• Indurations, especially of glands with stony hardness and blueness
• Menses flow only in the morning, followed by exhaustion
• Ankles turn in easily

Sources: Mineral kingdom
Synonyms: Animal charcoal, Leather charcoal
Prover: Dr Hahnemann in 1827
Duration of Action: 60 Days
Miasmatic Background: Psora, sycosis and syphilis
Diathesis: Scrofulous
Thermal Relationship: Chilly patient

Introduction and History: Carbo animalis or animal charcoal is made from charred oxide. It contains Calcarea phosphorica in a small quantity. The entire carbon group has putrid discharges and exhaltations. All act on the skin, causing intertrigo and excoriations. Carbon tetrachloride is said to cause fatty liver. Carbo animalis is often indicated in the last stage of cancer, pneumonia, bronchitis and tuberculosis.

Preparation: It is prepared by trituration of animal charcoal.

Constitution and Physiognomy

1. Carbon is suited to old people, greatly debilitated, especially when there is venous plethora and blueness of skin.
2. Constitutional syphilis.
3. It is suitable to old people of feeble constitution or to those people whose vitality becomes low on account of some serious or deep seated diseased condition or loss of vital fluids.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): It mainly acts on the female sexual organs, breast, heart, respiratory organs, mouth, rectum, skin, mind, ears, eyes and locomotor system.

Ailments From: ill-effects of eating spoiled fish or decayed vegetables. They are over affected by small vital losses. Sprains.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. Acts through the vegetative nervous system, upon the lymphatic glandular system, digestive organs and skin.
2. Through the great sympathetic it produces marked debility of the animal nervous system.
3. It acts on the lymphatic glandular system producing enlarged and hypertrophied glands.
4. Acts on the digestive organs causing a weak, sore and empty feeling at the pit of the stomach.
5. It acts on the female sexual organs causing menstrual disturbances, leucorrhoea and malignant ulceration of the neck of the womb.
6. Acts on the skin causing burning, rawness, fissures and moisture.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Patient has a desire to be alone, sad and reflective, avoids conversations.
2. Anxiety at night with orgasm of blood.
3. Whining. Weeps during meals. Easily frightened.
4. Fear of dark, worse on closing the eyes.
5. Homesickness.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Headache: Headache as if there is a tornado in the head; as if the head had been blown to pieces; has to sit up at night and hold it together.

Cyanosis: Circulation feeble, stagnated and minimum; sinking of vital heat.

Glands: Glands are indurated, swollen, painful; in the neck, axillae, groin, mammae, pains lancinating, cutting, burning.

Strains: Easily strained from lifting even a small weight, straining and lifting easily produce great debility; ankles turn while walking.

Joints: Weak joints easily sprained by slight exertion.

Menses: Menses are too early, frequent long lasting, dark, clotted, putrid. Flow in the morning only, followed by great exhaustion; so weak can hardly speak.

Cancer: Cancer of the uterus; burning pain down the thighs; pelvic bone painful on sitting. Last stage of breast cancer with painful indurations in the breast, especially right, while nursing arresting breathing.

Leucorrhoea: Watery, acrid, burning leucorrhoea, particularly when Walking, turns the linen yellow.

Lochia: Lochia is too long, continued, acrid, excoriating the parts and very offensive, with much exhaustion.

Stomach: Saltish water rises from the stomach. Weak, sore, empty feeling in the pit of the stomach.

Chest: Stitching pain in the chest remaining after recovery from pleurisy.

Hearing: Hearing is confused. Patient cannot tell from what direction a sound comes.

Sleep: Sleep is full of fancies, talks, groans; sheds tears in sleep.

Warts: Warts on hands and face of elderly people with a bluish colour of the limb.

Important Characteristic Features

Female sexual organs: Carbo animalis women sink down at every menstrual period as if she would die. Menses are too early, too long and too copious. Chronic induration with enlargement of uterus, which gradually grows from year to year. Induration of the cervix and whole uterus. Copious flow of leucorrhoea. Offensive uterine discharges. Menses are black and offensive.

Ulceration of the uterus gradually progressing to a malignant state which leads to malignant ulceration of the cervix. The condition burns, bleeds constantly and oozes a foetid watery discharge. The burning pain in the uterus extends down the thighs. Indicated in last stages of breast cancer. There are darting pains in the breast. Painful indurations in the breast, especially right, while nursing, arresting breathing. Worse after menses, during menses.

General Modalities

Aggravation: From slight causes, loss of vital fluids, sprains, lifting, taking cold, dry cold air, after loss of animal fluids, while eating, from sprains, touch, after shaving, lying on right side, after and during menses, throbbing headache, in open air.

Amelioration: In a warm room, from laying hand on affected part.

Remedy Relationships

Complementary: Calc-p.

Antidoted by: Ars, Camph, Nux-v, vinegar.

Antidote to: Effects of quinine.

Comparison

After menses, exhausted physically and mentally, scarcely able to speak: Alum, Carb-an, Cocc.

Acne rosacea, leaves unsightly scars: Kali-bi, Carb-an.

Ankles easily turn when walking: Carb-an, Led, Med.

Easy dislocations and spraining of ankle, foot bends under: Carb-an, Nat-m, Nat-c.

Cancerous glands: Carb-an, Con.

Cancerous scirrhus: Carb-an, Con, Sil.

Dosage: 3x to 200. 3x for insufflation in aural polypi.

Repetition: Bears repetition well.

Therapeutic Value: Acne rosacea, Aneurysm, Asphyxiation, Belchings, Breast cancer, Breast feeding, Bubo, Cancer; Cataract, Coccyx pain, Constipation, Cough, Disordered appetite, Emphysema, Face eruptions, Gangrene, Glandular indurations, Haemorrhoids, Headache, Homesickness, Hookworms, Hypertrophy, Legs painful, Leucorrhoea, Lumbago, Nasal disorders, Otorrhoea, Pancreas indurated, Perspiration altered, Pleurisy, Polyp, Scrofula, Strabismus, Syphilis, Tongue disorders, Trachea disorders, Ulceration, Uterine cancer; Vision disorders.