Nitricum acidum 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.
“Nitric Acid. (HNO3.) Especially suited to thin persons of rigid fibre, dark complexions, black hair and eyes - the brunette rather than the blonde - nervous temperament. Persons suffering with chronic diseases who take cold easily; are easily disposed to diarrhoea; rarely to those who suffer with constipation. Old…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Nitric acid; hydrogen nitrate; HNO3. Preparation , Dilutions with distilled water. Authorities. (Nos. 1 to 19 , from Hahnemann.)”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Nitric Acid Selects for its special seat of action the outlets of the body where the mucous membrane and skin meet; these pain as from splinters. Sticking pains . Marked improvement of all symptoms while riding in a carriage. Acts best on the dark complexioned and past middle life. Syphilis, after abuse of Mercury…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“MARGINS OF OUTLETS: Throat. Anus. Mouth. GLANDS: Liver. Prostate. Salivary. Tubular organs. Blood. Skin. Bones. Joints. Right side. Slight CAUSES: TOUCH. JARRING. Noise. Rattling. Motion. Mercury. Milk. After eating. COLD; air; dampness. Night. Evening. Changing weather. Heat of bed. Mental exertion, or shock. Gliding…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Nitric acid. Aqua fortis. HNO 3 . Solution. Actinomycosis / Anus, fissure of / Axilla, offensive perspiration of / Bladder, chronic catarrh of / Breath, offensive / Bright's disease / Bronchitis / Bubo / Chancre / Cheloid / Chilblains / Choking, easy / Climacteric / Cold, easily taken / Condylomata / Constipation /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Nitric Acid. H N O 3 . Introduced by Hahnemann ; proved by himself, Bethmann, Foissac, Hartmann, Hering, Rummel, Stapf and others (Chronische Krankheiten). Later provings by Robinson (B. Jour. Hom., vol. 25, p. 235), Berridge (N. Am. Jour. of Hom. N. S., vol. 3, p. 101, and Amer. Jour. of Hom. Mat. Med., vol. 8, p…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Generalities: Great general weakness; feeble reaction; extreme sensitivity, and nervous trembling, are marked features in this remedy. Patients greatly broken by long suffering, pain and sickness, physical more than mental suffering, finally anemia and emaciation are marked. Sensitive to cold; always chilly. Symptoms…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Great debility and trembling, especially in the morning. Ailments from the change of weather. Tearing in the limbs after catching cold. Cracking in the joints. Inflammation, swelling and suppuration of the glands. Painfulness and inflammation of the bones. Softening of the bones. Caries. Fistula lachrymalis. Ulcers in…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Sadness despondency. Anxiety about his disease, with fear of death. Excessive nervousness, great excitability, especially after the abuse of mercury. Taciturn, disinclined to communicate any thing. Irritable disposition. Vexed at trifles. Attacks of rage, despair, with cursing and maledictions. Vertigo, especially in…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: nitric acid. Affects principally the mucous outlets of the body where the skin and mucous membrane join, viz., the mouth, nose, rectum, anus, urethra, and vagina (Mur-Ac.) (A.). Generally indicated for persons suffering with chronic diseases, who take cold easily and are easily disposed to diarrhœa (A.)…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Has a particular affinity for mucous outlets, where skin and membranes join; cracks; rhagades, fissures. Pricking pains as of a splinter in the parts. Urine strong smelling; like horse urine. Hemorrhages from all outlets of the body; blood bright red. Pricking ulcers; excrescences; condylomata; figwarts (sycosis)…”