Lac Caninum
by E. B. Nash — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics
Inflammatory affections travel crosswise, from side to side, back and forth (rheumatism, sore throat, etc.).
Breasts and throat get sore at every menstrual period.
Mastitis; breasts very sore and tender; cannot bear a jar of the bed; on stepping has to hold them up, on going down stairs.
At one time I would not have admitted this substance into my list of remedies, for I thought it a disgrace to try to foist dogs’ milk upon the profession as a homœopathic remedy. But after accumulated evidence in its favor, and the rule that I had adopted early in my professional life, “to prove all things and hold fast that which was good,” I concluded to try it, and my first trial was in a case of inflammatory rheumatism which had withstood my best efforts to relieve for two weeks.
The pain travelled from joint to joint, but Pulsatilla utterly failed. I noticed, after a while, that it not only travelled from joint to joint, but crosswise; one day in the right knee, the next day or two in the left, and then back again, etc. Lac caninum cured the case very quickly. Not long after I had a very severe case of scarlatina. The throat was swollen full, and the restlessness was so marked with pains in the limbs which left the patient tossing from side to side that I thought surely Rhus tox. must be the remedy. But it failed to relieve. Then I discovered that the soreness of the throat and the pains alternated sides. This called my mind to the remedy, which was given with prompt relief. I used the c. m. in both these cases.
Two cases of tonsilitis in one house in separate families. I was called to treat one of them, and a very excellent Allopathic physician the other. Of course there was close watching to see which case would get well the quickest, and especially if either could be cured without suppuration taking place. They were both very bad cases. Both progressed rapidly for forty-eight hours. In my case the swelling began on one side; the next day was even worse on the other side, so I told them that as the first side was better I thought the last one would be better to-morrow; but alas the next day number one was worse again, the patient could not swallow, food and drinks came back by the nose. It was with much difficulty, choking and struggling that even a spoonful of medicine could be taken. I hesitated no longer, but gave Lac caninum c. m. at noon, and when I visited her in the evening found her taking oyster broth and she could speak distinctly, whereas she could not articulate a word in the morning. In another day the patient was well except some weakness. The other case went on to suppuration and was over a week longer in getting around. So another victory was scored for Homœopathy, and I have continued to verify this characteristic of erratic pains, alternating sides, until I consider it as reliable as the keynote of any other remedy.
The curative power of this remedy being settled in my mind, I determined to test it by a proving. I induced three clerks in a dry goods store to take pills (No. 35) of the 200th (B. & T.), once in two hours. They would not consent to do it until I told them what they were to take, and one of them, a well-read young man, remarked with a laugh that if wolf’s milk would not kill Romulus and Remus it would not them. The result was that within three days they had sore throats, and the young man mentioned had on both tonsils distinct patches as large as a thumb nail. The other young man was frightened and would not continue the proving, and the young lady’s sore throat was followed by a severe cough with soreness of the chest for over a week.
I have found Lac caninum a very useful remedy in mastitis, the chief indication being great tenderness and soreness which cannot bear the least jar of the bed or stepping on the floor. Again, if the breasts and throat get sore during menstruation, especially if the menses flow in gushes instead of continuously, Lac caninum is the remedy.