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IM
HOMCEOPATHY.
REASONS I'OH ADOrriNG THE
RATIONAL SYSTEM
OF
MEDICINE :
r.ElNf} A I.KTTER TO THE
©oitrnors of i\)t m ^^'^ ^«*«'"»
, v., ,.• ..RKSIDl'NT OK Tlir. immSH MSmCAI, AM) S^l KCICM.
AM) V.) TIIK m-II' PISl'KXSAKY, kV., K< .
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<in hardly imagine in what manner
the following facts, as also the cases I have already cited, will be " got
over."
A young lady, a relative of my own, after her recovery from a severe
cold, had still a troublesome cough for three weeks, which prevented her
return to school. After resisting the usual remedies for this period, it
was cured in three days by five doses of the Homoeopathic remedy. Her
brother had a large and very painful swelling on the lower jaw, caused, it
was supposed, by the hidden fang of an old tooth. By the application of
leeches, twice repeated, together with poultices, liniment, and plasters,_the
pain, inflammation, and swelling were cured in six weeks. A fortnight
afterwards, from exposure to cold, all the symptoms returned ; and this
time with suoh violence that he could not bear even a silk handkerchief to
touch the inflamed and tumified jaw. I gave him three globules of the
appropriate Homoeopathic medicine, and in haJf-an-hovr the tumour was
wholly freed from pain ; in three days more, by taking this medicine, even
every trace of the hard and painful swelling was removed. Thus, on the
first attack, he recovered in six weeks by the old plan ; on the second, and
yet more severe one, he was cured in four days by the Homoeopathic treat-
ment. The disease did not again return.
A boy, nine years of age, had had a severe cough and expectoration for
two years. He had been under medical treatement, and had taken a table
spoonful of "cod liver oil three times a day all that time ; for, having no
appetite, it was almost his only means of support, and he was worn and
emaciated. The oil wn? 30t discontinued, but in twenty days his cough
and expectoration were wlvoUy cured by Homoeopathic remedies ; his appe-
tite returned, and he soon gained his strength and flesh. This was so un-
expected by his mother (as well as by myself,) that she took from his bed
a poor crippled boy, of about twelve years of age, and brought him to my
house, saying, to my remonstrances on her bringing a child so crippled and
apparently dying, that as I had " made a miracle" of the other boy, I per-
12
haps could give relief to this. With one leg pined and shortened, the
chest distorted, being also humped on the back, and with as severe a palpi-
tation ot the heart as I have ever witnessed, I thought the child was reallv
m a dying state. Its head was supported by the mother's breast- while
Its prominent, staring eyes, purple lips and cheeks, and the throbbing in the
arteries of the neck, showed the extent of the heart's disturbance I felt
relieved when the child was taken safely home ; and truly astonished when
LJ;T Z I *'""''< P «^™« cheerfully, hopping with it« crutch, into my'
room to thank me for mending" it. The admirable eflFects of the Horn-
CBopathic medicines on the heart's action, &c., were evinced the first day of
the boy s taking them; and the progress of improvement was never inter-
It will be observed, that I have selected those cases (out of many
others for proving the efficacy of the Homoeopathic system of med^ine
which had not been found curable by the old method; t^.us denionstrarg
that the new system not only possesses a power, but a greater power of
curing disease. But th s is by no means all ; there are other circumZl^
ofvual vmparU^r^e, such <rs the difference of the means employed, thec^.
dUton tn whtchthe patient^ is left after treatment, &c. ; and to which I shSl
soon, although but very briefly, allude.
_ I shall detail but one other case ; and probably, from the ladv's nosition
in society, it may be known to some of yoS. It is that of a lady^^presrt
resident in the Garrison, on a visit to her son. This lady was at first
attended for a few days by a surgeon of the town, when a^phys cian wL
aJsoJ'called in, who, after a brief attendance, told the patient^s fr nSs thS
there was no hope of recovery, and that she could not be expected to live at
furthest, above tour or fire days. The surgeon also expressed a similar
opinion as to the utter hopelessness of the cate ^^P'-^S'^ed a similar
My advice was then requested, and I saw the patient, together with the
Sd1n"n;?"^"'' J ^r? ^''.f'^^^> worn and debilftated, and su^
ported in an arm-chair by the bed side ; that being the easiest po ition ihv
^Zo, t- ''"'^ '""^f P"^''"' ^"•^'^ ^'•^^^'""g' f'-cq"^"* cough, and profuse
theCt'otTflP^^^'f ;"!"''' ^" distinct pellets -the greater portion at
cotton wnnlf I /''''^' ^"^^ ''"^' 'f P^"^*^^ "^'^^'^y' "k« round pieces of
cotton wool soaked in pus (matter of wounds), -sufficiently showed indS
Tea" It r'""P'' ?r/"""^y *'^^ ^""-- were'^impli^ati t
cured bv Hon!' .T •''''' -""^-^'^ ^ T' ^''^ "^« expectoration: which was
cured by Homoeopathic remedies in a few weeks; and although I could not
give such medicines here, under present circumstances, yet the opkfon I
fet ov^it '*i"?''^^*^'^,"?^' '^' great danger, the patiLt mig Jpossibly
get over it, and I counselled her to look hopefully forward. At the end of
ten days or so, I thought that we had gained some little ground • but the
unnefessarv to reW 't'?*^ "? '^'T '^ '''''''^- ^^'"^ circumstances
volunTarn7li? It ' 3 ^""""'^ ^"^ ^*y' °" "'^ ^^«^<^' ^^at the surgeon had
for the fi It ?fL T P'*''"* ^^tnelyto my own care. Immediately, and
lor the first time, I proposed the Homteopathic trcatmpr^t with which I
ladv h ^/'TJ^ f ^"^ ""^^^^^'"*«^- I*^^« accededto erdly; forthe
Ss of thr".h Vn' -t^^ ^""^^ ^^^" ^"^'^""g ««^«r« P-'" aro^und both
Bides of the chest, at its lowest part, and for which a blister, and then
13
turpentine in flannel, had been urgently proposed by the surgeon, but de-
clined by the patient, as the former blister bad failed to give relief, and
she felt that she could not support its renewed application. This severe
pain, of two days' continuance, was wholly relieved by the second dose
of the Homoeopathic remedy, and by the Homoeopathic treatment every
trace of cough, of expectoration, and of all other symptoms, wholly disap-
peared in three weeks. The improvement commenced with the second dose
of the medicine ; and I pronounced the lady out of danger at the end of
the first week. It is now just one month since I began the Homoeopathic
treatment ; and for the last week of this tune, no medicine whatever has
been taken, for my patient is without complaint and daily regaining strength.
I avail myself of my patient's kind permission thus pointedly to allude to
her case ; for, as was feelingly observed, " she felt that Homoeopathy was
the blessing through which her life had been spared, and in simple grati-
tude was wishful to aid, in ever so slight a degree, in making that blessing
known to others."
Nor is it a rare thing to hear such expressions as this, respecting the
Homoeopathic treatment, — the language of the once sick room, the language
of the heart, — grateful for the blessing of health restored by its means.
The foregoing is not a more remarkable instance of the immediate
efficacy, in severe oases especially, of Homoeopathic remedies, than one
which occurred a few weeks ago in a neighbouring town. The family is
from home, and I have not asked permission more especially to allude to it ;
but the recovery is well known to friends and relations in Hull. This lady
also, like the patient last mentioned, had suiFered from previous " lung
affections." She had, when I saw her in consultation with the enlightened
surgeon in attendance, as well as with another professional gentleman, been
suffering for three weeks from a severe and rare form of bronchitis (plastic),
together with daily bleeding from the lungs and incessant cough, which
caused a sharp pain. Neither all the means used before I saw her, nor
those I prescribed at two subsequent \isits, had any but the most temporary
and partial effect on the severe symptoms. The patient was, without any
doubt, nearly lost; I saw that she must sink, and that soon, and expressed
those fears to friends in Hull. Being again telegraphed for, I determined
that she should have the Homoeopathic remedy so clearly indicated in such
a case. I took it with me, — not as the "odious globules," but in mixture,
with water and a little spirit. I explained to the surgeon its effects, and
that although it was a .\ "_ used by Homocopathists, yet I had proved its
.efficacy in the doses contaiaed in the bottle I produced. He agreed to give
it in place of the mixture which our patient had been taking, and, at his
request, the pills, such as she had taken previously, were continued ; but so
immediate was the effect and the change produced by two doses of my
medicine, that the cough, bleeding, and pain left at once, and the lady slept
soundly for six hours I She had not slept, on account of the incessant
cough, pain, &c., for I know not bow long before.
The anxious husband came to me in real alarm the next day, " on
account of all the dangerous symptoms having gone at once !" I reassured
him, however ; but the following morning he repeated the anxious visit,
asking " for some meaning of it all ;" " for why had this cough, &c., gone
in a tew hours, when weeks were before spent in vain efforts?" " And my
I
14
fin.T:n P .• *^; . ,^? ^''"'" *^*3^^ '"«'•«' t^is gentleman had the erati
room t7^T\^'! beloved wife to the sofa in the adjoinTnVdraS-"
put a stop to the diseased action, and was trni,t\ .3' ' ''^
as being the most remarkable I hav^ meT lithTf'ho L ^^ ' P not selected
but I cite them to prove that 1^2*1^ cites nTo^^^
reflection' observat on and mcfical to H^. "" qmte convinced, both from
andtruthfulness-.Ktn'^^:^':^
medicines which will not Jeld to the hi , A 1 V 7- ^- ^«"!f i>«^^"c
enlighten the minds of aronlhis vi nl ifn^ ^ '''f'"''^''; ^'"^^ ^i"
foH, even from the increased numC^f/f' ",. ' ^''™ ^^ '"™-
80.gM mj- adviee, Bi„,STle them the L 'fit SV'°h' "'"' 'T
a satisfaction 08 tL ' »«chmg,_ha8 no rightful claim to such
as .ard down ,y Hahnelnn, and b, othXh authSeTand^dlSe^
1
i
It a stretch, and
tn had the grati-
oining drawing-
d it," for I had
! principles. I
lome day soon,"
lat I now write
of the Ilonioeo-
long, as it had
roduce its own
i really without
Decided and
ire not selected
of my practice,
>»Iy do possess
ct cures where
3ed, both from
in all sincerity
Homoeopathic
n. Time will
ids of medical
1 is at present
onfin'd,"— by
have imbibed
itself, though
3 dark armour
i themselves,
mman nature
tie honours to
3 it would be
3 been mani-
le, who have
lomojopathic
nedies which
?hbours, and
ceased to be
describe the
success ; — to
sarily meets
overcome in
has done all
■injured the
Id system —
laim to such
'tial inquiry
le principles
i discarded.
1«
as irrelevant to my purpose, the refinements and subtleties of theories,
about which its opponents so love to dispute, leaving its practical proof and
testimony uncared for. -, , «,
For me now to doub. the power and the eflttcacy of Homoeopathio
medicines, would be to doubt the evidence of my own senses, and the ex-
ercise of common understanding. I rest my conviction on the solid basis
of experimental testimony— on proof I do not come forth as a partisan,
but simply spcuk that which I do know, and testify that which I have seen.
My testimony is, that Homojopathy is indeed a great fact, a mighty
truth. Being so it must, in a mere scientific point of view, be looked upon
as the greatest discovery of the age, and important as it is great. As
health is justly acknowledged to be the choicest blessing, in what glad and
grateful language should not Honiceopathy be spoken of! not only as in
itself a positive good, but also as an escape from the old practice, which is
environed with so much that is positive evil.
Such are the calm and fixed convictions which have been forced upon
my own mind ; yet this is the stone which the very builders and teachers
in the profession would refuse — the pearl which they would cast away,
" though it is richer than all their tribe."
How strange, how anomalous, is the conduct of the profession ! for if
the virtues of but one new drug be set forth in a medical journal, forthwith
the whole profession welcomes it with a trial, and adoption. But when
the grand, tlie comprehensive, science of Homoeopathy is, on the highest
testimony, set before them, — replete with a cure not only for one but for all
diseases, — they straightway cast it forth with mockery and abuse, icithout
trial, and loithout investigation ! Nay, just as astronomers of old refused
even to look through the telescope which Galileo had invented, even so do
professional men refuse to look into Homoeopathy. How, said the sage
astronomers of old, can Jupiter have four moons, when we ourselves see
them not with our own eyes ? and how can a tube of wood, with a bit of
glass stuck into each end of it, make the moons appear, even if they did
exist ? So say the old school of physicians. How can Homoeopathy have
power or efficacy when we do not see it by the light of our system ? and if
such efficacy did exist, how can these small doses make that efficacy appear ?
But not only do medical men determine not to look through the
telescope (Homoeopathy), but they would break it to pieces, destroy it
altogether, and cast it forth as a vain thing. If they would only first look
into it in a manly and fair way, and thus prove to the world that no moons
are visible — that there is no power in Homoeopathic remedies — they would,
at least, command respect; but they seek to destroy it by instilling
thereinto the dry-rot of calumny. Nay, they not only refuse to test and
prove its powers and efficacy, but they deal forth their severe condemnation
on those who, in an enlightened spirit of inquiry, venture to do so, and
who have the fearless honesty and candour to avow the truth as they have
found and proved it. The veneration for the old system of medicine,
evinced by physicians of the present day, seems to be as great as that of
the disciple of Galen in the olden time, who declared that — " he would
rather be in the wrong with Galen, than be in the right with any other
physician " — so do medical men now seem determined rather to err with
the old systems of jnedieine than to be in the right with the new one
— Homoeopathy.
f i-
llf
16
ing, and not to cnkinTZZ inZdZl " fs thi« "" *'' '^"^"^^^^^
IB told by a medical man that HomLrthic mpilf " ""''T' P*'''""
and destroy the constitution: but a^rson oTI ' ^.f r^nk poisons,
assured that they are " all hum W - ^uTl T- ^V^"" disposition is
some one havin/ swallowed a hSfnl ^i, ? ^"T ^'''''^'^ ^^^ f^ct of
this to be ''proVpoS-' of tEflT^^^^^^^^ a"y ill effect and declares
medicines I As I know examls Iht. °^ P''''''" ^" Homoeopathic
ised upon, I make a 2c?aJToint of • ^"""^'l^''?^' have been so prac-
explanation. ^ P"'"* °^ ^''''"S ^^^^ ^i^^ple, the most simple
when'i^J'i'he^Sroni: ^Zr JT^ '''f' ^" *^--«-> and
certain parts infplif.ted t^tase To^l deranged vUal action of
"swallows a handful," he does no't nf ^' ''^'" ^ P^'-so" ^n health
inasmuch as there is no L/ A V "''"/''' experience their effect
Nay, further, on the very p £1^ of ^ ""^^ 1r "'^ ^^"^^ *« ^«* "?«>»
curantur "-Jthe aforesa d ^"inndfuP' "*^"rPf »y-'^^^»-»^^V.« .tW&„,
even on a person sufferSg from d^ease nn "?i ^''^^'? '^''^' '«'^'>
pathogenedc, or in other wo dTwstlo'nrol '^^^^^^'^^ «« taken were
disease. When a declain.rr.V t P^'^P*'" "^<^d'C'ne for acting on that
several different LndfXrwrmuTt X^-.^T ' ^"^"^'^ ^^^^^ ^e tells how
tubefuls) were eaten by ion e one and n"n VT"' '^'' ^' "''^^"^ «"-»
means of course the effects ww"h Cl ** T"' '"*'"• ^^ ^^^^^ ^e
purging blistering, viZ^p^SlaL'ti" ^^ *^ ^r^ ^"'"^^^^^^^^^^
more silly trek than the first fL tt '^' , . -^"''^' l">wever, is but a
taken together annul and cnn'nf ^^,f «^«P«t>i« medicines, if mixed and
this even in caserw" ere there tTd" 'T'^' '^''' '^ '^'^ ''^'^ ' ^"^
plain a tale has pulyou dow„ '• ' ^''''''' *^ ''' ^P^"' " ^^vv see,' how
v^£'^::^:^z:'^^'^^-^' ^^-^^^^^^ «. Hom<.o-
drugs, and the often vet stTonC n?. ^ '' contrasted with the strong
practice. Truly well would 7b. ?"/f '°T • ^'"-^ ^^ *^« ^^^ system of
emetics purgatiICl„ri^^^^^^^^ ^^f''"" ^"A^'^*'^^^^'
used when they are not required t "°^"™ '''* ^^'''' ^""S
body'faSltef by\t :S^^ P-*? ^^ organs of the
medicine. Thus Simon no; ?w ^^ "'T ^" ^^ *h« ^^^ school of
medicines do chose 1 e'r W" an ' ? T'. ^•'*' '^■''''''' " ^^ ^^"O^ ^^at
as exclusive a preference af ^ovl^?/''?'^"'^ ^^*^ «« ^^^^^^^^ «r almost
affinity; " and\e sho^CE refptJ^'r^^^^^^ ^^'^"^^^^
medicines ("noxious agents " h. p!ii!T If • . ^', ^ introducing certain
Though all parts are thus exnoLVf!,,''"?.'"*^ *^*^ '^''^"^ ^^ the blood,
rare "they aLted l' e t oKn Jd'Z ?'^ differently," observes he,
is the stomach that becomes S^^^ f ^T" ^^^^rs ; -arsenic, and it
is acted upon; canthar S^ bl Sf fjv^^^^^^^ the spinal marrow
I wish no; to mak^a statem. Jn?^^' ""I^- *^' ^^^""^^ '-"'^ irritated."
that it should ensure the conversTr to Hom^^^^^^^ ^"P^^^*^"*'
than one of Her Maiestv'«T„!f u • ^^^^opathy of no less a personag^
eccentric manrSif rhrForbes^ CriT'^.'^'t^^ ' «'^^^' '^^^
rorbes. In his latest work, published I think
)8e the conduct of
ise the unsuspect-
a nervous person
are rank poisons,
site disposition is
)rward the fact of
feet, and declares
in Homoeopathic
ive been so prac-
the most simple
heir action, and
vital action of
person in health
ncc their effect,
mrt to act upon.
Imilid similihus
specific effect,
le so taken were
r acting on that
!Ct, he tells how
he means small
By effect, he
nz : — vomiting,
vever, is but a
I, if mixed and
ich other ; and
Now see, how
)f the Homoeo-
ith the strong
old system of
? and blisters,
on their being
organs of the
old school of
We know that
^ed, or almost
janic chemical
lueing certain
of the blood.
' observes he,
rsenic, and it
pinal marrow
re irritated."
important,
3 a personage
ever, though
shed I think
17
this year, he admits and honestly declares his evidence, that Homaopathists
do, indisputably, cure their patients. But he affirms that i* ;« ^J tl^e
effect on the imagination, and by the strict regulation of the diet, that all
the Kood is done; and leaves us to infer that, if the diet and imagination
were not really the only curative powers in Homccopathic practice, he should
then think well of this new system, and as he repudiates old physic, he
would doubtless adopt Homoeopathy.
I will now show, that neither the diet nor the imagination could have
any influence whatever in the cures I performed in the first GOO cases. I
stated previously, that I determined to test Homoeopathy, though stringently
and iealously, yet honestly and fairly; hence, in every instance, I gave the
Homoeopathic medicines myself, and either in the form of mixture or m
powders,— sometimes in pills ; but I never gave globules in the simple torn
of globules nor did the patients know that they were treated Homoeopathi-
cally. Besides, a great portion of my patients were very young children,
and some even infants at the breast ; so that imagination could not, in such
cases at least, be the curative agent ; this would be doing Homoeopathy too
much honor, though certainly its cures are often marvellous enough. ^
As to diet, the subject wus never referred to in my treatment, for, in the
first place, my patients were chiefly the poor, too many of whom had no
choice of viands, and it would often have been mere mockery to talk ot
their taking a little of this, and not a little of that. Further, it was the
special object of my inquiry to discover if Homoeopathic medicines— not if
diet— had the curative efficacy claimed. In some cases of severe irritation
of the lining of the bowels, and also in acute inflammation of the vital
organs I did, necessarily, give the usual and common directions as to the
avoidance of wine, spirits, animal food, and heavy pastry, as every physician
must do ; but in these exceptional cases only was the diet alluded to at all.
Sir John Forbes and the old school of physic will now see that these their
objections are, but like the fabric of a vision, baseless ; and baseless also
are all other objections which they must now conjure up and substitute ;
for I have shown to you that Homoeopathy rests on the broad basis of truth,
—not of the conjectural or imaginative truth of theories and probability,
like the old system, but on truth as arrived at, seen, demonstrated by
experimental observations, by proof, and by facts. ^
I will take this opportunity of stating that, in my own practice, I have
never yet found it necessary to give any stricter regulations as to diet than
formerly ; and further, it is my conviction, founded on my own observations,
that such is the power and efficacy of Homoeopathic remedies, that their
action is not interfered with, as many Homoeopathic practitioners— chiefly
on theoretical grounds— have imagined ;— it is my opinion, I repeat, that
Homoeopathy requires no stricter regulations, as to diet and regimen, than
does the old system or syste'"" of medicine.
In concluding my own . ' testimony to the truth of Homoeopathy-
testimony solely based on experience— I may observe, that I have purposely
adopted the briefest manner of sta+ing the results of my investigation. Had
it been meet to have entered into minute detail, not only in the few cases
which I have mentioned, but also in the many hundreds that I have not
particularized, the power and efficacy of Homoeopathic remedies would, I am
2*
r: f
18
morally certain, have stamped conviction in the minds of all nf .n p
having no interest to subserve by incredul tv ™'"f^°V t T"' ^'"••
eatisfaetion of believing that, i^the la ," u ut^^^^^^ Prejudice, I have the
your former opinions and jud.rents S^t bln^ '"'' /"'' ^""''^ ^'"^^^
you saw reason to nuestiof S 1 ' m^^^^^ would retain, but tiU
proved to be unteuLe. lloS::}'.:^^''^^^^'^^'''' '^l'/
or science. ' ^° "ersclicJ, is incapable
strict accordance wilh Si Ss fs a n -itT^r^ ' statement that is not in
intentionally to mislead ivnnlrlVl '• ^^"^ ^^ scnoun, that lightly or
on the otheJ^hl'id whhS kt^leT^n^ ^^««"i -^'^
that period when^icknes and d s! se^slnH t'^'T-^ .^^''t '"'^^ ^''''^
gentler, safer, and more potent Wl of Tr. ^Jrainistered to by the
less criminal. ^ """* °^ Homowpathy, would bo scarcely
witniSsStr^1rolTto':5;:tCmt^ testimony of others, and the
and doubly to a.ssure your minds^ I ^17 "t'lu^ *? '"^ «^» «^'d«nce,
compel me^ i„ this caJe aL^Se briSXt^'"* *^« ^^'"^^^ °^' ^ ^^^^^^
first'il^titr^rlSf ota"*^^^ *^^*'^^ "- «>^ -hool, and I
"Fallacies of Homl7a%''-c;^^^^^^^^^
to be one huge fallacy itself ^ Thirn^J ^ m'°^ ^'- ^^^'P ^^^ «hown
ofhisownse^nses to'tiel^aordfryt^r^^^^^^^^ '^' '^-'^^nce
m acute inflammation of vital VrCs^/?nvIl/f ?°°'«^P'^thic system
this letter, that it was in th.^ nfnJ^ "^^s^^^f stated, m a former part of
efficacy of Hom^aTht remrdirtal'^' T' .^[/°fl-«^°>ation tb^at thl
plain, indeed, that thinoTdTstonr,n?.nf ""^«"'»ble and self-evident; so
he wisely adjpts in hisown plS. J^l^w S^*^*^ ^« ^"^^^^ «« J aad
of the l/ngs, fnd urgS ?eeomme^^^^^^^^^
telling th^ happy truth thttSTo * °, *t^^^'' °^ *^e old school.
i;r^4^r7t%e^fe.^^^^^^
injuriea, and other surg^oaCesThou^^^^^ "'^^^P^^^' ^^""'J^*
pathist he would doubtless sZ have emtt A' r '^'' "'* '* ^
extent, had his life been spared forLtripd'-M ««'«°ce to its fullest
and necessarily, so far as he did try it foind f . ''^''V^''^ "'•g^"* cases,
limited to the employment of thoZ IL T V'^""' ^'^ experience wai
matory and surgicaf^Les fn Mrrr'^-'',''^'^ "^ '^^">^ed in inflam-
the /orth London Ho^Sk he ol<?iT'''l^'''"'" *° *^« students rt
Homceopathie doctrines? a ceVaL' ILf ^r'' ' ^'''''' '"^ '"^^
inexperience on the subject, go the leLhs iL'nS \ '^"''?> f ^^^^ ^'"^"^
Lancet, p. 106, April 1836 ) ^ advocates could wish." (See
Mr.Snt^sifateVtrM
.nd otherwise, the ^^^r.o!'.^^:;^^'^:^^^^^^^
f all of you ; for,
Jico, I have tho
'you would hold
d retain, but till
them when fairly
icl, "is incapable
e ; it is this, viz :
at that is not in
that lightly or
ty itself; while,
liich may hasten
ered to by tho
uld bo scarcely
others, and the
y own evidence,
imits of a letter
d school, and I
author of the
harp has shown
' the evidence
)pathic system
former part of
ation that the
ilf-evident; so
ideed so ; aad
' inflammation
be old school,
e ! "Ex uno,
! of that great
> possessed a
who induce'i
Jaa, wounds,
>t a HomoQo-
to its fullest
urgent cases,
perience waa
ed in inflam-
students at
lieve in the
as yet, from
"flh." (See
19
the diseases just enumerated. He only tried a few— I think six— medicines,
and very properly confined his testimony to those which ho had himself
used ; and with a candour that did hira honour, confessed in a letter, now
published, to his friend Dr. Quin, that had ho known of these remedies
before, he should have saved many patients much protracted suffering, and
in some cases, he thought, probably their lives; concluding with the
expression of his opinion — and with how much feeling we may well imagine
that the life of his own father would have been saved, had these remedies
been used instead of the lancet.
But I shall let this pass, and spare the feelings of others of the profession
around, by not contrasting the conduct of this great surgeon with that
which they are pursuing. Leaving the evidence of individuals (and those
not Homoeopathists) as to the efficacy of Homoeopathic remedies, I hasten
to bring forward public proof — the proof of statistics, — together with the
testimony of a high medical official, and also one opposed to Homosopathy.
Both of these testify to this efficacy, even in that most terrible disease
which has ever afflicted man, I mean Asiut-o Cholera. T cannot but regret
that I am compelled at the same time to convict the very heads of the
profession, in their blind prejudice against Homoeopathy, of a conspiracy
against truth, and against humanity itself.
I refer to the last visitation of cholera in London, when the Government,
anxious for the future welfare of the community, determined to adopt the
surest means of deciding what waa really the most efficient treatment of
this disease. Hence the establishment of a Medical Committee of the
Board of Health, with the President of the Royal College of Physicians at
its head ; and also the appointment of a most experienced Medical Inspector
of the Cholera Hospitals. By means of printed forms, which were furnished
to each Hospital, all the circumstances of each case, its nature and virulence,
the treatment adopted, and the effects and results of such treatment, were
daily registered, and all under the constant supervision of the official
inspector. The accurate statistics thus obtained were, lastly, considered
and digested by this Medical Board, and, finally, reported on to Government.
I feel humbled in recording to you that this paid Board — these heads of
the profession, to whom Government had confided so important, so sacred
a trust — deliberately, designedly, suppressed the statistical report of the
Homojopathic Cholera Hospital ! Thit report testified that, by the
HovioRopathic treatment of Asiatic Cholera, above two-thirds were cured,
while, according to the aggregate statistics of the other Cholera Hospitals,
above two-thirds died. In what other language can I truly designate this
conduct of the Medical Board, but as a conspiracy against the truth and
against humanity ?
Truth, however, whether the truth of Homoeopathy or of any other kind,
although often attempted to be thrust deeply into the well, will eventually
rise to the surface. Parliament demanded the whole truth ; and then
appeared to all the vast superiority of the Homoeopathic over every other
kind of treatment in Asiatic Cholera. This Medical Board found refuge
for their conduct in the manifesto which I now quote ; — " To publish,"
plead they, " the returns from Homoeopathic practitioners, would be to
give an unjustifiable sanction to an empirical practice, alike opposed to the
,:_i e i^~,.ix. ~^A
20
Let me briefly examine this plea set up by the Board of Health, and
justify my stronj,' condemnation. I take their own words. Homoeopathy
is not "empirical;" it does not use secret remedies; and all tho medicines
are given upon certain JixeU and established principles, viz., on the law of
Bimile.
That the record of treatment furnished by tho Homa5opathic Cholrr;
Hospital waa not, in any sense, " opposed to the truth," their own Medical
Inspector, Dr. Macloughlin, testified. I quote his words -.—"All I saw,"
saya he, " were true ams of Asiatic Cholera, in the various stages of the
disease ; and I saw several cases that did well under the ITonuropathic
treatment, which, I have no hesitation in s<iying, would have sunk binder
any other /"
What is meant by the third allegation, that Ilomojopathy is " opposed to
tho progress of science," I confess that I know not. That it is founded
on a true, simple, intelligible, and scientific basis— the law of stmtVc— I do
know. And liow triumphantly it is contrasted, in this respect, with the
old system of medicine, where each country, nay, where each college in the
same country, has ofttimcs its own particular system, such as Broussais'
in France; Armstrong's and Clutterbuck's, in London; and Cullen's
Brown's &c., &o., in Edinburgh; while now, each and all of these are
exploded and modified into something else ! In Homoeopathy, there is no
division into sects ; all its followers adopt the same principle of practice
founded on the same scientific basis,—" Similia similibus curantur." We
may safely adopt that system as the best which cures the best; and if the
Homoeopathic is so immeasurably superior to the old system in Asiatic
Cholera, a disease so rapid and so terrible in its progress (and this superiority
has been proved in all other Hospitals as well as in London), we have
evidence of efficacy and power which might well be expected to be also
manifested in other diseases; and such truly is the ..
It is gratifying to my own luind to record any instaricfi of candid and
honorable conduct on the part of our opponents. ' i< I otanot forbear
quoting the public testimony of that high-minded man, Dr. Macloughlin
the Government Inspector of Cholera Hospitals. He confesses that he is
not a Homoeopathist, "either ^- education, by practice, or by principle •"
Latyet he makes this remarkai -le statement, that, "were it the will of
FrovidPDce to afflict me with Cholera, and to deprive me of the power of
pri-fli bi ig for myself, I would rather be in the hands of a Homoeopathic
^-!;f<n„ .A ',1-f'j.athic adviser." ^
Pai-ac statistics equally prove the superiority of the Homoeopathic
treatment in all other diseases, and furnish " testimony," says Dr. Cockbum
"which our opponents have in vain attempted to distort, twist and explain •
tue facts remain unaltered and speak for themselves." As it is always
best to take the testimony of an opponent, I quote from Dr. Sharp's essays
the statistics of a few diseases carefiUly collated by him from Dr. Routh's
" Fallacies of Homoeopathy."
As these statistics, thug collated, were the Doctor's own, and made
such an impression on his mind as to induce him, in some of the diseases
to use the means of cure in his own practice (aa already noticed), and
never to resort to the lancet since, we may safelv assume thfiir a««nra«'
tup: old system.
Deatlifl per cent.
24.
13.
13.
22.
10.6
^1
The following are the severe diseases mentioned, with their treatment, and
the comparative results of the two systems — the new and the old : —
HOMOIOPATHIC TREATMENT.
Deaths p<)r cent.
Inflammation of the Lungs 6.7
Do. of the Side rPleuritlH) 3.
Do. of the Bowels 4.
Dypentery 3.
All Diseases 4.
I am sorry that I cannot, in the compass of a letter like this, present
you with the various statistical tables, including all the chief diseases of the
body, and which have been drawn up with the utmost precision, under the
supervision of physicians both of the new and of the old Hchool; in some
cases, as in Russia and Bavaria, by command of Government. Without
any exception, the results are very greatly in favour of the Ilomaopathxc
treatment. , „
I shall not, however, occupy more space iti heaping proof upon proot,
being satisfied that what I have now adduced, must be quite sufficient to
convince every candid mind. The examples of cure which have occurred
in my own practice, were selected from the number of those which hud not
been found curable on the old system of medicine. This selection was
made with the two-fold purpose of proving that diseases arc not only readily
cured by Homoeopathic medicines, but cured where »he old plan of treatment
has been found inefficient.
I find that I have not cited any cases of cure of severe disorders ot the
stomach and bowels, as indigestion, sickness, diarrhoea, &c. ; I must,
therefore, injustice, simply remark that, in the severest forms of indigestion,
with nil its long train of troublesome symptoms. Homoeopathic medicines
possess an efficacy which is truly remarkable. Nor must I forget to record
their power in diseases of the lungs, and in consumption itself In the
last three months, I have had the deep gratification of perfectly restoring
eight cases, which had been declared to be hopeless and incurable con-
sumption, by their medical attendants; and four other "hopeless" cases of
consumption are, at this present time, steadily progressing to recovery.
One of these four cases is a dear and near relative of my own, who has
been afflicted above two years, and exhibited the severest symptoms of
the disease ; as profuse spitting of blood, severe hectic fever, purulent
expectoration, great emaciation, and the usual gastric symptoms. Medicine,
except a palliative at bedtime, had been given up. Having proved the
remarkable efficacy of Homoeopathic remedies in several cases of con-
sumption, I at once proceeded to the distant county of the lady's residence,
and adopted the Homoeopathic system. In the three weeks that have
elapsed since my visit, the most cheering and gratifying results have
already occurred, and hopeful anticipations are restored to her family.
But, as before observed, I should fill a volume, were I to attempt to,
recount the evidences and proofs of the power of Homoeopathic remedies,
and must at once desist. r i. xi
Those of you who have already experienced the benefit of the Homoea-
pathic treatment, or who have taken an interest in the subject, will lend
willing credence to the truths which I have endeavoured to show and to
i t
4
substantiate; while those >»ho have been halting between two opinions--;
betweon the old and the new, the worde and the better r>ystein— must, I
feel assured, have had their minds awakened by the only testimony that
can be of any value, namely, practical trial. Homa/)pathy is a fact resting
upon evidence, and not upon mere reasoning. It is a strong fact— one
which jou cannot fail to appreciate — that ffomoeopathists ^ rest their whole
on experimental testimony. They challenge thorough investigation and
the test of proof ; but the profession only responds with cunning arguments,
or subtile reasoning, and will not look through the telescope.
Homoeop.ithy has passed through the first stage of opposition from the
profession, that of raillery and jest. It is now far advanced in the second
stage, viz., that of abuse, and ere long, it will enter the third or last stage,
that of general adoption. It is sad to read the almost weekly torrent of
abuse poured forth by some medical journals, which serves only_ to shew
the extent of the alarm now pervading the ranks of the profession, that
" their craft is in danger." But vain is the attempt to tlirust forth the
new light of Homoeopathy, and vain is the cry that " Diana is great."
It is a humiliating thought, that the medical profession has ever treated
its grandest discoveries in the same manner. But, much as Homooopathists
have had to endure, and are yet enduring, from the obloquy of their
brethren, they have been persecuted less than either Hervcy, the discoverer
of the circulation of the blood, or Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination.
These two physicians were called madmen; Komoecpathists are only
stigmatized as " fools and impostors, and the vilest of quacks." (See
Lancet.) We are but villified, thrust out of communion, and abused, for
curing diseases ; while Jenner was anathematised, and accused of blasphemy,
for preventing or mitigating small pox, " visited upon man by Heaven," as
well as for " engrafting every kind of beastly disease, common to cattle,
" amongst human kind." Nay, more, King and Parliament were called
upon from the chairs of professors to crush the evil doers ; whilst in our
day, Parliament is petitioned to disseminate the blessing of Homoeopathy
amongst military hospitals at the seats of war ; such petition, addressed to
Lord Panmure, being signed by Bishops, Dukes, Lords, and other members
of the aristocracy, to the number of about 700 !
It v/ould be instructive, and certainly amusing, had I space, to enumerate
the " positive evidence" adduced by physicians of those days— men who
occupied the chief places — of newly-vaccinated children beginning to
"cough like cows," — of protuberances making their appearance on their
foreheads, " resembling the horns of an ox,"— of strange swellings breaking
out in their faces, " so that the child's mouth resembleth the muzzle of a
cow," — of " long hair beginning to grow on various unaccustomed parts of
the body," — nay, of long tumors " like unto the rudiments of u cow's tail."
springing up on the back ! These, and many other " facts," were gravely
put forth by London Physicians, " having testimony yet more and more" of
such monstrous transformations and appendages ! Whereas, the only
monstrous thing ascribed to Homoeopathy is, that its medicines cure
diseases which they ought not to have cured ; and still worse, cure ihera,
in not a few instances, where the old system of medicine had wholly failed
to do 80, and this, despite all the hypothetical arguments of the old school
of physic to prove that they have no power whatever I
23
of Homoeopathy
ion, addressed to
id other members
3 medicines cure
The public, however, became at length convinced of the blessing of
vaccination, as it is now fast becoming convinced of the equal blessing of
Homoeopathy ; and then, why the profession, of course, became convinced
aJgOj — they looked through the telescope !
In closing these brief and imperfect remarks, I may observe, that I have
withheld much that I wished to say ; and had the present been the
appropriate opportunity, I should have exposed the extraordinary miscon-
ception and misrepresentation concerning Homoeopathy, so prevalent in
this town and neighborhood, as well as elsewhere. I have also refrained
from commenting on the clashing systems, and equally varying treatment,
adopted by professors of the old school of physic. But the time is certainly
at hand when our youths shall no longer be taught that " bleeding is the
right arm, and mercury the left arm," in the treatment of any disease ; but
when the safe, the speedy, the truly effective, and the unrepugnant system
of Homoeopathy shall alone be tolerated.
So certain are Homoeopathists that this time is approaching, that the
projects to build Hospitals are, by many, discountenanced ; inasmuch as
the existing ones must, ere long, cease to be conducted as they are, and the
Homoeopathic treatment alone permitted in them. This point remains, of
course, to be settled by the Governors of those Hospitals ; and when wo
consider how rapid and general is the spread of Homoeopathy, it would be
idle to doubt that this consummation is far off; for it is not alone amongst
the learned, the enlightened, the rich and the great, that it has taken so
deep and so wide-spread a root ; but I now myself bear them record, that the
poor cherish it and seek after it, at least in an equal degree. Though I
have always had the gratification of giving my advice to the sick poor, at
my own house, yet that advice is now sought in a ten-fold greater degree
since I have treated them on the Homoeopathic system ; so that I feel called
upon, when at home, to see them at night as well as in the morning : for I
found that several had come even five or six times at the morning hours,
unsuccessfully, to consult me ; other professional engagements preventing
me from devoting more than a certain time to seeing them. I feel, then,
that I am not out of place in pressing upon you the facts just narrated ;
for I think that I have showed, that it is the urgent desire of the sick poor,
to have bestowed upon them the blessing of Homoeopathic treatment.
I wish to touch but gently, and with a sparing hand, on the evils which
necessarily environ the old system of treating disease ; and I would refrain
from comment on the direct weakening and sapping r,f the vital energies of
the body, by the powerful, though insidious operation of some drugs, such
as calomel ; and the immediate^ and more manifest effect of others, aided,
as often happens, by the lancet, lee jhes, cupping, &c. They are accustomed
to be looked upon as necessary means to the end, and both patient and
practitioner are wont to view their inroads on the constitution, as merely
evidences of the violence and obstinacy of the disease ! I pass even all
this over, to fix attention on a more dangerous, because a more unsuspected
cause of ruined health, — I mean the retention of drugs within the system.
We have some idea of the effects of the long continued use of bad water,
especially if flowing through leaden pipes, or from a leaden cistern, of
impure air, and such like, and avoid them when we can do so ; how much
more hurtful to the delicate organization of our bodies, must be the
n
24
obstructive and contaminating presence of drugs ! All medical men know
and confess, that the continued use of digitalis (fox glove) is to be guarded
against, because, when it accumulates in the system, as it is termed,
dangerous syncope or leath is not the unfrequent consequence. But the
evil effects of other drugs, not directly poisonous, and of a vegetable as well
as of a mineral nature, such as aloes, colocynth, gamboge, &c., are seen,
when administered, in costive habits for a lengthened or indefinite period ;
the accumulation in the system b^ing uncared for, and, indeed, unthought
of. Even calomel, or blue pill, in children especially, is little stinted,
provided it c'oes not " touch the mouth;" that is, produce salivation.
This is a vitally important subject, — one that demands the calm and
serious reflection of all. There is no room to doubt, but that the deposition
and retention of drugs within the system, is not an uncommon cause of
disorders ; from a simple feeling of derangement of health, to serious illness ;
and what is worst of all, a hidden cause, and one unsuspected alike by the
patient and the doctor. As this mischievous property of drugs has not, so
far as I am aware, formed the subject of special medical inquiry, or at least
of medical revelation, the evidence which I shall now adduce, may impress
some with surprise, and others with the wish to disbelieve, but the facts
are incontrovertible.
Dr. Macleod, of Benrhydding, after detailing some remarkable cases of
shattered health from this very cause, and the subsequent recovery of the
patients after the perceptible extraction of mercury, aloes, colocynth, &c.,
from the body, thus writes, — " The cases described illustrate the fact, that
medicinal remedies taken for some time, remain in greater or less quantity,
and for various periods, in the system ; and that their presence either
occasions diseased actions, or prevents their removal when present." He
then adds, — " The baneful effect of medicines, in this point of view, have
not been sufficiently considered by the profession^ After giving other
examples where medicines had been tangibly extracted by the processes of
the water cure, he thus continues : — " These second cases are important,
as they indisputably prove that vegetable medicinal substances may bo
retained within the system, and while there produce, even long after the
patient has ceased to take them, serious and baneful effects upon the
functions and organs on Avhich they specially act, and ultimately upon the
whole organism itself." " It is not," continues he " merely that these
medicines so derange the tissues of the organs aa to prevent them from
acting in a healthy manner, aft«r their use has been given up, but it is
likewise, I believe, in consequence of the substances remaining in the
organs that their functions are so modified."
He then gives indisputable proof of the extraction of mercury, (which
had been taken some years before), as evinced by its producing, during its
elimination, profuse salivation, the intense mercurial foetor of the breath,
and the usual inflamed and ulcerated state of the gums and mouth. Such
drugs as aloes, were extracted tangibly, and washed out of the compresses
that had encircled the body ; it also made the patient's room offensive with
the distinct vapor of aloes !
Would that the medical profession would lay these things to heart, for
they may rest assured that the public are now awake to the subject, and
are dninw sn !
25
aercury, (which
ngs to heart, for
the subject, and
In what a different light does Homosopathy present itself to us I Here
the small dose of the pathogenetic specific, or appropriate remedy, is
directed to act on the susceptible vitality, or nervous power ; or I may say
the life of that part, and that part only, which is in a state of disorder or
disease. By such specific influence, the disordered action is overcome and
corrected, the healthy functions of the part restored, and the body is placed
in its wonted state of health. M contaminating drugs arc left in the
system, and, no weakening or destroying of the powers of life has hem
incurred in the process of cure.
Such considerations lead me to allude to one other matter, Avhich greatly
concerns the recipients of your benevolence ; and should also interest
yourselves, as Governors of the Hull General Infirmary, and, indeed, the
whole commanity ; it is, the comparatively quick restoration to health and
strength, when a patient is cured by the new system of medicine, as com-
pared with the old. When an individual has had the advantage of the
Homoeopathic treatment, so soon as the disease is overcome, he feels himself
well, and shortly returns to his usual occupation. But, when he gets
through his complaint on the old system of medication, a long, long period
of convalescence has, too often, to be endured ; for the man has to make up
for the blood of which he has, in all probability, been drained ; or previously
sound parts have to be restored to their former healthy condition, having
been blistered or burnt, scoured and irritated, in order to shift or remove
the disease from some distant part of the body, which was really and only
affected : or the natural functions of various parts are left in a state of
irritation, or of disorder, from drug disease, &c., and thus the patient is
long detained from returning to his labor, on which depends the support
of himself and family ; his bed and board must still be found him,— he
must still be kept in the Medical Charity, and occupy room to the exclusion,
it may be, of some other suffering applicant. Would that this were not so
true a portraiture in liospital practice 1 It is, indeed, a matter of no
unfrequent, nay often of almost necessary occurrence, under the old heroic
system of medication ; but it is one which would not happen in the
Homoeopathic treatment of disease. Let it not be inferred that in these
remarks I am making special allusion to the Hull Infirmary ; such is not
the fact. _ Others, like myself, may escape the evils, or most of them, by
laying aside the usual routine of practice ; by not, in fact, doing that which
the old system itself incnlcates. I shall explain myself more fully shortly.
Happily for mankind, the old school of physic is being inoculated with
the new system of treating disease ; and some of the Homoeopathic remedies
are (though without due acknowledgement) adopted by it. But whether,
like Mr. Listen, practitioners of the old school will magnanimously proclaim
the extraordinary efiicacy of Homoeopathic remedies, or they will go on to
use them quietly, Homoeopathists view with delight this homage to their
system, and to t"uth. Nay, so great is the influence of Homoeopathy, that
the old-school practitioner now gives frequent pause even to his lancet
seeing with what facility acute inflammation is subdued by Homoeopathic
medicine alone. But yet more, it is a matter of congratulation to the
community, and one that speaks trumpet-tongned to the profession, that, in
the chief medical society in Edinburgh, the great question for deliberation
this session is, — whether blood-letting be really bcnefcial in inflammation
3
26
I Ifl
1
of the lungs ! Had any practitioner of the old school but hinted such a
thing a few years ago, he would liave been laughed at. The Iloiuceopathist
views these things as signs of the times, too significant to be misunderstood.
It is not strange that all this should have been foreseen just eighteen years
ao-o, by an acute author, opposed to Homoeopathy. Dr. Millingen, Surgeon
to the Forces, and Physician to the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum, in his
" Curiosities of Medical Experience," says, — " The Homoepathic system is
destined to operate a gradual but material revolution in the practice of
medicine." And he yet more forcibly states that — " He can prove, by the
evidence of facts, supported by practical reasoning, that the art of healing
is more indebted to the Homoeopathic doctrines, than to any system that
has hitherto been delivered in our schools !" This is candidly acknowledged
by one while writing against the doctrines of Hahnemann ! The few
Homoeopathic remedies which Mr. Listen tried — the extraordinary eflScacy
of Wi'iicli he proclaimed to his class — and acknowledged also in a letter,
now published, to Dr. Quin, will soon prove the little leaven that leavens
the whole lump. Others will take a few more of the remedies, bit by bit,
until the whole Homoeopathic system be adopted.
I beg, however, not to be understood as condemning, in toto, the old
system of medicine, — thi'^ would be an injustice. On the contrary, there
are a few, and but a few — men of experience, of calm thought and solid
judgment — under whose guidance, the old system of medicine becomes
efficient in the cure of disease. It will ever be found, that such men select
drugs whose medicinal effects are of certain, or well-ascertained powers ;
there is a definite simplicity in their prescriptions, — a self-evident purpose,
— and above all, they avoid that most universal evil of jumbling up divers
drugs into the same mixture.* It is these who are always the most
successful in their treatment of disease ; yet, it rarely happens, that they
are the most looked up to by their professional brethren, or most thought
of by the public. There are, however, the more rational few who have
been under their care, whose confidence and attachment are unbounded.
It is too often the bold, the energetic practitioner — the man who assaults
disease, as it were, by storm — the man of many appliances and expedients
— he who bleeds or cups to-day, and blisters on the morrow — the man of
pills and mixtures — that is looked up to by the admiring surgeons, and too
oft, it may be, by the confiding sick, whose confidence he does indeed
" mightily abuse." Such a man often " takes the lead," or is the " success-
ful" man in his town — as to the number of fees. But, it is of him that
Sir John Forbes, one of our present Court physicians, writes, when he says
— " Nature often cures the disease in spite of the doctor." Yet he turns
this very conflict with nature to account, and cunningly calls it a triumph
over the obstinacy of the disease ; and should the sick man recover, he is
henceforth taught to consider his doctor invincible ! Be the old system
of medicine, however, ever so judiciously practiced, it lacks, greatly lacks,
the simplicity, the safety, the power, and the efficacy of the Homoeopathic.
Such, I repeat, is my firm, my honest conviction ; — a conviction established
on proof and practical testimony. As to the old system, I have myself
endeavoured to practice it for twenty-seven years on the first model, and
witnessed with regret the practice of some others, on the second.
« It iB well kuowu llml a, Ule physiomu of Hull waa in llie Imbil of prosciibiug from twoivo to
flfloen (lifforcnt medicines in one mixture ; and of directing a pill, also formed of from live to eight
drugs, to be taken with each dose of this mixture.
Z1
I was duly forewarned, that in proclaiming my adoption of the Homoeo-
pathic system, I should be offered up a sacrifice to the offended old school ;
and the professional standing in that school, which, in the course of my
lonn- practice as a physician, has been accorded to me, will be my first sacri-
fice The first Medical Society in the kingdom, the British Medical and
Surgical Association, which comprises among its members the foremost m
the profession, did me the honour, about five years ago, to elect me their
president; and at the expiration of my year of office, constituted me per-
petual vice-pre,^ident. This Association will now, to my regret, require of
me the sacrifice of resignation, or I must suffer expulsion/--' Strange, pass-
in-^ stran'-c, that just five years ago, when the Association held its annual
meeting at Brighton, I opened its proceedings as its prf i<^ent ; there were
also present at that annual meeting, the President of the Royal College of
Physicians, and the President of the Royal College of burgeons, when,
after deliberation and discussion. Homoeopathy and Homoeopathic physi-
cians were alike denounced ! , ,. , , t , i mi
Sine" the first edition of this letter was published, I have been compelled
to resi-n the honourable position of Senior Physician to your Infirmary—
and also to the Hull Dispensary,-an office which I have held for twenty-
seven years. As 1 stated to the General Meeting of subscribers, I resigned
rather than I would treat my patients on any other than the Homoeopathic
^^'^Akhou-h a large body of the most influential Governors were desirous
that two wards should be appropriated for the Homoeopathic treatment ot
patients yet as they did not form a mmuriml majority, I determined lor
the pecuniary good of the Infirmary, to tender my resignation :— for 1
knew that, had my request been denied by a vote of the meeting a very
large nuu-bcr would at once have withdrawn their annual subscriptions. _
Such then, are the reasons for leaving the unsatisfactory and uncertain
paths of the old Hchool of physic ; and such the kind of evidence that has
mmpclhd me to sec and acknowledge the truth and inestimable value ot the
new the more satisfactory, and the more certain system of Homoeopathy.
And yet, truly, some find it no light matter to pay sacrifice to truth ; and
how oft does every paltry passion in our nature take alarm at being oflered
up to her Pride— professional pride— refuses to bend her head to the con-
fession, that she has for a life-long while— with all her assumption of super-
ior knowledge-been really the dupe of school and college-taught systems.
Self-interest takes the alarm, and clings to her present securities of profes-
sional profit. Fear puts her trembling fingers to her lips, and shrinks from
encountering the jeer and the scorn of those who cannot, or dare not, think
for themselves, and would afright others from doing so. Prejudice, with
darkened brow, frowns on the light of truth, and will not come to the light.
While Falsehood says, " 'tis a lie, and all its followers are impostors.
♦ At its Inst annual mooting, nt Nottingham, two montlis ago, I was expelled I
+ It was purely the opposition organized by the Medical .^tafT of the Infirmary, that ircvented the
arrln^rm^aXmboing carried iido elloct ; and tl.cy issued a " Protest '- aganmt me What a sad
gieXc^^ viiut b" It^coudemnatio^^ was here ; and, it n.uy b. added, what a trumndi for the cause
of truth 1 For if they knew that their own words were tr.r..-lf they had just grounds for the r asser-
tions-, any ovideuc» .hat Homa-opathy was the delusion and i™P««'''»» ''^'^Jf f'-'^„^'',i \^ ^'''
whv di they not seize upon such an opportunity of detecting and exposing it ? Yea, I oftercd to sub-
mit the cases of my patients, and their treatment, to the surveillance of a duly a|)pomted coram.ttee
Sf medical men "surely a sufficient proof of my reliance on the groat truths ot Homa-opathy, a„d on
I'eWandVowerlfitsremedic's ; but th.y shrunk from thisj.,r^a,^^^^ clam,,,ea
for uiy dismissal I Thvi jacc spcaJcs tmmpaimiyuat, anu iv.l* i^i „ocn ...j!n.K. ?- —•-'■■■
28
I
I
May not Dickens, in his present work, " Little Dorrit," be considered as
hitting off the old colleges of physio in his celebrated " Circumlocution
Office," where the great object was to quench the progress of the age, and
to show how not to do it ? Do not the Mr. Tite Barnacles of the Circum-
locution Office aptly represent the doctors and Medical journals, that look
down ia amazed contempt on any poor " Clennam " like myself who makes
inquiry into the truth of a thing, and " wants to know "?— " I say,— look
here— you must not say you want to know, you know," says Mr. Tite
Barnacle ;— you must not '•' want to know " the truth of Homoeopathy, say
the doctors,— and if we still seek to know, straightway they cast us forth
from amongst them as troublesome intruders.
But, assuredly, in the venerable colleges of physic. Homoeopathy is ap-
pearing like the handwriting on the wall ; while the terrible pen of Truth
inscribes thereon — " Ichabod ! Ichabod ! "
Thus, having counted the cost of daring to think for myself,— of daring
to investigate, practically, the Homoeopathic doctrines, doctrines which so
deeply affect the medical profession,— I honestly and fearlessly avow my con-
victions of their truth and inestimable value '; and this I do after much
diligent and careful enquiry— after having subjected them to every mode
of proof that my mind suggested and of which they were capable. Al-
though by no means ambitious of becoming a martyr, I am yet prepared,
for Truth's sake, to pay tiie penalty,— be that penalty the loss of friends or
the loss of profit, with both of which I have been threatened. One loss, at
least, I shall not suffer, — the loss of that self-respect which upholds every
right-doer. Como what may, there will remain the consciousness of integ-
rity.
I am, my Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,
Your very obedient Servant,
FEWSTER ROBERT HORNER, M. D.
In thus attesting tliat the nomoe:)p.itliic is the most cfTicaeinus and tlio best sys-
tem of mod cine, I l)y no me ins io-noro or cast iiside otlier aids. Four years ago,
I made striii!,'ent enquiry into tho Hych-opatiiic system of treatincr disease ; to this
end I went to reside a lew weeks at the Eenrhydding Institution, and iiapponing
to bo suffering at lliat time from considerable debility, &c., the result of a recent
illness, 1 tested in my own person tiic effects of various processes of the •• water
cure." But more, my profession gave me ready access to the patients at the es-
tablishments, all of whom willingly comiaunicated to me a history of their com-
plaints and the effl'cts of the treatment. I convinced myself, from personal observ-
ation and enquiry, that, in many cases, the system is a most valuable one and a
powerful aid in there-establishment of the health.
In simple, or in inflammatory fevers,— and in all those cases of broken-down and
shattered health, olten the combined effect of disease, and of the action, or reten-
tion of drugs within the system,— the power of the water cure is pre-eminently
seen. But, without specifying other diseases, or entering further into its merits,
or noticmir various other means, such as galvanism, &c., &c., of relieving human
suffenng, I unreservedly state that it is the duty of every physician to seek out,
and to avad himself of, all means,— come they from what source they may,— which
wdi benefit his patients. Snch an one will prove himself most worthy, and will
secure the confidence of the public. The trammels ot " legitimate medicine,"— or
"orthodox practice," as it is called, with which the mass and the unreflectine of
the pvoiessiou are willing to be enchained, can no longer, in these enlightened "days
of scientific progress and discovery, enslave the thinking and the enquiring mind.
APPENDIX.
. - i,t ;f npoos^arv to make wMlliona to this pamphlet, but again
duced. ^ .. „f^tnthi<r that whrnl wrolcthi3 "Ixttcr,"my
object W119 but to lay belore Y'!^^^,^™.^^^,, .^e the conviction that Homceo-
ple, and undeniable evidence which f"'«;;,^«.';P'^" JJ'j thus to justify myself before
pathy was, indeed, the true system ^^ "^^f';'f^;,dX tJie steps I felt bound, there-
them, both for so great a diange m my ^J-^Jf' '^"'*f J^t ^ thought at the time, that
fore, to take in respect of t^^ieir n>«J'';'^^^J '^^^^^^^^^ fonJ and watchful inquiry,-an
in thus making known to tl;emnie result o^ my Ion ^^^.^^^^ feelings, as step
inquiry chequered in its Pf ^^f ' ^ '? "^^ my mind, -discovering the darkness
by step new and strange light broke ;" "P°" ™y "^^ ^ ,at my little pamphlet was
of former knowledge,*-! say ^f \^,\f ,"^3 done ;-Say,^I add in all sincerity
destined so to serve the cause ?/ truth as it ^as ^«"« . n J. ^^ atification.
of prejudice and ignorance. .v j feel convinced that it is, as yet, but
^In respect t« the science of nonceopa^^^^^^ ^^^^^,^^ developra.nt,-its
in its youth. Its powers await yet ^''§^^^^]'^ ^^ ^ed and experienced to be
full efficacy in di8ease,-great as that efficacy s n(gv pro ^^.^^ ^^„,,^t ^,
-has yet to be perfected and ^^^f * to ligh . ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ j „j.
^^i^^^:^::^^^^^ -^-^^^ -' '''-' "'"^' ''-
penetrate every part of the human f^-^^^rj^t^^body can thus be influenced and
Sbat it is my belief, seeing that every part »* tbe D^y t ^^ ^^^
act^d upon-that all the diseased «.ct^ons in those gr^^^^^^^ ^^ b^ ^^^
trolled, corrected, and brought back into a s^ate oj nea ^^ experience
school of physic teaches that many diseases are ^^^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ .,
tell him that they are so— since "le very p ^ unknown to him, because
founded in error, and the.real ^f^'-^'^^^^f ^', ^ J^s'^^^^ assigned, we should do
of their multifarious '^d^"^^^,^^ ji'^'diK^^^ l^it to the power and
injustice to the science of Homceopainy, "'".J i^ : ^gg^
e^caey of remedies, rightljr ^'^"^^^/^^^f curc^^ iFty of al^^^^ ^ i«^^"^« °°*- °^
eouJre ZetTmpKSe" L^^setaeS't^becked in its career, has term..
mind while dcterminertly w -'kiug out my resc^r h mto the ^^^^^^^^ ^^J^ . ^i, ^^ it wa.
Mv Wend now much regrets lliat he diil """■ l'^^=,„, ",,' r Jthe struggling with convictiona,— the
not wr^itten with any such view. TJo res.stonco "f ^"bdief the sir gg j^^^^^ .^
cautious advancement.-as the truth '^^^J^^^^'^Zi^i^i would at least have shown tbat it is not
Mnfldcncc of private frierdship, unreservedly c^^^^^ ^^^, to relinquisU doctrine, long
3*
30
ated in tlic destruction or disorganization of parts. But iu all cases of disease
short of tliis, duty to our patients, to ourselves, and to the principles we hold,
should urge us to hopeful perseverance in the use of our remedies.
Impressed with these views of curability of disease, by such perseverance in the
use of tiie adapted remedies, I have, in not a few recent instancia, met with success
in curing severe diseases, often found to be incurable ; and wliich had failed to be
relieved by Allopathic treatment. Some of these I take the opportunity of record-
ing, both as encouragement to the less confident, and as further practical testi-
mony of the efficacy and truth of that system I was happily led to examine, and
hence to adopt. At present I do little more than enumerate them ; reserving the
detail of the particulars of the most interesting for publication elsewhere.
The cases were, three of Epileptic fits ; one of which was of several years stand-
ing, occurring in a married gentleman ol middle age : the power of the Homoeo-
pathic treatment was evinced from the very commencement — removing the pain in
the head, want of slei^p, &c., and finally, the convulsive attacks ; the other two oc-
curred in young females ol IG and 20 years of age. Five cases of Palsy ; one in
a young lady 20 years of age, the other in males aged from 30 to 55 years ; on one
of these patients the cfiicacy of the remedy was clearly manifested ; thus, from cer-
tain causes, the medicine was intermitted for four or five weeks ; when, not only
was the hitherto progressive amendment stayed, but the patient greatly " fell
back," as he expressed it ; he is now quite restored. Three examples of " spinal
affection " in young females (with slight distortion of the spine.) Several cases
of Cephalalgia, or severe long standing pain in the head ; some of these have af-
forded me ilie utmost satisfaction ; two of the instances especially, where the suf-
ferers had been laid aside from important pursuits for some years, by the constancy
and severity of their sufferings. Two well marked cases of threatened Apoplexy.
Two of long standing swelling of the bones of the extremities. But to be brief, I
just enumerate the mere names of some other diseases, that were chiefly remarkable
for the severity or inveteracy of their attacks, and because also that they had not
been relieved by the " old remedies." Inveterate cases of " scald head," and some
other severe skin diseases ;— painful affections of the kidneys and bladder ;~ulcer-
ation of the bones of the nose and jaw bone ; — some long standing cases of " tic," and
also of rheumatic affections of the buck and lower limbs. To these I could add
several examples of internal disease, as of the liver, stomach and bowels, for which
the sufierers had in vain sought relief " in London," as well as elsewhere. I repeat,
that I allude to the above cases, inasmuch as, on account of their individual sever-
ity and long standing, they called for determined perseverance and reliance on the
powers of the remedies employed ; and secondly, because, in many of them, the
usual Allopathic medicines had failed. I shall refrain, however, from piling up
evidence on evidence, and proof uj)ou proof ; being satisfied that no unprejudiced
mind can resist the simple, unvarnished, yet stern truths which this little pamphlet
gives forth ;— truths, not dependant for their acceptance on mere argument or
reasoning, but, because they are established by the testimony of experiment, as
well as of experience ;— by evidence, plain and practical, and by proof, tested
and indisputable.
I confess that it is to me a matter of constant thankfulness that I was led to
see the truth of Homoeopathy ; and that I stumbled not at all those sacrifices
which its adoption entailed or threatened. I am not alone thankful for the sake
of those who seek my medical aid, but because, also, of the satisfaction, the reli-
ance, the confidence which is imparted to the mind when treating disease on this
true— this definite and intelligent principle ;— while simplicity and efficacy, safety
and power, are the characteristics of its remedies.
In all sincerity of feeling, I deplore the determined obduracy of the profession
in not practically enquiring into, and proving, the Homoeopathic treatment. Yea,
though on the one hand, their patients, aweary of drugs, blisters, and bleeding, are
leaviner them ; and on the nthpr. TTnmnpnnntliiofo om nrmnn' oMraatinrf tYr.rr' fpj.'f^"
sake of others as well as of themselves
adopt 1
, rational, and only sure way
SI
8 of disease
9 we hold,
at)cc in the
'ilh success
ailed to be
T of rccord-
:tical testi-
amine, and
serving the
e.
'ears stand-
le Ilomceo-
the pain in
ler two oc-
ay ; one in
rs ; on one
s, from cer-
II, not only
eatly "fell
of " spinal
eral cases
sc have af-
re the suf-
constancy
Apoplexy,
be brief, I
emarkable
ey had not
' and some
r ;~ulcer-
" tic," and
could add
for which
I repeat,
lual sever-
nee on the
them, the
piling up
prejudiced
! pamphlet
?ument or
riment, as
oof, tested
was led to
sacrifices
r the sake
1, the reli-
ise on this
icy, safety
profession
nt. Yea,
eding, are
. tit; i\M. tx:v*
1 sure way
of searching out the truth, they yet hold on in obstinate disregard to extremity. It
is pride-professional pride, that is at the root of this ; so few men can be brought
tx) conless to the worlS, or even to themselves, that their knowledge has hitherto
been a vain thing. Professors have lectured-authors have written upon-and
medical men have adopted a practice of medicine, which their pride, and ofttimes
self interest, forbid them even to question, much less to abandon ; and thus are
they bent upon pursuing their old accustomed cours^ and "Pl^olding it to the end.
But that cnS is at han3,-the public mind is enlightened- he truth is not only
Sjrceived, but fclt,-the sick and the afflicted amongst all classes of society, frorn
Se highest to the lowest, bear the record of restored hedth, (and o ten where the
dd tr^tmcnt has been tried in vain,) to the value, the blessing, of the new system
cure ; a record and sure testimony this, which no mere argument sophistry, or
abuse the profession can upturn or gainsav. For my own part I honestly avow
that such is the indisputable evidence oftfie truth ol «>«,.fl«°^°^°Pf ^''^i.^f. S'
and such the success I have met with in the cure of disease, that were I de^
barred from practising on this principle, conscience would compel me at once to
abandon my profession.
In the former part of this pamphlet, I very briefly ^ludcd to the testimony of
the first surgeon of the age, the late Mr. Listen, to the efficacy o he Homoeopathic
treatment. ^As Mr. Liston was well known to be a man of the most upright
honest and independent mind, and one who, untrammelled by routine, thought and
acted for himself, I think it well that the public should more fully know his senti-
ments and testimony respecting HomcEopathy ; and which he with a candour
that ever characterises a trulv great mind, hesitated not publicly to avow, both in
his lectures and in his published surgical works.
I proceed to quotc^t some length, Mr. Listens own words, from one of his
1-tur?8 delivered to the students at the North-London Hospital ; and I make the
.ct, not from an interested source, but from the Lancet itself, notorious for its
se d Homoeopathy. These observations of Mr. Listen are to be found in the
-s for February and April, 1836, and also in later numbers of that journal,
xlavinr' alluded to several cases of cure by the Homoeopathic medicine, in one
01 which he tells us, that after its administration, in " twenty-four hours the disease
had Se disappeared ; " and that in another, the patien " was cured in two or
thret^days, although in her previous attacks she was seldom under a fortnight ;
-heSJes to the students the result of his experience and reflections in the^e
words :-" Of course we cannot pretend to say positively, in what way this eflect
is produced, but it seems almost to act like magic ; howsoever, so long as we benefit
oui patients by the treatment wepursue, wchave no rigid to condemn tlj^ principle
onJSll treatmmt is recommmded and pursued tou know that this remedy
(beLdonna) is recomraond.xl by the Homoeopatliists in this affection, because it
product upon the skin a fiery eruption or effloresencc, accompanied by inflamma-
tory fever ;--' Smilm simiUbis curantur,' say they They give, m cases where a
gooVniglit's rest is required, those substances which generally, m healthy subjects
Suci'great restlessness ; instead of exhibiting, as others do, those medicines
termed sedatives. It is like driving out one devil by sending tn another.
"Ibelieve in the Homaopathic doctrinesio a certain extent ; but 1 cannot as yet,
from inexperience on the subject, go the length its advocates would wish in as far
iTegards the very minute discs of some of tlieir medicines. The medicines in the
JbJve cases were certainly given in much smaller doses than have ever hitherto
^^^^^'^TiTbmeficml effects, as you witnessed, are unquestionable. I have, hou-ever,
,een similar good effects of the belladonna, prepared according to the Ilommopatkic
Pharmacopeia, in a Ci^^oiyevy severe Erysipelas of the head and face, under the
care of my friend Dr. Quin. The inflammatory symptoms and local signs disap-
^ " -i, .__^ „-* rRT>!-ij*v "wuho-'t adopting the theorv of this medical
peareu wiiii very yrcat rHptMiij n.'..- &' — ^ — - — ,. ^^
sect, you ought not to reject its doctrines without due examination and enquiry. —
See'lancet, April 16th, 1836.
82
In the February number of the Lancet, Mr. Listen speaks of cures of Erjr-
tipelaa, by belladonna, " the most satisfactory and successful he had ever seen ;"
tcllinfir the students that " it was given on the HomcBopathic principle." And in
onother of the Lancet's reports of the North London Hospital, we read the gratify-
in;,' and important fact—" Aconite has superseded bleeding in many cases at this hos-
pital."— p. 807, Feb. 13th, 183C.
That iVlr. Liston's reliance on tlie great elTicacy of these Ilomoeopathic medi-
cines wliieii he liad tested, was confirmed, ho gives us proof in tlic second edition
of Ills worif, " The Elements of Surgery." For example, at page CI, ho again
testifies to tlie " great advantage and often the most extraordinary tfTect upon the
disease," from tlio Ilomceopatlnc remedy, belhidonna, in dose?, oi the sixteenth part
of a grain. In tlie same paragraph, he previously bears witness to the virtues of
another of our remedies, Aconite ; — " its exhibition," says he, " in this and other
inflammatory affections, is often followed by great abatement of vascular excite-
ment, so that the necessity for abstraction of blood is done away with ! "
I could adduce the letter of Dr. Quin, a IJomoeopalhio physician, and one of the
most esteemed friends of Mr. Tiiston, in which he informs me, that, but a few days
before this great surgeon's sudden death, he spoke of placing himself under his.
care, " if he did not soon begin to improve more rapidly."
As it will be satisfactory to my readers to know how it happened, that Mr.
Liston adopted the Ilomceopathie treatment in the various surgical diseases that
daily came under his care, I will quote from the obituary notice of this great sur-
geon, published by his friend, Dr. Quin. He says,—" In the course of our fre-
quent consultations and conversations, we generally communicated to one another
any interesting facts, or casts, occurring in our respective practice : and one day,
in the beginning of January, 1836, he was lamenting over the fatality that attend-
ed his treatment of the great majority of cases admitted into his hospital, with
erysipelas of the head ; and stated, that in the physicians' wards, the results were
much the same as in the surgical wards. I mentioned that I, also, had had several
very severe cases, but that they had every one recovered under Homoeopathic
treatment." Dr. Quin then relates how he took Mr. Liston to witness the treat-
ment of a very severe case of erysipelas of the head and face, — how Mr. Liston
visited the patient with him twice a day, — the great interest he manifested in the
case, — and his astonishment at beholding the rapid curative eirects of the aconite
and belladonna — the Homoeopathic remedies used. " Mr. Listen saw the medi-
cines prepared by me, and administered some of them himself ; he was so astonished
and satisfied with the beneficial results of the treatment, that he resolved to try
the aconite and belladonna. I suggested to him to prescribe one grain of the ex-
tract of aconite, to be dissolved in several spoonfuls of water, and a spoonful given
at intervals of several hours ; and to dilute the same quantity of belladonna, in a
much larger quantity of water, and give a spoonful in the same manner. He im-
mediately followed this suggestion, and the results are related in the following
extracts from the reports of the North London Hospital, contained in the Lancet
of the 6th and 13th of February, and the 18th of April, 1836."
" Encouraged by the success which had attended his administration of aconite
and belladonna in Erysipelas, Mr. Liston requested me to give him a few notes of
other diseases treated successfully by Homoeopathy, with the names of the medi-
cines usually prescribed by me for their cure. This I immediately complied with.
He subsequently informed me that he had employed tJ e following medicines with
great success : — Arnica montana, internally and externally, in severe contusions,
lacerations, and incised wounds ; rhus toxiMdendron, in sprains, luxations, and
Bwollen and painful joints ; nux vomica, in irritation of the bladder, obstinate con-
stipation, and in some cases of partial paralysis ; bryonia alba, in rheumatism, and
in arthritic pains of the joints ; chamomilla, in diar-hoea, and as a palliative in
toothache ; Pulsatilla, in retarded and suppressed discharges ; mercurius solubilis,
other medicines, the. effects of which are familiar to every Homoeopathic practi-
1
ires of Ery-
ever seen ; "
." And in
the gratify-
s at tkishoa-
)atliic medi-
;on(l odition
L, lie again
ct upon the
xlccnth part
ic virtuea of
is and other
ular excite-
id onn of the
a It'w days
lit' under his.
;d, that Mr.
scasos that
is great sur-
e of our fre-
onc another
nd one day,
that attend-
ppital, with
results were
had several
)mceopathic
i the treat-
Mr. Listen
ested in the
the aconite
J the medi-
) astonished
lived to try
I of the ex-
lonful given
donna, in a
!r. He im-
B following
I the Lancet
) of aconite
ew notes of
)f the medi-
plied with,
licines with
contusions,
ations, and
3tinate con-
latism, and
lallialive in
us solubilis,
i variety of
thic practi-
^
<
tloncr Mr. Liston was particularly struck with the action of aconite, in subduing
inflammation and reducing vascular excitement ; and he often expressed his regret
to me that the power of aconite to abate vascular over-action, and supercede the
necessity for the abstraction of blood in many diseases, was not known to him
S?er; because he was convinced that it would have prolonged the life of hm
father, whose death had been hastened, in his opinion, by lU-judgcd copious blood-
'^"'"fn numerous cases demanding surgical assistance to which I had called him
in in consultation, he invaraibly left the whole constitutional treatment to mo ;
and frequently alter his professional services wcrcno longer required he continued
hi^f visX Sely from the interest he took in watching the effects of the HomcEO-
P^^Drt!i\fcon?lX-^''h™f doubt that had Mr. Listen's valuable life
been spaS, S cnUghtcvcd example would have tended gnatly to dispel thepnjvr
dkl Skh prevent an impartial examination of the doctrines and practice of Hom-
'""^ After this deeply interesting and faithful testimony, which was published soon
aftorMrL Son's death,--aftcr Mr. Liston's own testimony, also published even
fntL /^ncritsclf-would it be believed, that, notwsthstandmg such evidence,
some onrmedica'prS-ssion of Hull have recently published statements, wholly
some 01 uiL iiiLu V, 1 „ a ginjjie dose of Homoeopathic medicine ;—
JS'IS b r*J?<i mfw,h';,.?u.h for Sing .1,0 fact! Kay oven tl,of«c|j, .nd
shame it s indeed, lamentable and humiliating to see how far m^»> «^?«»£
honoLble Sd ?espec^ are led from the paths of honesty and truth, in their
stylS iil,:n;i ami that il. a ma.fnor so' un.air und :!--'l.^t';;a ^ low™^^^
ttioir ronduct wholly pass" unwhipped of justice. It is in vain, uowevtr, luai.
SmlnsneffhfstanS seeing that he lit'erally knows nothing « f aU^ J^
faS" about ; he stands self condemned, inasmuch as he '^?"demns hat of w^^^^^^^
he irns" no knowledge. It must needs bo, that the mere prejudiced, selt-intercsted,
*^%u;"it isrSair conduct of the public medical journalists that I feel espe-
the mere word " Homaopatky " occurs or is alluded to
I
84
guch a procpdnrc ; anil, what Is more, stronglv suspect an opposition which thoa
Bhuns to meet its opponents, und liivrrinj? the doors— its pagca— fleos wiUiin itself
for refuge. The public will now k(!0 how it is, tiiat the aliigatioiH luul misrenre-
Bentiitionsof the various medical journals, arc not replied to ond refuted in their
own pages, — tliese are closed against ux ! , , , ,.
By m:iny it is counselled that we should bear all mwkly ; that the public, now
more cnlig^itcncd, will, nay is meoUng out to us full justice : and so it it ; but yet,
'tis well that all should know the true character of that opposition with which wo
have to contend ;— an opposition, which at one time stilles, and at another, civluni-
niates and would crush, the truth. He the fault our own, it we do not thorouj-'hly
enliKlitcn the public mind ; how else should tuev know hoio reckless is that
calumny which an alarmed profession, unmindful of its own derogation, both pri-
vately and through its journals, levels at lIomcKopathy.
Persecution never roofed out a creed ; religious history, which details to iis pnr-
secutioii-i the mo-it flerco, attests thi^^ ; so, the now rapid spreail of llimiocapathy
testifies tlie equal failure of medical per3'.icution,to stay the onward course of scien-
tific trutli. Yet 'tis well 'hat justice, public justice, though proverbially "lame
of foot," still overtakes to confound its violators ; but awards itself to truth.
li there, then, " no virtue extant " in the editor of a medii^al journal ?— Is lie,
in reality, the truculent, anti-hoinieopathic iiuiividual that !>e appears, in print, to
be? Is'lie a man of such more than R)m in virtue, that his immaculate love of
truth, his stern sense of public duty constrain him to pour forth condemnation on
the science of Homoeopathy ? Ix;'t us examine into, and unveil a little, this virtue,
—this truth,— this public duty,— this justice. Alas, 'twill soon aj)poar, that this
anti-h()ma\)pathic iadij;nation lacks ail semblance, of the " virtuous ;"— the man 13
a hireling,— he has his taslc-masters in his list of subscribers,— be his own private
opinions what they may, they must be abandoned, for he knows what is expecled
of his journal, and ho dares not eschew the bidding of those by whom he thrives !
Lot us in proof, select the very brightest example, the great Liberal himself,— the
professed rodresser of wrong, — the man who sought and gained popularity by the
profuseness of his liberal professions, and who the loudest put forth the cry of
" equal justice to all." Let us trace out the secret cause of the inimical attitude,
nay, fiery hostility, he now assumes towards Homoeopathy. I need but quote a
letter signed by the sulveditor of the Lancet, Dr. Betmett ; now I believe, sole, or
chief edFtor. It is addressed to Dr. Epps, and published by him in his Epitome of
Ilomoeopathy. After some preliminary remarks, the sub-editor says, " Mr. Wak-
ley would willingly have given your cases a place had it uot been fur the determined^
ovposition oj the subscribers and readers of the Lancet, to anything in the shape of
Ilomosopathy. When your case of htcmatemesis (spitting of blood) was inserted
last winter, wo received an avalanche of letters from all parts of the country,
couched in such termi, as to make 'v next to impossible for us to insert any further
communication of the kind." lie then expresses Mr. Wakley's regret that he miist
80 treat one for whom he had " personal regard ;" but he felt it imperative upon him
so to do !"
Comment is unnecessary ; — observe but how he " lets I dare not, wait upon I
would, like the poor cat in the adage " Tliat dread " avalanche of letters, couched
in such terms,"~ihi embodied threats therein to give up the journal, cripples his
" justice," and puts it out of joint,— turns " public duty," of which we heard so
much, to bare time serving and mere expediency ; — while truth, oright truth of
Homoeopathy, reviled, discredited, and set at naught, becomes the sport of foolish
mockeries ! *
♦Many professional rovilers, even yet, aro in tlie constant habit of tloclariiij;, tliat HoiiKcopnthy
consists of notUiiiK mure tliaii the Kivinj? of small, or iullnltc-saimal doses— as I hiivo jioiutcl out in tins
pamphlet,— <Ae sUe of the dote has nothing lo do with the principle (jf the tcience ; und that the Uomccopa-
thist may give as lartjo doses as he thinks riglit. ....,, , , „ 7
xtij.ii^ (j-ptr •v;-.s -hivrip 'j.-iTn.Tn'if.thv tl'.nv irn on Ulchina itt Ttmediif this is nommonly done cutn-
destineiy.bui wVtl)in''the"last month'a write/ in tho'lanca, Dr. fiiack, uas the assurance to put fortli
arsenic as a grand discovery of hit mm, for the cure of cholera. Ho is enthusiastic on its merits ;--
and well he may ;— but it ij an oW Uomaopaihic r«7B«dy,— recommended iu all Horaooopalhio writings I
^H
86
It rrloico3 mo, l.ow.vor, thai. T am cn.bU,..l to m^h out a fow illustrious and
nohl. t xc SI to this K.'noral dofan.atory con.luct of the muh l.oa pr..l.sH>o„ ; and
Tl ilNMlo i^^^ th5ir,uinu>s that it may ho »oon how th. liberal un. h.ghj
mfirt^iink anil write ..f I romcx^opathy ; though tlu-y them.elvc.« arc ol the old
"''"itm'SifSM Forbes observes-" ITahnemann (its Rreat U.mM was un-
undautited oner|ry. No •'"''^^^>» «^^*^.^7„^'J ' ['t,"^^^^ .^^fl a very extraordinary
^S^'^US bSn'l of j^ti r :;dmU £;U!:Jx^ no ^rou^. .. doubth^
nevertheless not be denied that /^.^ "^.l^" ' ' ''^ ./iJal lectures, professors, and
has its books, its journals, lis chairs, 'J« J' f P'''^'^' *; '"J,"^^^^^ u^y , ' attained this
most respeetable con.niunit.es to hc^ar "" J ^" J'^^,^,^ ^^ry^.^^^^^^ impartial
rank, it by no means deserves contempt ; but, on '^^f,^^"™^?. nroceeds :-'' Woe
investigation, H^^e all other systems ^^^^J^J^^S^l^'lL ,.t know
versity of the htate ot wew lorK, iuub ^ entitled to have its claima
?^/--" 'SS ^robS^of tlprotiiotisto'rer^ the truth ; and if
fairly investigated. I lie ooj^ti oi uk. i> „ ^j^j remed es are more effica-
it should turn out that m any '^SfJ^^'^^^^^^^^^^ to be
cious than those known to the o'-.^'^f^^^jf^^V^^^^^ their
used. It will not do for the members of '^^.f 'ff ''" J.",' '^,;,.,,. Tlie history of
dignity and to call the new system f/'" ' ~ which errors
tfU profession presents many lamentabetr^^mceyf^^^ their Recep-
have been clung lo, and improvements resisted. ^sec
ine pruiv^Bun , nhvBi.ians an.l surRoons taking
o^ rcmodicH, (a thiiiK they aro now doing ^" ?;8X,u.mf,nd8 that tUoy should ackimvUdgeVHo
mor/lhTy tat'o ^f th.m the bettor^; blr^'JirsilSr^cll'^^acVor wl"cl> '-.B^y? '.^
fact :— fui thor tnc priu'Jipi-^ — ••■■:,=;"7;;,,'l",.:hir iSrincmU) !— Dr. Black is on itiu vufgo yf irala ,— «
36
duty to expose. If I have spoken sternly, it is because the cause of truth is stern,
and admits not of dalliance with error. In fixing blame, if I have, happily,
enkindled a sense of shame, also, in the minds of professional men, it will, eventually,
become a matter of rejoicing to us all. Oh ! let not the yearnings of self-interest,
— the pride of fancied knowledge, — neither the frown of former friendships, — nor
the scoff of the foolish, and the jeer of the prejudiced and ignorant man, deter from
an honest and practical enquiry into the grout scientific truth, I have earnestly,
though may be feebly, now striven to uphold. Would a feeling of false shame
turn aside an honest search after a new truth, or stifle its avowal ? Let the last
words of a philosopher — the late lamented Professor Hugh Miller, (who had been
disengeniously reflected upon for his change of opinion,) I repeat, let the honest and
noble spirit of these words be to all both precept and example — " I have," con-
cludes he, " yielded to evidence which I found it impos^sible to resist ; and such, in
this instance, has been my incoiisi>'tenc\j, — an inconsistency of which the world has
'urnished many examples in all the science , and will, I trust, in its onward pro-
gress, continue to furnish many more."
P. R. HORNER, M. D.
Hull.
\\
y
y