Cactus grandiflorus

Cactus grandiflorus

Deficient or irregular bone development. (Fontanelles open, crooked spine, deformed extremities.)

Leucophlegmatic temperament.

Fair, fat, flabby, obesic.

Coldness, general and local, subjective and objective, especially as if had on cold, damp stockings. Affections from working in cold water.

Sweats general (night sweats and on exertion). Local; head (children), axillae, hands, feet, etc.

Digestive tract sour (sour taste, eructations, vomiting, sour curds, diarrhoea).

Great debility; cannot walk far or GO UPSTAIRS for short breath; easily strained.

Modalities: < cold air, ASCENDING, or exertion; straining from LIFTING.

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This is another of Hahnemann’s constitutional remedies which, as Farrington says, “may come into use, in almost any form of disease.” We may say come into use because it may be on account of certain idiosyncrasies which come under the remedial power of CALCAREA that the disease, whatever it is, is made less amenable to ordinary treatment.

The temperament of CALCAREA is altogether different from that of SULPHUR. You remember the lean, stoop-shouldered SULPHUR subject. CALCAREA is on the contrary what cannot be better expressed than in the term used by Henry N. Guernsey, viz., Leucophlegmatic temperament.

The CALCAREA patient is constitutionally fat, over-fat or strongly inclined to obesity. The color of the skin is white, watery or chalky pale. Of torpid disposition (especially children), sluggish or slow in its movements. The SULPHUR is almost the exact opposite, quick, wiry, nervous, active. There is none of the bilious, swarthy, yellowish appearance in CALCAREA that we find in LYCOPODIUM. These three remedies, CALCAREA, SULPHUR, LYCOPODIUM, are a trio that find each their counterpart in many persons the world over. Of course we find the tendency to obesity under other remedies, as, for instance, under GRAPHITES, but with this obesity we almost always

find accompanying it the peculiar skin troubles of GRAPHITES. Sometimes we seem to find a condition that seems to simulate each remedy in some one feature; for instance, the obesic temperament of CALCAREA and the eruptive tendency of SULPHUR. This may combine so as to make a case that will be covered by HEPAR SULPH. Such cases are more difficult to cover with a perfect simillimum. But when we do find a purely CALCAREASULPHUR or LYCOPODIUM subject the fact is inestimable as a help to a brilliant result in many cases.

Malnutrition is one of the disorders calling for the exhibition of this remedy.

“Tardy development of the bony tissues with lymphatic enlargements.”

“Curvature of the bones, especially spine and long bones.”

“Extremities deformed, crooked.”

“Softening of the bones; FONTANELLES REMAIN OPEN TOO LONG and skull very large.”

These symptoms are quoted from “Hering’s Guiding Symptoms,” and show the lack of, or imperfect, nutrition of bones. They are nourished irregularly, or unevenly. One part of a bone, the vertebras for instance, is nourished, while the other is starved. While all this irregular bone development is going on the soft parts are suffering from over-nutrition. Thus we have recorded in the pathogenesis: “Tendency to obesity, especially in children and young people.”

“Nutrition impaired with tendency to glandular enlargements.”

“Granular vegetations; polypus (in nose, ear, bladder, uterus, etc.).”

This is a fair picture of the general or constitutional use of CALCAREA OST., and it remains to give some of the characteristic or peculiar symptoms guiding to its selection.

When writing of SULPHUR we called particular attention to the sensation of burning under that remedy. CALCAREA has characteristically the opposite, viz., Coldness. (CISTUS.)

“Cold, damp feet.”

“Sensation in feet and legs as if she had on cold, damp stockings.”

“Coldness of legs with night-sweats.”

“Internal and external sensation of coldness of various parts of head as if a piece of ice were lying against it; with pale puffed face.”

“She feels a sort of inward coldness.”

“Aversion to open air, the least cold air goes right through her.”

All this is so directly opposite to SULPHUR that any confusion between them seems impossible.

Sensations of coldness in single parts should always call to mind CALCAREA, as well as general coldness. (CISTUS and HELODERMA.)

If CALCAREA has one symptom that not only leads all the rest, but also all other remedies, it is found in the profuse sweats on the head of large-headed, open fontanelled children. The sweat is so profuse that during sleep it rolls down the head and face wetting the pillow far around. Many a little child has been saved from dying of hydrocephalus, dentition, rachitis, marasmus, eclampsia, cholera infantum, etc., where this sweating symptom was the guiding symptom to the use

of CALCAREA. It is also especially indicated, other symptoms agreeing, in sweats of male organs, nape of neck, chest, axilla, hands, knees, feet, etc. PARTIAL SWEATS. It is also a remedy for night sweats generally when they occur in connection with consumption or other debilitating diseases.

In all these sweatings of CALCAREA the surface is characteristically cold at the same time, and especially would we find the lower extremities cold.

CALCAREA has characteristic symptoms in the digestive tract. One is that everything in the whole length of the tract seems sour. Eructations sour; sour vomiting of large curds (AETHUSA); sour diarrhoea. And then there is a sour smell of the whole body. This is not like the offensive odor of the body that SULPHUR has.

Then there is a peculiar symptom of the appetite that has often been verified—”Longing for eggs, particularly in children, in sickness or during convalescence, even before they are able to swallow. The stomach externally is swollen or seems distended, standing right out like an inverted saucer. Abdomen is also much distended from hard and swollen mesentery, even when the rest of the body is emaciated.”

The diarrhoea, which may vary as to color and consistence, instead of being aggravated in the morning, like SULPHUR, is WORSE IN THE AFTERNOON. The patient is generally better when constipated.

CALCAREA has not so positive and unvarying action upon the skin as SULPHUR, but is indispensable in skin affections which seem to depend upon some constitutional dyscrasia that it covers in its general action, for instance, in eczema capitis or milk crusts in children of the CALCAREA type. Here, of course, no remedy can take its place. Indeed all

skin troubles in CALCAREA subjects disappear when through its action the system is set right, showing that the skin troubles after all were only secondary. The skin of the CALCAREA subject is generally cold, soft and flabby.

We must not omit to notice the action of CALCAREA OST. on the respiratory organs, for the reason that it is of great importance in its use in that dread disease, pulmonary consumption. Whether, as Professor Bennet believes, this disease be essentially one of faulty nutrition, or as Virchow believes, one of inflammation, or if Professor Rindflesch’s theory, relegating it to the class of diseases known as infectious, be true, or whatever its primary cause may be, we know that CALCAREA OST. is one of the most effective agents, if indicated by the temperament and symptoms, in the cure of this malady, and if applied at a stage when a cure is at all possible.

Very many cases in the incipient stage come within range of SULPHUR or CALCAREA. As we have already given the leading indications of SULPHUR, we will now give some of them for CALCAREA:

“Leucophlegmatic temperament.”

“Middle and upper portion of right lung.” (SULPH., upper left.)

“Chest painfully sensitive to touch and on inspiration.”

“Shortness of breath on walking, especially on ascending.”

“Painless hoarseness, < in the morning.”

“Especially in women who have always been too early and profuse in menstruation, and who have habitually cold feet to the knees.”

“Tendency to looseness of the bowels, < afternoons.”

“Appetite failing and emaciation progressing.”

Here are a few of the prominent indications, and on them many a case has been cured. Of course there is generally cough, and it may be tight or loose, yet the case rests mainly on the symptoms outside the cough. This remedy in this disease and the success attending its use is one of the illustrations of the soundness of Hering’s advice when he says “treat the patient, not the disease.”


“Materia Medica” is a term commonly used in the field of homeopathy to refer to a comprehensive collection of information on the characteristics and therapeutic uses of various natural substances, including plants, minerals, and animal products.

One such work is “Materia Medica,” a book written by Benoit Mure, a French homeopath, in the 19th century. The book is considered a valuable resource for homeopaths and is still widely used today.

In “Materia Medica,” Mure provides detailed information on over 100 homeopathic remedies, including their sources, preparation methods, physical and mental symptoms, and indications for use. He also discusses the philosophy and principles of homeopathy, as well as its history and development.

The book is known for its clear and concise writing style, and it has been praised for its accuracy and depth of knowledge. It remains a popular reference for homeopaths and students of homeopathy.

Overall, “Materia Medica” by Benoit Mure is an important work in the field of homeopathy and is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning about the use of natural remedies in the treatment of various health conditions.

Online Materia Medica 

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Homoeopathy studies the whole person. Characteristics such as your temperament, personality, emotional and physical responses etc. are of utmost importance when prescribing a remedy. Thus please give as much information as possible and answer as many questions as possible. The answer boxes will scroll to meet your needs. You can ask for professional advice on any health-related and medical subject. Medicines could be bought from our Online Store or Homeopathic store near you.

Homoeopathy is a system of alternative medicine that is based on the concept of “like cures like.” It uses highly diluted substances that are believed to cause similar symptoms as the illness being treated.

There are many online homoeopathic Materia medica, which are resources that list and describe the properties and uses of different homoeopathic remedies. Some popular online homoeopathic Materia medica include:

Boericke’s Materia Medica: A comprehensive reference guide to homoeopathic remedies, including information on their uses, indications, and dosages.

Clarke’s Dictionary of Homeopathic Materia Medica: A well-respected and widely used reference that includes information on the symptoms that each remedy is used to treat.

Homeopathic Materia Medica by William Boer Icke: A popular homoeopathic reference book that provides in-depth information on a wide range of remedies, including their indications, symptoms, and uses.

The Complete Repertory by Roger van Zandvoort: A comprehensive online reference that provides information on remedies, symptoms, and indications, and allows users to search for treatments based on specific symptoms.

There are many writers who have contributed to the development of homoeopathic materia medica. Some of the most well-known include:

Samuel Hahnemann: The founder of homoeopathy, Hahnemann wrote extensively about the use of highly diluted substances in treating illness. He is best known for his work “Organon of the Medical Art,” which outlines the principles of homoeopathy.

James Tyler Kent: Kent was an American homoeopathic physician who is known for his contributions to homoeopathic materia medica. He wrote “Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica,” which is still widely used today.

William Boericke: Boericke was an Austrian-American homoeopathic physician who wrote the “Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica.” This book is considered one of the most comprehensive and widely used homoeopathic reference books.

George Vithoulkas: Vithoulkas is a Greek homoeopathic physician and teacher who has written several books on homoeopathic materia medica, including “The Science of Homeopathy” and “Essence of Materia Medica.”

Robin Murphy: Murphy is an American homoeopathic physician who has written several books on homoeopathic materia medica, including “Homeopathic Clinical Repertory” and “Homeopathic Medical Repertory.”

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