HOMŒOPATHIC MATERIA MEDICA
by
WILLIAM BOERICKE, M.D.

 

  
GALLICUM ACIDUM
Gallic Acid

Should be remembered as a remedy in phthisis. It checks the morbid secretions, gives tone to the stomach, and increases the appetite. Passive hæmorrhages when pulse is feeble and capillaries relaxed, cold skin. Hæmaturia. Hæmophilia. Itching of skin. Pyrosis.

Mind.--Wild delirium at night; very restless, jumps out of bed; sweats; is afraid to be alone; is rude and abuses every one.

Head.--Pain in back of head and neck. Thick, stringy discharge from nose; photophobia with burning of lids.

Respiratory.--Pain in lungs; pulmonary hæmorrhage; excessive expectoration. Much mucus in throat in the morning. Dry at night.

Urinary.--Kidneys painful, distress along ureters into bladder. Dull heavy pain in bladder, directly over pubis. Urine loaded with thick, cream-colored mucus.

Rectum.--Copious stool; anus feels constricted. Faint feeling after stool. Chronic mucous discharges.

Relationship.--Compare: Ars; Iod; Phos.

Dose.--First trituration and pure acid 2 to 5 grain doses.

  
GALANTHUS NIVALIS
Snow-drop

Proving by Dr. A. Whiting Vancouver.

Faintness, sinking sensations. Sore dry throat with dull headache. Half conscious and worried feeling during sleep. Heart weak with sensation of collapse as if she must fall. Pulse very irregular, rapid and uneven, violent palpitation. Systolic murmur at apex. Therapeutically-decided benefit in cases of Mitral Regurgitation with broken down compensation. Myocarditis with some degree of mitral insufficiency.

Dose.--First potency to fifth.

  
GALIUM APARINE
Goose-Grass

Galium acts on the urinary organs, is a diuretic and of use in dropsies, gravel and calculi. Dysuria and cystitis. Has power of suspending or modifying cancerous action. Has clinical confirmation of its use in cancerous ulcers and nodulated tumors of the tongue. Inveterate skin affections and scurvy. Favors healthy granulations on ulcerated surfaces.

Dose.--Fluid extract; half-dram doses, in cup of water or milk, three times a day.

  
GAMBOGIA
Gummi Gutti
(GAMBOGIA - GARCINIA MORELLA)

The use of this drug in Homeopathy has been confined to its action on the alimentary tract. It produces a diarrhœa very similar to Croton. >From its pathogenesis, it is very evident that it has very intense and definite action especially on the gastro-enteric tract.

Head.--Heavy, with inertia, and drowsiness. Itching and burning in eyes; lids stick together, with sneezing.

Gastro-enteric Symptoms.--Feeling of coldness at edge of teeth. Great irritability of the stomach; burning, smarting, and dryness of the tongue and throat. Pain in the stomach after food. Tenderness in epigastrium. Pain and distention of abdomen from flatulence, after stool. Rumbling and rolling. Dysentery, with retained scybala, with pain in sacral region. Diarrhœa, with sudden and forcible ejection of bilious stools. Tenesmus after, with burning at anus. Ileo-cæcal region sensitive to pressure. Profuse, watery diarrhœa in hot weather, particularly old people. Pain in coccyx.

Modalities.--Worse, towards evening and at night.

Relationship.--Compare: Croton; Aloes; Pod.

Dose.--Third to thirtieth potency. Gamboge painted on the chest in lung tuberculosis is considered by Abrams specific and incipient cases are symptomatically cured in several weeks.

  
GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS
Wintergreen
(GAULTHERIA)

Inflammatory rheumatism, pleurodynia, sciatica, and other neuralgias, come within, the sphere of this remedy. Cystic and prostatic irritation, undue sexual excitement, and renal inflammation.

Head.--Neuralgia of head and face.

Stomach.--Acute gastritis, severe pain in epigastrium; prolonged vomiting. Uncontrollable appetite, notwithstanding irritable stomach. Gastralgia from nervous depression (Give five drops of 1x of Oil).

Skin.--Smarting and burning. Intense erythema, worse, cold bathing; better, olive oil and cool air blowing on part.

Relationship.--Compare: Spiræea. Gaultheria contains Arbutin. Salycyl acid. Methylium salicylicum (an artificial Gaultheria oil for rheumatism, especially when the salicylates cannot be used. Pruritus and epididymitis, locally). After Cantharis in burns.

Dose.--Tincture and lower potencies.

  
GELSEMIUM SEMPERVIRENS
Yellow Jasmine
(GELSEMIUM)

Centers its action upon the nervous system, causing various degrees of motor paralysis. General prostration. Dizziness, drowsiness, dullness, and trembling. Slow pulse, tired feeling, mental apathy. Paralysis of various groups of muscles about the eyes, throat, chest, larynx, sphincter, extremities, etc. Post-diphtheritic paralysis. Muscular weakness. Complete relaxation and prostration. Lack of muscular co-ordination. General depression from heat of sun. Sensitive to a falling barometer; cold and dampness brings on many complaints. Children fear falling, grab nurse or crib. Sluggish circulation. Nervous affections of cigarmakers. Influenza. Measles. Pellagra.

Mind.--Desire to be quiet, to be left alone. Dullness, languor, listless. "Discernings are lethargied. " Apathy regarding his illness. Absolute lack of fear. Delirious on falling to sleep. Emotional excitement, fear, etc, lead to bodily ailments. Bad effects from fright, fear, exciting news. Stage fright. Child starts and grasps the nurse, and screams as if afraid of falling (Bor).

Head.--Vertigo, spreading from occiput. Heaviness of head; band-feeling around and occipital headache. Dull, heavy ache, with heaviness of eyelids; bruised sensation; better, compression and lying with head high. Pain in temple, extending into ear and wing of nose, chin. Headache, with muscular soreness of neck and shoulders. Headache preceded by blindness; better, profuse urination. Scalp sore to touch. Delirious on falling asleep. Wants to have head raised on pillow.

Eyes.--Ptosis; eyelids heavy; patient can hardly open them. Double vision. Disturbed muscular apparatus. Corrects blurring and discomfort in eyes even after accurately adjusted glasses. Vision blurred, smoky (Cycl; Phos). Dim-sighted; pupils dilated and insensible to light. Orbital neuralgia, with contraction and twitching of muscles. Bruised pain back of the orbits. One pupil dilated, the other contracted. Deep inflammations, with haziness of vitreous. Serous inflammations. Albuminuric retinitis. Detached retina, glaucoma and descemetitis. Hysterical amblyopia.

Nose.--Sneezing; fullness at root of nose. Dryness of nasal fossæ. Swelling of turbinates. Watery, excoriating discharge. Acute coryza, with dull headache and fever.

Face.--Hot heavy, flushed, besotted-looking (Bapt; Op). Neuralgia of face. Dusky hue of face, with vertigo and dim vision. Facial muscles contracted, especially around the mouth. Chin quivers. Lower jaw dropped.

Mouth.--Putrid taste and breath. Tongue numb, thick, coated, yellowish, tremble, paralyzed.

Throat.--Difficult swallowing, especially of warm food. Itching and tickling in soft palate and naso-pharynx. Pain in sterno-cleido-mastoid, back of parotid. Tonsils swollen. Throat feels rough, burning. Post-diphtheritic paralysis. Tonsillitis; shooting pain into ear. Feeling of a lump in throat that cannot be swallowed. Aphonia. Swallowing causes pain in ear (Hep; Nux). Difficult swallowing. Pain from throat to ear.

Stomach.--As a rule, the Gelsemium patient has no thirst. Hiccough; worse in the evening. Sensation of emptiness and weakness at the pit of the stomach, or of an oppression, like a heavy load.

Stool.--Diarrhœa from emotional excitement, fright, bad news (Phos ac). Stool painless or involuntary. Cream-colored (Calc), tea-green. Partial paralysis of rectum and sphincter.

Urine.--Profuse, clear, watery, with chilliness and tremulousness. Dysuria. Partial paralysis of bladder; flow intermittent (Clematis). Retention.

Female.--Rigid os (Bell). Vaginismus. False labor-pains; pains pass up back. Dysmenorrhœa, with scanty flow; menses retarded. Pain extends to back and hips. Aphonia and sore throat during menses. Sensation as if uterus were squeezed (Cham; Nux v; Ustilago).

Male.--Spermatorrhœa, without erections. Genitals cold and relaxed (Phos ac). Scrotum continually sweating. Gonorrhœa, first stage; discharge scanty; tendency to corrode; little pain, but much heat; smarting at meatus.

Respiratory.--Slowness of breathing, with great prostration. Oppression about chest. Dry cough, with sore chest and fluent coryza. Spasm of the glottis. Aphonia; acute bronchitis, respiration quickened, spasmodic affections of lungs and diaphragm.

Heart.--A feeling as if it were necessary to keep in motion, or else heart's action would cease. Slow pulse (Dig; Kalm; Apoc; Can). Palpitation; pulse soft, weak, full and flowing. Pulse slow when quiet, but greatly accelerated on motion. Weak, slow pulse of old age.

Back.--Dull, heavy pain. Complete relaxation of the whole muscular system. Languor; muscles feel bruised. Every little exertion causes fatigue. Pain in neck, especially upper sterno-cleido muscles. Dull aching in lumbar and sacral region, passing upward. Pain in muscles of back, hips, and lower extremities, mostly deep-seated.

Extremities.--Loss of power of muscular control. Cramp in muscles of forearm. Professional neuroses. Writer's cramp. Excessive trembling and weakness of all limbs. Hysteric convulsions. Fatigue after slight exercise.

Sleep.--Cannot get fully to sleep. Delirious on falling asleep. Insomnia from exhaustion; from uncontrollable thinking; tobacco. Yawning. Sleepless from nervous irritation (Coffea).

Fever.--Wants to be held, because he shakes so. Pulse slow, full, soft, compressible. Chilliness up and down back. Heat and sweat stages, long and exhausting. Dumb-ague, with much muscular soreness, great prostration, and violent headache. Nervous chills. Bilious remittent fever, with stupor, dizziness, faintness; thirstless, prostrated. Chill, without thirst, along spine; wave-like, extending upward from sacrum to occiput.

Skin.--Hot, dry, itching, measle-like eruption. Erysipelas. Measles, catarrhal symptoms; aids in bringing out eruption. Retrocedent, with livid spots. Scarlet fever with stupor and flushed face.

Modalities.--Worse, damp weather, fog, before a thunderstorm, emotion, or excitement, bad news, tobacco-smoking, when thinking of his ailments; at 10 am. Better, bending forward, by profuse urination, open air, continued motion, stimulants.

Relationship.--Compare: Ignatia (gastric affections of cigarmakers); Baptisa; Ipecac; Acon; Bell; Cimicif; Magnes phos (Gelsem contains some Magnes phos). Culex--(vertigo on blowing the nose with fullness of the ears).

Antidotes: China; Coffea; Dig. Alcoholic stimulants relieve all complaints where Gelsem is useful.

Dose.--Tincture, to thirtieth attenuation; first to third most often used.

  
GENTIANA LUTEA
Yellow Gentian

Stomach symptoms marked. Acts as a tonic, increasing appetite.

Head.--Vertigo, worse, rising or motion; better open air. Frontal headache, better eating and open air. Brain feels loose, head tender. Aching in eyes.

Throat.--Dry. Thick saliva.

Stomach.--Acid risings, ravenous hunger, nausea, weight and aching in stomach. Inflation and tension of stomach and abdomen (Pothos). Colic, umbilical region sensitive to touch. Flatulence.

Relationship.--Compare: Gentiana quinque flora (intermittent fever; dyspepsia, cholera infantum, weakness); Gentiana cruciata (throat symptoms in addition to similar stomach symptoms; dysphagia; vertigo with headache; pressing inward sensation in eyes; constricted throat and head and abdomen. Distention, fullness and tightness in abdomen. Creeping over body as from fleas). Hydrast; Nux.

Dose.--First to third attenuation.

  
GERANIUM MACULATUM
Crane's-bill

Habitual sick headaches. Profuse, hæmorrhages, pulmonary and from different organs. Vomiting of blood. Ulceration of stomach. Atonic and foul ulcers. Summer complaint.

Head.--Giddiness, with diplopia; better, closing eyes. Ptosis and dilated pupils. Sick headache.

Mouth.--Dry; tip of tongue burning. Pharyngitis.

Stomach.--Catarrhal gastritis with profuse secretion, tendency to ulceration and passive hæmorrhage. Lessens the vomiting in gastric ulcer.

Stool.--Constant desire to go to stool, with inability to pass anything for some time. Chronic diarrhœa, with offensive mucus. Constipation.

Female.--Menses too profuse. Post-partum hæmorrhage. Sore nipples (Eup arom).

Relationship.--Compare: Geranin 1x. Constant hawking and spitting in elderly people. Erodium-Hemlock-Stork's bill--(a popular hæmostatic in Russia, and especially used for metrorrhagia and menorrhagia); Hydrastinin; Cinch; Sabin.

Dose.--Tincture, half-dram doses in gastric ulcer. Tincture, to third attenuation, as a general rule. Locally, in ulcers, it will destroy the pyogenic membrane.

  
GETTYSBURG WATER

Stringy mucus from throat and posterior nares. Rawness. Neck muscles rigid. Joints weak. Cannot lift things. Ligaments rigid. Subacute gouty state. Evaporated and residium triturated to 6x. Of use in sub-acute and chronic rheumatism. White coated tongue. High colored urine with red sandy sediment. Sensation of rigidity worse moving. Especially in lumbar region and joints of hips, shoulders and wrists. Not perceived when quiet. More in morning. Cannot remain long in one position. Stiffness of muscles on moving. Pain in ligaments relieved by rest.

Relationship.--Lycopodium, Phosphor. Rhus Pulsat, but modalities differ.

Modalities.--Worse, stiffness of muscles on moving. Better, rest (ligaments and stiffness of muscles).

Dose.--Lower triturations. Also thirtieth potency.

  
GINSENG QUINQUEFOLIUM
Aralia Quinquefolia-Wild Ginseng-Panax
(GINSENG)

Said to be a stimulant to the secretory glands, especially salivary. Acts on the lower part of the spinal cord. Lumbago, sciatica, and rheumatism. Paralytic weakness. Hiccough. Skin symptoms, itching pimples on neck and chest.

Head.--Vertigo, with gray spots before eyes; semi-lateral headache; occipital; difficult opening of eyelids; objects appear double.

Throat.--Tonsillitis, just like Bellad, but in dark-complexioned people.

Abdomen.--Tense, painful, rumbling. Pain in right side. Loud gurgling in ileo-cæcal region. Perityphlitis.

Male.--Rheumatic pains after frequent emissions. Weakness of genital organs. Voluptuous tickling at end of urethra. Sexual excitement. Pressure in testicles.

Extremities.--Hands feel swollen. Skin feels tight. Contraction. Coldness in back and spine. Bruised pain in small of back and thighs; nightly digging in right lower limb to toes. Burning heat in tips of fingers. Eruption on upper inner thighs. Stiff, contracted joints, heaviness of lower limbs. Crackling in joints. Stiffness in back.

Relationship.--Compare: Aral; Coca. Hedera-Ivy-mental depression and skin irritation antidoted by Gunpowder.

Dose.--Tincture, to third potency.

  
GLONOINUM : GL = Glycerin; O = Oxygen; N = Nitrogen
Nitro-glycerine--Spirits Glycerinus Nitrate

Recent German provings of Glonoine confirm the original American provings and clinical indications and bring out very marked nerve disturbances. Great lassitude, no inclination to work; extreme irritability, easily excited by the slightest opposition, ending in congestive head symptoms. The sixth potency alone produced itching all over body with later acne and furuncle formation, also bulimy.

Great remedy for congestive headaches, hyperæmia of the brain from excess of heat or cold. Excellent for the intercranial, climacteric disturbances, or due to menstrual suppression. Children get sick when sitting before an open fire. Surging of blood to head and heart. Tendency to sudden and violent irregularities of the circulation. Violent convulsions, associated with cerebral congestion. Sensation of pulsation throughout body. Pulsating pains. Cannot recognize localities. Sciatica in other-omatous subjects, with cold shriveled limbs; seasickness.

Head.--Confusion, with dizziness. Effects of sunstroke; heat on head, as in type-setters and workers under gas and electric light. Head heavy, but cannot lay it on pillow. Cannot bear any heat about head. Better from uncovering head. Throbbing headache. Angio-spastic neuralgia of head and face. Very irritable. Vertigo on assuming upright position. Cerebral congestion. Head feels enormously large, as if skull were too small for brain. Sun headaches; increases and decreases with the sun. Shocks in head, synchronous with pulse. Headache in place of menses. Rush of blood to head in pregnant women. Threatened apoplexy. Meningitis.

Eyes.--See everything half light, half dark. Letters appear smaller. Sparks before eyes.

Mouth.--Pulsating toothache.

Ears.--Throbbing; each beat of heart is heard in ears; full feeling.

Face.--Flushed, hot, livid, pale; sweaty; pains in root of nose; faceache. Dusky face.

Throat.--Neck feels full. Collars must be opened. Chokes and swells up under ears.

Stomach.--Gastralgia in anæmic patients with feeble circulation. Nausea and vomiting. Faint, gnawing, and empty feeling at pit of stomach. Abnormal hunger.

Abdomen.--Constipation with itching, painful hæmorrhoids, with pinching in abdomen before and after stool. Diarrhœa; copious blackish, lumpy stools.

Female.--Menses delayed, or sudden cessation with congestion to head. Climacteric flushing.

Heart.--Laborious action. Fluttering. Palpitation with dyspnœa. Cannot go uphill. Any exertion brings on rush of blood to heart and fainting spells. Throbbing in the whole body to finger-tips.

Extremities.--Itching all over, worse extremities. Pain in left biceps. Drawing pain in all limbs. Backache.

Modalities.--Better, brandy. Worse, in sun; exposure to sun-rays, gas, open fire; jar, stooping, having hair cut; peaches, stimulants; lying down; from 6 am to noon; left side.

Relationship.--Antidote: Acon.

Compare: Amyl nit; Bellad; Opium; Stram; Verat vir.

Dose.--Sixth to thirtieth potency.

For palliative (non-homeopathic) purposes, in angina pectoris, asthma, heart-failure, etc, physiological doses-i.e, 1-100 of drop-must be given. Here it is the great emergency remedy. The conditions calling for it are small, wiry pulse, pallor, arterial spasm, anæmia of brain, collapse, feeble heart, syncope, dicrotic pulse, vertigo,-the opposite of those indicating a homeopathic dosage. Often thus used to lower the arterial tension in chronic interstitial nephritis.

  
GLYCERINUM
Glycerine

Used homeopathically, dynamized Glycerine seems to act

deeply and long, building up tissue, hence of great use in marasmus, debility, mental and physical, diabetes, etc. It disturbs nutrition in its primary action, and, secondarily, seems to improve the general state of nutrition (Dr. Wm. B. Griggs).

Head.--Feels full, throbs; mentally confused. Severe headache two days be before menstruation. Occiput feels full.

Nose.--Stopped up, sneezing, irritating coryza. Sensation of crawling on mucous membrane. Post-nasal dripping.

Chest.--Hacking cough with sense of weakness. Chest seems full. Influenzal pneumonia.

Stomach.--Fermentation, burning in stomach and œsophagus.

Urinary.--Profuse and frequent urination. Increased specific gravity and sugar. Diabetes.

Female.--Profuse, long-lasting flow with bearing down heaviness in uterus. General sense of exhaustion.

Extremities.--Rheumatic pains of a remittent type. Feet painful and hot, feel enlarged.

Relationship.--Compare: Lactic acid; Gelsemium; Calc.

Dose.--Thirtieth and higher potencies. Pure Glycerine in teaspoonful doses, t.i.d, with lemon juice for pernicious anæmia.

 

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