Dulcamara Homeopathy Medicine

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Title

Dulcamara Homeopathy Medicine

Description

A cylindrical bottle with a wooden stopper containing Dulcamara, prepared by a homeopathic chemist Joseph James, Promenade Place, Cheltenham, was apprenticed to a homeopathic chemist called Edwin Wheeler and within a few years bought Mr Wheeler’s shop. He had worked for Arthur Guinness M.D. for a while and then he changed the name of the pharmacy to Joseph James M.P.S (Members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, now is The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain) afterwards.

Dulcamara are also called Bitter-Sweet and Woody Nightshade, a climbing and shrubby plant which was found growing in moist situations in many parts of the world. The fresh green stems covered with a grey epidermis and gathering the leaves before flowering then chopping and pounding to a fine pulp, wrapping in a piece of new linen and pressuring. Mingling the expressed juice with an equal part by weight of alcohol and let this mixture stand eight days in a well-stoppered bottle, in a dark, cool place and then filtered.


It was believed to cure diarrhoea caused by cold; cough with expectoration of tenacious mucus; menorrhagia caused by cold; delay of menses or the menses do not long enough; pemphigus with the vesicles burst and form corroding ulcers; inflammation of the bladder when there is an urging to urinate, voiding but little at a time, and a deposit of a mucous sediment; for gout in fishermen, and those exposed to the water; cholera-morbus caused by cold drinks, or sudden changes of temperature, and the disease attended with bilious stools and vomiting; loss or suppression of voice with paralysis of the tongue, especially when occurring in damp weather, or from cold; dropsy of the joints caused by cold from getting warm; warts on the face or on the back of the fingers; eczema occurs after cold; herpes preputialis on the joints or a suppurating eruption; dysuria caused by cold, from getting wet; for the delay of the menses or when the menses do not continue long enough; dry coryza, worse in the open air, or when exposed to cold; salt rheum.
(Dr Martin Freligh, in the book of Homoeopathic practice of medicine: embracing the history, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in general : including those peculiar to females, and the management of children : designed as a text-book for the student, as a concise book of reference for the profession, and simplified and arranged for domestic use, 1856)

It was found useful for Herpes Zoster when nettle rash over the whole body, (Dr Loyal Dexter Rogers in the book of Rogers' homeopathic guide: a popular treatise containing a brief description of all diseases, with practical hints for their prevention and cure : designed for the guidance of intelligent laymen, also for the ready reference of students and practitioners, 1893) and for chronic rheumatism when the patient is worse on being exposed to the cold; inflammation of the bladder when the disease is chronic and occurs at every cold; tetter when brought out by cold; ringworm when it appears on the scalp; scrofulous sore eyes when cold has been the exciting cause; deafness when it arises from cold; diarrhea if it proceeds from cold. (Dr A. E. Small, in the book of the pocket manual of homoeopathic practice, 1857?)



The white ball inside the bottle is called globuli, the purified sugar ball or sugar of milk ball, which was used to saturate with the Dulcamara to dilute the toxicity of medicine and rub into ball. Then, to keep the quality and active principles of the medicine, these globules would be imbibed with alcoholic attenuations and will have been dried out and put in a stopped bottle. It is crucial to keep these globules desiccated or they would fall into powder and lose the medical virtue. All the globules imbibed have a dry and smooth hue, whilst in their natural state they are white and brilliant.



Administration:

Dulcamara frequently cures angina catarrhalis, especially when the status pituitosus is predominant. Dulcamara acts best in these cases when preceded by a dose of Mercury.

Dulcamara, one dose, cured the greatest number of cases of summer-complaint, both the watery accompanied with colic, and those occurring at night.

Dulcamara X (30th attenuation), in 3 pellets, two doses, after Bryonia., removed great painfulness of all the limbs, arresting the power to move them, with general bloatedness, and white coated tongue.

Dulcamara O, one drop, relieved a bloody diarrhea brought on by cold
Symptoms: Violent cutting in the intestines, especially around the umbilicus, most violent in the night.
-This cutting was almost immediately followed by an evacuation of mere blood.
-Unceasing, violent thirst.
-Considerable protrusion of the rectum.
-Intense smarting of the rectum.

(Dr Ernst Ferdinand Rückert, in the book of Therapeutics of homoeopathy, or, Outlines of successful homoeopathic cures, 1846)


Antidotes:

Camphora, Ipecacuanha, Mercurius

Date

19th century

Collection

Citation