Aurum Arsenicum - General symptoms - Hahnemann

GENERAL

General

Aurum Metallicum ^GOLD. (THE WELL-KNOWN METAL.)

Just as superstition, inexact observations and credulous conjectures have been the source of innumerable untrue statements as to the virtue of medicines in the materia medica, so also lack of proving and groundless theoretic reasons of physicians have with just a little reason denied to exceedingly powerful, and therefore highly curative substances, all medicinal powers, and have thus deprived us of these remedies.

Here I will only mention Aurum Metallicum ^gold, and, indeed, not the Aurum Metallicum ^gold changed through the ordinary chemical processes, neither that dissolved by acids, nor that which is separated again by precipitation (the fulminating Aurum Metallicum ^gold), both of which were also stated to be, if not useless, still utterly injurious substances.

probably because they could not be given in a so-called , in an excessive quantity, without incurring danger.

No! I speak of the pure Aurum Metallicum ^gold, unchanged by any chemical process.

Aurum Arsenicum the modern physicians have declared to be entirely without effect, and have finally omitted it altogether from all their teachings of materia medica, and have thus deprived us of all its great curative powers.

It was stated, that "it cannot be dissolved in the gastric juice, and that it is therefore, altogether without power or use." This was their theoretical supposition, and such have always, in medicine, had the force of . As they do not question experience -the only possible revealer in the healing art, which rests altogether on experience- , they usually put bold affirmation, theoretic, empty supposition and arbitrary decrees in the place of well-founded truth.

The excuse, that older physicians also supposed Aurum Metallicum ^gold to be without any use or efficacy, will not here avail them. So , FABRICIUS (in .) says "How could the slight heat of our stomach have any effect on leaf-Aurum Metallicum ^gold, when it loses nothing even in the most violent fire?" Or NIC. MONARDES (, pp. 32, 33) "The patients may believe me and save the expense of putting Aurum Metallicum ^gold into their medicine.

they will in no wise gain from it any medicinal virtue in their diseases." Or again, ALSTON (., I., p. 69).

"Since Aurum Metallicum ^gold in its metallic state is not dissolved and can not be changed by our vital force, it can not, therefore, have any medicinal power, except such action as it may exert on the bowels by means of its weight, hardness and mechanical form. Or, finally, J. F. GMELIN (., I., p. 445) "Since Aurum Metallicum ^gold is indestructible, cannot be dissolved into vapor, and cannot therefore combine with the juices of the animal body, it cannot therefore have any curative power.".

It was very silly to desire to decide theoretically the question whether Aurum Metallicum ^gold have any curative virtues.

all that was necessary was but to gather conviction by trials and experience, whether Aurum Metallicum ^gold has or has not medicinal powers. If it has medicinal virtues then all the theoretical hypotheses of denial are ludicrous.

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Nor can it serve them as an excuse if they can adduce many other old physicians as deniers of the medicinal powers of Aurum Metallicum ^gold, and can name men like ANT. MUSA BRASSAVOLUS, FEL. PLATERUS, HIER, CARDANUS, JO. BRAVUS PETRAFIT, FRANC. PIC. MIRANDOLA, MERINUS MERCENIUS, DURETUS, CAMERARIUS, CORDOSUS, CONRINGIUS, LEMARY, ANGELUS Sala, and even JOH. SCHROEDER, so credulous in other matters.

At first I allowed myself to be kept back by these deniers from hoping to find any medicinal virtues in pure Aurum Metallicum ^gold.

but as I could not be satisfied in believing that any metal was, in itself, without medicinal virtues, I first made use of Aurum Metallicum ^gold in solution. From this experiment were derived the few symptoms of the solution of Aurum Metallicum ^gold.

I then would give, where the symptoms would lead me to its homoeopathic use with patients, one quintillionth or a sextillionth of a grain of Aurum Metallicum ^gold solution as a dose, and found even here a similar curative virtue as I afterwards discovered in pure Aurum Metallicum ^gold.

But I am in general, on the score of pure simplicity, unwilling, where I can avoid it, to use the metals combined with acids, as they must surely suffer a change of their virtues through these acids.

Aurum Arsenicum may be seen at once on comparing the medicinal powers of the Mercurius Corrosivus ^{corrosive sublimate} with those of the blackish protoxid of Merc Viv ^mercury. It was, therefore, to me a welcome fact to find a series of Arabic physicians who unanimously extolled the virtues of Aurum Metallicum ^gold used in a fine powder, and this in states of disease which sorely need help, and in which the solution of Aurum Metallicum ^gold had already in part done wonderful service.

a circumstance which was bound to give me confidence in the asseverations of the Arabs.

The first trace of this use of Aurum Metallicum ^gold we find as early as the eighth century, where GEBER (. ZETZNER, 1698, . II., P. III., Cap. 32) praises Aurum Metallicum ^gold as a "" (a substance that gladdens and preserves the body in youth).

At the end of the tenth century SERAPION the younger (De simplicibus comment. Venet. fol. ap. Junt. 1550, Cap. 415, p. 192) says "Powdered Aurum Metallicum ^gold serves in melancholy and in weakness of the heart."

Then, in the beginning of the eleventh century, AVICENNA (. II., Cap. 79) says "Powdered Aurum Metallicum ^gold is added to medicines against melancholy.

it cures the fetid odor of the mouth, and taken internally, it is even a curative in the falling out of the hair.

it strengthens the eyes, helps in cardialgia and palpitation of the hearts, and is extremely useful in asthma.".

Aurum Arsenicum latter word is in Arabic an ambiguous expression, meaning, according as the word is accentuated, either; "talking with oneself" or "asthma" The curative virtue of Aurum Metallicum ^gold, as shown by experience, shows that the latter is here the true meaning of the word.

The preparation of such a Aurum Metallicum ^gold powder is first described in the beginning of the twelfth century by ABULKASEM (ALBUCASIS) (., p. 242) "The Aurum Metallicum ^gold must be rubbed on rough linen in a basin full of water, and the fine powder that settles at the bottom of the water must be used." JOHANN VON ST. AMAND (in the thirteenth century) teaches the preparation in the same manner, in the apendix to MESUE, ., 1561, p. 245, 4 E.

ZACUTUS, the Portuguese, imitated this and the describes (., lib. I., Obs. 33) the case of a nobleman, who had been for a long time tormented by melancholy phantasies, and whom the cured within a month by the finely comminuted powder of Aurum Metallicum ^gold, pre pared on a grindstone.

We do not now need the further praises of the Aurum Metallicum ^gold powder and of Aurum Metallicum ^gold, as found in JO. PLATEARIUS (.), RODERICUS A CASTRO (. Cap. 3), ABRAHAM A PORTA LEONIS (), ZACCHARIAS A PUTEO, JOH. DAN. MYLIUS (), HORN (), FR.

BACO (), FR. JOSEPH BURRHI (), JO. JACOB WALDSCHMIEDT (, 1703), LEMNIUS, PET. FORESTUS, OL. BORRICHIUS, ROLFINCK, ANDRE. LAGNER, ETTMUELLER, TACKIUS, HELCHER (, Jen., 1730), POTERIUS, J. D. HORSTIUS, HOLLERIUS, HOEFER and ZWELFER (). I believed that I might well prefer the testimony of the Arabians concerning the curative virtues of the fine powder of Aurum Metallicum ^gold to the theoretic doubts of the moderns supported by no experiment.

I therefore rubbed the finest leaf-Aurum Metallicum ^gold (of 23 carat 6 grains fineness) with 100 parts of sugar of milk for a full hour, in order to apply it to internal medicinal use.

I do not wish to decide whether in this fine powder the Aurum Metallicum ^gold was merely still further comminuted, or was also somewhat oxidized by this vigorous trituration. It is sufficient that in proving this preparation 100 grains of this powder (containing one grain of Aurum Metallicum ^gold) sufficed with some healthy adults, with others, however, 200 grains (containing two grains of Aurum Metallicum ^gold) dissolved in water, to excite very strong changes in the state of their health, and to cause the symptoms enumerated below.

From these it will be seen that the asseverations of the Arabs cannot have been without foundation, as even small doses of this metal, used in the form mentioned, caused very similar symptoms of disease in healthy persons to those which these orientals (who are not without merit in discovering medicines) had healed (unconsciously in accordance with the Homoeopathic principles).

Of melancholies, resembling that caused by Aurum Metallicum ^gold, I have since cured quickly and permanently several persons who were seriously entertaining suicidal intentions, and, indeed, by small doses, which for the whole cure did not contain more than 3/100 or 9/100 of a grain of Aurum Metallicum ^gold. So I have also cured several other difficult maladies, which in their symptoms showed similarities to those a Aurum Metallicum ^gold. I have no doubt that much more attenuated preparations of the Aurum Metallicum ^gold powder will be quite sufficient to attain this same purpose.

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Some time after closing this preliminary account I had the opportunity of convincing myself that a hundredfold attenuation of the above-mentioned preparation (the Aurum Metallicum ^gold triturated with 100 parts of sugar of milk), thus the .0001 part of a grain of Aurum Metallicum ^gold as a dose proved itself no less effective in causing a cure, especially in caries of the bones of the palate and nose, produced by the abuse of salts of Merc Viv ^mercury. The symptoms of Aurum Metallicum ^gold for this homoeopathic cure may easily be found in this list.

By further triturations and dilutions, the virtues of Aurum Metallicum ^gold is still more developed and spiritualized, so that I now need for such curative effects but a very small part of a grain of the decillionth attenuation.

Would the ordinary proceedings of our physicians, which consist in fabricating medicinal virtues from airy hypotheses, and who decry this product in their Materia Medica, have ever succeeded in discovering the wonderful virtues of a metal, which their learned art of conjecture had already condemned as totally powerless? Or by what other favorite method of our manufacturers of Materia Medica could we ever have found out the curative side of Aurum Metallicum ^gold, if its symptoms creating a similar morbid state had not loudly and with full certainty taught it to the homoeopathic physician?

Poor, fabulous Materia Medica of the ordinary Kind! How far do you stay behind those revelations which medicines unequivocally reveal of their effects on the healthy human body in causing those morbid symptoms which the homoeopathic physician is sure to be able to apply with unfailing success in the cure of natural diseases!

The period of activity of Aurum Metallicum ^gold in moderate doses is at least twenty-one days.

Aurum Metallicum ^Gold has especially proved itself useful in chronic diseases when the following ailments predominate, or at least were simultaneously present.

Hypochondria. melancholy.

surfeit of life. impulse  to suicide.

 .  caries of the bones of the palate and the nose.

obscuration of  the vision through black dots floating before the eye.

.  inguinal hernia. induration of the testes of  long-standing.

prolapsus and induration of the uterus.

. falling down  unconscious, with blueness of the face.

 fit of suffocation with severe constrictive tightness of the chest.

 injuries from abuse of Merc Viv ^mercury.

 pains in the bones, at night.

nodosities from gout.    ;.

 This same curative effect from the internal use of Aurum Metallicum ^gold against  injuries from Merc Viv ^mercury was witnessed by ANT. CHALMETEUS in , p.  402.

Aurum Metallicum ^Aurum first appeared in the , and all but two of the provers named above co-operated with Hahnemann in obtaining the pathogenesis there given - the contributing 157 symptoms, they 198. The first trituration was used, and of this as many as 100 or 200 grains were taken by the provers. In the following symptom list there are eighty-two fresh symptoms, of which seventy-five are Hahnemann's, and the remainder Lehmann's and Rummel's possibly provings with the 30th dilution.

Aurum Metallicum ^AURUM FOLIATUM.

Not accessible.

Not observation about Aurum Metallicum ^Aurum occurs at this reference.

A casual mention of there being an "."

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An antidote to its excessive effects has been found in the smelling of a potentized preparation of crude coffee, and more especially of Camphora ^camphor.