Preface:

"Sepia & Lachesis  a dialogue with a difference" was the first effort in promoting the learning of Materia Medica without tears, and making the personalities of the polychrests-alive ! First presented by the mother-daughter team i.e. Dr Sarla Sonawala (Sepia) & Dr.Vishpala Parthasarathy (Lachesis) - the authors, as a talk, it was then brought to the homoeopathic profession in the form of a book. Today, at the 4th Sarla Sonawala Memorial Seminar, to  commemorate her 3rd death anniversary, we present a revised and enlarged edition of the book, in the same tradition as the other books:

(i) Nosodes - the Pacemakers of our Materia Medica, and
(ii) Sulphur - Calcarea - Lyco : The Immortal Trio

As often mentioned earlier, none of these books was ever meant to be textbooks of Materia Medica. They do not describe the A to Z symptoms of the drug, nor do they list their head-to-toe symptoms. They are only meant to give the readers an essence of drug personalities as they evolve, move from infancy to old age on life's journey. Many cartoons have been added to the old ones by Navin Ariwala to express Sepia child, adolescence, etc. The cartoons so accurately and beautifully bring these personalities really alive, so that you can recognize them as people we see and meet in everyday life. The ETCETERAS are notes added by Dr Chanda Seth to make the study of the two remedies more complete.

We hope this book will hold the readers' interest and expand his view of these two polychrests, as much as the other writings....on to the task of learning Materia Medica without tears!

We thank Dr Kasim Chimthanawala, our erstwhile Honorary Advisor and a colleague of Dr Sarla Sonawala from the same Calcutta school, for releasing this book on the occasion of the 4th Sarla Sonawala Memorial Seminar at Choksey Auditorium. Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai.

Dr. Vishpahla Parthusarathy 25 January 1998