Part 1

DR. B. MURE’S MATERIA MEDICA, OR Provings of the principal Animal and Vegetable Poisons OF THE BRAZILIAN EMPIRE; AND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH AND ARRANGED ACCORDING TO HAHNEMANN’S METHOD, BY CHARLES J. HEMPEL, M.D. FELLOW AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOMŒOPATHIC COLLEGE; HONORARY MEMBER OF THE HAHNEMANN SOCIETY OF LONDON, &C., &C.

NEW-YORK: WILLIAM RADDE, No. 322 BROADWAY, PHILADELPHIA: RADEMACHER & SHEEK.—BOSTON: OTIS CLAPP.—ST. LOUIS: J. G. WESSELHOEFT.—LONDON: JAMES EPPS, 112 GREAT RUSSELL-STREET, BLOOMSBURY.—MANCHESTER: H. TURNER, 41 PICCADILLY. 1854.

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by WILLIAM RADDE, In the Clerk’s Office, of the District Court, for the Southern District of New-York.

HENRY LUDWIG, Printer, 45 Vesey-street.

TO THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE.

Though the precious metals hidden in the Brazilian soil, may be never so abundant; though the splendor of its precious stones, may be never so brilliant; though the crops which the soil yields to the farmer, may be never so rich: yet there are, in the Brazilian empire, treasures of a far, greater importance, and infinitely more necessary to human happiness. They are the powerful means which this vast country furnishes for the cure of disease.

Previous to Hahnemann’s discovery, we were ignorant of a positive method of determining the use of drugs. We knew that they existed, but we did not know how to use them; and popular experience, more successful than the wisdom of the School, had alone picked up a few stray fragments from the rich harvest which had been abandoned for want of the proper means of gathering. Providence at last permitted Hahnemann and his disciples to discover the method of applying remedies to diseases in a positive and efficacious manner. The dominion of mere palliatives is at an end.—Homœopathy, by attacking the cause of disease, destroys the chronic miasms, which are transmitted from generation to generation; dries up the fountain-heads of epidemic and contagious diseases; enables the infant-body, by a positive hygiene, to resist the deleterious influences to which it might be exposed in the course of its existence; and, by preserving human life, which is the most precious capital of nations and the first element of their greatness, Homœopathy will insure their prosperity, provided they adopt it without reserve.

We admire the bold hunter who skims the sharp points of the rocks, for the purpose of snatching the down from the little ones of the eider; the indefatigable diver, who, by dint of patient toil, succeeds in bringing up the diamond from the sands of the river, or the pearl from the bosom of the sea. Should not the people of Brazil sympathise with the patient and courageous experimenters, who, under the auspices of Hahnemann, discover a world of wonderful uses in the neglected products of this country?

The work which we here offer to the Brazilian people, is not a work of fiction intended to amuse, but a serious work detailing a series of painful sensations voluntarily endured by a few devoted men, who were desirous of finding out the therapeutic uses of the poisonous animals and plants, the pathogenetic symptoms of which will be found described in this volume. We shall be amply compensated for the patience and devotedness which the composition of such a work requires, by the consciousness that it will do its share in diminishing the sufferings of mankind.

B. MURE, Rio Janeiro.

NOTE TO THE READER:—The symptoms in the following work, are arranged in groups of five; the figures in the text indicate the numerical order of these groups.—ED.

CROTALUS CASCAVELLA.

We commence the publication of our provings by the symptoms of the Crotalus Cascavella, not so much on account of the importance of the symptoms which the poison of this dangerous reptile produces on the healthy body; but because the unfortunate experiment which was attempted a few years ago, on a sick person, offers a fair opportunity of contrasting the hazardous and uncertain results of a merely clinical experimentation, with the positive advantages of Hahnemann’s method of proving.

A popular notion,—and the therapeutics of the Old-School was gradually built up of such notions,—attributed to the poison of the crotalus cascavella, the power of curing the elephantiasis of the Greeks, a malady which, in Brazil, goes by the name of morphea, or Lazarus’-evil. A disciple of Hahnemann might have verified this belief without any difficulty, and without endangering human life. But the Old-School who does not acknowledge our method of proving, had to remain in doubt about this curative virtue of the cascavella, until a patient and physician would be found sufficiently bold and logical to apply to a frightful disease a still more frightful remedy. Mariano José Machado, fell a victim to his heroic attempt, and, by his death, dissipated the illusory hopes founded on the curative virtue of the poison of the cascavella. Now what conclusion shall we draw from this fact? That the practitioner who advised the attempt, has been imprudent and censureable? God forbid that we should commit such an act of injustice. A patient has succumbed to a clinical experiment; let us honor the heroic courage with which he braved the serpent’s bite; let us honor the zeal of the practitioner, who persuaded him to risk a few years of a loathsome existence for the chance, though uncertain, of a cure. The unhappy Machado has been saved a few years of cruel suffering; but what a joy it would have afforded him and his miserable fellow-sufferers, if the remedy for their loathsome disease had been known! what a glory it would have been to the physician who should have conducted them to the haven of relief!

However, a homicide has been committed on this occasion, and though the perpetrators may be free from blame, yet we may justly condemn the deceitful science that has to resort to such dangerous practices, in order to augment its resources and enlarge its boundaries. Like unto the vile poisoner who, when his poisons fail him, resorts to the stiletto, as a means of gratifying his cupidity or his ambition, allopathy sacrifices human life, and, like him, will have an ignominious end. The solemn homicide, which was committed a few years ago in this capital in the name of science, may be of use to the world, by hastening the glorious recognition of the homœopathic healing art, in these distant regions. If it was permitted as recently as four years ago, when the name of Hahnemann was scarcely known in this country, to kill a man for the purpose of trying a drug, we venture to say that, at this period, nobody would either dare to propose or accept such a murderous practice.

It will be seen, in studying the symptoms which we have obtained from the poison of the crotalus, that there are very few among them which resemble the tuberculous lepra, and that this terrible malady will, therefore, have to be cured by some other means. Fortunately, homœopathy teaches us the method of discovering a suitable remedy in the place of the crotalus poison, which we now know has to be abandoned as a remedy for lepra, and the success which we have already obtained, enables us to indulge the hope, that the Brazilian lepra, as well as the elephantiasis of the Arabs, will soon disappear entirely, under the operation of the suitable dynamised homœopathic agent.

The crotalus will become a useful adjunct to the lachesis proved by Doctor Hering; it is my belief that it affects the organism longer and more thoroughly than the latter, and will effect many cures which had to remain incomplete under the use of lachesis.

The serpent from which this poison has been extracted, was caught in the province of Ceara. In this operation I was aided by the young practitioner who alone, four years ago, had protested against the dangerous experiment which was made in the hospital of the leprous patients, of which he was at that time chief physician. His noble heart revolted against the practice of risking human life, for the sake of a medical doctrine, and, soon after, he imitated the glorious example which Hahnemann had set him fifty years previous, by abandoning a lucrative practice, and the direction of two hospitals. Having first protested against the bite which the reptile was caused to inflict upon his patient, he now voluntarily exposed his own life for the purpose of extracting the poison, which was to be suitably attenuated in order to convert it into a curative agent. Several drops of the poison spirted on his face, and might have ended his life, if the inner corner of the eye had been touched as I first feared it was. At this day, when his suspicions have been abundantly confirmed by the physiological provings, Dr. J. V. Martins, is one of the firmest adherents of our rising School. May he live to see the error which he had instinctively rejected, completely extinguished by the brilliant light of medical truth.

This terrible serpent is found in the province of Ceara, whence it was brought to Rio Janeiro. This species generally attains a length of from four to five feet but the animal from which the poison was taken for our provings, was three feet long. Its oval-triangular head one half of which is provided with shields, shows a round depression in front of the eyes, which are covered with a large elliptical shield, serving as a lid. The body is big, conical, its movements are sluggish; its upper surface is covered with scales, the dorsal scales being keeled and somewhat lanceolate, the scales of the tail being quadrangular and smaller. The belly is provided with one hundred and seventy large transversal plates; there are twenty-five plates belonging to the tail, the three first of which are divided in shields. The extremity of the tail is furnished with seven or eight capsules of the consistence of parchment which, when agitated, produce a shrill sound. The color of the crotalus is a yellowish-brown, much lighter under the belly, with twenty-four or twenty-six regular long rhomboïdal lines on each side of the back. When irritated and during the excessive heat, the crotalus spreads a very fetid musk-like odor. The molar teeth which are few in number, but long and excessively poisonous, are inserted in exceedingly dilatable jaws. Every body knows that the poison of this reptile acts with a frightful intensity; and it was not without great danger that Doctors Mure and Martins succeeded in obtaining a few drops of it, by compressing from the living animal the gland which secretes it.

FIRST EXPERIMENT.

1. First day: Heavy pain in the back part of the orbit, and at the left eyebrow.—Second day: Pain under the right orbit and at the forehead, right side.—Third day: Dry cough with tickling in the throat, at night.—Fourth day: Headache extending over the forehead and then the rest of the head. 5. Fifth day: Smell all day like that of the crotalus, insipid, nauseous, like the odor perceived in a hospital. Sixth day: Lancinations in various parts of the body.—Seventh day: Contraction with pressure at the right eyeball which felt as if drawn out.—Eighth day: Yellowish diarrhœa.—Ninth day: Pain in the middle of the forehead. 10. Tenth day: Rheumatic pain in the right shoulder.—Eleventh day: Rheumatic pain in the left wrist.—Twelfth day: Violent cramps in the heel.

SECOND EXPERIMENT.

(The drug is taken at 10 o’clock in the evening.)

Spitting of black blood. 15. Prickling all over the body. Starting during sleep. Sleeplessness. Fright at night, without knowing about what. 20. Sleep in the morning. The tip of the nose is drawn up as by a string which is fastened to a central point of the forehead. Tingling in the throat. Salt taste in the mouth which cannot be removed by drinking sugar-water. 25. Pulse a little heavy. Small red conical pimples on the wrist. Painful pulling on the sides of the neck in turning the head. Feeling of coldness in the stomach, after having eaten. Sensation as if a peg were sticking in the middle portion of the liver. 30. Aching pain at the gums, left side. Circular pain round the abdomen, terminating at the navel. Two lancinations under the right shoulder, as if with a dagger, arresting the breathing and reverberating in the chest. Sensation as of a grain of sand in the outer canthi of the eyes. Burning pinching at the pylorus. 35. Constriction in the thyroid body. Sensation as if the right lower limb, from the hip to the heel, were shorter; this sensation, though illusory, causes him to limp. The left eye feels as if drawn towards the temple. Burning and constriction in the throat.

Second day: Pain in the inner head. 40. The feet are cold. The arms are weak. Contusive feeling at the inner side of the right shoulder-blade. Painful heaviness in the loins. Appearance of a blue dazzling light before the eyes. 45. Borborygmi. Painful pressure in the temples. Desire to vomit. Sensation, below the breasts, of subcutaneous ulceration. Lancinations in the dorsal spine as from needles. 50. The prover imagines he hears some one walking behind him. The cranium presses on the brain on all sides like an iron helmet. Pulling in the pit of the stomach. Itching on the thighs. Titillating itching in the ears. 55. Swelling of the right ear. Deafness. Dreams about parties with illuminations; quarrels, battles. Frontal headache, as if the forehead would split, with weight above the eyes, especially at night. Pain in the stomach extending to the navel. 60. Weariness of the arms and lower limbs. Smarting in the nostrils. Cutting sensations all round the eyeball as if cut out with a penknife. Pain in the left cheek. Sweat and debility after eating. 65. Greenish spitting in the morning. Sensation in the head, as if some living being were walking about in a circle. Shocks in the brain so violent that one is near losing one’s equilibrium. Continual twitching of the eyebrows, especially the left. Black, bloody froth around the lips, in the morning. 70. Tongue of a scarlet-red. Jerking in the fingers. Pain in the elbow as if the bones were pulled. Sensation as if a thread were rolling in the eye and were pulling the eyeball toward the temple. Acute pulling in the thigh, with momentary paralysis in the right pelvic extremity. 75. Acute lancinations in the right temple. Very thirsty. Belly-ache after drinking. Pressure in the whole abdomen, in the direction of the navel. The abdomen is exceedingly sensitive. 80. Great desire for food, suddenly passing off at the sight of the latter. Loathing of meat. Yellow rings around the eyes. Discharge of an albuminous substance from the rectum, preceded by tenesmus and urging. Falling of the rectum for ten minutes. 85. Pain in the hollow of the hand.

Third day.—Pain in the chest which reaches as far as the back. Sensation as of an opening in the pit of the stomach through which air passes. Sleeplessness with agitations. Headache as if the forehead would split. 90. Headache, nosebleed, and excited feeling in consequence of having been roused from sleep suddenly. Drawing-up of the lower limb from the hip to the foot, with crampy pain. Leucorrhœa. Small pimples on the hairy scalp. The toes remain bent. 95. The nails are red. Sensation as of water in the chest, with efforts to throw it up, and sensation as if the heart were floating in a liquid. Constant yawning. Itching of the tongue. Smarting at the tips of the fingers. 100. Sensation as of dust in the throat. The pimples at first look like flea-bites, after which they become elevated like little cones and constitute the centres of an exfoliation less extensive than that caused by the elaps coralinus, with a little black speck remaining in the middle. Itching in the canthus of the eye. Acute sensation of burning and redness of the skin which is perceptibly sunken in at the opening of the right nostril. The prover imagines he hears some one moan. 105. The thorax and head feel as if pressed upon by an iron armor. Sensation as of bands round the abdomen. Pain in the elbows. Pain in the jugular veins when moving the neck. Abundant discharge of nasal mucus, at night. 110. Foul taste, or taste as of onions in the mouth until it is rinsed. Burning and prickling at the tip of the tongue. Swoon which passes off in the open air. Anorexia all day, and a good deal of appetite in the evening. Pain above the right breast. 115. The soup falls into the stomach quite suddenly, and lies there like a stone, with pain in the back. Stitch in the left side when drawing breath after drinking. Lancinations in the side.

Fourth day.—Violent lancinations in the uterus while washing one’s-self with cold water, the lancinations become frightful when using warm water, with weight at the uterus. Itching under the feet. 120. Formication in the feet as high up as the ankles. Prickling in the bends of the knees. Faint feeling at the stomach. While in a clairvoyant state, he speaks to somebody who does not answer him. 125. Feeling of fright at night. First the blood is felt rising in the carotid arteries several times; this is followed by a faint feeling and lastly by a sensation as if a valve were suddenly opened. Violent blow at the epigastrium. All his limbs tremble. Chilliness all over which continues even under the bed-cover. 130. Violent ache at the vertex, and sensitiveness of the hairy scalp to the touch. Extinction of the voice. Great weakness. Depression of spirits. Suffocative oppression and fear of another paroxysm. 135. Sensation as if a red-hot iron were sticking in the vertex. The eyelids feel heavy. Pain in the lower gums as if they had been touched by a red-hot iron. Excessive weight at the diaphragm. Continual contusive pain between the two shoulders, and sometimes slow and measured lancinations when inclining backwards, as if a vertebra had been fractured. 140. Constrictive pain in the thyroid body as if strung together with a string.