Title: Apis Mellifica - or, The Poison of the Honey-Bee, Considered as a Therapeutic Agent
Author: Wolf, C. W., -1866
Language: English
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          APIS MELLIFICA;


    THE POISON OF THE HONEY-BEE,

 Considered as a Therapeutic Agent.


        BY C. W. WOLF, M.D.,

  Ex-District Physician in Berlin.


           PHILADELPHIA:
     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 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.

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 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, 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 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.

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 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 the accompanying fever abate
more speedily; I have never arrested the further spread of erysipelas,
nor effected a resolution of the inflammation of the cellular tissue,
more certainly; nor, if the termination in suppuration was no longer
avoidable, have I ever succeeded in effecting the formation of laudable
pus, the spontaneous discharge of the pus, the radical healing of the
sore without any scar--_how important is all this in erysipelatous
inflammation of the mammæ_--with more certainty and thoroughness, than
by means of Apis! No remedy possesses equal powers in protecting
internal organs from the dangerous inroad of this disease.

I effected all this without any other medicinal aid, or without
resorting to an operation. Keeping quiet and dry, and in a uniform
temperature, is all that is required, in order to secure the full
curative action of Apis. In this disease it is used in the same manner
as we have indicated before. If the liver should be very much involved
in this disease, we effect a cure still more rapidly, by alternating
Aconite with Apis, in case inflammation is present; Carduus mariæ, in
case of simple inflammatory irritation, and Hepatin, if disorganizations
have already set in. In phlegmonous and suppurative habitual erysipelas,
a cure is generally facilitated, if a dose of Sulphur 30 is
interpolated, in the manner which we have explained before, in order to
neutralize the psoric taint which is here generally present.

According to this experience, in conjunction with the symptoms 706, 707,
I believe that Apis will prove a successful prophylactic and curative
agent in a disease of children, which terminates fatally in almost every
case. I mean erysipelas of new-born infants, which commences at the
genital organs, thence spreads over the skin, and terminates in the
induration and destruction of this organ. Until now, I have not had an
opportunity of verifying the truth of this theoretical conclusion by
actual experiments. Hence I content myself with offering this
suggestion for further practical trials.

The American Provings likewise show that Apis may be of great use in
scarlatina.

"No. 349: redness of the face, as in scarlatina. 408 to 413: tongue very
painful, the burning and raw feeling increases; vesicles spring up along
the margin of the tongue, the pains are accompanied by stitches; at the
tip of the tongue, toward the left side, a row of small vesicles spring
up, some six or eight, which are very painful and sore; dryness of the
tongue, red and fiery appearance of the inside of the cheeks, with
painful sensitiveness. 311: pains in the interior of the right ear. 413
to 417: burning at the upper portion of the left ear; stitches under the
left ear, tension under and behind the ears; red swelling of both ears,
with a stinging and burning pain in the swelling. 462 to 463: difficulty
of swallowing, staging pains when swallowing. 466: burning in the fauces
down to the stomach. 470: difficulty of swallowing in consequence of
redness and swelling of the tonsils. 473: ulcers in the throat during
scarlet fever. 1236: scarlatina does not come out, in the place of which
the throat becomes ulcerated. 1237: retrocession of scarlatina, violent
fever, excessive heat, congestion of the head, reddened eyes, violent
delirium. 832: redness and swelling in front of the neck, swelling of
the glands. 833: swelling of the cervical glands on the injured side.
836: tension on the right side of the nape of the neck, below and back
of the ear. 897, 898: itching and burning of the dorsum of the hand and
of the knuckles and first phalanges; cracking of the skin here and
there; itching and chapping of the hand and lower lip."

If we add to these symptoms the above enumerated cerebral symptoms, the
typhoid alteration of the internal mucous membrane of the whole
alimentary canal and of the respiratory organs, the disorganizing and
paralyzing action upon the blood and nerves, the inclination to
dropsical effusion, the affection of the cervical glands with tendency
to suppuration, the appearance of otorrhœa,--we have a group of symptoms
which resemble very accurately the prevailing type of epidemic
scarlatina. I know, from abundant experience, that the homœopathic law
has been brilliantly confirmed in this disease. Thanks to the curative
powers of Apis, scarlatina has ceased to be a scourge to childhood. The
dangers to which children were usually exposed in scarlatina, have
dwindled down to one, which fortunately is a comparatively rare
phenomenon. It is only where the scarlet-fever poison acts at the outset
with so much intensity, that the brain becomes paralyzed at once, and
the disease must necessarily terminate fatally, that no remedy has as
yet been discovered. In all other cases, unless some strange mishap
should interfere, the physician, who is familiar with Apis, need not
fear any untoward results in his treatment of scarlatina.

In all lighter cases, where the disease sets in less tumultuously, and
runs a mild course, it is proper, as soon as the disease has fairly
broken out, to give a globule of Apis 30, and to watch the effects of
this dose without interference. The immediate consequence of this
proceeding, is to bring the eruption out in a few hours, all over the
skin, with abatement of the fever and general perspiration, after which
the eruption runs its course in a few days, with a progressive feeling
of convalescence, the epidermis peels off from the third to the fifth
day, and, at the latest, to the seventh day, with cessation of the
fever, so that the process of desquamation is generally terminated
within the next seven days, after _which the patient may be fairly said
to be convalescent, and the patient may be said to be absolutely freed
from all danger of consecutive diseases_.

The same result is obtained by nature in cases of mild scarlatina,
without the interference of art. But the experience which I have had an
opportunity of making during my long official employment as
district-physician, has convinced me that Nature accomplishes her end
far more easily, more speedily and satisfactorily, if assisted by art in
accordance with the law of homœopathy. The sequelæ especially are
rendered less dangerous by this means.

But if the disease sets in with a considerable degree of intensity at
the very outset, and the fever continues without abatement, it is
advisable to keep up a medicinal impression by repeating the dose. To
this end we dissolve a globule of Apis 30, in seven dessert-spoonfuls of
water, by shaking the solution vigorously in a corked vial, and giving a
dessert-spoonful every three, six, or twelve hours as the case may
require. In all ordinary cases a single solution of this kind sufficed
to subdue the fever and to secure a favorable termination of the
disease.

The struggle between disease and medicine assumes a far different form,
if the morbific poison has penetrated the organism more deeply; if a
process of disorganization has already developed itself in the
intestinal mucous membrane, and if the alteration of the sanguineous
fluid, which is an inherent accompaniment of such a disorganizing
process, has depressed the nervous activity to such a degree that
typhus, or paralysis of the brain or lungs seems unavoidable, as may be
inferred from the bright-red tongue, which is thickly studded with
eruptive vesicles, and speedily becomes excoriated, fissured and covered
with aphthæ; by a copious discharge of thick, white, bloody and fetid
mucus from the nose; by the swelling and induration of the parotid
glands, increasing difficulty of deglutition; sensitiveness of the
abdomen to pressure; badly-colored, slimy, bloody diarrhœa; scanty
emissions of turbid, red, painful urine; accelerated and labored
breathing; loss of consciousness; delirium; sopor; convulsions;
trembling of the limbs; appearance as if the patient were lying in his
bed in a state of fainting; the skin is at times burning, hot and dry;
at others it feels like parchment, cooler; at others again, hot and cool
together in spots; the fever increases with changing pulse, and is more
constant; in short, all the symptoms, although developing themselves
less rapidly, show that a fatal termination becomes more and more
probable. In such a case it is above all things necessary to saturate
the organism with Apis. If there is much fever, this result is best
accomplished by means of alternate doses of Aconite and Apis, a few
drops of the third potency, shaken together with twelve tablespoonfuls
of water, each drug by itself, the dose to be repeated every hour; and
if the temperature is rather depressed, by giving Apis without the
Aconite, a tablespoonful every hour or two hours. In favorable cases the
fever becomes more remittent within one to three days; a moderate and
pleasant perspiration breaks out all over the skin; the sleep becomes
calm and natural, and the typhoid symptoms abate. If this change takes
place, it is proper to exhibit Apis in a more dynamic form, in order to
assimilate it more harmoniously to the newly awakened reactive power of
the organism. To this end we dissolve a few globules of Apis 30 in seven
dessert-spoonfuls of water, giving a dessert-spoonful morning and
evening, and we continue this treatment, until the symptoms of typhoid
angina have gradually abated, the tongue has been healed, the normal
desire for food has returned, and the digestive functions go on
regularly; after which the natural reaction of the organism, assisted by
careful diet, will be found sufficient to complete the cure. If no
improvement sets in after Apis has been used for three days, we may rest
assured that a psoric miasm is in the way of a cure, which requires to
be combated with some anti-psoric remedy. I have generally found Kali
carbonicum efficient, of which I gave one globule thirty on the fourth
day of the treatment, permitting it to act uninterruptedly from one to
three days, according as the disease was more or less acute, after which
I again exhibited Apis in the manner previously indicated. In this way I
succeeded in developing the curative powers of Apis, so that in a few
days a gradual improvement, however slight, became perceptible to the
careful observer. As soon as the improvement is well marked, all
repetition of the medicine should cease, and the natural reaction of the
organism should be permitted to complete the cure. Any one who is
acquainted with the action of the Kali, must know that it continues
without being interrupted by Apis. An invaluable blessing of Nature!

This proceeding is crowned with the desired results; the convalescence
is shorter and easier, and there is less danger of serious sequelæ,
which, according to all experience, are so common in complicated cases
of scarlatina, otorrhœa and suppuration of the parotid glands are
generally avoided under this treatment without any other aid, or, if it
is impossible to avert such changes, they generally come to a speedy and
safe end. This treatment likewise keeps off dropsy and its dangers.

In cases where the secretion of _black urine_ shows that the liver is
deeply involved in the disease, Apis is powerless. These are the only
exceptions to the curative power of this drug. Here we are told by our
law of cure, that the sphere of Lachesis commences. We give one or two
globules of Lachesis 30 in seven dessert-spoonfuls of water, a
dessert-spoonful every twelve hours, and in acute cases every three
hours; and the good effects of the medicine must seem miraculous to one
who is not accustomed to this mode of treating diseases. Already in a
few hours the patient becomes tranquil, showing that the process of
disorganization has been arrested; the improvement continues from hour
to hour; the sleep becomes more tranquil; the cutaneous secretions, and
those of the bowels and kidneys, become more active; after the lapse of
one, or at most two days, the urine begins to look clearer and
lighter-colored, and in about three days a return of the natural color
of the urine shows that the functions of the liver are restored to their
normal standard; the patient is able to do without any further medical
treatment, and the natural reaction of the vital forces will be found
sufficient to effect a cure.

If I have not mentioned the affections of the kidneys, which may be
present in this disease, it is because I have become satisfied by years
of experience, that they constitute secondary affections in scarlatina,
and that we should commit a great error if we would draw conclusions
regarding this point from post-mortem phenomena.

Nobody who has observed the resemblance, at any rate, during the present
epidemic, between


RUBEOLA

and scarlet-fever, will deny that the remarks which we have offered
concerning this latter disease, likewise apply to rubeola. In


MEASLES,

likewise, Apis will prove a curative agent.

In the American Provings, Apis is indicated in this disease by the
following symptoms: "No. 1103, heat all over; the face is red as in
scarlatina; eruption like measles; cough and difficult respiration as in
croup; muttering delirium; 1211, superficial eruptions over the whole
body, resembling measles, with great heat and a reddish-blue
circumscribed flush on the cheeks; 1218, measle-shaped eruption."

If we add to these symptoms the peculiarity inherent in Apis, to cause
catarrhal irritations of the eyes, such as occur during measles, we have
a right to infer that Apis will prove a valuable remedial agent in
measles.

Although common mild measles do not require any medicinal treatment, and
generally get well without any prejudice to the general health;
nevertheless, cases occur where intense ophthalmia, a violent and
racking cough, and the phenomena which appertain to it; an intense
irritation of the internal mucous membrane; diarrhœa; dangerous
prostration of strength; marked stupefaction and various nervous
phenomena render the interference of art desirable. In all such cases, I
have seen good effects from the use of Apis, which differed not only
from the regular course of the disease, but likewise from the effects
which have been witnessed under the operation of other medicines. In
ordinary cases, and without treatment, it takes three, five, seven and
eleven days, before the eyes get well again; but under the use of Apis,
the eyes improve so decidedly in from one to three days, that the eyes
do not require any further treatment; and that even troublesome sequelæ,
such as photophobia; styes which come and go; troublesome lachrymation;
continual redness; swelling and blennorrhœa of the lids; fistulæ
lachrymalis, etc., need not be apprehended.

If Apis has had a chance to exercise its curative action in a case of
measles, we hear nothing of the troublesome, and often so wearing and
racking cough, which so often prevails in measles, and the continuance
of which is accompanied by an increased irritation and swelling of the
respiratory mucous membrane and an increasing alteration of its
secretion, which recurs in paroxysms, assumes a suspicious sound, shows
a tendency to croup and to the development of tuberculosis, and finally
degenerates in whooping-cough, so that epidemic measles and
whooping-cough often go hand in hand. After Apis, the cough speedily
begins to become looser and milder, to loose its dubious character, and
to gradually disappear without leaving a trace behind. If these results
should be confirmed by further experience, we would have attained
additional means of preventing the supervention of whooping-cough in
measles; a triumph of art and science which should elicit our warmest
gratitude.

Any one who knows, how malignant measles, unassisted by art, are
accompanied by deep-seated irritation of the mucous membrane of the
stomach and bowels; how they lead to diarrhœa; to sopor; how they
threaten life by long-lasting and troublesome putrid and typhoid fevers;
and how, if they do not terminate fatally, they result in slow
convalescence, and sometimes in chronic maladies for life, will admit,
on seeing the diarrhœa cease; on beholding the quiet sleep which
patients enjoy; the pleasant and general perspiration; the return of
appetite; the increase of strength, and the complete disappearance of
all putrid and typhoid symptoms, that Apis has indeed triumphed over the
disease.

The following simple proceeding will secure such results: As soon as the
fever has commenced, we prepare the above-mentioned solution of Aconite,
of which we give a small spoonful every hour. If, after using the
Aconite, the eruption breaks out and the fever abates, no further
medication is necessary. If fever and eruption should require further
aid, Apis is to be given, one or two globules of thirtieth potency in
seven dessert-spoonfuls of water, well shaken, a dessert-spoonful
morning and evening; or, if the disease is very acute, every three
hours, which treatment is to be continued until an improvement sets in,
after which the natural reaction of the organism will terminate the
cure.

Sequelæ seldom take place after this kind of treatment; this is
undoubtedly an additional recommendation for the use of Apis. Until this
day I have never seen a secondary disease resulting from measles.
Nevertheless, such sequelæ will undoubtedly occur, for it is
characteristic of the measle-miasm, to rouse latent psoric, sycosic,
syphilitic and vaccinine taints, which afterwards require a specific
anti-psoric treatment. Nevertheless, sequelæ will certainly occur less
frequently after the use of Apis, for which we ought to be thankful. In


URTICARIA AND PEMPHIGUS

Apis will likewise afford speedy and certain help.

Many symptoms in the American Provings confirm this statement. More
particularly 1198 to 1210, and 1232 to 35: "very soon thick nettle-rash
over the whole body, itching a good deal, passing off after sleeping
soundly; violent inflammation and pressure over the whole body; friction
brought out small white spots resembling musquito-bites; suddenly an
indescribable stinging sensation over the whole body, with white and red
spots in the palms of the hands, on the arms and feet; her Whole body
was covered with itching and burning swollen streaks, after which the
other troubles disappeared; swelling of the face and body; the parts are
covered with a sort of blotches somewhat paler than the ordinary color
of the skin; eruption over the whole body resembling nettle-rash, with
itching and burning; nettle-rash in many cases; spots on the nape of the
neck and forehead, resembling nettle-rash under the skin; consequences
of repelled urticaria; whitish, violently itching swellings of the skin,
on the head and nape of the neck, like nettle-rash; after the rash
disappeared, the whole of the right side was paralyzed, with violent
delirium even unto rage; after taking Apis the eruption appeared in
abundance, and the delirium abated."

These provings have been abundantly confirmed by my own experience. The
use of Apis in these eruptions has been followed in my hands by the most
satisfactory results; and I feel justified in recommending Apis as a
most efficient remedy in these diseases, which are still wrapt in a good
deal of obscurity. An additional source of satisfaction to have obtained
more means of relieving human suffering. The experienced Neuman writes,
in his Special Therapeutics, 2d Edit., Vol. I., Section 2, p. 681, about
urticaria: "Howsoever unimportant a single eruption of urticaria may be,
it becomes disagreeable and troublesome by its constant repetition,
which is not dangerous, but exceedingly disturbing. It would be
desirable to be acquainted with a safe method of curing this eruption,
but so far, it has been sought for in vain." The same physician,
speaking of pemphigus, writes in the same place, that its etiology,
prognosis and treatment, are still very dubious; that it leads to
extensive chronic sufferings, and often terminates fatally; and that no
specific remedy is known for this disease. The more frequent
opportunities we have of observing both these diseases in different
individuals, the more frequently we observe them in conjunction with
serious chronic maladies characterized by some specific chronic miasm,
or in conjunction with the most penetrating and disturbing emotions,
such as fright and its consequences; the more frequently we observe the
sudden appearance and disappearance of such pustules, alternating with
corresponding improvements or exacerbations in the internal organism,
where we have to look on utterly powerless, as it were, the more uneasy
do we feel at the mysterious nature of this malady, which, during the
period of organic vigor, seems to be a sort of trifling derangement,
somewhat like urticaria, but which, as the vital energies become
prostrated by age, becomes more and more searching and tormenting,
breaks forth again and again, exhausting the vital juices and leading
irresistibly to a fatal termination; a result which is particularly apt
to take place during old age, although I have likewise observed it, but
rarely, among new-born infants.

These developments lead us to suspect that urticaria and pemphigus are
identical in essence; this fact is richly substantiated by the
homœopathic law which furnishes identical means of cure for either of
these affections. In either case, if the vital forces are prostrated,
and the sensitiveness of the organic reaction is considerable, one
pellet of Apis 30, and, if there is considerable resistance to overcome,
two pellets shaken with six dessert-spoonfuls of water, a spoonful night
and morning, is all that should be done, after which, all further
treatment should be discontinued as long as the improvement continues or
the skin remains clear from all eruptions. If the improvement cease or
the eruption should reappear, we have in the first place to examine
whether the improvement will not speedily resume its course, or whether
the eruption does not show itself more feebly than before, or if the
cure is not evidenced by some other favorable change. In the former case
the medicine should be permitted to act still further; in the latter
case, another dose of Apis 30 should be given, after which the result
has to be carefully watched. In all benign cases, more particularly if
no other means of treatment had been resorted to before, this management
will suffice. If this should not be the case, if the eruption should
appear again, we may rest assured that a psoric miasm lurks in the
organism, and that an anti-psoric treatment has to be resorted to. The
best anti-psoric under these circumstances, is Sulphur 30, one pellet,
provided this drug has not yet been abused; or Causticum 30, one pellet,
if such an abuse has taken place. Syphilis may likewise complicate the
disease, in which case Mercurius 30, one pellet, may be given; or, if
Mercury had been previously taken in excessive doses, Mercurius 6000,
one globule.

After one or the other of these remedies, the symptoms should be
carefully observed without doing anything else, with a view of
instituting whatever treatment may afterwards be necessary, we wind up
the treatment with another dose of Apis 30, one pellet, after which, the
organic power is permitted to complete the cure. The result is, that the
most difficult and complicated cases yield perfectly to such treatment,
which is based upon the strictest scientific principles.


FURUNCLES AND CARBUNCLES

are likewise cured by Apis in the speediest and easiest manner.

We find the following symptomatic indications in the American Provings:
"682, painful pimple, suppurating in the middle, with red areola;
painful like a boil, in the hairy region on the left side above the os
pubis, continuing painful for several days; 1196, furuncles with
stinging pains; 844, 845, violent, stinging, burning pain at a small
spot on the left side, in the lower region of the nape of the neck; also
on the back part of the head; swelling at the nape of the neck, so that
the head is pressed forward towards the chest; 1222, dark bluish-red
painful swellings, with general malaise; 1167, acute pain and
erysipelatous swelling, very hard and pale in the centre."

Apis has been a popular remedy for boils from time immemorial; the
people have been in the habit of covering boils with honey, more
particularly honey in which a bee had perished.

Apis, homœopathically prepared, is better adapted to such an end than
honey. A few drops of Apis 3, shaken with twelve tablespoonfuls of
water, a tablespoonful of this solution every three hours, generally
relieves the pain in a short period, promotes suppuration, effects the
discharge of the decayed cellular tissue, and a speedy cure of the
furuncle.

If furuncles incline to become carbunculous, the ichorous matter is
speedily changed to good pus, and all danger is averted.

In a case of carbuncle the gangrenous disorganization of the skin and
cellular tissue becomes very soon confined to a small spot; the dead
parts are separated from the living tissues; the fever is hushed; the
disorganizations which it threatens are averted; a healthy suppuration
is established throughout the gangrenous part, detaching and removing
all decayed matter, and replacing the loss of substance by new
granulations until the sore becomes cicatrized in such a hardly
perceptible manner, that any one who is acquainted with the ravages of
this disease, and is in the habit of seeing deep and disfiguring
cicatrizes, even in the most successful cases, is disposed to deny the
fact that such an intensely disorganizing process has been going on in
this instance. No other remedial means are required, much less a
surgical operation.

Inasmuch as carbuncle is generally preceded for a longer period by a
deep-seated feeling of illness in the organism, showing that the psoric
miasm pervades the tissues, it behooves us, in order to secure all the
better a favorable result, to give a dose of highly-potentized Sulphur
at the very outset of the disease. After having used the first portion
of Apis, a globule of Sulphur 30 or 6000 may be interposed, the former
in all cases where no Sulphur had been used, and the latter in cases
Sulphur had been used in large doses. We permit such a dose to act for
twenty-four hours, after which Apis is resumed, and continued according
to the above stated rule.

Sulphur should likewise be given in all cases where the furuncles
reappear at different periods. Such a reappearance of the eruption,
after it had once been cured by Apis, shows that a psoric taint pervades
the organism which it is absolutely necessary to meet with specific
counter-acting remedies.

The more frequently we meet such difficult complications, and see with
our own eyes their successful treatment, the more we learn to appreciate
the fact, _that Apis cures to a certainty the most dangerous affections
of this kind, and that the anti-psoric remedy corrects at the same time
the primary degeneration of the tissues, without either interfering with
the operations of the other drug, on the contrary, by assisting each
other_. In


PANARITIA

Apis proves the same invaluable remedy.

Genuine panaritia only spring up in psoric ground, and in regard to
extent and intensity of development, depend altogether upon the existing
psoric taint. Hence it is indispensable to extinguish this taint by
appropriate remedies. This is most effectually accomplished by at once
giving Sulphur, the most powerful of our anti-psorics. Sulphur seems to
attack the evil at its very foundation, and we feel perfectly satisfied
with its action, except that we would like to hasten the course of the
disease still more, in order to abbreviate the tortures inherent in
this malady. This result is most certainly accomplished by means of
Apis.

If panaritia are the result of excessive doses of Sulphur, Apis meets
our case perfectly. In hundreds of cases panaritia spring up and will
continue to spring up from such a source, as long as the world continues
to live in darkness, and to reject the rays of truth which the genius of
Hahnemann has sent forth among the benighted understandings of his
fellow beings. Notwithstanding Hahnemann's teachings concerning the
medicinal power of Sulphur, which the world has now been in possession
of for years, and which the most thoughtful minds have accepted as a
truth, the true friend of man has still to weep over the quantities of
Sulphur which all apothecaries sell to any one at his option;
hæmorrhoidal patients continue to swallow Sulphur from day to day;
almost every body, from the child up to the old man, who is affected
with catarrh, swallows the so-termed pulmonary powders which contain
Sulphur, and of which relief is expected; whole legions repair every
year to the Sulphur Springs; young and old use sulphur-baths at home;
all over the world, the itch, which is a very common disease, is removed
by means of a sulphur ointment, &c. One of the evil consequences of this
ignorance, which particularly oppresses the laboring class, is the
artificial development of panaritia; the more frequently these occur,
the more necessary it is to employ speedy and safe means for their
extermination. In such a case we can no longer depend upon Sulphur, of
which we cannot possibly know how far it has already poisoned the
organism, and to what extent it may still be able to rouse a reaction;
in which case, even those who know, may be led to make dangerous
mistakes. In all such cases Apis is of the best use to us; it is even
sufficient to arrest the disorganizing process, and to bring about a
satisfactorily progressing cure.

The curative indications contained in the "American Provings," have been
confirmed by my own experience. We read in Nos. 903-911, "the phalangeal
bones are painful; burning jerking, like a stitching, contracting
sensation, in the right numb, from without inwards; drawing pains
reaching the extremities of the fingers; distinct feeling of numbness in
the fingers, especially in the tips, around the roots of the nails, with
sensation as if the nails were loose, and as if they could be shaken
off; burning in the tips of fingers, as from fire; fine burning stinging
in the tips of the fingers; burning around a hang-nail, on the outside
of the fourth finger of the right hand, with pain internally, without
redness and without aggravation from pressure, with continual burning in
the tip; swelling of the fingers, which remained painful for several
days; 915, blister at the tip of the right index, discharging a bloody
ichor when opened, and afterwards a milky pus, with violent burning,
throbbing, and gnawing pains, continuing to spread for two days."

From all this we deduce the highly important practical rule: In a case
of whitlow, first ascertain whether and how far Sulphur has been abused
by the patient. Unfortunately the non-abuse of Sulphur is an exception
to the rule, whereas the abuse of Sulphur is quite common even in our
age. Would that in this respect the ancient darkness might yield to the
new light.

In case Sulphur had been abused by the patient, we mix a few drops of
Apis 3 in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, giving a tablespoonful every
hour, or every two or three hours, according as the pains are more or
less violent. This treatment has to be continued until the pains cease.
They cease either because the inflammation has been dispersed, and the
morbid process is terminated, or else a healthy suppuration has been set
up, so that the swelling will discharge of itself, and a cure will be
effected as speedily as the nature of the panaritium will admit. In
either case the medicine need not be repeated, and the organic reaction
will be sufficient to complete a cure without the interference of
surgery. A simple bread and milk poultice may be used as soothing
palliative, especially if the external skin is of a firm, hard texture.
Resolution may be depended upon in every case, where Apis has been
resorted to in time. A healthy suppuration will always set in after the
exhibition of Apis, provided Sulphur or a psoric taint do not gain the
ascendancy. If the Sulphur miasm gains the ascendancy, there will be no
marked improvement during the first days of the treatment. In such a
case we have at once to resort to a very high potency of Sulphur. A
single globule of Sulphur 6000 would frequently ameliorate the worst
aspect of the case as by a miracle, after which a few more doses of Apis
3, a drop morning and evening, would so improve the symptoms, as to
render all further medication unnecessary.

If the psoric miasm should be the cause of the retarded improvement, as
may easily be determined by the predisposing circumstances of the case,
and if no Sulphur should have been administered previously, it is
expedient to discontinue the use of Apis, and to at once exhibit a
globule of Sulphur 30, which may be allowed to act for twenty-four
hours, after which Apis is to be resumed in the same manner, until a
cessation of the pain manifests the cure of the disease.

These explanations likewise point out the true course to be pursued, in
case we should at the outset find that a whitlow owes its existence to
the psoric miasm.

Ever since homœopathy has enabled us to treat this dreaded affection
with positive and specific remedies in a most satisfactory manner, the
horrible pains which characterize this trouble, and the mutilations to
which it so frequently leads, only exist in quarters where egotism, the
love of lucre and the absence of all conscientiousness prevents
physicians from inquiring into the merits of our superior mode of
treatment. Is not this unpardonably wicked?


SPONTANEOUS LIMPING

is another affection which we cure with Apis.

This disease which causes so much distress in life, is likewise, in its
essential nature, an outbirth of psora, and, as regards its local
character and its effects upon the constitution of the patient, it seems
to be characterized by the same inflammatory and suppurative process as
whitlow, and be endowed with a similar tendency to organic destruction.
In the American Provings, symptom 917, "Painful soreness in the left
hip-joint, immediately after taking a dose of Apis 2, afterwards
debility, unsteadiness, trembling in this joint," is the only symptom
that seems to indicate the curative power of Apis in this distressing
malady. What experienced physician has not often seen the hip show such
symptoms of disease, particularly after violent frights and anguish? Who
has not seen blows on the back and nates, by way of punishment, attended
with such consequences? Who has not seen coxarthrocace develope itself
during the course of a severe cerebral disease, scarlatina or typhus,
where the patient, on suddenly awakening to consciousness from a state
of stupor, is made sensitive of the presence of this insidious disease,
perhaps already fully developed? Since I have used Apis, I have never
had to deplore such saddening results.

According to my observation, we may regard Apis as a specific remedy for
spontaneous limping; every new trial confirms me in this statement. Apis
may be depended upon as a capital remedy in every stage of this disease,
as long as the psoric miasm is kept in the background; but as soon as
the psoric taint is fully developed, a suitable anti-psoric has to be
given in alternation with Apis. My experience has led me to prefer Kali
carbonicum to all other anti-psoric remedies in this disease. But
inasmuch as the keenest observer may overlook the right moment when the
psoric poison begins to operate, it is well to forestall the enemy at
the very commencement, which may be done with the more propriety, the
more certainly we know that these two remedies, Apis and the
anti-psoric, not only not counteract, but mutually support each other
from the beginning to the end of the treatment. After many experiments,
I have hit upon the following course as the most proper:

If the limping, as is often the case in the severest forms of the
disease, sets in gradually, almost imperceptibly and without much pain,
I give at once a globule of Kali carbonicum 30. As a general rule, this
one dose is sufficient to arrest the further development of the disease,
and to award all danger so completely, that one, who is unacquainted
with the nature of the malady, feels disposed to assert that it never
existed. But if the pains continue, and are accompanied with fever, I
resort to Apis 3, after Kali had been allowed to act for a day or two,
mixing a drop in twelve tablespoonfuls of water, and giving a dose every
hour, or every two or three hours, according as the pains come on more
or less frequently. This treatment is continued until the patient is
quieted, after which the two remedies are permitted to act without any
further repetition of the medicine.

If the inflammation of the joint sets in suddenly and with a violent
fever, as is often the case after violent commotions, castigations,
etc., we prepare a solution of Aconite in the same manner as the Apis,
and give these two medicines in alternate tablespoonful doses every
hour. After these two solutions are finished, and the first assault of
the disease has been controlled, we give a globule of Kali 30, and
permit it to act for twenty-four hours. After this period we again give
Apis every hour, two or three hours, as above, until the pains cease,
after which Kali is allowed to act until the disease is entirely cured.

If suppuration and caries of the joint have already set in, no matter
whether the pus has found an outlet in the region of the joint itself,
or burrows down the thigh to find an outlet somewhere else, Kali is no
longer sufficient, Silicea has to be exhibited; it is more homœopathic
to caries than other anti-psorics. We give a globule of Silicea 30, and
allow it to act for two or three days, after which a drop of Apis 3, is
repeated morning and night, until the pains--which may require a more
frequent exhibition of the drug--cease, and a healthy pus is secreted.
After this change is accomplished, Silicea is sufficient to complete the
healing of the osseous disorganization, and should be left undisturbed
to the end of the treatment.

I have found this simple proceeding so perfectly efficient in this
dreadful malady that the fever was speedily controlled, and rendered
harmless, the inflammation was scattered without leaving a trace behind,
the secretion ichor was transformed into that of healthy pus, and the
disorganization of the joint was prevented; the limb, even after it had
become elongated, again assumed its normal shape, the carious masses
were expelled, the various channels of suppuration were stopped, and the
danger of a fatal consumptive fever was averted. If our aid is not
sought until _the head of the femur is destroyed, and the bone has
completely slipt out of its socket_, it is impossible to prevent
shortening and stiffness of the limb. Another splendid triumph over a
dreadful source of danger and disease!


WHITE SWELLING OF THE KNEE

is very similar to this affection of the hip-joint. Here too we observe
the same insidious inflammatory beginning, the same irresistible
tendency to ichorous suppuration and disorganization of the constituent
parts of the joint, the same tendency to destroy the organism by gradual
exhausting fever. We have unmistakeable proofs of the presence of a
poisonous process pervading the whole organism. He who has had frequent
opportunities of observing this disease, knows perfectly in what
mysterious obscurity it is still enveloped, and how specifically
different this affection of the knee sometimes appears to us from the
hip disease. The homœopathic law teaches us more positively than any
thing else could do, that every case of disease should be viewed as
something specifically distinct from other cases, and should be treated
with medicines that are specifically adapted to it. An experience of
many years has taught me that iodine is the best remedy to meet the
symptoms which generally characterize white swelling of the knee. Even
at the present day Iodine is one of those remedies that require a good
deal of elucidation. Hence we should not, carried away by analogy,
conclude from those things which are not clear, concerning other things
which are no more so. Nevertheless the observations which have been made
so far, have led to some highly important, more or less positive
conclusions, and have shown us with a certain degree of satisfaction and
certainty, that iodine is an inestimable gift of God, by means of which
we are enabled to free mankind from one of the most frightful
complications, the psoric, sycosic and mercurial miasms. I have been
induced by various signs to believe that, in white swelling of the knee
such a complication exists.

Considering the paucity of our observations bearing upon this important
point, it seems impracticable to make any positive statements with
reference to the assistance that we might possibly derive from the use
of Apis in this disease. My own opportunities for observation having
been very few, I recommend the use of Apis in white swelling of the
knee, to my professional brethren. The following symptoms in "Hering's
American Provings," seem to indicate it; No.'s 828, 829 and 931,
"violent pain in the left knee, externally, above and below the knee,
particularly above, somewhat in front; painful œdematous swelling of the
knee; burning stinging about the knee." In white swelling of the knee,
where no allœopathic treatment has yet been pursued, I recommend Iodine
30, one globule, in six dessert-spoonfuls of water, a dessert-spoonful
morning and evening, until the whole is finished; after this wait three
days, and then give Apis 3, as before mentioned, a tablespoonful every
hour or three hours, or a drop morning and evening, according as the
pain or danger is more or less pressing. Apis is more especially useful
in removing pain, in changing the secretion of ichor to that of healthy
pus, and in arresting the consumptive fever. After these results have
been accomplished, we permit the previously given Iodine to achieve the
cure. If Iodine had been abused under allœopathic treatment, before the
homœopathic treatment commenced, we give Iodine 5000, one globule, in
order to subdue the Iodine diathesis, and thus remove the most powerful
obstacle to a cure. Any one who knows more about this point, will please
mention it.

Although Apis acts well in white swelling of the knee, which is
comparatively a rare disease, yet it is far more useful in


DYSENTERY.

It is undoubtedly true that Hahnemann has revealed to us the means of
surpassing in this disease the allœopathic wisdom of a thousand years,
by a far more successful, safe and expeditious treatment. Nevertheless,
much remains to be desired in this dreaded disease. Who does not know
that medicinal aggravations are particularly to be dreaded in this
malady? Who has not often felt embarrassed to select the right remedy
among three or four that seemed indicated by the symptoms, and where it
was nevertheless important, in view of the threatening danger, to select
at once the right remedy? Who has not been struck by the strange
irregularity that in a disease which generally sets in as an epidemic,
different remedies are often indicated by different groups of symptoms?
Who has not become convinced after a careful observation of the course
of the disease, that nothing is more deceptive than the pretended
curative virtues of corrosive sublimate in dysentery, and that it is a
matter of duty to be mindful, in this very particular, of the warning
words of the master who, having himself been deceived at one time by the
delusive palliation of mercury, addresses to us the remarkable warning
that "mercury, so far from responding to all non-venereal maladies, on
the contrary is one of the most deceitful palliatives the temporary
action of which is not only soon followed by a return of the original
symptoms of disease, but even by a return of these symptoms in an
aggravated form." (See Hahnemann's Chronic Diseases, Vol. II.)

This delusive palliation is more particularly one of the effects of
corrosive sublimate in Dysentery; and is exceedingly dangerous in this
disease. Hence we warn practitioners against this danger.

We feel so much the more grateful to the principle Similia Similibus,
which, even though it did not protect its discoverer from faulty
applications, yet finally led us to the discovery of the right remedy
for dysentery.

No.'s 590 and 599 in the American Provings, read as follows: "Violent
tenesmus; nausea, vomiting and diarrhœa, first lumpy and not fetid,
afterwards watery and fetid, lastly papescent, mixed with blood and
mucus, and attended with tenesmus; afterwards dysenteric stools, with
tenesmus and sensation as if the bowels were crushed;" combining these
symptoms with the general character of Apis, particularly the
circumstance that not only the ordinary precursors and first symptoms of
dysentery, but also its terminations and its sequelæ, and its most
important complications find their approved remedy in Apis; all this
shows us that Apis is a natural remedy for dysentery. This truth is
abundantly confirmed by experience. All my previously obtained results
in practice, testify to the correctness of this statement.

At the very commencement of the disease, a globule of Apis 3 is
sufficient to cut short the disease so that the patient feels easy, and
sleeps quietly. During this slumber, fever, pain and tenesmus disappear,
and the patient wakes with a feeling of health. If this should not take
place in three hours, owing to the more advanced state of the disease,
another dose of Apis is required, after which the patient soon feels
well.

If the dysenteric disease has had a chance to localize itself, and to
assume a higher degree of intensity, it becomes necessary to excite the
organic reaction all the more frequently. Under these circumstances we
repeat the medicine every hour, or every two or three hours, one globule
at a time, until all further medication has become unnecessary.

It is well known that epidemic diarrhœa, viz., a diarrhœa resulting from
peculiar alterations of the normal condition of the atmosphere, earth,
water, indispensable food, or from other still unknown elementary
influences inevitably acting upon every body, commences in the form of a
simple, apparently unimportant diarrhœa; that it gradually increases in
intensity as the processes of nutrition and sanguification become more
deeply disturbed, and that it finally terminates in life-destroying
cholera. All these different stages of diarrhœa, whether with or without
vomiting, watery or papescent, of one color or another, with or without
pain, with or without fever, have yielded readily, safely and thoroughly
to Apis in my hands. I must except, however, cholera of the epidemic
form, where I have not yet been able to try Apis for want of
opportunity. As far as my personal observations go, I am disposed to
affirm that the best mode of effecting a good result, is to give Apis 3
and Aconite 3, in alternation, one drop of each preparation well shaken
in a bottle containing twelve tablespoonfuls of water, and giving a
tablespoonful every hour or three hours, if the danger is great, and in
milder cases a full drop alternately morning and evening. This treatment
is continued until an improvement sets in, after which the organic
reaction is permitted to develope itself, which will terminate in a few
hours or days, according as the disease is more or less violent, and
assistance was sought more or less early, in the perfect recovery of the
patient.

This end is not always attained with equal certainty and rapidity, if
Apis is not given in alternation with Aconite. In such a case, Apis
alone often develops a powerful reaction, which is avoided by the
alternate use of Aconite. Wherever the case is urgent, and it is
important to shorten the durations of the organic reaction, the two
remedies should be given in alternation. In most cases I have seen a few
alternate doses give rise to a pleasant perspiration, speedily followed
by quiet sleep and recovery on waking. May we not expect the same result
at the commencement of Asiatic cholera, and thus arrest the further
development of the disease?

Apis is no less effectual against _chronic diarrhœa_, more particularly
if resulting, not from any deep-seated disorganizations, but from some
permanent inflammatory irritation of the intestinal mucous membrane, and
which causes and fosters so much distress, by rendering all normal
digestion impossible and finally bringing on its inseparable companion,
the last degree of hypochondria. This misery is so much more lamentable,
as it is, so to say, forced upon mankind from the cradle to the grave by
the still prevailing and almost ineradicable delusion of _cathartic
medication_.

Scarcely has the little being seen the light of the world, when the
process of purgation begins. Nurse, aunt, grandmamma, everybody, hasten
to hush the cries which the rough contact of the outer world extorts
from the little being, by forcing down its throat a little laxative
mixture, and the family-physician, who goes by fashion, approves of all
this. It is his habit, in after-life, to combat every little
costiveness, every digestive derangement, every incipient disease, by
means of his cathartic mixture, and his skill is considered
proportionate to the quantity of stuff which the bowels expel under the
operation of his drugs. Laxative pills, rhubarb, glauber-salts,
bitter-waters, aloes, gin, etc., etc., are in every body's hands, and
become an increasing necessity for millions. An ancient prejudice
decrees that, to permit a single day to pass by without stool, would be
to expose one's life to the greatest danger. Every year we see thousands
rush to warm and cold springs that have the reputation of being
possessed with dissolvent and cathartic properties. Those who cannot
afford to go to the springs, use artificial mineral water in order to
accomplish similar purposes. Very seldom a disease is met with, that is
permitted to run its course without dissolvent or cathartic means. It is
still a profitable business to sell patent purgatives, such as cider in
which a little magnesia has been dissolved.

Everybody feels how offensive these things are to nature; how they
attack the stomach and bowels; how they derange digestion and nutrition;
how slowly patients recover from the effects of such drugs; how chronic
abdominal affections, after having been eased for a while by such drugs,
soon return again with redoubled vigor; how the dose has to be increased
in order to obtain the same result; how the intervals of relief becomes
shorter and shorter, and how, in the end, the stomach is totally ruined,
and the abnormal irritation and paralysis of this viscus, with the
diarrhœa and constipation, corresponding to these conditions, gradually
lead to the complete derangement of the reproductive process.

In spite of all this, long habit has secured to these pernicious customs
a sort of prescriptive right. The distress consequent upon them,
increases in proportion as the reactive powers of the organism decrease,
which is more particularly the case in the present generation. The
suppression of these abuses has never been more necessary than in our
age. Indeed, the old proverb is again verified: "Where need is greatest,
there help is nearest."

The world is not only indebted to Hahnemann for a knowledge, but also
for a natural corrective of this serious abuse. His provings on healthy
persons show this beyond a doubt. Few men, if their attention has once
been directed to this abuse, will feel disposed to deny its extent. Nor
has a favorable change in this respect been looked for in vain, since
homœopathy has now, for half a century at least, shown the uselessness
of all regular methods of purgation, and the superiority of the means
with which this new system accomplishes most effectually all that those
pernicious methods promised to do. It should be considered a duty by
every physician, to be acquainted with the new means of cure. The
continued use of purgatives should be considered a crime against health.
They will soon cease to exist as regular means of treatment, and their
pernicious consequences will no longer have to be relieved by remedial
means. But until their use is abolished, we shall have to counteract
them by adequate means of cure, more particularly the abnormal
irritation and the paralytic debility, which are the most common
consequences of the abuse of cathartics.

It is a most fortunate thing that we have in Apis one of the most
reliable means of removing the evil effects of cathartic medicines. A
single globule of Apis 30 is sufficient to this end. It is best to use
it as follows: dissolve the globule in five tablespoonfuls of water by
shaking the mixture well in a well closed vial, and let the patient take
a tablespoonful of this solution. If this dose acts well, no repetition
is necessary for the present. If this dose should not be sufficient, we
prepare a new potence by throwing away three tablespoonfuls of the
former solution and substituting four tablespoonfuls of fresh water,
shaking the mixture well. We give a spoonful of this second solution,
twenty-four hours after the first had been given, and, if necessary, a
third spoonful prepared in the same way, and even a fourth and fifth,
after which we await the result, without thinking either of improvement
or exacerbation.

Generally, a feeling of ease is experienced shortly after taking Apis.
The painful sensitiveness of the pit of the stomach and of the abdomen,
together with the troublesome, disagreeable and oppressive distention
and weight, soon disappear; the tongue gradually loses its swollen and
cracked appearance, its dirty redness, its slimy coating, its sore
spots, tardy indentations along its edges, the burnt feeling at its tip,
which is dotted with very fine vesicles, that cause a good deal of
soreness; the pappy, sour, bitter, metallic, foul taste disappears; the
appetite is again normal; both the previous aversion to food and the
excessive craving disappear; the absence of thirst, which is so common
in this condition, again gives place to a natural desire for drink, the
bluish-red color and swelling of the palate and throat, and the
incessant urging to hawk, decrease visibly: the distress after eating;
the sour stomach with or without nausea or heartburn; the excessive
rising of air; the regurgitation of the ingesta; the eructations which
taste of the food that had been eaten long before; the yawning; the
irresistible drowsiness when sitting; the general loss of strength; the
vacuity of mind, the aversion to talking and to company, decrease more
and more every day; the whole abdomen feels easier and softer: the
excessive and irresistible urging to urinate, especially after rising
from a chair or from bed, and accompanied by a distressing nervousness,
abates; the diarrhœic and abnormally colored evacuations, together with
the frequent and irresistible urging, increased after eating, early in
the morning and after sour and flatulent food, and accompanied by
various sore pains in the rectum, diminish more and more, and give place
to normal evacuations, first for days, next for weeks, although they
continue to alternate more or less with constipation, or painful,
insufficient, hard stool, until they terminate sooner or later,
according as the disease is more or less deep-seated, and had lasted
more or less long, in permanent restoration of the normal secretions and
excretions of the digestive organs. At the same time the many distresses
which the abnormal condition of the bowels and stomach had occasioned in
the head and heart, disappear; the poor patient who had been a prey to
so many sufferings, feels like one born again.

This is the general result, unless psoric, sycosic, syphilitic or
vaccinine complications should be present. Unfortunately the abuse of
cathartics excites these miasms if they exist in the organism, and at
the same time prostrates the reactive powers of the organism, and
enables its enemies to rise against it. The distress becomes more and
more complicated; disorganizations, alterations of the fluids,
disturbances of the assimilative sphere, nervous derangements from
simple illusions of the sentient sphere, and occasional trembling and
twitching, to spasmodic and convulsive movements, and final extinction
of nervous power, marasmus of the spinal marrow or a ramollissement of
the brain; these are the consequences of such miasmatic complications.

In such a case Apis alone is not sufficient. We have to employ such
antidotes as _Sulphur_, our most powerful anti-psoric which, unless it
had been abused previously, never leaves us in the lurch in the presence
of psora; _iodine_ which, under similar circumstances, becomes
indispensable wherever psora and sycosis are combined; _bichromate of
potash_ or _fluoric acid_, if psora, syphilis and mercurial poisoning
are united; and lastly, _tartar emetic_, or again _fluoric acid_, if the
vaccine poison alone, or in combination with the other poisons, occupies
the foreground.

This is not the place to treat of these special forms of human distress,
and to individualize their treatment; I shall endeavor to do this on a
more suitable occasion. I shall have to limit myself here to a
superficial sketch of the treatment, adding merely that a single dose of
the specific antidote will act best if given highly potentized, and that
the improvement should afterwards be allowed to progress as long as a
trace of it remains visible. But as soon as the improvement stops and an
exacerbation sets in, which is not speedily followed by another
improvement, or which seems to require our aid, we use Apis 3, one drop
every day, until the improvement is again perceived, after which we wait
until another exacerbation demands our interference. One dose of Apis is
often insufficient; if not, from three to five doses will be found
sufficient to mitigate the pains, and to advance the cure which Apis
will complete in conjunction with the high potency that should not be
repeated, and which is not interfered with by the Apis. What more
precious boon for the physician and patient in these serious moments? It
is only a physician who has instituted provings upon himself, that is
capable of comprehending this harmonious blending of the two therapeutic
agents. He sees the well known effects of a well known cause go and come
at alternate periods. What man of common sense would be willing to
repudiate such evidence?

But even in a case where Sulphur and Iodine had been given to excess,
and a sort of Sulphur and Iodine diathesis had been established in
consequence, Apis is still the best remedy to meet this complicated
derangement.

Although we may believe that the time is at hand when this kind of
ignorance shall no longer be tolerated, it unfortunately is still a
prevailing sin of the profession. Even if we should be unable to effect
a perfect cure, yet we may afford essential relief to such patients; we
may often arrest their sufferings for a longer or shorter period, and
shorten the paroxysms until they become almost imperceptible. Apis is
particularly instrumental in effecting this end. Diseases of the


RESPIRATORY ORGANS

are likewise successfully combated by Apis. The American Provings
contain the following symptomatic indications:

1. No.'s 731, 733, 736, 742, 743, 749, 760: "Hoarseness and difficulty
of breathing, roughness and sensitiveness in the larynx, each time after
he smells of the poison; talking is painful, sensation as if the larynx
were tired by talking; drawing pains in the larynx; cough when starting
during sleep; rough cough during evening; heat; difficult breathing,
every drop of liquid almost suffocates him; labored inspirations as
during croup."

2. 737-740: "Violent paroxysms of cough, occasioned by a titillating
irritation in the lower part of the larynx near the throat-pit, with
increase of headache when coughing, on the left side, superiorly; in
half an hour, some phlegm is detached, after which the coughing ceases;
on the first day, when waked from his sleep before midnight, he had a
violent cough, especially after lying down and sleeping, with
titillation at a very small spot, deep down on the posterior wall of the
thorax, which wakes him; he feels better as soon as the least little
portion of mucous is detached; cough particularly during warmth, during
rest, and rousing him from his first slumber for several evenings."

3. 1081, 746, 790: "Chilly every afternoon at three or four o'clock; she
shudders, especially during warmth; chill across the back, the hands
feel as if dead; in about an hour she felt hot and feverish, with rough
cough, hot cheeks and hands, without thirst; this passes off gradually,
she feels heavy and prostrate; cough and labored breathing as during
croup, after violent feverish heat, with dry skin and full pulse;
disturbed sleep, with muttering, timid and incoherent talk,
whitish-yellow coating of the tongue, and painless, yellow-greenish,
slimy diarrhœa, in four days the breathing become labored, a violent
abdominal respiration, red face, increasingly livid, pulse hard, cough,
with barking resonance--pains in the chest, with labored breathing."

4. 754, 770, 772, 803: "Hurried, labored breathing, with heat and
headache; chest oppressed; difficult labored breathing; sense of
suffocation even when leaning against a thing; general debility; worse
during cold weather, accompanied by asthmatic pains; cough; sense of
suffocation; pains in the chest; coldness and deadness of the
extremities, which looked bluish; sense of soreness; lameness; sense of
bruising in the chest, as after recent contusions by a blow; jamming,
etc."

These observations do not indeed show with characteristic certainty the
diseases to which Apis might correspond. But if they are contrasted with
the total character of Apis; if we consider that Apis develops a
catarrhal irritation throughout the whole intestinal mucous membrane,
affecting most deeply the nervous system and the normal constitution of
the fluids, we have sufficient ground to experiment with Apis in those
respiratory diseases which seem to be inherent in the prevailing genius
of disease, and which are characterized by the very conditions which I
have described. Who is not struck by the fact, that the same individual
morbid process is reflected by different forms of disease, _croup_,
_whooping-cough_, _influenza_, _acute and chronic bronchial catarrh_?
The more essential the resemblance between these forms of disease and
the medicinal power, the more certainly may we expect a cure. The
medicinal power which seems to be most adequate to this end, is
undoubtedly Apis. My observations in this respect are not sufficiently
numerous to enable me to offer positive directions concerning the best
mode of using the medicine in these diseases, or concerning the extent
of the curative process or the complications that may exist. All I can
do is to recommend Apis for further experiments in this range, and to
remind my brethren of the insufficiency of other drugs, which has been a
source of trouble to us in the past ten years. Every body who has
watched the course of these diseases during this period, must have seen
the difference existing between the present and the past character of
the symptoms. It must, therefore, be a source of satisfaction to all of
us, to have found in Apis an agent that is capable of filling up the
gap.

My observations regarding the curative virtues of Apis in urinary,
uterine and ovarian difficulties, and in rheumatism and gout, are not
very extended. In the American Provings, symptoms 634 to 669, seem to
point to urinary difficulties, and 685 to 695, to ovarian troubles;
symptoms 697 to 727 to uterine derangements; and 837, 842, 867, 873,
874, 918, 919, 940, 942, 964, 969, to rheumatism and gout.

What little experience I have had in the employment of Apis in these
diseases, is, however, sufficient to induce me to recommend the use of
it for further and more enlarged knowledge.

I have had abundant opportunities of verifying the warning expressed in
No. 721, "pregnant women should use the drug very cautiously." I am not
acquainted with any drug which seems possessed of such reliable virtues
regarding the prevention of miscarriage, more particularly during the
first half of pregnancy, as Apis. I have often become an involuntary
spectator of the power of Apis to effect miscarriage; for I had given it
to honest women who did not know that they were pregnant, and where the
fact of pregnancy was revealed to them by the subsequent miscarriage,
which took place after one or two doses of Apis had been taken. Ever
since I have made it a rule not to give Apis to females in whom the
existence of pregnancy can be suspected in the remotest degree until the
matter is reduced to a certainty, and the conduct of the physician can
be determined upon in accordance with existing facts.

I am unable to say how far this power inherent in Apis, of producing
miscarriage, may be serviceable to females who are prone to miscarriage.

I beg the privilege of adding a more general warning to this particular
one. The more generally useful a thing is, the more liable is it to
abuse. The most important and useful discoveries of homœopathy are
abused in this manner by our age given to all sorts of excesses.

Not only are the records of homœopathy ransacked by speculative minds,
who use her advantages for personal gain without giving due credit to
the source whence the good things are obtained. This species of egotism
may perhaps be excused in consideration of the use which this kind of
plagiarism affords, even if whole volumes should be filled with it. But
if the stolen property is paraded before the world as something
belonging to one's self by right divine; if official influence is abused
for the purpose of dressing up that which rightfully belongs to our
science, as some original discovery, thus caricaturing and disfiguring
the beauty of the genuine blessing; then good is changed to evil, and
the evil is the greater, the more comprehensive the truth that is so
shamefully abused. It is absurd and may entail sad consequences upon the
world, if the rational use of Apis is to be converted to the irrational
proceedings of the so-called specific method, which is often practised
by men who, knowing better, purposely conceal the truth from the world.
For years past, I have been called upon again and again, by patients who
had been in the hands of these men, and who had been drenched with
medicine, and had had all sorts of disastrous complications engendered
in their poor bodies, to afford them some relief from these tortures
inflicted by physicians who do not hesitate to assail the health of
their patients by massive doses of drugs, of which they often know
nothing but the name.

With these facts before me, nobody can find it strange that I should
feel some misgivings in laying before the world a drug endowed with such
extensive virtues. Apis is one of those drugs, the abuse of which may
prove as destructive as the use of it is a source of saving good. It is
no anti-psoric, nor is it capable of antidoting the three miasms, or of
inflicting medicinal diseases for life. Nevertheless, it is a deeply and
speedily-acting drug, for it affects the whole internal mucous membrane,
the nervous system, and the process of sanguification, thus disturbing
the health for a long time. Its primary aggravating action, its deeply
penetrating interference with the existing morbid process, which may
lead to errors in diagnosis, and its power to exhaust the reactive
energies of the organism prematurely, render it a very dangerous agent.
These circumstances go to show that such an agent, in the hands of the
partizans of the Specific School, may be as dangerously and injuriously
abused as other important drugs have been. I cannot sufficiently warn my
readers against such distressing abuses. Only he is protected from the
danger of imitating such shameful absurdities, who listens to the words
of our master:

    "Imitate this, but imitate this correctly!"



Transcriber's Note:

    Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
    Inconsistent hyphenation has been standardised, whilst variant and
    archaic spellings remain as printed.





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