.─Putrid,
painful ulcers in legs, with burning in their circumference.─Coldness of
feet.─Swelling and redness of extremity of toes, with burning.
24. Generalities.─
[This remedy is often called
for in cases where the patient cannot urinate without having the bowels moved at the same
time; in typhus or low grades of fever where we find this symptom with great prostration;
patient may think he is going to pass a little wind, when urine will come away also.─Hćmorrhoids
very tender to the touch, so much so that he can scarcely bear to use paper after an
evacuation; after confinement, hćmorrhoids protrude so that the pressure of a sheet can
scarcely be borne.─In low types of fever the patient often slips down
toward the foot of the bed, and must be lifted up every little while.─Cannot
bear the sight or thought of meat, it is so distasteful.─Urine too
copious, both night and day.─Affections in general, of any kind,
appearing in the tendo-Achillis; the soles of the feet.─Scurvy,
particularly if the parts affected are very sore and tender to the touch.─Itching
of the skin > by scratching.─Putrid
ulcers.─H. N. G.].─Tearing and incisive (rheumatic)
pains in limbs, during repose, > during movement.─Restlessness;
frequent changing of position.─Contusive pains in all joints.─Painful
sensibility of periosteum of bones, as in intermittent fever.─Coldness
of extremities.─Dropsical swellings.─Indolence and
dread of movement, with inclination to remain seated.─Excessive
depression; on sitting down, the eyelids close; the lower jaw hangs down, he slides down in
bed.─Tottering gait, from weakness of thighs and knees.─Great
sensitiveness to damp weather.─Paralysis of tongue and sphincter ani.
25. Skin.─
Itching, voluptuous and lancinating
tickling, with want to scratch.─Scabious eruptions, which itch in heat
of bed.─Furunculi, with shooting pain when they are touched.─Putrid
and painful ulcers, with burning at margins.─Fetid odour of ulcers; also
they are covered with a scurf.─Black pustules.
26. Sleep.─
Great drowsiness during day, which
disappears on taking exercise.─Sleeplessness before midnight.─Before
midnight, continued snoring, groaning, tossing, talking, and tendency to slide downwards in
bed.─Frequent and early waking, caused by a coldness that is felt in
bed.─Anxious dreams.
27. Fever.─
Predominant sensation of cold.─Shivering,
with yawning and stretching, without thirst, and not followed by heat.─Chill
in the evening, with coldness in back, with external warmth and burning in face.─Shuddering
over whole body, with hot cheeks and cold hands.─Burning heat, esp. in
palms and soles.─Night and morning sweat.─In
evening, the perspiration is first cold on the feet.─Typhus fever, lower
jaw hangs down, atrophy of tongue, involuntary watery stools when passing urine, great
debility, with sliding down in bed, loud moaning.─Heat without thirst,
with agitation, and desire to throw off clothes at night.─Pulse weak and
slow.─Intermittent pulse, every third beat.─Nocturnal
sweat, on going to sleep in evening, or before midnight, esp. on head and back.® 2000
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