1. The original substance or extract is mixed in alcohol,
stored for a while and then sifted.
This is called the Mother Tincture. Many remedies are used in this form such as
Carduus Marianus in liver diseases. Eight to ten drops dissolved in
water and taken by mouth are very useful in many liver disorders. The letter Q
tells us that the homoeopathic remedy is a Mother Tincture.
2. The Mother Tincture
is diluted with alcohol or distilled water in a bottle, one drop in ninety-nine drops of the
diluent and shaken vigorously two to four times so that it becomes
completely homogeneous. Thus prepared, the potency of the medicine is
1. For example, a drop of Mother Tincture of Aconite shaken well in
ninetynine drops of the diluent, alcohol or distilled water is Aconite
potency
1. A drop of Aconite 1
added to ninty-nine drops of alcohol and shaken well will make Aconite 2. A
drop of Aconite 2 vigorously shaken in ninety-nine drops of alcohol will make
Aconite 3 and so on. If the process is repeated thirty times, we have prepared
Aconite 30. Most of the routine homoeopathic remedies are prepared in this way.
The letter C written along with the potency indicates that in each dilution,
the medicine is diluted one in a hundred.
If the process consists of putting one drop of the Mother Tincture in
nine drops of the diluent instead of ninety-nine drops, the medicine prepared
would be potency 1D, which means ten. Biochemical medicines are made in this
way i.e. serial dilutions of one in ten using a sugar substance Dextrose,
prepared from fruit instead of alcohol or distilled water. Some Homoeopaths use
the original poison instead of the mother tincture in a very small amount and
mix it in 9 grams of the powdered Dextrose. They grind it well, and the
medicine thus prepared is 1X. A gram of 1X added to 9 grams of Dextrose well
ground will make 2X. Further similar process will make 3X and so on. In fact, an increase in potency denotes a
decrease in the quantity of the poisonous substance or extract. Each time the
quantity of the poison is decreased, i.e. one in a hundred, the potency
increases by 1. In the biochemical system, as the quantity of poison decreases
by one in ten, this is called potency 1. In homoeopathic remedies, the letter C
is no longer written. In some countries, however, they still write C or D with the
potency of their prepared remedies. In the biochemical system, X is always
written as a measure of potency such as 1X, 2X, 3X, 6X or 12X etc. The potency
1000 is sometimes written as 1M, the potency 10,000 is written as 10M and
100,000 is written as CM.