Materia Medica Library
Explore 35+ materia medica sources with full remedy profiles. Cross-reference mental, physical, and constitutional symptoms across authors.
What it is
What is a materia medica?
A materia medica is the homeopath’s reference of remedy pictures: for each remedy, the symptoms it produced in provings and cured in practice, ordered from mind to body, with the modalities that make each one better or worse. It answers the question the repertory cannot: what this remedy is like.
The repertory indexes symptoms and lists remedies; the materia medica describes remedies and lists symptoms. Case analysis runs between the two: the repertory narrows the field, the materia medica confirms the choice.
Materia medica vs repertory, explainedPowerful Search
Search across all materia medica sources simultaneously with instant results.
AI Semantic Search
Find remedies using natural language descriptions of symptoms.
Cross-Reference
Compare remedy profiles across multiple authoritative sources.
Classic Materia Medica — free online
The 21 foundational English-language works — Kent, Boericke, Clarke, Hering, Hahnemann, Farrington, Dunham, Guernsey, Hughes & Dake, Hale, H. C. Allen, T. F. Allen, Nash, Boger, Lippe and Paterson — each with its own dedicated page.
Free forever
The 21 classic materia medica books, free to read and search
Every book below is complete, free on every plan, and searchable by meaning across the whole library. Pro adds the modern and licensed sources.
| Author | Book | Year | Best for | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H. C. Allen 1836–1909 | Keynotes And Characteristics With Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica | 1899 | Learning keynotes and characteristic symptoms | Free |
| Timothy F. Allen 1837–1902 | The Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica | 1874–1879 | Verifying symptoms against original provings | Free |
| William Boericke 1849–1929 | Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory | 1901 (9th ed. 1927) | Fast clinical lookup during consultation | Free |
| John Henry Clarke 1853–1931 | A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica | 1900–1902 | In-depth study of less-common remedies | Free |
| Constantine Hering 1800–1880 | The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica | 1879–1891 | Deep study of snake and animal remedies (Lachesis, Crotalus, Naja, etc.) | Free |
| James Tyler Kent 1849–1916 | Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica | 1905 | Constitutional prescribing and chronic case-taking | Free |
| C.M. Boger 1861–1935 | A Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica | 1915 (expanded editions through 1931) | Analytical / Boenninghausen-style prescribing | Free |
| C.M. Boger 1861–1935 | General Analysis | 1931 | Learning the Boenninghausen / Boger analytical method | Free |
| Adolph von Lippe 1812–1888 | Keynotes Of The Homoeopathic Materia Medica | 1886 | Strict Hahnemannian prescribing | Free |
| Adolph von Lippe 1812–1888 | Keynotes and Red Line Symptoms of the Materia Medica | Compiled posthumously | High-confidence remedy differentiation | Free |
| Adolph von Lippe 1812–1888 | Text Book of Materia Medica | 1866 | Full-schema remedy study in the Hahnemannian tradition | Free |
| E. B. Nash 1838–1917 | Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics | 1899 (4th ed. 1913) | Rapid review of characteristic remedy symptoms | Free |
| John Paterson 1890–1955 | The Bowel Nosodes | 1950 (collected papers) | Chronic disease and miasmatic prescribing | Free |
| Samuel Hahnemann 1755–1843 | Materia Medica Pura | 1811–1821 (Dudgeon trans.; Hughes ann., 1880–1881) | Studying Hahnemann's original proving symptoms | Free |
| Samuel Hahnemann 1755–1843 | The Chronic Diseases: Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homoeopathic Cure | 1828–1830 (2nd ed. 1835; Tafel trans. 1896) | Primary study of Hahnemann's antipsoric medicines | Free |
| E. A. Farrington 1847–1885 | A Clinical Materia Medica | 1887 (2nd ed. 1890) | Differentiating remedies with similar clinical indications | Free |
| Carroll Dunham 1828–1877 | Lectures on Materia Medica | 1878 | Learning how to evaluate and rank symptoms | Free |
| Henry N. Guernsey 1817–1885 | Key-Notes to the Materia Medica | 1887 | Rapid review of leading remedy characteristics | Free |
| Richard Hughes & Jabez P. Dake 1836–1902; 1827–1894 | A Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy | 1886–1891 | Tracing symptoms to proving and poisoning records | Free |
| Edwin M. Hale 1829–1899 | Materia Medica and Special Therapeutics of the New Remedies | 1864 (5th ed. 1880–1882) | Studying remedies introduced in 19th-century American practice | Free |
| H. C. Allen 1836–1909 | The Materia Medica of the Nosodes with Provings of the X-Ray | 1910 | Focused study of classical nosodes | Free |
Free plan: seven classical repertories, the 21 classic materia medica books, AI semantic search and basic case management with 3 new cases and 3 analyses a month. Pro adds the AI toolkit, unlimited cases and analyses, and premium repertories and materia medica such as Murphy, Vermeulen and Scholten.
Reading guide
How to read a remedy entry
Four things to look at in every entry, in this order.
- 1
Grades and keynotes first
Boericke and Allen mark the characteristic symptoms; Kent puts them in the opening paragraphs of each lecture. Read those before the long symptom lists — they are what the remedy is known for.
- 2
Modalities decide
What makes a symptom better or worse — time, temperature, motion, position, company — separates remedies that share the symptom. Every classic entry lists them; Boericke groups them under Modalities.
- 3
Mind and generals before particulars
Kent ordered his lectures from the mental state through the generals to the local symptoms because the whole-person symptoms carry the most weight in a prescription. Read an entry in that order.
- 4
Relationships at the end
Clarke and Boericke list complementary, inimical and antidoting remedies and the remedies that follow well. Use them when a first prescription has acted but not finished the case.
Premium sources in the full product
Modern masters and specialized works — available inside Similia to subscribers, alongside the classic library.
Murphy's Materia Medica
A modern, clinically organized materia medica grouping remedies by condition and system — one of the most widely used contemporary references in practice.
Scholten — 7 volumes
The periodic-table approach to homeopathy — Elements, Lanthanides, Minerals, Ferns, Mosses, Qjure, and Wonderful Plants. The foundation of group analysis.
- Homoeopathy and the Elements
- Lanthanides
- Minerals in Plants
- Ferns
- Mosses
- Qjure
- Wonderful Plants
Vermeulen — 5 volumes
The Synoptic Reference series — Concordant, Plants, Prisma, SR1 and SR2. Exhaustive modern materia medica covering thousands of remedies and groups.
- Concordant
- Plants
- Prisma
- Synoptic Reference 1
- Synoptic Reference 2
Mangialavori — 100 Remedies
Complex homeopathy organized by remedy families — the signature teaching work of the Italian school.
Pitt — Comparative & Thematic
Comparative materia medica and thematic teaching notes — differential study of remedies organized around clinical themes.
Meditative Provings
Modern meditative provings of plants, minerals, and animal substances — sources you will not find in the classical works.
Griffith
A modern companion to homeopathy covering a fresh selection of remedies with a contemporary clinical voice.