Tutorials on Homoeopathy

Review

This book review is reprinted with the permission of the National Center for Homeopathy

reviewed by Thomas A. Kruzel, ND

Dr. Donald Foubister is probably best known for his contributions to the homeopathic community with regards to his writings about Carcinosin. Tutorials on Homeopathy is another of his contributions which further enriches the homeopathic literature. Tutorial is aptly named, for while reading it you are left with the feeling that Foubister is there himself as your teacher. The style is relaxed and less formal and reminded me somewhat of Kent's lectures. It is almost as if you are on grand rounds with an experienced homeopath and are the recipient of knowledge and wisdom that can only be acquired from years of practice. Dr. Foubister was able to oversee the preparation of the manuscript before his death in 1988.

Drawing from his years at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Dr. Foubister discusses the various aspects of homeopathic prescribing, from tips on case taking in acute and chronic diseases to the importance of a thorough past medical, drug, anesthesia and family histories. He further incorporates the ideas and experiences of such great English homeopathic doctors as Margery Blackie, Margaret Tyler, Sir John Weir and Douglas Borland.

A chapter on pediatric case taking includes an excellent differentiation of some of the more commonly prescribed children's remedies as well as suggestions on how to obtain more information during a pediatric interview. Dr. Foubister's considerable experience as a pediatrician makes this section all the more comprehensive. The reader will find a section on the remedy Carcinosin beginning with a review of the leading indications for its use. Remedies covered throughout the book are accompanied by case histories which illustrate their efficacy.

Dr. Foubister also discusses the use of bowel and other nosodes in clinical practice, having become acquainted with the advantages of using them while working with Dr. Margaret Tyler. Considering the nosodes to be of benefit for prophylaxis, acute and chronic disease, he discusses their use in disease specific conditions, providing case histories of well indicated remedies failing to cure until the nosode was given or the nosode curing by itself. Feeling that certain lesser known remedies are under utilized, he includes sections on Alumina, Bellis perrenis, Folliculinum, Helleborus niger, Lac caninum, Pyrogen, Sol, and Tarentula hispanica. Drawing from his and other's experience with these remedies, he provides further clinical observations which can be used as indications for the medicines.

One area that the reader may find controversial, is his use of potencies in combination or alternating with one another during the course of treatment. While this is not considered classical homeopathy, his prescribing of them in this manner often helped a case to progress where it previously had faltered when the remedies were used by themselves. To his credit, Dr. Foubister also includes cases where the remedies did not effect a cure but led him to the correct prescription.

I found Tutorials on Homeopathy to be thoroughly enjoyable and easy reading. I also found myself making notes all the way through it as one would, who is doing a tutorial with an experienced teacher. Much of the information provided is invaluable and would otherwise require years of trial and error for one to discover by themselves. This is neatly summarized in an Appendix of Therapeutic Hints. I believe another important aspect of this book is the many cases he presents occurred in the hospital environment and demonstrates the value and compatibility of homeopathic medicine with current hospital protocol. Tutorials on Homeopathy belongs on the shelf of any homeopathic physician or lay homeopath as it can be easily consulted as a quick reference source. The $19.00 price is well worth it to add this book to your homeopathic library.

Dr. Kruzel is a naturopathic and homeopathic physician in private practice in Gresham, Oregon.

HOMEOPATHY TODAY NOVEMBER 1990

This book review is reprinted from the British Homoeopathic Journal Volume 79, Number 3, April 1990, with permission from Peter Fisher, Editor.

This book is a distillation of Donald Foubister's long experience in homoeopathy. Donald Foubister joined the staff of The Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital in 1937, not long after qualifying, and worked under Sir John Weir, Dr Douglas Borland, Dr Margaret Tyler and Dr Marjorie Blackie. After the war he rejoined the hospital staff and was appointed consultant homoeopathic paediatrician in 1956. At this time, as well as paediatric and general medicine, surgery was also performed in the hospital. Donald Foubister had therefore a wonderfully wide experience in the use of homoeopathy in all these disciplines and this has come through in his book.

The book is based on a series of tutorials and is divided into five main sections. The first section is on general principles and there is a particularly clear chapter discussing the question of 'constitutional types'. The second section covers paediatric prescribing, drawing on his long experience in the children's wards at the hospital. Inevitably, some of the conditions Donald Foubister commonly saw then are less common in the UK today, e.g. pneumonia, osteomyelitis and rickets, but these therapeutic hints may be particularly valuable for other parts of the world. He used antibiotics in conjunction with homoeopathy when required and found no problem with their combined use, as each therapeutic agent worked in a different manner.

The third section is on Carcinosin, which Donald Foubister was responsible for developing and led to his world-wide acclaim. This section also includes suggested additions to certain rubrics in Kent's Repertory, particularly in regard to Carcinosin. The fourth section is an interesting discussion on less well known medicines, which Donald Foubister found by experience to be very worthwhile, e.g. Alumina in allergies, Helleborus in head injury and Osteoarthritic Nosode, which he prepared from the synovial fluid of an OA knee. It also includes a chapter on the use of nosodes from acute illness-the 'never well since' problem.

The final section covers the treatment of certain conditions in which Donald Foubister took a particular interest, such as the after-effects of general anaesthesia and head injury, the post glandular fever syndrome and scar tissue. The book ends with an appendix on therapeutic hints which summarizes some of the remedies he found useful.

As the book is based on a series of tutorials, some of which I was lucky enough to attend during Donald Foubister's retirement, before his death in 1988, there is inevitably some reiteration of points previously discussed. However I think this is useful for beginners and I felt this book will be very useful for both beginners, who are past the very initial stages of study, and for more experienced homoeopaths-but not for the general public. As with all Beaconsfield publications, the book is well laid out and is slim enough to be carried around in the pocket for reference and has blank pages for notes at the end. Beginners will find it an easily read book with a clear discussion on general points, which I would have found helpful when I started. More experienced homoeopaths will draw inspiration, both from the interesting approaches to treatment and from the many case histories which show both the ups and downs of prescribing, but also from Donald Foubister's obvious enthusiasm for homoeopathy and the benefit it brought his patients. In conclusion this is a book I would certainly recommend for your library.

RUTH TAYLOR

British Homoeopathic Journal
Volume 79, Number 3, July 1990

This book review is reprinted from The Homoeopath with permission from Nick Churchill of The Society of Homoeopaths.

reviewed by Ian Townsend

The Homoeopath has recently carried several pieces featuring the work of Dr Donald Foubisher, and it was with a sense of excitement that I came to review this. New British - published titles are rare, and this promised a fascinating insight into the work and views of one of the century's eminent Scottish homoeopaths.

There are 31 chapters, and a special feature of the book is its concentration on four areas. 'Homoeopathy and Paediatrics' is given six chapters, another five chapters are devoted to what we might call general homoeopathic principles, and various remedy pictures (Carcinosins, various nosodes including osteoarthritic nosode, Alumina, Bellis, Follicilinum, Helleborus, Lac caninum, Pyrogen and Tarentula hispania are given. Finally, Foubister's experience with specific pathological states (after-effects of anaesthesia, glandular fever, head injury, lumbago, nasal catarrh and scar tissue) are mentioned.

The book itself is well printed and bound. Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, I do have a number of problems with it. On a technical level the index is confined to remedy names, so tracking down other information is difficult. It's title Tutorials in Homoeopathy implies that it has been compiled from lectures given by Dr Foubisher, and the way in which some of the material is repeated in various chapters does hint at this. It would have been useful to have been told if this was the case, and, if so, given dates when each lecture was delivered. A complete chronological list of his publications would have been helpful.

It is difficult to place the audience at which this book is directed. On one level it is a more sophisticated 'read' than, say, Shepherd's Magic of the Minimum Dose and other books which rely on their rich anecdotal content to interest the reader. So it is not an introductory book. Neither is it a philosophical or theoretical work like, for example, Vithoulkas's Science of Homoeopathy. And although it does contain materia medica, it doesn't seem to fit comfortably here either. It is, quite simply, a workbook of jottings by someone who has had a long career in homoeopathy. And as such it is excellent in some parts, and less so in others.

By far the best part of the book is the section dealing with children. This is an area which has been largely neglected in the literature, and for this reason alone it is worth reading the book. Dr Foubisher has put together an important compendium of information here. The only thing I would take argument with is his view that useful case-taking cannot really be done with the child itself. There is also an excellent section on acute case-taking in general, and an interesting account of the use of nosodes in this area.

Unfortunately, like the majority of homoeopathic publications, it falls down in its presentation of casematerial. Although Foubisher gives many case examples, they are not rich enough in their descriptive or narrative detail, nor full enough in their homoeopathic analysis to enable the reader to be able to follow exactly how the author has reached his prescription. This is a great shame, for the early chapters on philosophy indicate that Donald Foubisher had a thorough and well-grounded understanding.

The book also presents what one might describe as a routine approach to homoeopathy: various assumptions are put forward which we might perhaps not accept so readily today, viz:

'Drosera is probably a better routine prescription for the aftermath of whooping cough than Pertussin' (p36)
'Hypericum is the main remedy for spinal injuries' (p38)
'B. Coli Mutabile 200c is a valuable remedy with which to clear up the end stages of urinary tract infection.' (p65)
and unhappily the text is scattered with comments of this sort.

In conclusion, I found this an interesting, but limited, book. It's early chapters on philosophy and acute, chronic and paediatric case-taking would be valuable reading for anyone interested in homoeopathy - and especially so for the student. Some of the material on remedies is well-presented, though of course it parallels that found in the various materia medica's available to us. I found the later chapters of less interest, and would not recommend them to what we could call the 'early' homoeopath. There are useful appendices of clinical hints and tips, but the emphasis is of a rather routine nature.

Finally some challenging case material is presented, with clinical prescriptions such as: 'I gave him Bellis perennis 30c combined with Helleborus 30c plussed on consecutive days, and Rhus tox liniment to be applied daily ... (the) case illustrates the way in which Helleborus can be combined with another member of the group of remedies having an effect on head injuries' (pp 122-123). The prescription was successful - and we are left with the task of working out how and why.

The Homoeopath Vol.10 No.2 1990