Benzoic acid, C6H5 ,CO,OH. Obtained, by sublimation, from Gum benzoin, or artificially from several aromatic hydrocarbons.

Preparation for use , Tincture or trituration.

Authorities.

1 , Dr. Jeanes, Trans. Am. Inst., vol. i (symptoms obtained from himself and others, sick and well), with the 1st to the 15th potency; 2 , Dr. Lingen, ibid. (took of an alcoholic solution 1/2 gr. to 1 oz., five drops every morning and evening for several days); 3 , Keller, Am. Arzn. Pruf'n, p. 705 (examined the effect of crude doses upon the urine); 4 , Nusser, ibid. (took 80 grs. of the 2d trit. at one dose); 5 , Petroz, Bull. d. l. soc. méd. hom. de Paris, 5, 60 (the original proving); 6 , Hauff, from Hering, Am. Arzn. Pruf'n (effects of a drachm daily, an hour after dinner, on a person having arthritic nodes on the fingers, etc.). [Other authorities taken from Hering, A. A. Pruf'n, are given with the symptoms.]

MIND

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 anxiety, [°], 2.
Sense of anxiety while sweating, 5.
Activity of mind while at work, afterwards anxiety, 5.
He was much surprised that, while writing, he omitted words every moment, which never was the case before (sixth and seventh days), 4.
Comatose condition. (Ilisch, Med. Zeit. Russl.)

HEAD

Confusion of the head, 5.
Confusion of the head, and sleepiness, 2. [10.]
Vertigo, making him fearful of falling sidewise, usually in the afternoon, 5.
Excitement and lightness of the head, when sneezing in the morning, 2.
Sensation as if there were air in the head, 5.
Tired feeling in the head, as from night-watching, 5.
Sensation of coldness in the head, 5.
Sensation of shaking in the head, 5.
The head-symptoms are generally accompanied with depression, lassitude, and loss of appetite, 5.
After mental emotions, headache, 5.
The head-symptoms are worse during rest, return periodically, and are often accompanied with pains in the stomach, nausea, gagging, and cold hands, 5.
Pain and heat in the organs of reverence and firmness, 1. [20.]
Pressure upon the whole upper part of the head and on the spinal column, as if it were pressed together like an elastic body, so that he stretched himself involuntarily and bent forward. This sensation, without being painful, produces extreme anxiety, two days in succession in the forenoon, while sitting, 2.
Rheumatic pain on the outside of the head, 5.
Formication in the forehead, 5.
Hard throbbing of the temporal arteries, 2.
Pain in the temples, in the region of the organ of constructiveness, 1.
Pain in the left temple, 1.
Hammering pain in the temples, obliging him to lie down, 5.
Tearing pain in the vertex, 5.
Internal pain and bruised feeling in the sides of the head, 5.
Itching of the hairy scalp, 1.

EYES. [30.]

Distress in the eyes, as from want of sleep, 5.
Burning heat in the eyes, 5.
Burning heat in the lids, 5.
Itching in the outer, and then in the inner, angle of the right eye, 1.
Throbbing in the eyeballs, 5.

EARS

Swelling behind the ears, which seems to reach the periosteum, 5.
Starting in the ear, 5.
Itching in the left ear, 1.
Puffing in the ears from pulsation of the temporal arteries, 2.
When swallowing, noise in the ears, 2. [40.]
Sensation in the ears like a sound of confused voices, especially when swallowing or when walking in the open air, 5.

NOSE

Redness at the angles of the nose, 5.
Pain in the nasal bones, 5.
Irritation in the left nostril, such as precedes sneezing, yet without being able to sneeze, 1.
Sneezing and hoarseness, 2.
A cold in the head readily occurs from exposure to cold; is renewed every day, 5.
Epistaxis, 5.
Pressure at the root of the nose, 5.
Sensitiveness of the nose, 5.
Itching of the septum of the nose, 1. [50.]
Diminution of the sense of smell, 5.
It seemed to him that he smelled dust, cabbage, or something stinking, 5.

FACE

Circumscribed redness of the face, 5.
Numb feeling in the face, 5.
Burning heat of the face, 5.
Burning heat on only one-half of the face, 5.
Tension in one side of the face, 5.
Pressive sensation in the face, 5.
Trembling of the lips, 5.
Itching of the chin, 5.

MOUTH. [60.]

Involuntary biting of the lower lip at dinner, on two successive days, 2.
Stitches in a right lower hollow molar, 1.
Slight cutting pain in the teeth, 1.
Slow jerking in a right upper molar, 1.
The Benzoic oil has been given for toothache, [°]

. (A.)

The resin has been used as a chewing-gum in toothache, [°] . (Schrœder).
Extensive ulcerations of the tongue, with deeply-chapped or fungoid surfaces, [°], 1 . [In both cases there was not the least suspicion of syphilitic affection; in both cases high-colored, strong-smelling urine 1 .]
Velvety coating on the tongue, 5.
Tongue with a white mucous coat in the morning, 2.
Tongue of a slightly bluish color, 5. [70.]
Soreness on the back part of the tongue, 1.
Soreness of the back part of the tongue, felt most while swallowing, 1.
Sensation of soreness and rawness at the root of the tongue and on the palate, 1.
An ulcerated tumor in the left side of the mouth, upon the soft commissure of the jaws, behind the last molar teeth, [°], 1.
Heat around the mouth, 5.
After-taste of the food, 5.
Slightly acid mucus, 5.
Taste of blood, 5.
The bread tastes smoky, 5.
Flat, soapy taste after drinking water, 5. [80.]
Salty taste of food, 5.
Bitter taste, with pressure at the stomach and eructation, 6.
Bitter taste on drinking coffee or milk, 5.

THROAT

Collection of mucus in the throat, 5.
The thyroid gland feels swollen, 5.
Sensation of swelling or of contraction in the throat, 5.
It feels as if there were little lumps in the pit of the throat, as if food were sticking there. (Fr. Husmann).
Angina faucium and angina tonsillaris, with the characteristic urine, [°], 1.
Heat in the œsophagus, as from acid eructations, 1.
Sensation of heat and scratching in the œsophagus and throat. (Pereira). [90.]
Extremely unpleasant scratching in the throat. (Lehmann, Phys. Chimie.)
Difficulty in swallowing, 5.
Incomplete swallowing, 5.

STOMACH

Increased appetite in the evening, 5.
Loss of appetite, mornings, 2.
In the evening, thirst with sleepiness, 5.
Singultus, 1.
Nausea, mornings, 2.
Nausea, with gagging; with disturbances about the head, 5.
Nausea, with loathing, and constant malaise, 5. [100.]
Vomiting of a salty substance, 5.
Bitter vomiting, 5.
With pregnant women, gastric derangements when ascending a height, 5.
Sensation of warmth in the stomach, 5.
Burning in the stomach. (Honigberger).
Pressure in the stomach and eructations, 6.
Fatigued by the pressure of the clothes on the epigastrium, 5.

ABDOMEN

In the region of the liver, constant, fine, but violent stitching, midway in the upper portion thereof; it seems to be superficial, and is not increased by pressure (seventh day), 4.
Obstruction of the liver, [°] . (Honigberger).
Cutting about the navel, relieved by stool, 5. [110.]
Uncommon discharge of wind downward in the afternoon and evening of first day, 4.
Pain in the left side of the abdomen, immediately below the short ribs, 1.
Sensation of heat throughout the abdomen, 1.
Tearing bellyache, 5.
Tensive pain in the groins, 5.

STOOL AND ANUS

Contraction of the extremity of the rectum, 5.
Stitching in the rectum, 5.
Slightly elevated, round surfaces, of a wartlike appearance, and circular form, varying in diameter from half an inch to an inch and a half, at places running into each other, nearly covered both sides and the bottom of the sulcus ani, and causes much smarting and soreness of the part, with strong-scented and highly-colored urine [°]

(after previous use of Copaiva for chancre), 1.

Fine stitching in the anus, on the evening of first day, 4.
Formication at the anus, 5. [120.]
Urging to stool, with ineffectual straining, 5.
Bowels freely open, with extraordinary pressure to stool, 1.
*Diarrhœa of children; the discharge is copious, watery, clear-colored, very fetid; the urine at the same time is uncommonly deep-red, and the urinous odor very strong (in very many cases curative, or at least relieving), [°], 1.
Frothy stool, 5.*
*Fetid, watery, white stools, very copious and exhausting, in infants, the urine being of very deep-red color, [°], 1.
Putrid, bloody stool, 5.
Insufficient stool, 5.

URINARY ORGANS

Vesical catarrh, [°]

(G. Bird.)

Irritability of the bladder. Too frequent desire to evacuate the bladder, the urine normal in appearance, [°], 1.
Gleet, [°]

(Honigberger). [130.]

Urine at first increased in quantity only, and not in frequency. In a few days urination became exceedingly frequent, with strong pressing and discharge of a clear urine. Urine of an aromatic odor and saline taste, the odor long retained; most in the forenoon, 2.
Urine more copious, somewhat turbid, otherwise of a natural color and odor. After the daily use of a drachm after dinner, no Benzoic acid was found in the urine, traces of urea, and only mere traces of Hippuric acid, 6.
Enuresis nocturna of children, where Nitrum failed, [°]

(Young.)

Decrease of the quantity of urine, 5.
Urine aromatic, 2.
Fetid urine, with prolapsus uteri . (C. Hg.)*
Urine of a very repulsive odor, of a changeable color, brownish, cloudy, of an alkaline reaction; effervescing with hydrochloric acid; white, flocculent sediment in the urine immediately after its passage, consisting of the phosphate and carbonate of lime, without uric acid . The patient was pale, languid, with a sense of weakness in the loins. (Farquhar).
Thick urine, 5.
Bloody urine, 5.
Hot, scalding urine, of a deep-red color, and strong odor, causing so much suffering in its passage that this was performed but once a day, [°], 1.
Morbid condition of the urine, as in persons with calculus or gouty diathesis, [°]

(Ure), with concretions of urate of ammonia, [°]

(Neidhard.) [140.]

*Urine highly colored, sometimes of the color of brandy; the urinous odor exceedingly strong, [°], 1.
Urine of the above character, of a specific gravity greater than that of healthy urine; passed into the same vessel, it retains its place below the healthy urine without admixture, and, though of a very deep-red color, deposits no sediment, [°], 1.
Dark reddish-brown urine , of greater specific gravity than normal, with an acid reaction, even after some weeks; at the same time many fleeting pains deep in the region of the bladder, not when urinating, but at other times; also with deposit of mucous granules, and, when standing, becoming, in a few days, covered with a thick, filmy crust, [°]

(one-twentieth grain of the undiluted acid). (C. Hg.)

A granular kind of mucus, mixed with phosphates, in the sediment of the urine, [°]

(Garrod.)

Affords no relief where there are phosphates in the sediment. (G. Bird.)
After thirty-two grains of pure Benzoic acid, taken in the evening before going to sleep, the morning urine reacted uncommonly acid, even after being evaporated, and standing twelve hours, whereupon only the usual sediment of earthy salts presented itself. The Uric acid and urea were both contained therein, apparently in normal quantity, 3.
A scruple, taken an hour after a meal, was followed, in some hours, by five or six ounces of urine; on adding Hydrochloric acid to this an abundant precipitate of Hippuric acid appeared, but no trace of Uric acid. (Ure.)
One of the few acids which manifestly increase the acidity of the urine. (Lehmann.)
Increases the acid of the urine and makes it slightly irritant. (Garrod.)
Not the uric acid but the urea disappears. (Garrod.) [150.]
Dark or highly colored offensive urine, quite peculiar (after suppressed syphilis and gonorrhœa. In many cases), [°], 1 . [The gonorrhœa was, in most cases, suppressed by Bals. copaiv.]
In cases with an excess of uric acid in the urine, the urine becomes normal after the use of Benzoic acid, [°]

(G. Bird.)

Never saw anything so effectual; the urine was clear after the first dose, and in two days was entirely free from mucous deposits; the irritability of the bladder was diminished, and in four days the patient could be left to himself, [°]

(Soden.)

SEXUAL ORGANS

Male.
Painfulness of the genitals, 5.
Pressure at the genitals.
Raw pain of the genitals, 5.
Smarting of the frænum præputii, 1.
A thrilling, almost painful sensation on the left side of the glans penis, extending into the urethra, so severe as to occasion starting, ending in a sensation of tickling and itching, 1.
Itching on the glans, 1.
Itching in the sulcus behind the corona glandis, 1.
Female. [160.]
Menstruation too early, 5.
Retarded menstruation, 5.
Weakness after the menses, 5.
Too long-lasting lochia, 5.

RESPIRATORY APPARATUS

Copious secretion of mucus in the bronchi, 5.
Slight transitory hoarseness and thrice-repeated sneezing, in the morning, with a pleasant excitement and lightness (Leichtigkeit) of the head, which, together with its more rapid disappearance, distinguished it from the more ordinary symptoms of taking cold, of the prover, 2.
Rather increased than diminished the cough. (Pereira.)
When the fumes of Benzoin alone are produced they occasion a cough. (Schrœder, Arneischatz.)
Violent cough from inhaling the fumes. (Pereira.)
Produced an exhausting cough in healthy persons (the flowers). (Med. Zeit. Russlands.) [170.]
Given for a tormenting, tight cough, every powder produced a violent cough, then extraordinary weakness, sweat, and a state of coma lasting an hour; at the same time the skin is paler and cooler; the pulse weaker and less frequent; respiration normal ( from the sublimated but not purified flowers ). (Ilish, in Med. Zeit. Russl., 15, 1852).
Cough seems produced by something acrid or dry in the chest, 5.
Cough after a slight cold, 5.
Slight hacking cough, directly after rising (second day), 4.
Cough excited by inspiration, 5.
Troublesome, constant, dry, hacking cough, after suppressed gonorrhœa, [°], 1.
Cough, followed by expectoration of greenish mucus, 5.
The respiration at times somewhat whistling (second day), 4.
Difficulty of breathing on awaking, 5.
Asthma, with inflammatory rheumatic complaints, [°], 1.

CHEST. [180.]

Burning in the nipples, 5.
Sensation of swelling in the mammary glands, also in the thyroid gland, 5.
Morbid agitation in the chest, 5.
Sense of roughness in the chest, 5.
Painful starting in the chest, 5.
Sensation of swelling in the chest, 5.
Can scarcely bear the pressure of clothing on the chest, 5.
A cutting sensation in the chest, 5.
Fine, slight stitches in the middle of the chest (evening of the first day), 4.
Pain sometimes in the middle of the breast; a kind of stitching (second day), 4. [190.]
In the evening in bed, somewhat of stitching in the chest, especially on breathing deeply (first day), 4.
It is said to furnish the greatest relief in diseases of the chest; reduces the obstruction of the pulmonary vessels, and promotes expectoration, [°]

(Lewis's Mat. Med.)

In the last period of simple pneumonia, where great weakness prevails, [°]

(Schregar.)

Typhus pneumonia; asthenic affections of the chest. (Schregar.)
Asthenic pneumonia of a young man; after the strength had sunk daily, the difficulty of breathing increased every hour till it attained a fearful degree, [°]

(Goldschmidt.)

Pain in the left side. (Honigberger.)
Pain about the third rib on the right side, midway between the sternum and the side; increased by respiration, 1.
Deep penetrating pain in the posterior part of the left side about the sixth rib (second day), 1.
Pain in the left side about the sixth rib, increased by deep inspiration, and by bending the body to either side, 1.
Pressure on the ribs, 5. [200.]
Stitching in the right side of the chest, 5.
Weak feeling in the præcordial region, 5.

HEART AND PULSE

Undulating beating of the heart, 5.
Intermittent beats of the heart, 5.
Palpitation of the heart with trembling, 5.
Palpitation of the heart while sitting, also after drinking, 5.
Awakes after midnight, with palpitation of the heart; every morning at 2 o'clock, with heat and hard pulse. Throbbing of the temporal arteries prevents his getting to sleep again, 2.
Wakes after midnight, with violent pulsation of the heart and temporal arteries (pulsation 110 in the minute), without external heat, and cannot fall asleep again. In the morning, the tongue, covered with a white mucous coat; some nausea and total loss of appetite. Had eaten peaches in the evening. In the afternoon, at four o'clock, all these symptoms had vanished (fourth day), 2.
Pain in the region of the heart, 1.
The pains change their place incessantly and suddenly, but are the most constant in the region of the heart, 1. [210.]
Pulse full, 5.
He wakes every morning about 2 o'clock from strong internal heat, and a hard, bounding , but not quickened pulse, so that he must lie awake upon his back, because the pulsation of the temporal arteries sounds like puffing in his ears, and prevents him from going to sleep again (lasting eight weeks), 2.
Accelerated pulse (first, second, and third days), 2.
Pulse slow, 5.
Pulse slower and weaker ( from the sublimated but not purified flowers ). (Ilish, in Med. Zeit. Russl.)

NECK AND BACK

Stiffness of the neck, but only on one side, 5.
Pressure in the nape of the neck, 5.
Violent itching in the nape of the neck, 5.
Pain in the right side of the back, between the tenth dorsal vertebra and the side, 1.
Pressure upon the spinal column, 2. [220.]
Hot burning pain in left kidney, with drawing when stooping, [°] . (Neidhard.)
Dull pain in the region of the kidneys, 1.
Sore pain in region of left kidney, [°]

(Neidhard.)

Nephritic colic, [°] . (Williamson.)
Sense of coldness at the sacrum, 5.
Starting in the loins, 5.
Stiffness in the loins, with pains in the kidneys, [°] . (Neidhard.)

EXTREMITIES IN GENERAL

Nodes on the joints of the upper and lower extremities, knicking and cracking on motion, 1.
In both wrists, between the metacarpal bones, abundant gouty deposits, and swelling of the elbow-joints. The ankle, also is not free (1 drachm daily for six months), [°], 6.
Old, gouty concretions, [°] . (Neidhard.) [230.]
Tearing and fine stitching in various parts of the limbs, 4.

UPPER EXTREMITIES

Sensation of swelling under the axillæ, 5.
Tearing pains, apparently in the bones of the arm, 5.
Fine or severe stitching on the outer surface of the right arm; afterwards on the left arm, inner surface (evening of first day), 4.
Tearing below, in the right radius, 4.
Tearing at the outer surface of both wrists, as if in the bones (third day), 4.
Cold hands, 5.
Cold hands with head symptoms, 5.
A kind of itching in the palm of the right hand, with slight but deep tearing in the upper metacarpal joints of the little and ring fingers (evening of first day), 4.
The fingers are as if swollen; a ring became too small (second day), 4. [240.]
The fingers remain somewhat swollen; therewith tearing and fine stitching in various parts of the limbs, especially in front at the metatarsal joint of the right great toe (fourth to seventh days), 4.
Pain in the finger joints of the right hand, 1.
Paralytic pain of the fingers, 5.
Tearing in the metacarpal joint of the left thumb, 4.
Tearing deep in the upper joints of the left index finger (second day), 4.

LOWER EXTREMITIES

Lassitude in the lower extremities, 5.
Sensation as if the lower limbs were tightly bandaged, 5.
Pain in the right hip, 1.
Gnawing pain in the left hip, then in the thigh, next in the knees, then in the toes, 1.
Pain in the left hip, in the knee, and the toes at the same time; the worst in the toes; leaving the toes, it seats itself in the muscles of the calf, and then in the knee. After leaving these parts it appears in the right thigh and ankle, 1. [250.]
Tearing pain in the anterior surface of the thigh, 5.
Swelling of the right knee, with pain as of ulceration of the whole leg, with pains in the kidneys, [°]*