Homœopathy The Science of Therapeutics
Homœopathy The Science of Therapeutics
Homœopathy The Science of Therapeutics
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Dunham.
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1877
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1
HOMEOPATHY
A Collection of Papers
BY
CARROLL DUNHAM , A. M. , M. D.
GRADUATE OF THE NEW-YORK COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS ; DEAN OF NEW-YORK
HOMEOPATHIC COLLEGE ; PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA ; PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF HOMEOPATHY, AND OF THE WORLD'S HOMOEO-
PATHIC CONVENTION HELD at philadELPHIA, 1876 ; AND MEMBER
OF VARIOUS AMERICAN AND FOREIGN SOCIETIES.
1877.
M.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877,
By HARRIET E. K. DUNHAM,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
D917
1877
TO
P. P. WELLS , M. D.
CARROLL DUNHAM,
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
CONTENTS .
Date. Page.
I. HOMEOPATHY THE SCIENCE OF THERA-
PEUTICS ... 1862 I
ΤΟ
P. P. WELLS , M. D.
BELOVED FRIEND OF
THE HONORED COLLEAGUE AND
CARROLL DUNHAM,
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
CONTENTS .
Date. Page.
I. HOMEOPATHY THE SCIENCE OF THERA-
... 1862 I
PEUTICS }
II. ANTAGONISM BETWEEN HOMOEOPATHY
1863 67
AND ALLOPATHY }
III. RELATION OF PATHOLOGY TO THERA-
.1864 99
PEUTICS . }
IV. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SYMPTOMS OF
DRUGS AS GUIDES IN DETERMINING ...1875 115
THE DOSE
ملا
ZARAS ALTERNARY.
Tomatal KMARKS N ALTERNACION .
EATMENT
KEPLY TO A CATR v Hua Te
THE OUESTION F THE USE
IL THE BASIS OF TREATMENT..
Dane y HOMEOPATHIC TRACTION
VS ROM CR s
following questions, which have perplexed, and still perplex and divide our
school :
Is the Homœopathic law of cure sufficient for all the procedures required
in the treatment of the sick ?
Or is it, on the contrary, only a part of a still broader generalization ?
Or, again, are there other laws which are sometimes to be our guides in
Therapeutics ? and if so, when are they to be used ?
Are so-called " auxiliary "" means ever requisite ? and if so, how does
this fact affect the jurisdiction of the law of cure ?
Those who give only a limited jurisdiction to the Therapeutic law deduce
theirfaith from their practice; but they have never given a satisfactory defini-
tion ofthe boundaries of this limited jurisdiction.
Those, on the other hand, who claim exclusive dominion for the Thera-
peutic law, belie their faith by their practice, for in treating the sick they do, as
a matter of fact, avail themselves of means and methods which are not author-
ized by this law.
Yet neither party should be called dishonest. The truth is, their clin-
ical instinct, their practical sagacity, has outrun their philosophical acuteness.
Each party felt its way nearly to the true ground, but neither has succeeded
in vindicating its claim to consistency in occupying that ground.
The result has been, on the part of Homœopathic practitioners , an uncer-
tainty of their true position in relation to Old-school medicine, and, consequently,
a degree of distrust on the part of the community.
It has seemed to me that these difficulties might be removed, and the
perplexing questions fairly answered, by an elaboration of the nature and rela-
tions of the sciences of Therapeutics and Hygiene, which should show :
That Therapeutics concerns herself only with the discovery and selection
of an individually specific remedy for each individual case of disease ; which is
done in accordance with a Therapeutic law. This law may be the Homœopathic
formula, or it may be some broader generalization ; but there can be but one
law of this kind ;
That the province of Hygiene is to discover whatever causes may have
contributed to induce or perpetuate the diseased condition, and, if possible, to
remove them ;
That Hygiene alone is sufficient to restore many sick persons to health,
and that it is in most cases an indispensable aid to Therapeutics ; that,
therefore, the practicing physician is at one and the same time Hygienist and
Therapeutist, employing often, therefore, for the same case both specific reme-
dies and various " auxiliaries ; "
That in so far as Hygiene is concerned, Homœopaths and Allopaths
occupy common ground,—the philosophy of the science being the same for
both, however modified and shaded in practical application by the different
Therapeutics of the two schools ;
That in Therapeutics alone - that is, in the discovery and selection of
the individually specific remedy for each individual case of disease - do we
differ radically from the old school of medicine, -the Allopaths having, in fact,
no science of Therapeutics whatever, their philosophy ofcure being an applica-
tion oftheprinciples ofHygiene to all diseased conditions.
PREFACE.
Irvington-on-Hudson,
June 25, 1877.
HOMEOPATHY THE SCIENCE OF
THERAPEUTICS.
¹ This case occurred in 1857. There The child on good diet is healthy.
has been no recurrence of spasms.
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS . 5
treated on " general principles . " The cause has been re-
moved, why has not the effect ceased ? The equilibrium of
the general stimuli has been restored and the loss made
good ; why is not the normal equilibrium of the functions
re-established ?
The normal proportion of the general stimuli , it is true,
has been restored, but during the disturbance a new element
had been introduced into the problem. The organism had
suffered a dynamic and then an organic change. The func-
tions are permanently modified . The general stimuli may
henceforth be balanced never so carefully, and in strictest
accordance with the rules of Hygiene ; the organism will not
respond.
Its functions are performed after a new fashion . The
organs are not susceptible to the wonted stimuli applied
according to the laws of Hygiene. The organism has passed
from a state of health into one of permanent disease . The
general stimuli which, modified and balanced under the laws
of Hygiene , sufficed to steady it as it rocked and swayed in
its rapid course along the rough and crooked railway of life,
will no longer answer the purpose, for in its rocking it has
run off the track, and is now bumping along over the cross-
ties, making headway, it is true, but toward its own destruc-
tion. It needs now the intervention of some new agent
acting under a new law - of a jack - screw and levers operated
by forces from without- to re - instate it on the road of
healthy action. The wonted general stimuli under the laws
of Hygiene being insufficient, new stimuli of a special charac-
ter must be applied according to a new law. This new law,
whatever it be, is the Therapeutic law, and these new stimuli
are Therapeutic agents, and the study of the law and of the
agents constitutes the science of Therapeutics .
Having thus marked out its limits, we have next to
inquire what the nature of any possible science of Thera-
peutics must be. Its subject is the modified functions and
organs of the body. Its agents are special stimuli drawn
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS . II
THERAPEUTICS.
Morbid Functions & Organs , Toxic Functions & Organs,
Or, Pathology and Patho- Therapeutic Or, Pathogenesis and Patho-
logical Anatomy, Law. genetic Anatomy,
Or, Sick-Phenomena, Or, Drug- Phenomena.
PHYSICS.
Phenomena of the Sun, Law of Phenomena of the Earth,
as regards Volume and Attraction. as regards Volume and
Density, Density.
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS. 13
CHEMISTRY.
Law of Chemical
Properties of Potassa, Affinity and Defi- Properties of Sulphuric acid.
nite Proportion.
OPTICS.
Law of the
Properties ofthe Luminous Diffusion of Properties of the light-re-
Body, Light. ceiving body.
¹ Whewell, Philosophy ofthe Inductive Sciences, vol. ii. , pp. 64, 65.
3
18 HOMEOPATHY
from all the other drugs which in many other respects agree
with it.
It will be observed that dark-colored uterine hæmorrhage,
though produced by Crocus, cannot be said to be character-
istic of it. It is a characteristic symptom of a group to
which Crocus belongs, but not of Crocus, for it is produced
by the other members of this group as well as by Crocus.
Characteristic symptoms must of necessity be for the most
part subjective and seemingly trivial phenomena. A list of
them alone, if presented as the pathogenesis of a drug,
would be as meaningless, and at first sight as ridiculous, as a
list of the colors and marks and angles and curves by which
friends recognize each other would be, if presented alone as
the sum total of the properties of certain genera and species
of the animate creation. As a background to the latter,
there must be a series of phenomena capable of morpholog-
ical and organic arrangement, and as the basis of the former
we must have a series of objective and organic symptoms
capable of physiological and pathological arrangement and
of approximate explanation . But it must never be forgotten
that without the characteristics, as we have described them,
there can be no individualization, and without this there can
be no accurate homeopathic prescription.
The truth of this is made apparent by a glance at the
history of Homoeopathy. Certain of Hahnemann's followers
discarded the apparently trivial subjective phenomena from
the provings of drugs, retaining only the objective, organic
symptoms. They thus lost the means of distinguishing
between the individual members of the groups of remedies .
It was thenceforward useless for them to discriminate closely
between individual cases of any one type of disease . Hence,
inevitably, arose the fashion of prescribing a specific remedy
for a disease, as the phrase went, -putting the leading
members of respective groups of drugs and diseases to rep-
resent the whole groups. These were the so- called " specif-
ikers," who had one or two remedies for dysentery, one
38 HOMEOPATHY
for hooping- cough, one or two for scarlatina, etc. , " of whom
the world is weary.
But the characteristic is not always a definite symptom.
Sometimes it is so,—as in the case of Crocus, and as in the
peculiar diplopia of Stramonium . But sometimes it resides
in a peculiar condition which attaches to some symptom
common to two or more drugs. This condition may be of
time, or circumstance, or concomitance. Thus, if two drugs
have the symptom " dry cough from tickling in the supra-
sternal fossa," - but to one is added the condition " occurring
only in the evening,"-this condition of time is the charac-
teristic of that drug in so far as the dry cough is concerned ; or
if one have this condition of circumstance, that " the cough
is aggravated by inspiring cold air, " -this condition is the
characteristic ; or if one have the concomitant that the cough
is attended by retching,—this condition of concomitance is
the characteristic.
Sometimes the characteristic resides in the conditions
collectively. We borrow examples from Dr. Drysdale's
admirable Introduction to The British Repertory :
"Pain in the stomach with nausea occurs under twenty-
eight medicines.
"Pain in the stomach in the morning under thirty-
seven.
"Pain in the stomach with nausea in the morning under
four only . "
Or it may reside in a concomitant.
" Dry retching occurs under forty-five drugs.
" Dry retching in the morning under five.
"
" Dry retching with eructation under one only - Ledum.
Every drug- proving, then, is to be studied in a two-fold
way : On the one hand, so as to enable us to attach it in
our memory to certain groups of drugs to which it shows
marked general resemblances ; and, on the other hand, so as
to bring out clearly into view those characteristics which
distinguish it from all the other drugs of these groups in
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS. 39
2. Locality.
CIBKYBA
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS. 51
these, he might even " guess " and his guess might lead him
right. Nevertheless, few travelers of sound mind would be
led by such a success to prefer a " guess " to a " compass."
A. - GENERAL ANALYSIS.
B. - SPECIAL ANALYSIS.
I. HEAD.
2. EYES .
3. EARS .
a. External Ear. I. Location ; 2. Sensations , 3. Con-
ditions ; 4. Concomitance ; 5. Organic changes.
b. Internal Ear. 1. Location ; 2. Sensations ; 3. Con-
changes.
c. Kidneys. I. Location ; 2. Sensations ; 3. Organic
changes.
d. Ureters. I. Location ; 2. Sensations ; 3. Organic
changes.
With regard to all of these divisions, under each of these
organs, study, a. The conditions ; b. The concomitance.
THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS. 59
22. HEART.
28. SKIN .
1. General. I. Sensations ; 2. Organic changes ; 3. Con-
ditions ; 4. Concomitance.
62 HOMOEOPATHY THE SCIENCE OF THERAPEUTICS.
29. MIND .
I. Faculties Modified. I. Exalted ; 2. Depressed ; 3.
Perverted. Under these, a. Conditions ; b. Concomitance.
2. Memory. As under Faculties.
work, to which I replied, March 24th, 1853, vol. ii., page 59 to 61 , vindicating
Dr. Hering by stating that he could not then publish his original German
preface or its correct translation, nor could he withdraw his recommendation
in the country in which that commendation was published, as the Homeopathic
Journal then published was in the hands of the publisher of the New Manual,
who would not receive and circulate communications adverse to his interests.
I further then gave there the foot-note of Dr. Hering in the Allg. Hom. Zeitung,
above referred to. "After comparing the translation with the original, I
solemnly withdraw this my above communication and indorsement. "
Dr. Hempel again replied, in vol. ii., pages 318 and 319, declaring me to
stand convicted of libel, threatening legal proceedings or demanding an arbitra-
tion by committee. The committee report of the 24th of September and the
8th of October, 1853, is published in vol. ii. , page 430, and this committee,
having examined Dr. C. Hering's original German manuscript of the preface
to the New Manual and its publication in the Allg. Hom. Zeitung, with the
translation by Dr. Hempel as published, find, that the point assumed by me,
viz., that the translation of Dr. C. Hering's preface to the New Manual and
Symptomen Codex contained willful perversions and omissions, has been estab-
lished. A reply to this report by Dr. C. Hempel is published in vol. ii. , page
573, in which he boldly denies that he is guilty of any essential alterations.
Later the publisher succeeded in obtaining by some means the names of a few
physicians as a recommendation to the Complete Repertory.
The Review was published ten years ago. It had only the effect to procure
for Dr. C. J. Hempel a professorship in the Pennsylvania College of Homœop-
athy. What effect his teachings and publications had while Professor in that
Institute are well known.
That ten years later Dr. Wilson, in England, and Dr. Dunham, in the
United States, should indorse my review of 1852 is exceedingly gratifying to
me, but unfortunately does not remedy the evil done to Homœopathy and its
progress during that length oftime.
I sincerely hope that Drs . Wilson and Dunham will be more successful in
1862 in arousing the English-reading members of the profession to the necessity
of accurate translations and correct versions of Hahnemann's writings and our
standard works.
AD. LIPPE, M. D.
Philadelphia, December 7th, 1862.
of obiter dictum, because the foot-note referred to the " Symptomen Codex or
New Manual," in two volumes, whereas Dr. Lippe's review had treated almost
exclusively of the Repertory, or vol. iii.
Now, this repertory was really to all intents and purposes not so much a
translation as a new work by Dr. Hempel, and he is entitled to commendation
or adverse criticism according to the merits or demerits of the work, as an
Author rather than as a Translator. In such a capacity Dr. Hering's foot- note
and preface could hardly refer to him, and hence the foot-note, introduced "by
the way," in Dr. Lippe's letters concerning his review of the Repertory failed
to attract general attention and to vindicate Dr. Hering.
But the above " annotations " are entirely satisfactory. Coming, as they do,
from a confidential friend of Dr. Hering, and with his express sanction and
approval, they are a complete withdrawal of his indorsement of the English
version of Jahr's New Manual. They give, moreover, a satisfactory reason
why this withdrawal could not have been published at an earlier date in this
country, viz.: the fact that the publishing interest controlled all of our Journals
from the year 1850 to 1858, to such an extent that nothing in the shape of an
adverse criticism of any important publication was allowed to appear in any
Journal. This statement the writer can corroborate from personal experience.
While accepting Dr. Lippe's annotations as full and satisfactory on these
points, I am not disposed to adopt unreservedly his criticisms of Dr. Hempel.
I have no evidence that the errors and omissions which render it impossible
to receive his works, as trustworthy translations of the books they profess to
represent, are willful or malicious. I think they may be all accounted for by
the fact that the translations were made in haste and therefore carelessly, and
that to some of the tasks which he undertook Dr. Hempel may have been, at
the time, hardly competent. And when we consider the immense amount of
labor required by these numerous translations, we can hardly wonder that
errors have been committed and omissions made. Unhappily, this does not
make the books any less undeserving of confidence . Of course an error or an
omission is just as fatal to the trustworthiness of a translation, whether it be
the result of haste, of carelessness, or of willful perversion- but the interests of
science do not require the critic to go beyond a statement of the fact that the
work is not trustworthy, and of the particulars in which it fails.
In my remarks on Manuals to which Dr. Lippe alludes, I refer only to that
part of the New Manual which relates to the Materia Medica. The faults of
the English version of the preface, however provoking to the Author of the
preface, have not the same kind of relation to the general interests of the
science. They do, however, concern the personal and professional reputation
of Dr. Hering, and at his request we publish a letter addressed by him to Dr.
Gardiner, Editor of the Philadelphia Journal ofHomœopathy at the time of the
publication of Dr. Lippe's Review of the Repertory before alluded to.
DUNHAM .
[ COPY. ]
PHILADELPHIA, August 18th, 1853.
Dr. WM. GARDINER,
Sir: You say, in your Journal, the last number, page 318, you " wish to deal
justly"-" nothing further to be published on that subject." On the same
6
66 APPENDIX .
page you allow your own name to be put at the head of a committee to
examine the original manuscript of Dr. Hering's preface, or as an alternative
the mean threat of setting New-York pettifoggers upon the first one who has
had ability and courage to awake the attention of American Homœopaths to
the danger to which monopolizing and book manufacturing leads our cause. I
am willing to lay in the hands of any respectable committee meeting in Phila-
delphia, at any time,
1. My original manuscript.
2. The verbatim printed copy in the Allg. Hom. Zeitung.
3. The English translation of it as a preface to the Symptomen Codex.
4. A comparison of the translation with the original, pointing out the willful
perversions and omissions.
Said committee, according to common sense and custom, cannot have any
interested parties members of it, but ought to be appointed by them, and of
course only of such physicians as understand the German language. You
ought to be the umpire. Is not your Journal the proper organ in which such a
report of such a committee ought to be published ?
(Signed)
Yours,
CONSTANTINE HERING.
ANTAGONISM BETWEEN HOMEOPATHY AND
ALLOPATHY.
example, let him among men who is " pure, " cast the first
stone at him !
Time brings its sweet revenges. After a career of honor
and usefulness at Coëthen, where his ever- increasing fame
brought him throngs of patients from all parts of Europe,
and a subsequent residence in Paris, where his reputation
extorted from the government a license to practice as he
pleased, Hahnemann died at Paris in 1843 , full of years
and honors. Eight years afterward, in 1851 , the town
council of Leipsic appropriated a beautiful plot of ground
as a site for his monument, and the council celebrated
officially the uncovering of a costly and beautiful bronze
statue of that man, as one of Saxony's most illustrious
sons, whom thirty years before the same council had igno-
miniously chased from their borders as an unauthorized
and illegal prescriber !
Before we leave this branch of our subject, let us draw
one lesson from the story of Hahnemann's persecutions.
All his sufferings might have been avoided, he might have
lived in peace and affluence, enjoying consideration among
his colleagues and making plenty of money, had he been
willing to " yield a little, " to waive the right of dispensing
his own medicines, to accommodate his system in various
points to suit the notions of his time. The temptation to
do this might, by some , be supposed to have been great,
for Hahnemann's family was large, he suffered during his
wanderings from the pinchings of cruel poverty, and this
took from him the leisure so necessary for his studies.
But Hahnemann was not made of the stuff that could
compromise, for personal ease and prosperity, the charter.
that God had given him for the benefit of the race. He
1 Russell, History and Heroes of the Art of Medicine, vol. ii. , p. 101 ;
art. " Robert Boyle. "
HOMEOPATHY AND ALLOPATHY. 83
Now, just as any spot upon the surface of the globe may
be approached by an almost infinite number of roads, and
yet, when the traveler has reached the spot, there shall be
nothing in the mere fact of his presence there to indicate
with certainty the road by which he has come thither, so the
same pathologico-anatomical result may issue from the most
88 ANTAGONISM BETWEEN
―
she sinks, may thus in fact be the means of saving her. But
as, certainly, pumping is only a palliative mode of treating a
leaking ship — as the stoppage of the leak is the only radical
treatment imaginable -so in the case of inflammation the
only radical treatment would be one which addressed itself
directly to the cell -wall, and in such a way as to restore to
it the just amount and proportion of its now perverted
" inherent attractive and selective power."
It is evident that when this had been accomplished, con-
gestion would cease to be produced, and in consequence of
this cessation there would be no further exudation. It
might now be within the province of Pathology to indicate
some mechanical or chemical way of aiding or hastening the
removal of the results of disease — the congestion and exuda-
tion- but this would be only a sequel of the curative treat-
ment.
A curative treatment, then, must address itself directly to
the cell- wall, which is the ultimate seat of disease. And
every method which is directed to the results of disease,
which are the proper subjects of Pathology and Pathological
Anatomy, must, of necessity, be a palliative method.
But, it may be objected , we are unable to plan any such
curative treatment, for the reason that we do not understand
the nature of this cell force, nor the nature of its perversion,
in any case. To recur to our simile of the ship : it is some-
times impossible to find the leak, or, if its location be known,
to stop it. Nothing remains but palliation. This statement,
as applied to disease, is correct in only a few instances, the
number of which is becoming continually diminished by the
progress of science. It is true that we do not understand
the nature of the cell force, whether normal or perverted.
Neither do we understand the nature of chemical affinity,
nor the modus operandi of chemical reaction. Yet we have
an experimental knowledge of each, and we know the
peculiar chemical affinities and reactions of a vast number of
bodies.
TO THERAPEUTICS . III
But, in this relation, what are the " small doses " with
which we are to begin our proving ? The term is compara-
tive. Are they drop doses of the tinctures, or are they
high dilutions ? They are such doses as have, in the proving
of some previous drug, shown themselves capable of produc-
ing unequivocal symptoms. We must search the records of
provings, therefore, for our standard initial dose. What
this is at present we shall soon see : as our experience
increases, this standard may from time to time be altered.
It is evident that the method of conducting a proving is a
matter of great importance, and should not be left to caprice
or accident. The completeness of our Materia Medica, and
consequently our ability to cure disease, depend upon our
selection of a happy method . This important subject has
received the attention of the American Institute of Homœop-
athy, to which the Central Bureau of Materia Medica
has presented a report on Drug- Provings.
The majority of
the Bureau repeat Hahnemann's directions for proving as
contained in the Organon ; and as regards the dose, they
recommend " the prover who makes use of potencies " to
make a trial of the high potencies first, and afterward, if
necessary, to take the lower dilutions and triturations, or
the crude substance or tincture, if satisfactory results are
not obtained with the attenuations.
This recommendation accords with our deductions and
corresponds with the spirit of Hahnemann's directions .
Hahnemann's instructions differed at different periods of his
life. One essential idea, however, pervades them all - a
small dose is to be taken at first, and the dose is to be
increased until unequivocal symptoms manifest themselves.
In the last edition of the Organon he adds, as the result of
his extensive observation, that "The most recent experience
has taught that medicinal substances, when taken in the crude
state, do not for a long time display the full extent of their
virtues, as they do when taken in higher developments .
Thus any one, even of those medicines whose virtues are
142 THE DOSE IN DRUG- PROVING.
these words : " Dr. Hempel has never been able to elicit
any reliable symptoms by means of the middle or higher
potencies, unless the organism had been previously saturated
with massive doses of the original drug." On this one
point of negative evidence, then, this important proposition
stands- " Dr. Hempel has never been able. " But perhaps
others have been able. Perhaps the very witnesses whom
Dr. Hempel has called have been more successful than he.
We will cross - examine them.
First, then, we call upon the " Original Provers of the
Materia Medica," by which we suppose Dr. Hempel means
Hahnemann's " Materia Medica Pura" and " Chronische
Krankheiten." Of these provers, the " Great Original " was
Hahnemann himself. His pupils and friends adhered
strictly to his directions and method . What Hahnemann's
opinion was as to the propriety of commencing a proving
with small doses we have already seen. After thirty-five
years' experience in drug- proving, he sums up his observa-
tions in the advice to begin with the thirtieth dilution.
But what was his practice ? What doses did he actually
take ? It has been generally supposed that he did not as a
rule record the doses with which his provings were made.
Dr. Hempel, however, seems to have had access to some
sources of knowledge on the subject that are not open to the
general reader, for he tells us without qualification , that “all
the splendid provings of the original provers of the Materia
Medica were made with massive doses of the strongest prepa-
rations, etc." Those who have not enjoyed these unusual
means of information, gather from a few observations, scat-
tered through Hahnemann's writings, the following facts :
Silver was proved by Hahnemann in the first trituration.
The Nitrate of Silver, of which he gives a few symptoms, in
the fifteenth dilution. Carbo vegetabilis was proved in the
third trituration. In a letter in the Neues Archiv. ( 1813 ) ,
he directs Stapf to prove Helleborus thus : " Add a drop of
the tincture to eight ounces of water and one drachm of
THE DOSE IN DRUG-PROVING. 145
¹ Fourth edition, British translation. given both remedies at the same time,
2 Experiments have been made by or nearly so ; but I earnestly caution
some Homœopathists in cases where, all my adherents against such a
imagining that one part of the symp- hazardous practice, which never will
toms of a disease required one remedy, be necessary, though, in some in-
and that another remedy was more stances, it may appear serviceable. "
suitable to the other part, they have
160 ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. I.
" Prescribing at the very outset of the treatment — at the very first visit and
also, not unfrequently, almost at every subsequent visit, two or more medicines,
to be alternated every quarter, half hour, or every two, three, or four hours .
It is difficult to believe," he continues, " that such practitioners are in the habit
of carefully considering the cases under treatment, or have well studied their
Materia Medica, or to divest one's self of the idea that they resort to such slip-
shod practice in the hope that if one of the medicines does not hit off the
complaint, some one of the others may. One meets with instructions for
similar alternation laid down in popular books on Homœopathy, showing that
this a priori style of alternating remedies is, with certain practitioners, more a
rule than an exception. "
" Oh, wad some power that giftie gie us! "
ively, for the one or the other of these remedies, are omitted
by the London Review. They are the essence of the whole
matter. Following this advice of Hahnemann , it would not
be possible for the practitioner, on meeting a case of purple
rash, to begin with a blind a priori alternation of Aconite
and Coffea. On the contrary, as we understand Hahne-
mann's direction , he should examine his case to see whether
it presented the groups of symptoms " heat, increasing rest-
lessness and agonizing anxiety," in which case he would
give Aconite ; or whether the characteristics of the case
were " over- excessive pains with a lachrymose humor, " in
which case he would give Coffea. Suppose at his next visit,
twelve, sixteen or twenty- four hours after, he should find , as
might well happen, that the group of symptoms first
observed had disappeared and had given place to the other
group, he would, for this reason, change his remedy. Or, if
he lived at a distance from the patient, he might make the
nurse his deputy, and, instructing this deputy as to the
distinction between the groups of symptoms, might direct
her (as Hahnemann has directed us) to make changes in the
remedies when corresponding changes in the symptoms.
should call for them. In this way there would be no
assumption and no a priori " alternation. " The practice
would be sound, fulfilling the conditions of a sound prescrip-
tion, viz. that each prescription be preceded by a fresh
collection of the symptoms of the case, and comparison of
them with the Materia Medica.
Is it suggested that Hahnemann meant to intimate that
these groups of symptoms might co- exist in the patient at
the same time and might make a " totality of symptoms "
that would require these two remedies to cover it ? But
these
groups are pathologically incompatible. No one con-
versant with the phenomena of sickness could conceive of a
patient presenting, at one and the same time, “ heat, increas-
ing restlessness and agonizing anxiety, " and likewise over-
sensibility to pain and a disposition to weep and despond. No !
182 ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2.
find fault with ; as, for example, Dr. Coxe ; likewise Dr.
Drysdale, in so far as his definition is concerned. Their
methods do not always, of necessity , conflict with the require-
ments of a sound prescription . There are still other pro-
cedures, called " alternation," but which are not always
necessarily liable to the objections urged against " alter-
nation, " properly so called, as we have defined it (a priori).
The occurrence of complications, and especially of trau-
matic complications, such as a burn of the hand, during the
course of a pneumonia -a contused vulva simultaneously
with a milk fever, are mentioned by Dr. Drysdale, as
instances which may require alternation ; as, for example,
Urtica urens to the burned hand, while Phosphorus is being
given internally for the pneumonia, and Arnica to the
vulva, while Aconite is given for the milk fever.
Now, of such cases as these it might perhaps be properly
said, that they do not come under the scope of our inquiry,
inasmuch as the burn and the contusion might be regarded
as purely local, and not at all constitutional affections, and
the respective applications might be viewed in the same
light, and as not capable, when thus used, of affecting the
general system, and of thus being, in fact, alternated with
the remedy which the patient is taking internally. But,
waiving this reply, we may say that the teaching of our
own experience is, that, in such cases as these, the best way
is to follow the one great rule which governs homœopathic
prescription ; after the occurrence of the complication , collect
and scrutinize the patient's symptoms anew. If the burn
shall have been so slight as to make no impression on the
general system, to produce no modification in the symptoms
of the previously existing pneumonia, then there is no
reason for doubting that simple protection from the atmos-
pheric air will be all that is needed in the way of treatment
for the burn.
If, on the other hand, the burn have been of a serious
character, so as to produce constitutional disturbance , it will
188 ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2 .
shall find, that when the patient ceases to improve under the
Nux or the Mercurius which was first given, his symptoms
changed in such a way that their totality furnished a satisfac-
tory indication for Opium, and a capable prescriber would
accordingly have selected Opium and cured his case, even
though the notion of " exhausted susceptibility " had never
entered his head . Simple adherence to the great principle
of homœopathic prescribing, viz. , that each prescription is to
be founded on a new collection of the symptoms and a new
comparison of them with the Materia Medica, leads to suc-
cess in all such cases, without the intervention of any patho-
logical hypothesis whatever ; at the same time it excludes all
danger of appearing to sanction the bad habit of alternation.
As regards the use of Opium for constipation in chronic
diseases, and Coffea in neuralgia, these being used as inter-
mediate or alternated remedies, they, like topical applica-
tions in traumatic complications, are much abused, and often
altogether needless if not hurtful. A single example will
illustrate this point : A patient, not long ago, while under a
friend's treatment came under my observation. Her symp-
toms corresponded exceedingly well with those of Conium
maculatum . It was a chronic disease of long standing.
She had troublesome constipation , which was sometimes so
bad that it seemed to completely neutralize the good effect
which Conium was evidently producing. A dose or two of
Opium 30 would relieve the constipation, and the patient
would seem for a while to improve again under the Conium.
This might be called an illustration of what Dr. Drysdale
refers to as the necessity for alternated or intermediate
remedies in either " complications of chronic diseases," or
"exhausted susceptibility. " It was not, however, satisfac-
tory to my friend, nor to myself. He could not regard the
regularly recurring constipation as a foreign complication.
Believing in the unity of disease, he looked upon it as an
integral portion of that patient's sickness and did not rest
contented until he had found a single remedy which covered
ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2 . 191
shall find, that when the patient ceases to improve under the
Nux or the Mercurius which was first given, his symptoms
changed in such a way that their totality furnished a satisfac-
tory indication for Opium, and a capable prescriber would
accordingly have selected Opium and cured his case, even
though the notion of " exhausted susceptibility " had never
entered his head. Simple adherence to the great principle
of homoeopathic prescribing, viz . , that each prescription is to
be founded on a new collection of the symptoms and a new
comparison of them with the Materia Medica, leads to suc-
cess in all such cases, without the intervention of any patho-
logical hypothesis whatever ; at the same time it excludes all
danger of appearing to sanction the bad habit of alternation.
As regards the use of Opium for constipation in chronic
diseases, and Coffea in neuralgia, these being used as inter-
mediate or alternated remedies, they, like topical applica-
tions in traumatic complications, are much abused, and often
altogether needless if not hurtful. A single example will
illustrate this point :
A patient, not long ago, while under a
friend's treatment came under my observation . Her symp-
d
toms corresponde exceedingly well with those of Conium
maculatum. It was a chronic disease of long standing.
She had troublesome constipation , which was sometimes so
bad that it seemed to completely neutralize the good effect
which Conium was evidently producing. A dose or two of
Opiumi30 would relieve the constipation , and the patient
would seem for a while to improve again under the Conium.
This might be called an illustration of what Dr. Drysdale
refers to as the necessity for alternated or intermediate
remedies in either " complications of chronic diseases," or
"exhausted susceptibility. " It was not, however, satisfac-
tory to my friend, nor to myself. He could not regard the
regularly recurring constipation as a foreign complication .
Believing in the unity of disease, he looked upon it as an
integral portion of that patient's sickness and did not rest
contented until he had found a single remedy which covered
ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2. 191
present, and a remedy has been well selected for it, and now
a hepatitis supervenes to complicate the case. Here, we
are told, is a new disease, which can have nothing to do
with the previously existing pneumonia, and which must
require a distinct treatment, in the way of alternation. This
is in no way different from the complication of a burn, of
which we have already spoken. If the complication is
serious enough to produce constitutional symptoms (as a
hepatitis would surely be) , it would always (or our observa-
tion has uniformly deceived us) modify all existing symp-
toms. For example, a severe burn would give a typhoid
character to an existing pneumonia.We must then make a
new collection of the symptoms, and proceed as before to
select a remedy.
Under any other plan - if we are to select our remedy
according to correspondence of known drug-action and
disease-action upon the tissues of the body - not only are
we liable to errors already pointed out, but our scope is
wonderfully restricted. How could we find remedies for
changes of structure, such as we can never expect to see in
drug-provings, such as cancer and heterologous growths of
all kinds ? How, for affections which do not depend on or
involve any definite known change of tissue, as intermittent
fever, epilepsy, hysteria, and the host of chronic ailments ?
The two principles on which alternation has been sought
to be defended have been stated as follows :
Ist. " Each drug has its own specific sphere and manner
of action ; hence that remedy acts in a particular manner
upon a particular organ or tissue, or upon a particular set
of organs or tissues. "
2d. " Attenuated remedies act upon the system only by
virtue of their homœopathicity to the disease by which the
system is at the time affected."
The artificial disease intentionally produced by a drug,
and the natural disease which results from the usual morbific
predisposing and exciting causes may, for all purposes of
ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2. 203
the case cited by him, and that they did not combine to
present the characteristics of one common remedy.
For this is the point of the whole discussion. No matter
how many of the pathological groups which are dignified by
the names of distinct diseases may co- exist in a patient, if
they be so blended and mutually modified as to indicate, in
the aggregate, one single remedy, there can be no call for
alternation.
Inasmuch as Dr. Russell rests his argument for alternation
on the possible and frequent co- existence of distinct, specific
forms of disease, it is incumbent on him to show that these
co-existent, distinct forms of disease do not, by their co -ex-
istence, modify each other and blend into one harmonious
aggregate of symptoms, the characteristic ones of which
may be covered by a single remedy. In our experience
this has always seemed to be the case, and we shall adduce
other evidence to the same effect.
But before citing authorities, let us point out how far Dr.
Russell's argument, even allowing it full force, comes short
of being a defense of alternation, as it is actually practiced
here and in England ! Dr. Russell allows it where "two
distinct, specific forms of disease " co- exist, such as scarlet
fever or small-pox and typhus -a phenomenon that no
physician in ordinary family practice is likely to observe
more than once a week ! Yet how many times a day do a
majority of our colleagues alternate ? It is safe to say that,
with very many, the giving a single remedy is the infrequent
exception! Their case is exactly, met by the following
remarks of Dr. Russell, one of the champions of alternation :
"The objection usually urged against alternation is that
it leads to laxity of practice. True, if we give two medi-
cines instead of one and let the system take its choice, as
it were, to which it shall submit- if, in a given case, for
example, we find two medicines pretty nearly indicated , and,
instead of ourselves selecting the one and rejecting the other,
we toss them both in, trusting that the right one will act,
ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2. 211
the case cited by him, and that they did not combine to
present the characteristics of one common remedy.
For this is the point of the whole discussion. No matter
how many of the pathological groups which are dignified by
the names of distinct diseases may co- exist in a patient, if
they be so blended and mutually modified as to indicate, in
the aggregate, one single remedy, there can be no call for
alternation.
Inasmuch as Dr. Russell rests his argument for alternation
on the possible and frequent co - existence of distinct, specific
forms of disease, it is incumbent on him to show that these
co-existent, distinct forms of disease do not, by their co-ex-
istence, modify each other and blend into one harmonious
aggregate of symptoms, the characteristic ones of which
may be covered by a single remedy. In our experience
this has always seemed to be the case, and we shall adduce
other evidence to the same effect.
But before citing authorities, let us point out how far Dr
Russell's argument, even allowing it full force, comes shor
of being a defense of alternation, as it is actually practice
here and in England ! Dr. Russell allows it where " tw
distinct, specific forms of disease " co-exist, such as scarl
fever or small-pox and typhus -a phenomenon that
physician in ordinary family practice is likely to obser
more than once a week ! Yet how many times a day do
majority of our colleagues alternate ? It is safe to say t
with very many, the giving a single remedy is the infrequ
exception! Their case is exactly, met by the follow
remarks of Dr. Russell, one of the champions of alternat
"The objection usually urged against alternation is
it leads to laxity of practice. True, if we give two n m
cines instead of one and let the system take its choic
it were, to which it shall submit- if, in a given cas
example, we find two medicines pretty nearly indicated
instead of ourselves selecting the one and rejecting the
we toss them both in, trusting that the right one wi
ALTERNATION OF REMEDIES. NO. 2 . 213
I.
II.
""
success have been greater if alternation had been avoided ?
Not having any comparative experience by the light of
which to answer this question, the alternator ab initio, could
not reply.
Our editorial note to Dr. H.'s paper expressly referred to
Hahnemann's experience, and to the experience of the
writer, as being of this comparative character, and as, there-
fore, bearing on this question , and as showing, so far as they
go, that the results of adherence to the single remedy are
more satisfactory than those of alternation.
Some of the points touched by Dr. C. are too important
to be treated in this annotation. They will be discussed in
a future number of the Review.¹
Suffice it now to say that, when he states that " the only
reason why he practices alternation is the want of perfection
of the materia medica, " he concedes ( if he will allow us to
add one other analogous reason , viz. , " want of perfection in
the knowledge possessed by practitioners of the materia
medica which we already have " ) all that the opponents
of alternation contend for. For this position admits that
alternation is wrong in principle, and is only necessitated by
a temporary emergency. We contend that the emergency,
instead of being common, is rare, if not altogether imaginary,
and we appeal to our practice..
How dangerous it is to discuss a question of science with
rhetorical figures !
Dr. C. makes merry over his imagined double- headed
monster, for each head of which he provides a club, and he
grows happy at the thought that by his two- handed energy
he will have destroyed this figurative disease much more
quickly than the luckless editor could do it, whom he
restricts to the use of a single club to be applied to but one
head at a time.
Now, we have always supposed that the efficacy of an
armament depended not so much upon the number of
¹ See " Alternation of Remedies ," Nos. 1 and 2.
EDITORIAL REMARKS ON ALTERNATION. 225
are cases in which the high potencies fail to cure. But the
majority of these records are like those of Dr. Watzke,
referred to by him, in the Esterreichische Zeitschrift, vol. ii.,
where he says, the patients on whom he tried the high poten-
cies suffered for most part from diseases in which there was
little reason to expect a favorable result from any remedy,
in whatever dose, for, he says, they were cases of “ dis-
solving pulmonary tubercle, of fungoid tumor of the brain,
of cerebral and pulmonary apoplexy, of spinal paralysis,
of chronic hydrocephalus, valvular insufficience of the heart,
of fibrous tumor of the uterus, etc. , etc.
Yet, no doubt, Dr. Watzke is one of those who would
exclaim against the unfairness of Andral in pretending to
test Homœopathy in the Paris hospital, by giving a single
dose of a homœopathic remedy to a patient laboring under
incurable disease !
Dr. Watzke himself, though so bitterly opposed to the
advocates of high potencies, is constrained to state in his
resumé of the proving of Natrum muriaticum, in the fourth
volume of the Austrian Journal, " I am, alas ! -I say, alas !
for I would much rather have upheld the larger doses which
accord with current views - I am compelled to declare
myself for the higher dilutions. The physiological experi-
ments made with Natrum muriaticum, as well as the great
majority of the clinical results obtained therewith , speak
decisively and distinctly for these preparations." This is
strong language from an avowedly unwilling witness !
The conclusion to which an impartial estimate of the
evidence concerning the high potencies, up to the year 1850,
would lead, is well and justly expressed by a writer in the
British Journal of Homœopathy, vol. v., p. 154 :
" I. The high potencies do act.
" 2. They act sometimes very energetically.
"3. They often act curatively with surprising rapidity.
"" 4. They sometimes cure where the lower dilutions have
are cases in which the high potencies fail to cure. But the
majority of these records are like those of Dr. Watzke,
referred to by him, in the Esterreichische Zeitschrift, vol. ii. ,
where he says, the patients on whom he tried the high poten-
cies suffered for most part from diseases in which there was
little reason to expect a favorable result from any remedy,
in whatever dose, for, he says, they were cases of " dis-
solving pulmonary tubercle, of fungoid tumor of the brain,
of cerebral and pulmonary apoplexy, of spinal paralysis,
of chronic hydrocephalus, valvular insufficience of the heart,
of fibrous tumor of the uterus, etc. , etc.
Yet, no doubt, Dr. Watzke is one of those who would
exclaim against the unfairness of Andral in pretending to
test Homœopathy in the Paris hospital, by giving a single
dose of a homœopathic remedy to a patient laboring under
incurable disease !
Dr. Watzke himself, though so bitterly opposed to the
advocates of high potencies, is constrained to state in his
resumé of the proving of Natrum muriaticum, in the fourth
volume of the Austrian Journal, " I am, alas ! —I say, alas !
for I would much rather have upheld the larger doses which
accord with current views - I am compelled to declare
myself for the higher dilutions. The physiological experi-
ments made with Natrum muriaticum, as well as the great
majority of the clinical results obtained therewith, speak
decisively and distinctly for these preparations. " This is
strong language from an avowedly unwilling witness !
The conclusion to which an impartial estimate of the
evidence concerning the high potencies, up to the year 1850,
would lead, is well and justly expressed by a writer in the
British Journal of Homeopathy, vol. v. , p. 154 :
" 1. The high potencies do act.
" 2. They act sometimes very energetically.
"3. They often act curatively with surprising rapidity.
"4. They sometimes cure where the lower dilutions have
failed -though the evidence on this point is scanty. "
IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK. 239
'The subsequent history of this case recurred with its original severity, and
confirms the suspicion that the great no form of Glonoine ( nor of any other
reliefafforded by Glonoine was pallia- remedy that I tried) availed to give
tive. After a few months the disease relief.
256 THE USE OF HIGH POTENCIES .
seek out and find the truth that has led me thus to trouble
you. "
We heartily respect our correspondent's earnest desire to
get at the " whole truth, " and to " start fair" in his experi-
ment; and we respect his hesitation to use the high potencies
until he should have a reasonable assurance that in so doing
he would not be hazarding the interests of his patients. We
take this public manner of replying to his questions, partly
with a view of convincing him that we have no wish that our
"answers to this communication " should be "kept strictly
private." On the contrary, we should be glad to have
"publicity (as coming from us) given them ." For they are
expressions of our honest convictions, the result of as careful
observations and as cautious and complete experiments as
we have up to the present time been capable of making.
They express our present opinion , —those views in accord-
ance with which we shape our daily practice.
But we hold ourselves bound by them only so long as
they shall continue to be our honest convictions . Should
further observation and more extended experience satisfy us
that any of our present positions are untenable we shall
gladly abandon them for others, and shall then, likewise, be
not only willing but anxious to have " publicity (as coming
from us) given " to these new views. The object of our
professional life is to find out the truth and to shape our
practice accordingly. Consistency to this object is true
consistency ; while consistency to any form of opinion or
doctrine that may at one time have been supposed to be the
truth and proclaimed by us as such, -consistency to such .
opinion merely because we may have once publicly uttered it,
this is the basest and most ignoble bigotry and cowardice.
In the article¹ to which our correspondent refers, we had
no object but to express frankly and plainly the views which
govern us in the practice of medicine. We would call his
attention to the fact that the greater part of the article
f
strictly homœopathic to the case. They are like the rifle-
ball -if they hit, they kill ; if not, there is no record of the
shot. There can be no good luck from scattering.
Now it will be perceived that the question of cures with
high and low potencies is not merely a question of potencies,
and our friend's trial will not be a fair one unless he make
sure that his selection of the remedy in each case in which
he tries the high potencies is strictly homoeopathic . If he
make sure of this and be correct in it, then let him go on in
confidence with his experiment. We bid him God- speed.
THE QUESTION OF THE DOSE.
perceptible effect.
Neither Mercurius dulcis, used as a snuff,
nor Corrosive sublimate in solution, to be inhaled, had a
noteworthy or enduring effect. The patient thought the
slight changes noticed were rather to be ascribed to the
weather, and especially to the dryness or moisture of the
atmosphere than to the remedies used.
Under these circumstances, the operation being proposed,
I was asked whether a cure was possible without operative
procedures. I declared that a cure by means of internal
remedies not only might succeed, but that it would have a
much more enduring result than the mechanical removal of
the growth could have ; and furthermore, that an operation,
in case it should prove necessary after an internal treatment,
would be more certain and more lasting in its result than
one without the previous use of corresponding remedies.
Having seen from Calcarea carbonica in several similar
cases a very striking and unmistakable curative action, I
prescribed the fourth decimal trituration of this remedy and
ordered at first one grain daily, and after eight days two
grains daily to be taken. After two months, the patient
appeared and reported that she had taken the remedy four
weeks and then intermitted it for four weeks, and that no
change in her condition was observable. And I could
myself perceive neither increase nor decrease of the poly-
pus excrescence. This determined me to give the second
decimal trituration of Calcarea, one grain daily. After
fourteen days, the nostril having become more permeable,
and a diminution in the size of the polypus being percepti-
ble, although very trifling in degree, I allowed a pause of
four weeks in the use of the remedy. After this lapse of
time, the tumor had regained its former size ; the lady was
more than ever inclined toward the operation.
I concluded to wait upon her a few weeks longer, and
gave her the officinal lime - water, a tea - spoonful twice daily in
milk. Four weeks later the lady came again to me ; a most
careful investigation revealed no traces of the polypus. She
THE QUESTION OF THE DOSE. 271
ANALYSIS.
1 The later English authors are tumor, and not to the malignant Can-
disposed to confine the term Scirrhus cer in its first stage, that Conium is
to the first stage of Cancer, before ul- applicable, and even in this, to benign
ceration takes place. Scirrhus, then, fibroides only in the formative stage.
is always a malignant affection. The During the year 1851 , two patients in
Germans apply the term, however, Dr. Wurmb's Hospital , in Vienna, in
indifferently to such benign or malig- whom fibrous tumor of the uterus
nant tumors as from their physical was clearly recognized, were treated
character, hardness, merit the name. with Conium. In one, the tumor
From this character, the benign fibrous disappeared ; in the other, it had
tumor (fibroides of Rokitansky ) of the greatly diminished in size, when she
uterus or mamma is often called refused further treatment.
Scirrhus. It is to this species of C. D.
20
CLAGNOSIS N HOWE PE
288
of the ran
uterus e vien ter
easily entent 13an i get
Dis
1
ment
culosi
conce
evince
cours
to pa
so l
secre
they
colli
I
ma
(Cc
es1
wi •
pr
mcc
J
NO. III. MERCURIUS . 291
EFFECTS IN GENERAL.
EFFECTS IN GENERAL.
matism.
300 DIAGNOSIS IN HOMOEOPATHIĊ PRACTICE.
NO. IV . ACONITE .
1 The later English authors are tumor, and not to the malignant Can-
disposed to confine the term Scirrhus cer in its first stage, that Conium is
to the first stage of Cancer, before ul- applicable, and even in this, to benign
ceration takes place. Scirrhus, then, fibroides only in the formative stage.
is always a malignant affection . The During the year 1851 , two patients in
Germans apply the term, however, Dr. Wurmb's Hospital, in Vienna, in
indifferently to such benign or malig- whom fibrous tumor of the uterus
nant tumors as from their physical was clearly recognized, were treated
character, hardness, merit the name. with Conium. In one, the tumor
From this character, the benign fibrous disappeared ; in the other, it had
tumor (fibroides of Rokitansky) of the greatly diminished in size, when she
uterus or mamma is often called refused further treatment.
Scirrhus. It is to this species of C. D.
20
290 DIAGNOSIS IN HOMEOPATHIC PRACTICE.
EFFECTS IN GENERAL.
5. Acute Catarrh.
6. Tuberculosis with febrile excitement.
7. Vascular affections. Arteritis, pericarditis, and endo-
carditis. In organic heart disease, for the periodical excite-
ment. (Aconite is preferable to Digitalis, which sometimes
leaves injurious sequelæ. )
8. Violent dynamic congestions, depending on no organic
cause.
GENERAL effects.
SPECIAL ACTION.
TISSUES.
1. Skin. Especially affected. Even contact of the leaves
of the plant, or proximity to them, produces an eruption,
varying in intensity from the slightest erythema to the
gravest form of vesicular erysipelas. Vesicular formations.
are characteristic of Rhus.
2. Mucous Membranes. 1. Aphtha, swelling ofthe tongue ;
œdema and swelling of tonsils, and vesicular angina ;
phimosis and paraphimosis, vesicular formations on the whole
penis, scrotum, and perineum, with oedematus swelling of the
neighboring parts . This Rhus oedema is everywhere hot.
2. Dryness of the mucous membranes, and, in consequence ,
difficult deglutition , tickling in the larynx , dry tongue, hoarse-
ness, dry and painful cough, burning in the chest, burning
pain in the stomach, nausea, repugnance to stimulating food,
as flesh, wine, etc.¹
Intestinal Canal. Tardy action. Tenesmus ; painful
evacuation of dry, friable fæces, often light- colored ; also,
but less frequently, from the tendency to serous depositions,
thin serous stools. (See note .)
Urine. Diminished ; evacuation painful ; tenesmus, with
burning ; emission by drops ; also, involuntary evacuation.
Urine turbid and scanty, with copious white sediment ; also,
increased in quantity and pale. (See note. ) Region of the
bladder, sensitive.
APPLICATION.
General. I. To acute and sub- acute cases ; less frequently
to chronic. 2. In affections of the membranes, especially
if accompanied by an evident dyscrasia , and attended by
nervous phenomena. 3. In affections resulting from expos-
ure to rain while perspiring. (Bonninghausen. )
Special. I. Vesicular Cutaneous Diseases of all Varieties.
Erythema and erysipelas bullosum ; scarlatina miliaris ;
miliaria ; carbuncle ; and, generally, all cutaneous eruptions
that tend to gangrene . Herpes acutus ; crusta lactea ;
hydrargyrosis ; variola, with highly developed oedema and
great cutaneous irritation ; acute pemphigus ; oedema after
acute eruptions, with redness, heat and fever ; acute œdema
per se (Morbus Brightii ?).
II. Sero-fibrous Membranes. Acute and sub - acute rheu-
matism affecting the joints and muscles, characterized by
considerable swelling, redness, heat of the joint, pain
diminished by motion, increased by repose, with miliaria
and pustules around the joint ; rheumatism of the fascia lata.
III. Rheumatic Odontalgia. Tearing, boring pain over
the whole chin ; swelling, redness of the gums ; erysipelatous
swelling of the cheeks and region of the lower jaw, even to
the eyes and forehead.
NO. VII. RHUS TOXICODENDRON. 313
NO. X. SEPIA.
GENERAL EFFECTS.
SPECIAL EFFECTS.
APPLICATION.
A. General. 1. Age. Sepia is especially adapted to
affections occurring at the climacteric period, in women
who were formerly excitable ; after long- continued depress-
ing mental affections, or great bodily or mental labor.
2. Aspect. An unmistakable aspect ; a peculiar yellow-
ish puffy complexion, rather fat. The tissues are soft and
flaccid ; they easily and quickly collapse and soon recover.
3. Temperament. Good - natured, yet easily excitable.
4. The affections complained of are not violent, often
disappearing altogether, and are concentrated in the digestive
and sexual sphere. A special indication, in addition to the
above, is a very slight acrid and excoriating discharge
ex genitalibus.
5. Although especially adapted to females, Sepia is also
applicable, variatis variandis, to the male sex, especially to
woman- like, soft - tissued men, who were formerly of a fiery
temperament, but have settled down into a sedentary, medi-
tative mode of life.
B. Special. 1. Affections of the Digestive apparatus and
the Liver indicate Sepia . a. By sour and putrid formations,
manifested by eructations and habitual flatulence, and dis-
turbed digestion. Inveterate sub-acute pyrosis ( in acute, not
appropriate, compare Ipecacuanha , etc. ) . Pains in the stom-
ach, and cramps of the stomach and intestines after eating.
b. Pains in the hepatic and iliac region, excited by touch-
ing those regions ; hence, applicable in corresponding
affections of the liver generally ; in degeneration of the liver
and intestines, Sepia is applicable, at most, only in the
beginning ; later, other remedies come into play. ( Ascites
as secondary to hepatic affection. )
NO. XI. GRAPHITES. 321
APPLICATION.
SPECIAL INDICATIONS.
APPLICATION.
NO. XV . CHAMOMILLA .
GENERAL ACTION.
APPLICATION.
her symptoms, her mind being in such a state that she could
not herself record them. The following symptoms had
come on on the 20th (ten days after last dose) , and steadily
increased : A sensation in the pelvis as though everything
was coming into the world through the vagina. Last night
it was very distressing, and not relieved by change of
position. The dragging downward toward the pelvis is felt
as high as the stomach and even the shoulders ; not relieved
by lying down, though worse when standing ; a disposition to
place the hand upon the hypogastrium and press upward in
order to relieve the dragging sensation. Likewise an aching
and pressure across the lumbo - sacral region, and some
pressure upon the rectum . Likewise pressure and a crazy
feeling upon the vertex, so that she cannot write her
symptoms. To -day (22d), when walking, a sensation as if
everything were pressing down in the pelvis and into the
vagina, so that she inhales forcibly in order to draw up the
thorax and clear the pelvis.
She wants somebody to talk to her and entertain her.
Feels quite nervous ; wants to cry from a feeling of irritation
and of something wrong in the abdomen and pelvis. Feels
hurried and yet incapable , as if she had a great deal to do
and cannot do it ; much thirst ; drinks often, and much at a
time.
Bowels generally regular. Now she has alternately a solid
and a loose stool , several during the day, and a constant
feeling as though she must have a stool ; this feeling result-
ing from a sensation as if something were pressing against
the anterior wall of the rectum at the anus and about one
to three inches above it.
She is conscious of feeling nervous and irritable, and yet
says she feels jolly. Grumbling pain in right side of head
and teeth .
Yesterday, when walking, pain in both ovaries , worse in
the left, extending down the anterior and inner aspect of the
left thigh, as if it would be impossible to take another step ;
LILIUM TIGRINUM . 357
PATHOGENESY.
No. I. A woman, 46 years old, of nervous tempera-
ment, very impressible, but in good health.
372 MUREX PURPUREA.
dose, given in the same way, as soon as the flow had ceased,
was sufficient to re-establish the health of the patient, who
for the last year has continued to be well.
From these two observations and others analogous to
them, one may deduce principles of a useful application.
They will find their place hereafter.
Thorax.
Stomach.
Abdomen.
Genital Organs.
Urinary Organs.
52. Urine with white sediment. Discharge of a small
quantity of bloody mucus after the passage of urine ; fifth
day.
53. Frequent call to urinate during the day ; second day.
54. When urinating slight bloody discharge ; eighth day.
55. Frequent need to urinate during the night, urine
colorless ; third day.
56. Urine fœtid ; the odor much resembling that of Vale-
rian ; this odor soon diminishes and disappears ; third day.
Trunk.
Extremities.
Sleep.
70. Drowsiness ; first day.
71. Drowsiness and sadness ; second day.
72. At 9 P. M. great desire to sleep.
73. Sleep with troublesome dreams ; fleeing from a tur-
bulent ocean she found herself in a plain full of water ; third
day.
74. Troublesome dreams (fourth day) ; ditto (seventh
day), waking with fright.
75. Sleep interrupted by pains altogether similar to those
which sometimes accompany the menses (third day) ;
anguish.
76. Wakes with a start and a violent desire to urinate ;
urine abundant.
General Symptoms.
She has been under my care about three years, and has
constantly but slowly regained health. She can now ride
about ten miles and rest in an hour afterward ; can sew
about eight hours in a day, but must rest frequently, and
has never passed a day without lying down. Her mind has
gradually recovered its cheerfulness, and she has been for
several months desirous of society, which even one year
since she could not at all endure.
I directed her not to take any other medicine for ten days
before the Murex. She has taken three doses at intervals
of ten days. The symptoms have been the same each time,
only much more intense than the first dose. I gave her the
two hundredth dilution ; she took it in the morning as soon
as she had risen. For the first four hours she felt nothing.
Then she felt a debility of the entire muscular system ; a
sinking of the stomach ; an enlargement of the bowels ; a
distinct feeling of the womb ; and great sensitiveness of the
bowels, with sharp pain running up from the groin to the
socket of the right hip. A sensation as of the creeping of a
snake over the entire region of the short ribs, upon the left
side ; great depression of spirits ; it seemed to her that she
was hopelessly ill. She was obliged to go to bed and lie
there. These symptoms continued for nearly a week, with-
out abatement, and at the end of a week she felt about as
usual, except that she was rather gloomy in mind. The
second and third doses produced the same symptoms, but
less intense.
No. 2. A lady, aged about 30 years , of sanguine - nervous
temperament, had been for five years subject almost con-
stantly to pain in her right hip, and a feeling of sinking at
the stomach , which incapacitated her for sewing or knitting.
She took but one dose and said , " It made me miserable . I
was so low-spirited that I gave up everything . I had no
strength left. My stomach seemed gone , and an intolerable
creeping pain in my right hip kept me from getting any
ease in any position . " I ought to add that this lady had
MUREX PURPUREA. 385
been so well for the last eight months that I had not been in
attendance upon her. The duration of the effect of the
medicine in her case was about five days.
No. 3. A lady, aged 23 years, of sanguine- nervous tem-
perament. I had treated her during the year past for pro-
lapsus uteri, with the ordinary debility in the lumbar region,
palpitation of the heart, sinking at the stomach, etc. , that
usually accompany that affection. She recovered rapidly
and seemed to be in sound health for the last six months.
She took three doses of Murex at intervals of ten days, and
perceived no effect whatever.
SPASMODIC PHENOMENA.
PARALYTIC PHENOMENA.
A.-ANÆSTHESIA.
Tenesmus (anus).
Ferking (nose, soles of the feet) .
Sticking (head, meatus auditorius, cheeks, gullet, gastric
region, abdomen, rectum, præcordia, back, axilla, hand,
cruro- tarsal joint, ball of the foot, toes).
Crawling, itching, prickling, tickling (temples, lower
maxilla, corners of the eyes, face, nose, tongue, epigastrium,
arms, genitals, chest, thyroid region , hand, fingers, thumbs,
limbs, knees, ankle- bones, soles of feet, toes).
Chafing (orbital margins, tips of ears, nose, cheeks, parts
about the mouth, chin, genitals, scrotum, hand, feet, and
soles).
Burning (head, eyes, ears, tongue, region of umbilicus,
abdomen, rectum, chest, arm, elbow, hand, knee, toes).
Pain as from a blow or thrust (head, temples, arch of
eyebrow, abdomen, coccyx, shoulder, arm, limbs, thighs,
knee) .
Numbness and feeling as of paralysis (head, cheeks, lips,
nose, face, zygoma, chin, coccyx, nape, arm, fore - arm, hand,
thumb, limbs, thighs, knees, hollow of the knee, feet).
Feeling of coldness (head, eyes, cheeks, lips, face, chin,
scapula, hand).
Throbbing and throbbing pain ( teeth, region of stomach,
ribs, fore-arm, legs, toes).
Soreness (eyes, lips, palate, back, legs, ankle-joints, and
bones).
Tearing (ears, thigh, dorsum of foot, toes).
Shocks and blows (chin, epigastrium, chest, back, skin, calf ) .
Startings (ears, chin, legs) .
Jerking and jerking pain (upper lip, gastric region
(visible), abdomen, fore- arm, limbs).
Feeling as if burned (upper lip, tongue).
Feeling as if beaten ( arm, thigh) .
Feeling as if dislocated (knee, ankle) .
Feeling as if contused (head, mastoid process, elbow,
thumb, knee).
NA
408 PLATI .
a tea- spoonful every two hours. After the second dose there
was complete relief. The next evening, a very slight dispo-
sition to cough. No further symptoms.
I supplied the patient with Rumex 30, and advised her to
use it at once on the occurrence of such a cough, and I am
informed that she has always succeeded in subduing the
cough within twelve hours.
REMARKS ON GUAO.¹
'AUBURN, N. Y. , March 26, 1877. Dr. Dunham was its author, and it
* should appear in any collection of his
In the fifth volume of
the American Homeopathic Review, writings. Dr. Dunham's reasons for
page 537, is an article on Spigelia wishing it to appear as mine were, that
purporting to have been read by me he was writing so much for the
in October, 1864. It is true that I Review, that he was glad to have
read it, and by request of Dr. Dun- some other name appear occasionally.
ham it went as my paper, although C. W. BOYCE.
I did not write a word of it.
428 REMARKS ON SPIGELIA .
"My object throughout has been to ascertain, clearly and definitely, the
action of the drugs employed on the healthy body in medicinal doses, from the
smallest to the largest ; to deduce simple practical conclusions from the facts
observed ; and then to apply the drug to the relief of the particular condi-
tions to which its action appeared suitable. "
DR. HARLEY ON CONIUM MACULATUM . 435
of the pupils, and is compatible with good definition for fixed objects. It is
due to imperfect adjustment of the refracting media of the eye from partial
paralysis of the ciliary branches of the third nerve. It is through these minute
branches that the individual first becomes conscious of the effects of the
Hemlock, and if he should be reading at the time he will suddenly find the
occupation fatiguing, and very soon afterward it may be impossible, and he
will be glad to close the eyes to relieve himself of the symptom, and, as the
muscular lethargy begins to be felt, content to lie perfectly still, as if asleep.
" In full doses the depressing influence involves the other branches of the
nerve, and the lazy movements of the eyeball, or dull, fixed and occasionally
divergent stare, indicate the partially paralyzed condition of the external
muscles ofthe eyeball; while more or less drooping of the upper lids expresses
a similar condition of the levator palpebræ .
"Double vision, from inability to maintain the convergence of the optic axis,
excepting as a very evanescent effect, is a comparatively rare result of the
action of Hemlock. I have only observed it in a few persons. In one of
these, a delicate invalid, confined by weakness and ovarian disease chiefly to
the recumbent position , two drachms of the Succus conii produced full effects,
accompanied by double vision . This was a constant symptom ; it came on
half an hour after taking the medicine, and lasted twenty minutes.
"After having taken the Hemlock for six months, she told me, as often as I
happened to see her during the operation of the medicine, that she saw each
object in the room double, that my eyes were also doubled, and that she felt as
if she were squinting.
"Dilatation ofthe pupil occurs usually after only very large doses, and then
it is often but slight, and only observable in a subdued light, the excitement of
strong light overcoming the tendency to dilate, just as the exertion of a strong
will strengthens for a time an enfeebled limb.
" The absence of any preponderating action of the muscles, supplied by the
fourth and sixth pairs of nerves, shows that they are equally affected with the
third pair.
"A proportionate diminution of power is also observed in the muscles
supplied by the motor branches of the fifth and seventh pairs. The contractile
power of the m. orbicularis, in particular, is distinctly weakened.
"Upon the eighth pair the action of Conium is not very apparent in a state of
health ; but in the spasmodic affections, arising from irritation of this nerve, its
influence is very decided.
"As to the hypoglossal nerve, I have never observed any decided loss of
voluntary power in the tongue during the action of Conium, unless, as in
.
chorea, some derangement of this center pre-existed.
" In the absence of irritation, functional or lesional, it is equally difficult to
recognize any particular influence upon the spinal cord. Hemlock affects the
motor function of this part of the nervous system last of all, and, short of a
poisonous dose, it does not interfere with its motor activity, or reflex function
as it is called, in any appreciable degree.
"When, however, there is a morbid excitability of the reflex function of the
spinal cord, the influence of Conium in subduing it is powerful and direct.
DR. HARLEY ON CONIUM MACULATUM. 439
"Conium, then, in a state of health, and in the fullest medicinal doses that
we can venture to give, exerts its power chiefly, if not exclusively, upon the
motor centers within the cranium. And of these the corpora striata, of course,
are the parts principally affected.
"Excepting, then, the reflex action of the cord, the whole motor function of
an individual, under the full influence of Conium, is actually asleep ; and this is
the simplest view that we can take of the physiological action of Hemlock. It
is to the corpora striata, to the smaller centers of motion, and to the whole ofthe
motor tract, precisely what Opium is to the brain of a person readily influenced
by its hypnotic action ; and just as Opium tranquilizes and refreshes the over-
excited and weary brain, so does Conium soothe and strengthen the unduly
excited and exhausted centers of motor activity.
"The influence of Conium appears to be in proportion, not to the muscular
# * A dull, inactive
strength of the individual, but to his motor activity.
child requires, to produce a given effect, only half the quantity that a lively,
active one does."
• 2
¹Allgemeine Homœopathische Zeit- Allgemeine Homœopathische Zeit
ung, ix. , p. 196. ung, ix., p. 198.
CONIUM MACULATUM. 451
Kidney.
Menses.
Larynx.
Inferior Extremities.
General.
Skin.
ME
464
AF
CU
ZE ordi
NE
loc
RE
aBcYc
RE
SS scc omep bef s
ali
D piIct
.
May 24. Patient writes me that he has obt
n
out difficulty, a situation in a store, and that he
dis tIof
.
l
ure
tahpep p the erosfhards,
conscious of being deaf. His sole difficulty is
e
ag ear sed
e
hmiocetxhcel whiti where re
h
the reputation of being deaf, everybody
a
ad poof t cab
td
h
.
wa trip
e
he ery icTk,
His father writes, that the son's hear
r
w
v
l e
nodthea"dtscoalreessu here
n
restored ."
t
arn wh tphe ochn, nsive.
s
fh
s h e
redwhi ohffe y
r
l
REMARKS. The success of the t
e
p. t
oug vetren
he
this case warrants a few remarks
r e,
T
of
was a case which presented to t'
troub
position
nothing on which to base a pres
lesompa iiltn,ys dly
ened membrana tympani — n night tho-
uncdomost iss, rug,
to a
."t
e
lousebte
tear
thickening had probably been
mpto dthiaontfg ds
off
was a pathologico- anatomica
m
prreocvommen n
the
process and, consequently, scabs
formed functions -or, ir
T a n
disease-from which to
provier
amla
t
on the pathological /
a knowledge of the
gives no certain clu
But, as Hahnem
case is often of
treatment. In
the violent rer.
and the app.
escape notic
that the sc
Hahnema
modern
doctrin
psora
zatic
the
lo
S
ME
DE ZE
AF CU RE
NE RE UM
SS D BY .
li
za up s
ti
on on th cacl
g e po. pi
di et mp
ct
th tsaasp o t i
th n
le
t ur
e p
k ef irg a y bee e
ha ar te peoa fo
d pead en srss re NNINGHAUSEN'S
ti es .
th en wa
eer of the t sd
se
d
xc po es a cc
el we cr or
le i
"y n r s fo p- di
wht ng
th it sc ha I ly
" ic is
T ab r
ho scka, hhe wse, d 46 message to
le lp re re 5 fat and
pr .
es th I was
of su er
ofn rTe,
en h e owder of
si er
ve . s e
ca croup might
o t
r ff he bs e sent for on the
ni ext morning I was
pgaht. "
th er, and was requested
.
ts o-
.dy. I went immediately.
te
dl opened, I heard the hoarse
y
child, which was in the second
nd sitting up in its crib, with an
anguish, breathing at the rate of 35 in
ith great labor. There was but little cough ;
in effort which resulted in a hoarse dry bark,
was immediately suppressed, apparently because
ered with respiration . The face was turgid and of a
e hue. The hands were frequently applied convul-
vely to the larynx, but as a general thing the child was
quiet, looking with pitiful appealing eyes to the by- stander as
if for aid. The skin was hot and dry except on the fore-
head, which was moist and cool, pulse hard , not full, 130.
On saying to the mother, " The child is exceedingly ill," I
was told, " He has been as bad if not worse all night. " He
had vomited once, about an hour before my arrival, bring-
ing up a small piece of tough membrane.
Here was a case of membranous croup of great severity,
which had been in full blast at least twelve hours before I
SS EUM
466 DEAFNE CURED BY MEZER .
restored, the patient could use his eyes freely both by day
and in the evening ; there was no longer any thought of the
operation ; in fact, it would have been hard to find anything
to operate upon.
At the present date there is no trace of the pterygium
remaining upon the left eye. In the inner angle of the
right eye there is a small speck yet visible.
PANAMA FEVER CURED BY ARSENICUM.
32
A CASE CURED BY MAGNESIA CARBONICA.
Mrs. S., aged twenty - seven years, fair and stout, has been
married six years, but never pregnant. Before marriage,
menstruation was normal ; soon after marriage, it became
irregular, as follows : menses would appear at intervals of
three or four months, and the flow would continue, with
scarcely an intermission, for twelve or fourteen weeks. The
discharge was generally dark and thick, accompanied by
pain, more or less severe. During the flow the patient
became quite feeble and anæmic, although not apparently
emaciated.
She applied to me, March 16, stating that she had been
flowing since March 1st ; the discharge being thick, dark and
abundant, and attended by unusually severe, labor - like pains,
night and day. She was already very feeble ; and, judging
from past experience that she would continue to flow in this
way for at least two months, she apprehended a degree of
prostration that would utterly disable her. I gave Platina ,
a dose every night. The flow continued, although daily
diminishing in quantity, for one week, and then ceased.
The patient immediately began to regain strength. There
was no re - appearance of menses until June 16, when they
came on as before , but without pain, continued two days,
ceased for twenty-four hours, re- appeared, and continued
until July 4. During this time Platina 200 was taken as
before. July 18, menses re-appeared , the flow being very
abundant, dark, and somewhat coagulated. The patient
was weak, had no appetite, and complained of pain and
much commotion in the abdomen. Platina having failed to
produce a lasting effect, China, Crocus, and Hamamelis were
A CASE CURED BY MAGNESIA CARBONICA. 483
I.
¹Of the following paper, Sections i. allopathic physicians ; as, for example,
to iv. were written for and published in Mr. Wilde, of Dublin, the distin-
a non-medical journal, the Independ- guished aural surgeon, and Dr. Mc-
ent, in November and December, 1865 . Laughlin, of London, Inspector of
To avert any possible charge of Cholera Hospitals for the Golden
presenting an ex parte case, the testi- Square District, in 1854-55.
mony to the superiority of homoeo- To these sections a fifth is now
pathic treatment in Cholera was chiefly added, on the Prevention and Treat-
taken from the writings of impartial ment of Cholera. - C. D.
Government officers, or of hostile NEW-YORK, April 20, 1866.
CHOLERA. 505
II.
III.
water in the trap, and pass into the house through the
outlets of bath-tubs, wash - basins, and closets.
Now, it is notorious that in but few of the sewers of New-
York is the flow of matter unimpeded . No provision is
made for the outlet of gases from the sewers. The gases
accumulate, and, by this accumulation and by the heat
evolved in their generation , they become subjected to press-
ure. They bubble up through the stench- trap, and pervade
the house. Thus
IV.
V.
35
T
LANE MEDICAL LIBRARY