By G.W. Harvey, M.D., Pittville, Cal.
This remedy comes more and more into my daily practice as time goes by, and I have learned to prize it highly in many cases aside from sexual ailments. I recently cured a man of pruritns an who had tried all sorts of sure cures for blind, bleeding and Itching piles without more than temporary relief, with Phosphorus. In this case there was constant moisture of the parts, evidently a weeping of the prostate gland into the rectum, as the odor, so the patient informed me, was always one of smegma stead of farces as he thought it ought to be. Five drops of Phosphorus in alcohol enough to moisten a dram vial of No. 35 blank sugar pellets, and five of these three times a day, cured him to stay cured, so he says.
Another cure was one of bleeding gums, where there had been a history of scorbutic taint. There was present also not a little pyorrhea alveolus, but the Phosphorus cured the bleeding perfectly and very materially benefited the pyorrhea.
I have had many cases of haemoptysis and nose bleed, where there were small amounts of blood discharged at frequent intervals that were perfectly cured by small doses of Phosphorus. In uterine hemorrhage of passive type where the patient is anemic and of pale, sickly color of skin, Phosphorus will very materially benefit her and help toward a perfect recovery.
In nausea and vomiting, where Ipecac nor Nux seem to be indicated, Phosphorus will generally do the work and do it well. As a prophylactic measure in chloroform anesthesia I give Phosphorus gtt. 1, aqua deist q.s. to four ounces, and one teaspoonful of the mixture before giving the chloroform. This generally prevents the terrible nausea and vomiting that so often follows this necessary procedure.
In cirrhosis of the liver from alcoholism, Phosphorus is a sheet anchor. It controls the fearful vomiting that often attends this disease and promotes the resolution of the diseased gland quite rapidly, but I generally combine it with Chionanfhus and Lycopodium to hasten results.
Some months ago I was called to attend a lady of forty odd summers who evidently was a victim of gall stone colic, but in addition to this she also had “Jiminy fits,” as she called them with severe uterine hemorrhage and passage of polypi every three or four months. Dioscorea, Nux and Chionanthus would give relief, but that was all. I finally gave small doses of Phosphorus for the hemorrhagic condition, and you may imagine my surprise to learn that I had cured the whole collection of ills, polypi, hemorrhages, “Jiminy fits,” and what made the patient feel most good over, the terrible colic that had troubled her years without any material relief. Phosphorus with cure many cases of chronic hoarseness where there is no acute inflammation.
Phosphorus will often relieve and sure that terrible itching and biting in the skin, following jaundice. It will also cute the purple hemorrhage spots on the hands, following wrongs on the liver. Phosphorus is a fine auxiliary remedy with Bryonia and Ipecac, in pneumonia with rusty sputum following hepatization tissue.
