Hydrobromicum acidum

Prussic Acid. HCN. One measure of the dilute acid of B.P. to two measures of rectified spirit makes the ist centesimal dilution ; rectified spirit for all above.

Clinical

ilif'fM pectoris. Asthma, Cholera Asiatica. Colic (horses). Con'* visions. Dyspepsia. Epilepsy. Hemiplegia. Hiccough, Labour convulses in. Stings, Stomach, catarrh of. Sunstoke. Tetanus, Uraemic convulsiQiis. Whooping-cough.

Characteristics

The pathogenesis of Cyan, ac. is mainly composed of symptoms observed in poisoning cases and clinically verified, but it has also been proved by Joerg and his pupils. Hen, is one of the deadliest and most rapidly acting of poisons. Hence its applicability in cases of critical intensity, such as the collapse stage of cholera, when it supervenes on sudden cessation of all discharges ; convulsions during severe attacks of illness. It acts powerfully on the coeliac ganglia, causing intestinal cramps and colics. Convulsions and paralysis are the leading notes of the medicine's action. In the convulsions the body is stained and thrown back ; cramp in nape of neck is very characteristic ; breathing comes in paroxysms ; jaws set ; foaming at mouth ; face flushed, bluish tint A. H. Croucher cured a boy, 3. of convulsions. First attack occurred six months previously. His fatner's sister had died of epilepsy. Before the fits came on he could walk well, but could not afterwards. The fits occurred at intervals of about three weeks when a succession of them occurred, each lasting about five minutes, during two or three days. During the intervals between the fits he would generally scream. In the morning on awaking, patient cried out, then convulsions occurred ; body and limbs convulsed, eyelids twitched but remained open, eyeballs turned up and to right Seemed quite unconscious. Hen. 2x, one drop three times a day, increased afterwards to two drops and continued for a fortnight. No more convulsions, but three months later a rash developed all over him. — The characteristic blue tint of Hen, is apparent after death in some poisoning cases : livid spots on limbs ; nails violet. In one case there was a brilliant violent hue all over. The tetanic spasm of Hen. is persistent and tonic, and has none of the reflex excitability of the Nux state. Hen. acts most powerfully on the muscles of face, jaws, and back ; the risus sardonicus is pronounced ; Lividity ; frothing. It acts on the medulla and through the vagus nerve on heart and respiration. The breathing is irregular and gasping. The heart is greatly disturbed ; blueness and coldness of surface ; pulse feeble, imperceptible. The patient clutches at the heart as if in distress. The prostration of Hon. is profound : drinks roll audibly into the stomach. It cured a boy of four of fever who had this symptom : ' when swallowing a teaspoonful of liquid it sounds like water rolling into an empty barrel." Paralysis attacks first the lower, then the upper limbs. A dry tearing cough < at night is among the symptoms of Hen, ; and it relieves a similar cough often met with in consumptives. For it must not be imagined that the remedy is only of use in desperate cases of acute illness ; it answers to its minute individual symptoms just as truly as does Camph. but it is only those who know the drug in the higher as well as the lower attenuations who will be able to profit by a knowledge of these. ' Feels as if a cloud were going over his brain,'' is a symptom Cash removed with Hen. in a case of sunstroke. There is much disturbance of the digestion, which is < after eating. The headache is < at night and the vertigo < in the open air. Coldness is a great feature with the remedy, marble coldness within and without Blue tinge of the skin is also characteristic.

Relations p. 927

The closest analogues are Camph., Lauro., and Amygd. It i antidoted by : Camph,, Coff., Ipec, Nux, Op., Ver. Compare : Camph. (cholera, coldness) ; Helod. (coldness) ; Cicut. (spinal cord ; crania in nape) ; Con. (paralysis reading from below upward) ; CEnanth. (epilepsy) ; Lauro. (dry riding cough ; Lanro. has also a con with jelly-like sputa dotted with bloody points) ; Lach. ; Tabac (asphyxia) ; Hell, Solania (paralysis of lungs and heart) ; Nux (tetanus, but (k different type).

Mind p. 928

Depression ; discouragement— Anguish and oppression ; anguish in the pit of the stomach ; fear of imaginary ills.— Very great irntabihty ; sadness ; peevish temper ; incapacity for labour. — Inability to think ; memory enfeebled; aversion to all menbd fatigue. — Could not remain in middle of road when a vehicle approached even at a considerable distance ; was forced, as it were, against his will, to stand aside without waiting for it to come nearer (after recovery from poisoning).

Head p. 928

Head confused and weighty ; giddiness with sinking of the body ; giddiness, sometimes with a feeling as of intoxication. — Dulness of the senses, sometimes with apparent wavering of objects, and of a veil before the eyes, with difficulty to stand on rising from a stooping or sitting posture ; symptoms < in the open air. — Vertigo, sometimes with staggering, the patient feels as though something moved in the air and drew him along with it, or else as if everything revolved about him. — Feels as if a cloud were going over his brain (cured in a case of sunstroke). — Cephalalgia with vertigo ; stunning cephalalgia, dull pain in the forehead, binning at the temples. — Head heavy and stupid. — Headache, only at night — Pressive cephalalgia in the forehead, or else at the occiput to the l. towards the forehead. — Violent headache in sinciput and occiput, from vertex to forehead and orbits of the eyes ; in the side of the head (r. or 1.) esp. in vertex and forehead ; at different parts of the head. — Tension in frontal region.— Shootings in the head, sometimes in one place, sometimes in another.

Eyes p. 928

Eyes half open; reversed; protruding from the head; immoveable ; difficulty to move the eyeballs. — Pupils dilated and immoveable ; insensible to light. — Eyelids wide open, immoveable, as if paralysed ; spasmodic quivering in the upper eyelids. — Dimness of sit ; cloudiness and mist (gauze) before the eyes ; amaurotic blindness.

Ears p. 928

Aching in the interior of both ears ; sometimes with roaring (buzzing) and ringing. — Hardness of hearing.

Nose p. 928

Smarting in the upper part of nostrils. — Dilation of the ate nasi, which have a bluish tint. — Dryness of the nose.

Face p. 928

Puffing of the face ; oval visage ; visage wears a look of age ; pale and bluish ; complexion earthy and grey. — Expression of beatitude in the countenance. — Contortion of comers of mouth ; trismus ; frightful contraction of the facial muscles.

Mouth p. 928

Dryness of mouth.— Augmented secretion of saliva.— Tongue coated, sometimes white, afterwards dark and dingy ; contraction at the root ; sensation of coldness on the tongue ; burning at the tip of the tongue ; paralysis and stiffness of the tongue, which often protrudes from the mouth ; loss of speech. — Pains in the palate ; inflammation of the palate. Q. Throat. — Spasms in the back part of the throat, and the oesophagus. insensibility to external influences ; disappearance of all pain ; insensibility ; loss of consciousness ; wandering of the senses ; shivering and lassitude.

Skin p. 930

Itching in various places, esp. between the chin and lips. — Small red pustules on hip ; burning itching vesicles on upper extremities, and neck. — Dryness of the skin. — General pallor with a bluish tint — Varicose ulcers on legs.

Sleep p. 930

Frequent yawning, sometimes with shuddering and spasm of the skin. — Drowsiness, sometimes uncontrollable, or else after a meal; heavy sleep in the morning ; continued inclination to sleep ; coma vigil ; somnolency. — Wakefulness ; to sleep is difficult, almost impossible ; frequent awakening. — Lively dreams, without connection ; anxious, disquieting dreams, dreams of death. 97. Fever.~<hilliness ; frequent shudderings, esp. after midnight or in the morning ; shivering, with yawning or with thirst— Coldness of the limbs ; sensation of cold internally and externally. — Coldness within and without— Fever, shivering, afterwards burning heat ; heat in the head, with coldness of the extremities, heat and sweat over the whole body, in the afternoon ; general febrile agitation, with intense excitement; heat, at intervals, and irregular motion of the heart — During the shivering, giddiness and vertigo ; during the shudderings, mist before the sight.