Baryta carbonica

A chemical compound, BaCO₃, Barium carbonate occurs as a white crystalline solid. It is sparingly soluble in water and toxic in crude form.

In industry, used in ceramics, rat poison, and chemical manufacturing; extremely toxic in crude form. Not used in conventional medicine.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann and described in Materia Medica Pura. Expanded by Boericke, Kent, and Clarke.

• Mind: arrested development, shyness, fear of people, senility
• Glands: chronic enlargement, especially tonsils, cervical nodes
• Cardiovascular system: arteriosclerosis, aneurysms
• Immune system: weakness, frequent colds, infections
• Growth and development: dwarfishness, delayed milestones
• Elderly: senility, memory loss, slow comprehensiona

• Warmth
• Being alone (for shy children)
• Routine, predictability
• Dry weather
• Gentle encouragement
• Lying down (especially for fatigue and weakness)

• Cold, damp air, especially from exposure to feet or head
• Mental effort
• Being laughed at, or exposed publicly
• Anticipation, performance
• Suppressed eruptions
• Coition, which may cause fatigue
• Getting wet, especially the feet or head

• Calcarea carbonica – Also delayed development and timidity, but Calc. is plump, sweaty, and more active
• Silicea – Similar slow development, but more chilly, obstinate, and has better intellectual ability
• Lycopodium – Intellectual but insecure; seeks power, Bar-c. avoids responsibility entirely
• Thuja – Warts and suppressed eruptions, but more secretive and sycotic; Bar-c. is shy, undeveloped
• Phosphorus – Sensitive, outgoing, emotional; Bar-c. is shy, closed, and mentally dull

• Complementary: Sil., Calc., Nat-m.
• Antidotes: Camph., Nux-v.
• Inimical: Iod., Merc.
• Follows well: Calc., Lyc., Tub.
• Precedes well: Psor., Sulph.

Baryta carbonica is the archetype of incomplete development—the soul that remains a child long into life, or the mind that withers prematurely. It speaks of fragility, fear, and social withdrawal, often stemming from early neglect, mockery, or a fragile constitution. It covers both ends of life: backward children who cannot keep pace, and elderly individuals who descend into childishness, mental decay, and vascular degeneration. Its deepest need is for protection, structure, and gentle support, never force.

• Use in developmentally delayed children—slow to talk, walk, or grow
• Indispensable in recurrent tonsillitis with chronic glandular swelling
• Prescribe in senile dementia, arteriosclerosis, or mental decline in elderly
• Also useful for shy children, especially with fear of strangers or ridicule
• In elderly, think of Bar-c. for fatigue, hypertension, and vascular changes
• Chronic sinus infections or catarrh with deafness suggest Bar-c.
• Begin with low to medium potencies (6C–30C); chronic cases may need 200C

Mind

• Fear, people of
• Shyness in children
• Delusions, being laughed at
• Slowness, comprehension
• Childish behaviour in elderly
• Averse to strangers

Throat / Glands

• Tonsils, enlarged
• Cervical glands, indurated
• Throat, recurrent infections
• Suppuration, glands

Head / Development

• Head large, body small
• Development, arrested
• Learning delayed

Generalities

• Children, backward
• Senility, premature
• Aneurysm
• Arteriosclerosis
• Cold, damp, agg.
• Weakness, general

Skin

• Warts
• Acne
• Eruptions, slow to heal

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Primary proving data, foundational description

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Emphasis on mental immaturity, glandular swellings

William Boericke – Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Practical indications for children and aged

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Expanded descriptions of degenerative and glandular symptoms

C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica: Supported chronic and constitutional use

Allen’s Encyclopaedia: Supplemented details on miasmatic and developmental dimensions