Lachesis, not Lactuca

Volume 81, Number 1, January 1992 duced in a short article. A significant difference between .the effects of the controls and those of histamine potencies are said to have been detected. Homint R & D Newsletter 1991; 2(3). Data collection in homaeopathy R. A. VAN H A S E L E N , P. F I S H E R Computerized medical case recording is currently the subject of much discussion. Some workers take the view that the holistic nature of homeeopathy is not consistent with computerization, despite the opportunity that this allows of systematically analysing large amounts of patient data and refining treatment methods. The authors conclude an article on homeeopathic data collection with the suggestion that 'information technology should be embraced as a tool for the further development of homeeopathy as an empirical science.' Homint R & D Newsletter 1991; 2(3). Standardization of protocols A plea for the standardization of protocols for proving drugs comes from the Medical Scientific Department of D H U , Karsruhe. In Germany some medicines, including Tuberculinum bovinum, are unacceptable as part of the materia medica because there are no reliable provings; to save these medicines, D H U wants to carry out provings, using the opportunity to harmonize procedures. Interested parties are asked to contact Dr F. Wieland, D H U , 7500 Karlsruhe 41, Germany. Homint R & D Newsletter 1991; 2(3). Pain in eyes--Natrium arsenicatum T. G E N N E P E R A n alcoholic patient presented with pain in the eyes of 27 years' duration. Natrum arsenicatum was prescribed mainly on particulars. Sulphur, Natrum muriaticum and Natrum arsenicatum each appeared in three of the rubrics consulted, but a study of the materia medica showed Natrum arsenicatum to be the similimum. Following exhibition of one pilule of Natrum arsenicatum 30c in November 1989, the condition improved, with symptoms completely relieved two months later. When the symptoms recurred in August 1990, a single dose of Natrum arsenicatum 200c gave relief, with no recurrence to date. Zschr Klass HomOop 1991; 35: 184~.

69 Lachesis vs Lachnanthes H. E P P E N I C H 'Vision, Colours, dark, spots, reading agg.' (Kent's Repertory p. 273)--Lachnanthes could not be confirmed in source studies. However, Allen's Encyclopaedia vol. 5, No. 264, p. 439, gives 'Dimness of vision; much black flickering before the eyes, that seems very near; if frequently makes reading difficult; after much reading' for Lachesis. Lachesis appears in Kent under 'Head, Coldness, Forehead' (p. 108), which could not be confirmed. Hering's Guiding Symptoms list the indication for Lachnanthes: 'Giddy: with sensation of heat in chest and around heart, boiling bubbling; with icy coldness of forehead' (vol. 7, p. 1). Page 115 in Kent (Repr. New Delhi 1983) gives Lachesis under 'Head, Enlarged, and as if split open by a wedge from the outside, body icy cold, skin moist and sticky; cannot get warm, even under a feather bed, face yellow; whines with the pain; head burns like fire, with thirst'. Those words were clearly taken from Hering's Guiding Symptoms vol. 7 p. 21, for Lachnanthes. [The reviewer's 1982 2nd edition of Kent does give Lachnanthes in this case.] For Lachesis, read Lachnanthes under 'Sleep, Dreams, spinning' (Kent, p. 1243). Source: Allen's Encyclopaedia vol. 5, No. 199, p. 477: 'Dreams that she is spinning, and marked her yarn with red w o o l . . . ' . Zschr Klass HomOop 1991; 35: 146-7. Lachesis, not Lactuca H. E P P E N I C H In Kent's Repertory, 'lact.' appears under 'Vertigo, Intoxicated, as if' (p. 100). Source studies do not confirm this, but Allen's Encyclopedia vol. 5 has ']Confusion and Vertigo.] A condition similar to i n t o x i c a t i o n . . . ' as symptom No. 99 for Lachesis on p. 435. Lactuca also appears under 'Abdomen, Pain, stool, diarrhoeic, during' on p. 560 of the Repertory. Again source studies do not confirm, but Allen's Encyclopedia has 'Violent cramplike pains in the abdomen do not permit her to stretch out; with diarrhoea' as symptom No. 450 for Lachesis on page 450. Zschr Klass Homdop 1991; 35: 189. Provings--Petroleum and Luffa opercnlata C. B O E T T C H E R - H A A S E A proving of Petroleum and a reproving of Luffa operculata were analysed at the Niedersaechsische Akademie fuer Homceopathie und Natur-