©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

CONTINUING HOMŒOPATHIC MEDICAL EDUCATION SERVICES

QUARTERLY HOMŒOPATHIC DIGEST

VOL. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014

Part I Current Literature Listing

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Part I of the journal lists the current literature in Homœopathy drawn from the well-known

homœopathic journals published world-over - India, England, Germany, France, Brazil, USA,

etc., - discipline-wise, with brief abstracts/extracts. Readers may refer to the original articles for

detailed study. The full names and addresses of the journals covered by this compilation are

given at the end of Part I. Part II contains selected essays/articles/extracts, while Part III carries

original articles for this journal, Book Reviews, etc.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

I. PHILOSOPHY

1. Topics from Hahnemann’s Organon

NOSSAMAN, Nicholas (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

It has been said that Adolphus Von Lippe, one of

our most esteemed forbears in Homœopathy, declared

that he understood the Organon, only after having read

it fifty times. On this 200th anniversary of Organon, this

presentation-offered with enormous gratitude in honor

of the memory and genius of HAHNEMANN—

addresses some of the aphorisms of this original

textbook in the interest of examining some apparent

sources of confusion that have arisen in my study of this

great book. (I must add that I haven’t yet read the

whole book fifty times).

Hahnemann’s apparent evolution of thought

regarding the role and capacity of the Vital Force is one

area to be discussed, as well as a number of the

paragraphs following the oft-quoted aphorism 153.

These aphorisms are some of those that relate to dose

and potency and aggravation of symptoms. They also

address the approach to and challenges from cases in

which only some of the symptoms of the patient can be

found in the provings of the medicine that is as yet the

most appropriate. The presentation will raise some

questions about other selected aphorisms and,

hopefully, stimulate thought in respect to their

clarification.

2. What does “Characteristic” mean?

COOK, Daniel and PENDLETON, Peter

(AJHM. 105, 1/2012)

The title is self-explanatory.

The authors have made very careful translation of

the article by Joseph ATTOMYR, (1807 – 1856) who

was a contemporary of JAHR and

BOENNINGHAUSEN. There are several articles on

what is characteristic? Generally, it is study of

differences. H.C. ALLEN has said in his ‘Key Notes’

that the lifetime work of a homœopath is constant study

of similarities and differences between two remedies.

This article of ATTOMYR has been given in full in

Part II of this QHD.

3. Scientific evidence of the homœopathic

epistemological model

TEIXEIRA, Marcus Zulian

(IJHDR. 10, 34/2011)

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Homœopathy is based on principles and a system of

knowledge different from the ones supporting the

conventional biomedical model: this epistemological

conflict is the underlying reason explaining why

Homœopathy is so difficult to accept by present-day

scientific reason. To legitimize Homœopathy according

to the standards of the latter, research must confirm the

validity of its basic assumptions: principle of

therapeutic similitude, trials of medicines on healthy

individuals, individualized prescriptions and use of high

dilutions. Correspondingly, basic research must supply

experimental data and models to substantiate the basic

assumptions, whilst clinical trials aim at confirming the

efficacy and effectiveness of Homœopathy in the

treatment of disease. This article discusses the

epistemological model of Homœopathy relating its basic

assumptions with data resulting from different fields of

modern experimental research and supporting its

therapeutic use on the outcomes of available clinical

trials. In this regard, the principle of individualization

of treatment is the sine qua non condition to make

therapeutic similitude operative and consequently for

homœopathic treatment to exhibit clinical efficacy and

effectiveness.

4. What is Dynamic Influence, Dynamic Power?

FRASER, Peter (AH. 17/2011)

Aphorism 11 states that the when a person falls ill,

it is only this spiritual

self acting Vital Force that is primarily deranged by the

dynamic influence upon it of a morbific agent inimical

to life.

The derangement caused by the disease is central,

whole and invisible. The symptoms are visible but are

merely a physical expression of that derangement.

The question that conventional science is most

insistent in demanding an answer to is how does the

remedy cause a curative action.

There is no absolute necessity in science, whether it

be conventional or otherwise, for the mechanism of a

phenomenon to be discovered in order for that

phenomenon to be acknowledged or described or

accepted. One such phenomenon is Gravity.

The principles of Homœopathy are dynamic and

virtual. These can only be expressed in the actual

practice of Homœopathy.

They do not have an existence that can be separated

from their application. In the same way that we need to

see the disease from within its dynamic expression of

symptoms.

The study of the characteristic process of proving is

likely to be the most useful and revealing of

understanding how we can best look at dynamic

processes.

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II. MATERIA MEDICA

1. Ferrum metallicum: The Metal from Sky

POTDAR, Swapna (HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

The author shares some of the notes on Ferrum

metallicum drawn from various sources like Chemistry,

Geology, Drug proving and Repertory references.

Ferrum met. is one of the most abundant of the

metals present in earth’s core. Meteorites hitting earth

have been rich in iron. Ferrum is an important mineral

in human body. Its properties include hardness,

malleability and good conductivity of heat and

electricity. So Ferrum personality is easily heated

mentally – angered; physically – inflammatory

processes.

Hardness of Iron reflects as their dominating,

dictatorial nature.

Ferrum reflects the sanguine and choleric

temperament prominently.

[Surely, HAHNEMANN knew these qualities. For

homœopathic application in treatment of illnesses, the

only knowledge is what you obtained from Provings.

We must beware of these new ideas = KSS].

2. Homœopathic pathogenetic trial of Plumbum

metallicum: the complete 2000 trial with a

synthesis of the original 1828 trial

SIGNORINI, Andrea Maria; FIAMO, Christa

Pichler (IJHDR. 10, 34/2011)

Background: in a previous paper we reported the

statistical analysis and other distribution data of a

homœopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) of Plumbum

metallicum 30cH carried out by our group. However,

at that time we did not report the resulting Pure Materia

Medica, i.e., the totality of symptoms elicited by the

tested medicine on healthy volunteers.

Aim: to communicate to the homœopathic community

the full record of symptoms collected in our HPT of

Plb.

Methods: methods to collect and select symptoms have

been reported in the previous paper. In synthesis were

excluded all previous common symptoms of volunteers,

even with slight differences, and selected only those that

were really unknown, never seen, unusual or very

strange for the prover. In this paper special emphasis

was given to new symptoms as well as unusual or

repeated dreams, while in the previous paper special

emphasis was given to repeated and crossed symptoms.

Results: symptoms are reported in their chronological

order of appearance in each volunteer. 37 new

symptoms were found, useful to update Homœopathic

Repertories. It is also included a synthesis of the

original HPT of Plb carried out in 1828 in order to make

available the full experimental Materia Medica currently

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existing. Conclusions: the new HPT, besides widening

the pathogenetic picture of Plb (skin and mucosae

symptoms), also allowed us to give new and deeper

meanings to some of the symptoms reported in the

original trial, such as Anxiety, Activity, Depression,

Slowness, Gastro-oesophageal problems, Colitis. The

dreams complete the remedy image, mainly in work,

religion and sexual themes. Up to the present time there

is no peer-reviewed publication devoted to HPTs. For

this reason, researchers are compelled to publish HPTs

as private editions. This results in poor control of the

quality of publications and a lack of standards on how to

present the results of HPTs.

[A comparison of some symptoms randomly chosen

were verified with the Synthesis Repertory. There were

several which have not been included, particularly the

symptoms mentioned in bold type. Colleagues may

please do their own verifications and confirm these

symptoms. Our armamentarium will become stronger

in this way only = KSS].

3. Identifying the Kali group

MASTER, Farokh J. (HH. 36, 3/2011)

Dr. F.J. MASTER says that the Kali group is one of

my favourite groups to teach and write about. He gives

“most identifying features of Kalis, and that all the

symptoms and observation in this article have been

confirmed in my practice.”

A list of the symptoms of Kali bichromicum and

Kali carbonikcum is given.

[The author does not differentiate between the Proving

and confirmed symptoms, and clinical symptoms.

There are some speculations too = K.S.S.]

4. Abridged Kali group

KRORI, Smita Deb (HH. 36, 3/2011)

This is another study of the ‘group’. About ‘Kali’

are given viz. Kali ars., Kali-br., Kali-bi., Kali-fl., Kali-

cyan., Kali-ac. Etc.

5. Kalis in Common Homœopathic Practice

VERVARCKE, Anne (HH. 36, 3/2011)

This again is a study by the author who has had her

learning in Belgium.

This article also is far from the Homœopathy we

have been practicing during the last 100 years.

The author says, with reference to a young lady “If

the basic line of the problem, whatever it is, comes

down to comparison and competition with the others,

the patient needs a remedy of the animal kingdom. If

he, on the other hand, reacts to all occurrences in his life

with the same feeling in mind and body, he might need

a plant remedy. If he had the same worry and doubt

about his capacity, this means he needs a remedy from

the mineral kingdom. When the centre of the case is

nothing but health and disease, then we need a remedy

from the Monera kingdom. If the case falls without all

these, it must be an imponderabilia.” [These are

baffling to me at least. = KSS].

6. Delusions; thoughts come from the right side of

neck: Moreton Bay Fig

GRAY, Alastair (HH. 36, 3/2011)

This is “Proving” of Mareton Bay Fig. There is a

list of ‘rubrics’ at the end of the article.

7. Kaliums in Children

PETRUCCI, Roberto (HH. 36, 3/2011)

The title is self explanatory. There are plenty of

symptoms of school going children.

The authors in all the above articles do not cite any

source or authorities from where these ideas/symptoms

are obtained.

8. Mental Make-up – Kali group

SINGH, Ajit (HH. 36, 3/2011)

The author begins well with the adobe “In

Homœopathy, no two remedies are alike or a substitute

for another… does not teach generalization but strict

individualization. ….. However, there are some

common features of Kalium salts which are described

below.”

He has dealt with Causticum, Kali auro cyanatum

(who and when was this remedy proved? = KSS), Kali

arsenicosum, Kali bromatum, Kali carbonicum, Kali

chloricum, Kali ferro cyanatum, Kali iodatum, Kali

muriaticum, Kali nitricum, Kali phosphoricum, Kali

silicatum.

9. Ungrounded: A Proving of Lepidolite

HUENECKE, Jason –Aeric

(AH. 17/2011)

Jason-Aeric HUENECKE led the proving of

Lepidolite in the Los Angeles School of Homœopathy,

Fall 2010. Synonyms: Lilalite, Lithium Mica.

16 Provers (14 females and 2 males) took part.

Lepidolite is an insoluble substance (being Mica)

Lepidolite flakes were triturated. 6x then to 8x and then

run up to 30c.

As is the fashion now there are lot of mental

symptoms. Proverwise, daywise symptoms are not

given. The author has prepared reportorial ‘Rubrics’.

10. Lanthanides and Self-Actualization

JOHNSON, David (AH. 17/2011)

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Samuel HAHNEMANN described the healthy

human state as culminating in the “freedom to pursue

the higher purposes of one’s existence.” Similarly,

more than a hundred years later, Abraham Maslow

popularized the term self-actualization, defining it as

“the full use and exploitation of one’s talents, capacities

and potentialities.” If disease implies a degree of

limitation to realizing one’s fullest potential, then

homœopathic remedies carry a solution to that

limitation. And for complaints specifically relating to

self actualization, the Lanthanide remedies are

especially useful. [HAHNEMANN, HERING and

several others suffered limitation, but overcome them

and realized their fullest potential without ‘Lanthanide’

= KSS].

11. Beyond Doubt the Strangest: A Proving of

Cyagnus X-1

(A Black Hole, Star # HDE 226868)

HUENECKE, Jason-Aeric (AH. 17/2011)

Jason-Aeric HUENECKE, led the proving of

Cygnus X-1, a Black Hole, for the Northwestern

Academy of Homœopathy in 2010. 18 provers (5 male

and 13 female).

(This again is another baffling Homœopathy. Here

is how Cygnus X-1, proving substance is obtained. )

“Let me describe briefly how a black hole might be

created. Imagine a star with a mass ten times that of the

sun. During most of its lifetime of about a billion years

the star will generate heat at its center by converting

hydrogen into helium. The energy released will create

sufficient pressure to support the star against its own

gravity, giving rise to an object with a radius about five

times the radius of the sun. The escape velocity from

the surface of such a star would be about 1,000

kilometers per second. That is to say, an object fired

vertically upward from the surface of the star with a

velocity of less than 1,000 kilometers per second would

be dragged back by the gravitational field of the star and

would return to the surface, whereas an object with a

velocity greater than that would escape to infinity.

“When the star had exhausted its nuclear fuel, there

would be nothing to maintain the outward pressure, and

the star would begin to collapse because of its own

gravity. As the star shrank, the gravitational field at the

surface would become stronger and the escape velocity

would increase. By the time the radius had got down to

10 kilometers the escape velocity would have increased

to 100,000 kilometers per second, the velocity of light.

After that time any light emitted from the star would not

be able to escape to infinity but would be dragged back

by the gravitational field. According to the special

theory of relativity nothing can travel faster than light,

so that if light cannot escape, nothing else can either.

The result would be a black hole: a region of space-time

from which it is not possible to escape to infinity.” –

Stephen W. HAWKING.

----------

Proving Information

PREPARATION: The proving substance was prepared

by Rowan Jackson of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The

alcohol mother tincture was then supplied to Helios

Homœopathic Pharmacy, UK, in January 2008.

“Monday December 3, 2007 at 7 p.m. at Santa Fe

NM, astronomer Peter Lipscomb and I (Rowan Jackson)

went out to his back yard and began the process of

affixing a small bottle of Everclear, 100% grain alcohol,

to his Meade LX90 8-inch aperture telescope … I had

decided on Cygnus X-1 for the black hole. Star number

HD226868. Cygnus was a Binary Star until its

companion became a black hole … At 7:50 p.m. we

taped the bottle to the eyepiece and exposed it to the

aperture and left it there until 9 p.m. Peter explained to

me that as the black hole transited the sky, because of

the air mass and degrees above the horizon, we would

no longer maintain the same strength if we left it on

longer, a phenomenon known as atmospheric extinction.

We used the 8-inch compound reflecting telescope,

exposed the grain alcohol to the Cygnus X-1 co-

ordinates for 80 minutes through the aperture, tracking

uninterruptedly, in the clearest part of the night sky.”

Rowan Jackson.

COMPILATION: Lori Foley and Sandra Haering,

alumni of the Northwestern Academy of Homœopathy.

METHODOLOGY: Eighteen provers (5 male and 13

female) took the remedy administered in 30c potency,

with two placebos. The proving was a double blind

format in which the master prover, supervisors and the

provers were unaware of the substance that they were

proving. The provers logged their symptoms on a daily

basis and were in daily contact with their supervisor

until symptoms subsided.

Many homœopathic practitioners tend to lean

toward the pithy statement, “Always maintain a

scientific mind,” but how do we do that in the case of

proving an imponderable? Much to my amazement, this

proving, done in a double-blind format, expressed the

language of the substance through many provers in

remarkable ways that are quite moving. As you read

this article, you will read extensively from the provers’

journals. Let their spoken words speak for themselves.

It seems to be the time for a deep exploration of

quantum physics within homœopathic practice and

philosophy.

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III. THERAPEUTICS

1. A case of Dysmenorrhoea

RATHOD, Prajakta

(HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

A girl aged 20 years consulted me in college OPD

dated on 19/1/12, with complaints of, unbearable pain in

lower abdomen during menstrual period with trembling

in extremities since 4 years. Allopathic treatment was

taken since 4 years every month but to no avail.

On administration of Pulsatilla on repertorial

totality, she developed the capacity to bear the pain and

was not hospitalized for the first time after 4 years

duration, but she was not relieved of her complaints and

some new symptoms develop, which were again

considered with reportorial totality and this time

Bryonia 30 single dose was administered, which

relieved her complaints, to much extent and now on the

follow up of two months she is having normal menses

with no pain and adequate flow.

2. Role of Homœopathy in Chikungunya Epidemic

and Post Chikungunya Chronic Arthritis BHASME,

Arun; BHASME, Dinesh; BHASME, Amit

(HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Objectives: To observe the effect of Homœopathic drug

therapy in Chikungunya fever and in Post Chikungunya

Chronic Arthritis. To find out most effective

Homœopathic drugs in treatment of Chikungunya.

Methodology: 80 patients with Chikungunya were

given Homœopathic medicines on basis of symptom

similarity and results were studied.

Results: The cases were analyzed and outcome was

evaluated on the basis of improvement, duration of

treatment and drugs.

Conclusion: Homœopathic treatment proved beneficial

in all cases of Chikungunya and post Chikungunya

Arthritis.

3. Homœopathic Approach to Hypertension and its

Miasmatic Background: An Observational Study

JAGOSE A.T.; DESHMUKH, P.V.; DESHMUKH

D.B. et al. (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Hypertension is one of the most important lifestyle

related disease. Its prevalence is ever increasing due to

the stress and strain of modern lifestyle. Hypertension

results in secondary organ damage and reduced life span

if it is not diagnosed early and treated promptly. It often

goes undetected resulting in high mortality rate.

A clinical, non-comparative study was undertaken

to study and analyze the effectiveness of the

homœopathic system of medicine in Hypertension. A

total of 50 cases of Primary/Essential hypertension were

taken including all age group of both sexes. Even

complicated cases with other systemic diseases were

included in the study.

The result showed that the success rate was 86%.

The Fundamental miasm was syco-syphilitic in nature

and the Dominant miasm at the level of expression

varied with Psoric miasm 60%, Sycotic miasm 24%,

Tubercular miasm 02% and Syphilitic miasm 14%.

It was concluded that Constitution remedy is useful

in a majority of cases. Acute remedies at times proved

useful to control the acute exacerbations of high BP. At

times mother tinctures proved useful to control the high

blood pressure in conjunction with the constitutional

remedy, especially in cases with a syphilitic load.

Overall the results varied according to the expression

engrafted on the fundamental miasm i.e. Psoric

expressions – good; Sycotic – fair; Tubercular –

difficult and Syphilitic – poor. However further

validation by Randomized Control Trials (RTC) will

prove useful.

The Constitutional remedies used in all 50 cases

(expressed in %)

 Natrum muriaticum 56%

 Magnesium muriaticum 24%

 Aurum metallicum 06%

 Ferrum metallicum 04%

 Kali carbonicum 4%

 Lycopodium 2%

 Arnica 2%

Acute remedies used in 37 cases (expressed in %).

 Veratrum viride 27%

 Belladonna 54%

 Glonoine 19%

The mother tinctures used in 7 cases

 Crataegus 28%

 Passiflora 29%

 Rauwolfia 43%

4. Efficacy of Homœopathic Medicines in Paediatric

Allergic Respiratory Disorders

BHAUSAHEB, Tambe; UTTARA, Agale;

AGARWAL, H.H. et al. (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Children become most vulnerable to Allergic

Respiratory Disorders because they have no choice over

the environment. About 40% children’s parents do not

take treatment others take treatment from modern line

like antihistamines, steroids to which the child becomes

dependent and a variety of complications arise. So there

is a real need to study Allergic Respiratory Disorders

and the homœopathic medicines which help in treating

it.

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The common acute remedies found to be beneficial

were Ars alb.(36%), Ars.iod.(16%) and Ant. tart. (12%).

The Constitutional remedies were Phosphorus,

Calc. carb. Pulsatilla, Sulphur, Nat. mur. and Silicea.

5. Efficacy of Homœopathy in the Treatment of

Rheumatism

RAUT, Minal et.al. (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

It is the disease of musculo – skeletal system. It is

characterized by fever, pain in joints, swelling and

redness, restriction of movement, etc. according to the

onset and intensity of the disease. The relevance of the

symptoms, recognition of its cause and proper diagnosis

of the Rheumatic disorders in most instances can be

obtained by careful history, physical examination,

observations of extra articular manifestation, combined

with appropriate laboratory findings and radiological

investigations. The efficacy of Homœopathy and

Homœopathic drugs in treatment of Rheumatism

through this I wish to prove once again Homœopathy

has more effective, easier, comprehensive and soft

approach in this treatment over other Pathies.

Miasmatic Components were – 67% Psora and 33%

Mixed miasms.

6. Efficacy of Homœopathy in Stress Management

with Special Emphasis of Natrum muriaticum

MAHAJAN, Preeti, (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

The study was open clinical trial in which patients

were enrolled till the target was achieved with an extra

margin of 30% to compensate for the drop outs.

Random sampling was done. 30 patients were found to

be suffering from Stress, detailed homœopathic case

taking is recorded and change in their mental sphere

was also taken. With this recorded data, the

constitutional symptoms were repertorized; patients

miasm was taken into consideration and constitutional

drug were prescribed. Potency was selected according

to the patients. Natrum muriaticum is found to be

effective in case of Stress.

7. Efficacy of 50 Millesimal Potency in the Treatment

of Bronchial Asthma

BABU, Nagendra (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

This study was open clinical method conducted on

patients for 3 months. All the cases were treated as

outpatients. At first consultation and every follow up

the disease score was formed and calculated, to assess

the efficacy of the treatment. All the patients were

directed with proper diet and regimen. Effectiveness of

the study was based on the general improvement in the

disease condition through symptomatology criteria. The

result was recorded in the form of “Relieved” and “Not

relieved”.

Out of 30, 15 were treated with 50 milesimal

potency and 15 were treated with centesimal potency.

After 3 months we came to the conclusion, out of 15

cases treated with 50 millesimal potency 14 patients

have relieved of their suffering with the % efficacy of

93.33%. And out of the 15 cases treated with

centesimal potency 8 patients have relieved with the %

efficacy of 53.33%.

8. Utility of Different Repertories in Management of

Rhinitis

DAVE, Mukesh (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Rhinitis is a disease of all age group distributed

worldwide, affects usually person living in urban,

thickly populated and industrial areas characterized by

paroxysmal attacks of sneezing, nasal discharges, dry

irritating cough, mild to moderate rise of temperature,

headache, watering from eyes with nasal congestion and

inflammation of nasal mucous membrane.

Homœopathy offers valuable and effective therapy for

Rhinitis. Progress and change in patients had been

assessed during the period of minimum 3-6 months and

progress is reported at intervals of every 30 days. Out

of 30 cases maximum number of cases that is 14 cases

accounting to 46.7% of total showed recovery, 12 cases

that are 40% improved and 4 cases that is 13.3%

showed no improvement.

9. A study on Utility of Homœopathy using Bio-

Medical Instrumental Parameters

GAUSHAL, Mahendra H. (HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Initial study on utility of Homœopathy using

Biomedical Instrumental Parameters was undertaken in

joint venture with KDMG’S Homœopathic Medical

College, Shirpur and SGGS Institute of Engineering and

Technology, Nanded (M.S.) This work gives

enthusiastic inferences of some of these initial

experiments. Total 30 patients were selected for the

study, out of which 23 were male and 7 were female.

This work opens the untouched cognitive domain of

Homœopathic Therapeutic success. Since human body

is newly defined as Bio-Chemico-physio-electro-

thermo-hydraulieo-pneumatico-magneto

mechanically engineered machine, which runs

automatically through the VITAL FORCE as defined by

HAHNEMANN and this force or principle which is

now a days called as Bio-energy. Human body is a

source of Bio-potential signals which can be picked up

from the surface of the body or from within the body.

These signals are used as parameters in various Bio-

medical studies and are used now in Homœopathy. We

can obtain qualitative and quantitative measurements

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

through different instruments which can be helpful for

analysis of disorder and process of Homœopathic cure.

Since this was a pilot study, it needs a reconfirmation

study.

10. Homœopathic Facial Analysis

JOSHI, Tejas (HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

Homœopathic Facial Analysis (HFA) is founded by

Australian Homœopath Dr. Grant BENTLEY.

People come with various chronic diseases. If we

could treat their problems with certainty, we could earn

laurels for Homœopathy, and people would turn to

Homœopathy with renewed zest and faith and may be

modern medicine would be limited to ICU units.

If we were to treat grave diseases with

definitiveness, we would need a definitive mode of case

taking, case analysis, repertorising, dosage, follow up

etc.

[All these have been repeatedly stressed by the pioneers

and their list is long. I do not feel anything need be

added to them. We have to follow, which we don’t.

We want short-cuts very short cuts = KSS].

Two homœopaths have tried to standardize this.

Dr. Praful VIJAKAR bases miasms on pathology while

Dr. Grant BENTLEY bases miasms in Facial Analysis.

HFA analyses the structure of the face and

segregates the patient into the three miasms and their

combinations. For simplicity color codes are used

instead of names of miasms. Yellow – Psora; Red –

Sycosis; Blue – Syphilis; Green – Psora-Syphilis;

Orange – Syco-Psora; Purple – Syco-Syphilis; Brown –

Cancer.

Green

∕ \

Yellow Red Blue

\ ∕ \ ∕

Orange Purple

Photograph of the patient revealing front view,

Sides view, with a broad smile and showing hairline is

needed.

A miasm is considered to be dominant when it

covers features more than other two miasms.

The medicines under miasms of HFA method are

very different from the medicines listed in the miasm

filter.

Remedy is prescribed on repertorisation alone.

MM should not be referred to except for acute cases

where need of miasmatic diagnosis is not there.

First follow up is at one month interval. No matter

how long standing is the complaint, there has to be at

least 50% improvement in the symptoms and some

reduction in pathology if it is still in curable range. The

person should be sleeping better, should have normal

evacuations and should be feeling more energetic.

HFA is practically for your clinic, for treating and

curing says the author. [Personally, I do not see any new

techniques are called for. The well-trodden path laid

down by the great master a century ago is sufficient for

me = KSS].

11. A Case of Polyneuritis

SHINDE, Prakash (HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

SS, aged 24, consulted on 16.6.10, with progressive

dimness of vision since one year. He could not identify

faces, could see only figures. Lacked co-ordination

while walking and had to be assisted in everything.

Treatment by Neurosurgeon and Ayurvedic physician

did not halt the progress of his illness. The complaint

dated back to a frightful situation. He is sensive,

sympathetic. Phosphorus 6c tds for 15 days led to 25%

improvement. Till Aug. 2011, he was given

Phosphorus 30, 200, 1M single dose as and when

demanded by the symptom complex and is better by

25%.

12. A case of Non-healing Ulcer and Recurrent Boils

LUNKAD, Rakhi (HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

Mrs. XYZ, 67, consulted on 07.04.09 with non-

healing ulcer on left leg below knee since 6 months.

Recurrent boils on buttocks and legs since a year.

Burning all over body. Burning as of hot fumes of

volcano, as if hot lava is packed inside. Hopeless of

recovery.

7.4.09, Hekla lava LM1 one dose for 15 days.

20.4.09: Discharge from ulcer ↓. LM2 one dose for 15

days. 14.5.09: No new boil. Hot fumes from ulcer and

all over body reduced. Healing of ulcer started. LM4

for 15 days 02.07.09. Ulcer dried up. No new boil. No

burning. SL for 2 months.

[It is all funny. The doctor prescribed Hecla Lava

became patient said she felt as if lava was coming out of

the lesion. Who has experienced the burning of Lava.

In fact Sulphur is thrown out of the volcano. The

justification given by the doctor, makes me feel sad.

Where is Homœopathy moving? = KSS]

13. Few Capsule cases

SUDHA, Lakshminarayanan

(HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

Case 1: 62 year-old paralytic with BP, Sugar and

Cholesterol under control, is a heart patient with three

vessels blocked, operated and stent kept. Having

squeezing pain in the heart with profuse sweat during

pain in spite of medication. Passiflora Q, 10 drops in

water twice a day, helped him so much that his pains in

the heart and arm disappeared and he feels as if never

had any heart trouble at all.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

[Grand work. However, I do not see any mention of

heart complaints in Passiflora, in the available Materia

Medica = KSS].

Case 2: 64 year old lady, diabetic, hypertensive, heart

patient, with high cholesterol on heavy medications had

relapsing symptoms after many homœopathic

medicines, was given Tuberculinum bovinum 200 (on

20.12.09) based on her past history of Tuberculosis in

1964. After this, her long standing cough with phlegm

due to cold weather and swelling of forehead

disappeared B.P., Sugar and Cholesterol levels have

come down to normal levels.

Case 3: A case of irregular periods since menarche

became regular for an year with Sepia 200-3 doses.

After hormonal intervention to postopose periods, again

became irregular. Restored by Sepia 200/3 doses. She

conceived and delivered healthy child.

Case 4: 69 year old with rashes on right neck with

itching and burning every summer. Also lumbar back

pain, could not bend or sweep or lift anything. > with

Calcium tablets. No > with treatment by two

homœopaths. Based on copious sweat of head, running

down to face Calcarea carb. 30/3 doses. No rashes in

the subsequent summers.

The low back pain also subsided with repetition of

Calc. carb 30.

14. Effect of Homœopathic medicines in children with

recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections

BHASME, Arun; THORAT, Anil & MALOKAR,

Kishor. (HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

The objective of this research is to investigate the

role of homœopathic medicines in children with

recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. The study

has been carried on 50 patients through randomized

double blind placebo controlled studies in order to see

the intrinsic effects of individually prescribed

homœopathic drugs. In this study, strict

individualization of each case has been followed

according to the homœopathic principles. The study

clearly points to the positive effects of homœopathic

medicines in URTI through normalizing the

susceptibility of the patients. The setting was

performed at Paediatric department of Mahatma Gandhi

Homœopathic Hospital, and at OPDs of homœopathic

Medical College, Beed, India.

15. Cost effectiveness of Homœopathic Management in

Marginal Gingivitis in School Going Girls of Rural

Area

ANDE, Mayari; DARADE, Shweta

(HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

Well selected homœopathic medicines have

important role in reducing the recurrence of symptoms

in gingivitis patient.

Because of cost effectiveness of homœopathic

medicines, low socioeconomic group can afford this

treatment very easily.

16. Homœopathy and Celiac Disease: A Contribution

Toward Healing

MARINO, Fancesco (AJHM. 105, 1/2012)

‘Food intolerance’ is an emerging disease now.

Children and infants are increasingly affected. Celiac

disease or “glunten-sensitive enteropathy” are complex

and investigating etiological and pathogenetical theories

are put forward. Beyond the well-known prophylaxis

with hygiene and diet, there is no evidence of proper

treatment right now.

Two cases of Celiac disease, resolved by different

homœopathic remedies are described. Both cases began

with a dermatitis, suppressed by cortisone and

antibiotics, and by a more or less marked allergy to

milk. Soon thereafter appeared respiratory troubles,

tendency to catching cold and long lasting syndromes

and growth troubles. Digestive troubles were

prominent.

Both the cases were children whose complaints

began with Atopic dermatitis.

In the first case the curative remedy was Calcarea

silicate, later China to complete.

In the second case the remedy was Rheum

palmatum. In this case there was reappearance of

Dermatitis. In the first nothing has been mentioned

about reappearance of Dermatitis.

In so far as Rheum palmatum is concerned the

author says “the capriciousness, … the loquaciousness,

the vulgar speech….. all indicated the remedy. [I have

looked into the Materia Medica of CLARKE,

VERMEULEN and of course the GS of HERING and I

did not find any reference to ‘vulgar speech”. However,

this is, the author says, in the Computer Repertory –

may be clinical additions that are not available for me. =

KSS].

17. Sarcoidosis and Homœopathy: A Case Study

WADHWANI, Gyandas G. (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

A case of Stage II Sarcoidosis was treated with a

few doses of Vipera 6 and showed improvement in

clinical features as well as radiological investigation

(CT Scan) in about 7 months. Later prescription of

Calcarea carbonica in LM potencies over a year

resulted in complete disappearance of symptoms and

pathology.

[The article in the British Homœopathic Journal,

April 1961 (republished in the Hahnemannian

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Gleanings, January 1967) by Dr. T.D. ROSS, titled

‘Sarcoidosis, Beryllium and Pine Pollen’, discusses the

disease and the Materia Medica of Beryllium. Dr.

ROSS has said that the only proving he knew, was that

done by TEMPLETON and published in the British

Homœopathic Journal for April 1953. TEMPLETON

had 7 provers and 4 controls and used potencies 3x

30c. TEMPLETON also listed the symptoms of

Beryllium poisoning.

In the British Homœopathic Journal, November

1961 (republished in the Hahnemannian Gleanings,

Aug. 1966), Dr. William GUTMAN has given a

“Composite picture from Proving and Toxic Effects”.

The ‘Proving’ and ‘Toxic are given separately.

JULIAN in his Materia Medica of ‘New Remedies’ has

given a complete Materia Medica including, GUTMAN,

RAESIDE, STEPHENSON et al.

18. A Prospective Observational Study to ascertain the

role of Homœopathic Therapy in the Management

of Diabetic Foot Ulcer

NAYAK, C., VIKRAM SINGH

(AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

The risk for lower extremity amputation (LEA) in

patients with diabetic foot ulcer is high, and high

recurrence rates of foot ulcers pose a risk that the

amputations will be repeated. While the incidence rates

of diabetic foot ulcers are often poorly documented,

such as is the case in India, the heavy strain of the

disease on health care budgets can easily be felt the

world over. The high cost of the treatment of foot

ulcers causes many patients to neglect needed care,

resulting in amputations. The present observational

study of diabetic foot ulcer was undertaken for the

purpose of deriving a group of useful homœopathic

medicines for the treatment of this condition, hopefully

revealing a cost effective means of reducing the

incidence of foot amputations.

Method: A prospective observational study was

conducted by the Central Council for Research in

Homœopathy at its Drug Standardization Extension

Unit, Hyderabad, from October 2005 to September

2009. One hundred and fifty-six (156) patients with

diabetic foot ulcer in the age group of above thirty years

from both sexes were screened and eighty-one patients

were enrolled as per the pre-set inclusion and exclusion

criteria. Out of eighty-one cases enrolled only sixty-

three cases completed the follow up. The remainder of

the cases were excluded. Homœopathic medicines

prescribed to the enrolled patients were limited to a

group of fifteen pre-defined trial medicines. The

improvement of the cases was assessed basing upon the

diabetic foot ulcer assessment score, before and after

treatment, on a prescribed format devised by the council

and by periodic photographs.

Results: The difference in the mean of the ulcer

assessment score was found to be statistically

significant (P = 0.000, < 0.05) after the treatment with

trial medicines. In only one case, the ulcer assessment

score showed no significant improvement from the

baseline. Silicea (n=22), Sulphur (n=11), Lycopodium

(n=10), Arsenic album (n=8), Phosphorus (n=8) were

found to be the most useful among the fifteen pre-

identified trial medicines.

Conclusion: This was an observational study with

positive results; however, it is difficult to attribute the

positive results to homœopathic therapy alone as the

dressing of the ulcer and ancillary measures of

themselves often eventuate in ulcer resolution. Further

RCT corroboration is recommended for validation of

the results. [Who needs RCT corroboration? It is our

daily experience where severe ulcers, large ones of long

durations have been cured entirely even without the so-

called ‘dressing’ = KSS].

19. Emergency: A child with intense Dyspnea

HOOVER, Todd, A. (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

Boy 3 years with breathing difficulty since two

days. Called Emergency. Found the boy pale white,

breathing at 60 p.m. with grunting respiration, holding

his body quite tight, and was quietly tearful in his

mother’s arms. Low grade fever 99.8. Lungs clear with

good air movement and normal heart sounds. His

abdomen was felt to be rock hard, tender throughout and

tympanitic. Eructations. Bowel sounds were absent.

Pain could not be localized. CT-Scan Appendicitis.

Carbo vegetabilis 200. Three hours later, a febrile

soft abdomen with normal breathing.

20. A model for Epidemic Diseases: Brazil, Dengue

Fever 2008

ARAUJO, Claudio (AJHM. 105, 1/2012)

Dengue fever is an archetypal acute disease,

occurring seasonally in Brazil. The classic

homœopathic approach described in the Organon and

later elaborated by KENT is employed: first identify the

epidermic in its main features – the genus epidemicus -

and determine the pool of remedies corresponding to

this picture. From this group of remedies, the

idiosyncratic symptoms of each patient refine the

analysis and determine the remedy for him/her. In this

epidemic, individualizing symptoms often concerned

the need for covering or for quiet, and speed of onset of

the disease, and produced many cures. Hahnemann’s

method is valid in any land and time.

It is interesting to read how the homœopathic

doctors in Brazil went about the work.

A detailed symptom list in hierarchy from Mind to

General was drawn after interviewing a group of acute

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

cases. These symptoms were taken as pathogenesis.

This formed also the original Anamnesis. With

Synthesis Software, repertorial analysis was done and

remedies arrived at.

Next step was to draw a list of the remedies that

could produce a clinical picture that featured an acute

infection with high fever, no thirst, much prostration

and a haemorrhagic tendency, i.e. a picture similar to

the current illness. This idea comes from KENT, who

says that the curative remedy should correspond to the

pathgnomonic symptoms of the disease, and its nature.

The chosen remedy should mimic the given disease,

including its rate of onset and pathological potential.

Repertorial analysis by Synthesis gave a set of

remedies.

The third step established more differentiated

symptom-picture. This is done by adding the ‘general’

symptoms like desire to be covered or aversion to.

The three sets were available for quick prescription.

Severe special or rare symptoms may come up in given

case/s but the core would be same on this the ‘3 steps’

already worked out, the pre-programmed work out.

Incidentally Bryonia was the most often prescribed

remedy in Dengue-Fever Epidemic 2008.

[Others may follow this methodology in respect

Epidemic diseases. Colleagues may please note. =

KSS].

21. Healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcer by Homœopathic

Therapeutic Aid: A Case Study

GHOSH, Shubhamoy, et al.

(AJHM. 105, 1/2012)

Arsenicum album in centesimal and LM potencies

cured a patient hospitalized with Diabetic foot ulcer,

fever, and Leucocytosis. [Link this with SR. No. 18 at p.

8- 9 on diabetic Foot Ulcer = KSS].

22. The therapeutic effect of Tarentula cubensis extract

(Theranekron®) in foot –and-mouth disease in

cattle: a randomized trial in endemic setting

LOTFOLLAHZADEH, Samad, ET AL

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Background: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a

contagious viral disease of ruminant animals.

Eradication of disease in western countries is by

slaughter of infected and in contact animals but this is

not possible in endemic countries. There is no standard

treatment for FMD in endemic countries, but anti-

inflammatory drugs and mild disinfectant and protective

dressing to inflamed areas to prevent secondary

infection is recommended.

Method: A randomized controlled clinical trial of a

homœopathic preparation of Tarentula cubensis

(Theranekron®) was conducted during an outbreak of

FMD in cattle in Iran. A single subcutaneous injection

of Theranekron® was used as sole treatment in 50

infected animals (treatment group). The control group

comprised 15 infected animals treated with standard

medication including: daily injection of flunixin

meglumine and oxytetracycline and daily dressing of

lesions with 4% sodium carbonate. Systemic and local

signs were recorded over 14 days.

Results: Rectal temperature in treatment group subsided

to normal range within 1 day of homœopathic treatment,

and was significantly lower in test group than in control

group on several successive days (P < 0.05). Healing

of inflamed mucosal areas and appetite score of the

treatment was significantly better than control during

first 3 days of treatment (P< 0.05).

Conclusion: It appears that Theranekron® is effective

for treatment of systemic and local signs of FMD-

infected cattle. Further research is justified.

23. Toxidcodendron pubescens retains its anti-arthritic

efficacy at 1M, 10M and CM homœopathic

dilutions

PATEL, Dhanraj Ramanlal; ANSARI, Imtiyaz

Ahmed et al. (HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Background: Our previous studies of Toxicodendron

pubescens (Rhus tox) in homœopathic dilutions have

shown anti-inflammatory activity in line with the

principle of similia. The present study aimed to

evaluate its anti-inflammatory activity in 1M, 10M and

CM dilutions in rats.

Method: Arthritis was induced by subplantar injection

of 0.1 ml of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) in the

right hind paws of rats. The severity of inflammatory

lesions was measured plethysmometrically on 21st day

post CFA injection. The intensity of pain was measured

using digital Von Frey apparatus. Other estimations

included serum C-reactive protein (CRP), hematological

parameters, body weight changes, arthritic pain score

and radiological analysis of the arthritic paws.

Results: The 1M, 10M and CM homœopathic dilutions

of Rhus tox reduced primary and secondary arthritic

lesions, improved body weight gain and protected rats

against CFA-induced hematological and radiological

perturbations. A significant reduction in the serum

levels of CRP and an improvement in pain threshold of

injected paws was observed in the groups treated with

the Rhus tox dilutions.

Conclusion: The anbti-arthritic potential of Rhus tox is

retained at 1M, 10M and CM dilutions.

24. The practice of Tautopathy during the classical era

of Homœopathy: A review of the Literature

MUELLER, Manfred (AH. 17/2011)

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Tautopathy refers to treatment of an artificial

disorder with a microdose or potency of the drug or

toxic agent that caused that disorder.

When used as a pretreatment, it can be very

effective in removing obstacles that would otherwise

keep well indicated remedies from working or even

prevent aggravations from occurring.

Mr. Dudley wooton EVERITT, the late director of

Nelsons Homœopathic Pharmacy in London coined the

term “tautopathy”.

Review of classical literature reveals the use of this

method by Drs. Ramanlal PATEL, Donald M.

FOUBISTER, J.H. CLARKE, Margaret TYLER, J.

Compton BURNETT, Samuel LILIENTHAL, Stuart

CLOSE, Charles C. BOWES, CHAFFE, DEWEY,

SWAN, P.P. WELLS and Adolph LIPPE.

Illustrative cases cured by the method are given.

The objections and criticism of this method are also

discussed.

25. The Mission Neighborhood Resource Center

HERRMAN, Renita (AH. 17/2011)

Mission Neighborhood Clinic outreach

administered needed medical attention to the folks

living on the streets in San Francisco. The Mission

Neighborhood Resource Center clinic has office

manager, Case Managers, doctors, Physician’s

assistants, nurses and staff that keep the clinic rolling.

The street level entrance serves as a sign-in place to

secure a bed at a shelter for the night, take showers,

wash clothes and store belongings in lockers.

Renita HERRMANN and Melinda McGEE are the

two homœopaths working in the clinic. Many of the

clients are drug and alcohol addicts; others are

homeless, whose problem stem from an early life of

abuse and/or grief. Many have been diagnosed with

bipolar disorder. All have one thing in common; their

pain does not allow them to function.

Few cases are discussed.

We know that our clients have improved by their

single most instrumental act – they contact their

estranged family.

26. Homœopathy Helps the Homeless

HERRMANN, Renita (AH. 17/2011)

This article too is about the Mission Center, San

Francisco.

Mike 61, in and out of juvenile facilities since

fourteen and in and out of jail since eighteen. Much

beaten in childhood. Broken knuckles, torn biceps and

a large lipoma on back. Addicted to heroin till 12 years

ago. Crystal meth and malt liquor were his last

addictions. He had basketful of prescriptions which he

wouldn’t take. Arnica 10M. Impatient, didn’t like

being around people. Estranged from family. Sudden

rage, violence, plethora and high Blood Pressure.

Belladonna 1M. Following week, in good mood. The

edge has been taken off everything, Contacted his

brother to extol the virtues of Homœopathy; Also shed

tears; Blood Pressure reduced: Improved over next four

weeks. Restlessness persists. Also dribbling urination.

Tarantula 200 and rapidly worked way upward. His

anxious restlessness gradually decreased.

Confrontational attitude subsided. After few months, he

received job training. Slept well. Was calm. Injury to

eardrum with green pus. Mercurius vivus 200.

Eventually he has plenty of control of his life now.

[The detailed study of this case confirms, if such

confirmation at all is called for or so-called ‘evidence’

will warm our heart that what we are doing is indeed a

‘blessed business’ – KSS]

27. Eating Disorders: An Interview with Henny

Heudens – Mast

MORSE, Linda (AH. 17/2011)

Henny Heudens Mast feels too much stress upon

the children lead to eating disorders. Mostly girls have

anorexia and eating disorders as they are more sensitive

and more influenced by current mode, fashion, clothes

and make up. When the children feel they are not nice

enough, that people do not accept them, don’t like them

because they are not slim enough, then we have a

typical Psora situation.

When they like to look sexy and like to show

themselves to boys, may be we have Sycosis.

If the child does it to draw attention so that the

parents do not fight, there might be Syphilis in the case.

It is often interesting in what they eat. Usually they

have emotional problems. Either a conflict between the

parents or a conflict of the patient with one of the

parents or a conflict in itself.

In treating these cases, we should note how they

feel, how they behave and when they feel fine the

weight comes back. Look to the miasms, look to how

and why they react to not eating. When we can unblock

that they will feel better and they will start to eat.

28. The Role of Homœopathy in the Treatment of Drug

Addictions

De ROSA, Claudia (AH. 17/2011)

Down the ages, drugs have been eaten, drunk, and

smoked as a means of attaining a state of narcosis with

colorful and fantastic visions. Addiction means a

recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in

some specific activity despite harmful consequences to

the individual’s health, mental state or social life;

addictions may include heroin or alcohol, other

chemicals and drugs, chocolate, work, sex or church.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Drug addiction is considered a pathological state. The

disorder of addiction involves the progression of acute

drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior,

the vulnerability to relapse, and decreased or slowed

ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli.

A recent Clinical Research Trial has proven

Homœopathy to be therapeutically effective in the

treatment of allopathic drug addiction.

28. Addiction to Gambling

SHARFSTEIN, Catherine (AH. 17/2011)

A 30 year-old guy, stocky, overweight with

gambling addiction not helped by Psychotherapy and

Gamblers Anonymous. The rush of losing is larger than

the rush of winning. In the course of long interview, he

says he is like a snake that never catches a rat. He

compares his rush to that of a snake catching a rat. He

also has migraine, worsened by light. The author

perceived from the case many details resembling the

attack of a reptile. The patient needed a snake remedy

and Cobra Naja Naja was given. First in 30, then in

200, between June 2007 and Feb. 2008: No change.

Egyptian Cobra Naja hage 30, then 200. Migraines less

frequent and less intense. Still gambling. June 2008:

Cape Cobra Naja nivea 30, 200c. Occasional migraine,

still gambling. April 2009: Monocled Cobra – Naja

Kaouthia 30. Not talking fast. Still gambling but not

for big money Sept. 2009: Several doses of 200. Nov.

2009.: Naja Kaouthia 1M. Feb. 2010: Gambling now

and then. June 2010: Still there is a desire to gamble.

Oct. 2010: No desire to gamble anymore. More even

tempered and level headed. May 2011: The gambling

stopped, Patient living on his own; moved out of

parent’s apartment. He is in relationship. Migraines

stopped.

The information on Najas, was taken from the book

SURVIVAL, the Reptile, Volume II, by Dr. Rajan

SANKARAN with Meghna SHAH.

[The remedy description in the end of the article

indicates no ‘proving’ but only ‘signature’. To me that

is not Homœopathy, notwithstanding the fact that the

patient was relieved of his complaints = KSS].

29. The Stifled Singer – a Lanthanide Case

JOHNSON, David (AH. 17/2011)

48 year-old female was a professional opera singer

and worked for CIA. There is frustration with being

unable to express her true identity. Her inability to

return to the big stage was the biggest sadness of her

life. This is thwarted self-actualization (lanthanides).

She is confident of her abilities (Stage II – Terbium) but

confused as to how to move forward in her life (Stage -

3). Also claustrophobic. Terbium nitricum LM 2

She began feeling better almost immediately and

has been in informal weekly contact. She is currently

using LM6.

[The author says “This is a story of thwarted self-

actualization (Lanthanides).” Is this homœopathic

therapeutics? = KSS].

30. Dreaming of Dennis Rodman – How Lachesis,

changed a life

MORSE, Linda (AH. 17/2011)

D.V., 32 year-old, trained nurse with recurrent

headaches. – since death of father and brother in an

accident three years ago.

Three years later miscarriage on that same date.

Hormonal migraine headaches with vomiting during

first pregnancy and mostly stopped after delivery.

Migraines after lot of chocolates/coffee/Sun heat. Low

energy from 2-4 p.m. Nightmares atleast once a week.

Anxiety about loved ones. Short fuse before periods and

much better once the flow starts.

Lachesis 30c. A month later reported that she had

canker sores and yeast infection after the remedy and

subsided. Minor headache. Sleeping deeply. Energy

better during day. No headache after sweets. Spirit

feels lighter.

2 months later: Significant improvement in immunity.

Infrequent minor headaches.

2 weeks later relapse and Lachesis 30 as a plussed dose.

In the next seven months became normal and conceived.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. PHARMACOLOGY

1. Estimation of Alcohol content in homœopathic

formulation by Gas Chromatography

PETHE, A.M.; PEEPLIWAL, A.; MAHAJAN, SA.

(AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

The alcohol content in homœopathic formulations

was estimated by gas chromatography. The storage

period of these formulations is sometimes very long in

the market [1]; during this period there may be loss of

alcohol from packed formulations. Consequently these

preparations were selected to compare via gas

chromatographic analysis the actual alcohol content to

the alcohol percentage indicated on the label of the

products. The method of analysis was developed and

validated as per ICH Q3C guidelines [2, 3]. The

percentage of alcohol detected was found to be

consistent with the labels’ claims. The correlation

coefficient for linearity was 0.99, which was within

acceptance criteria (i.e., this should not be less than

0.95). Accuracy was determined at three levels by

adding 50%, 100% and 150% standard solution to equal

percent solutions of test preparation. The results found

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percentage mean recoveries of 100.26, 99.81 and 99.73

respectively, which were within the acceptance criteria;

i.e., 80% to 120% as per ICH Q3C guidelines [3].

Precision study was done for system, method and

intermediate precision. The result obtained for overall

RSD was 0.584, which was within the acceptance

criteria (i.e. should not be more than 15.0%).

Specificity was tested by injecting blank, test and

standard preparations, and no peak for the blank sample

was observed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

V. VETERINARY

1. Veterinary case – Kakadi

MISTRY, D.E. and KULKARNI, Gauri

(HCCR. 19, 7/2012)

2½ year old, Kakadi, a cross breed pet dog had 4-5

vomitings on 17.9.12. Yellowish. He was not eating or

drinking. Pulsatilla 30 was given. Next day again

vomiting. Puls. 30 2 doses. Dull, feverish, low

energy. Next day bloody diarrhea and offensive

vomitus. Vet. was called. IV fluids could not be given

due to his irritability and restlessness. Antibiotics were

given. No change. Ars. alb. 30 + Ipecac 30 + Merc.

cor. 30 – 6 doses every 15 minutes. Next day three

more doses. He started drinking water and diluted milk

and became normal.

---------------------------------------------------------------

VI. RESEARCH

1. A survey to determine the frequency of reasons

why patient choose Homœopathy

GAUSHAL, Mahendra et. al.

(HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

To determine ground reality about selection of

Homœopathy by people for their health care system a

survey was carried out to determine the frequency of

reasons why patients choose Homœopathy.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of reasons

why patient choose Homœopathy and to investigate the

influence of factors such as age and sex by which

patient choose Homœopathy.

Result: Based on answers of 82 patients who came for

Homœopathic consulting in general outpatient clinic.

Conclusion: A reason: Having a therapist

recommended by family, friends, or the local

community is significantly high than other reasons.

There is no significant influence of factors such as age

and sex by which patient choose Homœopathy.

2. A survey to assess the proportion of population

availing Homœopathy in particular and other

contemporary practices in general in Arag rural and

Miraj urban area from Sangli district

PATIL, Shitalkumar, J. et. al.

(HCCR. 19, 6/2012)

Aim: To assess the proportion of population availing

Homœopathy in Arag village rural and Miraj urban area

from Sangli district.

Objectives: To assess the proportion of the population

availing Homœopathy and reason for it and to study

their demographic features. To determine availability,

efficacy, side effects, costing, duration of treatment of

contemporary practices. To assess need (requirement)

of Homœopathy.

Study Design: The survey is observational, descriptive,

oral questionnaire with projective data.

Conclusion: 20% people were unaware of other types

of treatment so they were taking Allopathy. In

knowledge, attitude and practice of Allopathy was in 1st

place in frequency and percentage, Homœopathy stood

in 2nd place, Ayurveda stood in 3rd place, Yoga and

Naturopathy 4th place, Unani, Siddha are rare.

3. Research Updates

FRYE, Joyce (AJHM. 105, 1 & 2/2012)

This article deals with the researches, and abstracts

relevant.

4. Anxiolytic and antidepressive effects of the

homœopathic complex Homœo-pax (pre-clinical

study)

VAZ, Aline Ferreira, et al.

(IJHDR. 10, 34/2011)

The homœopathic complex Homœo-Pax® has been

used as an antidepressant and anxiolytic homœopathic

medicine available in Brazil. It is a complex mixture

prepared with Aconitum nap. 6cH., Aurum met. 6cH,

Phosphorus 6cH, Argentum nitricum 6cH, Arsenicum

alb. 6cH, and Valeriana officinalis 3cH. This study

had evaluated the behavior in rats after treatment with

Homœo-Pax® in pre-clinical models of depression and

anxiety. Elevated Plus Maze Test (EPM), Forced

Swimming Test (FST), Open Field Test (OFT) and the

Rota Test (RRT) behavior assays were used to confirm

its activity. In the EPM, the animals treated with

Homeo-Pax®on the 1st day and until the 20th day of

treatment remained longer in the open arms of the maze

than on 30th day. This result was statistically significant

compared with the control group (p < 0.05). In the FST,

the treatment with Homeo-pax®(0.5ml, p.o) increased

the swimming time, compared to the control group.

This effect was dependent on treatment time, resulting

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

in a similar effect to that presented by amfepramone (10

mg/kg, p.o). In the OFT, crossing by the animals was

significantly increased by the treatment with

amfepramone (10mg/kg, p.o.), and also with the 30 day

treatment with Homeo-pax®. In the RRT, the 30 day

treatment with Homeo-pax® (0.5ml, p.o) did not affect

the animals’ motor coordination, compared with the

control group, which presented the same behavior.

Based on the results obtained, it can be suggested that

the homœopathic complex Homeo-pax® has anxiolytic

and antidepressant properties without affecting motor

coordination capacity. [in rats? = KSS]

5. Pathogenetic trial of Boric acid in Bean and

Tomato plants

CARNEIRO, Solange Monteiro de Toledo Piza

Gomes, et. al (IJHDR. 10, 34/2011)

Background: Homœopathy is held in organic

agriculture as a means to control disease and plagues.

However, different from doctors, who have works on

Materia Medica and repertories available to choose the

most suitable homœopathic medicine for each patient,

agronomists do not yet have an equivalent of

Homœopathic Materia Medica of Plants (HMMP)

describing symptoms observed in plants.

Aim: the aim of this study was to carry out a

homœopathic pathogenetic trial (HPT) in plants

comparing the effects elicited by boric acid in

ponderable dose and dilution 6cH in two different plant

species, namely bean and tomato cultivars. Methods: 4

tests were carried out 2 on tomato and 2 on bean plants,

which received 1 to 6 applications of treatments.

Results: there were differences between both species

regarding their sensitiveness to boric acid. None of the

tomato plants that received Boron 6cH showed

symptoms, differently from bean plants. On the other

hand, in tests of ponderable doses of boric acid, tomato

plants exhibited 3 symptoms more than bean plants. A

higher number of bean plants exhibited symptoms with

Boric acid in ponderable dose than in dilution 6cH.

Conclusions: these resuts suggest that the elaboration

of a HMMP must take into account the species in which

symptoms were obtained. Moreover, HPTs in plants

must be carried out with both ponderable doses and high

dilutions in order for differences in sensitiveness among

species be better identified.

6. Homœopathic treatment for peripheral nerve

regeneration: an experimental study in a rat sciatic

nerve transection model

MOHAMMADI, Rahim, et al.

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Aim: Effects of homœopathic treatment with

Hypericum perforatum (Hypericum) on peripheral nerve

regeneration was studied using a rat sciatic nerve

transection model.

Methods: Fifty-four male healthy White Wistar rats

were divided into three experimental groups (n = 18),

randomly: Sham-operation (Sham), control: Silicon tube

(Sil) and treatment: Silicon tube + Hypericum

(Sil/Hypericum). In the Sham group after anesthesia

left sciatic nerve was exposed through a gluteal muscle

incision and after homœostasis muscle was sutured. In

the Sil group the left sciatic nerve was exposed the same

way and transected proximal to tibio-peroneal

bifurcation leaving a 10-mm gap. Proximal and distal

stumps were each inserted into a silicone tube. In the

Sil/Hypericum group a silicone tube was implanted the

same way and each animal received three oral drops of

Hypericum 30c twice daily for 1 week. Each group was

subdivided into three sub-groups of six animals each

studied 4, 8, 12 weeks after surgery.

Results: Data were analyzed statistically by factorial

analysis of variance (ANOVA) and, the Bonferroni test

for pair-wise comparisons. Functional study showed

faster and better recovery of regenerated axons in

Sil/Hypericum than in Sil group (P <0.05).

Gastrocnemius muscle mass in Sil/Hypericum was

significantly greater than in Sil group. Morphometric

indices of regenerated fibers showed number and

diameter of the myelinated fibers in Sil/Hypericum were

significantly higher than in control group.

Immunohistochemistry, showed the location of

reactions to S-100 in Sil/Hypericum was clearly more

positive than in Sil group.

Conclusion: Hypericum improves functional recovery

of peripheral nerve regeneration in rats.

[We let the poor rats be. We have several cases of

Hypericum’s healing in recuperative action on nerves =

KSS].

7. Effects of microcurrent application alone or in

combinati8on with topical Hypericum perforatum

and Arnica Montana L. on surgically induced

wound healing in Wistar rats

CASTRO, Fabiene CB, et al.

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Objectives: This study evaluated the wound healing

activity of microcurrrent application alone or in

combination with topical Hypericum perforatum L. and

Arnica montana L. on skin surgical incision surgically

induced on the back of Wistar rats.

Design: The animals were randomly divided into six

groups: (1) no intervention (control group); (2)

microcurrent application (10 μA/2 min); (3) topical

application of gel containing H. perforatum; (4) topical

application of H. perforatum gel and microcurrent

(10μA/2 min). Tissue samples were obtained on the 2nd,

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

6th and 10th days after injury and submitted to structural

and morphometric analysis.

Results and conclusion: Differences in wound healing

were observed between treatments when compared to

the control group. Microcurrent application alone or

combined with H. perforatum gel or A. montana gel

exerted significant effects on wound healing in this

experimental model in all of the study parameters (P

<0.05) when compared to the control group with

positive effects seen regarding newly formed tissue,

number of newly formed blood vessels and percentage

of mature collagen fibers. The morphometric data

confirmed the structural findings. In conclusion,

application of H. perforatum or A. montana was

effective on experimental wound healing when

compared to control, but significant differences in the

parameters studied were only observed when these

treatments were combined with microcurrent

application.

[How do these researches make in wiser in daytoday

treatment = KSS]

8. Morphometry of white muscle fibers and

performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

fingerlings treated with methyltestosterone or a

homœopathic complex

JỨNIOR, R.P. ; VARGAS, L. et al.

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Background: Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), are

widely used in fish farming, hormonal treatments are

used to increase productivity. Studies of the

characteristics of the fiber types are important in species

that have well developed muscle mass, such as Nile

tilapia.

Methods: A total of 4800 post-larvel fish were

randomly assigned by tank to receive one of three

treatments: Control (30°GL alcohol), Homœopathic

complex (Homeopatila RS) or Hormone (17-α-

methyltestosterone) supplemented in the feed for 28

days. Survival and morphological parameters were

measured at day 45.

Results: At day 45, the survival rates were

54.1%(Control), 87.8% (Homeopathy), 50.3%

(Hormone). The mean final weight for Homœopathy

was statistically significantly lower (1.07g) than the

other two groups: Control (1.81g) and Hormone (2.04g).

Mean total lengths were Control (4.75cm), Hormone

(4.49cm), statistically significantly different from

Homœopathy (3.83cm). Average partial length, trunk

length, height and body width were significantly lower

for Homœopathy than Control or Hormone (p< 0.05)

Homœopathy treated fish had significantly greater

muscle fiber diameter than the other two groups.

Conclusions: Fish treated with the homœopathic

complex had improved survival and muscle fiber

hypertrophy, but were smaller (probably related to

increased survival and overcrowding) compared to

fingerlings treated with synthetic hormone or control.

9. Anxiolytic effect of homœopathic preparation of

Pulsatilla nigricans in Swiss albino mice

PRABHU, Lakshmipathy, R. et al.

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Background: The homœopathic preparation of

Pulsatilla nigricans is used in the treatment of anxiety

related disorders. Though in clinical use for many

years, the anxiolytic activity of Puls has not been

evaluated experimentally. Hence the present study was

conducted in Swiss albino Mice to evaluate the

anxiolytic activity of Puls and compare its activity with

the standard anxiolytic drug, diazepam.

Methods: Twenty four mice were divided into 4 groups

of 6 animals each, control, standard and two test groups.

The control group was treated Ethyl alcohol 10ml/kg.

The standard group received Diazepam, 1 mg/kg. to the

test groups. All animals were given the test and control

treatments orally for 15 days. The anxiolytic effect was

tested on days 1, 8 and 15 using the Elevated plus Maze

(EPM) and Open Field Test (OFT).

Results: Both diazepam and Puls showed significant

anxiolytic activity in EPM and OFT test compared to

control. The total number of entries and time spent in

open arm in EPM was increased by both diazepam and

Puls., the effect of 3x dilution of Puls was greater than

diazepam.

In the OFT the number of squares crossed, rearing and

assisted rearings decreased with both diazepam and Puls

compared to control and the anxiolytic effect of

diazepam was greater than Puls. The anxiolytic effect is

greater for the 3x dilution than 6x dilution of Puls.

Conclusion: The study showed an anxiolytic effect of

homœopathic preparation of Pulsatilla nigricans

comparable to that found with a standard drug.

10. Nonlinear dynamical systems effects of

homœopathic remedies on multiscale entropy and

correlation dimension of slow wave sleep EEG in

young adults with histories of coffee-induced

insomnia

BELL, R. et al. (HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Background: Investigators of Homœopathy have

proposed that nonlinear dynamical systems (NDS) and

complex systems science offer conceptual and analytic

tools for evaluating homœopathic remedy effects.

Previous animal studies demonstrate that homœopathic

medicines alter delta electroencephalographic (EEG)

slow wave sleep. The present study extended findings

of remedy-related sleep stage alterations in human

subjects by testing the feasibility of using two different

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

NDS analytic approaches to assess remedy effects on

human slow wave sleep EEG.

Methods: Subjects (N = 54) were young adult male and

female college students with a history of coffee-related

insomnia who participated in a larger 4-week study of

the polysomnographic effects of homœopathic

medicines on home-based all-night sleep recordings.

Subjects took one bedtime dose of a homœopathic

remedy (Coffea cruda or Nux vomica 30c). We

computed multiscale entropy (mse) and the correlation

dimension (Mekler-D2) for stages 3 and 4 slow wave

sleep EEG sampled in artifact-free 2-min segments

during the first two rapid-eye-movement (REM) cycles

for remedy and post-remedy nights, controlling for

placebo and post-placebo night effects.

Results: MSE results indicate significant, remedy-

specific directional effects, especially later in the night

(REM cycle 2) (CC: remedy night increases and post-

remedy night decreases in MSE at multiple sites for

both stages 3 and 4 in both REM cycles; NV: remedy

night decreases and post-remedy night increases, mainly

in stage 3 REM cycle 2 MSE). D2 analyses yielded

more sporadic and inconsistent findings.

Conclusions: Homœopathic medicines Coffea cruda

and Nux vomica in 30c potencies alter short-term

nonlinear dynamic parameters of slow wave sleep EEG

in healthy young adults. MSE may provide a more

sensitive NDS analytic method than D2 for evaluating

homœopathic remedy effects on human sleep EEG

patterns.

11. Randomised controlled trials of veterinary

Homœopathy: Characterising the peer-reviewed

research literature for systematic review

MATHIE, Robert, T. et al. (HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Introduction: Systematic review of the research

evidence in veterinary Homœopathy has never

previously been carried out. This paper presents the

search methods, together with categorized lists of

retrieved records, that enable us to identify the literature

that is acceptable for future systematic review of

randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in veterinary

Homœopathy.

Methods: All randomized and controlled trials of

homœopathic intervention (prophylaxis and/or treatment

of disease, in any species except man) were appraised

according to pre-specified criteria. The following

databases were systematically searched from their

inception up to and including March 2011: AMED;

Carstens-Stiftung Homœopathic Veterinary Clinical

Research (HomVetCR) database; CINAHL; Cochrane

Central Register of Controlled Trials; Embase;Hom-

Inform; LILACS; PubMed; Science Citation Index;

Scopus.

Results: One hundred and fifty records were retrieved;

38 satisfied the acceptance criteria (substantive report of

a clinical treatment or prophylaxis trial in veterinary

homœopathic medicine randomized and controlled and

published in a peer-reviewed journal), and were thus

eligible for future planned systematic review.

Approximately half of the rejected records were theses.

Seven species and 27 different species-specific medical

conditions were represented in the 38 papers. Similar

numbers of papers reported trials of treatment and

prophylaxis (n = 21and n = 17 respectively) and were

controlled against placebo or other than placebo (n = 18,

n = 20 respectively). Most research focused on non-

individualised Homœopathy (n = 35 papers) compared

with individualized Homœopathy (n = 3).

Conclusion: The results provide a complete and

clarified view of the RCT literature in veterinary

Homœopathy. We will systematically review the 38

substantive peer-reviewed journal articles under the

main headings: treatment trials; prophylaxis trials.

12. A systematic review and meta-analysis on the use

of Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort) for pain

conditions in dental practice

RAAK, Christa, et al. (HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Background: Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort)

has been used for a variety of medicinal indications.

Most recent research has focused on its use in herbal

form for depression, but its claimed analgesic and anti-

inflammatory properties in homœopathic form have also

led to a number of studies in patients with acute pain

conditions. This systematic review overviews the

literature on the use of St. John’s Wort for pain

conditions in homœopathic dental practice.

Materials and methods: PubMed, EMBASE, AMED,

CAMbase and the electronic archives of Thieme

Publishers were searched with the search terms

“(Hypericum OR St. Johns Wort) AND pain”. We

reviewed and meta-analysed the evidence on Hypericum

in pain after tooth extraction was carried out.

Results: Twenty one relevant articles were found: four

described general recommendations, three basic

research, six reported studies in dental care and eight

were expert opinions or case reports. Four studies were

eligible for the meta-analysis. There was marked high

heterogeneity in the effects pain (Chi-Squared = 26.46;

12 = 0.89). The overall effect of 0.24 (95% Cl: [0.06;

1.03]) favours Hypericum but is not statistically

significant.

Conclusion: Although case reports suggest therapeutic

potential of Hypericum for pain conditions in dental

care, this effect is not currently supported by clinical

studies. All studies included in this meta-analysis used

Arnica montana as well as Hypericum the results are

more influenced by Arnica than Hypericum. Further

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clinical controlled trials of Hypericum alone in dental

practice should be performed.

[In fact HAHNEMANN has said in his Materia Medica

Pura that Arnica is ‘very beneficial …. Consequent on

extracting teeth, and in other surgical operations ….’ =

KSS].

13. Observational study of the use of Symphytum 5cH

in the management of pain and swelling after dental

implant surgery

MAZZOCCHI, Alberto and MONTANARO, Fabio

(HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Objective: To assess the effect of Symphytum 5cH on

the postoperative pain and swelling after placement of a

titanium dental implant.

Material and methods: Data on pain and swelling

following pure titanium implants were reviewed.

Patients were treated postoperatively with ketoprofen

only or ketoprofen and Symphytum 5cH, according to

the treating dentist’s usual practice. Demographics and

baseline characteristics were recorded and compared.

Pain and swelling were compared between the two

treatment groups using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and

ordinal logistic regression, estimating odds ratios and

confidence intervals.

Results: 100 implants in 57 patients (28 males, 29

females) were treated with ketoprofen alone; 100

implants in 60 patients (14 males, 46 females) with

ketoprofen and Symphytum. The group treated with

ketoprofen and Symphytum appeared to have a better

response in terms of both pain and swelling. Ordinal

logistic regression: pain 0.23, 95% Cl 0.13-0.41;

swelling 0.24, 95% Cl 0.13-0.44. Correction for

demographics and implant characteristics greatly

widened the confidence intervals so that the results were

no longer statistically significant (pain: OR = 0.15, 95%

Cl 0.07-34.56; swelling OR = 0.18, 95% Cl 0.07—

46.78).

Conclusions: Adding Symphytum 5CH to conventional

analgesia may reduce pain and swelling after minor

dental implant surgery. No firm conclusion can be

drawn since the results are confounded by baseline

differences, principally gender. Further, randomized,

studies should be conducted.

14. Constitutional, organopathic and combined

Homœopathic treatment of benign prostatic

hypertrophy: a clinical trial

HATI, A.K.; PAITAL B. et al.

(HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Background: Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH) is

common in older men. This study compared

homœopathic treatment strategies using constitutional

medicines (CM) or organopathic medicines (OM) alone

or in combination (BCOM) in patients suffering from

BPH.

Methods: 220 men aged 30-90 years were recruited in

Odisha, India. Patients presenting symptoms of

prostatism, with or without evidence of bladder outflow

obstruction were included in the study. Patients with

serum prostate specific antigen (PSA)> 4 nmol/mL,

malignancy, complete urine retention, stone formation

and gross bilateral hydronephrosis were excluded.

Patients were sequentially allocated to OM, CM or

BCOM. The main outcome measure was the

International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS).

Results: 73, 70 and 77 patients respectively were

sequentially allocated to OM, CM or BCOM. 180

patients (60 per group) completed treatment and were

included in the final analysis. Overall 85% of patients

showed improvement of subjective symptoms such as

frequency, urgency, hesitancy, intermittent flow,

unsatisfactory urination, feeble stream, diminution of

residual urine volume but there was no reduction in

prostate size. Treatment response was highest with

BCOM (38.24%) compared to OM (31.62%) and CM

(30.15%). Effect sizes were highest for the decrease in

IPSS, residual urine volume and urinary flow rate.

15. Individualized Homœopathy in a group of Egyptian

asthmatic children

SHAFEI, Heba Farid et al.

(HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Objectives: To evaluate Homœopathy as an adjunctive

treatment for bronchial Asthma in children.

Methods: In a prospective observational longitudinal

study the effects of individualized homœopathic

medicines were assessed in 30 children with Asthma as

an adjunct to conventional treatment. The main

outcome measures were frequency of attacks, use of

medication, night awakening and spirometry at baseline

and at follow-up till 6 months.

Results: There were clinically relevant statistically

changes in those measuring severity, indicating relative

improvements after 3 months and absolute

improvements after 6 months of treatment by

homœopathic medicines.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence that

homœopathic medicines, as prescribed by experienced

homœopathic practitioners, improve severity of Asthma

in children. Controlled studies should be conducted.

16. Antiresorptive drugs (bisphosphonates), atypical

fractures and rebound effect: new evidence of

similitude

TEIXEIRA, Marcus Zulian

(HOM. 101, 4/2012)

Background: Homœopathy is based on treatment by

similitude (‘like cures like’) administering to sick

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individuals substances that cause similar symptoms in

healthy individuals, employing the secondary and

paradoxical action of the organism as therapeutic

response. This vital or homœostatic reaction of the

organism can be scientifically explained by the rebound

effect of drugs, resulting in worsening of symptoms

after suspension of treatment. Bisphosphonates (BPs)

reduce ‘typical’ fractures in patients with osteoporosis,

but recent studies report ‘atypical’ fractures of the femur

after stopping the BPs, a rebound effect may be the

causal mechanism.

Method: Review of the literature concerning the

relationship between atypical femoral fractures and

antiresorptive drugs (bisphosphonates), identifying the

pathogenesis of this adverse event.

Results: Several studies have described multiple cases

of ‘atypical’ low-impact subtrochanteric stress fractures

or complete fractures of the femur. These fractures are

often bilateral, preceded by pain in the affected thigh,

may have a typical X-ray appearance, and may delayed

healing. Rebound of osteoclastic activity after

suspension of antiresorptive drugs is a plausible

mechanism to explain this phenomenon.

Conclusion: As for other classes of drugs, the rebound

effect of antiresorptive drugs supports Hahnemann’s

similitude principle (primary action of the drugs

followed by secondary and opposite action of the

organism), and clarifies this ‘unresolved’ issue.

Unfortunately, the rebound effect is little discussed

among health professionals, depriving them of

important knowledge ensure safe management of drugs.

17. The Structure of water

GANN, David (AH. 17/2011)

This is, as the title suggests, about recent

experiments on water or rather, ‘What is Water’.

“The Secret of Life has been the foundation of

philosophy and medicine throughout history. The

Chinese called it qi; the Japanese, ki; the Indians, prana;

and Wilhelm Reich, orgone. Much of medicine before

1940 was rather pragmatic empirical practice with many

errors. Since 1940 the bulk of modern medicine has

been a takeover by the PharmacoMafia—my title for the

pharmaceutical industry. Today Modern Medicine is at

least the third leading cause of death in the United

States (JAMA, July 2000). Drugs that have little

justification and serious risks, called side effects, are

added almost daily to the stream of offerings.

Numerous brave souls question the current system, and

yet it is THE SYSTEM rejecting and attacking viciously

virtually every alternative.”

Homœopathy which was introduced by Samuel

HAHNEMANN was rejected by snobbish people who

considered themselves as intellectually superior.

However, Homœopathy has been going on steadily

growing.

Experiments by DAVID and YEN have

demonstrated that microscopic clustrers of water is

ground-breaking.

[There has been other works on ‘water’. Masaru

ENNOTO’s ‘The Healing Power of Water’ ISBN 978-

1- 4019-876-8 1ST Hay Edition, Sept. 2007, 275 pages

says it all well = KSS].

-----------------------------------------------------------------

VII. HISTORY

1. Sanatorien für Touristen – Medikamente für zu

House – Heilkundige nach Bedarf: Heilkulturen im

Herzogtum Gotha (Ca. 1850 – Ca. 1950).

(Sanatorium for Tourists – Domestic medicines in

household – Physicians when called – Healing

cultures in the Dutchy of Gotha. Ca. 1850 – Ca.

1950), by MILDENBERGER Florian, G. (MedGG,

30/2011).

Up to 1920 Thuringia was separated into many

territories some of which well known for their

unorthodox pharmaceutical industries. Gotha was the

only famous Dutchy because one of its princes had

married the Queen of England in 1840. The country

was backward and the State administration was

incapable of solving health issues. It was due to the

interest of some physicians that the fragile balance

between Homœopathy, Naturopathy, Physician and

Pharmacists broke down after 1900. But the State

bureaucracy was unable to convince the people of its

new health care approaches that were just based on

scientific Medicine.

The diversified medical culture gradually

disappeared under the pressure of the administration.

[As far as Homœopathy is concerned, it may be

recalled that HAHNEMANN was in Gotha in 1792 and

had his practice there. Soon he had his first Mentally

disturbed patient, Friedrich Adolf KLOCKENBRING

whom he treated with his new healing method with its

emphasis on the making a self study and narrate

complaints. = KSS].

2. Geschlechterbilder und geschlechtsspezifische

Therapien in deutschsprächigen Patienten-

ratgebern der Homöopathie und Naturheilkunde

(Ca.1870 – 1930)

(Images of gender and genderspecific therapies in

German speaking homœopathic and Naturopathic

Guidebooks (Ca. 1870 – 1930)

WEIGL, Andreas (MedGG. 30/2011)

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

In the second half of the nineteenth and early

twentieth century sex and gender became crucial

categories not only in the medical discourse of German

speaking countries. At the very centre of this discourse

was the idea of women as the weaker sex. Because of

the paradigm shift in the history of medicine (due to the

discovery of the cytopathology) the principle of a

weaker sex seemed to be corroborated by scientific

research, a fact which impacted on medical practice in

many ways. “Nervous” disease evolved as the major

threat “of our times,” with urban girls, young women

and “weak” young men being most at risk. At the same

time homœopaths and naturopaths challenged modern

medicine, offering alternative health practices, cures and

drugs for people who could not afford the help of

physicians or distrusted them. An analysis of several

alternative medical guidebooks printed between c. 1870

and 1930 showed that homœopaths and naturopaths

shared the “sexualization” of medical discourse and

practice only to an extent. On the one hand they

believed that disorders such as hysteria, masturbation,

chorea Sydenham and anaemia were nervous in nature

and that the chances of curing them were poor. With

the exception of masturbation these “deadly” threats

were considered to be typically female. The general

approach of alternative physicians, on the other hand,

was unisex. The cures they offered to the public used

unisex scales of constitutional characters. They even

ignored the gender specificity of sick headaches.

Gender-specific problems such as difficult deliveries

and childbed fever were treated as “natural” and mild

cures were favoured. The conclusion is that the

influences of upper and middle class discourse on

common health practices should not be overestimated.

3. Rebellious Heretic and Exacting Pedant: Two

aspects of Samuel Hahnemann

MORRELL, Peter (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

Two contrasting characteristics of

HAHNEMANN—the intolerant, exacting dogmatist and

the rebellious, heretical experimenter – are discussed.

Which was the more prominent quality is a matter of

conjecture. The author settles on the Pedant as more

likely.

[Where is the need to ‘judge’ Hahnemann’s character?

The words ‘dogmatic’, ‘heretic’. ‘Pedant’ are not words

used in appreciation of a great thinker. Such will be

considered ‘smear words in my opinion. In spite of

Hahnemann’s ‘dogmatism’, there has been and is,

much pollution in the name of innovations. We need to

understand the Organon and Chronic Diseases.

Straying, peeping into his character, is not good not

warranted. = KSS]

4. Hahnemann Monument Restoration Project

CHASE, Sandra, M (AJHM. 105, 2/2012)

The finest, and the largest monument for Samuel

HAHNEMANN was erected in Washington D.C. in

1900. It was constructed at a cost of $48,000 and was

dedicated to the nation by the President of the USA

William McKINLEY. In fact it was the first, and until

recently the only, memorial to a non-american.

Over the years there was wear and tear and during

the centennial in 2000 it was resolved to renovate the

Monument. An amount of $30,000 was collected and

the renovation planned. Experts in restoration and

preservation were involved in the great work. With all

care the work went on. The committee ensured that the

stained glass and granite were original. The work began

in 2003 and was completed in time for the LMHI

Congress in 2012.

Everything about this Memorial has significance to

HAHNEMANN and Homœopathy.

The head of HAHNEMANN was modelled from a

bust in life made by David, gifted by MELANIE

HAHNEMANN to one of the American Homœopathic

Colleges.

The statue is dressed in the robe of a Scholar,

making the figure timeless, as he is not depicted in

period clothing.

The arch behind his head, made of Italian colored

glass backed with gold leaf, depicts a stylized Cinchona,

the first proved medicine.

The bronze entablatures, depicts four stages in

HAHNEMANN’s life: night vigils of the student,

investigations of the chemist, self experiment and

teaching, and successful treatment of Typhus patients in

Leipsig. The figures portrayed are all disciples of

HAHNEMANN: DUNHAM, GROSS, HARTMANN

HERING and STAPF.

The statue is considered to be “the most effective

seated statue ever produced.”

5. Standing on their shoulders

ALBRECHT, Renee Sagebear (AH. 17/2011)

This article describes the achievement of women

homœopathic graduates who comprised fifteen percent

in the nineteenth century.

Susan Smith McKinney STEWARD was the first

African-American woman to earn a medical degree at

New York Medical College.

Emily Beecher STOWE, born in 1831, was the first

female doctor in Canada. Her records are now archived

in Victoria College at the University of Toronto.

Myra King MERRICK, Physician to John D.

ROCKFELLER, was the first female general physician

in America and the founder of Obstetrics and Diseases

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

of no Men and Children at Cleveland Homœopathic

Hospital College.

Mary Ware DENNETT organized the first National

Birth control League in 1915 and advocated for a

woman’s legal right to access to health information and

family planning devices.

Dr. WRIGHT HUBBARD was among the first

women to graduate in 1921 from the college of

Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

Julia GREEN was named the first Chair of the

American Foundation of Homœopathy in 1923.

Margaret Lucy TYLER, born 1875, became doctor

at age 44 and worked for over 40 years in the London

Homœopathic Hospital.

There was a prominent female homœopath prior to

these figures. After reading the Organon of Medicine,

Melanie D’HERVILLY sought out Dr. Samuel

HAHNEMANN in 1834 for a discomfort which

interfered with her livelihood as a painter.

Melanie Hahnemann’s personal struggle to

maintain Hahnemann’s legacy buoyed the momentum

of nineteeth and twentieth century women in pursuit of

education and independence.

---------------------------------------------------------------

VIII. GENERAL

1. Characteristics of visitors to Practitioners of

Homœopathy in a large adult Norwegian

population (the HUNT 3 study)

LØHRE, Audhild, et al.

(HOM. 101, 3/2012)

Objectives: The aim was to investigate characteristics

of female and male visitors to practitioners of

Homœopathy in a large adult total population in

Norway.

Methods: A cross-sectional adult total population

health survey from Central Norway (the Nord-

Trøndelag Health Study – HUNT 3) conducted in 2008.

Variables included demographics, lifestyle, health status

and health care use. Multivariate logistic regression

models were employed to analyse the data.

Results: In total 50,827 participated (54% of the total

population). The prevalence of visits to practitioners of

Homœopathy was 1.3%, a decline from 4.3% 10 years

earlier. Both female and male visitors were 4-5 times

more likely to experience recent somatic complaints.

Further, female visitors were characterized by higher

education, non-smoking, more chronic complaints, and

visiting a physician or a chiropractor the past year

whereas male visitors were characterized by seeking

help for psychiatric complaints and visiting and

chiropractor. There were no associations of age, marital

status, physical activity, perceived global health,

respiratory, skin, or musculoskeletal diseases with

visiting practitioners of Homœopathy.

Conclusions and proposals: There has been a marked

decline in visits to practitioners of Homœopathy. The

results indicate a change in reasons to consult from

complaints that influences the visitors’ global health to

less chronic complaints. Further research should

compare changes in visits complementary and

alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners and the

characteristics of visitors to practitioners of

Homœopathy to characteristics of other CAM visitors.

2. Standards and Competencies: Two Wheels, one

Vehicle

SCHOR, Heidi; ALLEN, Karen

(AH. 17/2011)

This article is a transcript from a presentation given

at this year’s joint conference.

Homœopathy is the fastest growing health care

profession in the USA and is the second most used form

of medicine in the world. In the USA, it is part of

CAM, Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Professions require credentials. Credentialising is

establishing the qualifications of professionals,

organizations and also an evaluation of a subjects

current training or experience, competence and ability to

provide particular services. Thus it includes

accreditation, certification, licensure and registration to

the Standards and Competencies. (S & C)

The list of homœopathic organizations are:

ACCAHC: Academic Consortium of Complementary

and Alternative Health Care

AAHP: American Association of Homœopathic

Pharmacists

ABHt: American Board of Homœotherapeutics

ACHENA: Accreditation Commission for Homœopathic

Education in North America

AIH: American Institute of Homœopathy

AVH: Academy of Veterinary Homœopathy

CHC: Council for Homœopathic Certification

HAA: Homœopathic Action Alliance

HANP: Homœopathic Academy of Naturopathic

Physicians

HNA: Homœopathic Nurses Association

HPUS: Homœopathic Pharmacopœia of the US

HWB: Homœopaths Without Borders

ICH: International Council for Homœopathy

IHPC: Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium

NANHE: North American Network of Homœopathic

Educatiors

NASH: North American Society of Homœopaths

NCH: National Center for Homœopathy

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3. The work continues: Homœopaths Without Borders

(HWB) in Haiti

NARRAGON, Lisette (AH. 17/2011)

Lisette NARRAGON had been to Haiti four times

in 2010 with HWB. The first clinic of HWB was at St.

Vincent’s school. Cases treated were headaches,

indigestion and heartburn, ear infections and backaches.

For fevers mostly Belladonna, as the pounding

headache, red face and dilated pupils were seen several

cases with severe bone pains, achiness all over needed,

Eupatorium perfoliatum. A case of woman who simply

could not keep her eyes open with fever. Gelsemium

200, perked her up within half an-hour.

When forced to have brief consultations,

observations holds key to prescription: Hairstyle, dress,

neatness, facial expression, odor, interaction with

others.

One young man in a wheelchair was given Silicea

based mostly on his demeanor and a pus filled wound

on his foot that refused to heal. Three visits later much

better and was on his foot.

HWB volunteers also taught at a nursing school.

The goal was to teach first aid course to fourth year

students over several trips.

4. Understanding Aggravations within the Framework

of the Homœotherapeutic Relationship

HUENECKE-Jason-Aeric (AH. 17/2011)

This article is relevant and interesting. Full article

in Part II.

---------------------------------------------------------------

IX. BOOKS

1. The Art of Case Taking: Selected Extracts from

the Writings of Pierre SCHMIDT. Emryss

Publishers, May 2011. www.Emryss.com.

ISBN/EAN: 978-90-76189-34-5. 151 pages,

Hardbound. No index. Review: Nicholas

NASSAMAN (AJHM. 104, 4/2011).

“Pierre SCHMIDT was one of the most successful,

revered and influential homœopathic physicians of the

20th Century…… Dr. SCHMIDT, besides teaching for

decades in Europe, lectured extensively in India as well.

… In the chronic case-taking section he presents a

distillation of crucial information that must be obtained

…. The desirability of always examining the patient (he

describes it as responding to the natural desire of each

patient to have something examined by the doctor) ……

He refers to the significance of tics – symptoms of the

sub-conscious – implying in adults that something is not

right in the sexual sphere, especially if they are near the

nose. In children he asserts that they are related to

something that shocked them in some way…….. he

encourages the use of Sac Lac as the first prescription if

the prescriber is not sure of the remedy and desires a

second consultation to clarify further. … The section on

acute Case-Taking follows Hering’s well-known

description and diagram describing the features of a

complete symptom. The answers to the questions,

“Why, Who, What, Where, When and What

accompanies?” comprise the description of a complete

symptom. …… The book is rounded out with a brief

description of some of the Nosodes, with many ‘pearls’

based on his experience, followed by a section entitled

“Further Therapeutic Consideration,” which is chock

full of more “pearls,” including hygiene considerations,

subtle and helpful observations of the patient…. The

book contains a wealth of material describing the art

and science of gathering information, woven through

with a rich measure of Dr. Schmidt’s observations from

his long career as an influential and illustrious

homœopath, and is a valuable addition to the library of

any beginning or experienced homœopathic prescriber.”

IV. Bowel Nosodes in Homœopathic practice by

John SAXTON, Saltire Books: Glasgow, Scotland.

Paperback 154 pages, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-9559065-0-

3. Reviewed by George GUESS (AJHM. 104,

4/2011):

The book “provides both a splendid introduction

and an extensive education in all aspects of the Bowel

Nosodes, and is of value for both homœopathic novices

and experienced practitioner. …. Much is discussed of

the practical application of the Bowel Nosodes in the

Clinic. The author thoroughly recounts the varied

tactical applications of these agents; ….. The book then

turns to a detailed accounting of the Materia Medica of

each Bowel Nosode. …. This book on the Bowel

Nosodes I consider ‘a must read’ for anyone wishing to

learn more about them.”

---------------------------------------------------------------

X. NEWS & NOTES

I. PLANTING SEEDS. Julian WINSTON (HT.

23,7/2003).

A few weeks ago I was watching a TV program

called “The Zoo.” It is a weekly documentary about

“behind-the-scenes” at the Auckland Zoo in New

Zealand. One segment told the story of a female gibbon

(small ape) who had given birth to twins but was

refusing to nurse them. Two zoo staff members had

taken the infants “under wing” and were hoping to be

able to keep them alive. It was an uphill struggle.

I sat and watched thinking, “Too bad they don’t

know about Sepia,” as I remembered some of my

successes with this homœopathic remedy and reluctant

mothers. I recall six cases---two dogs, three cats, and

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one human (whose physician consulted me). All were

successful. The human case was, perhaps, the most

successful, in that the woman’s MD was so impressed

with the result that she came to the NCH Summer

School program that year and is now in homœopathic

practice.

But my firsthand experience with a dog who was

helped by Sepia was most amazing to me. I was visiting

a friend whose dog had recently had a litter of four. The

dog had nursed for a while, but by the time I visited, she

had given up. If any of the litter tried to approach her,

she ran to the other side of the room. If they still

managed to get to her, she ran in the opposite direction.

It was getting to be a serious problem and the owner did

not know how the puppies were going to be fed.

One of the keynotes of the remedy Sepia is

“indifference to her own offspring.” I suggested Sepia

for this dog. A single dose of Sepia 200c was given to

the mother---just a few granules poured in the flap of

the dog’s mouth next to the gum line. My host said,

“Do you think it will help?” and as we watched, mom

went over to where the puppies were, lay down, and

presented herself for nursing. As fast as that.

I thought, “If everyone could have seen this

mother’s amazing response to Sepia, then Homœopathy

would have no worries.”

With that in mind, I e-mailed the head veterinarian

at the Auckland Zoo, told him of my experiences with

Sepia and reluctant mothers, and suggested he check

into Homœopathy.

I received a very quick reply, saying that they do

use some Homœopathy at the zoo, but were unaware of

Sepia for that problem. He thanked me and said he

would make contact with the animal homœopath whose

name I had given him.

I trust it was a well-planted seed.

How many of us see similar instances? How many

of us act? How many seeds could be planted if we all

took pen to hand (or put fingers to keyboard) and said,

“Let me suggest….”

II. Reflections on a remedy: Iris versicolor.

Iris versicolor, the wildflower with purple flowers

from which the homœopathic remedy is made (the root

of the plant is used), can be found growing in wet,

swampy places and along stream banks shorelines. Its

seeds float on water. As does Marissa-thrive in water

that is!

There were three striking features about the

indications for prescribing Iris versicolor that I found

very amenable to school-aged people in general and to

teenagers in particular.

Hypoglycemia

The first was the remedy’s affinity for problems of

the pancreas and its specificity for hypoglycemia (low

blood sugar).

Mental exhaustion

Second, the affinity of Iris versicolor for the nerves

and digestive tract along with its modality of being

worse for mental exhaustion conjures up a picture of a

person who has become overwhelmed from overwork, a

common problem of children and teens these days.

Murphy’s Materia Medica lists the following

pertinent symptoms of the mind for Iris versicolor.

Low-spirited; dullness of mental faculties; much mental

depression; vexed, irritable mood; inability to fix the

mind on any subject; dullness of the head; weakness of

memory.

Learning difficulties

Third, Iris versicolor is a remedy to consider for

the ubiquitous learning disabilities, with its indications

of dullness of mental faculties, weakness of memory,

and inability to focus. These problems can become

exacerbated and thus symptomatic when the person is

overwhelmed and these faculties are challenged beyond

their ability to cope. When the organism can no longer

adapt, it breaks down and throws off symptoms from the

areas of susceptibility, as it did in Marissa’s case.

Faith, wisdom and valor

The Iris flower is the symbol of the French

monarchy and is called “fleurde-lis.” In Frans

Vermeulen’s Prisma Materia Medica, he mentions that

the Iris is placed on the scepter of the French kings, the

three large petals of the Iris representing faith, wisdom,

and valor. With Marissa I had the feeling of the soft,

sensitive petals of the Iris being crushed in her.

With homœopathic treatment, as Marissa comes

into the “full bloom” of her health potential, it is hoped

that the highest ideal of cure will manifest as she

radiates these noble qualities of the Iris.

(HT. 23, 10/2003).

III. The Merseyside Skeptics Society, a worldwide

Society which has been arguing that homœopathic

potencies are mere dilutions and there is not even one

molecule of the supposed active substance in the

remedy. Hence the campaign slogan: Homœopathy:

there is nothing in it. Their arguments are on the basis

of Avogadro principle, which meant that beyond a limit

we cannot find even one molecule, therefore the claim

that the substance so diluted (beyond limit of Avogadro

works, is not right.)

Researches do prove that the high dilutions do

work, not only in humans but also in arrivals and plants.

If we are to satisfy the Skeptics we will destroy

ourselves. To reduce Homœopathy within the

framework of Avogadro’s constant, it will be impossible

to progress.

Evidently our critics lack knowledge on the subject.

To answer the call of the skeptics or scientometric

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indices will not make us grow up, will not make us

more organized nor respected!

So, what should we do. We should review and

reflect on our scientific approach to the phenomenon

of the high dilutions and Homœopathy. And we don’t

need to bother requesting a space in the universe of

Science. We should dedicate ourselves to the difficult

task of uncovering the phenomenon behind the high

dilutions and Homœopathy, in order to fill and space in

an honorable manner. [Abstract of Editorial by Carlos

Renato Zacharias, International Journal of High

Dilution Research, 2011; 10(34)].

IV. 3 July is ‘doctor’s day’ and the News paper

carried articles about unethical medical practices,

rank corruption, etc. The British Medical Journal

is reported to have carried an article highly critical:

“Corruption ruins the doctor-patient relationship in

India”, and this article has caused the critical writing in

the Newspapers. The Hindu, dated 3 July 2014 titled

“An overburdened public sector and an exploitative

Private Sector” article speaks of alleviation of poverty.

The slogan ‘Garibi hatao’ was raised by the late Indira

Gandhi. After three decades the poor or still poor and

the political parties still speak of the poor and

downtrodden. Poverty is nurtured carefully by the

Government and poor health status is the fate of the

poor. Worse is the Government encouraging private

sector hospitals. The private sector aim is only profit.

No one is so naïve as to expect them to ‘serve’ the

people. The Government seems to have abandoned its

role; with the result that the India’s sickly, mostly

belonging to poor or lower middle class, chose to go

private sector. Their faith in the Govt. hospitals is so

poor. The Private Sector sucks the blood of the poor.

Some 2-3 years ago when Sainath of The Hindu wrote a

series of articles on the pathetic state of Vidarbha

Cotton farmers and several suicides. There was the

picture of an old and famished person in a cot and

Sainath observed that this person’s health was so bad

that he should be taken to hospital to which the answer

was that the patient had just returned from the hospital

with a debt of Rs. 1 Lakh as dues to the hospital!

“Out of pocket healthcare expenses in India are

among the highest in the world. A medical emergency

is a catastrophe plunging families into deep debt, even

impoverishment. ….. Private Sector hospitals in the

country are notorious for prescribing unnecessary tests

from private laboratories.”

Kokilaban Dhirubai Ambani Hospital belonging to

Reliance Group under the direct control of Ambani’s

wife Dina Anil Ambani. This hospital trumpets that its

aim was to fill the gap in the Indian Health Care

System. However, this Hospital began to make doctors

as agents; it gave printed forms to doctors who agreed to

be agents and made bribery to doctors as an approved

method. These doctor agents

who are private practitioners will recommend to their

patients to “go to Ambani hospital where they will get

quality medicare” and if the doctor- agent recommends

40 patients he/she will get one lakh Rupees and 1.5

lakhs if 50 patients and if 75 patients it will be Rs. 2.5

lakhs. When the hospital was ‘caught’ it confessed to

the ‘mistake’ and explained that in their enthusiasm this

was done and that they regret and had since stopped this

practice.

However, the public knows quite well that such and

other surreptitious actions go on. It is openly said that

for every MRI ordered the doctor gets a cut and so also

for every CT Scan, etc. Most of the diagnostic tests

ordered are unnecessary.

Unless the Government regulates Health Care

poverty cannot be removed.

Instead of priding in ‘Multi-speciality hospitals’,

there should be hundreds of Primary Health Care

Hospitals which everyone can access freely. The Health

care units must be self-equipped and staffed and

supervised to ensure that the doctors and patients do not

absent at their will.

Towards this the Government should do more and

the people demand. Doles of ‘free Sarees, Laptops,’

etc. etc. are to capture votes.

It is the poor and indifferent treatments that the

poor receive in the Government hospitals that make the

common man turn away and seek the private hospitals.

It is same of the Government schools which fail to do

well and people turning to Private Schools.

Almost all of us have seen pathetic pictures of

malnourished and ill children in the arms of the equally

skin and bones mother? Haven’t we seen really old,

poor, ill women and men? I think that every doctor

working in a government hospital be provided with

these pictures so that he/she should help change that

state of affairs in so far as his/her role in concerned. =

KSS].

V. Ethnic strifes, killings, religious and Caste-based

atrocities, all are increasing in several parts of the

world. (The Hindu, Friday, June 6, 2014).

In Myanmar, in spite Aung San Suu Kyi, the

Buddhist Monks are at killing the Muslims and the

Muslims are not far behind in retaliation. The Myanmar

Government doubled down on its repression by

essentially cutting off one million Rohingya from access

to doctors, leaving that, in some cases, to die

unattended. This is grotesque, and some scholars think

it approaches genocide. Noor Begum, an emaciated 37-

year-old woman who is confined to an interment camp

without doctors and over the course of three days lost

her husband and her twin babies.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Then there is Asiya Khatu, 28, who smashed her finger

in a door, breaking the bone so that it protrude from the

finger. She needed a doctor but had to settle for the

only alternative a makeshift pharmacy, run by a man

named Moung Maung Tin. He cut open the finger,

pushed the bone back in place and then stitched her up

with a splint of bamboo.

That’s a sign of the resilience that is as stunning a

feature of the camps as the deprication. There is

suffering, death and despair, but there is also courage,

generosity and ambition.

[We have read of worser events in Sri Lanka.

Genocides are taking all around and no government is

free from it. It is power, greed, which is responsible for

these cruelties. This is a disease, if anything and needs

to be cured. I do not remember where, but somewhere,

HAHNEMANN has said that war is a disease. – KSS.]

VI. A message from the President. MUELLER,

Manfred (AH. 17/2011).

The power to restore health and even to prevent

death [Death cannot be prevented whereas birth can be.

I think it is preposterous to even imagine prevention of

death = KSS] is of greater significance than the ability

to acquire wealth or power for its own sake. Failures

teach us much needed humility. Restored health with its

inner clarity and freedom allows us to attend to the

“higher purpose of living.”

A teacher suffered from the effects of a Black

widow Spider bite. His health declined and on every

anniversary of the bite he experienced painful

symptoms lasting days. Nothing worked until a dose of

Latrodectus mactans. Relief after first dose and

complete cessation of symptoms after 2nd dose.

A young man prone to anaphylaxis was bitten by a

yellow jacket. Throat began to swell and was turning

bluish from lack of Oxygen. With Apis mellifica he

took a deep breathe and recovered quickly with few

more doses.

A scientist, gradually lost her sense of balance of

strength in her left arm and left leg diagnosed as MS.

Lost her job and hope of recovery. Natrum muriaticum

and Lachesis restored her health completely.

An old sailor with bilateral haemorrhagic macular

degeneration, diabetes, was told he would be blind in 1-

2 years even after surgery. Crotalus horridus resolved

the problem and he is back sailing his boat.

Impossible cures like these are what keep

Homœopaths and Homœopathy going. It is up to us to

show the world what Homœopathy can do.

VII. Joint American Homœopathic Conference 2011.

(JAHC). HARRISON, Betsy. (AH. 17, 2011).

JAHC was held in Alexandria, Virginia, organized

and promoted by Whole Health Now, with 450

delegates. One focus was on legal issues: Certification,

registration and health freedom action. Presentations

included one mind-boggling work on AIDS project in

Africa and an exciting video/web cast called

Homœopathy around the world.

Sessions on introductory and advanced

homœopathic topics. Spirited discussion ensued on the

evening of the moderated panel discussion.

VIII. Time for a ‘Right To Healthcare’. Extracts

from conversation between Amartya Sen and

Thomas W. Lamont. (The Hindu, Wednesday,

December 18, 2013)

“India ranks alongside Haiti and Sierra Leone when

it comes to government spending on health as a share of

the total expenditure of the people – says Amartya Sen”.

After Right to work and right to food, time has

come for a ‘Right to Health Care legislation’ given the

poor state of public health care infrastructure in India.

Any self-respecting country has to regard provision of

health care to its citizen a primary responsibility. By

the end of the second world war, European countries

and some Asian countries like Japan went in that

direction. China in 1979 went on to Market this to their

citizen and made them to buy their insurance cover

themselves which was until then automatic. But this

error was costly as the population coverage dipped to 12

percent. The Chinese reversed this decision and now

96 percent of the population is covered.

India has unfortunately never thought of healthcare

as its primary responsibility. The whole engine of

Asian economic development has been the expansion of

human capability and the recognition that there is

nothing as favourable not only for development but also

for economic growth. For India which is single-

mindedly concerned with growth rate for a long time,

the best recipe is to have a healthy educated population.

Every bit of growth generates more revenue that the

government can spend on health and education which

ultimately solidifies the foundation of growth as well as

development and the advantage is one can start

anywhere, anytime and each of them will work parallel

and no need to wait until one gets down and start

working. The political economy increases the peoples’

income. A higher income gives the people the ability to

do things which they value doing. As Adam smith

(1976) said that political economy increases public

revenue which allows the government to do those things

which government alone can do such as education.

Unfortunately the unclear thinking is government

cannot do anything at all and it should be left to the

private sector. Secondly, they don’t recognize that the

governmental share of health care in India as a

percentage of total health expenditure that people make

is one of the three lowest in the world and thus we are in

the company of Haiti/Sierra Leone.

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The statistics reveal that government of India spend

1.2 percent of GDP compared to ¼th of what China

spends on healthcare, which is 3 percent of GDP. The

existing system in India don’t cover preventive

medicine or preventive health care. There is no way of

running public health care for government of India

whereas states like Kerala and Tamilnadu sustains and

they have the highest disposable income per capita in

India. This has improved the quality of life and

enhances the economic development. Why not

government of India follow these examples and invest

in people’s health care and education which solidifies

the foundation of growth as well as development?

IX. In Memory of Alfons Geukens, M.D. HAYES,

Deborah (AH. 17/2011).

Alfons GEUKENS was born on 30th Sept. 1944 in

Balen, Belgium. Initially trained in tropical medicine as

a nurse, he later obtained his medical degree. After

encountering Homœopathy through one of his patients,

he set out with his characteristic drive and intensity,

studying for several years with George VITHOULKAS

in Greece.

Founded the Clinical Training Center for Classical

Homœopathy in Hechtel, Belgium in 1983. In 1994, he

founded the International School for Classical

Homœopathy, also in Hechtel where he continued his

mission to train physicians in Classical Homœopathy.

Saying, “I never prescribe on mental symptoms. Take

the case; perceive the totality of symptoms with special

emphasis on strange, rare and peculiar symptoms”. His

focus was on clinical examination and observation

rather than elaborate psychological analysis.

Dr. GEUKENS was the author of numerous

publications, including Homœopathic Practice, a series

of several books of cured cases and the Small Remedy

Seminar Volumes.

======================================

X. Biography:

1. Adolph Graf zur LIPPE Bisterfeld-Weissenfield

(May 11, 1812 – January 23, 1888: 75 years of age)

YASGUR, Jay (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

This brief professional Biography of Adolph LIPPE

details his education and rise in the Homœopathy

Medicine, as well as his many significant contribution

to Homœopathy. His close relationships with many

renowned homœopaths of his day are also discussed.

2. A Canadian Pioneer: Dr. Emily STOWE.

BURDEN, Allyson (AH. 17, 2011)

Emily Howard Jennings STOWE, is a Canadian

Heroine, a teacher, a school principal, a doctor, a

suffragette and a gifted homœopathic physician.

She was born into a Quaker family in 1831, with

commitment to the democratic concept of equality.

This ensured Emily of an education in an era when the

purview of most women was housework and child care.

She attended school until the age of fifteen and then

embarked on her teaching career and went on to earn a

First Class Teacher’s certificate and later principal of a

public school.

In 1856, Emily married Carriage-maker John

STOWE. Gave birth to a daughter and two sons. After

John entered Sanatorium with Tuberculosis, she found

difficult to support her family with teaching wages and

sought change in profession. Her family has used

homœopathic medicine and she studied with Dr. Joseph

LANCASTER throughout the 1840s. Toronto school of

medicine refused admission citing that women were not

accepted in medical school. She vowed to remedy this

injustice and went to study homœopathic medicine at

the New York Medical College for women under Dr.

Clemence Sophie LOZIER. Graduating in 1867,

STOWE, had a thriving practice in Toronto, and could

get licence only in 1880. In 1876 she founded the

Toronto women’s Literary Club (TWLC) and improved

women’s working condition and higher education.

Ontario Medical College for women was created in

1883 after a public campaign. Emily STOWE died one

day shy of her 72nd birthday.

Throughout her life, stowe faced headlong every

obstacle and challenge; her fortitude and integrity were

the bedrock that enabled her to be an ardent supporter of

women’s rights, whether it was the right to practice

medicine or the right to vote.

======================================

XI. OBITUARY

1. Catherine R. COULTER (1.1.1934 – 24.2.2014)

was married to Harris L. COULTER. Harris was a

medical historian and his 4 volume ‘Divided Legacy’

traced History of Medicine, Vol.III devoted to

Homœopathy. He earned a doctorate in Russian Studies

and political Science. He worked in the UN as an

English/Russian Interpreter. He was a great fighter for

Homœopathy. Harris COULTER died on October 31,

2009.

Catherine COULTER was mostly a self-taught

homœopath. She was introduced first to Boericke’s

Materia Medica in 1960 and Boger’s Synoptic Key

and later Hering’s Guiding Symptoms. She mastered

these books so well that she could teach several aspiring

homœopaths.

Catherine COULTER mastered the Materia Medica

so thoroughly that she became a preceptor for a stream

of physicians, under whose aegis she can practice.

Julian WINSTON says that Catherine came from

the “era between” on one side the old guard – Elizabeth

Wright-HUBBARD, Julia M.GREEN, Arthur

GRIMMER – all dying in the 1960s; on the other the

new elders - Maisie PANOS, Henry WILLIAM, Allen

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

NEISWANDER. ….COULTER was amazing because

she was completely self-taught.

COULTER’s best work can be seem in the three

volumes she gave under the title Portraits of

Homœopathic Medicines covering some well-known

Polychrests. With Dr. A.U. RAMAKRISHNAN she co-

authored’ Homœopathic approach to Cancer.

There is a fine picture of Catherine COULTER

with the original Lachesis snake from which HERING

made the homœopathic potencies (preserved in the

Natural Sciences Museum, Philadelphia; the snake

stretched out in all its 6 feet length. Along with her

were David WEMBER and Julian WINSTON.

Catherine R.COULTER passed away on 24 Feb.

2014.

=======================================

LIST OF JOURNALS

Full addresses of the Journals covered by this Quarterly

Homœopathic Digest are given below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. AH: The Journal of the North American Society of

Homeopaths, 1122 East Pike Street, #1122, Seattle, WA

98122, USA.

2. AJHM: American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine,

formerly Journal of the American Institute of

Homeopathy (JAIH). 101 South Whiting Street, Suite 16,

Alexandria, VA 22304. USA.

3. HH: Homœopathic Heritage, B. Jain Publishers

Overseas, 1920, Street No.10, Chuna Mandi, Paharganj,

Post Box 5775, New Delhi - 110 055.

4. HOMEOPATHY: Formerly British Homeopathic

Journal (BHJ), Homeopathy, Faculty of Homeopathy, 29

Park Street West, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU13BE, UK.

5. HT: Homeopathy Today, National Center for

Homeopathy, 101 South Whiting Street, Suite 315,

ALEXANDRIA, VA. 22304, USA.

6. IJHDR: International Journal of High Dilution Research,

Romania.

7. MedGG: Medizin, Gesellschaft und Geschichte, Institut

für Geschichte der Medizin Robert Bosch Stiftung,

Straussweg 17, 70184 STUTTGART, GERMANY.

8. THE HINDU: Newspaper, Chennai–600 002.

9. ZKH: Zeitschrift für Klassische Homöopathie, Karl F.

Haug Verlag, Hüthig GmbH, Im Weiher 10, D-69121

HEIDELBERG, GERMANY.

================================================

ECHINACEA And CALC. SULPH. IN ACUTE SEPTIC

CONDITIONS.

By Dr. A. WHITING.

DURING the recent Congress, Dr. Pierre SCHMIDT,

of Geneva, gave an excellent paper entitled “Acute

Abdominal conditions and their treatment,” illustrating

especially the value of Bryonia in appendicitis and kindred

conditions. In the discussion which followed other

excellent remedies were mentioned, particularly

Belladonna, Lachesis, Croton tig. 200, Sepia, Colocynthis,

and Colon Bacillin 6 and 12. Doubt was, however,

expressed by some as to whether the successes reported

were cases of a septic nature, and if it were wise to treat

cases of a septic character without resorting to surgical

interference.

I think it well, therefore, to draw attention to my

experience with Echinacea and Calcarea sulphurate, and

to show that we have with them a ready means of

combating Septicæmia in its various forms, superior to

Antistreptococcic serum, and perfectly safe to use under all

conditions, though of ocurse not to supplant surgical

operation in the case of rupture or threatened rupture of the

appendix.

The proving of Echinacea recorded in Dr. Clarke’s

Materia Medica may be taken as an excellent guide to the

indications for his remedy, only remember it is not possible

to push a proving far enough to show its complete

relationship to septic diseases. We have in homœopathic

practice, symptom remedies, organ remedies, and condition

remedies. Echinacea is a condition remedy of the first

rank, corresponding to Staphylococcic and Streptococcic

states.

Electronically, staphylococcus has a penetration rate

of 45 or 46, and is Austral in character. Echinacea has a

rate of 45 and is Austral in character too. Streptococcus

has a penetration rate of 1497, (Epps’ streptococcin 7.) to

1500, (actual disease). Echinacea has a rate commencing

again at 1423 and extending its momentum far beyond

1500. These facts establish its homœopathicity to both

these conditions; for the findings are obtained on the

Human Reagent, just as—peculiar to Homœopathy—our

regular proving are.

Now for Calcarea sulphurata. I am not aware of a

proving of this substance, excepting that of Hepar sulph.

Which is an impure Sulphide of calcium. The

symptomatology of the latter, therefore, will in the main

hold good. On Electronic analysis we find the Sulphur

element homœopathic to Staphylococcic infections, for its

penetration rate is 39 with an Austral momentum of 600,

which is very high. On the other hand the Calcium

element is calculated to increase antibody resistance to

Streptococcic infection

because it has an Arctic penetration of 1562. It, however,

cannot be said to be truly homœopathic to

streptococcœmia, being merely capable of increasing the

patient’s resistance thereto.

From The Homœopathic World, Vol. LXII, No.741.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

For many years Calcium sulphide has been used

successfully for boils and pustular skin eruptions, but some

years ago I suffered with severe ulceration of the

duodenum whilst on night duty of a most exacting

character, and the best homœopathic treatment by a most

skilled colleague failed to alleviate the suffering, which

was intense. Finally, I determined to try Calcarea

sulphurata, two or three grains of the 1x, thrice daily, on

the theory that if it could help external pustular eruptions, it

might be good for internal ulcerations also. It cured me

radically in six weeks or thereabouts, and I have since used

it most successfully in cases of gastric and duodenal

ulceration---doubtless of staphylococcic nature.

Whilst I was undergoing this treatment, I was

dispatched up the coast of British Columbia to take charge

of an isolated Mission Hospital. There was a woman in it

who had been delivered of a child, and on the fourth day

was carrying a temperature of 104°, and the odour from

the vulva was typical of Septicæmia of the obstretrical

type. Moreover, there was marked sloughing of the torn

but repaired perineum.

I thought of Calc. sulphurat. but was afraid to give it

alone. Having in my wallet some Echinacea I ordered both

to be given. The Calc. in ¼ grain doses of the pure

substance, and the latter in 5 drop doses. Both to be

administered every four hours. The effect was magical and

the case quickly cleared up.

Returning to the City Hospital; an eminent surgeon

came to me in distress. He had a case in the Hospital

pronounced suppurative appendicitis, which refused

operation, and which, moreover, he was afraid to press as

the woman had a bad heart. The White Blood Count was

extremely high, as also was the Polymorphonuclear,

differential. There was pronounced swelling over the

region of the appendix, soreness on pressure, and violent

pain.

I suggested these remedies and we gave them. In a

few days all danger was passed and the recovery was

uneventful.

Again, a soldier became infected after a mastoid

operation. The temperature arose to nearly 105°, and our

Pathologist found Streptococcic and other pathogenic

bacteria in the specimens we sent to him. Leading

surgeons after consultation concluding the case to be

hopeless, I approached his own surgeon----a specialist of

repute---asking permission to use these remedies. It was

refused, but later granted. The next day the temperature

was down to 103°, and another consultation of medical

men was held, with the result that, inasmuch as the

temperature had dropped and the patient was eveidently

better, the findings of our laboratory expert must be

erroneous! I remembered Dr. Clarke’s phrase in his

excellent little book, “The Prescriber,” viz., “The backward

swing of the pendulum,” and sure enough the temperature

was up again, provoking a further meeting of the

specialists, who then decided that the pathologist was right

after all, and that the man would die. But I kept on steadily

with Echinacea and Calcarea sulphurata and he was

saved, making a complete and rapid recovery.

In the same ward (in which every patient was

segregated), a patient was suffering from epidemic

cerebro-spinal meningitis, of a very severe type, and

attended by a general practitioner and a specialist. Under

their orders I executed the operation of lumbar puncture to

inject Antimeningococcic Serum, some nineteen times,

excepting on one or two occasions I injected it

intravenously. On the nineteenth occasion the man

suddenly stopped breathing and the heart stopped beating!

He was thus for about ten seconds, during which I as

rapidly as possible emptied out the serum I had injected

into the spinal canal.

The consulting physician the next day ordered me to

repeat the operation, but I refused, deeming it altogether

unsafe. I asked to be allowed to exhibit Echinacea and

Calcarea sulphurata, but this was not agreed to for one or

two days, when, the patient appearing to be dying, consent

was given. The medicines worked effectually in this case

also, an undoubted one of epidemic cerebro-spinal

meningitis (as proved by our laboratory report) and the

patient completely recovered. Although he lived some

2,000 miles away, he visited the Hospital long afterwards

and sought me out to show that the recovery was real and

without after effects of a serious nature.

Let me suggest that Calcarea sulphurata is truly

homœopathic to Staphylococcic infections, and that

Echinacea angustifolia is homœopathic both to these

troubles and Streptococcic and other bacterial maladies as

well.

I generally use the Calc. preparation in ¼ to ½ grain

doses (tablet form). The trituration is much better but the

odour thereof is most offensive. For after-treatment of the

acute cases and for chronic ones I believe the 30th or 200th

would be invaluable if our chemists would stock it.

Echinacea acts best in the mother tincture (dose one to

ten or even fifteen drops in water), or the fluid extract may

be used in the same doses, but is usually inferior in its

action to the fresh plant tincture.

Also may I suggest regarding Bryonia (in diseases of

the intestinal tract) that the presence of Indican in the urine

is a strong indication for its use. And that all these

conditions (Staphylococcic and Streptococcic) will

invariably show acidity of the mouth when it is tested with

litmus paper.

[THE HAHNEMANNIAN GLEANINGS, APRIL 1938].

==========================================

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

PART II

(This section contains abstracts/extracts from selected articles; even the entire article in some cases)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. First Edition of Hahnemann’s Organon:

Celebrating its 200th Anniversary

EIZAYAGA, José Enrique (IJHDR. 9, 32/2010)

With this special issue, IJHDR celebrates the 200th

anniversary of the first edition of Hahnemann’s

Organon, published in 1810. By 1796, in a previous

foundational article published in Hufeland’s prestigious

Journal of Practical Medicine [1], after criticizing with

fine reasoning the usual ways of studying the “curative

properties of medicinal substances”, namely according

to their chemical actions, their effects on animals, their

external aspect or sensitive properties, their taxonomic

classification, or the random use of multiple drugs by

the so called empiricists, HAHNEMANN stated what

can be regarded as one of the cornerstones of

homeopathy: “The true physician, whose sole aim is to

perfect his art, can avail himself of no other information

respecting medicines, than – first, what is the pure

action of each by itself on the human body? Second,

what do observations of its action in this or that simple

or complex disease teach us?”

Though it must now be recognized that

HAHNEMANN was not the pioneer of the method of

experimenting drugs in healthy volunteers or in self-

experimentation [2], this conceptual and basic approach

took an essential role in the development of homeopathy

as a medical science. In this issue of the IJHDR, a paper

by Jim ROGERS refers to the history of Hahnemann’s

elaboration of the homeopathic pathogenetic trial, along

with its potential biases and the latest ideas on how to

overcome them [3].

In another paper included in this issue of IJHDR,

Lex RUTTEN [4] calls our attention to a dangerous

misconception homeopaths from HAHNEMANN to the

present-time have relied on, as well as the possible way

to correct it. Commonly accepted homeopathic

knowledge states that it can be assumed that a given

symptom belongs to the materia medica of a drug when

it is elicited in healthy subjects during a pathogenetic

trial and is confirmed by cured cases in clinical practice.

However, without more refined, comprehensible

and strict criteria from an epidemiological point of

view, the field of the materia medica becomes

extremely fertile to accumulate countless entries of

doubtful accuracy in repertories, based on single

occurrences of symptoms. As RUTTEN clearly explains

through the notion of likelihood ratio and Bayes´s

theorem - both well established tools of modern

epidemiology - for a given symptom to be considered

part of the Materia Medica of a homeopathic medicine,

it must be observed in “cured” cases with a significantly

greater prevalence than in the remainder of the

population. Rutten’s approach is grounded on

remarkable clinical research [5].

In the same 1796 Essay, HAHNEMANN enounced

the similia similibus principle, a second cornerstone of

homeopathy: “We should imitate nature, which

sometimes cures a chronic disease by super adding

another, and employ in the (especially chronic) disease

we wish to cure, that medicine which is able to produce

another very similar artificial disease, and the former

will be cured.”

By this time, HAHNEMANN still believed that the

larger the dose of medicine was, the greater its curative

effect, “though with some danger to life.” Therefore, he

strongly recommended the use of small and increasing

doses in order to achieve “mild and certain cures” [1].

The above mentioned first two cornerstones of

homeopathy were soundly established with the

publication of the Organon. There is a very interesting

debate about the title and literary structure

HAHNEMANN chose for this book, of which he

prepared six different editions in the course of his life,

and that initially he called Organon of the Rational Art

of Healing. The Greek term Organon was originally

given to Aristotle’s set of treatises on logic, and it

means instrument, in the sense of that which is useful

for something else. In the course of time, it was

repeatedly used by philosophers to name a set of

methodological principles aiming at being used to find

truth in some aspect [6]. This was probably

Hahnemann’s intention when he chose this particular

name.

The term rational in the title disappeared from the

second edition onwards. Unknown and more speculative

are the reasons of why HAHNEMANN erased it. On the

one hand, he was a scholarly very well trained doctor,

but on the other, he was convinced that only experience

was the right path to therapeutic knowledge. He himself

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

advocated for a rational materia medica, as stated in the

Organon: “In such a Materia Medica there is nothing

conjectured, asserted without proof, imagined, invented;

but all is the pure reply of Nature to careful

questioning” (§ 121) [7].

The term rational appears many times in the first

edition of the Organon, while it is very scarce in the

sixth one, where conversely he raises strong criticism

against rational medicine. An example of what could

HAHNEMANN have understood for rational could be

“The rational nature of the art of medicine manifests

itself pre-eminently in the rejection of all systematic and

other prejudices, in the refusal to act without good

grounds, in the adoption of every possible measure to

achieve the desired action, and in confining attention as

much as possible to that which can be definitely

ascertained” (§ 47) [7].

Therefore, we can find HAHNEMANN considering

himself as rational but rejecting current rationalistic

medicine for its disdain of experience along with

excessive theorization, while rejecting also empiricists

because of the lack of rationale in their experiences.

One must keep in mind that this took place far away

from the present-day concepts of science and

epidemiology in medicine, and Hahnemann’s doubts are

thus understandable.

In this first edition of the Organon a third

cornerstone of homeopathy was also definitively

established - the use of diluted and shaken substances in

therapeutics: “[…] the intimate mixture produced by

adding a single drop of a tincture to a pound of water

and shaking vigorously, if administered in doses of two

ounces every two hours, will produce more effect than a

single dose of eight drops of the tincture” (§ 251).

Two other decisive notions which can be regarded

as a fourth cornerstone came out clearly in this edition

of the Organon, namely totality and individuality.

HAHNEMANN along his whole life had a clear

philosophical position against mechanistic theories,

considering living beings as totalities: “[…] the human

body is, in its living state, a unity, a complete and

rounded whole. Every sensation, every manifestation of

force, every inter-relation of the material of one part, is

intimately concerned with the sensation, force-

manifestations and inter-relations of all the other parts;

no part can suffer without involving all the rest in

suffering (greater or less) and in alteration. This

oneness of life forbids the idea that any bodily disease

can remain completely and absolutely local (§ 42- 43).

This totalizing conception included of course

disease and treatment, reaching the level of a genuine

psychosomatism: “By means of this medicine employed

internally (not externally) the general disease-condition

of the body is removed simultaneously with the local

disorder, and the first and the last are cured together.

This proves that the local malady depends on a disease

of the body as a whole, and is only to be regarded as

one of the most important symptoms in a general

disease” (§ 163).

But it is worth to remind that these notions, as

formulated by HAHNEMANN, should not be

automatically equaled to the current homeopathic

concepts of individualization of the case and treatment

of the patient’s totality. Hahnemann’s formulation was

grounded on at least four mistaken assumptions:

First, the inner aspects of disease are invisible and

cannot be ever known: “It may be granted that every

disease must depend upon an alteration in the inner

working of the human organism. This disease can only

be mentally conceived through its outward signs and all

that these signs reveal; in no way whatever can the

disease itself be recognized” (§ 5).

Second, “Whatever removes permanently the

complex of outward signs of disease must

simultaneously have removed the inward morbid

change” (§ 12). HAHNEMANN can’t conceive

asymptomatic diseases.

Third, only one disease at a time can exist in a man

(§ 21).

Fourth, with some exceptions (see below), diseases

are strictly individual. “Nature has no nomenclature or

classification of disease. She produces individual

diseases” (§ 46). And “The unimaginable number of

different diseases of body and mind; diseases so

different that, strictly speaking, it is hardly too much to

say that each has only existed once in the world” (§ 60).

Hahnemannian misconceptions are completely

understandable considering the state of biological

knowledge in his time. But a possible clue indicating

that HAHNEMANN was not thinking in the same way

as many homeopaths do nowadays are the exceptions

offered by himself:

“Certain diseases are caused by a special agent of

contagion (an individual miasm of a sufficiently definite

kind), for instance, the plague of the Levant, small-pox,

measles, true smooth scarlet fever, venereal disease, the

itch of woolmakers, as well as rabies, whooping-cough,

plica polonica, etc. These diseases seem to be so

definitely distinguished in their course and character

that, whenever they appear, they can be recognized by

their persistent signs as old acquaintances. Therefore it

is possible to give each of them a definite name and to

attempt to establish for each of them a regular and

staple method of treatment” (§ 49).

In a much more striking and very brief paper

published in 1819, HAHNEMANN states with no

hesitation, regarding the treatment of suicides, that “The

smallest dose of pulverized gold attenuated to the

billionth degree […] immediately and permanently

removes this fearful state of the (body and) mind, and

the unfortunate is saved” [8]. Specific homeopathic

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

treatment for precisely diagnosable diseases, this is what

he seems to be suggesting here.

In a third and polemic paper in this issue of the

IJHDR, Lyn Brieley-Jones hypothesizes that

homeopathy should discuss with conventional medicine

in terms of its own theoretical framework, with the aim

of capitalizing it and avoiding what Berger and

Luckmann call the process of “nihilation” of

homeopathy when it is discussed in terms of the

conventional one [9].

To conclude, despite uncertainties and difficulties

homeopaths still have to struggle with, we can only feel

grateful to Hahnemann’s countless efforts to introduce

homeopathy and everything what it means in medicine

history and development.

References

1] Hahnemann S. Essay on a new principle for

ascertaining the curative powers of drugs, with a

few glances at those hitherto employed. In:

Dudgeon RE, ed. The lesser writings of Samuel

Hahnemann. New Delhi: B Jain; [s.d.]

[2] Waisse de Priven S. Hahnemann: um médico de seu

tempo. São Paulo: Educ/Fapesp; 2005.

[3] Rogers J. Hahnemann and the methodology of

pathogenetic trials in healthy volunteers: a

reappraisal. Int J High Dilution Res 2010; 9(32):

94-103.

[4] Rutten L. Bayes' theorem: scientific assessment of

experience. Int J High Dilution Res 2010; 9(32):

104-114.

[5] Rutten ALB, Stolper CF, Lugten RF, Barthels RJ.

Statistical analysis of six repertory-rubrics after

prospective assessment applying Bayes' theorem.

Homeopathy 2009; 98:26–34.

[6] Ferrater Mora J. Diccionario de filosofía.

Barcelona: Ariel; 1994.

[7] Hahnemann S. Organon der rationelle Heilkunde.

Dresden: Arnoldische Buchhandlung; 1810.

[8] Hahnemann S. On the uncharitableness towards

suicides. In: Dudgeon RE, ed. The lesser writings of

Samuel Hahnemann. New Delhi: B Jain; [s.d.].

[9] Brieley-Jones L. Boundaries or bridges: what

should Homeopathy’s relationship be with

mainstream medicine?. Int J High Dilution Res

2010; 9(32): 115-124.

========================================

Hahnemann and the methodology of pathogenetic

trials in healthy volunteers: a reappraisal.

ROGERS, Jim (IJHDR. 9, 32/2010)

Abstract

This article assesses the guidelines and

protocols that Hahnemann developed for homeopathic

pathogenetic trials (HPTs) - often referred to as proving

- and reappraise them in the light of more recent

knowledge and protocols for clinical trials involving

human subjects. Innovative features and methods

introduced by Hahnemann and aimed at reducing bias

are noted. A number of features which are now known

to lead to bias in trials and which may be included in the

reporting of symptoms are discussed in relation to

HPTs. These features include: absence of control

groups, absence of random allocation, absence of

blinding, the inclusion of trivial and pre-existing

symptoms, the inclusion of well-known acquaintances

as trial participants, and the lack of definition of the

healthy state. Advice from experts and papers published

in recent decades related to the design of HPTs are

discussed. The importance of developing methods to

screen participants in HPTs for susceptibility to the

tested medicine is discussed. The absence of trials

meeting high quality standards in their design is

highlighted. The article concludes with a plea for

researchers to show the same desire for rigour and

innovation that Hahnemann did in the development of

HPTs, whilst fully recognising the requirements and

protocols necessary for any trial of medicines on human

beings, so that, as Hahnemann wanted, only reliable

symptoms from HPTs will be admitted in the materia

medica and clinical practice.

Introduction

Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (HPTs) remain

one of cornerstones of the knowledge grounding

homeopathic practice together with data arising from

clinical experience and toxicology. As such it is

essential that they are conducted in a manner producing

reliable information. In this article I aim to critically

assess the methodology of HPTs focusing on the

instructions supplied by Hahnemann and subsequent

authors, analysing them in the light of what was known

about drug trials at that time and what is known now.

The path that led Hahnemann to enunciate the

principle of experimentation on the healthy as the

proper means to discover the therapeutic properties of

drugs began in 1790, with his self-experimentation of

Peruvian bark, reported as a footnote to his commented

translation of William Cullen‟s Lectures on the Materia

Medica [1].

After putting his developing ideas about the testing

of medicines into practice for several years, in 1805 he

published, in Latin, a book whose title translates as

'Fragments on the Positive Powers of Medicines as

Observed on the Healthy Human Body' [2]. Later that

same year he published an essay, “The Medicine of

Experience”, where he first laid down instructions for

the methodology of HPTs

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Hahnemann went on to express his developing

ideas in successive editions of the Organon of Medicine

from the first edition in 1810 to the sixth and final

edition, which was completed in 1842 (although it was

not published until 1921). During this evolution of his

thinking some of the instructions to conduct HPTs

remained constant, while others changed significantly.

One point on which Hahnemann changed his view

over time was in relation to the dilutions to be used. He

began with crude substances (as in the original Peruvian

bark experiment) and went on to test many substances

in low dilutions. In the sixth edition of the Organon he

recommends “daily doses, for several days, of four to

six very fine granules of the 30th potency of the

substance we wish to test” [3].

In 1811 he took up a post as lecturer at the

University of Leipzig. Opting for what might be

considered to be a very modern view of learning, he

suggested that his students should be active rather than

passive learners and he organised some of his students

into a group of collaborators to test drugs. They became

keen experimenters and went on to carefully test a wide

range of substances. The results of these extensive

experiments were published in the Materia Medica

Pura, which was published in six parts between 1811

and 1821 [4]. It remains unclear in most cases what

dilutions were used in the HPTs carried out in this

period, but some are described in Materia Medica Pura.

Thus we know that, just among the mineral remedies,

everything from crude substance (Calcarea acetica), to

3c (Carbo vegetabilis), 15C (Argentum nitricum) and

30c (Natrum muriaticum) was used.

As a whole, HAHNEMANN was involved in over

100 HPTs, using what would be recognised today as

quasi-experimental designs [5]. In the 200 years since

the first of such experiments the homeopathic

community conducted many further original HPTs and

re-trials of previously tested medicines.

We know that HAHNEMANN built on the work of

many 18th century researchers into self-experimentation

and experimentation on the healthy [6]. In his 1796

'Essay on a new principle for ascertaining the curative

powers of drugs' HAHNEMANN developed this idea

and introduced the notion of ascertaining more specific

and subjective symptoms from such experiments rather

than generalised ones - what Tischner called “the

passage from the unspecific to the specific simile” [7].

HAHNEMANN was innovative in the way that he

developed the methodology of HPTs. To try to

minimise bias he recommended that only conscientious

and trustworthy volunteers who were healthy at the time

of the trial should take part. On the other hand, that

medicines should be tested single and in pure form with

close supervision of subjects throughout the duration of

the trial.

HAHNEMANN recommended quite strict rules to

control what he believed to be important confounding

variables. His aim was to ensure a constant steady state

in which any changes caused by the medicine would be

easier to detect, he therefore recommended that the

consumption of tea, coffee, alcohol, medicines, herbs

and spices and any foods which might have medicinal

effects should be avoided.

HAHNEMANN was convinced that medicine

needed to progress via clinical experiment rather than

by theoretical debate. He was very concerned with the

reliability and validity of drug trials, as can be seen in

the Organon, note to §139 “anybody publishing the

results of such experiments for the medical world

becomes responsible for the reliability of the

experimental subject and the accuracy of his reports,

and rightly so, since the well being of suffering mankind

is at stake” [4, p.116]. HAHNEMANN was well aware

of the dangers of suggestion and some of the ways in

which bias and unreliable information might undermine

the usefulness of HPTs. He adopted a number of

measures to reduce bias that were innovative for the

early to mid 19th century, although from the perspective

of the current understanding of human behaviour his

measures were not sufficient to control some major

sources of potential bias.

Flaws in the instructions developed by Hahnemann

After HAHNEMANN, there was little change in

the generally accepted methodology of HPTs until

relatively recently. This is unfortunate since, despite the

care he took, there are significant flaws in later HPTs. In

a key article, Dantas listed a number of these flaws and

suggested the reasons why some of Hahnemann’s design

features may lead to an overestimation of pathogenetic

effects [8].

Attributing all symptoms occurring during a HPT to

the medicine.

Already in the 19th century, authors such as

DUDGEON recognised the flaw in this idea.

DUDGEON says:

“It can hardly fail to strike us that there is another

point connected with Hahnemann's directions for

provings, which we cannot regard as a very reliable

source for ascertaining the virtues of medicines, and that

is his statement that 'all the phenomena that arise during

the action of a medicine are solely derived from this

medicine and must be registered as its symptoms even

though some of these may be such as he had noticed

previously as occurring spontaneously.' I am sorry that

Hahnemann should have allowed this to be a pure

source for I fear it has opened a door for the admission

into the materia medica of many symptoms that have no

business there.” [9]

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

The following discussion elaborates on some of the

ways in which symptoms that are not genuine

pathogenetic effects may end up being recorded as such.

The absence of a control group as standard

There continues to be a legitimate debate about the

best research designs for homeopathic trials [10].

However, it is important to understand the key features

of standard medical and pharmacological trials and to

understand the reasons for these features, most of which

aim at minimising different kinds of bias. A control

group is a very useful and widely used method of

reducing bias.

There are several features which introduce bias

into trials that do not use control groups. These include

temporal effects, which simply refer to the fact that

people change over time regardless of any intervention.

In relation to HPTs, those who are healthy at the

beginning of a trial may very well develop a whole

range of symptoms during that trial that would have

happened anyway and are not linked to the remedy

being tested. A number of studies have shown that many

symptoms occur spontaneously in daily life even in the

most apparently healthy groups of individuals, with up

to a third of individuals reporting six or more symptoms

in a 3 day period [11].

Observer expectancy effects are well known in

social science [12]. People tend to see what they want to

see or expect to see. Assessors and participants in HPTs

are usually homeopaths and are likely to be predisposed

to expect new symptoms to occur during such trials.

Symptoms recorded as new or different during the

course of HPTs may be partly or entirely due to

temporal effects, factors relating to selection and

recruitment of participants, observer expectancy effects

and other potential sources of bias. One useful way to

determine whether effects are really caused by the

remedy is to see whether they are qualitatively and

quantitatively different in a group receiving the remedy

in comparison to a control group not receiving the

remedy. Alternatively researchers have also developed

methodologies in which the participant forms his or her

own control at different points of the trial.

Some argue that the way to test whether symptoms

are due to real pathogenetic effects is to see whether

they can subsequently be successfully treated in clinical

practice. Whilst this might provide additional

verification it is simply postponing the problem [13].

Such an approach requires a number of years and the

cumulative experience of a number of practitioners

before a definite judgement can be made about the

reliability of symptoms. On the other hand, pathogenetic

trials ought to be methodologically sound so as to

supply by themselves reliable information on actual

drug effects and other factors including placebo.

3. The absence of random allocation.

If it is accepted that control groups are essential for

detecting real differences attributable to an intervention,

then it is important to ensure that the control and the

intervention groups are as similar as possible. It is

widely accepted in the health sciences that random

allocation is the only way to ensure this. Indeed some

argue that “random allocation is the essence of the

RCT” [14]. Randomisation is by far the best way of

controlling temporal changes, regression to the mean,

and selection bias (selecting people who are different on

some measures at the start and who are therefore likely

to show different outcomes). There is good evidence

that non randomised trials yield consistently larger

estimates of treatment effects than the randomised ones

[15], although other studies have cast some doubts on

this, and there remains uncertainty about the magnitude

of any differences [16].

4. The absence of blinding

Trials that do not use blinding tend to show larger

treatment effects than those that do [17]. This is not

surprising. Unless both participants and investigators

are blinded as to who is receiving the active

intervention, people will react in ways which are biased

towards a particular favoured outcome.

The use of control groups and blinding are central

features of modern pharmacological trials. Whilst these

were not requirements in Hahnemann‟s times, they

were introduced by later homeopathic researchers, and

indeed, it can be claimed that they were significant

innovations in these areas. As Dantas et al have noted

[18], the first blinded placebo controlled HPT took

place in a naval hospital in St Petersburg in 1834, and a

year later a double blind trial was carried out in

Nuremberg, which even attempted random allocation

[19]. One of the first multicentre double-blind clinical

trials known to medicine took place when Bellows co-

ordinated a HPT of Belladonna (mostly using mother

tincture) in 11 centres in the USA [20].

5. The inclusion of trivial and pre-existing

symptoms.

In order to find the pathogenetic effects that may be

produced by a remedy in HPTs close observation is

certainly necessary. Such effects may be rare, subtle,

and short lived, and will only be recorded if the

volunteer applies careful attention and has good

supervision. However, the daily and detailed recording

which takes place in HPTs is highly likely to lead to the

inclusion of many naturally occurring and pre-existing

symptoms that a person becomes aware of because of

the unusually close monitoring of the body and self

required for the trial.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Hawthorne effects refer to the tendency for people

to change their behaviour when receiving the kind of

special interest and attention which occurs when they

are part of a trial. Hawthorne effects are known to be a

significant non specific effect of participation in trials

[21], and the kind of close scrutiny which takes place in

HPTs is only likely to increase this phenomenon.

Again, the use of a control group receiving an

identical placebo intervention will help to control

Hawthorne effects by ensuring that they are spread

equally between the two groups.

6. Lack of definition of the healthy state.

HAHNEMANN grappled with this idea and

admitted that health is relative, for instance, when he

stated in Organon §126 that the participant must be “in

what is for him a good state of health” [3, p.110]. Whilst

it has become a platitude that only healthy volunteers

should be enlisted in HPTs, remarkably very few

authors have defined what is meant by “healthy”, or

actually measured it in some way. From extensive

health-related research it is known that even the

healthiest among people experience day-to-day

fluctuations in symptoms, and over the course of a trial

these may give rise to significant background noise.

Therefore, without careful checks and definitions of

health, it is likely that some pre-existing symptoms of

illness will be recorded as proving symptoms.

KAPTCHUK [13] has highlighted some studies

that illustrate the size and variability of this background

noise. In one study, 414 individuals who worked or

studied at a university medical centre were healthy in

the sense of reporting no current illness and no

medication use in the previous 3 days. From this

sample, 81% had at least one symptom in the previous

72 hours based on a 25 symptom adverse event

questionnaire [22]. Kaptchuk notes that the symptom

checklist looked very much like the tabulated results of

an HPT.

7. The use of well known acquaintances as

volunteers.

There are good arguments for having volunteers in

HPT's who have an understanding of homeopathy. They

may be more likely to record the type of symptoms that

are useful in homeopathic terms [23]. It is perhaps for

this reason that Hahnemann suggested in § 141 of the

Organon that experiments “which the sensitive

physician experiences on himself” are the best of all [3,

p.117]. However, it is also the case that placebo effects

are heightened in trials in which participants have strong

expectations and, for example, believe strongly in the

intervention on trial [24].

8. The sudden prohibition of all medicinal drugs and

foodstuffs.

We know that HAHNEMANN was very specific in

this matter. However, we should be aware that an

unintended consequence might be that volunteers who

suddenly abstain at the start of a trial from what may be

frequently consumed substances, may experience

withdrawal symptoms and abstinence effects, and that

such symptoms may be wrongly attributed to

pathogenetic effects of the remedy.

Susceptibility and HPTs

Whilst all of the above are likely to lead to an

overestimation of pathogenetic effects, there is a

significant factor which is likely to lead to under

reporting of pathogenetic effects in most HPTs. This is

the issue of susceptibility, which is a fundamental

principle of homeopathic practice. A principle of

homeopathic clinical practice is that only remedies the

patient is susceptible to will accomplish therapeutic

effects and this must also be taken into account when

conducting HPTs.

In HPTs a crude dose may have material or toxic

effects on all participants, but diluted, the particular

remedy will only affect those who are susceptible to it.

Herscu has shown clearly how the same principles

should be applied to both clinical practice and HPTs and

concurs that susceptibility is highly important: “the

thinking process about the predisposition of the prover

has not been addressed in our profession, but clearly

must be”[25].

However, it is very rare to find a HPT which

screens volunteers for susceptibility before recruiting

them into the trial. This could be added to the study

protocol by dividing it in two stages. In the first one a

large number of participants would be recruited for a

trial using low dilutions of a drug. Those showing

distinct proving reactions would be recruited for the

second stage, where they would be randomly allocated

to either further testing of the drug or placebo. The

percentage of participants who are actually susceptible

will vary according to the dilution used and other

factors. Proving rates average just 13% of participants

in trials that use typical 30cH dilutions [26].

In the Organon, HAHNEMANN acknowledged

this issue in relation to HPTs. He stated that strong

medicines would bring about alterations in health, even

to “robust people”. He then suggested that “weaker

ones”, on the other hand, “reveal their true action only

when tested on delicate susceptible and sensitive

people” [3, p.108].

Many reports of HPTs suggest that all the

symptoms which occurred in those HPTs are

attributable to real pathogenetic effects, and none to

other factors. Also many reports of HPTs suggest that

all volunteers who take part do experience pathogenetic

symptoms. A proper awareness of susceptibility should

lead us to be sceptical of such claims. Dantas et al

illustrated in their review that those trials which claimed

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

pathogenetic effects in all volunteers tended to be of the

lowest methodological quality, suggesting that many of

these symptoms are likely to be a result of various forms

of bias and to be non pathogenetic [8]. For example,

they compared two trials of Hydrogen. The lower

quality trial showed 5000% more symptoms per

volunteer.

Published guidance relating to HPTs

As noted above, some of the early homeopathic

researchers were ahead of the curve in the development

of research methodology. It was also noted that there

was little change in the guidelines to conduct HPT's

until recently. During the 20th century, some authors

did regret this lack of progress since the early

industriousness of Hahnemann and colleagues. Thus,

W. Lees Templeton writes in the British Homeopathic

Journal in 1949: “Compared with the dominant school,

what have we done in 100 years? I am bound to say [...]

very little indeed [...] We seem to have done little or

nothing to improve the foundations” [27]. He went on to

call for a group of researchers to come together to

develop HPTs in the way how Hahnemann and

colleagues had done originally.

Some authors did recognize that developments in

the health sciences and the understanding of human

psychology had led to significant progress in the design

and conduct of trials with human subjects, and that these

might usefully be applied to homeopathic trials. For

example, in 1961 Stephenson, writing in the British

Homeopathic Journal, suggested various additions to

trial methods, which would be “in line with modern

experimental technique, e.g the double-blind, random

selection, placebo trials in the provers and at least 75

subjects in the whole drug proving experiment” [28].

Reviewing progress in an article for the same

journal in 1995, Belon noted that “since the early 20th

century and more especially since World War II,

classical pharmacology has systematically applied

methods of evaluation which homeopaths cannot

ignore” [29].

It was only with the publication of “The dynamics

and methodology of homeopathic proving” by JEREMY

SHERR in 1994 that any significant new guidelines

appeared that had a real impact on the practice in this

area in the English-speaking milieu [30]. This was the

first publication in English that was focused entirely on

HPTs and has been very influential for the design of

many HPTs that have been conducted since then. It has

also stimulated more people within the homeopathic

community to understand the value and necessity of

conducting trials with new substances and retrials of

those already included in the homeopathic materia

medica. SHERR described a clear methodology to

conduct of HPTs. However, it does not address some of

the weaknesses identified by Dantas. Notably, he plays

down the important role of placebo control as a

comparison standard for the active intervention.

Recommendations for future HPTs

It seems quite possible to develop HPT's which

have the rigour and necessary design features of the

modern health trials, which can also capture any real

pathogenetic effects and distinguish them from

background noise. Unfortunately there is a real

reluctance on the part of some of those in the

homeopathic community who actually conduct HPTs to

accept the need for trial designs which will properly

reduce bias. At the same time a methodology has yet to

emerge which properly deals with an issue of great

importance from the point of view of homeopathic

practice, namely the issue of recruiting a sufficient

number of volunteers susceptible and sensitive to the

remedy being tested [31].

In a review of HPT's conducted from 1945 to 1995,

DANTAS et al concluded that the quality of such trials

was generally poor, although with a clear trend towards

improved quality, with increased use of randomisation

and masking, in the last two decades of that period [8].

A recent systematic review that included trials

conducted in the decade since then found a reasonable

number of high quality HPT's [26]. Whilst the

percentage that met the criteria for rigour and quality

was very low (3%), this review found 15 trials which

used control groups, random allocation, blinding, and

methods for dealing with loss to follow up. However,

none of these had any methods for screening volunteers

for susceptibility.

HAHNEMANN was both innovative and rigorous.

In the matter of HPTs he developed methods which

were innovative for the time, but that from a 21st

century perspective have a number of flaws. It remains

the case that too few of the HPTs that are undertaken

today meet modern standards for quality, and this means

in practice that they are likely to overestimate the real

pathogenetic effects of remedies, pointing to the real

danger of false symptoms appearing in the homeopathic

Materia Medica.

There have now been a number of

recommendations made by expert groups in relation to

the HPT's, and these continue to be updated. [18, 32, 33]

Two hundred years after Hahnemann, we should respect

the innovation and rigour that he demonstrated by

continuing to refine and develop HPT's, to conduct them

according to the most rigorous standards and to admit,

as he wished to do, only reliable and verified symptoms

into the materia medica.

References

[1] Bradford TL. The Life and Letters of Samuel

Hahnemann. Philadelphia Boericke and Tafel 1895.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

[2] Hahnemann S. Translated by Dudgeon R Lesser

Writings of Samuel Hahnemann. Reprinted New Delhi

B Jain 2005.

[3] Hahnemann S. Translated by Kunzli J Naude A and

Pendleton P Organon of Medicine. London Victor

Gollancz para 128 p111 1983.

[4] Hahnemann S. Translated by Dudgeon R Materia

Medica Pura 1811 – 1821. Liverpool Homeopathic

Publishing society, reprinted New Delhi B Jain 1996.

[5] De Marque D. The Development of Proving

Methods Since Hahnemann Brit Hom J 1987; 76: 71-75.

[6]. Waisse Priven S. The emergence of modern

therapeutic similarity International Journal of High

Dilution Research, 2008; 7(22): 21 – 29.

[7] Tischner R. Geschichte der Homöopathie. Leipzig:

Willmar Schwabe, 1932-4, volume 2, pp167-8.

[8] Dantas F. How can we get more reliable information

from homeopathic pathogenetic trials? A critique of

Provings. Brit Hom J 1996; 85: 230-236.

[9] Dudgeon RE. On the Proving of Medicines ,from

Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Homeopathy

1853, in Herscu P. Provings Volume 2. An annotated

selection of historic and contemporary writings.

Amherst New England School of Homeopathy Press,

p39; 2002.

[10] Weatherley JE, Thompson EA, Thomas KJ. The

placebo controlled trial as a test of complementary and

alternative medicine:observations from research

experience of individualised homeopathic treatment

Homeopathy 2004; 93 :186-189.

[11] Peters D. Understanding the placebo effect in

complementary medicine London Churchill Livingstone

2001.

[12] Rosenthal R, Rosnow R. Artifacts in behavioural

research. Oxford Oxford University Press. 2009.

[13] Kaptchuk TJ. When Does Biased Become

Unbiased The Dilemma of Homeopathic Provings and

Modern Research Methods Brit Hom J October 1996;

85:237-247.

[14] Torgerson DJ, Torgerson CJ. Designing and

running randomised trials in health and the social

sciences. London Palgrave Macmillan 2008.

[15] Ioannidis J, Haidich AB, Pappa M, Pantazis N,

Kokori S, Tektonidou M, Contopoulos-Ioannidis D, Lau

J. Comparison of Evidence of Treatment Effects in

Randomized and Nonrandomized Studies JAMA.

2001;286:821-830.

[16] Concato J, Shah N, Horwitz, RI. Randomized,

controlled trials, observational studies, and the hierarchy

of research designs, N Engl J Med 2000;342:1887–

1892.

[17] Schulz KF, Chalmers I, Hayes R, Airman DG.

Empirical evidence of bias: dimensions of'

methodological quality associated with estimates of

treatment effects in controlled trials. JAMA

1995;273:408-12.

[18] Dantas F, Fisher P, Walach H, Wieland F, Rastogi

DP, Teixeira H, Koster D, Jansen JP, Eizayaga J,

Alvarez MEP, Marim M, Belon P, Weckx LLM. A

systematic review of the quality of homeopathic

pathogenetic trials published from 1945 to 1995.

Homeopathy 2007; 96

[19] Dean ME. The Trials of Homeopathy KVC Verlag

Germany 2004

[20] Bellows HP. The Test Drug-Proving of the O. O. &

L. Society: A Reproving of Belladonna Being an

Experimental Study of the Pathogenic Action of that

Drug Upon the healthy Human Organism. Boston: The

O. O. & L. Society, 1906

[21] De Amici D, Kiersy C, Ramajli F, Brustia L, Politi

P. Impact of the Hawthorne effect in a longitudinal

Clinical study: The case of anesthesia Controlled

Clinical Trials 2000;21:2:103-114

[22] Reidenburg MM, Lowenthal DT. Adverse non drug

reactions N Eng J Med,1968; 279: 678-9

[23] Wieland F. (1997) The need for GHP guidelines. A

brief survey of recent developments in methodology of

homeopathic drug Provings in Europe

[24] Geers AL, Helfer SG, Weiland PE, Kosbab K.

Expectations and placebo response: a laboratory

investigation into the role of somatic focus. J Behav

Med,2006; 29:171-8

[25] Herscu P. Provings Volume 2. An annotated

selection of historic and contemporary writings.

Amherst New England School of Homeopathy Press

p91 2002

[26] Rogers J. A Systematic review of Homeopathic

Pathogenetic Trials. University of York. 2009 Brit Hom

J,1997; 86 :229-234

[27] Lees Templeton W. Provings Brit Hom J

,1949;39:53-63

[28] Stephenson. Brit Hom J Homeopathic Provings In

The Light Of The Newly Formulated "Human

Pharmacology", Brit Hom J,1961; 50:129-31

[29] Belon P. Provings Concept and Methodology Brit

Hom J,1995; 84:213-217

[30] Sherr J. The dynamics and methodology of

Homeopathic Provings Dynamis Books Malvern.1994

[31] Shalts E. A Double Blind Placebo Controlled Pilot

Study of the Validity of Provings as a method of

Finding Pathogenic Characteristics of Homeopathic

Remedies. In Herscu P Provings Volume 2 New

England School of Homeopathy Press Amherst MA

pp401-417 2002

[32] European Committee for homeopathy

Homeopathic drug proving guidelines European

Committee for homeopathy Brussels, 2004.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

[33] European Council for Classical Homeopathy

ECCH Guidelines for Homeopathic Pathogenic Trials

Second Edition ECCH Norfolk UK 2007.

========================================

3. Boundaries or bridges: what should Homeopathy’s

relationship be with mainstream medicine?

JONES, Lyn Brierley (IJHDR. 9, 32/2010)

ABSTRACT

When Samuel HAHNEMANN devised

Homœopathy he constructed multiple arguments that

both vehemently supported his new system and

criticized the conventional medical practice of his day.

At the end of the 19th century when homeopathy had

grown within Britain and America, homeopaths failed to

make use of some of Hahnemann’s most successful

arguments. Instead, homeopaths found themselves lose

significant cognitive ground to their long time

conventional rivals with the dawn of the 20th century, a

ground they have not yet recovered. This paper uses the

theoretical framework of Berger and Luckmann to

analyse the dynamics of the arguments used against

homeopathy and suggests that homeopaths failed to

adopt a universalizing medical explanation that was

available to them: the reverse action of drugs. Had they

used this argument homoeopaths could have explained

conventional medicine successes within their own

universe of meaning and thus neutralized the impact of

conventional on their practice. The implications of these

conclusions for the future survival and success of

Homœopathy are considered.

Introduction

In this paper I will discuss the ways in which

Homœopathy positioned itself against mainstream

medicine (also known as allopathy) at key

developmental points over the last 200 years. Starting

with Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), I will look at

how homeopathy defended itself and argued its case in

relation to both mainstream medicine and successive

incarnations of science. I will argue that at the end of

the 19th century, conventional doctors successfully used

a technique HAHNEMANN himself had previously

used with consummate skill: ‘explaining away’ the

opposition. At this same time, however, and unlike

HAHNEMANN, homeopaths in Britain and the United

States failed to capitalise on their own universalising

potential in minimising the significance of an

explanatory framework readily available to them: the

‘reverse action of drugs’ .

This hypothesis, which was sometimes referred to

as the ‘double’ or ‘diverse’ action of drugs, stated that

drugs had varying, even opposite, effects on the body

according to the dosage administered. This hypothesis

was closely allied to the observation, also reported by

HAHNEMANN, that drugs had primary and secondary

effects on the human organism. Nineteenth-century

medical journals reported these observations in clinical

practice. Some conventional doctors, indeed,

acknowledged that physiological doses of a drug had

directly opposite effects of dilutions of the same drug,

though they remained officially agnostic on this

hypothesis until the end of the century [1].

Homeopaths had a more nuanced understanding of

this principle, suggesting that the most often used

dilutions, as e.g. 30c, 200c, 1,000c, etc., elicited

different symptoms and thus accomplished different

cures [2]. American homeopath George Ockford, for

example, called in 1879 for more work to be done by

homeopaths on this phenomenon, in part to explain

some of the apparently contradictory symptoms

contained within the homeopathic material medica.

Today, the biomedical community still attempts to

explain away homeopathy, primarily by means of the

placebo effect [3]. Thus, the questions arise: What

position should homeopathy adopt today in relation to

mainstream medicine to ensure its continued survival?

What are its strengths that should be capitalised upon?

What arguments can best further its development?

Hahnemann’s approach

Hahnemann vilified the scientific medicine of his

day, which was rooted in the heroic systems of William

CULLEN (1710-1790), John BROWN (1735-1788) and

Benjamin RUSH (1745-1813). In the Organon (p. 14)

Hahnemann claimed that so-called rational medicine

was based upon ‘vain suppositions and pet assumptions’

[4], polypharmacy being the ‘crown of this self-

delusion’ with the practices of bleeding and purging

jeopardising human life ‘in the hands of these perverted

people [physicians]’ [4, p. 51]. The miserable result of

their [allopathic] treatment should have taught them that

they were on the wrong road [4, p. 9] whilst occupants

of university medical chairs he considered producers of

‘pretentious fantasies’ [4, p. 46].

Despite his disgust of conventional medical

practice, HAHNEMANN did not completely disengage

with, that is ignore, orthodox medicine but proceeded

instead to deconstruct it. In the Organon particularly, he

appears to take a four pronged approach. First, as above,

he is unequivocal in his rejection of what he considers

false and dangerous practice in medicine. Secondly, he

recognises and shows an understanding of various

orthodox medical theories and practices, which he

readily identifies, names and explains in relation to his

own method. Thirdly, he highlights commonalities with

his medical adversaries when possible, particularly

identifying the homeopathic principle inadvertently at

work in orthodoxy, or crucially explains common

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

medical phenomena in homeopathic terms. Fourthly, he

maintains his right to both criticise and openly reply to

criticism, directly attacking opposition to his new

system of medicine.

On the third approach Hahnemann commented:

“The orthodox school has witnessed for centuries

that nature itself has never once cured any existing

disease with another dissimilar one, however intense‟

and that „the original disease reappears and always has

to reappear as soon as the decline of the patient’s

strength permits the allopathic attack on his life to

continue”. [4]

Showing some empathy with conventional doctors

‘misunderstanding of the nature of diseases and their

cure, Hahnemann noted’ Because it often happens in

chronic diseases, that the evacuations which nature

excites, bring relief in cases where there are acute pains,

paralysis, spasms etc the old school imagined that the

true method of curing disease was by favouring,

keeping up, or even increasing the evacuations’ [4, p.

46].

Furthermore, HAHNEMANN was open in his

agreement with RUSH and CHAPMAN in their

consideration that the powers of nature, or the vital

force, were devoid of intelligence and judgement [4, p.

50], claiming, “the pathologically untuned Vital Force

has … little ability to cure” [4, p. 25].

Crucially, however, HAHNEMANN went further

explaining conventional and other cures in homeopathic

terms. HAHNEMANN wrote: “The physician of the old

school rejoices when he has forcibly slowed the small

rapid pulse of cachexia for several hours with the first

dose of Digitalis purpurea. But this is the primary

action of the drug, and soon the heart beats twice as fast

as before. Repeated stronger doses are less and less

effective and finally do not increase the pulse rate at all.

Moreover in the secondary action the pulse becomes

uncountable; sleep, appetite and strength wane and

death is imminent, or else insanity” [4, p. 57].

HAHNEMANN even explained the efficacy of

hydrotherapy in homoeopathic terms. Cold water (54

degrees Fahrenheit) from mountain springs and deep

wells applied locally affected: “[…] an efficient

homoeopathic local assistance for paralysed parts or

such as are without sensation”. Hahnemann directed that

such water should be poured upon the affected parts for

one to three minutes, or by douch baths over the whole

body for one to five minutes, daily or more often,

together with appropriate internal, antipsoric treatment,

sufficient exercise in the open air and judicious diet. [5]

HAHNEMANN also reviewed uses of

homoeopathy throughout medical history, citing

instances where the principle of the reverse action of

drugs showed that conventional medicine and

homoeopathy operated along a continuum of medical

practice. Hahnemann cited Rucker as noting the ability

of Solanum nigrum to produce swelling of the entire

body and use of the same substance by Gatacker and

Cirillo in the (homoeopathic) cure of a species of

dropsy. Similarly, Hahnemann noted that Mayer

Abramson administered Hyosciamus niger to a man

who had become deranged through jealousy, which

cured him speedily. Hahnemann noted quite simply that

Hyosciamus niger could cure jealousy because it could

cause it. A strong infusion of tea was known to produce

anxiety and palpitation in those not accustomed to

drinking it, whereas in small doses it was well known as

an excellent remedy against anxiety, a point Hahnemann

noted had been made by the well known physician G L

Rau [4, p. 14]. Thus, Hahnemann argued that drugs had

a reverse action and that this accounted for, or

‘explained away’ allopathic effects.

The fourth aspect of his approach saw Hahnemann

defending as well as attacking. In the Organon, he

responded to the German physician C. W. Hufeland’s

(1762-1836) criticism that ‘Homeopathy can remove the

symptoms but the disease remains’ [4, p. 14], as offered

‘partly out of spite’ because of homeopathy’s progress

but also because of his still ‘totally material conception

of disease […] such is as yet the blindness of the old

pathology’ [4, p. 25].

Combined with this multiple approach,

Hahnemann, identified, named and evaluated the three

principles of drug use he saw operating in medicine at

that time. Of these orthodox medicine practiced two;

namely, the suppressing of symptoms by creating their

opposite, ‘antipathy’ or ‘enantiopathy’, and the creation

of symptoms that bore no relation to the disease or

symptoms at all, that is the ‘allopathic’ method, a term

Hahnemann created. Whilst the former was merely

palliative and Galenical, useful to win the patients trust

most infallibly by deceiving him with almost

instantaneous improvement, ‘the latter method’ play

[ed] with the life of the patient irresponsibly and

murderously’ [4]. The third method was of course the

homeopathic one, and according to HAHNEMANN the

only safe, gentle and sure method, curing by means of

symptom similarity.

Whilst this combined approach caused Hahnemann

to become both itinerant and marginalised at various

periods in his life, he did succeed in building a

successful Parisian practice with a widespread

reputation as a fine physician, before his death in 1843.

It is worthy of note of course that he achieved this partly

through the dedication and commitment of his second

wife Melanie d’Hervilly-Gohier (1800-1878) [6]. It is

the third of Hahnemann’s approaches, however, that the

rest of this paper is concerned with.

Changing 19th century fortunes

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

In the early 19th century, homeopathy had made

ground in some elite social circles but its general

advance was slow. However, by the middle of the

century first Europe, then the United States, found

themselves in the grip of a series of cholera epidemics

and the lack of conventional medicine success in

treating this disease left a therapeutic vacuum.

Homeopathy began to gain a foothold among the wider

population with reports of homeopathic cures appearing

in newspapers, pamphlets, and public addresses as well

as in hospital and public health records. This placed a

once tolerant orthodox medical profession on the

defensive [7]. Dr Schneider, for example, reported in

1832 a mortality rate in cholera of 21.1% in Russia,

whilst conventional doctors achieved a rate of 74.19%.

Even no treatment was superior to conventional

medicine, the former producing a comparative mortality

there of only 67.34% [7]. In Vienna, homoeopaths

reported a mortality rate in cholera of 8% and

conventional doctors 31%, whilst homœo-

paths at the London Homoeopathic Hospital (LHH)

reported a mortality of 16.4% with hospitals in London

generally reporting a mortality rate of 77 %. In the

United States, the conventional medical community

denied the reports claiming homeopaths had created

fictitious patients [8]. Homeopaths duly published

names and addresses. In Britain the returns of the LHH

were suppressed until they were finally presented to

parliament after Lord GROSVENOR intervened.

The attempts of conventional doctors to discredit

homeopathic claims amounted to, what BERGER and

LUCKMANN call, ‘ontological denial’, that is

homeopathic claims of cure had no reality [9]. The

perceived success of the homeopathic defence, however,

led to the conventional medical community to adopting

a second and far more powerful and complex move that

could be tolerated by their own medical reality or

‘symbolic universe’: ‘conceptual translation’. Berger

and Luckmann explain that here:

“The deviant conceptions [homeopathic claims] are

not merely assigned a negative status, they are grappled

with theoretically in detail The final goal of this

procedure is to incorporate the deviant conceptions

within one’s own universe [allopathic medical reality],

and thereby to liquidate them ultimately. The deviant

conceptions must, therefore, be translated into concepts

derived from one’s own universe.’ [9, p. 133-4]

Most importantly, ‘If the symbolic universe is to

comprehend all reality, nothing can be allowed to

remain outside its conceptual scope’.

Berger and Luckmann use the term ‘nihilation’ to

explain this process. Conventional doctors began to

argue that both the failure of their own treatment and the

apparent successes of homoeopathy were explicable by

the same phenomenon- the body’s natural healing

powers. Homoeopaths cured cholera because, unlike

conventional doctors, they were allowing the body to

heal itself, since prescribing homeopathically with

diluted doses was tantamount to doing nothing at all.

Conventional doctors on the other hand were preventing

the operation of this principle by giving medicine when

it was not needed. Hence, the vis medicatrix naturae

along with the concept of self -limiting diseases

regained currency in conventional medicine. In so doing

it both modified orthodox medical theory and practice

and diluted the distinctiveness of one of homeopathy’s

distinctive conceptual markers.

Nevertheless, homeopathy continued to grow

throughout the rest of the century in both Britain and the

United States and created many innovations. New drugs

were discovered, such as the Tuberculinum, by

American homeopath Samuel Swan (1814-1893) in

1876, and Bacillinum by London-based James Compton

BURNETT (1840-1901) in 1885, whilst old drugs were

experimented with and put to new uses, as in John

Galley Blackley (1850?-1910?) work with Opium [10],

Alfred Pope (1830-1908) description of the actions of

various mercury preparations in 1902 [11], and Edward

Blake demonstration of the full action of Vespa (wasp

sting) in 1875 [12], all of which were based in Britain.

In no technological backwater, homeopaths made

technological breakthroughs, such as the British

homeopath John Ellis Dudgeon (1820-1904) portable

‘sphygmograph’ (heart / pulse tracer), which earned him

first Prize at the Paris Medical and Sanitary exhibition

of 1881. Later, Dudgeon published his research on the

differences between ‘stammering’ and ‘stuttering’ heart

[13]. Likewise the American homeopathic surgeon

William Tod Helmuth (1833-1902) performed one of

the earliest antiseptic operations in the United States in

1876 [14].

During the last quarter of the century, the

conventional medicine expectant era, where medical

intervention was minimised and nature given freer

reign, gave way to the germ theory of KOCH and

PASTEUR. The potential of germ theory and its

associated therapies to legitimate homeopathic theory

and practice was not lost on either medical school. This

was a process underscored by Swan and Burnett

experiments with the nosodes (homeopathic drugs made

from live, diseased tissue), initially frowned upon by

some members of the medical profession (including

many homeopaths), but later heralded as ground

breaking. Both homeopaths and conventional doctors

came to use various forms of serum therapy, a practice

that used serum from diseased individuals in treatment,

and one popularised by Almroth Wright, of St Mary’s

hospital London. Homeopathic treatments with such

preparations as Tuberculinum came to increasingly

resemble those used by conventional doctors, and by

1912 some of the therapeutic practices of the two

schools were virtually indistinguishable. Conventional

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

doctors used Tuberculinum in homeopathic doses, and

homeopaths were in some cases administering it

hypodermically and in material doses.

This sharing of medical practice gave orthodox

medicine an opportunity to nihilate homeopathy at its

very heart, a process made possible by the continuing

awareness of conventional doctors of developments

within homeopathy. Wright is himself said to have

admitted his practice was, “ pure homoeopathy” and

even Von BEHRING, whilst working on a new

tuberculo-therapeutic substance, conceded,

[Tuberculins] therapeutic usefulness must be traced in

origin to a principle which cannot be better

characterized than by Hahnemann word ‘homoeopathic’

[15].

Germ theory, the use of serum therapy by

prominent members of the homeopathic profession and

even the credit given to homeopaths for first using the

practice, laid the groundwork for conventional doctors

to more fully translate homeopathy into their own world

view. Whilst sharing therapeutic practice, the language

of bacteriology enabled them to maintain a significant

cognitive distance from homeopaths. The ‘Vital Force’

became in conventional medicine parlance the ‘natural

protective mechanism’, ‘cure’ became ‘immunity’, the

‘simillimum’ became a ‘vaccine’, ‘aggravation’ became

‘disturbance’, ‘dilution’ became ‘solution’, ‘subjective

symptoms’ became the patient’s aspect’, the ‘minimum

dose’ became the ‘minimal dose’ and ‘triturated’

became ‟pulverised‟. Consequently, by 1910 they were

able to incorporate homeopathy’s two most distinctive,

identifying concepts, - the similia principle and the

minimum doses - and explain them in their own,

orthodox terms. Further, and as COULTER has pointed

out, such similarity made it possible for the American

Medical Association to claim to represent the entire

medical profession, and thus review the entire medical

educational system (with disastrous consequences for

homeopathy) [8].

By contrast, homeopaths failed to exploit a

potentially universalising explanation available to them

- the reverse action of drugs. Whilst they discussed both

the principle and clinical evidence of its veracity, in

their journals it was neither the only explanation offered

for the simillimum, with vibratory theory, Ehrlich’s

hypothesis and electrolytic dissociation being firm

contenders [16-20], nor was it consistently applied to

explaining conventional medicine clinical experience, or

we could say, their clinical ‘successes’. R. W. Van

Denburg, for example, showed that the reverse action of

drugs was so well evidenced that even conventional

doctors alluded to it. Referencing Hare, Bartholow,

Ringer, Wood and Stille, Van Denburg argued that in all

cases where small doses were advocated by these

practitioners, they did so in accordance with the law of

similar [35].Thus asafoetida was noted by these

orthodox doctors as both impairing and curing

digestion, arsenic as causing and curing memory loss,

and causing and curing a certain type of fever, a certain

asthma etc. Belladonna was noted as both causing and

curing dilated pupils, headache, delirium, a scarlet rash,

and digitalis, whilst in toxic doses it was known to

cause a great reduction in the pulse, it was yet

recognised by conventional doctors as useful in all

forms of heart failure with a small, weak, irregular,

feeble pulse. What the likes of Van Denburg held back

from saying was that use of material doses and the

primary drug action they engendered were not curative.

Indeed, they were deleterious if continued. In short,

homeopaths failed to critically engage with

conventional medicine knowledge and practice

effectively. When they alluded to it, it was primarily to

legitimate homeopathy own practice and not deconstruct

orthodox medicine.

Likewise in 1879, American homeopath George

Ockford addressed the American Institute of

Homeopathy (A.I.H.) on this subject, claiming the old

school of medicine had long recognised a difference of

action in large and small medicinal doses of drugs but

were not investigating it [21]. Indeed the Monthly

Homeopathic Review of 1876 had already drawn the

profession’s attention to the lack of investigation into

this ‘double’ or ‘reverse’ action of drugs. The Review

noted that conventional medicine was; “[…] exclusively

directed to the observation of the effects of full or

physiological doses, and even though the opposite set of

facts may be elucidated in the course of the

experiments, their value is not perceived, and they are

passed by without comment”[ 22] .

Yet homeopaths did perceive it. This was a

conceptual space that homeopaths could occupy with

the potential of broadening their explanation of medical

phenomena to incorporate conventional medicine

experience. Instead, reported orthodox experiments,

poisonings and pathological findings were simply culled

for fuller indications of drug action, any action.

Seemingly lulled into a false sense of security and

seeking the science accolade through means other than

similia, homeopaths began to abandon their identity and

relativised their practice [8]. American homeopath

Eldridge Price outlined to the Institute in 1898 the “four

pathies”; „Antipathy, Allopathy, Isopathy and

Homoeopathy‟, but not in the way Hahnemann had

done in the third of his approaches less than a century

earlier [23]. Price admitted that few homoeopaths at that

time were exclusivists. They were simply physicians

“[…] who reserve the right to draw from every field of

mental achievement that which will aid in the healing of

the sick, whether these contributions are from

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

mechanics, from chemistry, from bacteriology or from

the charmed circle of Homoeopathy” [23, p. 105].

Another American homeopath, W Geohegan

claimed it “[…] was necessary to ascertain the proper

limitation of the sphere within which the law of Similia

is applicable […]” [23, p. 124], whilst Price asked

“What if, in following truth, we are led away from

Homoeopathy? It matters not.” Subsuming the law of

similia under the possibility of greater truths Price

claimed “We will only be drawing nearer to the fact, to

the roots of the universe, to that which is the cause of

the law of similars” [23, p. 106].

The perception was that conventional medicine and

homeopathy were undergoing the same ‘scientific’

sifting process. Geohegan claimed “The dominant

school of physicians justly repudiate the term allopathic.

The drugs chosen by their methods do not always bear

the allopathic relationship; in fact, the use of similars

abounds in their practice [23, p. 122]. “We believe in

allopathy, in antipathy, and in Homoeopathy”, Price had

continued, “each in its own place, and with a scientific

reason for our beliefs, and we want the world to know

it” [23, p. 105]. Science had become what was useful

from all sectarian medicine. In the end, it was

homeopathy as a profession that lost out in unequal

measure.

Thus, homeopaths had become dangerously

indifferent to explaining the discoveries, developments

and clinical results of their main competitor. Unlike

Hahnemann they did not, in the words of Berger and

Luckmann, “grapple with [allopathic] concepts

theoretically in detail” but merely ‘assigned them a

negative status’ [9]. They never moved from first to

second order ‘nihilation.’ The President of the American

Institute of Homeopathy, Benjamin F. Bailey, lamented

in 1905: “Contented in our own sufficiency we were

unwilling to grant or recognise any accomplishment the

result of scientific studies that might have been made by

the regular school in the last twenty- five years, and we

were inclined to change positions and to cry out against

every new discovery - not on account of its negative

evidence but on account of its origin. If it came from the

regular school it must be false, it must be bad.” [24]

Thus homeopaths saw conventional medicine

achievements as a priori illegitimate, and thus seemed

to assume that they did not merit explanation. They

were not, as Hahnemann had been, discriminating in

either their criticism or their acknowledgement. They

failed to explain conventional medicine on their own

terms. “We rested on our oars […]” Bailey said [24, p.

95]. He was right. The last quarter of the 19th century

saw homoeopathy lose valuable intellectual ground to

conventional medicine.

By contrast some conventional doctors had begun

to speak in favour of homeopathy. The prominent

physician Horatio C. Wood (1841-1920) recognised that

similia similibus curentur had survived for two

thousand three hundred years, thus, “[…] it must

possess some peculiar vitality, some measure of truth,

and I myself believe that, as a rule of practice, it will at

times lead to a good result” [23, p. 122]. Some

homeopaths, in ignoring the fourth of Hahnemann’s

approaches to orthodox medicine, saw in such musings

invitations to conciliation, which they were keen to

accept [8].

Lessons from history?

Following the Hegelian principle stating that

history is philosophy teaching by examples, we need to

ask what lessons these events may have for

homeopathy. They can be fourfold:

- First: homeopathy should be aware of and emphasise

its strong points, viz. pharmacology and

individualisation. To take note: it is within the

consultation process and the putative power of the

placebo effect that conventional doctors locate the

success of homeopathy and other alternative medical

practices [25,26]. The colonising impetus of orthodox

medicine has not diminished.

- Secondly, homeopaths should deal with criticism as a

group and be discriminating in their praise and

criticism, always maintaining a right to reply. How

often is homeopathy criticised in the press and no one

from the profession responds (though patients who have

benefited from it often do)?

- Thirdly, as a profession, homoeopathy needs to remain

aware of broader developments in medicine.

- Fourthly, homeopaths need to explain other medical

phenomena in their own, homeopathic, terms.

That said, homeopathy today has to deal, not with

medical factions or open market competition but with

medical monopoly and state sanction, the result of what

some historians refer to as ‟big science‟ and what we

might call ‘big medicine’ [27]. More than anything else,

if homeopathy seeks integration into the mainstream

(and I recognise that many homeopaths do not), it

should ensure that it is the profession that is integrated

and that the knowledge stays securely with homeopaths

themselves. That is, homeopathy must retain its

individual identity and homeopaths themselves must

remain ‘knowers’, who at the same time must critically

engage with conventional medical knowledge. Finally,

it is worth pointing out that, historically speaking, the

orthodox medical profession has never knowingly

assisted homeopathy’s progress, though political,

economic and state elites often have [8, 28]. Boundaries

with conventional medicine, certainly of the cognitive

kind, and not bridges, are what homeopathy needs to

secure its future.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

References:

[1] Davis NS. Address on practical medicine.

Transactions of the American Medical Association

(1874): 101.

[2] Ockford G. Diverse drug action. Transations of the

American Institute of Homeopathy (1879): 174-180.

[3] Ernst E. Homeopathy: a “helpful placebo” or an

“unethical intervention”? Trends in Pharmacological

Sciences 2009;32(1): 1.

[4] Hahnemann S. The Organon of medicine. 6th ed.

London: Gollancz; 1982.

[5] Hahnemann S. The chronic diseases: their peculiar

nature and their homeopathic cure. New Delhi: B Jain;

2001.

[6] Handley R. A homoeopathic love story. LOCAL:

North Atlantic Books; 1993.

[7] Squires RJ. Marginality, stigma and conversion in

the context of medical knowledge: professional

practices and occupational interests. PhD thesis

University of Leeds 1985

[8] Coulter HL. Divided legacy: the conflict between

homeopathy and the American Medical Association.

2nd ed. Berkeley [CA]: North Atlantic Books; 1982.

[9] Berger P, Luckmann T. The social construction of

reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. 2nd ed.

Essex [UK]: Penguin Books; 1991.

[10] Blackely JG. On the physiological action of certain

alkaloids derived from Opium. Annals and Transactions

of the British Homoeopathic Society and London

Homoeopathic Hospital 1876;7: 42-53.

[11] Pope AC. On the physiological action and

therapeutic use of mercury and its salts. The Monthly

Homoeopathic Review 1982: 267-283.

[12] Blake E. A proving of Vespa vulgaris by clinical

gleanings. The Homoeopathic Review 1875;19: 418-

429.

[13] Dudgeon RE. On stammering heart. The Journal of

the British Homoeopathic Society 1893;1: 3-23.

[14] Rothstein WG. American physicians in the 19th

century: from sects to science. 2nd ed. Baltimore [MD]:

The Johns Hopkins University Press; 1985.

[15] Linn AM. Recent scientific confirmation of the law

of similar. Transactions of the American Institute of

Homeopathy 1907: 312-317.

[16] Deschere M. The elective affinity of drugs.

Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy

1897: 199-208.

[17] Drury A. Homeopathy and Ehrlich’s hypothesis.

Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy

1903: 97-103.

[18] Gatchell C. On the mode of action of drugs in the

crude form and in dilute solution, with an attempted

interpretation of Hahnemann’s theory of dynamization.

Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy

1903: 82-96.

[19] Hanchett WH. Meddlesome medicine. Transactions

of the American Institute of Homeopathy 1901: 154-

160.

[20] Foster RN. The logical basis of the law of similar:

does it commend itself to our reason? Transactions of

the American Institute of Homeopathy 1896: 145-156.

[21]Ockford G. Diverse drug action. Transactions of the

American Institute of Homeopathy 1879: 174-180.

[22] Monthly Homeopathic Review (1876): 198.

[23] Price EC. The four pathies: antipathy, allopathy,

isopathy and homeopathy; their place in therapeutics.

Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy

1898: 104-131.

[24] Bailey BF. Homeopathy and the corporations.

Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy

1905: 91-105.

[25] Shang A, Huwiler-Müntener K, Nartey L, Jüni P,

Dörig S, Sterne JA, Pewsner D, Egger M. Are the

clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects?

Comparative study of placebo controlled trials of

homeopathy and allopathy. The Lancet 2005;366(9482):

726-732.

[26] Dowson DI, Lewith GT, Machin D. The effects of

acupuncture versus placebo treatment of headache. Pain

1985;21: 35-42.

[27] Fuller S. Science. Berkshire [UK]: Open University

Press, 1997.

[28] Nicholls P. Homoeopathy and the medical

profession. London: Croom Helm, 1988.

========================================

4. NUX MOSCHATA: THREE CASES

CICCHETTI, Jane (AH. 5/1999)

Nux moschata was proved by Dr. Helbig in 1833.

Many of the symptoms have been obtained from

poisonings. The nutmeg tree grows to thirty feet high,

begins bearing fruit in the seventh or eighth year, and

then continues to do so for the next seventy or eighty

years. The ground nut is used in cooking and a

distillation of the oil, Myristica oil, has been used in

medicine as a flavoring agent, carminative, and as a

local stimulant to the gastrointestinal tract. The main

active ingredient, Myristicin, is a poisonous narcotic.

CASE 1

In the spring of 1996, I became aware that an

acquaintance of mine was having one accident after

another. The accidents became more and more serious,

including one that almost cost her life. Later she began

to have strange physical symptoms - severe gas and

bloating—and went from one doctor to another,

receiving no help or even a clear diagnosis. I couldn’t

stand to see this anymore and suggested that she come

in for homœopathic treatment.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

The reason for the accidents and the confusing

digestive problems soon became clear. She was in a

Nux Moschata state—a state where the mind is

disassociated from the body. No wonder she was

having so many accidents. A few doses of 200c helped

a lot. I lost track of her and thought very little about this

remedy until I met Melissa.

CASE 2

In November of 1997, Melissa, a 36-year-old

married woman, came to me with the complaint of

“hormonal sensitivity” and high blood pressure.

Melissa was a lively strawberry blonde, very personable

and friendly, speaking quickly and laughing a lot, even

at serious matters. She also seemed overexcited, very

jittery, and tense. She has two children.

Melissa’s symptoms included: Joint pain before

menses (Searing, penetrating, sharp pains. A nerve-type

pain. Like being really cold and then warming up. >

movement, < in knees, but could be in any joint); Dry

eyes before menses; Weeps easily and becomes

depressed and sympathetic before menses; High blood

pressure (160/100. Taking low dose of Beta blocker. <

evening. < before menses. Pounding in blood vessels,

jittery and on edge.)

Melissa is very sympathetic and loves animals. She

faints easily, especially in warm, stuffy rooms. She

craves chocolate, sweets, spicy food, and cinnamon.

She has an aversion to fired foods, greasy foods, and

white bread. There is a tendency towards

hypoglycemia. She also has a history of terrible

morning sickness during both her pregnancies; she

threw up the whole nine months. The only thing she

could eat was meat and potatoes, with a craving for

potatoes. Even during labor, she was still throwing up.

Melissa had postpartum depression after her second

child; she became very anxious and worried. She

weaned the baby early and went on birth control pills

and antidepressants. She went off birth control pills a

year ago because of her high blood pressure.

Actually, Melissa has had periods of depression

since she was 19. As a child, she worried a lot. She

couldn’t sleep from worrying. She was always afraid of

disappointing her parents, who were very controlling.

Her father was very health-oriented and controlled her

diet very strictly - allowing no fat or salt.

“They are into being skinny, exercising, and eating

a low fat diet.”

“I’m the only one who is married and on my own.

There’s a real tradition of not going out on your own”.

“I just wouldn’t make any waves-never disappoint

them.”

“I rebelled in college and paid the price with inner

turmoil.”

“My parents say it’s important to have a real job-a

doctor or a lawyer. Any time I mentioned any other

career, my parents went ballistic.” (She became a

physician).

Analysis:

The dryness of the eyes, symptoms worse before

menses, the extreme giddiness, and severe vomiting

during pregnancy led me to Nux moschata, along with a

few polychrest remedies. What really helped me see

the full picture was Gina Inez’s article, “My Advice on

a Spice,” in the Spring 1994 issue of The American

Homeopath. Gina mentions the case of a brilliant

woman who blossoms after taking Nux moschata.

She comments:

“One wonders about the “classic woman” of this

remedy type in the nineteenth century. Did she

need this remedy only because she was so prone to

fainting on the hot days she was being fitted for a

tight fitting corset? One wonders about her dreams,

her creativity, her artistry, and her sense of being

able to be comfortable and true to herself in a social

environment which she may have found as

restrictive as the tight garments she wore.”

Dorothy SHEPERD tells us more about the use of

Nutmeg by society ladies:

“A drink which was concocted by our great-great-

grandmothers for domestic requirements was

Nutmeg tea. One crushed Nutmeg would make a

pint of tea, a small cupful of which produced a

sleep of several hours’ duration.

It was fashionable for society ladies to carry a silver

grater and Nutmeg box suspended from the waist

on their chatelaines. Naturally,as it was so

commonly used, it led to some abuse, and ladies

often developed the habit of drinking Nutmeg tea in

order to go to sleep easily and quickly.”

Why did they want to go to sleep all the time?

Perhaps we can understand this more deeply by looking

further at Melissa’s case. Her story reveals the pressure

that was put on her to live her life the way her family

wanted her to live it. I began to think that many of the

symptoms of the state, especially the fainting, the

sleepiness, and the “out of body” experiences of Nux

moschata, were an attempt on the part of the Vital

Force to leave a situation that was unacceptable to the

individual. Such is the situation of a woman (and most

cases of Nux moschata are women) who is unable to

express her creativity and intelligence, to know herself,

because of family or societal pressure.

Remedy: Nux moschata 200c, split dose.

4 months after first prescription. After a brief

aggravation she was much better. Could exercise

without feeling tired. No longer needs to nap. Blood

pressure normal—120/80. No pains in the limbs. No

depression before menses.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

6 months after first prescription. She reports that

after eating a eucalyptus candy the blood pressure went

back up.

Repeat Nux moschata 200c.

7 months after first prescription. Blood pressure

went back to normal after last dose of 200c. She reports

being much calmer. The hormonal pains and mood

swings are gone. “I can’t believe it’s this easy to get

well. Is this all I have to do?” But blood pressure has

gone up to 140/90.

Assessment: Needs higher potency-Nux moschata

1M, split dose.

9 months after first prescription. She feels great.

No depression, no pains in the limbs. She feels much

stronger emotionally and physically. Feels stronger

about confronting people when she needs to. She has

been able to visit her parents without being upset by

them. Blood pressure is completely normal except for

slight rise just before menses. Assessment: Doing well,

Nux moschata 30c before menses, if needed.

CASE 3

Sandra is a 40-year-old businesswoman, married

with three children. She comes to me because she was

to strengthen her immune system.

“I’m the mom. I get sick when my kids bring

things home.”

I’m beginning to feel the symptoms of arthritis. I

can feel it in my fingers.”

“Horrible menstrual cramps with PMS---very

sleepy, emotional, angry.” (Feels better as soon as

the flow starts. Menses are beginning to be

irregular.)

“Whenever I was taking a self-help seminar or

doing yoga or meditation and I had my period, I

didn’t have cramps.”

“I’m in a stage of my life where I want to get away

from everything, my work, my kids.”

“I’m very creative and artistic, but I haven’t done

much of this in the past five or six years.”

“I need to get away now. Mother overload. I love

my kids, but I don’t like the maintenance.”

Sandra has dark red hair and lots of freckles. She is

very lively and extremely loquacious. She has recurrent

dreams about being late and missing a plane or a car.

Her father died of cancer when she was 15; he started

getting sick when she was 13. She was devastated by

this. “That loss was always with me.” She doesn’t need

to sleep more than six or seven hours each night and

feels refreshed after a nap of less than five minutes.

At first, I suggest Lachesis 200c for Sandra. After

this, her periods become regular again and she has no

PMS or food cravings. She feels more relaxed and the

“desperate feeling of having to get out from under my

family” is gone. She has a very interesting dream where

she sees herself as a snake coming out of its skin. As

she touches the snake, it becomes a big fertile mother

pig. She says, “That was me for the last year.”

Assessment: Doing very well---no remedy needed.

Seven months later, I repeat the remedy because of what

appears to be a relapse after dental work.

Eight months after the first prescription, Sandra

develops terrible pains in her neck-stiffness with

tingling in the back of the head. “Feels like my neck

can’t support my head.” She has a lump on the side of

her neck that has been diagnosed as a fatty cyst. She is

going to many doctors and cannot get a diagnosis. She

has great anxiety about her health.

What is going on here? Is she proving Lachesis

after all this time? I don’t think so. Her symptoms are

still covered by Lachesis 1M which does nothing. This

is a very tricky time during treatment. I feel that there

has been some very deep healing for Sandra, and know

from experience that transformation often kicks up other

symptoms. I let her know this and, at the same time,

support her in her search for the allopathic reason

behind her symptoms. She visits many doctors and

develops other strange symptoms, one thing after

another-gastric reflux, dry eyes, dryness of the mouth,

wandering arthritic symptoms, and muscle twinges that

feel like electric shocks. She has gone to many doctors

who rule out MS and Sjogrens syndrome.

13 months after first prescription.

Sandra has not had a remedy for five months. She

reports the aforementioned symptoms and is

preoccupied with aging and her own mortality.

Assessment: The Lachesis has uncovered a deep

existential anxiety that was previously experienced

during the illness and subsequent death of her father. I

prescribe Nux moschata 200c based on the dryness,

ailments from grief, and wandering arthritic symptoms.

(Note that all three cases had suspected Sjogrens

syndrome, which was found to be negative.)

15 months after first prescription

Sandra reports that she’s better. Dryness of eyes

and mouth cleared up quite a bit.

“I don’t feel as anxious.” “Still have some muscle

spasms, but I’m operating under the assumption

that this is going to clear up.” “I also realize that

I’ve held anger in; I’m continuing to feel layers of

it. Now is the time to get back to who I am.”

“When I wasn’t feeling well, I couldn’t do certain

things but I was without guilt. I was able to speak

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

with my children. It improved my relationship.

For a long time I felt there was something seriously

wrong with me. I was holding so much fear and

tension. That was what this was all about.”

Assessment: The remedy is the simillimum.

Repeat Nux moschata 200c.

20 months after first prescription.

Sandra reports, “I am well. Muscle spasms are

gone. Sleep is good. Have been practicing Zazen-

something for myself. I think I wasn’t accepting where

I am-that I have three kids and this is where I am. I love

them and this is my life. I had been frustrated, it was a

state of mind and that has shifted. I’ve started making

more time for myself.” Assessment: Doing very well.

She is very conscious of what has gone on in the healing

process. This is, in my opinion, very important. No

remedy required.

22 months after first prescription.

Sandra reports that she is feeling good. There is

some residue of the muscle twitches. “I’m not really

concerned about them.” “I feel I’m really defining who

I am and what I want to do. When I had tried to define

who I was-I was trying to be who I was before I had my

children. That wasn’t possible. My excuse was, “the

kids wear me out.” The truth was, I didn’t want to

confront the real me.” Assessment: She’s doing well

and will probably not need another remedy for a long

time. No remedy is given, but I want her to stay in

touch with me. This woman is obviously interested in

personal growth, so other remedies may be needed in

the future. To quote the Upanishads, “The path to

enlightenment is like walking the razors edge.”

SUMMARY

In all three cases we see the “out of body”

experience of Nux moschata – the feeling of being far

away from oneself, of going to sleep to oneself. This is

typical of any remedy, like nutmeg, that has narcotic

properties. But, unlike some of our more exotic

narcotic remedies, nutmeg is commonly found in the

kitchen. It has its own unique “flavor” – grappling with

the great existential question “Who am I?” within the

context everyday life. None of these women has gone

to Tibet or taken psychedelics. They are at home, in

everyday situations, struggling with this question.

As we understand the essence of Nux moschata, we

will use it more often. I believe it is a commonly

needed remedy, often confused with Lachesis

(loquacity, excitability, < before menses), Pulsatilla

(wandering pains, changeable moods, symptoms during

pregnancy), or Opium (sleepiness, out of body

experiences).

The following categorizes many symptoms that I

have seen in my cases cured with Nux moschata.

Out of body

Faints easily. Fainting from the sight of blood.

Overpowering sleepiness. Narcolepsy. Extreme

drowsiness.

Bumps into things. Has accidents because she is not in

her body.

Clairvoyance.

Can seem intoxicated, as if on drugs.

Feels as if in a dream. Spaced out.

Numbness of body parts.

Changeable

Dullness of mind or extreme clarity of mind. Spaced

out or chatters.

Changeable moods.

Laughter, cheerfulness, giddiness alternating with

depression.

Wandering rheumatic pains in joints and muscles.

Laughter

Giddiness, laughs at serious matters. Loquacity and

laughter.

Dryness

Dryness of mucus membranes and eyes.

Dry mouth without thirst.

Lack of perspiration.

Nux moschata is an important remedy for Sjogren’s

syndrome dryness of eyes and mouth, rheumatoid-like

symptoms.

Freckles

Nutmeg has been used to remove freckles. I have six

cases of Nux moschata who are doing well. They all

have reddish hair and freckles-lots of freckles.

Female hormonal system

symptoms worse before and during menses, during

pregnancy.

Complete change of personality during pregnancy

(Vasillis Ghegas).

Digestion

Tremendous bloating and constipation with soft stool.

Very chilly

Ailments from mental shock, grief, disappointed

love, intermittent fevers.

Kent: “Useful in the coma of typhoid and intermittent

fever. When aroused she remembers nothing; looks

about and wants to know who the people are around and

what are they doing… We find such a state in typhoid,

in hysteria, after shock, after fear, blighted affections or

the loss of a friend.”

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

========================================

5. Adolph Graf zur LIPPE Bisterfeld-Weissenfield

(May 11, 1812 – January 23, 1888: 75 years of age)

YASGUR, Jay (AJHM. 104, 4/2011)

Adolph LIPPE was among the first group of

pioneers to establish Homœopathy in the United States.

Not by coincidence, he is considered to have been one

of America’s finest Classical homœopaths.(1)

LIPPE was born on the family estate of ‘See’ (near

Goerlitz, Prussia) to Count Ludwig and Countess

Augusta zur LIPPE. After secondary school he began

studies in jurisprudence at the University in Berlin. But

his interest was really in the medical field; so after a

year of law he switched to medicine. little else in

known about his life in Germany but by 1839 (some

references say 1838 or even 1837) LIPPE immigrated to

the United States and almost immediuately enrolled in

the North American Academy of the Homœopathic

Healing Art) located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (2)

After two years of rigorous study and passing a final

examination given by Drs. John ROMIG, William

WESSELHOEFT, Eberhard FREYTAG, and Henry

Detwiller, LIPPE received his diploma on August 27,

1841. The great Constantine HERING, father of

American Homœopathy and president of that Academy,

was the first to congratulate and welcome LIPPE into

the homœopathic fold.

In 1842, Lippe initially set up his practice in

Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he stayed until 1844

before moving to Carlise, another small Pennysylvania

town sixty miles to the southwest. This area, the

Cumberland Valley, was especially susceptible to

epidemic diseases and LIPPE helped relieve the

suffering there. (3)

Six years later, in 1950, he relocated to

Philadelphia with two of his colleagues, Henry

DUFFIELD (1801-1865); graduated in 1852 from the

Homœopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania) and

Thomas Collins STEVENSON (?-12.19.1979;

graduated in 1851 from the Homœopathic Medical

College of Pennsylvania). This move established him in

his final environment and it was during this part of his

life that he came into full maturation as a homœopath:

he taught, mentored and wrote countless articles and

two important books. (4) LIPPE helped to establish

four important journals, Homœopathic News (1854-6),

Hahnemannian Monthly (1865-8), Organon (1878-81)

and The Homœopathic Physician (1881) as well as three

organizations, the American Institute of Homœopathy

(AIH, 1844), The International Hahnemannian

Association (IHA, 1880) and the Lippe Society of

Philadelphia (1880). (5) Additionally, he was active in

translation work, translating French, German and Italian

homœopathic literature in to the English language, and

in proving, e.g., Bromium, Calcarea phosphoric,

Flouricum acidum, etc.

LIPPE taught for six years at the Homœopathic

College of Pennsylvania, 1864-1869. In 1867, the

college became a corporation and LIPPE, as its major

stockholder, assumed the helm. In charge, one of his

first acts was to eliminate the Department of Pathology

as he felt that field to be unnecessary. Dr. C.G. RAUE

was in charge of that department and a close friend of

Costantine HERING. This so upset RAUE and

HERING that HERING withdrew his support for LIPPE

and founded another college, the Hahnemann Medical

College. Thus, for three years there existed two

homœopathic medical colleges in Philadelphia.

This schism ended in 1869 when H.N.

GUERNSEY, MD, bought Lippe’s stock and transferred

ownership of it to HERING. With LIPPE powerless,

the two schools merged, retaining the name which

HERING gave it. The LIPPE-HERING friendship

soured, yet the two healed those wounds during the

1876 World Congress of Homœopathy. LIPPE

generously sponsored a banquet during that Congress.

(6)

“LIPPE continued to write and work in

Philadelphia, but was no longer connected with the

school. The most stalwart of the Hahnemannian

homœopaths flocked around him. He formed the ‘Lippe

Club’ with E.J. Lee and Walter James, and they met

regularly to discuss Homœopathy. The minutes of these

meetings are in the Hahnemann Collection at the

Allegheny University of Health Sciences, Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania.”-Julian Winston, The Faces of

Homœopathy (1999, p.56).

LIPPE, having rooted himself so deeply in his

adopted country, resisted any temptation to permanently

return to the continent. Yet, in 1860, LIPPE traveled to

Germany. While attending the meeting of the

Versammlung der Homœopathischen Aerzte Rheinlands

und Westphalens (Association of Homœopathic

Physicians of Rhineland and Westphalia) he met

BOENNINGHAUSEN (1785-1864) and spent two

weeks in his company:

“…LIPPE shared his discovery that it was

necessary to change to ever higher potencies when

repeating the same remedy, a finding which

BOENNINGHAUSEN confirmed.” – GYPSER,

p.25.

Also, during this trip he met with other

homœopaths, e.g., Veit MEYER (1815-1872) and C.

HAUBOLD (1796-1862) (7).

In December of 1884 he lost his only daughter and

two weeks later, on January 1, 1885, his eldest son,

CONSTANTINE (8). It is suggested that LIPPE never

recovered from this double blow, his vitality gradually

declining. In early January 1888, due to the severe

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

weather, he contracted a cold which developed into a

severe Pneumonia from which he never recovered:

“From the first initial chill to within a few moments

of death, Dr. LIPPE retained consciousness and never

seemed to have any hope of recovery. He said just a

few hours before he died, ‘The medicines do no good.

They only palliate.’ And so it seemed. During the last

two days, Dr. LIPPE, though so ill, was all the time

throwing out hints for the treatment of his case. For

instance, he would say this symptom indicates, Nux

mosch or this one Natrum mur, and so he would go

through a list of remedies, pointing out with such rare

skill their characteristics. But all without avail. Taken

sick at 3 a.m., Saturday morning, he died Monday,

January 23rd, at 9:45 a.m.” (Julian WINSTON, The

Faces of Homœopathy, 1999; this piece was quoted

from Lippe’s obituary which appeared in the 1888 issue

of The Homœopathic Physician). It was not long after

Lippe’s passing that KENT moved to Philadelphia to

assume his practice.

GYPSER ended his 1992 piece with this anecdote

by ANSHUTZ (Homœopathic Recorder, #26, p.314,

1911). Please allow me to repeat it here:

“A patient came to him who, for six months,

had been under the care of a ‘regular’ for ‘torpid

liver.’ In two weeks he was well. One day the

‘regular’ met LIPPE and asked him how he was

able to cure a ‘torpid liver’ in so short a time. The

reply was something like this – with strong German

accent and a tapping of the forehead: ‘Torpid liver!

The torpidity was here,’ tapping the forehead, ‘in

you.’ ”-p.29.

NOTES

1) Other noted first pioneers include, H.B. Gram, MD

(who introduced Homœopathy into the Western

Hemisphere in 1825, when he settled in New York

City), John Gray, MD, Federal Vanderburgh, MD,

C.J. Hempel, MD, William and Robert

Wesselhoeft, MDs, H. Detwiller, MD, C. Hering,

MD, Charles Neidhard, MD, J.H. PULTE, MD,

C.G. RAUE, MD, H.C. ALLEN, MD, C.

DUNHAM, MD, E. BAYARD, MD, E.C.

STANTON, C.S. LOZIER, MD, J. KITCHEN,

MD, P.P. WELLS, MD, JACOB JEANES, MD, S.

SWAN, MD, W. WILLIAMSON, MD, T.

SKINNER, MD, B. FINCKE, MD, A.E. SMALL,

MD, H.N. GUERNSEY, MD, F.E. BOERICKE,

MD, F. HUMPHREYS, MD., T.S. VERDI, MD,

etc.

Notables of the group which followed a bit later

include, E.M. HALE, MD, T.F. ALLEN, MD, R.

LUDLAM, MD, C.E. MILLSPAUGH, MD, W.T.

HELMUTH, MD, J.T. KENT, MD, W.H.KING,

MD, T.L. BRADFORD, MD, T.C. DUNCAN, MD,

R.R. GREGG, MD, W.A. YINGLING, MD, E.B.

NASH, MD, S.A. JONES, MD, E.E. CASE, MD,

S.M. CLOSE, MD, E.P. ANSHUTZ, M.D. A.L.

MONROE, S. LILIENTHAL, MD. W.

BOERICKE, MD, W.A. DEWEY, MD, J.W.

WARD, MD, S. TALCOTT, MD, M.F. TAFT,

AND F.E. GLADWIN, MD, etc.

2) This institution, simply referred to as the Allentown

Academy, was founded on April 10, 1835, by

doctors HERING, ROMIG, WESSELHOEFT and

Detwiller. It was the first homœopathic school in

the world: “A stock company was formed, and a

number of subscribers raised enough money to buy

a tract of land in Allentown. On May 27, [1835]

the cornerstone was laid. ….All the courses were

taught in German, the language of the homœopathic

literature of the time. Students who were not fluent

in German were taught the language.” – Julian

WINSTON, The Faces of Homœopathy (1999,

p.36).

The school’s endowment fund was mismanaged

and, during the financial crisis of 1837, that money

was lost. The school continued until 1842. It is felt

that it might have gained strength and continued

had the courses been offered in the English

language. It lasted but six years, yet trained a core

group of doctors who went on to form the

foundation of American Homœopathy. Associated

with the school was The Academical Bookstore

which published Hahnemann’s The Organon of

Homœopathic Medicine (1836) and G.H.G. Jahr’s

Manual of Homœopathic Medicine (1836).

3) GYPSER offers several of Lippe’s cases. I have

chosen the following one which holds several

teachings and demonstrates Lippe’s command of

the Materia Medica:

“[a sixteen year-old female patient with a

sprained ankle] had already received Bry.XM

which ameliorated the swelling and the pain, but

still did not enable her to stand on her left foot:….

And other new symptoms developed themselves.

The breathing became rapid; great oppression of

the chest, with constantly recurring desire to take a

long breath; she felt as if the air inhaled did not

reach the pit of her stomach, and still she could

force the air so far down she had to yawn and try to

take a deep inspiration.

“The first impression in such a case would

naturally be enough to find a remedy for the chest

symptoms, remove them first, and latter attend to

the ankle, or to find a remedy for each of these

ailments, and give the corresponding remedies in

alternation. if ever a case presented itself in which

alteration seemed excusable, here was the case; but

homoeopathy does not admit of such irrational

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

practice, and we were therefore compelled to find

the remedy if it was to be found. Who seeks will

find! We found under Prunus spinosa all the

symptoms, and even under the very first proving

of it published in the Archive of the Homœopathic

Healing Art, Vol. XIV, Part 3, a proving by Dr.

Wilhelm WAHLE. Symptom 146: Heaviness, and

oppressed in the chest. S. 148: Anxious, short

breathing. S. 149: Sensation of heaviness and

anxiety in the lower part of the chest compels him

to breathe frequently and deep. S. 155: The breathe

appears to be checked in the pit of the stomach. S.

225: On the external side of the left foot joint

sensation as if sprained. S.226: Sensation as if

sprained in the left foot joint. Here were found all

the symptoms of the case, and on the eighth day

after the injury had happened she received one dose

of Prunus spinosa 200, at 11 a.m. The following

night she could sleep very little; the difficulty of

breathing increased and compelled her to sit up all

night. And here again arose a great question. Was

her disease worse or was this great aggravation

attributable to the seemingly small and very

insignificant dose of the remedy? Her left ankle

was also more painful and much more swollen after

this sleepless night. This often-recurring, difficult

to know whether the disease is worse and the

administration of another remedy advisable, or

whether the medicine caused this increase of

suffering is only a real difficulty if we are uncertain

about the undoubted correctness of our prescription.

As in this case, only the previously existing

symptoms had become worse, and as these

symptoms unmistakably indicated Prunus spinosa,

and as we were sure of having made a very careful

selection of the remedy, there was nothing else to

do but to wait. The next night was much better; she

had slept in her bed. The respiratory difficulties

gradually subsided, and later the foot and ankle

improved slowly.”- GYPSER, pp.27,8.

4) LIPPE wrote two books which were translated in to

the English language: Textbook of Materia Medica

(1866.A.J. Tafel, 714 pp. “LIPPE is considered by

many to be one of the finest Hahnemannian

homœopaths ever, and his symptomatology in this

book is very reliable. This book formed the base

for Hering’s Condensed Materia Medica, which

started as an interleaved copy of Lippe’s work, with

Hering’s additions.” – J. WINSTON, The Heritage

of the Homœopathic Literature, p.28) and Key to

the Materia Medica or Comparative

Pharmacodynamics (1854, 142pp. LIPPE said this

was a work in progress. “The author presents a

series of characteristic symptoms of remedies-

starting with the polychrests-in the left column, and

remedies that have similar symptoms or bear

comparing are listed opposite each symptom in the

right column.” – ibid, p. 27).

5) LIPPE and H.C. ALLEN, MD, spearheaded the

founding of the International Hahnemannian

Association (IHA) in 1880. This organization….

“was formed as a reaction against the increasing

lack of homœopathic teaching in the schools which

were then in operation and against the poor quality

Homœopathy being practiced.”- Julian WINSTON,

The Faces of Homœopathy (1999, p.77). The IHA

ceased operation 1959 when it merged with the

AIH.

6) “LIPPE and Hering often talked shop with each

other. When HERING was suffering from

hemorrhoids, LIPPE cured him with Causticum.

On the other hand, when LIPPE suffered from

typhoid fever in 1863 and was near death, HERING

cured him with Silicea.”—GYPSER, p.25.

7) Veit MEYER (2.17.1815, Dresden – 4.22.1872,

Leipzig) was a homœopathic physician who

received his medical degree in 1842 from the

University of Leipzig. It was during his medical

studies that he became aware of Homœopathy. For

eighteen years he published the Allgemeine

Homöopathische Vierteljahrschrift (Quarterly

Newsletter on Homœopathy) with Clotar

MUELLER (1818-1877). MEYER and CLOTAR

were physicians at the Polyclinic in Leipzig from

1854 until 1872. He married E. ELB, the sister of

homœopath JOSEPH ELB (1815-1875; he received

his medical degree in 1838 from the University of

Leipzig).

MEYER wrote several works including the

important historical reference, Homœopathischer

Fuhrer fur Deutschland und das Ausland (1856;

Homœopathic Guide for Germany and Abroad).

Carl HAUBOLD (4.17.1796 – 7.8.1862) was a

German homœopathic physician and contemporary

of Hahnemann. He graduated with his medical

degree in 1821 from the University of Leipzig and

became a well-known and respected practitioner.

He served as a liason between HAHNEMANN and

those who were known as ‘half-homœopaths’ when

he helped create the Association of Medical

Homœopaths (Leipzig). This organization helped

to mend the harsh words and feelings which had

developed between homœopaths and those who still

had their doubts.

8) Constantine J. LIPPE(7.1.1840-1.1.1885) was the

son of Adolph LIPPE. He wrote Lippe’s Repertory

to the More Characteristic Symptoms (1879) which

he dedicated to Constantine Hering: “Ill health

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

prevented LIPPE from editing a 2nd edition. He

gave his work to E.J. LEE of Philadelphia, who

further refined it and published the Mind section in

1889 [Repertory of the Characteristic Symptoms of

the Homœopathic Materia Medica]. “Constantine

Lippe died in 1888 (sic; 1885 is correct. He died of

pneumnonia.) as a result of wounds suffered during

the Civil War.” – Julian WINSTON, The Heritage

of Homœopathic Literature, p.62.

Constantine was born in Carlisle,

Pennsylvania, studied at Jefferson Medical College

(Philadelphia), and later graduated in 1868 from the

Cleveland Homœopathic Medical College. At the

time of his death he had revised two-thirds of the

above-mentioned book, but it was never finished.

Like his father, he was a master of the Materia

Medica.

References

“Adolph Graf zur Lippe Bisterfeld-

Weissenfield,” Classical Homœopathic Quarterly, 5:1,

pp.2235, 1992. An appendix in this detailed piece,

while not complete, catalogues a vast number of Lippe’s

articles.

The Faces of Homœopathy: An Illustrated

History of the First 200 Years (J. Winston, 1999).

Biographical Cyclopedia of Homœopathic

Physicians and Surgeons (Egbert Cleave, 1873).

[The selection of remedies by LIPPE is astounding as

we may note from the Prunus spinosa case mentioned

in this article. In the era when repertories were not of

great importance but knowledge of Materia Medica was

great really. In our age where we use even for a simple

case a repertory and a computerized one at that the work

of Ad. LIPPE is awesome. Of course there were several

masters of Materia Medica then but LIPPE was the

greatest of them all. The full article of Jay YASGUR is

given in Part II.

The literary work of LIPPE is great. He wrote in

17 different homœopathic journals – including

transactions of annual meets.

He wrote on Materia Medica, Philosophy,

Therapeutics and others, nearly 300 articles! This

exceeded the works of that giant of Homœopathy Dr.

Constantin HERING! However, HERING’s were

lengthy articles. We do not intend to keep anyone

above the pedestal on which HERING has been. In fact

LIPPE was a student of HERING, we should not forget

= KSS].

========================================

Less Chickenpox, more Shingles

Shingles not just for old folks anymore

Kids in the U.S. aren’t getting chickenpox

much anymore. Since 1995, they’ve been

getting vaccinated against it instead. As a

result, less of the “wild” chicken pox virus is

floating around these days. And growing

evidence points to this as a leading reason for

the rising numbers of adult shingles cases.

Adults who’ve had chickenpox carry a

natural immunity to the virus, but over time,

that immunity fades. When wild chickenpox

virus was circulating more freely, adults were

frequently exposed to children with

chickenpox. That exposure would give their

immune system a boost-like an immunological

reminder to keep their dormant chickenpox

virus in check---and they’d be less likely to get

shingles. So, the chickenpox vaccine may be

inadvertently causing more case of shingles.

Also, shingles used to be considered a

problem of the elderly almost exclusively, but

it is becoming more common in adults of all

ages, including those in their 20s and 30s.

Kaiser Permanente infectious disease specialist

Dr. David Witt says, “It makes you think that

exposure to chickenpox may actually protect

us.”

Public health officials recommend the

shingles vaccine for adults over 50. Available

since 2006, it is said to reduce the chance of

getting shingles by 50% and decrease the

likelihood of post-herpetic neuralgia.

Another way to avoid shingles is to reduce

your stress levels. Dr. Witt says, “The herpes

viruses, whether it’s a cold sore or shingles, all

appear to have some relationship to stress.”

- Compiled by Homeopathy Today,

32,4/2012 staff from these sources:

“Chickenpox immunization could lead

to increases in shingles cases,”

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

KTVU.com San Francisco, November

2, 2012, and “Shingles Prevention is

the Way to Go,”

Harvard Health Letter, October 2010.

=================================

5. PROVINGS OF MEDORRHINUM

[There is no record of Provings of Medorrhinum. The symptoms we have are what are in the Guiding

Symptoms. In the course of the searching contacted Julian WINSTON who was mine of material and

knowledge. He sent immediately the following which to my knowledge is the only Complete list of

symptoms on Medorrhinum. = KSS.]

This is the only large published proving of Medorrhinum. Why it was "translated" is unexplained, since Dr.

Berridge was an English speaker with a practice in the UK. He was a close associate of Ad. Lippe, Samuel

Swan, and Thomas Skinner, and with them, edited the journal The Organon from 1878-1880. Although there

are 56 proving sources listed, scant information is given about some of the provers, who supervised, or what

dosages were given. We find in number 46 a proving done on a "child or children." In the proving we find the

now "keynote" symptom of sleeping on the knees with the behind up, and the head in the pillow. This was seen

in one of the children, aged five.

Most of these provings were done with high potencies prepared by Fincke or Swan.

A Proving of Medorrhinum

E.W. BERRIDGE, MD., Translated and Arranged for the Press by H.P. HOLMES, M.D.

Transactions of the International Hahnemannian Association 1889, page 221-271.

Mind and Disposition

Head

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Face

Teeth

50 
 
©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014.  Private Circulation only. 
Mouth and Throat 
Taste and Appetite 
Stomach 
Abdomen 
Stool 
Urine 
Male Sexual Organs 
Female Sexual Organs 
Larynx, Trachea, and Cough 
Chest 
Back 
Arms 
Legs 
Skin 
Sleep 
Fever 
Generalities 
Authorities 
1.    Leila A. RenDell, M. D., took 1m and higher potencies (only a resume is here given, as I have not yet seen               
        the day-books).  
2.   Miss Anna L. C.  
3.  Miss D.  
4.   Miss Bartlett, 1m (Fincke) 
5.   Mr. D., 40m (Fincke); also 10m (Fincke) marked 5a.  
6.   Mrs. Van 'Zandt, 20m (Fincke); also 60m marked 6a.  
7.   Dr. Finch took one dose of billionth (Swan ); also 10m (Fincke) marked 7a.  
8.  Mr. W.  
9.    S. Swan, M. D., took lm (Fincke) marked 9a; also 10m (Fincke) marked 9b; also an unrecorded 
  potency   marked 9.   
10.  Mr. VanZandt, 60m (Fincke); also 20m (Fincke) marked 10a.  
11.  A. Hays 10m (Fincke).  
12.  Mrs. Hays.  
13.  Miss Minnie Hays 40m (Fincke); also an unrecorded potency marked 13a. 
14.  Mr. Chas. Hays 10m (Fincke) marked 14a; other symptoms with unrecorded potency marked 14.  
15.  Mr. N. Hays 10m (Fincke). 
16.  Mr. Joseph Hays.  

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

17. Miss Anna C.

18. Dr. Norton took a high potency for retronasal catarrh, which was benefited thereby; (never had Syphilis or

Gonorrhea).

19. Mr. R. 80m (Fincke).

20. Mr. John Ingram.

21. J. H. P. Frost, M. D.

22. E. A. Farrington, M. D., proved it on several provers.

23. Dr. Cleveland did the same.

24. Mrs. C:. took 10m (Fincke).

25. Laura Morgan, M. D.

26. Mr. M. C. C. C. took mm (Swan). A number of the mental symptoms are his.

27. Mrs. M.

28. Mrs. R. S. with cm (Fincke).

29. E. W. Berridge, M. D.

30. Mrs. G.

31. Mrs. E. K. took 10m (Fincke).

32. Thomas Wilder, M. D.

33. Mr. Moore 40m (Fincke).

34. S. B. Higgins, M. D., proved it on himself.

35. Miss Coater.

36. H. J. Ostrom, M. D.

37. Mrs. Smith took 10m(Fincke).

38. Mrs. W.

39. Mrs. X.

40. Mrs. D. took 80m (Fincke).

41. C. F. Nichols, M. D.

42. G. M. Pease, M. D.

43. E. W. Sawyer, M. D.

44. G. H. Carr, M. D.

45. Prover of Dr. L. A. RenDell.

46. Proving on a child, or children.

47. Provings with 80m (Fincke).

48. Provings with 10m (Fincke).

49. Provings with cm (Fincke).

50. Provings with 1m (Fincke).

51. Provings with 30m (Fincke).

52. Provings with 20m (Fincke).

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

53. Provings with 40m (Fincke).

54. Mr. T. D., Dr. Berridge's prover, suffering from chronic gleet, took 3mm (Swan) twice daily.

55. Mr. A. B., Dr. Berridge's prover; an old man suffering from chronic stricture and nocturnal inability to

retain Urine; took two doses of 3mm (Swan).

56. Dr. J. A. Biegler.

57. Clinical symptoms from Guiding Symptoms, Vol. VII.

NOTE:

* Verified symptom.

** Verified many times.

+ Cured symptom; not developed in proving.

# Disease, as noted by a theta in Hering's Guiding Symptoms.

Mind and Disposition.

* Very impatient.

Excitement.

*A wild and desperate feeling, as of incipient insanity.

*Dazed feeling; a far-off sensation as though things done to-day occurred a week ago. 1.

* Sensation as if all life were unreal. 1.

* Great general weakness of memory. 1.

* Forgetfulness of names, later of words and initial letters, pronouncing "ere" for "here;" could not pronounce

it correctly. *Entirely forgot what she had read, even to previous line. 1.

Could not read or use the mind at all from pain in the head. 1.

Mental conservativeness.

Decided improvement in mental symptoms; great brilliancy of mental movement and resource

* Irritated at little things

Nerve trembling with worry.

Gloominess.

* Anticipates death.

* Cannot speak without crying.

Fear of the dark.

Tensive pains in head, with a wild sensation as if she would go crazy, with a sensation as if she would do

something desperate in spite of herself; afraid to be alone. 1.

Reading and writing make her nervous and enrage her 2.

* Saw large rats running over the room. 2.

* One night saw large people in the room. 2.

Thinks some one is behind her, hears whispering. 2.

One night felt a delicate hand smoothing her head from front to back. 2.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

* Everything startles me; news coming to me seems to touch my heart before I seem to hear it.

*Is always anticipating; feels most matters sensitively before they occur, and generally correctly. 2.

Persons come in and look at her, and whisper, and say " Come." 1.

Great selfishness in a person exceptionally free from that affection. 45.

* Cross through the day, exhilarated at night, wants to play in bed. 46.

Starts at slightest noise. 1.

* Slept well but woke at an early hour with a frightened sensation as if something dreadful had happened; the

weight on the head was heavy, and great heat in it; could not rest in bed; felt as if she must do something to rid

her mind of this fearful torture; for two hours was in this state of mind; she struggled against it; fought with

what seemed to be the adversary; scolded herself for her weakness; all to no purpose, and grew weak with the

effort; she cannot describe the mental agony she endured, and, but for God's restraining hand, fears for the

result. 2. (July 9th.)

A word or look of seeming harshness will put me in despondency for hours; I will review my own acts and

words for days, lest I have brought it on myself.

Self-inspection, remorse and rebuke fill many an hour; my accusations are usually severe, and my hope of

pardon slight; now and then a calm hour will come, and I am then so happy that it seems as if Heaven's gate

had opened.

Head full of business, could throw it off better than usual. 2. .

Strange excitement, as if she had been busy all the night. 2

Was like a new being; head was much better, and the depressed dragging that had weighed me down like some

terrible incubus, seemed gone. 2. (July 13th).

See faces that peer at her from behind bed and furniture. 2.

** Time moves so slowly that things done an hour ago appear to have occurred a year since; asked the time of

day, and in five minutes insisted that half an hour had elapsed and could not believe it had not till she had seen

the watch. 1. (Often verified).

** Is in a great hurry; when doing anything is in such a hurry that she gets fatigued, while in fact she does no

more or quicker than usual. 1. (Many times verified clinically ).

Nervous and irritable, everything rasped on her nerves; conversation was particularly annoying. 3.

Nervous, feels like crying. 47. (After four months.)

Momentary loss of thought, caused by a sensation of tightness in brain. 1, 3, and several other persons.

Spirits in the depths; weighed down with heavy solid gloom; occasionally relieved by torrents of tears. 13.

* Loses constantly the thread of her talk. 4.

*Seems to herself to make wrong statements, because she does not know what to say next; begins all right but

does not know how to finish; the weight on her vertex seems to affect her mind.

* Has a dread of saying the wrong thing, when she had no headache.

* (great difficulty in stating her symptoms; loses herself and has to be asked over again.

Strange exhilaration of spirits. 48.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

+ Relief from the load of depression; mind clearer.

Reads a letter and thinks the words look queer, are all spelled wrong. 6.

* All things seem like a dream.

Cannot spell right; wonders how the word "how" is spelled. 1.

Is sure that she is worse; knows that she is not going to live; cannot see any improvement, even when it is

pointed out; has no fear of death; speaks cheerfully about it, and gives direction as to the disposition of her

affairs. 1.

Tendency to weep, could scarcely keep from it; could pour out tears at any provocation, however slight.

Extreme depression of spirits. 49.

* Cannot remember names; has to ask the name of her most intimate friend; forgets her own name. 1.

Feeling as if he had committed the unpardonable sin, and was going to hell.

Feeling of desperation; did not care if he went to heaven or hell.

Feeling as if willing to go through all this, even to being damned if it would do any one any good.

Tendency to suicide; gets up in the night and takes his pistol but his wife prevents him.

Difficulty of concentrating his thoughts or mind on abstract subjects.

Greatly depressed spirits, which is unusual.

* Memory very poor.

Nervous, as if she would lose her reason.

+ Dullness of memory, and desire to procrastinate because business seemed so long lasting, or as if it could

never be accomplished. #Gonorrhea. 42.

+ In conversation he would occasionally stop, and on resuming make the remark that he could not think what

word he wanted to use. #Gonorrhea. 42.

Head.

+ Neuralgic headache in left temple and around middle part of cranium, at times terribly severe, with sensation

of great weight and pressure in vertex; has lasted twenty-four hours, and is gradually increasing in violence. 44

+ Headache in right temple; a great deal of aching over left eye. #Nocturnal enuresis. 43.

Heavy frontal headache relieved by dinner.

Headache in frontal region, with heavy fluent coryza, lasting all day.

Wakes with headache over eyes and in temples; sunlight makes it worse. 1.

Heavy aching in forehead when waking, later changing to pain; at 11 a.m. it passes to cerebellum, and

afterwards was a few minutes in each place, though sometimes it involved the whole head; the pain is such that

if increased it becomes agony; pain becomes somewhat lighter as the chill increases.

Headache. at root of nose with heat and weight on top of head, during menses.

* Neuralgia in left temple.

Neuralgic pains in left forehead and temple, slightly pulling through to occiput.

Sharp neuralgic pains in left temple; six hours afterwards in right temple, involving right eye.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Heavy headache beginning over left eye, and running into left cheek and teeth, then similarly to the right side.

Slight aching in occiput and medulla; pain becomes sharp on motion; drowsy with the headache. 1.

Aching and exhausted feeling in cerebellum and medulla, with a subjective tenderness of the spine from

cerebellum to kidneys. 1.

Aching pain in base of brain with swelling of cords of neck.

Burning glow in cerebellum and down spine. 1,

Head feels heavy and is drawn backwards. 2.

Severe pain in back of head as though it had been struck; pain spreads over to front with severe neuralgic pain

in left eye, (have not had it for eighteen years); headache lasted all night; eye bloodshot. 2.

Intense headache for three days with inflammation of the eye; is never entirely free from headache. 2.

Tensive pain in left side of head as far back as parietal eminence, and to middle of crown.

Tensive pain in head as it she would go crazy; head grew worse, could not read or use the mind. 1.

Sensation as. if there were three points of tension in head; one in center of each hemisphere and one in center

of cerebellum; feels as though large cords were drawn to each from every part of the lobes and cerebellum; it

was extremely painful and caused a disposition to run wildly through the streets tearing the hair; these tensive

pains seemed as though they would break, when suddenly they relaxed and a bubbling sensation passed from

center to circumference, which, when reached, the tensive pains began again. 1.

Headache in back part of head; then very severe, thick cords about four inches long extend up and down; once

an extra large one crossed them. 2.

Several years ago had a spot in brain apparently one and one-half inches in depth, under left parietal eminence;

this spot seemed hard, as if there were an abscess forming; the suffering from it was extreme but gradually

passed away, leaving a numb sensation as of a foreign substance; within the last few days this pain has

returned, with the same sensation of heat surrounding the parts as there was at first. 1.

When headache is very severe, has shiverings of cold, then heat in brain. 2.

Headache, also diarrhea, from motion of the cars; every slight freedom in diet turns to headache; everything

turns to headache.

Headache with menses.

* Constant headache, worse when coughing; light (through her eyes) seems to hurt it. 1.

Dull headache, in a broad ring, around head.

* Vertigo. 1.

Vertigo sometimes as if intoxicated; walked zigzag. 1^

* Head light, not exactly dizzy.

* Dull pain in cerebellum.

Sharp neuralgia, first in left temple and parietal bone; then in right, next day; sharp neuralgia in left eye.

Extreme dizziness; things did not seem to go round, but there was a sensation and fear of falling; only slightly

better when lying down; much worse on movement; always. woke with it (Nux vom. 500 relieved.)

* Feeling of a tight band across forehead, worse when leaning head forward; feels then as if front half of brain

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

would come through forehead.

Frontal headache as if the skin were drawn tight. 22

Frontal vertigo, worse on rising from stooping 22.

Intense cerebral Buttering, causing continual rubbing of the head on the pillow; rolling from side to side. 1.

Dull, dragging pain in back of head, medulla and upper neck, following neuralgia of eyes and temples; both

bring on days of great biliousness.

Pain in cerebellum and medulla, described as "awful," "horrible," "agony," "unbearable," "seems as if it would

drive me mad," with heat extending down spine; relieved in fifteen minutes with one dose of Sol. 50m.

Intense burning pain in head, worse in cerebellum. 5

* Vertigo when stooping.

Pressure and fullness in frontal region, with pressure, back of eyes as if they would be forced out. 3.

Pain in center of brain, and in evening sharp pain through temples; the pains commence and cease suddenly. 3.

*Brain seems weary; the slightest sound annoys and fatigues her. 3.

Pain in forehead and above eyes, extending thence over to neck, and along base of brain to cerebellum. 7.

* Pain in back of head and in right eye.

* Heat in medulla and spine for a whole week. 1, 4

Pain in middle of medulla; the pains coming around on each side to back of ears. 6a.

* Full feeling in head. 11.

* Frontal headache with nausea.

Heat and throbbing in temporal region, both sides.

* Several times during day, sudden attacks of vertigo, seemingly in vertex, with danger of falling; had to

support herself. 1.

Sensation of tightness and contraction, extending from eyes and meeting in brain; extends down whole length

of spine.

Terrible pains all through head in every direction, with continuous and violent vomiting, followed by aching in

sacrum and running down the back of legs to feet.

Pain in the left parietal bone when the wind blows on it. 12.

Vertigo in occiput, extending over to vertex, with sensation of enlargement of occiput. 48.

Sensation of simmering in head with a difficulty of deciding whether it is heard or felt. 17.

Sensation as if occipital protuberances were enlarged. 7. (Within five minutes. )

Pain extending through head and round crown.

Sensation of tightening in head causing intense vertigo.

Brain exceedingly tender, and all mental work irksome.

Dull heavy pain in back of head.

Head itches.

* Intense itching of scalp.

* Great quantities of dandruff.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Hair lusterless, dry and crispy.

Dryness and electrical condition of hair; it will not remain brushed.

Great deal of fugitive itching in scalp.

Sharp itching of scalp, whiskers and eyebrows.

Eyes.

Gray eyes seem to indicate Medorrhinum.

Neuralgic pains in eyeballs, especially when pressing eyelids together.

* Neuralgic pains in eyeballs, worse when rubbing them.

Eyes sore when closing them, feel inflamed when reading.

Pain above and in left eye; the second attack was more severe, in and over right eye.

* Feeling of pain and irritation and sensation of sticks in eyes, lids, and especially inner canthi, with redness

and dryness of lids, congestion of sclerotic and sensation of a cool wind blowing in the eyes, especially inner

canthi. 1. (lm)

* Sensation of gravel in eyes, first left then right.

Slight soreness and itching of eyes; a feeling of a foreign substance (a piece of gravel or grit) in left eye.

+ Continuous lachrymation, inflamed eyes, great heat and sensation of sand (verified).

* Pulling pain in lower left lid from outer canthus to two-thirds of lid; could see lid twitch between these

points. 1.

* Decided tendency to irritation of edges of lids.

Irritation of edges of lids, especially of left, with heat and sensation as if swollen. 50.

Feeling of heat in edges of lids, alternating with coldness, especially on coming in contact. 1.

* Ptosis of outer end of both upper lids, particularly the left, requiring exertion to open them. 9.

* Soreness and smarting Of edges of lids.

Constant sore inflamed feeling in lids.

Left eye bloodshot with neuralgic pains in it. 2.

Watering of eyes in open air.

+ Continuous watering of eyes, great heat and sensation of sand under lids.

* Eyes ache.

Pupils enlarged.

Eyebrows and eyelashes fall off.

When eyes were shut, felt as if falling out of bed to one side or the other; when open, all things seemed to

flicker.

* Feeling as if she stared at everything; as if the eyes protruded. 1.

A blur over things; staggers, but no vertigo.

Numberless black, sometimes brown, spots dancing over her book. 2.

Sees objects double.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Things look very small; comes in spells.

Sees imaginary objects; saw the servant with waiter and glasses of water, and was only undeceived when the

servant came close to her.

Heaviness of upper lid as if it had a cartilage in it.

Entire temporary loss of sight, the eyeballs rolling up when upper lid is raised.

Pain in eyes worse on turning them. 5.

+ Sensation of sand in eyes, with burning in lids, aggravation from light and reading. (l0m).

Eyes weak; lids red with lachrymation and nasal discharge afterwards; pruritus better. 3.

* Continual watering of eyes.

Occasional film comes over eyes, causing-momentary loss of sight. (Several of Dr. RenDell's provers).

Pain in right eye and in back of head.

Eyes seem to protrude. 4.

Swelling under eyes. 4.

* Aching in eyeballs, with pressure and heat on vertex with a tendency to shut eyes. 4.

Swelling of upper lids. 6a.

Eyes look glassy. 47.

Sclerotic yellow. 47.

Sensation of action around lower edge of orbits and in malar bone; eyeballs ached intensely. 7 (in one minute).

Eyebrows itch.

Ears.

* Partial deafness.

Deafness in right ear.

Deaf, worse after hearing reading.

Transient deafness in both ears.

Nearly total deafness of both ears, with very little noise; had to use a trumpet.

Fullness of ears, with difficulty of hearing distinctly; has to ask the repetition of what is said.

Is sure that he hears people in conversation, but on carefully watching finds that the sounds have reference to

arterial pulsation, but where, he cannot discover. 9a.

When whistling the sound in ears is double, with the peculiar vibration as when two people whistle thirds. 9b.

Soreness to touch of right concha.

Sharp sore pain in right ear, pit sore and hot.

Quick, darting pains in right ear, from without inward; pain follow each other in close succession.

Sensation of a worm about an inch long crawling in right ear, and as if it commenced boring in external wall of

auditory canal; this sensation was so real that immediate attempts were made to extract it.

Pain in left ear; also sore.

Itching in left ear.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Intense aching in left ear, running into throat.

Continuous boring pain in left ear, could not sit or lie, was obliged to walk the floor.

Aching in cartilage of ear when lying on it, and felt at night.

Heat and tingling in right ear and sweat of face.

The ring-hole in left ear was sore and almost gathered.

For several days, transient pains in both ears. 48.

Singular sensation of deafness from one ear to the other, as if a tube went through the head, while yet there

was an over-acuteness of hearing. 5l.

Noises seemingly in mastoid cells, frying and hissing. 49.

Child hard of hearing for six days took a dose of dmm (Swan) at 11 a. m.; at 1 p.m. deafness all gone, and has

been bright and happy ever since. 9.

Pain passing up Eustachian tube, and out at both ears with a tickling sensation. 7 (within five minutes).

After sleeping, feels as though parchment were drawn over the ear on which she was lying.

Nose.

Nose inflamed.

Nose swollen.

Catarrh of posterior nares.

Large secretion from posterior nares.

Nose stopped at 3:30, as if with coryza; left nostril.

Posterior nares obstructed, relieved by hawking out thick grayish mucus followed by bloody mucus. 9.

Heavy fluent coryza with hard headache all day in frontal region; worse at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Soreness of inside of right side of right nostril.

In morning, soreness and a crawling feeling as of a centipede in left nostril.

Intense itching in the nose, internally near the point; had to rub all the time.

.Very great burning in both nostrils when breathing through them.

Coldness of end of nose.

Entire loss of smell for several days.

Soreness of outer wing (inside) of left nostril.

Nose constantly running, in a child aged five.

Nasal catarrh with continual running down throat. 6a.

+ Chronic catarrh since childhood. (l0m ).

** Epistaxis.

Sensation of action in bones of nose; nostrils obstructed at root of nose as if mucous membrane were

hypertrophied. 7. (Within five minutes).

Nose goes to sleep. 22.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Face.

Freckles. Great yellowness of face.

Yellow band across forehead close to hair.

Yellowness of face, particularly around eyes, as if recovering from a bruise. (Greenish yellow).

+ Great pallor.

Greenish shining appearance of skin.

Red lips and cheeks in evening.

Flushes of heat in face and neck. Fever blisters near right upper corners of upper lip, small, but very sore.

Sweat of face.

Sweat apt to be on upper lip.

+ Gave a better color.

Blotches on face.

Complexion darker, and slightly broken out in little pimples and fever-sore about lips. 47.

Enormous fever-sore on lower lip near left commissure.

+ Blisters on inner surface of lips and cheeks, the skin peeling off in patches.

Small swelling in region of left sub-maxillary gland, increasing in size very rapidly; Calcarea lessened it a

little, but it soon increased again to the size of a goose egg, or larger; after a little it softened in central portion

and soon was entirely soft; all the whiskers over the tumor came out, and it increased in size and at times was

very painful; sharp shooting pains relieved by Belladonna; the swelling soon extended over chin, and reaching

arm caused great pain; becoming very uncomfortable it was opened and discharged a large quantity of thin

bloody pus; the aperture soon closed, but pus again collected and it was again opened, and this was repeated

several times; the aperture after a time remained open, and showed the same raised embankment-like edges,

seeming to prevent the matter from overflowing the surrounding tissues; about the time the tumor was opened

a small swelling appeared on right side of neck over sterno-cleido-mastoid, on a level with angle of jaw; this

swelling softened in center, closed up by its raised edges, and so continued for a month or two, when the lower

edge seemed to give way and the fluid contents began to work their way downwards until the clavicle stayed

them; they collected along clavicle on its upper border as far as the sternum and its enlargement there was four

or five inches horizontally and three or four perpendicularly, the depth being unknown; becoming alarmed

took Thuja 3m in repeated doses, and in a few days the tumor began to diminish, with a discharge of thin

whitish pus. The tumors gradually lessened, and the last presents an orifice through which pus issues and then

heals for the time; the tumor under chin, at the point where the extension of the arm caused pain, remained a

fistulous opening, which opened and closed every few days, discharging a little serum. On left side of neck

where first tumor was, there remains quite a fold of flesh, and a small cavity containing serum. The hairs grew

out again on left side; on the right side where the whiskers proper did not grow, the hairs of the neck which

were heavy, fell out over the tumor. During this experience his general health has been good. 18. (After seven

months).

+ Very sore mouth, ulcers on tongue and in buceal cavity like blisters.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

+ Rigidity of muscles of face, especially of lower lip, drawing it up tight to the teeth; the jaws stiff, unable to

open them; deglutition nearly impossible; throat filled with saliva 9 (2cmm).

Pains passing from orbits to malar bones, then to right upper teeth. Face covered with acne.

Dry herpes on face.

Teeth.

+ Pale gums. (This indicates a Medorrhinum cachexia).

Feeling of inflammation of gums of upper jaw.

One sees more of her teeth in afternoons; gnashes her teeth, moving them together any time of day.

Sore teeth, particularly eye-teeth; teeth feel sore and soft.

Teeth feel rough, cannot rub it off.

Yellowness of teeth.

+ Neuralgia of right upper and lower jaws, extending to temple.

Teeth all feel as if loose and would drop out; felt them and found them loose. 5a.

+ Hard swelling on right upper jaw, as if the socket of a tooth gone since four years; with intense neuralgic

pains extending to whole head, causing sleeplessness; severe pains all over head, with external heat. (10m).

Teeth with serrated edges indicate Medorrhinum, as well as those that are chalky and easily decay

(Syphillinum has teeth decaying at edge of gums and breaking off).

Tendency to stillness in jaws and tongue if she does not keep moving them all the time.

+ Syphillinum is indicated when children's teeth are cupped; Medorrhinum when serrated; in a large number of

cases one dose of dmm cures the disease, and in all cases it prepares the way for a cure. 9.

Mouth and Throat.

Occasional dryness of mouth.

Absolute dryness of mouth, tongue and throat, at midnight.

Coppery taste on rising.

Bad taste in mouth in morning; an old taste.

Mouth feels burnt.

Tongue blistered.

Many blisters on tongue.

Tongue sore with sores underneath.

Small sores, pustules (canker-sores) on edge, tip and under tongue, very painful; also inside lips.

Canker-sores on tongue, mouth and throat.

Tongue coated white, with papillae showing through.

Swelling of tongue with canker-sores on it and fauces; rubbing causes great distress.

Mucus inside of lips and tongue.

Sore mouth.

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Sore throat, feels ulcerated.

Soreness of throat, hurts to swallow.

Swollen throat-glands, hurting to swallow even water.

Sore throat all the way towards stomach.

Sore throat, sensation of a lump in larynx; very severe pain during deglutition.

Irritation in throat as if scraped.

Phlegm in throat.

Whole of pharynx inflamed and feels very stiff and sore. 48.

Great dryness of throat with swollen glands.

The back part of throat constantly filling with mucus from posterior nares.

From a small spot, cough.

Pain under double chin.

Swelling of sub-maxillary gland.

Tongue coated brown and thick.

Tongue for a log while thickly coated in morning, with bad taste.

Foul breath in morning (a child).

Dry throat with choking, hoarseness also. 22.

Canker-sore which extends all over upper lip. 16.

Sore throat and cold in head were entirely and permanently relieved by salt water bathing. 13.

+ Tongue coated white at base, the rest red; bad taste in mouth.

Tongue coated white. 47.

Mucous membrane of throat and vagina inflamed, causing nervousness and discomfort. 47.

Excitement of sub-maxillary gland, pouring out saliva profusely. 7.

Stringy mucus comes out of mouth during sleep 6a.

Taste and Appetite.

Absolute loss of appetite.

Appetite lost, dull.

Appetite diminished.

Gave a better appetite.

Appetite beyond capacity to eat.

Continual increase of appetite.

Ravenous hunger, immediately after eating

Hunger at midnight. Thirst for large quantities.

Thirst for small quantities often, with great restlessness.

Enormously thirsty, even dreams that she is drinking

Insatiate craving for liquor, when before she hated it.

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Great longing for oranges.

Great desire to have everything cold; warm food or drink hurts her stomach.

Hates salt.

Craves for sour things.

Could force down but little breakfast.

Every slight freedom in diet gives headache.

Disagreeable taste.

Coppery taste on rising.

Longing for ale.

Bilious breath and taste every now and then, with general bilious malaise. 48.

Coughs after eating, if he has eaten soup it comes up. 8.

Bloating after eating. 8.

Incessant thirst (unusual).

Great craving for sweets, the necessity of having candy is a case of life or death. 2.

Craving for food early in morning, is not satisfied after a hearty meal.

Craved and ate hard green fruit without discomfort.

Intense craving for ice, calling for it while unconscious. 1.

+ Great craving for salt. #Abscess of liver.

Stomach.

Nausea always after eating.

Nausea always after eating in slight quantities; relieved, shortly by drinking. 48.

Sudden expulsion of food.

Vomiting of mucus in morning, caused by cough.

+ Violent retching and vomiting for forty-eight hours; first glairy mucus, then frothy watery, and lastly coffee-

grounds; accompanied by intense headache and great despondency and sensation of impending death; during

the paroxysm was continually praying.

After eating a little breakfast, a sense of fullness up to throat; also tightness and weight at pit, but referable to

other places rather than to the stomach.

Gone feeling at pit from 12:30 to 1:30 making an unnatural hunger (or thirst for beer); this is a sick or gnawing

feeling not allayed by eating or drinking; it is not uncommon for the same feeling to come on after eating and

increase to nausea.. 52.

Sensation of more than Digitalis sinking and agonizing sickness at. stomach, with a desire to tear something

away. 1.

Sore pain at pit as if something ought to be taken away.

Trembling at pit of stomach.

Sometimes a burning (like a flame) in pit of stomach, as. if the heart palpitated there.

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Clawing in stomach, worse by drawing up knees.

Warm food and drinks hurt her stomach.

Heaviness in stomach after eating.

Feeling of a lump in stomach after eating.

Dull pain in epigastric region, deep in.

Throbbing in left side of stomach.

Throbbing pain in right side of stomach.

Profuse eructations.

Nausea at breakfast; reached her room and threw up nearly a cupful of white phlegm; chest and throat very

sore after it. 2.

Bloating after eating; coughed till he vomited bile (had been drinking milk after dinner for a week).

Nausea after drinking water. 22.

Nausea after dinner. 22. (Many provers).

Bilious colic with frequent vomiting and nausea; diarrheaic stools, chilliness and perspiration on face and neck

Hiccough, violent, long continued (several provers).

+ Hiccough cured instantly. (20m).

Vomiting of thick mucus and bile, without nausea. 13.

Congested condition of stomach and abdomen. 13.

Eating brought on nausea, so that she retched. 4

Nausea generally before eating. 6a.

All symptoms better after eating. 6a.

Nothing she eats agrees with her, but causes indigestion. 47.

Pains in stomach and abdomen. 47.

+ Sensation in stomach-pit as of a paper of pins crooked that seemed to force themselves through the flesh,

causing her to rise and double-up and scream; pins seem to come from each side, as if she laid the backs of her

hands on that spot and curled the fingers up. #Abscess of the liver.

Nausea with frontal headache.

Vomiting black bile without nausea, tasting bitter and sour, with considerable mucus; the vomit had no smells

followed in six hours by vomiting of pure bile; the black vomit was not repeated. 48.

+ Intense pain in stomach and upper abdomen, with a sensation of tightness; pain continuous over large

surface; no throbbing; not relieved by heat but rather aggravated. After second dose of 10m (Fincke), given at

intervals of ten minutes, fell asleep and woke in morning well;. this was not followed by looseness of bowels,

nor by eructations nor flatulence.

+ Cramps in stomach as from wind. (cm).

Abdomen.

Congestion of liver.

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Abscess of the liver in a lady aged eighty-nine, cured in three months by resolution; various potencies used.

(See other symptoms marked "#Abscess of liver.")

Severe pain in liver and pit of stomach. 7.

Terrible pains in liver; thought she would die they were so acute. 1.

+ Grasping pain in liver and spleen. #Abscess of liver.

+ Hard lump size of dollar; convex outward on lower edge of liver, extremely sensitive to touch and very sore;

pain in right shoulder and below right scapula; also in region of right supra renal capsule as if coming from the

abscess or sore spot, with creeping chills there; throbbing contracting, drawings relaxing: as if caused by ice-

cold insects with claws. #Abscess of liver.

Fullness of abdomen ( swelling).

Increased size of abdomen.

Pains all over abdomen.

Pain in left side below waist, running through to back, down and across lower part of body, as if a heavy

weight were pushing downwards.

Pressure in lower abdomen, as of a heavy weight.

A feeling as of a tumor in right side of abdomen.

Tensive pain in right side of abdomen, as of a hard bi-convex, body, with heat and gnawing aching pains,

continued a short time; it was between the spine of ilium and recti muscles.

From 8:30 to 10:30 severe colic pain in umbilical region, extending all over abdomen; could not stand or sit

erect; nausea and waterbrash at the same time; passed off without flatulence or stool.

Beating as of a pulse in abdomen, vertically.

Abdominal symptoms go from right to left.

Left inguinal glands sensitive and slightly swollen. 9.

Rumbling in bowels.

Swelling of abdomen, especially at night.

Cutting in right lower abdomen running into right spermatic cord; right testis very tender. 22.

+ Cholera infantum, with opisthotonos, vomiting and watery diarrhea; after cm (Fincke) had profuse discharge

of blood and pus, the many evacuations getting continually more and more natural, and at greater intervals;

twelve hours afterwards had a similar discharge of blood and pus and after several evacuations, the stools

became normal. (Several cases. A repetition of the dose will kill the patient.)

* Intense agonizing pain in solar plexus; surface cold; evacuations tasting of sulphuretted hydrogen, and, after

eating, of ingesta; applied right hand to pit of stomach and left to lumbar region; in a few minutes felt easier,

and in a half hour entirely relieved; applied flannel over chest and stomach, and had no return of the attack. 13.

Cramps in abdomen, followed by three bilious loose stools, with much flatus between the stools. 6a.

Hard distended abdomen (no cause) > in half an hour.

Pains in abdomen and stomach. 47.

Bloating in abdomen which is sensitive to touch. 28.

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Colic pains as from flatulence in transverse colon and region about umbilicus, continued all day, relieved by

passage of flatus up and down.

Burning heat round to back, like a coal of fire. #Abscess of liver.

Woke at night with severe bilious colic, with vomiting and purging. 28.

Darting pain from center of right ovarian region to lower edge of liver. 28.

* Grasping pain in liver and spleen. 28.

Ascites; abdomen distended very much; palpation showed water; at same time, urine very scanty and high

colored.

Stool.

White stool.

+ White diarrhea.

+ Black stool.

Restricted passage.

Passage after every meal.

Exceedingly painful diarrhea.

Stool irregular in substances, sometimes passing only flatus, then soft pappy stools, then lumps. 9.

Stools tenacious, clay-like, sluggish, cannot be forced from a sensation of prolapses of rectum. 9.

Feces so tenacious they cannot be forced out except with difficulty and very slow. 9.

Small movements of the bowels two or three times a day, with sharp pain in lower abdomen; piles worse; no

flatulence.

Can only pass stool by leaning body very far back; very painful, as if there were a lump on posterior surface of

sphincter; was so painful as to cause tears. 1.

Great accumulation of flatulence in rectum coming out in a large column seeming to distend anus with force.

When he had gonorrhea last year, he felt better in health than before, less constipated and freer from

indigestion. 20.

Oozing of moisture from anus; it was fetid like fishbrine.

Passage of considerable flatus. 50.

Exceedingly painful diarrhea.

Constipation and afterwards diarrhea.

Irritation and itching of anus, as of approaching piles. Sharp needle-like pains in rectum. 27.

Hemorrhoids, pimples on nates right side of anus, very sensitive. 9.

Rhagades in anus. 9.

Sensation as if rectum prolapsed at stool, an unpleasant bulging sensation.

Pains of the most intense kind (threatening cramps) in upper abdomen (darting and tearing pains) coming on at

stool; stool diarrhoeic, thin and hot, but not copious; after stool, profound weakness, and mild cramp in left

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calf (This tendency to cramp in calf has occurred in several provers ). 53.

Stinging pains in rectum, a semi-circle on left side, seeming to be an inch high.

Obstinate constipation. 1.

Constriction and inertia of bowels, with ball-like stools. 13.

Bilious diarrhea and vomiting on drinking water.

Early morning stool after moving about, deep yellow color. 23.

Severe pains like clawing in pit of stomach ( solar plexus) with violent bilious diarrhea verging on dysentery.

13.

Profuse bilious diarrhea, causing great debility. 24

Violent bilious diarrhea, verging on dysentery, with mucous stools. 7.

Constipation; rare tendency to move the bowels (unusual), felt as if there were faeces in bowels, but that it

would do no good to strain because they were too far back; as if the bowels were shut up; faeces very flat;

urine diminished. 4.

Profuse bloody. discharge from rectum, sometimes in large clotted masses; the discharge is followed by

shivering.

Intense burning pain in rectum which protruded during stool; the burning and smarting are almost unbearable,

Causing tears.

+ Baby, seven months old, after summer complaint; great emaciation; diarrhea green, watery, slimy, yellow,

curdled, like boiled potatoes chopped up with greens; thin, cream-colored, watery, smells like rotten eggs;

stools pass involuntarily; apparently lifeless, except that it rotates head on pillow. One dose of mm (Swan)

cured. 9.

+ Painful attack of piles, not bleeding, but swelling on left side of anus, together with many pin worms. (cm).

+ Child aged fifteen months, brought on a pillow to clinic, apparently dead; eyes glassy, set; could not find

pulse, but felt heart beat; running from anus greenish yellow, thin, horribly offensive stool; told mother it

would die before it got home, but one dose of a high potency cured, and it is now (1879) five years old. 9.

+ Few remedies have such a controlling influence in the last stage of cholera infantum; several cases brought

to me on pillows apparently dying have been cured by one dose of mm; in three cases, I am assured by the

parents, they have seldom been sick in any way since. 9.

+ Cholera infantum, with opisthotonos, vomiting and watery diarrhea; profuse discharge of blood and pus.

Urine

+ Passes an enormous quantity of high colored, strong smelling urine in bed every night; thinks it is in, after

part of night, as he is always wet in morning; over- work, or too much heat, or being in cold aggravates this

condition. 43. (mm).

Excessive frequency of urination.

Incessant urination.

Frequent urination in large quantities.

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Constant urination in nervous spells.

Diabetic condition, profuse frequent urination.

Too copious discharges of urine during night.

Have more frequent urination, clearer, greater in quantity, tenesmus afterwards; urging two or three times to

clear the bladder.

+ Nocturnal urination entirely ceased, the chamber empty in morning, a thing unknown for years.

* Strong smelling urine.

Extremely urinous odor to urine.

Intensely red urine, with brick-dust sediment.

Urine scanty and dark, with frequent urging.

Urine diminished in quantity and intensified in color, sometimes to blood-red.

Urging after urination as if there was something more to come.

Dull pinching pain in region of supra-renal capsules at

11 a.m. fingers cold at same time; great pressure in bladder, greater than amount of urine warrants; urine very

scanty and high colored.

Slight vertical pain in bladder and burning in urethra after urination.

+ Painful tenesmus of bladder and bowels after urinating.

Aching feeling in kidneys.

Urine scanty and thick with red sand.

In urinating very slow stream, with sharp cutting pains transversely across root of penis; once the flow

intermitted, no burning; pains came on just as the last three or four drops were voided.

Intense renal colic; severe pain in ureters with sensation as of the passage of a calculus; during the kidney

attack great craving for ice. 1.

Pain in kidneys. 5a.

Urine covered with thick greasy pellicle. 21.

* Debility after prolonged or complete urination. 22.

Syncope after urination. 1.

Intensely yellow urine. 23.

After urination, an indefinable sensation in the head, neither pain nor syncope; but a dullness, an obscurity of

thought, sensations as if going to faint. 14a.

After urinating, continued desire with emission of a few drops. 14.

+ Urine clearer, none of that urgent desire. (10m)

Urinates often and a great deal, scanty and high colored. 6a.

* Urine high colored.

Urine covered with a greasy pellicle a few moments after standing. 16.

Very distinct bubbling sensation in right kidney; sensation of three bubbles in right renal region, moving like

bubbling in water, causing faintness; deathly feeling in kidneys with great depression of spirits, similar to the

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effects of cold settling in renal region; prostration after urination. #Abscess of liver.

Severe attack of cystitis with light colored urine filled with mucus; extreme pain in urethra on urinating; end of

penis inflamed; analysis gave albumen, phosphates and triple phosphates (in a child aged four years, after 10m

Fincke; passed off in a week).

+ Gleety gonorrheal discharge for twenty years; urine stains clothes a dirty brown; urine discharged extremely

slowly, sometimes it takes half an hour to empty the bladder, leaving him in a weak condition; during

urination, painful rectal tenesmus; chilliness when bladder is too full, relieved by urination; if he urinates after

getting warm in bed, has to urinate every hour the rest of the night; faint indefinite sense of chilliness, followed

by frequent calls to urinate; hot, copious, and followed by spinal chill; incontinence of urine on getting cold.

21. (1m Fincke).

Urine watery, colorless. 49.

+ Scanty, yellowish, gleety discharge, of many months standing, showing most plainly in the morning,

gumming up the orifice. 21. (cm Fincke, one dose).

After urinating, great coldness and shivering. 48.

+ Pain in renal region and spleen, with profuse urination which relieves the spleen. (cm).

Burning on urination, like incipient gonorrhea. 54.

Burning on urination all next day. 55.

+ Cannot retain urine more than an hour, after 5 or 6 p.m. #Chronic gleet. 29. (3mm).

+ Cannot retain urine through the night. #Chronic stricture. 20. (3mm).

+ Profuse yellow purulent discharge from urethra, most copious in morning. #Gonorrhea. 42.

+ Burning at meatus during urination, and a feeling of soreness through whole urethra; also after urinating, a

feeling as if something more remained in urethra #Gonorrhea. 42.

+ Pains along urethra while urinating, drawing burning. #Suppressed gonorrhea. 57.

Male Sexual Organs.

Nocturnal emissions.

Calmed sexual desire.

Intense and frequent erections during day and night.

Continuous sexual desire.

Sexual power stimulated in an old man.

Primary, suppression of sexual instinct; secondary, marked increase.

Very great exaltation of sexual instinct, giving constant erections.

Soreness, swelling, dragging of testis. 22 (in three provers).

Chancre on prepuce (never had syphilis or gonorrhea).

Violent erections and nocturnal emissions, followed by headache lasting several days. 16.

Nocturnal emissions, followed by great weakness and miserable feeling all day. 16.

Watery emissions during sleep, causing no stiffness of the linen.

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Emissions transparent during sleep, consistency of gum-arabic mucilage too thick to pour, and voided with

difficulty.

Emissions during sleep, thick, with threads of white opaque substance.

Given for complete impotence, it brought back the sexual potency to such a degree that he was not satisfied

after exhausting three women in one night; neither woman would repeat the act. 23.

Chancre-like ulcer on prepuce; six months later there came for several months successive crops of vesicles on

prepuce, very sore to touch, which soon opened at the tip, and left a little ulcer-like sore for a few days, a

round clean-out, sharp-edged elevation, with the depression, how ever not filled with pus as in the genuine

chancre. 18. (after three or four months).

+ Gonorrhea for ten months; during eight months mostly suppressed by drugs and injections; for past two

months flow persists, watery, transparent, but acrid and abundant, mixed with creamy liquid, stains linen

yellow-brown; pain at end of penis during urination. Since third month of infection, has had heavy, drawing,

wandering pains in right arm, right hip and left calf, worse in damp weather. Took three doses of cm; discharge

entirely ceased by third day. The day after commencing felt uncommonly lame and stiff like a board all over;

then the pains ceased. In twelve days the pains returned. Medorrhinum MM (Swan) was given, followed by a

similar aggravation; also for the first time, a soft insensitive swelling around left knee joint for about a week.

Seventeen months later, had no return. 41. (Corrected from Nichol's printed report. )

Gonorrheal flow thin, transparent, mixed with opaque whitish mucus, stains linen yellow. 57.

Female Sexual Organs:

Itching of inside of labiae.

Itching of vagina and labia; thinking of it makes it worse.

Intense itching deep in vagina.

During menses, pain across abdomen and around back; backache.

Menstrual blood very light and copious, menses very lingering.

Menses too soon, copious and light colored; before it was very dark and the stains were difficult to wash out;

they now wash out easily.

Pain in left ovarian region as if it had fallen; pain when standing or walking; when sitting has to raise leg, as

there is drawing pain in groin and thigh when putting foot to floor. 1.

A great deal of pain in left ovary with a sensation as if the sac were distended and if pressed would burst;

sensation as if something were pulling it down causing it to be sore; the pain when walking passed to left groin

as if the leg pushed something, with a great amount of heat. 1.

Left ovary seemed enlarged with intense heat and severe aching pain, could not bear pressure though it seemed

as if she must press it; with a burning heat as of a furnace that seems a characteristic of these pains. 1.

Tense pains passing diagonally in right ovary; followed by a bubbling sensation that always seemed to attend

the tense pains. 1.

Pulling and pain in the sacrum and pelvic region as if menses were coming on. 1.

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Nipples sore, sensitive and inflamed. 1.

Breasts and nipples very tender to touch; also inflamed. 1.

Soreness of nipples, a gummy secretion drying on orifice of them; when it is picked off, the nipples bleed quite

freely. 1 (in a girl).

Soreness of breasts, very sensitive to touch at non-menstrual period.

Peculiar tenderness of breasts.

Painful papular eruption on breasts, and- particularly up and down sternum. 30.

Short shooting pains passing outwards, chiefly in breasts.

Great itching of labia, making soreness.

Large but not painful swelling of left breast.

Burning pain in lower left back and hips during menses.

Intense menstrual colic, causing drawing up of knees, with terrible bearing-down, labor-like pains, with

pressing of feet against a support as in labor. 1, 22 (several provers).

Distinct soreness and nervous pain in one spot in lower part of uterus on left side, increased when walking or

moving left leg. 13.

For relief to uterus, she would have lain on stomach, but feared the pressure might do injury. 4

Enormous sexual desire at night with a sensation of intercourse with some unknown party, with copious

emission. 31

Profuse menses, dark clotted also bright blood, with faintness and sore pain. 6a.

+ Relieved at once neuralgia in paroxysms in head, with twitching and drawing in of limbs and cords of neck

which were like wires; pains in lower abdomen with profuse yellowish leucorrhea; the above symptoms

followed very profuse menses. (10m).

Mucous membrane of throat and vagina inflamed, causing nervousness and discomfort. 47.

Breasts cold as ice to touch, especially nipples, (during menses), rest of body felt warm. 25.

Intense excruciating neuralgic pains in whole pelvic region, extending downwards through ovarian region to

uterus; cutting like knives, forcing tears and groans. Relieved by Colocynth. 48.

Small chancre on edge of right labia in a lady who had no sexual intercourse for three years, and never had

venereal disease. 39.

Tumor on left labia reappeared after having been cured many years with Thuja; after some days it disappeared.

48.

Great sexual desire after menses, in a single woman. (cm)

Ulceration of neck of uterus which looked ragged and torn, inflamed and covered with stringy pus; in a woman

who had gonorrhea. 32.

Emil Noeggerath says that latent gonorrhea may be given to a woman by her husband. It is often the cause of

early death and often produces sterility. The leucorrhea is usually yellowish, mixed with pus, not transparent,

flows from os uteri which is usually surrounded by a bright red erosion of several lines in diameter. The uterus

is very sensitive especially at the entrance of Fallopian tubes. The vulva is sensitive; vulo-vaginal glands

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enlarged, and of special importance is the inflammatory catarrh of the Bartholinian glands which often swell

and suppurate.

Larynx and Trachea.

Rather dry cough with sneezing.

+ Cough much better and expectoration much freer.

+ Benefited cough and pain in left lung

Cough from tickling under upper part of sternum

With cough, aching across kidneys.

Cough causing painful shock at base of each lung.

Cough with a peculiar shrill barking sound; some expectoration. 9.

Slight urging to cough from lower bronchia, afterwards pain in bottom of right lung.

Profuse secretion of viscid saliva coughed up from larynx.

Cough deep and hollow like coughing in a barrel; the bronchial tubes appear to be very much enlarged, and the

cough spasm causes a flabby feeling as if the lining membrane were a loose fold of tissue. 9.

Great rattling of mucus which appears to be low down in chest, while the cough does not seem to reach there

but only to the throat-pit, and consequently the hard cough does not reach the phlegm unless he lies on his

face, when the cough brings up a grayish yellow or a pale greenish yellow gelatinous mucus without taste. 9.

When lying on back or either side when coughing, rattling, wheezing and whistling were very singular, but

nothing raised. 9.

After a deep inspiration there was a singular piping and croaking in the bronchia 9.

Sore throat; sensation of a lump in larynx; very severe pain on deglutition.

+ Severe bronchial catarrh spreading up into larynx, swelling of tonsils and throat glands, extended also into'

ears, causing deafness.

Very hoarse at night, relieved after taking the dose at - 11 p.m., and had no return, neither was the respiration

rattling; next morning, some cough with obstruction of posterior nares, and hawked up thick grayish mucus,

which was followed by bloody mucus. 9.

Terrible painful cough, as if larynx would be torn to pieces, and as if the mucous membranes were torn off

with profuse discharges of viscid grayish mucus mixed with blood; night. 9

Hawking of tenacious mucus.

Violent painful tickling in larger left bronchia, seeming to extend through all left lung.

Hoarseness.

Hoarseness, especially while reading, with loss of voice occasionally.

Slight hoarseness with hawking up of mucus.

Expectoration yellow-white, albuminous, or little green bitter balls; expectoration exceedingly ropy, and very

difficult to raise. 2.

* Dryness of glottis, very annoying, with pain during deglutition; great hoarseness.

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Incessant dry cough, worse at night, wakes just as she is falling asleep; cough worse from eating sweet things.

The choking seems to be caused by a weakness or spasm of epiglottis, but could not tell which; the larynx was

stopped so that no air could enter, and was only relieved by lying on the face and protruding the tongue, which

was done in a very quick time. 9.

At night the dryness, soreness and choking were very severe; thrusting the tongue in the cheek brought on

coughing and choking as if the epiglottis were closed; a terrible tearing sensation as if the lining of the larynx

and pharynx had been torn off. A dose of cm gave almost entire relief in five minutes, and he slept well all

night.

At night awoke with sense of suffocation, throat swollen, very painful, choking and gagging. 9:

During the day hoarseness, soreness, and elongation of palate. 9.

Soreness in larynx as if ulcerated.

Cough upon entering a warm room.

Cough after eating.

* Cough worse on lying down. (Two provers).

Spasm of glottis, with clucking in throat, the air being expelled with difficulty, but inhaled with ease. 1.

Dry hacking cough, with a weak sinking sensation under sternum. 3.

Severe dry cough worse at night; sensation as of a lump -in front: dryness and excoriated sensation in glottis,

with great hoarseness. Ipecac. 200 loosened cough, causing great expectoration of tough, lumpy, greenish-

yellow mucus without taste. 33.

Tenacious mucus in larynx, causing loud rattling at every respiration; very difficult to raise it.

Slight hacking cough, which causes darting pains through both scapulae 28.

Darting pain from center of right lung to lower edge of liver.

When coughing, larynx always feels sore.

Pain in both lungs when coughing.

* Expectoration as if flecked with infinitesimal dark spots.

+ Cough worse at night causing retching. (50m).

+ Cough on lying down, but relieved by lying on stomach 29. (l0m).

Chest.

Desire to breathe deep. 23.

Much difficulty in breathing, with momentary faintness.

Very marked stuffed feeling in chest, made her gasp for breath.

Wakes gasping for breath.

Oppression of chest chiefly left side.

Oppression of chest with difficulty of breathing, and a tendency to take a long breath; wakes gasping for breath

Pain towards bottom of right lung (probably in liver) when coughing.

After cough, slight pain in bottom of right lung.

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Cold pain in right lung and liver while coughing.

+ In colds, trouble in right lung.

Very sharp sticking pain in bottom of right lung; also over surface of both lungs.

Aching in back part of left lung.

An old sore spot in top of left lung aroused.

Benefited pain in left lung with cough.

Fatigue of left lung after talking, as if collapsed or paralyzed.

Walking in sun, left lung became excessively hot, right lung cold.

Constricted sensation at bottom of both lungs; finally dull heavy pain at top of left lung.

Pain in left upper chest through to shoulders; cough arising from chest; incessant dry cough, worse at night.

Great soreness to pressure of muscles of lower left chest before and behind; also great soreness, when moving,

of left shoulder-blade.

Aching in left lung under scapula; indescribable aching as if it were drawn up in hand and then let loose, worse

after walking; at the same time aching pain in base of brain. 2.

Intense boring in whole chest, lint most below left scapula, a place the size of a dollar on outer edge, extremely

sensitive to touch; pain from upper lung to this spot.

Coughing gives great pain in chest as if it were painfully contracted.

Sore spot size of a silver dollar, begins at top of left lung, and like a red hot bolt extends through to lower part

of back; chest sometimes feels as if something had grown to the sore spot in front, and was drawing back to

chest; she feels for a cavity. 2.

Left lung very painful, feels drawn towards right side; left side of chest from top of lung to waist as hot as fire;

heartbeat very fast and hot also; heat spread over right side but was very mild, only a warm feeling, while left

side was consuming; face pale-gray, nose pinched and death like. 2.

Bottom of left lung sore to pressure (slight urging to cough from lower bronchia); afterwards slight pain in

bottom of right lung.

Singular sensation through entire chest, bounded by a line drawn across lower end of sternum, and another

about the middle; it feels as if there were a cavity extending from side to side filled with burning air which

dilated in puffs in all directions and could be felt impinging on walls of cavity. 1. (lm, 10m).

Sensation of an abscess on left chest between pectoralis major and minor where they form the exterior

boundary of the axillary space, very hard and sensitive to touch, with drawing pains in every direction,

aggravated by motion of the arms; also great heat extending about three inches from the spot, and extending

through to back of shoulder; no redness and very slight swelling of the parts. 1.

Excruciating pain through from left shoulder.

Hard and steady pinching pain in posterior inferior lung (probably kidney).

Constant dull pinching pain in lowest back part of lungs; may be in supra renal capsule.

Hoarseness seems to be in chest; feels like an accumulation of stuff in the chest; as if it were painfully

contracted.

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Sharp pain in bottom of left lung.

Darting pain through lung which makes her start.

Chest sore to touch, at times burning extends over chest like intense inflammation; cold seemed only to irritate

the fire; a piece of ice cools it for an instant, then the furnace is hotter; lung feels as if beaten or bruised, it

collapses for a rest.

Lung feels as if her breath were fanning a blistered sore. 2.

Great oppression of breathing every afternoon about 5 o'clock; sense of constriction.

Has to fill lungs, but no power to eject air. 22.

Sharp pain atone right edge of sternum changing to left edge, and afterwards into left lung.

Pain in left side at bottom of lung or in spleen.

+ The pains in phthisis are in the middle lobes and are awful. 22.

Faint suffocative sensation when sitting up in bed, as if thorax were full. 19.

Pain in heart and lungs, especially right.

Heat like a furnace in chest, with itching of ears 1.

Pain in upper part of right lung when moving arm. 6a.

Constant pain and soreness through chest and mammae, of six or eight years' duration. 34.

Pain in the right shoulder as though it came from the left, straight through; 34

* Pains straight through from left to right shoulder, becoming unbearable. 34

Chest feels sore throughout. 28.

Breath is hot, feels so even when breathing through nose. 28.

Pain in both lungs when coughing. 28.

Hydrothorax; dullness of percussion to sixth rib; gurgling of water could be distinctly heard. 1.

Hepatization of lungs as high as sixth rib, no sound of water by auscultation or of respiration below that point;

percussion gave the dull thud of a solid body.

Sharp quick pain in heart.

Quick but dull pain in heart.

Pain in left auricle.

Pain from sore spot below left scapula, to heart, with violent palpitation.

Dull pain in left heart, with pain in left arm and throat; pulse 64; next day no pain, pulse 100.

Intense pain in heart, seemed to radiate in different parts of left side of chest; pain worse from chest

movement.

Heavy heart throbbings.

With heat in chest, heart was very hot; beat very fast and felt large, accompanied by a bursting sensation.

Aggravation of heart disease, evening at 4 o'clock.

Burning in heart, front through to back and down left arm. 22.

Difficulty in breathing through oppression of heart 22.

Sharp pain at apex of heart, worse on any movement. 22.

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Feeling of a cavity where beat ought to be. 22.

Acute pain in heart. 5a/

Pain in heart and lungs, especially the right.

Fluttering about heart.

Soreness in heart in morning after having slept on left side. 11.

Palpitation after slight exertion. 11.

Sharp pains around heart, and passing thence to head, the pains preceded by nausea. 35..

Cardiac dropsy, sound at apex feeble and distant, great dilatation. 1.

Back.

When erect has a general weakness of neck.

Swelling of cords of neck, with aching pain at base of brain.

Sensation of an enlarged gland in right side of neck under upper part of sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle, painful

when moving head.

Intense burning heat, commencing in back of neck and extending gradually down spine, with a contractive

stiffness extending into head and seeming to thicken scalp.

Pain under right scapula.

Unhealthy skin on left shoulder, with itching.

Pain on left side of spine in sacral region about two inches from spine and parallel to it; also pain starting from

same part and streaking down to tuberosity of ischium; also a pain very severe across middle of sacrum as if

back would break, snapping, splitting pain; with these pains a severe sore aching sensation in uterine and

ovarian region, worse on lying down after walking.

Whole length of backbone sore to touch, also ribs of left side.

Tenderness of spinal column when stretching.

Strange feeling in back; went days without corsets.

Aching in small of back, gets up with difficulty.

Lower part of back from one hip joint to the other is sore and painful while sitting, the pain sometimes

extending down the limbs; relieved by lm.

Pain in back of hips running around abdomen and down limbs.

Weakness of lumbar muscles, resulting in giving way with a snap (crick in back, lumbago).

Pain and soreness in back just below waist.

Aching across kidneys.

Always an aching in kidneys.

Aching pain with heat in left kidney.

Aching across kidneys with cough.

Pain in back, either liver or kidney.

Pain in lower back, worse in morning, or on moving.

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Stiff back.

Contractive pain from superior angles of scapulas passing to seventh dorsal vertebra, and extending straight

down spine to ninth vertebra, drawing shoulder back tight as if the bones would be crushed; aggravated by

moving the arms, shoulders, or neck. 1.

Sensation of water dropping out of a bottle in lumbar region, opposite, (opposite third lumbar vertebra)

between posterior superior spine of the ischium and the vertebra.

Pain in back between scapulae.

Pain in os coccygis.

Braised sore pain in coccyx as if the muscles pulled from that point.

Burning glow in cerebellum and down spine.

Occasional creeping sensation in region of left kidney.

Weak back.

Sharp pain in edge of ischium, right side, changing to left; this continually.

Spasms of neck muscles, notably the sterno-cleido-mastoid, drawing chin firmly down on breast. 1.

Pain in sacrum. 5a.

Aching pain in kidneys, continuing all night. 3.

+ Throbbing and thumping in region of right suprarenal capsule seeming to come from the abscess or sore spot

just below the fifth rib, right side, under breast; creeping chills in region of right kidney, throbbing,

contracting, drawing and relaxing, as if caused by ice-cold insects with claws. #Abscess of liver.

Drawing in cords of neck, causing desire to throw head back. 3.

+ Lumbago caused by straining in lifting a hind quarter of beef; cured in two days.

When she stoops cannot rise again without violent pain in region of kidneys. 6.

Heat in spine and medulla, for a whole week. 4.

Aching tired pain in back, as if she had been delivered of a child. 48.

Rheumatic or bruised aching pain in back, around pelvis and down legs. 10.

A tribe of aches that lodge in back and groin. 47.

Pain in nape and between scapula, running out to either side, shoulder and down to lumbar region.

Lumbar vertebrae sensitive to touch 49.

Pain in region of left kidney, darting over to left hip, especially when spine is pressed upon.

Posterior spine of left ilium painful to touch.

Arms.

Cramping pain in first and second fingers of right hand.

Tense pain from lower joint of left index finger to wrist, growing painfully tense and then on a sudden letting

go, or a cessation of the tenderness with a bubbling sensation, very painful.

In night, sensation of a boil coming on back of hand just above metacarpo-phlangeal joint of left index finger;

sore to touch with drawing pains from every direction; expected to find a boil there in morning, but found only

a red spot, not elevated. Burning, mostly subjective, of hands; wants them fanned and uncovered; always cold

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hands.

Hot hands.

Intense burning in palms.

Intense burning and itching of hands, first left then right.

Itching of hands at roots of and between fingers, as in the itch.

Palms, and sometimes feet, burning hot.

Heat in palm at base of middle finger.

Right hand is cold, then left.

Cold hands, with coldness extending all over body.

Right arm cold.

Trembling hands.

Trembling arms.

Breaking out on left hand, later on right.

Small yellow spots on bands.

Hardness at base of ball of little finger.

Transverse depressions on the nails as if they were bent. 9a.

+ Consumptive incurvation of nails. (10m).

Sharp rheumatic pains across middle knuckles of left hand, also rheumatism of arms and legs.

Rheumatic pains in shoulders, notably the left, also in hands, with pain on closing them, like Gettysburg.

Sharp pain in elbow when moving it.

Pain in left arm and sensation in the hand as if swollen connected with the heart.

Slight cutting in arms.

Aching in bones of arm after headache.

Hair on arms from elbows very thick.

* Rheumatic pain in top of left shoulder, worse from motion; occasional little darts of pain if kept still.

Numb pain in left arm; cannot even hold a paper any length of time; the veins become enlarged; it is very

painful to raise the arm. 2.

The middle finger of left hand is swollen, and cannot be bent without pain; cannot touch palm with it; the top

of this finger is so painfully sensitive, numb and dead, that she cannot grasp anything with it, can hardly touch

anything.

A hot numbness of the backs of hands. 22.

Back of hands rough. 22.

Cold numbness on outer side of both arms just below elbow. 13.

Cracking of joints, especially elbows. 13a.

+ Relieved rheumatic pain in right shoulder and arm.

+ Severe pain from the abscess extending to right shoulder and down elbow. #Abscess of liver.

Left forearm and hand numb, unable to hold any thing with force; any attempt to raise arm caused a sense of

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

discomfort and irritability. 7a. (Spring of 1875).

Numb sensation in left hand and arm and left leg. 7. (In three minutes).

+ Pain commencing under left scapula, running down left arm to end of little finger, which pricked as if asleep.

36.

Brown itching eruption on left shoulder.

Itching and irritation inside of elbow joints. 13.

Legs.

Slight aching pains in hip joint and knees.

A sort of tensive catch back of right hip preventing putting leg forward; a bad sort of catch.

Woke with a sharp pain over left hip preventing stooping, makes walking difficult; it is like a stiff neck, but

more aching.

Pains in both legs at times from hips down to knees, at other times in the left only when walking.

After exercise backs of legs feel painful and contracted, front part all right, worse in back of hips; only felt on

movement.

Sharp pain in thighs between hips and knees.

During a terrific thunder storm, very sharp awful pains in knees shot upwards; these pains were made worse by

stretching.

Great weakness and weariness in thighs.

Pain in right patella.

Small pimples on legs and patella, in which on being pricked open a small hair was found curled up, which

immediately came out and grew.

+ Rheumatic pains in muscles of, legs.

Drawing sensation under knees and in ankles.

Aching in bones of legs after headaches, legs better from motion.

Tendency to stretch legs out.

When walking, pain in left knee that caused it to give way letting her down. (Compare Natrum phos.).

Little dropping of right leg.

Legs do not go right in walking. (Compare Picric acid).

Weakness of legs.

Profound tenderness in legs after the least walk, they also feel heavy and burn.

Very bad cramp in left calf at night.

* Kind of cramp in left calf at night, muscles knotted, stopped by stretching; not cramp but knotting.

Calves very sensitive, and full of drawing pains when stretching.

Very thick hair on legs from knees.

Weariness when walking, in the feet and ankles, as if the feet were too small.

Cold feet with chills all over body.

* Soreness on ball of foot under toes

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Pain in soles, not in heels, most in left foot, worse at night, not much felt during day, pain is sharp and

shooting; nude feet are sore to stand on in the day.

Sore feeling under left foot.

* Burning of feet, wants them uncovered and fanned.

+ Cold and sweaty feet.

Constriction of muscles under left knee and in left calf.

Itching of right great toe.

+ Old standing profound foot-sweats; worse during winter, for seven years. (10m).

Great swelling and inflammation of right great toe.

Great toes sore, right one worse, also pains shooting through toes when sitting still.

Very restless with the legs.

In walking, soreness of sole under right great toe.

Great itching of legs from knees down.

The pain seems to tighten the whole body, especially the feet and thighs.

Weak kneed in getting up from a chair.

Ankles turn easily when walking.

Soreness in ball of right foot.

Dropsy of feet (four provers).

Trembling of limbs, legs give way.

Intense dry burning of feet.

Longing to stretch legs.

Trembling in legs from knees down, left leg trembles the most; burning in feet.

Numbness in left leg from knee to hip, feeling as if it were paralyzed and would fall from under me.

Cramp in left calf, afterwards in right leg between knee and thigh.

Legs dead and heavy, throbbing from the knees down.

Pains in legs from thighs to knees.

Both feet seem somewhat swollen.

Corns very tender.

Pains in right toe.

Tired in legs. 22.

Pain in legs, tired all the time, won't walk (a child).

Short pulling pains in knees, toes, ankle-joints and hands. 5a.

Great toe covered with scales like totters. 22.

Edema of feet, followed and relieve by diarrhea. 22 (Six provers).

Knee joints weak. 13a.

Feet ache. 3.

Pain in feet relieved; in place of it pain in hip joint.

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Bright red spot, size of a pea, even with the skin, on lower part of left tibia, no sensation. 9.

Pains in legs, more of an aching, with inability to keep them still in bed, worse when giving up control of

himself, as when trying to sleep; permanently relieved with Lilium tig. lm. 9.

Heaviness of legs, very difficult walking (especially going up or down stairs), the legs are so heavy, feel like

lead. 25.

Coldness of legs up to knees, also of hands and forearms; (a child aged five).

Almost entire loss of nervous force in legs and arms; exhausted by the slightest effort. 13, 1.

Sensation of heaviness or want of power to move the limbs, in walking.

Small sharp pain in soles when first stepping on them in morning, not felt any other time. 25.

+ Cramps in calves and soles at night. (10 m).

+ Tenderness of soles so that he could not stand on them at all, and had to walk on his knees. #Suppressed

gonorrhea. 9.

+ Swelling and itching in soles, itching between toes, and pulling pains extending up to knees; itching painful

papular eruptions around waist, and hive like eruption wherever the flesh is pressed on. 9. (l0m Fincke).

Many years since had a leg amputated just above ankle; after healing it began to swell, the end of stump turned

black, severe pains in muscles and bones, and Intimately a pimple appeared on the stump which broke and

discharged for sometime, all this has been reproduced by l0m (Fincke).

Sudden intense pain in left ankle back of joint, on going to bed; could not move the limb or body without

screaming; could find no position of comfort. (40m).

Pain in limbs from knees up. 49.

Legs cold to the knees. 49.

Eruption under and on toes, and on hands and feet; after three months. 18.

Lower limbs ache all night preventing sleep. 1.

Numb sensation in left hand and leg, left leg goes to sleep. 7 (Dec. 24th, 1875).

Skin.

Great yellowness of skin.

The copper-colored spots (syphilitic) remaining after eruptions, turn yellow-brown and detach in scales,

leaving skin clear and free.

Skin itches all night.

Intense and incessant itching, fugitive, worse towards night, sometimes confined to left side.

Itching all over body, on back and both sides of shoulders.

Itching all over body, most on back, vagina, and labia; thinking of it makes it worse.

Small pedunculated warts with pin-heads like small button mushrooms on various parts of the body and thighs.

Great heat and soreness with enlargement of the lymphatic glands all over body.

Carbuncular boils that seem small, discharge slowly, and show dark red streaks; pains are intolerable, could

not sleep for three nights. 22.

Pinching sensation all over body, in five minutes. 7a.

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Intense itching all over body, would scratch till it bled, but no relief; no visible eruption. 37.

Red spots itching when scratched and on undressing at night, on the limbs particularly from knee up, on

forearm, and around waist (twentieth day) 48.

Sleep.

Dreams that she is drinking.

Dreams painful and exhausting.

Horrid dreams.

Troublesome dreams, kick about.. 22.

Unpleasant dreams. 2.

Woke in night and saw a woman of pleasant face, and dressed in gray, standing by her bedside wiping a

tumbler; she backed from me miles away becoming very small. 2.

Dreams troublesome; tosses about in bed when half awake, but no bad feelings during her sleep. 38.

Have such restless nights and terrible dreams of ghosts and dead people that she dreaded night to come. 25.

Sleep with wearing dreams of walking; waking with the impression that she had slept for hours, although it

was only thirty minutes.

On waking, sense of having slept enormously, yet not half enough; profoundly sleepy (almost soporous), in

early morning very tired.

Sleepy, slept thirty minutes, dreamed unpleasant dreams. 2.

Wakes every morning at 5 or 6 o'clock and falls again into a heavy profound sleep; weary in morning after this

sleep.

Asleep but hears everything; answers questions as if she was awake. 1.

Falls asleep in one instant if she stops work. 1.

Wakes just as she is falling asleep, worse from eating sweet things. (Compare Lil. tig.)

Great restlessness at night, sleepy but could not sleep.

* Wakeful, slept towards morning.

Great sleeplessness from restlessness.

Feels as if she would have nightmare.

Sleepy, yawning, chilly.

Spasmodic yawning, cannot repress it.

Desire to yawn. 2.

Sleepy all the time.

Drowsy with the headache, very tired.

Lies on her back and makes a moaning noise, which awakes her.

Groaning at night.

Can only sleep on back with hand over head; if she lies on either side, the contents of lower part of chest and

abdomen seem to press upon each other, and cause very uncomfortable sensations. 25.

Perfectly drunk with sleep at 9 a.m. and frequently at 12. 2.

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When asleep day or night, no matter how short a times profuse perspiration on face and neck.

Cannot sleep at night, feels exhilarated, wants to play in bed; cross through the day. (Child aged five.)

Sleeps at night right on her knees, with face bored in the pillow. (Child aged five. )

Continual drowsiness, worse between 10 and 11.

Bites tip of tongue in sleep. 22.

Profound spasmodic yawning continuing some minutes followed by spasms of glottis. 1.

Wakeful at night, feels fatigued. 3.

Unusual and uncomfortable dreams. 3.

Dreams of dead people and of having to lie in bed where they have laid. 10a. '

Waking several times at irregular periods, remaining awake with brain inactive, but the time seems very long.

+ Becomes wide awake at 6 p.m. and continues so till 12, with entire passivity of brain and cessation of

thoughts and slight restlessness. (l0m.)

Entire sleeplessness, with cessation of all thoughts though cognizant of surroundings; no ideas were generated;

the brain seemed inactive. 1.

Sensation of sleepiness and dullness comes at irregular intervals during day.

Sleep irregular at night, wakes often, has only cat-naps.

Fever.

Night sweats.

Great tendency to perspire on the least exertion. 9.

Night sweats are mostly from knees down, somewhat in feet.

At night heavy perspiration, once head was dripping wet, left side is always worse. 2.

Perspiration around neck.

Sweats always when napping.

Slight moisture during night, was not awakened by but in the morning noticed that the shirt was damp.

Fever and nervous, restless from midnight to 3 a.m..

Aggravation in fever and malaise from 10 to 1.

Fever came on at 11 a.m., preceded by very cold feet, all asleep during the fever; after fever sweats on pelvis,

feet and legs.

Fever sometimes with thirst, sometimes not; has gushes of perspiration on face with fever; very languid after. 2

Hectic fever every afternoon.

Great general internal heat after dinner as if blood were boiling hot in veins; the same after slight exertion.

Great burning heat all over body, with flashes of heat in face and neck.

Must be fanned all the time, throws the clothes off, yet surface is cold; burning, mostly subjective, of hands

and feet, wants them uncovered and fanned. 2

Chill at 10 a.m. some chattering and shivering. 48.

Chill from 10 to 12, during the fever was nervous, moving the fingers.

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Chill at 10:30 a.m., sometimes followed by fever with thirst, solid coldness all over.

Chill at 10:30 a.m., fever with thirst, chill began in fingers and toes.

Chill from 10:30 to 12:30, thirst during chill, none during fever.

Chill from 10 to 11, cold feet and legs.

Chilliness at 11 a.m., beginning with great coldness of fingers and toes.

Coldness at 11 a.m., beginning in fingers; at the same time great pressure to urinate, greater than the amount

warrants.

Chill at 5 p.m., followed by fever and slight sweat (after getting wet); repeated next day but lighter.

Chill at 2 p.m., feet become cold first; after chill excessive languor, becoming drowsy; weary dreams of

walking.

Little chills began in head and crept down back, mostly on left side.

Chill.

Excessive coldness.

Chilly and sleepy; yawning.

Chills up and down back.

Chills frequent, several times a day.

Shivering chills with boring pains in chest.

Several chills during day, woke in night with creeps. 2.

Coldness; right hand is cold then the left; a slight flush of heat succeeded, then sensation of a foreign substance

in right eye, then in left.

Cold hands, with coldness extending all over the body.

Constant alternations of coldness and fever.

Never well since chill a year ago.

Creeping chills running down back, and all over body in a zigzag course. 40.

Three hours after 10m (Fincke), great feeling of heat over whole back and back of head, heat and tingling in

right ear; all with sweat of face; heat does not reach below kidneys, is greatest just under scapulas (at the same

time smarting of edge of eyelids), heat increases to fever.

Coldness of legs up to knees, also of hands and forearms.

Continued heavy perspiration, attended with great sensitiveness to cold. 13a.

Hectic fever. 22.

Alternate heat and chill. 6a.

+ Profuse sweat about neck.

Fever in afternoon. 47.

Fever and rapid pulse at night.

+ Chills for four months every day, commencing from 3 to 4 p.m.; chill with headache, thirst, nausea,

sometimes vomiting; fever with headache, thirst, nausea; sweat principally on head and neck, with headache,

nausea; pains from waist downwards; frequent urination, dark color; frequent tasteless eructations;

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constipation; bad taste in mouth in morning, bitter. Took 1m (Fincke); same day had chill, none afterwards;

constipation and bad taste left in a week.

Flashes of heat alternating with chills. 49.

+ Chill came first at night, afterwards at various hours; for instance, on two consecutive days at 2 p.m., then

two days at 3, 4, 5, and 6 each, then at 7 p.m. where it remained for two weeks; chill commenced in small of

back, running up and down, lasted about an hour, and as it ceased, profuse and frequent urination appeared and

continued during fever; congestion of chest simulating pneumonia during fever, causing great alarm; great

renal distress during paroxysm; thirst during fever for hot drinks; fever continued for six or eight hours;

profuse perspiration after the fever, great nervousness during the paroxysm, was sure he would die; intolerance

of noise, irritable. (10m)

Woke in night with creeps. 2.

Generalities.

+ Pains in lumbar portion of spine;: neuralgia; induration of testes; all cured by Medorrhinum. 9.

Stunted in growth.

General malaise.

General bilious malaise.

Very tired.

Lack of energy. 22.

Very languid after salt bath, could scarcely walk upstairs.

Great good-for-nothing feeling, must lie down all day.

Tires to talk. 22.

Feels very prostrated in early morning.

+ Consumptive languor.

* Great general depression of vitality. 52.

Very languid in morning.

Always brighter in evening.

+ Feels stronger and better generally.

Sensitive to drafts of air, takes cold easily.

Feeling as if all the bones were out of joint on getting up; she shakes herself to get them into place.

Restlessness after lying down as if I must rise.

Cannot lie on left side for any considerable length of time.

Cannot lie on either side for even a few minutes. 25

The pains seem to tighten the whole body, especially the feet and thighs.

There is scarcely any spot on body from head to foot but what is full of. pain, of the same tension and letting

go character, accompanied by heat; this heat is sensitive, burning hot, but not perceived at the surface by the

touch.

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Great restlessness, cannot keep still.

Trembling all over, great nervousness, and profound exhaustion.

Pains from left to right.

Cannot accomplish anything. 22.

Sudden faintness. 22.

Tonic spasms, rigid extension of arms and legs, the hands everted, palms outward, thumbs down, fingers

clawlike. 1.

Opisthotonos. 1.

Intense nervous sensibility respecting the touch of the garment or a lock of hair by anyone not en rapport. 1.

Starts at the slightest sound. 1.

Staggers when walking.

Great general subjective trembling, even tongue felt trembling.

Restlessness, cannot keep still, but feels greatly relieved by clutching the hands very tight. 22.

Symptoms from right to left; before from left to right.

Tired all the time, won't walk (a child).

Risus sardonicus. 1.

Was unusually active, going as if on wings. 2.

Quivering sensation, with tingling. 2.

Tingling sensation with some numbness. 2.

Faintness early in morning with no appetite. 2.

Sore all over as if bruised. 5a

Sulphur high follows well after dm, characteristic driving out of bed followed.

+ Can walk better. (l0m).

Very very tired, language cannot express the intolerable weariness.

Epileptiform spasms with foaming at the mouth, rigidity of body and limbs: violent regurgitation at heart with

absence of mitral cluck. 1. (30m)

Trembling in all the limbs on the least motion; also faintness. 4.

Wearied in her walk. 4.

Tingling, quivering as if every nerve were on a quiver. 4.

Went up to a strange gentleman and embraced him, thinking it was her husband. 6.

State of collapse, nearly gone; wants to be fanned all the time, wants more air. (Compare Carbo veg.).

State of collapse, cold and pulseless, with cold perspiration. (Compare Veratrum ).

State of collapse, skin cold, throws off all cover. (Compare Secale, Camphor).

Languor and lassitude continuing from day to day. 34

Tired all day, but restless, traveling on her nerves.

Shooting pains about three inches long, in various directions and all over body. 47.

Sensation as if she had taken a severe cold, with most distressing aching in bones; throat very sore and

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

swollen, deglutition of either liquids or solids impossible.

Every inch of me ached, as if it had been pounded and bruised.

Sensation as if she would faint, followed by a great heat down spine and between shoulders.

+ Acts splendidly in incipient consumption. 22.

Sensation of creeping all through body continually, worse when doing nothing, or when reading metaphysical

works, but not when asleep. 26.

Sensation of creeping things throughout the body continually.

Aggravation from daylight to sunset (Syphillinum from sunset to sunrise).

+ Sequelae of acute rheumatism in a man of sixty; walks leaning on a cane bent over, muffled in wraps to the

ears, looking like a broken old man, apparently soon to fall into the grave. 56. (Cmm and Mmm). He gained in;

flesh from 140 to 212 pounds after this treatment, and engaged in active business as he felt he wanted it;

perfectly cured.

+ In obstinate rheumatism, study Medorrhinum; it has cured cases; and in others where improvement has

reached a certain stage and ceased, Medorrhinum has completed the cure. 9. (See my note to Dr. Biegler's case

in The Organon, III, 212. E. W. B.).

+ Pain like rheumatism along the right nape whole right side, right hip, left leg (upper right, lower left); pains

drawing worse in dampness; left leg swollen near knees #Gonorrheal rheumatism. 67.

Deformity of finger-joints, large puffy knuckles; swelling, stiffness and pain of both ankles; great tenderness

of heels and balls of feet; the swellings of all affected joints were puffy like wind-galls; general condition

worse inland, better near shore. 57.

==============================================================================

ALTERNATIVES

When a government is more benign,

the people are more productive.

When a government is more tyrannical,

the people are more rebellious.

But whatever the government,

If disaster is the bitter fruit of others’ good fortune,

how long can such injustice be tolerated?

How long we have endured the hypocrisies!

Those pretending to be righteous act deceitfully.

Those pretending to be religious revert to evil.

We have been deluded!

And each day it becomes worse!

Be firm and armed, but do no harm!

Be as sharp as knife, but do not cut!

Be ready to transform, but do not provoke!

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Illuminate the darkness of ignorance, but do not blind!

- TAO TE CHING

A New Translation & Commentary by Ralph ALAN DALE

7. TOP TEN REMEDIES FOR SENIORS

CASTRO, Miranda (HT. 23, 5/2003)

Here are my favorite top ten remedies for

common complaints in the elderly. As with all other

home prescribing, please use these remedies

judiciously and responsibly. If one strikes you as a

clear description of someone close to you, you might

consider suggesting Homœopathy as a safe and

gentle solution for some of their problems. If a short

course of a homœopathic remedy helps them, you

will want to coach them on how and when to repeat

the remedy. Use the Home Prescribing Guidelines

on page 21 as reminders.

If you are prescribing for yourself, then do

consider asking someone who knows you to help you

in this process; it’s difficult to be objective about

yourself, and others may notice things that you have

missed or discounted.

As always with Homœopathy, if the picture isn’t

clear, or the symptoms are chronic (long-term) and

complex, then you will need to seek the advice of a

professional homœopath.

Remedy

Emotional Symptoms

Common Symptoms in

the Elderly

General Symptoms

Alumina: dry and slow

Confused and depressed,

especially in the

morning. Mind slows

down, forgetful and

absent- minded.

Easily disoriented: gets

very distressed if hurried.

Skin is dry and itches

without an eruption.

Severe constipation even

with a soft stool.

Weakness with

trembling.

Dry, hacking cough.

Bladder weak: urination

slow, has to wait for it to

start.

Aversion to/Aggravation

from potatoes.

Worse from warmth in

general.

Ambra grisea: erratic

and embarrassed

Many bereavements and

losses.

Forgetful and confused.

Easily embarrassed: shy

and anxious in company

(especially with

strangerous).

“Prattles” and asks

questions without

waiting for answers.

Prefers to be alone.

Constipation: with

anxiety and ineffectual

urging and straining.

Can’t pass stool or urine

if others are within

hearing distance.

Dry, nervous cough

which is worse from

talking and is followed

by burping.

Insomnia: finds it

difficult to fall asleep

before midnight.

Vertigo: with feeling of

weakness in the stomach.

Numbness: twitching

and/or trembling

anywhere.

Generally worse from

company (from

conversation) and from

music.

Symptoms are erratic and

worse when lying down.

Arsenicum album:

anxious, fussy, and

restless

Very scared of disease,

of cancer, of death.

Fears are worse when

alone----to the point of

despair.

Extremely tidy, cannot

rest until everything is in

Indigestion with burning

pains and nausea.

Loss of appetite and

weight.

Diarrhea, which is worse in

the morning.

Involuntary urination:day

and night.

Chilly.

Burning pains which are

better for heat.

Symptoms are generally

worse from midnight to 3

a.m.

Thirsty for warm drinks;

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its place.

Insomnia with restlessness

and anxiety.

Skin eruptions: itching

without eruption.

Palpitations with anxiety.

sips them frequently.

Baryta

carbonica:childish and

petty

Absent-minded, confused

and forgetful.

Revisits childhood in old

age.

Has great difficulty

making decisions.

Extremely anxious about

little (unimportant)

things.

Gets upset thinking

others are talking about

them.

Vertigo: when getting up

or bending down.

Headache when bending.

Indigestion and

weakness after eating.

Constipation with

straining and an

unfinished feeling.

Weak bladder with

involuntary urination:

frequent urination at

night with great urgency.

Rattling cough with

difficulty coughing

anything up.

Insomnia: restless sleep,

wakes frequently from

getting overheated.

Much worse from the

cold and damp.

Carbo vegetabilis:

sluggish and gassy

Great indifference and

apathy.

Sudden, recurring loss of

memory and difficulty

concentrating.

Rude and irritable,

especially with relatives.

Indigestion, flatulence,

and diarrhea.

Severe, painful bloating

with gas, better for

burping.

Rattling cough with

breathlessness, better for

burping.

Sluggish mentally and

physically.

Worse eating rich foods

and fats; worse

overeating.

Much worse for getting

overheated.

Wants to be fanned---

wants fresh air and

breezes.

Conium maculatum:

withdrawn, slow, and

dizzy

Absent-minded,

forgetful, and confused.

Difficulty understanding

when reading.

Tired of life: becomes

withdrawn---doesn’t

want company.

Superstitious.

Everything is slow:

thinking, answering,

moving.

Digestion, respiration,

pulse, healing are all

slow.

Vertigo: worse lying

down, when rolling over

in bed or turning the

head, better for closing

the eyes-everything

swirls.

Dry tickling cough which

is worse at night.

Weak bladder: frequent,

dribbling urination.

Ignatia amara: loss and

grief

Very upset after a loss or

a big disappointment.

Wants to be alone and

doesn’t want any

comforting.

Finds it difficult to cry

but eventually sobs

hysterically.

Sighs a tremendous

amount.

Feels as if there’s a lump

in the throat.

Headache, indigestion,

diarrhea, palpitations,

insomnia and/or

weakness from grief.

Twitches and spasms and

unexplained numbness

anywhere.

Contradictory symptoms

accompany physical

complaints (e.g., cough

worse coughing).

Can’t stand tobacco

smoke.

Lycopodium: irritable,

Depressed and anxious:

Thin and gassy.

Craves sweet things and

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anxious, and gassy

worries about absolutely

everything.

Any changes or

responsibilities are very

stressful.

Lacks self confidence.

Becomes absent-minded

and forgetful.

Snappy: irritable and

critical.

Sentimental: cries when

thanked.

Appetite poor: feels full

after only a few bites.

Everything turns to gas,

terrible indigestion with

bloating.

Frequent urination

especially with prostate

problems (in men).

Rattling cough with lots

of expectoration

(mucus).

chocolate.

All symptoms are worse

between 3 and 4 p.m. and

between 4 and 8 p.m.

Phosphoric

acid:weakness and

apathy

Overwhelmed by loss

especially bereavements.

Ailments from grief and

disappointment.

Forgetful---mind is too

weak to even think.

Severe weakness.

Painless diarrhea,

palpitation, headache,

and extreme weakness

after grief.

Headache.

Wants refreshing things

(like fruit and fruit

juices) to eat and drink.

Feels better after a nap.

Rhus toxicodendron:

restless, stiff, and achy

Anxious and forgetful.

Terrible restlessness---

can’t rest in any position

(because of the aching).

Joint and back pains

(rheumatism and

arthritis) which are worse

on first motion and better

for continued motion and

stretching.

Symptoms are worse at

night; worse for cold and

for damp in any form;

better for warmth.

Home Prescribing Guidelines

 The remedy should be taken in a low potency (6C, 12C, 30X or 30C).

 It should be repeated 2-4 times a day according to the severity of the symptoms (less serious, less

often; more serious more often).

 It should be stopped as soon as there is an improvement.

 A homeopathic medicine acts as a catalyst, stimulating the body to heal itself.

 Only the “minimum” dose needs to be taken to stimulate that healing response.

 If a remedy has been taken for 3-5 days with no improvement then it is probably the wrong one and

should be discontinued.

 Select a different remedy and/or seek professional help.

 Those who are under homœopathic care should check with their practitioner before self-prescribing.

==============================================================================

TUBERCULINUM

culled from T.P. PASCHERO

********

Always chilly, feels the cold

Sensitive to weather changes

Predicts a coming storm

(Med., Pho., Pso.)

Rheumatic pains agg. movement

Stiffness, agg. initial

Movement, better continued movement;

Agg. cold, humidity, change

of weather, storms

Cough – Hard, dry, Spasmodic

- Abundant thick yellow

Expectoration

Always talking about the

Unpleasantness of his job

Intense thirst all the time

Insomnia – Too anxious to sleep

Unsociable – sullen – annoyed

When spoken to.

Intense pains in the right abdomen

When running and sometimes

Even when walking

Copious sweat – hands, face, trunk

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***********

8. PATHOLOGICAL SIMILLIMUM

Dr. S.M. GUNAWANTE

[The following article was sent to me in

manuscript form by the author = KSS]

In last section 17 of “perceiving crucial

symptoms” mention was made of Dr. J. H. Clarke’s

(the celebrated author of the three volumes of the

“Dictionary of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica”)

prescribing Tuberculinum in the case of a patient

who had been crippled after an attack of Influenza.

The patient recovered fully in a few months Dr.

CLARKE has set out in this case how he came to

prescribe Tuberculinum as the pathological

simillimum which, he said is of the “very first order”

in some cases. This approach to finding the remedy is

hardly mentioned in our literature, and therefore, I

began to search for the opinions and experiences of

able prescribers. I am glad that I was able to find

considerable support to this method, which I will set

out in brief below. What awakened my sharp

attention to this aspect is a case submitted to me for

inclusion in homoeopathic heritage of August 1996

(“when all hopes were given up”) in which Dr.

Meena Mankani gave Crotalus horridus 30 to her

father who was admitted to a hospital under the care

of several top physicians, with remarkably quick

recovery. The patient had chronic renal failure and

was a B-Thalassaemic. In the hospital he was put on

dialysis, his gangrenous toes were amputated, there

was retinal haemorrhage which obstructed vision, he

was totally prostrated so much that he could not talk,

could not turn in bed, could not even swallow. Under

Crotalus horridus the dialysis was stopped, the

wound arising from amputation healed rapidly,

retinal haemorrhage steadily abated and vision

improved; he regained his strength- to the surprise of

the top physicians who had advised the family to be

prepared for the worst. The remedy was selected not

on mental or physical generals or peculiar symptoms,

but chiefly on the pathogenetic action of Crotalus

horridus (decomposition of blood, tendency to

haemorrhage and periodicity of complaints only in

summer- the only characteristic symptom). The

patient continues to be in reasonably good health

even after five months.

Dr. James Compton BURNETT had used this

approach in a number of cases with remarkable

success. Writing about “Acne Remedies” he writes

(Best of Burnett p.153):

“The study of varieties of acne is highly

interesting and instructive, as almost all great

constitutional ancestral diseases show themselves in

young persons in the form of acne. Not frequently,

cases of acne are of mixed pathological qualities, and

these need all their pathological simillimum.

©Quarterly Homœopathic Digest, Vol. XXX1, 1 & 2, 2014. Private Circulation only.

Remedies only morphologically homoeopathic to the

acne-form only palliate; to really and radically cure

they must be PATHOLOGICALLY SIMILAR.”

Further, dealing with his “mode of treatment” of

the Tumour’s of the breast, he says (B.B.p.140):

First: I begin by remembering Hahnemann’s

method of case- taking…..

Second: I go over in my mind the various medical

doctrines, such as the Chronic Miasms, Vaccinosis,

Grauvoglian constitutions, etc., etc., and

Thirdly: I then take a purely organopathic survey

of the organ or part, and then weigh and balance the

various facts which physiology, pharmacology and

PATHOLOGY tell us about it.

Most commonly I find that tumours are

pathologically hybrid in their nature and they will not

yield to treatment of a simple nature, e.g., in persons

with various complaints, diathesis, grief etc.,

resulting in a tumour, such a person in her very

history tells the thoroughly competent therapeutist

how to proceed without symptomatology at all.”

(B.B.p.140-1)

Another quotation from the great Burnett

(B.B.p.179):

“The ultimate court of appeal is the Materia Medica

Pura, and the Repertory shows the way to discover

the right remedies. As a very needful check on

aimless wanderings in this field, however, we find an

accurate knowledge of the pathology-the morbid

pathology-of the case in point, and if to this we add

the fundamental principle that in scientific

therapeutics the RANGE of a given remedy is fixed

by its PATHOGENETIC POWERS and possibilities,

we are pretty sure to reach the goal. You cannot;

however, hit the target a mile off with a gun that

carries only fifty yards- no remedy is therapeutically

greater than is the drug PATHOGENETICALLY.”

Burnett again (B. B. p. XVII): The future of

medicine belongs to homeopathic pathologists, and to

really cure the great diseases (with a pathological-

anatomical basis), we MUST HAVE remedies

homoeopathic to such morbid anatomy, at any rates

in its earlier stages.

Now, let us turn to Dr. H. A. ROBERTS who has

so ably analyzed the principles Homœopathy and

their application in practice. In his principles and Art

of cure by Homœopathy (pp.96-101), he has

discussed the importance of the “chief complaint”,

which brings the patient to the physician. He defines

the chief complaint (p.97) or leading complaints as

those symptoms for which there is a clear

PATHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION (emphasis

mine); or the symptom that are most prominent or

clearly recognizable; or the symptoms which first

attract the attention of the patient or physician; or

which cause the most suffering; or which indicate

definitely the seat and NATURE OF THE MORBID

PROCESS, which form the “warp of the fabric”’ as it

is expressed. Further,

“We must not fail to recognize the value of the

totality of the symptoms; and this must take into

consideration the chief complaints, those of which

the patient most often complains, plus the

PECULIAR, characteristics of the patient. If both

these elements are present, we may be sure we are on

the right track.

Roberts concludes: (101): It is to be remembered that

Hahnemann never slighted any symptoms of a case in

making a prescription. He had the genius of giving

each symptom its true place in the picture without

distorting the totality. While it is inconceivable that

Hahnemann ever did keynote prescribing, it is also

beyond our knowledge of Hahnemann’s thorough

mind that he eliminated the chief complaint in

building up the symptom-image…… Therefore,

Roberts continues: “our way, too, must lie in the

golden mean between these two points, the one too

general and the other too individual to assure us of a

true totality. If we can find a remedy that has “the

more striking, particular, unusual and peculiar

characteristic signs and symptoms of the case”

(Aph.153) and in addition covers the CHIEF

COMPLAINT as well (for which there is a clear

“pathological foundation” or which indicates the seat

and nature of the morbid process- addition, mine)

we may consider ourselves as having a sound basis

for the prescription of the similimum.

Now, is it possible that Dr. Hahnemann, that deep

thinker, experimenter and critical observer of his

experiences, who revised the “Organon” six times,

overlooked the importance of the pathologic

simillimum (based on the pathogenetic effects which

are nothing but the proving record)? Let us read

Aphorism 192 of the Organon:

“The restoration of health of the entire body is

best effected when, in the investigation of the case of

the disease, along with the exact character of the

local affection, all the changes, sufferings and

symptoms observable in the patient’s health, and

which may have been previously noticed when no

medicine had been used, are taken IN

CONJUNCTION to form a COMPLETE picture of

the disease, before searching among the medicines

whose PATHOGENETIC EFFECTS are known, for

a remedy corresponding to the totality of the

symptoms, so that the selection may be truly

homoeopathic.”

Let us now turn to Dr. Richard HUGHES, who

dominated Homoeopathy in England for half a

century before Kent’s philosophy and practice threw

his teachings in shade, mainly because Hughes’s

approach was pathological and did not allow for

potencies higher than the 12th. Nevertheless, Hughes

accepted all the principal tenets of Hahnemann, the

law of similar and the importance of peculiar

symptom. He says in his “manual of

pharmacodynamics” (p.91):

“The similarities which I shall seek to establish

between the drug-action and disease would be in the

main pathological. The lecturer on Materia Medica

will survey the field of pathogenetic phenomenon he

has to characterize. My main object will be to set

forth the sphere of action of each drug. Every

medicine, even though it be one of those great

polychrests, which seem to embrace nearly the whole

organism within the circle of influence, has one or

more centre’s of action. What these centre’s are we

learn, sometimes from the pathogenetic, sometimes

from the clinical side. When we have learnt them,

they become all-important stand-points for the

understanding and the remembrance of the medicine.

Besides these, I shall endeavor to set forth the kind of

action of each drug, its action upon a certain

pathological process, may belong to it in common

with several other medicines; and yet there is nearly

always something special in the manner of its action

which differentiates it from others and gives it an

individual character….the facts about drug-action

known as “characteristics” and “key-notes”….

“The pathogenetic effects of drugs having been

ascertained and recorded, we have but to refer to such

record, after we have examined our patient, to

discover the simillimum to his case.”

A few words of practical wisdom from Dr. C. M.

BOGER:

In taking the case…we must divest ourselves of all

speculative opinions as to the origin of such odd

manifestations. These things belong to the obscurities

of diagnosis, nor does this mean that a diagnostic

symptom can never be a major indication….. It is the

striking nature of the SYSTEMIC EFFECT upon the

whole organism (i.e., pathogenetic effect) that

determines the value of a given symptom, a

manifestation that is prone to occur without any

obvious connection with the disease itself. In chronic

cases it is very apt to be a concomitant, while in acute

cases it often stands out like a freshly painted guide-

post. The physician must know how to give it the

right value. A case from BOGER:

Case: sore aching from the region of the gall bladder

to the left scapula, better lying on the stomach, as of

a lump under the sternum, then the mouth white with

foam. Very foul black stools. Prolapsing, bleeding

piles. Nails very thin, split and turn black. Dry skin.

Anaemic, emaciated and very weak. Constantly caves

in. aggravation from pressure of clothes and from fat

foods.

Four doses of Leptandra in different potencies

have in three months, returned her to nearly normal

flesh and strength. The nails are absolutely normal

again; her color is quite good and an old very foul

leucorrhoea has returned in spite of which she keeps

right on gaining. (My observations: mainly the “foul

black stools” which denote the nature of the

MORBID PROCESS, to use H.A. Roberts’s words,

which must have weighed with Boger in selecting

Leptandra. Note also now Leptandra also covers the

other symptoms which “cause the most suffering”).

PATHOLOGICAL SIMILLIMUM-II

In the chapter “symptomatology” (Genius of

homoeopathy, p.147) Dr. Stuart CLOSE in his

illuminating discussion of the subject observes:

“The drug symptoms recorded in the

homoeopathic Materia Medica are seen to be exact

counterparts of the symptoms of disease (148)…. In

the Materia medica no relevant fact is too

insignificant to be overlooked. There is a place and

use for every fact….. Hahnemann (Org. Aph.7) calls

the totality “the image (or picture) reflecting

outwardly the internal essence of the disease, the

suffering life force.”…. The same idea underlies the

phrase “Genius of the remedy”; genius is this sense

being the dominant influence, or the essential

principle of the remedy, which gives it its

individuality….. Totality means the sum of the

aggregate of the symptoms….not merely the

numerical aggregate (the entire number of the

symptoms as particulars of single symptoms) but

their sum total, their ORGANIC WHOLE AS AN

INDIVIDUALITY…. Each disease, each individual

case of disease and each symptom of disease has its

totality or individual form.”

The above observations from Stuart CLOSE are

given to draw attention to the fact that while the

internal essence of the disease of the suffering life

force, has to be seen not as a numerical totality, but

the sum total of symptoms should be perceived as an

organic whole as an individuality, on the one hand,

and on the other hand, the counterpart of this totality

should be sought in a remedy which embodies the

dominant influence, or the essential principle of the

disease picture as a Unit. It should be obvious from

the foregoing observations of H. A. ROBERTS,

Crompton BURNETT, Richard HUGHES and Stuart

CLOSE, including Hahnemann’s directive in

Aphorisms 7 and 192, that in order to cure, the

Simillimum must be arrived at after taking into

account the PATHOLOGIC- or pathogenetic-

symptoms which reveal the nature of the MORBID

PROCESS in the system, in the organism as a whole,

morbid process which causes the MOST

SUFFERING.

Dr. E. A. FARRINGTON draws attention to the

peculiar Genius of remedies, reflecting their

pathologic (pathogenetic) effects. In the chapter

“Universal Symptoms” of his Lesser Writings (p.64-

67) he observes:

“Physicians have, at times, when unable to fit “the

totality” chosen the remedy that suits those

characteristics upon which the entire disease seems to

depend. In this manner we have learnt to employ:

Chelidonium for many diseases when a

congestion of the lower bowels with piles obtains.

Employing such characteristics as piles bleeding….

sticks in the rectum, uterine affections, varices,

irritable heart etc, have yielded to the drug just as

though they depend for their existence pelvic stasis.

Similarly, we have seen palpitation; vertigo and

dyspepsia vanish under the influence of Pareira

brava selected for its grand characteristic, “must get

down on all fours and strain to pass water; pains go

down the thighs.”

So, too, Berberis relieves a host of ailments when

selected for its radiating renal pains, “pains into the

hips; urine with yellow loamy sediment.

Anisum stellatum has cured haemoptysis when

selected by its key-note, “pain at the junction of the

third right rib with its cartilage.”

Myrtus Communis has retarded phthisis when

there was present sharp pain through the upper part

of the left lung.

Ceanothus has removed leucorrhoea when in

addition there was sharp pain the splenic region. And

so on almost indefinitely.

Now in all such cases there is, of course, a

connection between symptoms treated as central and

others that disappear along with them, though often

we are not able to detect it….. In some instances the

symptom or group of symptoms employed plainly

exhibit a universal quality of a drug, as when we

select Bryonia in cases worse from motion; Thuja for

nervous phenomena depending upon affections of

skin and mucous membranes, or for warts; Rhus for

complaints of fibrous tissues, better from continued

motion; Causticum for paretic aphonia, even if of

catarrhal origin, and so on.

In such cases we are not prescribing for a single

symptom; we are making use of a universal,

characteristic property and wherever in the human

body tissue like that under treatment exists, there the

medicine can have an effect. (p.65-66)… when we

use proper discrimination, then will we have

creditable reports.

Dr. FARRINGTON continues (p.321): A fully

proved drug acts somewhat on nearly all parts of the

body; hence, completeness requires that all parts

should be represented in the anamnesis.

For example:

Guided by the splenic pains of Ceanothus,

leucorrhoea has been cured by that remedy;

influenced by the sour stomach of Robinia, one

physician learned to value that drug in ulcers on the

legs.

Hepar as a remedy in suppuration has no

foundation in proving other than in certain subjective

sensations, which led to its trial, and yet no one today

will deny its efficacy. Just as metastases are apt to

take place in tissues of similar function, so are

analogous parts prone to be affected by a drug. On

this reasoning, Arum triphyllum, which causes

rawness of the corners of the mouth, was successfully

employed by Dr. B. F. Betts for a similar condition of

the Os Uteri; and upon the same principle, drugs

which disease the testicles have been used when the

ovaries are affected. (p. 320-1)

Some more cases from the masters: it would be

useful if more illustrative cases are given, but space

forbids. Yet, a few cases are just referred to here and

for details the readers are referred to the sources.

1. Chronic Splenitis (worse in cold damp weather)

cured with Ceanothus (Best of Burnett p.322).

2. Pain in breast after trauma- cured with Bellis

perenis (B. B. 373).

3. Severe inter-costal neuralgia of seven years

standing-cured with Urtica urens Q 10 drops t.

d. s. (B. B. 438)

4. Tumour the size of a tangerine orange at the root

of the left ovary, with new growths affecting the

sacral bone. The surgeon who opened her

stitched up, and advised long courses of x-ray

treatment. Dr. J. H. Clarke treated her with

Hydrastis Q. Patient improved and started

attending to her large business. (Therapeutics of

cancer-J. H. CLARKE p.6).

5. Male,75, suffering from epithelioma involving

the right side of the face; recurrence at the site of

the original tumour removed earlier surgically;

now growing rapidly, infiltrating surrounding

tissue; given up by the London specialists as

hopeless. Under the action of unit doses of

Lobelia Erinus he responded to the first dose.

Absorption very soon followed and the whole

tumour disappeared within three months. (ibid p.

12-13).

6. A girl, 25, health broken down by overwork;

total prostration, trembling, even short

conversation aggravates. Sleeplessness;

rheumatic pains; sciatica-cured by Lecithin 1M

and 10M. (Kent’s minor writings, p. 596).

7. A case “resembling acute Bright’s disease”

cured with Nitric acid 1200 on the basis of

“urine smells strong, like that of a horse.” (K.

Minor writings p.110)

8. Kent once referred a patient’s letter to two of his

students well versed in repertorisation. After

rerpertorising it for a whole day they came up

with Calc. Carb. When they showed the work to

Kent he said that the remedy was Thuja. Why?

Because Thuja had the essence of the case, with

the nature of the urethral discharge; see Hering’s

condensed Materia Medica.

9. Ad. Lippe and other experts were in charge of a

boy suffering from typhoid (over 100 years ago)

and they all felt it was a case of Stramonium. But

the boy had severe suffering from sore raw

feeling in the mouth, as if ulcerated. It is only

after confirming from the Materia Medica that

Stram had this condition that they were satisfied

it was Stram. which cured the boy. It is obvious

that the remedies in all these cases were selected

based on knowledge of the Genius of the

remedies, viz., their central pathogonomonic

symptoms, the range of their pathogenetic power

and the nature of the MORBID PROCESS they

cover.

When and why we fail: It is worth recalling at this

stage that functional changes precede

pathological/structural/tissue changes in the human

organism. If we do not tackle the problem when it is

still in the stage of functional disorder (when the

requisite characteristic symptoms are available), we

will one day be faced with the structural

(pathological) disorders, when individualizing

characteristic symptoms would not be recollected by

the patient or prominently noticed by the physician.

For many of such complaints, e. g. ulcer, gangrene,

nephrotic syndrome, uterine fibroids, hernia, heart

disease, cancer etc. the patients will go to an allopath

or a surgeon, without knowing that even at this stage

Homoeopathy can offer them help-if not cure at least

marked relief from suffering, prolongation of life

span, free from suffering. It is at this stage, at least,

that the pathological or pathogenetic approach

(combined with some peculiar or concomitant

symptom which may be elicited) could be

successfully used. Witness: Clarke’s case at page

119-120 of this book and Dr. Meena’s case referred

to earlier (details available in August 1996 issue of

Hom. Heritage)

Unfortunately, the number of practitioner’s who

take time and trouble to study the original proving

(Materia Medica Pura, or Allen’s Encyclopedia or at

least Clarke’s Dictionary) to master the pathogenetic

effects of medicines, even in difficult cases, appears

to be very small. Hence it is that Homoeopathy has

not been able to establish its supreme ability to cure,

if not remarkably relieve “incurable” cases.

In conclusion I should like to make it clear that I

am not advocating “pathological prescribing” in the

sense that one is led by pathology which points to a

diagnosis, based on which remedy or remedies are

prescribed. Far from it. The main aim of this section

is to stress that the peculiar, characteristics

individualizing symptoms must go hand in hand with

the chief complaint as described by H. A. Robert’s.

In other words, we must on the one hand elicit the

“totality” of the symptoms of the patient, in every

respect. On the other hand, we must be conversant

with the Genius, the essence or the central core, or

the pathogenetic effects of remedies, so that we can

find a remedy which fits like a glove, with speedy

curative action.

Summarizing what we have learnt in this section:

We should now endeavor to identify the nature of the

morbid processes of each remedy (studying the

Materia Medica in depth) as many remedies as

possible-the morbid processes which pervade the

whole organism and lead to or manifest themselves in

various disorders which cause much suffering. In

doing so, let us be guided by the examples given

above. In this effort let us not neglect to identify the

Causative or Aggravating factors wherever possible,

as well as the characteristic peculiarities which

govern the disorders. This effort will hopefully

enable us to identify the pathologic simillimum

(remedy) for each individual ailment.

======================================

9. PURELY PATHOLOGICAL HOMŒOPATHY

A CLINICAL CASE OF THALASSEMIA

Dr. S. P. KOPPIKAR

On 14.1.78, baby Murugan, aged two months,

was brought by his parents direct from the

Government Children’s Hospital, after its 2nd blood

transfusion in six weeks. The physician had advised

them to try Homoeopathy for the peculiar disease

which the infant was having, wherein blood

formation in the bone marrow was so defective that

there was dangerous anaemia needing Blood

transfusion frequently.

The two previous children of the parent’s had

died, at ages of 6 months, the 2nd child having been

under observation and intense treatment and

transfusions as an inpatient in that same hospital. The

two that died had extra complaint of jaundice and

marasmus and the second one could not stretch the

limbs. (What this signified, I do not know).

The blood report was as follows: RBC 2½ mil. ,

HB 7.5 polymorphs 20%, lymphocytes 76% and

eosinophil 4%. Spleen was enlarged about an inch.

The problem for the Doctors was how to make

the body produce the blood cells. The only treatment

they were giving was transfusion wherever the Hgs.

was less than 5 or RBC count came down to about 2

million.

As I was told, the doctor was not happy that even

after the blood transfusion, the count was not much

improved, neither the Hb.

Well. Could we do something to save the child?

The child was rather puny, with a nice pointed nose,

longish fingers, with occasional loose stools, hungry,

looking intelligent. Both parents were near relatives,

though family healthy. Mother Rh positive.

I took about half an hour studying the few

symptoms, and the Materia Medica. I came up to two

remedies which produce haemolysis, jaundice and

severe jaundice and severe anaemia of this bone

marrow variety-Crotalus horridus and Phosphorus.

Most probably, Crotalus has no haemopoietic power,

though it could stop or slow down haemolysis.

Perhaps Phos. could normalize blood formation. I

gave Crot. hor. 1000 and Phosphorus 1000- 4 doses

each to be given alternately every week- and to come

every time the hospital did a transfusion –for further

doses.

At the 3rd visit, as the spleen was slowly

growing, I added Ceanothus american 3 drop/s, twice

daily on other days (than those of high potency). This

was continued for 3 months and stopped, as the

spleen came to normal.

I also gave one dose of Rad. bromide 1000 to be

given after one course of these two remedies.

The following are the dates on which I gave 2

powders each of this 1000:-

25. 1. 78, 12. 2.; 11.3.; 10.4.; 24.4.; 10.5.; 1.7 only

Phosphorus 1000. (No transfusion, but to come again

for check up after 2 weeks); 17.7: Phos 1m/4 and

Calc. phos 1m/4. 2.8 (wonderfully picking up) the

usual transfusion again postponed; 11.9: Phos m/2

Calc. phos m/2 ; 2.11 (some cold & bronchitis;

needing Bellad and Ipecac-30 for 6 days) 14.11

continued; 25.11 Gels 200 for some viral fever.

5.2.79 Calc. phos. 10000/4 doses monthly, 20.9

given some worm medicine which upset stomach;

Nux vom and Bellad 30 (alternately). 4.10.80 Arnica

m/2 (a fall), 15.3.81 Phos 10000/2, Ars. alb. 1000/2

at intervals of 1 month. 17.3.82 Ant. cr. 1000/4 once

a week, for frequent indigestion with very white

coated tongue.

As I have said, that Hospital used to check up the

Hg. And RBC counts, and gave a blood transfusion if

they went down beyond a certain level. These

transfusions, which had been nearly once in 3 weeks-

became dramatically rarer, once a month, then six

weeks, then two months then 3 months and lastly for

months.

The boy is wonderfully healthy now, and has a

younger brother, who had been given Calc phos and

Phos 1000. Alternatively once in 2 or 3 months

during his first year and half only.

10. Calcarea fluorica: Effect on Body and Mind

SPRINGER, Wolfgang (AJHM. 104, 1/2011)

On Fluor spar (fluorite: a halide mineral

composed of Calcium fluoride) there exist two

provings. The first quite incomplete proving came

from the Americans Murch and Bell in the years

1864 and 1874, with only four provers. The other

proving was conducted by Mezger in 1953, with 39

provers. Calcium fluoride was introduced as a

biochemic tissue salt by Schussler and has been

traditionally applied to treat diseases of those tissues

and organs rich in this mineral, leading to the

following indications: induration of glands,

hardening of cell tissue, bone diseases, gout,

exostoses, adenoidal hypertrophy, cataract, knots on

tendons, cephalohematoma, fibroma of the uterus and

breasts. The remedy seems to correspond to a

defectiveness of the connective tissue.

Constitutional picture: These patients display

stunning initiative coupled with a remarkable level of

activity and exceptional performance; this productive

drive can transform into hurried restlessness.

Euphoria with inner serenity and a desire for work

can coexist. The patient’s strength increases; we

witness a striking mental vigour – increased

concentration and heightened mental capacity. The

patient can engage in intense mental effort all day,

even until midnight, without ever fatiguing.

Alternatively, one might see strong initiative despite

mental exhaustion, or great productivity despite

serious insomnia, for instance.

Rubrics:

Ardent in work

Dreams of new places

Dreams of events from a book

Industrious

Very impatient and then irritable towards others.

Work can never be done never fast enough.

Rubrics:

Hurry

Hurry in occupation

The following observation seems important to

me: chronic physical symptoms and signs of this

remedy usually develop slowly or very slowly, while

the quickness, the hurry, as well as the productive

restlessness, can manifest from the beginning and

persist for a very long time. Thus, there is an

obvious discrepancy between the comparatively slow

development of the physical symptoms and the

consistent initiative and speed in daily life.

As the strength collapses and the mental-

emotional problems multiply, we get a totally

different picture altogether. Most of us are familiar

with the famous symptom fear of poverty in

Calcarea flourica, a fear which might either be

justified by circumstances or completely

inappropriate. This fear might progress into a kind of

panic which can be of delusional proportions. Since

the worldwide economic recession that began in

2009, I have seen quite a few patients in such a state,

many of whom were actually quite well off

financially. Many Calcarea fluorica patients live

with the fear of what others might think about their

social standing, whether they have achieved a

sufficient level of social prominence and relevance.

Rubrics:

Anxiety about money matters

Cares about money matters

Fear of poverty

Fear of daily work

Rubrics expressing of the intensity of fears:

Anxiety with trembling of hands

Delusions he is poor

Delusions will come to want

Finally, these patients suffer a loss of initiative

with an anxiety about daily tasks—loss of any

enterprising spirit and desire for work. There is a

considerable decrease in their ability to concentrate;

they have to read a sentence over and over again, yet

still do not understand it. They become

oversensitive, light and noise aggravating their

physical and emotional complaints.

The irritability, inner restlessness, haste and the

anxious depressed mood may assume pathological

proportions. Throughout the entire day they have an

unusual inclination to look on the dark side of

everything while feeling extremely dejected.

Their condition is ameliorated by (good) food.

They feel worse at night between 3 and 5 a.m.;

however, in the morning they still feel bad. It

becomes impossible for them to take their usual

afternoon nap. If they do somehow manage a nap,

they awaken from it feeling quite irritable and in a

foul mood.

Rubrics:

Concentration difficult, eating ameliorates

Irritability, eating ameliorates

Indolence, aversion to work

Restlessness during tired aching in back

Lack of initiative

Irresolution

Dreams of things one heard, read, talked or

thought about

The general or dormant fears may increase:

Rubrics:

Fear of cancer

Fear of high places

Finally, patients’ thoughts revolve around their

anxieties, death, those people they have known who

have died, and the financial issues:

Rubrics: (in addition to those above)

Dreams of death of relatives

Dreams of dead people with weeping

Jumping out of bed from dreams

Dreams, anxious

From early in their life Calcarea fluorica

patients are concerned about the image they present

to others; it is a matter of great importance to them.

They fear losing their “glamorous” lifestyle; it is a

fear that can easily become a central preoccupation of

their life.

Rubrics:

Children: too coquettish – a good observation by

Jacques LAMOTHE.

The attitude towards life often leads to egotism;

the attitude to money might lead to a distinct avarice.

It is important to also know that there are many

Calcarea fluorica patients for whom a search for

mental-emotional pathology will prove fruitless.

These patients appear very similar to Calcarea

carbonica – they are open, strong, very present,

direct, communicative, cooperative, and might appear

boyish. Rather unlike Calcarea carbonica, however,

we typically encounter in these patients a certain

speed, haste or hurriedness. With these patients the

determination of the correct prescription has to be

based on the physical symptoms.

What follows is a listing of many of the

important and characteristic physical signs,

symptoms and rubrics of this remedy.

Head

Eruptions at the margins of hair

Exostoses

Brain hemorrhage in newborns (by T.G.

Roberts)

Lusterless hair

Hair tangles easily

Numbness with headache

Pain, cold air ameliorates

Pain, washing hair with cold water ameliorates

Pain, alcohol aggravates

Pain, ascending stairs aggravates

Pain, ascending on elevator

Pain, exertion aggravates

Pain, damp, wet weather aggravates

Pain, windy, stormy weather aggravates

Tumors

Hard warts on scalp

An important general observation: all organs of

the neck are frequently affected.

Eyes

Cataract after injuries

Falling out of eyelashes

Sensation of hair in the eyes or between upper

lids and eyeballs

Pain while writing

Spots on the cornea

Recurrent sties (according to my experience, one

may add Thuja)

Tumors or cysts in the lids

Recurrent infection of tarsal glands

Sees sparks

Scintillating scotoma (by Ensinger)

Ears

Calcareous deposit on tympanum (A visible sign

on the tympanic membrane. I now habitually check

the patients’ tympanum when suspecting Calcarea

fluorica or Syphillinum).

Threatening mastoid caries

Exostosis of external meatus

Chronic inflammation of the middle ear, also

suppurative

Cholesteatoma

Otosclerosis

Adenoidal hypertrophy

Offensive, profuse, thick, green-yellow

discharge of nose

Hardening of nose

Atrophic inflammation of nose

Ozaena

Ineffectual efforts to sneeze

Face

Herpes below the corners of the mouth, or

Quite small, hard herpes blisters on the lips, not

scattered, as in Natrum muriaticum

Exostosis of lower jaws

Inflammation of the periosteum of jaws

Swelling sensation of lips

Mouth

Cancer of salivary glands

Boils on gums

Fistula on gums

Hardening of tongue

Gingivitis

Teeth

Teeth breaking off

Premature caries in children

Crumbling of teeth

Slow dentition

Deficient enamel

Fistula dentalis

Pain from touch of (warm) food

Pain during pregnancy

Pain in roots of dead teeth

White stripes on teeth

Inner Throat

Choking from cold

Deposits, tonsils – plugs of mucus constantly

form in crypts

Enlargement of tonsils (with plugs of pus)

Induration of tonsils

Burning pain from cold drinks

Suffocated feeling at night

Suffocated feeling from cold drinks

Sensation as if the epiglottis is almost

completely closed or as if the patient has to

breathe through a thick cloth, so that only a little

air can reach his lungs

Ragged tonsils, painful swelling with pus,

chronic tonsillitis

Outer Throat

Clothing aggravates

Constriction of thyroid gland

Goiter

Goiter in children (from Hempel’s Materia

Medica)

Indurated goiter

Lumpy goiter

Induration of the lymphatic glands (swelling

hard as stone)

Thyroiditis

Jerking in the thyroid gland in goiter

Swelling of the thyroid gland

Tension of the thyroid gland

Toxic adenoma of the thyroid gland

Stomach

Diminished appetite around eating time

Stomach problems in children

Hiccough in children

Hiccough, aggravated when hawking

Indigestion, brain fag in children (a nice

symptom which has helped me sometimes when

treating mentally overstrained pupils; this is a

kind of acute indigestion caused by fatigue or

mental exhaustion)

Indigestion after mental exertion

Vomiting in children

Vomiting during dentition

Yet also….

Absence of sensation of satiety, could eat

constantly

Emaciation in spite of good appetite

Pain as if feeling hungry two hours after eating

Abdomen

Liver cancer (an observation by O. Leeser)

Fatty liver degeneration (by Cowperthwaite)

Pancreatitis

Distension in pregnancy

Flatulence in pregnancy

Enteroptosis (by Lilienthal)

Hardness of liver (by Boericke)

Chronic hepatitis

Pain liver, bending forward ameliorates

Pain liver, lying on the right, the painful side,

aggravates

Pain liver, lying on painless side ameliorates

Pain liver, motion and walking ameliorates,

sitting aggravates

Cutting pain liver region, motion ameliorates

Cutting pain liver region when sitting, walking

ameliorates

Rectum

Constipation from hemorrhoids

Constipation in old people

Fissures

Diarrhea after fat food

Fatty, greasy stool, sedimentous

Soft stool immediately after eating (all

symptoms of a pancreatic disease)

Diarrhea in gouty subjects

Hemorrhoids with back pain

Itching at night

Black, knotty, lumpy stool

Intertrigo

During defecation of hard stool a feeling as if the

anus would be torn apart

Bladder

Frequent urination at night

Increased urine at night

Male Genitalia

Cancer of testes (by Dunham)

Falling out of hair

Induration of testes

Orchitis in syphilis

Chronic inflammation of testes (by Minton)

Cryptorchism

Tumors in testes

Hydrocele

Female Genitalia

Endometriosis

Falling out of hair

Metrorrhagia from myomas

Pain from feeble contractions

Bearing down pain in the uterus from

metrorrhagia

Cysts in ovaries

Fibroma

Varicose veins

Larynx & Trachea

Croup

Feeling as of foreign bodies in larynx

Inflammation of larynx in syphilis

Laryngismus stridulus after midnight

Polypi in larynx

Papilloma in larynx

Speech & Voice

Hoarseness from reading aloud

Hoarseness aggravated by laughing

Chest

Hard nodules in mammae

Hard cancer in mammae, knotted sensation

Hyperemia of chest in mammae, before menses

Exostoses of ribs

Heaviness of chest, ameliorates during menses

Induration of mammae

Tumors in bloodvessels

Tumors of mammae, fibroids

Heart, Circulation & Blood

Aneurysm in arteries, capillaries

Angina pectoris from organic heart complaints

Dilatation of heart capillaries

Fibroid deposits about the endocardium

Aortitis luica

Atheromatous inflammation of the aorta

Murmurs of heart valves

Pain in the region of heart, ameliorated by

pressure with both hands

Palpitation of heart with flushes of heat; also

actual cardiac arrhythmia is possible

Hemorrhage in newborns during delivery

Back

Caries, necrosis of spine (by Hoyne)

Curvature of spine

Back pain, warm applications ameliorate

Back pain, gentle motion ameliorates

100

Pain in lumbar region, warm applications

ameliorate

Pain lumbar region, warmth ameliorates

Pain in lumbar region, continued motion

ameliorates

Chronic pain in lumbar region

Restlessness in lumbar region

Osseous tumors, exostoses

Warmth ameliorates

Pain deep in the sacral region with hemorrhoids

Extremities

Arthritic nodosities in joints of fingers

Brittle fingernails

Chronic bursitis praepatellaris from kneeling

Callosities of hands

Chapped palms

Coldness of wrists – a small, reliable symptom

of Calcarea flourica

Corrugated fingernails

Cracks in heels – also calcaneal spur, as in Hekla

lava

Cramps in calves at night, uncovering

ameliorates

Spontaneous dislocation hips – also disposition

to luxation

Enlargement of femur in rachitic infants

Exostoses, especially on the fingers

Ganglion of wrists

Rapid growth of nails

Heat, uncovers feet

Burning heat of feet, uncovers them

Hypertrophy of nails

Inflammation of skin with atrophy

Chronic inflammation of synovia of the knees

Phlegmasia alba dolens: varices of lower limbs

with weakness, feeling of heaviness and the

desire to put the feet up, which ameliorates pain

along the Vena saphena magna on touch

Pain, warmth of bed ameliorates

Pain from change of weather

Pain from windy, stormy weather

Pain in hips, motion ameliorates

Neuralgic pain in sciatic nerves

Sensation as if rice bodies were in joints

Sensitive upper limbs along cubital nerve

Swelling periosteum

Swelling tendons

Thin nails

Trembling knees from exhaustion

Tumors in hollow of knees – for example, Baker

Cysts

Cysts in wrists

Late learning to walk

Warts in the bends of the elbow

Ankles: weak while walking

Over-extensible joints

Pasty swelling of the feet in warm climate

Sleep

Disturbed by nightmares

Disturbed before menses

Sleeplessness from worries (by Cowperthwaite)

Interrupted sleep between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Perspiration

During slight exertion

Offensive odor

Skin

The skin can appear thin, transparent and

remarkably white.

It can be rough, dry and tending to have cracks,

fissures and rhagades.

Anesthesia in spots

Atrophy of skin

Burns after x-ray exposure

Hard cicatrices

Itching cicatrices

Keloids

Eruptions around orifices

The preferred locations of skin affections are the

corners of the mouth, lips, margins of lids,

nostrils, behind the ears, glans penis, scrotum

and anus.

Parchmentlike skin

Itching, uncovering ameliorates

Itching worse in warmth of bed

Itching without skin eruption

Lichen with atrophy

Scleroderma

Sensitiveness to touch

Fistulous ulcers

Indurated base of ulcers

Vitiligo

Nevi

Generalities

Adhesion after operations

Cancerous affections after injuries

Cancerous affections, advanced stages

Osteosarcoma

Arrested development of bones

Grass-green discharges

Exostoses after injuries

Fistulae with ulcers of skin

Fistulae in bones

Eggs aggravate and aversion to eggs (different

from Calcarea carbonica)

Aversion to fat

Sometimes desire for sweet and salt

Desire for hearty food

Desire for sweets, which aggravates

Disorders of growth

101

Induration after injuries

Induration of connective tissue

Induration of muscles

Stony induration of glands

Chronic inflammation of glands

Injuries from exertion

Dislocation, luxation

Slow repair of broken bones in children

Ameliorated during menses

Continued motion ameliorates

Changes of weather aggravates

Stormy weather aggravates

Freezing with trembling; does not get warm

again after a cold shower

Growing pains (from Allen’s Encyclopedia)

Rheumatic pain in muscles

Pain as if joints were sprained

Hard pressure ameliorates, slight pressure

aggravates

Lack of reaction in suppuration

Snow aggravates (from Allen’s Encyclopedia)

Thickened bones

Tumors in bones

Atheroma (by Phatak)

Fibroid tumors

Hard, benign tumors

Neurofibromatosis

Wet warmth aggravates – important!

Wounds after x-ray exposure

Effects of x-ray exposure

Lymphogranulomatosis. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Thus, we have gone through the most important

rubrics of Calcarea fluorica. I believe that through

precise studies of reliable rubrics, by collating the

best of available Materia Medica, and finally, by

integrating the mental-emotional symptomatology

described by the old masters with reliable long-term

clinical observations of our contemporary colleagues,

we can construct complete remedy pictures which are

both cutting-edge and enduring.

======================================

11. What Does “Characteristic” Mean?

DR. ATTOMYR, Joseph (AJHM. 105, 1/2012)

(Translated by Daniel Cook and Peter Pendleton)

This famous article is Attomyr’s attempt to

correct the loose, subjective meaning that the term

“Characteristics” had already fallen into in 1855.

Joseph Attomyr (1807 – 1856) was a contemporary

of Jahr and Boenninghausen in the first wave of

students carrying Homœopathy forward after

Hahnemann’s death. When a new repertory or

manual to the Materia Medica was published – and

between 1826-1848 nine overviews of the Materia

Medica were published (three by Jahr), as well as

nine repertories – Attomyr usually commented,

writing in Stapf’s Archive or the General Periodical

for Homeopathy (Allgemeine Homöopathische

Zeitung). He published several provings and three

volumes of essays, Letters on Homœopathy (in

German only).

Characteristics are crucially important to our

practice, yet there is no consensus in Homœopathy

about what they are, or how to determine them. How

crucial are they? How much work would it save us

if, at every appointment, the patient began by

handing us a list of their characteristic symptoms?

Once we have these, isn’t most of our work done?

They are the symptoms we value highest in the

remedy and the patient. They are what we spend most

of our time trying to get – and not just in the office.

The seminars we attend, books we read, and teachers

we follow are often with the wish for a rule or

method that will consistently light up the

characteristics of cases and remedies.

Organon §153 has been a bit of a stumbling

block here. It is so simple and strong we think it

must explain everything. Yet it is inexact, and has

permitted multiple interpretations and schools to

develop, all claiming allegiance to this paragraph and

faulting others, who re-read this paragraph and still

believe it supports their position. Does characteristic

mean astonishing, or atypical, or distinguishing, or

essential to one’s identity (one’s own), or simply well

defined? Or perhaps some combination of these, in a

specific hierarchy? As G.H.G. JAHR wrote in §103

of his 1857 book Doctrine and Principles of the entire

theoretical and practical homœopathic art of healing

(not translated, the German title is Lehre und

Grundsätze …”): “When Hahnemann gives the

simple rule for selecting the correct remedy, to find

that remedy which matches its most essential and

distinctive, special, individual, i.e., characteristic

signs with the most essential and distinguishing signs

of the disease, thereby little yet at the same time

everything is said that can be said. It all depends on

what we decide is the meaning of essential and

characteristic signs of a remedy and of a case. The

scholars among us have never quite been in

agreement about the definition of these terms, and

possibly won’t be for a long time to come, because

these terms are not fixed and absolute, but relative,

and the same signs that in one case belong to the

essential qualities of a thing, in another are its

characteristics.” Until we face the ambiguity of this

paragraph and resolve the question of

characteristics, there will be 40 roads leading from

the Organon. This explains the state of Homœopathy

today perhaps more than any other single fact.

102

We might surmise that Hahnemann explained his

meaning in his Leipzig lectures and to his closest

students, but Jahr’s quote shows that identifying

characteristics was not easy or obvious even for

them. Jahr himself wrote three different ‘handbooks’

or ‘overviews’ presenting ‘characteristic sketches’ of

remedies between 1834-1854, with different

characterizations in each one. For Hahnemann’s

pupil G.W. Gross, the task was even more difficult –

when Chronic Diseases and the later editions of the

Materia Medica Pura appeared, he turned away from

Homœopathy for many years, unable to pick out the

characteristics in the enlarged sea of proving

symptoms (see Stapf’s Archive 1834, Volume 14,

Journal 3, “Thoughts and Wishes Concerning our

Materia Medica,” p.1-9; also ‘Introduction’ to

Organon V, p.67 footnote [which is rarely

translated] where Hahnemann calls Gross a

mindless believer in isopathy who uses Homœopathy

only as an adjunct). Boenninghausen in 1860 agreed

that in §153 “it is left to the physician himself to

judge what is understood by the ‘more striking,

special, uncommon and distinguishing ‘symptoms,”

and he wondered why after so many years “we are

unable to show any such definition in our literature”

of this paragraph. He wrote this in “A Contribution

to the Judgment Concerning the Characteristic Value

of Symptoms” (Allg hom Zeit, Vol.60, No.10), after

no one had attempted to write on the theme he had

proposed at the Brussels Homœopathic Congress of

1856, to elucidate the characteristic symptoms in

disease “to aid as a norm or basis to the therapeutic

selection of the remedy.” Boenninghausen’s own

attempt employed a seven-word Latin verse for its

framework: ‘Who, What, Where, Along with, Why,

How, When.’ This does not give a definition, but

provides the reference points for a definition. In his

words, “It contains briefly and completely the

various moments according to which a disease is to

be judged as to its peculiarity and grievousness.”

This, like Hering’s four-panel schema in the

“Preface” to his Guiding Symptoms (where he also

criticizes this very article of Attomyr), indicates the

field of characteristics but does not set forth a system

of selection. This schema alone one does not explain

Hering’s method of determining what he included

and end excluded as characteristics in Guiding

symptoms. He allows as much: “The characteristics

may be found in one or more of these.” (Editor’s

emphasis.) The same insufficiency is seen in modern

authors such as Horst Barthel in the introduction to

his book Characteristics – he shows us the terrain

from which characteristics are drawn, but not how he

actually worked.

As ever more books and software are written

that present a remedy’s ‘characteristics’, are we told

the criteria and process? The tradition continues of

using the term without really defining it. No wonder

there has been a backlash. In Germany a strong

‘Back-to-Basics’ movement is underway. In a recent

(2000) book by Jürgen Moritz, The Fundamentals of

Homœopathy and the Meaning of Hahnemann’s

Characteristics (in German, not translated), he

conjectures that all the symptoms Hahnemann placed

in widely-spaced lettering in the Chronic Diseases

and Materia Medica Pura are his designated

characteristics. A sort of code, if you will, just now

elucidated, that may be more reliable than

Guernsey’s or Allen’s Keynotes, etc. The search

goes on.

Attomyr is one of the few who dared define

characteristics precisely. His argument is too

extreme in the other direction and fails, but his

failure is instructive. It shows that the problem of

characteristics existed from the beginning. It tackles

the problem in a serious, logical, and systematic

way; he is not content to assert that reading §153

settles everything. Attomyr holds up a mirror for us

to see how definite and consistent we are in

determining the characteristics we use. And his

discussion of families versus individuals remains

cogent today. His article suggests the following: Can

characteristics be stated once and for all? Is there

one fixed publishable set for every remedy, and if so,

where is it? If there is not, why not? Do we

determine the characteristics of a remedy in the same

way we determine them for a patient? Or in the

patient does context influence characteristics? What

rules can we give? Is a consensus algorithm

possible?

The article first appeared in Allgemeine

Homöopathische Zeitung in 1855 (Vol. 50) in short

installments from June through July. It is here

translated into English for the first time.

Reprinted with permission of MVS

Medizinverlage Stuttgart GmbH & Co. KG.

Although our literature offers a number of books

having as their title, “Characteristics of

Homœopathic Remedies”; although Hahnemann and

all homœopaths always insist that especially the

characteristic indications of the illness and the

remedy must be as similar as possible when selecting

The footnote in Bradford’s Pioneers of

Homœopathy that it “appeared in our journal” is not

from Bradford, but from the obituary in AHZ 1856

Vol. 52 No.5 (33-36), which was translated verbatim

(including the footnote) to form Attomyr’s biography

in Bradford’s book. Expert homœopathic librarian

William Kirtsos confirmed this by a careful search of

the American journals of Bradford’s time.

103

the remedy; and although it is agreed by everyone

that the characteristics of remedies are so closely

related to the homœopathic principle of healing, that

curing homœopathically without knowing

characteristics is almost impossible – in spite of all

this, no one up to now has taken the trouble to

establish the idea of characteristics so that one can

say: this effect is characteristic in this medicine but

not these other effects; this feature is characteristic in

this sickness but the rest are not.

The homœopathic law of cure requires one to

compare medicinal effects with the disease, in order

to find a curative similarity.

When two (or more) objects are compared with

each other one finds that either all their properties

match, in which case we say that they are more or

less similar. The case when none of their properties

match cannot occur; even the most completely

heterogeneous objects have some points in common,

and one can conceive of them as being similar at least

to some degree.

Identical objects are never products of nature;

they are always artificial constructs. They are part of

mathematics, and there is no question of them in the

natural sciences or in medicine. (In the natural

sciences the term identical does not mean

mathematically identical, but refers rather to a high

degree of similarity, the way the term is used in

natural history to place taxonomically ‘identical’

individuals within the same species: two belladonna

plants are taxonomically the same, even though one

is much fuller than the other and has forty more

flowers and a hundred more leaves.)

So, in medicine, as in all the natural sciences,

objects are compared solely with reference to their

degree of similarity.

When two or more objects are considered similar

because several of their qualities match, this has to

mean that there are other qualities of the objects

being compared that do not match.

These non-matching properties of the objects

constitute their differences.

Anyone making comparisons in order to show

similarities will also encounter differences, and vice

versa.

A characteristic property of an entity is one that

differentiates it from all others.

The characteristics of an object are the totality of

its properties that differentiate it from all other

objects.

Just what, then, does “the characteristics of a

homœopathic remedy” mean?

The characteristics of a homœopathic remedy is

that group of effects which differentiate the remedy

from all other remedies it can be compared to.

Characteristics is the study of differences.

The notion of characteristics is fundamental to

the natural history of the animal, plant, and mineral

kingdoms. Without characteristics this system of

three different kingdoms would never have come into

being, and natural history would be today what it was

in the time of Pliny, simply descriptive and

physiological. Only the notion of characteristics has

made it possible in more recent times to elaborate a

determinative natural history, by subjecting the

physical jumble of innumerable natural objects to

comparison, studying and comparing objects with

each other to discern the ways in which they match

and those in which they do not. This allows concepts

of these objects to be formed, without which even a

true-to-life description of a natural body could not act

on the intellect and foster judgments. As Kant said,

“Appearance without concept is blind.” The

description of a belladonna plant, be it ever so true to

nature, merely teaches what belladonna looks like.

What belladonna is, however, can be learned only

from its characteristics; for they show how

belladonna differs from all other plants, and in

particular how it differs from the other Atropa.

When one knows what a thing is, which is to

say, how it differs from all other things, then one has

a conception of it.

Characteristics is the study of conceptions.

All human knowledge is based on concepts. He

know the most who distinguishes more things from

each because he finds more differences [who

differentiates the largest number of items from each

other, discovering their differences). All of medical

knowledge as well, rests on the knowledge of

differences.

Once one knows how a disease differs from

other diseases, one obtains an idea of that disease.

When one knows the ways in which the effects of a

medicine differ from those of other medicines, then

one has a concept of that medicine.

The study of differences plays an important role

in medicine, as it does in all branches of knowledge.

In Homœopathy this study is important because it

goes hand in hand with the study of similarities,

which in Homœopathy is of the greatest significance.

Now that we understand what characteristics are,

let us find out how to use them in medicine, and how

far they help us achieve the purpose of medicine,

which is to cure disease.

In order to understand the characteristics of a

thing, it must be compared with other things.

In medicine these comparisons can be one of

three kinds. We can compare:

 A medicine with another medicine,

 A disease with another disease,

 A medicine with a disease.

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1. Comparison of medicines with each other

(and by this we mean their medicinal effects,

considered apart from their other qualities):

Whenever a medicine is compared with one or

more others, the results always fall into one of two

categories (a) differences or (b) similarities.

If one compares China with Bryonia, one will

note few similarities and many differences. If one

compares China with ten other remedies, the number

of similar symptoms will grow ten-fold and the

differences will decrease by a factor of ten.

Symptoms of China that have no similarity to those

of Bryonia, may be similar to those of Arnica,

Cannabis, or Colocynthis.

The greater the number of remedies in the

comparison group, the fewer the number of

differences, the fewer number of characteristic signs,

the narrower the extent of characteristics.

At the time Hahnemann proved Stramonium, the

symptom “renewed vomiting upon the slightest

movement” stood as being characteristic of

Stramonium. In other words, whether Stramonium

was compared with the group of all medicines that

had been proved up to that point, this symptom was

distinctive of it, since it had not been seen in any of

those other remedies, which counted more than a

hundred. Soon afterwards, though, Colchicum

possessed this same symptom with regard to

vomiting. From that moment on this symptom

ceased to be characteristic of Stramonium. In fact it

had moved over from the category of differences into

the category of similarities and the list of

characteristics of Stramonium became shorter by one

item. Still later, Tabacum was proved, and the same

symptom was encountered again. In this way the

chart of Stramonium’s similarities grew larger.

Botanists, zoologists, and geologists proceed in

exactly this way to determine the characteristics of

the objects they study. Menyanthes trifoliata is

characterized by trifoliate leaves. If ever another

species of Menyanthes were to be found that also had

trifoliate leaves, then this feature would drop out of

the list of characteristics of this plant and would

move into the category of shared features. If ever a

mineral other than diamond were to be discovered

that had a hardness of 10 on the Mohs scale, then

diamond would cease to be characterized by its Mohs

hardness. It would only be correct to characterize

human beings as featherless animals, if all other

animals in creation had feathers.

The homœopathic literature contains many

works with titles like ‘Characteristics of the Materia

Medica’. Let us investigate what these authors mean

by the term characteristic, and whether or not they

have truly discovered the characteristic features of

the remedies.

Rather than comparing a medicine with one or

several others, the authors of these works on

characteristics compare the medicine with itself; that

is, they compare all the symptoms of a particular

medicine with its other symptoms. They then denote

as characteristic, first of all, those symptoms which

appear in most or all of the provers, and which

Hahnemann distinguished by printing with widely-

spaced letters; then symptoms which are found

repeated in many regions of the body; then those that

stand out because they develop quickly and threaten a

certain danger; then symptoms that are affected by

the time of day or by certain conditions, increasing or

decreasing under particular circumstances; then

generally speaking symptoms that stand out in any

quantitative or qualitative way.

But (to consider the first point) a symptom can

be observed in many provers without being

characteristic of the medicine. “Photophobia”

appears under Belladonna in wide spacing, but it is

not characteristic of Belladonna, since “Photophobia”

also appears in wide spacing under Antimonium

crudum, Ignatia, Graphites, Iodum, Mercurius, etc.

“Photophobia” is a very consistent effect of

Belladonna, but it is not differentiating, not

characteristic.

Arsenicum has “burning pains” in various

regions of the body, and for this reason “burning

pain” has been listed as a characteristic of Arsenicum.

But this is mistaken, since “burning pains” also occur

in Carbo vegetabilis, Mezereum, Secale, Euphorbia,

and many other remedies, and are thus no longer

characteristic of Arsenic.

Large doses of Opium produce a life-threatening

lethargy, every apoplexy, and this serious effect is

frequently said to be characteristic of Opium. But

large doses of Belladonna, Hyoscyamus, Conium;

wine, violent rage, etc. can also produce apoplexy,

which means that apoplexy is not unique to Opium,

and so cannot be characteristic of Opium.

Many complaints of Pulsatilla appear in the

evening, and this modality has been held to

characterize Pulsatilla, once again mistakenly, since

many complaints of Chamomilla, China, Helleborus,

Kali nitricum, Sepia, Thuja, etc., also appear in the

evening.

Likewise, there are many remedies besides Nux

vomica that have complaints which appear, or are

aggravated in the morning, so it is incorrect to say

that this modality is characteristic of Nux vomica.

The Bryonia symptom, pain worse from

movement, and the Rhus toxicodendron pain worse

from rest have likewise been described as

characteristics of these two remedies, mistakenly, for

105

they have this trait in common with very many other

remedies.

The characteristics of any remedy will be flawed

when they are determined in this way, namely by

comparing the remedy’s symptoms only with other

symptoms of that same remedy.

No botanist, zoologist, or geologist determines

the characteristics of a natural object by comparing

its individual properties only to itself. No botanist

finds the characteristics of Dulcamara by comparing

its leaves, roots flowers, etc., with each other; rather

he compares the features of Dulcamara with those of

the other Solanum species.

Indeed all comparisons properly involve at least

two objects. And so when we wish to discuss the

effects of a medicine, we must compare them with

the effects of at least one other medicine to obtain

these two qualities, differences and similarities.

One can still say, even after the foregoing

arguments, that it is curious that Pulsatilla’s

complaints appear or are aggravated in the evening,

that the pains of Arsenicum are burning, etc. granted,

these properties are indeed curious, peculiar,

inexplicable, interesting, and noteworthy, but they

are not characteristic. It is also curious that the oak

tree loses its leaves in the winter, while the fig tree

remains green both summer and winter; it is curious

as well that Helleborus flowers at the beginning of

year, Colchicum at the end, and Lamium purpureum

throughout the year; and it is curious that when two

alpine plants, Veratrum and Arnica, are transplanted

a few thousand feet lower down, in the flatlands, the

former thrives and grows more luxuriantly than it did

up in the mountains, while the latter, no matter how

much care it receives, will not grow at all. All this is

very curious and interesting, but not characteristic,

for the simple reason that none of the qualities

mentioned are unique to that particular plant: there

are many plants that flower only in the spring or only

in the fall, that lose or keep their leaves in the winter,

etc. Therefore, those properties are not

differentiating for that particular plant, and since they

are not, they are not characteristic, because

characteristics are studies in differences. Likewise

with the “burning pains” of Arsenicum, etc.

All the characteristics of an object should be

exclusive to it; they should not include any property

that is found in any other object with which it is

compared.

If we take a remedy and compare its effects only

with other symptoms of that remedy (as has been

done up to now), or if we do not compare that

remedy with all other remedies, we will not obtain

the exclusive characteristic effects of that remedy.

For example, we will not have a completed,

correct picture of the characteristic effects of

Belladonna until all its differences have been studied

in comparison with every other proved remedy.

The characteristics of a homœopathic remedy are

comprised of all the effects of that remedy that

differentiate it from all other remedies.

These characteristic effects of a remedy can turn

out to be quite subtle, of very minor pathological

significance; but from one such effect we can

unerringly recognize the remedy to which it belongs.

Just as the forester recognizes an oak tree from its

tiniest leaf, or even from a fragment of a leaf, so we

recognize Ratanhia from the symptom “dreams of

earthquakes”, Lachesis from “desires oysters”, and

Phosphorus from “perspiration only on the front side

of the body”. When we can work systematically with

characteristics in this way, complaints about the

excessive number of symptoms in our Materia

Medica will cease, or will at least be heard less often,

and we will find our way in our forest of symptoms

as easily as the woodman finds his way in his forest.

Botanists also complain about an excess, indeed an

even greater excess of properties, in the eighty

thousand species of plants they deal with, yet with

their use of characteristics they find their way easily.

And it’s the same for zoologists and geologists. Why

then should physicians forego this scientific help?

All things in the world display similarities and

differences with respect to each other; medicinal

effects are no exception. It is possible to determine

the characteristics of any object, so it is possible to

determine the characteristics of medicines.

The characteristics we have now are incorrect,

because they do not include only differences, and

because they do not include all the differences of

each medicine. One might call the characteristics we

have selected characteristics, but even that is

incorrect, because preparing a selection requires us to

judge what is important to include for that remedy,

and what is unimportant and can be left out. But

there are no rules determining these judgments,

which depend solely on the opinions of the author,

something that cannot be tolerated in any science.

If these “extracts”, these “short overviews”,

these “handbooks of main and characteristic effects

of medicines” truly contained everything that was

important and not to be omitted, they wouldn’t be

much shorter than the original works. Repetitions,

anatomical errors, common symptoms, incorrect

citations, all these things are not so rare in our

literature and we should keep them out of the

abridgments. But everything else is important and

must be kept, because only this allows the

comparisons that reveal similarities and differences,

which are all-important to us.

Our Materia Medica is not conducive to

excerpts, any more than is the Iliad. One could put

106

together a concise Materia Medica for beginners

which would include perhaps a hundred of the better-

proved, more frequently used remedies, out of our

total of 250. But if one wants to be really familiar

with the effects of these hundred remedies, their text

must be carried over from the original word for word.

Compressed summaries of medicinal effects do not

give a full understanding. For this reason the works

of Kurtz and Schneider are useless for showing

characteristics. In fact they undermine that effort;

their often erroneous, explanatory, “scientific”

writings only lead to an incorrect knowledge of

remedy effects.

How, then, should we proceed to determine the

characteristics of our medicines?

It is very simple; but for that very reason, many

people will think it isn’t adequately scientific. One

compares Belladonna, for example, with every other

remedy, and records as a characteristic of Belladonna

every difference found. The totality of these

differences are the characteristics of Belladonna.

One proceeds in the same manner to determine the

characteristics of Bryonia, of China, and of all the

other medicines.

In the process of looking for the differences

among medicines, one will inevitably also find their

similarities. When all the differences and all the

similarities of all the medicines have been compiled,

we will have completed the work that our repertories

were set up for. And we then realize how important a

good repertory is for our practice.

From a good repertory that is as free of errors as

possible, and which contains all the proved remedies,

it is a simple matter to find with great accuracy the

characteristics of any given remedy, simply by noting

all the symptoms that are produced uniquely by that

remedy. If someone wished to gather together the

characteristics of the remedies from our repertories as

they are presently constituted, the results would be

quite faulty – just as faulty as the repertories

themselves are – but the effort would have still been

worthwhile and the results very useful for our

practice, especially if the characteristic signs of the

remedies were easily found in a repertory constructed

specifically for this purpose. When repertorizing a

case of typhus, for example, such a repertory of true

characteristics might lead us via a trifling but

characteristic symptom to Taraxacum, which would

then be the remedy for this case of typhus, which, if I

am not mistaken actually occurred in

Boenninghausen’s practice.

The symptom-producing actions of our 250

proved medicines form a science of pathology

containing far more elements than old-school

pathology. In order to find our way around in this

vast pharmaco-pathological jungle we need a reliable

guide, and this guide is our characteristics. The

characteristics form our system of diagnostics, our

study of diseases, and our study of the pathological

effects of drugs.

2. Comparison of diseases with each other:

The same standards used when comparing

medicines with each other should also be using when

comparing different plants with each other, and that

zoologists use when comparing different animals. By

taking this approach, botanists and zoologists have

arrived at a natural history of plants and of animals;

and if we follow their example in the realm of

disease, we will surely arrive at a natural history of

diseases. I explained everything needed to pursue

this work in my recently published book [translator’s

note: Towards a Natural History of Diseases, 1851];

this brief paper is concerned only with the subject of

characteristics.

Just as all things when compared with each other

show differences and similarities, so too do illnesses.

It is then a matter of finding people who understand

how to put these differences and similarities to good

use. In diseases, just as with the others, distinctive

qualities and aspects are characteristic, when we

follow the established concept of characteristics. We

also find that as one adds more diseases to the group

being compared to a particular illness, the number of

similarities increases and the number of differences

decreases. The characteristics of a disease must be

ultimately unique to it, they must be the result of

comparing that disease with all other diseases. The

characteristics of a disease must contain only the

final, exclusive, differentiating properties.

Pathologists have had more success in their work

on characterizing noxious diseases than we have had

in our work on the characteristics of medicinal

diseases. In earlier centuries pathologists were wont

to make reference to what they called natural healing

power, a senseless, barren, deceptive term with no

conceptual basis. Today they run after their latest

nonsense, something they call natural systems,

reserving their greatest disdain for systems they call

contrived. But the natural history of plants, animals,

and minerals, and my new work on the natural

history of diseases, shows that there is no system in

the natural sciences that is entirely natural or entirely

contrived, nor can there be.

The individual, around whom all the workings of

a perceived system turn and refer, cannot be an

artificial construct. Since a species is comprised of

two or more individuals, a species cannot be artificial

either.

On the other hand, genus is an artificial construct

in all the systems. Family, order, class are all

107

likewise artificial. When one refers to a species, one

conceives a group of taxonomically equal

individuals devoid of differences. When one speaks

of Belladonna, or Larix, or Sabina, one pictures a

number of identical plants bearing that name.

When one refers to genus, one thinks of plants,

that are very different from each other, but which

have been artificially united into one type based on a

certain number of similarities and differences they

have. Just think of the great variety of plants

contained in each of these three genera, thanks to the

systematizing artifice of the taxonomist: Atropa,

Pinus, Juniperus.

Before the development of taxonomy, natural

objects were simply given a name. A plant was

called simply Millefolium, Mandragora, or Aconite.

So long as one was dealing with no more than several

hundred different plants, this simple method of

classification worked perfectly well, and no one felt

the need for a grand system of plant classification.

But after ten thousand, twenty thousand, fifty

thousand plants became known, man realized that a

simple nomenclature was no longer sufficient, that

one would have to start placing plants in contrived

groups, and that each group would have to be given a

name. And since the number of these new groups ran

into the thousands, there grew the need to find

similarities and differences by which to separate and

arrange this large number of groups into further sets

of groups, which amounted to a second level of

groups with particular names. The first level of

groups became the genea, the second level the

families, etc

Exactly the same thing occurs in the field of

diseases: the species is natural, while all the unifying

categories above it are artificial. In all systems of

classification, only the species has a direct

relationship to the individual. This means only the

species corresponds to nature, since nature produces

neither genera nor families, but only individuals. If

there were no other causes of diarrhea than catching

cold, one would be quite content with the simple

nomenclature: to have diarrhea. But once it became

known that a great many other harmful influences

also cause diarrhea, we needed a general group name

and further specification. So now we have different

species of diarrhea: diarrhea from jalap, diarrhea

from fatty foods, etc. Those poisoned with henbane

have epileptic fits with loss of consciousness. If this

particular convulsive state was found only in

henbane, then it would be isolated, and would not

require any further taxonomic delineation. But after it

became evident that poisoning with cowbane

[translator’s note: Cicuta], Belladonna, lead, Opium,

etc., also produced convulsions with loss of

consciousness, it then became necessary to create a

concept and name that would contain them as a group

– epilepsy – and then separate out the different

species of this group: cowbane epilepsy, lead

epilepsy, belladonna epilepsy, etc. The use of the

term epilepsy is a matter of convenience; any of a

dozen other terms could have served equally well to

refer to the concept in question. The category

epilepsy is an artificial construct; it can be changed at

any time to suit the needs of the taxonomist, since

there is nothing in nature which one is required to

call epilepsy. Cowbane epilepsy, on the other hand,

does not exist at the discretion of the system-maker;

it is not an artificial construct, but rather an essential

quality of that plant, woven into its very nature and

rooted to its identity as the plant is rooted to the

earth. It always manifests itself the same way when

the conditions are right for it to appear; it is a

constant natural effect which no man-made system

can play with.

Franz Hausmann, one of the greatest of the

Hahnemannian researchers, discovered the Law of

Species in developing his brilliant theory of

hybridization [translator’s note: this preceded the

work of Gregor Mendel, which appeared in 1866].

By this law, two disease species of the same genus

mutually annihilate each other when they encounter

each other in the same organism. The Law of

Species, and similia similibus curantur is none other

than species (of the same kind) speciebus curantur.

Here, though, I would ask that Hausmann pause for a

moment in the course of his research to consider

whether he should extend the Law of Species to a

Law of Genera or a Law of Families, seeing that

species consist of naturally occurring individuals,

while genera, families, etc. are not real things but

contrived by man and purely conceptual. There is

also the fundamental difference between species and

the other taxonomic categories: individuals are

grouped into a species by the fact of their being

identical; whereas genera, families, etc., are

taxonomically based on similarities.

3. Comparison of medicines with diseases:

Comparing medicines with diseases means

nothing more than comparing diseases with each

other, since the effects of medicines are just as much

diseases as the effects of any other morbid influence.

Diarrhea from jalap is just as much a disease as

diarrhea resulting from taking cold, even though jalap

is called a medicine and taking cold is termed a

morbid influence.

Comparing ten cases of jalap diarrhea with each

other will yield no significant differences; they are

taxonomically identical and they cannot, therefore, be

used to determine any characteristics.

108

If, on the other hand, one compares jalap

diarrhea with diarrhea brought on from taking cold,

then one will obtain, as one always does in such

comparison, the two-fold results of similarities and

differences.

The similarities are used to construct the genus,

diarrhea; the differences are used to establish the

species of diarrhea.

When you collect the similarities, you know

what diarrhea is; when you collect the differences,

you know what jalap diarrhea is and what diarrhea

from taking cold is.

The similarities are generic; the differences are

specific (species-ic would be more apt).

The similarities always refer to the genus, since

the genus is in fact formed from the totality of

similarities obtained by comparing two or more

somewhat similar species with each other – not, for

example, comparing diarrhea from taking cold with

colic from jalap, but comparing diarrhea with

diarrhea, and colic with colic.

The differences always refer to the species, since

a species that exhibits no differences with another

species, would not be a separate species, but rather an

individual of that other species; no matter how

similar two species are, the fact that they are two

instead of one denotes essential differences.

Let us consider a case of epilepsy brought on by

severe fright, and compare it with the effects of our

medicines.

Is there anywhere in nature a medicine that has

effects that match all those of this case of epilepsy so

completely that we can find only similarities between

the two, and absolutely no differences?

If such a medicine existed, then it epilepsy

would have to be taxonomically identically with this

fright-caused epilepsy, since two epilepsies that

match in all their manifestations are scientifically

identical.

But we can only see perfect identity in two

instances of the same morbid influence, or two

displays of the same medicine. No other epilepsy

matches in all its manifestations a case of epilepsy

brought on by fright, except another case of epilepsy

brought on by fright; no other diarrhea matches in all

its manifestations a case of diarrhea from taking cold,

except another case of diarrhea from taking cold.

What degree of similarity is, then, postulated by

the homœopathic Law of Cure?

Opium, Cicuta, Belladonna, Calcarea, Ignatia

all produce a species of epilepsy. Let us write out the

genus, Epilepsy, as ABC, and the differences

pertaining to species of epilepsy as particular sets of

lower case letters. Then we have:

Genus Epilepsy = ABC

1 Species Opium-epilepsy = ABC

abcd

2 Species Cicuta-epilepsy = ABC

efgh

3 Species Belladonna-epilepsy = ABC

iklmn

4 Species Calcarea- epilepsy =

ABCop

5 Species Ignatia-epilepsy =

ABSrstu

We now compare these five species of epilepsy

with the epilepsy brought on from fright, which, in its

natural features, we designate thus: ABCrsuxy.

The comparison shows clearly, first of all, that

the epilepsy brought on from fright is a complete

generic match to all five species of epilepsy, through

‘ABC’; and then that it partially matches the

characteristic features of Ignatia-epilepsy, through ‘r

s u’.

In order for Ignatia-epilepsy to be homœopathic

to epilepsy brought on from fright, Ignatia must

have a two-fold similarity to the case: a generic

similarity to its typical (shared) features, and a

special similarity to its differentiating

(individualizing, species-ic) features. It is precisely

this similarity of the differentiating features that is

the characteristic similarity, the one that is decisive in

the choice of the remedy, and the one to which

Hahnemann and his followers have rightly given so

much importance.

The match at the generic (genus) level between

Ignatia-epilepsy and fright-epilepsy must be

complete; the concept of epilepsy, an attack of

convulsions with loss of consciousness, or ABC, must

be fully realized in both. On the other hand, the

match between the specific individualizing

differences can never be complete; otherwise the

two species of epilepsy would merge into one, and

instead of being two species of the same genus, they

would be identical members of the same species.

If one were to require an absolute agreement

between the generic and specific features for a

homœopathic cure, then the homœopathic Law of

Cure would have to read: Aequalia aequalibus

curantur (equals cure equals), or, in taxonomic

terms: Individua individuis curantur (Individuals are

cured by identical). If such were true, epilepsy

caused by Ignatia would be healed by more Ignatia,

and Jalap-diarrhea cured by Jalapa.

But seeing as the homœopathic Law of Cure in

fact reads Similia similibus curantur, the agreement

between individualizing features need not be

109

complete; it is always a matter only of similarity

between the species, which permits some differences.

Healing in accordance with the homœopathic

Law of Cure is, therefore, a battle between species,

and experience shows that in fact it is only when two

different species (of the same genus) come into

conflict with eaqch other that they mutually

annihilate one another. Bringing together two

individuals of the same species results in no

annihilation. On the contrary, it fosters and spreads

their existence – in the mineral realm through

aggregation, and in the plant and animal realms

through reproduction.

Similia similibus curantur means, therefore:

Choose a remedy that is completely similar to the

disease in its generic features, and as similar as

possible to the disease in its specifically

differentiating features.

The only proper way to refer to this twofold

similarity is through the taxonomic expression:

Species speciebus curantur.

======================================

12. Understanding Aggravations within the

Framework of the Homœotherapeutic

Relationship

HUENECKE, Jason-Aeric (AH. 17, 2011)

Fully comprehending Samuel Hahnemann’s gift

of the Organon of the Medical Art takes a lifetime

of practice and repeated venturing into each aphorism

until we integrate the knowledge into our practice

with patients. Hahnemann’s genius implores us to

harness the living energies of nature and the cosmos

for the purpose of restoring vitality to the sick via the

well-chosen homœopathic remedy. We must become

conscientious observers of the action of our

homœotherapeutic dynamic and the remedy, together

with subsequent responses to these factors. This

article will explore the idea of aggravations and

healing responses within the homœotherapeutic

relationship, the experience of the homœopath and

the patient.

The term aggravation comes from the Latin

terms: aggravationem, aggravatio, aggravatus, and

aggravare: which mean to make heavier or weigh

down; and from gravis meaning heavy. The oldest

sense of the word is that of increasing in gravity or

seriousness; that of irritation is from 1610s.1

Once we follow Hahnemann’s general guidelines

for individualizing and taking the case as laid down

in the Organon §82-104, we then select the most

suitable remedy to fit the patient. We meet the

individual without prejudice, meaning without giving

more weight to one symptom or another, letting her

speak without interruption, with the exception of

asking the patient to slow down if she is talking too

fast. We listen attentively without disturbing the

flow, listening to her experience in total, and only

then do we go back line by line to elicit further

information on each statement uttered. Essentially,

in this manner, we remain stable and calm,

dynamically interacting with the patient’s state,

which in many instances goes smoothly and in other

instances begins to evoke the state in a manner that

can begin a healing response or an aggravation in the

patient.

The initial case taking itself can elicit the state

and bring it out more fully. This can happen in

dramatic and unexpected ways, eliciting on-the-spot

aggravations in session. This process can be

uncomfortable for the patient who may be

unaccustomed to sitting for a long period of time in

silence with someone carefully observing her; the

homœopathic practitioner is well advised to refrain

from making her comfortable, silently encouraging

her to be with her experience, with the exception of

stating, “You are completely safe here,” and

refraining from leading questions. It can be a

challenge to simply let the experience unfold.

Patients often report initial discomfort or emotional

aggravation when giving their symptoms so much

attention, as energy follows attention. Some

individuals prefer to deny the full extent of their pain

and suffering, as this complete expression is not a

cultural norm.

The homœopathic practitioner must understand

that his/her unconditional presence, dare I say

unconditional love and attention, is the first remedy

and this alone can start a healing response or an

aggravation. I believe that it is important for

homœopathic practitioners to study the effect or

dynamic of our relationship with our patients and

where and how we may lose our perspective or our

unbiased mind. These interpersonal dynamics are

widely recognized in psychotherapy and they

emphasize the importance of the therapeutic

relationship.

Perhaps the healing is not solely from the

administration of the carefully chosen homœopathic

remedy, but is also from the homœotherapeutic

relationship. This relationship entails the

homœopath’s ability to hold the patient, gently

receiving her case until her suffering is revealed in

total.

Can we as homœopathic practitioners, allow our

patients to fully enter their state and simply see what

happens? Can we allow the remedy to act and

encourage the patient to stay with what is happening?

Is this safe to do? To ask someone to give their

110

attention to the heart of their suffering and simply

describe what they are experiencing offers them the

opportunity to enter healing in a completely new

way.

In a few case examples that I relate below I

demonstrate sitting with three new patients. When

unimpeded, they were able to fully enter their inner

worlds to stimulate a healing response with apparent

aggravations from the least interactive case taking

methods possible: the simple utterance of a few

gently spoken words.

One woman, aged 56, did not come to

Homœopathy for any particular reason, but simply

felt that it was her time to heal. Asking her to focus

on a peculiar symptom, a recurring painful thought,

she immediately entered a trance-like state and began

to relive a spontaneous abortion that took place over

thirty years earlier. This was a remarkable and in

many ways a powerful experience. I simply attended

by breathing in and out of my heart and listening

attentively, gently holding the space for this woman’s

experience while she relived the experience of many

hours’ duration from thirty years ago in the span of

three hours within her physical body, mind and

emotions, not uttering one word for two-and-a-half

hours!

When the session ended an aggravation

occurred, which lasted three-and-a-half weeks,

resulting in spotting (much to her dismay); she had

been without menstrual symptoms for many years. It

was at this point that I administered a single dose of

Ignatia amara 6c, when she reported having fully

accessed the depth of her grief by seeing the spotting

so similar to her earlier experience in life.

In another case, a woman aged 55 was simply

asked, “What brings you to Homœopathy?” She

shifted immediately into an aggressive and

challenging expression, cursing and screaming

violently, seemingly trying to provoke me into an

anger response. At this time I simply stated, “You

are completely safe here,” to which the woman

responded by saying that my questions were “raping”

her. Note that I asked one question over the course

of twenty minutes and simply stated that she was safe

with me. When told to “Give that all of your

attention…” she was given permission to fully

express this “raped feeling” without interruption,

which she relived, complete with physical sensations

as well as mental and emotional expressions over the

course of two hours in our session. Without

prompting in any way and without interference on

my part, I asked her to allow herself to give that

experience all of her attention and the healing

response began.

Throughout her vivid, halting portrayal of the

experience, she reported growing heavier and

heavier. The violence held deep within was

externalized. Once she relived her experience and

her body memories were released through vigorous

shaking, she entered into the opposite state. Here she

reported that, firstly, she had no conscious memory

of rape; and secondly, she felt clearer and separate

from her pain. In this particular case, our

homœotherapeutic relationship and intention,

together with the focus on her symptoms aggravated

her into a catharsis. A constitutional remedy

administered immediately based on her totality of

symptoms shifted her state and she realized a deep

inner calm that has lasted several years.

Finally, in the case of a man aged 26, our session

began with the patient stating, “I feel like I’m

stoned.” In this case the patient and I had the

remarkable experience of many and varied visual and

olfactory hallucinations as he described his ongoing

struggles with narcolepsy.

I immediately began to feel as though I myself

wanted to fall asleep as the patient said to me, “I am

fighting sleep and demons.” In this instance, both of

us entered his world and it felt like time came to a

screeching halt, as though days and days were

passing, rather than two-and-a half hours. I made a

great effort to remain present, to remember this was a

delusion, and to stay focused, patiently writing down

the experience of the patient line by line, whilst

experiencing overpowering sleepiness myself just

being close to him.

At the end of this session due to my insistence, a

family member came to pick up this young man and

he remained in this aggravated state for five days, at

which point I gave one dose of Morphinum 200c.

After several subsequent visits the patient discovered

that his biological father was a Vietnam veteran who

developed an opium addiction. This young man

never knew his biological father. His mother never

spoke to him about this history until witnessing her

son in a state identical to that which his father would

experience when using opium. Fascinatingly, the

patient never drank any alcohol nor used drugs of any

kind. In this case the experience of overpowering

sleepiness led me to Morphinum; Morphine is the

most abundant alkaloid found in Opium.

Now to consider aggravations that arise after a

remedy has been administered: how many times have

we given the best-indicated remedy, in a carefully

selected potency and yet aggravation ensued?

How do we understand homœopathic

aggravations? Dr. Harimohan Choudhury writes at

great length on this,

“If there is any aggravation during the course of

treatment we are to decide whether the aggravation

is:

(a) Similar,

111

(b) Dissimilar.

(a) Similar aggravation: It may be termed as similar

if the aggravation corresponds to the totality of

symptoms found at the first prescription. Skin

disease aggravated in the patients suffering from

it. Asthma in asthma patient, fever in patient

suffering from it. In those cases it must be

definitely taken for granted that the doses were

altogether too large. Aggravations due to these

sorts of large doses appear from the first dose. It

will be so in every subsequent dose.

Aggravations due to large doses will disappear

gradually if the medicine is stopped for a day or

two or three at best. The doses in that case must

then be reduced still further.

(b) Dissimilar aggravation: Aggravation due to

appearance of new symptoms which were not

found in the patient previously may be termed as

dissimilar aggravation. If it happens we are to

realize that:

(i) There is no need for the medicine of first

prescription.

(ii) The first prescription was wrong.

(iii) If such be the case history of the patient is to

be recorded afresh.

(iv) On the basis of the totality of symptoms for

the second time medicine is to be selected.

(v) If there is violent and unbearable

aggravation first of all an antidote is to be

applied followed by the well selected

medicines.

(vi) If the aggravation is intolerable, a newly

selected medicine is to be administrated

without delay.”2

HAHNEMANN considers Homœopathy the

medicine of experience, not merely an intellectual

exercise in understanding the vital energies. We ask

our patients to be with their experience in a similar

manner that we ask individuals to assist us in proving

substances. Proving may be prolonged aggravations,

allowing the genius within a substance to gently

reveal the hidden suffering, so that the consciousness

of the substance can speak through the experience of

somatization of symptoms that rise up and pass

through.

HAHNEMANN speaks to the importance of this

in §20:

“This hidden spirit-like power in the inner

wesen of medicines to alter the human condition

and thus to cure diseases is, in itself, in no way

discernible with mere intellectual exertion. It is

only by experience, only through its

manifestations while it is impinging on the

human condition that we can distinctly perceive

it.”3

And he mentions our ability to fit the dosing of a

substance to an individual in §30:

“The human body seems to allow itself (in

its condition) to be more effectively altered in its

tuning by medicines than by natural disease

irritants (partly because dose adjustment is in our

power)---for through suitable medicines, natural

diseases are cured and overcome.”3

However, any homœopath can tell you that what

works in one case may not work in another. Dose

adjustment, or the selection of the dosing, is truly

individualized; it must be and we cannot know what

will cause a healing response or an aggravation until

we select a remedy and administer it. In §31,

HAHNEMANN writes that inimical potencies do not

make everyone sick every time; in §32, he goes on to

say that every true medicine works at all times, under

all circumstances, on every living human being, and

arouses in him its peculiar symptoms.

C.M. BOGER writes:

“Commonly reactions occur between things

occupying kindred states or planes; when these are

overstepped more violent effects appear. A little

reflection will soon convince you of this, as well as

carry the implication that an irregularly acting vital

force can be best stabilized on its own plane of

action, all of which leads inferentially into the field

of potency activity.

“That potentized substances interact with the

vital force may no longer be disputed; but to exhibit

their highest possibilities requires a full

understanding of all of the factors involved, as well

as clear reasoning, before we can take full advantage

of this mutual interaction.”4

So how do we attune ourselves as practitioners

to these kindred states or planes? We must

understand the action and reaction of our remedies

given to our patients. In §156-161, Hahnemann

writes about small homœopathic aggravations. Our

patients do not always understand the differences

between homœopathic aggravations and adverse

reactions of medications. Therefore, we must study

the Organon and other writings of homœopaths in

depth in order to move into clarity in this matter and

educate our patients so that they can take a remedy

without concern.

§156: Meanwhile, especially when the dose

is not sufficiently diminished, there is seldom a

medication (even one that is apparently fittingly

selected homœopathically) that does not bring to

pass, in irritable and fine-feeling patients, at least

one small ailment which is not habitual for the

patient---a small new symptom----during the

duration of its action. This is because it is almost

112

impossible for the symptoms of the medicine and

those of the disease to cover one another as

exactly as two triangles with equal sides and

angles. In a good case, however, this

insignificant deviation is easily wiped away by

the living organism’s own energy activity

(autocracy). It does so without even being

noticed by patients, except those of immoderate

delicacy. In any case, the restoration proceeds

on to the goal of recovery as long as it is not

hindered by foreign medicinal influences on the

patient, by errors in regimen or through

passions.3

Early in my practice I worked with a patient who

had Pneumonia for six weeks. Her initial choice was

allopathic treatment; ultimately, when all attempts

failed, after hospitalization and many rounds of

antibiotics, she decided to use Homœopathy. I

consulted a more experienced colleague, who advised

to give a low potency due to her depleted condition.

I gave Pulsatilla 30c every two hours for three days

with little effect, then Pulsatilla 200c, QID for two

days, again only minimal effect, then Pulsatilla IM

TID for two days. Finally, questioning if I had

selected an inappropriate remedy, I meditated once

more on the case. Deciding that the remedy selection

was accurate, I gave one dose of Pulsatilla 10M.

Within one hour, after six weeks of Pneumonia, the

patient was up and walking around and her coughing

completely diminished. However, she began crying

several hours later, and cried on and off for several

weeks following those doses of Pulsatilla.

She reported several months later at a follow up

session that she had several dreams of relationships

that ended long ago and of making peace with

enemies, finally grieving the loss of a friend who

moved away during her childhood. She reported that

crying was a rarity for her. Several years after this,

she reported that she now cries when it is appropriate

and without hesitation. I did not interrupt the action

of the remedy because I felt (and more importantly,

the patient felt) that while the experience was

uncomfortable it was not an unbearable aggravation.

Was this aggravation, or a healing response to the

remedy? I think that it was both.

§157: While it is certain that a

homœopathically selected remedy, on account of

its appropriateness and the smallness of its dose,

quietly lifts and annihilates an acute disease that

is analogous to it without amplification of its

non-homœopathic symptoms (that is, without the

arousal of newer, more significant ailments), it is

nevertheless usual (but likewise only with a dose

not properly diminished) for it to produce some

kind of small aggravation in the first hour or few

hours immediately following its ingestion. (The

aggravation will last for several hours if the dose

is somewhat too large.) This aggravation is so

similar to the original disease that it appears to

the patient to be an aggravation of his own

malady. In fact, it is nothing other than a highly

similar medicinal disease that is somewhat

stronger than the original malady.3

§158: This small homœopathic aggravation

in the first hours is a very good portent that the

acute disease will be mostly finished by the first

dose. Such an aggravation is not infrequent,

since the medicinal disease must naturally be

somewhat stronger than the malady in order to

over-tune and extinguish it, just as a natural

disease can only lift and annihilate another

similar natural disease if it is stronger than the

other one (§43-§480.3

We all have to work with each patient to

encourage them to stay the course and trust the

process of the remedy’s action. Many individuals

grew up with the allopathic paradigm where

symptoms are to be stopped! Many homœopaths will

follow this course in their practice and, not fully

understanding the power of the Vital Force, interrupt

the remedy action by giving another remedy all too

soon, believing that symptoms and experience must

be stopped and usually within a short period of time.

How can we stop an individual’s experience?

In, The Lesser Writings of Samuel

Hahnemann, HAHNEMANN writes that

Homœopathy is the medicine of experience. The

definition of experience is that there is an active

participation in events or activities of life, the totality

of such events in the past of an individual or group,

and the apprehension of an object, thought, or

emotionally integrative response through the senses.

I frequently ask myself: is this patient experiencing

an aggravation or a healing response? A patient may

say, “This should not be happening.” Later, I may

hear from the same patient, “Thank goodness for

Homœopathy, I have never felt better since those

symptoms reappeared and moved through.”

HAHNEMANN writes,

“Very differently does the homœopath act:

he judges of the prevailing disease according to

its peculiarities and phenomena (its

individuality) without suffering himself to be led

astray to a wrong mode of treatment by any

pathological systematic nomenclature, and by

attention to the present state, complaints, and

ailments of the patient, he generally, by means of

the suitable (specific) remedy, brings about the

desired recovery.”5

113

And in the Organon:

§159: The smaller the dose of the

homœopathic remedy means in the treatment of

acute diseases, the more minor and shorter is the

apparent exacerbation [heightening] of the

disease in the first hours.3

§160: Since the dose of a homœopathic

remedy can hardly ever be prepared so small that

it could not improve, over-tune, indeed fully cure

and annihilate the recently arisen, unspoiled,

natural disease that is analogous to it (see

footnote to §249), it therefore becomes

understandable why a fitting homœopathic

medicine that is not in the smallest possible dose

brings to pass in the first hour after ingestion a

noticeable, homœopathic aggravation of this

kind.3

§161: When I place the so-called

homœopathic aggravation (i.e., the initial action

of the homœopathic medicine which appears to

somewhat heighten the symptoms of the original

disease) within the first hour or the first few

hours, this is thus certainly the case with the

more acute, recently arisen maladies. However,

when medicines of longer duration of action

have to combat an old or very old wasting

sickness, no such apparent heightening of the

original disease should show themselves during

the course of treatment; and they will not show

themselves if the aptly selected medicine is

administered in properly small, only gradually

heightened doses which become somewhat

modified every time by new dynamization

(§247). Such heightening of the original

symptoms of the chronic disease can then only

come to light at the end of such treatments when

the cure is almost or entirely completed.3

The second half of §161 (beginning with “no

such apparent heightening …”) along with footnote

161, was written by HAHNEMANN for the sixth

edition of the Organon, giving instructions for the

use of fifty-millesimal (LM) potencies in these cases.

B. Baehr writes,

“Every cure which a physician is expected

to perform is to be conducted in accordance with

the principle: Tuto, cito et jucunde curare.

(Editor’s note: Cure quickly, safely and

pleasantly.) In other words: Every

conscientious physician will see to it, without

impairing the certainty and rapidity of the cure,

that, in addition to the existing complaints, the

medicine employed in the case, shall not cause

additional sufferings to the patient. By

prescribing a tolerably large dose of a drug in

accordance with the law of similarity, we shall

almost always develop a more or less

considerable exacerbation of the symptoms, the

so-called homœopathic aggravation. Everybody

can easily satisfy himself that such an

aggravation is not an imagination or vague

theory; on the other hand, it is certainly an

imagination, if many homœopathic physicians

profess to see an aggravation after every dose

below the ominous thirtieth potency, remaining

in this respect much too literally the faithful

followers of HAHNEMANN. The fear of a

homœopathic aggravation led HAHNEMANN to

the great mistake of setting up the thirtieth

potency as the normal dose. It is certain that the

observations of his successors have not

confirmed the statements of their teacher. Now,

inasmuch as a homœopathic aggravation----

although if it does not manifest itself with too

much violence, it is generally a proof of the

correctness of our choice of the true remedy in

the case---yet is not altogether in accordance

with the requirement of “jucunde curare,” we are

bound to avoid the aggravation by lessening the

dose, and to continue this lessening process until

we reach a point where the fullest possible

curative action of the drug is no longer followed

by an aggravation of the symptoms, even if this

course should lead us to the thirtieth and even

higher potencies.”6

We should all heed the wise words of J.H.

ALLEN, who wrote:

“There are three errors, says

HAHNEMANN, that we are all liable to make:

‘1st the selection of the improper remedy, 2nd, the

improper potency; and, 3rd, not letting the

remedy act a sufficient length of time.’ The

trouble with most of us is we do not study the

Organon sufficiently to become well enough

acquainted with the principles and laws

governing the action of disease or of drugs. For

that matter, we are too apt to center all our

efforts upon, the study of our remedies and their

proving, and thus neglect the other vital part, the

knowledge of the way to use them, which

comprises, among other principles, the third law

of motion brought forth by Newton, ‘that action

and reaction are equal, but opposite’.”7

In conclusion, I would encourage the reader

to read widely and carefully on the subject of

homœopathic aggravation until you understand

the difference between an aggravation and a

healing response; to give the patient plenty of

114

space in and around the homœopathic process so

that he or she can most deeply experience the

process of homœopathic healing and above all

do not be afraid to pursue the healing of the sick

because of a fear of aggravation.

References

1. HARPER, Douglas. 2010. Online Etymology

Dictionary. [Online]. Available:

dictionary.reference.com/browse/pre-aggrava-

tion.

2. CHOUDHURY, Harimohan. 2004 (1983 1st

Edition.). 50 Millesimal Potency in Theory

and Practice. B. Jain Publishers, (P) Ltd.:

New Delhi, India. P.27.

3. HAHNEMANN, Samuel. 1996 (1921 6th

Edition) Organon of the Medical Art. Edited

by Wenda Brewster O”Reilly, translated by

Steven Decker. Birdcage Press, Palo Alto,

CA.

4. BOGER, Cyrus Maxwell. 1994. Collected

Writings edited by Robert Bannan. Singapore:

Longman Singapore Publishers (Pte) Ltd. For

Churchill Livingstone. 1st ed. P.39.

5. HAHNEMANN, Samuel. 1990 (1852 1st

Edition). The Lesser Writings of Samuel

Hahnemann. Edited by R.E. Dudgeon. B.

Jain Publishers, (P) Ltd.: New Delhi, India.

P.741.

6. BAEHR, B. 2004 (1875 1st Edition). The

Science of Therapeutics, according to the

Principles of Homœopathy: Vol.I. B. Jain

Publishers, (P) Ltd.: New Delhi, India. P.42.

7. ALLEN, J.H. 1998 (1908 1st Edition). The

Chronic Miasms: Sycosis, Psora and Pseudo-

Psora. B. Jain Publishers, (P) Ltd.: New

Delhi, India. P.34.

======================================

13. The Role of Homœopathy in the Treatment of

Drug Addictions

DE ROSA, Claudia (AH. 17/2011)

Down the ages, drugs have been eaten, drunk,

and smoked as a means of attaining a state of

narcosis with colorful and fantastic visions.

Addiction means a recurring compulsion by an

individual to engage in some specific activity despite

harmful consequences to the individual’s health,

mental state or social life; addictions may include

heroin or alcohol, other chemicals and drugs,

chocolate, work, sex or church. Drug addiction is

considered a pathological state. The disorder of

addiction involves the progression of acute drug use

to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the

vulnerability to relapse, and decreased or slowed

ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli.

A recent Clinical Research Trial has proven

Homœopathy to be therapeutically effective in the

treatment of allopathic drug addiction.

There are different types of addictions:

 Substance abuse: This is overindulgence and

detrimental use of alcohol, nicotine, illicit drugs

like cocaine, heroin, marijuana, etc., or

prescription drugs such as steroids, painkillers,

sedatives, etc. This use is injurious to physical

and mental health and also has unfavorable

social consequences such as problems at work,

school commitments, interpersonal disputes,

family or legal problems.

 Computer addiction: This can show the way to

internet addiction where one can get occupied in

games, chats, forums, web surfing, pornography

or other online distractions.

 Gambling addiction: This is a disorder of

impulse control and can be associated with

casinos, lotteries, stock market, etc., ensuing in

major liabilities, family disruption, loss of job,

unlawful activity or even suicide.

 Work addiction: This is a condition when a

person perseveres to be relentlessly busy, taking

on more than can practically be done. They

begin to isolate themselves from personal

relationships. They have difficulty relaxing and

internally stay at work even when at home.

They start noticing symptoms like insomnia,

high blood pressure, chronic headaches, stomach

ulcers, weight changes, etc.

 Diet addiction: This can be either obsessive

overeating, food addiction or under eating,

anorexia. Overeating can be a serious problem

as it can lead to obesity and various other health

issues. With anorexia, the body can go into

starvation mode, and nutritional deficiencies can

affect the body in many ways.

115

 Exercise addiction: Compulsive exercise can be

a symptom of an eating disorder, a psychological

illness or an illness by itself. This can prevent

normal interactions at home and work.

 Sex addiction: This is a relationship disorder

characterized by uncontrollable sexual thoughts

and acts. This conduct can lead to inappropriate

sexual activity with the wrong people in the

wrong places.

 Shopping addiction: This is a condition where

shopping spirals out of control sparked by

emotions or stress. This behavior can impinge

on finances, relationships, family, etc.

The main causes of addictions are:

 Heredity

 Upbringing and surroundings

 Physical or mental abuse

 Trauma from unpleasant childhood incidences

 Emotional disorders

 Low frustration tolerance

 Loneliness

 Biochemical imbalances

Drug addiction is a complex condition (more

recently called drug dependency) that has been

defined as a disorder that manifests in the obsessive

thinking about and use of drugs. It is a condition that

may be progressive and fatal if left untreated.

Drugs work by affecting the chemicals in the

brain and inducing an artificial state of euphoria or a

“high”. But as the body gets used to the effects of

the drugs, it takes more and more to achieve the same

affect, thus starting a never-ending quest to attain this

false happiness-----with frightening consequences.

As the disease progresses, drug users will allow

relationships, jobs, studies, careers and children to

fall by the wayside as drugs become a central need in

their life. People addicted to drugs may also find

themselves in denial.

For addicts to continue such a destructive, self-

harming and damaging way of life there has to be a

very strong level of denial existing to keep them from

fully seeing the truth and reality of the illness.

Therefore, denial exists as a survival mechanism to

protect the disease. With substance abuse treatment,

addiction can be treated and a better, healthier

lifestyle adopted.

The difference between substance abuse and

addiction is very slight. Substance abuse means

using an illegal substance or using a legal substance

in the wrong way. Addiction begins as abuse, or

using a substance like marijuana or cocaine. You can

abuse a drug (or alcohol) without having an

addiction. For example, just because a person

smoked cannabis a few times doesn’t mean that he or

she has an addiction, but it does mean that such an

individual is abusing a drug---and that could lead to

an addiction. Addiction means a person has no

control over whether he or she uses a drug, alcohol or

other activity. Someone who is addicted to cocaine

has grown so used to the drug that he or she has to

have it. Addiction can be physical, psychological, or

both.

Physical Addiction

Being physically addicted means a person’s

body actually becomes dependent on a particular

substance. It also means building tolerance to that

substance, so that a person needs increasingly larger

doses to get the same effects. Someone who is

physically addicted and stops using a substance like

drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes may experience

withdrawal symptoms. Common symptoms of

withdrawal include diarrhea, shaking, and generally

feeling awful.

Psychological Addiction

Psychological addiction happens when the

cravings for a drug are psychological or emotional.

People who are psychologically addicted feel

overcome by the desire to have a drug. They may lie

or steal to get it. A person crosses the line between

abuse and addiction when he or she is no longer

trying the drug to have fun or get high, but has come

to depend on it. His or her whole life centers around

the need for the drug. An addicted person-----

whether it’s a physical or psychological addiction or

both----no longer feels like there is a choice in taking

a substance.

Signs of Addiction

The most obvious sign of an addiction is the

need to have a particular drug or substance.

However, many other signs can suggest a possible

addiction, such as changes in mood, or weight loss or

gain. These also are signs of other conditions, such

as depression or eating disorders.

Signs that someone may have a drug or alcohol

addiction include:

Psychological signals

 Use of drugs or alcohol as a way to forget

problems or to relax.

 Withdrawal or keeping secrets from family and

friends

 Loss of interest in activities that used to be

important

 Problems with schoolwork, such as slipping

grades or absences

116

 Changes in friendships, such as hanging out only

with friends who use drugs

 Spending a lot of time figuring out how to get

drugs

 Stealing or selling belongings to be able to

afford drugs

 Failed attempts to stop taking drugs or drinking

 Anxiety, anger or depression

 Mood swings

Physical signals

 Changes in sleeping habits

 Feeling shaky or sick when trying to stop

 Needing to take more of the substance to get the

same effect

 Changes in eating habits, including weight loss

or gain

Some of the most commonly abused drugs are

amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines,

cocaine and opium alkaloids. Today some of the

drugs used by the allopathic system of medicine for

therapeutic use, e.g., steroids, anti-inflammatory

steroid drugs and anti-epileptic drugs are also cursed

with severe withdrawal symptoms and can cause

dependency, addiction and resistance.

The Addiction Cycle:

The life cycle of addiction begins with a

problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or

physical pain a person is experiencing. They find

this very difficult to deal with.

We start with an individual who, like most

people in our society, is basically good. This person

encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not

know how to resolve or cannot confront. This could

include problems such as difficulty “fitting in” as a

child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure or

work expectations, identity problems or divorce as an

adult. It can also include physical discomfort, such

as injury or chronic pain.

The person experiencing the discomfort has a

real problem. He feels his present situation is

unendurable, yet sees no good solution to the

problem. Everyone has experienced this in their life

to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between

an addict and a non- addict is that the addict chooses

drugs or alcohol as a solution to the unwanted

problem or discomfort.

This person tries drugs or alcohol. The drugs

appear to solve the problem. He feels better. Because

he now seems better able to deal with life,the drugs

become valuable to him. The person looks on drugs

or alcohol as a cure for unwanted feelings. The

painkilling effects of drugs or alcohol become a

solution to his discomfort. Inadvertently the drug or

alcohol now becomes valuable because it helped him

feel better. This release is the main reason a person

uses drugs or drinks a second or third time. It is just

a matter of time before he becomes fully addicted

and loses the ability to control his drug use. Drug

addiction, then, results from excessive or continued

use of habit-forming drugs in an attempt to resolve

the underlying symptoms of discomfort or

unhappiness.

Analogous to an adolescent child in his first love

affair, the use of drugs or alcohol becomes obsessive.

The addicted person is trapped. Whatever problem

he was initially trying to solve by using drugs or

alcohol fades from memory. At this point, all he can

think about is getting and using drugs. He loses the

ability to control his usage and ignores the horrible

consequences of his actions.

The addict will now attempt to withhold the fact

of his drug use from friends and family members. He

will begin to suffer the effects of his own dishonesty

and guilt. He may become withdrawn and difficult to

reason with. He may behave strangely. The more he

uses drugs and alcohol, the guiltier he will feel, and

the more depressed he will become. He will sacrifice

his personal integrity, his relationships with friends

and family, his job, his savings, and anything else he

may have in an attempt to get more drugs. The drugs

are now the most important things in his life. His

relationships and job performance will go

dramatically downhill.

In addition to the mental stress created by his

unethical behaviour, the addict’s body has also

adapted to the presence of the drugs. He will

experience an overwhelming obsession with getting

and using his drugs and will do anything to avoid the

pain of withdrawing from them. This is when the

newly-created addict begins to experience drug

THE ADDICTION CYCLE

It Starts in

the Mind

FANTASY

RITUAL

ACTING

OUT

SHAME

117

cravings. He now seeks drugs both for the reward of

the “pleasure” they given him, and also to avoid the

mental and physical horrors of withdrawal.

Ironically, the addict’s ability to get “high” from the

alcohol or drug gradually decreases as his body

adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. He must

take more and more, not just to get an effect but often

just to function at all.

At this point, the addict is stuck in a vicious

descending spiral. The drugs he abuses have

changed him both physically and mentally. He has

crossed an invisible and intangible line. He is now a

drug addict or alcoholic.

Biochemical Aspects of Addiction

Drugs are broken down in the liver into residues

(chemical compounds which are closely related to the

original substance). Most of these residues are

eliminated rapidly from the bloodstream, but some

can become trapped in the fatty tissues of the body.

Although there are various types of tissues that are

high in fat content, the one thing in common----and

the problem that needs to be addressed---is that these

drug residues remain for years. Tissues in our

bodies that are high in fats are turned over very

slowly. When they are turned over, the stored drug

residues are released into the bloodstream and

reactivate the same brain centers just as if the person

actually took the drug. The former addict now

experiences a drug re-stimulation (or “flashback”)

and drug cravings. This is common in the months

after an addict quits and can continue for years, even

decades.

When the addict initially tries to quit, cells in the

brain that have become used to large amounts of

these residues are now forced to deal with greatly

decreased amounts. Even as the withdrawal

symptoms subside, the brain “demands” that the

addict give it more of the drug. This is called drug

craving. Craving is an extremely powerful urge and

can cause a person to create all kinds of “reasons”

they should begin using drugs or drinking again. He

is now trapped in an endless cycle of trying to quit,

craving, relapse and fear of withdrawal. Eventually,

the brain cells will again become used to having

lowered drug residues. But, because deposits of drug

or alcohol residues release back into the bloodstream

from fatty tissues for years, cravings and relapse

remain a cause of concern. The presence of residues,

even in microscopic amounts, can make the brain

react as if the addict had actually taken the drug

again, and can set up cravings and cause relapse even

after years of sobriety.

Addicts cannot stop using drugs for two reasons:

1. Mental and physical cravings caused by drug

residues which remain in the body.

2. The Biochemical Personality caused by drugs

and the lifestyle the person adopts to get them.

If not handled correctly, these manifestations

will haunt a person for years even if they have

sobered up. Left untreated, these unresolved

symptoms, whether physical or mental in origin,

create an underlying low-level type of stress which

cannot be completely ignored by the addict. The

addict can “just say no” a thousand times, but it takes

him saying “yes” once to start the cycle of addiction

again.

Homœopathic Approach to Addiction

In general all the treatment studies into

homœopathic treatment of addiction have come up

positive. These types of treatments are effective

because they take care of the mental aspect as well as

using natural substances as homœopathic treatment

for the body. The homœopathic treatment replaces

what the addiction has removed from the body with

the homœopathic remedy.

The most intricate step in the treatment of an

addiction is acknowledgement of the habit. People

with addictions often cannot abstain on their own.

The realization of the underlying problem and

enhancing the immune system with the help of

homœopathic remedies can give an enduring cure,

physically, mentally and emotionally. Constitutional

homœopathic treatment will act skillfully on the

client’s inherent nature, molding and harmonizing

his/her energy to control life situations.

Constitutional homœopathic treatment will help

address any related medical, psychological, social or

cognitive problems. The detailed homœopathic

history taking will also contribute in counselling,

which is a significant element of effective addiction

treatment. Homœopathy can facilitate with

detoxification, behavioural negativities, denial and

deterioration from addictions. In addition, it will

help build motivation to resist addictions, replace

addictive activities with positive and rewarding

behaviours, and safely manage the symptoms of

withdrawal associated with quitting addictions.

Furthermore, the constitutional approach will also

facilitate interpersonal relationships and the ability to

function in the home and society. Proper

homœopathic remedies along with psychotherapy

counselling can help with the mental aspect of

substance abuse, as well as some of the symptoms

that accompany substance abuse. Furthermore, in

emergencies and acute phases homœopathic remedies

can be used on acute symptom totality.

Clinical Trial

A comparative study, controlled and randomized

single blind trial was conducted at Eolas-----Irish

118

Homœopathic Research Centre (Cork city, Ireland),

March 2010 over a period of six months.

The clinical trial meets the criteria of

homogeneity, idetifies a primary objective, and

dimensions the sample in accordance with statistical

criteria of reliability.

Synoptic Analysis of the Trial:

Homœopathic Treatment:

73 patients were constitutionally evaluated.

Natrum muriaticum, Nux vomica and Sulphur

remedies were the predominant types (61 patients in

total).

The comparative research study was therefore

conducted upon evaluation of appropriate

homœopathic treatment.

Patients were prescribed individual constitutional

remedy as shown in Chart 3:

Potency

Duration

Phase I

LM1-1

teaspoon daily

30 days

Phase A

No remedy

14 days

Phase II

LM2–1

teaspoon daily

30 days

Phase B

No remedy

14 days

Phase III

LM3-1

teaspoon daily

15 days

Phase C

No remedy

14 days

Phase IV

LM4-1

teaspoon daily

15 days

Phase D

No remedy

14 days

======================================

THE REASON WHY

BY DR. SAMUEL SWAN, M.D.

THE HAHNEMANNIAN GLEANINGS,

JULY,1941

Hahnemann remarks in Lesser Writings, page 102:

“We observe a few diseases that always arise from one and

the same cause, namely, the miasmatic maladies:

hydrophobia, the venereal disease, the Plague of the

Levant, yellow fever, small pox, cow-pox, the Measles and

some others, which bear upon them the distinctive mark of

always remaining diseases of a peculiar character; and

because they arise from contagious principle that always

remains the same, they also always retain the same

character, and pursue the same course, excepting as regards

some accidental concomitant circumstances, which,

however, do not alter their essential character.

Probably some other diseases, which we cannot show

to depend on a peculiar miasm, as gout, marsh ague, and

several other diseases that occur here and there

endemically, besides a few others, also arise either from a

single unvarying cause or from the confluence of several

definite causes that are liable to be associated and that are

always the same, otherwise they would not produce

diseases of such a specific kind, and would not occur so

frequently.

“These few diseases, at all events those first

mentioned (the miasmata) we may therefore term specific,

and when necessary bestow on them distinctive

appellations.”

“If a remedy has been discovered for one of these, it

will always be able to cure it, for such a disease always

remains essentially identical, both in its manifestations (the

representatives of its internal nature) and its cause.”

I have thus far quoted Hahneamnn’s words concerning

the specific or fixed diseases, and add to his list a few of

the “some others” which he mentions. These are fixed

diseases, always diagnosed by their unvarying character:

Diphtheria, Scarlet Fever, Typhus Fever, Eczema,

Erysipelas, Itch, Septicæmia, Scirhus cancer, Lupus,

Leprosy, Glandular diseases, Gonorrhœal rheumatism, and

Tuberculosis.

Repeated experiments by myself and other physicians

with the poison of these specific diseases, obtained from

the morbose products of such diseases, have proved that

such poisons potentized, will invariably cure the disease

from which they were obtained, except when some other

miasm is present and obstructs the curative action, notably

psora.

HAHNEMANN says, “All the other innumerable

diseases exhibit such a difference in their phenomena that

we may safely assert that they arise from a combination of

several dissimilar causes.” These diseases which would be

more properly termed sicknesses, are so different that each

one of them occurs scarcely more than once; never

occurring before or since in the same manner, there never

can be found a specific remedy for them, and as

HAHNEMANN says, “they require no names—we are

only required to cure them”.

HAHNEMANN has evidently used these morbose

poisons, for he says, in Chronic Diseases, Vol.I, p.195, “In

the subsequent list of antipsoric remedies, no isopathic

119

remedies are mentioned”. The reason he gives is “that their

effects upon the healthy organism have not yet been

sufficiently ascertained”. It would seem from this that he

had those isopathic remedies, had potentized them, had

used them on the sick, had found how valuable they

were, had partially proved them in healthy organisms

but not so thoroughly as to warrant his giving them to the

profession.

He thus disposes of Isopathy. On page 196, Chronic

Diseases, he says: I call psorin a homœopathic

antipsoric, because if the preparation” (potentization)

“of psorin did not alter its nature to that of a

homœopathic remedy, it never could have any effect

upon an organism tainted with that identical virus.”

The corollary is inevitable. The potentisation of the

isopathic product makes it homœopathic to the disease

which produced it, and it cannot have any curative action

on that disease till potentized, but when potentized it does

have an effect, and the effect must be homœopathic, and,

therefore, of necessity a curative effect, or, in other words,

“Morbose poison will cure the disease which produced

it, if given in a high potency. Had not HAHNEMANN

tried morbose products empirically on those sick of the

disease which had produced those products, he would

not have said that unless these were so altered by

potentization they never could have any effect on an

organism tainted with that same identical virus.”

HAHNEMANN did not make public any remedy, no

matter how much he knew about it, till it had been proved

according to the rule laid down, but in the same volume he

gives some toxical symptoms of Psora, Syphilis, and

Sycosis which were probably the keynotes from which he

prescribed for those “tainted with that same identical

virus”. He evidently believed that later the problem of the

use of those morbose poisons would be solved, as he says,

in the footnote of paragraph 56, page 194, of the Organon,

“but supposing this were possible, it would deserve the

name of a valuable discovery”, etc. the problem is solved

by the use of these poisons in the high potencies.

The numerous symptoms that appear when a person

is attacked by any of these fixed diseases are a sufficient

proving of the poison for the cure of the disease; a proving

on healthy persons would not add to the curability of the

remedy, it would only give a variety of symptoms whereby

the poison could be diagnosed in diseases, where there was

no other indication of its presence. An aggravation at

night, ceasing with daylight, is always indicative of

syphilism. If anyone objects to the absence of a proving, it

is his duty to make the proving himself. If I am in error I

am willing to acknowledge it when shown to me—but the

unfailing success attendant on this mode of treating fixed

diseases is of itself proof of its truth.

--Homœopathy, March, 1941.

*************

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PART III

(While Part II features articles from other journals, Part III contains the editor’s own contributions and