DRUG PROVING

By Herbert A Roberts

Drugs have been used as the usual method of cure for disease since antiquity, and their
derivations Varied From Simple herbed substances to Fearsome Combinations From all imaginable
sources.

A drug is any material agent, in however attenuated form, the ingestion of which is Capable Op So
disturbing this balance of the vital Forces that the Functioning of one or more organs of the body
is no longer carried out to the best of the whole, and any material Substance capable of so "acting
on the living organism is a drug.

Hence drugs are essentially destructive, therein lies, the difference between drugs and foods -
drugs are destructive while Foods are constructive both drugs and foods act upon the vital Force
which rules in all animate beings.

To ascertain he knowledge of a drug is to discover what disturbance of this balance it is. Capable
of producing and what organs. how and what Functional changes are affected, are made manifest

In order to be sure of the Integrity of our work, we must things: demand three essential things:

1.The quality of the drug must be pure, it must be Free From all mixture with other drugs, and it
must possess all its active properties.

•The prover must possess the proper balances in Functions and be in State, so that we can a
normal, healthy estimate and weigh the amount of the disturbance caused when We deliberately
upset the balance OP health.

•The circumstance surrounding the prover must be those of his normal surrounding So that the
drug Can compress its action Under Conditions and circumstance to the prover, that any normal in
the proven's normal deviation From Condition Cannot be attributed to different circumstances
conditions of his life, action of the drug but directly to the action of the drug.

These three points must be maintained most

Those who are peculiarly Susceptible to a drug. make the best provers, for it is the peculiarity.
Susceptible who develop in the proving the peculiar, rare and characteristic symptoms symptoms of
the drug, yet those who are less susceptible can not be rejected as provers provided they devlop
Symptoms even in a small degree, as these serve to verify the symptoms produced in the extremely
Susceptible, and thus establish them as true Symptoms and not chance observations.

Not all proves will develop or give the identical Symptomatology, Some recording a Complete
Symptom while others will record but a partial Symptom.

In a Consideration of Food and the susceptible proves, in some instances an individual will manifest
an group idiosyncrasy to a certain food or group of foods.

To this susceptible, the Food becomes a drug and the Individual having this idiosyncracy iis merely
manifesting his susceptibility to the possible drug properties in this Food Substance, he will be the
best possible prover of this drug.

The main and only object in conducting a proving, to discover the positive characteristics of the
action of the drug on the vital energy of the human being, to obtain a Full knowledge action so that
it powers can be readily distinguished From any other drug, for the Lawful application of the remedy
in States of disturbed vital energy which we call disease.

→ In making the record, all symptoms must be recorded, 2. but We must Of these symptoms mot
Forget that many are held in Common with many other drugs, while these symptoms possess a
certain value in the Final analysis,, We must determine those symptoms of the greatest value
especially those which are the most peculiar and characteristic of the drug - the unusual symptoms
that distinguish it from all others, because these are the symptoms which will be the curative
symptoms, in that they. will be the guiding symptoms in selecting the remedy.

→ In making the analysis the three major points Of all symptoms should be borne in mind: Location,
sensation, and the modifying character OF the symptoms, or modalities, together with the
concomitant or apparently unrelated symptoms.

The analysis is not Complete until we have a Comparison of the symptoms with those produced by
other drug provings.
There are certain consideration which are Sufficiently stable for guiding apparently rules. From an
apparently inert substance, such as lycopodium,, Carbo veg or graphites,, we can obtain a good
proving only From a high potency, therefore we may take as an axiom:

Any drug which in its natural state affects the vital energy but little will develop proving only in a
high potency.

Other drugs having a very strong action upon the human economy in their natural state, Such as
Lobelia Ipecac, cicuta or tavacum, may be used in a crude Form:

Any drug which in its natural state disturbs the vital energy to Functional manifestations only
may be proven in Crude Form.

Still other drugs, such as the group, which are mercurius group which are actively poisonous in the
crude Form, can be proven only in the high potencies::

Any drug which in it's natural state Disturb the vital energy to destructive manifestations should
be proven only in a potentiated form.

The susceptibility of the patient or proves must be taken into consideration, this regulates and gives
us direction the drug to be taken to the quantity of The greater the Susceptibility, the less the
quantity requisites to react upon the vital Force

our standard should be to use the dose and quantity that will thoroughly permeule the organism
and make its essential impress upon the Vital Force and thus affect Functional sphere of his body.

By this gradual introduction of the dry the system becomes pervaded by its action and tolerates it,
and and responds to its specific impression and we obtain its characteristics.

The repetition of the dose will be governed by the nature of the drug and the reaction of the vital
energy. Some drugs like silica or lycopodium, are slow in action and should be administered at long
intervals, while others are quick to give a the is duration. reaction and shorter in their duration.

Never repeat the dose while symptoms are manifest from the dose already taken. This is the same
rule applied to the proving. governs the administration the cure of Sickness: Never remedy, so long
of the remedy in repeat your as it continues to act
The duty of recording the symptoms in their order of appearance is very important, and quite
important is the duty of recording the concomitant symptoms, their associates, which While
seemingly unrelated to the case, yet bear a close appear with Y relationship in that they at the
same time and in association the other symptoms.

the value of the symptom record is largely based upon the order OF appearance of Symptoms and
their associated or concomitant Symptoms. The farther removed the symptom appears from the
dose the mоrе its valve. Important

The prover should be a faithful recorder OF symptoms , not only their sequence, must be Of all
Very explicit but he as to the character Sensations: pain, dull, stinging, piercing throbbing, etc. the
exact locality of Sensations, such as pain, must it is shooting, where it direction of its shooting . the
be given, if Starts and the

The great essential to be required of the prover is to record all symptoms Faithfully, then the
physician can give the proper Value to the Finished record that the real and remembering always
only object of a proving is to record a living personality whom we will be able to recognize when
we meet in the Sick room.