[Illustration]
The blatta americana, which is very common in Brazil, where it inhabits
human dwellings, is an orthopterous insect, with an elongated, oval,
rather flat body, from 12 to 16 lines in length, of a brown-red which
becomes paler under the belly. The prothorax is smooth, shining, of an
ochre yellow, with two large brown spots, which are sometimes united in
one. In the male the elytræ reach beyond the belly by a few lines; in
the female they are a little shorter. They are marked with numerous
longitudinal streaks which bifurcate near the dotted margin terminating
the elytræ. The wings are striate and reticular, of the length of the
elytræ. The antennæ which are longer than the body, exhibit at their base
a small yellowish point. The feet are provided with black prickles and
terminate in a tarsus with five articulations.
We triturate the whole insect, if possible alive, for 15 minutes; after
which we take two or three grains of this paste and rub them down with
100 grains of sugar of milk in order to obtain the first trituration.
_First day._—1. Aching pain in the temples. Numbness and heaviness of
the head. Formication in the toes, at 7 in the morning. Pain shifting
from the back to the shoulder-blade. 5. Prickings in the left side of
the neck. Heat in the urethra when urinating. Stitch as by a fly, in
the corner of the left eye, at 10 in the morning. Sense of weariness in
the bends of the knees. Yellowness of the face. 10. Yellowness of the
sclerotica. (When the prover had the jaundice, for which the blatta is
considered empirically as a specific, he felt a number of pains which
have been reproduced in this proving, such as general prostration,
weariness, &c.) Frequent yawning, watery discharge from the nose.
Lachrymation. Passing bloating at the pit of the stomach. 15. Drowsy in
the afternoon. Acute pains in the temples, every now and then, at 4 in
the afternoon. Chill and shuddering for half an hour. Pain at the right
leg, from the toes to the knees. Slight colic. 20. Pain in the back,
right side. Shuddering; sense of heat and slight moisture all over. Pain
in the transverse colon, duodenum and pit of the stomach. Pain at the
left little toe. Pain in the right side of the chest. 25. Shuddering for
one hour. The pain in the temples continues. Yellow color of the urine,
increasing more and more. Salt saliva.
_Second day._—Pain in the temple, with lancinations now and then. 30.
Sense of weariness in the bend of the knee. Pain in the feet, here and
there, and sometimes in the sole. Lazy. Frequent yawning. Acute pain
in the chest, afternoon. 35. Cramp in the right leg. Weary when going
up-stairs. Violent pain in the chest, with want of breath. Urine of a
bright-yellow, albuminous. The proving was interrupted by an accident.