Under this head we shall include the indications for the various forms of mercury, as the symptoms indicating the use of this drug will generally be relieved by either mercurius solubilis, mercurius corrosivus or mercurius vivus. The former, however, is better indicated in sore throat, glandular swellings, and suppuration. The Corrosivus in dysenteric affections, and the Vivus in the general derangements, which seem to indicate the use of Mercury.

General Indications

Swelling, inflammation and suppuration of the glands. Scrofulous, catarrhal, rheumatic or syphilitic ophthalmia. Rheumatic or arthritic pains in the joints and limbs, especially at night; aching in the bones. Rheumatic headache, toothache, and neuralgia; emaciation; profuse perspiration at night, especially in slow fevers.

Skin

Glandular swellings with beating, stinging and suppuration; swelling and caries of the bones. Carious ulcers; spreading ulcers, either healthy or malignant; syphilitic ulcers. Itching eruption with burning; eruptions readily bleeding.

Fever

Copious sweat, night and day.

Head

Nightly headache. Catarrhal and rheumatic headache. Pain of the skull bone; swelling of the head, the scalp sensitive to the touch. Itching and humid eruption on the scalp.

Eyes

Inflammation with itching and burning of the eyes; ophthalmia; swelling, redness and ulceration of the margin of the eyelid; scurfs around the eyes and ulcers in the cornea.

Ears

Swelling of the parotid gland; soreness and excoriation in the ear, sometimes with discharge of pus.

Nose - Swelling and ulceration of the nose; coryza, sneezing.

Face

Yellow scurf on the face. Swelling of the face with toothache. Cracks of the lips and ulcers on the corners of the mouth.

Mouth And Throat

Looseness of the teeth and swelling of the gums; gums recede from the teeth and are sometimes ulcerated or bleeding; violent toothache, particularly at night; pain in decayed teeth with swelling in the face; also swelling in the submaxillary glands, with stinging and throbbing. Salivation. Fetid smell from the mouth; swelling of the mouth; aphthae; ulcers and sores in the mouth. Stinging pains in the throat, especially when swallowing; sore throat with difficult swallowing; elongation and swelling of the uvula. Inflammatory swelling and ulceration of the tonsils; syphilitic ulcers in the throat, the soreness frequently extends to the ears and the glands of the throat and neck; the pains are usually aggravated by empty deglutition, at night, in the cool air, or when speaking.

Stomach

Empty eructations; headache and nausea. Painfullness in the pit of the stomach, sometimes with burning or ulcerative pain, weight in the stomach, especially after a meal. Swelling, hardness and ulcerative pain in the region of the liver.

Abdomen

Colic from cold with diarrhoea, passing off in a recumbent posture; soreness and distension of the abdomen, syphilitic and scrofulous swellings of the inguinal glands, sometimes with suppuration.

Faeces

Constant desire for stool with straining, tenesmus and a very slight discharge, which may be either of blood or bloody mucus, or present the appearance of the scrapings of the intestines. Bloody stools with painful acrid sensation at the anus. Stools preceded or accompanied with nausea, chilliness and anguish; stools like chopped eggs. Green, slimy, putrid, acid, or bilious stools.

Larynx

Catarrh with shivering cough, dread of the open air; hoarseness and loss of voice. Violent racking or spasmodic cough, with violent pain in the head, shortness of breath on going up-stairs, when walking or after a meal. Pain in the side at every inspiration.

Back And Extremities

Swelling of the glands, lacerating pain in the bones and joints, especially at night.