Acidum
formicum Anhängsel
‡ Folgendes hat anthroposofische Einschlüße ‡
Form-ac. was given by
Rudolf Steiner as a "classical example" of
anthroposophically extended pharmacognosy.
Steiner: Form-ac. is
continually produced from Ox-ac. in the human organism. The conversion of
matter was stated ultimately to lead to Form-ac. "everywhere in the
body". The final step in this metamorphosis of matter, the conversion of
Ox-ac. to Form-ac., releasing Carb-diox. which is then exhaled, is, according
to him, the necessary basis for astral body activity in this organism. In aging
individuals and also in some pathological conditions, the ability to do this is
reduced, and death finally ensues when the ability
to produce Form-ac.
ceases altogether.
With pathological
conditions, it would be possible to give either the Form-ac., of which too
little is produced, or its precursor Ox-ac. Rudolf Steiner said that it was not
the substance itself that mattered in this, but the process of producing it.
In the 1920s this did
not conflict with current knowledge of physiology. All kinds of organic acids
were known to occur with the degradation of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in
the human metabolism. On the other hand, the question as to how the Carb-diox.
we exhale was produced was then one of the great unsolved questions in
biochemistry. A hypothesison the degradation of carbohydrates and fats offered
by Thunberg in 1920 that was taken up by others does not differ greatly from
Steiner's description. According to Thunberg, Acet-ac. rather than Form-ac. was
produced in addition to Carb-diox.; this comes next in the series of carboxylic
acids. Analogous to this, Thunberg's precursor was not oxalic but pyruvic acid.
Other variations on the same theme were postulated for the degradation of
various amino acids, which means that the production of Form-ac. from Ox-ac.
might well have been considered another possibility.
The situation is very
different today. Full details of how Carb-diox. develops in the human body and
which acids are involved in the process have been known for a long time.
Conversion of Ox-ac. to Form-ac. has not been confirmed. In fact, one of the
reasons why Ox-ac. is toxic is that unlike various plants and bacteria, humans
are evidently unable in principle to metabolize it. Even if a low degree of
such activity were to be demonstrated, anyone taking the scientific view would
be unable to accept the statement that everywhere in the human organism the
conversion of matter ultimately leads to this process, and that this would be a
physiological process of such fundamental importance that it is a matter of
life or death.
If we simply repeat
the statements R.S. made in the 1920s today, we are clearly going against
established knowledge in the field of physiology, which obviously would not
have been Rudolf Steiner's intention. In this particular case he expressly
hoped that the things he spoke of would also discovered in "modern
physiology". He said this would not be possible,however, for as long as
processes within the human being were regarded in the same way as
"external processes", like the laboratory experiment he himself gave
as an example. According to him, the process is different in human beings than
it is in a retort, and it was not the substances mentioned that mattered but
the process he characterized.
Below it will be
shown that research in biochemistry and physiology has actually discovered this
"Form-ac. process" a long time ago and sorted out many of the
details. This resolves an apparent conflict between conventional medical
research and its anthroposophically extended form.
How is Carb-diox; produced
in humans?
By far the most
important sources for Carb-diox. in human metabolism are the three oxidative
decarboxylation processes, as they are called, in the citric acid cycle,
pyruvic acid cycle and glycolysis.
All the Carb-diox.
produced in the conversion of carbohydrates, fats and most amino acids arises
with decarboxylation, when acid or carboxyl functions (COOH groups) are split
off as CO2.
Apart from this in
anabolic processes. This happens most intensively in connection with fatty acid
synthesis in fatty tissue. The reduction equivalents needed are obtained by
breaking down sugars by the pentose phosphate pathway. Carb-diox. is again the
result of decarboxylation. Compared to oxidative conversion, however, no oxygen
is used
in this case. Other
CO2 sources of very minor significance in terms of quantity are the
biosynthesis of porphyrin (hem) and of cholesterol, in both cases with special
decarboxylation processes. For the sake of completeness let me also mention the
decarboxylation processes involved in fatty acid synthesis as such and in
gluconeogenesis. These merely release the Carb-diox. which immediately before
was bound by carboxylation. Then there is also the spontaneous decarboxylation
of the "ketone body" acetoacetate to give acetone. This occurs only
with starvation and in diabetics.
Oxidative decarboxylation processes
The principle of
oxidative decarboxylation is most easily shown with the decarboxylation of
pyruvic acid, an intermediate product of glycolysis. The process was suspected
by Thunberg and has
been confirmed since the 1940’s. The acid function of pyruvic acid, its
carboxyl or COOH group, is released as CO2. This decarboxylation process is
coupled with the oxidation of the neighboring functional group, a keto or
carbonyl function (C = 0) to give anew carboxyl function. The result is that
the process yields another acid as well as Carb-diox., in this special case
acetic acid, or rather acetyl-CoA, a bound form of acetic acid. (Mere
decarboxylation without oxidation would yield acetaldehyde.)
The process is
exactly the same with the decarboxylation of alpha-keto-glutaric acid in the
citric acid cycle and the special decarboxylation processes in the degradation
of
the branched-chain
ammo acids. In all these cases the carboxyl function which has been removed is
immediately replaced by a new one in the process of oxidation.
Even the enzymes and
co-factors involved in the process are always very similar if not identical.
As already mentioned,
the first decarboxylation in aromatic amino acid degradation takes a slightly
different course. The above-mentioned decarboxylation processes can
only be called
oxidative in formal terms in so far as aketo function gains a higher oxidation
level and becomes a carboxyl function.As with most biological
"oxidations,"
it involves the
withdrawal of hydrogen instead (dehydrogenation), in conjunction with the
addition of water. The degradation of aromatic amino acids on the other hand is
a case of genuine
oxygenation, with oxygen added directly. This is a general characteristic of
aromatic substance degradation. In this case the effect is the same, however,
as in the previous
cases. The split off carboxyl function is immediately replaced by a new one as
the neighboring keto function is oxidized.
A special feature of
a different kind may be seen in the other decarboxylation process in the citric
acid cycle, which we have not yet considered - isocitric acid. In this case,
oxidation (or rather dehydrogenation) takes place but there is no new carboxyl
function. This is, however, only a very minor change from the decarboxylation
processes discussed so far. With them, the starting material was always an
alpha-keto acid, i.e. a carboxylic acid with a keto function immediately
adjacent to the affected carboxyl function. In a way this is also the case with
isocitric acid decarboxylation. Here, too, an alpha-keto acid is initially
produced - oxaloacetic acid. This is not decarboxylated immediately, however,
but only after binding an acetyl group to the alpha-keto function. Here
substance is brought into the citric acid cycle between the production and
decarboxylation of the keto acid, with the result that the cycle is maintained
in spite of losses due to decarboxylation. Binding of the acetyl group means
that the keto function cannot be oxidized to become a carboxyl function, but
the acetyl group (= acetic acid) adds a further carboxyl function.Oxidation
then leads to a new alpha-keto function instead, and the next oxidative
decarboxylation step can follow immediately. Apart from these peculiarities,
which are connected with the cyclic nature of the whole process,this oxidative
decarboxylation is completely the same as the others that have been mentioned.
The last
decarboxylation process to be considered is the one in the pentose phosphate
pathway. As already mentioned, this is also oxidative, at least in formal
terms, but does not even involve indirect oxygen consumption. In the citric
acid cycle, glycolysis and amino acid degradation dehydrogenation causes the
hydrogen which is withdrawn to be added to the respiratory chain as a reduction
equivalent and hence indirectly to the oxygen. In the pentose phosphate pathway
it is retained and used in reductive biosyntheses. Another particular
characteristic is that no keto acid is decarboxylated- not even indirectly as
in the case of isocitric acid - but a saccharic acid. The product of this
oxidative decarboxylation thus is not an acid but a sugar. This process may
also be cyclic, when the sugar (a pentose) reduced in length by degradation is
through a series of conversions at the sugar level converted back to the
original substance (a hexose).
All these
decarboxylation processes may evidently be seen as variations of one single
process. The most important differences have to do with the relationship to
oxygen.
If it is merely a
matter of providing reduction equivalents for reductive biosynthesis, oxygen is
not involved at all, with the cycle remaining at the relatively much reduced
sugar level (pentose phosphate cycle). This process, by the way, is similar to
the citric acid one in its processual details,(9) - the addition of substances
to the citric acid reflecting the involvement of an anabolic aspect. On the
other hand oxygen is used directly as an oxidizing agent in the synthesis of
aromatics, a group of substances that characteristically show particular
persistence and resistance to degradation. (Thus lignin can only be degraded by
special micro organisms; other examples are tannins and sporopollenin, the most
persistent of all biogenic substances.)
The greater majority of oxidative decarboxylations are, however, only
made possible by the indirect involvement of oxygen.
Comparison with the
descriptions given by Rudolf Steiner
In humans, oxidative decarboxylation
continually produces Carb-diox. in all live tissues. All organic matter, except
any that is eliminated or irreversibly deposited, will enter into this process
at some stage. In conjunction with the processes in the mitochondrial membrane,
known to consist in electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation, this
is a catabolic
process which provides the basis for the life of humans and all ensouled
organisms -cell respiration. It is thus evidently an essential basis for astral
body activity.Numerous recent investigations have shown that around midlife the
function of cell respiration begins to be reduced in vital organs such as the
brain, heart and liver, gradually getting less and less. When it ceases
completely, death ensues very quickly. Cell respiration thus has exactly the
physiological role which Steiner ascribed to the Form-ac. process; the
connection with the astral body is also the same.
Chemically, organic
acids are decarboxylated in both cases, with acids produced as well as Carb-diox..
There is a difference, however, in that Ox-ac. is not a keto acid and
its decarboxylation
is not oxidative. Yet as Steiner himself said, the process is not exactly the
same in humans as in the laboratory experiment which he gave for comparison.
Considering the laboratory facilities and skills then available, the
experiments actually could not have been done at the time using the keto acids
physiologists now consider
to be the
"right" ones. Pyruvic acid, the simplest alpha-keto acid,would be
sufficiently stable chemically, but one could only obtain either acetic acid or
Carb-diox. from it
by simple chemical
means, i.e. without enzymes, and not both at the same time. One would also lose
the impressive qualitative aspect of a volatile, pungent fluid and a gas
evolving from crystalline Ox-ac. that is practically insoluble, pyruvic acid in
itself being a pungent fluid. Oxalo acetic acid, which would be the nearest
alternative, is already
so unstable that it
cannot exist as dead matter outside the vital chemical processes.
The kind of
comparison we are making here only has meaning if we take account of one
fundamental difference between spiritual and conventional scientific research.
Conventional science first of all goes into detail; this provides the basis for
the elucidation of progressively more complex situations. The spiritual science
of Rudolf Steiner, (this refers specifically to spiritual science based on a
training that is of the present day, and not to remnants of ancient
clairvoyance, where the situation would be different). on the other hand starts
with the greatest and most comprehensive whole picture and may then progress
from these to increasingly more complex details. Thus going in opposite
directions, the two approaches may meet, but cannot take each other's place.It
thus shows misunderstanding (sadly common) of the situation when contents
presented out of the science of the spirit are treated like findings made in
conventional science or even taken in their stead. Things that are accessible to
the modern empirical scientific approach, like the details of human
biochemistry, for instance, cannot be investigated with anything but the
methods of conventional science. Conversely, the contents presented by the
spiritual scientist must be taken to be what he himself declared them to be -
descriptions of events and processes that can only be presented in images.
Might cell
respiration thus be the physiological process to which Steiner wanted to refer?
The answer should come if we compare the given situations.Steiner chose
Form-ac. as an example to indicate that for anthroposophically extended
pharmacology it will be necessary to "perceive the mission substances have
in the world". He characterized the world mission of Form-ac. to be such
that it makes aging and decomposing matter that has dropped out of the living
context available again for further development. We therefore need to examine
if this also describes the world mission of cell respiration and oxidative
decarboxylation respectively, or, in a wider context, if the position Form-ac.
has in the world - it was described in detail to the workers building the
Goetheanum - is also that of cell respiration. We shall have to limit ourselves
to the central aspects.
The world mission of
Form-ac.
Steiner characterized
Ox-ac. as a substance produced mainly in plants but also in humans and in all
organisms altogether. Plant metabolism, he said, only went as far as Ox-ac.
if left to itself, but interaction with the insect world also produced
Form-ac., a substance essential for the continued existence of the plant world.
Form-ac. was particularly
in evidence in ants,
but was present in all life forms and thanks to the activities of ants also
entered into the soil. There it was needed for the healthy decomposition of
dying plant matter, so that new life might arise. This also reflected its
significance in humans, according to Steiner, something we have already
discussed.
Let us now consider
each of these in turn in relation to our hypothesis.Ox-ac. is in fact a typical
plant substance found in most plants, though usually only in very small
amounts. Something to be noted quite generally is that plant saps always
contain organic acids in high concentration, compared to human blood. It is
however only rarely,
in quite specific
plants, that Ox-ac. really stands out. The most common plant acids are malic
and citric acid, two intermediates in the citric acid cycle. In their case it
is
true that they are
also produced in humans and (after minor changes) decarboxylated.
In the flowering
region of plants anabolism based on photosynthesis is less, with cell
respiration taking its place. Here the plant is quite evidently coming closer
to animal
nature - directly so
with pollination, but also in many ways in the morphology and physiognomy and
in the physiology.
Anabolic metabolism
in the green leaves correlates with high-level accumulation of different plant
acids, and the lamina is characteristically the part of the plant with the
highest concentration of acids. Acid levels go down as one moves to the floral
region, reaching a minimum in the seed. Actual conversion of Ox-ac. into
Form-ac. has not been observed in this case either. On the other hand there is
a definite connection with reproduction, new varieties arising by foreign
pollination and the plant world thus ultimately maintained and developing
further.
Cell respiration is
the process in which organic matter is taken back to its most general, most
open original form - Carb-diox. The significance which Carb-diox. has for the
development potential of life, quite apart from photosynthesis, is evident from
the fact that the development of young organs in plants, animals and humans
often occurs in a milieu with noticeably high Carb-diox. levels, being actively
promoted by it. An example would be our own embryonic development. In global
terms (leaving aside the oceans which have their own circulation) most CO2 is
produced in and on the soil in the decomposition brought about by lower
animals, fungi and bacteria. It is generally known today that ants play an
important role in this. (Steiner, by the
way, repeatedly spoke in the same breath of Form-ac. and the venom of bees and
wasps, saying this was related to Form-ac. and served the same function, only
more with regard to flowers, whilst the ants were more concerned with the soil.
This is remarkable in so far as bee venom does not contain any Form-ac. but is,
on the contrary, highly basic. A common feature of both poisons is that they
are markedly lytic, a property both strong acids and bases have in the
inorganic sphere. Here it emerges quite clearly that Steiner was not concerned
with Form-ac. as a substance but with a processual element).
We need not limit
ourselves to the complete decomposition of organic matter, however. Recent work
has shown that particularly in woodlands, which Rudolf Steiner was speaking of
when talking about ants, a considerable proportion of decomposing material
becomes part of the plant sphere again whilst still at the organic level; the
mediators for this are soil fungi which on the one hand bring about
decomposition and on the other live in close symbiosis with higher plants and
supply their needs. In the same way glycolysis in humans not only brings about
complete oxidation of the substances, but these processes also provide the
versatile starting material for a large number of biosyntheses. The synthesis
of non-essential amino acids basically starts from the three alpha-keto acids
available here; glucogenesis specially from oxaloacetic acid, whilst almost all
the other intermediate products enter into other biosyntheses. There is thus
constant renewal of organic substance in humans, it being degraded to the level
of these acids and then partly resynthesized again.
Summary
There surely can no
longer be any doubt but that cell respiration is the physiological process to
which Steiner was referring when he said that something similar to the
decarboxylation of Ox-ac. under laboratory conditions also took place in
humans. In view of the extensive agreement between the relevant situations in
man as well as in
the world of nature
outside man, it seems of little importance that the substances involved in the
physiology are slightly different from those which Steiner told his listeners
he was only
presenting as an image for comparison. It seems that at the time, Ox-ac. and
Form-ac. made it easiest to demonstrate the principle of a process the
physiological and chemical details of which were not yet fully known.
Consequences and prospects
What are the fruits
of these deliberations? One immediate consequence is that we should no longer
say Form-ac. is produced from Ox-ac. in humans, as this is not the case. Rudolf
Steiner himself did not say so either, if we consider everything he said on the
subject in context and not take individual statements that may be misunderstood
if considered on their own. (Steiner, by the way, repeatedly spoke in the same
breath of Form-ac. and the venom of bees and wasps, saying this was related to
Form-ac. and served the same function, only more with regard to flowers, whilst
the ants were more concerned with the soil. This is remarkable in so far as bee
venom does not contain
any Form-ac. but is,
on the contrary, highly basic. A common feature of both poisons is that they
are markedly lytic, a property both strong acids and bases have in the
inorganic sphere. Here it emerges quite clearly that Steiner was not concerned
with Form-ac. as a substance but with a processual element.)
Another consequence
may well be that we should not literally think of the substance but of the
process that was being characterized whenever Rudolf Steiner spoke or
wrote of Form-ac. as
a substance occurring in the human body. The question as to whether this
process may be fully equated with cell respiration at the physiological level
or if something else
comes into this as well, needs to be investigated.
Questions also arise
in connection with medical and pharmaceutical aspects. Steiner did on several
occasions state very clearly that human beings should be given the
substance which they
are not able to produce in adequate amounts themselves, and depending on the
given situation either Form-ac. or Ox-ac. This would mean that in
the light of present
knowledge on would have to give suitable intermediates from the citric acid
cycle or from glycolysis, or also other substances that will easily convert
to these. Such
preparations are in fact available and reported to have proved effective.
Suclan interpretation also seems obvious in the light of the comment that it is
not
the substances that
matter but the process, for we give these substances in order to stimulate the
process. Even the statement that we need to know the mission substances
have in the world if
we are to judge their actions are humans does not conflict with this, for this
was expressly given as a suggestion for conventional scientific research,
saying that this
should no longer be limited to the chemical analysis of isolated substances,
which was then still very much the custom, but that we must also consider the
biochemical and physiological processes in man and nature.
Does this mean that
Steiner's statements concerning Form-ac. and Ox-ac. were erroneous? That would
be the case if one was considering only the"material" actions of
these substances and
they had in fact proved ineffective on the indications given in this context.
The medicinal use of ants has been known from antiquity if not earlier,
and in the case of
Ox-ac., too, Steiner was apparently able to base himself on positive
experience, as is especially apparent from the following: "A situation may
exist
where the organism
puts up direct resistance to the direct application of Form-ac., but where the
organism is very much inclined to produce its own Form-ac. from Ox-ac.
if one increases its
Ox-ac. levels. In cases where one does not get anywhere with Form-ac., it is
often necessary to give a course of Ox-ac. treatment, because Ox-ac.
becomes Form-ac. in
the human organism. In the light of this we would need to correct not the
details given about the medicinal agents but only the physiological and
chemical
interpretation of their mode of action from the present-day point of view.
Another question is,
of course, how specific Steiner's suggestions for medicines were meant to be.
As already mentioned. he would often speak of Form-ac. as almost synonymous
with the venom of bees and wasps. The source for Ox-ac. he gave was not only
wood sorrel but also"clover altogether, as it grows in the fields".
Steiner's
"Ox-ac." thus cannot simply be equated with chemically identified
Ox-ac., for fodder plants such as the clovers grown for this purpose
(botanically unrelated
with sorrel)
generally have only low levels of an acid which is poisonous to browsing
animals. Steiner clearly used the term "Ox-ac." more to represent
plant acids
altogether; it was
merely that at the time very much more was known about Ox-ac. than others, it
being relatively easy to detect.
This indicates some
of the issues on which further work may be done. It is quite evident that in
speaking about oxalic and Form-ac. Steiner was not primarily intending
to refer to specific
medicinal agents nor present any kind of complete research findings. His
example was given, as he said, as "merely an indication of how necessary
it is to get to know
not only the firmly defined organs but also the humoral, the fluid process,
both in the cosmos out there and within the human organism, and this in
every detail".
He wanted to encourage "a different science" as the basis for
pharmacognosy. One aspect of this, the detailed study of the "humoral
processes" in the
organism, was still
in its very beginnings at the time, but has since been taken very much further.
The extensive investigations Hans Adolf Krebs, a young assistant
physician, started at
Freiburg University and continued in England after his enforced emigration,
seem almost a direct application of he suggestion made by R.S.
They led to the
elucidation (= Aufklärung) of the citric acid or Krebs cycle for which he
received the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1953.
The other aspect,
something Rudolf Steiner spoke of as "taking the macroscopic view, is
needed all the more at the present time. It is a matter of looking for
connections
of the kind briefly
mentioned above when speaking of "mission in the world." Made the
be-all and end-all, analytical processes going down to smaller and smaller
levels
will lead away from
life ("not, of course, as regards reality, but for gaining insight"),
even if once is convinced to be hot on the trail of the mystery of life.
The findings of
the"analysts" must therefore always be brought back to the reality of
life by looking for a macroscopic perspective. The opposite bias, taking the
macroscopic view without adequate knowledge of details, easily leads to vagueness
or even illusion. Thus a "macroscopist" in his turn depends on the
work of the "analysts" who provide him with the material he needs.
Conventional biochemical research thus calls for the methodological expansion
encouraged by the anthroposophical approach just as this in
turn will need the
other if it is to be properly grounded. Science will only be
"complete", as Steiner once put it, if the two approaches complement
one another.
This is why it is so
important to resolve apparent contradictions between them, for these can only
arise from lack of understanding.
[J.H. Clarke]
Experience:
About 2 yrs and 9
months ago I added to my daily diet from 1 - 2 grains of Form-ac witch produced
the following results in my body:
Polypi and fibrous
matter absorbed from my nose.
Nose, tongue, lips,
and some other parts greatly reduced in thickness.
Chronic catarrh of
nose, throat, and intestines practically cured.
Stiff joints
throughout the whole body have become loose.
Short sight
diminished by 50%.
Eyes have changed in
color from light slate grey to a darker shade.
Varicose veins in l.
leg and others diminish
Facial and bodily
appearance so altered that even my own mother is puzzled and I can meet and
converse with people who formerly knew me very intimately without my identity
being discovered.
I started this
treatment on a sort of vague conjecture that Form-ac. might be as necessary
(partially so) as I found it to be to many tropical and other creatures.
For example it
figures very largely in the diet of all insect-eating creatures and the
frugivori. Even bears are known, at certain season, to eat large quantities of
red ants, which they search for on decayed branches of trees, etc., and thus to
produce certain alterations in their tissues which make their flesh practically
worthless for eating purposes.
It is true that in
the case of rabbits and chickens to whom I have given Form-ac., I have not
noticed this to be the case, but then the quantity supplied was small.
I have also tried its
effects upon a sickly and scabby pony and found it quickly restored the animal
to health as well as giving it a beautiful, healthy crop of hair. (Anyone who
cares can produce this result in the case of an old pony).
Just recently,
however, a well known cancer specialist has informed me that he is trying the
effects of it by dosage, local application, and other means which I recommend.
I have some fears
that not being able to properly grasp the theory of the thing he may bring
discredit upon it, for Form-ac. is a natural and proper substance to be in
human food and not a substance to be administered in terrific doses for short
periods (unless for some special purpose, if at all.)
Taken for lengthy
periods it has the effect of altering somewhat the consistency of the blood and
gives one the "thin" blood of the tropical animal, a circumstance not
perhaps entirely without its disadvantages.
Also it lowers the
temperature of the body. I have also taken a good deal of Cit-ac. My age is 31
I was diseased from childhood and the only part of my life that has been
entirely free from suffering is the last twelve months.
I am not suggesting
that all and sundry should incorporate Form-ac. in their diet, as I am fully
aware that in its crude state it is an irritant poison. I will even go so far
as to say that if they will take daily fruits, honey and possibly lime juice
and so forth they will be reasonably certain of getting so much of Form-ac. as
the body requires.
Yours respectfully,
R. Wallace Ellison.
5th Feb., 1909.
Dear Sir,
I am exceedingly
obliged for your very kind letter and the interesting information contained in
it. I hasten to add what I would have mentioned before, only for fear of making
too long a story of it, that the quantity taken during the last two years was
not much over 1 gr. daily.
I found that 2 grs.
daily was too much for regular use, though it served the purpose. If my theory
be correct, perhaps 1 gr. daily would be the proper thing and best to be taken
in the form of honey, raw juice of sugar cane, etc.
Owing to having no
fixed base it escapes the observation of the chemist, but there are reasons
which to me are satisfactory that it is to be found in the above substances as
well as a whole host of others.
Apart from this, people
living in tropical countries are infested by insects. It lowers the temperature
and according to my view produces changes in the blood which are absolutely
necessary to take place if a European is to live and survive in a tropical
country.
I know certain people
think that this causes malaria, but I look on it as a wise provision of nature
and I do not think that malaria germs would thrive on the bodies of mosquitoes,
seeing that the latter are heavily charged with Form-ac.
I believe that
Lac-ac. for old age is another mirage and that it is no better than a poor
substitute for Form-ac. (the natural thing.)
Yours faithfully,
R. Wallace Ellison.
[John H. Clarke]
In reply to yours of
the 4th inst., I am not sure that absolute Form-ac. is liquid, but I think it
would be deliquescent - anyhow there is none of it to be had, as far as I know.
I get ordinary
commercial Form. ac., Sp. gr 1.062.
It is 25%. I mix it
with 11 parts of water and take about 1 teaspoonful of this after breakfast.
When I first
commenced I used to drink about a pint of water with it, but now I just put the
teaspoonful of acid into a very small quantity of water and drink it. It has a
pleasant, "fruity" sort of taste.
Sometimes I add a
little citric acid and sugar to it and I believe this improves the effect.
Nature seems to be
fond of supplying it along with carbonaceous materials and perhaps the question
of Chlorophyll is bound up with it in some mysterious way which I cannot find
out.
Anyhow it produces
the effects and the last 12 months of my life are the only ones I can remember
as being entirely free from suffering.
The last three of his
family turned out "wrong uns," my elder brother having been operated
upon a number of times for tuberculosis and the younger one being supposed to
have it also at the time he died.
I have also been
supposed to have been tuberculous myself, but a well known cancer specialist,
who went closely into the matter recently for other purposes, told me
incidentally that in his view all my complaints were perhaps caused by some
sort of gout.
Anyhow I have seen my
relations losing their lives in very painful ways from diseases which I now
know to be completely curable.
For example, my
father's sister died a few weeks ago from a tumor, after having suffered from
stiff joints most of her life. I believe that with enlightened treatment in the
proper time the unfortunate creature might have lived another 20 years !
I was formerly
obliged to take great care of myself in order to survive at all. Now I smoke
incessantly, I "drink" if I want to, I keep late hours, and do all
the things that are injurious.
But I feel no ill
effects whatever and I know that 12 months from now I shall have fewer physical
defects than I have now. I find, for instance, I can now make out the time by
some public clocks.
12 months ago I could
not. Moreover instead of living upon milk, macaroni, and such like stuff, which
I had to do, owing to gastritis, I eat any mortal thing that is produced and
never feel any discomfort.
These are simple
facts and people who know me well know that which I have stated is true.
If medical men don't
care to investigate the subject of Form. ac. and allied substances then they
themselves will have to pay the penalty (as well as the unfortunate public).
Yours respectfully,
R. Wallace Ellison.
John H. Clarke, Esq.,
M. D.
I think the
importance of this clinical observation will be apparent to all readers. I have
followed it up in a certain measure myself, but not so extensively as I could wish,
so I now make it
public that others may have the opportunity.
The place of Form-ac.
in medicine/chemistry is great and growing one. In the form of tincture of ants
- Formica rufa - it has a distinct place in homeopathic practice.
But Mr. Ellison's experience
is something over and above this and capable of wide application. Apis (not
true)/other insects contain Form-ac., Urt. Urt-d.
In the Homeopathic
World of April, 1902, Dr. Dudgeon gave an account of the work of Dr. Edward
Krull, of Güstrow, who was led to think of Form-ac. as a remedy from
its constant
occurrence in the internal organs and soft parts of the body.
He found it
constantly present in the sweat of healthy persons, but very much diminished in
or entirely absent from the sweat of persons affected with phthisis. He thought
to supply the defect in phthisical subjects by introducing it into the system
in material doses.
But he found no
benefit when he gave considerable doses by the mouth. So he had recourse to
hypodermic injections of the watery solution. After two years of experiments
he found, to his
surprise that the more dilute his injections were the more powerful the
effects, and he ended by giving injections of a dilution which corresponds to
our 3rd
or 4th C
and waiting five or six months before repeating the injection.
"He treated, in
this way, with success," I am quoting Dudgeon, "external and internal
tuberculosis, chronic nephritis, and malignant tumors. It was necessary for the
success
of the treatment that
the nutrition of the body should be well maintained. In cachectic states the
treatment is contraindicated. It will be remembered that Hering mentions one
case of an anemic woman who died from the effects of an ant-vapor bath."
"The general
effects which were observed in all the cases treated by Krull's method were :
Immediate increase of
nutrition/appetite improved/weight increased; all this without any material
change in the diet. In all the patients during the first months, sometimes
every 2 - 3 days, sometimes at an interval of weeks, there occurred slight
transient attacks of pain in the abdomen, on the r. and l. of the umbilicus,
sometimes accompanied by urging to stool. If several copious fecal evacuations
occurred, this had no bad effect on the patient, they seemed to have a critical
character. After the injection the menses came on earlier and were more
copious, all diseased organs and parts showed greater activity".
In the 1st
and 2nd stages of Tb. cure is the rule. In the 3rd stage
the treatment only does harm, rapidly diminishing the strength.
The action is most
remarkable in lupus. During the first days after the injection the affected
part commences to grow vividly red, rises up somewhat and discharges
moderately, and is the seat of shooting pains occasionally. Curative action
usually begins in the third week.
"In chronic
nephritis, so long as there has been no shrinking of the renal parenchyma and
no heart complication, the action of the Form-ac. injection is
beneficial."
"In carcinoma of
the breast and stomach, the tumor first increases in size and becomes very
sensitive and the skin over it feels warmer. The shorter the term the tumor has
existed and the stronger the constitution, the sooner does reaction occur and
the consequent cure of the disease."
In the concluding
words of Dudgeon's article :
"Tuberculosis,
chronic nephritis and carcinoma are not diseases in which we can claim a great
amount of success. . . . So where other remedies fail or cannot be discovered
we may take Solomon's
advice and -"Go to the ant!".
In the Homeopathic
World, Sept., 1906, I quoted from the British Medical journal an article by Dr.
L.B. Couch, who thus formulates his conclusions as to the nature of rheumatism:
1. All rheumatism,
acute or chronic, muscular or arthritic, is due to self-generated systematic
poison.
2. It is not
bacterial.
3. It is chemical.
4. It is acid and a
suboxidant product.
5. It is not uric
acid,
6. Uric acid is a
product, not the cause of rheumatic conditions.
7. It is produced by
starchy indigestion alone.
8. It is produced by
fermentation.
9. It is produced by
carbonic acid gas generated in the bowels and is due to drinking at meals and
washing the food into the stomach without proper mastication and mixing with
the proper ferments designed to digest such foods.
"Dr. Couch
studied the action of Form-ac. in the treatment of rheumatic disorders by the
experience of a farmer who was cured of it after being stung by bees. The
remedy was found to be of the greatest value (says the Brit. Medical Journal, epitomizing
Dr. Couch's article in Medical Record of June 24th), and the histories are
given of several cases in which remarkable results were obtained“.
The author, who is an
allopath, uses the hypodermic method and gives the following directions :
1. Always cleanse the
parts thoroughly before injecting Form-ac. solution.
2. Never use a
stronger solution than 3%; better 21/2% 1/2.
3. Never use it
without using 5 to 8 drops of a 1% solution of cocaine!, or other local
anesthetic, as a preliminary.
4. Always choose
exterior or outer parts for exhibiting the remedy and inject it just beneath
the skin.
5. Never use more
than 8 drops in any place of either cocaine solution or Form-ac. solution.
6. If larger doses of
Form-ac. are used, painful lumps are formed which are slow of absorption and
painful; whereas if smaller doses are used no destruction of tissue results.
7. The author makes
the injections not less than z inches apart and he has never used more than 30
injections at a time(!), and it is better to use only 12 and repeat the
following day in another place. Injections may be given every day or every
other day, till all the pain has ceased."
Form-ac. known in
homeopathy only as Form, tincture made of ants containing the acid.
Later, concerning
dosage, Dr. Clarke wrote the following letter:
The Dosage Of
Formicum Acidum
But I will tell you
how I manage. In prescribing for case of varicose veins, polypi, and catarrh,
such a condition, in short, as that described by Mr. Ellison, I order 1 ounce
or
2 of a solution of
Form-ac. in the proportion of 1 part acid to 11 parts of distilled water.
Of this 1 teaspoonful
should be taken in 1 tablespoonful of water, 1 - 2 daily after food. I regard
it so as a kind of medicinal food and I do not find that it interferes with
any other indicated
remedy that I wish to give at the same time.
A correspondent in
Vancouver, Wash., whose name I am unfortunately unable to decipher, who is
troubled with catarrh, rheumatism, and cramps, asks me if taken as
Mr. Ellison suggests
would cause a proving in him. I think it probably would not, I should think it
well worth risking.
Any one wishing to
repeat Dr. Krull's experience I should advise to use the hypodermic method
advised by him, But there could be no harm in trying various homeopathic
preparations of the acid on his indications if anyone likes to do so.
It should be
remembered, though, that he administered single doses at long intervals. In
these cases, if administering it by the mouth, I should give the dose, not
after a meal as in the crude one of Mr. Ellison, but in the manner of the unit,
doses of Dr. Cooper - not less than two hours after a meal, and at least an
hour before any food is taken again.
That is to say, taken
on an empty stomach, and allowed to act undisturbed before digestion is again
set in action.
You say some of your
readers ask if Form. will answer the same purpose as Form-ac?
I think most probably
it would. But this is a question which experience will have to decide. It is
open to anyone to try and report results, and there will be no risk to patients
in making the trial.
In prescribing
Form-ac. or Form. on the indications of the Form-ac. provings, I should vary
the potency and frequency in exactly the same way as I do with Acon., Bell., or
Bryonia.
Yours truly,
John H. Clarke.
No. 8, Bolton St.,
W., London
January 9, 1916.
The following was
contributed by Dr. Herbert T. Webster, of Oakland, Cal., to the Eclectic
Medical Journal, March, 1916:
Last August, my attention
was called to this agent through reading an article in the Homeopathic
Recorder. Since then I have been giving it considerable attention and have
found it a valuable resort in a few chronic cases. I feel that it is destined
to become a remedy of much benefit and that we are neglecting a means of
relieving many stubborn chronic ailments.
Chronic rheumatism is
one of its most important fields of action, though other painful states come
under its influence.
Cases: A young man,
who acquired syphilis about 3 years ago, came to me complaining of loss of
ambition and general debility, and also, what disturbed him most, a constant
pain in the right side.
He has been under
treatment about two months without relief when I put him on Form-ac. I gave him
enough to last a month, with instructions to report when the medicine was
finished. At the proper time he appeared at the office and informed me that he
was feeling much better and that the pain in his side was gone.
A middle-aged woman,
cook in a large establishment, had been under treatment for some time for a
severe pain in the lumber region, which ext. into the r. side at times.
This was so severe
that it almost interfered with work sometimes and at critical moments.
She had been operated
for ovarian trouble several years before and believed that the pain was
connected, some way, with the old trouble.
I was puzzled as to
what to do for her finally, for the list of remedies for muscular pain had been
pretty well exhausted. As a final resort I put her on Form-ac.
When she returned,
about 4 weeks later, she came to pay me and was genuinely delighted with the
fact that she had been entirely relieved of the severe pain that had troubled
her so long.
In two cases of
chronic articular rheumatism in which I have tried it results have been
promising.
In one case,
enlargement of the joints of the fingers became very much lessened and
stiffness of the legs, which had troubled her very much in walking, was
markedly relieved.
This drug is credited
with a selective influence on the eyes. For a time, the writer, who has noted a
considerable failure of vision within the past year, has been taking it and
has found much
satisfaction from its action. I do not believe we have a more positive remedy
for failing vision when the occular apparatus is not obstructed than this.
Where only functional
failure of the eyes is present, one can hardly go wrong prescribing it, if
reports are true. I intend to give it a thorough investigation in this
direction.
Dr. John H. Clarke,
of London, England, has given this remedy particular attention and has
published, in connection with comments of his own, some very interesting and
convincing testimony by letters from a layman, a Mr. R.W. Ellison.
We find in Mr.
Ellison certainly a cheerful advocate of Form-ac.. My own experience convinces
me that here we have a wonderful searching remedy. I must use it considerably
longer before I become well acquainted with it, but a brief knowledge of it has
been a very encouraging one.
The following
clinical summary is appended :
"Apoplexy,
affections of brain, bruises, chorea, cough, diarrhea, dislocations, dropsies,
affections of eyes/ sight, facial paralysis, foot sweat checked, consequences
of gout, hair falling out, headache, nodes, complaints from overlifting,
paralysis, rheuma, affections of spine, spleen, pain in throat (sore)“.
Naturally, we are
interested in the subject of dosage. I incline toward the opinion that my doses
have been rather excessive, though they have not disturbed one appreciably. However,
I feel the effect in the stomach and head for 30 minutes or 1 hour after
taking. A particularly sensitive person might be disturbed by it. I add one
drachm of Merck's pure Form-ac. to two ounces of alcohol in a pint bottle, then
fill the bottle with water.
Of this, a dose is
half a teaspoonful, once a day, immediately after breakfast, so as to mix the
drug with the food. One dose every 24 hours is sufficient, the medicine
exerting its influence until the following morning. It is my intention to add a
quart instead of a pint of water to the next batch and still restrict the dose
to ½ a teaspoonful daily.
While the dose I am
using produces no untoward symptoms, more or less drug effect follows its
inhibition, and I believe that the smallest dose which will produce the desired
effect is the proper one. A tablespoonful of water may be added to the dose
before taking. In this way it is a pleasant acid drink.- Eclectic Medical
journal.
The following letter,
printed here without abbreviation, is taken from the pages of the Journal of
the American Medical Association, Jan. 8, 1916
To the Editor :
In the summer,
noticing that some of the dahlias in my garden failed to grow well, I went
literally to the root of the matter and found there the troublesome insect,
Aphis radicis, with Formica flava, the yellow ant, encouraging its
depredations.
I crushed numbers of
the ants with my fingers, noticing at the time the pungent odor which they
emitted, which was, of course, due to Form-ac (abundant in this species).
At about this time,
my hands began to present symptoms of eczema-itching (<< after salted
food) and formation of vesicles, with subsequent thickening and cracking of the
skin.
I did not associate
these symptoms with the handling of the ants until they had recurred under the
same circumstances for several seasons. I now avoid the annual attack of
pseudo-eczema by avoiding the yellow ants.
The facts appear to
me to suggest the dependence of genuine cases of eczema on the presence of
formic add, since this acid has been detected by various chemists in the
perspiration. - E. M. B. T., New Bedford, Mass.
Wer die Wirkung von Heilmitteln beurteilen will, muss ein Auge haben
für die Kräftewirkungen, die sich im menschlichen Organismus ergeben, wenn eine
Substanz, die außer demselben gewisse Wirkungen zeigt, in irgend einer Art in
ihn eingeführt wird.
Ein klassisches Beispiel kann man in der Ameisensäure finden. Sie tritt
als eine ätzende, Entzündung bewirkende Substanz im Körper der Ameisen auf. Da
erscheint sie als ein Absonderungsprodukt. Ein solches muss der entsprechende
tierische Organismus erzeugen, damit er seine Tätigkeit in angemessener Weise
ausführen kann. Das Leben liegt in der absondernden Tätigkeit. Ist das
Absonderungsprodukt erzeugt, so hat es keine Aufgabe mehr im Organismus. Es
muss ausgeschieden werden. Im Tun liegt das Wesen des Organismus, nicht in
seinen Substanzen. Die Organisation ist nicht ein Stoffzusammenhang, sondern
eine Tätigkeit. Der Stoff trägt den Anreiz zur Tätigkeit in sich. Hat er diesen
Anreiz verloren, so hat er für die Organisation keine weitere Bedeutung.
Im menschlichen Organismus entsteht auch die Ameisensäure. Sie dient
der Ich-Organisation. Durch den astralischen Leib werden aus der organischen
Substanz Teile ausgesondert, die dahin zielen, leblos zu werden. Die
Ich-Organisation braucht diesen Übergang der organischen Substanz in den
leblosen Zustand. Aber sie braucht eben den Vorgang des Überganges; nicht, was
dann durch den Übergang entsteht. Ist nun das nach dem Leblosen hin sich
Entwickelnde gebildet, so wird es im Innern des Organismus zur Last. Es muss
entweder unmittelbar abgesondert werden, oder aufgelöst, um mittelbar
hinwegzukommen.
Geschieht nun für etwas, das aufgelöst werden sollte, diese Auflösung
nicht, so häuft es sich im Organismus an und kann die Grundlage für gichtische
oder rheumatische Zustände bilden. Da tritt nun im menschlichen Organismus
auflösend die sich bildende Ameisensäure ein. Wird sie in der notwendigen Menge
erzeugt, so entfernt der Organismus die zum Leblosen zielenden Produkte in
richtiger Art. Ist die Erzeugungskraft zu schwach, so entstehen die gichtischen
oder rheumatischen Zustände. Führt man sie dem Organismus von außen zu, so
unterstützt man ihn, indem man ihm gibt, was er nicht selbst erzeugen kann.
Man kann solche Wirkungsarten kennen lernen, wenn man die eine Substanz
mit der andern in ihrem Fortwirken im menschlichen Organismus vergleicht. Man
nehme die Kleesäure. Sie kann unter gewissen Verhältnissen in die Ameisensäure
übergehen. Die letztere stellt in ihren Wirkungen eine Metamorphose der
Kleesäure dar. Die Kleesäure ist Absonderung des Pflanzlichen wie die
Ameisensäure des Tierischen. Die Kleesäure-Erzeugung stellt im pflanzlichen
Organismus eine Tätigkeit her, die der von der Ameisensäure-Erzeugung im
Tierischen analog ist. Das heißt, die Kleesäure-Erzeugung entspricht dem Gebiet
des Ätherischen, die Ameisensäure-Erzeugung dem des Astralischen. Die in
gichtischen und rheumatischen Zuständen sich offenbarenden Erkrankungen
schreiben sich von einer mangelhaften Tätigkeit des astralischen Leibes her. Es
gibt andere Zustände, die sich so darstellen, dass die Ursachen, die bei Gicht
und Rheumatismus aus dem astralischen Organismus stammen, in den ätherischen
Organismus zurückverlegt sind. Dann entstehen nicht bloß Kräftestockungen nach
dem Astralischen hin, welche der Ich-Organisation hemmend in den Weg treten,
sondern Hinderniswirkungen im Ätherischen, die von der astralischen
Organisation nicht bewältigt werden können. Sie zeigen sich in einer trägen
Tätigkeit des Unterleibes, in Hemmungen der Leber- und Milztätigkeit, in
steinartigen Ablagerungen der Galle und Ähnlichem. Führt man in diesen Fällen
Kleesäure zu, so unterstützt man in entsprechender Art den ätherischen
Organismus in seiner Tätigkeit. Man erhält durch Kleesäure eine Verstärkung des
ätherischen Leibes, weil die Kraft der Ich-Organisation durch diese Säure in
eine Kraft des astralischen Leibes verwandelt wird, der dann verstärkt auf den
Ätherleib wirkt.
Von solchen Beobachtungen ausgehend, kann man die Wirkung der dem
Organismus heilsamen Stoffe kennen lernen. Die Beobachtung kann vom
Pflanzenleben ausgehen.
In der Pflanze wird die physische Tätigkeit von der ätherischen
durchsetzt. Man lernt an ihr kennen, was durch die ätherische Tätigkeit
erreicht werden kann. Im tierisch-astralischen Organismus wird diese Tätigkeit
in die astralische übergeführt. Ist sie als ätherische zu schwach, so kann sie
durch Hinzufügung der von einem eingeführten Pflanzenprodukt herrührenden
verstärkt werden. Dem menschlichen Organismus liegt das Tierische zugrunde. Für
dasjenige, was sich zwischen dem menschlichen ätherischen und astralischen Leibe
abspielt, gilt innerhalb gewisser Grenzen dasselbe wie im Tierischen.
Man wird mit Heilmitteln aus dem Pflanzenreiche das zwischen der
ätherischen und der astralischen Tätigkeit gestörte Verhältnis herstellen
können. Man wird aber mit solchen Mitteln nicht zustande kommen, wenn irgend
etwas in der physischen, ätherischen und astralischen menschlichen Organisation
in Bezug auf ihr Wechselverhältnis zu der Ich-Organisation gestört ist. Die
Ich-Organisation muss ihre Tätigkeit auf Vorgänge lenken, die nach dem
Mineralischwerden hinzielen.
Deshalb ist bei den entsprechenden krankhaften Zuständen auch nur
Mineralisch es als Heilmittel brauchbar. Um die Heilwirkung eines Mineralischen
kennen zu lernen, ist notwendig, eine Substanz daraufhin zu untersuchen, inwiefern
sie abgebaut werden kann. Denn im Organismus muss das von außen zugeführte
Mineralische abgebaut und aus den organischen Eigenkräften in neuer Form wieder
aufgebaut werden. In einem solchen Ab- und Aufbauen muss die Heilwirkung
bestehen. Und was sich da ergibt, muss in der Linie liegen, dass eine
mangelhafte Eigentätigkeit des Organismus von der Tätigkeit der zugeführten
Heilmittel übernommen wird.
Man nehme das Beispiel einer übermäßigen Periode. Bei ihr ist die Kraft
der Ich-Organisation abgeschwächt. Sie wird einseitig in der Blutbereitung
verbraucht. Es bleibt von ihr für die Absorptionskraft des Blutes im Organismus
zu wenig übrig. Der Weg, den Kräfte im Organismus gehen sollen, die nach dem
Leblosen hin liegen, ist zu kurz, weil diese Kräfte zu heftig wirken. Sie
erschöpfen sich auf dem halben Wege.
Man kommt ihnen zu Hilfe, wenn man dem Organismus Calcium in irgend
einer Verbindung zuführt. Dieses bildet an der Blutentstehung mit. Der
Ich-Tätigkeit wird dieses Gebiet abgenommen, und sie kann sich der
Blutabsorption zuwenden.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum