Comparative Materia Medica Integrating New and Old Remedies

This paperback, in an attractive matt blue colour, was published in 2015 and holds 527 pages.

The first thing I would like to say is that this book should be a standard in every homeopathic school or college. Not only because this is the author's intention—he writes in his preface: ‘The goal of this book is to help students and practitioners with their study of materia medica and cases. One important way of doing this is to study the comparison between remedies, to explore the similarities and differences that allow us to make the finer distinctions between remedies in our prescription’.—but this is one of those books that the profession has been waiting for, for a long time!

Comparing remedies is highly effective in studying them and, not unimportantly, in remembering them. Through comparison, we will get a much more refined and deeper understanding of the remedies. It is a well-proven way of learning things that we start with from an early age.

‘This is…? your mouth and what is this…?, yes your nose. They are both a part of your face, but with the one you eat and with the other you smell’.

In Holland we have the saying—‘A child can do the laundry’, meaning that things well explained make doing them easy.

It must have been in the author's mind that this was something missing, while important to have. To set out on a task like this, he must have a conviction and a dedication toward our beloved profession. Besides, one must realize that books on this subject are virtually absent in our homeopathic education. How long do we have to go back to find something slightly similar? I vaguely remember a comparative materia medica done by an old master that I read in the beginning years of my study, some 30 years ago, the name of which I have forgotten now.

Readers of this review might remember more, if so please excuse my bad memory.

In any case I am glad to say that Richard Pitt has seen the need for such a book! From the subtitle we can read that he aimed toward integrating contemporary new remedies with the well-known classical ones. I can say that this has been very successfully done. Through this process, we have here a wealth of information on over 700 remedies.

An outline on the content of the book:

In its ‘Introduction’, we find a range of important topics that are being addressed, such as:

Stages of Remedy Pictures, Which Case-taking Route to Follow, Knowledge of Medicines, Oversimplification of Constitutional Images, Plant, Mineral and Animal Consciousness and much more!

The backbone of the book consists of 36 well-known remedies. Together with their comparative remedies and the integration with new remedies, more than 700 remedies in total are being described thoroughly.

Here is the list of remedies: Aconite, Agaricus, Apis, Argentum nitricum, Arnica, Arsenicum album, Aurum metallicum, Baryta carbonica, Calcarea carbonica, Carcinosin, Causticum, Ferrum metallicum, Graphites, Ignatia, Kali carbonicum, Lac caninum, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Medorrhinum, Mercurius solubilis, Natrum muriaticum, Nux vomica, Opium, Phosphorus, Platinum, Psorinum, Pulsatilla, Sepia, Silicea, Staphysagria, Stramonium, Sulphur, Tarentula hispanica, Thuja, Tuberculinum, Zingiber.

Now, do not make the mistake of thinking that you know these remedies. The value of this book lies in the comparison with all the other remedies that you more likely do not know so well!

To give one example on the remedy Agaricus:

The chapter covers Keynotes, Intrinsic/Compensated state and their DD remedies, Decompensated state and their DD remedies; Progression; Eccentricity; Innocent; Naive; Courageous; A clear description of the type of people needing this remedy, addressing the nature of Fungi and Orchids; Themes of Orchids; Symptom comparison of four Orchids; Drug-like State; Enlarged feeling; Truth; Wisdom; Spirituality; Lies; Superhuman control; Confusion; Intoxication; Alcohol; Stupor/Wildness; Neurological; Spiders and Mushrooms; TB and Nerves; Death; Decay; Disgust; Weakness; Fears; Cancer; Persecution; Coition; Coldness; Frostbite.

The above shows that all the important issues regarding this remedy are being addressed on 12 pages.

In this way, the 36 remedies are done, and believe me also the experienced homeopath will be able to use the information to his advantage.

In Index 1, we find the impressive amount of remedies.

Index 2 shows the topics as mentioned under Agaricus above, which offers a direct and useful overview for reference.

Index 3 is a therapeutic index.

It now has become useful to have this book at hand for quick reference.

The author has incorporated his 30 years of experience in this book and on reading, one can see the richness of that experience, because it is not mere repetition of what is already known or the quoting of others, but a full integral work, in which personal experience is largely available. This, above all, makes this book an educational one worthy of—no, needed in every educational institute. In this way, I will end my review where I began and the circle is round.

To add a small criticism to this overall positive review—here and there I found that the reference given in the index was not always to be found in the text.

Thank you Richard Pitt for having gone to all this trouble on our behalf.