Ruta Graveolens
By Constantine Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica
Rue. Rutaceæ.
A native of the South of Europe, cultivated in Northern gardens. The leaves are acrid, hot and bitter, the flowers yellow. The tincture is prepared from the fresh herb, gathered shortly before blooming.
Proving by Hahnemann, Franz, Gross, Hartman, Herrman, Hornburg, Langhammer, Stapf, Wislicenus, R. A. M. L., vol. 4 ; Hartlaub and Trinks, R. A. M. L., vol. 1 ; Hering, Archiv für Hom., vol. 15.
CLINICAL AUTHORITIES.
- Amblyopia , Bethmann, Lobethal, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 338 ; Pain in eyes , Cowperthwaite, M. I., vol. 1, p. 96 ; Dyspepsia , Farrington, Raue's Rec., 1874, p. 171 ; from A. J. H. M. M., vol. 7, p. 25 ; Hah. Mo., vol. 10, p. 45 ; Chronic prolapse of rectum , Spooner, N. E. M. G., vol. 4, p. 409 ; Polypus and prolapsus of rectum , Gerstel, A. H. Z., vol. 106, p. 83 ; Prolapsus ani , Müller, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 994 ; Urinary difficulty , Koch, Hom. Cl., vol. 1, p. 220 ; Pain in back , Kirsch, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 877 ; Berridge, N. A. J. H., vol. 22, p. 494 ; Pain below scapula , Berridge, Hom. Cl., vol. 4, p. 113 ; Soreness in bones of hands , Libby, M. I., vol. 3, p. 205, 1876 ; Ganglia , Gregory, Hom. Phys., vol. 2, p. 164 ; Bursitis , Smith, M. I, vol. 4, p. 266 ; Sciatic rheumatism , Miller, H. M., vol. 8, p. 199 ; Rheumatism , Nankivell, Raue's Rec., 1873, p. 192, from H. W., vol. 7, p. 278 ; Injury to bones , Hrg., Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 1029.
MIND [1]
Inclination to contradict and quarrel.
Dissatisfied with himself and others.
Anxious and low-spirited, with mental dejection.
Melancholy disposition toward evening.
SENSORIUM [2]
Vertigo : in morning when rising ; when sitting ; when walking in open air.
INNER HEAD [3]
Sticking drawing pain extending from frontal to temporal bone.
Stitches in left frontal bone, only while reading.
Pulsative pressing pain in forehead.
Heat in head, with much restlessness.
Rhythmical pressive pain in head.
Pain as from a fall, in periosteum, extending from temporal bones to occiput.
Headache : as if a nail were driven into head ; like a stupefying pressure on whole brain ; after excessive use of intoxicating drinks.
OUTER HEAD [4]
Large painful swelling on scalp, as if originating in periosteum, sore to touch and preceded by rending pain.
Head externally painful, as if bruised or beaten.
Erysipelas of scalp, arising from wounds.
Humid scabs on head.
Periosteum from temples to occiput, pains as if bruised.
Corrosive itching on scalp.
Twitching in muscles of brow.
SIGHT AND EYES [5]
Vision very weak, as if eyes were excessively strained.
Objects seem dim before eyes, as if a shadow were flitting before them.
Dulness of sight, brought on by taxing or straining eyes.
As if sight had been strained by too much reading.
Letters seem to run together.
Pain like a pressure in right eye, with obscuration of vision, as if one had looked too long and intently at an object.
Aching in and over eyes, with blurring of vision, after using eyes and straining them at fine work.
Amblyopia : dependent upon overexertion of eyes, or anomalies of refraction ; from writing by artificial light ; fine needlework, etc. ; in a weaver, could with difficulty distinguish one thread from another, and could not read at all ; mistiness of sight, with complete obscuration at a distance.
Asthenopia : irritability of every tissue of eye from overwork or from using eyes on fine work ; heat and aching in and over eyes, eyes feel like balls of fire at night, blurring of vision, letters seem to run together, lachrymation, etc.
Choroiditis in a myopic eye, caused by straining eyes ; much pain in eyes on trying to look at objects, heat in eye though it seems cold, and twitching in balls.
Asthenopia ; more often indicated in weakness of ciliary muscles than of internal recti.
Loss of power over internal rectus.
Burning in eyes in evening, especially when trying to sew or read ; eyes feel strained ; read too much by articial light.
Green halo around light in evening.
Spots on cornea.
Itching on inner canthus and on lower lid, smarting after rubbing, eye becomes full of water.
Eyes burn, ache, feel strained, sight blurred ; < using them in evening.
Burning beneath left eye.
Sensation of heat and fire in eyes and aching while reading (in evening by light).
Eyes appear irritable and run water, especially toward evening after working all day.
Pressure deep in orbits.
Pain as from a bruise in orbicular cartilages.
Pressure on inner surface of left eye, with profuse lachrymation.
Eyes feel hot like balls of fire.
Eyes water in open air, not indoors.
Spasms of lower eyelids, afterward lachrymation.
HEARING AND EARS [6]
Sensation in ear as if one were digging about with a blunt piece of wood, a kind of scraping pressure.
Pain as if bruised in cartilage of ear, and under mastoid process.
SMELL AND NOSE [7]
Sweat on dorsum of nose.
Bleeding of nose, with pressure at root of nose.
UPPER FACE [8]
Erysipelas and swelling on forehead.
Pain, as if bruised, in periosteum of facial bones.
Facial paralysis after catching cold.
LOWER FACE [9]
Lips dry and sticky.
Pimples on lips.
Pain as from a blow beneath mastoid process.
TEETH AND GUMS [10]
Pain in lower teeth.
Gums painful and bleed readily.
TASTE, SPEECH, TONGUE [11]
Spasm of tongue, with difficulty of speech.
PALATE AND THROAT [13]
Sensation as from a lump in throat on empty deglutition.
APPETITE, THIRST. DESIRES, AVERSIONS [14]
Appetite normal, but aversion to everything as soon as he begins to eat.
Unquenchable desire for cold water, drinks much and often without being incommoded.
Violent thirst for cold water in afternoon.
EATING AND DRINKING [15]
After eating : sudden nausea ; pinching in stomach after bread and butter ; eructations and itching of skin after meat ; replete as soon as he eats.
HICCOUGH, BELCHING, NAUSEA AND VOMITING [16]
Hiccough, with depression.
Frequent odorless eructations.
A kind of nausea in pit of stomach.
Nausea, sudden, while eating, with vomiting of food.
SCROBICULUM AND STOMACH [17]
Epigastric region sensitive.
Tension at stomach in great measure appeased by drinking milk.
Burning gnawing in stomach.
Gnawing sensation in stomach as from emptiness or hunger.
Pruritus of stomach and intestines showing itself by pricking, gnawing pains.
Dyspepsia of fifteen years, caused by straining stomach when carrying heavy weight ; pulse soft, and every attempt to eat meat would be followed by headache ; eructations and itching all over, like an undeveloped nettlerash ; he could eat fat meat and drink milk.
HYPOCHONDRIA [18]
Gnawing pressing pain in region of liver.
Painful swelling of spleen.
ABDOMEN AND LOINS [19]
Gnawing pain about navel.
Colic : with burning or gnawing pain ; in children, from worms.
STOOLS AND RECTUM [20]
Stool : soft, discharged with difficulty, from inactivity of rectum ; rectum protrudes immediately on attempting a passage ; lumpy, slimy or bloody, with much flatus ; seemingly only flatus ; empty eructations, distended abdomen ; feces often escape when bending over.
Frequent urging to stool with small, soft discharges.
Frequent unsuccessful urging, with prolapsus ani.
Constipation, alternating with mucous, frothy stools.
Scanty, hard stool ; stool like sheep's dung.
Constipation from inactivity of bowels or impaction of feces following mechanical injuries.
Difficult expulsion of large-sized feces.
Tearing in rectum and urethra, while urinating.
Tearing stitches in rectum while sitting.
Frequent pressure to stool, with prolapsus of rectum, also with emission of much flatus ; the slightest stooping, or still more crouching down, caused rectum to protrude.
Prolapsus of rectum ; frequent, lumpy, slimy stool, bloody at times ; much flatus ; stool often unsatisfactory, passing nothing but flatus ; empty eructations and distended abdomen ; feces often pass involuntarily while bending over ; weakness in lumbar region ; frequent urination ; prolapse always with and sometimes without stool ; after sitting a long time at stool the prolapsed bowel becomes much swollen and difficult to replace ; four or five stools a day ; of years standing.
Protrusion of rectum, after confinement.
Prolapsus ani, after an attack of dysentery, half a year previously.
Frequently itching in rectum ; at times expulsion of thread worms ; slightly constipated ; abdomen somewhat bloated ; poor appetite ; sudden prolapsus recti, with tenesmus, after eating grapes ; prolapsus frequently recurred, especially after stool ; after four weeks' use of Ruta, a mucous polypus was discharged from rectum, since then entirely well.
Worm complaints of children.
URINARY ORGANS [21]
Tearing pains in urethra while urinating.
Pressure on bladder, as if continually full ; the pressure to urinate continues after micturition ; at every step after urinating, she feels as if bladder were full and moving up and down.
Great pressure to urinate, as if bladder were constantly full, yet but little urine is passed, and micturition is followed by dragging as if much should be passed, which, however, does not occur.
Constant urging to urinate, could hardly retain urine ; when that feeling occurred she had to hurry to watercloset ; if she forcibly retained the water she could not pass any afterward and suffered severe pains.
Frequent pressure to urinate, with scanty green urine.
Spasmodic stricture of neck of bladder.
Frequent micturition.
Involuntary micturition at night in bed, and during day when walking.
MALE SEXUAL ORGANS [22]
Varicocele following a strain ; hæmatocele in which the effusion is small and firmly coagulated.
FEMALE SEXUAL ORGANS [23]
Menses : too early and too profuse ; feeble, followed by leucorrhœa.
Corrosive leucorrhœa after irregular or suppressed menses.
PREGNANCY. PARTURITION. LACTATION [24]
Lameness and soreness all over ; weak, feeble contractions during labor.
VOICE AND LARYNX. TRACHEA AND BRONCHIA [25]
Sensation in larynx as from a bruise.
RESPIRATION [26]
Short breath with tightness of chest.
COUGH [27]
Awakened about midnight with a choking cough.
Cough with copious expectoration of thick yellow mucus, with weak feeling in chest after it.
Violent cough with expectoration of tough mucus and nausea.
INNER CHEST AND LUNGS [28]
Pressure on sternum seeming to be internal and external.
A painful spot on sternum, painful to pressure.
Gnawing pain, associated with some biting and burning in right side of chest.
Phthisis after mechanical injuries to chest.
Sensation of coldness or heat in chest.
HEART, PULSE AND CIRCULATION [29]
Anxious palpitation.
Pulse unchanged ; or, somewhat accelerated only during heat.
OUTER CHEST [30]
On sternum a painful spot ; also painful to pressure.
NECK AND BACK [31]
For twelve days pain below right scapula < in evening, after exertion, by deep inspiration and by moving right arm ; > by pressure and lying down, especially on right side ; the pain extends over a spot as large as the palm ; when severe it extends to corresponding part of left side.
Pain as if sprained or bruised in nape and shoulders.
Bruised pain extending along back.
Drawing, bruised pain in spine, frequently taking away breath.
Pain as if beaten and lame in spine.
Pressive drawing, very acute pain in right side of spine, opposite liver, especially on inspiration.
Pain as from a fall in dorsal vertebræ.
Severe pressure in small of back, from within outward, as if bruised ; pain appears 5 o'clock in morning, and is > by moving about and by passage of flatus.
Stitches in small of back when sitting, stooping or walking ; > by pressure and when lying down.
Stitches in spine while sitting ; is suddenly overcome by anxiety.
Rheumatic pains in back, < in morning before rising.
Pain as if bruised in lumbar vertebræ.
Weakness in lumbar region ; prolapsus recti.
Pain in back or coccyx, as from a blow or fall, or as if bruised.
Bruised sensation in hip bones.
Cramplike contraction or pulsation ascending from thighs into small of back.
UPPER LIMBS [32]
Pain in left elbow joint as from a blow ; arm weak.
Wrists feel as if sprained, stiff ; < in wet, cold weather.
Bones in wrist and back of hand painful, as if bruised, during rest and motion.
(In sick :) Ganglionic swelling on front of left wrist.
Hands numb and tingle after exercise.
Soreness through small bones of hands.
Ganglia on sheath of flexor tendons of fourth finger, situated in palm of right hand, as large as a hickory nut, greatly interfering with use of hand ; rheumatism of right leg.
Flat, smooth warts on inside of hands.
Contraction of fingers.
Bursitis.
LOWER LIMBS [33]
On rising, after sitting, he cannot walk ; he falls back again.
While walking he falls from side to side ; the feet will not support him ; there is no power or steadiness in thighs.
Ascending or descending a hill is difficult, the legs give out.
Hip bones feel bruised ; as if from a blow or fall.
The painful parts, especially hips and bones of legs, are sore, as if beaten, whenever touched.
Sciatica ; pain deep-seated as if in marrow of bone, or as if bone were broken ; obliged to walk about constantly during paroxysms ; pain < sitting or lying down ; constantly complaining about his sufferings ; burning, corrosive pains, < in damp or cold weather, or from cold applications.
Shooting pains from back down outside of left thigh, sometimes down sciatic nerve on first moving or on rising after sitting ; hamstrings, chiefly outer, feel shortened and sore. θ Sciatic rheumatism.
Ischias arising from injuries and contusions.
Anterior surface of thigh feels bruised and painful to touch.
Whenever he stretches out the limbs, even a little, the thighs are painful, as if beaten.
Hamstrings feel shortened and weak, knees give way going up or down stairs.
Posterior portion of thigh above knee seems bruised.
Pain and lameness in ankles after a sprain or dislocation.
Throbbing and hacking pain as if there were an ulcer on anterior portion of left ankle.
He dare not step heavily upon feet, on account of pains in bones of feet, with a sensation of heat.
Burning and biting pains in bones of feet during rest.
Fistulous ulcers on lower legs.
LIMBS IN GENERAL [34]
Is unable to bend on account of pains in all the joints and hip bones.
Inflammation of larger joints, especially in upper extremities.
Since five weeks severe rheumatism of right wrist and in both feet from heels to toes ; has been in bed for a month ; puffy swelling of instep ; sour sweat.
Lameness after sprains, especially of wrists and ankles.
REST. POSITION. MOTION [35]
Rest : wrist and back of hand painful ; pains in bones of feet.
Lying down : pain below right scapula > ; stitches in small of back > ; parts on which he lies sore.
Sitting : vertigo ; tearing stitches in rectum ; stitches in rectum ; stitches in small of back in spine ; on rising cannot walk, falls back again ; sciatica < ; pains down sciatic nerve on rising.
Lies in one position, then in another, turns from side to side ; uneasiness of legs ; rheumatism.
Bending over : feces often escape.
Slightest stooping or crouching down : causes rectum to protrude ; stitches in small of back.
Is unable to bend : pains in all joints.
Stretching out limbs even a little : thighs painful.
Motion : of right arm, pain below right scapula < ; > pain in small of back ; wrist and back of hand painful.
Exertion : pain below scapula <.
Exercise : hands numb and tingle.
Walking : vertigo ; involuntary micturition ; stitches in small of back ; falls from side to side ; short distance, great weakness ; limbs painful.
Ascending or descending a hill is difficult, legs give out.
Going up and down stairs : hamstrings feel shortened and weak.
NERVES [36]
Great weakness after a short walk ; the limbs feel bruised ; small of back and loins are painful.
Tottering, as if thighs were weak ; limbs pain when walking.
Does not know where to lay his legs on account of uneasiness and heaviness ; he lies now in one place, now in another, and turns from side to side.
All parts of the body upon which he lies, even in bed, are painful as if bruised.
Restless, turns and changes position frequently when lying. θ Rheumatism.
Facial paralysis after catching cold ; suits robust and sanguineous persons.
Rheumatic paralysis of tarsal and carpal joints.
SLEEP [37]
Yawning and stretching, indoors.
Sleepiness during day.
Frequent waking at night, feeling as if it were time to rise.
Vivid confused dreams.
TIME [38]
Morning : vertigo on rising ; rheumatic pains in back < before rising ; sweat in bed.
At 5 o'clock A. M. : pressure in small of back.
During day : involuntary micturition ; sleepiness.
Afternoon : thirst for cold water ; heat with anxiety.
Toward evening : eyes irritable and run water.
Evening : melancholy disposition, burning in eyes ; green halo around light ; slight blurred, eyes ache ; pain below right scapula.
Night : eyes feel like balls of fire ; involuntary micturition in bed ; feeling as if it were time to rise.
About midnight : awakened with a choking cough.
TEMPERATURE AND WEATHER [39]
Near warm stove : chill ; chilliness.
Indoors : yawning and stretching.
Open air : vertigo when walking, eyes water ; after walking, general sweat.
Cold applications : sciatica <.
Cold water : thirst for.
Wet, cold weather : wrists feel stiff, sprained ; sciatica <.
FEVER [40]
Coldness running over one side of head.
Coldness down spine.
Chill mostly left-sided ; < up and down back ; shakes even near a warm stove.
Chill with heat of face and violent thirst.
External and internal heat of face with red cheeks and cold hands and feet.
Frequent attacks of quick flushes of heat.
Heat, mostly afternoons, with anxiety, restlessness and dyspnœa ; no thirst.
Sweat, cold on face ; morning in bed.
General sweat after walking in open air.
Chilliness through whole body even when near a warm stove, hands and feet cold, confusion and heat in head, great thirst which disappears immediately after drinking, frequent sneezing, pain in eyes as if strained, lachrymation, pain in larynx as if bruised, hoarse cough awakening him at midnight, and causing by its continuation vomiting and pain in sternum, expectoration seldom and scanty. θ Catarrhal fever.
ATTACKS, PERIODICITY [41]
Day : four or five stools.
For twelve days : pain below right scapula.
Since five weeks : severe rheumatism of right wrist, both feet.
Years standing : prolapsus of rectum.
LOCALITY AND DIRECTION [42]
Right : pain like a pressure in eye ; biting and burning on side of chest ; pain, below scapula ; acute pain in side of chest ; ganglion on sheath of flexor tendon of fourth finger in palm ; rheumatism of leg ; rheumatism of wrist.
Left : stitches in frontal bone ; burning beneath eye ; pressure on inner surface of eye ; ganglionic swelling on front of wrist ; pain down outside of thigh ; as of an ulcer on ankle ; chill mostly side.
From within outward : pressure in small of back.
SENSATIONS [43]
As if from a fall, pain in periosteum ; as if a nail were driven into head ; head as if bruised or beaten ; pains as if bruised in periosteum ; as if eyes were excessively strained ; as if a shadow were flitting before eyes ; as if one had looked too long and intently at an object ; eyes as if balls of fire ; as if one were digging about in ear with a blunt piece of wood ; as of a lump in throat ; bladder as if continually full ; spine as if beaten and lame ; wrists as if sprained ; as if pain were in marrow of bone or as if bone were broken ; thighs as if beaten ; as if there were an ulcer in ankle ; as if thighs were weak ; all parts of body as if bruised at night, feeling as if it were time to rise.
Pain like a pressure : in right eye ; in orbicular cartilages ; in lower teeth ; below left scapula ; in ankles ; in bones of feet ; in all joints and hip-bones ; in nerves and tissues.
Shooting pains : from back down outside of left thigh.
Rending pain : on scalp, preceding swelling.
Tearing : in rectum and urethra.
Hacking pain : in anterior portion of left ankle.
Throbbing pain : in anterior portion of left ankle.
Tearing stitches : in rectum.
Stitches : in left frontal bone ; in small of back ; in spine.
Stitching-drawing pain : from forehead to temples.
Pressive-drawing, very acute pain : in right side of spine.
Pain as if bruised.
Bruised pain : in orbicular cartilages ; in cartilage of ear and under mastoid process ; in periosteum of facial bones ; in larynx ; in nape and shoulders ; along back ; in spine ; in small of back ; in lumbar vertebræ ; in coccyx ; in hip bones, in bones of wrists and back of hand.
Pain as from a blow : below mastoid process ; in coccyx ; in left elbow joint.
Pain as from a fall : in dorsal vertebræ ; in back or coccyx.
Pinching : in stomach.
Pulsative pressing pain : in forehead.
Rhythmical pressive pain : in head.
Gnawing pain : in stomach, about navel ; in right side of chest.
Pricking, gnawing pains : in stomach and intestines.
Burning gnawing : in stomach.
Gnawing, pressing pain : in region of liver.
Burning : in eyes ; beneath left eye ; in right side of chest ; in bones of feet.
Biting : in right side of chest ; in bones of feet.
Cramplike contraction or pulsation : ascending from thighs into small of back.
Soreness : all over ; through small bones of hands ; in hamstrings ; of parts on which he lies.
Rheumatic pain : in back ; of right leg ; of right wrist, both feet from heels to toes.
Aching : in and over eyes.
Pressure : deep in orbits ; on inner surface of left eye ; at root of nose ; on bladder ; on sternum ; in small of back.
Painful spot : on sternum.
Twitching : in eyeballs.
Tension : at stomach.
Lameness : all over ; in ankles.
Heaviness : of legs.
Uneasiness : of legs.
Heat : in head ; in eyes ; in chest ; in feet ; of face.
Weak feeling : in chest, in lumbar region.
Corrosive itching : on scalp.
Itching : on inner canthus and on lower lid ; of skin after meat ; in rectum.
Coldness : in chest ; over one side of head ; down spine ; of hands and feet.
TISSUES [44]
Bruised feeling all over as from a fall or blow, < in limbs and joints.
Sensation of soreness of parts on which he lies.
Pain in nerves or tissues that have been stretched, as in sprains.
Pain in long bones as if they were broken.
Bruises and other mechanical injuries of bones and periosteum ; sprains ; periostitis ; erysipelas.
Dropsy.
Periostitis and pains in consequence of external injury, with erysipelatous inflammation of parts.
In dislocations where the inflammation is fully under control, it hastens the curative process in the joint.
Bone lesions and fractures ; scrofulous exostoses.
Swelling of ankles.
Small epithelial swellings on joints of toes.
TOUCH. PASSIVE MOTION. INJURIES [45]
Touch : swelling on scalp sore, painful parts sore ; anterior surface of thigh feels painful.
Pressure : a spot on sternum painful ; pain below right scapula > ; stitches in small of back >.
Rubbing : smarting of lower lid and inner canthus.
Scratching : > itching.
Walking or riding : causes chafing of skin.
Straining stomach when carrying a heavy weight : caused dyspepsia.
Mechanical injuries : inactivity of bowels or impaction of feces ; to chest, phthisis.
SKIN [46]
Itching over whole body, > scratching.
Itching of skin after eating meat.
Jaundice from liver complaints.
Skin becomes easily chafed, from walking and riding ; also in children.
Acne rosacea.
Erysipelas : after mechanical injuries ; of hands.
Ulcers and scabs on scalp, with copious discharge.
Ulcerations ; gnawing, jerking pains ; pus sanious.
Fistulous ulcers on lower legs.
Inflamed ulcers.
Warts ; with sore pains ; flat, smooth on inside of hands.
STAGE OF LIFE, CONSTITUTION [47]
In robust, sanguineous persons.
Child, æt. 1 1/2, suffering half a year after an attack of dysentery ; prolapsus ani.
Girl æt. 6, pale, delicate, subject to slight catarrhal attacks, which generally yielded to Acon. ; polypus and prolapsus of rectum.
Man æt. 27, nervous temperament, dark hair, blue eyes, troubled for years, it is a family complaint ; prolapse of rectum.
Weaver, æt. 29 ; amblyopia.
Woman, æt. 34 ; pain in back.
Mrs. H., æt. 36, suffering a long time ; urinary difficulty.
Man æt. 53 ; suffering five weeks ; rheumatism.
RELATIONS [48]
Antidoted by : Camphor .
It antidotes : Mercur .
Compatible : Calc. ost., Caust., Lycopod., Phos. ac., Pulsat., Sepia, Sulphur, Sulph. ac . (diseases of bones).
Compare : Arnic., Argent. nit . (asthenopia), Bryon., Calc. ost., Conium (asthenopia), Euphras., Lycopod., Mercur., Mezer., Phosphor., Phytol., Pulsat., Rhus tox., Sepia, Silica, Sulphur .