Lactuca virosa

A tall, bitter lettuce of the Compositæ (Asteraceæ), whose white latex—lactucarium—contains sesquiterpene lactones (notably lactucin and lactucopicrin) with sedative, anodyne and antitussive properties reminiscent of opium yet without its cerebral excitation [Hughes], [Clarke]. Crude effects include mental torpor, dizziness, drowsiness, tremulous weakness, palpitations with small, feeble pulse, dryness of mouth and laryngeal tickle, and a peculiar numbness or “lightness” of the limbs—elements reproduced in the homœopathic picture [Allen], [Hering], [Boericke]. Tincture is prepared from the fresh flowering plant and latex; triturations from the dried lactucarium have also been used [Clarke], [Allen]. Toxicologic provings record insomnia paradoxically alternating with sopor, hysterical restlessness, paresthesiæ, and cough relieved by quiet and warmth, anchoring its neural, cardiac and laryngeal spheres [Hughes], [Allen], [Hering].

Clinical and toxicologic provings collated by Hering and Allen, with confirmations by Clarke and Boericke, elicited: insomnia with incessant ideas yet overwhelming drowsiness, delirium-like loquacity (especially in drinkers), tremulous weakness, numbness and formication of limbs, weak irregular pulse with carotid throbbing, tickling laryngeal cough worse at night and on talking, and sexual irritability alternating with torpor [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Early [Clinical] confirmations include delirium tremens with ceaseless talking and motion, hysterical sleeplessness, nocturnal tickling coughs, and neurasthenic paresthesiæ [Clarke], [Boericke], [Nash].

Lactuca virosa is the quieting lettuce whose essence is nervous insomnia with neurasthenic tremor, a weak, small pulse, and a tickling laryngeal cough provoked by speech. The patient is paradoxically drowsy yet sleepless: thoughts hurry without joy as in Coffea and without delirious heat as in Belladonna; instead there is a dreamy torpor, loquacity or humming in bed, and a desire for quiet and darkness that accords with the characteristic amelioration. The sensory field is awash with formication and lightness—limbs feel as if “gone,” jerk on dropping off, and tingle in warm bed—binding Skin, Extremities and Sleep. Circulation lags: weak, irregular pulse, carotid throbbing in bed, præcordial emptiness and faintness, all worse at night and after alcohol or coffee, all better absolute rest and removal of stimulation. The laryngeal tickle is a small but precious keynote; it is aroused by talking, reading aloud, or a deep breath in a warm room, and calmed by silence and warm drinks—linking the remedy’s sleep, throat and modality triad.

Kingdom signature (Compositæ) appears as functional, vasomotor and nervous lability rather than destructive disease; the temperament is psoric-sycotic, alternating erethism with torpor. Pace is subacute, often self-provoked by irregular hours, stimulants, and sexual excess; it suits the watcher, the drinker after a bout, the anxious talker whose nights are long. Micro-comparisons steady selection: Coffea is brilliant, hypersensitive, with bounding pulse; Lactuca is muffled, tremulous, with weak pulse. Opium falls into stupor; Lactuca frets and whispers. Cocculus is sick with vertigo and nausea from watching; Lactuca is light-headed and empty with tickle-cough. Gelsemium is heavy and drooping; Lactuca is restless yet craving stillness. Rumex and Phosphorus share the cough-on-talking, but in Lactuca it is a laryngeal whisper of the wider nervous unrest, not a burning catarrh. Strategy is simple: remove stimulants, dim lights, command silence, allow warm sips; as quiet sleep returns, the pulse fills, the cough is forgotten, and the crawling skin lies still. This small remedy earns its place where “the brain will not switch off,” the limbs tingle, the heart flutters weakly, and speech itself fans the tickle—an opiate without opium, acting by likeness rather than narcotic force [Clarke], [Hughes], [Boericke].

• Cerebro-spinal axis — nervous insomnia with mental hurry yet sopor; tremulous weakness; somnambulism tendencies (see Mind/Sleep). [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke]

• Peripheral nerves — numbness, formication, “lightness” of limbs; jerks on dropping off; anaesthesia after over-exertion (see Extremities/Generalities). [Allen], [Boericke]

• Heart and vasomotor system — weak, small, irregular pulse; palpitation with emptiness and faintness; carotid throbbing; nervous tachy-brady lability (see Heart). [Hughes], [Clarke]

• Larynx and trachea — tickling, dry, teasing cough; voice fatigues; cough worse at night, talking, warm room; needs quiet (see Throat/Respiration). [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Sleep centres — sleepless though drowsy; ideas crowd; wakes easily; travel- or worry-insomnia; alcohol-after effects (see Sleep/Mind). [Hering], [Clarke]

• Sexual sphere — anaphrodisiac action with functional oscillation: morbid excitement or torpor; emissions with weakness; over-indulgence aggravates nerves (see Male/Female). [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak]

• Urinary tract — diuretic tendency; frequent pale urine in nervous states; irritability of bladder in sleepless nights (see Urinary). [Hughes], [Clarke]

• Skin/vasomotor — itching with formication; cold clammy sweat in tremulous spells; urticarial tingling (see Skin/Perspiration). [Hering], [Allen]

Restless, wakeful, thoughts crowd and flit; ideas seem incessant and prevent sleep, yet the will is languid and heavy, revealing the paradox of drowsy sleeplessness which tallies with the Better (quiet, dark) and Worse (mental excitement) modalities already noted [Hering], [Clarke]. Loquacity and silly talking, humming or singing in bed occur, especially in drinkers who cannot sleep and are moved to be forever on the move (delirium-like) [Clarke], [Allen]. In quieter cases there is mental dulness, inability to fix attention, and a dreamy, far-away feeling, with irritability at the least interruption. Anxiety clusters about the heart and about sleeplessness itself—the patient measures the hours and frets, which deepens the insomnia (Mind ↔ Heart/Sleep). A small fear of being alone at night alternates with aversion to company talking. Memory is weak after nights without rest; next day the patient is apathetic yet tremulous. Sexual thoughts may intrude or, contrariwise, there is an aversion to sexual stimulus; both states aggravate wakefulness (Mind ↔ Sexual). Alcohol and coffee kindle mental hurry and talking, followed by exhaustion with trembling—this is a field where Lact. has quieted delirium-tremens-type restlessness [Clarke], [Nash]. After a quiet hour in a darkened room, the mind slows and the patient dozes lightly, confirming the amelioration by quiet, darkness, and abstinence already cited.

Cardinal: drowsy yet cannot sleep; ideas crowd, the body trembles; least noise or light startles and jerks him awake [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. When sleep comes, it is brief and unrefreshing; early morning dozing may occur. Talking or singing in bed, somnambular tendencies in excitable children, and incessant turning from the tickle-cough keep up the vigil (Sleep ↔ Respiration/Mind). After alcohol, sleep is full of confused mutterings with sudden starts; abstinence and a dark quiet room often break the spell (echoing modalities).

Vivid, confused, of business, talking, travelling; anxious dreams with starting and palpitation; dreams cease as quiet sleep lengthens toward morning (Dreams ↔ Heart/Sleep) [Clarke], [Allen]. Erotic dreams with emissions in men and subsequent prostration (Dreams ↔ Male).

Lactuca virosa gathers a nervous-insomnia picture: drowsy but sleepless, ideas racing, with tremulous weakness, numbness/formication, and a weak, irregular pulse—a psoric–sycotic functional state rather than deep tissue destruction [Hering], [Clarke], [Hughes]. The modality pattern is decisive: worse at night, in warm, close rooms, from talking/reading aloud, alcohol, coffee, tobacco, and mental excitement; better absolute rest, quiet and darkness, warm drinks, gentle rubbing, and, paradoxically, open air for the nerves though cold air on the throat may excite the cough (polarity) [Clarke], [Boericke]. The triad Mind–Heart–Larynx runs through: mental hurry and talkativeness prevent sleep; palpitation with emptiness and carotid throbs sustain anxiety; any word or deep breath triggers a dry, teasing cough. Peripheral sensations—light limbs, numbness, jerks—compose a neurasthenic envelope that distinguishes Lact. from Coffea (exalted sensorium, joyous activity) and from Opium (heavy coma, stertor, insensibility) [Kent], [Clarke]. Compare Cocculus (sleepless from watching with vertigo and nausea), Gelsemium (drowsy, heavy, drooping—not restless talkative), Hyoscyamus (noisy, erotic delirium without the anaphrodisiac trend), Valeriana (erratic hysterical, less cardiac weakness), Avena and Phos-ac. (nervous prostration after sexual excess), and Passiflora (quieting sleep without the characteristic tickle-on-talking cough) [Farrington], [Boericke], [Nash]. Cure proceeds with establishment of quiet sleep; as sleep lengthens, pulse steadies, cough subsides, and the crawling fades.

No high fever; rather chill with light sweat during tremor, heat of face with carotid throbbing and weak pulse; feverishness after alcohol and wakefulness [Clarke], [Hughes]. Fever abates as rest is secured.

Chilliness in the evening in warm room; heat of head with cold hands; cold, clammy, light sweat on chest and face during palpitating restlessness [Allen], [Clarke]. Sweat brings little relief unless the patient can then sleep.

Head feels light, empty, or “loose,” with a soft, dizzy swim on rising; sight may dim for a moment as if blood left the head, better lying still and after food [Allen], [Clarke]. Carotids throb in bed with a weak irregular pulse; the patient presses the temples to still the rush (Head ↔ Heart). Headache is dull, frontal, from loss of sleep or after alcohol; thinking and talking renew it; a short doze and a warm drink ease [Clarke], [Boericke]. A crawling or tingling travels over scalp with general formication; warm covering aggravates the itch (Head ↔ Skin). Eyes feel heavy; the brow sinks; yet sleep will not come. Turning in bed renews the head-swim and sets off a cough-tickle through the throat.

Lids heavy; eyes dry and smarting after wakeful nights; vision blurs on rising quickly, clears on lying quiet [Allen], [Clarke]. Pupils not fixedly altered; photophobia slight, but sudden light at night startles and jerks the limbs (Eyes ↔ Sleep/Extremities). Reading aloud fatigues eyes and voice together; the ocular fatigue mirrors the general nervous depletion.

Buzzing and humming in the ears in quiet rooms at night; sudden noises startle and renew the tickle-cough and the jerks (Ears ↔ Respiration/Sleep) [Hering], [Clarke]. Hearing seems dulled in morning after an insomniac night; better in open air.

Nasal mucosa dry in warm rooms; sneezing in the night air may provoke a cough paroxysm (Nose ↔ Throat/Respiration). Odours of tobacco or alcohol are offensive and excite restlessness and palpitation [Clarke].

Pale, sallow, or earthy face in morning after sleeplessness; lips dry with a cold, light sweat during tremulous spells [Clarke], [Allen]. Facial muscles twitch when dropping off; a crawling passes over cheeks with the general skin formication (Face ↔ Skin/Sleep). Expression is blank, drowsy, yet irritable at noise.

Dryness of mouth and fauces, with a tickle graduating into a cough when talking or taking a deep breath [Allen], [Clarke]. Taste flat after insomnia; tongue looks pale, sometimes tremulous. Sipping warm drinks eases the dryness; alcohol burns and aggravates. Saliva not profuse, rather sticky “cotton mouth.”

No distinctive carious picture; dull toothache may occur with the facial crawling and jaw tremor in nervy subjects; clenching during restless attempts to sleep brings a bruised feeling next day (Teeth ↔ Sleep).

Raw, tickling spot high in the larynx; talking or reading aloud renews a dry, teasing cough; warm drinks and silence soothe (Throat ↔ Respiration/Modalities) [Clarke], [Boericke]. Draught on the throat in the night air provokes a bout; the patient wraps warmly yet wants the room quiet and cool. Fauces are dry; deglutition easy but provokes a tickle.

Oppression with tickle-cough; must hold the chest or stop speaking to prevent a paroxysm; warm drinks and quiet help (Chest ↔ Throat/Respiration) [Clarke], [Boericke]. Stitches in intercostals with trembling; sighing respiration when awake at night. A cold, light sweat on chest in tremulous spells.

Palpitation with weak, small, irregular pulse; faintness and emptiness at præcordia; carotid throbbing in bed; worse after alcohol, coffee, or mental excitement; better absolute rest and darkness (Heart ↔ Mind/Sleep) [Hughes], [Clarke], [Allen]. Anxiety about the heart sustains insomnia. No fixed valvular disease belongs; rather a functional vagal-vasomotor lability.

Short breath when talking; deep inspiration tickles and brings a dry cough; worse warm room and night, better quiet and warm drinks (Respiration ↔ Throat/Modalities) [Clarke], [Boericke]. The cough is non-expectorant or scanty; any laugh, read-aloud or conversation renews it. Open air calms the nerves but cold air on throat may excite the paroxysm (polarity).

Appetite small in insomniacs; faint empty feeling at epigastrium with palpitation; worse fasting or after alcohol and coffee; better a light meal (Stomach ↔ Heart/Generalities) [Clarke]. Nausea on rising quickly from bed; eructations little. A sense of hollowness corresponds to the “light head” and weak pulse; quiet and warmth settle the stomach.

Flatulence from nervous eating at night; bowels sluggish after wakeful spells; a dragging across hypogastrium accompanies emissions in men (Abdomen ↔ Male) [Clarke]. Anxiety tightens the epigastrium when ideas race; better by steadying the breath.

Constipation from irregular living and sleepless nights; stool tardy in the morning; during nervous diarrhœa the patient is more sleepy than faint [Clarke], [Allen]. Itching at anus with general formication (Rectum ↔ Skin).

Increased pale urine in nervous nights, with frequent urging that breaks sleep; diuretic tendency observed in crude and clinical use [Hughes], [Clarke]. Smarting at meatus after coffee or alcohol; urine clearer as rest returns. Enuresis in excitable children with somnambulism has been noted clinically (Urinary ↔ Sleep) [Clarke].

Aversion to alcohol and coffee once their mischief is noticed; both aggravate wakefulness and palpitation [Clarke], [Nash]. Craves warm drinks for the tickle; little appetite at night; a light meal steadies faintness (Food ↔ Stomach/Heart). Tobacco smoke is repugnant and excites cough.

Sexual sphere oscillates: morbid excitement with sleeplessness and emissions followed by tremulous weakness; or depressed desire with anaphrodisiac indifference, both states aggravating wakefulness [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak]. Emissions with great prostration and hollow epigastrium; better abstinence and quiet regimen (Male ↔ Generalities).

Hysterical sleeplessness around menses; genital erethism alternates with torpor; pruritus vulvæ with crawling, worse warmth of bed (Female ↔ Skin/Sleep) [Clarke]. Menses may be delayed after nights of unrest; voice tires in talkative women whose cough tickle is triggered by conversation.

Tired back with tremor after wakeful nights; cervical muscles twitch when dropping off; dorsal crawling up and down the spine with chill-like thrills (Back ↔ Skin/Sleep) [Hering]. Lumbosacral ache after emissions; better rest and warmth.

Numbness and formication; limbs feel light or “gone,” with tremor; jerks on dropping off prevent sleep [Allen], [Hering]. Hands tremble on attempting fine tasks after a sleepless night; grasp weak until rested. Itching worse warmth of bed; rubbing helps. Slow walking in open air steadies the tremor, but exertion aggravates palpitations (Extremities ↔ Heart/Modalities).

Creeping, tingling, formication over body; urticarial itching in warm bed; cold light sweat in tremulous states [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Scratching gives brief relief then burning. Skin symptoms rise with nervous unrest and subside as sleep returns (Skin ↔ Sleep).

Aetiology — Alcohol / Over-stimulation

• Nux vomica — irritable insomnia after stimulants with gastric spasm; lacks the drowsy yet sleepless, tickle-cough and numbness of Lactuca. [Kent], [Clarke]

• Opium — stupor, stertor, constipation; insomnia from fright but sensorium benumbed; Lactuca is restless, talkative, light-limbed. [Clarke], [Allen]

• Quercus g. — alcoholism with craving and liver focus; no insomnia–tickle triad. [Clarke]

Mind / Sleep — Restless Insomnia

• Coffea — joyous excitability and exaltation; hypersensory; pulse not weak. Lactuca shows mental hurry with torpor and weak pulse. [Kent], [Clarke]

• Cocculus — insomnia from watching, vertigo, nausea; lacks the cough-tickle from talking. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Gelsemium — heavy, drowsy, drooping; sleeps but unrefreshed; no restless talkativeness. [Farrington]

• Hyoscyamus — lascivious delirium with jerks; mania stronger; Lactuca quieter, with anaphrodisiac action. [Clarke]

Keynotes — Tickling Cough on Speaking

• Rumex — cough from cold air and speaking, raw trachea; lacks nervous cardiac weakness. [Clarke]

• Phosphorus — tickling cough, worse talking, but burning and bleeding tendencies; pulse not weak-small as in Lactuca. [Kent]

• Spongia — dry, sawing cough with heat in larynx; not the neurasthenic-insomnia type of Lactuca. [Farrington]

Organ Affinity — Heart / Vasomotor

• Digitalis — slow, weak, irregular pulse with sinking; heavy stupor, not talkative insomnia; cough not marked. [Clarke]

• Aconite — violent anxiety and acute fear; pulse hard, bounding; Lactuca has small, weak nervous pulse. [Kent]

Modalities — Worse Warmth, Better Quiet

• Arsenicum album — restless, anxious, worse after midnight, better warmth; burning pains, prostration, desire for company. Lactuca seeks quiet, and cough is renewed by talk. [Kent], [Clarke]

• Valeriana — hysterical restlessness, better from walking about; erratic pains; cardiac weakness not typical. Lactuca calms with stillness. [Farrington]

Sexual Exhaustion / Emissions

• Phosphoric acid — apathetic, grief-worn, emissions with debility; sleeps from stupor; lacks cough-tickle keynote. [Nash], [Clarke]

• Kali bromatum — sexual erethism with acne, insomnia; pustular skin, mental dulness; cough not central. [Clarke]

• Complementary: Avena sativa — nervous exhaustion and sleeplessness; Avena builds tone while Lactuca quiets tickle and restlessness. [Boericke], [Nash]

• Complementary: Phosphoric acid — sexual exhaustion with mental apathy; follows Lactuca when insomnia eases. [Nash], [Clarke]

• Complementary: Passiflora — simple insomnia without cough; may aid sleep while Lactuca covers laryngeal tickle and cardiac weakness. [Boericke]

• Follows well: Nux vomica — after stimulant excess when the picture settles into drowsy sleeplessness with weak pulse and tickle-cough. [Kent], [Clarke]

• Follows well: Cocculus — after night-watching and vertigo yield but insomnia with tremor remains. [Clarke]

• Precedes well: Gelsemium — if the case passes into pure heaviness and drooping after the nervous stage. [Farrington]

• Related: Coffea, Opium, Hyoscyamus, Valeriana, Avena sativa, Phosphoric acid, Cocculus, Passiflora, Rumex, Phosphorus, Spongia, Digitalis, Arsenicum album, Nux vomica (see Differentials)

• Antidotes: Nux vomica, Coffea (for over-sedation or aggravation from stimulants); Camphor (general) [Clarke], [Hering]

• Inimicals: None noted; avoid alternation with Opium without fresh indications. [Kent]

• Insomnia of nervous talkers — drowsy but sleepless; ideas crowd; tickle-cough comes on when speaking; weak, small pulse. Lactuca virosa 6C–30C at bedtime, repeat if the mind re-starts after midnight. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Delirium tremens (mild forms) — ceaseless muttering, trembling, small irregular pulse; remedy useful alongside strict quiet and abstinence. Always monitor the pulse; supportive care paramount. [Clarke], [Nash]

• Tickling laryngeal cough in warm rooms — worse from talking, better from warm drinks and strict silence. Use Lactuca virosa rather than Rumex when insomnia and weak pulse co-present. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Neurasthenic paraesthesiae with “light limbs” — jerks on dropping off to sleep, with numbness and tremor. Lactuca virosa plus regimen (darkened room, warm rubbing of limbs) often breaks the cycle. [Hering], [Allen]

Mind

• Loquacity — muttering, singing in bed at night; pointer in restless drinkers. [Clarke], [Allen]

• Thoughts — crowding, prevent sleep though drowsy; keynote insomnia. [Hering], [Clarke]

• Anxiety — about the heart and about not sleeping; sustains wakefulness. [Clarke]

• Aversion to conversation — worse from others talking; seeks quiet. [Clarke]

• Irritability — from noise or light at night; startles easily; jerks follow. [Hering]

• Indifference/apathy — morning after sleeplessness, with daytime dullness. [Allen], [Clarke]

Head

• Light, empty sensation — especially on rising; better lying. [Allen], [Clarke]

• Vertigo — on rising; sight momentarily vanishes; weak pulse link. [Allen]

• Carotid pulsation — throbbing in bed with small pulse. [Clarke]

• Frontal headache — from loss of sleep or alcohol; rests with dozing. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Scalp formication — worse warmth of bed; nervous skin sign. [Hering]

• Sleepless head — cannot sleep for ideas though drowsy; mind–head axis. [Hering]

Throat / Larynx / Respiration

• Tickling cough — dry, worse talking, reading aloud, warm room. Signature rubric. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Larynx rawness/dryness — better warm drinks; quiet room aids. [Clarke]

• Voice fatigue — used up by little talking; nervous larynx. [Clarke]

• Respiration — deep breath excites cough; guarded inspiration. [Clarke]

• Cough — worse at night, better absolute rest; sleep linkage. [Boericke]

• Throat sensitivity — draught aggravates, though general open air calms (modal polarity). [Clarke]

Heart / Generalities

• Pulse — weak, small, irregular; palpitation with emptiness. [Hughes], [Clarke]

• Palpitation — worse at night or from stimulants; better rest and darkness. [Clarke]

• Faintness — on rising, with hollow epigastrium and light head. [Allen], [Clarke]

• Trembling — nervous, worse at night; insomnia nexus. [Hering]

• Weakness — general, from loss of sleep; psoric function. [Allen]

• Modalities — worse alcohol, coffee, tobacco; better quiet, dark. [Clarke], [Nash]

Extremities / Skin

• Numbness of limbs — feel light or “gone”; paraesthetic keynote. [Allen], [Hering]

• Jerking — on falling asleep; prevents sleep. [Allen]

• Formication — crawling, tingling, worse warmth of bed. [Hering], [Clarke]

• Itching — urticarial; scratching relieves briefly then burning. [Allen]

• Tremor of hands — on exertion after sleepless nights; neurasthenic. [Clarke]

• Weak grasp — cannot hold firmly until rested. [Clarke]

Sleep

• Sleeplessness with drowsiness — ideas crowd; cardinal. [Hering], [Clarke]

• Short, unrefreshing dozes — early morning napping. [Allen]

• Startling — from least noise or light; jerks. [Hering]

• Somnambulism — in excitable children with enuresis. [Clarke]

• Talking or singing — in sleep or on falling asleep; restless mind. [Allen]

• Modalities — worse after midnight; better quiet, darkness, warm drinks. [Clarke], [Boericke]

Urinary / Sexual

• Frequent pale urination — during nervous nights; diuretic tendency. [Hughes], [Clarke]

• Enuresis — in excitable children, with somnambulism. [Clarke]

• Nocturnal emissions — with weakness and insomnia. [Clarke]

• Sexual desire oscillation — morbid excitement ↔ torpor; anaphrodisiac trend. [Clarke], [Boericke]

• Modalities — worse sexual excess; better abstinence and quiet. [Phatak], [Clarke]

• Pruritus vulvae — nervous, worse warmth of bed. [Clarke]

Fever / Chill / Sweat

• Cold, clammy sweat — at night, with tremor and palpitations. [Allen], [Clarke]

• Chilliness — in warm room, evening; vasomotor. [Clarke]

• Heat of face — with throbbing carotids; weak pulse. [Clarke]

• Low, nervous fever — from stimulants and loss of sleep. [Hughes]

• Better — when sleep is obtained; fever abates. [Clarke]

• Worse — talking or exertion at night renews sweat and tremor. [Allen]

Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–1879): toxicologic/proving data—insomnia with drowsiness, paresthesiæ, weak pulse, laryngeal tickle.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879–1891): clinical confirmations—delirium-like restlessness, jerks on dropping off, formication, modalities.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): full remedy portrait—lettuce-opium background, insomnia, tickle-cough on talking, sexual/urinary notes, regimen.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—sedative sphere, cough worse talking/warm room, insomnia, nervous weakness; relationships.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (late 19th c.): pharmacology/toxicology of lactucarium; vasomotor and cardiac effects; diuretic note.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): generalities—restless insomnia, weakness from loss of sleep, modalities; comparisons.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): philosophical contrasts—Coffea, Opium, Nux-v.; insomnia types and circulatory tone.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1899): clinical hints—alcoholic insomnia, small pulse, rest regimen.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1890): comparisons with Gels., Valer., Passiflora in nervous sleeplessness and cough.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (20th c.): concise keynotes—sexual excess aggravation, insomnia, diuretic tendency.
Dunham, C. — Homœopathy, the Science of Therapeutics (1877): insomnia therapeutics; hygienic measures with nervous remedies.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (20th c.): clinical vignettes—talkative wakefulness, cough on talking, regimen reinforcement.