Benzoic Acid appears in 11 of the 13 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.
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Benzoic acid, C6H5 ,CO,OH. Obtained, by sublimation, from Gum benzoin, or artificially from several aromatic hydrocarbons. Preparation for use , Tincture or trituration. Authorities. The mind is inclined to dwell upon unpleasant things. If he saw any one who was deformed it made him shudder, [°]. Sadness, 5. Sense of…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Benzoic Acid The most marked characteristic pertains to the odor and color of the urine. It has a marked action on metabolism. It produces and cures symptoms of a uric acid diathesis, with urine highly colored and very offensive, and gouty symptoms. Renal insufficiency. Child wants to be nursed in the arms, will not…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“AMMONIACAL ODOR CALCULI, atheroma, etc. CRACKING JOINTS JOINTS, arthritic complaints, etc. LYING, right, Agg. 2 A.M.”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“URINE: Kidneys. Bladder. JOINTS. Heart. Bowels. Left side. Open air. Cold. Changing weather. Heat. Profuse urine. Strong urinous odor of patient. Changing or gouty rheumatic pains, < at heart or alternating with urinary symptoms. Pains alternate with heart symptoms. Painful, gouty nodes. Hygromæ (Am-c.). Bunion…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Benzoic Acid. C 6 H 5 CO. OH. Obtained, by sublimation, from Gum benzoin; or artificially from several aromatic hydrocarbons. Tincture or trituration. Asthma / Bladder, affections of / Bunion / Cracks / Diarrhœa / Enuresis / Eye, tumours of / Ganglion / Gonorrhœa / Gout / Joints, affections of / Knee, pain in /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Benzoic acid. C 6 H 5 , CO,OH. Proved since 1838, and used in many cases by Dr. Jeanes ; arranged and published by him, with the additional proving of Dr. Lingen (1844), in Transactions of American Institute, 1846, vol. i, page 13 to 25. Chapman published some cures in 1849 in the British Quarterly, vol. vii, page…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Benzoïcum Acidum C6H5CO2H. Whenever we see in the nature of a remedy a well-defined state and condition of the human system pointed out by certain distinctive groups of symptoms we may know that there is such a diseased state in the human family. They have not the power to create by themselves any diseased state…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Inclination to dwell on unpleasant subjects. While writing, he often omits words. Giddiness, especially in the afternoon, as if he would fall on his side. Pressure on the vertex, extending to the spine, -without pain, but with anxiety. Rheumatic pains in the head. Headache from a draft of air; from uncovering the…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: benzoic acid. May be indicated in any form of disease characterized by the peculiar urine. The urine in the clothing scents the whole room (N.). URINE DARK BROWN, AND THE URINOUS ODOUR HIGHLY INTENSIFIED (Nit-Ac.) (A.). Offensive or pungent smell in the urine (Calc., Merc. Nit-Ac., Sulph.) (C.). Urine…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“The grand central characteristic of this remedy is found in the urine, which is scanty, of a dark brown color (like French brandy), the urinous odor being highly intensified. This odor comes at the time of passing and remains afterward. One need not wait on a long-standing specimen to find it. It is found in…”
