Lachnanthes Tinctoria
Lachnanthes · Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 11,743 chars · source ↗
General
Lachnanthes.
Lachnanthes tinctoria. Red Root. N. O. Haemodoraceae. Tincture of whole plant.
Clinical
Cough. Diphtheria. Headache. Heart, heat in; pains in. Phthisis. Pneumonia, typhoid. Sore throat. Stiff-neck. Wry-neck.
Characteristics
Lachnan. is a herb, growing in sandy swamps near the coast. The root is red and fibrous; leaves sword-shaped; stem hairy; flowers yellow, woolly. It belongs to the same order as Aletris, and is allied to the Irises. The head, the chest, and the circulation seem most prominently affected by Lachn.
There are headaches of great intensity; right-sided, as if split open with a wedge; with icy coldness of body; crying spells; < by vomiting. In the chest there are lancinating stitches, in quick succession in right side of chest below mamma. Stitches in heart with anxiety.
A peculiar symptom is: Sensation of heat, bubbling and boiling in chest and region of heart, rising to head; giddy; breaks out into perspiration. Trembling of heart. There is also burning of palms and soles and burning under nail of left toe. On the other hand, there is much coldness and chilliness.
Continued chilliness. Sensation as if a piece of ice was lying on back between shoulders, then a shock followed by coldness over whole body with gooseflesh. These attacks occur on moving, > after going to bed. Cannot get warm under a feather bed.
A hot flat-iron > icy coldness of body. Lachn. has been largely used in cases of phthisis, often empirically, but sometimes on its indications. Arthur Dalzell reports these cases (H. W., xxv. 158): (1) Mrs.
B., 43, fibroid phthisis of both lungs, collapse of right lower lobe. Great prostration; night-sweats; bowels alternately relaxed and confined; pain and stiffness in back; bruised all over; dry cough; roughness of throat, heart-sounds weak. Sleep bad owing to cough. Lachn. Ø, three drops every four hours.
In three days the prostration was diminished, and the cough was much better, night-sweats and bruised feeling gone. From this time an emulsion containing cod-liver oil, liquor pancreaticus, eggs, cream and hypophosphites, and oil of Eucalyptus were given in addition. The case went on to recovery. (2) Mrs.
R., 45, in last stage of consumption. Right lung consolidated; left in cavities. Remittent fever. This patient had circumscribed flush on face; brilliant eyes; throat rough; felt bruised all over.
Skin dry, except at night, when she had profuse perspiration. Constant dry cough. Muco-purulent expectoration. Lachn. Ø, five drops every three hours, relieved all the symptoms and procured euthanasia, the patient dying quite easily twelve days later
Toothache is < eating and drinking warm things. With fever there is loquacious delirium, brilliant eyes, and circumscribed red cheeks (there is also a blueness about face, blue under eyes, blue lips). During the cold sensation the skin is damp and clammy. The loquacity of Lachn. is remarkable.
Hering says the Indians chew the plant when they meet the white man to give them a flow of language. Lachn. has been used with success in diphtheria, typhoid fever, typhoid pneumonia. A peculiar symptom is stiffness of the neck, the head being twisted to one (right) side. This occurring in connection with sore throat is a strong indication.
There is much dryness of throat, which is < on waking in the night, with much coughing. Sensations are: As if head enlarged; as if split open with a wedge; vertex as if enlarged; as if hair standing on end. As if a cloud before eyes; pressing as from dust in eyes. As if something had closed ear.
Bridge of nose as if pinched (confirmed by E. E. Case—H. P., xiii. 76).
As of something crawling over face. A curious observation is quoted in Brit. J. of H. (xxxix. 181), that the while pigs and sheep of Virginia lose their hoofs if they feed on Lachn., while the black varieties eat it without inconvenience.
Relations
Compare: Aletris, the Irises and Veratrums (botan.); heat in heart (Croc., Op., Rho.); pain in lower right lung (Chel., K. ca., Sep.—right apex, Ars., Calc.; left apex, Ars.; left base, Oxal. ac., Sul.; right middle lobe, Sep.; right chest, Sang., Phell. aq., Zn.); cold between shoulders (Am. m.;—heat between shoulders, Lyc., Pho.); loquacity (Lach., Hyo.); brilliant eyes, red cheeks, delirium (Bell.). Compare also: Act. r., Aeth., Agar., Can. ind., Cic., Crotal., Sele., Glo., Gymnoc., Plat., Stram.
Mind
Restlessness, tosses about (during perspiration)
Great loquacity; afterwards stupid and irritable
Ill-humoured and sleepy
Great hilarity (evening)
Became much excited over a trifle
Loquacious delirium, with brilliant eyes and circumscribed red cheeks (1 to 2 a.m.).
Head
Giddiness in the head, with sensation of heat in chest and around heart, and perspiration
Giddiness with icy coldness of the forehead
Painful tearing in forehead in the open air
Dull headache and pressing in forehead
Tearing in forehead from l. to r. side
On forehead elevated red pimples
Wrinkles on forehead, with longitudinal ridges from interior corner of eyebrows upward
Head feels heavy
Sensation as if the vertex were enlarged and were driven upward
Tearing in vertex
Headache pressing eyes outward
The head feels enlarged, and as if split open with a wedge from the outside to within; the body is icy cold; she cannot get warm also for a long time under a feather bed; the whole face becomes yellow; she has to whine with the headache; the head burns like fire, with much thirst; during the cold sensation the skin is moist and clammy
Tearing in (r.) temple, extending to cheek
Pricking headache (evening)
Sensation as if the hair were standing on end;
< in the occiput
Scalp very painful to touch.
Eyes
Obscuration of sight; could not see in evening; as if a cloud were before the eyes
Pressing in eyes as from dust; with secretion of white mucus
Secretion of white mucus from eyes (canthi)
Twitching of r. canthus
Sensation of twitching in upper eyelids, < when closing them
In morning, violent lachrymation and burning of eyes, with sensation of dryness
The eyes feel heavy, as if they could not be kept open
Eyes dry
Eyes feel cold
The eyebrows and upper eyelids are drawn upwards; looks with fixed eyes
Yellow spots before eyes
Bright, sparkling eyes with delirium.
Ears
Singing in ear when walking in open air
Tearing in ears
Crawling and itching in ears
Itching or tingling in ears;
> by boring with the finger, but immediately returning and feeling as if something had closed ear
Almost complete deafness (during fever).
Nose
The nose bleeds profusely; the blood is pale.—Bridge of nose feels as if pinched.
Face
Face swollen, with redness and blueness under eyes
Pale, sickly countenance; face and lips bluish; eyes dull, feel thick and cold
Circumscribed redness of face (1 a.m. to 8 am.), with violent delirium and brilliant eyes
Redness of face; yellow face
Sensation as if something were crawling over face.
Teeth
Pain in all the teeth when eating or drinking warm things
All the teeth feel loose and too long;
< in bed.
Mouth
Saliva of tough mucus
Swelling and tension of the lips
Lips red
Sensation as if the mouth were sore and thick.
Throat
Great dryness in throat, esp. on awaking during the night, with much coughing
Sore throat, with short cough
When swallowing, itching (in a small spot)
Sensation of swelling in pharynx, with stiffness of neck, and head drawn to one side (diphtheria).
Appetite
Aversion to meat.—Much thirst.
Stomach
Sensation of qualmishness above navel, when walking in open air
In pit of stomach, beating as from a pulse, as if a hammer were beating on an ulcerated spot
Fulness in pit of stomach.
Abdomen
Rolling of wind in abdomen, and discharge of flatulency.—Sensation of heat through abdomen.
Stool And Anus
Frequent stool; passes much wind
Frequent unsuccessful desire to evacuate
Continuous stitch in rectum.
Urinary Organs
Pressure on bladder while urinating.
Male Sexual Organs
Violent burning in l. half of the scrotum, drawing towards r. side
Tingling and itching of scrotum
Perspiration and itching of scrotum and penis.
Female Sexual Organs
Menses too early, blood viscid, mixed with mucus
During menses, sensation of distension of abdomen; it feels as if it were boiling
Menstrual blood profuse, bright red.
Respiratory Organs
Burning in r. side of larynx
Hoarseness (forenoon)
Cough dry, as if it came from larynx (with sore throat); expectoration streaked with blood, with severe pain in chest (pneumonia)
Sensation of fulness in chest; is compelled to inhale deeply
Stitches in l. side of chest
Stitches (like knives) under r. breast and under clavicle
Cough < in bed and after sleeping
Feels hot and oppressed in chest, with gentle perspiration all over.
Heart
Bubbling and boiling in chest and region of heart; it rises to the head and he becomes giddy; he breaks out into a perspiration
Sensation of heat in region of heart
Stitches in heart, with anxiety
Frequent violent pulsations of heart, each beat is double, one hard and full, the other soft and small
Trembling of heart with great debility.
Neck And Back
Stiffness and pain in neck, extending over whole head down to the nose, and sensation as if nostrils were pinched together
Sensation of spraining in neck when turning or moving head backward
Stiff neck; the head is drawn to one side (after diphtheria, scarlet fever
Burning on r. scapula
Sensation as if a piece of ice were lying on back, between the shoulders, followed by a chill, with gooseflesh all over
Sensation between the shoulder-blades as if wet with cold perspiration, the skin being dry and cool
Burning in region of l. kidney, extending towards r. side
Burning in spine above sacrum
Burning in sacrum.
Upper Limbs
Tearing from the shoulder, extending to finger-joints
Thumb and index-finger feel as if sprained
Tearing in elbow-joints
Tearing in knuckles of the middle fingers of the r. hand
Burning of palms and soles.
Lower Limbs
Tearing in r. ischium
Small pimples around l. gluteus muscle, which discharge a watery fluid when scratched open
Burning stinging in, above, or below the knee-pan
Tearing in l. knee
Tingling in both lower limbs and feet, < in heat
Burning in feet (soles)
Cramps in the feet (during night).
Generalities
Very restless; throws herself about; feels weak.
Skin
Sensation in skin as if an eruption would appear
Pimples appear here and there, containing a watery fluid
The red pimples on the forehead suppurate
Itching and burning in the skin all night;
< after scratching
Stinging, itching, and tingling on thighs, legs, feet, arms, &c.
Sleep
Sleepiness with yawning, eyes feel so heavy that she cannot keep them open
Sleepless, or restless sleep, with distressing dreams
Cannot go to sleep easily
After waking and stretching, a shock followed by chilliness and gooseflesh all over.
Fever
Flashes of heat alternating with chilliness
Continuous chilliness
Sensation as if a piece of ice were lying on back between shoulders, then a shock, followed by coldness over whole body with gooseflesh; these attacks recur on moving and go off after going to bed
Feels hot, but the chills run all over her before the heat can develop itself
Icy coldness of body
Heat with redness of face; after heat circumscribed redness of both cheeks;
< on r. side; fever with violent delirium and brilliant eyes (< from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.)
Fever with somnolency
Perspires freely (after restless sleep), esp. after midnight
The skin is cold, damp and clammy during the coldness
Icy cold perspiration, principally on forehead.