Vermeulen Synoptic 2\Venus mercenariaVenus MERCENARIA
Ven-m.
Venus mercenaria. Mercenaria mercenaria. Quahog.
Edible clam of the North American Atlantic coast, also known as round clam.
The species also occurs on the south coast of England and the French coast.
Both countries have a successful clam industry.
Clams are closely related to oyster, scallop and mussel. Clams are a family of double-valved invertebrates distributed over the seas of the whole world.
The family has around 500 species, is mainly common in tropical waters and stands out because of its sometimes beautifully shaped and coloured shells.
The colour pattern often consists of a combination of the letter V
upside-down. Clams dig themselves into the sea bed. They feed on plankton.
The clam changes its sex in the course of its life; it begins as a male and then becomes female. This unusual form of hermaphroditism enables seed cells to first be produced and then eggs, although some species produce male and female reproductive products the whole year round. The clam deposits these reproductive products in the water on the basis of changes in the water temperature [particularly when it increases]. The clam is a good digger, and first feels the sea bed with its foot to test it. If it is suitable, it anchors itself and pulls its shell behind it under the sand.
"The soft body of the clam is enclosed within two thick shells composed mainly of calcium carbonate. These shells, which can be as large as a human hand, are hinged by a ligamentous joint along the back. There are few differences between the clam and the oyster. Both live and grow in similar natural surroundings, clams growing and propagating well in old oyster beds.
The oyster is, however, more sedentary, attaching itself to a rock or lying on the sand for its whole life. It does not dig in like a clam, as it has not developed a hatchet foot." [Raeside]
Mussels and clams may ingest a poisonous dinoflagellate [red tide] from June to October that produces a toxin not destroyed by cooking. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps, and death can occur as a result of respiratory failure.
"Dr. Poppelbaum in his book A New Zoology described the molluscs as head animals. They have no middle organisation with its metameric repetition, but everything is irregularly packed up and wrapped together like the intestines in the human abdomen, where asymmetry and twist prevail. The mollusc muscles all are smooth like intestinal muscle, and their movements are slow and unconscious. The bivalve, he says, is like a brain and brain case or skull, with the sensory appendages reduced. These animals have no separate head, because as a whole they are head." [Raeside]
Clams are not to be confused with the scallop genus of molluscs. One member of this genus is Pecten jacobaeus, which Clarke has briefly described. The scallop is both the emblem of Spanish pilgrims and a well-known brand of petrol. Julian's description is confusing. As a synonym to Venus mercenaria, he cites the name 'comb of America.' This suggests a scallop, since they are shaped like a comb or cape. The habitat that he then describes, however, is not correct. Pecten jacobaeus is found in the Mediterranean Sea, while the habitat of Venus mercenaria is exactly the same.
Proved by Raeside in 1961-62 on 19 subjects [9 men, 10 women]. Julian's description includes a case [Dictionary of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, p.
332-333].
Lycopodium. Natrum muriaticum. Causticum. Lachesis. Thuja. Ferrum.
Hydrogenium.
Head. Gastrointestinal tract. Urogenitals. * Right side.
MIrritability.
agg Noise; company.
MFeeling as if separated from the world.
"During headache feels as if 'not wanted'."
MDreams: spiders; violence with deadly consequences; death; disease.
GRight-sided complaints [head; throat; kidney; knee].
GFeels cold all over, esp. the limbs.
Very chilly from 3-5 p.m.
GDesire for cold food.
GThirst for cold drinks.
Gagg Night [digestive symptoms].
Gamel Motion [pains in limbs].
GSensation of coldness [mouth; throat].
GBody feels bruised when pressed on any part. [comp. Bad.]
PHeadache; right side [forehead, behind eye; occiput].
Sensation as if head were very tightly bound.
agg Early morning; afternoon; motion.
amel Sitting still in dark room; late evening.
+ Vertigo; nausea; vomiting.
PDull, heavy frontal headache.
agg Waking; afternoon.
+ Nausea, vertigo, and difficulty in thinking.
Heavy sensation; as if blood were rising to head.
+ itching of scalp.
PPressing pain in stomach with nausea.
amel Eating.
Food has a metallic taste.
PUrine turbid, frothy and offensive.
PDysmenorrhoea; esp. the first 2 or 3 days.
amel Heat; lying down.
+ Sadness [first day].
PBilious attacks.
"When there is no keynote to indicate a particular remedy [in bilious attacks] I prescribe Venus mercenaria and always obtain very good results. I
prescribe it for a group of symptoms; periodic headache with vertigo, nausea, sometimes vomiting, pain in the right hypochondrium, constipation, etc. Venus presents some perculiar symptoms but they are not constant. The two particular symptoms I have found occurring with a little more frequency are: sensitive to smells, all smells, and emotion felt in the right hypochondrium." [Hui Bon Hoa, BHJ 1965 nr. 1]
Mind: Delusion of being separated from the world [1]. Irritability from noise [1]. Weeping at trifles [1].
Female: Painful menses amel lying [1]; amel warmth [1].
GENERALITIES: Faintness, forenoon, 10 a.m. [1/1]. Inflammation of joints [1].
Food
Desire: Cold drinks [1]; cold food [1].
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