WHILE RANKING THE SYMPTOMS HAHNEMANN’S THREE RULES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.

After thorough case taking the next job is classification and ranking of symptoms. A similimum by totality is not an arithmetic analog. But according to the HAHNEMANN's advice we have to take all the symptoms of a case as if it were the only one. The true hahnemannian examines each case to get the symptoms that distinguish the present case from all others. We have to observe the strictest individualization, through identification of characteristic symptoms of the case. By collecting all and every symptom and particularly the so called unnatural and distinguished, we obtain the characteristics.

HAHNEMANN’S First rule is that the characteristics of the case must be similar to the characteristics of the drug. In other words, the symptoms of a case and the symptoms of a medicine must not only be alike, one by one, but in the both same symptoms must also be of a like rank. Characteristics symptoms of the only curative remedy must correspond to the characteristic symptoms of the patient. This is one of the most important rules of our school.

HAHNEMANN has given us the Second rule in his section on chronic diseases. The recovery or direction of cure should be from with in outward, from up downward, from most essential organs to the less essential from brain and the nervous outwards and down to the most outwards and the lowest of all organs, to the skin. The ranking of symptoms should be done basing on this doctrine.

HAHNEMANN Third rule is the symptoms recently developed are the first to yield: and the older symptoms disappear last as such the latest symptom should given higher rank. Suppose a patient experienced various symptoms in terms of a,b,c,d,e., the direction of cure should be in the order of e,d,c,b,a. Therefore the new symptoms are always of the highest rank, even if apparently unimportant .

During the examination of the sick, we must inquire as much as possible, in which order, according to them, did the different symptoms make their first appearance.

After such a careful and complete examination of a case, we must arrange our collection of symptoms according to their value, that is their importance as indicative, and we must bring such as have appeared later, in the foreground, of course without neglecting the others, and even the oldest. Further, we must compare when selecting a medicine, and find whether the one to be chosen has a characteristic similarity, particularly with the symptoms which appeared last.

If the patient had been drugged by the old school, we must direct our antidotes principally against the last given drugs. For instance, against abuse of alcohol or aromatics, Nux vomica; against tea, Pulsatilla or Thuya; against quinine, Pulsatilla, etc.,

In every chronic case, after a well-chosen medicine has had time to improve the case, and ceases to do good, we have to make a new examination to obtain a full image of the new state of the sick; we must again inquire particularly about newly appearing symptoms. As we will find in almost all carefully observed cases, that the new symptoms correspond to the last applied medicine, and as we know, a repetition of the same drug would only aggravate, without giving relief, particularly if general characteristics, viz., with regard to times of day, sides of the body, or other localities, have changed, or if other general with regard to such new symptoms, considering them as the most indicative, or of high rank.

If we have succeeded in restoring a chronic case of long standing, and the symptoms have disappeared in the reverse order of their appearance, we can dismiss the case with full confidence as; being cured, and not being in danger of returning again; if not, we had better tell the patient, even if he should be satisfied with the partial cure, that he may, before long, be sick again.