BLATTA AMERICANA (LAM.) BLATTA. KAKERLAT AMERICANA OAR.) PORTUG.: BARATTA.
The blatta americana, which is very common in Brazil, where it inhabits human dwellings, is an orthopterous insect, with an elongated, oval, rather flat body, from 12 to 16 lines in length, of a brown-red which becomes paler under the belly. The prothorax is smooth, shining, of an ochre yellow, with two large brown spots, which are sometimes united in one. In the male the elythrae reach beyond the belly by a few lines; in the female they are a little shorter. They are marked with numerous longitudinal streaks which bifurcate near the dotted margin terminating the elytrae. The wings are striate and reticular, of the length of the elytrae. The antennae which are longer than the body, exhibit at their base a small yellowish point. The feet are provided with black prickles and terminate in a tarsus with five articulations. We triturate the whole insect, if possible alive, for 15 minutes; after which we take two or three grains of this paste and rub them down with 100 grains of sugar of milk in order to obtain the first trituration.First day. -1. Aching pain in the temples. Numbness and heaviness of the head. Formication in the toes, at 7 in the morning. Pain shifting from the back to the shoulder-blade.
5. Prickings in the left side of the neck. Heat in the urethra when urinating. Stitch as by a fly, in the corner of the left eye, at 10 in the morning. Sense of weariness in the bends of the knees. Yellowness of the face.
10. Yellowness of the sclerotica. (When the prover had the jaundice, for which the blatta is considered empirically as a specific, he felt a number of pains which have been reproduced in this proving, such as general prostration, weariness, &c.). Frequent yawning, watery discharge from the nose. Lachrymation. Passing bloating at the pit of the stomach.
15. Drowsy in the afternoon. Acute pains in the temples, every now and then, at 4 in the afternoon. Chill and shuddering for half an hour. Pain at the right leg, from the toes to the knees. Slight colic.
20. Pain in the back, right side. Shuddering; sense of heat and slight moisture all over. Pain in the transverse colon, duodenum and pit of the stomach. Pain at the left little toe. Pain in the right side of the chest.
25. Shuddering for one hour. The pain in the temples continues. Yellow color of the urine, increasing more and more. Salt saliva.
Second day. Pain in the temple, with lancinations now and then.
30. Sense of weariness in the bend of the knee. Pain in the feet, here and there, and sometimes in the vole. Lazy. Frequent yawning. Acute pain in the chest, afternoon.
35. Cramp in the right leg. Weary when going up-stairs. Violent pain in the chest, with want. of breath. Urine of a bright-yellow, albuminous. The proving was interrupted by an accident.
HAHNEMANN'S ARRANGEMENT.
1. Aching in the temples. Numbness and heaviness in the head. Acute pains in the temples. Pain in the temple, with lancinations now and then. Stitch in canthus of left eye. Yellowness of the sclerotica. Lachrymation. Bloating at the pit of the stomach. Pain in the transverse colon. Heat in the urethra when urinating. Bright-yellow, albuminous urine. Acute pain in the chest, afternoon, also with want of breath. Pain shifting from the back to the shoulder-blade. Pricklings in the left side of the neck. Formication in the toes. Sense of weariness in the bends of the knees. Pain in the feet, here and there. Chill and shuddering. Shuddering, with sense of heat and moisture all over. Weary when going up-stairs.