Belladonna
Bell.
The world is all the richer for having the devil in it, so long as we keep our foot upon his neck.
[William James]
Signs
Atropa belladonna. Deadly Nightshade. Devil's Cherries. Naughty Man's Cherries.
N.O. Solanaceae.
CLASSIFICATION Atropa belladonna, as well as Stramonium and Hyoscyamus, belong to the Solanaceae or Nightshade family, a widespread plant family comprising about 96 genera of herbs, shrubs and, occasionally, trees. Although occurring around the world [except in the arctic areas], the principle centre of the Nightshade family lies in Andean South America. The plants in this family commonly produce poisonous alkaloids. Due to high contents of tropane alkaloids, genera such as Atropa, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Duboisia, Brugmansia, and Mandragora, have narcotic and hallucinogenic properties. The family is of huge economic importance as a source of foodstuff [tomato, eggplant, green peppers, red pepper, potato, pepino, Cape gooseberry], medicines and narcotics [belladonna, mandrake, datura, etc.], a fumatory [tobacco], and poisons [belladonna, henbane, etc.].
HABITAT Atropa belladonna is native to Central and Southern Europe, where it is almost confined to calcareous soils. "It is interesting to mention that, in Asia and Europe, nightshades have spread out from Asia with the gypsies following their roads. These plants are really the gypsies of roadsides and abandoned places. They like rubbish."1 As an escape from gardens [cultivation], the plant settles mostly in waste places, quarries and near old ruins. "Under the shade of trees, on wooded hills, on chalk or limestone, it will grow most luxuriantly, forming bushy plants several feet high, but specimens growing in places exposed to the sun are apt to be dwarfed, consequently it rarely attains such a large size when cultivated in the open, and is more subject to attacks of insects than when growing wild under natural conditions."2
CONSTITUENTS The main constituents of Atropa belladonna are the alkaloids hyoscyamine, scopolamine [also named hyoscine], atropine [d,l-hyoscyamine], and traces of nicotine. The seeds are richest in alkaloids, followed by the roots and the leaves, respectively. Because atropine's pharmacology is opposite to that of muscarine, atropine is widely used as an antidote to mushroom poisoning cases involving muscarine. In the case of poisoning by mushrooms of the genera Inocybe or Clitocybe - which contain toxic amounts of muscarine - this treatment is indicated and effective. It is contraindicated, however, in the case of Amanita muscaria [Agaricus in homoeopathy]. Amanita muscaria contains negligible amounts of muscarine, but high amounts of ibotenic acid and muscimol, compounds which have a similar effect as atropine and were formerly called Pilzatropin ['mushroom atropine'].
LIGHT and HEAT Atropa plants grown in sunny and dry seasons yield the highest percentage of alkaloids. Research has demonstrated that alkaloid accumulation in Atropa plants growing in shade decreases six- to eightfold! Studies of the effect of light on Atropa plants by a comparison of latitudes differing in light conditions, for example, shows that the plant has an alkaloid content of 1.3 per cent in the Crimean Peninsula and 0.4 to 0.6 per cent in Leningrad. That warm weather favours the formation of alkaloids in Atropa, and in Solanaceae in general, is also noticeable in the relationship between temperature and alkaloid synthesis during germination. The higher the temperature, the higher the alkaloid content in the plant. 3
NAME The plant in Chaucer's days was known as Dwale, which is derived from the Scandinavian dvala, meaning doze or trance. Another possibility is that the root of the word comes from the French word deuil, bereavement or grief, referring to the plant's fatal properties. The Deadly Nightshade derives its Latin generic name from Atropos, 'the inevitable', one of the Fates in Greek mythology who cut the thread of life. Its specific name belladonna, 'beautiful lady', alludes to mediaeval Italian ladies who dropped Atropa sap into their eyes to produce a glassy stare and dilated pupils, which was believed to enhance their beauty. The family name is possibly derived from L solanum, a solace. The origin of the common name nightshade is not certain. The word may come from the Old English word nihtscada - niht, night, and scada, shade - but more likely refers to Nah-Skado, alluding to the Celto-Teutonic goddess Skadi, the 'destroyer', 'Queen of the Shades' or 'Mother Death', active in the darkness of the night [nah]. A variation of her name, Skuld, was given to the third of the three Norns - the Scandinavian variant of the Greek Fates - who cut the thread of life. She became the patroness of witches, whose activities came to be called 'skulduggery' by the Christians. Her name still subsists in words as schuld [Dutch and German] and skuld [Swedish], meaning guilt, blame, debt. There is no escape from Atropos or Skuld, just like there is no getting away from the severe effects of the Deadly Nightshade. Atropos used the berries of the plant to fulfil her duties. Or, as an old text put it: "Whoever receives this plant into his body must die; the whole pharmacopoeia cannot help him."
USES "The use of belladonna can be traced back as far as written records go. In ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerians reportedly used it in the treatment of a number of illnesses thought to be caused by demons. Belladonna, along with related plants such as henbane and mandrake, is mentioned in R. Campbell Thompson's Assyrian Herbal as having many medicinal properties. It was used to treat asthma, chronic coughing and spasms of the bladder. Although there are sporadic reports of belladonna being used elsewhere in Asia and in North Africa [e.g. as a sedative in traditional Nepalese medicine and as an aphrodisiac in contemporary Morocco], it was in Europe that the plant became important in magic and medicine. Belladonna juice is said to be one of the psychoactive additives to the wine drunk at the Bacchanalian orgies. Its intoxicating powers were seemingly a factor in inducing a state of frenzy in which the maenads [priestesses of Bacchus] tore apart animals, men and children. ... The berries may, perhaps, have contributed to the legendary battle frenzy of the Norse warriors or berserkers. ... Belladonna had a number of uses in the folk life of Europeans. In Eastern Europe its root was used in love magic. When it was removed from the ground, offerings to the spirit of the plant would be made. Elsewhere the root was used as an amulet [as was the root of its cousin the mandrake] for bringing good fortune in gaming and affairs of the heart. Central European hunters would eat several of its berries to increase their alertness on long hunting trips. ... Despite its considerable role in medicine, belladonna still retains an aura reeking of murder, baneful sorcery, frenzied imagination and dangerous but enchanting female sexuality."4
POISONINGS About 25,000 cases of poisoning with toxic plants occurred in Switzerland over a period of 29 years, of which 152 cases were severe. Detailed analysis was possible in 135 cases [23 children, 112 adults] including 5 lethal cases [all adults]. "The 24 plants involved produced the following severe symptoms: Atropa belladonna [42 cases]: anticholinergic syndrome [42], acute psychosis [33], convulsions [2], coma [2]. Heracleum mantegazzianum [18]: severe photodermatitis [18]. Datura stramonium [17]: anticholinergic syndrome [17], psychosis [12], coma [2]. Dieffenbachia [11]: severe stomatitis [8], corneal lesions [3]. Colchicum autumnale [10]: diarrhoea [10], liver necrosis [9], fatal multiorgan failure [2]. Veratrum album [8]: bradycardia [< or = 40/min] [6], shock [5]. Aconitum napellus [4]: tachyarrhythmia [2], AV-block II/III [2]. Aesculus hippocastanum [3]: allergy [3], anaphylactic shock [2]. Hyoscyamus niger [3]: anticholinergic syndrome [3]. Ricinus communis [3]: diarrhoea [3], toxic megacolon [1]. Oenanthe crocata [2]: convulsions [1], lethal coma [1]. Taxus baccata [2]: tachyarrhythmia [1], fatal asystole [1]. Further single cases of severe poisonings were observed with Arum maculatum, Asarum europaeum, Chrysanthemum vulgare, Cyclamen persicum, Datura suaveolens, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Laburnum anagyroides, Lycopodium, Narcissus pseudonarcissus [lethal aspiration], Nerium oleander, Senecio vulgaris and Vicia faba."5 Atropa belladonna distinctly proved to be the main cause of plant intoxications. With its botanically close allies Stramonium and Hyoscyamus it produced invariably the same symptoms: anticholinergic syndrome and/or acute psychosis. The former is characterised by blurred vision, dilated pupils, suppressed salivation, vasodilatation, hyperpyrexia, flushing, tachycardia, dry mucous membranes, dry skin, restlessness, agitation, delirium, coma, convulsions, and, possibly, respiratory failure. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION "Belladonna is an irritant narcotic, a mydriatic, an anti-spasmodic, an anodyne; in small doses a cardiac, respiratory and spinal stimulant, in large doses a paralyzer of the secretory and motor nerve endings, and a stimulator of the entire sympathetic system. It produces dryness of the mucous membranes of the throat, mouth, nose and larynx; and at first lessens the gastric and intestinal secretions, but soon reproduces them in large quantity. The Heart rate is at first slowed, but soon becomes very rapid and vigorous, the pulse being doubled in rapidity; the arterial tension being at the same time raised, the circulation is greatly increased. This the drug accomplishes by stimulating the cardiac sympathetic, and paralyzing the intra-cardiac inhibitory ganglia, thus stimulating the accelerator apparatus while lessening inhibition. [Digitalis increases both.] The vasomotor ganglia all over the body are stimulated, but afterwards paralyzed by over-stimulation, the heart weakens, the vessels relax, and the blood pressure is greatly lowered. Complete motor paralysis follows, then delirium, stupor, and finally death, usually by asphyxia. The Brain is congested by Belladonna, a busy delirium being produced, and hallucinations with mental disorder, due to a selective action on the cells of the grey matter. The Spinal Cord is stimulated from the 2d cervical vertebra to the 10th dorsal, resulting in paralysis of the motor nerves, central and peripheral; power being lost in the lower extremities first. Sensation is slightly impaired, but the muscular irritability is not. Respiration is increased, and the temperature raised. A Diffused Eruption of a scarlet colour, greatly resembling that of scarlet fever, is often produced by Belladonna on the skin and fauces, with dysphagia and sore throat, and is sometimes followed by desquamation. It is due to capillary congestion caused by the greatly increased circulation. Diffused rapidly, Belladonna is also quickly eliminated, particularly by the kidneys. The urine of an animal under the action of Atropine will dilate the pupil of another animal. Herbivorous animals and birds are scarcely susceptible to the action of Belladonna, and pigeons are not affected by it at all."6 LEGENDS "According to old legends, the plant belongs to the devil who goes about trimming and tending it in his leisure, and can only be diverted from its care on one night in the year, that is on Walpurgis, when he is preparing for the witches' sabbath. The apples of Sodom are held to be related to this plant, and the name Belladonna is said to record an old superstition that at certain times it takes the form of an enchantress of exceeding loveliness, whom it is dangerous to look upon. ... Another derivation is founded on the old tradition that the priests used to drink an infusion before they worshipped and invoked the aid of Bellona, the Goddess of War."7 FRENZY The alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and closely related chemical substances call forth disorders of the functions of the brain, in the form of excitation followed by a state of depression. They have played an important role in the history of mankind. "We find these plants associated with incomprehensible acts on the part of the fanatics, raging with the flames of frenzy and fury and persecuting not only witches and sorcerers but also mankind as a whole. Garbed in the cowl, the judge's robe, and the physician's gown, superstitious folly instituted diabolical proceedings in a trial of the devil and hurled victims into the flames or drowned them in blood. ... The peculiar hallucinations evoked by these drugs had been so powerfully transmitted from the subconscious mind to consciousness that mentally uncultivated persons, nourished in their absurd superstitions by the Church, believed them to be reality. ... Many other repugnant things have been accomplished with these substances. They have served to intoxicate girls and seduce them to immoral acts. This may be done without the victim becoming unconscious; she tolerates the criminal with open eyes but blinded soul, and even, as a result of augmented of sexual excitation, complies with his wishes."8 Experimenters describe the effects of Belladonna as a 'Hieronymus-Bosch-Trip' and are disinclined to repeat the experience. WITCHES The hallucinogenic Nightshade species from the Old World are called the hexing herbs because they were used in the ointments or flying potions of witches. Flying potions contained many substances, but typically Atropa belladonna, Datura stramonium, Hyoscyamus niger, and Mandragora officinarum. The plants were mixed with fat - allegedly the fat of a dead child - to make an ointment, which was applied to various parts of the body, in particular the genital region and the anus. Because the genitals and anus have a rich supply of blood vessels, the hallucinogenic compounds were readily absorbed, inducing a deep, dream-filled sleep with dreams and visions of flying, dancing, and having sexual orgies with the devil. Recent scientific experiments have confirmed that hallucinogenic tropanes do indeed produce these types of dreams as well as dreams involving lycanthropy, the transformation of humans into wolves or other predatory animals. 9 AUTOMATISMS "One of the marvellous effects of continued doses [of belladonna] is the production of a singular psychological phenomenon. A delirium supervenes, unaccompanied by any fantasia, or imaginary illusion, whose marked characteristic is somnambulism. An individual who has taken it in several doses seems to be perfectly alive to surrounding objects, his senses conveying faithfully to the brain the impressions that they receive; he goes through his usual avocations without exhibiting any unwonted feeling, yet he is quite unconscious of his existence, and performs mechanically all that he is accustomed to do, answers questions correctly, without knowing from whom or from whence they proceed, looks at objects vacantly, moves his lips as if conversing yet utters not a sound, there is no unusual state of the respiratory organs, no alteration of the pulse, nothing that can bespeak excitement. When this state of somnambulism passes away, the individual has not the slightest recollection of what has occurred to him; he reverts to that which immediately preceded the attack, nor can any allusion to his apparent reverie induce him to believe that he has excited any attention. The case of the tailor who remained on his shopboard for fifteen hours, performing all his usual avocations, sewing with great apparent earnestness, using all the gestures which his business requires, moving his lips as if speaking, yet the whole time perfectly insensible, has been frequently quoted. It was produced by belladonna."10 PROVINGS •• [1] Hahnemann - 15 provers; method: unknown. [Hahnemann has included in his scheme the symptoms of 23 epileptic patients treated with Belladonna by Greding.] •• [2] American 'Homoeopathic Ophthalmological, Otological and Laryngological Society' - 53 provers, 1904-05; method: daily doses of tincture, 1x or 2x. •• [3] Most of the symptoms come from 'old-school authorities' and concern intoxications. [1] Pfeiffer, Weeds and What They Tell. [2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Craker and Simon, Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. [4] Rudgley, The Encyclopaedia of Psychoactive Substances. [5] Jaspersen-Schib et al., Serious plant poisonings in Switzerland 1966-1994; Schweiz Med. Wochenschrift 1996, 126 [25]. [6] Potter, A Compend of Materia Medica. [7] Rudgley, ibid. [8] Lewin, Phantastica. [9] Richardson, Flowering Plants: Magic in Bloom. [10] Winslow, cited in Cooke, The Seven Sisters of Sleep. Affinity Nerve centres. Blood vessels. Capillaries. Mucous membranes [eyes; mouth; THROAT]. Skin. Organs. * Right side. Left side. Modalities Worse: Heat; of sun; when heated. Afternoon [3 p.m.]. DRAFTS: on head; hair cut. After taking cold. CHECKED SWEAT. LIGHT. NOISE. JARRING. Touch. Motion. Hanging down. Company. Cold wind. Uncovering the head. Summer. Lying on painful side. Looking at bright shining objects. After midnight. Bending head forward, stooping. Better: Light covering. Bending backward. Rest in bed. Dark room. Standing or sitting erect. Warm room. Main symptoms M IMPRESSIONABILITY. Sympathetic, connected, open, extroverted, investigating. M Persons who react intensely to occurrences and situations. Who are lively and entertaining when well, but violent and delirious when sick. • "In health: Highly intelligent, good, gentle, affectionate, docile, timid, but: desire for independence until almost unapproachable. When ill: Insufferable, irritable, rude, not amenable to discipline, accusing, complaining, wild yelling."1 SOMETIMES AN ANGEL, SOMETIMES A DEVIL. • "Unrestrainedly and exuberantly merry, inclined to scold without cause, and to insult in a laughing humour." [Hahnemann] • "Great irritability and acuteness of the senses; everything tastes and smells stronger; the sense of touch, the sight, and the hearing are more acute, and the humour is more mobile and the thought more active." [Hahnemann] • "The sanguine temperament, the bold, daring, vigorous, will readily respond to Bell." [Wells] • "The slight delirium that followed the action of the narcotic was of a strange yet not unpleasant kind. I wished to be in constant motion, and it certainly afforded me an infinite degree of satisfaction to be able to walk up and down. The intellectual operations at times were very vivid. Thoughts came and went, and ludicrous and fantastic spectacles were always uppermost in my mind. I was conscious that my language and gesticulations were extravagant, yet I had neither power nor will to do otherwise than I did; and notwithstanding my bodily malaise, my mind was in a state of delightful exhilaration." [Hughes] • "The Belladonna type looks usually vigorous, but has a lymphatic hue like his chronic counterpart Calcarea, and on a soil enriched with it the plant grows best. He has a fine complexion, a delicate skin, easily flushed by the blood running to the head, producing a somewhat ruddy appearance. The expression is very lively, the eyes snap and move quickly and are often of a brilliant darkness. The movements are quick and decided, the gestures vivacious. Belladonna is very pleasant, gay, laughing, talkative when well and has an abundance of ideas which come and go so quickly that he cannot follow with the language, making the speech rapid and hasty. The memory is very much alive. The sensitivity is very great; he is very temperamental and loses easily his control. As a personality in the state of health he is a typical Hypo-maniac. All this reaches an abnormal stage in disease. The face becomes very red, the eyes suffused, brilliant, even protruding, the arteries of the neck pulsate, the pupils are wide and dilate. Mirth turns into senseless fits of laughter, the fluent language into garrulity, singing into shouting, the friendliness into rage and fury with attempts to bite those around, to spit at them, to tear everything to pieces." [Gutman] M VIOLENT mental symptoms; patient becomes extremely strong and frightening. M HALLUCINATIONS, go into delirium and hallucinations very easily, i.e. in fevers. M Desire to STRIKE, BITE, KICK, pull hair. From frightening hallucinations, tries to run away or hide. Or sudden, without clear cause. M Dogs / wolves. Fear; visions; dreams. Growls, barks, bites [like a dog]. • "Where Stramonium patients may act as if pursued by a frightening beast, Belladonna individuals become enraged like a beast and can have behaviours that are animal-like. Their episodes of rage can include symptoms of grunting, grimacing, increased strength, and barking and growling like a dog. Their anger is largely directed outward toward others."2 Delusion being turned into an animal [?]. The rubric "delusion persons are animals" mentions three remedies: Bell., Hyos., Stram.; the delusion could very well be the reading of one's own feelings into a particular situation. • "A characteristic feature of solanaceae psychosis is furthermore that the intoxicated person imagines himself to have been changed into some animal, and the hallucinosis is completed by the sensation of the growing of feathers and hair, due probably to main paraesthesia', Erich Hesse claimed in 1946. In 1658, Giovanni Battista Prota wrote that a potion made from henbane, mandrake, thorn apple, and belladonna would make a person 'believe he was changed into a Bird or Beast.' He might 'believe himself turned into a Goose, and would eat Grass, and beat the Ground with his Teeth, like a Goose: now and then sing, and endeavour to clap his wings.' Animal transformation is a primary aspect of the hallucinogenic experience, whether it is a shaman in the Amazon turning into a jaguar, or a Western subject in a psychological experiment."3 M Insects. • One grain and a half of what I believe to be a very good extract of Belladonna was taken ongoing to bed [11 p.m.]. At about 4 a.m. I woke in a state of slight but decided delirium. My judgement, I think, was sound, when I chose to exert it, but nothing could rid my eyes of a legion of most disgusting spectra. I am not very partial to any part of the insect creation, but cockroaches are my special horror, and spectral cockroaches were swarming all over the room. Every object in the room, both real and spectral, had a double, or, at least, a dim outline, owing to the extreme dilatation of the pupils. My hands also shook a little. This state lasted for about two hours, and then passed off, leaving me nothing to complain of but a dry sort of feeling in the throat." [Hughes] M Metaphysics. • "One typical Belladonna trait which straddles the worlds of the sane and insane is an interest in metaphysics. I have seen this in every one of my Belladonna patients. In both sane and insane patients it appears as an obsession with matters spiritual and psychic. All of my Belladonna patients have professed to have psychic abilities, and this has been accompanied in each case by an obsession with understanding non-physical realms of reality. ... Belladonna individuals often sense that they have power of a magical or psychic kind even when they have not direct evidence of it." [Bailey] M Ailments from excitement, fright and fear, grief, disappointed love, anger and fright. G Ailments and RUSH OF BLOOD TO HEAD and FACE. G Contra-indicated in typhoid, suppuration, slowly developing conditions. G Complaints go down from the head, i.e. after chilling or wetting the head [haircut]. G Oversensitivity and overexcitability of special senses. Hence < noise, light, jarring, talking, touch, etc. Desire for rest, silence and darkness. G HEAT, REDNESS and BURNING. DILATED SHINING PUPILS. Orgasm of blood after emotions and from nervousness. G Affected parts BURNING HOT TO TOUCH. G ACUTENESS and VIOLENCE; symptoms appear and disappear SUDDENLY. G Desire for LEMONS, LEMONADE. G < DRAFTS of air. < HEAD becoming COLD. G < Becoming COLD, < becoming heated. G > LYING on ABDOMEN.
G > HAND on part.
G DRYNESS of mucous membranes and violent burning, bright redness and swelling.
G Clutching sensations.
[throat; abdomen; uterus]
G Right side - left side.
Hering mentions 28 symptoms for the right side, and 15 for the left side. This, perhaps, caused Kent to include Belladonna as an exclusively right-sided remedy in his Repertory. However, predominance of right-sided symptoms in Belladonna mainly, if not only, concerns the head. In 1904-05 the American 'Homoeopathic Ophthalmological, Otological and Laryngological Society' undertook a reproving of Belladonna on 53 persons. The side on which symptoms occurred was exactly recorded, resulting in the following outline: symptoms of nervous system - right side [395], left side [381]; eyes - right [40], left [37]; ears - right [34], left [46]; nose, throat - right [15], left [16]; chest, lungs - right [27], left [23]; abdomen - right [23], left [21]; genitals, urinary organs - right [16], left [7]; upper limbs - right [70], left [65]; lower limbs - right [70], left [103]. Only when it came to the head there was a distinct prevalence of right-sided symptoms: right [91], left [17]. Of the 53 provers, 31 observed frontal headache; 18 provers registered right-sided frontal headache [72 times in total], while 6 provers recorded left-sided frontal headache [13 times in total]. 4
P THROBBING right-sided [frontal] headaches.
< Noise, light, jar. > Lying in dark room [with head high], pressure, bandaging, cold applications.
And PULSATING CAROTIDS.
And Redness and heat of face.
[1] Berndt, The drug picture of Stramonium, BHJ, April 1964. [2] Zaren, HL 3/93. [3] Devereux, The Long Trip. [4] Donner, Über eine Nachprüfung von Belladonna, Allg. Hom. Zeitung 1962 Heft 10.
Rubrics
Mind
Biting those around him [1]. Desire to climb [1]. Credulous [2]. Wild dancing [2]. Desires death during intervals of rage [1/1]. Delirium, talks about dogs [1], > eating [1], before menses [1], rocking to and fro [1], > after sleep [1]. Delusions, with activity [2], sees black animals on walls and furniture [1], of bats [1/1], sees black objects and people [2], sees birds [1], of butterflies [1], he will taken by the devil [1], divided or cut in two parts [1], eyes are enlarged [1], house is on fire [1], as if he must fly [1], sees giants [1], sees shining insects [1/1], is a magician [1/1], talking with dead people [1], talking with spirits [1], he is transparent [1], of travelling [2], of wolves [1]. Destructiveness from suppressed emotions [1]. Fear alternating with mania [2]; jumps out of bed from fear [3]; jumps up on being touched [1]. Insanity, dancing and stripping himself [2/1]. Desire to kill during drunkenness [1]. Loquacity alternating with taciturnity [1]. Mental symptoms from moonlight [1]. Rage, doesn't know his relatives [2; Stram.*], with spitting [1], with staring [1/1], renewed by touch [2]. Striking, himself in face [1/1]. Talking about battles [1], of war [1].
Vertigo
Followed by diplopia [1]. In sunlight [1].
Head
Pain, from acids [1], > coffee [1*], on descending [3], > during menses [1]; in forehead > bending head backward [1]. Waving sensation in forehead [3].
Eye
Staring during headache [3], on waking [1].
Vision
Colours before the eyes, blue when reading [1/1]; objects seem dark [1]; letters seem golden [1/1]; all the colours of rainbow [2]; white clouds wandering from left to right [1/1]; yellow border around all objects [1/1]; red things look yellow [1/1]. Objects appear crooked [2]. Dim, in bright light [1], > coffee [1*], > darkness [1*], > twilight [1*]. Sparks on motion of lids [1/1].
Nose
Sneezing, in sunshine [1*]. Swelling of tip during warm weather [1/1].
Face
Discolouration, red on stooping [2]. Heat and red face during palpitation [1].
Throat
Narrow sensation when swallowing [3; Calc.].
Stomach
Appetite wanting from smoking [1/1]. Sensation of a burning ball [2/1]. Nausea > passing flatus [1/1]. Pain from pressure on spine [2]. Stomach seems to be turning on motion [1/1].
Rectum
Diarrhoea from bright light [2], from sudden noise [1].
Urine
Copious at beginning of menses [1/1].
Female
Pain, bearing down in uterus when sitting bent [2/1], > sitting erect [2/1], > standing [2/1]; pressing in vagina before menses [1].
Back
Pain, cramping in coccyx during menses [2/1].
Limbs
Hasty motion of hands [2/1].
Sleep
Sleeplessness from sensation of falling [2/1], after narcotics [2].
Dreams
Danger of fire [1]. Being pursued by giants [1/1]. Visionary, frightful [1/1].
Generals
Interrupted coition < [1; Bell-p.]. * Repertory additions [Hughes]. Food Aversion: [2]: Coffee; drinks; fruit; sour; warm food; water. [1]: Alcohol; beer; broth; cold water; eggs; fats and rich food; food, cooked; food, smell of; liquids; meat; milk; milk, smell of; soup; sweets; vegetables. Desire: [3]: Lemonade; lemons. [2]: Beer; cold drinks; snuff. [1]: Bread; bread and butter; champagne; coffee; indigestible things; liquid food; sour; tobacco; warm drinks. Worse: [3]: Sausages, spoiled. [2]: Alcohol; cold drinks; hot food; sour; vinegar; warm food. [1]: Apples; beer; butter; brandy; coffee; farinaceous; fat; liquor; meat; oysters; pork; salt; shellfish; sugar; sweets; wine. Better: [2]: Cold food; lemonade. [1]: Coffee [> headache, vision]; cider; hot food; lemons; sweets; wine.
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| Belladonna |
[William James]
Signs
Atropa belladonna. Deadly Nightshade. Devil's Cherries. Naughty Man's Cherries.
N.O. Solanaceae.
CLASSIFICATION Atropa belladonna, as well as Stramonium and Hyoscyamus, belong to the Solanaceae or Nightshade family, a widespread plant family comprising about 96 genera of herbs, shrubs and, occasionally, trees. Although occurring around the world [except in the arctic areas], the principle centre of the Nightshade family lies in Andean South America. The plants in this family commonly produce poisonous alkaloids. Due to high contents of tropane alkaloids, genera such as Atropa, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Duboisia, Brugmansia, and Mandragora, have narcotic and hallucinogenic properties. The family is of huge economic importance as a source of foodstuff [tomato, eggplant, green peppers, red pepper, potato, pepino, Cape gooseberry], medicines and narcotics [belladonna, mandrake, datura, etc.], a fumatory [tobacco], and poisons [belladonna, henbane, etc.].
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| Belladonna |
CONSTITUENTS The main constituents of Atropa belladonna are the alkaloids hyoscyamine, scopolamine [also named hyoscine], atropine [d,l-hyoscyamine], and traces of nicotine. The seeds are richest in alkaloids, followed by the roots and the leaves, respectively. Because atropine's pharmacology is opposite to that of muscarine, atropine is widely used as an antidote to mushroom poisoning cases involving muscarine. In the case of poisoning by mushrooms of the genera Inocybe or Clitocybe - which contain toxic amounts of muscarine - this treatment is indicated and effective. It is contraindicated, however, in the case of Amanita muscaria [Agaricus in homoeopathy]. Amanita muscaria contains negligible amounts of muscarine, but high amounts of ibotenic acid and muscimol, compounds which have a similar effect as atropine and were formerly called Pilzatropin ['mushroom atropine'].
LIGHT and HEAT Atropa plants grown in sunny and dry seasons yield the highest percentage of alkaloids. Research has demonstrated that alkaloid accumulation in Atropa plants growing in shade decreases six- to eightfold! Studies of the effect of light on Atropa plants by a comparison of latitudes differing in light conditions, for example, shows that the plant has an alkaloid content of 1.3 per cent in the Crimean Peninsula and 0.4 to 0.6 per cent in Leningrad. That warm weather favours the formation of alkaloids in Atropa, and in Solanaceae in general, is also noticeable in the relationship between temperature and alkaloid synthesis during germination. The higher the temperature, the higher the alkaloid content in the plant. 3
NAME The plant in Chaucer's days was known as Dwale, which is derived from the Scandinavian dvala, meaning doze or trance. Another possibility is that the root of the word comes from the French word deuil, bereavement or grief, referring to the plant's fatal properties. The Deadly Nightshade derives its Latin generic name from Atropos, 'the inevitable', one of the Fates in Greek mythology who cut the thread of life. Its specific name belladonna, 'beautiful lady', alludes to mediaeval Italian ladies who dropped Atropa sap into their eyes to produce a glassy stare and dilated pupils, which was believed to enhance their beauty. The family name is possibly derived from L solanum, a solace. The origin of the common name nightshade is not certain. The word may come from the Old English word nihtscada - niht, night, and scada, shade - but more likely refers to Nah-Skado, alluding to the Celto-Teutonic goddess Skadi, the 'destroyer', 'Queen of the Shades' or 'Mother Death', active in the darkness of the night [nah]. A variation of her name, Skuld, was given to the third of the three Norns - the Scandinavian variant of the Greek Fates - who cut the thread of life. She became the patroness of witches, whose activities came to be called 'skulduggery' by the Christians. Her name still subsists in words as schuld [Dutch and German] and skuld [Swedish], meaning guilt, blame, debt. There is no escape from Atropos or Skuld, just like there is no getting away from the severe effects of the Deadly Nightshade. Atropos used the berries of the plant to fulfil her duties. Or, as an old text put it: "Whoever receives this plant into his body must die; the whole pharmacopoeia cannot help him."
USES "The use of belladonna can be traced back as far as written records go. In ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerians reportedly used it in the treatment of a number of illnesses thought to be caused by demons. Belladonna, along with related plants such as henbane and mandrake, is mentioned in R. Campbell Thompson's Assyrian Herbal as having many medicinal properties. It was used to treat asthma, chronic coughing and spasms of the bladder. Although there are sporadic reports of belladonna being used elsewhere in Asia and in North Africa [e.g. as a sedative in traditional Nepalese medicine and as an aphrodisiac in contemporary Morocco], it was in Europe that the plant became important in magic and medicine. Belladonna juice is said to be one of the psychoactive additives to the wine drunk at the Bacchanalian orgies. Its intoxicating powers were seemingly a factor in inducing a state of frenzy in which the maenads [priestesses of Bacchus] tore apart animals, men and children. ... The berries may, perhaps, have contributed to the legendary battle frenzy of the Norse warriors or berserkers. ... Belladonna had a number of uses in the folk life of Europeans. In Eastern Europe its root was used in love magic. When it was removed from the ground, offerings to the spirit of the plant would be made. Elsewhere the root was used as an amulet [as was the root of its cousin the mandrake] for bringing good fortune in gaming and affairs of the heart. Central European hunters would eat several of its berries to increase their alertness on long hunting trips. ... Despite its considerable role in medicine, belladonna still retains an aura reeking of murder, baneful sorcery, frenzied imagination and dangerous but enchanting female sexuality."4
POISONINGS About 25,000 cases of poisoning with toxic plants occurred in Switzerland over a period of 29 years, of which 152 cases were severe. Detailed analysis was possible in 135 cases [23 children, 112 adults] including 5 lethal cases [all adults]. "The 24 plants involved produced the following severe symptoms: Atropa belladonna [42 cases]: anticholinergic syndrome [42], acute psychosis [33], convulsions [2], coma [2]. Heracleum mantegazzianum [18]: severe photodermatitis [18]. Datura stramonium [17]: anticholinergic syndrome [17], psychosis [12], coma [2]. Dieffenbachia [11]: severe stomatitis [8], corneal lesions [3]. Colchicum autumnale [10]: diarrhoea [10], liver necrosis [9], fatal multiorgan failure [2]. Veratrum album [8]: bradycardia [< or = 40/min] [6], shock [5]. Aconitum napellus [4]: tachyarrhythmia [2], AV-block II/III [2]. Aesculus hippocastanum [3]: allergy [3], anaphylactic shock [2]. Hyoscyamus niger [3]: anticholinergic syndrome [3]. Ricinus communis [3]: diarrhoea [3], toxic megacolon [1]. Oenanthe crocata [2]: convulsions [1], lethal coma [1]. Taxus baccata [2]: tachyarrhythmia [1], fatal asystole [1]. Further single cases of severe poisonings were observed with Arum maculatum, Asarum europaeum, Chrysanthemum vulgare, Cyclamen persicum, Datura suaveolens, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Laburnum anagyroides, Lycopodium, Narcissus pseudonarcissus [lethal aspiration], Nerium oleander, Senecio vulgaris and Vicia faba."5 Atropa belladonna distinctly proved to be the main cause of plant intoxications. With its botanically close allies Stramonium and Hyoscyamus it produced invariably the same symptoms: anticholinergic syndrome and/or acute psychosis. The former is characterised by blurred vision, dilated pupils, suppressed salivation, vasodilatation, hyperpyrexia, flushing, tachycardia, dry mucous membranes, dry skin, restlessness, agitation, delirium, coma, convulsions, and, possibly, respiratory failure. PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION "Belladonna is an irritant narcotic, a mydriatic, an anti-spasmodic, an anodyne; in small doses a cardiac, respiratory and spinal stimulant, in large doses a paralyzer of the secretory and motor nerve endings, and a stimulator of the entire sympathetic system. It produces dryness of the mucous membranes of the throat, mouth, nose and larynx; and at first lessens the gastric and intestinal secretions, but soon reproduces them in large quantity. The Heart rate is at first slowed, but soon becomes very rapid and vigorous, the pulse being doubled in rapidity; the arterial tension being at the same time raised, the circulation is greatly increased. This the drug accomplishes by stimulating the cardiac sympathetic, and paralyzing the intra-cardiac inhibitory ganglia, thus stimulating the accelerator apparatus while lessening inhibition. [Digitalis increases both.] The vasomotor ganglia all over the body are stimulated, but afterwards paralyzed by over-stimulation, the heart weakens, the vessels relax, and the blood pressure is greatly lowered. Complete motor paralysis follows, then delirium, stupor, and finally death, usually by asphyxia. The Brain is congested by Belladonna, a busy delirium being produced, and hallucinations with mental disorder, due to a selective action on the cells of the grey matter. The Spinal Cord is stimulated from the 2d cervical vertebra to the 10th dorsal, resulting in paralysis of the motor nerves, central and peripheral; power being lost in the lower extremities first. Sensation is slightly impaired, but the muscular irritability is not. Respiration is increased, and the temperature raised. A Diffused Eruption of a scarlet colour, greatly resembling that of scarlet fever, is often produced by Belladonna on the skin and fauces, with dysphagia and sore throat, and is sometimes followed by desquamation. It is due to capillary congestion caused by the greatly increased circulation. Diffused rapidly, Belladonna is also quickly eliminated, particularly by the kidneys. The urine of an animal under the action of Atropine will dilate the pupil of another animal. Herbivorous animals and birds are scarcely susceptible to the action of Belladonna, and pigeons are not affected by it at all."6 LEGENDS "According to old legends, the plant belongs to the devil who goes about trimming and tending it in his leisure, and can only be diverted from its care on one night in the year, that is on Walpurgis, when he is preparing for the witches' sabbath. The apples of Sodom are held to be related to this plant, and the name Belladonna is said to record an old superstition that at certain times it takes the form of an enchantress of exceeding loveliness, whom it is dangerous to look upon. ... Another derivation is founded on the old tradition that the priests used to drink an infusion before they worshipped and invoked the aid of Bellona, the Goddess of War."7 FRENZY The alkaloids atropine, scopolamine, and closely related chemical substances call forth disorders of the functions of the brain, in the form of excitation followed by a state of depression. They have played an important role in the history of mankind. "We find these plants associated with incomprehensible acts on the part of the fanatics, raging with the flames of frenzy and fury and persecuting not only witches and sorcerers but also mankind as a whole. Garbed in the cowl, the judge's robe, and the physician's gown, superstitious folly instituted diabolical proceedings in a trial of the devil and hurled victims into the flames or drowned them in blood. ... The peculiar hallucinations evoked by these drugs had been so powerfully transmitted from the subconscious mind to consciousness that mentally uncultivated persons, nourished in their absurd superstitions by the Church, believed them to be reality. ... Many other repugnant things have been accomplished with these substances. They have served to intoxicate girls and seduce them to immoral acts. This may be done without the victim becoming unconscious; she tolerates the criminal with open eyes but blinded soul, and even, as a result of augmented of sexual excitation, complies with his wishes."8 Experimenters describe the effects of Belladonna as a 'Hieronymus-Bosch-Trip' and are disinclined to repeat the experience. WITCHES The hallucinogenic Nightshade species from the Old World are called the hexing herbs because they were used in the ointments or flying potions of witches. Flying potions contained many substances, but typically Atropa belladonna, Datura stramonium, Hyoscyamus niger, and Mandragora officinarum. The plants were mixed with fat - allegedly the fat of a dead child - to make an ointment, which was applied to various parts of the body, in particular the genital region and the anus. Because the genitals and anus have a rich supply of blood vessels, the hallucinogenic compounds were readily absorbed, inducing a deep, dream-filled sleep with dreams and visions of flying, dancing, and having sexual orgies with the devil. Recent scientific experiments have confirmed that hallucinogenic tropanes do indeed produce these types of dreams as well as dreams involving lycanthropy, the transformation of humans into wolves or other predatory animals. 9 AUTOMATISMS "One of the marvellous effects of continued doses [of belladonna] is the production of a singular psychological phenomenon. A delirium supervenes, unaccompanied by any fantasia, or imaginary illusion, whose marked characteristic is somnambulism. An individual who has taken it in several doses seems to be perfectly alive to surrounding objects, his senses conveying faithfully to the brain the impressions that they receive; he goes through his usual avocations without exhibiting any unwonted feeling, yet he is quite unconscious of his existence, and performs mechanically all that he is accustomed to do, answers questions correctly, without knowing from whom or from whence they proceed, looks at objects vacantly, moves his lips as if conversing yet utters not a sound, there is no unusual state of the respiratory organs, no alteration of the pulse, nothing that can bespeak excitement. When this state of somnambulism passes away, the individual has not the slightest recollection of what has occurred to him; he reverts to that which immediately preceded the attack, nor can any allusion to his apparent reverie induce him to believe that he has excited any attention. The case of the tailor who remained on his shopboard for fifteen hours, performing all his usual avocations, sewing with great apparent earnestness, using all the gestures which his business requires, moving his lips as if speaking, yet the whole time perfectly insensible, has been frequently quoted. It was produced by belladonna."10 PROVINGS •• [1] Hahnemann - 15 provers; method: unknown. [Hahnemann has included in his scheme the symptoms of 23 epileptic patients treated with Belladonna by Greding.] •• [2] American 'Homoeopathic Ophthalmological, Otological and Laryngological Society' - 53 provers, 1904-05; method: daily doses of tincture, 1x or 2x. •• [3] Most of the symptoms come from 'old-school authorities' and concern intoxications. [1] Pfeiffer, Weeds and What They Tell. [2] Grieve, A Modern Herbal. [3] Craker and Simon, Herbs, Spices, and Medicinal Plants. [4] Rudgley, The Encyclopaedia of Psychoactive Substances. [5] Jaspersen-Schib et al., Serious plant poisonings in Switzerland 1966-1994; Schweiz Med. Wochenschrift 1996, 126 [25]. [6] Potter, A Compend of Materia Medica. [7] Rudgley, ibid. [8] Lewin, Phantastica. [9] Richardson, Flowering Plants: Magic in Bloom. [10] Winslow, cited in Cooke, The Seven Sisters of Sleep. Affinity Nerve centres. Blood vessels. Capillaries. Mucous membranes [eyes; mouth; THROAT]. Skin. Organs. * Right side. Left side. Modalities Worse: Heat; of sun; when heated. Afternoon [3 p.m.]. DRAFTS: on head; hair cut. After taking cold. CHECKED SWEAT. LIGHT. NOISE. JARRING. Touch. Motion. Hanging down. Company. Cold wind. Uncovering the head. Summer. Lying on painful side. Looking at bright shining objects. After midnight. Bending head forward, stooping. Better: Light covering. Bending backward. Rest in bed. Dark room. Standing or sitting erect. Warm room. Main symptoms M IMPRESSIONABILITY. Sympathetic, connected, open, extroverted, investigating. M Persons who react intensely to occurrences and situations. Who are lively and entertaining when well, but violent and delirious when sick. • "In health: Highly intelligent, good, gentle, affectionate, docile, timid, but: desire for independence until almost unapproachable. When ill: Insufferable, irritable, rude, not amenable to discipline, accusing, complaining, wild yelling."1 SOMETIMES AN ANGEL, SOMETIMES A DEVIL. • "Unrestrainedly and exuberantly merry, inclined to scold without cause, and to insult in a laughing humour." [Hahnemann] • "Great irritability and acuteness of the senses; everything tastes and smells stronger; the sense of touch, the sight, and the hearing are more acute, and the humour is more mobile and the thought more active." [Hahnemann] • "The sanguine temperament, the bold, daring, vigorous, will readily respond to Bell." [Wells] • "The slight delirium that followed the action of the narcotic was of a strange yet not unpleasant kind. I wished to be in constant motion, and it certainly afforded me an infinite degree of satisfaction to be able to walk up and down. The intellectual operations at times were very vivid. Thoughts came and went, and ludicrous and fantastic spectacles were always uppermost in my mind. I was conscious that my language and gesticulations were extravagant, yet I had neither power nor will to do otherwise than I did; and notwithstanding my bodily malaise, my mind was in a state of delightful exhilaration." [Hughes] • "The Belladonna type looks usually vigorous, but has a lymphatic hue like his chronic counterpart Calcarea, and on a soil enriched with it the plant grows best. He has a fine complexion, a delicate skin, easily flushed by the blood running to the head, producing a somewhat ruddy appearance. The expression is very lively, the eyes snap and move quickly and are often of a brilliant darkness. The movements are quick and decided, the gestures vivacious. Belladonna is very pleasant, gay, laughing, talkative when well and has an abundance of ideas which come and go so quickly that he cannot follow with the language, making the speech rapid and hasty. The memory is very much alive. The sensitivity is very great; he is very temperamental and loses easily his control. As a personality in the state of health he is a typical Hypo-maniac. All this reaches an abnormal stage in disease. The face becomes very red, the eyes suffused, brilliant, even protruding, the arteries of the neck pulsate, the pupils are wide and dilate. Mirth turns into senseless fits of laughter, the fluent language into garrulity, singing into shouting, the friendliness into rage and fury with attempts to bite those around, to spit at them, to tear everything to pieces." [Gutman] M VIOLENT mental symptoms; patient becomes extremely strong and frightening. M HALLUCINATIONS, go into delirium and hallucinations very easily, i.e. in fevers. M Desire to STRIKE, BITE, KICK, pull hair. From frightening hallucinations, tries to run away or hide. Or sudden, without clear cause. M Dogs / wolves. Fear; visions; dreams. Growls, barks, bites [like a dog]. • "Where Stramonium patients may act as if pursued by a frightening beast, Belladonna individuals become enraged like a beast and can have behaviours that are animal-like. Their episodes of rage can include symptoms of grunting, grimacing, increased strength, and barking and growling like a dog. Their anger is largely directed outward toward others."2 Delusion being turned into an animal [?]. The rubric "delusion persons are animals" mentions three remedies: Bell., Hyos., Stram.; the delusion could very well be the reading of one's own feelings into a particular situation. • "A characteristic feature of solanaceae psychosis is furthermore that the intoxicated person imagines himself to have been changed into some animal, and the hallucinosis is completed by the sensation of the growing of feathers and hair, due probably to main paraesthesia', Erich Hesse claimed in 1946. In 1658, Giovanni Battista Prota wrote that a potion made from henbane, mandrake, thorn apple, and belladonna would make a person 'believe he was changed into a Bird or Beast.' He might 'believe himself turned into a Goose, and would eat Grass, and beat the Ground with his Teeth, like a Goose: now and then sing, and endeavour to clap his wings.' Animal transformation is a primary aspect of the hallucinogenic experience, whether it is a shaman in the Amazon turning into a jaguar, or a Western subject in a psychological experiment."3 M Insects. • One grain and a half of what I believe to be a very good extract of Belladonna was taken ongoing to bed [11 p.m.]. At about 4 a.m. I woke in a state of slight but decided delirium. My judgement, I think, was sound, when I chose to exert it, but nothing could rid my eyes of a legion of most disgusting spectra. I am not very partial to any part of the insect creation, but cockroaches are my special horror, and spectral cockroaches were swarming all over the room. Every object in the room, both real and spectral, had a double, or, at least, a dim outline, owing to the extreme dilatation of the pupils. My hands also shook a little. This state lasted for about two hours, and then passed off, leaving me nothing to complain of but a dry sort of feeling in the throat." [Hughes] M Metaphysics. • "One typical Belladonna trait which straddles the worlds of the sane and insane is an interest in metaphysics. I have seen this in every one of my Belladonna patients. In both sane and insane patients it appears as an obsession with matters spiritual and psychic. All of my Belladonna patients have professed to have psychic abilities, and this has been accompanied in each case by an obsession with understanding non-physical realms of reality. ... Belladonna individuals often sense that they have power of a magical or psychic kind even when they have not direct evidence of it." [Bailey] M Ailments from excitement, fright and fear, grief, disappointed love, anger and fright. G Ailments and RUSH OF BLOOD TO HEAD and FACE. G Contra-indicated in typhoid, suppuration, slowly developing conditions. G Complaints go down from the head, i.e. after chilling or wetting the head [haircut]. G Oversensitivity and overexcitability of special senses. Hence < noise, light, jarring, talking, touch, etc. Desire for rest, silence and darkness. G HEAT, REDNESS and BURNING. DILATED SHINING PUPILS. Orgasm of blood after emotions and from nervousness. G Affected parts BURNING HOT TO TOUCH. G ACUTENESS and VIOLENCE; symptoms appear and disappear SUDDENLY. G Desire for LEMONS, LEMONADE. G < DRAFTS of air. < HEAD becoming COLD. G < Becoming COLD, < becoming heated. G > LYING on ABDOMEN.
G > HAND on part.
G DRYNESS of mucous membranes and violent burning, bright redness and swelling.
G Clutching sensations.
[throat; abdomen; uterus]
G Right side - left side.
Hering mentions 28 symptoms for the right side, and 15 for the left side. This, perhaps, caused Kent to include Belladonna as an exclusively right-sided remedy in his Repertory. However, predominance of right-sided symptoms in Belladonna mainly, if not only, concerns the head. In 1904-05 the American 'Homoeopathic Ophthalmological, Otological and Laryngological Society' undertook a reproving of Belladonna on 53 persons. The side on which symptoms occurred was exactly recorded, resulting in the following outline: symptoms of nervous system - right side [395], left side [381]; eyes - right [40], left [37]; ears - right [34], left [46]; nose, throat - right [15], left [16]; chest, lungs - right [27], left [23]; abdomen - right [23], left [21]; genitals, urinary organs - right [16], left [7]; upper limbs - right [70], left [65]; lower limbs - right [70], left [103]. Only when it came to the head there was a distinct prevalence of right-sided symptoms: right [91], left [17]. Of the 53 provers, 31 observed frontal headache; 18 provers registered right-sided frontal headache [72 times in total], while 6 provers recorded left-sided frontal headache [13 times in total]. 4
P THROBBING right-sided [frontal] headaches.
< Noise, light, jar. > Lying in dark room [with head high], pressure, bandaging, cold applications.
And PULSATING CAROTIDS.
And Redness and heat of face.
[1] Berndt, The drug picture of Stramonium, BHJ, April 1964. [2] Zaren, HL 3/93. [3] Devereux, The Long Trip. [4] Donner, Über eine Nachprüfung von Belladonna, Allg. Hom. Zeitung 1962 Heft 10.
Rubrics
Mind
Biting those around him [1]. Desire to climb [1]. Credulous [2]. Wild dancing [2]. Desires death during intervals of rage [1/1]. Delirium, talks about dogs [1], > eating [1], before menses [1], rocking to and fro [1], > after sleep [1]. Delusions, with activity [2], sees black animals on walls and furniture [1], of bats [1/1], sees black objects and people [2], sees birds [1], of butterflies [1], he will taken by the devil [1], divided or cut in two parts [1], eyes are enlarged [1], house is on fire [1], as if he must fly [1], sees giants [1], sees shining insects [1/1], is a magician [1/1], talking with dead people [1], talking with spirits [1], he is transparent [1], of travelling [2], of wolves [1]. Destructiveness from suppressed emotions [1]. Fear alternating with mania [2]; jumps out of bed from fear [3]; jumps up on being touched [1]. Insanity, dancing and stripping himself [2/1]. Desire to kill during drunkenness [1]. Loquacity alternating with taciturnity [1]. Mental symptoms from moonlight [1]. Rage, doesn't know his relatives [2; Stram.*], with spitting [1], with staring [1/1], renewed by touch [2]. Striking, himself in face [1/1]. Talking about battles [1], of war [1].
Vertigo
Followed by diplopia [1]. In sunlight [1].
Head
Pain, from acids [1], > coffee [1*], on descending [3], > during menses [1]; in forehead > bending head backward [1]. Waving sensation in forehead [3].
Eye
Staring during headache [3], on waking [1].
Vision
Colours before the eyes, blue when reading [1/1]; objects seem dark [1]; letters seem golden [1/1]; all the colours of rainbow [2]; white clouds wandering from left to right [1/1]; yellow border around all objects [1/1]; red things look yellow [1/1]. Objects appear crooked [2]. Dim, in bright light [1], > coffee [1*], > darkness [1*], > twilight [1*]. Sparks on motion of lids [1/1].
Nose
Sneezing, in sunshine [1*]. Swelling of tip during warm weather [1/1].
Face
Discolouration, red on stooping [2]. Heat and red face during palpitation [1].
Throat
Narrow sensation when swallowing [3; Calc.].
Stomach
Appetite wanting from smoking [1/1]. Sensation of a burning ball [2/1]. Nausea > passing flatus [1/1]. Pain from pressure on spine [2]. Stomach seems to be turning on motion [1/1].
Rectum
Diarrhoea from bright light [2], from sudden noise [1].
Urine
Copious at beginning of menses [1/1].
Female
Pain, bearing down in uterus when sitting bent [2/1], > sitting erect [2/1], > standing [2/1]; pressing in vagina before menses [1].
Back
Pain, cramping in coccyx during menses [2/1].
Limbs
Hasty motion of hands [2/1].
Sleep
Sleeplessness from sensation of falling [2/1], after narcotics [2].
Dreams
Danger of fire [1]. Being pursued by giants [1/1]. Visionary, frightful [1/1].
Generals
Interrupted coition < [1; Bell-p.]. * Repertory additions [Hughes]. Food Aversion: [2]: Coffee; drinks; fruit; sour; warm food; water. [1]: Alcohol; beer; broth; cold water; eggs; fats and rich food; food, cooked; food, smell of; liquids; meat; milk; milk, smell of; soup; sweets; vegetables. Desire: [3]: Lemonade; lemons. [2]: Beer; cold drinks; snuff. [1]: Bread; bread and butter; champagne; coffee; indigestible things; liquid food; sour; tobacco; warm drinks. Worse: [3]: Sausages, spoiled. [2]: Alcohol; cold drinks; hot food; sour; vinegar; warm food. [1]: Apples; beer; butter; brandy; coffee; farinaceous; fat; liquor; meat; oysters; pork; salt; shellfish; sugar; sweets; wine. Better: [2]: Cold food; lemonade. [1]: Coffee [> headache, vision]; cider; hot food; lemons; sweets; wine.
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