This 6th volume of the author's Materia Medica Clinica series, focuses on the chronic picture of Arnica and thirteen other vulneraries of the Asteraceae family. He also includes Hamamelis and Hydrastis.
Central themes are the need to be invulnerable, to be honorable and steadfast, to have dignity and physical integrity. Proving oneself through accomplishments, achieving ambitions though the exploits of performance rather than industriousness: the courage to battle, victory in sport, or (sometimes dictatorial) leadership in the boardroom. Some are risk-takers, others are less confident and avoid risk; some take pride in their ability to recover, others hid their weaknesses through sanguine optimism or stoic denial.

This fascinating group of remedies resonates with warrior and materialist metaphors of medicine: the fight against disease, the body as machine, requiring only mechanical repair. The in-depth cases in this volume highlight beautifully how these remedies heal by embracing rather than negating the elements of their vulnerability.