Balsamum Copaivae

An oleo-gum resin obtained by tapping South American Copaifera trees; contains sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (e.g., caryophyllene) and resin acids (copaivic acid). In crude practice it is an antiseptic diuretic for mucous catarrhs, notably urethritis/gonorrhœa, but poisonings and provings show powerful irritation of urinary and intestinal mucosa, renal congestion with albuminuria/haematuria, bronchial catarrh, and characteristic drug eruptions (scarlatinal/measly/urticarial) with violent itching ([Toxicology]). Homœopathic tincture from the balsam; triturations and potencies thereafter. [Hughes], [Allen], [Clarke], [Hering], [Boericke]

Long used by physicians for urethral discharges (gleet/gonorrhœa), chronic bronchitis, hæmorrhoids, and as a bladder sedative; also as a varnish and perfuming ingredient. Its rash and urinary toxicities help interpret the remedy’s action on mucosae and skin. [Hughes], [Clarke]

Symptoms derived from toxicological records and provings/clinical trials of the 19th century; fully collated by T. F. Allen and Hughes, with abundant confirmations in Hering, Clarke, Boericke: burning urethra with constant urging, urine with stringy mucus/shreds, albumen or blood, tenesmus vesicæ, renal aching, frog-spawn stools, itching eruptions (urticaria, scarlatinoid, measly), bronchial catarrh with copious white expectoration, and hæmorrhoids with intense pruritus ani. [Allen], [Hughes], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]

• of bladder, constant urging with scanty, ropy, milky or smoky urine; shreds/filaments, albumen or blood; tenesmus vesicæ after urination; gleet and gonorrhœa (subacute/chronic). See Urinary/Male. [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Kidneys (renal catarrh). Dull aching in costo-vertebral angle; hæmaturia, albuminuria, smoky urine with iridescent pellicle; backache worse stooping or walking; secondary dropsical puffs rare. See Back/Urinary. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Rectum & anus. Proctitis, haemorrhoids with violent pruritus ani, soreness, and smarting after stool; mucus-laden, jelly-like (“toad-spawn”) stools. See Rectum/Skin. [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Skin (drug eruptions). Urticaria tuberosa, scarlatino-measly exanthems, papular itching rashes; often coincident with urinary/rectal symptoms—“copabic rash.” See Skin/Generalities. [Hughes], [Allen], [Clarke]
• Bronchi & larynx. Chronic catarrh with abundant whitish mucus, tickling and hoarseness, especially in old or catarrhal constitutions, often coexisting with urinary irritation. See Chest/Respiration. [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington]
• Female pelvic mucosa. Pruritus vulvæ, smarting urethra during pregnancy or leucorrhœa; urinary catarrh with vulvar heat. See Female/Urinary. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Prostate & spermatic tract. Prostatitis, gleet, sexual excitement or pain along urethra with chordee in toxic states. See Male. [Allen], [Clarke]

• Passing urine (momentary) when tenesmus has been high. [Hering], [Allen]
• Cold applications/bathing to itching parts (anus, vulva, eruption). [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Cool, open air for skin and chest; ventilated room. [Clarke]
• Rest with loose clothing, avoiding urethral/anal friction. [Hering], [Clarke]
• After a soft stool (pelvic fulness and head relieve). [Clarke]
• Large draughts of water (flushes urethral burning in some provers). [Allen]
• Milk-diet/light farinaceous during acute urinary catarrh. [Clarke], [Dewey]

• During and immediately after urination—burning, tenesmus, shreds. [Allen], [Hering]
• Night, especially after midnight—itching, urinary urging, cough. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Warmth of bed/room—itch-rash, anal/vulvar pruritus, chest tickle. [Clarke], [Hughes]
• Stooping, walking, riding—renal/back aching, urethral drag. [Boericke], [Allen]
• After coitus or sexual excitement—urethral burning returns. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Beer, spices, acids, and coffee—increase burning and mucus. [Clarke], [Dewey]
• Suppressing a gonorrhœal discharge—renal/skin symptoms light up. [Hering], [Hughes]
• Scratching—temporarily relieves but burning follows; eruption spreads. [Clarke]

Acute burning cystitis/urethritis

• Cantharis — Scalding before, during, after urine; constant intolerable urging; haemorrhagic urine; sexual frenzy. Copaiv.: burning with shreds, mucus, post-micturition tenesmus; less frenzy. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Sarsaparilla — Pain at end of micturition; child must stand to urinate; gravel. Copaiv. has shreds/albumen and skin link. [Boericke], [Farrington]
• Terebinthina — Smoky, coffee-ground urine with violet odour; gastric flatulence; nephritis. Copaiv. smoky without the violet odour; more mucus shreds. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Pareira brava — Violent urging, must kneel, pain down thighs. Copaiv. lacks the kneeling necessity; has copabic rash. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Chimaphila — Prostate congestion, ropy urine, better standing with feet wide. Copaiv. has more burning and skin. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Cannabis sativa — Early gonorrhœa, greenish discharge, chordee; less renal albumen. Copaiv.: later/catarrhal stages with shreds and rash. [Farrington], [Allen]

Gleet & prostatitis

• Thuja — Chronic suppressed discharge; split stream; fixed warty diathesis. Copaiv.: mucous, burning, with urticaria link. [Kent], [Clarke]
• Sabal — Prostatic pain with incomplete emptying; sexual debility. Copaiv.: mucous urethral catarrh with itch-skin. [Clarke]

Rectal catarrh/haemorrhoids

• Aesculus — Dry, raw rectum; wooden sacral back; little bleeding. Copaiv.: mucous “frog-spawn” stool with pruritus ani. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Aloe — Sudden, watery stools, insecurity; piles spurt. Copaiv.: tenacious mucus, itch-dominant. [Boger], [Boericke]
• Ratanhia — Fissure knives; burning after stool; no urinary tie. Copaiv.: itch-mucus with urinary catarrh. [Farrington]

Skin (urticaria/drug rash)

• Apis — Pale œdematous wheals, stinging, better cold, thirstless. Copaiv.: tuberculated hives with genito-urinary nexus. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Urtica urens — Hives after shell-fish; no urinary picture. Copaiv. couples skin with urethra/rectum. [Boericke]
• Rhus toxicodendron — Vesicles, better warmth. Copaiv.: worse warmth, papular/measly. [Farrington], [Clarke]

Bronchial catarrh

• Cubeba (Piper) — Catarrh of nose/throat/urinary, less skin rash; often nasal prominence. Copaiv.: more urinary + urticaria. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Kali bich. — Tenacious, stringy bronchial mucus; gastric weight; no urinary burning. Copaiv.: stringy urine, not so stringy sputum. [Clarke]

• Complementary: Sarsaparilla — finishes end-micturition pains and gravel after Copaiv. has cleared mucous burning. [Farrington], [Boericke]
• Complementary: Chimaphila — residual prostate swelling/ropy urine with pelvic weight. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Complementary: Apis — lingering urticaria once urinary fire is quenched. [Clarke]
• Follows well: Cannabis sativa in acute gonorrhœa when discharge settles into catarrhal gleet with shreds. [Farrington], [Allen]
• Follows well: Cantharis after the scalding storm when a mucous state persists. [Clarke]
• Precedes well: Terebinthina if smoky haematuria dominates with violet odour and gastric flatulence. [Clarke]
• Precedes well: Thuja in old gleet with split stream and warty background. [Kent], [Clarke]
• Antidotes (practical): Camphora/Nux for medicinal over-action (gastric/rectal irritation); Apis has relieved copabic rash in some reports. [Hughes], [Dewey], [Clarke]
• Related: Cubeba, Terebinthina, Cantharis, Sarsaparilla, Pareira, Chimaphila, Thuja—choose by urine quality, site of pain, and skin/heat modality. [Farrington], [Boericke], [Clarke]

Balsamum Copaivae is the catarrhal balsam whose signature is an irritated mucous membrane—urethra, bladder, rectum, bronchi—“weeping” mucus and shreds, smarting and tenesmus, and a surface that answers with itching rashes whenever the internal discharge is suppressed or excessive. At the centre stand burning micturition and post-micturition tenesmus with milky/smoky urine and filamentous shreds or albumen, joined to a dull renal ache and a sore meatus—the very image of subacute urethro-vesical catarrh (Essence ↔ Urinary/Affinities) [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke]. Around this hub are rectal echoes—frog-spawn stools, pruritus ani, soreness—and a skin that breaks into urticaria or measly rashes worse warmth, better cool bathing, especially at night (Essence ↔ Rectum/Skin/10b/10a) [Hughes], [Clarke]. The bronchial strand appears as an abundant white expectoration with laryngeal tickle and warm-room aggravation, often in older catarrhal patients who simultaneously suffer urinary burning—a cross-organ catarrh (Essence ↔ Chest/10b) [Farrington], [Boericke].

The miasmatic colouring is sycotic: over-secretion, thick mucus, warty and urticarial tendencies; psora supplies itch, burn, and restless warmth; syphilitic tones darken the picture when blood and albumen tinge the urine and excoriations appear. The modal code is unambiguous: night and warmth worse (itch, urging, cough); during/after urination worse (tenesmus); beer, spices, acids, coffee worse; cool air/bathing and free water better (Essence ↔ Modalities). The psychology is that of irritation rather than fear: he is peevish, sleep-broken, fastidious about rubbing parts, anxious only about the next call and the burning it brings (Essence ↔ Mind/Sleep). Differentially, Cantharis rages with incessant agony and blood in every drop; Copaiv. is catarrhal, mucous, with a skin corollary. Terebinth. smokes and smells violet; Copaiv. shows shreds and itch. Sarsaparilla stabs at the end; Copaiv. strains after. Cubeba lifts nasal/throat catarrh alongside urethra; Copaiv. ties rectum and skin more closely. When this web—urinary mucus + post-urination tenesmus + night/warmth itch + frog-spawn stools—is plainly spun, Copaiva answers cleanly and the case unfolds by quieter nights, cooler skin, clearer urine, and lessening shreds. [Allen], [Hughes], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington], [Boger], [Phatak]

• Subacute urethritis/gleet with shreds; post-micturition tenesmus; milky/smoky urine. Copaiv. 6C–30C every 6–12 hours, then space; insist on free water, avoid beer/spices/coffee, cool ablutions; track shreds and burning daily. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Pruritus ani (night, warm bed <) with mucous stools “frog-spawn.” Copaiv. 6C–12C nocte; cool bathing, loose linen, and mild diet; often rectum and urethra improve together. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Chronic bronchial catarrh of elderly with coexistent urinary burning. Copaiv. 3x–6x t.i.d. for a short course while ventilating rooms; cough eases as white mucus lessens and urine clarifies. [Farrington], [Boericke]

Case pearls (one-liners):
• Gleet of three months, shreds and burning after water; nightly itch of anus—Copaiv. 30C b.i.d.; by day 5 shreds scant, itch slept through. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Old bronchitic with white morning sputum and vesical tenesmus in warm bed—Copaiv. 3x; ventilated chamber; cough and burning both receded. [Farrington], [Boericke]
• Pregnant woman, pruritus vulvæ with urethral smarting—cool ablutions + Copaiv. 12C; sleep restored, smarting rare. [Hering], [Clarke]

Mind

• Irritability from urging to urinate. Somatic fret; eases as burning abates. [Clarke]
• Anxiety before micturition, fearing pain. Anticipatory tenesmus. [Allen]
• Aversion to warmth of bed (itch and urging). Behavioural pointer. [Clarke]
• Restlessness at night from pruritus/urging. Sleep-breaker rubric. [Hering]
• Fastidious about clothing touching meatus/anus. Contact hyperaesthesia. [Clarke]
• Low-spirited during chronic catarrh; improves as discharge lessens. Prognostic. [Clarke]

Urinary

• Burning in urethra during and after micturition. Central keynote. [Allen], [Hering]
• Urine with shreds/filaments; milky or smoky; albuminous; hæmaturia. Qualitative selectors. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Tenesmus vesicæ after urination; feels drop remaining. Post-micturition sign. [Hering]
• Urging frequent with scanty emissions. Irritative bladder. [Allen]
• Backache in kidney region, worse stooping/walking. Renal catarrh. [Boericke]
• Gleet; chronic urethral catarrh. Therapeutic scope. [Clarke]

Rectum

• Itching anus at night; warmth of bed aggravates; cold bathing ameliorates. Classic modality. [Clarke], [Hering]
• Stool gelatinous, like frog-spawn; mucus masses. Pathognomonic stool. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Soreness and smarting after stool. Surface irritation. [Hering]
• Haemorrhoids with violent pruritus. Venous–surface link. [Boericke]
• Tenesmus recti with little fæces, much mucus. Catarrhal rectum. [Allen]
• Excoriation of margin from scratching. Consequence rubric. [Clarke]

Skin

• Urticaria tuberosa; burning after scratching; heat aggravates, cold bathing ameliorates. Copabic hive. [Hughes], [Clarke]
• Scarlatinoid/measly eruption with urinary symptoms. Drug exanthem. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Papular itching rash, worse at night. Chronology pointer. [Clarke]
• Eruption after suppression of gonorrhœal discharge. Relationship rubric. [Hering]
• Excoriations from scratching; soreness of covered parts. Management cue. [Clarke]
• Itching of genitals (male/female). Surface echo of mucosal catarrh. [Hering]

Chest/Throat

• Tickling larynx in warm room; cough at night; white mucus. Warmth < catarrh. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Hoarseness with abundant whitish expectoration. Old catarrhal subjects. [Farrington]
• Better in cool, open air. Environmental law. [Clarke]
• Hawking of mucus from fauces. Continuity of catarrh. [Clarke]
• Oppression in warm, close rooms. Ventilation pointer. [Clarke]
• Sits up to expectorate at night. Postural aid. [Boericke]

Female

• Pruritus vulvæ with urinary burning. Genito-urinary nexus. [Hering]
• Leucorrhœa acrid, smarting vulva. Surface irritation. [Clarke]
• Pregnancy—urethral catarrh and vulvar itch. Clinical setting. [Clarke]
• Warmth aggravates, cool ablutions ameliorate. Modality pair. [Clarke]
• Smarting after urination. Keynote echo. [Hering]
• Coitus aggravates urethral burning. Aetiologic note. [Allen]

Generalities

• Warmth of bed/room aggravates complaints. Master modality. [Clarke]
• Night aggravation, especially after midnight. Timing rubric. [Allen]
• Beer, spices, acids, coffee aggravate. Diet law. [Clarke], [Dewey]
• Better cool air and bathing; worse scratching. Management law. [Clarke]
• Suppression of discharges brings on other symptoms (skin/renal). Causal rubric. [Hering], [Hughes]
• Catarrh of mucous membranes (urinary, rectal, bronchial). Sphere rubric. [Boericke], [Clarke]

1. F. Allen — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving/toxicology—urinary shreds, albuminuria/haematuria, frog-spawn stools, copabic eruptions, renal/back pains.
   Richard Hughes — A Cyclopædia of Drug Pathogenesy (1891–95): toxicology and pharmacology—mucous-membrane irritation; scarlatinoid/urticarial rashes; renal catarrh.
   Constantine Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): clinical confirmations—tenesmus vesicæ after micturition, pruritus ani/vulvæ (night, warmth <), suppression relationships.
   John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): substance notes; spheres (urinary, rectal, bronchial, skin); modalities (warmth/night <, cool >); diet cautions.
   William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1906): keynotes—catarrh of genito-urinary tract, bronchial catarrh, renal backache worse stooping/walking; urticarial eruptions.
   C. M. Boger — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modalities; relationships among urinary catarrh remedies (Canth., Sarsap., Pareira, Tereb.).
   E. A. Farrington — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): comparisons—Cann. sat., Cubeba, Cantharis, Sarsaparilla, Pareira; chest–urinary catarrh; practical pointers.
   S. R. Phatak — Concise Materia Medica (1977): essentials—mucous catarrh (urinary/rectal), frog-spawn stool, urticaria, warmth <, cool >.
   James Tyler Kent — Lectures on Materia Medica (1905): miasmatic reading (sycotic catarrh) and relationships (Thuja, Canth.).
   W. A. Dewey — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): regimen—dietary aggravants (beer, spices, coffee), cool ablutions; urinary catarrh management.
   H. C. Allen — Keynotes and Characteristics (1898): succinct urinary keynotes—post-micturition tenesmus, burning with shreds; pruritus ani/vulvæ.
   Carroll Dunham — Lectures on Materia Medica (1879): clinical reflections on mucous remedies; cautions about discharge suppression (contextual).