Argentum nitricum

Arg-n.

Signs
Silver nitrate.
SUBSTANCE Silver nitrate is a colourless, odourless, crystalline, poisonous solid. It is exceedingly
sensitive to organic matter and light, and decomposes readily.
USES It is used in photography, silver plating, mirror manufacturing, sympathetic and indelible inks,
dyeing hair, colouring porcelain, etching ivory, as an extensively used reagens in analytical chemistry,
and as an antiseptic. It is not photosensitive when pure [silver 63.50%, nitrogen 8.25%, oxygen 28.25%];
presence of trace amounts of organic material promotes photoreduction.
REACTIVITY As an extremely reactive compound, it is incompatible with numerous substances: alkalis,
antimony salts, arsenites, bromides, carbonates, chlorides, iodides, thiocyanates, ferrous salts,
hypophosphites, morphine salts, oils, creosote, phosphates, tannic acid, tartrates, vegetable decoctions,
and extracts. 1 Mixed with ammonia compounds, silver nitrate can form azides which are powerful
explosives.
EFFECTS Eye contact can cause severe burns, with permanent blindness. Skin contact can cause severe
irritation and burns. Repeated exposure to silver nitrate dust or fumes can very gradually cause the
eyes, nails, inner nose, throat, body organs and skin to turn a blue-grey colour. This condition called
argyria occurs slowly and may take up to 20 years to develop. Once present, it doesn't go away.
Ingestion of silver nitrate causes violent abdominal pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION "Silver Nitrate combines with the albumen of the tissues and is a limited
escharotic. It excites superficial inflammation, and stains the part black under the influence of light. In
small doses it increases secretion, stimulates the heart, promotes nutrition, and acts as a nerve tonic. Its
continued administration produces gastrointestinal catarrh, waste of tissue, uraemia, albuminuria, fatty
degeneration of the heart, liver and kidneys, haemorrhages, fluidity of the blood, a slate-coloured line
along the gums, and a similar discolouration of the skin and mucous membranes, with centric
impairment of the nervous system, causing paralysis on a large scale, loss of coordination, convulsions,
and finally death by paralysis of respiration. These symptoms are collectively termed Argyria. Large
doses produce violent gastro-enteritis, and ulcer of the stomach, from thrombosis of its veins."2
EYES The eye symptoms of Arg-n. are too numerous to mention, says Kent. "'Ulceration of cornea in
newborn infants; profuse purulent discharge from the lids,' and this is what the 'Regulars' in former days
and almost up to date have been using for the eyes, treating them with Argentum nitricum."3 Most
probably, Kent is referring to gonorrhoeal ophthalmia. This condition appears 2 to 5 days after birth and
produces an acute purulent conjunctivitis, and severe eyelid oedema, followed by chemosis and corneal
ulcerations. Without preventive measures, gonorrhoeal ophthalmia will develop in approximately 28%
of infants born to women with gonorrhoea. Preventive measures include prophylaxis with silver nitrate,
first used by Crédé in 1880 and a "triumph of preventive medicine." The US Centers for Disease Control
as well as the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend routine use of 1% silver nitrate, erythromycin, or
tetracycline ophthalmic ointments or drops instilled into each eye after delivery. This in spite of the fact
that the incidence of gonorrhoeal ophthalmia in the USA is 2 to 3 on 10,000 live births. And: "Silver
nitrate is not a perfect agent. It does not prevent all cases of gonococcal ophthalmia, and in most infants
it causes transient chemical conjunctivitis, which has been thought by some to interfere with mother-
infant bonding."4 The possibility of intervening with mother-infant bonding, by interfering with eye
contact, was one of the mains reasons for widespread abandonment of silver nitrate prophylaxis in the
1980s in favour of antibiotic ointments.
REFLECTION "Another characteristic is revealed in the Liesegang rings which form in concentric
rhythmic circles when silver nitrate solution is dropped on chromate-impregnated gelatine. These rings
form rather like the waves on a pool of water when a stone is dropped into it. A rhythmically repeated
series of coloured rings is formed and when, to take an instance from yet another realm, we stand
between two mirrors we can see an endlessly repeated series of reflections of ourselves."5
LUNAR CAUSTIC Toughened silver nitrate, or lunar caustic, consists of about 97-98% silver nitrate, with
2-3% silver chloride to toughen it. It darkens on exposure to light. The white or greyish, hard rods or thin
small cones are employed as a caustic for removing warts and granulation tissue and for cauterizing
wounds and ulcerations.
PROVING •• [1] Müller - 7 provers, 1845; method: 1x trit., 3-6 doses in 3-6 days; 2x dil., 3 doses, effects
observed for 8 days; 6x dil., 3 doses in 5 days.

[1] Merckx Index. [2] Potter, A Compend of Materia Medica. [3] Kent, Lectures on Hom. MM. [4]
Canadian Paediatric Society, Recommendations for the prevention of neonatal ophthalmia. [5]
Twentyman, Argentum: A study in correspondences, BHJ July 1982.
Affinity
MIND. NERVES [cerebro-spinal; ABDOMINAL]. MUCOUS MEMBRANES [STOMACH; bowels; eyes; throat;
urethra]. Periosteum. Skin. * LEFT SIDE.
Modalities
Worse: EMOTIONS [ANXIETY; suspense]. Warm room. Sugar. Lying on right side. Drinking. Crowds. Cold
food. Ice cream. After eating and drinking.
Better: COLD [AIR; open air; washing with cold water]. Hard pressure [tight bandage around head].
Motion. Wind blowing on face. Eructations. Sitting.
Main symptoms
M IMPULSIVENESS.
HIDDEN IRRATIONAL MOTIVES FOR ACTIONS. [Boericke]
Irrational, does strange things and comes to strange conclusions: does foolish things.
• "Full of illusions and imaginations, which he makes a great effort to reason down; but these fancies
are fixed, and the struggle is useless. He always has most singular reasons for what he does. He had a
hidden motive for everything that he does, and he is ashamed of it." [Kent]
• "He will give peculiar, altogether foolish explanations of what he was trying to do." [Vithoulkas]
• "The emotions predominate and the governing power of the mind is for the time being held in
abeyance so that all sorts of ill-considered ideas fill the brain, the patient doing the queerest things upon
the impulse of the moment; he seems to be governed by his impulses." [Boger]
Superstitious. Ritualistic behaviour.
Fear of losing self-control.
c He needs an explanation for his peculiar behaviour, and thus:
Simulates being ill. Laments about his sickness. Deceitful. Sly.
 • "The imagination is so fertile that any symptom can occur. They can take in anything they hear and
make it their own. It is an expression of their gullibility." [Herrick]
• "There is a strangeness or eccentricity about the Argentum individual that is usually apparent almost
immediately, esp. in the case of Argentum men. Argentum people are very open and forthcoming in
most cases [rather like Phosphorus] and do not try to hide their eccentricity during the interview. As
with all eccentrics, it is the mental or intellectual aspect of the personality that is 'off-centre', rather
than the emotions. The healthy Argentum mind is extremely sharp, and given to lateral thinking, rather
than the more common linear, logical type. It makes connections easily between perceptions that would
remain unconnected by the average intellect, such as the price of coffee and the state of the
environment. ... They tend to become interested in the unconventional, and in matters that are at the
cutting edge of intellectual discovery, and owe their acceptance and application to the future; matters
such as the colonisation of space, biorhythms and underwater birthing. Argentum is fascinated by such
subjects, and is liable to share his opinions and discoveries enthusiastically." [Bailey]
• "The condition of the mind in sleep seemed but an extension of its state in working hours, for the
prover stated that all through the day he was disinclined to talk, but took a morbid delight in building
air-castles. ... He did not fall asleep, but lay enchanted by a vivid imagination. This Elysian state lasted till
nearly 10 o'clock, and then slowly faded away." [Hughes]
M ANXIETY from EXALTATION of FANCIES.
Fear to walk past certain corners; when walking thinks he will have a fit or die.
Fear of crossing a bridge.
Fear of high places.
Fear of an open window.
Anxiety about health.
• "Will not consult a physician for fear he may be told he has a serious ailment." [Bryant]
• "He fears that he may be seized with an impulse he cannot control." [Kent]
• "In my clinic I have experienced this apprehension in various forms: Fear he will miss the train. Fear
doctor will not arrive on time. Fear of result of pathological investigation. Fear of examination. Fear
what physician will reveal. Fear for his health when he is travelling. [Argentum patients always carry an
emergency kit when they travel.] Argentum patients usually bring a thick file of investigations, which
may contain 10-15 cardiograms with different prescriptions from various doctors. Because of their
friendly nature they become friends with their doctor easily. Argentum patients usually do not want to
go and visit patients in hospitals." [Farokh Master]
M Ailments from anticipation [diarrhoea, strange notions, impulsive and hurried].
and:
Many PHOBIAS
[fear in a crowd; fear in the street; fear when alone; anticipation, stage fright; fear of being too late;
claustrophobia; fear of high places; fear of fainting].
M Lack of self-confidence.
Fear of undertaking anything. Delusion everything will fail.
Delusion he does nothing right. Dread of work.
• "He is full of deception and cowardice, and he knows it, and makes a great effort to keep others from
finding out." [Kent]
 Yet: "when he forgets himself he performs things all right." [Kent]
M HURRY.
Everybody must hurry.
Sensation time goes too slowly.
Loquacity, changing quickly from subject to subject.
• "The Argentum nitricum subject is perpetually agitated. Always in a hurry, always busy, living with the
worry that he will not be able to get things done in time or complete his projects. If he begins a piece of
work he wants it finished at once; if he gives an order he wants it carried out immediately. Often,
indeed, having given an order, he will carry it out himself to hasten its execution. Considering the
increased intellectual activity of a Mercurian, an activity that operates at different levels, it is not
surprising that his perpetual motion creates a state of disorder. If he does not keep himself under strict
control he will also soon exhaust his companions." [Vannier]
• "The Argentum subject lives in a state of perpetual agitation, always feeling driven, never having
enough time for what he wants to do or feels he ought to get done, wanting to get a job finished as soon
as it is begun, darting off with unnecessary precipitation to carry out an assignment, and generating an
atmosphere of turbulence, tiring and exasperating to his entourages, whether at home or at work. ... I
have repeatedly verified the symptom that Argentums cannot bear inefficiency in others." [Farokh
Master]
M Forsaken feeling on waking. DELUSION HE IS FORSAKEN.
Delusion he is lost to the world beyond hope.
Delusion of being despised. Delusion of being neglected.
• "His paranoia was actually a somewhat realistic sense that if people were aware of the chaos in his
mind, they would think him weird and reject him." [Bailey]
M Disturbed sense of time and space.
Inaccurate judge of distances. Cannot look down or up. Delusion that the walls will crush him. Distances
seem enlarged. Objects seem enlarged.
M Impressionable.
Apprehension = diarrhoea; fear, anxiety = epilepsy;
eating sugar = diarrhoea; sexual excess = impotency;
nervous excitement = loss of voice; dancing = headache;
eye strain = defective accommodation; high notes = cough.
G WARM-BLOODED; strong craving for fresh air.
• "Persons who are warm-blooded; want cold, open air, cold drinks, cold food; suffocate in warm
clothing, ill-ventilated or closed rooms; feel suffocated if other people are in the room." [Kent]
G > OPEN AIR.
> Walking in open air.
• "He craves the cold wind blowing in his face and lungs." [Kent]
G Craving for SALT + SWEETS; SUGAR.
G > Walking fast.
G Sensation of SPLINTERS: violent pains, like deeply sticking splinters.
[throat; rectum; urethra]
G Sensation of ENLARGEMENT.
 > Pressure; tight bandaging.
G PRESSING pains.
G Convulsions preceded by great restlessness.
Aura: sensation of expansion of body.
Convulsions: nocturnal, from fright, during menses, from nervousness.
Dilated pupils for days or hours before the attack.
G Vertigo and weakness of limbs, trembling and nausea.
Vertigo and tinnitus aurium.
< Darkness; closing eyes.
And Cerebral congestion.
P Congestive headache with fullness and heaviness; ending in bilious vomiting.
< Mental exertion.
> Pressure or tight bandaging.
But "must open the collar" [from choking].
P Most gastric complaints accompanied by excessive flatulence and loud [yet difficult] eructations.
[comp. spattering of silver]
Pain radiating in every direction, but esp. to the chest [= difficult respiration].
> Pressure [bending double or firm pressure with the hand].
And Spells of violent palpitation.
And Scanty urine.
Gastric complaints from emotions, loss of sleep and/or during menses.
P Diarrhoea after sweets.
• "Irresistible desire for sugar in evening; after eating it he experiences, about midnight, a fermenting
flatulent colic, waking him from sleep, and followed by small discharges of watery faeces, accompanied
by emission of a quantity of noisy flatulence. A good deal of urging with the diarrhoea." [Hughes]
• "With the gastrointestinal troubles, the urine is generally very scanty; with the nervous symptoms it
may be profuse; in paralytic troubles there may be incontinence." [Allen]
P Palpitation of heart.
< Lying on right side; at night; from nervous excitement.
> Motion; pressure with the hand.
And Throbbing through whole body, esp. head and abdomen.
And Heat [> open air; fanning].
Violent palpitation from incarcerated flatus.
Rubrics
Mind
Anxiety in morning after rising [1], when anticipating an engagement [3], with heat of face [1], if a time
is set [2], when walking in open air [2]. Confusion, after coffee [1], > cold bath [1]. Delusion he is a bottle
of soda [2/1], a heavy black cloud enveloped her [1], he has an incurable disease [2], that everything will
fail [2], that he has neglected his duty [2]. Fear, of being late [3], of open spaces [2]. Forsaken feeling on
waking [2]. Hurry while walking [3]. Anxious restlessness, compelling rapid walking [2]. Loss of self-
control [1]. Desire to talk to some one, even wakes them at night [2/1].
Vertigo
 On entering a dark room [2]. On looking upwards at high buildings [2/1]. Suddenly appearing and
disappearing [1*]. Wine > [1].
Head
Enlarged sensation > bandaging [2/1], during menses [1; Glon.], during pregnancy [3/1]. Pain, from
strong and agreeable odours [1/1], > wine [1]; in right side and dimness of left eye [1/1].
Eye
Photophobia after straining the eyes [3/1], during headache [2*]. Dilated pupils before epilepsy [3;
Bufo].
Vision
Colours before the eyes, grey serpent-like bodies [3/1].
Nose
Smell acute, sensitive to odour of coffee [1].
Mouth
Speech, difficult, from dryness of palate and throat [1*]. Sour taste in mouth at height of attack of left
sided prosopalgia or migraine [1/1].
Throat
Catarrh of smokers [1; Caps.*], with sensation of hair causing cough, > again by smoking [1/1*]. Choking
with cardiac pain [1; Cact.].
Stomach
Sensation as if stomach would burst when yawning [1/1*]. Desire for sweets in evening [2/1].
Eructations difficult, causing faintness [1/1*]. Nausea causes palpitation [2/1], from smell of coffee [1],
from sweets [2].
Rectum
Diarrhoea > after acids [1/1], from exalted imagination [2/1], < lying on left side [2], after weaning [1].
Larynx
Catarrh alternating with uterine affections [2/1].
Respiration
Difficult when holding a handkerchief near nose or mouth [2], in a crowded room [2; Lil-t.], from
flatulence [1].
Chest
Sensation as if heart ceases to beat while sitting [2*; Gels.]. Pain in heart when lying on right side [1].
Palpitation from incarcerated flatus [2].
Limbs
Coldness during menses [1], of hands during menses [2], of lower limbs during nausea [1/1]. Sensation
as if legs were made of wood [2].
Sleep
Sleeplessness from vertigo [1].
Dreams
Of long dim passages, with a succession of strangely dressed figures, who retreated when approached
but followed when he went on [1/1*]. Of hunger [2].
* Repertory additions [Hughes].
Food
 Aversion: [3]: Sweets [L]. [2]: Cheese; pork.
Desire: [3]: Salt + sweets; salty food; sugar. [2]: Cold drinks; fat + sweets. [1] Brandy; cheese; cheese,
strong; chocolate; coffee; fat; fat + salt; ice; ice cream; plums, pungent; sauce; sausages; spicy; sour.
Worse: [3]: Sweets. [2]: Alcohol; cold food; mother's milk; sour. [1]: Apples; bread; cheese; coffee [= <
mental symptoms]; cold drinks; fat; frozen food; ice cream; meat; pastry; rich food; salted, pickled fish [=
distension of stomach]; sour; tea [= palpitation of heart]; tobacco, smell of [H]; water.
Better: [2]: Sweets. [1]: Coffee [H; > headache]; cold drinks; cold food; pungent [> nausea]; sour;
stimulants; warm drinks; wine.
* Repertory additions: [H] Hughes; [L] Lodispoto.