Allen’s Keynotes Easy 1

ARSENIC ALBUM
White Oxide of Arsenic As2O3

Mental Generals
• The nature is:
(a) Depressing, melancholic, despairing, indifferent.
(b) Anxious, fearful, restless, full of anguish.
(c) Irritable, sensitive, peevish, easily annoyed.
• The greater the suffering, the greater the unhappiness, restlessness and fear of death.
• Mentally restless but physically too weak to move; cannot rest in any place;
changing places continually; wants to be moved from one bed to another, and lies
now here, now there.
• Anxious, fear of death; thinks it useless to take medicine, is incurable, is surely
going to die; dread of death when alone, on going to bed.
• Attacks of anxiety at night driving out of bed, < after midnight.
• Teething children are pale, weak, restless, and want to be carried rapidly.

Physical Generals
• Great prostration1, with rapid sinking of the vital forces; fainting.
• Burning pains; the affected parts burn like fire, as if hot coals were applied to
parts (Anthraci.), > by heat, hot drinks, hot applications.
• Cannot bear the smell or sight of food (Colch., Sep.).
• Great thirst for cold water; drinks often, but little at a time; eats seldom, but much.
• Rapid emaciation2: With cold sweat3 and great debility4 (Tub., Verat.); of affected
parts; marasmus5.

1
prostration: extreme physical weakness.
2
emaciation: the state of being abnormally thin or weak.
3
sweat [syn. Perspiration]: drops of liquid that appear on the surface of your skin when you are hot,
ill or afraid.
4
debility: physical weakness, especially as a result of illness
5
Marasmus is a form of malnutrition. It happens when the intake of nutrients and energy is too low
for a person’s needs. It leads to wasting, or the loss of body fat and muscle. A child with marasmus
may not grow as children usually do.
2 ARSENIC ALBUM

• Excessive tiredness from least exertion [= physical or mental effort].

• Exhaustion is not felt by the patient while lying still; when he moves he is surprised
to find himself so weak.
• Symptoms generally worse from 1-2 p.m., 12-2 a.m.
• Bad effects from rotten food, or animal matter, whether by vaccination, smelling or
absorption.
• Complaints return annually (Carb-v., Lach., Sulph., Thuj.).

Gastro-intestinal System
• Burning thirst without special desire to drink; the stomach does not seem to tolerate,
because it cannot adapt, cold water; lies like a stone in the stomach. It is wanted,
but he cannot or dare not drink it.
• Gastric derangements; after cold fruits; ice cream; ice water; sour beer;
bad sausage; alcoholic drinks; strong cheese.
• Diarrhea, after eating or drinking; stool scanty; dark-colored, offensive, and
whether small or large, followed by great prostration.
• Hemorrhoids: With stitching pain when walking or sitting, not at stool; preventing
sitting or sleep; burning pain < by heat; fissures make voiding urine difficult.

Respiratory System
• Breathing, asthmatic; must sit or bend forward; springs out of bed at night,
especially after twelve o’clock; unable to lie down for fear of blockage; attacks
like croup instead of the usual urticaria.

Skin
• Anasarca [=Dropsy], skin pale, waxy, earth-colored (Acet-ac.).
• Skin: Dry and scaly; cold, blue and wrinkled; with cold, sticky perspiration; like
parchment6; white and pasty; black vesicles7 [= blister] and burning pain.

Modalities
• Aggravation: After midnight (1 to 2 a.m. or p.m.); from cold; cold drinks or food;
when lying on affected side or with the head low.
6
parchment: the skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on. 
7
Vesicles are small, fluid-filled sacs that can appear on the skin.
 Allen’s Keynotes Easy 3

• Amelioration: From heat in general (reverse of Sec.) except headache, which is

temporarily > by cold bathing (Spig.); burning pain > by heat.

Relation
• Complementary: All-s., Carb-v., Phos., Pyrog.
• Ars. should be thought of in ailments from: Chewing tobacco; alcoholism; sea
bathing; sausage8 [=food] poisoning; dissecting wounds9 and anthrax poison; stings
of venomous [= poisonous] insects.

8
sausage: a mixture of meat, fat, bread, etc. cut into small pieces, put into a long tube of skin,
cooked and eaten whole or served cold in thin slices.
9
Dissection wound: a poisoned wound incurred during the dissection of a dead body.