\858 1 iiSii |^f|.ife--: ilia* / INFORMATION LEGISLATURE AND PEOPLE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, PROFESSIONAL MEN THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, IN RELATION TO VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF SUPERSTITIOUS^«fci^5y)S, PARTICULARLY THOSE IPLICTBD UPON WfiR^CRfeDIILOUS BY PRETENDED DOCTORS IN MEDICINE. TOGETHER WITH AN EXPLANATION OF THE HOMOEOPATHIC AND OTHER SYSTEMS OF DECEPTION—ADVICE TO STUDENTS OF MEDICINE, YOUNG PHYS1CFANS, THE PUBLIC, &c W3 AN INQUIRY RELATING TO THE HOMOEOPATHIC METHOD OF TREATING DISEASE; TOGETHER WITH OTHER SYSTEMS OF DECEPTION; CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC; ADVICE TO STUDENTS OF MEDICINE, YOUNG PHYSICIANS, &c. It being our intention to make a laudable effort in putting a stop to the deceptions and impositions which have and are being practised upon the poor and credulous; have taken this method of calling the attention of the community to the subject and to solicit its influence in trying to con- vince the legislature of the necessity which exists for a law relating to the qualification of persons who attempt to practice the healing art. We, the subscribers, having been eye-witnesses to the frauds and de- ceptions practised upon the credulous and illiterate inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia and its vicinity, by that unfortunate class of men who have (through want of better information) fancied that they could restore the afflicted by a species of treatment invented some forty or fifty years since, by an impostor of the name of Homoeopathia, and on account of some of us having been deceived by the reports which were put in circu- lation, and being induced through want of information to trust them with the medical attendance of our afflicted and most dear friends, who, we now feel confident could have been restored to health and usefulness had proper medical aid been employed, feel ourselves in duty bound to use means to protect, or at least to caution the public against the danger of 1 J trusting their system of superstitious fraud. We would, indeed, have felt ourselves much indebted to any person who should have bestowed this information upon us, at the time we were induced to apply to the Homceo- p.uhists. The cause of our delay in making this public exposition of the deceptions which we have been witnessing, was owing to the want of proper information r.lative to the character of the system. The regular physicians, who were the only persons properly qualified to investigate the matter, when applied to by us, refused to have any thing to do with the subject, on account, as they stated, of the system being so absurd as to prove fatal to itself in a short time, as had been the case where it was attempted to be practised in Europe and in parts of this country where it first broke out, it had already become extinct. But we find that the sys- tem, like a pestilential disease, when it is subdued or exhausted in one neighborhood, breaks out in another, where the inhabitants are not pre- pared to confront it; and we find also that it, like a loathsome disease, lurks about the dark palaces of cities longer than in country villages, owing, as is plain to be seen, to the silly, ignorant and superstitious foreigners who are located in these places, and are the support of those persons who practice the system. And it would perhaps be as well for society, if these men were permitted to continue their practice in the cities, as they would be the means of removing the filthy part of the population from the surface of the earth at least. But we find them breaking out and imposing their deceptions upon the industrious and virtuous inhabi- tants of the country, who cannot be expected to be able to distinguish them from respectable physicians, until they have employed them and found, when it was too late, that they had called in medical aid which was altogether unaquainted with and opposed to administering the proper remedies for the removal of disease. We have therefore taken the liber- ty of making the following extract, and would most respectfully invite public attentio nto it. And we would also invite those of the public who have sufficient sagacity to see the absurd and deceptive character of the system, to co-operate with us in petitioning the Legislature of the State for a law which will have a tendency to cause those who attempt to practice the awfully responsible office of a physician, to spend at least as much tune in acquiring a knowledge of the healing art, as is required by me- chanics to become familiar with their various occupations rnZ^l M d6gree °f P?'dG ^ S3ying that We have been ^mtted to make the following extract from a very interesting and useful work, which has just been completed, and to which we shall take the liberty of calling the attention of the public hereafter. We would also state that we have 3 been eye witnesses to the facts be qualified to them. Lewis P. Wagner, David Vance, Jesse A. Tyson, Reuben Vance, Philip Patterson, Ambrose Owen, John W. Henry, Edward Albright, Alexander B. Deal, John S. Bridges, William Brinton, Wilbam S. Brown, Benjamin Clarke, James T. Collins, Amos Grigg, Isaac Croford, William T. M'Dowall, Amos M. Richards, C. M. Williamson, George Tompson, Sen. James Stever, Daniel Grayson, Joseph Grable, Morris B. Walker, Charles Wade, Jonathan Haslett, Henry Murphy, Alexander P. Wise, John B. Rusey, Richard E. Wilson, Peter A. Wright, John Smith, Andrew L. Young, David Rigley, John K. Wood, Calvin Winters stated in the extract, and are prepared to Charles F. Brown, Thomas S. Camper, Jonathan Justice, Timothy M'lntyre, Nathaniel S. Martin, Jacob R. Martin, Sen. William H. May, Conrad White, Jacob M. Whitmore, Daniel S. Reid, Nicholas Reeves, Timothy Reynolds, Hugh Peters, Sen. Matthew Phillips, Robert W. Palmer, Charles T. Pitt, Anthony Jones, Hiram Newlin, Charles B. Myers, Adam Moss, Abraham N. Moore, Francis S. Miller, Lewis Markwell, Felix Mayer, George H. Maxwell, Henry S. W. Martin, Alfred Marshall, Isaac T. M'Makin, Hugh M'Night, Edward B. King, Jacob Edwards, George C. Eller, Lewis Gill, Jr. Joseph R. Griffith, Philip W. Gibbs, Adam George, 4 David S. Rhoad, David M. Owens, Abel Williamson, Caspar Mitchell, Henry A. Thomas, William James. The author at the close of his medical investigations, observes: " Having communicated all the information my limits will per- mit, relating to the nature and treatment of disease, I think it my duty to say a few words in relation to the impositions which are being imposed upon the community, and particularly upon the afflicted of Philadelphia. In doing this, it is not my intention to notice that small craft of quacks who are trying to earn a sub- sistence by advertising certain drugs in the form of pills and panaceas for the cure of all complaints; but that more formida- ble class, who, for the purpose of accomplishing their frauds more extensively, have formed combinations, and carry on their system of deception under the popular name of science. I am aware that in attempting this exposition I shall incur the displea- sure and abuse of that superstitious part of the community who advocate sorcery. But the title of my work is Suggestions to Parents and Others; and I think myself justifiable in caution- ing them against trusting to remedies which I know to be falla- cious, and can prove to be founded upon superstitious notions. This I trust will be a sufficient apology to offer my readers for bringing a low and disgusting subject before their notice, parti- cularly when they call to mind tbe fact, that it has been the cus- tom in all ages, for the most enlightened historians to place on record the superstitious notions which prevailed in their day, especially when they were of such a nature as to threaten the peace and comfort of society. We find admonitions and cau- tions of this nature in the Scriptures: and were it not on account of similar records which have been kept by medical men in the ages in which they lived, we should be left in the dark in relation to the many hundred systems of practice and fraudulent attempts which have been introduced in opposition to the regular practice of medicine during the last three thousand years. 5 The most popular systems of deception existing at the present time to any extent, (some of which have been introduced within the last four years,) are Fortune Telling, Animal Magnetism, or Magic, the Homoeopathic mode of curing diseases, and Thomson's remedies. The two former of these systems I shall not notice, as they do not relate particularly to the treatment of disease, excepting so far as they are recommended by the Homoeopathic practitioners. The last mentioned will therefore be the subject of remark—the advocates of Thomson's system having died a natural death, excepting those who are confined in the peniten- tiaries, or have lost their lives by the remedies recommended by the founder of the system. HOMOEOPATHIC SYSTEM OF PRACTICE. The origin of this system is involved in much obscurity. The only authentic account of it which I have been able to find, is that which has transpired since the year 1828. It was, however, in existence some fifteen or twenty years before this date; but the only thing I have been able to find on record relating to its origin is the following, which is by no means satisfactory. I have copied it from a publication called the " Quack Expostulator," edited by Simon E. Smith, Esq. He observes— " Homoeopathia, the founder of the above described science, was a German of high birth and large fortune. He however be- came addicted to gambling and other vices, which soon deprived him of all means of support and he was obliged to solicit aid from an only sister, who had married a respectable physician. After she had supported him in his folly five or six months, she told him that she would not assist him any longer, unless he would abandon his bad practices, and take lodgings with her husband, to which he consented. After residing in his sister s house for some time, he became afflicted with the disease called dyspepsia, 6 and grew worse in spite of all the medicine his brother-in-law could prescribe, and finally came to the conclusion that his friend the doctor was giving him medicine for the purpose of destroy- ing him; in consequence of which, he formed a determination to take no more of it, nor depend upon his brother-in-law any longer for support. He being, in consequence of this movement, de- prived of all means of sustenance, was obliged to embark in business; and being without character, he was under the neces- sity of attending horses, which afforded him wholesome exercise in the open air, and had the tendency of restoring his health, without the use of a particle of medicine. This caused the sys- tem of practice alluded to above, to suggest itself to him. He accordingly commenced practice, and made many of his simple friends believe that he had discovered a new system, by which he had restored his own health; but for the purpose of extorting money from his patients, he found it necessary to administer something in the form of medicine, and accordingly made them believe, that when a grain of medicine was divided into the smallest particle possible, it had more virtue than when it was given in large doses. He accordingly would take a small parti- cle of sugar, and make his patients believe it was medicine; and when an individual would apply to him afflicted with headache or indigestion, and he suspected that it had been produced by ar- ticles of food or drink, such for instance as coffee or saurcrout, he would forbid their use; and at the same time order some of his small particles of sugar, or an empty bottle to smell. The result was, his patient recovered, not from the effects of his me- dicine, but from abstaining from the articles of food and drink, which had been the cause of his indisposition." Since the year 1828, as before stated, I have a very correct account of the history and progress of the would-be system, much of which I will extract from a book which has been published by the members of the society: It is termed the " Organon of Ho- moeopathic Medicine. By Samuel Hahnemann." This is the only book belonging to the society, excepting two small primers; and notwithstanding it is termed the origin of the system, its author gives no account of its history beyond his day. He thus commences the preface: «An accidental interview with a Rus- sian physician, in the year 1828, made me acquainted for the first time with the medical doctrine of Homoeopathy." In the adver- tisement of the work, I find the cause which led to its publica- tion, namely, " one of the first occasions which led to the publi- 7 action of the present edition of the Organon, was the express desire of Hahnemann, that an enlarged and improved English version of it, from the fifth German edition, might appear in the United States. With the view of fulfilling, as much as possible, every just demand, the Academy entrusted the revision," &c. This Academy styled the " Academy of the Homoeopathic Heal- ing Art," was founded October, 1836, in Allentown, Pa. About the time this work of Hahnemann's, which contains 213 pages octavo size, and the building of the college was announced, > almost every coxcomb in Philadelphia embarked in the study of the new system of medicine, which they were made to believe would not only cure the sick, but bring the dead to life again. (See quotation in another part of the subject.) There were six professors procured, the principal part of whom were superstitious foreigners; they were located at Allentown, assisting in the erection of the college, attending the sick, and engaging students. Everything appeared to be prospering; re- ports were in circulation relating to the astonishing cures that were performed; but, as bad luck would have it, before the col- lege edifice was completed the good people of Allentown disco- vered to their sorrow, that the new system was nothing more nor less than a system of superstitious nonsense, and that some of their best citizens had died without having the proper restorative means employed. They accordingly gave the pretended profes- sors warning to leave the town, or they would use means to com- pel them to do so: the learned professors were therefore obliged to give up their college edifice, which was converted into a church. The young men, sixty or eighty in number, continued to take private lessons, and in a short time after commenced practice in this city, which increased the catalogue of doctors' names considerably on the window-shutters of the houses. It is now about five years since this occurrence transpired in Allen- town, and since that time the Homoeopathic system has declined, until at present there are but five persons, out of seventy or eighty who commenced practising it, that continue to advocate the doctrine, and they are mere subjects of ridicule. Having thus given the public as correct a history of the sys- tem as has been in my power, I will now proceed to explain their 8 mode- of treatment, or imposing upon their fellow beings; and A is my-intention in doing this, to make use of their own words, taken from their only book, which is considered by them of Di- vine origin. My object is, not to wound the feelings of those who are taking the remedies, nor the pretended doctor who is prescribing them; but merely to show the difference which ex- ists between the two modes of practice—on account of the Ho- mceopathists trying to make their simple employers believe that the only difference between their plan and the regular system is, that they give the medicine in substance, whilst the regular doc- tors administer^ in mixtures, which renders it much more disa- greeable to the*palate than their little powders. I know many well-informed persons who have been made to believe this, and have thereby been deceived. On page 206 of the book alluded to above, I find the following, and copy it in full. " Suppose, for example, that one drop of a mixture containing " the tenth of a grain of any medicinal substance produce an "effect = a; a drop of another mixture containing merely an " hundredth part o{ a grain of this same substance, will only pro- "duce an effect =S; if it contains a ten-thousanth, part of a " grain of medicine, the effect will be %; if a millionth, it will "be=;|: and so on progressively, to an equal volume of the " doses, the effects of the remedy on the body will merely be di- "minished about one-half each time that the quantity is reduced " nine-tenths of what it was before. I have often seen a drop of " the tincture of nux vomica (*) at the decillionth degree of dilu- " tion, produce exactly half the effect of another at the quintil- " lionth degree, when I administered both one and the other to " the same individual, and under the same circumstances." This sentence is somewhat mysterious, and will be the better of a wrord of explanation. The one drop of the mixture spoken of as containing " a grain of any medicinal substance," would produce a certain effect upon an individual; another drop of the same kind of mixture, but only containing " an hundredth part of a grain of this" same medicinal substance, would produce double the effect that had been produced by the former mixture, notwith- standing it would not be as strong as the former by nine-tenths. * This is used by the regular physicians in doses of four or five grains of the powder ia pills, during the day. 0 According to this statement the reader will readily perceive that the weaker the dose is, the greater its medicinal effects would be. In other words, the grain of the nux vomica spoken of in the article, which would be a dose for a child according to the regu- lar practice, would, according to the Homoeopathic system, be sufficient to dose every man, woman and child, in the known world for millions of years. In order to show that 1 have not misconstrued the above arti- cle, I will insert another, which will be more easily understood. See the following, copied from page 200. " In order to have a determinate rule for the moderate develop- " ment of power of the fluid medicine, multiplied experience and " observation have led me to retain two shakes for ever}'' vial, (*) "in preference to a greater number, which had previously been " used, but which developed the energy in too great a degree. " On the contrary, there are Homceopathists who, in their visits uto the sick, carry about their persons the medicines in a fluid " state, which they nevertheless affirm do not in time become in- " creased in energy by the frequent agitation to which they are " thus subject. This declaration, however, betrays on their part " the want of a talent for acute observation. I dissolved a grain "of natron" (soda) "in half an ounce of a mixture of water and " a little alcohol, poured the solution into a vial, which was there- " by filled two-thirds* and shook it uninterruptedly for half an " hour. By this agitation, the fluid attained an energy equal to " that of the thirteenth dilution." By this article, it will be perceived that the smallest particle of soda (a substance which is taken in quantities for the purpose of removing acidity of the stomach,) which can be conceived of, is mixed by a Homoeopathist with a very large quantity of water and shaken twice, and one drop of it given would answer the purpose of a large quantity taken in substance. Agai^ Hahn- emann, when speaking of doses of medicine, observes, on page 204— " Added to this, the Homoeopathic medicines acquire at each " division or dilution a new degree of power, by the rabbing or " shaking they undergo—a means of developing the inherent vir- * The object the regular physician has in ordering the vial to be shook before the medicine is given, is to have the ingredients well mixed together* not to strengthea it, as represented above, 2 10 "tues of medicines that was unknown till my time; and which «is so energetic, that I have been forced by experience to reduce «the number of shakes to two, of which I formerly prescribed " ten to each dilution." In relation to the best mode of administering the Homoeopathic remedies, I find the following on page 207: " The best mode of administering is to make use of small glo- "bules of sugar, the size of a mustard-seed; one of those globules "having imbibed the medicine, and being introduced into the ve- " hide, forms a dose containing about the three-hundredth part of " a drop—for three hundred of such globules will imbibe one drop " of alcohol:" (strong whiskey) " by placing one of those on the " tongue, and not drinking anything after it, the dose is consider- " ably diminished. But if the patient is very sensitive, and it is " necessary to employ the smallest dose possible, and attain at " the same time the most speedy results, it will be sufficient to let " him smell one." The above sentence I should suppose would (if true) be very interesting to those who are fond of exhilarating their spirits with strong drink; for if one of those little globules, containing but the three-hundredth part of a drop, is sufficient to remove a dis- ease, I should suppose, judging from the Homoeopathic system, that one containing a millionth part of a drop would be sufficient to produce intoxication. On page 208, the author, when speaking of the most efficacious mode of administering doses of medicine to very sensitive pa- tients, where it is impossible to get the dose sufficiently reduced —notwithstanding the number of sugar stores in the city, and the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers close at hand—says it is best only to smell the medicine. See the following: " Homoeopathic remedies operate with the most certainty and "energy by smelling or inhaling the medical aura constantly em- " anating from saccharine" (sugar) " globules that have been im- " pregnated with the higher dilution of a medicine;" (such, for instance, as those mentioned above as containing the three-hun- dredth part of a drop of liquor,) " and in a dry state, enclosed in "a small vial. One globule (of which 10, 20, to 100, weigh a " grain) moistened with the 30th dilution and then dried, provided " it be preserved from heat and the light of the sun, retains its " virtues undiminished, at least for eighteen or twenty years, (so 11 "far my experience extends,) (*) although the vial that contained '«it had during that time been opened a thousand times. Should " the nostrils be closed by coryza or polypus, the patient may in- •" hale through his mouth, holding the mouth of the vial between "his lips. It may be applied to the nostrils of small children " while they are asleep, with the certainty of success." It might be amusing to some of my readers to have a more lengthy description of the Homoeopathic mode of treating dis- eases, but my object is not to amuse. It is a subject which ought to be treated in the most solemn manner, and I think there is enough copied to enable them to judge of its merits. I will, how- ever, have occasion presently to insert an article for the purpose of showing the connection which exists between it and another system of deception, which has exploded. I think it my duty in this place, on account of being better ac- quainted with the subject than many of my readers, to give them my candid and disinterested views of the matter. I have, in con- sequence of having a great number of chronic cases of disease in charge, an opportunity of seeing persons every day who have tried or are trying the said-to-be successful practice; and I feel sorry in having to declare that I have not met with one solitary person, who had actually been diseased, who was benefited in the slightest degree. The only cases where the Homoeopathists' ad- vice, not their remedies, appeared to have had the least beneficial effect, was in instances where individuals had been improperly treated by injudicious medical men, who had continued their de- pleting remedies, such as bleeding, purging, and starvation, too great a length of time; notwithstanding it may have been the most proper plan at the time it was commenced. In cases of this nature the Homoeopathists invariably have all depleting measures abandoned, it being contrary to their custom (as may be learned from the quotations above,) to bleed, purge, blister, or give medi- cine in any case of disease, let its nature be what it may. Their • The author appears to have made a mistake in this, which his advocates in this city had better see to, as it may be the cause of their want of success in restoring their patients; namely, he has inserted in the preface to his work, that his attention was first drawn to the subject in the year 1828, and his work was published in 1838—therefore he could not have experienced the effects of his remedies 18 ywre, as stated. 13 advice is to take nourishing articles of food, and, for the purpose of making the afflicted individual believe that he is giving him medicine which will perform a cure, he administers some of the sugar or empty bottles, mentioned above. The result is, in many instances, the patient recovers in a short lime, from the effects of the nutricious food, not the little doses or bottles. When this cir- cumstance takes place, the afflicted individual is much gratified, and informs his friends and neighbors of the astonishing effect which has been produced by the new system of smelling empty bottles, in place of taking the nauseous drugs. In short, he is completely convinced of the superiority of the new plan over the old system, and declares he will have no other treatment used in his house, and will exert his influence in persuading his friends to adopt the practice. There is one other circumstance in which the Homaeopathian advice has often, to my knowledge, been the cause of enabling fliem to impose upon the credulous. It is well known that a very large number of females in this city take little or no exercise in the open air; others are compelled to sit almost day and night at some sedentary employment, for the purpose of procuring a live- lihood. These persons are liable to what they call sick headache, and for the purpose of procuring temporary relief, are in the habit of taking strong coffee -every time they are attacked: this relieves them as long as its stimulating effects exist, but so soon as this subsides, however, the headache returns. The poor female at length comes to the conclusion that she could not exist without it, when in fact it is destroying her constitution. The Homoeo- pathist, when he is called to a case of this kind, prohibits the use of coffee, not on account of it being the first and exciting cause, but on account, as he says, of it having a tendency to prevent his remedies having the desired effect; in place of it, chocolate, tea, and nutritious food, together with exercise in the open air, is recommended and enforced; at the same time, the empty bottle (which is efficacious in the extreme for the cure of headache,) is put in requisition. The result is, the patient is restored, not however by the bottle, but by abstaining from the use of coffee. There cannot be a case of headache found in this city which has been produced by any other cause than the use of coffee, which 13 has been benefited in the least by this mode of treatment, unless it was produced by similar causes. These two circumstances had the tendency of giving the Ho- moeopathists considerable reputation shortly after their book was published, and at the time their splendid college was in progress: this enabled them to commit depredations upon society to a con- siderable extent; thousands of children were deprived of theii parents by disease and the want of proper medical aid, and hun- dreds of parents were deprived of their children, who are now convinced that they did not use the proper means of having them restored. This was, and can be proven to be, the reason why those men professing to be doctors were banished from Allentown and their intended academy. It may appear strange to some of my readers in the country, who are not acquainted with the ignorance and superstition of some of the citizens of Philadelphia, how this class of pretended doctors has existed such a length of time without being arrested as common swindlers. I would inform them that this circum- stance is owing to the peculiar laws of the state of Pennsylvania, which grant impostors and quacks in medicine the same privilege that they allow the most scientific physician. This is the reason why the city of Philadelphia is overrun by these characters:— they are not allowed to practice and charge for it in any other city or state in the Union; and hence they are all thrown upon us.—And there are doctors practising in this city at this time, equally absurd, who have been in existence a much greater length of time than the Homoeopathists. For instance, there are men in this city who possess a reputation equal to the last mentioned, among a certain class of citizens, who make use of no other means of restoring the afflicted, but to look at them and pronounce the words, HOGO, MOGO, POGO; and they are said to be more successful than any other doctors. We have another class of beings in the city, who are liberally patronized by men who stand high in society; they are able to inform a person who has had an article of property stolen, where he will find the thief, his name, &c, notwithstanding the thief may be an entire stranger and a thousand miles distant from the informant at the time the article was stolen. It is well known to 14 those of tny readers in the country, that there are men who pro- fess to be able to prevent animals from bleeding to death, when they are ten miles distant, merely by repeating a rhyme. These remarks may, however, cause some stable advocate of the Homoeopathic doctrine to ask me if it is my intention to con- vey the idea that Homoeopathists attribute their power of healing to a supernatural influence. My answer is, that I have stated nothing yet which is calculated to convey any other idea than that the system is one of deception, excepting at the commence- ment of the subject I stated that I could prove it to be founded upon superstition; and it is now my intention to make this appear; and in doing this, I will also use the Homceopathist's own lan- guage. On page 210 of the "Organon of Homoeopathic Medi- cine," by Hahnemann, I find the following: " I again find it necessary in this place to say a few words on "the subject of Animal Magnetism," (*) "the nature of which " differs so greatly from that of all other remedies. This curative "power, (which should be called Mesmerism, after the name of " its inventor, Mesmer,) of whose efficacy none but madmen can "entertain a doubt, which the powerful will of a well-intentioned " individual, influences the body of the patient by the touch, acts " Homoeopathically by exciting symptoms analogous lo those of "the malady—and this object is attained by a single transit, the "determination being moderately fixed, and sliding the hands " slowly over the body from the crown of the head to the soles of " the feet. In this form it is applied to internal hemorrhages in " their last stage, when they threaten death." I would here ask my sensible and unprejudiced reader, who does not believe in the power of wizards, how much difference there would be in a man slipping his hand slow and easy once from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet of a person * The definition given of Animal Magnetism by Robert Hooper, M. D., in his Me- dical Dictionary, published in the year 1831, is as follows: "A sympathy lately sup- posed by some persons to exist between the magnet and the human body ; by means of which, the former became capable of curing many diseases in an unknown way, some- what resembling the performance of the old magicians.| Animal Magnetism," he adds, " is now entirely exploded." f Walker's definition of magiciak is, " one skilled in magic, a wizard, sorcerer, conjurer." 15 who was dying of hemorrhage, and an individual who would attempt to arrest a hemorrhage in an animal by pronouncing a rhyme? Which do you say, reader, would be the most culpable and superstitious? I was, since I commenced writing on this subject, sent for to visit a young man who was supposed to be dying from a hemorrhage from the lungs. One of those Homoe- opathic conjurers had been in attendance nine days, during which time the hemorrhage had been in existence, and was rapidly growing more profuse: it was, however, arrested in six or eight hours, by the proper medical remedies. But again, on the same page I find the following sentences: " But the most brilliant results" (says this Homoeopathic author) "of the communication of human vigor to the entire organism is " where, by the resolute and fixed determination of a man in the " full vigor of life it recalls to life persons who have remained in " a state of apparent death during a long interval of time—a spe- "cies of resurrection of which history records many cases." "In treating here of the certain and decided curative virtues " of positive Mesmerism, I do not speak of the frequent abuses " that are made of it, where, by repeating the passages during "half an hour, and even a whole hour daily, they occasion, in " patients laboring under nervous affections, that vast revolution "of the human economy which bears the name of somnambulism " —a state in which man is removed from the animal world, and " appears to belong more to the spiritual world." The only instance of a person being raised from the dead or dying state by the Homoeopathists in this city, occurred lately, and was attended with the following circumstances, namely—a regular physician, who formerly resided in this city and had been trying to establish himself in practice for the last ten years, found that it would be impossible for him to do so, on account of his great want of success, which was attributed to his want of infor- mation on the subjects of disease and medicine. In consequence of this he came 1o the determination of trying the Homoeopathic plan of treatment, and>had been dabbling in Animal Magnetism some time, when his wife, who had a much larger share of sense than himself, objected to it. He, however, was not to be per- suaded ; and, for the purpose of conTincing his wife and her 16 friends of the efficacy of the new mode of curing disease, he commenced his conjuring operations upon her, by giving such quantities of opium as to keep her for some time in a stupid and almost lifeless condition. In the meantime he informed her friends of her dangerous state, and had some of the respectable phy- sicians of this city sent for: they, not knowing or suspecting her being under the effects of opium, agreed with the doctor (her husband) that she could not possibly recover. The doctor inform- ed his wife's friends that he would be pleased if they would con- sent to have a Homoeopathic physician called in, as from the knowledge he had of their treatment he thought his wife could be restored. Her friends readily consented; the Homoeopathist was called in with his empty bottle, which was put in her mouth, the doses of opium, which her husband had been continually admin- istering for the purpose of keeping up the stupor, were discontin- ued, and as soon as its effects subsided the patient recovered; and after she learned from her husband and friends what had trans- pired in her case, she became a convert to the new system: but in a few days the deception was discovered, and was it not for the regard the public have for the lady and her friends, the doc- tor's name would have been published. If these superstitious impostors, who say they can send men to the spiritual world and bring them back again, were possessed of anything appertaining to moral rectitude or true religion, I then might be led to believe that they or their means possessed super- natural power; but all who I have any knowledge of are licen- tious extortioners. They are continually, or have been when they were in existence, robbing the poor, by taking their means of support from them, in charging extravagantly for nothing. In short, if they were possessed of any supernatural power, it must have been bestowed upon them by the ***** But I may be ask- ed, by some of my readers, if some of the regular physicians have not adopted this system of superstition and deception. I must answer in the affirmative. I have been told that there are three doctors, as they are termed, who have abandoned the regu- lar practice for the one under consideration, after they had been practising upon the former, system fifteen or twenty years: but if my readers will point out one of those beings to me*, I will show J7 them a man who never should have had anything to do with the practice of medicine—a man who is not worthy, and should not be allowed to associate with human beings—a man who, by adopting the Homoeopathic system, has acknowledged that he has been employed twenty years of his life in murdering his fellow men, by shedding their blood and administering poisons—and a man who is not noticed by the respectable part of the profession, nor respected by his adopted brethren. See what the Homoeo- pathists say about him in the following article, which may be found on page 154 of their book. v. " But how will this careful and laborious process" (of dividing a drop or grain of medicine into so many parts,) " by which the " best cure of diseases can only be effected, please the gentlemen " of the new mongrel sect, who, while pluming themselves with " the honorable title of Homoeopathists, for appearance sake, ad- " minister a medicine in the form of Homoeopathic, that they have " hastily snatched up ?" In another part the writer observes—■• " They know, indeed, full well how to console themselves for " the failure of their scarcely half-Homoeopathic remedy, by dex- "terously calling in requisition the more pliable resources of " allceopathy, whence a few dozen of leeches are applied, or a " small and harmless venesection of eight or ten ounces is pre- " scribed in due form; and if after all the patient should recover, " they extol the leeches and the venesection, &c., as if he would " not have recovered without them." The above sentence is the only one which I have copied that contains sense, truth, or reason. It is not only true that those men who say they have adopted the system of treatment now under consideration, do not depend upon the millionth or billionth part of a grain or drop of medicine, but those who profess to be strict followers of the Homoeopathic system make use of more opium, mercury, and arsenic, than a respectable physician, who is acquainted with the deleterious qualities of these drugs, would dare to use. The Homoeopathists, like the Thomsonians, use three reme- dies, which they employ in all cases of disease. The latter de^ pended upon steaming, administering Indian-tobacco, (lobelia) and Cayenne pepper, in all cases : the result was, they destroyed ten 3 IS lives for one they saved—it being improper to administer these three remedies in at least nine cases out of ten. The former, or Homoeopathists, use the articles of medicine before stated because they can be given in small bulk—the sixteenth part of a grain being the quantity that would be used by the regular physician: they have also the appearance of sugar, and can be given with- out danger of detection. The morphia will remove or relieve the most intense pain so long as the sufferer is under its influence; but it is as improper to give it in all cases of pain, for the purpose of depriving an individual of his feelings, as it would be for a Thomsonian to administer Cayenne pepper in a case of inflam- mation of the stomach. The arsenic and mercury, in the form of corrosive sublimate, are the most strengthening remedies that can be employed; but when they are used by men who have no knowledge of the human system and administered in cases of in- flammatory fever, they are certain to produce fatal results. I am prepared to make it appear that what I have stated here is correct; and notwithstanding the Homoeopathists say that the smaller the dose of medicine is the stronger it is, they will not depend upon the three-hundredth part of a drop of wine, (for in- stance,) when they wish to exhilarate their own or their patient's spirits. It is well known to every person in this city who is in the habit of getting intoxicated, that one glass of liquor produces a certain effect, and that two glasses will produce a much greater effect, and three, a still greater. This- is the case with all arti- cles of medicine; and every individual of common understand- ing, and who does not believe that an article of medicine can be made to possess supernatural power, can not believe or will not trust the impostors. I feel sorry that 1 have wasted so much paper in treating of this subject; but it may be of use to my country readers, as those persons who advocate and practice upon the Homoeopathic plan, having been obliged to abandon their pursuits in this city, may be expected to be found roving through the country, for the purpose of deceiving the afflicted. I now appeal to my sensible and unprejudiced reader:—Have I said more than 1 ought to have said about the Homoeopathic system of medicine, notwithstanding its insignificant character? Do you not say at least, when you take the title of my work into 19 consideration, that I was justifiable in making the expositions of it that I have? And I would likewise ask the advocates of the system if they can say that I have done wrong in exposing them, when they take into consideration the fact that they have never made disease or medicine their study, but have adopted the self- conceited opinions of a superstitious foreigner, without being able to explain why their system of administering nothing should be more successful than remedies which have been known to remove disease, when properly administered, during the long period of three thousand years?—and more particularly, when they call to mind the statements they have made in their work, such, for in- stance, as accusing men who have spent seven years in the inves- tigation of disease and medicine—men who stand high in the estimation of the good and great—I say, have I attempted to in- flict a greater wound upon you, than you have inflicted upon the descendants of those who existed before your day or your cotem- poraries, by trying to convey the idea that the remedies made use of by the regular physician, of whatever nature they may be, or for whatever case applied, are calculated to destroy life and health—thus accusing our most praiseworthy men, of the present and former ages, of murder? Do you deny this?—if so, I will point you to the following sentence, copied from the 22nd page pf your work: "I should not like to have upon my conscience the death of all "those who have fallen sacrifices to the violence of purgatives " directed against this worm," (speaking of the removal of the tape-worm,) " or the long years of debility which those who es- " cape death must drag out." 1 could quote numerous slanderous articles of this nature, but will refrain. V