Carbo animalis

Prepared from the charcoal of animal bones, consisting largely of calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, and carbon. The bones are charred in closed vessels to retain the phosphates. The tincture is made by trituration of the powder with lactose, followed by dilution and succussion.

First proved by Hahnemann and published in Chronic Diseases. Further expanded by Hering, Allen, and Clarke from both provings and clinical confirmations.

A slow, cold, indurating remedy for chronic degenerative states, especially in debilitated, cachectic constitutions. It addresses glandular hardness, foetid discharges, and venous stagnation. The patient is mentally and physically sluggish, with a deep-seated loss of vitality, often after long illness, grief, or toxic exposure.

• Lymphatic system and glands – Tendency to induration of glands, especially cervical, axillary, inguinal, and mammary [Hering].
• Breast tissue – Hard, painful swellings; scirrhous degeneration of the mammary gland [Boericke].
• Mucous membranes – Ulceration of mouth, throat, genitals; foetid discharges.
• Venous system – Passive congestion and stagnation, especially in elderly or cachectic states.
• Digestive tract – Offensive eructations, flatulence, and foul-smelling stools.
• Skin and connective tissue – Hard, knotty, indurated swellings; tendency to ulcerate with acrid discharge.
• Respiratory system – Chronic hoarseness, bronchial catarrh, and foetid expectoration.
• General nutrition – Debility, slow repair, and wasting in scrofulous, cachectic constitutions.

The Carbo animalis patient is slow in thought and expression, with a heavy, dull mental state [Kent]. Memory is weak, concentration difficult; the mind feels tired after the smallest mental effort. There is a disposition to anxiety, particularly about health, and a tendency to sadness or foreboding without clear cause. Patients may dwell on unpleasant matters, developing a gloomy, hopeless outlook. Irritability is often subdued rather than explosive, reflecting a lack of vitality to sustain emotional outbursts.

Unrefreshing sleep, disturbed by heat in bed. Dreams of business or work, leaving the patient tired on waking.

Anxious dreams of danger or death; dreams of illness or funerals.

A remedy for chronic, slow, degenerative states with glandular induration, especially in scrofulous, syphilitic, or cancerous constitutions. Suited to old people and those prematurely aged by disease [Kent, Clarke].

Low-grade, persistent fever in chronic disease.

Chilliness in open air; heat of head with cold limbs. Sweat profuse at night, offensive.

Dull, heavy headaches, often beginning in the occiput and extending forward to the eyes. Sensation as if the brain were loose or as if the head were compressed in a vice. The scalp may be tender, with falling hair in chronic ill health [Hering].

Eyes feel dry and weak; vision blurred after reading. Burning in the margins of the lids, with blepharitis in debilitated constitutions. Dark circles around eyes due to chronic venous stagnation.

Roaring, buzzing, or humming noises, worse at night. Deafness from thickening of the tympanum or chronic Eustachian catarrh. Discharge from ears offensive, acrid, sometimes following chronic otitis [Allen].

Chronic nasal catarrh with thick, offensive mucus. Coryza worse in cold weather. Sometimes ulceration of septum with crust formation. Sense of smell diminished or lost.

Pale, earthy complexion, with sunken cheeks and bluish lips. In cancerous conditions, the skin may be drawn tight over bones.

Offensive odour, even to the patient. Gums retracted, spongy, bleeding easily. Ulcers on the mucous membrane with burning, smarting pain. Tongue coated, sometimes bluish, with insipid or bitter taste.

Teeth sensitive to cold air; pain worse at night and in damp weather.

Rawness, scraping, and burning in the pharynx; sensation of a lump on swallowing. Chronic sore throat in elderly or debilitated persons, with offensive discharge.

Hoarseness and roughness in throat from chronic laryngeal catarrh. Dry cough with scanty, offensive expectoration. Stitches in chest on deep breathing.

Palpitations from slightest exertion. Weak pulse; circulation sluggish.

Difficult breathing in cold air; worse from talking or exertion.

Eructations tasting of the food long after eating [Hahnemann]. Craving for coffee, fat, and salty foods. Weak digestion with slow emptying of the stomach; burning after meals.

Distension from gas, worse after eating; rumbling with offensive flatus. Painful, enlarged mesenteric glands in scrofulous children.

Constipation with hard, difficult stool; or loose, offensive stool with undigested food. Burning in rectum and anus; haemorrhoids indurated and tender.

Urine scanty, dark, offensive; burning on urination in chronic bladder catarrh.

Desire for coffee and warm food. Aversion to fatty food if digestion is weak.

Sexual desire diminished; erections feeble. Induration of testicles after inflammation.

Marked action on mammary glands — hard, knotty swellings, painful to touch, worse at night [Boericke]. Nipples cracked, indurated, or ulcerated. Leucorrhoea offensive, acrid, staining linen yellow.

Stiffness in cervical region with enlarged glands. Dull ache in lumbar region, worse from cold or damp.

Aching and weakness in limbs, especially in the evening. Hard, swollen lymph nodes in axilla or groin.

Dry, scaly, cracked; or indurated nodules which may ulcerate with acrid discharge. Old scars become painful or indurated again [Hering].

• Conium – Glandular induration, especially of breast, but Conium is more suited to stony hardness without offensive discharges.
• Carbo vegetabilis – Similar venous stagnation and debility, but more gastric flatulence and collapse; lacks glandular induration keynote.
• Silicea – Induration with suppuration tendency, but more chilliness and sweat of head.
• Baryta carb. – Indurated glands in children and elderly, with mental weakness more marked.

• Complementary: Silicea, Conium.
• Antidotes: Camphor, Arsenicum.
• Follows well: Sulphur, Lycopodium.

• Excellent in scirrhous induration of mammary glands post-lactation or after injury.
• Useful for cancer cachexia where vitality is low and discharges are acrid, offensive.
• In chronic otorrhoea with offensive smell in debilitated subjects.
• For old cicatrices that become indurated or tender.

Mind:

• Gloomy, foreboding.
• Weak memory.

Head:

• Headache from occiput forward.
• Hair falling in chronic illness.

Glands:

• Indurated cervical glands.
• Hard mammary glands.

Mouth/Throat:

• Offensive breath.
• Ulcers with burning pain.

Skin:

• Indurated nodules.
• Old scars painful.

Generalities:

• Debility in aged persons.
• Offensive discharges.

1. Hahnemann, S. – Chronic Diseases: Original proving and glandular action.
2. Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Induration of glands, mammary cancer, offensive discharges.
3. Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia: Proving details and modalities.
4. Clarke, J.H. – Dictionary: Cachectic states, constitutional notes.
5. Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Chronic degeneration, venous stagnation.
6. Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Cancer diathesis, breast induration.
7. Lippe, A. – Keynotes: Aggravations and clinical confirmations.
8. Farrington, E.A. – Clinical MM: Cancer cachexia.
9. Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Offensive discharges in low vitality states.
10. Hughes, R. – Cyclopaedia: Pharmacological commentary.