Dr. Kent says , “The pathogenesis of Mercury is found in the provings of Merc. viv. And Merc. Sol., two slightly different preparations, but not different enough to make any distinction in practice.

Constitutional taint: Syphilitic. Also psoric and sycotic to a certain degree. It is the king of anti-syphilitic remedies.

Typical subjects: Light-haired persons, with lax skin and muscles. Scrofulous children. Syphilitics. In sycotic and psoric cases it is scarcely called for. “In psoric infants the

choice has often to be made between Calc.c., Sil., and Merc. and must be made with care, as a mistake is not easily rectified,”. In this connection it must be remembered that Merc. and Sil. Are inimical to each other and hence the choice between them must be made with care. Esp. suited to women and children. “Hereditary syphilitic manifestations are within its range; bullae, abscesses, snuffles, marasmus, stomatitis or destructive inflammations.” (Bullae: Plural of bulla, meaning a large blister.) Suited to constitutions which are changeable and sensitive to heat and cold as thermometer itself.

Notes and features: 1. Salivation. A prominent symptom. Profuse salivation; flow during sleep; may be bloody and viscid. Saliva may be soapy and stringy. Saliva of putrid odour and coppery taste. Profuse salivation in mumps, tonsillitis or diphtheria; saliva often offensive.

2. Sweating: Profuse sweating with most complaints without relief, or even resulting in aggravation during sweating. Sweat stains the linen yellow. Sweat may be oily. Cold, clammy sweat, esp. on thighs and legs and night. A combination of “profuse sweat” and “aggravation at night” is highly indicative.

3. Offensiveness. Body smell is offensive. Sweat offensive, which may be of strong, sweetish or mawkish odour. Breath is very offensive, “The breath especially is very fetid, and it can be detected on entering the room; it permeates the whole room.” Offensive urine, stool, sweat. Odour of the nose (as in oezena) and mouth offensive. Acrid nasal secretion smelling like old cheese. “Horribly stinking greenish discharge from ears.” Stinking otorrhoea.

4. Tremor. Great weakness. Paralysis. Tremor runs through the remedy. Tremor of extremities esp. of hands, so that he cannot write. Tremor of tongue, so that he cannot talk. Tremor of Merc. corresponds to paralysis agitans. Great fatigue, weakness, and rapid loss of strength, with great uneasiness of body and mind. Fainting fits. Almost a specific in facial paralysis from cold, one side-side being affected.

5.Ulceration: “Inflammation leads to indurations, indurations to ulceration.” Ulcers superficial and wide spread. Ulcers with lardaceous or cheesy base (as in soft or hard chancre). Also, spreading and deeply penetrating ulcers. Ulcers irregular in shape with undefined edges. Superficial and readily bleeding ulcers. “Ulcers on parts where the skin and flesh are thin over the bones.” Ulceration at nails.

6.Suppuration. Tendency to formation of pus. Bloody pus from any orifice of body. “Pus, forms in cavities in abscesses which burn and sting. “ This sort of burning and esp. stinging is characteristic. Burning, stinging in ovaries. Suppuration of glands, esp. when discharge of pus is too profuse. In low potencies (2x,3x,trit.) it hastens suppuration, but in high potencies it aborts it. It should be remembered that Merc. excites formation of various kinds of pus; there may be too little pus; too thin pus; thin, tenacious pus.

Characteristic peculiarities: They revolve around the following: salivation, perspiration, offensiveness, tremor, paralysis. Greenish yellow or green discharge. “horribly stinking greenish discharge” (as in otorrhoea). *Flabby tongue taking the imprint of teeth. *Metallic taste. Creeping chilliness. Weak digestion with continuous hunger. Red and shining inflammatory swelling. Nocturnal pain in bones. Periostitis, then necrosis. Whole body feels as if bruised, with soreness in all bones. Bones soften so that they will bend. Great tendency of limbs to become numb. Emaciation and atrophy of whole body. Very debilitating night sweats. Milk in breasts instead of menses; in breasts of boys or girls. Slow and hectic fever. “A strange feature is swelling and abscess formation without heat.” Glands inflamed and swollen. Inflamed parts indurate. Inflamed glands are hard. Indurations with ulceration. Tension about the scalp as if it were bandaged.

MIND : Great anguish ( the patient constantly changes place). Great indifference to everything. Does not even care to eat. Continuous moaning and groaning. Answers questions slowly . Weakness of memory; and will power lost. Intellect weak; imbecile. Hurried and rapid speech. Thinks he is losing his reasons. Impulse to kill or commit suicide. “Sudden anger with impulse to do violence.” Sudden impulse to do something violent; “Time seems to pass slowly.”.The patient is weary of life. Mistrustful .

Face; Face pale, or yellowish, or lead-colored. Bloatedness and swelling of face, principally around eyes. Swelling of cheeks. Sweat on face. Fissures, rhagades, and ulceration in (lips and ) corners of mouth. Desquamation of skin. “Copper coloured eruptions as in syphilis, and mucous patches.”. Teeth black and dirty. “dirty nosed children.” Blackish colour of nose.

Head:- With all headaches, there is much heat in the head. Bursting headaches, fullness of the brain, and constriction like a band. Catarrhal headaches; Tension about scalp, as if bandaged. Stinging, burning fetid eruptions on scalp. .Loss of hair. Exostosis, with feeling of soreness. Oily sweat on head. Headaches from suppression of discharges espe. foot sweats- alteration of foot sweats and headaches.

Eyes.: Profuse, burning, acrid discharge Floating black spots. Photophobia. After exposure to glare of fire; foundry men. Parenchymatous keratitis of syphilitic origin with burning pain. Cold settles in eye like Dulcamara.

Ears: Ear troubles; Horribly stinking greenish discharge from the ears like the discharge from the nose. Otalgia worse warmth of bed; at night. Sticking pains . Boils in external canal[Calc. Pic.].

Nose: Dr. Kent says that, “ The nose troubles would take a long time to describe”. Old syphilitics with nasal bones affected, thick, greenish, yellow, acrid, stinking discharge. Nosebleed and bloody discharge from the nose. Coryza acrid, watery, with pressure though the bones of the face, worse from heat or cold, worse at night; sensitive to every draught; must get up and walk the floor. It has coryza with much sneezing with an

opposite state; > by lying in bed, only in the daytime while up and about. The inhalation of hot air feels, good to the nose but the heat aggravates the body. Incessant sneezing. Bleeding, scurfy, red nostrils. Old catarrhal smell in the nose. Rawness, burning and swelling. Inside of the nostrils smarting and burning. Bones of the face painful, feel as if pressed outward, and he wants to press, but it is painful.

Kent further says that “ Merc. is not deep enough to cure the whole constitution in psoric cases that are constantly taking cold. It cures the cold at once, but implants its own nature and the patient catches cold often. It should not be given often not oftener than twice in a winter. Kali iod. Is better for the same burning in the face, running coryza, and < from heat and warmth of the bed, and it will cure the coryza in a night when apparently Merc. is indicated. It is also an antidote to Merc. Don’t give many doses of Merc. in psoric cases, look for a deeper medicine.

Mouth: In Mercurius, the leading characteristic is found in the mouth, and the characteristics are , “ the gums are swollen, spongy, sometimes bleeding;” the tongue heavy thick, is also swollen, flabby, taking the imprint of the teeth (Arsenicum, Chelidonium, Podophyllum, Rhus tox. and Stramonium), generally moist with salivation which is soapy or stringy, and the odor from the mouth is very offensive; you can smell it all over the room. The tongue feels as if burnt, with ulcers. Furrow in upper surface of tongue lengthwise. Fetid odor from mouth; can smell it all over room No remedy has this condition of mouth in any degree equal to Mercury . Alveolar abscess, worse at night. Great thirst, with most mouth.

Throat:- Sore throat. It is a remedy for inflammation of the throat, with spongy appearance, bluish red swelling. Constant desire to swallow. Putrid sore throat; worse right side. Ulcers and inflammation appearing at every change in weather. Stitches into ear on swallowing; fluids return through nose. Quinsy, with difficulty in swallowing, after pus has formed. Sore, raw, smarting, burning throat. Complete loss of voice. Burning in throat, as from hot vapor ascending. Elongation & swelling of uvula; Constant want to swallow. Rapid and stammering speech.

Stomach: The stomach is chronically disordered ; putrid eructation, regurgitations, heart burns, etc. Sour stomach; it is foul. He has nausea with vomiting and regurgitation of food. In such a stomach food is like a load. Bad taste, bitter mouth; he tastes the food; it comes up sour. With all this the saliva constantly runs from the mouth. It does not improve as digestion goes on. The half-digested substances are vomited. It is like the state in person who have destroyed their stomach from crossing liquors, beer, wine and whisky. He has aversion to meat, wine, brandy, coffee, greasy food, butter. Milk disagrees and comes up sour. Sweets disagree. He is turned against his beer. Intense thirst for cold drinks. Weak digestion with continuous hunger. Hiccough and regurgitation.

Abdomen:- In the abdomen we find colic, rumbling, distension, aches and pains, stinging and burning. Stabbing pain, with chilliness. Boring pain in the right groin. Liver enlarged.

Sore to touch. Indurate. Jaundice. Bile secreted definciently.The fullness in the region of the stomach, coming in spells, worse in cold, damp weather and warm, damp weather, worse in the Spring, jaundiced condition, disordered stomach, the aggravation at night and from the warmth of the bed, nightly feverishness and foul mouth, will give you the Mer.state. Stitches in the region of jaundice. Liver symptoms worse lying on the right side. [Many complaints of Merc. are < by lying on the right side. The lung symptoms and cough, liver, stomach and bowel symptoms are all worse while lying on the right side.].

Stool : It has a great variety of stools, of diarrhea and constipation. It has a well-defined dysenteric condition. Slimy, bloody stools with much straining, he feels, as if he could never finish, even no more is passing, a “never-get-done” feeling. This is the very opposite of Nux and Rhus in dysentery. These are relieved if a little stool is passed, but Merc, and Sulph. Will sit and strain, and all the salts of Merc. have the same state. Merc.cor. has a more violent attack, with violent urging to stool and to urinate, and intense suffering with burning in the parts and the passage of pure blood. Merc. ipec. and Acon. are frequently in epidemic dysentery that comes in the hot weather, and Ipec. Dulc. and Merc. are frequently indicated in the dysentery of cold weather.

Urine: The urine burns and smarts. Frequent urging to urinate, dribbling a little; bloody urine, with great burning. Gonorrhea which has existed for some time. Greenish discharge from urethra; burning in urethra on beginning to urinate. Urine dark, scanty, bloody, aluminous . Quantity of urine passed is greater than the fluid drank.

Male: Ulcers on the prepuce and glands, making it suitable in chancre and chancroid. Flat ulcers; ulcers with lardaceous base. Inflammation of the inner surface of the prepuce. Balanitis, offensive pus. Cold genitals. Nocturnal emission, stained with blood.

Female: Menses profuse, with abdominal pains. Leucorrhoea excoriating, greenish and bloody; sensation of rawness in parts. Burning & stinging pain in ovaries [Apis].Itching and burning < urinating; better, washing with cold water. Breasts painful and full of milk at menses. Menstrual flow light red, pale, acrid, clotted and profuse or scanty. The menses are sometimes suppressed. Women who have been in the habit of taking mercury for biliousness remain sterile. (Coffee drinkers often remain sterile also and you must stop their coffee). Amenorrhea with ebullitions. Chancres on the female genitals. Aged women have denuded genitals, rawness, soreness and false granulations which are always bleeding. Burning and throbbing itching in the vagina. Itching of the genitals from the contact of urine; it must be washed off. In children, boys or girls the urine burning after urinating and they are always carrying the hands to the genitals. Little girls have acrid leucorrhoea causing burning and itching and much trouble. Boils and abscesses at the menstrual period; little elongated abscesses along the margin of the mucous membrane

and skin, painful, aggravated by walking; forming during the flow and breaking after the period. This, with itching, causes great suffering.

Morning sickness. A woman “while pregnant, has edematous swelling of the genitals. Diffused inflammation, soreness and fullness of the genitals and pelvis, causing difficulty in walking, and she must take to bed. In pelvic cellulites in the early months of pregnancy, Merc is an important remedy. Repeated miscarriages from sheer weakness Merc is a wonderful strengthener when properly used . Prolonged lochia. Milk scanty and spoiled.

Merc. is one of the best palliatives in cancer of the uterus and mammae. It will restrain and sometimes cure epithelioma. Dr. Kent describes a case cured by the Proto-iodide, an ulcerated, indurated lump in the breast, as large as a goose egg. With knots in the axilla, blueness of the part and no hope. The 100^th attenuation, given as often as the pains were very severe, took it away and she remained well.

Respiratory: There are various conditions in the chest. Coughs; colds that remain in the chest, lack of reaction and tardy recovery. The colds finally settle in the bronchial tubes; the chest feels as if it would burst and the cough is worse lying on the right side. (Left side: Lycop.). Cough < tobacco smoke. Whooping cough with nosebleed(Arnica). Cough, with yellow muco-purulent expectoration.

Back: Stiff neck with every cold, stiffness of the side and back of the neck.

Bruised pain in small of back, especially when sitting. Tearing pain in the coccyx;>pressing on abdomen.

Extremities:- Merc. especially affects the joints; inflammatory rheumatism with much swelling, < the heat of the bed and from uncovering. Rheumatic affection with sweat, < at night, from the warmth of the bed and while sweating. Oily perspiration. Trembling extremities, especially hands; paralysis agitans. Cold clammy sweat on legs at night.,Dropisical swelling of feet and legs. Bone pains worse at night

Skin:-Skin constantly moist. Persistent dryness of the skin contraindicates mercurius. Excessive odorous viscid perspiration; < night General tendency to free perspiration, but patient is not relieved thereby. Excoriation between genital and thighs. Sloughing of scrotum. Itching; < warmth of bed. Glands swell every time patient takes cold. Orchitis (Clemat; hammam.Puls.).Ulcers on parts where the skin and flesh are thin over the bones. Offensive forms of eczema. Most eruptions are moist with copious oozing. It cures shingles.

Fever: The fever symptoms of Mercurius are notable, especially in the sweats. The chill also is peculiar .. It is not a shaking chill, but is simply creeping chilliness. Often when this creeping chilliness is felt it is the first symptom of a cold that has been taken, and, if left alone, the coryza, sore throat, bronchitis or even pneumonia may follow; but , if taken early, a dose of Mercurius may prevent all such troubles. The chilliness is felt most generally in the evening and increases into the night. If not removed by Mercury. It also

alternates with flashes of heat; first chilly, then hot, then chilly, etc., like Arsenic. It is often felt in single parts. Then again it is felt in abscesses and is the harbinger of pus formation. If pus has already formed, especially much of it, the only thing Merc. can do is to hasten its discharge; but if little or none is actually formed a dose of Mecr. High will often check the formation and a profuse sweat often follows with a subsidence of the swelling and rapid cure of the disease.

Modalities:-

Worse:

At night

Wet damp weather (Rhus Tox.)

In autumn, warm days and cold, damp nights

Lying on right side.

On perspiring

Mercury symptoms are increased by heat of, but decreased by rest in bed.(Arsenic is decreased by heat of, but increased by rest, in bed.)

Better: By rest.

Relations:

Follows well after Belladonna , Hepar Sulph , Lachesis and Sulphur; but should not be given before or after Silicea. If given in low(weak) potencies, hastens rather than aborts suppuration. The ill effects of Merc. vivus are antidoted by Aurum metallicum, Hepar Sulph, lach. Mez. Nitric acid and by a strong (high) potency of Merc. vivus when the symptoms correspond.

Similar to Mezerium, its vegetable analogue. Complementary to Badiaga.

Summary of indications: Bone diseases-rhinitis-diphtheria-dysentery-oral disorders.

Antidotes:-

Belladonna; Bryonia alba; Lachesis; Mezereum; Nitricum acidum ; Nux Vomica;

Note : It is a medicine for bad effects of fright, suppressed gonorrhea, suppressed foot-sweat. Also a remedy for ailments arising from eating sugar, insect stings, vapors of arsenic or copper.