Berberis appears in 11 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.
- Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Barberry (Berberidaceae) The renal or vesical symptoms predominate. Pain in small of back; very sensitive to touch in renal region; < when sitting and lying, from jar, from fatigue. Burning and soreness in region of kidneys. Numbness, stiffness, lameness with painful pressure in renal and lumbar regions. Pale, earthy…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Berberis vulgaris, Linn. Nat. order , Berberidaceæ. Common names , Barberry. (German) Sauerdorn. (French) Le Vinettier. Preparation , Tincture of the bark of the root. Authorities. Symptoms not designated are from Hesse (Journ. f. hom. Arznium, 1, 1834), obtained as follows: took, himself, an infusion of half an ounce…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Barberry Rapid change of symptoms-pains change in regard to place and character-thirst alternates with thirstlessness, hunger, and loss of appetite, etc. Acts forcibly on the venous system, producing pelvic engorgements and hæmorrhoids. Hepatic, and rheumatic affections, particularly with urinary, hæmorrhoidal and…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“Urinary and digestive tract: KIDNEYS. Liver. Bladder. Lumbar region (hips). Joints. Uterus. Spermatic cord. Motion: Jarring. Stepping hard. Rising from sitting. Fatigue. Urinating. Mentally and physically tired. Sees things in twilight. Many, rapidly changing or alternating symptoms; shooting outward, as in urethra…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Barberry. (Britain.) N. O. Berberidaceæ. Tincture of the bark of the root. Biliary colic / Bilious attack / Bladder affections / Calculus / Duodenum, catarrh of / Dysmenorrhœa / Fevers / Fistula / Gall-stones / Gravel / Herpes / Irritation / Jaundice / Joint affections / Knee, pain in / Leucorrhœa / Liver disorder /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Barberry. Berberaceæ. Proved with great assiduity by Dr. Hesse, and published in the Journal for Materia Medica in 1834 ; translated and added in extracts to the Allentown editions of Jahr's Manual, hence frequently used in the United States. In 1843 Noak published a much better extract ; no cures followed this. In…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Generalities: When we have finished the study of Berberis we will see that it is not a very extensive remedy, but it is a very important one. Like Benzoic acid , it fits into the gouty and rheumatic sphere. It corresponds to such gouty conditions as do not determine to their proper places. A low state of the economy…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Indifference, apathy. Melancholy, inclination to weep. Darting and shooting pains in the head, often changing their locality. Heat in the head after dinner, or in the afternoon. Headache aggravated by movement, relieved in the open air. Dryness of, or biting, -burning, or itching sensation in the eyes. Itching in the…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: barberry. Cold feeling in the prepuce and scrotum (Brom., Dios., Merc.). Acts principally upon the kidneys, bladder and liver (D.). It is called for when the renal and vesical symptoms are prominent (D.). Cutting in the bladder, extending down the urethra (D.). Stitch from the urethra into the bladder…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Bruised pain, with numbness, stiffness and lameness in region of kidneys < in bed in the morning. Soreness in the region of the kidneys; bubbling sensation, < stepping or jarring motion. Rheumatism or pains, like gouty pains in the joints; the pains radiate from a center. “Bruised pain, with stiffness and lameness in…”
