)Also called Actoca Black Snake-root Cimic. 3x Racemosa.) Cimicifuga Racemosa 17.Cina Anthelomintica Worm-seed Cin. 1x 18.Cocculus Indicus Indian Berris Cocc. 3x 19.Coffea Raw Coffee Coffea 3x 20.Colocynthis Bitter Cucumber Coloc. 3x 21.Cuprum Aceticum Acetate of Copper Cup-A. 3x 22.Digitalis Foxglove Digitalis 3x 23.Drosera Rotundifolia Round-leaved Sundew Drosera 1x 24.Dulcamara Bitter-Sweet Dulcamara 3x 25.Ferrum Muriaticum Muriate of Iron FerrumMur. 1x 26 Gelsemium Yellow Jessamine Gelsemium 1x 27.Hamamelis Virginica Witch Hazel Hamamelis 1x 28.Hepar Sulphuris Liver of Sulphur Hepar sulph. 3 29.Hydrastis Canadensis Golden Seal Hydras. 1x 30.Hyoscyamus Niger Henbane recommend their own preparations in preference.
20. Forms, Names, and Attenuations.
THE following brief description of the different forms of medicine used in homoeopathic practice is given for the sake of the uninitiated. The preparations are of five kinds-viz., Tinctures, Pilules, Globules, Triturations, and Tablets.
TINCTURES.- These contain the active principles of the vegetables medicines, in a more or less concentrated form, and are supposed to be quicker and more decided in their action, in acute diseases, than either pilules or globules. It is therefore advisable for those who reside at distance from medical aid to be furnished with a selection of such tinctures as are adapted to sudden and acute diseases, in addition to a complete case of the pilules or globules. The selection recommended by the author for this purpose may be found on pp 63, 64.
PILULES.- Pilules consist simple of porous medicinal substance, medicated by saturation with remedy desired. The are very convenient, and if kept in a well-corked phial retain their virtue for years. They are well-suited for domestic use, especially for commencing the practice.
GLOBULES.- Globules are about the size poppy-seeds, and are prepared in the same manner as pilules. They are generally for the administration of the high potencies, but are not very suitable for domestic use.
TRITURATIONS.- These are in the form of powder, containing a portion of the original drug triturated with a given quantity of sugar-of-milk, and are necessary to the administration of the lower attenuations of insoluble medicine, such as Calcarea, Carbo. V., Hepar S., Mercurius, Sepia, Silicea, etc.
TABLETS.- These are made of the same materials as pilules and globules, only larger in size, and are medicated in the same way.; or they are made of triturations compressed. They are made in sizes containing one or two grains, and are a convenient mode of prescribing insoluble preparations.
In addition to the fifty remedies in the list on pp. 63, 64, some others are occasionally prescribed, a brief description of the general uses of most of which may be found in the Materia Medica. The more complete list is given in the table of contents at the commencement.
21.- Doses and their Repetition.
THE DOSE.- In determining the quantity and strength of the doses, the age, sex, habits, nature of the desire, etc., must be taken into consideration. Without reference to individual peculiarities, the following may be stated as the proper dose in domestic practice-
For an adult, two drops of the tincture, three pilules, six globules, or one grain of the trituration.
For a child, about one-half the quantity.
For an infant, one-third.
Drops and pilules are easily divided into any number of doses by mixing them in a corresponding number of spoonfuls of water, and giving one spoonful for a dose. Trituration spoons may be obtained, holding about one grain.
DIRECTIONS FOR TAKING THE MEDICINES.- Tinctures should be dropped into the bottom of a glass by holding the bottle in an oblique manner, with the lip resting against the middle of the end surface of the cork; the bottle should then be carefully tilted, when the tincture will descend and drop from the after edge of the cork.
Or, which is a much easier method, a piece of solid glass bent at a right angle, about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, is introduced into the bottle, as shown in the following illustrations. This simple contrivance enables the most timid person to drop the tinctures with exactness. Water should then be poured upon medicine in the proportion of a tablespoonful to a drop.
The vessel should be clean the mixture kept covered, and the spoon used should not be kept in the mixture, (Glazed spoons, a nd graduated fine earthenware medicine cups, with covers, numbered I and 2, specially made for this purpose, and sold by homoeopathic chemists, are the most suitable. These vessels are recommended, as they protect the medicines from light and dust, and distinguish them from other liquids. Mixtures prepared in glasses or other domestic vessels are often thrown away i n mistake, sometimes causing great inconvenience.) If the medicine has to be kept several days, a new bottle with a new sound cork, should be used. After use the glass or cup or bottle should be immersed in and thoroughly cleansed with boiling water.
Pilules or globules maybe taken dry on the tongue, and sucked, not swallowed whole; but it is better, if convenient, to dissolve them in pure soft water.
The insoluble Triturations should be taken dry on the tongue; the soluble ones may be dissolved in a spoonful of water. Before taking medicine, the mouth should be rinsed with water.
HOURS.- The most appropriate times for taking the medicine as a rule are-on rising i n the morning, and at bedtime, if oftener prescribed, about half an hour or an hour before, or about two hours after a meal. Under no circumstances should a patient be aroused from sleep to take medicine.
REPETITION OF DOSES.- The frequency of the dose may be determined by the activity of the malady from which the patient is suffering, the urgency, of the symptoms, and the effects produced by the medicines. In violent and dangerous disease- Cholera, Croup, Diphtheria, Convulsions, etc.- the remedies may be repeated every ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes; in less urgent cases, every two, three, or four hours. In chronic maladies much less frequently. The ideal in homoeopathic practice is, not to give a second dose till the effect of this first is exhausted, and this is shown by the cessation of the improvement initiated by the first dose. In acute and sub-acute illness the effect of a dose usually wears off in a few hours, so that the routine practice of repeating at stated and fairly frequent intervals is generally a safe one. But even here it should always be the rule to lengthen the interval between doses as spoon as definite improvement is manifest. In chronic diseases (especially when high potencies are used) the effect of every dose should be most carefully watches, and repetition may not be most carefully watched, and repetition may not be required sometimes for days. As long as there is a favourable action, this action should not be interfered with, and more harm is done by repeating too soon than by waiting a little longer to make sure that the effect of the earlier dose is exhausted. It must always be remembered that medicine does not act directly on the disease, but directly medicine does not act directly not he disease, but directly on the body, stimulating the natural powers of resistance to the body, stimulating the natural powers of resistance to the disease. If, therefore, one dose given evidence that the natural powers are re-awakened, to repeat the drug stimulus too early is unnecessary, and may be harmful. The knowledge gained in the study of vaccines has made this considered more plausible than it once seemed. When improvement takes place, the medicines should be given less frequently, and relinquished when no longer needed.
ALTERNATION OF MEDICINES.- To avoid confusion resulting from mixing different remedies in one prescription, and to ascertain the simple effect of each, Homoeopaths do not mix several drugs together; but in acute diseases, when the symptoms of the malady are not met by a single remedy, and a second one is indicated, the two are sometimes given in alternation; that is, one medicine is followed by another at certain intervals of time, and in a regular order of succession. In Croup, for example, Aconite and Spongia, or Aconite and Iodium; in Pneumonia or Rheumatic fever, Aconite and Bryonia, etc. But the alternate use of medicines should, as much as possible, be avoided. Except in violent and rapid diseases, the author rarely prescribes medicines alternately, and strongly recommends the general discontinuance of the method as one little calculated to yield precise and definite clinical experience. In order to test the value of any remedy it should be given alone. In combining medicines all exact data concerning the real action of any single agent are lost.
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL MEDICINES PRESCRIBED IN THIS MANUAL
Their Latin and English Names, Abbreviations and Attenuation, in Tinctures, (When the medicines are prepared in pilules or globules the attenuation of several of them must be slightly modified, according to the discretion of a qualified chemist.) recommended for domestic use. (Plus Medical practitioners have usually a wide range of attenuations, as recommended in the List of Remedies and Attenuations following the Clinical Directory.)
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."