Conium maculatum

by H. A. Roberts — The Rheumatic Remedies

Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.

Conium may be thought of in those cases of rheumatism arising from a contusion of the spine or any other part, but it is always distinguished by its characteristic symptoms.

NECK AND BACK

Tension in nape of neck with pain and stiffness.

Soreness of lower cervical vertebræ.

SPRAINED PAIN IN SIDE OF NECK.

Neck twisted by hard swelling toward right shoulder.

PAIN BETWEEN SHOULDERS AND IN LUMBAR REGION.

Weakness and lameness in small of back with lassitude.

Dragging in small of back.

STITCHES IN SMALL OF BACK, WITH DRAWING THROUGH LUMBAR VERTEBRÆ WHILE STANDING.

Contractions in back with sense of coldness, griping and sore feeling.

SHARP PAINS IN BACK.

Pain whole length of back.

PAIN IN BACK, ESPECIALLY ON BENDING BACKWARD OR AFTER A SHORT WALK.

CUTTING PAIN AND WEIGHT IN BACK AND HIPS.

ACUTE PAIN IN SMALL OF BACK WHEN LAUGHING, SNEEZING OR TAKING A DEEP BREATH.

ILL EFFECTS FROM BRUISES AND SHOCKS TO SPINE.

SUPERIOR EXTREMITIES

Shoulders feel bruised and sore.

When lifted arms fall like weights and remain immovable.

Creaking in wrist joints.

Weakness and weariness of upper arm.

INFERIOR EXTREMITIES

Drawing pain in hips.

Dragging and weakness of legs.

Numbness in thighs.

SENSATION OF WEAKNESS EVEN TO TREMBLING IN POSTERIOR PART OF RIGHT THIGH WHILE WALKING.

PAINLESS PARALYSIS OF LIMBS.

Pain in knees as from fatigue.

Cracking sensation in knee joint.

CRAMPS IN CALVES.

EXTREMITIES IN GENERAL

HEAVINESS AND WEARINESS IN LIMBS.

Bruised pain in limbs.

PARALYZED FEELING IN ALL THE LIMBS.

NUMBNESS OF FINGERS AND TOES.

ALL JOINTS FEEL AS IF BEATEN.

TEARING AND PIERCING IN JOINTS AND EXTREMITIES, ESPECIALLY ELBOWS AND HIPS.

BAND-LIKE CONSTRICTION IN BONES OF EXTREMITIES.

CONCOMITANTS

BEFOGGED INTELLECT.

CANNOT THINK.

VERTIGO.

GREAT GIDDINESS, ESPECIALLY ON WALKING.

INDURATION OF GLANDS WITH KNIFE LIKE PAIN.

VERTIGO FROM TURNING IN BED.

AGGRAVATIONS

EVENING.

AT NIGHT.

DURING REST.

WHEN SITTING.

WHEN LYING DOWN.

WHEN AND AFTER EATING.

AMELIORATIONS

LYING IN BED.

BEFORE EATING.

CONTINUED MOTION.

MOTION OF AFFECTED PART.

EXTERNAL PRESSURE.

AFTER RISING FROM A SEAT.

STOOPING.

WALKING.

WALKING IN OPEN AIR.

WALKING BENT OVER.

Conium maculatum across the other classic books

Conium maculatum appears in 21 of the 27 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.
“Hemlock Poison (Umbelliferae) The "Balm of Gilead" for diseases of old maids and women during and after climacteric. Especially for diseases of old men; old maids; old bachelors; with rigid muscular fibre; persons with light hair who are easily excited; strong persons of sedentary habits. Debility of old people…”
Allen TF — A compiled symptom record drawing on proving reports and other named observations.
“Conium maculatum, L. Natural order , Umbelliferæ. Common names (Cicuta of the old Romans, but not since the seventeenth century), Poison hemlock; (G.), Schierling; (F.), Grande ciguë. Preparation , Tincture of the fresh herb in blossom. Authorities. (Nos. 1 to 36 , from Hahnemann, Ch. Kr., with notes by Dr. Hughes).”
Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Poison Hemlock (CONIUM) An old remedy, rendered classical by Plato's graphic description of its employment in the death of Socrates. The ascending paralysis it produces, ending in death by failure of respiration, shows the ultimate tendency of many symptoms produced in the provings, for which Conium is an excellent…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“BALL. BURNING, stinging. CHEST, backward in CLIMAXIS, Agg. CLOTHES, pressure of, Agg. COITION, Agg. CONSTRICTION, tight band, gathered together, squeezing, etc. COORDINATION, disturbed COUGH. COUGH, excited from Throat or Larynx CUTTING DIRECTION of sensations, Ascending. DIRECTION of sensations, Backward DIRECTION of…”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NERVES. MUSCLES. GLANDS: MAMMÆ. Ovaries. Sexual organs. Respiration. SEEING MOVING OBJECTS. ALCOHOL. Raising arms. After exertion. Injury. Night. Sexual excesses. Cold; taking. Continence. Old age. Lying; head low. Letting part hang down. Irregular action ending in progressive DEBILITY, as in old age: clothes…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Poison Hemlock. N. O. Umbelliferæ. Tincture of fresh plant in flower. Asthma / Bladder, inflammation of / Breast, affections of / painful / Bronchitis / Bruises / Cancer / Cataract / Chorea / Cough / Depression of spirits / Diphtheritic paralysis / Dysmenia (membranous) / Erysipelas / Eyes, affections of /…”
Dunham — The method — how symptoms are weighed before a remedy is differentiated.
“SPOTTED HEMLOCK. UMBELLIFERAE. It is a native of Europe, but is naturalized in the United States. The active principle is conia, a yellowish oily-looking transparent fluid, lighter than water, of an acrid, nauseous, tobacco-like taste. It smells like tobacco and mice. It is very volatile, slightly soluble in water, …”
Farrington — The differential diagnosis — remedy families narrowed through direct clinical comparison.
“THE UMBELLIFERAE, THE BERBERIDACEAE AND SPIGELIA. The Umbelliferae. The Umbelliferae are an order of plants which have a marked action on the nervous system, developing in some cases symptoms akin to hysteria. They also affect the glandular system, producing either engorgement or atrophy of glands. They all act on the…”
Guernsey — The leading characteristics — a compact bridge from repertory result to remedy study.
“This remedy is characterized by a great dizziness brought on when lying down, and moving the head ever so slightly, or even the eyes--all the contents of the room appearing to whirl around; patient wishes to keep the head perfectly still. In urinating, the water flows at first in a full stream, then stops, flows…”
Hahnemann (CD) — The antipsoric proving record — Hahnemann's later materia medica in its chronic-disease setting.
“HEMLOCK.[]. [] The juice freshly pressed from the whole herb, just as it has begun to bloom, is mixed with an equal quantity of alcohol. As is done in Homœopathy with all the plant-juices which are preserved from corruption in this manner, two drops of this mixture are dropped into a vial which is filled two-thirds…”
Hahnemann (MMP) — The proving record — numbered observations closest to Hahnemann's primary materia medica.
“(Hemlock) (The freshly expressed juice of the Conium maculatum obtained from the whole plant at the commencement of flowering, mixed with equal parts of alcohol.) From vol iv, 2nd edition, 1825 Hemlock is one of those medicines whose primary and secondary actions are most difficult to be ascertained, and respecting…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Spotted, or Poison Hemlock. Umbelliferæ. A native of Europe, but naturalized in the United States. The active principle is Conia, a yellowish, oily, transparent fluid, lighter than water, of an acrid, nauseous, tobacco-like taste. It is very volatile ; slightly soluble in water ; its combinations with acids do not…”
Hughes & Dake — The source evidence — provings and poisonings retained with their experimental context.
“CONIUM. Conium maculatum, L. Common hemlock. Nat. Ord., Umbellifera. I. Provings.- 1 . HAHNEMANN , Mat. Med. Pura, vol. iv. of original, vol. i of translation. Contains 88 symptoms from self, 131 from three fellow-observers, and 155 from authors . 2. IBID., Chronic Diseases, part iii of original, vol. of translation…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — how Kent organizes the remedy’s historical symptom portrait.
“This medicine is a deep, long acting antipsoric, establishing a state of disorder in the economy that is so far reaching and so long lasting that it disturbs almost all the tissues of the body. Glands: The complaints are brought on from taking cold, and the glands become affected all over the body. From every little…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Ailments and weakness of old men (ecchymosis). Obscuration of the cornea. Swelling and induration of the glands, with stinging and tingling, after bruises and contusions. Hysterical and hypochondriacal attacks after excessive sexual indulgence or after entire abstinenece. Great sensation of debility in the morning in…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Hypochondria and hysteria from suppression of, or from too free an indulgence in, the sexual instinct, with low spiritedness, anxiousness and sadness. Forgetfulness; excessive difficulty of recollecting things. Dread of men when they approach him; nevertheless he dreads being alone. Inclination to start, as with…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: poison hemlock. Suitable for old men, old maids, women with tight, rigid fibre; scrofulous and cancerous people; children prematurely old (N.). Ailments and weakness of old men (ecchymosis). SWELLING AND INDURATION OF THE GLANDS, WITH STINGING AND TINGLING, AFTER BRUISES AND CONTUSIONS. Great sensation of…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Vertigo, especially < on turning the head, or looking around sidewise, or turning in bed. Swelling and induration of glands, after contusions or bruises. Cancerous and scrofulous persons with enlarged glands. Urine flows, stops and flows again intermittently; prostatic or uterine affections. Breasts sore, hard and…”
Nash (Respiratory) — The respiratory picture — the cough, the breathing, and the expectoration that separate one remedy from another.
“Conium.—Cough from dry spot in the larynx, < on first lying down.”
Tyler — The whole picture — temperament and leading symptoms drawn as one portrait.
“(Hemlock) Hahnemann published two provings of Conium: one, more brief, in Materia Medica Pura; one, later, in Chronic Diseases. We will quote from the introductory remarks of the latter. After describing its homoeopathic preparation, he says: “The great medicinal powers of this plant may be inferred from what has been…”

Conium maculatum in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Conium maculatum in 3,767 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (489), GENERALITIES (350), HEAD (333), MIND (295), SKIN (177).

ABDOMEN - DISTENSION - milk,after
BLADDER - URGING to urinate (morbid desire) - ineffectual - headache,with
CHEST - PAIN - Heart - menses, - during - painful
COUGH - LYING - only when first lying down,was obliged to sit up and cough it out,then had rest
COUGH - SIT UP,must - and cough it out,when had rest
EYE - ULCERATION, - cornea - right to left
GENERALITIES - INDURATIONS - glands - injuries,after
PERSPIRATION - DAYTIME - closing the eyes,when
SLEEP - WAKING - perspiration,from
BACK - PAIN - stitching - shooting - Sacral region - standing - while
CHEST - PALPITATION heart - drinking,after
EYE - PHOTOPHOBIA - inflammation,without
GENERALITIES - PULSE - afternoon - stool,after
MALE GENITALIA - ERECTIONS, - wanting (impotence) - continence,from
PERSPIRATION - SLEEP - during - even when closing the eyes
PROSTATE GLAND - EMISSION prostatic fluid - fondling women,while
COUGH - DRYNESS air passages,from - larynx - dry spot
COUGH - SPOT in larynx,as if from dry
EAR - PAIN - sounds,sharp
EAR - WAX - red

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