: In the mental
state, there is anxiety and extreme fear; fear of persons, of strange spheres, of the dark;
the dark is filled with imaginary specters; he dare not get out of bed in the dark;
everything that moves is a specter and the inanimate things of the room become alive and
terrify him.
Frenzy. Coupled with this, there is kidney and urinary trouble, like that
of Cantharis, and
because of this similarity, the two remedies are both complementary and antidotal to each
other. If a woman has poisoned herself with Cantharis, and there is present the frenzy and excitement, Camphor will act as an antidote.
The details of the mental symptoms are worthy of much consideration. The
patient goes into a state not unlike imbecility, and the appearance is as if it had come on
slowly. The mind and memory are gone. He closes the eyes, seemingly asleep, and answers no
questions. Delirious with the heat, rage and mania, wants to jump out of bed or out of the
window. Screams and calls for help. Tosses anxiously in bed.
Anxiety and almost loss of consciousness. These symptoms will indicate Camphor in puerperal fever, in congestion of the brain, or in shock from violent
inflammation of organs. Confusion comes from the shock and comes with violence.
The more violently the patient suffers, the sooner he is cold, and when
he is cold, he must uncover even in a cold room. This is somewhat like Secale. In Secalethe patient, when
cold, wants to uncover and to be in a cold room, and it also has frenzy, and so there is
nothing in what we have yet seem to distinguish Secalefrom Camph.
But there is another thing that runs through Camph., by which
a distinction can be made. The coldness, frenzy and heat very often intermingle. When the Camphor patient is becoming cold, he has spells of heat which come over him;
flashes of heatintermingle with rending, tearing, burning pains, either in the inflamed
organ or along the nerves.
The patient is a most troublesome patient to nurse; nobody and nothing
suits. If an inflammation of the bladder comes on, there is intense pain and tenderness, and
from the shock of the suffering the mind is in a state of frenzy.
Coldness then comes on and the patient wants to be uncovered, wants cold air, wants the windows open, but before all this can be done, a flash of beat
comes on and then he wants the covers on, and the register turned on, and wants a hot iron
and hot bottles; but this stage now passes off, and while the nurse is bringing the hot
irons he wants her to open the windows and have everything cool.
You will see at once that these are serious cases. This occurs with
opisthotonos, convulsions, inflammation of the brain, liver, kidney, bladder, coming on from
violent shock and cold with great exhaustion. You will see this in one who has worked for
hours for his life, and when the excitement is over reaction sets in and it is like a
whirlwind; he has worked until he is exhausted and now he is prostrated, cold and blue; here
is the sphere where the old woman with her Camphor bottle has
established a reputation, but potentized Camphor will do more for him than the Camphor bottle, it will put him into a refreshing sleep.