![James Tyler Kent](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/James_Tyler_Kent.png)
James Tyler Kent (1849–1916) was an American
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
best remembered as a forefather of modern
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
. In 1897 Kent published a massive guidebook on human physical and mental disease symptoms and their associated pseudoscientific homeopathic preparations entitled ''Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica'', which has been translated into a number of languages. It has been the blueprint to many modern repertories used throughout the world and even remains in use by some homeopathic practitioners today.
Life and career
Early years
James Tyler Kent was born on March 31, 1849, in
Woodhull, New York
Woodhull is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 1,719 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.
The Town of Woodhull is in the southern part of the county, west of Corning.
History
The first settlers ar ...
, the son of Steven Kent and his wife Caroline Tyler.
["James Tyler Kent,"]
''Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica.'' Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1905. Kent was raised as a staunch
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
.
Kent attended secondary school at the Franklin Academy of
Prattsburgh, New York
Prattsburgh is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 1,985 at the 2020 census. It is situated in the northeast part of the county, north of Bath.
History
Prattsburgh was formed from the town of Pulteney in 181 ...
before enrolling at
Madison University
Madison University is a School accreditation, non-accredited distance learning college located in Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport, Mississippi. The state of Mississippi considers Madison an "unapproved" college. Madison is also listed as an unac ...
(today's
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...
), from which he was graduated with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in 1868.
He earned a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. from the same institution in 1870.
Kent attended the Institute of Eclectic Medicine at
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, where, in addition to standard
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, he studied
naturopathy
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as natur ...
,
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
, and
chiropractic
Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudosci ...
. Kent graduated from the institute in 1873.
Career
In 1874, Kent married Ellen and settled in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, where he took up medical practice. His wife died shortly after marriage at the age of 19. He set up practice as an eclectic physician in St Louis, Missouri and soon became a distinguished member of the Eclectic National Medical Association. He took a post as a professor of
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
at American College in St. Louis two years later.
In 1878, Kent's second wife, Lucy, became ill. In spite of Lucy's symptoms of "nervous weakness, insomnia, and anaemia" being treated by both orthodox and eclectic physicians, her condition continued to deteriorate and she was bedridden for months. On Dr.Kent's wife's request Dr Richard Phelan a homoeopathic physician, was called in to see Lucy. Following his prescription, she made a dramatic recovery. As a result, Kent elected to study with Phelan and changed from eclecticism to homoeopathy.
It was at this time that he became a fervent adherent of the precepts of
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
, a branch of
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
that purports to treat patients through the administration of "remedies" containing massively diluted forms of substances that, if given to a healthy person would supposedly cause symptoms similar to the disease. It is believed by homeopaths that the introduction of such "similars" into the body effectively stimulates it to defeat the ailment or disease.
In 1881, Kent accepted a position as professor of anatomy at the Homeopathic College of Missouri, an institution with which he remained affiliated until 1888. During this period, Kent's second wife died.
In 1890, Kent moved to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
to take a position as Dean of Professors at the Post-Graduate Homeopathic Medical School of Philadelphia. He remained in that position until 1899.
Clara Louis Tobey, a doctor turned homoeopath, was treated by Dr. Kent and she later on became his wife and she helped him in completing his famous works which were published.
In 1897 Kent published his magnum opus, ''Repertory of the Homœopathic Materia Medica.'' This guidebook to ailments and their associated "similars" remains the
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
on which much of the modern practice of homeopathy is based.
Kent edited the ''Journal of Homeopathics'' from 1897 to 1903, producing seven volumes of the journal.
[Peter Morrell, "Kent's Influence on British Homeopathy," ''Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy,'' vol. 92 (1999-2000). Republished on the internet as part o]
''Articles on Homeopathy by Peter Morrell,''
www.homeoint.org/
Kent moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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in 1903, where he taught at Hahnemann Medical College. Kent remained at that post until his departure in 1909 to become professor and Dean of Hering Medical College and Hospital, an institution also located in Chicago.
In November 1910, Kent was instrumental in the establishment of the Society of Homeopathicians as a means of disseminating the principles of homeopathy promulgated by Hahnemann.
[A. Eugene Austin, "James Tyler Kent: An Appreciation," ''Alpha Sigma Semi-Annual,'' vol. 2, no. 1 (May 1917), reprinted i]
''Lectures on Homoeopathic Philosophy.''
900
__NOTOC__
Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
Memorial Edition. Chicago: Ehrhart and Karl, 1919; pp. 8-9. The group published its own journal, ''The Homeopathician.''
Kent wrote voluminously and his works were published into several non-English languages during the course of his life.
He gained a significant number of adherents in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
a country in which several publishers of his work of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries are located.
Ideas
Kent is remembered for his naive arguments against the
germ theory
The germ theory of disease is the currently accepted scientific theory for many diseases. It states that microorganisms known as pathogens or "germs" can lead to disease. These small organisms, too small to be seen without magnification, invade ...
of
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
:
"The microbe is not the cause of disease. We should not be carried away by these idle
allopathic
Allopathic medicine, or allopathy, is an archaic term used to define science-based modern medicine. Citing: ''Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine'' (2008) and ''Mosby's Medical Dictionary'', 8th ed. (2009). There are regional variations in usage of th ...
dreams and vain imaginations but should correct the Élan vital."
[Morrell, Peter. (2000)]
''Vaccines - cause celebre or bete noir?''
''The British Medical Journal'' 320: 240.
"The bacteria is an innocent feller, and if he carries disease he carries the Simple Substance which causes disease, just as an elephant would."
As a follower of a
mystical
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
Christian religious sect headed by
Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg (, ; born Emanuel Swedberg; 29 March 1772) was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, ''Heaven and Hell'' (1758).
Swedenborg had ...
,
Kent believed that illness had
spiritual causes:
"You cannot divorce medicine and theology. Man exists all the way down from his innermost spiritual, to his outermost natural."
Kent was a
vitalist
Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...
and believer in a "vital force".
Death and legacy
Kent died of
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...
on June 5, 1916, in
Stevensville, Montana
Stevensville ( Salish: ɫq̓éɫmlš) is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,002 at the 2020 census.
Stevensville is officially recognized as the first permanent settlement of non-indigenous peoples in the sta ...
. He was 67 years old at the time of his death.
Not long after his death, Kent was
eulogized
A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...
by one contemporary as
"Genial, gentle, devoted friend to his patients and pupils; jealous guardian of pure Homeopathy against the criticisms of those whom he considered his enemies; sensitive, embittered, retiring man in later years as he thought one after another did him wrong...; most of his patients and pupils were devoted to him and he basked in the sunshine of that devotion."[Julia Minerva Green, "James Tyler Kent," February 1919. Published in Kent, ''Lectures on Homoeopathic Philosophy,'' Memorial Edition, pg. 11.]
British scholar of homeopathy Francis Treuherz has characterized James Tyler Kent as "the ultimate homeopath of the period when homeopathy flourished in America."
[Francis Treuherz]
"The Origins of Kent's Homeopathy,"
''Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy,'' vol. 77, no. 4 (1984). Treuherz has noted Kent's pioneering use of extremely high dilutions (called "high potencies" by adherents of homeopathy) and "meticulous scholarship in the creation of his repertory" as among Kent's primary attributes as the homeopathic exemplar of his generation.
Works
''Sexual Neuroses.''St. Louis, MO: Maynard and Tedford, 1879.
''Address before the International Hahnemannian Association at Its Seventh Annual Meeting.''1887.
* ''Repertory of the Homœopathic Materia Medica.'' Lancaster, PA: Examiner Printing House, 1897.
''Lectures on Homoeopathic Philosophy.''900
__NOTOC__
Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
Memorial Edition. Chicago: Ehrhart and Karl, 1919.
* ''Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica.'' Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1905.
New remedies, clinical cases, lesser writings, aphorisms and precepts''New Remedies, Clinical Cases, Lesser Writings, Aphorisms and Precepts].'' Chicago: Ehrhart and Karl, 1926.
Notes
Further reading
* Glen Irving Bidwell
''How to Use the Repertory: With a Practical Analysis of Forty Homeopathic Remedies.''Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1915.
* Amir Cassam, "Was Kent a Hahnemannian?" ''British Homoeopathic Journal,'' vol. 88, no. 2 (April 1999), pp. 78–83.
* John S. Haller and Michael A. Flannery, ''The History of American Homeopathy: From Rational Medicine to Holistic Health Care.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2009.
* Francis Treuherz
"The Origins of Kent's Homeopathy,"''Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy,'' vol. 77, no. 4 (1984).
External links
* Peter Morrell
www.homeoint.org/
Materia Medica by James Tyler Kent, full book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, James Tyler
1849 births
1916 deaths
American homeopaths
American Swedenborgians
Deaths from nephritis
Germ theory denialists
People from Woodhull, New York
Physicians from Missouri
Vitalists