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THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF
f HOMEOPATHY.
BY
*-*
ROYAL S. CoPELAND, A. M., M. D., ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.
REPRINT FROM THE
CLEVELAND MEDICAL AND SURGICAL REPORTER,
March, I906.

THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HOMEOPATHY.*
By Royal S. COPELAND, A. M., M. D., ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN.
In introducing a theme involving the differences between the
schools of medicine, I am reminded of the invalid who was asked
whether he preferred a “homeopath” or an “allopath,” and whose
answer was: “It makes no difference, both paths lead to the grave.”
But every man for himself or his family must on occasions, take a
personal interest in the ‘‘pathy’’ problem. When illness stalks into
the household and possesses one of its inmates, it is no longer a ques-
tion of physician or no physician; the kind of a doctor and which
particular doctor then become burning problems demanding instant
solution.
One of old said: “In time of peace prepare for war.” The fore-
sight and circumspection which prompted this maxim would probably
lead its author to advocate the idea that in time of health prepara-
tion should be made for a possible illness, trifling or serious. The
institution represented here on this occasion believes that the physi-
cian determined upon as the one to call, when illness comes, should
belong to the homeopathic school. It is the purpose of your speaker
to attempt to show, in some measure at least, the reasonableness and
scientific basis of this belief.
In order to discuss the question with any degree of intelligence.
we must establish some cardinal propositions. Some conclusions may
thus be reached which are true or not according to the reliability of
the original statements. These propositions place the whole theory
of disease and therapeutics upon a chemical foundation.
* In response to the invitation of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical So-
ciety, this address was prepared and presented to that body the evening of
December 20th, 1905. Friends who have been kind enough to read “In Defense
of the Attenuated Drug; ’’ the Medical Century Prize Essay, “In Defense of
Homeopathy; ’’ ‘‘The Reasonableness of Homeopathy,” the University of Min-
nesota Introductory Address; and several articles from this pen, published in
the University Homeopathic Observer, will doubtless recognize many arguments
and, indeed, much of the language previously employed. All of this material
has been freely drawn upon in preparing this address, “The Scientific Basis of
Homeopathy.” Modern thought has produced nothing which need frighten the
followers of Hahnemann; indeed, the recent advances of science are serving to
substantiate the eternal verities of our system. In order that the profession may
be awake to this fact is, perhaps, excuse enough for frequent repetition of per-
sonal views already familiar to many who may see this article.—THE AUTHOR.
# 46501
To the Homeopathist, there is a measure of satisfaction in the
prevalent trend of thought in the dominant school, and in the scien-
tific world at large. The work of Ehrlich, of Metchnikoff, of Arrheni-
us, of Ostwald, and of others, has caused us to read Hahnemann’s
views with renewed interest. Through Hufeland's Journal, in 1796,
Hahnemann promulgated a new principle for ascertaining the cura-
tive power of drugs. In this essay, he considered the prevalent theo-
ries of his time as they related to the subject. He demonstrated their
worthlessness, first, by overthrowing that one which proposed to de-
termine the medicinal power of a drug by mixing it with newly drawn
blood to see the effect upon the color and consistency of the fluid.
Then he disposed of the attempt to classify remedies by the color of
the plants, the odor of their flowers, and the taste of their juices. He
disproved the doctrine of botanical affinity, by which plants of the
same family were supposed to have practically the same drug action.
Of the medical profession, who, previous to his time, “almost un-
animously denied all value to chemistry in the search for the medical
power of drugs, and the discovery of remedial agents for the dis-
eases to which humanity is liable,” Hahnemann in the Lesser Writ-
ings said: “In this, they probably went too far. Although I am far
from conceding to the chemical art a universal influence on the Ma-
teria Medica, I cannot refrain from alluding to some notable dis-
coveries in this respect which we have to thank it for, and to what it
may hereafter effect for therapeutics.”
We have, then, most illustrious precedent in looking to chemistry
for help in solving the great problem of therapeutics. With this in-
troduction we will at once proceed to state our propositions, and,
later, attempt to prove them.
PROPOSITION'S STATED.
1st. The cell is the morphological unit of life.
2nd. The chief manifestation of cell activity is its power of
metabolism, and all its activities are brought about, or are accom-
panied by definite chemical changes.
3rd. Cells possess selective affinities for certain chemicals, or
chemical reactions.
4th. The body possesses natural protective forces, largely chem-
ical, especially resident in the blood.
5th. Disease is a disturbance of the chemical equilibrium of the
cell, resulting in an interference with its power of metabolism.
6th. A remedy is anything which, by its action upon a diseased
Cell, causes it ot resume a condition of equilibrium,
2
7th. A drug is a remedy efficacious by reason of its chemical ac-
tion, and the effect of which need no longer be explained on the
ground of a mystical “force,” or other intangible quality.
8th. Substances are more active chemically the finer they are
divided.
9th. The remedy should be given with such accuracy of selec-
tion and dose and in such form as to aid the disturbed cell, without
interfering with the protective forces of the body, or impairing the
functions of other cells.
10th. The attenuated drug, without interference with the nor-
mal cells, or body fluids, offers the remedy in a form ready for in-
stant appropriation by the disturbed cell, and hence, in the cure of
disease, is more effective than any other possible practice.
THE CELL AND ITS FUNCTIONS.
Before taking up a discussion which of necessity touches the
structure of the body and intimately relates to the ultimate elements
of that organization, a brief review of the cell and its functions may
not be amiss.
As has been said, the cell is the morphological unit of life. We
arrive at this conclusion from the fact that in the definite structure
which we term a cell are seen all the general manifestations of life,
and, as yet, science has been unable to find any simpler structure
which shows activity.
The sizes of various cells differ greatly, but, with the largest one,
we are dealing with a microscopical object. When one begins to es-
timate the size of a cell and to compute the number to be found in
One human being, he is overwhelmed by the magnitude of his task.
In the liver, for instance, the cell ranges in size from seventy-five to
One hundred cubic microns. The micron measuring about twenty-
five thousandths of an inch, it is estimated that a cubic inch of liver
contains about 156,000 million cells. Accepting Gautier's estimate
that the white-of-egg molecule contains five or six thousand atoms
and that the liver cell is four thousand times the diameter assumed
for the albumen molecule, the number of living units in a single
microscopic liver cell must be placed at above 64,000 millions, and
the total number of atoms at around 300 millions.
It is not a far cry to state that any drug to be of possible value
to such an infinitesimal organism must be presented in most minute
form. One night as well attempt to patch a pin prick with one of
3
the pyramids as to expect a teaspoonful of medicine to be appropri-
ated by a diseased cell.
CELL METABOLISM.
The manifestations of cell activity are for the most part con-
cerned in its metabolism. By this term, metabolism, we -mean the
balance or equilibrium which exists between food supply and waste;
normally, this condition is reached when the active cell constantly
receives and assimilates precisely the right amount of exactly the
proper food. In this process, we notice, on the one hand, anabolism,
the building up and storing of material concerned in the maintenance
of the cell, or, as we usually term it, the supplying of waste. This
is a synthetic process, and while we do not as yet understand the
exact changes going on in the cell, we are in a number of instances,
able to follow the process as carried out by groups of cells. For
example, the liver cells take up the sugar from the portal blood and
synthesize it into higher saccharides, glycogen, or animal starch. On
the other hand, there is katabolism which has to do with the break-
ing down of the cell protoplasm into simpler chemical compounds;
thus, the active muscle forms from the glycogen, lactic acid and car-
bon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a constant product of the process. It
is interesting to observe, in passing, that it is possible to measure the
extent of the katabolism by the amount of carbon dioxide formed,
We note that these evidences of activity are accompanied by defi-
nite chemical changes. There can be no change from potential to
kinetic energy without a chemical change of some sort. Whether
we can ascribe the cause of activity of a cell to chemical change, or the
chemical change to be a result of the cell activity, is a question which
is, as yet, an open one. But it is certain that activity and chemical
changes are inseparable, and under normal conditions, these changes
are definite and contsant. Even in such highly specialized organs
as are nerve cells, where there is no known product from their meta-
bolism, such as that from the liver cells, we have an absolute proof,
in the change of electro-potential, that an active nerve cell
is involved in a chemical change. We are almost ready to state posi-
tively that nerve function, even, is caused by a chemical decom-
position within the cell.
The normal cell has going on simultaneously the processes of
katabolism and anabolism, and under the condition which we know as
health, these processes are equalized, as has been said, waste is at once
replaced and a balance is maintained. Inasmuch, then, as the pro-
cess of metabolism is a chemical one, we can think of the normal cell
d : being one in a state of chemical equilibrium,
4
SELECTIVE AFFINITY OF CELLS.
The pharmacologist has abandoned the idea that drugs have an
“elective affinity” for certain parts of the body, and, in common
with all scientific thinkers, now holds to the belief that the cells them-
selves have a selective affinity, or, in the new language, a “tissue pro-
clivity” for certain chemicals, or chemical reactions.
That this theory has a reasonable basis is shown by many very
interesting facts. For instance, silver taken into the system is not
found in the general endothelium, but only in the endothelium of
the vessels of the choroid plexus at the base of the brain. Strychnia
affects the cells between the motor neurons and sensory neurons of
the spinal cord and does not affect either of the two, even though the
cells are the same histologically. Carbon is found in the connective
tissue of the joints and lungs, but not in the connective tissue of the
kidney, or in the stroma of other organs, histologically the same.
Tetanus toxin acts upon the motor nerve cells and nicotin upon the
ganglion cells of the sympathetic system. Every homeopathic physi-
cian is familiar with the effect of serpent’s venom upon the blood,
now recognized to be a haemolytic action upon the red corpuscles.
It would be interesting to review many similar facts, but these
examples are sufficient to show the selective affinity of the cells for
certain chemicals or chemical reactions. Professor Ehrlich, in the
Herter lectures of last year, attempting to show the relation of the
cell receptors to metabolism, spoke of the independent individuality
of the protoplasm. He used a homely illustration which shows the
selective affinity of certain cells and their ability to search out and
appropriate the particular element especially agreeable to them.
When wool, he said, is immersed in a dilute solution of picric acid
there is a concentration of the dye and a color is imparted to the wool
which is not given to other substances immersed even in a more con-
centrated solution of the acid.
This selective affinity of cells, due probably to their specialized
metabolism, has an important bearing on the life of the individual.
The liver cells as we have shown, store up glycogen as a food reserve,
Other cells have an affinity for waste products and are concerned
in elimination. But to the homeopathist this tissue proclivity has a
greater significance. It accounts for the appropriation from the
blood stream of drug substance, no matter how infinitesimal may be
the amount there present, by the cells demanding that particular
element.
5
IMMUNITY AND EHRLIGH’s THEORY..
It is an accepted idea that the body fluids, particularly the blood
serum, possess certain protective functions. We hear much these
days of “immunity.” Relating to this subject, the most popular cur-
rent theories have a chemical foundation. Their fundamental prin-
ciple is that the blood-serum may be so modified as to overcome the
effects of infections, of poisons, or of both. This may be accomplished
by destroying the bacteria, known as bacteriolytic power, or by coun-
teracting the toxins developed, known as antitoxic power. That one
known as Ehrlich’s “side-chain’’ theory has been most discussed
for a year or two past. It attempts to explain antitoxic immunity
in chemical terms. Ehrlich assumes that the cell body has upon it
a number of side-chains, receptors as they are termed. These are
capable of combining with food products useful in and necessary to
the metabolism of the cell, but may combine with toxic products, with
damage to the cell. According to this theory, to protect the mother
cell, antitoxins, consisting of surplus receptors made by the cell for
this purpose and cast off in the blood stream, unite with the toxin
in the serum, leaving the other receptors of the cell free for their
normal food-taking properties.
Ehrlich's theory is extremely complicated. Without any attempt
to review all its details, I desire simply to mention the fact that in
the successful maintenance of this hypothesis much ingenuity has
been shown by its author. To show how the complement, or anti-
body, does its work, he explains the necessity for the presence of
certain intermediary bodies, or amboceptors. The protective action
of the blood may be interfered with, then, by drug effect upon the
cell, interfering with the production of receptors, upon the ambo-
ceptor, or upon the complementary body. The importance of this,
therapeutically, will be considered later.
These theories, seeking to prove the protective agencies of na-
ture, show the importance of preserving the normal properties of the
blood serum and, if true, they bear a most essential relation to drug
administration. Of this we will say more directly.
THEORY OF SOLUTION.
New light upon the positive value of the infinitesimal dose, show-
ing the chemical power, of such dilutions, has been shed by the ad-
vances made in physical chemistry during the past decade. To bring
this subject clearly to mind, let us briefly state the so-called theory of
6
dissociation of molecules. As interpreted by this theory, a chemical,
technically an electrolyte, when dissolved, is dissociated into parts or ,
particles smaller than the molecules and known as ions. The more
dilute the solution the greater is the dissociation and consequently
the molecules are less in number and the ions increased. In a solu-
tion infinitely dilute, the dissociation is absolute and the chemical is
present only in a state of ionization.
When this subject was newly presented the first question which
occurred to most of us was: How dilute must the solution be in order
to bring about complete dissociation? If it were a solution of Sodium
chloride, for instance, what dilution, according to our nomenclature,
would furnish complete ionization? The search for facts on this
subject revealed Lord Kelvin’s statement as to the size of a molecule.
He says: “Imagine a rain drop or a globe of glass as large as a pea,
to be magnified up to the size of the earth, each constituent molecule
being magnified in the same proportion. The magnified structure
would be coarser grained than a heap of small shot, but probably less
coarse grained than a heap of cricket balls.” This illustration per-
mits one to appreciate, to some extent, at least, the enormous num-
ber of molecules in a bit of matter the size of a millet seed. In order
to reach, then, a solution sufficient to bring about dissociation of the
molecule, itself, it is readily seen that the volume of the solvent used
must be immense. Having quoted Kelvin, Jones, Prof. of Physical
Chemistry in Johns Hopkins University, states that “perhaps the
best demonstration of the almost unlimited divisibility of matter is
furnished by some of the aniline dyes, or by fluorescein, where one
part is capable of coloring or rendering flourescent at least one hun-
dred million parts of water.” This solution corresponds to at least
the eighth decimal dilution. The authorities agree that the dissocia-
tion increases with the dilution, from the most concentrated solutions
up to a dilution of about one one-thousandth normal. It is safe to
assume, therefore, that dissociation of the simplest drug is not com-
plete under the sixth decimal dilution.
It is easily seen, then, that complete ionization is possible only
in infinitesimal dilution. Not only is this true in theory, but also the
research of the chemist seems to prove it. We are prepared, then,
to assume that the therapeutić value of the drug is not lost when it
is placed in such dilution as to represent an amount, by any present
means of determination, less than any assignable or measurable
quantity.
That this is true is proven, first, by clinical experience. This
argument needs but the mentioning; every homeopathic physician
7
here can testify to cures made with remedies in such dilution as cer-
Jainly to be far beyond the beginning of dissociation, and probably
beyond complete ionization. Then, the laboratory has proven that
the properties of completely dissociated solutions are the sum of the
properties of all the ions present in the solution. In other words,
the properties are additive. This holds for such properties as con-
ductivity, lowering of the freezing point, refraction equivalent, heat
of neutralization, and, undoubtedly, for any therapeutic effect pos-
sessed by the drug.
TEIE POWER OF THE INFINITESIMAL.
In the same connection may be mentioned the wonderful pro-
perties of radium, which have excited interest, not only in the scien-
tific world, but in the minds of all intelligent persons. Within the
year, Strutt of Trinity College, Cambridge, has put forth a book,
entitled “The Becqueral Rays,” in which he presumes to explain the
action of radio-active bodies. Some facts gleaned from this volume
are pertinent to the present discussion.
For instance, a specimen of radium bromide placed in a glass
tube and gently heated, will evolve a small amount of gas. The
emanation emitted by any such quantity of radium as is at present
procurable, is absolutely infinitesimal; Strutt says the volume of this
gas would not exceed a pin's head. If this emanation is now mixed
with a million millions times its own volume of air, the mixture is
found to have all the properties of the pure radium.
It has been determined that the emanation thus diluted, gener-
ates a solid deposit, although not enough has yet been accumulated
to be visible even under the ultra-microscope. The same scientific
world which to this day denies Samuel Hahnemann the reward of his
labors, has accepted these demonstrations as conclusive. Speaking,
then, of this invisible deposit, and using the language of Strutt,
“there lies latent in every atom of this emanation from radium, a
quantity of energy absolutely gigantic.” What marvellous powers
in the infinitesimal!
An eminent Parisian physician has recently testified to the won.
derful results, both physiological and therapeutic, of minute amounts
of gold, silver and platinum. This experimenter, Dr. Alfred Robin,
has discovered that “almost infinitesimal doses are endowed with
very great activity.” For instance, solutions of gold, corresponding
to about the 5th decimal dilution of our system, produced such posi-
tive results as the following: s
“1. An increase in urea, which may arise as much as 30 per
cent.
8
“2. An increase in the co-efficient of nitrogenous utilization.
“3. An increase in uric acid which may reach high figures,-
as much as three times the initial quantity.
“4. A positive flush, of urinary indoxyl.
“5. A decrease in the quantity of total oxygen consumed.
“6. A temporary raising of arterial tension.
“7. A profound modification of the blood-globules, an injection
being followed after several hours by manifest leucocytosis, slight
in a healthy person, intense in infectious disorders habitually asso-
ciated with leucocytosis.”
According to Robin these results show the possibility of assimi-
lating metals in extremely diluted solutions, their action being con-
sidered similar to organic disatases. “In the above-mentioned solu-
tions,” he says, “ the atoms of the metal, separated as widely as
possible, are, as it were, liberated, autonomous in their activity, and
susceptible in this way of developing greater energy. — It is not diffi-
cult to conceive that these simple bodies, even in the infinitesimal
doses in which they are found, are capable of influencing the chemical
reactions of elementary nutrition.”
After referring to the results obtained by the use of gold in
minute doses in pneumonia, which he claims in six cases out of ten
produces a crisis in six days, Robin draws the following conclusions
from his experiments:
1. “That metals in extreme subdivision are capable of remark-
able physiologic action, out of all proportion to the amount of metal
used.”
2. “That such metals, acting in doses which therapeutics con-
sidered heretofore as ineffectual and useless, by making a profound
impression on some of the chemical processes of life whose deviations
are connected with many morbid conditions, are probably destined
to take an important place among the remedies of functional thera-
peutics.”
It must be seen, therefore, that regardless of schools, the con-
census of opinion today, based on chemical experiment, and proven
by clinical experience, is that the finer the division of a chemical sub-
stance, the more active it is, though unchanged in the quality of its
reactions. In its state of complete ionization, its line of direction is
not changed but its activity is multiplied; it is altered not in kind,
but in degree merely. Furthermore, the physiological efficiency of
any drug is not a fixed quality except in infinite dilution. By means
of solution we get the most complete division, and in infinitesimal
dilution is found the most powerful chemical action. Thus, in this
new century, is scientifically verified a statement made by Samuel
9
:
.
:
Hahnemann, who said: “The effect of a Homeopathic dose is aug-
mented by increasing the quantity of fluid in which the medicine
is dissolved preparatory to its administration.”
That the dilution of the remedy increases its power, it is not by
reason of the Hahnemannian theory of “dynamization,” as it is or-
dinarily understood. Let it be said in passing, however, that Hahne-
mann, in paragraph 288 of the Organon, spoke of this force not as a
spirit force, but his language was “spirit-like force,” quite a different
thing. This idea of “force,” for generations influenced and per-
meated all branches of science. The physiologist was the last to break
away from the old theory of ‘‘vital force” and to explain all the
bodily processes in chemical terms. The idea of a mystical force
being possessed by drugs was but the outgrowth of the vitalistic
theories of life and disease. The brilliant work of Wöhler and Lie-
big, and especially of Berthelot, in synthetic chemistry, has cast off
this yoke and no longer is it necessary for the Homeopathist, or any
other scientist, to explain temporarily unknown quantities on the
basis of some ether, spirit or humor. There is a more rational hypo-
thesis which is acceptable to all the rest of the scientific world. With
the present state of our knowledge, it is unnecessary to fall back upon
a mysterious “dynamis.’’ Homeopathy, at least the infinitesimal
dose, is as reasonable, as explainable, as scientifically sensible, as is
any other of the natural sciences.
DISEASE AND THE INFINITESIMAL DOSE.
Health depending upon a condition of chemical equilibrium in
the cells of the body, it naturally follows that if through any cause
there is a disturbance of equilibrium there is at once a change of
constants. The processes of metabolism are interfered with and we
have a disturbance of function and even changes in structure. To
illustrate: If there be a disturbance of the equilibrium of the parietal
cells of the stomach, there is a failure in the production of hydro-
chloric acid. In malignant growths the chemical processes are so per-
verted that the cell metabolism is concerned only in reproduction;
for instance, in the liver no bile is produced, but reproduction and
abnormal growth result. In fatty degeneration there is such a dis-
turbance of metabolism that the cell protoplasm is converted into fat.
If we can restore the equilibrium of the cell, or group of cells,
we have remedied the abnormal condition and normal function will
be resumed. A remedy is anything which will do this. This remedy
may be rest, or stimulation, local application, or something else, but
usually it is some drug administered for a specific effect upon the
10
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diseased condition. It is not for us, at this time, to discuss the
rationale of the theory of similars in the selection of the drug, but
rather to show why the drug is effective. In the light of all present
knowledge, we believe the drug acts by virtue of its chemical activi-
ties. Our knowledge being so meagre as to the actual reactions in
the laboratory of the cell, it is difficult to follow the drug action, but
we do know that almost without exception chemical subtsances in-
troduced into the animal body are acted upon, more or less, and enter
into and out of combination with the protoplasm of the cell. Some
of the most stable of chemical substances are completely decomposed
in the body. Enough has been positively determined in the labora-
tory to state that the animal body possesses chemical capabilities suf-
ficient to deal with the simplest, or most complex chemical problems,
and that everything proceeds along definite and constant lines.
It having been shown that disease is a disturbance of chemical
equilibrium and that remedies act chemically; it having been shown,
further, that the most active form of drug is that which is presented
in a state of complete ionization, then, it naturally follows that the
remedy, to be acceptable to and instantly appropriated by the cell,
must be given in a state of great attenuation.
With the system demanding relief and the symptoms calling for
a certain drug, Barium chloride, for instance, I have no doubt that
that drug given, high or low, in dilution or crude form, will thread
its way through the blood stream and a sufficient quantity be appro-
priated by the disturbed cell to satisfy and correct its chemical equili-
brium. But the experiments of Wenstrand and Hektoen have demon-
strated that the ions of this particular drug combine with certain
elements in the blood serum and, if given in amounts sufficient, to
a great degree destroy its protective functions.
In their experiments sera showing decrease or absence of haemo-
lytic activity were all taken from patients extremely ill, or within
twenty-four or forty-eight hours of death. “It seems, therefore,”
to use the words of Dr. Wenstrand, “as if the power of blood serum
to dissolve foreign cells is lost at the same time as the power of the
individual to resist death passes away. Consequently it would seem
that the haemolytic activity of a serum is, in a certain manner, at
least, a criterion of the resistance of an individual. This is borne out
also by the finding of an increased ha-molytic activity in the serum of
such patients whose resistance is high.”
Hektoen remarks that substances which suspend, diminish, or
modify the bacteriolytic, haemolytic, or other properties of the serum,
favor the development of certain general infections, for instance, ty-
phoid fever. It is not unreasonable, then, to presume that in the
11
treatment of conditions where blood toxins are developed, in the
administration of material quantites of Barium chloride, for instance,
the symptoms calling for it may disappear, only to be replaced by
conditions more serious, induced by a lowering of the protective
feature of the body fluids. In the terms of Ehrlich's hypothesis, this
untoward effect is due to the action of the Barium ions upon the com-
plementary body of the serum. As a result, the immunizing proper-
ties of the blood are suspended, or at least greatly reduced. In the
administration of a remedy for the relief of any disease, this fact must
not be overlooked. The ideal prescription in the administration of a
drug, is the minutest possible quantity to satisfy the disturbed cell,
already shown to be infinitesimally small, in such dissociated condition
as to make its appropriation the simplest possible chemical reaction,
and in such form as not to interfere with the protective forces of the
body. º
The quantity of medicine to be given in each dose has nothing,
to do with Homeopathy; it is the privilege of the prescriber to ad-
minister a grain, an ounce, or any amount which appeals to him as
required by the patient. For the reasons given, however, the home-
opathic physician believes, that the “minimum dose” should be ad-
ministered, that is, that the smallest possible quantity capable of
relieving the need of the patient should be given. This is the ideal
prescription, because it exactly supplies the demand of the diseased
cells without disturbing other normal cells, or lessening the protec-
tive functions of the body fluids.
TEIE INFINITESIMAL DOSE THE SCIENTIFIC PRESCRIPTION.
For these reasons Hahnemann's advice, given a century ago, is
pertinent today. In paragraph 276 of the Organon he says: “Too
large a dose of medicine, though homeopathic to the case, will be
injurious.”
Having shown, then, that disease is a disturbance of the meta-
bolism of the cell, which, among other functions, possesses that of
“selective affinity;” that remedial power depends on chemical action:
that infinite dilution increases the power of the drug, lessons the prob-
ability of interference with the protective functions of the body
fluids, and presents the remedy in such form as to be most readily
appropriated,—it naturally follows, as the conclusion of the whole
matter, that in the cure of disease, the infinitesimal dose, properly
chosen, is more effective than is any other practice.
It will be seen, therefore, that the efficiency of the small dose
and the capability of the human system to appropriate and utilize
12
medicine administered in minute quantities are facts based, not upon
a vagary of the imagination, but upon the most modern of accepted
truths.
UNITY OF THOUGHT IN HOMEOPATHIC PRACTICE.
Not only does the homeopathic physician prescribe the “mini-
mum dose,” but also, in selecting the remedy for given symptoms of
disease, he employs a fixed formula, expressed by the well known
Latin phrase, Similia similibus curantur, translated “Similars are
cured by similars,” i. e., like ailments are cured by like remedies.
The possible existence of a law of cure is denied by the dominant
school. The latter scoffs at the “theory of similars,” and in pre-
scribing depends largely upon experimental and empirical methods.
That is, the physician of the dominant school in treating yellow
fever, for instance, tries this, that, and the other remedy, which he
thinks might possibly be of some use, until he hits upon one which
seems to control the issues of the disease. Or he prescribes in the
condition this, that, or the other remedy, which has obtained a repu-
tation for usefulness in this disease. The first of these methods is,
of course, experimental, and the second empirical in the extreme. Be-
sides these, excluding the use of remedies which act simply in a chem-
ical sense as neutralizing agents, a physician of the dominant school
has but one other method of therapeutics procedure. This is to pre-
scribe “allopathically,” that is, to give a remedy which, by reason of
its drug action, produces symptoms the opposite of those induced by
the disease. To illustrate: If the patient have fever, some drug is
given to forcibly hold the heart, thus preventing its rapid action
with the resulting increase of temperature; or, in flagging heart, that
organ is whipped on and forced into more rapid action by the ad-
ministration of a stimulant, like strychnine. Such practice is too
often fatal in its results, and in any case, the reaction from or second-
ary effect of such treatment is bound to be pernicious.
With no fixed formula and no unity of thought regarding the
use of medicine, every physician of the dominant school is authority
unto himself in the selection of remedies. The result is that for any
given disease or set of symptoms there may be as many different
prescriptions as there are doctors of the dominant school.
All this is different in Homeopathy. For a given set of symp-
toms, no matter where the homeopathic physician was educated, or
where he may practice, be it in Maine or California, Ohio or Michi-
gan, the Dominion of Canada or the British Isles, the remedy selected
will be the same. As in the selection of glasses for a definite error of
refraction scientific oculists from one end of the world to the other
13
* * - *m-.
will reach the same conclusion as to the need of the patient, so in
homeopathic practice, definite and positive symptoms of disease will
call for the same remedy with every prescriber.
TEIE THEORY OF SIMILARS.
The reason for this marked difference between the schools, as
has been said, is because the homeopathic physician believes that in
disease and health there are certain laws, as there are in every other
department of the physical world, while the physician of the domi-
nant school denies this, or at least denies the value of the so-called
“law of similars.” It is not possible, perhaps, to explain the ration-
ale of this law of cure, but the Homeopathist is not the only scientist
forced to acknowledge ignorance of the underlying laws of his spec-
ialty. Where is the physicist who can explain the law of magneto-
electric induction, or the law of gravitation? He can demonstrate
the law by showing experiments to verify it, but to explain sensibly
or convincingly why or how, he cannot. The theologian has the same
difficulty with the doctrine of the immaculate conception, and the
chemist can hardly account for some of the chemical-affinities famil-
iar as working truths. Thus it may be excused the Homeopathist,
perhaps, if he fail to scientifically account for the theory of similars.
However, did time permit, it would be interesting to record the
experiments of Loeb and others, aparently demonstrating the truth
of the theory of similars. It has been found, for instance, that the
rhythmic contractions of muscle fibre, immersed in sodium chloride,
or in calcium chloride solution, will cease after a time, a toxic con-
dition of some sort being produced. Suppose the exhausted muscle
is in the sodium solution, a small amount of calcium chloride, cor-
responding to the third or fourth decimal dilution, added to the solu-
tion containing the muscle, will cause the tissue to resume its con-
tractions, to “cure” it, as it were. Thus is demonstrated the removal
by a small quantity of a drug, symptoms similar to those produced
by a large quantity of the same drug. Is it not fair to count this
and similar experiments as verifications of our theory of thera-
peutics?
It is the conclusion of the homeopathic profession that the the-
ory of similars affords a working hypothesis satisfactorily account-
ing for certain medical phenomena, and in the terms of which, out-
side of purely chemical processes already referred to, every certain
procedure known to the medical profession can be explained. Fur-
ther, in order that the lay mind may not misunderstand its position,
it is claimed by the homeopathic school that every single remedy,
14
known to have curative properties in the relief of disease, acts in
harmony with and is prescribed, even if unknowingly so, in accord-
ance with the theory expressed in the phrase “Similia similibus
curantur.”
The dominant school today are therapeutic skeptics. Their skep-
ticism, almost nihilism, is shown by this quotation from an eminent
exponent, Prof. H. C. Wood, in the preface of his “Treatise on Ther-
apeutics:” “Experience is said to be the mother of wisdom. Verily
she has been in medicine rather a blind leader of the blind, and the
history of medical progress is the history of a man groping in the
darkness, finding seeming gems of truth, one after another, only in
a few minutes to cast each back into a heap of forgotten baubles that
in their day had also been mistaken for verities. Narrowing our gaze
to the regular profession to a few decades, what do we see? Exper-
ience teaching that not to bleed a man for pneumonia is to consign
him to an unopened grave, and experience teaching that to bleed a
man suffering with pneumonia is to consign him to a grave never
opened by nature. Looking at the revolutions of the past, listening
to the therapeutic babel of the present, is it a wonder that men should
take refuge in nihilism and like the lotus eaters, dream that all alike
is folly, that rest and quiet and calm are the only human fruitions?”
Yet the dominant school certifies to four sure remedies—mercury in
syphilis, quinine in malaria, salicylate of soda in rheumatism, and
iron in anaemia.
The most radical of that school, denying the homeopathicity of
these remedies, would admit that the poisonous action of each is re-
markably similar to the disease it has power to cure. If time per-
mitted, your speaker would attempt some further citations of remark-
able scientific facts which exist and which apparently vindicate the
claims of similia, but enough has been shown to prove that the entire
homeopathic practice and such of the practice of the dominant school
as is conceded by that school to be of positive therapeutic value are
in harmony with and are eacplaimed by the theory of similars. It is
not begging the question, therefore, to leave the matter here and
claim that until a future generation finds a better hypothesis, we
have the right to accept the theory of similars as the law of cure.
One who has observed the great variety of symptoms met in
different types of typhoid fever, or any other disease, will at once
appreciate the value of a system which seeks to select a remedy suited
to the particular case in hand, and to differentiate it from all other
remedies useful in other types of the same disease. It is not enough
to treat a disease by name, as is the practice of the dominant school,
or to prescribe for a disease because of the peculiar manifestations
15
which are common to all cases of the same disease. The remedy must
be selected to fit the special symptoms presented by the individual
patient. When so selected, the remedy fits the disease as the wing
of the bird fits the air. Any other method of prescribing is as likely
to results in misfits as would happen in a ready-made shoe store if
the ridiculous rule prevailed that to every soldier customer a No. 8
shoe should be sold, to every blacksmith a No. 9, and to every farmer
a No. 10. Homeopathy is exact in its methods and employs no ready-
made garments to fit its patrons, regardless of form, height and sta-
tion. Every garment is made to order and is fitted only after careful
consideration of many patterns.
f
EIOMEOPATHISTS THE PATRONS OF GENERAL SCIENCE.
It is conscientiously believed that the superiority of the homeo-
pathic practice has been proven in every disease, in every climate,
and in every season. Yet it must not be imagined that the homeo-
pathic physician looks askance upon the advances of general medi-
cine. The sputum examination, for instance, in the diagnosis of
throat and lung diseases, is given the same importance in the homeo-
pathic world that it receives elsewhere. The most radical opponent
of Homeopathy would not say that in the choice of a drug the pres-
ence or absence of the germ would influence his selection of a curative
remedy. It would simply decide the question of climate or the general
disposition of the patient. It means, at least, that much to the homeo-
pathic prescriber. The laboratory methods of science receive the same
patronage and the same encouragement in the homeopathie
school as elsewhere. In surgery, in gynecology, in ophthalmology, the
same careful technique, the same skill, the same methods are every
where employed. No one dare claim that the results of surgery in
other schools are superior to those gained by the homeopathic oper-
ator. The well know success of the Cleveland surgeons and their
high professional standing, not only by the rating of our own school,
but also when measured by the standards of all other systems of
practice, place them above criticism.
The American Institute of Homeopathy has officially decreed
that “A homeopathic physician is one who adds to his knowledge of
medicine a special knowledge of homeopathic therapeutics. All that
pertains to the great field of medicine is his by tradition, by inheri-
tance, by right.” The patient, therefore, who employs the homeo-
pathic physician gives himself all that the dominant school offers,
and, in addition, the wonderful resources of the homeopathic Materia
Medica. He loses nothing except the greater probability of escaping
16
surgical procedure by the saving grace of a more potent medical
armament, He reduces his chance of mortality and decreases the
duration of his illness. All that pertain to chemical methods, to bac-
teriological research, to surgical ideas, to the great field of general
medicine—all these belong to the homeopathic physician to give to
his patient, together with the possibilities of the homeopathic remedy.
In the language of the Chicago Inter-Ocean editorial, truly, “They
who have not tried Homeopathy have not half tried to get well.’’
CONCLUSION. .
The founder of this system of therapeutics was born a century
and a half ago. He lived in an epoch of superstition, he practiced
during the dark ages of medicine, he knew nothing of the modern
laboratory idea. Yet this gigantic intellect was capable of formu-
lating a system of therapeutics so accurate in its essential parts that
the rest of the scientific world has adjusted and readjusted itself un-
til now it snugly enfolds and perfectly fits every feature of the home-
opathic doctrine. Study the modern ideas of disease and the morbid
processes as they are now understood, delve in physical chemistry
as it is taught in every university of the world, listen to the forensic
eloquence of the physicist, the chemist, the physiologist, alud the path-
ologist; then take from its shelf the “Organon of the Art of Heal-
ing,” written a hundred years by one Samuel Hahnemann, and it
will be found that the notes of all these latter day scientists are so
attuned that when that voice of a century ago sings its lay to the
modern music there is not a suspicion of discord, but in perfect sweet-
ness the whole temple of science is resonant and reverberant in one
symphony of perfect harmony.
Therefore, my friends, we proclaim the scientific reasonableness
of Homeopathy.
Filmed by Preservation 1990
17
THE DEMAND FOR HöMEoPATHIc
PHYSICIANS HAS NEVER #
GREATER THAN AT PRESENT
!-
of MEDICINE, should note the following
S”; who are contemplating the study
fact, namely, that the professsion of Medicine
as a whole, is overcrowded, and many well educated
physicians make little more than a living; yet the
Homeopathic physicians are usually among the
successful ones in any community.
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Why is it that the Homeopathic
Physician succeeds where others fail?
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Here are some of the reasons for the uniform success
of Homeopathic Physicians.
B E C A U S E
The Homeopathic Colleges are
equipped to give instruction in all
branches of medicine including ther-
apeutics, fully as well as other
schools.
In addition to a knowledge of
therapeutics, as taught in other
schools, the Homeopathic Physician
adds a knowledge of the Homeo-
pathic Law of Cure, similia similibus
curemtzar.
The Homeopathic Law of Cure
is distinctively a law, as compared .
with the empiricism of other systems
or therapeutics.
In other words, the Homeo-
pathic Physician is better equipped
to cure disease.
Choose for your ALMA MATER
The Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College
The Annual Announcement, gives in detail, the Courses of Instruction in
the different departments and the most careful and critical comparison of
this work with that of other schools is invited.
We believe that the work
done in this college is not excelled in any other school.
Send for an Announcement.
Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio
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