Anthracinum - General symptoms - H.C. Allen

GENERAL

General

(Anthrax Poison)

The discovery of the bacteria and their incredibly rapid propagation, seemed to be of much more importance than the cure of cattle, and the loss of millions of dollars by this disease In 1842 France sustained a loss of over seven millions of francs, and every year a small district of Germany had a loss of sixty thousand thalers, from the cattle plague.

in Siberia, in 1785, 100,000 horses died with it.

in 1800, one small district lost 27,000 horses Radiate heat, proposed scores of years ago, for other zymotic diseases, by Hering, was discovered, in a very ingenious way, by Pasteur, to prevent the increase of bacteria Now the heat (as it has done in hydrophobia), and the nosode may suffice to cure every case.

Doctor Käsemann had moral courage enough to introduce anthracin in gangrene and sphacelus, in 1852, and Doctor Raue has given it in carbuncles, since 1858 (see his Pathology and Diagnosis) and in gangrenic whitlow (see Journal of Clinics, 4, 142)

All symptoms produced by the poison on men are inserted, because the symptoms from the Bothrops Lanceolatus ^snake-bite and from the besting have been proved to be useful in numerous cases as well as the toxic symptoms of Arsenicum Album ^Arsenic, Opium and other drugs

Dr Hering says "Homoeopathic practitioners of the greatest integrity, and trustworthy beyond a doubt, long ago cured splenic fever in cattle, flocks of sheep and their shepherds by Anthracin, an alcoholic tincture made from the blood of a bacteric spleen Of course the alcohol killed the infusoria, but what remained dissolved therein cured the disease in animal and men "This proves conclusively

1 That the crude poison and its alcoholic solution must possess similar pathogenetic properties.

hence to a proving of Anthracinum must be added all the symptoms of uncomplicated splenic fever.

to those of Lyssin (Hydrophobinum) ^{Hydrophobinum}, the symptoms of every case of pure hydrophobia.

2 That bacteria are not the cause but the effect of the disease, a doctrine which we hold to be true with regard to all parasites connected with deranged health, and that therefore their destruction by local application is not equivalent to the cure of the disease itself

Description

The alcoholic extract of the anthrax poison prepared from the spleen of cattle ill with the disease A nosode rejected by the old school, and by a majority of the new, in spite of its being a remedy which bears out our theory, and one which has proved of the utmost use in practice It has not yet been proved, but the frequent use made of it and the verification of the toxic symptoms by some of our best practitioners justifies its reception The first preparation was made according to Hering's propositions (laid down in Stapf's Archives 1830), by Dr G A Weber, and applied with the most astonishing success in the cattle plague He cured every case with it, and also cured men poisoned by the contagium His report, a small treatise of 114 pages, was published in 1836, by Recalm, Leipzig No notice was taken of it Only the talented Dr P Dufresne, the founder of the Bibliothèque Homoeopathique, of Geneva, used it and prevented the further murderous spread of the disease, in a flock of sheep (among which it is always more fatal than among other domestic animals), and cured the shepherds as well (Biblioth Homoeop de Genève January and February, 1837)

Characteristics

In carbuncle, malignant ulcer and complaints with ulceration, sloughing and intolerable burning Painful glandular swellings; cellular tissue indurated; anthrax-quinsy

When Arsenicum Album ^Arsenicum or the best selected remedy fails to relieve the burning pain of carbuncle or malignant ulceration, study Anthracinum

Hemorrhages blood oozes from mouth, nose, anus or sexual organs; black, thick, tar-like, rapidly decomposing (Crotalus Horridus ^Crotalus)

Septic fever, rapid loss of strength, sinking pulse, delirium and fainting (Pyr)

Grangrenous ulcers; felon, carbuncle; gangrenous erysipelas of a malignant type

Felon; the worst cases, with sloughing and terrible burning pain (Arsenicum Album ^Ars, Carb ac, Euphorb, Lachesis ^Lach)

Malignant pustule black or blue blisters; often fatal in twenty-four or forty-eight hours (Ech, Lachesis ^Lach, Pyr)

Carbuncle with horrible burning pains; discharge of ichorous offensive pus

Furuncles and all forms of boils, large and small

Some forms of acne; successive crops of boils or carbuncles on any part of the body; to remove the tendency

Dissecting wounds, especially if tendency is to become gangrenous; septic fever, marked prostration (Arsenicum Album ^Ars, Ech, Pyr)

Suspicious insect stings

If the swelling changes color and red streaks from the wound map out the course of lymphatics (Ech, Lachesis ^Lach, Pyr)

Septic inflammation from absorption of pus or other deleterious substances, with burning pain and great prostration (Arsenicum Album ^Ars, Ech, Euphorb, Pyr)

Epidemic spleen diseases of cattle, horses and sheep

Bad effects from inhaling foul odors of putrid fever or dissecting-room; poisoning by foul breath (Ech, Pyr)

Hering says "To call a carbuncle a surgical disease is the greatest absurdity

An incision is always injurious and often fatal

A case has never been lost under the right kind of treatment, and it should always be treated by internal medicine only"