coating, or the mucous membranes are dry, hot and bleed easily. The borax taste is mouldy and the smell from the breath is also mouldy or musty. Natrum mur. has it also.

Skin Symptoms.-The slightest injury suppurates. The erythemas are of a bluish red color and they appear about the nates, groin or perineum. The face is often pale and earthy colored. A sensation of a cobweb or of the white of egg is frequently felt upon the face and hands. Small ulcers form about the joints of the fingers or eczema of the fingers (sepia, nat. sulph). There is a burning heat in the fingers as if frost bitten. The same symptom is found in the toes. The chancroid ulcer may become phagedenic. He awakes very early in the morning with heat of the whole body; there is an inclination to uncover, as in sulphur.

Borax produces hard callous places like ant. crude, and old ulcers or wounds have a tendency to re-open and supurate.

Sometimes the skin appears wrinkled or corrugated. We find this same symptom in the mouth of a typical borax or marasmic child. Herpes may appear about the nates with much burning and itching. In a child with a marked tubercular taint and with sycosis engrafted upon it, we many times get a good picture of borax.

BRYONIA.

The remedies beginning with "B" are not only few in number, but are not prolific in skin symptoms. In some forms of skin affections we find that a few of them come promptly to our assistance. Bryonia is one of this number, being demonstrated where eruptions come on from the bad effects of heat, artificial especially, also in eruptions due to gastric difficulties and to exanthamata.

We see in bryonia the blending of the psoric element with the tubercular, just as we see the blending of the psoric with the sycotic in rhus tox. If we are acquainted with these blendings, it is easy for us to distinguish between them, especially when the modalities are not very clear. The duration of its action in the lower potencies is from four to six days, and in the high potencies from three to four weeks. The keynote of this remedy is that the patients' strength leaves them on motion and all their pains and sufferings are aggravated by motion. They feel comparatively well while lying at perfect rest. To find an easy position where a light yet firm pressure can be applied pleases them; this we recognize in their desire to be perfectly quiet on the painful side. In sickness the

patient is very nervous, irritable, cross and even ugly. All their pains and sufferings have a business air to them, they do not do things half way. Their pains are sharp, cutting and keen like the thrust of a sword. Piercing, cutting, jabbing and shooting are some of the symptoms. The pains compel the patient to move because of their severity, which greatly aggravates the suffering, and it is sometime before he quiets down again and becomes easy. This is true of the rheumatism, neuralgia, pneumonia and pluerisy of bryonia. The patient will often remark, "if I have another thrust like that it will take my life." Mentally he may be peevish, morose, irritable, despondent, apprehensive and anxious about the future. In fact it is one of the remedies that may be called for for the bad effects of anger, chagrin or mortification; in this it resembles staphisagria. Its wonderful action upon the joints, fibrous tissue, serous membrane and ligaments is well known and may be studied elsewhere. In most diseases with perhaps the exception of pleurisy pains, the patient's diseases are slow in coming to a crisis. Its diseases usually begin with a tired feeling, weariness, heaviness, and occasionally it is but a heavy languid feeling with headache. There is no desire to do anything, to move about or make any exertion. They are not exhausted like arsenicum, but they have no inclination to move. It is a remedy of broad range of action, from a slight pain to the most profound typhoid state.

In all his sickness he desires very little nursing or attention; he declines to be disturbed and especially to be moved, yet in his delirium, he is a typical business man, going over and over his business, or he is going somewhere on a business trip, or is visiting at his home, which is always at a distance. He frequently wishes to go home or go somewhere, or he wants something he knows not what. His sickness is worse in the morning, and by heat and motion. As the arsenicum patient fears death and the arnica one touch, so the bryonia patient fears to move. He desires both mental and physical rest. In addition to these, he wants a cool room, cool air and cooling applications though not to chill however, which soothes the hot congested localized inflammatory condition; and to this add great refreshing draughts of cold water and you have a fair picture of a bryonia patient. To this we would add that if you are a nurse, keep all callers out of his room, and don't do anything to arouse his anger for he is a touchy fellow when he is suffering.

Skin Symptoms.-The bryonia patient, whether he be dark or light haired, has a pale white skin. In severe fevers you may find the face puffed, purplish, swollen, besotted or mottled, with brain befogged and a stupid intellect, but usually the face is pale, the lips dry, cracked or bleading. In measles or scarlet fever the whole mouth and tongue are often dry, parched and brown. He loves cold, acid drinks like orangade or lemonade. His taste is either bitter or flat and insipid.

The skin symptoms are eruption of small red spots like urticaria all over the body. These spots are round, red and feel hot. The surrounding skin is pale. There is a red measly like rash in children due to summer heat or from gastric irregularities; great itching and burning in the skin in measles at the stage of desquamation worse by heat of bed and better by cool bathing and rubbing with olive oil. Measles suppressed followed by pleurisy or pneumonia and swelling of the joints; nettle rash from heat; from being heated from work or over-exertion; great pricking and burning; red, hot puffy spots on the face; swelling of the cellular tissue; skin pale, white; swelling of the eyelids similar to apis; measles suppressed with a raging headache; great thirst for large drinks of cold water; mouth, lips and tongue dry, tongue coated white with a bitter taste: great dyness of the palate; the parts almost stick together they are so dry; the saliva may be increased, however it is cottony with a pasty, insipid bitter or flat taste; cough in measles though dry and tight; obliged to support the head or chest when he coughs; sharp stinging pains when coughing.

Red, dry papular rash on the interior surfaces of the body, with pickling sensation and heat; worse on the forearms and front of the chest. Acne, due to indigestion; dry papular or dry white papulo-pustale or eruption with thirst; white coated tongue and the general symptoms of bryonia; heat of the whole body with thirst; sudden dry heat with pricking in the skin. Dry burning heat follows its eruptions; profuse sweat from moderate exercise; sour profuse sweat in its rheumatic diseases, worse in the morning; dropsies, pleuretic troubles, meningeal diseases follow the suppression of acute eruptive diseases; erythema, with fine papular eruption due to heat or from being too warmly dressed; skin red, streaked over the local inflammations and rheumatism and swelling of the joints.

WHAT TO DO FOR THE NERVES.

By GEO. E. DIENST, M. D.

ERVES. NERVOUS. "I am so nervous."

What

distressing pictures we often find when traveling along

the nerve route!

In taking up the study of what to do for the nerves, it will be impossible to refrain from allusions to mental conditions. These studies, however, are not intended to be a treatise on mental diseases under a new name, but simply a few brief points on what to give for certain nervous conditions and symptoms as the busy practitioner finds them. Space forbids the mention of any remedy not sufficiently proven to be perfectly reliable.

Apathetic. This implies want of tone, torpor, lack of energy and is one form of nervousness. Indolence and laziness cannot be considered a part of this subject. They are separate conditions and do not, necessarily, belong to a diseased state of the nervous system. Nor is indifference a part of our theme except when this indifference is due to the ravages of disease.

Apathy is a condition found in many different diseases, conditions and individuals. When one becomes apathetic in business affairs, in professional life, in his daily toils, and ceases to take the same lively interest in them as was his custom, we think of two leading remedies, sepia and stramonium. Of sepia because of its power in changing the vital forces to such an extent that he dislikes what he once liked and hates what he once loved. Before reaching the stage of hatred he becomes apathetic, unconcerned, indifferent.

Of Stramonium because of its action on the mental sphere destroying man's power of volition, forcing him into many fanciful ideas, producing inconsistancy, creating a desire for his work or vocation one moment, and a hatred for it the next moment. Before these extremes reach the point of delirium, man is apathetic, indifferent, careless. This apathy is a depraved state of the nervous system and an index to future irreparable discord if not corrected. These remedies will prevent disaster if administered in season.

When one grows apathetic to the world in general and to everything in particular we think at once of carbo veg. because of its vitalizing effect upon the nervous system rousing sinking energies, strengthening enfeebled circulation, and renewing the vital forces of man. There are other

remedies frequently indicated in such depraved conditions of the nerves and they are aconite, cina, phosporus and sepia.

Apathy to external conditions and things is not infrequent, especially among those who are, by nature or disease, decidedly self-centered. To wake such people to a realization that there are things of importance outside of themselves we turn to sulphur as a corrective. Why? Because of its power to control venous engorgement, a feeling of weight and heaviness in the limbs, back, and head, which causes depression in nerve trunks and their branches. It weakens, and puts into normal circulation the stagnant blood which inhibits normal nerve action, relieves the numbness incident to impeded circulation of the blood, and restores to vigor the entire organism of the human body. This does not apply to external things only, but to diseased conditions of nerve centers caused by receded eruptions forcing one into an apathetic state of soul and body to such an extent that all things lose their attraction.

Apathy to the normal pleasures and recreations of life is most frequently corrected with natrum mur. and sulphur. We have just mentioned the conditions peculiar to sulphur and need not repeat them here. Natrum mur. is indicated in those who are or have been of an intense nature, doing what they have to do with all their might and then overdo to the point of exhaustion. Overwork, overstudy, overanxiety until the nervous system is on the border land of prostration. In people who have become exhausted by pain, especially of a neuralgic nature, or malarial affection, or in women who are exhausted by irregular or profuse menses until they lose interest in home, family, occupation or even life itself and drift into an existence of apprehension and sadness.

Notice also these few points of importance:

In that apathetic condition where everything seems dead, where nothing makes a vivid impression upon the mind you will turn to mezereum.

Where things seem far away, beyond reach, study syphilinum. When the patient is apathetic, says nothing is the matter though he may be very sick, as in low forms of typhoid fever, study apis.

Where the patient notices nothing, wants nothing, is perfectly passive then turn to veratrum alb.

Aurora, Illinois.

(To be continued.)