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D. anADUATE OF THE UNIVEBMTY OP EDlNBURGrl, I.KCTUREP, ON MATERIA MKDICA AT TUB HUNTERIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, AND MEDICAL DIRECTOU OP THE ROYAL JENNERIAN AND LOKDON VaCCINB INSTITUTION. u ■>%/-i,rw iXN/v^ V \.< V^ '^ WITH A PREFACE, BY J. G. ROS E N STE IN, M. D HOMCEOPATHIC PRACTITIONER IN MONTREAL. Tut, man ! one fire Inirns out another's burning ; One j'liin is IisslmiM by luiothpr's angnish ; Turn gidiiy, iind be bolp by biicl<\V!ird turninf?; One desfiei'atf gviei' eui-OLi with iinothers languish; Take thou some new inlVcfcion to thine eye, Aud the rauk poison of the old will die. SiiAKSPEARE. — Romeo and Jnliet. fHontrcal : PRINTED BY I.OVELL AND GIBSON, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 1845. J!!H ^xh:ik 4 1 4. 11 E F A C E . Homeopathy forms a new era in Medical Science, destined, I be- lieve, to dispel the darkness, errors and uncertainty, in which the healing art has been hitherto envc'oped. Its principle is a Law of Nature, unerring and immutable,— a principle on which alone can be established the future progress and improvement of the heaUng art. The leading and pecuhar features of Ilomccopaihy are these, 1. That a trial of each medicinal agent or drug, upon a healthy person, is the only correct method, to learn its specific powers. 2. That the removal of human maladies can with safety be ef- fected by those medicines only, which produce similar diseases, physical as well as moral, in a healthy individual, Similia similibus curantur — Like cures like. 3. That the laborious process of trituration in preparing tho medicines, increases all their known properties, and developes a multitude of others, not previously ascertained to exist in them. 4. That only no medicinal substance is administered at one time, and not to be replaced by another, before its action is com- pleted. 5. That extremely minute doses,— so minute as usually to be denominated " Infinitesimal Doses" are experimentally proved, be- yond doubt, to bo the most potent in their effects upon disease. Homoeopathy, Hahnemann, its immortal founder, has created a new Medical Science, which he has called Pathogenecy, which con- sists in observing the active powers of medicines, in studying the immediate or primitive effects, caused by the development of their energy, when administered to the healthy. It determines and records the sensible organic changes which ensue, and describes their character and nature, with the most minute exactness. Hitherto medicines have been administered to tho sick most in compomuls, without a previous knowlc.l(.^o of their ofTccts upon the hcaUhv, and to thia proceduro may ho uttvihntod a groat uiany artilicial nio.Ucinal maladies, of whicli neither the Doctor nor tho Patient arc aware. I will pass over in silence many fatal resnlti* of diseases recorded as consequ(?nt upon the remedies given to tho patient,— what is u'^ually calhrmediate effect. In such cases, the order of battle, which you assign to each ingredient, ab- solutely serves for nothing. Nature obeys eternal laws, without asking you if she ought. She loves simplicity, and docs much with a single remedy ; whilst you do so little with so many. Imitate then, nature. To prescribe compound prcsci .tions is the height of empiricism. To give only simple remedies, and to wait before prescribing a second until the first has exhausted its action, is rational, and leads directl} to the sanctuary of the art. Our opinion, such as have been stated, may be tliought to be peculiar to those who practise Ilomocopathy. Let us inquire, then, in the first place, what are the just pretensions of the prevalent or allopathic practice, to certainty and safety ; what title it has on the whole, taking together all the cases in which it has been followed, and all the physicians who follow it, to be regarded as a method in which we should confide, and with which we ouo-ht to be con- tent, of prolonging life, counteracting disease, and alleviating or preventing pain. We cannot do better in this inquiry than to take the declaration of men who have devoted the labour of their Uvea to this practice, and who, if any could, should be able to pronounce its eulogy. Boorhaavc, an illustrious name in medicine, uses the foUowinar remarkable language : '* If we compare the good which half a dozen true disciples of jEsculapius have done since their art began, with the evil which the immense number of doctors have inflictc,^ upon mankind, we must be satisfied that it would have been infinitely better for mankind if medical men had never existed.'' But Boerhi;,ave, it may be said, hved a hundred years ago, and ? was himself a reformer in mtdici.io; since his time the m.thoda of the art liavo become more rativ-na' and more safe. Hear then Dr Pereira, himself a vehement adversary of the Homeopathic prac^ tioe In his Lectures on Pharmacology, published in 1835 in tho London Medical Gazette, l,e says, speaking of the common prac- tice : ' " We can hardly refuse our assent to the observations of tho late Sir Gilbert Blano, that in many cases patients got well in spite of tho means employed ; and sometimes when tho practitioner fancies that he has made a great cure, wo may ftiiriy assume the f/atient lo have had a happy csca^ )." Hero is a confession of great uncertainty, and great danger in the ordinary practice of medicine at tho present dav ; if so many patients recover in spite of improper treatment, how many must perish by inii, roper treatment ; if wliat i aipposed to be a cure by medicine is sometimes only an escape from its effects, it is equally probable that tho deaths which arc supposed to be caused by disease, are sometimci caused by the proscriptions of tho prac- titioner. But let us look a Uttle more closely into the nature of this un- certainty and danger, and in doing this I propose to ke as our guide an able writer of the present scliool of medicine. Dr. Aber- crombio of Edinburgh, an eminent physician, in his book enti- tled " Inquiries concerning the Intellectual powers and tho inves- tigation of Truth," remarks that the uncertainty, and, of course the danger of medical practice is principally felt in two respects,' first in regard to tho character of disease, and secondly in re«^nrd to the remedies employed. Of the first he says: "" " Since medicine was first cultivated as a science, a leadin^r ob- ject of attention has been to ascertain tho characters or symptoms by which internal diseases are indicated, and by which thoj are distinguished from other diseases that resemble them. But with the accumulated experience of ages bearing upon this important subject, our extended observation has only served to convince us how deficient we are in this department, and how often even in the first step in our progress, we arc left to conjecture. A writer of high ominenco has even hazarded the opinion that those per- sons are most confident in regard to the characters of disease 8 „hose knowledge is met limited, and that move extended obse,- ™t:rr:!Lrot:^t:;'upon t,. patle., D. Abe.™,. ^'iria. 0. even -« — f ^^^r f.r ^sit „ith the highest degree of ^^''^ ^„^ ,,„tio«s Scotch- Observe the term chosen by tins sem.b o an l „an--" the highest degree of nncertamty. Ut me he^ ^^^ ^^ that where so nmeh m,eerta.nty '^'^^'^^llLhy the practi- medieines, there must bo frequent m.schief done by I 'Ascribing a. he must do, according -^f ^^Xri^ t n>„st sometimes prescribe 1'™' ullj-, and m -^J^^^^ ^^^ ,^ occasion the death of his patent. ^^^ j „,;,;„„ „r not only likely to miss his aim, but is m dan, •'t' *'X';:vt;lt tXrhas been attained in other Again, after showing wi . , foj. example in cliemis- branches of ---^^f ^* rfrtrc^rtain pre arations. and rj;r:oi:!i:.rn:rLppointed,Dr,Aherci.oniUepro- -f;r,Ltd.erent filings ^^^^^^^^^ .VnWp for the force of its language. He is speauiu^ 1 t r 9 .stage of such investigations, are in fact so great and numerous that those who have had the most extensive opportunities of observa- tion will be tlio first to aeknowledge, that our pretended experi- ence must in general sink into analogy, and even our analogy too often into conjecture." How much truth there is in these remarks, all who have ob- served with moderate attention the course and results of medical practice, can testify. We all know with what confidence the young practitioner begins his career, sure of curing diseases by the methods laid down in his books ; we sec him meeting with disap- pointment after disappointment, and, after many failures, we find that ho has unlearned that confidence, and in its stead has been tauglit the melancholy lessons of doubt, the wisdom of cautious and wary conjecture, the surest wisdom of the prevalent school of medicine, and the parent of its safest practice. We see how often those very prescriptions which arc meant for remedies, and which are apphed with the best lights of the practitioner, are followed by an immediate increase of the malignity of the disease, and probably accelerated death. Wo know how greatly physicians differ in their ideas of the proper treatment of particular cases, differences which have often been ascribed to their quarrelsome temper, but which in reality spring from a (hfferent exercise of the faculty of conjecture. There is -.o reason why physicians should be more contentious, more fond of contradiction, more ill-tempered than other men; but there is abundant reason why they should disagree in regard to the treatment of cases which come under their observation, a reason founded in the extreme uncertainty of their art. Two men of difterent degrees of sagacity, of different degrees of caution, of different experience, different reaihng, a loaning to different theories, cannot be expected to agree in their conjectures, and where there is so vast a field for error, both may be wrong. " I am weary," said an eminent pliysician, quoted by Dr. Alelnbert, and the saying is repeated with an appearance of approl)ation by Dr. Abercrombio, - 1 am weary of guessing!" and he abandoned the practice. There is another source of danger which it did not come within the scope of J)r. Abercrombio's rule to notice, the danger of substituting one disease fur another, of breaking down H 10 the constitution l>y froquont hleeding, purginj, sahvatinrj, tor- turing the patient ^vith blisters, setons, cautens, .S-c. 1 need not direct your attention to the numerous instances in which persons cured as thev are said to be of diseases, never recover tl^nr former heaUh and strength; who come from a sick-hed smitten by a premature old age, and drag out a remainder of hfc embit- tered by chronic sufferings, which no skill of the physician can Dr. Black askcdtlic significant rin^hiInto!lstateo^lleaUh, it maybe advantageous to notice the .liiVerent methods adoi)ted in the application of medicinal substances to the relief of diseased states. The methods which medical men follow in applying medicines, or re- medial agents, may be classed imder three heads. The first is that in which the medical n)an endeavors to cure disease by prescribing medicines, which, acting iliroctly on the diseased organ, will induce states directly opposite to those which the disease manifests. As these medicines act by producing an airection,;?«//i05,(iuite contrary (antt, against) to that constituting the disease, this method is called the ANTIPATHIC, OR ANTIPATHY J a method expiessed in the phrase, contrn- ria contrariis curantur. Of such a method abundant are the instances. Thus, when a person cannot sleep, ophim is given to induce sleep: a person has severe pain, opium is given to allay pain : a patient is costive, cathartictj are gl^en to purge him: if a patient has a strong, full, rapid pulse, with (e\'QV, blood- letting is resorted to. The second mc-thod is that in which the physician en.leavors to aire disease by int/t/ang- a new disease or aiVection (pathos) m some other (a//o.9) part ofthe body, so as to (haw away the disease from the part first affected to the part acted upon by the medicinal agent. This meth.)d is called the allopathic, or allopathy. Of this method the examples are as abundant as those ofthe first. To take one: A person who has enjoyed good health for years, is seiz- ed with what is called a determination of blood to the head. The medi- cal attendant prescribes a seton in the neck, which he supposes, by in- ducing a new disease by the irritation which it occasions, will remove the determination to the head. This method of treatment is very common, and, because, by the means used in this method, the oiiainal disease is supposed to be derived or re- vutstd from the part in which it was originally seated, this method is fre- quendy designated as the derivative or revulsive nietliod. This metho.], also, because producing irritation in another part, is de- sicmated sometimes as counter-action or counier-iiriintion. ^All the appellatives given to this method sufficiently indicate that the object the physician has in view is to produce a second deviation from health, in order to overcome the first : that is, because there is a fiie burnino Hercelv in one chand.er ofthe house, the physician lights another fire in another'chamber (the fuel being, let it be remembered, tlie house 17 itself,) which, by burning more fiercely, will, tie hopes, extinguish the previously existing fire. Such, then, are Iwo methods ; and these two are those which have been professedly followed by physicians in all past ages. They have been allo- pathists, antipathists, or both. To Hahnemann, mankind are indebted for the discovery of a ihird method, which, when explained, will enable the reader to answer the question, WHAT IS HOMCEOPATHY? One grand principle is manifested in the human body and its opera- tions : a principle recognized in past ages, but fully developed by the celebrated John Hunter, a name, as Spenser says, "Strung upon the bead-roll of time." It is. That no two similar diseases can exist in a state of intensity i\ the same body at the same time. Particulaily important is it, that this word "similar" should be borne in mind ; because many have argued as if this illustrious j)hilosopher had taught iliat no iwo diseases can exist in the same body at the same time j a principle which he did not maintain: whereas, the principle he main- tained was, that no two similar diseases can exist at the same time. This principle, as thus defined, forms the groundwori?, the theoretical groundwork, of the third method, developed by Hahnemann, who applied this princijile to the use of medicines, and to the explanation of their effi- cacious operation. It is known by all, that medicines produce symptoms or states which are not accordant with the natural condition of the human body, and con- sequently are symptoms of disease. The diseases, or deviations from the natural state, produced by the use of medicines, Hahnemann has de- signated by the title of medicinal diseases. Thus, mercury produces symptoms, when taken for a length of time, so similar to the disease called syphilis, that these symptoms have been described by medical authors, under the title ofpseudo or false syphilis. The deviations from health produced, on the other hand, by means not medicinal, he calls morbific or natural diseases. These diseases of both kinds are kno\vn to be such, only by presenting masses of symptoms not in accordance wth the usual phenomena ex- hibited bv the healthy. 18 M Here, then, are iwo classes (if diseases : the one class, the symptoms of nhich arc produced by medicines ; the otlier class, the symptoms of which are produced l)y other causes. To euro the latter, nauiely morlnjlc or natural diseases, \vc must, Itah- nemanu maintaius, )>roduce the loruier, namely, medicinal disease itself. So say, in part, the alioialhisls, and the anti|)athists also; Imt Hahne- mann tays, in addition, we nmst, to etVect a cure, produce a medicinal di- sease similar to the natural disease. To illustrate. Suppose I have a morbific disease which presents as symptoms. 1. Shooting pain in the forehead ; 2. Giddiness ; 3. Sense of objects turninfi; nnuid ; 4. Pal])itation of the heart; f). Sinking at the pit of the stomach ; 6. Emptiness at the pit of the stomach ; 7. Flatulence ; 8. Rising of acid liquid into the mouth ; 9. Constipation ; 10- Pains in the left hypochondriac region ; 11. Sense of languor over the body ; 12. Great weakness of the knees in walking or standing. I must, to cure that disease, discover a remedy which will produce —1. Shooting pain in the forehead ; 2. Giddiness; 3. Sense of objects turning round ; 4. Palpitation of the heart ; f). Sinking at the pit of the stomach ; (). Emptiness at the pit of the stomach ; 7. Flatulence ; 8. Rising of acid liquid into the mouth ; 0. Constipation; 10. Pains in the left hypochondriac region; 11. Sense of languor over the bo'V; 12. Great weakness in the knees in walking or standing. Or, if one medi- cine cannot be foimd to produce all these symptoms, I must select one which has the power of producing the greater number of them, and after- wards a second which is in accordance with the remainder. It will now be seen why this third method of curing disease is called Homoeopathy ; and of which the law is explained in the phrase '■'■similia. similibus curanhiry But it may be asked, How can such medicints he discovered, because, if the diseases, the natural diseases, exhibit themselves by certain symp- toms, how can it be established that the symptoms arising under the use of medicines in diseases, -produce, even when given, these symptoms? This remark is good, is valid. It shows the absurdity of judging of the i iiptoms of iptOlilS Itl" Hist, llali- !iso it -elf. t lliiline- tlicinal di- resents as ill product' of objectri pit of the {) iilonce ; S. ains in thp ■i bo'ly; 12. = ?:■ 'J i'. me inedi- J select one m and after- e is called 1 d, because, ain symp- der the use ^toms ? i. Iging of the 4 # 19 elU'cts of niediciut's by their efl'ects on dis«^ased persons : u niellioii oi' judging ns absiiird as that of attenipting to jui^i' of the elVects and of the powers of a machine in a state of order, from the elFects [)roduced by applying to it certain powers when in a state of disorder. The pre'-eding remark is useful. It leads so suitably to the notice of the noble, the humane, the god-like conduct of the founder of Homoeo- pathy, who may literally be said to have made his system, "I'orfcct through suflforing." Whnl did Ilahnneman do ? He developed and put info practical ap- l)licatioii the graiiil i)rinciple, ihat to know the ?'tal or pure effects of me- dicine, wemust try them on persons in a statk of MKAJ/ni ; and llah- nemaim tortured himself, as any one, by reading his Materia iMedica, v\ ill i)erceive, to ascertain tlic ellects of medicines, by experimenting on himself. By a long, a liiirty years' continued scries of observations, he ascertain- ed the pure ellects of two hundred medicines. \lc discovered the medicinal disease that each medicine could produce, and thus otjtained a knowledge of those agents which will and nmst cure diseases produced by natural causes, when assuming the same features as those produced by the medicinal disease ; and thus has Hahnematm given a scientific certainty to medicine. He has established that rcur)', ANhen carried on too tar in its employnient, produces effects upon the body so similar to those constituting syphd.s, that the disease is called pseudo syphilis, or lalse syphilis ; in other words, mercury produces a medicinal disease, similar in its symptoms to thedis- ease which it cures. . Nux vomica, taken bv a healthy person, produces a certain kin.l ol palsy; nux vomica, taken by a person palsied in a certam way, cures him. And so with many other medicines, which Homcnopath.c practice per- petuallv is demonstrating. , But 'it may be objected, surely it must be dangerous to prescribe in a disease, the symptoms of which arc .^o violent as to threaten death, any medicine which will augment those symptoms, as the homcnopathic me- dicines dol , , . i To this it may be answered, that nature goes thrmigh this process her- self Whenever a morbific disen-' exi.^s in an individual, the powers of lifelabor to throw off this disease. The listressing symptoms, the dis- eased manifestations, connected wuh this v.action -o on augmenting, and the patient gets worse and worse, till, at last, the crisis arrives, that is, the point at which the reaction of the powers of the system and of the dis- ease, attains the greatest intensity, and then, sometimes, the patient ve- covers; more frequently, however, especially when the powers of the system are i/naided, or improperly aided, he dies. What then does Homoeopathy 1 She aids, by her means, the reactive powers of the sys- tem to establish the crisis on the side of health, r d thi s realizes a favor- able result to the crisis. 21 ing tho ViHcast;. w, the ilemon- ;scnting callod m hnrk, healthy \t Peru- it cures equally oymcnt, syphilis, if wordti, 9 ihediS' kind of y, cures tice per- "ihe in a ath, any thic me- cess her- )owcrs of , the dis- iiting, and , that i&, ofthedis- )atient re- ers of the then does of the sys- js a favor- Another question here arises, how can xt be told that, in prescribing a medicine, so as to excite a medicinal disease, an amount of the medi- cinal disease may not be excited, which may not be as injurious as the oriffinnl naturnl disease? This question, both scientific and rational, reqviircs an answer ; which itself will allord an opportunity of developing another feature in tho Honuropathic systi'ni; namely, the exceedin(; junuteness of dose. Anion^ the results of the allopathic aiul of the antipathic practice, many are the eflects, even jx'rnianent, occasioned by the over (h)ses. Many patients who have been relieved of violent constipation by cro/on ot7, have had fatal constipation induced by the over dose, which relieved ihem. JVIany patients, who have been cured of syphilis by mercury, have had the secondary symptoms of syphilis, as they are miscalled, produced by the over doses of mercuiy. Many patients who have been bled copiously for alTectionsof the b' id, have hail permanent allections of the head proiluced by bleeding. Hahnen\ann knew these, and multitudinous similar instances, and was f'oon convinced, that, to cure a natural (liseasc, a. -cording to the Homoeo- pathic system, it is essential that that amount, and no more, of the medi- cinal ('iscase shouid be excited, which is equivalent to the removal of tho morbific or natural disease. To produce a greater amount, would be to injure the constitution, and to waste the remedy : to produce a less amoimt, would be not to cure the disease. Convictions like these, gi'owing out of the Honuropathic law, led Hahnemann to diminish the doses of medicine, until he attained that de- gree of minuieness, in which the medicine is ellicacicus to the production of a medicinal disease of a sullicient intensity, without injuring the consti- tution by its after effects, even should those after effects appear. Many confound these doses with the principles of the doctrine of Homoeopathy, and attack the principles bcause of the small doses ; whereas the small doses are only practical improvements, introduced sub- sequently to the discovery of the principle, and resulting from a cautiously developed experience. If any can show that greater success attends the use of larger doses, larger doses will be adopted. In relation to such doses, it may be remarked, that a millionth, a ten millionth, part of a grain, is often a large dose in the HonKEopathic system. Many think it impossible., that such a small quantity can produce any effect upon disease, and many inquire, hoio is it possible ? The first answer is, that the experience of nearly Jive hundred physi -*«M*^ ■ 22 cians, during the last thirty to forty year., has established that Hom«.o- pathi^ medicines do act in these and less doses. The Homa.path.ts say "come and see : judi^e for yourselves : we have no secrecy. Another answer is, that, though the dose be small, the poxnU oj ihc contact between the medicine and the nervou. system are numerous. The methods adopted in the reduction of Homceopathic medicmes so ex- tend the surface by attenuation that the ten thousandth part of a gram may be easily conceived, when Homceopathically attenuated, as present- ing a .ur/aias large as one grain, pulverized only to the extent wh.ch '''Trtaktatommon illustration. Let us suppose that a square solid inch of cold is introduced into the stomach ; the only part ot that gold that can act\pon the nervous system of the stomach .tkat surface, namely, one inch, that hes in contact with the stomach. Now, let us suppose that this ^olid square inch of gold is beat, n out, so as to present -J^^^ equal to a million superficial square inches, it is quite evutent that the action of one milhonth of this surface will be equivalent, limtroduced into the stomach, in medicinal etfects, to that of the solid square inch ot '^" And, in connection with this, it is interesting to notice the fact that all the metals, when Homceopathically triturated, are soluble tn dduted al- coAo/; a act, testifying to this, that nen> physical powers are developed by the attenuation. Why should not the same extend to the medicinal powers; at least to their augmentation'? ,u , a.^ A thil-d point connected with the small ness of the dos3, is, that the r^,.X.cu^.., as prepared by the Hahnemannic method, are in d.ie highest state of activity. Each preparation is the developed activity of the plant, or of whatever it may be, „ „.,i:„„ It is pleasing to read the methods of preparing medicaments accoidmg to this method ; so superior are they to the common method, so scient.iic that even had Hahnemann done nothing else, his labors in this respect will ever immoi-talize him as a pharmacopolist. A fourth point connected with the smallness of dose, is that many me- dicines and substances are acknowledged to act in an invisible degree of '^'clTany one tell the deciree of attenuation that the particles of musk, disengaged from a grain of musk for years, attain to? These particles infinireslmally small, scenting the articles placed in the same repository Has any one ever calculated the degree of aUenuatu.n that the odoideious particles from a rose must attain ? v 23 )niu,'o- sts say 9/ the lerous. so ex- , grain »resenl- which lid inch hat can 3ly, one )se that lerficies that the roducecl inch of that all uted al- 'eveloped aedicinal that the ? liigliest he plant, according scientific, s respect nany me- degree of of musk, particles, eposilory l xlorifero\is Both these produce a recogniijable cn'ect iijion the nervous system con- nected with the nose. Why should not eHecfs he i)roduced by medicines, acting in an infmi- tesimal state of attenuation upon the stomach ? That such effects arc hkely to he produced is rendered very likely by the immense number of nerves supplying the stomach, and consequently rendering the stomach still more susceptible. But even such is the power of their operation on the nervous system, and such is the intimate connection between all parts of the nervous system, that Homoeopathic medicines act verj- powerfully if placed upon the tongue, or even if inspired. A fifth point worthy of notice in reference to the smallness of dose of Homcpopathic medicines, is the attention paid by Homoeopathists to the removal of every circumstance and everij substance which mav interfere with the opei-ation of the medicines. With this view, they order the medicine to be taken fasting, that is, at mlervals between meals, so that no food will be in the stomach ; and tlius they ensure the application of the whole medicinal surface to the nervous system connected with the stomach. The diilerence of effect thus produced may be easilv understood by re- membenng the effect produced by a glass of wine on a stomach empty, and a glass of wine introduced into a stomach filled with Ibod. In relation also to this point of view, the Homceopatliists adopt a rigid system of d\et: not a starvation system, but a non-medicinal system of diet: that is, they require that the patient should take good digestible food but at the same time should avoid spices, stimuli, strong flavored meats or vegetables; everything which has qualities superadded to its nutrient properties. They enjoin also a proper mental diet ; the neglect of all excitements of a stimulating nature; the cultivation of the higher feelings ; change of scene ; exercise in the fresh air, &.c. * "Ah," cries some objector, "the diet does the good ; the medi- CINES ARE NOTHING." What is this but assertion 1 it is worth notliing. The HomcEophatist might just as well assert that the medicines do everj-thing. In the one assertion, he is as much justified as the other is in the other, if assertion decided the question. In fact, the assertion that the diet does every thing and the medicine notiung, ,s the complacent activity of the assertor's self esteem, which leads him to the following syllogism : jjWKilllWMaMaWM 24 Medicine, mu,t be given in .uch a do^e, according t. m 'P'''""' ^ produce any effect : . ,, • i ,,„ . rrr,i:s~ "— • " — ■-™ !7 men." The Homa.„pall,i.l soy. to the ol,jec.„r to small ose, Tele a!d try .ntall do.es- but ho too often tu,ns on h,s hee, and '^ m' add the obicctors, Ike .ffecU .kick au n.( ascMU U iU diet, %rttrars:;-:Zi™.inatlon advocates to expiain An IMov\ lei td nresenled to a Homoeopathist, with all the '■V'-'P"''"; n,^ ,,„, „„, ,„ken more than two doses ol drstmct Z":;^!^^-'::.:^. t„e .wo .. amonnUn, t»mo«t,ran tite .n millionth part of a gram. I have seen such cases. Where is the imagination in this case. Bnt such cases cannot »-, JJ^ 'e "bj^- :j:„: ^^^^ 1 h^rutU as lo,r. as it was unfashionable, has ever been met. "tut *t'ira2« point of v,ew in which these minute doses may be ^rS^i™^:^:^:::e=^72:=- ,i„"on ofa .ayof Ugh. is injurious. Total darkne,s ,s re,u.r.d. 25 /en, to' pr oduce arising in such zh. small nate ob- ice been might as )f a grain small a her, "try- all doses, heel and Besides, whenever any organ is diseased, tlie remedial .ction is direct- ed towards that diseased organ. To adopt an illustration, suppose a man has a sore in his arm ; a person passes his hand g3ntly and slowly down the arm, no inconvenience is felt till the hand reaches the sore place, and then the individual cries out. So the Homoeopathic medicine may be regarded as being exclusively directed by the curative powers of the sys- tem to the diseased part, and thus producing those extraordinary results which are daily seen to arise from the use of Homceopathic medicines. To conclude this brief statement regarding Homceopathy, it will be «een, t is to be hoped, that Allopathy is the practice of the not wisely bold ; Antipathy is the practice of the not wisely timid; HomcEopathy is tlie practice which, begotten by experience and de- veloped by intelligence of the highest order, has demonstrated, and will further so demonstrate its efficacy, that all conscientious pra«}titionera will, ia time, adopt it as the only one worthy of science. I the diet, ain. An t, with all ', the child of distinct m the ten is he told rid see, he soning with et. ses may be t is general- organ, such I that organ, the infinite- required. MICROSCOPIC UBSKIiVATIONS OF HOMGEOPATHIC T R I T U R A T I KS, BY DR. MAYEKHOFEn.' The essential peculiarity of the riomceopathic pharmacy consists in the trituration of solid substances with sugar of milk and the diffusion of fluid ones through alcohol ; the object of this is to increase the surface of the substance as much as possible, and to render it more easily assimilat- ed by the system. It is also probable that by this process there may take place an excitement of electricity or other imponderable forces which can- not fail to affect the system. In order to learn more of the nature of the mechanical dimunition produced by trituration, I examined the metallic preparations with the aid of a powerful microscope. I did not do this, however, xmtil I had made myself quite familiar with the ap- pearance of the sugar of milk and its impurities, and I employed pre- parations made with the utmost care by myself and containing a propor- tion of 2 parts of the metal to 68 of the sugar. I always dissolved the preparation I wanted to examine in distilled water in order to separate the metal from the sugar. The drawir.gs wcrj made under my own eve and represent the substance magnified l-i,400 times. I employed a power of from 4-0,000 to 90,000 in my own observations. The observations require much sacrifice of time, for the experiment must be repeated over and over again, that the effect of different degrees of light may be noticed, and the greatest dexterity in the use of the in- strument is requisite. METALLIC PLATINA. "Platina precipitated from its solution presents the appearance of a dull steel-grey loose powder, which gives the promise of being very divisible. "The first trituration is of a light grey colour, and in it no metallic points are discernible ; when viewed dry under the microscope numerous platina particles are seen uniformly distributed among the sugar of milk ; but when dissolved, mjTiads of ti-iturated platina particles, the larg3st of which lie at the bottom conglomerated in larger masses, the smallest, mere points, swim at the top and the middle-sized float through the liquid. In the second dilution, there is a great increase in (he number of the minute particles, and fewer of the larger particles and of the heaps. In the third dilution, almost nothing else was seen than isolated particles and fine dust, the grains of which ranged from the size of a distinct point, to a minute- ness passing into invisibility and extinction. The larger particles of platina (which crystallizes in cubes) exhibits an irregular surface, but the smallest of the particles appear spherical. By a power magnifying 90,000 times and a good light, 1 could follow the grains of platina to the tenth tritura- tion, I think I have even sern them at the 12th and 13lh. According to * Abridged from the Auatri.'in Journal of Homax)pftthic, vol. 1 p, 152. 27 ,,. , METALLIC GOLD. A. uoia leaf, aurum foliahm. The examinatinn «r fi,- u sold leaf is vp,nr ill ..1*1.' • (examination of this shows that 'r nit' ':i;r-' '?r °^^ 'r '- '™^"'' ^-'-^ "" «Ji 1 . iu,uuu. Sothat, god eafis tritiir-iffxl innnn*- . perfectly than precipitated i^atina '^^ '"''^ ^""'"^ '"^^ g«.a. abundance equally dimll'oHr, "*? r" '" "'" ''" .ion of ,l,e fi.. ,ri.LJ„ in 5 p „t t/ he ' " U '' , '" "' "'"- represented in the plate fi. 1 f;,"' "f^' ">" S"" l""' «■« appearance groups do no, e.is. tt- d'. titu'lL „ f"™'' ''"™™'' ">«"-» of milk is dissolved that th7:t|, t'p^ f :ttncT „' """ f ^"^''^ cohe«.. This .^mark holds .ood of nIaC n """""^ ""'' quicksilver, as well as of golf ills „;.:' "''"'/'"^ '"'' ""'' Mdfollicies, seve.i of JhiC, are ^ ^enj ^nTo Tl le^hr'^''''' continuous uncontused plates which ae n,et with i, nil .h' ""^ and are decided blemishes in the preparation T- ""™'°"" Ae noble metals, the toughness o Iw ,V J Jra.T?"' "" "'' 28 ed in the plate is the 'i88,000tli part of a grain. But as only the gold at the bottom of the vessel can be represented in a plate, this gives a very inferior conception of the whole quantity. The number of gold molecules in the first trituration are quite beyond the power of reckoning. They range from the size of a poppy-seed to the exiguity of an almost invisible granule. If we fix our eye upon a spot in tlie field of the microscope which seems to contain no gold, there appears gold atoms which then again become invisible, a proof that the metal is divided into particles so small as to be invisible vmder a glass magnifyirg 14,000 limes. "The solution of the second trituration presents nearly the same ap- pearance as the first, with this ditference alone, that here the conglomerat- ed masses are less numerous, and the isolated particles more numerous but smaller. In this too we meet with gold follicles as may be seen in the plate, which contains -j.-j--p^-_y of a grain. "In the solution cf the third trituration almost nothing but isolated gra- nules are to be met with, the aggregated masses having nearly wholly dis- appeared; but the granules exhibit great diversity in their size, showing that the extreme point of division is not yet attained. "Our plate of the third trituration represents yso.nyn.tJoo^'^ '^^^ grain of gold. If we calculate the gold granules within the field of vision only at 5,000, this would yield 28,800,000 divided, and yet divisible granules of gold in one grain ©f the fourth trituration of gold, and when we multiply this by 2 to make allowance for the two grains used in making the tritura- tion, • this would give 360,000.000,000 visible gold grains. "I examined the fourth trituration by a power magnifying 90,000 times, and it was evident that the diminution of the particles progressively in- creased, the smallest gold molecules appeared yellow, and the metallic lustre was not to be mistaken. I also saw grains as large as a poppy seed, and even gold follicles with a distinctly flat surface. There are at least ten granules of the fourth trituration to the space of the -j-,7oth of a line. So that the diameter of such a ■gold granule is j-l^yth of a line. "I could follow the metallic gold with certainty to the tenth or eleveaith trituration." The result of Mayerhofer's obsei*vations upon silver, mercuiy, lead and copper, arsenic and zinc, are much the same as those upon gold and pla- tina. With regard to metallic iron, he finds that only a venr small portion ofthe iron filings eni])loyed by allopathic praclitioncrs can be absorbed, by much the srreater part being a mere mechanical irritant to the intestinal canal. This remark holds good with regard to most ofthe metallic pre- j)arations allopatbically employed. He also fi)und that it was impossible to triturate the baser metals for the most part without their becoming more or less oxidated. Two grains to 08 is tlic proportion in making the trituration. 2& The following are the conclusions he conceives to l^ cxpenments and observations-— ^ warranted by Ui» per- l-rcm their mi„ute„;«, ,,„, lev 1 " ™'^"° 1'"''°'''^ <1«P- -■ul>le,he„^eMheVes.i„„, j Lrt L :rK t^"''" ™^ "^ """fe «-e «e ,hat ,he 90,000,1, par, „r,|,e ™aZ !■ 1 '■' '^°"""™'^'' '*■> l«g..n to l« soluble? If „,e ,^11! ""''°"'" P™"' '"•' "« «o" .;r.™ wi„„ .,., seive^tirirr;;.:.':"'" ''"^"''"'- «.^ly ho„,„,e„e„,.anU ..„di»,i„,„i.h,|,e l;:' , '"^ "'"""' "- owing ,„.,,e,„,,j„,„,, X ; ::r"-^^™"- "-' 0- .T3 perfect opa,.i,v, «l,iel, ,„„ni„, ' P'^*"<« »' the melal is -vha,overal,,„;;f,i,J r:: ;i7TT"',' f" "'"'*^ ^-' -" ■netallic ,„„,e.u|es fr„,; all J^ J^X ''''""^'"*- "« only in the Ia,^,r panirle, ,l,e C : f '^"'''''- «™">- """ir^te iWf i" *. i.ody Of .heU/ So . ruf. :jr„;" ''""^^^^^ are always three gro,m, ofDartiel,.. "^^^ ""^ ""ft ""ere cl,ieflyfla.„r„x,!^»,r!a„„,h rfl'T'T ™""">'"t' ™ 'he surface- Ijing a. the l»,„oL '" "™""^ '""'«'' "'» "^uid, and ,he third ana by r„,.si,„ i. ,„;:,;,, ^^ ::::^:: 'r?"'^ "^ -i""'-™., »bs..„ce. Whether by shaki,,,, a si I,; .L" • " "T'^'''^ <"•"■« metal takes place, is doubtful ; Ct certamlv T ,1 1 "'" "■"''""^'' »ha«„,^ereisadeve,„p™e„;„fi,::ir>i' ,,^i:r"'"-«»-"^ 4. -rhe actual divisibility ,,f matter In- n.eclnni -,1 I ■ deed u,t„.he „-„„,|erfu,, ,e, s,i|, , ;, |i,a ,e7a„dtl I""™ r^^' '"" .hetuatical idea „f divisibility. The visible ^.1: „nrT "" ™- come gradually s„,aller and fewer as tl,e ,LC ^f l T"" '"" oend,an,l at length altogether cease ■ while ^7. '""'«"■»»'' ap- portion become smaller an,l more „,o ile a°,d , 1 7.,'" " ''"""P'- to a point a, which diev cannot be further tj, J > ">' '•""' -=»">'' frotn .he,r evading ,he .Wtura:: tc " ;;^^:*:''=;,:-'-'-' -»,, content withthe practical divisibilitv of mMter t ' t he"' '" '' """'^ pecpated metals showstha. ,he --cter or^'e :;::::^~ir ^ 30 "njVu ^" Bh'du^^ of a line, while the diameter of a blood-globule is j^^ of a line, BO that the cubic cont(?nts of a metallic particle is at least 64- times less tlian that of a globule of human blood. This astonishing result, of the truth of which every one may satisfy himself with his own eyes, is very comforting to the Materialist and J\''i/iilist, whoso proclamations about the nullity of homoeopathic doses is silenced by the microscope. One who has anxious doubts about the matter can comfort, himself with the certainty, that a homocopathically treated patient takes in a grain of the third trituration of tin or arsemc, 112,200,000 particles of metal, if it be prepared by the centecimal scale, and 576,000,000 if it be prepared according to the decimal scale; that each of these particles pos- sesses all the properties peculiar to tin and arsenic, and from their being smaller than the blood-globules they can freely penetrate all the organism, and develop their specific elVect upon everj'- part. 5.~It is of much conseciuence what state the metal is in when it is used for trituration ; for as the microscopic investigations show this to have an important influence. According to my observations, metallic oxides, pre- cipitated metals, and fluid mercur>', are the best adapted for trituration ; iron, and lead filing.-?, are less so ; zinc and copper, obtained by rubbing under water, or alcohol upon a grind-stone, still less ; and gold and silver leaf, the worst of all. 6.— Lastly, it is manifest that it is only the noble metals that afford true reguline preparations, the baser metals becoming oxidateil from then- strong affinity for oxygen when subjected to friction. From this it would seem more advisable to employ the oxides of the metals at first, as this would give a more constant preparation, and probably one of greater activity. I The microscopic examination of Hcmoeopathic metallic preparations by Dr. Mayerhofer from Vienna, is so highly interesting and instructive, that, I thought it Weill, to copy it from a British Homoepathic Journal.* Mostmedical men are still unwilling and reluctant to study Homopo- pathy, for fear that the small doses may not be efficient or active enough. Willitanswer in acute cases? Can you cure inilaiimation of the lungs, without bleeding and blistering ? What will you do in this or that ca'isc without bleeding, purging and vomiting? These are very trite questions ? But have you examined the powers of Homoeopathic remedies ? No I— «A i English Divine sayst~«To people accustomed to box'^sand bottles, Tj * J'^f ^A^l^^' '^f'i';" tI °^ Ilo^^o^opathy, edited by J. J. Drysdale, M. D. and7. Rutherford Russel M. I). j > t A popular view of Homoeopathy, by the Rev. Thomas R. Everei^f, Rector of I c 8 a Ol hi ret me pre ore sen thai mar was 31 '0 colossal doses of rlrir».»w i pound .ogo.l,ora„J to, i„t„„„'^;°^""'"'':"°.« Jn,g., ,„ ^-,,2 pha™acy-.,|,e,e H, in ,|,o idea Ir^,! ""'"'«<'"«"» ta-asum, of „„,,.. va,™„„doxperie,,cecana;o„ :„'„™ ""'''P."' "'"' -P-^'^d cj which sec„,Moeo,„„dic.alira™S T T '""'' "^ " »^«""'. "diluted, „or is ,i,i, I,, J. " """i^'"'' i'»» so iong and univereally op.n,on. and e..ablished notion/ „°r,?r"''™''™ '''"■ «^oeived ^""^ '"™"'o-f hypotheses a :L::;'k''"''' ? "'-^ of every '«>v wonid npset ,vl,a. vesterday rear i T """'■"'' ' '"-"">' ""a wide sea of conjecture, lirterv!:-''""'''' "^ """"^ »»oa. But while we are thus reluctaM " , -^ .'"« ""'' "■""'" "f-othin. u. ha„owed with the approt it of „: "^df ' ""^ "»' -- "o™ ^ -mo time forg.. ,ha, i„'„,.„ branci, " h T™' "" """ "<" ■" «» room for improvement ; .ha. ".he h uma", ft T" '"*"^'' "'™ ^^ "-h more informa.ion .ha„ .hev have i .11 k "' "^ '"P""'" "f "oquiring -edingge„era.ionwii,i„a,,pro\' "" J^'!;'"^'''-'' ">»' "ve,; sue! much which 4eir foref„.he,^ wo l^'h.^"",^' ocknowledged .™th,, ■h-eamsofa disturbed fancy. wZ^X- r ™°"* """ "'"*'" genume, many discoveries, to which ih^'T ™ '*"" '*'"'S"i^'^!'--*'' us ..fnsed .he oHhe Steant-boatt^ceivod noencoZrtiriT.T'^- ''''•'' '--"'or gas .0 hgh. .he sh-ee.s was rewarded ".h I . *" "'•'"''='"'°" "f <>oal ^^^^-:_For such iow,y trnt" :t:s; r- -•' - * c- w 1^ ~ ■ mjseJl, we must re- Mr waiter Scott was af t«„,7 1 " — — -^ pre^nding to lighfLoTcfof whi'^^^^^^^ f °t"'°"4' ^« ^ lS"g'^J^er''r«"' broke out into a hearty lauirhTf .h- •"""''^- ^^ and the intelhVn ♦^''^"^ o*" ■served, "I must corS suoh f t ' ?•*'''« "^ ""^elty. "GenH.I^^^ "' companj than other fooIs4EroS/' ^' ^^"'^ ™«» ^^^1: 'ns coal S ?•"' ^^''^'^ «»>- manner from thdr mroSani'^Somo'?"" ''''' ^"^ «t bf Ji SdT-"''^'^ was appointed a Dirertnr "f T. F^;T ^'^"'^ y*^'^" thcTPpft^ c !'^,^^f^ '" any ot the Edinburgh Uas iight Companv." "" """ ^"^* 32 member HARVEy and Jenner; we must remember how iniilvidualii have been put in the pillory for wearing so useless an article as a shirt, how chimneys were once denounced, how mattrasses were reviled, how stage coaches were considered grievous innovations, how the porters of the Andes, who carried j)as8cngere on their shoulders in baskets |)etitioned against the formation of roads; how, in short, every improvement of every sort, has been denounced at its introduction as injurious. Little people with little minds should remember who it was that compar- ed himself to a boy straying along the shore and amusing himself with picking up here a shining pebble and there a shell somewhat prettier than usual, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before him : they should reflect that another of a still loftier order than Newton, luw taught us, in words that burn, that proud man is Most iGNoiiAMT of what ho is most assured and that a third, the lightest dash of whose pen is worth all the other two ever wrote, hath told us — "If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." Ordinary people should let such considerations as those teach them not to wed themselves with too much obstinacy to opinions which they have adopted for no better reason than because they were heir-looms bequeathed to them by their respectable grandmothers. Much that is venerable, much that is admirable, much that is most valuable, we have so acquired. But ancestral notions should be brought out and aired like ancestral dresses. The collector who scru- pulously retains all that is bestowed on him must necessarily retain much rubbish, and he who will not sift what his forefathers gleaned will probably be possessed of as much chaff as grain. Discoveries have in fact so multiplied upon us in modem times that we have almost ceased to be surprised at them, nor does there seem any reason to doubt that the career thus commenced will be {)crsevered in until the stored wisdom of the world consists, not in what is supposed but in what has been proved. Whenever that period shall arrive, its novelty will no longer be a sufficient ground for the rejection of a system which appeals to experience alone, and every day will teach men more impressively tliat their knowledg3 is in reality not quite so great as they have hitherto fancied it to be — and far, far less than their ignorance. A trial is worth a thousand pag3s of argument. Homa'opathy is not merely an ingenious system which you must take on credit. Here is no room for mistake, if the result of a few experiments, tried fairly, be not satisfactory, tlie theorj^ is not true. J. G. ROSENSTEIN, M. D. Montreal, March, 1845. I