Throat

The sole remedy in most cases of diphtheria, with Ferr. phos. Gargle also with same. Mumps, swelling of the parotid glands. Pharyngitis, throat swollen, spots or pustules appear with gray or whitish exudation (follicular). Hawks up offensive, cheesy, small lumps. Pain on swallowing. Syphilitic sore throat. Second remedy in tonsillitis as soon as swelling appears. Tonsils inflamed, enlarged so much can hardly breathe. Grayish patches or spots in throat. White deposits. Tonsils spotted gray or white. Adherent crusts in vault of pharynx.

Gastric Symptoms

Want of appetite. Biliousness with gray or white tongue. Dyspepsia and indigestion, with a whitish-gray tongue, sick feeling after taking fat, pain and heavy feeling on the right side under the shoulder. Fatty or rich food causes indigestion. Indigestion with vomiting of white, opaque mucus; water gathers in the mouth. Gastritis when caused by taking too hot drinks. Pain in the stomach, with constipation, vomiting of thick, white phlegm, or dark, clotted, viscid blood. Bitter taste with obstinate constipation. Jaundice with these symptoms. (Holbrook).

Abdomen And Stool

Jaundice if caused by a chill resulting in catarrh of the duodenum, stools light in color. Sluggish action or complete torpidity of the liver, pain in right side, pale yellow evacuations, constipation and furred tongue. Typhoid or enteric fever, looseness of bowels, flocculent evacuations. Abdominal tenderness and swelling. Typhus, with constipation. Small white thread worms, causing itching at the arms (Natr. phos.). Flatulence, abdominal swelling, etc. Second stage of peritonitis, typhlitis and perityphlitis (see clinical case under typhlitis). Constipation, light-colored stools denoting want of bile, sluggish action of liver, or occurring in consequence of some primary disturbance, especially where fat and pastry disagree. Diarrhoea, after fatty food, and in typhoid fever, with pale yellow, ochre or clay-colored stools, white or slimy stools. Dysentery, purging, with slimy stools. Hemorrhoids, bleeding piles, blood dark and thick, fibrinous, clotted.

Urinary And Sexual Organs

Acute cases of inflammation of the bladder, in the second stage, when swelling has set in and discharge is thick, white mucus. Chief remedy in chronic cystitis. Inflammatory affections of the kidneys. Dark colored urine, deposit of uric acid. The principal remedy in gonorrhoea and orchitis, resulting from a suppression of the same. In bubo for the soft swelling, and in soft chancres it is also he chief remedy (3x). Chronic stage of syphilis with characteristic pathological conditions. Gleet combined with eczema, visible or latent. Menstruation too late or suppressed, checked or too early, excessive discharge, dark-clotted or tough, black blood, like tar. Amenorrhcea, menses suppressed. Periods too frequent. Leucorrhcea, discharge of milky-white mucus, thick, non-irritating, bland. Ulceration of the os and cervix uteri, with the characteristic discharge of thick, white, bland secretions. Chronic congestion of the uterus, hypertrophy, second stage (see Calc. fluor).

Pregnancy

Morning sickness with vomiting of white phlegm. Puerperal fever, chief remedy. Mastitis, gathered breast, to control the swelling.

Respiratory Symptoms

Loss of voice, hoarseness from cold, tongue white. Asthma with gastric derangements, mucus white and hard to cough up. Bronchial asthma, second stage of bronchitis, when thick, white phlegm forms. Cough in phthisis, thick, white, milky sputa. Loud, noisy stomach cough; cough short, acute and spasmodic, like whooping cough, expectoration thick and white. Protruded appearance of eyes, white tongue, croupy, hard cough, harsh and barking. In croup the principal remedy for the exudation. Pneumonia, second stage, white, viscid expectoration. Pleurisy, second stage, with plastic exudations and adhesions. Wheezing rales, or rattling sounds of air passing through thick, tenacious mucus in the bronchi, difficult to cough up; hard cough. Child grasps at throat during a coughing spell.

Circulatory Organs

Embolism, blood in a condition favoring formation of clots, which act as plugs. Second stage of pericarditis, plastic exudation, adhesions, etc. Palpitation from excessive flow of blood to the heart in hypertrophic conditions.

Back And Extremities

Glands of neck swollen. Rheumatic fever, exudation and swelling around the joints. Acute articular rheumatism. Rheumatic gouty pains, if worse on motion and if tongue be coated white. Rheumatic pains felt only during motion or increased by it (Ferr. phos.). Nightly rheumatic pains worse from warmth of bed; lightning-like from small of back to feet; must get out of bed and sit up. Hands get stiff while writing. Chronic rheumatism and swelling, when all movements cause pain. Chronic swelling of the legs and feet, painless, itching violently. Second stage of hip-joint disease. Ulcers on extremities, fibrinous discharges, bunions. Tenalgia crepitans, creaking of the tendons on the back of the hand. Chilblains on hands or feet or any part.

Nervous Symptoms

The specific or chief remedy in epilepsy, especially if occurring with or after suppression of eczema or other eruptions. Should be persisted in for some time. Tabes dorsal is.

Sleep

Startled at the least noise. Somnolence. Restless sleep.

Febrile Symptoms

Congestions and inflammations, second stage of any organ or part of the body. The second remedy in gastric, enteric or typhoid fever. In puerperal fever, the chief remedy for the exudation; also in rheumatic fever. In scarlet fever, with Ferr. phos., suffices to cure most cases. Typhus fever, for the constipation. Intermittent fever, with characteristic accompaniments of this drug. Scarlet fever, as preventive. Catarrhal fever, great chilliness, the least cold air chills him through, has to sit close to the fire to keep warm and is chilly. Better covered up in bed. (Holbrook).

Skin

Abscess, boils, carbuncles, etc., in the second stage, when interstitial exudation takes place, and to cause swelling to disappear before matter forms. Acne, erythema, eczema and other eruptions on the skin, with vesicles containing thick, white contents. Albuminoid eczema, or other skin disease, arising after vaccination with bad vaccine lymph. Eczema from suppressed or deranged uterine functions. Dry, flour-like scales on the skin. Obstinate eczema, crusta lactea, scurfy eruption on the head and face of little children. Its use in obstinate eczemas has been repeatedly verified. Burns of all degrees (externally also), blisters, etc. Bunions, chilblains, eruptions connected with stomach or menstrual derangement. Erysipelas vesiculosa, the principal remedy. Herpes, shingles, lupus, measles, hoarse cough and glandular swellings, also for after-effects. Pimples on the face, neck, etc. Smallpox, principal remedy; controls formation of pustules. Ulcers with whitish, flour-like coating, or fibrinous, white discharge. Sycosis, primary remedy. Ingrowing toenail.

Warts on hands.

Tissues

Anaemia, as an intercurrent if skin affections be present. Hemorrhages, dark, black, clotted, or tough blood. Effects of blows, cuts and bruises, for the swelling. Dropsy, arising from heart, liver or kidney disease, from obstruction of the bile-ducts, from weakness of the heart with palpitation. Whitish liquid is drawn off; white mucous sediment in the urine and white tongue. Fibrinous and lymph exudations in the interstitial connective tissues not absorbed.

Chief remedy in glandular swellings, foll Proud flesh, exuberant granulations. Scr glands. Scurvy, hard infiltrations. Second remedy in sprains, strumous conditions. Bad effects of vaccination. Syphilis.

Modalities

All the stomach and abdominal symptoms of this drug are worse after taking fatty food, pastry, or any rich food. The rheumatic and other pains are increased and aggravated by motion.

Homoeopathic Data

Hering's Guiding Symptoms, Vol. VI, contaius a complete resume of symptoms of this drug, but unfortunately they are mixed up with symptoms of Kali chloricum with no distinguishing sign, rendering the collection of symptoms less valuable for purposes of study than would be the case had they been kept separate.

Administration

Triturations and dilutions. Schussler's preference is for the 6x or I2x, though latterly he has given lower potencies. In diphtheria he recommends a gargle of the 3x, 10 or 15 grains in a tumbler of water. Its external application is also recommended in burns, boils, carbuncles, skin affections, warts, etc., to be applied on lint dressings.

Relationship

Corresponding as it does to the second stage of all inflammatory troubles, immediately upon appearance of exudation, its nearest concordants are Bryon., Mercur., Apis, Thuja, Spongia, Iodine, Pulsat., Rhus and Sulphur.

Analyses of the following drugs show them to contain Kali mur. in quite considerable quantities (homoeopathically considered): Phytol., Sanguin., Stilling., Pinus Can., Aschp., Ailanth., Ants, siell., Hamam. virg., Cimitif., Berber. Most of these possess many symptoms in common with Kali mur. When full chemical analyses shall have been made of the various drugs, vegetable and animal, we shall be able to compare the symptoms of each drug with those of its component parts. Compare in Eustachian tube troubles Merc. dulc. In syphilis follow with Kali suiph. and Silicea. In lupus, Calc. phos.

In Schussler's Therapeutics Kali mur. assumes a role much like Sulphur in pure Homoeopathy, as a deep-acting remedy with eradicating tendencies, useful as an intercurrent, and to prepare the way for other indicated remedies. Kali mur. is frequently followed by Calc. sulph., which latter completes the action of the former. Kali mur. follows Ferr. phos., when the true lymph-exudation of ripening interstitial inflammation sets in. It also supercedes Natr. mur. when the deeper layers of epithelium, adjoining the connective tissue basement, are involved, and even suffer exfoliation, causing a white-coated tongue and an opaque-whitish secretion. (Morgan).

Kali mur. may be compared with the chlorate, Kali chlor., the most poisonous of all the potash salts, a violent irritant of the whole gastro-intestinal mucous membrane, producing gangrenous ulceration. Compare in aphthae, dysentery, epithelioma and nephritis. See Allen's Handbook.