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BY FEWSTER llOBERT HOMER, M.D Qiiotli Ilu.lilii'us— ' 11 is no l>:u-t Of iifii.U'Uco to cry down iiu art, An.l what it can perainu ili'iiy, I5..auso yon unaorstand not why.' "-HrBniuAS. FROM THE t-AST ENOUISH EDITION. TOUONTO : PIlINTEl) AT THE GLOBE STEAM PRESS, KING STREET WEST. 18G0. (I •/ 1/ E i BMP HOMCEOPATHY. REASONS FOR ADOPTING THE RATIONAL SYSTEM OF MEDICINE: BEING A LETTER TO THE BY FEWSTER ROBERT HORNER, M.D, l^TB PrmDENT, AN.. rKKriCr..!. V.CK.PRK.SIDKyT, OF TDK BKIT.Sn MEDICAL .ND R.KG.CAL ™",mT,ON ; LATK SKN.OR rHY.ICUN TO THE HULL GENERAL .SHRMABV, AN-I) TO THE lULL DISPENSARY, &C., &C. " Qiioth Hudibras— ' It is no part or prurtence to cry liown an art, Anil what it can perform deny, liccauso you understand not wby."'-HuDinRAS. FROM THE l_A8T ENQl-ISH EDITION. TORONTO •• PRINTED AT THE GLOBE STEAM PRESS, KING STREET WEST. 1860. jy TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE HULL GENERAL INFIRMARY. My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen, As senior Physician to your Infirmary, I think it a duty to you and to myself, now to give a full explanation of those circumstances which have led to a change in my medical opinions. For the sake of the poor under my care, and as a test of the sincerity and truth of my convictions, I was anxious to continue my office, if ar- rangements for the Homojpathic treatment of my patients could be made. Hence, I presented a written request to the Chairman of the Infirmary Weelcly Board, that two separate wards, one for female and one for male patients, — Homoeopathic medicines and a dispenser, — should be at my dis- posal and under my own control. Though such arrangement has been denied, I have the satisfaction of reflecting, that the time is surely approach- ing when none other but the HomoDopathic treatment of disease will be tolerated in our public Medical Institutions. This is not the utterance of a vain and specious sentiment, but the calm conviction of a mind impressed with the force of truth, For in proverbial language, — " Magna est Veritas etprccvalehit." The following remarks will show to you in what manner I, happily, be- came enlightened to the truth of Homoeopathy. And so entirely am I con- vinced that, in my own case, the changing of opinion has been but the forsaking of error, that I wholly cast aside every apologetic sentiment or thought, and, in the simple candour of truth confess that, whereas I was blind, now I see. " It is interesting," says a modern philosopher, " to trace the principles by which an enlightened mind is influenced in receiving, upon testimony, statements which are rejected by the vulgar as totally incredible." He then shows us how such a mind, reflecting that it now knows to be true many things which at one time it deemed incredible, is ever ready to admit that many other principles in science, or phenomena in nature, which it now comprehends not, may in reality be true ; for it no longer dares to make its own knowledge the test of probabilty. How forcible is the lesson of wisdom here conveyed, and how applicable to the study of Homoeopathy, as well as to the opposition and prejudice which would stay its progress ! I confess that it was not an unmixe'l, or a purely spontaneous and en- lightened desire to search after truth, that first prompted my enquiry into this new system of medicine. I was also led thereto by the unsatisfactory and ever-varying systems of the old school of physic, and by the conviction, that positive evil is inseparable from the old method of cure. I refer not especially to blood-letting, — that terrible evil, — but to another, a more insiduous, yet a most serious one, and concerning which some of the profession would seem to be ignorant, and all maintain a sig- nificant silence : I mean the retention and deposition of drugs in the various parts, structures, and vital organs of the body. f Impressed with this startlJng and woll-asccrtaincd fact (and one which was so forcibly made known to the world ut large by Professor Christison, Doctor Taylor, and others, on the occasion of a late criminal's trial), that drugs, administered to a patient, permeate every part of the human body, and there lodge for indefinite periods of time,— deposited or interwoven, as it were, in the internal vital parts and organs ; — I felt, as some others have felt, and amongst themselves acknowledged, that this was, indeed, a subject for most serious and painful thought. I shall refer to the subject again ; and give you proof and examples where not only mineral, but also vegetable drugs, as aloes, coloeynth, &c , which had been administered even some years before, remained deposited in the system, producing a miserable and wholly shattered state, both of mental and of bodily health ; but where the patients were, eventually, hap- pily restored, by the removal of these latent (and there poisonous) drugs. It now affords me the deepest satisfaction to reflect, that I have not, to my present knowledge, prescribed blood-letting more than twice in the last ten or fifteen years, either in public or in private practice ; and that I havo over discouraged what is culled the active or heroic treatment of disease ; a sort of treatment which oft may aptly be described as that which docs the most mischief in the shortest space of time. Both in my course of lectures on " Materia Medica," (the properties of drugs), at the Hull School of Medicine, and in my occasional remarks made to students in the Infirmary, at the bedside of the sick, I have given the caution to avoid the evil of prescribing too much medicine ; but so inveterate is this evil, and one so early imbibed, of drugging patients, and especially that of put- ting a variety of medicine into one mixture, " to fight together in the dark," as the late President of the Royal College of Physicians so truly observed, that I know how little orthodox my sentiments have been held by many. Nay, I have been roundly spoken of as one by whom neither surgeons nor druggists can live, and have suffered accordingly in the estimation of many. As my patients, however, not only lived but were cured, and that at least as quickly and as thoroughly as the patients of others, it was enough — or rather much better. I had the satisfaction of knowing, that I was supported in my opinions and practice by the example of the wisest and most experienced among Physicians ; for it is ever found, that such trust less and less to active and powerful drugs, bleeding, &c., &c., as experience and long observation of disease ripens knowledge into wisdom ; and they use that knowledge rather in assisting nature, than in weakening or destroying her energies in bold, " heroic" efforts to subdue disease. Sir John Forbes, for example, as well as so humble an individual as myself, also " suffered in estimation ;" and the Medical Journal in which he wrote his famous exposure of " Old Physic,"* shortly afterwards changed hands, aa the phrase is ; in other words, he had to relinquish his editorship, as a propitiation, to save the Journal. I shall not, however, in this place, speak further of this vitally important subject, but probably again refer to it. Yet up to the Tery time of instituting my enquiry — and it is with humility I make the confession — blinded by prejudice anu ignorance, like * Sir .Ti)lm Korbos numittod and declared, that the science of medicine was now in such a state, with its number of clashing systems and modes of practice, that " it must soon mend or end." the rest of the profession in Hull and else where, I deemed Homccopnthy a vain and impossible thing ; and even when I began to read, to investigate, and to put it to the proof, I had far more expectation of unmasking and exposing it as a fallacy, than I had of discovering in it that good by which the evils of the old practice of medicine might be obviated, and a more gentle, but far more efficient method of cure, bo substituted. As an additional motive for investigation, I felt that the time had arrived when something must be done, both by the individual and the col- lective efforts of the profession— the onward spread of Homoeopathy must be stayed. Notwithstanding the oft-repeated declaration of my professional brethren to the contrary, it was too apparent that it was not " dying out," but was steadily progressing, nay, rapidly extending itself ;— not amongst the credulous and uneducated, but the enlightened and higher classes of society were daily becoming its firmest adherents and determined sup- porters. Nor was this onward progress restricted to any town or district; but throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland ; and yet far more, through- out America, Germany, and France ; and throughout all the States of Europe was it adopted and cherished. I was convinced that this progress was not to be arrested by the raiUerv, abuse, and misrepresentation of the medical profession ; amidst it all, Homoeopathy had but tlie more and more increa8ed,~peop?e would think for themselves. I now felt assured that the only rational and effective, as well as manly and honourable way, of disabusing and disinfecting the pub- lic mind, was to submit it to the touchstone of observation and experiment. I determined on its practical investigation. Therefore, honestly divesting my mind, as far as I was able to do, of aJl feeling and prejudice against it, I first dilligently searched and studied all the best works on the subject. I thus obtained a thorough insight into, and knowledge of the science ;— of the peculiar mode of preparation and stated powers of its medicines— of their nature and properties,— and of their effects and application as remedies in disease : points, be it observed, absolutely necessary to a fair and enlightened test and examination. This being at length accomplished, I most stringently, zealously, and I may add, jealously, conducted my lengthened and practical inquiry. My first discovery was my own ignorance as to what Homoeopathy really was, and the equal ignorance of the rest of my professional brethren with whom I had conversed on the subject. It was, I confess, with a feel- ing of shame that I recalled to mind how we had misjudged and misrepre- sented Homoeopathy. Strange, truly, that the Medical Profession should persist in denying, yea, in heaping obloquy and ridicule upon a science of which they know themselves— confess themselves— to be wholly or essen- tially ignorant I Nay, I have often heard the most witty, as well as the most serious and earnest declaimer, give a scornful negative reply to the inquiry if they had ever thoroughly studied and fairly tried it. So wild and indefinite are the notions, not only of the public, but of medical iren also, that it is thought that Homoepathy chiefly consists in giving small, or infinitesimal doses of medicine 1 Now, the magnitude of the dose has nothing whatever to do with the principle of this science. The principle, the very essence of Homoeopathy, lies in the law of simile; bs v.o,,niiTT niTT^roBOA^ in fliA ftTiom. " jStnw'Ka simililms curantur" — "like usually expressed in the 1* ?i cures like." llahnomatin hiiiiself at firHt tried tho accustomed or usual dose ; but he was speedily coinpolled to reduce it ; so powerful and harm- ful were mcdicincH in their coiumou doses, «7it7t (fivm on the JIuinaojHtthic prijiciplc. It is as consistent with the true principle's of Ilonucoputhy, to pre- scribe cither strong tinctures or the crude drugs, us it is to give the most infinitesimal globule ; I repeat that it is tlic law of simUv—of like— i\mi alone guides tho Ilomocopathist in his treatment of disease ; the size, strength, or weakness of a dose is a mere contingency ; he may give what doscs^hc lists, but will soon find that medicines, given on the JIomcr.oj)athie principle, must bo administered, in nearly all cases, in very small doses, or the symptoms of the disease will be greatly aggravated. For the sake of those who are anxious to know tho principle of tho Homoeopathic cure, I will give its simple illustration. "VVhcn a person, for example, is afflicted with sickness of the stomach, lie will be relieved of it by very small doses of a medicine which produces a similar kind of sickness in a healthy person when it is taken in large or over doses ;— like cures like. As sickness of the stomach may arise fronj dift'erent causes, so is tho Homooopathist provided with a variety of medicines, which produce sickness by different modes of action, and also cure it. Again, the tempting berries of belladonna, when taken in large or poisonous doses (as by children), produce redness of tho skin, and also redness, soreness, and swelling of tho throat ; hence, in very small doses, belladonna is one of our most certain remedies in scarlet fever, where there is redness of the skin, and, for the most part, soreness of the throat. In proceedihg to enumerate a few of those facts and circumstances •which enforced the conviction on my own mind that Homoeopathy was a great truth, I would observe, that no amount of mere reading or study of Homoeopathic literature could have brought such conviction — real and in- disputable — to my own mind. Had I stopped short here, though im- pressed with the sentiment that what I had read might be true, yet nothing but experimental testimony would have enabled me, in my own heart, to realise that truth. I trust that this remark will not bo lost upon those who think that they have done enough in having read a book or two on the subject, and not feeling convinced, cast the whole aside, without trial, as unsatisfactory. I, unhappily, committed this very error nearly ten years ago. At that time I read two or three books on the subject — certainly they were not the best — but the whole matter appeared too extraordinary to be real, and I cast it off as a delusion. How much dc I regret that I did not then go heartily to work, and after fully qualifying myself, duly testing and proving it.* In my practical inquiry into the powers of Homoeopathic remedies, I resorted to every species of proof which I could devise, and of which the » I wish sijccially to notice and to recommend to all— tho prejudiced and tho unprejudiced- -Dr. Sharp's EsRays, now published in one volume. The calm, forcible, truthful, and philosophic spirit in which these Essays are written, deeply impressed my own mind, and determined me not to defer a practical investigation. Dr. Sharp is an old and much respected friend : and knowing so well tho sterling probity and honesty of his character, his talent for observation and experiment, his know- ledge of the exact sciences, and his clear judgment, I was enabled the more easily to divest my mind of that prejudice with which It was imb\icd. I honestly confess, however, that I had little expectation that Homoeopathy would stand tho searching trial to which I had determined to subject it ; and I warned my friends who urged tho invcsligatiou, that they might expect my oxposuro, rather than my oonflrmation of it. I -t--^ V'' subject appeared capable. I have now treated— Hucccasfully trentcd--a vast variety and number of diHcascH, both acute and chronic, occurring in both sexes, and at all ages. In every more important and interesting case, careful notes were kept ; all the symptoms of the disease were primarily re- gistered ; and the effect of every medicine that was admiuistcrcd and every change of symptom, noted. I felt that the investigation in which I was now engaged was, perhaps, the most serious act of my life. Not only my reputation as a physician, my honour as a man, and the relief of the afflicted, but yet more, the interest of truth itself, was equally involved. , . , , To give a detail of all the cases so treated would be tedious, and indeed impossible, for they would fill a volume. I shall, therefore, at present con- tent myself with simply citing a few examples of that testimony on which my convictions of the truth of Homoeopathy are founded. I witnessed, first, the painful and harrassing symptoms of chronic dis- eases—both external and internal— progressively, steadily, and in some cases rapidly cured by the administration of Homoeopathic medicines ; and that, in not a few instances, where the old plan of treatment by other practition- ers had failed ; and in two or three esamples, where I had myself been un- successful, by the old system, in giving relief. _ , , . On the other hand, I observed the distressing and alarming symptoms of acute inflammation of the most vital organs— as of the brain, the lungs, the windpipe (croup), and the bowels— arrested, overcome and cured, and that in a manner so observable and so evident, even to the friends of the patient that, on the repetition of each succeeding dose, a corresponding improvement was confidently looked for ; while to my own observation, the effects and efficacy of the medicine were most clear and indisputable. Still how determinedly do practitioners of the old school repeat, that although patients treated Homoeopathically may recover (of themselves) from chronic ailment, yet to trust to such treatment in inflammation of vital organs is nothing less than the abandonment of the hapless patient. Hap- py abandonment 1 yea, and fortunate escape from the lancet and leeches, from blisters, and cupping glasses, and from all those other appliances vihkh.hy destroying vital energy, paralyse restorative power / Indeed, I here wish, in the most empathio manner to notice, that it is especially in accute inflammation of the vital organs of the body (as of the brain the lungs, the stomach, and bowels, &c.), that the curativ e actionof Homoeopathic remedies is so decided and so rapid. How unfortunate, then is it, that the professional opponents of Homoeopathy should, in their total ignorance of the science, have stumbled upon that very point for their misrepresentation and attack, which is notoriously the strongest and most invulnerable ! It is these very cases, be/ore all others, that the HorMeopathxc physician would select to prove to the inquirer, or to the unbeliever, the truly extraordinary power and efficacy of the system of treatment. To this subject I shall again have occasion to refer. ^ , . , t • I shall now describe, a little more definitely, the way m which I inves- tigated and tested the powers of Homoeopathic medicines. I first gave an unmedicated powder (simply sugar of milk), and of course without any result I then selected and administered the proper remedy ; amendment commenced, and a cure was effected, (I may here observe that all these I 8 aperiment, we« not confined io a single ease, but were repeated again no ^od i" Slodicatcd doses were again given, and again mproyement '°°Xa?::Vll''e«sKtrnal disease (they were two of chronic in- a tw^L nf iho linin"- of the bowels, and three of consumption), m St s;4fo«e of a decided charact.. and where the old system of treatment had yiven but very partial and unsa isfactory rehef Ihese were t£ ?reat^d on the new syst^m-Homoeopathica ly-and marked, un- SaSlfiWovement followed. On reporting again to the old approved Tthod of tSment, the progress lingered and was stayed, but was again rpstoi-ed bv returning to Homoeopathic remedies. ^ ^ j • Further, I wished to select some diseases where the changes effected m the con? ion of the diseased parts could be seen by myself, hb well aa felt, ly the pa Ln?. I chose, therefore, some of the worst «»««« of inflmed and ulcerated sore throat (which have been so prevalent of late m HuU Sd ^rSbourlood). Some of these I treated first on the old a^d ap- Sovedplan"; and with the usual tedious progress ; ^^^ > ^^«^,^^°Yf?n^ stituted the Homceopathic remedies, the rapid dimmuation of tumefaction and sweUin^^^^^^ the healing of ulceration, were most striking. Indeed Z thini cLuld impress a common beholder with "jore surprise than the witaessing of the effects of Homoeopathic remedies m the very worst cases of ulcerated throat and palate; and one or two I shall briefly notice, ia '""T^Ster^ testimony to such effect of Homceopathic remedies I may first cite the case of a well-known and respected gentleman of HuU, who thou'h deeply prejudiced against Homoeopathy (for many of his nearest acquaintances weri madical men), was driven at la«t to ^^y i • . ^^ wa. whoUy relieved, in a few days, of a chronic and harr^sing affection of the rCt, alter he had, for two or three years suffered the best surgical ^- viJe aAd treatment not only of Hull, but of London, without cure. He IS recentlv related to mo, how, in 'Jvtt \few hours he exper^^^^^^^^ great reUef, and ftlt the curative effects of the '' ^^.^urd bits of gbbuk^^ S which, at the time he took them, he had no confidence whatever. I n.ed not add that this gentleman, having proved Homoeopathy on himself, ^^ Th: fir^ 37of the remarkable efficacy of Fou.opathic med- cines, in " throat ci.es," which I shall introduce, is tnat of a girl about twelve years of age, with pale puffy features, and all the sympV us of a SteL and strofulous cons'it^.tion. The eyes were bloodshot and the eyelids red and tender; the nose waa very much swoUen, and of a hvid red colour ; the left nostril nearly obstructed by mcrustaaons, and a most offensive discharge proceeded from it. Both the tonsils (glands of the ?C) were much enlarged, and studded with ulcerated points ; the back 9 part of the hard palate was similarly affected D«\P^""g °^ ,^'^^"'f ^"^'f ' 8he had " siven up doctoring" for mai.y months. In rather less than one month the^nose, palate, and'throat were wholly cured ; the chronic inflam- mSn of both eyes d:isappeared at the same time. The^e now remains Tly a slight enlailement of the tonsils, but without any ulcera ion or any Smfort whatever. This was a case of canes, or ulceration of the bones of the noso, and had resisted all previous treatment. . . I shall notice one other case, of a somewhat similar kind, as it was connected with your own Infirmary. Moreover, it not only shows the power of Homoeopathic medicines, but is an apt illustration of their su- KritV over the old dru.,s,-of the new over the old system ol treatment, Td that, under the most adverse circumstances. It was a very distressing casVof inflammation, with deep and foul ulceration ol the tonsils, palate and back part oi the throat. The man had been under medical treatment for some months before his admission, under my own care, in o the In- firmary He was so worn down with disease and poverty, that pity for his condTtL, rather than hopes of affording relief induced me to admit him Afte remaining within the Infirmary the allotted time of two months, he wal diXged ; in>r)roved in bodily condition certainly bu with very p.itia^ amendment of the throat. And, as I could not hold out to the Cekly Board of Governors any hope that he could be cured (if cured at ^n in a inonth or two more, his bed was appropriated to other urgent cases and he was made an out-patient. On his calling at my house next day, to S whaThe should do, aSd where to get means of support, I determined, ktd a he was now to give him a chance of the Homoeopathic treatment; andhe wen fterwards to a poor lodging. Though now debarred the Comfort and the wholesome food of the Infirmary yet, in the ^'-^t space of ten days, this poor fellow's throat, tonsils, palate, &c., were qu..c heakd and cured by taking Homoeomthic remedies. This being one oi my ::rliest cases /f '' balthroat," made a great i-P--^ - -? ^^/^ ^ time- but I have now, in my extended experience, found in veiy aiany nX^ces, how astonishing, and for the most part how ^'^V^^^ ^^'^'^f'^ of the Homoeopathic treatment in the worst cases of nose and throat dis- eases These two cases are not only deeply interesting, as P^-ov^ng ^te efficacy of Homoeopathy, but as showing its superiority over che old plan- curins: where the old system had failed. • .1 j:„„„c.na I will briefly give one or two more examples where, in other diseases patienTs were cu?ed by Homoeopathic remedies when they had not been ?cS bTthe old system; and I will select cases from the Infirmary. A man had s^uffered from severe rheumatism of the hip and thigh for above Tvear and had undergone a great variety of treatment in that time. Wheu fjcame into the Infirmary, ".11 the appliances of cure, f .v^PJ^F^.^^tH Svanism &c., which your Institution affords, were used, in addition to gpropSe medicine, Int -itl-ut avail and he left the Infarmar5^T^^^^^ man wrote to me a few weeks afterwards, that he was then at laborious work having been cured in about three weeks by the Homoeopathic treat- Tent under which I placed him when he left the Hospital Another maa left the Infirmary unrelieved of a distressing pam of the head after a paralytic stroke, which had quite incapacitated him for work for many months. He h^d a seton in the neck, leeches, and other means used ; he Ten took Homoeopathic medicines for two weeks and returned to work. ara-^rJii^iat — 10 The next two cases possess a twofold interest '^^^^^'^f^^^JJJ' not only cured on the Homoeopathic system, but cured m the Infirmary. Is one of he men had been suffering for above four, and the other for neariy seven years, and as they had been under the care of several medxca men and had undergone a great amount of treatment, J. ^e ermined after HK trial of the old remedies, to treat them Homa>opathically. Both were diseases of the urinary organs, and both were cured in three week One of the men suffered much pain in the bladder, and passed a considerable quantity of blood in the udne ; from medicines given on the Homc«opathic Principle all his painful and other symptoms daili, andp,^'ccptibly lessened; ErS.out a month after his admission he left the Infirmary quite well and commenced work once more. The other, a younger man, had suffered for seven years, and had undergone much severe treatment. After thcre- movalof iS other troublesome symptoms connected with the bladder, there S remained a severe pain on the left side of his body, and to remove Sh " the doctors had done everything" (I think a seton had also been Tet^ By the administration of the Homoeopathic remedy, which acted directly upon the part implicated, a small flattened stone become dislodged and was passed. This stone had evidently been for ««™<^f ^^.^X J^ in the ureter (the passage from the kidneys to the bladder). He left the Infirmary, quite cured, in three or four weeks. . „ . , ,• The third case of cure, within the Infirmary, was especially interesting ; first the patient was cured of a troublesome and unsightly disease, which, said' he, " had been a-coming on for above ten years." It was a pustular eruption (hy ptstuhr eruption, I may explain in plain language, a wjy eruption ooL^rnns ^natter), with scabs, not ^"ly ^ '% ^^^ 'seeondlv but during the last two years it had also extended to the face. Secondly, because the approved medicines of the old system were tried by me for several weeks, in the Infirmary, without the least abatement of the symp- toms And thirdly, because when I at last prescribed the Homoeopathic remedy, I at the same time stated that it ought to cure the disease, and that dr : btless, we should see the effects at once. I may add, lastly that it wks interesting, because I recollect that the respected Chairman of he Infirmary Board (Mr. Gibson, of Prospect-street), was in the ward of the Hospital, and I had the pleasure of pointing out to him and explaining the cure when I was giving directions te the House-Surgeon to report the patient as cured. Within four days of his taking the pathogenetic or Homoeopathic remedy, viz.. Tartrate of Antimony, the pustules and scabs began to disappear, and in some three weeks he was cured.=^ , • a ^ Vhilst I am engaged in writing these remarks, a case of acute inflam- mation of the windpipe (croup) occurring in a child sixteen months old hi come under my care and, I might truly add has just been rescued from close impending death, by Homoeopathic remedies ; the surgeon under whose care it was up te the time I saw it, replying to the mother s in- * Those throe casos .ro chieHy mtcrcstins - f-j^^^^^rhi^^Vwff ^'^^^ Sto ai«fi myself, 8o that it was ouly a few discuses which 1 couU'. treat ut all. 11 ley were firmary. thor for medical ed, after oth were s. One iiderable xjopathic essened ; lite well, suffered ;r the re- er, there 3 remove ilso been ich acted lislodged impacted ! left the eresting ; e, which, pustular a pimply ttd limbs, Secondly, ly me for he symp- locopathic ease, and istly, that an of the ird of the lining the report the genetic or and scabs ite inflam- lonths old, 3n rescued ;eon under other's in- irac of tho old bief medicines patient curod ry had wholly 3artof agrain. given Uomoeo- jme ailment of )f medicinet qf quiry,—" that it might die in a minute." The child had been leeched, had taken antimonial wine, and undergone all the usual old and inefficient treatment for three days previously, without the slighest check or stay to the disease, so that I myself judged that it could not survive the day with- out relief, so nearly had it been hurried to its end. The change by the administration of Homoeopathic remedies -vas so extraordinary, and so un- looked for by the poor woman, its mother, that, in her gratitude and joy, she most thoughtlessly brought it to my house next morning. The day was very raw and cold, and as I feared, a terrible aggravation of the symp- toms was incurred, and the child's life was again placed in the utmost peril. The first remedies were again had recourse to, — a like subsidence of the symptoms was produced,— and in a few days the child was cured. Are we always to be told that it is the "imagination," (this child was but sixteen months old), is it always "mere accident,"— or regulation of diet, or are all Homoeopathic physicians (and those who cure themselves and families in minor complaints) really what the old practitioners and medical journals sav they are, — " dolts, impostors, and quacks ?" — See Lancet. Truly it is humiliating to witness physicians of the old school striving to explain away the palpable, the self-evic'ent cures performed by the new system of medicine — Homoeopathy ! I c