• Thick leathery crusts with pus beneath or white, chalk-like crusts with yellow pus, breeds vermin. Bleed when touched or torn
• Ulcers itch and burn like fire; vesicles appear around ulcerate; fiery red areola around ulcer
• Neuralgic pains after herpes

Source: Vegetable kingdom
Synonyms: Daphne mezereum, Spurge olive, Chameleons germanica Formula: Thymelaceae
Prover: Dr Samuel Hahnenmann
Duration of Action: 30 to 60 days
Miasmatic Background: Syphilis
Temperament: Phlegmatic
Diathesis: Rheumatic and gouty

Introduction and History: The plant flowers in very early spring, even when snow is on the ground and it is suited to complaints which come on in the earliest months of the year. Affections go from above downwards from within outwards and from right to left.

Preparation and Parts Used: Mother tincture is prepared from the bark of the shrub.

Habit and Habitat: Hilly woods over nearly whole of Europe and Russian Asia.

Constitution and Physiognomy: It is suited to light haired people with a phlegmatic temperament. They are irresolute, gouty, rheumatic and syphilitic in constitution.

Ailments From: ill-effects of suppressed eczema capitis, vaccination and mercury.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): It mainly acts on the skin, bones, nerves and mucous membrane of the mouth and stomach.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. It acts on the mucous membrane producing violent gastrointestinal inflammation.
2. It acts on kidneys producing catarrhal inflammation, haemorrhage and albuminuria.
3. It also acts on lungs producing rheumatic catarrhal inflammation.
4. It acts on the utero-vaginal mucous membrane causing catarrhal rheumatic leucorrhoea.
5. It acts on skin producing vesicular inflammation and painful ulceration.
6. It acts on serous fibrous tissues producing rheumatoid inflammation.
7. It acts on lymphatic glands producing congestion and secretion of acid from it.
8. Mezereum acts on the cerebrospinal nervous system producing congestion and inflammation in it.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Patient is hypochondriacal and despondent.
2. Indifference to everything and everybody, looks through a window for hours without being conscious of objects around.
3. Apprehensive at the pit of the stomach when expecting some very unpleasant incidence.
4. Religious and financial melancholy.
5. Aversion to talk. Uttering a word seems like a hard task.
6. Reproaches or quarrels with others.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Headache: Violent headache after slight vexation; painful on slightest touch.

Toothache: Toothache, specially in carious teeth, feel elongated, dull pain when biting on them and when touched with the tongue. Worse at night, better with mouth open and drawing in air. Roots decay.

Bones: Bones, especially long bones are inflamed, swollen; nocturnal pains going from above downwards; after abuse of mercury, after venereal diseases.

Caries: Caries, exostosis and tumours; soften from within out.

Eczema: Eczema and itching eruptions after vaccination. Intolerable itching, worse in bed and from touch; with copious, serous exudations.

Ulcers: Ulcers with thick, yellowish-white scabs, under which thick, yellow pus collects.

Vesicles: They appear under the ulcer, itch violently, burn like fire. Shining, fiery red areola around.

Child: Child scratches the face continuously which is covered with blood, moist eruptions; itching worse at night; inflammatory redness of the face.

Menses: Menses are scanty, frequent, profuse, long lasting with faceache.

Important Characteristic Features

Bony affections: Bones, especially long bones are inflamed and swollen; decay; exostosis. Pain worse at night, from touch and in damp weather. Aching, itching in knees. One hand hot. Limbs feel cold as if shortened. Paralysis of the flexors of the fingers, cannot hold anything. Legs and feet go to sleep. Burning in tibia and long bones.

Skin affections: It is a very useful remedy for eczematous appearance of skin. Eczema with intolerable itching, worse by a warm bath, in bed. Itching changing place on scratching, coldness after. Eruptions ooze an acrid, gluey moisture, form thick crusts, scabs with pus beneath or chalky white in colour. Deep, hard and painful ulcers that itch and burn surrounded by vesicles and shining, fiery red areola. Herpes zoster with burning pain.

General Modalities

Aggravation: At night, after suppressions, warmth of bed, from cold air, damp air, from mercury, vaccination, at night, in the evening until midnight, warm food, touch, motion, during menses.

Amelioration: By open air, wrapping up, heat of stove, from eating.

Remedy Relationships

Antidotes: Kali-hp, Merc.

Follows well: Calc, Caust, Ign, Lyc, Merc, Nux-v, Phos, Puls.

Remedy antidotes: Alcohol, Merc, Nit-ac, Phos, Phyt.

Dosage: 6 to 200 or higher.

Repetition: Single and minimum dose.

Therapeutic Value: Bone tumour; Constipation, Deafness, Headache, Herpes zoster; Otorrhoea, Periostitis, Toothache, etc.