Myrica Cerifera
Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 10,679 chars · source ↗
General
Myrica Cerifera.
Myrica cerifera. Wax Myrtle. Bayberry. Candleberry. N. O. Myricaceae. Tincture of fresh bark of root.
Clinical
Catarrh. Conjunctivitis. Heart, affections of. Jaundice. Leucorrhoea. Liver, affections of. Pharynx, affections of. Tendo-Achillis, pain in. Throat, sore. Urticaria.
Characteristics
According to Hale, though Myrica was known to older botanic practitioners, it was Samuel Thomson, of Lobelia fame, who established its reputation. Thomson had a crude pathology of his own which served him to some extent. One of his ideas was that the digestive tract was liable to become fouled with a copious mucous lining. This he called "canker"; and he stated of Myrica that it "has the power of disengaging the thick, viscid secretions of the mucous membrane of the stomach." Myrica, says Hale, formed the chief ingredient in Thomson's famous "Composition powder." The provings confirm Thomson's observation, in that Myrica produced abundant secretion of tenacious mucus in the throat, difficult to detach.
This may be considered one of the keynotes of the remedy. Profuse catarrhal discharges of old standing, of all kinds may require Myrica, especially if offensive, tenacious, and difficult to detach. Leucorrhoea, bronchorrhoea, intestinal catarrh, pharyngeal catarrh, stomatitis. Hale says as a local application in diphtheria it rivals Guaiacum.
Perhaps allied to the catarrhal state of the intestinal tract is the liver disorder setup by the drug. These are the distinctive features: Aching pain in liver, fulness, drowsiness, despondency, dull, heavy headache, < in morning, dirty, dingy, yellowish white of eyes, lids abnormally red, weakness, ash-coloured stools, slow pulse, pains under scapulae (< left), dirty yellow tongue, muscular soreness, aching in limbs, jaundice of all degrees. There is also the nasal obstruction, post-nasal catarrh which often accompanies disordered liver.
It is in cases attended with jaundice that Myrica has had the greatest success, cases of black jaundice having been cured with it, and it meets the itching of jaundice as well. Urticaria is not unfrequently found associated with liver affections, and Douglass cured with it this case (Clinique, xxi. 108, quoting Hahn. Advocate): Miss O., 18, complained of itching and stinging on face, neck, right forearm and leg. Sensation as if insects crawling on face, must brush them away.
Skin yellowish. Tongue, thickly coated yellow. Felt sick all over and rather irritable. Myrica 6x every two hours improved at once and cured in ten days.
Burnett has used Myrica with excellent effect in cancerous and other grave diseases of the liver, especially when attended with jaundice. He has given material doses. It has generally been given in the lower attenuations. Myrica has also an action on the heart, and is thus closely related to Digitalis in several points.
There are sharp pains about the heart with increased, audible pulsations, but slow pulse. The heart pains are < lying on left side. Pains in left chest and under scapulae (especially left), and pain in middle lobe of right lung. The symptoms are: < By warmth of bed;
< after sleep; < in morning; by motion. > After breakfast; > in open air.
Relations
Compare: In tenacious secretions, K. bi., Hydrast. Jaundice, light-coloured stools, slow pulse, Dig. (Dig. has pulse irregular as well as slow; the tongue of Dig. has not the thick, tenacious coat of Myrica). Liver, Berb., Chel., Chim., Pod., Hep., Merc., Cholest., Hydrast. Urticaria and liver disorder, Ast. fl. Sore all over, Bapt. Leucorrhoea, Hydrast. Pain through left chest to scapula, Therid., Illic., Pix.
Mind
Great despondency; dejected; irritable
Cannot concentrate mind on any subject
Dull, drowsy state
Exhilaration, then depression and pressure about head; exhilaration, then excitement preventing sleep, with restlessness.
Head
Vertigo, with dulness and drowsiness, (during lectures) with rush of blood to head and face, on stooping; with nausea
Awakens with pain in forehead, temples, and small of back, > in open air
Dull, heavy feeling over and in eyes
Throbbing: of arteries in the head; and in face with fulness; in superficial veins on waking
Empty feeling in head.
Eyes
Eyes congested and yellow
Eyes feel dull and heavy; also on awaking
Eyes burn and tire easily when reading; lids heavy
Dirty, dingy, yellowish sclerotics; lids abnormally red
Smarting in l. conjunctiva, then pain in r. ball
Smarting in eyes, feeling of sand in them, difficulty in closing lids
Quivering sensation in l. upper lid
Pain in r. brow.
Ears
Pain in back of l. ear.—Ringing in ears; in l.
Nose
Pain in nose; in l. side of nose, shifting to l. axilla, where it was sharp and lancinating
Coryza
Post-nasal catarrh.
Face
Yellow colour of face and neck; jaundice
Fulness, with heat and throbbing, esp. after being out in open air
Pressure in malar bones
Sharp, darting pain in r. articulation of jaw.
Mouth
Breath offensive
Sweetish taste about palate
Thick, yellowish, dark, dry, and crusty coating on tongue, rendering it almost immovable
Tongue dirty yellow
Foul, bad taste; cannot eat because of it; bitter, nauseous taste
Adhesive coating over, buccal membrane; dry, scaly crusts on roof of mouth, that water scarcely moistens or dissolves
Mouth dry; thirst; water relieves only partially for awhile.
Throat
Semi-lancinating pain near r. tonsil in afternoon
Excruciating feeling in posterior nares, as from a fresh cold
Constriction; causing constant need to swallow
Swollen feeling inside in morning
Stringy mucus in throat; detached with difficulty
Throat and nasal organs filled with an offensive, tenacious mucus, detached with difficulty
Pharynx dry; sore, as if it would crack, impeding and finally obstructing, deglutition
Slimy, glutinous frothy mucus in pharynx; even gargling scarcely detaches it; causes disgusting taste, prevents eating.
Stomach
Hunger, yet full feeling, as after a hasty meal
Unnatural hunger; then indigestion; then jaundice
Loss of appetite; loathing of food, but desire for acids
Fulness and pressure, or weak, sinking feeling in stomach
Acidity at 8.30 a.m
Burning with bitter, nauseous sensation in fauces, the burning changing into griping from l. epigastrium in a straight line to l. of navel
Heartburn, with increase of saliva, which had to be expectorated frequently.
Abdomen
Dull pain in region of liver; fulness; drowsiness; debility; mushy, clay-coloured stools; jaundice
Griping pains; rumbling; urging to stool; passing only flatus
Weak, faint feeling, as if diarrhoea would ensue
Offensive flatus when walking
Pain in umbilical region: after breakfast; in a spot in umbilical region an hour after dinner, with accumulation of flatus; heavy
Rumbling above umbilicus
Rumbling in umbilical region, with griping.
Stool
Passing of much offensive flatus
Loose stools, mushy, with tenesmus and cramp-like sensation in umbilical region
Stools light yellow, mushy, clay-coloured; jaundice
Constipation.
Urinary Organs
Urine beer-coloured, with yellowish froth; pinkish-brown sediment, scanty
Micturition difficult, bladder seemed to lack contractive, expelling power
Urine increased; and limpid.
Male Sexual Organs
Desire lost.—Chronic gonorrhoea.
Female Sexual Organs
Leucorrhoea excoriating, fetid, thick, yellowish.
Respiratory Organs
Smarting in larynx and trachea.—Tickling cough which had troubled him on lying down at night was > in morning.
Chest
Pain: in l. chest; in middle lobe of r. lung; in l. lung at 8 p.m.—Constriction of chest at night when lying on l. side, with audible beating of heart.
Heart And Pulse
Sharp pain in region of heart
Stinging, cramp-like sensation to l. of praecordia and under ribs
Heart's impulse increased, but pulse sixty
Impulse increased, pulsation audible, with constriction in chest on lying on l. side
Pulse feeble, irregular.
Neck And Back
Dull aching in back and head, dragging; lassitude
Pain in nape at 2 p.m.; in neck at 7 a.m., < nape, with stiffness
Pain under scapulae; under l. scapula at 11 p.m.; in l. scapula and arm, extending to end of little finger
Sharp, plunging pain in region of l. kidney
Pain in lumbar region with general chilliness on going outdoors; heavy; dragging. in morning on waking, also till afternoon.
Upper Limbs
Sharp lancinations in l. axilla
Tearing in l. arm, < upper arm, sometimes extending to forearm, with darting pain in middle and ring fingers
Lame feeling in r. arm, < about wrist, with heaviness
Pain in l. upper arm at 8.45 a.m.; in r. third and little fingers at 9 a.m.
Lower Limbs
Pain at 7 a.m.; centring in muscular parts above knees, also soreness and occasional darting pains
Sharp shooting in r. thigh, then in l. thigh, then pain in l. shoulder
Drawing pain in muscles above knee at night
Piercing pain in inner side of l. knee
Pain from knee down at 12.50 p.m., with coldness of lower limbs; contractive, in middle of leg, a little outside of outer edge of tibia, < motion, occasionally changing to burning pain, with soreness to touch
Pain in calves, with trembling, so that walking is unpleasant, pain < l
Pain in l. tendo-Achillis, < touch and motion, with soreness; in hollow of r. foot
Bruised pain in l. heel.
Generalities
Pain in whole body as before ague, at 10 p.m.; shifting pain.—Languor: in morning on waking, with pain in back; with soreness of muscles of thighs, as if he had taken cold. < From warmth of bed at night, disturbing sleep; > after breakfast; > in open air.—Slight nervous excitement and restlessness; soon followed by a sick, debilitated sensation.—General muscular lameness and soreness; lassitude; depression of spirits.
Skin
Yellow jaundiced appearance; itching as from flea-bites
Pimples in different parts, a painful one on nose
Itching: near insertion of deltoid in both arms; of face, then creeping sensation; and stinging-like flea-bites, on r. side of face, then on neck, shoulder, forearm, midway between r. knee and ankle.
Sleep
Drowsiness; vertigo; semi-stupor
Restless, or sleeps soundly until toward morning; awakens generally feeling worse
Unrefreshing sleep, with frequent wakings and bad dreams
Amorous dreams, with emission
Ugly dreams, at one time that his head was attacked by enormous, bugs, which he felt obliged to kill with difficulty.
Fever
Chilliness on going out of doors; slight aching in lumbar region
Excited, feverish feeling, alternating with chilliness; warm sensation along spine, then chill and gentle sweat
Face hot and flushed.