SYNONYM, Indian cockroach.
CLASS, Insecta.
ORDER, Orthoptera.
COMMON NAME (Indian), Talapoka.
PREPARATION.--Triturate in the usual way.
(These two papers are by Dr. D. N. Ray, of Calcutta,
India, and were originally published in the
_Homoeopathic Recorder_ in the years 1890 and 1891. A
number of papers from American physicians could be added
confirming what Dr. Ray says of the drug.)
The _Blatta orientalis_ is a common insect in India, where it is found
abundantly in the dwelling houses. It has rather a flat body, from an
inch to a couple of inches in length; deep brown color. It can fly a
short distance. The wings reach beyond the body and cover it completely;
the feet have several segments and are provided with prickles.
Preparation.--The live animal is crushed and triturated as under class
IX of American Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, a tincture can be
prepared as under class IV of the same Pharmacopoeia.
This new unknown remedy has a curious anecdote connected with it. I call
it new because it has not been mentioned in any of our medical works,
although the use of _Blatta Americana_ (American cockroach) as a remedy
for dropsy has been mentioned in journals. The Indian cockroach is used
not in cases of dropsy but in cases of _Asthma_, a most obstinate
disease to deal with. In asthma it acts almost specifically. Before I
further proceed to give an account of this new, invaluable drug I shall
narrate here a short story how it came into use.
Some years ago an elderly gentleman had long been suffering from asthma;
for over twenty years. He took all measures and tried different methods
of both recognized and unrecognized medical treatments, but
unfortunately all proved in vain. At last he gave up all treatment and
was getting fits daily. He was brought to such a deplorable condition
that he was left to suffer. He was in the habit of taking tea. One
afternoon as usual he drank his cup of tea--afterwards he noticed that
his oppression in the chest was much less and that he was feeling
unusually better, so much so that he felt himself a different being.
This led him and his friends to inquire into the cause of it. He
immediately inferred that the relief was due to the drinking of the
_tea_, although he habitually drank the same tea but never before had
experienced any such changes. So this change he attributed to something
in the tea. The servant who prepared the tea was sent for and
questioned. His reply was that he made the tea as usual and there was
nothing new in it. The residue of the teacup was carefully examined,
nothing was found there, but on examining the tea-pot a dead cockroach
was discovered. So it was concluded that this _infusion_ of cockroach
did the gentleman a world of good. The very day he drank that _cup of
tea_ he had hardly any fit of asthma at night, and in a few days he got
entirely well to his and his friends' surprise.
The accounts of his Providential recovery were communicated to some of
his friends--one of them, not a medical man, but quite an enterprising
gentleman, took this into his head and resolved to try whether cockroach
does any good to other asthmatic patients. For this purpose he got a lot
of cockroaches, put them alive into a quantity of boiling water and
mixed it after filtering the water when cool with almost the same
quantity of the rectified spirit of wine, so that it might last for some
time without getting soured. This new mixture (or tincture) he began to
try in each and every case of asthma that he came across. The dose was a
drop each time, 3 or 4 doses daily, and more frequently during the fits
of asthma. Within a short time he made some such wonderful cures that
people began to flock from different parts of the country to his door.
Soon the number of attendants was so great that he had to manufacture
the medicine by pounds and all this medicine he distributed to patients
without any charge. He has records of some of the cases.
Some two years ago a patient of mine asked me whether we make any use of
_Talapoka_ (cockroach) in our Pharmacopoeia. My reply was that we use
many loathsome insects as our remedial agents. I told him also that
_Blatta Americana_ (American cockroach), I had heard, had been used in
cases of dropsy, but I had no practical experience with it. He then said
the Indian cockroach is used in cases of asthma and he knew several
cases had been cured with it. This struck me and I determined to try
this in cases of asthma whenever next opportunity occurred. For this
purpose I got a lot of live cockroaches, killed them and pounded to a
fine pulp and triturated according to class IX of American
Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia, that is, two parts by weight of the
substance and nine parts by weight of sugar of milk, giving 1x
trituration. Thus I prepare up to 3x trituration and I also make an
alcoholic solution--a few live cockroaches were crushed and five parts
by weight of alcohol poured over them--it was allowed to remain eight
days in a dark, cool place, being shaken twice daily. After the
expiration of that period the alcoholic solution was poured off,
strained and filtered, when it was ready for use.
I began to try both the preparations--drop doses of the tincture and
grain doses of 1x, 2x and sometimes 3x, 3 or 4 times daily when there
was no fit and almost every fifteen minutes or half hourly during the
severity of a fit. Both preparations began to answer well and I was
getting daily more and more encouraged about the efficacy of this new
drug. I had the opportunity of trying quite a number of cases of asthma
within this short time, the reports of which I wish to publish in the
future, but for the present I am glad to say in many cases it acted
almost specifically, that is, the whole trouble cleared away within a
fortnight or so without recurrence. In some cases the severity of the
paroxysm was lessened and the recurrence of the fits took place at a
longer interval; in others again only temporary benefit was observed.
This failure to benefit all cases alike I attribute to many
circumstances. Some people did not, rather could not, take the medicine
regularly according to my directions owing to their untoward
circumstances; some persons were suffering from other complications
along with asthma; some again got temporary relief and in the meantime
discontinued the medicine and came back again when there was a
recurrence of the fits, that is, they did not continue the drug for
sufficient length of time. Some cases again, not having derived
immediate benefit, got impatient and discontinued the medicine without
proper trial.
Besides all these, I think individual idiosyncrasy has a great deal to
do. The season of the year has some influence. It is usually observed in
this country that those who are subject to periodical attacks of
asthmatic fits are more prone to an attack either during the full or the
new moon, or at both the times. I believe if it is properly watched this
fact will be evident all over the world. Same is true of some other
diseases, as chronic cough, chronic fevers, rheumatism, either acute or
chronic, gout, elephantiasis, other glandular enlargements, etc., get
aggravated or are prone to aggravation during such changes of the moon.
Then some people get more severe and frequent fits during the winter
than the summer and the others more during the summer than the winter.
Let me here tell you that the Indian summer is very different from
either the English or the American. Some part of the Indian summer
season is quite rainy and the atmosphere is saturated with moisture and
other irritating ingredients, consequently a class of asthmatic people
suffer more during this season. I noticed to this class of cases _Blatta
orientalis_ will prove most efficacious. I have used it in bronchial and
nervous asthma with better success than the stomachae.