This book review is reprinted from The Homeopath with the permission from Autumn 2007, Volume 26:2 of The Society of Homoeopaths.
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AN INSIGHTS INTO PLANTS Volume 3

By Rajan Sankaran

Homeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai, 2007,
Hardback, pp1011-1878
ISBN 9788190337847

Reviewed by Hazel Partington

I was very pleased to receive this book to review, having found volumes 1& 2 of the series very useful to have on my bookshelf. I do not use the Bombay method exclusively in my practice but do find the techniques helpful to incorporate into my case taking. The key question when considering buying this book is not 'Should 1 buy it?' but 'Should 1 buy it if I've already got volumes 1&2?' Obviously as volume 3 in a series this is a continuation of work already explored in the first two volumes so is not the place to start if you want to learn about the Bombay method. Could you use the Bombay Method without buying this book? Well yes, you could just rely on volumes 1&2 for a while, but those who wish to fully engage with the system will want to benefit from the extra material in Volume 3. This is a large volume containing much information and at £38.00 represents reasonable value for money.

This third volume begins with a dialogue between the author and Julia Schiller, which began when Schiller published an article in Links disputing some of the botanical classifications used to group the plants into families. Sankaran reprints the article in full and responds by welcoming such comments as vital to help to refine an ongoing work. He doesn't agree with all the points raised but answers each in turn and gives space to Schiller's further response.

The book is split into three parts; the first contains summaries and updated information, including illustrative cases about the plant families featured in volumes 1&2. The second part adds seven new plant families to the system: Brassicaceae/Cruciferae, Carnivorous plants, Dioscoeaceae, Fungi, Piperaceae, Rosaceae, and Rutaceae. The presentation of the information is enhanced by the addition of 'alert words/source words' and illustrations for each family. Most of the tables in part 3 will be familiar from volumes 1&2 with the new addition of Jorg Wichmann's chart of plant classification.

My one frustration with the work as a whole is the lack of an integrated index covering all three volumes, hopefully at some point this will be made available.

This volume is very necessary for those who want to immerse themselves further in the Bombay method.