Cuprum metallicum appears in 12 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.
“Copper (CN) Spasms and cramps : symptoms disposed to appear periodically and in groups. Mental and physical exhaustion from over-exertion of mind and loss of sleep (Coc., Nux); attacks of unconquerable anxiety. A strong, sweetish, metallic, copper taste in the mouth with flow of saliva (Rhus). Constant prostration and…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Preparation , Triturations of the metal. Authorities. [Note: Symptoms from Hahnemann's provers are here included (as in the chronic diseases), with instructions to prepare the pure metal. Hahnemann, in his Fragmenta, 1805, gives symptoms under the heading of "Cuprum vitriolatum," included here under C. sulf., and in…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Copper Spasmodic affections, cramps , convulsions, beginning in fingers and toes, violent, contractive, and intermittent pain, are some of the more marked expressions of the action of Cuprum; and its curative range therefore includes tonic and clonic spasms, convulsions, and epileptic attacks. Chorea brought on by…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NERVES: Cerebro-spinal axis. Digestive tract. Epigastrium. Abdomen. Muscles. Blood. Emotions: Anger. Suppressions. Overtax. Motion. Hot weather. Vomiting. Loss of sleep. Touch. Raising arm. Cold drinks. Pressure over heart. Sub-oxidation, affecting the centers of the medulla. Violent effects; in recurring symptom…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Copper. Cu. (A. W. 63). Trituration. After-pains / Angina pectoris / Asthma / Asthma millari / Cardialgia / Catarrh / Chlorosis / Cholera / Chorea / Convulsions / Cough / Cramps / Croup / Cyanosis / Dentition / Dyspnœa / Emissions / Epilepsy / Eruptions / Erysipelas / Fainting / Gastric disturbance / Gout /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Copper. Cu. A substance little known as a remedy before Hahnemann, although used by Mediæval physicians, after its introduction by Hohenheim (called Paracelsus) in the sixteenth century, and later (1845) in an empiric way by the Rademacherian School, in which it ranked as a polychrest. A comprehensive monograph…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Convulsions: Cuprum is pre-eminently a convulsive medicine. The convulsive tendency associates itself with almost every complaint that, Cuprum creates and cures. It has convulsions in every degree of violence, from the mere twitching of little muscles and of single muscles to convulsions of all the muscles of the…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Mania in attacks followed by perspiration. Violent convulsions with piercing cries. Twitching at night. Icy coldness of the whole body. Vomiting, which is flaky, with colic and spasms. Flaky diarrhoea. Cholera. The pulse is slow and scarcely perceptible. Painful, spasmodic contractions of the chest. Severe spasmodic…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Craziness; attacks with savage malice, with proud bearing, and at times interrupted by clonic spasms. Great anguish, like fear of death; restlessness, groaning, and desire to escape. Attacks of rage (wants to bite the bystanders). Convulsive laughter. Incoherent, delirious talk. Vertigo while looking upwards, when…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: copper. Contact renews and aggravates the ailment (Nux-V.) Giddiness accompanying almost all ailments, the head falling forward and on the chest. Metastasis to the brain from the other organs (N.). Coldness and blueness of the surface of the body (Lach.) (D.). Mania in attacks followed by perspiration…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Spasm is the one word characterizing this remedy. Cramps or convulsions, in meningitis, cholera, cholera morbus, whooping cough, scarlatina, etc. Spasms begin in fingers and toes and spreading from there become general. Mental or bodily exhaustion from over-exertion of mind or loss of sleep. Affections arising from…”
