Guaiacum officinale

Guaiacum officinale is a slow-growing West Indian tree, famed in early modern physic as a sudorific for the “French disease” (syphilis) and for gout and chronic rheumatism; its hard, resinous “lignum vitæ” yields a balsamic resin rich in guaiaconic/guaiacic acids and volatile principles which, in crude doses, provoke salivation, heat, profuse foetid sweat and diarrhœa—an echo of the drug’s homœopathic sphere upon fibrous tissues, periosteum, throat, salivary glands and sweat apparatus [Hughes], [Clarke]. Hahnemann proved the resin and recorded its action upon the fibrous system (“contraction, shortening, intolerable stiffness”), periosteal surfaces and throat (quinsy), with an aggravation from warmth and a marked sensitiveness to touch and pressure [Hahnemann], [Allen]. Historically pushed as an anti-syphilitic, the wood’s reputation led to extravagant dosing; the homœopathic preparation, from the resin, concentrates a picture of fibro-tendinous contraction, gouty–rheumatic nodes, periosteal pains, tonsillitis tending to quinsy, foetid sweats, and intolerance of heat and touch [Clarke], [Boericke].

Primary proving by Hahnemann (resin); data collated by Allen and confirmed clinically by Hering, Clarke and Boericke: fibrous and periosteal pains with contraction/shortening of parts; sensation that bones are too short; stiffness and anchylosis of small joints; nodes and spurs; gouty concretions; aggravation from warmth and from pressure/touch; profuse foetid sweat on least motion; tonsillitis/quinsy with burning throat, foetid breath and inability to swallow; salivation. Tags: [Proving] / [Clinical]. [Hahnemann], [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].

Guaiacum’s essence is contracted fibre in a furnace. The tissues—tendons, fascia, periosteum—shorten, stiffen, indurate; the limb “feels too short” to be extended; small joints swell and lock; periosteal nodes burn; and over all, heat is torture and touch is insupportable. The patient draws up his limbs, refuses handling, tears off the bedclothes, and craves cool air and space. This polarity—heat/pressure against coolness/freedom—threads every field: the throat is a hot, fetid quinsy that loathes poultices, endures only sips of cold; the joints are hot knots that cannot bear a glove; the bones throb at night until the window is thrown up; the skin pours foetid sweat with the least movement, relief sometimes following the drenching (Mind, Throat, Extremities, Generalities) [Hahnemann], [Clarke], [Boericke]. The miasmatic colour is syphilitic–sycotic: nodes, spurs, caries, indurated glands, sluggish suppuration, and the historic after-Mercury constitution that detests warmth and damp-heat [Hering], [Kent], [Hughes]. Psychologically, the patient is not metaphysically anxious but somatically defensive: irritable, intolerant of nearness, quick to anger when touched; tranquillised by coolness and by any alleviation of pressure. The pace is chronic with hot exacerbations at night and on warm changes of weather; the reactivity is high—small stimuli (a warm wrap, a touch) produce outsized suffering, while small antidotes (a cool current, loosening a band) give striking relief.

Differentially, the contracture places Guaiacum near Causticum and Ruta, yet the thermal keynote utterly separates it: Guaiacum is worse from heat, better from cold, whereas Causticum needs warmth and Ruta is more bruised than burned [Farrington], [Boger]. Against the classic rheumatic pair: Rhus improves with warmth and motion; Bryonia is worse from any motion yet loves warmth—Guaiacum hates it, and sweats with the least effort. In gout, Colchicum captures odour-aversion and night aggravation but often desires warmth; Ledum shares the love of cold yet lacks the fierce touch-hyperæsthesia and quinsy. In throat disease, Mercurius and Hepar rival Guaiacum in salivation and suppuration; Guaiacum stands apart by its abhorrence of warmth and poultices, its tendency to induration, and its foetid, oppressive heat (compare Belladonna’s arterial blaze without salivation). Practical bedside tests: the Cold-Compress Test on a burning joint or throat gives immediate alleviation; the Pressure Test (remove glove/loosen band) eases; the Extension Test fails—the limb cannot be straightened because the fibrous system feels too short.

Prescribing hints. Choose Guaiacum when a gouty–rheumatic patient, often with a Mercury history, presents a hot, touch-intolerant contraction of small joints/tendons, nightly periosteal pains, foetid sweat from the least effort, and/or quinsy that hates warmth. In chronic nodes and spurs, Guaiacum acts as a “cooling spearhead,” to be followed, when hyperæsthesia subsides, by Calc. fluor. for structural remodelling or by Benzoic acid for the uric terrain. In quinsy threatening abscess, think Hepar until it “points,” then Guaiacum if heat and touch remain unbearable. Regimen should mirror modalities: cool, well-ventilated rooms; avoid warm baths and poultices; cold or tepid local measures; gentle passive mobilisation under cooling; a spare diet avoiding rich wines and fats; and attention to bowels in heated, sedentary cases (Constipation/Hæmorrhoids). Dosing commonly 3x–6x or 6C in chronic rheumatism/gout; 30C–200C when the profile is crystalline (contracture + heat/touch intolerance + foetid sweat + quinsy) and vitality is good; repeat by reaction, spacing as the need for cold relief diminishes and sleep occurs without soaking sweats [Boericke], [Nash], [Dewey], [Boger].

Mini-pearls: (1) “Hot, handled, hateful of warmth”—if a rheumatic throat or joint loathes a poultice, think Guai. (2) “Bones too short”—when a flexed knee cannot be extended for contracture rather than spasm, in a heat-intolerant sufferer, Guai. (3) After-Mercury periostitis that abhors warmth: Guai. first; Kali-iod. later for deep nocturnal borings.

• Fibrous tissues & tendons — contracture, shortening, drawing-up; flexors prevail; limbs feel too short; see Extremities/Back. [Hahnemann], [Allen], [Boericke].
• Periosteum & bones — nodes, spurs, tearing periosteal pains; caries tendency in long bones; see Back/Extremities/Skin. [Clarke], [Hering].
• Small joints (wrists, fingers, ankles) — gouty–rheumatic swelling with intense sensitiveness to touch and heat; ankylosis; see Extremities. [Boericke], [Farrington].
• Throat & tonsils — phlegmonous tonsillitis and quinsy with burning, foetid breath, thick saliva; cannot swallow; see Throat/Mouth. [Clarke], [Allen].
• Salivary & sweat glands — salivation, and profuse, offensive sweat from least movement; see Mouth/Generalities. [Hahnemann], [Clarke].
• Skin & cellular tissue — indurated glands, boils, sluggish abscess, fistulous tracks over bones; see Skin. [Hering], [Boger].
• Digestive tract — biliousness with constipation; stools hard, knotty; piles from heat and sedentary life; see Rectum/Abdomen. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Urogenital (gouty–sycotic) — gravel/urates; arthritic–urethral alternation, “gonorrhœal rheumatism”; see Urinary/Extremities. [Farrington], [Clarke].
• Nervous system — tearing neuritic pains along contracted tendons; oversensitiveness to touch; see Generalities. [Allen], [Hering].

An irritable, oversensitive temper mirrors the state of the tissues. The patient is fretful and intolerant, especially of touch and heat—any approach that implies handling is warded off, as if the mind copied the fibrous contraction and defensive recoil of the limbs (this tallies with the modality worse from pressure/touch and heat already recorded) [Hahnemann], [Clarke]. Anxiety attends any change of weather towards warmth; apprehension of a close room is conspicuous in quinsy patients, who crave cold air yet shrink from draught on the hot throat (Throat/Generalities). Despondency follows nights of periosteal pain and foetid sweat; yet a cool room and a quiet hour restore spirits, proving the somatic basis. There is a hasty, exacting manner, with intolerance of tightness around the body: he loosens his neckcloth and flings off blankets (Abdomen/Throat links). Hypochondriacal brooding over nodes and deformities may arise in chronic gout; vanity about misshapen fingers alternates with anger at the least jostle (Extremities). Memory is dull after profuse night-sweats; he answers slowly in the morning until the room is aired (Generalities). There is no deep moral alienation of Sepia nor the anxiety-for-health of Arsenicum; Guaiacum’s mind is that of a hot, handled, contracted body. Relief of pain by cold and space calms the mood at once (modal echo).

Unrefreshing; perspires on falling asleep or with the least turn; wakes with the linen damp and offensive—echoing the sweat law (Generalities) [Hahnemann]. Bone pains keep him restless towards midnight; warm bed intensifies all; he seeks the cool side and throws off covering. Dreams of being compressed or held fast—mind mirroring fibrous contraction. On waking he is hot, sticky, and languid until the room is aired; then the head clears and spirits rise (Head/Mind). In quinsy, sleep is broken by choking heat; he sits up by the window to cool the throat (Throat).

Dreams of cramped passages, of tight garments, of inability to straighten the limbs; of heated rooms with suffocating quilts; of being handled roughly—psychic dramatisation of pressure/heat aggravations. Dreams subside when the joint-pains lull in the cool of morning (Modal echo).

Guaiacum is the remedy of the contracted fibrous frame in a hot, handled, offended state. Three grand generals build the case: (1) Intense sensitiveness to touch and pressure with fibro-tendinous contraction/shortening—limbs “feel too short,” small joints ankylosed, periosteal nodes hot and sore (see Extremities/Back); (2) Heat aggravates in every form—warm rooms, poultices, bed, warm drinks—in joints, throat, head and skin, while cold air and cold applications soothe (see Throat/Head/Skin); (3) Sweat profuse and foetid from the least motion, leaving exhaustion (see Generalities/Sleep). The throat picture—burning quinsy with foetid breath, salivation, cannot swallow solids—repeats the same laws: touch and heat are torture; coolness and space relieve. The diathesis is gouty–sycotic–syphilitic: nodes, spurs, periosteal pains and sluggish suppurations; the after-Mercury constitution often leads here [Clarke], [Hering], [Boericke], [Hughes]. The pace is subacute to chronic; crises come at night or on warm changes of weather. Compare Rhus-t. (stiff, but better warmth and motion), Bry. (stitching, worse motion but likes warmth), Caust. (contractures with weakness rather than heat-agg.), Ruta (tendons and periosteum without quinsy/heat-hate), Colch./Benzoic-ac. (gouty, uric odour; less touch-agg.), Hepar/Merc./Bell. (tonsils; Guai.: hates heat and touch, foetor with induration), Kali-iod./Mez. (syphilitic periostitis; modalities differ) [Farrington], [Boger], [Kent], [Clarke]. Management must copy the remedy: cool air, light covering, avoidance of hot baths and poultices, gentle passive mobilisations under cover of cool applications, and a spare diet avoiding rich wines and fats.

Febrile evenings with hot skin, profuse foetid sweat on least movement; thirst for cool drinks; tongue dry at edges; foul breath in throat cases [Clarke], [Allen]. Pulse soft, quick; heat confined to head and joints; chill when a window is opened too abruptly upon a hot throat (Throat/Generalities). No typhus state; the fever is rheumatic–phlegmonous.

Chill on uncovering the hot throat, yet general heat is oppressive; sweat follows the smallest exertion and is foetid and soaking—relief may follow, but exhaustion remains [Hahnemann], [Clarke]. Warm baths aggravate; cool sponging soothes. Night-sweats stain and smell; the bed becomes intolerable; he must change linen (Generalities).

Head becomes heavy and hot in close rooms; forehead throbs with bone/teeth pains, better in cool air (Generalities) [Clarke]. Scalp sensitive to touch; the hair seems to “hurt” when combed—an externalisation of the general hyperæsthesia (Mind/Generalities). Rheumatic headaches coexist with neck stiffness; collar cannot be borne; a fan or an open window cools both head and throat (Throat link). After a sweating night he wakes stupefied and heavy, relieved by a cold ablution; warmth aggravates. Periosteal tenderness along cranial sutures occurs in the mercurialised, and the head feels “too small” for its contents—an echo of the “bones too short” sensation elsewhere (Extremities). Face is flushed and excitable during quinsy; he dreads the pillow’s pressure and holds the jaw [Clarke], [Hering].

Burning, smarting eyes in warm rooms; lids feel tight; glare excites throbbing head (Head). Periostitis of the orbital margin with touch-soreness in syphilitic subjects may call for Guaiacum after Mercury has been abused [Clarke]. Lachrymation is not acrid; cold bathing of eyes is grateful (modal echo). No special photophobia like Belladonna; the ocular field follows the systemic law of heat worse, cold better.

Stitching along cartilaginous margins in warmth; hyperacusis to rustling of bedclothes when pains are high—an irritability consistent with the mind picture. Otalgia from parotid/ peri-auricular gland induration may yield when the case is otherwise Guaiacum (Skin/glands link) [Hering]. Pressure of a warm cap aggravates.

Dry, hot nose in heated rooms; smell foetid to himself during quinsy (Throat). Coryza scant unless a rheumatic cold in damp heat binds it. Cold air through the nares soothes the head yet must not strike the inflamed tonsil directly (modal nuance).

Flushes with heat; sweat beads on slightest movement; expression of suffering when touched. Cheeks red during quinsy, then pale after a night of sweat (Throat/Fever). The jaw is held still; moving it hurts the contracted masseters and the swollen tonsils; he keeps the mouth half open to cool the throat [Clarke], [Hering].

Salivation and viscid mucus fill the mouth in throat attacks; breath foetid, offensive to the patient; tongue coated yellow-white, edges red; is reluctant to move the tongue for fear of touching swollen fauces [Allen], [Clarke]. Teeth ache on warmth; cold water relieves; gums tender to pressure—periosteal echo. Taste flat or bitter in gouty mornings; astringent mouth after wine (Food & Drink). Mouth heat abates with cool drinks though swallowing solids is impossible (Throat).

Periosteal toothache, worse from warm drinks and warmth of bed, better from cold and from loosening anything that presses (Head/Modalities) [Hahnemann], [Clarke]. Stitches extend to zygoma and temple; touch intolerable; the sufferer keeps the jaw and hand away. Teeth feel too long—an elongation sensation akin to “bones too short” elsewhere (Extremities). After Mercury abuse, night-teeth pains with salivation indicate Guaiacum [Hering].

A key sphere. Burning, smarting throat; tonsils swollen and indurating; quinsy threatens or suppurates; thick, tenacious mucus; foetid breath; salivation; cannot swallow solids; even warm drinks aggravate; cold sips palliate the burn though mechanically hard to carry past the swollen pillars [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke]. The uvula is œdematous; fauces feel too tight, as if shortened—a local mirror of the fibrous contraction theme (Affinities). Touch of the spoon is unbearable; the very idea of a warm poultice is hateful (modal echo). Pain shoots to the ear; nights are worst; the patient sits up by an open window craving air on the hot throat while shielding it from draught (Mind link). Suppurative tendency with sluggish, indurated glands suggests Guaiacum after Hepar when heat aggravates immoderately [Hering], [Farrington].

Oppressed by warmth; the room feels smothering; opening a window is immediate solace (Generalities). Stitching pains in intercostals, worse on pressure and heat, driven by fibrous irritability. Rheumatic sterno-clavicular nodes tender to touch—small-joint affinity. Cough mostly from throat irritation; expectoration scant and offensive in heated rooms; better in cool air (Throat). Palpitation follows least motion with sweat (Heart).

Pulse accelerated by the slightest effort, with profuse sweat; tremulous, weak after nights of pain [Hahnemann], [Allen]. Palpitations and flushings in warm rooms; cool air steadies. No constrictive band as in Cactus; it is heat–sweat asthenia. Old syphilitic–gouty with arterio-sclerosis feel throbbing in temples and precordia in bed; they rise to the window—illustrating the general posture and air needs.

Short, oppressed in warmth; deep breath hurts the hot throat; the desire for cool air conflicts with dread of draught upon the inflamed fauces (Throat). In mercurialised chests, stitching on inspiration with periostitis of ribs answers to Guaiacum [Clarke]. No spasmodic asthma keynotes here; the respiration follows the thermal law.

Repugnance to warm food; desire for cool drinks which yet chill the stomach if taken freely (modal tightrope). Nausea with heat of room and with throbbing throat; worse after fat meals and wine—gouty dyspepsia [Hughes]. Eructations hot; acidity after sweets. Small, frequent sips cool the mouth; swallowing is an ordeal when tonsils are big (Throat). The least movement provokes sweat and faintness at stomach—autonomic echo (Generalities).

Flatulence with heat and throbbing in portal region; belt unfastened for relief (touch/pressure-aversion). Cutting colic with warm food; better from cool applications and fresh air [Clarke]. Drawing in abdominal walls when he attempts to stretch—cannot, for the muscles “feel too short” (General law). Liver sore to pressure in gouty subjects; warm poultice aggravates; a cold compress is preferred (Affinities).

Constipation; stools hard, knotty; piles painful, worse warmth, better cool applications—an anorectal echo of the remedy’s thermal law [Clarke], [Boericke]. Tenesmus and burning after stool occur in heated rooms or after wine. In chronic rheumatic invalids, rectal inertia alternates with foetid, debilitating sweat (Generalities).

Urine high-coloured, scanty during gouty congestions; deposits of urates after rich meals; joints and urethra alternately sore—“arthritic urethral” type [Farrington]. Micturition scalding after wine; better after cooling regimen. In “gonorrhœal rheumatism” with hot, tender joints and intolerance of touch/heat, Guaiacum often suits (Extremities) [Clarke].

Aversion to warm, greasy foods; desire for cool drinks in hot throat, though deglutition is difficult (Throat) [Clarke]. Wine and rich foods inflame gouty joints; beer in a warm bar ensures a bad night (Extremities). Salted meats aggravate thirst and mouth-heat.

Sexual desire depressed in the gouty and mercurialised; emissions rare. Drawing in spermatic cords when thighs are flexed to avoid tendon pain; scrotum hot and tender in warm rooms. Prostatism with heat aggravation is incidental; the remedy is not primarily sexual.

Menses too early and hot with rheumatic exacerbations; vulvar heat intolerant of warm bathing. Mastitis or breast induration with burning and touch-agg., threatening abscess that dislikes poultice-heat, may take Guaiacum especially when cooling eases [Hering]. Post-partum rheumatism with contracted hamstrings and intolerance of warmth points this way; milk diminishes when sweats are copious (Generalities).

Drawing, contractive pains in cervical and dorsal muscles; stiff neck that loathes warmth of scarf; cold cloth relieves [Boericke]. Lumbago with tight hamstrings: cannot stoop or straighten; “as if tendons too short,” better a little from gentle passive motion, but sweat breaks out with the least effort (Extremities/Generalities). Spine sore to touch in the heated bed; changing to a cool sheet relieves. Periosteal nodes along tibia and ulna ache at night—classic syphilitic–gouty terrain [Hering], [Clarke].

The image of Guaiacum. Contracted flexors; tendons shortened; limbs feel too short to be straightened; anchylosis of small joints; rheumatic–gouty nodes, especially wrists, fingers, ankles; pains worse from heat and from touch/pressure; sweat from least motion [Hahnemann], [Allen], [Boericke]. He sits with knees drawn up; attempts at extension cause tearing, drawing, with cries; yet a few passive movements in a cool room make him a shade freer—only to sweat profusely (Modalities). The hands are hot, swollen, cannot bear the glove or bed-clothes; rings must be removed. Soles burn in warm bed; uncovered feet delight in cold sheets (Generalities). Periostitis of long bones with night-pains; fistulous openings over a spur or node; cold dressings are courted, poultices loathed (Skin). “Gonorrhœal rheumatism” with red, tender, contractured knees and wrists—classic indication [Farrington].

Hot, sensitive, sweaty; profuse, offensive perspiration from slight movement; axillary and general sweat stains the linen (Generalities) [Hahnemann], [Clarke]. Indurated glands; sluggish boils and phlegmonous abscess tending to fistula over bony prominences. Eruptions smart with heat and pressure; cool applications soothe. Old scars ache in warm rooms. The skin shares the remedy’s intolerance of handling; even gentle sponging must be cool.

Fibrous contraction / tendons & small joints

• Rhus toxicodendron — stiffness better warmth and continued motion; Guai.: heat worse, touch worse, sweat from least exertion. [Farrington], [Boger].
• Bryonia — tearing, stitching pains worse motion, likes warmth, dryness; Guai.: heat intolerable, profuse sweat, contraction feel. [Clarke], [Kent].
• Causticum — contractures with paresis and burning, better damp warmth; Guai.: no paralysis, worse heat, periosteal nodes. [Farrington].
• Ruta — tendons/ periosteum after strain; feels bruised; less heat-agg.; Guai.: touch/heat abhorrent; “bones too short.” [Boger], [Clarke].
• Actæa spicata — small-joint rheumatism esp. wrist, worse slight motion/touch; Guai.: adds heat-agg., sweat, contraction sense. [Farrington].

Gout / nodes / urates

• Colchicum — exquisite hyperæsthesia, odour-aversion, worse at night, often small joints; likes warmth; Guai.: worse warmth, foetid sweat, contraction. [Clarke].
• Ledum — gout ascends, better cold, joints pale, puffy; Guai.: better cold also, but touch-agg., throat affinity. [Boger].
• Benzoic acid — gout with very offensive urine, cretaceous deposits; Guai.: foetid sweat, throat/quinsy and nodes prominent. [Farrington].

Periosteal pains / syphilitic–drug history

• Kali iodatum — boring, nightly bone pains, thick discharges; loves warmth; Guai.: worse warmth, useful after Mercury. [Clarke], [Kent].
• Mezereum — periostitis of bones, neuralgia, eruptions; likes warmth; Guai.: heat intolerant, sweat, contraction. [Boger].
• Aurum — deep periosteal/bone pains with melancholy; Guai.: mind not profoundly melancholic; heat-agg. rules. [Kent].

Tonsillitis / quinsy

• Belladonna — bright, throbbing, high fever, dry heat; Guai.: foetid breath, salivation, heat/touch-agg., indurative tendency. [Clarke].
• Mercurius — salivation, foetor, night sweats—but damp warmth desired; Guai.: worse heat, hates poultices. [Hering], [Farrington].
• Hepar sulph. — suppurative tendency, very chilly, desires warmth; Guai.: opposite thermal desire; induration with heat-intolerance. [Boericke].
• Phytolacca — tonsils dark, shotty glands, pains to ears; less heat-hate; Guai.: marked pressure/heat aggravation. [Clarke].

Gonorrhœal rheumatism

• Medorrhinum — erratic rheumatism with burning soles; Guai.: small-joint contracture, worse heat, better cold. [Farrington].
• Kali bichromicum — ropy catarrh + periosteal nodes; Guai.: less ropiness, more contraction and heat-agg. [Boger].

• Complementary: Benzoic acid — uric diathesis, offensive urine; follows Guai. in chronic gout to clear urinary side. [Farrington], [Clarke].
• Complementary: Ruta — tendinous/ periosteal strain remains after Guai. has relieved heat-touch hypersensitiveness. [Boger].
• Complementary: Sulphur — constitutional after-care in chronic rheumatic–gouty and syphilitic terrains. [Kent].
• Follows well: Hepar sulph. — when quinsy has pointed; Guai. for the indurated, heat-intolerant aftermath. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Follows well: Rhus tox. — acute stiffness stage; Guai. when heat becomes unbearable and contraction predominates. [Farrington].
• Precedes well: Kali iodatum — lingering syphilitic periostitis after Guai.’s touch-heat phase. [Clarke].
• Precedes well: Calcarea fluorica — nodes, spurs and exostoses when acute hyperæsthesia subsides. [Boger].
• Related:, Rhus-t., Caust., Ruta, Colch., Led., Benzoic-ac., Kali-iod., Mez., Aur., Merc., Hepar, Phyt. (see Differentials).
• Antidotes: Nux and Camphor for drug over-action; fresh cool air and cold applications physiologically. [Allen], [Hering].
• Inimicals: none noted; avoid hot poulticing and damp-heat measures in clear Guaiacum cases (modal contrariety). [Clarke], [Boericke].

• Quinsy with foetid breath, salivation; warmth/poultices intolerable; cold sips palliate; touch-agg. — 6C–30C q1–3h; interpose Hepar if suppuration needs hastening. [Clarke], [Hering], [Boericke].
• Gouty–rheumatic small-joint contracture; limbs feel too short; worse heat and touch; foetid sweat from least motion. — 6x/6C b.i.d.–t.i.d.; follow with Benzoic acid for urinary–uric terrain. [Farrington], [Boericke].
• Periosteal nodes/spurs with night-pains in a mercurialised patient — 30C nocte; later Kali-iod./Calc-fl. as needed. [Clarke], [Boger].
• Gonorrhœal rheumatism with hot, tender contractured knees/wrists; better cold, hates touch. — 6C q.i.d. initially; cool local measures. [Farrington], [Clarke].

Mind

• Irritable, cannot bear to be approached or touched; defensive temper — correlates with pressure-agg. [Hahnemann], [Clarke].
• Aversion to warm rooms; insists on open window — thermal law. [Clarke].
• Despondent after nights of bone pain and sweat — nocturnal aggravation. [Hering].
• Fear of being handled during throat/joint pains — touch-avoidant. [Allen].
• Relief of fretfulness in cool air — modality echo. [Clarke].
• Loathes confinement of clothes/bedclothes — pressure-agg. [Hahnemann].

Head

• Headache worse warmth of room/bed, better cool air — thermal. [Clarke].
• Scalp sensitive to touch; combing painful — hyperæsthesia. [Hahnemann].
• Cranial periosteal soreness at night — syphilitic terrain. [Hering].
• Face flushed with hot throat; pillow pressure intolerable — throat link. [Clarke].
• Heaviness after night-sweat; better cool ablution — sweat law. [Allen].
• Teeth-zygoma stitches with warm drinks; better cold — dental echo. [Hahnemann].

Throat

• Tonsillitis/quinsy with foetid breath, salivation, solids impossible — keynote. [Clarke], [Allen].
• Worse warmth, worse poultices; better cold sips/cool air — decisive modalities. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Uvula œdematous; pain to ear; touch intolerable — classic picture. [Hering].
• Indurated tonsils after repeated attacks — chronicity. [Clarke].
• Thick, tenacious mucus with burning — texture. [Allen].
• Night aggravation, rapid swelling — timing. [Hering].

Extremities

• Limbs feel too short; contracted tendons; cannot extend — master rubric. [Hahnemann], [Allen].
• Small-joint nodes with heat, touch-agg. — gouty. [Boericke].
• Worse warmth, better cold applications — thermal law. [Clarke].
• Sweat from slightest motion with weakness — perspiration key. [Hahnemann].
• Gonorrhœal rheumatism, hot, tender joints — special field. [Farrington].
• Periosteal night-pains; fistula over nodes — bone link. [Hering].

Back / Bones

• Periostitis of long bones; night borings — syphilitic. [Clarke].
• Stiff neck worse warmth of scarf; better cold cloth — cervical rubric. [Boericke].
• Lumbago with tight hamstrings; extension impossible — contracture. [Hering].
• Touch of spinous processes painful — pressure-agg. [Allen].
• Warm bath aggravates bone pains — humid heat <. [Hughes].
• Better gentle passive movement in cool room — management. [Boger].

Skin / Sweat

• Profuse, offensive perspiration from least motion — grand keynote. [Hahnemann].
• Indurated glands; sluggish boils; fistulous abscesses — chronic outlet. [Hering].
• Heat makes eruptions smart; cold soothes — thermal parallel. [Clarke].
• Night-sweat stains linen; weakness after — perspiration sequel. [Allen].
• Warm sponging intolerable; cool sponging > — care rubric. [Clarke].
• Old scars ache in warmth — residual irritability. [Boger].

Generalities

• Worse heat (room, bed, poultice, drink); better cold (air, applications) — grand generals. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Worse touch/pressure; clothing intolerable — hyperæsthesia. [Hahnemann].
• Profuse foetid sweat on slight exertion — characteristic. [Hahnemann], [Allen].
• After Mercury ailments — periosteal/throat/bone states. [Clarke], [Hering].
• Night aggravation of bone/joint pains — timing. [Hering].
• Rich foods/wine < gout; spare diet > — regimen note. [Hughes], [Farrington].

Hahnemann — Materia Medica Pura (1821): proving of Guaiacum resin; touch- and heat-aggravations; contraction/shortening sensations; sweat from least motion.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving data and clinical confirmations—quinsy picture, foetid sweat, small-joint ankylosis, modalities.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): clinical confirmations—periosteal night-pains, fistulous abscess, gonorrhœal rheumatism, quinsy course.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): substance background; thermal/touch modalities; quinsy; after-Mercury states; gouty nodes.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870): pharmacology and historical use; sudorific anti-syphilitic; effects of warm baths; dietetic aggravations.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—small-joint gout, contraction, heat-intolerance, profuse sweat; throat indications; relationships.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): miasmatic colouring; modalities; relationships (Ruta, Calc-fl., Kali-iod.).
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): constitutional notes on syphilitic–sycotic terrains; comparisons (Rhus, Bry., Caust.).
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): differentiations—gout (Colch., Led., Benzoic-ac.); gonorrhœal rheumatism; throat comparisons (Merc., Hepar).
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1899): practical hints—sweat-law; cool-air management; dosing in rheumatism/gout.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): regimen (avoid heat/poultices); sequencing in quinsy and chronic rheumatism.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): vivid portraits of “bones too short,” heat-hate, touch-agg. in Guaiacum with bedside tests.