The Project Gutenberg EBook of Apis Mellifica, by C. W. Wolf This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Apis Mellifica or, The Poison of the Honey-Bee, Considered as a Therapeutic Agent Author: C. W. Wolf Release Date: July 10, 2008 [EBook #26020] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK APIS MELLIFICA *** Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from scans of public domain works at the University of Michigan's Making of America collection.) APIS MELLIFICA; OR, THE POISON OF THE HONEY-BEE, Considered as a Therapeutic Agent. BY C. W. WOLF, M.D., Ex-District Physician in Berlin. PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY WILLIAM RADDE, 635 ARCH STREET. 1858. PREFACE. Every physician who has spent years of an active life in prescribing for large numbers of patients, is morally bound to publish his experience to the world, provided he is satisfied, in his interior conscience, that such a publication might be useful to the general interests of humanity. In offering the following essay to my readers, I simply desire to fulfil an obligation recognised as valid by the inner sense. This essay contains every thing that an experience of forty years in the conscientious and philanthropic exercise of my profession has sanctioned and confirmed as truth. Nor have I adopted a single fact, suggested by my own observation, as correct, without contrasting it with the most approved records of medicine. To every true friend of man, and more particularly to every physician who considers the business of healing disease as the highest office of medical art, I offer this essay for further trial and examination. May the statements expressed in it either be confirmed or else corrected and improved by those who excel in more thorough knowledge and ability. The Author. Berlin, Oct., 1857. APIS MELLIFICA. "The bee helps to heal all thy internal and external maladies, and is the best little friend whom man possesses in this world."—More in Cotton's Book of the Bee, p. 138. Since Hahnemann's successful attempt to develop the medicinal nature of Aconite, no other discovery has been made in the domain of practical medicine, as comprehensive and universally useful as the discovery of the medicinal virtues of the poison of the bee. It is of the utmost importance to the interests of humanity to become as intimately acquainted with the efficacy of this poison as possible. It is the object of these papers to contribute my mite to this work. As soon as Dr. Hering had published the provings of the bee poison, in his "American Provings," I at once submitted them to the test of experience in an extensive practice. I prepared the drug which I used for this purpose, by pouring half an ounce of alcohol on five living bees, and shaking them during the space of eight days, three times a-day, with one hundred vigorous strokes of the arm. From this preparation, which I used as the mother-tincture, I obtained attenuations up to the thirties centesimal scale. So far, the effects which I have obtained with this preparation, have been uniformly satisfactory. It has seemed to me that the lower potencies lose in power as they are kept for a longer period; hence, I consider it safer to prepare them fresh every year. As a general rule, I have found either the third or the thirtieth [3] [4] [5] [6] potency, sufficient. Day after day I have obtained more satisfactory results, and now I look upon Apis mellifica as the greatest polychrest, next to Aconite, which we possess. The introduction of this poison to the medical profession, will be looked upon as the most brilliant merit of one of the most deserving apostles of homœopathy, and will secure immortality to the honored name of Constantine Hering. The following statements will show how far this faith of a grateful heart is founded upon facts: Apis mellifica is the most satisfactory remedy for acute hydrocephalus of children. The more acute and dangerous the attack, the more readily will it yield to the action of Apis. Sudden convulsions, followed by general fever, loss of consciousness, delirium, sopor while the child is lying in bed, interrupted more or less by sudden cries; boring of the head into the pillow, with copious sweat about the head, having the odor of musk; inability to hold the head erect; squinting of one or both eyes; dilatation of the pupils; gritting of the teeth; protrusion of the tongue; desire to vomit; nausea, retching and vomiting; collapse of the abdominal walls; scanty urine, which is sometimes milky; costiveness; trembling of the limbs; occasional twitching of the limbs on one side of the body, and apparent paralysis of those of the other side; painful turning inwards of the big toes, extorting cries from the patient; accelerated pulse, which soon becomes slower, irregular, intermittent and rather hard; these symptoms inform us that life is in danger, the more so the more numerous they are grouped together. In comparing with these symptoms the following symptoms from Hering's American Provings, Part I., 3d Num., p. 294: "40, 41, muttering during sleep; muttering and delirium during sleep; 83, 84, he had lost all consciousness of the things around him; he sank into a state of insensibility; 140, 144, sense of weight and fulness in the fore part of the head; heaviness and fulness in the vertex; dull pain in the occiput, aggravated by shaking the head; pressure, fulness and heaviness in the occiput; 170, her whole brain feels tired, as if gone to sleep; tingling; she experiences the same sensation in both arms, especially in the left, and from the left knee down to the foot; 175, 176, sensation as if the head were too large; swelling of the head; 391, when biting the teeth together, swallowing; after gaping or at other times, a sort of gritting the teeth; only a single, involuntary jerk frequently repeated; 501, nausea and vomiting; 506, nausea, as if one would vomit, with fainting; 512, vomiting of the ingesta; 619, retention of stool; 640, retention of urine; 665, scanty and dark-colored urine; 980, 984, 985, trembling, convulsions, starting during sleep as if in affright; 1020, sudden weakness, compelling him to lie down; he lost all recollection; 1032, great desire for sleep, he felt extremely drowsy." If we compare these effects of Apis to the above-mentioned symptoms of hydrocephalus, we shall find the homœopathicity of Apis to this disease more than superficially indicated. If we consider, moreover, that the known effects of Apis show that it possesses the power of exciting inflammatory irritation and œdematous swellings, we are justified, by our law of similarity, in expecting curative results from the use of Apis in all such diseases. The experiments which I have instituted for the last four years, have convinced me of the correctness of this observation. Whenever I had an opportunity of giving Apis at the commencement of the diseases, it would produce within twelve to twenty-four hours quiet sleep; general perspiration, affording relief; the feverish and nervous symptoms, together with the delirium, would disappear from hour to hour, and on waking, the little patient's consciousness was lucid, the appetite good and recovery fully established. This is a triumph of art which inspires us with admiration for our science. Less surprising, but equally certain, is the relief, if Apis is given after the disease has lasted for some time. In such a case, the medicine first excites a combat between the morbific force and the conservative reaction. The greater the hostile force, the longer the struggle between momentary improvement and aggravation of the symptoms; it may sometimes continue for one, two, or three days. It is not until now, that a progressive and permanent improvement sets in. The desire to vomit is gone; the twitching, trembling, and the struggle, generally diminish from hour to hour; consciousness returns; the squinting and the dilatation of the pupils abate; gritting of the teeth and protrusion of the tongue cease; the position and movements of the head and limbs become more natural; the pulse becomes more regular; its slowness yields to a more normal frequency; the feverish heat terminates in sweat which affords great relief, and the retention of stool and urine is succeeded by a more copious action of both the bowels and bladder. The natural appetite returns; the reproductive process is restored; sleep is quiet and refreshing, and recovery is perfectly established in an incredibly short period. A cure of this kind generally requires five, seven, eleven, and fourteen days. This result is so favorable, that those who have not witnessed it, or who are too ignorant and egotistical to investigate the facts, may reject it as incredible. Such brilliant results are obtained by means of a single drop of Apis, third attenuation. I mix a drop with seven tablespoonfuls of water, and give a dessert-spoonful every hour, or every two or three hours; the more acute the attack, the more frequently the dose is repeated; this method generally suffices to effect a cure more or less rapidly. As long as the improvement progresses satisfactorily, all we have to do is to let the medicine act without interfering. If the improvement is arrested, or the patient gets worse, which sometimes happens in the more intense grades of this malady, the best course is to give a globule of Apis 30, and to watch the result for some twenty-four hours. After the lapse of this period the improvement will either have resumed its course, or else it will continue unsatisfactory. In the latter case we should give another dose of the above-mentioned solution of Apis 3. Not unfrequently I have met with patients upon whom Apis acts too powerfully, causing pains in the bowels, interminable diarrhœa, of a dysenteric character, extreme prostration and a sense of fainting. In such cases the tumultuous action of Apis is mitigated, and the continued use of this drug, rendered possible by giving Apis in alternation with Aconite in water, every hour or two hours. [7] [8] [9] [10] Except such cases, I have never been obliged to resort to other accessory means. Apis is no less efficacious against the higher grades of ophthalmia. It is particularly rheumatic, catarrhal, erysipelatous, and œdematous ophthalmia, which is most rapidly, easily, and safely cured by Apis, no matter what part of the eye may be the seat of the disease. The symptoms 188-307 distinctly point to the curative virtues of Apis in ophthalmia: "Sensitiveness to light, with headache, redness of the eyes; he keeps his eyes closed, light is intolerable, the eyes are painful and feel sore and irritated if he uses them; weakness of sight, with feeling of fullness in the eyes; twitching of the left eyeball; feeling of heaviness in the eyelids and eyes; aching, sore-pressing, tensive, shooting, boring, stinging, burning pains in and around the eyes, and above the eyes in the forehead; redness of the eyes and lids; secretion of mucus and agglutination of the lids; the lids are swollen, dark-red, everted; the conjunctiva is reddened, full of dark blood-vessels which gradually lose themselves in the cornea; the cornea is obscured, smoky, showing a few little ulcers here and there; profuse lachrymation; stinging itching in the left eye, in the lids and around the eye; sensation of a quantity of mucus in the left eye; sensation of a foreign little body in the eye; soreness of the canthi; styes; œdema of the lids; erysipelatous inflammation of the lids." I have found the correctness of these observations uniformly confirmed by the most satisfactory cures of such affections. I use the medicine in the same manner as for acute hydrocephalus. In some cases I found the eye so sensitive to the action of Apis, that an exceedingly violent aggravation of the inflammatory symptoms ensued, which might have proved dangerous to the preservation of such a delicate organ as the eye. Inasmuch as it is impossible to determine beforehand the degree of sensitiveness, I obviate all danger by exhibiting Apis in alternation with Aconite in the manner indicated for hydrocephalus. By means of this alternate exhibition of two drugs, we not only prevent every aggravating primary effect, but we at the same time act in accordance with the important law, that, in order to secure the effective and undisturbed repetition of a drug, we have first to interrupt its action by some appropriate intermediate remedy. All repetitions should cease as soon as a general improvement sets in; if the medicine is continued beyond the point where the organism is saturated with the drug, it acts as a hostile agent, not as a curative remedy. This important point is known by the fact, that the improvement which had already commenced, seems to remain stationary; the patient experiences a distressing urging to stool, a burning diarrhœa sets in, and a disproportionate feeling of malaise develops itself. Under these circumstances, a globule of Apis 30 will quiet the patient, and the action of the drug will achieve the cure without any further difficulty, and without much loss of time, unless psora, sycosis, syphilis, or vaccine-virus prevail in the organism, or sulphur, iodine or mercury had been previously given in large doses. In the presence of such complications Apis will prove ineffectual until they have been removed by some specific antidote. After having made a most careful diagnosis, a single dose of the highest potency of the specific remedy be given, and be allowed to act as long as a trace of improvement is still perceptible. As soon as the improvement ceases, or an aggravation of the symptoms sets in, Apis is in its place and will act most satisfactorily. We then give Apis 3 in water, as mentioned above, with the most satisfactory success. Apis is the most appropriate remedy for inflammation of the tongue, mouth, and throat. The following symptoms may be looked upon as striking curative indications: 378-380, 383, 384, 399, 400, 405, 406, 409, 410, 413, 419, 436, 437, 439, 443, 444, 449, 455, 458, 459, 463, 470, 471: "Burning of the lips; the upper lip is swollen to such a degree that the inside seems turned outside; swelling of the lips and tongue; swelling of the upper lip, it becomes hot and red, almost brown; dark streaks along the vermilion border, particularly on the upper lip, rough, cracked, peeling off; violent pains spreading through the gums, the gums bleed readily; the tongue feels as if burnt; tongue and palate are sore; raw feeling, burning, blisters along the margin of the tongue, very painful, stinging; at the tip of the tongue a row of small vesicles which cause a pain as if sore and raw; dry tongue; the inner cheeks look red and fiery, with painful sensitiveness; inflammation of the tongue; inflammation and swelling of the palate; burning, stinging sensation in the mouth and throat; pressure in the fauces as of a foreign body; ptyalism; copious accumulation of a soapy mucus in the mouth and throat; dryness and heat in the throat; inability to swallow a drop, with swelling of the tongue; sensation of gnawing and contraction in the throat, increasing after four hours so as to render deglutition difficult; sensation of fulness, constriction and suffocation in the throat; deglutition painful and impeded, stinging pains during deglutition; swelling and redness of the tonsils, impeding deglutition; angina faucium; chilliness followed by heat; violent pain in the temples; redness and swelling of the tonsils; uvula and fauces, painful and impeded deglutition, and stinging pains when attempting to swallow." The more frequently we make use of Apis in the treatment of these very common forms of angina, and of the inflammation of the salivary glands, which are so closely connected with the other parts of the throat, the more we become convinced by the most striking success, that this drug is by far the speediest, safest and easiest remedy which we possess for the treatment of these exceedingly common and yet so very distressing affections. Not only in common affections of this sort, but also in the most acute and dangerous forms of angina faucium, will Apis be found efficient; even where these affections are hereditary, or have become habitual, and generally terminate in suppuration, Apis will still afford help. In these affections likewise Apis acts most promptly and efficiently, if given in alternation with Aconite, both remedies in the third dilution, a few drops dissolved in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, in alternate hourly doses. After taking a few doses, the patient begins to feel relieved, enjoys a quiet sleep, and the resolution of the inflammation takes place, accompanied by the breaking out of a general perspiration. If there should be a natural tendency to suppuration, this treatment will hasten it from hour to hour, and after the pus is discharged, a cure will soon be [11] [12] [13] [14] accomplished. In the most inveterate cases, which had been previously treated in a different manner, the same curative process takes place gradually; first one outbreak of the disease is hushed; next, if another portion of the throat becomes inflamed, this inflammation is controlled, and this proceeding is continued with an increasingly rapid success and a continued abatement of all sufferings, until, finally, a perfect recovery is obtained, even under these disadvantageous circumstances. Apis is not sufficient to prevent the recurrence of such inflammatory attacks; this object has to be accomplished by means of the appropriate antidotal specific. Apis becomes an exceedingly useful remedy in consequence of the specific power which it possesses over the whole internal mucous membrane and its appendages. It is particularly the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal upon which Apis has a striking influence. It excites an inflammatory irritation, which not only disturbs the secretion of mucus, but also disintegrates the intestinal juices so essential to the process of sanguification, thus disqualifying the blood from properly contributing to the reproduction of the nervous tissue. By thus altering the blood and nerves, these two principal vehicles of vitality, it develops a group of symptoms which is exceedingly similar to our abdominal typhus that seems to have become stationary among us for the last twenty years. This similarity, in its totality, results from the following symptoms contained in the "American Provings." "398: troublesome pains in the gums. 400: the gums bleed readily. 402: bitterish taste in the back part of the tongue and in the throat. 405: tongue as if burnt. 406: tongue and palate feel sore. 411: a number of vesicles and small, sore, somewhat red spots at the tip of the tongue and along the left margin of the tongue. 413: dry tongue, the inner cheeks look red, fiery, are painfully sensitive. 416: burning from the tongue down the œsophagus, as far as the stomach, eructations every four or five minutes, with flow of tasteless water in the mouth; eructations became worse after drinking water, she almost felt as if choked. 420: swelling of the tongue, the tongue is dry, shining, yellowish. 421: tenacious saliva adhering to the tongue. 424: tongue dry and white. 427: feeling of dryness in the mouth and throat. 441: fetid breath, with gastritis. 445: quantity of thick, tenacious mucus deep in the throat, obliging him to hawk. 447: tenacious, frothy saliva. 450: dryness in the throat, without thirst. 452: loathing, as if out of the throat. 459: sense of fulness, constriction and choking in the throat. 474: loss of taste. 475: complete loss of appetite. 488: no thirst, with heat. 492: very thirsty when waking at night, after diarrhœa. 495: eructations tasting of white of eggs. 501: nausea and vomiting. 504: fainting sort of nausea from the short ribs across the whole abdomen. 512: vomiting of the ingesta. 513: vomiting of bile. 516: vomiting and diarrhœa. 517: nausea, vomiting of the ingesta, and diarrhœa; repeated vomiting, first of bile, afterwards a thin, watery fluid, having a very bitter taste, with violent pains across the abdomen. 518 to 525: oppression, pressing, creeping, drawing and gnawing, pricking, soreness, heat and burning in the stomach. 528: painful sensitiveness in the pit of the stomach, with burning, like heartburn, with bilious diarrhœa, rather greenish, and almost painless. 530: violent pain and sensitiveness in the region of the stomach and epigastrium, with vomiting, coated tongue, fetid breath, costiveness, and sleep disturbed by muttering and dreams, with frequent, wiry pulse. 533: sense of numbness under the right ribs. 532: sense of compression, squeezing, bruising, under the ribs, worse on the left side. 535: violent burning pains under the short ribs on both sides, worst and most permanent on the left side, where the pain is felt for weeks, preventing sleep. 543: rumbling in the abdomen, with violent urging to stool. 545: nausea in the abdomen, has to lie down. 546: weight in the abdomen. 547: dull pain in the bowels. 552: occasional attacks of colic, with a feverish, tremulous sensation. 553: violent, cutting pains in the abdomen. 555: slowly pulsating, boring pain above the left crest of the ilium, relieved by eructations. 556: pain in the abdomen, from the hips to the umbilical region. 560: soreness and pressure in the lower abdomen. 563: feeling of soreness, burning and numbness below and on the side of the right hip, deep-seated. 566: the inner abdomen feels sore and as if excoriated, painful when pressed upon. 567: feeling as if the bowels had been squeezed, with tenesmus during stool. 576: fulness and sense of distension in the abdomen, as if bloated. 589: frequent urging to stool, with pain in the anus on account of the frequent pressing. 590: violent tenesmus. 593: several thin, yellow evacuations, accompanied by excessive prostration; the stools set in at every motion of the body, as if the anus were wide open. 598: copious discharges of dark brown, green and whitish excrements. 599: dysenteric stools. 608: blood and mucus with stool. 611 and 612: painful and also painless diarrhœa, especially in the morning. 617: retention of stool for one week. 646: disagreeable sensation in the bladder, with pressing downwards in the region of the sphincter, and frequent urging, so that he voids urine frequently in the day-time, and ten or twelve times at night; burning and cutting during urination. 668: the urine is dark colored. 730: hoarseness and distress of breathing. 733: roughness and sensitiveness in the larynx. 738: violent cough, especially after lying down and sleeping. 754: hurried and difficult breathing, with heat and headache. 803: sense of soreness, lameness, bruised and contusive feeling in the chest. 812: trembling and pressure in the chest, with embarrassed breathing. 818: pulse scarcely perceptible. 822: pulse accelerated. 833: swelling of the cervical glands on the injured side. 968: extreme sensitiveness of the whole body to contact, every hair is painful when touched. 971: excessive nervousness. 979: general lassitude, with trembling. 994: in the afternoon he becomes extremely restless and exhausted. 1011: paroxysms of great weakness. 1021: sudden weakness, he had to lie down, and lost his senses. 1025: complete loss of recollection, with vomiting, desire for sleep and rest, slow beating of the heart and scarcely perceptible pulse. 1032: excessive drowsiness. 1039: starting during sleep, as if in affright, with some cough. 1046: sleeplessness. 1047: restless sleep, frequent waking and constant dreaming. 1064: chattering during sleep (in the case of a child). 1081: chilly every afternoon at three or four o'clock, she feels a shivering, worse during warmth; chilly creepings across the back, the hands feel numb; an hour after, feverish heat, with rough cough, hot cheeks and hands, no thirst; these symptoms pass off gradually, but she feels heavy and prostrated. 1089: chill after a heat of thirty-six hours. 1090: sudden chilliness, [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] afterwards heat and sweat. 1124: alternate sweat and dry skin. 1198: thick urticaria, itching a great deal (very soon). 1224: swelling and erysipelatous redness. 54: unable to concentrate his thoughts. 57: dulness of the head, it feels compressed. 62: vertigo and weakness. 79: dizziness." Whosoever compares the totality of these effects of Apis to the symptoms of the prevailing abdominal typhus, will admit that Apis is homœopathic to this disease. He will even admit that this homœopathicity of Apis to abdominal typhus extends to the minute particulars of the disease in their totality. Even the course which Apis pursues, in developing its effects in the organism, is similar to the progressive development of typhus. Any one who has witnessed, as I have, the course which this disease pursues, will admit that mucous membrane of the alimentary canal is first affected by the disease, in the same manner as Apis affects it; that this irritation of the mucous membrane is followed by gastric catarrhal symptoms, which are speedily succeeded by symptoms of disintegration of the animal fluids and typhoid phenomena; that the gastric irritation is generally characterized by boils, urticaria, erysipelas of the skin, and the nervous irritation by symptoms of abdominal typhus; that the internal and external development of the disease is determined by a striking sympathetic derangement of the organic functions of the liver, and still more of the spleen, and likewise by a more striking prominence of the intermittent type of the fever; and that all these varied disturbances finally culminate in abdominal typhus. Owing to this remarkable similarity, Apis will effect striking cures of all these different derangements. If, after more or less distinctly felt premonitory symptoms—after a sudden cold, excessive exertions, prostrating emotions or enjoyments—a more or less violent fever is developed, accompanied by dulness and painfulness of the head, retching and vomiting, distention and sensitiveness of the pit of the stomach, and soon after of the whole abdomen, with urging diarrhœa, pappy and foul taste in the mouth, loss of appetite and thirst, feeling of dryness in the mouth and throat, tongue sore, as if burnt and swollen, with antagonistic change of symptoms, suspicious and extraordinary prostration, and feeling of fainting; a few spoonfuls of the above-mentioned solution of Apis 3, will afford such speedy relief, that it may seem incredible to those who have not witnessed it. The nausea, the vomiting, the diarrhœa, and the painfulness of the abdomen, disappear; quiet sleep sets in, with general perspiration, which terminates the fever, and affords great relief; after waking, the patient is comforted by the internal sensation of returning health; a natural appetite is again felt, the strength returns, and in a few days the healthy look of the tongue and buccal cavity shows that the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels has recovered its normal quality. The longer help is deferred, the longer time the morbid process has had in making its inroads upon the system, the more frequently will it be necessary to repeat the medicine, until a cure is achieved. The same good result is perceived, if the morbid process is accompanied by furuncles, urticaria, erysipelas—the latter principally on the head and in the face, less frequently upon the extremities, and inclining to shift from one place to another. Such a combination of symptoms not only shows a higher degree of intensity of the disease, but also shows that the organism is still capable of battling against the internal disease, by compelling it to leave the interior tissue, and to develop itself externally. It is the first business of the physician to support the organism in this tendency, and to guard the brain and bowels from every destructive relapse. Apis, employed as above, accomplishes this result more speedily than any other drug. Of course, a few days are required for this purpose, although the rules of using the drug and the course of treatment are the same. The same observation applies to the not unfrequent complication with organic disease of the spleen and consequent dropsy. Apis, used in the same manner, effects, in as short a period as the intensity of the symptoms will permit, a mitigation and gradual disappearance of the painfulness of the spleen, restores the normal action of the spleen more and more, and neutralises the tendency to dropsical effusion at the same time as it expels the accumulated fluid by increasing the secretions from the bladder and bowels, and the cutaneous exhalation. If the liver is organically diseased, Apis is no longer sufficient. In such a case, the action of the liver has first to be restored to its normal standard. In dropsical diseases, I have effected this result most frequently, for years past, by means of Carduus mariæ, less frequently by Quassia, still less frequently by Nux vomica, and only in a few cases by Chelidonium: according as one or the other of these agents seemed indicated by the epidemic character of the disease. In all non-malignant cases, if the medicine was permitted to act in time, the whole disease was often cut short by the use of these drugs, and the development of typhoid symptoms prevented. Not, however, in all more inveterate cases, where the prevailing character of the disease, by its more penetrating action upon the tissues, induced a slower and more threatening course of development. As soon as the pains in the right hypochondrium had disappeared, the bilious quality of the fæces had been restored, and the urine had become lighter colored, but the fever still continued, tongue, throat, pit of the stomach and abdomen had become more sensitive; the head duller and tighter, and the prostration more overpowering. In such a case, Apis, prepared as above, became indispensable, in order to remove all danger to life. Its curative action soon became manifest in two different ways. If the reactive force of the organism was still sufficient, the medicine succeeded very speedily in preventing the supervention of the typhoid stage, in changing the fever-type from a remittent or even continuous to an intermittent type, during which the convalescence of the patient, aided by a suitable diet, was more and more firmly established and generally completely secured after the lapse of a week. If the typhoid stage could not be prevented and set in with the following symptoms: the patient lies on his bed in a state of apathy, with loss of recollection, sopor, muttering delirium, hardness of hearing, inability to protrude the tongue [20] [21] [22] [23] or to articulate; dry, cracked, sore, blistered, ulcerated tongue; difficult deglutition; painful distention of the abdomen, which is sensitive to contact or pressure; retention of stool, or else frequent, painful, foul, bloody, involuntary diarrhœa; fermentous urine, which is sometimes discharged involuntarily; the skin is at times and partially dry, burning, at times and partially clammy, cool; trembling and twitching of the limbs; white miliaria on the chest and abdomen; extreme debility, with settling towards the foot-end of the bed; changing pulse, which is at times slow, at others accelerated, feeble, intermittent: in such a case Apis requires more time to heal the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal; to restore the normal action of the bowels; to regulate the digestive functions; to procure quiet and refreshing sleep, and to gradually effect a complete restoration of health. If the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs was invaded by the morbid process, the cure was nevertheless completed as soon as the mucous lining of the intestinal canal was restored to its natural condition. So far, the only obstacle to a cure which I have witnessed, has been tuberculosis of the chest or abdominal viscera, or of both at the same time, and still more the vaccine-virus; likewise a tendency to paralysis in persons who were otherwise morbidly affected. Tuberculosis has often been combated by a single dose of a high potence of Sulphur between the doses of Apis, no Apis being given after the Sulphur, as long as the course of the typhoid symptoms would render it safe to postpone this medicine. I have found it much more difficult to conquer the vaccine-poison, which I have become satisfied by years of observation, constitutes the most universal and most powerful generator of the typhus which is prevailing in our age and which seems unwilling to leave us. Tartar emetic proves in this, as in other cases, its antidotal power against the vaccine-virus; but under no circumstances is more caution required in the use of tartar emetic than in typhus, where the vaccine-virus seeks to develop its characteristic pustules with a tendency inherent in each pustule to terminate in the destruction of the mucous membrane. It may seem hazardous to add to this combination of destructive forces another similarly-acting element; but a careful consideration of the circumstances of the case will justify such a proceeding, although death may be the inevitable result of the morbid process. Experience has satisfied me that the alternate use of tartar emetic and Apis, a drop of the third potency of each, every three, six or twelve hours, according as the symptoms are more or less violent, or, in very sensitive organisms, in tablespoonful doses of a watery solution of a drop, will accomplish all that can be expected; for these two drugs, thus administered, seem to compensate or complete each other. I am unable to say how far this proceeding requires to be modified in particular cases; all I desire to do, is to submit this important subject to my colleagues for further inquiry and trial. If a tendency to paralysis prevails, the danger is less threatening, although equally momentous. In such cases I use Apis and Moschus in alternation, although I am unable to assert, on account of deficient experience, that this treatment will always prove satisfactory. Such cases hardly ever arise under homœopathic treatment; and if they come to us out of the hands of allœopathic practitioners, they generally prove incurable. If these three obstacles to a cure appear combined, I have never found it possible to effect any thing. All that I have found it possible to do, has been to prevent such a dreadful combination by carefully attending to my patients in previous diseases. Sometimes in typhus, the affection of the spleen shows itself again, even after recovery has fairly set in; the intermittent type again breaks forth, and recovery finally takes place, as the intermissions become more and more distinct and lengthened. As long as the intermittent type continues, Apis has to be given; the action of the spleen becomes more and more normal, the fever paroxysms become shorter and less marked, and the restoration of health is effected without any more treatment than a single dose of Apis 30, one globule, which is permitted to act until the patient is well. Observations of this kind, which I have made under the most diversified circumstances, have taught me that Apis is the most sovereign remedy for all those morbid processes which we designate as intermittent fever. The following symptoms indicate the homœopathicity of Apis to intermittent fever: "1081: every afternoon about three or four o'clock she feels chilly, shivering, worse in warmth; a chilly creeping along the back, the hands seem dead; in about an hour she feels feverish and hot, with rough cough, hot hands and cheeks, without thirst; these symptoms pass off gradually, after which she feels heavy and prostrate. 1088: chilliness all over, recurring periodically, with an undulating sensation. 1089: chill after a heat of thirty-six hours. 1090: sudden chilliness, followed by heat and sweat. 499: loathing, with chilliness and coldness of the limbs. 534: pains on the left side, below the last ribs. 535: violent burning pain below the short ribs, on both sides, worst and most permanent on the left side, where it continues for weeks, preventing sleep. 577: enlargement of the abdomen, with swelling of the feet, scanty urine." The provings of Apis show that this drug affects every portion of the nervous system—the cerebral, spinal and ganglionic nerves—and the process of sanguification, in the same general and characteristic manner as is the case in fever and ague. In comparing the symptoms of Apis with those of any other known drug, there is no medicine that bears as close an affinity to fever and ague as Apis. Howsoever useful other remedies may have proved, in the treatment of fever and ague, they are only homœopathic to isolated conditions, in comparison with Apis. In practice, it was often found very difficult, even for the most experienced physician, to decide in which of these exceptional cases the specifically homœopathic agent should have been employed. Sometimes no properly homœopathic remedy could be found, in which case the treatment had to be conducted in a round-about way. [24] [25] [26] [27] All these difficulties have been effectually removed by Apis, and the treatment of intermittent fever may henceforth be said to constitute one of the most certain and positive achievements of the homœopathic domain. For the last three years, during which period I have experimented with Apis, I have not come across a single case of intermittent fever that did not yield satisfactorily to Apis. I have treated a pretty fair share of obstinate and complicated cases of this disease, and have, therefore, had an opportunity of testing the curative virtues of Apis in a satisfactory manner. Here are the results of my observations: Apis is the natural remedy for the pathological process which is characterized by periodical paroxysms of chill, heat and sweat; the other morbid symptoms being common to this process, as they are to all other diseases. All the symptoms which have hitherto been observed in intermittent fever, will be found, with striking similarity, among the provings of Apis. For a confirmation of this statement, we refer to Hering's American Provings, and to Bœnninghausen's Essay on Intermittent Fevers. In making use of Apis in every form of intermittent fever, we not only act in strict accordance with the homœopathic law generally, but we fulfil all the requirements of the individualizing method. Apis is the universal remedy in intermittent fevers, for which every homœopathic physician has been longing, and which pure experiments, conducted according to the rules of homœopathy, have revealed to us;—another shining light on the sublime path of the healing artist! The beneficent action of Apis, in intermittent fever, is still increased by the fact that it prevents the supervention of typhus, disorganizations of the spleen, dropsy, china-cachexia. In using Apis from the commencement, all such consequences are avoided, and if they should have been induced by different treatment, Apis removes them as speedily as possible. In all lighter cases, it is sufficient to give a drop of Apis 3, morning and evening, during the apyrexia, and to continue this treatment until the attacks cease; very often no other paroxysm sets in after the first dose; there are scarcely ever more than two or three paroxysms. In a few days the cure is accomplished, provided the action of the medicine is not disturbed. In more obstinate cases, which had been coming on for a longer period, or had been caused by more noxious influences, had lasted longer, had invaded the organism with more intensity, or where the paroxysms last longer and the intermissions are shorter, or where two paroxysms occur in succession, or the life of the organism is endangered by some cause or other,—the organism has to be saturated with the medicine in the shortest possible period, in order to ensure victory to the curative agent. Under these circumstances, we prepare a solution of from two to four drops of the third potency in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, shake it well in a closed bottle, and give a tablespoonful of this solution every hour. If the case should be urgent, we may give a drop of Apis 3, on sugar, every three or six hours. This treatment is to be continued until the patient is decidedly better; after which the medicine should be discontinued. If the improvement is not quite satisfactory, the last dose is continued several times every twelve or twenty-four hours, after which the proper effect will have been obtained. If the progressive improvement of the patient should be attended with distinct morbid symptoms, it would be injurious to continue the repetition of the drug. Nevertheless, a globule of Apis 30 may sometimes hasten the convalescence of the patient, and otherwise afford relief. Signs of reaction, even if more or less violent, should not deceive one. If left to themselves, they are often and speedily followed by a refreshing calm, and cannot be interfered with, as an aggravation of the symptoms, without damaging the case. These are all the rules which I have so far been able to infer from my use of Apis. Further experience will have to decide whether they apply to all periods, or only to the prevailing type of fever. I am unable to say whether Apis will prove effectual against epidemic marsh-intermittents, and if so, how the use of it will have to be modified. May it please those, who can shed light on this subject, to communicate their experience! Two other exceptions to Apis, as a universal febrifuge, have occurred to me in my practice: The development of fever and ague in poisoned soil, and fever and ague complicated with China-cachexia. It is peculiar to intermittent fever to excite the morbid germs which are slumbering in the organism. This is more particularly true in reference to psora. In proportion to universality of the psoric miasm, fever and ague will develop and complicate itself with psoric affections; and it is such complications that give rise to the inveterate character of intermittents and their disorganizing tendency. In such cases, a cure cannot be effected without some suitable anti-psoric. During the prevailing fever, Natrum muriaticum has proved such an anti-psoric, provided it was used as follows: If the signs of psoric complication became visible at the outset, I gave a pellet of Natrum mur. 30, and awaited the result until after the third paroxysm. If symptoms of improvement had become manifest, no other remedy was given, and the improvement was permitted to progress from day to day. If the signs of psoric complication were obscure at the beginning of the attack, Apis was at once given. If no improvement became visible after the third paroxysm, or if other symptoms developed themselves, this was looked upon as a proof of the existence of psora, and Natrum mur. 30 was given, and no other remedy, until after the third paroxysm. Either the disease had ceased, or it required further treatment. In the latter case, Apis 3 was continued in drop-doses, morning and evening, until the patient was decidedly convalescent. No further medicine was given after this, and the Natrum mur. was permitted to act undisturbed, without a single repetition. Every such repetition is hurtful; it disturbs the curative process, excites an excess of reaction in the organism, exhausts it, and develops [28] [29] [30] [31] artificial derangements, which often mislead the judgment, and induce an uncalled-for and improper application of remedial means. Such repetitions are unnecessary; any one who is acquainted with the action of Natrum mur., will at once perceive that the psora-destroying effect of this agent had not been neutralized by Apis. Recovery becomes more and more completely established, and sometimes terminates in the breaking out of a wide-spread, bright-looking eruption, resembling recent dry itch, and attended with the peculiar itching which always exists in this disease. The complete peeling off of the epidermis shows the true cause of the disease. In a few cases, an itch-eruption of this kind proved contagious, and communicated itself to other persons in the family. A similar course of treatment was pursued, if some other anti-psoric had to be resorted to, according as one or the other of the three miasms seemed to require. The thoroughness of this treatment of intermittent fevers is proved by the fact, that no relapses ever took place, or that no secondary diseases were ever developed. If these sequelæ were the consequences of an abuse of Cinchona, and this China-cachexia was the source of subsequent paroxysms of fever, I have, even in such cases, when nothing else would help, seen Apis cure both the fever and the China-cachexia, in most cases which came under my treatment. In the most inveterate cases, which had perhaps been mismanaged in various ways, and where the reactive power of the organism seemed entirely prostrated, I found it necessary to resort to the employment of a most penetrating agent, more particularly the 5000th potency of Natrum muriaticum, which I have so far found the only sufficiently powerful curative influence under the circumstances. The rules of administering this potency are the same as those for the exhibition of the 30th. Not only does Apis afford help in the affections which habitually and most generally occur among us; it is likewise in curative rapport with the Typhoid-gastric conditions which develope themselves during the course of an erysipelatous or exanthematous cutaneous affection, more particularly scarlatina, rubeola, measles and urticaria. The use of Apis in erysipelas is indicated by: "Nos. 168, 169: great anxiety in the head, with swelling of the face; inflammatory swelling and twitching so violent, that an apoplectic attack is dreaded. 175 to 178: sensation as if the head were too large; swelling of the head; sensitiveness to contact on the vertex, forehead; burning, stinging about the head. 292: erysipelatous inflammation of the eyelids. 295: after the most violent pains of the right eye, a bluish, red, whitish swelling of both eyes, which were closed in consequence. 297: swelling under the eyes during erysipelas, as when stung by a bee. 316: red swelling of both ears, with a stinging and burning pain in the swelling, with redness of the face every evening. 356: erysipelas spreading across the face, and proceeding from the eyes. 359: tension in the face, awakening her about one o'clock, the nose was swollen, so were the right eye and cheek, stinging pain when touching the part; under the right eye, and proceeding from the nose, red streaks spread across the cheek, until four o'clock; next day, after midnight, sudden swelling of the upper lip, with heat and burning redness, continuing until morning; on the third night, sudden crawling over the right cheek, with stinging near the nose, after which the cheek and upper lip swelled. 363: face red and hot, with burning and stinging pain, it swells so that he is no longer recognized. 388: pimple in the vermilion border of the lower lip, which he scratches, after which an erysipelatous swelling arises, spreading rapidly over the chin and the lower jaw, and invading the anterior neck and the glands, so that he is unable to move the jaws, as during trismus, or as if the ligaments of the jaws were inflamed; with constant disposition to sleep, the sleep being interrupted by frightful dreams. 706 to 707: swelling of the right half of the labia, with inflammation and violent pain, rapid, hard pulse, diarrhœa consisting of yellow, greenish mucus, in the case of a girl of three years old; deeply- penetrating distress, commencing in the clitoris and spreading to the vagina; the labia minora are swollen, they feel dry and hard, they are covered with a crust; at the commencement urination is painful. 948: burning of the toes, and erysipelatous redness with heat at a circumscribed spot on the foot, the remainder of the foot being cold. 1167, 1168: acute pain and erysipelatous swelling, hard and white in the centre; bright red, elevated, hard swelling of the place where he was stung, and round about a chilly feeling. 1170-1173: red place where he was stung, with swelling and red streaks along the fingers and arm; red streaks along the lymphatic vessels, proceeding from the sting along the middle finger and arm; inflammatory swelling, spreading all around. 1181: throbbing in the swelling. 1182: wide-spread cellular inflammation, terminating in resolution. 1224, 1225: swelling and erysipelatous redness; erysipelatous redness of the toes and feet." If we add to these remarks, that Apis corresponds to gastric and typhoid conditions, as was shown before, with remarkable similarity of symptoms, we find, without doubt, that all known erysipelatous forms of inflammation are covered by the pathogenetic effects of Apis. Hence we may with propriety give Apis in these affections. Practical experience has abundantly confirmed these conclusions. For the last four years, I have cured readily, safely and easily all forms of erysipelas which have come under my notice—œdematous, smooth, vesicular, light or dark colored, seated or wandering, phlegmonous, recent or habitually recurring, of a light or inveterate character, repelled, among individuals of every disposition and age. I have never seen all kinds of pain yield more readily; I have never seen t...