Ostrya virginica. Hop-horn beam. Iron-wood. Lever-wood. *N. O. Cupuliferae. (Corylaceae.) Tincture of heart wood.
Clinical
Headache, dull. Head, numb. Intermittent fever. Liver, affections of. Lumbago. Malaria. Malarial anaemia.
Characteristics
The Hop-horn beam, *Ostrya virginica, is sometimes regarded as a variety of the common Horn beam naturalised in America, though native to southern Europe. The chief difference between them is that *Ost. *vulg. has pendulous and *Ost. *virg. upright catkins. The wood, from preparations of which the provings by Burt and others were made, is exceedingly hard and heavy. The symptoms show a marked action on the liver, with the usual dull headache and pain in back and shoulders, cutting, sinking pains in abdomen. Allen put in italics the following: “Tongue coated yellow at root.” “Loss of appetite for breakfast and dinner.” “Frequent nausea with the dull frontal headache.” On the other hand there is increased appetite, hunger wakes the patient at 4 a.m., and sinking at epigastrium. *Sickening pains were much complained of. some of the stools were very black. The symptoms were worse moving, stooping, walking. worse 6 a.m., 4 a.m., 3 p.m.
Relation
*Antidoted by: Macro., Bryonia, Nux (lumbago). *Compare: Waking in night hungry, Ignatia, Lycopodium Black stools, Lept.
SYMPTOMS.
Mind
Very nervous, with dull headache.
Head
Light feeling in head (with stomach symptoms), worse walking. Dull headache with numb, prickly feeling in head, face, and hands, worse head. Sharp pain from within out back of mastoid process. Severe throbbing frontal headache, worse stooping. Dull frontal headache with nausea. Severe pressing pain right temple, and right molars. Right side headache, morning.
Ears
Drawing pain deep in left ear.
Face
Moist freckles in face, head, and hands.
Mouth
Boring and sharp pain in right lower molars. Tongue coated yellow at root. Taste: coppery, slimy, sweet, slimy, bitter, rough.
Stomach
Appetite greatly increased. Woke with hunger 4 a.m. Loss of appetite. Frequent nausea with the dull frontal headache. Sour stomach. Burning distress in epigastrium. Sensation as if indigestible substance in stomach, better by eating. Nausea and distress after riding in cold air. Hard sickening pains in epigastric and umbilical region, awaking him at night. Sinking in epigastrium.
Abdomen
Dull pain in right hypochondrium, worse by walking, with nervousness and dull headache. Dull pains in right lobe of liver with sour eructations. Retraction of umbilicus. In umbilical region: frequent, hard sickening, cutting pains, extending into hypogastrium, with desire for stool, with borborygmi and tenesmus, neuralgic pain, constant distress. Rumbling, flatus,
pain waking him in night. Bowels felt as if bound by lead poisoning.
Stool and Anus
Rectum feels sore, protruded feeling after stool. Stool: loose, bilious with tenesmus and straining, loose without tenesmus, tenesmus followed by diarrhoeic stool, mushy with burning at anus and tenesmus, small, natural, dark-coloured, natural, black, dry lumps 6 p.m., very black.
Back
Back so painful, can hardly turn in bed, cannot sit up ( better by *Macro., *Bryonia, *Nux). Dull pain in whole dorsal region, extending into left hypochondrium. Constant lumbar and sacral pain, worse stooping or walking.
Limbs
Arms and legs: aching, dull pains.
Upper Limbs
Fine drawing rheumatic pains in left fingers, morning.
Lower Limbs
Awoke several times with cramp-like pain in lower limbs, worse walking. Drawing pains in right ankle.
Generalities
Nervous, languid, weak, uneasy.
Sleep
Constant desire to yawn. Sleep restless, as after strong tea.
Fever
Cold, chilly about shoulders. Gentle sweat over entire surface, with feeling of weakness.
