by Henry N. Guernsey — Key-Notes to the Materia Medica
Chills and fever, when the chill comes on with excessive yawning and stretching; the yawning and stretching lasting all through the chill. Squirting diarrhœa; olive-green. Some forms of dropsy.
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Elaterium appears in 8 of the 21 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.
“Ecballium elaterium, A. Richard. (Momordica elaterium, Linn.) Natural order , Cucurbitaceæ. Common names , Squirting Cucumber; (Germ.), Spring gurke; (Fr.) Concombre purgatif. Preparation , Tincture of the immature fruit; triturations of Elaterinum (C20H28O5 ). Authorities. Depression of spirits, 1. Fear of some…”
“Squirting Cucumber (ELATERIUM - ECBALIUM) This is an invaluable remedy in violent vomiting and purging, especially if the evacuations are copious and watery. It is a very efficient remedy in certain forms of dropsy. Much yawning and stretching. Beriberi ; choleraic conditions; urticaria and mental disorders coming on…”
“FOAMY, frothy GUSHINGS (Comp. Swashing)”
“Ecballium elaterium. Momordica elaterium. Squirting Cucumber. N. O. Cucurbitaceæ. Tincture of unripe fruit. Trituration of Elaterinum, C 20 H 28 O 5 . Abscesses / Bilious fever / Bladder, affections of / Boils / Cholera / Colic / Cramps / Diarrhœa / Dropsy / Dysentery / Erysipelas / Intermittent fever / Jaundice /…”
“Squirting Cucumber. Cucurbitaceæ. A species of Momordica used by the ancients in angina, dropsy, gout, sciatica and rheumatism, and applied as a cataplasm in hemicrania. Mesue, the Arabian, speaks highly of it. The tincture is prepared from the fruit. Provings by Matthews and Cooper. See Allen's Encycl., vol. 4, p…”
“ELATERIUM . Ecbalium officinarum, Richard. Squirting cucumber. Nat. Ord., Cucurbitacea. I. Provings.- 1 . " The experiments from which the following symptoms were obtained were made with pellets moistened with the and dil., prepared from the extract; 20 or 30 pellets were given, andevincedthe same symptoms in several…”
“Depression of spirits. Irresistible propensity to wander from home. A feeling as if the posterior nares and upper part of the œsophagus were enlarged. Discharges from the bowels of frothy water. Dull olive-green discharges. Bleeding of hæmorrhoidal tumors. Incessant gaping. Chilliness, with continued gaping, as if an…”
Kent's Repertory lists Elaterium in 155 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (28), STOMACH (21), STOOL (19), CHILL (14), HEAD (12).
