Spongia tosta

Prepared from the roasted marine sponge, a porous invertebrate composed mainly of silica, iodine, and organic materials. Roasting reduces the raw irritative properties and yields a remedy rich in iodine compounds, making it especially useful for thyroid and respiratory conditions.

Sponges have been used for bathing, wound cleaning, and surgical absorption for centuries. Naturally rich in iodine, they were formerly employed in thyroid swellings and goitre in folk medicine.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann, later confirmed by Boericke, Clarke, and Hering

• Larynx and trachea: dry, barking, croupy cough
• Thyroid gland: enlargement, induration, and functional disturbance
• Heart: palpitations, valvular disorders
• Respiratory tract: spasmodic and obstructive coughs
• Circulatory system: vascular sensitivity, flushes, pulse disorders
• Left side and chest predominance
• Mucous membranes: dryness, burning, constriction

• Eating and drinking, especially warm drinks [Clarke]
• Bending head forward, especially in laryngeal conditions
• Lying with head high, in dyspnoea or cough
• Warm room or warm bed
• Continuous motion, especially walking slowly
• Swallowing in some throat complaints
• Covering neck and chest

• Cold drinks, cold air, open air, especially inhaling cold [Kent]
• Touch and pressure on neck or thyroid
• Talking, singing, reading aloud
• Exertion, both mental and physical
• Before midnight, with aggravation of cough
• Lying with head low or lying on back
• Sudden excitement or fright

• Aconitum – Also sudden onset, fear, and dry cough, but Acon. has more high fever and exposure to cold wind; Spongia’s cough is dryer, deeper, more sawing
• Hepar sulphuris – Both for croup; Hepar has rattling cough and sensitivity to cold; Spongia is dry, tight, better warm drinks, and less irritable
• Drosera – For spasmodic, deep coughs worse at night; Drosera is more violent, gagging, and unrelenting; Spongia is more fearful, with dry barking
• Iodium – Both have thyroid and heart affinity; Iod. has more emaciation, restlessness, and hunger; Spongia is slower and more glandular
• Lachesis – Also for palpitations, throat constriction, and left-sided complaints; Lach. is hot, talkative, worse sleep; Spongia more chilly, anxious, better warmth

• Complementary: Hepar., Iod., Lach.
• Antidotes: Camph., Acon.
• Inimical: Merc.
• Follows well: Acon., Hepar., Bry.
• Precedes well: Lyc., Ars., Calc.

Spongia reflects the terror of not being able to breathe, not just physically, but emotionally. It is the barking cough of fear, the tight chest of suppressed voice, the dry obstruction that causes panic. Its patients live on the edge of air hunger, cardiac alarm, and thyroidic heat or swelling. Yet beneath this lies a vulnerability, soothed by warmth, food, and protection. The sponge absorbs, swells, and then chokes—so too does the organism absorb stress until it spasms. Spongia restores calm, air, and balance to a system on the verge of collapse.

• First-line remedy for croup with dry, barking cough
• Excellent for thyroid enlargement, especially goitre with hardness and pain
• Indispensable in valvular heart disease, especially with audible palpitations
• Useful in laryngitis, tracheitis, and suffocative anxiety at night
• In children: fearful awakenings with choking or barking cough
• Acute: 6C–30C, frequently in croup
• Chronic: 200C–1M, spaced in thyroid and cardiac cases
• Avoid in highly iodine-sensitive individuals

Mind

• Anxiety, heart, with
• Fear, death, sudden
• Startled, easily
• Restlessness, cardiac complaints

Throat / Larynx

• Cough, dry, barking, night
• Larynx, constriction
• Hoarseness, chronic
• Sensation, plug, throat

Chest / Respiration

• Cough, sawing, metallic
• Palpitation, violent, audible
• Suffocation, night
• Respiration, difficult, inspiration

Heart

• Palpitation, exertion after
• Anxiety, heart region
• Pulse, irregular, weak

Generalities

• Better, warm drinks
• Worse, cold air
• Better, sitting upright
• Worse, before midnight
• Worse, excitement

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Provided original proving of Spongia, including respiratory and thyroid symptoms

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Emphasised heart fear, suffocation, and croupy coughs

C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica: Supplied detailed heart, laryngeal, and mental-state symptoms

William Boericke – Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Clarified indications for thyroid, larynx, and cardiac states

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Provided descriptions of cough modality, glandular action, and remedy relationships