Heloderma Horridus

PREPARATION.--The virus, obtained by irritating the animal and allowing

it to bite on glass, is triturated in the usual way.



(Dr. T. L. Bradford furnishes us with the following

classification of this reptile):



The heloderma is classed as follows: Order: Saurii. Lacertilia. Lizards.

Sub order: 5. Fissilinguia. Family: Lacratidae. Heloderma horridum of

Mexico; the crust lizard; the M xican Caltetopen. Called heloderma from

its skin being studded with nail or tubercle-like heads. The Gila

monster is a native of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. It is smaller than

the Mexican variety, and is called, by Cope, Heloderma Suspectum. It is

the only lizard whose character is not above reproach, hence the name.

Zoology says: An esquamate-tongued lizard with clavicles not dilated

proximally, a postorbital arch, no postfront-osquamosal arch, the pre

and post frontals in contact, separating the frontal from the orbit, and

furrowed teeth receiving the different ducts of highly developed

salivary glands.



(There has been considerable difference of opinion as to

whether the Heloderma is poisonous or not; but the

following abstract from a paper on the subject read

before the College of Physicians, Philadelphia, 1883, by

S. Wier Mitchell, together with the provings made later,

ought to very effectually settle all dispute on this

point; the conclusions are the result of experiments on

animals):



The poison of heloderma causes no local injury. It arrests the heart in

diastole, the organ afterwards contracts slowly--possibly in rapid rigor

mortis.



The cardiac muscle loses its irritability to stimuli at the time it

ceases to beat. The other muscles and nerves respond to irritants.



The spinal cord has its power annihilated abruptly, and refuses to

respond to the most powerful electrical currents.



This virulent heart poison contrasts strongly with serpent venom, since

they give rise to local haemorrhages, causing death chiefly through

failure of respiration and not by the heart unless given in overwhelming

doses. They lower muscle and nerve reactions, especially those of the

respiratory apparatus, but do not cause extreme and abrupt loss of

spinal power. They also produce secondary pathological appearances

absent in heloderma poisoning.



The briefest examination of the lizard's anatomy makes it clear why it

has been with reason suspected to be poisonous, and why it poisons with

so much difficulty. Unless the teeth are entire, the poison abundant,

and the teeth buried in the bitten flesh so as to force it down into

contact with the ducts where they open at the crown of the teeth, it is

hard to see how even a drop of poison could be forced into the wounds.

Yet it is certain that small animals may die from the bite, and this may

be due to the extraordinary activity of the poison, and to the lizard's

habit of holding tenaciously to what it bites, so as to allow time for a

certain amount of absorption.



(The provings and the clinical cases that follow were

from the virus of the Gila monster obtained by Dr.

Charles D. Belden, of Phoenix, Arizona, in 1890, who

suggested it as a possible remedy for paralysis agitans

and locomotor ataxia. He obtained the virus from a

captive monster by irritating it and then letting it

strike, or bite, a piece of heavy glass; by this means he

obtained a few drops of a pasty yellowish fluid. In his

letters Dr. Belden quotes Sir John Lubbock as follows):



This animal does not bite frequently, but when it does it is understood

that the result is a benumbing paralysis like to paralysis agitans or

to locomotor attaxia. There is no tetanic phase, being, as I apprehend,

a condition almost reverse in objective symptoms to hydrocyanic acid or

strychnia.



(Dr. Belden also writes):



It seems to me that it (the poison) differs in so many points from all

present known venoms that it is worth our having. In the first place it

is alkaline, and all other poisons of reptiles are acid. Second, its

effect is not always sudden but is lasting--causing sickness for months

and death even after a year. Again, although it does not produce

paralysis it is not the tonic spasm, but rather the slow creeping death

from extremities. It does not seem to excite but to depress.



(A supply of this poison was sent to Dr. Robert Boocock

at his request for proving, and he made three different

trials of it, the results of which were published in the

Homoeopathic Recorder for March and April, 1893; but

as Dr. James E. Lilienthal has arranged the matter in

schema form we will here only give fragmentary quotations

from Dr. Boocock's papers, which are quite long, covering

nearly thirty pages. The following is from Dr. Boocock's

paper):



I am in my sixtieth year, sanguine, bilious temperament, fair complexion

and weigh 160 pounds; height, 5 feet 6 inches. My normal pulse rate is

72, full, round and regular. I am in very good health. I do not drink

alcoholic beverages of any kind, neither do I smoke nor drink strong

coffee, or tea, or cocoa. My usual and favorite beverage is hot water

with a little milk and sugar in it. If much sugar or salt is used my

stomach gets very sour, and water-brash is the result. I therefore use

very little of either, though I am very fond of sweetmeats.



When I received the first bottle of Heloderma horridus, I took a one

drachm vial and filled it with the 6x trit., and dissolved it in four

ounces of diluted alcohol, of which I took a few drops, dried my fingers

on my tongue, and a severe feeling of internal coldness, so intense as

to cause me to fear being frozen to death, ensued. I had some twitches

about my heart, as if the blood was hard to get in or out. I was

somewhat alarmed, but as I had no trembling I sat over the register and

tried to get warm. The day was a very cold one, but my office was

comfortably warm, and I had no consciousness of having taken cold.



I was not surprised at feeling this so soon after taking the few drops,

for I know that I am very sensitive to any medicine and have a bad habit

of tasting medicine, but never without being conscious of its effects,

sometimes very unpleasantly so.



Now, to-day is warm and damp, thunderstorm this morning, although it is

December 9th. The storm lasted three or more hours; lightning very

vivid. I had already taken one drop of the 30th, with a very severe

nervous headache, but I forgot that when I took the medicine. I have

medicated 2 oz. No. 35 globules with 30th dilution, and having taken six

globules as a dose before they were dry.



A feeling of heat in head and face, some headache over the right

eyebrow. Cold feeling in my legs; after two hours a numb feeling around

and down my left thigh; feeling very drowsy, so took a short nap in my

chair. Was awakened suddenly with a jerking in my head. Central part of

frontal bone so queer as to awaken me.



When my office bell rang it threw me into a startled and trembling

condition, something new to me. At 5:30 took four globules more.



8 P.M. The pressure at my heart and in my head and scalp is very great.

A feeling of great heat and some pressure. Not so much burning in my

face, but a feeling on my left cheek as if being pricked with points of

ice. A very severe and tired feeling, with coldness of legs and feet. A

slight dryness of my lips, with a tingling feeling and great dryness in

my throat. Gurgling in the region of the spleen.



9:30 P.M. The pressure and heat on the top of my head appears like an

inflammation of the meninges. It does not affect my mind; that remains

clear, and I can think and read as well and as long as ever. No more

medicine. * * *



December 29, 1892. No medicine. Some trembling, but not so great or so

extensive; it does not now extend along the whole limb. Parts of right

arm and left thigh hemiplegial; no acute feeling. But some muscles will

twitch and tremble for a few seconds. Just enough to arrest my attention

and amuse me, and feel like saying, "Hello, Heloderma hor! have you

not done with me yet?" For it is a great surprise to me how these

feelings will come on and creep over me. And I am inclined to ask

myself, can it be that all these strange and to me new feelings can be

the effects following the taking of these few doses? And yet, if it were

necessary, I could swear they were. I have my fears if I will ever be

free from these nervous trembling spells, and the feeling in my head and

heart.



(The foregoing gives the gist of the first trials. The

third and last now follows. It was made with repeated

doses of the 30th potency.)



12 meridian. Sensation as if a cold, freezing wind were blowing upon me

from the bend of my knees. Head feeling as if the scalp were being drawn

tight over my skull, and my facial muscles were being drawn very tight

over the bones. A giddiness and a cold pressure from within the skull. A

cold, running chill from superior maxillary down to the chin. Trembling

of limbs. Coldness extending from the knee into the calf of the leg.

Pain and pressure within the skull from crown to occiput, and from back

forward over the left eye. A very drowsy feeling. I could sleep if I

gave way to the feeling. * * * *



January 4, 1893, 7:45 A.M. Took another dose of six globules. Pulse, 72.

Temperature, 97 3.5. A flush of heat in my face. A feeling as if I were

walking on sponge or as if my feet were swollen. Dull headache. The

arctic cold feeling is more in my right arm, elbow joint, and right

thigh and left foot. A great trembling of my arm. It is hard work to

steady my hand, which holds my book, enough to continue reading or

writing.



The feeling of swelling in my feet of walking on sponges sensation

continues; a springiness, with a sense of looseness in stepping out,

which requires some caution, as if I were not sure of my steps. The

trembling of my hands is on the increase; feeling of soreness in my

heart, more under left nipple; pain in my back, lumbar region. Some

little scalding of urine; flow not so free and full, intermitting

slightly, as if I had some calculus in the bladder which interfered with

continuous flow. Stool more free and full.



Earwax, which had been very dry, now flows from both ears, but is more

free on the left side. Left nostril sore; ulcerated. Throat sore and

tender to outside touch. * * *



9 P.M. Very weak feeling, with pain in my heart; same place, under left

nipple. Head aches and arctic rays in various parts of my body. * * *



January 5, 12 noon. Took twelve more globules. Numb feeling in my head.

A feeling as if I would fall on my right side. A good drive this morning

in the snowstorm; and felt a desire to bear to the right side and could

not walk straight because of this, and had repeatedly to stop or step to

the left to get a straight course on the causeway. A good deal of the

same feeling, but very weak and sleepy; was compelled to lie down, but

did not sleep, although feeling very drowsy; laid very quiet, as if I

was in a stupor; the old feeling in various parts of my body, only more

acute; a feeling in various parts as if a needle were being thrust into

my flesh.



4:45 P.M. Took thirteen globules. A very stiff neck the most prominent

feeling. All the previously recorded feelings, only more intensely. I

have a painful boring feeling in the middle third of left thigh. * * *



8:30. Flushed, hot feeling in my head and face, but no increase in

color; but then I have just come out of the storm.



9:30. Took twelve globules more and retired to rest; very tired; slept

very profoundly until 1 A.M., then could not sleep. My back, in the

lumbar muscles, ached so and my left leg that I could not sleep for

hours, and my brain felt as if scalded; an intense burning feeling in

the meninges, for this did not affect my power to think. This hot

feeling commenced and spread down my back. An intense pain over left

eyebrow, through my left eye to base of brain and down my back. The pain

in the back of my head caused me to bore my head deep into my pillow,

and reminded me of cases I have seen of cerebro-spinal meningitis. An

intense weakness, as if I had no power to move, and no wish to do so,

and yet I was afraid I could not attend to my business. Yet, strange to

say, I was not alarmed, but passively indifferent. I could not open my

eyes without great effort; it was hard work to keep them open and the

easiest thing for them to close, as if there were a great weight upon

them, keeping them down. I begged to be allowed to remain in bed until

some one wanted me professionally, and yet I could not thus give way to

my feelings, and so got up.



7 A.M. Feeling very weak and giddy. Staggering about my bedroom trying

to dress. It was all that I could do to lift a hod of coal to the stove.

The pains in my head and lumbar muscles, back of my head near atlas and

middle third of left thigh and right elbow are the most noticeable from

the great pains; and arctic coldness in my feet and hands and arms; have

had a transient feeling of pain in the little finger and little toe of

right side. Very feverish or parched in the night, and my breathing was

hard and sounded as if I was drawing my breath through iron pipes. I

feel that I must not take any more medicine at present. When I remember

what a long time I was in getting to the end of the previous proving, I

feel that I dare not go any further.



The dose I have been taking, a No. 35 globule, is as large as ten such

as is ordinarily used for the 30th or for high dilutions, so that I have

taken as good as sixty high dilution globules as a dose, and lately as

high as one hundred and twenty-four and sometimes oftener daily.



I was surprised at these hot flushes and burnings in my head and along

my spine. And these strongly reminded me of some feeling a proving of

Gelsemium caused, only that has sweat, whilst this has no moisture,

everything being dried up. Saliva, tears, nostrils, and earwax; the

great weakness and pain in the body reminds me of cerebro-spinal

meningitis.



My pulse rate is 68. 8:15. Temperature, 97 only.



1 P.M. What fearful aching in my body! Arctic feeling throughout my

body, except my head and face, and oh! so tired. A feeling as if it were

almost impossible to keep my eyes open. While out on my professional

rounds a feeling came over me as if it would be far easier to lie down

in the snowy streets than to keep trying to get along. The trembling is

very persistent.



9 P.M. Oh! this bad feeling in my head, the aching, aching in my bones,

in every part of my body, head to feet; no part entirely free from pain,

my body so cold; a feeling as if I had holes in my garments, and cold,

frosty winds were blowing through and freezing my flesh; cold penis and

testicles, no feeling but coldness. A slight gluey discharge; a fluent

discharge from nose, with great sneezing. * * *



January 9th, 8 A.M. Pulse rate 68; is not so full or jerky, but it is

some. Temperature under the tip of the tongue, 96; deeper in, 97. This

morning awoke at 3 A.M. and got up to urinate, but I could not stand

without I had hold of something. Oh, such a weak, giddy feeling! I never

fainted but once, from loss of blood, and these sensations are similar.

Plenty of strength to hold me up, but unable to balance myself, and when

I put forth an effort I staggered about like a man trying to walk with

paralysis or locomotor ataxy. This idea was the most prominent in my

mind, but I have a patient recovering from paralysis who has to swing

his body as he walks, to get his feet forward, and is very weak and

shaky about his knees, and these sensations very strongly reminded me of

his efforts. His weakness is in his knees, but mine was from the base of

my skull--cerebrum--where the pains have been so persistent near the

atlas extending downward. When I arose, at 7 A.M., it was very hard work

for me to balance myself enough to complete dressing myself, and very

hard work to carry my head. If I bent forward, then it required great

effort to keep from falling on my face or backward. This lack of

balancing power was accompanied by a sensation of nausea, as if I were

going to vomit. I persisted in my efforts to work, in hopes of shaking

off these very alarming sensations, and by effort got through my morning

work. Whilst shaving a severe jerk of my right arm caused me to gash my

face; very strange, but I ought not to have tried to do this. I have now

some numbness in my right hand and arm, and a good deal of trembling.

Arctic feeling in my feet and in various parts of my body. This feeling

of want of balancing power does not entirely leave me; a full, pressing

feeling in all parts of my head. And when I walk I notice I lift my feet

higher than usual, or than is necessary, and I put my heel down hard, as

if I was not sure of holding on to the ground. I notice some twitching,

as if my feet would spring up, making me walk as if I had the cock's

gait, as it is described. * * *



7 A.M., January 10, 1893. Thank God I began this day with more comfort

and more control of myself; my limbs are easier to manage; a little

giddiness and staggering, and stiff, bruised sensation in my back and

lower limbs. My cervical vertebra is less sore and have little pain; and

altogether feel very much better. My pulse rate is 80 this A.M.; full

and round; no jerks perceptible. Temperature 98 under the tongue, by the

root. Mercury very slow in rising; had to keep the thermometer in a long

time. I have a flushed, hot feeling in my face and head; no trembling,

less staggering, and can manage my limbs fairly well. I feel as I dared

not trifle with myself any further, for I am very weak. A very little

exertion would make me feel very ill. I am feeling like a man who had

just come from under a deadly risk; am very weak and prostrated, with

every nerve on the jump. Oh, so very weak! A sinking feeling. A parched

thirstiness in my throat and mouth. My tongue is clean; bowels regular;

a good deal of flatus, very fetid; pale yellow, greenish urine

(specific gravity 1008), smelling very fetid; same smell as the flatus;

more like the smell of rotting sweet fruit or vegetables. * * *



January 14, 1893. Could not get out of bed at my usual time; very severe

pain in head and back of neck, going down my back and right leg;

twitches, with cold, stinging, ice-needle pricks. My right hand is

feeling as if it were frozen. Pulse rate 64; full, round, but appears to

have a pendulum motion or twitch. Temperature 96 3-5. Mind clear, but

very weak in my body, and I can not get warm over a hot register or with

hot fluids. This constant arctic cold is very hard to bear and makes me

this morning feel as if I had a cake of ice on my back. My hands are

blue with cold and my feet feel like lumps of ice. Headache and

giddiness; could not keep from trembling while some patients were in my

consulting room, and had a good deal of difficulty in steadying and

controlling my voice; when excited could not get hold of the right words

I wanted and dropped some when speaking, from a want of flexibility or a

catch in my tongue. Pains in various parts of my body; the same

locations and character. Quite a rush of business to-day and very

ill-fitted to attend to it. My hands and feet blue and aching with cold,

even while I was sitting over a hot register that scorched my boot

leather, yet no feeling of warmth in hands or feet. A good deal of

throbbing and aching in the upper part of my kidneys, the right one the

sorest. Sharp pains in my bowels, near the caecum; some trembling (when

asleep it awoke me) in my right arm and left leg, with a sharp pain near

the ankle joint. * * *



January 20. Awoke this morning in a shivering fit. Trembling, giddiness

and headache, but not very severe. Cold arctic feeling. Pulse 68.

Temperature 97 1-5. My feet, 8 A.M., cold. Severe pain in left testicle,

extending through to the back to anus. Bleed very much from old piles.

An aching at end of penis, and no sexual desire. A feeling as if the

testicles were swollen and painful, as in orchitis; this is only a

transient pain, and comes and goes at infrequent periods, or remittent

in their character. I notice my urine is taking on the greenish-yellow

again, and my right arm is chilly from the arctic rays. My feet are

cold, and the coldness creeps up higher in my legs. A great deal of

arctic feeling in and around my heart. My breath is cold. Headache, but

mind clear. Cold chills run over me in various parts of my body. My

hands tremble very much at times, so that I can not write. Pain in

testicles and coldness, as if they were frozen. Pass a large quantity of

urine. * *



January 21. 8 A.M. Did not get up before, owing to the pressure in my

skull, as if it were too full; dropsy or some swelling of my brain;

giddiness, and a numbness down my left leg, and a jerking upward in both

of them. Some trembling and coldness around my heart, and in my lungs

and down my arms. My feet were very hot in the night until 5 A.M., when

they became cold, numb and jerky, upwards. My pulse rate is very slow

this morning, only 56 beats. Temperature is slowly forced up to 98. I

have a sensation as if my left cheek were swollen, but it is not so.

Trembling very much in my hands.



2:30 P.M. Have not been warm yet to-day; very intense arctic sensation

in my body and heart and lungs. Slight cough. Numbness in my right arm.

Much trembling, and a sensation of inward trembling in all parts of my

body. Generative organs frozen cold, and this coldness extends up my

back. My feet so cold that I have burned my boots, and yet cannot get

them warm. Coldness extends up to my knees. Stiffness and pain in left

thigh. Cold arctic band round my head, with fulness in skull. Pulse 60.

Temperature 97 4-5. Good appetite. Mentally clear, although very weak;

very tired and discouraged that these feelings last so long. They seem

to be all beginning over again; worse now than they were a week ago. I

feel more like giving up and going to bed sick, but I cannot afford to

do so, so I brace up and resist this temptation to try and find an

antidote for these recurring series of feelings. * * *



January 23. Slept well until 5 A.M.; then awoke with pains in head and

burning in my feet, with some trembling and stiff feeling in my lungs

and heart, as if they were tied or unable to move. As I lay awake I

could hear my heart pounding away, but, oh! so slow. Felt very weak and

wanted to stay in bed, but after some hard thinking I got up. 7 A.M.

Very weak; staggered about while dressing. Pains in the base of the

brain. Pulse 64 and irregular in its beats, some of them failing

altogether to declare themselves only by their absence to respond.

Temperature, after being held under my tongue ten minutes, 97 2-5. Very

cold in my back and over my shoulders; hands and feet are blue with

cold. Itching all over my body, and as if I was bitten with fleas or

bugs were crawling over me. Skin of my hands very rough and cracks are

in them. My ears have a feeling as if wax were running out of them.* * *





January 26, 10 P.M. It has required a mighty effort to keep up this day.

My pulse 56, slow and irregular; temperature 98. Headache, yet mind

clear; backache. Weakness in all my body; my limbs so weak in walking

that it was difficult to keep going, and felt as if I could lay down or

drop down anywhere. What heart failure symptoms are I do not know, but

fear I came very near it and yet I have resisted this feeling, and kept

awake and about. Have felt very ill all the day, and am so now on

retiring, 11 P.M. * * *



January 29. 9 A.M. Just after breakfast, pulse 68, temperature 99; slept

very heavy, but dreamed of treating many cases of black diphtheria.

Awoke, slept, dreamed the same dream again, and again the same dream,

three separate times. How very singular! During these provings, I have

done this three separate times. Three dreams in one night--the same

dream, the same disease, the same families in my dream. This singularity

caused me to lay awake wondering what this can mean. I have not any

patients suffering from this disease, and I do not know of any in the

town, and nothing that I know of to bring this disease to my mind. Awoke

feeling very stiff and sore. * * *



January 30. Head pains again, the same old character. Sensation of

swelling in my face and pain in nerves of teeth, molars. Hot feeling.

Pulse, 68. Temperature, 99. Very weak, but my mind clear. Much trembling

and the oppression round my heart and chest producing a suffocating

feeling that makes me afraid, and I must now seek some means to arrest

this difficulty and give me some relief. I know it looks cowardly to

give up, but my family compels me to do something to enable me to keep

about. I cannot do any more; this heart oppression makes me think of

heart failure. Pulse, 56, and temperature 96. Very weak. I hope it will

wear away and this trembling improve. They have been caused by this

drug, one of the most powerful. I gave up and went to bed very ill. I

had to keep it from my family, but I was afraid my heart would stop

beating and had a very restless night. I took acetic acid, as vinegar I

had in some pickles I thought changed or relieved the first class or

effort of provings and caused me to stop and begin again. I think it did

help me. Next day very prostrated but did not take any note of my pulse

or temperature, because I had began to try to find an antidote, and this

vinegar and lemon juice has relieved many of them. I fear sometimes that

the trembling in my hands may never fully leave me now.



February 12, 1893. Copying my notes has brought so vividly to my memory

that I can almost feel the old arctic rays through my body, and the

giddiness and staggering gait of the Heloderma hor. days. I hope that

you may have many others more courageous than I have been, whose

provings will compare or improve upon this poor effort of mine.



CLINICAL.



The case of paralysis that I spoke of, whose staggering gait was called

to my mind by my feelings, is now taking Heloderma.



In the following case, Mrs. Ford, eighty-one years of age, has been my

patient several times during the last four years. She suffered from

erysipelas and dropsy in the legs. In September I was again called in

for the same old trouble; the usual remedies were effectual. In October

she caught cold, and had also a bad fall; her symptoms were those of

pneumonia, fever, delirium and cough, pain in chest and hard work to

breathe, blueness of lips, tongue and cheeks, cold extremities and was

very low in appetite, and appeared to be sinking. Pulse, fifty;

temperature, ninety, and to all human appearance was rapidly dying; all

said so, and I fully believed so, but left Heloderma horridus, one

powder in water, and ordered her tongue to be moistened with a feather

dipped in this every half hour. I did not call the next day until

evening. I was waiting to be notified of her death, but no such notice

coming called to see, and, to my surprise, found everything changed. I

then gave Helo. hor. 200, every four hours, with placebos. All the bad

symptoms gradually disappeared, breathing became natural, heart gained

strength, pulse increased to seventy, temperature to ninety-eight and

appetite became better, asking frequently for food. This continued so

long as she was taking this medicine. She was so well that I ceased to

attend, she having no aches or pains, was eating and sleeping well,

bowels moved regularly and night watching was given up. All who saw the

recovery were pleasingly surprised, and so was I, and have frequently

asked myself could anything else have done this. Lachesis has changed

a slate colored tongue, and has aroused those who appeared to be dying

for a short time, but to extend the life of one as good as dead for

thirty days is a triumph for the Helo. hor.



(To the foregoing we may add that some have thought that

the proving was too sensational, but other evidence that

has not appeared in print leads to the conclusion that it

is essentially true, and that the proving was made by one

peculiarly susceptible to the remedy. We know of one

gentleman who laughed at it and in bravado took a number

of doses during an afternoon. He felt no immediate

effects, but during the night awoke with some very

peculiar feelings that he could attribute to nothing but

the Heloderma, and they were of such a character that

he refused to take any more. It would be well to use the

remedy with caution until the practitioner has gauged its

powers.)



(Dr. Charles E. Johnson wrote as follows to Dr. Boocock

concerning the remedy):



"I have had under treatment a case that has been pronounced incurable by

many physicians. She has had most of the symptoms developed in your

proving, that awful coldness being most pronounced. She has had two

doses of the 200th. I learn through a neighbor that she is delighted

with the result of the last medicine. The coldness has nearly

disappeared, leaving a comfortable glow upon the body. She tells her

neighbors this without having been informed by me what results I

expected from the medicine."



(Dr. Erastus E. Case contributed the following detailed

clinical case to the Medical Advance, July, 1897):



An auburn haired woman, 55 years of age, had numbness in the feet two

years ago. It has gradually extended upward until it now includes the

lower part of the abdomen.



Tingling, creeping sensation on the legs as if from insects.



Worse when lying in bed at night.



Worse from exposure to cold air.



Worse from touch; she cannot endure to place her bare feet together.



Legs insensible to an electric battery.



Legs wasting away, skin very dry and inelastic.



Ankles turn easily when trying to walk.



Numbness of the arms from the hands to the elbows.



Forgetfulness.



Melancholy with weeping.



Worse in stormy weather.



Worse when thinking of her ailments, cheered by company.



Pain in the forehead in the morning, aggravated by turning the eyes.



Tongue dry and cracked in the morning.



Swallowing difficult.



Empty eructations, especially before breakfast.



Empty, gone sensation in the stomach.



Dislikes sweet things and worse from taking them.



Sensation of constriction about the whole abdomen.



Constipation from torpor of the rectum.



Hemorrhoids and itching of the anus.



Burning in the urethra during and after micturition.



Burning and dryness of the vagina.



Palpitation and dyspnoea from slight exertion.



Drawing sensation in all the extremities.



Yellow skin.



April 11, 1895. Heloderma horridus four powders, one every four hours.



April 23, 1895. Decidedly more cheerful and memory is better.



Bowels more active.



Legs more reliable, with the numbness and tingling.



No medicine.



April 26, 1895. Alarmed because the palms and soles are swollen and

itching.



No medicine.



May 22, 1895. She gained rapidly in both flesh and strength, until a

week ago.



Heloderma horridus one powder.



Soon after this an itching eruption came all over her, which subsided

without any further medication. She was restored to a fair degree of

health so that she has taken care of her house and family up to the

present time.



(The following arrangement of Dr. Boocock's proving was

made by Dr. Lilienthal):



Mind.--No inclination for exertion in any way.



Difficulty in remembering the spelling of simple words.



Depressed, feels blue.



Head.--Sensation of heat in head; heat on vertex.



Headache over right eyebrow.



Pressure in head and scalp; pressure in skull as if too full.



Soreness and stiffness in occiput, extending down neck; sore spot in

various parts of head.



Intense pain over left eyebrow, through eye to base of brain and down

back.



Aching at base of brain.



Sharp, digging pains.



Benumbed feeling all over head.



Burning feeling in brain.



Throbbing on top of head; head sore and bruised.



Sensation of band around head.



Cold band around head.



Sensation as if scalp was drawn tight over skull.



Bores head in pillow.



Vertigo and weakness when moving quickly.



Dizziness, with inclination to fall backward.



Eyes.--Itching of eyelids, lachrymation.



Weight of eyelids, difficult to keep them open.



Ears.--Pressure behind left ear; pressure in ear from within outward.



Copious flow of wax.



Ears dry and scurfy.



Nose.--Left nostril sore; ulcerated.



Dry, itching scurfs in nostrils.



Severe attack of sneezing. Fluent discharge.



Face.--Sensation of heat. Flushes of heat.



Cold, crawling feeling from temple down right cheek.



Sensation as if pricked with points of ice.



Sensation as if facial muscles were drawn tight over bones.



Stiffness of jaw.



Mouth.--Dryness of lips.



Soreness.



Very thirsty.



Tongue tender and dry.



Throat.--Dryness; parched sensation.



Tingling.



Soreness, tenderness to touch.



Stinging, sore feeling in right tonsil.



Stomach.--Acid burning in stomach.



Hypochondria.--Gurgling in region of spleen.



Abdomen.--Sharp shooting pain in bowels, more on left side.



Pain across pubic bones, extending down into left testicle.



Stitching pains in bowels.



Throbbing in bowels.



Rumbling in bowels.



Stool.--Loose, copious stool, lumpy, preceded by stitches in abdomen.



Stool loose, mushy with considerable flatus.



Stool soft, dark, difficult to expel.



Haemorrhoids swollen, itch and bleed.



Urinary Organs.--Bladder irritable, frequent urging to pass urine.



Tenderness in urethra, with sensation of discharge.



Urine not as free as usual, muddy.



Intermittent flow.



Urine, specific gravity, 1010; greenish-yellow, fetid (decaying fruit).



Sexual Organs.--Erections.



Cold penis and testicle, with gluey discharge.



Pain and enlargement of left testicle.



Female.--



Respiratory Organs.--Slight, hacking cough, with pain in left scapulae.



Fulness in chest, requiring an effort to inflate the lungs.



Oppressed for breath from least exertion.



Chest.--Sharp stitch through right nipple to inside of right arm.



Cold feeling in right lung.



Heart.--Pressure at heart.



Tingling around heart.



Trembling and coldness around heart.



Oppression around heart.



Sticking pains, shooting from left to right.



Stitches in heart.



Soreness in heart, more under left nipple.



Pulse, 56-72; full and jerky.



Back.--Stiff neck; aching in bones of neck.



Painfulness of upper neck.



Coldness across scapulae.



Chill in back from base of brain downwards.



Pain in back; pain in lumbar muscles awakening him.



Aching in right kidney; stitch pain in right kidney.



Upper Extremities.--Numbness of right arm and hand with trembling.



Tingling in arms and hands.



Tingling in palm of left hand and along fingers.



Drawing in left hand, followed by tingling and prickling.



Pains in hands, if holding anything for some time.



Trembling of hands.



Hands blue, cracked and rough.



Lower Extremities.--Numb feeling around and down left thigh.



Pain in left thigh and calf as if bruised.



Numb feeling down right leg.



Coldness extending from knee to calf.



Coldness of legs and feet.



Boring sharp pain on tibia of right leg.



Sensation of tight hand around left ankle.



Trembling of limbs. Jerking of limbs.



Tingling and burning of feet as if recovering from being frozen.



Burning in feet, preventing sleep, had to put them out of bed.



Sensation as if walking on sponge and as if swollen.



Staggering gait.



Tendency to turn to right when walking.



When walking lift feet higher than usual and put down heel hard.



Skin.--Itching of skin as from insects.



Sleep.--Drowsiness, but inability to sleep.



Restless sleep; awakens at 3 A.M.



Awakened from sleep by jerking in head; trembling of limbs; pain in

lumbar muscles.



Fever.--Internal coldness.



Severe chill ran down back.



Cold rings around body.



Cold waves ascend from feet, or downward from base of brain.



Nerves.--Startled easily. Trembling.



Tired feeling; very weak and nervous.



Intense aching in bones and all parts of body.



Trembling of left side; hands shaky.



Trembling can be controlled by effort of will.



Generalities.--Stretching relieves pains in muscles and limbs.



Stitch pains going from left to right.



Weak, giddy, making it difficult to stand.



Unable to balance myself.



Movement does not increase the pain.



Throbbing all over body.



Bone pains.