Kent Repertory

Author: Dr. J. T. Kent
Full Name of Repertory: Kent's Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica with word index

Sources of Construction

• Lippe’s Repertory (main base)
• Work done by Dr. Lee (Mind & Head section)
• Hahnemannian provings
• Allen’s Symptom Register
• Clinical verifications by Kent himself
• Earlier repertories – Boenninghausen, Boger, Talner etc.

Total Medicines: 648
Total Rubrics: Approximately 40,000+

Publication Year with Editions

1. 1st edition — 1897
2. 2nd edition — 1908
3. 3rd edition — 1924 (F.E. Gladwin & Dr. J.S. Pugh; Published by Dr Ehrhart)
4. 4th edition — 1935 (Dr. Louise Kent & Dr. Pierre Schmidt)
5. 5th edition — 1945
6. 6th edition — American 1957, Indian 1961
7. Revised edition / Final General Repertory of Kent — 1974 (Dr. Pierre Schmidt)
   • Note: This corrected manuscript was stolen by Dr. Diwan Harishchand and published in mutilated form

Introduction & History of Kent

• Originally an eclectic practitioner & great scholar
• In 1878 his wife was cured miraculously by Homoeopathy → converted him
• Became a true follower of Hahnemann’s Organon
• Used Lippe’s repertory for years, made notes on margins
• Lippe desired Kent to complete a comprehensive repertory with Lee
• Kent completed urinary organs, chill, fever, sweat etc. himself
• Lee completed Mind & Head → Kent found it unsatisfactory → revised everything as per his own plan
• Added his own clinical notes
• Faced financial difficulty → finally published with help of Dr. Kimball, Thurston & Biegler

Philosophical Background

• Based on Deductive Logic – From General to Particular
• Man is prior to organs → Importance to General symptoms
• Strongly criticised over-generalising particulars & pathological prescribing

Plan & Construction

• Total chapters: 33 (Mind to Generalities)
• Urinary organs has 5 sub-chapters → Total anatomical sections = 37
• Anatomical schema (Head to Skin) + functional/discharge chapters
• Book divided into 3 parts for study:
  1. How to use, repertorisation, case demos
  2. Preface, Repertory proper, Word index
  3. Sides of body, Drug relationship & affinities

Arrangement of Rubrics

• All rubrics alphabetical
• General → Particular
• Sequence inside rubric: Side → Time → Modality → Extension
• Sides: Right → Left
• Time: Daytime → Morning → Forenoon → Noon → Afternoon → Evening → Twilight → Night → Midnight → After midnight
• Modalities: Aggravation → Amelioration → Modifying factors
• Extension: last sub-rubric, mostly under Pain

Grading of Medicines

• Bold (3 marks) – 1st grade – repeatedly verified
• Italics (2 marks) – 2nd grade – occasionally verified
• Roman (1 mark) – 3rd grade – appeared in few provers only

Special Features / Advantages

• Strict adherence to philosophy (General → Particular)
• Easiest repertory to use because of alphabetical & logical arrangement
• Largest & most elaborate Generalities section
• Mind section very rich with qualified mental symptoms
• Contains symptoms of both generals & particulars → one repertory is sufficient
• Excellent cross-references (especially in Mind)
• Still the Gold standard for case-taking & repertorisation in modern software (Radar, Hompath, MacRepertory, etc.)

Disadvantages / Limitations

• Medicines present in sub-rubrics sometimes missing in main rubric
• Many clinical rubrics (contradicts his own philosophy)
• Many single-drug rubrics → useless for repertorisation
• Over-generalisation in Mind chapter
• Over-particularisation & dry in Extremities (largest but least useful chapter)
• Nosodes poorly represented though Kent used them
• Thermal reactions not properly placed in Generalities
• Some general modalities appear only in parts
• Many rubrics suffer from omission of drugs

Concept of Totality in Kent

1. Mental Generals – Will, emotion, intellect, memory, dreams
2. Physical Generals – Sexual sphere, menses, appetite, thirst, aversion, desire, weather & temperature reactions, special senses
3. Particulars – Characteristic particulars with clear modalities

Quick Comparison with Boenninghausen (Very Frequent Question)