BY WM. H. HOLCOMBE, M. D., WATERPROOF, LA.

About three months ago I was called to see a negro man suffering with Hemoptysis. He had been much exposed a month before that, as he had run away from his master and prowled about the woods or out-houses during a spell of very bitter weather for this latitude. When he first came home; he had what they supposed was pneumonia, for which he was treated by cupping and blistering externally and Aconite and Phosphorus internally. The man had got up and about, but remained weak and spiritless, had no appetite, and was constantly hawking up mouthfuls of fluid red blood. There was little or no pain in the breast and little or no cough; no night sweats, but some emaciation and a remarkable slowness of pulse. I prescribed Ipecac³ and Hamamelis³ alternately every two hours. The next day the red color of the sputa paled to a deep rusty hue, but the day after it was as bloody as ever. The crepitant rale was heard over the upper half of both lungs and there was slight dullness on percussion.

I treated this case for three or four weeks with the greatest care — with high dilutions and low. Aconite, Arnica, Arsenicum, Calcarea earb., Crocus, China, Digitalis, Ipecac, Kali bichrom, Lachesis, Hamamelis, Secale, Sepia, Sulphur were all employed — from the form of mother-tincture or crude substance up to the 200th attenuation, and even the 1000th and 2000th were tried, but all in vain. Hydropathic appliances were also futile, as Well as external irritations. In despair I resorted to some allopathic measures. Strong purgation, nauseating doses of antimony, and strong ones of Digitalis, cod liver oil and lime, gallic acid, turpentine, table-salt last pills of Opium, Ipecac and sugar of lead were faith fully used, but no impression whatever was made on the disease. In the mean time other and more threatening symptoms had appeared. He had constant and severe pain in the chest and a very distressing cough. The pulse had become rapid, ranging from 100 to 120, and the expectoration of liquid blood more profuse. The dullness on percussion had greatly increased, emaciation was progressive, and the patient confident that he had consumption, was gloomy and despairing and very unwilling to die. His master had determined to try change of air and climate in his case, when I persuaded him to send him to my house where I could give him constant and close personal inspection for a while.

I began with very high attenuations and persisted, only one dose a day, for several days with no result. The pains in the chest, the nightly cough and the bloody expectorations were distressing. One morning I pitched upon the Acalipha indica, and put twenty drops of the 7th dilution in a tumbler of water, and told him to take a spoonful every two hours. The next morning to my great surprise he told me the bleeding had entirely stopped, and that the pain and cough had greatly decreased. By the next morning, pain, cough, and expectoration were all gone, nor have any of them returned although ten days have elapsed. The man declares himself perfectly well, has fine appetite, perfect secretions, c, and walked out home five miles, rather than wait for a wagon which was to have been sent for him. He has had no medicine since but one dose of Calcarea carb.³⁰ on the day he left me.

Now if this was not a propter hoc it was certainly a very curious and satisfactory post hoc. I am very cautious in making the diagnosis, whenever it is possible, between a recovery and a cure. We very frequently give to the remedy last employed the credit of doing what has really been brought about by previous medicines, by time, nature or various and sometimes inappreciable favoring circumstances. In my general skepticism as to the result of medication, even homoeopathic, I am more a disciple of Forbes than of Hahnemann. Still in whatever way I study or analyze the above case, the conclusion is forced upon me that Acalipha indica effected a prompt and wonderful resolution of the disease, which at least promises to be permanent.

Acalipha indica was introduced to the notice of the profession in this country by Dr. Tomieire, of Calcutta, in a letter to Dr. Payne, of Bath, Maine, and by him laid before the Am. Provers' Union, and published, I believe, in the Philadelphia Journal of Homoeopathy. It was recommended to Dr. Tomieire by a native as a remedy for jaundice. While taking it, it seemed to bring on cough and hemoptysis, and he used it accordingly in three consumptive cases with hemorrhage in all of which it promptly checked the bleeding. I had employed it twice before with speedy curative effect, but as some other remedy was given in alternation (a very bad habit which it is very hard to break) I attached no special importance to the experiments. The article I used was procured some six or eight years ago by the late Dr. Bratt, who preceded me here in practice. I strongly recommend it to the notice of the profession.

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