Guajacum officinale

Volume II — Main text

GUAIACUM.

Guaiacum officinale, L. Lignum vitæ. Nat. Ord., Zygophyllacea. I. Provings.--1. HAHNEMANN, Mat. Med. Pura , vol. iv oforiginal, vol. i of translation. Contains 29 symptoms from self, 113 from 3 fellow-observers, and 3 from authors . 2. IBID., Chronic Diseases, part iii of original, vol. of translation. Contains only 16 additional symptoms from self. II. Poisonings.- I . A young couple affected with secondary syphilis got a decoction of Zvj Lign. Guaiac. On going to bed each took one half of the decoction. After 2 h. there came on a violent spasmodic inflammatory affection of trachea, especially larynx, accompanied with considerable palpitation of heart ; both felt as though they should be suffocated, and were unable to leave their bed to seek help. When thedoctor saw themhe bled them. They recovered in 5 d. (LAMBERT, Casper's Wochensch., 1840, No. 44, p. 715.) 2. G. mainly influences the vascular system, promoting the cutaneous exhalation. In some cases it has been observed to produce only general lassitude and dulness. In others, according to Kraus, it sometimes occasions an exanthematous eruption. When the system is impressionable, it causes vascular fulness, and a proneness to congestion and inflammation, and when used for some time it disorders the digestion. In excessive doses it causes burning pain in throat and stomach, vomiting, purging, palpitation, disordered circulation, congestion of head, confusion of mind, giddiness, fainting, &c. (STILLÉ, op. cit.) 3. a. By continued use it has caused a mild salivation (Burdach) . The stimulant influence of G. is extended to the pelvic vessels, and thus the hæmorrhoidal and menstrual discharges are somewhat promoted by it. Continued use (of the wood) occasions heartburn, flatulence, and costiveness . b. The bark acts in a similar way to the wood. Regnaudot injected at 8 a.m. Ziij of an aqueous infusion of it into the veins of a young man. Inh. a shivering fit came on with colicky pains, followed by two stools ; this shivering continued till 5 p.m. (PEREIRA, op. cit.) 4. With the symptoms of G. above described, stiffness, of a rheumatic character, is felt in nape of neck and small of back, with pains in the bones of the legs, the limbs feeling as if swelled ; darting pains, apparently of a rheumatic neuralgic character, extend also from the feet to the knees.* When G. fails to act upon the skin, it often operates as a diuretic. (PHILLIPS, op. cit.) * Dr. Phillips does not give his authority for these effects of guaiacum, but they are too pertinent to be omitted.-EDS.