A lady, aged eighty-seven, had diarrhœa, which was soon relieved; then I found her heart acted badly, about every third beat omitted, and she said it had been so for a year or more. I gave her Phaseolus, and two days later her pulse was all right.
Dr. Brown, of Springfield, reported a case of a young man that only once in two weeks did he get his pulse up to sixty, ranging from fifty to fifty-five the two weeks. He gave Phaseolus 6, which I furnished him, and the next forenoon his pulse was seventy-two and remained so.
I will report only one more case, treated with this remedy, one which I think very interesting.
A lady physician, aged thirty, married, no children, never has been sick except with childhood diseases. Two years ago had considerable mental trouble and rode a bicycle a good deal. Since that time, two years ago, five times each minute, or about that, her heart would give one hard unpleasant throb, then omit one beat, this in the day time, but much worse at night, preventing sleep. Being in somewhat of a hurry, I did not examine the heart, thinking there would be a plenty of time later, but gave her Phaseolus, the 10th I think. Thirty-six hours later the heart would beat one hundred consecutive times without the slightest variation, and it continued to improve, although after taking the medicine thirty-six hours she was obliged to desist on account of a severe headache. She is never subject to headaches, but it was so bad she dared not take any more of the medicine. It was as if something was pressing hard against each temple, much worse soon after taking each dose of the medicine. This headache led me to fear that the death I mentioned might have been hastened by the medicine.
A medical conundrum. A lady, aged about thirty, decided she would investigate the next world to see if she could enjoy it better than this, and called in the aid of morphine to help her along. Not being in the habit of taking morphine, to disguise the bitter of it, placed a tablet of morphine in the middle of a baked bean and swallowed it whole. She took her little dose in the evening, having eaten nothing since noon, and went to sleep. At seven in the morning she awoke and was surprised to find herself in this world. When asked if she would get up, replied, no, she would sleep a little longer. At eleven a.m. she awoke and tried to get up, but could not walk, so crawled to the door and opened it to let in fresh air. A servant found her there, and at her request handed her the camphor bottle, and she took a little. Dr. Rowe was called and said she vomited a little mucus, some dark specks that looked like blood, and a small piece of lettuce she ate the noon before. She had taken twelve and one-half grains of morphine. Did the lettuce antidote it? Did the bean destroy its power? Why did it not kill her?
POTHOS.
Nat. Ord., Araceæ.
Common Name, Skunk Cabbage.
Preparation.—The fresh root gathered in spring is macerated in twice its weight of alcohol.
(Contributed by Dr. S. A. Jones to the Homœopathic Recorder, 1889.)