Malaria Officinalis malar.

[In the summer of 1862 G. W. Bowen, of Indiana, allowed vegetable matter to decompose in water in glass jars, for one week (No. I.), two weeks (No. II.), and three weeks (No. III.). At each stage provings were made by inhaling the gases given off. Later some drops were taken internally. For curative purposes a tincture was made by adding ten drops of the No. II. (in which the fibre was not altogether decomposed) to ninety drops of alcohol. Bowen's cases were all treated with this. Boericke and Tafel made a 30th tincture of this and Yingling inhaled it. This resulted in his proving. Later Yingling obtained from B. and T. the 30th attenuation of No. III. (in which decomposition of the fibre is complete), and had this run up into the higher attenuations. These were used in his clinical experiences.]

Ague. Bilious fever. Camp fever. Constipation. Consumption. Diarrhœa. Fever. Gout. Hay-fever. Liver, affections of. Malaria. Malaria cachexia. Neuralgia. Rheumatism. Spleen, affections of.

Living in a malarial region, Bowen hit upon the idea of finding remedies for the prevalent malarial complaints he had to deal with by producing experimental malaria and finding antidotes thereto. He hired persons to inhale the gases from jars containing vegetable matter in various stages of decomposition. In the first stage the odour was not very offensive. The effects were: "Headache, nausea, distress in stomach, tongue coated white." These developed in from one to two hours after inhaling, and lasted two or three days. In the second stage the effects do not come on until from twelve to twenty-four hours. Then there were: "Fearful headache, nausea, aversion to food, distress through hypochondriac region, first in the spleen, then liver and stomach, and on the third day the chills." Then antidotes had to be resorted to. No. III., which was "fetid to a fearful degree," produced no result except nausea within three or four days. Then came, first, extreme lassitude, continued fever, pains and aches impeding locomotion. When taken internally the results were more severe. No. I caused: Bilious colic, nausea, cramps, diarrhœa, and headache. No. II.: Liver, spleen, kidney and stomach involvement; daily or tertian intermittents with rigors. No. III. set up a typhoid state or semi-paralytic state, and compelled the provers to take to their beds ( New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies , in which the chief papers on this remedy will be found collected. — I have added later experiences from recent numbers of H. R ). George Herring has recalled an observation by Casanova that malaria antidotes phthisis, and Herring relates an experience of his own in a converse sense. On board a Liverpool steamer he put into Aspinwall on the swampy isthmus of Panama for nine days. On the ship's return several of the sailors were prostrated with Panama fever, whilst Herring, who had formerly suffered from tubercular disease of the lungs, remained unaffected. From which it would seem that a consumptive habit may be antidotal to malaria. Bowen gave to a lady, apparently in the last stage of consumption, herself the last survivor of five, all the rest having died of the same disease as well as several in the preceding generation, a dose from the watery solution of No. II. On the fifth day she had a fairly perceptible chill, and a harder one the sixth and seventh days. Antidotes were here called into requisition, but when cured of her malaria she was also cured of her consumption. Bowen relates these cases: ( 1 ) Mrs. R., 45, weighing 245 pounds, could scarcely walk for two years from rheumatism in back and limbs. Malar . 1x, ten pilules three or four times a day. In one week all rheumatism and lameness gone. ( 2 ) Mr. S., foreman in a large saw mills, his work involving frequent wettings, had rheumatism of malarial nature, < by Quinine and external applications. Malar . 1x. In three days he was better, and soon got quite well of his pain and improved greatly in general health. ( 3 ) I. S., 55, veteran and pensioner. Bronzed in colour. Unable to walk for years. There were heart, chest, and hæmorrhoidal troubles, which were remedied, but still he could not walk or get out of a chair. He said his back had been injured when in the army. Ruta and Rhus enabled him to get up one or two steps; but Bowen finally concluded that the complaint was really rheumatism of malarial origin. He gave Malar . 1x, ten pilules three or four times a day. In a week he rode to Bowen's house and walked up and down the flight of steps alone. In five more days he walked three miles in one morning. He put on flesh and seemed ten years younger. ( 4 ) Miss R., 20. Dull headaches, dizzy and drowsy at all times, < mornings. Eyes weak, blurring, reading difficult. Laryngeal irritation with cough and secretion of bloody mucus. Slow pulse. Right arm gets numb and has to be rubbed. Cold extremities; poor appetite but food does not distress her. Urine red, scanty. Bowels sluggish but stools natural. Menses regular, rather scanty. Very forgetful. Malar . 1x, ten pilules every three hours. Better in three days; in a week nearly well. A month later there was a slight defect of vision in left eye, inclined to be drowsy, somewhat forgetful, singing causes some irritation in the throat. Malar . was again given night and morning, and she became quite well ( H. R ., xv. 449.) With Malar . 2 Bowen cured a stout lady, 60, of very severe gout in both feet, preventing her standing without aid and keeping her awake at night ( H. R ., xv. 296). Yingling's cases cured with the potencies of Malar . III. are reported H. R ., xiii. 442. ( 1 ) A Kansas volunteer, 28, after a week in camp in rainy, chilly weather had chill and fever, continuous nausea, vomiting bile, retching. Tongue white, thick coat. Mouth feels dry but is moist. Thirst for large quantities. Symptoms were moderated by Ip ., and later Bry ., but not removed. Skin, eyes, and face very yellow. Malar . 1m. Improvement set in and in a week was in better health than usual. ( 2 ) Mrs. S. A. H., 63, shooting pains all over muscles; bones ache. Diarrhœa in morning; stools thin, yellow, foul. Bitter taste; parched mouth; tongue white. Stretching and gaping. Malar . 1m. cured quickly. In other cases the following symptoms were removed (each letter refers to a separate case): ( a ) Chilly with flushes of heat. Great desire for fresh air. Cannot breathe on account of pain in liver, < lying down, must jump up; > by hard pressure on liver. During day no trouble and no tenderness; raves, sings, and talks all night. ( b ) Ague every other day begins about noon. Weak and drowsy between attacks (has taken much Quinine ). ( c ) Drawing or pricking feeling in region of liver (left after the second dose). ( d ) Dumb chills. ( e ) When in open air seems cold and shakes inside till she fairly cramps. Aching under right scapula. Cramping in liver. ( f ) Dryness at root of tongue. ( g ) A constant hacking cough, half-minute guns, when talking and when turning over in bed. ( h ) Steady dull ache in liver region > after urinating. In the proving the symptoms were > by eating, and there was a great desire to stretch.

Malar. belongs to the same order of remedies as Pyrogen (product of decaying animal tissues). Bowen found the best antidotes to Malar.: Nux and Bry. for the effects of No. I.; Bry. and Ars. for No. II.; Rhus and Bry. for No. III. Eupat. perf. and Chi. gave negative results. Compare: Spleen, Cean. Liver, Bry., Lyc., Cholest., Chel. Pain under right scapula, Chel. Effect of damp and wetting, Lemn., Dulc. Half minute-gun cough, Coral, Coc. c. > After urinating, Lith., jamb. Intermittents, Ip., Cedr., Nat. m., Menyanth, &c.

Wetting. Camp life.

Feels stupid and sleepy. — (Very forgetful.)

Feeling as though he would become dizzy. — Waving dizziness on falling asleep. — Dizziness on rising from reclining position. — Dull aching through forehead. — (Dull headache, dizzy and drowsy.)

Aching above inner angle of r. eye. — Eyes feel heavy and sleepy. — (Eyes weak, blurring, reading difficult.)

Drawing pain in r. external ear.

A kind of concentration of feeling at root of nose and just above, as though I should have a severe cold like hay-fever.

Itching on r. cheek over malar bone (and various parts of face and limbs); > by slight rubbing or scratching. — Face becomes warm as if flushed; and spreads over body.

Pain in upper l. teeth. — Sensation on point of tongue as if a few specks of pepper were there. — Saliva more profuse than usual, keeps him swallowing often. — Had a good night's rest and felt better and brighter from that time (curative). — (Bitter taste, parched mouth; tongue white.)

Unusually hearty appetite (for supper). — Odour from cooking is pleasing, but no desire for dinner; on sitting down eats a good dinner with relish. — Feels better after eating dinner. — Easy belching, several times, no taste. — Qualmish. — Nausea.

Sense of heat in abdomen. — Tired feeling through abdomen and chest. — Sensation as though he would have a very loose stool (it passed off without). — Sensation in spleen as though it would ache. — Pain in abdomen to r. of navel. — Uneasiness in lower abdomen. — Liver, spleen, and kidneys affected. — (Cannot breathe on account of pain in liver, < lying down, > hard pressure.). — (Drawing or pricking in liver). — (Cramping in liver; pain under r. scapula.)

Diarrhœa. — Diarrhœa in morning, stools thin, yellow, foul.

Shallow breathing, which seems from languor, desire to breathe deep, occasionally. — Residence in malarial districts is said to cure phthisis. — A consumptive constitution is protected against malaria. — (Singing causes some irritation in the throat.)

Tired feeling through chest and abdomen.

When leaning face on l. hand, elbow on table, perceptible feeling of heart-beats through upper body and neck.

Neck feels tired, with slight aching in upper part on moving the head. — Lumbar region tired as though it would ache. — (Rheumatism of back and limbs, with lameness.). — (Stiff neck, and r. arm and shoulders painful and helpless.). — (Aching under r. scapula; cramping in liver.)

Chilly sensation in l. forearm; soon followed by chilly feeling in hands and fingers; feet are cold with sensation as if chilliness were about to creep up the legs; a few moments later knees feel cold. — A sense of coldness ascending from body from the legs. — Gout.

Aching in both elbows. — Aching and tired feeling in wrists; tired ache in the hands. — Arms tired.

Pain, upper part of r. ilium. — Tired ache in knees and for some distance above and below. — Pain in top of l. instep. — Aching in an old (cured) bunion on l. foot. — Legs weary from a short walk. — Legs restless, feel like stretching and moving them.

General sense of weariness; from a very short walk; esp. through pelvis, sacral region, and upper thighs; strong desire to lie down. — A kind of simmering all through the body. — Typhoidal, semi-paralytic condition (No. III.). — Rheumatism. — Rheumatic paralysis and emaciation.

(Skin, eyes, and face very yellow.)

Impelled to lie down, and on falling asleep a sense of waving dizziness passes all over, preventing sleep. — Gaping, yawning, and desire to stretch.

(When in open air seems cold and shakes inside till she fairly cramps.). — Coldness ascending over body from legs. — Face feels warm as if flushed, also head; spreads over body, as if feverish. — A feeling as if he would have a chill, then as if he would become feverish, though neither is very marked. — Intermittents: quotidian; tertian (No. II.). — Chills for one hour followed by fever for six hours (No. II. given to a consumptive patient, whom it cured). — (Ague every other day, weak and drowsy between attacks.). — (Dumb chills.)

To Dr. G. W. Bowen, Fort Wayne, Indiana, we are in- debted for this valuable remedy. It is the product of dried, peat-like, decomposed vegetable matter from a marsh, placed in closed jars, covered with water and allowed to stand from one to three weeks at a temperature of 90° F. The longer it was allowed to stand the more intensely offensive it be- came. This was in 1862. Fragmentary provings only have been made. First by paid laboring men, under Dr. Bowen, from the crude drug, by inhalation of the gases evolved dur- ing the process of re-decomposition, presumably similar in modus operandi to the infection from marsh malaria, with which the author had to contend in diseases met with in daily practice during the summer and autumn. Many pa- tients were suffering from malarial affections—the so-called dumb ague—which were very intractable, as this type of autumnal fevers generally is in the West. It was to find a remedy for this nondescript type that the experiments were undertaken, and it is to be regretted that the symptoms elicited from inhaling the fumes in the various stages of decay were not expressed in the original language of the provers. Provings also with 30 potency by Yingling:

After first week: Headache, nausea, white-coated tongue, gastric distress, continuing two or three days.

After second week: Increased headache, nausea, aversion to food, distress in stomach, liver, spleen, and on the third day chills, which would have continued indefinitely if not antidoted.

After third week: To the above symptoms were added extreme lassitude, nausea, loss of appetite, continued fever with aches almost unbearable, and profound weakness with typhoid condition.

Quotidian, tertian, remittent, continued, malarial, typhoid.

"Dumb-ague;" of every type; from drug suppression; from "ague cures."

No marked periodicity. All hours, both day and night.

Malarial exposure, especially during summer and autumn drought; suppression of fever paroxysms by quinine and "ague cures;" cases spoiled by drugging. Rheumatic, psoric, tubercular diathesis.

Aching in the hands, wrists, elbows; feet, ankles, knees.

A tired aching in the wrists and thighs, abdomen and chest.

A general sense of weariness.

Chilly sensation in left forearm, followed by chilly feelings in hands and fingers; feet cold with sensation as if chilliness would creep up the legs. A few moments later knees feel cold.

A sense of coldness ascending over body from the legs.

Backache; lumbar region feels tired.

General sense of weariness from a short walk, especially through pelvis, sacral region and upper thighs; inclined to lie down to rest.

At times I felt as if I should become cold or chilly; then again

I felt as if I should become feverish or hot, though neither is very marked.

Gaping, yawning and desire to stretch.

Legs restless, fidgety; must stretch and move them.

"Felt as I did before having ague twenty-five years ago."

Face and head feel warm as if flushed; becomes general over body, feverish.

Malaria officinalis seems to bear the same relation to chronic malarial affections that Ipecac., Natrum, Cinchona and its alkaloids do to acute. It is especially effective in "spoiled cases" coming from the tropics and the suppressive treatment of the dominant school, where the type has been changed and it is impossible to distinguish the symptoms of the original disease from drug effects.

The following cures by Dr. W. A. Yingling, Emporia, Kansas, reported in Trans. I. H. A., 1900, may aid, in absence of verified provings, in ascertaining its range of action:

CASE I. October, 1898. Mr. C. F——, 28, a Kansas volunteer. After a week of wet and chilling weather in camp he came home sick. Had a chill followed by fever. Aching over entire body. Nausea, retching and vomit- ing of bile. Wants cold drinks. Cannot eat; vomits everything, except once could eat raw tomatoes. Craves acids. Tongue, thickly coated white.

Lips dry and parched. Urine high colored, like strong tea. Retching and gagging from hawking mucus. Face, eyes and skin very sallow; skin very dry. Mouth dry subjectively, but really moist. Very weak and tottering.

Malaria off. m.

CASE II. Mrs. S. A. H., 63, has been sick several days. Vertigo on ris- ing. Head feels badly; threatens to ache. Bitter taste; mouth parched; tongue white. Thirst for lemonade; not so much for water. Ravenous ap- petite for some days; none now. Shooting pains in the muscles all over body; bones ache. High fever during the night. Restless tossing about.

Restlessness most marked in the arms. Stretching and yawning this morn- ing. Diarrhœa, painless; five or six stools this morning; watery, yellowish, somewhat foul; tenderness in right iliac region; weakness in bowels. Skin hot and dry.

Malaria off. m.

CASE III. M. H., 16 "Dumb ague" a year ago; slight chills and fever; no sweat. Aching through forehead and temples. Little appetite; thirst all the time. Bowels loose yesterday, but no stool to-day. Feels well on rising in morning, < after being about for a time; > toward evening.

Backache in lumbar region, pains shoot up the back; < when first lying down, then gets better; < after walking; lying on abdomen. Last four days has been weary and languid; yawning; "malarious feeling."

Malaria off. 6m.

CASE IV. M. B., 13. Every evening, at twilight, anticipating daily, chilly with flushes of heat, great desire for fresh air, cannot breathe on account of pain in the liver; < lying, > from hard pressure on region of liver; during the day has no pain or tenderness. Seems entirely well, except is getting weaker. Slight fever for a couple of hours in the evening; raves, sings, talks all night; restless sleep. Tongue clean. Appetite variable; craves potatoes, apples, beefsteak.

Malaria off. m.

CASE V. G. C., 28. Ague every other day; chill over whole body; icy cold from hips down; heat < about the trunk; sweat general, but slight.

Begins about noon. Had frequent severe attacks of ague when living in

Missouri, also on the Pacific coast, and is now run down. Feels languid, weak and drowsy during apyrexia; unable to be up. Little appetite, great thirst, breath foul. Pulse weak; flashes of heat all the time. Has taken much quinine and "salts for costiveness." Stool hard, and at times bleeding after stool. Intense headache as if it would burst.

Malaria off. m.

Dr. George Hering, of London, hints at its use in tuberculosis, quoting from notes of Dr. Casanova, made nearly forty years ago:

"I know several localities in South America, Africa and Spain where the marsh miasma has unquestionably arrested and cured that fatal scourge of the human race, phthisis pulmonalis, with- out any other treatment or restriction in food or drink."

"Miasmatic places are the most healthy places—for some of us at least. Now, I can give some support to this statement of Dr.

Casanova. I was once on board a Liverpool steamer which put into Aspinwall, on the swampy Isthmus of Panama, for nine days. Upon our return home several of the sailors, otherwise healthy fellows, were prostrated by Panama fever, whilst I myself, who had formerly suffered from tubercular disease of the lungs, was totally unaffected."

We are indebted to the late G. W. Bowen, Fort Wayne. Ind., for this valuable remedy.
Hahnemann had an extensive experience in Malarial Fevers in the valleys of the Danube and the fevers of the Pontine marshes on the Tiber are historical.
Dr. Bowen lived on the Wabash River at that time, a noted malarial region, and for many years he was called upon to treat hundreds of patients suffering from all forms of malarial affections.
Malarial affections have been attributed to marsh exhalation in summer and autumn when the water has been evaporated by heat. These poison vapors of decaying vegetation Dr. Bowen had to contend with, Malarial fevers and their resultant diseases, intermittent, remittent, continued, typhoid, etc., for years, not only in their acute, but in their suppressed forms, in which he found all forms of chronic diseases, very frequently, could be traced to maltreatment of the acute manifestation. He conceived the practicability of testing the effects of artificial toxin prepared from peat, or decayed vegetable matter, taken from a marsh during the dry season, when the malaria toxin was most active. This vegetable matter was placed in glass jars, filled with water and allowed to decompose, which were numbered I, II, and III, according to the time, one, two or three weeks of decomposition.
At the end of each period, or stage, provings were made by inhaling the gases given off just as the patient would naturally inhale the marsh miasm. Provers were paid so much per day to inhale the gas in its different stages of decomposition, and a careful record of its effects was made. This constituted the provings of the crude gases.
For medicinal purposes a tincture was prepared by putting ten drops of No. II, in which the matter had been decomposed for two weeks, into 90 drops of alcohol; this formed the 1st dec. potency and all Bowen's reported cures were treated with this.
Boericke Tafel made a 30th from this tincture, which Yingling inhaled, and resulted in his involuntary proving. Later Boericke Tafel made a 30th potency of No. III, which was run up into the higher potencies by Gorton, and used by Yingling in his clinical experiences.
The paid provers of No. 1, which was not very offensive, obtained the following uniform results in from one to three hours after inhalation: "Headache, nausea, distressed stomach, white-coated tongue." These symptoms passed off in two or three days.
Provers of No. II obtained results in from twelve to twenty-four hours, which were much more severe and long lasting. They were: "Fearful headache, nausea, vomiting in some cases, aversion to food, distress in stomach, hypochondria, first in the spleen, then, the liver and stomach, and on the third day pronounced chills, which were so severe that they had to be antidoted."
No. III, which was "fetid to a fearful degree", produced little result except nausea within three or four days, but then symptoms began to appear; first, extreme lassitude, chills and fever, pains and aches, impeding locomotion.
When taken internally the results were much more severe: No. I caused bilious colic, nausea, cramps, headache.
No. II, the stomach, liver, spleen and kidneys became involved, with quartan or tertian intermittent fevers.
No. III setting up a more profound type even, a genuine typhoid or semi-paralytic state, which compelled the provers to take to bed.
On the day I received from Boericke Tafel Malaria off. 30 I was foolishly led to try Hahnemann's inhalation. The thought just occurred to me on the spur of the moment, and without stopping to think I took three strong inhalations, with both sorrow and a proving resulting. None of the symptoms were distressing yet marked and clear cut. The remedy commenced its work promptly and in the order following:
Aching in both elbows.
A kind of slight concentration of feeling in root of nose and just above, as though I have a severe cold, similar to that complained of by hay-fever patients.
Aching in wrists.
A tired ache in hands.
A tired ache in knees, and for a distance above and below.
A feeling as though I should become dizzy.
Pain in top of left instep.
A tired feeling in wrists.
Aching in an old (cured) bunion on left foot.
Sensation on point of tongue as though a few specks of spice or pepper were there.
Itching on right cheek over malar bone; > by slight rubbing or scratching.
When leaning face on left hand, elbow on the table, perceptible feeling of the heart beats through upper body and neck.
Slight itching on various parts of the face and extremities; > by slight rubbing.
Sense of heat in abdomen.
Chilly sensation in left forearm. Soon followed by chilly feeling in hands and fingers; feet are cold with sensation as if chilliness was about to creep up the legs. A few moments later knees feel cold. A sense of coldness ascending over body from the legs.
Arms feel tired.
Belching several times, easy; no taste.
A drawing pain in right external ear.
Lumbar back feels tired as though it would ache.
Neck feels tired, with slight cracking in upper part on moving the head.
Shallow breathing which seems from languor, with a desire to take a deep inspiration occasionally.
A kind of tired feeling through abdomen and chest.
A general sense of weariness.
A feeling about head as though I would become dizzy.
Pain in upper left teeth.
A sensation as though I would have a very loose stool (passed away without stool).
Feeling rather stupid and sleepy.
A sensation in the spleen as though it would ache.
Saliva more profuse than usual; keeps me swallowing often.
Pain in abdomen to right of navel.
Dull aching through forehead.
Face feels warm, as if flushed, also head; becomes general over body, as if feverish.
Aching across upper sacral region.
Legs very weary from short walk.
Pain at upper part of right ilium.
General sense of weariness from a very short walk, especially through pelvis, sacral region and upper thighs.
I feel strongly inclined to lie down and rest.
Qualmishness of stomach, as though I should become nauseated.
General sense of malaise and weariness becoming quite marked.
Aching above inner angle of right eye.
A kind of simmering all through the body.
Felt impelled to lie down, and on falling to sleep a sense of waving dizziness passes all over me, preventing sleep.
At times I feel as though I should become cold or have a chill, then I feel as though I should become feverish or hot, though neither is very marked.
Eyes feel heavy and sleepy.
Uneasiness in lower abdomen.
Gaping, yawning and desire to stretch.
Legs are restless; feel like stretching and moving them.
I feel very much as I did one time before having the ague, twenty-five years ago.
Odor from cooking is pleasing, but I have no desire for dinner.
Yet when I sit down I eat a good dinner with relish.
Dizziness on rising from a reclining position.
Feel generally better after eating dinner.
Aching in occiput.
During the afternoon leg weary.
Unusual hearty appetite for supper (the good appetite keeps with me for some days).
A good night's rest following, and have felt much brighter and generally better ever since the first day (Healing).
"I know several localities in South America, Africa and Spain where the marsh miasma has unquestionably arrested and cured that fatal scourge of the human race, phthisis pulmonalis, without any other treatment or restriction in food or drink.
And why should not the climate of the fen lands of Lincolnshire, in the neighborhood of Spalding, prove as curative an agent for this disease as the climate of so many foreign regions where patients go and die, deprived of all the comforts of home? Penzance, among the British localities, is reported to be superior to nine-tenths of the places to which patients are sent.
Penzance, then, and Spalding should be particularly studied by medical men and recommended to consumptive individuals who wish to enjoy the benefits and advantages of a national place of relief, if not of cure."

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