,i>.. .<,-V 
 
 >#vc.'? li^.,^ *'^ "^'^^ 
 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Chap. L Copyright M... 
 
 ShelfJ^^^^' 
 
 tC^G" 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
Catarrh, Colds and Grippe, 
 
 Including Prevention and Cure, 
 
 With Chapters on 
 Nasal Polypus, 
 Hay Fever and 
 Influenza, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN H. CLARKE, M. D., 
 
 Consulting Physician to the London Homoeopathic 
 
 Hospital; Editor of the "Homoeopathic World;" 
 
 Author of "The Prescriber," "A Dictionary 
 
 of Domestic Medicine," " Indigestion : 
 
 Its Causes and Cure;" "A Bird's-eye 
 
 View of the Homoeopathic 
 
 Sj^stemof Medicine," 
 
 Etc. 
 
 AMERICAN EDITION. 
 Revised by the Author from the Fourth English Edition. 
 
 Philadelphia ; 
 
 BOERICKE & TAFEL. 
 
 1899. 
 
SECOND COPY, 
 
 
 6481 
 
 COPYRIGHTE^D 
 
 BY 
 
 BOKRICKK & TAFKIy. 
 
 TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 
 
 
 T. B. & H. B. COejI|^N, 
 
 PRINTERS,"- /^^^^^tjr ^'^^^'^ " 
 
 LANCASTER, PA.>«*^^ <*f C^P*^ ^ 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface to American Edition, .... v 
 Preface to Fourth Engi^ish Edition, . vii 
 From the Prefaces to the First and 
 
 Second Editions, xi 
 
 SECTION I.— COLDS. 
 
 Chapter I. — Coi^ds, i 
 
 Chapter II. — Coi.d-Catching, .... 13 
 Chapter III.— Cold-Preventing, ... 25 
 
 Chapter IV. — Coi.d-Curing, 32 
 
 Chapter V.— The Medicinai. Treatment 
 
 OF Acute Coi.ds, 45 
 
 Chapter VI. — The Medicinai, Treat- 
 ment OF Chronic Coi^ds and the 
 Tendency to take Coi^d, . . 60 
 
 Chapter VII. — Nasai, Poi^ypus, 71 
 
 Chapter VIII.— Hay Fever, 78 
 
 SECTION II.— INFLUENZA. 
 
 Chapter I. — Description, 84 
 
 Chapter II. — Treatment, ..... 93 
 
 Materia Medica, 103 
 
 Index, 117 
 
PREFACE TO AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 An extensive experieiice among Ameri- 
 can residents and visitors in Loudon con- 
 vinces me that among the bonds of com- 
 munity between the two great divisions 
 of Anglo-Saxonia, one of no little im- 
 portance is a common interest in the sub 
 ject of nasal catarrh. I must, therefore, 
 abandon the claim I made in the first 
 editions of this work, that " cold in the 
 head " is a British interest par excellence; 
 and in offering this little work to Ameri- 
 can readers I trust that my insular stand- 
 point will prove no bar to its wider use- 
 fulness. 
 
 JOHN H. CLARKE. 
 30 CivARGES Street, 
 
 P1CCAD11.1.Y, London W., 
 July, 1899. 
 
PREFACE TO FOURTH ENGLISH EDITION. 
 
 The call for a new edition of my lit- 
 tle treatise on Colds has enabled me to 
 put it through a complete revision, and 
 at the same time to add a section on that 
 most unwelcome visitor of recent years — 
 Epidemic Infi^uknza. The name In- 
 fluenza has become indissolubly con- 
 nected with colds in the head ; and epi- 
 demic influenza has so many features in 
 common with ordinary colds, that some 
 account of the malady and how it may 
 be cured, together with the large family 
 of ills it leaves behind it, seems called for 
 in the present volume. 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 I have heard many people say in refer- 
 ence to the scourge, which is now in the 
 seventh year of its visitation, that it is 
 ridiculous to call this Influenza : this 
 is something a great deal worse ! But, as 
 a matter of fact, the epidemic influenza 
 is the originator of the name, severe 
 colds having been called ''influenza 
 colds ' ' after it. 
 
 For centuries the epidemic disease has 
 prevailed in Western Europe at uncer- 
 tain intervals, and for want of a more 
 definite description the Italians named it 
 ' ' Influenza, " or ' ' The Influence. ' ' 
 And as this name does not commit any 
 one to special views as to the pathol- 
 ogy of the disease, it is so far unob- 
 jectionable, and has become generally 
 adopted. 
 
 My own theory as to the application 
 of the name to severe ordinary colds is 
 this : For some time after a visitation 
 
Preface. ix 
 
 of an epidemic, infectious colds of a 
 severe type have prevailed, and have 
 been called ''Influenza Colds," to dis- 
 tinguish them from common non-infec- 
 tious colds. By degrees, for the sake of 
 shortness, they have been called simply 
 '"Influenza." Hence has arisen the 
 confusion when the next epidemic has 
 come round. 
 
 The name our French neighbours 
 have given it is " La Grippe " which is 
 suflSciently suggestive of the sudden 
 manner in which it seizes its victims, 
 and this term, in its Anglified form of 
 "grip," is the favourite name of the 
 disease on the American Continent. 
 
 I have also taken the opportunity of 
 adding a chapter on a frequent con- 
 sequence and concomitant of chronic 
 colds, NasaIv P01.YPUS ; and another on 
 Hay Fkvkr ; and I have given an ac- 
 
X Preface. 
 
 count of some remedies not mentioned 
 in the earlier editions, including an im- 
 portant remedy, newly introduced by Dr. 
 Cooper, Lemna minor, 
 
 JOHN H. CIvARKE. 
 
FROM THB 
 
 PREFACES TO THE FIRST AND 
 SECOND EDITIONS. 
 
 My subject is discussed under three 
 main heads, — Cold-Catching, Cold-Pre- 
 venting, and Cold-Curing. The preven- 
 tion and cure of colds are partly 
 medicinal and partly general. It is pos- 
 sible to cure colds or prevent them by 
 general measures, and these will be re- 
 ferred to in detail. But medicines are 
 the most powerful agents we possess 
 both in dealing with colds when taken, 
 and in fortifying the constitution against 
 their recurrence. The last portion of 
 my work will be devoted to this section; 
 
xii Preface. 
 
 and I shall add a short Materia Medica^ 
 in which the Medicines most suitable for 
 colds will be arranged in alphabetical 
 order, and their particular properties and 
 indications for use described. 
 
 When I first sent this little work to 
 the public, I urged on its behalf that 
 the Common Coi.d in thk Hkad had 
 never before possessed a treatise devoted 
 entirely to itself; and I maintained that 
 it deserved one just as much as other 
 more dignified diseases. My plea has 
 been accepted in the most satisfactory 
 way; for within three months of the 
 book's first appearance, I have been 
 asked by the publishers to prepare a 
 second edition. The Common Coi.d 
 has thus triumphantly vindicated its 
 right to be deemed a serious disease in 
 the estimation of the British public. 
 
 I am not sure that even a higher 
 distinction might not be claimed for 
 
Preface. xiii 
 
 it, namely, to be called ^* The British 
 disease ' ' par excellence. Foreigners, as is 
 well known, reserve that name for what 
 they call '' the spleen," meaning by this, 
 low spirits, melancholy, and tendency to 
 suicide, which they attribute to our 
 foggy climate. Naturally we British 
 are not so keenly alive to the preva- 
 lence and gravity of ' ' the spleen ' ' as our 
 observant neighbours; but there is no 
 denying that we do possess peculiar 
 facilities for catching cold. I venture 
 to think (as I shall explain in my in- 
 troductory chapter) that the prevalence 
 of colds has something to do with the 
 melancholy temper which foreigners 
 think so distinctive of the British nation, 
 and is the real explanation of that mys- 
 terious affection ''the spleen." The 
 *' spleen," I may remark, is not recog- 
 nized by medical men as a disease at 
 all, but only as an inoffensive organ of 
 
xiv Preface. 
 
 the body. But our colds are acknowl- 
 edged by everybody — doctors, laity, and 
 foreigners — and if we have a distinct- 
 ively national disease at all, I should cer- 
 tainly give this name to CoIvD in thk 
 Head. 
 
 JOHN H. CLARKE. 
 
Catarrtj, Colds and Grippe. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 COLDS. 
 
 T7ERY little sympathy is be- 
 stowed on an unfortunate who 
 has taken a cold in his head. It is 
 a humiliating thing, and he feels it. 
 Also, what is worse, his friends 
 share his feeling, and despise him 
 (secretly, of course) as much as he 
 despises himself, and vote him a 
 nuisance. It must have been mere 
 stupidity on his part, tbey feel, that 
 made him catch the cold — if it was 
 
2 Colds. 
 
 not sheer malice — just on purpose 
 to annoy them with his sneez- 
 ings and continual nose-moppings. 
 Now, if the chill he had taken had 
 only gone to his lungs, and laid 
 him up with pneumonia, the same 
 friends would have been all sym- 
 pathy and devotion, and the doc- 
 tor would have been summoned 
 post-haste. And yet the misery, 
 though not the danger, of a cold 
 in the head is quite as great as 
 that of pneumonia, and generally 
 lasts much longer, and the victim 
 is no less deserving of sympathy 
 in the former case than in the 
 latter. 
 
 Besides the humiliation, a cold is 
 such a waster of time. Whatever 
 a man may be doing, every few 
 
Colds. 3 
 
 minutes his nose must be attended 
 to and his eyes wiped before the 
 work can be gone on with. An 
 artist at his easel, or an author at 
 his desk, must drop pen or brush 
 every little while, whatever may be 
 the high inspirations that are cry- 
 ing within for utterance. Finally, 
 there is the depression that some 
 sufferers feel when seized with a 
 cold in the head. It is sometimes 
 quite terrible. Life is not worth 
 living for them; and I should not 
 be surprised if the true explanation 
 of the many inscrutable cases of 
 suicide we read of in the papers was 
 not to be found in this as, at least, 
 a partial cause. When the com- 
 bined wisdom of jury and coroner 
 can assign ^^no cause for the rash 
 
4 Colds. 
 
 act/' it might help them to some- 
 thing definite if they were to ask 
 whether the deceased had not had a 
 severe cold in his head at the time. 
 We speak of a cold in the head as 
 if there was only one kind of cold ; 
 bnt the fact is, there is an infinite 
 variety. Every person almost has 
 something characteristic about the 
 course and progress of his unassist- 
 ed cold. The orthodox cold is the 
 one which begins, after sitting in a 
 draught, with a creeping chilly 
 feeling up the back, culminating 
 in a sneeze. Then there is a lull in 
 the proceedings ; but the nose never 
 feels quite easy, and by-and-by 
 another sneeze announces that the 
 damage is really done. Soon a 
 /'Contest between the Eyes and 
 
Colds. 5 
 
 Nose'^ sets in as to whicli can run 
 the fastest ; then the running 
 slackens, the nose becomes stopped 
 by swelling of mucous membrane, 
 which afterwards relieves itself by 
 giving off a thick secretion. But 
 for days there is a general suscep- 
 tibility. The faintest airs are felt 
 as thorough draughts and set the 
 patient off sneezing. He can't get 
 away from the thought of his nose, 
 try how he will. It is the last 
 thing he thinks of at night, and 
 the first thing that claims his 
 thoughts in the morning ; and this 
 goes on indefinitely, depending 
 much on the time of the year, 
 the state of the weather, and the 
 treatment he receives. Sometimes, 
 in spite of everything, it goes on 
 
6 Colds. 
 
 day after day until lie begins to 
 think it will really never end. 
 
 This is the orthodox cold. But 
 all colds are not orthodox. Very 
 often the first thing to announce a 
 cold is the sneeze, no preliminary 
 chill having been felt. And, again, 
 some people begin to feel a cold 
 first in the throat, and it gradually 
 works its way upwards and for- 
 wards. 
 
 The influenza cold I do not 
 rank as a distinct variety. It is 
 the fashion to call very severe 
 colds ^^nfluenza,'' and to attribute 
 them to the prevalence of ^^ ozone 
 clouds." Certain it is that colds 
 do prevail in epidemic fashion, and 
 at times seem to come independ- 
 ently of any distinct chill. But 
 
 I 
 
Colds. 7 
 
 once taken, the cold is indistin- 
 guishable from any other severe 
 cold by its characteristics. 
 
 There is also the ^^ catching '' 
 cold; for some colds, at any 
 rate, are infectious. It is well 
 known that when a cold of this 
 description once appears in a 
 family — often first in the person of 
 the domestic cat — it ^^ goes through 
 the house," every member of that 
 household feeling its effects sooner 
 or later. 
 
 Epidemic influenza (which is 
 also infectious) I shall deal with 
 later on, in a section by itself. The 
 name of the disease, and the way in 
 which it became associated with 
 ordinary colds, I have already dis- 
 cussed in the preface to this volume. 
 
8 Colds. 
 
 This is an inquiring age, and 
 doubtless the question will be put 
 to me — What is a cold in the head? 
 The principal feature is a swollen 
 and congested condition of the 
 mucous membrane lining the nos- 
 trils and the air spaces connected 
 with them, with increased irritabil- 
 ity of the membrane and increased 
 and altered secretion. The ^^ full '' 
 sensation in the head is due to ex- 
 tension of the swelling along the off- 
 shoots of the nasal mucous mem- 
 brane, which line the cavities in the 
 skull bones, — those, for instance, 
 which lie in the frontal bone, where 
 it forms the prominences of the 
 eyebrows. The deafness which 
 sometimes accompanies a cold in 
 the head depends on swelling of 
 
Colds. 9 
 
 the mucous membrane which lines 
 the tube passing from the back of 
 the nose to the ear. The chilliness 
 and sensitiveness of the skin which 
 accompany cold in tbe head indi- 
 cate that the affection is constitu- 
 tional as well as local, and show 
 that some change has been brought 
 about in the vital resisting power. 
 Snuff* or pepper will make a 
 person sneeze, and set up mucous 
 secretion for the time ; but in this 
 case the action is local only and 
 not constitutional, and no cold has 
 really been taken,though the symp- 
 toms, as far as the nose is con- 
 cerned, are identical. It is this 
 fact of the constitutional character 
 of a cold that makes the selection 
 of the remedy often a matter of 
 
lo Colds. 
 
 some difficulty. The cold medi- 
 cines, sucli as Aconite^ Arsenicum^ 
 and Mercurius^ each affect the 
 system generally as well as locally, 
 and cause all the constitutional 
 symptoms of cold, and yet all dif- 
 ferently from one another. Conse- 
 quently, in choosing a remedy for 
 cold, we must bear in mind the 
 constitutional symptoms of the 
 patient and the constitutional 
 symptoms of the drugs. 
 
 The simple irritation of the nasal 
 mucous membrane, with slight 
 mucous secretion often experienced 
 in the beginning of cold weather, 
 does not constitute cold. It is 
 analogous to the chapping of the 
 hands, and is purely a local effect. 
 
 In some instances one attack of 
 
Colds. 1 1 
 
 cold appears to be protective against 
 other attacks. A person has regu- 
 larly at the beginning of winter one 
 cold. This, in a week or two, is 
 got over, and then he goes the 
 rest of the year round without 
 having another attack. 
 
 Having said this much regarding 
 the pathology of Cold in the Head, 
 we can say little more. Why chill- 
 ing of the surface of the body should 
 sometimes be followed by all this 
 train of symptoms is one of the 
 many points in medical affairs still 
 in the region of speculation. The 
 Lancet the other day promised us 
 that, ^^ thanks to the researches of 
 German experimenters,'^ ^^scientific 
 doctors '' might hope to be able, ^^ in 
 the near future,'^ to tell whether 
 
1 2 Colds, 
 
 any given stomach was out of order 
 or not. At present we know pretty 
 well whether we have a cold in the 
 head or not without the assistance 
 of a ^^ scientific physician ;" but if 
 these German experimenters take 
 up the subject of a Cold in the 
 Head, it is possible that ^^ in the 
 near future '^ we shall be unable 
 to have scientific assurance even 
 of that. Let us hope they will 
 leave it alone. For our purposes 
 it is enough to know when we 
 have got a cold, how to cure it 
 when we have got it, and how to 
 avoid getting another. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 COLD-CATCHING. 
 
 npHBRE are innumerable ways 
 of catching cold, and some 
 people are peculiarly expert in the 
 art. They will pick up a cold 
 when ordinary people would not 
 have experienced the slightest 
 change of temperature or movement 
 of air. Perhaps the commonest 
 way of taking cold is by sitting 
 in a draught, especially if the sitter 
 is either heated in any w^ay, tired, 
 or exhausted. But it does not 
 need chilling of the whole body ; 
 and some people are vulnerable in 
 
14 Cold-Catching. 
 
 one part and some in another. 
 Most people are liable to cold if 
 they get their feet wet and chilled ; 
 but some are more sensitive in the 
 hands, and if driving or walking 
 without gloves on a rainy day, will 
 have a cold in the head developed 
 forthwith. It is by no means 
 necessary to have a draught in 
 order to catch cold. It is quite 
 sufficient to sit near a closed win- 
 dow, on a cold day, glass forming 
 an insufficient protection against 
 the cold without ; or even to sit 
 in a cold room away from a win- 
 dow. This is one of the penalties 
 that occasionally attend making 
 morning calls. The caller is shown 
 into a room kept for the purpose, 
 the sunshine being excluded for 
 
Cold' Catching. 1 5 
 
 fear of damage to the carpets, and 
 tlie windows kept perpetually closed 
 for fear of dust. A room of this 
 kind is like a well, even in the 
 height of summer, and many a cold 
 has been caught in warm weather 
 by a twenty-minutes' stay in such 
 an atmosphere. But it is not cold 
 rooms alone that give cold. There 
 are persons who take cold from 
 going into a room that is over- 
 heated, and begin to sneeze and 
 show signs of catarrh almost as 
 soon as they enter. On the other 
 hand, there is the very common way 
 of taking cold by going out of a 
 heated room into the cold air with 
 insufficient wraps. 
 
 Some people seem to have a 
 mania for changing their clothes. 
 
1 6 Cold' Catching. 
 
 They will leave off a warm gar- 
 ment on a cold day out of pure ca- 
 price. Others will put on their 
 summer clothing on a sunny morn- 
 ing in March, and be caught in a 
 snowstorm before the day is over. 
 The only persons who are aston- 
 ished when these catch cold are 
 their innocent selves. 
 
 Sleeping in damp sheets is a fre- 
 quent cause of taking cold, but gen- 
 erally it is something worse than a 
 cold in the head that follows this. 
 It is a most dangerous thing to do, 
 aftd when the choice lies between a 
 damp bed or none, the latter should 
 be unhesitatingly chosen. During 
 sleep, the resisting power of the 
 body is at its lowest ebb, and damp 
 clothing at any time will drain off 
 
Cold- Catching. 1 7 
 
 the vital force, and therefore much 
 more certainly when the person is 
 asleep. Very dangerous, also, 
 though not quite so dangerous as 
 sleeping in damp sheets, is wear- 
 ing insufficiently aired underlinen. 
 Many violent chills are taken in 
 this way, and also through sitting 
 in wet clothes, after being out in 
 the rain, especially if heated at the 
 time; dry clothes should always be 
 put on before sitting down to rest. 
 Excessive indulgence in cold 
 water is sometimes answerable for 
 colds. ^^ The Englishman's stupid 
 devotion to his morning tub,'' I once 
 heard a French doctor say, ^4s the 
 cause of a great deal of his rheu- 
 matism and other diseases which 
 are the effects of cold. ' ' And though 
 3 
 
1 8 Cold-Catching. 
 
 some of my readers may be in- 
 clined to vote him right off ''a 
 nasty, dirty thing/ ^ there was some 
 truth in his criticism. And, indeed, 
 he is an impartial witness, as he is 
 himself a bath-doctor, being resi- 
 dent physician at one of the great 
 continental bathing establish- 
 ments. There are some people, 
 mostly young men, who think it 
 quite necessary to wash their 
 heads in cold water every morning, 
 and quite unnecessary to dry them. 
 This, they think, clears their 
 brains, and saves them the neces- 
 sity of using bear's grease — the 
 hair when wet lying flat and 
 straight without it. The human 
 organism is really very accommo- 
 dating, and will sometimes bear 
 
Cold-Catching. 19 
 
 even this treatment withont resent- 
 ing it. But not always ; for many 
 a violent cold is taken in this way. 
 The morning cold bath is an 
 excellent institution when it is judi- 
 ciously used. For persons in vig- 
 orous health, with good circula- 
 tions and freely acting skins, 
 nothing is more w^holesome than 
 the morning tub and scrub-down 
 with a rough towel afterwards. 
 This is one of the best means of 
 fortifying the system against the 
 eflfects of chill. But like many 
 other good things in this world, the 
 bath-room is not an unmixed boon. 
 Apart from the possibility of the 
 cistern getting out of order, and 
 the servant dropping a para£&n 
 lamp into it in an endeavour to 
 
20 Cold-Catching. 
 
 find out what is wrong, there are 
 other risks attending this latest 
 necessity of the modern house. 
 
 The human skin is a complex 
 organ. It covers in all the other 
 organs; but besides acting as a 
 covering, it contains many struct- 
 ures within itself. There are the 
 sweat glands, the hair follicles, and 
 the sebaceous glands, secreting an 
 oily matter which keeps the skin 
 soft, and prevents the too rapid 
 removal of the outer particles of 
 the scarf-skin. The scarf-skin is 
 composed of a number of layers 
 of microscopic cells, round in the 
 deeper parts, flat, like scales, on the 
 surface. The sui face scales are con- 
 stantly coming away, and making 
 room for the new cells beneath. 
 
Cold' Catching. 2 1 
 
 When the skin is in a healthy 
 condition, this scaling-off is imper- 
 ceptible, except, perhaps, on the 
 head. 
 
 Some skins are poor in the se- 
 cretion of the sebaceous glands. 
 The consequence of this is that 
 these skins are more susceptible to 
 outside influences, as the secretion, 
 besides giving softness to the skin, 
 gives it also a measure of protection. 
 If, therefore, those whose skins are 
 of this description think that it is 
 necessary to wash in cold water 
 every day in order to keep up to 
 the standard of cleanliness, they 
 remove more than they can spare 
 of this sebaceous material, and 
 leave the skin hard and powdery, 
 and susceptible to all changes of 
 
2 2 Cold" Catching. 
 
 temperature. This may be counter- 
 acted in a measure by the use of oil 
 — as salad oil — with which athletes 
 rub themselves after their practis- 
 ing. A very small quantity serves 
 to cover the whole skin, which soon 
 absorbs it. But it is quite a mis- 
 take to suppose that frequent wash- 
 ing is necessary to cleanliness. 
 The skin is to a large extent self- 
 clensing, and frequent washing — 
 however pleasant and otherwise 
 desirable it may be — is not a 
 necessity under ordinary condi- 
 tions. Frequent change of under- 
 clothing answers the same purpose 
 as frequent bathing in those whose 
 skins are not very active. For 
 them, a hot bath or a Turkish 
 bath once a week is quite sufficient. 
 
Cold-Catching. 23 
 
 It lias been said that the most 
 cleanly people in the world are the 
 poor and the ricli. The latter have 
 all the means of washing them- 
 selves withont the necessity of ex- 
 ertion: the former are obliged to 
 exert themselves in order to earn 
 their living, and their own exer- 
 tions create that activity of the 
 skin which makes it cleanse itself; 
 whilst the intermediate class, which 
 has not yet attained to the Inxury 
 of baths and bath-rooms, and is not 
 compelled to make great muscular 
 exertions, is less cleanly than 
 either. Like most generalizations 
 this contains a good deal of truth, 
 though it won't bear applying in 
 particular instances. There are 
 people who are both poor and lazy, 
 
24 Cold-Catching. 
 
 and laziness is the great parent of 
 nncleanliness everywhere. 
 
 Bnt apart from the secretions of 
 the skin, there is the circulation to 
 be considered. There are some 
 whose skins are always chilly in 
 cold weather and ready to develop 
 chilblains, and others who can 
 never get a reaction after a cold 
 bath. These shonld content them- 
 selves with a quick dry-rubbing 
 every morning with a rough towel, 
 and should not think of taking 
 cold baths. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 COIvD-PRE VENTING . 
 
 TN discussing the question of cold- 
 catching, the other question of 
 QoXdi-avoidzng comes in as a matter 
 of course. To all persons about to 
 take cold in the ways above men- 
 tioned, the laconic advice of Mr. 
 Punch comes naturally to our 
 minds — doii't. But unhappily we 
 cannot always choose our circum- 
 stances, and therefore it is desir- 
 able to fortify ourselves against 
 the contingencies alluded to. 
 And, fortunately, there is much 
 
26 Cold'Prevenitng. 
 
 to be done in the way of cold- 
 
 PREVENTING. 
 
 One of the chief precautions 
 against cold is the avoidance of 
 ^^ coddling.'' The mufHer is a 
 great snare. It is ninch better to 
 accustom the neck to bear a certain 
 amount of exposure, giving it the 
 protection of collar and tie, but 
 nothing more. Sometimes the 
 muffler is relied on as the sole 
 extra wrap on a cold day. If a 
 child has a few yards of knitted 
 stuff twisted around its neck, the 
 fond parent is apt to feel that there 
 is no need to attend to its back and 
 chest. But the muffler will not 
 fill the part of an overcoat, which 
 is the garment really needed. 
 
 In speaking of the morning bath, 
 
Cold-Preventing. 27 
 
 I have indicated its usefulness for 
 this purpose in those whose consti- 
 tutions are suitable. And I have 
 also pointed out the value of in- 
 unction with oil, such as salad oil, 
 in those whose skins are poor. A 
 very small quantit}^, about a tea- 
 spoonful, will suffice to go over the 
 whole body. If this is done at 
 night, and a woollen sleeping dress 
 worn, the cold bath may be taken 
 without risk and with advantage in 
 the morning, provided there is good 
 reaction. If the reaction is not 
 good, a dry-rubbing must suffice. 
 In children who are chilly and lia- 
 ble to colds, nothing is better than 
 inunction every night with cod 
 liver oiL They must, of course, be 
 wrapped in flannel night-dresses. 
 
28 Cold-Preventing. 
 
 The odor is not of the pleasantest, 
 but the good effect is so great that 
 this is a small consideration. The 
 child may be sponged in the morn- 
 ing, and briskly rubbed before 
 dressing, and no unpleasant odour 
 will then be detected. 
 
 There is another substitute for 
 the morning tub which will proba- 
 bly be found more acceptable to 
 many than the last named, and that 
 is sponging with spirit of wine. 
 Contact with water increases chilli- 
 ness, but contact with spirit dimin- 
 ishes it. One or two tablespoonfuls 
 of spirit of wine may be poured 
 into a saucer and taken up with a 
 small sponge. This may then be 
 passed rapidly all over the body, 
 and the clothes immediately put on. 
 
Cold-Preventing. 29 
 
 The spirit dries at once, so there is 
 no need of towelling afterwards. 
 The effect of this is to impart a 
 feeling of warmth which not un- 
 frequently lasts the entire day. 
 This is especially valuable to those 
 who are excessively sensitive to 
 the effects of damp. 
 
 In the prevention of colds, noth- 
 ing is of greater importance than 
 the question of Clothing. 
 
 In a changeable climate like that 
 of our country, persons who are at 
 all susceptible to changes in the 
 temperature and weather should 
 be so clothed that they are in a 
 constant state of preparation. 
 There are some who have such 
 
30 Cold-Preventing. 
 
 active circulations tliat their skins 
 are never chilly whatever the state 
 of the atmosphere may be. These 
 have a natural defence, and need 
 take no special precautions. They 
 may wear what they like best — 
 cotton, or silk, or wool. But these 
 are the fortunate few. Others who 
 are less highly endowed should 
 wear next their skin, and com- 
 pletely encasing their bodies, a 
 material which will retain the 
 bodily heat and electricity, whilst 
 allowing the escape of the perspira- 
 tion, much of which comes away in 
 the form of watery vapour. The 
 best of all material of this kind is 
 wool. Dr. Jaeger deserves the 
 thanks of all for the attention he 
 has given to this subject, although 
 
Cold-Preventing . 3 1 
 
 like most men with hobbies he is 
 apt to ride his too hard. A com- 
 plete suit of woollen underclothing 
 is the best possible protection 
 against sudden chilling. And the 
 night-dress may be made of the 
 same material if there is any occa- 
 sion to be about at night or any 
 difficulty in keeping warm. 
 
 There are some whose skins are 
 so sensitive that they cannot endure 
 the contact of wool in any form. 
 For them silk is the best. But 
 silk is not so warm as wool, and 
 not so efficient a protection. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 COI.D-CURING. 
 
 npHBRK is a German saying 
 to this effect : ^^ A clever 
 physician will cure a cold in a fort- 
 night ; it will get well of itself in 
 fourteen days.'' The proverb does 
 not venture to say how long a cold 
 will go on under the ministrations 
 of a physician who is 7tot clever, 
 or to what length it will run when 
 under amateur treatment. I can- 
 not answer for what may happen in 
 Germany, but I have known colds 
 run on to portentious length under 
 amateur or non-skilful medical 
 
Cold-Curing. 33 
 
 guidance in this countr}^ And 
 even physicians of repute some- 
 times experience no small difficulty 
 in getting rid of a severe catarrh 
 in their own persons. But this 
 proverb was no doubt invented be- 
 fore Hahnemann and his system 
 saw the light. Armed with his 
 therapeutic weapons and a sound 
 judgment, the physician of to-day 
 can bid even colds defiance, and 
 can shorten their fortnight^s right 
 of duration by many days. 
 
 The value of a therapeutic 
 system and the proficiency of a 
 physician are shown most of all 
 in little things. A system which 
 can only be applied in formidable 
 illness, such as cholera and scarlet 
 
 fever, is of only limited use in 
 4 
 
3 4 Cold' Curing. 
 
 practical life, and a doctor who can 
 only apply it in grave illnesses, and 
 can do nothing in the presence of a 
 cold in the head or an eruption on 
 the face, will find himself a help- 
 less creature in nine-tenths of the 
 cases he is consulted about. Nor 
 is it of much use for him to 
 pooh-pooh all illnesses that do not 
 happen to be attended with danger 
 to life, as some doctors are wont to 
 do, — unless, indeed, they happen to 
 be themselves the patients. Little 
 illnesses deserve just as much 
 attention as the great ones: for 
 though they may not threaten 
 life itself, they do often destroy all 
 its pleasure ; and they are much 
 more common than the others. 
 The doctor who affects to despise 
 
Co Id' Curing. 35 
 
 the minor ills is generally (whetlier 
 he knows it or not) merely cover- 
 ing his own want of skill and want 
 of knowledge. He does not know 
 what to do with the patient, and so 
 tries to persuade him that the 
 disorder is, as Mr. Toots would 
 say, ^' of no consequence" — in fact, 
 is quite beneath the range of his 
 great studies, and therefore cannot 
 be worth the notice of any learned 
 mind. But the patient, who is 
 perpetually worried with it, is not 
 so easy to persuade that his tooth- 
 ache, or his headache, or his erup- 
 tion, or his cold in the head is really 
 nothing, if he can only bring his 
 mind to think so. He only concludes 
 that it is no use taking his com- 
 plaint to the members of the high 
 
36 Cold-Curing. 
 
 and miglity faculty, and betakes 
 himself to old dames' remedies, or 
 quack nostrums whose obliging 
 proprietors promise in their adver- 
 tisements attention to the most 
 trivial details. 
 
 But Homoeopathy has brought 
 a vast change into medicine in 
 regard to its general applicability. 
 It can be adapted to any disorder, 
 no matter how grave or how 
 apparently trivial. It is like the 
 steam-hammer, which can crack 
 a nutshell without injuring the 
 nut, or tap a watch-case without 
 breaking it, just as easily as it can 
 weld and shape masses of iron pre- 
 senting a resisting power of many 
 tons. There are few sensations 
 more pleasant than to awake in the 
 
Cold' Curing. 3 7 
 
 morning and find one's self free from 
 a cold, when tlie night before one 
 had gone to bed sneezing and shiv- 
 ering, and had abandoned one's self 
 to a fortnight's misery. Thanks 
 to homoeopathy and its discoverer, 
 this miracle is performed every day. 
 There is no medicine that will cure 
 every cold, since, as I have pointed 
 out, colds differ widely in their 
 characters. But the homoeopathic 
 Materia Medica is so rich that it 
 has a medicine for every one's cold, 
 though it depends on the skill and 
 judgment of the prescriber to find 
 the right one. 
 
 Before discussing the homoeo- 
 pathic remedies for cold, and point- 
 ing out their leading characteristics 
 and indications, I will speak of the 
 
38 Cold-Curing. 
 
 general measures which are resorted 
 to, and often with success. 
 
 Nearly every one has his own 
 treatment for his own cold. One 
 will keep himself a prisoner in his 
 house until it is better. Another, 
 as soon as he finds he has taken 
 cold, will take a ten-mile walk 
 at full-speed, and when he comes 
 in go straight to bed, piling on 
 the blankets in order to keep up 
 the effect. A third, before retir- 
 ing, will mix himself a stiff glass 
 of toddy, and by the time it is 
 finished will at any rate have for- 
 gotten his cold, if he has not cured 
 it. The ^^ night-cap treatment," 
 I am reminded by a friend, is 
 sometimes very successful. Night- 
 caps are seldom worn nowadays; 
 
Cold- Curing. 3 9 
 
 and if one who is not accnstomed 
 to them puts one on when he 
 has a cold (or, which comes to 
 the same thing, wraps his head up 
 warmly when he goes to bed) , he 
 will often get rid of it by this 
 means. Another efficacious re- 
 medy is the time-honoured jorum 
 of hot onion gruel. The more 
 efficient part of the gruel is the 
 onion which it contains, and which 
 we shall see presently (under its 
 botanical name Cepa or Allium 
 cepd) , is strikingly homoeopathic to 
 colds. The idea of these remedies 
 (and to them may be added the 
 hot bath and the Turkish bath) 
 is to restore bodily heat, and by 
 perspiration to relieve the internal 
 congestion which has resulted from 
 
40 Cold- Cu ring. 
 
 chilling of the surface and driv- 
 ing the blood inwards. And not 
 nnfreqnently these measures are 
 quite successful. There is another 
 means of curing colds, and that is 
 what may be called the salt treat- 
 ment. Later on I shall have oc- 
 casion to refer to the value of 
 salt as a homoeopathic remedy for 
 colds under the name it has always 
 borne in Homoeopathy, Natrum 
 muriaticum. The ordinary salt 
 treatment for cold consists in eating 
 highly salted food, such as herrings, 
 or visiting salt-mines and salt-baths 
 like those at Droitwich in England, 
 and Ems, Obersalzbrunnen, and 
 Gleichenberg in Germany. 
 
 The effects of these salt-springs 
 may be obtained without visiting 
 
Cold- Curing. 41 
 
 tlie locality, by drinking the waters 
 mixed in equal proportions with 
 hot skim-milk or whey. Bms 
 water drunk in this way will often 
 assist the resolution of a cold. 
 
 Sulphur-springs, as those of the 
 Baux-bonnes of the Pyrenees, are 
 valuable for chronic colds of a 
 certain kind. But the same patients 
 who benefit by them would not 
 benefit by the salt-springs; and the 
 constitutional peculiarities of the 
 patient must be considered before 
 the decision is come to about which 
 place to visit. 
 
 These extreme measures will, of 
 course, not be thought of for ordi- 
 nary colds ; but only where they 
 have become chronic, and the gen- 
 eral health so depraved that ordi- 
 
42 Cold-Curing. 
 
 nary measures are unequal to the 
 task of bringing about the needed 
 constitutional changes. 
 
 For constitutions can be changed. 
 It is not enough for a doctor to be 
 able to ^^ understand '' his patient's 
 constitution — he must be able to 
 alter it sometimes. We often see 
 this effect produced by natural 
 causes. After severe fevers a 
 patient liable to certain forms of 
 illness, such as chest disorder, be- 
 comes entirely free from them. It 
 is quite common to hear the re- 
 mark that '^ So-and-so has been 
 quite different, and very much bet- 
 ter than he used to be, ever since 
 he had the measles,'' or some other 
 fever. But the change is not al- 
 ways for the better, by any means. 
 
Cold-Curing. 43 
 
 The same fever wHcli will cure a 
 constitutional tendency to disease 
 in one patient, will set up a new 
 one in another. 
 
 Following on the lines of 
 Nature, it is possible for us, with- 
 out setting up a disease, to change 
 the constitutional habit of a patient 
 by a course of treatment ; and it is 
 in cases where this is desired, that 
 it is often advantageous to make 
 use of natural mineral springs. 
 
 But this is by no means always 
 a necessity. In the appropriate 
 homoeopathic remedy we have an 
 agent as powerful for this purpose 
 as the mineral waters where they 
 issue from their fountains. 
 
 In the matter of foods, it is 
 found that all greasy kinds act 
 
44 Cold-Curing. 
 
 injuriously in catarrhal conditions, 
 and should, therefore, be avoided ; 
 whilst salt foods, as salt herrings, 
 are good. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF 
 ACUTE COLDS. 
 
 npHE Medicinal Treatment of 
 colds divides itself naturally 
 into three parts, — Treatment of the 
 acute attack; treatment of the con- 
 dition when it has become chronic; 
 and treatment of the constitutional 
 tendency to be affected by chills. 
 
 Colds in the Acute Stage. — 
 Among the remedies for a cold in 
 the incipient stage, two stand out 
 prominently from all the rest — 
 Camphor and Aconite. There is 
 
46 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 no remedy that has made more 
 converts to Homoeopatliy than 
 Aconite^ and its beautiful effect in 
 dissipating the consequences of a 
 chill is one of the most striking 
 of its virtues. In a certain pro- 
 portion of patients Camphor has 
 an equally marked good effect; 
 but Cam^phor has not such a wide 
 range as its sister drug. Still, 
 Camphor must not be neglected. 
 The chill of Camphor is more 
 marked than that of Aconite; and 
 if a pilule (one of the large pilules 
 sold in stoppered bottles by homoeo- 
 pathic chemists) is taken every 
 fifteen minutes from the moment 
 that the chill has been experienced, 
 and continued for a few hours 
 until the reaction sets in, a cold 
 
Acute Colds. 47 
 
 will almost invariably be warded 
 off. Later on, Camphor^ tbougli it 
 may prove useful, is not so likely to 
 do so as is Aconite. Aconite'^ may 
 be taken every hour, in doses of 
 one drop or six pilules, for the first 
 five or six hours, and afterwards 
 
 "^ N.B, — In choosing a remedy it is not 
 necessary that the case to be cured should 
 have all the symptoms put down as charac- 
 teristic of it. It will be sufficient if a few 
 of the leading features of the cold corre- 
 spond with those of the drug. For instance, 
 a patient suflfering from an ordinary cold 
 in the head in the freely running stage 
 took Mercurius^ and the following day his 
 cold had vanished. It will be found that 
 under Mercurius many other symptoms are 
 put down. These are all characteristic of the 
 remedy, and will guide to the choice of it 
 when found in any patient; but it is not 
 necessary to have them all before prescribing 
 the drug. 
 
48 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 every two hours. This may be 
 kept up for forty-eight hours. 
 
 The use of these two drugs as 
 indicated — Camphor when the chill 
 is first taken, Aconite if this stage 
 has passed — may be followed, 
 unless there are special reasons 
 why they should not be used, as 
 a routine practice. The great 
 majority of colds will be cut short 
 by them. If Aconite causes per- 
 spiration, care should be taken to 
 avoid another chill whilst the 
 perspiration is going on. Other- 
 wise, no special precautions need 
 be observed. 
 
 It is useless to cite examples of 
 thetriumphs of these tw^o medicines, 
 for they are to be found in nearly 
 every family throughout the land ; 
 
Acute Colds. 49 
 
 for the use of Aconite in colds is 
 by no means confined to homoeo- 
 pathic practice. The allopaths have 
 in some mysterious way discovered 
 the virtues of the drug, and made 
 free use of it. Many patients of 
 mine regularly cut short their colds 
 with Aconite since they have 
 learned how to take it. 
 
 If a cold has lasted more than 
 two days, other medicines must be 
 thought of. Among these Gelse- 
 mium^ Mercuriiis^ Arsenictiin^ Nux 
 vomica^ Pulsatilla^ Sangiiinaria^ 
 Cepa^ Natrum Tnuriatictim hold the 
 first rank, and will be given accord- 
 ing as the symptoms they have pro- 
 duced in the healthy correspond 
 to the symptoms of the cold. 
 
 Sometimes the fever following 
 
50 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 a chill does not yield to Aconite^ 
 and tlien Gelsemium is generally 
 snccessful. The symptoms which 
 call for Gelsemium are : — Chills 
 creeping np the back, fnliiess of the 
 head, heat of the face, beating of 
 the arteries in the neck, hot, dry 
 hands, feeling of langnor and drow- 
 siness. The restlessness is less 
 intense than that of Aconite^ and it 
 often snbsides without inspiration, 
 and returns again (of the '^ remit- 
 ting '^ type, as it is called). The 
 chilliness is often accompanied by 
 a profuse flow of urine, which re- 
 lieves the head. With this there 
 is sneezing, fulness at the root of 
 the nose, and flow of clear water 
 from the nose and eyes. Dose: 3^, 
 one drop or six pilules every hour. 
 
Acute Colds. 51 
 
 When tlie nasal discharge is thin 
 and irritating, with a hot bnrning 
 sensation in nose and eyes, Arseni- 
 cum is the remedy ; and if, in addi- 
 tion, there is bnrning thirst, red 
 tongne, headache, sleeplessness, 
 anxiety, and prostration, all the 
 symptoms being ameliorated by 
 warmth^ the indications will be 
 still stronger. The medicine shonld 
 be given in the 3rd dilution, two 
 drops (or two pilules) every hour 
 or two. 
 
 Arsenicum is the best remedy, in 
 a general way, for the '' influenza 
 cold,'' which produces a good deal 
 of prostration, with free, irritating, 
 thin discharge from nose and eyes. 
 
 Mercurius is to be given in most 
 common colds when there is an 
 
52 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 abundant flow of serous mucus 
 from the nose, whicli is often 
 swollen and red ; fetid smell of 
 nasal mucus ; heavy frontal head- 
 ache ; deafness ; nightly sweats 
 with febrile chill and heat ; great 
 thirst ; pains in the limbs ; low 
 spirits and longing for solitude, 
 all the symptoms being increased 
 both by heat and cold. Dose : No. 
 6, two drops or six pilules every 
 two hours. 
 
 Hepar sulph, — When Mercurius 
 is indicated, but does not respond, 
 or when the patient has already 
 had too much ; when each draught 
 of cold air produces fresh cold or a 
 headache, only one nostril being 
 affected, and the headache being 
 made worse by movement. Dose : 
 
Acute Colds. 53 
 
 No. 6, two drops or pilules six 
 every two hours. 
 
 Cepa (made from the red onion) . 
 — Fluent coryza; tightness at root 
 of nose ; constant sneezing; pain 
 in back, and chills ; melancholy, 
 anxiety, restlessness. Symptoms 
 worse in a room, better out of doors. 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six 
 pilules every two hours. 
 
 A case of violent cold in the head, 
 with streaming eyes and nose, in a 
 gouty patient, who had also a 
 troublesome irritation of the skin, 
 was cured completely by a few doses 
 of Cepa, Usually her attacks, when 
 occurring in the beginning of win- 
 ter, went on to bronchitis, and in 
 this instance the bronchial tubes 
 had already become affected when I 
 gave the Cepa^ which cleared off" 
 everything. 
 
54 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 Pulsatilla. — Discharge of yellow- 
 ish-green fetid mucus from the 
 nose ; loss of appetite and sense of 
 taste ; head heavy and embarrassed, 
 especially in the evening and by the 
 warmth of a room, with stoppage of 
 the nose ; no thirst ; tearful humour; 
 chilliness all the evening ; amelior- 
 ation in the open air. Dose: 3"^, 
 two drops or six pilules every two 
 hours. 
 
 Nux vomica is the remedy when 
 the cold is ^' dry '' and the nose 
 blocked ; or it may be dry in the 
 morning and fluent in the evening. 
 There is heaviness of the forehead. 
 An angry, quarrelsome humour is 
 characteristic of Nux. Aggrava- 
 tion of symptoms occurs from 
 mental exertion; in the morning ; 
 
Acute Colds, 55 
 
 after retiring, especially after din- 
 ner ; from motion ; from slight 
 touch ; in the open air (in this 
 contrasting with Pulsatilla^ as it 
 does in so many points); and in dry 
 weather. 
 
 Sanguinaria or Nitrate of San- 
 guinariii. — Profuse fluent coryza ; 
 or dry, with frequent sneezing; dull, 
 heavy pain at the root of the nose; 
 odour of roasted onions in the 
 nose ; dryness of lips ; tongue feels 
 as if burnt ; throat full, swollen, 
 and constricted ; sharp stitches in 
 chest ; depression and irritability. 
 Aggravation: morning and even- 
 ing ; from light and motion. Dose 
 of Sanguinaria : No. i, two drops 
 or six pilules every two hours. 
 Of Nitrate of Sanguinarin^ 3^ 
 
56 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 trituration, one grain every two 
 hours. 
 
 Natrum muriaticum. — Fluent 
 coryza in chilly subjects; chills 
 along the back; great thirst; vesi- 
 cles on the lips or tendency to them; 
 constipation; weight in forehead 
 on rising in the morning ; sad- 
 ness, depression, tendency to weep. 
 Aggravation of symptoms in the 
 morning^ and periodically. Dose : 
 3 trit., two grains every two hours; 
 or No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 I take some credit to myself for 
 bringing forward Natrum muriati- 
 cttm as a remedy for colds. About 
 sixteen years ago, when Dr. Bur- 
 nett's work on the drug appeared, 
 I made a study of it, and was struck 
 
Acute Colds. 57 
 
 witti the number of cold-symptoms 
 it possessed. Having a pretty severe 
 cold myself at the time, I took a few 
 doses of No. 6, and was intensely 
 delighted to find my cold quite cured 
 in the morning. I soon repeated 
 the happy experience on several 
 patients ; and then my partner, Dr. 
 W. Roche, gave it on my recom- 
 mendation to a patient of his own 
 who was suflFering from a very 
 severe cold. This patient declared 
 he had never got rid of a cold so 
 quickly in his life. At that time I 
 thought that the range of the drug 
 was so wide that it was equal to 
 curing almost any cold. Subsequent 
 experience did not justify that, but 
 it did confirm me in my opinion 
 that it is one of the most valuable 
 
58 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 remedies for cold we possess. It 
 was whilst reading up the literature 
 of this drug that I was struck by 
 the coincidence of its being also 
 recommended, from the old school 
 point of view, in the shape of salt 
 baths or douches ; and also by the 
 popular use of the drug in salt food 
 I shall have to refer to it again as 
 a remedy for chronic colds and the 
 cold-constitution. 
 
 Kali hydriodicum \Iodide of Pot- 
 assium), — Profuse flow of clear 
 water from eyes and nose ; accumu- 
 lation of thick, tenacious mucus in 
 the nose ; discharge of greenish- 
 black or yellow matter of foul smell; 
 nose-bleed ; discharge of decom- 
 posed greenish-red blood. Sensa- 
 tion of fulness and tightness at the 
 
Acute Colds. 59 
 
 root of the nose; swelling and 
 redness of the nose; sensation of 
 fnlness in the nose ; with beating 
 pains in the nasal bones ; throbbing 
 and burning in nasal and frontal 
 bone with swelling ; after abuse of 
 mercury. Aggravation : at night ; 
 in cold air ; at rest ; better from 
 motion. Dose : No. 3 or 30, two 
 drops or six pilules every two 
 hours. 
 
 These are the chief medicines 
 that will be required for the cure of 
 ACUTE COI.DS. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MEDICINAL TREATMENT OF 
 
 CATARRH OR CHRONIC COLDS 
 
 AND THE TENDENCY TO 
 
 TAKE COLD. 
 
 OHRONIC COLDS require 
 somewhat different treatment. 
 When a cold has gone on for weeks 
 without any signs of passing away, 
 Turkish baths, hot baths, hot foot 
 baths, warm gruel, and all the rest of 
 the domestic armamentarium hav- 
 ing proved in vain, there is still 
 some hope for the unhappy sufferer. 
 He may yet find deliverance from 
 the ruthless enemy which holds 
 him by the nose, without going to 
 
Catarrh. 6i 
 
 a warm climate or waiting till the 
 summer comes. 
 
 If tlie patient has not been 
 already under homoeopathic treat- 
 ment, the remedy for the case will 
 most likely be found among those 
 already described after Camphor 
 2M^ Aconite; and even if he has had 
 homoeopathic treatment, and his 
 symptoms correspond to those 
 which are characteristic of any one 
 of the above-named remedies, this 
 must be given. 
 
 The chief remedies for chronic 
 colds are Hydrastis^ Calc. carb.^ 
 Natrum mur.^ Dulcamara^ Mer- 
 curius^ Sulphur. 
 
 Hydrastis. — This remedy is indi- 
 cated when there is much thick 
 discharge from the nose, and especi- 
 
62 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 ally the posterior part of the nose 
 which leads to the throat ; when the 
 mucus drops down into the throat, 
 which is also affected with the 
 catarrhal condition ; tongue yellow- 
 coated ; tendency to constipation. 
 Dose: No. i, two drops or six 
 pilules every two hours. 
 
 Hydrastis will be found useful in 
 many conditions. A patient who 
 suffered from chronic cold in the 
 nose, and also deafness (which latter 
 was the result of scarlatina, and 
 dated many years back), the dis- 
 charge from the nose being thick 
 and the throat being also affected, 
 was completely cured of the catarrh 
 by a course of Hydrastis^ the 
 deafness being also slightly im- 
 proved. When a cold has settled 
 
Catarrh, 63 
 
 in the back of the nose and throat, 
 with a good deal of phlegm in 
 the throat, and perhaps deafness, 
 there is no better remedy than 
 Hydrastis, 
 
 Calcarea carb, — In persons of 
 phlegmatic temperament, pale, and 
 inclined to be fat ; in fair, plump 
 children ; in persons who suffer 
 from acidity ; internal chilliness ; 
 coryza, chiefly dry ; nostrils sore ; 
 polypus ; margins of eyelids sore. 
 Aggravation: mornings^ evenings^ 
 and after midnight; from cold and 
 cold air. Dose : No. 6, two drops 
 or six pilules every four hours. 
 
 Natrum mur, — When the coryza 
 is fluent ; chilly subjects ; the 
 blood thin and watery ; complexion 
 unhealthy ; thirst ; constipation. 
 
64 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 Disposition melancholy and tearful. 
 Dose: No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. It is patients of 
 this description who will benefit by 
 brine baths The baths should be 
 hot, and should not be stayed in too 
 long. They should be followed by 
 cold spraying. 
 
 Dulcamara — Extreme sensitive- 
 ness to damp cold ; blocking of the 
 nose, with a discharge that the least 
 cold air stops anew ; dryness of the 
 mouth without thirst ; hoarseness. 
 
 Aggravation: during rest; ameli- 
 oration during movement. Dose: 
 No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Mercurius. — Abundant thick or 
 fluent coryza of fetid odor ; feverish 
 condition ; night sweats ; pains in 
 
Catarrh. 65 
 
 the limbs ; desire for solitude. 
 Aggravation by both heat and cold. 
 Dose: No. 3^ trit., two grains, or 
 two drops of No. 6, every four hours. 
 
 Sulphur. — Blocking and great 
 dryness of the nose, or abundant 
 secretion of thick, yellowish, puru- 
 lent mucus; bleeding ; loss of smell; 
 suited to lean persons inclined to 
 stoop ; those subject to skin affec- 
 tions who perspire easily. Aggrava- 
 tion from warmth of bed and during 
 rest; better during motion and when 
 walking. Dose: No. 6, two drops 
 or six pilules every two hours. 
 
 It is sometimes advisable to send 
 
 patients of the sulphur type, if the 
 
 English climate tries them greatly, 
 
 to the sulphur springs, such as those 
 
 of Eaux-Bonnes in the Pyrenees. 
 6 
 
66 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 Among the sequelae of a cold in 
 the head (vulgarly called '^ dregs of 
 a cold") may be mentioned loss of 
 taste and smell. This sometimes 
 persists for a long time after all 
 other signs of a cold have disap- 
 peared. For this the remedy is 
 Magnes. mur. 6, two drops or six 
 pilules every four hours. 
 
 The Tendency to take cold 
 may be counteracted by a course of 
 constitutional treatment. In order 
 that this may be brought about, 
 every individual must be considered 
 in the light of his own constitutional 
 peculiarities. Only the remedies 
 most generally applicable can be in- 
 dicated here, but they will be found 
 to cover a very large number of 
 cases. 
 
 The remedies should be taken 
 
Catarrh. 67 
 
 steadily twice or three times a day, 
 and should be continued for one or 
 two months. They may be com- 
 menced, if indicated, whilst the cold 
 still continues, or after it is cured. 
 
 The remedies I shall name in this 
 connexion are Natrum mur,^ Calc. 
 carb.^ Car bo veg,^ Agaricus^ Sul- 
 phur^ MercuriMs. These remedies 
 must be selected according as they 
 correspond with the constitutional 
 state of the patient, rather than 
 with any idea of finding an agree- 
 ment between their cold symptoms 
 and the peculiar features of the pa- 
 tients' colds when they have them. 
 
 Natrum mur, — Anaemic, ill-nour- 
 ished, chilly persons, of unclear 
 complexions ; inclined to constipa- 
 tion ; despondent and tearful ; feel 
 
68 Medicinal Treatment of 
 
 worse wlien lying down, from heat ; 
 better in open air. Dose : No. 12, 
 two drops or six pilules three times 
 a day. 
 
 With this remedy I have fre- 
 quently removed the susceptibility 
 to cold. Here is a case typical of 
 many. A young girl about puberty, 
 subject to colds, which came on 
 with a kind of bilious attack ; 
 always chilly ; hands and feet never 
 warm, clammy; of nervous tempera- 
 ment ; and somewhat anaemic. Nat. 
 mur. 12, six pilules night and 
 morning, made a complete revolu- 
 tion in her general health and sus- 
 ceptibility to chills within a month. 
 
 Calc. carb. — Pale, phlegmatic per- 
 sons; abnormally fat young people ; 
 scrofulous or tubercular tendency ; 
 
Catarrh. 69 
 
 those liable to acidity. Feel worse 
 from cold and cold air. Dose : No. 
 12, two drops or six pilules three 
 times a day. 
 
 Carbo veg, — Persons whose vital 
 powers are low ; venous system 
 predominant, giving a blue look to 
 the countenance and flesh ; cold 
 blue hands and feet ; sj^mptoms 
 worse in cold damp weather. Dose : 
 No. 12, two drops or six pilules 
 three times a day. 
 
 Agaricus, — When there is mark- 
 ed tendency to chilblains ; more 
 suited for persons of light hair and 
 lax fibre, and for old persons with 
 indolent circulation. Symptoms 
 worse in night ; in cold air ; during 
 repose ; before a thunderstorm. 
 Dose : No. 6, two drops or six pil- 
 ules three times a day. 
 
70 Treatment of Chronic Colds. 
 
 Sulphur.— ChiWy persons with 
 tendency to skin irritation or actual 
 skin disease ; tendency to constipa- 
 tion and piles ; symptoms being 
 worse from warmth and by rest. 
 Dose: No. 30, one drop or six 
 pilules three times a day. 
 
 Mercurzus. — Scrofulous, rheu- 
 matic, bilious persons, and those 
 subject to catarrhs of all kinds ; 
 broken down constitutions ; trem- 
 bling limbs ; cold pale hands and 
 feet. Patients feel worse at night 
 from warmth of bed ; from perspira- 
 tion; cold weather; cold evening air; 
 warm autumn days; damp cold 
 nights ; better during the day and 
 during rest. Dose: No. 12, two 
 drops or six pilules three times a 
 day. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NASAL POLYPUS. 
 
 /^NE of the consequences of 
 chronic irritation of the nasal 
 mucous membrane is the develop- 
 ment of polypus, which consists of 
 an immensely hypertrophied fol- 
 licle of normal mucous membrane. 
 There are also polypi, which con- 
 sist of new growth, arising inde- 
 pendently of chronic irritation or 
 catarrh, but I am only dealing 
 here with the simple and com- 
 moner kind. 
 
 A polypus may exist some time 
 without giving rise to any symp- 
 
7 2 Nasal Polypus. 
 
 toms ; but wlien it increases so far 
 as to obstruct the passage of air 
 through the nose and into the 
 lungs, a great deal of discomfort 
 and annoyance is occasioned. The 
 patient is often aroused in the mid- 
 dle of the night with distressing 
 sensations of suffocation. Attacks 
 of spasmodic asthma may occur. 
 The nose being the upper extremity 
 of the air passages, the lungs are 
 in intimate nervous sympathy with 
 it, and affections of the nose often 
 produce symptoms in the lungs. 
 
 Polypi sometimes have their 
 origin in the anterior part of the 
 nasal mucous membrane, and when 
 of any size they can be seen as red 
 moist masses on looking into the 
 nostrils. Sometimes they are further 
 
Nasal Polypus, 7 3 
 
 back, and hang into the back of the 
 throat. They are almost always 
 attended with copious discharge, 
 both front and back, keeping up a 
 continual ^^cold." 
 
 The usual method of dealing with 
 polypus is to remove it, and the 
 method now most approved is by 
 the electric wire. But polypus is a 
 constitutional affair, and should by 
 right be cured by constitutional 
 remedies. This has been done 
 times out of number, and should 
 always be aimed at by homceo- 
 pathists. 
 
 A year or two ago I was con- 
 sulted by letter on behalf of a young 
 lady, aged 20, in the country, who 
 had been troubled for three or four 
 years with an excessive discharge 
 
74 Nasal Polypus. 
 
 from the nose and dropping of 
 discliarge from back of tlie nose 
 down the throat. The least cold 
 air aggravated the complaint, and, 
 conversely, it was better in a warm 
 room. She suffered, in addition, 
 from cold, damp feet; faint feel- 
 ings, and bilious sick headaches. 
 
 She received Calcarea in very 
 high potencies at rare intervals. 
 From the first the symptoms began 
 to improve. Later on. Thuja was 
 given, and afterwards Dulcamara^ 
 Silica^ and Stannum^ her health 
 and the local symptoms steadily 
 improving all the time. About 
 eighteen months from the com- 
 mencement of the course she 
 passed from the nose a polypus an 
 inch and a half in length. The 
 
Nasal Polypus. 75 
 
 passing was preceded and followed 
 by sharp bleeding. There has been 
 no recurrence since. 
 
 It may be objected that the 
 treatment occupied a long time, 
 whereas an operation could have 
 relieved the patient in a few 
 minutes. This is true so far as the 
 removal of the polypus is concerned, 
 but the effect of the medicinal 
 treatment was to bring about a 
 complete constitutional change in 
 the patient, and to work a constitu- 
 tional cure. Polypi have an awk- 
 ward habit of recurring after 
 removal by operation ; but when a 
 cure is wrought by medicine the 
 tendency to recur is removed. 
 Moreover, operative removal of a 
 polypus does not cure the original 
 
76 Nasal Polypus. 
 
 irritation whicli gave rise to the 
 formation as constitutional treat- 
 ment does. 
 
 The remedies chiefly credited 
 with the cure of polypus are 
 Calcarea (which had a leading 
 share in my case), and Thuja 
 (which was also used), Nitric acid^ 
 Sanguinaria^ Phosphorus^ and Teu- 
 crium. Lately, Dr. Cooper has 
 introduced a new remedy, Lemna 
 minor^ the well-known duckweed, 
 which has effected remarkable cures 
 in his own practice and that of 
 others, and which promises to be 
 a very important medicine in nasal 
 cases. Cases of atrophic rhinitis 
 have been reported as cured by it. 
 Aggravation in damp weather is a 
 leading indication for its use. 
 
Nasal Polypus. 77 
 
 The indications for the different 
 remedies mentioned above will be 
 found in the Materia Medica at the 
 end of the work. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 HAY FEVBR. 
 
 TN the early summer, just when 
 the grass is in flower, a number 
 of people become affected with 
 violent irritation of the nasal 
 mucous membrane, accompanied 
 with more or less constitutional 
 disturbance, as prostration and 
 fever, with catarrh, congestion of 
 the eyes, headache, oppression of 
 the breathing. This condition lasts 
 throughout the summer whenever 
 the individual comes in contact with 
 the effluvia of hay. The symp- 
 toms are caused by particles of the 
 
Hay Fever. 79 
 
 pollen of the hay which find their 
 way into the nasal cavities. Hay 
 is not the only offender, as the 
 pollen of many flowers is capable 
 of setting up the same train of 
 symptoms, — violent and almost in- 
 cessant sneezing, streaming eyes 
 and nostrils, chilliness and feverish 
 symptoms, headache, and often 
 great depression, general weakness, 
 and wasting. 
 
 How is it, it may be asked, see- 
 ing that the pollen is everywhere 
 inhaled by everybody, that all are 
 not affected alike? The reply, 
 that not all persons are sensitive 
 alike, brings us to the further query, 
 Why are some sensitive and others 
 not ? Here we arrive at the crux 
 of the whole matter : it is a consti- 
 
8o Hay Fever. 
 
 tutional weakness of some kind or 
 other, and in numberless cases I 
 have traced it to that great parent 
 of woes — GOUT. I have known 
 many persons, members of highly 
 gouty families, who have prided 
 themselves on being the only ones 
 who have escaped gout, when all 
 the time they have had it in their 
 noses without recognizing it. For 
 my part, I consider it less objec- 
 tionable in the toe. 
 
 Gout, in my experience, consti- 
 tutes a large section of the great 
 psoric family of disorders as classi- 
 fied by Hahnemann. But in many 
 subjects of hay fever, it is sycosis, 
 the second of the disease-miasms 
 described by Hahnemann, which is 
 at the root of the disorder. 
 
Hay Fever. 8i 
 
 Though only manifest in the 
 summer, the disease actually exists 
 through the winter, only awaiting 
 the peculiar stimulus to make it 
 manifest. Careful observation of a 
 patient in the intervals of the at- 
 tacks will disclose the nature of the 
 constitutional tendency. 
 
 It is astonishing to what shifts 
 those who have the means to adopt 
 them are driven to escape their 
 summer enemy. In flight to the 
 high Alps some find safety; but the 
 safest place of all is on board ship. 
 But homoeopathic treatment can, in 
 a large number of cases, save the 
 necessity of yearly banishment; and 
 even when it cannot altogether 
 prevent the recurrence of attacks, it 
 can so far mitigate their severity as 
 
82 Hay Fever. 
 
 to render life j ust tolerable in spite 
 of them. 
 
 A few years ago, in the early 
 summer, I was consulted by a gen- 
 tleman, aged 40, who had been 
 subject to hay fever from May till 
 August every year as long as he 
 could remember. He had had very 
 severe treatment for it, including 
 operations on the bones of his nose 
 and cauterising the mucous mem- 
 brane with electric cauteries. Still 
 the attacks were no better. In a very 
 short time antipsoric treatment put 
 an end to all the symptoms. He 
 passed through the summer with- 
 out any trouble, and he has hardly 
 had any to speak of since. 
 
 Naphthalin 3^ (one drop or six 
 pilules every two hours) has proved 
 
Hay Fever. 83 
 
 itself a very useful remedy in a 
 large number of cases. 
 
 Sabadilla 3 (every two or four 
 hours), violent sneezing with lach- 
 rymation, redness and swelling of 
 eyelids, contractions, stupefying 
 headache. 
 
 Arsenicum 3, with thirst, fever, 
 restlessness and anguish; aggrava- 
 tion from cold air. This may be 
 given every two hours during an 
 attack, and twice a day beforehand 
 as a prophylactic. 
 
 Psorinum 30 will cure a large 
 number of cases when there is very 
 great sensitiveness to cold. Pa- 
 tients like to be near a fire or 
 wrapped in furs even in summer 
 weather. It may be given three or 
 four times a day. 
 
SECTION II. 
 Grippe or Influenza. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 OINCE the earlier editions of this 
 book were written the worst epi- 
 demic of Influenza within modern 
 times has visited all parts of the 
 civilised world, and seems to de- 
 mand some notice in a treatise on 
 colds, especially as we are not yet by 
 any means rid of the disease, and 
 may at any time find ourselves face 
 to face with a fresh outbreak. 
 
Description of 85 
 
 In order to distinguisli it from 
 the '^ Influenza Colds,'' whicli we 
 have always with us, the malady is 
 sometimes called ^^ Siberian " or 
 ^^ Russian " Influenza, since the 
 epidemics have always begun in 
 the northern part of the Russian 
 Empire. Corresponding to its 
 chilly origin, one of the features 
 of the disease is to cause an intense 
 chilliness, alternating with fever, 
 and to leave the patient excessively 
 sensitive to cold for a very long 
 time after. Many persons who have 
 never before required or even 
 tolerated woollen clothing next the 
 skin have been compelled to adopt 
 it after undergoing an attack. In 
 this respect it is like the malarial 
 fevers, and some have on this 
 
86 Grippe. 
 
 account given it the name ^ ^malarial 
 catarrh.'' But it is clearly distin- 
 guished from true malaria by its 
 infectious character. The poison 
 of ague is obviously of earth and 
 water origin, and when a person has 
 contracted ague in a malarial dis- 
 trict, and afterwards leaves that dis- 
 trict and has an attack of ague, he 
 does not communicate the disease 
 to others. Influenza, whatever may 
 be its origin, certainly does spread 
 from one person to another by 
 direct infection. But here again is 
 a peculiarity : it has no fixed period 
 of development, and there is no 
 certainty of its developing at all. 
 Some persons have been struck 
 down within an hour or two after 
 exposure to infection. Others have 
 
Description of 87 
 
 gone days, and have only been 
 affected when they have ^^ caught 
 cold/' the chill having the effect of 
 lowering the vitality, and giving 
 the poison the opportunity of de- 
 veloping. This explains how it is 
 that elaborate precautions for avoid- 
 ing infection have not been of much 
 use. In the height of an epidemic 
 the infection is probably every- 
 where. Every person has the 
 germs in him, but it requires some 
 exciting cause to rouse them into 
 activity. When a person becomes 
 infected with small-pox, for in- 
 stance, within a fortnight the 
 disease will appear. It requires 
 no additional impetus to start it 
 into life ; and so it is with all the 
 eruptive fevers. But with influenza 
 
88 Grippe. 
 
 it is very different. The poison 
 may be dormant for an indefinite 
 time, and may show itself after the 
 person has been exposed to a chill, 
 a wetting, an overstrain of any 
 kind, or an accident. 
 
 The forms which influenza may 
 take are protean. There is no one 
 symptom that I know of that is 
 common to all, or even to the 
 majority of cases. Some people 
 think it necessary for there to be 
 rise of temperature ; that unless 
 there is fever it cannot be influ- 
 enza. I have seen many cases of 
 unmistakable influenza in which 
 the temperature has been all the 
 time subnormal. 
 
 The classical type of influenza is 
 marked by severe pains and soreness 
 
Description of 89 
 
 all over, especially in the back and 
 head, and frequently setting in 
 quite suddenly. Repeated chills 
 are followed by high fever, with 
 increase of the pains. The eyes 
 are bleer}^, the intellect dulled, and 
 a sleepy, heavy condition induced. 
 There is a heavy nasal catarrh, 
 which persists long after the acute 
 symptoms have passed off. The 
 tongue is foul ; appetite lost. The 
 throat is generally inflamed, and 
 with all there is great prostration 
 and mental depression. The pulse 
 is as often slow as frequent, and 
 does not correspond to the tempera- 
 ture. The attack may last from 
 one to several daj^s. 
 
 This is the classical type, but 
 the departures from it are innumer- 
 
90 Grippe. 
 
 able. It may attack the chest, the 
 heart, the bowels, or the brain. To 
 describe them all would require a 
 treatise on almost all the diseases 
 that exist, for there is hardly any 
 disease that influenza will not take 
 the form of. 
 
 In fact, one of the great predis- 
 posing factors to an attack of in- 
 fluenza is a constitutional weak- 
 ness of some kind. Gout is one of 
 its favourite bases. Influenza very 
 readily combines with gout, and 
 aggravates every gouty manifesta- 
 tion a patient may have had before, 
 whether it be a skin affection, joint- 
 pains, catarrh, or any other of the 
 innumerable expressions of the 
 gouty diathesis. 
 
 One attack of the disease has no 
 
Description of 91 
 
 efifect in protecting against a second, 
 and, on the contrary, it seems 
 rather to predispose to it. Re- 
 lapses are very freqnent. In many 
 cases it seems as if recovery was 
 never quite complete, the poison 
 being always in the system, and 
 ready to be excited to activity by 
 any lowering cause. These cases 
 require the most persistent and 
 patient constitutional treatment to 
 restore them to health. And the 
 same may be said of the conse- 
 quences which influenza leaves be- 
 hind in the shape of neuralgias, 
 sciatica, nervous breakdown (or 
 '^ neurasthenia ''as it is now the 
 fashion to call it) , mental depres- 
 sion, and heart weakness and irri- 
 tability, of which every practitioner 
 
92 Grippe. 
 
 has seen so much since the epi- 
 demic appeared. In these cases it 
 is often impossible to succeed, un- 
 less the patient can be persuaded 
 to submit to a period of absolute 
 rest. The general rule is, that as 
 soon as they gather an amount of 
 strength — feeling better — patients 
 want to spend it. If they do, they 
 soon drop down into the lowest 
 depths again. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 TRKATMKNT. 
 
 n^HE treatment of influenza is as 
 various as its forms. The 
 best preventive is to keep well-fed, 
 well-clothed ; to avoid chilling, 
 wetting, and exhaustion in any 
 form, especially over-fatigue, or 
 going too long without food. Many 
 remedies have been recommended 
 as prophylactics, especially Ant- 
 moniated Quinine and Eucalyptus^ 
 the odour of which last was at one 
 time universally prevalent in every 
 
94 Grippe. 
 
 public place. I do not advise the 
 use of either. In my experience 
 the best preventive is Arsenicum. 
 Six pilules of Arsenicum in the No. 
 3 strength should be taken three 
 times a day when the epidemic is 
 about. 
 
 What about going to bed ? In 
 severe cases this question needs no 
 answer — the patient simply cannot 
 stay up. But in a number of others 
 the patient has strength enough to 
 keep going on — is he to do it? 
 Wherever there is a doubt it should 
 be decided in favour of bed. It 
 is true many persons have fought 
 through an attack without seeming 
 to take harm from it ; but wherever 
 there is any delicacy of constitution, 
 or where an internal organ has 
 
Treatment of 95 
 
 become inflamed, delay in going to 
 bed is attended with great danger. 
 Every case must be decided on its 
 own merits. 
 
 The routine practice should be : 
 Rest in bed, with hot bottles to feet 
 if they are cold; light nourishment, 
 as gruel, beef- tea, mutton broth or 
 chicken tea, or milk diluted with 
 boiling water, every two or three 
 hours. This should be kept up till 
 the fever goes, and the tongue be- 
 comes clean, and the appetite re- 
 turns. As soon as the patient can 
 eat, he should have all the nourish- 
 ment he can be got to take. 
 
 With regard to baths, the caution 
 given in an earlier chapter must be 
 emphasized here. Complete baths 
 are to be avoided, and blanket 
 
g6 Grippe. 
 
 baths only are to be allowed. That 
 is to say, the patient is to be rolled 
 in a blanket, and sponged with hot 
 water in detachments, each part 
 being dried with a hot towel before 
 another is washed. A complete 
 bath shonld not be indulged in till 
 recovery is complete ; many a re- 
 lapse has been occasioned by neg- 
 lect of this rule. 
 
 Medicines. 
 
 I have already mentioned that 
 Arsenicum is the best prophylactic 
 medicine I know. The nearest to 
 a specific for the disease is Baptisia. 
 It has all the symptoms described 
 above in the classical type ; the 
 general aching and soreness, heavy 
 
Medicines. 97 
 
 head, besotted appearance, loaded 
 tongue, sore throat, and fever, — 
 and if no other remedy is clearly 
 indicated in preference, I should 
 give Bapt. every hour. It is effect- 
 ive in all attenuations. I prefer 
 the 30th ; but others have used the 
 tincture with success, and all 
 dilutions between. For general 
 practice one or two drop doses of 
 the 3^ is perhaps the best. 
 
 Among other medicines may be 
 named the following, with their 
 leading indications : — 
 
 Aconite. — Sharp fever ; dry skin; 
 great restlessness ; depression ; an- 
 guish ; sense of impending death. 
 No. 3, one or two drops or six 
 pilules every hour. 
 
98 Grippe. - 
 
 Belladonna. — Intense throbbing 
 headache, highly flushed face, 
 tendency to delirium ; thirst, sore 
 throat. Facial neuralgia and ear- 
 ache, especially right side. No. 3, 
 every hour. 
 
 Bryonia. — Where the least move- 
 ment of any kind aggravates the 
 symptoms. No. 3, every hour. 
 
 Rhus tox, — The opposite of 
 Bry. The patient cannot keep still; 
 has to move about to relieve the 
 otherwise intolerable pains. Where 
 the attack has been provoked by 
 getting wet. No. 3, every hour. 
 
 Gelsemium. — Where paralytic 
 symptoms predominate, especially 
 of the lower limbs. Intense head- 
 ache; strong full pulse; giddiness. 
 No. 3, every hour. 
 
Medicines. 99 
 
 Phytolacca, — Specific when the 
 tliroat is inflamed and spotty, the 
 glands externally being hard and 
 tender. No. 3, internally, every 
 honr, and a gargle of the ^ tincture 
 — ten drops to a teacupf ul of water. 
 The gargle may be used every four 
 hours. 
 
 China. — When the headache is 
 accompanied by giddiness and 
 noises in the ears. In one case of 
 this kind I relieved a patient — who 
 was driven to the verge of madness 
 by this symptom — in a few minutes 
 with China 30, and no other medi- 
 cine was required. 
 
 In the CHRONIC effects of in- 
 fluenza AND RESULTING DEBILITY 
 careful constitutional treatment is 
 required, and each case must be 
 
 LofC. 
 
loo Grippe. 
 
 treated by itself. There are, liow- 
 ever, a few remedies which may be 
 usefully mentioned here. 
 
 Natrum salicylicum^ No. 3, every 
 two or four hours, has relieved 
 many cases in which symptoms of 
 vertigo, with noise in the head, have 
 remained after influenza. Patients 
 to whom I have given it have so 
 frequently praised its '^ tonic' ^ effect 
 that I have given it (and with great 
 success) where the debility has 
 been the leading symptom, and no 
 head symptoms have been com- 
 plained of. Sulphur^ Arsenicum^ 
 and Natrum mur. will be frequently 
 required, according to indications 
 already given. In the profound 
 prostration, with loss of flesh, which 
 often follows, Kali iodatum 30, 
 
Grippe. loi 
 
 every four hours, has proved a very 
 efficient remedy in my experience. 
 Finally, where there is great chilli- 
 ness, debility that compels the pa- 
 tient to lie down, sinking sensation 
 and general prostration, Psorinum 
 30, three or four times a day, will 
 give great relief. 
 
MATERIA MEDICA. 
 
 Aconite. — Suitable for a cold from 
 the commencement and during the first 
 two days. Influenza. 
 
 Symptoms. — Chills and heats, sneezing, 
 coryza, headache. In influenza: sharp 
 fever, dry skin, great depression, and in- 
 tense restlessness and anxiety. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, one drop or six pilules 
 every hour. 
 
 Agaricus. — To correct tendency to 
 colds. 
 
 Symptoms. — Chilblains ; nervous twitch - 
 ings; indolent circulation; in persons of 
 light hair and lax fibre; inclined to be fat; 
 feel worse in the night; in cold air; dur- 
 ing repose; before a thunderstorm. 
 
 Dose: No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 three times a day. 
 
I04 Materia Medica. 
 
 Arsenicum. — For acute or chronic 
 colds. Also in hay fever and influenza, 
 both as a prophylactic and in the treat- 
 ment of the disease when indicated by 
 the symptoms. 
 
 Symptoms. — Thin, irritating nasal dis- 
 charge; hot, burning sensation in nose 
 and eyes; burning thirst; red tongue; 
 anxiety; restlessness; prostration; fever; 
 headache; sleeplessness. Better by 
 warmth. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. As a prophylactic, 
 twice a day. 
 
 Baptisia. — Almost specific in influ- 
 enza. 
 
 Symptoms, — Pains all over and gen- 
 eral soreness; restlessness; drowsy; be- 
 sotted expression; catarrh; sore throat, 
 headache. 
 
 Dose: No. 3'', one or two drops every 
 hour. 
 
 BE1.1.ADONNA. — Influenza. 
 
Materia Medica, 105 
 
 Symptoms. — Intense throbbing head- 
 ache; highly flushed face; sore throat; 
 tendency to delirium, neuralgia of face, 
 and earache. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, one or two drops every 
 hour. 
 
 Bryonia. — Influenza. 
 
 Symptoms. — Pains all over, aggravated 
 by the least movement. 
 
 Dose: No. 3^, one or two drops every 
 hour. 
 
 Calcarea garb. — Suitable for chronic 
 colds and for correcting the tendency to 
 colds. Also for Polypus. 
 
 Symptoms. — The leuco-phlegmatic tem- 
 perament; acidity; internal chilliness; 
 coryza, chiefly dry; nostrils sore; poly- 
 pus; margins of eyelids sore. Aggrava- 
 tion of symptoms morning and evening, 
 from cold water and cold air. 
 
 Dose: For chronic cold, No. 6, two 
 drops or six pilules every two hours. 
 
io6 Materia Medica. 
 
 For correcting tendency, No. 12, two 
 drops or six pilules three times a day. 
 
 Camphor. — At the very beginning of 
 a cold before the chill has passed off. 
 Camphor was recommended by Hahne- 
 mann as a remedy for Russian influenza, 
 and has been used with good effect in the 
 recent epidemic, when the initial chill 
 has been great and attended with great 
 prostration. 
 
 Dose: One camphor pill, or one drop 
 of Rubini's tincture on sugar, every fif- 
 teen minutes until reaction sets in. 
 
 Carbo vkg. — For correcting tendency 
 to colds. 
 
 Symptoms. — I^ow vital power; venous 
 engorgement, giving the skin and com- 
 plexion a blue appearance; blue cold 
 hands and feet; aggravation in warm 
 damp weather. 
 
 Dose: No. 12, two drops or six pilules 
 three times a da3^ 
 
Materia Medica. 107 
 
 Ckpa (^Allium cepd). — Acute colds. 
 
 Symptoms. — Fluent coryza; tightness 
 at root of nose; constant sneezing; pain 
 in back, and chills; melancholy, anxiety, 
 restlessness. Worse entering warm room 
 from cold air; better out of doors. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Dulcamara. — In chronic colds. 
 
 Symptoms, — Extreme sensitiveness to 
 damp cold; blocking of the nose, with a 
 discharge which the least cold air stops 
 again; dryness of the mouth without 
 thirst; hoarseness; aggravation during 
 rest; amelioration during movement. 
 
 Dose : No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 GkIvSEMIUm. — In acute colds. Influ- 
 enza. 
 
 Symptoms. — Creeping chills up the 
 back; fulness of the head; heat of face; 
 fulness over root of nose; sneezing; fluent 
 
io8 Materia Medtca. 
 
 coryza; restlessness at night, with drowsi- 
 ness and languor. The fever remits, 
 passing off without perspiration, and re- 
 curring again. With the chills there is 
 profuse flow of urine with relief to the 
 head. Aggravation of symptoms by 
 warmth of bed; after midnight; in damp 
 weather; and from change of weather. 
 
 Dose : No. i , one drop or six pilules 
 every hour. 
 
 Hkpar. — Acute and chronic colds 
 when Mercurius is indicated but fails to 
 act, or where the patient has been over- 
 dosed with mercury formerly. 
 
 Symptoms. — When each draught of air 
 produces a fresh cold or a headache, the 
 cold affecting one nostril only, and the 
 headache being made worse by move- 
 ment. 
 
 Dose : No. 6, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Hydrastis. — For chronic colds. 
 
Materia Medica. 109 
 
 Symptoms. — Much thick discharge 
 from the nose, and especially from the 
 posterior part which leads to the throat; 
 mucus dropping down into the throat; 
 throat in catarrhal condition; tongue 
 yellow-coated ; constipation ; all-gone 
 '^ sinking " sensation at epigastrium. 
 
 Dose : No. i, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Kali hydriodicum {Iodide of Potassi- 
 um). — Acute and chronic colds. Influ- 
 enza and its resulting debility. 
 
 Symptoms. — Profuse flow of clear water 
 from eyes and nose; accumulation of thick 
 tenacious mucus in the nose; discharge of 
 greenish-black or yellow matter of foul 
 smell; nose-bleed; discharge of decom- 
 posed greenish-red blood; sensation of 
 fulness and tightness at the root of the 
 nose; swelling and redness of the nose; 
 sensation of swelling in the nose, with 
 beating pains in the nasal bones; throb- 
 bing and burning in nasal and frontal 
 
no Materia Medica. 
 
 bones, with swelling; abuse of mercury. 
 Aggravation: at night; in cold air; at rest. 
 Better from motion. 
 
 Dose: Nos. 3 or 30, two drops or six 
 pilules every two hours. 
 
 Lkmna. — Colds and polypus. 
 
 Symptoms, — The indications for this 
 medicine are obstruction of the nose, es- 
 pecially bad in damp weather. 
 
 Dose: No. 3'', two drops three times a 
 day. 
 
 Magnesia mur. — For loss of taste 
 and smell left behind after a cold. 
 
 Dose : No. 6, two drops every four 
 hours. 
 
 lAn'R.^\5^T^^(^Mercurius solubilis or Mer- 
 curius vivus'). — For acute and chronic 
 colds. Tendency to take cold. 
 
 Symptoms, — Common cold, with abun- 
 dant discharge of serous mucus; nose 
 swollen and red; fetid smell of nasal 
 mucus; heavy frontal headache; deaf- 
 ness; nightly sweat, with febrile chill 
 
Materia Medica. iii 
 
 and heat; great thirst; pain in the limbs; 
 low spirits; desire for solitude; all symp- 
 toms increased both by heat and cold. 
 
 Dose : For cold, No. 6, two drops or 
 six pilules every two hours. For the 
 liability to cold, No. 12, two drops or six 
 pilules three times a day. 
 
 NAPHTHAI.IN. — Hay fever. 
 
 Dose: One drop or six pilules every two 
 hours whilst the acute symptoms last. 
 
 Natrum mur. — Acute and chronic 
 colds. Liability to cold. Influenza. 
 
 Symptoms, — Fluent coryza; weight in 
 forehead on rising in the morning; vesicles 
 on lips; chills along the back; constipa- 
 tion; sadness, depression, inclination to 
 weep; aggravation of symptoms in the 
 morning and periodically; chilly sub- 
 jects; unclear complexion; after malarial 
 fevers or abuse of quinine; anaemia. 
 
 Dose : For colds. No. 6, two drops or 
 six pilules every two hours. For liability 
 
112 Materia Medica. 
 
 to cold, No. 12, two drops or six pilules 
 three times a day. 
 
 Natrum SALiCYiyicUM. — Debility after 
 influenza. 
 
 Symptoms. — Great weakness, with 
 tightness of the head, especially if there 
 is deafness, with giddiness and noises in 
 the ears. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, one or two drops four 
 times a day. 
 
 Nux VOMICA. — Acute colds. 
 
 Symptoms, — Dry coryza, with blocking 
 of the nose; or dry coryza in the morning 
 and fluent in the evening and night; 
 heaviness of forehead; angry and quarrel- 
 some humour; constipation. Aggrava- 
 tion from mental exertion; in the morn- 
 ing; after eating, especially after dinner; 
 from motion; from slight touch; in open 
 air; in dry weather. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 PHYT01.ACCA. — Influenza. 
 
Materia Medica. 113 
 
 Sy77ipto7ns. — Sore throat with white 
 spots on tonsils and sore glands externally; 
 pains in the back and all over; worst in 
 damp weather. 
 
 Dose: No. 3^, one or two drops every 
 houn A gargle of five drops of the S 
 tincture to a teacupful of water may be 
 used every three or four hours. 
 
 PsORiNUM. — Chronic colds. Influenza. 
 Hay fever. 
 
 Syinptoms, — Constant sneezing; drop- 
 ping of mucus down posterior nares; 
 great aversion to cold air and to w^ashing; 
 prostration; sinking sensation; better 
 lying down. Follows Sulphur well. 
 
 Dose: No. 30, six pilules three or four 
 times a day, 
 
 Pui.SATii.iv A. — Acute colds. 
 
 Symptoms, — Discharge of yellowish- 
 green fetid mucus; loss of appetite and 
 sense of taste; head heavy and embar- 
 rassed, especially in the evening and by 
 
 9 
 
114 Materia Medica. 
 
 warmth of a room, with stopping of the 
 nose; absence of thirst; chilliness in the 
 evening; better in the open air. Suitable 
 for blonde persons; of soft fibre; gentle 
 disposition. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Rhus TOX. — Influenza. 
 
 Sywpio77is. — The opposite of Biyonia. 
 The patient must move about continually 
 to get relief from pains. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, one or two drops every 
 hour. 
 
 SabadilIvA. — Hay fever. 
 
 Syinptoms, — Violent sneezing with 
 lachrymation; redness and swelling of 
 eyelids; contracting, stupefying head- 
 ache. 
 
 Dose: No. 3, two drops or six pilules 
 every two hours. 
 
 Sanguinaria Canad. and Nitratk 
 OF Sanguinarin. — For acute and chronic 
 colds. Polypus. 
 
Materia Medica. 115 
 
 Symptoms. — Coryza profuse and fluent; 
 or dry, with frequent sneezing; dull, 
 heavy pain at root of nose; odour of 
 roasted onions in the nose; dryness of 
 lips; tongue feels as if burnt; throat full, 
 swollen, and constricted; sharp stitches 
 in chest; depression and irritability. 
 Aggravation morning and evening; from 
 light and motion. 
 
 Dose: S ajig ulnar ia, No. i, two drops 
 or six pilules every two hours; Nitrate of 
 Sangitijiarin^ No. 3^ trituration, one 
 grain every two hours. 
 
 Sulphur. — For chronic colds and for 
 tendency to colds. Effects of influenza. 
 
 Sympto77is, — Blocking and great dry- 
 ness of nose; or abundant secretion of 
 thick, yellowish, purulent mucus; bleed- 
 ing; loss of smell; tendency to skin af- 
 fections and to perspire easily. Aggrava- 
 tion from warmth of bed and during rest; 
 better during motion. 
 
 Dose: For cold, No. 6, two drops or 
 
ii6 Materia Medica. 
 
 six pilules every two hours. For tend- 
 ency, No. 30, two drops or six pilules 
 three times a day. 
 
 Thuja. — Chronic colds. Polypus. 
 
 Symptoms, — Sensitiveness to cold and 
 damp; sycotic subjects; in those who 
 have suffered much from vaccination. 
 
 Dose: No. 30, a drop or six pilules 
 once a day. 
 
INDE^ 
 
 yv. 
 
 Aconite, lo, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 97, 
 
 103. 
 Agaricus, 47, 69, 103. 
 Allium cepa, 39, 107. 
 Amtnoniated quinine, 93. 
 Arsenicum, 49, 51, 70, 8;^^ 94, 96, 100, 
 
 104. 
 Baptisia, 96, 97, 104. 
 Bath, cold, remarks on, 17, 26, 27. 
 Bath, hot, 22, 39. 
 Bath, Turkish, 22, 39. 
 Baths, use of, in influenza, 95. 
 Belladonna, 98, 104. 
 Bryonia, 98, 105. 
 Burnett, Dr., on Natrum muriaticum, 56. 
 
 Calcarea carb. , 61, S^t 67, 6S, 74, 76, 105. 
 Camphor, 45, 46, 47, 48, 106. 
 
ii8 Index. 
 
 Carbo veg., 47, 49, 106. 
 
 Catarrh, chronic, 60. 
 
 Cepa, 39, 49, 53, 107. 
 
 China, 99, 
 
 Clothes, wet, sitting in, apt to cause chill, 
 
 17. 
 Clothing, importance of suitable, 29. 
 Cod liver oil for external application, 27. 
 Cold, acute, medicinal treatment of, 45. 
 Cold bath, remarks on, 17, 26, 27. 
 Cold-curing, 32. 
 Cold in the head, 41. 
 Cold-preventing, 25, 
 Cold, tendency to take, 66. 
 Cold, violent, in gouty patients cured by 
 
 Cepa, 53. 
 Cold, ways of catching, 13. 
 Colds, chronic, medicinal treatment of, 60. 
 Colds, general, remarks on, i. 
 Cooper, Dr., on I^emna minor, 76. 
 
 Dulcamara, 61, 64, 74, 107. 
 
Index. 119 
 
 Eaux-bonnes sulphur springs valuable for 
 
 chronic colds, 41, 65. 
 Eucalyptus, 93. 
 
 Foods, what should be avoided, 43. 
 
 Gelsemium, 49, 50, 98, 107. 
 
 Girl, young, subject to colds, case of, 68. 
 
 Gout ftequently induces hay fever, 80. 
 
 Hay fever, 78. 
 
 Hay fever, case of, 82. 
 
 Hepar sulphuris, 52, 108. 
 
 Homoeopathy can be adapted to any dis- 
 order, 36. 
 
 Hydrastis, 61, 62, 63, 108. 
 
 Influenza, chronic effects of, require con- 
 stitutional treatment, 99. 
 
 Influenza cold, 6, 51. 
 
 Influenza, description of, 84. 
 
 Influenza, epidemic, 7. 
 
 Influenza, medicines for, 96. 
 
 Influenza, treatment of, 93. 
 
I20 Index. 
 
 Jaeger, Dr., on clothing, 30. 
 
 Kali hydriodicum (iodide of potassium), 
 58, 100, 109, 
 
 *' Lancet, the, on German experitnenters, 
 II. 
 
 lycmna minor, 76, no. 
 
 Magnes. mur., 66, no. 
 Materia medica, 103. 
 Mercurius viv., 10, 47, 49, 51, 52, 61, 64, 
 67, 70, no. 
 
 Naphthalin, 82, in. 
 
 Nasal polypus, 71. 
 
 Nasal polypus, case of, in young lady, 73. 
 
 Natruni muriaticum, 40, 49, 56, 61, 63, 
 
 67, 68, 100, III. 
 Natrum salicylicum, 100, 112. 
 Nitric acid, 76. 
 Nux vomica, 49, 54, 112. 
 
 Onion gruel, hot, as a remedy for cold, 39, 
 
Index. 121 
 
 Phosphorus, 76. 
 Phytolacca, 99, 112. 
 Psorinum, 83, loi, 113. 
 Pulsatilla, 49, 54, 55, 113. 
 
 Rhinitis, atrophic, cured by Lemna 
 
 minor, 76. 
 Rhus tox., 98, 114. 
 Roche, Dr. W., on Natrum muriaticum, 
 
 57. 
 
 Sabadilla, 83, 114. 
 
 Salad oil, when useful for the skin, 22, 27. 
 Salt treatment, 40. 
 Sanguinaria, 49, 55, 76, 114. 
 Sang, uitr., 55, 76, 114. 
 Sheets, damp, danger of sleeping in, 16. 
 Silica, 74. 
 
 Spirits of wine, sponging with, 28. 
 Stannum, 74. 
 
 Sulphur, 6t, 65, 67, 78, 100, 115. 
 Sulphur springs valuable for chronic 
 colds, 41. 
 
122 Index. 
 
 Teucrium, 76. 
 Thuja, 74, 76, 116. 
 
OCT 261899 
 
SSI 
 
 yiisi 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 00025^73574