Synoptic 2 was originally written as a sequel to Synoptic 1. It is a materia medica of what in 1996, were classed as small remedies. Ten years on, when homeopaths are more used to working with families of remedies, and are therefore as comfortable with the unusual as the polychrest, this book can be seen as the progressive book it has always been. It was a forerunner to The Prisma. In 1998 the second edition updated the first, providing some corrections and more information.
Frans Vermeulen, now well known and respected as one of the finest living authorities on homeopathic materia medica, brought together in Synoptic 2, an extremely useful amount of previously inaccessible information on the small remedies from modern and ancient sources and many languages.
Drug pictures are unique to homeopathy. At least this is how it would seem. Nature is full of phenomena. They are mentioned in chemistry, metallurgy, botany and biology. Imagery is a typical way for man to relate to his surroundings and to nature. Fairytales, legend and myth are living proof of this. Animals, plants and matter express themselves through observable occurrences. This is also the case in homoeopathic provings.
The blueprint of the animal, plant or mineral expressed itself through man. Often it is found to be a passing occurrence, but sometimes it was there from birth.
An insight into the substances used in homeopathy can be gained practically anywhere.
The Section SIGNS, gives you the background information about the raw material of the remedy. Nomenclature, mythology, astrology and folklore, but also chemistry, metallurgy, mineralogy, biology and botany play their part. The text is a bit signature-like here and there, but I have tried not to jump to conclusions. At times the temptation was too great not to make associations. For the rest I have left it up to the reader where they want to make the connection between natural phenomenon and the picture that appears of the remedy. As far as it could be traced, I added the name of the person who undertook the proving, the number of people taking part, and the date. - Frans Vermeulen
LAYOUT:
Index of remedies
Botanical Relationships
Food and Drink desires , aversions, ameliorations and aggravations.
Comparisons.
Bibliography
Remedies A-Z, laid out as follows:
- Signs nomenclature, biology, botany, metallurgy, chemistry, astrology, folklore, signature.
- Comparisons to enable differential diagnosis with other remedies
- Region the affinity of the remedy to particular physicals or systems.
- Leading Symptoms: the most outstanding symptoms of the remedy, divided into Mentals, Generals and Particulars. A heading of Peculiars denotes symptoms that are just that! Modalities are inserted as they apply to each rubric.
- Rubrics. These are re-written in fluent English, with the leading word in italics.
- Food - desires, aversion, worse, better.
- Notes space for your own observations and additions.
- Author: Frans Vermeulen
- ISBN: 9789076189116
- 1019 pages
- Hardback
- Published in 2003
- Printed in Netherlands
Reprinted with the permission of The Society of Homeopaths, from 'The Homeopath' Journal, Autumn 1996 edition. Reviewed by Alistair Dempster.
This is a Materia Medica of the "small" remedies from the author of the well received and immensely useful Synoptic Materia Medica. As a visiting lecturer at several venues in Europe the genesis of the first volume was inspired by his approach to presenting materia medica in an easily readable and digestible format. This is also true of this second volume.
My initial impressions of the hardback cover and silver surface gave an understated but quality look to the book. It is the same size but thicker than the first Synoptic materia medica so still able to be carried with you. The paper quality is excellent and the type face easy to read. It is well laid out in a similar format to the first volume, with which I am familiar, which aids scanning of remedies in the practice room. There is a handy remedy index at the beginning to avoid unnecessary flicking through pages to ascertain the inclusion of a particular remedy. I must agree with the author when he states in the preface with reference to the proving of new remedies - "Stagnation means decline, as Sepia shows us. That is why this book contains old as well as new 'small' remedies. Some are predestined to become polychrests, others may remain small. Whatever their outcome they all belong in this book".
Vermuelen has used old and modern sources in compiling the book; he was also able to transfer to English information from French, German, Dutch and even Russian authors that made otherwise inaccessible remedy information available to the English reading homoeopath. Thanks are due for this alone. Other resources include Reference Works, particularly the magazines section, as well as numerous other publications and homoeopathic periodicals.
The Preface is not only interesting and colourful to read but is important to the user as it explains the author's reasons for the layout of each remedy picture and his insights on homoeopathy in general. There are specific Sections at the front of the book devoted to Botanical Relationships, Food and Drink and Comparisons:
Botanical Relationships - plants used as homoeopathic remedies are classified according to Natural Order contrary to the usual Family hierarchy. "Plant orders are placed above the families. This is done to emphasise relationships between plant families and also family relationships of species".
Food and Drink - gives desires, aversions, ameliorations and aggravations of the remedies listed in the book. These could be useful additions to food and drink sections of most repertories.
Comparisons - split into Kentian repertory layout from Mind to Generals, this section details symptoms in one column and in the opposite column the remedy to find this symptom under. This is not an exhaustive exercise and applies only to remedies contained in the book. The extensive bibliography is impressive and offers readers the opportunity of expanding their mind as well as their own library from this list of excellent sources and reference material.
The big plus about this materia medica is the abundance of information about the remedies compared to other synoptic materia medicas, plus the gathering together of all those "smaller" and newer, and the not so well known remedies. In other books on smaller remedies the information can be scanty so their relevance may not be so obvious. It also includes provings of new remedies and those not so well known provings, translated into English for our benefit. The book enables you to access many of those normally difficult to find remedies in one volume. It found a place on my desk immediately and it was pressed into service the next patient that I saw. There are descriptions of Marble, Granite, Androctonos (Scorpion), Hydrogen, Plutonium, Kali nitricum, Sequoia, Pituitary anterior, DNA, sarcodes, tautopathic remedies - from the phenoziathine anti psychotic drugs to Morphinum and so on; there are 348 remedies listed in all.
What is fascinating about the book is the section at the beginning of each remedy headed 'Signs'. In this section the history and source of the remedy is brought to life and draws on sources ranging from Greek mythology to Pharmacology, and from Metallurgy to Botany, Biology and Entomology. The Signs describes the essential nature and source of the remedy followed by remedy relations and affinities before setting out the symptomatic picture. I enjoyed the descriptions of Sequoia, Formica rufa, Ginko biloba, Lac felinum, Thallium to name but a few, and these served to whet the appetite for further reading. It also reminded me of the importance of the source material and its natural state and thus nodded in recognition of the Doctrine of Signatures from the old alchemist Paracelcus.
The concluding section, as in the first volume, gives a list of characteristic symptoms set out in repertorial fashion from Mind through to Generalities. I was so impressed by the book with its wealth of coherent, definitive information that I struggled to find any criticism serious enough to avoid using it. Materia Medica are often the foundation and confirmatory basis for our prescriptions and this volume offers an extremely cogent description of many of the so called smaller remedies and the newer remedies and thus is a useful tool. For the busy peripatetic homoeopath, or for regular use on the desktop, I have found it has become an indispensable part of my everyday practice and would not hesitate to recommend it to others for the same purpose.
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