Aloe socotrina
-VERMEULEN Frans,
Aloe
Better a little fire to warm us than a great one to burn us.
[Thomas Fuller]
Signs
Aloe socotrina. Aloe perryi. Common Aloes. N.O. Aloaceae [Liliaceae].
CLASSIFICATION Aloe is one of the five genera belonging to the family Aloaceae. Aloes are leaf succulents; they store water mainly in the leaves. They have deep or broad root systems and are native to either deserts or semi-arid brushlands. The strong and fibrous perennial roots push up a rosette of narrow, tapering, thick and fleshy leaves, with spiny teeth at the edges. Succulents 'breathe' through small mouthlike structures on the surface of the leaves and stems. These 'stomata' are closed during the day - thereby minimizing the loss of water during the hot, dry daytime hours - and open at night. The uptake of carbon dioxide occurs in the dark. Fixed into malic acid, the carbon dioxide is stored in cellular vacuoles until the energy from sunlight is available for photosynthesis.
GENUS The genus Aloe comprises some 300 species of shrubby or arborescent xerophytes mostly from tropical and South Africa, Madagascar and Arabia. Aloes have been introduced into the West Indies, where they are extensively cultivated, and into tropical countries. They will even flourish in countries bordering the Mediterranean. In temperate climates they are cultivated as houseplants. The nomenclature has been somewhat confused, as the plant has been known by a variety of names, most notably A. barbadensis and A. vulgaris.
VARIETIES Aloes require two or three years' standing before they yield their juice. In Africa the drug is collected from the wild plants. In the West Indies the drug is collected from plants cultivated on plantations. The chief varieties of Aloes are Curacao or Barbados [A. barbadensis], Socotrine and Zanzibar [A. perryi], and Cape [A. ferox Miller, A. Africana]. The German homoeopathic pharmacopoeia is strict in its directions for the preparation of Aloe: the remedy should be made from the dried and concentrated juice of various species of Aloe, in particular Aloe ferox Miller, known in commerce as Cape Aloes. Pharmacists are advised against the use of Barbados Aloes [A. barbadensis Miller]. Interestingly, this 'forbidden' variety currently is immensely popular under the name Aloe vera. Its industry is flourishing and Aloe gel is being used in many products. It has a reputation as a folk remedy for burns and wounds.
NAME The name Aloe comes possibly from Arabic alloch or from Hebrew allal, both meaning bitter. In Sanskrit its name is Kumari, meaning 'young girl or virgin', because the plant supposedly imparted the energy of youth and brought about the renewal of female energy. In flower symbolism Aloe represents acute sorrow and bitterness. The variety Hering was looking for was cultivated on the African and also on the Arabian mainland, and on the island of Socotra [hence the name A. socotrina]. An island in the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, Socotra was known since biblical time for its myrrh, frankincense and aloes. By some the spelling of the name is considered to be obsolete. It arose from the erroneous supposition that the plant was indigenous to the island of Socotra, but was really derived from succus, juice, and citrina, lemon-yellow, in allusion to the yellowish colour of the crystals from the sap.
CONSTITUENTS Aloe contains aloins, polysaccharides, anthraquinones, glycoproteins, sterols, vitamins C and E, zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper, chromium, silica, phosphate of lime, a trace of iron, and organic acids.
FEATURES "The manner in which the evaporation is conducted has a marked effect on the appearance of the Aloes, slow and moderate concentration tending to induce crystallization of the Aloin, thus causing the drug to appear opaque. Such Aloes is termed 'livery' or hepatic, and splinters of it exhibit minute crystals of Aloin when examined under the microscope. If, on the other hand, the evaporation is carried as far as possible, the Aloin doesn't crystallize and small fragments of the drug appear transparent; it is then termed 'glassy', 'vitreous', or 'lucid' Aloes and exhibits no crystals of Aloin under the microscope. ... Socotrine Aloes should be of a dark, reddish-brown colour, and almost entirely soluble in alcohol."1 Obviously, it was the latter variety that Hering sought to obtain.
HISTORY Aloe's earliest documented medicinal history goes back to 2200 BC, when the Sumerians describe on a clay tablet its virtues as a laxative. Some 700 years later, the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus gave the first detailed discussion of Aloe's medicinal value. The document presents twelve formulas for mixing Aloe with other agents to treat both internal and external disorders. 400 BC the Arabs started an extensive export trade of Aloe plants and processed products throughout western Asia. In India the use of Aloes [the common musabbar] became widely known for external application to inflamed painful parts of the body and as an internal cleaning agent. Dioscorides [41 AD - 68 AD] gave the first detailed description of the plant [A. vera], telling that the more bitter the Aloe is the more effective it is as a medicine. Among its multiple merits were the stopping of hair loss and the cure of tonsillitis. In Rome appeared a mixture called 'Hiera Picra', which literally meant Sacred Bitters. It had the reputation of being a cure-all medicine and was composed of socotrine aloe, cinnamon, spikenard, mastic, saffron, honey and Asarum xylobalsamum. The prescription lasted for centuries, occasionally undergoing some revision, except in the case of Aloe which remained constant. In the 14th century dried Aloe sap, imported from Africa mainly from the islands of Socotra, was introduced to English medicine as a purgative and as a treatment for external wounds and diseases. Two centuries later Spanish conquistadors and missionaries brought the plant to the new world, where it was planted around Catholic missions. Its use as a universal healing agent spread quickly throughout the Caribbean Islands, and Central and South America. In 1820 the United States pharmacopoeia listed Aloe officially as a purgative and a skin protectant. Well over hundred years later Collins and son report on the use of Aloe on fifty patients with radiation injuries, burns, ulcers, and dermatitis, stating that all fifty patients were successfully healed. Collins' study is one of a flood of papers and references published by physicians and laymen world-wide, resulting in FDA approval of development aimed at the eventual use of Aloe vera in the treatment of cancer and AIDS. 2
USES In 1992, the FDA proposed a ban on aloes in oral menstrual drug products because it has not been shown to be safe and effective for its stated claims. The activity that Aloe has demonstrated against many common bacteria and fungi in many studies is truly amazing, says Murray. The antimicrobial effects of aloe extracts compare quite favourably to those of silver sulphadiazine, a potent antiseptic used in the treatment of extensive burns. Seventy-percent concentrations of aloe were bactericidal for Staphylococcus aureus, 80 percent for Escherichia coli, and 90 percent for Streptococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. 3
RECUPERATIVE POWER Aloes have remarkable recuperative powers, being reflected in its great wound-healing power. "If the leaf of an Aloe is separated from the parent plant, it may be laid in the sun for several weeks without becoming entirely shrivelled; and even when considerably dried by long exposure to heat, it will, if plunged into water, become in a few hours plump and fresh."4
SYMBOLISM "The Mahometans, especially those in Egypt, regard the Aloe as a religious symbol, and the Mussulman who has made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Prophet is entitled to hang the Aloe over his doorway. The Mahometans also believe that this holy symbol protects a householder from any malign influence."5 The evergreen Aloe was traditionally planted at the foot of the grave to lend patience to the dead while they waited for resurrection.
HERING "One of the oldest and most famous drugs, largely cultivated, and in use as a horse-medicine, hence rarely to be obtained pure from the shops," says Hering in his introduction to the materia medica of Aloe. Hering went to great pains to obtain pure Aloes, as is illustrated by a note on April 23, 1869, from the diary of Calvin Knerr, Hering's son-in-law. "I went to a druggist in Philadelphia by the name of Morris to buy some Aloes. He showed me two kinds. I told him that both of them were adulterations. He sent his boy out to all the drugstores in town for more samples. An immense heap of Aloes was collected, all of them bogus. The druggist was chagrined. He sent to New York for more samples. I came to examine this large assortment but did not find a single genuine specimen among them. At last I noticed that the druggist held back a small package, carefully wrapped in paper, which he did not seem willing to show me. I asked to see it. He handed it over, smiled as I said: 'This is genuine aloes. Where did you get it?' He confessed that he had stolen it from a collection in the Academy of Pharmacy, of which he was a trustee. The sample had been brought into the country by an expedition that had sailed around the world and had received the specimen from the Sultan of Muscat, who grew the plant from which the substance is derived. When you break a piece of Aloes the fracture must show a purplish golden tint, almost transparent. The adulterated specimens were boiled in certain oils to such a degree that they made the paper, in which they came, greasy."6
PROVINGS •• [1] Buchner - 2 provers, 1821; method: 1-3 grains of Aloe.
•• [2] Helbig - self-experimentation, 1833; method: tincture.
•• [3] Hencke - self-experimentation; method: 10 drops of tincture for 5 days; 30 drops of tincture; 2 grains.
•• [4] Hering - self-experimentation; method: 'took one dose of gr. 1/2 of the 1x trit., and subsequently the 3rd.'
•• [5] Koch - self-experimentation; method: 3x trit., one day.
•• [6] Neidhard - self-experimentation; method: 1x trit., one day; 2x trit. every evening for two weeks.
•• [7] Watzke - self-experimentation, 1853; method: 'proved Aloe from 20th to 26th of April, 1853, commencing with 3 drops of tincture, and increasing the dose by 1 drop each day; from thence to May 2nd he took medicine only every second day, increasing as before by 1 drop daily; the proving was continued in the same manner till May 20th, and from 25th to 31st 20 drops were taken daily in morning fasting.'
[1] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [2] Historical data derived from Aloe Myth-Magic-Medicine, Universal Graphics, 1989. [3] Murray, Healing Power of Herbs. [4-5] Grieve, ibid. [6] Knerr, Life of Hering.
Affinity
ABDOMINAL VEINS [RECTUM; liver; colon; pelvis]. Lumbar region. Head. Female organs. * Left side.
Modalities
Worse: HEAT. Damp heat. Summer heat. Early morning [in bed]. After dysentery. Stepping hard. Evening. Sedentary life. Hot dry weather. After EATING or drinking. Standing or walking.
Better: Cool open air. Application of cold water. Cold weather. Passing flatus or stool.
Main symptoms
M Mental activity alternating with lassitude [Aur.].
M Contentment - discontentment.
• "Merry, self-contented; fraternised with the whole world [5th day]."
• "Contented with his station in life; it involuntarily occurs to him, that he is really much better off than many other people [7th day]."
• "Much inclined to joke, continually mocking the remarks of others."
• "Irritable, he cannot endure the visit of many people, they are repugnant to him [24th day]."
Anthropophobia.
• "Immediately, strong exhibition of will; he quarrels with every one who contradicts him; it seems as if he would permit himself to be torn in pieces, sooner than give up his will."
• "Ill-humour; peevish about himself, so that he insults and blasphemes; worse afternoons, [3rd day]."
• "Very discontented and unhappy mood, since the forenoon, with confused head and lack of inclination to labour; better in the evening [24th day]."
• "Peevish towards himself without reason [second day]." [all quotes from Allen]
• "Mental dissatisfaction and bad humor about himself, more esp. during constipation or when he suffers from pain." [Lippe]
M Self-absorbed.
• "Immediately after a meal, he sat down by himself, without speaking, without any desire for mental or physical exertion; meditating, wrapped up in himself, as after a sickness or a fit of anger, which still gnaws internally, which one cannot express." [Allen]
Insecurity.
• "Discouraged, apprehensive about his success." [Allen]
• "Very peculiar vertigo each day, after taking the third trituration; during motion, he feels as if he ought to lie down; while standing and walking, an inner sensation which makes everything seem insecure, and which makes him very anxious; then nasal catarrh, first on the left side, then on the right, with copious secretion of mucus, which soon becomes thick; afterwards, no more vertigo." [Allen]
• "Feeling as if one doesn't oneself know what is the matter, whether one has appetite or not." [Allen]
Insecure feeling in rectum.
G Weakness from mental exertion.
G HEAT and BURNING
[internal, hot flatus; burning in anus, rectum, piles, etc.].
• "In a general way this is a hot remedy, many sensations are those of heat; the skin feels hot, hot flatus is passed, and the piles have a sense of heat in them. Nearly all the symptoms are like those of its relative, Sulphur, better from cold." [Boger]
G < WARMTH. > Open air; cold applications.
• "Weariness, weakness, and creeping coldness, when he comes from bed into a hot room." [Allen]
G Increased appetite. [in 5 provers]
Urgent need to eat, or no satisfaction after eating.
G Thirst; for refreshing, juicy drinks.
While and after eating.
Awakening at night.
G Disturbed sleep, on account of:
Urging to urinate; urging to stool; hunger; thirst; confused dreams; erections, sexual desire.
G Increased sexual desire [in males].
• "Rather an inner sensuality than irritation of the parts compels him to satisfy himself [at evening, on going to bed, 5th day]."
• "He awakes at 4 o'clock with great sexual desire [13th day]."
• "Desire more active after eating." [all quotes from Allen]
• "Probably one of the best remedies to repress a too lively desire, esp. in children which only a few remedies do." [Hering]
G Relaxation and VENOUS CONGESTION, < abdomen. Parts seem FULL. HEAVY DRAGGING, as of a load. Heaviness internally. G Sensation of a PLUG - internally. P HEADACHE [frontal] > COLD APPLICATIONS.
Pressing [congestive] pain above eyes.
Feeling as if eyes are pressed out.
Compelling to make the eyes small.
< HEAT; > COLD.
And Incapacity for mental labour.
And Cold extremities and irritation of stomach and bowels, with frequent, painful stool.
P Gurgling and rumbling in bowels. SENSE OF INSECURITY IN ANUS.
[< Motion; standing; > lying on abdomen.]
Involuntary stool, with or without flatus, sometimes solid stool or small gelatinous lumps.
P Colitis mucosa. Solid stool and masses of mucus.
Gelatinous secretions.
P DIARRHOEA IN EARLY MORNING.
Has to run for stool immediately after eating or drinking.
After drinking beer.
And Copious flatus.
Flatulence with sensation as if stool would pass.
P Uterus.
• "Cases of menorrhagia are benefited by it, the menses appear too early and there is a sense of weight and heaviness in the pelvis and pressing downward towards the rectum giving the sensation of a plug between the tubes and coccyx." [Blackwood]
• "It is of service in uterine haemorrhages at the climacteric period. They are prostrating, exhausting and are attended with labour - like pains in the back and groins that may extend to the legs. The patient is of the relaxed lymphatic type." [Blackwood]
Rubrics
Mind
Activity alternating with exhaustion [2/1]. Anger from contradiction [1]; with himself [1; Sulph.]. Anxiety < motion [1]. Contemptuous [2]. Intolerant of contradiction, has to restrain himself to keep from violence [1; Sil.]. Fear of failure [1]; of men [1]; from noise [1]. Fraternised with the whole world [1/1]. Abundant ideas, clearness of mind at night [1]. Indolence on waking [2]. Irritability in cloudy or rainy weather [1; Am-c.]. Active memory alternating with lassitude [2/1]. Repulsive mood, repels everyone [1/1]. Vertigo Idea that things were turning around with her [1]. Head Numbness moving over the scalp [1/1*]. Pain, < darkness [1; Carb-v.; Sil.]. Sensation as if head were separated from body [1; Psor.]. Vision Colours, moving yellow circle around light [2/1]. Mouth Taste like ink [1; Calc.; Sep.*]. Stomach Appetite increased in morning, after breakfast [1; Tax.]. Emptiness after stool [2]. Sensation of fulness after drinking [1; Manc.]. Indigestion after sour food [1; Ant-c.; Nux-v.]. Vomiting of mucus after drinking [1/1]. Abdomen Sensation of perforation in umbilical region [1/1]. Pulsation at night while lying [1/1]. Sensation of a stone when lying on abdomen [1/1]. Rectum Diarrhoea after acids [2], after beer [2], during headache [1; Cham.; Podo.; Verat.]; > lying on abdomen [1]; after being overheated [1; Ant-c.; Puls.].
Male
Sexual desire increased after eating [1]; wanting after waking [2].
Female
Pain, ovaries, extending to rectum [2]; uterus, extending to rectum [2].
Limbs
Sensation as if a hair were lying on dorsum of hand, and also on back of fingers [1/1*]. Numbness while lying, after eating [1/1].
Sleep
Waking in morning, toward 5 a.m. , with urging to stool [2].
Dreams
Of being crazy and that everybody is watching him [1/1*]. Soiling himself with excrements [1].
Generals
Congestion of blood, internally [2]. Lassitude alternating with activity [2; Aur.]. Warm and wet weather > [2].
* Repertory additions [Hughes].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Drinks; fruit; juicy things; meat.
Desire: [2]: Apples; salty things. [1]: Alcohol; beer; bitter drinks; bread; fruit; honey; juicy things; meat; refreshing; tonics.
Worse: [2]: Acids; beer; fruit; oysters. [1]: Bitter drinks; vinegar.
Better: [1]: Beer; cold drinks [during heat]; tea.
Aloe
 |
| Aloe socotrina |
[Thomas Fuller]
Signs
Aloe socotrina. Aloe perryi. Common Aloes. N.O. Aloaceae [Liliaceae].
CLASSIFICATION Aloe is one of the five genera belonging to the family Aloaceae. Aloes are leaf succulents; they store water mainly in the leaves. They have deep or broad root systems and are native to either deserts or semi-arid brushlands. The strong and fibrous perennial roots push up a rosette of narrow, tapering, thick and fleshy leaves, with spiny teeth at the edges. Succulents 'breathe' through small mouthlike structures on the surface of the leaves and stems. These 'stomata' are closed during the day - thereby minimizing the loss of water during the hot, dry daytime hours - and open at night. The uptake of carbon dioxide occurs in the dark. Fixed into malic acid, the carbon dioxide is stored in cellular vacuoles until the energy from sunlight is available for photosynthesis.
GENUS The genus Aloe comprises some 300 species of shrubby or arborescent xerophytes mostly from tropical and South Africa, Madagascar and Arabia. Aloes have been introduced into the West Indies, where they are extensively cultivated, and into tropical countries. They will even flourish in countries bordering the Mediterranean. In temperate climates they are cultivated as houseplants. The nomenclature has been somewhat confused, as the plant has been known by a variety of names, most notably A. barbadensis and A. vulgaris.
NAME The name Aloe comes possibly from Arabic alloch or from Hebrew allal, both meaning bitter. In Sanskrit its name is Kumari, meaning 'young girl or virgin', because the plant supposedly imparted the energy of youth and brought about the renewal of female energy. In flower symbolism Aloe represents acute sorrow and bitterness. The variety Hering was looking for was cultivated on the African and also on the Arabian mainland, and on the island of Socotra [hence the name A. socotrina]. An island in the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden, Socotra was known since biblical time for its myrrh, frankincense and aloes. By some the spelling of the name is considered to be obsolete. It arose from the erroneous supposition that the plant was indigenous to the island of Socotra, but was really derived from succus, juice, and citrina, lemon-yellow, in allusion to the yellowish colour of the crystals from the sap.
CONSTITUENTS Aloe contains aloins, polysaccharides, anthraquinones, glycoproteins, sterols, vitamins C and E, zinc, manganese, magnesium, copper, chromium, silica, phosphate of lime, a trace of iron, and organic acids.
FEATURES "The manner in which the evaporation is conducted has a marked effect on the appearance of the Aloes, slow and moderate concentration tending to induce crystallization of the Aloin, thus causing the drug to appear opaque. Such Aloes is termed 'livery' or hepatic, and splinters of it exhibit minute crystals of Aloin when examined under the microscope. If, on the other hand, the evaporation is carried as far as possible, the Aloin doesn't crystallize and small fragments of the drug appear transparent; it is then termed 'glassy', 'vitreous', or 'lucid' Aloes and exhibits no crystals of Aloin under the microscope. ... Socotrine Aloes should be of a dark, reddish-brown colour, and almost entirely soluble in alcohol."1 Obviously, it was the latter variety that Hering sought to obtain.
HISTORY Aloe's earliest documented medicinal history goes back to 2200 BC, when the Sumerians describe on a clay tablet its virtues as a laxative. Some 700 years later, the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus gave the first detailed discussion of Aloe's medicinal value. The document presents twelve formulas for mixing Aloe with other agents to treat both internal and external disorders. 400 BC the Arabs started an extensive export trade of Aloe plants and processed products throughout western Asia. In India the use of Aloes [the common musabbar] became widely known for external application to inflamed painful parts of the body and as an internal cleaning agent. Dioscorides [41 AD - 68 AD] gave the first detailed description of the plant [A. vera], telling that the more bitter the Aloe is the more effective it is as a medicine. Among its multiple merits were the stopping of hair loss and the cure of tonsillitis. In Rome appeared a mixture called 'Hiera Picra', which literally meant Sacred Bitters. It had the reputation of being a cure-all medicine and was composed of socotrine aloe, cinnamon, spikenard, mastic, saffron, honey and Asarum xylobalsamum. The prescription lasted for centuries, occasionally undergoing some revision, except in the case of Aloe which remained constant. In the 14th century dried Aloe sap, imported from Africa mainly from the islands of Socotra, was introduced to English medicine as a purgative and as a treatment for external wounds and diseases. Two centuries later Spanish conquistadors and missionaries brought the plant to the new world, where it was planted around Catholic missions. Its use as a universal healing agent spread quickly throughout the Caribbean Islands, and Central and South America. In 1820 the United States pharmacopoeia listed Aloe officially as a purgative and a skin protectant. Well over hundred years later Collins and son report on the use of Aloe on fifty patients with radiation injuries, burns, ulcers, and dermatitis, stating that all fifty patients were successfully healed. Collins' study is one of a flood of papers and references published by physicians and laymen world-wide, resulting in FDA approval of development aimed at the eventual use of Aloe vera in the treatment of cancer and AIDS. 2
USES In 1992, the FDA proposed a ban on aloes in oral menstrual drug products because it has not been shown to be safe and effective for its stated claims. The activity that Aloe has demonstrated against many common bacteria and fungi in many studies is truly amazing, says Murray. The antimicrobial effects of aloe extracts compare quite favourably to those of silver sulphadiazine, a potent antiseptic used in the treatment of extensive burns. Seventy-percent concentrations of aloe were bactericidal for Staphylococcus aureus, 80 percent for Escherichia coli, and 90 percent for Streptococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. 3
RECUPERATIVE POWER Aloes have remarkable recuperative powers, being reflected in its great wound-healing power. "If the leaf of an Aloe is separated from the parent plant, it may be laid in the sun for several weeks without becoming entirely shrivelled; and even when considerably dried by long exposure to heat, it will, if plunged into water, become in a few hours plump and fresh."4
SYMBOLISM "The Mahometans, especially those in Egypt, regard the Aloe as a religious symbol, and the Mussulman who has made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Prophet is entitled to hang the Aloe over his doorway. The Mahometans also believe that this holy symbol protects a householder from any malign influence."5 The evergreen Aloe was traditionally planted at the foot of the grave to lend patience to the dead while they waited for resurrection.
HERING "One of the oldest and most famous drugs, largely cultivated, and in use as a horse-medicine, hence rarely to be obtained pure from the shops," says Hering in his introduction to the materia medica of Aloe. Hering went to great pains to obtain pure Aloes, as is illustrated by a note on April 23, 1869, from the diary of Calvin Knerr, Hering's son-in-law. "I went to a druggist in Philadelphia by the name of Morris to buy some Aloes. He showed me two kinds. I told him that both of them were adulterations. He sent his boy out to all the drugstores in town for more samples. An immense heap of Aloes was collected, all of them bogus. The druggist was chagrined. He sent to New York for more samples. I came to examine this large assortment but did not find a single genuine specimen among them. At last I noticed that the druggist held back a small package, carefully wrapped in paper, which he did not seem willing to show me. I asked to see it. He handed it over, smiled as I said: 'This is genuine aloes. Where did you get it?' He confessed that he had stolen it from a collection in the Academy of Pharmacy, of which he was a trustee. The sample had been brought into the country by an expedition that had sailed around the world and had received the specimen from the Sultan of Muscat, who grew the plant from which the substance is derived. When you break a piece of Aloes the fracture must show a purplish golden tint, almost transparent. The adulterated specimens were boiled in certain oils to such a degree that they made the paper, in which they came, greasy."6
PROVINGS •• [1] Buchner - 2 provers, 1821; method: 1-3 grains of Aloe.
•• [2] Helbig - self-experimentation, 1833; method: tincture.
•• [3] Hencke - self-experimentation; method: 10 drops of tincture for 5 days; 30 drops of tincture; 2 grains.
•• [4] Hering - self-experimentation; method: 'took one dose of gr. 1/2 of the 1x trit., and subsequently the 3rd.'
•• [5] Koch - self-experimentation; method: 3x trit., one day.
•• [6] Neidhard - self-experimentation; method: 1x trit., one day; 2x trit. every evening for two weeks.
•• [7] Watzke - self-experimentation, 1853; method: 'proved Aloe from 20th to 26th of April, 1853, commencing with 3 drops of tincture, and increasing the dose by 1 drop each day; from thence to May 2nd he took medicine only every second day, increasing as before by 1 drop daily; the proving was continued in the same manner till May 20th, and from 25th to 31st 20 drops were taken daily in morning fasting.'
[1] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [2] Historical data derived from Aloe Myth-Magic-Medicine, Universal Graphics, 1989. [3] Murray, Healing Power of Herbs. [4-5] Grieve, ibid. [6] Knerr, Life of Hering.
Affinity
ABDOMINAL VEINS [RECTUM; liver; colon; pelvis]. Lumbar region. Head. Female organs. * Left side.
Modalities
Worse: HEAT. Damp heat. Summer heat. Early morning [in bed]. After dysentery. Stepping hard. Evening. Sedentary life. Hot dry weather. After EATING or drinking. Standing or walking.
Better: Cool open air. Application of cold water. Cold weather. Passing flatus or stool.
Main symptoms
M Mental activity alternating with lassitude [Aur.].
M Contentment - discontentment.
• "Merry, self-contented; fraternised with the whole world [5th day]."
• "Contented with his station in life; it involuntarily occurs to him, that he is really much better off than many other people [7th day]."
• "Much inclined to joke, continually mocking the remarks of others."
• "Irritable, he cannot endure the visit of many people, they are repugnant to him [24th day]."
Anthropophobia.
• "Immediately, strong exhibition of will; he quarrels with every one who contradicts him; it seems as if he would permit himself to be torn in pieces, sooner than give up his will."
• "Ill-humour; peevish about himself, so that he insults and blasphemes; worse afternoons, [3rd day]."
• "Very discontented and unhappy mood, since the forenoon, with confused head and lack of inclination to labour; better in the evening [24th day]."
• "Peevish towards himself without reason [second day]." [all quotes from Allen]
• "Mental dissatisfaction and bad humor about himself, more esp. during constipation or when he suffers from pain." [Lippe]
M Self-absorbed.
• "Immediately after a meal, he sat down by himself, without speaking, without any desire for mental or physical exertion; meditating, wrapped up in himself, as after a sickness or a fit of anger, which still gnaws internally, which one cannot express." [Allen]
Insecurity.
• "Discouraged, apprehensive about his success." [Allen]
• "Very peculiar vertigo each day, after taking the third trituration; during motion, he feels as if he ought to lie down; while standing and walking, an inner sensation which makes everything seem insecure, and which makes him very anxious; then nasal catarrh, first on the left side, then on the right, with copious secretion of mucus, which soon becomes thick; afterwards, no more vertigo." [Allen]
• "Feeling as if one doesn't oneself know what is the matter, whether one has appetite or not." [Allen]
Insecure feeling in rectum.
G Weakness from mental exertion.
G HEAT and BURNING
[internal, hot flatus; burning in anus, rectum, piles, etc.].
• "In a general way this is a hot remedy, many sensations are those of heat; the skin feels hot, hot flatus is passed, and the piles have a sense of heat in them. Nearly all the symptoms are like those of its relative, Sulphur, better from cold." [Boger]
G < WARMTH. > Open air; cold applications.
• "Weariness, weakness, and creeping coldness, when he comes from bed into a hot room." [Allen]
G Increased appetite. [in 5 provers]
Urgent need to eat, or no satisfaction after eating.
G Thirst; for refreshing, juicy drinks.
While and after eating.
Awakening at night.
G Disturbed sleep, on account of:
Urging to urinate; urging to stool; hunger; thirst; confused dreams; erections, sexual desire.
G Increased sexual desire [in males].
• "Rather an inner sensuality than irritation of the parts compels him to satisfy himself [at evening, on going to bed, 5th day]."
• "He awakes at 4 o'clock with great sexual desire [13th day]."
• "Desire more active after eating." [all quotes from Allen]
• "Probably one of the best remedies to repress a too lively desire, esp. in children which only a few remedies do." [Hering]
G Relaxation and VENOUS CONGESTION, < abdomen. Parts seem FULL. HEAVY DRAGGING, as of a load. Heaviness internally. G Sensation of a PLUG - internally. P HEADACHE [frontal] > COLD APPLICATIONS.
Pressing [congestive] pain above eyes.
Feeling as if eyes are pressed out.
Compelling to make the eyes small.
< HEAT; > COLD.
And Incapacity for mental labour.
And Cold extremities and irritation of stomach and bowels, with frequent, painful stool.
P Gurgling and rumbling in bowels. SENSE OF INSECURITY IN ANUS.
[< Motion; standing; > lying on abdomen.]
Involuntary stool, with or without flatus, sometimes solid stool or small gelatinous lumps.
P Colitis mucosa. Solid stool and masses of mucus.
Gelatinous secretions.
P DIARRHOEA IN EARLY MORNING.
Has to run for stool immediately after eating or drinking.
After drinking beer.
And Copious flatus.
Flatulence with sensation as if stool would pass.
P Uterus.
• "Cases of menorrhagia are benefited by it, the menses appear too early and there is a sense of weight and heaviness in the pelvis and pressing downward towards the rectum giving the sensation of a plug between the tubes and coccyx." [Blackwood]
• "It is of service in uterine haemorrhages at the climacteric period. They are prostrating, exhausting and are attended with labour - like pains in the back and groins that may extend to the legs. The patient is of the relaxed lymphatic type." [Blackwood]
Rubrics
Mind
Activity alternating with exhaustion [2/1]. Anger from contradiction [1]; with himself [1; Sulph.]. Anxiety < motion [1]. Contemptuous [2]. Intolerant of contradiction, has to restrain himself to keep from violence [1; Sil.]. Fear of failure [1]; of men [1]; from noise [1]. Fraternised with the whole world [1/1]. Abundant ideas, clearness of mind at night [1]. Indolence on waking [2]. Irritability in cloudy or rainy weather [1; Am-c.]. Active memory alternating with lassitude [2/1]. Repulsive mood, repels everyone [1/1]. Vertigo Idea that things were turning around with her [1]. Head Numbness moving over the scalp [1/1*]. Pain, < darkness [1; Carb-v.; Sil.]. Sensation as if head were separated from body [1; Psor.]. Vision Colours, moving yellow circle around light [2/1]. Mouth Taste like ink [1; Calc.; Sep.*]. Stomach Appetite increased in morning, after breakfast [1; Tax.]. Emptiness after stool [2]. Sensation of fulness after drinking [1; Manc.]. Indigestion after sour food [1; Ant-c.; Nux-v.]. Vomiting of mucus after drinking [1/1]. Abdomen Sensation of perforation in umbilical region [1/1]. Pulsation at night while lying [1/1]. Sensation of a stone when lying on abdomen [1/1]. Rectum Diarrhoea after acids [2], after beer [2], during headache [1; Cham.; Podo.; Verat.]; > lying on abdomen [1]; after being overheated [1; Ant-c.; Puls.].
Male
Sexual desire increased after eating [1]; wanting after waking [2].
Female
Pain, ovaries, extending to rectum [2]; uterus, extending to rectum [2].
Limbs
Sensation as if a hair were lying on dorsum of hand, and also on back of fingers [1/1*]. Numbness while lying, after eating [1/1].
Sleep
Waking in morning, toward 5 a.m. , with urging to stool [2].
Dreams
Of being crazy and that everybody is watching him [1/1*]. Soiling himself with excrements [1].
Generals
Congestion of blood, internally [2]. Lassitude alternating with activity [2; Aur.]. Warm and wet weather > [2].
* Repertory additions [Hughes].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Drinks; fruit; juicy things; meat.
Desire: [2]: Apples; salty things. [1]: Alcohol; beer; bitter drinks; bread; fruit; honey; juicy things; meat; refreshing; tonics.
Worse: [2]: Acids; beer; fruit; oysters. [1]: Bitter drinks; vinegar.
Better: [1]: Beer; cold drinks [during heat]; tea.
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