Bovista Lycoperdon

Puff-Ball

by William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory

(BOVISTA)

Has a marked effect on the skin, producing eruption like eczema, also upon the circulation, predisposing to hæmorrhages; marked languor and lassitude. Adapted to stammering children, old maids with palpitation; and "tettery" patients. Stage of numbness and tingling in multiple neuritis. Asphyxia due to charcoal fumes.

Mind

Enlarged sensation ( Arg n ). Awkward; everything falls from hands . Sensitive.

Head

Sensation as if head were enlarging , especially of occiput. Distensive headache; worse early morning, open air, lying. Discharge from nose stringy , tough. Dull, bruised pain in brain. Stammering ( Stram; Merc ). Scalp itches; worse, warmth; sensitive; must scratch until sore.

Face

Scurf and crusts about nostrils and corners of mouth. Lips chapped. Bleeding of nose and gums. Cheeks and lips feel swollen. Acne worse in summer; due to use of cosmetics.

Stomach

Sensation as of a lump of ice. Intolerant of tight clothing around waist.

Female

Diarrhœa before and during menses . Menses too early and profuse; worse at night . Voluptuous sensation. Leucorrhœa acrid, thick, tough, greenish, follows menses. Cannot bear tight clothing around waist (Lach). Traces of menses between menstruation . Soreness of pubes during menses. Metrorrhagia; Parovarian cysts.

Abdomen

Colic , with red urine; relieved by eating . Must bend double. Pain around umbilicus. Stitches through perineum towards rectum and genitals.

Chronic diarrhœa of old people; worse at night and early morning.

Extremities

Great weakness of all joints; clumsiness with her hands, drops things from hands. Weariness of hands and feet. Sweat in axillæ; onion smell . Tip of coccyx itches intolerably . Moist eczema on back of hand. Itching of feet and legs. Œdema in joints after fracture.

Skin

Blunt instrument leave deep impression on the skin. Urticaria on excitement , with rheumatic lameness, palpitation and diarrhœa ( Dulc ). Itching on getting warm. Eczema, moist; formation of thick crusts. Pimples cover the entire body; scurvy; herpetic eruptions. Pruritus ani. Urticaria on waking in the morning, worse from bathing. Pellagra.

Relationship

Bovista antidotes tar applications. Suffocation from gas. After Rhus in chronic urticaria.

Compare: Calc; Rhus; Sepia; Cicuta .

Dose

Third to sixth potency.

Bovista Lycoperdon across the other classic books

Bovista Lycoperdon appears in 10 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 HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Puffball (Fungi.) Persons who suffer from tettery eruptions, dry or moist. Adapted to old maids; with palpitation. Stammering children (Stram.). Discharge from nose and all mucous membranes; very tough, stringy, tenacious (Kali bi.). Usually deep impression on finger, from using blunt instruments, scissors, knife…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Lycoperdon Bovista, Pers. Nat. order , Fungi; Common names , Warted Puff ball, Kugelschwamm. Preparation , Triturations. Authorities. Emotional. Talkative, 3. Very open-hearted; she spoke of her own failings, contrary to her custom, 3. Averse to everything after dinner, 2. Very much exhilarated; life seems very…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“CLOTHES, pressure of, Agg. DIRECTION of sensations, Outward PUFFINESS STICKY, stringy, etc.(Comp. Adhesive.) TIME, 8 P.M. to 12 Night. 6 A.M. 5 P.M. 7 P.M. 8 P.M. 9 P.M. 10 P.M.”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“CIRCULATION: HEART. Uterus. Kidneys. SKIN. Menses. Full moon. Getting warm. Doubling up. Eating. Hæmorrhagic-herpetic diathesis. Oozing hæmorrhage, eating. Bloating. Diarrhœa, < menses. Menses early; more at night, less if in motion; flow between periods. Thick, pussy, acrid leucorrhœa. Short breath on using hands…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Lycoperdon bovista. Warted puff-ball. N. O. Fungi. Trituration. Coccyx, itching of / Corns / Cysts / Diabetes / Diarrhœa / Ear, eczema of / Eczema / Ganglion / Gleet / Hæmorrhages / Hæmorrhagic diathesis / Headache / Heart, affections of / Jaundice / Joints, affections of / Menstruation, disordered / Metrorrhagia /…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Puffball. Fungi. Hartlaub, Sen., proved in 1828 the spores of this fungus, following the example of Hahnemann, with Lycopodium . He published it in 1831 as an antipsoric ; 640 symptoms. It belongs to the most important remedies for the treatment of chronic diseases. Ægidi's case of urticaria, Knerr's translation of…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Great weakness in the joints. Ebullitions with much thirst. Chilliness predominating during the pain. Dull instruments produce deep impressions on the flesh, for instance, the scissors on the fingers in using them. Pale swelling of the upper lip. Moist tetter.”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Sad, depressed and desponding. Awkwardness; she lets every thing drop out of her hand. Weak memory. Headache deep in the brain, sensation as if the head were enlarged. Sensation as if bruised in the head. Dim eyes, without lustre. Objects seem to be too near the eye. Itching in the ears. Discharge of fetid us from the…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: puff ball. Headache (deep in the brain), with a feeling as though the head were enormously large or swollen (F.). Discharge from the nose and all mucous membranes very tough, stringy and tenacious (Kali-B.) (A.). Pale swelling of the upper lip. Found it useful in epistaxis. Whether the hæmorrhage be…”

Bovista Lycoperdon in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Bovista Lycoperdon in 1,848 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (280), HEAD (256), GENERALITIES (173), MIND (104), SKIN (103).

SKIN - INDENTED easily from pressure
FEMALE GENITALIA - MENSES - night - only
STOOL - THIN,liquid - formed then thin
RECTUM - DIARRHOEA - menses - before
CHEST - OPPRESSION - fever,during
STOOL - HARD - first, - then fluid
EXTREMITIES - AWKWARDNESS - Hands
EXTREMITIES - AWKWARDNESS - Fingers
NOSE - PAIN in - rawness - nostrils
EXTREMITIES - AWKWARDNESS - Hands - drops things
FEMALE GENITALIA - LEUCORRHOEA - walking agg.
EXTREMITIES - ERUPTION - Lower Limbs - herpes
FACE - ERUPTIONS - crusty,scabby - nose - inside and on
EXTREMITIES - ERUPTION - Upper Limbs - herpes
STOMACH - CLOTHING disturbs
ABDOMEN - CLOTHING,sensitive to
CHILL - PAIN,with
NOSE - SCURFY nostrils
FEMALE GENITALIA - LEUCORRHOEA - menses - before
EXTREMITIES - AWKWARDNESS

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