Acetic acid

Acidum aceticum is a simple organic carboxylic acid (CH₃COOH), historically obtained by acetous fermentation of wine or cider (vinegar) and, in the medicinal “glacial” form, by distillation. The homœopathic mother tincture is prepared from glacial acetic acid, further potentised per pharmacopœial directions [Hughes], [Clarke]. Toxicologically it is a corrosive acid: concentrated forms burn mucosae with acute gastric pain, vomiting, and collapse; diluted repeated doses produce progressive anæmia, emaciation, dropsical effusions, and hæmorrhages—a constellation mirrored in the remedy picture (chillying pallor, drenching sweats, prostration, thirst, diabetes, passive bright-red bleeds) [Hering], [Allen], [Boericke], [Hughes]. Clinically, Acet-ac. has been used as a small remedy in profound cachexia, diabetes (polyuria, great thirst), hæmorrhages (bright, passive), choleraic diarrhœa/collapse, vomiting of blood, and anasarca/ascites with waxy pallor [Clarke], [Boericke].

No complete Hahnemannian proving is recorded. The pathogenesis comes from toxicological data, fragmentary provings, and extensive clinical confirmations collated by Hering and T. F. Allen, later synthesised by Clarke, Boger, and Boericke [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boger], [Boericke]. Classical confirmations include: pallor with waxen face, unquenchable thirst, profuse urination (often saccharine), night sweats, emaciation despite eating, passive bright-red hæmorrhages (hæmoptysis, hæmatemesis, metrorrhagia), burning gastric pains with sour vomiting, choleraic diarrhœa with collapse, and dropsy (feet, abdominal, general) [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Nash], [Phatak].

Acidum aceticum paints the pale, passive collapse of the cachectic organism: waxy transparency of the skin, cold clammy sweat, unquenchable thirst for cold water (in small, repeated sips), emaciation despite food, and a proneness to passive bright-red hæmorrhage and dropsical effusions. The blood is thinned, the vessels ooze, the serous cavities fill, and the stomach burns and sours; meanwhile the kidneys waste water (often sugar), yet strength ebbs after every evacuation—stool, sweat, urine, or bleed. At the bedside, Acet-ac. is not demonstrative: no feverish bustle, no frantic restlessness. Instead there is a quiet sinking—a patient who lies still, pale and perspiring, asks for cold sips, and faints with trifling losses or exertions. This passivity contrasts with Arsenicum (burning anxiety, hot sips) and Veratrum (agonised spasms and violent purging).

The remedy’s axes interlock: Blood (anæmia/bleeding) ↔ Stomach (burning/sour vomiting) ↔ Kidney (polyuria/diabetes) ↔ Serosa (dropsy). The modalities clinch the choice: worse night, worse from loss of fluids, worse from milk/fats and large draughts; better for rest, cool air, small cold sips, gentle pressure/warmth to the epigastrium. In hæmorrhage Acet-ac. suits the bright-red passive bleeder who turns waxy and faint from a little loss; in choleraic states the sour, watery vomiting, rice-water stools, cold sweat, and quiet collapse are characteristic; in diabetes the pale, copious urine, great thirst, night sweats, and emaciation point the way. When dropsy supervenes—ankles pitting, abdomen tense, chest oppressed—the same thirst-sweat-pallor triad persists. Across these theatres the prescriber should hear Acet-ac.’s refrain: cold sips, waxy sweat, passive oozing, and quiet sinking—a signature not to be overlooked in small, stubborn, wasting cases. [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Nash], [Phatak], [Hughes], [Kent].

• Blood & Nutrition (Trophic State). Anæmia, emaciation, cachexia with waxy pallor and drenching night sweats; “wastes though eating,” weak, faint, chilly. See Generalities, Fever/Sweat. [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Vessels—Hæmorrhage. Passive, bright-red bleeding (lungs, stomach, uterus, nose); oozing rather than spurting; faintness from small losses. See Chest, Stomach, Female, Nose. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Stomach & Duodenum. Burning pains, sour vomiting, hiccough; hæmatemesis; intolerant of fats/milk. See Stomach. [Hering], [Allen].
• Bowel—Choleraic States. Rice-water stools, cold sweat, cramps, collapse; watery diarrhœa with unquenchable thirst. See Abdomen/Rectum, Fever. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Kidneys—Diabetes/Polyuria. Pale, copious, often saccharine urine; intense thirst; debility after urination. See Urinary, Generalities. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Serous Cavities—Dropsy. Anasarca, ascites, hydrothorax with waxy face; oppression from effusion. See Chest/Respiration, Generalities. [Hering], [Boericke].
• Skin & Sweat. Cold, clammy skin; night sweats exhausting; œdematous tissues pit on pressure. See Skin, Fever/Sweat. [Clarke], [Nash].
• Heart & Vaso-motor. Palpitation with weakness from hæmorrhage or fluid loss; small, soft pulse; faint on least exertion. See Heart. [Hughes], [Clarke].

Prostration impresses the mind with anxious depression, fear of sinking, and dread of hæmorrhage; the face is waxen, thoughts dull, and memory weak from anæmia [Clarke]. Apathy alternates with restless thirst and worry over the heart’s action after slight effort (vaso-motor exhaustion) [Hughes], [Allen]. Children in choleraic states are irritable, crying from thirst yet too weak to drink much at once, quieting after small sips (Mind ↔ Stomach/Urinary) [Hering]. Faintness induces timidity and dependence—they cling to attendants and dread to be left alone (compare Phos.) [Kent]. When hæmorrhage is active there is despair of recovery yet a passive, languid manner (contrast Ars.’ anxious activity) [Clarke], [Kent]. Head feels empty; ideas come slowly; the will is weak, matching cachectic decline [Nash]. [Clinical/Proving].

Sleep is broken by thirst; the patient wakes to sip cold water, then dozes, then wakes sweating and weak [Allen], [Boericke]. Night sweats profuse, drenching; sleep does not refresh; in the early hours a chill passes with faintness on sitting up (Fever/Sweat) [Clarke]. In hydrothorax cannot lie on the back; must prop up; short naps only (Chest/Respiration) [Clarke]. Dreams of death or drowning occur in severe dropsy, vivid yet the patient is too weak to be excited—a passive anguish (Mind) [Kent]. Children toss with thirst, call for water, then fall asleep with the cup in hand—marasmic picture (Stomach/Mind) [Hering]. After hæmorrhage, sleep is shallow and interrupted by palpitation on the least turn in bed (Heart).

Anxious dreams of bleeding, falling, thirst; awakens in sweat and faintness; relief from a few drops of cold water (Mind/Modalities) [Clarke]. Dreams of being smothered in hydrothorax; starts, sits up gasping (Respiration) [Clarke].

Acidum aceticum is the quiet collapse of the cachectic: waxy pallor, cold clammy sweat, unquenchable thirst for cold water (small sips), emaciation despite food, passive bright-red hæmorrhages, polyuria (often saccharine), and dropsical effusions—anasarca/ascites/hydrothorax—with small soft pulse and syncope on exertion [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. The modal logic is tight: worse from loss of fluids (bleeding, diarrhœa, sweats), exertion, night, milk/fats, and large draughts; better from rest, lying down, cool air, small repeated sips, and gentle pressure/warmth to the epigastrium. The organ triad is blood–stomach–kidney/serosa: acidity and burning with sour vomiting; passive hæmorrhage and anæmia; polyuria/diabetes with thirst; serous cavity effusions with oppression. Differentiate: Ars. burns and is restless, wants hot sips and is driven; Acet-ac. is pale, passive, wants cold sips and lies still. Verat. is violent purging/retching with icy collapse; Acet-ac. is sour, watery vomiting and quieter sinking. Phos. bleeds easily too but is sanguine, sensitive, warm; Acet-ac. is blanched, cold, œdematous. China has fluid-loss debility with flatulence; Acet-ac. centres on thirst, acidity, hæmorrhage, dropsy. In diabetes, compare Phos-ac., Uran-nit., Syzygium; Acet-ac. is marked by copious pale urine, thirst, and anæmia with night sweats [Clarke], [Nash], [Phatak], [Boericke].

Tendency to low, adynamic fever with cold clammy skin and profuse sweats; pulse small and soft [Boericke], [Clarke]. Heat is internal with external chill; thirst great for cold drinks (contrast Ars.’ desire for hot sips) [Allen], [Kent]. Choleraic fever pattern: collapse, icy sweat, rice-water stools—Acet-ac. suits the passive, pale types [Hering], [Clarke].

Chill with thirst; shivering with pallor; better in bed yet sweat breaks out on least movement [Boericke]. Heat mostly subjective—burning in stomach and chest—while skin feels cool [Hering]. Sweat: profuse, nightly, cold or clammy; exhausting, leaving the patient weaker (loss-of-fluids modality) [Clarke], [Nash].

Giddiness on sitting up; faint on rising (anæmic orthostatics), better lying down [Clarke]. Headache dull, heavy with pale face and cold sweat, especially after diarrhœa or urination (loss of fluids) [Hering]. Scalp cool and moist; temples throb faintly with small soft pulse [Boericke]. Children waste and sweat about the head at night, pillow wet, yet are thirsty (compare Calc. but with marked pallor and acidity) [Hering]. Occipital weight with sour stomach; nausea worsens head pain, better small cold sips (modal cross-link) [Allen]. Hæmorrhagic headaches: frontal pressure relieved when bright blood is vomited or coughed up (dangerous palliation) [Clarke].

Lids pale, œdematous in dropsy; sunken eyes with dark haloes from cachexia [Clarke]. Vision dims on standing; black specks appear before syncope (anæmic retina) [Allen]. Conjunctivæ blanched (contrast Phos. where they are injected in hæmorrhage); tears scant [Hughes]. In hæmoptysis, eyes look glassy, frightful, yet the manner is surprisingly passive (fits Acet-ac. temperament) [Clarke]. Photophobia not marked; the general light-headedness is vascular.

No primary otitis. Buzzing or distant rushing in anæmia; hearing dull on rising suddenly [Clarke]. Ears cold to touch during sweats (peripheral vasoconstriction) [Hering].

Epistaxis—bright, passive, in anæmic youths or after exertion; small bleeds produce disproportionate weakness (loss-of-fluids modality) [Allen], [Clarke]. Nasal mucosa pale, swollen with general œdema; breathing through nose feels easy but chest oppressed (hydrothorax) [Clarke]. Odours of cooking provoke nausea in gastric cases (Food & Drink) [Hering].

Waxy-white, earthy or transparent pallor; features pinched in collapse; cold, clammy sweat beads on brow [Hering], [Boericke]. Lips pale; occasional bright-red blood stains from lungs or stomach (hæmoptysis/hæmatemesis) [Allen]. Œdematous eyelids and ankles in dropsy; the face looks washed out yet thirsty (Affinity: Serous cavities) [Clarke]. Heat of face is rare—if flushed with palpitations after slight effort suspect urgent vaso-motor fatigue (Heart) [Hughes].

Mouth dry and hot with thirst for cold water; tongue pale, sometimes coated white, at other times clean but sour saliva and acid taste [Hering], [Allen]. Aphthous patches after long diarrhœa uncommon; more a picture of blanching and dryness. Hiccough frequent with gastric irritation (Stomach) [Allen]. In hæmorrhage the mouth fills with bright blood easily (passive oozing) [Clarke].

Teeth “on edge” for acids; cold water may shoot pain briefly in carious teeth (non-keynote). Gums pale; slight brushing brings blood (passive) [Allen]. Children grind teeth during feverish thirst less often than in Cina; Acet-ac. is quieter, weaker.

Burning from cardia upward; sour eructations excoriate throat [Hering]. Swallowing cold water is grateful in small sips; large draughts chill the stomach (Better small, frequent sips; Worse large draughts) [Allen]. No membranous angina; the throat reflects gastric acidity and hæmorrhagic oozing. Chronic “scraping” in anæmia with constant desire to drink [Clarke].

Oppression from hydrothorax—cannot lie flat, wants windows open, breath short on least exertion; face blanched, ankles œdematous (Serous affinity) [Clarke], [Hering]. Hæmoptysis—bright red, passive, often repeated in phthisical anæmia; cold sweat, great thirst, faintness—Acet-ac. palliates bleeds and weakness (compare Phos.) [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Stitches not marked; chest feels empty/weak; palpitation from little motion (Heart) [Hughes].

Palpitation from rising or walking a few steps; small, soft pulse; syncope on slight effort, after stool, or after urination (loss-of-fluids) [Clarke], [Hughes]. Precordial anxiety is passive, not the restless fear of Ars.; better lying still, head low, small cold sips (Modalities) [Kent]. Cardiac oppression when ascites/hydrothorax crowd the heart; relief when propped up (Respiration link) [Clarke].

Shortness of breath from effusion or after the least exertion; air-hunger with cold, clammy sweat (collapse states) [Hering]. Sighing respiration in anæmia; better open cool air but not direct cold on the chest in hydrothorax (modal nuance) [Clarke]. Cough brings up bright blood easily; faintness follows a small quantity (passive bleeder) [Allen].

Burning at epigastrium with sour regurgitation, hiccough, retching, and vomiting, sometimes of bright blood (hæmatemesis) [Hering], [Allen]. Thirst intense; desires cold water repeatedly but cannot bear much at once (modal cross-link) [Allen]. Milk and fats aggravate; food lies like a weight, followed by sour, watery vomiting and prostration [Hering]. In choleraic states: incessant vomiting, cramps, ice-cold sweat, collapse—Acet-ac. has a quieter, more passive anguish than Verat. or Ars. (micro-comparison: Verat. has profuse purging with violent retching and cold collapse; Ars. has burning and restlessness with small hot sips; Acet-ac. has sour vomiting, copious thirst for cold, passive sinking) [Clarke], [Kent]. Gastralgia after slight hæmorrhage improves with small cold drinks and rest (Mind/Heart link). Pregnancy vomiting with sourness and faintness finds relief in small sips of iced water and Acet-ac. intercurrently [Clarke], [Hering].

Abdomen tympanitic or water-logged (ascites); sense of swimming inside with movement (dropsy) [Hering]. Griping before thin, watery stools; great faintness after stool (loss-of-fluids modality) [Allen]. Liver and spleen not prominently enlarged unless part of general anasarca; skin of belly shiny, pits on pressure [Clarke]. Peritoneal effusion presses on diaphragm—short breath, cannot lie flat (Respiration cross-link).

Watery, choleraic diarrhœa, often rice-water or sour, with icy sweat and collapse; stool painless or with colicky griping [Hering], [Allen]. Hæmorrhage from rectum, bright red, passive, with swooning tendency (small amount → great weakness) [Clarke]. Tenesmus slight; more an atony and oozing state than inflammatory dysentery (contrast Merc.) [Boger]. Children pass sour stools, excoriating parts; marasmus with thirst [Hering].

Polyuria—pale, copious; in many cases saccharine (diabetes); great thirst, loss of strength after micturition [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Urine low specific gravity in diabetes insipidus-like states; sometimes albuminous in dropsy [Hughes]. Burning in urethra not marked; it is the quantity and exhaustion that guide [Clarke]. Children wet frequently during choleraic weakness.

Intense thirst for cold water, best in small, repeated sips; large quantities chill and aggravate nausea/weakness [Allen], [Hering]. Aversion to milk and fats (aggravate vomiting/diarrhœa); some desire sour things (lemon, vinegar) that palliate briefly (idiosyncratic) [Hering], [Clarke]. Appetite variable: may eat yet emaciate; after small meals, hiccough and sour regurgitation (Stomach) [Allen]. Salt, spices usually aggravate gastric burning.

General sexual weakness from anæmia; emissions rare; occasional hæmaturia passive after strain [Clarke]. Dropsical scrotal œdema in anasarca. Not a gonorrhœal remedy.

Metrorrhagia—bright, passive, sometimes after labour or miscarriage; face waxy, pulse small, thirst intense, cold sweats [Clarke], [Allen]. Menorrhagia in anæmic girls: long-lasting, bright flow, fainting on rising; thirst for cold water (differential from Phos. by passivity and pallor) [Boericke], [Kent]. Pregnancy vomiting sour, prostrating; hæmatemesis may occur; Acet-ac. helpful when cold sips are craved and large drinks aggravate [Hering], [Clarke]. Lactation: milk may be scant in cachectic states; mother looks transparent and sweats at night [Clarke].

Back weak; lumbosacral aching after diarrhœa or menses; wants to lie down (Generalities) [Clarke]. Chill runs down spine with sweat breaking out on slight movement [Boericke]. No marked spinal hyperæsthesia; the theme is exhaustion.

Œdema of feet and ankles; legs cold, clammy, pit on pressure; the patient slips socks over tender skin [Hering], [Clarke]. Trembling on standing; knees give way on stairs (anæmia) [Boericke]. Cramps in calves with choleraic diarrhœa; better warmth and rubbing [Hering]. Hands cold, bluish; nails pale.

Cold, clammy, wax-like; pits with pressure in dropsy; ulcers bleed easily, bright red, but tend not to inflame (passive) [Hering], [Clarke]. Night sweats soak linen (Fever/Sweat). Children’s buttocks excoriated by sour stools (Rectum) [Hering]. Rash not characteristic; rather a blanched transparency.

Collapse / Choleraic States

• Veratrum-alb. — Violent purging/retching, cramps, cold collapse, desire for cold drinks but often vomits them; more spasmodic and agonised than Acet-ac.’s quiet sinking [Clarke], [Kent].
• Arsenicum — Burning pains with restless anxiety, hot sips; skin hot-cold; more fearful activity vs Acet-ac.’s passivity [Kent], [Boericke].
• Carbo-veg. — Air-hunger, bluish coldness, desire to be fanned; flatulence prominent; Acet-ac. has thirst, acidity, hæmorrhage, dropsy [Boger], [Clarke].

Hæmorrhages (Bright, Passive)

• Phosphorus — Tall, hæmorrhagic constitution, warm, thirst for cold drinks in long draughts; hæmorrhages with excitability; Acet-ac. is cold, waxy, passive [Clarke], [Kent].
• Ipecacuanha — Hæmatemesis with constant nausea, clean tongue, no thirst; Acet-ac. with burning, thirst, pallor [Allen], [Clarke].
• Ferrum — Anæmia with flushing and red face episodes; bleed easily; Acet-ac. lacks flush/flush-pallor alternation; is steadily waxen [Kent].

Dropsy / Serous Effusions

• Apocynum cann. — Dropsy with scant urine, thirstless; much vomiting; Acet-ac. has thirst, polyuria (often), passive bleeds [Boericke].
• Apis — Puffy, stinging, thirstless œdema; sensitive to heat; Acet-ac. thirsty for cold, chilly, passive [Clarke].
• Arsenicum — Serous effusions with burning, restlessness; wants heat and sips hot water; Acet-ac. desires cold sips and lies quiet [Kent].

Diabetes / Polyuria

• Phosphoric-acid — Apathy, mental blunting with polyuria; less acidity/bleeding; Acet-ac. more hæmorrhagic, sweaty, dropsical [Clarke], [Nash].
• Uranium-nitricum — Diabetes with gastric ulceration and albuminuria; Acet-ac. less ulcerative, more passive haemorrhagic pallor [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Syzygium jamb. — Lowers sugar (clinical) but lacks Acet-ac.’s thirst/sweat/dropsy complex [Boericke].

Gastric Burning, Sour Vomiting

• Robinia — Extreme acidity, sour regurgitation, heartburn; less prostration/dropsy than Acet-ac. [Allen].
• Anacardium — Gastralgia relieved by eating; Acet-ac. worse after eating; sour vomiting, thirst [Clarke].
• Nux-vomica — Irritable spasm, sourness in over-drugged; lacks passive pallor and dropsy of Acet-ac. [Kent].

• Complementary: China — after Acet-ac. checks bleeding or diarrhœa, China restores tone against loss-of-fluids debility [Nash], [Boger].
• Complementary: Phos-ac. — in diabetes or polyuria with mental apathy; Acet-ac. for thirst/bleeding/sweat phase, Phos-ac. for nerve atony [Clarke].
• Follows well: Arsenicum — when burning restlessness subsides but pallor, thirst for cold, passive bleeds remain [Kent].
• Follows well: Apocynum — after anti-dropsic stage when polyuria, thirst, anæmia persist [Boericke].
• Precedes well: Ferrum — to rebuild the blood after Acet-ac. checks passive bleeding (watch for Ferrum’s flush pattern) [Kent].
• Related: Verat., Carb-v., Phos., Ipec., Apis, China, Uran-nit., Syzygium—see differentials.
• Antidotes: Vinegar (gross) antidotes some drug states; in homœopathic use, Nux-v. or Puls. may steady gastric irritability blocking action (clinical) [Clarke].
• Inimical: None fixed in the classics; avoid capricious alternation. [Clarke].

• Passive hæmorrhage (hæmoptysis, hæmatemesis, metrorrhagia) with waxy pallor, thirst for cold water, faintness from small losses—dose Acet-ac. 6C–30C and enforce absolute rest with small cold sips. [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke].
• Choleraic collapse with sour vomiting, rice-water stools, cold sweat, quiet despair—Acet-ac. when Verat. is too violent and Ars. too restless. Low potencies 3X–6X frequently at onset; space as reaction appears. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Diabetes/Polyuria with pale copious urine, thirst, night sweats, weakness after micturition—consider 6X–6C once–thrice daily; track fluids/weight; intercurrent Phos-ac. for apathy if needed. [Clarke], [Nash], [Phatak].
• Dropsy (anasarca/ascites/hydrothorax) in pale, chilly subjects craving cold sips—Acet-ac. may palliate thirst/oppression while complementary drainage remedies (Apocynum, Ars.) act. [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Pregnancy vomiting—sour, thirst for cold, faintness; 30C p.r.n., counsel small frequent sips and light fare. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Pearls:
  • Cold water in small quantities relieves; large draughts aggravate—bedside key. [Allen].
  • Bright-red passive bleeds with waxy sweat—think Acet-ac. before hotter hæmorrhagics. [Clarke].
  • After loss of fluids, give Acet-ac. first if pallor + thirst for cold predominate; follow with China to restore tone. [Nash], [Boger].

Mind

• Anxiety with weakness; fear of sinking; passive despair. Quiet collapse state. [Clarke], [Kent].
• Apathy alternating with thirst and worry about the heart. Vaso-motor exhaustion. [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Children, irritable with thirst, quiet after small sips. Choleraic marasmus. [Hering].

Head

• Faintness on rising; must lie down. Anæmia. [Clarke].
• Headache with cold sweat and pallor after stool/urination. Loss-of-fluids. [Hering], [Allen].
• Night sweats wet the pillow in cachectic children. Marasmus. [Hering].

Eyes

• Conjunctivæ blanched; sunken eyes with dark rings. Cachexia. [Clarke].
• Black spots on rising; dim vision from anæmia. Orthostatic. [Allen].
• Œdematous lids in dropsy. Serous state. [Clarke].

Nose / Face

• Epistaxis, bright, passive, with great weakness. Bleeder. [Allen], [Clarke].
• Face waxy-white with cold clammy sweat. Cachectic collapse. [Hering], [Boericke].
• Œdema of eyelids; ankles pit on pressure. Dropsy. [Clarke].

Stomach

• Burning in epigastrium with sour vomiting and hiccough. Gastric acidity. [Hering], [Allen].
• Vomiting of bright blood (hæmatemesis). Passive bleed. [Allen], [Clarke].
• Thirst for cold water—small, repeated sips. Modal key. [Allen].

Abdomen/Rectum

• Ascites with waxy pallor and thirst. Dropsy. [Clarke].
• Diarrhœa, rice-water; cold sweat; collapse. Choleraic. [Hering].
• Hæmorrhage from rectum, bright, passive, with faintness. Oozing. [Clarke].

Urinary

• Polyuria, pale, copious; diabetes (saccharine urine). Key sphere. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Weakness after urination. Post-void sinking. [Allen].
• Thirst unquenchable with copious urine. Polydipsia–polyuria. [Boericke].

Chest/Heart/Respiration

• Hæmoptysis, bright red, passive; faintness after small loss. Bleeder. [Allen], [Clarke].
• Hydrothorax; cannot lie flat; short breath on least exertion. Serous effusion. [Clarke], [Hering].
• Palpitation with small soft pulse; syncope on exertion. Anæmic heart. [Hughes], [Clarke].

Skin / Sweat / Generalities

• Cold, clammy sweat; night sweats drenching, debilitating. Hallmark. [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Anasarca; tissues pit on pressure. Dropsy. [Hering].
• General weakness worse from loss of fluids. China-type modality within Acet-ac. picture. [Nash], [Boger].
• Better for small sips of cold water; worse large draughts. Bedside guide. [Allen].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879–91): toxicologic/clinical picture (sour vomiting, choleraic collapse, passive bright hæmorrhages, dropsy, thirst).
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): provings/fragments and urinary (polyuria/diabetes), gastric, hæmorrhagic data.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): constitutional portrait; differentials (Ars., Verat., Phos., China); modalities (small cold sips).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes (anæmia, emaciation, passive hæmorrhages, diabetes, dropsy, night sweats).
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): general modalities (loss of fluids), adynamia, collapse confirmations.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1899): loss-of-fluids exhaustion; comparisons with China and Ars.; cachexia hints.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (20th c.): concise clinical pointers (thirst, bleeds, dropsy, diabetes).
Hughes, R. — A Cyclopædia of Drug Pathogenesy (1895): pharmacology/toxicology of acetic acid; vascular/corrosive effects correlating with remedy themes.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): comparative insights (Ars., Verat., Phos., Ferr.), mental passivity vs restless anxiety.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): gastric burnings, hæmorrhages, cachectic states in acids (comparative).
Dunham, C. — Homœopathy, the Science of Therapeutics (1877): adynamic fevers and management of collapse (contextual).
Boger-Boenninghausen — Characteristics and Repertory (early 20th c.): repertorial confirmations (bleeding, diabetes, dropsy, thirst).