essence of cuprum
Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2002 12:41 pm
I think this provides a reasonably succint "essence" of cuprum
Published in "Hahnemannian Advocate" 1897, vol XXXVI, #10, excerpted from
Encyclopedia Homeopathica
-with which it is quite simple to select cuprum as the search criteria, and
then to page thru the 14976 line items of text on cuprum.
Dave Hartley
www.Mr-Notebook.com
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Seattle, WA 425.820.7443
Asheville, NC 828.285.0240
J.T. Kent
Cuprum metallicum
*Cuprum is pre-eminently a convulsive medicine. The convulsive tendency
associates itself with almost every complaint that Cuprum creates and cures.
The conditions that it is remedial in are spasms of muscles, small spasms
and large spasms, contractions and convulsions. It has convulsions in every
degree of violence, from the mere twitching of little muscles and of single
muscles to convulsions of all the muscles of the body. When these are coming
on the earliest threatenings are drawings in the fingers, clenching of the
thumbs or twitching of the muscles. It has twitching, quivering, trembling,
and it has also tonic contractions, so that the hands are closed violently.
In this latter condition the thumbs are first affected; they are drawn down
into the palms and then the fingers close down over them with great
violence. In the fingers and toes and in the extremities the spasmodic
condition increases and extends until the limbs are in a state of great
exhaustion. Tonic contractions, the limbs being drawn up with great violence
and it seems as if the frame would be torn to pieces by the violent
contractions of the muscles everywhere. Often the contractions assume a
clonic form, with jerking and twitching.
Cuprum has many mental symptoms. It has a great variety in its delirium,
incoherent prattling, talking of all sorts of subjects incoherently. It has
produced nearly all of the varied states that an individual is capable of
undergoing as to the mind: delirium, incoherency of speech, loss of memory.
During its different complaints, such as cholera, some forms of fever, the
puerperal state, dysmenorrhoea, congestion of the brain, etc., there is
delirium, unconsciousness and jerking and twitching of the muscles. The eyes
roll in various directions, but commonly upwards and outwards or upwards and
inwards. There is bleeding from the nose and the vision is wonderfully
disturbed. Between the convulsive attacks there is incoherent talk,
delirium, during which the patient is spiteful, violent, weeping or crying
out and shrieking. They go into convulsions with a shriek or sharp cry. In
one place it is spoken of as bellowing like a calf.
PAGE 578
This drug has the ability to produce a group of spasms followed by the
appearance as if the patient were dead, or in a state of ecstasy. Convulsive
conditions sometimes terminate in a state of stasis, during which the mind
ceases to act and the muscles remain quiet or only quiver. This is often one
of the leading features in whooping cough when Cuprum is indicated. To bring
it down to the language of the mother, the description which she gives of
the little one, which will probably make you remember it better than if I
use the text, she says that when the child is seized with a spell of this
violent whooping cough, the face becomes livid or blue, the finger nails
become discolored, the eyes are turned up, the child coughs until it loses
its breath, and then lies in a state of insensibility for a long time until
she fears the child will never breathe again, but with a violent spasmodic
action in its breathing, the child from shortest breaths comes to itself
again just as if brought back to life. You have here all the violent
features of whooping cough and a bad case. In addition to what the mother
says you may also observe a few things, but the whole make-up of such a
case, its whole nature, shows that it is a Cuprum whooping cough. If the
mother can get there quickly enough with a little cold water she will stop
the cough. Cold water especially will relieve the spasm, and so the mother
soon gets into the habit of hurrying for a glass of cold water, and the
child also knows, if it has tried it once, that a glass of cold water will
relieve it. Whenever the respiratory organs are affected there is dreadful
spasmodic breathing, dyspnoea. There is also great rattling in the chest.
The more dyspnoea there is the more likely his thumbs will be clenched and
the fingers cramped.
PAGE 579
In the lower part of the chest, in the region of the xiphoid appendix,
there is a spasmodic condition that is very troublesome. It seems to be at
times a constriction so severe that he thinks he will die, and at others a
feeling as if he were transfixed with a knife from the xiphoid appendix to
the back. Some say it feels as if a lump were in that region and others as
if much wind were collected in the stomach. It destroys the fullness of the
voice, and it seems as if his very life would be squeezed out. Sometimes
then it takes the form of colic and sometimes of neuralgia. If you examine
that extreme tightness you will see at once how the voice is affected. You
will be called to the bed-side and find the patient sitting up in bed; he
tells you in a cracked and squeaking voice that he will soon die if he is
not relieved; his face is a picture of fear and anguish; he really looks as
if he were going to die; the sensation is dreadful. Cuprum speedily cures
this complaint. This constriction and dyspnoea occur sometimes in cholera
morbus and in painful menstruation. Spasms of the chest are also accompanied
by this constriction and a nervous spasmodic breathing. He is not able to
take a full breath.
The Cuprum patient is full of cramps. There are cramps in the limbs and in
the muscles of the chest, with trembling and weakness. In old age, and in
premature old age, it is useful for those cramps that come in the calves,
the soles of the feet, and the toes and fingers at night in bed. In
debilitated, nervous, tremulous old people, Cuprum serves a peculiar
purpose. When an old man, who has been single a long time, marries, his
cramps will sometimes prevent him performing the act of coition. He has
cramps in the calves and soles as soon as he begins the act. Cuprum is the
remedy. It is especially suitable to young men who have become prematurely
old from vices, from strong drink, from late nights and various abuses, and
these cramps are not unlikely to occur in such subjects. Cuprum and
Graphites are the two remedies for cramps coming on under these
circumstances, but whereas Cuprum is said to produce cramps that prevent the
act, Graphites is said to bring on the cramps during the act. The two
remedies however compete closely with each other, and hence if Graphites
corresponds to the constitution of the patient, it should be given, and the
same in regard to Cuprum. Sulphur also has cured this state.
In spasmodic conditions that come on during menstruation Cuprum is also
useful. Painful menstruation with spasms commencing in the fingers and
extending over the body. Tonic contractions that look like hysterical
manifestations. They may be hysterical, but that does not interfere with
Cuprum curing, if they are only spasmodic or convulsive. Violent
dysmenorrhoea with delirium, turning up of the eyes, contortions of the face
and epileptiform manifestations.
PAGE 580
In epilepsy calling for Cuprum we have the contractions and jerkings of the
fingers and toes. He falls with a shriek and during the attack passes his
urine and faeces. It is indicated in epilepsies that begin with a violent
constriction in the lower part of the chest such as I have described, or
with the contractions in the fingers that spread all over the body, to all
the muscles.
Again, it is a remedy sometimes needed in the puerperal state before or
after delivery. The case may be of uraemic character, but no matter; the
urine is scanty and albuminous. During the progress of the labor the patient
suddenly becomes blind. All light seems to her to disappear from the room,
the labor pains cease, and convulsions come on, commencing in the fingers
and toes. When you meet these cases do not forget Cuprum. You will look
around a long time before you can cure a case of this kind without Cuprum.
In cholera morbus with gushing, watery stools and copious vomiting, the
stomach and bowels are emptied of their contents. The patient is fairly
emptied out, becomes blue all over, the extremities are cold, there is
jerking of the muscles, cramping of the extremities and of the fingers and
toes, spasms of the chest; he is cold, mottled, blue in blotches, going into
collapse; the finger nails and toe nails and the hands and feet are blue.
There are several remedies that look like Cuprum in such a condition. In
cholera we would naturally hunt for such remedies as produce cholera-like
discharges, more or less spasmodic conditions, the great blueness, coldness,
sinking and collapse. We would here refer to Hahnemann's observation.
Hahnemann had not seen a case of cholera, but when he was written to for
information, he replied that the disease produced appearances resembling the
symptoms of Cuprum, Camphor and Veratrum album. He saw from the description
of the disease that the general aspect of cholera was like the general
aspect of Cuprum, Camphor and Veratrum, and these three remedies are the
typical cholera remedies. They all have the general features of cholera, its
nature and general aspect. They all have the exhaustive vomiting and
diarrhoea, the coldness, the tendency to collapse, the sinking from the
emptying out of the fluids of the body, and the question naturally arises,
which one will we select?
PAGE 581
From what I have said you will see that the Cuprum case is, above all
others, the spasmodic case. It has the most intense spasms, and the spasms
being the leading feature, they overshadow all the other symptoms of the
case. He is full of cramps and is compelled to cry out and shriek with the
pain from the contractions of the muscles. Camphor is the coldest of all the
three remedies; the Camphor patient is cold as death. Camphor has the
blueness, the exhaustive discharges, though less than Cuprum and Veratrum;
but whereas in the latter two remedies the patient is willing to be covered
up, in Camphor he wants the windows open and wants to be cold. Though he is
as cold as death he wants to be uncovered and to have the windows open. But
just here let me mention another feature in Camphor. It also has some
convulsions which are painful, and when the pain is on he wants to be
covered up and wants the windows shut. If there are cramps in the bowels
with the pain, he wants to be covered up. So that in Camphor, during all of
its complaints in febrile conditions (and fever is very rare in Camphor),
and during the pains he wants to be covered up and to be kept warm, but
during the coldness he wants to be uncovered and have the air. In cholera,
then, the extreme coldness and blueness point to Camphor. Again, with
Camphor there are often scanty as well as copious discharges, so that the
cholera patient is often taken down so suddenly that he has the coldness,
blueness and exhaustion and almost no vomiting or diarrhoea, a condition
called dry cholera. It simply means an uncommonly small amount of vomiting
and diarrhoea. This also is Camphor. Another prominent feature is the great
coldness of the body without the usual sweat that belongs to the disease.
Cuprum and Veratrum have the cold clammy sweat, and Camphor also has sweat,
but more commonly the patient needing Camphor is very cold, blue and dry and
wants to be uncovered. That is striking. Now we go to Veratrum and see that
we can have three remedies very much alike, and so perfectly adapted to
cholera and yet so different. Veratrum is peculiar because of its copious
exhaustive discharges, copious sweat, copious discharges from the bowels,
copious vomiting, and great coldness of the sweat. There is some cramping
and he wants to be warm; he is ameliorated by hot drinks, and by the
application of hot bottles and hot plates which relieve the pain and
suffering.
PAGE 582
These three remedies tend downward into collapse and death. Now to repeat:
Cuprum for the cases of a convulsive character, Camphor in cases
characterized by extreme coldness and more or less dryness, and Veratrum
when the copious sweat, vomiting and purging are the features. That is a
little to remember, but with that you can enter an epidemic of cholera and
feel at home.
In cholera-like states there are other remedies which relate to Cuprum and
which ought to be considered. Podophyllum has cramps, mainly in the bowels.
It has a painless, gushing diarrhoea with vomiting as well, and hence it has
a wonderful operation in cholera morbus.
The cramps in Podophyllum are violent, they feel to him as if the
intestines were being tied in knots. The watery stool is yellow, and, if
examined a little while after, it looks as if corn meal had been stirred in
it. The odor is dreadful, smelling only like a Podophyllum stool. If you say
it smells like stinking meat that only partly describes it; it is not quite
cadaveric but it is horribly offensive and penetrating. The stool is
gushing, copious and is accompanied by dreadful exhaustion. "It is a wonder
where it can all come from," says the mother, speaking of the exhausting
diarrhoea in an infant or in a child. The stool runs away gushingly, in
prolonged squirts, with a sensation of emptiness, sinking, deathly goneness
in the whole abdomen. Phosphorus also ought to be thought of in relation to
Cuprum. It has also cramps in the bowels, exhaustive diarrhoea, sinking as
if dying, but commonly with heat of the skin, with burning internally, with
gurgling of all the fluids taken into the stomach; as soon as they come to
the stomach they commence to gurgle, and gurgle all the way through the
bowels. A drink of water seems to flow through the bowel with a gurgle. Now
this gurgling in Cuprum commences at the throat; he swallows with a gurgle;
gurgling in the oesophagus when swallowing.
You will do well to go to the Cuprum text, as full a text as you have
access to, and find all the complaints that Cuprum has cured, while it is
fresh in your memory, with the guide that you have received.
Published in "Hahnemannian Advocate" 1897, vol XXXVI, #10, excerpted from
Encyclopedia Homeopathica
-with which it is quite simple to select cuprum as the search criteria, and
then to page thru the 14976 line items of text on cuprum.
Dave Hartley
www.Mr-Notebook.com
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Seattle, WA 425.820.7443
Asheville, NC 828.285.0240
J.T. Kent
Cuprum metallicum
*Cuprum is pre-eminently a convulsive medicine. The convulsive tendency
associates itself with almost every complaint that Cuprum creates and cures.
The conditions that it is remedial in are spasms of muscles, small spasms
and large spasms, contractions and convulsions. It has convulsions in every
degree of violence, from the mere twitching of little muscles and of single
muscles to convulsions of all the muscles of the body. When these are coming
on the earliest threatenings are drawings in the fingers, clenching of the
thumbs or twitching of the muscles. It has twitching, quivering, trembling,
and it has also tonic contractions, so that the hands are closed violently.
In this latter condition the thumbs are first affected; they are drawn down
into the palms and then the fingers close down over them with great
violence. In the fingers and toes and in the extremities the spasmodic
condition increases and extends until the limbs are in a state of great
exhaustion. Tonic contractions, the limbs being drawn up with great violence
and it seems as if the frame would be torn to pieces by the violent
contractions of the muscles everywhere. Often the contractions assume a
clonic form, with jerking and twitching.
Cuprum has many mental symptoms. It has a great variety in its delirium,
incoherent prattling, talking of all sorts of subjects incoherently. It has
produced nearly all of the varied states that an individual is capable of
undergoing as to the mind: delirium, incoherency of speech, loss of memory.
During its different complaints, such as cholera, some forms of fever, the
puerperal state, dysmenorrhoea, congestion of the brain, etc., there is
delirium, unconsciousness and jerking and twitching of the muscles. The eyes
roll in various directions, but commonly upwards and outwards or upwards and
inwards. There is bleeding from the nose and the vision is wonderfully
disturbed. Between the convulsive attacks there is incoherent talk,
delirium, during which the patient is spiteful, violent, weeping or crying
out and shrieking. They go into convulsions with a shriek or sharp cry. In
one place it is spoken of as bellowing like a calf.
PAGE 578
This drug has the ability to produce a group of spasms followed by the
appearance as if the patient were dead, or in a state of ecstasy. Convulsive
conditions sometimes terminate in a state of stasis, during which the mind
ceases to act and the muscles remain quiet or only quiver. This is often one
of the leading features in whooping cough when Cuprum is indicated. To bring
it down to the language of the mother, the description which she gives of
the little one, which will probably make you remember it better than if I
use the text, she says that when the child is seized with a spell of this
violent whooping cough, the face becomes livid or blue, the finger nails
become discolored, the eyes are turned up, the child coughs until it loses
its breath, and then lies in a state of insensibility for a long time until
she fears the child will never breathe again, but with a violent spasmodic
action in its breathing, the child from shortest breaths comes to itself
again just as if brought back to life. You have here all the violent
features of whooping cough and a bad case. In addition to what the mother
says you may also observe a few things, but the whole make-up of such a
case, its whole nature, shows that it is a Cuprum whooping cough. If the
mother can get there quickly enough with a little cold water she will stop
the cough. Cold water especially will relieve the spasm, and so the mother
soon gets into the habit of hurrying for a glass of cold water, and the
child also knows, if it has tried it once, that a glass of cold water will
relieve it. Whenever the respiratory organs are affected there is dreadful
spasmodic breathing, dyspnoea. There is also great rattling in the chest.
The more dyspnoea there is the more likely his thumbs will be clenched and
the fingers cramped.
PAGE 579
In the lower part of the chest, in the region of the xiphoid appendix,
there is a spasmodic condition that is very troublesome. It seems to be at
times a constriction so severe that he thinks he will die, and at others a
feeling as if he were transfixed with a knife from the xiphoid appendix to
the back. Some say it feels as if a lump were in that region and others as
if much wind were collected in the stomach. It destroys the fullness of the
voice, and it seems as if his very life would be squeezed out. Sometimes
then it takes the form of colic and sometimes of neuralgia. If you examine
that extreme tightness you will see at once how the voice is affected. You
will be called to the bed-side and find the patient sitting up in bed; he
tells you in a cracked and squeaking voice that he will soon die if he is
not relieved; his face is a picture of fear and anguish; he really looks as
if he were going to die; the sensation is dreadful. Cuprum speedily cures
this complaint. This constriction and dyspnoea occur sometimes in cholera
morbus and in painful menstruation. Spasms of the chest are also accompanied
by this constriction and a nervous spasmodic breathing. He is not able to
take a full breath.
The Cuprum patient is full of cramps. There are cramps in the limbs and in
the muscles of the chest, with trembling and weakness. In old age, and in
premature old age, it is useful for those cramps that come in the calves,
the soles of the feet, and the toes and fingers at night in bed. In
debilitated, nervous, tremulous old people, Cuprum serves a peculiar
purpose. When an old man, who has been single a long time, marries, his
cramps will sometimes prevent him performing the act of coition. He has
cramps in the calves and soles as soon as he begins the act. Cuprum is the
remedy. It is especially suitable to young men who have become prematurely
old from vices, from strong drink, from late nights and various abuses, and
these cramps are not unlikely to occur in such subjects. Cuprum and
Graphites are the two remedies for cramps coming on under these
circumstances, but whereas Cuprum is said to produce cramps that prevent the
act, Graphites is said to bring on the cramps during the act. The two
remedies however compete closely with each other, and hence if Graphites
corresponds to the constitution of the patient, it should be given, and the
same in regard to Cuprum. Sulphur also has cured this state.
In spasmodic conditions that come on during menstruation Cuprum is also
useful. Painful menstruation with spasms commencing in the fingers and
extending over the body. Tonic contractions that look like hysterical
manifestations. They may be hysterical, but that does not interfere with
Cuprum curing, if they are only spasmodic or convulsive. Violent
dysmenorrhoea with delirium, turning up of the eyes, contortions of the face
and epileptiform manifestations.
PAGE 580
In epilepsy calling for Cuprum we have the contractions and jerkings of the
fingers and toes. He falls with a shriek and during the attack passes his
urine and faeces. It is indicated in epilepsies that begin with a violent
constriction in the lower part of the chest such as I have described, or
with the contractions in the fingers that spread all over the body, to all
the muscles.
Again, it is a remedy sometimes needed in the puerperal state before or
after delivery. The case may be of uraemic character, but no matter; the
urine is scanty and albuminous. During the progress of the labor the patient
suddenly becomes blind. All light seems to her to disappear from the room,
the labor pains cease, and convulsions come on, commencing in the fingers
and toes. When you meet these cases do not forget Cuprum. You will look
around a long time before you can cure a case of this kind without Cuprum.
In cholera morbus with gushing, watery stools and copious vomiting, the
stomach and bowels are emptied of their contents. The patient is fairly
emptied out, becomes blue all over, the extremities are cold, there is
jerking of the muscles, cramping of the extremities and of the fingers and
toes, spasms of the chest; he is cold, mottled, blue in blotches, going into
collapse; the finger nails and toe nails and the hands and feet are blue.
There are several remedies that look like Cuprum in such a condition. In
cholera we would naturally hunt for such remedies as produce cholera-like
discharges, more or less spasmodic conditions, the great blueness, coldness,
sinking and collapse. We would here refer to Hahnemann's observation.
Hahnemann had not seen a case of cholera, but when he was written to for
information, he replied that the disease produced appearances resembling the
symptoms of Cuprum, Camphor and Veratrum album. He saw from the description
of the disease that the general aspect of cholera was like the general
aspect of Cuprum, Camphor and Veratrum, and these three remedies are the
typical cholera remedies. They all have the general features of cholera, its
nature and general aspect. They all have the exhaustive vomiting and
diarrhoea, the coldness, the tendency to collapse, the sinking from the
emptying out of the fluids of the body, and the question naturally arises,
which one will we select?
PAGE 581
From what I have said you will see that the Cuprum case is, above all
others, the spasmodic case. It has the most intense spasms, and the spasms
being the leading feature, they overshadow all the other symptoms of the
case. He is full of cramps and is compelled to cry out and shriek with the
pain from the contractions of the muscles. Camphor is the coldest of all the
three remedies; the Camphor patient is cold as death. Camphor has the
blueness, the exhaustive discharges, though less than Cuprum and Veratrum;
but whereas in the latter two remedies the patient is willing to be covered
up, in Camphor he wants the windows open and wants to be cold. Though he is
as cold as death he wants to be uncovered and to have the windows open. But
just here let me mention another feature in Camphor. It also has some
convulsions which are painful, and when the pain is on he wants to be
covered up and wants the windows shut. If there are cramps in the bowels
with the pain, he wants to be covered up. So that in Camphor, during all of
its complaints in febrile conditions (and fever is very rare in Camphor),
and during the pains he wants to be covered up and to be kept warm, but
during the coldness he wants to be uncovered and have the air. In cholera,
then, the extreme coldness and blueness point to Camphor. Again, with
Camphor there are often scanty as well as copious discharges, so that the
cholera patient is often taken down so suddenly that he has the coldness,
blueness and exhaustion and almost no vomiting or diarrhoea, a condition
called dry cholera. It simply means an uncommonly small amount of vomiting
and diarrhoea. This also is Camphor. Another prominent feature is the great
coldness of the body without the usual sweat that belongs to the disease.
Cuprum and Veratrum have the cold clammy sweat, and Camphor also has sweat,
but more commonly the patient needing Camphor is very cold, blue and dry and
wants to be uncovered. That is striking. Now we go to Veratrum and see that
we can have three remedies very much alike, and so perfectly adapted to
cholera and yet so different. Veratrum is peculiar because of its copious
exhaustive discharges, copious sweat, copious discharges from the bowels,
copious vomiting, and great coldness of the sweat. There is some cramping
and he wants to be warm; he is ameliorated by hot drinks, and by the
application of hot bottles and hot plates which relieve the pain and
suffering.
PAGE 582
These three remedies tend downward into collapse and death. Now to repeat:
Cuprum for the cases of a convulsive character, Camphor in cases
characterized by extreme coldness and more or less dryness, and Veratrum
when the copious sweat, vomiting and purging are the features. That is a
little to remember, but with that you can enter an epidemic of cholera and
feel at home.
In cholera-like states there are other remedies which relate to Cuprum and
which ought to be considered. Podophyllum has cramps, mainly in the bowels.
It has a painless, gushing diarrhoea with vomiting as well, and hence it has
a wonderful operation in cholera morbus.
The cramps in Podophyllum are violent, they feel to him as if the
intestines were being tied in knots. The watery stool is yellow, and, if
examined a little while after, it looks as if corn meal had been stirred in
it. The odor is dreadful, smelling only like a Podophyllum stool. If you say
it smells like stinking meat that only partly describes it; it is not quite
cadaveric but it is horribly offensive and penetrating. The stool is
gushing, copious and is accompanied by dreadful exhaustion. "It is a wonder
where it can all come from," says the mother, speaking of the exhausting
diarrhoea in an infant or in a child. The stool runs away gushingly, in
prolonged squirts, with a sensation of emptiness, sinking, deathly goneness
in the whole abdomen. Phosphorus also ought to be thought of in relation to
Cuprum. It has also cramps in the bowels, exhaustive diarrhoea, sinking as
if dying, but commonly with heat of the skin, with burning internally, with
gurgling of all the fluids taken into the stomach; as soon as they come to
the stomach they commence to gurgle, and gurgle all the way through the
bowels. A drink of water seems to flow through the bowel with a gurgle. Now
this gurgling in Cuprum commences at the throat; he swallows with a gurgle;
gurgling in the oesophagus when swallowing.
You will do well to go to the Cuprum text, as full a text as you have
access to, and find all the complaints that Cuprum has cured, while it is
fresh in your memory, with the guide that you have received.