Castoreum Canadense
Castoreum · Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 7,347 chars · source ↗
General
Castoreum.
The Beaver. N. O. Rodentia. Tincture of secretion, found in preputial sacs of beaver.
Clinical
Chorea. Convulsions. Digestion, disordered. Dysmenorrhoea. Eclampsia. Flatulence. Hernia. Hysteria. Ileus. Paralysis. Pregnancy, vomiting of. Reaction, deficient. Sexual organs, inflammation of; spasms of. Sycosis. Tetanus. Typhoid, lack of recuperation after. Typhus. Warts. Yawning.
Characteristics
Castoreum resembles Ambra, Moschus, Ignatia, and Valerian. It is suited to nervous women, with pains, cramps, weakness after severe illness; hysterical individuals; abdominal soreness; nervous attacks when the aura starts from abdomen. The pains are > by pressure. Menstrual colic, with pallor and cold sweat. Prostration is a leading feature in the effects of the drug. There is also a feeling of fulness in the stomach as if too much had been eaten.
Castoreum when fresh is yellow and of the consistence of syrup when dry it is dark red or brown and of the consistence of hard wax. Teste remarks that it has been regarded as a resinous substance, and he observes, moreover, that the beaver feeds almost entirely on the resinous bark of pine-trees. In Siberia beavers feed on the bark of the birch, which may make a difference in the effects of Castoreum from different countries. Caspari proved Russian Castor., Nenning that of Southern Europe.
Teste concluded from analogy that Castor. would be an antisycotic, and he proved his point by initiating with it the cure of a case of pedunculated vegetations around the anus in a hysterical young woman. Thuja completed the cure. Teste places Castor. in the Thuja group with Plat. and Bism. He quotes from Trousseau and Pideux the following indications, which he confirms:—(1) "Amenorrhoea, accompanied with painful and tympanitic swelling of the abdomen.
We mean the cases where only a few drops of blood escape from the uterus, with a sort of uterine tenesmus." (2) "The cases of colic to which Castoreum seems to be principally adapted are of the nervous kind, that seem to be particularly seated in the small intestine. They are accompanied with paleness and cold sweats, a sudden sinking of strength, as if the very principle of life had been struck down. They are without any alvine evacuations, come suddenly, after lively emotions, a cold on the bowels or by the feet, as after long exposure to a cold rain; they constitute a sort of that passion termed by authors miserere." Castor. causes jerking in small groups of muscular fibres; a sensation of heaviness of whole body; trembling of limbs.
Relations
Compare: Ambra, Mosch., Nux v.; in lack of reaction, Pso.; Thuja (sycosis). Antidoted by: Colch.
Mind
Peevish; indisposed to talk, very sensitive to all kinds of impressions
Irritable in morning and cheerful abandon in evening
Great sadness and excessive susceptibility, with easily provoked lachrymation.
Head
Headache with giddiness and fainting; headache leaving head very sensitive to touch.
Pain at the vertex and throbbing in the head as if there were an ulcer in the brain, aggravated by contact and external pressure
Fulness and heaviness of the head as if it were going to burst
Acute drawing pains in the forehead and eyes.
Eyes
Pressure in the eyes, on viewing fixedly a distant object
Nocturnal lachrymation and agglutination of the eyes
Stars, clouds, and on viewing fixedly a distant object, mist before the sight
Susceptibility of the eyes to the light of the sun, and to that of candles.
Ears
Acute dragging in the ears.—Tinkling, buzzing, and gurgling in the ears, dispersed by boring the ear with the finger.
Nose
Obstruction of the nose.—Flow of aqueous, acrid, corrosive mucus from the nose.
Teeth
Toothache when eating, provoked by cold and mitigated by hot things
Odontalgia, with acute drawing pains, or successive pullings, provoked or aggravated by the touch
Swelling of the gums at night, with acute pulling in the temples.
Mouth
Fetid odour from the mouth, perceptible to the patient
Pulling and quivering in the tongue
Swelling of tongue
Rounded elevation in centre of tongue size of pea, surrounded by angry, suspicious-looking base, size of a 5-cent piece, extremely sensitive to touch or food, with drawing sensation, as if a string were pulling centre of tongue towards hyoid bone, with burning in tongue.
Throat
Dryness of oesophagus.—Burning pain in the throat, as from pyrosis.
10, 11.
Appetite and Stomach
Burning thirst
Thirst so violent that she could not drink enough water after dinner
Bitter risings
Regurgitation of a bitter acidity
Repugnance to food and constant nausea
Vomiting of white, bitter mucus
Weight, griping; tenesmus with constricting pains under sternum
Sensation in stomach as though it would go to sleep
Sensation of contraction, and pain of ulceration, in the epigastrium.
Abdomen
Pressure in region of liver from within outwards
Flatulent colic, painful inflation, esp. after a meal
Colic, redness of face, and yawning in abdominal complaints, > by external heat and by bending oneself double
Umbilical hernia with ulcer, in a screaming infant
Pain and soreness in l. side of abdomen
Constant violent rollings in abdomen.
Stool And Anus
Urgent inclination to evacuate
Diarrhoea accompanied by shivering and by yawning, with burning in the anus, and preceded by pain in the abdomen, with grumbling and borborygmi
Evacuations of sanguineous mucus
Stools: whitish, watery; greenish mucus; contain pus; patient is compelled to sit bent; feels gagged when lying down
Before stool: cutting or pinching colic; painful rumbling; dragging in groin
During stool: fetid flatus, burning at anus
After stool: burning at anus.
Urinary Organs
Frequent emission of urine, with burning thirst, day and night.—After the emission of urine desire to vomit, and disgust.
Male Sexual Organs
Seminal emissions with great excitability.
Female Sexual Organs
Menstruation premature, pains in head and loins, pale, sickly complexion
Pain commences in middle of thighs, extending over limbs and more or less over whole body
Uterine tenesmus, with scanty flow
Leucorrhoea watery or thick; burning
Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.
Respiratory Organs
Hoarseness, with disposition to clear throat
Breathing: short, difficult; short breath when ascending; very deep with heat in heart and in face; slow, deep inspiration with short expiration
Stitches in chest; heat as if fire were burning in it
On taking deep breath sensation as though something heavy lay under sternum.
Neck And Back
Pain as from excoriation, in the sacral region and back.—Drawing pains in nape of the neck.
Limbs
Nocturnal dragging in shoulders and arms
Spasms of hands and feet
Hands hot with swelling of veins
Weakness of the lower limbs.
Generalities
Jerking of small groups of muscular fibres.—Chorea; epilepsy; cramps in various parts.—Prostration after dinner, and annoying sensation as if she had eaten too much.—Internal restlessness.
Sleep
Restless sleep at night, with anxious agitation and starts with fright
Angry exclamations during sleep
Jerking of the limbs while asleep
Anxious and frightful dreams.
Fever
Predominance of cold and shuddering.—Fits of shivering with icy coldness in the back.