ANNUAL ADDRESS 
TO THE 
t, + + + 
4I joiiuviipalliic 
OF PENNSYLVANIA, 
BY THE PRESIDENT, 
HENRY N. GUERNSEY, M. D. ANNUAL ADDRESS 
TO THE 
HOMILOFATQIC MEDICAL SOCIETY DF PENNSYLVANIA, 
BY THE PRESIDENT, 
H. N. GUERNSEY, M. D. 
Members of the Homoeopathic Medical Society of 
Pennsylvania : 
At our last Annual meeting, held in Philadelphia, 
October 3d and 4th, 1877, you saw lit to confer upon me the 
honor of election as your President, for the year 1878. For 
this token of respect and esteem as a member of our Society, 
and for the expression of your sentiment to me as a man and 
meml>er of the Homoeopathic Medical profession, 1 heartily 
thank you. As an earnest of my sincere desire to serve and 
to honor you and the profession which we represent, in the 
faithful discharge of the responsible duties laid upon me, let 
my actions as your presiding officer determine. To address 
you at this time and in this manner is, 1 know, a departure 
from time-honored custom ; but to my mind it is a more 
useful plan than to defer it until the opening of the 
session. If the President has any communication worthy the 
attention of the Convention over which he is to preside, there 
will, by this plan, be ample time for its consideration and judi- 
cious disposition. We meet together for the transaction of 
such annual business as the growth of our progressive science 
demands and for the interchange of such opinions and ex- 2 
periences as naturally accompany our advancement. The time 
allowed for these proceedings is too limited and too valuable 
to be consumed by lengthy presidential harangues which, 
though they be never so suggestive and useful in themselves, 
are nearly lost sight of in the pressure of business which has 
accumulated during the year, and which must be ably 
despatched. Therefore when our Society convenes in Pitts- 
burgh in September, 1878, we shall proceed to business at once, 
the President endeavoring in every way to save as much 
time for the reading and consideration of your valuable 
papers as possible. In all discussions it will be his aim to 
bring out as complete an expression of opinion as it may 
be the pleasure of the Convention to receive, and to secure 
the fullest liberty and protection to every member occu- 
pying the floor. 
The President would earnestly recommend as follows: 
That all reports of Societies, Colleges, Dispensaries, Clubs, etc., 
needing no special discussion or action of the Convention, 
be read merely by title and referred for publication, when 
we can all read and profit by them. Measures should be 
taken to secure the publication of the proceedings of each con- 
vention at as early a day as possible after adjournment, say 
in two months at farthest. 
Further, that two additional bureaus be formed, which 
should be: a bureau on “Medical Thermometry,” whose 
duty it shall be to determine, as nearly as possible, the use 
of the thermometer in our school as a guide in the treat- 
ment of disease, and to report the same at each annual 
meeting of the Society. 
Also, a bureau on some vital principle in the law of cure, 
whose duty it shall be to discusss, elucidate, and present the 
same to the annual meetings of the Society. 
The President respectfully asks the co-operation of 
every member of the profession in the State of Pennsyl- 
vania in rendering our next meeting as useful and inter- 
esting as possible. The old Keystone State of these United 3 
States has won many laurels for, and in, the Union in war, in 
peace, in the arts and sciences, in literature, in religion and 
in Medicine. In all the above she has been the great Foun- 
tain-head of this Western Hemisphere. It is a matter of 
congratulation for us that this especially is true of Homoeo- 
pathic Medicine. From what I can learn there are as many, 
if not more, readers of Samuel Hahnemann’s Organon of the 
Healing art in this State as in any other; readers eager to 
imbibe its truths with the determination to practice thereby. 
The last meeting, held in Philadelphia, October, 1877, was one 
of* the best in the annals of this Society, in every respect, and 
bore full evidence of the foregoing statement. 
Nearly all of the numerous papers presented, were such as 
Hahnemann himself would have taken delight in hearing. 
The days of alternation of remedies are passing away, as 
also are other deviations from the standard of truth 
according to the expoundings in Hahnemann’s Organon, the 
greatest of text-books, to the highest advantage of our great 
Commonwealth. Ix;t us do still better at the next meeting, 
for the honor of our State and for the wider promulgation of 
I lomoeopathy. What we do to benefit ourselves will redound 
to the good of the community at large. We can further the 
healthfulness and prosperity of our fellow-creatures only 
by improving ourselves in medicine and as Christian gentle- 
men. With these ends in view, let us take pains to prepare 
papers that shall have the clear ring of pure and unalloyed 
truth in them, teeming with useful points and sterling value. 
Let us avoid spun-out theories and notions that cannot be 
made practical and that will not stand that fiery ordeal—the 
test of experience. We need a large number of reported cases 
illustrating the great law of cure in a clear, terse, and incon- 
trovertible manner, showing in their authors the nicelv-formed 
habits of thought that lead to true science. We had some of 
such a character, admirably reported, at our last meeting, 
particularly from the ranks of the younger members of the 
profession. It was truly refreshing and instructive to listen 4 
to their harmonious chime. It is quite unnecessary to 
make the statement that the Society will lose nothing, if 
cases where the treatment has been so badly mixed up that 
the patient’s recovery has apparently occurred in spite of the 
doctor, and no clear and intelligent idea can be formed as to 
what effected the cure, be not recorded at all. Such reports 
waste valuable time. 
If we take a retrospective view of the medical world for 
the past half century, we shall see that a wonderful change 
has everywhere taken place in the practice of medicine. As 
an illustration, in Philadelphia, at that time, the signs of 
cuppers, leechers and bleeders were seen conspicuously posted 
very generally in every street. So heroic was the medi- 
cal treatment, of those days, that it was said of the above 
city, “her streets run with human blood, and blue pills are 
taken bv the ton.” But even then, in the near horizon, the wel- 
come light of the day of better things began to shine. Dr. 
C. Hering, with a few other real healers came to the relief of 
the tortured multitudes. More and more have been added to 
that little band, enrolled under the banner of simi/ia simi/ibus 
curantur, and so well have they fought the good fight that 
now where do we find the above signs? Echo answers, 
“Where?” A corresponding change has taken place in 
every other form of heroism and terrorism in the fair land of 
this Commonwealth. Yea, throughout the world—thanks 
be to our Heavenly Father who sent his servant, Samuel 
Hahnemann and his faithful and trusty followers. Now 
the better educated and more progressive members of the 
Allopathic School are investigating Therapeutics upon the 
same plan :is did Hahnemann; and they will never be found 
wallowing in the mire of Eclecticism. I think it evident in 
regard to all the sciences everywhere, that there is a corres- 
ponding improvement—quality, not quantity, being the de- 
mand; so also of all the arts; in husbandry and in daily 
labors even. 
The Homoeopathic profession in our State has abundant 5 
reason to Ik; congratulated in tliis respect. The general ten- 
dency is not only to revere Hahnemann, but also to emulate 
him; not as a man, hut because of his principles, which are 
found to be more and more reliable in proportion as we study 
and apply them; and by which we are learning every 
day that it is quality, not quantity, that does the work of 
healing the sick, restoring the blind to sight, making the lame 
to walk, causing the deaf to hear, and doing all other works 
of redeeming the mental and physical man from his fallen con- 
dition of health. Yes, it is bv reading and applying his 
directions that we are able to do this more and more 
successfully, with more and more certainty as we under- 
stand and obey his teachings. By studying the Organon its 
principles gain and grow upon us, and our faculties develop, 
increase and expand into a clear comprehension of it. “ The 
observation of this fact, by experience, led our Bonninghausen 
to inculcate upon the profession his advice to iterate and reit- 
erate the diligent perusal and assiduous study of this work as 
the fountain-head of our knowledge of Homoeopathy.” In 
reading and pondering over the writings of our great preceptor 
with a view of applying them to practice, some of us can un- 
derstand and apply them more easily than others, and 
can carry forward tin* work quite satisfactorily; others 
stumble more or less from the want of a clear perception how 
to proceed, and feel very timid and doubtful of the efficiency 
of' the small doses and the single remedy ; others again make 
very bungling work of it, and call their practice homoeo- 
pathic, when it scarcely bears a resemblance to that mighty 
and all-powerful system of healing the sick. We all need to 
study Hahnemann’s writings more and more closely, and the 
stronger should instruct and lead the weaker. Now, as our con- 
ventions are, and pre-eminently should he, educational in char- 
acter, it seems to me that some educational standard should be 
recognized, something that we can “ square by,” and that it 
should be one of the first duties of our Convention individually 
and collectively, to strive to elevate ourselves to that standard. 6 
If we think there is a principle in Hahnemann’s writings that 
will stand the test of the closest possible investigation scien- 
tifically and practically, why should not the matter come 
squarely before us, and be dispassionately discussed and prao- 
tically elucidated ? Let it come pointedly and clearly, that we 
may see if there is the perfection that some of ns claim. 
What we want in onr school is precision and certainty, and 
we desire to approach this elevated, this grand and noble 
standard all the days of onr lives for the sake of our wives, our 
children, and coming posterity. We desire to preserve their 
health, to mitigate their sufferings,to see them well and en- 
joying the full fruition that sane minds and sound bodies 
vouchsafe to them. Then we may be happy. Are the prin- 
ciples of Samuel Hahnemann calculated to lead us onward 
and upward to this high goal ? Let this be fully determined 
at our approaching State Convention. If there be a negative 
response, then are there any principles in existence that will 
conduce to such an end ? If so, let them be presented, 
discussed, and if found worthy, adopted. Let us have the 
best we can find, and when found, appropriated. Let us not 
be afraid to examine into their fullest significance and 
practicability, and measure all our proceedings thereby, indi- 
vidually and collectively. I already hear the decision loudly 
proclaimed by the united voices of the Convention, “ Similia 
similibus curantur is our motto, and the principles as un- 
folded and explained in Hahnemann’s Organon and in his 
Chronic Diseases, are our guide in the practice of our pro- 
fession. We are satisfied that men’s medical opinions are 
valueless without the basis of true principle.” This being the 
case, we must define our motto. What does “ similia similibus 
curantur” mean, what does it imply, and do we fulfil its re- 
quirements in our practice? Are we really in the en- 
deavor to form those habits of nice observation, without which 
no progress in science is ever made? 
Having thoroughly and deliberately settled these 
questions, there are others growing out of the principles 7 
of our science upon which we all want more light, that we 
may become stronger and truer to ourselves as medical prac- 
titioners, truer to our patients as more successful healers, 
truer to our Commonwealth in the abatement and prevention 
of disease. How often do we hear the statement made, 
“ Away with vour science, it is my duty to cure my patient in 
the best manner I know how.” What is science but knowl- 
edge—knowledge so perfected as to become science? And 
did this kind of knowledge ever stand in the way of making 
the lK*st of cures in the most sure, speedy and perfect man- 
ner ? He who questions this fact, cannot long stand in the 
way of blazing light and advancement. He who casts loose 
from Homoeopathic principles in prescribing for the sick, and 
bangs away at his patient at random, and teaches others to do 
so, will soon enough come to grief and to judgment. 
As before remarked, these conventions should become pre- 
eminently educational; they should decide all important 
questions in medicine in this State ; they should guard our 
medical schools and give general directions as to what to 
teach and what not to teach, because the best and 
nearly all the talent in our Commonwealth is brought 
together into one solid phalanx at our Annual meetings. 
And here, as at the capital of the nation, all the great 
questions of vital interest should be determined in a dispas- 
sionate, truthful manner, and all in accord with science. 
Then every member of the profession, feeling strong in 
his mission, will move forward in the discharge of his duty 
upon the basis of true principles. Then will the old Key- 
stone State be an honor to itself, and a key-note to all the 
other Suites and to the world. When the master minds— 
the thinking, the acting, and the progressive minds—of the 
profession in our Society fraternize for the good of Homoeo- 
pathy, there will be progress indeed, and no differences of 
opinion on all-important matters will exist. We shall have 
strength, and we shall Ik* a power in the land ; then we will 
be quoted as authority: “The Pennsylvania State Society 8 
says thus and thus”—we shall be a Shibboleth in the land, 
yea, and to other lands also. 
Gentlemen, we have ground-work and basis broad enough 
and deep enough upon which to rear one of the finest struc- 
tures, a medical temple the lik(' of which the world has 
never seen. We can do it. Shall we do it?