Bitis
gabonica gabonica (Bit-g) = Gaboon viper/= Butterfly. adder
The Gaboon viper is the largest and most beautifully marked of the
African adders and by bulk the largest viper in the world. Adults average 120cm
in length, but specimens of up to 2m are found.
There are two races of Bitis gabonica described in terms of their
morphology and geographic distribution: the variant found in
Bitis gabonica gabonica. The colouration of the two variants is the same
as is the composition of the venom (Marsh et al:764). Colouration is as
follows: - on the body is a ground of rich brown to purple, superimposed on
which is a series of quadrangular yellow to buff markings over the middle of
the back with brown interspaces; the head is pale buff to chestnut with a dark
median line; underparts are yellowish and the eyes are silvery grey.
For the most part the Gaboon viper is found in the moister rainforest
areas where its camouflage is adapted to the dappled light of the forest floor.
It is said to be very sluggish and can strike swiftly when provoked, as with
other adders (FitzSimons 1980:190). However, that it is nocturnal and conceals
itself during the day (Marsh et al 1997:764) and is considered rather docile in
temperament must account for the short list of victims, since a bite from Bitis
gabonica is invariably rapidly fatal due to the quantity of and depth to which
the venom is injected by the massive fangs - see below (Visser & Chapman
1978:35-36). It is this which must account for it’s fearsome reputation as the volume
of venom delivered is “extravagantly in excess of anything they might need for
killing their prey” (Lane M,cited in Marsh et al 1997:764). Prey is usually
ambushed and generally consists of rodents, monkeys, mongooses, hares and
birds. The snake is viviparous, the young are large and the litters are large -
often up to
60 in West Africa, but smaller (16-30) in Southern Africa. Its’ venom is similar to the puffadder
(Bitis arietans) but yields are between 450-600mg in a single bite as compared
to 100-350mg for the puffadder - 100mg being a fatal dose in humans. Bitis
gabonica can be said to produce the largest amount of venom of any poisonous
snake and yields in excess of 2 grams of dry venom per milking have been
documented (Whaler B.C, cited in Marsh et al 1997:764). As stated above, bites
from this snake are rare but serious. Large amounts of venom are injected deep
into the tissues resulting in rapid swelling at the site and then the whole
limb. Pain is intense, haemorrhagic oedema and blistering at the bite follows
rapidly and hypotension, cardiac damage, dyspnoea and unconsciousness may
occur; there is haemorrhage, with haematuria and haematemesis possible
sequelae; necrosis and the need for amputation are possible; death is not rare
(Spawls and Branch 1995: 116-118). The four main modalities of toxicity are
disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC, with the production of large
thrombi in the vacular tree and thus the potential of fatal embolism),
haemorrhage, hypotension and cardiotoxicity. Ultimately, death will most likely
be the result of cardiac damage. One of the early effects of the haemorrhagins
may be pulmonary oedema and dyspnoea. In the case of a successful hunt,
haemorrhage is unlikely to occur in the short time it takes for the prey to die
so the purpose of the haemorrhagins is most likely to aid in digestion of the
carcass (Marsh et al 1997:768).
Vergleich: Siehe: Schlangen allgemein:
Repertory:
Mind: Absentminded
Anger
Anxiety (# contentment/# tranquillity/# cheerfulness/from excitement)
Aversion to all persons
Brooding
Capricious
Cheerful (after sadness)
Company - aversion to/desire for
Concentration difficult [cannot fix attention/studying (= reading)]
Confidence want of – in self/from family and friends
Confident
Confusion (on waking/from mental exertion)
Consolation, aversion to
Conversation - </aversion to
Decisive
Delusions - being alone/is not appreciated/out of body/body looks
ugly/child is sick/division/body enlarged/is friendless/is nor herself/is not
ignorant/taken placebo/separated from the world/were separated from himself/
body and mind separated (while taking)
Detached
Dullness (in morning)
Ecstasy
Excitement in afternoon
Fear [of death/takes breath away/sudden at night on waking/on waking]
Firmness
Forgetful
Forsaken (“As if isolated”)
Frightened on waking
Ideas abundant, clearness of mind (on waking)
Impatience
Indifference with aversion to work
Insecurity, mental
Irresolution
Irritability (16 h./in morning/on waking/# cheerfulness/to her family/becoming
overheated/and sleepy/at trifles)
Joy
Loathing at oneself
Marriage unendurable, idea of seemed
Medicine, desire for more
Memory - weak for what just done/for recent facts/for what he has heard
Mental exertion, aversion
Mistakes - in time confounds days/in writing (omitting
letters/transposing letters)
Mood – #/changeable
> Occupation
Offended easily
Pessimistic
Pities herself
Prostration - at night/from vexation
Quiet, wants to be
Rest, desire for
Restlessness – anxious/move must
Sadness (afternoon/evening/when alone/> afternoon/< company/>
occupation/from trifles/on waking/when unoccupied)
Sensitive (to criticism/to noise/to reprimands)
Sighing
Spaced out feeling
Slowness
Timidity
Taciturn
Thoughts – disconnected/of the past/persistent/rapid/repetition of
Tranquillity
Weeping – causeless/< consolation/no desire to be comforted/for want
of consolation/desire to/from forsaken feeling/> mental exertion/silent/from
S232 Weeping, vexation, from S232
Vertigo: Afternoon
> Closing eyes/sitting
“As if falling from a height”
Head: Congestion/Constriction [in temples (ext. to
jaw)]
Fullness
Heaviness - in forehead (desires to close eyes)
Pain <(<(<( viele )>)>)>
Eyes: red in morning
Dry in morning
“As if enlarged” (l.)
Heaviness
Inflamed upper lid r.
Itching in morning
Pain - in evening/< pressure/aching/burning/cutting in lid/drawing
the eyeball backward/”As from sand” (> rubbing)/sore [at night/(on motion
of) lids/r./l.]
Photophobia - in daylight/sunlight
Sensitive to touch
Swollen - l./morning/”As if swollen”
Vision: Accommodation too slow
Blurred
Dim, reading
Foggy during headache - mist before eyes
Ear: Formication behind the ear
“As if full”
Itching in meatus r. (< scratching/< rubbing)
Noises buzzing
Pain – r./l. ext. left eye during headache/behind (r.( ear
(pulsating)/in (edge of) lobe (1. r. 2. l.)/in meatus/piercing/sore (behind the
ear/l./in front/in lobe)/stitching
Nose: Catarrh – r./postnasal
Coryza – morning/with or without discharge [l./in daytime/morning (after
rising)/albuminous/clear/copious/like egg white/salty/thick/watery
(l./watery/in cold room/yellow)]
Dry inside (l.)
Obstruction (r./l./morning/at night/+ watery discharge/> blowing/in
warm room)
Pain - from dryness/< pressure/burning (l.)/rawness after
blowing/sore (in posterior nares)
Sneezing (at night/in cold air/without coryza/> eating/frequent)
Tension inside
Smell: Acute
Face: Coldness with perspiration
Dry lips
Heat flushes (in cheeks)
Pain - pressing (in maxillary sinus)
Sensitive to cold of lips
Swelling around eyes in morning
Tension - below eyes/in jaws (lower/r.)/around mouth and nose
Mouth: Dry lips
Itching (under) tongue
Pain – sore in palate (r.)/sore tongue (in spots)
Saliva – saltish/Salivation - + nausea/profuse
Sensitive tongue
Taste metallic
Ulcers
Throat: Anxiety and apprehension in throat
Coldness, sensation of
Dry - morning on waking/in oesophagus
Hawk, disposition to with thick mucus in the throat and mouth
“As if a lump” (swallowing)
Mucus in throat (morning)
Pain - drinking/> eating/drinking cold/swallowing/burning in
oesophagus/scratching/sore (+ dryness/on waking)/”As from asplinter”
Tension
External throat: Pain – soreness
Sensitive at angles of jaw
Stomach: Anxiety
Appetite – capricious/ravenous in afternoon
Eructations during anxiety
“As if a lump”
Pain – aching/burning (noon/> after eating)/sore
Thirst (morning/afternoon/evening)
Abdomen: Distension (morning on waking/at night/during
constipation/in hypogastrium/from flatus)
Flatulence
Heat during menses
Movements internally
Noises
Pain (in morning/cramping in crest of (l./above)/cutting in
hypogastrium/stitching, sudden, once)
Rectum: Constipation - > eating ameliorates/ineffectual
urging and straining/insufficient
Diarrhea - in morning/noon/# constipation
Flatus (at night/+ pain in head/smells offensive as eggs spoiled)
Inactiv
Urging – sudden/while walking
Stool: copious/mucus, jelly-like/watery, frothy
Kidneys: Pain in morning on waking
Urine: Copious
Female organs: Coition - enjoyment absent/painful
Eruptions
Leukorrhoea – bland/thick/white
Menses painful atz beginning
Pain - in l. ovary (> bending l. leg/> sitting)/ext. to back/in
uterus (gradually comes and goes/during menses/paroxysmal/> rubbing/>
lying on side/> sleep)/in vagina during coition/bearing down in uterus and
region < walking/
Cramping (before menses/in uterus during menses)/pressing in l.
ovary/sharp in (l.) ovaries/sore in vagina during coition/squeezing uterus
Sexual desire – increased/diminished
Respiration: Coldness of breath
Desire to breath deep
Difficult - evening in bed/lying (impeded)
Sighing (when lying)
Wheezing night
Chest: Anxiety internal
Constriction – lying/behind sternum r.
Dryness
Oppression (heart/behind sternum)
Pain – r./> eating/> eructations/behind sternum
Pain – sore in mammae/stitching in l. lower ribs
Palpitation of heart
Perspiration in axilla
Back: Pain - > lying on back/l. cervical region (night)/burning
between/r. scapulae (< motion)/sore (in spine)/stitching (at night/under
scapula)
Stiffness in (r.) cervical region
Stretch, desire to
Tension [in (l.) cervical region/in dorsal region/in lumbar region (>
motion)]
Limbs: Cramps in lower limbs walking
Dryness – feet/between toes
Eruptions - upper limb rash/nates, boils/thigh – rash/boils/between toes
Jerking - of upper limb/forearm/hand/l. thumb/l. lower limb
Pain – l. shoulder/aching [hip/knee (< pressure/walking)
Perspiration - in hand (+ dryness of feet)
Fingers sensitive to cold
Sleep: Bad
Disturbed
Falling asleep difficult
Light
Restless
Remain in bed, desire to
Sleepy in – daytime/afternoon (13 h.)/after waking
Sleepless from coryza
Unrefreshing
Waking - after midnight/with foreboding/with a feeling of dread/too
early/too late
Yawning – afternoon/> eating
Dreams: Amorous/Anxious/Chaotic/of the dead/(dead)
relatives (parents)/Exciting/Family/Fantastic/Fights/being forsaken/Freedom/Frightful/Humiliation/Hurry/being
nauseous/Nightmare/being paralysed/People
laughing at her/Pursued by animals (bear)/Strange/Threats/Throat
painful/Unremembered
Skin: red spots/dry/rash
Generals: Becoming cold (during perspiration/heat and
cold)
Food and drinks: Aversion: (rich) Food; Desires:
chocolate/coffee/sweets/warm drinks/hot food;
> Lying on side
Heat, flushes of (with perspiration/ext. upwards from the hips)
Pain in joints
> Rubbing
“As if swollen”
Weakness [in daytime/morning (on waking)/afternoon/evening/from loss of
sleep]
At this point in the discussion it is necessary to deal with the proving
material as if the symptoms were all found in a single prover, thus painting
the remedy picture of the patient who fits the remedy perfectly or which the
ideal prover might generate (Sherr, 1994).
Various themes expressed themselves in the mental and emotional sphere
during the proving: Isolation/being alone/desire to be alone Panic/feeling
threatened
Separation from self/scattered Depression/sadness/crying Well being
Irritable Sensitivity Mistakes/poor concentration/forgetful Confidence/lack of
confidence Mental activity: hyper/hypo-active Calm/confusion
Bloating/expansion
The most prominent symptom was the isolation, a sense of being alone,
forsaken or a desire to be alone. Overall there is a feeling of social
detachment, of being an ‘outsider’. We see this reflected in the peculiar
symptom of feeling scattered, separated from themselves: “felt they were
looking at my face and I was behind my face looking out; I wasn’t in myself; I
couldn’t connect with people. I feel very alone”. This and other aspects of the
remedy reflect the ‘Divided’ nature of the snake remedies. They feel panicked
and as if they are under threat, like most snake remedies. They have a delusion
that they are divided, that body and mind are divided, that they are separated
from themselves in some way. This aspect of the remedy also shows the duality
of contradictory or ‘balancing’ states – that is that the subject may feel
alone but at times will also want to be alone and prefers his own company.
Almost all well proven remedies will show such contradictory symptomatology.
Notable in this regard is the sadness and depression that is contradicted by
the overwhelming sense of Well being felt at other times. We begin
to see a nature which is sad, melancholic, brooding, tearful and
sensitive on the one hand, while on the other it is happy, joyful, positive,
motivated, at one with self and the world. The duality is further observed in
the general condition of being energetic or drained, hyper- or hypo-active, in
a heightened state of mental activity or being ‘slowed up’, flat, tired. They
are irritable, moody, insecure, oversensitive and confused or they are calm and
confident, unusually so. An unusual amount of mistakes are made, letters are
missed out when writing, dates are confused, memory is poor, concentration is
lacking and the patient is unusually forgetful. Of minor importance in terms of
their frequency but interesting due to their appearance in the proving of Bitis
arietans are the symptoms: feeling sure they were on placebo, and sensation of
bloating after taking the remedy. The former was confirmed to a greater degree
than reflected in the diaries during post-proving discussions.
The dreams produced by the proving could be grouped under 4 themes:
Isolation Chaotic/Fragmented Of Parents and Relatives, both dead and
living/Conflict/Fear/Escape
No dreams were shared between subjects in any detail beyond the thematic
similarities.
Headaches were very common. They tended to be left sided, mainly in
forehead and temples and tended to refer to the eyes, notably though the neck
was also affected. There was a strong tendency to the eyes and root of nose as
well. They are worse for cold and cold drinks, better for warmth. They are
better lying, especially on their left side. The pain is mainly of a pressing
nature. There is heaviness and constriction.
Again we see the left side being more affected and the sensitivity to
cold. Discharge is mainly clear, watery or albuminous and usually worse in the
morning. It is also more commonly postnasal.
There is tension in the throat. It is worse in the morning, for cold
drinks and swallowing in general. They have pain, mucus and dryness in the
throat as well as the sensation of a lump in the throat.
They can become cold easily and they have flushes of heat. They desire
coffee, chocolate, warm food and drink and sweets. They feel better for lying,
especially on their sides. They can be weak at any time of the day.
They have a swollen sensation and are better for rubbing and occupation
and tend to be worse on waking.
Again more affected on the left, there is the sensation of, as well as
actual, swelling and inflammation. The eyes feel heavy. They can be sore and
the lids tend to be more affected than the eyeballs.
Vision is blurred and the eyes are light sensitive.
Sexorgans: Of main interest here are the pain symptoms. Again the left
is more affected and the pains are better for lying on the side. They seem to
be worse for movement/walking and the pains are felt mainly in the ovaries and
uterus. There is vaginal discomfort during coitus. A thick, bland, white
Leukorrhoea may be seen.
Notably have a lot of muscle twitches, predominantly in the upper left
limb. The feet are dry and their hands perspire. Rashes and boils may be seen
on upper and lower limbs. There may be pains in the knees (walking).
They have pains in their ears, mainly on the lobe and behind the ear and
in the meatus that is not better for rubbing or scratching. The right ear is
more affected than the left. They have a sensation of fullness and there are
buzzing noises in the ear.
The cervical region and the left side are most affected by stiffness and
pain. The symptoms are definitely worse at night and better for lying. There is
tension, stiffness or pain. Of note elsewhere are the following symptoms:
distention/bloating in the abdomen; diarrhoea, constipation and sudden urging;
difficult respiration, sighing and desire to breath deeply; oppression of the
chest, pain and constriction behind the sternum; difficulty sleeping at night
with sleepiness in the day; thirst, burning pain and the sensation of a lump in
the stomach; there is a metallic taste in the mouth and profuse salivation, the
palate and tongue are sore.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum