Magnetis poli ambo
Made from the whole magnet — sugar of milk exposed to the entire mass; the classical portrait of the magnet's pull: burning lancinations, broken-joint pains and a nail-like headache.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a body under a magnet: burning lancinations everywhere, joints that ache as if the bones were broken where their cartilages meet, shooting and jerking, a headache as if a nail were driven in — and old wounds that start to bleed afresh. The magnet's strange pull on living tissue: that is Magnetis poli ambo.
The substance, in plain words
The whole magnet, north and south pole together: sugar of milk or distilled water is exposed to the influence of the entire magnet and then potentised. Hahnemann tested the magnet and each pole on himself and his provers; the symptoms of the whole magnet were gathered from powerful horse-shoe magnets held in the hands for an hour at a time.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Busy precipitation. A hurried, driven feeling; absence of mind.
- Irresolution. Inadvertence and hesitation, with a tendency to anger and rage.
- Action and reaction. Hahnemann noted that each pole, applied twice or oftener, produces alternating actions resembling those of the opposite pole.
The body
- Burning lancinations throughout the body, with pains as if the joints were broken where two cartilages touch, and shooting and jerkings.
- Headache as if a nail were driven into the head, especially after a fit of anger; a digging, stupefying headache relieved by passing wind.
- Teeth. Toothache worse from cold and from contact with anything cold.
- Old wounds tend to bleed afresh; prolapse of the anus; inflammation of the testicle; indolent ulcers.
- Sleep disturbed, with the bruised feeling worst on waking.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| motion and on waking; cold, and contact with anything cold; touch on the joints. | heat; uncovering. The action of the remedy lasts ten to fourteen days. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
The nerves and muscles, the joints and bones, the blood, and old wounds.
Where the classical picture comes from
This is Hahnemann's own pathogenesis. He tested the whole magnet and each pole separately, holding a horse-shoe magnet capable of lifting twelve pounds in his hands for an hour at a time, and described the alternating actions of the poles. Clarke adds the cases of Andry, Thouret and Unzer, and the popular nineteenth-century use of magnetic rings for rheumatism.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Magnetism is genuinely woven through modern medicine: MRI builds its images from nuclear magnetic resonance in a strong field, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) now treats depression by stimulating the cortex with magnetic pulses. Static 'magnet therapy' for pain is widely sold, but the evidence for it is weak and inconsistent; the magnetic fields that change biology are the strong, pulsing ones, not a bracelet.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Magnetis polus arcticus | The north pole of the same magnet | The north pole leads with coldness — an icy-cold eye — and carious toothache; the whole magnet leads with burning lancinations and broken-joint pains. |
| Magnetis polus australis | The south pole of the same magnet | The south pole leads with ingrowing toenails and a rush of blood to the head; the whole magnet is the general rheumatic and neuralgic picture. |
| Ferrum metallicum | The magnetic metal itself | Ferrum is the anaemia portrait — flushed but exhausted; Magnetis is the rheumatic, neuralgic picture of the field. |
| Anacardium | A burnt smell in the nose | Anacardium is the remedy of two warring wills and a plug sensation; Magnetis is the magnet's own rheumatic and nerve picture. |