THE MYSTERIES OF HOMOEOPATHY


The higher potencies are usually marked on the centesimal scale. Aconite 1 means that one-hundredth of a grain of Aconite is contained in a grain of the medicine. The indication Sulphur 3 means that there is a millionth of a grain of Sulphur in a grain of the medicine. The indication Ferrum 6 means that there is a billionth of a grain of iron in a grain of medicine.


LAY readers insufficiently acquainted with Homoeopathy are occasionally mystified by certain figures and signs employed in homeopathic articles and books.

Homoeopathic medicines may be given in the liquid or in the solid form. The strong tinctures from plants are called mother tinctures. These tinctures are usually diluted and with the dilution sugar powders or pills are moistened.

The strength of the medicine is indicated by a finger which is followed sometimes by the sign “x”.

The dilution of the medicines is done either on the decimal scale or on the centesimal scale. If on the decimal scale there is the sign “x” following the figure. The sign “x” is chosen because the sign “x” and the Roman figure ten are identical.

If a medicine is marked “1x” it means it contains one-tenth of a grain in a dose. If marked “2x” it means it contains one- hundredth of a grain in a dose. If marked “3x” it means it contains one-thousandth of a grain and so forth.

The higher potencies are usually marked on the centesimal scale.

Aconite 1 means that one-hundredth of a grain of Aconite is contained in a grain of the medicine. The indication Sulphur 3 means that there is a millionth of a grain of Sulphur in a grain of the medicine. The indication Ferrum 6 means that there is a billionth of a grain of iron in a grain of medicine.

In homoeopathic literature we see frequently the sign <. It means “worse by”. For instance, we may read “Rheumatism < by rest”, which means it is worse by rest. This symptoms is, of course, an indication for Rhus tox. Or we may find “Rheumatism > by rest,” which means it is better by rest. That would be an indication for Bryonia.

J. Ellis Barker
James Ellis Barker 1870 – 1948 was a Jewish German lay homeopath, born in Cologne in Germany. He settled in Britain to become the editor of The Homeopathic World in 1931 (which he later renamed as Heal Thyself) for sixteen years, and he wrote a great deal about homeopathy during this time.

James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.