J.T. Kent Unpublished Materia Medica – Edited by Dr. Ahmed N. Currim

When I received this book to review, I was excited since I had loved reading Dr. Ahmed Currim’s ‘Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer’ and I knew what an excellent compilation it was. I have great respect for Dr. Currim’s work which obviously stems from his love of homeopathy.

‘J.T.Kent Unpublished Materia Medica’ begins with the interesting story of how the editor, Dr. Ahmed Currim, managed, in 1980, to retrieve 2 volumes of almost unknown notes of Materia Medica that Dr. Kent had given in 1895 to his students in Chicago at the Hering Medical College. Later, in 1985, Dr. Currim came across another, similar, 3 volume set of lecture notes that Dr. Kent had given to his students in 1893-94. Some years later, Dr. Currim acquired an old volume of notes on Materia Medica that Dr. Kent presented at the Dunham Medical College in 1901-02.

Having acquired these priceless notes which showed the progression of Kent’s thinking in Materia Medica from 1893-1902, Dr. Currim decided to edit, correct, classify and present these invaluable hidden treasures to the profession. This book is the result. It contains notes on several remedies not found in any of Kent’s already existing works like Materia Medica, Lesser Writings and Gypser’s Minor Writings. It also contains new pictures not known before of many of the regular well-known remedies, thereby widening our understanding of these remedies.

One hundred fifty five remedies have been discussed in this huge tome of 1,702 pages. They have been nicely set for ease of reading with important features set in bold type. Each remedy description begins with a section discussing general action of the remedy, followed by the Generals; then the order of sections follows the usual trend of chapters seen in Kent’s repertory: Mind, Vertigo, Head and so on.

What makes this book so special is the intermingling of tips on dealing with conditions, remedy comparisons with finer points for differentiating remedies, general hints on case management, explanation of symptoms and brief miasmatic explanations with suggestions on miasmatic prescribing. Small cases have been described off and on throughout the book which helps in deepening our understanding of the remedies and imprinting the remedy pictures on our minds. The potencies used have been mentioned, which again helps to highlight Kent’s thinking process. At some places, details about translation errors from the actual provings are included, which helps in clarification and correction of actual symptoms. Dr. Currim’s viewpoints and notes from his own valuable experience have been added as Editor’s Notes throughout the book.

Despite being a record of symptoms, the book makes for interesting reading throughout, since it is scattered with numerous little golden nuggets of valuable information which add an extra dimension to our mental images of remedies.

The quality of printing, binding and paper do not disappoint. The paper is smooth though thin, which it had to be, otherwise it would have consumed two or more volumes! A few insignificant typos have crept in, which considering the vastness of the work, can be easily overlooked.

The contents of the book display Kent’s vast knowledge and experience, hence this book serves as a valuable addition to our homeopathic literature, and will be useful to all homeopaths who strive to constantly better themselves.

Author: Dr. Firuzi Mehta

J.T. Kent Unpublished Materia Medica – Edited by Dr. Ahmed N. Currim. Second Edition 2010 (The first edition was published in 2007). Reviewed by Dr. Firuzi Mehta. Published by B. Jain Archibel s.p.r.l. Printed in India.