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Lectures on Homeopathy: William Boericke's Homoeopathic Remedies
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Contents
| Supporting reservations are presupposed throughout: |
About William Boericke (1849-1929)
Dr. William Boericke (1849-1929) compiled a book that we have made use of here on the site. He wrote his Homoeopathic Materia Medica [Mab] in the hearly 1900s. Since then "Many a homeopathic professional has depended on this work for daily practice." Between 1880 and 1920 Dr. Boericke "was the physician of choice in San Francisco. Patients came from all over the world to be treated by him homeopathically."Dr. Boericke was born in Austria, where he studied at the Vienna Medical School for a year, and then emigrated to the Unites States. First his family settled in Ohio. Then, in 1870, he moved to San Francisco, where he graduated from the Philadelphia Medical College in 1876. In 1880 he also graduated from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. Back in San Francisco he practiced as a homeopath for over fifty years.
Boericke became the first professor of Homoeopathic Materia Medica and Therapeutic at the University of California, and held the post for thirty years. In 1901 he authored Boericke's Materia Medica. It is a concise guide to hundreds of remedies, and some of them appear nowhere else. Homeopaths still use this book in the daily practice.
Between 1880 and 1920 Dr. Boericke was the physician of choice in San Francisco. Then, one Spring day in 1929 the hard working "high society" member and physician of choice in town died.
Notes to Dr. William Boericke's Homoeopathic Materia
Medica
A Materia medica consists of remedies resorted to for treating
diseases.
In our Favourite Materia Medica we make include over 170 remedies from William
Boericke's Homoeopathic Materia Medica. [Mab].
Symptoms associated with a homeopathic remedy are the results of
praxis, that is, clinical use, so-called provings, and scientifical testing procedures have
only resently been tried on some ailments. And today it has been well documented that
homeopathy works - there is statistically had evidence of it.
Abbreviations of Homeopathic Remedies
Boericke and many others abbreviate long and medium long Latin names of homeopathic
remedies. It is a common practice. However, in our Repertory and Materia Medica names are
spelled out somewhat more, for the sake of clarity.
About This Selection of Boericke Remedies
We try to hold on to what is good, and drop the rest from the large,
unwieldy or cumbersome saga of homeopathy. Thus, we speak for remedies of choice.
- Not every Boericke remedy is found worthy of inclusion in our materia medica and
repertory, for various reasons [Link].
- Not every facet of his conventional remedy descriptions is included here, as we
do not attest to the assertions of scientifically unvalidated, so-called
relationships between remedies that Dr. Boericke and various other homeopaths
present. There is no real proof to state with certainty that some homeopathic remedies
counteract one another as antidotes, inimical, and so on. So we dropped that part of his
description. It is a minor part at the end of many of the remedies he lists up, but not all
of them.
- Many non-homeopathic uses of remedies are dropped. This is (a) because we deal
only with homeopathic effects - add "possible effects" if you like. And for physiological
uses of the many chemicals and compounds that homeopathic remedies are derived from,
leave them to chemists or medical doctors etc. unless the substances are legal and
non-poisonous and not capable of doing harm. Many such substances are poisonous,
remember, and the rules of prescribing things have changed much.
- About doses: There are many opinions and different practices among homeopaths as
to dosing the remedies. Boericke speaks from one system, Adolf Voegeli from another, and so
on. We do not adhere to Boericke's dosing counsel, in fact, but feel free to draw benefit
from it, and others, as the case may be. Hence, at the end of a remedy description Dr.
Boericke says things about doses: Please ignore his information about doses unless
you are an experienced chemist, medical doctor and know what you are doing, for the
homeopathy of Boericke often borders on and reaches into phytotherapy (use of herbs and
their tinctures) and chemistry, and may be a bit dangerous too. After all, chemistry was
cruder a hundred years ago than it should be today.
It is also worth noting that in countries such as ours, remedies are legally
sold in parmacies only if they are 6d (ca. 6c) or higher - and there is a court verdict in
this country that with such dilutions (1 : 1 000 000) there is no active physiologically
actice substance in the homeopathic remedy. So, really, it makes sense in at least some
countries to leave out rather many of Dr. Boericke's dosage tips. And some of them seem
outdated, not just out of fashion.
This pointed out, Dr. Boericke's good descriptions of homeopathic remedies from the
early 1900s are not gainsaid by us, and that is the bulk of what you find on some of our
pages too.
Symptoms
Drug symtoms and guiding symptoms of the remedies
The lists of problems and troubles and so on listed under a homeopathic remedy are
the guiding symptoms for such a remedy. There are sources of error in such a picture - but
suffice to say that the things that are listed are troubles or repercussions (etc.) that the
homeopathic remedy could cancel (offset, remove, combat, etc.) somehow, more or less etc..
There are rules of the thumb for assessing or choosing the most appropriate
remedy or remedies from the guiding symptoms. It could be good to know about such rules,
because
symptoms count differently: Mind symptoms, very peculiar symptoms and oddities, and strong
symptoms are to be checked out first of all. Most fit homeopaths try to select homeopathic
remedies from such cues. That's about it, in a nut-shell. To select the distinct symptoms,
see another page: [LINK]
Homeopathy is the "art of matching symptoms in clients with symptoms attached to
many remedies. One is to check the main or relevant symptoms a sick persons has.
Corresponding arrays of more or less "matching symptoms" of remedies make up the Materia
Medica. Such listings are crucial for homeopaths that want to estimate which homeopathic
remedies should be resorted to in any given case.
How far can you trust the remedy information that Dr. Boericke brings? It could be a
long way in some cases (excepting the "relationships with antidotes and so on). But most of
the remedies have not been accurately verified by science - not yet, at any rate.
The "corresponding symptoms" of each homeopathic remedy may be correct, even if
unverified by science or the press - But we like to see that what is pointed out as "guiding
symptoms" of homeopathic remedies, is found to be be valid far and wide through solid
proofs. That's how it is.
There are current disagreements among many homeopaths as to which guiding symptoms
weigh the most. Thus faith is a factor in this terrain too. Maybe new symptoms have been
added to some of the remedies as the years have gone by, many new remedies have been
introduced too, and perhaps some weigh or grade symptoms a bit differently. One should be
aware of that.
Further, neither Boericke's book nor any other homeopath's book contains all the
remedies that are used today. Finally, we suggest that homeopathic remedies may work for
good, but not in the wrong hands.
It is also worth noting that in countries such as ours, remedies are legally sold in parmacies only if they are 6d (ca. 6c) or higher - and there is a court verdict in this country that with such dilutions (1 : 1 000 000) there is no active physiologically actice substance in the homeopathic remedy. So, really, it makes sense in at least some countries to leave out rather many of Dr. Boericke's dosage tips. And some of them seem outdated, not just out of fashion.
- A Basic Scheme that Homeopaths Use for describing symptoms
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Adjoined
Mab: Boericke, William and Oscar. Homoeopathic Materia Medica. 9th ed. Philadelphia: Boericke and Runyon, 1927.| Literature | Layout | SITE MAP | First Page |
CLICK on 'Literature' for the references of about 2000 works.
ANNOTATIONS: Acronym letters in square brackets in the text refer to works. Click on 'Literature' above for examples. Page references are put right after reference letters. The abbreviation cf. means "compare". [MORE].
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REFER to the page by its 'location' address (above).
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