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| Index to Boger's Lesser Writings | Index to Historical Archives | ||||
China-- C. M. Boger |
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| First noticed, I believe, by English observers while administering muriate of quinine to children. Pains are of an intense neuralgic character, with great irritation of the nervous system. The least draught chills, and every jar or hard step hurts, noticed most frequently in headaches, gout, rheumatism, hepatitis, peritonitis, etc. Distensive sensations and pains in cavities, as the head, stomach, marrow of bones, teeth, etc., generally described by the patient as hurting pains; if he has a headache, the skull seems ready to burst; if indigestion troubles him, the least food fills him with gas unto bursting, which no amount of belching relieves, however—the more he belches the better the headache is. During malarial paroxysms, the marrow aches and threatens to burst through the bones; bursting toothache is characteristic, just like Thuja. Both remedies also have ailments from tea drinking. These symptoms do not, however, as might be supposed, point to active inflammatory states, but rather to relaxed, anaemic, underfed tissues. China has destroyed the oxygen carriers of the blood, hence the patient has a sallow, yellowish colour, is thin and weak, although false plethora, hydraemia and dropsy are also frequent results. The whole process points to suboxidation, and its consequent retention in the system of incompletely oxidised products, hence, through irritation, hypersensitiveness of the entire nervous system results. "Suppressed coryza, headache results," is the way one of the typical symptoms reads. Hence we see the central symptoms more when discharges fail to appear, become scanty, or stop; nevertheless profuse discharges and their consequences characterize the remedy; menses, stool, semen, expectoration, haemorrhages, suppurations, eructations, all very copious and inducing great weakness. Now you can see what a miserable fellow this China patient is; his head or bones ache intolerably unless relieved by a nasal discharge, eructations, a loose stool, or a profuse sweat, and these, in turn, quickly debilitate him greatly. To this category belong the drenching sweats of the China type of intermittent fever, hectic, phthisis, or climacteric symptoms, etc. During these perspirations, so sensitive is the patient that he dare not uncover, for fear of being chilled, but, if respiratory symptoms are present, he wants to be fanned, wants more oxygen; the tissues are crying, Oxygen! Oxygen! These drenching sweats resemble those of Amyl nit. and Tilia-europ. in their copiousness. Shortly after the introduction of cinchona bark into Europe, it was greatly vaunted as a remedy in pulmonary consumption, and, doubtless, cured a few cases when given early enough to patients happening to have the above combination of symptoms, but, failing to prove a universal specific, and thus aid some of the allopaths in reducing the practice of medicine to an old woman's art, it was soon cast aside as worthless. lt has sometimes seemed to me that our greatest mine of investigation lies in the discarded drug file of the allopathic school. Periodicity marks the action of China. Complaints at once take on a recurring type, the same symptoms move characteristically, al-though not exclusively, in cycles of forty-eight hours, diseases moving in and repeating definitely succeeding stages, keeping up this vicious circle indefinitely, though a malarious base may not be demonstrable. We now know that the formation of gall stones around a central nidus is at least superinduced by an obstructive gall bladder and duct catarrh, an extension of a similar gastro-duodenal process, which often stands as an expression of a general catarrhal dyscrasia, being a manifestation of psora developed by malaria or abuse of quinine or both. Here we see the reason why China is so frequently homoeopathic to this disease and has won its greatest laurels in the type in which from absorption we have also aguelike attacks. The following case will illustrate the tendency of malaria to manifest itself in catarrhal symptoms in a psoric constitution: CLINICAL CASE Mrs. E. C., aged 28, had malaria three years ago, for which she took quinine. Asthma developed about Christmas, '97. Last winter persistent colds and a cough appeared. What was coming can easily be seen by anyone here present. The asthmatic attacks were most frequent at midnight or from 1 to 2 a. m., aggravated by exertion, walking fast, being overheated, getting cold, or taking stimulants, better by even a little expectoration or fresh air. With each attack there was itching under chin and coldness between the scapula; lately coughs more and wheezes less; cough provoked by accumulation of phlegm in larynx and trachea; expectoration white, frothy, tasteless; bad taste in morning; hunger after meals; dull, heavy pain in vertex when in hot sun; very sleepy; menses too long. Aug. 19th, '98—China, 20 m; I dose. Nov. 17th, '98—China, 20 m; I dose. June 8th; '99—Sends word she has been well since last medicine, except that lately a profuse nasal catarrh has appeared. As will be seen, the prescription was largely based on the anamnesis, with amelioration from expectoration, however scanty, and, interscapular coldness, which symptom may, however, have been an effect of quinine. Aggravation from motion is common to asthma, and, therefore, does not enter as a factor in the choice. Amelioration from motion has been reported in a case cured by the late Dr. Ehrman of Cincinnati. The remedy was Lobelia. Another cure with this modality by Rhus tox. has also lately been reported. DISCUSSION Dr. J. H. Allen: I believe the word China means bark. The Spanish, who first got it from Peru during their conquest in South America, called it china-china, bark of barks, hence we get the name. I remember a case in which China gave great relief, and that was a case of confinement, a case of labour an apparently strong, healthy muscular patient, as those China patients are, and they call for China from the excesses, loss of fluids, and such things as that. She was fanning herself. I looked for Carbo veg. symptoms, but her breath was perfectly sweet, but she desired to be fanned very much; she even snatched the fan from the hands of the attendant and fanned herself at each pain. Then, after the pain, she would relax the whole system and be unable to move or speak. Of course, after labour was over, all of this desiring to be fanned disappeared. I believe Carbo veg. patients desire to be fanned easily. If you fan the Carbo veg. patients too violently they lost their breath entirely. Dr. Stowe: Isn't that also true of Lachesis? Dr. J. H. Allen: Yes, I think so. |
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