Ferrum 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.
“Iron. (The Element.) Persons of sanguine temperament;; pettish, quarrelsome, disputative, easily excited, least contradiction angers (Anac., Coc., Ign.); > mental exertion. Irritability: slight noises like crackling of paper drive him to despair (Asar., Tar.). Women who are weak, delicate, chlorotic, yet have a fiery…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“[Under this head are included symptoms from Ferrum metallicum pulveratum and Ferrum aceticum, since both were used by Hahnemann without distinction. (Ferrum carbonicum is also included; see authority, No. 23.] Ferrum, The element. Common names , Iron; Eisen. Preparation , Triturations of pure metallic iron; solutions…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Iron Best adapted to young weakly persons, anæmic and chlorotic, with pseudo-plethora, who flush easily; cold extremities; oversensitiveness ; worse after any active effort. Weakness from mere speaking or walking though looking strong. Pallor of skin, mucous membranes, face, alternating with flushes. Orgasms of blood…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“VASO-MOTORS: CIRCULATION. Blood-vessels. Blood. Spleen. Digestion. Left deltoid. NIGHT. Emotions. Violent exertion. Eating. Drinking. Vital losses. Sweats. Quinine. Eggs. Heat and cold. Sudden motions. Raising arms. Gentle motion. Slight bleeding (Calad. Card-m. Lach.). Leaning head on something. Pale mucous…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Iron. Fe. (A. W. 56). Including also symptoms of the acetate and the carbonate. Triturations of the pure metal and of the carbonate; solution of the acetate. The Protoxalate is also a useful preparation in the crude and in trituration. "Hensel's Tonicum," a liquid, is another serviceable form. Anæmia / Aphonia /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Iron. The Element. Triturations of pure metallic iron ; solution of the acetate and triturations of the carbonate. Provings by Hahnemann, Gross, the American Provers' Union, etc. See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 4, p. 303 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Hydrocephalus in anæmic children , Liedbeck, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 43…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Iron: We will take up the study of Ferrum metallicum. The Old School has been giving Iron for anaemia throughout all tradition. They have given it in great quantities in the form of the tincture of chloride, and the carbonate. Whenever the patient became anemic, pallid, waxy and weak, Iron was the tonic. It is true…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Great emaciation. Weakness amounting to paralysis. Restlessness in the affected limbs. Cracking in the joints. Disposition to languor and rest on account of internal weakness. During the day-time, sudden spasms of the limbs are complained of. Rheumatic complaints. Contortion of the limbs. Varices. Chlorosis…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Anxiety as after committing a crime. Changeable disposition, one evening low-spirited and melancholy, the next excessively cheerful. Quarrelsome, disputative. Vertigo, particularly when descending and on seeing flowing water; with sickness at the stomach in walking; with the sensation as if the head would constantly…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: iron. Great emaciation (Ars., Bar-C., Calc., Chin., Graph., Iod., Lyc., Nat-M., Nit-Ac., Phos., Sil., Sulph., Tub.) Weakness amounting to paralysis (Ars., Caust., Gels., Kali-P., Nux-V., Phos., Plb., Sep.). Restlessness in the affected limbs (Rhus-T., Zinc.). Cracking in the joints (Calc., Caps., Kali-B…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Anæmia with great paleness of all the mucous membranes; with sudden fiery-red flushing of the face. Profuse hemorrhages from any organ; hemorrhagic diathesis; blood light with dark clots; coagulates easily. Local congestions and inflammations, with hammering, pulsating pains; veins full, flushed face, alternates with…”
