Magnetis polus australis
Made from the south pole of the magnet — the pole of the ingrowing toenail, the rush of blood to the head and the fetid night cough.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of the south pole's pull: an ingrowing toenail that feels as if it is cutting into the flesh, feet painful when they hang down, a rush of blood to the head in the early morning, faintness on walking, and a fetid cough at night. The other pole's action: that is Magnetis polus australis.
The substance, in plain words
The south pole alone: media saturated with the emanations of the south pole are potentised. Clarke used it so often for ingrowing toenail that he gave it first whenever no other remedy was clearly indicated.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Moroseness. Ill-humour with an aversion to conversation and to laughing faces.
- Passion and rage. Sudden anger, with instability of ideas.
The body
- Feet and nails. Sore pain in the inner side of the nail of the big toe, as if it grew into the flesh; the shoe presses on the toes; easy dislocation of the ankle; the feet painful when left hanging down.
- Head. A great rush of blood to the brain early in the morning in bed; heaviness, tingling and shocks.
- Heart. Violent palpitation with heat in the cardiac region.
- Chest. A fetid cough at night during sleep; oppression of the chest as if the breathing were tremulous.
- Generative. Menses premature and profuse; metrorrhagia; a strong disposition to emission.
- Varicose veins with a feeling of hot water running down the leg when it hangs.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| walking in the open air; sitting; letting the limb hang down; cold. | lying horizontally; raising the limb. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
The feet and nails, the head and circulation, and the female generative organs.
Where the classical picture comes from
Clarke's chapter and Hahnemann's pathogenesis. Clarke cured many cases of ingrowing toenail with it and records Berridge's case of the varicose leg with the sensation of hot water running down. Swan collected further cases in the Organon.
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.
As with the other pole, there is no drug here — but the phenomena are real medicine. Ingrowing toenail is a mechanical problem treated by podiatry; varicose veins by compression and surgery; the morning head-congestion and the palpitation are ordinary circulatory events. The value of the chapter is as a record of how the old provers tried to turn a physical force into a remedy.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Magnetis polus arcticus | The opposite pole of the same magnet | The north pole leads with coldness and carious toothache; the south pole leads with the rush of blood to the head and ingrowing toenails. |
| Magnetis poli ambo | The whole magnet | The whole magnet is the general rheumatic picture; the south pole is centred on the feet and nails and the head-congestion. |
| Graphites | Toenails and cracked skin | Graphites is the chilly, indecisive type with a honey-like eczema; the south pole leads with the ingrowing nail and the rush of blood to the head. |
| Nitricum acidum | Splinter-like pains and fissures | Nitric acid is the warty, offensive, fissured type; the south pole is the magnet's own picture of the feet and nails. |