A Text-Book of
Materia Medica.
(Characteristic,
Analytical, and Comparative.)
By Pr.
Allen Corson Cowperthwaite, M. D., PH. D., LL. D.
CAPSICUM
(Capsicum Annuum.)
Natural order.- Solanaceae.
Common name.- Cayenne ; red pepper.
General Analysis.-
Acts almost exclusively upon the mucous membranes, especially those
of the alimentary canal, and of the urinary passages, the condition
set up being one of intense irritation, favoring congestion and
inflammation.A similar action is, to some extent, had also upon the mucous
membranes of the respiratory tract.The chief feature of
Capsicum is the sensation of intense burning and smarting
which it produces, as if Cayenne pepper had been sprinkled upon the parts.Characteristic symptoms.
Mind.- (Capsicum)
Taciturn, peevish, obstinate, easily offended. (
Nux v.)
Homesickness (Hell., Phos. ac.) ; with flushed cheeks ;
sleeplessness ; hot feeling in fauces.Children become clumsy and awkward.
Head.- (Capsicum)
Vertigo during cold stage of intermittent fever.
Headache as if the skull would burst
(Bry., Cinch., Natr. mur., Merc., Puls.) ; on coughing, moving the head, or
walking. (Bry.)Pressing frontal headache.
Throbbing headache in forehead ; drawing, tearing pair, in frontal
bone, more on right side.Pressive pain in temporal region ; drawing tearing in left side of
head.Eyes.- (Capsicum)
Pressing pain in eyes, as from a foreign body.
Eyes seem large, reddish, and protruding.
Nose.- (Capsicum)
Influenza, with violent sneezing and discharge of thin mucus,
sometimes with burning, tickling, and roughness.Stopped coryza, with crawling and tickling in the nose.
Nosebleed.
Ears.- (Capsicum)
Painful swelling behind the ear
; caries of mastoid process. (Aur.)
Tearing pain behind the left ear.
Pressive pain in ear, especially with cough.
Face.- (Capsicum)
Pain in face, partly like bone pains, excited by external touch.
Cheeks red, not hot, changing with paleness.
Lips swollen, cracked, smarting.
Mouth.- (Capsicum)
Fetid odor from the mouth. (
Arn., Chin. ars., Hep. s., Kreos., Merc., Nitr. ac.)
Tough mucus in mouth.
Watery, flat taste in mouth, followed by heartburn.
Throat.- (Capsicum)
Burning (Acon.,
Ars., Canth., Merc. cor.), and pains in the throat : worse between the acts of
swallowing.Pain in throat when coughing, as if from painful swelling or ulcer.
Spasmodic contraction of the throat. (
Bell., Carb. v., Hyos., Stram.)
Stomach.- (Capsicum)
Burning in the stomach (Ars., Camph., Canth.), especially after
eating.Heartburn ; waterbrash.
Nausea and vomiting, with headache ; nervous, spasmodic vomiting.
Vomits phlegm with the chill ; vomiting in malignant fevers.
Stomach icy-cold, afterward sensation of trembling or burning in
stomach, with occasional pungent eructations.Abdomen.- (Capsicum)
Tensive pain from abdomen to chest, as from distension of the
abdomen.Flatulent colic (
Coloc., Lyc.), drawing, twisting pains.
Abdomen distended ; suffocative arrest of breathing.
Stool and Anus.- (Capsicum)
Tenesmus (Merc.) ; burning pain in anus. (Ars
., Canth.)
Haemorrhoids, burning and itching. (
Sulph.)
Stool mucous ;
frequent mucus, mingled with blood, causing tenesmus
(Merc. cor.) ; after drinking.
After every stool thirst, and after every drink shivering.
Urinary Organs.- (Capsicum)
Burning, biting, and smarting after urination.(
Canth., Can. sat.)
Burning at orifice of urethra, before, during, and after urination.
(Canth., Can. sat.)
Stitches in orifice and forepart of urethra when not urinating. (
Can. sat.)
Strangury with tenesmus of bladder. (
Canth., Merc. cor.)
Burning urine.
Male Organs.- (Capsicum)
Impotence ; scrotum cold. (Berb.)
Purulent discharge from the urethra like cream.
Dwindling of testes.
Respiratory Organs.- (Capsicum)
Crawling and tickling in larynx and trachea, with dry hacking cough
; evening after lying down. (Hyos.)
The cough expels an offensive breath from the lungs
. (Crocus, Sang.)
Oppressed breathing and pain in chest ; as if chest were too full ;
as if constricted.Throbbing pain in the chest.
Dyspnoea, which seems to rise from stomach.
Neck and Back.- (Capsicum)
Jerking, tearing pain in the right cervical gland.
Drawing, tearing pain in and near the spine.
Lower Limbs.- (Capsicum)
Shooting tearing from the hip to the knee and foot, especially on
coughing.Drawing pain in the hip joint, worse from touch and on bending the
trunk backward.Tensive pain in the knee.
Sleep.- (Capsicum)
Yawning ; restless sleep, full of dreams.
Generalities.- (Capsicum)
Burning and smarting pains, now here, now there.
Vital forces exhausted ; no power to react (Laur.) ; paralysis ;
gangrene ; meteorism ; typhus. (Carb. v.)He shuns all motion. (
Cinch.)
Sensation as if parts would go to sleep.
Senses more acute. (
Coff.)
Fevers.- (Capsicum)
Chill begins in back (
Eupat. pure., Lach.), with thirst. worse after drinking.
Shivering and chilliness after every drink
. (Tarax.)
Chill, followed by sweat, or by heat, with sweat and thirst.
Fever heat, with violent burning. (Acon., Ars.)
Aggravation.- (Capsicum)
Morning on waking ; evening after eating ;
after drinking ; from cold ; on beginning to exercise.
Amelioration.- (Capsicum)
In warmth, and from continued motion.
Therapeutic Range.- (Capsicum)
Complaints from drinking coffee ; fevers from or after abuse of
Quinine ; catarrh ; tonsilitis ; diphtheria ;
scarlatina ; dyspepsia ; diarrhoea ; dysentery ; pyrosis ;
haemorrhoids ; cystitis ; catarrh of bladder ; gonorrhoea ; gleet ;
intermittent fever.Conditions.- (Capsicum)
Most useful in persons who are fat, lazy, uncleanly, clumsy,
awkward, peevish, easily offended ; light hair, blue eyes ; dislike to
open air.Compare.- (Capsicum)
Arg. nit
.,
Ars., Calad., Canth., Cinch., Crot.,
Ign., Lyc., Nux v., Puls., Verat. alb.
Antidotes.- (Capsicum)
Calad., Camph., Cina, Cinch., Sulph.
Capsicum Antidotes.-
Calad., Cinch., Coff.