Aethiops Antimonialis

(This remedy is prepared by triturating together equal

parts of AEthiops mineralis and Antimonium crudum; we

may add that the first named consists of a trituration of

equal parts of Mercurius viv. and washed flowers of

sulphur. Therefore AEthiops antimon. consists of

mercury, crude antimony and sulphur.



The following clinical cases illustrating the use of the

preparation is by Dr. H. Goullon and was published in

Vol. II of the Zeitschrift fuer Homoeopathie:)



The following case was cured in a few days by AEthiops antimonalis

after having been treated by a homoeopath who strictly followed

Hahnemann's rules, but failed to make an impression beyond a certain

point.



Miss A. inherited from her father, who was reported to have suffered

from laryngitis, a distinct disposition to scrofulosis and tuberculosis.

This was proved two years ago by a bloody cough caused by lung catarrh.

After the lung was affected she suffered from profuse sweats, especially

down the back, but of special interest was the appearance of a "quince

colored" swelling of the size of a pea at the extreme corner of the left

eye with suppuration which threatened the bulbus. A skilled specialist

removed by operation this pus-hearth, which no doubt acted as a

fontanel. The immediate result was a large furuncle under the arm and

the affliction for which I was consulted. A patient presented herself to

me whose appearance was shocking. Numerous parts of her face were

literally covered with thick, elevated fissured scabs. A scrofulent

liquid was oozing out, and the worst were those parts on the side of the

lower lip, the nostrils and the root of the nose. On the whole, a

certain symmetry could be observed in the arrangements of these

frightful diseased products.



This eruption, which according to its nature must be called

herpetic-eczematous, had existed for five months. The patient, who has

red hair, and is between 20 and 30 years old, contracted this disease at

the sight of a fainting sister. This kind of genesis is an established

fact. I remember of reading in Stark's "General Pathology" of an

instance where a mother was affected with eczema of the lips immediately

on seeing her child fall on a knife.



Our patient, however, lost the above mentioned sweats, which proves that

the fright had a metastatic effect. I learned that at first there

appeared very small spots which developed into pustules, infecting half

of the forehead. Scratching aggravated the condition, so that some

places assumed a cup-like appearance, somewhat as favus.



When patient came to me the face was oozing so terribly that the pillow

was thoroughly soaked in the morning, and she suffered greatly. When

asked the nature of the pains she said that they were sometimes itching,

sometimes tensive, and often indescribable, suddenly appearing and

disappearing.



What should be done? Certainly no strictly homoeopathic indication

presented itself since one might think of Sulphur, another of

Arsenicum, Silicea, Hepar sulphur, Causticum, Mezereum, etc.

In such case I have laid down, as a rule for my guidance, never to

experiment at the cost of the patient (and my own as well as

Hahnemann's), but to employ a so-called empirical remedy. I know

AEthiops antimonialis as a very effective remedy through its

recommendation (by the Berlin Society of Homoeopathic Physicians) in

ophthalmia scrofulosa of the worst kind, a fact which I proved myself to

be correct. In this case, also, we find the deepest and most stubborn

disturbance of the organic juices and a subject with every indication of

the worst form of scrofula, ending in lethal cancer--dyscrasia or

tuberculosis.



The patient received the remedy in doses of the 1st centesimal

trituration, every evening and morning, as much as a point of a knife

blade would hold. There was no attempt at external removal of the

eruption, a method so much favored by the allopaths, and yet the simple

internal effort was magical, since after a few days the scabs were dried

up, had fallen off, and the terrible oozing as well as the pain had

ceased. The happy patient presented herself again on Friday, after

having taken the medicine for the first time on Sunday evening. Very

great changes could, indeed, be noticed which justified the hope for a

speedy and total cure.



I again ask all my colleagues which was the principle of healing in this

case? We may soonest think of Schuessler's therapeutic maxim, the

biochemic principle. The definition that this preparation acts as a

blood purifier is not sufficient, and yet it may be accepted as the most

intelligent.



Schoeman triturates the AEthiops antimonalis with AEthiops mercurialis

(or mineralis), which last consists of equal parts of quicksilver and

sulphur, and says of the product: "It acts analogous to AEthiops

mercurialis, but stronger, and is therefore preferred to it in

scrofulous eruptions of the skin, scald, milk-scab, scrofulosis

conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis glandulosa, otorrhoea and

swellings of the glands. It is especially valuable for children as a

mild but nevertheless effective remedy."