Mygale lasiodora
Substance Background
Prepared by trituration of the dried whole spider (a New World tarantula; family Theraphosidae) followed by serial attenuation. Classical sources attribute to the crude animal a neuro-excitatory influence culminating in violent, inco-ordinate muscular movements, facial grimacing, and incessant restlessness, which became the keynote clinical sphere in chorea (St. Vitus’ dance) and allied hyperkinesias [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. The taxonomic name “Mygale lasiodora” reflects nineteenth-century nomenclature; modern arachnology recognises Lasiodora spp., but homeopathic literature preserves Hering’s form [Clarke]. Folklore of “tarantism” belongs chiefly to Lycosa/Tarentula hispanica (a distinct remedy); Mygale represents a New World tarantula line with less dramatic music-ecstasy colouring and a plainer motor cortex/spinal hyper-irritability signature [Hering], [Farrington].
Proving Information
Data are largely clinical with fragmentary provings; Hering introduced the remedy, Allen collated case material, and Clarke/Boericke summarised keynotes: incessant, purposeless movements of face and limbs, sudden jerks, grimacing, tongue darting, inability to keep still while awake, and movements ceasing in sleep; right-sided chorea is repeatedly noted [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Tags: [Clinical] [Proving].
Remedy Essence
The essence of Mygale lasiodora is a wake-driven chorea: a child (or adolescent) who cannot keep still while awake—face twisting, tongue darting, hands flinging, feet tapping or stamping—yet who lies perfectly quiet in sleep. The movements are inco-ordinate, purposeless, often right-sided, and explode under emotion, contradiction, observation, and voluntary effort. The will’s attempt to command produces a counter-jerk, so the act of eating, writing, or speaking—especially with onlookers—magnifies the storm. The mental portrait is less theatrical than Tarentula; there is no marked love of music or erotic playfulness. Instead we see simple excitability, shame at loss of control, and relief in quiet, cool rooms and unobserved spaces ([Better For]). The sleep–wake switch is the master-key: movements stop completely in sleep and reappear on waking, a clinical rule of thumb that, when present with facial grimacing and darting tongue, points with certainty to Mygal. over Agaricus (more frolicsome, chilly, musical), Zincum (fidgety, depressed, evening-worse), and Cuprum (cramp and suppression rather than scatter).
Pathophysiologically the picture reads as cortical–striatal disinhibition with hyperkinesia, precipitated by affective arousal; the patient’s performance-worse axis is an external handle on that circuitry. Nursing measures—cool air, reduced audience, firm but gentle support to a limb during tasks, and spacing of efforts—accord with remedy modalities and often reveal the diagnosis at bedside. In practice, Mygal. has shone in post-infectious chorea (measles/scarlatina convalescence), pubertal chorea in girls with menses-worse, and schoolchildren whose handwriting and mealtimes are wrecked by sudden flings. Prescribe it when the triad stands out: sleep abolishes the movements, right-sided scatter of face/hand/foot with darting tongue, and worse from excitement, observation, and intent; then watch intervals of calm lengthen and the child’s will rejoin the body [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Farrington].
Affinity
- Motor cortex & pyramidal outflow — Explosive, inco-ordinate discharges producing choreic tossings, grimaces, and jerks; movements stop during sleep (central signature) [Hering], [Allen].
- Face & buccal muscles — Distortion of features, darting tongue, biting of cheeks/tongue, grimacing that hinders speech and feeding [Clarke], [Allen].
- Upper extremities (often right) — Rapid, incessant motions; cannot hold objects; handwriting impossible; right arm commonly first and worst [Hering], [Boger].
- Lower extremities — Kicking, dancing, feet constantly in motion; cannot walk in a straight line; falls from sudden knee-jerks [Allen], [Boericke].
- Speech & deglutition (bulbar synchrony) — Words broken by facial twitching; chorea of the tongue and throat; choking on attempts to swallow during paroxysms [Clarke].
- Sleep–wake switch — Complete suspension of movements in sleep with renewal on waking; a diagnostic keynote to separate from simulants and from some tics [Hering], [Clarke].
- Emotional triggers — Excitement, contradiction, fright, and observation exacerbate movements (performance-worse); child steadies when left alone [Allen], [Farrington].
- Menstrual/sexual axis (minor) — Chorea intensifies at puberty, during menses, or from uterine disturbance in girls (compare Tarent., Sep., Lil-t.) [Clarke], [Farrington].
Better For
- Sleep — Movements cease entirely; patient awakes to renewed tossing (bedside test) [Hering], [Clarke].
- Quiet room / being unobserved — Stage-fright element diminishes; performance-worse profile calms [Allen].
- Firm support / gentle restraint — Holding the limb or steadying the head can momentarily coordinate motions (not tolerated in Tarent.) [Clinical], [Farrington].
- Pressure with the hand — Patient instinctively presses the affected part to limit excursions [Allen].
- Cool, fresh air — Lowers irritability and heat of head from constant motion [Clarke].
- Short, rhythmic tasking — Brief, simple, repetitive actions sometimes focus and reduce scatter (contrast Tarent. craving music/dance) [Farrington].
- After stool/urination — Slight quieting when internal discomfort is removed [Clinical].
- Between paroxysms — Rest intervals lengthen with treatment; confirms remedy action [Clarke].
Worse For
- Emotional excitement, contradiction, or being watched — Movements become wilder; speech fails [Allen], [Farrington].
- Attempting voluntary control — The more he tries to hold still, the worse the jerks (paradox of intention) [Hering].
- Noise, bright light, crowd — Sensory overload increases facial and hand chorea [Clarke].
- At puberty / during menses — Girls’ chorea heightens around the period [Clarke], [Farrington].
- After fright or reprimand — Sudden relapses; hysterical colouring [Allen].
- Fatigue, prolonged exertion — Exhaustion lowers threshold and invites flurries [Boericke].
- Warm, close rooms — Head heats; restlessness increases [Clarke].
- On waking — Renewal of movement immediately on eye-opening—keynote sequence [Hering].
Symptomatology
Mind
The mental field is reactive and excitable, with emotions acting like sparks to the motor powder—anger, contradiction, or being watched instantly drive the limbs into wilder capers [Allen]. The child is bright but impulsive, changeable, and cannot sustain attention while the movements surge; attempts at self-control multiply the very jerks he would suppress, a paradox repeatedly observed at the bedside [Hering]. Shame at loss of control alternates with giggling restlessness; he may hide his hands or sit upon them, reflecting the partial help from firm support (see Better For) [Farrington]. There is fear after fright with renewal of choreic storms, and a tendency to dramatise ailments less than in Tarentula, which craves music and theatrics; Mygal. is simpler—a body jerking faster than the will [Clarke]. Speech becomes chopped by facial grimaces and tongue thrusts, and the child snaps answers lest the next jerk steal the words. Sleep brings a merciful oblivion, with movements wholly suspended, and the morning finds hope until the first effort starts the cascade anew—this cycle ties mind to the sleep–wake axis already noted (Affinities/Modalities). Irritability comes from frustration rather than malice; tenderness and calm surroundings lessen the storm, confirming the performance-worse motif [Allen].
Head
Head is thrown back and sideways by sudden, capricious jerks; the scalp heats in close rooms and cool air relieves, a simple nursing cross-link to the modalities [Clarke]. Vertex seems drawn upward by an invisible string; the occiput raps the pillow in a series of involuntary knocks during wakeful periods. Effort to hold the head still increases the amplitude of the next fling—intention-worse (see Worse For). Headache is dull, bruised, and follows prolonged paroxysms; it lessens if sleep comes soon after. Children bump the forehead on desks when a facial grimace spreads into a whole-body fling; small ecchymoses betray the violence of the day. There is no fixed aura; paroxysms arise from emotional spark or on waking. Compared with Agaricus, whose head movements are frolicsome and musical, Mygal. is abrupt, jagged, and exhausting [Farrington], [Boger].
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