‘Keynotes of Materia Medica Volume 1’ by Central Council for Research in HomoeopathyCRH

Keynotes of Materia Medica Volume 1

Reviewed by : Dr. Saurav Arora

The keynote prescription has been an indispensable part of homeopathic practice since its inception. The concept was given a boost by H. C. Allen, to whom we owe our gratitude. Keynotes play a major role in our daily practice and we often hear senior physicians suggesting we study them to improve our work.

To keep the spirit of keynotes high and with an aim to update them, the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH) has undertaken an initiative to compile a Keynotes Materia Medica from authentic sources. The book is a work of dedication added to the ever growing sea of materia medicas. The salient information regarding the book can be summarized as: –

• • Name of Book: Keynotes of the Homoeopathic Materia Medica

  • Volume: I

  • Drug compiled: 25

  • Author information:

• • • Chief Editor: Dr. Chaturbuja Nayak

    • Editor: Dr. Chinta Raveendar

    • Assistant Editor: Dr. Debadatta Nayak

    • Expert Committee:

• • • • Prof. (Dr.) S. K. Bhattarcharya

      • Prof. (Dr.). L. K. Nanda

      • Dr. V. K. Chauhan

      • Dr. S. Praveen Kumar

      • Dr. Ajit Kulkarni

      • Dr. Asha Chowdhry

• • Printed and published by: Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous Organization under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Deptt of AYUSH, Govt. of India, 61-65, Institutional area, Opp. D Block, Janak Puri, New Dehli 110058. Tel: 011-28525533, Fax: 011-28521060. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.ccrhindia.org

  • ISBN Status: 978-81-920840-5-3

  • Copyright status: Copyright with CCRH

  • Price: 120/- INR

  • Availability status: Yes, available at CCRH Headquarters and can be ordered by post.

In the present work the authors have expressed the need to have an updated version of existing keynote materia medicas, as there are various instances where practitioners reported ambiguity, spelling mistakes, improper arrangement of symptoms etc. Moreover, there are certain concepts and old terms which are obsolete nowadays. The compilation has collected keynotes, keeping “Keynotes by HC Allen”as a base and adding keynotes from authentic source books like – Hering’s Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica, Hahnemann’s Materia Medica Pura, J. H. Clarke’s dictionary of Practical Materia Medica and Pocket manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica by William Boericke. This is a pure compilation of keynotes from authentic source books, and may aptly be called keynote pura.

In addition to the compilation, the authors have given us some interesting and useful sections with information from various sources. Basic information about a drug such as botanical/chemical name, source, part(s) used, habitat, constituents/molecular formula, etc., followed by an introduction, are some of the new headings you will discover in this book. Here also, the information is primarily derived from the Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India (HPI). Any source of information, if other than HPI, is mentioned in the footnote of remedy. The keynotes are supplemented with keywords, sphere of action, makeup of the remedy, “ailments from” and guiding features, which makes this materia medica handy and informative. The schema of each remedy is placed as per Generals (Mental and Physical) followed by Particulars (arranged as per systems of the body). Care has been taken to replace old terms with the latest ones, but some old terms are kept owing to their historical value.

The authors have compiled drugs according to the official syllabus for the 1st professional year of undergraduate students of homeopathy in India, endorsed by the Central Council of Homoeopathy. This limits the number of drugs compiled to 25 only in volume – I. This work will be carried on to volume – IV, keeping in view the syllabus of 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th BHMS. This fact may be considered as one of the minor drawbacks of this compilation. Since such a compilation will come periodically with a limited number of drugs, readers would have to wait longer for such a handy and authentic book. It is sincerely hoped that authors will consider publishing a greater number of remedies in one or two handy volumes, for the benefit of our profession.

All in all, this book is a good and handy compilation of keynotes for both practitioners and students.