Chlorum

Chlorine. The element.

Introduced and first proved by C. Hering, in 1846, and published in Archives, 2, 3, p. 165, which contains his symptoms and those of another prover, Mr. Whitey, besides numerous chemical, toxicological and pharmacological observations. For later provings, including S. A. Jones' involuntary proving, from inhaling the gas, see Encyclopædia, vol. 3 . It was first used in practice by Carroll Dunham.

CLINICAL AUTHORITIES.

• Hemorrhage from bowels in typhus , Schweich, Rück Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 754 ; Spasmus glottidis , C. Dunham, Hom. Rev. vol. 2, p. 20, and U. S. Med. and Surg. Jour., Oct. 1869, p. 117 ; Suffocative attacks , Searle, Raue's Path., p. 337 ; Spasmodic cough , C. Dunham, Hom. Rev., vol. 3, p. 370 ; Phthisis and chronic catarrh , a number of cases relieved and cured by inhalation, Frank's Mag., vol. 3, p. 130 ; Malignant pustule , Frank's Mag., vol. 1, p. 432.

MIND [1]

Mind tranquil and active.

Apprehension.

A horrible state of mind, fears he will go crazy, fears he cannot make a living.

Everything seems in confusion.

Cannot remember names if he sees people, and when seeing the names does not remember the person.

Quiet delirium in alternation with the greatest restlessness and desire to run away. θ Typhus.

Restless desire to walk about, as if whole attention must be centered on act of respiration.

Intoxicated feeling with sopor and great nervous irritation ; dry mouth and diarrhœa. θ Typhus.

Inclined to anger.

After excitement. θ Spasmus glottidis.

SENSORIUM [2]

Disposition to faint. θ Typhus.

Vertigo and stupor.

Coma, fainting and cold, viscous sweats. θ Typhus. θ Scarlatina. θ Measles. θ Variola.

Partially comatose during suffocative attack.

Partial unconsciousness, followed by free respiration and deep sleep.

INNER HEAD [3]

Rush of blood to head.

Painful aching in vertex and down left side, with inclination to lie down.

OUTER HEAD [4]

Warm sweat breaks out on forehead while coughing.

SIGHT AND EYES [5]

Dull and glassy expression of eyes. θ Spasmus glottidis.

Staring eyes.

Dimness before eyes.

Running of tears < in open air.

Eyes protrude with coryza, sunken face and spasmodic cough.

Purulent ophthalmia.

HEARING AND EARS [6]

Singing in ears.

Deafness. θ Typhus.

SMELL AND NOSE [7]

Dryness in nose before coryza.

Nose smoky or sooty. θ Typhus.

Corrosive feeling in corners of nose.

Nose completely stopped.

Sudden running in drops, of a sharp, corroding fluid, with tears in eyes, dry tongue, palate and fauces.

Nose discharged mucus freely.

Water dropped from left nostril, did not burn or excoriate skin.

Coryza with headache.

Fluid coryza very soon changes to yellow, copious phlegm.

Evening coryza, morning sneezing.

Severe sneezing.

Nasal complaints < lying down.

UPPER FACE [8]

Face pale and bloated. θ Spasmus glottidis.

Pale, dirty yellow, cadaverous color ; face puffed up.

Face high colored.

Child became livid. θ Spasm of glottis.

Face extremely livid, blue.

Ash-colored face. θ Typhus.

Swollen face, with protrusion of eyes, abundant discharge of mucus from nostrils.

Warm sweat broke out on forehead while coughing.

LOWER FACE [9]

Lips, tongue and teeth brown, black and sooty. θ Typhus.

TEETH AND GUMS [10]

Sensation as if teeth were too full, or had been injured by acids.

Teeth black.

TASTE, SPEECH, TONGUE [11]

Tongue dry. θ Typhus.

Sensation as if tongue had been burnt.

Tongue black.

INNER MOUTH [12]

Dryness of whole buccal cavity. θ Typhus.

Abundant discharge of mucus from mouth and nose.

Salivation.

Soreness of mouth, fauces and œsophagus, as if tongue had been burnt ; as if he had been eating vegetable acids, or as if his teeth had been injured by acids.

Sore mouth.

Increased vascularity and minute ulcerations in mouth and throat.

Opening mouth to take food or drink produced spasm of glottis.

Putrid odor from mouth. θ Stomacace.

PALATE AND THROAT [13]

Dryness of throat.

Inability to swallow.

Throat sore from uvula to bronchi, including fauces and œsophagus.

Throat and chest sore, voice hoarse.

Any attempt to examine the throat produced spasm of glottis.

Reported to have had a favorable effect upon the diphtheritic process.

APPETITE, THIRST. DESIRES, AVERSIONS [14]

Loss of appetite. θ Spasmus glottidis.

No thirst with coryza, but cold water is very serviceable.

EATING AND DRINKING [15]

Even tasting food was prevented by spasm of glottis ; while eating, and after it, hot feelings ; irritable, and disposed to get into a rage.

After eating, increase of headache with fever.

Smoking causes a dryness in mouth.

HICCOUGH, BELCHING, NAUSEA AND VOMITING [16]

Disposition to vomit.

Desire to vomit when coughing, without nausea.

Violent vomiting of dark liver-colored masses of blood, without any pain, lessening pain in precordia and sensation of suffocation.

SCROBICULUM AND STOMACH [17]

Contracting sensation and pain in precordia.

Cannot bear any pressure on pit of stomach.

Peculiar painful sensation with cough, beginning in region of stomach and extending to head.

Acidity of stomach.

Irritation of stomach.

Stomach inflamed.

Mild catarrh of stomach and chronic bronchitis, with loss of flesh, and an unhealthy color of skin.

HYPOCHONDRIA [18]

Increased secretion of bile.

ABDOMEN AND LOINS [19]

Weakness in abdomen.

STOOLS AND RECTUM [20]

Stools of bright blood.

Diarrhœa with dryness of mouth, after the appearance of eruption in typhus.

Hemorrhage from bowels in typhus ; blood black, coagulated or thin, smelling like carrion.

Diarrhœa in the morning.

URINARY ORGANS [21]

Urine possesses bleaching properties.

Urine does not redden litmus paper.

Frequent urging to urinate.

MALE SEXUAL ORGANS [22]

Sudden impotence with aversion to sexual intercourse.

VOICE AND LARYNX. TRACHEA AND BRONCHIA [25]

Loss of voice.

Aphonia from damp air.

Great difficulty in articulating or breathing.

Spasms of vocal cords.

Sensation of warmth in respiratory passages ; increased secretion from mucous membranes, and increased expectoration.

Feeling of stiffness in rima glottidis with impeded expiration.

Sensation of constriction in air tubes, tightness and suffocation.

Sensation as if the whole larynx was raw or would become so, with single coughs threatening a very violent attack.

Feeling as if the rima glottidis was stiff, as if composed of an iron ring.

Violent irritation in epiglottis, larynx, and bronchial tubes.

Violent spasms of glottis ; air is admitted well enough, but its exit is prevented.

So firmly did the glottis appear to be closed, that it seemed as though air might pass through any part of the thoracic walls more readily than by way of larynx.

Thirty or forty attacks of spasmus glottidis occurring within twenty-four hours.

Scratching sensation in bifurcation of windpipe.

Chronic bronchitis and mild catarrh of stomach, with loss of flesh and an unhealthy color of skin (workmen exposed to fumes).

Phlegmonous inflammation of bronchial membranes.

Inflammation of air passages and lungs.

Is said to have caused croup.

RESPIRATION [26]

Respiration and pulse frequent.

Sudden tightness of chest.

Sensation of oppression felt more in right lung.

Dyspnœa with great physical anxiety.

Sudden and extreme dyspnœa from spasm of vocal cords.

When dyspnœa was at the worst, it was attended by a feeling as if a narrow band was drawn tightly around lower third of whole chest.

Dyspnœa increasing, great anxiety, not that he thinks he will die, but on account of the impeded respiration ; physical, not psychical anxiety.

Sense of impending suffocation.

Paroxysms of suffocation followed by catarrh.

Inspiration easy, but could not completely fill the lungs with air.

Inspiration is attended by a short crackling rale.

Suddenly and without warning, child makes a long crowing inspiration, an attempt is made to exhale, but without success ; another crowing inspiration followed by a forcible, but ineffectual effort to exhale ; and this was repeated until she became blue around the mouth ; and sank into partial unconsciousness, when free inspiration would take place and child would generally sink into deep sleep ; frequently towards close of an attack, convulsive movements of extremities take place. θ Spasmus glottidis.

Expiration easy and noiseless ; inspiration difficult, with râles.

Inspiration unimpeded and can be effected in the natural manner, but expiration is absolutely impossible.

Gasping inhalation and expiration nearly impossible.

Breathing consists of a succession of crowing inspirations, each followed by an ineffectual effort at expiration, inflating the chest to a more painful extent. θ Spasmus glottidis. θ Emphysema pulmonum.

Crowing inspiration ; absolutely obstructed expiration ; face turgid and livid ; convulsive movements of extremities ; partial coma.

Expiration accompanied by prolonged, loud, whistling râles, each pulsation of heart gives a crescendo diminuendo effect to them.

Expiration difficult, prolonged, and seems as if insufficient, as if air cells were hardly half empty.

Whistling rales quite loud in forced expiration.

COUGH [27]

Any attempt to cough produces spasm of glottis.

Spasmodic cough.

Whistling-wheezing cough.

Desire to cough resulting from a tickling and a sensation of rawness behind the thyroid cartilage ; when he seeks to yield to this desire he finds it impossible to expel the air from the chest ; the cough is therefore abortive, although the desire grows continually more and more intense ; the obstruction to cough results from an apparent constriction just below larynx, although he can draw air freely into the lungs.

The freedom of inhalation and impeded exhalation, together with constantly increasing tickling in larynx which compelled him to make very energetic but unavailing efforts to cough, continue until he sinks exhausted and covered with sweat upon a couch, when spasm seems to relax and he can cough and exhale with comparative freedom ; paroxysms recur about every two hours. θ Spasmodic cough.

A continuous little dry cough.

Cough seldom ; no expectoration, but a little hoarseness.

At each cough, a spot in chest (region of right bronchus) feels sore, as if cough jarred and hurt it.

Cough, tightness and sensation of pressure in chest.

Violent cough, sensation of constriction in air tubes, tightness and suffocation.

While coughing, warm sweat breaks out upon forehead.

Coughing, with a desire to vomit.

When coughing it seems as if he must surely vomit ; as if effort to "raise" phlegm would also empty stomach ; yet no nausea is felt.

Constant cough, bronchi apparently filled with thick, tenacious mucus.

Fits of coughing in which phlegm was always raised and ejected, but only after long and fatiguing efforts ; in a minute or two phlegm would again collect, causing a fit of exhausting coughing, until it was expectorated.

Cough, with expectoration of thick, white, frothy mucus.

Cough, with spitting of blood, with pleuritic pains.

No relief from expectoration ; chest seems to fill again at once.

INNER CHEST AND LUNGS [28]

Sensation of warmth in respiratory organs.

Feeling as if a narrow band was tightly drawn around lower third of whole chest.

Lungs inflated to a most painful degree.

Sensation in lower and inner third of right lung as if it was ruptured ; there is a feeling as if air escaped from lung into pleural cavity at each inspiration, the inspirations being attended by a separate rattling rale, confined to the quasi ruptured locality, the vibrations of which were felt by the common sensation, perceptible to the touch (hand on chest) and audible to the bystander.

Rush of blood to chest.

Hæmoptysis.

Inflammation of lungs and air passages. θ Phthisis pulmonalis.

Increased secretion from mucous membranes and increased expectoration.

HEART, PULSE AND CIRCULATION [29]

Heart's action much increased.

Pulse frequent.

Pulse small and soft.

Pulse diminished.

Congestion to head and chest.

LOWER LIMBS [33]

Weakness in lower limbs.

LIMBS IN GENERAL [34]

Convulsive movements of extremities.

In morning less stiffness in back than usual, but more in limbs.

REST. POSITION. MOTION [35]

Inclination to lie down with pain in head and exhaustion.

Lying down : < nasal complaints.

Attempt to cough : produces spasm of glottis.

Was restless ; desired to walk about ; could not be easy either lying, sitting or walking ; seems as though whole attention must be centered upon the act of respiration.

Walking up or down improves feverish malaise.

NERVES [36]

Nervous sensibility.

Great physical anxiety with dyspnœa.

Loss of strength and playfulness. θ Spasmus glottidis.

Great prostration. θ Typhus.

The nervous symptoms continually increase in third or fourth week of typhus.

Subsultus tendinum. θ Typhus.

Violent spasms with the coming of eye teeth.

The interrupted breathing results in asphyxia with or without convulsions, during which relaxation follows and free perspiration takes place again. θ Laryngismus stridulus.

Towards close of an attack convulsive movements. θ Laryngismus stridulus.

SLEEP [37]

Attacks of spasmus glottidis occur frequently during sleep, arousing child suddenly ; they are most frequent from midnight to 7 A. M.

Night sweat.

TIME [38]

Midnight to 7 A. M. : attacks of spasmus glottidis.

Wakens at 3 or 4 A. M. with apprehension of a terrible disease coming on.

On waking in morning he has tears in his eyes.

In morning : ill humor ; difficult to rouse ; sneezing ; feverish taste ; weakness in abdomen ; diarrhœa ; stiff in all the limbs.

At 10 A. M. to 2 P. M. : crawling over front of arms, back and thighs.

Acts quicker when taken in evening.

In evening less appetite, sudden coryza, threatening cough, crawls and chilliness.

TEMPERATURE AND WEATHER [39]

When sitting with the sun shining on his back, drizzling crawl, followed by febrile sensations.

Walking in open air relieves chest affections.

Warm room is suffocating to him, but cold air gave no marked relief.

In open air : running of tears.

Chilly in warm room, evenings ; not in open air, mornings.

From damp air : loss of voice.

FEVER [40]

Cold feeling in head, stomach and limbs.

Chilliness and crawls.

Crawls and shaking in evening.

From 10 A. M. to 2 P. M., crawls over front of arms, back and thighs.

Dimness of eyes, followed by fever.

Burning dry heat with anxiety and raving. θ Typhus.

Copious perspiration.

Cold sweat covers body.

Cold, viscous sweat in typhoid state of eruptive diseases.

A genial glow all over surface with night sweat during sleep.

Night sweat of consumptives.

In typhus give five drops of chlorine water every two or three hours until tongue gets moist (Goullon, Sr.).

ATTACKS, PERIODICITY [41]

Every two hours, attacks of spasmodic cough.

Thirty or forty attacks of spasmus glottidis within twenty-four hours.

SENSATIONS [43]

As of impending suffocation ; as if teeth were too full or had been injured by acids ; as if tongue had been burnt ; as if rima glottidis was made of an iron ring ; as if larynx was raw ; as if a narrow band was drawn tightly around lower third of chest ; as if lower third of right lung was ruptured and air escaped into pleural cavity ; as if air cells were hardly half empty ; as if an insect flitted over skin and stung it.

Pain : in precordia ; from stomach to head, with cough.

Aching : in vertex and down left side.

Stinging : in skin, as of a nettle or minute insects.

Corrosive feeling : in corners of nose.

Rawness : of larynx ; behind thyroid cartilage.

Scraping : in windpipe.

Soreness : at each cough in a spot in region of right bronchus ; of throat and chest.

Pressure : in chest.

Biting : in skin as of minute insects.

Contracting sensation : in precordia.

Constriction : in air tubes ; just below larynx.

Oppression : most in right lung.

Weakness : in abdomen ; in lower limbs.

Stiffness : in rima glottidis.

Warmth : in respiratory organs.

Cold feeling : in head, stomach and limbs.

Tickling : behind thyroid cartilage.

Dryness : in nose ; of buccal cavity ; of throat.

Itching : with stinging and smarting in skin.

TISSUES [44]

Acts principally on the mucous membranes, particularly on those in juxtaposition with the ascending aorta.

Rapid emaciation. θ Spasmus glottidis.

Loss of fat ; absorption of fat.

Acute rheumatic pains.

TOUCH. PASSIVE MOTION. INJURIES [45]

Cannot bear pressure in pit of stomach.

SKIN [46]

Excessive sensitiveness of skin.

Itchiness with greatly increased sensibility ; he tries to avoid scratching ; slight smarting.

Stinging, as of a nettle.

Stinging and biting here and there as of very minute insects, indescribably transient and minute, occurring at intervals on arm, back, belly and lower limbs ; as if an insect flitted over the part and stung it, desires to slap the part with the palm, has no rest.

Stinging like from cantharides leaves soreness and bruised sensation, replaced by itching ; cuticle comes off in white scales.

Accumulation of blood in capillaries of skin with heat.

Determination of blood to skin, with eruption of minute papillæ, so close that skin has a general red appearance at a short distance, like injected papillæ of cutis anserina ; the papillæ suppurate and vesicate, or desquamate.

Eruption of minute vesicles thickly studded over skin, on shoulders their bases very nearly touch one another ; on disappearing leave minute red and livid spots.

Nettlerash, wheals, white, small, in clusters surrounded by diffuse redness.

Skin red and painful, becoming tumid and swollen and thick as in facial erysipelas.

Inflammation of the cuticle and ulceration.

Cutis anserina ; dry, yellow and shrivelled.

Urticaria febrilis.

Typhoid state in scarlatina, measles, variola, spotted and putrid fever. θ Typhus.

Furfuration ; slight desquamation.

(OBS :) Malignant pustule and carbuncle.

STAGE OF LIFE, CONSTITUTION [47]

Female infant, æt. 9 months, well developed and large ; spasmus glottidis.

Child, æt. 1 1/2 ; spasms during dentition.

J. S., æt. 52, has suffered from follicular pharyngitis, has had larynx and fauces treated with nitrate of silver, until it became unendurable, has now much pain in throat, habitual cough and expectoration of glairy mucus ; spasmodic cough.

RELATIONS [48]

Antidotes : Inhalation of sulphuretted hydrogen is the best chemical antidote ; albumen ; Lycop . antidotes the impotency ; Plumb. ac . antidotes the blood spitting and pleurisy.

It antidotes : Hydr. ac. ; sulphuretted hydrogen (suffocation from).

When Phosphor . had been given, without use. θ Typhus.

Closely resembles Mephitis (suffocative feeling with inability to exhale, bloated face, convulsions).

Similar to all the halogens, particularly to Bromine .

Like all other constituent elements of the human body, it acts by preference on those organs in which it has a function to perform.