[Illustration]
This beautiful liana is commonly found in the woods of Brazil; its stem,
of a flexible and tenacious wood, furnishes slender, slightly pubescent
branches with deep parallel furrows. The leaves are alternate, with
winged petioles; they are composed of five folioles which are almost
sessile, oval-lanceolate, crenulate, irregularly bizugate. The flowers
are small, in spikes, situated on axes that are accompanied by leaflets
arising from the axillæ of the leaves. Calix with five folioles, corolla
with four petals, alternating with the folioles of the calix; eight
stamens; ovary with three uni-ovulate chambers. Capsule pear-shaped and
sharp, divided at its superior part in three tubercles. Root with long
fasciculate branches which are a little hairy at their extremity. We
employ the fresh root.
_First day._—1. Loathing, tongue thick and doughy, in a few minutes. She
dreams about a leprous woman, which disgusts her.
_Second day._—Very chilly. Colic followed by a reddish diarrhœic stool
mixed with slime. 5. Headache as if the head were covered with a cap
of lead on which one strikes. Loathing of food. Desire for dainties.
Frequent and ineffectual desire to urinate. Pain of the soles in walking,
increased by pressure. 10. Lancinating pain in the heel.
_Third day._—Sensation in all the limbs as if bruised. Dizzy, her head
inclines forwards. The feet feel numb, after going up-stairs. The arms,
chest and head, except the ears, are very cold. 15. Desire to vomit. Her
tongue feels as if it were as thick as a finger. Burning when urinating.
She likes to remain quiet and shut up. Dreams about a leprous patient
whose sores bleed. 20. Her chest feels as if it would open, with a
cracking noise. Stitch under the right eye.
_Fourth day._—Shuddering on rising. Sharp pain during stool, as if a
penknife had been plunged into the abdomen. Prickling at the left eye,
which weeps and is very much inflamed. 25. Redness of the sclerotica.
Buzzing in the left ear for 15 minutes. Pain in the groin as if the
nerves were cut. Crampy pain in the left side of the hypogastrium.
Itching and tingling in the throat. 30. Pain at the eyebrows meeting from
opposite side at the root of the nose. Heat in the soles. Oppression and
burning in both sides of the chest. Pressure in the hypogastrium. Pain
as if a string had been strung round the hypochondria. 35. Intolerable
itching, with sense of burning in the chest. Beating in the temple
and above the left eye. Pain at the navel as from a penknife. Painful
sensation as from an iron bar, compelling the head to incline forwards.
Constant ennui. 40. Loathing at the sight of food. Desire for the taste
and smell of coffee. General lassitude.
_Fifth day._—Pain in the lower limbs, which become stiff by walking.
Cramp in the palm and fingers of the left hand, extending to the arm.
45. Violent pain in the side as if a stone were pressed in. Itching and
suppuration behind the head.
_Sixth day._—Hammering in the vertex, reverberating in the temples.
Restless sleep. She dreams that she wishes to open her chest in order to
look into it. 50. Pressure at the chest and sides, as if pressed upon by
iron sheeting, and then pierced with penknives, causing an acute pain.
Nausea. Lancinating pain in the left nipple, as if a penknife were thrust
in, at regular intervals. Sawing pain as if the cartilage of the left ear
were cut; this pain extends to the left side of the neck. Prickings as
from a thousand needles in the left thigh, high up, for several minutes.
_Seventh day._—55. Pressure as from an iron band around the waist; and
stitches in the upper part of the thorax, worse during motion. Crampy
pain in the left hand, for a moment. Sensation, while talking, as if a
stone were burying itself in the stomach. Pain as if a knife were plunged
into the right side.
_Eighth day._—She dreams that a scabby dog full of sores is walking
towards her; she took hold of the dog, who bit her; then she uttered loud
cries, in the midst of which she awoke with a severe pain in the chest.
60. She feels bruised all over. Headache as if her head would split.
Lachrymation, especially of the left eye. Very hungry at dinner. Stabbing
sensation in the ovaries, for a moment. 65. Painful stitches in each side
of the abdomen.
_Ninth day._—Burning in the chest. Pain at the right ankle, as if
sprained. Tingling in the throat. Pain in the loins as if bruised; she is
unable to raise herself after stooping. 70. Pain at the right shoulder,
disappearing by friction. Numbness in the shoulder. Intense itching under
the arm.