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“Instituts für Geschichte der Medizin der Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart” 

Vol. 11 / Nr. 2– 06/2008

CONTENT 

Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

About the Revision of the Materia Medica 

Dr. Klaus-Henning Gypser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 – 5 

The Significance of the History 

of the Materia Medica Homoeopathiae 

for the Contemporary Homeopathy 

André Röper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – 9 

A Joint Venture of Homeopathy 

Dr. Robert Goldmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 – 14 

Arzneimittelliste der Gudjons-Apotheke . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 – 17 

The Procedures 

of the Materia Medica Revisa 

Homoeopathiae Project 

Doris Barzen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 – 19 

The “Materia Medica Revisa 

Homoeopathiae” - a Tool for 

“True Practitioners of the Healing Art” 

Dr. Dominik Müller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 – 22 

Cyclamen 

Ewa Kowzan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 – 26 

Clematis 

Dr. Robert Goldmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 – 28 

Hahnemann’s Remedy Treasure for the Practice – 

The Complete Materia Medica 

Dr. Christian Lucae and 

Dr. Matthias Wischner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 – 33 

1

2 

EDITORIAL 

The cure will occur with “mathematical certainty” when the symptoms of the patient are 

treated with a remedy that produced similar symptoms in the remedy proving in healthy 

persons. 

As brazen and simple as this law is, yet as difficult it is to find the 

“right remedy” for the symptoms elicited in a patient. You all 

know how many conditions have to be met. To mention just a few: 

The symptoms should be complete; there should be symptoms 

from every level; from the symptoms elicited the “right ones” have 

to be weighted. And when finally you choose the remedy of the 

highest weight, it is easy to come up with the wrong one, if you 

don’t know the intrinsic character of the remedy, i.e. the “remedy 

picture” and if you misjudge the patient. 

But in any case you have to be able to rely upon the correctness of 

the symptoms in our repertories. Behind them stand the collected 

proving symptoms and all clinical symptoms from various sources. 

“What actually are our sources?” I asked myself. Can you rely upon their correctness? Who - 

beside Hahnemann and his pupils, Hering, Kent, ... - collected keenly observed symptoms in 

remedy provings? How many clinical and toxicological symptoms have been amassed and collated? 

Which observations from additionally occurring symptoms when taking a remedy - socalled 

intercurative concomitant symptoms - are there to confirm the correctness of existing 

collections of symptoms? 

In 2008, while homeopathy already exists for more than 200 years, there are still many questions 

regarding the most important tool of the homeopath. 

In this volume you find answers to some questions regarding the existence, reliability and rearrangement 

of our “basic tools”.

ABOUT THE REVISION OF THE MATERIA MEDICA 

When on the 10th of April 1844 under the 

auspices of Constantine Hering (1800- 

1880) the American Institute of Homoeopathy 

was constituted the central purpose of the society 

was expressed as follows in the first paragraph of 

the founding articles: “The revision and the augmentation 

of the materia medica.” Thus the pages 

13-253 of the first volume of the proceedings already 

included new provings, 

i.e. those of benzoicum 

acidum, fluoricum 

acidum, oxalicum acidum, 

elaterium, eupatorium perfoliatum, 

kalmia, lobelia inflata, 

lobelia carinata, 

podophyllum, sanguinaria, 

und triosetum perfoliatum, 

even with an repertorial 

analysis in the addendum. 

But what about the fate of 

the announced revision of 

the materia medica? In spite 

of various efforts up to 

the present day, it remained 

unexecuted. At a first glance 

it might surprise that Hering, 

who again and again made this project an issue, 

considered the execution of it necessary already 

in 1844. If you consider the status of the materia 

medica at that time it might not even appear 

so extensive. But still it had reached a scope that 

did not permit the individual practitioner to make 

use of it for his daily work to its full extent. Beside 

the numerous works published as books journals 

had also been added, that contained more remedy 

provings, but mainly case histories, i.e. clinical 

experiences. The latter are of considerable 

importance when you have to render fuzzy proving 

symptoms precise and to determine polari- 

DR. KLAUS-HENNING GYPSER 

Constantin Hering 

ties. But even a practitioner who possessed all publications 

couldn’t possibly study all scattered provings 

and case histories of the remedies that came 

into question for a given case to decide on a 

simillimum. 

Against this background it becomes understandable 

why Hering considered a collection of all reliable 

sources of the materia 

medica, sorted by remedies, 

distinguishing between 

pathogenetic and clinical 

symptoms, and arranged 

according to the 

traditional head-to-foot 

schema, an indispensable 

tool for any practitioner. 

What about the state of affairs 

today? In spite of the 

support from the area of 

electronic data processing 

it is not possible as a routine 

in a given case to gain 

access to the provings and 

especially to the clinical experiences, 

whose numbers 

increased significantly 

since Herings’s times and which are recorded 

in more than 700 journals. The goal set by the materia 

medica revision project is to remedy this deficiency. 

In 1982 the author , encouraged by the monographs 

of one of his teachers, Georg von Keller 

(1919-2003), and supported by colleagues, started 

to lay the first foundations for this revision: The 

worldwide published homeopathic journals were 

listed, provided with three-letter abbreviations and 

published as “Bibliotheca homoeopathica” by 

Baur, Gypser, Keller, Thomas (Gouda 1984). Thus 

3

4 


it became possible to investigate which literature 

beside the one published in books, had to be mastered 

and how the corresponding sources had to 

be abbreviated in a consistent way. 

The next step was to collect the 

literature as originals, photocopies 

or on microfilm. This endeavor 

was often time consuming 

and not seldom dependent on 

fortunate coincidences, but meanwhile 

it was possible to learn 

from Keller - especially in the years 

1986-1990 - how he proceeded 

to compile his monographs. 

Simultaneously, we started with 

the sighting of the literature in 

journals was started with the intention 

to compile directories of 

published provings and case histories, sorted by 

remedy names, whereby from 2000 on first collaborators 

helped. 

Meanwhile an appropriate schema to arrange the 

symptoms was 

being worked 

out, including the 

bibliographic documentation 

and 

the first monograph 

- Dulcamara 

- compiled, 

which was essentially 

completed 

as early as 2000. 

But its publication 

could not be dared 

yet because 

the overall concept, which should not be something 

of a fleeting start, had first to stand a tho- 

Bibliotheca homoeopathica 

Georg von Keller 

rough examination by others. With Dr. med. Robert 

Goldmann and Dr. Peter Minder the author 

won engaged collaborators. After being properly 

introduced to the procedures they compiled monographs 

of rhododendron and capsicum respectively. 

In the course of the 

successful compilation of these 

monographs the overall concept 

proved to be sustainable and workable, 

so that special acquisition 

software could be commissioned 

and all could be established on a 

broader basis. 

By this time the number of diligent 

collaborators involved in the 

project, carried out at the “Gleeser 

Akademie homöopathischer 

Ärzte”, rose to more than 20 and 

in different fields: indexing, acquisition and administration 

of literature, allocation of sources, design 

and maintenance of software, data acquisition, 

proof reading, publication and organization. 

On this solid basis the preparations for further monographs 

could 

be undertaken. 

Just recently the 

time-consuming 

work r eceived 

generous financial 

support from 

homeopathic circles, 

for whose 

commitment we 

are very grateful. 

By the end of 

2007, 25 years 

after the beginning, the first volumes could be presented 

to the colleagues: “Einführung” [Intro-


duction], “Dulcamara”, and “Rhododendron”, 

meanwhile followed by “Capsicum”, “Clematis” 

and “Cyclamen”. Numerous others are at the stage 

of being printed or of collating the symptoms. 

Information about the current state of publication 

is available under www.gypser-verlag.de. 

Dulcamara 

Contact: 

Gleeser Akademie homöopathischer Ärzte 

Dr. med. Klaus-Henning Gypser 

Wassenacher Str. 3 

D-56653 Glees 

Germany 

E-mail: info@gypser-verlag.de 

5

6 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HISTORY 

OF THE MATERIA MEDICA HOMOEOPATHIAE 

FOR THE CONTEMPORARY HOMEOPATHY 

Why could it be useful to reflect once again upon 

the history and the development of the 

homeopathic materia medica? Which insights and 

consequences for action could be gained for the 

contemporary homeopath? Does it make any sense 

to adhere to and to pursue the old methods, whereas 

the traditional medicine for example builds upon 

progress, that renders yesterday’ s knowledge 

rapidly obsolete, making it unusable and in which 

salvation of the sick is anticipated from a “maybe” 

lying in a possible future”? Should homeopathy also 

occupy an exceptional position in this respect 

and be satisfied with the care of knowledge from 

the past? Certainly! 

It is a real blessing that homeopathy does not succumb 

to the interplay of ever-changing doctrines 

and that the prescribing practitioner doesn’t have 

to have fear that the medicine given to a patient, 

which a short time ago was highly praised, is taken 

from the market for being too toxic, so that the 

patient now can only be consoled by the fact that 

one didn’t know any better at the time. 

In homeopathy the practitioner may have recourse 

to the 200 years old wealth of experience, that has 

been confirmed for generations by many practitioners 

with remarkable cures, sometimes bordering 

on wonders and that go on being confirmed 

again and again. 

This ensues from the fact that the knowledge about 

the curative possibilities of the remedies does not 

originate from experiments on animals or is based 

on mere assumptions, that are changing all the 

time, but was acquired by the proving on healthy 

persons. The powers of the remedies were “witnessed 

from nature” in an honest way so to speak. 

ANDRÉ RÖPER 

The fact that remedies in “low” doses - typical for 

remedy provings, produce disease symptoms - is 

often contested and not believed. But as far as this 

is concerned the question should not be a matter 

of belief, but as Hahnemann already recommended 

to his critics, one’s own experience should be decisive. 

Without exception all those who took Hahnemann 

at his word and followed his advice lost 

all their doubts and were fully convinced. 

To give just one example out of many , one might 

mention the “Verein homöopathischer Ärzte Österreichs 

für physiologische Arzneimittelprüfungen” 

[Association of homeopathic practitioners of Austria 

for physiological proving of remedies], whose 

members did not want simply to accept the quality 

of Hahnemann’s provings as true and therefore 

repeated provings. Freed from any doubts, they 

went on serving homeopathy and assisted in furthering 

the materia medica. 

After this attempt to show the constant character 

of the foundations of homeopathy which at the 

same time answers the question asked in the beginning, 

we will turn now to the history of the materia 

medica. 

It all started with Hahnemann’ s article “Versuch 

über ein neues Prinzip zur Auffindung der 

Heilkräfte der Arzneisubstanzen” [Essay on a new 

principle to detect the healing powers of the curative 

substances], published in 1796 in Hufelands 

Journal, the leading medical journal of the time. 

Herein the symptoms of poisonings, which Hahnemann 

excerpted from the available literature 

as well as ICCS 1 symptoms from his own practice, 

build the foundation stone of the new, reliable materia 

medica.




In 1805 provings on healthy persons were added, 

recorded in the “Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum” 

and which later on were systematically 

continued in the “Pure Materia Medica” (1811- 

1821). MeanwhileHahnemann 

not only 

performed provings 

on himself 

and his family , 

but during his 

time in Leipzig 

(1811-1821) also 

faithful disciples 

had converted 

to his new curative 

art, and 

took part in the 

detection of the 

powers of the 

remedies with 

great eagerness. 

In 1822 the 

“Archiv für die 

homöopathische 

Heilkunst”, a 

journal published 

three times a year, 

founded by E. 

Stapf and G. W . 

Groß, was established, 

among 

other things to 

make the remedy provings available to the medical 

profession faster and more directly. 

This prepared the ground for further journals and 

periodicals that promoted the enlargement and the 

Hahnemanns „Fragmenta“ 

widening of the homeopathic materia medica. To 

mention just a few of the numerous periodicals: 

The “Praktischen Mittheilungen der correspondierenden 

Gesellschaft” were founded in 

1826. In 1832 

the “Annalen der 

homöopathischen 

K linik” 

which reported 

from Germany’ s 

first homeopathic 

hospital. In 1832 

the “Allgemeine 

homöopathische 

Zeitschrift” [General 

homeopathic 

journal] was 

added, which 

continues up to 

this day without 

interruption, thus 

being second regarding 

its duration 

of publication 

among medical 

journals 

worldwide; and 

in 1855 the “Correspondenzblatt 

der 

homöopathischen 

Ärzte”. 

It’s obvious that the homeopaths also published a 

vast number of their cured cases in these journals, 

which on one hand verified the proving symptoms 

and on the other hand, paraphrasing the words of 

Georg von Keller, provided the raw material ob- 

7

8 




tained from the healthy in the provings with the 

necessary contours and the right finish 2 . Additionally 

toxicological reports from traditional medical 

journals were noted and incorporated, because 

one knew that their value equals the one 

from proving symptoms. 

In the meantime Hahnemann published his 

“Chronic Diseases” (1828-1830) which incorporated 

a part of the 

remedies from 

the “Pure Materia 

Medica” in extended 

form, as 

well as remedy 

provings p ublished 

in journals. 

At the same 

time C. G. C. Hartlaub 

and C. F . 

Trinks made their 

appearance with 

a “Pure Materia 

Medica” (1828-1830). 

Other r emedy p rovings p ublished a s b ooks f ollowed. 

Among others “Die Muskatnuß” [Nutmeg] 

(1833) by Helbig, the “Amerikanischen Arzneimittelprüfungen” 

[American Remedy Provings] 

(1857) by Hering, “Homöopathische Erfahrungen” 

[Homeopathic Experiences] (1862) by Wolf, “Der 

Phosphor” [ Phosphorus] ( 1862) b y S orge, t he 

“Materia Medica of American Provings” (1866) 

again by Hering, “Materia Medica - Physiological 

and Applied” (1884) by Drysdale et al., and “A Materia 

Medica of Nosodes” (1888) by Swan. 

It is obvious that soon the necessity of collections 

of the wealth of published material arose, in order 

to ensure an overview of what was available 

Allen´s „Encyclopedia“ 

for practical use. Therefore works like the following 

were published: “Systematische Darstellung 

der reinen Arzneiwirkungen” [Systematic Account 

of the Pure Effects of Remedies] (1826) by C. G. 

H. Hartlaub; the “Materialien zu einer vergleichenden 

Arzneimittellehre” [Materials for a Comparative 

Materia Medica] (1826) by Schweikert, 

and “Ausführlicher Symptomen-Kodex der 

Homöopathischen Arzneimittellehre” [Extensive 

Symptom Codex 

of the Homeopathic 

Materia 

Medica] (1843) 

by G. H. G. Jahr . 

The latter was 

one of the first to 

see the necessity 

to differentiate 

purely pathogenetic 

from verified 

and purely 

clinical symptoms 

and to distinguish 

them visually. 

T. F. Allen succeeded in publishing the first “monumental 

work”, the “Encyclopedia of Pure Materia 

Medica” 1875-1879, which comprises ten volumes 

and contains most of the remedies that had 

been proved till then. 

Another homeopath, who saw the necessity to collate 

all material accrued and to arrange it systematically, 

“so that everybody is enabled to see 

more at a glance (of the capability of a remedy)” 

was nobody less than the great Hering. In order 

to accomplish his project he appealed to the colleagues 

to build an association already in 1832 in 

an article “Über eine gemeinsame Aufgabe einer 

Arzneimittel” [About the Common Task of a Ma-




teria Medica] because he was aware that the enormous 

amount of material would be difficult to master 

alone. In the end Hering’s meritorious activity 

resulted in the ten volumes of the “Guiding Symptoms 

of Our Materia Medica (1879-1891), which 

after his death in 1880 was finalized by his collaborators 

Raue, Mohr, and Knerr. 

Although the last mentioned standard works are 

of great significance and incalculable value, at the 

time of publication they were incomplete already 

and also contained not trifling deficiencies. 3 

More than 100 years passed since then. Many new 

contributions further enriched the literature. About 

the end of the golden age of American homeopathy, 

i.e. after 1910, the remedy provings decreased 

both in quantity and quality. A search for important 

works which pick up Hering’s initial idea and 

unite old and new sources as well as clinical symptoms 

and try to make them assessable, is to no 

avail. To some extent the only exception worth 

mentioning are the three volumes of “A Dictionary 

of Materia Medica” (1900) by J. H. Clarke, but this 

work is also not much more recent than the other 

two standard works. 

The homeopath Georg von Keller (1919-2003), 

who practiced in Tübingen, was the first to point 

out again the necessity to revise the materia medica. 

Therefore he made it his business to extend 

his private homeopathic collection of books by 

purchasing books from all over the world. Over 

the years his library attained a considerable size, 

which finally could be used to “scrutinize” the literature 

now accessible to him for remedy provings, 

case histories and toxicological reports of a 

remedy. The praiseworthy fruits of his work are 

14 symptom collections of homeopathic remedies 

(1973-1987), including remedies like conium, 

psorinum and ignatia. 

Unfortunately not everyone recognises the necessity 

of the materia-medica-revision-project fully . 

Nevertheless with the publication of the first volumes 

of the “Materia Medica Revisa Homoeopathiae” 

obviously the moment has come to 

write a further chapter of the history of materia 

medica. 

Cand. med. André Röper 

Rehfuesstraße 35 

D-53115 Bonn 

Germany 

1 ICCS: Intracurative concomitant symptoms, i.e. symptoms that appear in the sick during the administration of 

a remedy during treatment, but which are never attended by a great deal of suffering, soon disappear again 

and belong to the pathogenesis of this remedy. Cf. Org VI, § 156. 

2 A small example shall make this clearer: In the remedy proving Pulsatilla thirst and thirstlessness occurs the same 

number of times (cf. RA II). But clinical experience showed clearly that the sick who needs pulsatilla almost 

always is thirstless and that therefore this polarity is essential to establish the smiliarity relation. 

3 Gypser, K.-H. “Zustand der homöopathischen Materia Medica” ZKH 36 (1992) 5ff. 

9

10 

I. The Initial Situation 

It’s no secret that the present state of the homeopathic 

materia medica has long been unable to fulfill 

the needs of daily practice. For historical reasons 

the deficiencies arise in different areas, only 

some of which shall be mentioned: 

- Remedy provings, repeated provings and case 

histories are scattered over a period of 200 years 

in international journals and are unavailable to 

most homeopathic practitioners. 

- The materia medica is not structured in such a 

clear way that symptoms will readily be found 

were you would expect them. 

- The repertories give the desired references to 

the materia medica only in a fuzzy way or even 

incorrectly. 

- A separation of pathogenetic from clinical symptoms 

as originally required has been achieved 

inadequately by categorizing them in grades and 

thus making the symptom difficult to evaluate. 

To further explain the two latter points: In the early 

days of homeopathy a separation of the symptoms 

elucidated in remedy provings in healthy persons 

from the symptoms cured at the sickbed was 

a matter of course. G. H. G. Jahr differentiated in 

his “Symptomen-Kodex” the verified proving symptoms 

from those cured in sick people, but not the 

symptoms that appeared in the proving1 , a fact that 

C. Hering emphasized as a peculiarity of Jahr’ s 

work. 2 J. T. Kent, on the other hand, marked the 

symptoms of his cured patients carefully in Allen’ s 

Encyclopedia3 and planned to consider only these 

verifications in his repertory beside the proving 

symptoms, whereby he discarded clinical symptoms 

that contradicted his provings. 4 But such a 

distinction regarding the origin of symptoms has 

A JOINT VENTURE 

OF HOMEOPATHY 

DR. ROBERT GOLDMANN 

been neglected in the further development of 

homeopathy. Unfortunately the classification into 

degrees often fails us and the prescription of remedies 

too often are built on sandy ground if we rely 

only upon the repertories for the choice of the 

remedy. 

II. An Example 

A case from daily practice shall illustrate this problematic 

issue: A 12year old boy with migraine recurring 

for years at regular intervals comes to the 

first anamnesis accompanied by his mother . Already 

when making the appointment by phone the 

mother mentioned the inexplicable aversion to butter 

which her son had developed recently. The later 

repertorization of the symptom led to a differential 

diagnosis of magnesia carbonica and sanguinaria. 

Consulting the sources for mag-c. it’ s 

striking that obviously there occured a change in 

meaning regarding the affinity towards “butter”. 

Hahnemann slightly changed the symptom from 

Hartlaub and Trinks “she doesn’t like warm food, 

she has an inclination toward butter and bread” 5 

into “she doesn’t like warm food, she only wants 

butter and bread (Htb. u. T r.)” 6 . In Allen’s Encyclopedia 

you find: “She does not relish warm food, 

has no inclination for bread and butter” 7 , obviously 

resulting from an error of translation and which 

probably explains the erroneous entry in Kent’ s 

repertory (by the way: “butter” now stands at 

“aversion” and “desire”), which unfortunately persists 

in contemporary repertories like “Synthesis” 

or “Complete”. By the way , mag-c. has been entered 

correctly in the other lineage of repertories 

by Bönninghausen and Boger: “appetite, inclination 

for butter” 8 and “appetite, desire for butter” 9 . 

Since the symptom, as far as we know, did not appear 

in the proving of mag-c., the young patient

eceived Sang. 10 , which turned out to be a helpful 

remedy. This may mean that even after careful 

anamnesis and correct weighting of the symptoms, 

there is no therapeutic success only because of the 

poor quality of our tools. In spite of many publications 

and an inflationary amount of homeopathic 

secondary literature during the past two decades, 

the essential basis of the homeopathic praxis, i.e. 

the remedy proving, is not reflected adequately in 

the repertory. 

III. Getting acquainted with the literature 

Once the necessity of a revision of the materia medica 

is recognized, access to the primary literature 

is necessary as well as training how to analyze these 

sources. The “Gleeser Akademie homöopathischer 

Ärzte” [Gleesian Academy of Homeopathic 

Physicians], founded in 2004, which defines itself 

as a place for scientific study and training, has at 

its disposal the most comprehensive library of 

A JOINT VENTURE OF HOMEOPATHY 

homeopathic literature worldwide, especially after 

the incorporation of the collection of books and 

journals bequeathed by G. v. Keller (1919-2003). 

A staff of homeopathic colleagues has grouped itself 

around this extraordinary literary fund and set 

itself the goal of analyzing this collection and in 

due consequence started the task under the su- 

Zeitschrift des Berliner Vereins homöopathischer Ärzte 

pervision of the editor, Dr. med. K.-H. Gypser, who 

has been preparing the revision for many years. 

To get an idea of the task you may start by reading 

all volumes of a homeopathic journal, preferably 

from the German speaking or Anglo-Saxon area. 11 

During the process of reading al remedy provings 

mentioned should immediately be s orted alphabetically 

in a separate file. In a second file all case 

histories are to be recorded sorted by the name of 

the remedy. 

In order to get acquainted with the subject matter, 

years ago the author examined the 60 volumes 

11

12 

of the “Zeitschrift des Berliner V ereins homöopathischer 

Ärzte” 12 and in doing so created the two 

above-mentioned files for this journal. At the same 

time, other collaborators went through other journals 

along the same lines, so that now there is a 

solid collection available for remedy provings and 

case histories that haven’t been published as books; 

this collection goes on growing and serves as an 

index to the remedies in preparation. By way of illustration, 

here is the register of gelsemium for the 

journal mentioned: 

Remedy provings 

ZBV 18(1899)410 

ZBV 22(1903)336 

ZBV 25(1906)311 

ZBV 35(1916)265-266 

Case histories 

ZBV 4(1885)361 

ZBV 5(1886)258 

ZBV 8(1889)471-472 

ZBV 13(1894)256, 262-263, 344 

ZBV 18(1899)81, 227-228 

ZBV 19(1900)138-139 

ZBV 21(1902)2 

ZBV 25(1906)314 

ZBV 31(1912)447-449 

ZBV 32(1913)129 

ZBV 36(1917)52 

ZBV 40(1923)187 

ZBV 53(1937)76-80 

ZBV 54(1938)350-353. 

At first sight going through the literature might look 

like a tedious exploration of a remote terrain, hardly 

appropriate to our modern, fast moving age of 

electronic word processing and simultaneous 

processes. But the one who really becomes engrossed 

in it, in many respects soon will find himself 

awarded by further outlooks on his way: knowl- 


edge of remedies will be consolidated, developments 

in the history of medicine and prevailing diseases 

become intelligible, working with international 

homeopathic literature from two centuries 

soon becomes an easy job, and quite obviously the 

quality of the elicitation of symptoms in your own 

practice is trained, which again benefits the patients. 

IV. Entering a remedy 

At this stage there is a supervised introduction into 

the actual materia medica project. There you 

learn how to handle the electronic acquisition software 

which is put at our disposal and was programmed 

especially for this revision. The first step 

consists of entering the chosen remedy proving into 

the modified head-to-food schema with the help 

of this computer program that is rather matured 

by now. When entering the case histories later on, 

one has to take care only to include case reports 

which are as reliable as possible. Treatments where 

several remedies had been administered in close 

proximity or where other non-homeopathic therapies 

had been applied (e.g. parallel administration 

of an antibiotic beside rhododendron in a case 

of orchitis) will not be recorded. Also such case 

histories where the change of symptoms has not 

been described exactly enough, so that it remains 

open which symptoms disappeared after the administration 

of the remedy continue to constitute 

a problem. 13 In case of doubt a manual with detailed 

information about the compilation of sources 

and symptoms helps the compiler along. 

In the beginning of the collaboration in this revision 

project it is advisable to choose a smaller remedy 

with a reasonable number of symptoms for 

processing, which at the same time has its place 

in clinical practice. Thus our understanding of materia 

medica is deepened and at the same time

widened, without unduly overstraining our capacities 

regarding time or loosing sight of the envisioned 

goal. Questions arising during the processing 

of remedies are discussed with experienced 

collaborators directly and then decided in 

the spirit of the 

project, so that 

everybody partakes 

in a continuous 

learning 

process together 

with the others, 

which again has 

a positive effect 

on one’ s own 

homeopathic 

work. 


view: After all, homeopathy itself is at issue. For us 

medical doctors, who have recognized in the methods 

and the results of this kind of treatment more 

than a sophisticated system of therapeutic devotion 

in accordance to human needs, the task is set 

to review the scattered 

remedy 

provings and case 

histories and to 

arrange them in a 

clear manner. 

V. Outlook 

When in 1864 C. 

Hering, the 

nestor of American 

homeopathy, 

announced a big 

encyclopedic 

project both in 

the Old and in 

the New W orld, 

which should be 

“indispensable” for any “really artistic therapy” 14 

With good reason 

the training to become 

a homeopathic 

physician 

should be connected 

with a participation 

in a 

remedy proving, 

because one’s own 

experience gives 

security and develops 

c ritical 

skills which cannot 

be gained in 

seminars. 

he certainly had a smaller timeframe in mind than 

almost one and a half centuries until such a compilation 

would be available at least in outlines. But, 

on closer inspection, the timeframe seems rather 

of secondary importance from today’ s point of 

15 Then 

Rhododendron 

why not also work 

out a remedy from 

the proving at the healthy person up to the analysis 

of the reports of cures from the abundant literature? 

In this way, and independently from the 

different contemporary schools, the standard of 

homeopathy could be put on a safer , more reliable 

and modern basis. 

Dr. med. Robert Goldmann 

Täubchenstrasse 11 

D-14163 Berlin 

Germany 

13

14 

1 Jahr, G.H.G. Ausführlicher Symptomen-Kodex der 

Homöopathischen A rzneimittellehre. L eipzig 1 848. 

Reprint Hamburg 1997, p. XXXVII. 

2 Herings medizinische Schriften. K.-H. Gypser (ed.). 

Bd. III. Göttingen 1988, 1006. [MS] 

3 Kent’s M inor W ritings o n H omoeopathy. K .-H. 

Gypser (ed.). Heidelberg 1987, 95 [MW] 

4 MW, S. 727 

5 Hartlaub, C. G. C. und C. . FTrinks. 

Reine Arzneimittellehre. 

Bd. II. Leipzig 1829. Reprint Hamburg (without 

year), p. 274, symptom no 258 [HT]. 

6 Hahnemann, S. Die chronischen Krankheiten. Bd. 

IV. Dresden und Leipzig. 1838 (11830). 4th reprint 

Heidelberg 1988, p. 150, symptom no 295. [CK] 

7 Allen, T. F. The Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica. 

Vo. VI., reprint New Delhi 1985 (11877), p. 94, 

symptom no 349. [EN] 

8 Bönninghausen, C. v. Systematisch-Alphabetisches 

Repertorium der Homöopathischen Arzneien. Münster 

1833/35, repint München without year, p. 77. 

9 Boger, C. M. Boenninghausn’s Characteristics and 

Repertory, Reprint Edition. New Delhi 1999, p. 475. 

10 Gypser, K.-H. u. A. W aldecker. Gesammelte 

Arzneimittelprüfungen a us S tapfs „ Archiv f ür d ie 

homöopathische Heilkunst“ (1822-1848), Bd. III. Heidelberg 

1991, p. 998, symptom 118: „Abneigung 

gegen Butter“ [aversion to butter]. 


11 From the 682 journals listed in the „Biblotheca Homoeopathica“ 

240 came from the USA, 45 from England. 

Baur, J., K.-H. Gypser , G. v . Keller u. P . W. 

Thomas. Biblotheca Homoeopathica. Vol. I: 

Zeitschriften. Gouda 1984. 

12 ZBV 1882-1909, continued as „Berliner 

homöopathische Zeitschrift“ (1910-1921), further continued 

as „Deutsche Zeitschrift für Homöopathie und 

deren Grenzgebiete“ (1922-1944). 

13 The potencies used in the remedy provings and 

case histories are omitted. How wide the possible spectrum 

of applied potencies is has been demonstrated 

by Pichiah Sankaran, who collected the statements 

about the question regarding potencies from various 

authors of most different oppionions and he lets them 

speak for themselves. Sankaran, P. Das Potenzproblem. 

ZKH 11(1967)256-268. 

14 AHR 4(1864)88 and AHZ 69(1864)88-92. 

15 “To play into the hands of such selfish persons, 

which do not contribute to the complete and indispensable 

construction of the indispensable building, 

which only want to take advantage from what others 

found and studied under effort, to hand over to them 

the profits of the scientific capital for consumation, for 

the acquisition of which they didn’ 

t contribute the slightest 

thing, well, this is asking too much.” Hahnemann, 

S. Vorerinnerung. In: Reine Arzneimittellehre. Zweiter 

Theil. 3. Auf.. Dresden und Leipzig 1833, 3. Reprint 

Heidelberg 1983, p. 29. [RA]

PREISLISTE 

15

16 

ARZNEIMITTELLISTE DER GUDJONS-APOTHEKE / JULI 2008 

● Abies canadensis 

Abies nigra 

Abrotanum 

Absinthium 

Acalypha indica 

Aceticum acidum 

● Acid. phenylaethylbarb. 

Acidum salicylicum 

Aconitum * 

Adonis vernalis 

Aesculus hippoc. 

Aethiops antimon. 

Aethusa cynapium 

Agaricus * 

Agnus castus * 

● Agraphis nutans 

Ailanthus gland. 

Alchemilla vulg. 

Alcoholus 

Aletris farinosa 

Alfalfa 

Allium cepa * 

Allium sativum 

Aloe soc. * 

Aloe vera * 

Alumen 

Alumina * 

● Alumina silicata 

Aluminium 

● Aluminium phos. 

● Amalgam 

Ambra * 

● Amethyst 

Ammonium carb. 

Ammonium mur. 

Anacardium orient. * 

Anagallis arv. 

Anantherum 

● Androctonus 

Angustura vera 

Anhalonium 

Anthemis nobilis 

Antimonium crud. * 

Antimonium tart. * 

● Apis male 

Apis mellifica * 

Apisinum * 

Apocynum cannab. 

Apomorphinum 

● Aqua Bad Ragaz 

Aqua marina 

Aralia racemosa 

Aranea diad. 

● Aranea diad. Hinterl. 

Argentum met. * 

Argentum muriaticum 

Argentum nitricum * 

● Argentum phos. 

Aristolochia clem. * 

Arnica * 

Arsenicum album * 

Arsenicum hydrogen. 

Arsenicum jodatum * 

Arsenicum met. 

Arsenicum sulf. flav. 

Artemisia vulg. 

Arum maculatum 

Arum triphyllum 

Arundo mauritanica 

Asa foetida 

Asarum europaeum 

Asparagus off. 

● Astacus 

Asterias rub. 

Atropinum sulfuricum 

Aurum ars. 

● Aurum bromatum 

Aurum colloidale 

Aurum jodatum 

Aurum met. * 

Aurum mur. nat. * 

Aurum muriaticum * 

Aurum sulfuratum 

Avena sativa 

● Ayahuasca 

● Bacillinum 

● Badiaga 

Bambus 

Baptisia 

Barium aceticum 

Barium carb. * 

Barium jodatum 

Barium muriaticum 

● Barium phos. 

Barium sulf. 

Basalt 

● BCG Vaccine 

Belladonna * 

Bellis perennis * 

Benzoicum acid. 

Berberis * 

Berberis aquifolium 

● Bilirubinum 

Bismutum metallicum 

Bismutum subnitricum 

● Blatta americana 

● Blatta orientalis 

Borax * 

● Bothrops lanceolatus 

Bovista 

● Brassica napus 

● Bromazanil ® 

Bromum * 

Bryonia * 

Bufo rana * 

Butyricum acidum 

Cactus * 

Cadmium sulph. 

Caladium seguinum 

Calcium ars. 

Calcium bromatum 

Calcium carb. * 

Calcium fluoratum * 

Calcium jod. * 

Calcium mur. 

Calcium phos. * 

● Calcium silicatum 

Calcium sulf. * 

● Calculus renalis 

Calendula * 

Camphora * 

Cantharis * 

Capsicum * 

Carbo animalis * 

Carbo veg. * 

Carbolicum acidum 

Carboneum sulf. 

● Carcinosinum 

Cardiospermum 

Carduus marianus 

● Castor equi 

Caulophyllum * 

Causticum * 

Ceanothus amer. 

● Cenchris 

Chamomilla * 

Chelidonium * 

Chelone glabra 

China * 

Chininum 

Chininum ars. * 

Chininum hydr. 

Chininum sulf. 

Chlorum 

Chocolate 

● Cholesterolum 

Chromium oxidatum 

Cicuta virosa 

Cimicifuga * 

Cina * 

Cinnabaris 

Cinnamomum 

● Citrullus lanatus 

● Citrus limonum 

Citrus vulg. 

● Cladonia rangiferina 

Clematis recta * 

Cobaltum nitricum 

● Coca Cola ® 

● Coccinella sept. 

Cocculus * 

● Coccus cacti 

Cochlearia arm. 

● Codeinum phos. 

Coffea cruda * 

● Coffea tosta 

Colchicum * 

Collinsonia canad. 

Colocynthis * 

● Comocladia 

Condurango 

Conium * 

Convallaria 

Copaiva 

Corallium rubrum * 

● Cortisonum 

Crataegus oxyacantha 

Crocus sativus * 

● Crotalus horridus 

Croton tiglium * 

● Culex musca 

Cuprum arsenic. 

Cuprum metallicum * 

● Cuprum phos. 

Cuprum sulfuricum 

Curare 

Cyclamen * 

● Cymbopogon citr. 

Cypripedium pub. 

Cytisus laburnum 

Diamant 

● Diazepam 

Digitalis * 

Dioscorea vill. 

● Dipsacus silvestris 

● Dolichos pruriens 

● Dopamin 

● Doryphora 

● DPT Vaccine 

Drosera * 

● DT Vaccine 

Dulcamara * 

● Eagleblood 

Echinacea angustif. 

Eichhornia crassipes 

● Elaphomyces 

● Elaps corallinus 

Elaterium off. 

● Encepur 

Ephedra vulgaris 

Equisetum hyemale 

Erigeron canad. 

Eucalyptus globulus 

Eupatorium perf. * 

Euphorbium 

Euphrasia * 

Fabiana imbr. 

Fagopyrum esculentum 

Ferrum ars. 

Ferrum jodatum 

Ferrum metallicum * 

Ferrum muriaticum 

Ferrum phosphor. * 

Ficus religiosa 

Filipendula ulmaria 

Fluoricum acidum * 

● Formica rufa 

Formicicum acidum 

Fragaria vesca 

● FSME Vaccine ® 

Fucus vesiculosus 

● Funiculus umbilicalis 

● Gadus morrhua 

● Galanthus nivalis 

Galega 

Gallicum acidum 

Galphimia glauca 

● Gammastrahlen 

● Gardasil® Impfstoff 

● Gelee royale 

Gelsemium * 

● Gentiana acaulis 

Geranium robertianum 

● Germanium 

Ginkgo biloba 

Ginseng 

● Gletscherwasser 

Glonoinum * 

Gnaphalium polyceph. 

Gossypium herbaceum 

Granatum 

Granit 

Graphites * 

Gratiola off. 

Grindelia robusta 

Guajacum 

● Guaninum 

Gummi arabicum 

● Gunpowder 

Hamamelis * 

Harpagophytum proc. 

Hedera helix 

Hekla lava * 

Helleborus * 

● Heloderma 

Hepar sulfuris * 

● Hepatitis A Vaccine 

● Hepatitis B Vaccine 

● Heracleum 

Hippomane man. 

● Hippomanes 

Hippuricum acidum 

● Homarus 

Hura brasiliensis 

Hydrastis * 

Hydrocotyle asiatica 

Hydrogenium 

● Hydrophis 

Hyoscyamus * 

Hypericum * 

Ignatia * 

● Ilex mate 

Indium metallicum 

● Infanrix hexa ® Vacc. 

● Influenza Vacc. 

● Interferonum 

Ipecacuanha * 

Iridium metallicum 

Iris * 

Jaborandi 

Jodum * 

Juglans regia 

● Juncus effusus 

Juniperus communis 

Kalium ars. * 

Kalium bichromicum * 

Kalium bromatum 

Kalium carbonicum * 

Kalium chloricum 

Kalium cyan. 

● Kalium ferrocyanatum 

Kalium jodatum * 

Kalium mur. 

Kalium nitricum 

Kalium phos. * 

● Kalium silicatum 

Kalium sulf. * 

Kalmia 

Karlsbad Mühlenbr. 

Karlsbad Sprudel 

● Katha edolis 

Kreosotum * 

● Lac asinum 

● Lac cameli 

● Lac caninum

ARZNEIMITTELLISTE DER GUDJONS-APOTHEKE / JULI 2008 

● Lac caprinum 

● Lac defloratum 

● Lac delphinum 

● Lac equinum 

● Lac felinum 

● Lac humanum 

● Lac ovinum 

● Lachesis * 

● Lachnanthes tinct. 

Lacticum acidum 

Lactuca virosa 

Lamium album 

Lapis albus 

● Lapis lazuli 

● Larix decidua 

● Larus argentatus 

Lathyrus sativus 

Latrodectus mac. * 

Laurocerasus off. * 

Ledum * 

Lemna minor 

● Leontopodium alp. 

● Leopardschnurrbart 

● Leukeran ® 

Lilium tigrinum * 

Limestone 

● Limulus cyclops 

● Linognathus 

Lithium carb. 

Lobelia inflata 

● Luesinum 

Luffa operculata 

Luna 

Lycopodium * 

Lycopus virginicus 

● Lyssinum 

Magnesium carb. * 

● Magnesium fluoratum 

● Magnesium hydroxyd 

Magnesium mur. * 

Magnesium phos. * 

Magnesium sulf. 

Magnetis pol. arct. 

Magnetis pol. austr. 

Magnetis poli ambo 

● Manasarova 

Mandragora off. 

Manganum acet. 

Manganum carb. * 

Marble 

● Masern Vaccine 

● Mater perlarum 

● Medorrhinum * 

● Medusa 

● Melatonin 

Melilotus alba 

Melilotus officinalis 

Mentha piperita 

Menyanthes trifoliata 

● Mephites putorius 

Merc. jod. rub. 

● Merc. praec. albus 

● Merc. praec. flav. 

Mercurialis perennis 

Mercurius corr. 

Mercurius cyan. 

● Mercurius oxid. rub. 

Mercurius sol. * 

Mercurius vivus H. * 

● Methotrexat 

Mezereum * 

Millefolium 

● MMR Vaccine 

● Mondstein 

● Moschus 

● Mumio = Asphalt 

● Murex 

Muriaticum acid. * 

● Musa paradisiaca 

Myristica seb. 

Myrrha 

Naja trip. * 

Natrium ars. 

Natrium brom. 

Natrium carb. * 

Natrium fluor. 

● Natrium hydroxyd 

Natrium jod. 

Natrium mur. * 

● Natrium mur. Tibet 

● Natrium nitricum 

Natrium phos. 

Natrium sal. 

Natrium sil. 

Natrium sulf. * 

Neon 

Niccolum 

Nicotinum 

● Niobium sulfuricum 

Nitricum acidum * 

Nuphar luteum 

Nux mosch. * 

● Nux mosch. e rad. 

Nux vomica * 

Ocimum basilicum 

Ocimum sanctum 

Oenanthe aquatica 

Okoubaka aubrevillei * 

Oleander 

● Oleum animale 

● Oleum jecoris aselli 

Olibanum sacrum * 

● Olivin 

● Oniscus asellus 

Opium * 

● Opuntia vulgaris 

Origanum majorana 

Origanum vulgare 

● Ornithogalum umb. 

● Oryza s. flores 

● Ossa sepiae 

● Ovi gallinae pellicula 

● Oxalat - Nierenstein 

Oxalicum acidum 

Oxygenium 

● Ozon 

Paeonia officinalis 

Palladium met. 

Paris quadrifolia 

Passiflora incarnata 

● Pecten jacobaeus 

● Pentavac ® 

● Pertussis Vacc. 

Petasites 

Petiveria tetrandra 

Petroleum * 

● Petroleum (Rohöl) 

Petroselinum sativum 

Phosphoricum acid. * 

Phosphorus * 

Physostigma ven. 

Physostigminum 

Phytolacca * 

Picrinicum acid. * 

Pilocarpinum 

Piper methysticum 

● Placenta 

Plantago major 

Platinum met. * 

Platinum muriaticum 

Plumbum aceticum 

Plumbum met. * 

Podophyllum * 

● Polio-oral virelon ® vacc. 

● Pollen-Mix 

● Polyaethylen-Plastik 

Populus tremuloides 

● Prednisolonum 

● Prionurus australis 

● Propolis 

Prunus spinosa 

● Psorinum 

● Psylocybe cub. 

● Psylocybe cyan. 

● Psylocybe mex. 

● Ptelea trifoliata 

Pulsatilla prat. * 

● Pyrogenium * 

Quassia amara 

● Quercus 

● Rabivac ® 

Ranunculus bulb. 

Ranunculus sceleratus 

Raphanus sativus 

Ratanhia peruviana 

Rauwolfia serpentina 

Rheum * 

Rhododendron chry. 

Rhus tox. * 

● Rhus venenata 

● Ribes rubrum 

Ricinus communis 

Robinia pseudacacia 

● Rosa damascena 

Rosmarin off. 

● Röteln Vacc. 

● Rubin 

Rubus fruct. 

Rubus idaeus 

Rumex * 

Ruta * 

Sabadilla 

Sabal serrulata 

Sabina 

Saccharum album 

● Salix alba 

● Salvia divinorum 

Salvia officinalis 

Sambucus nigra * 

Sanguinaria * 

● Sanguis draconi 

Sanicula aqua * 

Sarothamnus scoparius 

Sarsaparilla off. 

● Scarlatinum 

Scrophularia nodosa 

● Secale cereale 

Secale cornutum * 

Selenium 

Senega off. 

Sepia * 

● Serotoninum 

● Serum anguillae 

Silicea * 

Sinapis nigra 

● Sodalith 

Sol 

Solanum lycopersicum 

Solanum nigrum 

Solanum tub. 

Solidago virg. * 

● Sphingurus 

Spigelia * 

Spongia * 

Squilla maritima 

Stannum met. * 

Staphisagria * 

Sticta * 

Stramonium * 

Strontium carbonicum 

● Strontium metallicum 

Strophantus hisp. 

Strychninum nitr. 

Strychninum purum 

Succinum purum 

Sulfur * 

Sulfur jodatum 

Sulfuricum acid. * 

Symphoricarpus 

Symphytum off. * 

Syzygium jambol. 

Tabacum * 

Tarantula hisp. * 

Taraxacum officinale 

Taxus baccata 

Tellurium met. 

Terebinthina 

● Terminalia arjuna 

● Tetanol ® Vacc. 

● Tetraclinis articulata 

Teucrium marum verum 

Thallium aceticum 

Thallium metallicum 

● Thallium sulfuricum 

Thea sinensis 

Thlaspi bur. past. 

Thuja * 

● Thymolum 

Thymus vulgaris 

● Thyreoidinum 

● Tigerschnurrbart 

Tilia europaea 

● Triticum e seminibus 

● Tuberculinum bov. 

● Tuberculinum Koch * 

● Twinrix ® Vacc. 

● Uricum acidum 

Urtica dioica 

Urtica urens * 

Ustilago maydis 

Uva ursi 

Valeriana off. 

● Venus mercenaria 

Veratrum album * 

Veratrum viride 

Verbascum * 

● Vermiculite 

● Vespa crabro 

● Viagra ® 

● Vibhuti 

Viburnum opulus 

Vinca minor 

Viola odorata 

Viola tricolor * 

● Vipera aspis 

Vipera berus 

● Virus reg. ap. 

Viscum alb. 

● Weiße Lilie 

Wiesb. Kochbr. 

Wolfram 

X-Ray 

Xanthoxylum am. 

● Yohimbinum 

● Yttrium sulfuricum 

Zincum aceticum 

Zincum metall. * 

Zincum phos. 

Zincum val. 

Zingiber officinale 

● Zirconium phos. 

● Diese Arzneien sind ausschließlich 

direkt über die 

Gudjons-Apotheke erhältlich. 

* Diese Arzneien sind in 

C30, C200 und C1000 

auch als Einzeldosis (12 

große Globuli = 0,5 gr.) 

verfügbar 

Sie haben Ihre gewünschte 

Arznei auf dieser Liste nicht 

gefunden? – Wir besorgen 

Ihnen jede erhältliche Arznei 

weltweit. 

Gudjons Apotheke 

Wankelstr. 1 

D-86391 Stadtbergen 

Tel.: +49 821 4441000 

Fax: +49 821 4441001 

www.gudjons-apotheke.de 

17

18 

THE PROCEDURES OF THE MATERIA MEDICA REVISA 

HOMOEOPATHIAE PROJECT 

In order to set about a project of this scope first 

you need an elaborate concept. The goal consists 

in listing as completely as possible all proving 

and cured symptoms published up to now for 

a given remedy. A considerable difficulty in doing 

so lies in the old journals and books that hardly 

ever include an adequate 

index, so that normally a 

lot of preparatory work is 

necessary to find provings 

and case histories. 

In order to be able to find 

the articles which contain 

appropriate symptoms in 

the variety of accumulated 

literature, it became necessary 

to scan through 

journals and books for 

possible provings, case 

histories or toxicological 

symptoms to compile indexes 

for the respective 

works. Therefore in the 

beginning separate indexes 

were compiled for the 

most important journals and books, in which the 

sources of the proving symptoms and the utilizable 

case histories (where it must be clear that the 

symptoms described were cured by the remedy in 

question) are listed separately - sorted alphabetically 

according to the remedies. Even if a lot has 

been achieved by many collaborators, this work 

cannot yet be considered finished. The amount of 

sources to be analyzed is enormous indeed. For 

example the ZBV (Zeitschrift des Berliner Vereins 

homöopathischer Ärzte) was published in more 

than 60 volumes and the AHZ (Allgemeine 

homöopathische Zeitung) up to now in more than 

DORIS BARZEN 

Partial view of Dr. Gypsers’s library 

250 volumes. Therefore the compilation in preparation 

of the project took several thousand hours. 

Additionally existing indexes are used, e.g. the “Index 

to Homoeopathic Provings” by T. I. Bradford, 

published in 1901 in Philadelphia, or the prefix 

to the remedies in C. Hering’s “Guiding Symptoms 

to Our Materia Medica”. 

Locating the sources mentioned 

also often poses 

difficulties, because journals 

occasionally changed 

their names several times 

and the numbering of the 

volumes sometimes was 

continued and started 

anew at the same time. 

For example the “Zeitschrift 

für homöopathische 

Klinik” was renamed 

after four years of publication 

(1852-1856) into 

“Neue Zeitschrift für 

homöopathische Klinik”. 

Often this journal is also 

quoted as “Hirschels 

Zeitung”, i.e. using the name of the editor . This example 

shows that in former times abbreviations for 

the journals were used, but not in a uniform way 

and therefore frequently it is difficult to trace the 

real name of the journal quoted. 

Based on all indexes, a list concerning the procedure 

of the sighting of literature was compiled 

which is continuously enlarged by further indexes. 

At the moment this list contains about 120 items, 

comprising a variety of provings, but much more 

often case histories, which on inspection often 

show that they again refer to other sources. On the

THE PROCEDURES OF THE MATERIA MEDICA REVISA 

basis of this list every remedy is processed, i.e. the 

sources listed are consulted in the library , after 

checking their suitability copied, a reference of the 

source added, noted down as copied in a file and 

then filed in folders. Care is taken that exclusively 

original sources are used, unless they are not 

available. This folder assembled for each remedy 

is handed over to the compiler of the remedy until 

the respective monograph is printed. Then it gets 

back to its place in the library of the “Gleeser 

Akademie” to serve as reference and to take in additions 

for the next edition. The work of copying 

a smaller remedy takes several weeks and results 

in one or two folders. 

The symptoms are entered on the computer into 

an acquisition program developed especially for 

this purpose. The order of the symptoms is the familiar 

head-to-foot schema. Clinical symptoms are 

differentiated from proving symptoms by placing 

them in square brackets. The bibliography is 

arranged into references for remedy provings, case 

histories and omitted case histories. Furthermore 

it is necessary to enter the names of the provers 

and their abbreviations. At the end the compiler 

has the possibility to write an epilogue. This allows 

HOMOEOPATHIAE PROJECT 

him to present personal impressions, experiences 

or striking facts which arose during the work on 

the remedy. The acquisition program is designed 

in a way that the input is done in print format so 

that no further editing by the printing company is 

necessary. 

After the symptoms are entered, the compiler corrects 

his work according to a “systematic of correction”. 

Then a co-corrector receives a printout 

in order to do his corrections. After eradication 

of errors to be corrected by the author the editor 

receives the work for another examination. After 

these errors are rectified again by the compiler , 

the PDF-files are sent to the printing company by 

the publisher. 

The mentioned procedures on one side are bound 

to the “Gleeser Akademie homöopathischer Ärzte” 

and on the other side to the colleagues all over the 

country who work on a remedy. Only recently the 

attached library has been enriched by an extensive 

homeopathic legacy from the USA. T ogether 

with the library which Dr. Gypser has been collecting 

himself for more than 30 years, the MMRHproject 

is able to draw upon an extensive homeopathic 

collection of literature. 

Doris Barzen, Ärztin 

Kirchstr. 6 

D-54516 Flußbach 

Germany 

19

20 

THE “MATERIA MEDICA REVISA HOMOEOPATHIAE” 

A TOOL FOR “TRUE PRACTITIONERS OF THE HEALING ART” 

Lac caninum is a remedy which in daily practice 

often has quite a narrow “field of application”. 

Typical is the proverbial change of sides 

of lac caninum and a frequent indication is sore 

throat. In other sources you find numerous case 

histories about rheumatic complaints. Finally lac 

caninum is a remedy often applied successfully in 

cases of premenstrual mastodynia. In the course 

of the revision of lac caninum, I came across a really 

remarkable 

case history from 

Frederick 

William Payne 

(1845-1903) 

from Boston 1 . 

Payne shows in 

an brilliant exemplary 

m anner 

how even in a difficult 

c hronic 

case, s eemingly 

poor in symptoms, 

the similli- 

mum can be chosen 

with certainty. 

The [associated 

proving symptoms] from the “Materia Medica Revisa 

Homoeopathiae” are quoted in square brackets: 

“This is the case of a lady , 66 years of age. Six 

months before her visit to me she wakened, after 

a good night's rest, with a noticeable blur before 

the left eye, accompanied by a dull pain with sense 

of fullness and pressure and luminous flickerings 

in the whole visual field. She was subject to Hay 

fever, and at the time of the occurrence of the visual 

blindness, had had an attack of hard coughing, 

followed by the condition of blur , flickering 

DR. DOMINIK MÜLLER 

Ophthalmoscope, constructed about 1915 

Photo: Studio Hetzer, Obereichstätt 

and pressure, which rapidly increased until vision 

was almost entirely obliterated; though peripherally, 

in all parts, she was conscious of light and of 

moving objects, centrally no perception of vision 

remained. Accompanying the eye symptoms was 

much feeling of weight in the vertex extending to 

the forehead, with sense of tightness around the 

head, as of a band tightly drawn; in the blind retinal 

area she had occasional flickerings, as of the 

extinguishing of 

the flame of a 

lamp at intervals, 

while, always present, 

and occupying 

the same 

blind area, was a 

rolling motion, as 

of dark and light 

colored smoke, 

constantly curling 

before her . On 

ophthalmoscopic 

inspection, striae 

of opacity in both 

lenses were noticeable, 

while the 

left eye gave every 

evidence of having been subjected to a haemorrhage 

within the sheath of the left optic nerve, 

though no haemorrhagic spots were visible occupying 

any part of the retinal area. The symptoms 

of the case seemed difficult to cover, and owing to 

their profundity, gave much apprehension of a possible 

cerebral apoplexy supervening. On account 

of the central amblyopia, and the condition of vertigo 

with confusion, Crocus 200 was given, and the 

patient kept under its influence, with occasional 

repetition of the dose, for the four following 

months; during which evident gain in the pressed



feeling of head and eyes, and relief to the vertigo 

were markedly noticeable, though the eye gave no 

signs of clearing, and the objective manifestations 

in the visual field continued. Causticum, Conium 

and Crotalus horridus were prescribed at intervals, 

one at a time, of course, in succession, during the 

following seven months, and still the eye symptoms 

persisted. On carefully reviewing the symptoms I 

found the mind considerably confused, rather slow 

in collecting her thoughts [cannot collect here 

thoughts; confused feeling, 

so that she neither can note 

down symptoms nor write 

a letter]; she had a constant 

dread, as if she would become 

unconscious [very 

excitable, constant anxiety; 

sensation she would become 

unconscious]; had 

severe pressure in the vertex, 

as if pressing downward 

u pon t he b rain 

[marked sensation of heaviness 

in the region of the 

vertex; pressure at the ver- 

tex from 18.15 till 19.15; 

slight pressure at the vertex; 

slight pressure at the 

vertex and above the eyes]; 

[...] Round, bright lights, red and green ones before 

left eye, especially in when looking into the 

light. Left eye was sensitive to light, especially to 

sunlight. Cataract. [Occasionally small, floating 

disks appear in front of the eyes, that show primary 

colors at the margins; square or round green 

or brown spots in front of the left eye when the 

sun is shining bright; sometimes luminous spots 

in front of the left eye. Cataract.] 

Although these symptoms are rather indefinite, and 

more or less present under other remedies, I chose 

Samuel Swan (published the first 

proving of Lac can. in 1880) 2 

Lac caninum as the Similimum, for all the above 

symptoms appeared under its proving, and the 

choice proved the solution of the problem. In an 

extract from a letter received from the lady, in three 

weeks after Lac caninum was prescribed, she said: 

“My eyes have been quite comfortable for the last 

two weeks; I have suffered less from all the disagreeable 

symptoms, like weight in top of the head, 

dryness of the eyes in the morning, and sensitiveness 

to light. They are surely no worse and I think 

vision is a little clearer in 

the left eye.” Three weeks 

after this report the gain 

had continued, the visual 

area having become still 

brighter, and the discomfitures 

largely abated. V ision 

thereafter gradually 

improved, the cataractous 

lenses growing steadily 

clearer, until with the aid of 

compound myopic cylinders 

to correct the refractive 

error, vision has become 

useful, and the crys- 

talline lenses, when last inspected, 

practically, were 

perfect in translucency . 

The cure of such a case of 

extreme profundity, after having been subjected to 

an apparent haemorrhagic pressure for over a year, 

is in itself a subject for much wonderment and 

amazement, so that one can truly feel that nothing 

is impossible under the astonishing influence of 

our law of similars.” 

Various aspects become clear after studying this 

case: 

A mere repertorial analysis of the case especially 

with current means would not lead to the simillimum. 

As Payne correctly states, the symptoms 

21

22 



available for the choice of the remedy are not very 

characteristic and rather vague. 

Payne does not speculate, he analyses the case exactly. 

He sticks to the symptoms - especially in this 

deep pathology - as the patient describes them. In 

a masterly manner he follows the guidelines for 

taking a case as specified by Hahnemann in the 

Organon. 

The case history clearly shows that for a certain 

choice of the remedy recourse to the original proving 

symptoms is not only desirable but absolutely 

necessary. Only this way an a priori certainty of cure 

can be achieved. This exact procedure can be 

found in countless case histories which I analyzed 

in the course of the revision of lac caninum. Contemporary 

currents and schools of thought in 

homeopathy have left this comprehensible path, 

which is easy to learn and to teach, in favor of ideas 

which in part are highly speculative. Normally 

nowadays the study of primary materia medica after 

analyzing the case is neither taught nor applied 

in practice. This inevitably has to lead to unsatisfactory 

results. 

Payne proceeds very deliberately. He doesn’t fritter 

away neither by fast nor by ill-considered 

changes of remedies. 

Last not least this case history shows how immense 

the importance of the revision of the materia medica 

is for daily practice. An enormous quantity of 

remedy provings, case histories and toxicological 

reports which up to now are difficult to trace or 

not accessible or unsorted, now is made available 

to the colleagues in a clear and structured edited 

version. Lac caninum has not been published in 

Allen’s Encyclopedia. In Hering’s “Guiding Symptoms 

of Our Materia Medica” under lac caninum 

mainly cured symptoms are described, proving 

symptoms are largely missing. This and other deficiencies 

are eliminated in the course of the revision. 

Proving symptoms and experiences from 

case histories (clinical symptoms) are displayed 

so that they are clearly distinguished and recognizable 

at a glance. Therefore the “Materia Medica 

Revisa Homoeopathiae” is an indispensable 

tool for “true practitioner of the healing art” 

(Organon § 3) 

Dr. med. Dominik Müller 

Kardinal-Preysing-Platz 14 

D - 85072 Eichstätt 

Germany 

1 Payne, F.W. Cases of Cataract Cured Homoeopathically. PIH 18(1897)102-104. 

2 Photo from Winston, J. The Faces of Homoeopathy. Tawa 1999, p. 98. (reprinted with kind permission by 

Gwyneth Evans).

Cyclamen europaeum, the sowbread, a protected 

plant from the family primulaceae, is found 

in Europe in the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains, 

in sparsely vegetated woodland and in shrubbery. It 

owes names like sowbread to the fact that the tubers 

are often eaten by wild boars and in former times 

the tubers where 

used to fatten pigs, 

in spite of being 

toxic. 1 In ancient 

times it was used 

as purgative and 

as abortive as well 

as purificans and 

solvens. 

Cyclamen was introduced 

to the 

materia medica 

by Hahnemann. 

His proving in 

volume V of the 

“Reine Arzneimittellehre”[Materia 

Medica Pura] 

comprises 202 

symptoms, out of 

which only five 

are his own observations. 

Since then it is considered a small remedy 

that is not applied often or sometimes is simply 

overlooked. Present-day experience teaches us 

to consider a remedy with a small number of symptoms 

as not fully proved. This also proved true in 

the case of cyclamen. 

The search for further remedy provings and suitable, 

that is trustworthy and well documented case 

histories in preparation of the materia medica re- 

CYCLAMEN 

EWA KOWZAN 

Alpenveilchen 

vision project yields surprisingly many other 

sources with proving and cured symptoms which 

where partly almost unknown and hidden in inaccessible 

old literature, waiting to be discovered. 

In the course of the collation the number of symptom 

rose to considerable 946. 785 of these are 

proving symptoms 

(i.e. 583 

symptoms were 

“added”) and 

161 are clinical 

applications or 

cured symptoms. 

The so-called Vienna 

proving 

turned out to be a 

real treasure 

chest. In 1842 C. 

Hampe (1803- 

1884) together 

with W. F. K. Fleischmann 

(1799- 

1868), P . A. 

Watzke (1803- 

1867) and F . 

Wurmb (1785- 

1864) founded 

the “V erein 

homöopathischer Ärzte Österreichs für physiologische 

Arzneiprüfungen” [Society of Austrian 

Homeopathic Physicians for Physiological Remedy 

Provings] (1842-1848). About two or three 

remedies were proved each year and the reports 

of the provings were published in the “Österreichische 

Zeitschrift für Homöopathie” [Austrian 

Journal for Homeopathy] (1844-1849), which was 

published by the founders of the society for provings. 

This way the journal became one of the most 

23

24 

important sources of the materia medica. The activities 

of the society , which were interrupted in 

1848 by political turmoil where resumed in 1850 

and the publication organ then appeared under 

the name “Zeitschrift des Vereins der homöopathischen 

Ärzte Österreichs” [Journal of the Society of 

the Austrian Homeopathic Physicians] (1857 u. 

1862-63) 2 . 

In this journal, in 1857, Hampe published the results 

of the cyclamen proving done under his supervision. 

We owe the Vienna group of provers a 

really substantial proving of cyclamen, which had 

been conducted all in all by 27 provers. Even more 

important seems to me the fact that 18 provers 

were women, which lead to the observation of numerous 

symptoms of the female genitalia. The previous 

results of the provings (both by Hahnemann 

and his collaborators as well as by Hencke and 

Lembke) had only been observed on men. 

Many symptoms from Hahnemann’s proving of cyclamen 

were to be found also in the Vienna proving 

and were confirmed in later case histories. Also 

other “new” symptoms showed up, which appeared 

in several provers and also later could be 

verified in the clinical application. Within this small 

article attention shall be called upon some of these 

symptoms, without claiming completeness. The 

symptom numbers mentioned in the following examples 

refer to the volume “Cyclamen” from the 

series of monographs of the “Materia Medica Revisa 

Homoeopathiae”. 

Remarkable in the realm of the mind and the sensory 

system are: weakness of memory, numbness 

and stupefaction of the head, changing mood, anxiety 

of conscience and disinclination to work. Vertigo 

appears consistently (objects are moving in a 

circle or in wavering motion), often accompanied 

by headache or disturbed vision. Migraine and ver- 

CYCLAMEN 

tigo together with various visual disturbances you 

will find also in connection with menstrual disturbances, 

especially when scanty menstruation 

was present. Remarkable was also a great affinity 

of cyclamen to the female genitalia and the eye. 

Various menstrual disturbances like menorrhagia, 

dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, irregular and scanty 

menses, or dark and lumpy, as well as the already 

mentioned migraine and vertigo in connection with 

menstrual disturbances are notable. Later clinical 

observations confirmed the great efficacy of the 

remedy in menstrual disturbances and complaints 

both as main and as concomitant symptom. 

The phenomena observed at the eyes include various 

forms of weakness of vision like day or night 

blindness, dimness of vision, double vision, flickering 

or spots in front of the eyes, color vision and 

strabismus. These symptoms appear both during 

the proving and as intercurative concomitant symptoms 

(ICCS) in the case histories. Several cured 

cases confirm the efficacy of cyclamen in this symptomatology. 

Further symptoms to be found both in Hahnemann 

and in the V ienna proving and in the case histories 

alike are: violent fluent coryza with or without 

sneezing, loss of appetite especially during 

breakfast, eructation and hiccough as well as various 

kinds of indigestion (e.g. violent nausea and 

vomiting, which appeared in several provers immediately 

after taking the remedy). 

Many of the symptoms from different areas of the 

body are better during motion, but headache and 

vertigo often are worse by motion. 

Finally I want to present two smaller cases from 

the region of the extremities whose symptoms in 

my eyes constitute a beautiful counterpart to the 

proving symptoms.

The first case (Sy 697) 3 is a 29year old man, who 

suffered from a sudden attack of vertigo with transient 

weakness and numbness of the right arm. After 

eight days of rest, the sick man again went to 

his office. At every attempt to write he was seized 

by a pain that started from the cervical region, ran 

through arm and forearm and ended in a few con- 

CYCLAMEN 

Cyclamen 

vulsive movements of the thumb and the index finger. 

Several homeopathic remedies were tried as 

well as other methods, but without result. Till the 

author took notice of the following symptom from 

cyclamen from Hahnemann (Sy 696): “Cramp like 

slow flexion of the right thumb and index finger , 

the tips of which gradually approach each other , 

25

26 

and have to be forcibly extended.” The cure was 

complete and permanent. In this connection the 

symptoms 676, 680, and 689, which all come from 

Hahnemann, are interesting. Here a hard pressing 

pain or drawing pain at the arm, that extends 

into the fingers and prevents the prover from writing. 

Beside the pain as if dislocated that appeared in 

three different provers five times in total (Sy 724, 

725, 726, 727, 729) - which by the way also was 

observed in the joint of the upper arm and in the 

hip joint - in cyclamen we find sore pain in the 

heels. In one prover (Sy 731, Vienna proving) the 

pain interfered with walking and in another (Sy 

733, Hahnemann’ s proving) it appeared while 

walking, but was also to be felt while standing and 

sitting. The sore pain you also find in the regions 

CYCLAMEN 

nape of the neck, shoulders and toes. Royal 4 describes 

two cured cases of sore pain of the heels. 

In the first case, the pain that persisted for three 

months seemed to be in the bones, it increased 

while sitting and standing and was hardly to be felt 

while walking. Rhus-t., kali-bi. and ph-ac. did not 

effect any change of the condition. Cyclamen C 30 

cured within a week. In the second case with the 

same symptomatology, the pains were worse while 

standing. Cyclamen cured within three days. The 

author admits that these were the only cases where 

he used the remedy at all. 

In order that this will not happen to us, this monograph 

with its multifaceted picture of cyclamen 

shall contribute to re-discover this remedy for the 

purpose of therapy, a remedy which is small only 

prima facie. 

Ewa Kowzan, medical doctor 

Busekiststr. 20 

D-23562 Lübeck, Germany 

1Leeser, O. Cyclamen. in: Lehrbuch der Homöopathie. Bd. IV, T. 2, Heidelberg 1971, p. 428. 

2Dinges, M. Weltgeschichte der Homöopathie. München 1996, p. 82-86. 

3De Weé, J. Cyclamen europaeum. Journal Belge d’Homoéopathie 2(1895)196. 

4Royal, G. Therapeutic Notes. North American Homoeopathic Journal 6(1891)764.

With the help of the revised materia medica 

remedies can be studied in a more reliable 

way than is possible in secondary materia medicae. 

This applies both for the characteristics and 

the elements of the complete symptom, which may 

express themselves 

in a remedy 

in the sense of 

the genius. 

Regions especially 

affected by 

clematis are eyes, 

teeth, groins, urethra 

and testes. 

Sensations of tension 

run through 

several regions of 

the body in both 

essential remedy 

provings 1 (head, 

stomach, upper , 

lower as well as 

internal and external 

abdomen, 

spermatic cord, 

chest, external 

throat and scapula). 

But these 

symptoms did not 

find clinical confirmation 

yet. In 

general the overall 

small number of clinical symptoms is striking, 

and to a major part they are from the urinary organs, 

the male genitalia and the skin. 

The following modality runs through several regions 

of the body and were mentioned by several 

provers: aggravation in the morning* 2 (1015 3 , 

1096 4 , 1128), worse from touch* (344, 402, 526, 

CLEMATIS 

DR. ROBERT GOLDMANN 

Clematis erecta 

551, 858, 941), worse from motion* (238, 350, 

399, 513, 743, 757, 819, 845, 858, 891-892, 900, 

911, 972) and - as sub-modality the of the aggravation 

by motion - worse by walking (569, 577- 

578, 819, 937), as well as on the other hand the 

amelioration in 

the open air* 

(136, 149, 157, 

178, 203, 209, 

272, 384, 1096, 

1128). A consistent 

feature is also 

the aggravation 

on waking 

up (52, 139, 166, 

173, 200, 405, 

406, 413, 423, 

435, 474, 476, 

588, 802, 827, 

872, 903, 917, 

935, 942, 947, 

963, 1043, 1067, 

1069, 1071, 

1096, 1128, 

1136, 1150- 

1151, 1188- 

1190, 1193, 

1198, 1201- 

1202, 1233) . 

When smoking*: 

in t he p roving 

you find aggravation, 

but clinically also improvement of the complaints 

(129, 343-344, 785). 

As characteristics 5 we encounter the contradictory 

symptoms “fear of death and still yearning for 

it” (25), “fleeing society but at the same time fear 

of being alone” (33) and “disgust for coition with 

erection” (767). The “disinclination to talk” was 

mentioned by two provers of the first proving and 

27

28 

by three provers of the Austrian proving (90-91, 

100). Regarding the symptoms of the head, the sensation 

of a hoop (168) and the headache ending 

in perspiration of the head (161) are standing out. 

The toothaches at night that are ameliorated by 

cold water were verified several times. Painful 

swellings of lymph nodes which are sensitive to 

touch in the region of the lower jaw and especially 

in the inguinal region were reported repeatedly and 

distinctively. The 

two earlier provings 

of clematis 

showed relatively 

many verified 

symptoms of the 

inguinal region 

and the testes, 

which did not appear 

in the newer 

American proving. 

The Vienna proving 

was able to confirm the “giving way of the 

knees” from the first proving (868, 933) . Six 

provers reported “turning around and tossing 

about in bed” (1159-1163, 1181). Furthermore 

CLEMATIS 

“Vienna Provers” 

“faintness after stool” (1059) and the pronounced 

“sleepiness after sneezing” (1139) are remarkable. 

In the course of the materia medica revision, 

clematis unfolded a more differentiated row of 

symptoms than can be achieved by secondary materia 

medicae, which all to often fall back into the 

clinical diagnoses of the “old school”. Thus clematis 

advanced from a small remedy into a big remedy, 

even if not 

into a polychrest, 

then for this the 

relations are too 

narrowly directed 

toward regions 

like groins, 

urethra, testes, 

or skin. We can 

only hope that 

with the help of 

the available material 

in future 

clematis will be used more often, so that further 

areas of the rich symptomatology of the proving, 

like for example the disturbances of the sleep could 

be confirmed. 

Dr. med. Robert Goldmann 

Täubchenstraße 11 

D-14163 Berlin, Germany 

1 First proving (Stapf and Hahnemann 1827-1837); Austrian proving (Weinke 1857). 

2 * = verification. 

3 roman typeface = clinical symptom. 

4 italics = symptom from a remedy proving. 

5 Gypser, K.-H. Materia Medica Revisa Homoeopathiae. Einführung. Glees 2007, p. 70-71.

HAHNEMANN’S REMEDY TREASURE FOR THE PRACTICE – 

THE COMPLETE MATERIA MEDICA 

DR. CHRISTIAN LUCAE UND DR. MATTHIAS WISCHNER 

History 

The idea to collect all remedy provings performed 

and published by Samuel Hahn emann (1755- 

1843) wasn’t really something new: In 2003 “Hahnemann’s 

Materia Medica” was published in India 

in English, edited by P. Sivaraman, and brought together 

the “Materia 

Medica Pura” and 

“The Chronic Diseases” 

(Sivaraman 

2003). I n 2 005 f irst 

discussions w ith K arl 

F. Haug publishers 

took place about a 

possible reissue of 

Hahnemann’s materia 

medicae, which up to 

then had been reprinted 

again and again in 

more or less unchanged 

editions. Soon afterwards 

the idea was 

born not just to join 

the two main works 

“Reine Arzneimittel- 

lehre” and “Die Chronischen 

Krankheiten”, 

but also to take into 

account other sources like t he “Fragmenta de viribus 

medicamentorum” - Hahnemann’s first materia 

medica - as well as the remedy provings from 

“Stapfs Archiv”. 

Procedure 

First the reports on the remedies from the “Reine 

Arzneimittellehre” (6 volumes, published between 

1811 and 1833) and the “Chronische Krankheiten” 

(4 volumes, published between 1828 and 

Abb. 1: Die Gesamte Arzneimittellehre 

in 3 Bänden 

1839) were sorted according to common modern 

nomenclature and arranged in a standardized way. 

Then all remedy provings from “Stapfs Archiv” (see 

Fig. 2) in which Hahnemann participated were added. 

From the “Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum”(published 

in 1805) the remedies 

“copaiva” and 

“valeriana” were incorporated, 

because 

they do not appear any 

more in Hahnemann’s 

later works. Finally 

during extensive research 

in the archives 

of the “Institut für Geschichte 

der Medizin” 

in Stuttgart, unpublished 

notes from Hahnemann 

regarding remedy 

provings were 

discovered. These 

showed Hahnemann 

in his role as supervi- 

sor of this co-provers 

(Stapf, Groß, Franz, 

and others), but due 

to the incompleteness of these notes they turned 

out to be unsuitable for a publication within the 

planned scope of the work. 

The „Gesamte Arzneimittellehre“ (GAL) 1 

The “Gesamte Arzneimittellehre” (Hahnemann 

2007; fig. 1) thus for the first time unites in one 

edition all remedy provings performed by Hahnemann. 

To make the work more practical a clear 

layout was introduced, every remedy picture was 

29

30 


structured by rubric headings according to the 

head-to-foot schema and many cross-references 

were added. Furthermore all 17 remedies which 

appeared twice, i.e. that were described both in 

“Reine Arzneimittellehre” and in “Chronische 

Krankheiten” were put together. For this purpose 

they were compared symptom by symptom and 

identical or similar 

symptoms were placed 

one behind the other, 

but without 

changing the phrasing 

of the symptoms. 

Especially this timeconsuming 

work resulted 

in very interesting 

insights into Hahnemann’s 

phrasing of 

symptoms, which are 

discussed in detail in 

the editorial guidelines 

of the “Gesamten 

Arzneimittellehre” 

(Vol. 1, Hahnemann 

2007) and in an article 

in the “Zeitschrift 

für Klassische Ho- 

möopathie” (Lucae, 

Wischner 2007). 

Sources of the Materia Medica 

Hahnemann obtained the symptoms of his materia 

medica from four major sources: 

1. The largest part comes from the remedy proving 

from his time in Leipzig (1811-1821) in which 

the legendary “Prüferverein” [society of provers] 

served as the decisive supplier of symptoms. Hahnemann 

published the collected symptoms mainly 

in the “Reine Arzneimittellehre”. These symptoms 

still are considered the most reliable symp- 


toms of the materia medica homoeopathica altogether. 

2. A further source constituted the contemporary 

and older medical literature which Hahnemann 

knew exceedingly well and which he also quoted 

extensively. 

3. Clinical observations 

entered into the 

two big materia medicae 

- and this to a 

much higher degree 

than had been assumed 

previously . Numerous 

observations 

Hahnemann made during 

the treatment of 

his patients were tacitly 

incorporated in the 

materia medicae. Only 

the transcriptions of 

Hahnemann’s patient 

journals, which have 

been pressed ahead 

recently, bring light into 

the darkness. By 

systematic analysis already 

many symptoms 

Abb. 2: Titelseite von „Stapfs Archiv“ 

could be identified 

that have the abbreviation “NB” attached to them 

and which Hahnemann considered as being caused 

by the remedy administered to the patient. (NB 

either stands for “nota bene”, Latin for “mind you” 

or more probably for “Nebenbeschwerde” [concomitant 

complaint]; cf. Wettemann 2000, Papsch 

2007). By crossing out this abbreviation in his patient 

journal Hahnemann indicated that this symptom 

had been incorporated in the materia medicae. 

A beautiful example may be found in the patient 

journal D16 (see box):


Thuja symptoms in the patient journal D16 

(1817) 

“[...] in the [left] side of the abdomen above the pubic 

region a lively motion like the small arm of a 

child - without pain - comes on often, doesn’t persist 

for long [...] then often also the anxiousness in 

scrobiculus cordis rose up to the head and back 

again, at the same time somewhat squeamish 

[...] today in the legs it rose from there into 

both thighs and through the body up into the 

head and from there again into the scrobiuculus 

cordis, like mercury rising and falling in a weather 

glass. She felt squeamish and it was black in 

front of her eyes [...]” 

(quoted from Schuricht 2002, emphasis in bold by 

C.L./M.W.) 

4. Beside these three sources, there is yet a fourth, 

from which Hahnemann obtained his knowledge 

about remedies: The remedy proving on patients. 

There are clear hints that Hahnemann at least temporarily 

proved remedies on patients in a systematic 

way. Markus Mortsch proved this for example 

for stannum (Mortsch 2005). How often Hahnemann 

proved remedies on his patients and how 

many symptoms he obtained this way is still an 

open question. 

The Ideal and the Back Door 

In § 144 of the “Organon der Heilkunst” Hahnemann 

pursues the ideal of a “pure” materia medica: 

“From such a materia medica everything that 

is conjectural, all that is mere assertion or imaginary 

should be strictly excluded; everything should 

be the pure language of nature carefully and honestly 

interrogated.” Nevertheless he also kept a 

back door open, because in § 142 he says: “But 

how some symptoms of the simple medicine employed 

for a curative purpose can be distinguished 

amongst the symptoms of the original malady, 

even in diseases, especially in those of a chronic 

character that usually remain unaltered, is a 


Thuja symptoms from the “Materia Medica 

Pura” 

Movement in the hypogastrium as from something alive, 

like a forcing out of the abdominal muscles as from 

the arm of a child, but painless. [RAL 113] 

Anxiety in the scrobiculus cordis which mounted 

to the head and went back again; at the same time 

qualmishness. [RAL 100] 

An upward drawing pain from the legs through 

the thighs to the head and thence back into the 

scrobiculus cordis, during which there was blackness 

before the eyes and qualmishness.[RAL 284] 

(Emphasis in bold by C.L./M.W.) 

subject appertaining to the higher art of judgment, 

and must be left exclusively to masters in observation.” 

With this stratagem Hahnemann - a master in observation 

himself - justifies the inclusion of the “NBsymptoms” 

in the materia medica. Whether those 

are really and always symptoms “belonging to the 

remedy” or appearing anew in clinical symptoms 

can’t be found out any more. 

The Reliability of the Materia Medica 

In how far Hahnemann’s symptoms really are reliable 

can only approximately be conjectured. With 

the transcription of the patient journals it could 

be shown that even in the “Fragmenta de viribus 

medicamentorum” “NB-symptoms” appear and 

not just in the later volumes of the “Chronic Diseases”. 

Furthermore Hahnemann himself was critical 

in respect of some of the sources of these materia 

medicae, for example regarding the proving 

symptoms from Christian Friedrich Langhammer 

und Cajetan Nenning (cf. Wegener 1989). Nenning’s 

symptoms - abbreviated “Ng.” by Hahnemann 

- came from the “Reine Arzneimittellehre” 

by Hartlaub und Trinks. 

31

32 



The following statistic is based upon the known 

sources. The figures for the “NB-symptoms” are 

extrapolated (see box): 

Conclusion GAL symptoms for totalthe 68.120 

Contemporary Hahnemann’s symptoms Practice 34.306 50.4 % of all GAL symptoms 

Observations by others 33.814 49.6 % of all GAL symptoms 

“Ng.” symptoms in GAL 5.188 7.6 % of all GAL symptoms 

deleted NB symptoms approx. 5.500 approx. (50)-100 per patient journal 

NB-symptoms in GAL approx. 8 % of all 

symptoms 

With the “Gesamte Arzneimittellehre” now a clear 

reference work in three volumes is available 

which integrates all of Hahnemann’s accounts of 

symptoms. The remedies described therein - some 

120 - correspond to those which even today 

are the ones most often used in daily practice. Only 

a few polychrests like e.g. lachesis or the nosodes 

are not listed. 

In spite of possible restrictions as mentioned above, 

the “Gesamte Arzneimittellehre” remains per 

se THE basic materia medica of homeopathy, because 

all later materia medicae build upon Hahnemann’s 

original symptoms. Therefore, without 

this work, a thorough study of the homeopathic 

materia medica is absolutely inconceivable. 

A final evaluation of the situation of the sources - 

especially regarding the meaning of the “NB-symp- 

Dr. Christian Lucae 

Heinrich-Marschner-Str. 70 

D-85598 Baldham 

Germany 

approx. 16 % of Hahnemann’s own symptoms 

toms” - is not yet possible, since only about one 

quarter of Hahnemann’s patient journals have been 

transcribed and analyzed. However, this question 

probably will never find a final and satisfactory answer. 

But the assumption that all symptoms in Hahnemann’s 

materia medica are “pure” and may not 

be called into question is certainly wrong. 

Therefore the task of homeopathy in the 21st century 

can only consist in creating reliable instruments 

to confirm (and to falsify!) the materia medica 

as it is. The various current attempts to create 

a revised materia medica purged from all 

“wrong” symptoms with the help of an even better 

study of the sources appear very desirable, unfortunately, 

in view of the background presented 

here, a rather illusory goal. 

Dr. Matthias Wischner 

Am Mühlenteich 35a 

D-21680 Stade 

Germany


Bibliography 

Hahnemann, Samuel: Gesamte Arzneimittellehre. 

Alle Arzneien Hahnemanns: Reine Arzneimittellehre, 

Die Chronischen Krankheiten und weitere 

Veröffentlichungen in einem Werk. Band 1-3. Herausgegeben 

und bearbeitet von Christian Lucae 

und Matthias Wischner. Stuttgart: Karl F. Haug Verlag 

2007 

Hahnemann, Samuel: Organon-Synopse. Die 6 Auflagen 

von 1810-1842 im Überblick. Bearbeitet und 

herausgegeben von Bernhard Luft und Matthias Wischner. 

Heidelberg: Karl F. Haug Verlag 2001 

Lucae, Christian; Wischner, Matthias: Hahnemanns 

Arzneimittellehre in neuem Licht. Zur Herausgabe 

der Gesamten Arzneimittellehre. Zeitschrift für 

Klassische Homöopathie 51 2007): 28-37 


Mortsch, Markus: Edition und Kommentar des 

Krankenjournals D22 (1821) von Samuel Hahnemann. 

Essen: Med. Diss. 2005 

Schuricht, Ulrich: Samuel Hahnemann, Krankenjournal 

D 16 (1817-1818). Stuttgart: Karl F. Haug 

Verlag 2002 

Papsch, Monika: Edition und Kommentar des Krankenjorunals 

D38 (1833-1835) von Samuel Hahnemann. 

Stuttgart: Karl F. Haug Verlag 2007 

Sivaraman, P.: Hahnemann’s Materia Medica. Materia 

Medica Pura and Chronic Diseases Combined 

and Rearranged. Vol. I-III. New Delhi: B. Jain 

2003 

Wegener, Andreas: Ein Causticum Fall – Die „Symptomen-Fabrik“ 

von Cajetan Nenning. Zeitschrift für 

Klassische Homöopathie 33 (1989): 170-175 

33

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