A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica

Elaps Corallinus elaps.

Clarke (1902)In every bookSave

General

Elaps corallinus. Brazilian Coral Snake. N. O. Elapidæ. Poison pressed from the venom-sac of the living snake and triturated with sugar of milk. Higgins used the gall of the snake, Fel Elapidis Corallini .

Clinical

Amaurosis. Axilla, itching in. Cancer. Deafness. Ear, affections of. Ear, wax in . Epistaxis. Hæmorrhages. Headache. Hemiplegia. Knee, pain in. Metrorrhagia. Naso-pharyngitis. Nose, stuffed. Ozæna. Phthisis. Pneumonia. Threat, ulcerated.

Characteristics

Elaps is distinguished from the other serpent venoms by the pre-eminent blackness of its discharges and hæmorrhages; black ear-wax. Characteristic symptoms are: Fruit and cold drinks lie like ice on stomach and cause a cold feeling in chest. Sensation as if all the blood were collected in head. E. V. Moffat has found Elaps 6 almost a specific in chronic naso-pharyngeal catarrh, with greenish crusts and subjective disagreeable odour. Rumbling in ears as of thunder. Sensation in brain as if shaken. Sensation as if food turned like a corkscrew on swallowing; as if intestines were twisted by a cord and strung together in a knot. Pains in the longs (especially right) are very marked: "Sensation within chest and at sternum, as if pleuræ were pulled off and the lungs violently drawn apart." Sensation as if a heavy load, iron bar, or weight on parts. Fluids roll audibly into stomach. The glands and skin of axilla are affected. (I cured with Elap . 200 a very old-standing case of irritating rash in axilla (right) with recurrent suppuration of axillary glands,) Periodicity is marked. Rest > , exertion < ; but walking > epistaxis, pain in stomach and lungs. Lying on abdomen > pain in stomach. Many symptoms are < at night. (Sudden deafness at night with roaring and cracking in ears.) Dreams of dead persons. Warmth of bed < . Great sensitiveness to cold: draught, wind, wet weather < . Horror of rain. Touch < .

Relations

Antidoted by: Radiated heat, Alcohol, Arsen. Compare: Arsen., Carb. v., Crotal., Lach., Mur. ac., Nit. ac., Rhus t.; (red spot before sight) Duboisia; (effects of cold, wet weather) Dulc.

Mind

Absence of mind. — Depression of spirits; desire for solitude. — Fear of being left alone, as if something horrible might happen. — Apprehensive of some fatal disease. — Angry about one's self, and does not wish to be spoken to.

Head

Vertigo; falls forward. — Pain in the cerebellum, r. side. — Fulness in head, as if all the blood were collected in it; fears apoplexy; with cold hands. — Severe stitching pains in forehead, with heaviness of head; occasionally pain intermits, 8-10 days, thundering in l. ear, deafness, lachrymation. — Violent pain in vertex (afternoon), as if the brain were shaking, with nausea, which prevents her from keeping the head quiet. — Congestion of blood to the head on stooping. — Stinging headache, with sleeplessness. — Weight in the forehead; pain in the forehead. — Lancinating headache, first in l. side of the head, extending to r. side. — Headache in occiput after mental exertion.

Eyes

Stye on l. eye, with lancination. — Red eyelids. — Tickling and red streaks of the sclerotica. — Large red, fiery spots before the eyes; red bar before the eyes, when opening them. — Dryness and burning in both eyes on waking; bloated around the eyes in the morning. — Eyes red and inflamed; blear-eyed. — Glassy look. — When closing the eyes everything looks (dirty) red; dotted with black points. — Violent itching in the l. eye. — Aversion to light; desire to close the eyes; everything seems white even at night; grey veil before eyes; on stooping rush of blood to head with vertigo and pain at root of nose; can scarcely distinguish light from dark. — Amaurosis.

Ears

Buzzing in r. ear. — Crackling in ears on swallowing. — Itching in the ears. — Cerumen black and hardened. — Illusions of hearing; hears whistling and ringing; imagines he hears some one talk. — Discharge of a serous fluid or greenish-yellow liquid from (l.) ear (in the morning). — Offensive otorrhœa with eruptions. — Crusty eruptions on ear and cheek. — Discharge of blood from the ear. — Sudden deafness at night with constant roaring and cracking. — Hearing of both ears impaired; otalgia of r.

Nose

Bad smell (like putrid herring pickle) from the nose. — Stoppage of the nostrils (high up, with dull aching in forehead); coryza from the least current of air. — White and watery mucus is discharged from the nose. — Epistaxis: sudden, profuse, while walking; after a blow. — Blood black, copious, in steady stream.

Face

Dark complexion. — Lancinations from root of nose to ear. — Redness and swelling of r. cheek, with chilliness all over the body. — Redness, heat, and formication in r. cheek. — Swelling of face, extending to r. side of the nose. — Red blotches on bloated face.

Mouth

Tongue black or dark red. — Tongue swollen and whitish in morning. — Pricking at tip of tongue.

Throat

Naso-pharyngeal catarrh, greenish crusts, subjective disagreeable odour. — Dull pain from nares to ears; < by swallowing; posterior wall of pharynx dry, fissured, covered with crusts. — The beverage is arrested in œsophagus, as from a spasmodic contraction. — Constriction in pharynx with pressure in the throat. — Ulceration of throat, < l. side, difficult swallowing of liquids; recurring from exposure to wind or rain.

Stomach

Vomiting of green bile, followed by diarrhœa. — Acidity of the stomach, with nausea and faint feeling; sour eructations. — Violent thirst; cold feeling in the chest after drinking. — Hunger, with violent headache if not satisfied at once. — Vomiting of mucus, with fainting. — Fruit and cold drinks feel like ice in the stomach. — Burning in stomach. — Weight in stomach, with nausea, after eating. — Sudden pains in stomach, as if she must sink down; < while sitting, > on walking about.

Abdomen

Lancinations from both groins to symphysis pubis. — Colic, with urging to stool. — The intestines feel twisted, as if by a cord, and strung together in a knot, with strangulating sensation. — Sensation as if the blood in the abdomen were flowing backward.

Stool and Anus

Diarrhœa, blackish, frothy, yellowish, watery, with mucus and rumbling; bile; bloody mucus. — Discharge of black, liquid blood from the bowels and at stool, with colic and sensation as if the bowels were twisted. — Prolapsus ani. — Constriction of the sphincter, after bloody stool. — Crawling at anus as if from worms.

Urinary Organs

Red urine, with cloudy sediment. — Thick urine, with red sediment. — Suppression of urine; strangury. — Discharge of mucus from urethra.

Male Sexual Organs

Impotence. — Weight and swelling of the testes. — Discharge of prostatic fluid. — The skin of the prepuce is thick and inflamed.

Female Sexual Organs

Discharge of black blood between the menses. — Menses every two or three weeks; flow profuse, dark. — Weight at the uterus; at the vagina, after an hysteric attack. — Itching in the vagina; formication at the vulva. — Sensation as of something burst in womb, followed by continuous stream of dark-coloured blood on attempting to urinate.

Respiratory Organs

Dry cough, which ends in raising black blood. — Taste of blood in the mouth, before coughing. — Constant cough, with frightful pains throughout lungs as if they were torn out ( < r. apex). — Stitches in the upper part of each lung; better when walking. — Oppressed breathing in the evening; < on going up stairs.

Chest

Feeling as of heavy load on chest. — Constriction of the chest. — Coldness in chest after drinking. — Sensation in chest and at sternum as if pleuræ were pulled off and the lungs violently torn apart. — Stitches in l. chest; worse when breathing. — Pleuritic pain r. side, felt in axilla. — Cannot lean to r. side on account of a very painful pulling in r. lung. — Sensitiveness of r. side.

Heart

Spitting of black blood, with painful tearing, as if proceeding from the heart. — Palpitation of the heart, with anxiety and trembling of the hands.

Neck and Back

Stiffness in the r. side of neck. — Lancinations in l. side of neck. — Painful pressure at nape of neck. — Lancinations in the whole spinal marrow, from occiput to sacrum. — Pressure between the shoulders. — Coldness in back. — Pain in the back, with chilliness, cold feet, and strangury.

Upper Limbs

Itching under axilla, with tetter. — Inflamed and suppurating glands in axilla. — The arms and hands are swollen, bluish, covered with red spots; also r. leg and foot. — Crampy constriction at bend of elbow, extending to hand, as if one had carried a heavy weight. — Pricking in the l. upper arm. — Hot rash on r. wrist. — The r. hand feels as if paralysed. — The tips of the fingers peel off.

Lower Limbs

Cramps in the calves. — Icy coldness of r. leg. — Rheumatic pains in l. leg. — Sensation of spraining and stiffness in knee-joint. — The l. foot is swollen and blue, with red spots. — Pricking under toenails.

Skin

Red pimples at the tips of the fingers. — The tips of the fingers peel off. — Little pimples, followed by desquamation. — Yellow spots on the hands and fingers. — Red tetter from the corner of the r. nostril to the cheek.

Sleep

Sleeplessness from lancinating headache. — Dreams of business, of dead persons.

Fever

Sensitive to cold. — The arm shudders when dipping the hand into water. — Coldness in the back. — Dry heat, at midnight; cannot endure any cover. — With the fever, oppression of breathing. — Flushes of heat in evening, with, redness and heat of face and ears. — Chill at, noon, without thirst, followed by dry heat in afternoon, without perspiration. — Cold perspiration all over.