Plumbum 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.
“Lead. (The Metal.) Adapted to diseases from spinal origin (Phos., Pic. ac., Zinc.). Excessive and rapid emaciation ; general or partial paralysis; extreme, with anaemia and great weakness. Muscular atrophy from scelorisis of spinal system. Lassitude; faints on going into a room full of company. Slow of perception…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Plumbum metallicum, aceticum, carbonicum. Preparation , Triturations. Authorities. (Nos.”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Lead The great drug for general sclerotic conditions. Lead paralysis is chiefly of extensors, forearm or upper limb, from center to periphery with partial anæsthesia or excessive hyperasthesia, preceded by pain. Localized neuralgic pains, neuritis. The blood, alimentary and nervous systems are the special seats of…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“CORD AND NERVES: MUSCLES. ABDOMEN. Kidneys. Navel. Blood-vessels. Blood. Clear weather. Open air. Exertion. Motion. Company. Grasping smooth objects. Touch. Hard pressure. Rubbing. Slow , insidious processes, having violent side symptoms; often of very changeable or incoherent character; coming in single parts, etc…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“METALLICUM. The Element. Pb (A. W. 206.39). Trituration. PLUMBUM ACETICUM. Acetate of Lead. Sugar of Lead. Pb (C 2 H 3 O 2 ) 2 3 H 2 O. Trituration. PLUMBUM CARBONICUM. Carbonate of Lead. Pure White Lead. Plumbic Carbonate. Pb CO 3 , Trituration. Amaurosis / Anæmia / Anæsthesia / Aneurism / Anidrosis / Appendicitis /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Lead ; the Metal, the Acetate and Carbonate. Introduced by Hartlaub. Provings and toxicological reports are numerous. See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 8, p. 1 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Mental disturbance , Chapman, B. J. H., vol. 3, p. 170 ; Hypopion , Theuerkauf, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 118 ; Affection of eye …”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“This drug illustrates a doctrine of Hahnemann: the doctrine of attenuation. Generalities : When you think of the insolubility of lead, and then think of it as spread on the wall of a room, and then remember how many become sick from sleeping in a newly painted room, you will then wonder how much lead it took to make…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Stinging and tearing in the limbs. Twitching of the limbs with paralysis of the same. Sensation of constriction in the internal organs. Useful in granular kidney. The pains in the limbs are aggravated at night and are relieved by rubbing. A sensation of tingling on the bones themselves. Convulsions followed by…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Quiet and melancholy mood. Anxiety, with restlessness and yawning. Wild delirium, with distorted countenance. Vertigo, especially on stooping and on turning the eyes upwards. Stupefaction of the head, he falls down unconscious. Heaviness of the head, especially in the cerebellum. Congestions of blood to the head, with…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: lead. Especially adapted to diseases, where they arise from disease of the spinal cord (Bt.). The patient's complexion is waxy, pallid and greasy, or shiny looking (D.). Excessive and rapid emaciation (Ars.) (N.). Locomotor Ataxia (Alum., Kali-P., Zinc.) (Bl.). GENERAL OR PARTIAL PARALYSIS (Caust…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Abdomen retracted toward the spine, as if drawn in by a string; both objective and subjective. Distinct blue line along margin of the gums. “Wrist-drop,” paralysis of the extensor muscles. Notwithstanding the very extensive provings, this remedy has not been so useful as it would seem it should be. One symptom has…”
