CANTHARIS


CANTHARIS symptoms from Manual of the Homeopathic Practice by Charles Julius Hempel. What are the uses of the homeopathy remedy CANTHARIS…


INTRODUCTION

CANTH. Meloe Vesicatorius, Spanish Fly. See Hartlaub and Trinks, I II. “Archiv.,” XIII., I. Duration of Action: weeks and even years.

COMPARE WITH

Aconite, Belladonna, Camph., Cann., Caps., China, Coffea, Coloc., Lauro., Ledum, Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Rhus., Sen.

ANTIDOTES

Camph. antidotes large doses; Vinegar and alcoholic liquids like-wise, according to Giacomo. According to Rayer, Sulphur baths remove the discoloration of the skin occasioned by the application of a blister of Cantharides, inasmuch as the active principle of this agent is dissolved by the oil. Small doses are antidoted by Camph.

GENERAL SYMPTOMS

Stinging over the whole body. Lacerating in the affected parts; burning and itching in the skin. Burning. Rawness and soreness in the whole body, internally and externally, sometimes with burning. Biting. Cutting. Lacerating, drawing, gnawing, stinging pains in the bones. Swelling, heat, and redness, inflammation and gangrene of external parts. Swelling of the face, neck and abdomen. Subsultus and spasmodic movements of the tendons. Convulsions, recurring at short or longer intervals. General convulsions, with fainting fits or rage. Violent convulsions, with distortion of the limbs, shrieks, and loss of consciousness. Violent tetanic convulsions, with hydrophobia: the convulsions abate periodically; but soon reappear, either as emprosthotonos or opisthotonos, the delirium, rage, and frenzy continuing uninterruptedly; accompanied with violent trismus, violent grinding of the teeth, and discharge of a frothy and sometimes blood-streaked saliva; inability to swallow and convulsive contraction of the larynx at every attempt to swallow, expression of terror and despair in the face, the hair standing

on end during the convulsions; staring look, sparkling, fiery, frightfully and convulsively-rolling eyes; natural temperature of the skin, with full and slow pulse; contraction of the abdominal muscles when making pressure with the hands upon the umbilical region; the abdominal muscles (Particularly the recti muscles) are drawn in, stretched like the strings of an instrument, and seem to adhere to the spinal column; sudden concussion of the whole body, suffocative constriction of the larynx, frightful, barking howling, general convulsions, ending in fainting fits and sopor; the convulsions frequently return from merely touching the larynx or making pressure upon the painful parts of the abdomen, or from looking at water or broth. Hydrophobia. Feeling as if bruised in the fore-arms, hands and lower limbs, and in the whole body, attended with debility and great sensitiveness. Feeling of heaviness and awkwardness of the whole body, particularly in the lower limbs when ascending an eminence. Excessive debility, vertigo, trembling of all the limbs. Languor, relaxation, debility, prostration, and emaciation of the whole body. Syncope. Haemorrhage from the nose, mouth, intestinal canal, urinary and genital organs, and from the respiratory organs. Increased secretions from the mucous membranes and ulcerated surfaces.

CHARACTERISTIC PECULIARITIES

Most of the symptoms appear principally on the right side. Amelioration of the symptoms when lying down aggravation from drinking coffee.

SKIN

Erysipelatous, active inflammation of the skin, with more burning than itching, and exudation of a serous liquid, raising the epidermis in the shape of blisters. According to Humboldt, this serum became so corrosive by galvanizing the blistered surface, that letters which were written on the skin with it shone like fire. Small, itching vesicles between the chin and lips, on the forehead and cheek, on the palm of the hand. Petechiae. Carbuncle. Eczema. Ecthymatous pustules. Ulceration and gangrene, particularly after exanthematous diseases.

SLEEP

Drowsiness in the daytime. Sleeplessness, particularly after midnight, with tossing about. Symptoms at night frequent waking; starting up from sleep; illusions. Frequent, confused, and vivid dreams. Languor in all her limbs, in the morning in bed, with disinclination to rise.

FEVER

Frequent paroxysms of feverish coldness. Tertian fever, with difficult micturition; fevers consisting almost exclusively of the cold stage; chilliness mingled with heat, with heaviness of the feet, lameness and immobility of the limbs, loss of appetite, pain in the eyes, and desire to be in bed. Violent, acute, burning fevers. Feverish irritation, with dryness of the mouth, thirst, anxiety, and pains in the limbs. Heat, with thirst, general redness, and delirious talk. Typhoid fevers; typhus; lentescent fevers; consumptive fevers. Pulse increased, full, early in the morning, after the pains; hard and full, as in febrile inflammations; full and slow; small, hard, and intermittent, or strong; frequent, hard, and quick; slow; feeble, vanishing; uneasy, in the whole body, with trembling of the limbs.

MORAL SYMPTOMS

Apprehensive mood; great anguish; anxiety, resembling hypochondria, with want of confidence in one’s self. Great restlessness. Not disposed to do anything, taciturn. Nervous, irritable; vehement; noisy and dissatisfied with everything; insolent and contradicting. Paroxysms of rage, like frenzy hydrophobia, with convulsions.

SENSORIUM

Mental languor and inertia, d early in the morning; delirium; confusion of the mind. Dullness of the head, early in the morning, with pulsation in the forehead. Vertigo: with loss of sense and mistiness before his eyes during a walk in the open air; with fainting; with weakness in the head. Inflammation of the brain.

HEAD

Violent pains in the head, deep in the brain, going off after breakfast. Weight in the forehead, also deep in the brain, with dullness and sensation as if the head were pressed forward. Lacerating in the head. Stitches in the head, in the occiput, as if in the bone, or deep in the brain. Gnawing in the periosteum of the right temple. Throbbing, deep in the right side; in the region of the right temple, with drawing in the bone. Congestion of blood to the head when stooping, with redness of the face; also when sitting, with heat of the face. Heat in the head: after dinner, with sweat and burning of the hands; ascension of heat, with anxiety’ in the forehead, with headache.

EYES

Pressure in the eyes; tearing in the right eye, or drawing; itching; smarting as from salt; burning. Twitching and stinging of the lids; pimples on the upper lid; pain of the margins, as if sore and excoriated, when opening the eyes, in the open air, with lachrymation. Ophthalmia. Lachrymation, with tension in the upper lids; in the open air, with pain of the lid when opening the eyes. Protruded eyes; eyes in spasmodic motion; fiery, sparkling, with steady, staring look. Things look yellow. Dim- sightedness, particularly when writing, with headache afterwards.

EARS

Lacerating in and about the ears. Humming in the ears after supper.

NOSE

Tension in the interior of the nose, with beating sensation as if swollen, and pain to the touch. Erysipelatous inflammation of the dorsum of the nose, extending to the cheeks, particularly on

the right side, with swelling, hardness, and subsequent desquamation. Pimples in the nostril, with burning when touching them. Sneezing, violent.

FACE

Paleness of the face, with a feeling of internal coldness; pale, wretched, sickly appearance. Heat in the face, suddenly, with redness and thirst. Bloatedness of the face; swelling of the right side, with tension, also without redness and heat. Lacerating in the right mastoid process. Eruptions on the face; itching vesicles, burning when touched. Soreness; peeling off; swelling of the upper lip. Lacerating in the lower jaw. Lock-jaw, with grinding of the teeth, and discharge of foamy and even bloody saliva.

TEETH

Gnawing in the lower teeth and jaw. Suppurating fistula- dentalis over the root of one of the upper incisores. Pains in the gums; lacerating; drawing. In flamed tumor on the gums, reddish-yellow and sore. Suppuration of the gums.

MOUTH

Burning, extending down to the pharynx, oesophagus, and stomach. Inflammation and destruction of the mucous membrane. Vesicles in the mouth. Small ulcers in the mouth. Ptyalism, profuse, particularly during the paroxysms of rage. Coagulated blood in

the mouth, early in the morning in bed. White coating on the tip of the tongue, with bitter taste and loathing. Inflammation of the tongue, with vesicles. Suppuration of the tongue. Weakness of the organs of speech, with weak voice. Redness, from the palate to the uvula.

THROAT

Stinging dryness. Astringent sensation in the pharynx. Burning in the pharynx, also during deglutition, or extending down the oesophagus, into the stomach and intestinal canal. Inflammation of the tonsils. Suppuration and destruction of the mucous membrane. Difficulty of swallowing, particularly liquids.

APPETITE AND TASTE

Impure, offensive taste. Bitter taste. Aversion to every kind of nourishment, particularly in the evening. Increase of appetite. Loss of thirst, or else violent burning thirst. Aversion to drinks. Nausea and loathing, or excessive thirst, during the meal.

Charles Julius Hempel
Charles Julius Hempel (5 September 1811 Solingen, Prussia - 25 September 1879 Grand Rapids, Michigan) was a German-born translator and homeopathic physician who worked in the United States. While attending medical lectures at the University of New York, where he graduated in 1845, he became associated with several eminent homeopathic practitioners, and soon after his graduation he began to translate some of the more important works relating to homeopathy. He was appointed professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1857.