Oleum Jecoris Aselli.
Oleum jecoris Morrhuć. Cod-liver oil. Oil obtained from the livers of
Gadus morrhua and some other allied fishes. N. O. Gadidć. Tincture. Trituration.Clinical.─
Addison’s disease. Alopecia. Amenorrhśa.
Anćmia. Asthma. Bones, affections of. Bright’s disease. Cold abscess. Constipation. Coryza.
Cough. Diarrhśa. Dwarfishness. Emaciation. Fever. Fistula. Goître. Hair, abnormal growth
of. Headache. Heart, palpitation of. Intermittent fever. Joints, stiffness of; fistulć and
abscess around. Liver, diseases of. Lumbago. Phthisis. Pneumonia. Rheumatism. Ringworm.
Sacralgia. Sciatica. Scrofulous ophthalmia. Sleeplessness. Spinal irritation. Vision,
affections of.
Characteristics.─
The number of people who
“cannot take cod-liver oil” is very great; which means that Ol. j. a. is a pathogenetic as well as a curative agent. Neidhard
proved it and elicited some very definite symptoms, and to these have been added effects,
curative and pathogenetic, observed on patients. The oil contains a large number of
proximate principles of great complexity, to which its specific medicinal properties are
due. Recent developments of sarcopathy mark out Ol. j. a.
as a liver remedy, an ally of Cholesterine, and this the
provings confirm. Very decided pains in the liver and liver region with great soreness were
noted in Neidhard’s provings, and these symptoms give one of the keynotes of the remedy─Soreness. Not only the liver, but the throat, chest, abdomen,
kidneys, ovaries, joints, and back are all sore; the spine is sore as in spinal irritation.
Another keynote is the occurrence of palpitation of the heart as a concomitant of other
symptoms; with cough; with short breath. Allied to this is a “sense of fluttering, like
the movements of a watch, commencing in region of sacrum, gradually rising to occiput, and
in its ascent affecting abdomen and chest, so that the patient is transfixed, unable to move
hand or foot;” also “creeping sensation all over with a rush of blood to
heart.” The reputation of Ol. j. a. as a remedy for
phthisis and scrofulous affections is shown by the provings to be specific, whatever
food-value the oil may possess in addition. “Dry, hacking cough night-cough; cough with
tough expectoration, yellow or white soreness of chest, especially on coughing; sharp
stitches here and there, through chest; burning through to back; burning in spots,” are
among the symptoms experienced. The fever symptoms are strongly marked, both hectic and
intermittent. One very characteristic feature is: “Fever <
towards evening with burning in palms.” Chills
running down the back. Feet constantly cold. Ol. j. a.
is a chilly medicine: sensitive to draughts; feels as if continually taking cold. The cough
is < from exposure to cold; <
in damp weather. The sensitiveness to chill and damp is part of the intermittent fever
action of the remedy, and along with it is affection of the spleen, which is the seat of
several symptoms. During the chill and before it there is thirst. When the fever came on the
cough was >. The yellowness
of Ol. j. a. appears not only in the expectoration, but
in the coating of the tongue, yellow mucus from sore throat, and a yellow Leucorrhśa. On
the female sexual organs Ol. j. a. has a powerful
action, increasing the menstrual flow and restoring it when in abeyance. Burnett has shown
that ringworm generally has its constitutional basis in a consumptive habit, and Bacil. has again and again proved the remedy. This is paralleled
in a local use of the anti-phthisic Ol. j. a. which was
taught me by De Noë Walker. In recent ringworm the application of the plain oil at bedtime
is at once the most innocent and most effectual of local measures that I know. Before the
application the part should be washed well with soft soap. Another use of the remedy taught
me by the same authority is as a general application in the case of emaciated, dwarfish,
chilly babies and children. A nightly rubbing with the oil soon revolutionises their
condition. The nutrition of the skin is improved and the medicinal properties of the oil are
absorbed without any tax being put on the organs of digestion. Burnett says olive oil acts
as well. That may be, but it does not act better. I have no comparative figures to refer to.
When the symptoms indicate Ol. j. a. it should certainly
have the preference. Defective nutrition; anćmia; weakness and emaciation; deficiency of
animal heat. Children who cannot take milk. The headaches are usually frontal; over right
eye; bursting after coughing. Other symptoms are: Red face (also in hectic). Voracious
appetite. Foul breath. Symptoms go in all directions─from above down;
from below up; from front to back; and from back to front. One curious symptom was abnormal
growth of hair on the face of a woman. Another was passage of mucus from urethra, with
burning, during stool. Symptoms are < by touch; by
riding; by a fall. < By motion; raising arm;
stooping; bending side inwards; walking. Laughing <
cough. Lying down = oppressed feeling; and < cough. Coughing =
soreness of chest; headache. Fever > cough. < From draught of air; exposure to cold; living in cold, damp
localities.
Relations.─
Antidoted by:
Iris v. (chill with sick stomach and diarrhśa). Compare:
Cholest., Fel., and sarcodes generally. In phthisis, ringworm; emaciation, Bac., Pho.
Emaciation and ravenous appetite, Iod. Intolerance of milk, Ćthus., Calc., Lac v., Mag. c.
Pains in head with cough, Caps., Bry., Nat. m. Chilly; effects of damp localities, Nat.
sul., Aran. Heavy eyelids, Gels., Op.
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─
Feels miserable all over, with great
nervous irritation.─Sensation as if out of her mind.
2. Head.─
Giddiness in head.─Dull
aching pain in forehead.─Steady aching sensation from l. to r. temple.─Aching
about inner part of r. eyebrow as if in periosteum.─Bursting headache
after coughing as if head would split.─Pain from occiput to forehead
with nausea.
3. Eyes.─
Eyes swelled.─Heaviness
over eyes with dry and parched hands.─Aching pain in r. eye when using
it.─Lachrymation when walking in open air (<
l.).─Lids so heavy, can hardly raise them.─During
chill, blindness.─Everything turns black.
4. Ears.─
Deafness in l. ear, abscess in r.─Fetid
discharge from ears.
5. Nose.─
Dry coryza, cough and sneezing.─Fluent
coryza, hoarseness and rawness of chest.─Chronic catarrh and ozćna.─Nose-bleed
when sleeping, with amenorrhśa.
6. Face.─
Face red.─A growth
of short, thick hair on chin and upper lip (in a woman).
8. Mouth.─
(Putrid smell from decayed tooth ceased
whilst taking the oil.).─Tongue: loaded; coated yellow.─Parched
feeling in mouth.─(Fetid breath cured.)
9. Throat.─
Soreness in throat after hawking up
phlegm.─Chronic sore throat, with expectoration of yellow mucus.─Tickling
in throat; weakness in breath.─Thyroid gland swollen.
11. Stomach.─
Voracious appetite diminished (in
rickety children).─Appetite lost; could not take milk.─Thirst:
great; constant; before and during chill.─Nausea.─Vomiting;
of bile and mucus with bitter and acid taste at expiration of chill.─Acid
vomiting with the chill.─Burning in stomach.─Weight
in stomach.
12. Abdomen.─
Soreness and heaviness in region of
liver < by exercise; sore like a boil on pressure.─Heavy
pain in r. side with numbness of r. arm as if dead.─Beating pain in
spleen.─Aching in spleen region on breathing and coughing, with pain at
apex of scapula (at end of chill).─Jerking, drawing pains in region of
spleen.─Flatulence relieved.─(Atrophia mesenterica).
13. Stool and Anus.─
Diarrhśa: at night and early
morning; with the chill.─Constipation.
14. Urinary Organs.─
Soreness in kidneys,
following soreness in liver.─Discharge of mucus from urethra with
burning, every morning during stool.─Acceleration of urinary secretion.─Urine
with bricky sediment.─(Incontinence cured).
16. Female Sexual Organs.─
Acts as emmenagogue.─Menses
reestablished (cure).─Increase of menstrual flow so strong as to render
a suspension of the oil necessary.─Soreness of both ovaries;
dysmenorrhśa.─Leucorrhśa: yellow; with weak back.
17. Respiratory Organs.─
Cough: all night; hard
spells in morning; hacking; tickling in middle of upper chest with palpitation; violent with
retching, night and day; with stitches, on raising arm; <
from draughts of air; < lying down at night, prevents
sleeping; loose all day; from exposure to cold, damp weather; with emaciation and weakness; > when fever comes on.─Expectoration:
yellow or yellowish-green, saltish, tough; tough white; white; bloody mucus.─Breath
short, with palpitation of heart; asthmatic.
18. Chest.─
Oppression, with heat.─Weakness
in chest and back (< l.).─Soreness:
all over chest or in centre with hacking cough and aching between shoulders, < r. side; in chest and stomach with cough; < by motion.─Burning pains in spots in
some one portion of chest.─Burning and heat in l. chest; through to
back, with cough.─Pains in upper chest on coughing.─Pneumonia
of both upper lobes of lungs.─Pain through lower chest to back.─Pain
r. side above and below scapula; breathing there is arrested by soreness; sharp stitch l.
side.─Sensation of excoriation in l. chest; <
upper and lower part of l. chest, extending to back.─Weakness in breast;
tickling in the throat.─(Phthisis.)
19. Heart.─
Palpitation of heart; with cough; with
short breath.─Rush of blood to heart, with a creeping sensation all over
body.─Sudden stitch in heart.─Pulse accelerated,
soft, and small.
20. Neck and Back.─
Soreness from back to neck.─Pain
through back.─Sharp, heavy aching pain in lower spine.─Spinal
irritation, sore to touch.─Fluttering from sacrum to occiput.─Weakness
and dull aching in sacral region, > by pressure.─Often
placed hand on sacrum to support it; often complained of pain in region of sacro-iliac
joint; walking increasingly difficult.
21. Limbs.─
Continual aching and sore pain in
elbow and knee-joints.─Movements in joints were limited; esp. elbows and
knees; flexion and extension caused excruciating suffering.
22. Upper Limbs.─
Rheumatic pains in shoulders.─Hands
dry and parched with pain in spleen.─Pain in bones of l. arm.
23. Lower Limbs.─
Abscess appeared on l. gluteus
maximus near anus, and discharged three times; afterwards another boil r. side of chest.─Hip-joint
disease; esp. when originating in bone (rather than in synovial membrane).─Sciatica
with atrophy of affected limb.─White swelling of knee.─Rheumatic
pain in l. foot.─Fistulć and abscesses round joints.─Soreness
of both feet.─Feet constantly cold.
24. Generalities.─
Atrophy.─(Emaciated
person gains weight.).─Creeping sensation all over body with rush of
blood to heart.─Soreness all round body to back.─Fluttering
(like a watch) rising from sacrum to occiput, affecting abdomen and chest in such a way that
she becomes transfixed, unable to move hand or foot, and arresting movement if in motion at
time of seizure.─Stitches and bearing down in one or other sides; < bending side inward.─Contraction of
muscles: musculo-fibrous rheumatism.
25. Skin.─
Skin red all over, at night in bed,
with irritability, > in morning.─An
eruption of small red spots, like psora, appeared, and from that time she made rapid
progress.─Eruptions: papular; vesicular; herpetic.─(Scrofulous
ulcers discharging a large quantity of pus; cold abscesses.─Lupus.─Ichthyosis.)
26. Sleep.─
Less sleepy than usual.─Sleepless
after 3 a.m.─Dreams of seeing objects in the room during sleep.
27. Fever.─
Constantly chilly; feels as if
constantly taking cold.─Chills from occiput down back and round abdomen.─Chill:
3 a.m.; in evening; with some vomiting and purging for six hours; with spasmodic pain in
region of navel (returned every evening for four days, relieved by Iris v.).─Chilly
on going to bed; afterwards heat, < in hot room;
burning face.─Flushes of heat; face red, stomach hot, heat to tips of
toes.─Heat in palms; every night.─Fever and
excitement every night producing wakefulness.─Tertian intermittent.─Fever
followed by violent sweat, esp. of head, neck, and arms.─Sweat: every
night; with smell of the oil; only on lower limbs.─Cold perspiration all
day.® 2000
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