Baryta carbonica

A chemical compound, BaCO₃, Barium carbonate occurs as a white crystalline solid. It is sparingly soluble in water and toxic in crude form.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann and described in Materia Medica Pura. Expanded by Boericke, Kent, and Clarke.

Baryta carbonica is the archetype of incomplete development—the soul that remains a child long into life, or the mind that withers prematurely. It speaks of fragility, fear, and social withdrawal, often stemming from early neglect, mockery, or a fragile constitution. It covers both ends of life: backward children who cannot keep pace, and elderly individuals who descend into childishness, mental decay, and vascular degeneration. Its deepest need is for protection, structure, and gentle support, never force.

• Mind: arrested development, shyness, fear of people, senility
• Glands: chronic enlargement, especially tonsils, cervical nodes
• Cardiovascular system: arteriosclerosis, aneurysms
• Immune system: weakness, frequent colds, infections
• Growth and development: dwarfishness, delayed milestones
• Elderly: senility, memory loss, slow comprehensiona

Baryta carbonica presents a profound immaturity—either in childhood, where development is stunted, or in old age, where the mind regresses. Children are timid, shy, and often appear dull or backward. They hide behind the mother, refuse to speak to strangers, and fear ridicule [Kent]. Learning is slow; memory is weak; comprehension poor. Adults retain this shyness, fearing judgement, strangers, or responsibilities. There is a deep insecurity, often with delusions of being laughed at, or watched. In the elderly, it is a key remedy for senility, childish behaviour, and mental decline, especially when coupled with physical degeneration. They may be suspicious, forgetful, and easily confused. Profound fear of people, fear of failure, anticipation, and fear of stroke or insanity. Emotions are repressed, expression is guarded, and often they remain passive, silent, and isolated.

Sleep is restless, filled with frightening dreams. Children cry out. Terrors of being abandoned or punished. Sleep heavy but unrefreshing. Somnambulism in backward children.

Dreams of being laughed at, public embarrassment, or falling. Nightmares of monsters, dark figures, or being chased. Repetitive themes, often disturbing.

Profound weakness—physical, mental, and emotional. Arrested development, or premature senility. Glandular hypertrophy, vascular degeneration, slow healing, chronic infections, recurrent tonsillitis. Suited to children who fail to thrive, or elderly with arterial or mental decline. Chronicity and degeneration are keynote.

Low, lingering fevers from infections that fail to resolve. Tendency to chilliness, weak circulation. Glandular swellings with fever.

Chilly overall. Hands and feet cold. Profuse sweating from slight exertion. Sweat of feet offensive. Sweat during sleep.

Head disproportionately large in children with underdeveloped bodies. Headaches from mental exertion, or suppressed catarrh. Vertigo when rising or turning, especially in elderly with arterial degeneration. Dull pain with heaviness.

Weak vision in developmentally delayed children. Frequent blinking, inability to focus. Sensation of pressure. Drooping lids (ptosis) in some cases. Dry eyes or sensitivity to light.

Chronic catarrhal deafness, especially in children. Swollen tonsils and adenoids block eustachian tubes. Hearing loss with buzzing or roaring. Otitis media recurring, especially after every cold. Sensitive to noise, or delayed reaction to sound.

Nasal obstruction due to enlarged adenoids. Chronic nasal catarrh, thick mucus. Nosebleeds, particularly in children. Smell diminished or absent. Nose picking in shy or retarded children.

Pale, bloated face with dull expression. Children may have flushed cheeks, open mouth, and drooling. Expression is vacant or timid. Skin of face may show pimples or acne in adolescence. Facial tics or trembling in old age.

Delayed dentition. Salivation excessive in children. Ulcers in elderly, especially if denture use is involved. Breath offensive. Tongue thick, flabby, with imprints. Speech delayed, indistinct, or stammering.

Decayed, soft, or delayed eruption. Children may grind teeth at night. Pain from cold food. Craves sweets but teeth suffer quickly.

Tonsils chronically enlarged, especially in children. Hard, stony glands in the neck. Frequent sore throats, especially from cold or damp. Pain worse swallowing empty or from exposure. Ulceration in elderly with poor immunity.

Weakness of chest with shortness of breath, especially on exertion. Chronic bronchitis in elderly or sickly children. Glands of axilla swollen. Tubercular diathesis may be present. Wheezing in weak constitutions.

Atheromatous changes in arteries. Arteriosclerosis, hypertension, fatty degeneration of the heart in aged. Palpitations with anxiety, especially in anticipation. Weak pulse.

Shortness of breath in weak children or elderly. Oppression from enlarged glands. Dyspnoea on slight exertion. Suffocative feeling lying down. History of asthma or bronchitis.

Appetite poor, often accompanied by bloating and indigestion. Craving for eggs, sweets, and indigestible things (pica). Nausea in morning. Slow digestion, leading to fullness or distension. Children with distended bellies and poor appetite.

Large, bloated abdomen in children. Painful gas with rumbling. Constipation with flabby tone. Hernias common in weak children. In elderly, weakness of abdominal walls.

Constipation with no urge to pass stool. Hard, knotty stools. In elderly, constipation alternating with diarrhoea. In children, stool large, hard, or causes fissures. Anal itching or soreness.

Frequent urination at night. Incontinence in aged persons or in backward children. Difficult urination in enlarged prostate. Urine may be cloudy or scanty. Sensation of weakness in bladder.

Craves: eggs, sweets, indigestible things (chalk, coal, pencils)
Aversion: fruit, milk
Worse from: cold food, milk, fruit
Better from: warm food, easily digestible meals

Sexual desire diminished. In old men, prostate hypertrophy. Erectile dysfunction or weakness after coition. Hydrocele. Often impotent or disinterested in sex. In younger men, shyness inhibits intimacy.

Delayed puberty. Scanty or suppressed menses. Leucorrhoea thick, white, and offensive. Breasts underdeveloped. Tendency to fibroids or uterine prolapse in elderly. Aversion to sexual contact. Developmentally delayed girls may remain childlike.

Curvature of spine in weak, stunted children. Backache in elderly with degenerative spine changes. Weakness across lumbar area. Coldness of back. Neck glands hard and enlarged.

Extremities cold, weak, trembling. Children slow to walk, weak muscles. Elderly with shuffling gait. Gout or swelling in joints. Cramps in calves. Trembling hands in senile types.

Warts—especially on hands and face. Acne in delayed adolescents. Eruptions slow to heal. Glands become hard and suppurate. Eczema in folds. Itching eruptions in scalp or behind ears.

• Calcarea carbonica – Also delayed development and timidity, but Calc. is plump, sweaty, and more active
• Silicea – Similar slow development, but more chilly, obstinate, and has better intellectual ability
• Lycopodium – Intellectual but insecure; seeks power, Bar-c. avoids responsibility entirely
• Thuja – Warts and suppressed eruptions, but more secretive and sycotic; Bar-c. is shy, undeveloped
• Phosphorus – Sensitive, outgoing, emotional; Bar-c. is shy, closed, and mentally dull

• Complementary: Sil., Calc., Nat-m.
• Antidotes: Camph., Nux-v.
• Inimical: Iod., Merc.
• Follows well: Calc., Lyc., Tub.
• Precedes well: Psor., Sulph.

• Use in developmentally delayed children—slow to talk, walk, or grow
• Indispensable in recurrent tonsillitis with chronic glandular swelling
• Prescribe in senile dementia, arteriosclerosis, or mental decline in elderly
• Also useful for shy children, especially with fear of strangers or ridicule
• In elderly, think of Bar-c. for fatigue, hypertension, and vascular changes
• Chronic sinus infections or catarrh with deafness suggest Bar-c.
• Begin with low to medium potencies (6C–30C); chronic cases may need 200C

Mind

• Fear, people of
• Shyness in children
• Delusions, being laughed at
• Slowness, comprehension
• Childish behaviour in elderly
• Averse to strangers

Throat / Glands

• Tonsils, enlarged
• Cervical glands, indurated
• Throat, recurrent infections
• Suppuration, glands

Head / Development

• Head large, body small
• Development, arrested
• Learning delayed

Generalities

• Children, backward
• Senility, premature
• Aneurysm
• Arteriosclerosis
• Cold, damp, agg.
• Weakness, general

Skin

• Warts
• Acne
• Eruptions, slow to heal

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Primary proving data, foundational description

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Emphasis on mental immaturity, glandular swellings

William Boericke – Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Practical indications for children and aged

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Expanded descriptions of degenerative and glandular symptoms

C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica: Supported chronic and constitutional use

Allen’s Encyclopaedia: Supplemented details on miasmatic and developmental dimensions