A 57622 4

ARTES
1837.
VERITAS
PADAVAD.
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E. PLURIBUS UNEM
TUZBUR
SCIENTIA
OF THE
SI-QUAERIS-PENINSULAM AMOENAMI
CIRCUMSPICE
VOUS
[111]
Į
"

A
CONCISE EXPOSITION
PRINCIP
OF
HOMEOPATHY.
ITS
RINCIPLES AND
WITH
APPENDICES,
BY
96492

PRACTICE,
GEORGE NEWMAN, L. R. C. Phys., Edin., M. R. C. S., Lon., &c.,
AUTHOR OF THE HOMEOPATHIC FAMILY ASSISTANT,
Physician to the Bath Homeopathic Hospital.
THIRD EDITION.

LONDON & MANCHESTER:
HENRY TURNER, & Co
BATH:
WILLIAM LEWIS, "DIRECTORY" OFFICE.
866

小
​PREFACE
TO THE FIRST EDITION, 1843.

HE number of works upon this science which have
issued from the press within the last few years, and
their extensive sale, is one of the best proofs of the
increasing interest the British public feel upon the subject.
By the publication of the "British Journal of Homeo-
pathy" it has now taken its blace in the medical periodical
literature of this country, as it has long since done in that
of the Continent and America.
Under these circumstances it may appear almost a work
of supercrogation on my part to have entered the field as a
writer; but, besides feeling it a duty when convinced of a
truth to aid in its promulgation, I considered it due to my-
self, and to the system of which I am a humble but sincere
follower, to give the reasons for my medical creed.
I am perfectly satisfied that the virulent persecution and
arbitrary exercise of power which effected my dismissal* from
a situation which I had for years filled to the satisfaction of
* Re-elected in 1851.
iv
PREFACE
**
those who elected me, and to the acknowledged benefit of the
poor intrusted to my care, have defeated their own object, and
will forward the cause they were intended to injure; and
that the facts thereby brought to light, not resting upon the
unsupported testimony of an individual, but corroborated by
authentic documentary evidence, cannot fail to have their
weight with the public.
In addition to their publication I thought that a plain
exposition of the system, the practice of which had entailed
upon me these consequences, might be valuable in drawing to
it the attention of those who might not care to peruse more
voluminous works upon a subject so perfectly novel to the
great majority of the public, and might thereby lead to further
inquiry into its merits. In order to enhance the utility of
this treatise I have added a few general remarks upon the
practical application of the system and the course of study
to be pursued.
I have not considered it necessary to enter at length into
the points of difference of the rival schools, they are suffi-
ciently apparent, or to combat the errors of the present
multifarious methods of treatment; such a task would re-
quire a book, not a pamphlet; nor (except in the results of
my own practice, in the Appendix,) to give cases of successful
treatment of diseases. The latter are to be sought in the records
of Dispensaries, and tested by inquiry and personal inves-
tigation.
This treatise may present but little novelty to those
already deeply read in homeopathic literature, but they will
bear in mind it was not for them it was written, but for
those who have heard of the system as a mere chimera,--
}
1
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
፡
1
1
one of those ephemera in medicine which burst into existence
from time to time, to flutter their brief hour in the sunshine
of popular admiration—then pass away, and be forgotten.
For them the author has endeavoured to place the subject in
a plain matter-of-fact point of view, so that they may be led
to examine for themselves, and pause before they rashly con-
demn. The period is rapidly passing away when authority
can frown down truth, or hypothesis supply the place of
fact.
Glastonbury; Oct. 31, 1843.
G. N.
1

PREFACE
TO THE PRESENT EDITION, 1868.

J
T is now twenty-five years since the first edition of
this work was published, and about thirty-five
years since I commenced the practice of Homœo-
pathy; with what success I must leave my readers to judge,
when I state that during that time I have prescribed for my
patients more than three-hundred-thousand times, and treated
every form of disease, both medical and surgical, with the
greatest success. Experience, therefore, leads me to believe
that the Homeopathic system of medicine is the true art of
healing; greatly superior to every other mode, and requires
the serious consideration of all who value their health.
In the “Athenæum" for August 15, 1868, occur the
following remarks on the old, or Allopathic, system of
medicine:-
"The whole system of therapeutics is so unsatisfactory that any
effort to throw light on the cause of disease and its successful treatment
must be welcome, not only to the practitioner of medicine, but to the in-
telligent and thoughtful watcher of the signs of the times. Lest, how-
ever, any one should doubt an opinion of this kind expressed in unpro-
viii
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
،،
fessional columns, we appeal to the addresses delivered by some of the
ablest medical men in the kingdom at the last meeting of the British
Medical Association at Oxford. Here there was no concealing the fact,
that the present practice of medicine was founded on a very imperfect
knowledge of the nature of disease and the means of curing it. What
the public and medical men forgot in forming their opinions about the
action of medicines is the excessive complication involved in diseased
functions, as well as the actions which can arrest or cure these. In
the first place, as Sir John Forbes observed, we have no natural his-
tory of disease.”
The only observations that would supply such a his-
tory are those of the school of homeopathic practitioners. Although
they will not acknowledge it, if honest they give no medicines, and their
cures may really be regarded as disease running its natural course.
Before we can ascribe to a particular treatment any value, we must
know the natural cause of the disease. But the medical practitioner is
not allowed to get this experience. He must give medicines, and as he
never knows whether his patient would not get well without his medicine,
his conclusion that he has cured his patient is always illogical and in-
conclusive.
"In his effort to cure diseases, the medical man is always either
empirical or rational, a distinction as old as Celsus. The empirical
practitioner depends on his experience, and snaps his fingers at theorists.
Yet his experience is really worthless. It is as a drop in a bucketful
of water compared with the facts necessary to establish a correct generali-
zation in the practice of medicine. The empiric, however, commences
practice in theory. It is calomel in cholera or opium in delirium tre-
mens, or some accepted dogma adopted from the rational school.
the other hand, the rationalist adapts his views to the science of the day.
When new chemical discoveries are made, he tries new remedies, and
adopts new theories of disease to meet new physiological views.
On
"}
The slight attack on Homœopathy made in the above
extract is without foundation, and although the writer con-
demns his own system, and acknowledges our cures, he evi-
dently has no practical acquaintance with Homeopathy.
His remark also that no medicines are given is not correct.
It is true the remedies are administered in infinitesimal
quantities, for reasons explained in this treatise; and when
PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.
properly selected are always attended with beneficial results.
As regards the dose, I have fully entered on that subject else-
where, and would here only observe that during my practice
I have invariably found more benefit from the globules when
saturated with a high than with a low potency, and some of
my most brilliant cures have been from the higher potencies.
Hahnemann says that he has been taught "by a thousand
warning instances," as he expresses it, that although massive
doses may frequently be employed with impunity, still they
are frequently apt to "complicate the disease artificially,"
and that you have to treat the storm which you have un-
wittingly raised. If homeopathic practice be not referred
back to scientific exactitude and careful methods, our system
may languish, and be kept alive more by allopathic misdeeds
than by its own merits, but it will never be that healthy,
vigorous plant, full of sap and life, which it was in the
hands of the master, and which it might, and ought to be, in
those of its disciples.
Bath: Nov., 1868.
ix
G. N.
Preface to the First Edition
Present Edition
})
>>
13
*
32
>>
52
>>
""
INDEX.
J
CHAPTER I.-Homeopathy.-Its importance.-Character of Hahne-
mann, its founder.—Its rapid Promulgation.--Neces-
sity of Inquiry, &c.
J
1
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒOPATHY.
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
1
1
*
-
.
$
II.-Homœopathy, Definition of-Specifics, the few known,
how discovered.--Hahnemann's Experiments.—Dis-
covery of the Law "similia similibus curantur.”—In-
stances of Cures effected in accordance therewith, from
former Physicians.-Illustrations of the Truth of the
Law-Popular Experience confirms it.-Necessary
Inductions
III.-Preparation of the Homeopathic Medicaments
IV. The Infinitesimal Doses.-Causes that led to their em-
ployment.-Development of therapeutic virtue by Tri-
turation, even in Substances esteemed inert.—The In-
finitesimal Doses not opposed to either Reason or Pro-
bability.-Analogies in Chemistry and Physics
-
T
V.-Susceptibility.-Idiosyncracy.—Instances in point.—Ran-
dom experiments with infinitesimal doses no test of a
System.-Effects produced by these doses upon apparently
healthy Individuals accounted for.-Homeopathic ag-
gravation explained.-The "curative" action most
evidenced in Acute, the "medicinal” in Chronic Dis-
eases
VI.-Theories regarding the Homeopathic Principle lead to
no difference in Practice.-Choice of Potencies.-Ma-
teria Medica Pura.-Futility of the Objections made
to it, &c. -
VII.—Hahnemann's Hypothesis respecting Psora, as the great
root of Chronic diseases.—Superiority of Homeopathy
in the other forms of disease.—Total Inefficacy of Allo-
pathic treatment in Chronic diseases.—Homœopathy
hitherto only retarded, but did not eradicate the evil;
the reason.-Illustration from the selection of remedies
in Epidemics.-Enunciation of the theory of Psora.-
Difference of opinion respecting it leads to no difference
in Practice.-The benefits that this discovery have con-
ferred upon us.-Anticipated physical regeneration of
the human race
-
ni
vii
I
I- 7
8-13
14-15
16-24
25-30
31-33
34-39
INDEX.
xi
:
CHAP. VIII-Homœopathy rejects all means, surgical excepted, not in
conformity with its law. Why it dispenses with Pur-
gative Tonics.—Bleeding and the derivative method.
Diseases only known by their symptoms.-Internal
morbific cause unknown.-Exciting, predisposing, and
direct causes of disease always taken into account.-
Medicinal diseases.-Value of Physiology, Pathology,
Nosology.-Unnecessary division of diseases.-Objec-
tions to Homeopathy considered.—Comparative Statis-
tical results of Homeopathy and Allopathy.-Advan-
tages of the Homeopathic system
34
33
PART II.-PRACTICE.
I.-Acquaintance with other Branches of Medicine absolutely
necessary.-Course of Study to be pursued
-
II.-Application of the Homeopathic Law.-Mode to be pur-
sued in forming a correct image of the Disease.-Choice
of the Remedy-Of Potency.-Diet
APPENDIX.
No. I.
Contains-Statement of the Proceedings that led to the Author's Dis-
missal from the situation of Medical Officer of the Glaston-
bury district of the Wells Poor Law Union.-Correspon-
dence with the Poor Law Commissioners on the subject.-
Opinion of the Royal College of Physicians on Homaopathy.
--Re-election, &c., &c.
No. 2.
Address--Proposed British Institute of Homœopathy-
40-48
49
4951
32--50
57
77

M
1
EXPOSITION Of
HOMOEOPATHY:
ITS
PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE.
PART I. PRINCIPLES.
CHAPTER I.
Homeopathy.-Its importance.-Character of Hahnemann, its Foun-
der.-Its rapid Promulgation.-Necessity of Inquiry, &c.
T
HE subject proposed to be treated of in these pages
may justly be ranked among the greatest that ever
engaged the attention of mankind. The giant
strides which Homoeopathy has made within the last few
years at least deserve attention, and seem sufficient to
arouse a spirit of inquiry, especially when we reflect how
momentous is the question of its truth or falsehood, inas-
much as thereupon depends the validity of the systems
hitherto employed to combat disease, which systems it
boldly impugns as erroneous in theory, and not only un-
certain, but even destructive, in practice.
Once convinced by examination of its truth, we find
that it offers to suffering humanity a restoration to health,
a cure of many diseases that have hitherto baffled medical
skill, that it is the bright realization of the dreams of that
future perfection of our science which cheered the hours
of Sydenham and other great minds, but too conscious of
2
2
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
the mist of uncertainty in which they wandered. When
we reflect upon this we cannot but feel that it is the duty
of every man, to whom inquiry has carried conviction, to
devote every energy of his soul to the noble task of dis-
seminating doctrines of such vital importance to his race.
Homoeopathy has indubitably effected the greatest
revolution in medical science ever witnessed since the
epoch of Hippocrates, rending to shreds the specious
theories, the finely-spun cobwebs of scholastic ingenuity
that had accumulated around and darkened for ages the
pure light of the lamp of nature. This great discovery of
Hahnemann finds an opposite parallel in that made in
astronomy by Galileo,-both equally founded upon im-
mutable truth, equally referrible to an invariable law,
equally simple in their deductions, though apparently
complicated in detail,-both overthrowing and levelling
with the dust ingeniously constructed theories, based upon
false premises, fortified in prejudices and errors, the ac-
cumulation of centuries. Between the authors of these
great discoveries also striking points of resemblance pre-
sent themselves: Galileo was imprisoned, Hahnemann
persecuted and driven from Leipsic-both were reviled
and loaded with opprobrium-Galileo accused of impugn-
ing the Scriptures, Hahnemann stigmatized as a quack.
When Galileo called upon the Ptolemaics to examine for
themselves, he was sneered at as a madman, his arguments
were met by declamation-his appeal to reason by a
counter-appeal to authority: he pointed to facts in cor-
roboration of his theory-his opponents referred him to
the Scriptures, or rather to their own interpretation of the
sacred writings. And such, to a great extent, has been
the career of the illustrious founder of our system: when
his opponents found themselves unable to contend with
the stubborn facts he adduced in confirmation of the truth
of the law he announced to the world, they turned him
into ridicule, misrepresented his theories, distorted his
facts, accused him of trifling with men's lives, of giving
nothing in acute diseases; and then, heedless of falsifying
their own assertion, stigmatized him and his disciples ast
poisoners. Such was his lot during his long and brilliant
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
3
career—such is now and will be for a time, but only for a
time, that of the promulgators of his doctrine.
While the author was engaged upon this work the
melancholy news arrived of the death of Hahnemann.
One of the greatest benefactors of his species that the
mercy of an all-bountiful Being had ever sent upon this
earth had accomplished his mission, and returned to his
God. In the conduct of his whole life he fully exempli-
fied the great maxim of Hufeland in his " Advice to Phy-
sicians 66
Regulate your actions in such a manner, that
the highest end of your vocation, which is saving life,
restoring health, and relieving the sufferings of humanity,
be attained as far as possible. Endowed with the highest
moral feeling, and a thorough appreciation of his duty
towards his fellow-man, no sooner was he convinced of
the complete fallacy of the system which he then pursued
for the cure of disease, than he nobly abandoned it, and
threw himself upon his literary talents for subsistence.
He writes thus to that celebrated man whose words are
above quoted :—“ Eighteen years are elapsed since I
quitted the beaten path in medicine. It was agony to me
to walk always in darkness, with no other light than that
which could be derived from books, where I had to heal
the sick, and to prescribe according to such or such an
hypothesis concerning disease, substances which owe their
place in the Materia Medica to an arbitrary decision. I
could not conscientiously treat the unknown morbid con-
dition of my suffering brethren by these unknown medi-
cines, which being very active substances may (unless ap-
plied with the most rigorous exactness, which the physi-
cian cannot exercise, because their peculiar effects have
nct yet been examined) so easily occasion death, or pro-
duce new affections and chronic maladies often more diffi-
cult to remove than the original disease; that I might no
longer incur the risk of doing injury, I engaged exclusively
in chemistry and in literary occupations." Can anything
speak more highly for him than these few simple lines?
yet this man was persecuted for the greatest boon ever
bestowed by a simple mortal on his race. Posterity,
while they bless his name, will blush for their ancestors.
""
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒEOPATHY.
Yet, ere he departed, he had the rich reward of find-
ing that the seed which he had planted had grown into a
goodly tree, whose branches were stretching themseless
throughout the world, and under whose healing shade
nations were taking refuge. He saw his works translated
into nearly every civilized language; Hospitals and In-
stitutions for the dissemination of his doctrines proudly
rearing their heads in almost every metropolis in Europe
and in the cities of the New World. Almost to the close
of his existence he gave humanity the benefit of his great
talents; his last years were dedicated to the revision of
the "Organon," in which he first thoroughly developed
his system,—and in the exercise of his profession; and
when that hour arrived which he had for months, from the
gradual decay of nature, consciously anticipated, he sank
peacefully to rest within a month of his eighty-eighth year.
His name will live in the gratitude of ages yet unborn,
when kings and conquerors are scarce remembered. As
Mr. Everest has well expressed it :-"In after times, a
generation by his means enfranchised from the errors and
rescued from the sufferings of their forefathers, will cut
upon his tombstone the simple word
,
ΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΗΣ.
4
From what we can judge of Hahnemann by his works,
from the reports of the contemporaries of the summer and
autumn of his life, and of those who enjoyed the honour
of his friendship in his declining years, he seems to have
been eminently adapted both by nature and cultivation
for the founder of a mighty system. He was already of
acknowledged talent as a physician and a chemist, (many
of his discoveries in chemistry being adopted, and even
now distinguished by his name,) possessing profound
erudition, a mind of powerful intellectual grasp, and strong
conscientiousness, slow to adopt an opinion, never taking
anything for granted till tested, unwearied in experiment,
when once convinced of a truth bold in asserting it, and
unshrinkingly firm in its defence—to be deterred by no
persecution, abashed by no ridicule-gifted too with great
power of language, capable of defending his own positions
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
5
with skill, and in his turn becoming the assailant. The
severity with which he lashes his opponents has been
blamed even by some of his friends; but we should re-
collect that mildness might, in his instance, have been
misinterpreted into a want of confidence in the new dogmas
he promulgated; and besides, the strength of the provoca-
tion he received should have its due weight. Thoroughly
imbued with the conviction, which experience has con-
firmed, of the truth of his system, his generous soul revolted
at the sight of men still suffering under the tortures inflicted
by ignorance and incapacity, and he dared to say so.
Otherwise, Hahnemann was of a mild and gentle character.
To return to the point more immdiately before us.
That Homoeopathy has met with such fierce opposition,
ridicule, and even opprobrium, can scarcely surprise any
one who has taken the trouble to examine the manner in
which all new discoveries, at variance with previously con-
ceived notions, have been received; but that it should
have made the progress it has done in little more than
seventy years since the first discovery of its law, and
within fifty-eight years of its actual promulgation as a
system,—to date from the publishing of the “Organon,
in 1810, may indeed be a matter of astonishment, a fact
which can only be accounted for in one manner-its in-
herent truth.
>>
Perhaps there was never any system, with the excep-
tion of that of Mesmer, announced to the world more
opposed to previously conceived notions, or at first view
more apparently at variance with reason and probability,
than Homoeopathy: had Hahnemann been satisfied with,
or had the system admitted of, a continuance of the doses
commonly administered, or even of considerably reduced
doses of active medicaments, its first promulgation would
have met with many more converts, and it would at least
have failed to afford a handle for the senseless ridicule
that has been so unsparingly lavished upon it; but when
the founder declared, "rotundo ore," that the millionth
part of a grain of a medicine of which we have fearlessly
given scruples, if properly applied, or what he termed
homoeopathically administered, was sufficient to cure dis-
*
2
6
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
ease; nay, when he went further, dividing and subdividing
medicaments till the figures used to express the portion
of the substance contained failed to convey to us any
definite idea of quantity, as the decillionth of a grain, or
of a minim,—when he furthermore declared, that by a
process of trituration with a neutral substance, flint, com-
mon salt, charcoal, &c., substances originally inert, or
possessing in their crude state a very limited sphere of
action, might claim a high standing in the Materia Medica
from some unaccountable development of power,—when,
I say, our founder boldly declared these great truths, are
we to be astonished at the opposition and incredulity he
at first had, and we, his disciples and successors, have still
to encounter?
But all these difficulties vanish on a closer examina-
tion. We find, as I will hereafter endeavour to show, that
the truth of the law of "similia similibus curantur" is cor-
roborated by both popular and medical experience, and
that the "infinitesimal doses," as they are denominated,
are a necessary deduction from that law-thus showing
that there is nothing contrary to reason or sound sense in
the principles of our science. Its truth can only be tested
by the cures it performs, and it is upon that ground we
appeal to the confidence of the public,-that with them is
the chief test of any system of medicine; so that they are
cured gently, quickly, and with the least possible annoy-
ance or suffering, they care but little about the means em-
ployed. The poor-and in this case I can speak from
my own experience-have learned to appreciate the bles-
sings of Homœopathy, although entirely ignorant of its
principles.
That Homœopathy has made considerable progress,
not only abroad, but in this country, cannot be denied;
every day new proselytes of the medical profession are
joining its ranks, and among the British public it has be-
come so deeply rooted that in several of the large towns
a homoeopathic practitioner would be eagerly welcomed.
The tables are turned-its first adherents were obliged, in
many instances, to relinquish a valuable practice and to
commence de novo; in almost all cases they have been
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
7
well repaid for their temporary sacrifice,—but now, those
who embrace it will not have long to wait before their
labours are rewarded, and a field opened for their exertions.
Is it too much to ask then, from my medical brethren,
a candid examination of a system which boasts so many
adherents, and which they decry without the slightest
knowledge of its merits? and from those of the public
who have only heard it spoken of as quackery, or who
now hear of it for the first time, not to be biased by the
dicta of those who are as ignorant of its first principles as
themselves, but sedulously to direct their attention to the
inquiry whether it be true or not to examine the facts
which will daily come under their observation, if they take
the trouble of seeking for them? Examine, if you will,
in a spirit of scepticism, and as rigidly as you please—try
them by the same test of common sense that you apply in
the ordinary occurrences of every-day life, and we do not
fear for the result.
Recollect, in Homoeopathy there are no mysteries;
there is nothing unattainable by study and observation.
To become a master of this science requires considerable
labour and research; but to be convinced of its truth or
falsehood is in the power of every one who will take the
trouble of examination. The importance of the inquiry it
would be almost an insult to the understandings of my
readers to insist upon,-it speaks for itself.
8
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
CHAPTER II.
Homeopathy, Definition of.-Specifics, the few known, how discovered.
Hahnemann's Experiments.-Discovery of the Law "similia
similibus curantur."—Instances of Cures effected in accordance there-
with, from former Physicians.-Illustrations of the Truth of the
Law.--Popular Experience confirms it.—Necessary Inductions.
ITH
T is not my purpose, previous to going into an expla-
nation of the homoeopathic law and system, to point
out the fallacies of the old school, to enter upon the
different theories that have from time to time sprung up
in medicine,—each but to give way to another still more
plausible, or to dissect the prevailing modes of practice
of the present day. Physicians themselves are but too
deeply convinced, by repeated failure, of the mournful.
uncertainty of their art; and to the public, although the
heaviest sufferers, such a subject would possess but little
interest. I shall, however, occasionally allude to the pre-
vailing practice, when necessary for a proper elucidation
of my subject, and as affording strong points of contrast
with Homœopathy.
Homœopathy may be denominated the art of curing
by specifics, or medicines whose action has been previously
determined by experiment upon a healthy body to corres-
pond with the symptoms of the disease treated.
The law by which specifics are governed in their
action upon the human organism is announced by Hahne-
mann in the words "similia similibus curantur," freely
translated "like cures like."
In other words, when we meet with a disease pre-
senting a number of features, we must choose a medicine
capable of exciting in the healthy subject symptoms as
closely as possible resembling those of the affection under
treatment, and if our choice is correct, that medicine is
specific to the disease. When we arrive at the more prac-
tical part of this treatise I will point out the course to be
pursued in making this selection.
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
9
:
Upon this law of like curing like is raised the whole
system of Hahnemann; anything, therefore, not in ac-
cordance therewith is not Homœopathy.
"Were no specifics known before the time of Hahne-
mann ?" Certainly; but he was the first who established
the principle of their action. Before him, the few specifics
in the hands of the physicians were discovered by acci-
dent, or adopted from the successful practice of quacks,
and until their discovery the sick suffered all the tortures
of an erroneous mode of treatment; when they recovered,
it was in spite-not in consequence of the means em-
ployed. To quote from Hahnemann's Prolegomena :-
"Who knows how many ages the inhabitants of the
valleys may have suffered from their goitres before chance
had discovered that burnt sponge (spongia tosta) was the
best remedy against the malady? At least it was only in
the thirteenth century that Arnauld de Villeneuve pub-
lished the property that this medicine possesses of curing
goitre.
"It is well known that when syphilis first appeared,
the routine practitioners (Médecins Routiniers) of the day
uselessly tried to combat it for years by starvation, evacu-
ants, and the means employed against the leprosy of the
Arabs, before they happened to try mercury, which
specific was quickly established, notwithstanding the op-
position, on theory, of the Arabian school.
"The endemic intermittent fever in the marshy dis-
tricts of South America, which closely resembles our inter-
mittent ague, or marsh fever, had long been treated by the
Peruvians by cinchona bark, as the most efficacious of all
means, while Europeans were not aware of the properties
of this substance until 1638."
Hahnemann first discovered that all the medicines
in repute as specifics in certain affections, such as cinchona
in ague, sulphur in itch, mercury in syphilis, were capable
of exciting in the healthy body symptoms similar to those
present in those affections, and consequently that they
were in conformity with the homoeopathic law. He also,
in his introduction to his "Organon," quotes a great num-
ber of cases cured by the homoeopathic law, while the
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
ΙΟ
physician who administered the medicine was ignorant of
the principle upon which it acted. Those who desire a
more intimate acquaintance with the science are referred
to that invaluable work. I will select a few instances from
several.
"The English sweating sickness, in the year 1485,
which carried off ninety-nine out of a hundred, as testified
by Willis, was cured by sudorifics, after the employment of
which few died of it. A case of dysentery, related by Fis-
cher, that had defied all other medicines, was cured by a
purgative.
'Perceval, Stahl, Quarin, and many other physicians
have observed that cinchona occasions oppression of the
stomach; others (Morton, Friborg, Bauer, and Quarin)
have seen this substance produce vomiting and diarrhoea;
(D. Crueger and Morton) syncope; some, an excessive
debility; many, (Thomson, Richard, Stahl, and E. Fischer,)
a kind of jaundice; (Quarin and Fischer) bitterness of the
mouth; and yet others, tension of the belly. And it is
precisely when these complicated evils occur in intermit-
tent fevers, that Torti and Cleghorn recommend cinchona
alone. The advantageous effects of this bark in cases of
exhaustion, indigestion, and loss of appetite (particularly
when the latter has been treated by venesection, evacu-
ants, and debilitants,) are founded upon the faculty which
it possesses of depressing excessively the vital powers, pro-
ducing mental and bodily exhaustion, indigestion, and loss of
appetite, as observed by Cleghorn, Friborg, Crueger, Rom-
berg, Stahl, Thompson, and others."
The apparently contradictory effects of cinchona,
which drug, in Cullen's "Materia Medica," first induced
Hahnemann to try its effects upon himself, led to the
discovery of the homoeopathic law; tartar emetic, iodine,
nitric acid, platinum, cubebs, cantharides, opium, petrose-
linum, colocynth, oxalic acid, and millefolium were then
tried; and in every instance he demonstrates to a physical
certainty, that the curative action of these'medicines depends
solely upon the principle of "similia similibus curantur."
The sanative properties of belladonna in true scarlet
fever, the scarlatina mitis of Sydenham, are now acknow-
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
ledged by many practitioners, and made available in prac-
tice by more. The faculty it possesses of producing a
rash similar to this affection has been observed by several
physicians. It is a prophylaxis, or preservative against
this disease when raging as an epidemic, almost as certain
as vaccination is against the smallpox. This great dis-
covery we owe to Hahnemann.
We will now examine how far popular experience
tallies with this law.
It is well known that a handful of snow rubbed to a
frozen limb soon restores the circulation, whereas were
heat applied, mortification would ensue. In Russia, Dr.
Granville and other travellers inform us, that no sooner
does a passer by perceive that a person's nose is frozen.
than he hastily seizes a handful of snow, and violently
rubs the part affected; the same practice prevails in
Canada and other northern countries.
II
If a cook has scalded his hand, he knows that by
exposing it to the fire for a few moments, though the pain
is at first increased. he can in ordinary cases cure the in-
jury and obviate future suffering.
In many manufactories the workmen are well aware
that the application of hot alcohol, or spirits of turpen-
tine, will cure burns in a few hours, whereas cold water
would only increase the evil; Fernel, Sydenham (Opera,
p. 271), B. Bell (System of Surgery, 1789), Edward Kent-
ish (Second Essay on Burns, 1798), J. Bell (Kuhns. Phys.
Med. Journ. for June, 1801, p. 428), all recommend this
method, and give instances of the superiority of this mode
of treatment over the dangerous practice of plunging the
part in cold water. Can there be a stronger instance of
the truth of the homoeopathic law than this, confirmed by
popular experience, and supported by such powerful
medical authority?
It has been remarked that some physicians, in almost
every age, have in isolated instances discovered the value
of the homoeopathic law, but Hahnemann was the first
who discovered that it was the principle upon which speci-
fics acted,—who carried it out by experiment, and made
it the basis of a complete reform in therapeutics.
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒOPATHY.
Having now proved that all the medicines denomi-
nated specifics by the faculty in certain diseases, obey the
homoeopathic law,—having, moreover, shown that where-
ever a medicine has been given in any disease with benefit,
it possessed a faculty of exciting symptoms analogous to
the disease it cured-when we find that rule invariable-
"like
is it too much for us to affirm, that the principle,
cures like," is the long sought for, at last discovered law,
which has redeemed medicine from the chaos of uncer-
tainty, and stamped it as a science? If the principle is a
false one, the leading men of the opposite school owe
almost all their cures to unconsciously acting upon it.
The homœopathic law once established, we are justified
in drawing the following inductions:
12
That the principle upon which specifics act being
discovered, we have only to compare the symptoms
elicited by experiment with those of disease, to find
specifics for every form of malady.
That no remedy should be administered to the sick,
except one whose properties have been previously deter-
mined by experiment.
That the old Materia Medica possessing for its sources
general therapeutic virtues arbitrarily ascribed to medi-
cines, an assumption of certain actions in medicaments
derived from their constituent principles as elicited by
chemistry, clinical observations ("ab usu in morbis,”) and
accidental discoveries, is almost useless, since in no in-
stance does it enter into the specific action of individual
substances—therefore, before the world could derive any
practical advantage from Hahnemann's discovery, it was
necessary to have a new Materia Medica, based upon the
unerring ground of pure experiment. This has been, to
a great extent, accomplished by Hahnemann and his dis-
ciples, and--the principle once discovered-nothing but
time and industry are required to enlarge and improve it.
That according to the principle of only giving a
medicine with whose action we are acquainted, we should
never exhibit two or more substances in combination;
for although we may be perfectly conversant with each
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
13
individually, we cannot tell how they will act when ad-
ministered together.
We shall enter more fully into this point when we
come to the practical application of our system.
Fortunately the mass of experiments which Hahne-
mann has left us sufficiently demonstrates that the indi-
vidual medicines tested cover almost every form of disease
to which humanity is liable. Experience, and the cures
performed, have confirmed at once the accuracy of his
observations and the truth of his principles.
*
3
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
14
CHAPTER III.
Preparation of the Homeopathic Medicaments.
PREV
REVIOUS to laying before the reader the reasons
and arguments upon which Hahnemann founded that
part of his system which consists in the exhibition of
extremely minute doses, and which, as before remarked,
has proved the greatest stumbling-block to the general
reception of Homœopathy, it may be as well to offer a
succinct account of the mode of preparation adopted, in
order to give a pretty clear idea of what the doses are:
the more minute details belong more properly to the
pharmaceutical branch of our science.
We use, in common with the old school, various sub-
stances from the animal, vegetable, and mineral king-
doms, and different productions of chemistry.
The modes of preparation are exceedingly simple,
the object being to obtain the medicinal substance as free
from extraneous admixture and as closely conformable to
that given in the "Materia Medica Pura" of Hahnemann
as possible.
For the attainment of these results it is necessary
that the vehicles used be non-medicinal,-the drugs ob-
tained in their highest state of purity, and moreover that
they be the same in substance as those from which Hahn-
emann prepared the medicines used in his experiments,
and whose effects he has reported.
The vehicles used by the homoeopathic chemist are
-sugar of milk, pure starch, alcohol, distilled water, and
in some preparations ether.
From the expressed juice of fresh plants a tincture
is prepared by the addition of a proper proportion of al-
cohol; dried roots, leaves, seeds, etc., are treated by
maceration, that is, they are reduced to powder, and alco-
hol is added ; the mixture is allowed to remain a sufficient
time, and is then decanted off; others are prepared by
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
15
trituration in common with chemical products, certain
earths, and all the minerals.
We shall first treat of the tinctures.
Of freshly prepared plants of the tincture, denomina-
ted in the homoeopathic pharmacy the mother tincture,
two drops are taken, added to ninety-eight of pure alcohol,
and the mixture strongly shaken; this constitutes the first
attenuation, dilution, or potency, of which one drop,--in
conjunction with ninety-nine of alcohol, forms the second;
and the same process is continued, in most instances, to
the thirtieth potency.
Each bottle is then labelled with the number of its
attenuation. In tinctures by maceration, twenty drops.
equal to one grain of the substance, added to eighty of
alcohol, form the first dilution, the others are prepared
as above.
Of the medicaments to be triturated, one grain is
taken and thoroughly incorporated in a mortar with
ninety-nine of sugar of milk, added in three separate por-
tions,—the whole process occupies about an hour,—this
constitutes the first trituration; of this one grain is treated
in the same manner, with an equal proportion of the inert
substance, forming the second; this process is continued
to the third; of which one grain is dissolved in equal
proportions of alcohol and water; one drop of which,
added to ninety-nine of pure alcohol, forms the fifth
potency; and so on for each successive attenuation.
A very general mode of exhibiting the remedies is in
globules; for this purpose, globules made with sugar of
milk and starch, of the size of a mustard seed, are impreg-
nated by saturation with the required attenuation, and
then dried; thus prepared they are found in the shop of
the chemist. One, two, or more globules are, for the
sake of convenience, administered in a powder of sugar
of milk, starch, or white sugar pounded, or in water.
However, both tinctures and triturations are largely used
in practice, but in small doses.
16
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
CHAPTER IV.
The Infinitesimal Doses.-Causes that led to their employment.-De-
velopment of therapeutic virtue by Trituration, even in Substances
esteemed inert. -The Infinitesimal Doses not opposed to either Reason
or Probability.-Analogics in Chemistry and Physics.
H
AHNEMANN, satisfied that he had discovered the
law in accordance wherewith medicaments exer-
cised a sanative influence over the human economy,
at first used them in his practice in the doses usually ad-
ministered; but his acute observation soon taught him
that medicines thus exhibited acted too energetically upon
an organism already predisposed to their influence, by
reason of the affinity existing between the symptoms.
which they themselves were capable of producing, and
those of the disease present.
Furthermore, his practical knowledge of the indi-
vidual properties of each medicine, acquired in the course
of his experiments, enabled him to discriminate in a great
number of cases between the symptoms of the disease
itself and those elicited by the medicinal agents employed;
and he perceived that the doses he was in the habit of
giving, not only aggravated the symptoms originally pre-
sent, but almost always entailed additional suffering upon
the patient.
Adhering rigidly to the principle of never employing
any medicine whose pathogenetic properties had not been
previously ascertained by experiment, he did not fall back.
upon "correctives" to obviate these unpleasant and often
dangerous consequences; but, obeying the suggestion of
his reason and sound common sense, simply diminished
the quantity of the drug employed.
Proceeding from tenths of grains to hundredths, from
that to the thousandth, millionth part of a grain and up-
wards, he found that medicines administered in accord-
ance with the homoeopathic law lost none of their thera-
peutic virtues, but acted upon the organism in a far more
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
17
ĭ
effectual, although a much milder manner; thus accom-
plishing the proud boast of our system, cito, tute et jucunde.
To obtain such minute divisions, he was obliged to resort
to the method pointed out in the preceding chapter, under
the head of Preparation of the homeopathic medicaments.
But another great discovery was reserved for this
master mind of the healing art.
He found that so far from the efficacy of drugs being
diminished by the process he adopted for their minute
division, (or what might more properly be denominated
their extension,) their therapeutic virtues were more
effectually developed, their action rendered more penetra-
ting, and their beneficial results more permanent, than
when administered in the original substance; and more-
over that trituration and succussion elicited this power of
affecting the economy to an extent hitherto unsuspected.
This had long been partially known in medicine, but it
was to the inquiring spirit of Hahnemann that the world
is indebted for its establishment as a truth, and for the
benefits that have already resulted from its having been
carried into practice by himself and his disciples.
The action of medicines bears no proportion to the
quantity of the crude substance employed, but to the sur-
face with which its particles come into contact, the recep-
tivity of the organism, and its susceptibility to the influence
of the agent thus it is acknowledged that antimony by
livigation increases its activity. The old apothegm
"medicina non agunt nisi soluta "* is but an assertion of
the same principle-extension of particles: half an ounce
of Epsom salts dissolved in a pint of water will operate
with far greater, or at least with more certain effect than
twice the quantity with only double or treble its own vol-
ume of liquid but without bringing forward any further
illustration of our position, we will quote the redoubtable
editor of the "Medico-Chirurgical Review," the stubborn
opponent of our system, "Fas est ab hoste doceri."
"The state of solution and dilution in which the
more active ingredients of mineral waters are taken into
the body renders them infinitely more efficacious than
* Medicines do not act unless in a state of solution.
*
3
18
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
larger or more potent doses exhibited in draughts or pills
at home. Thus a quarter of a grain of iron in a pint of
mineral water held in solution by carbonic acid will act
more efficiently on the human constitution than ten times
the quantity taken in pills, powders, or potations, as pre-
pared by the chemist. I have little doubt that all the
gaseous contents of the mineral waters follow the same
rule." (Dr. James Johnson's "Excursions to the princi-
pal Waters of England in pursuit of Health and Informa-
tion.")
Quite right, Dr. Johnson; but that rule extends to
substances perhaps but little dreamed of in your philo-
sophy.
This discovery of increased efficiency by trituration
and the other methods employed for the extension of
substance induced Hahnemann to experiment not only
upon other bodies hitherto considered as possessing med-
icinal properties only when administered in large doses,
-such as the carbonates of magnesia and lime, common
charcoal, &c.-but with some supposed to be wholly
inert, such as lycopodium, and gold and silver in their
The results more than confirmed his expect-
pure state.
ations, and he found that even common kitchen salt, sub-
mitted to the process, developed powerful medicinal
virtues, and produced a number of symptoms upon a
healthy individual, even when accustomed to its habitual
use as a condiment.
No wonder that the broaching of such opinions drew
down upon their author a storm of ridicule and opposi-
tion; nevertheless we must consider that they were the
fruit of carefully conducted and continuous experiment,
carried on through a series of years, and confirmed by the
experience of all those who, since their enunciation, have
However scepti-
examined them in a spirit of candour.
cal our opponents may be, they certainly can claim no
right to sit in judgment upon our system, and to denounce
our assertions as false without submitting them to the
same ordeal.
The advantages derived from the last-mentioned dis-
covery have been the addition of a great many valuable
PART I.--PRINCIPLES.
19
medicines to our Materia Medica, and the faculty of ad-
ministering them in such proportions as are best calcu-
lated to attain the great end of medicine—a safe, speedy,
and permanent cure.
In presenting to the reader this brief account of the
origin of the infinitesimal doses, the author trusts he has
shown that thus far, at least, Hahnemann raised his whole
system upon the unerring ground of pure experiment and
inductive reasoning. When first obliged to diminish his
doses, he certainly neither expected nor desired anything
further than ascertaining what quantity of the medicine in
question was sufficient to effect the cure of disease, with-
out at the same time endangering the life, or increasing
the sufferings of the patient. In so doing, he found that,
notwithstanding the continual attenuation of substance, a
marked medicinal action still declared itself; afterwards he
discovered that properties and energies hitherto unsus-
pected were developed by the very method he had chosen
for the modification of medicinal action; and finally,
having by repeated experiments satisfied himself of the
truth of this position, he brought this knowledge to bear
upon substances acknowledged inert in their crude state,
and clearly demonstrated that, by comminution and
segregation of particles by trituration, they are converted
into powerful therapeutic agents.
In all this there is no mere theory, and yet our op-
ponents ungenerously represent our system as the con-
coction of an ingenious brain; whereas any one who ex-
amines it in a philosophical spirit, will easily perceive that,
considered merely as a system, it possesses all that har-
mony of parts, blended in one symmetrical whole, that
distinguishes all systems based upon the unerring laws of
nature from crude and imperfect theories constructed in
ignorance of those laws.
The author is fully conscious that if he had no other
argument to bring forward, in corroboration of his views,
than that there were many things in nature that we can-
not understand, and yet must believe, his position would
be indeed a weak one; having however frequently heard
Homœopathists use that argument in defence of the in-
20
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
finitesimal doses, and by this GENERAL mode of reasoning
injure the cause they wished to serve, he has thought fit to
state in this place how far it bears upon the point in question.
Were a Homœopathist merely to say—“you cannot
account for gravity, electricity, and the power of the mag-
net, yet you believe in their existence; I cannot account
for the efficacy of the millionth part of a grain of arsenic
in intermittent fever, yet I believe it," the argument
might puzzle, yet would carry no conviction. Appealing
from what a man believes to what he does not, never yet
convinced any one; it is an insult to the reason God has
given us for our guide, to ask for his conviction upon
such premises.
Reason will, however, willingly give its assent if
you bring forward proofs of the truth of your position
similar to those it has received of the existence of what it
already believes.
When we see the same effects continually produced
by the operation of the same cause, we have no hesita-
tion in believing in the existence of that cause, although
we may be ignorant of its real nature, or how it produces
those effects. Thus gravity, electricity, and magnetism
are names of causes known only through effects produced.
We do not even know by what property tartaric emetic
causes vomition, or rhubarb purging; nor how arsenic
taken internally destroys during life the mucous coat of
the stomach, which it preserves after death.
It is upon this ground the Homoeopathist may take
his stand, and claim for his system the credence granted
to other systems founded upon acknowledged laws of
nature, namely, the same effects continually proceeding
from the same causes. He believes in the principle
SIMILIA SIMILIBUS CURANTUR, because facts have con-
firmed its truth; in the infinitesimal doses, because he uses
them ONLY for the cure of disease, and success rewards his
efforts. He is not able to tell why that principle is a law
of nature, nor how the doses act; but he cannot disbe-
lieve the evidence of his senses when, by the employment
of medicines upon this principle, and in those quantities,
the sick are restored to health.
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
2 I
But moreover, the author has no hesitation in assert-
ing that there is nothing opposed either to reason or pro-
bability in the Homœopathic doses; and he enters upon
this point with the more readiness from the conviction
that if a well-constituted mind be once divested of the
idea of an absurdity or improbability in curing an acute
disease with such minute doses of medicine, it will examine
the rest of the subject in a more candid spirit.
To the efficiency of the Homoeopathic preparations,
there exists in the minds of most men one great objection
-the possibility of so minute a quantity affecting the
human organism. Some, it is true, doubt the possibility
of obtaining such minute divisions: the author has, how-
ever, pointed out the methods by which that object is at-
tained; and it is not for man to determine the point at
which matter ceases to be divisible, or medicinal sub-
stances lose the property of communicating their influence
to other bodies. As far as we have means of ascertaining,
matter retains its inherent activity and chemical properties
even in extremely minute quantities. Let us take arsenic.
for example try one grain of what is denominated in the
homœopathic pharmacy the third potency, being equal to
the millionth part of a grain of the original substance, by
Marsh's apparatus, and the test detects its presence, a
proof that it has lost none of its chemical properties.
Water in which the 450,000th part of a grain of iodine is
held in solution, acquires a perceptible blue tinge by the
addition of a little starch; proving not only its existence
therein, but the diffusion of this almost inappreciable
quantity through the whole mass of liquid. Iron too re-
tains its affinity for copper in proportions almost eluding
the microscope. We might multiply instances, but these
are sufficient to prove that matter, even in the most minute
divisions, still retains its inherent activity, and to furnish
a reply to the objection that the Homoeopathists give
nothing in disease.
"But if that quantity be so extremely minute as to
exercise no influence over the organism, it is to all intents
and purposes the same as if no medicine at all were given."
True-and that is the great point of dispute between the
22
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
two schools: the Homoeopathic from experience assert-
ing their efficacy; the Allopathic refusing to put them to
the same test, on the ground of their being at variance
with reason and probability. Let us examine how far
this objection is well founded.
stances.
Chemistry furnishes us with several analogous in-
We will quote a few from a clever article, en-
titled "Theory of small Doses," that appeared in the
number for July, 1843, of the "British Journal of Homœo-
pathy." We are unable for want of space to follow the
author through his whole argument, and shall therefore
confine ourselves to merely quoting sufficient to illustrate
our position. He says:
"Our limitation is the mock creator of paradoxes;
but, of all the vulgarities the present reviewer ever con-
sidered, this modern medical ridicule of the insensible
doses employed by the professed reformers of the healing
art, is the meanest.
"Illustrations of the 'power of littles,' drawn from
the region of pure physics as distinguished from the study
of animated objects, are mainly of use to disabuse us of
this vulgarity; and it were worth while to muster an array
of them before objectors to confound their low-bred pre-
judices. Davy, fearlessly following the principle of elec-
trical induction by contact, discovered that half a dozen
square feet of the copper sheating of the British fleet are
rendered electro-negative, (that is, the polarities of all the
innumerable particles which make up that extent of sur-
face are reversed) by a zinc nail driven through the centre
of the space, and are thereby protected from the corro-
sive action of the sea with its store of oxygen, chlorine
and iodine, everywhere ready to be let loose upon metallic
substances. Nay, Sir John Herschel finds the relation to
electricity of a mass of mercury, for instance, is such that
it may be reversed by the admixture of an almost infini-
tesimal proportion of a body, such as potassium, in an op-
posite electrical condition and with such electrical con-
ditions are all chemical actions whatsoever inseparably
connected; while every one is aware that physiological
are complicated with chemical, as well as chemical with
mechanical phenomena.”
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
23
So impressed is Herschel with this class of observa-
tions, as to observe, "That such minute proportions of
extraneous matter should be found capable of communi-
cating sensible mechanical motions and properties of a
definite character to the body they are mixed with, is per-
haps one of the most extraordinary facts that has appeared
in chemistry." (British Journal of Homoeopathy, No.
III., pages 223-4)
We therefore find upon indisputable authority, that
infinitesimal quantities have the power of chemically af-
fecting large masses. So far at least analogy bears us
out; and a position so strongly supported by parallel in-
stances presents nothing absurd or even improbable.
"But it is impossible that such minute quantities can
affect the human organism, at least to such an extent as
to be available in the cure of disease."
In the first place, does not our daily experience prove
that the animal economy is capable of being acted upon
not only by very slight causes, but by such as defy chemi-
cal analysis? A small quantity of musk will perfume
a room for years, notwithstanding a constant renewal of
air, without losing any perceptible portion of its weight—
nay more, will affect individuals who are peculiarly sus-
ceptible of its influence. But who doubts that imper-
ceptible imponderable causes may produce disease and
even death? Nay so far is this supported by fact, that
almost all our most dreaded diseases are the produce of
certain miasmata, some imperceptible quantity of morbific
influence eluding research, and baffling investigation.
This granted, is there anything so particularly absurd in
the assertion of the Homoeopathist, that medicinal agents
acting upon a peculiar susceptibility previously existing,
possess a similar power?
Unless that susceptibility be present, an infinitesimal
dose of medicine, as far as our experience serves us, pro-
duces no perceptible action upon the system, unless fre-
quently administered. The same may be predicted of
miasmatic influence: many individuals remain in the sick
chamber breathing the very atmosphere of infection and
yet abide intact, while instances are on record of others
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
24
having had the disease communicated by a letter, or a
particle of clothing. Were all the world equally suscep
tible of morbific influences, this earth would be one great
Lazarhouse. Were the sick and the healthy organism
equally impressionable to medicinal agents, our lives.
would be one continued course of suffering.
Having thus established the fact of minute causes
acting upon the organism, and at least shown that there
is nothing opposed to reason in claiming for medicine a
similar property, we can only further add that, if this pro-
perty be granted, the cure of disease evidently depends
upon its proper employment; and whether it is practicable
or not, can only be ascertained by putting the system to
the test. The author will, however, feel perfectly satisfied
if he has disabused the public mind of the idea of absurd-
ity as connected with the homoeopathic doses, and in-
duced inquiry. In the next chapter he will enter upon
the question of the susceptibility of the organism to ex-
ternal influences, upon which he has slightly touched in
the present.
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
25
CHAPTER V.
Susceptibility.-Idiosyncracy.—Instances in point.-Random experi-
ments with infinitesimal doses no test of a System.-Effects produced
by these doses upon apparently healthy Individuals accounted for.-
Homeopathic aggravation explained.—The "curative" action most
evidenced in Acute, the "medicinal" in Chronic Diseases.
THE
HE susceptibility of some individuals to the in-
fluence of causes which produce no effect what-
ever upon others, is well known. Musk, lavender,
jessamine, and even roses powerfully affect certain organ·
isms.
Instances are on record when the presence of a cat
has produced convulsions, and brave men have trembled
at the sight of a spider. The same holds good with
respect to articles of food; oysters, in fact shell-fish of
every description, in some constitutions throw out a rash.
Many people, of good digestion in other respects, cannot
take the smallest quantity of milk without serious incon-
venience. We might multiply instances, but it would be
only insisting upon a point hitherto uncontroverted. This
individual predisposition is known as idiosyncrasy, or as
Hufeland defines it, a mode of perceiving impressions
and reacting upon them, which is peculiar only to certain
individuals."
66
In the words of the same author, "every man has an
organ relatively weak which is most susceptible of disease,
and which deserves particular attention."
Experience has taught us that during illness we are
liable to be affected by causes which would produce no
effect upon us in health; such as odours, noises, and the
influence of the atmosphere.
The power of the mind in predisposing the body to
epidemics is also well known.
When therefore we find an individual labouring under
certain symptoms of disease,—say, for instance, inflam-
mation of the brain,—we are justified in supposing that a
4
26
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
very minute dose of a substance capable of acting with
similar effect upon that highly susceptible organ, will be
able to affect the brain directly; in such a case, we merely
say, that the brain is susceptible to belladonna.
Is there, then, anything opposed to reason or expe-
rience in believing that medicines acting in accordance
with the state of susceptibility which the patient presents
to us in disease, must exercise a powerful influence over
the organism, even when administered in very minute
doses?
We are to bear in mind that we have not to deal
with the functions in a normal state, but altered by a
morbific cause; that we have before us the idiosyncrasy
of disease.
I have insisted upon this point the more strenuously,
as it is a common argument with many to assert that they
could take the whole contents of a homoeopathic medi-
cine-chest without injury; and in the course of my prac-
tice, I have often been spoken to by my patients on that
point; the conclusion our opponents deduce being-
medicines not capable of producing an effect upon them
in health are not to be trusted in cases of life and death.
To this it may be answered, that if the medicines
considered per se, without any reference to the quantity
employed, had no power of influencing the human organ-
ism, or of affecting a man in health, they would certainly
be of little value in disease; but that power ascertained
and acknowledged, they have been so prepared and so
comminuted as only to display their action when a peculiar
susceptibility to that action already exists, as in disease;
that a bottle of homoeopathic globules of the third dilu-
tion, or even the second, is, abstractedly considered, a
very small dose; and that the reason we only give per-
haps one, two, or three of those globules, is because ex-
perience teaches us that that quantity is quite sufficient;
when well chosen, to produce a reaction and effect a cure.
our great object being to do as much good with as little
suffering as possible.
A person with sound visual organs might with as
great a show of reason deny that a moderate degree of
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
27
light painfully affects an inflamed eye, because he himself
feels no inconvenience from it, as that a medicine, which
produces no marked action upon his healthy organs, can-
not affect those which disease has roused to an increased
degree of susceptibility.
Even medical homoeopathists themselves are too apt
to forget that the infinitesimal doses are intended to affect
the diseased, not the healthy, and to put them to an
ordeal which can afford no true test of their real efficacy.
I acknowledge, in many cases, even these small doses
have produced decided effects upon a healthy organism;
but in the great majority of instances, one or two doses
of any medicine taken at random, without alteration of
diet, so as to preclude other medicinal influences, will not
develop any marked action.
Homoeopathy relies upon the truth of its principles
and the superiority of its therapeutics for its advancement,
not upon the random experiments of the power of infinit-
esimal doses by some of the well-meaning but over-zealous
and injudicious dabblers in the science.
That it is, however, in many cases perfectly possible
to affect an apparently healthy organism by a homœo-
pathic dose is indubitable; but in such instances, the
medicine must be chosen according to the susceptibility
of the individual. When this has been done, even by
chance, a medicinal action has always declared itself,
particularly when the medicine is occasionally repeated.
Thus Nux Vomica will affect with disagreeable sensations
persons of an irritable temperament, or those who have
been habitual drinkers, even at high potencies.
A pre-
disposition to the action of sulphur is very general, and in
a great number of instances a few administrations, and in
many a single dose, will show a well-marked action.
This accounts in a great measure for the effects oc-
casionally produced by the so-called homoeopathic doses
taken experimentally; but it is not the less a fallacious.
and uncertain mode of testing the truth of the system.
There is also no doubt that the higher potencies
taken continuously, and with a proper regard to the rules
to be observed in these cases, will develop a greater or
28
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
less number of symptoms peculiar to the medicine em-
ployed, according to the susceptibility of the individual
experimented upon.
It is in this mode that many substences evincing but
little power in a crude state, have been tested and enrolled
in our Materia Medica. On this point I offer no theory,
but content myself with stating the simple fact.
HOMEOPATHIC AGGRAVATION. Upon this point a
great deal of misconception exists even among some be-
lievers in the homœopathic system. The power of excit-
ing medicinal symptoms closely consonant to those of the
disease, and others peculiar to itself, is an inherent pro-
perty in all substances, which communication may to a
degree diminish, but cannot altogether obviate; it exists
in an unknown ratio to the susceptibility of the patient;
in practice it is a most useful guide, particularly in chronic
cases. And the temporary inconvenience is amply repaid
by a subsequent amelioration of the affection; it must
not be considered as an increase of the malady itself, but
as a manifestation of the vital energies struggling with,
and subduing it. The power of discriminating between
the symptoms proper to disease and those elicited by the
medicines employed-a faculty most valuable in homœo-
pathic practice-is to be acquired only by a profound
study of the Materia Medica, and the closest clinical ob-
servation. It was possessed in an eminent degree by the
great founder of our system.
Acute cases furnish us with the most striking examples
of the curative power of the medicine; and, in the ma-
jority of such instances, the patient is restored to health
without having experienced any perceptible aggravation.
In chronic affections, the medicinal action of the sub-
stances is well marked; particularly in what is denomi-
nated ANTIPSORIC treatment, on which I will touch hereafter.
As regards both the principle of the action of the
homoeopathic law in the cure of disease and the modus
operandi of the infinitesimal doses, many theories have
been broached, which it would scarcely answer the pur-
Hahnemann
pose of a treatise like this to enter upon.
himself, in offering his own theory, says :—
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
29
"As this therapeutic law of nature already manifests
itself in every accurate experiment and research, it conse-
quently becomes an established fact, however unsatisfac-
tory may be the scientific theory of the manner in which
it takes place. I attach no value whatever to any expla-
nation that could be given on this head."
I do not presume to undervalue the researches of
those great minds that have directed their attention to this
point, but simply to remark that as long as homœopa-
thists keep in mind the law that forms the basis of their
system, theoretical differences cannot have the slightest
effect in leading to discrepancy in practice. This forms.
the best answer to our opponents who erroneously pre-
sume that, because we may differ in some points of detail,
or in our ideas of the modus operandi of our medica-
ments, there are divisions in our camp as in their
own.
*
While upon this subject, it may be as well to notice the
point in which individuals of our school are the least
agreed; namely, the choice of the dilution or potency of
the medicines to be exhibited in disease. It must be pre-
mised that all coincide in the view, that, provided a
medicine be correctly chosen, it is curative of disease in
whatever power exhibited; the point of difference is, at
what potency it is most effective in particular cases.
Some display a marked predilection for the lower poten-
cies,—the third to the sixth some for the highest,—the
thirtieth; some choose a medium dilution-from the
twelfth to the twentieth; while others make choice of the
higher in chronic, and the lower in acute diseases. Many
choose their potencies according to the susceptibility of
the patient, and with the same care as they select the
medicine itself; and others proceed from a high to a low,
or vice versâ, according to the nature of the case, care-
fully watching the effects of such administrations. The
success that has attended all their different modes of
practice is the best proof of the truth of the homoeopathic
law, and of the efficiency of the medicines however ad-
ministered; and affords the best guarantee to the public,
that their health and life incur no risk of being compro-
4
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
30
mised by the differences .of medical men. Could so much
be said for the old practice?
The MATERIA MEDICA PURA. It has been noticed
in Chapter I. that in order to apply the principle, like
cures like, effectively, it was indispensable to ascertain the
pathogenetic action of the agents we employed, and hence
the necessity for a MATERIA MEDICA founded upon ex-
periment. Against it several objections have been urged:
some are so trivial that they are not worthy of notice
e; as
for example, the unfounded assertion that the medicines
are not capable of producing the effects set down to them,
because the objector himself has never observed them,-
an argument based upon his own ignorance, and the ab-
sence of observation and research.
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
AND MOMBASA to howwe 2.
Mina saat kann an AN ARRENDAMAN
*
LA PREMA wanamama Martes, on it at pORIT HAN AR
3I
CHAPTER VI.
Theories regarding the Homeopathic Principle lead to no difference in
Practice. Choice of Potencies.-Materia Medica Pura.-Futility
of the Objections made to it, &c.
IT
T is not to be supposed that any drug could produce
in an individual the number of symptoms enumerated
in the Materia Medica Pura-they are the results of
experiments made upon a great number of persons of
different ages, sexes, and temperaments; and of facts
collated from the most authentic records, namely—
The influence of medicinal substances upon the organ-
ism in cases of poisoning, or upon individuals ex-
posed to the action of lead, the arsenical vapours
disengaged in the smelting of copper, &c.
Phenomena constantly recurring from the employ-
ment of any particular medicine in disease, and
Experiments made upon healthy individuals.
Hahnemann wisely inculcated upon his disciples the
necessity of noting every peculiar sensation experienced
during the course of the experiment, whether the symptoms
were relieved or aggravated by changes of position, rest
or motion, heat or cold; at what period of the day or
night they occurred; whether intermittent or continuous,
&c.
The differences of temperament and individual pre-
disposition were also taken into account, nor was the in-
fluence of the medicaments upon the morale overlooked.
By these means a mass of valuable observations upon
the action of drugs has been collected, from which the
physician can with confidence select the medicine which
corresponds in its symptoms most closely to those of the
disease he is called upon to treat.
It is perfectly possible that in such an immense num-
ber of symptoms, there may be some less owing to the
action of the medicine tested, than to the imagination of
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
32
the experimentor, or other causes; and that he
and that he may have
neglected to note others of importance. But by a careful
comparison of the results of the different trials, such errors
are easily rectified; and taking it as a whole, this method
cannot fail to give us a far more intimate acquaintance
with the therapeutic properties of drugs, than any other
that has been hitherto pursued.
As Hahnemann observes—
"It is only by repeated observations made upon a
great number of individuals of both sexes, properly se-
lected for the purpose from among a variety of constitu-
tions, that we can acquire a pretty accurate knowledge of
the whole of the morbid symptoms that a medicine is
capable of producing. There can be no certainty of
having properly proved the symptoms of any medicinal.
agent,—that is to say, of the faculty which it has of chang-
ing the health,—until such time as the persons who make
further trials of it perceive but few new symptoms arising
from its use, and observe almost always those that have
been previously remarked by other persons." (Hahne-
mann's Organon, 2nd Amer. edit. p. 147.)
It has been observed that it is almost impossible to
find a number of individuals in perfect health, and that
consequently the results of experiment based upon such
an assumption are necessarily fallacious. To this we
reply :-
Every medicine has a certain range of action pecu-
liar to itself, although a few only of its symptoms are de-
veloped in individual organisms, according to the predis-
positions present.
For example. the property that codeic acid possesses
of producing an eruption upon the skin, does not manifest
itself equally in all individuals taking opium, but only in
those cases where a susceptibility to its action exists; yet
it is not the less true that such is the inherent property of
this acid.
Many persons have taken large quantities of mercury
without their mouths being affected. Yet who denies
that mercury can produce salivation? In the mixed
prescriptions of the old school, a person well acquainted
PART I-PRINCIPLES.
33
with the properties of medicines can often trace a cure to
a substance bearing a homoeopathic relation to the symp-
toms of the malady.
It necessarily follows that the effects of a medicine,
acting upon a peculiar susceptibility, afford us most valu-
able indications for its proper employment.
To quote again from the "Organon :"-
66
Although, as before stated, the medicine that is
tried upon a healthy person cannot manifest on a single
individual all the modifications of health which it is
capable of producing, and only exhibits them in several
persons differing from one another in physical constitution
and moral disposition, it is, however, equally true that the
eternal and immutable law of nature has endowed it with
the faculty of exciting these symptoms in every human
being. This is the course of all its effects, of even those
which it is rarely seen to produce in healthy persons, but
which do not fail to appear when the patient is attacked
with a disease resembling the one it is capable of excit-
ing. Provided the medicine be homoeopathically chosen,
and administered even in the smallest doses possible, it
will then produce in the patient an artificial state ap-
proaching closely to the natural disease, and cure the
latter in a prompt and durable manner." (Ibid. p. 147.)
The Materia Medica has given us the materials;
clinical observation and time must do the rest.
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒOPATHY.
34
CHAPTER VII.
Hahnemann's Hypothesis respecting Psora, as the great root of Chronic
diseases-Superiority of Homœopathy in the other forms of disease-
Total Inefficacy of Allopathic treatment in Chronic diseases—
Homeopathy hitherto only retarded, but did not eradicate the evil;
the reason—Illustration from the selection of remedies in Epidemics
-Enunciation of the theory of Psora-Difference of opinion respect-
ing it leads to difference in Practice-The benefits that this discovery
have conferred upon us-Anticipated physical regeneration of the
human race.
T
HE author feels that a treatise like the present,
professing to give a general exposition of the
homoeopathic system, would be incomplete without
touching upon the subject of psora-a theory upon which,
it is true, there exists considerable difference of opinion
among Homœopathists-although all acknowledge the
benefits that have resulted from its being acted upon in
"on
practice, and the value of Hahnemann's work
Chronic Diseases," (Die Cronische Krankheiten,) in which
he gave his experience to the world.
In his introduction, he first notices the proved supe-
riority of the homoeopathic system over the allopathic
method, not only in acute diseases, but also in epidemics,
sporadic fevers, syphilis, and sycosis; and remarks upon
the immense number of chronic diseases for which no
radical cure had then been discovered.
He then touches upon the utter inefficacy of the
means that had previously been adopted by the followers
of the other schools according to the prevailing fashion of
the day: "While the disease increased in intensity, and
the vital energies were evidently sinking, notwithstanding
the administration of roborants, so called, during the in-
tervals of apparent convalesence; when these means
effected a change, and the disease assumed another form,
even still more severe than the preceding, the physician
congratulated himself on the subjugation of the original
malady, although it was certainly distressing that a new
PART I.--PRINCIPLES.
35
disease had arisen, which he hoped, however, to lead to a
no less fortunate termination than the other. Thus, amidst
a continual change of form of the same evil, the sufferings.
of the patient continued increasing, until death silenced.
his complaints for ever. And the sorrows of his family
were lightened by the pleasing illusion that at least all
possible means had been employed to avert so painful an
event."
He then observes that the homœopathic treatment of
these affections hitherto adopted had, in a great number
of cases, restored the sufferer to a state of apparent
health, so much so, that the patient frequently flattered.
himself that he was perfectly cured, and compared his
present state with his past sufferings.
But the slightest error in regimen, a chill, mental
emotion, external lesion, or, in fact, any exciting cause,
brought about a return of the original affection-and fre-
quently in a more aggravated form-the remedies which
had before benefitted were again had recourse to, but this
time, probably, with less effect, and with still further di-
minished efficacy in future relapses, which sometimes de-
clared themselves without any apparent cause, but were
rendered doubly difficult to treat when such circumstances
as before mentioned excited them.
Sometimes, on the contrary, a change of air, long-
continued fine weather, or other favorable circumstances,
suspended the disease and excited hopes of a cure; but
such expectations were generally illusive; the disease ad-
vanced; the best chosen remedies failed even to relieve;
and the Homœopathist was obliged to confess that the
resources his art had hitherto furnished might retard but
could not stay the progress of chronic affections. In the
words of Hahnemann :- “Their commencement inspired
confidence, their course produced effects less and less
favorable, and their termination destroyed all hope."
His opponents did not fail to attack him upon this
point, although their practice presented results far less
fortunate, and was attended with greater suffering to the
afflicted. Yet was his confidence in the principle he had
established never shaken-he knew that "the system itself
36
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
was and ever will be supported upon the immutable basis of
truth." The specific diseases it had cured by specific
remedies, such as the pure scarlet fever, purples, sycosis,
hooping-cough, croup, &c., were indisputable evidences
of this fact.
His followers consoled themselves for their failures
by observing upon the small number of medicines whose
pure effects had been experimentally ascertained; but the
founder of the system did not thus rest contented, par-
ticularly as year by year new remedies were added to the
Materia Medica without a single step being made in ad-
vance towards a radically curative treatment of chronic
diseases.
To the solution of this problem he applied himself
continually from the year 1816, and in 1826 published
his work on "Chronic Diseases," having previously com-
municated his ideas on the subject to two of his favorite
disciples, lest, in case of his being removed from this life
previous to his having brought the discovery to maturity,
it might have been lost to the world.
Finding that chronic maladies treated homœopathi-
cally, after having been apparently cured, reappeared in a
modified form and with new symptoms, he was led to adopt
the opinion that in the treatment of these affections he
had not to deal merely with the symptoms that presented
themselves as a separate disease, because, if such were the
case, Homœopathy should effect a radical cure, which
was contrary to experience,--but with an evil still more
deeply seated, and which only partially declared itself;
consequently, the hypothesis hitherto acted upon of treat-
ing the whole aggregate of perceptible symptoms by a
remedy presenting a homoeopathic affinity, was in such
cases inapplicable. It was therefore necessary to ascer-
tain the whole extent of symptoms proper to this unknown
original virus, in order to apply medicaments capable of
extirpating it.*
*In using the words "Chronic diseases," and commenting upon
Hahnemann's researches into their origin, neither syphilis nor sycosis
is alluded to, unless specially mentioned, each of these diseases being
a known specific virus curative by specific remedies.
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
37
As an illustration of this point, I may mention the
mode he adopted in selecting the most suitable remedies
in an epidemic.
Each patient may present only a certain number of
symptoms, but each individual group differing from the
other; to form a complete tableau of the reigning disease,
a number of cases must be compared, and the remedies
chosen accordingly; when this has been done with care,
the medicaments selected may be considered as specific
to the disease in all its varieties.
Hahnemann, after considerable reflection and study,
came to the conclusion that psora or scabies acquired and
afterwards driven into the system, or hereditarily trans-
mitted, was the polymorpheus evil, from which spring
almost all chronic diseases not ascribable to syphilis and
sycosis; and asserts that the greater number of skin dis-
eases are but varieties of the development of the same
miasm; and that an immense majority if not all chronic
affections, with the exceptions above mentioned, are de-
rived from this root. It would extend this work beyond
its intended limits to enter into the learned and ingenious
disquisition by which he supports this theory, and to
abridge it would be an injustice to the subject. One
point he satisfactorily proves, by an immense number of
citations from indubitable authorities, that a suppression
of cutaneous eruptions, of various kinds, will be followed
by disastrous consequences upon the general system, and
possess the power of exciting acute and laying the foun-
dation of chronic maladies. This we might state in brief
as the essence of Hahnemann's psora-theory, which has
been thrown aside by the would-be wise, who never un-
derstood it. According to Nunez, the suppression of
cutaneous eruptions on the anus is followed by liver com-
plaints; on the legs, by digestive derangements; behind
the ears, by cough and affections of the eyes; on the
scalp, by pulmonary phthisis; on the arms and hands, by
laryngeal phthisis; in the palms of the hands, by nervous
asthma; on the nose and nostrils, by discharges from the
ears; on the face (acne rosacea), by heart disease; &c., &c.
Respecting scabies, as the root of chronic maladies,
5
38
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
as before remarked, different opinions exist; but it is an
undoubted fact that itch never heals spontaneously, and as
we have likewise undoubted facts that itch has been cured
solely by the internal application of homoeopathic reme-
dies, it seems that those who contend that even acarus-
itch in the course of time is not altogether a mere local,
cutaneous trouble, are after all deserving some credit.
All parasites, no matter whether animal or vegetable, can
grow only upon a suitable soil; if this soil be made in-
supportable to them they die or leave, and this is as good
as killing, in respect to the riddance of the intruders; but
it is infinitely better for the patient, as by this means the
organism is not injured, but brought into a healthy state.
Some Homœopathists, while they acknowledge a
peculiar virus or miasm, consider assigning scabies as that
virus as too arbitrary, and that it is a particular form there-
of. Others deny the necessity of any particular miasm,
but consider chronic affections as arising from a peculiar
morbid state of the constitution, and scabies and other
cutaneous diseases as only manifestations of it in another
form.
Psora, therefore, is at present used to denote a cer-
tain abnormal tendency of the organism, predisposing to
or developing disease; and the term antipsorics, as medi-
caments calculated to obviate that tendency.
Such being the case, it is obvious that this difference
of opinion can cause none in practice.
It may, however, be important to show how Hahne-
mann acquired the knowledge that the antipsoric medica-
ments, as he termed them, were those best calculated to
effect the cure of chronic diseases; and that even sup-
posing that his theory was erroneous, which is by no
means asserted, still the method he pursued was in strict
accordance with the homoeopathic principle, and founded
upon experiment.
Having carefully collated a great number of symp-
toms commonly present in different individuals during the
course of chronic diseases, whether arising from suppressed
exanthemata or original constitutional morbidity, he pointed
out the medicines which experiments upon healthy indi-
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
39
viduals had shown to be most capable of producing an
analogous change of health.
A marked similarity is observable between these
medicines and the class of diseases they are employed to
combat; they being comparatively slow in affecting the
organism, and lasting in their action.
In conclusion it may be remarked, that although
even without this discovery Homœopathy might have
claimed a proud pre-eminence over the allopathic school,
from its successful treatment of acute and the other dis-
eases before mentioned, yet as a system of therapeutics it
would have been necessarily imperfect. To that noble
work on
“Chronic Diseases” we owe the power of eradi-
cating hereditary taint, and preventing many a delicate
flower from withering untimely on its stem.
The influence of Homœopathy when it becomes, as
it eventually must, the adopted system of the medical
world, will be perceptible in the improvement of the
human race, and in the eradication, in the course of a few
generations, of those diseases which embitter and shorten
life, and deteriorate the species. No longer shall the eye
be shocked, and the heart pained, by the view of wrecks
of humanity trailing along a miserable existence, and pay-
ing in their own person the penalty of the faults or follies
of their progenitors,-but man will again become, in
physical excellence, such as he first issued from the hands
of his Creator.
40
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
CHAPTER VIII.
Homeopathy rejects all means, surgical excepted, not in conformity
with its law.—Why it dispenses with Purgative Tonics.-Bleeding
and the derivative method.-Diseases only known by their symptoms.
—Internal morbific cause unknown.—Exciting, predisposing, and
direct causes of disease always taken into account.—Medicinal
diseases.- Value of Physiology, Pathology, Nosology.--Unnecessary
division of diseases.-Objections to Homœopathy considered.-Com-
parative Statistical results of Homœopathy and Allopathy.—Advan-
tages of the Homœopathic system.
IT
T is evident, from the definition already given of
Homœopathy, of its being a system of curing by
specifics, that it rejects all means except surgical,
which do not directly come under that category.
The Homoeopathist, contemplating the whole assem-
blage of symptoms before him as the image of the disease
he has to treat, chooses a remedy in conformity there-
with; he does not limit himself to an isolated symptom,
nor endeavour to remove constipation by purgatives, nor
to raise the sinking energies of the patient by tonics. He
well knows that the balance of the organism once restored,
the bowels will resume their normal action,—that the
weakness is a sign of disease, which being removed, the
vital power will resume its sway.
Moreover his knowledge of the properties of drugs.
teaches him that the reaction after a purgative or tonic
would but increase the evil it was intended to combat.
His art has better resources than the usual antiphlo-
gistic means. Aconite equalizes the circulation, and ob-
viates the necessity of bloodletting; and by acting specifi-
cally upon the organ affected he avoids having recourse
to the derivative method. "But nature herself some-
times employs the derivative method by a salutary metas-
tasis." True, and when she does so, he carefully observes
her dictates, and by giving a remedy bearing a homeo-
pathic affinity to the symptoms present, wisely assists.
without incurring the risk of contravening her efforts.
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
41
:
The only means a physician possesses of being cog-
nizant of disease is its symptoms of the internal cause
of the disturbance of the vital powers, we must still re-
main in the same ignorance as we are of the real essence
of these powers themselves; we can only judge from the
effects produced, and treat accordingly. What are the
causes of measles, hooping-cough, scarlatina, epidemics?
How futile then the objection to our system, that it looks
only to the symptoms of disease: what means has the old
school of forming a diagnosis of a malady that we do not
equally possess? To some exciting and evident causes
of disease, such as the influence of the atmosphere, mental
emotions of every description, &c., to the predisposing,
for example, hereditary taint, peculiarity of temperament,
and repercussed exanthemata, we pay far more attention
than it does.
This will be evident when in the practical part of
this Essay, I come to point out the course to be pursued
in the examination of the patient.
A due regard is also had to the direct cause, such as
an external lesion, and occasional causes removed,—for
instance, a splinter entering into any part of the body is
extracted by the usual surgical means; poisons are neu-
tralized by their antidotes or evacuated by emetics.
Moreover, when we find individuals whose constitu-
tions have been injured by the injudicious employment
of powerful drugs, such as mercury or cinchona, or by the
habitual abuse of stimulants, wine, spirits, tea or coffee,
we use medicines which experiment and experience have
proved to be the best antidotes to the deleterious effects
of those substances; and in no cases has Homœopathy
achieved nobler triumphs than in the treatment of what
may properly be called "medicinal diseases," the sad re-
sults of the erroneous method of the old school.
Far from neglecting physiology, we consider it as
one of the noblest pillars of the great fabric of medicine,
and one upon which the light of our great law will shed
new lustre; for, being acquainted with the direct action
of renewal of the medicaments upon different organs, when
there is a difficulty of ascertaining which is the one more
*
5
42
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
immediately affected, the specific effect of the different
remedies selected affords us a clue to the seat of disease
—by, in a manner, tracing back effect to cause. Every day
clinical observation and experiment combined are advan-
cing this branch of our art further towards perfection, and
thereby increasing the practical utility of our beautiful but
yet infant system. Those who wish to look more closely
into the subject will discover, that neither are the truths
which Pathology has brought to light contemned, nor is
Nosology undervalued. A general classification of disease
is always useful; it is the abuse we protest against. Upon
this point, the late Dr. Mackintosh well remarks :-
All unnecessary divisions of diseases, as I have
already observed, are useless in theory, and injurious in
practice. Mankind differ as much in constitution as they
do in expression of countenance; and it is well known
that peculiarity of constitution produces shades of differ-
ence in symptoms and appearances, which defy the inge-
nuity of the ablest nosologists; but they nevertheless have
exerted themselves in a wonderful manner to accomplish
the task, retarding instead of advancing the study of pa-
thology." (Mackintosh's Practice of Physic, 4th ed., 2d
vol., p. 245.)
Hahnemann inculcated upon his disciples the neces-
sity of treating disease according to the symptoms it pre-
sented, and of not allowing themselves to be fettered by
the classification of nosologists.
By this the reader will see that while we gladly avail
ourselves of the discoveries of our predecessors in medi-
cine, we differ merely in therapeutics, and in not allowing
any hypothesis, however ingenious, to make us swerve
from one great principle in practice.
We will now consider the objections made to the
homoeopathic system. The perversions of the expression
similia similibus curantur are best replied to by a simple
reference to the definition already given of the law. Many
of the objections bear such a strong mark of absurdity
upon their very face that they are scarcely worth replying
to; for example, our administering poisonous substances,
such as arsenic, belladonna, and nux vomica, when the
¿
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
43
very same articles are found in the pharmacopoeias of our
opponents; besides the term poison is a most indefinite
one, the most powerful drug so denominated when judi-
ciously given becomes a salutary medicine, and the mildest
medicament administered in quantities sufficient to affect
the organism injuriously acts as a poison. This is, how-
ever, an argument rarely put forward, except by those who
presume upon the ignorance or weakness of their hearers;
and with such it is often, I regret to say, extremely suc-
cessful in prejudicing them against the system, and check-
ing further inquiry.
The strongest position, however, which our oppo-
nents take, is attributing the cures performed by Homœo-
pathy, when they are too evident to be denied, to the in-
fluence of imagination, the healing powers of nature, or a
well-regulated system of regimen.
Why Homoeopathy should possess any peculiar power
of acting upon the imagination of the patient, it is diffi-
cult to discover; or how, by that means, diseases which
have long baffled the energetic measures of the other
school, should be speedily brought to a satisfactory con-
clusion under its milder auspices. Nay more, by this our
opponents candidly confess a want of that confidence on
the part of their patients which they willingly accord to
us. If that is the secret of our success, why do not they
themselves endeavour to acquire it? Certainly the opera-
tion of the imagination is a much milder mode of treat-
ment than the application of a blister.
Far be it from us to deny the value of sustaining the
mind of the patient, or of raising his spirits during the
trying period of illness. To the sufferer the physician
should at least always hold out hopes of recovery. An
unfavorable prognosis pronounced, nay more, even a look
expressing an opinion of a fatal result has often not only
accelerated but even caused death, while the pursuance
of an opposite course of conduct has led to recovery in
cases apparently, desperate. But while I grant the great
power of imagination in the cure of disease, I cannot at
the same time allow that the brilliant results of Homœo-
pathy are attributable to this cause; in fact, by this mode
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
44
of reasoning, if in accordance with fact, our opponents
would prove too much, in fact the utter inutility of medicine.
How is this powerful agent, imagination, applicable
in the diseases of children and infants, or in the treatment
of the lower animals? Perhaps the success that has at-
tended the homoeopathic principle in its application to the
brute creation is one of the most unerring proofs of its
truth; and the advance of veterinary practice will furnish
facts that cannot be disputed. The facility, almost
amounting to certainty, with which inflammation of the
lungs in the horse is checked in its course, cannot be at-
tributed to imagination, diet, or nature, in a disease which
frequently disorganizes the whole substance of the lungs
in less than twenty-four hours. Can the Distemper, which
sweeps off whole litters, be cured by imagination? Yet
here, too, Homoeopathy succeeds. And in inveterate
mange which, according to the recorded opinion of Dela-
bere Blaine, the father of canine pathology, and his skilful
coadjutor Mr. Youatt, but yields to the means employed
to terminate in fatal Distemper, Homœopathy cures radi-
cally and speedily by the exhibition of medicine inter-
nally. So much for the assertion that it owes its success
to imagination.
Some assert that it is to nature our cures are due.
Yes, by acting in conformity with her great law, and by
judiciously forwarding her efforts; but not by leaving a
deranged organism to re-establish its own equilibrium.
It certainly is strange, however, that she only seems to
exert her power when the patient comes under our hands.
What a confession for the experience of centuries, that
after all their means have failed, an expectant system has
radically cured! There is scarcely any disease known of
which there are not some instances on record of nature
having effected an apparent cure, but they are isolated
instances; however, since Homoeopathy has become dis-
seminated, the exception has become the rule. The
necessary inference is The old school should honestly
avow the inefficacy of all means hitherto employed, and
recommend the patients to trust for a cure to the unaided
operations of beneficent nature.
PART I.-PRINCIPLES.
45
¦
Cone per treningadething jer
As regards Diet, the homoeopathic rules for regimen
are simply to avoid all substances whatsoever capable of
exercising a medicinal or injurious effect upon the organ-
ism; and in general cases to make use of the most digest-
ible and nourishing aliments. These points are moreover
left to the discretion of the physician. That our system
cures by dietetics alone and not by medicine is easily dis-
proved,-
Istly. In highly acute cases, fever, pneumonia, &c.,
where little or no nourishment is given by either school,
Homœopathy is more successful than the old system.
2ndly. When the patients have, previously to sub-
mitting to our treatment, observed the most rigorous regi-
men without success, they have been cured without any
alteration in diet whatsoever.
3rdly. Infants at the breast and animals have been
successfully treated without change of food, at least in a
great majority of cases. And
4thly. Many individuals who would not submit to
dietetic rules, or were guilty of frequent infringement of
those laid down for their guidance, have nevertheless been
restored to health; although such cases may have taken
a longer time to effect a cure.
*
Some have objected to the long course of treatment
required in chronic affections. This is not a consequence
of any fault of the system, but arises from the very nature
of the disease itself, and alas! but too frequently from the
patient having been injured by the injudicious means pre-
viously employed! In many instances the mischief is irre-
parable, and all that is left for Homoeopathists to effect is
an alleviation of suffering. It is also unfair to reproach
us with taking months to conquer a disease which had
baffled allopathy for years.
Some who allow the value of Homœopathy in chronic,
still doubt whether it is equally successful in acute affec-
tions; only those who have seen the operation of the
* It is amusing to observe the ridicule which our opponents ·
direct against our prohibition of certain articles, such as tea, coffee,
spices, &c., while almost in the same breath they ascribe the cures
effected to our excellent system of dietetics,
46
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
medicines in such cases can form an idea of the rapidity
and certainty with which they act; but upon such points.
a few lines of fact are worth whole pages of argumenta-
tive reasoning.
"We find in the reports of the Homoeopathic Hos-
pital of Vienna, of 124 cases of pneumonia, 117 were
cured and 7 died; of 155 cases of pleuritis, 152 were
cured and 3 died; of 49 cases of peritonitis, 46 were cured
and 3 died." (Dr. Drysdale, Prac. Ob. Br. Jour., of Hom.,
No. iv.-Oct. 1843, p. 357.)
Moreover Dr. Wilde, of Dublin, in his work entitled
“Austria—its Literary, Scientific, and Medical Institutions,"
&c. &c., relates-"That Dr. Fleischmann having under-
taken the treatment of cholera in the Homœopathic hos-
pital at Vienna, with the sanction of the government, two
district surgeons, allopathists, were appointed to report
upon the cases treated. The result was that while two-
thirds of his patients recovered, the same proportion of
those treated in the hospitals died. And in addition, from
the year 1832 to the year 1840, the entire number of
patients treated in this hospital of the Barmherzigen
Schwestern was 4,422, of those 3,758 recovered, 312 died,
and 93 were dismissed incurable. But these numbers in-
clude also 259 cholera patients treated in 1832 and 1836.
The cases treated in the establishment are of much the same
nature as those received in any general medical hospital,
and, as may be seen by reference to the annexed return,
include a great number of those affected with acute dis-
eases." And further,
"Whatever the opponents of the system may put
forward against it, I am bound to say, and I am far from
being a homœopathic practitioner, that the cases I saw
treated by it in the Vienna Hospital were fully as acute
and virulent as those which have come under my obser-
vation elsewhere; and the statistics show that the mor-
tality is much less than in the other hospitals of that city.
Knolz, the Austrian Protomedicus, has published those for
1838 which exhibit a mortality of but five or six per cent. ;
while three similar institutions, on the allopathic plan,
enumerated before it in the same tables, show a mortality
..
teen target MA.
Tomb
PART I.—PRINCIPLES.
47
(Op. cit.
as high as from eight to ten per cent."
pp. 386-7.)
These instances, coming from such a source, are above
suspicion, and prove not only the value of homœopathic
means in acute affections, but their general superiority in
the treatment of disease. In my letter in the Appen-
dix, the reader will find further statistics in corroboration
of this view of the subject.
"What Homœopathy stands upon is the simple fact
of success in thousands of cases, in which every other
mode has signally failed; and upon the firm and irrefra-
gable basis of a multitude of unimpeachable and incontro-
vertible proofs.”
The advantages that this system offers to the practi-
tioner are evident; we may briefly allude to a few of them.
A more perfect knowledge of the resources of his art,
and the uses of medicines with whose properties and ap-
plication experiment has made him conversant.
Unity of practice since where any difference of
opinion exists between two or more practitioners, a refer-
ence to the Materia Medica, their common experience,
and a careful comparison of the pathogenetic action of the
medicine, and the symptoms of the disease, will soon
clearly determine the point.
In the treatment of epidemics, a careful collation of
the symptoms will soon point out the remedy, although
the character of the disease may be one with which we
have been hitherto unacquainted.
Being able to discriminate between the action of the
remedy and the symptoms of disease, and thereby avoid
increasing the sufferings of the patient unnecessarily, or
inducing a malady worse than the original, an error to
which the old practice was particularly liable.
The gradual eradication of hereditary diseases—
already alluded to.
The extinction of empiricism, the parasitical growth
of the old system, which will perish with the plant which
gave it birth.
The substitution of a mild and rational method for
one replete with severity, uncertainty, and danger.
48
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
And lastly the satisfaction the physician will himself
feel while performing the noble task of alleviating the suf-
ferings of his fellow-creatures, and in preserving them from
an untimely grave.
Does not, then, a system which holds out if it were
only a promise of such advantages deserve at least a candid
and impartial examination, and that its claims should be
investigated? if false, a grosser imposition was never at-
tempted to be foisted upon mankind: if true, a greater
blessing was never conferred upon humanity.
PART II.-PRACTICE.
CHAPTER I.
Acquaintance with other Branches of Medicine absolutely necessary.-
Course of Study to be pursued.
IN
N a treatise of this nature, it is scarcely possible to
enter into this part of our subject with that minute
attention to detail that it may appear to require; the
author will therefore confine himself to a sketch of the
method best to be pursued in order to arrive at a good
practical knowledge of our science.
To be a good homoeopathic physician, a sound medi-
cal education is an essential requisite; he should be well
versed in all the leading branches of his art. and even a
knowledge of the Allopathic practice of physic is of value,
as he may be frequently called upon to counteract the in-
jurious employment of anti-phlogistic or other severe mea-
sures, the administration of powerful drugs, such as mer-
cury, steel, drastic purgatives, &c., in large quantities.
As Homœopathy advances, this species of knowledge will
become less necessary; but at present it has its use. It
is scarcely needful to observe that those who practise this
science should have some diploma or qualification from
some legally constituted medical body, which is the only
guarantee the public can have for their being properly
educated for the serious responsibility they have taken
upon themselves; for in their hands are not only the
health, but the lives of their fellow-creatures.
Some people have ignorantly imagined, from the
practice of Homoeopathists differing so essentially from
that of the other school, that they have no legal qualifica-
tion; a mistake which has, I regret to say, been eagerly
6
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
50
taken advantage of by many of our less scrupulous op-
ponents. Almost all the Homoeopathists at present prac-
tising have previously followed the allopathic mode until
convinced by inquiry of their error, and are therefore pro-
perly qualified. Some few have, before they obtained
their diploma, studied its principles, but all claim to be
recognized as members or licentiates of some college.
I will now briefly proceed to point out the course to
be pursued in order to obtain first a clear knowledge of
its doctrines; and secondly, their practical application.
Fortunately within the last few years our English homoeo-
pathic literature has afforded us increased facilities in that
respect, but it is still extremely defective.
I would in the first place, recommend a careful peru-
sal of "Hahnemann's Organon of Homoeopathic Medi-
cine." The theories and hypotheses there offered to the
reader's notice he is of course perfectly at liberty to re-
ceive or reject. They do not in the slightest degree affect
the main point at issue—the truth of the great principle.
The "British Journal of Homœopathy," the "Monthly
Homœopathic Review," the "Hahnemannean Monthly,"
and the "New York Homoeopathic Examiner," contain
not only dissertations on different points connected with the
science and medicine generally, but statistical facts; valu-
able clinical observations—all tending to confirm the truth
of the homoeopathic law, and to improve and advance the
system. Similar periodicals have been published in the
French and German languages, as "Les Archives de la
Médecine Homoeopatique" and "Die Homoeopathische
Zeitung," all which are most valuable, as illustrating the
progress of the science.
In practice our most useful aids are the "Materia
Medica Pura ;" the "Acute and Chronic Diseases" of
Hahnemann; Gross's "Comparative Materia Medica;'
Lippe's "Text Book of Materia Medica;" and the "New
Materia Medica," by C. Hering. Their study is essen-
tially necessary, since they form the very groundwork of
our system; they must be carefully read and constantly
referred to. No manual, however useful it may be as a
book of reference, can serve as a substitute to any one
د.
PART II-PRACTICE.
51
who aspires to the high honour of being a good homœo-
pathic practitioner. We repeat in the words of our late
venerable sage, "Study your Materia Medica.”
Jahr's Manual of Homoeopathic Medicine" is a
work of considerable utility when applied to the purpose
we have above noted; a book of reference to those who
have already commenced at the fountain head—but never
was there a more grievous error than in endeavouring by
its means to find out a royal road to Homœopathy.
I think, however, that the study of Homœopathy
might be greatly facilitated at the outset by some work on
those medicines which, from the great range of diseases
they cover, and their effects having been most carefully
tested by experiment, and confirmed by clinical observa-
tion, have been named Polychrests. It is a desideratum
in our literature, which it is to be hoped at some future
period some medical writer of ability will supply.
Among practical works, the "Homoeopathic, or
Domestic Physician," by C. Hering, the "Manual of
Homœopathic Practice," by Lutze, and Raue's "Special
Pathology and Diagnostics," deserve honorable mention.
Such books are useful under proper restrictions; they
give medical men, desiring in a spirit of candour to put
the system to the test, an opportunity of doing so, and
are available in many cases when a physician may not
be immediately at hand.
A knowledge of German is a useful acquisition to the
homœopathic student, many valuable treatises on the
science not having yet been translated from that language.
52
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
CHAPTER II.
Application of the Homeopathic Law.-Mode to be pursued in form-
ing a correct image of the Disease.-Choice of the Remedy.—Of
Potency.-Diet.
WE
E will now proceed to consider the practical ap-
plication of the homoeopathic law.
Our first object must be to form a correct
image of the disease. To do so we are to consider each
malady less as the affection of a particular organ than as
a general disturbance of the principle which preserves that
equilibrium between the different functions which we
designate by the term health; and the main object to be
had in view is the re-establishment of that equilibrium.
It is not therefore sufficient merely to have discovered
the seat of the affection, we must bear in mind also the
sympathy existing throughout the whole economy, evinced
by certain accidental symptoms presented synchronously
with the pathognomonic signs of the organ affected.
These accidental symptoms frequently declare them-
selves by circumstances accompanying the pathognomonic;
for example, in children, the paroxysms in hooping-cough
being preceded by tears, or provoked by particular
causes, or by derangement, either general, or of the diges-
tive or nervous system; fever, the state of the morale, and
several other points must be taken into consideration.
The temperament and disposition of the patient are
to be carefully noted.
In acute diseases, the affection is generally sufficiently
marked and the remedy easy of selection.
In chronic, we must not even rest content with the
affection before us, we must endeavour to discover if any
hereditary taint exist, any suppressed exanthemata at any
period of past life, previous habits, former diseases and
medical treatment, and take all these points into account
in drawing up a statement of the case.
The course to be pursued in epidemics has been
already pointed out, page 37.
PART II.—PRACTICE.
53
MWALITE
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The physician must be careful that while in his ex-
amination he obtains every possible information as regards
the nature of his sensations from the patient, he does not
put, as it were, words into his mouth, or lead him to
imagine pains or feelings not actually present.
He will carefully reduce the whole statement to writ-
ing, and select his remedy accordingly.
To do this with success, he must choose in the
"Materia Medica," a remedy which conforms most closely
not only with the more prominent symptoms, but also
with the other portions of the statement of disease he has
drawn up.
He must not be guided by an isolated symptom, but
by the similarity of the totality of the symptoms to those
elicited by a medicine, also all the subjective and objec-
tive symptoms, as well as the pathological state.
The knowledge of the cause may to a certain extent
be substituted for the totality of the symptoms, as in in-
juries from external lesion or medicinal diseases.
When we find one medicine will not exactly corres-
pond to the totality of the symptoms, but two or three
each covering a certain portion of them, we choose first
the one best calculated to attack the more prominent
symptoms, and, these removed, have recourse to another
covering those which remain.
66
Or in some cases, where two remedies jointly resem-
ble a certain form of disease they are given alternately,
sometimes only at a few hours' interval, as Spongia and
Hepar Sulphuris in Croup,-but in no instance in combi-
nation, for the reason stated in page 12. (See Gross's
Comparative Materia Medica," page x., introduction.)
The physiological relation of certain medicines to
different organs is a valuable guide in the selection of a
remedy, and may be frequently traced by a close observer
in the pages of the "Materia Medica." As regards the
selection of the most suitable potency, it has been already
remarked that upon it there at present exists some differ-
ence of opinion among Homœopathists, arising in a great
measure from the arbitrary rules many of them have laid
down for the guidance of others. The matter
The matter is best left
6 *
54
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
to the tact of the physician, who should suit the dose to
the susceptibility of the patient, and the nature of the dis-
ease,* climate, and circumstances; such as being exposed
to peculiar deleterious influences, his habits, &c.
The following remarks on the dose, by Dr. Quin,
President of the British Homoeopathic Society, are taken
from his address at the Annual Assembly of 1863, and
deserves serious consideration "I have over and over
again endeavoured to impress from the chair and in our
discussions that we should avoid the reprehensible habit
in which, I am grieved to say, some of our body indulge,
much to their own loss and discredit, of condemning and
speaking slightingly to their patients and to the public.
of the practice and the doses prescribed by others, be-
cause they differ from their own. An equally suicidal
course, and one still more strange, is the pretension of
some of the so-called Homoeopathic practitioners to
speak disparagingly of the action of globules-nay, to
deny that they have any action at all; they at the same
time affect to hold in contempt those practitioners who
prescribe them,-whilst, with laughable self-sufficiency,
they claim for themselves a superiority of intellect in hav-
ing discarded them, or of never using anything but tritu-
rations, tinctures, and pilules. Now, it is indisputable
that the introduction of Homoeopathy over the Continent,
into England and into America, was mainly if not solely
effected by the employment of globules impregnated with
medicine in the treatment of disease homoeopathically.
I can answer for my own practice, that for once that I
employ or have employed tinctures or triturations, I have
at least prescribed globules sixty times, and my success,
I believe, has not been behind that of my neighbours, and
for many years I stood quite alone in England the only
* Dr. Eidherr, of Vienna, collected all the cases of pneumonia
out of a large hospital practice, which had been recorded there for
ten years.
From these data it appears that under the application of
the sixth decimal attenuation of the appropriate remedies the average
length of treatment came down to 19 days, under the application of
the fifteenth attenuation to 14 days, and under the application of the
thirtieth attenuation to II days. See also Gross's "Comparative
Materia Medica," pages viii. and ix., Introduction.
Si part a man and a hang them as a dead at
PART II.—PRACTICE.
55
Homœopathic physician. Drs. Romani, Tagliabo, Bel-
luomini, Dunsford, and others, who followed some years
after me, almost invariably prescribed medicine in the
form of globules. Dr. Constantine Hering, of Philadel-
phia, who was among the first to carry Homoeopathy from
Germany to America, was, and I believe is, a strict Hah-
nemannist with respect to his doses. Most of the dis-
tinguished Homoeopathic physicians known to me in
France, Italy, and other parts of the Continent, are con-
stantly in the habit of prescribing globules. And among
my friends and colleagues in Great Britain I have no
hesitation in saying it is my firm and conscientious con-
viction that those in the most extensive and successful
practice and in the highest repute, prescribe globules.
Let me not be misunderstood as wishing to convey that
either I or they confine our prescriptions to medicines in
the shape of globules, or have tied ourselves up never to
employ any other preparations; on the contrary, we are
frequently in the habit of prescribing tinctures, tritura-
tions, and pilules, as well as globules, in every variety of
attenuation from the lowest to the highest, according to
the more or less susceptibility of our patients to the action
of the medicines-according to the phases and variations
that occur during the treatment of our cases, and accord-
ing to the promptings of our judgment and experience.
I must here also guard myself from being thought to de-
sire to place trammels on the judgment and experience of
others in preferring to prescribe large doses only, if they
and their patients think such practice best. It is against
their illiberal and unprofessional conduct only, in running
down their colleagues who believe in the efficacy of in-
finitesimal doses, and consequently prescribe them, that
I am contending here. Now, what are globules? Merely
a convenient vehicle or method recommended by Hahne-
mann for prescribing fractions of a drop when the whole
is not considered neeessary to produce the desired effect,
or when it is desired not to give the whole drop at once,
but to sub-divide it into more fractions or smaller doses
than it would be convenient to do by diluting it in water.
It is notorious that some of these practitioners who pro-
claim their disbelief in globules, prescribe sometimes
56
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
tinctures in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th, and even higher
attenuations; consequently they avow their belief in the
millionth and billionth of a drop of the material drug they
prescribe. Well, two or three globules impregnated with
the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd attenuation contains much more of
the crude or material drug than any drop or number of
drops of the 4th, 5th, 6th, or any higher attenuation; so
that upon their own showing, and upon the plea advanced
by them of what causes the efficacy of their favourite
doses, their reason for expressing disbelief in the efficacy
of medicines given in globules as the vehicle, is purely
and simply an absurdity." (See also "A Lecture on the
Dose" by the late Dr. Russell, page 72, No. xiii., Annals
of the B. H. S.)
The diet of the patient should be simply so regulated
that he may not partake of any substance of a known
medicinal or stimulating character, or of anything likely
to interfere with the medicines given. For the above
reasons, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, aromatics and aromatic
herbs, spices, vinegar, and malt liquor are among the pro-
hibited articles, although some of them are occasionally,
under peculiar circumstances, permitted. The most di-
gestible meats, such as beef and mutton, are generally
ordered in chronic cases, and young meats avoided; but
these rules are only to be strictly observed when a degree
of indigestion is present. Although many cases have been
cured without any attention to this point, still there is no
doubt that a well-regulated system of regimen greatly
facilitates a cure.
I have but glanced slightly at this point, as those
who wish to inquire further into Homœopathy will find
full directions thereon in different medical works-the
principle was all that was required for me to point out.
In conclusion, the author hopes, that however un-
worthy his poor efforts may have been of the cause he
wishes to serve―-yet they will not be without their fruit
hereafter, and that those into whose hands this brief and
meagre sketch of a mighty system may fall, will not rest
without further inquiries, nor remain contented till they
have investigated and satisfied themselves of its truth or .
falsehood.
I
WOULD not venture to obtrude myself upon the notice of the
public did I not feel that a mighty principle was attacked in my
humble person; and that the greatness of the cause I defend will pro-
tect me from the charge of egotism.
Had not persecution driven me to this step, I might still have
laboured on in my humble sphere, contented with the knowledge of
the blessings that my successful treatment of disease was diffusing
around, and with a rapidly-increasing practice and reputation.
The results of my treatment have never been impugned, even by
my enemies.
The majority of my cases are on record; and hun-
dreds, I might say thousands, of witnesses are ready to come forward
and bear grateful testimony to the benefits they have received at my
hands.
APPENDIX.
Do I mention this in a spirit of boasting? No. All I have
done and am doing is due to the excellent system upon which I
practice. The same power of doing good instead of evil is within
the reach of every medical man, who will cast away from him the
fetters of prejudice and unshackled tread the path of truth.
I was educated, like most of the present homoeopathic practi-
tioners, in the old school, and have every reason to believe that my
practice while pursuing the allopathic method was commensurate in
success with that of others; yet, and all candid medical men will
join me in the confession, when at the bedside of the patient I pain-
fully felt the impotence of our art. Like Hahnemann, "I was tired
of the mist of darkness in which I wandered;" but years rolled on
ere the light of the true principle of therapeutics broke in upon me.
The first work I read upon Homoeopathy was Hahnemann's
Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum positivis sive obviis in cor-
pore sano.
It made but little impression upon me at the time; and
I considered it, as it was treated in the medical reviews of the day,
"C
>>
58
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
but as a subject for ridicule. Some years afterwards, still discon-
tented with the usual methods of treatment, I began to study the
subject more attentively; convinced, if homoeopathy were true, that
it was the long-sought principle that was to establish therapeutics as
a system; and that when other means had confessedly failed I was
justified in giving this a trial, particularly when at all events such
small doses, if they did not benefit, could scarcely injure my patients.
Although I not only doubted but disbelieved in the efficacy of such
atomic proportions of medicines, I determined to put them to the
test. To do so fairly I carefully followed the directions of Hahne-
mann in the diagnosis of disease, and chose my remedy with the
greatest possible care; the results agreeably disappointed my expec-
tations and removed my scepticism. I felt convinced that the law
our great founder had enunciated was an eternal principle of nature,
and boldly acted upon it. Success still crowned my endeavours. I
found acute diseases rapidly subdued, and chronic diseases, which
had defied all the imperfect resources of the ancient mode, whether
in my hands or those of my medical brethren, gradually but surely
yielded to the same simple means.
Once thoroughly convinced of the truth of the homoeopathic
principle my path was clear and straightforward, and I fearlessly
pursued it regardless of personal consequences. I recollected my
duty as a physician was to heal the sick. Was I then to neglect the
great gift Providence had placed in my hands? Was I, knowing
had the means to save, to allow my fellow-creatures to perish, or to
linger in suffering, in obedience to conventional forms or to the voice
of authority?—to ebey error rather than truth? I dared not do it.
The situation I held, as Medical Officer to the Glastonbury dis-
trict of the Wells Union, gave me ample opportunities of proving—
not to myself, I was satisfied, but to the public around me— -the
beneficial influence of the system I had adopted; and I may fear-
lessly assert that no district in the kingdom, where the sick are treated
upon the old system, can produce similar results.
Since I adopted homoeopathy I have attended, in public and
private practice, about 7,000 cases with the most marked success.
The Guardians have marked their approbation of my conduct by a
re-election to the office on the 22nd of March, 1863, by a ma-
jority of 17 to 3, and on my dismissal honoured me with an unani-
mous vote of thanks for my past services; and the poor have evinced
APPENDIX.
59
their gratitude by their petition to the Poor Law Commissioners for
my continuance as Medical Officer.
Moreover, the subject is exciting the greatest possible attention
among the public; they cannot disbelieve the evidence of their
senses; and in this part of the country, at least, the system is rapidly
gaining ground. May I not indulge a hope that the statement here
offered to their notice may induce others of my medical brethren to
give the subject the attention it deserves, and thereby reap the rich
reward that I at present enjoy, in an approving conscience and the
confidence of my patients? This is one of my most earnest wishes.
I shall now proceed to a plain detail of the intrigues which
ended in my dismissal by the Poor Law Commissioners, contrary to
the strongly expressed wishes of the Guardians of the Wells Poor
Law Union, and reserve any remarks I have to make thereon to fol-
low the correspondence.
A few years ago Mr. Frederick Gale, surgeon at Glastonbury,
intending to retire from the profession, wished to dispose of his prac-
tice to me, but I declined purchasing it. Shortly after I found he
had circulated a report that I had adopted the homoeopathic system,
doubtless with the intention of prejudicing his patients against me.
Lord J. Thynne, rector of Walton and Street, wrote to Dr. Stone,
of London, for a person to succeed Mr. Gale, offering him his pat-
ronage. When Mr. Malton came down for that purpose, his lord-
ship not only wrote to the private patients of other medical men,
soliciting them to employ Mr. Malton, but actually gave that gen-
tleman letters of introduction to some of them. It appears, however,
that the practice he obtained did not answer his expectations, and
then began the intrigues to obtain my dismissal from the situation of
Medical Officer of the Union, with the object of supplying the va-
cancy with Mr. Malton.
The first attempt was made, as nearly as I can recollect, in
November, 1842, by Mr. Gale complaining to the Board of Guardians
that I was adopting the homoeopathic system of medicine, one not
recognized by any college in Europe, and that the poor ought not to
be treated in that manner. The Guardians very properly declined
interference in the matter; and this having failed, he sent copies of
his letters to the Poor Law Commissioners, who, thereupon, wrote
to the Guardians requesting to be informed of the truth of the state-
(No. II.) The Guardians replied that they were perfectly
ment.
60.
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
satisfied with me, and that no complaint of my skill or attention had
ever been made to them since I held the office, a period of six years
and a half, and forwarded my reply, in which I avowed my mode of
practice, and sent the results of my treatment for the year 1842.
(No. III.) The Commissioners acknowledged the receipt of the
letter, and objected to me on the same ground. (No. IV.)
In March, the period for which I had engaged having expired,
I was re-elected by a large majority, 17 to 3. Afterwards Mr. Tuff-
nell, Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, came to the Board to in-
quire into the circumstances, when the Guardians stated that they
were from experience perfectly satisfied with me, and that they would
take upon themselves the responsibility of my election, and accord-
ingly the Poor Law Commissioners confirmed my appointment.
Mr. Gale having failed, Lord J. Thynne entered the field, first
writing to Sir Henry Halford, and then forwarding a memorial to the
Poor Law Commissioners, stating to be from four resident clergymen
of the parishes contained in the Union, of whom Lord J. Thynne is
one. Of this public document the Guardians have not, after repeated
applications to the above-mentioned functionaries, been able to ob-
tain a copy. I cannot, therefore, ascertain the names of the other
three clergymen. The result was a reference by the Commissioners
to the College of Physicians, who having, of course, given their
opinions against my mode of practice, (No. VIII.), the Commis-
sioners gave notice that if I did not tender my resignation they would
proceed to take steps to remove me. (No. VII.) This I declined
doing, and gave the reasons for my refusal in a letter (No. IX.) to
the Guardians, which they forwarded to Somerset House, together
with a petition for my continuance in office, signed by 838 poor.
(No. X.) Whereupon an order was issued under the Commissioners,
hand and seal for my dismissal. (No. XVIII.)
The Guardians did me the honour to request me to continue in
office until the latest period the law allowed. Had I not been in-
eligible by the 48th clause of the New Poor Law Act, in consequence
of my dismissal, they would have re-elected me; but to mark their
disapprobation of the course pursued by Lord John Thynne, they
appointed Mr. Stradling, a perfect stranger, and rejected Mr. Malton
by a considerable majority-22 votes to 7.
The Guardians also kindly expressed their sense of the services
I had rendered the poor during the time I had been their medical
APPENDÍA.
61
officer by a unanimous vote of thanks at their weekly meeting, 29
Guardians present.
present. (No. XIX.)
I shall now proceed to lay before the reader the correspondence.
that took place on the subject.
CORRESPONDENCE, &c.
M
No I.
DEAR SIR,-
I am directed by the Board of Guardians to hand you the
inclosed Copy of Letter received from the Poor Law Commission
Office, and to request you will favour me with a reply to the question
therein contained, so that I may transmit a copy of the same to the
Poor Law Commissioners after submitting it to our Board.
Poor Law Union Office, Wells :
December 28, 1842.
I am, dear Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, Glastonbury.
No. II.
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House:
December 23, 1842.
15,833, B.--42.
SIR,-
I am directed by the Poor Law Commissioners, with refer-
ence to your Letter of the 10th ultimo, respecting the complaint of
Mr. Gale, of Street, as to the mode of medical practice pursued by
Mr. Newman, one of the medical officers of the Wells Union, to re-
quest that the Board of Guardians will ascertain whether Mr. New-
man follows the homoeopathic system of medicine in the treatment
of his pauper patients as alleged by Mr. Gale.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
E. CHADWICK, Secretary.
To H. Badcocke, Esq., Clerk to the Guardians of the
Wells Union, Somerset.
7
62
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
January 1, 1843.
In my reply, I stated that I adopted the same method of
treatment with my pauper as with my private patients, viz., the
homœopathic, and that I could not conscientiously apply any other,
being convinced of its great superiority; and in support of my views
I gave a list of the fatal cases during the year 1840, which were as
follows:-
I Age 69 Female. Decay of nature.
I
70 Male
I
71
I
72
I
73
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I
76 F.
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77
85 M.
62 F.
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52 M. Asthma and Dropsy.
48
91
99
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Chronic Bronchitis and Dropsy.
Ditto ditto ditto, after Hemorrhage from the Lungs.
Marasmus.
""
33
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Diseased Brain after a blow; he was returned from
Bridgewater Infirmary as incurable:
42,
35 "
22 F. Paralysis after low fever.
20
Phthisis.
Delirium cum Tremore.
Phthisis and Effusion on the Brain.
""
Chronic affection of the Chest and effusion on the
Brain.
M. Disease of the Mesenteric Glands of 3 years standing,
and Dropsy.
No. of cases treated, Paupers..
586
Private patients.. 499
Total
1085
təə
No. IV.
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House:
February 7, 1843.
SIR,-
I am directed by the Poor Law Commissioners to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your Letter of the 13th ultimo, including a Copy
of a Letter addressed to yourself by Mr. Newman, one of the medical
officers of the Wells Union, in which he admits that he follows the
APPENDIX.
63
homoeopathic system of medicine in the treatment of his pauper
patients.
In reference thereto, the Commissioners desire to state that they
do not consider the homoeopathic mode of treatment as a system of
medicine recognized by any legally constituted medical body in this
country; and the Commissioners think that the Guardians, with
whom the nomination of the persons rests, are, as trustees for the
public, not justified in employing medical men who use a system of
medicine not so recognized by the legal bodies presiding over the
medical profession.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
E. CHADWICK, Secretary.
To H. Badcocke, Esq., &c., &c.
No. V.
Wells Union: Wells, March 8, 1843.
DEAR SIR,
I am directed to inform you, that as your present Contracts
with the Guardians cease and determine on the 25th instant, it was
unanimously resolved at a Meeting of the Board held this day, that
the appointment of Medical Officers for a future period will take
place on Wednesday, the 22nd instant, at 12 o'clock.
I am, dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, &c., Glastonbury.
On the 22nd instant I was re-elected by a vote of 17 to 3,
and my appointment sanctioned by the Poor Law Commissioners,
after a special inquiry into the matter by Mr. Tuffnell, one of the
Assistant Poor Law Commissioners.
A few weeks afterwards Lord Thynne sent the Memorial
with a Copy of a Letter from Sir H. Halford, which caused the fol-
lowing correspondence, &c. :—
No. VI.
Poor Law Union Office, Wells :
July 6, 1843.
DEAR SIR,-
I am directed by the Board of Guardians to forward, for
your information and guidance, the inclosed copies of correspondence
64
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒOPATHY.
from the Poor Law Commissioners and Royal College of Physicians
relative to your system of Medical Practice, and to request a reply at
your early convenience.
I beg to add I have applied to the Poor Law Commissioners for
a copy of the Memorial sent them by the four resident clergymen
alluded to.
I am, my dear Sir,
Faithfully yours,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To George Newman, Esq., Glastonbury.
No. VII.
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House:
July 1, 1843.
9335, B.-43.
SIR,
Adverting to the correspondence which has passed between
the Poor Law Commissioners and the Guardians of the Wells Union,
on the subject of Mr. Newman, one of the Medical Officers of that
Union, following the homoeopathic system of medicine in his treat-
ment of the sick poor under his care, the Commissioners desire to
acquaint the Board of Guardians that on the 6th June the Commis-
sioners received a Memorial from the resident officiating Clergymen
of four of the parishes comprised in the medical district for which
Mr. Newman acts, strongly objecting to his appointment as medical
officer on the above-mentioned ground.
The Commissioners having perused the said memorial and re-
considered the subject, it appears to them that in their final decision
in the matter, was involved a question of a strictly professional
character, of such importance as to require the opinion of the highest
authority intrusted with the superintendence of medicine in this
country. With this view they submitted a statement of the corre-
spondence of Mr. Newman's case to the Royal College of Physicians,
from which the Commissioners have received a communication (of
which the inclosed is a copy) stating that the College having care-
fully considered the question proposed to them, are of opinion, that
a person who practises exclusively the homoeopathic system is alto-
gether unfit to be appointed to the situation of a Medical Officer of a
Union.
Under these circumstances the Commissioners deem it their
duty to request Mr. Newman will forthwith resign his office of
medical officer, as if he should not do so, the Commissioners will
feel it incumbent on them to remove him therefrom by an order
under their hands and seal.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
To H. Badcocke, Esq., &c., &C.
GEORGE CORDE, Assist. Sec.
APPENDIX.
65
9335, B.-43.
GENTLEMEN,
I am directed by the Royal College of Physicians to in-
form you, with reference to your letter of the 10th instant (7970, B.
-43) that they have carefully considered the question therein pro-
posed to them, and are of opinion that a person who practises ex-
clusively the homoeopathic system is altogether unfit to be appointed
to the situation of Medical Officer of a Union.
No. VIII.
College of Physicians, Pall Mall East;
June 27, 1843.
Although such a person may be legally qualified to practise as a
surgeon and apothecary, yet if he chooses to adopt a new and unre-
cognized system, to the utter exclusion of all those methods of treat-
ment which have received the sanction of authority, and are recom-
mended by usage and long experience, it is clear that he must do so
under a heavy responsibility, attaching, in the case of a medical
officer, not to himself only, but ultimately to the Guardians who
appointed him and the Commissioners who failed to cancel such an
appointment. Against a person so practising, unless it were with
the full knowledge and consent of his patients, any of them who
conceived that he had been improperly treated, and had thereby
sustained an injury, might have ground for an action for damages ;
and if death were to ensue under his care, unexpectedly he might be
criminally prosecuted.
But the Pauper patients of a Union can neither choose upon
what system they will be treated, nor if they should think themselves
or their relatives injured through improper treatment, is it likely
that they could find the means of seeking the redress which the laws
might possibly award them.
The foregoing considerations appear to the College to be conclu-
sive against the propriety of appointing a person who professes to
practise exclusively an unrecognized system to the Medical charge of
a Union. They deem it unnecessary, therefore, to advert to argu-
ments of a Medical nature, which might be adduced to the same
effect; and they leave it with confidence to the judgment of the
Poor Law Commissioners to decide as to the course which it will be
proper for them to pursue in this matter.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
FRANCIS HAWKINS, M.D., Registrar.
(Signed,)
To the Poor Law Commissioners.
DEAR SIR,-
No. IX.
Glastonbury; July 10, 1843.
In reply to your letter of the 6th instant, containing
*
7
66
EXPOSITION OF HOMŒEOPATHY.
copies of correspondence from the Poor Law Commissioners and the
Royal College of Physicians, relative to my system of medical prac-
tice in District No. 2 of the Wells Union, I beg to give the follow-
ing reasons for not resigning my appointment as Medical Officer :
Istly. Because I am legally qualified to practise as a surgeon
and apothecary, and am not aware of any exclusive system of medi-
cine binding on a medical practitioner; but that he is at fiberty to
adopt, at his discretion, any method of treatment he considers most
beneficial to his patients. It would therefore have been well pro-
bably if the Royal College of Physicians at the same time that they
take upon themselves to point out the legal consequences of my
system of practice, had gone on to state what is the recognized
system of practice in this country, that being much more within the
range of their inquiries than any legal consequences which may arise
from the adoption of any particular mode of medical trearment.
2ndly. That I have held the appointment of medical officer to
the Union nearly eight years, without any complaint having been made
against me respecting my professional abilities, or in any other way
whatever; and that for more than half that period I have adopted the
Homeopathic principle in the treatment of disease.
3rdly. That I was re-elected as Medical officer by the Board of
Guardians, in April last, by a vote of seventeen to three; and that
my appointment was sanctioned and confirmed by the Poor Law
Commissioners, after a special inquiry into the subject of my practice
by one of their Assistant Commissioners, who said, "under these
circumstances the Commissioners do not feel called upon to make
any further objection to his continuance in his office of medical
officer."
4thly. That the poor of my district are aware of my method of
practice, and have expressed themselves perfectly satisfied with my
treatment; and are anxious that I should continue as their medical
attendant.
5thly. That I have every reason to believe that the memorial
from the resident officiating clergymen of four of the parishes com-
prised in my district, and sent to the Poor Law Commissioners,
cannot arise from any anxiety for the welfare of the poor, as my
practice has been attended with great success, there being only 21
deaths in 1805 cases last year, but from interested motives; for Lord
John Thynne, one of the four officiating clergymen and the principal
mover in this case, introduced a medical man into the neighbourhood
about two years ago in opposition to me, and, as I have been credibly
informed, wrote to the private patients of other medical practitioners,
recommending this person to their notice, and, wishes to obtain the
Union for him.
6thly. That the resident officiating clergyman of Glastonbury
and also of West Bradley, the late clergyman of Bulleigh and also of
Baltonsborough, four parishes in my district, with many other clergy-
men and laymen of the neighbourhood, have full confidence in my
medical treatment and have placed themselves and families under my
APPENDIX.
67
:
care; and that during the last six months 1,031 persons have ap-
plied to me for medical assistance.
7thly. That it is my duty to adopt the homeopathic system of
medicine, because the mortality is smaller, the duration of illness
shorter, and consequently the expense in sickness much less. I
think the following facts will prove it. From a statistical table pub-
lished in No. 3 of the "British Journal of Homoeopathy," it appears
from the results of sixth-four of the most celebrated allopathic hos-
pitals in Europe, including the Hôtel Dieu at Paris; Charité, Ber-
lin; the General Hospital, Vienna; St. Thomas's Hospital, Lon-
don; St. George's Hospital, London; and the Royal Infirmary,
Edinburgh; that the average mortality is 9 per cent., and the mean
duration of the disease 29 days while the Homoeopathic Institutions.
at Leipsic, Vienna, Munich, Brieg in Silesia, and Hungary, the aver-
age mortality is only 4 per cent., and the mean duration of the disease
21 days.
In the treatment of Cholera the average mortality was 31 per
cent. under the old system, and only 8 per cent. under the homeo-
pathic. Dr. Marenzeller gave the homoeopathic medicines to 150,000
persons in Vienna, as a prophylactic treatment, and none of them
fell victims to cholera; the same results were gained among 80,000
in Hungary and Poland, and it is the general experience of Homoeo-
pathists that among those who took these medicines and were at-
tacked by cholera, the disease showed itself in its mildest form,
whereas at the same time it attacked with great virulence those who
had not undergone the prophylactic treatment. In 1813 Typhus
fever, a disease which ravaged those countries of Europe which were
most visited by the war at that period, 183 patients came under Hah-
nemann's care in Leipsic, and not one died, while thousands " were
allowed to go home to their fathers" under the ordinary modes of
treatment. Inflammation of the Lungs, according to the statements
of Laennec, Sydenham, Andral, and Chomel, is of all acute diseases.
that which carries off the greatest number of persons, the average
mortality being two in five, whilst the treatment of the same disease
by homoeopathic medicines rarely fails. Again, Croup, a most fatal
disease under the old system, is most successfully treated by the new
method. Hooping-cough, the average duration of which is many
months under the old system, is about one month under the homoeo-
pathic. Many cases of Scrofula and Asthma, diseases that are gene-
rally considered incurable under the old system, are frequently cured
by homoeopathic treatment. Vaccination is homoeopathic; and with
respect to Scarlet Fever out of 3,741 persons who took the homoeo-
pathic medicines as a prophylactic treatment against that disease dur-
ing its prevalence, only 91 persons were attacked by it, and those
mildly. Measles can be prevented in the same manner by homoeo-
pathic medicines; and in disease generally in my own practice last
year, out of 1,085 cases that came under my treatment, only 21 died.
What is the inference? Of course, a diminution of the mortality
under any treatment being merely the negative statement of the more
68
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
effectual attainment of the object of all systems of medicine-the
restoration of the sick to health, is of such paramount importance,
that, supposing it to be admitted that the mortality in homoeopathic
hospitals was, cæteris paribus, less than in allopathic, there could no
longer be a ground for any controversy; for those who persist in
practising any method of medicine which they know to be attended
by a greater mortality than some other method within their power,
are clearly guilty of the deaths of a given number. Be this number
small or great, if it be only a certain number, there is no one who
would not shrink from the guilt of even one unnecessary death. It
will not be necessary, therefore, to enter into a computation of the
numbers which might be saved were the homoeopathic system gene-
rally adopted; feeling assured that if it were but believed that more
would certainly be saved, the adoption would necessarily follow.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours, faithfully,
GEORGE NEWMAN.
To Henry Badcocke, Esq., Clerk to the Wells Union.
No. X.
To Her Majesty's Poor Law Commissioners, Somerset House, London.
We, the undersigned, being the Poor entitled to parochial
relief, residing in the several parishes forming District No. II. of the
Wells Union, in the county of Somerset, learn with extreme regret,
that an attempt has been made for the removal of Mr. Newman from
the situation of medical officer of this district, and beg leave to assure
you
that we have ever received the utmost attention in sickness from
him, and derived the greatest benefit from his medical treatment, and
we pray that we may have the advantage and privilege of his atten-
tion and treatment extended to us by his continuing in office.
Dated this 10th day of July, 1843.
Signed by 838 Poor.
No. XI.
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House:
July 17, 1843.
10,055, B.—42.
SIR,-
I am directed by the Poor Law Commissioners to state that
they have recently been in communication with the Board of Guar-
dians of the Wells Union, as to your fitness for the office of medical
officer on account of your practising exclusively the homoeopathic
system of medicine, and they request to be informed whether you
APPENDIX.
69
intend to resign the office of medical officer of the Union which you
now hold.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
E. CHADWICK, Secretary.
George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, Glastonbury.
No. XII.
Glastonbury; July 20, 1842.
GENTLEMEN,-
In answer to your letter of the 17th instant, No. 10,055, B.
-42, I beg to inform you that in reply to communications received
from the Board of Guardians of the Wells Union of the 6th instant,
I sent my answer to them, and I find it has been ordered to be trans-
mitted to you.
10,055, B.-42.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your humble servant,
GEORGE NEWMAN.
AN
To the Poor Law Commissioners, Somerset House, London.
No. XIII.
Poor Law Union Office, Wells:
July 23, 1843.
DEAR SIR,-
Your letter was yesterday laid before the Board, and after
due consideration of the subject I was directed to forward a copy of
the same to the Poor Law Commissioners, together with the several
memorials from the poor and others in your district.
I am, dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To George Newman, Esq., Glastonbury.
No. XIV.
Poor Law Union Office, Wells :
July 23, 1843.
July 17, 1843.
GENTLEMEN,
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter above
number and date respecting Mr. Newman's system of medical prac-
tice, and stating therein that you would communicate with that gen-
tleman on the subject of this correspondence.
70
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
I am directed in reply to state, that as Mr. Newman has sent
his answer to a former request to this Board, the Guardians have in-
structed me to transmit a copy of the same to you, together with
various memorials from the poor and others in Mr. Newman's medi-
cal district, which I herewith beg to inclose.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your very obedient servant,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To the Poor Law Commissioners, Somerset House, London.
No. XV.
Poor Law Commission Office, Somerset House:
July 25, 1843.
10, 339, B.—43.
SIR,-
I am directed by the Poor Law Commissioners to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant, and to inform you
that as you decline to resign the office of medical officer of the Glas-
tonbury District of the Wells Union, which you now hold, the Com-
missioners will, in accordance with their letter to the Board of Guar-
dians, dated the Ist instant, issue an order removing you from that
office.
I am to observe with reference to the observations in the letter
which you addressed to the Guardians on the 10th instant, a copy of
which has been transmitted to the Commissioners, that at the time
the Commissioners reluctantly acquiesced in your appointment by
the Guardians, they had not before them what they are bound to con-
sider as evidence of your unfitness for the office of medical officer,
namely, the recorded opinion of the Royal College of Physicians.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
GEORGE CORDE, Assist. Sec.
To George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, Glastonbury.
No XVI.
Poor Law Union Office, Wells :
August 17, 1843.
DEAR SIR,-
I am directed to forward you the inclosed order for your
removal from office, under the hands and seal of the Poor Law Com-
missioners, but which does not come into operation until the 22nd
instant, fourteen days' notice being requisite after the date of its
issue.
APPENDIX.
7x
In consequence of the above order, notice of the election of a
surgeon, &c., for the Glastonbury District has been sent to the
"Bristol Mirror," to take place on the 30th instant, I am, therefore,
further instructed to hand you the following copy of minutes entered
at a meeting of the Board yesterday, and to request you will favour
me with an early reply to the same.
I am, dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
HENRY BADCOCKE, Clerk.
To George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, Glastonbury.
Moved by Henry Seymour, Esq., seconded by Mr. Charles Davies,
and carried unanimously,―That Mr. Newman be requested to attend
the sick poor of the Glastonbury District from the 23rd to the 30th
of August instant.
No. XVII.
Glastonbury; August 18, 1843.
DEAR SIR,-
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of the order for my re-
moval sent by the Poor Law Commissioners, and I will trouble you
to convey to the Board of Guardians my thanks for the unanimous
wish that I should continue to attend the sick poor of the Glaston-
bury District from the 23rd to the 30th August instant, which I shall
feel much pleasure in doing, and
I remain, dear Sir,
Yours truly,
GEORGE NEWMAN.
To Henry Badcocke, Esq., Clerk of the Wells Union.
No. XVIII.
WELLS UNION.
To the GUARDIANS of the POOR of THE WELLS UNION, in
the County of Somerset ;-To George Newman, one of the
Medical Officers of the said Union ;-To the Clerk or
Clerks to the Justices of the Petty Sessions held for the
Divisions in which the said Union is situate; and to all
others whom it may concern.
WE, THE POOR LAW COMMISSIONERS, hereby de-
clare that we deem George Newman unfit for the office of Medical
Officer of the Wells Union, in the County of Somerset, and in pur-
suance and execution of the powers and authority vested in Us, under
and by virtue of the Statute made and passed in the fifth year of the
Reign of his late Majesty, King William the Fourth, intituled “An
72
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
Act for the Amendment and better Administration of the Laws relating
to the Poor in England and Wales," We do hereby remove him from
the said Office, and Order and Direct the said George Newman to
cease to exercise and perform the powers and duties of the said Office.
And We do hereby require the Guardians of the Poor of the said
Union, as soon as conveniently may be, to appoint a fit and proper
person to be a Medical Officer of the said Union, in the room of the
said George Newman, and to report the said appointment when made,
together with the amount of the salary intended to be given to the
person so to be appointed a Medical Officer as aforesaid, to the Poor
Law Commissioners.
Given under our Hands and Seal of Office, this fourth day of
August, in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and
Forty-three.
(Signed)
(Seal.)
GEORGE NICHOLLS.
G. C. LEWIS.
EDMUND W. HEAD.
On the 30th of August Mr. Stradling was elected Medical
Officer by a large majority of the Guardians, and Mr. Malton rejected.
The Guardians passed a severe censure on the arbitrary and
unjustifiable conduct of the Poor Law Commissioners, and sent me
the following vote of thanks.
No. XIX.
Wells Union, Poor Law Union Office, Wells:
September 2nd, 1843.
MY DEAR SIR,
I have great gratification in handing you the inclosed copy
of resolutions and vote of thanks from the Board of Guardians (with
the seal of office attached) for your valuable services to the sick poor
under your care during the period (seven years and five months) you
have been Medical Officer to this Union.
I am, dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
HENRY BADCOCKE,
Clerk to the Guardians.
To George Newman, Esq., Surgeon, &c., Glastonbury.
Wells Union. —Copy of Resolutions from the Minutes of the Board
of Guardians of the Wells Union, at their weekly meeting,
held the 30th day of August, 1843.
Moved by the Rev. Peter Lewis Parfitt, seconded by Henry
Seymour, Esq., and carried unanimously, that a vote of thanks be
APPENDIX.
73
given by this board to George Newman, Esq., for his attentive,
humane, and successful treatment of the sick poor under his care for
the last seven years and five months, the period he has been the
Medical Officer of the Glastonbury District of this Union.
Colonel Coles, Chairman, (Ex-officio.)
James Garrod, Esq., Vice-Chairman.
Ex-officio Guardians.
General Sir James Bathurst,
The Hon. and Rev. G. Neville Grenville,
The Rev. Canon Barnard,
Thomas Porch Porch, Esq.,
Henry Seymour, Esq.
Elected Guardians.
Mr. Austin
Berryman
Burgess
Culliford
Davies
P. Fry
Thomas Lax Gilling
Gould
Mr. Richard Holman
Hayes
Keen
Masters
Rev. P. L. Parfitt
Mr. Perkins
Powell
Roach
Hardwich
Hippisley
John Holman
Also, resolved unanimously that the Clerk be directed to trans-
mit a copy of the above resolution to Mr. Newman, with the seal of
office attached to the same.
(Signed)
Rev. Daniel Tremlett
Mr. Teek
Watts
ROBERT BARTLETT COLES, Chairman,
(Seal.)
Henry Badcocke, Clerk to the Guardians.
A
copy of the above was sent to the Poor Law Commissioners.
To Henry Badcocke, Esq., Wells.
Glastonbury; Sept. 5, 1843.
DEAR SIR,-
I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated Sept.
2nd, inclosing copies of resolutions proposed by the Board of Guàr-
dians of the Wells Union at their weekly meeting, held the 30th day
of August, 1843, and for which I wish to convey to the Guardians
my warmest sense of gratitude for the vote of thanks therein ex-
pressed.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
GEORGE NEWMAN.
8
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
THE reader will perceive that there are no copies of Mr. Gale's
correspondence, Sir Henry Halford's letter, or the memorial sent up
by Lord J. Thynne, and said to be signed by four clergymen. I
should have been most happy to have added them had their attain-
ment been practicable. *
74
Of the motives of one man who, because I refused to purchase
his practice, turned round and became my accuser; of another who,
forgetting the dignity due to his rank and cloth, condescended to
solicit patients for a protegé; or of the medical man who, regardless
of the etiquette of the profession, bore round recommendatory mis-
sives to other medical men's patients, I shall say nothing. The facts
stand on record, and let the public judge them.
I boldly appeal from these proceedings to all honorable men of
my profession, however opposed to me in opinion; I ask them,
could any one of them have thus acted? I feel that an indignant
No!" will be the ready response. Granted that an honorable man
from principle might have wished my removal and laboured to carry
that wish into effect, he would at least have proceeded to the work
with clean hands; not acted for the sake of personal aggrandisement
or the mean gratification of a petty revenge.
The conduct of the Poor Law Commissioners has been at once
arbitrary and unjustifiable, in removing an officer contrary to the wish
of the Guardians and of the Poor who were placed under his charge.
Success is the great test both of a practitioner's skill and of the effi-
cacy of the means he employs to combat disease; yet the poor are
taken out of his hands and placed under a system which, however
experienced may be the medical man who acts upon it, can never
produce results like those which I have stated.
The refusal of the Commissioners to furnish a copy of the me-
morial to the Guardians resembles rather the proceedings of the
Inquisition or Star-chamber than those of an English board of
authority. Is an individual to be condemned and deprived of his
situation without knowing the full extent of the charges against him,
or the names of his accusers? Even the very wording of such docu-
*The correspondence, letter, and memorial can now be obtained, as they
were ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, on the motion of Lord
Ebury, in February, 1844.
APPENDIX.
75
ment might insinuate falsehoods either upon his character or skill
which he has no means of repelling. At all events, let this apply
in my case as it may, the precedent is a most dangerous one.
The letter of the College of Physicians is a tissue of absurdities.
A medical man practising a species of hybrid system, if it deserves
the name of system, is perfectly eligible. No one who has studied
Homœopathy and felt the immense advantages it has given him over
disease, can ever return to those methods which his past experience
has proved uncertain and fallacious, which are "those methods of
treatment which have received the sanction of authority, and are re-
commended by usage and long experience." Take, for example,
bleeding; some boldly bleed to syncope, while others will only
use the lancet in extreme cases, and others denounce it as murder.
How very seldom in the most simple cases of disease do we find
medical men agreed upon the course to be pursued, or the remedies
to be applied! All this fine sounding verbiage amounts to nothing.
I consider that a legal qualification allows an individual to prac-
tise and to employ the means best calculated, in his own opinion, to
relieve suffering and cure disease. Is free agency in medicine to be
bound in the fetters of the College of Physicians-the body that ex-
pelled the second Hippocrates, the immortal Sydenham, and perse-
cuted Jenner and Harvey?
With respect to legal liabilities, an action, civil or criminal pro-
secution, will always hold good for mala praxis under any system of
medicine. Moreover, all my patients are treated homoeopathically
with their own "full knowledge and consent."
When Homœopathy, as it must eventually, becomes the estab-
lished system, this letter will stand upon record as one of the many
great and ridiculous blunders committed by the College of Physicians.
I admit that although I am glad of what has occurred, as calcu-
lated to advance the cause I have so deeply at heart, I did not resign
my situation without regret. I could not without pain see those who
had so long lived under the mild sway of Homoeopathy, by the
arbitrary fiat of three irresponsible men sitting in Somerset House,
again consigned over to the tender mercies of Allopathy. However,
to remedy the evil as much as possible, I have opened an Institution
for the benefit both of the indigent poor and of those in reduced cir-
76
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
cumstances, for whose support I respectfully request the aid of the
well-wishers to our noble cause. I have been cheered, however, in
my retirement from official duties by the expressed approbation of
the Guardians, the gratitude of the poor, the pleasing prospect of
seeing the science diffused around me, and the heartfelt conscious-
ness that my labours and the persecutions I have suffered are all
tending to the one good result-the dissemination throughout the
empire of the doctrine of truth.
In June, 1851, Mr. Stradling resigned his appointment,
and, at the wish of my friends, I again applied to the Board of Guar-
dians for the vacant post. At the next meeting of the Board, I was
unanimously re-elected. The Poor Law Commissioners then sanctioned
my appointment, and I became a second time the Medical Officer of
the Union, and held the post until I left Glastonbury for Bath in
November, 1852. · Sic transit gloria mundi.”
No II.
IN 1853 an attempt was made to establish the British In-
stitute of Homoeopathy, and as the address appears to
me well suited to the present time, I have no hesitation
in reprinting a portion of it for the benefit of my readers :—
The number of homeopathic practitioners being greatly on the
increase it is highly desirable that a code of rules should be pre-
scribed, with a view to regulate their professional intercourse with
each other and with the public. In all arrangements that may be
entered into amongst its practitioners, homoeopathy also demands
that its interests be vigorously protected in every direction. But
important and necessary as it is to protect homoeopathy and homoeo-
pathists against enemies from without, it is infinitely more necessary
to seek protection from the evil influence of the enemies within the
camp, who have insidiously crept in to the detriment of the true in-
terests of our science. Various attempts have, from time to time,
been made to accomplish what would have been most desirable, by
the formation of homeopathic societies, but they have for the most
part failed, because they were not based on principles calculated to
secure the ends they ought to have had in view. In order that
homœopathic institutions and societies should be practically useful,
it is a duty incumbent on their founders not to overlook any means
calculated to secure harmony of opinion and unity of purpose and
action amongst the true followers of the master.
Indeed, we maintain that to carry out properly and honestly this
useful resolve, it is indispensable that all should be agreed upon cer-
tain defined principles, such as are only to be found in our homeo-
pathic text-book-the " Organon" of Hahnemann. These have
been clearly and distinctly stated, and must be subscribed to and
8 *
78
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
acted upon in practice by every one who calls himself a homeo-
pathic practitioner. We would wish it, however, to be perfectly
understood that we only allude to those practical aphorisms which
have been tested and confirmed by experience. We discard all specu-
lative theories of Hahnemann, who frankly tells us that such ought
not to have any influence over his practical precepts and facts.
Confident that every true follower of Hahnemann must feel as
anxious as ourselves to have an Institution, based upon sound funda-
mental principles, around which to rally in concord and harmony, we
have made a fresh effort through the foundation of the British Insti-
tute of Homoeopathy. Based, as it is, upon the yet unrefuted prin-
ciples of the "Organon" and other writings of Hahnemann, it will,
we trust, secure for the future a healthy and sound progress to our
science and art, and guard the profession and the public against a
repetition of past errors.
Much as the members of the Institute would rejoice to know
that all respectable homoeopathists had joined them upon the terms
proposed, they beg distinctly to state that upon such terms alone can
any alliance be useful and desirable, and they are fully prepared to
advocate by every means in their power the homoeopathy bequeathed
to mankind by Hahnemann, and by his TRUE disciples, until it be
proved that he and they are in error.
Indeed, at a time when various kinds and modes of homœo-
pathic practice seem to be advocated, it becomes the positive duty
of all who possess legal qualifications, and who profess to practise
medicine according to the principles enjoined by Hahnemann, to
give the public some proof of their being in earnest. They ought to
manifest a desire to oppose, if they cannot arrest, the march of false
doctrines and erroneous practices, which are being disseminated by
individuals imperfectly acquainted with Hahnemann's beautiful
system, as well as by others who have neglected to probe and sift
the reality of Hahnemann's actual practice," and who have substituted
modes of practice peculiarly their own, and not differing in any essen-
tial particular from the proceedings of those who are, in many in-
stances, totally destitute of medical education.
(6
The members of the Institute have no doubt, however, that the
intrinsic truth and value of the principles herein alluded to will ere
long triumph over all obstacles; and to this end it is fervently to be
hoped that the "Organon" of Hahnemann, from which these prin-
APPENDIX.
79
ciples have been abstracted, will henceforth be deeply studied by all
who wish to understand the true spirit of homoeopathy, and who
desire to qualify themselves for the task of practising the system in
its integrity.
The duty imposed upon all who have undertaken to test "the
reality of Hahnemann's actual practice," and to treat the sick upon
homoeopathic principles, is distinctly laid down, and admits of no
evasion.
Hahnemann writes :-
"If physicians do not carefully practise what I teach let them
not boast of being my followers, and, above all, let them not expect to
be successful in their treatment."
Every well-educated practitioner who rightly appreciates the
spirit of Hahnemann's doctrines and practice must grieve to read the
reports, which frequently appear, of practice, and the inculcation of
doctrines as far removed from true homoeopathic science and art as
the poles are distant from each other. These evils, however, are not
peculiar to our own day. Abuses have at all times crept in to
damage every science; an admixture of good and evil is to be found
in everything human; our task, then, is to attack and correct the
"dark side of nature," and in this noble effort we shall be performing
a duty to ourselves, as well as to others. In this particular instance,
namely, in endeavouring to correct the abuses perpetrated under the
name of homoeopathy, we shall be emulating a people deeply inter-
ested, like ourselves, in the great CAUSE. Germany, the birthplace
of our science, was in 1836 overrun with spurious practice and inno-
vations, which well-nigh threatened the ruin of true homoeopathy,
until the more rigid class of its adherents there stepped forward to
stem the pernicious torrent of that crude compound practice known
under the name of "Specificism." Dr. Wolf, of Dresden, was
selected to draw up certain fundamental "theses," which were to be
acknowledged by all who wished to be considered homoeopaths.
These "theses" were discussed and adopted at a meeting of the
"Central Homoeopathic Society." The effort, though rather tardy
in its operation, was successful in its results, and saved homeopathy
in Germany.
Now amongst the professional homoeopaths of Great Britain
we regret that a similar course is necessary to check the crude prac-
80
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY
tice and speculative fancies which are so prevalent with not a few
practising our system of medicine, to preserve our refined doctrines
from vitiation, and to secure the advancement of true homoeopathy.
The Institute is deeply impressed with a sense of this necessity, as a
duty it owes to itself and also to the public who confide in our system
of medicine.
Notwithstanding the bitterness of feeling, quite unjustifiable
either upon scientific or philanthropic grounds, which some of the
allopathic school have shown to the doctrines of Hahnemann and
his followers, we conceive that no act of ours, as homoeopaths,
should be tinctured with doubt or suspicion. Our proceedings
should bear the light of day, and be such as to preserve us from the
reproach of anything which might darken the lustre or stain the
purity of our scientific art. This can only be accomplished by the
repudiation of pseudo-homœopathists, and others, who pursue forms
and modes of practice which are untenable in connection with the
homœopathic law "similia similibus." Truly has it been observed
by Dr. Dake :— "The want of consistency apparent in all such
mongrel practice, while it increases the prejudices of the ignorant
and disgusts the learned, can but expose our system to ridicule and
final neglect. A community once thus imposed upon will be slow,
very slow, in placing confidence in the true homoeopathist who may
in after years settle in their midst. Better, far better, that another
half century pass before the knowledge of our healing art becomes
universal, than that that art should in five years be known from the
rising to the setting sun, and known in such a manner as in five years
more to ensure its long sleep in the grave, where all the exploded
humbugs of the past are sleeping. Great would be the gain to our
Cause, and great to suffering humanity, were such conceited prac-
titioners yet more like angels' visits-' few and far between.'"
The FUNDAMENTAL law, and the following principles and rules,
contain, in our opinion, what is essential in the homoeopathic system
of medicine,—necessary in its correct application for the cure of
disease, and they must be subscribed to by whosoever wishes to be-
come a member of the Institute :-
1. That the law similia similibus is the only law which is as
yet known for the cure of disease through medicinal agency.
Observation.-Although this law is the foundation of the homœo-
pathic system, it is not, as has often been asserted, the system itself.
APPENDIX.
81
The systematic application of the law to the cure of disease necessi-
tates the observance of certain rules proved by experience to be most
advantageous in the actual treatment of disease, and also for the
development of certain principles implied, of which we consider the
following to be essential.
2. The investigation of the pathogenetic properties of medicines
by trial on the healthy body.
Observation. -For such trials we maintain that the experience
of Hahnemann and other trustworthy persons, as provers, has shown
that medicines prepared according to the formulæ prescribed by the
MASTER himself in his "" 'Organon," and administered as he therein
directs, are preferable to the crude primitive substance ;* and we
further hold that symptoms arising during the treatment of disease
must not be registered as the pure pathogenetic effects of medicinal
agents, upon which we could safely rely as indications for the future
selection of any remedy, and ought to be strictly separated from those
observed on the body in health.
3. The exhibition of only one medicine at a time.
Observation.—On this subject we maintain that giving medicines
alternately as a rule, and not as an exception, which can happen but
very rarely in the present state of our Materia Medica, and without
having previously ascertained the effects of the dose or doses of the
medicine last taken by the patient, is inadmissible in rational and
scientific practice. It is merely a crude expedient, not based upon
any scientific principle; is calculated to produce uncertainty and
confusion, and to preclude all chance of advancing our system through
pure clinical observations. This applies, à fortiori, to the irrational
administration of three medicines "alternately," and to what has been
called "courses" of homoeopathic medicines. Hahnemann writes-
"If the physician alternates his remedies in rapid succession
this is a sure sign that he has not chosen his remedies with strict
C
* The directions for the proving of drugs, etc., so carefully set forth by
Hahnemann in paragraphs 120 to 140, inclusive, of the Organon," cannot be
too attentively studied by all who record provings, and who submit to be experi-
menters. The profound reasoning displayed in the paragraphs alluded to ought
to caution practitioners against confiding too implicitly in indications furnished
from sufferings inflicted and elicited through massive doses taken by persons in
accordance with their own individual notions, in defiance of the advice of Hahne
Time alone can test the real value of such provings.
mann.
82
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
reference to their homoeopathic action, or has but carelessly studied
the existing series of symptoms.
"}
4. The use of medicines prepared as Hahnemann directs, and
those in "small" doses.
Observation.-Whatever may be the opinion of different homoeo-
paths on the subject of "potency" and of doses, they all agree that
medicines prepared as Hahnemann directs are infinitely superior to
those given in their crude state, and we are therefore justified in ex-
acting the above principle as an essential part of the homoeopathic
system. As to the form of the dose and the "potency," they must
for the present, in a great measure, remain an open question; but
leaning on our own experience, and that of Hahnemann and his most
rigid disciples in different countries, we hold that (as a rule) globule-
doses from the third preparation upwards, according to the character
of the remedy, the disease, and the circumstances, are sufficient for
curative purposes, if the medicine be properly chosen. Preparations
scarcely removed from the crude substance, as well as grains and
drops, and other expedients to increase the bulk of the dose, are (as
a rule) not only unnecessary, but offer greater risk, when continued,
of aggravating the disorder, creating confusion, and doing more mis-
chief than "higher" preparations and "smaller" doses.
Besides the great law and the principles derived from it, as above
stated, we hold the observance of the following rules to be necessary
for the successful application of both.
5. The close examination of the case, not only as to the status
præsens, but also as to anamnesis, and hereditary and other predis-
positions. These together form the totality, the symptoms present
constitute only one part of the disease.
Observation. To assert that Hahnemann teaches that the mere
symptoms present are a sufficient criterion for the choice of the medi-
cine is to misapprehend the formal text of the "Organon" and the
spirit of the homeopathic doctrine.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
6. The writing down the entire case.
Observation. In correct homoeopathic treatment much depends
upon the close individualization of the disease and the remedy during
the whole course of treatment, and it is obvious that no homoeopath
of even moderate practice could possibly keep in his memory all the
minute details which a great variety of patients present, and which
APPENDIX.
83
i
cine.
are often highly characteristic and decisive for the choice of the medi-
We therefore maintain the writing down the entire case to be
all-important in actual practice, and its neglect inseparable from con-
fusion, uncertainty, and injury to the interest of the patient.
7. The close research in the books on Materia Medica for the
choice of the medicine.
Observation.—We hold that there are very few cases, and none
of any importance, in which this rule can be dispensed with. Any-
body the least acquainted with the exigencies of correct homœo-
pathic practice knows that it is a most difficult thing to find out an
appropriate medicine, considering that we have to choose from among
two hundred thousand pathogenetic effects (at the lowest computa-
tion) of about 360 medicines, and every one of which may, in certain
Unless this rule be observed
cases, be important and decisive.
homœopathic practice must necessarily degenerate into crude and
injurious routine. The observance of the three foregoing rules is
certainly connected with a considerable expenditure of time, yet they
cannot be neglected without injury to the patient, to homœopathy,
and to the practitioner himself. That they can be strictly observed,
even in a considerable practice, the example of Hahnemann and that
of his earnest disciples proves.
S. With regard to the question, during homoeopathic treatment,
of bleeding, leeching, blistering, emetising, purging, cauterising,
narcotising, and other similar measures of the ordinary school, which
have been at times seriously recommended by a few practitioners
calling themselves homeopaths, we hold that such means are not
only unnecessary for curative purposes, but highly injurious to the
true interest of the patient, and that homoeopathy possesses, for in-
curable cases, in correctly-chosen remedies, more numerous and less
injurious palliatives than can be found amongst the ordinary allo-
pathic measures. The admission that the aforesaid auxiliaries are
necessary during homoeopathic treatment would imply the insuffi-
ciency of homoeopathy, which we deny. Neither Hahnemann, who
practised the system for half a century, nor his true disciples have
ever resorted to these injurious and very questionable expedients,
even in the treatment of incurable disorders.
Should any one be bent upon estimating the merits of homoeo-
pathic treatment simply by its influence over incurable diseases, such
would be unfair ground to take, since Hahnemann has emphatically
84
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
declared that it is "an art which has never pretended to have it in
its power directly to act upon ORGANIC defects ;" and we have yet to
learn that allopathic measures can act curatively in ORGANIC trans›
formations when homeopathy has failed. We further hold that if
a mixed practice be once acknowledged as legitimate and correct,
ere long a spurious system will spring up, under the name of homoeo-
pathy, which must eventually lead to its destruction. The impedi-
ments which have arisen to the progress of true homoeopathy, from
the serious neglect of some of Hahnemann's important injunctions,
is at present, with the Institute, a subject for deep anxiety. The
means which are understood under the name of "auxiliaries" by
their advocates, have no reference whatever to those mechanical,
chemical, and similiar measures which peculiar circumstances, sud-
nen emergencies, or external injuries may render necessary, and to
which no man in his senses would object. We have here two totally
different questions, which the "auxiliarists" should not be allowed
to mix up for their own purposes.
Hahnemann, who, in his far-seeing sagacity, anticipated and
provided for such exigencies, as will be seen by reference to his
Organon," particularly the note and foot-note appended to § 67,
had also as the Institute will have-to combat against-
<<
"The new sect that mixes the two systems," "which appeals,
though in vain, to the foregoing illustrations, in order that they may
have an excuse for encountering everywhere such exceptions to the
general rule in diseases, and to justify their convenient employment
of allopathic palliatives, and of other injurious allopathic trash be-
sides, solely for the sake of sparing themselves the trouble of seeking
for the suitable homeopathic remedy for each case of disease-I
might almost say, for the sake of sparing themselves the trouble of
being homoeopathic physicians, and yet wishing to appear as such.
But their performances are on a par with the system they pursue;
they are nothing to boast of.
27
Taking together that which has just been said, and the rules
which will be found below, it will be apparent that the main objects
of the British Institute of Homoeopathy are these:-
1. To protect the public, by the most strenuous efforts, against
unqualified and incompetent practitioners, and to secure to the pub-
lic the services of men of sound information.
APPENDIX.
85
2. To uphold and disseminate in their purity, the clear, strict,
and unrefuted principles and rules of the "Organon" of Hahnemann,
to the utter exclusion of loose unscientific practice.
3. To protect the external interests of homoeopathy against all
direct or indirect aggression.
To assert that the medical profession alone ought to be looked
to for the adoption and propagation of our medical reforms, and that
the public have neither the right not the capacity to take an active
part therein, is a libel upon common sense.
After the violent opposition with which homoeopathy has, for
more than a quarter of a century, had to contend in this country,
reason and experience point out that it is of no earthly use to expect
anything from the allopathic profession, which can be influenced only
indirectly by the public, and the latter can alone be relied upon in
the defence and promotion of what so essentially concerns their own
interests.
In reference to the attainment of the proposed objects of the
Institute by literary means, the following seem to be the best calcu-
lated to ensure success :-
I. One or two tracts written as simply and intelligibly as pos-
sible, to infuse correct notions on the principles of homoeopathy, and
at the same time to point out the errors of allopathy.
2. Instructions for students in the correct study and practice of
homœopathy.
3. Instructions for the non-professional public on emergencies.
4. A weekly journal, whenever the Institute shall deem the
publication of such to be called for, the objects of which shall be
to explain the true principles of homoeopathy; to impart that
amount of information on its practice which can be safely and use-
fully resorted to on emergencies; the inculcation of simple and sound
principles on hygiene and the physical and general education of
children ; and the narration of current events relating to the subjects
mentioned.
5. A semi-monthly or monthly journal, of an exclusively pro-
fessional character. In this latter publication the views and prin-
ciples of the Institute will be upheld; the British homoeopathic
practitioner will be made acquainted with everything worth knowing
which appears in the periodical and general homoeopathic literature
of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, America, and other countries
•
9
86
EXPOSITION OF HOMEOPATHY.
and not less with the great treasures of homoeopathic literature in
its best days, especially those of the twenty-three volumes of "Stapf's
Archiv," and other valuable German and French publications.
This journal will have distinguished correspondents in different
countries, who are to be honorary members of the Institute. It
ought also to take especial care of British homoeopathic literature,
by a fair and impartial but most rigorous criticism not only of new
publications, but also of what has hitherto been offered to the student
for instruction and guidance.
THE END.

THIRD EDITION.
Just Published, 18mo., bound in Cloth, 3s. 6d.,
THE
HOMEOPATHIC FAMILY ASSISTANT
arranged for the Use of Families, with Clear and
Simple Directions for the Treatment of Diseases accord-
ing to Homœopathic Principles,
By GEORGE NEWMAN, L.R.C. Phys., Edin.,
M.R.C.S.L., &c.,
Member of the British Homeopathic Society, and Physician
to the Bath Homeopathic Hospital.
In this work all technical terms are omitted, and full
Directions given as regards Regimen, the Medicines and
their Antidotes; also an Explanation of the Proper Dose
and Repetition of the Medicine according to the true
principles of Homœopathy.
Those who carefully read and study this book will
find all that is necessary for the successful treatment of
most diseases, and invaluable during the absence of a
medical man.
MEDICINE CASES EXPRESSLY SUITED TO THE WORK
ARE SOLD BY ALL HOMEOPATHIC CHEMISTS.
SIG
Also, by the same Author, Preparing for Publication,
RESULTS OF HOMEOPATHIC PRACTICE
During a Period of Thirty-five years, with Cases,
&c., &c., shewing the advantages of the Homœopathic
Treatment of Disease.
JorM
THE
"
BATH:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM LEWIS, AT THE DIRECTORY" OFFICE,
12, NORTHGATE STREET.
"(

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