This book review is reprinted with permission from Homeopathic Links.
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Michael Thompson,
Ambra grisea: The Road to Homoeopathic Practice Vol. 1,
Doghaus Publications 1996,42 p, p/b, 5.95 pounds
[Editor's note: As of January 1997 Minimum Price Books' price is $11.50.]

Reviewed in Homeopathic Links 3/96
by Jean Pierre Jansen

This is an in depth study by my friend Michael Thompson of the remedy Ambra grisea, based on his own cases and existing materia medica sources. The author states that he found the remedy more frequently since he worked on this study.

His method is thorough: He browses the computer extraction of all Ambra grisea symptoms in The Complete Repertory and finds the characteristic or unique symptoms too. Then he looks for particular words that are repeated from this list of symptoms. This builds up gradually to a picture, which is presented in the book as the themes of embarrassment, blushing, crowds, strangers, laughed at, etc.

After the introductory chapter he presents nine full cases, which are clearly cured. The initial interview and most follow up results are stated. In some cases other remedies were given with insufficient results. Along with each case there is a repertorisation graph, and some cases are concluded with a lesson that he has learned from it.

The cases cover the diagnoses elbow strain problems, fatigue, Crohn's disease, menopausal flushes, constipation, bowel anxiety and cervical injury.

This cases section is followed by a presentation of 28 themes, both on the mental, emotional and physical plane. Some short case examples from the author and others are added throughout the text.

Each theme gives a graphical summary of the important repertory rubrics, together with the main differential remedies. Quotations from his cases clarify these rubrics, e.g. Case 4: "Dislikes watching rude movies - Embarrassed." They come together with quotations from materia medica sources.

A charming issue of this book are the so-called maps. These graphical representations of the theme of a described case or of the remedy stimulate the mind to think about the themes and make ones own connections between the themes. This kind of thinking process happens as well during our case taking.

At the end of the book he gives 28 additions in five sections of the repertory, which he has seen in his cured cases, and states that they can be added safely. Most additions have a reference to the cases where they come from. These additions seem reliable to me although I did not compare every addition with the cases section e.g. three cases have "constipation while travelling," which perfectly matches what we know about the remedy. On the other hand, adding a symptom "constipation at school" seems a bit superfluous.

Some other 31 suggested additions in seven sections need further confirmation. Part of these symptoms are imagined from his knowledge of the signature of the sperm whale.

It is a good idea to add a chapter with a few hints about Ambra grisea symptoms you might not think of easily e.g. a patient told about her feelings as a child, when her mother put her on a potty in the middle of the room, rather than the toilet, before going to bed.

Some practical hints come from discussions during seminar presentations by the author. Students reacted with telling their own strange habits in the toilet. Because the author uses the word cathartic when referring to this experiences, I think he was able as a teacher to create a good atmosphere. It makes me think of Kent's Lectures on Materia Medica, when he seems to become the remedy itself while presenting his lecture. It is the relaxed atmosphere which is needed in the consultation room and while conducting provings. To me this is an added bonus to the reliability of information in this book.

The book ends with a chapter on the signature and biology of ambergris and sperm whales.

New themes which I did not know of were the themes of abuse and punishment, changing, unusual, death and tennis elbow.

The author suggests to think of this remedy for children who have been abused and develop constipation. This is a well known connection in psychiatry, but Ambra grisea is not a remedy that comes readily to the mind in these instances.

Although the author does not mention it explicitly, there is a connection between the themes of unusual and change. They have difficulty to concentrate on one subject and charge from one to another subject, and on the other hand they have ailments from anything unusual. So these two themes seem to represent their inner and their outer worlds.

Alphons Geukens has mentioned that old people needing Ambra grisea have ailments from the death of friends, which is a natural occurrence at that age. But there is a rubric "ailments from one death after another," that applies to younger people as well. Linda Johnston's cases in this and the next issue of Links show this sensitivity as well.

On the physical plane the tennis elbow comes up as a characteristic of this remedy.

This book is a gain for every experienced colleague. It adds essential features to Kent's lecture on Ambra grisea, based on some beautiful cured cases, together with a thorough study of the repertory and the materia medica.

Michael Thompson has been practising homoeopathy in the UK for eighteen years and is both a Registered Member and a Fellow of The Society of Homoeopaths. He has been a director and Hon. Secretary of The Society of Homoeopaths. He is also the developer of Squirrel Base, a homoeopathic medical database. Michael is conducting provings, recent ones have been Black mamba and Mare's milk. His articles have been published in various homoeopathic journals. This is his first book: the next will be Snake Venoms & Homoeopathy, a much larger work containing research on snake venoms, many cases, new and forgotten provings, and much more besides.

Homeopathic Links 3/96