Sambucus Nigra
By Constantine Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica
Elder. Caprifoliaceæ.
The European elder, Sambucus nigra, differs but slightly from the American, Sambucus canadensis.
The tincture is prepared from the fresh leaves and flowers.
Introduced and proved by Hahnemann, assisted by Franz, Gross, Hartmann, Langhammer and Wislicenus, R. A. M. L., vol. 5.
CLINICAL AUTHORITIES.
- Coryza , Tietze, Gross, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 391 ; Ileus (3 cases reported cured), Lilienthal, Hah. Mo., vol. 7, p. 116 ; Influenza , Sorge, A. H. Z., vol. 92, p. 110 ; Laryngismus , Wesselhœft, A. J. H. M. M., vol. 4, p. 19 ; Spasmodic croup , Müller, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 765 ; Croup , Fielitz, Tietze, B. J. H., vol. 5, p. 308 ; Hawley, Hom. Phys., vol. 6, p. 441 ; Pröll, A. H. Z., vol. 112, p. 126 ; Cough, Croup, Asthma Millari, suffocative attacks, etc ., Hartmann, Rummel, Tietze, Hirsch, Hinz, Weber, Fielitz, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 3, p. 97 ; Asthmatic attacks , Hirsch, B. J. H., vol. 25, p. 392 ; Whooping cough , Griesselich, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 3, p. 84 ; Arnold, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 728 ; Use in whooping cough , Wesselhœft, N. E. M. G., vol. 4, p. 366 ; Catarrhal affection of chest , Bœnninghausen, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 5, p. 694 ; Use in phthisis , McGeorge, N. E. M. G., vol. 5, p. 131 ; Phthisis , Schüler, Schultz, Rückert, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 3, p. 394 ; Ague , Hrg, Herrmann, Baertl, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 4, p. 987 ; Durham, Swan, N. A. J. H., vol. 21, p. 106 ; Night sweats , Müller, A. H. Z., vol. 92, p. 148.
MIND [1]
Seeing images when shutting eyes.
Delirium without fever.
Anxiety : with vomiting ; with sweat.
Very easily frightened ; trembling, anxiety, restlessness.
Fright followed by suffocative attacks, with bluish bloated face.
Constant fretfulness.
SENSORIUM [2]
Dizziness, cloudiness of head.
INNER HEAD [3]
Dizziness, with tension in head when moving it, sensation as if it were filled with water.
Sudden jerks through head.
Pressive pain on temporal bones.
Catarrhal headaches, especially of children.
OUTER HEAD [4]
The head is bent backward.
Erysipelas all over left side of head, ear much swollen, confined to bed, could not move.
Scurfs on head with intolerable itching.
Skull feels as if stretched.
SIGHT AND EYES [5]
Child could not open eyes, could not bear light, awoke from sleep screaming.
Eyes and mouth half open in sleep. θ Asthma Millari.
HEARING AND EARS [6]
Great swelling, heat, redness and lump just under right ear, in neck, accompanied by a very sharp pain.
SMELL AND NOSE [7]
Child starts up suddenly as if suffocating. θ Asthma Millaria.
Sniffles of children.
Breathing through nose impeded, with dry coryza, especially in nursing infants.
Dry coryza of infants ; nose dry and completely obstructed, preventing breathing and nursing ; constant sniffles.
Stoppage of nose with thick tenacious mucus.
UPPER FACE [8]
Face : pale, bluish or red ; pale, collapsed, covered with cold sweat ; appears much older and yellow ; bloated, dark blue ; red-spotted.
Burning heat : and redness of face ; with icy-cold feet.
On waking, face breaks out in a profuse sweat, which gradually extends over body.
Red, burning spots on cheeks ; great heat of face ; circumscribed redness of face.
Numb tension as from swelling in cheeks and on nose.
TEETH AND GUMS [10]
Tearing and stinging in teeth, with sensation of swelling of cheek.
PALATE AND THROAT [13]
Dryness of throat and mouth, with thirstlessness.
APPETITE, THIRST. DESIRES, AVERSIONS [14]
Thirst, but drink is not palatable.
EATING AND DRINKING [15]
Worse after eating fruit.
HICCOUGH, BELCHING, NAUSEA AND VOMITING [16]
Everything makes him feel sick.
Vomiting first of food, later of bile.
ABDOMEN AND LOINS [19]
Distended abdomen, with pressure and griping in stomach and umbilical region.
Painful pressure in abdomen, with nausea when leaning against a hard edge.
Great soreness in abdomen.
Griping in abdomen, with emission of flatus as after taking cold.
Ileus.
STOOLS AND RECTUM [20]
Stools : frequent, watery ; thin, slimy, with much wind, followed by urging ; pressure in stomach and navel ; abdomen large.
URINARY ORGANS [21]
Nephritis.
Frequent urging to urinate, with profuse discharge of urine.
FEMALE SEXUAL ORGANS [23]
Menses too profuse ; menorrhagia.
PREGNANCY. PARTURITION. LACTATION [24]
Mamma red and swollen.
Milk diminished.
VOICE AND LARYNX. TRACHEA AND BRONCHIA [25]
Hoarseness caused by much tenacious, glutinous mucus in larynx.
Voice sounds hollow.
Hoarseness, rawness in throat and oppression of chest. θ Influenza.
Woke at night with agonizing fits, spasms of glottis, with agony and fear of suffocation ; springing up in bed and struggling for breath. θ Asthma Millari.
Spasm of glottis ; breathing is of a wheezing, crowing character, < after midnight and from lying with head low. θ Croup.
Spasms of larynx occurring frequently during course of acute laryngitis.
An infant nine months old has laryngeal spasms several times in day and night ; awakes from sleep with suffocation ; is able to inspire but not expire ; becomes livid in face, gasps in great anguish, and very slowly recovers its breath ; had two attacks of this kind in previous night, at 8 P. M. and 11 P. M. θ Laryngismus.
Sudden disappearance of coryza ; on following night very rough, hollow, croupy cough ; agitated sleep ; following morning fits of hollow, deep cough ; whistling respiration ; constant crying ; burning head ; crying or coughing, as if throat were painful. θ Croup.
Sopor ; snoring and whistling, with mouth open and head bent back ; starts up, strikes about, is nearly suffocated ; becomes blue in face, then cough with rattling breathing ; threatening suffocation and paralysis of lungs. θ Croup.
Much dry heat with restlessness ; sudden awaking in fright at night, from 9 P. M. until 2 A. M., grasping its throat ; shortly after, perspiration on face, head and neck, going off with sleep ; during paroxysms of hoarse, suffocating cough child had purple nails and lips ; scanty, tough expectoration, yet tracheal sound was somewhat loose. θ Croup.
In dangerous cases with excessive weakness, old-looking features and threatening paralysis pulmonum. θ Croup.
RESPIRATION [26]
Breathing : anxious, loud ; quick, wheezing, crowing.
Oppression of chest, with pressure in stomach and nausea.
Nightly suffocative attacks, with great restlessness ; shedding of tears and throwing about of arms.
Suffocating attacks after midnight.
Child suddenly awakes, nearly suffocated, sits up in bed, turns blue, gasps for breath, which it finally gets ; spell passes off ; it lies down again, and is aroused sooner or later in the same manner. θ Asthma Millari.
Drowsiness, breathes with mouth open and with a snoring whistling sound, head bent backward, suddenly springs up, tossing arms about, face becoming blue, suffocation seems inevitable when cough recurs, then with rattling breathing child sinks back exhausted ; threatened paralysis of lungs.
Violent asthmatic attack, respiration rapid and whistling ; occasional short but labored coughs ; high degree of dyspnœa ; constantly pointing to middle of chest ; had been suffering twenty-four hours, with intermissions of two or three hours, the free intervals becoming gradually shorter with each attack (which lasted usually from ten to fifteen minutes) ; threatened suffocation with marked blueness of lips.
Roused about 2 or 3 A. M. with sense of stoppage of air tubes as by phlegm.
Asthma thymicum ; suppressed perspiration ; attack comes on suddenly ; awakes from a kind of lethargy with eyes and mouth open ; raises himself in bed with great anxiety and dyspnœa ; respiration oppressed, with wheezing in chest ; head and hands puffed and bloated, with dry heat all over body ; no thirst ; small, irregular and intermittent pulse ; no cough ; paroxysms occur principally from midnight until 4 A. M. ; difficulty of inspiration but not of expiration.
Attacks of suffocation, resembling last stage of croup.
COUGH [27]
Cough : hollow, dry, at night ; deep and dry before chill ; with regular inhalations, but sighing exhalations ; suffocative hollow, deep, whooping, caused by spasm of chest, expectoration of small quantities of tough mucus, only during day ; suffocative with crying children ; < about midnight, during rest, lying in bed, or with head low, from dry, cold air.
After suppression of a fluent coryza ; rough, hollow, deep, croupy cough ; restlessness ; frequent desire to nurse ; whistling respiration ; cries with every cough, as if throat were painful, head hot.
Whooping-cough ; suffocative, hollow, deep cough, caused by a spasm in chest, with expectoration only during day of small quantities of tough mucus.
Dry, hacking cough during chill and heat. θ Ague.
Sputa : very yellow, as if colored by bile ; taste saltish.
INNER CHEST AND LUNGS [28]
Oppression and pressure beneath sternum and pressure in pit of stomach and epigastric region, with nausea and sense of weakness.
Oppression and stitches in left side of chest below nipple.
After catching cold the previous Winter, catarrhal affection of chest ; violent hollow, dry cough with hoarseness and accumulation of much tough mucus in larynx, < during night ; oppression of chest with stitches in left side when lying upon that side ; internal heat without thirst ; profuse debilitating sweats ; great nervousness ; great sleepiness, but sleep is restless and he wakes often, when feeling of anxiety prevents him from falling asleep again ; face pale, sunken, with circumscribed burning redness of cheeks ; pressure in stomach after eating, particularly after milk, frequently with vomiting first of food, then bile ; urine watery, increased in quantity ; great emaciation ; is fond of warmth ; feels > when moving about a little than when absolutely at rest ; frequent inclination to take a deep inspiration, which he can do without difficulty ; dry, burning heat during sleep at once going over into profuse sweat on awaking and continuing until he falls asleep again when the heat returns.
After a cold drink while overheated, fever and severe cough and expectoration ; the following condition finally developing ; pressing pain on chest ; constant cough day and night with profuse expectoration of offensive, sweet-tasting mucus ; face pale, earthy-colored ; great emaciation ; pulse rapid, weak ; burning heat in palms of hands ; great thirst in afternoon ; profuse sweats at night ; complete loss of appetite. θ Phthisis.
Constant severe cough, with profuse salty-tasting expectoration ; great debility and emaciation ; constantly increasing oppression of chest ; œdematous swelling of legs, extending up above knees ; as the cure progresses profuse urination and severe itching of skin and finally exfoliation of epidermis set in. θ Phthisis.
Phthisis : hectic flush, night sweats, choking cough, afternoon fevers ; wakes up after midnight with feeling of sudden suffocation, without being able to call for help ; night sweats only when wide awake, passing over into a dry heat as soon as he falls asleep. θ Phthisis.
HEART, PULSE AND CIRCULATION [29]
Orgasm in whole body.
Occasional omission of heart-beat.
Angina pectoris where pressure proceeds from spine ; in individuals formerly fat and robust and now emaciated on account of mental emotions, sexual indulgence or excessive seminal losses ; paroxysms generally come on at midnight, or in middle of night and wake patient up, compelling him to sit up or get up before he can get any relief or summon assistance ; in many cases the patient can give no account of what is the matter or how it came on, only sit up in bed and moan and cry, with hand over heart.
Pulse generally very frequent and small ; sometimes slow and full, sometimes intermitting.
OUTER CHEST [30]
Pressure upon sternum, with a counterpressure from spine to sternum.
Compression of chest violent, trembling from pain.
NECK AND BACK [31]
Sweat on throat and neck ; with children.
UPPER LIMBS [32]
Paralytic heaviness in elbow joint.
Trembling of hands when writing.
Stitches in wrist.
Dark-blue bloatedness of forearms and hands.
Muscles between little finger and next very sore.
LOWER LIMBS [33]
Sharp, deep stitches in tibia.
Œdematous swelling of feet, extending to legs.
Sensation of coldness, numbness and deadness in middle of right tibia.
Icy-cold feet : with warmth of body ; with hot face.
LIMBS IN GENERAL [34]
Hands and feet bloated, blue.
REST. POSITION. MOTION [35]
Rest : cough <.
Lying down : dry heat after falling asleep.
Lying in bed : cough <.
Lying on left side : stitches in chest.
Head low : spasms of glottis < ; cough <.
Must sit up in bed to regain breath.
Motion : of head, tension and dizziness.
Writing : trembling of hands.
NERVES [36]
Great weakness.
General trembling, with anxiety and ebullitions of blood.
Great tendency to start ; starts at things to which he is accustomed.
SLEEP [37]
Sleepiness.
Drowsiness with inability to sleep.
Frequent awaking, as in a fright, with anxiety, trembling, dyspnœa, as if he would suffocate.
Slumber with eyes and mouth half open.
During sleep, dry heat ; after waking profuse sweat.
TIME [38]
At 2 or 3 A. M. : roused with sense of stoppage of air tubes.
During day : expectoration of tough mucus.
Afternoon : great thirst ; fevers.
Night : spasms of glottis ; dry cough ; profuse sweat.
From 7 P. M. to 1 A. M. : profuse sweat without thirst.
About midnight : cough <.
After midnight : spasms of glottis < ; suffocative attacks.
TEMPERATURE AND WEATHER [39]
Shunning uncovering during heat.
From dry, cold air : cough <.
After a cold drink while overheated : phthisis.
FEVER [40]
Chill running over whole body, with crawling sensation here and there.
Hands and feet icy cold ; rest of body warm.
Shaking chills before going to bed. θ Ague.
Spasmodic deep, dry cough ; may occur after chill if absent in prodroma.
Dry heat : while he sleeps ; on falling asleep after lying down ; without thirst, dreads uncovering.
Hot body with cold hands and feet during sleep ; on awaking face breaks out into a profuse sweat which extends over body and continues more or less during waking hours ; on going to sleep again dry heat returns.
Sensation of burning heat in face, with moderate warmth of body and icy-cold feet, without thirst.
Burning heat, dread of uncovering.
Hectic flush.
Profuse sweat without thirst, while awake from 7 P. M. to 1 A. M. ; drops stood upon face, and there was also perspiration all over, but after sleep he was more hot than sweaty but without thirst.
General sweat except on head.
Continued perspiration while awake, changing into dry heat as soon as one goes to sleep.
Profuse non-debilitating sweat day and night.
Debilitating perspirations which often retard convalescence after delivery.
Night sweats except on head, increasing toward morning.
Profuse debilitating night sweats. θ Phthisis. θ Ague.
Night sweats in phthisis ; sweats come even when awake.
Profuse weakening sweats, day and night, last through apyrexia.
Prodroma : cough deep, dry, racking, for half an hour ; nausea and thirst.
Irregular paroxysms occurring every other day (quinine had no effect), cough deep and dry for half an hour, with nausea and thirst ; chill for half an hour, without cough, nausea thirst ; slight fever with moist skin ; profuse sweat at night, not debilitating ; apyrexia complete. θ Ague.
Chills and fever, type quotidian ; paroxysms commenced at 3 P. M., with hard dry cough from lower part of chest, racking and shaking whole body and producing a pain over whole head which is > by pressure or having head tightly bound up ; no expectoration with cough ; great thirst for large quantities of water very often ; longing for acids ; chills, severe and shaking, lasting for half an hour ; lips and nails look blue ; nausea and vomiting, < by drinking, substance vomited having a bitter-sour taste ; bitter-sour taste in mouth during paroxysm ; tongue coated white ; skin cool, pulse 90 ; slight moisture on surface ; chills running down back ; back and limbs ache, particularly during chill, and < when they come in contact with bed ; cough, headache and thirst continued ; fever, great heat with stupor and prostration ; thirst and cough continue, but no headache ; pains in back and limbs ; great difficulty in speaking ; with heat, a profuse perspiration ; delirium ; is distressed because of some one whom she imagines is in bed with her and oppresses her respiration as if she had to breathe for two ; continual talking ; sense of suffocation, with a quivering or fluttering at heart ; great distress in region of heart, whence the cough seems to proceed ; hearing painfully acute ; great depression of spirits with anxious, vexed, desponding thoughts and weeping ; moaning and weeping during sleep ; at night a drenching sweat, smelling sour fetid, staining yellow, not debilitating ; ineffectual desire to urinate, passing water about once in twenty-four hours, a small quantity of very turbid loam-colored urine ; patient suffered for years from chronic dysentery which was cured at same time. θ Ague.
Dry heat while asleep, profuse sweat while awake, then dry heat again when he sleeps ; the profuse sweat is rarely debilitating and never in proportion to its profuseness ; always without thirst.
No thirst during heat or sweat.
Shunning uncovering during heat ; visions when shutting eyes. θ Typhus.
ATTACKS, PERIODICITY [41]
Several times in day and night : laryngeal spasms.
Nightly : suffocative attacks.
From 9 until 2 P. M. : sudden awaking in fright.
From midnight until 4 A. M. : suffocative attacks.
Once in twenty-four hours : passes water.
Every other day : paroxysm of ague.
LOCALITY AND DIRECTION [42]
Right : swelling, heat, redness and lumps just under the ear.
Left : erysipelas of whole side of head ; stitches in side of chest below nipple.
As if head were filled with water ; skull as if stretched ; as if suffocating.
Pain : over whole head ; in back and limbs.
Great distress : in region of heart.
Sharp pain : under right ear.
Tearing : in teeth.
Stitches : in left side of chest below nipple ; in wrist ; in tibia.
Stinging : in teeth.
Griping : in stomach and umbilical region ; in abdomen.
Pressive pain : in temporal bones.
Pressing pain : on chest.
Jerks : through head.
Soreness : in abdomen.
Burning heat : in palms of hands.
Rawness : in throat.
Oppression : of chest, beneath sternum ; in left side of chest below nipple.
Heat : of face.
Pressure : in stomach ; in abdomen beneath sternum and pit of stomach and epigastric region ; upon sternum ; from spine to sternum.
Tension : in head, in cheeks and nose.
Dryness : of mouth and throat.
Itching : of scurfs on head.
Numbness : in middle of tibia.
Deadness : in middle of tibia.
Coldness : in middle of tibia ; of feet.
TISSUES [44]
Œdematous swellings in various parts of body, especially in instep, legs and feet.
Œdema ; anasarca ; general dropsy.
Increased secretion of skin and of respiratory mucous membrane.
TOUCH. PASSIVE MOTION. INJURIES [45]
Leaning against hard edge ; painful pressure in abdomen with nausea.
Pressure : > pain in head.
Tightly bound : > pain in head.
After contusions, tension in dark-red swelling.
SKIN [46]
Bloatedness and dark-red swelling, with tension after contusions.
RELATIONS [48]
Antidoted by : Arsen., Camphor .
Compatible : Bellad., Conium, Nux vom., Phosphor., Rhus tox., Sepia .
Compare : Cinchon., Ipecac., Sulphur .