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                       THE

Science  of  Homceopathy;
                        OR,

A Critical and  Synthetical Exposition
                      OF THE

               DOCTRINES
                     OF THE

HOMOEOPATHIC  SCHOOL.
                       Br


           CHARLES J. HEMPEL, M.D.,

author and translator of a number of standard works on HOMOEOPATHIC MATERIA
  MEDICA AND PRACTICE ; HONORARY MEMBER OF SEVERAL FOREIGN ANi AMERICAN
  HOMOEOPATHIC COLLEGES AND SOCIETIES.
'Mm& dfftita.
             BOERICKE  & TAFEL,

   NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE, SAN FRANCISCO;
Boston: OTIS CLAPP & SON; Buffalo: H. T. APPLEBY; Cleveland: L. H. WITTE;
   Cincinnati: SMITH & PARKS, WORTHINGTON & CO.; Chicago: HALSEY
      BROTHERS, SEEBACH & DELBRIDGE, A. N. SMALL; Detroit : E. A.
          LODGE; St. Louis: H. C. G. LUYTIES, JOHN MUNSON;
              Minneapolis : THOMAS GARDINER; Lon-
                 don and Manchester : HENRY
                    TURNER & CO.
1876. 
  Entered  according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by



            CHARLES  J. HEMPEL,  M.D.,



In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
       OAXTON PRESS  OF



SHERMAN * CO., PHILADELPHIA. 
                        TO







PROFESSOR  R.  LUDLAM,  M.D.,





                      OF CHICAGO,






        THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED





   AS A MARK OF RESPECT FOR HIS EMINENT QUALITIES





           AS A MAN, A SCHOLAR, A TEACHER,





                  AND A PHYSICIAN,





                   BY HIS  FRIEND,







                                   THE  AUTHOR. 
 
TABLE   OE  CONTENTS.
                                                PAGE
DEDICATION TO PROFESSOR R. LUDLAM, M. D.
PREFACE......................................................................................................  V
                  SECTION  I.

  A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CURRENT DOCTRINES
          OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC SCHOOL.


                    CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................  ix

                    CHAPTER II.
DEFINITION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE FROM THE
  STANDPOINT OF VITALISM......................................................____  47

                   CHAPTER III.
AN INQUIRY INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICA-
  TION OF DRUGS....................................................................................  65
                 SECTION  II.

         SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HOMOEOPATHY.


                   PART FIRST.

INADEQUACY AND UNRELIABILITY OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS AS A
   MEANS OF DETERMINING THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS,
   AND ESTABLISHING THE HEALING ART UPON A SCIENTIFIC
   FOUNDATION.........................................................................................  83


                  PART SECOND.

PRESENTATION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE AS A COS-
   MOGONICAL PRINCIPLE,  AND AS THE BASIS  OF THERAPEUTIC
   SCIENCE................................................................................................ 113


                   PART  THIRD.
PATHOGENESIS AND PATHOLOGY, OR, CORRELATION OF ARTIFI-
   CIALLY DEVELOPED DRUG DISEASES AND NATURAL MALADIES.. 161


                  PART FOURTH.

CONCLUSION................................................................................................ 171 
 
PREFACE.
Ever since a  clear perception of the glorious truths  of Homoe-
opathy took possession of my mind, many years ago, I have felt
that it behooved me, as indeed it behooves every other true-hearted
cultivator of this Science,  to  endeavor to develop the idea which
originally gave rise to the founding of the homoeopathic School, and
to establish this idea upon a basis of Scientific  universality and
exactness.  How far I have succeeded in  this task, the reader may
judge for himself after perusing these pages.   In this work I offer
him new  views  on  a subject  of all-important  and  eminently
practical interest, in the firm belief that my humble effort will be
judged with all the honesty and  leniency to which  every devoted
and true seeker of the Truth can lay claim.
   We cannot  evince  our  reverence for the great founder of our
School in a niore earnest and  effectual manner  than  by continuing
to tread the path of inquiry which  his own high Reason has illum-
ined with  the light of wisdom.  In  the name of the emancipated
genius whose rays have warmed the  desolate and  gloomy pages of
Therapeutics with their life-quickening power, I protest  against
the dogmatic  rule of an  unmeaning conservatism  in our School.
Let us never sacrifice the Law upon which the homoeopathic edifice
is founded, to accidental  technicalities.  Let  us  not  exclude the
dictates of Common Sense and the prerogative of Free Inquiry from
the boundaries of our Science.  If I  have  succeeded  in showing
that the  Science of  Homoeopathy is  as  liberal  and  progressive as
Nature ;  that it is  a Truth not belonging  to any one  man, or set of
men, but that  it is heaven-born,  resting upon  eternal-foundations,
shedding its vitalizing rays over  all  minds and enlightening each
according to the measure  of  his capacity : I shall  believe that I
have done our Cause some service.  Homoeopathy is something more
than a mere Art, the exercise  of which may afford  us a good living
and a position in Society.   Let us  remember that the medical
systems of the day are the  systems of men, which pass away and
are forgotten.   Written upon the pages  of Nature,  Homoeopathy
                                                    vii 
mi
PREFACE.
 invites us to study and  to apply her laws, without prejudice or
 conceit, with the wisdom of serpents and the innocence of doves.
 If we pursue our studies in this spirit, Homoeopathy will unfold  to
 our inner souls the glorious  harmonies of the Divine Government,
 even amid the agonies of the sick  chamber, and will dispose us  to
 worship its behests in pleasure or pain, as the Fiat  of Infinite
 Love.

   It may  not be improper, in this place,  to consider the objections
 which are sometimes  raised by homoeopathic practitioners  against
 didactic works like  the present,  in  which  the fundamental prin-
 ciples of our Science are expounded,  and traced to their origin  in
 Nature and  in the over-ruling order of God's government.   We
 want practical works, say these objectors ; we do not want any
 theories.   In so far as any objection of this kind refers to specula-
 tive and fanciful hypotheses, the objection is valid, because founded
 in reason; but it does not preclude the  propriety and duty  of
 examining Homoeopathy as a philosophical truth, and demonstrating
 its validity as  a law of Nature from the  stand-point of universal
 reason.  The antagonism of Old School physicians and philosophers
 to Homoeopathy would have disappeared long since, if instead  of
 re-hashing and re-asserting  old definitions, we had entered  upon
 new and independent  paths of inquiry, and had finally succeeded
 in presenting  the Goddess  of homoeopathic Truth stripped of all
 human wrappings and adventitious rules and substitutions.   In the
 present work I do not propose to  furnish a theory of my own, but
 to explain the  Science of Homoeopathy as it is revealed by the study
 of Nature's own arrangement of facts.

  Another objection comes to us from  the camp of our opposing
brethren of the Old School.   u We are physicians," say they ; and,
 in saying this, they imagine they have said everything needful to
exculpate  their criminal remissness in ignoring the very existence
of Homoeopathy.  But the  Indian medicine-man, too, claims  to be
a physician ; the  Chinese enchanter is a  physician ; many spirit-
mediums call themselves  physicians.   If  the gentlemen who boast
of being physicians were in possession  of every  truth and every
curative means that  might lead  to  the cure  of every curable
disease in the most expeditious, safest and most agreeable way, the
argument of our Old School brethren might be accepted as satisfac- 
PREFACE.
IX
 tory and final.   But when it is  known, and admitted by the chiefs
 of Old-School  Therapeutics, even by such a  man  as Sir Thomas
 Watson, that the wTheels of Old-School medicine are still revolving
 in the same old ruts of dark uncertainty and doubt,  and that all
 guiding principles in the treatment of diseases are still wanting, we
 cannot concede the justice of the appellation  which our  opposing
 brethren claim for  themselves  with  so much  unction  and persis-
 tency.  We  certainly have a right to expect that, if their  claims to
 the appellation of physicians be justly founded, they should be
 acquainted with at least the essentials of Hahnemann's great dis-
 covery.  But the orthodoxy of an allopathic  physician would be
 doubted by his co-members of medical societies, if he dared to pub-
 licly acknowledge his belief in the curative efficiency of reasonably
 small doses of medicine, when administered in accordance with the
 homoeopathic law,  " Similia similibus curantur;" there is  not one
 of them who has anything but derision and contumely with which
 to refute the claims of Homoeopathy as  a therapeutic system of
 practical value and importance.   To these gentlemen  of the Old
 jSchool I here offer  a volume which will enable them to acquire the
 knowledge which  they are so much in  need of, and  which will
 establish  some  foundation  for  their  claim  of being consi-
 dered  " Physicians."   A practitioner armed  with this knowledge,
 would  cease  to  be  a blind  empiric,  and would combat the
 enemy u Disease"  with all the resources which an  enlightened
 and truly rational Science could suggest.

   I cannot conclude these prefatory  remarks  without  expressing
 my deep sense of  gratitude  to. such  writers  as Doctors Clotar
 Muller, Grauvogl, and  other authorities,  whose  works are replete
 with suggestions and statements of which I have not hesitated to
 avail myself in  preparing this volume.
   Although more particularly designed for the professional public,
 yet it  may  likewise  prove both attractive  and  instructive to
 cultivated lay-readers.   Homoeopathy is  not  simply  a technical
Science, it is preeminently Nature's Philosophy, fraught with high
common sense,  and with  inspiring and fruitful life-truths,  which
may be perceived and enjoyed by every one who chooses  to avail
himself of  God's great gift to  all men: the  prerogative of an
unshackled reason.
                                  Charles  J. Hempel,  M.D.
  Grand Rapids, Mich., March, 1874. 
 
     CRITICAL EXPOSITION





            OF THE






  CURRENT  DOCTRINES





            OF THE






HOMOEOPATHIC SCHOOL.
SECTION I. 
                 SECTION I.

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CURRENT DOCTRINES
         OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC SCHOOL.
                   CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.
                  CHAPTER II.

DEFINITION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE FROM THE STAND-
   POINT OF VITALISM.
                  CHAPTER III.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
   OF DRUGS.
xu 
CHAPTER I.
                       INTRODUCTION.
  Although  the  number  of publications which have already been
  issued on the subject of Homoeopathy, with a view of defining and
  popularizing the fundamental  tenets  of this  Science,  is already
  quite considerable, yet I  have no apology to offer for adding the
  present volume to their list.  Having devoted the best part of my
  life to the study and  practice of Homoeopathy, I have  deemed it
  my right, as well as my duty, to promulgate my own conception
  of this medical doctrine,  such as years of observation and reflection
  have developed it in  my own  mind.   It is true the storehouse of
  facts  and life-truths  which  constitute the boundless universe of
  Homoeopathy  has been  opened; yet the  Holy of Holies of her
 glorious temple  does  not yet seem to have been fully entered by
 the cultivators of this Science.  With this conviction on my mind,
 this present  effort of mine to add a mite to the noble work, will be
 considered a pardonable weakness, and will be kindly received as
 the tribute  of an earnest  and ardent seeker  and worshipper of
 Truth.
   Of late years the labors of the homoeopathic School seem to have
 been  chiefly concentrated on  the  cultivation  of the  collateral
 Sciences  of  Medicine, which were sadly neglected by the earlier
 disciples  of  Hahnemann.   Homoeopathy has been practised as an
 Art with brilliant success  ; our Materia Medica has been enriched
 with a number of new and carefully proved remedies ; our thera-
 peutic resources have been correspondingly enlarged and perfected;
 but Homoeopathy as a science has not been investigated with equal
 perseverance and success;  a  good deal even that is  regarded by
 leading members  of our Craft as  a legitimate development of the
 science of Homoeopathy, will  be shown by further inquiries to be
 foreign to her genuine  domain.
  In the  presence of such aberrations of the professional mind,
every effort to demonstrate the scientific character of Homoeopathy
and her perfect accord  with the  recent discoveries in the  realm of
physicism, more  especially with  the great doctrine of the  CORRE-
                                                   xiii 
xiv
PHILOSOPHY  OF HOMOEOPATHY.
LATION OF FORCES; should be hailed as the dawn of a brighter
day on the distant horizon of therapeutic truth.
  A perusal of the present work will show that it is not a rehash
of worn-out  arguments, but  the  fruit of independent thought.
Whatever may  be said of the merits of this book, it will be found
replete with new views, new deductions, and I humbly hope, new
generalizations, that may lead to still higher, more fruitful and more
universal definitions.
  I not only commend this volume to homoeopathic practitioners
of a philosophical turn of mind, who do not practise their Profession
merely as a means of earning their bread and butter, but who are
anxious to ascend to a clear comprehension of the fundamental
truths of our Science ; but likewise to practitioners of other medical
schools, who will become satisfied, after perusing these pages, that
the principles and practice of Homoeopathy embody the fulness of
all that is  philosophically correct in the doctrines of  Old School
therapeutics.
  I would kindly urge upon our brethren the fact, a full substantia-
tion  of which  will be presented in these pages, that  symptoms,
infinitesimal doses, hypothetical potencies and microscopic globules
do not constitute the Alpha and Omega of homoeopathic wisdom.
Let us  have the science, grand, progressive,  universal  as  Nature,
and bounded only by the limits of mind.  It is by worshipping at
the shrine of universal truth that we best honor the great discoverer
of Homoeopathy, and erect an imperishable  monument  to  his
memory.

  There are those among us who believe that Homoeopathy issued
from Hahnemann's brain, fully armed and equipped for  the contest
with the old routine of bleeding, blistering, purging, or salivating
the poor patients until nature had either triumphed over both the
disease and the doctor, or  had succumbed to  the reiterated  and
aggravated assaults of her combined enemies.   The number of these
faith-men, who  know of no higher authority, and of no stronger
argument than the words of the master, is, fortunately for the cause
of Humanity, diminishing  from year to year in  proportion as the
number of converts to our  Cause is increasing.
  Homoeopathic practitioners generally regard Hahnemann as  the
discoverer  of a new medical truth which has  to  depend, for its
highest  development as a practical rule of therapeutics' and a new 
PHILOSOPHY OF HOMCEOPATHY.
XV
and higher principle of life, upon the progress of Science generally,
and upon a more philosophical development of the human mind.

   One  of the most characteristic distinctions which separates the
literal followers of Hahnemann from the progressive cultivators of
the science  of Homoeopathy, is the theory concerning doses.  The
former generally hold to the doctrine that  any thing more material
than an infinitesimal dose of medicine, is a violation of the rules of
what they are pleased to term  " pure Homoeopathy."  The latter,
among whom are to be  found the most  enlightened and liberal-
minded Homoeopaths in this  country, as  well  as in Europe, hold
that any dose, large or small, is legitimate and scientifically correct
which will effect a cure in the most thorough, safe, and expeditious
manner.  I  may be permitted to state that I have constantly been
found among the foremost to condemn all exclusivism regarding
doses, and that I have always contended, and do now contend, that
it is every physician's right to prescribe such a dose of the  appro-
priate  remedy as, in  his judgment,  may  seem  best  calculated  to
strike down the enemy disease most effectually and quickly.

   No objection  is made  to  Hahnemann's  general  doctrine  of
preparing what is called homoeopathic attenuations or triturations ;
of shaking  up one  or ten drops of the  saturated tincture  of a
medicine  with  ninety drops  of  alcohol,  which  preparation  is
designated as the first potency; of afterwards  shaking  up  one or
ten drops of this first potency with another ninety drops of alcohol,
which preparation is designated as the second  potency, and  thus
continue this process of potentizing or sub-dividing the drug to the
third, fourth, and any other higher number.   What is objected to
by the more liberal-minded friends of our Cause is that the literal
followers of Hahnemann have arrogated  to  themselves the right to
say that, unless a physician recognizes the  so-called high potencies
as the normal, orthodox dose in the treatment of diseases, he  cannot
be a true Homoeopath, and should be ostracised as a faithless and
destructive heretic.

  I will take this opportunity of declaring my adherence to a belief
in the boundless susceptibilities of the human organism,  which
enable it  to perceive the  curative  influences even  of the most
refined  preparations of our drugs.  I have become satisfied, by 
xvi
POTENCIES.
hundreds of successful trials, that  the attenuations, from  the sixth
to the  thirtieth, will often  produce the most startling and brilliant
curative effects ; and  I feel likewise called upon to testify to the
efficacy of the higher preparations, even  the  two  hundredth, of
Arsenic, Belladonna,  Nux  vomica, Ipecacuanha, Euphrasia, Nitri
acidum, and  a few other drugs;  but I am not prepared to assert
that a lower preparation would not have acted  equally well in the
cases where  these high attenuations produced  positive  and even
brilliant results.

   On the other hand,  I can affirm with equal  positiveness that, in
hundreds of cases, I have derived more benefit from the employment
of material doses than  from  the exhibition of the same remedy in the
attenuated form.  This is a fact which I am satisfied is not generally
conceded by  those  who are  in  the habit  of lauding the so-called
high potencies as homoeopathic preparations PAR EXCELLENCE.
It would  be well  if homoeopathic physicians  would exercise  the
utmost liberality towards each other in the matter of dose.  There
is certainly no inherent wrong in resorting to high potencies in the
treatment of diseases, provided they are prepared in accordance with
Hahnemann's  rule in a conscientious manner.   The introduction
and use of the so-called high potencies in our practice may involve
a great loss of time and labor;  but I cannot see that there  is any
more impropriety in using the two hundredth,than there is in using
the thirtieth or even the twelfth attenuation.  The great question,
after all, is not so much: do such high  potencies cure, but do they
cure more satisfactorily than the lower preparations ?
   I  am well aware that those  who are continually parading the
miraculous effects  of  high  potencies  before the  readers of  our
journals, strenuously reject the charge of  making the belief in the
efficacy of these high and highest potencies and their legitimacy as
orthodox developments of the Hahnemannian idea of Homoeopathy,
a test by which the quality of homoeopathic practitioners as genuine
followers  of the master, ought to be measured.   Nevertheless,  I
insist that the persistent manner in which the high-potency scheme
is on all and every occasion placed in the fore-ground as  a cardinal
point of doctrine and a fundamental rule of practice, shows that the
advocates   of  this  scheme  cling  to it with   all the tenacity  of
enthusiastic believers, as  a tenet  of  paramount  importance and
fruitful in corresponding results. 
HIGH AND LOW POTENCIES.
XVU
   I would like to be informed upon what  grounds it  is wrong or
 unscientific to employ the more material doses of our drugs.  Is the
 use of such doses inherently improper ?  Is it inherently wrong to
 use the common tincture of Aconite in a case of acute diarrhoea,
 provided the remedy is homoeopathic to the case ?  Is it inherently
 wrong  to  use the  common tincture  of Belladonna  in a case of
 rheumatism to  which  the  medicine is homoeopathic ?  There is
 nothing inherently wrong in  such a proceeding; all  we want to
 know is whether we  have  satisfactory evidence that in the case
 before us the tincture will prove more  efficiently curative than  the
 attenuated drug.  If, upon good grounds, we are led to decide in
 favor of the tincture, we act wisely in preferring it to  the attenua-
 tions ; the opposite  course would be a gross wrong to the physician,
 to the patient, and to the cause  of scientific truth.

   I have  cured  numbers of cases of diarrhoea, during the great
 cholera-epidemic of  184S, by means of the first decimal trituration
 of Arsenious acid.  I have often given two grains of this preparation
 at one dose, without ever witnessing a  single untoward result from
 such medication.  In the cases where these arsenical powders were
 used, the outbreak of the disease took place all of a  sudden • the
 diarrhoea  was  characterized  by  enormous  and  frequently-
 repeated evacuations having an  offensive, cadaverous smell, and
 resembling a homogeneous mixture of  dirty water and excremen-
 tious matter.   Accompanying  symptoms  were:  a  sudden and
 excessive prostration, extreme coldness of  the  skin, sinking pulse,
 deathly sickness and burning at the epigastrium, collapse  of the
 features, a  feeling of anxiety and an  unquenchable  thirst, which
 could only  be allayed by the frequent imbibition of small quantities
 of ice-water.

   On the other hand I can boast of equally striking curative effects
 obtained by means of the higher attenuations of Arsenic.  A young
gentleman,  who  had taken cold, and had indulged  in a hearty
supper, notwithstanding he  had  experienced  during  the  day a
sensation as if his bowels might become disturbed, found  himself
all at once laid up with an attack of dysenteric diarrhoea, character-
ized by  very small, muco-sanguinolent discharges,which occurred
every five minutes, had a very offensive odor, and were exceedingly
prostrating.   The  attack commenced  about ten  o'clock  in the
           2 
xviii                    introduction.
evening, and there had already been some twenty evacuations when
my aid was requested.  A most agonizing tenesmus had gradually
set in.   I  prepared  twelve powders of the eighteenth attenuation
of Arsenicum, each  powder containing the  one-twelfth of a drop,
and directed the  patient to take  a powder every fifteen minutes,
until an improvement should set in.  After the third powder the
patient  dropped to sleep, and, after sleeping  four  hours, awoke
perfectly restored to health.   Even the catarrhal symptoms had all
disappeared.

  In subsequent pages of this work I shall furnish a number of
cases where the curative efficacy of very high attenuations of our
drugs will be abundantly shown.  It may, therefore, be proper, in
connection with my foregoing remarks, to relate here a few cases
of cure, where  some very brilliant  results were  obtained with
material doses of our drugs.

  A young gentleman was attacked with  articular inflammatory
rheumatism.  He was taken to a  water-cure establishment, where
I saw him after he had been under the usual hydropathic treatment
for eight days.   I found him late in the evening enveloped in a wet
sheet, lying on a cot by an open window, while a pelting rain  was
pouring down.   He was so stiff that he was unable to move either
arms or legs.  All the joints in his  body seemed inflamed; they
were swollen and excruciatingly painful.  I had him taken out of
the wet sheet and blankets, had the window closed, and gave  him
table spoonful  doses of a mixture of one  drop  of the tincture of
Aconite in a tumbler-full  of water.   The young  man had not
perspired  once  since he  commenced his  water-cure  treatment.
After taking a single dose  of the Aconite solution he began to
perspire so profusely that he was drenched several times in the
night, and had  to change his linen a number  of times.  When I
visited him in the morning the rheumatism had entirely disappeared,
the pulse  was normal, and in a few days the  patient was able to
walk about as usual.

  A laboring man was attacked with inflammation of the hip joint.
The joint was very much swollen, exceedingly painful when touched
or moved,  and  had a rose-colored  appearance.   The patient had a
scrofulous  diathesis.   I mixed three drops of the tincture of Bella- 
                  CURES WITH LOW POTENCIES.              Xix

 donna in a tumbler of water, of which solution the patient took a
 table  spoonful every two hours.   At the end of three days the
 rheumatism had entirely disappeared, and  in  a few days more the
 man was able to resume his work.

   A young lady was attacked with inflammatory rheumatism of the
 abdominal integuments.   The integuments were swollen, had a rose
 colored appearance, and were very painful to contact.   The young
 lady complained of headache and was slightly  delirious. I gave her
 the foregoing preparation of Belladonna  and had  the pleasure of
 seeing her restored to health in a week's time.

   Another young lady was attacked with inflammatory rheumatism
 of the abdominal integuments. The inflammation spread around the
 abdomen like a belt from five to six inches wide.  The patient took
 the above named preparation of Belladonna, and was cured in less
 than a week.

   A lady was  attacked  with frightful erysipelas of the face and
 scalp.   She was delirious and complained  of the room being full of
 mice.   I gave her  Belladonna as above ;  under the use of this
 drug the erysipelatous inflammation gradually and steadily subsided,
 and the patient was fully restored in two weeks.

  A young lady was attacked with erysipelatous inflammation of the
 neck,  ears and  face.  The parts were frightfully  swollen.  The
 inflammation penetrated  to the  meningeal membranes, and caused
 an agonizing distress as if the brain had been cut up  with knives.
 There was no delirium.   The inflamed parts were of a deep purple
 color.   This patient took table spoonful doses of a mixture of five
 drops of the German tincture of Aconite, in  a tumbler  of water,
 every hour.   At the end of a week  the inflammation and swelling
 had disappeared, and at the  end of another week she was able to
 walk out.

  A lady of forty years of age had  been subject to a cough, which
affected principally the left  lung and  caused  considerable distur-
bance  in the functions  of the heart.   There were occasional
paroxysms of quick, although feeble palpitation.  When I first saw
the patient, she was confined  to her bed, with  signs  of hectic fever 
XX
INTRODUCTION.
and night sweats.  After an attack of coughing the patient raised
quantities of a  purulent mucus.   She  was  unable  to take a full
inspiration  with the  left  lung,  and  complained of  considerable
dyspnoea.   The breath seemed to be arrested about half way.  The
patient was of a consumptive habit.   I  prepared  a solution of five
drops of the fluid extract of Digitalis  in  a tumbler of water, and
gave the patient a table spoonful of this solution every two hours.
She began to improve very speedily ; the improvement was more
particularly  marked  after  I had increased  the  quantity  of the
medicine to  ten drops.   In one  fortnight  from the commencement
of this treatment she was free from  cough and  fever and  able to
attend to her family duties as usual.

  A man of forty-five years of age had been coughing for  several
weeks and had been losing his  strength so completely that  he was
confined to  his  bed.   I found him in the  following condition:
Every now and then a severe paroxysm of cough, more particularly
at night.   The  paroxysms were succeeded by the raising of quan-
tities of purulent mucus.  The  patient showed hectic flushes and
had night sweats.  A marked  symptom in this case was a feeble,
intermittent and irregular pulse.   There were symptoms of  oedema
of the lunsrs, and the hands and feet were  likewise oedematous.
  I prescribed the fluid extract of Digitalis as in the previous case.
The patient,who was a porter  in  a hotel, was entirely restored to
health in a fortnight and able to resume his work.

  A servant girl who had been melancholy and home sick for  some
weeks, missed  her catamenia.   She was  attacked all of a  sudden
about midnight with vomiting of a grass-green fluid, attended with
a feeble and intermittent pulse.   The vomiting occurring again the
second and  third night with increasing prostration, I was requested
to prescribe.    The girl took a few tablespoonfuls of a solution of
five  drops of the fluid  extract of Digitalis in a tumbler of water,
after which  the vomiting  ceased and the home sickness likewise
disappeared.

  A young lady was  attacked with dysentery.   The attacks coming
on every other  day at a time when fever and ague were prevailing,
a few sugar-coated, one grain pills of Quinine were administered,
after which there was no return of the disease.   A similar treat- 
CURES WITH LOW POTENCIES.
XXI
 ment was adopted in intermittent pneumonia, intermittent rheuma-
 tism  and other intermittent attacks,  with the effect of arresting
 these forms of masked fever and ague immediately and permanently.
 In a  case of constitutional tuberculosis of the lungs,  where the
 cough had assumed an intermittent type, with marked  exacerba-
 tions every other day, and where the patient,  owing to mismanage-
 ment  and neglect, had sunk  into  a state  of apparently hopeless
 consumption, with hectic fever,  night sweats, a  hurried  pulse,
 extreme prostration and emaciation, the patient was speedily restored
 to her usual health by. means of one grain doses of Quinine taken
 every  two, three,  and finally every  four  hours.   The  treatment
 lasted about two weeks.

   A young lady of eighteen years of  age returned to her paternal
 home, from a visit to friends in New York,  with  all the signs of
 what her parents and friends  considered confirmed consumption.
 Her case was characterized with  the following symptoms: great
 debility, inability to ascend the stairs  or walk up-hill; bloating of
 the face, hands  and feet, dyspnoea with  slight palpitation  of the
 heart,  and a feeble and occasionally intermitting pulse ; bellows-
 murmurs in the region of the  aorta ; great pallor of the face, with
 occasional circumscribed flushes on the cheeks ; attacks  of vertigo
 with  frontal headache ; constipation of the bowels with frequent
 and scanty discharges of a light-colored urine depositing a sediment
 of mucus and  albumen 5  the attacks  of dyspnoea  were attended
 with  a  hacking cough and  seemed  to originate principally in
 an cedematous condition of the lungs.   Diagnosticating this case as
 one  of inveterate  chlorosis, I  prescribed five drops  of the fluid
 extract of Digitalis in a glass of water, to be taken in tablespoon-
 ful doses every three  or four  hours.   The patient likewise took
 two  grains  of Iron in the form of a sugar-coated  pill every day.
 After this treatment had been persistently followed  for four  weeks,
 the young lady re-appeared among her friends like the picture of
 health.

   A case  of purpura haemorrhagica,where  the blood rushed in  a
torrent from the nostrils  and mouth,  and oozed from the pores of
the abdomen and extremities,  and where the resulting anaemia was
attended with frightful convulsions, yielded  at once to the alternate
use of five-drop doses  of  dilute Phosphoric acid and teaspoonful 
XX11
INTRODUCTION.
 doses of five drops of the  tincture of Hyoscyamus in half a goblet
 of water ;  the medicines were repeated every ten minutes, until the
 patient, a  boy of twelve years, dropped to sleep, and slept soundly
 until he awoke convalescent.

   A case of St. Vitus's dance, where the patient, a girl twelve years
 of age,  had to be strapped to her bed, yielded promptly and perma-
 nently  to  five-drop doses of dilute Phosphoric acid  administered
 every four hours; the indication for this treatment was a constantly
 increasing  sediment of albumen in the urine.

   By its enemies our practice has  been styled the " Infinitesimal
 Practice."  A homoeopathic physician is one who uses infinitesimal
 doses.   We often hear it said that " my doctor practices Homoeo-
 pathy 5  he gives little or no medicine."   Not only lay-people, but
 physicians  will permit  themselves,  in their  blind  fanaticism, to
 denounce as no Homoeopaths such of their professional brethren as
 employ more massive doses.  The great law upon which the whole
 structure of Homoeopathy rests, is thus made  subordinate to the
 incidental  processes of trituration and  succussion,  by means of
 which Hahnemann accomplished  a most perfect division and sub-
 division of  the drug-particles.  It is  supposed by those who are in
 the habit of principally  depending upon the  so-called high poten-
 cies that, in thus sub-dividing drugs, we may succeed in detaching
 the  dynamic drug-force from  its  material  substratum and, by
 temporarily grafting it upon a neutral vehicle, such as sugar of milk
 or alcohol,  enable the force to act with more freedom and power.
 This view has given rise to the doctrine of dynamization or poten-
 tization,to  which  I  shall advert  more  particularly in another part
 of this  work.   Whatever,  if any, truth is  embodied  in  this
 doctrine, I  shall show, by what I conceive to be irrefutable argu-
 ments, that this  doctrine, as expounded and  applied  by the high-
 potentialists of our School, is erroneous, and will either have to be
 considerably modified  or else relinquished as a baseless fabric of the
fancy.   It  is undoubtedly true  that drugs  act by virtue of an
 inherent power or force: but they thus act whether exhibited in
 large or small quantities.   I believe, and I shall furnish satisfactory
reasons  for  my belief, that this  drug-power  cannot  be  separ-
ated  from   its  material  substratum  without   the   identity  of
the drug being utterly destroyed.   I  likewise hold that   the 
DOCTRINE  OF DYNAMIZATION.
xxiii
 division  of  the  drug-particles  beyond  a  certain  limit  may
 result in  an utter disintegration or annihilation  of the  drug
 as a  remedial  agent.    In  common  with  many  of  my  co-
 laborers in  the  vineyard of Homoeopathy, I desire to rescue  the
 law which is alone eternal  and divine  in  our therapeutic edifice,
 from the mass of hypothetical trifles in  the midst of which it  has
 almost been forgotten.  It is time that  we should make the study
 and philosophical  comprehension of this law our most important
 business; it is time that our allopathic  brethren should know that
 a man maybe a Homoeopath without abjuring common sense; that
 he may be a student of Nature, a worshipper of Truth ; yea, that
 he professes a doctrine  which is  as infinite  and eternal as  the
 Providence which operates by means of it.

   I would invite  my allopathic colleagues to dwell with grateful
 hearts upon the  immense service which Hahnemann has rendered
 to the healing art, and to the cause of suffering humanity, by that
 simple and  yet all-important contrivance, fractional doses.    By
 means of this simple process the most active poison is transformed
 into a gentle and  safe  healing  agent, which may be administered
 even to the nursing babe  without  injuring its tender organism.
 Truly may it be  said of the homoeopathic  agent that " the lion
 and the  lamb  shall lie  down together and  a little  child shall
 lead them."   Look at Arsenic, a poison so fierce that Hufeland,
 Dierbach and other great lights of the dominant School of Medicine
 obstinately refused to use it,  as  harboring  disorganizing principles
 in its bosom which might undermine  the organic life of the pulmo-
 nary apparatus and even destroy it by consumption.   Hahnemann
 appears upon the stage  of a suffering world, and by  one flash of
 genius he converts the fierce lion into a gentle lamb, the harbinger
 of health and peace.  A  heavenly truth  had illumined  his mind ;
 henceforth even a  virulent poison is transformed into an agent  for
 the restoration of man's tottering health.

   I can affirm from personal  experience that homoeopathic physi-
 cians who confine themselves exclusively to the use of infinitesimal
 quantities  in their practice,  throw  away immense  advantages
which are possessed by those who know how to use  low or high
doses as the case may be.   Enlightened  practitioners of the dom-
inant School, like  Trousseau and Pidoux,  are fully aware of the 
XXIV
introduction.
vast superiority of fractional doses.  They inform us in their classic
work on Materia Medica  and Therapeutics,  that  Baudin, who has
been  physician in chief to  the  most important military hospitals
in France, and  whose  experience  in  the use of Arsenic most pro-
bably surpasses that of any other practitioner living, has given this
agent, in fractional doses,  at the rate of IS centigrammes, two grains
and nearly four fifths (Troy), a day  in cancerous affections, and that
he has continued this  medication for  six weeks in succession, day
after day, without exciting the least untoward symptom.    Trous-
seau mentions this fact as a proof of the immense advantage  of pre-
scribing drugs in fractional doses.  I have quoted this statement not
for the purpose of inviting imitation, but for the purpose of showing
that in the vast series of remedial quantities, from the extraordinary
extreme at which the dominant School has arrived in the matter of
dosing, to the other extreme  of the infinitesimal attenuations of
Homoeopathy, there must be many intermediate  fractions  of dose
that will prove acceptable, in the course of time, to moderate men
of both medical Schools.
   Homoeopathic physicians who  cannot learn a  great deal from the
writings and practice of recognized Old-School authorities, are to be
pitied.  Even on the subject of  dose  the  great  masters  of that
School can teach us a great deal  that may prove of immense benefit
to the furtherance  of our  own cause.   On the other hand,  tears of
grief might be shed over  the  blindness and fanaticism which pre-
vent  allopathic  physicians  from  studying  the  writings  of the
homoeopathic School  and recognizing the  practical  good  which
that School has accomplished  in the sick - room in the matter of
dose.  Homoeopathy  has achieved the  deliverance  of humanity
from the nauseous compounds  which for  thousands of years had
been inseparable from the treatment  of diseases  as conducted by
practitioners of the dominant School;  under her gentle and delicate
ministrations the frail bark of the patient is piloted into the haven
of recovery without any of the violent perturbations of the organism
which have signalized from time immemorial the therapeutics of our
allopathic brethren.

  The  employment  of  infinitesimal  doses  and the  doctrine  of
medicinal aggravations have led  to so many misrepresentations and
erroneous conceptions of the doctrine of Homoeopathy that  I deem
it necessary to dwell upon this subject a little more fully.  Through 
IMPORTANCE OF FRACTIONAL DOSES.
XXV
 some unfortunate twist in the argument, homoeopathic practitioners
 have presented the subject of infinitesimal  doses in such a manner
 as  to  convey the  impression  that  these  doses and Homoeopathy
 mean one and the same thing.  It is a common belief  among  the
 uninformed laymen, as well as  among physicians,  that a disease is
 not treated homoeopathically unless the dose is exceedingly small.
   Any unprejudiced person may understand that a medicine which
 is specifically homoeopathic  to  a disease,  may manifest curative
 results, even when administered in a very small quantity.   Hahne-
 mann, carried away by the startling and extraordinary character of
 this phenomenon, made the infinitesimal size of the dose a prominent
 feature of his System of Practice.  Outside  observers have accepted
 this sign as the  characteristic badge of Homoeopathy.   It was no
 business of theirs to set professed Homoeopaths, who ought to have
 known better, right before their  own  law and  the  public.   If
 Homoeopaths were forgetful of the great  fact, that Homoeopathy
 does not mean either small or large doses, but a System  of Practice
 where the  curative  action of  a remedial  agent depends upon its
 inherent capability to  affect the  living tissues similarly  to  the
 natural disease, and to overcome the latter  by virtu,' of a superior
 affinity existing between it and the action of the drug;  if Homoeo-
 paths,  I argue, were unmindful  of this cardinal  truth, or were
 disposed to hide it under a bushel and to cover it up with all sorts
 of fanciful and childish baubles, why should the public, especially
 the professional public, who may have looked upon the homoeopathic
 intruder with invidious  eyes, trouble  themselves about informing
 the Homoeopaths that they had inverted the natural order of things
 in  giving  such  extraordinary prominence  to the  theory of small
 doses, and leaving others to find out  for themselves the basis upon
 which  the Divine Architect of Nature had erected the homoeopathic
 edifice.   It is not  without difficulty  or without  exciting hostile
 passions that this grievous error can now be corrected, and that the
 law of therapeutic  affinities  can  be rescued from  the mass of
 adventitious absurdities by which its dignity  and glory  have been
 tarnished.

  The  smallness of homoeopathic doses has been the subject of a
good deal of ridicule at the hands of allopathic physicians.   How
can it  be otherwise than that  a globule of the two hundredth, or
even of the thirtieth or twelfth attenuation of a remedy,  should call 
xx vi
INTRODUCTION.
forth the derision and contempt of men who have been in the habit
of dealing out Mercury to their patients by the pound.  The more
philosophical minds  among the practitioners of the Old  School,
begin to see and to admit the  propriety of small doses.  u W e do
not belong to the number of those," say Trousseau and Pidoux, in
their  classical work  on Materia Medica and Therapeutics, " who
fancy that they have done with Hahnemann after invoking  Arago's
authority, in order to prove that the decillionth  portion of  a grain
is to a grain, what an atom, which is almost invisible to the naked
eye, is to the bulk of the  sun.   The  quantity of pestilential or
variola-virus  which  is required to kill a man with the plague  or
variola,  is undoubtedly very small, nor  do  we know whether Arago
has ever sought to determine  its weight or volume with reference
to any known body."

  Nature  delights in working out  stupendous results from micro-
scopical beginnings.   Look at the  marvellous cell-development  of
plants.   According  to  an   approximative   calculation,  twenty
thousand new cells are formed  every minute in the Bovista gigantea,
a fungus which is met with in European countries.
  By filtering the juice of a  ripe grape we obtain a clear, watery
liquid.  Already, after  the lapse  of  an  hour, it  commences  to
become  turbid, to develop  gaseous vesicles, to ferment.  After the
lapse  of three hours, a  grayish-yellow layer, or yeast, collects on
the surface of the fluid which, under the microscope, is  seen  as
numberless little plants.  Millions  of these form in a few hours, a
cubic inch of yeast containing upwards of a few millions.

  We read  in Schleiden's  " Life  of Plants," that an East India
nettle, the urtica stimulant, or urtica crenulata, causes by its mere
contact  a frightful swelling  of the arm  for weeks.  The urtica
urentissima, on the island of Timor, is called  by the natives Daoun
Seton (devil's leaf), because the  pains  which it causes by simple
contact  continue for years, and amputation is often the only means
of saving life.  These terrible  effects are produced by a quantity of
the poison equal to the one hundred and fifty thousandth of a grain.
  " It is doubtless," writes this beautiful and philosophical poet  of
Nature,  " it is doubtless characteristic of a rude age and low deoree
of culture, to measure the  value  or importance of a  thing by its
large  or small size ; this measure cannot  be  applied to the most 
QUANTITY  AND QUALITY.
XXV11
essential and most valuable thing known to us, the human mind,
which cannot be determined by feet, inches, and lines.  It is only
to a sensual nature that the physically large appears imposing ; the
more cultivated man endeavors to learn to know the objects  of
his contemplation in every direction ; from a complete knowledge
thereof, he will derive an  opinion concerning their essential  or
non-essential character, and frequently he will find that that which
has the smallest dimensions is of the utmost importance."

   Nevertheless,  while  upholding the  use  of  small, and even
infinitesimal doses as a  proper and, in  many respects, inevitable
consequence of the application of the  homoeopathic law to the
exhibition of remedial agents in disease, I would at the same time
express my emphatic condemnation of the so-called highest potencies
which a few lovers of the fanciful  and the  marvellous have  of late
years  sought  to introduce into  the   homoeopathic  School  as
legitimate and reliable preparations.    If what  we read  on this
subject,  page  376 of the October number of the  New  England
Medical Gazette,  1869, be correct, we cannot  help regarding these
new-fangled  highest  potencies  as  a lamentable and  disgraceful
perversion of  Hahnemann's  original  method  of preparing his
attenuations.

   As regards the doctrine of medicinal aggravations, it naturally
followed from Hahnemann's peculiar mode of accounting for a cure
in accordance with the law " Similia Similibus."  Hahnemann was
a  vitalist, an enlightened  and   true hearted  believer  in  a vital
organism, an organism  in which the phenomena of vitality are
developed, in accordance with chemical and physical  laws, through
the  agency of a  pre-existing  vital  influence  or  force.   In his
admirable Essay,  entitled " Spirit of the Homoeopathic Doctrine,"
he expresses himself  as follows on the subject  of vitality  and the
manner in which  it is affected  by the pathogenetic as well as the
curative power  of drugs : —-"A multitude of disease-exciting causes
act daily and hourly upon  us, but they are incapable of deranging
the physiological equilibrium of the organism; being resisted by
the activity of the life-sustaining power within us,  the individual
remains healthy.   It is only when these  external  inimical agencies
assail us in a very aggravated  form, and we are especially exposed
to their influence, that we  contract disease ; but even then we  do 
xxviii
INTRODUCTION.
not become seriously ill unless the organism is disposed, by virtue
of a peculiar inherent predisposition, to be affected by the morbific
cause in question, and to be deranged in its health.
   " If the inimical agents in Nature, which we term morbific agents
and which are  partly physical and  partly  psychical,  that  is
pertaining  either  to  the  bodily  or  spiritual  range, possessed an
unconditional  power  of deranging the  human health, they would
not leave any  one hi good health; on  account of their  being so
universally distributed, every one would become ill, and we should
never  be able  to obtain  an  idea of health.  But since, upon the
whole,  diseases  are  only  exceptional  states of the  organism,  it
follows that it is only in consequence of a particular predisposition
that the individual  becomes liable  to be affected  by  morbific
causes, and the organism becomes capable  of being disturbed by
disease."

  "It  is far otherwise with the artificial dynamic agents which we
term medicines.   Every true drug  acts  at all times, under  all
circumstances, on any living body, and excites in it the symptoms
peculiar to  the  drug in a perceptible form, provided  the dose  is
large enough;  so that every human  organism  must  always and
inevitably be affected by the medicinal disease, which, as is well
known, is not the case with respect to natural diseases.
  " All experience proves incontestably that the human body is
much more readily affected by medicinal agents than by morbific
principles and  contagious miasms; or, what. amounts to  the same
thing,  that medicinal substances  possess  an  absolute power of
deranging human health, whereas morbific agents  possess  only  a
very conditional power, vastly inferior to the former."

  According to  Hahnemann's further teachings, this circumstance
enables us  to  employ  drugs for definite  curative purposes, in
obedience to  a second natural  law, which he  expresses in the
following proposition :—" A stronger dynamic affection permanently
extinguishes the weaker in the living  organism, provided the former
is  similar in kind to the latter; for,"  argues  Hahnemann,  "the
organism, as a living, individual unity, cannot receive two similar
dynamic affections at  the  same time,  without the weaker yielding
to the stronger similar one; consequently,  as it is more disposed to
be more strongly affected by the medicinal affection, the  other, 
morbific and medicinal  agents.            xxix
 similar,  weaker one, or the natural  disease, must necessarily give
 way or allow itself to be cured."
   As if foreseeing the objection which would be raised against this
 mode of explaining the  operation of homoeopathic agents, Hahne-
 mann adds:—

   " Let  it not be imagined that the  living organism, if  a new
 affection is communicated to it  by a  homoeopathic agent, will
 thereby  become more seriously deranged, or  burdened with an
 addition to its sufferings,  just as a  leaden plate which is pressed
 upon by an iron weight, is still more severely bruised by placing a
 stone in  addition upon it; or a piece of copper heated by friction,
 must become  still hotter  by pouring upon it water of a more
 elevated temperature.  No, our living  organism does not behave
 passively ; it is not regulated by the laws that govern dead matter;
 it reacts by  vital  antagonism, so  as  to surrender  itself   as  an
 individual  living whole to its morbid derangement,  and  to allow
 this derangement to  be extinguished within it, when a stronger
 affection of a similar kind,  produced  by an homceopathically-acting
 agent, takes possession of the organism."

   The power  which the  artificial morbid affection,  or the drug
 disease,  or drug-impression rather, possesses over the  natural
 morbific  agent and its disturbing  influence in the  tissues, is so
 specific,  so positive—provided  the drug impression is  exactly
 similar, or homoeopathic,  to the natural  disease—that, according
 to Hahnemann, a very small dose, even an infinitesimal globule,
 is sufficient to  secure  a return  of  the vital  organism  from  the
 abnormal to  the  normal  condition ; any,  even  inconsiderable,
 excess of  dose might lead  to  rlie unnecessary, and  therefore
 avoidable,  development  of medicinal symptoms.   This  view is
 expressed by  Hahnemann in the  concluding paragraph  of  his
 essay on the  " Spirit  of the  Homoeopathic  Doctrine,"  in  the
 following language:
   " As  the human  organism,  even in  health, is  more .readily
 influenced by drugs than by natural morbific agents, this influence
is felt  in the  highest degree by an  organism which is properly
predisposed by disease, provided  the  artificial  drug-disease  is
homoeopathic to the  natural malady.   Hence the  smallest dose
of the remedial agent is sufficient  for a  cure:  for  the  spiritual 
XXX
INTRODUCTION.
power  of the medicine  does  not, in  this instance, accomplish its
object by means of quantity, but by potentiality and quality; a larger
dose might be injurious, for  this reason, that  a larger dose does
not only not overcome the morbid affection more certainly than
the smallest possible  dose of the appropriate, or, rather, homoeo-
pathically administered agent, but likewise imposes a  complex
medicinal disease, which  is always a malady, though it runs its
course in a shorter time."

  It stands to reason  that aggravations of the  morbid symptoms
may occur under homoeopathic treatment, but very rarely.  What
seems  an aggravation is, very frequently, a series of drug-symptoms
running a parallel course  with the pathological series, with which
the former may be unable to coalesce.  A variety of causes may
prevent this  identification of the drug-disease  with the natural
malady.  The distance between the two series of phenomena may
not have been adequately measured,  or, in the nature of things, it
may have become  insurmountable.   Peculiar idiosyncrasies,  the
character of the morbid diathesis, or an inherent want of affinity,
may prevent  a union  between the  drug-action and the natural
disease.

   Supposed aggravations are very frequently critical exaltations
of the morbid process.  In such a case they may be unavoidable,
nor may it be possible to effect a cure without them.  After taking
a few doses of the homceopathically selected remedy, a patient who
is afflicted with chronic constipation  may be attacked with a par-
oxysm of diarrhoea,  which,  so far  from being  a medicinal  and
therefore avoidable aggravation, may be a critical evolution of the
pathological process, without which no cure could have taken place.
The bugbear of homoeopathic  aggravations is beginning to be
stripped of its terrors.   Physicians  have become convinced that
in many cases what might seem a medicinal aggravation is noth-
ing more than a natural development of the disease, caused either
by too small a dose or by the non-homoeopathicity of the medicine.

   The doctrine that  the  primary effect of the homceopathically
administered  agent is to produce an  aggravation of the original
symptoms, is based upon  theory rather than reality.  What is real
in  the homoeopathic cure is the  increased intensity of the  vital 
              PROPRIETY OF  PALLIATIVE TREATMENT.          XXXI

reaction.  This it is that  the homoeopathic practitioner seeks to
secure in administering his  homoeopathically-chosen agent;  the
aggravation  of the  morbid  symptoms is  a  secondary, incidental,
and  not  by any means  absolutely necessary accompaniment of
a homoeopathic cure.

  I believe  that  Hahnemann, in explaining  the action of homoeo-
path] cally - administered remedial  agents in  his own  peculiar
manner, meant to convey the idea,  not that  after  the introduction
of the homoeopathic agent  the organism is assailed by two inimical
forces instead of  one, but that the homoeopathically-acting remedy
superinduces  a  more  intensified  focalization of  vital  reaction,
resulting in the  deliverance  of the organic  tissues from both the
natural and the artificial morbid processes.  This deliverance does
not  take place violently,  but  by the power of affinity.   The
medicine  having a  more direct, more  positive,  more  definite
and more circumscribed sphere of action, exercises a corresponding
influence  over  the morbid process  that is going on in the tissues.
By virtue of a superior affinity it absorbs and neutralizes the morbid
action, concentrating and localizing its disorganizing agency within
positive boundaries.   These  boundaries are  the impression which
the  medicine,  as a  drug, makes  upon   the  tissues.   It  is  an
impression more  specific, more direct,  more positive than  the
similar impression made by the natural disease ; it is an impression
of a more external order,  as  it were,  having power  to absorb, to
localize, or to externalize, so to say,  the  internal disorder.   This
is  not an act  of force, of violence, but  the result of a relation of
affinity; the internal disturbance or disease is in closer affinity with
the externally acting artificial morbific agent,  or drug, than  it is
with the tissues of the organism ;  and it is this union between the
natural disease  and the drug-impression that secures the restoration
of the organism  to a state of physiological  harmony.   Why  is a
homoeopathic cure supposed  to be the result of a spontaneously-
acting restorative power of  Nature, the vis  medicatrix Naturae 1
Simply because it is not attended  by any of those violent convul-
sive reactions which characterize the customary method of dosing.
The homoeopathic agent acts as a gentle friend, — quietly, without
an effort, without causing  the least disturbance.   The only sign
by which  the  patient  is made aware of  the helping  presence
of the medicine, is the relief  which he experiences from his pains. 
XXXI1
INTRODUCTION.
   Being  engaged  in  glancing  at the collateral doctrines of the
 Homoeopathic School  in their true light before  the public and the
 profession, let  me advert to  the use of  palliatives,  concerning
 which a variety  of  contradictory opinions  have  been expressed,
 sometimes with great bitterness, by some of the leading members
 of our brotherhood.
   The object of all true palliative treatment is to relieve pain and
 to restore the integrity of the physiological functions by  physio-
 logical agents and influences.
   Instances of physiological  treatment are the treatment of bums
 by the application of heat; and the treatment of a frozen limb by
 the application of ice and  snow;  friction  along the spine and
 extremities with ice, in cases of sun-stroke ;  the various  methods
 proposed for the resuscitation of vitality in cases of asphyxia ;  the
 use of emetics  or cathartics for the purpose of expelling poisonous
 or otherwise injurious foreign  substances  from  the stomach  or
 bowels; the use of Chloroform as an anaesthetic agent,  or  the  use
 of Morphine  as a means of lulling pain and procuring sleep.   The
 treatment of mania-a-potu with large doses of Digitalis, Bromide of
 Potassium, Cayenne Pepper, and  Opium, may likewise be con-
 sidered as purely palliative or physiological treatment.

  If  I  should  be  asked what are the boundaries of  palliative
 treatment, my  answer would be, the good sense of the physician.
 The object of palliative treatment  is to palliate pain, if  we cannot
 cure;  or  to  effect a cure by simple palliative  means if  they are
 sufficient for that purpose.   There are many simple derangements
 which can be  more conveniently reached  by palliative  than by
 curative means.
  A diarrhoea induced by a change of water on a journey, is very
 frequently stopped by a glass of brandy and water.
  A man  accustomed to active exercise being suddenly confined to
a sedentary mode of life, on shipboard, for instance, complains of
 constipation.   A constipation of this kind is not a disease requiring
 medical treatment;  a  simple injection of water after  breakfast
 a Seidlitz  powder, a little  Rhubarb, or any  simple agent that will
 readily operate upon the  patient's bowels  without causing  any
 unpleasant comphcations, may  be all  sufficient to  remove the
 difficulty.   Homoeopathic physicians  generally recommend Nux
 vomica under these circumstances.  But  your Nux will  fail you in 
PALLIATIVE TREATMENT.
xxxiii
thousands of cases,  or  it  will be so slow in its operation  that
it is more than  doubtful whether  it had any agency what  ever in
the restoration of the physiological  equilibrium.  Here  it seems
reasonable to  remove  a greater  inconvenience by substituting a
smaller  one, provided  we  are  satisfied that the lesser evil is of
limited duration, and in reality no evil at all.

  The use of palliatives may result in great good in  cases where
the ordinary curative agents fail  to have the desired  effect.  We
will illustrate this statement by the following cases:
  A lady, upwards of seventy  years old,  had a fierce  attack
of cardialgia, a most intense sore pain and burning distress in the
epigastrium.   The  attack  came on late in the  evening,  and had
been caused by overloading the stomach with ice-cream and cake.
The  patient's  extremities were cold,   the pulse almost collapsed;
the lady had frequent attacks of vomiting of bile, with distressing
retching.   For an  hour I tried the  remedies which seemed  best
calculated to afford  relief,  without any effect whatever.   I then
instituted the following process  of reasoning in my  own mind:
" The patient and  the  family are alarmed; the former is unusually
apprehensive of death.   The cramps may not last more than a few
hours even without any treatment;  if this lady  can  have a few
hours'  sleep, the disease,  in the  meantime, will  run its course,
and the  patient may awake free  from pain."   Acting upon this
hypothesis, I dissolved half a grain of  Morphine in six dessertspoon-
fuls of water, of which solution the patient took a dessertspoonful
every fifteen minutes.   After the  third spoonful  she fell  into a
sound sleep, from which she awoke free from pain and in her usual
health.

  A boy nine years old, with a consumptive habit, was attacked
with a racking cough and fever.   The child had been sick  for some
days when I first saw him.   I found the following group  of symp-
toms :  A burning fever and paroxysms of a racking cough ; hectic
flushes on the  cheeks ; great dyspnoea; marked  dulness  over the
whole chest, especially the upper lobes of the lungs; no respiratory
murmur perceptible in  the  upper  half of the chest; pulse 130;
bowels constipated ; urine scanty  and cloudy;  slight  remission of
the symptoms in the forenoon.   I treated the child for  a whole
week with Aconite, Bryonia,  Phosphorus,  Arsenicum, and such
        3 
XXXIV
INTRODUCTION.
other medicines as the case seemed to require, without being able
to effect the least improvement in the symptoms ; on the contrary,
the boy grew weaker from day to day; the dyspnoea increased more
and  more;  the  pulse  became  fluttering  and could scarcely  be
counted; the cough continued almost unceasingly day and  night,
depriving the child  of all sleep and  exhausting  the poor little suf-
ferer more than  ever.  At the  request of the parents, I  gave the
child a little Morphine, in order to afford him some sleep, for  which
purpose I dissolved half a  grain  in  ten teaspoonfuls  of  water, of
which solution the child was to take  a teaspoonful every half hour
until he dropped  asleep.    On  my  next morning  visit  I was
surprised to find  the patient not  only alive, but sleeping sweetly.
He had sunk into a quiet slumber after taking  the  third spoonful
of the  solution,  and  was  still  sleeping  very quietly when  I
arrived.  From this sleep the child  awoke convalescent ; he was
covered with a warm moisture, the pulse had sunk to 75 beats, the
breathing  was full and easy, the cough loose and not very trouble-
some ;  the child called for nourishment, and in a week  after this
improvement had commencement, he  was  playing  again  in  the
open air.

   Here is  a  paralytic old  man ; he is recovering from his attack,
but  as yet unable  to  leave his room.  Being  of a  nervous tem-
perament, he is  apt to fret and worry himself into  a state  of the
most perfect wakefulness.   Ten  o'clock arrives, he cannot  sleep ;
he fidgets  and  moans, and prays  for sleep, all  in vain;   " tired
Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," refuses to alight  upon his
drooping eye-lids.   If a little homoeopathic Coffee will not put this
poor man to sleep, give him  some  Morphine, and in very many
cases it will prove a blessing to the exhausted frame.

   Hahnemann was  not, by any means, averse to the use  of Pallia-
tives.  In his introduction  to the  pathogenesis  of Camphor,  he
emphatically recommends  this agent as a palliative means  in the
treatment of epidemic influenza.   His words  are :  " During the
febrile stage of epidemic influenza, Camphor  may  be  used as a
palliative.  It is a most valuable palliative in this  disease,  which
runs a  short course;  but the  medicine  must be administered in
repeated and  increasing doses, in  the  form which  we have
recommended (Spirits of Camphor.)  Camphor does not shorten 
              instances of palliative  treatment.         XXXV

the course of the disease, but moderates its intensity,  and thug
secures a termination uncomplicated by danger."
   In the introductory chapter to Opium, Hahnemann admits the use
of palliatives in the following argument: "If Opium removes some
cases  of cough, diarrhoea, vomiting,  sleeplessness,  trembling,  and
so forth, they are trifling cases  which supervene in persons whose
health is ordinarily good.   In such a case, a  hacking cough origin-
ating  in a sudden cold ;  a trembling  arising  from a sudden fright;
a diarrhoea occurring in  consequence of a sudden fright, cold or
some,  other trifling cause ;  a retching occasioned by sudden emotion,
loathing, etc., may sometimes  be arrested by Opium immediately.
All that it is required to do  is  to suppress these derangements
for a short period, in order to enable the previously healthy body
to keep down all further inclination to similar disorders, and to pre-
serve  a state of health by its own inherent power of vital reaction."

   While the patient's  consciousness, is suspended  by Chloroform,
the surgeon performs his most formidable operations.  Why should
we deprive ourselves of the great advantages which the rational
use of physiological  palliatives may afford 1  Would this  be  doing
justice to our patients ?  Can we ever expect to convert  allopathic
physicians to the doctrine that the  occasional use of a mustard
plaster, of a warm foot-bath, a little Morphine, ice to  the  head,
cold  water bandages,  and a  variety  of other perfectly simple
physiological means, is  in contravention of the laws of Nature, or
of a System of Therapeutics founded upon them 1  Can we expect
to make reasonable people believe that purely hygienic and dietetic
means are  not very frequently the best means of cure ?    All such
means exist outside  of  our therapeutic law.  They  do not interfere
with it;  on the contrary, they facilitate the operation of the forces
by means of  which we  cure diseases.   What a  deal of contumely
and useless controversy  we might  have saved ourselves  if we had
never  wilfully, and certainly very stupidly, abandoned the strong
positions which we have a perfect right to occupy in common with
our opponents.   The time was when a homoeopathic  physician
would have been denounced by the dogmatic purists of our school, for
allowing his patients  the occasional use of a little Cologne water, or
the sight of a flower  on the toilet-table.   To hold a smelling-bottle
under the nose of a fainting lady, during a fit  of  hysteria, would
have been  considered & violation of  the rules.   We have become 
xxxvi
introduction.
more  liberal in this respect;  the time  has come when  every
enlightened homoeopathic practitioner will strenuously vindicate the
use of every rational means which may afford relief to the sufferer.

  In a  work like  the  present, which professes  to present the
Science   of  Homoeopathy  in  its  integrity,  an  examination  of
Hahnemann's Theory of Chronic  Diseases could  not be omitted
without leaving a gap in my argument.
  The   doctrine  of Psora,  which  forms  the  great  staple  in
Hahnemann's  theory,  has  given  rise  to  so  many  contending
opinions in  the homoeopathic School, that the  author  of such a
work as I here  offer to the professional  and  lay  public, fulfils
but a duty to his readers in presenting his own views of a doctrine
which,  at the present day, is  rejected by the most enlightened
practitioners of our school.
  Hahnemann derived all chronic diseases from the action of three
miasms,  respectively denominated psoric,  syphilitic, and sycosic.
According to Hahnemann the psoric miasm is the  originator of  all
non-syphilitic, non-sycosic chronic maladies.  Hahnemann,  who
was strenuously opposed to speculative theories in Medicine, and
who combated the pathological doctrines  which  were  in vogue
at the time when the great idea of Homoeopathy flashed upon his
mind, suspected the existence of a  psoric miasm from the fact that
the ordinary homoeopathic  medicines  proved  insufficient  in  a
variety  of chronic ailments.   Hence he  was  led to bequeath a
doctrine of  chronic diseases  to a startled posterity.  By his own
statement, the homoeopathic  edifice was not  complete without  it.
The homoeopathic remedies, which  were known  at the time when
Hahnemann  published his  "Chronic Diseases," had been chiefly
employed for the  cure of acute disorders.   Here the superiority
of the homoeopathic treatment  over the old-fashioned exhibition of
nauseous mixtures, violent diaphoretics or  expectorants, pretended
anodynes and sedatives, injections, ointments, fomentations, fumi-
gations,  vesicatories,  cauteries, issues,  and especially over those
everlasting purgatives, leeches, blood-lettings,  methods of starva-
tion, and other medicinal tortures, had become an incontestable
fact.  In the treatment of chronic ailments,  however, Homoeopathy
was not  equally  successful.   Hahnemann found that a chronic
disease  was  not always radically  cured by  the use of  remedial
agents which d:d cure an acute attack.  The chronic disorder was 
psora.
xxxvii
 at best only palliated by the  use of these agents.  A momentary
 paroxysm  might be hushed up, but  an unfavorable  state of the
 weather,  a sudden  and violent  emotion, an irregularity  in  diet,
 would frequently cause  the disease to break forth with  redoubled
 intensity, and to challenge the skill of the practitioner.

    "This result," writes Hahnemann, "occurred in the treatment of
 all great, chronic, non-syphilitic  maladies, even when  it appeared
 to be conducted according to the precepts of Homoeopathy, as far
 as this science was then  known.   First, the  treatment was satis-
 factory ;  then  it became less favorable, and finally hopeless."

   I have no doubt that Hahnemann spent many a sleepless night
 in endeavoring to fill up the gap which this unsatisfactory result in
 the treatment of chronic  affections left in  the superstructure of
 Homoeopathy.   Here is  a case  of asthma,  where  Ipecacuanha,
 or Nux vomica,  or Lobelia, seems to have effected  a  cure.   The
 patient remains well  for a time, when all at  once  some accidental
 exposure, a fatigue, a change of climate, brings the paroxysms back
 again,  perhaps with redoubled violence.   Evidently some secret
 enemy is  here  lurking  in  the  background,   whose  insidious
 endeavors countermine the best directed efforts of Art.

   Let us endeavor to identify ourselves with the  mind of the great
 Reformer at this interesting period of the history of Homoeopathy.
 He felt that he had been laying the foundation of a great work;  a
 work  which,  in the language of the classic poet, would be more
 durable than brass " monumentum aere perennius ;" but the super-
 structure was  not yet completed; the internal unity of the work
 required the additional cement of a more deeply-penetrating science.
   The sameness of the paroxysms, the order and regularity in their
 occurrence, the important functional and organic disorders which
 an  apparently  trifling affection would sometimes develop in  its
 train, led  Hahnemann to suspect  that these various paroxysms or
 groups  of  symptoms, which practitioners  would  sometimes allude
 to as so many distinct  diseases, were in reality manifestations of
 the same  internal, deeply-hidden,  hydra-headed  enemy, a sort of
primitive disease lying hidden in the inmost recesses of  the organism
and, as  a chronic miasm,  tainting every avenue that  leads  to the
mysterious laboratory of vitality. 
xxxviii
introduction.
   The doctrine, as  expressed in these few paragraphs, is that  the
 vital organism is tainted by a primitive miasm to which Hahnemann
 applied the  name  of psora.  This  internal psora  may, under
 favorable  conditions, by which we understand conditions favorable
 to its  development, by a fall, a  sudden fright, exposure, starva-
 tion,  &c, develop  itself  into   an   active  form.    By  gradual
 observation, as well as by theoretical reasoning, Hahnemann came
 to the conclusion that " the milder as well as the  more extensive
 and even  the most  inveterate chronic diseases owe their existence
 to this internal psoric miasm."
   Most cutaneous eruptions,  disorganizations, from  the  common
 wart to the  largest sarcomatous tumor,  from deformed  nails  to
 ramollissement  of bones and curvatures of the spine, nose-bleed,
 varices, haemorrhoids,  haemorrhages,  menstrual  disorders,  night-
 sweats, chronic diarrhoea or constipation, neuralgia, chronic ulcers
 and inflammations,  marasmus,  abnormal  conditions of the sexual
 instinct, mental derangements, hysteria,  hypochondria, and even
 great epidemics, such as the typhus  of 1813 and Asiatic cholera,
 are nothing but  " partial  manifestations  of  one primitive  psoric
 miasm,  in which they  all originate,  and  whose multitudinous
 symptoms form but one integral disease, and ought, therefore, to be
 regarded and treated as part of one and the same derangement."
   " A few homoeopathic remedies," writes Hahnemann,  " will cure
 even an epidemic typhus like that of 1813, in every patient infected
 with the  disease,  though each  patient  may  exhibit  different
 symptoms, and may seem to be afflicted with a different malady."

  Hahnemann evidently took the existence of this  internal psoric
principle for  granted.  We have every reason to suppose that he
 considered its existence  in the inmost  organism co-eval with the
 creation of man ; that, at first, it existed as  a latent principle,
perfectly harmless, because undeveloped, and that it  first assumed
a concrete form in the ancient leprosy, the origin of which is veiled
 by the  impenetrable mists of antiquity.

  In thus tracing the development of the psoric disease, Hahnemann
had the misfortune of falling into  an  error which led  the foremost
thinkers in the homoeopathic ranks to reject his doctrine of psora
as a fanciful delusion.   The error  consists in regarding the  itch-
 vesicle  as the most common and most universal representative upon 
PSORA.
XXXIX
 the skin, of the internal psoric disease.  We know jiow that the
 common  itch  or  scabies is caused by a little insect,  the so-called
 itch-mite or sarcoptes hominis, which burrows under  the skin and
 causes the insufferable itching and the vesicles and ulcerations by
 which the  common  itch  is  characterized.   Let  me  transcribe
 Hahnemann's short historical  sketch  of the  psoric  disease,  and
 present his doctrine of psora in his own language.

   On  the twenty-fifth page  of the  first  volume  of  the  Chronic
 Diseases,  Hahnemann writes as follows :—" According to the most
 ancient historical  writings which we possess, psora existed almost
 fully developed in the earliest ages of mankind.  Several varieties
 of psora have been described by Moses three thousand four hundred
 years ago.  At that time, however, and ever afterwards among the
 Israelites, psora appears  to have especially affected  the external
 parts of  the body.   This  was also  the case among the Greek
 barbarians, afterwards among  the Arabs, and finally in the uncivi-
 lized Europe of the Middle Ages.  It is not my object to relate here
 the different  names by which  the various nations have designated
 the more or less malignant forms of leprosy (external symptoms of
 psora), by which the  external  parts of the body became variously
 disfigured.  Names are of no consequence here since the essence of
 this miasmatic  psora  is everywhere the same.
  " In the Middle  Ages Europe  was visited for  several  centuries by
 the frightful psora of the occidental  countries, in  the shape of a
 malignant erysipelas, called St.  Anthony's fire.   In the thirteenth
 century it again  assumed the  form  of  leprosy.   The  Crusaders
 brought this  latter disease along with them.  By this means, leprosy
 spread in Europe more than it ever had done before, for in the year
 1226 there  were  in  France  about two thousand  houses  for  the
 reception of leprous patients.  Nevertheless, psora spreading farther
 and  farther  in  the shape of  a  horrible eruption upon  the skin,
found at least some external alleviation in those means of cleanliness
which the Crusaders had brought along with them from the  East,
such as cotton or linen shirts, which had been unknown in Europe
heretofore, and  the frequent use of warm baths.   These means,
together with an increasing refinement and more select nourishment
succeeded, in a couple of centuries, in diminishing the disgusting
appearance of psora so as to reduce  the disease, towards the end of
the  fifteenth century,  to an ordinary eruption, the common itch. 
xl
introduction.
   " This milder  form of psora infected a  far greater number than
 the leprous patients were able to  do, whose frightful  appearance
 caused them to be  avoided by  every body.   The  itch-vesicles
 scarcely appear, and may be kept concealed ; but being constantly
 scratched open in consequence  of the intolerable itching, and the
 fluid being spread over the  skin  and over the articles which are
 touched by such patient, the  infection takes place the more readily
 and  certainly, and affects a larger number.   In this way psora has
 become the most contagious and the most universal of  the chronic
 miasms."
   As I stated before, it is now well known that the itch  is caused
 by the local irritation of the skin produced by the itch-mite,  the so-
 called acarus or sarcoptes hominis.  Since Hahnemann's  time, the
 form of the insect, and the manner in which it burrows under the
 skin, breeds its young from  eggs, and causes its specific disorder,
 have been accurately described by a number  of observers ; and the
 fact  has been satisfactorily established that the destruction of this
 acarus by local means constitutes  a  cure of the itch,  and that
 without such  destruction  a  cure of the itch  is all but  impossible.
 Furthermore, it is well known that such local treatment is never
 succeeded by any of the  terrible consequences which Hahnemann
 has assigned to it.
   The disorders  which  Hahnemann has  enumerated  do  indeed
 exist, but not as a consequence of the  removal of the itch by local
 means.   The practical  disadvantage  arising from Hahnemann's
 erroneous theory, concerning the evil consequences  of  what he
 considers as a mere suppression of the eruption, consists in the fact
 that  those who swear by the words of the  master, entail upon the
 itch-patient a long  period of avoidable distressing and loathsome
 suffering, which is spared him by those who, following the light
 obtained  by recent investigations, treat  the  disease  as a local
 cutaneous disorder,  with  such local means  as are  known to be
 effectual in exterminating the itch mite. Among these the Sulphur
 ointment holds the first rank.

  Hahnemann's error  in regarding  the itch as an  internal  psoric
 disease, and  attributing to  the  removal of  the  itch - vesicles, by
external means, a host of formidable diseases, has had the practical
advantage of making homoeopathic practitioners very cautious in
the application of ointments, astringent washes, and other external 
internal  psora.
xli
agents.    Practitioners  of  our  school are  disposed  to  regard
eruptions as symbolic representations or vicarious substitutions for
an  internal disorder, which  might attack the internal  organism
if the external sign should be suppressed by violent means.
  Every physician  knows  that  in  acute cases   the  sudden dis-
appearance or the non-appearance of an eruption may prove fatal
to the brain,  or to some other vital viscus.
  Has not the incautious suppression of a chancre, or  of a gon-
orrhoeal discharge, led to  the development of constitutional, and
frequently incurable, disorders 1
  Has not the drying up of an old sore, by means of an  astringent
wash, resulted in apoplexy or paralysis 1
  Has not the suppression of an  acute  rash, by  means  of the
mercurial ointment, entailed incurable spasmodic paroxysms, such
as asthma and St. Vitus's  dance ?
  Has not the violent removal of scald-head, by means  of washes
and ointments, resulted in hydrocephalus ?
  Have  we  not  learned  from  abundant  experience  that  the
suppression   of  prurigo,  eczema, intertrigo,  and other  chronic
eruptions, may result in vertigo,  rheumatism, amaurosis, paralysis,
neuralgia of  the  extremities  and   abdominal  nerves,   epilepsy,
chlorosis, mania, inflammation of the joints, coxarthrocace, white-
swellings, tuberculosis of the lungs, and other disorders ?

  Nevertheless,  let  it be understood that there  is  no statute  in
the Homoeopathic  School forbidding the  external application  of
tinctures, ointments and liniments  in all suitable cases.  From
whatever point of view these practices are advocated or rejected,
the laws  of Common Sense and  the  results of Experience appeal
with equal force to the practitioners of all  Schools.
  Hahnemann  advises the  external  use of drugs in a  variety  of
cases.   He recommends the  external  use of the tincture  of Thuja
and  Sabina  in  cases  of  figwarts.    Arnica is applied by  all
homoeopathic physicians to bruises and contusions of the muscular
fibre ; the concentrated tincture  of Aconite-root and Rhus toxico-
dendron  to sprains, especially when accompanied by lacerations  of
tendons and  ligaments, and if the  injured parts are very much
swollen and inflamed.
  Speaking of  the alcoholic tincture  of  Camphor,  Hahnemann
recommends it as an external application  in  erysipelatous inflam- 
xlii
introduction.
mations.  I quote from  the fourth volume of his Materia Medica:
" In  erysipelas, where  the rose-colored  inflammation  spreads in
rays,  and momentarily disappears under the pressure of the finger,
Camphor, the local application  of which to  the skin  occasions a
sort of erysipelas, may  prove  useful when  applied externally in
sudden derangements characterized by erysipelatous inflammation,
provided the symptoms  of the internal malady are  similar to  the
effects which Camphor is capable of producing."

  The interests of the living Humanity should  never be sacrificed
at the shrine of dogmatic theories!   Truth must rule in Medicine
as in all  things; but while we are engaged in building up  her
tabernacle among men,  let us adorn  her altars with  the  graces
of Charity!

  Hahnemann's attempt to account for the existence  of all chronic
non-syphilitic  diseases,  by  the  supposition  that  all,  or at least
most, human organisms are tainted by an  internal  psora, probably
originated in the fact that Hahnemann, whom Jean Paul Richter
denominated "a  double-head of erudition and philosophy," must
have  been  well  aware  of the  existence of  morbid   properties,
predispositions or capacities for disease,  which  the Creator has
inscribed  upon  every tissue of the  organism.   These  morbid
properties remained  undeveloped,  latent  and  non-existing,  as  it
were,  while man continued to  live  in  a  state  of paradisiacal
innocence, and in regions  where the  soil, the atmosphere, tem-
perature, and all other physical influences, were  in perfect harmony
with the primordial laws of his being.
  But after man's deviation from the laws of Divine Order, these
morbid properties  developed into actual diseases, many of which,
in the course of time, became grafted, as it were, upon the human
frame as constituent principles, and remained  permanently inherent
in its tissues by hereditary descent.  These chronic  maladies may
manifest themselves in a variety of forms, agreeably  to the nature
of the morbid property  or predisposition to disease from  which
they  originally sprung; thus  we may have the   scrofulous,
tuberculous,  rheumatic,  arthritic,  carcinomatous,  haemorrhoidal,
haemorrhagic, lithiatic, herpetic  diathesis; each peculiar diathesis
giving rise,  by its development into  a concrete disease, to a series
of  characteristic phenomena.    If  Hahnemann chose  to regard 
internal  psora.                    xliii
 these chronic  diatheses as  so  many internal  miasms,  and to
 generalize these miasms under the comprehensive name of psora,
 he  had a perfect  right  to  do so;  but the anti-psoric remedies
 which he has set  apart  for the radical cure of chronic  maladies
 will disappoint the practitioner in thousands of cases.  We may be
 able to hush up the acute paroxysms of a chronic disorder, and, by
 the judicious use of drugs, changes of climate, diet  and business,
 we may even succeed in permanently curing, or at least preventing
 the further actualization  of  such  a  disorder, but  not all the  anti-
 psorics in the world will ever free the human  organism from the
 taint of  disease  which  man's  deviation  from  God's  order has
 entailed upon the  human race.   This glorious  result can only be
 accomplished by  man's  gradual  return to  a  normal  life  in the
 various spheres of his  being,  physical  as well as  moral  and
 spiritual;  the appropriate  use of drugs, and  the suggestions of
 a rational system  of medicine, may,  of course,  aid him  in accom-
 plishing his destiny.

   " There is no agent, no  force in  Nature," writes Hahnemann,
 " that is  capable of morbidly  affecting a person  in health, which
 does not  likewise  possess  the faculty of  curing certain morbid
 conditions.
   " Inasmuch  as   the  power  of  curing  diseases,  and that of
 morbidly  affecting  persons in health, is found indissolubly united
 in all drugs, and inasmuch as both these powers emanate from the
 same source—viz., from  the  faculty inherent  in every drug of
 dynamically  affecting the condition of the  organism; whence it
 follows  that  their action  upon  organs in  disease takes  place
 according to the same in-dwelling law as their action upon  organs
 in their normal condition,—we finally infer that it is  the same
 drug-force which  effects  a  cure  as that which  develops morbid
 symptoms in health."

   Having  corrected some of  the misapprehensions which  have
 oeen entertained in regard to  some  of  the  most  important
collateral  doctrines of our School, I will now  close these intro-
ductory remarks with a fleeting glance  at the spirit,  philosophical
unity and comprehensiveness of the fundamental  generalization of
Homoeopathy.  I cannot  do full justice,  in this  introduction, to
a subject  of such  magnitude and importance;  I shall review it 
xliv
INTRODUCTION.
 in all its  bearings in  proportion as  I progress in  my  elucidation
 of  the  definitions,  and in  my  presentation  of a  philosophical
 analysis of  the  great science  which is now  struggling for, and
 must ultimately  secure,  a  universal  recognition  and triumph.
 It is no disrespect to Hahnemann to say that his teachings on the
 subject  of Homoeopathy are  not  complete.  The  most  perfect
 enunciation  of his  great  doctrine—that diseases  are  cured  by
 similarly acting drugs—is found  in his  admirable Essay, entitled,
 " Spirit of the Homoeopathic Doctrine."
  Further than  this,  the discoverer of  Homoeopathy  has  never
 penetrated in his explanation of the homoeopathic law.  A  drug
 cures a disease if and  because  it has power to develop a similar
 morbid condition in healthy tissues.   It effects this cure because,
 according  to Hahnemann's teaching, the drug-disease, being  more
 powerful, more intense than the natural malady, the former absorbs
 the latter.   In previous paragraphs I have already alluded to the
 fact that this teaching, so far from expressing  an absurdity,  as it
 is made  to  do  by Hahnemann's  opponents,  on  the  contrary,
 expresses,  this  great  truth:  THAT  THE   HOMCEOPATHIC
 REMEDIAL AGENT  CURES  THE  DISEASE, BECAUSE
 THE DRUG-FORCE EMBODIED  IN  THIS  AGENT  IS IN
 RELATIONS OF SUPERIOR AFFINITY TO THE NATURAL
 MORBID  PROCESS  GOING  ON IN THE  TISSUES.

  In my explanation of the homoeopathic law, I shall endeavor to
 penetrate a step farther than the illustrious founder of the Homoeo-
 pathic School has seen fit to do.  I shall show that Hahnemann's
 doctrine concerning the  essential  doctrine  of  drug-force  as  a
 disease-producing and a disease-curing power,  is depending for its
 truth, for its vitality, for its scientific exactness,  upon the cosmic
 fact, THAT THE FORCES WHICH  CREATE  DRUGS ARE
 THE VERY  FORCES WHICH  DEVELOP  DISEASES  IN
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL TISSUES.   This is the foundation of
Homoeopathy.    The  doctrine,  as  enunciated by  Hahnemann,
constitutes the  formula  of  homoeopathic art ;  the doctrine  as
expressed  in this other proposition,  constitutes the formula of
 homoeopathic science.

  Look at  the panorama of Creation.  Do we  not behold Homoeo-
pathy interwoven in its foundations ?   To our  sensual eye,  the 
TnE  LAW of cure.
xlv
 external facts of Creation are  alone  perceptible ; but abstract the
 contemplating mind from these  material phenomena,  and  dwell
 upon  the  mysterious mechanism of  the forces which evolve them
 as the ultimate results of an  unceasingly creating  endeavor,  then
 we shall be led to regard these forces as the active or organizing life
 forces of the great Whole.  As viewed by man, finitely, the Act of
 Creation consists in the evolution of germ-forces, according to fixed
 laws, into  concrete individualities.   All germ-forces are inherent in
 the  crust  of our planet;  they are recipient vessels, passive forces
 or forms of power.   The Act of Creation is continued indefinitely by
 means of the forces which I have alluded to as the active forces of
 the great Cosmos.   We may designate them as cosmic principles or
 essences,  in contradistinction  to phenomena.   The concrete form,
 which is a reality to the physical senses, is in truth a phenomenon ;
 its existence is phenomenal, for it passes away.  The cosmic force,
 the  creating principle, is the  only real thing, the  living essence,
 which IS, and does not perish.

   Applying this doctrine to drugs, I infer that every drug results
 from the vitalizing influence of the cosmic forces acting upon and
 developing a pre-existing germ in the crust of our planet.
   It is not my province to account for the original act of Creation,
 or to assume  that matter and spirit are co-eternal, or in what
 manner the material universe was evolved from, or projected out of,
 the bosom  of the Infinite  Creator.   It must satisfy us to behold our
 own planet created with  a boundless variety  of germs which the
 cosmic life force,  by the agency of the heat and light of our Sun,
 dnd  the  atmospheres enveloping  our earth, warms into  life  and
 develops into specific forms.  It  is thus that each  drug is created
 with its characteristic medicinal properties contained in its various
 parts—root, leaf,  flower,  bark and seed.    The Cosmic life-force
 may be the same ; it produces  different results  in  accordance with
 the differences of quality inherent in the medium  upon which  it
 acts.

  Thus it  is that  the rays of the sun  may cause malarious exha-
lations by acting upon  stagnant water, and may develop repulsive
forms of animal  life in  this fluid,  whereas the same  rays will
likewise produce the fragrant rose by  acting upon  a corresponding
medium.   Here we  are standing upon the threshold of  the great 
Xlvi                     INTRODUCTION.

mystery, a comprehension of which  requires our most thoughtful
attention.  I mean the mystery which Hahnemann has so signi-
ficantly,  and yet  so problematically,  announced in the formula,
" Similia Similibus Curantcr."  How and why is it that every
drug affects the living organism in a definite manner?  The answer
to this  question involves a philosophical  solution  of this other
question : What is Homoeopathy ?

  After the great Cosmos had been fully prepared for the reception
of man, man started into being.  In him the work of Creation was
summed up.  In  him  the cosmic forces and  the  germ-forces of
Creation culminated.  Hence it is that the  philosophers of Egypt
and  Greece  applied  to  the human  organism  the  poetic  and
eminently significant appellation of Microcosm, or  little Universe.
By his living or internal organism, man is in relation with every
cosmic force of the Universe ; by his bodily or external organism,
which of itself is  a mere house of clay, man is in relation  with
every germ-force of his planet.

  Applying this doctrine  to  the sense  of sight, we say that man
may see every visible object existing in him ideally ; the object
itself, when met by the eye,  awakens the  idea  to consciousness.
"Seeing" is no more  nor less than a conscious impression, the
archetypal idea  of a thing roused from its  slumber,  and flashing
through the mind as a conscious reality.

  A drug affects the living tissues in  a  similar manner.  Every
drug is represented in the human organism  by a recipient faculty
or potency of a  specific character, which may be aptly designated
as a  morbid property.  In  the normal condition of the organism
the various morbid properties which the Creator has inscribed upon
the living  tissues, and  which, if there be unity in God's  system,
must of necessity correspond with the drug germs  in the  crust of
the planet, remain unperceived ; the physiological harmony of the
organism overrules their development.   But if a drug  be  made to
act upon the tissues, the morbid property or properties representing
the drug-germ or germs will become manifest derangements,  more
or  less  of  an  external character,  somewhat in  the  nature of
traumatic injuries, not  seriously affecting  the  internal vitality and
speedily terminating of themselves. 
Hahnemann's  teachings.
xlvii
  When man is sick, it is the cosmic life-force which developed the
drug out  of its  germ, that develops the corresponding  morbid
properties of the  tissues into an  actual disease.   Hence diseases
may be defined as morbid properties developed into pathological
activities by the life force  of the Cosmos.  A development of this
kind can only take place in abnormal conditions of the organism,
such as exposure to wet, draughts of air, excessive heat, exhaustion
in consequence of  over-work, watching, &c.
  Now act upon this disease, which is here subverting the physio-
logical unity of the organism, by means of a corresponding drug—
that is to  say, a drug capable of eliciting upon a  more  external
plane effects analogous to the  phenomena which characterized the
natural morbid process—and the life-force of the Cosmos, which in
reality constitutes the vital or life-force of every animal organism,
will appropriate the  drug-impression to the  diseased tissues, and
gradually restore  them to  their normal  condition.  Thus Hahne-
mann's  teachings  will  be  verified:   THAT  THE  MORBID
PROPERTY  WHICH,   UNDER  FAVORABLE   CIRCUM-
STANCES,  HAD  BEEN  DEVELOPED INTO A CONCRETE
DISEASE, IS  RESTORED TO  ITS  PASSIVE  OR LATENT
CONDITION  BY  BEING ACTED  UPON  BY A CORRE-
SPONDING DRUG.

  For the benefit of the uninitiated reader I repeat, in conclusion,
that infinitesimal  doses, medicinal  aggravations,  and  other  col-
lateral doctrines and peculiarities of the Homoeopathic School, do
not  constitute  the  essentials  of Homoeopathy.   Dose  is the
transient  and accidental, the purely human in this Science.  The
essential and permanent, or the  truly divine in Homoeopathy, is
the  law  upon which her  superstructure  rests  in  the  eternal
Providence  of  God,  and  in the  framework of Nature and the
human mind.  Hahnemann has generalized the facts  of Homoeo-
pathy in the terse and well-known formula, " Similia Similibus
Curantur,"  or " Like cures Like;" by which is meant that drugs
cure diseases by virtue of  a power inherent in every drug to affect
certain tissues or organs  in a  specific,  and therefore positive and
fixed manner.   A drug, in order  to become  a  remedial agent in
accordance with the homoeopathic law, has to be possessed of a
specific power to  affect  the organism  in health similarly to  what
it  is  affected  by the malady to  be  removed.   By the  term 
xlviii
introduction.
 "Similarity " in this statement is not meant a men1 external resem-
 blance of the symptoms of drug-action to the apparent symptoms of
 the disease ; but an inmost correspondence between the essential
 nature of drug-action  and the essential nature of the pathological
 process to be hushed  up  or  neutralized.   Thus certain forms of
 gastric irritation will  readily yield  to  Ipecacuanha, because this
 agent  is  capable  of inducing  similar  morbid  conditions  of  the
 stomach.  Other forms of gastric irritation will as readily yield to
 Ignatia,  Nux vomica,  or  Arsenic, for the very reason  that these
 agents will  irritate the coats  of the stomach  in the same specific
 manner that we find them irritated in certain forms of dyspepsia or
 gastrodynia.  Aconite  will cure certain forms of tetanus, because
 it has power to induce similar attacks.   Belladonna, Hyoscyamus,
 and  other drugs,  will cure  meningitis,  because  we   know  by
 abundant experience that  the cerebral  membranes, as well  as  the
 substance of the brain, are affected  by poisonous  doses of these
 agents similarly to what we know them to be  affected by a natural
 process of inflammation.   It  is needless  to multiply these illus-
 trations.   They will suffice to show the  general character  of the
 homoeopathic method of treating diseases.

  The results  of  homoeopathic treatment  come  home  to the
 simplest  understanding.   All  the  repulsive  features of the old-
 fashioned method  of treating  diseases are effectually removed by
 Homoeopathy.  Owing to  the comparative smallness of  our doses,
 our preparations  can  be  made sufficiently  pleasant to become
 acceptable even to the delicate palate of children.  Of course,
 Homoeopathy does not profess to  do away with the necessity of
 surgical operations.  Chemical poisonings have to be neutralized
by  chemical antidotes,  and  mechanical  irritations  have  to  be
 removed  by mechanical  appliances,  or by evacuants  of a more
 massive order.

  We  do not  desire boastfully and foolishly to  claim infallible
success  for  the treatment  of diseases  in accordance  with the
homoeopathic law; we are content  with pointing  to the clinical
records of our respective schools.  Under homoeopathic treatment,
a  severe affection,  like  pneumonia,  becomes a  comparatively
harmless  disorder,  and yet the lancet  and the leech have been
 effectually and,  I have  no  doubt,  forever,  superseded by the 
ACONITE.
xlix
 mighty depressor of  the pulse,  the Aconitum napellus,  or the
 common monkshood, and its American compeer, Veratrum viride.
 If Hahnemann  had done  nothing more  than to reveal the  vast
 curative  resources  of Aconite,  he would  deserve  the  eternal
 gratitude  of mankind.  This single agent shows how irresistibly
 the mighty truths  of Homoeopathy are  encroaching upon the
 domain of Old-School Therapeutics.  As late  as  twenty-five years
 ago  the  tremendous  powers  of Aconite  were  comparatively
 unknown, even to leading Old-School practitioners.

   How does the case stand at the  present moment ?   In a recent
 number of Braithwaite's  Retrospect, we read, on page 203, the
 report  of a number of cases that had  been treated internally with
 Aconite by Doctor Prosser James, of the London City Dispensary.
 At the conclusion of his  report, the editor of the Medical Press
 remarks :  "These cases illustrate very well the practice of  Doctoi
 James  in  the  internal use of Aconite.   He has employed it in
 several thousand cases of various  diseases, mostly those in which
 there is increase  of the heart's action.  He employs it frequently
 as  a febrifuge instead  of salines,  attributing  to  it the power of
 reducing  the  pulse and  relieving  the whole  train  of  febrile
 symptoms.   It is particularly useful as possessing certain anodyne
 qualities.  There are few diseases in which the experiment has  not
 been made.  All cases characterized by nervous  excitement seem
 to be  benefited.   Many forms of palpitation  are at once  cured.
 Doctor  James has frequently used it in organic diseases  of  the
 heart.   Its powerful  action on the heart is shown  by the rapid fall
 of the pulse in each of the cases  reported above."

  The dose, in these cases, was a drop of the strong tincture every
 three,  four or  six hours, as the  case might be.  A smaller dose
 would undoubtedly have  done just as well, and would  have saved
 the patients the unpleasant sensation of "pins and  needles," of
 which they uniformly complained after taking a few doses  of the
 drug.   Hahnemann was acquainted with this use of Aconite, and
 employed this agent in the above-mentioned diseases as early as the
 year 1810.

  The distinguished Liston recommended Belladonna to  his class as
a remedy for erysipelas.   He told  his hearers that he had used
        4 
1
INTRODCCTION.
Belladonna for  this form  of  inflammation  with marked success,
upon  the  recommendation of  Dr. Quin,  one  of the  leading
homoeopathic physicians of London.

  In his published Clinical Lectures,  the late Professor Schoenlein,
of the  University  of  Berlin,  recommends Pulsatilla, in  doses of
one-sixteenth of  a grain, for amenorrhcea;  the Professor had
learned the use  of this drug in the above-mentioned derangement
from Hahnemann, although he  takes  care  not to  mention the
fact.

  Homoeopathy has exerted a refining influence upon the mode of
practice which had been pursued by Old-School physicians up to
the time of Hahnemann.  Bouillaud's " coup sur coup " practice
in pneumonia would  now  be  considered murderous by the most
bloodthirsty  worshippers   of  the  lancet.   Physicians  of  the
dominant  school have reduced the size  of their doses,  until the
use of active drugs has almost  become obsolete in some  of the
foremost Universities  of Europe.  Medicines  are  presented in a
much more palatable  form  than formerly ;  and the  disgusting
compounds which physicians deemed it their  pride and glory to
prescribe  previous  to the advent  of  Homoeopathy, have been
utterly banished from the prescription books  of the Old School.
Let us be  thankful for these gradual but substantial improvements
in the management of diseases; the time will come, and is, indeed,
fast approaching, when justice will be done to Hahnemann and his
great discovery. 
CHAPTER II.
 DEFINITION  OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF  CURE
         FROM THE STAND-POINT OF VITALISM.

   Hahnemann was a vitalist; he believed in the existence  of that
 mysterious power in whose action upon the tissues of the organism
 all the manifestations of vitality originate.   In his Essay, entitled
 " Spirit of the Homceopathic  Doctrine," he expresses himself as
 follows : " What life is can only be inferred from its phenomenal
 manifestations;  no  conception of it can be  formed  by any
 metaphysical  speculations a priori ; what life is, in its  actual,
 essential nature, can  never be ascertained, or  even  guessed at,
 by mortals.
   " Life cannot  be compared to anything  in Nature save to itself
 alone;  neither to  a  piece of  clock-work,  nor to an  hydraulic
 machine,  nor  to chemical processes,  nor  to  decompositions and
 recompositions of gases,—nor in short, to anything destitute of life.
 Human life is in  no respect regulated  by physical  laws which
 only  obtain among inorganic substances.  The material substances
 of which the living organism is composed  do  not follow the laws
 to which inanimate material  substances  are  subject;   they  are
 regulated by the laws peculiar to vitality  alone ;  they are them-
 selves animated just as  the whole system is animated.  Here
 a nameless, fundamental power  reigns omnipotent, which suspends
 all tendency of the material constituents of the body to obey the
 laws of gravitation, of fermentation, putrefaction, etc., and renders
 these constituents subordinate to the wonderful laws of life alone ;
 in other words, maintains them  in  the  condition of sensibility and
 activity  necessary  to  the preservation  of the  living  whole, a
 condition almost spiritually-dynamic."

  Here we have  Hahnemann's confession  of  faith  as  a vitalist
expressed in simple and  beautiful  language.  We cannot  under-
stand how a Homoeopath, one who really believes in and  has a full
                                                    (47) 
4S
HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW OF CURE.
 perception of the truth of Homoeopathy, can be anything else than
 a believer in the existence of a vital organism to which this perish-
 able, physical organism serves as a connecting link and a means of
 objective manifestation.  The physical stimuli are indeed necessary
 to vital manifestations, but they are not sufficient to originate life.
 If the lungs of the new-born infant were not previously endowed
 with vitality, they could never be made to breathe by the  mere
 contact with atmospheric air.   The vital movements are all carried
 on in agreement with,  not in opposition to, physical and  chemical
 laws, but the laws of Physics and Chemistry do  not  originate the
 vital movements.  The material  organism of itself is not a living
 machine; it is simply  the  envelope of a more interior, living,
 imperishable organism.   That in us which is called the soul cannot
 exist without an organism either here or hereafter.  That supernal
 beings have manifested themselves to mortals in the form of men,
 with organisms having  in all respects the human  form, will not be
 gainsaid by any  believer  in  scriptural  revelations.   Even the
 Saviour of the  world,  after  His Resurrection, manifested Himself
 to His Disciples in the human form.

  The material organism connects man with physical Nature;  of
 itself it is  dead.  The spiritual organism, to which the former
 serves as a vehicle or instrument for vital manifestations,  connects
 man  with  the  spiritual  world,  which  is the  only living  world,
 the grand Esse, the world of essential substances, which, by  then-
 action upon material Nature, achieve an unceasing creation, and
 develop and perpetuate Nature's individualities.   It is not sufficient
 to say that the  material organism is  animated by a soul;  the  soul
 would not  be  capable of  carrying on  the functions  of vitality
 without the aid of an  intermediate  organism, which, by means  of
 the  nervous system, controls  the physical organs for the  per-
 formance of the  complex movements and  purposes, the  sum  of
 which constitutes Life  manifested in Act.   The fact that the  vital
 or the spiritual-dynamic organism, as  Hahnemann  is pleased to
 designate it, achieves its  behests by means of the material tissues,
 in accordance with chemical  and physical  laws, does not degrade
 this  organism to  a  mere material machine, any more  than the
affection which  manifests  itself by the presentation of a bouquet or
a work of art becomes  on that  account  a  material object.  If the
chemist is unable to discover any trace of the  spiritual-dynamic 
HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE.
49
 organism in his crucibles and retorts, it is because this organism is,
 by its nature, beyond the reach of chemical re-agents.   A denial of
 this vital organism by chemical physiologists, for no better reason
 than because perceptible traces of it are beyond the limits of the
 microscope or the resources of the laboratory, implies  a degree of
 mental obtuseness or perversity, of which no clear-headed Homoeo-
 path should ever render  himself guilty.   (See Note, p. 177.)

   The  labored attempts  of  chemical physiologists to arrive at
 a solution of the great problem  of disease by chemical  analysis
 and research, have so far proved utterly valueless in a  therapeutic
 point of view.  Chemists  oppose  Homoeopathists by virtue  of an
 inherent antagonism of doctrine  and conviction.   Chemists look
 upon diseases as  resulting from the disturbance of the chemical
 formulas and the  osmotic  movements of the organism. Homoeo-
 pathists, on the contrary,  regard all  deviations from the normal
 chemism of the living body as results of an abnormal course of vital
 action.   Some morbid property of the organism had been  excited
 into manifestation under  favorable  circumstances, and had  given
 rise to abnormal physiological action.  What  confidence can a
 Homoeopathic physician place  in the efforts  made by Chemists
 in the  domain of Therapeutics, when  even such a distinguished
 man as Professor Draper gives utterance  to such teachings as the
 following?—page 184 of  his "Human Physiology:" "Although
 we cannot interfere with the rate of  respiration, we  can affect the
 quantity of air introduced into the system by artificial means, as in
 the  operation of blood-letting;  for  though, after blood has been
 drawn,  we may make the normal number  of respirations, seventeen
 in a minute, and for each introduce  seventeen cubic inches of air,
 we have diminished the number of discs, which are the carriers of
 oxygen ; and,  as the experience  of  physicians  in  all  times  has
 shown,  there is no method  so  effectual in  reducing any  unusual or
 febrile temperature."

  What can a Homoeopath learn from such doctrines ?   How can
even an Old-School physician  profit  by them, if even one of their
leaders, Professor  Niemeyer, informs us in his late work  on  the
Practice  of  Medicine   (page  184,  Vol.  I.,  of  the  American
translation), that, if a dear  friend  of his should  be  attacked with
pneumonia,  he  would   have  him  treated  by a  Homoeopathic 
50
HOMCEOPATHIC LAW (>F CURE
 physician ?   His words are:  " Highly  as I  prize  venesection.
 however, in  certain emergencies which may arise in the disease, I
 had rather that any one dear to me, and  sick of pneumonia, were
 in the hands  of a Homoeopath than in the  hands of a physician who
 thinks that he carries the issue  of the malady upon the point of his
 lancet."

   We could  not give an intelligible account of the Homoeopathic
 law, and the  operation of our small doses of medicine, if we did not
 take the broad ground that there exists within the material tissues
 an invisible, it is true, but, nevertheless, real and substantial living
 organism, which cannot be  tainted by  disease, although it may
 have to perform the functions of vitality imperfectly, and hence be
 compelled to realize abnormal vital  manifestations,  in  consequence
 of the abnormal chemism which the rousing up of morbid properties
 may have realized in  the tissues  of the  physical  organism.  The
 spiritual-dynamic organism is not a  reasoning creature ;  it weaves
 the thread of life with such material as is furnished  it on the
 physical plane  of human  existence.  If this material is deficient
 or imperfect, or if the conditions in which the  physical organism
 exists are antagonistic to its vital harmony, the vital organism or,
 which amounts to the  same thing, the vital principle or vital force
 cannot be expected, nor will  it be  able,  to realize  an harmonious
 vitality until  the obstacles to this realization are removed, either by
 the self-healing  powers of Nature,  or by the aid of appropriate
 remedial  agents.   Having  premised  this  much,  and  having
 emphatically  declared my adherence to a belief in a vital organism,
as an indispensable factor  to the manifestations of vitality, I am
 now prepared to proceed to  a  general definition of the Homoeo-
 pathic Law of Cure,  in accordance with  the rigorous demands of
an inductive logic.

  Medicine must either have become known to man by  revelation
or by the  slow process of observation.   It is not probable that
 Providence ever revealed to  man the uses of drugs by  any other
method  than  that of experience.  If he did possess such a  revelation
at any time, it is certain that all traces  of  it have disappeared, and
that,  as  far  as  existing  records  bear us  testimony,  Medicine is
emphatically  a science which, under the over-ruling Providence of
 God, has been developed by  human reason, and is  being enlarged 
FROM THE STAND POINT OF VITALISM.
51
and perfected more and more by a more accurate perception and a
more  universal unfolding of the facts which constitute its legitimate
domain.   We can easily  imagine that at one  period, in the first
ages of the  world,  man  must  have been totally ignorant of all
distinction between  poisons and nutrient substances, and that, not
being possessed of instinct, which, to the  animal is a perfectly
safe guide  in the selection  of its food, he may have mistaken the
deleterious berry of the Atropa Belladonna for some pleasant  fruit,
or a poisonous  mushroom for an innocuous vegetable.  The proba-
bility is  that man  frequently allowed  himself to be deceived by
appearances, and that he was frequently beguiled into the notion
that what seemed  beautiful  and attractive  to  the  eye must be
pleasant  and  useful  as an  article of diet.   Reason tells  us  that
experience and  observation  were man's  first guides towards the
acquisition  of knowledge,  and that his  first  initiation into the
properties  of poisons must have  been  the  fruit of painful and
fatal mistakes.  But  a knowledge of the properties of  poisons
did not,  by  any means, imply a knowledge of  their  uses as
medicinal agents.   The  fact  that poisons are possessed  of thera-
peutic properties  must have  been  suggested  to  man  by his
gradually unfolding reason.   A knowledge of  this fact, although
confirmed by experience, yet  must have  been primarily  arrived at
by a process of deduction from accidental cases of poisoning.   This
must have been the beginning of a knowledge of drugs.

   To the  physiological  physician, as well as  to  the  uneducated
layman, the broad classification of all created substances which are
in relation with, and subserve the purposes of the human  organism,
into drugs and hygienic agents,  must seem sufficient, so  far as the
physiological  or pathological life of the organism  is concerned.
Hahnemann  has made this classification one of the corner stones of
his great system.  Trousseau and Pidoux adopt  the same classifica-
tion in their Treatise of Materia  Medica and Therapeutics.
   " Every drug," say these brilliant writers, " has positive properties
very different from those which characterize hygienic agents. These
modify health,  drugs modify diseases.  In order to sustain health,
the former are  possessed of  properties which  are  agreeable  to a
healthy, and disagreeable, or even hurtful, to a sick man.   In order
to cure diseases, drugs, on the contrary, are possessed of properties
which are disagreeable or hurtful to a healthy person, and useful, or 
52
HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE
even  agreeable, to one  who  is sick.   Hence,  there is the same
opposition between a drug and a hygienic agent  as between disease
and health;  or the same repugnance between a drug and a healthy
man as between aliments  and a sick  man.  In order to establish
these two propositions, we evidently select two  well-defined types,
viz., a drug possessing in  an eminent degree  the unpleasant and
hurtful properties  of its  class, and  an  acute, specific and  serious
disease developing in the organism this  strange change which seems
to ingraft upon it, for a shorter or longer  period, a life entirely
different from the ordinary vitality.
  " Hence, for the same reason that the disease calls to mind the
drug,  and assists us in finding it; the drug enables us  to  trace the
disease, and protests against the disease  being compounded with a
purely accidental physiological disturbance."

  It is impossible  to draw the distinction between medicinal and
hygienic  agents with more clearness  and force than Trousseau and
Pidoux have done in  this  paragraph.    The concluding lines  are,
moreover, fraught with a momentous truth.   As the disease calls to
mind  the drug  which is peculiar or  specifically  adapted to it, so
does, on the other hand, the drug enable  us to trace the disease.
  What  is the meaning of this proposition 1  How does the  drug
enable us to  trace the disease ?  In other words,  in what manner or
by what  signs does the drug reveal to us the disease with which it
is in curative rapport ?  There is but  one way in which this result
can be accomplished by a drug.  It  is  by proving  the  drug upon
the healthy organism.   The drug-effects thus produced by pure or
positive  experimentation indicate the  pathological condition  with
which the drug is in curative correspondence.

  Trousseau and Pidoux praise Hahnemann and his disciples for the
persistent efforts they  have made in endeavoring to determine, by
positive experimentation, the therapeutic range of every drug ; yet,
all  the magnificent  contributions to  the  Materia Medica which
Hahnemann and his followers have furnished, simply reveal to those
gentlemen the  existence  of  an additional cathartic, anti-phlogistic
or diuretic ;  the idea of a specifically homoeopathic relation of drugs
to diseases does not, as yet, seem to have dawned upon their minds.
Nevertheless,  their teachings  must  appear precious to every intel-
ligent friend of our cause. 
FROM THE  STAND POINT OF VITALISM.
53
   The drug not only enables us to trace the disease with which it
is in therapeutic rapport, but it protests against the disease being
looked upon as a simple physiological disturbance.
   This teaching of the celebrated Trousseau requires an explanation
which will show that it is likewise  precious to  the homoeopathic
inquirer.

   At the time  when Trousseau  and  Pidoux published  the first
edition of their work, the Physiological School flourished  in  all its
glory.  Broussais was its  most ardent  champion.   He  held his
clinics at the Val de Grace, one of the largest military hospitals of
Paris, during the first invasion of the cholera, in 1831.   His great
treatment consisted  in  giving ice and applying leeches.  Over one
hundred of these little  monsters were applied  in a single case at
the  same time.    Patients  were literally bled  to death.   Such a
ferocious consistency of doctrine had  hardly  ever been witnessed
before.

   What is  the  doctrine  of the Physiological  School to  which
Broussais had vowed allegiance ?    The  Physiological School is
founded upon the anatomical theories of Bichat, according to which
tissues and organs are each endowed with a somewhat independent
vitality  which may  be depressed or unduly excited  by adequate
causes.   Inflammation,  according  to the Physiological School, is
simply an excess of vitality; rheumatism, for instance, an  excess of
vitality, in the  fibrous and muscular tissues; scrofula is a simple
modification of the lymphatic vessels; insanity, a simple exaltation
of the cerebral functions.  Thus it is that, according to the doctrines
of this School, diseases cease to be pathological conditions, and are
reduced to the rank of simple physiological disturbances, which are
to be met  simply by  physiological means.   A  state of vascular
engorgement,  or hyperaemia, as it is termed, is sought to be counter-
acted by leeching  or cupping the offending part.   If the bowels are
torpid,  and this torpor arises from  deficient  action of the  great
secretory organ  of the bile,  the Hver is  chastised for  its want of
functional activity by a few grains of Calomel,  which are supposed
to have  the effect of stimulating this  viscus to greater efforts in the
business of pouring a sufficient quantity of bile into the bowels, and
properly keeping  up  their peristaltic motion.   The physiological
physician holds the organ responsible for the non-performance of its 
54
HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE
functions, and tries to  modify its functional power according as his
theory may lead him to  apply stimulating or depressing agents for
such a purpose.

  I am anxious to  convey a clear perception of the fundamental
error  upon which  the  superstructure of the Physiological School is
erected.   The Physiological  School denies  the  existence  of  that
which constitutes the life and essence of the science of Therapeutics :
THE REMOVAL  OF DISEASES BY  MEANS OF  SPECIFI-
CALLY  ADAPTED REMEDIAL AGENTS.

  There  are two   classes  of physiological  physicians, one class
comprising those who employ drugs, and the other class those who
do not employ any.  The method  pursued by  this latter  class, is
designated as the expectant method of treatment.   Although these
two methods, the active drugging or dosing method, and the passive
or expectant method, seem to  be not only different from, but opposed
to each other, yet a closer examination will show that this difference
or antagonism is  only apparent,  and  that  both these classes  of
physicians practice their  art in the same spirit, though not in the
same manner.

  Why do Broussais and his followers employ an active medication ?
Is it for the purpose of curing the disease 1  Apparently, but really
with  a view to modifying the physiological  life or activity of an
organ or tissue.  For this purpose  they seek  to make an impression
upon it by means of a substance which ceases to  be a medicinal  or
therapeutic agent, and is converted by them into a simple physiolog-
ical agent, differing from true hygienic agents by its quantitative,
not by its qualitative power.  What need have the physicians who
swear by this philosophy, of therapeutic agents  1  Disease being
a purely  accidental alteration  of  the  physiological  functions, the
Materia  Medica becomes  an useless  classification  of  names  for
pathological  abstractions,  not  for essentially-distinct,  abnormal
conditions of the organic  life ; in the hands of these gentlemen the
Materia Medica is a waste leaf in the great book of Nature.

  Both hygienic and therapeutic substances are merged  in  physio-
logical agents.  If  the stomach craves food, we  feed it on bread,
meat  and vegetables ; but if this craving should exceed the ordinary 
FROM THE  STAND POINT  OF VITALISM.            55
 limit; if it should become excessive, a disease  in fact, though not
 so considered by the  physiological physician, bread and meat may
 not be sufficient to gratify the unceasing demands, physiological
 demands, of the stomach.  This excessive desire for food is gratified,
 not by bread  and meat, but by Opium and  Alcohol.   Opium and
 Alcohol  are administered as physiological, not as therapeutic agents ;
 they arrest the excessive craving for food more energetically, more
 positively and absolutely than ordinary hygienic  agents are capable
 of doing.   If the  salivary  glands secrete  too  much  saliva, the
 physiological  physician does not look  upon this abnormal secretion
 as a disease, but as an excess of physiological action;  and forthwith
 he proceeds to apply suitable means to restrain the. excessive action
 of the organ.   A little Opium or Alum may lessen this immoderate
 desire  for  physiological action.   In the dictionary of the physio-
 logical physician the term " Therapeutics " is expunged.  He does
 not recognize medicinal  agents  as such ;  he believes in Mercury,
 Opium, Tartar emetic only in modifying the physiological functions
 of an organ.   Hygienic and medicinal agents are not  distinguished
 by  any  essential differences ; they only differ quantitatively; they
 hold physiological relations to the  different  organs  of the  body ;
 only these relations are more marked quantitatively, not distinguished
 qualitatively  from   the  physiological   relations  existing between
 ordinary hygienic agents and  the tissues.

  Diseases and purely physiological conditions are confounded in
 the same way as are hygienic and medicinal agents.  A disease is a
 physiological state, only more marked, more  developed as  it were,
 than the ordinary condition of the organ.  A diarrhoea, for instance,
 is  supposed to  arise from an excess of physiological  action in the
 liver ;  salivation is  an excess  of physiological action in the salivary
 glands;  a  pain  is  an excess of nervous  sensibility.   The  idea of
 " disease " disappears entirely amid these definitions.   The organic
 life is always right;  there may be too much or  too little  of it; but
 it is always strictly physiological, and Pathology is a grand illusion.

  If I have succeeded in conveying  a clear  impression of the spirit
 and general philosophy of that portion of the Physiological School
which  delights in active medication, I would  ask: In  what way
are the different sections of this portion of the school distinguished
from each other !  In what way are  Brown's incitability,  Rasori's 
56                homoeopathic law of cure

counter-stimulation,  and  Broussais' irritation distinguished  from
each other?   Is not the spirit which prompted these distinguished
founders of Medical Schools, the  same in each ?   Do  they not all
revolve in a vicious circle ?  Do they not all overlook the important
fact  that  physiological and  pathological  conditions differ in  their
very essence ?  The Physiological School looks upon all deviations
from the normal life  of the  organism as accidental  disturbances of
the physiological equilibrium, without suspecting that these distur-
bances  are  essentially distinct from the normal life of the  parts,
and  that  they are the result of  a morbific action, distinct  in its
essential properties from the  action of the  ordinary physiological
forces  of  the organism.  Let us keep our  mind's eye  fixed  upon
this  important distinction;  we  shall have to revert to it  in a few
moments after  having previously glanced  at the second division of
the Physiological School, comprising the physicians  who are averse
to giving any medicine, and  who consider it  the acme of Art to let
diseases run an undisturbed course to their natural termination.

  If disease is simply an alteration of the physiological functions,
distinguished from the  normal standard by a  little more or less of
functional activity, why should an active medication be pursued  at
all 1  Why not leave the affected organ alone 1  Why  not trust to
its own recuperative energies for the restoration  of its functional
equilibrium ?   Even  Hippocrates  had   observed  that  diseases
generally run a course and reach  a  natural termination ; why not
take advantage of this natural law and pursue a course of treatment
towards the affected  organ  altogether  different  from,  or  even
opposed to, an active medication 1

   Such a course of reasoning gave rise to the so-called expectant
method which is now extensively practiced by some  of the  foremost
men in the Old School, more particularly in Vienna.  This method
is undoubtedly preferable to that adopted  by the other branch of
the Physiological School, inasmuch as it does not interfere  with the
reactive endeavors of the vital force  by entailing medicinal diseases
of longer or shorter  duration  upon  the organism :  the whole aim
and object of the expectant treatment is to remove or palliate  every
obstacle to an  undisturbed  course and  natural  termination  of a
disease.  Hence, no  medical school has done more  towards  a perfect
knowledge of the pathology of diseases than the Expectant School. 
FROM THE STAND POINT OF VITALISM.
57
All the resources of the crucible, of the stethoscope, the microscope
and all  the more recent mechanical  contrivances,  including the
thermometer, have been brought to bear by the expectant physicians
upon the study of morbid changes in the tissues.   The very anxiety
of obtaining a perfect  knowledge of the pathological changes in
the tissues, prevented them from resorting to active treatment.  A
little gum-water,  a  simple tea of elder-blossoms, an infusion of
mint, a mild cathartic, or some similar preparation  of very feeble
active powers, constituted the extreme boundaries of the therapeutic
expectant treatment.

   Nevertheless,  although these two branches of the Physiological
School seem to operate in opposite directions, yet they are animated
by the same spirit, and  start  from the same basis.   Each branch
looks upon disease as a physiological  state, a state either of depres-
sion or exaltation of the normal vitality, which should  be remedied
by purely physiological influences, positive influences according to
the advocates  of active,  negative  influences  according to the
advocates of passive medication.  Neither school acknowledges the
use of medicinal  substances  as therapeutic  agents ;  nor does
either  school  believe  in the  existence of diseases as pathological
conditions differing essentially from the normal physiological life of
the organism.

   The expectant doctors do not pretend to be  in possession of any
therapeutic  method;  they are  satisfied with  counting up  the
number of  their dead  and cured, and proving to the world, by a
simple process of addition, the superiority  of no treatment over
bleeding,  Calomel and  Opium.   Their  co-adjutors at the other
extreme, who delight in active treatment, have no  better grounds
to claim  for it than  a  woful  oversight  of the essential difference
between Good and Evil.  If we  desire to have a clear perception
of the fallacies of the Physiological School, we have simply to apply
its doctrines to  the  moral sphere.  If disease and health  are not
essentially distinct, good and  evil differ only quantitatively, not in
essence.   Avarice is  only an  excess of  economy;'frenzy only an
excess of enthusiasm; hatred  only an absence of love; every evil
passion is only the excess or absence of some good.

   This species of philosophy is based upon a fallacy.   It is not true 
5S
HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW  OF Cl'RE
that  good may become, by development, an evil.   A  good man
may  become better  by the growth of goodness, but not worse.
Good is capable of indefinite development and expansion ;  it never
turns to evil by  obeying  its inherent destiny of undying growth.
On the other hand, evil  can  never change  to  good by  a simple
modification.   There must be  an essential  change of state ; pride
cannot possibly be converted into humility by  a simple  accom-
modating  modification; there  must  be a  complete,  a  radical,
essential change of state.    So  in regard to  normal physiological
functions; they never  become  abnormal by  a simple addition or
subtraction: such a change can only take place  in consequence of
some essential alterations  in their ordinary modes of existence.  A
man who has ordinarily  a good appetite, may not have  quite as
good an appetite on some  days  as on others; or the appetite may
even be wanting at certain periods.  This diminution or momentary
absence of the appetite may be regarded as a simple physiological
modification of the condition of the stomach, for which nothing need
be done except taking a little more active exercise, or doing without
much food for a day or two.  On the other hand, there may be an
occasional extraordinary craving for food, which may regulate itself
without any uncommon  measures being employed against it.  In
reference to these points it is unnecessary pedantically to adhere to
a doctrine.
  If there is  distress in  the stomach, with other  symptoms of
derangement which cannot, by stretching argument and imagination
ever so far, be traced to an intensified action of the normal physio-
logical  life  of the  stomach, we are  forced to  look upon these
abnormal phenomena as manifestations of an essentially-altered or
pathological condition of the organ.

  A correct understanding of the doctrines of Homoeopathy seems
to hinge upon a full comprehension of these radical fallacies  of the
Physiological School.   Can a thing be good and bad at the same
time ?   Can the Vital Force, the Inmost Life-principle, the truly
living organism within  us, upon whose integral  action the physio-
logical harmony of the material organism depends, be at the same
time corrupt and incorrupt 1  Can its essence be at the same time
tainted and untainted ? If this were possible ; if the inmost vitality
could be vitiated by disease, how could it be restored to a state of
health ?  The essence of life in man must needs remain intact • a 
FROM THE STAND POINT OF VITALISM.
59
disturbance of the physiological functions must  result from some
other cause than an abnormal alteration of this essence.
  What we term disease is, therefore, something essentially different
from  a purely  physiological derangement  of the functions.   A
pathological condition must be the result  or  product of some  cause
different  from, and. opposed to, the physiological integrity of the
organism.

  The germs  of diseases are implanted in the tissues in the  shape
of morbid properties, latent or passive capacities or predispositions
for  disease, which, under favorable circumstances, such as the use
of improper food, exposure  to wet, or draughts of  air, retrocession
of the perspiration, excessive mental  or  bodily  fatigue, &c, may
become  developed  into  concrete  forms  or  actualized  diseases
characterized  by specific symptoms.   A  disease  thus developed is
not  a physiological,  but a pathological  condition, which has its
counterpart or  typical representative in the  form of a specifically
corresponding drug in one of  the three kingdoms of Nature.   It is
this specific correspondence  of  a  drug  to  a given disease which
constitutes the  homoeopathicity of the  former  to the latter, and
which, if given in appropriate quantities, and with due regard to
the  natural  susceptibilities  or  even idiosyncrasies  of  the  sick
organism,  effects the removal  of the pathological disturbance.
  It  is in reality the cosmic life-force as individualized in a given
organism,  which rouses up the disease, or, in other words, develops
a hitherto  latent capacity for disease  into  a manifest  and definite
pathological disorder.   A disorder  of  this kind may be regarded as
the result  of a struggle between the life  principle of the organism
and the chemical and  physical forces which seek  to annihilate it.
This theory of disease is perfectly compatible with the production
of diseases consequent upon the  invasion of the  organic tissues by
malaria or by the  miasm of epidemics.   All diseases are character-
ized by  definite  phenonema, and have to be met by drugs capable
of affecting the tissues in a similar manner.

  So  far  we have  drawn one  side  of our therapeutic  picture.
There remains another side to be drawn, after which our work will
be completed.  I   shall  avail myself of Trousseau  and Pidoux's
powerful aid in building up this portion of my argument.
  Let us recall to our minds  the radical  difference between drugs 
60                HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CURE
and hygienic agents, and the remarkable proposition laid down by
these writers, that " as drugs are specifically adapted to diseases,
so do  diseases recall to our minds corresponding drugs."  I have
insisted upon this proposition with great force.   I have shown that
there is but  one  way known  to  us,  of determining  the  disease to
which the drug is specially adapted, and by which, on the other
hand,  the drug is recalled to mind: it is to  prove the drug upon
the healthy organism ;  in this, and in no other known way, can we
approximately determine,  by a  comparison  of the  effects  of the
drug with  the phenomena of the disease, what  drug  and what
disease are in therapeutic rapport.

  In thus experimenting with drugs upon healthy tissues, we are
struck with  a remarkable similarity between  groups  of drug effects
and groups of pathological symptoms. In many cases this similarity
amounts to an actual identity of phenomena.
  How is this ? whence this  striking resemblance, this  occasional
identity of drug-effects and pathological phenomena ?  Let me briefly
endeavor to  answer these questions.

  First,  we had  this trinity of  facts: morbid  properties  of the
tissues or latent capacities for disease developed by the cosmic life-
force  as  individualized in  the organism, into  concrete diseases
characterized by definite symptoms:  here we have
  Secondly, a similar trinity of facts,  namely: the cosmic life-force
acting upon germinal principles  in  the  crust  of our  planet, and
developing them into concrete drugs  possessed of specific morbific
powers.
  Believing that there  is unity in  the  system of Creation and that
the forces of Creation are  summed up  in  man as a microcosm, I
argue that the drug-germs  inherent in the crust  of the earth, cor-
respond with the morbid  properties  of the tissues,  and that drugs
correspond with  fully  developed  diseases.   If this proposition be
generally true,  we have a perfect right to infer from this general
truth this most particular application: that a  drug which has power
to develop in the  tissues an approximative image of some  particular
disease is in curative rapport with  it.   It seems to me that this
inference is irresistible, and  that  the legitimacy  of  the  Homoeo-
pathic law of cures, as a law of  Nature, is  fully made out by the
series of arguments which I have endeavored to present. 
FROM THE STAND POINT OF VITALISM.
61
  It is difficult to part with a theme so sublime, and appealing so
powerfully to  the mind of every thoughtful worshipper of God, and
of the harmonies  of His creation.   We call Homoeopathy a science.
So it is;  but it is a science of the highest order; it is not only the
science of the healing art; it is one of the everlasting and infinite
harmonies, of which God's own Providence  is the fountain-head
and centre.
  Homoeopathy is a theosophic revelation; it is a philosophic system
not fenced in by the limits of a human brain, but which is co-eternal
and co-infinite with the Love  and Wisdom of the  Divine Creator.

  Homoeopathy opens up new avenues of thought concerning the
government of Divine Providence, concerning  Nature and Man, and
concerning the relation of all things to the fountain-head of  Life,
from which both  Man and Nature derive their power to exist and to
perpetuate themselves in  accordance with  definite  and unchange-
able laws.  Homoeopathy leads us  to comprehend the great fact,
that there is but  one Life, which is  the Eternal, Unchanging and
self-existing Esse, and that phenomenal nature is but an endless and
infinitely varied series of forms of, or  capacities for the reception of
Life, each agreeably to its own order, destiny  and laws of being.

  Universal Nature,  including the human organism as its most won-
derful work of Creation,  seems  a  living Whole,  because  every
molecular atom of it is permeated and interpenetrated by the life
which it receives  from the Divine  Source.   The life  flowing into
Nature from the  Divine Esse,  is  always pure even when received
at an immeasurable distance from its origin ; it is the quality of the
recipient form which causes the inflowing  life to become a source
of either good or  evil.  If  this globe is infested with tigers and
rattlesnakes and multitudinous evil creations which are antagonistic
to good and to the  high  destiny  which man  has to accomplish
upon his planet;  it is because these forms of evil are inherent in the
planet, and its surrounding atmospheres as molecular  constituents
out of which the  living  Esse   fashions  the  concrete   forms of evil
which it is man's  high mission and prerogative to subdue and finally
to exterminate.

  If there are  evil men,  or if  the  movement of the human passions
frequently  results in evil  manifestations,  it  is not  because  the
        5 
62
HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE
 life which God has breathed  into man,  was evil, but because t,<e
 quality of the recipient vessel perverted, and  is now perverting the
 in-flowing life to purposes of evil.

   If we find the  Aconitum Napellus, the Atropa Belladonna, the
 Digitalis and other poisonous plants side by side with harmless and
 beautiful flowers which delight us by their hues and fragrance, it is
 because the  molecular constituents or  germinal capacities of both
 life-destroying and life-preserving plants are constituent properties
 or powers of the soil of the planet.   If man is attacked with disease,
 it is because the morbid properties,  or capacities for disease, which
 inhere in the tissues of the material  organism as constituent tenden-
 cies thereof, are developed under suitable circumstances into actual
 or concrete  diseases.   It is the same universal life, the same living
 essence, which pervades and inter-penetrates every created object,
 fills all space, and  transforms the material human organism into a
 living  man;—I say, it is the same life  which  emanates from the
 eternal and self-existing Esse throughout space even  to the uttermost
 boundaries of created Nature, accommodating itself by degrees to
 the most insignificant object of God's care, even to a blade of grass
 or to the insect that is  seen playfully floating on the sunbeam :  it is
 this same living power which  develops  and perpetuates  beauty,
 delight, and perfect harmony all around  us,  that likewise  develops
 morbid capacities into  diseases,  and, in this  sense  only, becomes a
 morbific force which may quicken far-spreading miasms into death-
 harboring epidemics.

  It is Man's high  mission and prerogative to govern this globe, to
eradicate all evil or subversive  creations,  to  perfect  every form of
good,  and to render every   thing  within  the  boundaries of his
domain, serviceable to  the  accomplishment   of his destiny.  He is
 the divinely-appointed  overseer of this globe.   He  is not to govern
his subjects despotically,  like a capricious  tyrant, but each thing in
 accordance with its inherent laws of orderly freedom and use,  as a
 legitimate element  or  link  in  the   universal series of God's own
 Harmonies.  And, inasmuch as God by his infinite and merciful Provi-
 dence governs his universe according to fixed and unchanging laws,
 —formulas of his supreme love and wisdom,—He has made it incum-
 bent on Man's reason to  discover the science in accordance with
 whose behests God has designed  that abnormal  states of existence 
               FROM THE STAND POINT  OF VITALISM.            62

 shall be restored to the normal condition, and that the normal states
 shall be developed to higher forms of beauty,  goodness  and order.
 In his progression towards the fulfilment of his high mission, man
 has succeeded in discovering the law upon which the  healing of
 diseases rests in the frame-work of Nature; he has discovered the great
 fact that the capacities for specific drug-powers in the crust of our
 planet  correspond with specific  capacities for  disease, and that
 fully developed  drugs  correspond with fully developed diseases.
 He has likewise discovered that  this  correspondence is  specific in
 its nature, and that when reduced to practice as a formula or rule of
 healing, it is  tersely,  and  henceforth historically  expressed in
 Hahnemann's  comprehensive  generalization:   " Similia  Similibus
 Curantur:"  or, as  rendered in our own vernacular:  "Like Cures
 Like."

   The terms "cosmic life-force" or "life-force of the cosmos" which
 I have frequently  used in the course of this  work, are to be under-
 stood as meaning the Divine Living Sphere  which, continually and
 perpetually proceeding from the Esse of the Father, diffuses itself, by
 an endless succession of degrees of power and use, throughout space,
 and pervades  every created thing both in heaven and upon earth,
 from the angels who worship around the  Eternal Throne, to the most
 microscopic infusoria ; from the paradisiacal  scenery in the heavenly
 world, to the minutest lichens and mosses in our  primeval forests ;
 from the resplendent  gems  of the New Jerusalem which  John
 beheld,  to  the  humblest grain of sand  on the  ocean shore.  It
 is this same living sphere which transforms man's material organism
 that of itself is dead, into  a living thing, even  to  the most delicate
 cell of this  wonderful and complicated structure.  The chemical
 physiologist  may sneer at the idea of Vital Force ; he cannot sneer
 away the living or, as Hahnemann has been  pleased to  term it, the
 spiritual-dynamic  organism which constitutes  the real  man  and
 enables the material frame to  manifest  vital phenomena either of a
 normal or abnormal order.

  What has been termed  " Vital Force " by the philosophers of the
Vitalists' School, is nothing less than the spiritual or living organism
the existence of which  must  be  accepted  by  every  thoughtful
Homoeopath  as an indispensable  condition of the realization of
both harmonic and inharmonic vital manifestations. 
64
HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE
   These inharmonic manifestations  of life, or diseases, are met in
Nature by corresponding  drugs.   I have  shown,  I  believe to the
satisfaction of every  attentive and  unprejudiced reader,  that this
correspondence of drugs with diseases constitutes the  very soul and
substance of the Science  of Homoeopathy.

   If a drug which is thus shown to be Homoeopathic to a certain
disease is made to act  upon   it, what must  be  the inevitable
consequence ?  Hahnemann has stated it  again  and again in his
remarkable essay entitled  " Spirit of the Homoeopathic  Doctrine."
The drug acting more positively, more definitely, more concretely as
it were, the morbid process going on in the tissues will accommo-
date itself to the more limited  and more external sphere of the drug,
and gradually will cease altogether.  This Homoeopathic method of
cure is not a violent proceeding, and  has  for its basis the funda-
mental universally-prevailing  law  of affinity.   No  drug  can  act
curatively upon a disease with which it is not in relations of affinity:
it is this  affinity which  renders the homoeopathic agent invincible
as it were in its struggle with  disease.

  Homoeopathy  supersedes  the abuse  of  old fashioned  contraries,
counter-irritants, blisters, issues, moxae and the like.  She does not
treat the organism as humoral  pathologists  are wont to do, like an
Augean stable which has to be  cleansed by drastics and murderous
venesections.  In the place of diatheses and dyscrasias, the  Homoe-
opathic School simply observes disease as series of abnormal pheno-
mena,  and  restores  the  normal movements of  the organism in a
thorough, safe and speedy manner,  " cito, tute et jucunde," by
means  of comparatively small doses of a similiarly or homceopathi-
cally-acting agent. 
CHAPTER III.
AN  INQUIRY INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF A SCIENTIFIC
               CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.

   Until  Hahnemann  appeared upon the world's stage, Medicine
was really nothing but  a  chaotic mass  of  speculative theories of
the most dogmatic character.  Medicines were administered upon
no better grounds than some hypothetical notion concerning their
curative  virtues,  and  these virtues were  determined by the system
of Therapeutics  that happened to be  in vogue.  The humoralist,
in whose system all  diseases  arise  from a deterioration of the
humors,  had  his incrassants, his   diluents,  his inviscants,  his
deobstruents, his detergents.   The  medicines, which, in the phil-
osophy of humoral pathologists, were arranged under these  and
other heads,  were again made subservient  by Brown and Rasori
to their peculiar theories.  Brown classed drugs agreeably to what
he  conceived  to  be their  stimulating  properties; stimulation was
the  great object of all  medical  treatment  in his hands,  and the
quantity of incitability with which the  tissues were found endowed,
yielded him  a  standard by which the  curative adaptability of
remedial agents to a given case might be determined.  Hence all
agents became remedial  in his hands,  food,  alcohol or opium; for
all  of them were capable of  stimulating the  tissues;  they only
differed in the degrees of stimulating power with which they were
respectively endowed.
   According  to  the  doctrines of this most crushing dogmatist,
every  disease is  essentially  a  state of  debility  or asthenia,  and
stimulation is, in every case of disease, an appropriate therapeutic
proceeding.   The whole science  of Therapeutics is reduced to a
knowledge of the quantity  of stimulation that may be required in
each case.

  Rasori, in obedience to his famous doctrine  of counter-stimulation,
had to classify drugs into hyper-sthenisants or inflammation-exciting,
stimulating  agents,  and  hypo-sthenisants  or  inflammation-com-
bating, depressing agents.   Tartar emetic being possessed  of an
extraordinary power of depressing the pulse,  was considered by the 
66       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TREE ISASIS  OF

School  of Rasori as the type of the hypo-sthenisants.   Mercury,
Digitalis, Aconite were likewise classed among the order of  hypo-
sthenisants.  Hypo-sthenisants  or  counter stimulants  mean  one
and the same  thing.   Antimony is a counter stimulant, because
in inflammation, which is  considered  as  a  state of stimulation
by  the School of Rasori, the  pulse may become depressed  under
the action of this agent.

  Laennec, the  father of the Specific  School,  whose  name has
become  so brilliantly  identified with the  stethoscope, introduced
another system of classification after Brown, which still finds favor
with  a great many practitioners of the Old  School.   Arranging
medicines with reference to  specific diseases, the character of every
medicine was determined by the syllable anti, which was placed
at the head, or by the  syllable fuge at the  end of some pathological
name against which the medicine was supposed to act.   Hence we
have  anti-phlogistics,  or medicines against  inflammation, among
which the Old  School considers blood-letting in its various forms
and degrees, as the  paramount remedy.   Anti-bilious medicines, or
medicines against bile ; anti-scorbutic, or medicines against scurvy;
anti-syphilitics, or medicines against syphilis.  We have likewise
Febrifuge medicines, or medicines which drive away fever; vermi-
fuges, or medicines which expel  worms.  It is perfectly proper to
call a medicine which  expels worms, a vermifuge ; or to  designate
a medicine  which  combats inflammation, as an  anti-phlogistic.
But it is radically false to consider a medicine a vermifuge,  or  an
anti-phlogistic  under  all circumstances, and  to group  a certain
number  of medicines together in one category as by a  decree of
fate.  The consequence is that a physician who accepts this  kind
of classification as correct, will treat a case of fever and ague, for
which he supposes  Quinine to  be  a Specific, according to  the
teachings of his Materia Medica, with increasing doses, until  the
patient falls a victim to this  murderous practice.  Quinine is bound
to cure this case ; if five grains will not do  it,  ten may ;  and if ten
grains will not  accomplish  a cure, twenty, thirty or  a hundred
must.  The sad  consequences of this practice to human life and
happiness are incalculable.   Woe unto  the poor frame that falls
into the hands of a specificist who delights  in  Mercury.  He is
bound to salivate his  patient.   He  commences his butchery with
five grains without  accomplishing his object.  Ten grains, twenty 
             A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION  OF DRUGS.           67

grains are given, all in vain;  it never  occurs  to this deluded
monomaniac that, on account of some peculiar  idiosyncrasy, saliva-
tion, in the case  of this patient, may be impossible.   Speaking of
this  case  to  his  Colleagues, he  exclaims  in utter  amazement: I
never saw such a constitution;  Mrs. So and So cannot be salivated ;
I gave her fifty grains of Mercury and her mouth remained as dry
as a chip.  Yes,  so it did ;  and her bones, her joints, her synovial
secretions,  her whole reproductive system ; what becomes  of all
this !  What does the miserable dogmatist care for the rheumatism
which invades his patient's joints 1  What does he  care for her
neuralgia ?  What does  he care for her languishing and prostrate
condition, her failing hair, her  sallow complexion which has taken
the place of the fresh bloom of youth; her waning strength, her
dropsical bloat, her cold and clammy skin ?  What does he care if
the patient dies, so that  she dies  secundum artem, by the dreary
rules  of a  medical theory ?
  Every physician may hear of these  things in  his professional
intercourse  with society.  He  may hear of  young  girls whose
menstrual functions have become arrested.   Secale or Aloes,  being
emmenagogues, so written  down  in the books, must bring  about
the menstrual secretion.   But Secale may  not  be the  remedy, and
the poor girl has to be poisoned for the  honor of the School.   The
menses will not make their appearance, but symptoms of poisoning
may,  from  the most  distressing uterine spasms to gangrene of the
extremities.

  And yet, a beautiful and life-restoring truth underlies this system
of specific drugs.  We shall see as we proceed in the study of our
subject, that a drug which is not  specifically adapted  to a disease,
cannot  possibly effect a  cure.  The mistake which the Specificists
of the dominant School commit, consists in taking a name for the
basis  of their specificity.   It is not  names, but states, pathological
conditions characterized by definite symptoms, that should constitute
this  basis.  A pathological condition which requires  Nux vomica
for  its  remedy, will  not  yield to  Ipecacuanha or any other drug.
This law is as fixed  as the  starry heavens.  In this determination
of the  specific relations  of drugs to  specific diseases consists the
Art and Science of Homoeopathy.

  It  seems unnecessary  to continue  this criticism  much further; 
6S       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES, THE TRUE  BASIS OF

we will only  state, for  the sake of completeness, that the Physiolo-
gical School, of which Bichat was one of the most illustrious founders,
and Broussais the most brilliant and  logical architect, has indulged
in another classification of drugs  in  accordance  with its  own
peculiar doctrines of tissues and functions.  In this School we find
sialagogues, or drugs  which promote the secretion  of saliva;  our
emmenagogues, or drugs which restore  the menses; our cathartics
and  drastics,  or drugs  which promote  and  compel  the  peristaltic
motion and consequent evacuation of the bowels.

  The classification adopted  by the  practitioners of the Physiolo-
gical  School  seems to be  more  logical than any that  had been
introduced by other pathologists.   It is suggested by the functions
of the different organs,  the classification  being generally determined
by the most prominent effect of the drug.   Mercury, for  instance,
is termed a sialagogue or  saliva-secreting drug, because a more
copious  secretion of  saliva is  the  chief  symptom  among  the
various effects of Mercury.   But  is this the only  effect  of this
implacable enemy ?   Does  not  Mercury  destroy  the alveolar
process,  the  gums, the  bones,  the mucous membranes ?  Does
it not destroy the plasticity of the blood ?  Does it not  induce
idcers on the  sexual organs, swelling, inflammation and suppuration
of glands ?  All these  diversified  effects of Mercury are prominent
disorders of this  formidable  poison, but are not in the  remotest
degree alluded to  by the term sialagogue.

  Or take Aconite, another  drug of  an  extensive range  of  action.
How will you  classify it in  accordance  with  its  diversified
symptoms ?  Old-School  physicians term  it  a  narcotic; more
recently they have commenced to regard it as  an  anti-phlogistic,
because  the  primary  effect of Aconite  consists in depressing  the
pulse.   But Aconite might likewise be classed among the sudorifics,
for it promotes cutaneous action in fever; or it might be considered
as a diuretic, for  it increases the flow  of urine ; or as a sedative,
for it quiets the restlessness of an agitated nervous sysetm ;  or as a
tonic, for it restores the  sunken  energy of the system in fever or
nervous  diseases ; or  as  an emmenagogue, for it brings back  the
menses after they had been  suppressed by a fright or by exposure
to wet;  or  as an errhine,  for  it restores the  secretions  of the
Schneiderian membrane  after they  had become suppressed by a 
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.           69
cold.  There is  hardly a  category  in  which Aconite, and indeed
many other drugs of a comprehensive therapeutic range, might not
be classed with all due regard for scientific accuracy.

  It seems perfectly proper to class  drugs with reference to certain
tissues or organs.  Some drugs act more upon one  organ or tissue
than upon  another;  certain drugs  act so  prominently upon  one
organ  or set of organs that they  may  be classed  with  a good
degree of propriety with  reference to  this particular organ or set
of organs.   Secale, for instance, may very  properly be considered
as a uterine agent, on account of the prominence  of its action
upon the uterine fibre;   Aconite  may be set down  as a  cardiac
remedy,  because  it affects the movements  of the heart in a very
characteristic manner;   Digitalis   may  be  ranged  among  the
cardiacs for similar reasons.  Pulsatilla has a marked action upon
the synovial membranes ;  Arsenic upon  the liver and stomach;
Mercury upon the gums and salivary glands ; Nux vomica upon the
spinal  cord;  Opium,  Hyoscyamus, Belladonna and Stramonium
upon the brain.   Cantharides act  upon the bladder with more
exclusive intensity than any other  known drug can boast of.

  A natural mode of classifying drugs  would undoubtedly be  the
following.   Inasmuch  as  every drug  must necessarily act upon
definite points in the living organism, upon definite localities, this
peculiarity  should  not be  lost sight  of in  a  natural system of
classification.  We might refer to this peculiarity as the anatomical
character of the drug.
  Another standard of classification would then be the physiological
character of the  drug, or the manner in which the functions of the
affected organ are modified by it.
  And lastly, we might consider the pathological character of the
drug, that is to say, its relations to definite pathological conditions
as indicated by its physiological action, or its action upon healthy
tissues.
  Every drug should be studied from this trinitary point  of view
as an anatomico-physiologico-pathological unit.   In my System of
Materia Medica  and Therapeutics, this order of studies has been
strictly  adhered  to.   I have endeavored,  from the  toxicological
and  pathogenetic effects  of a  drug, to trace its relation to  the
organic   tissues   which it  affects;  next I have  presented  the 
70       THE  PATHOLOGICAL SERIES, THE  TRUE BASIS OF

physiological action  of the  drug as manifested by symptoms, and
lastly, I have established parallel series between the pathogenetic
or drug-effects of  every drug  and the  pathological or  morbid
symptoms to which they correspond.

  The inherent defects of the classifications of drugs which Old-
School authors have  adopted, each from his own point of view as
regards the nature  of diseases and  the  primary or physiological
action  of drugs,  are admitted  by such  men as Trousseau  and
Pidoux whom I  consider as two of the  most  philosophical  and
foremost Therapeutists  of  the  dominant  School.   They  say,
speaking of alterative agents:  " We are  doubtful whether there
exists a single  agent in the Materia Medica that could be rigorously
classed in a single category.   It is assuredly proper to class opium
among  the  stupefying  agents;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  Opium
excites  the circulation;  it  is  a  sudorific,  an  aphrodisiac,  an
emmenagogue.  Iodine is not  exclusively an alterative;  it  has
likewise excitant  and  emmenagogue  properties.  Gold  is  an
alterative, but at  the same time a powerful tonic for the stomach.
The complex composition of Cod-liver oil  renders  its classification
uncertain and embarrassing.  By its chemical  principles (Iodine,
Bromine, &c.,) it naturally belongs to the class of these alteratives,
whereas its most characteristic therapeutic properties assign it a
place among the analeptic  tonics.   These remarks  are  made for
the double purpose of showing the difficulty or rather  the vanity
of  classification,  and  of  impressing   upon  practitioners   the
importance of not losing sight of the complex properties  of drugs,
and of being ever mindful of the fact, that  drugs are like two-edged
swords and have various properties, one  of which  it  may be
necessary to use in cases where the other  properties might prove
hurtful, and would, therefore, have to be neutralized."

   In Hahnemann's Materia  Medica Pura we are presented with  a
list of the symptoms that characterize the action of drugs upon
healthy organisms.   The symptoms are  grouped with reference to
the anatomical regions of the body, giving us the symptoms of the
body;  the  symptoms  of  the  head, special senses,  digestive,
urinary  and sexual  organs, of the  respiratory system, extremities
and skin, and finally the fever-symptoms and  those  of the  mental
and moral sphere.   Characteristic peculiarities  in  the  action of 
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
71
drugs are pointed out, whenever they occur, in  special paragraphs
at the foot of a  page.

   In this arrangement the relation  of drugs to  special diseases is
not indicated by the illustrious discoverer of the Homoeopathic Law.
This omission was not the  result of an accidental  oversight,  but
the logical consequence of the manner in which Hahnemann  saw
fit to apply the idea of homceopathicity to the treatment of diseases.
Hahnemann having become disgusted with the pathological vagaries
of  his contemporaries, and being  thoroughly  convinced of their
untenableness, and of their mischievous character  as  therapeutic
generalizations,  repudiated  pathological doctrines  altogether  as
unnecessary in the practical businesss of healing the sick.

   We say that he repudiated pathological speculations; he did  not
repudiate Pathology.  He did not say that, because the treatment
of  acute and chronic  diseases  had been based upon  speculative
notions  concerning their  essence, such  disorders as measles, scar-
latina,   smallpox,  inflammations,  ceased to  be  definite morbid
conditions,  characterized  by  specific  pathognomonic  signs  and
subject to special laws of development from the period of incubation
to their  final disappearance from the tissues.  Hahnemann did not
say that the  causes, course and natural terminations of diseases
should not be  carefully  observed  and  investigated  by medical
practitioners.  He never  taught that asthma was  not something
essentially distinct from pneumonia,  or that  pericarditis was  not
something essentially  distinct from  albuminuria.    Speculate as
much as you please about the essential nature  of diseases,  but
do  not  base your  treatment  upon  mere speculative  theories.
Hahnemann was an eminently practical philosopher;  to him the
Art of  Healing was a practical business,  and  the only practical
foundation upon which,  according  to  his  judgment,  we  should
build  its temple,  is  a careful knowledge  of all the  perceptible
symptoms  of a  disease.   For, argued Hahnemann,  if the percep-
tible symptoms  have  disappeared,  the  patient is   either well or
else  all  further  treatment  becomes impossible,  for  the  simple
reason  that the  indications are wanting.

  To  this  very  simple and,  to my  mind,  very conclusive mode
of reasoning  it has been  objected that  a patient may be afflicted 
72       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TRIE BASIS  OF

with a disease  of whose presence he is not conscious.  A patient
may have an aneurism  of the aorta  and may  suddenly  die of this
disease without its  existence having been suspected.    What  will
you do in such a case with your symptom-theory ?   Well,  nothing.
But  what  do  you  propose to  do  in  such  a case  with your
pathological  speculations?  Do  you not  see  that,  in  essence,
Hahnemann's doctrine is perfectly correct, and  that all legitimate
medical  treatment  ceases the  very  moment  the indications are
wanting.

  The first duty of a physician who follows  Hahnemann  as his
guide,  is to take a record of  all the perceptible symptoms of a
patient's  case.  In his Organon, Hahnemann gives full instructions
concerning the  best mode of proceeding in this first step towards
a cure.

  From  among the number of  the questions  presented in  the
work referred to, the physician selects such  as bear more parti-
cularly upon  the patient's case.  Knowing the  symptoms  of the
disease,  the physician then applies himself to selecting a remedy
from among the whole  number of drugs, whose effects upon the
healthy  organism  have  been ascertained more or  less completely
by  a number  of  provers.  On this point likewise the  Organon
contains  ample instructions, which  may be found recorded in a
series of paragraphs from $ 150  to §  202  of this  extraordinary
work.   According  to  these teachings,  in  order  to cure  a  sick
headache, we have  to prescribe a medicine that will produce an
exactly  similar headache in a healthy  person.  Or, in  order to
cure an  inflammation of the lungs,  we have to give a medicine
capable   of causing  an   exactly similar  disturbance  in a healthy
person.   And so with all other diseases, no  matter  what  organ,
tissue or part of the body may be affected.

  In  order to  prescribe a medicine  in accordance  with  the
principle  "Like Cures   Like," we  have in the first place to be
acquainted with a  medicine capable  of developing in the healthy
organism all the symptoms  of  the natural disease.   We  cannot
employ  this medicine until  we have  first tried  it upon a number
of healthy  persons;  in  other words, a number of healthy persons
of both sexes and of various ages, temperaments and  constitutions 
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION  OF DRUGS.
73
must have swallowed a sufficient portion of the original drug, in
order to  develop all the various effects which it  is capable of
producing in the human  organism.   As  long  as these effects are
not exactly  known,  no homoeopathic physician can administer a
drug  in  strict  conformity  to  the  law  " Similia  Similibus
CURANTUR."

  It  cannot be  denied  that  there  are  grave  difficulties in the
way  of a  literal application  of this rule  in  the  treatment of
diseases.  Many  diseases   cannot  be  reproduced  in the  human
organism  by  artificial means.  Of this  number  are the various
cutaneous  eruptions,  eruptive  fevers, chronic  hereditary taints,
enlargement  of  organs,  arthritic deposits,   effusions  into  the
cavities  of  the  brain, chest,   abdomen, glandular  indurations,
scirrhous disorganizations, consumptive conditions,  malformations.
A great many of these  diseases  can be, and have been cured,
and  yet no  prover has ever yet succeeded in developing  similar
diseases by  mere drugs;  it is not probable  that, howsoever far a
single man's devotion to  science  may now  and then be  carried,
a number of men will deliberately consent  to poison  themselves
systematically for a long time,  until their constitutions shall  have
become so thoroughly impregnated with  the poisonous  drug that
external or  internal  disorganizations must result from these alter-
ations of the  organic  vitality.

  We  have seen that, according to  the usual mode  of  under-
standing the term "Similarity," and applying this formula " Similia
Similibus" to the treatment of diseases, a physician has to proceed
in this  manner:  All  the symptoms  that a patient complains of;
the various sensations  of pain which  he experiences; the  various
eruptions, pimples,  blotches,  tubercles,  tumors, etc.,  which are
seen upon the skin;  the  color,  smell, consistency  and  frequency
of the urinary and alvine evacuations; the abnormal phenomena
of the nervous system generally;  the  symptoms  occurring  during
sleep, such as dreams, startings of the limbs  or body,  etc.;  the
period of the day when the pain is felt, the side of the body where
it  is felt, the  conditions  and  situations  in  which it  is excited,
aggravated or  diminished:  all these symptoms have  to be recorded
with the most  perfect minuteness, after which a remedy has to be
found in the Materia Medica which shall present the same array of 
74       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TRUE  BASIS OF

symptoms,  and,  if one cannot be found which  is exactly similar,
then the next similar,  and if, under the operation  of this remedy
some of  the symptoms  disappear,  then another similar remedy
for  the remaining  symptoms until  the whole series has  been
extinguished.  Those  who desire  to  be acquainted  with Hahne-
mann's own teachings in  reference to this matter, may consult his
Organon of Homoeopathic Medicine, from pages  143 to 154.  They
will there find it  stated in substance that disease, in a  therapeutic
aspect, consists in a certain  numerical  arrangement of symptoms,
and  " that a cure is effected by means of a drug  which is known to
have produced these very symptoms in a  healthy  person,  when
taken by the latter in sufficient quantity and for a sufficient length
of time."

  If the idea of  symptomatic Similarities were  rigorously pushed
to its extreme consequences, we should not only have to reject the
received nomenclature of diseases,  but we might  even  have  to
discard  the morbid  conditions for  which  such nomenclature is
intended.   Inflammation  would become an  obsolete technicality.
typhus, jaundice, rheumatism,  paralysis, spinal irritation would
cease to be definite functional disturbances  of particular  organs or
tissues.  The outward signs of diseases;  pains such as  the patient
feels and describes them; eruptions, such  as they appear to the
untaught eye of the  layman who distinguishes them  merely by
their  color, shape  or by  the accessory  symptoms   of  itching,
gnawing,  burning and  similar subjective sensations; would con-
stitute the chief object of study and the limit of  treatment.
  It never  was  Hahnemann's idea  to  degrade  the  science  of
Therapeutics to  the mechanical business  of taking a record  of
symptoms and of adapting to them a parallel-record of drug-effects.
His doctrine of  Chronic Diseases alone is sufficient to disprove this
absurd accusation.   What a boundless space  does  this  doctrine
open to speculation!   How would the doctrine of symptomatic
similarities apply in cases where the symptoms are few, ill-defined,
and where the physician is nevertheless expected to afford relief or
even to effect a  cure ?  In cases of amaurosis,  chronic asthma, or
diarrhoea, paralysis, spinal irritation,  we are very often baffled in
our treatment.   The  idea  of a psoric principle looms up in the
back ground.  But how  are we to determine  the remedy which
corresponds to this peculiar form of psora ?  Is it Sulphur, Lyco- 
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION  OF DRUGS.
75
podium,  Calcarea, or what is it ?  A physician  would most likely
give an opinion in accordance with preconceived theoretical notions
or predilections.  We should have the Sulphur-men advocating the
imprescriptible rights of their facile  princeps of the anti-psorics;
Lycopodium would  be  represented  by others;  Dulcamara  and
Calcarea  might have their advocates ;  Arsenic would undoubtedly
hang out its dark flag, and a paean would be sung to  Lachesis  by
its worshippers.

  Hahnemann knew  as well as any other man that in the treat-
ment of  mental diseases, it is frequently impossible to obtain an
intelligible  account of the patient's sufferings.  Little  children
are  unable  to  describe their  sensations  of  pain.   And how are
we to become acquainted with the symptoms  of patients labor-
ing under an  attack  of apoplexy, or  seized with tetanic convul-
sions, with  acute haemorrhage  from the lungs or some other acute
disorder where a total or partial  loss of consciousness incapacitates
the patient  from giving an account of  his condition 1   In many
cases of  disease a long and detailed examination  of the  patient is
either  impossible or  dangerous.  It would be  cruel to subject a
patient seized with acute asthma to an orthodox  cross-examina-
tion after the  fashion  recommended  in the  Organon.   No  phy-
sician who is  sent  for in the dead  of night to  arrest an haemorr-
hage from the uterus  or lungs,  will stand  idly  by  and, while
the life-pulse  of  his patient is  ebbing feebler and feebler,  amuse
himself with taking  a record  of all  the principal and  accessory
symptoms  in  the case.   The immediately  determining causes  of
the  accident  can very  readily be  investigated and,  if possible,
removed.
  Nor need our  domestic animals be abandoned to their  fate,  if
sickness  overtakes  them.  Is  the interesting field of  veterinarv
surgery to be relinquished by  the  homoeopathic  practitioner, be-
cause  he cannot  apply  to  the  dumb  animal the  interrogatory
prescribed by the Organon ?

  These  difficulties and partial  impossibilities have led to  various
modifications  in  the application  of the homoeopathic  Law.  In
diagnosticating a  case  of disease,  every characteristic  symptom
should of course be  correctly  observed by  a homoeopathic prac-
titioner,  and a remedy should  be chosen with  reference  to these 
76       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES, THE  TREE BASI.s OF

symptoms.  In  acute  cases, however,  it  need not  be  chosen  m
the pedantically-minute  manner which was  considered  essential
to  homoeopathic practice  by  the  original  promulgators of our
Art;  but with the spirit of a philosophical faith in the identity
of drugs and  diseases, which causes every  disease to be charac-
terized  by a few  striking,  unmistakable symptoms, and  which
causes  every  drug to  likewise  affect  the  tissues  in a  positive,
identically-uniform, unmistakable  manner.   It  is  owing to the
essential identity of drug-action, and to the  essential identity  of
pathological conditions,  in  all  climes  and  ages,  and among  all
nations,  that  homoeopathic practitioners  have  been enabled   to
establish the curative  relation of most  of their  important reme-
dial agents  to diseases  upon the  reliable  basis of  actual expe-
rience  and  repeated  observation.  If  the  homoeopathy of the
present day differs from the  homoeopathy of former times, it  is
in this, that every enlightened  and educated homoeopathic phy-
sician  now considers  diseases   not merely  as  an aggregate  of
symptoms, but  as an  abnormal  condition  of vitality, which has
to be acted  upon by  a drug  in  an  integral manner,   the per-
ceptible  symptoms merely  serving  us  as  guides  in selecting the
specific drug for a specific  disease.

  The  action of  Aconite,  for  instance, upon the  cerebro-spinal
and   ganglionic  centres  is  characterized  by such  well-marked
symptoms that  it is  next  to  impossible to  mistake its use  in
neuralgic and inflammatory affections.   Its action upon the portal
system  of  veins,  upon  the biliary functions, upon the special
senses, is self-evident  to every  observer  endowed with  ordinary
intelligence  and furnished with  the necessary requisites  of anato-
mical and pathological knowledge.

  Who does not see the specific uses  of  Belladonna in  affections
of the  brain,  of the dermoid tissue, of the  womb, reflected  by
its  pathogenetic and  toxicological  action  upon  the   normally-
existing organism ?

  Look  at the  toxicological action of Hyoscyamus,  Stramonium,
and Opium upon the brain.   Are  not  the  cerebral diseases with
which these agents  are  in  curative relations, shadowed forth  in
distinct  outlines by their toxical effects ? 
A SCIENTIFIC  CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
77
   Who will deny, on perusing the pathogenetic  effects of Pul-
satilla,  that the genius of this drug  presides  over  affections of
the  synovial membranes,  of the gastric  sphere,  of  the urinary
and sexual  systems?   And  who  will  deny  that the  curative
relation  is, in  almost  every  instance,  indicated  by the  peculiar
action of the drug ?

   Who that knows,  can mistake the stools which require  ipeca-
cuanha,  for  those over which rhubarb  or  arsenic  exercises  a
regulating control?

   The  vomiting which will  yield  to.  ipecacuanha, is  as unmis-
takably  indicated by  the  action of this  agent upon the mucous
lining  of  the  stomach, as is the  vomiting  which will  yield to
arsenic,  veratrum  album or  nux vomica, by the peculiar  action
of either of these  agents.

   No  intelligent  observer  can  mistake a   corrosive-sublimate
dysentery  for one  that  requires aconite,  arnica, mercurius vivus
or nux vomica.

   Even  syphilitic affections  are  distinctly  reproduced  by  the
action of mercury  upon the  healthy tissues.

   We  desire to  state most emphatically that those who  deny or
overlook  the  absolute  value  of drug-symptoms;  their identity,
in numberless  cases,  with the pathognomonic  signs of diseases ;
the peculiarities  which  very  frequently characterize their action;
their occurrence  or  disappearance in certain positions of  the
body,  or  at particular periods  of the day: are not inspired by
the genius of  the homoeopathic healing Art, and must ever fail
in doing justice  to its life-saving behests.

  On the other hand let  it be remembered that symptoms, although
each may convey an  intelligible meaning,  have very frequently to
be combined, like  the words  of speech, into a phrase which no
longer  expresses  an  elementary idea, but represents  a  unitary
group of  elements that may  occur again and again as a natural
disease, and may occupy a legitimate and  permanent place in the
science of nosology.
      6 
 78       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TRUE BASIS OF

   A  physician who is ignorant of the  law of order, under which
 such a group exists from the beginning to the end of its course,
 cannot possibly do justice to the  therapeutic requirements upon
 which  the  gradual removal  of  this group depends.  If diarrhoea
 was  a  prominent  symptom of the group, the constipation which
 may  subsequently  set in, may be  regarded by an ignorant prac-
 titioner as  a morbid  condition, whereas, in the light of reason, it
 might perhaps appear as a physiological change spontaneously and
 necessarily super-induced by  the re-awakened  vitality.
   Or an excessive apathy to food may be succeeded, under proper
 therapeutic management, by  a temporary craving for nourishment.
 So far  from requiring any special treatment, the  best treatment
 under such circumstances may perhaps be not to  give any medi-
 cine,  or if  medicine  is to be given  at all, to continue the same
 remedy which  had induced  the  change,  in smaller doses  and at
 more extended intervals.
   Continued menstrual obstructions may be succeeded under proper
 treatment by a profuse menstrual discharge; or habitual constipa-
 tion may result in diarrhoea,  both the menstrual discharge and the
 diarrhoea being  true  physiological  changes  which  should  not be
 interfered with by medicinal influences.
   A practitioner who is  sufficiently enlightened by education and
 experience to discriminate between physiological changes which are
 attributable to normal vital re-action, and pathological conditions,
 which, although apparently differing from the  original disease, may
 be  simple  developments or  symptomatic transformations  of the
 pathological process, whose essential unity may not  be changed by
 the evolution of apparently  new symptoms :  such a practitioner
 very frequently succeeds in conducting the treatment  of an appa-
 rently complicated  and deep-seated disorder to a successful termina-
 tion by the use of one or at most two remedies.

  There is hardly a disease which has not yielded to the exclusive
 use of one remedy in the hands of a skilful and enlightened physi-
 cian.  We  know that meningitis, typhus, scarlatina have yielded
 to Belladonna;  pneumonia to Phosphorus,  Aconite  or Squills;
 rheumatism, dysentery, phlegmonous inflammations and  acute con-
gestions of almost  every  organ or tissue to Aconite; Bryonia has
 cured many a case of rheumatism ;  Pulsatilla  has removed inflam-
mations of the  synovial  membrane.  How many cases of  liver- 
A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION  OF DRUGS.           79
affection and their remote consequences have disappeared under the
exclusive use of Arsenic  and Mercury.  Nux vomica  claims  an
exclusive and specific share in the successful treatment of many
forms of  gastric derangements.  Look at that host of  disorders
which may be traced to lymphatic  engorgements as their starting-
point,  and  where Mercury alone  affords  permanent  relief.  The
exclusive use of Ipecacuanha has enabled us to effect the cure of
infantile capillary bronchitis ; in other cases the  exclusive use of
Hepar sulphuris has led to the same result.   Aconite alone has often
cured acute bronchitis ;  even quite recently I cured a formidable
case of  malignant laryngitis by the persistent exhibition of Arsenic.

  We know that the soluble Mercury will cure primary syphilis.
Years of experience  and actual experiment upon the healthy living
tissues have demonstrated this fact.   Among the pathogenetic, or as
the Old School is pleased to term it,  physiological effects of Mercury,
the primary chancre,  balanitis, glandular swellings in the  groin,
constitute prominent symptoms.  But it is not only to primary, but
likewise to secondary and tertiary syphilitic affections that Mercury
is frequently found adapted.   Yet,  with few exceptions, we do  not
find the symptoms  of the secondary or tertiary forms of syphilis
delineated among the physiological  effects of Mercury.
  Why then, if the symptomatic  similarities fail us, are we justified,
as  homoeopathic  practitioners,  in  using Mercury  for  the more
inveterate forms of syphilis ?   By a  very  simple, but perfectly
legitimate mode of reasoning.
  Knowing from actual observation, what  secondary  and tertiary
developments of the  syphilitic disease may arise from the primary
invasion of  the  virus,  and  having moreover ascertained from
actual  experiment upon the healthy  tissues,  that  the primary
invasion of the mercurial disease  is, in all respects, marked  by
the same symptoms  as the primary form of syphilis, we  have a
perfect  right to  conclude that,  if the  mercurial  disease were
developed to a  sufficient degree  of penetrating intensity, it might
very  frequently assume the  same  forms  which  characterize  the
secondary  and  tertiary  forms  of  the  syphilitic  disease.  Hence
there is no  reason  why the mercurial  disease should  not very
frequently have power to  neutralize the more inveterate forms of
syphilis, even  caries,  chancrous ulcerations  of the throat, nasal
cartilages, etc.  In  thus treating  these  syphilitic developments 
S:)       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TRUE BASIS  OF

pathologically, without the assistance of symptomatic similarities,
great skill and knowledge have  to be possessed by the attending
physician in following up the disease step  by step with adequate
doses of the remedy, neither too large  nor too  small, lest  in the
latter case the disease should  extend its ravages more  and more,
and  in  the former, lest the  excessive abuse  of the  mercurial
preparations should give rise to  that monstrous compound, mercurial
syphilis.

  We  have  a perfect right to say  that it is not always  either
necessary or possible to select a remedial agent symptomatic-ally.
We  may prescribe a medicine upon  purely pathological  grounds
with perfect  certainty.  If  we  know that the starting-point of
true  inflammation is  an  irritation of the capillary terminations of
the ganglionic and cerebro-spinal systems of nerves,  and that the
action  of  Aconite upon  these  systems  starts  from  the  same
beginning;  we infer  that  Aconite  will prove  in curative relation
with phlegmonous inflammations, even though they should not be
delineated  among  the proviugs.

  What  is  now needed, like the new manna that shall  feed the
children  in  the wilderness, or  quench their thirst  like the  water
from the  rock, is the  light of science which shall reveal the
therapeutic  character of the drug-symptoms that have been piled
mountain-high, like  Ossa upon Pelion, until it has almost become
impossible  to ascend the  dreary heights of our Materia Medica.
We  have proved  drugs  enough wherewith  to  heal  all curable
diseases.   If we desire to avoid confusion, let the old and the new
remedies  which   are  constantly being   added to our  stock,  be
investigated with reference to definite pathological conditions which,
after all,  constitute the beacon-light by which the value or worth-
lessness of drug-symptoms is to be determined.

  A  scientific classification of drugs without reference to pathologi-
cal phenomena is an impossibility.   Materia Medica is not a natural
Science.  Its elementary constituents, by which  I  understand the
physiological effects of drugs, are not referable to a general principle
which  unites them into one coherent  series.  Each drug stands as
an independent unit whose characteristics have  to  be studied
independently of those of any other drug.  The physiological  effects 
A SCIENTIFIC  CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS.
81
of Aconite  may be more or less analogous to  those of Belladonna,
Veratrum viride, and some other drug;  but the Aconite  series of
drug-symptoms neither  suggests,  nor accounts for,  the  series of
Belladonna  symptoms.   In order  to  become  acquainted with the
effects of a drug upon the tissues of the normally existing organism,
we have to prove it in  appropriate  quantities  upon a number of
healthy persons of different sexes, ages and temperaments.  The sum
of all drug-symptoms constitutes a series which has its counter-part
or parallel  in  the pathological series.    Pathology is  no  more  a
Science than Materia Medica.   Every pathological condition has to
be studied as an independent group of symptoms distinct from those
of any other pathological group.   Pneumonia does not account for
the  origin,  course and terminations  of  membranous croup, any
more than the remedial agents which are in specific curative rapport
with pneumonia,  lead, by an a priori process  of reasoning,  to  a
determination or  discovery of the remedial agents which are in
curative rapport  with croup.   Materia Medica   and  Pathology
simply  constitute two  elements  of  the great  central series  of
Therapeutics.   When  united  in this Science under the banner of
" Similia  Similibus Curantur," the symptoms of the pathogenetic
series acquire a definite meaning,  and their scientific legitimacy and
reliability as  therapeutic guides, become  established upon an
irrefutable basis.

  In presenting the ascertainment  of the  scientific relation of drugs
to diseases as the highest object of our drug provings, I do not mean
to convey the impression, that drug symptoms of which no counter-
part has as  yet occurred  in the pathological series, should  not be
recorded as legitimate effects of the action of drugs upon the normal
tissues of the organism;  whether obtained by  means  of large  or
small quantities  of drug substances, by means  of  low or high
attenuations, all such effects should be recorded for future  use;  in
the  course  of time  new pathological  derangements,  and more
particularly  nervous disturbances may occur, for which drug-symp-
toms that had  hitherto  seemed  of  no   clinical use,  may prove
available as  their typical  similia.

  In concluding this chapter of my work, I may  be permitted to
refer to the doctrine of " Analogues " which has fastened itself with
an iron grip upon the literature of our School.   This  doctrine is 
82       THE PATHOLOGICAL SERIES,  THE TRUE BASIS  OF

based  upon a wrong conception of what is understood by the term
" Similarity " in homoeopathic practice.  This term only refers to
drug-action as corresponding with,  or  analogous to  pathological
action.   The action of one drug cannot be said to be analogous to
that of any other drug.   There are certain gross external similarities
of drug effects, such as an emetic,  cathartic, or narcotic action, but
similarities of this grossly external order are without any scientific
value in homoeopathic therapeutics.   The inflammatory fever which
may yield promptly and radically to Aconite, may not be influenced
in the  least by Belladonna or any other drug.  The soluble Mercury
of Hahnemann will cure promptly  and radically a chancre that
would  resist  every attempt at  a cure by  means  of any other
mercurial preparation; whereas Corrosive Sublimate will arrest and
heal syphilitic destructions, upon which the soluble Mercury or any
other mercurial  preparation might have  no effect whatever.  The
fact  is, every drug has its own sphere of  action which  cannot be
said  to correspond  with, or be analogous  to, any other sphere of
drug-action.  We may establish groups of drugs for the purpose of
aiding  the memory  in grasping the immense detail of symptoms of
which  our Materia  Medica is composed;  all such expedients are
legitimate  and useful, but  they are  not scientific ;  they are the
products of subjective  genius, and may to a great extent have been
suggested by observation and  experience.  It is proper, for instance,
that drugs  should be  grouped with reference to their therapeutic
character under such  heads as the pneumonia group, the pleuritic
group, the meningitic group,  the fever group, etc. ;  or we may
group  drugs  with  reference  to anatomical  localities under such
heads as : the cephalic group, the thoracic  group, the sexual group,
etc.; but all such arrangements are simply  expedients,  more or less
practically  useful,  inasmuch  as they facilitate the  study  of  our
Materia Medica,  but they are neither philosophically  nor physio-
logically scientific ;  the  Science  is  exclusively  embodied  in the
formula  " Similia  Similibus  Curantur,"  intended  to present  a
parallel of Series of  Analogies,   Similarities,  or correspondences
of drug effects on the one hand,  and pathological phenomena on
the  other,  and  constituting,  supremely  and  alone,  the  grand
Science of Therapeutics. 
         THE








SCIENTIFIC BASIS






          OF








HOMOEOPATHY.
SECTION II. 
SECTION  II.
SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HOMOEOPATHY.
PART FIRST.
INADEQUACY AND UNRELIABILITY OF CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS AS A
   MEANS OF DETERMINING THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS,
   AND ESTABLISHING THE  HEALING  ART UPON A  SCIENTIFIC
   FOUNDATION.
PART SECOND.
PRESENTATION  OF THE  HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CURE  AS  A
   COSMOGONICAL PRINCIPLE AND AS THE BASIS OF THERAPEUTIC
   SCIENCE.
PART THIRD.
PATHOGENESIS AND PATHOLOGY, OR CORRELATION OF ARTIFICIALLY
   DEVELOPED DRUG-DISEASES AND NATURAL MALADIES.
                 PART FOURTH.

CONCLUSION. 
PART  I.
INADEQUACY  AND  UNRELIABILITY   OF   CHEMICAL
     ANALYSIS  AS  A  MEANS  OF  DETERMINING THE
     THERAPEUTIC  POWERS OF DRUGS, AND ESTAB-
     LISHING THE HEALING ART  UPON A  SCIENTIFIC
     FOUNDATION.

  What is Homoeopathy ?  This question, so frequently asked and
as frequently, more or less successfully, answered, becomes invested
with an increasing interest in proportion as the attention of legislative
bodies is more earnestly awakened to this great subject.  I,  too,
claim the privilege  of contending for the glorious truths  that are
hidden under the mantle of Homoeopathy; I, too, claim the right
of seeking to emancipate man from the dogmatism of the Schools,
and to secure for him the government of laws which  will transform
his living frame into a temple of holiness.
  The conflict between the antagonistic forces of conservatism and
progress, dates from the  beginning of the world's history.   It has
to be fought, for it inheres in the destiny of man, if not as an eternal
law, at least as a temporary necessity, as a condition of ultimate
peace by the union  of  liberty and order, truth  and  life.  Let me
review the grounds  upon which  I  propose to meet  the  hostile
forces; let me cast an observing glance at  their ancient and powerful
intrenchments, and afterwards unfurl the  banner under  which our
school is battling for Homoeopathy and truth.

  The healing of the sick is the special  province of the physician.
The statements and  arguments which I shall offer in the pages of
this Section of my work, refer more particularly to the diseases for
which drugs  are designed as remedial  agents.   Surgical diseases and 
84       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO  DETERMINE

chemical poisonings do not come under the therapeutic law for which
I shall claim the right of citizenship in the Universe of truth.

  From time immemorial it has been customary for physicians to
classify drugs in accordance with the peculiar notions which they
happened to entertain  concerning  the  character of diseases.   In
former ages the therapeutic sphere of  drugs  was very  frequently
determined  by  certain  peculiarities in  the   external  formation
or color  of  plants or  other substances, which were supposed to
indicate their special adaptation to particular diseases.   Fox-lung,
for instance, was recommended for weak lungs on  account of its
great  strength   and  firmness.  Blood-root  was  supposed  to  be
particularly  adapted to diseases of the blood on account of the red
color of the root.  Eyebright was supposed to be specially adapted
to diseases of the eye, on account of a fancied  resemblance between
the corolla of the flower and the iris and pupil of the eye.

  When humoral pathology ruled the day under the mighty sceptre
of Boerhaave, he introduced a classification of drugs in harmony
with his  peculiar notions of thickened or thinned juices, obstructions
and  so forth : we find the ponderous volumes of his age loaded with
such barbarous technicalities as inviscants,  decrassants,  detergents
and  the like.
  At a later period the nomenclature of the  Specific School came
into  vogue.  Whole  categories of drugs  were supposed  to  be
specially designed for  certain diseases  which  they had  to cure
whether or no.  These categories  were generally distinguished by
the  prefix " ANTI,"  or the affix  " FUGE ;" thus  we  have anti-
scrofulous, anti-scorbutic, anti-psoric, febrifuge, or vermifuge agents.

  The Vitalist  School  which  contended for the possession of  the
iEsculapian temple against both the humoral and the specific rulers
of the kingdom, brought with it a  new classification, corresponding
with the peculiar tenets of that  school;  we  now have tonics,
astringents,  stimulants, excitants.
  The doctrines of the Vitalist School have  been  embodied in  a
variety of forms by  Brown, Rasori, Vogt, and others, and have
led  to corresponding differences  of classifications  of drugs.   We
have the sthenics and asthenics of Brown  who regarded all drugs as
exciting agents.  This doctrine was modified by the Italian Rasori, 
THE  THERAPEUTIC  POWERS OF DRUGS.            85
who classed all drugs as Hyper, or Hypo-sthenisants, that is drugs
which either stimulate the vital movements to excess, or else depress
them below their normal standard.

  The Physiological School, which is the dominant school of the day,
classifies drugs principally in accordance with the chemico-physical
changes which they effect in the tissues,  and with the anatomical
localities to which the action of drugs is more specifically confined.
The labors of this school have doubtlessly been  useful in more
sharply defining the action of many drugs ; physiological therapeutists
make it their business to observe the changes which drugs  produce
in the vital fluids and  secretions; for  the attainment of these objects
the  crucible and  the microscope are kept unceasingly employed.
Yet this school makes the unaccountable  mistake  of regarding the
living organism  as a combination of chemical  compounds, whose
movements can be regulated by chemical attractions and repulsions,
as  though the reactive forces  of Life had no more influence in
modifying  or superseding the action of chemical agents than so many
abstract definitions of the fancy.  The physiological chemist fills an
acid stomach with alkalies and assails the  stony  concretion of the
bladder with his solvents, without thinking that  these  proceedings
do not reach the fountain-head of the difficulty, and that the morbid
action will  develop  the same  results, perhaps with more  tenacity
and intensity, as soon as the chemical influences have been overcome
by  the living endeavor of the organism.

  Let us glance at a few defects of the Physiological Materia Medica,
which  are particularly  obnoxious  to  the  observing eye of  a
homoeopathic physician, and to the necessities  of his patient, after
which I shall be more fully prepared to discuss the  main subject of
this section.

  A good deal of uncertainty and confusion prevails in  the Materia
Medicas of the dominant or so-called Physiological Schools, not only
in regard to the classification of drugs, but even in regard to the
substances which should be classed in the category of remedial agents.
Voo-t Trousseau and Pereira consider Arsenic a therapeutic agent of
vital importance ;  Sachs, another eminent authority, wants to see it
banished from the Materia  Medica  " because," to quote his own
expressions,  " Arsenic  is the  most dangerous of all poisons,  and 
86       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS  INADEQUATE  TO DETERMINE

because experience has not pointed out a sufficiently small dose which
could be administered for a certain length of time without poisoning
the organism;" he expressly  adds  that  he does not  mention  the
so-called homoeopathic dose because it is no dose at all.

  It seems almost superfluous to state in reply to those assertions,
that the most distinguished practitioners  of the old  School have
employed Arsenic internally for intermittent fever, debility, cancerous
disorganizations and inveterate cutaneous disorders, in doses varying
from the one hundredth part up  to  one fifth of a grain.   Bowdin,
whose treatment of intermittent fevers by means of fractional  doses
of Arsenic has acquired  such a well-merited celebrity in France,
is even of opinion that a skilfully conducted arsenical saturation  of
the organism might produce results in the  treatment of  cancerous
diseases which could never have been obtained by the old-fashioned
empirical use of arsenical ointments and washes.  "If we consider,"
write Troussean and Pidoux, " that, in particular cases, Boudin has
been able to administer two grains and three-fifths of Arsenic in one
day, simply by administering this enormous quantity in DIVIDED
doses, and that, moreover, he has been able to continue this dose for
six  weeks  without causing the  least  accident to the  patient,  we
must admit  that  the  chapter  on Arsenic, in the  treatment   of
cancer, is not yet closed."

  It is evident that if Sachs, the distinguished  Professor of Thera-
peutics in the University of Konigsberg, had been prompted by the
love of scientific truth in thus inveighing against Arsenic,  he would
not have recommended  Prussic Acid in his extensive and  justly
celebrated  work  on Materia  Medica and  Therapeutics,  as a safe
remedy;  for he  informs us page 65, vol. I. that  "the  most
dangerous  and most disastrous  effects  of  Prussic  Acid appear
suddenly, like a thief in the  night, and that this  may even take
place  if the  greatest  precaution  is  used, and if  the  poison  is
administered in very small doses."  A Royal Professor,  of course,
deems himself privileged  to be  swayed  by passion' and prej udice,
and seeks to annihilate his opponents  by ponderous  volumes  filled
with Latin and Greek, and sophistical generalities.  In the words of
Juvenal, the classical satirist of old,—
" SIC VOLO, SIC JUBEO, STET PRO  RATIONE VOLUNTAS ! " 
THE  THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF  DRUGS.           87
   This is my will and my command, let my will stand in the place
 of reason

   Schroff, the learned incumbent of the Chair of Pharmacy in the
 College  of Vienna, writes in his  Pharmacology,  page 41S:  " At
 the  present time the internal use of Phosphorus has been almost
 entirely  abandoned, for the reason that even a cautious exhibition
 of this agent involves danger, and that the therapeutic results which
 have been obtained with it thus far, do not by any means testify in
 its favor.'"
   Further on, Schroff writes : " Thirty years ago I saw it exhibited
 in the Clinic of Prague, but without any success."  At that period
 the genial and experienced Krombholz had charge of the Institution.
 Our  own  Clotar Muller,  in his interesting  Treatise entitled " The
 Sources, of the Materia  Medica,"  takes up  the cudgels against
 Professor  Schroff,  and reminds him of a case of acute arthritis,
 arthritis acuta  vaga,  which yielded to  Phosphorus   after  the
 antiphlogistic method had been exhausted without the  least  benefit
 to the patient.  He was  a  brewer,  had been bled ten times, had
 been leeched, and,  as a  dernier  resort, a dose of Calomel had
 been administered.  The consequence  of this treatment was  the
 sudden  disappearance of the  inflammatory phenomena and  the
 setting in  of a universal  torpor, so that  the patient was literally
 unable to stir, and that the only remaining  signs  of life  were  the
 continuance of the pulse and  an expression of consciousness  in  the
 eye.   The whole round of excitantia had been exhausted, and on
 his next morning visit, Krombholz,  finding  that  the  torpor had
 reached the highest degree of intensity, was at a loss what further
 remedy  to  recommend.    The  physician in  ordinary  who  had
 attended the patient, timidly  suggested  to his  superior the  use  of
 Phosphorus as the only remaining agent from which relief might be
 expected.  Two grains of Phosphorus were dissolved in two drachms
 of Sulphuric Ether, and from four to ten drops of this solution were
given to the  patient at stated intervals.  He  was again seen at
night; the torpor had subsided, the patient  was able to  move  his
limbs, to articulate, and, after a little  further treatment, left the
hospital convalescent.

  Veratrum album or the white Hellebore, one of the most useful
and,   indeed,  indispensable agents which kind  Providence  has 
88       CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS  INADEQUATE  TO DETERMINE

vouchsafed to suffering man, is alluded to by Schroff in the follow-
ing flippant manner : " This drug is no longer in use, except among
homoeopaths  and veterinary  surgeons."   Sachs wants to see it
proscribed from the  Materia Medica as a dangerous and deleterious
poison.   " The  same therapeutic purposes,"  writes  Sachs,  4' for
which this agent is administered can be reached much more mildly,
at any rate, much less hazardously, by other medicines."   His zeal
against Veratrum album leads him on classical  ground.   " TIMEO
DANAOS,"  quotes  he   from   Virgil's    Epic,  " ET  DONA
FZRENTES,"—I fear the Greeks, even  when bringing  gifts:—
hence,  his final sweeping verdict:  " Quiescat!" let it rest in peace.

  Think of it, friend of the sick, Arsenic, Phosphorus and Veratrum
album, banished from the family of drugs by the leaders of the
dominant School, not because these drugs  are  destitute of power;
on  the  contrary, because they  are endowed with extraordinary
therapeutic powers which these  gentlemen do not know how to
make available for  the benefit of the sick.   What matters  it to
them whether  Arsenic  has  cured  the most  inveterate  cases of
intermittent fever, typhus,  cholera, malignant  exanthemata;  what
matters it to them  whether Phosphorus has rescued thousands of
pneumonic patients  from the clutches of death ;  what matters  it to
them whether Veratrum  album  has staid the ravages of Asiatic
cholera with triumphant power?   They  do not believe  in these
signal  successes  because they happened to be  vouchsafed to an
afflicted humanity under the  banner of homoeopathy, in obedience
to a law which  must eventually prove subversive of the superan-
nuated practices of bleeding,  blistering, purging, and vomiting, by
means  of which the humoral  doctor expects to draw the  peccant
matter from the vital fluids or to expel it from  the delicate cells in
which the thread of life is spun ; or through whose instrumentality
the adherents of the revulsive doctrine seek to  transfer the morbid
process from its original  locality to one  less  dangerous,  because
further removed from the centres of vitality or  composed of tissues
less  essential to the  maintenance of  its  integrity.   Although
accounted for in different ways, and very frequently with an intense
bitterness of feeling  and language by the adherents of the respective
doctrines, yet the proceedings in the sick room remain the same,
and  may be  summed up in  such general categories  as bleeding,
blistering, purging, vomiting; to which have been added from time 
THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS.
89
 immemorial the common processes of stimulation, narcotism, and
 other pretended means of regulating the  vital functions by some
 direct inroad upon  the  physiological status of the nervous system.
 Of course, if a stimulation in the gross is the object of treatment, it
 must  be immaterial whether  we  seek  to  accomplish our end by
 means of Arsenic or a glass of wine ;  or, if  the  object is to procure
 a general excitation of a sinking or embarrassed vitality, the  spirit
 of hartshorn will do just as well as Phosphorus.   And so  we may
 say of Veratrum album, that, if no more specific curative indica-
 tion is aimed at than a cathartic action in the gross, a dose of
 Jalap  or Gamboge may be preferable to that heroic agent.  It is
 no wonder that, in the presence of so much uncertainty, confusion,
 want of adaptation and consequent indirectness  of purpose, faith in
 medicine should have been powerfully shaken, and that a somewhat
 emphatic, although only  partial repudiation  of drugs should be
 found recorded in the most popular and fashionable work on Materia
 Medica  now  offered for  sale  in  Germany,  we  mean " (Esterlen's
 Hand-book  of  Remedial Agents;"  witness such paragraphs as
 these:  " Physicians should endeavour more and more to replace
 drugs,—which, after all, only do  very little  positive  good,  and
 are, on the contrary, liable to  do harm  and to  produce poisonous
 effects in  the tissues, — by  hygienic  and dietetic  agents,  and
 above  all things, to depend upon  reliable  and  rigid  prophylactic
 means."

   And in another paragraph the  same brilliant  author reminds his
 readers of the unreliability and the contradictory  character of the
 recorded  services which  drugs are said to have  rendered in  the
 sick-room ; and he furthermore urges upon our attention the fact that
 the vast  majority of our patients would have recovered as  speedily
 and safely without  the use  of remedial agents.   It would seem as
 though a writer who dares to launch such bitter truths against the
 accredited faith of the worshippers  of  iEsculapius,  should have
 been wise enough to deal justly by the great discoverer of  homoeo-
 pathy.   Not so,  however, he regarded  Hahnemann as a  mystic
 spook haunting the temple of that ancient god;  the glorious truths
 of homoeopathy which  it will be  my  privilege  to expound in  the
second part of this  section, in a few comprehensive, but, I trust,
logically  cohering generalizations, have remained inaccessible to the
mind of this author, as thev must remain hidden from all eyes that 
90       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO DETERMINE

are veiled by the obscuring mist of a purely sensual and  material-
izing Science.

  Another objectionable feature of the present  developments of
Pharmaco-dynamics or the science of drug-powers, is the  tendency
to depend upon  chemical analysis for a determination of the active
principles of drugs.   Chemical  analysis has furnished  us  several
valuable agents which it would be  impossible to dispense with;  I
need but mention Quinine and Morphine. But should we  repudiate
Peruvian bark or Opium, for no better reason than because chemical
analysis  has  decided  that  Quinine and Morphine  are the active
principles  of  these  two   agents ?   This  somewhat   arbitrary
designation of "active  principles,"  as applied to single  chemical
constituents of  drugs,  is  apt to mislead practitioners who have
resigned the guardianship of their minds into the destructive hands
of the gentlemen  of the crucible and the retort; it is one  of the
high aims of homoeopathy to restore the integrity  of drugs as living
emblems of diseases, and-to reveal the therapeutic uses of their God-
created forms with all the definiteness and precision of  scientific
Truth.

  Chemical analysis, as  a means of investigating and determining
the  therapeutic  powers of  drugs,  has led  to  inferences utterly
subversive of clinical experience.  We may illustrate this  assertion
by the results which chemical  analysis has yielded in  the case of
Nux vomica and the bean of St. Ignatius.  Chemistry informs us that
the  active  principle of.Nux is an exceedingly poisonous white
substance, the name of which  is  known to every body, we mean
Strychnine; Chemistry likewise informs us that this same Strych-
nine is the active principle  of the bean of  St. Ignatius, with  this
difference, that  the bean contains a much larger quantity of this
poison than the button-shaped Nux vomica.   According to Schroff,
Kissel and (Esterlen, the difference in favor  of the bean  is as two,
and even three to one.
  Now, does  it not seem fair to infer from these results of chemical
analysis that the  bean  of  St.  Ignatius is a  far more important
therapeutic agent  than  Nux vomica ?   If this be so, how happens
it that in every Materia Medica  that I  am  acquainted with, whole
pages are devoted  to the natural history, the physiological  action
and the therapeutic uses of the Vomic Nut, whereas the business of 
THE  THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF  DRUGS.
91
 the bean of St. Ignatius is generally done up in a few meagre lines
 as an appendage to the more important chapter of the Nut ?  Does
 it not seem as though some secret instinct had informed the authors
 of our Materia Medicas that a chemical alkaloid is  not the full and
 reliable embodiment  of the therapeutic virtues of the drug from
 which the alkaloid was obtained ?  If we consider that both the
 Vomic Nut and  the  bean of St. Ignatius not only contain the
 alkaloid  Strychnine, but  a variety  of  other substances,  brucine,
 igasuric acid,  small quantities of wax,  fatty oil, coloring  matter,
 gum,  starch,  bassorin,  woody  fibre and  so forth,  why  should
 Strychnine be singled out as the active principle of these two drugs?
 Why  should  not this active principle, in its various combinations
 with the  above-mentioned ingredients of each drug  respectively,
 affect the living organism differently when administered in the form
 of the Vomic Nut, from what it will  do  when administered  in the
 shape of Ignatia, so much so that each of  these two drugs, as a
 distinct and integral combination of molecules, will produce a well-
 defined series  of effects ?   Physicians who are acquainted with the
 labors  of  homoeopathic practitioners in the field of Pharmaco-
 dynamics,   must  be aware  of  the  remarkable  and  eminently
 characteristic  differences distinguishing the action of Nux from that
 of Ignatia.  A form of headache or dyspepsia  which would  readily
 yield to a dose of Nux, may, perhaps, resist the action of Ignatia;
 and vice versa, Ignatia may prove serviceable  where Nux will leave
 us in the lurch.  One  of my lady patients, for instance, complained
 of dyspeptic weakness, characterized by a sensation of goneness in
 the  pit of the stomach, and by a feeling  as if this  region were
 pricked with  pins.  If this  group of symptoms should occur, and
 we should feel anxious  to remove it,  even  a very small, yea, an
 infinitesimal dose of Ignatia will wipe out these sensations, whereas
 they would resist Nux, no  matter  in  what shape or quantity it is
 prescribed.
  In the case of this lady patient a few globules of an infinitesimal
 attenuation of Ignatia, Jenichen's two hundredth, were administered
 in a little water.   When  I called  to see  her the next  day,  all the
 distressing  symptoms, which had been a source of perfect agony to
 her for years, had disappeared.  I might add  that these symptoms
first developed themselves as a  consequence of the poignant grief
which her son's death had caused her years ago.  I selected Ignatia
 as the proper remedy in this case, because among the physiological
      7 
92       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO DETERMINE

effects of this agent upon the normal organism we find the following
record in Hahnemann's Materia Medica, symptoms ISO and 1S2  of
the pathogenesis of this  drug :  " A peculiar sensation of weakness
in the region of the epigastrium, two hours after taking the  drug."
Of this symptom  Hahnemann observes  in  a  foot-note :   ' This
sensation  of weakness  in  the region  of the  scrobiculus  cordis
is a characteristic  symptom of the bean of St. Ignatius."   The
other  symptom  is :   " Fine  stinging  in  the   region of  the
stomach."

   In experimenting with this drug upon healthy persons, Hahnemann
discovered the interesting fact that among the physiological  effects
of Ignatia, a great many resemble the  effects  of  grief upon  the
physical organism ; this is the reason  why, in homoeopathic  works,
Ignatia is recommended as one  of the remedies which homoeopathic
physicians employ to  counteract the consequences of grief.
   In addition to these observations it may be proper to state that
the patient in the above mentioned case, had another similar attack
in the  course of the next six months, for which a drop of the strong
tincture of Ignatia was administered.  This dose  utterly  failing of
producing a curative result, a globule  of  the 200th attenuation was
again resorted to, with the same  immediate effect as on the  former
occasion.

   My  criticism likewise  applies to Veratrum album or the white
Hellebore, which, in the hands of homoeopathic physicians, has  proved
an invaluable remedy for Cholera, and  to the  Mexican  Cevadilla.
Both these plants yield the well known alkaloid Veratrin as their
so-called active principle.  Yet what physician, in a case of genuine
cholera, would dare to use, indiscriminately, the Mexican  Cevadilla
or the European  Veratum  album 1  The former would  prove
inadequate to save the prostrated organism from the ravages of the
ruthless destroyer.

   And lastly, we  might instance Stramonium and Belladonna, as
 another illustration of the tendency of modern physiological Chemistry
 to wipe out the significant landmarks  which the Eternal  hand has
 wisely and kindly set up between the individualities of the drug-
 world, and to substitute in their stead the equivocal production of a
 destructive art. 
THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS.
93
  Schroff, the distinguished Professor of Pharmacology in the College
of Vienna,  and  certainly  one  of the highest pharmaceutical
authorities,  has  instituted  a  number  of  carefully  conducted
experiments with Daturin, the active principle of Stramonium, and
with Atropin, or the so-called active principle of Belladonna.  The
object  of  these  experiments  was to  determine  by  numbers,
measurement and a thermometrical scale,  the  relative  effects  of
these alkaloids  upon the living organism.   While  experimenting
with them upon a number of persons during a whole  year, he
examined the pulse twelve hundred times,  with the greatest care
and during moments of the most perfect bodily  and  mental repose,
sometimes every five, and at other times every ten minutes.
  The  effect of  these drugs upon the bodily  temperature  was
determined by means of one of Capeller's most carefully constructed
thermometers applied to the root of the tongue.
  Regarding the dilatation of the pupil, Schroff is disposed to attach
but little importance to this symptom as a means of measuring the
physiological value of the drug, for the reason that a dilatation  of
the pupil is only effected slowly by the internal  use of Belladonna,
and then only by means of  large doses.   Let  this pass, and let us
look at the inference which he draws from  his truly laborious and
careful experiments :
  "Careful  physiological experiments with Stramonium and its
preparations," writes Schroff, page 502 of his Pharmacology, " have
convinced me  that Daturin is  the  complete carrier of the whole
efficacy of this plant, and that its other, and more  particularly its
resinous constituents, with which experiments have likewise been
instituted,  have no share in the action of the drug; I am fur-
thermore convinced that the group of symptoms  developed by
Daturin  is qualitatively  identical with the  group of symptoms
developed  by Atropin; quantitatively Daturin  differs from Atro-
pin in  this, that  it acts with  double  the strength of Atropin.
Planta's analysis having shown that the elementary composition
of both alkaloids is identical, further experiments will have to be
made in order  to account for this quantitative difference."  From
these facts Schroff draws the practical  conclusion that, inasmuch
as the  price of Daturin  is twice as high as that of Atropin, the
former article can be dispensed with.
  We might ask if Daturin acts twice as powerfully as Atropin,
why not dispense with Atropin, since half  a grain of Daturin will 
94       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE  TO DETERMINE

do as much as one grain of the last named agent ?   This could not
make a particle of difference to  the  physiological  physician ;  but
how would this arrangement suit a physician who is guided in the
treatment of diseases by  the light of  Nature and common sense,
instead of being misled by the deceitful dogmatism of our boastful
systems  of chemical  Physiology ?  A Homoeopath might  ask:
What shall we do with the Sydenhamian  scarlet fever, for which
Belladonna has proved  a most efficacious remedy ?   How shall we
successfully combat an  inflammation  of the  brain  which so often
yields to a few small doses  of Belladonna  as its specific remedy ?
With what right, I would  ask, can  the so-called physiological
physicians taunt  their  homoeopathic brother with his  symptom-
practice, if they themselves measure the therapeutic value  of such
important drugs  as  Belladonna and  Stramonium by one  or  two
symptoms, or, as they are pleased to term them, physiological effects,
namely, the pulse, the rise  or fall of the  animal temperature, and
the dilatation  of  the  pupil ?  No homoeopathic  physician,  and,
indeed,  no philosophical physician of any school would  be content
with such parsimonious indications; he knows that to  every drug
the organism is a  living unit; it may  affect one organ or set of
organs, one class of tissues or fluids, more specifically than another;
but no philosophical observer institutes  experiments with drugs
upon the living organism for the purpose  of eliciting single symptoms,
but with a view of obtaining a  knowledge  of the  totality of the
morbid impressions which  the drug is  capable of producing upon
the tissues.  It is this kind of knowledge which becomes available
in the hands of the philosophical  physician as a sign-post, pointing
out to the eye of reason and experience  the pathological malady to
which the drug is inmostly  related  as its correspondential type,
which will wipe out the malady,  if made to act upon it in a suitable
form, provided the malady is not  inherently incurable, or, if curable,
has  not transgressed  the  limits beyond which it is  no longer
accessible to the restorative influence of remedial agents.

   This restorative influence  is not determined by the accidental
presence of one or two symptoms,  were they  even seemingly of
great importance.  It is well known that the presence of sugar in
the urine is one of the prominent features of glycosuria.   We know
that the sugar which the animal economy requires for the renovation
of the tissues, is manufactured  in  the liver and that this  vital 
THE  THERAPEUTIC  POWERS OF DRUGS.
95
 function is most probably presided over by the fourth ventricle at
 the base of the brain.   Professor Barnard, of Paris, has shown that
 by puncturing the fourth ventricle of rabbits, an instantaneous flow
 of urine is obtained which is sometimes clear, but generally contains
 sugar.  Hence the Professor contends that glycosuria is essential!)
 a disease of the  nervous  system, and that it should  be  primarily
 traced  to that  portion  of  the  nervous system  which is more
 immediately concerned in the gradual assimilation of the nitrogenous
 albuminates, or the so-called protein bodies in the liver, to the more
 highly organized tissues.  Instead of this process  of assimilation
 going on to its completion,  a process of disassimilation is  permitted
 to take place, the result of which is an excessive excretion of sugar
 by the urine and a consequent waste of the  tissues.

   In experimenting  upon dogs with various  poisons, among  others
 with the Curara-poison which is employed by the South  American
 Indians to poison their arrows, Barnard found  that this  substance
 will  produce glycosuria.   " If the animal is fully poisoned by it,"
 writes the Professor, " and the respiration is  artificially maintained,
 a copious flow of tears takes place, all the secretions are excessively
 increased, the urine is  discharged in great abundance, and is found to
 contain sugar, the dog is diabetic."   Homoeopathic physicians infer
 from this apparent  similarity of the  artificial  drug-disease  to the
 natural malady that Curara may possibly prove a specific remedy
 for diabetes;  they  certainly have a right to try it  in accordance
 with the rule which guides  them in adapting remedial agents to the
 treatment of diseases generally.   Nevertheless the homoeopath may
 be disappointed in his  expectation  of effecting  a cure.   The state
 of impaired innervation resulting in the waste of saccharine matter
 in the urine, may differ very essentially from the sudden and violent
 disintegration of the fluids and  the excessive excretion of glucose
 which is witnessed in the case of the  dog.  The two diseases  may
 run in parallel lines without  covering each  other; in order  that
 there should be this perfect meeting or agreement,  something more
is required than an apparent similarity of what may even seem the
leading  or pathognomonic phenomena of the  series.   I shall  advert
 to this  point more  fully in the  second  part  of this section, and
 content myself, at this stage of my argument, with again impressing
upon the reader's attention the important truth  that  chemical
analysis and the purely physical properties of drugs are insufficient 
96       CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO DETERMINE

to reveal their true sphere of therapeutic action.  In this assertion
we are backed up by  the greatest living master of Physiological
Chemistry, who writes in his  chemical letters  No.  13, treating  of
the isomerism or  identity of composition of bodies having different
chemical and physical properties :
   " The form and condition  in which  bodies appear to the bodily
eye, their color, transparency,  hardness, etc.,  their physical proper-
ties, have for a long  time been considered  dependent  upon the
nature of their elementary ingredients or composition.   Some years
ago it seemed impossible to imagine one and the same body existing
in two different conditions, and it was almost regarded as a principle
that two bodies of the same elementary composition in regard  to
the weight and number of atoms, must necessarily possess the samn
properties.
   " But in organic Nature a number  of compound substances have
been discovered whose  elementary composition is the same, and yet
which possess  extremely dissimilar  properties;  we term  these
compounds isomeric bodies.   The  large  class of volatile oils, such
as the oil  of turpentine, lemon,  balsam of copaiva,  rosemary,
juniper-berries and others, differing so greatly  by their odor, their
medicinal action,  their  boiling  point,  etc.,  contain  the  same
quantities of carbon and hydrogen,  not an atom more or less  of
either one or the other.
   " In what wonderful  simplicity  does organic  Nature  appear
before us, when seen from  this point of view.  With two equal
weights of two constituent  parts,  she produces an extraordinary
variety  of  combinations of   the   most  remarkable  character.
Substances have been discovered, such as the crystallizing ingredient
rose-oil, which, at an ordinary temperature, are solid and volatile,
and have the same composition as  the gas that burns in the flames
of our lamps and  candles, and as a  dozen other  substances, all of
them  differing greatly in their properties.
   " The  results which, in their ulterior bearings,  are  so full of
significance, have not  been  received  as truths without satisfactory
proofs; ft few single observations of this character have been known
for a long time, but they had no permanent domicile in the domain
of Science until,  finally,  substances  have  been discovered whose
identity of  composition  is  demonstrable  by other means  much
more positively and convincingly than by analysis  and which,  in
spite  of their very dissimilar  properties,  can be transformed into 
THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS.
97
one  another at pleasure ;  Cyanuric  acid, the hydrated  Cyanic
acid, and Cyamelid constitute three  such bodies: Cyanuric acid is
soluble in  water, crystallizable, capable of  forming salts  with
metallic oxydes ;  the  hydrated Cyanic  acid  is  a volatile  and
exceedingly corrosive fluid  which cannot be  brought in contact
with water  without being decomposed ; Cymelid forms a whitish,
porcelain-like mass which is completely  insoluble in water.   In a
hermetically-closed glass vessel Cyanuric  acid, by the influence of
a higher temperature, is transformed into hydrated  Cyanic acid,
which  changes  spontaneously,  at  an  ordinary temperature,  to
Cyamelid without a single  constituent  disappearing  or  a  single
substance being added  from without.
   " Cyamelid can be, at pleasure, transformed into Cyanuric acid
or the  hydrated Cyanic acid.   Similarly related  are Aldehyde,
Metaldehyde and  Elaldehyde;  Uric acid  and  the  Cyanite of
Ammonia; so that one of these substances  can  be transformed into
the other without a single one of its constituent  elements being
taken from,  or a new element being added to it."
   Liebig  accounts  for  these  remarkable  phenomena  upon  the
grounds that matter is  not  infinitely divisible;  and that its atoms
cannot be cleft as he  terms it, beyond  certain bounds.   " When
writing chemically," argues  Liebig,  " these atoms do not penetrate
each other, but range themselves  in a certain  order ; it is upon
this  arrangement  of its  atoms that the properties  of the body
depends.  If this arrangement is interfered  with by some external
cause,  and a new union  of  the atoms  is effected,  another body
results from this union with  altogether  different properties.  One
atom of one body may unite with  one  atom of  another body ; or
two atoms of one body uniie with  two atoms  of another body ;
foui  may unite with four, eight with eight;  in all these unions the
percentage of atomic composition remains absolutely the same; the
chemical properties, however, change,—for in  this case we have
compound atoms, one  containing two,  another four,  and another
eight or even sixteen single atoms."

   If, as these examples  abundantly show, a simple change in the
juxtaposition of the constituent  atoms will  sometimes lead to the
development of totally  different properties without  the number or
weight  of the elementary atoms being affected by the  change, how
could we ever expect to be able to determine these new properties 
 98       CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS  INADEQUATE  TO DETERMINE

 by a  chemical analysis  which  would reveal the  same  atomic
 composition, a perfect isomerism  in the case of these as well as in
 that of a number of  other  bodies ?   By what process of reasoning
 should the chemist be  led  to  suspect that, by  adding one atom of
 Chlorine to the Protochlori.de of Mercury or the so-called Calomel,
 this agent whose passage over the mucous lining of the  oesophagus
 and stomach  is  perfectly  harmless,  is  transformed  into  the most
 corrosive poison 1   If we  desire to become  acquainted with  the
 physiological  effects of these chemical  compounds,  we  shall have
 to  investigate  them  in the  manner   which  has  been vaguely
 foreshadowed  by Haller, pointed  out with a bold prophetic spirit
 by Baron Stoerck and finally reduced  to  a compact  and logical
 system  by  Hahnemann.   Purely toxicological  effects may be
 observed upon animals, and may  likewise be found recorded in the
 dark pages of human  crime and  ignorance ;  but if we  wish to
 determine the precise character of the medicinal virtues with which
 chemical bodies, plants or animals are  endowed,  we shall have to
 institute a series of systematic  provings  upon the human organism
 in a state of health, with all the devotion,  care  and perseverance of
 philosophical  investigators.    What is  it that distinguishes   the
 poisonous monkshood chemically,  from wheat ?    According to the
 testimony of the crucible, both  these  substances, and  indeed all
 organized or organizable bodies, are  composed  of  carbon, oxygen,
 hydrogen and nitrogen in varying proportions.   But can it be  said
 that a mere difference  in  the number and weight of the atoms of
 these constituent principles sufficiently  accounts  for the extraor-
 dinary difference between the properties  of these substances ?   One
 being a deadly poison  and the other endowed in an eminent degree
 with the  faculty of sustaining life.

   One of the most  remarkable  evidences of  the inadequacy of
 chemical analysis to determine the  active principle of a drug, or to
 discover  the  line that separates the deadly and wholesome in
 nature, is given in a  late number of the " English Medical Press,"
 which states that the poison of the  cobra, the most venomous of
 the East India serpents, has been chemically analyzed,  giving the
 following results : carbon 46 ;  nitrogen 13 ; oxygen 6 ; sulphur 25 ;
the rest hydrogen.  This is exactly the  composition of beer yeast,
 the latter being used in manufacturing the  staff of life—bread ;  the
 former being so deadly in its nature that even when taken from  the 
THE  THERAPEUTIC POWERS  OF DRUGS.
99
snake and  preserved,  and  afterwards  injected under  the skin of
animals, it is immediately fatal.

  In analyzing  the productions of  the  vegetable  kingdom, the
chemist loses sight of the  living  essence  upon whose presence,  in
the inmost tissues of the organized  being, its individuality and the
development and maintenance of its specific form depends.  What
makes each thing to  be what it is ?   What  preserves its form ?
What is it that makes the Aconite-plant to be something essentially
distinct from wheat ?  What is  it that  constitutes the rose a rose
and the tulip a tulip ?  Is the horse distinguished from the cow  in
no other manner than as a  peculiar system of chemical attractions
and  repulsions 1  I  shall endeavor  to answer  these  questions  in
the  second part of this section.  I  here desire  to  arraign the
undue pretensions of Chemistry before the  tribunal of  Common
Sense ;  I desire to show by anticipation that there exist  forces or
principles in Nature which, although they regulate the movements
of,  and  actually  constitute the inmost essence of organized sub-
stances,  yet  are  entirely,  and  by their  very  natures  must  and
perhaps always will  be, beyond the  ken of destructive chemistry.
  Chemistry operates by quantities, not  qualities.   Physiological
Medicine imitates chemistry  in this,   that its adherents seek to
determine the power  of drugs  by weight and fire.   How is this
possible, I would ask, if we  consider  that the same quantity  of
Quinine  which a patient swallows, is again found, by exact weight,
in his urinary or  other secretions 1   Yet a fever and ague may have
been cured during the ingestion and excretion of this drug.

  According to Lehmann, most of the soluble  alkaline salts, such
as the Nitrate of Potash, Borax,  Iodide of Potassium, Bromide of
Sodium,  alkaline  Carbonates, Silicates, Chlorates, etc., are found
unchanged in the urine.  Yet, do  not  all these substances, during
their passage  through the  organism,  affect  the  animal  tissues
with great power1?   And, if they do, does  not this  fact reveal the
presence of active forces which it is  utterly beyond the province
of the laboratory to  discover.

  Nature is something more than a system of chemical combina-
tions determinable by chemical formulas; Liebig  designates man
as a  " walking furnace."  Chemists take pleasure in applying the 
 100     CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE 10 DETERMINE

 technicalities of their science to the movements  of the living frame;
 they speak of the combustion of food or the oxidation of tissue, as
 though food and tissue were  actually  burned and oxidized like oil
 in a lamp or  iron  by  atmospheric  oxygen.   We understand, and
 should be disappointed if it  were  otherwise,  that the movements
 of this living machinery  of ours  should rest  upon chemical and
 physical laws  as  their  ultimate  basis,  and that the  material
 elements of Nature should  become the substrata out of which the
 life-forces weave the framework  of the organism in obedience to
 eternally true  and wise laws.   But even if we  are willing to
 admit that  in the progress of scientific inquiry  we may succeed in
 accounting upon  physical  principles for the  osmotic harmonies
 and marvellous adaptations of the  living organism, yet Chemistry
 will never  reveal  to  us the law  and   organizing  power which
 fashions  the  molecules of Nature into liver-cells,  agglomerates
 these cells into one  compact  glandular organ and endows this
 organ with the specific function of  secreting the bile in order that
 this powerful fluid should  again  be re-absorbed in the intestines,
 and rendered, in its turn, instrumental in promoting the process of
 assimilation of  the so-called  Protein bodies to organized tissues.
In the  presence of the living man, the  chemical formulas which
 are supposed to express  in scientific  language the  elementary
 composition  of his physical  frame,  become  vague  and  even
unmeaning generalities.  Physiological Chemistry has  acquainted
 us with a number  of constituent  principles of the  human frame,
which  homoeopathic  practitioners  often have to  administer  as
nutrient elements in cases where a deficiency of these principles in
the composition of their respective tissues induces disorganizations.
Thus Silicia may be  required in a case of enchondroma, a morbid
development  of cartilaginous' tissue by  which the  formation  of
osseous tissue  of the normal  form  and consistency  is  supplanted
in the  living  organism.  The Fluoride  of Calcium  may prove
useful in diseases of the enamel  and  dentine of the Teeth arising
from a  deficiency  of  that  substance;   and the  Carbonate and
Phosphate of Lime  show a wonderful amount of restorative power
in osseous disorganizations  arising from  a deficient supply of these
important constituents  in the vertebral  column, and in the bones
of the  extremities.   Let  it  be  understood, however,  that these
substances may not be  required in  those ponderous quantities in
which the adherents of the  Physiological  School are accustomed to 
THE THERAPEUTIC POWERS OF DRUGS.
101
administer their drugs ;  let us remember  that the osmotic capacity
or permeability of the delicate cell-walls  of the affected tissue may
have become impaired to such a degree that unless we present the
nutrient material in a highly  attenuated  form,  it  could  not
penetrate into the inner chambers to be there made subservient to
the purposes of life.

  Who would  not  acknowledge   the   glorious achievements of
modern Chemistry with feelings of gratitude and respect!   AVhat
physician would wish to  be  deprived  of the many valuable and
useful  additions  to his Materia Medica, for which he  is indebted to
this pet of science.   But we need not fall down before this modern
Juggernaut  as  the  besotted  Hindoo  throws  himself  under  the
crushing wheels of his God.  We have  a right to be alive to the
foolish and often monstrous assumptions  of this Science.  When a
Chemist undertakes to sneer at our  old faith in a vital force, and to
substitute in its place the doctrine  that  life is  a result of chemical
attractions and repulsions and  of the  physical laws which govern
the movements of  material  molecules,  we  have a right to look
with suspicion upon such bold  and new-fangled innovations.  We
cannot afford, in such a case, to take sounding words and  employ
formulas as  proofs.   If  Bibra, Chivreuil, Fremy  and  other Chem-
ists who have  analyzed  the  brain,  want  us  to  believe that
Fat and Water, Phosphates  and  Chlorides,  Albumen  and Soda,
constitute  the  substance  of this  organ; if they go  so far as to
indicate these  substances  in definite numbers and  to  point to a
little more of one and a little less of the other of these ingredients
as the difference between the brain of  man  and that of mammals,
reptiles, birds or fishes : I call  for  the counter proof.   Make me a
brain, and I will believe you.  Make me  a wilted leaf;  analyze it
in your crucible and retort with the most perfect  care, and then
restore it to my wondering sight; I will throw myself prostrate
at  your feet and  worship  the  creating God.   Alas,  alas, the
Chemist  will  never reach  this pinnacle  of  glory; he may ever
destroy, but he will never organize  life.   LIFE IS ;  it is an essence
whose particular manifestations in  Nature have a beginning and an
end and obey laws which it is  man's glory and delight to study
and comprehend.   But what a fatal presumption to suppose that
the inmost  essence of living things,  and,  indeed, of any thing, can
be apprehended by the  microscope  or  by the  destructive agencies 
 102      CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO ESTABLISH

 of a chemical laboratory !    How utterly would the rhinoplastic
 skill of a Diefenbach fail in  fashioning an  artificial nose or lip, if
 life were not transmitted to the organ by the parent body !   Sever
 its connection prematurely with this  fountain-head of vitality, and
 the most skillfully-made organ perishes.

  It is possible that metaphysicians may have regarded the labors
 of chemists in the  domain  of  Physiology  with  a  feeling  of
 disrespect.   But  how  can  the thoughtful  and philosophical
 observer of the Universe, who views this great whole as a coherent
 system of means  and ends,  from the inmost centre to the outer-
 most periphery, behold the assumptions of chemical Physiologists
 with any other feelingb than  those  of pity and amazement,  when
 even  Lehmann,   this pure-minded workman in  the vineyard of
 science,  winds   up  the   methodological  introduction  to  his
 Physiological Chemistry in the following extraordinary challenge to
 metaphysics :
  " We have not  hesitated to  avow that we  have  assumed a
 thoroughly radical  point  of view, in  reference  to  specific vital
phenomena and vital forces; for  we cannot rest satisfied  with the
mysterious obscurity in which they have been artificially enveloped.
 With the physicist we  would uphold  the  reality of phenomena;
 and while we admit that the consciousness of the reality of matter
is only the result of an abstraction, we must regard this abstraction,
by which we recognize the immaterial,  the spiritual and the force,
as originating in reality.   We therefore believe, with the diffidence
 beseeming a genuine student of Nature, that it would be wiser and
more conducive to the spread of  true  knowledge to adhere in the
study of vital processes, to matter, and to the law by which it is
 determined, than  (following  the fictitious abstractions of dynamical
 processes) to assume that there exists in life a higher power of the
spiritual force, pervading matter.   While,  therefore, in opposition
to the views of these natural philosophers, we must refer all force
 t, matter, we have no fear of degrading vital phenomena to mere
mechanical,  physical  and chemical  processes,   since  our  most
 exalted conception of Nature and  the  sublimest natural philosophy
 emanate from  the very  simplicity  of physical  laws,  and the
 unlimited  variety  of phenomena to which they give rise."

  And further on, Lehmann  somewhat sneeringly concludes in this 
           THE HEALING ART UPON A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.        103

strain :  " It would be well  if these spiritualist philosophers would
look down  from the high  stand they  have chosen, and  deign to
believe that there are some among those experimentalists, who,
clinging to  matter, and gathering their facts with ant-like  industry
from the lowly earth, notwithstanding that they  have long held
communion with the poet-philosopher Plato, and the philosophic-
natural  inquirer Aristotle,  and have  some familiarity with the
paraphrases of Hegel and Schelling, are yet unwilling to relinquish
their less elevated position.  If these happy admirers of their own
Ideal had descended from their airy heights, and closely examined
organic and inorganic matter,  they would not  have deemed  it
uecessary to assume that, besides Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and
Oxygen, organic substances must  also contain an Organogenium,
or latent vital force, or whatever else they may be pleased to call
it.  Had they sought information from a chemist, they would have
Learned that, when exposed to  the  clear light of logic, there is no
essential difference  between   organic  and inorganic bodies:  a
chemist, totally unacquainted with organic matter, would  a priori
have deduced all these accidental differences  of matter  from the
doctrine of affinity and the  science of Stoechiometry, evolved from
dead matter.  However these  advocates  of a  romantic poetry  of
Nature may despise the swarm of industrious investigators, who are
often unwearyingly occupied for years together in  endeavoring to
collect a few firm supports  for the great edifice of a true Philosophy
of Nature, we do  not despair  of  seeing our  work rise in simple
grandeur, and more  durable and  lasting than  those sophisms  of
natural philosophy, which,  passing through ages, from Pythagoras
and Empedocles to Schelling and Hegel, have, like  the sand of the
ocean-shore, been alternately upborne  by one wave and engulfed
by the next."

   Here we have it boldly and magnificently put forth by the royal
fiat of one of the high-priests of the Chemico-Physiological School,
that there is no essential difference between organic and inorganic
bodies; a cabbage-head is essentially the same as  the  head  of a
Newton, a  Hahnemann, a Swedenborg.  The only  difference is in
the  number  of  the  constituent  atoms  of  Carbon,   Oxygen,
Hydrogen,  and Nitrogen of these heads respectively.   This it  is
that distinguishes a jackass from a philosopher, and accounts for
that wonderful diversity of human  intellects and features which, 
104      CHEMICAL ANALYSIS  INADEQUATE  TO ESTABLISH

more conclusively, perhaps, than any other physical demonstration,
testifies to the agency of a  Creative Power whose means are as
boundless as the beauty and richness of his designs are enchanting
and varied.
  Oh, vain and boastful formulas in  which the Chemist himself has
very little, if any, faith.  Physiological Chemistry is no science, a
science  has  a rallying-point,  a common centre  round which  its
phenomena group themselves  in logical order;  Chemistry has  no
such central principle  to offer to her bewildered and pains-taking
adepts.   It offers an almost endless mass of acids, salts and formulas
ingeniously  combined, and deduced from laboriously conducted
analysis, but affording very little, if any, satisfactory knowledge of
the vital tissues aud movements which the Chemist seeks to account
for.  The incoherency and confusion which prevail in  the domain
of Physiological Chemistry, constitute  the  despair of even such a
pen trating  and  indefatigable  student as  Lehmann,   " In  the
absence of a scientific principle of classification," writes this distin-
guished man, "we juxtapose the substances which are met with in
organisms, according to the antiquated irrational division of bodies ;
we  place  the ethereal oils, resins and coloring  matters  after the
indifferent, crystallizable  and  non-nitrogenous  bodies.  But  can
there be  anything more irrational, more illogical,  or  even more
absurd,  than  a  division of bodies  in  accordance with the most
accidental of all physical properties,  color ?  The technical use has
been relied upon to cover up this absurd proceeding; or might not
chemical agents have been classified with equal right, in accordance
with their taste or smell?  On one  occasion this basis of classifica-
tion was adopted in order to distinguish the processes of fermentation
from those of decomposition.   Nor is the group of ethereal oils and
resins any more  rational, for these  substances likewise  are in a
great measure possessed of such different properties, that  they
cannot  be ranged  in  one group by  a scientifically-constructed
system of chemistry.   Nor do ordinary methods  of systemization
facilitate any more the making of systems, since it is necessary, in
a science which  makes  the  observation  of  natural  processes  its
special object, to search  for fixed and common centres from which
the endless variety of properties and phenomena may be derived and
a truly scientific whole may be built up. What renders the study of
Chemistry so extremely difficult, and degrades it to a  mechanical
drudgery of the memory,  is  the fact that  properties which  are 
           THE  HEALING ART UPON  A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.        105

loosely connected, or have no relation whatsoever to each other, are
grouped together as by mere chance.  In  Chemistry, logical  ideas
are as yet almost entirely wanting.  Not till  Chemistry shall have
taught us to combine the properties of every single body into one
organic  whole  in  close connection with each  other, will she be
permitted  to claim her place by the side  of Physics as equally
worthy of respect."
   And in speaking  of the so-called nitrogenous bodies,  or the
albuminates and their derivatives, which are bodies of very high
atomic weight, arid  are  chiefly depended  upon by the  living
organism for the  renovation of tissue, Lehmann is  emphatic in
expressing  his  doubts concerning  the  accuracy   and  perfect
reliability of chemical analysis.
   "It is unfortunately among  the  substances  belonging to this
division," writes Lehmann, " that we meet a number whose atomic
composition  cannot be tested by a comparison with their saturating
capacity.  Such substances either  do  not  combine with   other
substances in definite proportions,  or else they combine  in  such
varied proportions that it is impossible to infer from their numbers,
which combination should be regarded as the neutral union.   The
uncertain variations  in the numbers of the saturating capacity
among this class of bodies are frequently no less than the uncertain
numbers of elementary analysis;  in other words, the atomic weight
inferred by calculation from the  saturating capacity is frequently
no less uncertain than  the atomic weight  derived  from the
elementary analysis.
   " If these particular rules, which are recognized by all chemists,
be followed,  and the properties of the albuminous bodies and  their
derivatives be compared in accordance with these considerations, we
shall  readily  perceive  what, credit should  be attached to the
formulas set  up  for the composition of these bodies, and with  what
frivolous temerity  these most problematical of all formulas  have
been applied to  Physiology only to plunge  this science into a new
labyrinth of vague dreams and fantastic fictions."

   Throughout his  interesting work on  Physiological Chemistry,
Lehmann utters a cry of distress when the frail bark of his science
dashes against  the  rock of  impossibilities.   Chemistry cannot
produce  the analysis  of a  single vital fluid which  is perfectly
accurate and reliable.   Moreover,  Chemists, in spite  of   their 
 106      CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO ESTABLISH

 pretensions to rigorous  science, permit themselves to indulge in
 speculative  theories.   Indeed,  all  that  there  is  in  Chemistry of
 scientific generalizations, is of this speculative character.  Mulder's
 protein-bodies, upon which  he builds his chemical card-house, are
 hypothetical creations.   The presently  received doctrine of con-
 jugated or  copulated combinations; Borzelius's theory of organic
 radicals and of Metro-chemical dualism ; Dumas's theory of substi-
 tutions and  metalepsy,  are  speculations,  which,  after  having
 subserved a momentary purpose,  may  be utterly  dissipated by
 subsequent and more plausible hypotheses.

   Say what you will, the  analytical understanding  is not exclu-
 sively intrusted with the business  of solving the great  problem
 of Life and discovering the laws of Universal Order.   The  human
 soul  is endowed  with  another faculty,  which,  if  not  higher
 than  the understanding, is  at least of co-ordinate importance.   I
 mean  the   faculty of  reason.   Le  Verrier had discovered  his
 planet before it had  made its appearance in  the  field  of  his
 telescopic vision.    The  Chemist  will  never succeed in deter-
 mining by his analysis the teleological principle of combination of
 the human  organism.  Why is  man made as he is?   Why is the
 stomach located where it is ?   Why does the liver  fill the right
 hypochondrium and not the left ? or why does not the heart throb
 in  the  right  side  of the thorax  instead  of  the left ?   These
 questions might be multiplied without end to the utter shame and
 confusion  of the chemical or histological Philosopher who cannot
 even  create  a blade of  grass,  and  simply multiplies the  number
of mysteries the more deeply he penetrates into the Holy of Holies
 of Nature's own workshop.

  And when the Chemist undertakes to account, with the feeble
 and deceitful glimmer of  his  science, for the origin and nature of
disease, and  to indicate the means by which this enemy should be
met, how futile and impotent his exertions appear upon this new
stage of human effort!   " Is there a single disease," asks Lehmann,
 " that is not attended by chemical changes ?   Can we  ever hope
to comprehend  or explain the  nature  of any process, if we are
ignorant of its  integral  factors ?   Life  cannot  exist  without
chemical  movements,  disease  cannot   exist  without  chemical
 changes." 
           THE HEALING  ART UPON  A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.        107

   It  is  by these chemical  changes that  the Chemist expects to
 determine the  character  and to measure  the  intensity of  the
 pathological process.  Vain expectations, fallacious hopes!  The
 Chemist abandons the field even before he  is fairly engaged in the
 battle against the arch-fiend disease.   " Can we  be said," inquires
 Lehmann in the concluding paragraph of his truly admirable work
 on Physiological Chemistry; " can we be said to possess anything
 approaching a phenomenology of pathologico-chemical processes in
 the science known  as Pathological  Chemistry ?   Are we even in
 possession of investigations  capable of exhibiting the casual con-
 nections of these pathologico-chemical phenomena 1   Or are those
 which we do possess, conducted with sufficient exactness to justify
 us in drawing  from them any more general  conclusions ?  What
 has been,  or can as  yet be  done,  in Pathological  Chemistry ?
 Some  few  factors  or resultants  of  the metamorphosis  of animal
 matter have been investigated in  a number of diseases, and in the
 most   favorable cases  the results have  been compared together,
 although they very frequently did not admit of comparison.   And
 even  if the observations  made  on  one  and the  same object in
 different conditions, did  actually  admit of comparison,  we might
 indeed derive from them proofs or counter-proofs in  reference to
 some  popular view in Humoral Pathology, but they  could never
 afford us any insight into  the pathological process in the  disease in
 question.   It has only  seldom been  considered that it is indis-
 pensably necessary to the comprehension of a pathological process,
 that we should simultaneously investigate, if not all, at least many
 of the  factors and resultants of one and the same object, and  that
 we should  endeavour to ascertain  the  mutual  relations of the
 different parts of the  group of phenomena.  Instead of instituting
 accurate analysis of the urine, the  blood, the  solid excrements, and
 the expired air, in one and the same individual, and making careful
 determinations  of the quantities of the  egesta when  compared with
 the inoesta or the weight of the  body, infinite  pains have been
 taken to compare the composition of the blood in  different diseases,
 without a suspicion of the insufficiency of  our analytical methods,
and their  inability  to afford us an insight into  the  internal
metamorphosis   of matter.   We  believe  that we  have  already
sufficiently  characterized  the deplorable nature  of most of the
analyses of morbid  urine.   Diabetic  urine  has  frequently  been
examined, the  other juices have  also  been analyzed in diabetes,
       8 
108       CHEMICAL ANALYSIS  INADEQUATE TO ESTABLISH

and sugar has every where been found.   Yet this  much discussed
disease has never been  investigated with reference to the general
metamorphosis of matter; on no occasion  has any attempt been
made to determine the  ingesta  and egesta  of the body during its
continuance;  and even  those experiments which have been made
to determine  the relation of nutrition to the formation of sugar,
have either been  left  incomplete, or  have utterly  failed in their
object, while the relations  of  respirations, which are  so important
in this disease, are still  shrouded in  complete obscurity.  A com-
prehensive examination  of the  kind to which we refer, is essentially
needed in the case of  inflammatory fever,  or  the inflammatory
process accompanied by fever, which constitutes one of the main
processes  of most diseases.   It would  have served as the  first
point of  attachment  for a systematic  inquiry as the keystone
to a  true system of Pathological  Chemistry;  a more favorable
opportunity could scarcely be  found for establishing and examining
from  a  physical point of view these complicated relations in the
deviations from the normal cause of the  metamorphosis of matter.
But the ground before us is still unbroken, and the fruitful soil has
as yet yielded little more than  weeds."

   And weeds  it  will yield to the end of time.  Lehmann's  new
fangled differential calculus will never determine the  character of
the morbid process in any given case in such a manner that the
difference between the pathological and physiological status can be
equalized by another  chemical equation  yielded by the chemical
composition of the drug.  All this seems very learned, yet is it
any  better  than gilded dross?  How is the Chemist  going to
determine the  difference between morbid and healthy blood, morbid
and healthy  urine, morbid  and healthy brain, morbid  and healthy
chyle ?  Considering that every  analysis, even the most accurate,
of these substances in their normal  condition, is as yet imperfect,
and to that extent unreliable,  would not those  determinations be
hypothetical ?  And let us suppose  these determinations could be
carried out with all the  precision of scientific truth, the  difference
between the normal and the abnormal status of the tissues would
not be the disease, but a result of that morbid process which  had
disturbed the harmony of the  physiological  functions.  It is  this
process and its safe and speedy  absorption, neutralization or hushing
up of some kind or other, which constitutes the object of treatment. 
           THE HEALING ART UPON A SCIENTIFIC BASIS.        109

  Proud man who seest the mote in others' eyes, but dost not see
the beam in thy own !   The  physiological physician  would  fain
have  us believe  that he never swears by the words of a master.
Tell him that he is enslaved by a system, and a very foolish  and
absurd system at that, and he will consider himself aggrieved  like
a martyr, and  look  down  upon  your  boorish  ignorance with
supercilious contempt.   Yet what does Physiological  Chemistry
avail  him  in the treatment of hydrocephalus?   If the analysis
of the effused fluid reveals  a  relative increase of Potash and  the
Phosphates in comparison with the Chlorides  and Soda, what does
this kind of knowledge amount to in practice ?  How  far does  it
facilitate the treatment of this terrible disorder to  a physiological
physician ?
  One of them  declares that the water in the brain is the main
object of cure, and  gives Digitalis,  Cantharides, Squills,  &c, to
act upon the kidneys ; another wants to remove the water by the
bowels,  for  which  purpose  he  administers  drastics,   such  as
Colocynth, Elaterium, &c.;  a third gives tonics, such  as Iron  and
Bark.
  " As long as Chemistry," writes one of the most brilliant thinkers
of our  School, Dr.  Von Grauvogl,  " has not healed  any of the
cases  which Old School physicians have pronounced incurable,  and
many  of which are cured  by homoeopaths,  she has no right to
arrogate to herself dictatorial powers over Physiology, Pathology,
or  Therapeutics.    If  Liebig asserts, page 311, vol.  I. of his
Chemical Letters, that a knowledge of the cause of the origin  and
progression  of putrefaction in organic matters renders the question
concerning the nature of many  contagiums and miasms capable of
a simple solution, why then does not Agricultural Chemistry cure
the potato rot and the grape-disease ?  What right  has  Chemistry
to meddle with the laws of the living organism, if she is not even
able to  manage the organic  life of plants  without heart, stomach,
nerves,  blood, brain,  &c, and  which  are  endowed with  an extra-
ordinary capacity for effecting a compensation of substance in
exchange for excessive waste or considerable privations ? "
  Why do  we often smile on beholding  a  fashionable physician
riding about in his carriage  with  stethoscope  in hand, very often
for no higher purpose than that of having all the appearance of a
man  who is privileged  to  watch  on the threshold  of  Nature's
mysterious  temple for  such oracles  as the Pythian Goddess may 
110      CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INADEQUATE TO  ESTABLISH

vouchsafe to his listening ear ?  What, principally, are the practical
advantages of auscultation and percussion beyond a more accurate
knowledge  of certain pathological conditions, which an examination
conducted with these new means of physical diagnosis  enables us
to obtain?  After  having ascertained  with  the  most rigorous
exactness the presence of pneumonia, and having determined the
precise  locality,  form and complications  of the  inflammatory
process,] how  then  does  the  subsequent  treatment  which  the
physiological physician inflicts  upon his patient, differ from the
old-fashioned treatment of  humoral  doctors ?  Why, he  bleeds,
leeches and blisters the patient;  he deluges  him with expectorants
and  diaphoretics ; he administers Tartar Emetic, and pursues in
all respects the very same course which any  other so-called rational
physician would adopt.   Unless he should prefer the stand-still or
do-nothing  method, which is the latest crowning glory of the Physio-
logical  School.  A most remarkable  result  of  truly  Herculean
labors !   At no time has  the morbid process been watched with
more anxious solicitude than at the present.   Thousands of  bodies
have been opened with the most heroic perseverance ; the morbid
tissues have been analyzed in the crucible, or  examined with the
microscope ;  and  the  post-mortem appearances of disease have
been described in ponderous volumes, with  a  systematic care, and
with such perfect reference to the  corresponding symptoms which
had been observed during the life-time of the patient, that it would
seem as though the morbific principle, which had so far eluded the
grasp of pathological investigators, ought to  have been discovered,
and that the treatment of diseases  ought to have become a matter
of scientific precision.  But, alas !  " parturient montes et  nascitur
ridiculus mus," the mountains have been  in labor and  a silly
mouse has been born.  The gentlemen of the  Physiologico-Patho-
logical School  have come to the sapient conclusion that the process
of disease is only a temporary mistake, and that the best thing that
can be done for the suffering organism is to help it along by  simple
drinks, gum-water, dietetic  and hygienic means, and to shun all
active treatment, unless it be of a  gentle character which will not
interfere with the natural  course of the disease, and will otherwise
conduce to the comfort  of the  patient,  and effect  a  temporary
palliation of his sufferings.   Between the violent  and meddlesome
treatment of one  class,  and the  more humane treatment  of the
so-called expectant doctors, we cannot hesitate to hail  the aban- 
          THE HEALING ART UPON A  SCIENTIFIC BASIS.       Ill

donment of the bloody and destructive practices in vogue among
a majority of Old-School physicians,  as  a laudable progress  in
Therapeutics.   Yet in either case we are struck with the fact that
Therapeutists are not so much bent upon interrogating Nature for
her own System of  Cure, as upon establishing  their  whims and
notions as the  lawful fiat of the Schools.

  Has Nature her own System of Cure, and has  this System been
discovered ?  Let us devote a few pages  to the consideration of
this all important question. 
 
PART II.
 PRESENTATION  OF  THE  HOMOEOPATHIC  LAW  OF
     CURE  AS  A  COSMOGONICAL  PRINCIPLE  AND AS
     THE  BASIS  OF THERAPEUTIC  SCIENCE.


 a.—The Homoeopathic Law presented as a Cosmogonical Principle.

   It is claimed by the followers of the Homoeopathic School that
 its teachings and practices constitute the  domain of Nature's
 Science of Therapeutics.   It is claimed by them that homoeopathy
 is not a mere reform  of medicine, but a discovery.  It is  not denied
 by the homoeopaths that the histologists and chemical analytists of
 the Physiological  School  have  enriched  the domain of Medicine
 with many valuable contributions in every department of medical
 inquiry.   Like the Dresden  alchymist who, in order to hush the
 clamor of the people for gold, set about contriving  a crucible in
 which hard metals could be melted, and invented the porcelain ; or
 like the sons  in the fable, whose father bequeathed to them a field
 hi which a treasure was hidden  that afterwards came to light in
 the shape of a rich crop of wheat;  the labors of physiological
 chemists and  microscopists have neither resulted in  the discovery
 of the life-principle nor in the  establishment of therapeutic truth,
 but they have enabled us to  understand more clearly the composi-
 tion and functional activity of organs ;  to  interpret more correctly
 the subjective phenomena of disease ; to distinguish more  accurately
the various morbid secretions and disorganizations.   Yet, in spite
of all these  laudable advances, the framers of the  Physiological
School of Medicine have, on the other hand, been led to conclusions
which are utterly destructive of science, and subversive of truth. 
 114    PRESENTATION  OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CERE

   The  fundamental error of physiological physicians  consists  in
 their ignoring the fact that health and  disease  differ from each
 other in  their essential principles.   To  an honest  and common-
 sense man  of the  people,  whose  mind  is not  crushed down by
 ponderous learning, the  statement that health and disease do not
 essentially differ from each other, must seem to imply a monstrous
 paradox.  Nevertheless, it is claimed by these so-called physiological
 therapeutists that the movements of the healthy  and the sick body
 are governed essentially  by the same laws, and that the phenomena
 of disease are  only a temporary mistake on the part of the normal
 vitality, an  accidental deviation from the  straight line of health.
 A patient burning  up with fever, or  suffering excruciating  agony
 from gravel or gout,  is  really  no worse off  than a blooming girl
 enjoying  the  intoxicating pleasures  of the  dance, or the hunter
 tracking his game with his trusty rifle.  It seems  highly improbable
 that men in their senses should advance and try  to uphold such
 doctrines by scientific research  and argument.   I  must, therefore,
 claim the privilege of substantiating my assertions  by quoting a
 few paragraphs from one of the  latest and most  celebrated  works
 of the Physiological School, Professor Virchow's  work  on Cellular
 Pathology.

   " The idea of disease," writes  this  brilliant author,  " has become
 more and more purified from the character of ontological person-
 ality which had adhered to it from the mythical age, and a beginning
 has  been made of absorbing this  ideal  entity,  with its  separate
 existence, into the idea of life generally.   Disease  generally being
 a condition proper to living organized beings, whether animals or
 plants, it can only be regarded as one of the  forms in  which the
 life of organized individuals is capable of manifesting itself.
   " Hence,  there is no essential difference between Physiological
 and Pathological laws, none between the forces and substances by
 which  the healthy, and those  by which  the sick life  exists, but
 only an essential difference in the conditions in which the general
 laws of  life become manifest; in which the forces and materials of
 life become active.
   " The uniform  cause of all phenomena, in  health  as  well as in
 disease,  is life  itself;  there  is  no disease existing independently,
separate and distinct from life.
   " What we call disease, is an abstraction,  a conception of the 
AS a cosmogonical  principle.
115
mind by means of which we discriminate between the sum of vital
phenomena and  between  certain groups  as  parts  of the whole,
though no such discrimination is based upon a separation in Nature.
Such abstractions are necessary to enable us  to  convey to others
an intelligible comprehension of the relation of health to disease.
But in the practical treatment of diseases, and in the diagnosis of
individual cases, such abstractions have to be abandoned,  lest the
disease should lead  us to overlook the patient, and the ideal con-
ception should induce  us to  neglect the reality.  The patient is
the only object of a physician's attention, who should never forget
that his ultimate  purpose is to relieve human suffering."

  This paragraph  plainly  and  emphatically  substantiates  my
assertion that the laws of health and disease are held to be identical
by physiological therapeutists.   These gentlemen analyze pus, and
find that its chemical composition differs from that of blood, lymph
or mucus only by the number  and  weight of its atoms of Carbon,
Oxygen,  Hydrogen and  Nitrogen;  they  analyze  other morbid
exudations and transudations,  and find to their amazement that
they are  chemically  constituted of  the  same ingredients as the
normal secretions.  Hence, they jump at the bold conclusion that,
inasmuch as the same physical  or chemical laws  govern the normal
as well as abnormal formations  of the  organism, health and disease
are   simply two  different conditions of existence,  two  different
manifestations of one and the same principle of life, disease being a
manifestation depending  upon or  brought  about by accidental
influences of a disturbing character.

  The great  error of the Berlin Professor consists  in  overlooking
or ignoring the existence of innate morbid properties, or capacities
for, or susceptibilities to, the'various  diseases which have infested
this  perishable humanity  of  ours from the  very infancy of the
human  race.  While the organism continues to exist in normal
conditions of atmosphere, temperature,  ingestion of food, exercise
and the like,  the  susceptibilities to diseases remain latent in the
tissues; but, if the  organism should step out of  these normal con-
ditions of an harmonious  vitality, and should become  exposed to
abnormal influences,  such  as  draughts of air,  suppression of a
violently  excited  perspiration,  excessive  eating  or  drinking,
exhausting labor, tumultuous passions, a sudden and excessive joy, 
116    PRESENTATION OF THE  HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

anger, grief, mortified pride and the like, the morbid properties  or
susceptibilities  to disease  which had  hitherto  remained  latent,
become active states of existence, or more  or  less serious, painful
and dangerous diseases.  It is undoubtedly the same life-force which
I have  so often alluded to as  the  cosmic force  or the  Living
Sphere which, proceeding out of the eternal fountain-head of Life
or the Esse of the Father, fills all space in immeasurable successions
of degrees of intensity and power, even to the ultimate boundaries
of material Nature, sustaining  and  perpetuating all created indi-
vidualities, each in accordance with its inherent laws of  order and
functional destiny ;  I repeat, it is the same life-force or life-essence
that regulates  and  preserves  the  harmonic   movements  of the
organism, its true physiological life, and which, on the other hand,
develops  latent  morbid properties  into  active  conditions  or
pathological states,  known and described as  diseases.  Hence,
physiological and pathological,  so  far  from  being  convertible
terms, are, on the contrary, antagonistic  to  each other, the former
expressing harmony of functions  and a blissful feeling of health;
the  latter implying disharmony, pain, disintegration and death.

  In  another part  of his  work  the learned Professor of Clinical
Medicine and Pathology in  the  University of Berlin reasons in this
wise:
  " The difference between health and disease, between Physiology
and Pathology, is not to  be sought  in the  objective conditions  of
the  organism,  nor in  the  stimulations, disturbances, tensions and
restorations  which the body experiences; it  is always  the same
living body with its living elements;   it is  the same  classes of
stimulants, the same laws of disturbance, of tension and restoration,
in one  word,  the  same  materials  and  forces  which  become
active.
  " The sole difference  depends upon the degree  of importance
which an external agent acquires according  as one or   the other
condition of the  body  and its elements happen to  prevail, and
upon the influence which certain disturbances happen to exercise
over the  continuance of  the  body and  its elements.   It is the
character of danger which imparts their peculiar appearance to
the  morbid processes, and which is  determined by the   extent or
intensity  of the disturbance   and  by  the  increased  difficulty in
restoring the equihbrium.  The  same process may, or  we should 
as a cosmogonical principle.
1L7
say,  must  be both  physiological  and  pathological;  the same
disturbance,  the  same  restoration of equilibrium may take place
within the same physiological and pathological degrees of latitude.
We do not mean to say that every species of external agent which
operates as a  morbific  principle, belongs  to the  ordinary  vital
stimuli,  but  we  do  mean  to say  that  no  morbific  agent is
capable of occasioning vital manifestations in the body, which are
essentially distinct from the normal phenomena of vitality."

  If the normal and abnormal phenomena of vitality are not essen-
tially distinct from each other, how happens  it that the former are
so frequently accompanied by exquisite sensations of delight, and the
latter are no less frequently attended with excruciating pain ? When
Leibnitz promulgated his doctrine of optimism, the cynical Voltaire
was undoubtedly right  in  taunting  the German philosopher with
the question, whether a patient who was undergoing the  operation
of lithotomy could be induced to admit that a stone in the bladder
and all the sufferings incidental to the  extraction of this concretion,
were the best possible  condition imaginable.   It  is  undoubtedly
true that laws govern the formation of stone as well as the normal
secretions of the  bladder,  but it   is  absurd to think that an
important and painful  disorganization like  stone in  the bladder,
does not involve something more than a mere accidental deviation
or mistake  as it were, of the  normal  vital action.  There is a
morbific  cause at  work  in  the development  of this concretion
essentially distinct from the normal forces of life, and obeying laws
that are specifically  at variance with the  laws of life wriich they
seek to subvert.

   I will introduce one or two additional quotations bearing on this
subject, after which I shall be  able to enter more intelligibly and
satisfactorily upon a logical exposition of the fundamental law and
general teachings of the Homoeopathic School.

   " We may undoubtedly say," writes Professor  Virchow in his
Special Pathology and Therapeutics, " that many morbid processes
occurring in certain localities, show qualitative differences from the
physiological processes occurring  in  the same  localities ;  but we
are never justified in  inferring  from  these  differences that morbid
processes and the vital process with its numerous possibilities, are 
118     PRESENTATION OF  THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

essentially distinct.  Life is  realized at every point in accordance
with local possibilities, and hence may manifest itself differently at
different periods even in the most  minute portion of the organism,
even in the same cell."

  And  lastly  the same  distinguished  Professor indulges  in  the
following  very plausible but very deceptive  lucubration :   " These
laws (of vitality) continue as long as the vital movement continues;
they exist in the same form and number in a healthy as well as in a
sick body  ; the difference consists wholly in their manifestation being
different.    The  same  natural law  manifests  itself  differently
according to the conditions  in which its manifestation takes place.
Hence the difference  between  the body in health and  the body in
disease  can only be founded in the different conditions in which this
manifestation takes place, and  though  the vital phenomena should
appear ever so much  altered, yet it is never new laws, but only
new conditions,  that have operated.
  "Ifwe  wish   to build up  pathological  systems, they should
simply be etiological, not nosological.   Nosological systems belong
to the past; systems of conditions are alone possible, and  Guerin's
invitation to build up an etiological system of medicine, is perfectly
justifiable.
  " The  idea of disease  should  be  freed from an  exceptional
ontological meaning;  diseases  are not endowed with essentiality,
like plants and animals.
  "Not  diseases,  but   conditions   constitute  the  object  of
Therapeutics;   the  question  is  simply   a  change in the  vital
conditions."

  It is undoubtedly true  that  the antiquated abuse of nosological
systems should be abandoned as irrational.   But is it less irrational
to maintain in the face of Nature and common sense that diseases
are  governed by the same laws which preside over the  harmonious
movements of the organism?   Is  it  true that Cholera, Smallpox,
Scarlatina, Whooping-cough,  and  so many  other  pathological
plagues of this afflicted humanity  are simply accidental deviations
uf an otherwise  essentially normal principle of life ; not states of
being essentially opposed to the  normal life of the organism and
depending upon the  operation of morbific causes which, when
permitted to  act upon the living tissues,  can no more result in 
AS A COSMOGONICAL PRINCIPLE.
119
manifestations of harmonious vitality than a hyena could manifest
the gentle instincts  of the  lamb ?   There must be  other causes
besides  purely atmospheric influences,—which co-operate  in the
production of disease.  The etiological system of medicine which
is called for by the  Berlin Professor,  if constructed in accordance
with the facts of Nature, will not  indeed be a stale enumeration of
long and wearisome categories of names of diseases, the offspring of
man's fantastical  genius; nor will it be a  mere  classification of
atmospheric or hygeinic conditions as the primary causes of diseases.
It will be the science of disease, not a pathological  arrangement,
but a doctrine elucidating the vital truths that, as evil  differs from
good, so does disease differ from health, not as a simple negation, an
accidental deviation of the normal Life from its own laws of order,
these laws remaining in  fact   equally  operative  in  disease as in
health;  no indeed;  Nature's  etiological system  would*show that
diseases are positive states of existence, essentially at variance with
the normal functions of  the organism, and  obeying  laws of order
which are no more  identical with the laws of physiological harmony
than darkness is identical with light, or civil war identical with
national peace and prosperity.   The very arguments which philos-
ophers of the so-called Physiological School resort to for the purpose
of wiping out all lines of demarcation between health and disease
as two essentially distinct states of existence,  suggest to my mind
the  inference that  the  fact of disease  cannot  be accounted for
except by calling to our  aid the existence  of principles  or forces
which the  crucible  and  the microscope will never  reveal to the
senses.

   " It is beyond doubt," this is the language of a recent pathological
authority, "that a certain number of individuals are attacked with
sickness at the same  period, in the  same  locality and in the same
manner.  But what must a man  of  common  sense think, if he is
told that the most  pernicious  diseases  may  be  caused by  a
somewhat wet spring, by a hot summer,  or  by a few fogs during
fall?    How  can we remain   patient,  if the  most diversified
diseases which happen to  prevail at the  time,  are  derived  from
these simple  conditions with  the  most  imperturbable  faith?
Croupous  diseases,  cutaneous   eruptions,   catarrhal  affections,
dysentery, typhoid fever, pnuemonia, articular rheumatism, pains in
the limbs; all these affections, if assuming  an epidemic form, are 
 120    PRESENTATION OF  THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

 supposed to owe their existence to the  prevailing state  of  the
 weather, whether warm or cold, dry or wet.  If the  went her is hot
 during a  prevailing dysentery, the disease is said to be caused by
 the heat of the day ; if cool, the cool nights bring on the epidemic.
 If we have a dry winter, the lungs are inflamed by its cold blasts ;
 if the winter is wet, the pneumonia is  superinduced by the damp
 and cool atmosphere.   Thus it is that we account for the origin of
 diseases as best we may, by accusing the weather,  because we do
 not know what else to lay the  blame to.  Daily experience shows
 moreover that hot summers or  cool  and damp winters frequently
 pass away without  such diseases ever  occurring, and  that whole
 districts  and a  number  of individuals  remain  intact although
 exposed to the same atmospheric influences."

   I can readily admit with  the physiological chemist that, even in
 disease,  the inmost   vitality  remains  unaltered;  the  idea of
 immortality implies a  principle of essential identity which would
 seem beyond the reach of  destructive forces; I am not prepared to
 admit that this spiritual organism which is  destined to exist in its
 integrity and fullness  of development beyond the grave, and must
 even constitute here below the  inmost life of this material frame,
 can be tainted by disease.    Disease  is essentially confined  to this
 material body, the body of sense, which, after  its invasion by any
 of the morbific principles which  pervade the surrounding spheres,
 presents  a specifically altered form  of  vital  action and reaction
 which we designate as a form of disease.   Grauvogl justly  argues
 that such a specific alteration of the normal state of vital action and
 reaction, or, in other words,  such a disease, differs from this normal
 state as much as the excess of Nitrogen and other ingredients which
 are forced  upon wheat  contrary to  its  own law, are no  longer
 wheat, but constitute a disease known as uredo fcetida or rust."
It is the high aim of Homoeopathy  not only to heal the sick more
promptly and efficiently than the old methods have been able to  do,
but to  establish order in  tha  domain of Pathology  and to elevate
the mind to the perception of universal  truth.  If I endeavor on
the present occasion to  contribute my  mite to the  attainment of
this exalted mission of our cause,  I  beg to remind the reader that
her advocates generally, and  more  especially  those among them
 who endeavor to promulgate a more philosophical perception and a
more comprehensive application of the Homoeopathic Law, must be 
AS A COSMOGONICAL PRINCIPLE.
121
prepared to meet with  indifference, and even  with opposition and
misapprehension.
  This   was   old  Father  Schreiner's fate.  When talking to his
Prior of spots  which he  professed to have seen on the disc of the
sun by means  of his telescope,  the Prior rebuked him with these
words:  "I have searched Aristotle to find a confirmation of such a
statement; but I have not met  with any allusion  to anything of
the kind ; thou  mayst be  persuaded  that what thou hast seen is
an illusion of thy senses,  or of thy  glass,  and I warn thee against
such heresy."

  New  truths are never  received with  willing hearts when first
announced to the world   Reforms and discoveries always have had
to struggle against the power of prejudice and established interest;
why should a great and vital  truth like Homoeopathy which, when
viewed in the light  of reason,   is  seen to penetrate to the very
foundations of scientific and  social interests, be exempt from  the
obligation of struggling for the  right to  grow in a soil that seems
much more adapted to  rankling  weeds   than to  the bright and
glorifying inspirations of Heaven.

  I am loath to  believe that  scientific inquirers like  Virchow and
Liebig would wish to wilfully belittle the  science which it has been
vouchsafed to the genius of Hahnemann to usher into the world as
the new Goddess of Medicine; it is nevertheless true that even such
men as Virchow and Liebig have  failed  to do common justice  to
Homoeopathy, and  have  chimed in with the  great  multitude  of
professional  and  non-professional  opponents  in   crying  down
Homoeopathy  as an absurd  doctrine which  proclaims the use of
infinitesimal doses in the  treatment of diseases as its distinguishing
badge and the very corner-stone  of its edifice.

  " It  is absurd  to  believe,"  writes Virchow,  " that a smaller
quantity of a certain substance can produce greater effects  than a
large quantity thereof."

  And in another  place, after having endeavored  to account  for
the development of disease in the tissues upon the principle  of
fermentation, the same high authority is pleased to send forth the
following fiat ex cathedra : 
122    PRESENTATION  OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

  " On the contrary, a minimum of a very energetic  excitor may
produce lasting and great effects, in consequence of the continued
spread of the original catalytic movement.
  " This is one of those facts which render the  possibility of the
so-called homoeopathic effects intelligible.
  " We do not mean to admit by this statement that homoeopathy
has any claim  to a scientific character."

  In one sense it seems a misfortune  that the treatment of diseases
in accordance  with the Homoeopathic Law should  have given rise
to,  and, in many respects  necessitated the  employment of such
small doses that they have  been designated as  infinitesimal.  The
minute doses of homoeopathy, constituting the most characteristic
feature of, and the most ostensible  difference  between the homoeo-
pathic practice and the ordinary practice of the  Schools, have been
seized upon by the opponents  of our system as an excellent butt
for their wit and satire.   These gentlemen seem to  have forgotten
that Homoeopathy may possibly be  one  of  the eternal truths of
God and Nature, and that, if infinitesimal quantities of drug-power
should be  a necessary part of this new system,  their  frivolous
onslaught  on  the  so-called  homoeopathic  dose becomes  a  crime
against Humanity.

  Even Liebig,  this  otherwise careful and  erudite  investigator,
renders himself liable  to this charge  of frivolity.  At one time he
denounces the followers of Homoeopathy and ridicules their  small
doses, and yet, carried away by the force  of scientific  research, he
furnishes at another time,  some very brilliant  illustrations  of the
action of minute quantities of matter, which  go far to  overthrow
his own denunciations of our far-famed Infinitesimals.
  At  the  end of his  fourth  Chemical Letter of vol. I., Liebig
exclaims:
  " Who would dare to assert that most well-educated men occupy
no higher position in the knowledge of Nature and her forces, than
the  iatrochemists of the sixteenth  century, when he knows that
hundreds  of physicians who have graduated in our  Universities,
receive maxims as truths, which mock all experience and  common
sense; men who believe that the effects  of drugs reside in certain
virtues or qualities, which can be set in motion and increased by
friction and shaking, and can be transferred to inefficient substances; 
AS A COSMOGONICAL  PRINCIPLE.
123
men who believe that a natural law which has no exception, is not
true in regard to drugs, since they suppose  that drugs  increase in
power in  proportion  as they  are attenuated  and their active
principles are diminished?"

  Is it possible to believe that Liebig prefers this frivolous charge
against a large number of his  educated Colleagues ?  Is  it indeed
true that a part acts  more powerfully than the whole ?  That a
fraction of a grain of Arsenic is more poisonous than two grains ?
In stating the doctrine in this loose and general way,  it becomes
essentially  false.  Homoeopathic  physicians  do  not  teach   that
division multiplies the toxicological powers of drugs ; they simply
assert that  a suitable division and subdivision of the molecules  of a
drug increase  their fitness to act  as remedial agents, not because
the sum of their active powers is increased by this proceeding (for
it is an express tenet of the homoeopathic faith that only  a  very
small quantity of drug-substance  is  required to make a curative
impression  upon the  disease);   it  is because  this  exceedingly
minute breaking up  of the molecules enables them to permeate the
capillaries  and to penetrate the morbidly affected cell-walls  more
readily than the gross particles of the drug could do.

  " The most plentiful manuring of the soil," writes Liebig in the
second volume of his Chemical Letters, " with coarsely pulverized
Phosphates, as far as  their effects are concerned, bears no  com-
parison to a much smaller quantity in a state of endless comminution,
which has the effect of distributing a little fragment to every  part
of each little lump of earth.  A single  root-fibre only requires an
infinitely small quantity of nutriment  at the very spot  where  it
touches  the   soil, but in order to secure  the preservation and
functional activity of the fibre, it  is necessary that this  minimum
of nutriment should  exist at this very spot."

  Is not this a justification of the small  doses of homoeopathy ?
May  we not  infer from  this illustration that  drugs have to be
comminuted  until they can be taken  up  by the capillaries and
cells, these radicles of nutrition ?  Hence, the drug-particles  have
to be smaller than the calibre  of the capillaries.  Liebig's  assertion,
page 105,  vol. I. of his Chemical Letters,  "that it is  wrong to
suppose that the effects of drugs reside  in their qualities, and that
       9 
124    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

the power of drugs is  capable of increase in proportion  as their
active principles are attenuated," is refuted  in various passages of
these Letters, for instance,  page 119, vol. II., "The  gluten of
grains, the fibrin of flesh, are readily and speedily dissolved, under
the influence of the bodily temperature, in water to which a  scarcely
perceptible acidity has been  imparted by the addition  of a little
Muriatic acid,  and this solubility is not increased, but decreased if
the quantity of the acid is increased."  Liebig, moreover, mentions
that  one thousandth part  of a drop  of Muriatic acid  becomes a
powerful solvent for the above-mentioned plastic ingredients.
  A  little, in this instance,  evidently is of more avail than a large
quantity.

  Again, page 290 of the second volume of his  Chemical  Letters,
Liebig accounts for the behavior of the ammoniacal salts, table-salt
and the Nitrate of Soda towards the Phosphates  in the following
manner:  "It has been recently observed that the Nitrate  of Soda
and common table-salt possess in a remarkable degree the faculty,
even in the most attenuated solutions, of dissolving the Phosphates
of Lime, Magnesia, &c, and that hence these salts must be supposed
to have the same share in the process of nutrition of plants as  the
humus and the ammoniacal salts."   Liebig quotes these examples :
" One hundred Kilogrammes  (about two hundred and fifty pounds
Troy)  of salt, dissolved in  fifty thousand  litres  (about  thirteen
thousand and  a few hundred gallons)  of water,  dissolve fifteen
hundred grammes (about two pounds and three quarters, Troy) of
tribasic Phosphate of Lime  ; one hundred Kilogrammes (about two
hundred and fifty pounds, Troy) of salt, dissolved in fifty thousand
Kilogrammes (about one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds
Troy) of water, dissolve three thousand seven hundred and ninety
grammes  (about   seven pounds  Troy)  of Phosphate of  Mag-
nesia, &c."
  These solutions of salt are equivalent to a very high homoeopathic
attenuation.   Liebig remarks of these solutions : " The quantity of
Phosphates which  are  taken  up  by these solutions of salt is  not
increased proportionally to  the salt  contained in the fluid; on  the
contrary, the more attenuated the solution, the greater seems to be
its capacity  for dissolving the Phosphates."

  Liebig taunts the homoeopaths with believing that the powers of 
AS A COMOGONICAL  PRINCIPLE.
125
drugs can be  temporarily transferred to, or  grafted upon, neutral
or non-medicinal substances.  It is well known  that homoeopathic
physicians prepare their  attenuations by  successively shaking  the
original tincture with alcohol  in the proportion of one,  five, or ten
drops of the medicine to ninety-nine, ninety-five, or ninety  drops
of strong alcohol;  or, in  the case of dry  substances, by triturating
one, five, or ten grains  of the drug, with ninety-nine, ninety-five,
or  ninety grains  of sugar  of milk, and continuing this process
through as many triturations as may be required until the desired
degree  of  comminution is obtained.   This  idea  of  grafting is
undoubtedly an erroneous  explanation;  yet, the curative efficacy
of homoeopathic attenuations does not, on this account, become a
ridiculous myth.

   In his  admirable  work  on  Homoeopathy,  Physiology,   and
Pathology, Grauvogl undertakes to reply to Liebig's invectives by
quoting against him the following observation from  the second
volume, page  261,  of Liebig's Chemical Letters:  "The  little
lump of earth  not  only retains that which it contains of vegetable
matter, but its power of preserving for the plants that  which they
require, goes  a good deal  further.  If rain-water, or  any  other
water which contains  Ammonia,  Potash, Phosphoric  acid, Silicic
acid in solution, is brought in contact with the soil, these substances
disappear from the solution  almost instantaneously: the soil takes
them up from the  water.  If the soil did not possess this property,
these three main nutriments could not be retained in the soil."
   I do not think that  this  otherwise  beautiful  and  interesting
illustration presents a satisfactory refutation  of the ridicule which
Liebig  launches against the Homoeopaths.  The  little  lump of
earth is not a  neutral principle  with reference to  the Ammonia,
Potash, Phosphoric and Silicic acid contained in the rain-water; on
the contrary, it is a natural receptacle for these  substances which
it stores up in its recesses in obedience to natural laws.   There is
a natural affinity between these  substances and the little lump of
earth; they together make  up  the  material  out of  which  the
framework of many useful  and  indispensable products  of the  soil
is to be woven. This relation does not apply to the  drug-power
and Alcohol or Sugar of Milk, between which and the former there
is no natural affinity whatsoever, any more than  there can be said
to be between the drug-power and flour or sawdust.   In making 
12G    PRESENTATION OF  THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

our attenuations the alcohol and sugar of milk subserve the purpose
of mechanically dividing  and sub-dividing the drug even to  its
remotest molecular constituents; this infinite sub-division of drug-
particles may not, however, imply a development of power in the
sense in which Hahnemann understood and taught this doctrine.

  I  unhesitatingly  reject Hahnemann's statement regarding the
life-threatening power of the thirtieth so-called potency of Drosera
rotundifolia, in whooping cough.  Hahnemann  had conceived the
notion  that his peculiar mode of preparing his attenuations  by
means of the processes of succussion and trituration, resulted in the
development of the inherent drug-power to such an extraordinary
degree   that even life  might become endangered  by the use  of
highly potentized remedial agents.   This doctrine  seems  to have
been adhered to by Hahnemann, with  all the faith of a martyr.  In
preparing his medicines, the  sugar  of milk and alcohol  serve as
temporary vehicles and recipients of the drug-power set free  by
the breaking up of the drug-molecules.  This, at any rate, is the
explanation offered  by Hahnemann and his  disciples, of the fact
that the drug-power is  not utterly dissipated by the inconceivable
sub-division of  the drug-molecules which they necessarily undergo
in the preparation of homoeopathic attenuations.
  If Hahnemann had  contented himself with  asserting  that the
divisibility   of  drug-molecules  is  not  bounded by  any known
limits,  he might have met  with much less  opposition  than the
doctrine of  dynamization,  as he  has  presented  it,  has  had  to
encounter.   Hahnemann's mode of presenting this doctrine makes
it self-contradicting.   On  the one hand the development  of drug-
power in successive attenuations progresses to such an extent that
even life may become endangered by the  exhibition  of highly
potentized remedies; and on  the other hand Hahnemann professes
to have been obliged to attenuate his remedies even to the  extent
of converting them into infinitesimal quantities,  for the purpose of
avoiding,  by this means,  the medicinal  aggravations  which  he
considered unavoidable accompaniments of a homoeopathic cure.
  I  hold that a drug,  as  a  material  substratum characterised  by
definite, individualizing properties, is the product of  the co-opera-
tion of two factors, the active, male or inseminating life principle of
the Cosmos and the telluric or passive, female germ.   The drug as
we find it in Nature, be it animal, vegetable or mineral, contains 
                  AS A COSMOGONICAL PRINCIPLE.              127

the fulness  of  its power  which  may  be obtained in its purity,
separated from all gross, material envelops, by means of suitable
processes.   The drug is  a  unit, or rather the  drug presents a
trinity  of principles  in  unity, namely :  the cosmic  or  creating
factor;  the  germinal principle,  matrix or mould inherent in the
soil of the planet; and the  material product resulting from the
action of the cosmic  factor upon  the germ  in suitable conditions
of atmosphere,  heat, light and moisture.

   Can this trinitary unit  be separated into its component parts?
Such a separation would  imply  the  destruction  of the  drug's
individuality,   and,  so far as its  use in the practical business of
curing is concerned, would reduce it to a disembodied and intan-
gible,  shapeless and formless abstraction.  We  may concentrate
the  sum  of the medicinal energies  of a  drug into  an alcoholic
tincture, or into a resinoid or alkaloid ;  the validity of my mode of
presenting the  drug as a trinitary  unit would not be impaired by
such  a proceeding.   The tincture,  as the representative  of the
natural  drug, is supposed  to  embody the fulness of drug-power,
hence constitutes the trinity in  unity  of the principles  which  I
have traced in  the original animal, vegetable or mineral creation.
And  every  atom of this tincture  contains, even at an infinite
distance if you please, this trinity in unity.   Nor can this trinity
ever be dissolved without the essential identity of the drug being
utterly  destroyed.   If the drug acts at all,  no  matter in what
infinite  subdivision  of its  original  substance,  it   must act  by
virtue of this  trinity  of principles.   There  must be the  material
substratum,  or  else  the  cosmic factor  eludes our  grasp  and
the germinal principle remains an intangible,, inconceivable, power-
less and hidden IT in the crust of our planet.

  If the trinity in unity,  which  constitutes the  fulness of drug-
power,  cannot  be separated  without the essential individuality  of
the drug  being utterly dissipated,  the doctrine which has been
adopted by a  number of Homoeopathic  physicians  as a funda-
mental  tenet   of  faith:  that the   inherent  drug-force  can  be
separated from  its  natural  substratum by the processes  of
trituration and succussion,  and can be temporarily grafted upon
a neutral vehicle,  such  as   sugar  of milk  or alcohol, must be
considered as  erroneous, and will therefore have to be abandoned. 
128    PRESENTATION OF THE  HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF  CURE

All genuine believers in Hahnemann (and I deem it  my privilege
to be classified among them) have held to this doctrine probably
for the reason that  no trace  of  the original drug-molecules  is
any longer perceptible in the high attenuations which Hahnemann
was  gradually  led  to adopt in  the  treatment of diseases  in
accordance with the homoeopathic law of cure.  Yet I have shown
by a  process  of  deductive reasoning that  whatever  curative
influence is exerted by  a  homoeopathic attenuation, is exerted by
the three-fold principles of cosmic factor, telluric germ and their
product in the animal, vegetable  or mineral  kingdom  of Nature.
That this trinitary unit of principles is still possessed of, and capable
of exerting  curative  powers even  when  split into inconceivably
fine  molecular  particles,   has been  substantiated by  abundant
experience.  There must be a something, a principle or force which
does the work.  This force necessarily emanates from the molecules
of the drug  still present in the highest attenuations.   Although no
trace  of the original drug is discoverable in these high  attenuations,
yet I have shown that the drug-force  can never be detached from
its natural material substratum by means of which it had become
amenable  to observation and had been converted into  a means of
cure.   On the  other hand it  is  equally certain that these high
attenuations can only exert a curative influence in cases where the
drug is the exact  type or  counterpart, in a lower, more external
and more  material range of existence, of the morbid property in
the tissues which, by the action of the life-force of the Cosmos, had
become developed into a concrete form of disease.  (SeeNote,p.l80.)
   In the course of this work I have related several cures with very
high attenuations  ; I will mention  a few  more in this place, since
the pathological argument seems to  be the only one that can as yet
be adduced in favor of the validity and use  of these preparations.
However,  with all due deference to the opinions and predilections of
many of my esteemed colleagues,  I must  take this opportunity  of
protesting against what I believe  to be the too general and there-
fore undue importance that has been attached to the so-called high
potencies  which have even  been  dignified by some writers as a
species of high Homoeopathy, far superior to the common dross of
the  low  doses   in  which the   benighted  materialists   of the
homoeopathic School indulge.  In the present state of the  physical
sciences we  can only regard the efficacy of such high attenuations
as the  two  hundredth,  as  an   evidence  of the extraordinary 
AS A COSMOGONICAL PRINCIPLE.
129
susceptibility of certain organisms to  specific medicinal influences;
but I protest with all becoming  emphasis  against the impropriety
of making  these pretended  high potencies the touch-stone and
badge of a superior Homoeopathy.  They may be useful and even
necessary in some cases, but the pretensions of some of the gentlemen
who are addicted to high-potency idolatry, and their claims to a supe-
rior knowledge of the homoeopathic Materia Medica, and to  a deeper
initiation  into  the  mysterious  workings  of the  homoeopathic
remedial agents, are decidedly out of place and betray  an utter
absence of a true perception of  the  things which really and truly
constitute   the   fundamental   principles   of  the science  of
Homoeopathy.   Having premised these few remarks, and having
very  plainly expressed my  conviction that the pretended  high
potencies are really not  high potencies but  simply  infinitesimal
fragments of the  original  drug, containing  all the constituent
principles thereof,  and manifesting curative powers  by virtue  of
these principles,  I  now  proceed to relate the following cases as
illustrations of the actuality of these curative powers.

   An old lady had been attacked  for four nights in succession with
vomiting of excessive quantities of mucus.   The attacks commenced
about two o'clock and lasted until five ; they were  accompanied
with a feeling of anguish and suffocation, coldness of the body, and
great restlessness; after the  attack the patient dropped  to sleep
and had no further trouble until the  next  night,  when the attack
came on again with  renewed and increasing  fierceness.   Every
homoeopathic physician who is at all  acquainted  with his  Materia
Medica, would have  given  this  patient Ipecacuanha.  After the
fourth attack she took one pellet  of the two hundredth attenuation
of this drug on the morning  of the fifth day, which was  the  first
time that I saw this patient; that night she slept comfortably all
night without  waking, and  in the morning got up refreshed and
perfectly restored to health.

   A married lady, twenty-five years  old, had been troubled with
inveterate constipation for eight years.  For the last two years she
has not had an evacuation  of the bowels without resorting to a
cathartic or an enema.  Upon inquiry it was found that the lower
portion of the spinal cord  was irritated and  had been  so for years.
The constipation was attributed to this condition of the cord.   One 
 130   PRESENTATION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CERE

 globule of  the  two  hundredth  attenuation of  Nux  vomica  was
 dissolved in six teaspoonfuls of water, of which the  patient  was
 directed to take one every evening before retiring.   On  the third
 day I had  a visit from the  patient, who informed me that the
 medicine acted too powerfully, and that she had had eight  diarrhoeic
 evacuations in the last twenty-four hours.  In other  respects she
 felt better than usual.  I requested her to discontinue the medicine
 for which I  substituted  a few powders  of sugar of milk.   For a
 long time after, this lady had a natural passage from the bowels.
 Having lost sight of the patient I am unable to  say how long this
 improvement lasted.

   If malignant  crusta serpiginosa does not get  well without the
 interference of Art, then I am prepared to assert  that I have cured
 a case  of this terrible disorder by  means of a single globule of the
 two hundredth attenuation  of Arsenic.  A baby had been vaccinated
 with impure  lymph; or else,  what  seems much more  probable,
 the vaccination  roused some malignant  dyscrasia in the infantile
 organism.  Be this as it may, a few days after vaccination, a large
 bulla started up  at the place of  inoculation, which was filled with
 a dark green blackish-looking ichor.   Wherever this ichor touched
 the skin, it  developed a malignant  and rapidly-spreading sore, so
 that in the course  of  thirty-six hours the  forehead, face,  and neck
 of the child were covered with  a  horrid-looking crust,  beneath
 which  a malignant ichor continued  to  be secreted.   Late in the
 evening one globule of the two  hundredth attenuation of Arsenic
 was given  to the little patient.   On the following  morning  the
 sores had not only ceased to spread, but the crusts had all  dried and
 fell off within the next forty-eight hours ;  the cure was completed
 by that single globule.

   It will be remembered that I have not related these  cases for
 the purpose of singing the praises of  the high potencies so caUed,
but with  the view of affording evidence in favor of their curative
 efficacy.
   I am  aware  that what  might  be  termed  the  pathological
argument  is  exceedingly unreliable,  and  that the  statements of
physicians with regard to  the cures which certain medicines or
potencies are said to have effected, must be taken cum grano salis.
In the cases which I have related  I believe  that the  successful 
as a cosmogonical principle.
131
result was due to the remedial influence of the drug, and cannot be
attributed to  the  exclusive  operation   of  the  vis  medicatrix
naturae.

  I may be permitted to mention a case of gonorrhoeal poisoning of
the eyeball, which  yielded in twenty-four hours to a single globule
of the two hundredth attenuation of Nitri acidum.   A man afflicted
with gonorrhoea, accidentally introduced some of the matter into his
right eye.   The consequence was that on the following morning he
awoke with his eye secreting a greenish-yellow matter, and  the
eye-ball apparently transformed into a mass of pus.   The different
parts   of  the  eye  were  no  longer  distinctly recognizable.    I
administered a globule of the two hundredth  attenuation of Nitri
acidum, and on the  following day, had  the  satisfaction of se^Mig
the eye  restored  to  its  normal  condition  without a  trace"'- of
gonorrhoeal  inflammation being perceptible.  If we decline receiving
such cases as  trustworthy medical evidence, it seems to me that
we shall have  to reject the authority of medical evidence altogether.
I feel, therefore, authorized to assert that even such high attenua-
tions as the two hundredth, are still capable of exerting a curative
influence ; the quantity of material substratum which exerts this
influence in such high attenuations, is  as  yet beyond  the power of
human  science  to  determine.   That it is not  the drug-power
separated from  the original drug,  I  believe  I have  satisfactorily
shown to all unprejudiced inquirers.   Whether the highest attenua-
tion or the  crude drug  is employed in treating a case of disease, a
cure is effected in every case  by means of the whole drug, that is
to say by means  of the trinitary unit  of principles which  are
embodied in the drug.  Those among us who believe that  a drug
can be dynamized  or spiritualized as it were,  by subdividing it  ad
infinitum  by means of the well known process of succussion, rest
their faith upon the erroneous notion that the  dynamic or curative
power of a drug can be separated from its material substratum and
temporarily grafted upon a neutral vehicle.   I have endeavored to
show that this  separation is impossible by any process  known  to
human art; and that it involves  and  would  result in the utter
annihilation of the  identity of the drug.  It would be well if the
high-potentialists of our School would investigate the character of
the so-called high potencies with more philosophical calmness and
discretion.  Their curative powers  are not denied in the abstract ; 
 132    PRESENTATION  OF THE H0M030PATHIC  LAW  OF CURE

 what is denied is, that they can  be made available without  the
 intercession of their natural substratum in the world of matter.   If
 it can be shown that all cures are  ellected by means of this trinity
 of principles:  the cosmic factor or life force of the cosmos,  the
 telluric germ and their natural product, the drug, in which the two
 former are embodied, the dogmatic tenacity  with  which the more
 or less exclusive use of the so-called high potencies is adhered to by
 some members of  our craft, may perhaps be  replaced by  the broad
 spirit of generous  liberality which should animate physicians of
 every creed.   The question  whether a high  or a low attenuation
 should  be  used  in a given  case, will  then no longer constitute a
 subject of controversy about the spirituality of high,  and the mate-
 riality of low doses, but will become, what  it should never have
 ceased to be, a subject of scientific inquiry and  observation from
 the stand-point  of clinical experience.   I regard the acknowledg-
 ment of the  trine, or a trinity of principles in every drug  and its
 attenuations as the  first step towards a  scientific  solution  of the
 problem of dose.  If this ground should be  occupied by the high
 and low dilutionists of our School, the harsh antagonism which has
 heretofore  separated these factions, will disappear  before the sun-
 light  of truth, and give  way to  a  humane and rational  desire to
 help the patient rather than to worship a Creed or a Theory.

  b. The Homoeopathic Law presented as a basis of Therapeutics.

  The curative influence of a drug in any of  its attenuations is not
 exclusively determined by  the  quantity of  material substratum
 which is  present  in the remedial agent, but the  manifestation
 of this  curative  influence depends upon a qualitative as well as
 quantitative relation of the remedial agent to the  disease.   There
are cases where it  may not be possible to realize the  proper  quali-
 tative relation without the presence of a more than ordinary quantity
 of the material  substratum ; on  the other hand, cases may occur
where the true qualitative relation may be realized  by means of an
infinitesimal portion of the  material drug.  The character  of the
drug, the nature of the case and the constitutional susceptibilities
of the patient may have to determine these therapeutic distinctions.
That  it is  not only  the  quantity  of  material substratum  which
determines the curative power of a remedial  agent,  but  that this
determination likewise depends upon the qualitative relation of this 
AS THE BASIS  OF THERAPEUTICS.
133
agent to the capacity for osmotic movements in the qualities and
quantities of the organic substances and tissues which are in specific
rapport with the remedial agent,  is beautifully and strikingly shown
by the following extract from Liebig's Chemical Letters, Vol. II,
page 126:

  " When drinking before breakfast  and upon an empty stomach, a
four-ounce glass of ordinary well-water, which  contains much less
salt than the blood,  we  shall find that after drinking  the second
glass, a quantity of  colored urine is excreted very nearly equal in
volume to the  quantity  of the first  glass,  and by drinking in this
way twenty glasses of water, we  shall obtain nineteen excretions of
urine, the last  of which is  almost colorless, and does  not contain
much more salt than well-water.
  " If the same experiment  is made with well-water to which about
three-fourths of one  per cent, of table salt has been  added, as much
as the blood contains, the excreted  urine will be found to be the
same as the normal urine ; it is scarcely possible to drink more than
three tumblerfuls of this  water; a feeling of repletion, pressure and
weight at the stomach show that  water containing the same propor-
tion  of salt as  blood, requires a much longer time to be absorbed
into  the blood.
  " In swallowing  water which  contains a little  more  salt than
the blood, the opposite of absorption takes place, namely purging.
  " According  as the water contains more  or less salt, the capacity
of the blood-vessels  for absorbing this fluid, is  either increased or
decreased ; if the water  contains a less proportion  of salt than the
blood, absorption takes  place more rapidly; if the  proportion in
both liquids is  about the same, an  equilibrium is observed;  if the
water contains  proportionally more  salt than the blood, this saline
fluid is not, like the  water with less salt, excreted  by the kidneys,
but passes off again by the bowels."

  This example illustrates in a very  striking  and irrefutable manner
the  unscientific character of the massive doses with  which Old-
School practitioners have been in the habit of saturating the human
organism.   These enormous quantities of drugs exceed  the capabil-
ities and necessities of the organism far beyond the limits of possible
endurance, and are  either rejected  by the  ordinary channels, the
bladder, bowels or  skin, with a  great waste of reactive power on 
134    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

the part of the organism;  or else they act chemically and  disor-
ganize the  tissues, entailing very frequently permanent functional
derangements or even disorganizations.  This result of over-dosing
is likewise  pointed out with convincing truthfulness in  the second
volume, page 32S, of  the Chemical Letters, where Liebig defines
the specific adaptation of food to the  vegetative organism in  the
following language: "In proportion as the quantity of food increases,
its chemical action increases likewise, and, if given to plants beyond
a certain proportion, they  become  sickly and  die."  And on  the
following  page we meet with this statement : " The excess of
organic substances in the soil seems to  be a cause of sickness  and
death for many plants."

  Even the uneducated man of the people has heard of surfeiting
the stomach ; people generally want to eat what they like, and such
things would undoubtedly  agree  with the  organism,  if  it  were
otherwise  existing in  a  normal  condition  and  the tastes   and
passions of  man were  not perverted  by hereditary  taints  or
mistaken  education.   Without  a  proper  appreciation  of  the
beautiful law of adaptation, neither the  principle  nor  practice of
Homoeopathy could be fully understood.  Let me illustrate  this  law
by one or two examples, and  by this means, prepare the way for a
final ascent to the pinnacle of the glorious Temple  of our  Science.
  The law of adaptation in the  vital sphere operates both quan-
titatively  and  qualitatively.   It  operates  in  the  domain   of
Physiology equally as  in that of Pathology, and in  this  respect,
we may agree  with the  chemical physiologists:  that the  same
laws  govern the  movements  of the healthy as well  as of  the
sick  body ;  but we cannot  agree  with these  gentlemen  in their
illogical inference that therefore there is no essential  distinction
between health  and  disease, and that both are  mere forms  or
manifestations of  one and  the same  vital  essence.  We know
that   the   substances   which  are   adapted  to   the  organism
in  health,  are  very  seldom adapted  to  the  organism   in
disease, and  vice  versa, that  the  substances which are necessary
to the  latter,  are essential  to the  former.   The  organism in
health requires bread  and meat for the support  and  renovation
of its tissues ; the  organism in disease  likewise requires food in
moderate  or even  very small  quantities.   But  the  abnormal
process  which distinguishes the  sick  from the  healthy organism, 
AS THE BASIS  OF THERAPEUTICS.
135
and which tends to destroy the life of the frame,  requires to be
acted upon  by a series  of  totally  distinct substances in adapta-
tion to the morbidly affected tissues.

  Modern   physiologists have  traced   the   beginning  of  vital
activity  to the  cells, of which the  microscope has  discovered
the existence and  arrangement.   These  cells  likewise constitute
the primary dwelling-places of disease.   The  vital fluids pene-
trate  the delicate cell-walls, furnishing food to the  nucleus,  and
assisting in  the renovation  of the intra-cellular substance which,
in its  turn,  becomes  a  support to  the  integrity and  perpetuity
of the cell.    Here  it is where the law of adaptation  beautifully
comes into  play:  "The  anatomical structure of the cell-mem-
branes," writes  the  accomplished  and  philosophical  Grauvogl,
"determines the  possibility  or impossibility  of  the diffusion of
different chemical  or graduated fluids.   Every membrane,  even
that  of a  cell, is  endowed  with  the  law  of  its specific  use
inherent in  its  structure,  and  even  within  these membranes
peculiar modifying  movements often take place.
  " Whilst  in  consequence of these properties  of the membranes
the blood-corpuscles  receive iron, the cartilages the chloride of
soda,  the bones silicia, the muscles potash,  etc., the vessels of
the liver  take  from  the  blood  the  alkaline  bile, the  vessels
of the  kidneys  nitrogen, the  pulmonary vessels carbonic  acid,
the mammary glands lactic  acid,  etc."

  By  virtue  of  this wonderful  law of adaptation,  the corroding
bile  remains  harmlessly  encased  in  the delicate  gall-bladder,
whereas the  smallest quantity  of  this acrid  poison, if mixed up
with  the   fluids of  the  stomach,  causes the  most  distressing
perturbations of this  organ and very frequently the most  excru-
ciating  suffering.   Liebig  again furnishes us a most  beautiful
illustration of the law of adaptation in the second volume of his
Chemical  Letters,  page  273.    After  showing  that  water-plants
whose roots do  not  touch the soil,  must derive  their mineral
constituents in obedience to other laws, and  that, as in  the case
of marine  plants, these constituents must be obtained from the
surrounding medium,—for,  in  whatever locality a plant grows, it
must meet with the conditions upon which its existence  depends.
Liebig instances  the Lemma trisulea, or  duck-weed, as  an inter- 
136    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

esting  illustration of  this law.   This  plant  grows  in  stagnant
waters, ponds and marshes;  it floats on the surface of the water
so that its roots are without any contact with the soil.
   An  analysis of the  plant  and of the marshy water in which it
grows, has shown the remarkable fact that this  plant  contains a
much  larger quantity  of mineral  constituents  than most  .and-
plants.   " These  constituents,"  writes Liebig,  " are obtained  by
the plant from a solution, but  what is remarkable, they are not
obtained  indiscriminately  but  in   obedience   to  a  principle  of
election.   A comparison of  the composition  of the water with
the  constituents  of the  ash of  the plant  shows, that  all the
mineral  substances of the former,  except  the  soda,  exist in the
plant,  but in very different  proportions;  the  water  contains . 45
per  cent, of lime and magnesia, the plant only  .12  per  cent,  of
both together,  the water contains  nearly three-fourths  of a per
cent, of  the oxide  of iron, the plant ten times this amount; the
differences  between  phosphoric acid, potash,  etc.,  are  no less
striking.   The plant appropriates the soluble mineral constituents
in the proportions  required for the  maintenance  of  its vital
processes, and  not  by  any  means in  the proportions  in which
they are  offered by the water.
   "  The  presence   of  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  sulphuric acid,
silicic  acid, and  iron in the  marsh  water,  is easily accounted for.
The remains of  decaying plants, the roots of which  have taken
up from  the soil  a large quantity of  mineral constituents, gradually
collect in a  marsh in great abundance ; at the bottom of the marsh
these  vegetable  remains become decomposed,  and their inorganic
constituents are dissolved in the water by the co-operating agency
of carbonic acid, and they remain in solution  after the mud and
soil  in contact with this solution have been saturated with them."

   How  happens it, I  would ask, that this plant appropriates  to
its use only 16  per  cent, of the lime of which the water offers
.35  per  cent, to the absorbent power of the plant,  and only 5
per  cent, of magnesia of which the water contains  . 12 per cent. ?
On  the  other hand the plant consumes ten times more oxide  of
iron than the water is capable of  yielding, and nearly four times
as much silicic acid as we find  in  the  water.    These character-
istics  and  definite  proportions are not the result of election, as
Virchow and  Liebig   would  have it.    These proportions  are 
AS THE  BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS.
137
determined   by  the  law  of adaptation,  according  to  which
phosphoric  acid  goes to  the  grain,  silicic  acid  to  the stalk,
nitrogeneous matters  to  the leaf, and the  whole  array of  sub-
stances  which  a  chemical analysis  of the  ashes of  duck-weed
has yielded, is required  in order to  make  up the organism  of
this   unpretending  water-plant.   This  law   of  adaptation  or
harmonious  distribution and assimilation of nutrient matter is not
subordinate  to  Chemistry in the  sense  in which Lehmann would
have us understand this doctrine, when he asserts that the physio-
logical uses  of substances are determined by their chemical constitu-
tion ;  chemistry is  absolutely incompetent to determine the essential
composition  of an  organized substance.   We  comprehend  and
admit that  the law of adaptation cannot operate contrary to the
laws which  govern the physical and chemical movements of matter
in livinir orjranisms, but these movements are subordinate to the law
of order which determines the  characteristic form and growth, in
one  word  the individuality  of the  being.    Descending  to the
physical plane of the organism we find that the law of adaptation
regulates the osmotic movements of the fluids in harmony with the
peculiar properties of attraction and repulsion inherent in the  cell-
membranes.  In order that the physiological vitality of the organism
should be maintained  in  its  normal  integrity, subject of course to
the supreme law of Life and Death, a suitable affinity must prevail
between the fluid and the membrane as  well as between the
fluid  and the  contents of the  cell.   If the  cell-life has become
impaired by some disturbing influence, the  affinity between the
walls or contents of the  cell  and  the ordinary nutrient fluids
ceases, and  the cell enters into  affinity with substances  which, if
administered in sufficient  quantity, would prove destructive or at
least hurtful to the normally-existing organism.  These substances
are drugs, between which  and the cell the law of specific adaptation
becomes more  fully operative than between the cell in a state of
normal health,  and the nutrient substances which the organism can
assimilate.   The osmotic  currents  which may  penetrate the  cell-
membrane in its normal or physiological condition are  exceedingly
varied, extending as they do to the various kinds of animal or vege-
table  food  which  will sustain the life of the organism.   But in
disease,  the  affinity of  the cell scarcely  ever extends to more  than
one drug which is  generally  sufficient to restore the physiological
harmony of the organism. 
138    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC. LAW OF CURE

  This  statement  shadows  forth  in  dim  outlines  the  peculiar
character  of homoeopathic  practice.  There are diseases, or rather
pathological states, in which the  morbidly- affected cell holds a
specific relation to Mercury; in other states this specific relation
exists between the cell  and Aconite, in  others between  the  cell
and Belladonna; the secret of the  Healing Art consists in deter-
mining the quantity and quality of drug-power which  specifically
answers to  the  abnormally  altered  permeability  of  the  cell-
membrane.  It is immaterial whether, in endeavoring  to account
for the  specific action of drugs, we avail ourselves of Dutrochet's
law of endosmose, and the consequent diffusion of  the medicinal
molecules through the capillary currents; or whether we adopt
the doctrine  that  the  action  of the drug is first  perceived  by
some  primary nervous filament, whence it is flashed through the
organism with the rapidity of lightning.   In either case we are led
to the important  conclusion  that only a  very  small  quantity of
drug-power  is required  in   order to  meet the morbid action
where it  should  be  met,  in  the primary  fibril  or   cell.   By
restoring  harmony at this point,  we shall inevitably  wipe  out
the whole series  of pathological phenomena that can  be traced
to these feeble beginnings of organic life.

  Is  it so difficult to  understand that  these  morbidly-affected
cells  or fibrils have  to  be  managed  with scrupulous  care ?  Is
it to  be expected  that  these  delicate organs would be able  to
resist  the  fierce onslaught  of a power which, in a different range
and capacity, had already seriously depressed their vitality ?   In
subsequent paragraphs I  shall have  an  opportunity  of showing
how intimately the natural  morbid force and the drug-force are
related to each other, and  how dangerous  it might prove to  the
patient  on this account, if  we  were  to  cumulate  the  hostile
action by adding to the  natural disease an  excess  of drug-
action ?  We know that cells whose vitality has become all but
extinct  in consequence of  starvation  or thirst, would  become
paralyzed or suffocated as it  were by a quantity of food or water,
which,  to a person  in health, might  prove  a refreshing and
invigorating  stimulation.  The  same  rule  holds  good  in  the
treatment of frozen limbs.   How  do we  communicate  warmth
to the part ?   Instead  of exposing  the  limb  to  the  heat of a
stove  which would paralyze the flicker  of nervous life still  left 
AS THE  BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS.
139
in  the  part,  we  cover the  limb with a layer of snow and ice
which contains a sufficient quantity of natural warmth to satisfy
the immediate demands of the sufferer, and  which will  pave the
way  for  a gradually  increasing supply of  temperature.  If the
morbidly  affected cell  should require an  endosmotic current of
Aconite-power for the  restoration  of its  physiological integrity,
this current very frequently  has to be reduced  in  intensity to
an  uncommon degree,  in order to prevent the remaining impres-
sibility  of the cell from being overpowered  by the mass of drug
material.

   The  importance  of  breaking  up the drug  into its molecular
constituents, and  of administering it  in fractional  doses,  is  even
recognized at the present  day by some of the  best  practitioners
of the  Old School.   An  English journal, for instance, informs us
that Dr.  Bell prefers giving  medicines, especially metals, in very
small doses.   Absorption is regulated  by the  wants of the organs;
hence it  is that inorganic  substances are  only received in small
quantities by the organism.   Take the case of iron.  In chlorotico-
anaemic conditions the  natural Chalybeate Springs are the most
efficacious remedies; yet the  richest  of them  only contains  one
grain of iron  to sixteen ounces of water.   Or take the case of
tartar emetic  in inflammation of the lungs; no large doses are
required to reach the inflamed capillaries.  Bell  states that  he has
obtained specific results with one twenty-fourth to one-sixteenth of
a grain.

  I have  endeavored  to account for the  employment of  small,
yea, infinitesimal doses,  upon philosophical grounds.  Yet it would
be  absurd to  maintain  that an infinitesimal  dose  constitutes the
essence  of homoeopathic treatment.  The  size of the dose  has no
necessary connection with  the idea of Homoeopathy.  There are
many substances which, in their relation to the organism, seem to
exist in  a simple form that  does not  admit  of any further division.
I may mention Pepsin,  Cochineal and others.  More than one case
of desquamative inflammation  of  the  kidneys has  yielded to tea-
spoonful doses of Cochineal, which could not have been reached by
the attenuated drug.  In regard to  dose, we have to depend in a
great  measure upon the  statements  of careful  practitioners of
acknowledged education and skill, and of unimpeachable truthful-
        10 
L40    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW OF CURE

ness.  It  is undeniable that  an immense deal of cant has  been
perpetrated  on the  subject of dose;  yet, although  I regard the
solicitude  with which homoeopathic practitioners seek to protect the
organism against  all unnecessary inroads of drug-action, as one of
the most delightful and truly adorable features  of  Homoeopathy, it
should be distinctly understood  that  the law which constitutes
Homoeopathy a science, is not founded in the subjective opinions or
experiments of physicians, but in the very framework  of Nature
and the eternal Providence of God.

   We have now reached the pinnacle of our temple, and with a few
brief  generalizations I  shall be enabled to conclude  this  Part of
the Second Section of this work.

   If Homoeopathy is a science, it must rest upon a central principle
around which all the facts which constitute her legitimate domain,
are coherently  grouped  in a logical series.   A science  is not a
science unless its generalizing principle accounts for the origin, and
illustrates to the reason,  the true character  of every  phenomenon
belonging to  the sphere,  and affected by the operations of that
principle.  The law under  which Hahnemann, the  discoverer of
Homoeopathy, and the first practical organizer of the homoeopathic
system of treatment, has sought to group the facts of this science,
is the well-known formula, " Similia Similibus Curantur," or,
" Similia Similibus Curentur," as  some would have it, the former
expressing a simple  statement that morbid conditions  ARE cured
by medicines which have power to develop  similar  morbid  con-
ditions in the  healthy organism; the latter expressing a command,
an imperative rule that  morbid conditions  HAVE  TO  BE or
SHOULD  BE  cured  by means of remedial  agents affecting the
healthy tissues in a similar manner.   In our  own vernacular, the
Latin formula is expressively rendered by  the sentence: " Like
Cures Like."

   The terms similarity, resemblance, like, refer to the shape, form
or external appearance of things.  One person may be like another,
yet they may differ from each other  in all the essential principles of
manhood, in their motives, opinions, aspirations.  Both a devil and
 an angel may smile, and their smiles may seem so much  alike to
the sensual  eye, that a superficial observer, or one who is apt to be 
as the  basis of therapeutics.
141
carried  away by appearances, very frequently mistakes one for the
other.   The  most  glistening manners  very frequently  hide the
darkest machinations  of villany;  even the forms  of sacerdotal
sanctity may be  like "whitened sepulchres full of dead men's bones,
and all uncleanness."

   Years ago, when the homoeopathic system of practice was first
called into being, it was the  custom with  many  practitioners to
select a remedy  whose recorded symptoms  corresponded  as nearly
as might be with  the ostensible symptoms of the disease ; and, if
the two series  juxtaposed  did  not tally,  they sought  symptom
for symptom, to make up  for the deficiency by uniting  with the
first  remedy a second agent, whose list of symptoms  would furnish
the required number to complete the correspondence.  This pro-
ceeding was termed covering the symptoms, and  was regarded as
the orthodox application of the homoeopathic principle of cure.

   It is  needless to remark that this mode  of  comprehending and
applying our law of cure has given rise  to the most bitter criticism
and has raised an opposition to Homoeopathy, which is continued
even to the present day, by all the leading writers of  the dominant
School.   Lotze,  in his recent brilliant work  on  General Pathology
and Therapeutics,  furnishes a critical survey of the leading thera-
peutic doctrines, without even mentioning  Homoeopathy as one of
them.   Many true  and devoted disciples have tried to  clear the
skirts of Homoeopathy of  the opprobrium  which this superficial
comprehension of the idea of symptomatic similarity  has cast  upon
her character as  a science.  It is questionable to my mind  whether
this devotion to  the literal  teachings of the  illustrious architect of
our system has not been carried too far by  some of  his followers,
and whether it is indeed  true, as is  asserted by many of  his  most
zealous admirers, that Homoeopathy sallied forth from Hahnemann's
pen, full-fledged, even  as the  warlike Goddess  started with spear
and shield from Jupiter's brain.  A careful perusal of Hahnemann's
Organon compels me to say that the work of moulding the facts
of Homoeopathy into  a  grand, comprehensive and unimpeachable
science has indeed been initiated but not completed by Hahnemann.
In his mind, the formula " Similia Similibus Curantur," referred to
a fulness of symptomatic similarities,  but not by any means to that
inmost agreement or harmonious relation between the drug-disease 
142    PRESENTATION  OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF  CURE

and the natural malady, without which a purely external symptom-
atic similarity becomes a meaningless fallacy.

  There  are substances, the effects of which  in some organisms
simulate  morbid conditions that  do  not exist in  reality.   The
functional disturbances of the heart which  coffee  causes  in some
individuals, perfectly  simulate the  phenomena  of  hypertrophy  of
the heart with  valvular insufficiency  as  revealed by auscultation
and percussion.  Yet  a cup of coffee would not cure this  disease
whose paroxysms might at most be palliated by the occasional use
of this beverage.

  A superficial understanding of the term " similarity " has led  us
to confound purely physiological with therapeutic processes.   In
applying snow or ice to a frozen limb, we  do not proceed upon the
principle of "like cures like;" we furnish  warmth to  a part whose
very power of generating animal heat had  well nigh been destroyed
by physical  influences.  Or in  enveloping a burned  limb  in rags
saturated  with heated alcohol  or  turpentine, we do  not  proceed
homceopathically;  we abstract an  excess  of heat  by applying
cooling substances  to  the  injured part;  a  minute but sufficient
quantity of cooling power being contained in these  applications to
meet the demands of a vitality that had been exceedingly depressed
by the action of the fire.

  "It is exceedingly  difficult," writes Grauvogl, in his admirable
work  on  Homoeopathy, Physiology and  Pathology,  " to  explain
the term similarity.   Even at this day  we look  in vain for  an
exact  definition of what  is similar in Physiology, Pathology  or
Therapeutics.   The idea  of  similarity implies  a relation  of one
thing to another, without  expressing either  subject  or predicate,
and  which may therefore  be applied  to  the  most  contradictory
conditions."
   In order to show what a deal of confusion reigns in the minds of
homoeopathic  physicians in regard to  the meaning of this term,
" Similarity,"  the doctor refers to  the  following faulty illustration
furnished' by  the  homoeopathic  physician  at the  Springs: the
Lippspring  Springs contain 83.25 per cent, of Nitrogen  in their
gaseous emanations, and 4.40 per cent, of Nitrogen in their fixed
gases.    The physician having found that the Urea in  the  urine  of 
AS THE  BASIS OF  THERAPEUTICS.
143
healthy persons  who  drink of this water, diminishes one-half, and
that the Uric acid  disappears entirely, he claims these phenomena
for the benefit  of  Homoeopathy, on  the  ground  that under  the
ordinary operation  of chemical  laws  the  Urea, which is  almost
exclusively composed of Nitrogen, should be much increased.
   This explanation  is faulty, for Urea and Uric acid are products of
the oxidation  of organic substances; inasmuch  as  Nitrogen offers
the greatest resistance to the action of  Oxygen upon the tissues,
it  follows  that the  increased   absorption  of  Nitrogen  by  the
organism prevents  the accumulation of the products of oxidation
in the former quantity.
   In order to make this fact available for Homoeopathy, we require
to have a patient afflicted with a disease where the  diminution of
Urea and the complete disappearance of Uric acid constitute  the
chief indications.

   Purely symptomatic similarities are not sufficient to determine the
homoeopathicity of a remedial agent.  It matters not whether we
speak of purely subjective or of objective symptoms.  In order to
satisfy  the  demands of an  objective Homoeopathy in a case of
leucaemia or white blood, a disease which is distinguished by an
excessive accumulation of the white, and a corresponding diminu-
tion  of the red corpuscles  of the blood, we would have to give
medicines whose action upon the  blood is  characterized by similar
changes in the chemical and microscopical composition of this fluid.
We know from Hist's physiological investigations with Myrrh, the
Malate  of Iron, Cinchona, and other bitter tonics, that they induce
an extraordinary increase in the number of the  colorless corpuscles
of the blood.   Moleschott informs us  that the  use of Mercury in
syphilis, causes an increase of the white  corpuscles.  Starting from
these data we might argue that  Myrrh, the tincture of the Malate
of Iron, Cinchona, and Mercury are  remedies for this insidious  and
dangerous  disease.  Yet the disease,  even in curable  cases, may
not yield to any of these agents, as its homoeopathic anti-types.
A gross Chemical resemblance does not constitute such a homoeo-
pathic  relation as will lead to a cure in accordance  with the
homoeopathic law.

   Nor can the post-mortem appearances  be regarded as a standard
by which the homoeopathicity of a drug to a given  disease could be 
144    PRESENTATION OF THE  HOMCEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

measured.  Symptoms of inflammation of the throat, (esophagus,
stomach  or bowels may be induced by a variety of acrid  poisons,
which may not, for all that, be in curative rapport with an inflam-
mation of these organs when occurring as a natural disease.  These
gross notions  of  homoeopathicity which  unfortunately have been
entertained and promulgated  by a  few professedly homceopatliic
writers, should be abandoned  like a subtle poison with which the
spirit of evil has sought to pervert the life-giving truth for which I
am contending.  Those  who  define the homoeopathic law merely
as a  formula of symptomatic appearances, are deprived of the helm
which will enable them  to pilot the frail bark of human knowledge
safely through the breakers of the sick-chamber, and so land their
patient on the shore of recovery.

   Diseases are abnormal states  of the living organism.   The
subjective sensations and  objective changes  which  characterize
diseases, derive their meaning  and pathological value from them,
and  not, by any means, from  the capricious interpretation of the
individual physician.   Drug-diseases  likewise  are  states of  the
living organism, characterized by subjective sensations and objective
changes.   The homoeopathicity  of a  drug to  a disease is  not
determined by a mere similarity of morbid sensations and changes,
independently of the states which they respectively characterize;
but  by the drug-disease as a state, corresponding with the patho-
logical disease, likewise as a state.

   We have reached the first  round of the homoeopathic ladder.
The  term " Similarity," as it was  originally  understood by  the
followers of Hahnemann, only applies to the sensations and apparent
changes, in one word, to the  derivations but not to the essential
principles intervening hi the creation of drugs and the development
of natural diseases.

   Similarity, from a therapeutic point of view, is determined
by the fact that the characteristic symptoms of the natural
disease, and  the  characteristic effects of the drug upon the
healthy organism, result from the action  of the  life-force
of the  Cosmos   upon  morbid  properties or capacities for
disease, and  upon such drug-germs in the crust of our planet
as correspond to the morbid properties in the organic-tissues* 
AS THE  BASIS  OF THERAPEUTICS.
145
AND  WHICH, WHEN  DEVELOPED INTO  CONCRETE  DRUGS,  WHETHER
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE,  OR MINERAL, TYPIFY  THE NATURAL DISEASE.

   Let me explain.

   The substances which we use as remedial agents are derived from
plants, animals or minerals.  These plants, animals or minerals, are
not  merely compounded  of ingredients that  are held together by
chemical forces.  Why do not  these chemical forces operate after a
leaf is separated from the parent  plant and  gradually returns  to a
molecular  condition ?   Beside the  atoms  of  Carbon,  Oxygen,
Hydrogen, and Nitrogen into  which  the  chemist has analyzed the
organism  of the plant and animal, there is  present  a  combining
principle which holds these constituents  together as  an organized
form of being.   This principle  acts even upon inorganic substances,
and preserves,  develops and  perpetuates each  form  of  matter,
organic or inorganic,  agreeably to  its inherent laws and  individual-
izing properties.   Without the action of this principle  gold could
never be gold, nor silver be silver, nor arsenic arsenic.  Even if the
original molecules of inorganic matter were the same, they must
have been  aggregated together into  the  numerous concrete forms
under  which matter now appears to the eye of the observer, by a
combining power which impressed upon these molecular aggreg-
ations  their  distinctive attributes of color, shape, weight, and all
their chemical and  physical properties.   If these properties  were
originally inherent in  the molecules  of  matter, the aggregating
power must  still preserve, with all  their  characteristic attributes,
the forms of matter such as they now exist.

   A  Creative  Sphere  perpetually  emanating  from  the Divine
Source  as  its  central focus  and  generating  fountain-head,  en-
compasses and inter-penetrates every form of created  matter, even
to the ultimate boundaries of Nature.  This Sphere, as it descends
from the highest  heaven  to the lower planes of  Creation, accom-
modates itself to the nature  of every created  thing, and by its
presence in  every molecular constituent thereof, enables it to exist
and subsist, and to perpetuate itself in accordance with the laws
which the  Creator had originally inscribed upon its  being.   It is
this Sphere which I have so frequently alluded to as the life-force
of the Cosmos. 
 L46    PRESENTATION OF  THE H0M020PATHIC  LAW OF CURE

   It  is  this life-force which constitutes  the  living  or  spiritual
organism in man.  It is  this spiritual  organism which enables the
soul to  act  upon matter, and makes  it subordinate to  the soul's
behest.
   This spiritual organism is  the living or  vital force which  is
repudiated by chemical physiologists as a fanciful delusion.
   The Cosmic life-force accommodates itself to the  nature of the
medium through  which  it passes; it  is  this faculty  of  accom-
modation which accounts for the fact, that on the one hand it may
give rise to  poisonous reptiles  and ferocious beasts, and  on the
other hand to the nightingale and the gentle dove.  Thus it is that
the sun's pure rays may develop the most repulsive life in stagnant
water, and may preserve the flowing spring as a delightful beverage.

   Because the chemist has not yet discovered this living principle in
his crucibles and retorts, he is not justified in denying  its existence.

   Analyze  this flower or fruit,  measure and weigh its component
atoms, determine its salts by reagents, and examine  its molecular
constitution with the microscope, and  then give it  back to me if
you can.  Give  me  back this living flower with its brilliant hues
and perfumes.  Give me  back the  luscious peach with its golden
mantle and its savory and  refreshing juices.  What have  you done
with those living  essences which compounded yonder  atoms of
Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and  Nitrogen  into the  queenly rose,
and compounded these other atoms of the same elements into the
delicious peach ?  These living  essences are beyond the reach of
your reagents;  yet they  exist; they constitute a world, a living
nature which it would afford you the most exquisite gratification to
explore, if your instruments were sufficiently delicate to guide you
in your investigations.

   We have here reached the second round of our ladder.

   There is a correspondence between the  drug-germs  in the
crust of our planet  and the  morbid  properties  inherent in
the tissues of the human organism.

   What do I mean by this correspondence 1 The same thing which
the philosophers of  ancient Egypt and  Greece meant to express 
AS THE  BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS.             147
when they applied to man the term microcosm, or little  universe
The Creative  Power which had deposited drug-germs or  drug
capacities  in  the crust of the earth, inscribed upon the organic
tissues morbid properties or capacities for disease.   By continuing
the act of creation  in  a higher sphere  of life, drug-germs in the
crust of the earth  were represented  in the human organism by
morbid properties or capacities for  disease.  From this general
proposition I derive  the  conclusion : that a particular drug-germ is
represented by some particular morbid  property in the organism.
This leads me to the third round or generalization.

                     DRUGS  TYPIFY  DISEASES.

   By this general formula I desire to convey the idea that a fully-
developed  drug is  represented in the human organism by a fully-
developed or concrete disease.  What the Aconite plant is in nature
the  Aconite disease is in the  organism.  By  Aconite disease,  I
understand the morbid property which, by the action of the Cosmic
life-force had,  under favorable circumstances,  resulted in  the
development of a pathological process which the  drug  Aconite, if
made to act in suitable quantities upon the  organic tissues, would
simulate as  the  exact  type or counterpart of this pathological
disorder.
   Applying this to drug-germs  and  morbid  proj>erties generally, I
am justified in laying down  the  comprehensive proposition, that
drugs  generally  typify  diseases, and  to draw  from this general
proposition the particular conclusion: that every drug is the type
of some particular disease.
   We have now reached the fourth and last  round of our homoeo-
pathic ladder.

   In order to cure a pathological disease we apply to it the
drug by which it is typified in nature.

   A disease may present in its course several distinct states, each of
which may  be characterized  by essentially distinct phenomena.
Hence more than one drug may often  be required  to complete its
cure.   But  whatever drug is  administered  in the course  of the
disease, it must be the typical counterpart or representative of the
symptoms  for  which it is intended.  No drug  but one of this 
 148    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC LAW  OF CURE

 character can exert a direct or specific curative influence upon the
 pathological series.  Such a drug materializes or externalizes, as it
 were, the disease, which, having been transformed,  so to say, into a
 traumatic injury of exceedingly insignificant dimensions, is easily
 subdued or hushed up by the life-force of the organism.

   Let us recapitulate the generalizations which to  my mind make
 up the scientific Idea and Fact of Homoeopathy; and then conclude
 this part of my work with  a few  general remarks regarding that
 which is  essential and that which is non-essential in the present
 development of this Science.

   1st. Similarity, from a therapeutic point of  view, is deter-
 mined BY THE FACT THAT THE  CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS OF THE
 NATURAL DISEASE, AND THE CHARACTERISTIC EFFECTS OF THE DRUGS,
 UPON  THE HEALTHY ORGANISM, RESULT FROM THE  ACTION OF THE
 LIFE-FORCE OF THE COSMOS UPON MORBID PROPERTIES OR CAPACITIES
 FOR DISEASE, AND  UPON SUCH DRUG-GERMS  IN THE CRUST OF OUR
 PLANET  AS CORRESPOND TO THE MORBID PROPERTIES  IN THE ORGANIC
 TISSUES,  AND WHICH,  WHEN DEVELOPED  INTO  CONCRETE DRUGS,
 WHETHER ANIMAL,  VEGETABLE OR MINERAL,  TYPIFY THE NATURAL
 DISEASE.

   2nd.  There is a correspondence between the drug-germs in
 the crust of our planet and the morbid properties inherent
 in the tissues of the human organism.

   3rd.  Drugs typify diseases ; or, the same determination of
 the Creative Will which resulted in the implantation of
 drug-germs in the crust of our planet, when operating in the
 higher  sphere of animal life, inscribed morbid properties or
 capacities for disease upon the organic tissues;  as those drug-
 germs correspond to these morbid properties or capacities for
 disease, so do the fully developed drugs correspond  to, or
as i have expressed it, typify fully developed pathological
processes.

  4th. In order to cure a pathological disease,  we apply to it
the drug by which it is typified in nature. 
AS THE  BASIS OF  THERAPEUTICS.
149
   If I should be asked the question:  how do you determine the
specific or, as you designate it, the typical homoeopathicity of drugs
to diseases, I answer : In the present state of medical and physio-
logical  science   we  can  only  determine  this homoeopathicity
approximatively by proving the drug upon the organism in health.
By causing  drugs  to  act  in various quantities,  of course  within
conservative limits,  upon persons of different sexes and ages,  and at
different periods, we endeavor to obtain a full view of the morbid
affections to  which they may be  correspondingly applied.   In the
course  of time  the necessity for  such  provings  may  possibly be
superseded by the positive knowledge  which clinical observations
and physiological experiments of a different order may impart to us
of the therapeutic uses of our drugs.

   The necessity of  proving drugs upon healthy organisms is made
out by  Hahnemann in the following series of argumentation in his
celebrated essay entitled " Spirit of Homoeopathy."
   " Now, since diseases are only dynamic derangements of our
normal  vitality, they cannot be removed by man otherwise than by
means of agents and powers which likewise are capable of producing
dymamical derangements  of the  human  health; that is  to say,
diseases are cured dynamically by medicines.
   "These active substances or medicines effect the cure of diseases
by means of the same dynamic  powers by which they are able to
derange the  vital  condition of  the organism in  respect  to its
sensations and functions, and to produce in this organism  dynamic
changes manifested  by certain morbid symptoms,  the knowledge of
which,  as we shall see, affords us the most trustworthy information
concerning the morbid states that can  be most certainly cured by
each particular medicine.
   " There is no agent, no  power in Nature  capable  of morbidly
affecting the  healthy individual, which  does not at  the same time
possess  the faculty of curing certain morbid states.
   " Inasmuch as the power of curing diseases, and that of morbidly
affecting persons in  health,  is found indissolubly united in all drugs;
and inasmuch as both these powers emanate from the same source,
viz.,  from the  faculty  inherent  in  every  drug  of  dynamically
affecting the condition of the organism,  whence it  follows that their
action upon  organs in  disease  takes place according  to the same
indwelling laws, as their  action upon  organs  in  their  normal 
 150   PRESENTATION OF THE HOMCEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CURE

 condition, we finally infer that it is the  same drug-force  which
 effects a  cure as that which develops morbid symptoms in health.
   " Hence we shall find that the curative power of medicines, and
 that which each of them is  able  to effect  in diseases, does not
 become manifest in any other way more surely  or palpably, and
 cannot be ascertained by us in any more perfect manner than by
 the morbid phenomena which medicines develop in healthy individ-
 uals.   Hence, if it is sufficient to have  before  us a list of the
 peculiar  morbid symptoms produced  by the  various medicines on
 healthy individuals, all we require to  do is to institute a series of
 pure experiments to decide what medicinal symptoms will always
 rapidly and permanently  cure and remove  certain symptoms of
 Disease, in order to determine beforehand,  in every  case, which
 of all the  different medicines known and thoroughly  tested  as to
 their peculiar symptoms, must be the most certain remedy in every
 case of disease."

   Previous to Hahnemann, regular provings of drugs were not deemed
 necessary to secure a perfect  adaptation of the remedial agent to
 the disease.   The  pharmaco-dynamic  properties of  drugs  were
 generally known only from some accidental cases of poisoning, or
 from the effects produced  by an excessive dose of the drug, which
 constituted a species of legalized toxication.  One drug was simply
 known as an emetic, more or less mild or  severe  in its operation,
 but still only as an  emetic;  another drug  as  a febrifuge ; another
 as a sudorific ; another as a diuretic ; another again as a rubefacient;
 another as an antiphlogistic;  and these unsatisfactory generaliz-
 ations led to,  and confirmed the exceedingly speculative practice of
 former times.  The Healing Art, it strikes  us, consisted  simply of
 the few  very vague  and very general operations of  bleeding,
 sweating,  purging, vomiting, salivating,  stupefying, stimulating or
 blistering  the  patient; and  the scorching  satire  which  the  keen
 genius of Moliere has inflicted upon  the  dogmatism and the self-
sufficient  pride of the profession in his " Malade Imaginaire,"
however humiliating this imperishable monument of wit and comedy
may appear  to  all  superficial and truth-dreading followers  of
^Esculapius, must, nevertheless, be received as a permanent protest
of the insulted sense and the wounded sensibilities of Humanity
against the barbarous empiricism which had been enthroned in the
Schools as the Goddess of medical truth, and was worshipped by 
AS THE  BASIS OF  THERAPEUTICS.
151
an infatuated and ignorant multitude as Heaven's  sublimest inspir
ation, and the prerogative of unapproachable and mysterious genius.
It is true, a great many, indeed all the noble spirits of the profession
had  recorded  their  condemnation  of the  blind empiricism  and
sweeping generalizations  of their Art.   Boerhaave,  Sydenham,
Huxham, Hoffmann,  Girtanner, Haller, had expressed their dissatis-
faction with the uncertainties of Medicine and the fanciful theories
of her professors ; but  no positive  and radical reforms had ever
been proposed by any of these writers, and it must be admitted
that the first signal  revolution in the principles and  practice of
Medicine, whatever value may otherwise be  attached to it by its
friends  or  opponents, dates  from the period when Hahnemann
proclaimed the doctrine : That a cure can only be effected by means
of drugs which  are  capable of producing, in healthy organisms, a
train of symptoms exactly similar to those of the natural disease.

  In order  to oppose  a  series of natural morbid symptoms by a
similar series of drug-symptoms, the  symptoms which the drug is
capable of producing  in the healthy organism, have not only to be
known with perfect correctness, but in their totality.  The natural
group of symptoms is beyond our grasp ; the laws of Life and the
influences  by which they  happen   to  be  disturbed,  are  the
determining causes of this group, and regulate it according to their
own sovereign pleasure.  But the artificial group, or the symptoms
which the drug  contains as  it were, within the recesses of its
structural organization, and  which it is the business of the prover
to develop  in a  regular series, are  more  or less  subject  to  his
control, and their exact and complete evolution depends a good
deal upon the arbitrament of his own judgment.  For he has to
determine what substances in Nature constitute, properly speaking,
drugs, and from which of them such symptoms can be elicited as
have a  positive,  unmistakable  therapeutic  value;  he  has to
determine whether those whom he desires to associate with himself
in the business  of proving, enjoy sufficient  health  and energy to
bear the privations  and fatigue  which the trial of drugs involves,
and are not exposed to influences that might  impair  the action of
the drug or produce before the  observing reason a train of adulter-
ated or  fictitious  symptoms ; he has furthermore to determine in
what quantities and order the drug which is to be proved, is to be
taken, in order that its true  physiological action  may be fully and 
\'y2    presentation  of the homoeopathic law of  cure

correctly  developed;  and  finally, he has  to  watch  the changes
which  are taking  place in the organism during the trial of the
drug, with persevering and discriminating attention, lest the drug
should be credited with  symptoms which  are  attributable to
altogether  different causes.    The  proving of drugs, therefore,
involves a variety of eminent qualities which the prover should be
possessed  of:  sound health, a  discriminating judgment, a  perfect
absence of that species of vanity which delights in producing avast
array of symptoms at the expense of truth, and  a noble enthusiasm
which is not afraid of systematically inflicting pain upon the bodily
frame in  the  service  of the holiest cause,  the  Cause of suffering
Humanity.  When Hahnemann first instituted systematic provings
of drugs, he was surrounded by a band of devoted  disciples  who,
under the leadership of their master, made  it their  sacred  duty to
sacrifice  their  comfort and risk  their very  lives in  the noble
endeavor of building up an authoritative, universally acknowledged
Materia Medica, upon  the incontrovertible basis of positive  experi-
mentation.   This Materia  Medica  Pura,   with  the magnificent
provings of Aconite, Belladonna, Cinchona, Mercurius, Nux Vomica,
Ignatia, Pulsatilla, Ipecacuanha, and a number of other drugs, will
be looked upon by the remotest posterity as a monument of careful
and just observation of the physiological action of drugs upon the
healthy  organism.   And,  more recently,  the   provings   and
re-provings of a body of Austrian, English and American homoeo-
pathic physicians deserve to be mentioned as instances of brilliant
devotion in the Cause of true medical Science.  Every symptom
which these various provers have recorded as the positive effects of
some drug, bears  upon its face  an undeniable expression of its
truthfulness; and the  complex of the symptoms of  a  drug reveals
with  unmistakable accuracy  its peculiar  sphere  of action as a
therapeutic agent.

  The  efforts  of  these  provers, among whom some of the boldest
and  most persevering  experimenters  are  physicians  of the  Old
School, have  been  commended by  such  men as  Trousseau and
Pidoux in the most flattering terms.  At this period the  proving of
drugs upon persons in  perfect  health  is universally recognized by
physicians of every School as the only safe  method of determining
their therapeutic properties by  their health-disturbing  powers.  If
some members of the  homoeopathic  brotherhood  have rendered 
AS THE  BASIS OF THERAPEUTICS.
1-53
 themselves guilty of censurable extravagances  in  this business of
 proving, Homoeopathy, as a Science, should not be held responsible
 for their aberrations.

   While on the subject of proving drugs, I must beg the privilege of
 dissenting from an opinion expressed by our distinguished colleague
 and co-laborer, Professor Henderson, of Edinburgh, in his reply to
 Professor Simpson, " on Hahnemann's rule of giving only a single
 medicine at a time."  Professor  Henderson   writes:  " Doctor
 Simpson makes  some  choice remarks, indicative, as usual, of  the
 greatest ignorance of the subject he writes about.  Opium, says he,
 contains twenty-one ingredients, and  yet Homoeopaths  prescribe
 opium while they pretend to give medicines singly.  Opium, we
 reply, is a  single  medicine, because  it  has not  been artificially
 compounded, and because it has been  proved just as Nature gives
 it; and proving bestows unity, in the sense of showing what this
 natural compound  can do, as  distinguished from  other  natural
 compounds.  Proving is the essence of singleness in Homoeopathy ;
 so  that, if Opium, Arsenic, and  Mercury, mixed together, were
 proved  upon  the  healthy body,  this artificial compound  would
 thenceforth be  a single medicine."

   It is evident that unless the combination of drugs is governed by
 some law  as   yet  unknown  to  us,  the  doctrine laid  down  by
 Professor Henderson must lead to the subversion of scientific order
 in the domain of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.  If I assume
 the  privilege  of penning the subjoined remarks, it is with all the
 deference due  to this noble advocate of our cause.   The  combi-
 nations  to which single drugs may give rise, are as  boundless as the
 wildest  fancy ;  it would be utterly impossible to  determine  their
 range of action  by provings;  the  Science of Therapeutics would
 become a fiction, and  disorder and doubt would rule in a depart-
 ment of  human  interests  where light  and  law  are  not  only
 indispensable  but  alone  worthy  of,  alone  in  accord with, the
 wisdom of a merciful Providence.  No cunning  of man can make
 single what, by the laws of Nature, is not  one but two; a chemical
 compound is a unit, because  the  combination  of its  elements  is
governed by a law : Belladonna  is a unit, because the Belladonna
principle, whatever it be, combines the constituents  of the Bella-
donna plant into a distinct individuality which is ever the same, and 
154   PRESENTATION OF THE  HOMOEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CURE

virtually remains the same, in every clime and countrj.   By our
provings and by clinical observations  we have  determined  that
these distinct drug-individualities hold specific curative relations to
pathological individualities, which are as  undeviatingly the same in
every clime and country as the drugs which may be  regarded  as
their  material   types  in  Nature.   A pathological   condition  is
essentially a simple state.   A symptom, as such, may indicate  fifty
drugs; but as part of a condition from which it derives its character,
its  meaning,  its quality, it is only met  by the  drug which, in its
integral unity, corresponds with the integral unity  of the  patho-
logical disturbance.

  No one  has  ever seen an  Aconite and a Belladonna-group  of
symptoms twined up together as pathognomonic of the same unitary
disease.  If the symptoms of Arsenic and Phosphorus should occur
together in the same affection,  we might  be justified in prescribing
both these drugs at alternate intervals; but what monstrosity in
Pathology can possibly be  imagined which might have to be met
by the provings of an equally monstrous combination of drugs 1
God be thanked that, amid  all  the confusion which the mischievous
genius of human Pride and  Folly has conjured up in  the domain of
Pathology,  the  IDENTITY  OF  DISEASES AND  THAT  OF
DRUGS  has been established, and  is universally believed  in, as an
immutable truth.  The  truths which Hippocrates taught, are still
truths to us, and in after  ages our Skodas  and Eokitanskys  will
still be the  great painters of disease.


  In regard to the size and repetition of the dose I contend that the
practitioners of our school should not be separated from each other
by  a contracted dogmatism.   Nevertheless, although  it is evident
that considerable latitude  should be allowed in  regard  to these
subjects, yet  there  cannot be any difference  of  opinion  amono-
homoeopathic physicians on the subject of a scientific  application of
the Law of Cure.   Such an application, if exclusively determined
by  symptomatic Similarities, would  render the best  efforts  of our
Art nugatory in most, certainly in many cases.  In  the  place  of
further argumentation  I will quote the experience and teachings
which Grauvogl has given us upon this subject in  his excellent
work on Homoeopathy. 
AS THE  BASIS OF  THERAPEUTICS.
155
  " Some years ago  epidemic measles broke  out  in  my locality
with fearful intensity.  Even full-grown persons were  attacked by
the disease.
  " At the very outset of the disease, during the  stage of incubation,
the exanthem made its appearance on  the first,  or at latest, on the
third day after exhibiting Aconite in small doses.  At the same time
the fever subsided.  In  some  cases a second and even a third crop
of measle-spots broke out, but this  ended the attack.  In cases  of
retrocession,  accompanied by symptoms of meningitis or pneu-
monia, which  sometimes  came to  me from other  physicians, but
never occurred in my own practice under the use of Aconite, the
exanthem was brought  out  again  by this agent in two or three
hours, very profusely  and attended with copious perspiration.
  " In badly managed or neglected cases which are so apt to occur
among poor people, the most distressing  sequelae developed them-
selves  almost without   an  exception, more   especially:  chronic
bronchitis ;  swelling of the parotids ; a peculiar swelling and ulcer-
ation of the Schneiderian membrane, until the nostrils were completely
closed;  deep-seated  exudations  in the  orbits, the eyes  looking
swollen as if they would start  out  of their sockets; inflammation
and swelling of the elbow, wrist, knee,  and tarsal joints, sometimes of
all  these joints simultaneously; anasarca consequent upon desqua-
mative  inflammation  of the kidneys, etc.  Every  attempt to cure
these  sequelas in  strict accordance  with allopathic  nosology  or
homoeopathic  symptomatology, failed me; neither  large  nor small
doses were of any avail.  My colleagues who fought under  the
physiological  banner were equally unsuccessful.   I  tried Rade-
macheris  method, giving to  one portion of my patients  Iron, to
another Copper, and to a third the Nitrate of Soda.  Next day I
found all of them worse.   To the public this was a matter  of
course.   My colleagues lost a number of patients, both during the
first invasion of the disease, and in  consequence of a retrocession of
the eruption.  This  did not occur under my treatment.   But by
far the  greater  number of patients  died in their  nds in conse-
quence of the above mentioned sequelae.   Nevertheless I considered
it my duty to think of a remedy for this state  of things.   He who
has never found himself placed  in a similar situation, or is readily
comforted by the thought that  there is no cure for death, has no
conception of the many sleepless nights which have to be devoted
to the search for such a remedy, and if I communicate the following
        11 
15G    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC  LAW  OF CURE

facts, they may seem so simple that many of my readers may feel
disposed to smile at the importance which I attach to my discovery.
But  it is precisely simple things  which  remain unobserved by
unpracticed  eyes,  rather  than things  more complicated,  and  it
affords indubitable evidence  of skilful observation, if the simplest
remedies are  successfully  employed for  the  most complicated
diseases.  My mode  of proceeding  may not present any very new
features, but it is  nevertheless true that up to this moment nothing
of the kind is taught in universities.
  " Dr. Latz is the only man whose suggestions afforded me new
light  amid  these  critical  embarrassments.   Although I  cannot
accept all the conclusions at which he arrives from his stand-point
as an adherent of Rademacher's Empirical School, yet he made the
discovery  that diseases  which seem to differ from each  other
symptomatically,  have very  frequently to  be treated with the
remedies that had been successfully applied to an epidemic disease
generally.   If this  conclusion is correct, then Aconite must not
only cure the original measles, but  likewise their  sequelae.  The
very  next  day after  giving  the  Aconite, an improvement was
perceived  in the  condition  of the children, all  of whom were
completely freed from all trouble in from eight  to fourteen days by
Aconite,  except in one  case of gangrenous degeneration  of the
Schneiderian  membrane, where Arsenic effected a cure  in six
days.
  " In the case of dropsical patients Aconite induced perspiration
and  profuse  diuresis, and the albuminous deposit speedily disap-
peared from the urine ; in inflammation of joints, the raging pains
ceased in a  couple of hours, and resorption was  speedily accom-
plished ;  the  swelling of the parotids  and the effusion  in the
orbital cavity disappeared with equal  rapidity.   In  three cases
similar results  were  accomplished  amid the reappearance of the
exanthem, and the chronic catarrhal irritations of the air-passages
disappeared amid profuse expectoration of mucus.
  " These facts show us  the  vast significance of a remedial agent,
if it is to be used as a specific ; at the same time  they demonstrate
the necessity of a careful study of drug-provings, a comprehensive
knowledge of which alone enables the physician to understand the
effect of his remedial agents, and to determine their curative action
by a process of deductive reasoning.
  " These facts may likewise be referred to  as  evidence  of the 
                 AS THE BASIS  OF THERAPEUTICS.             157

 inadequacy of a classification of drugs into antiphlogistics, diuretics,
 sudorifics, expectorants,  resorbents,  etc.; for a specific  remedy,
 where it is  indicated as such,  extends  its sphere of action in all
 these different directions, and cures the  whole of these  diversified
 symptoms by removing the essential state from which they flow.
   " A homoeopathic physician may object to this that there was no
 necessity of lugging in etiological indications in order to be led to
 the  selection of Aconite  as  a remedy for  the above  mentioned
 sequelae.   This may be true, but how many hundreds of cases are
 governed by the law of symptomatic similarities without a homoeo
 path  being led to the  use of  Aconite, for  the simple reason that
 the pathological phenomena are either  not sufficiently marked, or
 else the drug-provings do not as yet furnish the desired indications.
 All this proves nothing against Homoeopathy;  but it shows that
 in  order  to  render the selection of remedial  agents specifically
 correct,  Homoeopathy  needs in very many  cases precisely such
 points of support as may be furnished her by etiological indications
 which will  prove of  incalculable  value,  and  will assume  the
 character of law the moment they are associated with a therapeutic
 law of Nature, Homoeopathy will never achieve this result as long
 as she remains  confined within the sphere  of  a  purely technical
 symptomatology."

   Thus  writes  the eminently  philosophical Grauvogl.   We  can
 never  expect to imitate by our provings a complete pathological
 series  from  its incipiency in  the  primary  cell to its ultimate
 chemico-physical changes in the  tissues.  A sound knowledge of
 Pathology and  Physiology has to guide  us in  completing  the
 parallel, and  determining the essential homoeopathicity of a drug to
 a  given  disease.   Reason and  the  experience  of  all careful
 practitioners  show us that frequent changes of remedies in  the
 same disease  are not only unnecessary, but unscientific.   A change
 of remedy is not  required,  unless  there should  be an essential
 change of state, which  occurs much less frequently than we have
been  in  the  habit of believing.   I would  caution practitioners
against mistaking  an apparent  change  of symptoms for an actual
change in the pathological character of the disease.

  Diarrhoea,   for  instance,  caused  by  cathartic  medicines, and
afterwards followed by constipation, or warmth of the hand which 
158    PRESENTATION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC LAW OF CURE

had been plunged in cold  water, following after the sensation of
coldness  has  passed away;  or a  state  of nervous  depression
succeeding the exaltation caused by wine, opium, etc.,  are natural
developments   superinduced by  the  physiological  laws  of  the
organism;  phenomena of succession, not of change : for  that which
caused  the  diarrhoea,  does  not  at  the  same  time  cause  the
subsequent obstruction,  which  is simply a  consequence of  the
necessary physiological movements  of the organism.


  These  changes of succession  likewise occur in disease; patho-
logical  phenomena  differing apparently  from  their  immediate
predecessors, may yet be essentially of the  same order, requiring
the same specific treatment.  An  abscess may require the  same
treatment as the original inflammation ;  hydrocephalus may require
the same specific treatment throughout the different stages of the
disease ;  so may dysentery and a variety of other diseases.  In the
absence of a  more  precise guide in practice, these points  have to
be decided by the tact  and judgment of the practitioner.  Every
careful physician must be  allowed the privilege of employing two,
three, or half-a-dozen drugs  in  a given case, if, in his judgment,
the best interests of the patient should require such a treatment.

  In general, let us apply our law with becoming liberality.   Let
us remember that patients come  to us with their minds  and bodies
saturated  with  prejudices  and  perverse  habits  which  it  often
requires a great deal of skilful manoeuvring, outside the Homoeo-
pathic Law, to get  along  with.  A careful and constant study of
this great law predisposes the mind to  charitable dealing with  the
vices and crimes of the Actual, and fires the soul with the hope of a
glorious future.  Homoeopathy, in a universal sense, is the  Science
of Universal Harmony.   She shadows forth the  constant effort of
Providence and Nature to  realize a Life of Order in  all of man's
varied  interests.  When  the great Law which I have endeavored
to trace to its  origin in Nature, and which I have feebly attempted
to expound as  a System of deep Philosophy and practical Thera-
peutics, shall have  realized a fulness of adaptation between Man
and Nature, a  life of genuine correspondences in all things; when
the gradual working of this law shall have directed every power of
the mind into its appropriate channel ; when it shall have realized 
AS THE  BASIS OF  THERAPEUTICS.             159
a relation  of perfect  fitness  between  the  sexes, and  shall have
transformed the  universal activity of man in the different depart-
ments of Science, Industry and Art, into a true reflex and  a perfect
embodiment of  his higher  nature, even  as this  material  world
constitutes the  visible fulness  of the Universe of Essences which
never perish  and  forever spin the thread  of Creation from the
unmeasured and unfathomable Eternity of God : then Homoeopathy
will have  fulfilled  her glorious  destiny as  the regenerating life-
truth of Humanity which she will again fashion into the image and
likeness of its  Maker, and prepare for the reception of the heavenly
Choir : announcing, " Peace on Earth and good will unto Man." 
 
PART III.
PATHOGENESIS AND PATHOLOGY;  OR,  CORRELATION
     OF   ARTIFICIALLY-DEVELOPED   DRUG-DISEASES
     AND NATURAL MALADIES.


  At the time when Hahnemann was first led to a clear perception
of the crudities  and  inconsistencies of the  existing  systems  of
medicine, and the brilliant idea of Homoeopathy flashed through
his  mind as  the  law  upon which the science of Therapeutics is
based in the  great Economy  of Nature,  the principle of the
correlation and conservation of forces had not yet become a subject
of scientific inquiry, or at  least had not as yet excited the general
interest with which it is now  investigated by scientific men.   If
Hahnemann had been acquainted with this principle  of the correla-
tion of forces, it is very likely  that it would have  suggested to his
mind a more lucid, more precise, and therefore a more scientific
explanation of the Homoeopathic law than is found in the pages  of
the Organon.
  To my mind,  and  perhaps  to the minds of my readers, the
doctrine of the correlation of forces, in its application to Homoeo-
pathy, becomes invested  with a  significance of vital importance
to a correct  understanding of  the homoeopathic  law of  cure.
Throughout this work I  have prepared the  reader's mind for an
intelligent appreciation of the  generalizations and deductions which
have been reserved for this last chapter of my work.

  The drug force, whatever this  be, must correlate the pathological
force;  without such  a correlation existing between  these two 
162
CORRELATION OF DRUG-DISEASES
orders of forces, no cure is possible in accordance with the homoeo-
pathic law.   There may be a cure, but in such a case, it is not due
to the  operation of a therapeutic law ; it is simply the result ot a
natural process of vital  action, assisted or perhaps embarrassed by
the interference  of Art.   The  term similarity, in the  sense  in
which  I have  presented  and explained it  in this  work, answers
perfectly to the new term  " Correlation."  Similarity of drug-action
to pathological  action,  is  equivalent  to  this  other  generalization,
that drug-action correlates the action of disease.  Drug-action is
synonymous  with pathogenetic action ;  by pathogenesis,  as  used
in homoeopathic works,  is  understood the power inherent in every
drug of disturbing the  normal movements  of the living organism
in a specific manner.   The  effects of  such a specific disturbance
are sometimes included  in the term pathogenesis  together with the
idea of specific disease-producing powers.   It is scarcely necessary
to state  that the  term  pathology is understood  by homoeopathic
physicians in the same sense as it has always been  understood  by
physicians of every School; pathology means a doctrine of diseases;
a pathological process is  a natural process of disease.   Pathogenetic
versus  Pathological; this  is  really the  formula  which  underlies
every process of cure upon homoeopathic principles.  The patho-
genetic  disturbance, or the disturbance which the drug is capable
of creating  in  the healthy organism, must correlate the natural
process  of disease;  in  other  words, the natural  disease must  be
capable of being transformed into the artificial drug-disease.   This
specific capability of transformation of the  natural malady into its
correlated drug-disease is the supreme and  indispensable condition
of a cure by means of remedial agents.   No cure is  possible in the
absence  of  such  a specific  relation between the  drug and  the
disease.  And this relation cannot be graduated ; it  must be full
and perfect:  there must be an absolute and integral correspondence
between the sphere of drug-action and the pathological  process.
If this process  be regarded as the problem to be solved, the drug
must be the full, definite, unequivocal solution of the question.
Hence we see that there cannot be any degrees of similarity.  The
drug either is or is not, the exact simile, counterpart, correlativum
or  correspondential type   of the natural malady.   Homofopathie
writers  who have  seen  fit  to  adopt  the terms simile, similius,
similimum, similar, more similar, most  similar, would never have
resorted to such a puerile  and unscientific expedient, if they had 
AND  NATURAL  MALADIES.
163
possessed a full and true appreciation  of the fundamental idea of
Homoeopathy.  Symptoms may disappear in the course of homoeo
pat hie treatment; but if such  a  disappearance  of symptoms is to
be regarded as the result of remedial action, the medicine which had
been prescribed in the case, must meet the disease as its true and
full simile or  correlative.

  These considerations likewise show that there are no succedaneum
or substitutes in homoeopathic practice; one bitter tonic cannot be
substituted for another, one caustic for another, one astringent for
another, or, to speak in general terms, one drug for another, as
may be done when  medicines  are  administered in the  gross, as
emetics, cathartics, counter-irritants, etc.  In homoeopathic practice
every  drug  has  its  specific sphere  of action, which cannot be
invaded or replaced by any other drug.  Ipecacuanha will  arrest
vomitings which  would  resist the action of Nux vomica; and an
acute  diarrhoea which  might readily  yield  to the  tincture  of
Aconite-root, might perhaps  defy the most heroic and persistent
treatment with other drugs.    Even  allopathic writers of renown
admit   the  impropriety  or  even  impossibility  of  successfully
substituting  one  drug  for  another.   Vogt,  in  his  Manual  of
Pharmaco-dynamics, emphatically calls attention to this fact when
speaking of the treatment of goitre  and  of the use of caustics in
uterine diseases.

   I have said that I regard a  cure upon  homoeopathic  principles
simply as the conversion of a natural malady into its  correlated
drug-disease, or, to express this general  idea in the language which
seems to be  received with special favor by modern physicists, the
conversion of the natural morbific force into  its correlated patho-
genetic or drug-force.  The question here naturally occurs: what
constitutes drug-force, and what  do  we mean by morbific  force ?
This subject  requires a somewhat fuller elucidation.

   We  have  not  yet been permitted  to fathom the mystery of
Creation.  We see before  us a  world of living  matter,  whose
movements are governed by laws.  We are enabled and  it is  our
delight to investigate and to arrive at a knowledge of these laws by
the careful and persistent observation of natural phenomena.  But
neither the microscope, nor the crucible or retort will ever reveal 
164
CORRELATION  OF DRUG-DISEASES
to us the nature, or even the existence of the power whose creating
fiat has projected the Universal World of Matter from its Inmost
Centre, and with its Everlasting  and Infinite Presence sustains
every form of matter in accordance with its own laws, and evolves
every change and governs every phenomenon with an immutable
regularity.

  How does this power which we call Divine;  this Esse which has
announced itself as the " I am that I am,"  regulate the phenomena
of matter and indeed sustain and perpetuate creation ?  Not indeed
like a Deus ex  machina upon the  stage,  which jumps forth from
behind the scenes as occasion demands, in order to meet emergencies.
He governs His  Universe  by means of  a Universal Presence
through a  life-giving  sphere perpetually emanating from the very
Source of His  own Divine Life, and from the highest heavens to
the ultimate boundaries  of the visible Creation, encompassing and
inter penetrating every form of matter which claims its very power
to exist from the presence of this vitalizing influence.  Without
this presence no created  thing could for one moment remain what
it is; its very identity would become dissipated.

  Let us explain.

  We  are informed in the Sacred Volume that man was created
out of  the dust of the earth.  This part  of the creation of man
refers to his material body ; for  we are likewise informed by  the
same  text  that,  after the material  man  had  been  created, God
breathed into  him the breath of life. Here we have the Vital
principle or force,  or, as  I  have termed it,  the  living human
organism which is the  real  man now, and will be  the real man
hereafter to all eternity, after the material body shall have subserved
its purpose and shall have  returned to the dust  out of which it was
moulded by the  Creating Power,   We  are told  that man  was
created after the earth  had  been prepared for him  as his abode.
He found upon  the earth whatever he needed in sickness or health.
The  drugs which he  may  have  required when sick,  whether
existing in the form of animal, vegetable or  mineral substances,
must have been,  and indeed were provided for him in accordance
with a principle of perfect fitness and harmony. 
AND  NATURAL  MALADIES.
165
   The  life principle, or,  as  Hahnemann terms it,  the  spiritual-
 dynamic  vital force in man, which  really constitutes a  perfect
 human organism, is the'vitalizing sphere or the breath of life which
 was breathed into  him, and  through which he became a distinct,
 living individuality.
   This breath of life, or  this vital organism  or force, permeates
 every part of his being, even to  its ultimate fibres.   It accommo-
 dates itself to every organ  and tissue, even to parts which are only
 sparingly  endowed with  the  faculty of appropriating it.  The
 life-force which enables the nails or the hair to grow, is the same
 life-force with that which enables the brain to  think, the heart to
 propel  the blood, the lungs to  breathe,  or  any other  organ to
 perforin its functions.   The  difference in degrees of power is not
 owing to an essential difference  in the nature of the life-principle
 itself,  but  depends  entirely  upon   the nature  and  structural
 arrangement of the organ into  which the life flows as its recipient
 vessel.  This same  life-force  develops diseases out of the morbid
 properties, or morbid predispositions or capacities for disease, which
 the Creator had  inscribed  upon the tissues of the animal frame in
 obedience  to an Eternal Law of  fitness  and  universal correspon-
 dence between Man and Nature.

   The  living Esse  which constitutes the inmost of  every  created
 thing,  from  which  everything  exists and subsists,  and  without
 which there would not and could not be anything;  this living Esse
 which enables the sunbeams and  the  atmospheres to develop the
 multitudinous  germs in   the crust  of our planet  into  concrete
 individualities, each according to its specific form; this living Esse
 from which the breath of life  had  been breathed into  the material
 human  form, and  without  which  this form would have remained
 forever  dead, and would have  relapsed into the dust  out of which
 it  had  been  moulded;  this very Esse which, proceeding  from the
 very  fountain-head  of all life,  pervades all  nature in  infinite
 degrees of power,  and accommodates itself to the nature and form
 of every created thing; this Esse,  without whose inter-penetrating
and all-pervading  presence Creation would be  an unimaginable
Nothing,  an  unutterable  Death,  and  without whose vivifying
agency  even  the most poisonous miasms would be deprived of all
power to exert their deleterious influence; this Esse is the very
 principle which had developed  the formless and powerless drug- 
166
CORRELATION OF DRUG-DISEASES
germs in the crust of our planet into their concrete animal, vegetable
and mineral forms at the time when man first started into being.  An
Omniscient and infinitely provident Creator had  caused drugs to
exist, with a view of meeting the diseases which lie foresaw would
arrive in the course of man's growth towards a state of ultimate
regeneration of his spiritual and material being.  Without accusing
the Creator of being the author of evil,  we may take it for granted
that the formation of drugs and the  subsequent development of
diseases constituted an essential part of His inscrutable scheme of
Creation and regeneration.  The same life-force which maintains and
regulates the movements of  the  normal organism, likewise  excites
the  diseases  which seek to destroy  the  latter.   In  this sense
Virchow is perfectly right when  he asserts that life is always the
same ;  whether in health or disease,  the essence of life is the same,
and only differs in its manifestations; but he is wrong in confound-
ing pathological  and physiological  in  the. same category of vital
phenomena.
   There is an antagonism between physiological and pathological:
physiological processes are processes of preservation and harmonious
development,  whereas  pathological  processes  are  processes  of
disorganization and ultimate destruction.  The manifestations of
vitality differ according as the conditions differ, in which these man-
ifestations  take place;  in normal conditions the  manifestations of
life are those of health and vigor; in abnormal conditions the life-
force  of   the   organism  develops  phenomena  of disease;  the
capacities for  disease, which had hitherto remained latent, passive,
and as if non-existing,  now become  active states  of the organism
which they tend to subject to the disorganizing control of chemical
and physical laws.
   Physiological as well as pathological  processes may be said to be
carried on  by organic forces, but it is the same life-force which, as
modified  by  the  structural organization and functional  uses of
organs, governs the physiological movements of the organism ;  and
which, as modified by the altered conditions of organs, presides over
their pathological aberrations from a normal state  of existence.

   The  same  life-force  which  has been  so often alluded to la the
preceding pages of this work as the life-force  of  the  Cosmos, and
which in reality is the Divine  Sphere  perpetually,  universally and
infinitely proceeding from the centre of all Life, or from  the Divine 
AND  NATURAL MALADIES.
167
Esse, that IS, and ever was and  will be, and which, in its abound-
ing and unceasing mercy, accommodates itself to the least form of
matter, even  to a blade of grass or to the humble worm that
crawls in the dust; is the life which creates the useful as  well as
hurtful substances of  Nature, substances which preserve, and sub-
stances which have power to destroy the animal organism.  If we
designate hurtful substances as drugs, we say that, as long as drugs
remained hidden in the  crust of  the earth as molecular elements or
potencies, as it  were, they remained without power,  and to  all
intents and purposes  were  non-existing.   As  fully  developed
drugs,  whether by aggregation  from  without or by growth  from
within, they acquired positive  properties in harmony or corres-
pondence with the diseases with which a provident Creator foresaw
humanity would become afflicted in subsequent  ages.  Here is
Unity  of Design and  Wisdom of Purpose.   The very drugs which
have power to develop specific diseases out of the morbid capacities
of the  organism, have power to heal these diseases when occurring
as  abnormal  states  of  the  organic vitality.   When  purposely
developed,  as  drug-diseases, they affect  this  organic  vitality
externally, as  it were,  or, as Trousseau and  Pidoux  have it, as
traumatic injuries ; whereas, when occurring as natural diseases,
they affect the organic  vitality internally, as it were, and therefore
constitute internal diseases, affecting the constitutional life  more or
less in every part, and tending,  so far as they have power,  to its
final dissolution.   The internal  malady  and the  external  drug-
disease meet,  and  unite in  relations  of  affinity.   Whenever and
wherever  such  a union is possible, a cure is the  certain  and we
may say inevitable result; the  internal  disease giving itself up to
the more positive and determinate demands of the external drug-
disease, the internal malady becomes converted into the latter, and
the physiological life  triumphs over both the natural and artificial
disturbance.

   The question here naturally  presents itself to the mind :  What
quantity of drug-power is required in order to effect the absorption
of the internal  disease by the artificial drug impression ?   In the
present state of  our science the  solution of this problem of dose is
more or less  depending upon the experience  of individual practi-
tioners.  The best,  most   experienced   and  most  enlightened
practitioners of our School employ the whole series of preparations 
168
CORRELATION OF DRUG-DISEASES
from the tinctures and lower triturations up to the higher attenu-
ations of our drugs.   Almost every form of acute disease, and most
forms of chronic diseases have yielded to the higher as well as to the
lower preparations of the same drug.   Many practitioners adopt
the rule that the lower preparations are  more adapted to acute, and
the higher preparations  to chronic diseases.   This rule is liable to
many exceptions.   In   pneumonia,  peritonitis,  meningitis,  and
other acute diseases, such as croup, inflammatory rheumatism, and
a variety of other acute  attacks, the middle and higher preparations
have not only done signal  service, but  in many cases have proved
more efficacious than the lower preparations of the same drug.   In
malarious fevers I have generally found  the lower preparations
most  efficient  in  promoting a  cure.   In  sycosic and  syphilitic
diseases the lower preparations are generally preferred by physicians
of experience  and unbiassed judgment.  But even this rule is  not
without  exceptions.  In almost  every case the determination of
the dose will have to depend upon the  nature and violence of  the
attack, the susceptibilities  of the organism, the prevailing type of
disease,  and a  variety of other  circumstances which a careful and
observing practitioner never fails to take into account in conducting
the treatment  of a case.   Even in purely nervous affections  of  the
brain, heart, stomach, and  any other  organ,  both the lower and
higher attenuations have achieved curative results.

  In addition  to  the various cases which have  been related in
previous pages of this work, the following may serve to illustrate
the fact that the correlation of drugs to diseases admits of an almost
boundless range  of what  we are in the habit of designating as
potencies, and which  I  prefer  in this instance  to designate as
quantities of remedial drug-power.

  On a former occasion  I have already reported a case of spasmodic
affection of the bowels which will  bear repeating  in  connection
with my doctrine of correlation of drugs to diseases.  A young girl
of twelve years of age had been  suffering for several years with an
abdominal  spasm, which she described in  the following terms: A
pain in  the bowels, as if a hand, with the fingers spread apart,
were boring into  them.  The pain  came  on as soon as the child
arose from her bed in the morning, and lasted, with short intervals,
until she retired  at  night.  It   will be  seen, on looking  at  the 
                    AND NATURAL MALADIES.                169

 abdominal symptoms  of Ipecacuanha in Hahnemann's  provings,
 that this spasm is recorded by Hahnemann in almost the identical
 language  of the patient as  one of the effects of this drug.  I
 dissolved  a  single globule of the  two-hundredth attenuation of
 Ipecacuanha in eight teaspoonfuls of water, of which solution the
 patient took a  teaspoonful while she was  writhing  in  agony on
 the floor of the room;  no sooner had she swallowed the medicine
 when  she  exclaimed:  "my  pains  are  all gone."  Three months
 later another attack occurred in consequence of over-eating.  I had
 a few drops of the tincture of Ipecacuanha rubbed upon the bowels
 and the relief was equally prompt and lasting.  As far as I know,
 the child had no return of the spasm.

   A young lady of fifteen years of age was cured of a  purulent and
 very fetid  otorrhoea, with which she had been afflicted for a year,
 and which was attended with agonizing pains in the head every
 night,  by means of a  single drop of the thirtieth attenuation of
 Mercurius Vivus.

   A case  of jaundice,  where the patient,  a man of forty years,
 whose  father had died of nutmeg liver, exhibited a blackish-yellow
 color from the  crown  of the head to  the  soles  of the feet, and
 whose  pulse was remarkably irregular and intermittent, and varied
 from one hundred to one hundred and twenty beats, was radically
 and permanently cured in the space of three weeks  by means of
 gradually  increased  doses of the fluid  extract  of Digitalis;  the
 treatment being commenced  with five  drops a  day,  which were
 gradually increased to fifteen.

   A gentleman,  thirty-five years old,  was  attacked with  acute
 bronchitis.    After being  treated for three months  by leading
allopathic physicians, his family,  becoming  alarmed, requested my
attendance.   The case presented the following symptoms: Soreness
and stinging  pains  in  the larger  bronchial passages;  frequent
paroxysms  of a racking cough,  attended  with  expectoration of
blood and purulent mucus ; pulse varying  from one  hundred to
one hundred  and ten  beats; night  sweats; hectic  fever, with
evening exacerbations ;  headache ;  loss of appetite ; emaciation.
I treated him  with  the  German tincture  of Aconite,  of which
I mixed five drops in  an ordinary  goblet full of water.  Of  this 
170          CORRELATION OF DRUG-DISEASES,  ETC.

mixture the patient  took a tablespoonful every two  hours.   The
quantity was  increased by  one drop every  other  day,  until ten
drops had been  reached.  The patient was radically  and per-
manently cured in two weeks.

  And here we have our esteemed  colleague,  Doctor Holcombe,
of New Orleans,  informing  us, in  one  of the last  numbers of
the " Chicago Medical and  Surgical Journal,"  that he found the
tincture of Aconite' a specific remedy in  the reactive  stage of
the  epidemic  intestinal  catarrh,  with  which  New  Orleans  and
other Southern  cities  have  been visited this season.  He  found
it  necessary  to  administer  it  in  dessert-spoonful  doses  of  a
solution of ten drops of the  strong tincture in half a tumbler of
water.

  This list might be multiplied by hundreds  of  interesting  and
instructive cases; but I forbear.  Enough has been said to satisfy
every unprejudiced and enlightened physician that  the question of
dose has  not  yet been settled upon a  scientific  and, therefore,
unexceptionable basis.

  I have finished. I have endeavored in this  work  to expound
Homoeopathy as the  grand  Science  which it is, without fear or
favor, and prompted  only by  the love of  Truth.  If this work is
read in the same spirit  in which it has been written, it may not
convert every reader to my views, but  it will at least  show him
that Homoeopathy is a  Truth, inwrought in  the framework of
Nature, and a  fundamental Principle  in the Government of the
Divine Creator. 
PART  IV.
                        CONCLUSION.


  In concluding this volume I desire to address a parting word to
the friends of our Cause, and more especially to the physicians who
labor for its advancement with honest and brave hearts, as well as
to the generous and philosophical minds among the adherents of the
dominant School, who seek the welfare of their patients rather than
the perpetuation of medical dogmas and theories.

  The object of all treatment is to cure diseases.  It is in the mode
of  achieving  this object that not only  single practitioners but
whole systems differ.  As regards the Homoeopathic and Allopathic
Schools,  these differences  are  absolute, because  they arise  from
fundamental differences of opinion regarding the nature of diseases,
the relation of drugs to  diseases, the  physiological-therapeutic
forces  of drugs, and indeed every single  fact which enters as an
active element into the methodus medendi of remedial agents.
  All enlightened and humane physicians, however much they may
differ  in their doctrinal  opinions, and in the practices resulting
from their respective theories, agree that there  exists  one  best,
shortest and safest road to the  cure of every curable disease.  This
Ideal of Therapeutics appeals to the scientific Reason as the solemn
privilege of suffering man, and may be looked  upon as a problem,
the solution  of  which,  if  presented  in  a  formula  of universal
applicability, would constitute the crowning glory of the Healing
Art.

  When the  partizans of the  Specific School sought to  classify
drugs  with reference to diseases, upon  the ground  that  certain
       12 
L72
CONCLUSION.
drugs  are  the  necessary, inevitable neutralizes of certain specific
pathological conditions, they must have been impelled by the noble
aspiration to secure stability and scientific reliability in the treat-
ment of diseases.  What  else but  an intense confidence in the
scientific accuracy of his therapeutic edifice could have led Hunter
to  praise  Mercury  as  the  infallible  specific for  the  syphilitic
infection.
   Yet the Specific  School has  committed  grave and  even fatal
mistakes.  Looking upon disease as some parasitical growth in the
organism, it had to be destroyed  by some agent specifically hostile
to it.  If a small quantity was not sufficient, a large  quantity had
to be given.  If ten grains of Quinine would not  arrest the fever-
and-ague  paroxysm, twenty, thirty or  more  grains had to do it.
The radical vice with which this system is tainted, is as fatal to its
inherent reasonableness  as  the  omission of pathological consider-
ations  would prove fatal to the  scientific dignity of a purely
symptomatic Homoeopathy.   The Specific  School  ignores  the
existence of certain vital susceptibilities, practically at least, without
which diseases could not possibly become actualized conditions in
the  human frame.   These  susceptibilities  may be  definite  in
number, and  their concrete  developments  may  form  a series of
pathological derangements  which it may be  possible to  group into
distinct Nosological Systems; but be they ever so much subject to
precise  laws and  amenable to the rigid  requirements of a scientific
formula; they can never be forced into  submission to the dogmatic
abstractions  of  a scholastic theory.   These  susceptibilities  are
specific in their  nature, obeying inherent tendencies to definite
manifestations,  and holding  specific relations of affinity  to  the
disease-begetting  forces  of the Macrocosm, as well  as to the disease-
healing forces of drugs.  The  law  of  order under  which these
susceptibilities  to disease exist, imposes upon every Therapeutist
the duty of ascertaining by positive experiment and observation the
quality and quantity of the medicinal influences to which the
morbid  susceptibilities  of  the  organism will accommodate them-
selves  in  perfect freedom.  They must be willing to  RECEIVE
these influences; the living organism must be willing to CONSENT
to be impressed in a particular direction.  If it should demand the
impression of Belladonna,  we  cannot satisfy the  demands of the
jrganism by the impression peculiar to Stramonium.  The organism
demands the impression  of Belladonna when it is under the influence 
APPEAL  TO PHYSICIANS.                 173
of a  disease which is  represented, in  a lower or more external
range  of  action, by the Belladonna-drug.   Drugs  represent  in  a
lower or more external sphere of existence, the diseases which they
are respectively  able to  cure ;  or the same idea may be expressed
by  saying,  that the organism, in a  higher order  of existence,
appropriates or assimilates such elements of the lower drug-life as
are in specific AGREEMENT  with its  own physiological quality
and power of appropriation.

  These same truths are beautifully expressed by Trousseau and
Pidoux in the  following paragraph, which is probably read by
thousands  without  the  remotest  suspicion  flashing upon their
minds that  Nature's Science of Therapeutics is shadowed forth in
dim outlines in these eloquent words:

  " It is the organism  which, stimulated by aliments, draws from
them  the varied  substance of all its parts.  It is this same organism
which, stimulated by drugs, draws from them their properties ; the
organism develops and  vivifies them; the  organism impresses life
upon  them, a life modified in various ways.   The organism assimi-
lates or appropriates unto its own nature something of these strange
forces.  They pass  into its tissues  and are elevated to the higher
order   of  organic life.  It is  not by juxtaposition but by intro-
susception that  these  drug-elements  become transformed.   The
drug-action is  received  by  the   internal  organism.   A  living
mirror of  the  properties  of these  poisons, it  may  be said that,
through  them,  the  organism  is successively  changed  to Opium,
Mercury,  Antimony, Cinchona, Belladonna,  and  so  forth.   In
other  words, it  is  Opium, Mercury, Cinchona, Antimony,  Bella-
donna  elevated to a  superior order   of  activity,  representing
or reflecting the essential  properties of these substances  which
the living organism has momentarily  impressed with a higher
vitality.   There is nothing metaphorical in this mode  of reasoning ;
it  is  suggested  by  the  most rigid  interpretation of  physiological
laws.  We have  reached the foundations of Therapeutics.  Vitalism
elevates Toxicology from the low regions of crucibles and retorts,
where it has so long remained  confined,  to the very bosom  of the
livino- organism and, without repudiating the past; on the contrary,
profiting by its  accumulated knowledge and experience, it invests
our Materia Medica with the dignity of a physiological Science." 
174
CONCLUSION.
  What important conditions are implied in this paragraph, amon^
which that of affinity between  the  quality or  character of  the
drug and the state of the organism holds a prominent rank. Indeed,
how is an impression to be conveyed to the  organism for which it
does not  manifest an  adequate receptivity?   A drug, Opium for
instance, may be  made  to act upon the healthy organism in such
quantities that  all the properties of this drug may be imaged by
the susceptibilities, inherent in the living tissue, in a coherent and
comprehensive series of morbid sensations, derangements of functions
or alterations of tissue.   This Opium-disease may be said to have
been  forced upon the organism;  such an artificial  disease is of
short  duration.   Unless the vital resistance is  absolutely and per-
manently overcome, the artificial disease is very soon wiped out by
the natural reaction of the organism.

  Yet even in a case of drug-poisoning or  drug-proving, no drug
could even make a temporary impression upon the organism unless
the organic fibre were endowed with an inherent power to receive,
and the sensorium with an inherent power to perceive, the  action
of the drug.   The impression  conveyed  by the  drug, must be
analogous to the character of the organic susceptibility; not even
a corrosive poison could alter the normal condition of tissue unless
this tissue were fitted by an inherent receptivity of a correspond-
ing order, to be impressed by the deleterious agent-

  Relations thus  established between  the  tissues  of the healthy
organism and the  physiological properties of drugs may be said to
be of an external  or traumatic order,  as it were; they do not affect
the internal vitality.   This vitality cannot be reached or  impressed
by the physiological properties of drugs in the same sense as it can
be disturbed by the morbific principles of the Cosmos.  But even
these  principles may surround the  living  organism and seek  to
disturb  its harmonious vitality, without being able  to make  the
least  perceptible  impression upon it.   This can only take place
after the organism has been previously prepared for such a change
by  a  corresponding modification of the  physiological conditions
upon  whose integral  preservation the continuance of  the normal
life of the organism  depends.  When the  organism is exposed to
draughts of air, to the  blasts of  a damp and raw North-easter, to
the  pernicious  effects  of  uncleanliness,  deficient  ventilation, 
APPEAL TO PHYSICIANS.
175
unwholesome nourishment, disturbing passions, or  any other in-
fluences naturally opposed to  its physiological  integrity: the life-
forces  of the cosmos, which  are  not  reasoning principles and are
ever busy in weaving the thread of life out of such materials as are
presented to them for purposes of assimilation  and  appropriation,
excite  the  morbid  susceptibilities of  the internal  organism  into
pathological conditions analogous to, or, as  Trousseau and Pidoux
express it, reflected  or represented by the physiological  properties
of drugs in their more material  order of existence.  When thus
acting  upon an organism placed in abnormal conditions, the vital-
izing forces of the Cosmos, which naturally tend to create, preserve
and perpetuate harmonic  life both  in Man and Nature,  become
subversive, disorganizing and disease-begetting forces.

  After premising the  explanation  that  the life-forces and  the
morbific forces of the  Cosmos  are  really identical principles, and
that their apparent difference depends upon the abnormal, inhar-
monic  or subversive  character  of  the  media upon  which,  and
through which,  they act  upon  the  tissues of the  organism,  I
cannot sufficiently impress  upon the minds of those who seek to
become initiated in  the sanctuary of Therapeutic Wisdom, the law
which  constitutes the corner-stone of her temple : THE  PHYSIO-
LOGICO-THERAPEUTIC FORCES  OF  DRUGS,  AS  WELL
AS  THE  MORBIFIC  FORCES  OF  THE  MACROCOSM,
CAN  ONLY  ACT UPON  ANALOGOUS  RECEPTIVITIES
IN  THE  TISSUES OF  THE  LIVING   ORGANISM.    This
law of affinity is the supreme and eternal law of Order, not only in
the domain of Therapeutics, but in  every department of physical
and spiritual life.   What if Hahnemann  has seen fit to designate
this svstem of Physiologico-therapeutic and  Pathological Affinities
bv a name of his own  invention!  Is the  System  any the  less
founded in the bosom of Nature because human genius has applied
to it a  name ?  This name may be changed ;  so far it has subserved
the important use of a banner or sign, under which the adherents
of the new  doctrines have swelled their numbers even unto legions.
Unfortunately  the  divinely pure  and  true  which the name  was
intended to perpetuate by its symbolic baptism, has been covered
up \vith a mass  of  technicalities  that have been  presented  to  a
bewildered  world as the  Alpha and  Omega  of  Homoeopathic
Therapeutics. 
176
CONCLUSION.
  A great revolution is impending over  the  Homoeopathic School.
The era of Homoeopathic Science is being  inaugurated, which will
shed its blessings  upon  the sick even though its  symbolic name
should become a thing of the Past.

  Truth divine  is not  bounded  by a name.  Woe unto him who
should seek to confine the Infinite  of Truth within the rigid lines
of his own  conceit!  She  will assert her  privilege of boundless
expansion with an irresistible power, and wipe out the  last  vestige
of pride-begotten theories  and idle speculations.  All  language is
symbolic; it has been an instrument of deception.  We claim that
the definitions of  our Science should be precise, logical and com-
prehensive ;  they never  can attain to this ideal perfection until the
leading minds of the Homoeopathic  School  make it their business
to free  the  Goddess from  all human fetters and to enable every
worshipper to offer his incense at her altar unalloyed by the adulter-
ations of deceitful pride  and egotism.

  Homoeopathy  does not require a new name  of  human origin ;
but a new quality, a new order of development.  What she needs
is to be lifted into the  region where phenomena are governed by
unchanging laws.
  Her temple is not built by the hand of man ; God laid its found-
ations in the frame-work of Nature.  It is  not given to  any man to
shut or to open it;  every honest worshipper enters it  by his own
door ; some remain in the outer court; a few only are permitted to
enter  the Holy of Holies ; the multitudes enjoy the blessings of the
new Truth.   This is their mode of worshipping.

  Whether we shall ever see  the  day when  the different medical
Schools will, by their united efforts, work out one great,  universally-
accepted Therapeutic System based upon the universally-recognized
principles of Science, is a result still hidden in the bosom of the
Future.   The first step towards such an  achievment is an honest
admission that Man is the highest object of  all therapeutic endeavors
and that medical  Schools and dogmas should occupy a  subordinate
position in  the  presence  of the  great interests involved  in  the
question of Health  and Disease.   The dominant  School offers a
great  deal that practitioners of every class  should take  cognizance
of, and  appropriate to themselves as indispensable corner-stones of 
APPEAL TO  PHYSICIANS.
177
the medical edifice of the Future.   We cannot build up the Science
of Therapeutics  outside of the  departments in  which our  Old
School  brethren  excel.  In the performance  of this  great work
Pathology in its  various branches must be to  us what the polar
star  is to the mariner, a pilot and a guide on the  vast  ocean of
drug-pathogenesis.   On the other  hand, no approach on our part
is possible  as  long  as the  physicians  of the  dominant school
entrench  themselves  within  the  desolate camp of legitimacy.
Legitimate Medicine!  a  conception  worthy  of the  demon  of
Ignorance,  Pride  and  Fanaticism! As  long as  our brethren he
prostrate  before  such  idols, we  shall  have to  pursue  our work
unaided and alone,  without heeding  opposition  or  persecution ;
until the full proportions of Nature's Science of Therapeutics shall
burst upon  the dazzled vision of our  opposing brethren  as  the
morning star of a brighter day in the dark chambers of the Healing
Art.
  Note to Page 49.—A critic in one of the last numbers of the Ohio Med-
ical and Surgical Reporter snuffs Isopathy in my mode of expounding the
Homceopathic Law, and seems horrified at my doctrine of an intermediate
organism, or an organism appertaining more  peculiarly or more essentially
to the soul.
  Regarding the first charge I take the liberty of saying to my critic that,
if he had read my work with a little more attention than he seems to have
done, he would  not have discovered even a trace of Isopathy in the whole
book.  Isopathy means the application of morbid products to the treatment
of the very diseases that have given rise to these products.  In  this system
the matter of the itch-pustule is used as a remedy for the itch ; the contents
of the small-pox pustule are used as a remedy for this loathsome disease, etc.
  In conformity to  this principle some Homoeopaths have introduced into
our Materia Medica psorin as a remedy for the psoric disease; variolin,
gonorrhoein, and a number of kindred horrors.  What has my doctrine of
Homoeopathy to do with such foolish aberrations and extravagances ?
  To those who have ears to hear and minds to understand, my doctrine of
Homoeopathy cannot fail to appear an intelligible and philosophical general-
ization. There are  morbid potencies, tendencies, or capacities  inherent in
the crust of our planet.  Corresponding morbid  potencies or properties
inhere from creation in the tissues of the animal organism. A  similar cor-
respondence exists between the concretely developed drug and the concretely
developed disease.  The developing cause is the same in both  cases.   It is
the cosmic life which develops both the drug and the disease in appropriate 
178
NOTE.
conditions of development.   Physical stimuli are not  sufficient to convert a
drug potency inherent in the soil into an actual  drug.  Neither can the
conversion of a morbid property in the organic tissues into an actualized,
concrete disease result from a simple substitution of abnormal for normal
conditions of existence.   In both instances the action of the cosmic life is
required to develop both the drug and the pathological disorder.  The cos-
mic life is no more nor less than the life sphere ; the world or sphere of living
essences or powers ; or, if you please, the spiritual world, sphere, or universe
emanating more immediately and perpetually from the Supreme Esse which
is Life Itself.   The difference is not in the life which creates, but in the ulti-
mate planes upon which the life  acts.  In the one case this action results in
the formation of a drug; in the  other, in the development of a disease.   To
secure the homoeopathicity of a drug to a disease, the morbid potency which
gave rise to the drug should be the exact counterpart, in a lower  or more
material plane of existence,  of the morbid property which the same determin-
ation of the  Creative Will had deposited in the tissues of the human organism,
for the high purpose of becoming instrumental, within the limited sphere of
Therapeutic Science,  in the progressive regeneration of man.   Here  we have
what I consider a scientific  definition of similimum.  After having  bandied
the term similia until it was discovered that something was wanting to scien-
tific correctness, the newfangled  superlative  similimum was  introduced
into our vocabulary as designating a remedial agent that would hit  the dis-
ease upon the head, and would knock the very bottom out of it.  All I profess
to have done in my work is to have substituted scientific exactness for vague
terms.  Terms have  been the bane of Homoeopathy.   Similia has been a
term.  What similarity really means, in a therapeutic sense,  is only now
beginning to be inquired  into.  Symptoms are mere terms until they acquire
a clear and precise meaning by being referred to definite pathological states
with corresponding symptomatic manifestations.
  In the first  part of his Faust, in the dialogue  between the  Scholar and
Mephistopheles,  Goethe shows the  danger of vague terms in the following
striking lines, with which I will  close this part of this note :

         Schiller: Doch ein Begriff musz bei dem Worte sein.
         Mephistopheles:  Schon gut! Nur musz man sich nicht allzu angstlich queilen;
                     Derm eben wo Begriffe fehlen,
                     Da stellt ein Wort zur rechten Zeit sich ein.
                     Mit Worten laszt sich trefflich streiten,
                     Mit Worten ein System bereiten,
                     An Worte laszt sich trefflich glauben,
                     Von  einem Wort laszt sich kein Iota rauben.

  In our good English vernacular these lines would read as follows:
         Scholar: Yet some definite idea should be conveyed by the words.
         Mephistopheles:  Right enough ; only one should not torment oneself too anxiously
                       about such things;
                 For it \s precisely where definite ideas are wanting,
                 That  a word comes in just at the nick of time.
                 Words are excellent things to dispute with;
                 Words are excellent things to build up a system with;
                 Words are excellent things to believe in;
                 Not one iota can be taken from a word. 
NOTE.
179
  As regards my critic's amazement at my doctrine of an  intermediate
organism, by which I evidently mean an organism more peculiarly or more
essentially appertaining to the soul, I am perfectly willing to admit with my
critic, that my professional brethren will not accept such a doctrine with the
same readiness as they have accepted many other things in Homoeopathy.
All I can  say is,  that I  am grateful to a merciful Providence for having
been allowed to contribute my mite toward a more scientific comprehension
of our great doctrine.  I  am willing to exclaim with the great reformer of
the Church: " If my words are true, they will  stand; if they are not true,
time likewise will tell the story."  But it is both  my privilege and my duty
to furnish such an explanation of my doctrine as will place it beyond a possi-
bility of misapprehension.
  What the soul is in its inmost essence, it is not given us mortal beings to
know,  certainly not while we are living upon this earth.  We do know,
however, that it is an emanation from the Divine Esse Itself; for, we are
emphatically told  in the revealed  writings, that  He (the Lord)  "breathed
into his (man's) nostrils the breath of life, and  man became a living soul."
This statement of the inspired historian does  not leave a vague impression
upon the mind ; on the contrary, it conveys a definite, positive, unmistakable
meaning.   The human organism, after it had been fashioned by the hand of
the Supreme Creator, out  of the dust of the ground, was made  a living soul
by the Divine afflatus.  The whole of man, including his terrestrial body, is
comprehended in this scriptural definition of a living soul.   And we are like-
wise told by the Apostle that "He (the Lord)  will transfigure our perishable
body in order that it may  become like His own transfigured body."
  As far as we know anything of our future  existence, we know positively
that we shall exist in the human form.
  We cannot form to ourselves an idea of the Lord Himself, except as in the
human  form.  We cannot conceive of man, except as a man, a being exist-
ing and manifesting  himself with an organism in the human form.   There
is no break in man's identity, either in quality or form.   He preserves this
identity while he lives ; if he loses his identity he ceases to be himself; he
ceases  to be a man.   He may progress in heavenly goodness and wisdom,
but this progression makes  him a more perfect man, a more spiritual and
heavenly man; but, to all intents and purposes,  a man with all the attri-
butes, capacities, tastes, affections, and powers of a man.
  As far as I  have an idea  of the soul, I distinguish in it two primordial
tendencies, one leading the  soul upward towards the source from which it
emanated ; the other leading it downward towards the humanity and nature
where it is to act its part as an elementary factor in the business of realizing
the destiny of the race.
  The upward tendency of the soul, its longing and aspiration to be in union
with its source, is the very essence of religion.   The tendency towards earth
necessarily connects the  soul with matter.  Such a connection would be
impossible, unless  the soul were an organism in  the human form—a spiritual
organism endowed with all  the senses,  faculties,  and powers which consti-
tute the essentials  of human nature.   In conducting this line of argument, I
am of course speaking of a soul in its normal  condition. 
180
NOTE.
  The soul, as a subject of psychological investigation, first presents to the
analyzing intellect two distinct and fundamental ramifications, determina-
tions or forms of being.  They have been respectively designated as the Will
and the Intellectual Principle.   Continuing our analysis of these fundamental
powers, we obtain the various modes and activities of the soul, which philos-
ophers have described and classified under a variety of names, such as pas-
sions, emotions, affections, virtues, etc., all of which characterize the sphere
of the will; and reason,  conscience,  perceptions, thoughts, imagination,
memory,  aptitudes of various  kinds  in the domain of science, art, and
mechanical  industry, etc., all of which  belong to the intellectual principle,
or the sphere of mind, properly speaking.  In thus following up our  inspec-
tion  of the soul, of its graduated powers  and functions, we arrive, in thought
at least, at the  boundary line where the soul becomes more immediately
connected with the  material organism which derives from it  the power to
manifest life in act under a multitudinous variety of forms.
  It  is not the material eye that performs the act of seeing, but it is really
by the spiritual eye of the soul that this act is accomplished.'  And so of the
other senses ; it is not the  material ear that hears, but it is  the spiritual ear
of the soul that perceives both the harmonies  and discords of sound.  While
the body is growing, the soul grows along with it, and eliminates from its
material envelope such principles as it  can assimilate to its own essential
nature.
  I believe that  matter contains principles which no chemist  has  yet been
able  to discover,  and never will be able to discover with  such  means as are
now  at his command.
  Professor  Tyndall's remark,  that "matter contains the  promise and
potency of every form and quality of life," would  either have no meaning,
or else would be an expression of the grossest and most debasing materialism,
if it were not interpreted in the sense which I have here indicated.
  The material organism  lives from the indwelling soul, spirit,  or spiritual
man.  Diseases are confined to the plane of this  material organism; they
are pathological or abnormal in contradistinction to physiological or normal
states of existence ; it is the  indwelling  life which develops  both the  former
and  the latter; the life is the same, but the planes upon  which it acts, or
into  which it flows, differ: the pathological  states being characterized by
suffering, and, in  their ultimate developments, leading to disintegration and
death ; the physiological states being characterized by the opposite sensation
of delight, and a  blissful feeling  of health, and, in their ultimate develop-
ments, securing  an increase of physical vigor, and a more intense percep-
tion  of bodily harmony.
  Note to Page 128.—Hahnemann made  choice of alcohol and sugar of
milk for the purpose of making his attenuations, or so-called potencies, not
from any capricious motives, but for eminently scientific reasons.
  Surrounded by these media,  which enjoy- a comparative immunity from
the processes of fermentation and putrefaction, the medicinal molecules may be
preserved for a long period of time, in such a perfect state of integrity, that
their characteristic properties remain correspondingly unaltered, and may
subserve the purposes of curative, remedial agents with undiminished power. 
 
 
                     LIST  OF  WORKS
                                 ON

HOMCEOPATHIC   VETERINARY   PRACTICE

           IN  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.
A  MANUAL OF HOMOEOPATHIC  VETERINARY PRACTICE:  designed
    for Horses, all kinds of Domestic Animals- and Fowls ; prescribing their proper
    treatment when injured or diseased, and their particular care and general man-
    agement in health.  Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel, 1873.
This is the latest, fullest, and best book on the subject in Homoeopathic
    literature.

NEW MANUAL  OF HOMCEOPATHIC VETERINARY MEDICINE;  or,
    the Homoeopathic Treatment of the Horse, the Ox, the Sheep, the Dog, and
    other Domestic Animals.   By F. A. Gttnther.  Translated from the first
    German edition, with considerable additions.  From the London edition.  Bos-
    ton :  1871.   1 vol., 12mo, cloth, pp. 368.  Price, $1.50.

NEW MANUAL  OF HOMCEOPATHIC VETERINARY MEDICINE.  An
    easy and comprehensive arrangement  of Diseases, adapted to the use of every
    owner of domestic animals, and especially designed for the Farmer living out
    of the reach of medical advice, and  showing him the way of treating his sick
    Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, and Dogs, in the most simple, expeditious, and
    cheap manner.  By J. S. Schafer.  Translated from the German,  with nu-
    merous additions from other veterinary manuals, by Charles J. Hempel, M.D.
    New  York:  1£73.  Boericke & Tafel.  1 vol., 8vo, cloth,  pp 321.  Price, $2.

THE HANDY-BOOK OF VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY: or, the Homoeo-
    pathic Treatment of the  Horse, the Ox, the  Sheep, the Dog, and  the Swine.
    By John Rush, Veterinary Surgeon.  From  the London edition, with numer-
    ous additions by Jacob F. Sheer, M.D.  New York :  1872. Boericke & Tafel.
    1 vol., 18mo., cloth, pp. 144.  Price, 50 cents.
VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY ; comprising rules for the general treatment
    of all  Domestic Animals; namely, the Horse, Cow, Ass,  Mule, Sheep, Goat,
    Dog,  Pig, Fowls, Ducks, Geese, Turkey, Pigeons, Rabbits, &c, with regula-
    tions  for the Homoeopathic treatment of diseases incidental to them, and a brief
    inquiry into the  Distinctive Indications of Age  and Soundness.   London.
    James Leath : 1851.  1 vol , 18mo, cloth, pp.  474.  Price, $4.

OUTLINES  OF VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHY: comprising Horse,  Cow,
    Dog,  Sheep,  and Hog Diseases', and their Homoeopathic treatment.  By James
    Moore, M.R.C.V.S.  Sixth edition.  London: Henry Turner &  Co.   1871.
    1 vol., 18mo, cloth, pp. 295.  Price, $2 50.
THE TEXT-BOOK OF VETERINARY HOMCEOPATHIC PRACTICE; con-
    taining a Description of the Diseases of the Horse,  Dog, Ox, Cow,  Sheep, and
    Pig;  with the most approved treatment. Also, a Summary of  Symptoms,
    from  the  Mat. Med. Pura.  Third edition. By Harry Gooday ;  edited and
    revised, with notes  and  additions, by Henry James Surman.    London:
    Leath & Ross.  1  vol., 8vo, cloth, pp  192. Price, $1.75.
  Those wishing thoroughly to study HOMCEOPATHIC VETERINARY PRAC-
TICE will do well to lay in all of the above works, since each has certain distinc-
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  Books will be sent free by mail by remitting published price to the undersigned.
  All medicines called for  in these works may also be procured at

                       BOERICKE & TAFEL'S
                                     HOMCEOPATHIC PHARMACIES AT

NEW  YORK, PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE, and SAN FRANCISCO.
                                                              ( 1  1 
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SPECIALLY  ADAPTED  FOR  DOMESTIC  USE.
THE  HOMCEOPATHIC DOMESTIC MEDICINE,  by Joseph  Laurie,  M.D.
    Edited and revised,  with numerous important additions, and the introduction
    of the new remedies, and  a repertory by  Robert J. McClatchey,  M.D.
    Third American edition.   New York: Boericke & Tafel, 1873.  1 vol., half
    morocco, 8vo, pp. 1034.  Price, $5.
  Of Laurie's work over 21,000 copies were sold in England, and of this improved
American edition, the third edition  has been issued within two years.  It is,  with-
out doubt, tho most complete work  on  this subject in the English language, and
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MANUAL OF HOMCEOPATHIC PRACTICE, for the use of families and pri-
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    New York: Boericke & Tafel, 1871.  1 vol., half morocco, 8vo., pp. 851.
    Price, $3.
  This work is especially adapted for those having never used Homoeopathic medi-
cines before, as its explanations and directions are peculiarly plain and easily under-
stood.

THE  STEPPING-STONE TO  HOMCEOPATHY  AND HEALTH.   Second
    American from the seventh London edition, by E. H. Ruddock, M.D., &c, &c,
    with alterations and  additions, adapting it to the climate, diseases, and customs
    of Americans, by  the American editor.  Chicago: Halsey Brothers.  1 vol.,
    cloth, 12mo, pp.  259.  Price, $1.25.
  This work is the best of the smaller works on Domestic Practice in print, and has
a very large circulation;  the directions are short, concise, and plain, and the low
price brings it within reach of all.

THE  TEXT-BOOK FOR DOMESTIC PRACTICE.  Being  plain and concise
    directions for the administration of Homosopathic medicines in simple ailments.
    By Samuel Morgan, M.D., physician to  the Bath  Homoeopathic Hospital.
    New York:  Boericke & Tafel.  1 vol., 24mo, cloth, pp. 191.  Price, 60 cents.
  This little work is  specially adapted for travellers' use; its small size also suiting
it for a pocket companion.  Over ten thousand copies have been sold in this country,
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in tens of thousands of families  in this country and in Europe, and they are being
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  The above works will be found at all Homoeopathic Pharmacies, and will be sent
free of charge by the undersigned on receipt of published price.
  All  medicines called for in these works may also be obtained, pure and reliable, of

                             BOERICKE  &  TAFEL'S
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                                  BOERICKE & TAFEL,
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