: We will take up
the study of Ferrum metallicum. The Old School has been giving Iron for anaemia
throughout all tradition. They have given it in great quantities in the form of the tincture
of chloride, and the carbonate.
Whenever the patient became anemic, pallid, waxy and weak, Iron
was the tonic. It is true that Iron produces anemia, and it would be astonishing to any
one who ever read the provings of Ferrum of the allopaths did not create additional
bloodlessness with the doses of Iron they administer.
It is true that under the provings, and under those circumstances where
Iron has been given in excess, the patient becomes greenish, waxy, yellow and pallid, with a
sickly and anemic countenance. The lips become pale; the ears lose their pink color; the
skin of the body becomes waxy, and there comes a tendency to hemorrhage, at times with
clots, but commonly with copious, thin, liquid blood, very dark.
The clots will separate and the fluid parts look brown, dirty and watery.
The patient gradually emaciates. He is pallid and waxy; his muscles become flabby and
relaxed; he is incapable of endurance. All the muscular fibers become tired from any
exertion. Rapid exercise, or, any unusual exertion. is impossible. Any rapid exertion or
motion brings on weakness, dyspnea, sinking and fainting.
A strange thing running through all the constitutional conditions of Ferrum is that the pains and
sufferings come on during rest.
The palpitation sometimes comes on during rest, the dyspnoea comes on
during rest, and even the weakness. The patient is ameliorated by moving gently about, but
any exertion tires and causes faintness.
Any rapidmotion aggravates the complaints. The pains are ameliorated by moving about
the house slowly, so that the exertion does not excite or fatigue. In many cases the patient
is dropsical. The skin pits upon pressure and is pale, yet the face shows an appearance of
plethora. From every little excitement the face becomes flushed.
During the chill the face becomes red. From taking wine or stimulant the
face becomes flushed, and the patient, though flabby, relaxed and tired, does not get credit
for being sick.
She fails to get the sympathy of her friends. She is feeble, she suffers
from palpitation and dyspnoea, she has great weakness with inability to do anything like
work, she feels that she must lie down-yet the face is flushed. This is called a
pseudo-plethora.
The blood-vessels are distended, the veins varicose, and their coatings
relaxed. On this account bleed ing takes place easily; capillary oozing; hemorrhage from all
pass of the body, haemorrhage from the nose, the lungs, the uterus.
Women suffer much from haemorrhage from the uterus, especially during and
after the climacteric period. Ferrum will be found of great value when the symptoms agree in
that wonderful anemic state called "green
sickness," that comes on with girls
at the time of puberty and in the years that follow it.
There will be almost no menstrual flow, but a cough will develop, with
great pallor. So common is this sickness among girls that all mothers are acquainted with
and dread it. In a large practice you will have a number of cases of chlorosis.
Sometimes the early menstrual period is attended with a copious, and then
occurs, and this goes on for a number of years before anything like menstrual regularity is
established.
In these cases the Old School always used to feed their patients Iron
in great quantities, but the more Iron the patient took the worse she grew.
Congestion, tending upwards, with red face, hot head and coldness of the
extremities. But the heat of the head and face is not at all in proportion to the red
appearance. It will be found that this congestion upward in Ferrum will take place during a
chill, in septic fevers or in other forms of fever, and the head is not always hot, but
sometimes cool. The face may be red and cool.