Homoeopathic repertories are essential tools for practitioners to quickly identify the simillimum from the vast materia medica. Among these, Kishore’s Card Repertory, developed by Dr. Jugal Kishore, stands out as a unique and practical system. First published in 1959, this repertory introduced an innovative card-based system that allowed practitioners to efficiently cross-reference rubrics and remedies.
Initially, the repertory contained 3,500 cards, primarily based on Kent’s Repertory, but incorporated rubrics from all existing repertories along with new additions. The second edition, published in 1967, expanded to approximately 10,000 cards covering 600 remedies. The third edition came out in 1986 with minor updates. Unfortunately, the repertory has been out of print for many years.
The repertory is particularly valuable for cases where mental symptoms, physical symptoms, or specific particulars are prominent, effectively bridging the gap between Boenninghausen’s and Kent’s repertories.
Structure of a Card
Kishore’s repertory is designed for visual and logical clarity, with each card containing specific structural features to facilitate rapid repertorization.
- Numbering Columns:
Each card has 80 vertical columns, numbered 1 to 80 from left to right at both the top and bottom. Vertically, each column contains numbers 0–9. This arrangement allows the coder to organize and identify rubrics efficiently. - Rubric Identification:
At the top of each card, the rubric is printed along with its chapter name. Each rubric has a unique number written before the rubric and also represented in the first four columns of the card using punched numbers. By reading the punched numbers left to right, the rubric number can be easily determined. - Medicine Coding:
The cards contain punched numbers scattered across the columns, representing different medicines. To decode a medicine:- Read the bottom number first (left-hand side) before the punched number.
- Refer to the Index of Kishore Cards to identify the corresponding medicine name.
This system allows multiple rubrics and remedies to be cross-referenced quickly without flipping through multiple pages, streamlining the repertorization process.
Working Out a Case
Using Kishore’s card repertory involves a methodical approach:
- Analyzing the Case:
- Record the totality of the patient’s symptoms (mental, physical, and particulars).
- Convert each symptom into the corresponding rubric in the repertory.
- Locating Rubrics:
- Identify the card number for each rubric and arrange all relevant cards together.
- Finding the Common Remedies:
- Hold the stacked cards against light to identify common punched holes, representing remedies that match multiple rubrics.
- Refer to the Index to reveal the names of these remedies.
- Selecting the Simillimum:
- After generating a group of remedies, consult the materia medica and compare with the patient’s symptoms to select the simillimum.
- Handling Non-Matching Cards:
- If no common punched hole appears, remove the least important card(s) one at a time until the common remedy is revealed.
This process ensures that the selected remedy addresses the totality of the case while maintaining flexibility in complex situations.
Advantage of Kishore’s Card Repertory
- Efficiency: The card system allows quick cross-referencing without flipping through bulky books.
- Flexibility: It is suitable for mental, physical, and particular symptom-dominant cases.
- Comprehensiveness: By integrating rubrics from multiple repertories, it offers a broader perspective than a single repertory system.
- Innovation: It attempts to combine the strengths of Kent’s analytical approach with Boenninghausen’s focus on particulars, creating a hybrid system adaptable to a wide range of cases.
Despite being out of print, Kishore’s card repertory remains a valuable historical and clinical reference for homoeopathic practitioners, reflecting a creative attempt to simplify the art of repertorization.