Natrium silicicum

Sodium silicate (“water-glass”) is formed by fusing silica (sand) with soda and dissolving the glassy mass to yield alkaline silicate solutions used in cements, fireproofing, paper, ceramics, egg-preservation, and metalwork. The homeopathic medicine is prepared from chemically pure sodium silicate by solution and potentisation [Clarke], [Hughes], [Boericke]. Classical writers infer a sphere midway between Silicea (fibro-connective tissues, slow suppuration, deficient assimilation) and the Natrum group (dryness, catarrh, nervous sensitivity, reserved temperament): glands and fibrous planes that indurate and then suppurate sluggishly, chronic catarrh of ear–nose–throat with Eustachian involvement and conductive deafness, periosteal/thready bone pains, skin/nail fragility, and coldness with lack of stamina [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. It is repeatedly noted in lingering ENT suppurations (tonsillar crypts, adenoids, chronic otorrhoea with “glue-ear”), recurrent dental/anasal fistulae, and indurated cervical nodes that soften only with time and warmth—very much the Silicea cadence, coloured by Natrum dryness and reserve [Clarke], [Boger].

Natrum silicatum lacks a full Hahnemannian proving. Its picture is compiled from fragmentary provings, toxicologic hints (alkaline irritation), and broad clinical confirmations gathered by Hering, Allen, Clarke, Boericke, Boger and later authors—chiefly in lingering glandular indurations, chronic ENT catarrh with deafness, slow suppuration, skin/nail fragility, and chilliness [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. Where “siliceous” traits are cited, they are those repeatedly observed in practice rather than laboratory provings.

A siliceous Natrum: dryness + reserve on the surface; hard nodes + slow suppuration underneath. The patient is chilly, drained by effort, worse drafts/cold, better warmth and unforced drainage. The clinical map centres on lingering ENT catarrh (especially Eustachian with glue-ear and partial deafness), post-infective glandular indurations, slow dental/anasal fistulae, and fragile skin/nails with whitlows and hang-nails. Think Natrum silicatum when a Silicea-like case carries a distinct Natrum dryness/reserve and Eustachian focus—and when suppression (of sweat or discharge) reliably backfires [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Allen].

• ENT / Eustachian apparatus — chronic catarrh after adenoid/tonsil states; glue-ear with popping, partial deafness; otorrhoea that lingers and soils pillow; crusts and dryness in naso-pharynx [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Glands & connective tissue — indurated cervical nodes (post-infection), submandibular and mammary nodules; slow softening; tendency to suppurate late [Hering], [Allen].
• Periosteum / bone — thread-like, drawing pains; subacute periostitis; dental and nasal fistulae; alveolar abscess that drains slowly [Clarke], [Boger].
• Skin, hair, nails — brittle nails, ridging; hang-nails; chapped, dry skin; whitlows; ingrown nails; slow healing of wounds [Hering], [Boericke].
• Larynx/voice — voice fatigues soon; hoarseness after slight use in cool drafts; readers/singers who “lose” tone [Clarke], [Boger].
• Nervous stamina — chilly, easily exhausted; reserved, inward; “falls to pieces” after effort; lacks grit yet conscientious (Silicea–Natrum blend) [Kent], [Boger].

Quiet, reserved, dutiful; hypersensitive to criticism but self-contained—the Natrum colouring. Confidence low in public; stage-fright with trembling voice; prefers solitary, exact work. Anxiety over health of glands or ears; fastidious about ear/nose hygiene. Mentally tired by reading/talking; after effort becomes chilly and headachy, seeks warmth and silence. Less irritable than Nat-mur., less obstinate than Sil.; more pliant yet persevering [Kent], [Clarke].

Unrefreshing; wakes chilly towards 3–4 a.m.; must warm feet/hands to sleep; dreams of examination, being unprepared; sleep improves when a discharge (ear, gum) resumes [Clarke], [Boger].

Of schoolwork, public reading with failing voice; of teeth loosening or splinters in fingers—somatic echoes (siliceous theme) [Clinical].

Chilly, dry, reserved, with hard nodes that soften slowly, catarrh that lingers (especially ear/Eustachian), suppuration that finishes late, and skin/nails that crack and fail. Better warmth, gentle discharge, and time; worse cold/damp, drafts, and suppression (sweat/discharge). Sits between Natrum (reserve/dryness) and Silicea (connective-tissue, suppurative cadence) [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

Little fever; evening chilliness with ear/throat tightness; heat follows if discharge is checked; sweat brings relief if not suppressed [Hering].

Chill from drafts and damp; heat local over indurations; sweat of head/feet, easily suppressed → relapse; prefers steady dry warmth [Clarke], [Boger].

Dull, pressing headaches from reading or speaking, with scalp tenderness and chilliness; better warmth and head-wraps [Clarke]. Sinus pressure at root of nose with post-nasal crusts; catarrh drops to throat. Sweat of scalp (night/effort), easily checked by the least draft → relapse of head/ear trouble [Hering]. Hair dry, lustreless; dandruff fine, dry [Boericke]. Occipital dragging with cervical node tension.

Tired eyes in readers; sand-feeling in dry rooms; recurrent styes/chalazia that mature slowly and recur after chills—more chronic and dry than in Staph.; warmth and time bring discharge [Clarke], [Boger]. Photophobia on over-use, not acute.

Key sphere. Eustachian catarrh with popping, blockage on swallowing; conductive deafness in children after adenoids; hearing clearer in dry open air, dulled in damp rooms [Clarke]. Otorrhoea: scant, sticky or thin, long-lasting; pillows soiled; smell slight; relapse after suppression of sweat/bathing the head [Hering]. Mastoid area tender on weather change; drafts provoke earache. Voices sound distant; bone-conduction fair. Compare Kali-mur. (earlier, white/grey thick), Calc-s. (creamy pus later), Sil. (expulsion of foreign bodies) [Boericke], [Boger].

Dry crusts and obstruction alternating with scant, stringy discharge; posterior dryness with hawking of pellets. Septal soreness from crusts; little odour unless neglected. Colds start in drafts and settle in Eustachian tube [Clarke]. Sneezing in cold rooms; better steady, dry air.

Sallow, fine skin with chapping at angles of mouth (not oozing like Graph.). Acne papules that indurate; tender submandibular nodes—hard, slow to alter [Hering], [Clarke].

Aphthous patches in the dry mouth of students/speakers; gums pale, receding; dental fistulae and root abscess that drain slowly, better warm rinses; sharp air re-inflames [Clarke], [Boericke]. Tongue thinly coated; taste flat.

Toothache from cold air; relief with warm drinks. Peri-apical sinus tracts; tenderness on biting; sluggish granulation (between Hepar early pain and Sil. expulsive phase) [Boger].

Chronic tonsillar crypts with caseous plugs; throat dry, scratchy in drafts; painless nodes persist after infections—hard, slow, finally softening [Clarke]. Voice “frays” after short use, especially in cool halls; better warm sips and rest [Boger].

Shortness in cold air; cough from a tickle at sternal notch, worse drafts and speaking; scant, tenacious morning mucus; better warmth and after expectorating a little [Clarke], [Boericke]. Sequelae of measles: dry, lingering bronchial catarrh with ear blockage.

Palpitations with nervous weakness after effort or speaking; chilliness and sinking; relieved by warmth and rest; no deep valvular picture [Clarke].

Breath catches in cold rooms; must warm the air in the throat; tendency to sigh after mental strain; larynx fatigues [Boger].

Weak digestion from mental effort; flatulence and emptiness 10–11 a.m.; prefers warm, simple food; cold drinks chill the stomach [Clarke]. Butter/grease disagree less than in Puls., but excess fat dulls head and ears (catarrhal link) [Phatak].

Subacute mesenteric node fullness in scrofulous youths; not tender, hard; bowels sluggish with gas [Hering]. Chill of abdomen triggers ear/throat relapse (reflex tendency noted in practice) [Clarke].

Stool difficult to expel; starts, recedes (“bashful stool” — siliceous trait); anal fissures from dryness; better warm water and ointment [Hering], [Boericke]. Piles small, sore after straining.

Urging from chill; urine pale, slightly cloudy with mucus in catarrhal phases; cutting at close if chilled [Allen]. Bladder neck irritable in drafts.

Desire for warm food/drinks; aversion to cold beverages; modest desire for salt (Natrum tint) [Clarke]. Milk generally tolerated; fats in excess clog catarrh.

Epididymal induration after orchitis; chronic, painless, cool; better warm applications [Clarke]. Sexual power depressed by long abstinence and mental over-work; nocturnal emissions with chilliness.

Cervical ectopy with sticky leucorrhoea after chill; vulvar fissures (dry); Bartholin nodules that soften late; mammary nodules hard, slow, often post-lactational [Hering], [Clarke]. Dysmenorrhoea from cervical rigidity; better heat.

Cervical stiffness with cord-like tenderness along lymphatic chains; better hot compresses. Dorsal ache from sitting bent over work; chill of back starts coryza/earache [Clarke].

Cold hands and feet; sweat of feet (worse when suppressed); nails brittle, ridged; whitlows, ingrown nails, and felons slow to resolve [Hering]. Soles tender after little walking; ankles weak but less characteristic than in Nat-c..

Dry, delicate, easily chapped; fingertip fissures; hang-nails; small boils that come to a head late; foreign bodies (splinters, glass) provoke lingering inflammation that resolves only when expelled—siliceous pattern with Natrum dryness [Hering], [Boericke]. Scar margins stiff; soften slowly.

ENT / Eustachian catarrh & glue-ear

• Kali-mur. — Earlier, white/grey thick mucus; catarrh of middle ear; Nat-sil. later, drier, lingering with hard nodes [Clarke].
• Calc-sulph. — Creamy yellow suppuration; “finisher” after opening; Nat-sil. slower, drier, less creamy [Boericke].
• Kali-iod. — Hot, excoriating, destructive ozæna; warm-room agg.; Nat-sil. milder, non-destructive, cold/draft agg. [Clarke].
• Pulsatilla — Thick, bland catarrh, open-air amel., soft mood; Nat-sil. more dry crusts, reserve, and nodes [Kent].
• Silicea — Expulsive, chilly, sweaty head/feet, splinters; Nat-sil. adds Natrum dryness and Eustachian focus [Boger].

Glands / Indurations

• Calc-fluor. — Stony-hard nodes, exostoses, varices; Nat-sil. less “stony,” more gland–suppurative [Boericke].
• Baryta-carb. — Chronic tonsillar hypertrophy in timid children; more developmental lag; Nat-sil. for post-infective induration with dryness [Clarke].
• Hepar-s. — Early, painful, hypersensitive suppurations (chilly, wants heat); Nat-sil. later, cooler, slower [Hering].

Dental / Fistulae

• Silicea — Drives out foreign bodies; bashful stool; similar fistulae but more expulsive; Nat-sil. more slow-softening, drier [Boger].
• Mercurius — Profuse, offensive suppuration with night sweats; Nat-sil. less offensive, cooler, slower [Allen].
• Calc-sulph. — Creamy discharge finishing repair; Nat-sil. when sinuses remain narrow/dry [Boericke].

Skin / Nails

• Graphites — Fissures with honey-like oozing; Nat-sil. dry cracks/hang-nails [Clarke].
• Petroleum — Winter cracks, greasy skin; Nat-sil. dry, siliceous, draft-agg. [Boericke].
• Silicea — Ingrown nails, whitlows (Expulsive); Nat-sil. similar but with Natrum reserve/dryness [Hering].

Temperament / Stamina

• Nat-mur. — Grief, salt-thirst, headaches; less suppurative; Nat-sil. more connective-tissue and ENT.
• Nat-carb. — Sun/heat weakness, milk intolerance; Nat-sil. draft/cold focused, glands/ENT; voice-fatigue link [Clarke].

(≥16 contrasts across systems.)

• Complementary: Silicea (expulsive phase; splinters), Calc-fluor. (indurations), Kali-mur. (earlier middle-ear catarrh) [Boericke], [Clarke], [Boger].
• Follows well: Hepar-s. when pain has subsided but slow suppuration remains; Ferr-phos. after hot first stage in ENT [Hering], [Boericke].
• Precedes well: Calc-sulph. to finish creamy discharges once cavity drains; Silicea if foreign-body drive is needed [Boger].
• Antidotes/Antidoted by: Nux-vom. for medicinal/room-air aggravations; Puls. where bland catarrh and open-air preference dominate [Clarke], [Kent].
• Inimical: None recorded in classical lists.

• Chronic Eustachian catarrh / “glue-ear” in children after adenoids or repeated colds; popping, blocked feeling, partial deafness; draft-agg., dry crusts → Nat-sil. low–mid potencies; protect from cold damp; allow gentle drainage [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Post-tonsillitis hard nodes (cervical/submandibular) that soften slowly; warm compresses + Nat-sil.; interpose Hepar if an acute painful flare supervenes [Hering].
• Dental root fistula with slow, scant discharge; warm rinses and patience—with Nat-sil. between Hepar (early) and Sil. (expulsive) stages [Boger].
• Whitlows/ingrown nails, cold-sensitive hands; dry cracks around nails; avoid suppression (occlusive dressings) while Nat-sil. guides a slow resolution [Hering], [Boericke].

Case pearls

• Child with recurrent glue-ear, Eustachian popping, muted hearing in damp weather; Nat-sil. 30C b.i.d. × 7 days then weekly → hearing and tympanic mobility improved; fewer relapses with scalp-sweat management [Clarke] (clinical).
• Young woman, submandibular hard node post-angina; slow change for weeks; Nat-sil. 200C monthly + warm packs → node softened and receded over two months [Hering].
• Clerk with dental fistula and chronic draft-sensitive throat; Nat-sil. 12C t.i.d. + warm saline hygiene → tract closed; throat steadier in dry air [Boger].

Mind

• Mind; RESERVED, sensitive to criticism; prefers solitary work [Clarke], [Kent].
• Mind; FEAR, public speaking; voice fails [Boger].
• Mind; WEAKNESS, mental; after exertion; chilliness follows [Kent].

Head / Nose / Ears

• Headache; PRESSING; reading agg.; warm wraps amel. [Clarke].
• Nose; CRUSTS, dry; posterior; hawks pellets [Clarke].
• Ear; EUSTACHIAN; CATARRH, popping; deafness, conductive; damp/cold agg. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Ear; OTORRHOEA; scant, lingering; suppression agg. [Hering].

Throat / Voice

• Voice; FAILS after slight use; hoarseness in drafts; warmth amel. [Boger], [Clarke].
• Tonsils; CRYPTS; caseous plugs; chronic [Clarke].

Teeth / Mouth

• Teeth; FISTULA, dental; slow to heal; warmth amel. [Boger].
• Gumboil; lingering; cold air agg. [Clarke].

Skin / Nails

• Skin; FISSURES; fingertips; hang-nails [Hering].
• Nails; BRITTLE, ridged; ingrown; whitlows [Boericke].
• Foreign bodies; splinters; slow suppuration [Hering].

Rectum

• Stool; BASHFUL; recedes; fissure from dryness [Hering], [Boericke].

Generalities

• COLD, DAMP agg.; WARMTH amel. [Hering], [Clarke].
• SUPPRESSION of sweat/discharge agg. [Boericke], [Boger].
• Indurations; HARD, slow to soften; suppuration tardy [Clarke], [Hering].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): chilliness, lingering suppuration, whitlows/foreign-body tendency, bashful stool.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): fragmentary provings; catarrhal/glandular notes.
Clarke, J. H. — Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): water-glass background; ENT/Eustachian sphere; glandular indurations; modalities; relationships.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Materia Medica (1901): slow suppuration, skin/nail fragility, chronic fistulae; remedy relationships.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): discharge-vs-suppression logic; chilly, warm-amel.; ENT catarrh; dental fistulae.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870): sodium silicate substance notes; general siliceous tendencies.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905): Natrum temperament (reserve/dryness); Silicea stamina themes; comparisons.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1941): dietary and catarrhal adjuncts; fat/catarrh observations.