Comocladia dentata

A resinous, highly irritant anacardiaceous tree allied to Rhus and Anacardium; the fresh juice is a powerful dermatitic and oedematous irritant (vesicating, erysipelatous), with marked ophthalmic irritation when brought near the eyes ([Toxicology]). Preparations in homœopathy are made from the fresh leaves/young twigs in tincture and potentised. Its sphere combines cutaneous–mucosal oedema, vesicular erysipelas, and a striking ciliary neuralgia with the keynote sensation that the eyeball feels too large for the orbit, often right-sided and worse from heat—especially the heat or glare of fire. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hughes], [Hering]

No medicinal orthodox use; wood/juice feared by natives for severe poisoning eruptions—observations that furnished abundant toxicological data echoing the remedy’s cutaneous and ocular picture. [Hughes], [Clarke]

Our knowledge rests on provings and poisonings collated by T. F. Allen and Hughes, with numerous clinical confirmations (ophthalmic and dermatologic) summarised by Clarke, Boericke, Boger, and ophthalmic writers (Norton) showing ciliary neuralgia, chemosis, oedematous lids/face, photophobia, and the peculiar orbital distension feeling. [Allen], [Hughes], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Hering], [Norton]

• Eyes (ciliary body & sclera). Ciliary neuralgia, deep globe pain, photophobia, lachrymation, chemosis, and the keynote “eyeball too large for orbit,” often right-sided; markedly worse from heat/glare (fire, stove, sun); sometimes momentarily steadied by cool air or shading. See Eyes/Head. [Allen], [Clarke], [Norton], [Boericke]
• Eyelids & Face (erysipelas/oedema). Great swelling, shining red, burning–itching, vesicular poison-wood dermatitis; lids baggy, eyes almost closed; better cold applications, worse warmth/room heat. See Face/Skin. [Hughes], [Clarke], [Hering]
• Skin (vesicular dermatitis). Fiery erythema → vesicles/bullæ with serous exudation; burning, stinging, oedema; a true Rhus-group skin but with stronger warmth < and ophthalmic tie. See Skin/Generalities. [Allen], [Hughes], [Boericke]
• Trigeminal/Orbital nerves. Radiating pains from eye to temple/occiput/teeth, with heat <; touch and ocular motion aggravate. See Head/Teeth. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Throat & Fauces. Oedematous fauces/uvula; raw, burning catarrh with surface oedema—a minor but characteristic echo of the skin/eye state. See Throat. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Joints & Peri-articular tissues. Rheumatic aching with puffy peri-articular swelling; pains worse heat, better cool air, contrasting Rhus (often better warmth). See Extremities/Generalities. [Boger], [Boericke]
• Right side (especially right eye/face). Lateral preference repeatedly noted in ophthalmic cases. See Eyes/Face. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Lymphatics/Serous tissues. Chemosis, oedema, weeping surfaces—general serous over-response. See Generalities/Skin. [Hughes], [Hering]

• Cold applications to eyes/skin; cool, moving air and shaded light. [Clarke], [Norton]
• Darkness, shading the eyes, closing lids lightly without pressure. [Norton], [Allen]
• Gentle rest with head elevated; quiet rooms with good ventilation. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Bathing in cool water (short), sponging; brief relief of burning/itch. [Hering], [Boericke]
• Careful, even bandaging around orbit (some cases) to still the globe; too firm pressure aggravates. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Out-of-doors at dusk rather than day glare; sea-breeze style air. [Clarke]
• After perspiration ceases and the skin is cooled. [Boger]
• Keeping away from fire/heat sources; north light preferred. [Norton], [Clarke]

• Heat in every form—near fire/stove, sun-glare, warm rooms, bed warmth. [Norton], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Light—especially firelight or bright glare; looking at flames. [Norton], [Allen]
• Touch and motion of the globe; ocular movements, stooping, jarring. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Sweat/heat of exercise, warm bathing, covering warmly. [Boger], [Boericke]
• Night in a heated room; closed, stuffy atmosphere. [Clarke]
• Rubbing/scratching the eruption; oedema increases after warmth. [Hering], [Allen]
• Right eye particularly; right supraorbital region. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Damp heat/tropics—skin and eyes flare. [Hughes], [Clarke]

Ciliary neuralgia / ocular pains

• Spigelia — Left-sided, motion of eyeball intolerable, often better warmth; radiates to occiput. Comocladia: often right, worse heat/fire, oedematous lids. [Farrington], [Norton], [Clarke]
• Paris quadrifolia — Eyeball too large sensation with neck/cord pulling; heat < less marked; less chemosis. Comocladia adds poison-wood skin and firelight <. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Prunus spinosa — Sudden crushing intra-ocular pains; little oedema; heat modality not central. Comocladia shows oedema + heat <. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Belladonna — Congestive photophobia, throbbing; dry hot skin, dilated pupils; not the globe-too-large keynote with cool >. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Gelsemium — Dull, heavy lids, blurred vision; heat modality mild; neuralgia less stabbing. Comocladia is acute, burning, oedematous. [Farrington]

Erysipelas / oedematous face

• Apis — Shiny oedema, stinging, better cold, thirstlessness; eye less neuralgic. Comocladia: adds ciliary pains and firelight <. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Rhus toxicodendron — Vesicles, restlessness, better warmth, worse cold/damp. Comocladia worse warmth, better cool; eye-keynotes decisive. [Farrington], [Boger]
• Anacardium orientale — Vesicular dermatitis with intolerable itching; mental traits (dual will) distinct; ocular neuralgia not a keynote. [Clarke], [Kent]

Heat/light intolerance

• Glonoine — Sunstroke, bursting head, sun <; eye not “too large,” skin not vesicular. Comocladia couples glare < with oedema and ciliary pain. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Natrum carbonicum — Sun weakness, headaches; no poison-wood skin, no chemosis. [Kent]

Rheumatic/oedematous joints

• Rhus tox. — Better warmth/motion, worse rest/cold damp. Comocladia: worse heat, better cool; puffy peri-articular swelling echoes skin. [Boger], [Boericke]
• Dulcamara — Cold damp brings pains; skin warty/herpetic. Comocladia is heat-driven. [Clarke]

Right eye predilection

• Cedron — Right supraorbital neuralgia periodic, feverish; not ciliary pressure/chemosis; heat modality not core. [Clarke], [Farrington]
• Sanguinaria — Right-sided migraine with eye involvement; sun aggravates, but lacks oedematous lids and globe-too-large keynote. [Clarke]

• Complementary: Apis — when oedema predominates and stinging with cold > persists after ciliary pains are eased. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Complementary: Sulphur — to steady surface reactivity and chronic heat intolerance after acute eruptions; maintains cutaneous tone. [Boger], [Kent]
• Follows well: Rhus tox. — when a Rhus-like dermatitis has heat < and an ocular strand appears; Comocladia completes by cool > profile. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Follows well: Belladonna — after vascular congestion is lowered but ciliary pains with heat/glare < remain. [Clarke]
• Precedes well: Paris — if globe-too-large persists without heat modality and with neck sensations after oedema subsides. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Precedes well: Spigelia — residual left supraorbital neuralgia once Comocladia has cleared heat-intolerant right eye oedema. [Farrington], [Norton]
• Related: Anacardium, Rhus, Toxicodendron group — skin kinship; choose by heat modality and eye. [Hughes], [Clarke]
• Compare (photophobia): Aconite, Glonoine, Nat-c.; Comocladia adds oedema + firelight <. [Clarke]
• Antidotes (practical): Rhus/Anacardium poisonings often relieved by Rhus-tox./ Anacard. measures; Camphora for sudden collapse from massive exposure (supportive tradition). [Hughes], [Clarke]
• Inimical: None fixed; avoid rotating within Rhus–Anacardium group without clear modality change. [Kent], [Boger]

Comocladia is the heat-hater of the Rhus family. Where Rhus tox. often craves warmth, Comocladia suffers it: fire, stove, sun, and close heated rooms intensify a surface storm of oedema, erythema, and burning/itching, while at the same time they ignite ciliary neuralgia with photophobia and lachrymation. The psycho-sensory centre sits in the eye: a deep conviction that the globe is too large, pressing upon lids and orbit, dramatizes the remedy’s serous overfill. The patient becomes practical and avoidant, arranging life by a simple law: cold, air, dark. He backs from hearths, draws curtains, sits at the window, and sleeps only when the room is cool—behaviour that precisely mirrors the modalities (better cold/dark/air, worse heat/light/touch). The right eye is frequently singled, helping choose between otherwise similar neuralgias (cf. Spigelia left). [Norton], [Clarke], [Allen]

Kingdom-wise, as with Anacardiaceæ, there is an over-reactive surface: oedema, weeping vesicles, and tight, shining skin, but Comocladia adds a crisp ocular axis and an almost photophobic soul. Sycosis supplies the oedematous and weeping tendency; psora the itch/tingle and neuralgia; a syphilitic hue flashes only in erysipelas-like spread and vesication. The pace is paroxysmal with triggers: enter the warm parlour → lids balloon, eye bores, head throbs; step into the cool passage → pain slackens, eye opens. This valve-response to environment is the remedy’s clinical compass. In differential context, Paris gives the globe-too-large fantasy but lacks the heat odium; Spigelia gives supraorbital knives and left bias, often liking heat; Apis swells and stings but is not so neuralgic in the eye; Rhus blazes vesicles but commonly wants warmth. Thus, when poison-wood skin exists with warmth < and the eye adds distending pain and glare-intolerance, Comocladia crystallises. Cure is physically visible: chemosis subsides, lid-fissure widens, face loses shine, sleep returns without a vigil at the window, and the sufferer forgets the fire—the truest sign that the essence has been met. [Clarke], [Norton], [Boericke], [Boger], [Hering], [Allen], [Hughes]

• Ciliary neuralgia (often right), worse near fire or stove; globe feels too large; chemosis/oedematous lids. Comocl. 30C–200C, single dose or q8–12h in the acute phase; insist on dark, cool, airy room and ocular rest. [Norton], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Erysipelatous, oedematous eyelids/face with burning–itching; heat <, cold applications >. Comocl. 6C–30C q6–8h; short cool sponging, avoid warm baths/heated rooms. [Hering], [Clarke], [Allen]
• Rhus-like dermatitis but warmth aggravates and eye is involved. Choose Comocl. rather than Rhus, dose as above; watch for rapid oedema fall with cool regimen. [Farrington], [Boericke]

Case pearls (one-liners):
• Right ciliary neuralgia, every approach to the stove caused boring globe pain, lids puffed—Comocl. 200C stat; dark, cool room; next day globe-size sensation gone, chemosis halved. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Poison-wood face: shiny, puffed, burning; warm bed intolerable; sleeps by open window—Comocl. 30C t.i.d.; slept through once room cooled; swelling receded in 48 h. [Hering], [Allen]
• Rheumatic woman, peri-articular puffiness worse heat, better cool air, with recurrent right supraorbital neuralgia—Comocl. 30C nightly one week; joints easier, eye-attacks ceased. [Boericke], [Boger]

Mind

• Anxiety before approaching fire/heat. Behavioural marker of heat <. [Clarke]
• Irritability from burning/itching and light. Sensory overload. [Allen]
• Fear of blindness during ciliary attacks. Practical bedside cue. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Desire for cool air and darkness. Guides regimen. [Clarke]
• Aversion to examination by lamp light. Modality confirms. [Norton]
• Children peevish at bedtime in warm rooms; calm at window. Paediatric pointer. [Clarke]

Head / Eyes

• Ciliary neuralgia, right eye, heat/fire <, cold air >. Central selection rubric. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Sensation as if eyeball too large for orbit. Keynote confirmation. [Allen], [Norton]
• Chemosis with oedematous lids, photophobia. Objective sign. [Clarke]
• Pain radiates to temple/teeth/occiput. Trigeminal spread. [Norton]
• Light (firelight) aggravates; shading ameliorates. Practical management. [Norton]
• Motion of eyes aggravates; gentle rest >. Handling instruction. [Norton]

Face / Skin

• Erysipelas of face with great oedema; heat <; cold >. Poison-wood signature. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Vesicular/bullous eruption with burning–itching. Lesion type. [Allen], [Hughes]
• Shining, tense skin over cheeks and lids. Visual diagnostic. [Clarke]
• Rubbing/scratching increases swelling. Technique caution. [Hering]
• Right side more affected (face/eye). Lateral cue. [Clarke]
• Worse warm bed; must cool to sleep. Night guidance. [Clarke]

Throat

• Oedema of fauces/uvula; warm room <; cool air >. Minor but characteristic. [Clarke]
• Raw, burning fauces with facial erysipelas. Surface echo. [Allen]
• Swallowing warm drinks aggravates. Dietary detail. [Clarke]
• Desires cold rinses for relief. Simple measure. [Clarke]
• Voice husky from venous fulness. Extension from face. [Clarke]
• Better with room ventilation. Regimen rubric. [Clarke]

Chest / Respiration / Heart

• Oppression in heated rooms; open air ameliorates. Atmospheric intolerance. [Clarke]
• Palpitation with eye attacks in heat. Neuro-vascular tie. [Allen]
• Sighing with relief at window. Behavioural sign. [Clarke]
• Short breath in bed warmth; cool side of room >. Nocturnal pointer. [Clarke]
• Pulse quick on exposure to firelight. Modal stamp. [Clarke]
• Cannot bear crowd/overheated assemblies. Environmental rubric. [Clarke]

Extremities / Rheumatism

• Rheumatic pains with puffy peri-articular swelling; heat <; cool air >. Musculo-serous echo. [Boericke], [Boger]
• Hands swell in warm room; rings tight. Objective clue. [Clarke]
• Rest in cool place ameliorates. Practical advice. [Boger]
• Warm bathing aggravates aches. Modality check. [Boericke]
• Better evening breeze than day heat. Time/weather nuance. [Clarke]
• Walking in sun revives pain; shade >. Outdoor cue. [Clarke]

Generalities / Sleep / Fever

• Heat aggravates everything; cold and air ameliorate. Master modality. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Worse near fire/stove; better open window. Household law. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Warm bed aggravates itching/burning; cool side of pillow >. Night management. [Clarke]
• Right-sided tendency (chiefly eye/face). Lateral theme. [Norton], [Clarke]
• Sweat in warm room increases itching. Perspiration note. [Boger]

Sleep broken by heat; sleeps when cooled. Outcome marker. [Clarke]

F. Allen — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): poisonings/provings—ciliary pain, chemosis, oedematous lids/face, heat/glare modalities.
Richard Hughes — A Cyclopædia of Drug Pathogenesy (1891–95): toxicology—Anacardiaceæ dermatitis; serous/oedematous responses; ocular irritant notes.
John Henry Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): synthesis—right-sided ciliary neuralgia, firelight <, cool air/darkness >; erysipelas-like face; regimen.
William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1906): keynotes—globe-too-large sensation, heat <, cool >; skin and joint echoes.
C. M. Boger — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modalities—heat/glare <; cool air >; rheumatic–serous affinities.
Constantine Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): confirmations—poison-wood eruptions, oedema, vesication; ocular aggravations.
E. A. Farrington — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): differentials—Spigelia, Paris, Prunus; Anacardiaceæ comparisons.
A. B. Norton — Ophthalmic Therapeutics (1891): ophthalmic confirmations—ciliary neuralgia, right eye preference, fire/stove/glare <, shading and cold air >.
Richard Hughes — Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1894): family traits—Rhus/Anacardium vs Comocladia heat modality; surface over-reactivity.
James Tyler Kent — Lectures on Materia Medica (1905): miasmatic colouring and family relationships; practical selection among Rhus-group (contextual).
S. R. Phatak — Concise Materia Medica (1977): concise generalities—heat aggravation, eye and skin focus, cool air relief (summary).
Margaret Lucy Tyler — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside vignettes—window >, fear of hearth, practical cooling regimen (contextual).