Concordant materie medica (F. Vermeulen)
Reviewed by Greg Bedayn
Vermeulen’s new Concordant Materia Medica is a valuable asset to all homeopaths. While it is mostly a compendium of previously existing work, it is very handy because it is all condensed into one tote-able tome. It was designed after Boericke’s Materia Medica, so it’s layout will be familiar to most. Vermeulen added much descriptive information, observations, from Boericke, Phatak, Lippe, Boger, Allen, Cowperthwaite, Pulford, Kent *, Vermeulen, and Clark. It is unfortunate that Morrison’s Keynotes are missing, as this would have made it the ne plus ultra of the desktop variety materia medica. I still prefer Morrison to all such references as it is clearly the most reliable, being based on and confirmed by his own prolific practice. The Concordant will keep your desk cleared of the usual Clarke, Allen, Boericke, etc. and for this reason alone, it should be worth the price of admission -approximately $100.
Vermeulen: “This is how I arrived at my plan to compare the writings of a large number of authors in order to gain a more complete symptom picture. Completeness is not a question of quantity, of more symptoms per remedy, but of quality, of a detailed examination of each symptom. Preferably, therefore, with a clear description of localization, sensation, modalities, pains extending and concomitant phenomena. Taken separately, not one of the authors satisfies this criterion, with the exception, of course, of Hering’s ten-volume Materia Medica. If, however, one uses a single basic text -in this case Boericke -and then supplements it with the observations of other authors, thousands of pages of symptoms can be reduced to a handy format, which is the aim of this book.”
While mostly previously published information is contained, and therefor repeatedly checked for accuracy, I did notice, however, that the remedy source for Anhalonium is listed inaccurately in the Concordant. It is not made from the spirituous Mescal liquor which is a distillant from the Agave cactus. The factual source of Anhalonium is the cactus, Lophophora Williamsii, or Peyote.
While The Concordant does list nine different Calcarea’s, nine Zincum’s, and fourteen Kali’s, etc., it sadly does not list the useful newer remedies such as Hydrogen, Chocolate, and Scorpion, to name a few. In future editions of this resource, we hope to see the more modern remedies better represented.
Readers will find the Concordant Materia Medica easy to use in spite of its highly condensed layout. Vermeulen reduced 3807 pages into 1018, covering 800 remedies, and he has added two new categories; respiratory, and heart. This is a “user friendly” book with just too many bells and whistles to list here.
Reviewed by Greg Bedayn
Vermeulen’s new Concordant Materia Medica is a valuable asset to all homeopaths. While it is mostly a compendium of previously existing work, it is very handy because it is all condensed into one tote-able tome. It was designed after Boericke’s Materia Medica, so it’s layout will be familiar to most. Vermeulen added much descriptive information, observations, from Boericke, Phatak, Lippe, Boger, Allen, Cowperthwaite, Pulford, Kent *, Vermeulen, and Clark. It is unfortunate that Morrison’s Keynotes are missing, as this would have made it the ne plus ultra of the desktop variety materia medica. I still prefer Morrison to all such references as it is clearly the most reliable, being based on and confirmed by his own prolific practice. The Concordant will keep your desk cleared of the usual Clarke, Allen, Boericke, etc. and for this reason alone, it should be worth the price of admission -approximately $100.Vermeulen: “This is how I arrived at my plan to compare the writings of a large number of authors in order to gain a more complete symptom picture. Completeness is not a question of quantity, of more symptoms per remedy, but of quality, of a detailed examination of each symptom. Preferably, therefore, with a clear description of localization, sensation, modalities, pains extending and concomitant phenomena. Taken separately, not one of the authors satisfies this criterion, with the exception, of course, of Hering’s ten-volume Materia Medica. If, however, one uses a single basic text -in this case Boericke -and then supplements it with the observations of other authors, thousands of pages of symptoms can be reduced to a handy format, which is the aim of this book.”
While mostly previously published information is contained, and therefor repeatedly checked for accuracy, I did notice, however, that the remedy source for Anhalonium is listed inaccurately in the Concordant. It is not made from the spirituous Mescal liquor which is a distillant from the Agave cactus. The factual source of Anhalonium is the cactus, Lophophora Williamsii, or Peyote.
While The Concordant does list nine different Calcarea’s, nine Zincum’s, and fourteen Kali’s, etc., it sadly does not list the useful newer remedies such as Hydrogen, Chocolate, and Scorpion, to name a few. In future editions of this resource, we hope to see the more modern remedies better represented.
Readers will find the Concordant Materia Medica easy to use in spite of its highly condensed layout. Vermeulen reduced 3807 pages into 1018, covering 800 remedies, and he has added two new categories; respiratory, and heart. This is a “user friendly” book with just too many bells and whistles to list here.