In the following case, Mrs. Ford, eighty-one years of age, has been my patient several times during the last four years. She suffered from erysipelas and dropsy in the legs. In September I was again called in for the same old trouble; the usual remedies were effectual. In October she caught cold, and had also a bad fall; her symptoms were those of pneumonia, fever, delirium and cough, pain in chest and hard work to breathe, blueness of lips, tongue and cheeks, cold extremities and was very low in appetite, and appeared to be sinking. Pulse, fifty; temperature, ninety, and to all human appearance was rapidly dying; all said so, and I fully believed so, but left Heloderma horridus, one powder in water, and ordered her tongue to be moistened with a feather dipped in this every half hour. I did not call the next day until evening. I was waiting to be notified of her death, but no such notice coming called to see, and, to my surprise, found everything changed. I then gave Helo. hor. 200, every four hours, with placebos. All the bad symptoms gradually disappeared, breathing became natural, heart gained strength, pulse increased to seventy, temperature to ninety-eight and appetite became better, asking frequently for food. This continued so long as she was taking this medicine. She was so well that I ceased to attend, she having no aches or pains, was eating and sleeping well, bowels moved regularly and night watching was given up. All who saw the recovery were pleasingly surprised, and so was I, and have frequently asked myself could anything else have done this. Lachesis has changed a slate colored tongue, and has aroused those who appeared to be dying for a short time, but to extend the life of one as good as dead for thirty days is a triumph for the Helo. hor.
(To the foregoing we may add that some have thought that the proving was too sensational, but other evidence that has not appeared in print leads to the conclusion that it is essentially true, and that the proving was made by one peculiarly susceptible to the remedy. We know of one gentleman who laughed at it and in bravado took a number of doses during an afternoon. He felt no immediate effects, but during the night awoke with some very peculiar feelings that he could attribute to nothing but the Heloderma, and they were of such a character that he refused to take any more. It would be well to use the remedy with caution until the practitioner has gauged its powers.)
(Dr. Charles E. Johnson wrote as follows to Dr. Boocock concerning the remedy):
"I have had under treatment a case that has been pronounced incurable by many physicians. She has had most of the symptoms developed in your proving, that awful coldness being most pronounced. She has had two doses of the 200th. I learn through a neighbor that she is delighted with the result of the last medicine. The coldness has nearly disappeared, leaving a comfortable glow upon the body. She tells her neighbors this without having been informed by me what results I expected from the medicine."
(Dr. Erastus E. Case contributed the following detailed clinical case to the Medical Advance, July, 1897):
An auburn haired woman, 55 years of age, had numbness in the feet two years ago. It has gradually extended upward until it now includes the lower part of the abdomen.
Tingling, creeping sensation on the legs as if from insects.
Worse when lying in bed at night.
Worse from exposure to cold air.
Worse from touch; she cannot endure to place her bare feet together.