(See also Gas posted by Bro)
Hahnemann used medicinal solutions, the remedy in liquid form, to speed cure using remedies. This applied to both C and LM potencies. To keep the other thread clear some questions raised are discussed here.
Hahnemann discusses this in stanzas 245-249 of the organon. GPM posted links to relevant articles by David Little, thanks for clear input! Now to specific questions. The amount and quality of alcohol added is important. Hahnemann used wine spirits which I think were around 60% proof. Pure grain alcohol is very expensive (£120 a litre!)but less is needed as the proof is higher. I use vodka as its much cheaper and easier to get hold of. Because the proof is lower you add more. I use the 20% by volume for vodka given in Robert Barker's book on LM potencies. I just measure out the required quantity of vodka and add it to the water and shake it a bit. Use a good brand like smirnoff blue or absolut though. I've never used charcoal but is especially mentioned in footnote to stanza 248. GPM, I use the small no.10 pillule and see no need to crush them though probably best with larger pillules and pills.

Dont use smirnoff, it contains formica rufa, the best is absolut, Koskenkorva.etc or brandy. Spirits of vine, is brandy, or cognac.

Frank and GM thank you for this information about soulutions.
Is "absolut" a brand name of vodka or the term for pure alcohol?
I tried at length to obtain pure alcohol but it is prohibited to sell it in UK pharmacies. You can only get it in the UK if you "know someone".
So what is the best brand of alcohlol for me to buy to tip into my tub of purified water please?
And has anyone tried the charcoal method as I would prefer that - where would one obtain a good quality charcoal? And if one uses the charcoal method - suspending a piece in one's own tub of water, surely there's a problem once it's dispensed and the patient has the water for up to a month whithout any preservative in it. Is it OK if the patient keeps it refrigerated?

Thanks for info GM regarding smirnoff. Will switch to absolut (which is a brand name Anna). There is another unmentioned benefit to using medicinal solutions...they save your remedy supplies! If you only have a few pills per vial in your first-aid kit can be a real boon.

refrigation may not be wise, as all remedies is to be kept away from all electrical appliances.
Ordinary vodka, or brandy is fine. Once bougth a remedie you need not to do it no more, if using this metode, the oldest rem i know in solution, my teacher has, he collect, think his oldes is 180 years old. and stronger and better than any new remedy. (vibrant or whaterver, i dont use that term..wont give the abolisionists any fuel...)

So Cool! This thread! Thanks Frank, for starting (continuing...moving whatever) it!

I'm studying, as some of you know and this type of thread is cookin' to me!!

It is also nice to know that my efforts to try to really learn all these things (cuz I'm soooo pedantic! )and remember them, is also something that my future-fellow Homeopaths also remember. Know what I mean?

I ask SOME questions - some times, and the answer, "I don't remember" alarms me...so to see you guys sharing the knowledge and wisdom is just palin exciting to me (am I a freak )!!!!! Okay, I'm just high on my studies - but weren't some of you?? (I really wonder how excited you guys were when you studied - I feel I can't get the knowledge in fast enough - it is so incredibly interesting!). I don't feel it is a labour, either - but something that I want and it isn't painful - trying to achieve my goal! (Hey, how many can say that about their profession??)

So, keep it coming, please - and I might throw a question or two in soon!!

Again - thanks everyone for the wealth of knowledge! And, Frank - your advice is really so helpful - welcome to this bb!! (I love seeing you and GM conferring on threads...shines a little light on where the cases are going).
Lisa

Gordon's Vodka is a relatively inexpensive source of grain alcohol. Forty percent alcohol and 100% neutral grain spirits with no additives. In some parts of the U.S. you can get a product called Everclear that is a higher proof.

My appetite for learning has not diminished with time. I have learnt to chew what I'm taking in more though to avoid indigestion. IMO checking sources for myself etc really helps. Some things just get better with time like the organon. The more I study the more I realise that there is always so much more to do. Best wishes with your studies Lisa - it never stops!

Thanks Frank!

I do feel OVERLOAD sometimes - and then I make myself take a break - or re-route my focus to the other part of my course (ANAT&PHYS)....I also think it is important to check references, too! This only reinforces what little I do know, and allows me to digest things when in context. Also, when I go back and re-read - I find that I see things I didn't understand or grasp, before.

I hope that I never become complacent - or rest on any laurels (if they ever come )!

Nice to have the encouragement!
Thanks!
Lisa

[This message has been edited by Lisa007 (edited 29 April 2000).]

GM, the remedy you mention as being 180 years old in solution......how is that solution managed? Is some portion of the original medicine removed without succussing first, added to fresh container of water and alchol and then successed? Using it (the original solution) in place of a pillule?

I ask because I had been making water/LM potencies, succussing the bottle before each use, removing amount required into a glass of water and stiring that as the dosage solution. I do save the original medicinal solution to use again and throw away the contents of the glass if not used that day. Then I became concerned about the number of times the original medicinal solution was succussed......it will last a long time and changes with each succussion. Then decided could (of course) continue with the original solution through treatment of ONE individual (because that's the idea...adjusting the dose)but should toss it when beginning new treatment on new individual.

How do you, GM and Frank, handle this issue?

Also, as an aside, Frank.......the #10 pillule you refer to, do you mean the LM's themselves? They are the only potency I've had in #10. Frankly, it would be impossible for me to crush one since I can hardly even focus on them! I have a dreadful time making sure only one has been used!

Hope you keep going on this topic. I really liked the water and LM potencies for use on the animals. Have backed off a bit since reading the BB. Afraid I wasn't really understanding the method correctly. If using a 30C in water, for instance, I would split the dose using it 2 times that day and consider it one dose. Then followed up with dosages in far less time than with dry dosage. What is correct? Would using it once the first day and again one day or several days later be considered one dose? I've noted that Vet's have a tendency to call for repetition of doses (water and LM)quite frequently. Some suggest every day, every third day and so on. Is it OK to use on a more frequent basis because the dose is always changed/different? To keep movement? Will possibility of aggravation be lessened sufficiently that more frequent repetition is acceptable?

One of the stumbling blocks for me (and I have a lot, unfortunately)is how to go up in potency. OK as long as staying in the medicinal solutions of X, C's or LM's....but does one ever switch to an LM after using an X or C? Or vice-versa?

Homeopathy could never become boring. Can't imagine any greater thrill than actually finding the correct remedy in the correct potency.....and witnessing the results. Wish I could do this the way I've seen BB contributors do it. I only get that once in a while with real acutes (animals brought in very damaged or sick). Wish I could do it with constitutional dis-eases. Glad the BB is here for help.