US2248162A - Collection of index cards for homeopathic repertorial research - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 8, 1941 COLLECTION oF INDEX CARDS Fon IioMEo- PATH REPER'.QRQIAJV RESEARCH y. Osorio Schlcderule Araujo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Application January 19, 1940, SerialNo. 314,733 4 1- rIn Brazil January 19, .1939 Y The present invention relates to a system for expeditiously selecting the homeopathic medicine which is indicated for a patient having certain observed symptoms.

The homeopathic medical repertory is com' cine which is vof a capital Value in va givent symptom, is printed in a large, bold-face type; another one, of less valuefbut which may be used to advantage, will be indicated in italics, and a third medicine Will beprinted in common type. Some authors give four different values to a medicine, whereas others only mention three. This is the process which indicates the value of the right medicines for a given symptom, or valorises them, as is currently said in homeopathic terminology. v

In order to prescribe the correct medicine for `a patient,l it is necessary to take a note of all the symptoms, then, to pick out one of them, generally the most important one, Iand find in the repertory the-medicines with their respective values. After carefully noting all this down on paper, the next symptom is also looked up, and in the same manner, al1 of the other symptoms are checked. From the comparison of these enormous medicines), it is found that 'some of. the medicines do not appear in all of the lists,Y whereas others are present in their valorised forms. From .thel further comparison, between those more highly valorised and common to all or almost all the symptoms, those medicines which cover the greatest number oi symptoms are found, and amongst these will be thefone which should be prescribed, the right 'amount of care being given to otherk factors, such as the type, constitution and temperament ofthe patient. Thus, according to current homeopathic language, a repertorial research is accomplished, which is in itself a very delicate and troublesome operation, demanding a lot of attention so as to avoid errors which might lead to the prescription of medicines with no therapeuticvalue, if in fact not prejudicial, consuming considerable amount of time, never relating to it,

lists (to each symptom there are frequently 150, 200 or more less than two hours, some 45 spectively, so as to be ticall'y aligned.

'composed of two,

cases requiring even more than Vthis in order to check and compare carefully these enormous lists.

This is the problem which the present collection fof index-cardsl forhomeopa'thic repertorial research offers to solve with the following advantages: great economy of time and also the maximum; securityv possible as lregards errors, in View vof 'the fact that its operation is oi the greatest, simplicity, as will be seen.

The inventionwill be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows with parts broken away a single card of strip which on Veach of its two long edges indicates for two symptoms the respective values of a list ofmedicines.

Fig. 2 shows with parts broken away a group of six cards in process of superposition with edges parallel butbeiorevertical column alignment, and

Fig. 3 shows with parts broken away a group of six cardsfcompletely superposed. with columns corresponding to 'a given medicine Ver- The collection iscomposed of a great number of index-cards, as many as are necessary to indicate .the symptoms likely to occur in medicall practice. Thus, for instance, for the specialised clinic of the digestive system, or of the respiratory tract, the collection would not have the same'ynumber of' cards as another intended for general practice, the latter naturally having a greater number of symptoms. 'The medicines vary also in number, according to the length of the repertory, and may go up to 600 or more inv the largest ones, thus the cards vary also in length. Whenever' it occurs that the number of vmedicines is greater than v290 (for which a card of about "IO centimetres in length is required), samey may be printed in section-cards threeror more parts, for instance, the first one'from 1 to 200, the second from 201to 4 00, the third from 401 to 600, using Roman numbers I, II, III, to mark them reable to place them in their correct places for use. `YTheir usual size is about 9 centimetres, withvsmall variations determined by economy o r convenience.

Fig. 1 is'a sample index-card in which there vis a longitudinal line a which goes almost from one end to the other, dividing it into two halves, eachhalf Vto be 4used for the recording of a symptom. Each cardis ythus used forthe registering of `two diferent 'symptoms, the total number of cards is reduced to half of that required if each symptom were recorded in a separate card.

The description is given of one of these halves, and since they are identical, it will not be necessary to describe the other.

From a lengthwise line b, which is parallel to a only somewhat shorter, there are a plurality of lines c running perpendicularly to b towards the margin of the same side of the card, and ending there. The regular spaces d which they form, are exactly alike, except those comprehended between the th and 11th, 20th and 21st, 30th and 31st lines e (and so onuntil the end, at every ten spaces) which are wider than the others, being rigorously alike between themselves. Another line f parallel to, and of the same length as b subdivides lengthwise these spaces (d and e) into two parts: the one above which is larger d, to be used for recording the names of the medicines, written in abbreviated alphabetical form, in accordance with current homeopathic practice, and another one, below, g, to be used for the printing of a valorising nurnber h, whose value may Vary between one, two, three, or four, and which indicates the corresponding figure of merit value of the medicine for the symptom relating thereto in the indexcard, whereas the medicines which are of no value have the corresponding spaces g blank.

The other half section of the card, i. e., the other side of the line a, has the same outline, and is used, as mentioned before, for the recording of another symptom in the same manner. Each symptom has, on the left margin, a number printed which corresponds to the same number in the collection and in rthe respective index-book where the name may also be found, in one or more languages, if necessary, together with the number.

In order to choose the cards corresponding to a group of symptoms there is an index-book in which are catalogued, in one or more languages, in strict alphabetical order, all of the symptoms, preceded by the numbers of the respective cards. It is quite common to run into symptoms to which less than ten kinds of medicines correspond. These are not recorded, and the medicines to be used in these cases, together with their respective valorisations are indicated in the index, in front of same, in the manner habitually used in the repertories. In this manner, after going through the collection there is nothing more to do but to add to the results the value of the medicines indicated in the index for the symptoms not recorded, if any.

After making a note of the symptoms in a given case, the cards which correspond to these symptoms are easily found with the aid of the indexbook which accompanies the collection; the first card should then be placed on a fiat surface, that of a table, for instance, and over it a second card, in such a manner as to allow the columns in which the names of the same medicines are written tocorrespond exactly. It is necessary to mention here that the spaces e above mentioned, were made wider than the others, to facilitate this process of superposition,

Fig. 2 shows a group of six cards S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, carrying the same list of medicines, in course of superposition with cards parallel but before vertical alignment of columns.

Fig. 3 shows these six cards completely superposed with columns aligned.

Once it is ascertained that the rst of 'these spaces corresponds to the rst space of the card above or below, one can be sure that the medicines of the same name are in exact correspondence, as is absolutely necessary. It is quite clear, of course, that in placing the cards, the exact correspondence should be observed between the sections of the index-cards marked by the Roman numbers, that is, I with I, II with II, III with III, otherwise it will not be possible to match the names of the medicines as is required by this system. Care should be taken to see that the lower border of the second card S2 coincides with the line f of the rst card S1, in its full length, though not going beyond it. A third card S3 is placed over the second, exactly in the same relation as the :tirst to the second. The same should be true between the fourth S4 and the third, then also between the fifth S5 and the fourth, and so on, with as many as the case should require.

In orderto obtain a final value of each medicine from the entire group of cards corresponding to the symptoms, it is simply necessary to add up the numbers which correspond to each medicine in columns. As the medicine to be prescribed will perforce be found among those more highly valorised, it will be sufficient to add these, the most quoted ones, which show up immediately after a slight examination of the assembly.

It frequently happens that more than one medicine is found with the same total valorisation. The good judgment of the physician who knows the details of the respective indications will help him in choosing, then, which of the medicines is more appropriate for the case, and he will also decide as to the formulas and doses to be used, in accordance with the prevailing rules.

It can happen, also, that one of the cards being examined may cover on its two separate half-sections two symptoms of a given case. The procedure here is the same, using rst one side of the card for one symptom, and adding to the results then obtained the valorizing numbers of the respective medicines for the symptom covered by the other half section of the card and not yet added in, which is done by taking the card in question from the collection and adding to the medicines most highly valorised in the group of the cards (among which will be the one to be prescribed) the values indicated for these medicines on the card corresponding to the symptom not yet added in. In this way the desired result is easily obtained,

Fig. 3 shows, as an example, cards arranged thus in superposition, as an.illustration of what has been explained above, and which correspond to symptoms in an illustrative assumed case. The sum total of the Values of the medicines most quoted is, as may be seen, 9 points for natrium muriaticum and 8 points each for nitricum acidum and nux vomica. The others have small mention and therefore their sums are hardly of any interest, the medicine to be .prescribed'being among the former. They appear valorised in all of the symptoms, covering them, therefore, as is demanded in a good prescription.

In summary, we find that between choosing the cards, placing them over each other and adding the values written in from 8 to 10 columns, at the most (the most quoted ones), a complete selection of the proper medicine is performed which takes from 10 to 15 minutes, which means an enormous saving of time as compared to the usual procedure, and With a minimum of risks as to mistakes, thus settling in an ideal Way the problem of repertorial researches, which really means solving the important question of similimum in a practical, sure and rapid procedure.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and the manner in which same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a prescription system, a series of similar cards each ruled with identical adjacent parallel columns and being further ruled with a guideline running lengthwise of said card perpendicularly transversely of said columns, all of said cards carrying a series of identical :prescription indicia respectively positioned on one side of said guide line, each card bearing an individual identication symbol adapted to show the purpose thereof and further carrying in certain of said columns on the side of said guide-line free of prescription indi-cia, valorising additive numerals representing the value for the purpose of said symbol of the prescribed indicia appearing in said column, said cards being adapted to be superposed in echelon with columns carrying the same prescription indicia in register and the edge of one card lying on the guide line of the card beneath for the convenient addition of said valorising additive numerals appearing in said columns respectively.

2. In aprescription system, a series of similar cards each ruled with identical adjacent parallel columns, all of said cards carrying a series lof identical remedy indicia respectively positioned at a rst end of each said column, each of said cards carrying the name of .an individual symptom to which it individually corresponds and further carrying at the second end of certain of said columns valorising additive numbers representing the value of the symptom corresponding to said card of the remedy appearing at the rst end of said column, said valorising numerals being chosen to represent the relative values of the remedies appearing opposite a given remedy additively so that valorising numbers appearing opposite a given remedy on different cards of said series when added measure the eii'icacy of said remedy for the totality of symptoms represented by said series of cards.

3. A system according to claim 1, each of said cards having on each of its longitudinal halves a separate said series of columns, guide-line, purpose symbol, and valorising numeral.

4. A system according to claim 1, each tenth column in said series of columns being of substantially greater width than the others of said columns.

OZORIO SCHLEDER DE ARAUJO.

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