Pix liquida

A complex wood tar obtained by destructive distillation of pine (Pinus spp.) wood and resin; contains phenolic bodies (creosote-like fractions), guaiacol/creosol derivatives, resin acids, and hydrocarbons [Hughes], [Clarke]. Crude action is irritant to skin and mucosae, expectorant to bronchi, and keratoplastic to epidermis—background that maps to tenacious tracheo-bronchial catarrh with stringy, offensive sputa, laryngo-tracheal rawness, nausea/vomiting from cough, and eczemo-psoriatic dermatoses [Hughes], [Allen], [Boericke]. In homeopathy the mother tincture is prepared from purified pine tar and potentised by serial dilution and succussion; provings and clinical use emphasise left infra-clavicular pains, rattling, loose cough with difficult expectoration, and chronic bronchitic states, especially in the elderly or emphysematous [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke]. [Toxicology] [Proving] [Clinical]

Nineteenth-century fragmentary provings and toxicologic notes were collated by T. F. Allen; further clinical confirmations were added by Hering and Clarke. The picture rests on provings of the tincture and repeated clinical observations: laryngo-tracheal rawness, loose rattling cough with nausea/vomiting, offensive, viscid sputum, left infra-clavicular stitches, emphysematous dyspnoea with need to sit up, and tar-type skin eruptions [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. (Primary named first-prover/year not uniformly recorded in the classical sources.) [Proving] [Clinical] [Toxicology]

Essence. Pix. suits viscid, offensive catarrh with a rattling, loose yet difficult cough that provokes nausea/retching, often ending in vomiting of mucus with temporary relief; the left infra-clavicular stitch on deep breath or cough is a compact keynote. The patient is worse in cold damp/fog, warm close rooms, lying, talking/reading, and exertion; better by sitting up/leaning forward, open air, warmth to chest, steam, and after expectoration. The same tar signature appears on the skin: thickened, itching, fissured eczema/psoriasis that behaves like the chest—worse damp/cold, better warmth/softening. The overall pace is chronic–recurrent, with winter exacerbations, morning load, and elderly/emphysematous constitutions prominent [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

Differentiation. Select Pix. over Ant-t. when the patient can ultimately expel tenacious, foul mucus and is not profoundly somnolent/cyanotic; over Kali-bi. when sputa are viscid and fetid but not rope-like; over Senega when the picture includes vomiting of mucus and left apex stitches; over Bryonia when there is rattling rather than dry pleuritic cough; and over Phosphorus when burning/reactive phenomena and bleeding are absent [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Kent]. In management, enforce posture (propped), steam, warm drinks, and fresh moving air, while avoiding cold fog, dust, smoke—the remedy holds far better when the milieu matches its ameliorations. Expect improvement to present as easier morning clearance, less fetor, longer intervals without paroxysms, and softer skin if dermatosis coexists. [Clinical]

• Larynx–trachea–bronchi. Rawness, tickling, rattling catarrh with tenacious, sometimes offensive sputa; cough excites nausea/vomiting; elderly/chronic bronchitic sphere [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Apices/left infra-clavicular region. Stitching/pressing pains under the left clavicle, worse inspiration/coughing, often the most reliable keynote [Clarke], [Hering].
• Lung parenchyma (catarrhal–emphysematous). Dyspnoea with rattling, must sit up; slow, difficult expectoration; post-influenza/post-pneumonic catarrh [Boericke], [Boger].
• Skin/epidermis. Tar-type eczema/psoriasis with itching, thickened epithelium, fissures; secondary infection from scratching [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Mucosa (nose–pharynx). Catarrhal flow, post-nasal drop into larynx, perpetuating cough; odour/taste of tar [Allen], [Clarke].
• Stomach reflexes. Nausea and retching from cough and tenacious mucus, sometimes vomiting of stringy masses, relieving chest for a time [Allen], [Clarke].
• Heart/chest wall. Palpitation/pressure secondary to obstructive cough; pains along intercostals with paroxysms [Clarke], [Boger].
• General trophic field. Atonic mucous membranes with viscid secretions; tendency to offensive odours (breath/sputa/skin) [Hughes], [Clarke].

Irritability and low spirits attend the long cough; the patient fears suffocation at night and becomes anxious when lying, preferring to sit up, which tallies with the amelioration by sitting forward already noted [Clarke], [Boger]. Conversation is avoided because talking sets off paroxysms that end in retching, and this behavioural avoidance is often misread as moroseness [Allen], [Clarke]. Odour/taste of tar or stale phlegm disgusts, and the sufferer becomes fastidious about air and ventilation—an echo of the open-air better and warm, close room worse modalities [Clarke]. In chronic skin cases, itch and fissures induce restless temper and sleeplessness, improving when the skin is softened and warmth applied, paralleling chest relief by warmth [Clarke], [Boericke]. Confidence returns as the morning clearing quickens; if the expectoration is checked, mood sinks again—an instructive mind–soma pendulum. [Clinical]

Broken by cough-fits on lying down, compels propping with pillows; when sitting up, the patient dozes and awakes to raise a mouthful of mucus, feeling relieved, which squares with Better sitting up/after expectoration [Boger], [Clarke]. Warm, close bedroom worse; cool, moving air better; dreams unremarkable except for distress about suffocation. The night rhythm improves as morning clearing becomes easier. [Clinical]

Dreams of suffocation or being smothered in warm rooms; relieved on waking to sit up and cough up mucus—a psychosomatic mirror of the modality cycle. Not a guiding sphere for prescription. [Clinical]

Pix. centres on viscid, offensive catarrh of the laryngo-tracheo-bronchial tree, with rattling loose cough that is hard to raise, nausea/retching from mucus, and stitches under the left clavicle, all worse cold damp, worse lying, worse talking/reading, and worse warm, close rooms, and better sitting up/leaning forward, better after expectoration or even vomiting of mucus, better warmth to chest, better open air/steam [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. The skin shows a tar-type eczema/psoriasis pattern that tracks the chest: damp aggravates, warmth/emollients soothe. The offensive trait (sputa/odour/crusts) and post-nasal drop are recurrent motifs. Differentiate from Ant-t. (great drowsiness, cyanosis, and inability to raise; rales loud), Kali-bi. (true rope-like stringy plugs, sinus involvement), Senega (old people’s dry-raw chest with soreness but less fetor), Drosera (spasmodic whoop, < talking, < after midnight), Phosphorus (burning, bleeding, anxiety), and Bryonia (dry pleuritic stitches with dry cough, > absolute rest) [Boger], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Kent]. [Clinical]

In catarrhal exacerbations there is sub-febrility with restless heat at night in close rooms, quickly relieved by fresh air; profuse sweats are uncommon unless the cough has been intense. If high fever and rusty sputum appear, re-evaluate for phthisical/pleuro-pneumonic remedies. [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Chill from damp fog with immediate tight chest; heat slight, oppressive in stuffy rooms; sweat after long paroxysms cools and may smell offensive, consonant with the remedy’s fetor theme. Warmth locally to chest ameliorates. [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Weight and frontal pressure accompany catarrh, with post-nasal drop teasing the fauces and larynx; nose-to-throat streaming is part of the cough cycle in this remedy [Allen], [Clarke]. Headache worsens in warm, close rooms and during cough paroxysms, when the patient must grasp the chest and bend forward, which cross-links with the chest posture modality [Boger]. After free expectoration or vomiting of mucus the head lightens for a time, an observation useful in deciding between Pix. and Ant-t. (which has more drowsy, cyanotic heaviness) [Boericke], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

During cough-fits the eyes water and feel smarting, with conjunctival injection from strain; steam inhalation or warm compresses ease both eyes and cough, mirroring the general warmth-better [Clarke]. Photophobia is not characteristic; if present with burning, think Phosphorus, not Pix. [Kent], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Ear fullness and roaring may accompany head congestion during cough; popping on swallowing suggests Eustachian catarrh tracking from naso-pharynx [Allen], [Clarke]. True otalgia is uncommon; the ear symptoms generally ebb as bronchial mucus is raised, emphasising the link between drainage and relief. [Clinical]

Catarrh with thick, sometimes offensive mucus; post-nasal drop is explicit and keeps the tickle at the larynx alive [Allen], [Clarke]. Cold fog aggravates, while open air (dry, cool) improves, a polarity already listed under Modalities [Clarke]. Smell of tar or smoke may be aversive, and dust provokes sneezing then cough, showing the irritant-provoked reflex tract. [Clinical]

Flushed during paroxysms, then pale and sweaty when the fit passes; lips may show cyanotic tinge in emphysematous subjects when lying, which drives them to sit up—a posture confirmation [Clarke], [Boericke]. In skin cases, sooty crusts around nares may form from tar-type discharge and external irritation. [Clinical]

Taste of tar/old phlegm; sticky saliva with morning hawking; tongue coated after a night of coughing [Allen], [Clarke]. Warm drinks loosen faucal strings and quiet tickle, aligning with warmth-better; cold draughts renew the cough. [Clinical]

Teeth jar with the racking cough; sensitive in cold air and during night paroxysms; not a central sphere, but a frequent complaint in chronic sufferers. Grinding may occur with restlessness from itch or cough. [Clinical]

Dry, raw, tickling larynx, compelling cough on talking or deep breath; mucus seems to hang and cannot be readily detached till warm drinks/steam are used, which matches ameliorations above [Allen], [Clarke]. The sensation descends from naso-pharynx (“something drops and teases the box”), and the voice becomes husky after paroxysms. [Clinical]

The chest is the stronghold: rattling, loose yet difficult cough with tenacious, sometimes offensive sputa; stitches under the left clavicle, worse inspiration, worse talking, and worse cold damp air are typical [Allen], [Clarke], [Hering]. The patient must sit up and lean forward, clutching the chest till a plug detaches; then, for a time, breath is freer, which cross-links to Better after expectoration/vomiting and Better sitting up [Boger], [Clarke]. Morning is worst: chest loaded, long coughing to clear; warm drinks and steam facilitate, whereas warm, close rooms paradoxically oppress by holding vapours and heat—hence the preference for fresh, moving air [Boericke], [Clarke]. In emphysematous subjects, orthopnoea is marked when lying, with cyanotic lips until they prop themselves; exertion quickly brings short breath and palpitant distress [Boericke], [Clarke]. Where crepitations, high fever, and sharp pleurisy predominate, look rather to Bryonia or Phosphorus; Pix. remains a catarrhal–expectorant remedy with tar odour and viscidity. [Clinical]

Palpitation is reflex from exertion and cough; pressure across the precordia during paroxysms subsides as mucus is expelled; not a primary heart drug [Clarke]. If true cardiac signs persist independent of cough, look elsewhere. [Clinical]

Breathing is short, oppressed, worse lying, better sitting up and in open air; deep breath provokes stitches under left clavicle—a keynote used to separate Pix. from other tar-adjacent remedies [Clarke], [Hering]. Sighing after a fit marks relief; steam or warm drinks lengthen expiration and tone down the tickle, a direct echo of ameliorations. Dust/smoke are decidedly worse, and reading aloud triggers laryngeal cough; deliberate quiet breathing postpones paroxysms. [Clinical]

Nausea and retching arise from cough and tenacious mucus, often ending in vomiting of stringy masses; the act brings relief to chest for a while—an important stomach–chest reflex of Pix. [Allen], [Clarke]. Appetite is poor mornings until the bronchi are cleared; warm broths are preferred to cold; fat/grease and smoke odours worse by provoking cough. [Clinical]

Abdominal soreness from coughing; stitching in upper quadrants with deep breath parallels the left infra-clavicular stitches [Clarke]. Gas accumulates in warm rooms with inactivity but passes off with walking in open air, which also eases chest, again cross-linking modalities. [Clinical]

Paroxysms may end with strain that provokes tenesmus or haemorrhoidal distress; stool otherwise uncharacteristic. In chronic sufferers, constipation alternates with loose stool after expectorant mornings; relief coincides with improved breathing. [Clinical]

Cough-fits cause stress-dribbling (elderly), worse lying, better sitting up; urine may carry offensive odour when catarrh is marked, echoing the general offensive trait [Clarke]. No cardinal urinary pathology belongs to the centre of the picture. [Clinical]

Desires warm drinks, broths, and steam; cold fluids provoke cough; fatty foods and smoke odours are offensive during attacks [Allen], [Clarke]. Small sips during propped rest help carry through the night. [Clinical]

Cough-strain may produce perineal aching and testicular drag; sexual function is reduced during catarrhal winters; symptoms ease as expectoration becomes freer. Not a primary genital remedy. [Clinical]

In chronic catarrh with eczema, menses may be scant and skin symptoms itchier before flow; cough worse night, compelling propping in bed; warmth to chest and steam soothe. Post-viral convalescence shows the same pattern. [Clinical]

Inter-scapular aching with cough; dorsal muscles sore from repeated paroxysms; heat applied to upper back eases both pain and expectoration—another warmth-better reflection [Clarke]. If sharp dorsal pain dominates with dry cough, consider Bryonia. [Clinical]

Cold hands/feet in damp weather when catarrh is heavy; fatigue on slight exertion with short breath, better after chest clears—a systemic echo of the chest pattern. Night cough causes cramps in calves from strain and posture. [Clinical]

Tar-type eczema with itch, thickened epidermis, fissures, and sometimes offensive crusts; worse cold damp, better warmth and bland emollients, mirroring airway behaviour [Clarke], [Boericke]. Psoriasiform scaling around elbows/knees may accompany winter bronchitis; scratching excoriates and may infect, and improvement in catarrh often precedes easing of the skin, a telling parallel track. [Clinical]

Catarrhal bronchitis / emphysema (rattling, hard-to-raise mucus)

• Antimonium tartaricum — Great drowsiness, cyanosis, inability to raise; Pix. has offensive, tar-flavoured sputa and left infra-clavicular stitches [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Senega — Soreness of chest in old people, much burdened breathing; Pix. more offensive and vomits mucus for relief [Clarke].
• Kali sulphuricum — Yellow, shifting catarrh, < evening, > cool air; Pix. stresses viscid fetor and left apex pains [Boger].

Stringy/pluggy expectoration

• Kali bichromicum — Rope-like tough plugs, post-nasal crusts; Pix. less rope-like, more fetid with nausea/retching [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Coccus cacti — Pearl-like mucous globules, morning fits; Pix. has tar odour and apex stitches [Clarke].

Laryngeal cough (talking/exertion provokes)

• Drosera — Whooping, spasmodic, < after midnight; Pix. less spasmodic, more rattling with vomiting of mucus [Kent], [Clarke].
• Spongia — Barking dry croupy cough, > warm drinks; Pix. cough is loose with fetor [Boericke].

Apex pains / phthisical tendency

• Phosphorus — Burning, haemoptysis, anxiety; Pix. catarrhal, offensive, stitches on inspiration without burning heat [Clarke], [Kent].
• Bryonia — Sharp pleuritic stitches, dry cough, > rest; Pix. needs sitting up and warmth/steam to move tenacious mucus [Boger], [Clarke].

Dermatology (eczema/psoriasis)

• Graphites — Honey-thick oozing, fissures, chilly fat subjects; Pix. tar-type, often with chest catarrh and offensive crusts [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Petroleum — Cracked, winter hands, oily skin; Pix. links skin with airway fetid catarrh [Clarke].

• Complementary: Ant-t. — When rales abound and weakness prevails; Pix. may follow to loosen/off-load viscid sputa [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Complementary: Kali-bi. — If stringy plugs or sinus crusts dominate after Pix. clears laryngo-tracheal tenacity [Clarke].
• Complementary: Senega — In emphysematous elderly to restore chest spring after Pix. has reduced fetor/tenacity [Clarke].
• Compare: Phosphorus — If case shifts to burning/reactivity or bleeding, move from Pix. [Kent], [Clarke].
• Compare: Bryonia — If dry pleurisy replaces rattling catarrh [Boger].
• Follows well: Arsenicum iodatum in chronic bronchitic cachexia when fetor/viscidity become central [Clarke].
• Precedes well: Kali sulph./Puls. when catarrh turns yellow and loose without fetor [Boger], [Boericke].
• Antidotal/adjunctive measures: Steam inhalation, warm chest wraps, fresh moving air, propped posture—nursing that mirrors modalities [Clarke].

• Chronic rattling bronchitis in the elderly, morning load, fetid tenacious sputa, left infra-clavicular stitch, vomiting of mucus → relief: Pix. 6C–30C, repeated in short courses during damp spells; back off as expectoration frees [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Post-influenza tracheitis with raw larynx, worse talking, better steam/warm drinks: Pix. 30C evenings for several nights; adjunct steam and propping [Allen], [Clarke].
• Eczema/psoriasis flaring with winter bronchitis: consider Pix. when skin and chest worsen together, especially in damp fog; use bland emollients while avoiding new irritants [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Micro-pearl: If a paroxysm ends in retching/vomiting of stringy foul mucus and the patient sighs, then says, “Now I can breathe,” think Pix. over Ant-t. [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Chest

• CHEST – Pain – Clavicle – under left – stitching – inspiration aggravates. Cardinal keynote of apex involvement [Clarke], [Hering].
• CHEST – Oppression – warm, closed room aggravates. Needs fresh moving air [Clarke].
• CHEST – Rattling – mucus – with difficult expectoration. Core catarrhal state [Allen], [Boericke].
• CHEST – Pain – intercostal – cough during. Strain of paroxysms [Boger].
• CHEST – Emphysema – dyspnoea – must sit up. Orthopnoea relieved by posture [Boericke].

Respiration

• RESPIRATION – Difficult – lying aggravates – sitting up ameliorates. Postural relief [Boger], [Clarke].
• RESPIRATION – Deep inspiration – stitches – left infra-clavicular. Pithy locational sign [Clarke].
• RESPIRATION – Shortness of breath – damp, foggy weather aggravates. Weather modality [Clarke].
• RESPIRATION – Better – after expectoration / after vomiting. Reflex relief [Allen], [Clarke].
• RESPIRATION – Irritation from dust/smoke – cough. Irritant trigger [Hughes], [Clarke].

Cough

• COUGH – Paroxysmal – talking/reading aloud aggravates. Laryngeal trigger [Allen], [Clarke].
• COUGH – Loose – rattling – expectoration difficult. Central picture [Boericke].
• COUGH – Morning – on rising – long efforts to clear. Daily rhythm [Boericke].
• COUGH – Vomiting with cough – mucus. Relief after act [Allen], [Clarke].
• COUGH – Warm drinks ameliorate; cold aggravates. Temperature modality [Clarke].

Throat

• THROAT – Tickling – larynx – causes cough. Raw box teasing [Allen].
• THROAT – Post-nasal catarrh – dropping – cough from. Nose-to-larynx linkage [Clarke].
• VOICE – Hoarseness – after coughing. Fatigue sign [Clarke].
• THROAT – Warm drinks ameliorate. Matches chest [Clarke].

Skin

• SKIN – Eczema – fissured; thickened epithelium. Tar-type eruption [Clarke], [Boericke].
• SKIN – Itching – cold, damp aggravates; warmth ameliorates. Modality concordant with chest [Clarke].
• SKIN – Psoriasis – winter aggravation. Seasonal concordance [Clarke].
• SKIN – Offensive crusts/odour. Fetor theme [Clarke].

Generalities

• GENERALS – Damp weather aggravates. Weather driver [Clarke].
• GENERALS – Warm, close room aggravates; open air ameliorates. Environmental polarity [Clarke].
• GENERALS – Sitting up ameliorates – lying aggravates. Posture hallmark [Boger].
• GENERALS – Motion gentle ameliorates; exertion aggravates. Energy economy [Boericke].

Stomach

• STOMACH – Nausea – from cough. Reflex pathway [Allen].
• STOMACH – Vomiting – mucus – relieves chest. Diagnostic value [Allen], [Clarke].
• STOMACH – Warm drinks ameliorate. Therapeutic cue [Clarke].

Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): provings/toxicology; laryngo-tracheal rawness; vomiting of mucus; modalities.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica (1879): left infra-clavicular stitches; catarrhal chest; clinical confirmations.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): general picture; modalities (open air, warm drinks, sitting up); skin parallels.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica (1901): chronic bronchitis/emphysema uses; morning load; steam/warmth.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): posture relief; relationships (Ant-t., Bry., Senega).
Hughes, R. — A Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy (1870): toxicology of tar; irritant/expectorant action; odour/fetor notes.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): differentiations (Drosera, Phosphorus, Bryonia).
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics (1899): emphysematous bronchitis differentials (context for Ant-t., Kali group).
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): catarrhal chest group management (steam, posture).
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside colour; winter bronchitis patterns (supportive).