VERATRUM ALBUM

Veratrum album 2

Sumrio
Veratrum album...................................................................................................................................... 1
Caractersticas....................................................................................................................................... 2
Sinopse.................................................................................................................................................. 3
Indicacoes agudas............................................................................................................................. 4
Didier Grandgeorge............................................................................................................................... 5
Estudo de Veratrum (Elias Carlos Zoby)................................................................................................6
Veratrum viride indicaes agudas..................................................................................................... 7
Sankran The Soul of Remedies.......................................................................................................... 8
Sankaran The Spirit of Homeopathy................................................................................................. 10
Vithoulkas............................................................................................................................................. 11
Memory cards (Valerie Sadovsky)....................................................................................................... 12
Herbal information................................................................................................................................ 14

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CARACTERSTICAS

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SINOPSE

A SUBSTNCIA
Planta da famlia das Melanthiaceae: de aproximadamente 1,5m de altura; cresce nas pastagens das
altas montanhas. A planta inteira venenosa, irritando a pele e as mucosas e estimulando as
terminaes dos nervos motores. Prepara-se a tintura-me da raiz fresca.

FONTES
[e.1] Hahnemann, M.M.P., [e.2]Dr. Becher, ibid. ; [e.3] Dr. Franz, ibid., [e.4] Dr. Friedrich Hahnemann,
ibid., [e.5] Dr. Stapf, ibid., [e.6] Dr. Teuthorn, ibid. [Nmero de sintomas]: 267 em Fragmenta de Vir.,
na 1 edio 711, e na 2 edio 716; 1016 em Allen e 4115 no Repertrio do Gehsh.

AO GERAL
Dificilmente, um grupo de sintomas se apresenta sem ser acompanhado por esfriamento; esfriamento
nas secrees e no corpo. Marcada prostrao, relaxamento e cansao completos. Transpirao
abundante, vmitos e diarria. Secrees aquosas abundantes. As extremidades dos dedos das
mos esto frias, os lbios esto frios e azuis; facies de aflio e contrao; grande sensao de
frialdade, como se o sangue fosse gua gelada. Este estado aparece durante as menstruaes,
clicas com nuseas, com mania e delrio violento, com dor de cabea, com inflamaes violentas.
Dores reumticas e nevrlgicas nas extremidades, pioram com o calor da cama. Veratrum,
Camphora e Cuprum so remdios do clera. Extrema secura de todas as membranas mucosas.
Espasmos tnicos ou caimbras. um grande remdio de desmaio.

SINTOMAS MENTAIS

Os sintomas mentais esto caracterizados pela violncia e destrutividade; deseja rasgar algo;
arranca as roupas do corpo. Quer permanecer sempre ocupado, seguir com sua tarefa diria.

Estado de exaltao religiosa, cr que Cristo ressuscitado; ele fala incoerentemente em

assuntos religiosos e em votos a serem cumpridos, reza, se imagina no cu falando com Deus;
grita at que sua face se torna azul; a cabea fria como gelo, transpirao fria, exorta ao
arrependimento. Ele imagina ser um prncipe e se comporta de uma forma muito arrogante.
Pensa ser uma pessoa distinta; esbanja seu dinheiro; est orgulhoso de sua posio.

Canta canes obscenas, expe sua pessoa. Ninfomania, com violncia e destrutividade; foi
frustrado no amor; melancolia;...grande desejo por relaes sexuais; sem vergonha; obscenidade
Medo e teme os efeitos do medo; medo morte e de ser condenado; imagina que o mundo est
em chamas.

Mania com desejo de cortar e rasgar tudo, especialmente roupas, com palavras injuriosas e
lascivas. Mania puerperal e convulses; gritos selvagens, com disposio a morder.
Loquacidade, fala rpido. O paciente se sente incontrolvel frente a uma fantasia desafortunada.

Cheio de desespero e falta de esperanas. Ansiedade devido a uma m conscincia, como se

houvesse cometido um crime.

Insanidade ou histeria por honra ou orgulho feridos.

Averso ao marido e filhos; deseja sair de casa: alucinaes, o quarto parece estar repleto de
pessoas. Persegue sua famlia para fora de casa; declara que o sol gira em torno da terra; medo
da morte, inquietude, e desespero.

SONHOS: de ser afogado; de ser mordido por um cachorro e no poder escapar; de ser
perseguido; de ladres.

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DORES E SENSAES.

Cefalias violentas, que levam ao desespero; com nuseas, diarria; com rigidez de pescoo; >
frio. Presso na boca do estmago; caimbras no estmago. Dores abdominais em clica;
cortantes; torcendo; apertando, especialmente em torno do umbigo, > aps eliminar gases e/ou
fezes. Dismenorria.

Como se uma pedra de gelo no vertix.

Como se frio e quente ao mesmo tempo, na cabea.

Como se uma corrente alternada de frio e calor saindo dos ouvidos.

Como se centenas de finas agulhas nas sobrancelhas.

Como se a lngua muito pesada. Como se os dentes cheios de chumbo.

Como se carves quente no abdome.

Como se uma pedra pesada atada aos joelhos e ps.

Como se gua gelada correndo nos ossos.

Sensaes de frio em vrias partes do corpo.

SINTOMAS FUNCIONAIS.

[Desejos alimentares]: fruta, coisas suculentas e frias, gelo e sal . [Averses]: comida quente.
[Apetite]: voraz. [Sede]: para gua fria, mas vomita assim que engole.

Colapso, depois de vomitar ou diarria; prostrao completa e diminuio da vitalidade,

acompanhados de frio gelado e cianose. Clera asitico.

Febre com frio externo, pele gelada e com calor interno, alterna com calafrios. Tifide.

Peristalse reversa. Constipao por inatividade do reto.

Menorragia com nuseas, vmitos e diarria.

Um dos melhores estimulantes cardacos em doses homeopticas.

SINTOMAS LESIONAIS.

Peritonite. Hemorridas com doena dos pulmes ou pleura. Prolapso de vagina estrangulado.

Pneumonia aps coqueluche. Angina pectoris com constrico sufocativa do peito; paciente sua
de agonia.
Local: Nervos. Abdomen. Corao. Sistema digestivo.
Modalidades:[Causalidades]: Susto. Shock ou traumatismo. Amor desapontado. Honra ou orgulho
ferido. lcool . [Agrava]: Esforo. Beber. Bebidas frias. Susto. Durante a dor. Toque. Presso.
Mudana de tempo. Tempo frio. Antes e durante a menstruao. Durante a transpirao. [Melhora]:
Calor. Cobrir. Bebidas quentes. Leite. Estimulantes. [Horrio]: noite.
Concomitantes: Suores frios na testa acompanha quase todos os seus sintomas. Frio intenso,
gelado. s vezes com sensao de calor interno. Frio objetivo e subjetivo. Sede intensa insacivel de
grandes quantidades, de bebidas frias, que logo vomita.
Comparaes: Hyosciamus, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Platinum e Stramonium.

INDICACOES AGUDAS

Causalidade: Susto. Shock ou traumatismo. Amor desapontado. Honra ou orgulho ferido. Alcool.

Sintomas caractersticos: Colapso, depois de vomitar ou diarria, no cholera; prostrao

completa e diminuo da vitalidade, acompanhados de frio gelado e cianose. Clera asitico.
Febre com frio externo, pele gelada e com calor interno, alterna com calafrios. Tifoide.

Sensaes: Como se uma pedra de gelo no vertix. Como se frio e quente ao mesmo tempo, na
cabea (on scalp). Como se uma corrente alternada de frio e calor saindo dos ouvidos. Como se
centenas de finas agulhas nas sobrancelhas (thrust into eyelids). Como se a lngua muito
pesada. Como se os dentes cheios de chumbo. Como se carves quente no abdome. Como se
uma pedra pesada atada aos joelhos e ps. Como se gua gelada correndo nos ossos.

Concomitantes: Suores frios na testa acompanha quase todos os seus sintomas. Frio intenso,
gelado. s vezes com sensao de calor interno. Frio objetivo e subjetivo. Sede intensa
insacivel de grandes quantidades, de bebidas frias, que logo vomita.

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DIDIER GRANDGEORGE
Veratrum album

The lie
This is a remedy known for its intense acute states which give the impression of cardiovascular shock:
pale skin, cold sweat, pulse weak and fast. This may also be the case in acute gastroenteritis such as
the type which sometimes afflicts world travelers, in which we find abundant diarrhea with profuse and
sudden vomiting. The notable characteristic is that the stool does not smell bad (the opposite of
Arsenicum album). The vomiting is followed by intense hiccoughing.
This remedy is also useful during violent attacks of asthma in which the same state of shock is
present. In addition, it is one of the best cardiac stimulants, as long as it is taken in homeopathic
doses. In acute cases, this remedy can be helpful in psychiatry for delusional episodes with manic
excitation and coprophagia (the ill person eats his feces). The individual is excitable, tears and cuts
everything within reach, then relapses into total muteness and refuses to eat.
Veratrum album individuals do not tell the truth. There is a kind of perversion of the word that takes
place. In adults, the lie allows them to regain a position in society they feel they have lost: the end
justifies the means (E. Candegabe). Veratrum album is ambitious and easily becomes an obsequious
"bootlicker" with superiors, while being hard on those who are weaker. Children can feign illness
(Aconitum, Belladonna, Moschus, Tarentula). They can become ill when a baby brother or sister is
born, for example, because they imagine that their new sibling is going to take their place while they
are away at school. Veratrum album mothers have a tendency toward depression before their monthly
menstruation, and sometimes tend to have false pregnancies.

Observation
Marie, seven years old, comes to see me once again for bronchitis. She has been in my care since
the age of 18 months, paying me numerous visits each year for eczema, bronchitis which is
sometimes asthmatic, otitis, and conjunctivitis. In short, the psora identified by Hahnemann is
revealing itself, like the mythical Hydra, with multiple heads that grow anew each time we cut one off
with a remedy. Both mother and daughter are regulars at my office, and at each appointment they wait
patiently, always absorbed in reading wonderful picture books that take them into a fabulous world of
fairytales, where they are princesses, the chosen. . . .
On this particular day, I try to deepen my analysis. The mother tells me that her daughter became ill
after being scolded by the teacher for cheating on a quiz. This child, endowed with sharp intelligence
and a brilliant memory, is always at the head of her class. On that day, however, her parents had
taken her for a weekend vacation without her schoolbooks, and she had not been able to study. Afraid
of getting a bad grade, she preferred to copy her classmates' answers.
Looking up two rubrics in the repertory-"fear of his position in society" and "vomiting of mucus from
coughing" (a constant in her case)-I see Veratrum album in both. Moreover, it seems that this child will
readily lie in order to correct a given situation (Argentum nitricum, Conium, Ethylicum, Syphilinum,
Veratrum album). Under Veratrum album 7 CH, her bronchitis disappears within 48 hours, and with a
few doses in 15, 18, 24, then 30 CH, the clinical picture is radically transformed. The winter that
follows is her first without a single acute illness.

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ESTUDO DE VERATRUM (ELIAS CARLOS ZOBY)

Agora veja um resumo de estudo q fiz sobre verat alguns anos atrs. Zoby.

TRANSGRESSO- Ambicionou ser distinguido dos demais, ser o 2 na hierarquia, abaixo de

Deus. Protegido pelo poder do superior q o distingue. Recusou-se a aceitar q houvesse intermedirio
entre ele e Deus, algum que lhe fosse superior. Entre as criaturas, quis ser o 1. (No fundo acho q
se Deus vacilasse ele tomaria o lugar:)

PERDA- Seu lugar entre os outros: sente-se abandonado, em algum outro lugar q no sua
casa, a sala est cheia e no h mais espao.

TEMOR AO CASTIGO- Rpido decaimento de toda a fora, afunda. Medo de perder sua
posio.

NOSTALGIA- De seu lar, deseja ir p/ casa, sente-se c/o um estrangeiro, fora de seu lugar.

JUSTIFICATIVA- Diz q um segredo e um infortnio, est em comunicao c/ Deus, portanto

distinguido pela proximidade direta.

PSORA SECUNDRIA- Teme e/ou adoece por todas as perdas: lugar, desprezo, humilhao,
amor, vmito, diarria, dinheiro. - Ingnuo muito inteligente.

EGOTROFIA FRANCA- Vai buscar seu lugar, quer ser rico e torna-se cpido, ambicioso,
gourmand. Cime, entre homens. - Arrogante e pomposo. Desdenha dos outros, quer rebaix-los,
insolente. Autoritrio. - Eglatra. Corajoso. - Fofoqueiro, curioso, espia tudo, indiscreto, intrigante.
Enganador.

EGOTROFIA CAMUFLADA- Afetuoso, amvel, mas principal/ c/ os q considera superiores, c/

estranhos mas no c/ a famlia. Duro c/ inferiores e amvl c/ superiores. - Beija todos q se
aproximam, abraa tudo e todos.

EGOLISE- Repele a aproximao c/ qq um, corre p/ trs da mesa e ralha. Quer deixar sua
casa. Corre c/o louco (s vezes at cair), gritando. - reconhece ningum. - Averso aos seus. Inclinao a pender a cabea, Hold; up head, unable to:. - Colapso, pele fria, face plida, olhos
fundos, grande sede, vmito e diarria. Paralisia aps perdas debilitantes. - Auto-degradao por
comer fezes, anda sujo e esfarrapado.
ALTERLISE- Violentas exploses, ataca os q esto sua volta. - Rasga coisas, roupas e no fala.
Destrutivo.
- Vingativo, maldoso, cruel. Grosseiro. Briguento. - Expulsa sua famlia de casa.

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VERATRUM VIRIDE INDICAES AGUDAS

Identification: Genus Veratrum Species viride Variety Cultivar Common names American white
hellebore Family MELANTHIACEAE
Herbal medicine: Medicinal properties hypotensive Medicinal parts Rootstock Has medicinal uses
yes Do not self-administer yes Do no use if pregnant no Legally restricted no Toxicity precautions It
is highly toxic Medicinal notes Veratrum viride may have beneficial uses as a hypotensive.
American white hellebore should only be used under professional guidance. Other species
with the same medicinal qualities include Veratrum album. Only the rootstock is used in herbal
preparations. It is highly toxic.

CAUSALIDADE

Sol. Supresso da menstruao.

SINTOMAS CARACTERSTICOS

Congesto seu sintoma chave, principalmente quando coincide com nuseas e vmitos.

Estados congestivos agudos de incio brusco e violento, sobretudo na cabea, base do crebro,
pulmes, medula e estmago. Congesto intensa, quase apopltica.

Crises agudas de hipertenso arterial com congesto cerebral violenta e brusca, com cefalia
intensa, cabea quente e pesada, olhos hiperemiados e batimentos arteriais vsiveis no pescoo
e no corpo. til para pessoas pletricas e sanguneas.

Cefalias e enxaquecas com as caracterstica acima.

Meningite basilar; encefalite. Afeces crebro espinhais

Pneumonia com congesto violenta.

Hipertermia ao anoitecer e hipotermia pela manh. Febres supurativas com grande variao de
temperatura. Febre em zigzag.

SENSAES

Sensao de um peso no trax (heavy load on chest).

CONCOMITANTES

Lngua branca; o centro branco e as bordas e ponta vermelhas. ou com um listra vermelha e
seca no centro, com sensao de queimor. (principal key-note objetivo).

Erisipelas com sintomas cerebrais..

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SANKRAN THE SOUL OF REMEDIES

Veratrum album
Veratrum album is a remedy of the acute miasm. Veratrum has the feeling that he has lost his social
position which he must regain quickly by any means or he will be finished. He tries to find means for
sudden gains, e.g. gambling, lying, fraudulent business, etc. Show of wealth and importance are
prominent features seen in Veratrum and using these he tries to make up this "lost social position".
Social position is a very important factor in human life, for it ensures security, marital prospects and
protection from attacks. A threat to social position therefore is a threat to all these factors. We see in
Belladonna the fear of being attacked, in Stramonium the threat of being alone in the wilderness, and
in Hyoscyamus the threat of being deserted by his partner. That is why it is said that Veratrum has all
these three remedies in it. In addition, it has a lot to do with ego.
As a proving, when I took a dose of Veratrum, I dreamt:
"I was an employee of an old man who was going to retire very soon. Fearing that the retirement
would be a blow to his social position, he wanted to arrange a huge extravaganza to prove that his
was still important. So he booked a huge football stadium for his birthday party and filled it up with his
guests. We, the employees were to march in the stadium with the stilts on our shoes to exaggerate
our heights and at the same time play music. Our boss, the old man, would follow us in the stadium."
This dream typifies the Veratrum feeling. This man behaves as if he is reacting to a loss of social
position. He is like a king who has suddenly become a pauper. If he is to "survive" he has to tell lies
and make a show of wealth. He has to squander money and speak highly of himself. He needs to
create about him an aura of grandeur.
In cases that require the remedy, we see that if not the patient himself, somebody in his earlier
generations has lost his social position, creating the Veratrum state. This state has been subsequently
transmitted as a root into this patient. Often such a history can be traced.
Veratrum can be religious but even there, there is usually a very large element of show in it: there is
much ostentation in his religiousness. Similarly in his speech, extravagance and his ability to lie
without any hesitation, you can see that a Veratrum person needs to re-establish his position in
society. I believe it can be a remedy for certain showy evangelists.
In my experience I have seen that Veratrum people can use any means in order to make quick buck
or show their importance, e.g. lying, name dropping, issuing false cheques, doing fraudulent business,
large-scale cheating, tremendous show of wealth, etc. Religious, political or business leaders who
make a big show may be in the Veratrum state. If caught, they try to cheat their way out by lies and
deceit which include feigning illness, even cancer.
On the other hand Veratrum persons are a joy to be with: talking, singing, jesting, cheerful. They can
have also pleasant fantasies, e.g. being in communication with God.
Rubrics
- Despair, position of, social.
- Religious.
- Delusion, God communication with, he is in.
- Delusion, dumb, he is.
- Busy.
- Restless.
- Industrious.
- Cheerful.
- Loquacity.
- Liar.
- Deceitful.
- Courageous.
- Squanders money.
- Extravagance.
- Praying.
- Shameless.

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Kent
- Desires ice.

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SANKARAN THE SPIRIT OF HOMEOPATHY

Veratrum album
The most beautiful symptom of Veratrum album given in the Synthetic Repertory is: Despair, social
position of. If we understand this symptom correctly, it will be very easy to understand the picture of
Veratrum album.
The state of a remedy can be understood as a set of components, as a characteristic combination of
components. The important components of Veratrum album are as follows (rubrics from Synthetic
Repertory):
Liar;
Deceitful;
Courageous;
Squanders money;
Extravagance;
Praying;
Religious;
Shameless;
Smiling;
Laughing
High-spirited;
Haughty.
Now, we will try to understand how these components are connected to each other. We can make a
connection between them if we understand that this man behaves as if he is reacting to a loss of
social position. It is like a king who has suddenly become a pauper. If this man is to survive, he has to
tell lies and make a show of wealth. He has to squander money and speak highly of himself. He
needs to create an aura of grandeur. So, all these components of Veratrum album can be connected
together if we imagine that this is state which has arisen as a survival mechanism in this particular
situation.

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VITHOULKAS
Veratrum album (verat.)
The Veratrum influence is constant activity. This is not s much violence or aggressiveness, except in
the most extreme state. It is rather a driven, ceaseless energy compelling the patient to be busy all
the time. It is likely to be activity for its own sake, without purpose - constantly stacking books or
chairs, endless cleaning. In the hyperactive child, it is unceasing drawing, painting, singing, playing,
but unlike Stramonium, it is not breaking things or destructive. Such a person may be a pest,
demanding attention by sheer energy, but not actually destructive.
The Veratrum patient has a profound confusion about his identity. He thinks he is Christ or John the
Baptist, or a chosen person to save the world. This is the street corner preacher who, day in and day
out, exhorts people to repent, repeating over and over the same righteous message, often at the top
of his lungs. Unlike Stramonium, the actual physical strength is not increased, but rather there is
surprising stamina. The person seems never to run out of steam. In Stramonium, we see an eruption
of the unconscious about what is happening to him. In Veratrum, the person does not SEE delusions
so much a she has a mistaken idea of his own identity. He is convinced of who he is, and no-one can
talk him out of it. It is as if the organism side-tracked the energy rising from the unconscious into a
relatively more harmless confusion of identity.
In the most early stages, the ceaseless activity, singing, doing repetitive tasks etc. may be difficult to
distinguish from other remedies. The Veratrum quality becomes clear a little later, when the person
exhibits righteousness. This may not yet have religious content to it, but the person will believe
himself to be superior to those around him. He may become overly critical, censorious. In the
Repertory, we see Veratrum is in bold type under the rubric HAUGHTY. As this tendency grows, the
person becomes less in touch with the discrepancy between his reality and others; he may believe
himself to be the only one who is sane, all the others being insane. Finally, this develops the full
religious righteousness.
The active state may alternate with a melancholy state - as in some manic depressive psychoses.
The patient may brood or sulk, despairing over his own state of over the state of the world. In
particular, there is despair over his own salvation. In young girls, just before the menses, there may be
a deep despair, particularly if there is dysmenorrhoea with coldness, prostration, sweating, vomiting
and/or diarrhoea. This despair, over the years, may progress into a full-fledged insanity of the
Veratrum type.
Some of the general characteristics of Veratrum are distinctive, and helpful in prescribing. Veratrum
has great thirst for cold drinks, even for ice. It also desires fruit, particularly acid fruit. There is a great
desire for salt. And throughout the Veratrum state there is severe coldness.
The acute state of Veratrum shows the activity in exaggerated form once again, both mentally and
physically. The excessive vomiting and diarrhoea is very active, sudden, explosive. The classic
Veratrum state is one of severe illness, even shock. The best description is found in Kent's Materia
Medica; "Profuse watery" discharges. These conditions occur without apparent provocation. In
cholera or cholera morbus, it seems that the fluids are forced out of the body. Lies in bed, relaxed
prostrated, cold to the fingertips, with corresponding blueness, fairly purple; lips cold and blue,
countenance pinched and shrunken; great sensation of coldness as if the blood were ice-water; scalp
cold; forehead covered with cold sweat; headache and exhaustion; coldness in spots over the body;
extremities cold as death. Full of cramps; looks as if he would die. This state comes out during the
menses, during colic with nausea, with mania and violent delirium, with headache, with violent
inflammations.
In the muscles, there is much twitching (like Hyoscyamus and Agaricus).
Physically, other than the gastrointestinal and menstrual symptoms, there are severe neuralgic pains
which drive the person to mania. There are severe neuralgic pains in the head, as well as congestive
pains in the head. In the extremities and joints, there are severe neuralgic and rheumatic pains, again
causing mania, coldness, and sweat.
In comparison, Veratrum is highly active like Stramonium and Tarentula more so than Hyoscyamus. It
is not so violent or so threatening as are Stramonium or Tarentula. Of course, in the most extreme
states, it can be violent, but this is not characteristic of the full course of the illness. It is more
religious, righteous, censorious, and haughty than the other remedies.

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MEMORY CARDS (VALERIE SADOVSKY)

Valerie Sadovsky
http://www.marlev.com/homeo/

Veratrum
White Hellebore is an extremely poisonous plant growing in Europe, where it was used as one the
principal poisons for arrows, daggers, etc. When snuffed up it produces profuse running of the nose;
when swallowed, severe vomiting and profuse diarrhea. Narcotic symptoms, such as stupor and
convulsions, appear in addition to vomiting and diarrhea, when the dose is fatal. It was formerly used
in cerebral affections, such as mania, epilepsy, etc., for gout, and, in the form of an ointment or
decoction, in obstinate skin diseases such as scabies and vermin infestation.
ESSENCE: Icy-cold, heartless, with no desire for connection with others. Thinks in terms of social
hierarchy: everyone is either below or above him in the hierarchy. Veratrum has the feeling that he
has lost his social position which he must regain quickly by any means or he will be finished. He tries
to find means for sudden gains, e.g. gambling, lying, fraudulent business, etc. (Sankaran)
MENTAL SYMPTOMS
- HARD lacking connection HAUGHTY critical censorious rude (esp. to people
below them) angry and violent ... cursing LYING and hardly seems to know himself that he
does so
- Fears: of LOSING POSITION or NOT BEING ABLE TO GET TO THE POSITION heights
falling from heights
- Religiosity excessive praying ... DELUSIONS OF RELIGION AND IDENTITY (believes he is a
savior or prophet, or that he has a divine mission; that God is talking to him; preaches on the streets)
despair of salvation
- Mania; acute or chronic psychosis (violence, spending, etc.) meaningless, repetitive actions
(cutting, tearing, picking, etc.)
- Children: precocious (esp. in understanding relationships who is above and who is below) ask
many serious questions restless, hyperactive and disobedient destructive behavior, parents
cant control them cannot connect emotionally (this applies to adults too), there is no way to
reach them (= cold) run away from home at early age
- High sexuality, even in very little kids: touches, hugs and kisses inappropriately (Hyos. tends to
expose himself or talk dirty, but rarely does it)
GENERAL SYMPTOMS
- Tremendous CHILLINESS (one of the chilliest remedies) ... LOCAL COLDNESS (lump of ice on top
of the head)
- COPIOUS EVACUATIONS (vomiting, purging, salivation, sweat, urine) with PROFOUND
PROSTRATION, COLDNESS, BLUENESS AND COLLAPSE; effects are violent and sudden
- COLD PERSPIRATION ON THE FOREHEAD with all complaints
- FAINTING from emotions, least exertion, slight injury, etc.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
Head: vertigo with vomiting and cold sweat severe HA, often with vomiting, with icy coldness, esp.
on the vertex cold face ... profuse cold sweat, esp. on the forehead ... cold breath and tongue in the
acute or collapsed states

Veratrum album 14

GI: diarrhea after fright (with coldness and prostration; also Aco., Gels., Arg-nit, Op.)
gastroenteritis with SIMULTANEOUS VOMITING AND DIARRHEA (Ars) profuse, debilitating
diarrhea, < cold, < menses colitis vomiting and diarrhea during menses with dysmenorrhea ...
projectile vomiting ... abdominal cramping and distention intense thirst vomiting with cough (Ip.)
cravings: sour salt ice fruit ... sardines
Male/Female: SEVERE DYSMENORRHEA, esp. with intense cramping, coldness, vomiting, diarrhea,
and weakness ... hyper-sexual
Extremities: cold fingers and/or toes
PRIME INDICATIONS
1. Excessive restlessness, mental and physical.
2. Ambition, every possible means employed.
3. Tremendous chilliness.
4. Local or general coldness.
5. Excessive evacuations, watery. Cold sweat.
6. Craving for sour fruit, salty things and cold drinks.
ETIOLOGIES: Post-operative shock shock of injury fright disappointed love injured pride
or honor opium, tobacco, alcohol
AFFINITIES: NERVES (ABDOMINAL; heart; blood vessels) vertex blood respiratory
system ... digestive system
MODALITIES: <: EXERTION DRINKING cold drinks fright during pain cold >: hot
drinks walking about covering lying
SENSATIONS: As if ice on the vertex as blood in veins is cold like ice
PAINS: Purging is always associated with sharp cutting pains in the abdomen, and often with cramps
in the limbs.
DISCHARGES: Very COPIOUS rice-water or greenish (stool) ICY-COLD SWEAT
NOTES by Morrinson
- The "evacuant" use of Verat. gives one of the keynotes for its homeopathic use its discharges are
copious (stools, vomiting, urine, salivation, sweat.) The discharges drain the tissues like cholera in
which disease its pathogenetic effects render it one of the first remedies, ranking with Camph. and
Cupr. in Hahnemann's trio (Murphy)
DIFFERENTIALS
Violence: Unlike Stram. and Tarent., Verat. is not emotionally connected, so he doesnt feel any
remorse after, e.g. destroying things. Behind destructive behavior of Stram. is a plea for attention.
Tarent. manipulates parents by destroying things to attract attention.
Fears: Social position is a very important factor in human life, for it ensures security, marital prospects
and protection from attacks. A threat to social position therefore is a threat to all these factors. We see
in Belladonna the fear of being attacked, in Stramonium the threat of being alone in the wilderness,
and in Hyoscyamus the threat of being deserted by his partner. That is why it is said that Veratrum
has all these three remedies in it. In addition, it has a lot to do with ego.
Diarrhea: Camph. also produces coldness and symptoms of collapse, but discharges are scanty and
the nausea marked. Jatropha curcas causes vomiting of ropy albuminous matters with purging like
water from a hydrant, coldness, nausea and gurgling in the abdomen. Podo. is esp. indicated when
pain is absent. The stools are watery and come out with a gush and splutter like water from a hydrant.
There is marked loathing of food. The bowels are more apt to move after midnight and toward
morning. The stools are very liable to vary in color, now yellow, now green, etc. (see more diffs in
Farringtons Clinical MM)
SOURCES: Boger, Synoptic Farrington, Homeopathy (RW) Farrington, Therapeutic Pointers (RW)
Cowperthwaite, Textbook (RW) Vermeulen, Prisma

Veratrum album 15

HERBAL INFORMATION

The rhizome and rootlets of Veratrum album, Linn.

Nat. Ord.Liliaceae (Melanthaceae).
COMMON NAME AND SYNONYMS: White veratrum; Rhizoma veratri, Radix hellebori albi.
ILLUSTRATION: Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, 285.
Botanical Source.Veratrum album is a perennial herb, with a fleshy, oblong, somewhat horizontal,
premorse rhizome, about the thickness of a finger, blackish or brownish-white externally, whitish or
pale yellowish-white internally, having numerous fleshy, brownish-white fibers or true roots. The stem
is straight, round, striated, and from 1 to 4 feet high. The leaves are alternate, plaited, broad-ovate,
and acutish. The flowers are yellowish-white, green at the back, 8 lines in diameter, and produced in a
terminal panicle; segments spreading, serrulate, and somewhat wavy. In other respects it resembles
the Veratrum viride. (L.).
History and Description.White hellebore inhabits Europe, especially the Alpine and Pyreneean
districts. Under the name Veratrum californicum, Durand, this plant is said to have been found in
Colorado and other western states. The part used is the rhizome, though the whole plant is highly
noxious. The dried root, as it occurs in pharmacy, consists of a single, double, or many-headed
rhizome, cylindrical, or in the form of a truncated cone, from 2 to 4 inches by 1 inch, rough,
corrugated, grayish or blackish-brown externally, having a faint, unpleasant odor, and a sweetish,
bitter, and then intensely disagreeable, and permanently acrid taste. Diluted alcohol is its best solvent.
Its powder is somewhat of an ash color.
Chemical Composition.Much confusion as to the active principles of the root of white hellebore,
existed prior to the researches of Wright and Luff (Jour. Chem. Soc., 1878, pp. 338-359, and 1879,
pp. 405-426; also see Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1878, p. 489, and 1879, p. 367). Contrary to previous
statements by Pelletier and Caventou (1819), Weigand (1842), Weppen (1873), and, in accordance
with the views of Dragendorff (1872) and Tobien (1877), these authors established the absence of
cevadine, the active principle of sabadilla seed (see Veratrina and Veratrum Viride). They believe the
poisonous properties of white hellebore to be due to an amorphous alkaloid, veratralbine
(C26H43NO5). In addition, the authors found three crystallizable alkaloids, jervine (C26H37NO3),
discovered by E. Simon, in 1837, and called by him barytine, because, like barium salts, it formed an
almost insoluble sulphate; pseudo-jervine (C29H43NO7); and rubijervive (C26H43NO3).
The painstaking researches of G. Salzberger (Archiv der Pharm., 1890, pp. 462-483) have thrown
further light on this subject. The author discovered a crystallizable base (protoveratrine, C32H51NO11)
of enormous poisonous activity, and extremely sensitive to alkalies. It is permanent in the air.,
insoluble in water, benzol, petroleum ether, quite soluble in chloroform, and in boiling (96 per cent)
alcohol, little soluble in cold ether, easily soluble in dilute acids, except acetic acid. Its alcoholic
solution turns red litmus paper blue, and a trace of its powder excites violent sneezing. The crystals
dissolve in concentrated sulphuric acid with greenish color, which turns blue, and, later, violet.
Warming with concentrated sulphuric acid produces vapors of isobutyric acid, and the liquid turns dark
cherry-red. About 0.03 per cent was obtained from the root. In addition, the author found the following
crystallizable alkaloids, all being nearly insoluble in ether, and indications of other alkaloids existing in
the root: Protoveratridine (C26H45NO8), 0.005 per cent, almost insoluble in alcohol and ether,
physiologically inert, and probably a decomposition product of protoveratrine; jervine (0.1 per cent

Veratrum album 16

crude alkaloid), pseudo-jervine, and rubijervive (0.005 per cent), which he found of the composition
and the general properties assigned to them by Wright and Luff. Jervine is feebly toxic, and is the
most abundant of the veratrum alkaloids. Its salts, with sulphuric, hydrochloric, and nitric acids are
very little soluble in water. The two other bases are physiologically inert. Wright and Luff's veratralbin
is considered by Salzberger as not sufficiently characterized chemically. The root also contains a
green, fatty oil and a volatile oil of a delicious and permanent anise flavor.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.White hellebore is a violent irritant poison, occasioning, when
snuffed up into the nostrils, severe coryza. When swallowed, it causes sore mouth, swelling of the
tongue, gastric beat, and burning, severe vomiting, and often profuse diarrhoea. Vertigo, weakness,
and tremors of the extremities, feeble pulse, loss of voice, dilatation of pupils, spasms of the ocular
muscles, blindness, cold sweating, and mental disturbances are also produced. When it proves fatal,
narcotic symptoms are superadded, such as prolonged stupor and convulsions. Gastro-intestinal
inflammation has also been produced by it. When not fatal, distressing praecordial oppression
persists for some time, and there are produced nervous and spasmodic symptoms and prolonged
debility. It was formerly administered as an emetic and purgative in insanity, as a diaphoretic in some
diseases of the skin, and as a sternutatory, in combination with some other powder to modify its
action, in headache, amaurosis, and ophthalmia. Poisoning by white hellebore may be treated by
coffee as a drink and in injection, with stimulants to overcome the depressed condition of the heart
and arteries, and opiates and demulcents to relieve internal inflammation. At present it is rarely used,
except in the form of decoction or ointment, as an external application to kill lice, and cure the itch,
pruritis, and some other cutaneous affections; but, used thus, it is not always free from danger. It has
been used for the cure of gout, as a substitute for the Eau Mdicinale of Husson; 3 parts of the wine
of white hellebore added to 1 part of laudanum, was given in doses of from 1/2 to 2 fluid drachms.
Minute doses of a tincture of Veratrum album are efficient in bowel disorders, with gushing, watery
evacuations, there being more or less cramp-like or spasmodic action in the muscular 1/2 of the
intestines and abdominal walls. It has thus been employed in cholera infantum, cholera morbus, in
both of which it also cheeks the vomiting, and in Asiatic cholera. For these uses the 3 x dilution may
be added to water in the proportion of 30 drops of the tincture to 4 fluid ounces of water, the dose of
which, in severe cases, is a teaspoonful every 15 minutes. For its earlier uses, the dose of the powder
is from 1 to 8 grains, gradually and cautiously increased, commencing with 1 grain; of the vinous
tincture, from 20 to 60 minims. Its use always requires great care.
Specific Indications and Uses.Gushing watery discharges from the bowels, with spasmodic or
cramp-like action of the intestines and abdominal parieties; cold face; sunken eyes; body covered with
cold sweat.
Related Species.Veratrum album var. Lobelianum, Bernhardt (Veratrum album var. viridiflorum of
Mertens and Koch), is a European plant closely related to white and American hellebore. Its chief
difference consists in its having bracts of a greater length, and a simpler inflorescence, the blossoms
of which are pale-green. Tobien (1877) found jervine and veratroidine in both the rhizome and young
leaves of this species.