Solanum Tuberosum Aegrotans
Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 14,041 chars · source ↗
General
Solanum Tuberosum Aegrotans.
Diseased potato. Tincture of the affected tubers.
Clinical
Anus, prolapse of; patulous. Breasts, painful. Breath, offensive. Constipation. Epistaxis. Headache. Ileus. Irritability. Menses, interrupted. Noma. Odour of body, offensive. Pruritus vulvae. Rectum, prolapse of. Scalp, painful. Sciatica. Scurvy. Skin, darkness of. Tenesmus. Tongue, cracked. Vertebrae, pain in; pulsation in.
Characteristics
The "Potato murrain" is characterised by "the rapid putrescence of the leaves and haulm, which is first indicated by the presence of a little mould, Peronospora infestans, which preys upon the tissues, spreading rapidly in every direction. The tubers also exhibit brown spots on their surface and within their tissues, and according to circumstances decay with greater or less rapidity" (Treas. of Bot.). In 1846 the sudden inroad of this disease led to the fearful famine in Ireland, which resulted in the death of thousands.
Mure made the first proving of S. t. ae., using a potato "in an entire state of decomposition, without, however, being completely rotten." Effects of eating diseased potatoes, some of them fatal, have been observed, and these have been added to Mure's. The symptoms of the proving were pretty severe, and one of the most important—prolapse of the rectum—has been confirmed by the poisoning cases. A man and three children ate boiled diseased potatoes, and among their symptoms were these: "Pain of an acute character was referred to the region of the anus, which on examination was found perfectly patulous and exquisitely tender to the touch.
Two of the four patients had prolapsus ani, which was probably caused by the violent and ineffectual efforts to discharge the contents of the rectum. There had not been an evacuation of the bowels, nor had they passed water, except in drops and with extreme suffering, for six days. On introducing, the finger into the rectum, which caused acute pain, it was found that the intestine was completely filled, to within an inch of the orifice. with a solid substance." The foul odour of the diseased potato is reproduced in the breath and body odour of the patients.
Lips cracked and raw; gums bleeding; tongue coated, thick, cracked; throat inflamed and ulcerated with sensation of something sticking in it or a fleshy growth. In one poisoning case a condition of noma of left cheek was induced. Peculiar Sensations are: Of water splashing on head; as if brain were leaping in skull (on stooping). As of something sticking in throat.
As if there were a fleshy growth in throat. As if a spring unrolled in left hypochondrium. As if a hollow body were turning rapidly in chest. Of stoppage in trachea.
Of something becoming detached from sacrum. The urine has an oily pellicle. Excruciating muscular pains. The symptoms are < by touch and pressure.
Headache is < on waking; by smell of alcohol; walking at 5 p.m.; sleeping; working (headache). Cold water = shock.
Relations
Mure gives the following as the closest analogues of S. t. ae.—the order indicates their relative importance: Bry., Ars., Pb., Nux, Sep., Stron., V. tric., Scil., Puls., Graph., Alm., Merc., Na. m., Ign., Calc. Compare: Sensation of machinery inside, Nit. ac. Constipation, black balls, Op. Prolapsus ani, Pod., Ruta. Patulous anus, Ap., Pho.
Mind
Quarrelsome, irritable mood
Bad temper
An unintelligible expression irritates her so that she would like to break everything and bite her hands
Dread of work
Hypochondriac mood
She wants to enjoy a change of scenery, &c
She fancies she is miserable, and dwells much on the future
Rises in the night imagining that there are thieves behind the curtain, but dares not look, asks others to do it
Crowd of ideas
His attention is easily disturbed by other things.
Head
Confusion
Heat in head, evening
Heaviness of the head; in the vertex; on stooping and then raising head again
Catarrhal dulness of head; esp. forehead
Sensation on stooping as if brain leaping in skull
Lancinations as if brain would burst open
Sensation of water splashing in head
Headache at noon, < by the smell of spirits
Head feels too heavy, she has to make an effort to support it
Pressure above eyes, on waking
In the forehead: violent pain, all day; stitching pain; with dulness of head, and disposition to fall forwards
Slight beating in temples
Sensation as if the hair would be torn out on vertex
Painful sensitiveness of scalp and roots of hair; cannot bear combing;
> after stirring about and talking.
Eyes
Prickling about the lids, the surface of which is red
Spasmodic contraction and twitching of l. upper lid
Burning in lids
Prickling and burning in eyes
Congestion of the conjunctiva
Profuse lachrymation; on waking.
Ears
Ringing in the l. ear.
Nose
Repeated sneezing, followed by feeble cough
Nose-bleed
Pressure at root of nose
Smell of blood.
Face
Face hot and red
Mounting of heat to face, now and then
Red pimples on cheeks
Desquamation of face
Face pale, bloodless, much swollen, esp. about eyelids, nearly closing them
Bluish-black, fetid ulcer of l. cheek
Upper lip bleeding, cracked.
Teeth
Swelling of mucous membrane of the inner margin of the two incisors
Teeth loose and very painful
Gums, esp. lower, spongy, oozing blood
Teeth covered with white mucus.
Mouth
Dry mouth
The mucous membrane of the velum palati seems to become detached here and there
Tongue pale
Thick tongue, 2 a.m
Tongue swollen, cracked, early in the morning; coated white or yellowish white; or coated white, with red tip, or yellowish along the median line
Prickling in r. half of tongue
Breath horribly fetid.
Throat
Mucus accumulates in throat and seems to cover whole anterior part
Feeling as of a fleshy growth in throat
Feeling as if something sticking in throat which she cannot bring up, followed by expectoration of a small, hard, yellowish-grey lump
Fauces and mouth inflamed; ulcerated in patches
Inflamed fauces, unable to swallow saliva.
Appetite
Canine hunger
Salt taste
Taste of raw potatoes
Food tastes as bitter as gall
Great desire for spirits and oranges
Burning thirst.
Stomach
Eructations followed by rumbling in stomach
Sour eructations causing a cough
Acidity, bitterness, and gulping-up, after eating
Cardialgia after, breakfast, dinner, and supper
Pain in stomach, with red face, after breakfast
Spasmodic pains, griping-tearing at night.
Abdomen
Sensation as if a spring were unrolled in l. hypochondrium
Pains and working in the bowels, early in the morning
Painfulness of abdomen to contact along the median line
Belly hard, swollen, dropsical
In abdomen: pain after eating; spasmodic pains, as though the bowels became twisted together; dull pains in the hypogastric region, at night; pain with chilliness; rumbling; the clothes cause a feeling of tightness
Emission of flatulence, also with colic
Pain, as if sprained, in r. groin
Stitch in r. groin near inguinal ring.
Stool And Anus
Frequent urging to stool
Stool scanty, with straining, passing off in small, black lumps (balls)
Has to strain until tears come
Hard, large, lumpy stool; with violent burning in anus and rectum
Stool hard and large, followed by two liquid stools
Copious greenish-yellow diarrhoeic stool
Constipation for five days
Violent colic previous to stool
Alternate protrusion and retraction of rectum during stool, with feeling of chilliness of body
Prolapsus recti
After stool rectum alternately falls and returns again
Contraction of sphincter ani
Strong pulsations in perinaeum and r. ring finger
Acute pain in anus, which was found perfectly patulous and exquisitely tender
Great heat in anus.
Urinary Organs
Region of bladder distended
Difficult micturition
Heat (and pain) in urethra after urinating
Constant micturition while at stool
Urine reddish, mingled with mucus
Urine: very thick, becoming covered with white mucus after standing; soapy; turbid, of a dingy yellow, with copious white sediment; turbid, dingy yellow, covered with an oily pellicle
Pain in urethra, after urinating.
Male Sexual Organs
Weight in r. testicle all day.
Female Sexual Organs
Twisting pains through uterus
Feeling of dislocation in hip-joint with pain in womb after a slight exertion
Flatulence presses on uterus
Menstrual blood rose-coloured
Suppression of the menses
Menses smelling of foul fish, mixed with black coagula
Small pimples and intolerable itching of labia
Spasmodic pains striking through uterus
Burning and itching in vagina.
Respiratory Organs
Constriction and difficulty of breathing, caused by dryness of mouth
Hoarseness on waking
In trachea: tearing, prickling, with cough; tearing, with phlegm; sensation as of an obstacle, followed by cough and expectoration of a lump of hard, yellowish-grey mucus
Cough with expectoration of yellow mucus, at night
Dry cough, day and night
Cough as from stoppage in pharynx
Expectoration of lumps of black blood, early in the morning
Constant involuntary sighing
After eating choking and difficult breathing caused by dryness of mouth
Suffocation owing to previous day's dinner not digesting well; has to rise 3 a.m.
Chest
Oppression in chest after supper
Tearing in chest, also with dryness of mouth
Sensation on making the least motion, as though a hollow body were turning rapidly round in chest quickly and with a noise, after which she fancies she will faint, early in morning
Prickling as from a thousand pins on the inner surface of sternum
Violent stitching pain above r. breast
Congestions to chest
Acute pain in l. side, like a stitch
Painful stitches in r. side
Mammae painful, esp. when raising arm.
Heart
Weight and pain in heart region
Lancinations in heart
Palpitation of heart: for moments; at night; when lying; when raising oneself; as though the heart would turn; with fainting feeling; with oppression of chest (less when lying); irregular (after eating)
Pulse: irregular; sometimes weak; hard and tense.
Neck And Back
Swelling of muscles of neck, shoulders, and arms with pain so acute he winces on slightest pressure
Sense of weight in the back part of the neck
Violent beating in spine, early, when lying
Prickling sensation in spine, during sleep, waking her
Stinging pain in the large dorsal muscle, r. side, when drawing breath
Burning and painful sensation on the fifth dorsal vertebra, caused by friction of the clothes
Sensation of weariness in whole back
Stiffness in muscles of back
Sensation as if something on the os-sacrum became detached
Pain in sacrum, when walking or touching the part
Tingling in sacrum
Beating in r. shoulder
Prickling in psoas muscles
Violent beating in loins
Pain in lumbar vertebrae, impeding walking
Intolerable pain in lumbar region, obliging tier to walk bent.
Limbs
Joints swollen and very painful
Sense of weariness in all the limbs on waking
Inclination to stretch the limbs.
Upper Limbs
Feeling of weariness in muscles posteriorly
Pain as if sprained in r. upper arm, after leaning on elbow
Beating in middle portion of triceps brachealis.—(Cannot clench hands.)
Heat in hands
Stinging in l. little finger
Beating in r. ring finger.
Lower Limbs
Acute pains in hip-joint caused by least motion
Painful pressure on hip-joint, as with an iron bar, compelling her to lie down
In l. gluteus muscle: beating; pain, accompanied by loathing
Lancinations in posterior part of r. thigh
Weary feeling in muscles of r. side, after walking
Feeling of dislocation in hip-joint, with pain in womb, after a slight exertion
Shooting pain in posterior and inferior femoral muscles, when bending knee
Beating in internal femoral muscles
Alternate beating and throbbing above patella in both limbs
Pain as if sprained in whole vertebral column, striking through posterior parts of thigh, and extending down to heels
Drawing pain in posterior part of r. lower limb, from gluteus muscle down to heel
Legs oedematous
Shuddering of r. leg.
Generalities
A peculiar and most offensive odour immediately perceived on approaching the bed.—Cannot walk erect.—General and partial debility.—Debility, she is about to faint.—Weariness in all the limbs, on waking.—Pain as if bruised, in bed, preventing her from stirring.—Muscular pains excruciating.—Cold water (whether drinking it or washing with it) causes a sense of oppression and shock.
Skin
Skin over whole body tender, tumefied, and preternaturally dark
Rose-coloured patches appear and as suddenly vanish
Small pimples on the back; causing a violent itching
Small red pimples on cheeks
The skin in the face peels off a little
Small pimples on back = violent itching.
Sleep
Irresistible drowsiness
Very sleepy in evening
Restless sleep
Starting from sleep, as in affright
Sleepless
Confused dreams, about fires, revolution, corpses, thieves, &c
Amorous dream
He dreams that he is to dress or draw the body of a drowned person, but is prevented in consequence of the body falling all the time on the clothes or paper
Dreams about men who become transformed to talking animals; that his hands are cut to pieces; that he is falling from a steeple
She dreams that she is eating human flesh; that she is swimming in a river, and cannot get out of it.
Fever
Pulse irritated; irregular; hard and tense
Chilliness and sensation of internal coldness
Repeated chilly creepings through whole body, in evening
Feeling of coldness all over, unable to get warm, her cheeks being very red, in afternoon
Heat all over, with sweat
Pyrexia, and afterwards dropsical appearance
Violent paroxysms of heat, suddenly passing through the whole body, and proceeding from the vertex
Alternate burning heat and chilliness, at night, in bed
Exhalations from the skin, when performing the least work
Sweat all over, early in morning, in bed, cold night-sweat
The sweat smells of potatoes, in bed.