Decoding the Fever chapter of Boger Boenninghausen’s Characteristics and Repertory

March 6, 2025 admin Homeopathic Repertory 0

Dr Kajol Gupta

Among the three basic repertories, i.e. Therapeutic Pocket Book (BTPB), Kent’s Repertory, and BBCR, the latest one is BBCR that was first published in 1905. It is based on Boenninghausen’s first repertory, i.e. Repertory of Antipsorics.

Dr. Boger was the best disciple of Dr. Boenninghausen and he proved this by making one of the greatest texts on homoeopathic literature – that is, BBCR. All those who criticized Boenninghausen’s work for no differentiation between general and particular modalities got their answers for it in this repertory.

BBCR is included under Logico-utilitarian group of repertories and that too, under Inductive logic. The philosophical background includes seven fundamental concepts, including, Fever totality – which is a unique contribution of Dr. Boger. In general, for any type of fever cases, BBCR stands rock solid for its contribution. That’s why one needs to understand the fever chapter thoroughly from BBCR.

The FEVER Chapter
It is the 49th chapter out of the 53 chapters in BBCR. The 50th chapter is Compound Fevers which also helps in forming the fever totality. The 51st chapter is Conditions in general, 52nd is Conditions of Aggravations and Ameliorations in General and the last chapter, i.e. 53rd is Concordance chapter.

Even though some publications, like IBPP, has given different numbering to Fever chapter and has divided it into several different chapters – the Bjain edition has made it clear as a single chapter. Also, if we see the source book, i.e. Repertory of Antipsorics, the section arrangement inside Fever chapter is same as the Bjain edition.

This chapter is considered to be an extract of Boenninghausen’s original work on Intermittent Fever which is also a source book for BBCR.

Subdivisions inside FEVER Chapter
The fever chapter begins from page number 1002 and ends at page number 1098 making it a 96 pages large chapter. It is also the single chapter with the maximum number of Concomitants given. For easy understanding the chapter is divided into 10 sections – 7 minor ones and 3 major ones.

Fever chapter –

  1. Pathological type
  2. Blood
  3. Circulation
  4. Congestion
  5. Palpitation – including Time.
  6. Heartbeat
  7. Pulse – including Time and Aggravation.
  8. Chill – including Time, Aggravation, Amelioration and Concomitant.
  9. Heat and Fever in General – including Time, Aggravation, Amelioration and Concomitant.
  10. Sweat – including Time, Aggravation, Amelioration and Concomitant.

The last three chapters depict the stages of fever, and are given as major sections under Fever chapter.

1) Pathological Type

This section has rubrics that define the types of fever that normally seek a physician’s attention. In number, there are 27 rubrics, but one rubric is identical cross reference (periodicity, see Intermittent.).

Thus, this section embraces 26 different types of Fever, beginning from Adynamic to Yellow fever.

  1. Adynamic: A means Absence and Dynamic means Energy – thus Adynamic fever represents those types of fever where there is lack of strength. Here, Ferrum phos, and Gelsemium are given under highest grades (+4).
  2. Bilious: Related to bile disorders.
  3. Catarrhal: Related to inflammation of mucous membrane and increased secretions.
  4. Cold taking, from: This explains the cause behind fever and has sub rubrics as well – like, from bathing, or cold taking on head, feet etc.
  5. Dentition: Related to fever during dentition time, probably in children, as the highest grade remedies are Aconite, Calc carb, and Cham (+5).
  6. Gastric: Depicts the gastric causation behind fever, with Ant crud, Ip, Nux v, and Puls given in the highest grades (+5).
  7. Hectic: Kind of fever where the temperature scores severely throughout the day with the difference of at least 1.4 degree between highest and lowest recorded. It can have chills and sweat stage as well.
  8. Infectious grippal, exanthematous typhus, etc.: Includes fever caused by infectious agents like grippal which we now know as influenza and typhus caused by fleas, or lice etc. Hence, remedies like Bapt and Eup p are given in the highest grades (+5).
  9. Inflammatory: Related to inflammation in the body happening anywhere, be it a swelling, nodule or abscess.
  10. Intermittent and periodicity in general: Relates to the malarial kind of fever where the fever intermits every day (quotidian), every three days (tertian), or every four days (quartan), or it could be repeating yearly, hourly, weekly etc. These kinds of sub rubrics are present under this rubric.
  11. Measles: Direct fever cause is mentioned. Remedies like Acon and Puls are given in the highest grades (+5).
  12. Milk (lactation) fever: Here the cause is given for the appearance of fever in lactating mothers, and hence, remedies like, Calc carb, Puls, and Sep are given in the highest grades (+5).
  13. Puerperal fever: Relates to the fever development happening in post-partum stage of mothers, due to infection or any other cause.
  14. Periodicity, see Intermittent. (Identical cross reference with no remedies mentioned here)
  15. Putrid fevers: This type of fever is continuous and with the tendency to putrefaction. They happen in epidemic situation like after wars or natural calamities. That’s why, remedies like Bry, and Rhus t are given in the highest grades (+5).
  16. Quinine fever, (abuse of): Relates to kind of fevers that develop after mismanaged treatment of quinine.
  17. Rheumatic fever: Related to fever developing after inadequately treated streptococcal throat infection. It also gives a single sub rubric – periodically, wandering – containing only two remedies, Mar and Senec (+2).
  18. Scarlet fever (true, smooth): Related to the streptococci infection producing bright red rashes on skin those are characterized as smooth. Irregular is a sub rubric to it depicting the unusual type of scarlet fever.
  19. Septic fever: Fever developing under sepsis condition, due to prolonged infection, or gangrene.
  20. Small-pox: Direct causative factor is given and contains Thuja (+5) as the only highest grade remedy.
  21. Sudoral fever, febris helodes: Related to pernicious malarial fever as we now know. Helodes means marshy, thus representing marshy fever in general. It has Ars and Samb as the highest grade remedies (+5).
  22. Thermic fever: Related to increased heat and involves those kind of fevers that produce continuous heat stages.
  23. Traumatic fever: Relates to fever caused after injuries or traumas, like accidents or operations. Only Arn is given in the highest grade (+5).
  24. Typhoid fever: Now known as Enteric fever, caused by salmonella typhi. This rubric also has two sub rubrics – slow type called febris nervosa (nervous) lenta (slow) and the other one, pituitous type called pleural fever with increased phlegm production.
  25. Typhus fever: Relates to scrub typhus of what we understand now and includes medicines like, Bry and Rhus t as the highest grades (+5). It mentions one comparison – compare, Typhoid fever, which is a type of similar cross reference.
  26. Worm fever: Related to the worm infestation cause behind febrile disturbances.
  27. Yellow fever: the last pathological type related to acute viral hemorrhagic diseases, caused by mosquitoes, ticks etc.

2) Blood

This is the next section of Fever chapter and deals with only one rubric, Blood, with sub rubrics ranging from acrid, to veins, total making 19 sub rubrics in this section.

Even though the section heading blood is written as chapter heading, it is still a sub part of Fever chapter and should have been typed the same way as pathological type.

Here the character of blood is mentioned, if it is acrid, arterial, black, bright, brown, clotted – which is further sub divided into 4 types (4 sub sub-rubrics), dark, gushing, hot, offensive, pale, septic, sticky, stagnated, stringy, thick, thin, thrombi, and lastly, venous.

3) Circulation

This next minor section has also been typed boldly in capital like chapter name but like blood, it is still a section under Fever chapter and should have been written like pathological type.

It contains only two rubrics – Circulation, affected and Blood vessels. The latter rubric is further sub divided into 24 sub rubrics which encompasses aneurisms, distended, inflamed (phlebitis), reticulated (mottled skin), throbbing in general, and varicose.

4) Congestions

This is the fourth section under Fever chapter and is typographically correctly written. The first rubric is Accumulation of blood in internal organs, blood stasis. The second rubric is Congestion in general – which further sub divides itself on the basis of location, from single parts, to head, to eyes, to ears, to nose (nosebleed), to face, to throat and neck, to abdomen, to chest, to upper extremities, and finally to lower extremities.

After that we see a horizontal line separating the locations from sensations, as is the general plan and construction of this repertory.

The latter part includes only 4 rubrics – Anaemia, Ebullitions, Plethora and Stagnated feeling, obstructed as if.

5) Palpitation

The next section under Fever chapter begins from Palpitation in general rubric. Then the alphabetical arrangement of rubrics begin from Abdomen retracted, with to Weakness, sense of, with. Hence, the total count goes to 74 rubrics. It contains essential rubrics like Audible, Condiments from, Excitement from, Goitre with, Lying, Menses, Nervous, Onanism from, Rheumatic metastasis from, Sitting, Sweat cold with, Violent, and Vital losses from, etc.

This section also includes time modality given under 4 rubrics – Morning, Forenoon, Evening, and Night.

6) Heart beat

This sixth section contains only 1 large rubric, heartbeat, with 25 sub rubrics. The sub rubrics begin from audible and end at whirring. It has 7 rubrics with identical cross references, out of which 6 refers to Pulse section of the same Fever chapter.

7) Pulse

The seventh section begins from a general rubric, Pulse and then sub divides into multiple sub rubrics. Thus, this section also has single rubric in its content. The sub rubrics offer the character of pulse, and related remedies are given.

This section also includes the Time modality given under 6 rubrics – Morning, Forenoon, Afternoon, Evening, Night, and Midnight.

Apart from this, it also includes, Aggravation below Time modality, which starts from Air open and ends at Wine, after.

8) Chill

This is the eighth section under Fever chapter and is the first major section among the three major sections. It should have been typed in bolder, bigger typography like its counterparts, Heat and Sweat.

This section has a wonderful arrangement of cold stage of fever. It begins with Chill, predominant, in general. Then after giving its sub rubrics, a horizontal line divides it from Chilliness, in general, lack of vital heat and Cold, sensitiveness to (chilled easily, lack of vital heat). Then we see a section on Partial chill with different rubrics based on locations where the sensation of chill is subjectively felt. Thus Chill stage defines the subjective aspect.

Next in line is the Coldness section, with its first rubric – Coldness in general (objective) dividing into sub rubrics. This is followed by Partial coldness section which includes locations where coldness is objectively felt. Hence, Coldness stage defines the objective aspect.

Shivering is the next section under it. It has been called as shuddering as well.

This section also includes Time modality, Aggravation, Amelioration and Concomitants.

Thus we see Chill section is divided as follows –

  1. Chill in general, Chilliness in general
  2. Partial chill, sense of partial chill
  • Coldness
  1. Partial coldness
  2. Shivering
  3. Time
  • Aggravation
  • Amelioration
  1. Concomitants

If we talk about the beauty of BBCR, we have to find it inside Concomitants of Chill section. It begins from Concomitants in general, and then from Mind to Head, to External Head, to Eyes and goes down all the way to Stomach, Stool, Respiration, going down to Lower extremities, and ending at Sleep and dreams.

No other repertory has such demarcations which make BBCR stand out from the rest.

9) Heat and Fever in General

This is the ninth section under Fever chapter and should have been named as Heat only because Fever is the chapter name, while Heat is one of the stages of fever. Nevertheless, the typography is apt as it is the second major section in Fever chapter. The previous major section Chill should also be written likewise.

The first rubric is Heat and burning in general, correcting itself from fever as in section heading. This is followed by several rubrics defining the character of heat. The next part is Partial Heat and includes rubrics location wise, from single parts to one side of body, from head to lower extremities, from fingers to toes, including heat in sexual organs of both male and female as well.

After that, we have the same arrangement as Chill section – following Time modality, Aggravation, Amelioration, and Concomitants.

Thus, Heat section includes –

  1. Heat and burning in general
  2. Partial heat
  • Time
  1. Aggravation
  2. Amelioration
  3. Concomitants

The rubric arrangement inside Concomitants of Heat section is similar to Chill section where a general rubric is followed by concomitants of Mind, to parts of body, Glands, Bones, Skin, Sleep and Dreams.

10) Sweat

This is the last section under Fever chapter and the third major section. The rubric arrangement is same as Heat section. Sweat in general is followed by Partial sweat. Then the Time modality, Aggravation, Amelioration and Concomitants are given.

Hence, this section includes –

  1. Sweat, sweatiness in general
  2. Partial sweat
  • Time
  1. Aggravation
  2. Amelioration
  3. Concomitants

The concomitants here also follow the same pattern, beginning with a general rubric, and then from mind to parts of body, to Sleep and dreams.

Thus, the fever chapter contains maximum number of concomitants among all the 53 chapters of BBCR.

COMPOUND FEVER
This is the next chapter under BBCR, marking it the 50th one. This is complementary to the Fever chapter and hence is discussed here.

Compound means made of more than one element. Thus, compound fever is a separate type of fever where there are more than one stages present. It also includes those kinds of fevers where the regular Chill, Heat, and Sweat stages are not followed. That is to say that fevers beginning with Heat or sweat, or alternating with Chill or Sweat. The regular intermittent pattern is disrupted here, and that’s why the chapter is divided into 4 sections –

  1. Beginning with Chill
  2. Beginning with Shivering
  • Beginning with Heat
  1. Beginning with Sweat

The first rubric is compound fever in general and is similar to the general arrangement of BBCR. The horizontal line marks the first section, i.e. beginning with chill.

This chapter starts from page number 1099 and ends at 1102, making it a 4 pages chapter. This combined with 96 pages fever chapter, makes a 100 pages fever totality from page number 1002 to page number 1102.

The fruits of BBCR fever totality can only be consumed by those only who have done the labor of going through each rubric by heart and using them in practice. The theory and practical must go hand in hand for thorough learning.

References
Boger Boenninghausen’s Characteristics and Repertory, with Corrected abbreviations, word index and thumb index. By, Bjain Publication.

Dr. Kajol Gupta
MD Scholar, Dept Of Case Taking And Homoeopathic Repertory
Govt. Homoeopathic Medical College And Hospital, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Email Id – officialkgupta21@gmail.com
Guided by –Dr. Sarita Verma I/C HOD
Dept of Case Taking And Homoeopathic Repertory

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