Q.1. What is Materia Medica? Give sources of Materia Medica

Ans. Homoeopathic Materia Medica is a compilation of various symptoms collected mainly from proving from healthy human beings and from other sources.

The sources of homoeopathic materia medica.


Proving on healthy human beings

Proving on healthy animals

Clinical observation

Accidental source

Toxicological source

Chemical source

Empirical source

Proving on plants

Doctrine of signature


1.  Proving on healthy human beings:  We can obtain signs and symptoms of homoeopathic medicines by proving them on healthy human beings. This is the real and most scientific way of getting signs and symptoms of the medicine. By this way we can record the same in a systematic way. It is a very good source to build Materia Medica.

2.Proving on healthy animals: By proving homoeopathic drugs on healthy animals we can get few objective symptoms upto some extent. By proving on lower animals we can also get the knowledge of the pathological changes occurring in the animal body. It is also a good source to build Materia Medica.

3.Clinical observation:  In practice after application of the medicine to the patient, we can observe some new symptoms produced by the medicine which have not been produced y the medicine while its proving. These are clinical symptoms and they also help in building the Materia Medica.

4. Accidental source: Some medicines are prepared from substances whose curative action is discovered accidentally, e.g. Blatta Orientalis in asthma

5.Toxicological source:  Signs and symptoms produced due to the toxic effect of the drugs are obtained where unfortunately overdosing has occurred. This may be helpful in understanding the action of the drug upto some extent.

6. Chemical source: We can understand and get the knowledge of the signs and symptoms of the drug by the knowledge of chemistry. I.e. physical and chemical properties. Action etc. but as the human body itself is too big a chemical factory; the actual signs and symptoms produced by the drugs in the body may be different. But by studying the chemistry of the drugs we can get some idea of its action on the body.

7.  Empirical source: It is traditional source. This can be observed from the general therapeutic study of the medicine. In olden days, the medicinal values of many medicines were known.

8.  Proving on plants:  Some symptoms of the drugs can be studied by means of proving them on plants. As homoeopathic drugs act well on the living beings like human beings and animals so as action on the plants is also marked. By doing experiments on the plants one can study the changes taking place on the morphological and histological planes. By this means one can get the idea of the pathological symptoms produced by the medicine.

9. Doctrine of signature:  It is the relation between the external physical properties of the drug substance and the signs and symptoms present in the patient. Doctrine of signature is one of the oldest and most important sources of Materia Medica. This is present in a few drugs and by studying it we can study the pathogenesis and symptomatology of those drugs to a certain extent.

This can be observed from the general therapeutic study of that drug. Since olden days we know a few things regarding that drug i.e. from the day of discovery we know certain medicinal properties of that drug.

A few examples of Doctrine of signature are as follows:

  • The drug prepared from the plants which flower in summer will be producing an aggravation in the summer season.
  • The drug prepared from the yellow flowers of Chelidonium acts well in jaundice.
  • All red looking plants or red extracts act well on blood.
  • Tarentula Hispania is prepared from the Spanish spider which is very sensitive to drum beats, similarly patient is oversensitive to music.

Different types of materia medica
Different authors have written various types of Homoeopathic Materia Medica. In different fashion or according to their own views and ideas, out of which some are given below.

Indian Homoeopathic Materia Medica

  1. Characteristic type of Materia Medica – Dr. D. Dasgupta
  2. Systemic Materia Medica of homoeopathic Remedies – Dr. K. N. Mathur
  3. A study of Materia Medica – Dr. N. M. Chudhry
  4. Constitution – Dr. K. C. Bhanja
  5. Master Key book of Homoeopathic Materia Medica – Dr. K. C. Bhanja
  6. Text book Homoeopathic Materia Medica – Dr. S. K. Dubey
  7. A New Text book Homoeopathic Materia Medica – Dr. N. Mohanty
  8. Oushad Parachay (Bengali Version) By Dr. N. Bandopadhyay
  9. Homoeopathic Materia Medica (Bengali Version 5 Vol.) – Dr. Ghosh
  10. Homoeopathic Materia Medica (Bengali Version 5 Vol.) – Dr. C. S. Kali
  11. Homoeopathic Materia Medica (Bengali Version 3 Vol.) – Dr. A. Ghatak
  12. Text Book Homoeopathic Materia Medica – Dr. T. C. Mondal
  13. Expressive Drug Picture of H. M. M. (2 vol.) – Dr. R. K. Chauhan

 Foreign Homoeopathic Materia Medica
1. Clinical Materia Medica

  • Clinical Materia Medica – Dr. E. A. Farrington
  • A Dictionary of practical Materia Medica – Dr. Clarke
  • Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica with Repertory – By Dr. Willium Boricke
  • Special Pathology and Therapeutics – Dr. Raue 

2. Schematic (Anatomical) Homoeopathic Materia Medica

  • Materia Medica Pura – Dr. Hahnemann
  • A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica – Dr. Clarke
  • Textbook of Materia Medica – Dr. Lippe
  • Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica – Dr. T. F. Allen
  • Hand Book of Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Therapeutics – Dr. T. F. Allen
  • The guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica – Dr. Hering

3. Picture type of Materia Medica

  • Homoeopathic Drug picture – Dr. M. L. Tyler
  • Lectures of Materia Medica with New Remedies – Dr. J. T. Kent
  •  Homoeopathic Materia Medica of Graphical Drug Pictures – Dr. Pulford.

4. Therapeutic type of Materia Medica

  • Homoeopathic Therapeutics by Dr. Lilienthal
  • Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics – Dr. Dewey

5. Key-note Materia Medica

  • Key note of leading Remedies – Dr. H. C. Allen
  • A Primer of Materia Medica – Dr. T. F. Allen
  • Synoptic Key to materia medica  – Dr. Burt
  • Characteristic Materia Medica – Dr. Burt
  • Key note and Red line Symptoms of Materia Medica – Dr. Lippe

6. Materia Medica of Physiological Action

  • Materia Medica Pura – Dr. Hahnemann
  • Condensed Materia Medica – Dr. Hering
  • Textbook of Materia Medica & Therapeutics – Dr. Cowperthweite
  • A Manual of Pharmacodynamics – Dr. Hughes
  • Physiological Materia Medica – Dr. William Burt

7. Comparative Materia Medica

  • The Comparative Materia Medica – Dr. E. A. Farrington
  • Comparative Materia Medica – Dr. Gross
  • Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics – Dr. E. B. Nash

Scope and limitations of homoeopathic materia medica 
Scope of homoeopathic Materia Medica
1. Symptoms are collected by proving the drugs on healthy human beings of different ages, both sexes and different constitutions. Medicine is applied on the sick individual on the basis of symptoms similarity. Without clearly knowing the pathogenesis, drug substance and it’s effects on healthy human beings, it is not rational to apply it on human being for curative purpose. If more drugs are proved the physician is in position to find out required drug for matching the natural disease. This scope of homoeopathic Materia Medica is not found in the other systems of therapeutics.

2. We get a wide range of symptoms from one person to another during proving. This is the greatest scope in the homoeopathic system not found in other systems of treatment.

3. There are several symptoms in the homoeopathic Materia Medica so there is no difficulty in choosing the similimum. The Materia Medica comprises of a large number of drugs, each drug having many symptoms. Hence in any disease, it is possible to find a similimum without much difficulty.

4. In drug proving, the medicine is withdrawn before any organic changes take place. The altered symptomatology is purely functional. Hence homoeopathy is useful for treatment even before any pathological changes can take place, or before a diagnosis is made. Whatever may be the disease, if we get symptoms of the dynamic pathology of a drug in that particular symptoms, administering that drug will cure.

5. While receiving a case, the patient usually narrates his subjective symptoms. As drugs have been proved on human beings, the exact sensation, location, modality and concomitants are collected, so there occurs no such difficulty in choosing the nearest similimum.

Limitations of Materia Medica
1. No proving records are available on pathological changes in homoeopathic Materia Medica; there is no medicine, which has been proved upon the production of pathological changes in proper application on these drugs.

2. Pathological structures based on inter relation from symptoms obtained from dynamic pathological change.

3. In organic diseases the changed pathology is not covered up by one prescribed Homoeopathic Medicine.

4. No proving records on lower animals are available. We do not have much objective symptoms to a pathological extent. It is because there has been no provision till date in Homoeopathy to have regular proving on lower animals.

5. Very often we come across few pathological symptoms. There is no special proving of dynamic drug with an intention to get pathological changes. Pathological symptoms are not being much characteristic.

6. It is unimaginably vast. Nobody can remember all the symptoms. This large number is due to different way of thesis presentations varying from author to author.