A CHARACTERISTIC 
MATERIA MEDICA 
PRESENTED IN 
REVERSE ORDER. 
BY 
NICHOLAS BRAY, M. D. 
COPYRIGHTED BY 
NICHOLAS BRAY 
1894. TO MY WIFE, 
LIDDIE GERTRUDE BRAY, 
whose good counsel encouraged me to give 
unsparingly the extensive and painstaking 
research demanded in compiling a work of 
this nature, this volume is respectfully dedi- 
cated by the AUTHOR. PREFACE. 
The present volume of materia medica is 
intended simply to comprise the material of 
standard authorities in such arrangement 
that the student or practitioner will find col- 
lected under each symptom all the drugs 
which belong to it, thus enabling the pre- 
server to differentiate drugs with certainty. 
The materia medica is the only work from 
which a prescription should be made; from 
this necessity was conceived the arrange- 
ment of the present volume. 
It is simply impossible for the prescriber 
to hold the materia medica in his memory. 
By the assistance of this volume, he can at 
least control his case, and with care and a 
little effort, can arrive at the single and in- 
dicated remedy. The present undertaking 
was indeed an herculean task which will be 
understood only by the serious students and 
writers of materia medica. 
The symptoms used are the grand char- 
acteristic and characteristic to the drugs 
which correspond with them. The former 
are in italics. 
The following prescription, taken from 
the manuscript, in practice, will serve to 
illustrate the mode of using the work. 
Mrs. L., aged 53 years, chronic bronchial 
and laryngial catarrh, also asthmatic. In this case we consult the chapter on the res- 
piratory organs and carefully interrogate 
the patient on every symptom in the chap- 
ter, and each time a symptom is admitted by 
the patient, each drug corresponding with 
the symptom receives an underline, or vote. 
When we have finished we count the votes 
which are as follows: 
Aeon. Ars. Con. Cepa. 
- A ~ Hyos. 
Bry. Ant,t. Sep. 
Dig-. 
Kal^c 
Ver.a. R^.1- Op. 
Cim. Kalm. Rrom- Aunm. . 
Merc. Ign. 
l’hos. Asaf. Kali’iod.- AninU' 
Crot.t. Afg-m- Grap-h- 
—= Cac Plum. 
_ Kaljb 
Fen AT&B.- 
jggjR Bap^ 
= “ nW Nux^ 
Nux.v. J° e • rol „ Alum. 
t • i . Cal,c. 
— - Pros. 
§ggH Stram. Spong. Car5o v. 
The above shows the number of drug's to 
be thought of in the case, the number of votes given to each one, the indicated one, 
and the percentage of importance of every 
drug in the case; should there be a tie in a 
prescription reference should be made to 
the chapters on “Leading Expressions,” 
“Generalities,” “Aggravations,” or “Ame- 
liorations.” 
It requires but a very short time to make 
a prescription in this way and the prescriber 
is satisfied, moreover, should the case be 
difficult to diagnose, the pathogenesis of the 
selected drug will materially assist in de- 
termining the pathology of the case. 
In the present work repetition of symp- 
toms are avoided as many times, less one, 
as there are drugs corresponding to the 
symptom, often saving a page or more in 
one symptom. 
In compiling this volume the following 
authorities were used: Herring, Cowper- 
thwaite, Farrington, Lippe, Burt, Guernsey, 
Hughes, Dunham, Arndt, and Transactions 
of the American Institute of Homoeopathy 
since 1889. 
N. BRAY, 
Dubuque, Iowa. 
June 15, 1896.