This book review is reprinted with the permission of the International Foundation for Homeopathy
PO Box 7
Edmonds, WA 98020
(206) 776-4147

The Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer, M.D.
Edited by Ahmed Currim, M.D.
$100. 899 pages.
Available from 148 East Avenue, Site IL, Norwalk, CT 06851, phone 203-853-1339 or Minimum Price Books.
Reviewed by Karl Robinson, M.D.

A vast repository of homeopathic information is contained in The Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer, MD., a tome of 899 pages painstakingly collected and edited by Ahmed N. Currim, Ph.D., M.D.

Five years after Grimmer's death in 1967, Dr. Currim met Grimmer's daughter. Together they decided to collect Grimmer's voluminous writings and eventually publish them, a task which was not completed until 1996. In the meantime Currim, who held a Ph.D. in mathematics, entered medical school in Belgium.

Trained by James Tyler Kent, M.D., Grimmer went on to specialize in treating difficult chronic cases. He is reputed to have cured many cases of cancer and he wrote extensively on that subject.

Grimmer wrote much on materia medica. Some was not original with Grimmer but came from Clarke or Hering. The editor very meticulously footnotes the primary sources of Grimmer's materia medica where applicable. Grimmer used a huge number of medicines, many of which are still not commonly used today. He wrote of Cadmium oxidatum, Diphtherinum, Gnaphalium Indigo, Indium, Kali chloricum, Kali citricum, Kaliferrocyanatum, Natrum lacticum, Malaria Officinalis, Kali thiocyanatum, Eryngium aquaticum, Ocicum, Tilia, Congo Red, and on and on.

Frequently Grimmer prescribed based on the "polarity" of the patient's blood. He postulated that there were four types of blood, positive, negative, neutral and bipolar. Each type needed a remedy which corresponded electromagnetically to the blood. For someone in a state of negative polarity a remedy with positive polarity was necessary to neutralize or cure. Those diseases of negative polarity required positively charged remedies whereas the neutral diseases needed neutral agents and the bipolar diseases bipolar ones. To determine the remedy, Grimmer used a radionic device patterned after the work of Dr. Albert Abrams, an early innovator in radionics. Unfortunately, Grimmer never passed on exact knowledge of this methodology so it is virtually impossible to know precisely why he prescribed as he did. Included in this collection are lists of negative, neutral, bipolar, and positive homeopathic medicines.

Grimmer was clearly passionately interested in the subtle electric currents permeating the organism: "While the life energy of this wondrous organism of man is flowing harmoniously, that is, polarized correctly, for the maintenance of the electrochemical processes of metabolism, health is present. Anything interfering with this life force, i.e., reversing its normal polarity, results in disease. And order can only be restored by recovering the normal polarity of the vital force. If a reversed polarity exists for too long a time, changes begin in the chemistry of metabolism which are soon followed throughout the cellular elements of the body by a change in structure ultimating in some pathologic process."

There is a charming account of Grimmer's association with James Tyler Kent (p 517) in which he recalled learning from Kent and later being appointed Kent's "quiz master" working with other students. After graduation he occupied an office in the same suite with Kent. "This closer association with the great doctor was most beneficial and enjoyable. How to study remedies in their relationship with human illness, to learn to observe the nature and pace of action of remedies and of diseased states and fit one to the other was a revelation that spelled successful prescribing over the many years of homeopathic practice."

Grimmer went on to note that Kent "revered the work and character of Hahnemann with almost a religious fervor. He had little patience with those who deviated from the law..."

The book is filled with extraordinarily interesting tidbits which very possibly we need to relearn. One involved an eight- month-old child with seizures who was in a typical Opium state. He was cyanotic, had hot sweat, pinpoint pupils and constipation with stools of round black balls. Grimmer warned the patients not to immerse the child in hot water should another convulsion occur. They failed to heed his advice and immersed the child who promptly died.

Grimmer may have been one of the first to warn of aluminum poisoning and he repeated sounded the alarm against cooking with aluminum pots and pans. He believed it caused a miasm which needed to be removed before the curative remedy would act. He recommended Cadmium metallicum as the best antidote.

Grimmer gave many brief descriptions of very rarely used remedies which he said had proved curative. Using a sample of the patient's blood and his Abram's box he was able to arrive at remedies which apparently were extremely successful. Alas, but that we could follow in his footsteps. What Grimmer demonstrated was the homeopathic medicines do have the power to cure cancer even if he failed to teach us how to do it.

Tomas Paschero, a brilliant Argentine homeopath, studied under Grimmer, a fact not mentioned in the book.

The book is full of interesting material and shows many sides of this important homeopath. For anyone interested in knowing more about the history of American homeopathy, it is a must.

About the reviewer: Karl Robinson is a member of the IFH Board and has been in practice for over 20 years. He currently practices in Houston Texas.

RESONANCE - September / October 1997