Graphites 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.
“Black Lead. (Amorphous Carbon.) Suited to women, inclined to obesity, who suffer from habitual constipation; with a history of delayed menstruation. "What Pulsatilla is at puberty, Graphites is at the climacteric.". Excessive cautiousness; timid; hesitates; unable to decide about anything (Puls.). Fidgety while…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Carbon, amorphous. (The finest specimens contain traces of iron, .04 to .09 per cent.; poor qualities contain as much as 4 per cent.) Common names , Plumbago, Black Lead; (Germ.), Reissblei. Preparation , Trituration of the prepared black lead from finest English drawing-pencils. Authorities. Emotional. Very easily…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Black Lead-Plumbago Like all the carbons, this remedy is an anti-psoric of great power, but especially active in patients who are rather stout, of fair complexion, with tendency to skin affections and constipation, fat, chilly, and costive , with delayed menstrual history, take cold easily. Children impudent, teasing…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NUTRITION. Circulation. SKIN: Folds. Behind ears. Angles. Flexures. Orifices. Nails. Mind. Mucous membranes. Glands. Eyes. COLD. Drafts. Light. During menses. Suppressions of eruptions. Empty swallowing. Fats. Hot drinks. Warmth of bed. Scratching. Night. Wet feet. Open air; after walking in. Eating. Touch. LUMPY…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Plumbago. Black Lead. An allotropic modification of carbon. (The finest specimens contain traces of iron, 0.04 to 0.6 per cent.; poor qualities as much as 4 per cent.) Trituration of prepared Black Lead from finest English drawing-pencils. Acne / Amenorrhœa / Anus, affections of / Blepharitis / Breasts, indurated…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Plumbago ; black lead. Carbon, amorphous. The purified Graphite prepared by trituration and potentized. Introduced by Hahnemann. See Chronische Krankheiten. Proved by Hahnemann and his provers. See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 4, p. 467 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Headache , Goullon, Raue's Rec., 1873, p. 197 ; Herpetic…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“The complaints of Graphites are worse morning, evening and during the NIGHT, especially before midnight. It is useful in people who are morbidly fat, or have been fat and are now emaciating; with constipation more commonly than diarrhoea; in women in these conditions whose menstrual habit is pale, late, short and…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Twitching and contortions of the limbs. Disposition to catch cold and aggravation from getting cold. Drawing through the whole body with disposition to stretch the limbs. Stiffness of the limbs. Sensation of trembling in the whole body with twitches in all the limbs. The limbs go to sleep. Pulsation in all the…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Melancholy with inclination to grief, anxiety about the future, and nightly restlessness driving one out of bed. Despairing grief with shedding of tears. Anxious fear of an approaching misfortune. Irresoluteness and excessive cautiousness. Easily vexed and wrathful. Want of disposition to work. Forgetfulness, chooses…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: black lead. Suited to women, inclined to obesity, who suffer from habitual constipation; with a history of delayed menstruation (A.). Sexual desire diminished (Agn., Bar-C., Caust., Ferr., Helon., Hep., Lyc., Mag-C., Nat-M., Phos-Ac., Rhod., Sep., Sulph.) (K.). "What Pulsatilla is at puberty, Graphites is…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Eruption on the skin, oozing out a thick, honey-like fluid. Mucous outlets; eyelids inflamed, with pustules; ears discharge, moist sore places behind ears; mouth cracked in corners; anus, eruptions, itching, fissured. Nails grow thick, cracked, out of shape. Constipation; stools knotty, large lumps, united by mucous…”
